Hello and welcome to Monday.

The daily rundown Between Saturday and Sunday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 595 (nearly 1.5 percent), to 40,596; hospitalizations went up 78 (nearly 1.1 percent), to 7,171; and deaths rose by 6 (0.3 percent), to 1,721.

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Inching closer We are now about seven weeks away from a new fiscal year and a new state budget and yet its almost out of sight, out of mind for Floridas legislative leaders. Any time it comes up it, those leaders say they may need to do something about the budget, but otherwise they deflect.

Damaged Yet there are signs that Floridas fiscal situation has deteriorated significantly as the coronavirus pandemic eviscerates the states economy. Late last week, it became known that the Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees Medicaid in Florida, has projected that as much as $1 billion more in state money may be needed in the coming fiscal year a scenario that usually triggers budget cuts.

Draining away Previously, top Republicans would point to Floridas $4 billion reserve. Its important to note that number itself was a projection of how things would look July 1, barring no changes. Between increased spending due to respond to the pandemic and collapsing tax collections that projection is now no longer tethered to reality.

The agenda We get it. There are a lot of reasons to push off talk of a special session. (Numbers are still preliminary, its unknown how long this will last.) Republicans so far have trusted the way for the most part Gov. Ron DeSantis has handled the crisis. But then theres the behind-the-scenes speculation that lawmakers dont want to come back for many reasons, including that they will be confronted with the unemployment mess the administration is still trying to clean up.

All powerful executive? And its true the federal government provided billions of dollars in relief funding that could help plug some gaps. But that requires the Legislature to accept the premise that during an emergency,DeSantis has full authority to appropriate large amounts of money and move it around. Some parts much discussed aid to local election offices, for example require setting aside a matching amount in state money. Will the Legislature also accept that the governor can make large budget cuts without their input? Can he veto spending in the new budget and then reallocate the money elsewhere? This is an emergency and a once-in-a-lifetime situation. No doubt about it. But maybe its time to get a handle on the extent of executive power during a crisis and whether separation of powers is something legislators remain guarded about.

WHERE'S RON? Nothing official announced for Gov. DeSantis.

VOX POPULI How Florida slowed coronavirus: Everyone stayed home before they were told to, by Tampa Bay Times Adam Playford, Kathleen McGrory, Steve Contorno, Caitlin Johnston and Zachary T. Sampson: The analysis indicates that while Floridas politicians debated beach closings and stay-at-home orders, residents took matters into their own hands. By the time each county shut down, there had been large reductions in activity, the cell phone data shows. People in the worst-hit counties were overwhelmingly staying home weeks before DeSantis order went out and even before the much-earlier orders issued by local governments.

ON THE GROUND Coronavirus strains Floridas Gulf Coast counties supply chains for protective gear, by Naples Daily News Ryan Mills: As Floridas COVID-19 cases grow by the hundreds every day, some emergency management departments in the Gulf Coast region are scraping by with just a few days supply of personal protective equipment for front-line workers fighting the deadly virus.

DOES IT START WITH A D? The movement to reopen Florida has been somewhat subdued. Why is that? by Tampa Bay Times Kirby Wilson: But Floridas reopen movement has been a more modest affair compared to those that have disrupted other states. An analysis by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a non-profit watchdog of far-right extremists, found that Facebook groups dedicated to reopening Florida have just a fraction of the following of other states groups.

TRACKING DOWN THE VIRUS Undetected: Lack of access to testing among minorities keeps virus alive, by Sun Sentinels Cindy Krischer Goodman and Mario Ariza: Doctors, public health workers, activists, and leaders in South Floridas black and brown minority communities warn of a gap in surveillance in these groups. And as coronavirus spreads from house cleaner to landscaper to grocery clerk, its undetected chains of transmission are like the embers of a forest fire, keeping the outbreak going, and potentially sparking the next wave of infections.

UM, WHAT? Florida oncology network that bilked cancer patients gets $67 million in COVID-19 aid, by Miami Heralds Alex Daugherty and Ben Wieder: A Fort Myers-based oncology network that was Floridas largest recipient of federal coronavirus relief dollars for healthcare facilities admitted last week to participating in a criminal conspiracy that limited treatment options available to cancer patients in order to maximize profits. Florida Cancer Specialists, which employs 250 doctors in 100 facilities across Florida, admitted in federal court on April 30 that it worked with unnamed co-conspirators to limit cancer treatment options for patients, agreeing to pay a $100 million federal fine the largest amount allowed by law along with a $20 million state fine.

THE TOLL "Found unresponsive at home: Grim records recount lonely deaths, by New York Times Patricia Mazzei, Rebecca Halleck and Richard A. Oppel Jr.: A 71-year-old woman with nausea who was sent home from the emergency room, even though a doctor wanted to admit her. A 63-year-old nurse who was self-isolating while she waited for results from her coronavirus test. A 77-year-old man who was prescribed antibiotics by a doctor in another state for his fever and dry cough. All were found unresponsive at home the nurse on the sofa, where she was found by her husband their lives claimed by Covid-19 before they ever had a chance to check into the hospital. The agony of how the coronavirus has killed at least 1,669 Floridians, many of them older, is brief and matter-of-fact in the unadorned language of medical examiners, who summarize death in sometimes less than 200 words.

CLOSED AGAIN Facebook readers react to city of Naples public beach closures, lack of social distancing, by Naples Daily News Michael Braun: Naples City Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting at 1 p.m. Monday to discuss access to public city beaches and boat ramps and to evaluate its emergency beach closure order. After the city of Naples shutdown access its public beaches because it determined crowds were not maintaining acceptable social distance, people took to Facebook to weigh in on the decision.

GAETZ V. 60 MINUTES Trump administration cuts funding for coronavirus researcher, jeopardizing possible COVID-19 cure, by 60 Minutes Scott Pelley: Matt Gaetz on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight': 'The NIH gives this $3.7 million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, they then advertise that they need coronavirus researchers. Following that, coronavirus erupts in Wuhan.' There never was a $3.7 million U.S. grant to the Wuhan lab. But, the falsehood spread like a virus, in the White House, and without verification, in the briefing room.That grant was to Peter Daszak's U.S.-based EcoHealth Alliance for disease prevention it does throughout the world. His work was considered so important that, last year, the grant was reauthorized and increased by the Trump administration. Daszak had been spending about $100,000 a year collaborating with the Wuhan lab.

Gaetz's Twitter response: The Wuhan Institute of Virology takes 10 days to notify the world of the sequence of coronavirus and American taxpayers are supposed to keep funding them? After the State Dept said they werent being safe? Looks like @CBSNews is going all China First.

TO COURT South Florida lawsuit accuses China of coronavirus cover-up, fueling loss of lives and jobs, by Miami Heralds Jay Weaver: Worried about her future, Merritt recently decided to join a growing South Florida class-action lawsuit that accuses the Peoples Republic of China of knowing about the danger of the coronavirus in December, covering up its rapid spread by Chinese traveling to other countries through January, and ultimately causing the loss of tens of millions of jobs and the deaths of at least 78,000 Americans a number likely to continue growing for months.

RULES Here are the barbershop, salon rules for reopening in Florida on Monday, by Orlando Sentinels Mark Skoneki: "Barbershops and salons must operate by appointment only and allow 15 minutes between appointments to sanitize their work stations, according to rules released by state officials. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday added salons and barbershops to those that could reopen under his plan to restart the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic."

ON THE JOB Panama City manufacture keeps workers on job despite COVID-19, by Panama City News Heralds Nathan Cobb: "In the face of layoffs throughout the economy because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a local pipe manufacturer has kept roughly 350 people at work. For Andrew Hicks, vice president of operations for Berg Pipe, its important that his employees continue to provide for their families despite tough economic times."

NEW RULES State issues testing orders for long-term care facilities, by News Service of Floridas Jim Saunders: With more than 700 COVID-19 deaths linked to long-term care facilities, the state Agency for Health Care Administration said Sunday it has issued emergency orders to bolster testing of staff members at nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

HARDEST HIT Life-or-death cases fall heaviest on Duval County black residents, by Florida Times-Unions David Bauerlein: "As a doctor for more than 30 years running a family medical practice in a predominantly African-American part of the city, Rogers Cain had a deepening sense of unease when the global coronavirus pandemic rolled toward Florida. 'It was a gut feeling that became a fear as that gut feeling was fulfilled,' Cain said. 'One of the old adages we have in our community is when white America gets the cold, black America gets pneumonia.'"

