Club career.

In his club career, which started in 1987, Wilmots played for Sint-Truiden, Mechelen, Standard Liège, Schalke 04, and Bordeaux. At Schalke, he helped them to the 1997 UEFA Cup Final. His goal in the first leg was cancelled out by Internazionale in the second leg, but Schalke went on to win the game on penalties, with Wilmots scoring the decisive goal. He retired in 2003, after his second stint with Schalke. During his time with Schalke, the fans there gave him the affectionate nickname ""Das Kampfschwein"" (The War Pig), which has been picked up by some English language journalists. In Belgium he is known under the nickname the "Bull of Dongelberg", an allusion to his birthplace.

International career.

For Belgium, Wilmots scored 28 goals in 70 caps, his first coming in May 1990. He went to four World Cups, playing in three. After being an unused substitute in 1990, he played 54 minutes in 1994 without scoring, but scored two goals in 1998 and three in 2002, making him Belgium's leading goal scorer in World Cup history. He also scored a goal against Brazil in the last 16 match of the 2002 World Cup which was disallowed because of a "phantom foul" on Roque Júnior. According to Wilmots, the referee Peter Prendergast apologized for the error to him at half time. Wilmots was named as one of the seven reserves in the 2002 World Cup All-Star Team.  Wilmots also played in Euro 2000, when Belgium co-hosted the tournament.

Managerial career.

Wilmots became a football manager in summer 2004 for Sint-Truiden, but was sacked in February 2005. Between 2009 and 2012, he served as assistant manager of the Belgium national team under Dick Advocaat and later Georges Leekens. On 15 May 2012, following the exit of Leekens, Wilmots assumed the Belgium reins on an interim basis before going onto become permanent coach, signing a contract until June 2014.  On 11 October 2013, Belgium qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Wilmots is credited with "not only giving the young group confidence in themselves as well as enjoying a close relationship with his players but also at the same time being capable of instilling discipline to the squad." During the group stage, Belgium topped the group with all three wins, before exiting the tournament at the quarter-final stage.  On 13 October 2015, Belgium won the group to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2016 in the last game of the stage against Israel. After a disappointing European Championship, Wilmots was fired by the Royal Belgian Football Association on 15 July 2016.  In March 2017 Wilmots was appointed as the manager of Ivory Coast national team. However he was sacked from his position six months later after failing to qualify for the World Cup.  On 15 May 2019, Wilmots agreed a three years contract to become the manager of the Iranian national team, after Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz left the team after eight years in charge following Iran's semifinal exit in the Asian Cup. He officially signed his contract on 29 May, effective from 1 June 2019. On 4 December 2019, he resigned from his position as Iran coach.

Political career.

After retiring as a footballer, Wilmots went into politics. He was elected to the Senate for the French-speaking conservative party, the Reformist Movement ("Mouvement Réformateur" or MR) in the 2003 federal election. He received 79,437 votes, a number surpassed only by 17 other candidates in the whole country during the elections.  His political career is not considered very successful. In 2005, he announced that he wanted to resign as a senator, a rather unconventional and criticized constitutional move.

Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian international former footballer who most recently managed the Iran national football team. During his club career as attacking midfielder, he won trophies with KV Mechelen, Standard Liège and Schalke 04.


History.

Named in honour of his Swedish first wife, Carin Göring (1888–1931), the residence was constructed in stages from 1933 on a large scale, but in the manner of a hunting lodge. The main architect was Werner March, designer of the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Carin Göring's remains had first been interred in Sweden following her death, but were moved to Carinhall in 1934 and placed in a mausoleum on the grounds.  On 10 April 1935, Carinhall was the venue for Göring's wedding banquet with his second wife, Emmy Sonnemann.  Carinhall became the destination for many of Göring's looted art treasures from across occupied Europe.

Emmyhall.

The "Reichsjägerhof", Göring's smaller hunting lodge at Rominten in East Prussia (now Krasnolesye), in the Rominten Heath, was known as "Emmyhall" after his second wife.

Fate.

To prevent Carinhall from falling into the hands of the advancing Red Army, the compound was blown up on 28 April 1945 at Göring's orders by a Luftwaffe demolition squad. The art treasures were evacuated beforehand to Berchtesgaden.  Only the monumental entrance gates, a few foundation structures, and decorative stones remain from the building. A bronze statue by Franz von Stuck, "Kämpfende Amazone" (1897), once at Carinhall, is now at Eberswalde. Another statue, "Kronenhirsch" by Johannes Darsow, can be found at Tierpark Berlin in the district of Friedrichsfelde.

Legacy.

In 1999, new interest was sparked by the book "Görings Reich: Selbstinszenierungen in Carinhall" which led to treasure hunters visiting the ruins, and concerns raised about the site becoming a neo-Nazi "shrine". The state government of Brandenburg ordered the remains of the tomb of Göring's wife to be demolished.

Carinhall was the country residence of Hermann Göring. It was built on a large hunting estate northeast of Berlin in Schorfheide forest, between the lakes Großdöllner See and Wuckersee in the north of Brandenburg.


Description.

Magellanic penguins are medium-sized penguins which grow to be tall and weigh between. The males are larger than the females, and the weight of both drops while the parents raise their young.  Adults have black backs and white abdomens. There are two black bands between the head and the breast, with the lower band shaped in an inverted horseshoe. The head is black with a broad white border that runs from behind the eye, around the black ear-coverts and chin, and joins at the throat. Chicks and younger penguins have grey-blue backs, with a more faded grey-blue colour on their chest. Magellanic penguins can live up to 25 years in the wild, but as much as 30 years in captivity.  Young birds usually have a blotched pattern on their feet, which fades as they grow up into adulthood. By the time these birds reach about ten years of age, their feet usually become all black.  Like other species of penguins, the Magellanic penguin has very rigid wings used to swim under water.

Diet.

Magellanic penguins feed in the water, preying on cuttlefish, squid, krill, and other crustaceans, and ingest sea water with their prey. Their salt-excreting gland rids the salt from their bodies. Adult penguins can regularly dive to depths of between 20m to 50m deep in order to forage for prey. During the breeding season males and females have similar foraging and diving patterns as well as diet composition, however bone tissue analysis suggests that diets diverge post-season when limitations imposed by chick rearing are removed.  Magellanic penguins do not experience a severe shortage of food like the Galapagos penguins, because they have a consistent food supply being located on the Atlantic coast of South America. The presence of the large continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean lets Magellanic penguins forage far from their breeding colony.  Jellyfish including species in the genera "Chrysaora" and "Cyanea" were found to be actively sought-out food items, while they previously had been thought to be only accidentally ingested. Similar preferences were found in the Adélie penguin, yellow-eyed penguin and little penguin.

Breeding.

Magellanic penguins travel in large flocks when hunting for food. In the breeding season, these birds gather in large nesting colonies at the coasts of Argentina, southern Chile, and the Falkland Islands, which have a density of 20 nests per 100 m. The breeding season begins with the arrival of adult Magellanic penguins at the breeding colonies in September and extends into late February and March when the chicks are mature enough to leave the colonies. One of the largest of these colonies is located at Punta Tombo. Nests are built under bushes or in burrows. Two eggs are laid. Incubation lasts 39–42 days, a task which the parents share in 10- to 15-day shifts. The chicks are cared for by both parents for 29 days and are fed every two to three days. Normally, both are raised through adulthood, though occasionally only one chick is raised. A successful Magellanic is considered to be able to raise 0.7 chicks on average per breeding season.  Magellanic penguins lay eggs in warm places where the temperature remains over 20°C. The male and female penguins take turns hatching, as they forage far away from their nests. The males return from the sea on the day the second egg is laid to take their turn incubating The second eggs are generally larger and with higher temperature than the first egg. The first one is more likely to survive, but under some conditions both chicks may be raised successfully. Male and female Magellanic penguins overlap in the at-sea areas they use whilst foraging, and show only small difference in foraging behaviours during early chick-rearing.  Magellanic penguins mate with the same partner year after year. The male reclaims his burrow from the previous year and waits to reconnect with his female partner. The females are able to recognize their mates through their call alone.

Physiological responses.

Newly hatched chicks that are visited by tourists show a stress response, with elevated levels of corticosterone in their blood. The elevated corticosterone is detrimental to the development of muscle strength, growth, and immune function.

Status in the wild.

Millions of these penguins still live on the coasts of Argentina and Chile, but the species is classified as threatened, primarily due to the vulnerability of large breeding colonies to oil spills, which kill 20,000 adults and 22,000 juveniles every year off the coast of Argentina. To help the fight against the oil spills, zoo representatives from all over the world come and adopt the hatchlings, and breed them there. The decline of fish populations is also responsible, as well as predators such as sea lions, giant petrels, and leopard seals which prey on the chicks. The warrah, before it became extinct, also preyed on the penguin.  Climate change has displaced fish populations, so Magellanic penguins must swim an extra further from the nest for fish. While the penguins are swimming an extra, their mates are sitting on a nest and starving. A colony being tracked by University of Washington professor P. Dee Boersma, about south of Buenos Aires, has fallen by more than 20 percent in the past 22 years, leaving 200,000 breeding pairs. Some younger penguins are now moving their breeding colonies north to be closer to fish, but, in some cases, this is putting them on private, unprotected lands. As a result of these changes, some penguins are known to have been lost or confused. At present, 12 of 17 penguin species are experiencing rapid population declines. A recent study of professor Dee Boersma showed that an increase of rainstorms caused by climate change affecting weather patterns has had a large impact in the chicks' population. The chicks haven't yet grown waterproof feathers so they are more likely to die of hypothermia when they get wet during big storms.  Increased frequency of extreme events, such as storms, drought, temperature extremes, and wildfires, associated with climate change, increases the reproductive failure in Magellanic penguins.

