Introduction

The Standing Committee of Chinas National Peoples Congress passed the China Coast Guard (CCG) Law () on Jan. 22, and the law is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1. The new law hasnt attracted tons of attention, but it violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The change builds on other shifts that have militarized Chinas maritime law enforcement apparatus. In 2013, China created the CCG Bureau (), which unites the previously separate maritime law enforcement agencies known as the Five Dragons: the China Marine Surveillance, the CCG, the China Maritime Patrol, China Fisheries Law Enforcement Command () and the General Administration of Customs. The CCG was reorganized further into the Chinese Peoples Armed Police Force Coast Guard Corps () in 2018 and came under the command of the Peoples Armed Police Force. This change led to some practical shifts. The CCG has been transformed into a military-like organization under the centralized command of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission (), at least from the viewpoint of a command and control structure. This operating structure mirrors that of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).

Putting military organizations in charge of maritime law enforcement is not unique to China and is not a problem in itself. In the United Kingdom, for example, the navy performs coast guard duties. And in some countriesas is the case with Italys Carabinieri and Frances Maritime Gendarmeriethe military takes on law enforcement and coast guard duties. Others, like the U.S., have coast guard units that are responsible for maritime law enforcement but are considered an additional armed force, separate from the naval branch. By contrast, Japan stipulates in Article 25 of the Japan Coast Guard Law that [n]othing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the Japan Coast Guard (hereinafter JCG) or its personnel to be organized, trained, or to perform military functions'' and specifies that it is a civilian coast guard agency.

In the case of the CCG, it is a maritime law enforcement organization that does not deny that it is a military force even under international law.

Wang Wenbin, deputy press secretary of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a press conference on Nov. 12, 2020, that the promulgation of the CCG Law enacted this time is a normal legislative activity of the [National Peoples Congress], and the relevant contents of the draft are in line with international conventions and practices of many countries. Chinas policy and position on maritime issues remain unchanged. In other words, China argues that all of the articles of the CCG Law are completely legitimate and lawful as a matter of international law, but a closer look at the text of the law reveals that it differs from the provisions of UNCLOS, to which China is a party, as well as from state practices.

Vague Wording of Chinas Jurisdictional Waters

Article 1 of the CCG Law stipulates its purpose: This Act is enacted to establish norms and guarantees for the CCG organization and its employees to fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with the law, to protect the sovereignty of the State, and to safeguard the legitimate interests of the public, corporations, and other organizations. Article 2 says the Peoples Armed Police Forces Coast Guard, that is, the coast guard organization, shall uniformly perform maritime rights enforcement duties. With regard to the waters in which the CCG operates, Article 3 stipulates that the CCG Organization shall conduct law enforcement operations in the waters under the jurisdiction of China and in the airspace above the waters under the jurisdiction of China, and apply this Law. Under the UNCLOS, the waters under the jurisdiction of a state are the internal waters, territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and the waters of the continental shelf (including the extended continental shelf). But Chinas position on jurisdictional waters in the South China Sea has long clashed with the UNCLOS text. China claims the nine-dash-line in the South China Sea. The roots of the nine-dash-line date back to 1 December 1947, when the Government of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) promulgated two documents created by the Ministry of the Interior: The Cross Reference Table of the New and Old Names of the South China Sea Islands and The Location Map of the South China Sea Islands. These documents depicted an eleven-part, U-shaped line that encompassed the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands. This line was redrawn when territorial rights to the Bach Long Vi Island in the Gulf of Tonkin were transferred from the P.R.C. to Vietnam in 1953, changing the eleven-dash-line to a nine-dash-line. This is the line that has since come to be known as the nine-dash-line. In 2009, China submitted a note verbal to the United Nations. In the note verbal, a map was attached and a vast area of the South China Sea was surrounded by nine-dash-line and China claimed that China has indisputable sovereignty over the area inside of the dash lines belonging to China without explaining the reasons for the change. Article 14 of Chinas 1998 Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf Act stipulates that the provisions of this law shall not affect the historical rights of China'' and recognizes the existence of waters other than the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf over which China exercises jurisdiction. The same law also adds historical waters other than those recognized by the UNCLOS as Chinas jurisdictional waters by using the expression other jurisdictional waters.

China has faced pushback in international forums over its land claims. The 2016 South China Sea Arbitration Award denied Chinas position, concluding that Chinas claim to historic rights to the living and non-living resources within the nine-dash line is incompatible with the Convention to the extent that it exceeds the limits of Chinas maritime zones as provided for by the Convention. The award reasoned that upon Chinas accession to the Convention and its entry into force, any historic rights that China may have had to the living and non-living resources within the nine-dash line were superseded, as a matter of law and as between the Philippines and China, by the limits of the maritime zones provided for by the Convention. Thus, the South China Sea Arbitration Tribunal concluded that the Convention superseded any historic rights or other sovereign rights or jurisdiction in the excess of the limits imposed by the Convention. With this ruling, the South China Sea Arbitration rejected Chinas claims of historic rights within the nine-dash-line. In sum, Chinas claim of its sovereignty in the South China Sea is groundless as a matter of international law. However, China has refused to implement this ruling, calling it illegal and invalid.

The new CCG Law again uses the phrase waters under the jurisdiction of China and clearly states that the CCG will conduct law enforcement operations to protect maritime rights and interests in waters over which it originally could not exercise jurisdiction under the UNCLOS (waters within the nine-dash line in the South China Sea). This intention was clear in Article 74(2) of the draft of the CCG Law, announced on 4th November, 2020 included other waters under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China in addition to internal waters, territorial waters, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zones and continental shelf defined under the UNCLOS. However, the definition was deleted when the new CCG law was adopted and Chinas intention behind waters under the jurisdiction of China was hidden.

The impact of Chinas refusal to budge from this position may be dramatic. Conflicts with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea seem inevitable. In addition, based on the 1992 Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, China has unlawfully exercised its legislative jurisdiction and established territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands, which are Japanese territory. Chinas new domestic law adds to the set of tools that China can use to claim the waters as waters under the jurisdiction of China and exercise enforcement jurisdiction over Japan.

Status of the China Coast Guard and Defense Operations

A more important component of the new CCG Law is Article 83, which stipulates that the CCG Organization shall carry out defense operations and other missions in accordance with the National Defense Law, the Armed Police Law, and other relevant laws, military regulations, and orders of the Central Military Commission. In other words, it clearly states that the CCG is an organization with the dual functions of a navy conducting defense operations in waters under its jurisdiction (military activities) and a maritime law enforcement agency (law enforcement activities). The law transformed the CCG into an organization with the mission of national defense.

Such cooperation between the CCG Bureau and the PLA Navy has already begun, and in July 2020, a joint exercise was held between the CCG Bureau and the PLA Navy on Woody Island (Yongxing Island) in the Paracel Islands. In this exercise, the PLA Navys Type 071 landing ship and other vessels participated. The CCG Bureaus troops, supported by the navy, landed on the island and conducted a drill to subdue the resisting citizens. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow and naval expert at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, said that the exercise was not about simulating an attack on another military force but about using the military in a police action to suppress potential civilian unrest.

A Preparatory Step to Prevent Japan From Strengthening Its Effective Control Over the Senkakus

Article 12 of the CCG Law stipulates the responsibilities of the CCG Organization as follows:

(i) In the waters under our jurisdiction, patrol, exercise vigilance, take duty on key islands, manage and protect maritime boundaries, and prevent, restrain, and eliminate acts that threaten the sovereignty, security, and maritime interests of the nation. (ii) To protect the safety of key maritime targets and critical activities, and to take necessary measures to protect the safety of key islands, as well as artificial islands, facilities and mechanisms in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Article 20 authorizes the CCG Organization to order the suspension of illegal activities, including installing facilities and buildings by foreign organizations and individuals, or to order the improvement of the situation within a stipulated time limit. In the case of refusal to stop illegal activities or refusal to make improvements within the time limit, the law authorizes the CCG Organization, when necessary, to pursue various punitive measures: to remove the facilities and buildings in accordance with the law in a case where foreign organizations or individuals construct buildings or structures, or to install various types of fixed or floating devices in the waters and islands under the jurisdiction of China without the permission of the competent authorities of China.