COME SAIL AWAY Cruise lines plan restart, but CDC has not lifted no-sail order, by Palm Beach Daily News Wendy Rhodes: Despite a no-sail order effective through July 24 issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the three largest cruise lines Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have each announced plans to return to the high seas this summer. Carnival announced plans to set sail on August 1. However, Norwegian said it plans to return July 1, and Royal Caribbean even earlier on June 12 before the no sail order expires.

CHOW TIME Theres plenty of meat, but COVID-19 is beefing up prices, by USA Today Network-Floridas Lindsey Leake: "Chris Prevatt knew something was amiss before most Americans. The volume of beef being exported from the U.S. to East Asia began dwindling in January, the Florida agricultural economist noted. 'Thats when we started seeing damages,' said Prevatt, who works at the Range Cattle Research & Education Center in Ona. 'When South Korea closed restaurants, it dramatically reduced how much product we were able to get into Asia.'"

NOT ON SAME PAGE Plan to reopen Broward could come in a day or two, but theres no consensus on extent or timing, by Sun Sentinels Anthony Man: Its time to start reopening Broward, County Commissioner Michael Udine and state Rep. Chip LaMarca said Sunday, citing progress tamping down the new coronavirus and a need to reignite the economy. Not so fast, said County Commissioners Steve Geller and Nan Rich, who warn that reopening too quickly poses significant public health risks because coronavirus is still prevalent and there arent enough tools to deal with an outbreak.

Miami-Dade emergency order amendment makes it official: the Heat can resume practice, by Miami Heralds David J. Neal and Douglas Hanks

Ron DeSantis to submit plan to Donald Trump for screening South American travelers, by Florida Politics Renzo Downey

Sarasota city and county differ widely on approach to lifting restrictions, by Herald-Tribunes Timothy Fanning

Restaurants, stores and salons prepare to reopen Monday in Palm Beach County, by Sun Sentinels David Fleshler

South Bay prison surge fuels rise in Palm Beach County cases, by Palm Beach Posts Joe Capozzi and Joel Engelhardt

Peak of daily COVID-19 deaths still in Floridas future, model now shows, by Florida Politics Renzo Downey

FALLOUT While revenue falls, Medicaid could cost Florida an extra $1b, health agency warns, by News Service of Floridas Christine Sexton: Floridas economic collapse due to the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to cause ballooning Medicaid enrollment that might blow a $1 billion hole in the state budget, according to new projections by the agency that oversees the healthcare safety net program.

HISTORY LESSON Audits spotted flaws in jobless aid system that went unfixed, by Palm Beach Posts Christine Stapleton: Officials at DEO have known about them for years. The agencys critics now point to four audits by the states Auditor General dating back to 2013 as evidence systemic bureaucratic ineptitude and disregard for the needy. What troubled me is you are seeing the same things, said state Sen. Lori Berman, Democrat representing Boynton Beach. Berman was a member of the state House when CONNECT went online in 2013.

When the dust settles: Governor cant say how long unemployment probe will take, by Florida Politics A.G. Gancarski

VP Val Demings husband Mayor Jerry Demings on possibility shes Bidens VP: Shes my pick, by Orlando Sentinels Stephen Hudak: "If Congresswoman Val Demings is chosen as Democratic presidential candidate Joe Bidens running mate, spouse Jerry Demings said he would not give up his elected post. 'I definitely will stay on as Orange County mayor and would just leverage my relationship on behalf of the residents and taxpayers of Orange County,' he said"

HOME SWEET HOME? Trump made Florida his official residence. He may have also made a legal mess, by Washington Posts Manuel Roig-Franzia: Digging into the catacombs of local records to build an argument against the dock, a small group of loosely aligned preservationists, disgruntled neighbors and attorneys have unearthed documents that they assert call into question the legality of Trumps much-publicized decision late last year to change his official domicile from Manhattan to Mar-a-Lago and to register to vote in Florida using the clubs address.

COUNTER POINT Slow down on reopening Florida, legislators tell governor, by Sun Sentinels Anthony Man: All seven Democratic members of Congress from South Florida, the region of the state thats been by far the most affected by the new coronavirus, are warning Gov. Ron DeSantis that they have grave concerns about the way hes trying to reopen the state.

BY THE NUMBERS The U.S. Treasury Department and IRS reported Friday that 9.16 million Floridians have received economic impact payments that were included in the CARES Act approved by Congress. The payments to Floridians total $15.1 billion so far. Meanwhile, since mid-March the state of Florida has paid 531,702 people a total of $1.21 billion in unemployment benefits. The Department of Economic Opportunity reports that 1.28 million people have filed claims.

WHO GOT THE MONEY Flailing corporations took millions in stimulus funding aimed at small businesses, by Palm Beach Daily News Wendy Rhodes: For example, a Tampa corporation specializing in the treatment of sleep apnea, Advanzeon Solutions, Inc., on April 27 received a $1.2 million loan through the Paycheck Protection Program as part of the federal CARES Act. But financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the company was losing money long before the coronavirus pandemic.

PREPARING FOR THE WORST South Florida prepares for unique hurricane season, by Sun Sentinels David Fleshler: If Florida experiences the misfortune of a hurricane on top of an epidemic this year, the encounter will be unlike any previous confrontation with the powerful storms. If you lose power, it may take longer to get it back. If your house is damaged, the in-person insurance adjuster could be replaced by a phone app that will allow you to send your insurance company photos of the damage. At shelters, workers will conduct health screenings and temperature checks.

GETTER BETTER Five Mile Swamp Fire: 2,200 acre blaze quiets down over the weekend, structure response pulls out, by Pensacola News Journals Annie Blanks: Firefighters got a better handle on the massive Five Mile Swamp Fire over the weekend, keeping the 2,200-plus acre blaze at 65% contained and residential neighborhoods out of its path.

Human-caused fire in Big Cypress National Preserve nears 30,000 acres, closes U.S. 41, by Naples Daily News Michael Braun

BACK IN THE ARENA President Trump praises return of UFC: We want our sports back, by Associated Press: The mixed martial arts behemoth is holding three shows in eight days in Jacksonville, where state officials deemed professional sports with a national audience exempt from a stay-at-home order as long as the location is closed to the general public. The UFC came up with a 25-page document to address health and safety protocols, procedures that led to Jacar Souza testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday. His middleweight bout against Uriah Hall was canceled late Friday. Souzas two cornermen also tested positive, the UFC said in a statement.

FCCI Insurance CEO arrested for alleged battery on officer, other charges, by Sarasota Observers Mark Gordon: Craig Johnson, chairman, CEO and president of FCCI Insurance Group, one of the Sarasota-Manatee regions largest employers, has been arrested for allegedly resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. Johnson, authorities say, was both physically and verbally abusive to officers after a disagreement at a restaurant, and said officers would pay because of his friendship with the Sarasota sheriff. Johnson, in a May 8 statement emailed to the Business Observer, sister publication of the Sarasota Observer, denies the allegations.Johnson continued to rant, the Sarasota Police affidavit states, and stated to officers, Im going to knock you out and that officers were responding like they were going to a black neighborhood.

BIRTHDAYS: (Was Sunday) Former U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler Stephen M. Ross, principal owner of the Miami Dolphins Ryan Wiggins, owner and chief strategist for Full Contact Strategies Herald-Tribunes Zac Anderson Associated Press Bobby Caina Calvan (Was Saturday) Bill Herrle, NFIB executive director in Florida.

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Florida has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Sunshine State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause youre promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [emailprotected].

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Legislative leaders and the S-word Floridians stayed home before they were told to Mar-a-Lago mess Live sports returns - Politico

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India finds itself in an increasingly dangerous world, one that is fragmenting and slowing down economically. It is a world in transition, one in which Indias adversaries state or non-state, or both as in Pakistans case are becoming increasingly powerful. If the external world is becoming more unpredictable and uncertain, so are internal politics and security in most of the powers. These are challenges that traditional institutions and state structures are not well-equipped to handle, mitigate, or solve.

