Geography.

Aunis is mostly a rolling chalk plain, whose navigable rivers have always been important modes of communication, and from which came economic development and the urbanisation of the region.  The region is coastal, with varied seafronts and offshore islands, from which maritime activities diversified. Nowadays tourism is of great importance.

Geographic framework.

Aunis has two river borders, those of the Sèvre Niortaise in the north, and the Charente River in the south. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean and two islands, the Île de Ré and the Île d'Aix. To the east it is bordered by the valley of the Mignon River (the main left tributary of the Sèvre Niortaise), by the hills of Saintonge around Saint-Félix, and by the valleys of the Trézence and Boutonne. Aunis is a chalk plain of the Jurassic period, characterised by gently rolling hills, where no valley is completely enclosed, and where the land has a regular descent towards the sea. The islands of Ré and Aix were made at the same time and from the same type of rock. The chalk table completes the triangular promontory which juts into the Atlantic, forming the northern extremity of the Aquitaine Basin.  Large freshwater and seawater marshes have formed in places that have been drained, hardly altering the general relief. The seawater marshes correspond to ancient marine gulfs, made from marine or fluvial sediments. Since the Middle Ages they have been continuously drained by people. In the north, the Marais Poitevin dries up, at the centre there are the valleys of the small river Curé and its main tributary the Virson and in the east the valley of the Mignon River). In the south is the marshland of "Little Flanders" (), drained since the 17th century. Together these constitute an important reservoir of fresh water, essential for the agricultural and snail-farming activities of the north of the department.

Transport.

The geography of the plain was always very unfavourable for communications. The region was almost an enclave, and for a long time on the margins of the French kingdom politically as well as geographically.  Huge efforts were made to break this geographical isolation. Without doubt the most spectacular was the coming of the railway in 1857, running from La Rochelle and Rochefort to Paris. This line has been repeatedly modernised (made double track, and electrified in 1993 for use by the TGV).  The regional railways connecting Nantes to Bordeaux also serve Aunis, passing through La Rochelle, Châtelaillon-Plage and Rochefort.  Roads have also been considerably modernised, notably the roads from La Rochelle to Rochefort, from La Rochelle to Niort, the A837 autoroute from Rochefort to Saintes, the viaduct over the Charente River at Rochefort, the ring road around La Rochelle, and the bridge to the Île de Ré, all of which are now dual carriageways.  The modernisation of communication infrastructure had its heyday in the second half of the 19th century, at the end of the Second French Empire, and economic activity diversified.

Agricultural and maritime activities.

The two principal agricultural resources are intensive arable farming (wheat, maize, oil seed) and livestock farming. Dairy cows have long been the mainstay, but more and more cows and bulls are raised for beef (principally in the marshy areas).  Vineyards were virtually abandoned after phylloxera wiped them out in 1876, although there are still some on the Île de Ré.  At sea, between the estuary of the Sèvre Niortaise and the north of La Rochelle, mussel farming () has an important place, while Fouras and the Marais d'Yves Nature Reserve are the main centres for oyster farming. La Rochelle keeps its place as a fishing port thanks to its modern port of Chef-de-Baie, but even so fishing is in decline. Reclamation of sea salt from the marshes of Aunis brought the region its riches in the Middle Ages, but this has now completely disappeared from the coast of mainland Aunis. However, it still takes place on the Île de Ré and notably on the nearby Île d'Ars, and has lately achieved a certain notability for its small-volume craft production and minimal postprocessing.  In the north-east of Aunis there is a huge forest of hardwood trees, the Forest of Benon, which has been protected because it is unique to the region. With an area of, it is the Aunisiens' "green belt".

Industrial diversification.

Aunis does not have the strong industrial tradition which is the trademark of regions of the North and of Lorraine, and it was only at the end of the 19th century that factories started to be developed. After World War II, industry in Aunis continued, was reinforced, diversified and brought up-to-date.  Three industrial hubs emerged in Aunis to bring together the industries of Charente-Maritime:  In addition there are two smaller, newer industrial areas: Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis and Marans.

Tourism.

Thanks to the sea, Aunis developed its tourist potential which, in the late 19th century, came to the fore with the trend for sea bathing. Bathing beaches such as Châtelaillon-Plage and Fouras gained notability, while the larger beaches such as those of the Île de Ré became national treasures from the 1960s. The Pertuis d'Antioche, which is effectively an inland sea, was popular for pleasure boating in the 1970s. La Rochelle, with its immense Port des Minimes, can hold pleasure boats, and has become the largest pleasure boating port on the French Atlantic. Ars-en-Ré, La Flotte and Saint-Martin-de-Ré are also well-known pleasure ports, while the river ports of Marans on the Sèvre niortaise, and Rochefort, on the Charente, had disused port basins that have become home to pleasure boats, and can each take more than 200 craft.  The Île de Ré lives totally by tourism and can accommodate up to tourists during the summer season. This "invasion" is even more pronounced on the Île d'Aix which accommodates up to tourists each year, even though it does not have a car bridge.  Aunis has also developed its cultural and urban tourism with its two great historical towns of La Rochelle and Rochefort. The small towns of the interior are not without interest and have enhanced their heritage sites, like Surgères (Notre-Dame church, castle, renovated town centre) and Marans (port and river site), Tonnay-Charente (management of Charente quays). Aunis has made huge efforts to put in place green tourism and has developed, notably at Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis, quality tourist bases (lac de Frace, tourist complex of La Taillée).

Demography.

In 2006 the region had inhabitants, nearly half the total population of Charente-Maritime (47.9%).  In 2010, the northwest of the department had ten of the seventeen towns of over inhabitants, and 31 of the department's 60 communes of over inhabitants.  The region covers, 21.8% of the whole department.  The population density of the region is more than twice that of the departmental average:, compared to for Charente-Maritime as a whole. It is nearly thrice that of the Poitou-Charentes region at and is higher than the national average, which in 2006 was.  The ratio of urban to rural population is comparable to the national average, which is 3:4. This is considerably different from Charente-Maritime as a whole, where the ratio is nearer 3:5.  The region became considerably more urban after World War II, though the population is unevenly distributed. Above all, the Aunis coastal towns have expanded to provide the larger part of employment and leisure.  La Rochelle and Rochefort are the most populous urban areas not just in Aunis but in all Charente-Maritime. The two towns are becoming twin cities with many suburbs, connected by regular railway trains. This heavily built-up area is now home to over inhabitants ( inhabitants in 2006). This urban area is second in the region after the "Clain corridor", which runs between Poitiers and Châtellerault. Near the coast the towns have formed a dense urban web and the population density is particularly high: in the three cantons of Rochefort, in the canton of Aytré, in the combined cantons of La Rochelle. The La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area alone includes nine towns of the seventeen with more than inhabitants, and twenty communes with more than inhabitants, of the sixty in Charente-Maritime in 2006.  The concentration of the population is even greater in the immediate neighbours of La Rochelle, where the canton of La Jarrie had a population density of in 2006.  Beyond the La Rochelle-Rochefort twin city area, the population density is lower, and is indeed lower than the departmental average, which was in 2006. The cantons of Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis, Surgères and Marans had respectively, and. Only the Canton of Courçon had a density of less than ( in 2006), even though its population surged between 1999 and 2006 by 28.4%. The Pays d'Aunis, an administrative region comprising four communes (Courçon, Pays Marandais, Plaine d'Aunis and Surgères), returned a census in 2006 of inhabitants in an area of, giving a density of. It is still a mostly rural region, but is rapidly becoming more built-up.  Urbanisation has been just as fast on the Île de Ré, especially in the east. In the Canton of Saint-Martin-de-Ré all the communes have over inhabitants, and the population density is one of the highest of the entire department, at in 2006 compared to for the whole department and for the urban area of La Rochelle. In 2006 the population density of the Île de Ré was the highest of the entire French coast, being a record high of.  The principal towns of Aunis are:

Toponymy.

The name of the province appears for the first time in history in 785 AD. Following the partition of Aquitaine into nine counties, as decreed by Charlemagne in 778, the name of "Aunis", written as, appeared in the last will and testament of Count Roger.  But the etymology of the name has been given many different interpretations and folk etymologies that are still used today. Even so, some people think "The most probable origin is that the town of Aulnay (Aulnay en Saintongeais), which was more important in the Middle Ages than it is today. Aulnay marked the frontier between Santones and Pictones. Little by little the province shrank until the frontier was situated a long way from Aulnay. It is the smallest province in France". This interpretation does not pass muster, because there is absolutely no connection between the original names of Aulnay which, in Latin, were written (in 951) or (in 970), so that Aunis, with its older name as seen above, was written or instead. Even now, there is no consensus among historians and etymologists.  Etymologists have proposed three possible interpretations which deserve consideration:

History.

In ancient times the region was a long way from civilisation. It was not until the Middle Ages that the province entered history, when La Rochelle sealed its fate and became its capital.

The "pays des aulnes" in antiquity.

