title: Tokyo City

text: In 1868, the medieval city of Edo, seat of the Tokugawa government, was renamed Tokyo, and the offices of Tokyo Prefecture ("-fu") were opened. The extent of Tokyo Prefecture was initially limited to the former Edo city, but rapidly augmented to be comparable with the present Tokyo Metropolis. In 1878, the Meiji government's reorganization of local governments subdivided prefectures into counties or districts ("gun", further subdivided into towns and villages, later reorganized similar to Prussian districts) and districts or wards ("ku") which were in ordinary prefectures cities as a whole, e.g. today's Hiroshima City ("-shi") was then "Hiroshima-ku"; the three major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were each subdivided into several such wards. In Tokyo Prefecture, this created 15 wards (listed below) and six counties/districts.


title: Tokyo City

text: In 1888, the central government created the legal framework for the current system of cities ("shi") that granted some basic local autonomy rights – with some similarities to Prussia's system of local self-government as Meiji government advisor Albert Mosse heavily influenced the organization of local government. But under a special imperial regulation, Tokyo City, like Kyoto City and Osaka City, initially did not maintain a separate mayor; instead, the (appointed) governor of Tokyo Prefecture served as mayor of Tokyo City. The Tokyo city council/assembly ("Tōkyō-shikai") was first elected in May 1889. Each ward also retained its own assembly. City and prefectural government were separated in 1898., and the government began to appoint a separate mayor of Tokyo City in 1898, but retained ward-level legislation, which continues to this day in the special ward system. From 1926, the mayor was elected by the elected city council/assembly from its own ranks. The city hall of Tokyo was located in the Yūrakuchō district, on a site now occupied by the Tokyo International Forum.


title: Tokyo City

text: Tokyo became the second-largest city in the world (population 4.9 million) upon absorbing several outlying districts in July 1932, giving the city a total of 35 wards.


title: Tokyo City

text: In 1943, the city was abolished and merged with Tokyo Prefecture to form the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which was functionally a part of the central government of Japan: the governor of Tokyo became a Cabinet minister reporting directly to the Prime Minister. This system remained in place until 1947 when the current structure of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government was formed.


title: Computer simulation

text: Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determined by comparing their results to the real-world outcomes they aim to predict. Computer simulations have become a useful tool for the mathematical modeling of many natural systems in physics (computational physics), astrophysics, climatology, chemistry, biology and manufacturing, as well as human systems in economics, psychology, social science, health care and engineering. Simulation of a system is represented as the running of the system's model. It can be used to explore and gain new insights into new technology and to estimate the performance of systems too complex for analytical solutions.


title: Computer simulation

text: Computer simulations are realized by running computer programs that can be either small, running almost instantly on small devices, or large-scale programs that run for hours or days on network-based groups of computers. The scale of events being simulated by computer simulations has far exceeded anything possible (or perhaps even imaginable) using traditional paper-and-pencil mathematical modeling. In 1997, a desert-battle simulation of one force invading another involved the modeling of 66,239 tanks, trucks and other vehicles on simulated terrain around Kuwait, using multiple supercomputers in the DoD High Performance Computer Modernization Program.


title: Computer simulation

text: Other examples include a 1-billion-atom model of material deformation; a 2.64-million-atom model of the complex protein-producing organelle of all living organisms, the ribosome, in 2005;


title: Computer simulation

text: a complete simulation of the life cycle of "Mycoplasma genitalium" in 2012; and the Blue Brain project at EPFL (Switzerland), begun in May 2005 to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level.


title: Computer simulation

text: Because of the computational cost of simulation, computer experiments are used to perform inference such as uncertainty quantification.


title: Computer simulation

text: A computer model is the algorithms and equations used to capture the behavior of the system being modeled. By contrast, computer simulation is the actual running of the program that contains these equations or algorithms. Simulation, therefore, is the process of running a model. Thus one would not "build a simulation"; instead, one would "build a model (or a simulator)", and then either "run the model" or equivalently "run a simulation".


title: Computer simulation

text: Computer simulation developed hand-in-hand with the rapid growth of the computer, following its first large-scale deployment during the Manhattan Project in World War II to model the process of nuclear detonation. It was a simulation of 12 hard spheres using a Monte Carlo algorithm. Computer simulation is often used as an adjunct to, or substitute for, modeling systems for which simple closed form analytic solutions are not possible. There are many types of computer simulations; their common feature is the attempt to generate a sample of representative scenarios for a model in which a complete enumeration of all possible states of the model would be prohibitive or impossible.


title: Computer simulation

text: The external data requirements of simulations and models vary widely. For some, the input might be just a few numbers (for example, simulation of a waveform of AC electricity on a wire), while others might require terabytes of information (such as weather and climate models).


title: Computer simulation

text: Because of this variety, and because diverse simulation systems have many common elements, there are a large number of specialized simulation languages. The best-known may be Simula. There are now many others.


title: Computer simulation

text: Systems that accept data from external sources must be very careful in knowing what they are receiving. While it is easy for computers to read in values from text or binary files, what is much harder is knowing what the accuracy (compared to measurement resolution and precision) of the values are. Often they are expressed as "error bars", a minimum and maximum deviation from the value range within which the true value (is expected to) lie. Because digital computer mathematics is not perfect, rounding and truncation errors multiply this error, so it is useful to perform an "error analysis" to confirm that values output by the simulation will still be usefully accurate.


title: Computer simulation

text: Another way of categorizing models is to look at the underlying data structures. For time-stepped simulations, there are two main classes:


title: Computer simulation

text: Equations define the relationships between elements of the modeled system and attempt to find a state in which the system is in equilibrium. Such models are often used in simulating physical systems, as a simpler modeling case before dynamic simulation is attempted.


title: Computer simulation

text: Formerly, the output data from a computer simulation was sometimes presented in a table or a matrix showing how data were affected by numerous changes in the simulation parameters. The use of the matrix format was related to traditional use of the matrix concept in mathematical models. However, psychologists and others noted that humans could quickly perceive trends by looking at graphs or even moving-images or motion-pictures generated from the data, as displayed by computer-generated-imagery (CGI) animation. Although observers could not necessarily read out numbers or quote math formulas, from observing a moving weather chart they might be able to predict events (and "see that rain was headed their way") much faster than by scanning tables of rain-cloud coordinates. Such intense graphical displays, which transcended the world of numbers and formulae, sometimes also led to output that lacked a coordinate grid or omitted timestamps, as if straying too far from numeric data displays. Today, weather forecasting models tend to balance the view of moving rain/snow clouds against a map that uses numeric coordinates and numeric timestamps of events.


title: Computer simulation

text: Similarly, CGI computer simulations of CAT scans can simulate how a tumor might shrink or change during an extended period of medical treatment, presenting the passage of time as a spinning view of the visible human head, as the tumor changes.


title: Computer simulation

text: Other applications of CGI computer simulations are being developed to graphically display large amounts of data, in motion, as changes occur during a simulation run.


title: Computer simulation

text: Generic examples of types of computer simulations in science, which are derived from an underlying mathematical description:


title: Computer simulation

text: Notable, and sometimes controversial, computer simulations used in science include: Donella Meadows' World3 used in the "Limits to Growth", James Lovelock's Daisyworld and Thomas Ray's Tierra.


title: Computer simulation

text: In social sciences, computer simulation is an integral component of the five angles of analysis fostered by the data percolation methodology, which also includes qualitative and quantitative methods, reviews of the literature (including scholarly), and interviews with experts, and which forms an extension of data triangulation. Of course, similar to any other scientific method, replication is an important part of computational modeling


title: Computer simulation

text: The reliability and the trust people put in computer simulations depends on the validity of the simulation model, therefore verification and validation are of crucial importance in the development of computer simulations. Another important aspect of computer simulations is that of reproducibility of the results, meaning that a simulation model should not provide a different answer for each execution. Although this might seem obvious, this is a special point of attention in stochastic simulations, where random numbers should actually be semi-random numbers. An exception to reproducibility are human-in-the-loop simulations such as flight simulations and computer games. Here a human is part of the simulation and thus influences the outcome in a way that is hard, if not impossible, to reproduce exactly.


title: Computer simulation

text: Vehicle manufacturers make use of computer simulation to test safety features in new designs. By building a copy of the car in a physics simulation environment, they can save the hundreds of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be required to build and test a unique prototype. Engineers can step through the simulation milliseconds at a time to determine the exact stresses being put upon each section of the prototype.


title: Computer simulation

text: Computer graphics can be used to display the results of a computer simulation. Animations can be used to experience a simulation in real-time, e.g., in training simulations. In some cases animations may also be useful in faster than real-time or even slower than real-time modes. For example, faster than real-time animations can be useful in visualizing the buildup of queues in the simulation of humans evacuating a building. Furthermore, simulation results are often aggregated into static images using various ways of scientific visualization.


title: Computer simulation

text: In debugging, simulating a program execution under test (rather than executing natively) can detect far more errors than the hardware itself can detect and, at the same time, log useful debugging information such as instruction trace, memory alterations and instruction counts. This technique can also detect buffer overflow and similar "hard to detect" errors as well as produce performance information and tuning data.


title: Computer simulation

text: Although sometimes ignored in computer simulations, it is very important to perform a sensitivity analysis to ensure that the accuracy of the results is properly understood. For example, the probabilistic risk analysis of factors determining the success of an oilfield exploration program involves combining samples from a variety of statistical distributions using the Monte Carlo method. If, for instance, one of the key parameters (e.g., the net ratio of oil-bearing strata) is known to only one significant figure, then the result of the simulation might not be more precise than one significant figure, although it might (misleadingly) be presented as having four significant figures.


