title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Henry was 21 when he and his father and brothers captured the Moorish port of Ceuta in northern Morocco. Ceuta had long been a base for Barbary pirates who raided the Portuguese coast, depopulating villages by capturing their inhabitants to be sold in the African slave trade. Following this success, Henry began to explore the coast of Africa, most of which was unknown to Europeans. His objectives included finding the source of the West African gold trade and the legendary Christian kingdom of Prester John, and stopping the pirate attacks on the Portuguese coast.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: At that time, the cargo ships of the Mediterranean were too slow and heavy to undertake such voyages. Under Henry's direction, a new and much lighter ship was developed, the caravel, which could sail further and faster. Above all, it was highly maneuverable and could sail "into the wind", making it largely independent of the prevailing winds. The caravel used the lateen sail, the prevailing rig in Christian Mediterranean navigation since late antiquity.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: With this ship, Portuguese mariners freely explored uncharted waters around the Atlantic, from rivers and shallow waters to transocean voyages.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: On May 25 1420, Henry gained appointment as the Grand Master of the Military Order of Christ, the Portuguese successor to the Knights Templar, which had its headquarters at Tomar in central Portugal. Henry held this position for the remainder of his life, and the Order was an important source of funds for Henry's ambitious plans, especially his persistent attempts to conquer the Canary Islands, which the Portuguese had claimed to have discovered before the year 1346.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: In 1425, his second brother the Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, made a diplomatic tour of Europe, with an additional charge from Henry to seek out geographic material. Peter returned with a current world map from Venice.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: In 1431, Henry donated houses for the "Estudo Geral" to teach all the sciences—grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, and astronomy—in what would later become the University of Lisbon. For other subjects like medicine or philosophy, he ordered that each room should be decorated according to the subject taught.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Henry also had other resources. When John I died in 1433, Henry's eldest brother Edward of Portugal became king. He granted Henry all profits from trading within the areas he discovered as well as the sole right to authorize expeditions beyond Cape Bojador. Henry also held a monopoly on tuna fishing in the Algarve. When Edward died eight years later, Henry supported his brother Peter, Duke of Coimbra for the regency during the minority of Edward's son Afonso V, and in return received a confirmation of this levy.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Henry functioned as a primary organizer of the disastrous expedition to Tangier in 1437 against Çala Ben Çala, which ended in Henry's younger brother Ferdinand being given as hostage to guarantee Portuguese promises in the peace agreement. The Portuguese Cortes refused to return Ceuta as ransom for Ferdinand, who remained in captivity until his death six years later. Prince Regent Peter supported Portuguese maritime expansion in the Atlantic Ocean and Africa, and Henry promoted the colonization of the Azores during Peter's regency (1439–1448). For most of the latter part of his life, Henry concentrated on his maritime activities and court politics.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: According to João de Barros, in Algarve, Prince Henry the Navigator repopulated a village that he called Terçanabal (from "terça nabal" or "tercena nabal"). This village was situated in a strategic position for his maritime enterprises and was later called Vila do Infante ("Estate or Town of the Prince").


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: It is traditionally suggested that Henry gathered at his villa on the Sagres peninsula a school of navigators and map-makers. However modern historians hold this to be a misconception. He did employ some cartographers to chart the coast of Mauritania after the voyages he sent there, but there was no center of navigation science or observatory in the modern sense of the word, nor was there an organized navigational center.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Referring to Sagres, sixteenth-century Portuguese mathematician and cosmographer Pedro Nunes remarked, "from it our sailors went out well taught and provided with instruments and rules which all map makers and navigators should know."


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: The view that Henry's court rapidly grew into the technological base for exploration, with a naval arsenal and an observatory, etc., although repeated in popular culture, has never been established. Henry did possess geographical curiosity, and employed cartographers. Jehuda Cresques, a noted cartographer, has been said to have accepted an invitation to come to Portugal to make maps for the infante. Prestage makes the argument that the presence of the latter at the Prince's court "probably accounts for the legend of the School of Sagres, which is now discredited."


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Henry sponsored voyages, collecting a 20% tax ("o quinto") on profits, the usual practice in the Iberian states at the time. The nearby port of Lagos provided a convenient home port for these expeditions. The voyages were made in very small ships, mostly the caravel, a light and maneuverable vessel equipped by lateen sails. Most of the voyages sent out by Henry consisted of one or two ships that navigated by following the coast, stopping at night to tie up along some shore.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: During Prince Henry's time and after, the Portuguese navigators discovered and perfected the North Atlantic "volta do mar" (the 'turn of the sea' or 'return from the sea'): the dependable pattern of trade winds blowing largely from the east near the equator and the returning westerlies in the mid-Atlantic. This was a major step in the history of navigation, when an understanding of oceanic wind patterns was crucial to Atlantic navigation, from Africa and the open ocean to Europe, and enabled the main route between the New World and Europe in the North Atlantic in future voyages of discovery. Although the lateen sail allowed sailing upwind to some extent, it was worth even major extensions of course to have a faster and calmer following wind for most of a journey. Portuguese mariners who sailed south and southwest towards the Canary Islands and West Africa would afterwards sail far to the northwest—that is, away from continental Portugal, and seemingly in the wrong direction—before turning northeast near the Azores islands and finally east to Europe in order to have largely following winds for their full journey. Christopher Columbus used this on his transatlantic voyages.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: The first explorations followed not long after the capture of Ceuta in 1415. Henry was interested in locating the source of the caravans that brought gold to the city. During the reign of his father, John I, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira were sent to explore along the African coast. Zarco, a knight in service to Prince Henry, had commanded the caravels guarding the coast of Algarve from the incursions of the Moors. He had also been at Ceuta.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: In 1418, Zarco and Teixeira were blown off-course by a storm while making the "volta do mar" westward swing to return to Portugal. They found shelter at an island they named Porto Santo. Henry directed that Porto Santo be colonized. The move to claim the Madeiran islands was probably a response to Castile's efforts to claim the Canary Islands. In 1420, settlers then moved to the nearby island of Madeira.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: A chart drawn by the Catalan cartographer, Gabriel de Vallseca of Mallorca, has been interpreted to indicate that the Azores were first discovered by Diogo de Silves in 1427. In 1431, Gonçalo Velho was dispatched with orders to determine the location of "islands" first identified by de Silves. Velho apparently got as far as the Formigas, in the eastern archipelago, before having to return to Sagres, probably due to bad weather.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: By this time the Portuguese navigators had also reached the Sargasso Sea (western North Atlantic region), naming it after the "Sargassum" seaweed growing there ("sargaço" / "sargasso" in Portuguese).


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Until Henry's time, Cape Bojador remained the most southerly point known to Europeans on the desert coast of Africa. Superstitious seafarers held that beyond the cape lay sea monsters and the edge of the world. In 1434, Gil Eanes, the commander of one of Henry's expeditions, became the first European known to pass Cape Bojador.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Using the new ship type, the expeditions then pushed onwards. Nuno Tristão and Antão Gonçalves reached Cape Blanco in 1441. The Portuguese sighted the Bay of Arguin in 1443 and built an important slave fort on the island of Arguin around the year 1448. Dinis Dias soon came across the Senegal River and rounded the peninsula of Cap-Vert in 1444. By this stage the explorers had passed the southern boundary of the desert, and from then on Henry had one of his wishes fulfilled: the Portuguese had circumvented the Muslim land-based trade routes across the western Sahara Desert, and slaves and gold began arriving in Portugal. This rerouting of trade devastated Algiers and Tunis, but made Portugal rich. By 1452, the influx of gold permitted the minting of Portugal's first gold "cruzado" coins. A cruzado was equal to 400 reis at the time. From 1444 to 1446, as many as forty vessels sailed from Lagos on Henry's behalf, and the first private mercantile expeditions began.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Alvise Cadamosto explored the Atlantic coast of Africa and discovered several islands of the Cape Verde archipelago between 1453 and 1456. In his first voyage, which started on 22 March 1455, he visited the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands. On the second voyage, in 1456, Cadamosto became the first European to reach the Cape Verde Islands. António Noli later claimed the credit. By 1462, the Portuguese had explored the coast of Africa as far as present-day Sierra Leone. Twenty-eight years later, Bartolomeu Dias proved that Africa could be circumnavigated when he reached the southern tip of the continent, now known as the Cape of Good Hope. In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first European sailor to reach India by sea.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: No one used the nickname "Henry the Navigator" to refer to prince Henry during his lifetime or in the following three centuries. The term was coined by two nineteenth-century German historians: and Gustave de Veer. Later on it was made popular by two British authors who included it in the titles of their biographies of the prince: Henry Major in 1868 and Raymond Beazley in 1895. In Portuguese, even in modern times, it is uncommon to call him by this epithet; the preferred use is "Infante D. Henrique".