In Celtic and Gallo-Roman times, the northern part of Santonie, which became called "Aunis", was a long-neglected region far from civilisation, with no communications.  The old "Forest of Argenson" covered the entire region. For many centuries this huge forest made a near-impenetrable natural frontier stretching from the Boutonne and Charente Rivers to the east, which kept it apart from the ancient province of the Pictones. This was the (), where the trees had established themselves on riverbanks and in the marshy valleys, but where beeches and oaks also made up a dark and mysterious forest, awe-inspiring and full of superstition.  Moreover, the deep sea gulfs (Gulf of Pictones, to the north, Gulf of Santones, to the south) made it a slender peninsula. Its seclusion lent its name as, now Saintonge. This geographic isolation made communications and trade very poor. One can see from a road map of Gallo-Roman times, Aunis is entirely absent. The old Roman road which ran from (now the town of Saintes) to (now the town of Angers) was routed entirely to the east of Aunis. The name of this Roman road remains in some modern place names as ("St Felix's Way") and ("Marshland Way"): this is Route départmentale D.120, which runs from Saint-Jean-d'Angély until the department's border with Deux-Sèvres. This Roman road is found in the "Table de Peutinger", where again no Roman road goes into Aunis.  Finally, the valleys of the rivers Curé, Virson, Mignon, and Gères, which were much larger than today, cut deeply through the region's invading forest. But they had the inconvenience of being marshy and prone to floods that turned them into real marshes and bogs, making the region particularly difficult to reach.  All these natural phenomena combined, so that it has been said "this region [...], often flooded and marshy, has its riches, is easy to defend, but cannot become the fulcrum for an attack".  The coast was occupied by the Celts, even during the time of – they preferred to call the area Saintonge and themselves Santones – and then the Romans in the 1st century BC. Saintonge offered better living and working conditions than the northern area (Aunis) thanks to the large valleys of the Charente River and its two principal tributaries, the Seugne and the Boutonne. The huge Gironde Estuary of the Seudre allowed direct contact with the more advanced civilisation of the Roman Empire to the south, via notably, the Garonne valley. Transport was largely on the waterways, even after the Romans had built their more advanced – and more expensive – roads.  Before the Roman conquest around the middle of the 1st century AD, the Celts had a stronghold over the northern shores of the Gulf of Santones. They had even colonised some of the islands in the gulf, which today are part of the Marais () de Rochefort. The Santones had worked laboriously to perfect a technique of saltwater extraction, and their ancient production sites were put right on the shoreline. These are ("salt sites"). These small-scale production sites were particularly numerous in the north of the Gulf of Santones, equally along the coastline, in the deep estuaries, and all around the islands (notably the Île d'Albe).  The salt sites were quickly abandoned after the Roman conquest, because the new colonists brought with them a better-performing and more-productive technique for producing salt. Nevertheless, the Romans preferred to have their first salt marshes in the south, notably at Marennes, and on the banks of the Seudre River. Salt production, which before had been driven by profit, could be done faster around the Gironde, which became an important arterial river for the transport of goods to and from the southern provinces of the Roman Empire.  During the first three centuries of the Gallo-Roman period, the Romans were especially keen to colonise the area between the coastline of Aunis and the ancient "sylve d'Argenson" ("Forest of Argenson"), taking lands latterly in Santone hands. The new colonists, somewhat turning their backs to the sea, set up their – large farms of some dozens of acres, predating the towns themselves – at Ardillières, Le Thou, Ballon, and Thairé. All these sites left numerous archaeological finds: at Ballon, the remains of a Gallo-Roman villa have been found; at Ardillières, tombs with Gallo-Roman objects have been recovered; at Thou, a Gallo-Roman villa and some coins were discovered in the 19th century.  However, near the end of the 3rd century AD, the entered a new age of prosperity, and its northern part was just as prosperous, after it was integrated into Aquitaine. The Romans also had interests in the ""Pays des Aulnes"" and had started to clear the Forest of Argenson on its eastern border. During the 1st century AD they had built the Roman road connecting (Saintes) to (Angers) but it passed Aunis by, so clearings were opened into this vast forest, notably at Vouhé. Here remains of a Gallo-Roman villa have been restored, together with many fragmentary finds. At Saint-Georges-du-Bois, previously "Argenton", the Romans built a small amphitheatre.  In the 4th century AD the Romans decided to clear the Forest of Argenson along the southern shores of the Gulf of Pictones, which had been occupied by Celts since ancient times. The present Forest of Benon is in this area, where the Romans also established, whose names still linger on, such as that of the Gallo-Roman site in the commune of Saint-Ouen-d'Aunis., or the old – nowadays the commune of Nuaillé-d'Aunis, or indeed that of at Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis.  These attempts at deforestation and colonisation did succeed, albeit belatedly, but came to a halt with the invasions of the 5th century AD. So, the "barbarous" people sealed the fall of the western Roman Empire, with pillage and destruction from which Santonie did not escape. The province was then occupied by the Visigoths from the start of the 5th century AD, and then by the Franks, who took over after their victory in Vouillé in 507 AD.

The "pagus alnensis" in the Middle Ages.

Aunis was once again neglected throughout the Middle Ages, "ignoring" the barbarians who had, after all, appropriated the great Roman roads during their invasions. From the time the Franks settled in the 6th century to the Carolingian dynasty in the 9th power in the province was unstable and autarchic.  It was under Carolingian rule that Saintonge truly entered recorded history.  Its name,, appears for the first time in 785. It was under the control of the Counts of Poitou. Towards the end of the 10th century, after Carolingian power collapsed, Aunis separated from Saintonge and had its first capital, Châtelaillon.  In the 9th and 10th centuries the Counts of Poitou hastened to fortify the Aunis coast. They built the four-tower fortress at Châtelaillon as their stronghold to deal with the Viking threat. But repeated Norman incursions into the interior, reached by river and stream, caused great insecurity. So in the 9th century the Duke of Poitou built the fortified city of Surgères, also called the of Benon, with "a tower that stood in the middle of a square, encircled by two paths and three moats".  At the end of the 11th century, the Counts of Poitou started to pay attention to the forsaken backwaters of the region, and made them a priority. Above all, they encouraged powerful abbeys to be founded after clearing the Forest of Argenson. () Abbey was built in Benon, being the first Cistercian abbey to be founded in Aunis, and an active participant in the forest clearing movement. The clearings opened the way into the ancient forest to set up villages and farming (wheat, oats, barley) and to plant vines. The powerful monasteries, backed up by the lords, helped with the clearings of Aunis in the 11th century. But it is mostly during the 12th and 13th centuries that these earthworks were completed; much later that they became the "plain" of Aunis.  On the coast, the salt waters had become amenable and created Aunis's wealth, and by the end of the 11th century its prosperity was assured. Châtelaillon rapidly became the largest fortified city in Aunis and an important port for the transport of salt from Aunis, and wine from Saintonge.  After the demise of Châtelaillon in 1130, La Rochelle quickly rose to prominence and became the new capital of Aunis: "The demise of Châtelaillon dates to 1130, but it was only in 1144 that Alon family control was removed. A party assembled at Mauléon, the nearest island to Aunis, and they built the new town of La Rochelle there starting in 1151".  The province was thus controlled in 1130 by William X, Duke of Aquitaine, bringing the dowry of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Louis VII of France, then, after their divorce and her remarriage, to King Henry II of England. Aunis was returned to the French with Louis VIII of France in 1224, but was restored by the Treaty of Brittany in 1360 by John II of France. This yoke was shaken off in 1371, and the province restored to King Charles V of France.

Birth of the province.

In 1374 the King officially separated Saintonge in 1374 and set up Aunis: ""In 1374, Charles V separated La Rochelle from Saintonge to set up a provincial government, comprising the jurisdictions of Rochefort, Marennes and, for a time, Benon. It was thus that Aunis legally became a separate province.""  The province was much larger in mediaeval times, and underwent numerous changes to its borders. It extended from the Marais Poitevin in the north, to the lower valley of the Charente River in the south; to the west, it included the islands of Île de Ré and the Île d'Aix, at the mouth of the Charente. However, in the east the borders were often ill-defined and subject to change. It is likely that Aunis extended to the ports of Niort and also included the of Saint-Jean d'Angély. With the official establishment of the province in 1374, during the reign of Charles V of France, Aunis recovered Rochefort and Marennes, but its eastern boundaries were still vague.

During the Reformation.

The Protestant Reformation, started in the time of Francis I of France, gave Aunis much greater power: it was the last stand of the resistance movement, which survived until La Rochelle fell in 1628.

End of the Ancien Régime.

When the were established under the French Constitution of 1791, Aunis was a very small province both in area and population. Despite the resistance of its inhabitants and the energetic interventions of its leaders, in 1790 it was coalesced with the much larger region of Saintonge to form the Department of Charente-Maritime.

Places of interest.

In La Rochelle:  In Surgères:  In Rochefort:

Aunis is a historical province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) the historic capital which gives its name to the province.

Aunis ["óny"] je bývalá provincie Francie, nacházející se při ústí řek Sèvre Niortaise a Charente do Biskajského zálivu; patří k ní také ostrovy Île de Ré a Oléron, oddělené průlivem Pertuis d'Antioche. Jmenuje se podle původního hlavního města "Castrum Allionis" (současný název Châtelaillon-Plage), později byly správní úřady přeneseny do přístavu La Rochelle. Obyvatelé se nazývají "Aunisiens".


Prelude.

James Holden and his crew on the salvaged Martian warship "Rocinante" played a role in two major events in human history: saving the Earth from the first direct proof of alien technology discovered in our solar system, and saving as many people as they could when a new form of the technology appeared on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. As part of the first incident, the alien technology crashed on Venus, where it churned for months doing something unknown while the solar system watched. When complete, the semi-intelligent collection of chemicals flew away from Venus and built what could best be described as a Stargate, called "The Ring", beyond the orbit of Uranus.

Major character arcs.