title: Ramona Marquez

text: Ramona Marquez (born 24 February 2001) is an English actress best known for her childhood role as Karen Brockman in the BBC One sitcom "Outnumbered".


title: Ramona Marquez

text: In 2009, Marquez appeared as Imogen Pollock in the made-for-television movie "Enid", detailing the life of children's writer Enid Blyton.


title: Ramona Marquez

text: Later in 2009, Marquez became the first child to win the British Comedy Award for 'Best Female Comedy Newcomer'. "Outnumbered" also won two other comedy awards on the night, including 'Best TV Comedy'. Marquez has also appeared in "The King's Speech" as Princess Margaret and "Arthur Christmas" as the voice of Gwen.


title: Ramona Marquez

text: Her father is Martin Marquez, an actor best known on television for his role as Gino Primirola, the head barman in the British television comedy drama "Hotel Babylon". Her brother Raoul Marquez appeared with her in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel".


title: Ramona Marquez

text: Marquez came out as bisexual in her contribution to the book "Women Don't Owe You Pretty" by Florence Given, released in June 2020.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County in New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the 2020 Census, the city's population was 35,029, up from the 2019 estimate of 33,454. It was incorporated in 1922, and is nicknamed "The City by the Sea" (the Latin form, "Civitas ad mare", is the city's motto). The Long Beach Barrier Island is surrounded by Reynolds Channel to the north, east and west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In 2022, Long Beach was named the best East Coast beach town for a summer getaway by Time Out magazine.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The city of Long Beach's first inhabitants were the Algonquian-speaking Lenape, who sold the area to English colonists in 1643. From that time, while the barrier island was used by baymen and farmers for fishing and harvesting salt hay, no one lived there year-round for more than two centuries. The bark "Mexico", carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran ashore on New Year's Day.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn, was the first to attempt to develop the island as a resort. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to finance the New York and Long Beach Railroad Co., which laid track from Lynbrook to Long Beach in 1880. That same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a strip of beach, which he claimed was the world's largest hotel. In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island. By the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In 1906, William H. Reynolds, a 39-year-old real estate developer and former state senator, became involved in the area. Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods (Bedford–Stuyvesant, Borough Park, Bensonhurst, and South Brownsville), as well as Coney Island's Dreamland, the world's largest amusement park at the time. Reynolds also owned a theatre and produced plays.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: He gathered investors, and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead in 1907; he planned to build a boardwalk, homes, and hotels. Reynolds had a herd of elephants marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to help build the Long Beach Boardwalk; he had created an effective publicity stunt. Dredges created a channel wide on the north side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and seaplanes to transport more visitors; the new waterway was named Reynolds Channel. To ensure that Long Beach lived up to his billing it "The Riviera of the East", he required each building to be constructed in an "eclectic Mediterranean style", with white stucco walls and red-clay tile roofs. He built a theatre called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers Vernon and Irene Castle.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: After Reynolds' corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy business people and entertainers from New York and Hollywood.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: On July 29, 1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, and one woman died. The fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages, and the bathing pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form "dressing rooms", were looted by thieves. A dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In 1923, the prohibition agents known simply as Izzy and Moe raided the Nassau Hotel and arrested three men for bootlegging. In 1930, five Long Beach Police officers were charged with offering a bribe to a United States Coast Guard officer to allow liquor to be landed. The police had another problem a year later in the summer of 1931, when a beachcomber found the body of a young woman named Starr Faithfull, who had drowned. She had left behind a suicide note, but others believed she had been murdered, and the circumstances of her death were never resolved. Corruption became rampant in Long Beach by then; in 1922, the state Legislature designated Long Beach a city, and William H. Reynolds was elected the first mayor. Soon afterward, Reynolds was indicted on charges of misappropriating funds. When he was found guilty, the clock in the tower at city hall was stopped in protest. When a judge released Reynolds from jail later that year on appeal, almost the entire population turned out to greet him, and the clock was turned back on.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: On November 15, 1939, Mayor Louis F. Edwards was fatally shot by a police officer in front of his home. Officer Alvin Dooley, a member of the police motorcycle squad and the mayor's own security detail, killed Edwards after losing his bid for PBA president to a candidate the mayor supported. Jackson Boulevard was later renamed Edwards Boulevard in honor of the late mayor. After the murder, the city residents passed legislation to adopt a city manager system, which still exists to this day. The city manager is hired by and reports to the City Council.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In the 1940s, José Ferrer, Zero Mostel, Mae West, and other famous actors performed at local theaters. John Barrymore, Humphrey Bogart, Clara Bow, James Cagney, Cab Calloway, Jack Dempsey, Lillian Roth, Rudolph Valentino, and Florenz Ziegfeld lived in Long Beach for decades.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: By the 1940s and 1950s, with the advent of cheap air travel attracting tourists to more distant places, and air-conditioning to provide year-round comfort, Long Beach had become primarily a bedroom community for commuters to New York City. It still attracted many summer visitors into the 1970s. The rundown boardwalk hotels were used for temporary housing for welfare recipients and the elderly until a scandal around 1970 led to many of the homes losing their licenses. At that time, government agencies were also "warehousing" in such hotels many patients released from larger mental hospitals. They were supposed to be cared for in small-scale community centers. The boardwalk had a small amusement park at the foot of Edwards Boulevard until the 1980s. In the late 1960s, the boardwalk and amusement park area was a magnet for youth from around Long Island, until a police crackdown on drug trafficking ended that. A few businesses remained on the boardwalk, attracting bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and people-watchers.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Beginning in the 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Long Beach began an urban renewal, with new housing, new businesses, and other improvements. Today, the city is again a popular bedroom community, for people working in New York who want the quiet beach atmosphere. With summer come local youths and college students and young adults who rent bungalows on the West End; they frequent the local bars and clubs along West Beech Street. Just behind the boardwalk near the center of the city, however, vacant lots now occupy several blocks that once housed hotels, bathhouses, and the amusement park. Because attempts to attract development (including, at one time, Atlantic City-style casinos) to this potential "superblock" have not yet borne fruit, the lots constitute the city's largest portion of unused land.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck Long Beach. As a result of flooding, hundreds of vehicles were destroyed and houses suffered various levels of damage. The estimated cost of all the damage was over $250 million. The city was without power and running water for two weeks after the storm. The boardwalk was also destroyed during the storm. The city began rebuilding the boardwalk with grants from FEMA and the State of New York. The first two-block section of the new Long Beach boardwalk reopened on July 26, 2013, and the entire boardwalk opened on October 25, 2013. The final costs of rebuilding the boardwalk were $44 million, of which ca. $39 million were FEMA grants and the final $4.4 million were reimbursed by the state.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . Of its total area, is land, and the rest is water.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The city is on a barrier island of the South Shore of Long Island. It shares the island with East Atlantic Beach, Atlantic Beach to the west and Lido Beach and Point Lookout to the east.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Long Beach has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) under the Köppen climate classification, with humid hot summers and cool winters. It is one of the northernmost locations in this climate zone, allowing for the growth of warmer climate plants like Mimosa, Crape Myrtle, Southern Magnolia, and Sweetgum often seen further south. It is in plant hardiness zone 7b, like coastal Maryland. Precipitation is evenly distributed year-round, mostly in the form of rain although snowfall occurs each winter. Long Beach is vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Its climate is tempered by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Unlike most suburban communities near New York City, Long Beach is a high-density community. Fewer than 40% of the homes are detached houses, and the city ranks as the 35th-densest community in the United States. The city is less than wide from ocean to bay and about long. The city is divided into the West End, home to many small bungalow and some large houses, and the East End. West of New York Avenue, the barrier island is less than wide and West Beech Street is the main east/west commercial street.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: East of New York Avenue, the island is wider between the bay and ocean and is home to larger more expansive family houses. There is the city's boardwalk, which begins at New York Avenue and ends at Neptune Boulevard. Along the boardwalk are many apartment buildings and condos. The main commercial strip is Park Avenue, which narrows into a small residential strip west of New York Avenue.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The 2010 U.S. census determined there were 33,275 people residing in the city, and the 2019 American Community Survey estimated the population increased to 33,454. At census of 2000, there were 35,462 people, 14,923 households, and 8,103 families residing in the city. The local population was spread out at as of 2010. In 2000, the population density was . Also in 2000, there were 16,128 housing units at an average density of .