Conservation.

The provincial government of Chubut is committed to the creation of a MPA in order to protect the penguins and other marine species near the largest Magellanic breeding colony. The creation of a MPA would likely improve the breeding success of the colonies as well as increase prey availability, reduce foraging distance, and increase feeding frequency.

The Magellanic penguin ("Spheniscus magellanicus") is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, with some migrating to Brazil where they are occasionally seen as far north as Espirito Santo. It is the most numerous of the "Spheniscus" penguins. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Humboldt penguin, and the Galápagos penguins. The Magellanic penguin was named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who spotted the birds in 1520. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.


History of the Secretariat of State.

The origins of the Secretariat of State go back to the fifteenth century. The apostolic constitution "Non Debet Reprehensibile" of 31 December 1487 established the "Secretaria Apostolica" comprising twenty-four apostolic secretaries, one of whom bore the title "Secretarius Domesticus" and held a position of pre-eminence. One can also trace to this "Secretaria Apostolica" the Chancery of Briefs, the Secretariat of Briefs to Princes and the Secretariat of Latin Letters.  Pope Leo X established another position, the "Secretarius Intimus", to assist the Cardinal who had control of the affairs of State and to attend to correspondence in languages other than Latin, chiefly with the Apostolic Nuncios (who at that time were evolving into permanent diplomatic representatives). From these beginnings, the Secretariat of State developed, especially at the time of the Council of Trent.  For a long time, the "Secretarius Intimus", also called "Secretarius Papae" or "Secretarius Maior", was almost always a prelate, often endowed with episcopal rank. It was only at the beginning of the pontificate of Innocent X that someone already a Cardinal and not a member of the Pope's family was called to this high office. Pope Innocent XII definitively abolished the office of Cardinal Nephew, and the powers of that office were assigned to the Cardinal Secretary of State alone.  On 19 July 1814, Pope Pius VII established the Sacred Congregation for the Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, expanding the "Congregatio super negotiis ecclesiasticis Regni Galliarum" established by Pius VI in 1793. With the apostolic constitution "Sapienti Consilio" of 29 June 1908, Saint Pius X divided the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in the form fixed by the "Codex Iuris Canonici" of 1917 (Can. 263) and he specified the duties of each of the three sections: the first was concerned essentially with extraordinary affairs, while the second attended to the ordinary affairs, and the third, until then an independent body (the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs), had the duty of preparing and dispatching pontifical Briefs.  With the apostolic constitution "Regimini Ecclesiae universae" of 15 August 1967, Pope Paul VI reformed the Roman Curia, implementing the desire expressed by the bishops in the Second Vatican Council. This gave a new face to the Secretariat of State, suppressing the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs, formerly the third section, and transforming the former first section, the Sacred Congregation for the Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, into a body distinct from the Secretariat of State, though closely related to it, which was to be known as the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church.

Structure.

On 28 June 1988, John Paul II promulgated the apostolic constitution "Pastor bonus", which introduced a reform of the Roman Curia and divided the Secretariat of State into two sections: the Section for General Affairs and the Section for Relations with States, which incorporated the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church. Pope Francis added a third unit, the Section for Diplomatic Staff, in November 2017.  The head of the Secretariat of State is the Secretary of State, who is a cardinal. The Cardinal Secretary of State is primarily responsible for the diplomatic and political activity of the Holy See, in some circumstances representing the Pope himself.

Section for General Affairs.

The Section for General Affairs handles the normal operations of the Church including organizing the activities of the Roman Curia, making appointments to curial offices, publishing official communications, papal documents, handling the concerns of embassies to the Holy See, and keeping the papal seal and Fisherman's Ring. Abroad, the Section for General Affairs is responsible for organizing the activities of nuncios around the world in their activities concerning the local church.

Substitute for General Affairs.

The Section for General Affairs is headed by an archbishop known as the Substitute for General Affairs, or more formally, Substitute for General Affairs to the Secretary of State. The current Substitute for General Affairs to the Secretary of State is Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra. There have been 10 substitutes since 1953:

The deputy to the Substitute for General Affairs, effectively deputy chief of staff, is called the Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. The current Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State is Monsignor Luigi Roberto Cona.

Section for Relations with States.

Origin.

The Congregation for the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Kingdom of France was set up by Pope Pius VI with the Constitution "Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum" in 1793 to deal with the problems created for the Church by the French Revolution. In 1814, Pope Pius VII gave this office responsibility for negotiations with all governments, renaming it the Extraordinary Congregation for the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Catholic World (). Some years later, Pope Leo XII changed its name to the Sacred Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (), which remained its title until 1967 when Pope Paul VI separated this body from the Secretariat of State, calling it the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church. This Council was later replaced by the present Section for Relations with States.

Responsibilities.

The Section is responsible for the Holy See's interactions with civil governments. According to the relevant articles of the apostolic constitution "Pastor bonus", the responsibilities of the Secretary for Relations with States are:

Structure.

The Section is headed by an Archbishop, the Secretary for Relations with States, who reports to the Secretary of State. His staff includes a Prelate, the Under-Secretary for Relations with States, and is assisted by Cardinals and Bishops. The Secretary for Relations with States is often called the foreign minister of the Holy See, and the Under-Secretary is often called the deputy foreign minister.  The current Secretary for Relations with States is Archbishop Paul Gallagher. The current Undersecretary for Relations with States is Francesca Di Giovanni, the first woman to hold this office. The current Delegate for Pontifical Representations is Archbishop Jan Pawłowski and the current Head of Protocol is Monsignor Josep Murphy.

Section for Diplomatic Staff.

On 21 November 2017, via a communique of the Secretariat of State, it was announced that Pope Francis had created the Section for Diplomatic Staff, expanding the responsibilities of the Delegate for Pontifical Representations. Reportedly, it started operating on 9 November 2017. Since its creation it has been headed by Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawlowski.

The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State and performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See. The Secretariat is divided into three sections, the Section for General Affairs, the Section for Relations with States, and, since 2017, the Section for Diplomatic Staff.


Etymology.

The ptarmigan's genus name, "Lagopus", is derived from Ancient Greek "lagos" (λαγώς "lagṓs"), meaning "hare", + "pous" (πούς "poús"), "foot", in reference to the bird's feathered legs.  The species name, "muta", comes from New Latin and means "mute", referring to the simple croaking song of the male. It was for a long time misspelt "mutus", in the erroneous belief that the ending of "Lagopus" denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term λαγώπους "lagṓpous" is of feminine gender, and the species name has to agree with that, the feminine "muta" is correct.  The word ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic "tàrmachan", literally croaker. The silent initial p was added in 1684 by Robert Sibbald through the influence of Greek, especially "pteron" (πτερόν "pterón"), "wing", "feather", or "pinion".

Description.

The rock ptarmigan is long (tail ) with a wingspan of. It is smaller than the willow ptarmigan by about ten percent. The male's "song" is a loud croaking.  The rock ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and under parts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. It can be distinguished from the winter willow ptarmigan by habitat—the rock ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat; it is also smaller with a more delicate bill.

Distribution and habitat.

The rock ptarmigan is a sedentary species which breeds across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America (including Greenland) on rocky mountainsides and tundra. It is widespread in the Arctic Cordillera and is found in isolated populations in the mountains of Norway, Scotland, the Pyrenees, the Alps, Bulgaria, the Urals, the Pamir Mountains, the Altay Mountains, and Japan—where it occurs only in the Japan Alps and on Hakusan mountain. Because of the remote habitat in which it lives, it has only a few predators—such as golden eagles—and it can be surprisingly approachable. It has been introduced to New Zealand, South Georgia, the Kerguelen Islands, and the Crozet Islands.  The small population living on Franz Josef Land in the Russian High Arctic overwinters during the polar night and survives by feeding on rich vegetation on and underneath high cliffs where seabird colonies are located in summer.<ref name="FJL/">Dinets, V. (2001) Winter ecology of Willow Ptarmigan "Lagopus lagopus" and Rock Ptarmigan "L. mutus" at the northern limit of their range. "Ornitologia" 29: 326-327 (in Russian with English summary).</ref>  During the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe.

Ecology.

Feeding.

The rock ptarmigan feeds primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available. It also eats various seeds, leaves, flowers, and berries of other plant species. Insects are eaten by the developing young.

Breeding.

Apart from the comb, the male rock ptarmigan has no ornaments or displays that are typical for grouses in temperate regions. Studies on other grouses have shown that much variation in comb size and colour exists between the species, and that the comb is used in courtship display and aggressive interactions between males. Many studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between the comb size and the level of testosterone in males; one report from 1981 showed that the amount of testosterone is correlated to aggressiveness against other males.  The male's comb has been the focus of studies regarding sexual selection. Studies of a population of male rock ptarmigans in Scarpa Lake, Nunavut, have shown that during the first year, mating success among males was influenced by comb size and condition, and bigamous males had larger combs than monogamous males. The correlation to size disappeared after the first year, but the correlation to comb condition remained. This is consistent with another study of the same population of "L. muta" that showed that mating success overall is correlated to comb condition. Exceptions were first-time breeders, in which the size of the comb influenced mating success.  The rock ptarmigan becomes sexually mature at six months of age and commonly has up to six chicks. Because of this high breeding rate, the size of the population is affected very little by factors such as hunting.