James Holden and his crew have been successful in their ship-for-hire business, cashing in on their celebrity and "Rocinante"’s power when needed. As the solar system prepares to mount its first large-scale exploration of the ring, Holden’s interaction with the alien consciousness in the form of an old friend named Miller convinces him that he wants to be as far away from the ring as possible. Greater forces have other plans, however, and the crew finds themselves at the ring with fleets of Earth, Mars, and Outer Planets Alliance (OPA) ships.  Clarissa Mao, younger sister of Juliette "Julie" Andromeda Mao and daughter of Jules-Pierre Mao, who was president of the multi-planet corporation "Mao-Kwikowski Mercantile" also known as "Mao-Kwik". Jules-Pierre was part of various conspiring organisations, all of whom wanted to use the protomolecule for profit. He was brought down by James Holden in the events that occurred during and after the near-destruction of the Ganymede colony, a major food supplier for the outer planets of the belt. The "Mao-Kwik" corporation was also destroyed by Jules-Pierre's actions and left the Mao family only a fraction of their former wealth. Clarissa wants revenge for the disgrace brought onto her family and the downfall of her father, for which she blames James Holden. She wants to discredit him publicly to redeem her father and plans to kill Holden afterwards. She has spent her entire fortune to change her identity and put the wheels of her plan in motion. Now pretending to be an electrochemical technician named "Melba Koh", she sets out to get her revenge in a well-planned scheme. She places a saboteur on the "Rocinante", then hijacks the ship's communications system to send a faked 'Jim Holden broadcast' in which an animated image of Holden claims the alien-protomolecule-ring for the OPA and responsibility for the sabotage and near-destruction of the UNN Earth vessel "Seung Un". The scheme to get Holden discredited and then killed fails, because Holden decides to avoid all hostilities with the other flotillas and chooses to enter the ring instead. Even after capture, Clarissa remains dangerous.  Carlos “Bull” de Baca is a former warfighter and friend to Fred Johnson. He’s given the job of third in command of the 'Behemoth""', formerly known as the Generation Ship Nauvoo, which the OPA salvaged and repurposed as a warship. Not only is Bull absolutely loyal to Fred, he also is the most likely of the command crew to secure the mission's success, which is why Fred asks Bull to “make it work”. When Clarissa triggers her faked broadcast of James Holden, in which he claims responsibility for the sabotage of the "Seung Un" and to being ordered to do so by the OPA, Bull understands all the implications. He also understands that all of the human governments need to stand united in facing the alien ring and the possible threat coming from it. In order to avoid another open shooting war/battle among Mars, Earth, and the OPA at all costs, he convinces the "Behemoth's" captain that being the first to take hostile action against the "Rocinante" will stop the "Behemoth" from being seen as Holden's backup, and distance the OPA from Holden's statement about 'claiming the ring' for them. After the "Behemoth" fires a Torpedo at the "Rocinante", the other flotillas join by also targeting Holden's ship - forcing him to travel into the ring as an attempt to escape.  Annushka “Anna“ Volovodov is a Methodist pastor from Europa who joined the expedition as part of a UN delegation of religious figures and artists selected to witness the start of a new epoch of human history. Her ship joins others following "Rocinante" into the gate, and she tries to pull fragile strings of common interest together against the gales of politics, self-interest, and madness driving others in the expedition.  Miller’s consciousness continues on in disembodied form, now part of the vast protomolecule matrix and used for his investigative capabilities. Talking to and trying to work with James Holden, he has limited insight into the actions taken by the gate, and knows there is a vast tapestry of opportunity and danger associated with it and those who built it, because someone destroyed them.

Reception.

"Abaddon's Gate" won the 2014 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.  Publishers Weekly gave Abaddon's Gate a starred review saying that "series fans will find this installment the best yet".

Adaptation.

"Abaddon's Gate" was adapted into episodes 7 to 13 of the third season of the television series "The Expanse" in 2018, with its title taken for the final episode of that season. It was the last book in the series to be adapted before the show's move from Syfy to Amazon Prime.

Abaddon's Gate is a science fiction novel by James S. A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). It is about a conflict in the solar system that involves Earth, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt (colonies of people living on asteroids, referred to as "Belters"). It is the third title of The Expanse series and is preceded by "Leviathan Wakes" and "Caliban's War". The series is continued in "Cibola Burn". The book was released on 4 June 2013, as well released as an audiobook by Audible, narrated by Jefferson Mays.

Abaddonova brána ("") je třetí díl space opera knižní série Expanze od Jamese S. A. Coreye, což je pseudonym spisovatelů Daniela Abrahama a Ty Francka. Kniha vyšla v roce 2013 u nakladatelství Orbit Books, český překlad byl vydán o rok později nakladatelstvím Triton. Příběh je vyprávěn z pohledu čtyř hlavních postav; Jima Holdena, Carlose Bacy, Anny Volovodové a Clarissy Mao alias Melby Kohové.


Early life.

Fischer was the son of Shirley and Gene Fischer, and was of German, Dutch, and Hungarian ancestry. He spent his early life in Michigan and New Jersey. After watching a TV documentary in 1970 in his home in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township, New Jersey about the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) with his father, he headed to the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming for the summer. While attending Ridge High School, from which he graduated in 1973, he spent his summers in the mountains with NOLS, eventually becoming a full-time senior NOLS instructor.

Career.

In 1977, Fischer attended an ice climbing seminar by Jeff Lowe in Utah. A group of climbers scaled the frozen Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. During the climb Fischer began to climb solo on the near vertical ice formation when his ice axe broke leaving him stranded. The others managed to get him a new axe but when he began ascending again the tool now popped out and he fell hundreds of feet. He survived, but injured his foot with his ice axe as he fell.  In 1984, Fischer and Wes Krause became the second ever team to scale the Breach Icicle on Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa after Reinhold Messner and Konrad Renzler in 1978.  In 1984, Fischer and two friends, Wes Krause and Michael Allison, founded Mountain Madness, an adventure travel service. He guided clients for climbing major mountain peaks around the world. In 1992, during the climb on K2 as a part of a Russian-American expedition, Fischer fell into a crevasse and tore the rotator cuff of his right shoulder. Against the advice of the doctor, Fischer spent two weeks trying to recover and asked climbing partner Ed Viesturs to tape his shoulder and tether it to his waist so it would not continue to dislocate and then resumed the climb using only his left arm. On their first summit bid, the climbers abandoned their attempt at Camp III to rescue Aleskei Nikiforov, Thor Keiser and Chantal Mauduit. Fischer and Ed Viesturs reached the summit on their second attempt without supplemental oxygen along with Charley Mace. During descent, they met climbers Rob Hall and Gary Ball who were suffering with altitude sickness at camp II. Hall's health improved along the descent but Ball required subsequent help from Fischer and the other climbers to reach the base.  Through Mountain Madness, Fischer guided the 1993 Climb for the Cure on Denali (20,320 feet) in Alaska which was organized by eight students at Princeton University. The expedition raised $280,000 for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. In 1994, Fischer and Rob Hess climbed Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen. They also formed a part of the expedition that removed 5000 pounds of trash and 150 discarded oxygen bottles from Everest. With the climb, Fischer had climbed the top of the highest peaks on six of the seven continents with the exception of Vinson Massif in Antarctica. The American Alpine Club awarded the David Brower Conservation Award to all members of the expedition. In January 1996, Fischer and Mountain Madness guided a fundraising ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet / 5,895 m) in Africa.

Death.

In May 1996, Fischer guided a team of 18 in climbing Everest which included two guides – Neal Beidleman and Anatoli Boukreev – and eight clients, assisted by eight Sherpas led by Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa. On May 6, the Mountain Madness team left base camp (5,364 meters) for their summit climb. At Camp II (6,400 meters), Fischer learned that his friend Dale Kruse was ill and was unable to make it out of Camp I (6,000 m). Fischer descended from Camp II, met up with Kruse and continued to base camp along with him. Leaving Kruse at the base camp, he ascended to rejoin his team at Camp II. He was slow on ascent to Camp III (7,200m) the following day and on May 9, he left Camp III for Camp IV at the South Col (7,950m). On May 10, Fischer reached the summit after 3:45 PM, much later than the safe turnaround time of 2:00 PM due to the unusually high number of climbers who tried to make it to the summit on the same day. He was exhausted from the ascent and becoming increasingly ill, possibly suffering from HAPE, HACE, or a combination of both.  His climbing partner, Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa, descended part of the way with him when a blizzard started. Near the Southeast ridge balcony (8,400m), Fischer asked Lopsang to descend without him and send back Boukreev for help. After the storm subsided, on May 11, two Sherpas reached Fischer and "Makalu" Gau Ming-Ho, leader of a Taiwanese expedition. Fischer was unresponsive and the Sherpas placed an oxygen mask over his face before carrying Gau to Camp IV. After rescuing other people, Boukreev finally reached Fischer, who was already dead. He described Fischer as having exhibited paradoxical undressing, commonly associated with hypothermia. "His oxygen mask is around face, but bottle is empty. He is not wearing mittens; hands completely bare. Down suit is unzipped, pulled off his shoulder, one arm is outside clothing. There is nothing I can do. Scott is dead." Boukreev shrouded Fischer's upper torso and moved his body off the main climbing route. His body remains on the mountain.  Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa died in an avalanche in autumn 1996 also on an expedition to Everest, and Boukreev died in December 1997 in an avalanche on an expedition to Annapurna. Fischer's climbing firm Mountain Madness was bought in 1997 by Keith and Christine Boskoff.

Personal life.

In 1981, Fischer married Jeannie Price, who was his student on a NOLS Mountaineering Course in 1974. They moved to Seattle in 1982 where they had two children, Andy and Katie Rose Fischer-Price.

Scott Eugene Fischer (December 24, 1955 – May 11, 1996) was an American mountaineer and mountain guide. He was renowned for his ascents of the world's highest mountains made without the use of supplemental oxygen. Fischer and Wally Berg were the first Americans to summit Lhotse (27,940 feet / 8516 m), the world's fourth highest peak. Fischer, Charley Mace, and Ed Viesturs summitted K2 (28,251 feet/ 8611m) without supplemental oxygen. Fischer first climbed Mount Everest (29,029 feet / 8,848 m) in 1994 and later died during the 1996 blizzard on Everest while descending from the peak.

Scott Fischer (24. prosince 1955 Muskegon Michigan – 11. května 1996 Mount Everest) byl americký horolezec, známý především jako vedoucí jedné z výprav, které postihla Tragédie na Mount Everestu v roce 1996.


Geography.