With the increasing movement of Chinese public vessels around the Senkaku Islands, if Japan develops a port, builds a facility where civil servants are stationed, or otherwise works to strengthen its effective control of the islands, Article 20 of the domestic law makes it more likely that the CCG will remove them.

Compulsory Measures Against Foreign Warships

Article 21 of the CCG Law states that in cases where foreign military vessels or government vessels operating for noncommercial purposes violate Chinas domestic laws in waters under Chinas jurisdiction, the CCG shall have the right to take necessary security and control measures to restrain foreign military vessels and foreign vessels used for non-commercial purposes in waters under Chinas jurisdiction from violating the laws or regulations of China. For those who refuse to leave and cause serious harm or threat, the Maritime Security Organization has the right to take measures such as deportation and forced towing. In Japans case, potentially vulnerable vessels include patrol vessels of the Japan Coast Guard.

This opens the door to potential incompatibilities with the UNCLOS. The convention provides in Article 32 that, with respect to the territorial sea, with such exceptions as are contained in subsection A and in articles 30 and 31, nothing in this Convention affects the immunities of warships and other government ships operated for non-commercial purposes. And with regard to the protection and preservation of the marine environment, Article 236 of the UNCLOS states that [t]he provisions of this Convention regarding the protection and preservation of the marine environment do not apply to any warship, naval auxiliary, other vessels or aircraft owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service. The convention grants immunity to military vessels, military support vessels and government ships from the enforcement jurisdiction of coastal states. If the CCG were to take measures such as forcibly towing warships or government vessels, it would be a clear violation of the UNCLOS.

Furthermore, Article 22 of the CCG Law states that when the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of a State are confronted with an imminent danger of unlawful infringement or unlawful violation by foreign organizations and individuals at sea, the CCG Organization shall, in accordance with this Law and other laws or regulations, take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons. In addition, Article 47 stipulates that officials of the CCG Organization may use weapons in accordance with the law, and may directly use weapons if there is no time for warning or if there is a risk of serious harm after giving warning.

Until now, the use of weapons by the CCG has been conducted in accordance with a series of other Chinese domestic laws: Articles 10 and 11 of the Peoples Police Law; Articles 2, 4 and 9-11 of the Peoples Police Regulations on Security Equipment and Use of Weapons; and Article 9 of the Regulations on Maritime Law Enforcement Activities of Public Security Organs. All of them state, Law enforcement personnel of marine patrol vessels may fire shots only when necessary. When firing shots, a verbal warning or a warning to fire must generally be issued first. They shall not fire unnecessarily and shall not shoot at the vessel under investigation unnecessarily. The use of weapons should be limited to subduing the other party.

In comparison, Article 22 of the CCG Law expands the scope of the use of weapons to include foreign organizations. Article 47 of the same law can be read as a provision that permits the more aggressive use of weapons. Chinese government vessels, which call the waters around the Senkaku Islands their own territorial waters under their sovereignty and track Japanese fishing vessels, have not been excluded from the possibility of using weapons, although Article 22 also has a requirement for unlawful infringement of individuals and in case of imminent danger. In other words, the CCG has authorization to use weapons without warning against both government vessels and civilian vessels as a matter of its domestic law.

These changes present challenges for other countries in the Pacific. Japan, in particular, needs to be prepared to respond both positionally and legally to these new developments by China. In the case of private vessels such as fishing boats, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in its ruling on the Saiga case in 1999, stated the following three requirements: (a) The use of weapons must be avoided as much as possible, (b) the use of weapons must not exceed the necessary limits and must be reasonable, and (c) the use of weapons must not endanger human life. If a Chinese vessel were to do things to a Japanese fishing vessel that go beyond those parameters, it would be a violation of international law.

Establishment of Temporary Maritime Alert Zones in Jurisdictional Waters

What is especially noteworthy about this CCG Act is the intent of the provision on establishing temporary maritime alert zones. Article 25 of the CCG Law states:

A CCG organization at the level of a provincial CCG bureau or above may set up a maritime temporary alert zone in the waters under the jurisdiction of China and restrict or prohibit the passage or stopping of ships and personnel if any of the following circumstances exist

(1) When it is necessary to carry out maritime safety and security missions

(2) When it is necessary to control illegal criminal activities at sea

(3) When it is necessary to deal with maritime collision incidents

(4) When it is necessary to protect marine resources and the ecological environment

(5) When it is otherwise necessary to set up an extra maritime alert zone.

The real problem will come if and when China tries to establish a maritime temporary alert zone with the justification of carrying out maritime security and security missions, as referenced in Article 25 of the CCG law. UNCLOS provides in Article 25, paragraph 3, that the coastal State may, without discrimination in form or in fact among foreign ships, suspend temporarily in specified areas of its territorial sea the innocent passage of foreign ships if such suspension is essential for the protection of its security, including weapons exercises. Such suspension shall take effect only after having been duly published.

If the establishment of a maritime temporary alert zone in Chinas territorial waters meets this requirement, especially the requirement that the navigation of foreign vessels be carried out temporarily without legal or de facto discrimination, no problem will arise. However, if a regulation that discriminates de facto is imposed on a foreign country for a long period of time, it would violate the UNCLOS.

The case of contiguous waters requires particular attention. Article 33(1)(a) of the UNCLOS allows coastal states to impose regulations on contiguous zones in order to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea. However, Article 13 of Chinas Law on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone extends its jurisdiction over safety to its contiguous zones, stating that China has the authority to exercise powers within its contiguous zone for the purpose of preventing or punishing infringement of its security, customs, fiscal sanitary laws and regulations or entry-exit control within its land territories, internal waters or territorial sea. When read in conjunction with this law, the CCG law may enable China to establish a temporary maritime zone in the contiguous zone, which would violate the UNCLOS.

In the case of the establishment of a temporary maritime alert zone in the exclusive economic zone or the high seas for the purpose of designating the expected landing zone for military exercises or live missile tests, its legitimacy will be judged based on whether the moves in question meet the requirement of due regard to other states. Article 56(2) of the UNCLOS states that in exercising its rights and performing its duties under this Convention in the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State shall have due regard to the rights and duties of other States and shall act in a manner compatible with the provisions of this Convention. A separate UNCLOS provision, Article 87(2), discusses the freedom of the high seas: [T]hese freedoms shall be exercised by all States with due regard for the interests of other States in their exercise of the freedom of the high seas, and also with due regard for the rights under this Convention with respect to activities in the Area. If China claims that the waters within the nine-dash line are waters under the jurisdiction of China'' and unilaterally establishes a maritime temporary alert zone in waters that originally belong to the exclusive economic zone of other states, the possibility of violating the UNCLOS may arise. The new law adds to Chinas legal arsenal to make frivolous nine-dash line claims. For example, if a temporary maritime alert zone is established by China in the waters surrounding a coastal states fishing grounds, facilities, or structures for resource development, or in the waters adjacent to a major international shipping route, it would not be giving due regard to other states as required by the UNCLOS. If the zone is established around Taiwan, as Capt. Toshinari Matsuo discusses, this may have a serious impact on Taiwan.

The Legal Status of Chinas Government Vessels

The vessels of the Chinese CCG repeatedly trespass into the territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands. They have a white hull with blue markings and are categorized as government official vessels that fall under the category of other government ship operated for non-commercial purposes, as defined in Article 31 of the UNCLOS. The question is whether the patrol ships of the CCG, which have been given a new function of defense, have changed their legal status as a result of the CCG Law from that of government ships to that of warships.

Article 29 of the UNCLOS defines a warship as a ship belonging to the armed forces of a State bearing the external marks distinguishing such ships of its nationality, under the command of an officer duly commissioned by the government of the State and whose name appears in the appropriate 35 service list or its equivalent, and manned by a crew which is under regular armed forces discipline.