In culture.

Rock ptarmigan meat is a popular part of festive meals in Icelandic cuisine. Hunting of rock ptarmigans was banned in Iceland in 2003 and 2004 due to its declining population. Hunting has been allowed again since 2005, but is restricted to selected days, which are revised yearly and all trade of rock ptarmigan is illegal.  In Thomas Bewick's "A History of British Birds" (1797) the species is named as "White Grouse" with alternatives "White Game, or Ptarmigan". The birds feed, records Bewick, "on the wild productions of the hills, which sometimes give the flesh a bitter, but not unpalatable taste: it is dark coloured, and has somewhat the flavour of the hare."

Provincial bird.

The Rock ptarmigan is the official territorial bird of Nunavut, Canada. Its Inuktitut name is "ᐊ<unk>ᑭ<unk>ᒋ<unk> ᐊᑕᔪᓕᒃ, aqiggiq atajulik." It is the official game bird of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The rock ptarmigan (') is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan"' in the UK and in Canada, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In Japan, it is known as the "raichō" (雷鳥), which means "thunder bird". It is the official bird of Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama Prefectures and is a protected species nationwide.


Early life.

Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev was born on September 5, 1929 in Sorseli, a village in the Chuvash region of the Volga River valley, and spent his time growing up on a collective farm. Nikolayev loved the idea of flying even as a child. When he was young boy Nikolayev's interest in flying manifested itself in that he climbed trees with his friends and claimed he would take flight from there. These behaviors were not encouraged by the villagers and Nikolayev did not take flight from any trees.

Education and career.

Nikolayev supported his family following the death of his father in 1944, however this was not preferred by his mother, who would rather that he earn an education. Nikolayev later entered medical school before he joined the Soviet army. During his training Nikolayev was able to maintain a very calm state during stressful situations. Nikolayev's calm would make him a fair candidate for becoming a cosmonaut. His future colleagues Yuri Gagarin, Gherman Titov, and seventeen others would join him in March 1960. Nikolayev's future wife was cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, and he reportedly kissed her goodbye before boarding Vostok 3.

History.

Nikolayev flew on two space flights: Vostok 3 (becoming the third Soviet cosmonaut) and Soyuz 9. His call sign in these flights was Falcon (). On both, he set new endurance records for the longest time a human being had remained in orbit. He also served as backup for the Vostok 2 and Soyuz 8 missions. On 22 January 1969, Nikolayev survived an assassination attempt on Leonid Brezhnev, undertaken by a Soviet Army deserter, Viktor Ilyin. He left the cosmonaut corps on 26 January 1982.  Nikolayev was also the first person to make a television broadcast from space, in August 1962. Vostok 3 was part the first dual space flight, with Pavel Popovich on Vostok 4.  In the early days of space travel, it was usual to place trainee astronauts into isolation chambers to see how long they could last alone. They sat in silence unable to gauge time. Many men cracked. One cosmonaut, Andriyan Nikolayev lasted the longest – four days – and became known as the Iron Man.  On 3 November 1963, he married Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly in space (see Vostok 6). They had one daughter, Elena Andriyanovna (now a doctor of medicine), before their marriage collapsed. However, it was not until 1982 that they divorced.  In 2004, Nikolayev died of a heart attack in Cheboksary, the capital of Chuvashia in Russia. A scandal ensued. His daughter, who lives in Moscow, desired that he be interred in the cemetery at Star City. The president of Chuvashia had other ideas. After a farewell ceremony in Cheboksary, Nikolayev was buried in his native village of Shorshely. He has no family living in the republic. Plans are in the works to move the body to Star City.  Nikolayev was also a keen skier: Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that Yuri Gagarin was fond of ice hockey. He liked to play goal keeper. Gherman Titov was a gymnastics enthusiast, Andriyan Nikolayev liked skiing, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts.

Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev (Chuvash and ; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into space. Nikolayev was an ethnic Chuvash.


Geography.

With an area of over, the Camargue is western Europe's largest river delta. It is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons or "étangs", cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes. These are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area.  Approximately a third of the Camargue is either lakes or marshland. The central area around the shoreline of the "Étang de Vaccarès" has been protected as a regional park since 1927, in recognition of its great importance as a haven for wild birds. In 2008, it was incorporated into the larger Parc naturel régional de Camargue.

Flora and fauna.

The Camargue is home to more than 400 species of birds and has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International. Its brine ponds provide one of the few European habitats for the greater flamingo. The marshes are also a prime habitat for many species of insects, notably (and notoriously) some of the most ferocious mosquitos to be found anywhere in France. Camargue horses (Camarguais) roam the extensive marshlands, along with Camargue cattle (see below).  The native flora of the Camargue have adapted to the saline conditions. Sea lavender and glasswort flourish, along with tamarisks and reeds.

Regional park.

Officially established as a regional park and nature reserve in 1970, the Parc Naturel Régional de Camargue covers 820 km2. This territory is some of the most natural and most protected in all of Europe. A roadside museum provides background on flora, fauna, and the history of the area.

Human influence.

Humans have lived in the Camargue for millennia, greatly affecting it with drainage schemes, dykes, rice paddies and salt pans. Much of the outer Camargue has been drained for agricultural purposes.  The Camargue has an eponymous horse breed, the famous white Camarguais. Camargue horses are ridden by the "gardians" (cowboys), who rear the region's cattle for fighting bulls for regional use and for export to Spain, as well as sheep. Many of these animals are raised in semi-feral conditions, allowed to roam through the Camargue within a manade, or free-running herd. They are periodically rounded up for culling, medical treatment, or other events.  Few towns of any size have developed in the Camargue. Its "capital" is Arles, located at the extreme north of the delta where the Rhône forks into its two principal branches. The only other towns of note are along the sea front or near it: Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, about 45 km to the southwest and the medieval fortress-town of Aigues-Mortes on the far western edge, in the "Petite Camargue". Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is the destination of the annual Romani pilgrimage for the veneration of Saint Sarah.  The Camargue was exploited in the Middle Ages by Cistercian and Benedictine monks. In the 16th-17th centuries, big estates, known locally as "mas," were founded by rich landlords from Arles. At the end of the 18th century, they had the Rhône diked to protect the town and their properties from flooding. In 1858, the building of the "digue à la mer" (dyke to the sea) achieved temporary protection of the delta from erosion, but it is a changing landform, always affected by waters and weather.  The north of the Camargue is agricultural land. The main crops are cereals, grapevine and rice. Near the seashore, prehistoric man started extracting salt, a practice that continues today. Salt was a source of wealth for the Cistercian "salt abbeys" of Ulmet, Franquevaux and Psalmody in the Middle Ages. Industrial salt collection started in the 19th century, and big chemical companies such as Péchiney and Solvay founded the'mining' city of Salin-de-Giraud.  The boundaries of the Camargue are constantly revised by the Rhône as it transports huge quantities of mud downstream – as much as 20 million m annually. Some of the "étangs" are the remnants of old arms and legs of the river. The general trend is for the coastline to move outwards as new earth is deposited in the delta at the river's mouth. Aigues-Mortes, originally built as a port on the coast, is now some inland. The pace of change has been modified in recent years by man-made barriers, such as dams on the Rhône and sea dykes, but flooding remains a problem across the region.

The Camargue (,,, ; ) is a natural region located south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône delta. The eastern arm is called the "Grand Rhône"; the western one is the "Petit Rhône".


Use.

Carabiners are widely used in rope-intensive activities such as climbing, arboriculture, caving, sailing, hot air ballooning, rope rescue, construction, industrial rope work, window cleaning, whitewater rescue, and acrobatics. They are predominantly made from both steel and aluminium. Those used in sports tend to be of a lighter weight than those used in commercial applications and rope rescue. Often referred to as carabiner-style or as mini-biners, carabiner keyrings and other light-use clips of similar style and design have also become popular. Most are stamped with a "Not For Climbing" or similar warning due to a common lack of load-testing and safety standards in manufacturing. While from an etymological perspective any metal attaching link with a spring gate is technically a carabiner, the strict usage among the climbing community specifically refers only to those devices manufactured and tested for load-bearing in safety-critical systems like rock and mountain climbing, typically rated to 20 kN or more.  Carabiners on hot air balloons are used to connect the envelope to the basket and are rated at 2.5 tonne, 3 tonne or 4 tonne.  Load-bearing screw-gate carabiners are used to connect the diver's umbilical to the surface supplied diver's harness. They are usually rated for a safe working load of 5 kN or more (equivalent to a weight in excess of approximately 500 kg).

Physical properties.

Shape.

Carabiners come in four characteristic shapes:

Locking mechanisms.

There are three broad categories of locking mechanisms for carabiners: auto locking, manual locking, and non-locking.

Non-locking.

Non-locking carabiners (or "snap-links") have a sprung swinging gate that accepts a rope, webbing sling, or other hardware. Rock climbers frequently connect two non-locking carabiners with a short length of webbing to create a quickdraw (an extender).  Two gate types are common:  Both solid and wire gate carabiners can be either "straight gate" or "bent gate". Bent-gate carabiners are easier to clip a rope into using only one hand, and so are often used for the rope-end carabiner of quickdraws and alpine draws used for lead climbing.