This department has a rough topography, which is characterised by heavy layers of volcanic lava covering large areas of its inter-Andean sector. It has deep canyons such as the ones formed by the Ocoña and Majes rivers. Plateaus range in height from medium, such as La Joya, and high-altitude ones such the Arrieros Pampa and those located in the zones of Chivay, Huambo and Pichucolla. Volcanic cones, such as Misti, Chachani, Ampato, Mismi, Solimana and Coropuna, emerge above the plateaus and attract snowfall. In contrast with these heights, there are deep canyons, including Majes, Colca, Sihuas and Ocoña, where important aspects of the ecological evolution of this zone can be clearly observed.  Along the coast, small plateaus and dunes represent characteristics of the desert of Arequipa, such as the ones located in the Majes, Sihuas and La Joya plains. These are particularly beautiful and developed.  From a hydrographic point of view, the rivers draining its territory belong mainly to the Pacific watershed. Some rivers belong to the Amazon hydrographic system. Some of the region's main rivers are: Ocoña, Yauca, Camaná and Quilca. The starting point of the Amazon River is located in the Arequipa region.

Political division.

The region is divided into eight provinces ("provincias", singular: "provincia"), which are composed of 109 districts ("distritos", singular: "distrito"). The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are:

People.

Languages.

According to the 2007 Peru Census, the first language learned by most of the residents was Spanish (83.17%), followed by the native language of Quechua (14.78%). The Quechua variety spoken in Arequipa is Cusco–Collao Quechua.  The following table shows the first languages by province in the Arequipa Region by province:

Points of interest.

There are numerous points of interest in the Arequipa region. The three coastal provinces, Caraveli, Camana and Islay all have popular beaches. Various ports can also be found along the coastline, the two most important being Mollendo and Matarani, both in the province of Islay.  The Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States, is situated in the province of Caylloma. The Cotahuasi Canyon is in the La Union Province. Colca Valley provides incredible close-up views of majestic Andean condors soaring in their natural habitat. Cotahuasi, at, is thought to be the deepest canyon in the world. Both canyons offer spectacular scenery and villages as yet unaffected by the modern world.  In the Castilla Province near Corire, Toro Muerto (meaning "dead bull" in Spanish) is an area with more than 3,000 ancient petroglyphs dating to the ancient Wari culture of 500–1000 CE, which dominated much of this region. Further to the north near Andaguas lies the Valley of Volcanoes. Almost 100 cones of various sizes dominate the lava-hardened landscape.

Arequipa (; ) is a department in southwestern Peru. It is bordered by the departments of Ica, Ayacucho, Apurímac and Cusco in the north, the Department of Puno in the east, the Department of Moquegua in the south, and the Pacific Ocean in the west. Its capital, also called Arequipa, is Peru's second-largest city.

Arequipa je region, který se nachází v jižní části Peru. Celkem zde žije 1,2 milionu obyvatel a hlavním městem je stejnojmenné město Arequipa, ve kterém žije většina obyvatel regionu. V letech 2013 a 2018 byl jihozápad regionu zasažen zemětřeseními o magnitudách 7,1 a v roce 2001 byl jih regionu zasažen zemětřesením o magnitudě až 8,4.


Maria Anna of Savoy, Duchess of Chablais

Early life.

Born at the Royal Palace of Turin, she was the sixth child of Prince Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and, since 1773, King of Sardinia, by his wife, Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, as daughter of Philip V.  Maria Anna was the fourth but third surviving daughter of her parents. Her two older sisters were the future "grand daughters in law" of Louis XV of France, Princess Maria Giuseppina, who married the future Louis XVIII of France in 1771 and Princess Maria Teresa, who married the future Charles X of France in 1773. Their younger surviving sister, Maria Carolina, married Anthony of Saxony.  Three of her brothers were the last three Kings of Sardinia from the senior line of the House of Savoy: the future Charles Emmanuel IV, Victor Emmanuel I and Charles Felix. After the death of the last one in 1831 without issue, the throne passed to Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano and next legitimate male heir.

Marriage.

After the weddings of her older sisters to French Princes, was arranged the marriage between Maria Anna and her paternal uncle Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais, younger half-brother of Victor Amadeus III (as the son of Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia and his last wife, Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine). The wedding took place on 19 March 1775 at the Chapel of the Holy Shroud in Turin. They had no children but had a happy union: although they were close, Maria Anna always saw him as her uncle. Their official residence were the Palazzo Chiablese and the Ducal Castle of Agliè. She had good relationships with her sisters-in-law Marie Clotilde of France, Princess of Piedmont and Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Duchess of Aosta.  When in December 1798 the Republic of France invaded the Kingdom of Sardinia, the whole royal family went into exile. The Duke and Duchess of Chablais left Turin and moved to Sardinia, where they remained until the end of 1799. Then they left the island and settled in Rome at the Papal States. In 1805, they spent a few months in Florence as guests at King Louis I of Etruria, and his wife Queen Maria Luisa.  In Italy, the Duke of Chablais was given control of the Army of Italy which contained French troops and intended on restoring the monarchy in France after the execution of Louis XVI in 1793. He took part in the Battle of Loano.  Benedetto, Duke of Chablais died on 4 January 1808 in Rome. In 1816 the now Dowager Duchess of Chablais received her younger brother Charles Felix their cousin Charles Albert. By that time, the states and properties of the House of Savoy where recovered; during Maria Anna's absence, the Palazzo Chiablese was used by Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona and his wife, the famous Pauline Bonaparte. However, Maria Anna didn't returned to her homeland immediately: in 1820 she acquired the Villa Rufinella in Frascati near Rome, having bought the property from Lucien Bonaparte. In 1822, despite protests from her brother and cousin, Maria Anna settled in Florence, despite the fact that the city actively participated in the period of unrest in the Kingdom of Sardinia the previous year.

Death.

Only at the beginning of 1824 Maria Anna returned to Piedmont, where in the Castle of Moncalieri meet her brothers, the former King Victor Emmanuel I and the new monarch Charles Felix. In the summer of the same year, together with Charles Felix and his wife Maria Cristina she made a trip to Savoy, where they visited Hautecombe Abbey.  Maria Anna died at the Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi in Turin in 1824 aged 66 and was buried at the Royal Basilica of Superga. She bequeathed all her properties, including the Palazzo Chiablese, the Ducal Castle of Agliè and the Villa Rufinella in Frascate, to her brother Charles Felix.

Maria Anna of Savoy ("Maria Anna Carolina Gabriella"; 17 December 1757 – 11 October 1824) was a Princess of Savoy by birth and Duchess of Chablais by her marriage to her uncle, Prince Benedetto, Duke of Chablais.

Marie Anna Savojská ("Maria Anna Carlota Gabriela;" 17. prosince 1757 – 11. října 1824) byla savojskou princeznou a sňatkem se svým strýcem vévodkyní ze Chablais.


Biography.

Early years.

Van Giersbergen was born in the small town of Sint-Michielsgestel, Netherlands. She began singing at age 7, when she participated in a music contest. At 12 years old she participated in her school choir where she studied and toured through France. Later, she took singing lessons and joined several bands. In 1992, she founded the duo "Bad Breath" with guitarist and singer Deniz Cagdas (Spencer Edgards), with music predominantly based on blues, jazz, folk and funk. She joined The Gathering in 1994, and is best known for her work with them.

The Gathering and several collaborations (1995–2006).

In 1998, she sang on the Ayreon album "Into the Electric Castle", a concept album telling the tale of an alien entity 'kidnapping' eight human souls from different times. Van Giersbergen portrayed an Egyptian woman from the time of the pharaohs.  In 2006, she appeared on the album 2006 "Rubicon" from Asia band members' John Wetton and Geoffrey Downes on the tracks "To Catch a Thief" and "Tears of Joy". She also appears on the "Smear Campaign" by the grindcore-death metal band Napalm Death, on the tracks "Weltschmerz" and "In Deference", contributing spoken rather than sung vocals "for good effect and relevance to the track".  In June 2006, the epic rock band Globus released the album "Epicon", which included Van Giersbergen's vocal and writing contributions. Van Giersbergen co-wrote the lyrics for "Mighty Rivers Run", and sang lead vocal on the track as well as dueting with Christine Navarro on the seminal "Diem Ex Dei".

The Gathering departure, Agua de Annique and further collaborations (2007–2011).

On 5 June 2007 it was announced that Van Giersbergen would be leaving The Gathering in August 2007 to focus on a new project, Agua de Annique, and spend more time with her family. She released three albums under this name, "Air" in 2007 and both "Pure Air" and "In Your Room" in 2009. On 24 November 2007, she performed the song "Somewhere" with Within Temptation in Eindhoven. Her 7 February 2008 performance of "Somewhere" with Within Temptation at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam was featured in the Within Temptation live DVD "Black Symphony".  Van Giersbergen also sings on the Ayreon album "01011001", released in early 2008. The character she portrays is one of the Forever, an alien being of the same race, who kidnapped her character from "Into the Electric Castle".  She sings on "Scorpion Flower" from the album "Night Eternal" (2008) from Moonspell. On 3 December 2008, she performed this song live with Moonspell at the 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.  Van Giersbergen collaborated with Devin Townsend on his albums "Addicted" in 2009, "Epicloud" in 2012, "Sky Blue" in 2014, "Transcendence" in 2016, and "Empath" in 2019. She also appeared as guest vocalist on several Devin Townsend Project live shows including the second show in the concert series in 2011 and The Retinal Circus in 2012, both of which were released as DVD.  She appeared as a guest vocalist on the debut album of "The Human Experimente", a project which also features Robert Fripp (King Crimson), John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson), Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer), Adrian Belew, U-G-O with Sean Kingston, and Dann Pursey (Globus, Vantan).  In 2011, Van Giersbergen collaborated with Yoav Goren on the song "The Promise", the lead track on Globus second album "Break From This World". She co-wrote lyrics and, along with Lisbeth Scott, was a featured vocalist on the track. She performed the track "What Could Have Been" for death-doom metal band Novembers Doom. Van Giersbergen also features on a track in the orchestral re-interpretations album from English progressive rock band Anathema, "Falling Deeper", released on 5 September 2011. She toured with the band in South America, singing "Everwake" during concerts.

Solo career, The Gentle Storm and VUUR (2012–present).