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: Contrary to his brothers, Prince Henry was not praised for his intellectual gifts by his contemporaries. It was only later chroniclers such as João de Barros and Damião de Góis who attributed him a scholarly character and an interest for cosmography. The myth of the "Sagres school" allegedly founded by Prince Henry was created in the 17th century, mainly by Samuel Purchas and Antoine Prévost. In nineteenth-century Portugal, the idealized vision of Prince Henry as a putative pioneer of exploration and science reached its apogee.


title: Prince Henry the Navigator

text: "Travels in Brazil, in the Years 1817–1820: Undertaken by Command of His Majesty the King of Bavaria" by Dr. J.B. Von Spix and Dr. C.F.P. Von Martius, published 1824, refers to the introduction of sugar cane to Brazil by "the Infant Don Henrique Navegador".


title: Clown (film)

text: Clown is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Jon Watts in his feature directorial debut, produced by Mac Cappuccino, Eli Roth, and Cody Ryder, and written by Watts and Christopher Ford. It stars Eli Roth, Laura Allen, Andy Powers, and Peter Stormare. Visual effects for the clown monster were done by Jagdeep Khoza, Alterian, Inc., and Tony Gardner. Principal photography began in November 2012, in Ottawa. The film was released in Italy on November 13, 2014, in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2015, and in the United States on June 17, 2016, by Dimension Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Clown (film)

text: Kent McCoy, a real estate agent, is a loving husband and father who hosts a birthday party for his young son Jack. However, the clown hired for their party is unable to make it. Kent discovers an old clown costume in the basement of a house he is selling and puts it on. After the party, he falls asleep wearing the outfit, and the following day finds he cannot take it off.


title: Clown (film)

text: He is forced to wear the costume to work, where he again tries to remove it. When he returns home, he complains about the situation to his wife, Meg. She is able to remove the fake nose but unintentionally wounds him in the process. The family dog, Shadow, accidentally eats the fake nose. Meg also realizes the clown's wig has become Kent's natural hair. Kent starts to exhibit strange behavior and experiences a deep sense of hunger, eating all the food in the house.


title: Clown (film)

text: Kent enlists the help of Herbert Karlsson, the suit's previous owner. Karlsson begs him not to touch the costume, but after learning Kent is already wearing it, insists on meeting him at the old costume warehouse. Kent learns that the outfit is the hair and skin of an ancient Icelandic demon called the "Clöyne". Karlsson drugs Kent, revealing that dismemberment is the only way to prevent the metamorphosis and possession. Kent fights back and subdues Karlsson, and while driving him to the police station to report the assault, his fingers and toes begin to grow excessively, causing him to crash the car.


title: Clown (film)

text: Kent decides to try to kill himself and goes to one of his properties. He shoots himself in the mouth, spattering the wall with rainbow blood, but quickly regenerates and survives. He then meets a child who attempts to befriend him. Kent tries to behead himself with a pair of buzz saws, but a fluke accident causes the saw blades to shatter apart, killing the boy. Kent realizes he wants to eat the child and does so before Meg finds him. Once at home, Kent tells Meg to chain him up in the basement, telling her not to let him out. He learns from Jack that one of his classmates had bullied him at school. Kent finds the bully and eats him.


title: Clown (film)

text: Karlsson tells Meg that the wearer can remove the suit only after eating five children. She also learns that Karlsson put on the costume to entertain the children at a hospital where his brother Martin worked many years ago. Martin smuggled five terminally ill children to feed the demon to free his brother. When Karlsson was released from the costume, the brothers tried and failed to destroy it.


title: Clown (film)

text: Kent fully succumbs to the demon and sneaks into a local Chuck E. Cheese, where he devours one child in the ball pit and another in the tube slides. Blood and a severed arm flow down the slide, causing a panic, and the play zone and restaurant are evacuated. Meg finds Kent as Karlsson attempts to decapitate him with an ax. Before Kent can kill Karlsson, Meg tries to communicate with him. Instead, the demon orders her to find and feed him one more child in return for Kent's release. She must bring the fifth child to their "special place." Otherwise, the Clöyne will find and kill Jack. However, Meg refuses.


title: Clown (film)

text: The Clöyne sneaks into the house and kills Meg's father Walt. Meg fights against him, but the demon attempts to devour their unborn baby from her womb. After cutting the demon's neck, Meg knocks his head off with a hammer and apologizes to Jack for everything. However, due to a muscle still attached to the body, the Clöyne revives. Meg finally rips off the demon's head, killing the monster and her husband. While embracing her son, she watches in horror as the Clöyne's skin melts away, revealing the decapitated Kent. The film ends with the costume and Kent's possession being packed away by the police as evidence.


title: Clown (film)

text: In November 2010, Jon Watts and Christopher D. Ford uploaded a fake trailer to YouTube that announced Eli Roth would produce the film; Roth was not involved at the time. Roth spoke about the film, saying: "I loved how ballsy they were, issuing a trailer that said, 'From the Master of Horror, Eli Roth.' Some people thought I'd made the movie, or that it was another fake "Grindhouse" trailer... I really felt these guys deserved a shot, and that people are truly freaked out by evil clowns. It's new territory to make this a version of "The Fly", where this guy can feel himself changing, blacking out only to find blood all over his clown suit. You're sympathetic toward a monster until the monster actually takes over."


title: Clown (film)

text: Principal photography began in November 2012 in Ottawa. Roth joined as a producer, and Watts directed the film based on a screenplay co-written with Ford.


title: Clown (film)

text: In September 2012, Dimension Films and FilmNation Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released on November 13, 2014 in Italy. The UK premiere was February 27, 2015, in Scotland at FrightFest Glasgow 2015, followed by the DVD and Blu-ray release March 2, 2015. The film was also released in the Philippines on March 25, 2015 and in Mexico on May 22, 2015. After being delayed, the film was released in the United States on June 17, 2016.


title: Clown (film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "Clown" holds an approval rating of 46% based on 25 reviews, and an average rating of 4.6/10.


title: Clown (film)

text: Dominic Cuthbert of "Starburst" rated it 7/10 stars and wrote, ""Clown" may be formulaic and filled up to the guts with familiar tropes, but it is tremendous fun and an effective body horror." Howard Gorman of "Scream" magazine rated it 5/5 stars and wrote, "With "Clown" the filmmakers have created an all-new monster of demonic proportions and it's a concept that certainly deserves to spawn a sequel or two as the sky really is the limit." Jeremy Aspinall of the "Radio Times" rated it 2/5 stars and described it as "efficiently put together if a little sedate in pace". Anton Bitel of "Little White Lies" wrote that the film doubles as an equally harrowing story of "a family man's losing struggle with his own paedophiliac impulses". Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting rated it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Even though it's mostly a bore, there's still some really cool and fun stuff scattered throughout." Keri O'Shea of Brutal as Hell wrote, "Neither frightening nor funny, here's another lesson to prove that fake trailers are often fine just as they are." Joel Harley of HorrorTalk rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "What could have been one of the few great killer clown movies winds up as yet another disappointment, being too uneven in tone and pace to be considered a success."


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Russia was announced as the host on 2 December 2010 after the country was awarded the hosting rights of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The matches were played in four stadiums in four cities: Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and Sochi. It was the first time Russia had hosted the tournament, and the third time the Confederations Cup was held in the European continent. As hosts, Russia qualified automatically for the tournament; they were joined by the six winners of the FIFA confederation championships and the 2014 FIFA World Cup champions, Germany.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The final tournament was played in two stages: a group stage and a latter knockout stage. In the group stage, each team played three games in a group of four, with the winners and runners-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage. In the knockout stage, the four teams competed in single-elimination matches, beginning with the semi-finals and ending with the final match of the tournament. A third-place match was played between the two losing semi-finalist teams. The final match was also attended by young participants of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship from 64 countries.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The defending champions, Brazil, who won the previous three Confederation Cups (2005, 2009, 2013), failed to qualify for the first time since 1995 following their loss on penalties to Paraguay in the quarter-finals of the 2015 Copa América. 2015 AFC Asian Cup winners Australia became the first team to qualify from multiple confederations, having previously represented the OFC in 1997, 2001 and 2005. This was the first and only Confederations Cup to feature the video assistant referee (VAR).


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: This was the last Confederations Cup held before being folded after being confirmed by FIFA that it will no longer hold anymore Confederation Cup matches in order to make way for the FIFA Club World Cup expansion, along with the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The eight competing teams were the host nation, the reigning FIFA World Cup champions, and the six holders of the FIFA confederation championships. If any team qualified for multiple berths (such as, if the World Cup champions also won their continental championship), the next best-placed team from their continental championship would have qualified.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: After Russia secured a spot in the tournament as the hosts, Germany were the first team to qualify via competition, after winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The final match saw the Germans clinch the country's fourth world title through a 1–0 extra-time win against Argentina. Australia were the next team to qualify after beating South Korea 2–1 after extra time, in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final. This victory marked Australia's first Asian Cup win since their move from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. It was also the first time a team had become champions of two confederations, following Australia's four OFC Nations Cup titles. Chile were the fourth team to secure a spot at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup after defeating Argentina 4–1 on a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw after extra time, in the 2015 Copa América Final.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: As 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions, Mexico's qualifying path saw them face 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup champions United States in the 2015 CONCACAF Cup play-off match. The new format, in which the two most recent CONCACAF Gold Cup winners compete to decide the representative team of CONCACAF, was won by Mexico 3–2 after extra time. New Zealand were the sixth team to qualify for the tournament after defeating Papua New Guinea 4–2 on a penalty shoot-out following a 0–0 draw after extra time, in the 2016 OFC Nations Cup Final.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Portugal were the seventh team to qualify, after defeating host nation France 1–0 after extra time, in the UEFA Euro 2016 Final. The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winning team, Cameroon, took the eighth and final spot with their 2–1 win against Egypt in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Final. This was the first time in FIFA Confederations Cup history that three national teams from any single confederation (Russia, Germany and Portugal from UEFA) participated in the tournament.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Four cities served as the venues for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. All four venues were also among the 12 used for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: On 8 October 2015, FIFA and the Local Organising Committee agreed on the official names of the stadiums used during the tournament.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The full schedule was announced by FIFA on 24 July 2015 (without kick-off times, which were confirmed later). Russia was placed in position A1 in the group stage and played in the opening match against New Zealand at the Zenit Arena in Saint Petersburg on 17 June. The distribution of the knockout stage matches was as follows:


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: For the draw, the eight teams were allocated to two pots. Pot 1 contained hosts Russia and the three highest-ranked teams in the November 2016 edition of the FIFA World Rankings (shown in parentheses below): Germany, Chile, and Portugal. Pot 2 contained the remaining four teams: Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and the winners of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (whose identity was not known at the time of the draw and regardless of their identity could not be among the three highest-ranked participating teams), which was won by Cameroon on 5 February 2017 to complete the line-up.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four with each group containing two teams from Pot 1 and two teams from Pot 2. During the draw procedure, teams were drawn into alternating groups (Group A, then Group B, repeating) and assigned a position within the group by drawing another ball. As hosts, Russia were automatically assigned to Position A1 in the draw. Since there were three teams from Europe, one of the two groups was certain to contain two teams from the same confederation (Russia and Portugal), the first time this happened in a FIFA Confederations Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: A total of 9 refereeing trios (a referee and two assistant referees), 1 support referee, and 8 video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The official match ball for the Cup was produced by Adidas and was named "Krasava", which is a Russian slang word for "beautiful" or "awesome".


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Each team had to name a preliminary squad of 30 players. From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 23 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. Players in the final squad could be replaced due to serious injury up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match, where the replacement players did not need to be in the preliminary squad. The official squads were announced by FIFA on 8 June 2017.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The top two teams of each group advanced to the semi-finals. The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows (regulations Article 19.6):


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each), where each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. The player awards were all sponsored by Adidas.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Additionally, FIFA.com shortlisted six goals so that football fans could vote on the tournaments' best. The poll closed on 10 July.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Tickets were distributed in four stages: pre-sale for holders of Visa cards, random draw, first-come first-served, and last-minute sales.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: Free travel via additional trains travelling between host cities during the sporting events were provided to spectators holding match tickets or documents granting access to the match, along with FAN ID.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: FAN IDs were issued to all spectators of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 for access to a stadium. FAN ID gave the opportunity to use free transport services on the match days in the cities hosting the sports events. The foreign citizens, who come to the Russian Federation as spectators of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 matches, could use their FAN IDs for multiple visa-free entry into and exit from the Russian Federation upon presentation of valid identity documents that are recognized as such by the Russian Federation, during the period that started ten days before the date of the first match and ended ten days after the date of the last match of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017.


title: 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

text: In 2015, the Russian Ministry of Sport and Local Organising Committee launched a website aimed at providing coverage of the preparation process ahead of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two live albums, two compilation albums, one video album, and sixteen singles and music videos.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Inspired by the combination of gothic imagery and music, the members have been known, musically, for composing mid-tempo songs consisting of prominent guitar lines and contrasting dual female/male vocal harmonies to help create a melodic, detached sound. Much of the band's recent material, however, sees a heavier and more down-tuned style, featuring a more distinct bass line and a higher mixing of the guitars within the songs.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: They have toured internationally and were nominated in 2006 for a MTV Europe Music Award. They won the 2012 Metal Female Voices Fest Award for the Best Album, the 2016 Metal Hammer Award for the Best International Band, and the 2018 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award for Best Live Act. The band's 2012 release, "Dark Adrenaline", peaked at number 15 on the "Billboard" 200. As of March 2012, Lacuna Coil have sold over two million albums worldwide.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Vocalist Andrea Ferro and bassist/composer Marco Coti Zelati formed Sleep of Right in Milan, Italy, 1994, and recruited Raffaele Zagaria on guitars, and Michaelangelo Algardi on the drums. After recording a song titled "Bleeding Souls" for the "Noise of Bolgia" compilation in 1995, Claudio Leo became the band's second guitarist, and Leonardo Forti replaced Michaelangelo on the drums after his departure. The band asked Cristina Scabbia, a friend and girlfriend of Marco at the time, to sing background vocals briefly, which led to her officially joining the band. Soon after, the band changed their name to Ethereal, and signed to Century Media at the end of 1997. Finding that the name Ethereal was already taken by a Greek band, they changed their name to Lacuna Coil.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Lacuna Coil released a self-titled EP through Century Media in 1998, shortly after Raffael Zagaria, Claudio Leo, and Leonardo Forti departed. As a result, guitarist Cristiano Migliore and drummer Cristiano Mozzati were recruited officially. At this point, the band was touring with Moonspell after the release of the "Lacuna Coil EP".


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Following a second European tour, the band recorded their debut full-length album "In a Reverie" and added second guitarist Marco Biazzi. The band supported the album with another European tour, co-headlining with Skyclad. Allmusic rated the album 4 stars, saying it was "a fine debut by a band that bears watching." The band toured mostly around Europe, generally as a support act.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Following their debut, "In a Reverie", the EP "Half-Life" was released in 2000 with five songs: "Half Life", "Hyperfast", "Stars" (a cover of a Dubstar single), "Trance Awake" and a demo version of "Senzafine". The final version of the latter was included in the 2001 album "Unleashed Memories". While the studio album contained 10 songs, later re-releases included the "Halflife" EP. That same year, the band toured the United States for the first time, supporting Moonspell.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: The band's breakthrough album "Comalies" was released in 2002. A significant player on Europe's metal scene for nearly a decade at this point, the band was virtually unknown in the United States. The TV series "Uranium" gave the band some of its earliest US exposure; over a year later, the first single from "Comalies", "Heaven's a Lie", began to receive radio and media attention, pulling the band into North America's musical mainstream. They kicked off their first headlining U.S. tour in 2003, supported by Dog Fashion Disco. Networks such as Fuse played the song's video, for example. In early 2005, "Heaven's a Lie" won in The 4th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Hard Rock/Metal Song. The beginning of this song was also used as the introduction music for the audio podcast novel "The Rookie" by Scott Sigler. The second single, "Swamped", was played in heavy rotation and used in the video game "". It also appeared on the soundtrack for the movie "". Videos were filmed for both songs and broadcast on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball", which also saw the band perform an acoustic rendition of "Heaven's a Lie" live.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: By 2004, "Comalies" had become the best-selling CD in Century Media's history. The band appeared at Ozzfest in between headlining club tours in the United States and Europe. A bonus, extended version of "Comalies" was released both in stores and on iTunes. This version consisted of both live and acoustic versions of the songs "Heaven's A Lie", "Swamped", "Unspoken", "Aeon" and "Senzafine" from "Unleashed Memories".


title: Lacuna Coil

text: The band and label postponed the release of their follow-up to "Comalies", "Karmacode", to early 2006. According to the band's website, this made it possible for more time to be spent on production and to avoid the crowded summer 2005 release schedule for metal albums. On 23 December 2005 the band announced on their web site that all recording, mixing, and mastering on "Karmacode" had been completed. It was then announced that "Karmacode" would be released in the United States on 4 April 2006.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: During their 2005 European Tour, Lacuna Coil debuted two new songs from Karmacode at selected concerts: "Our Truth" and "Fragile" under the working titles "Antonio" and "A2" respectively.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: "Karmacode" debuted at number 28 on the "Billboard" 200. Considered by "Billboard" to be "the biggest album in the history of Century Media Records", it was acclaimed by music critics and magazines. Corresponding with the release of the new album, Lacuna Coil toured with Rob Zombie throughout North America in early 2006. After their tour with Zombie, they performed main stage at Ozzfest 2006 along with System of a Down, Ozzy Osbourne, and Hatebreed, becoming the first female-fronted band to co-headline the heavy-metal festival. That summer they also played on the main stage of the Download Festival (a three-day music festival in England's Donington Park), which was headlined by Metallica, Tool, and Guns N' Roses. That December, Lacuna Coil teamed up with In Flames, The Sword and Seemless for a US tour, as well as The Blackest of the Black 2006 Tour.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Four singles were officially released from "Karmacode": "Our Truth", "Closer", "Within Me" and a cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence". "Our Truth" was the first single released and had a music video produced for it. The song was featured on the "" soundtrack and entered the top forty on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock chart in the United States.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: The band toured extensively to support the album throughout 2007. This included the Jägermeister Music Tour, The Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour 2007, Loudpark Festival '07 in Saitama City's Saitama Super Arena, and the Australian leg of Megadeth's Gigantour.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: Lacuna Coil's first live DVD was released in November 2008, entitled "Visual Karma (Body, Mind and Soul)". The CD/DVD package is a retrospective of all things from the band's "Karmacode" album cycle. The set list features concerts filmed at Germany's Wacken Festival and at the Japanese Loudpark Festival in 2007.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: In 2008, it was announced that Lacuna Coil's fifth studio album would be produced by Don Gilmore and would include some Arabic influences. Cristina Scabbia explained in the magazine Rock Sound: "It's different, but it's our style. We haven't done anything absolutely different from our style, because that wouldn't be natural, that would be weird - it wouldn't be us. The songs are definitely more powerful, more complete, more intense, more straight-to-the-point." Andrea Ferro said: "We've put more attention on the real meaning of the songs, so the vocals are a bit more prominent. We've worked a lot with Don Gilmore on the pronunciation of the words in English, so people really understand the meanings of the words. There are strong choruses, where people can relate and really understand what we mean."