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In 2019 there were an average of 2.31 persons per household, and the median household income was $97,022. Long Beach had a per capita income of $53,579 from 2015-2019 and 6.7% of its population lived at or below the poverty line. In 2000, there were 14,923 households, out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 36.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 3.02.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 18.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 34.4% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $56,289, and the median income for a family was $68,222. Males had a median income of $50,995 versus $40,739 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,069. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The racial and ethnic makeup of the city of Long Beach was 73.2% non-Hispanic white, 7.5% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 3.6% Asian, 2.8% two or more races, and 13.9% Hispanic and Latin American of any race. Out of the total population, 52.2% were female and 13.4% of the total population was foreign-born from 2015-2019. In 2000, the racial makeup of the city was 84.20% White, 6.18% African American, 0.21% Native American, 2.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.75% from other races, and 2.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.80% of the population.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: According to Sperling's BestPlaces, 67.7% of the population of Long Beach were religious as of 2021. The majority of the religious population are Christian and the Catholic Church is the largest single denomination. The second largest Christian group is Protestantism and the single largest Protestant denomination as of 2021 was Lutheranism. The second largest religion practiced in the city is Judaism, followed by Islam. Eastern faiths including Hinduism and Buddhism are also prevalent in the city, while the remainder of the population is irreligious or atheist.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Donna Gayden is the current city manager. The previous city manager was Jack Schnirman, who was elected to Nassau County Comptroller in 2018. Five members serve the city council, currently:


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The city has a comprehensive emergency services structure consisting of multiple organizations, including the Long Beach Police Department, Long Beach Fire Department, Long Beach Lifeguards, Animal Control and Emergency Medical Services (LBFD), Long Beach Auxiliary Police Department.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The city of Long Beach has an extensive parks and recreation program led by Joseph Brand II. Within the offerings include, but are not limited to the Ice Arena, Summer Camps, Pool, Races and is most notoriously known for its Ocean Beach Park. Long Beach’s Ocean Beach Park (OBP) is managed under the supervision of Nichole Landry. All city parks and recreation programs are found online at longbeachny.gov.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The Long Beach City School District serves the city of Long Beach and parts of the Town of Hempstead with one primary high school, one middle school, one prekindergarten, and four elementary schools. They also operate an "alternative" high school at the NIKE missile site on a campus shared with the district's transportation services.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The Long Beach Public Library serves greater Long Beach with the main library downtown and two branch libraries at Point Lookout and the West End.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Long Beach Bus operates a 24-hour municipal bus service with five routes, including three routes serving the city, one overnight circulator route, and one route extending service to Lido Beach and Point Lookout. Long Beach Bus also operates two seasonal trolley routes, East Loop and West Loop.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) has two bus routes that originate in Long Beach. The n15 and n33 travel to Roosevelt Field and Far Rockaway, via Rockville Centre and Atlantic Beach, respectively. The n33 does not provide service wholly within Long Beach.


title: Long Beach, New York

text: The Long Island Rail Road operates a terminal station at Park Place and Park Avenue with service on the railroad's Long Beach Branch. All other public transportation services in Long Beach converge at this terminal. Most trains run to Penn Station (Manhattan) or Atlantic Terminal (Brooklyn).


title: Ultimax 100

text: The Ultimax 100 is a Singapore-made 5.56mm light machine gun, developed by the Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS, now ST Kinetics) by a team of engineers under the guidance of American firearms designer L. James Sullivan. The weapon is extremely accurate due to its constant-recoil operating system and is one of the lightest machine guns in the world.


title: Ultimax 100

text: Work on a new light support weapon for the Singapore Army began in 1978. The weapon is produced by CIS (presently STK—Singapore Technologies Kinetics), initially in the Mark 1 version, later—the Mark 2, and currently, in the Mark 3 and Mark 4 variant. The Ultimax 100 (also called the U 100) is used in significant numbers by the armed forces of Singapore, Croatia and the Philippines. The Mark 3 variant is currently used in the Singapore Armed Forces primarily as a support arm, and is both classified and known by soldiers as the SAW (Section Assault Weapon).


title: Ultimax 100

text: The Ultimax 100 is a gas-operated automatic weapon (capable of fully automatic fire only) with a short-stroke gas piston operating system powered by ignited powder gases diverted from the barrel through a port in the gas block. The Ultimax 100 is a locked breech weapon with a rotating bolt that contains 7 locking lugs. It fires from an open bolt position. The bolt contains both a spring extractor and a casing ejector. The weapon's non-reciprocating cocking handle is located on the left side of the receiver and occupies the forward position during firing. The Ultimax 100 is striker-fired.


title: Ultimax 100

text: The feature that grants the weapon its low recoil (compared to similar light machine guns) is the "constant recoil" principle. The overall design allows the bolt carrier group to travel all the way back without ever impacting the rear, instead stopping gradually along the axis of movement against the resistance of the return springs. Jane's International Defence Review correspondent — Andrew Tillman, in an exclusive invitation from ST Kinetics to participate in the Product Improvement Program (PIP, initiated in 1989) to test fire the gun, elaborated:


title: Ultimax 100

text: The magazine catch consists of two tapered pins on a bar, controlled by the magazine release button. The machine gun feeds from a proprietary 100-round synthetic drum magazine (early models also used 60-round drum magazines), or from a modified 20 or 30-round STANAG 4179 magazine (from the M16 rifle). An unusual feature among modern machine guns is the fact the Ultimax was purposely designed to feed from magazines as opposed to belts.


title: Ultimax 100

text: The Ultimax 100 uses a manual safety mechanism that consists of a lever installed on the left side of the receiver (just behind the trigger) with two possible settings: "S" – indicating the weapon is safe and "F" – continuous fire. An internal safety achieved through the proper arrangement of parts and mechanisms secures against premature detonation. The light machine gun was also designed to mount an M16-type bayonet and either day or night-time optics. The Ultimax 100's ergonomics are similar to that of the Thompson submachine gun, specifically the forward grip.


title: Ultimax 100

text: Widespread adoption of the design might have been compromised by its feed system. The original Ultimax 100 was meant to be used with a drum magazine holding 100 rounds. The drum magazine was bulky and difficult to reload without a special mechanism. The shape of the drum magazine also occupied more space compared to M16 magazines or the FN Minimi box holding a belt of 200 rounds. The machine gunner also could not take magazines from other squad members who were equipped with M16s.


title: Ultimax 100

text: M16 magazines were subsequently modified to allow them to be used with the production model Ultimax 100. This was done by drilling two holes right at the left feeding lip of the magazine. This improved the handiness of the weapon and allowed magazines to be loaded in the field.


title: Ultimax 100

text: The system was modified to use only STANAG compatible magazines in the Mk 4 version of the design, which was submitted for the USMC Infantry Automatic Rifle competition. This meant the original drum could no longer be used, making the design closer to the IAR than a light machine gun. This has been rectified in the latest Mk 5 variant which allows the usage of the Beta C-Mag.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and continues to field both an amateur WPSL team and a youth team, both under the Spirit name.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The foundation of the National Women's Soccer League was announced on November 21, 2012, with Washington selected as a host for one of the eight teams selected for the inaugural season. In December 2012, the team's name was announced as the Washington Spirit. D.C. United Women head coach Mike Jorden was kept on as well as assistant coach Cindi Harkes. Harkes is married to the former U.S. international and D.C. United star John Harkes. Bill Lynch, the original Washington Spirit's owner when the National Women's Soccer League launched in 2013, sold the majority of the team to tech executive Steve Baldwin in late 2018. Several other minority investors have since been added to the ownership group—Jenna Bush Hager and Chelsea Clinton, daughters of U.S. presidents; Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Dominique Dawes; and most recently (May 2021) Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin.


title: Washington Spirit

text: On January 11, 2013 as part of the NWSL Player Allocation, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris (USA), defender Ali Krieger (USA), midfielder Lori Lindsey (USA), defender Robyn Gayle (CAN), midfielder Diana Matheson (CAN), defender Alina Garciamendez (MEX) and midfielder Teresa Worbis (MEX) were named to the team. During the February 7, 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft, the team selected Stephanie Ochs, Tori Huster, Jordan Angeli, Natasha Kai, Megan Mischler and Heather Cooke.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Spirit played their first competitive match on April 14, 2013, drawing Boston Breakers 1–1 with Tiffany McCarty scoring the team's first goal assisted by Stephanie Ochs.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The inaugural season saw the Spirit stumble out of the gate under Mike Jorden, who was fired after the first eleven games having won only once in that time. Jorden was replaced by Mark Parsons, who finished the season in 8th (last) place registering only 2 more wins over the season.


title: Washington Spirit

text: After a poor inaugural season, the Spirit would much improve in the 2014 making some key acquisitions including Jodie Taylor and Christine Nairn, both who would finish as the team's tops scorers with 11 and 8 goals, respectively. Finishing 4th, the Spirit made their first NWSL Playoff appearance. They would lose at Seattle Reign.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Spirit finished the 2015 season with a record of 8–6–6 and repeating their 4th place league position. The playoff result, again, ended in an away loss to Seattle in the semifinals. The season would be the breakout year for Crystal Dunn who was awarded the 2015 NWSL Golden Boot Award, scoring 15 goals during the campaign. At the conclusion of the season, Mark Parsons stepped down as head coach and general manager to take over as coach of the Portland Thorns FC.