The police are usually a civilian law enforcement agency, so police units are treated as civilian institutions and receive general protection from attack during armed conflict. The patrol vessels of the JCG, for example, are civilian maritime law enforcement agencies, as outlined by the provisions of Article 25 of the JCG Law. The CCG confronting, though not yet attacking, the JCG vessels in the Senkakus are not merely maritime law enforcement agencies under the domestic law of Chinas CCG Law but also are vessels carrying out military defense mission operations.

Since the principle of police proportionality applies to the use of weapons by maritime law enforcement agencies, the JCG is only equipped with machine guns ranging from 12.7 mm to 40 mm in caliber. However, the CCG has patrol boats equipped with destroyer-class 76 mm guns. If Chinese public vessels are equipped with large-caliber guns or missiles whose use cannot normally be explained by the principle of police proportionalityand if they have the purpose of carrying out organized hostilitiesthe CCG ships may be treated as military forces under the law of armed conflict if the substantive criteria are applied. Japan needs to keep a close eye on whether there will be any changes in the equipment of the CCG vessels following the passage of the CCG Law.

So, will CCG vessels have the legal status of warships? This should be decided based on whether or not these vessels are also registered as warships of the PLA Navy, which is unclear at this point.

Answers about the legal status of CCG vessels may come from looking to another international law text, the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. The San Remo Manual adopts the UNCLOS definition of warships at Rule 13(g). The manual defines auxiliary vessels at Rule 13(h) as vessels either owned by or under exclusive control of the armed forces of a State and used for the time being on government non-commercial service in support of the armed forces. The definition of auxiliary vessels seems much more applicable to the CCG vessels than does the definition of warships. Thus, if the vessel in question were not registered as a Chinese warship, the CCG vessel would be considered an auxiliary vessel. Under Article 236 of the UNCLOS, both military vessels and auxiliary vessels enjoy the same sovereign immunity as government vessels, and regardless of which characterization is adopted by the flag state, the vessel is entitled to sovereign immunity in peacetime.

In armed conflict, naval warfare regulations traditionally use categorical target selection criteria. Legitimate targets at sea are warships, military auxiliaries and some merchant ships meeting certain conditions, and these vessels are therefore subject to attacks without warning. In addition, Paragraph 13.21 of the San Remo Manual states that only warships can exercise belligerent rights, and if a CCG vessel, which is an auxiliary vessel not registered as a warship, were to exercise belligerent rights, it would be a violation of international law.

Implications for the Japan Coast Guard

If a vessel other than a warship, including auxiliary vessels and government vessels, is to be converted to a warship, Article 6 of the Hague Convention No. 7 of 1907 (Convention on the Conversion of Merchant Ships to Warships) requires the country in question to, as soon as possible, announce such conversion in the list of war-ships,and this seems to become customary international law.

JCG patrol vessels may confront CCG vessels assigned defense missions under the CCG Law. However, there are significant differences between CCG vessels and JCG vessels that should be noted in armed conflict.

According to Article 80, Paragraph 1 of the Self-Defense Force Law, in the event of a defense operation based on Article 76, Paragraph 1 or a security operation based on Article 78, Paragraph 1, the prime minister may bring all or part of the JCG under the control of the Minister of Defense if it is deemed specially necessary, and Paragraph 2 of the same article further stipulates that in this case, the Minister of Defense shall be given command of the JCG as specified by a Cabinet Order. Even if they are under the command of the minister of defense, as long as they conduct only CCG duties as before, they can be considered nonmilitary. To ensure nonmilitary status, Article 103 of the Self-Defense Force Law Enforcement Order states that the Minister of Defenses command over all or part of the JCG pursuant to the provision of Article 80, paragraph 2 of the [Self-Defense Force] Law shall be given to the Commandant of the Japan Coast Guard. Thus, in contrast to CCG vessels, the status of JCG patrol vessels will never be changed from civilian ships, even in armed conflict. Therefore, the procedure of Article 6 of the Hague Convention No. 7 will not be applied.

Conclusion

The final-day communiqu of the 5th Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2017 states, We will carry out Xi Jinpings strong military ideology and the military strategic policy of the new era, and secure the goal of striving for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the military in 2027. It will be necessary to keep a close eye on whether the goals referred to here are policy goals related not only to strengthening and modernizing the Peoples Liberation Army but also to broader Chinese Communist Party goals for Taiwan and the Senkakus. Chinas adversaries should prepare for the fact that, by 2027, China will see itself as having mustered sufficient force to counter the JCG in the Senkakus and the Self-Defense Force.

In the South China Sea, there have been instances of China mobilizing fishing boats and other vessels to conduct demonstrations in territorial disputes and maritime boundary disputes. A lot of attention is currently being paid to the legal status of such fishing boats when they are armed and deployed in armed conflict. One example of Chinas use of fishing fleets, known as maritime militias, in armed conflict is the 1974 incident between China and South Vietnam over the Paracel Islands. Such incidents are likely to occur in the Senkaku Islands as well.

A more realistic scenario, however, is that in peacetime, maritime militias will secretly land on the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, fly the Chinese flag and refuse to comply with the JCGs request to leave. It seems that the time is approaching that Japan should seriously consider how the JCG and the Self-Defense Force respond in that case. This question is relevant for the United States, too. President Biden reaffirmed during a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which stipulates joint defense obligations, applies to the Senkaku Islands. However, in response to Chinas hypothetical occupation of the uninhabited islands, which in the previous scenario would not result in a single death, the United States would be faced with a difficult choicethe so-called Senkaku Paradoxas to what extent it will participate in the risky operation to retake the islands without escalating into a Sino-American war. With such a situation in mind, Japan should strengthen its own response capabilities to prepare for potential Chinese aggression.

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China's New Coast Guard Law and Implications for Maritime Security in the East and South China Seas - Lawfare

GLOUCESTER The coronavirus pandemic's tidal wave of challenges made its way to the high seas, and viewers of National Geographic Channel's "Wicked Tuna" will see a new dynamic when the 10th seasonopens with a 90-minute premiere Sunday at 9 p.m.

The show is known for following Gloucester fishermen in the highly competitive hunt for giant bluefin tuna and the race back to shore in search of the highest price fora fish that is in demand around the world.

That is until COVID-19prompted abusiness shutdown nearly a year ago,with restaurants shuttered or operating at a fraction of their capacity. The market and demand for the usually lucrative bluefin sank.

But the fish buyers and the eight captains on "Wicked Tuna" worked together to create a plan that would not flood the market and would keep them all afloat.

"It was great to see fishermen working together with buyers to do the best we could in these difficult times. We didn't see the prices we saw in the past butit was a fun year to participate in because we wanted it to be fun," said Capt. Dave Marciano, who is back on a newly renovated Hard Merchandise this season.

"We didn't make the money like past years but we were fortunate in this climate to be doing anything at all. A lot of people are unable to do whatever it is they do and many restaurants never opened fully. The one thing we wanted was for it to be a very positive season for the viewers. Collectively, we all have seen enough negativity between elections and the pandemic. We truly want people to have fun watching this show and forget about their worries, and I think we accomplished that," said Marciano, a Beverly resident who fishes out of Gloucester.

Capt. Paul Hebert of the Wicked Pissah suffered a personal loss when his father, Donald Hebert, who was in a nursing home, died of COVID-19 early in the pandemic. At the time,the captainwas filming the spinoff series "Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks" and, because of restrictions, was unable to visit his dad.

"It was one of the worst things I've been through. It was such a surprise to all of us," Hebert said.

He hopes this 10th season willlift spirits and be a bright spot for viewers.

"We worked as hard as we possibly could, and we put a lot of time in my boat because my boat is slower but it paid off," he said. "We are excited for this season and everyone is going to see how we all come together in this pandemic and we all helped each other out. I think the world has had enough with all the fighting, and it goes to show you when times are really tough, people who are competitive can work together."