title: Lacuna Coil

text: On 13 December 2008, it was revealed that the new album would be titled "Shallow Life". The album was released in Europe on 20 April 2009 and in the United States on 21 April 2009. It debuted at number 16 on the "Billboard" Top 200 Album Chart, and became Lacuna Coil's first Top 20 album in the U.S. , it has sold nearly 70,000 copies in the United States.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: In February and March 2009, Lacuna Coil played at the Australian music festival Soundwave alongside metal acts including DevilDriver, In Flames, Lamb of God, and Nine Inch Nails. The festival spanned five capital cities, at which they performed their single "Spellbound" from "Shallow Life" for the first time. Early June saw them play in the UK at Download Festival. Their set was scheduled for the opening day, where they would play on the second stage just before Opeth and later Mötley Crüe. Later in July 2009, Lacuna Coil embarked on the American Spellbound Tour, alongside Kill Hannah, Seventh Void, and Dommin. This was Lacuna Coil's first U.S. headlining run in over two years and the first tour the band has been on since the Music as a Weapon Tour IV alongside Disturbed, Killswitch Engage, and Chimaira in early 2009. During Early 2010 (Jan/Feb) the band came to the United Kingdom to do a Headline "Shallow Life" tour with their support acts Dommin and Dirty Little Rabbits. They then returned to the UK again in September/October 2010 headlining the "Survive" tour, this time at more intimate/VIP venues, with the support act Slaves to Gravity.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: A new album that was in the works since the first quarter of 2011 was confirmed with its title later being revealed as "Dark Adrenaline". Produced by Don Gilmore and mixed by Marco Barusso. On 2 September 2011, it was announced that the first single from the record, titled "Trip the Darkness", was released digitally on 17 October 2011, with the album's release following on 24 January 2012. The album's third single, "End of Time", was released on 12 December 2012; the music video for the song was shot in Italy on 17 October 2012.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: In September 2013, the band announced the start of recording their new album with the producer Jay Baumgardner. Lacuna Coil announced the title of their upcoming album, "Broken Crown Halo", due for release 1 April in North America.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: The first track of their new album called "Nothing Stands In Our Way" was premiered online. On 14 February 2014, the band announced via their Facebook page that their guitarist Cristiano "Pizza" Migliore and drummer Cristiano "Criz" Mozzati decided to retire from the band after 16 years, citing personal reasons. Ryan Folden (The Agony Scene, Burn Halo, Enterprise Earth, After Midnight Project) has since joined the band.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: On 8 December 2015, it was announced that the band are recording a new album, titled "Delirium", produced by Marco Coti Zelati and mixed by Marco Barusso. On 8 April 2016, Lacuna Coil premiered the song "The House of Shame" along with announcing the release of the album to be 27 May 2016. On 21 July 2016, Lacuna Coil presented the album's second single "Delirium" as a music video, followed by their third single "Blood, Tears, Dust", as a music-action video on 22 March 2017, and their fourth single, "You Love Me 'Cause I Hate You" on 15 May 2017. On 9 December 2016, Lacuna Coil premiered a new Christmas-themed song titled "Naughty Christmas" as a stand-alone single. On 14 January 2016, Lacuna Coil announced the amicable departure of longtime guitarist Marco Biazzi. On 11 April 2016, during an Italian press tour, Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro presented Diego Cavallotti as the new live guitarist for the forthcoming tour. On 15 July 2019, Ryan Folden announced via social-media that he was stepping back as a full time member, adding that he did not work on "Black Anima". The band has been working with drummer Richard Meiz of Genus Ordinis Dei until a permanent replacement is named On 11 October 2019 the band released the album "Black Anima", containing the singles "Layers of Time", "Reckless" and "Save Me".


title: Lacuna Coil

text: In July 2020, it was announced that Lacuna Coil had plans to stream a live show in their home city of Milan, where they'll perform their latest album "Black Anima" in full for the first time, amid COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: On 16 April 2021, the band announced that they will release a new live album on 25 June 2021, which will be called "Live from the Apocalypse". The live album will also include the track "Bad Things", which previously was an Amazon exclusive.


title: Lacuna Coil

text: On 15 July 2022 it was announced that the band would release an LP titled "Comalies XX", with "deconstructed and transported" versions of original songs from their 2002 release, "Comalies". It is scheduled to be released on 14 October 2022. Andrea Ferro stated that band this would be considered a special project rather than their 10th studio album. On 19 July 2022 the band released the first single for the LP, "Tight Rope XX" along with a video clip. The reworked track was also played live for the first time at US music festival; INKcarceration a week prior.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: Bondi Rescue is an Australian factual television program which was originally broadcast on Network 10 between 2006-2021 and will be broadcast on Paramount from 2023. The program follows the daily lives and routines of the Waverley Council professional lifeguards who patrol Bondi Beach.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: "Bondi Rescue" was first broadcast in 2006. A spin-off, set in Bali, Indonesia, also briefly screened in 2008. "Bondi Rescue" is also broadcast internationally throughout 100 countries. The show was created and produced by part-time lifeguard Ben Davies in collaboration with Producer Michael Cordell. It is narrated by Osher Günsberg.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: On 12 October 2022, it was officially announced on the "Bondi Rescue" social media sites that the show will return for season 17 in 2023. It will be the first season to be broadcast on Paramount following the news the show would not return to Network 10.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: The Bondi lifeguards perform around five thousand rescues over the summer period. They also deal with other incidents including lost children, shark scares, bluebottle stings, injuries, sexual deviants, drunk beach goers and thieves on the beach. Every once in a while, celebrities also make appearances on their shores. These have included actors/comedians David Hasselhoff and Kelly Slater (stars of the fictional US lifeguards show "Baywatch"), Hugh Grant, Zac Efron, Rowan Atkinson, Paris Hilton, Russell Crowe, entrepreneur Richard Branson, American comedian Conan O'Brien (whose appearance was also broadcast in his own show, "Conan"), musician Snoop Dogg, Steve Irwin and daughter Bindi and the Indian Cricket Team. Bondi veterinarian Chris Brown repeatedly appeared on Bondi beach, meeting lifeguards, in his own show Bondi Vet.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: Bondi also has its Annual Lifeguard Ironman Challenge, which tests the skills of each lifeguard which typically consists of a one-kilometre run from Bondi to local beach Tamarama, then a one-kilometre swim to nearby Bronte Beach, followed by a two-kilometre board-paddle back to Bondi. The race is handicapped: the more accomplished swimmers and board-paddlers set off from Bondi later (up to twelve minutes, depending on how many competitors there are).


title: Bondi Rescue

text: Footage for the show is shot during the preceding Australian summer (usually between November and February), with certain episodes reflecting incidents that have occurred during Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Australia Day. Noteworthy incidents at nearby Tamarama and Bronte Beaches, which the lifeguards are also responsible for, are occasionally shown. Later seasons also featured footage of lifeguard trials and training exercises from the middle of the year. The training in the middle of the year is a trial to test the fitness, strength and ability of the lifeguards. It consists of an 800-metre swim in under thirteen-and-a-half minutes in a swimming pool, a 600-metre swim surf and two 600-metre runs and on the sand, a 600-metre board paddle, then a set of demanding rescues at Bondi which should be completed in under 25 minutes. It is also a test for trainee lifeguards to show they are able and committed to the role of a lifeguard. If the competitors do not complete the tasks in the time limit, they are eliminated and do not advance to the next test.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: Many rescue boards and jet skis have a camera attached for close-up footage. When deemed safe to do so, the cameraman accompanies the lifeguards out to sea and has even had to assist with rescue operations on a number of occasions.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: The production company pays Waverley Council $139,000 per year and a percentage of profits to film the program, and the council also holds "review rights" to ensure content is acceptable to their practices.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: A nine-part spin-off series, entitled "Bondi Rescue: Bali" and set in Bali, Indonesia, premiered on 10 September 2008. The spin-off followed two months delegations of the Bondi lifeguards (including Dean 'Deano' Gladstone, Andrew 'Reidy' Reid, Ryan 'Whippet' Clark, Chris 'Chappo/Chips' Chapman, Tom 'Egg' Bunting, Matt 'Matty' Dee, Aaron 'Azza' and Kobi Graham and mission chief Terry 'Tezz' McDermott) as they were assigned to a two-month stint at Kuta Beach, dealing with the more humid climate, a much larger beach, an exceptionally strong surf and the absence of the rescue equipment they had back home (even in ambulances), making it the world's most deadly guarded beach: twelve fatalities in an average year. They join the hundred strong local life guards, supervised by popular singer Marcello Arayafaya, in an official international exchange program.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: The spin-off failed to score ratings, and was cancelled after four episodes. However the whole series was aired and repeated overseas, notably in Flanders.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: "Bondi Rescue" has proven to be successful for Network 10, averaging 1.31 million viewers during its third season. It won the Logie Awards Most Popular Factual Program in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and also a nomination for the Most Outstanding Factual Series at the 2010 and 2011 ceremonies. Its success also led to similar series such as the Seven Network's "Surf Patrol" and Nine's "Deadly Surf" being commissioned.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: The first book written about "Bondi Rescue" was by "Nick Carroll" and published on 1 November 2009. It was titled "Out the Back with Bondi Rescue: True Stories Behind the Hit TV Show" and was about the Bondi lifeguards and took readers 'behind-the-scenes' and showed their 'journeys and the effect this has had on their lives'.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: A second book, titled "Stories From the Bondi Lifeguards", was published on 1 February 2015 and showed a 'behind-the-scenes' look and memorable stories from the lifeguards on "Bondi Rescue". The book was written by a some of the lifeguards who frequented the show.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: Trent Maxwell, commonly known as Maxi, published a series of children's books in 2018 about his lifeguarding experiences.