title: Washington Spirit

text: Building off the successes of the 2014 and 2015 seasons, the Spirit hired former Sky Blue FC manager, Jim Gabarra ahead of the 2016 season. The Spirit had their most successful season to date in 2016, being league leaders in the standings throughout most of the season. Only in the final week would the Spirit's loss finalize them as league runners-up. Earning their first post-season victory against Chicago Red Stars, the Spirit would lose the 2016 NWSL Final in penalties to Western New York Flash.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In the aftermath of finishing 2016 runners-up, the Spirit saw a series of key departures including captain Ali Krieger (traded to Orlando Pride), Christine Nairn and Diana Matheson (both traded to Seattle Reign), and Crystal Dunn leaving for Chelsea, while retaining her contracting rights. Unable to adequately replace these players, the Spirit struggled to compete throughout the 2017 season ultimately finishing last (10th) for the first time since the inaugural season. However, building for the future, Gabarra was able to recruit U.S. national team prospect, Mallory Pugh mid-season. Pugh would go on to lead the team in scoring, registering 6 goals in 16 games.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The 2018 season continued the Spirit's pursuit of young talent, but also continued the struggle for results. On August 21, after eight straight losses and being eliminated from playoff contention, the Spirit fired head coach, Jim Gabarra, and appointed assistant coach, Tom Torres as interim head coach. Torres lead the Spirit through the final three matches of the season at home, including the Spirit's debut at newly opened Audi Field against Portland Thorns FC on August 25. The match set a new club record for home attendance with 7,976 fans. The season ended with the Spirit finishing in 8th place, just ahead of Sky Blue FC. During the offseason, the Spirit appointed Richie Burke as the new head coach while retaining Torres on the technical staff. The announcement also noted local tech executive Steve Baldwin had become the Spirit's new majority owner.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The 2019 Washington Spirit season marked several changes for the Spirit organization. Owner Steve Baldwin outlined several planned improvements including theme nights for fans, pride night, a gear store in the stadium, and a mascot. The 2019 season also featured major changes on the field; fifteen new players were added to the Spirit roster including Australian national team members Chloe Logarzo and Amy Harrison. The Spirit surpassed their point total from the previous season on May 18 after the 5th game of the season against Portland Thorns FC. They would go on to surpass their past season's point total the next week against the Chicago Red Stars. They ultimately finished 5th in the 2019 NWSL standings.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In September 2021, Burke was fired as head coach following an investigation into allegations of harassment and abusive behavior towards players. CEO Steve Baldwin was also accused of nepotism and retaliatory behavior, leading to fellow co-owner Y. Michelle Kang to call for him to step down and sell his ownership interest in the team. Fans and Spirit players alike echoed this sentiment. On October 14, 2021 the Washington Post reported that Steve Baldwin had announced to club investors that he intended to sell the club. Kang officially became majority owner of the Spirit on March 30, 2022.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Spirit won their first NWSL Championship on Saturday November 20, 2021 when they defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 2–1 in extra-time at Lynnn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.


title: Washington Spirit

text: On December 20, 2021, the Spirit announced that interim head coach Kris Ward would become the team's permanent head coach. On August 22, 2022, the Spirit fired Ward after a record to start the 2022 season.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In January 2013, the team unveiled its new colors and badge. The badge was designed to resemble a torch reflecting the notion of "Burning with Spirit." It also contains a crown that holds 11 stars to represent the 11 players on the field and a ball with a single star to represent the 12th player (the team's fans) placed where the fuel for the torch would be representing how the fans "fuel the spirit." All of the components of the badge are "wrapped in the Banner of Spirit for a patriotic theme honoring our flag and all of those who have given their lives and sacrificed much so we can enjoy the freedoms we have."


title: Washington Spirit

text: The logo was designed by freelance designer Pete Schwadel and incorporates the team colors of navy, red, and white, further reinforcing the patriotic theme woven throughout the team's imagery. It also features both "Washington" and "DC" to represent the team's connection with the District and the greater Washington metropolitan area.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The color and design of the 2020/2021 kit reinforces these values. The blue represents the unity of the club with the communities of DC, Virginia and Maryland and the waters of the Potomac River that ties those three parts of the region together. The two red stripes depict the District of Columbia flag and the roots of the club in the nation's capital. The gray stripes signify the constant upward growth of the organization in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion. The red notch reflects the sacrifices made by the players—past, present and future—to fulfill their maximum potential as athletes and leaders in society.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Maryland SoccerPlex, located in Germantown, Maryland, was home to the Washington Spirit beginning with the inaugural 2013 season. The facility was also home to the Washington Spirit Reserves in the WPSL.


title: Washington Spirit

text: Starting during the 2018 season, the Spirit began coordinating with D.C. United to play home matches at Audi Field in Buzzard Point in Washington D.C. The Spirit played their first match on August 25 that season, hosting the Portland Thorns FC. The match registered the team's highest attended game and was viewed as a means to generate more interest in the team. During the 2019 season, the team announced it would host two home matches at Audi Field.


title: Washington Spirit

text: On November 12, 2019, the team announced that in the 2020 season, the Spirit reached an agreement with D.C. United that will split the team's home games between three stadiums, the Maryland SoccerPlex, Audi Field and Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia for four games each. Due to COVID restrictions, the Spirit played two home matches at Segra Field in 2020. Starting in 2021, the Spirit will play all its home regular-season games at Audi Field and Segra Field, although the club still planned to hold at least one preseason game a year at the SoccerPlex after 2020.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In addition, the team has relocated its training facilities to Segra Field and will occupy the new D.C. United training center in Leesburg once the facility is completed in the summer of 2021.


title: Washington Spirit

text: The Spirit Squadron is the name of the supporter's group for the Spirit. The group was started by friends Ashley Nichols, Megan Wesson and Tory Johnson. Of the group's founding, Nichols said, "... with a new league we needed to show the team as much support as possible because we really want a women's pro league to stay here in the United States. So between that and wanting to also provide a fun experience for fans, we decided to create the Spirit Squadron."


title: Washington Spirit

text: Rose Room Collective is an independent supporter group for the Washington Spirit and D.C. United by and for people of color (POC). They were founded on a strong desire to have a supporter group in the D.C. area with a more targeted approach to including and amplifying the voices of POC.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In February 2021, The Washington Post reported that Chelsea Clinton, Jenna Bush Hager, Dominique Dawes and Brianna Scurry were part of an investment group investing in the team.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In 2020, broadcast rights for NWSL matches was consolidated at the league level. Washington Spirit matches are broadcast on CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ and Twitch. International streaming began in 2021 via geolocked feeds on Twitch.


title: Washington Spirit

text: At the beginning of the 2019 season the Spirit announced a broadcast partnership with NBC Sports Washington and Monumental Sports Network.


title: Washington Spirit

text: As of April 2017, Washington Spirit games are streamed exclusively by Go90 for American audiences and via the NWSL website for international viewers. For the 2017 season, the Spirit will be featured in three nationally televised Lifetime "NWSL Game of the Week" broadcasts on April 22, June 17, and August 19, 2017.


title: Washington Spirit

text: In 2016, the Spirit's NWSL Playoff game against the Chicago Red Stars was broadcast on Fox Sports 1 and was available for streaming on the company's online streaming platform, Fox Sports Go.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Nigel Lythgoe OBE (; born 9 July 1949), also known as Nasty Nigel, is an English television and film director and producer, television dance competition judge, former dancer in the Young Generation and choreographer. He was the producer of the shows "Pop Idol" and "American Idol" and is the creator and executive producer of "So You Think You Can Dance", on which he served as a permanent judge for the first sixteen seasons. He also created the 2009 competition "Superstars of Dance".


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, to dockworker George Percival Lythgoe and Gertrude Emily Lythgoe, he became interested in dance at the age of ten. He began tap dancing, and went on to study at the Hylton-Bromley School of Dance and Drama and the Perry Cowell School of Dance, both in Wallasey, where he studied classical ballet, modern jazz, ballroom, character, classical Greek and National dance from various countries. Lythgoe's first professional job was in the "corps de ballet" for the English National Ballet tour of "The Merry Widow". He trained in London under Joanne Steuer and Molly Molloy. Beginning in 1969, Lythgoe performed with the BBC's The Young Generation dance troupe. He became their choreographer in 1971 and has since choreographed over 500 television shows.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Early in Lythgoe's career, he learned to use techniques (e.g. multi-cameras) to film choreography well, a skill that would lead to a TV career. During the 1970s and into the 1980s, Lythgoe had the opportunity to perform with dancers from Cyd Charisse to Gene Kelly. He also choreographed for Ben Vereen, Shirley Bassey and (most famously) the Muppets. Lythgoe, in an interview with People said that he was "the only person to dance, choreograph, produce and direct the Royal Variety Performance."


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: After working his way through the television industry, including at TVS, by 1995, Lythgoe held the post of Head of Entertainment and Comedy at London Weekend Television, where he commissioned and produced shows including "Gladiators" and "Blind Date".


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: In 2000, he became the tough judge on "Popstars" and was nicknamed "Nasty Nigel" by the British tabloid press. He was loaned by London Weekend Television to Bob Geldof's television company Planet 24 to executive produce and direct the UK version of "Survivor". Lythgoe then joined Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment group as President of 19 Television. He developed and produced a new show created by Fuller, "Pop Idol". This then became a global franchise that includes "American Idol".


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Lythgoe moved to the U.S. in 2002 to produce "American Idol" and then became producer/judge and co-creator of "So You Think You Can Dance" on the FOX television network.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Lythgoe, and his production partner Ken Warwick, who went to school together from age 12, initially agreed to produce the 2007 Emmys, but could not due to scheduling conflicts with SYTYCD.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: In 2007, Lythgoe worked with a number of prominent California-based Brits, including then-British Consul-General Bob Peirce, to found BritWeek, an annual program of events held in Los Angeles and Orange County to celebrate the strong business, historical, and entertainment ties between the UK and California.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: On 4 August 2008, Lythgoe confirmed that he was leaving "American Idol" and decided to move on with "So You Think You Can Dance".


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: In 2009, Lythgoe and Fuller formed a company called Big Red 2 Entertainment. Fuller is a fan of Manchester United and Lythgoe of Liverpool. Both teams play in red. Their first venture was "Superstars of Dance" for NBC.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: On 5 August 2010, "American Idol" confirmed Lythgoe would be returning as an executive producer to the hit show beginning season 10.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Lythgoe married Bonita Shawe in 1974, whom he met while he was choreographer for the BBC's "Young Generation" dance troupe. Shawe was also an audition judge on the first season of "So You Think You Can Dance" and was a judge on the Australian version of "So You Think You Can Dance" for the first three seasons. The couple divorced in 2010 after a protracted separation. They have two sons together, Simon and Kristopher.


title: Nigel Lythgoe

text: Lythgoe has dated Priscilla Presley and Raquel Welch. He owns Villa San Juliette, a vineyard in Paso Robles, California.