Locking.

Life supporting carabiners such as those used in tree climbing need to be strong (thus strength ratings), but also secure against unintentional opening under use. All carabiners with a spring loaded gate are "self closing" (single action). Several are also "self locking" (double action), some even "self double locking" (triple action).  Locking carabiners have the same general shape as non-locking carabiners, but have an additional mechanism securing the gate. These mechanisms may be either threaded sleeves ("screw-lock"), spring-loaded sleeves ("twist-lock"), magnetic levers ("Magnetron"), other spring loaded unlocking levers or opposing double spring loaded gates ("Twin-Gate").

Certification.

United States.

American National Standards Institute/American Society of Safety Engineers standard ANSI Z359.1-2007 "Safety Requirement for Personal Fall Arrest Systems, Subsystems and Components", section 3.2.1.4 (for snap hooks and carabiners) is a voluntary consensus standard. This standard requires that all connectors/ carabiners support a minimum breaking strength (MBS) of and feature an auto-locking gate mechanism which supports a minimum breaking strength (MBS) of.

A carabiner or karabiner () is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems. The word is a shortened form of "Karabinerhaken" (or also short "Karabiner"), a German phrase for a "spring hook" used by a carbine rifleman, or carabinier, to attach his carabin to a belt or bandolier.


History.

The settlement of Litoměřice has a deep history of Paleolithic cultures as well as large Celtic settlements of the La Tène culture, which did not survive the incoming Germanic attacks. The area was later settled by Germanic tribes, when Litoměřice first appear on Ptolemy's Map in the 2nd Century under the name of Nomisterium. The Germanic tribes later migrated west and those remaining mingled with the incoming Slavs.  One of the oldest Czech towns, Litoměřice was established in the 10th century on the site of an early medieval Přemyslid Dynasty fort. The area was settled by the Czech tribe of Litoměřici, after which the town was named. In the High Middle Ages a small group of German settlers was also invited in by Slavic rulers. A royal-town statute was granted in 1219 by the Czech king, Přemysl Otakar I.. From the 12th to the 17th century it was a significant trading centre in the Holy Roman Empire.  The population suffered during the 15th century Hussite Wars. After the Protestant tensions with the Catholics that triggered the Thirty Years' War and the Protestants' defeat in the Battle of White Mountain, the surviving population of the city was forced to accept Catholicism or face property confiscation and the obligation to leave the kingdom. In this way, the town became a Catholic bishop's residency in 1655. As a result, the Czech Protestant population shrank and the town became largely Germanized.  In 1918, Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia became constituent parts of the newly-created Czechoslovakia (which was confirmed by the Treaty of St. Germain), along with a large border area inhabited predominantly by Germans. Local Germans tried to join German Austria (which in turn aimed to join post-war German Reich), but Czechoslovak troops prevented this. Known under the informal name of the Sudetenland, the region became the subject of political controversy in the following years. Slavs settled there again, but remained a minority. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, German troops occupied the Sudetenland (and all the rest of Czech lands a few months later). The Czech population, which had grown to about 5,000 people, had to leave again.  Jews from Leitmeritz were forced to flee to the Protectorate or were deported during the Holocaust in the Sudetenland. From March 1944 to May 1945, Leitmeritz concentration camp was located west of the town. 18,000 prisoners passed through the camp and were forced to work mostly on excavating underground factories (Richard I and II) under Radobýl. 4,500 died.  In the final stages of World War II, German troops retreated to escape the advancing Red Army. The Czech resistance took control of the castle on 27 April 1945, and after a few days they started negotiations with the German commander about the terms of his surrender. The Wehrmacht capitulated in the night after 8 May, but German troops fled on 9 May, just before Soviet troops entered the town on 10 May 1945. Most of the German population of the town was expelled by the so-called Beneš decrees in August 1945, along with about 2.5 million other former Czechoslovak citizens of German ethnicity from the country.

Sights.

There are several main sights already visible when approaching Litoměřice. The Baroque St. Stephen's Cathedral at the Cathedral Square ("Dómské náměstí") was built in place of an older Romanasque basilica in the years 1664–1668. The interior is almost completely authentic with main and six side altars and a lot of original paintings. Right next to the dome is a bishop's residence built in 1683–1701 by Giulio Broggio. On the main square there is All-Saints Church and within distance there is an Annunciation (Lady Day) Church, another masterpiece built by the son of Giulio Broggio, Octavio. The old town hall (now city museum) and Black Eagle House (Dům u černého orla) on the main square are also worthy a look. The symbol of the city is a chalice, since the watchout tower on the Town Hall has this shape.  There are numerous cellars connected by an extensive web of underground ways under the town. In some places, the cellars were built in three floors. The ways are about three kilometers () long and they belong to the longest of their kind in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, only of these underground ways are open to the public. You can notice the ancient town wall when entering the town. The original town wall was built in the Gothic style. Northern Bohemian Gallery of Creative Arts (SGVU) is based close the main square. Extensive collection spans from 13th century to contemporary art with numerous other exhibitions during the year.

Notable residents.

There are several successful sportsmen who were born, lived or are living in Litoměřice, among other olympic medalists, world champions or Stanley Cup winners:

International relations.

Twin towns — Sister cities.

Litoměřice is twinned with:

Litoměřice (; ) is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe () and Ohře () in the northern part of the Czech Republic, approximately northwest of Prague.


History.

Třeboň was established around the middle of the 12th century. In 1366, the House of Rožmberk/Rosenberg became owner of the estate. The period of greatest growth for the town dates to the second half of the 15th century when (1462–1523) seriously began to take care of the land. The district became famous as a fish pond farming area. From 1611 the Houses of Habsburg and Schwarzenberg were owners of the town and the estate.  Until 1918, "Třeboň - Wittingau" ("Wittingau" until the end of the 19th century) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), in the district with the same name, one of the 94 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Bohemia.  During the Czechoslovak republic the mudguard spa arose there but the district of Třeboň was abolished in the year 1960.  The express railway connection between Prague and Vienna passed through the city of Třeboň. President Masaryk officially visited the city twice by train, in 1919 and 1925.

Třeboň today.

Třeboň is a tourist destination, and this is the area's major economic activity, along with agriculture, the spa industry and other services. The TV series "The Territory of White Deer" was filmed in Třeboň.  The State Regional Archive for South Bohemia is based here, where genealogical studies about people born in the South Bohemian Region may be conducted, for example. Digital images of parish registers and other genealogical records from the archive have been placed on the internet.  The International Festival of Animated Films, Anifest, was held in Třeboň each May between 2002 and 2010; after that, Anifilm took its place.

Twin towns — sister cities.

Třeboň is twinned with:

Třeboň (; ) is a historical town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its population is around 8,200.


History.

Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket, developed by a team of predominantly German rocket engineers under the leadership of Wernher von Braun, that had been brought to the United States after World War II as part of Operation Paperclip.  A product of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, Redstone was designed as a surface-to-surface missile for the U.S. Army. It was named for the arsenal on 8 April 1952, which traced its name to the region's red rocks and soil. The first Redstone lifted off from LC-4A at Cape Canaveral on 20 August 1953. It flew for one minute and 20 seconds before suffering an engine failure and falling into the sea. Following this partial success, the second test was conducted on 27 January 1954, this time without a hitch as the missile flew 55 miles. After these first two prototypes were flown, an improved engine was introduced to reduce problems with LOX turbopump cavitation.  The third Redstone flight on 5 May was a total loss as the engine cut off one second after launch, causing the rocket to fall back on the pad and explode. After this incident, Major General Holger Toftoy pressured Wernher von Braun for the cause of the failure. The latter replied that he had no idea, but they would review telemetry and other data to find out. Toftoy persisted, asking "Wernher, why did the rocket explode?" An exasperated von Braun said "It exploded because the damn sonofabitch blew up!"  Von Braun pressured the ABMA team to improve reliability and workmanship standards, allegedly remarking that "Missile reliability will require that the target area is more dangerous than the launch area." Subsequent test flights went better and the Army declared Redstone operational in mid-1955. Testing was moved from LC-4 to the bigger LC-5 and LC-6.  The Redstone program proved to be a bone of contention between the Army and Air Force due to their different ideas of nuclear warfare. The Army favored using small warheads on mobile missiles as tactical battlefield weapons while the Air Force, which was responsible for the ICBM program, wanted large cross-continental missiles that could strike Soviet targets and rapidly cripple the USSR's infrastructure and ability to wage war.  With the arrival of newer solid-fueled missiles that could be stored and not require fueling before launch, Redstone was rendered obsolete and production ended in 1961. The 40th Artillery Group was deactivated in February 1964 and 46th Artillery Group was deactivated in June 1964, as Redstone missiles were replaced by the Pershing missile in the U.S. Army arsenal. All Redstone missiles and equipment deployed to Europe were returned to the United States by the third quarter of 1964. In October 1964, the Redstone missile was ceremonially retired from active service at Redstone Arsenal.

Description.