In this changing world, what are some of the basic and long-term drivers of Indias foreign policy which determine the overarching goal? What is Indias strategy to achieve those goals? What should India be doing?

Also read: Modi reviving NAM wont be enough in post-Covid world. India must reconsider joining RCEP

The task of Indias foreign policy is to protect and secure Indias integrity, citizens, values and assets, and to enable the development and transformation of India into a modern nation in which every Indian can achieve his or her full potential. The task of foreign policy professionals is to enable the transformation of India and to create an environment for that transformation.

Some in India think that this is too defensive a goal, that it should make it clear that it wishes to be a great power or a superpower. Frankly, being a great power will follow, not precede, Indias success in building a strong, prosperous, and modern India. And there is not much point being a great power with miserable people. India has a long way to go, despite all that it has achieved since independence.

This task does not limit Indias calculus to its own territory but also demands that it has an active engagement with the world. It determines what sort of engagement India seeks. It excludes ideas such as exporting democracy, protecting the ideological frontiers of India, creating global public goods, seeking status, seeking revenge, undoing Partition, and other such pursuits, except if they contribute to the security of Indias citizens and assets and to Indias development and transformation.

Indias goal therefore is sufficient security, not absolute security. Why? Because absolute security for any one state in the system would mean absolute insecurity for all the other states. By this criterion, with a few exceptions, Indias leadership has successfully managed to provide their country with sufficient security to enable it to change and grow faster after independence than ever before in its long history.

Also read: Covid-19 different from Tiananmen, China wont be able to tide over crisis: Ex-NSA Menon

All rising powers in history have chosen to keep their head down while building their own strength, rather than inviting resistance to their rise to great power status by proclaiming their power and its uses. Those that followed the path of flaunting their ambition and their growing power too early, like Wilhelmine Germany and Japan in the 1930s, were frustrated in their rise and paid a heavy price.

No matter how powerful, a rising power needs to set up a hierarchy of tasks and work with others. No state can handle or achieve everything that it wishes to simultaneously and alone. Indias tasks should be prioritised on the basis of how situations and actions affect Indias ability to transform. Those that most affect the transformation of India are the most important.

We are living in a time when there is a deep sense of strategic confusion, not just in India but in some of the most powerful states in the world. In Indias case, that confusion extends not just as to the ultimate goal Indias foreign policy should pursue, but also to the best means to achieve them. Indians seem to mistake controlling the narrative with creating outcomes, which is the real task of foreign and security policy. Prime Minister Modi has declared a goal of India to be a Vishwaguru, or world teacher, which is still a long way away when it is an importer of knowledge and technology. Nor is it clear that this status will actually contribute to transforming the lives of Indias citizens, though it might satisfy the ego. Besides, this is also a time of fundamental phase transformation in the international system due to the effects of technology.

While the world around India has changed in fundamental ways, it is still doing what was good some years ago. It may be frittering its energies away on status and prestige goals rather than Indias hard interests. In other words, India has not adjusted its policies to the new realities.

Also read: Global outreach, internal motivation: The crux of PM Modis Buddha Purnima speech

It is important for India to remain optimistic. It has a moment of double opportunity if it changes its ways and stops wasting time on peripheral issues. Tactically, China-US contention which is structural and therefore likely to continue for some time with a paradigm shift away from cooperation to increasing contention, despite temporary deals and victories declared by one or both opens up opportunities and space for other powers. Both China and the United States will look to put other conflicts and tensions on the back burner while they deal with their primary concern, the other. This effect is already perceptible in the Wuhan meeting between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi in early 2018, and the apparent truce and dialing back of rhetoric by both India and China, even though this does not extend to a new strategic framework or understanding or to a settlement of outstanding issues.

Strategically speaking, there is again an opportunity for Indias transformation. Despite dim prospects for the global economy as a whole, the United Nations forecasts that if China grows at 3%, India at 4% and the US at 1.5%, by 2050 Chinas per capita GDP would be 42% of U.S. levels, and Indias at 26%, where China is now. China would be the worlds largest economy (in PPP terms), India the second, and the U.S. the third. By that time, both China and India will be overwhelmingly urban societies.

Also read: Modi slams Pakistan at NAM meet, says some countries busy spreading other deadly viruses

Of course, history, like life, is not a linear extrapolation from the past. But given the recent record of India growing at near 7% for over 30 years and China at around 10% for the same period, the lower estimates suggested by the U.N. appear a reasonable guess. Both India and China have much the same ratio of trade to GDP, show a hesitation in wholeheartedly embracing the private sector, display widening income inequality and distribution failures, and show limited state capacity, particularly in health and education. But rapid growth has given them the means and access to technologies to deal with these problems, if they can manage rising geopolitical risk and avoid costly entanglements abroad.

Indias expectations of the state and of the world are much higher than they ever were. And this is so at a time when the world itself is much more uncertain than it ever has been since World War II politically, economically, and in terms of the pace of change in technology and lifestyles.

As a result of seventy years of development, by most metrics of power, India has improved her relative position vis--vis every other country except China. This is particularly true since reforms began in 1991. And yet, today India is more dependent on the outside world than ever before. It relies on the world for energy, technology, essential goods like fertiliser and coal, commodities, access to markets, and capital.

Consequently, India cannot think of securing itself without considering energy security, food security, and other issues that can derail Indias quest to transform India, such as climate change and cyber security. It also cannot think of securing India without trying to shape the external environment along with its partners. When you add the new security agenda and the contested global commons in outer and cyber space and the high seas, to Indias traditional state-centred security concerns such as claims on Indias territory, nuclear proliferation, state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, etc., you can see why there is greater worry or a sense of insecurity.

Also read: Modi gained popularity in Covid, but real test comes later. Dont judge a leader in crisis

India risks missing the bus to becoming a developed country if it continues business and politics as usual, or tries to imitate Chinas experience in the last forty years, does not adapt, and does not manage its internal social and political churn better. Avoiding war and attaining ones goals is the highest form of strategy by any tradition or book whether Kautilya, Sun Tzu or Machiavelli. And if Indias record over seventy years of independence is to be examined, it has not done badly in moving towards its main goal of transforming India.

That requires the national security calculus to consider broader questions from technology issues, like atomic energy and cyber security, to resource issues like energy security, while building the strength to deal with traditional hard security issues. India has weathered several storms and performed its basic functions in the past. But it is certain that what it will face now will not be more of the same. The last and most important improvement that India needs to make concerns its national security structures and their work introducing flexibility into Indias thinking and Indias structures. For change is the only certainty in life.

Ultimately what should guide India is the quest to make itself a great power with a difference, namely, in a way which enables it to achieve Mahatma Gandhis dream of wiping the tear from the eye of every Indian. That would be in keeping with Indias core values and national interest. That is the right objective for a great country like India.

Shivshankar Menon is a Distinguished Fellow at Brookings India. Menon served as the National Security Advisor to the Indian Prime Minister from January 2010 to May 2014. Views are personal.

The article has been extracted from a report titled Indias Foreign Affairs Strategy, first published on the Brookings India website.

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Modis goal of making India Vishwaguru wont transform lives of Indians: Shivshankar Menon - ThePrint

1716: For as long as men have set sail, they have told stories about the seaof its women, of its treasures, of its beasts and of her. Shes been given many names by the sailors who have traveled her waters. Calypso, Amphitrite, Ursula, Melusine. A goddess, a queen, a witch, a daughter. In all of these, she is the sea, and the sea is a cruel mistress.

Get ready for a rollicking ride on the high seas with a bunch of hardened pirates and a fanatical Captain in The Isle of Gold, by Seven Jane. At first glance, I assumed this would be a quick little read as the book clocks in at a mere 237 pages. Instead, The Isle of Gold turned into a meaty escape that combined the best of pirate lore and seafaring mythology in one fun story.