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: Ixnay on the Hombre is the fourth studio album by American rock band the Offspring, released on February 4, 1997, by Columbia Records. After the massive commercial success of their previous album, "Smash" (1994), the band entered the studio in the middle of 1996 to record a new album. The title combines Pig Latin ("Ixnay" is the version of the word "nix", familiar in 1940s Hollywood movies) and Spanish ("hombre", "man") to convey the message "fuck The Man", as in "fuck authority".


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: "Ixnay on the Hombre" was a moderate commercial success upon its release, debuting at number nine on the US "Billboard" 200, and was well received by both critics and fans. It was later certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over one million copies in the United States, and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Four singles were released from the album: "All I Want", "Gone Away", "The Meaning of Life", and "I Choose".


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: By the time The Offspring began writing new material for their fourth studio album in 1995–1996, they were the biggest act of Epitaph's roster and had originally declined to leave the label before signing a recording contract with Columbia Records. Following the widespread commercial success of the band's previous album, "Smash", frontman Dexter Holland wanted The Offspring to release more albums on Epitaph, or remain on the label for a long time. However, tensions were encountered when Epitaph founder and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz decided to sell "Smash" to a major label in "return for a royalty override on it," an action that the band did not like. Gurewitz had approached several major labels, such as Geffen, Capitol and Sony, in attempt to sign The Offspring. The band eventually signed to Columbia, and Holland recalled that they "took less money" with the label and the signing "was not to try and make more money." Holland also claimed that The Offspring signed to Columbia because they would not "record for someone who thinks [Gurewitz] can force [them] to" and would not "record for a guy who's worse than a major label." Recording sessions for "Ixnay on the Hombre" took place from June to October 1996 at Eldorado Recording Studios with producer Dave Jerden (Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Jane's Addiction, Social Distortion).


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: Noodles also noted that with Columbia's financing, they had more time to work on the album, specially with the guaranteed studio space - "We did "Smash" on no budget at all and were constantly calling our studio to find out when it was empty just so we could sneak in at a discount price." - and Holland added that they had "the time to get better sounds."


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: "Pay the Man" was one of the songs recorded during the "Ixnay on the Hombre" session but was only released on "Americana". "Change the World" is a further development of the unnamed hidden track that appeared at the end of the previous album "Smash" (in which the guitar riff follows the same melody as the lead guitar in "Genocide"). "Change the World" itself contains a hidden track, a brief spoken piece by Larry "Bud" Melman of the David Letterman Show.


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: "Ixnay on the Hombre" was released on February 4, 1997, and is the first Offspring album distributed via Columbia Records. Their former label Epitaph Records released it in Europe because of disagreements between the band and the label's founder Brett Gurewitz. The band was able to release its album on Columbia for the US and other international releases but had to complete the album release in Europe through Epitaph. The Offspring would continue releasing albums on Columbia until it was announced in early 2013 that they had fulfilled their contract with the label.


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: The AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awards the album 2.5 stars and states: ""Ixnay on the Hombre" sounds like a competent hard rock band trying to hitch themselves to the post-grunge bandwagon."


title: Ixnay on the Hombre

text: The Offspring toured relentlessly for almost a year to promote "Ixnay on the Hombre". Prior to its release, they headlined the Big Day Out tour in Australia in January–February 1997, along with Soundgarden and The Prodigy. The "Ixnay on the Hombre" tour kickstarted on February 11, 1997 at Foothill in Long Beach, California with One Hit Wonder, who had just been signed to Holland's label Nitro Records. A week later, they played five shows in the East Coast of the United States with The Joykiller, which was followed by a ten-date tour with AFI and Strung Out and a European tour with The Vandals and Lunachicks. The Offspring continued to tour over seven-month period from May to December 1997, which included U.S. tours with AFI/L7, Voodoo Glow Skulls/The Joykiller and Hagfish/One Hit Wonder/Good Riddance, as well as a Canadian tour with Doughboys, three Brazilian shows with Charlie Brown Jr., and four shows in Australia with The Living End. Social Distortion also supported The Offspring on selected dates. The "Ixnay on the Hombre" tour ended on December 18, 1997 in Osaka, Japan, with AFI supporting them.


title: João Havelange

text: Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in FIFA's history, behind only that of Jules Rimet. He received the title of Honorary President when leaving office, but resigned in April 2013. He was preceded by Stanley Rous and was succeeded by Sepp Blatter. João Havelange served as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1963 to 2011. He was the longest-serving active member upon his resignation. In July 2012, a Swiss prosecutor's report revealed that, during his tenure on FIFA's Executive Committee, he and his son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira took more than 41 million Swiss francs (£21m) in bribes in connection with the award of World Cup marketing rights.


title: João Havelange

text: Havelange was born on 8 May 1916, in Rio de Janeiro, to an affluent family coming from Wallonia; his father, Faustin Havelange, had immigrated to Brazil from Liège, Belgium, worked as an arms dealer, and owned a large estate that stretched along the present-day districts of Laranjeiras, Cosme Velho and Santa Teresa. An excellent student at school, Havelange was accepted to the prestigious Law School of Fluminense Federal University, from which he graduated at the age of 24 with a BA in Law. He worked as a legal advisor for bus company Auto Viação Jabaquara, and became president-director of another bus company, Viação Cometa S/A. He was also senior partner at chemical and metallurgical company Orwec Química e Metallurgia Ltda.


title: João Havelange

text: Interested in sports since his childhood years, at the age of 20 Havelange competed as a swimmer at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, but failed to go beyond the heats of the 400m freestyle and 1500m freestyle events. He was also part of the Brazilian team that tied for 13th in water polo at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the chef de mission of the Brazilian delegation at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne.


title: João Havelange

text: As President of the Metropolitan Swimming Federation in Brazil, Havelange became a member of the Brazilian Olympic Committee and joined the Union Cycliste Internationale in 1958. After becoming vice-president of the Brazilian Sports Confederation, he served as President of the Confederation from 1958 to 1973.


title: João Havelange

text: In 1974 Havelange defeated Englishman Stanley Rous for the presidency of FIFA, the governing body of world association football. Havelange became the first (and, to date, only) non-European to hold the post. He lobbied in 86 different countries for the presidency, often accompanied by Pelé. Sports marketer Patrick Nally said that "Havelange had seen the future...he knew that if he became the president of the only federation already running its own high-profile world championship then he would enjoy huge economic power". Appealing to developing nations, Havelange promised an expanded World Cup, and a youth World Cup that they might be able to host.


title: João Havelange

text: Threatened by Havelange's international campaign for the presidency, Rous asked Horst Dassler, then managing Adidas' French subsidiary to help his campaign. Dassler engaged in intense lobbying of the delegates at the 39th FIFA Congress, where the vote was to be held. The election went to a second round, and Havelange won by sixteen votes.


title: João Havelange

text: Havelange did not have sufficient money to fund his programme for FIFA, so he sought financial support from Dassler, who wished to supply Adidas branded equipment to the national federations. Supported by sports marketer Patrick Nally, Havelange enlisted Adidas and Coca-Cola as primary sponsors of FIFA tournaments.


title: João Havelange

text: The support of commercial organizations was crucial to the future of Havelange and FIFA, and provided a model for global sporting federations. Nally stated that:


title: João Havelange

text: The sale of television rights increased greatly under Havelange's leadership. In 1987 the European rights to the next three FIFA World Cups were sold for $440 million, the non-United States rights for the three tournaments from 1998 sold for $2.2 billion. Under Havelange's presidency the FIFA World Cup expanded from 16 to 32 teams, with Havelange overseeing six world cups during his time in office. The FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup were all introduced under his tenure.


title: João Havelange

text: The head of the Argentina's 1978 FIFA World Cup organizing committee, Omar Actis, was assassinated in August 1976. Awarded the World Cup in 1966, Argentina did little to prepare for the event before the 1976 Argentine coup d'état that saw a military junta rule the country. In 1982 Carlos Lacoste, former de facto President of Argentina during the junta, became vice-president of FIFA. Lacoste had previously been head of the organising committee for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina and was cousin of de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla. Democratic rule was restored to Argentina in 1983 and Lacoste was investigated for corruption.


title: João Havelange

text: Havelange was also an associate of Brazilian criminal Castor de Andrade, head of an illegal gambling association. Andrade was sentenced to six years in prison in 1994 for racketeering. Havelange wrote a character reference for Andrade in 1987 as "amiable and pleasant ... predominant feature .. loyalty .. good family man, a devoted friend, and is admired as a sports administrator". "I authorize Castor de Andrade to use this statement as he deems appropriate". Police investigating Andrade found this reference and evidence that Andrade had provided Havelange with a box at the Rio Carnival.


title: João Havelange

text: Havelange's daughter, Lucia, was married to the Brazilian football administrator Ricardo Teixeira for 30 years. They divorced in 1997. Teixeira was President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) between 1989 and 2012. A financier, Teixeira had no previous experience of sports administration.


title: João Havelange

text: In 1993, angry when his television company was rejected in a contest for domestic rights, Brazilian footballer Pelé accused Teixeira of corruption, resulting in an eight-year feud between Pelé and Havelange. Consequently, Havelange banned Pelé from the draw for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in Las Vegas. Criticisms over the ban were perceived to have negatively affected Havelange's chances of re-election as FIFA President in 1994. As in 1974, Havelange embarked on an intense lobbying mission, with the aim of securing votes from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Central American, North American and Caribbean Football Confederation (CONCACAF). The loyalty of these "third world" football federations was rewarded by the expansion of the World Cup from 24 to 32 teams for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. As a result of the expansion and allocation of places, tension grew between the governing body of European football (UEFA) and the FIFA leadership.