Van Giersbergen released a solo album, "Everything Is Changing", in 2012, followed by "Drive" in 2013.  On 22 April 2014, Arjen Anthony Lucassen revealed that his next project would be a collaboration with Van Giersbergen, their third work together after the Ayreon albums "Into the Electric Castle" and "01011001". He described it as "an epic double concept album, a combination of ‘classical meets metal’ and ‘acoustic folk’." The project is named The Gentle Storm, with their first album released in 2015.  Later in 2015, Van Giersbergen collaborated again with Lucassen, portraying the character of Fear in the musical "The Theater Equation", consisting of three shows of a semi-staged version of the Ayreon album "The Human Equation" (Mikael Åkerfeldt originally recorded the vocals for Fear on the album).  In February 2016, she released a collaboration album with the Icelandic band Árstíðir called "Verloren Verleden".  On 1 December 2016, she announced the creation of her new band, named VUUR, with musicians coming mostly from The Gentle Storm live band. Their debut album was released in 2017.  In September 2017, she was a performer in the 'Ayreon Universe' concert series at 013 in Tilburg.  In 2018 she performed on "Amongst Stars" from Finnish Heavy Metal band Amorphis' album Queen of Time, including appearing on the official music video. She also performed in two concerts alongside Residentie Orkest The Hague covering songs from Van Giersbergen's whole career, later released in the live album "Symphonized" in October.  In 2019, she toured the Netherlands on an acoustic theatre tour 'Inchecken', performing a career-spanning setlist alongside VUUR bandmate Ferry Duijsens in over 40 Dutch theatres, touring from January to March. She also joined Amorphis and Delain for their 2019 North American tour, performing a solo setlist as well as performing "Amongst Stars" alongside Amorphis during their set.

Musical roots and influences.

Van Giersbergen's musical roots are in classical and jazz music, but she enjoys rock and pop the most. Some of her main influences are Prince, Ella Fitzgerald and Thom Yorke (Radiohead).

Personal life.

On 20 February 2005 she gave birth to a son named Finn, whom she had with her husband Rob Snijders.

Anna Maria van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973), known artistically as Anneke van Giersbergen, is a Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist who became known worldwide as the lead singer and songwriter for the Dutch band The Gathering, between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project was originally called Agua de Annique, but now goes by her own name.

Anna Maria van Giersbergen (* 8. března 1973, Sint-Michielsgestel, Nizozemsko), vystupující jako Anneke van Giersbergen je nizozemská zpěvačka a skladatelka, která se nejvíce proslavila svým působením ve skupině The Gathering v letech 1994 až 2007. Kromě vydávání svých sólových alba působí také v projektu The Gentle Storm hudebníka Arjena Lucassena či ve své vlastní kapele VUUR.


History.

Pružany has been known as Dabuchyn since 1487. In the 16th century, it belonged to queen Bona Sforza of Poland. She brought Renaissance influence and development of trades in this part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1589, her daughter Anna granted a town charter and the coat of arms of Pružany (a blue snake swallowing a baby on a silver shield). The coat of arms was borrowed from that of the Sforza family of Milan. Pružany was a center of pottery trade at those times. In the mid-19th century, a wealthy Polish landlord, Walenty Szwykowski, laid out a park and built a pretentious palace that houses a museum today, after a restoration. The museum has a rich collection on the history and arts of the region. Another tourist attraction is the landmark at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal. It presents a statue of a passionate pair rising over waves. The Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated in 1884.  The Jewish population in 1900 was 5,080. During World War II, Pružany was occupied by the Germans from 26 June 1941 to 17 July 1944. In 1941, the Nazis herded the Jews of Białystok and the vicinity here to create a ghetto. In "Aktion" roundups on 28-31 January 1943, the Nazis deported 10,000 Jews of the Pružany ghetto to Auschwitz, via Birkenau, where the men, women and children were murdered.  In 2003, the central part of the town was reconstructed to prepare the town for the national harvest festival “Dažynki” in autumn 2003.  Pružany is the birthplace of Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the Torah scholar and Jewish leader.

Pružany (, ;,, "Pruzhene") is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pružany is the center of a district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 18,500 people. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, which give the start to Mukhavets River.

Pružany (, ) jsou město v Brestské oblasti v Bělorusku, správní středisko Pružanského rajónu. K roku 2017 měly přes osmnáct tisíc obyvatel.


Description.

"Ischioceratops" is one of the few ceratopsian dinosaurs which is not known by the skull. The most peculiar traits were located in the ischium, which shows a unique morphology. Another characteristic of "Ischioceratops" was the presence of a caudal elevation in its proximal part, which is present also in "Protoceratops", "Koreaceratops" and in a more similar way in "Montanoceratops" and "Cerasinops". The taxon has been referred to Leptoceratopsidae and distinguished from other known leptoceratopsids based on the following combination of characters: nine sacral vertebrae, more than in any other known basal (non-ceratopsid) ceratopsian but fewer than in ceratopsids; the ischium has a robust shaft that resembles that of a recurved bow and flares gradually to form a subrectangular-shaped obturator process in its middle portion. An elliptical fenestra perforates the obturator process.

Discoveries and species.

The holotype (ZCDM V0016) was discovered in Kugou, a locality in the Shandong Province of China which presents layers of the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group. It is part of the Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum collection and it includes an incomplete, partially articulated specimen comprising the entire sacrum, a few ossified tendons, both halves of the pelvis, the anteriormost 15 caudal vertebrae in an articulated series, and the right femur, tibia and fibula.  "Ischioceratops" was one of eighteen dinosaur taxa from 2015 to be described in open access or free-to-read journals.

Classification.

Phylogenetic analyzes confirmed "Ischioceratops" as a leptoceratopsid. Its closest relative taxon has appeared to be "Montanoceratops". The following cladogram is based on a 2015 analysis by Yiming He, Peter J. Makovicky, Kebai Wang, Shuqing Chen, Corwin Sullivan, Fenglu Han, Xing XuMichael J. Ryan, David C. Evans, Philip J. Currie, Caleb M. Brown and Don Brinkman.

Ischioceratops is an extinct genus of small ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 69 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now China. "Ischioceratops" was a small sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, whose total body length has been estimated to be about 2 meters. The ceratopsians were a group of dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks which fed on vegetation and thrived in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous Period, which ended approximately 66 million years ago, at which point they all became extinct. Its name refers to the peculiar shape of the ischiatic bones.

Ischioceratops („rohatá tvář s kyčlemi“) byl rod malého rohatého ptakopánvého býložravce z čeledi Leptoceratopsidae. Jeho fosilie byly objeveny v sedimentech souvrství Wang-ši (Čína) a mají stáří asi 69 milionů let (svrchní křída, raný maastricht).


Background.

J Hus was born Momodou Lamin Jallow in London and grew up in the city's Stratford district. He is of Gambian and Ghanaian descent and was raised by his mother, who emigrated to England when she was 25 years old. Jallow was raised Muslim and is of ethnic Fula and Akan heritage. Growing up he had wanted to become an actor "but then around Year 10 or Year 11, it was whatever really", and he was expelled from school as he had, in his words, "started getting into a bit of trouble." In September 2014, distraught following two separate prison stints, he was advised to focus on pursuing a music career by his childhood friend Moe who also agreed to be his manager. Moe and his older brother would go on to form their own management company 2K Management.  J Hus got his name from the word "hustler", explaining that he would buy a pack of doughnuts and sell them individually at a profit when he was in secondary school.

Music career.

2015–present: "Common Sense" and "Big Conspiracy".

J Hus began his career by recording several freestyles, including #StreetHeat, Bl@CKBOX and GRM Daily and publishing them online. He followed this with "#Rated", which samples the beat from French Montana's "Don't Panic", and "Want From Me" Remix of Kojo Funds' song, which gained a lot of coverage, helping his breakthrough. His next release was "Dem Boy Paigon", which was described by Ajay Rose of The Link Up as having "brought together an Afro-beat sound with lyrical rap... capable of turning any dance upside down". He followed this with "No Lie" and his Warm Up. Session.  Around the end of March 2015, he and MoStack released their "Westwood Crib Session". In late May 2015, he released "Lean & Bop", which was streamed more than 10 million times in total on music platforms. Around this time, he also released a "Daily Duppy" for GRM Music, which he followed with his first mixtape, "The 15th Day".  Jallow released the single "Friendly" in 2016, which received a nomination at the 2016 MOBO Awards, as well as "Playing Sports", "Liar Liar" (remix) and "Solo One", the last of which appeared on the "Brotherhood" soundtrack.  In 2017, he featured on Nines’ "High Roller", which featured on his album "One Foot Out". He also featured on Stormzy's "Bad Boys" from his album "Gang Signs & Prayer", which peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart, on Dave's "Samantha", which peaked at number 63, and charted at number 9 with his solo composition "Did You See". The song served as the lead single off his debut album, "Common Sense" (2017). Upon release, the album was positively received by fans, and includes features from Mo Stack, MIST, Tiggs da Author and Burna Boy. In May 2018, he released his EP, "Big Spang" (2018)".  Following his arrest for carrying a bladed article in public, Jallow was sentenced to eight months in prison. Jallow's label stopped releasing music with his only verse whilst incarcerated coming from collaborator Dave's debut album, "Psychodrama"'s song "Disaster." "Disaster" debuted at number eight on the UK Singles Chart on 15 March 2019.  Hours after his release from prison in April 2019 he made a surprise appearance on stage at Drake's concert in London.  In December 2019, J Hus announced he will no longer tour for "the next 3/4 years, maybe more". He also stated that following his next album, he would have no more features but that he wanted to work with Burna Boy and 21 Savage.

Legal issues.