Our narrator is Merrin Smith, and on page one she is disguised as a man in order to gain berth on the infamous Riptide, helmed by the even more infamous Captain Erik Winters. Merrins goal is simple: she wants to find out who she is and where she came from. As an orphan, she was dropped on the island of Isla Perla and sent to work in the kitchens of a brothel. Isla Perla is a typical pirate inhabited Caribbean islandloud, dirty, and filled with brothels and fighting miscreants. Yet its not lawless. Captain Winters rules along with his love, the mysterious and beguiling Evangeline Dahl. But Dahl has disappeared, and Winters has made it his lifes work to bring her back. So hes setting sail for the fabled Ogygia, the surreptitious Isle of Gold where Calypso had held Odysseus prisoner. Aka, Bracile. And Merrin believes that place holds the key to her identity.

Merrin is drunk as a skunk as she stumbles into the tavern to apply as a shipmate for the journey. Mr. Brandon Dunn, the ships quartermaster, is suspicious of him from the start and it seems she wont even make it out of the tavern. However, Captain Winters makes an appearance and shes hired to sail with a bunch of men who want nothing to do with her. She is still disguised as a man and no one seems the wiser but her inexperience at sea doesnt endear her to the crew. Luckily, Dunn discovers that Merrin can read and so shes sent to the Captains quarters to help him figure out the best route to the fabled island.

As Merrin adjusts to life on the sea, she starts to truly enjoy herself. She gets a sense that she belongs here amongst the rough men of the Riptide. There is Mister Clarke the ships doctor, whose gluttony has him bringing his own store of meat on board. Jomo the cook, whose African backstory is fascinating. Rounding out the cast is Tom Birch, who causes no small amount of problems for Merrin as she finds herself becoming more and more attracted to him.

The lazy days at sea soon turn into peril as the Riptide makes its way across the Atlantic towards Bracile. And reaching that destination will test everyone on board with Merrin being a key that she could never have imagined. Here The Isle of Gold turns to mythology and at once you feel as if Odysseus himself is breathing over your shoulder reading a story that sounds so familiar.

The Isle of Gold is escapist storytelling at its best. Merrin details the saga as if she is reclining in a soft, leather chair next to a blazing fireplace and you are her captive audience. Its lyrically descriptive and took me out of this world so much I could smell the salt air and hear the creak of the ship. Seven Jane blends piracy and mythology splendidly and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I took delving into itit makes me want to search out more pirate-themed stories. The Isle of Gold was a lot of fun, even if there was nary an Arrrrgh to be had. If youre looking to forget whats going on outside your door, taking a journey on the Riptide may just the answer youre looking for!

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The Isle of Gold by Seven Jane - coastalbreezenews.com

Kapowerships Kaya Bey powership. Photo: Kapowership

ByAnna Shiryaevskaya (Bloomberg) As economic lockdowns complicate efforts to bring electricity to every corner of the planet, one company is putting generation units on ships that can sit offshore and plug into local grids at short notice.

Karpowership is busy marketing floating power plants across the developing world, where governments are seeking extra voltage to power hospitals and other facilities to keep the lights on during the coronavirus pandemic.

Vessels can hook into an onshore grid quickly, sidestepping the red-tape and construction issues involved with building a traditional power plant. And these ships come with their own fuel liquefied natural gas and fuel oil tapping into markets that are currently oversupplied.

We can deploy them in less than 30 days, Zeynep Harezi, chief commercial officer of Kapowership, said by phone from her office in Istanbul where the ships are designed.

The generators on the ships can produce between 36 megawatts to 470 megawatts of electricity and are already fully financed. While the ships use fossil fuels and present a challenge to the global drive for cleaner energy, they remain among the few solutions for feeding power to remote areas.

Such ships can work well in places with high barriers for onshore power stations or that lack access to gas pipelines, the International Gas Union said in its annual LNG report. Theres also risks: high cost and up-front capital requirements. Also, floating power plants concepts compete with more traditional units that run on liquid fuels, renewables and nuclear power, which may receive governmental support over LNG, the report said.

The concept of a fully integrated floating re-gasification and power plant may be a more realistic solution to grant easy access to clean electricity production, the IGU said. Such fast track projects, built and commissioned at reputed shipyards, may materialize in the near future.

Karpowership has the biggest fleet of the vessels. Starting from the first ship for Iraq, which took three years to build in 2010, it now operates 25 such ships in 11 countries from Mozambique to Cuba to Indonesia. Coronavirus hasnt slowed work, opening some opportunities for new markets instead.

The company converts existing dry bulk vessels, buys engines in bulk and builds them one after another, almost like a production line, Harezi said.

The technology for the power plant is internal combustion engine, rather than more typical turbines. While more expensive to build, they are cheaper to maintain and better suited for countries in hot climates with unstable grids, which are often in desperate need for power to avoid blackouts.

At 8 to 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, Karpowership provides a power ship, a floating storage and re-gasification unit for LNG and, if required, the fuel itself.

If the customer asks to procure LNG on our behalf, we collect offers like regular players, she said. We make it as transparent as possible.

The ship can use LNG or fuel oil. Some start with the latter and then switch. The company targets for its power ships to be operating at 80% LNG-to-power by 2025.

Since traditional power plants on land can take six years or more to complete, floating units have a distinct advantage and can appear in underthree monthsto deal with a surge in demand. While these ships often are initially thought as a bridge solution until something more permanent can be built, some of the ships stay long-term, she said.

Karpowership is building 4,000 megawatts of new capacity on 20 ships,aiming todouble the fleet size in the next three to five years, both in terms of megawatts and number of ships.

And as the coronavirus pandemic keeps large swathes of economies on lockdown, Harezi said her teams living and working on power ships for three months or more present a natural quarantine environment.

With assistance fromJessica Shankleman.

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Floating Power Plants Are Taking to the High Seas - gcaptain.com

As economic lockdowns complicate efforts to bring electricity to every corner of the planet, one company is putting generation units on ships that can sit offshore and plug into local grids on short notice.

Karpowership is marketing floating power plants across the developing world, where governments are seeking extra voltage to power hospitals and other facilities to keep the lights on during the coronavirus pandemic.

Vessels can hook into an onshore grid quickly, sidestepping the red-tape and construction issues involved with building a traditional power plant. And these ships come with their own fuel -- liquefied natural gas and fuel oil tapping into markets that are currently oversupplied.

We can deploy them in less than 30 days, Zeynep Harezi, chief commercial officer of Kapowership, said by phone from her office in Istanbul where the ships are designed.

The generators on the ships can produce between 36 megawatts to 470 megawatts of electricity and are already fully financed. While the ships use fossil fuels and present a challenge to the global drive for cleaner energy, they remain among the few solutions for feeding power to remote areas.

Such ships can work well in places with high barriers for onshore power stations or that lack access to gas pipelines, the International Gas Union said in its annual LNG report. Theres also risks: high cost and upfront capital requirements. Also, floating power plants concepts compete with more traditional units that run on liquid fuels, renewables and nuclear power, which may receive governmental support over LNG, the report said.

The concept of a fully integrated floating re-gasification and power plant may be a more realistic solution to grant easy access to clean electricity production, the IGU said. Such fast track projects, built and commissioned at reputed shipyards, may materialize in the near future.

Karpowership has the biggest fleet of the vessels. Starting from the first ship for Iraq, which took three years to build in 2010, it now operates 25 such ships in 11 countries from Mozambique to Cuba to Indonesia. Coronavirus hasnt slowed work, opening some opportunities for new markets instead.

The company converts existing dry bulk vessels, buys engines in bulk and builds them one after another, almost like a production line, Harezi said.

The technology for the power plant is internal combustion engine, rather than more typical turbines. While more expensive to build, they are cheaper to maintain and better suited for countries in hot climates with unstable grids, which are often in desperate need for power to avoid blackouts.

At 8 cents to 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, Karpowership provides a power ship, a floating storage and re-gasification unit for LNG and, if required, the fuel itself.

If the customer asks to procure LNG on our behalf, we collect offers like regular players, she said. We make it as transparent as possible.

The ship can use LNG or fuel oil. Some start with the latter and then switch. The company targets for its power ships to be operating at 80% LNG-to-power by 2025.