title: João Havelange

text: As Brazilian Minister for Sports, Pelé drafted legislation approved as the Pelé Law in December 1997 by the lower house of the Brazilian congress. Football clubs had to become companies within two years, giving players greater freedom of contract and limiting the power of the Brazilian Football Confederation. Havelange threatened to ban Brazil from the 1998 FIFA World Cup if the law passed.


title: João Havelange

text: At the 1994 meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee in New York, Havelange was criticized for his allocation of appointments to FIFA's standing committees. Havelange postponed a discussion on the appointments, distributed a list with the new composition of the committees, and declared the list passed without a vote. In 1998 Havelange announced that he would stand down as FIFA president after 24 years in charge. He told British Prime Minister Tony Blair he wanted England to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The English Football Association had pledged support to Lennart Johansson in the forthcoming FIFA Presidential election, whereas Havelange supported FIFA General Secretary Sepp Blatter. Johansson was in favour of honouring a "gentleman's agreement" between the English and German football associations, that Germany would not oppose England's bid for the 1996 European Football Championship, and England would not oppose Germany's bid for the 2006 World Cup.


title: João Havelange

text: Johansson said "The dumbest thing about breaking the agreement is that we're faced with an expensive competition. We would be better off spending the money on real soccer." Johansson criticized Havelange's financial decisions and "undemocratic behaviour." At a meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee, Johansson demanded Sepp Blatter resign as FIFA General Secretary if he planned to run for the presidency of FIFA. Havelange rejected the demand and ended the meeting before a vote could be taken, described as "a defeat for democracy" by Johansson. If elected, Johansson planned that an independent accountant would examine FIFA's business practices under Havelange. Blatter was elected by 111 to 80 votes, amid claims of bribery.


title: João Havelange

text: In 1999 "De Telegraaf" reported that Havelange accepted gifts of diamonds, bicycles, sports articles, Delft blue porcelain, paintings and art books, in connection with Amsterdam's failed bid for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. "I remember it very well because he had special wishes, wishes which were in conflict with the IOC laws," said Peter Kronenberg, who headed the press office of the Amsterdam Olympic Games 1992 Foundation.


title: João Havelange

text: Disagreements between Nally and Dassler led to the foundation of International Sport and Leisure (ISL) in 1982. Dassler, French businessman Andre Guelfi, and Japanese advertising firm Dentsu established ISL to help market the rights for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. Dassler's proximity to Havelange, and his support for Juan Antonio Samaranch, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) enabled ISL to win lucrative future World Cup and Olympic contracts. Following Dassler's death in 1987, and the departure of key executives, ISL overpaid for sports rights in the 1990s, and was declared bankrupt in 2001. From 1989 to 2001, ISL paid 185 million Swiss francs (CHF) in "personal commissions" to sports officials and other people involved in the marketing of sports rights. In the 2008 fraud trial that arose from the collapse of ISL, a judge referred to the commissions as "schmiergeld", a German word for bribery.


title: João Havelange

text: In May 2006 British investigative reporter Andrew Jennings' book "Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals" implicated Havelange in the collapse of ISL, and revealed that some football officials were urged to secretly repay the commissions they received. In 2011 Jennings told Brazil's Senate that Havelange may have amassed $50 million or more in bribes, through a front company called Sicuretta.


title: João Havelange

text: An IOC ethics committee was announced in June 2011 to investigate claims that Havelange received a bribe of $1 million in connection with ISL. The investigation was prompted by Jennings' claims in "FIFA's Shame", an episode of "Panorama" broadcast on BBC One in May 2011. Days before the ethics committee was set to happen, Havelange resigned as a member of the IOC, citing health concerns. The investigation was closed, with reports that it would have suspended the membership of Havelange for two years. In November 2011 Jennings accused Havelange of being one of the people who collectively paid 5.5 million CHF to close the 2008 ISL fraud trial.


title: João Havelange

text: In July 2012, after protracted court proceedings, Havelange and Teixeira were named as beneficiaries of bribes from ISL. A prosecutor in the canton of Zug revealed a document saying that, from 1992 to 2000, Havelange and Teixeira were paid 41m CHF by ISL. Teixeira had resigned from FIFA in March 2012. In 2012 Sepp Blatter said that at the time of this payment, commercial bribery was not a crime in Switzerland. In 1997, as President of FIFA, Havelange had granted ISL FIFA's exclusive marketing rights, and exclusive TV and radio rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups in 1998. ISL paid FIFA 200m CHF for the marketing rights and $1.4 billion for the TV rights. After ISL's bankruptcy, its liquidators examined all payments made by the company.


title: João Havelange

text: FIFA, under the presidency of Sepp Blatter, was found to have known about the bribes, yet argued it did not need to have the money repaid. Prosecutions were mounted for alleged embezzlement against Havelange and Teixeira, but were stopped in May 2010, after Havelange and Texeira repaid CHF500,000 and CHF2.5m respectively. The repayments were considered reasonable, because bribes paid before 1995 were outside the statute of limitations and Havelange was now over 90 years old. The prosecutor also believed that Havelange and Teixeira were guilty of criminal breaches of their duties to serve FIFA as senior executives. Following the release of the report, Blatter vowed to strip Havelange of his honorary presidency at the next FIFA Congress.


title: João Havelange

text: In March and April 2012 Havelange was hospitalized for a seriously infected right ankle in Rio de Janeiro, which necessitated a period in intensive care. In April 2013 he resigned from his position as FIFA's Honorary President for "health and personal reasons". Havelange was again admitted to hospital in June 2014, for a lung infection, and in November 2015 with respiratory problems. He died on 16 August 2016 at the age of 100 in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Summer Olympics which were being held there.


title: João Havelange

text: Writing in June 1998, as Havelange was leaving FIFA, and before the eruption of most of the controversies surrounding him, "The New York Times" commented on Havelange's leadership:


title: João Havelange

text: Havelange was elected honorary president of FIFA in 1998, but resigned in 2013. On August 24, 2006, Havelange was named honorary Vice President of the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation (CBDG) for his support in the development of winter sports in Brazil.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Vasilisa the Beautiful () or Vasilisa the Fair is a Russian fairy tale collected by Alexander Afanasyev in "Narodnye russkie skazki".


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: By his first wife, a merchant had a single daughter, who was known as Vasilisa the Beautiful. When the girl was eight years old, her mother died; when it became clear that she was dying, she called Vasilisa to her bedside, where she gave Vasilisa a tiny, wooden, one-of-a-kind doll talisman (a Motanka doll), with explicit instructions; Vasilisa must "always" keep the doll somewhere on her person and never allow anyone (not even her father) to see it or even know of its existence; whenever Vasilisa should find herself in need of help, whenever overcoming evil, obstacles, or just be in need of advice or just some comfort, all that she needs to do is to offer it a little to eat and a little to drink, and then, whatever Vasilisa's need, it would help her. Once her mother had died, Vasilisa offered it a little to drink and a little to eat, and it comforted her in her time of grief.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: After the mourning period, Vasilisa's father, in need of a mother for Vasilisa and to keep house, decided he needed to remarry; for his new wife, he chose a widow with two daughters of her own from her previous marriage, thinking that she would make the perfect new mother figure for his daughter. However, Vasilisa's step-mother, when not in the presence of her new husband, was very cruel to her, as were Vasilisa's step-sisters, but with the help of the doll, Vasilisa was always able to perform all the household tasks imposed on her. When Vasilisa came of age and young men came trying to woo her, the step-mother rejected them all on the pretence that it was not proper for younger girls to marry before the older girls, and none of the suitors wished to marry Vasilisa's step-sisters.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: One day, the merchant had to embark on an extended journey out of town for business. His wife, seeing an opportunity to dispose of Vasilisa, sold the house on the same day he left and moved them all away to a gloomy hut by a forest where rumour said that Baba Yaga resided. When not over-working Vasilisa with housework, the step-mother would also send her out deep into the woods on superfluous errands, with the intentions of either marring her step-daughter's enduring beauty or increasing the chances of Baba Yaga discovering her and eating her, keeping the step-mother's hands clean of any perceived culpability. Only thanks to the doll was Vasilisa able to keep completing the scores of housework and remain safe whenever out of the house, always returning unharmed. The step-mother, only becoming frustrated with how her step-daughter's continued luck, not only in remaining alive, but also in how Vasilisa's beauty continued to grow, decided to change tactics. One night, before bed, she gave each of the girls a task and put out all the fires except a single candle. Her older daughter then put out the candle (as instructed by her mother), whereupon the step-sisters bodily forced Vasilisa out of the house and demanded that she go to fetch light from Baba Yaga's hut.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The doll advised her to go, and she went. While she was walking, a mysterious man rode by her in the hours before dawn, dressed in white, riding a white horse whose equipment was all white; then a similar rider in red. She came to a house that stood on chicken legs and was walled by a fence made of human bones. A black rider, like the white and red riders, rode past her, and night fell, whereupon the eye sockets of the skulls began to glow, like lanterns. Vasilisa was too frightened to run away, and so Baba Yaga found her when she arrived in her giant, flying mortar. Once she learned why the girl was there, Baba Yaga said that Vasilisa must perform tasks to earn the fire, or be killed; she was to clean the house and yard, wash Baba Yaga's laundry, and cook her a meal enough for a dozen (which Baba Yaga eats all by herself). She was also required to separate grains of rotten corn from sound corn, and separate poppy seeds from grains of soil. Baba Yaga left the hut for the day and Vasilisa despaired, as she worked herself into exhaustion. When all hope of completing the tasks seemed lost, the doll whispered that she would complete the tasks for Vasilisa, and that the girl should sleep.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: At dawn, the white rider passed; at or before noon, the red. As the black rider rode past, Baba Yaga returned and could complain of nothing. She bade three pairs of disembodied hands seize the corn to squeeze the oil from it, then asked Vasilisa if she had any questions.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Vasilisa asked about the riders' identities and was told that the white one was Day, the red one the Sun, and the black one Night. But when Vasilisa thought of asking about the disembodied hands, the doll quivered in her pocket. Vasilisa realized she should not ask, and told Baba Yaga she had no further questions. In return, Baba Yaga enquired as to the cause of Vasilisa's success. On hearing the answer "by my mother's blessing", Baba Yaga, who wanted nobody with any kind of blessing in her presence, threw Vasilisa out of her house, and sent her home with a skull-lantern full of burning coals, to provide light for her step-family.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Upon her return, Vasilisa found that, since sending her out on her task, her step-family had been unable to light any candles or fire in their home. Even lamps and candles that might be brought in from outside were useless for the purpose, as all were snuffed out the second they were carried over the threshold. The coals brought in the skull-lantern burned Vasilisa's stepmother and stepsisters to ashes, and Vasilisa buried the skull according to its instructions, so no person would ever be harmed by it.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Later, Vasilisa became an assistant to a maker of cloth in Russia's capital city, where she became so skilled at her work that the Tsar himself noticed her skill; he later married Vasilisa.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: In some versions, the tale ends with the death of the stepmother and stepsisters, and Vasilisa lives peacefully with her father after their removal. This lack of a wedding is unusual in a tale with a grown heroine, although some, such as "Jack and the Beanstalk", do feature it.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: According to Jiří Polívka, in a Slovak tale from West Hungary, the heroine meets a knight or lord clad in all red, riding a red horse, with a red bird on his hand and red dog by his side. She also meets two similarly dressed lords: one in all white, and the other in all black. The heroine's stepmother explains that the red lord was the Morning, the white lord the Day and the black lord the Night.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The white, red, and black riders appear in other tales of Baba Yaga and are often interpreted to give her a mythological significance.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: In common with many folklorists of his day, Alexander Afanasyev regarded many tales as primitive ways of viewing nature. In such an interpretation, he regarded this fairy tale as depicting the conflict between the sunlight (Vasilisa), the storm (her stepmother), and dark clouds (her stepsisters).