In 2011, J Hus was arrested outside Westfield following a "mass attack" on four people, which ended in one of them being stabbed. He'd already received a referral order that year after being caught with a knife in public.  In 2014 and 2015, he was arrested and served stints in Her Majesty's Feltham Prison. He accrued six convictions for ten offences between 2011 and 2016, including for carrying a knife and for violent disorder. He has also been given an ASBO.  In September 2015 the musician was admitted to hospital after being stabbed five times in London. Whilst in hospital, he was criticised for posting on Instagram a photo of him making a gang sign from his hospital bed with the message "5 stab wounds could never stop me #AntiCh #F***DaOvaSide". The attack left him with mild PTSD, for which at the time of his 2018 imprisonment he was seeing a therapist.  In June 2018, he was arrested in Stratford and charged with carrying a knife in public. He was subsequently dropped from the performance lineups of the TRNSMT and Wireless festivals. Jallow appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court on 22 June and was released on bail. On 20 July, he pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea in October and in December was sentenced to eight months in jail. When asked why he had been carrying a six-inch blade, J Hus said: "You know, it's Westfield."  He was eventually released on 5 April 2019.

Momodou Lamin Jallow (born 27 May 1996), better known professionally as J Hus, is a British rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is currently signed to Black Butter Records. J Hus has been credited with pioneering the genre afroswing. He gained popularity in 2015 following the release of his song "Dem Boy Paigon".

J Hus, rodným jménem Momodou Jallow, (* 26. května 1995 Londýn) je anglický zpěvák. Jeho matka pochází z Gambie. Svou profesionální kariéru zahájil v roce 2015, kdy na internet nahrál několik demonahrávek. V roce 2017 se podílel na písni „High Roller“ z alba "One Foot Out" anglického rappera Ninese. Ve stejném roce spolupracoval i s dalšími umělci, včetně Stormzyho. Rovněž vydal své debutové album nazvané "Common Sense". Album bylo nominováno na Mercury Prize.


Etymology.

"Derecho" comes from the Spanish word in adjective form for "straight" (or "direct"), in contrast with a "tornado" which is a "twisted" wind. The word was first used in the "American Meteorological Journal" in 1888 by Gustavus Detlef Hinrichs in a paper describing the phenomenon and based on a significant derecho event that crossed Iowa on 31 July 1877.

Development.

Organized areas of thunderstorm activity reinforce pre-existing frontal zones, and can outrun cold fronts. The resultant mesoscale convective system (MCS) often forms at the point of the strongest divergence of the upper-level flow in the area of greatest low-level inflow and convergence. The convection tends to move east or toward the equator, roughly parallel to low-level thickness lines and usually somewhat to the right of the mean tropospheric flow. When the convection is strongly linear or slightly curved, the MCS is called a squall line, with the strongest winds typically occurring just behind the leading edge of the significant wind shift and pressure rise.  Classic derechos occur with squall lines that contain bow- or spearhead-shaped features as seen by weather radar that are known as "bow echoes" or "spearhead echoes". Squall lines typically "bow out" due to the formation of a mesoscale high pressure system which forms within the stratiform rain area behind the initial convective line. This high pressure area is formed due to strong descending air currents behind the squall line, and could come in the form of a downburst. The size of the bow may vary, and the storms associated with the bow may die and redevelop.  During the cool season within the Northern Hemisphere, derechos generally develop within a pattern of mid-tropospheric southwesterly winds, in an environment of low to moderate atmospheric instability (caused by relative warmth and moisture near ground level, with cooler air aloft, as measured by convective available potential energy), and high values of vertical wind shear () within the lowest of the atmosphere).  Warm season derechos in the Northern Hemisphere most often form in west to northwesterly flow at mid-levels of the troposphere, with moderate to high levels of thermodynamic instability. As previously mentioned, derechos favor environments of low-level warm advection and significant low-level moisture.

Classification and criteria.

A common definition is a thunderstorm complex that produces a damaging wind swath of at least, featuring a concentrated area of convectively-induced wind gusts exceeding. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) criterion, a derecho is classified as a band of storms that have winds of at least along the entire span of the storm front, maintained over a time span of at least six hours. Some studies add a requirement that no more than two or three hours separate any two successive wind reports. A more recent, more physically-based definition of "derecho" proposes that the term be reserved for use with convective systems that not only contain unique radar-observed features such as bow echoes and mesovortices, but also for events that produce damage swaths at least 100 km (60 miles) wide and 650 km (400 miles) long.  Four types of derechos are generally recognized:

Characteristics.

Winds in a derecho can be enhanced by downburst clusters embedded inside the storm. These straight-line winds may exceed, reaching in past events. Tornadoes sometimes form within derecho events, although such events are often difficult to confirm due to the additional damage caused by straight-line winds in the immediate area.  With the average tornado in the United States and Canada rating in the low end of the F/EF1 classification at peak winds and most or all of the rest of the world even lower, derechos tend to deliver the vast majority of extreme wind conditions over much of the territory in which they occur. Datasets compiled by the United States National Weather Service and other organizations show that a large swath of the north-central United States, and presumably at least the adjacent sections of Canada and much of the surface of the Great Lakes, can expect winds from over a significant area at least once in any 50-year period, including both convective events and extra-tropical cyclones and other events deriving power from baroclinic sources. Only in 40 to 65 percent or so of the United States resting on the coast of the Atlantic basin, and a fraction of the Everglades, are derechos surpassed in this respect — by landfalling hurricanes, which at their worst may have winds as severe as EF3 tornadoes.  Certain derecho situations are the most common instances of severe weather outbreaks which may become "less" favorable to tornado production as they become more violent; the height of 30–31 May 1998 upper Middle West-Canada-New York State derecho and the latter stages of significant tornado and severe weather outbreaks in 2003 and 2004 are only three examples of this. Some upper-air measurements used for severe-weather forecasting may reflect this point of diminishing return for tornado formation, and the mentioned three situations were instances during which the rare Particularly Dangerous Situation severe thunderstorm variety of severe weather watches were issued from the Storm Prediction Center of the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.  Some derechos develop a radar signature resembling that of a hurricane in the low levels. They may have a central "eye" free of precipitation, with a minimum central pressure and surrounding bands of strong convection, but are really associated with an MCS developing multiple squall lines, and are not tropical in nature. These storms have a warm core, like other mesoscale convective systems. One such derecho occurred across the Midwestern U.S. on 21 July 2003. An area of convection developed across eastern Iowa near a weak stationary/warm front and ultimately matured, taking on the shape of a wavy squall line across western Ohio and southern Indiana. The system re-intensified after leaving the Ohio Valley, starting to form a large hook, with occasional hook echoes appearing along its eastern side. A surface low pressure center formed and became more impressive later in the day. Another example is the May 2009 Southern Midwest derecho.

Location.

Derechos in North America form predominantly from April to August, peaking in frequency from May into July. During this time of year, derechos are mostly found in the Midwestern United States and the U.S. Interior Highlands most commonly from Oklahoma and across the Ohio Valley. During mid-summer when a hot and muggy air mass covers the north-central U.S., they will often develop farther north into Manitoba or Northwestern Ontario, sometimes well north of the Canada–US border.  North Dakota, Minnesota, and upper Michigan are also vulnerable to derecho storms when such conditions are in place. They often occur along stationary fronts on the northern periphery of where the most intense heat and humidity bubble exists. Late-year derechos are normally confined to Texas and the Deep South, although a late-summer derecho struck upper parts of the New York State area after midnight on 7 September 1998. Warm season derechos have greater instability than their cold season counterpart, while cool season derechos have greater shear than their warm season counterpart.  Although these storms most commonly occur in North America, derechos can occur elsewhere in the world, with a few areas relatively frequently. Outside North America, they sometimes are called by different names. For example, in Bangladesh and adjacent portions of India, a type of storm known as a "Nor'wester" may be a progressive derecho. One such event occurred on 10 July 2002 in Germany: a serial derecho killed eight people and injured 39 near Berlin. Derechos occur in southeastern South America (particularly Argentina and southern Brazil) and South Africa as well, and on rarer occasions, close to or north of the 60th parallel in northern Canada. Primarily a mid-latitudes phenomenon, derechos do occur in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. On 8 August 2010, a derecho struck Estonia and tore off the tower of Väike-Maarja Church. Derechos are occasionally observed in China.

Damage risk.

Unlike other thunderstorms, which typically can be heard in the distance when approaching, a derecho seems to strike suddenly. Within minutes, extremely high winds can arise, strong enough to knock over highway signs and topple large trees. These winds are accompanied by spraying rain and frequent lightning from all directions. It is dangerous to drive under these conditions, especially at night, because of blowing debris and obstructed roadways. Downed wires and widespread power outages are likely but not always a factor. A derecho moves through quickly, but can do much damage in a short time.  Since derechos occur during warm months and often in places with cold winter climates, people who are most at risk are those involved in outdoor activities. Campers, hikers, and motorists are most at risk because of falling trees toppled over by straight-line winds. Wide swaths of forest have been felled by such storms. People who live in mobile homes are also at risk; mobile homes that are not anchored to the ground may be overturned from the high winds. Across the United States, Michigan and New York have incurred a significant portion of the fatalities from derechos. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the death tolls from derechos and hurricanes were comparable for the United States.  Derechos may also severely damage an urban area's electrical distribution system, especially if these services are routed above ground. The derecho that struck Chicago, Illinois on 11 July 2011 left more than 860,000 people without electricity. The June 2012 North American derecho took out electrical power to more than 3.7 million customers starting in the Midwestern United States, across the central Appalachians, into the Mid-Atlantic States during a heat wave.

References.

Notes Further reading

A derecho (, from, "straight") is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system.

Derecho, též derečo (ze španělského derecho, // – přímý) je rozlehlý, dlouhotrvající projev bouřkového systému, při kterém vane silný vítr v přímém směru. Často bývá velmi ničivý, dosahuje až síly vichřice. Zasahuje území o délce stovek kilometrů.


Childhood.

Scott was educated in Nottingham at Cottesmore Secondary Modern and Mundella Grammar schools. He started climbing at the age of 13, his interest sparked by seeing climbers on the Black Rocks in Derbyshire whilst hiking with the Scouts. His father, George Douglas Scott, was a policeman and committed amateur sportsman – running, swimming and achieved fame as a boxer, becoming Amateur Boxing Association British Heavyweight Champion in 1945. Scott lived on the outskirts of Nottingham with his father and mother, Edith Joyce Scott, and younger brothers, Brian and Garry. All were encouraged towards the open countryside, particularly the Peak District.