Since traditional power plants on land can take six years or more to complete, floating units have a distinct advantage and can appear in under three months to deal with a surge in demand. While these ships often are initially thought as a bridge solution until something more permanent can be built, some of the ships stay long-term, she said.

Karpowership is building 4,000 megawatts of new capacity on 20 ships, aiming to double the fleet size in the next three to five years, both in terms of megawatts and number of ships.

And as the coronavirus pandemic keeps large swaths of economies on lockdown, Harezi said, her teams living and working on power ships for three months or more present a natural quarantine environment.

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Mobile power plants take to the high seas, sidestepping red tape involved with traditional plants - NNY360

In response to the global spread of COVID-19, several regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) have suspended the requirement that vessels fishing in their waters have independent observers onboard. RFMOsmultinational bodies that oversee many of the fisheries on the high seastook the step to limit the potential exposure of fishers, observers, and inspectors to the virus.

While observers remain on shore, independent data on catch, bycatch, fishing effort, and compliance with conservation management measures will go uncollected, which means less reporting of key scientific and enforcement data and an increased chance that illegal fishing activity will go undetected.

In response to these decisions, 19 conservation organizations sent a letter to the heads of the five tuna RFMOs and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, detailing several actions that fisheries bodies should take to mitigate the loss of the observer data. These steps include urgently developing and implementing robust electronic monitoring (EM) programs. Such programs involve using cameras, gear sensors, and GPS to provide high-quality fishing data, cost-effectively, which allows remote review of fishing activity with minimal human contact and leads to more accurate self-reporting by fishing vessels.

To help the RFMOs design and implement an effective EM program, The Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned California Environmental Associates Consulting to produce a report that lays out the choices that fisheries managers face when considering EM. The reportRoadmap for Electronic Monitoring inRFMOsdiscusses how those organizations should implement an EM where there is a wide range of vessels, gears, fishing locations, catch compositions, and international stakeholders.

The report includes recommendations on several key elements of an effective EM program design:

In light of the impacts that COVID-19 has had on fisheries oversight, it is now clearer than ever that RFMOs need to embrace electronic monitoring. Although there may be challenges in developing an EM program, those issues are solvable. Using the report, RFMOs can develop well-designed EM programs to scale up coverage of their fisheries, increase transparency on the high seas, and be better prepared for future circumstances that might limit onboard observation.

Jamie Gibbon is a manager and Esther Wozniak is a senior associate with The Pew Charitable Trusts international fisheries team.

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International Fisheries Managers' Pandemic Response Highlights Need to Expand Electronic Monitoring - The Pew Charitable Trusts

EXCLUSIVE: Discovery Channel is set to launch All On The Line, a new high-stakes reality series on the high seas that follows two fishing boats and their crews off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Its set for premiere on May 22 at 9 pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel.

Production had wrapped on the series before coronavirus brought a halt to most TV and film production in mid-March.

All On The Line focuses on the fishermens quest to snag the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, considered one of the most valuable fish in the world where prices can reach as high as $20K for a single catch. This also means a tight quota to avoid overfishing and encourage sustainability, something that can be reached at any moment and send fishermen home empty handed. To win big, fishermen must reel in the biggest tuna as fast as possible. But theres a catch: each boat is allowed one catch per day and must reel them in by hand, resulting in a backbreaking battle that can last for hours. With the livelihood of their families on the line and generations of tradition behind them, these families of fishermen will rely on each other and work together towards a shared goal.

Following two fishing boats, the Julia Nicole, helmed by Dan Smith Sr. and his 18-year-old son Danny Jr., and the Subdivider, led by fisherman Johnny Johnson, All On The Line spotlights the special dynamic between these two groups and their ability to band together in an industry that otherwise demands fierce, sometimes cutthroat, competition.

You can watch a preview clip below.

All On The Line is produced for Discovery by Raw TV. For Raw TV, Dimitri Doganis and James Bates are executive producers and Chris Lent is Showrunner. For Discovery, Carter Figueroa is executive producer and Paola Espinosa is associate producer.

All On The Line joins Discoverys hugely popular Deadliest Catch franchise, also set on the high seas.

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Discovery Greenlights All On The Line Reality Series For May Premiere - Deadline

Because of the coronavirus quarantine, millions of people are socially distancing themselves and staying at home in the hopes of flattening the curve. So, while youre doing your part to prevent the continued spread of the virus, why not sit down and find something new to binge-watch?

Hulu, with its colossal streaming library, is available for $5.99 per month, with a premium, commercial-free option available for $11.99 per month.

Considering that the streaming platform has the most extensive, high-quality selection of TV shows among any of its peers, its hard to go wrong with a price tag like that.

If youve already seen Tiger King and youre all caught up on Ozark, consider making the switch from Netflix to Hulu. And if youre still not convinced, here are a few of the best hidden gems you might not have known Hulu was carrying:

1) Better Things

The first two seasons of Better Things are somewhat overshadowed by the specter of co-creator Louis CK and his involvement in its development. But this tale of a divorced actress navigating parenthood and her career as she raises three daughters deserves better than to be trapped in the same conversation as CK. Star Pamela Adlon handles the bulk of the writing and the directing, steering the series into uncomfortable and often painful places. But its those places from which the show is able to pull its deepest (and most cathartic) laughs. Better Things is a comedy, and a great one at that, but its punches land just as hard as any drama on TV. All four seasons are currently available for streaming.

2) Black Sails

Since Game of Thrones ended, fans have found themselves in search of another massive fantasy drama capable of filling the void it left. But as it turns out, the best substitute for the show was airing at the same time. Balancing the same character-driven plotting with all of the political maneuvering of the early seasons of Thrones, Black Sails is a gritty, blood-soaked prequel to Treasure Island that almost nobody watched while it was airing. And thats a shame, because its an intelligent, exciting highlight of fantasy Peak TV. If youre looking for a high-seas adventure story that doesnt overstay its welcome, this is the right choice. All four seasons are currently available for streaming.

3) Nathan For You

Nathan For You is a strange docu-reality comedy starring Nathan Fielder, who is gifted with an almost superhuman ability to endure social discomfort. In the series, Fielder works as a marketing/management consultant, offering struggling companies bizarre strategies to improve their businesses. Among the ideas he generates are creating a genuine viral video of a pig rescuing a baby goat from drowning; sending a group of people on a multi-day hike for a gas station rebate; and selling TVs for $1 to guests willing to crawl through a tiny door and past an alligator. The show is as much social experiment as it is comedy, and yet its hard to find anything anywhere near as uncomfortably funny as this show. All four seasons are currently available for streaming.

4) Terriers

Terriers ran for one season on FX before being cancelled due to virtually nonexistent viewership. This is most likely due to a poor marketing campaign and an even worse title; after all, many apparently thought the series was about dog fighting. Those who tuned in, however, were treated to the raw, crackling chemistry of leads Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James as unlicensed P.I.'s attempting to uncover a political conspiracy in Ocean Beach, San Diego. The series is unique, thrilling and beautifully written, with a cliffhanger in its last moments that is somehow one of the most perfect endings in the history of TV. All 13 episodes of Terriers are currently available for streaming.

5) The Terror

Even in the age of Peak TV, great horror shows are hard to come by. Thats part of what makes anthology series The Terror so special, with both of its seasons telling gorgeous, self-contained stories that are as profound as they are bone-chilling. Season one follows the crew of Franklins Lost Expedition as they find themselves stranded in a frozen sea, confronted by the cruelty of nature while an elusive menace picks the men off one by one. Season two follows a Japanese-American community haunted by a specter from folklore as they are imprisoned in an internment camp in World War II. Both are excellent, and are currently available for streaming in their entirety.

RELATED COVERAGE ABOUT STREAMING TV SERVICES:

5 hidden gems on Disney Plus (for when you get tired of Netflix)

How to get a free month of horror movie streaming service Shudder and what to watch with it

The best streaming services for binge-watching TV shows while stuck at home

7 classic TV shows you can stream on Hulu to help pass the time

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Joseph Rejent may be reached at jrejent@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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5 hidden gems on Hulu (for when you get tired of Netflix) - nj.com

Rohingya refugees whose relatives, including children, have been stranded for weeks on cramped boats have urged international governments to act before they perish at sea.