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Clarissa Pinkola Estés interprets the story as a tale of female liberation, Vasilisa's journey from subservience to strength and independence. She interprets Baba Yaga as the "wild feminine" principle that Vasilisa has been separated from, which, by obeying and learning how to nurture, she learns and grows from.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Edith Hodgetts included an English translation of this story in her 1890 collection "Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar."


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Aleksandr Rou made a film entitled "Vasilisa the Beautiful" in 1940, however, it was based on a different tale – "The Frog Tsarevna". American author Elizabeth Winthrop wrote a children's book – "Vasilissa the Beautiful: a Russian Folktale" (HarperCollins, 1991), illustrated by Alexander Koshkin. There is also a Soviet cartoon – "Vasilisa the Beautiful", but it is also based on the Frog Tsarevna tale.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The story is also part of a collection of Russian fairy tales titled "Vasilisa The Beautiful: Russian Fairy Tales" published by Raduga Publishers first in 1966. The book was edited by Irina Zheleznova, who also translated many of the stories in the book from the Russian including Vasilisa The Beautiful. The book was also translated in Hindi and Marathi.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The 1998 feminist fantasy anthology "Did You Say Chicks?!" contains two alternate reimaginings of "Vasilisa the Beautiful". Laura Frankos' "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods" humorously supplants Vasilisa with the American explorer Slue-Foot Sue, wife of Pecos Bill. "A Bone to Pick" by Marina Frants and Keith R.A. DeCandido is somewhat more serious in tone, reimagining Yaga as a firm but benevolent mentor and Vasilisa as her fiercely loyal protégé, who is also described as ugly rather than beautiful. Frants' and DeCandido's story was followed up in the succeeding volume "Chicks 'n Chained Males" (1999) with the sequel "Death Becomes Him," which is credited to Frants alone and features Koschei the Deathless as the antagonist.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: Vasilisa appears in the 2007 comic book "" to assist Hellboy against Koschei the Deathless with her usual story of the Baba Yaga. The book also includes other characters of Slavic folklore, such as a Domovoi making an appearance.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: A graphic version of the Vasilisa story, drawn by Kadi Fedoruk (creator of the webcomic "Blindsprings"), appears in "Valor: Swords", a comic anthology of re-imagined fairy tales that pays homage to the strength, resourcefulness, and cunning of female heroines in fairy tales through recreations of time-honored tales and brand new stories, published by Fairylogue Press in 2014 following a successful Kickstarter campaign.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The book "Vasilisa the Terrible: A Baba Yaga Story" flips the script by painting Vasilisa as a villain and Baba Yaga as an elderly woman who is framed by the young girl.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: In Annie Baker's 2017 play "The Antipodes", one of the characters, Sarah, tells a story from her childhood that is reminiscent of the story of Vasilisa.


title: Vasilisa the Beautiful

text: The book series "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead features a supporting character named Vasilisa, and is mentioned that she was named after Vasilisa from Vasilisa the Beautiful.


title: Force 2

text: Force 2 is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language action spy thriller film directed by Abhinay Deo, which features John Abraham, Tahir Raj Bhasin and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead roles. It is a sequel to the 2011 film "Force", and the second installment of the "Force" film series. Principal photography of the film commenced in August 2015, and the film was released on 18 November 2016. Upon release, the film received positive reviews.


title: Force 2

text: The film opens with a montage in China, where RAW agents are dropping dead like flies. One of the victims is Harish, ACP Yashvardhan's best friend. Before being killed, Harish mails a book to his friend Yash, passing on an important coded message.


title: Force 2

text: When Yash receives the book, he learns of a conspiracy that has been set in motion, targeting only RAW agents. When he takes the book and the clues to the RAW headquarters, the agency understands the legitimacy of the situation and puts Yash in charge of tracking down the conspirer. He is teamed with another RAW agent, KK, and together they track down the culprit in the Indian embassy of Budapest.


title: Force 2

text: The mastermind of this conspiracy against RAW agents is Shiv Sharma, a nerdy hacker who is planning something bigger. In Budapest, a cat and mouse chase begins between Shiv and KK and Yash; they come close to nabbing him several times, but he always proves to be a step ahead. Multiple chase sequences ensue, but each time, Shiv manages to escape.


title: Force 2

text: While digging into Shiv's past for more information, ACP Yash learns that Shiv is actually a pseudonym used by this terrorist to mask his real identity as Rudra Pratap Singh – the son of RAW agent Karan Pratap Singh, who had been sacrificed in an operation years ago. Rudra was left broken after minister Brijesh Verma branded Karan and several other RAW agents as traitors, and Rudra's mother committed suicide.


title: Force 2

text: Yash learns that Rudra is now seeking revenge from RAW for betraying Karan. Eventually, in an assembly in Budapest, Rudra gears up to shoot Brijesh. But KK and Yash reach there in time and kill him before he can do harm. But before he can die, Yash forces Brijesh to accept his mistakes in front of the media, clearing Karan's name. Rudra dies in peace hearing this.


title: Force 2

text: Movie ends with Yash seeing his deceased beloved wife's presence (played by Genelia in first part of Force),whom he loves the utmost, appreciating him and suggesting that he date KK.


title: Force 2

text: Additionally, Mohnish Behl as Atul Kalsekar (whose character Atul dies in "Force") makes a photographic cameo appearance in one of the group photos in Yash's apartment.


title: Force 2

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63%, based on 8 reviews with an average rating of 5/10. "India Today" and "The Times of India" gave the film 3 stars out of 5. "Mid-Day" and "The Hindustan Times" gave the film 2 stars out of 5.


title: Force 2

text: The film has grossed 66 million on its first day, becoming John Abraham's highest opening grosser. The film faced problems due to demonetization which was active at the time of its release and grossed 44.20 crore in India and 526.0 million worldwide.


title: Force 2

text: The film score was composed by Prasad Sashte, who had earlier composed the score of "". The lyrics have been written by Kumaar and Rashmi Virag, and the songs have been composed by Gourov Roshin and Amaal Mallik. Its first song, "Rang Laal", which is sung by Dev Negi, John Abraham and Aditi Singh Sharma was released on 21 October 2016 . The full soundtrack was released on 27 October 2016.