He gave a shout-out to his crew Rick Schrafft of Rockport and Doug Hittinger of Newburyport for their steadfast labor.

The eight captains set asidetheir maritime rivalries to find some camaraderie.

"The pandemic had huge consequences," Marciano said. "What was interesting this year is we limited ourselves due to the loss of the markets, and it was a great sign that the buyers and fishermen were working together in a gentleman's agreement to sell three days a week and not flood the market, and we didn't need the government to take care of the problem. But there is always a competitive edge because everybody wants to get just one more than the other guy."

Marciano said this is going to be the funnest season yet, and that fun will go worldwide because "Wicked Tuna" airs internationally in 171 countries and in 43 languages.

"We have a fantastic dynamic in the way it all came out that will interest even nonfishing viewers, too. I think they in particular will enjoy this show," he said."We wanted to create something that people would have fun watching and be a part of. With the nearly year anniversary of when this pandemic began, we all are trying to survive in this life."

Reigning champion Capt. T.J. Ott of the Hot Tuna returns along with Gloucester's Capt. Dave Carraro, who has the most wins of all, aboard the FV-Tuna.com. Also competing are Beverly resident Capt. Bob Cook of the Fat Tuna, and new captainsJack Patrican of the Time Flies andSpurge Krasowski of the Moonshine.

Also returning is Capt. Tyler McLaughlin of the Pinwheel, whoalso feels the pressure.

"Its just really hard to make a living right now," he said. "This year in Gloucester, were just hoping to survive and make a couple bucks. These are strange times."

One episode this season will showcase the local fleet's community outreach. New England veterans from the Wounded Warrior Project were invited to join the tuna fishermen and the proceeds from their catches are donated back to the nonprofit project.

"We know these are difficult times," said Carraro, a five-time champion.

He noticed during the pandemic that the docks were unusually quiet at Cape Ann's Marina.

"The fans, especially the kids, love the show," Carraro said. "When we come in from fishing, there is often a crowd, but this year it was much different. There were times when we saw no one, and if there weretourists around, they were afraid to approach us because they didn't want to invade our space."

HOW TO WATCH

What:The new season of National Geographics hit series "Wicked Tuna" kicks off with an extended 90-minute episode.

Where: Season 10 premieres Sunday, Feb. 21, at 9 p.m. on National Geographic Channel; Seasons 1-9 streaming on Disney+.

Details: For more information, visit http://www.natgeotvpressroom.com and follow@WickedTunaon Twitter.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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'Wicked Tuna' rivalry gives way to cooperation | Local News | newburyportnews.com - The Daily News of Newburyport

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia rejected as unfounded the diplomatic note sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in January due to the announcement of the proclamation of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea.

Bisera Turkovic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, intervened due to the announcement of the proclamation of the EEZ, claiming that this would endanger the rights of BiH, ie its right to access the high seas.

In its response to Sarajevo, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said it saw no reason for such a reaction because there was no violation of international law in this case, with which high officials of BiH, such as current BiH Presidency Chairman Milorad Dodik, agreed with.

In December last year, the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlic Radman, directly informed Minister Turkovic about all plans to declare the EEZ, while Croatian Ambassador to BiH Ivan Sabolic informed the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, and even Dodik later said that the proclamation of the EEZ does not call into question the rights of BiH.

It should be considered that the rights of BiH have not been violated in the process of declaring the EEZ by Croatia and that this country is behaving correctly in that regard. In order to swim to high seas (more precisely the international waters) from BiH, you need to pass through territorial waters of Croatia, and that is clear to anyone who looks at the map except Turkovic, said Dodik, commenting on a note which was earlier sent from Sarajevo to Zagreb on January 27th.

Considering these facts, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs informed the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it could not accept their note as legitimate and official positions of BiH in this regard.

The proclamation of the EEZ of Croatia will take effect today, and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stresses that it will not cause any consequences for BiH because the legal regime of the protected ecological-fishing zone of Croatia (in Bosnian: ZERP) has been applied to that country since 2003. which now becomes an IGP.

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs reminds that Croatia provided unhindered access to and from the shores of BiH to the ZERP, under its obligations arising from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Klix.ba writes.

More here:

Croatia claims that BiH's Right to the High Seas Access has not been endangered - Sarajevo Times

Good news, Skyrim fans one of the RPG gamescoolest player home mods has just got a shiny new update. Thay S/Dovahkiinathays Sea Dragon mod which gives your Dragonborn a ship to both live and sail around Skyrims shores in has just beengiven a 3.0 version, which means new features (and adventures) await.

Sea Dragon is back with some new features and finally the way I always wanted it to be, the modder says on Nexus. This ship can be used as home and you can travel to many locations across Skyrim and Solstheim, they explain, highlighting on the page that you can bring your friends and family to join you as crew aboard the mighty ship. Locations you can head to include Solitude (where its initially found), Windhelm, and Dawnstar, as well asTel Mythrin, Raven Rock, and Skaal Village once youve finished up the Dragonborn DLC quest.

As for the ship itself, well, its a luxurious affair. The ship features a lovely master bedroom, four bedrooms for your crew (two of which can become childrens rooms if you like), and aspace for your crew of up to 12 to hang out in.

Additionally, theres an office-like space for all your booty and knick-knacks, with storage for your dragon masks, dragon claws, and other items, a training room, plenty of racks to house your weapons, and even a prison. You can send your foes there, if you so choose. Gulp.

The Sea Dragon isa glorious thing, as you can see in the showcase clip of the mod above, and helps brings a dash of Sea of Thieves and adventures on the high seas to Tamriels frostiest region. If youre keen to grab the new 3.0 version, head to Nexus Mods here. As ever, mod with caution, and be sure to take a peek at our rundown of the best Skyrim mods on PC.

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This Sea Dragon Skyrim mod brings a dash of Sea of Thieves to Tamriel - PCGamesN

WCU Stories February 15, 2021

When Jayne Zangleincame back from an excursion with Western Carolina University students to China a few years ago, she had the usual memorable and fun experiences - and an idea.

Then a WCU professor of business law, she envisioned a book about explorers and their discoveries. And not just any explorers. Zanglein wanted to tell about women from a time when female meant the fairer sex and, in the words of Roy Chapman Andrews, president of the men-only Explorers Club in 1932, were not adapted to exploration.

Now a professor emeritus, Zanglein has written The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story of the Globetrotting Women WhoTrekked, Flew and Fought Their Way Around the World, set to be published in March by Sourcebooks.

The women featured in the book proved that women were as capable explorers as men, said Zanglein. They broke a barrier so women today can travel and explore without discrimination.

The Girl Explorers reveals the founding of the Society of Women Geographers, an organization of adventurous female world explorers, and how key members served as early advocates for human rights paving the way for future women scientists by scaling mountains, exploring the high seas, flying across the Atlantic, and recording the world through film, sculpture and literature.

Along the way, Zanglein discovered some favorites. Blair Niles (an American novelist, expeditionist and travel writer) is my favorite, because she wrote about the people she met while traveling with compassion, she said. Annie Peck, who became a mountaineer later in life and was successful on her fifth attempt to climb Mount Huascaran in Peru, is also a favorite. She spoke whatever was onher mind and had no filter. I enjoyed that.

Read more:

WCU professor emeritus explores the adventures of early women explorers in new book - Western Carolina University News

Before setting sail with a trusty crew of friends in Sea of Thieves, here are a few tips and tricks to know to make your life as a pirate easier.

Sea of Thieves has a vast variety of tasks and missions that seems to get updated regularly. The support and fanbase are vast and growing. The ability to sail, plunder, loot, attack, and essentially be the best (or worst) pirate you can be is very enticing.

Related: Sea Of Thieves: Every Trading Company, Ranked

Coupled with crews of fellow gamers and a plethora of ships to sail, this game can be enjoyed by many different types of gamers, solo or with friends. With the proper foreknowledge, you can make a smooth transition from landlubber to sea dog in no time.