Two boats carrying around 500 people were last spotted off Bangladesh about a week ago, but are believed to have returned to the high seas. The refugees on board, who were fleeing desperate conditions in camps in Bangladesh, had attempted to reach Malaysia but appear to have been turned away. Bangladesh has also said it will not allow the boats to dock.

Mohammed, a father who has lived in the camps in Bangladesh since 2017, when more than 700,000 Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar, believes his 13-year-old son is among those stranded. His son went missing 51 days ago, but later phoned to say that he would be taking a boat with friends to Malaysia.

Mohammed has since seen a video, shared on Facebook, in which he recognised his son onboard a packed boat. He looked hungry and he had become very thin, Mohammed said. There is no way to get information about the boat. Whether he is alive or not is totally unknown.

After two and a half years living in the sprawling camps in Coxs Bazar, where about 1 million Rohingya refugees are sheltering, Mohammed said he believes his son had become desperate. He cannot access education here in the camp. There are no jobs, theres no available income here for our boys, he said.

He had not known that his son planned to make the journey, he added.

Mohib Ullah, chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, a community group, said he was aware of at least 20 families who were missing relatives. Every day families are coming and crying in my office, he said. They are people of the camp, so they have a right to return to the camp.

Among those fearing for their loved ones is Razaul, who believes his brother, his sister-in-law and their two children, aged six and eight, are also at sea. He went to visit them in March and was told by neighbours that they had left to go to Malaysia. They have been missing for 53 days.

I have only one message. My question to the UN and to the government of Bangladesh and others is to allow the boats to come in, he said. They can save their lives.

Last month, the Bangladesh authorities rescued a separate ship, allowing about 400 emaciated people, mostly teenagers, to come ashore after spending two harrowing months at sea.

Passengers were starved and beaten by traffickers, according to the charity Mdecins Sans Frontires, which treated survivors. More than 70 people may have died on the boat, it has been reported, though no official death toll has been announced. One of the survivors told the Guardian after disembarking, that, as the boat ran out of both food and water, the bodies of other refugees were thrown into the sea.

It is believed that as many as three boats remain stranded, though their location is unclear.

Rohingya refugees, who are unable to return to Myanmar and desperate to escape the hopeless conditions in Bangladesh, are preyed upon by traffickers who charge large sums in exchange for the promise of a better life in Malaysia.

Mohib Ullah fears those on board may be abused by traffickers. It is too bad, too bad to explain what we are hearing from people, he said of the conditions on other ships.

Right groups accuse Malaysia, where there has been a rise in xenophobic rhetoric, of using Covid-19 as an excuse to turn back refugees. The country has recently turned away at least two boats.

Bangladeshs foreign minister, Abdul Momen, has also refused to rescue the boats. The country was already doing far more to support Rohingya than others in the region, he said last week.

Amnesty International said governments should stop pointing at one another and act quickly. Countries must immediately begin search and rescue operations for the boats, said Saad Hammadi, the groups south Asia campaigner, who called on leaders to show compassion before those on board die at sea.

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Let the boats in: Rohingya refugees plead for stranded relatives to be saved - The Guardian

Winston Churchills truism that Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma remains as acute as it was when he articulated it during an October 1939 BBC radio address. It verges on impossible to forecast what Moscow will do tactically. What it will do strategically, however, is more intelligible and thus more predictable.

Perhaps, added the future prime minister, there is a key to the riddlenamely Russian national interest. Seeing Nazi Germany overrun southeastern Europe or the Black Sea basin would be contrary to the historic life-interests of Russia. He delicately avoided mentioning that the Soviet Union and Germany were fresh off conquering and partitioning Poland under a secret pact, doing so the month before Churchill took to the airwaves. Had he included the invasion in his catalog of Russian interests, he would have seen that it made perfect sense to Soviet leaders to seek a strategic buffer in Poland. It advanced the national interest as the Soviets reckoned it.

Anyway, its worth asking how Moscow interprets Russias historic life-interests eighty years hence. What do Russians want today?

Its a question thats ripped from the headlines yet feels like a throwback. In recent years, Russian warplanes have resumed their Cold War practice of buzzing American ships or aircraft that venture into any sea or airspace that Moscow considers a Russian preserve. The Black Sea has been a favorite arena for mock combat, as Churchill might have prophesied judging from his BBC address. U.S. Navy destroyers cruising there have repeatedly filmed Russian planes making close, unsafe passes. The crew of USS Donald Cook must have felt singled out: the ship endured harassment in both the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.

But Russian aviators seem to have taken routine probing of United States and allied air defenses uptempo since the coronavirus swept the globe. Twice in recent weeks, for example, Russian aircraft have passed within twenty-five feet of U.S. Navy P-8 surveillance planes over the Mediterranean Sea. Twenty-five feet is a hairs breadth in aviation terms, as a Chinese fighter jock found out in 2001 after colliding with a U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane over the South China Sea and plunging to his doom. A longstanding agreement between Washington and Moscow proscribes such hotdogging for fear it will provoke an armed clash.

Nor do close-quarters encounters exhaust the spicy news out of the Russian military. For example, the New York Times carried an intriguing story about the ultra-deep-diving submarine Losharik, which suffered a fire sixty miles off the Norwegian coast last year. Fourteen Russian sailors perished in the blaze, which seems to have ignited in the nuclear-powered boats battery compartment. Theres far more to the story than human drama, though. The New York Times notes that Losharik is far from your ordinary submarine. Naval historian extraordinaire Norman Polmar estimates that the boat can dive to a maximum depth somewhere in the neighborhood from eighty-two hundred to twenty thousand feet.

No manned sub in the U.S. Navy inventory approaches even Polmars lower figure. Americans deploy unmanned underwater vehicles when they want to plumb the oceans deepest recesses. Loshariks hull is evidently built around a series of titanium spheres housing the control room, living spaces, and machinery spaces. Spheres are strong when made of stout materials. Hence the boat can voyage to the bottom of the sea without being crushed by extreme pressure. Why bother building such a craft? Well, the official account out of Moscow depicted its mission as scientific in nature. That Losharik was undertaking research when it caught fire is plausible, true or not. Humanity has much to learn about the underwater realm.

But Loshariks ability to prowl the seafloor gives the Kremlin less benign options as well. Options like cutting transoceanic cables that provide internet connectivity, connect up the worlds financial institutions, and on and on. Severing an antagonists communications is a time-honored opening move in the war. Great Britain cut the telegraph cables connecting imperial Germany to the world at the outset of the Great War a century ago. Information and disinformation warfare is a field of combat Moscow likes to bestride. Losharik supplies a weapon for waging it.

Loshariks crew could also attack Western anti-submarine sensors strewn across the seabed in the Greenland-Iceland-U.K. gap and other narrow passages. Puncturing Western navies monitoring capability would clear a transit corridor for Russian Navy boats into the North Atlantic high seas or other operating grounds, where detecting, tracking, and assailing them is far harder than in confined quarters. In short, the Losharik disaster shines a spotlight on yet another Russian implement for making mischief at Western expense.

All is not rosy for Moscow, though. The Russian armed forceslike all armed forceshave to live within their means. Russia depends heavily on exporting oil and natural gas, so low energy prices constrict its national income and thus its ability to afford pricey armaments. Prices have been low for some time and have run off a cliff amid coronavirus lockdowns. Just this week, for instance, the news broke that the Severnoye Design Bureau, a division of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, has halted the development of a nuclear-powered destroyer and a bulked-up variant of the Russian Navys Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate. Summarily canceling two marquee projects cant be good tidings for Russian sea power.

In fact, Russian weapons acquisitions invert the pattern from the Cold War, when the Soviet military was vast in numbers but backward in technology. Quantity, believed Soviet chieftains, boasted a quality all its own. Modern-day Russia prefers to invest in small numbers of high-quality armaments at the expense of quantity. Whether Russian mariners, aviators, and soldiers can compensate for the resulting shortfall in mass remains in doubt. Quantity isnt everything. But if the lynchpin of strategy is to deliver more combat power than the foe at the scene of combat at the decisive time, a few impressive platforms may not suffice. Quantity still matters.