title: Force 2

text: An official game based on the film has been launched after the release of the film by Hungama Digital Media.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The Nissan Caravan is a light commercial van designed for use as a fleet vehicle or cargo van and manufactured by Nissan since 1973. Between 1976 and 1997, a rebadged version of the Caravan sold as the Nissan Homy, which was introduced as an independent model in 1965. Outside Japan, the Caravan was also sold as either the Nissan Urvan or Nissan King Van, or earlier with Datsun badging.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: All generations use a cabover approach due to Japanese Government dimension regulations that annually tax larger vehicles, and the cabover approach maximizes interior space while remaining within defined exterior dimensions.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Prior to 1973, the Caravan's twin, the Homy, had been offered as a standalone generation from 1965 until 1976. The Homy was built and sold by the Prince Motor Company before the merger of Nissan in 1965 and the Homy was the first vehicle to be acquired by Nissan. After the merger in August 1966, because Nissan didn't have a large passenger platform, the Prince Homy was "badge engineered" as the Caravan, and the brand name was changed from Prince to Nissan. The merger was complete by 1970. It shared a chassis with the Prince Homer, a medium-duty cabover pickup truck.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The second generation Homy of 1976, was marketed as a twin to the 1973-era Nissan Caravan, sold at the "Nissan Prince Store" dealerships, while the Caravan was exclusive to "Nissan Bluebird Store" locations. The first generation series B640 which was changed to Nissan series T20 was built from 1965 to 1976, the second generation E20 was built from 1976 to 1980, and the third generation E23 was built from 1980 to 1986. The final generation E24 was built from 1986 to 1999, and replaced by the Nissan Elgrand.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Mechanically, the Nissan Caravan and the Nissan Homy were identical. Its traditional competitor from Toyota is the HiAce.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Nissan's largest passenger van is the Nissan Civilian, introduced in 1959, and their smaller platform was the Nissan Vanette.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The Prince Homy (B640) was the passenger van version of the Prince Homer light duty truck, and had a seating capacity of up to 15 people. In 1966 as the Prince-Nissan merger began, it was initially called the Nissan Homy Prince, sharing load carrying duties with the Prince Skyway, and Prince Gloria station wagons; the Prince name became a dealership network within the Nissan organization in 1970. The Nissan Homy received the T20 model code, and in 1972, the vehicle was reclassified as a commercial vehicle, in order to comply with the 1970 Japanese road traffic law.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Nissan had integrated a previously built product called the Nissan Caball as a cabover truck and cargo van, but had replaced it with the Homy. From 1973, the Homy was also available rebadged as the Nissan Caravan, to fit Nissan's various dealer networks.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The E20 series Caravan and Urvan van and minibus were manufactured from February 1973 with seating configurations for three, five, seven, and up to 10 passengers. It was exclusive in Japan to "Nissan Bluebird Store," while its twin the Nissan Homy was exclusive to "Nissan Prince Store" locations. It was especially popular in Europe, and was again very popular with fire departments and as ambulances in certain countries. It had a somewhat difficult handling, as it was heavy to steer, and was not available with power steering. Also, the gear shifter was located at the floor and went all the way up to the height of the hand, and had a slight curve. The gear shifter was nearly long, so it was somewhat clumsy to shift, but it came with five gears, unusual in Europe at that time.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: It was delivered with a 1.5- and 2.0-liter petrol engines, as well as a 2.2-liter diesel unit. It was produced until replaced by the E23 Caravan in August 1980. In export markets the first and second generations were called Datsun Urvan, until the Nissan brand replaced it worldwide in 1983 and 1984. In 1978, Nissan added the smaller Vanette as the Caravan grew in dimensions and market positioning.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The second generation was essentially a cosmetic update with no major mechanical changes. The model code changed to E20.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The third generation Nissan Urvan/Caravan, the E23 series, was introduced in August 1980. As before, the Homy, sold through Prince dealerships, was its twin model, set apart by a different grille. The Cabstar and Homer shared much of the bodywork, with the main differences being the frontal treatment and a small side window mounted in the front doors of the Caravan/Homy. Engines were all carryover four-cylinders, ranging from the "J16" and "H20" pushrod items, via the overhead cam "Z20S", and an upgraded "SD22" diesel. The van versions were now designed to allow access to the loading area from the passenger compartment. Radial tires were optional. The diesel also benefitted from a new five-speed manual gearbox, while the new luxury GL version offered an optional "Nissanmatic" automatic transmission as well as power steering, comfortable rotating rear seats and air conditioning. In July 1981, a luxurious SGL "Silk Road" version was added.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: At the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show, two concept Caravans designed to provide limousine-like accommodation for businessmen were shown, the Royal and Elgrand Royal Line. The Elgrand name was to be adopted for a series of luxurious minivans, beginning in 1997. In May 1982, the Caravan underwent a minor facelift, losing the ventilation window in the front doors, receiving a new dashboard and a new five-bearing "SD23" diesel engine replacing the previous "SD22". Radial tires became standard for all but the cheapest versions. For more power, coach versions also became available with the turbocharged "LD20T" diesel. The luxurious "Silk Road" version, with seven captain seats, was only available with the "LD20T". This engine passed the 1982 emissions standards for diesel cars. To meet the 1981 emissions standards for petrol cars, coach versions replaced the "H20" engine with the new carbureted "Z18S" and "Z20S".


title: Nissan Caravan

text: In April 1983, there was another light facelift, with SGL and GL versions receiving a new look with four square headlights. An LWB DX ten-seater version was also added. In January 1985, six and nine-passenger van versions were added. Diesel versions received improved pre-heating systems and safety equipment was improved. Manual petrol versions were now all five-speed units. An eight-seater "SGL Silk Road Limited" also joined the lineup in May. In September 1986, the E23 was replaced by the fourth generation E24.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The Homy and its Caravan twin received their first full model change since the Homy was introduced in 1965. The engine was the 2.0-liter inline-four "LD20T" turbo diesel. The "TD23" inline-four was also available.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: FAW Jiefang made a clone of the E24 known as the CA 6440. Production started in 1994, having a Chrysler-based CA488 engine with a 5-speed manual transmission. According to the "Regulations on Beijing Road Traffic Management" and the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution," such vehicles still in service are not allowed to enter Beijing after May 10, 2001 as part of an effort to combat air pollution.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The E24 version was built from 1986 until 2001 and underwent two major facelifts, in 1990 and 1995. In some Scandinavian markets, the E24 series was marketed as the "King Van", to tie it in with the popular "King Cab" version of Nissan's D21 pickup truck. Originally, petrol-equipped Caravans had the "Z20" engine while commercial diesels had the 2.3-liter, naturally aspirated "TD23" and the Coach (passenger version) the "LD20T II" turbo-diesel. With the October 1990 facelift this was switched to the "NA20S". At the same time, an intercooled version ("TD27Ti") of the 2.7-liter turbo-diesel replaced the "TD27T" in most applications. The facelift consisted of a new grille (not on the DX) and new larger tail lights (excluding the DX and GL models).


title: Nissan Caravan

text: In August 1995, there was another facelift, mostly consisting of another new grille. The "TD27Ti" was upgraded to the electronically controlled "TD27ETi". The large "QD32" four-cylinder diesel was added to automatic-equipped van models in 1996 and produced from 3153 cc. In May 1997, commercial models were upgraded so as to match the changes already introduced on the Coach models. In June 1999, the passenger models (and Homy nameplate) were discontinued and the engine lineup changed: petrol options were now 2.0 and 2.4-liter Twin cam engines from the KA series, while only the naturally aspirated "QD32" diesel remained.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: The Homy received its second full model change in September 1986 and was given the 2.0-liter "Z20" engine, as well as the "LD20T" turbo-diesel. The model code was now E24. In October 1987, four-wheel drive was added to the 2.7-liter "TD27" engine. In March 1988, the premium grade "GT Limousine" was offered with the "VG30E" alongside the 2.7-liter turbo-diesel. Yearly grade changes continued for the rest of the generation, adding items like cruise control, digital speedometers, larger wheels, upgraded interior and upholstery. August 1995 saw the Homy rebadged and sold as the Isuzu Fargo, using the "TD27ETi" diesel engine. The Homy Coach was replaced by the Nissan Elgrand in 1997 when the "Nissan Prince Store" Japanese dealerships were renamed "Nissan Red Stage" and vehicle overlap was streamlined. The Homy badge, first used in 1965, remained in use for commercial models until it, too, was cancelled in June 1999 as the Homy/Caravan lineups were merged.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Nissan produced the E25 series from April 2001 to 2012. It was also sold as the Isuzu Como on the Japanese market, replacing the last generation Isuzu Fargo which was a rebadged version of the E24 Caravan. The New Zealand Urvan received a one-star rating on the ANCAP crash test.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: Mexico was the only North American country to receive the Nissan Caravan vans. 2010 was the last year for this generation in Mexico, as the US-built Nissan NV replaces it.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: At the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, a replacement of the Nissan Caravan, called the NV350 Caravan, was premiered. It went on sale on 15 June 2012 with diesel engine and super long body variants went on sale on 13 July 2012, and the wide version model arrived in winter 2012. The new NV350 Caravan comes with the all new "YD25DDTi" engine with clean diesel technology. Most petrol engines take advantage of its fuel saving technology for class leading fuel economy, for example the "QR20DE". Those engines achieved either a 10 or 5 percent improvement in fuel economy over Japan's 2015 fuel economy standard. The NV350 Caravan continues to be sold as the Isuzu Como on the Japanese market as well. The NV350 Caravan received its first facelift on 13 July 2017 and its second facelift on 20 October 2021, when it was renamed back to Nissan Caravan.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: In the Philippines, the NV350 Caravan (E26) was introduced on 11 June 2015 and is known as the NV350 Urvan. The NV350 Urvan is imported from Japan rather than being assembled locally. It is offered in five models: the base-grade 3-seater Hi-roof Cargo, the base-line 18-seater VX, the top base-line 15-seater Shuttle, the mid-range 12-seater Escapade and the high-end 10-seater Super Elite. In May 2017, the base-top-of-the-line NV350 Urvan Premium was launched. It is a 15-seater model, available with 5-speed manual and 5-speed automatic transmissions, being the first ever Urvan in the Philippines that comes with a standard automatic transmission. In March 2018, the high-top-of-the-line 8-seater Urvan Premium S was launched, it is also offered with either a 5-speed manual or an automatic transmission.


title: Nissan Caravan

text: On 11 September 2013, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd reached a basic agreement regarding original equipment manufacturer supply of finished commercial vans for export, whereby Nissan would supply NV350 Urvans to be sold as the Fuso Canter Van. Two versions are offered, the van and microbus.