Redstone was capable of flights from to. It consisted of a thrust unit for powered flight and a missile body for overall missile control and payload delivery on target. During powered flight, Redstone burned a fuel mixture of 25 percent water–75 percent ethyl alcohol with liquid oxygen (LOX) used as the oxidizer. Later Redstones used Hydyne, 60% unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and 40% diethylenetriamine (DETA), as the fuel. The missile body consisted of an aft unit containing the instrument compartment, and the warhead unit containing the payload compartment and the radar altimeter fuze. The missile body was separated from the thrust unit 20–30 seconds after the termination of powered flight, as determined by the preset range to target. The body continued on a controlled ballistic trajectory to the target impact point. The thrust unit continued on its own uncontrolled ballistic trajectory, impacting short of the designated target.  The nuclear-armed Redstone carried the W39, either a MK 39Y1 Mod 1 or MK 39Y2 Mod 1, warhead with a yield of 3.8 megatons.

Production.

Chrysler Corporation was awarded the prime production contract, to be made at the newly renamed Michigan Ordnance Missile Plant in Warren, Michigan. The navy-owned facility was previously known as the Naval Industrial Reserve Aircraft Plant used for jet engine production. Following the cancellation of a planned jet engine program, the facility was made available to the Chrysler Corporation for missile production, and began missile and support equipment production in 1952. Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation Company provided the rocket engines; Ford Instrument Company, division of Sperry Rand Corporation, produced the guidance and control systems; and Reynolds Metals Company fabricated fuselage assemblies as subcontractors to Chrysler.

Redstone derivatives.

In 1955, the Jupiter-C rocket (not to be confused with the later, unrelated Jupiter IRBM) was developed as an enhanced Redstone for atmospheric and reentry vehicle tests. It had elongated propellant tanks for increased burn time and a new engine that burned a fuel mixture known as hydyne and under the name of the Jupiter C/Juno 1 was used for the first successful US space launch of the Explorer 1 satellite in 1958.  The Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle was a derivation of the Redstone with a fuel tank increased in length by and was used on 5 May 1961 to launch Alan Shepard on his sub-orbital flight to become the second person and first American in space. It retained the Jupiter C's longer propellant tanks, but went back to using ethyl alcohol/water for propellant instead of hydyne. From 1966 to 1967, a series of surplus modified Redstones called Spartas were launched from Woomera, South Australia as part of a joint U.S.–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena. These Redstones had two solid fuel upper stages added. The U.S. donated a spare Sparta for Australia's first satellite launch, WRESAT, in November 1967.

The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak.


Early years.

Jacques-Henri Laffite was born in Paris on 21 November 1943. He attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school.

Formula One career.

Laffite debuted in Formula One in 1974 for Frank Williams' Iso–Marlboro team. The following year he raced for the same team, now named Williams, scoring a second place in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.  In Laffite moved to the French Ligier team, scoring 20 points and a pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The next two seasons were transitional, although he managed to win his first Grand Prix at Anderstorp in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.  The 1979 season opened with Laffite winning the first two races. He fought for the World Championship title until the last races, but eventually placed only fourth, with 36 points. The following two seasons were similar, with two more fourth places in the Championship and a further three victories. In 1982, however, Laffite finished only 17th in the final classification, with only 5 points scored.  During the early 1980s, Laffite also made three end of season trips to Australia to race in the non-championship Australian Grand Prix. He failed to finish his first race in 1981 (he was lucky to start after his car hit the wall on the outside of the last turn of the short (1.609 km (1.000 mi)) Calder Park Raceway in qualifying, but his local crew were able to repair it for the race). He finished second to fellow Frenchman Alain Prost in 1982, and third behind Brazilian Roberto Moreno and Australian John Smith in 1983. In all of his pre-Formula One AGP drives, Laffite drove a Formula Pacific or Formula Mondial Ralt RT4 powered by a 1.6-litre Ford l4 engine.  Results in the next two seasons weren't much better, when he moved back to England, again to race for Williams (11 and 5 points, respectively). Now in his forties, Laffite returned to Ligier in 1985: in that season he was on the podium three times (Great Britain, Germany and Australia), for a total of 16 points. In 1986 he scored 14 points including two more podium finishes in the first half of the season, but he broke both legs in a crash at the start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and thereafter retired from Formula One. The race was stopped and restarted without Laffite, who was thus classified as a non-starter and ended his career tied with Graham Hill for the most Grand Prix starts. He was the most successful driver in Ligier's history, having taken six of their nine wins.  As a result of Laffite's injuries, new safety rules were enforced from the season that stated that in all cars the driver's feet must be behind the front axle line.

Post-Formula One career.

Laffite recovered from his injuries and later raced in touring cars, finishing 17th in the inaugural World Touring Car Championship driving an Alfa Romeo 75 for Alfa Corse as well as racing three seasons in the German-based DTM series.  He is now a television commentator for the French network TF1, best known for his reaction to the incident at the 1997 European Grand Prix in which Michael Schumacher collided with Jacques Villeneuve, and Laffite reacted with curse words on live television.  In October 2008, at the age of 64, he tested a Renault R27 F1 car at the Paul Ricard circuit.  Jacques Laffite, golf enthusiast, is a shareholder of Dijon-Bourgogne Golf.  Also deeply attached to the Creuse for Golf Fisheries and nature, he has a property in Creuse near Aubusson

Racing record.

Complete European Formula Two Championship results.

Graded drivers not eligible for European Formula Two Championship points

Complete World Touring Car Championship results.

<nowiki>*</nowiki> Overall race position shown. Registered WTCC points paying position may differ.

Jacques-Henri Laffite (born 21 November 1943 in Paris) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to. He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1.


Early life and education.

Moreau was born in Paris, the daughter of Katherine (née Buckley), a dancer who performed at the Folies Bergère (d. 1990), and Anatole-Désiré Moreau, a restaurateur (d. 1975). Moreau's father was French; her mother was English, a native of Oldham, Lancashire, England and of part Irish descent. Moreau's father was Catholic and her mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Catholicism upon marriage. When a young girl, "the family moved south to Vichy, spending vacations at the paternal ancestral village of Mazirat, a town of 30 houses in a valley in the Allier. "It was wonderful there", Moreau said. "Every tombstone in the cemetery was for a Moreau". During World War II, the family was split, and Moreau lived with her mother in Paris. Moreau ultimately lost interest in school at age 16, and after attending a performance of Jean Anouilh's "Antigone", found her calling as an actor. She later studied at the Conservatoire de Paris. Her parents separated permanently while Moreau was at the conservatory and her mother, "after 24 difficult years in France, returned to England with Jeanne's sister, Michelle."

Career.

In 1947, Moreau made her theatrical debut at the Avignon Festival. She debuted at the Comédie-Française in Ivan Turgenev's "A Month in the Country" and, by her 20s, was already one of leading actresses in the theatre's troupe. After 1949, she began appearing in films with small parts but continued primarily active in the theatre for several years — a year at the Théâtre National Populaire opposite among others Gérard Philipe and Robert Hirsch, then a breakout two years in dual roles in "The Dazzling Hour" by Anna Bonacci, then Jean Cocteau's "La Machine Infernale" and others before another two-year run, this time in Shaw's "Pygmalion". From the late 1950s, after appearing in several successful films, she began to work with the emerging generation of French film-makers. "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958) with first-time director Louis Malle was followed by Malle's "The Lovers" ("Les Amants", 1959).  Moreau went on to work with many of the best known New Wave and avant-garde directors. François Truffaut's New Wave film "Jules et Jim" (1962), her biggest success internationally, is centered on her magnetic starring role. She also worked with a number of other notable directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni ("La notte" and "Beyond the Clouds"), Orson Welles ("The Trial", "Chimes at Midnight" and "The Immortal Story"), Luis Buñuel ("Diary of a Chambermaid"), Elia Kazan ("The Last Tycoon"), Rainer Werner Fassbinder ("Querelle"), Wim Wenders ("Until the End of the World"), Carl Foreman ("Champion" and "The Victors"), and Manoel de Oliveira "(Gebo et l'Ombre)".  In 1983, she was head of the jury at the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2005, she was awarded with the Stanislavsky Award at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.  Moreau was also a vocalist. She released several albums and once performed with Frank Sinatra at Carnegie Hall in 1984. In addition to acting, Moreau worked behind the camera as a writer, director and producer. Her accomplishments were the subject of the film "Calling the Shots" (1988) by Janis Cole and Holly Dale.

Personal life.

Throughout her life, Moreau maintained friendships with prominent writers such as Jean Cocteau, Jean Genet, Henry Miller and Marguerite Duras, (an interview with Moreau is included in Duras's book "Outside: Selected Writings"). She formerly was married to Jean-Louis Richard (1949–1964, separated in 1951) and then to American film director William Friedkin (1977–1979). Director Tony Richardson left his wife Vanessa Redgrave for her in 1967, but they never married. She also had affairs with directors Louis Malle and François Truffaut, fashion designer Pierre Cardin and the Greek actor/playboy Theodoros Roubanis.  In 1971, she was a signer of the Manifesto of the 343 which publicly announced she obtained an illegal abortion.  Moreau was a close friend of Sharon Stone, who presented a 1998 American Academy of Motion Pictures life tribute to Moreau at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, academy headquarters in Beverly Hills. Orson Welles called her "the greatest actress in the world", and she remained one of France's most accomplished actresses.

Jeanne Moreau (; 23 January 1928 – 31 July 2017) was a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director. She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for "Seven Days... Seven Nights" (1960) (which she shared with Melina Mercouri for her role in "Never on Sunday"), the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress for "Viva Maria!" (1965), and the César Award for Best Actress for "The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea" (1992). She was also the recipient of several lifetime awards, including a BAFTA Fellowship in 1996, Cannes Golden Palm in 2003 and César Award in 2008.