So much for the roundup of Russian defense news. How to make sense of Russian motives underlying the news? Well, two millennia ago Thucydides posited that fear, honor, and interest represent three prime movers impelling human actions. Start with the Russian national interest, as Churchill did in 1939. Peacetime military strategy is an armed conversation with opponents, allies and friends, and prospective allies and friends. The conversation is about relative power and weakness. Not just pugilists but spectators decide the outcomes of peacetime confrontations between armed forces. Whoever most observers believe would have won in wartime tends to come out ahead in peacetime. Shaping perceptions, then, is armed conversationalists goal.

General George S. Patton explained the logic in his famous address to the Third Army: people flock to a winner and scorn a loser. Buzzing ships or warplanes might cow U.S. crews over time, rendering them risk-averse. Thats one audience for Russian antics. But the Kremlins true aim is to project an image of power and resolve, molding perceptions in capitals that matter. Shaking confidence in U.S. military might dishearten political leaders and ordinary citizens in countries where Moscow covets influenceNATO members, former Soviet republics, and former Eastern Bloc states in particular. If U.S. allies and friends come to disbelieve in their superpower protector, they will prove increasingly pliant when Russia demands something. Patton would instantly grasp the reasoning behind Russias playground hijinks. They could help the Kremlin get its way.

Fear blends with the Russian thirst for honor. During the 1990s Moscow watched as the West intruded into the former Soviet space and, in some cases, made allies out of former Soviet republics or Warsaw Pact clients. NATO waged war in the Balkans, a region Russians have long regarded as a sphere of interest, etc. Events fanned Russias ingrained paranoia about Western martial endeavors around its periphery, and there was little Moscow could do about them during that chaotic phase in Russian history. It only seems natural for Moscow to reassert itself in its near abroad now that it sports the wherewithal to do so.

So warlike one-upmanship helps Russia burnish its image as a virile political and military force after the traumatic 1990s. It holds fear at bay while earning new respect. Or as Thucydides might put it, provoking small-scale armed encounters in which U.S. forces remain passive slakes Moscows thirst for honor. Fear, honor, interest; primal motives drive moderns the way they drove the ancients. But dont rule out other motives, either. Thucydides doesnt claim that fear, honor, and interest are the only motives that animate human beings, just three of the strongest. There are others.

Such as merriment. Its hard for even a casual observer of Russian president Vladimir Putin to escape the impression that hes having a blast. He takes delight in causing trouble for the West, even apart from sober concerns such as fulfilling national interests, warding off threats, or repairing wounded national honor. Politicians who find the game of statecraft fun enjoy an edge over those who feel burdened by it. Putin plays a weak hand welland gleefully.

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Why Warlike One-Upmanship Works to Russia's Benefit - The National Interest

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlbecame a break out sensation in the early '00s and Disney, realizing there were more fans of action and adventure on the High Seas than they anticipated, launched a franchise based on the popular Disneyland attraction.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Reasons The Franchise Deserves Another Chance (& 5 Why Disney Should Let It Die)

As the sequels followedthe world-building became more extensive, it came to the point where the plot became convoluted and all hope of continuity vanished like theFlying Dutchmanbeneath the frothy waves. Unfortunately, the introduction of too many new characters, too many mythical artifacts, and too many double-crosses and switch-backs threatened to sink it. Here are 10 things that make no sense about the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

InPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,a down-on-his-luck Jack Sparrow trades his prized compass for some rum. This "betrayal" of the compass triggers Armando Salazar and his crew in the Devil's Triangle to look for the compass, because they believe it will eliminate their curse.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: 10 Most Hated Storylines

In previous movies, Jack gave it to Elizabeth to find Davy Jones' heart, he lost it to Cutler Beckett, regained it from Beckett, gave it to Will, let Blackbeard take it, gave it to Angelica, left it with Gibbs, etc, without it being "betrayed" and pointing to the "thing he fears most".

Fans learn in a flashback fromPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesthat Jack Sparrow received his compass from his dying captain, moments before he cursed Armando Salazar and all of his crew to haunt the Devil's Triangle.

This contradicts what they knew fromPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,which explained that Jack Sparrow got his compass from Tia Dalma/Calypso to point at what he wanted most.

The three-way duel inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chestis one of the most robust and iconic in cinema history, but it also appears to be superfluous. Jack Sparrow and Will Turner could have teamed up against Norrington for the heart of Davy Jones.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: The 10 Greatest Sword Fights

Sparrow could have used the heart to call off the Kraken and free his debts, then given it to Turner to free his father from servitude aboard theFlying Dutchman.Nothing about the curse stated the heart couldn't be shared among them, since Norrington's was the only plan that was unfavorable.

When Calypso betrayed Davy Jones by rescinding her love, he abandoned his duties on theFlying Dutchmanby neglecting to ferry the souls of the dead to the netherworld. When this happened, his human form gave way to a blustering barnacled squidman.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: The D&D Moral AlignmentsOf The Main Characters

When Jones is stabbed inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Will Turner assumes his duties as the new captain of theDutchman,and is allowed to serve in human form so that every ten years he may surface on land and see his wife and son. Yet for some reason when he's seen again inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,he's become barnacled like Davy Jones.

When Will is pierced in the heart inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,the only way to save his life is to have him replace Davy Jones as the captain of theFlying Dutchman.So why does his heart need to be placed in the chest apart from his body?

When Calypso charged Jones with ferrying souls to the netherworld, his heart was in his chest for at least a decade. He only removed it over grief of losing Calypso's love, but it wasn't a requirement of the curse. So why did Will need to put his heart in a chest when he could have served with it inside of him?

After the credits have rolled onPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,Will Turner's sleep is disrupted by a nightmare involving Davy Jones. Will rolls over to go back to sleep, not spying the wet barnacled footprints on the floor.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 Best Villains (& The 5 Worst)

This scene posits that Davy Jones isn't really dead and may show up in future films. This shouldn't be possible for two reasons; Will Turner broke Davy Jones's curse by being instated as the new captain of theDutchman,and because Poseidon's Trident was broken, therefore breaking all sea curses.

InPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,the historical significance of the Brethren Court meeting is amplified by Jack Sparrow explaining it hasn't happened in his lifetime. The severity of Davy Jones's rampage and the might of the East India Trading Company and Royal Navy wipingout the pirate way of life necessitates it.

The importance of the meeting comes into question inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,when the film shows that Salazar destroyed dozens of pirate vessels in his own efforts to end piracy on the High Seas. He stated he killed ever pirate save for Sparrow and his crew. Where was the Brethren Court then?

InPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Lord Cutler Beckett is in pursuit of Shipwreck's Cove, where the Pirate Brethren are to meet and gather their forces. Davy Jones knows its location as he appears there to speak with Calypso in confinement. He also knows about the Pieces of Eight.

Beckett bothering with anyone else, Sparrow or otherwise to find it, seems superfluous. Even if it was an impenetrable fortress, Jones could warp in and out along with his crew at Beckett's command. He also doesn't even need Sparrow, because he already was in league with Sao Feng.

Angelica is introduced as Jack Sparrow's equal inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,a pick-pocket and his former lover who can swashbuckle as well as any man. There's a scene where she disguises herself as Sparrow and no one notices the difference.

She's played by Penelope Cruz, who happens to look very feminine, and is several inches shorter than Johnny Depp. Aside from the height disparity, she has a thick Spanish accent in the film, and yet somehow passes for Sparrow convincingly.

InPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,fans learned more the Trident of Poseidon, a mythical artifact said to have power of all sea curses. If it's broken, then whomever is bound by a curse will be set free.

If this is true, why then didn't Calypso the sea goddess seek it out to break the curse the Pirate Brethren set on her? Why didn't Davy Jones use it to free himself from having to remain on theFlying Dutchman,bound to serve as its captain until someone stabbed him in the heart? Why didn't Barbossa and his crew seek it out in the first film?