Family life.

After two years at Loughborough Teachers' Training College (1959–61), Scott taught geography, history, PE and games for ten years at his old secondary modern school. In 1962 he married Janice Brook, with whom he had three children, Michael, Martha and Rosie. The marriage was dissolved in 1988. In 1993 he married Sharabati Prabhu, with whom he had two sons, Arran and Euan. The marriage was dissolved in 2003. In 2007 he married Patricia Lang; they have lived happily in the Northern Fells of the Lake District ever since.

Mountaineering.

Scott is regarded as one of the world's leading high altitude and big wall climbers. He is best known for surviving an unplanned bivouac with Dougal Haston 100 metres below the summit of Everest, without oxygen, sleeping bags and, as it turned out, without frostbite. Apart from his first ascent of the southwest face of Everest with Haston, all his other Himalayan climbs were achieved in lightweight or pure Alpine style. He pioneered big wall climbing on Baffin Island, Mount Kenya and in the Karakoram, famously on The Ogre (Baintha Brakk) with Chris Bonington, and later on Shivling in the Indian Himal.  Highlights of Scott's climbing career include: Scott is a founder member of the Nottingham Climbers Club (1961), was president of the Alpine Climbing Group (1976–82), Vice president BMC (1994–97) and president of the Alpine Club (1999–2001). He was made a CBE in 1994. In 1999 he was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 2005 he was presented with the Golden Eagle Award by the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. Also in 2005, following on from Tom Weir and Adam Watson, he became the third recipient of the John Muir Trust Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his mountaineering accomplishments and commitment to conservation and supporting mountain people and mountain environments around the world. Following on from Walter Bonatti and Reinhold Messner he received the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award in Chamonix in 2011.  Scott was made a Freeman of the City of Nottingham in 1976 and has since had a Nottingham tram named after him. He was awarded an honorary MA by the universities of Nottingham and Loughborough, 1993, Hon. MEd Nottingham Trent, 1995, Hon Dr. Derby University, 2007; and Hon Dr. Loughborough University, 2017;

Voluntary work for mountaineering.

Scott was a member of the Hunt Committee contributing to the Hunt Report on Outdoor Education 1976.  He was BMC representative on the UIAA and is a member of the UIAA Management Committee: 2008 – 2012 ; Member of UIAA Mountaineering Commission and Chairman of the Traditional Values Working Group 2011–present. Scott edited the well-received document 'The UIAA's Recommendations for Preserving Natural Rock for Adventure Climbing'  He was Chairman of Mount Everest Foundation 2014 – 2017 and Vice Chairman of the Mountain Heritage Trust 2014 – 2017  He is Hon Member of the Climbers Club, The Alpine Club and the American Alpine Club  He is a Patron of the BMC 2015–present

Charity work in Nepal.

During Scott's climbing career, his understanding of the culture and the people in the regions where he climbed grew as he formed strong bonds and relationships. In 1991 he raised the funds and organised the installation of 17 fresh water standpipes in Askole, the last settlement before K2, that reduced infant mortality by half. Scott founded the charity "Community Action Nepal" (CAN) and spends much of his time fundraising for this cause and regularly visits some of the 60 CAN projects out in Nepal. Scott is also an advocate of Responsible Tourism, setting up Community Action Treks (CAT) in 1989 to help improve conditions of labour in the trekking industry. He received the British Guild of Travel Writers Tourism and Community Merit Award, 1996 and CAT received the Responsible Tourism Award 2008. CAN was awarded the first British Expertise International (BEI) Charity Project of the Year Award along with CAN's partner, WYG in 2017.  Contributed to:

Douglas Keith Scott (born 29 May 1941) is an English mountaineer noted for the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. In receiving one of mountaineering's highest honours, the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award, his personal style and climbs were described as "visionary".

Douglas Keith Scott (Doug Scott; * 29. května 1941 Nottingham, Anglie) je anglický horolezec. Spolu s Dougalem Hastonem byli jako první Britové na Mount Everestu.


Personal life.

Zagitova was born on 18 May 2002 in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. She is the daughter of Leysan Zagitova and Ilnaz Zagitov (ru), an ice hockey coach from Tatarstan, both Volga Tatars. She has a sister, Sabina, who is five years younger than her. She was nameless for a year until her parents decided to name her "Alina" after watching Russian rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. She moved to Moscow at age 13 alongside her grandmother, and continues to live with her. Throughout childhood, her hobby was drawing. In an interview with Rita Mamun in Korea, Zagitova indicated that she is apparently a lover of pet animals keeping two exotic chinchillas at her home in Moscow, along with a dog and a cat. Zagitova also owns an Akita Inu dog named Masaru, given to her by a Japanese breeder as a gift after the Pyeongchang Olympics. Zagitova identifies as Muslim.

Career.

Early years.

Zagitova had her first formal skating lessons as a four-year-old with Damira Pichugina in Almetyevsk, Tatarstan, where her father was a hockey coach for the Neftyanik club. After the family moved back to Izhevsk in 2008, she started training with coach Natalia Antipina. In 2015 she moved to Moscow to be coached by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov.  Zagitova finished 9th at the 2016 Russian Junior Championships after placing 12th in the short program and 8th in the free skate.

2016–2017 season: World Junior Champion.

Zagitova's international debut came in late August 2016 at a 2016–17 ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) competition in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France; ranked first in both segments, she won the gold medal ahead of Kaori Sakamoto. Her total score at the event, 194.37 points, was the second highest ever achieved by a ladies' single skater on the junior level, behind only Polina Tsurskaya. Zagitova took the bronze medal at her JGP event in Slovenia, behind Japanese skaters Rika Kihira and Marin Honda. The results qualified her to the 2016–17 JGP Final, held in December in Marseille.  In France, Zagitova ranked first in both segments and scored new junior ladies' records in all categories. She was awarded the gold medal with a total of 207.43 points, 13 points above her teammate and silver medalist Anastasiia Gubanova (194.07). She became the first junior lady skater in history to have a total score above the 200 mark.  Competing on the senior level in late December, Zagitova ranked third in the short and second in the free at the 2017 Russian Championships, winning the silver medal behind her training partner, Evgenia Medvedeva. In February 2017, Zagitova won the gold medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Turkey.  At the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Zagitova placed first after the short program with 70.58 points. In the free program, she also placed first and won gold medal. She set two new world record of 138.02 points for junior ladies' free skating, and 208.60 points for combined total.

2017–2018 season: Olympic Champion and world record holder.

Zagitova began her season with a win at the CS Lombardia Trophy, after placing third in the short but first in the free, with a total score of 218.46. For the 2017–2018 Grand Prix Season, Zagitova was assigned to two events, Cup of China and Internationaux de France. At China, she was fourth after the short program, but rallied to win the free skate, and won the gold medal overall with a total competition score of 213.88. At the Internationaux de France, Zagitova placed fifth in the short program after a fall on her triple lutz and several under-rotation deductions. However, she placed first in the free skate with a new personal best score of 151.34 and took gold. Her results allowed her to qualify for the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final.  At the Grand Prix Final, Zagitova scored a personal best in the short program, 76.27, and was in second place behind Kaetlyn Osmond heading into the free skate. Zagitova placed first in the free skate, despite two minor mistakes, and received a personal best overall competition score of 223.30, becoming the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final champion. Later that month, she won the Russian National title in Medvedeva's absence, earning first in both segments for a total score of 233.59 points.  At the 2018 Europeans, held in Moscow, Zagitova finished first, winning over teammate Evgenia Medvedeva. It was the first time Medvedeva had been beaten in over two years. On the next day, 21 January, Zagitova was named to the Russian Olympic team (together with Medvedeva and Maria Sotskova).  At the Olympics team event, the 10 points Zagitova earned for the first place in the ladies' free skating helped Russia to a silver medal in the competition. She scored 158.08, setting a new personal best and breaking the record for the highest ever technical score in ladies' team figure skating.  In the ladies' individual event, Zagitova skated a clean short program and posted a world record score of 82.92, beating the previous record of 81.61 that Medvedeva posted earlier that evening. Her total score of 239.57 was a new personal best. Zagitova won the gold medal in the event at age of 15 years and 281 days, became one of the youngest figure skating Olympic champions.  During the 2018 Olympics, "The New York Times" reported that Zagitova had performed the most technically difficult program in the history of ladies Olympic gold medalists by performing at a base value of 46.1, approximately 25% higher than that of Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski in the 1990s, and more than double that of Dorothy Hamill during the Olympics in the 1970s. Previously, in 1998 Lipinski became the first woman to include a triple loop-triple loop combination in her Olympic program. By comparison, Zagitova completed the harder triple lutz-triple loop combination at the 2018 Olympics.  In the free skating at the 2018 Olympics, Zagitova was the only competitor to perform all her (eleven) jumps in the second half of the program. This capitalized on the ISU scoring system, which awards a 10% bonus to jumps performed on "tired legs". Her combination jump of triple lutz–triple loop was technically more difficult and higher scoring than those performed by her competitors irrespective of where it appeared in the program. Some fans criticized this program construction, believing that this led to an unbalanced program, pointing out that the ISU instated a 10% bonus in the second half to avoid skaters doing all their jumps at once. To address this, the ISU made a rule following the 2017-18 season— dubbed by skating enthusiasts “The Zagitova Rule”— stating that a skater must perform jumps in both halves of a program, only allowing three jumping passes to receive the 10% bonus.  Zagitova competed at the 2018 World Championships in Milan. In the short program, she placed second to Carolina Kostner, but fell three times in the free skate, where she placed seventh. She finished 5th overall, which was her only loss in the 2017–18 season.

2018–2019 season: World Champion.