title: Bondi Rescue

text: A game based on the show was developed for iPhone and iPad. In the game, the player is a lifeguard who must keep the swimmers between the flags and protect them from hazards.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: Fashion in the 1990s was defined by a return to minimalist fashion, in contrast to the more elaborate and flashy trends of the 1980s. One notable shift was the mainstream adoption of tattoos, body piercings aside from ear piercing and, to a much lesser extent, other forms of body modification such as branding.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: In the early 1990s, several late 1980s fashions remained very stylish among both sexes. However, the popularity of grunge and alternative rock music helped bring the simple, unkempt grunge look to the mainstream by 1994. The anti-conformist approach to fashion led to the popularization of the casual chic look that included T-shirts, jeans, hoodies, and sneakers, a trend which continued into the 2000s. Additionally, fashion trends throughout the decade recycled styles from previous decades, notably the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: Due to increased availability of the Internet and satellite television outside the United States, plus the reduction of import tariffs under NAFTA, fashion became more globalized and homogeneous in the late 1990s and early 2000s.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: Women's hair in the early 1990s continued in the big, curly style of the 1980s. High and High sided ponytails continued through most of the decade, especially when playing sports and at the gym. These were worn with a scrunchie until the mid-1990s when hair ties began to replace scrunchies. Scrunchies became popular once again in the late 2010s. Bangs remained big throughout the decade, especially the "mall bangs" poofy style associated with the early 1990s. From 1994 and through 2000s they got smaller and somewhat flatter and less poofy and laid closer to the forehead.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: The pixie cut and Rachel haircut, based on the hairstyles of Jennifer Aniston in "Friends" and Marlo Thomas in "That Girl", were popular in America from 1995 onwards. Around the same time red hair also became a desirable color for women, as well as feathered bangs, and mini hair-buns. From 1995 until 2008, dark-haired women tended to dye their hair a lighter color with blonde highlights (popularized by Jennifer Aniston).


title: 1990s in fashion

text: In the late 1990s, the Bob cut was well-desired, popularized and rejuvenated by Victoria Beckham of the Spice Girls. This late 90s-style bob cut featured a center, side, or zig-zag parting, as opposed to the thick bangs of the early 1990s. The Farrah Fawcett hairstyle made a comeback, with highlights going hand-in-hand with this revival. Other late 1990s haircuts included "Felicity curls" (popularized by Keri Russell in the hit TV show "Felicity"), the Fishtail Half-Up, and pigtails, as well as the continuation of mid 1990s hairdos.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: For teenage boys longer hair was popular in the early to mid-1990s, including collar-length curtained hair, Long, unkempt grunge hair, blond surfer hair popular among some Britpop fans, and dreadlocks. During the mid-1990s, the much-ridiculed bowl cut became a fad among skaters, while hip-hop fans wore a variant of the flattop known as the hi-top fade. In the late 1990s, hair was usually buzzed very short for an athletic look, although a few grunge fans grew their hair long in reaction to this.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: For teenage girls and younger children, hair was worn long with heavily teased bangs called "mall bangs" which were long fringes covering the forehead. From 1994 and through 2000s they got smaller and somewhat flatter and less poofy and laid closer to the forehead. Alice bands, headbands and scrunchies of various styles and colors (especially red, navy blue polka dot, plaid and neon) were popular with American girls throughout the early and mid 1990s, and they frequently wore them with twin pigtails, or high or high side ponytails and bangs. Beginning in the late 1990s and continuing into the 2010s, straightened hair and variants of the French braid became popular in Europe.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: The 1990s generally saw the continued popularity of longer hair on men, especially in the United States, Scandinavia and Canada. In the early 1990s, curtained hair, mullets, and ponytails were popular. Other trends included flattops, hi-top fades, and cornrows.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: In the mid-1990s, men's hairstyle trends went in several different directions. Younger men who were more amenable had adopted the Caesar cut, either natural or dyed. This style was popularized by George Clooney on the hit TV show ER in season two, which premiered in mid 1995. More rebellious young men went for longer, unkempt "grunge" hair, often with a center parting. The curtained hairstyle was at its peak in popularity, and sideburns went out of style. Meanwhile, most professional men over 30 had conservative 1950s style bouffant haircuts, regular haircuts, or the Caesar cut.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: In the late 1990s, it was considered unstylish and unattractive for men and boys to have longer hair. As a result, short hair completely took over. From 1997 onwards, aside from curtained hair (which was popular throughout the decade), spiky hair, bleached hair, crew cuts, and variants of the quiff became popular among younger men. Dark haired men dyed their spikes blonde or added wavy blonde streaks, a trend which continued into the 2000s. Variants of the surfer hair was popular among rock musicians during that time period. For African-American men, the cornrows (popularized by former NBA player Allen Iverson) and buzz cut were a popular trend that continued into the 2000s.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: Women's makeup in the early 1990s primarily consisted of dark red lipstick and neutral eyes. Around 1992 the "grunge look" came into style among younger women and the look was based on dark red lipstick and smudged eyeliner and eyeshadow. Both styles of makeup continued into 1994, but went out of style the next year.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: The trends in makeup shifted in the mid-1990s. In 1995, nude shades became desirable and women had a broader color palette in brown. Another makeup trend that emerged was matte lipsticks, with deep shades of red and dark wine colors worn as part of night makeup. Blue-frosted eye shadow became fashionable, and was eventually integrated into the Y2K makeup of the late 1990s/early 2000s (decade). Gothic makeup had broken into the mainstream, having been made up of vamp lipstick (or even black lipstick), heavy mascara and eyeliner, often purple-tinted eye shadow (or else very dark blue), and extremely pale foundation. The Gothic makeup remained relevant in the later years of the decade.


title: 1990s in fashion

text: By 1999, glittery, sparkling makeup had come into style. This was called "Y2K makeup", consisting of facial glitter and lip gloss. Blue-frosted eye shadow remained a staple of late 1990s makeup, although silver was ideal look. Dark eyeliner was considered bodacious. Pale, shiny lips became desirable, as lip gloss largely replaced lipstick. An alternative for those who did not like metallics were purples and browns. Goth makeup and Y2K makeup continued into the early 2000s.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 out of the Xhosa homelands or bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province. The central and eastern part of the province is the traditional home of the indigenous Xhosa people. In 1820 this area which was known as the Xhosa Kingdom began to be settled by Europeans who originally came from England and some from Scotland and Ireland.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Since South Africa's early years, many Xhosas believed in Africanism and figures such as Walter Rubusana believed that the rights of Xhosa people and Africans in general, could not be protected unless Africans mobilized and worked together. As a result, the Eastern Cape is home to many anti-apartheid leaders such as Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Winnie Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Alfred Xuma, Cecilia Makiwane, Noni Jabavu among others. It is also home the then young Thabo Mbeki, Chris Hani, Bantu Holomisa, Steve Biko, musicians Miriam Makeba, Madosini, Nathi, Vusi Nova and Zahara as well as historical figures such as Rev. Tiyo Soga, Samuel Mqhayi, Mongezi Sifika wa Nkomo, Enoch Sontonga and Jotello Festiri Soga.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape as a South African Province came into existence in 1994 and incorporated areas from the former Xhosa homelands of the Transkei and Ciskei, together with what was previously part of the Cape Province. This resulted in several anomalies including the fact that the Province has four supreme courts (in Makhanda, Gqeberha, Bhisho and Mthatha) and had enclaves of KwaZulu-Natal in the province. The latter anomaly has fallen away with amendments to municipal and provincial boundaries.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Xhosa Kingdom was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa and had all states in the Eastern Cape as tributaries. Any group, people or tribe that recognized the Xhosa Kingdom as Paramouncy became Xhosa, practiced Xhosa culture and used isiXhosa as their main language. Some of the tribes that fall under the category of Xhosa people include: AmaMpondo, AbaThembu, AmaMpondomise, AmaHlubi, AmaBhaca, AmaXesibe, AmaBomvana and more.


title: Eastern Cape

text: In the late 18th century the Dutch Cape Colony slowly expanded eastwards from its original centre around Cape Town. This led to the establishment in 1786 of the Dutch settlement of Graaff-Reinet – named for the Governor of the Cape Colony Cornelius Jacob van de Graaff (in office: 1785–1791) and for his wife Hester Cornelia van de Graaff (née Reynet). Later, during the Napoleonic wars of 1803–1815, Britain took control of the Cape Colony (1806) and encouraged British citizens to migrate there as a means to boost the British population in the area.


