sakura

Concept

Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU). The opposite of Pro-Europeanism is Euroscepticism.

Concept

Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS, commonly known as Alpine (, French: [alpin]), is a French manufacturer of sports cars and racing cars established in 1955. The Alpine car marque was created in 1954. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally a Dieppe garage proprietor who began to achieve success in motorsport with the Renault 4CV, one of the few French cars produced after the Second World War. The company has been closely associated with Renault throughout its history, and was bought by it in 1973. The Alpine competition department merged into Renault Sport in 1976. Renault phased out the Alpine brand in 1995, but relaunched it with the 2017 introduction of the new Alpine A110. Renault later merged Renault Sport again into Alpine in January 2021, forming an Alpine business unit. Alpine became an electric vehicle brand with the 2024 introduction of the new Alpine A290. As part of its global expansion, Alpine in 2023 announced plans to enter the North American market in 2027 with a mid-size electric crossover and a large electric SUV.

Being

Suzy Eddie Izzard ( IH-zard; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actress and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues. Izzard's stand-up comedy tours have included Live at the Ambassadors (1993), Definite Article (1996), Glorious (1997), Dress to Kill (1998), Circle (2000), Stripped (2009), Force Majeure (2013) and Wunderbar (2022). She starred in the television series The Riches (2007–2008) and has appeared in numerous films, including Ocean's Twelve (2004), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Valkyrie (2008), Absolutely Anything (2015) and Six Minutes to Midnight (2020). Izzard has also worked as a voice actor on films such as Five Children and It (2004), The Wild (2006), Cars 2 (2011), Rock Dog (2016), The Lego Batman Movie (2017) and the Netflix original series Green Eggs and Ham (2019). Among various accolades, she won two Primetime Emmys for Dress to Kill and was nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. In 2009, Izzard completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief, despite having no history of long-distance running. In 2016, she ran 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa in honour of Nelson Mandela, raising £1.35 million. In addition to her native English, she has performed stand-up in Arabic, French, German, Russian and Spanish, and is an active supporter of Europeanism and the European Union. A dedicated Labour Party activist, Izzard twice ran unsuccessfully for the party's National Executive Committee and then joined as the most successful initially non-elected person after Christine Shawcroft resigned in March 2018. In 2022 and 2023, Izzard attempted to become the party's prospective parliamentary candidate (for Sheffield Central and Brighton Pavilion respectively); she was not selected in the members' ballots.

Object

New Order are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1980 by vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook, and drummer Stephen Morris, with keyboardist Gillian Gilbert joining the band shortly after. Sumner, Hook and Morris were previously members of Joy Division, which had disbanded earlier in 1980 after the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. Their fusion of post-punk and electronic dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s, and pioneers of alternative dance. They became the flagship band for the Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub, The Haçienda. They worked in a long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville who worked on their album covers. While the band's early years were initially overshadowed by Joy Division's post-punk legacy, their experience in the early 1980s New York club scene led them to incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work. Their 1983 hit "Blue Monday" became the best-selling 12-inch single of all time and a popular club track. In the 1980s, they released several successful albums, such as Power, Corruption & Lies (1983), Technique (1989), and the singles compilation album Substance (1987). The band disbanded in 1993 to focus on their individual projects but reunited in 1998. Since then, New Order have gone through various hiatuses and changes in personnel, most notably the departure of Hook in 2007 due to personal disputes with the other members. In 2015, they released their tenth studio album, Music Complete. In 2026, both Joy Division and New Order were inducted as one act into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Concept

The Church of Norway (Bokmål: Den norske kirke, Nynorsk: Den norske kyrkja, Northern Sami: Norgga girku, Southern Sami: Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established as a separate church intimately integrated with the state as a result of the Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway which broke ties with the Holy See in 1536–1537; the Norwegian monarch was the church's titular head from 1537 to 2012. Historically, the church was one of the main instruments of state authority, and an important part of the state's administration. Local government was based on the church's parishes with significant official responsibility held by the parish priest. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church of Norway gradually ceded most administrative functions to the secular civil service. The modern Constitution of Norway describes the church as the country's "people's church" and requires the monarch to be a member. It is by far the largest church in Norway; until the mid 19th century the state church had a near-total monopoly on religion in Norway. It was the only legal church in Norway, membership was mandatory for every person residing in the kingdom and it was forbidden for anyone other than the official priests of the state church to authorise religious meetings. After the adoption of the 1845 Dissenter Act, the state church retained its legally privileged position, while minority religious congregations such as Catholics were allowed to establish themselves in Norway and were legally termed "dissenters" (i.e. from the government-sanctioned Lutheran state religion). Church employees were civil servants from the Reformation until 2017, when the church became a legal entity separate from the state administration. The Church of Norway is mentioned specifically in the 1814 constitution and is subject to the Church Act. Municipalities are required by law to support activities of parishes and to maintain church buildings and churchyards. Other religious communities are entitled to the same level of government subsidies as the Church of Norway. The church is led by ordained deacons, priests and bishops. Deacons focus on serving those in need and assist the priests. Priests are traditionally and primarily divided into the ranks chaplain, parish priest (sogneprest) who was traditionally the head of a parish (prestegjeld; literally area that owes allegiance to a priest), and provost (prost). Bishops are elected and consecrated from the priesthood and are the leaders of dioceses. Today, most priests may hold the title of parish priest, while some priests who work directly under a provost are known as provostship priest (prostiprest). All priests and bishops were appointed by the King-in-Council until the late 20th century and thus held the status of embetsmann (higher civil servant appointed by the King). Prior to 2000, ordination required the theological civil servant examination (cand.theol.) that required six years of university studies, but from 2000 other equivalent degrees may also be accepted for certain applicants over the age of 35 with relevant experience.