Gameplay.

Gameplay revolves around two phases each round, character selection and then taking actions.  Firstly, characters are selected through a partially secret draft. Each character has a different in-game effect which allows the player choosing that character to activate during the next phase of the turn. Beginning with the player possessing the crown counter, players take it in turn to choose a character card secretly before passing the hand to the next player. To add further strategy to the game, only some characters are available each round. Unavailable characters are selected randomly, and may be revealed or hidden, depending on the number of people playing. Also depending on the number of players in the game, players may be able to choose a second character, allowing them two 'turns' in the next phase of the round.  After character selection is finished, characters are called out in order to take their actions. Characters that were not selected (either by choice, or because they were not in the available selection) are ignored, and the next character takes their action phase. The actions involve: taking income, taking additional district cards, 'building' district cards, and using character-specific abilities.  Characters are then reshuffled and a new turn begins with players selecting new characters in the same process. When a player 'builds' their eighth district card in their tableau, the game ends and points are tallied. Bonus points are awarded for building the maximum 8 districts, being the first to do so, and having a district of each possible color (purple, yellow, red, blue, green).  There are several cards that affect the end of the game. A player can build the "Belltower" district card to cause the game to end with 7 districts instead of 8. This affects the appropriate bonus points and the warlord/diplomat abilities.

Characters.

The original set contained eight character cards:  The abilities associated with each character vary and include defensive, offensive, and bonus earning powers. For example, the Assassin has the ability to kill another character, preventing him or her from taking a turn; the King has the ability to move the crown counter, and the Warlord is able to destroy districts.

Expansions.

Additional character set.

The English language edition is sold as an expanded set with some extra cards and markers. These cards add a ninth character to be used in games of five or more players.  The expansion set also adds an entire set of new characters, any of which can be swapped for their numerical counterpart (i.e. a game could not have the Witch and the Assassin, as they are both Character #1):  These characters are generally a twist on the character and ability on the original set of character cards. For example, where the King takes the king token for himself, the Emperor instead nominates a different character to receive the king token.

The Dark City.

An expansion, "The Dark City", was released for the game in 2004. The expansion adds 14 new purple district cards, some turn summary cards, and a wooden king token. The German, Dutch, Lithuanian and Estonian language editions of "The Dark City" also include the nine new character cards from the English-language edition.

Circus.

The latest edition of the base game that was published in Germany in 2012 contained 15 new cards of a new type called "action cards". These cards can be used once per turn without costing any gold and offer various tactical advantages - comparable to purple district cards.  This new edition was released as Ohne Furcht und Adel. It included the base game and the new action cards, but not the Dark City expansion which was included with the Fantasy Flight 3rd edition of Citadels.

Citadels New Edition (2016).

This edition of the game includes characters and districts from the original game and The Dark City, as well as a brand new cast of 9 characters and 12 completely new districts! Lastly, this edition has new artwork.  New characters:

Citadels is a German-style card game, designed by Bruno Faidutti, originally published in French as "Citadelles" by MultiSim in 2000, illustrated by Julien Delval, Florence Magnin, Jean-Louis Mourier and Cyrille Daujean as graphic designer for the first edition. Sometime later, Citadels was published in German as "Ohne Furcht und Adel", which means "Without Fear or Nobility".


Theoretical extent.

Today these rifts and faults are seen as distinct, although connected, but originally, the Great Rift Valley was thought to be a single feature that extended from Lebanon in the north to Mozambique in the south, where it constitutes one of two distinct physiographic provinces of the East African mountains. It included what today is called the Lebanese section of the Dead Sea Transform, the Jordan Rift Valley, Red Sea Rift and the East African Rift. These rifts and faults were formed 35 million years ago.

Asia.

The northernmost parts of the Rift corresponds to the central section of what is called today the Dead Sea Transform (DST) or Rift. This midsection of the DST forms the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, separating the Lebanon from the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Further south it is known as the Hula Valley separating the Galilee mountains and the Golan Heights.  The Jordan River begins here and flows southward through Lake Hula into the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The Rift then continues south through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea on the Israeli-Jordanian border. From the Dead Sea southwards, the Rift is occupied by the Wadi Arabah, then the Gulf of Aqaba, and then the Red Sea.  Off the southern tip of Sinai in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea Transform meets the Red Sea Rift which runs the length of the Red Sea. The Red Sea Rift comes ashore to meet the East African Rift and the Aden Ridge in the Afar Depression of East Africa. The junction of these three rifts is called the Afar Triple Junction.

Africa.

The East African rift has two branches, the Western Rift Valley and the Eastern Rift Valley.  The Western Rift, also called the Albertine Rift, is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range. It contains the Rift Valley lakes, which include some of the deepest lakes in the world (up to deep at Lake Tanganyika).  Much of this area lies within the boundaries of national parks such as Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwenzori National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Lake Victoria is considered to be part of the rift valley system although it actually lies between the two branches. All of the African Great Lakes were formed as the result of the rift, and most lie within its rift valley.  In Kenya, the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi. As the lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outlet to the sea and tend to be shallow, they have a high mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind. For example, Lake Magadi has high concentrations of soda (sodium carbonate) and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while the freshwater springs supplying Lake Naivasha are essential to support its current biological variety.  The southern section of the Rift Valley includes Lake Malawi, the third-deepest freshwater body in the world, reaching in depth and separating the Nyassa plateau of Northern Mozambique from Malawi; it ends in the Zambezi valley.

The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon which is in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it is considered an imprecise merging of separate though related rift and fault systems.


Life.

Born at Wipfeld, near Schweinfurt in Lower Franconia under his original name Konrad Bickel or Pyckell (modern spelling Pickel), Celtes pursued his studies at the University of Cologne (1477–1479; B.A., 1479) and at the University of Heidelberg (1484). While at Heidelberg, he received instruction from Dalberg and Agricola. As customary in those days for humanists, he Latinized his name, to Conradus Celtis. For some time he delivered humanist lectures during his travels to Erfurt, Rostock and Leipzig. His first work was titled "Ars versificandi et carminum" (The Art of Writing Verses and Poems, 1486). He further undertook lecture tours to Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice.  The elector Frederick of Saxony approached the emperor Frederick III, who named Conrad Celtes "Poet Laureate" (Honored Poet) upon his return. At this great imperial ceremonial gathering in Nuremberg, Celtes was at the same time presented with a doctoral degree. Celtes again made a lecturing tour throughout the empire.  In 1489–1491, he stayed in Kraków where he studied mathematics, astronomy and the natural sciences at the Jagiellonian University (at which he enrolled in 1489), and befriended many other humanists such as Lorenz Rabe and Bonacursius. He also founded a learned society, based on the Roman academies. The local branch of the society was called "Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana" (the "Literary Society on the Vistula River").  In 1490 he once again went through Breslau (Wrocław) to Prague, capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Hartmann Schedel used Celtis' descriptions of Breslau in the "Schedelsche Weltchronik" (Nuremberg Chronicle). In Hungary, Celtis formed the "Sodalitas Litterarum Hungaria" ("Hungarian Literary Society"), later as "Sodalitas Litterarum Danubiana" to be based in Vienna. He made stops at Regensburg, Passau and Nuremberg (and probably Mainz). At Heidelberg he founded the "Sodalitas Litterarum Rhenana" ("Rhineland Literary Society"). Later he went to Lübeck and Ingolstadt. At Ingolstadt, in 1492, he delivered his famous speech to the students there, in which he called on Germans to rival Italians in learning and letters. This would later become an extremely popular address in sixteenth-century German nationalistic sentiment.  While the plague ravaged Ingolstadt, Celtes taught at Heidelberg. By now he was a professor. In 1497 Celtes was called to Vienna by the emperor Maximilian I, who honored him as "teacher of the art of poetry and conversation" with an imperial "Privilegium", the first of its kind. There he lectured on the works of classical writers and in 1502 founded the "Collegium Poetarum", a college for poets. His invitation to Vienna came about greatly at the influence of his friend and fellow scholar Johannes Cuspinian.  Celtes died at Vienna a few years later of syphilis.

Overview.

Conrad Celtes' teachings had lasting effects, particularly in the field of history. He was the first to teach the history of the world as a whole. He started work on the "Germania Illustrata" with "Germania generalis" and "De origine, situ, moribus et institutis Norimbergae libellus" ("On the origins, site, habits and institutions of Nuremberg"). He discovered and published the writings of Hroswitha of Gandersheim. Celtes also discovered a map showing roads of the Roman Empire, the "Tabula Peutingeriana", or Peutinger Table. Celtes collected numerous Greek and Latin manuscripts in his function as librarian of the imperial library that was founded by Maximilian, and he claimed to have discovered the missing books of Ovid’s "Fasti" in a letter to the Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius in 1504. The purported new verses had actually been composed by an 11th-century monk and were known to the Empire of Nicaea according to William of Rubruck, but even so, many contemporary scholars believed Celtes and continued to write about the existence of the missing books until well into the 17th century.  Conrad Celtes was more of a free-thinking humanist and placed a higher value on the ancient pagan, rather than the Christian ideal. His friend Willibald Pirckheimer had blunt discussions with him on that subject.  The Celtis-Gymnasium in Schweinfurt was named after Conrad Celtis.