title: Eastern Cape

text: From the early 1800s until the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Eastern Cape saw colonisation by British migrants. English settlers established most of the towns, naming them either for places in England or for the original founders. British colonisation saw schools, churches, hospitals, town centres and government buildings built to speed up development. Some of the older European settlements include: Makhanda (1812), Gqeberha (1820), Salem (1820), Bathurst (1820), East London (1836), Paterson (1879), Cradock (1814) and Qonce.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The population of Eastern Cape Province is 6,562,053, of whom 86.3% are Black, 8.3% are Coloureds, 4.7% are White and 0.4% are Indian/Asian. A large majority of people in the province are Xhosa, with 78.8% of residents in Eastern Cape identifying as Xhosa as of 2011. Unlike most of South Africa the White population is overwhelmingly of British descent. Roughly 279,000 out of 310,000 White South Africans in Eastern Cape are English-speakers of British descent while only about 10% of Whites in the province are of Boer/Afrikaner ancestry. Eastern Cape is one of only two provinces in South Africa where British descended Whites outnumber Boers/Afrikaners, the other being Kwazulu-Natal. Gqeberha is the largest city in Eastern Cape Province.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The first premier was Raymond Mhlaba and the current premier is Oscar Mabuyane, both of the African National Congress. The province is served by the capital of Bhisho next to Qonce. The parliament and other important government buildings are situated in the precinct. The High Court that is superior to all courts in the region is situated in Makhanda and has local seats in Gqeberha, East London and Bhisho.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape gets progressively wetter from west to east. The west is mostly semiarid Karoo, except in the far south, which is temperate rainforest in the Tsitsikamma region. The coast is generally rugged with interspersed beaches. Most of the province is hilly to very mountainous between Graaff-Reinet and Rhodes including the Sneeuberge (English: Snow Mountains), Stormberge, Winterberge and Drakensberg (English: Dragon Mountains). The highest point in the province is Ben Macdhui at 3001 m. The east from East London and Komani towards the KwaZulu-Natal border – a region known previously as Transkei – is lush grassland on rolling hills, punctuated by deep gorges with intermittent forest.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Eastern Cape has a coast on its east which lines southward, creating shores leading to the south Indian Ocean. In the northeast, it borders the following districts of Lesotho:


title: Eastern Cape

text: Climate is highly varied. The west is dry with sparse rain during winter or summer, with frosty winters and hot summers. The area Tsitsikamma to Makhanda receives more precipitation, which is also relatively evenly distributed and temperatures are mild. Further east, rainfall becomes more plentiful and humidity increases, becoming more subtropical along the coast with summer rainfall. The interior can become very cold in winter, with heavy snowfalls occasionally occurring in the mountainous regions between Molteno and Rhodes.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The landscape is extremely diverse. The western interior is largely arid Karoo, while the east is well-watered and green. The Eastern Cape offers a wide array of attractions, including of untouched and pristine coastline along with beaches, and big-five game viewing in a malaria-free environment.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Addo Elephant National Park, situated from Gqeberha, was proclaimed in 1931. Its offers sanctuary to 170 elephants, 400 Cape buffalo and 21 black rhino of the very scarce Kenyan sub-species.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The province is the location of Tiffindell, South Africa's only snow skiing resort, which is situated near the hamlet of Rhodes in the Southern Drakensberg. It is on the slopes of Ben Macdhui, the highest mountain peak in the Eastern Cape .


title: Eastern Cape

text: The National Arts Festival, held annually in Makhanda, is Africa's largest cultural event, offering a choice of both indigenous and imported talent. Every year for eleven days the town's population almost doubles, as over 50,000 people flock to the region for a feast of arts, crafts, music and entertainment.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Jeffreys Bay is an area with wild coastline, which is backed by sub-tropical rainforest. The waters here are noted for having good waves for surfing.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Aliwal North, lying on an agricultural plateau on the southern bank of the Orange River, is an inland resort known for its hot springs.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The rugged and unspoiled Wild Coast is a place of spectacular scenery. The coastal areas have been a graveyard for many vessels.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Whittlesea, Eastern Cape, situated in the Amatola Mountains, is known for the first wine estate in the province.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Qonce, Alice, Komani, Makhanda, Cradock and Fort Beaufort offer some of the best colonial architecture of the 19th century in the province. The two major cities lining the coast are East London and Gqeberha.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape is the poorest province in South Africa and has the highest expanded and official unemployment rate in the country. Subsistence agriculture predominates in the former homelands, resulting in widespread poverty. A multi billion Rand industrial development zone and deep water port are being developed in Coega to boost investment in export-oriented industries. Overall the province only contributes 8% to the national GDP despite making 13.5% of the population. The real GDP of Eastern Cape stands at an estimated R230.3billion in 2017, making the province the fourth largest regional economy in SA ahead of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.


title: Eastern Cape

text: There is much fertile land in the Eastern Cape, and agriculture remains important. The fertile Langkloof Valley in the southwest has large deciduous fruit orchards. In the Karoo there is widespread sheep farming.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Alexandria-Makhanda area produces pineapples, chicory and dairy products, while coffee and tea are cultivated at Magwa. People in the former Transkei region are dependent on cattle, maize and sorghum-farming. An olive nursery has been developed in collaboration with the University of Fort Hare to form a nucleus of olive production in the Eastern Cape.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Domestic stock farming is slowly giving way to game farming on large scale. Eco-tourism is resulting in economic benefits, and there is lower risk needed to protect wild, native game against drought, and the natural elements. Habitat loss and poaching pose the greatest problems.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The basis of the province's fishing industry is squid, some recreational and commercial fishing for line fish, the collection of marine resources, and access to line-catches of hake.


title: Eastern Cape

text: With three import/export harbours and three airports offering direct flights to the main centres, and an excellent road and rail infrastructure, the province has been earmarked as a key area for growth and economic development in modern South Africa.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The two major industrial centres, Gqeberha and East London have well-developed economies based on the automotive industry. General Motors and Volkswagen both have major assembly lines in the Gqeberha area, while East London is dominated by the large DaimlerChrysler plant, now known as Mercedes-Benz South Africa.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Environmental-friendly projects include the Fish River Spatial Development Initiative, the Wild Coast SDI, and two industrial development zones, the East London Industrial Development Zone and the Coega IDZ near Gqeberha. Coega is the largest infrastructure development in post-apartheid South Africa. The construction of the deepwater Port of Ngqura was completed and the first commercial ship anchored in October 2009.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Other sectors include finance, real estate, business services, wholesale and retail trade, eco-tourism (nature reserves and game ranches) and hotels and restaurants.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape Province is divided into two metropolitan municipalities and six district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into 27 local municipalities.


title: Eastern Cape

text: The Eastern Cape Department of Education has been roundly criticised for poor primary and secondary education resulting from dysfunction, special interests, and issues with the South Africa teachers union, SADTU. The province struggles with a lack of schools; a lack of teachers leading to overcrowding; a lack of textbooks; a lack of basic facilities like toilets, electricity or water; and poor transport infrastructure which regularly absents and endangers learners. This is a huge problem faced in the former Transkei.


title: Eastern Cape

text: By 2011, basic education had so deteriorated that the national Department of Basic Education intervened under section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution of South Africa, taking control of the province's educational administration. The Eastern Cape has since been the worst-performing province educationally and especially in terms of matriculation; matriculants' results averaged 51% in 2009, 58.3% in 2011, 64.9% in 2013, 65.4% in 2014, and 56.8% in 2015.


title: Eastern Cape

text: In the 2015/2016 financial year, the province failed to spend R530 million of its allocated R1.5 billion budget for education, most of it intended for infrastructure development.


title: Eastern Cape

text: Equal Education's 2017 report, Planning to Fail, found a "systemic failure in Eastern Cape education".


title: Eastern Cape

text: The province is served by big medical centres such as, Cecilia Makhiwane Hospital that has undergone a major revamp recently. Filled with state of the art machinery and more beds. There are many private clinics in most cities and also famous hospitals like Frere in East London and Dora Nginza in Port Elizabeth. Tuberculosis and HIV are the province's leading causes of avoidable deaths, accounting for 9.8% and 5.4% of those deaths. Also known for its traditional black initiation schools, which perform coming-of-age ceremonies involving circumcision. These have helped to decrease the rate of people contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.


title: Glenn Fleshler

text: Glenn Fleshler (born September 5, 1968) is an American actor. On television he is noted as a recurring cast member on "Boardwalk Empire" who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on "Billions", and as Errol Childress in the first season of the crime drama "True Detective". He had a supporting role in the 2019 film "Joker".


title: Glenn Fleshler

text: Fleshler was born to a Jewish family and studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Performing Arts, from which he has an MFA.


title: Glenn Fleshler

text: Fleshler's first major film was 1998's "A Price Above Rubies". More recently, he has appeared in such films as "Blue Jasmine", "A Most Violent Year", "God's Pocket", and "The Rendezvous".


title: Glenn Fleshler

text: Fleshler's television credits include "Billions", "Barry", "Sex and the City", "Law & Order", "", "Fringe", "Third Watch", "Bored to Death", "The Good Wife", FBI Most Wanted, "The Following". He portrayed George Remus in seasons 2–4 of "Boardwalk Empire", and Errol Childress in Season 1 of "True Detective". He played Dr. Cordell Doemling, Mason Verger's physician and henchman, in season 3 of "Hannibal". He played Judge Roth in the miniseries "The Night Of". He was also cast as Officer Christopher Lasky in episode 3 of the 2019 revival of "The Twilight Zone".


title: Glenn Fleshler

text: Fleshler's Broadway credits include "Death of a Salesman", "Guys and Dolls", "Arcadia", and "The Merchant of Venice". Off-Broadway, he has appeared in such plays as "Measure for Measure" and "Pericles, Prince of Tyre".