Sailing really isn't as easy as it looks. There is a lot to it. In Sea Of Thieves, you will be tested against the ever-growing armada of players who are always out in the high seas. Knowing your route, understanding the wind, watching for incoming attacks from other ships and monsters, and knowing how to stop properly, just to name a few. Once you get the hang of sailing, next is repairing it on the fly, and this is a juggle especially if you're playing solo. Fighting and sailing at the same time entail learning a whole other new set of coordinated skills. Sailing isn't a cakewalk, especially at the beginning.

See that glimmer in the distance? That is a spyglass, not unlike a sniper scope. This is usually a sign you are getting sized up for battle or to be looted, to both. Either way, run. Something not good might be coming your way. In the same, when you use a spyglass yourself, you are also sending that glimmering message to someone that you have them in your sights. Use these signs as a warning. Fight it flee are usually your only options.

Those birds in the sky are a beacon, a marker. Like a buoy in the water, the birds in the sky are telling you there is something to check out. They mark treasure or sunken ships. Usually with one comes the other. Hustle though, you are not the only one who can see them. Pro Tip, grab the loot and get out of that area. If you linger too long another ship might come by and attack and loot you. They will end up taking your loot but your freshly acquired loot as well.

Black water equals terror. When has black water ever meant anything good? If you find black water sailing and you're not a strong ship and have little to no experience, you had better make your way to safety fast. The Meg, Kraken and other creatures may be lurking near. They are hiding in the depths waiting for some poor soul to pass by to attack. Be prepared or avoid it altogether.

Have a crew that wants to join you? Make sure you know your role and everyone else's' role as well. Know your shipmates is like knowing your coworkers. They all have a role in the ship from defense to attacking and sailing to maintaining and repairs. Can you trust these others? make sure you're not setting yourself up to be a victim of pirate plunder and mutiny on your own ship.

In the game, you will probably spend the majority of your sailing on the main upper deck. All the action is there. You have to sail the ship, search the surroundings, attack, and board and offboard. It is easy to forget about the lower deck.

Related: Sea Of Thieves: The 10 Best Ship Customization Items, Ranked

Below the deck is more storage and also where the damage can go unattended during storms and fights. You can start to take on water and not realize it until it's too late. Keep mindful of the entire ship.

That is really just that, the end of the world. Flat earthers rejoice? When you sail to the end of the world in Sea Of Thieves it seems that if you don't turn around fast enough it is certain death. Be wary of your sailing, especially if you're trying to find the limits. If you have a full crew, it's even worse because they will all go down with you.

Don't quit in the middle of a mission. XP is lost and you will actually go backwards. Not only does it not give you the XP, but it also takes it away. Also, all the loot and progress to the said mission is lost as well.

Related: Sea Of Thieves: How To Get Free Ancient Coins From Ancient Skeletons

Make sure you have allotted the time to complete the mission you set out for. If you have a crew it affects them too so be careful in your choosing. If you don't have the time then don't partake.

At the onset when you set sail you have to select a mission by vote, even in a solo game. This is not a glitch, just the way the game is set to play. It makes sense with crews and multiplayer aspects but as a solo player, you just have to go through the motions.

Learn this, make it second nature and make it happen fast. During the battle, if you have mastered hand brake turns you will have the tactical upper hand with being able to turn fast to either get the enemy in your sight or to flea fast from onslaught. Remember, there is a large amount of people all out to do ultimately the same things that you are, and you will be insight of many of them for attack and plunder so be smart and fast in your sailing. Also, as a side note, the cool factor when coming up to a harbor and pulling a handbrake turn to stop at the dock is high. Sail in fast and come into the dock sideways and land in style.

Next: 10 Mistakes Everyone Makes While Playing Sea Of Thieves

Next Genshin Impact: Every Quest In Mondstadt That Gives Primogems

Ryan has been a gamer since the early 80's. Retro gaming, modern gaming, it is all relevant to him. He enjoys writing about many topics but gaming is the fun one. He is a certified auto body tech and 5th degree black belt in Isshin-Ryu Karate. He runs a small dojo in his town of Chilliwack in B.C. He enjoys writing, training, mountain biking, kayaking, and anything else that keeps him busy.

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Sea Of Thieves: 10 Tips And Tricks To Know Before Playing - TheGamer

Newport Daily News

COASTAL RHODE ISLAND

Saturday:Partly sunny, with a high near 36. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph.Saturday Night:Partly cloudy, with a low around 21. Northwest wind 13 to 15 mph.

Sunday:Sunny, with a high near 35. Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph.Sunday Night:Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. Light and variable wind becoming southwest around 6 mph after midnight.

EXTENDED

Monday:A chance of snow before 10 a.m., then rain likely. Cloudy, with a high near 41. South wind 9 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.Monday Night:A chance of rain before 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Southwest wind 11 to 13 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday:Mostly sunny, with a high near 41. West wind 10 to 15 mph.Tuesday Night:Partly cloudy, with a low around 33. West wind 14 to 16 mph.

Wednesday:Sunny, with a high near 43. West wind 15 to 17 mph.Wednesday Night:Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. West wind 10 to 14 mph.

MARINE

Saturday:Northwestwind 9 to 12 knots. Partly sunny. Seas 1 foot or less.Saturday Night:Northwestwind 11 to 13 knots, with gusts as high as 20 knots. Partly cloudy. Seas 1 foot or less.

Sunday: North-northwestwind 9 to 12 knots decreasing to 5 to 8 knots in the afternoon. Sunny. Seas 1 foot or less.Sunday Night:Variable winds 5 knots or less. Mostly cloudy. Seas 1 foot or less.

TIDES, ETC.

Saturday's high tides: 1:24a.m., 1:53p.m. Low tides: 7:55a.m., 7:19p.m.

Sunday's high tides: 2:17a.m., 2:52p.m. Low tides: 9:17a.m., 8:28p.m.

Saturday's sunrise, 6:34. Sunset, 5:26.

Sunday's sunrise, 6:33. Sunset, 5:27.

Thursday's temperatures: High 30, low 24.

Continued here:

NEWPORT AREA WEATHER REPORT: Feb. 20-21 - newportri.com

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A Black Hawk hawk helicopter as in, the same model helicopter ofBlack Hawk Down infamy had to make an emergency landing in Watsons Bay after it clipped a boat on Sydney Harbour.

The helicopter was part of an anti-terrorism exercise which involved a bunch of balaclava-clad dudes rappelling off choppers and onto harbour boats, presumably to defuse some kind of mock hostage situation.

The leadup to the incident, where the Black Hawks propeller clearly hits the mast of a Captain Cook Cruises ship at around 2pm, was all captured in a TikTok, because it is 2021, after all.

Keep in mind, the ship wasnt actually taking tourists around the harbour. It had been leased by the defense forces as part of the training exercise, although one would imagine theyll now have to fork out a hefty repair bill.

The chopper then quickly skedaddled out of there and made an emergency landing at Robertson Park in Watsons Bay, followed by the other helicopter.

I noticed there was another helicopter circling and it did a few sweeps, three or four sweeps, and then it did finally land, a witness told The Daily Telegraph.

Locals were understandably stunned. Its not every day a giant killing machine suddenly lands in your local park.

When other Sydneysiders caught wind of the event, they came out in (relative) droves to gawk and the undeniably fascinating spectacle of seeing a Black Hawk helicopter up close and in the flesh metal.

In the end, the military-exercise-gone-wrong ended up being a quirky spectacle for kids, which is kind of cute.

Nobody was actually injured in the incident, but the damaged Black Hawk will remain in the park overnight to be inspected by engineers in the morning.

Excerpt from:

A TikToker Captured Australias Own Black Hawk Down Moment On The High Seas Of Sydney Harbour - Pedestrian TV

New research shows that oceanic shark and ray abundance has declined by nearly three-quarters since 1970, and industrialized fishing isto blame.

Oceanic sharks and rays live so far from land that the average person is unlikely to ever see them. But these species, which live in the vast open ocean, are also among the most revered, and include the great white shark and the giant manta ray. For millennia, their remoteness has allowed these species to largely avoid humans. But since the early 1950s, industrial-scale fishing fleets have been able to reach distant waters and gradually spread to exploit the entire global ocean.