At the start of the season, the ISU records were reset, with the world records occurring before July 1, 2018 becoming historic records. Zagitova began the 2018–2019 season at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. She came in first place after both the short program and free skate events, winning the gold with a total of 238.43 points. Due to the reset of previous records, her free skate and combined scores from this event became the current world records and had remained as such throughout the entire season. Rika Kihira of Japan was the holder of the short program record.  In early November Zagitova competed at her first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. She was ranked first in both the short program and the free skate and won the gold medal by a margin of about 18 points over the silver medalist, her teammate Stanislava Konstantinova. In mid November she competed at her second Grand Prix event of the season, the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. Again she was ranked first in both programs and she won the gold medal by a margin of about 25 points over the silver medalist, her teammate Sofia Samodurova.  With two gold medals, she qualified to the 2018–19 Grand Prix Final. The Final was predicted by prognosticators to be a tight competition between Zagitova and Rika Kihira, who had earlier won the Ondrej Nepela Trophy after Zagitova had been compelled to withdraw due to visa issues. Zagitova won the silver medal, behind Kihira, with both skaters making errors in the free skate. In Zagitova's case, she popped an attempted triple toeloop in her opening combination. Speaking afterward, she said, "you always want to be first, but this is not going to happen every time."  At the 2019 Russian Championships, Zagitova comfortably placed first in the short program, saying she was "satisfied with [her] short program today, but there is still room to grow." She did not have a successful free skate, falling twice and struggling during her choreographic sequence. She placed twelfth in the free skate, and fifth overall. However, the top three were junior competitors and thus ineligible for the European Championship team. Since Zagitova was second out of senior competitors, she was still granted an automatic place on the European Championship team despite finishing fifth. She did not speak to the media after the competition. In addition to her loss to junior competitors, Zagitova also lost against a senior eligible skater for the first time in domestic competition, when she placed below Stanislava Konstantinova.  At the 2019 European Championships, Zagitova placed first in the short program despite an underrotation on her triple loop. She fared poorly in the free skate, falling once and underrotating or downgrading the majority of her jumping passes, which led to her placing fourth in the free skate, and second overall, behind Samodurova and less than four points ahead of Finnish skater Viveca Lindfors. Speaking afterward, she said "It’s good I'm in the top three and the silver medal is also good – it could have been worse, so I’m happy with silver, but I wanted to do better for me personally." Following the European Championships, Zagitova was chosen to represent Russia at the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, alongside Sofia Samodurova and a former training mate Evgenia Medvedeva. During the short program competition, Zagitova delivered a clean skate, obtaining high GOEs on the jumping elements including her signature combination triple Lutz-triple loop. She received a season's best score of 82.08, taking a lead of over five points ahead of Kaori Sakamoto who placed second, over eleven points ahead of Rika Kihira, who had been anticipated to be Zagitova's biggest rival in the fight for the gold medal. In the press conference afterward, she remarked, "Regarding today's program, I'm satisfied." Two days after, Zagitova performed a clean free program for the first time in competition since Nebelhorn Trophy in September 2018, proceeding to receive a score of 155.42, the highest number of the day. With a combined score of 237.50, Zagitova was nearly thirteen points clear of the rest of the field after the competition, taking home her first World title in a dominant fashion. The silver medal was awarded to Zagitova's current training mate Elizabet Tursynbaeva, while Medvedeva took the bronze medal. Shortly after the competition, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Zagitova on her victory in a note published on the Kremlin website.

2019–2020 season: Struggles and hiatus.

Zagitova began the season at the Japan Open where she placed second with a score of 154.41, behind her team and training mate Alexandra Trusova, contributing to Team Europe's win.  Beginning the Grand Prix at the 2019 Internationaux de France, Zagitova placed second in the short program behind training mate Alena Kostornaia, after receiving an edge call on her triple lutz and under-rotating the triple loop in combination with it. In the free skate, she botched an opening triple lutz jump and under-rotated three others, placing third in that segment behind Kostornaia and Mariah Bell. She took the silver medal overall, and deemed the performance as having "room to grow." At the 2019 NHK Trophy, she placed fourth in the short program with a score of 66.84 after landing an invalid single loop in her combination jump with triple flip after failing to attach the planned triple loop to her Lutz. In the free, she skated much better to earn a score of 151.15, for a third place finish overall, behind Kostornaia and Kihira. All three of the podium finishers qualified to the Grand Prix Final.  Competing at the Grand Prix Final, Zagitova skated cleanly and placed second in the short program, behind only Kostornaia, aided by triple Axel errors by both Kihira and Trusova. She was less successful in the free skate, falling on a double Axel and having several other jumps deemed underrotated or downgraded, and finished sixth in that segment and overall.  Zagitova suspended her season following the Grand Prix Final, stating that she no longer had motivation to compete. She withdrew from the 2020 Russian Championships and will not contend for berths on the 2020 European Championships or the 2020 World Championships teams.

Skating technique.

Zagitova is known for her signature triple lutz-triple loop combination, and has also executed other triple loop combinations such as the triple flip-triple loop. She also performs other combinations, such as triple lutz-triple toe, double axel-triple toe, and the triple flip-double toe-double loop in competitions. She regularly employs the "Rippon" variation, with both arms over the head when jumping.  In addition, Zagitova is also the only female skater in history to have executed two fully back-loaded programs in the 2017-18 season, prior to the implementation of the eponymous "Zagitova Rule".

Public life.

Zagitova was awarded the Order of Friendship by Vladimir Putin for her Olympic win at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She is also a two-time winner of the Silver Doe Prize, awarded by the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, as one of the ten best athletes of 2017 and 2018. She was named "Athlete of the Year" in the nomination "Pride of Russia" by the Ministry of Sport of Russia in 2018, leaving behind fencer Inna Deriglazova and gymnast Angelina Melnikova. Forbes Russia's "Top 30 Under 30" list named Zagitova as the top athlete in the sports category, Zagitova is also part of the list of Top 40 most successful Russians from sport and show business under the age of 40. She was named "Sportswoman of the Year" at the 2019 Glamour Russia Awards and "People's Sportsman" (as determined by VTsIOM) at the Sovetsky Sport – Year-in-review ceremony of the same year.

Endorsements.

Zagitova has endorsed numerous brands over the years. She is the current global ambassador for Japanese cosmetic brand, Shiseido, and is also the ambassador for sports brand Puma. Along with her pet dog Masaru, she also currently endorses Japanese mattress company, Airweave. She has also advertised for Sberbank of Russia, smartphone game "Madoka Magica", and PepsiCo's brand of flavored water "Aqua Minerale Active". Alina appeared on the front cover of the May 2020 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine Russia.

World records.

World record scores.

Zagitova has set the world record scores 4 times under the +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system.

Historical world record scores.

Note: Because of the introduction of the new +5 / -5 GOE (Grade of Execution) system which replaced the previous +3 / -3 GOE system, ISU has decided that all statistics starts from zero starting from season 2018–19 and all previous statistics are historical.  Zagitova had set one senior world record score and five junior world record scores before season 2018–19.

Detailed results.

Small medals for short program and free skating awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

Senior level.

Previous ISU world best highlighted in bold. Historical ISU world best highlighted in bold with a * mark. Personal bests highlighted in "italic".

Junior level.

Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold. Personal junior bests highlighted in "italic".

External links.

! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |World Record Holders ! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |Historical World Record Holders (before season 2018–19) ! colspan="3" style="border-top: 5px solid #78FF78;" |Historical World Junior Record Holders (before season 2018–19)

Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova (,, born 18 May 2002) is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2018 Olympic champion, the 2019 World champion, the 2018 European champion, 2017–18 Grand Prix Final champion, and the 2018 Russian national champion. Zagitova also won a silver medal in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, representing the Olympic Athletes from Russia team.

Alina Ilnazovna Zagitovová ( "Алина Ильназовна Загитовa") (* 18. května 2002 Iževsk, Udmurtsko) je ruská krasobruslařka tatarského původu. Získala zlatou medaili na Mistrovství Evropy v krasobruslení 2018, finále Grand Prix 2017/2018, Ruském šampionátu 2018 a Mistrovství světa v krasobruslení 2019. Je také vítězkou Mistrovství světa juniorů 2017 a Grand Prix juniorů 2016/2017. Jejím největším úspěchem je zisk zlaté medaile na ZOH 2018 v Pchjongčchangu. Ze stejného šampionátu má i stříbro z týmové soutěže.


Political career.

Member of Parliament, 2002–2017.

From 2002 to 2017 Kretschmer was member of the Bundestag as directly elected representative for Görlitz. He first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. From 2009 to 2017 he was one of the vice chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Volker Kauder. During his time in parliament, he was also of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group.  In the negotiations to form a "Grand Coalition" of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Kretschmer led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs; his counterpart of the SPD was Klaus Wowereit.

Minister-President of Saxony, 2017–present.

On 18 October 2017, Stanislaw Tillich announced his resignation as Minister President of Saxony and suggested that Kretschmer should replace him. He is only the fourth and also the youngest person to hold that office.  As one of Saxony's representatives at the Bundesrat, Kretschmer has been serving as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2017. In addition, he is a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with Russia's Federation Council.  In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Kretschmer co-chaired the working group on transport and infrastructure, alongside Alexander Dobrindt and Sören Bartol.

Political positions.

In June 2017, Kretschmer voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.  While visiting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2019, Kretschmer met with President Vladimir Putin and later called for the lifting of EU economic sanctions against Russia. This was immediately rejected by CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Controversy.

During his tenure as secretary general of the CDU in Saxony, Kretscher faced criticism after reports surfaced in 2010 that personal meetings with party chairman and Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich were offered to potential corporate sponsors in exchange for donations.

Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German CDU politician. He has been Minister President of Saxony since 13 December 2017.

Michael Kretschmer (* 7. května 1975 Zhořelec) je německý politik za Křesťanskodemokratickou unii. Dne 13. prosince 2017 se stal premiérem Saska, když ve funkci vystřídal Stanisława Tilicha.