Conrad Celtes (; ; 1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) was a German humanist scholar and poet of the German Renaissance born in Franconia (nowadays part of Bavaria). He led the theatrical performances at the Viennese court and reformed the syllabi. In 1500, he published Tacitus' "Germania" and his rediscovered works (e.g. Hrotsvit von Gandersheim, 1501) and wrote the "Quatuor libri amorum" in 1500, after the model of Ovid.


Conjoint design.

A product or service area is described in terms of a number of attributes. For example, a television may have attributes of screen size, screen format, brand, price and so on. Each attribute can then be broken down into a number of levels. For instance, levels for screen format may be LED, LCD, or Plasma.  Respondents would be shown a set of products, prototypes, mock-ups, or pictures created from a combination of levels from all or some of the constituent attributes and asked to choose from, rank or rate the products they are shown. Each example is similar enough that consumers will see them as close substitutes but dissimilar enough that respondents can clearly determine a preference. Each example is composed of a unique combination of product features. The data may consist of individual ratings, rank orders, or preferences among alternative combinations.  Conjoint design involves four different steps:

1. Determine the type of study.

There are different types of study that can be chosen:

2. Identify the relevant attributes.

Attributes in conjoint analysis should:

3. Specify the attributes’ levels.

Levels of attributes should be:

4. Design questionnaire.

As the number of combinations of attributes and levels increases the number of potential profiles increases exponentially. Consequently, fractional factorial design is commonly used to reduce the number of profiles that have to be evaluated, while ensuring enough data are available for statistical analysis, resulting in a carefully controlled set of "profiles" for the respondent to consider.

Types.

The earliest forms of conjoint analysis were what are known as Full Profile studies, in which a small set of attributes (typically 4 to 5) are used to create profiles that are shown to respondents, often on individual cards. Respondents then rank or rate these profiles. Using relatively simple dummy variable regression analysis the implicit utilities for the levels can be calculated. Two drawbacks were seen in these early designs.  Firstly, the number of attributes in use was heavily restricted. With large numbers of attributes, the consideration task for respondents becomes too large and even with fractional factorial designs the number of profiles for evaluation can increase rapidly. In order to use more attributes (up to 30), hybrid conjoint techniques were developed. The main alternative was to do some form of self-explication (rating of separate components) before the conjoint tasks and some form of adaptive computer-aided choice over the profiles to be shown.  The second drawback was that the task itself was unrealistic and did not link directly to behavioural theory. In real-life situations, the task would be some form of actual choice between alternatives rather than the more artificial ranking and rating originally used. Jordan Louviere pioneered an approach that used only a choice task which became the basis of choice-based conjoint analysis and discrete choice analysis. This stated preference research is linked to econometric modeling and can be linked to revealed preference where choice models are calibrated on the basis of real rather than survey data. Originally choice-based conjoint analysis was unable to provide individual level utilities as it aggregated choices across a market. This made it unsuitable for market segmentation studies. With newer hierarchical Bayesian analysis techniques, individual level utilities can be imputed back to provide individual level data.

Information collection.

Data for conjoint analysis are most commonly gathered through a market research survey, although conjoint analysis can also be applied to a carefully designed configurator or data from an appropriately designed test market experiment. Market research rules of thumb apply with regard to statistical sample size and accuracy when designing conjoint analysis interviews.  The length of the research questionnaire depends on the number of attributes to be assessed and the method of conjoint analysis in use. A typical adaptive conjoint questionnaire with 20-25 attributes may take more than 30 minutes to complete. Choice based conjoint, by using a smaller profile set distributed across the sample as a whole may be completed in less than 15 minutes. Choice exercises may be displayed as a store front type layout or in some other simulated shopping environment.

Analysis.

Depending on the type of model, different econometric and statistical methods can be used to estimate utility functions. These utility functions indicate the perceived value of the feature and how sensitive consumer perceptions and preferences are to changes in product features. The actual estimation procedure will depend on the design of the task and profiles for respondents, in the type of specification, and the scale of measure for preferences (it can be ratio, ranking, choice) which can have a limited range or not. For rated full profile tasks, linear regression may be appropriate, for choice based tasks, maximum likelihood estimation, usually with logistic regression are typically used. The original methods were monotonic analysis of variance or linear programming techniques, but contemporary marketing research practice has shifted towards choice-based models using multinomial logit, mixed versions of this model, and other refinements. Bayesian estimators are also very popular. Hierarchical Bayesian procedures are nowadays relatively popular as well.

Practical applications.

Market research.

One practical application of conjoint analysis in business analysis is given by the following example: A real estate developer is interested in building a high rise apartment complex near an urban Ivy League university. To ensure the success of the project, a market research firm is hired to conduct focus groups with current students. Students are segmented by academic year (freshman, upper classmen, graduate studies) and amount of financial aid received. Study participants are given a series of index cards. Each card has 6 attributes to describe the potential building project (proximity to campus, cost, telecommunication packages, laundry options, floor plans, and security features offered). The estimated cost to construct the building described on each card is equivalent. Participants are asked to order the cards from least to most appealing. This forced ranking exercise will indirectly reveal the participants' priorities and preferences. Multi-variate regression analysis may be used to determine the strength of preferences across target market segments.

Litigation.

Federal courts in the United States have allowed expert witnesses to use conjoint analysis to support their opinions on the damages that an infringer of a patent should pay to compensate the patent holder for violating its rights. Nonetheless, legal scholars have noted that the Federal Circuit's jurisprudence on the use of conjoint analysis in patent-damages calculations remains in a formative stage.  One example of this is how Apple used a conjoint analysis to prove the damages suffered by Samsung's copyright infringement, and increase their compensation in the case.

Conjoint analysis is a survey-based statistical technique used in market research that helps determine how people value different attributes (feature, function, benefits) that make up an individual product or service.


Overview.

Then, given a platform model corresponding to CORBA,.NET, the Web, etc., the platform independent model (PIM) is translated to one or more platform-specific models (PSMs) that computers can run. This requires mappings and transformations and should be modeled too.  The OMG organization provides rough specifications rather than implementations, often as answers to Requests for Proposals (RFPs). Implementations come from private companies or open source groups.

Related standards.

The MDA model is related to multiple standards, including the Unified Modeling Language (UML), the Meta-Object Facility (MOF), XML Metadata Interchange (XMI), Enterprise Distributed Object Computing (EDOC), the Software Process Engineering Metamodel (SPEM), and the Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM). Note that the term “architecture” in Model-driven architecture does not refer to the architecture of the system being modeled, but rather to the architecture of the various standards and model forms that serve as the technology basis for MDA.  Executable UML was the UML profile used when MDA was born. Now, the OMG is promoting fUML, instead. (The action language for fUML is ALF.)

Trademark.

The Object Management Group holds registered trademarks on the term Model Driven Architecture and its acronym MDA, as well as trademarks for terms such as: Model Based Application Development, Model Driven Application Development, Model Based Application Development, Model Based Programming, Model Driven Systems, and others.

Model-driven architecture topics.

MDA approach.

OMG focuses Model-driven architecture on forward engineering, i.e. producing code from abstract, human-elaborated modelling diagrams (e.g. class diagrams). OMG's ADTF (Analysis and Design Task Force) group leads this effort. With some humour, the group chose ADM (MDA backwards) to name the study of reverse engineering. ADM decodes to Architecture-Driven Modernization. The objective of ADM is to produce standards for model-based reverse engineering of legacy systems. Knowledge Discovery Metamodel (KDM) is the furthest along of these efforts, and describes information systems in terms of various assets (programs, specifications, data, test files, database schemas, etc.).  As the concepts and technologies used to realize designs and the concepts and technologies used to realize architectures have changed at their own pace, decoupling them allows system developers to choose from the best and most fitting in both domains. The design addresses the functional (use case) requirements while architecture provides the infrastructure through which non-functional requirements like scalability, reliability and performance are realized. MDA envisages that the platform independent model (PIM), which represents a conceptual design realizing the functional requirements, will survive changes in realization technologies and software architectures.  Of particular importance to model-driven architecture is the notion of model transformation. A specific standard language for model transformation has been defined by OMG called QVT.

MDA tools.

The OMG organization provides rough specifications rather than implementations, often as answers to Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The OMG documents the overall process in a document called the MDA Guide.  Basically, an MDA tool is a tool used to develop, interpret, compare, align, measure, verify, transform, etc. models or metamodels. In the following section "model" is interpreted as meaning any kind of model (e.g. a UML model) or metamodel (e.g. the CWM metamodel). In any MDA approach we have essentially two kinds of models: "initial models" are created manually by human agents while "derived models" are created automatically by programs. For example, an analyst may create a UML initial model from its observation of some loose business situation while a Java model may be automatically derived from this UML model by a Model transformation operation.  An MDA tool may be a tool used to check models for completeness, inconsistencies, or error and warning conditions. Also used to calculate metrics for the model.  Some tools perform more than one of the functions listed above. For example, some creation tools may also have transformation and test capabilities. There are other tools that are solely for creation, solely for graphical presentation, solely for transformation, etc.  Implementations of the OMG specifications come from private companies or open source groups. One important source of implementations for OMG specifications is the Eclipse Foundation (EF). Many implementations of OMG modeling standards may be found in the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) or Graphical Modeling Framework (GMF), the Eclipse foundation is also developing other tools of various profiles as GMT. Eclipse's compliance to OMG specifications is often not strict. This is true for example for OMG's EMOF standard, which EMF approximates with its Ecore implementation. More examples may be found in the M2M project implementing the QVT standard or in the M2T project implementing the MOF2Text standard.  One should be careful not to confuse the "List of MDA Tools" and the List of UML tools, the former being much broader. This distinction can be made more general by distinguishing 'variable metamodel tools' and 'fixed metamodel tools'. A UML CASE tool is typically a 'fixed metamodel tool' since it has been hard-wired to work only with a given version of the UML metamodel (e.g. UML 2.1). On the contrary, other tools have internal generic capabilities allowing them to adapt to arbitrary metamodels or to a particular kind of metamodels.  Usually MDA tools focus rudimentary architecture specification, although in some cases the tools are architecture-independent (or platform independent).  Simple examples of architecture specifications include:

MDA concerns.