title: Option (finance)

text: In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the "holder", the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the style of the option. Options are typically acquired by purchase, as a form of compensation, or as part of a complex financial transaction. Thus, they are also a form of asset and have a valuation that may depend on a complex relationship between underlying asset price, time until expiration, market volatility, the risk-free rate of interest, and the strike price of the option. Options may be traded between private parties in "over-the-counter" (OTC) transactions, or they may be exchange-traded in live, public markets in the form of standardized contracts.


title: Option (finance)

text: An option is a contract that allows the holder the right to buy or sell an underlying asset or financial instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the form of the option. Selling or exercising an option before expiry typically requires a buyer to pick the contract up at the agreed upon price. The strike price may be set by reference to the spot price (market price) of the underlying security or commodity on the day an option is issued, or it may be fixed at a discount or at a premium. The issuer has the corresponding obligation to fulfill the transaction (to sell or buy) if the holder "exercises" the option. An option that conveys to the holder the right to buy at a specified price is referred to as a call, while one that conveys the right to sell at a specified price is known as a put.


title: Option (finance)

text: The issuer may grant an option to a buyer as part of another transaction (such as a share issue or as part of an employee incentive scheme), or the buyer may pay a premium to the issuer for the option. A call option would normally be exercised only when the strike price is below the market value of the underlying asset, while a put option would normally be exercised only when the strike price is above the market value. When an option is exercised, the cost to the option holder is the strike price of the asset acquired plus the premium, if any, paid to the issuer. If the option’s expiration date passes without the option being exercised, the option expires, and the holder forfeits the premium paid to the issuer. In any case, the premium is income to the issuer, and normally a capital loss to the option holder.


title: Option (finance)

text: The holder of an option may on-sell the option to a third party in a secondary market, in either an over-the-counter transaction or on an options exchange, depending on the option. The market price of an American-style option normally closely follows that of the underlying stock being the difference between the market price of the stock and the strike price of the option. The actual market price of the option may vary depending on a number of factors, such as a significant option holder needing to sell the option due to the expiration date approaching and not having the financial resources to exercise the option, or a buyer in the market trying to amass a large option holding. The ownership of an option does not generally entitle the holder to any rights associated with the underlying asset, such as voting rights or any income from the underlying asset, such as a dividend.


title: Option (finance)

text: Contracts similar to options have been used since ancient times. The first reputed option buyer was the ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Thales of Miletus. On a certain occasion, it was predicted that the season's olive harvest would be larger than usual, and during the off-season, he acquired the right to use a number of olive presses the following spring. When spring came and the olive harvest was larger than expected, he exercised his options and then rented the presses out at a much higher price than he paid for his 'option'.


title: Option (finance)

text: The 1688 book Confusion of Confusions describes the trading of ""opsies"" on the Amsterdam stock exchange (now Euronext), explaining that "there will be only limited risks to you, while the gain may surpass all your imaginings and hopes."


title: Option (finance)

text: In London, puts and "refusals" (calls) first became well-known trading instruments in the 1690s during the reign of William and Mary. Privileges were options sold over the counter in nineteenth century America, with both puts and calls on shares offered by specialized dealers. Their exercise price was fixed at a rounded-off market price on the day or week that the option was bought, and the expiry date was generally three months after purchase. They were not traded in secondary markets.


title: Option (finance)

text: In the real estate market, call options have long been used to assemble large parcels of land from separate owners; e.g., a developer pays for the right to buy several adjacent plots, but is not obligated to buy these plots and might not unless they can buy all the plots in the entire parcel.


title: Option (finance)

text: In the motion picture industry, film or theatrical producers often buy an option giving the right – but not the obligation – to dramatize a specific book or script.


title: Option (finance)

text: Lines of credit give the potential borrower the right – but not the obligation – to borrow within a specified time period.


title: Option (finance)

text: Many choices, or embedded options, have traditionally been included in bond contracts. For example, many bonds are convertible into common stock at the buyer's option, or may be called (bought back) at specified prices at the issuer's option. Mortgage borrowers have long had the option to repay the loan early, which corresponds to a callable bond option.


title: Option (finance)

text: Options contracts have been known for decades. The Chicago Board Options Exchange was established in 1973, which set up a regime using standardized forms and terms and trade through a guaranteed clearing house. Trading activity and academic interest has increased since then.


title: Option (finance)

text: Today, many options are created in a standardized form and traded through clearing houses on regulated options exchanges, while other over-the-counter options are written as bilateral, customized contracts between a single buyer and seller, one or both of which may be a dealer or market-maker. Options are part of a larger class of financial instruments known as derivative products, or simply, derivatives.


title: Option (finance)

text: A financial option is a contract between two counterparties with the terms of the option specified in a term sheet. Option contracts may be quite complicated; however, at minimum, they usually contain the following specifications:


title: Option (finance)

text: Exchange-traded options (also called "listed options") are a class of exchange-traded derivatives. Exchange-traded options have standardized contracts, and are settled through a clearing house with fulfillment guaranteed by the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). Since the contracts are standardized, accurate pricing models are often available. Exchange-traded options include:


title: Option (finance)

text: Over-the-counter options (OTC options, also called "dealer options") are traded between two private parties, and are not listed on an exchange. The terms of an OTC option are unrestricted and may be individually tailored to meet any business need. In general, the option writer is a well-capitalized institution (in order to prevent the credit risk). Option types commonly traded over the counter include:


title: Option (finance)

text: By avoiding an exchange, users of OTC options can narrowly tailor the terms of the option contract to suit individual business requirements. In addition, OTC option transactions generally do not need to be advertised to the market and face little or no regulatory requirements. However, OTC counterparties must establish credit lines with each other, and conform to each other's clearing and settlement procedures.


title: Option (finance)

text: With few exceptions, there are no secondary markets for employee stock options. These must either be exercised by the original grantee or allowed to expire.


title: Option (finance)

text: The most common way to trade options is via standardized options contracts that are listed by various futures and options exchanges.


title: Option (finance)

text: These trades are described from the point of view of a speculator. If they are combined with other positions, they can also be used in hedging. An option contract in US markets usually represents 100 shares of the underlying security.


title: Option (finance)

text: A trader who expects a stock's price to increase can buy a call option to purchase the stock at a fixed price (strike price) at a later date, rather than purchase the stock outright. The cash outlay on the option is the premium. The trader would have no obligation to buy the stock, but only has the right to do so on or before the expiration date. The risk of loss would be limited to the premium paid, unlike the possible loss had the stock been bought outright.


title: Option (finance)

text: The holder of an American-style call option can sell the option holding at any time until the expiration date, and would consider doing so when the stock's spot price is above the exercise price, especially if the holder expects the price of the option to drop. By selling the option early in that situation, the trader can realise an immediate profit. Alternatively, the trader can exercise the option – for example, if there is no secondary market for the options – and then sell the stock, realising a profit. A trader would make a profit if the spot price of the shares rises by more than the premium. For example, if the exercise price is 100 and premium paid is 10, then if the spot price of 100 rises to only 110 the transaction is break-even; an increase in stock price above 110 produces a profit.


title: Option (finance)

text: If the stock price at expiration is lower than the exercise price, the holder of the option at that time will let the call contract expire and lose only the premium (or the price paid on transfer).


title: Option (finance)

text: A trader who expects a stock's price to decrease can buy a put option to sell the stock at a fixed price (strike price) at a later date. The trader is under no obligation to sell the stock, but has the right to do so on or before the expiration date. If the stock price at expiration is below the exercise price by more than the premium paid, the trader makes a profit. If the stock price at expiration is above the exercise price, the trader lets the put contract expire, and loses only the premium paid. In the transaction, the premium also plays a role as it enhances the break-even point. For example, if the exercise price is 100 and the premium paid is 10, then a spot price between 90 and 100 is not profitable. The trader makes a profit only if the spot price is below 90.


title: Option (finance)

text: The trader exercising a put option on a stock does not need to own the underlying asset, because most stocks can be shorted.


title: Option (finance)

text: A trader who expects a stock's price to decrease can sell the stock short or instead sell, or "write", a call. The trader selling a call has an obligation to sell the stock to the call buyer at a fixed price ("strike price"). If the seller does not own the stock when the option is exercised, they are obligated to purchase the stock in the market at the prevailing market price. If the stock price decreases, the seller of the call (call writer) makes a profit in the amount of the premium. If the stock price increases over the strike price by more than the amount of the premium, the seller loses money, with the potential loss being unlimited.


title: Option (finance)

text: A trader who expects a stock's price to increase can buy the stock or instead sell, or "write", a put. The trader selling a put has an obligation to buy the stock from the put buyer at a fixed price ("strike price"). If the stock price at expiration is above the strike price, the seller of the put (put writer) makes a profit in the amount of the premium. If the stock price at expiration is below the strike price by more than the amount of the premium, the trader loses money, with the potential loss being up to the strike price minus the premium. A benchmark index for the performance of a cash-secured short put option position is the CBOE S&P 500 PutWrite Index (ticker PUT).


title: Option (finance)

text: Combining any of the four basic kinds of option trades (possibly with different exercise prices and maturities) and the two basic kinds of stock trades (long and short) allows a variety of options strategies. Simple strategies usually combine only a few trades, while more complicated strategies can combine several.


title: Option (finance)

text: Strategies are often used to engineer a particular risk profile to movements in the underlying security. For example, buying a butterfly spread (long one X1 call, short two X2 calls, and long one X3 call) allows a trader to profit if the stock price on the expiration date is near the middle exercise price, X2, and does not expose the trader to a large loss.