Rising demand over the same period for shark and ray meat, as well as fins, gill plates and liver oil, has caused catches of the 30 or so oceanic species to soar. Marine biologists have been raising the alarm for several decades now, but their warnings were often limited to what regional trends showed. Now, new research has brought together disparate threads of data into a single, global analysis of shark and ray populations in the open ocean.

Worldwide, oceanic shark and ray abundance has declined by 71% since 1970. More than half of the 31 species examined are now considered to be endangered, or even critically endangered. Compare this with 1980 when only one species, the plankton-feeding basking shark, was thought to be endangered. These are stark statistics, and they indicate that the future for the oceans top predators is fast deteriorating.

To arrive at the first global perspective on oceanic shark and ray population trends, the study synthesized a huge amount of data. The researchers calculated two separate indicators of biodiversity, using indexes established by the Convention on Biological Diversity to track progress towards international targets. They used state-of-the-art modeling to estimate trends in the relative abundance of species. One of the indicators combined assessments of 31 species by the IUCN Red List over a 38-year period.

The results revealed huge declines in the abundance of sharks in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Once abundant species such as the oceanic whitetip shark have declined by 75% globally in just the past half-century, while populations of the endangered shortfin mako shark valued for its meat and fins have shrunk by about 40%. Manta ray populations have suffered even greater losses.

The study attributes these declines to overfishing. The researchers documented a greater than twofold increase in fishing pressure from longline fisheries for instance, which use lines stretching 100km and bearing 1,200 baited hooks. These lines are deployed each day by any one of the thousands of longlining vessels worldwide, snaring sharks in the open ocean either intentionally or as bycatch while targeting other marine life.

The study also found increases in the proportion of sharks that are being fished beyond sustainable levels. But its particularly worrying that unreported catches werent included in the studys analyses. This means the number of sharks and rays killed by fishing boats is likely to be an underestimate and the actual declines of these species may be even worse. Unlike most species of bony fish, sharks and rays produce few offspring and grow slowly. The rate at which they reproduce is clearly no match for current levels of industrialized fishing.

Immediate and far-reaching action is needed to rebuild these populations. Its clear that the rate of overfishing has outstripped the implementation of fisheries management measures and trade regulations. Since most oceanic sharks and rays are caught in the high seas areas beyond national jurisdictions agreements between fishing nations within management organizations are needed for conservation measures to work.

But, as this new study details, fishery limits imposed by management organizations of regional tuna fisheries bodies tasked with managing oceanic sharks and ray populations have been largely inadequate in following scientific advice. As recently as November 2020, the European Union and United States blocked a catch retention ban for North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks, despite scientific evidence clearly indicating that it was the first rung on a ladder to restoring this population of an endangered species.

To begin the recovery of oceanic shark and ray populations, strict measures to prohibit landings of these species and to minimize their bycatch in other fisheries are needed immediately. This must be coupled with strict enforcement.

Reducing the number of sharks and rays caught accidentally will be crucial but challenging, especially for longline fishing, which is not very selective and inadvertently catches lots of different species. This currently means that bans on intentional fishing are unlikely to be effective on their own. One solution would include modifying fishing gear and improving how fishers release sharks and rays after capture, to give them a better chance of survival.

An equally important measure, noted in the current study, would be banning fishing fleets from hotspots of oceanic sharks and rays. Research published in 2019 highlighted where these areas in the global ocean overlap with fishing vessels most. Led by the United N, negotiations are underway for a high seas treaty which would create no-take marine reserves to protect threatened species in the open ocean. This new study should urge the international community to take such action while theres still time.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Sharks: Imperiled, Maligned, Fascinating

Link:

The Staggering Decline of Oceanic Sharks and Rays The Revelator - The Revelator

Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill's newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you dont already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking HERE.

Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), for more coverage.

Congress is lining up tech and cyber hearings over the next few weeks, including a look at the SolarWinds breach, hearing from Big Tech CEOs on content moderation policies, and the launch of a series of hearings focused on combating what lawmakers says is an abuse of online market power.

Heres a cute end to your day.

SOLARWINDS HEARING INCOMING: The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on the massive Russian breach of the federal government that has become known as the SolarWinds hack next week in one of the first major congressional hearings on the issue.

The event, set for Feb. 23, will feature testimony from Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the CEO of IT group SolarWinds, which became the face of one of the biggest cyber incidents in U.S. history. Officials discovered in December that hackers had exploited the company's software to compromise up to 18,000 of its customers for more than a year.

Other witnesses will include Microsoft President Brad Smith, FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia and CrowdStrike President and CEO George Kurtz.

Read more about the upcoming hearing here.

AND (ANOTHER) TECH CEO HEARING: The CEOs of the top tech platforms will testify again at a house hearing regarding their content moderation policies.

The CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and Google will testify on March 25 at a House Energy and Commerce hearing on the spread of online misinformation.

Scrutiny over the platforms handling of misinformation has amplified since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol which was largely driven by online organization.

Read more here.

SPEAKING OF ANTITRUST:The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee will launch a series of hearings on proposals to address what it sees as an abuse of online market power.

The first hearing is scheduled for next Thursday.

The subcommittee said it plans to call antitrust experts, affected businesses and other knowledgeable witnesses to assist with the development of legislation, but the Thursday announcement did not include details on specific witnesses that will take part in the hearings.

The scheduled hearings are a continuation of lawmakers efforts to clamp down on the market power of the four biggest tech companies in the country.

Read more here.

A SHOWDOWN OVER NEWS: Facebook and Google are heading into a showdown with Congress over a law that would allow news organizations to bargain with tech platforms over the distribution of their content.

A bill that gained bipartisan support last Congress is expected to be reintroduced soon, and the tech platforms have already previewed their line of attack amid an ongoing battle over an Australian proposal that would force the Silicon Valley giants to pay publishers.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would not go that far, but it would provide a four-year safe harbor from antitrust laws for print or digital news companies to allow them to collectively negotiate with digital content distributors, such as Google and Facebook, regarding the terms on how the content is distributed.

Read more here.

DISINFORMATION DEFENSE: A Latino advocacy group and media watchdog will invest $22 million in an effort to battle disinformation targeted at the Hispanic community.

Voto Latino and Media Matters for America on Thursday launched the Latino Anti-Disinformation Lab, with an aim to combat mis- and disinformation that further polarizes and isolates Latinx voters.

According to the groups, it will be the largest investment in combatting disinformation in Latino communities to date, citing a surge in Spanish and English language misinformation on voter fraud and Covid-19.

Read more about the group here.

TECH FIGHTS THE TAX: A coalition of trade organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Maryland state government over passage of a bill that imposes a tax on digital ad revenue.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Internet Association, sued Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (D).

CCIA's members include Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google and Uber.

Read more here.

DEBUNKING CLIMATE MYTHS: Facebook announced Thursday that it will add a new section to its platform to debunk common climate change myths as it expands its nascent battle against disinformation.

The social media behemoth said in a statement that it is expanding its climate change information hub to include a section that will feature facts that rebut common fallacies.

The new effort will be guided by climate experts from George Mason University, the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the University of Cambridge.

Read more here.

NOT A GREAT LOOK: Americans perceptions of big tech companies have steadily deteriorated over the past 18 months as titans like Facebook, Twitter and Amazon receive an avalanche of bipartisan criticism, according to a new poll.

A new Gallup poll released Thursday shows that 45 percent of those surveyed have somewhat or very negative views of large tech companies, which were defined in the survey as firms such as Amazon, Facebook and Google.

The percent of respondents who had somewhat negative views remained the same from when the poll was taken in August 2019 23 percent but the percentage of those with very negative views jumped from 10 percent to 22 percent.

Read more about the poll here.