Some key concepts that underpin the MDA approach (launched in 2001) were first elucidated by the Shlaer-Mellor method during the late 1980s. Indeed, a key absent technical standard of the MDA approach (that of an action language syntax for Executable UML) has been bridged by some vendors by adapting the original Shlaer-Mellor Action Language (modified for UML). However, during this period the MDA approach has not gained mainstream industry acceptance; with the Gartner Group still identifying MDA as an "on the rise" technology in its 2006 "Hype Cycle", and Forrester Research declaring MDA to be "D.O.A." in 2006. Potential concerns that have been raised with the OMG MDA approach include:

Code generation controversy.

Code generation means that the user abstractly models solutions, which are connoted by some model data, and then an automated tool derives from the models parts or all of the source code for the software system. In some tools, the user can provide a skeleton of the program source code, in the form of a source code template where predefined tokens are then replaced with program source code parts during the code generation process.  An often cited criticism is that the UML diagrams just lack the detail which is needed to contain the same information as is covered with the program source. Some developers even claim that "the Code "is" the design".

Model-driven architecture (MDA) is a software design approach for the development of software systems. It provides a set of guidelines for the structuring of specifications, which are expressed as models. Model-driven architecture is a kind of domain engineering, and supports model-driven engineering of software systems. It was launched by the Object Management Group (OMG) in 2001.


History.

"Gradec", Slovene for 'little castle', was first mentioned in a 1091 deed, then part of the Imperial March of Styria. The prefix "Windisch" (the traditional German name for Slavs in general and Slovenes in particular) was added to distinguish it from the city Graz (whose name has the same etymology). The modern Slovene name, Slovenj Gradec (literally: the Slovene Graz), derives from this German denomination. From 1180 until 1918, Slovenj Gradec belonged to the Duchy of Styria, since 1804 a crown land of the Austrian Empire. It was the ancestral seat of the Windisch-Graetz noble family first documented in 1220. Upon the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, with the rest of Lower Styria, it was included in the newly established Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Until 1918, the town was a German-speaking island in a Slovene-speaking area. In the 1880 census, the town of Slovenj Gradec was 75 percent German-speaking and 25 percent Slovene-speaking. Many inhabitants, like the family of the composer Hugo Wolf, were of mixed ethnic origin. After the end of World War I, many of the local German-speaking inhabitants emigrated to Austria. Those who remained were gradually assimilated into the now Slovene-speaking majority. During World War Two, the town was occupied by the Nazis and annexed to the Third Reich. The local Slovenes were submitted to a policy of violent Germanization and many died of various persecutions. The partisan insurgency developed in the area, especially in the hills to the east of the town. After World War II, the remaining ethnic Germans were expelled from Yugoslavia, and Slovenj Gradec lost its traditional presence of German speakers.  From the 1950s onward, the town experienced a rapid industrialization and eventually became the unofficial economic and political center for Slovenian Carinthia. In 1994, it became one of the 11 towns in Slovenia with the status of City (or Urban) Municipality.

Main sights.

The parish church in the town is dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor. It was first mentioned in written documents from 1235. Next to it stands a Gothic chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit with frescos dating to the mid-15th century.  In 1994, an archaeological excavation uncovered the remains of what is believed to be the oldest church in Styria, dating to the Carolingian period (second half of the 9th century).  The Slovenj Gradec Art Gallery () was founded in 1957 and is located on the first floor of the old town hall in the town centre. The gallery hosted international fine art exhibitions under the sponsorship of the United Nations in 1966, 1975, 1979, 1985, and 1991. The 1997 exhibition "The Artist and Urban Environment" displayed art activity in Peace Messenger Cities from all over the world. In 2012, Slovenj Gradec and Ptuj were partners with Maribor, the European Capital of Culture. As a result, the gallery presented further exhibitions that attracted Europe-wide attention.

Notable residents.

Notable people that were born or lived in Slovenj Gradec include:

International relations.

Twin towns — Sister cities.

Slovenj Gradec is twinned with:  Charter of cultural cooperation was signed with Bardejov, Slovakia.

International Association of Peace Messenger Cities.

Since 1989, Slovenj Gradec was one of the most active and progressive cities within The International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, being a member of its executive board since 1997 and secretary-general of this organization in periods 2007–2010, 2010–2013, 2013–2016 and 2016–2019.

Slovenj Gradec (; ", "after about 1900 "Windischgraz") is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Slovenj Gradec. It is part of the historical Styria region, and since 2005 it has belonged to the NUTS-3 Carinthia Statistical Region. It is located in the Mislinja Valley at the eastern end of the Karawanks mountain range, about west of Maribor and northeast of Ljubljana.


Background.

The purpose of the NRF is to provide a quick reaction force of high quality to support NATO missions as required. The concept of NRF was first endorsed with a declaration of NATO's Heads of State at the Prague Summit on 22 November 2002. It was then approved by NATO Defence Ministers in June 2003, and the first headquarters created in October 2003 in Italy under command of NATO Joint Force Command in Brunssum, Netherlands, designated NRF 1. Its rotation replacement was designated NRF 2 (2004) at the same time.  Rotating forces through the NRF requires nations to meet the demanding standards needed for collective defence and expeditionary operations. As the standards are very high, participation in the NRF is preceded by a six-month NATO exercise program in order to integrate and standardize the various national contingents. Generally, nations carry out a pre-training period in preparation for the NATO exercises of between 6–18 months. Once activated Reconnaissance Teams deploy within 5 days. This is the first of a number of deployment phases that lead to the deployment of the entire HQ Joint Task Force and Immediate Reaction Forces within 30 days.

Tasks.

The NRF is certified by NATO to perform a wide variety of tasks including: providing an immediate response capability for conducting collective defence of Alliance members in the event of an Article V operation;

Structure.

The NRF has three elements:  Command & Control element: This is based on a deployable Joint Force Headquarters. Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) has overall strategic command of the NRF. NATO's two Joint Force Commands, based in Brunssum, Netherlands and Naples, Italy take one-year turns to command the NRF.  Immediate Response Force (IRF): The IRF element is designed to provide the initial response to a crisis and is not scaled to be a stand-alone force for all but the smallest operations. If further land, maritime or air capabilities are required, they will be drawn from the Response Forces Pool.  Response Forces Pool (RFP): The RFP consists of a broad spectrum of military capabilities encompassing command and control, combat and support units. There is no fixed size to the RFP. The forces contributed to the RFP are drawn from the much wider pool of Allied or Partners National deployable forces.

During the 2014 Wales summit NATO leaders agreed to establish a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF). The VJTF will be a high-readiness "Spearhead Force" able to deploy at short notice to threats against NATO sovereignty. It will consist of a land brigade numbering around 5,000 troops, supported by air, sea and special forces. The VJTF would be supported by two more land brigades as a "rapid reinforcement capability" in case of a major crisis. Altogether, the enhanced NATO Response Force will amount to around 30,000 troops.

Deployments.

As of January 2015, units assigned to the NRF have been used on four occasions:

Non-NATO participants.

Of NATO's non-member partners, Finland and Sweden joined the Response Force in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Ukraine and Georgia began contributions, respectively, in 2014 and 2015.

The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a high readiness force comprising land, air, sea and special forces units capable of being deployed quickly on operations wherever needed.


History.

The city was founded in the 12th century (the first known written record dates from 1115). The Church of St Peter stands on the site of the original fort. The original name was "Luna", which is retained in the name of a local park, "Pramen Luna", and accounts for the Moon as part of the town's emblem. The town developed and expanded during the reign of Ottokar I of Bohemia, although the Thirty Years' War depopulated the city. The second half of the 19th century witnessed the economic growth of the area. Until 1918, "Laun - Louny" was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), in the district of the same name, one of the 94 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Bohemia.  The town lies on a railway junction and a factory for overhauling railway engines and rolling stock was established in 1873 which became a major employer and contributed to the town's expansion during the early 20th century. The former state company has now been privatized, but remains the town's largest employer with a workforce of 750.  Other industries include a brewery (from the hops which are grown in the region) and a factory making porcelain electrical insulators for power cables, etc.  The town's architecture was formed mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries when many old buildings were torn down. Nevertheless, the most important architectural feature is Roman Catholic St. Nicholas Church, erected between 1517 and 1537 in the late Gothic style. One of the architects was Benedikt Rejt. It incorporates a tower from an earlier church which was otherwise destroyed along with most of the town by a major fire in 1517.  Parts of the town ramparts remain, as does the Žatec Gate which dates from 1500 but was reconstructed in 1872.  An Open-Air Museum of Archeology is located in nearby Březno.

Twin towns — sister cities.

Louny is twinned with:

Louny (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated on the River Ohře.