title: Option (finance)

text: A condor is a strategy that is similar to a butterfly spread, but with different strikes for the short options – offering a larger likelihood of profit but with a lower net credit compared to the butterfly spread.


title: Option (finance)

text: Selling a straddle (selling both a put and a call at the same exercise price) would give a trader a greater profit than a butterfly if the final stock price is near the exercise price, but might result in a large loss.


title: Option (finance)

text: Similar to the straddle is the strangle which is also constructed by a call and a put, but whose strikes are different, reducing the net debit of the trade, but also reducing the risk of loss in the trade.


title: Option (finance)

text: One well-known strategy is the covered call, in which a trader buys a stock (or holds a previously-purchased long stock position), and sells a call. (This can be contrasted with a naked call. See also naked put.) If the stock price rises above the exercise price, the call will be exercised and the trader will get a fixed profit. If the stock price falls, the call will not be exercised, and any loss incurred to the trader will be partially offset by the premium received from selling the call. Overall, the payoffs match the payoffs from selling a put. This relationship is known as put–call parity and offers insights for financial theory. A benchmark index for the performance of a buy-write strategy is the CBOE S&P 500 BuyWrite Index (ticker symbol BXM).


title: Option (finance)

text: Another very common strategy is the protective put, in which a trader buys a stock (or holds a previously-purchased long stock position), and buys a put. This strategy acts as an insurance when investing on the underlying stock, hedging the investor's potential losses, but also shrinking an otherwise larger profit, if just purchasing the stock without the put. The maximum profit of a protective put is theoretically unlimited as the strategy involves being long on the underlying stock. The maximum loss is limited to the purchase price of the underlying stock less the strike price of the put option and the premium paid. A protective put is also known as a married put.


title: Option (finance)

text: Another important class of options, particularly in the U.S., are employee stock options, which are awarded by a company to their employees as a form of incentive compensation. Other types of options exist in many financial contracts, for example real estate options are often used to assemble large parcels of land, and prepayment options are usually included in mortgage loans. However, many of the valuation and risk management principles apply across all financial options.


title: Option (finance)

text: Because the values of option contracts depend on a number of different variables in addition to the value of the underlying asset, they are complex to value. There are many pricing models in use, although all essentially incorporate the concepts of rational pricing (i.e. risk neutrality), moneyness, option time value, and put–call parity.


title: Option (finance)

text: The valuation itself combines a model of the behavior ("process") of the underlying price with a mathematical method which returns the premium as a function of the assumed behavior.


title: Option (finance)

text: The models range from the (prototypical) Black–Scholes model for equities, to the Heath–Jarrow–Morton framework for interest rates, to the Heston model where volatility itself is considered stochastic. See Asset pricing for a listing of the various models here.


title: Option (finance)

text: As above, the value of the option is estimated using a variety of quantitative techniques, all based on the principle of risk-neutral pricing, and using stochastic calculus in their solution. The most basic model is the Black–Scholes model. More sophisticated models are used to model the volatility smile. These models are implemented using a variety of numerical techniques. In general, standard option valuation models depend on the following factors:


title: Option (finance)

text: More advanced models can require additional factors, such as an estimate of how volatility changes over time and for various underlying price levels, or the dynamics of stochastic interest rates.


title: Option (finance)

text: The following are some of the principal valuation techniques used in practice to evaluate option contracts.


title: Option (finance)

text: Following early work by Louis Bachelier and later work by Robert C. Merton, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes made a major breakthrough by deriving a differential equation that must be satisfied by the price of any derivative dependent on a non-dividend-paying stock. By employing the technique of constructing a risk neutral portfolio that replicates the returns of holding an option, Black and Scholes produced a closed-form solution for a European option's theoretical price. At the same time, the model generates hedge parameters necessary for effective risk management of option holdings.


title: Option (finance)

text: While the ideas behind the Black–Scholes model were ground-breaking and eventually led to Scholes and Merton receiving the Swedish Central Bank's associated Prize for Achievement in Economics (a.k.a., the Nobel Prize in Economics), the application of the model in actual options trading is clumsy because of the assumptions of continuous trading, constant volatility, and a constant interest rate. Nevertheless, the Black–Scholes model is still one of the most important methods and foundations for the existing financial market in which the result is within the reasonable range.


title: Option (finance)

text: Since the market crash of 1987, it has been observed that market implied volatility for options of lower strike prices are typically higher than for higher strike prices, suggesting that volatility varies both for time and for the price level of the underlying security a so-called volatility smile; and with a time dimension, a volatility surface.


title: Option (finance)

text: The main approach here is to treat volatility as stochastic, with the resultant stochastic volatility models, and the Heston model as prototype; see #Risk-neutral_measure for a discussion of the logic. Other models include the CEV and SABR volatility models. One principal advantage of the Heston model, however, is that it can be solved in closed-form, while other stochastic volatility models require complex numerical methods.


title: Option (finance)

text: An alternate, though related, approach is to apply a local volatility model, where volatility is treated as a "deterministic" function of both the current asset level formula_1 and of time formula_2. As such, a local volatility model is a generalisation of the Black–Scholes model, where the volatility is a constant. The concept was developed when Bruno Dupire and Emanuel Derman and Iraj Kani noted that there is a unique diffusion process consistent with the risk neutral densities derived from the market prices of European options. See #Development for discussion.


title: Option (finance)

text: For the valuation of bond options, swaptions (i.e. options on swaps), and interest rate cap and floors (effectively options on the interest rate) various short-rate models have been developed (applicable, in fact, to interest rate derivatives generally). The best known of these are Black-Derman-Toy and Hull–White.


title: Option (finance)

text: These models describe the future evolution of interest rates by describing the future evolution of the short rate. The other major framework for interest rate modelling is the Heath–Jarrow–Morton framework (HJM). The distinction is that HJM gives an analytical description of the "entire" yield curve, rather than just the short rate. (The HJM framework incorporates the Brace–Gatarek–Musiela model and market models. And some of the short rate models can be straightforwardly expressed in the HJM framework.) For some purposes, e.g., valuation of mortgage-backed securities, this can be a big simplification; regardless, the framework is often preferred for models of higher dimension. Note that for the simpler options here, i.e. those mentioned initially, the Black model can instead be employed, with certain assumptions.


title: Option (finance)

text: Once a valuation model has been chosen, there are a number of different techniques used to implement the models.


title: Option (finance)

text: In some cases, one can take the mathematical model and using analytical methods, develop closed form solutions such as the Black–Scholes model and the Black model. The resulting solutions are readily computable, as are their "Greeks". Although the Roll–Geske–Whaley model applies to an American call with one dividend, for other cases of American options, closed form solutions are not available; approximations here include Barone-Adesi and Whaley, Bjerksund and Stensland and others.


title: Option (finance)

text: Closely following the derivation of Black and Scholes, John Cox, Stephen Ross and Mark Rubinstein developed the original version of the binomial options pricing model. It models the dynamics of the option's theoretical value for discrete time intervals over the option's life. The model starts with a binomial tree of discrete future possible underlying stock prices. By constructing a riskless portfolio of an option and stock (as in the Black–Scholes model) a simple formula can be used to find the option price at each node in the tree. This value can approximate the theoretical value produced by Black–Scholes, to the desired degree of precision. However, the binomial model is considered more accurate than Black–Scholes because it is more flexible; e.g., discrete future dividend payments can be modeled correctly at the proper forward time steps, and American options can be modeled as well as European ones. Binomial models are widely used by professional option traders. The trinomial tree is a similar model, allowing for an up, down or stable path; although considered more accurate, particularly when fewer time-steps are modelled, it is less commonly used as its implementation is more complex. For a more general discussion, as well as for application to commodities, interest rates and hybrid instruments, see Lattice model (finance).


title: Option (finance)

text: For many classes of options, traditional valuation techniques are intractable because of the complexity of the instrument. In these cases, a Monte Carlo approach may often be useful. Rather than attempt to solve the differential equations of motion that describe the option's value in relation to the underlying security's price, a Monte Carlo model uses simulation to generate random price paths of the underlying asset, each of which results in a payoff for the option. The average of these payoffs can be discounted to yield an expectation value for the option. Note though, that despite its flexibility, using simulation for American styled options is somewhat more complex than for lattice based models.


title: Option (finance)

text: The equations used to model the option are often expressed as partial differential equations (see for example Black–Scholes equation). Once expressed in this form, a finite difference model can be derived, and the valuation obtained. A number of implementations of finite difference methods exist for option valuation, including: explicit finite difference, implicit finite difference and the Crank–Nicolson method. A trinomial tree option pricing model can be shown to be a simplified application of the explicit finite difference method. Although the finite difference approach is mathematically sophisticated, it is particularly useful where changes are assumed over time in model inputs – for example dividend yield, risk-free rate, or volatility, or some combination of these – that are not tractable in closed form.


title: Option (finance)

text: Other numerical implementations which have been used to value options include finite element methods.


title: Option (finance)

text: As with all securities, trading options entails the risk of the option's value changing over time. However, unlike traditional securities, the return from holding an option varies non-linearly with the value of the underlying and other factors. Therefore, the risks associated with holding options are more complicated to understand and predict.


title: Option (finance)

text: where the Greeks formula_4, formula_5, formula_6 and formula_7 are the standard hedge parameters calculated from an option valuation model, such as Black–Scholes, and formula_8, formula_9 and formula_10 are unit changes in the underlying's price, the underlying's volatility and time, respectively.