BRINGING HIM BACK: Bill Gates said in an interview broadcast Thursday that social media companies should eventually allow former President TrumpDonald TrumpThune: Trump allies partaking in 'cancel culture' by punishing senators who voted to convict Biden administration open to restarting nuclear talks with Iran Trump-McConnell rift divides GOP donors MORE back on their platforms after he was banned last month following the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

I think at some point he probably will be allowed back on and probably should be allowed back on, Gates told CNBC when asked whether he would allow the former president back on social media if he were a Facebook official.

The former president is permanently banned from Twitter. Facebook has temporarily suspended his account, and the platforms independent oversight body is currently weighing a decision on whether to allow him back on.

Read more about Gates comments here.

Lighter click: Not the best for concentration

An op-ed to chew on: Create a bulwark against Chinese economic coercion: Advance open RAN in Europe

NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

Tension grows between Congress and the administration over how White House cyber policy should be run (The Washington Post / Ellen Nakashima)

Salsa made with a drill and more: TikTok offers glimpses of life during Texas storm (The Washington Post / Travis Andrews)

Instacart is punishing its gig workers for orders they cant deliver (Vice Motherboard / Lauren Kaori Gurley)

I helped build ByteDances vast censorship machine(Protocol / Shen Lu)

Tracking down mystery boats on the high seas (The Verge / Justine Calma)

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Hillicon Valley: Congress prepares to hold hearing on SolarWinds breach, Big Tech content moderation | Tensions rise between Capitol Hill and...

Expensive, massive and lethal, the aircraft carrier has been the cornerstone of American security for close to a century, but with advances in missile design, will it remain on top?Aircraft carriers are expensive. The latest carrier in the U.S. Navy, part of whats called the Ford class, costs $12.8 billion per ship, and thats before the cost of fixing new technology, aircraft flying off the deck and the cost of operating the carrier in the high seas for months at a time. The U.S. has more active aircraft carriers than every other country in the world combined. The U.S. Navy currently has ten Nimitz-class carriers, one Ford-class carrier and nine amphibious assault ships, which are smaller and focus on helicopters and short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft. A Nimitz-class carrier can carry a mix of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, E-2D Hawkeye surveillance aircraft and an assortment of other support aircraft and helicopters. The carrier fighter of the future is the F-35C. But to field the new aircraft, most U.S. carriers will need to be upgraded. Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassicAbout CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.Connect with CNBC News OnlineGet the latest news: https://www.cnbc.com/Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBCFollow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBCFollow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBCFollow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBCSubscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NLi9AN#CNBCThe Future Of The Aircraft Carrier

PUBLISHED: Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:30:41 GMT

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The Future Of The Aircraft Carrier - CNBCAfrica.com

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Bengaluru-based PES University is set to launch a micro satellite - RSAT into a polar sun synchronous orbit of 500 km on February 28, with the support of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), as demonstration of proof of concept. RSAT is a 3-axis stabilized agile micro-satellite weighing 15 kg and measuring 300mm x 300 mm x 300mm with deployable solar panels, according to a release. This will be the second satellite being developed in the university to be launched into orbit.

The micro-satellite was configured and developed after the DRDO sanctioned a Contract for Acquiring Research Services to the university to carry a Satellite Based Automatic Identification System (SB-AIS) payload. SB-AIS will help monitor ships on high seas and provide information about their movement. The payload receives AIS signals transmitted by ships in VHF band, processes and transmits the information to a ground station.

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PES University will launch satellite to monitor ships - The New Indian Express

Sea of Thieves is now cross-platform compatible thanks to steam network. This massive online multiplayer sandbox game has been around for three years undergoing constant development. Though in the early years of the game that development was sporadic. Also, originally the game was considered rather barren with very little for players to do.

However, over the last years the developers have greatly improved the game. Adding huge amounts of contents and creating a semi regular schedule. part of this massive content update was adding cross-platform compatibility to the game. While many players found this exhilarating other thought that PC gamers have an unfair advantage. The developers however have heard this claim and it created a solution, so all could enjoy the high seas.

Sea of Thieves Is an online video game that allows the player to take on the role of a Pirate. As a feature of the games sandbox function no tube wages are ever going to be the same. After the tutorial adventure of course. These first ventures will show the player the basic mechanics of the game and how many of the quest features work. Additionally, the game has a total of seven trading companies that provide missions and goods. There are also numerous exciting and hilarious features to be found in the game.

These include ingenious ways to board enemy vessels and encounters with deadly ship sized marine wildlife. Furthermore, as the game is a multiplayer game you can enjoy it with friends or face other players in combat. One of the newest and most controversial features the game has is cross-platform compatibility. What this means is that a player can face off against individuals using a different consul. Whereas in the old days a PC gamer could only play against other PC gamers. Now, a player can play against anyone any counsel not just the same as they are using.

many fans of Sea of Thieves have expressed some concern over the cross-play feature. This feature was first made possible the game was set up for PC and appeared on the steam network. The concern fans are having is it set to auto select is active as the default setting. these players have stated that Council users are at a disadvantage when it comes to facing off against PC players. As a result, the developers have included codes in the game that allow cross plate to be deactivated. now these players can enjoy the game without feeling they are at a disadvantage.

Read the original here:

Sea of Thieves is now cross-platform compatible thanks to steam network. - Joplin Business Journal

Suga is back in all his grumpy glory! In a surprise V Live session, all seven members of the BTS interacted with fans about the new BE: Essential edition album release on February 19. It has been a while since the gang got together to interact with the Army as Suga has been recovering from his shoulder surgery and by the end of the livestream around 80 million Army had tuned in to interact with them.

Here are the seven major highlights from the fan interaction that had the group members talk about everything from how they celebrated the lunar New Year, what would happen with 5 Jimins and 5 Jungkooks and the reason behind Jimin's 'accidental' shoulder reveals. And if that wasn't enough, there was also V's 'strawberry extract' drool while Suga and RM had major grandpa moments, followed by Jin, V and J-Hope's 'pain-in-the-butt' reveal.

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J-Hope kicked off the conversation saying: "I went to my hometown and ate something delicious". Suga said he had been busy with his rehab exercises and had his wisdom tooth removed. "It's still bleeding inside, so I am licking it now," he said because feral lil' Meow Meow is now a mood. RM spoke about getting semi-violent with his dad, "almost grabbing" his collar and generally being a bad son over the traditional Korean game of Yut Nori. Jungkook had spent his time working out, but only "on and off" as RM reminded him before Jimin jumped in to defend him. And Jimin was being a lazy couch potato binge-watching 'Infinite Challenge' episodes, including one titled 'Sin and Punishment'.

Discussing the photocard in the album, members teased Jimin about revealing his shoulder again in the picture. "This is what you wanted, right?", said Jin, speculating that Jimin had it cut like that. "As you know everyone, my left shoulder is narrower. So the outfit slipped," said Jimin, while RM gave him a 'yeah, right" look and J-Hope giggled. Jimin leaned into this premise saying even when he wears a backpack, only the left one slips. RM teased, "And earlier your shoulder kept going up... while pressing down, it just went down for a bit, right?" referring to a sight gag Jimin had pulled earlier, to which Jimin said with a straight face. "Yes, that's it. Scoliosis". RM had to say to the camera (for the more gullible Army), "It's not like that, everyone".

It started with a fan asking them to close one eye and pinch their cheek if they saw the message. V, the arbiter of all things cool, said the trend was now dated. Suga was surprised to know it had been trendy. "Was that popular? It's impossible to do that," he asks, having a FOMO moment. Then later, he turned philosophical. "I think we are all just staying in that past moment," before grumbling how "young people" did not use the traditional phone receiver C-sign to the 'making a call' gesture anymore. Instead, they put a palm up to their ear. V, also turned old soul, saying they don't how to place collect calls either. And then RM had his grandpa moment saying if they were talking about what the latest trend means, "It's over for us, we're already old". He even told Suga about the FOMO concept, as the two 'hyungs' acted like they were 80-years-old.

