NEAR or Near may refer to:

Alison Sudol (born December 23, 1984), known professionally as A Fine Frenzy, is an American alternative singer-songwriter and pianist. Her debut album, One Cell in the Sea, was released in 2007, followed in 2009 by Bomb in a Birdcage. Sudol's songs have charted in the United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and France, among other countries. Her music has also been featured on numerous television shows and featured in several major motion pictures. According to her official website, A Fine Frenzy's upcoming album, Pines, will be released in mid- to late-2012.

Born in Seattle, Washington to two dramatic arts teachers, Sudol and both parents moved to Los Angeles after their divorce when she was five years old. She grew up listening to a wide range of music, including Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, and swing. She has stated that her roots are "Scottish, Irish, Polish, and 'a bit' of German."

She graduated from high school at the age of 16, and considered herself "nerdy and quiet." Sudol did not "drink or smoke or do anything like that." She stated in an interview "I was so nervous about going into college like that and super young. I figured I would take two years and try to find out what I was doing with music. And when I was 18, I was just so deep into it that I didn't want to stop."

Pau Gasol i Sáez (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpaw ɡəˈzɔɫ]) (born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born to Marisa Sáez and Agustí Gasol, and he spent his childhood in Spain. Gasol was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001 NBA Draft, but his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, with whom he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He currently holds the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for career games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. After seven seasons with the team, Gasol was traded to the Lakers on February 1, 2008. His younger brother, Marc Gasol, who was involved in that trade, is also a professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.

Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona. He began playing basketball with his school team called Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team. He also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the senior team of Barcelona, Gasol played just 25 total minutes in the Spanish ACB League 1998–99 season, and averaged 13.7 minutes per game in the ACB the next year. However, in his final season in the ACB, Gasol averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cup championship game in 2001, and Gasol was named Most Valuable Player. After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Ariel Sharon (Hebrew:  אריאל שרון‎, also known by his diminutive Arik, אַריק, born Ariel Scheinermann, אריאל שיינרמן on 26 February 1928) is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006.

Sharon was a commander in the Israeli Army since its inception in 1948. As a paratrooper and then officer he participated prominently in the 1948 War of Independence, becoming platoon commander of the Alexandroni Brigade and taking part in many battles, including Operation Ben Nun Alef. He was an instrumental figure in the creation of Unit 101, the Retribution operations, the 1956 Suez War, the Six-Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition and the Yom-Kippur War of 1973. As Minister of Defense, he directed the 1982 Lebanon War. During his military career, he was considered the greatest Field Commander in Israel's history, and one of the country's greatest ever military strategists. After his assault of the Sinai in the Six-Day War and his encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army in the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli public nicknamed him "The King of Israel" and "The Lion of God".

Ólafur Arnalds (born 3 November 1986) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from classical to pop.

Ólafur was a drummer of hardcore/metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, as well as others.

In 2004, Ólafur composed and recorded the intro and two outros for tracks on the album Antigone by German metal band Heaven Shall Burn.

On 12 October 2007, Ólafur's first solo album Eulogy for Evolution was released. It was followed by the EP Variations of Static in 2008. In the same year, Ólafur toured with Sigur Rós. He is also reported to have sold out The Barbican Hall in London.

In April 2009, Ólafur composed and released a track daily for seven days, instantly making each track available within 24 hours from foundsongs.erasedtapes.com. The collection of tracks was entitled Found Songs. The first track was released on 13 April.

In October 2009, the ballet Dyad 1909 premiered with a score composed by Ólafur. Choreographed by Wayne McGregor and performed by Wayne McGregor Random Dance, the ballet was inspired by Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition to the South Pole in 1909.