The members discussed how everyone wanted to know if they wanted 5 Jungkooks or a 5-year-old Jungkook. While Jungkook groaned at being the object of this discussion (again), RM, with his producer's hat firmly in place, said he wanted 5 Jungkooks because they would harmonize so well. Plus if one got tired, there were four more to do the job. But then, everyone decided a 5-year-old Jungkook would be too hard to resist. Jimin specifically wanted a 5-year-old Jungkook because even if there are 5 Jungkooks, none of them would work he claimed because they would all run away. "Jungkook where are you? Jungkook is not here. 5 Jungkooks are gone," he said as Jungkook grinned at the accurate description.

Suga predictably wanted 5 Jimins. "As expected," teased Jimin, asking if he wanted to fall in love with all of them. "I will make you do a lot of work alone," Suga replied grimly. Jungkook on the other hand wanted 5 Jimins because "it will be fun if there are 5 Jimins", saying they would compete against each other to make them laugh. The Jinkookie and Yoonmin ships sailed on high seas just because of this conversation alone.

Just when Suga was giving gross details about bleeding from his mouth, calling it like "tomato juice", Jin cried out about V wiping his drool on him. "It's strawberry extract," protested V, so Jin helpfully amended his statement, "he's wiping a mix of strawberry juice and drool on my clothes!" Apparently, everything is food for BTS.

During the V Live, in response to anxious well-wishers on the app, Suga gave updates about his condition. He told his fans that he was on the road to recovery and undergoing intense and painful rehabilitation sessions three times a week at the hospital that includes "2nd stage of shockwave therapy". Suga was extra dour because of his wisdom tooth extraction and he warned the others not to make him laugh too much.

In typical Suga fashion, he also didn't mince words about how painful the rehab sessions were. He said he wanted to make a documentary about his recovery, but he looked too pitiful like the Korean 'Screening Humanity' docu-series. "I looked too sad so I couldn't film it".

A testimony to the professionalism in the back row, it wasn't till the very end that we found out that Jin, V and J-Hope were sitting on the tiniest little chair stools. All three shot up with their tail-bones aching toward the end when they couldn't bear it anymore. Till then, it was impossible to tell they had been sitting uncomfortably through the nearly one-hour recording. "That chair is as small as my face," said Jimin, when J-Hope got up and V padded the seat with the balloons in the background. "This show is spinning out of control", said RM, which is exactly how the Army likes it anyway.

See the original post:

What's the secret to BTS' Jimin's shoulder reveal? Seven highlights from V Live for 'BE Essential Edition' - MEAWW

LAST weekend saw an eventful couple of days in the Mediterranean waters off Maltas southern coast.

Over 140 people in two overcrowded rubber boats were saved by a coalition of civilian refugee rescue organisations within the island nations search-and-rescue (SAR) zone.

I initially set out to write up a short report on the weekends rescues. But after speaking on Sunday with Eike, an activist who witnessed the events from the skies, I realised that the situation was much more complicated.

In this, part one of two articles examining last weekends events, Eike tells us what happened on Friday. Well look at Saturday in part two.

He is a tactical co-ordinator for the Seabird, a reconnaissance aircraft operated from the Italian island of Lampedusa by German NGO Sea Watch.

On Friday, its crew spotted a boat carrying 40 people about 60 nautical miles to the south.

It was deep inside Maltas SAR zone,says Eike (pronounced how an American would say the sports brand Nikebut without the N).

We contacted the closest merchant vessel to the boat, which was the Vos Triton,he tells me.

The contact was positive. The Vos Triton agreed to change course towards the distress case. But when we tried to contact them again, they wouldnt answer the radio any more and headed back north, away from the distress case.

Well discuss the Vos Triton more in part two tomorrow but, sufficeto say now that the ship should not have abandoned its moral and international legal duty to help.

Eike tells me that the Seabird managed to contact another merchant vessel, the Asalet. This ship was really co-operative, he says, and agreed to look out for the distress case but unfortunately couldnt find the boat.

In the meantime,rescue ship the Open Arms operated by a Spanish NGO of the same name was heading towards the boats co-ordinates. However, so was someone else.

We were flying in the vicinity of the distress case when we suddenly saw the so-called Libyan Coastguard arriving in their patrol vessel, Fezzan. It was speeding at full steam, at about 30 knots, towards it,Eike says.

Many of the activists involved in the civilian refugee rescue effort in the central Mediterranean refer to Libyas coastguard with the prefix so-called, with the whole being abbreviated as scLCG.

They say that the Libyan Coastguard does not abide by the international law of the sea nor by international humanrights conventions, and that its only purpose is to conduct what are referred to as pullbacks intercepting refugees and forcibly returning them to the place that they were trying to escape. In legal terms, this is called refoulement.

It is not just the dedicated activists who say the people escaping Libya should not be sent back there. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an affiliate to the United Nations, has repeatedly warned that the country is not safe for migrants and that no-one should be returned to it.

The Libyan Coastguard which is funded, trainedand supported by the European Union intercepted and returned 11,891 people last year and 1,956 people so far in 2021, according to thelatest IOM estimates.

We checked back on the distress case,Eike continues, and we realised that the scLCG was heading directly towards one of the Open Arms rhibs.

Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (rhibs) are boats attached to a ship from which rescuers hand out life jackets, water, food, blankets, etc, to survivors before taking them to their ship.

When we approached, the scLCG was directly next to a rhib. My impression was that the scLCG was trying to block them.

The Fezzan then headed towards the other Open Arms rhib, passing really close by to it at high speed.

The rhib and the Fezzan stopped for a moment next to each other. I don't know if they exchanged communications between each other. I can only say that it looked intimidating.

I was really glad that we were on scene and to be another witness to this. You never know what can happen in such situations.

Indeed, in October 2019 and again in April last year, Libyan-flagged vessels fired bullets into the waters around NGO ship the Alan Kurdi as its crew were bringing refugees on board.

Fortunately, the Opens Armscrew eventually managed to bring all 40 people onto the ship, despite whatever it was that the Libyan Coastguard was trying to do.

It happened last night,Open Arms tweeted on Saturday morning above a picture of the survivors in life jackets on their crowded boat as a woman held up a baby.

Rafel and [her] three-month-old baby Moez were rescued together with 38 more people in a flimsy boat on the high seas.

It took many hours of search and encounters with a Libyan patrol boat, but it was worth it. Every life counts.

All of this, dont forget, was taking place within Maltas SAR zone. Its maritime authorities should have been in charge of co-ordinating the rescue, not activists. Its coastguard should have been out there, certainly not the Libyan Coastguard.

In response to the so-called refugee crisisin 2015, the EU launched a naval mission, which eventually became known as Operation Sophia, to disrupt the human-trafficking networks off the Libyan coast. It saved tens of thousands of lives.

In 2019, however, the EU pulled its ships from the central Mediterranean, pumped more money to the Libyan Coastguard and left only European Border and Coastguard Agency (Frontex) planes to monitor migrant departures from Libya.

Refugee rights organisations in the central Mediterranean, as well as in the Aegean Sea, at the Greek-Turkish-Bulgarian borders and elsewhere, have repeatedly accused Frontex of either aiding or carrying out refugee pushbacks and pullbacks on the external frontiers of the EU.

Frontex denies the allegations and told the Star last week that its officers are bound by a code of conduct that includes a paragraph specifically related to the prevention of refoulement and the upholding of human rights.

The agency said that an internal inquiry into recent allegations concluded that there was no evidence of a direct or indirect participation of Frontex staff or officers deployed in Frontex operations in alleged pushbacksin the Aegean Sea.

Eike tells me that Frontexs Eagle 1 aircraft was also on the scene last Friday.

We dont know if there was any communication between the scLCG and the Eagle 1,he says. But what it really shows is that there is no hesitation to facilitate illegal pushbacks deep inside a European SAR.

We out there for around seven hours. It was a crazy day.

While we were heading back, we heard that the Open Arms had reached the distress case. As you can imagine, it was a real relief.

Continued here:

Life and death on the Mediterranean Sea - Morning Star Online