NEXT:Star Wars: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Force Awakens

NextBrooklyn Nine-Nine: 5 Things That Changed After The Pilot (& 5 That Stayed The Same)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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10 Things That Make No Sense About The Pirates of the Caribbean Movies - Screen Rant

With no shortage of daring sword-fights, nautical battles, and romance on the High Seas, thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchisehas something for everyone.Who could forget the epic clash of titans inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlwhen Captain Jack Sparrow went up against his mutinous first mate Hector Barbossa? Or in its sequel, Lord Cutler Beckett bringing the might of the East India Trading Company down upon the Pirate Brethren?

RELATED: The 10 Greatest Pirates In Movie/Television History

Fans have faithfully followed the franchise for five films, cheering on the victories, trials, and rivalriesof its colorful characters as they sail the Seven Seas in search of adventure. While some rivalries proved endlessly exciting, others took the wind out of the franchise's sails. Here are the series' five best rivalries, along withfive that make no sense.

A highlight ofPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,the rivalry between Jack Sparrow and his mutinous first mate aboard theBlack Pearlwas a driving force behind the plot of the film.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: The 10 Greatest Sword Fights

It spilled out into even more gleeful antagonism inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesandPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.In true piratical fashion, each man wanted all the glory and loot for himself, with the Black Pearl shipbeing the top prize, trading barbarous words at the point of steel with great aplomb.

InPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestandPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Will Turner was prone to lover's quarrels with Elizabeth Swann over her interest in Captain Jack Sparrow. She'd grown close to Jack in Will's absence aboard theFlying Dutchman,and he wondered if the pirate had stolen her heart.

Jack and Elizabeth's flirtation was the product of emotional manipulation on both of their parts. As charming as Elizabeth may have found Jack, her heart belonged to Will, and Jack was Will's friend, whom he shouldn't have worried about stealing his fiance.

After the disgrace of Commodore Norrington at the hands of Captain Jack Sparrow, the East India Trading Company moves in on Port Royal as the point of authority for the Royal Navy in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Lord Cutler Beckett deems it necessary to not just wipe out Sparrow, but the pirate way of life.

Beckett begins a full-scale assault on Sparrow and the rest of the Pirate Brethren, which he enacts over the course of two films. Beckett is more manipulative and brutal than Norrington ever was, showing the truly sinister and dictatorial nature of the British Crown on the open seas.

For a man of Lord Cutler Beckett's acumen and cunning, it seemed odd for him to have a rivalry with James Norrington. Beckett effectively replaced Norrington as the figure of military authority in Port Royal and placed the might of the East India Training Companyin league with Davy Jones ahead of a once-renowned Commodore.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 Best Villains (& The 5 Worst)

Beckett should have done what he could to save Norrington's reputation with a Letter of Marque since they both represented the Crown's interests, not offered them to Will Turner, nor acquiesced to the demands of Elizabeth Swann.

Born fromPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,the rivalry between James Norrington and Will Turner began over Elizabeth Swann. She was betrothed to Norrington out of a sense of duty, a fact that infuriated Willas Elizabeth's true love.

Norrington continued to pine for Elizabeth in his own way, though his fall from grace in the second film didn't win him a higher place in her affections. Norrington knew he could never make her happy like her humble blacksmith, but that didn't stop him from trading sarcastic remarks and parrying blades with Turner.

Perhaps it was Davy Jones' fault for falling in love with a fickle and elusive sea goddess. Perhaps it was Calypso's fault for not showing up on the only day Jones could set foot on land, thus betraying their love. But it was Jones who taught the Pirate Brethren to imprison her in a human form.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: 10 Most Hated Storylines

If anything, Calypso shouldn't havefelt compelled to help the pirate lords against the East India Trading Company, and she should have focused the majority of her wrath on Davy Jones. In the end, Calypso helps neither side despite the considerable build-up she receives.

If it hadn't been for Jack Sparrow, Armando Salazar might never have been cursed by the Devil's Triangle, but his pursuit of the young pirate and his need to vanquish piracy on open seas ran him afoul of its dark magic.

Hector Barbossa never made it a point to hunt Jack Sparrow because he thought him marooned on an island, but Salazar's dogmatic chasing of Sparrow made for some harrowing scenes inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

For the vague reason that Jack Sparrow "paid him great insult" once, Sao Feng had a rivalry against the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. As the Pirate Lord of the South China Sea,Feng had a fleet of junks led by theEmpress ship at his disposal, and navigational charts to mythical realms.

Whatever the ire between Sao Feng and Jack Sparrow, it led to Feng abandoning the "losing" side of the Pirate Brethren and allying himself with Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company.

Although the great rivalry between Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa dominated the first film in the franchise, the pirate's many spirited exchanges with a deadpan Commodore Norrington were a delightful addition.

Norrington lost his commission and slandered his reputation in pursuit of Sparrow, which fanned the flames of resentment for three films. Norrington's need to regain his status and see Sparrow brought to justice was the driving force behind every decision he made, except for saving Elizabeth Swann's life as his final act of valor.

It wasn't long beforePirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tidesthat the likes of Blackbeard and Hector Barbossa might have joined forces and plundered together. Blackbeard was mysteriously missing from the Pirate Court during the War Against Piracy but would have no doubt fought against the Royal Navy and Davy Jones.

The explanation for the rivalry between Blackbeard and Barbossa is simply the prophecy that a "one-legged man" would kill Blackbeard, which ignited his search for the Fountain of Youth. Barbossa's only beef with Blackbeard seemed to be that because he was in the employ of King George II, he was bound to fight a fellow pirate captain.

NEXT:Spartacus: 5 Best Rivalries (& 5 That Make No Sense)

NextThe Vampire Diaries: Katherines 5 Best Outfits (& 5 Worst)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Best Rivalries (& 5 That Make No Sense) - Screen Rant

With its first film based on a popular attraction at Disneyland, thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise became an unprecedented success in the early '00s, thanks to its instantly memorable characters.Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlwas a breakoutfilm for several stars including Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, while Johnny Depp's return to form as Captain Jack Sparrow became the highlight of his film career.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 Ways The RideInspired The Movie (& 5 Ways The Movie Changed The Ride)

Over the span of five films,characters like Captain Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa became integral parts of the canon, while Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and James Norrington were replaced by different young leads. A revolving door of villains kept their adversaries interesting, and ensured the stakes remained high on the High Seas. But did everyone's story have a "touch of destiny"? Here are5 characters who got fitting endings and 5 who deserved more.

Elizabeth Swann went through quite the transformation fromPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearltoPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.She began as a damsel in distress, and ended her pirating adventures as the unlikely Pirate King of the Brethren Court.

Not only did Elizabeth have enough pirate tales to last her a lifetime, she was finally able to marry her true love Will Turner and start a family. While it was tragic that she had to be apart from him during the years he commanded theFlying Dutchman,his curse was eventually lifted and they were reunited inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

James Norrington went from being a powdered-wig wearing priss to a belligerent brawler over the course of the first two films, but by the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chesthe was poised to be a power player with the rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy.

RELATED: Pirates of the Caribbean: Ever Main Character, Ranked By Intelligence

But byPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,all the momentum that had been built with his character development completely deflated. He ended up sacrificing himself in a way that made little sense, and being mortally wounded by an insane Bootstrap Bill for narrative shock value to fans.

Davy Jones was a tyrant of the Seven Seas over the fickle love of the sea goddess Calypso, and as a result was responsible for terrorizing and killing innocent sailors out of misplaced heartache. He didn't deserve a happy ending because he made sure so many others wouldn't have one.

When Jack killed him inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,Will Turnertook his place, and not only gain the powers of immortality, but saw that Calypso'scharge was done properly and the souls lost at sea ferried safely to the next world.

With adventures spanning five films, Jack Sparrow was able to lose and regain his ship The Black Pearl, get trapped in Davy Jones' Locker and live to tell the tale, defeat the likes of Blackbeard and the might of the Royal Navy, and plunder mythical treasure like the Fountain of Youth and Poseidon's Trident.

By the conclusion ofPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,Jack is in command of thePearlfrom Captain Barbossa, but the film is wide open for a more fitting end for Captain Jack, Pirate Lord of the Caribbean. Rumors exist that a sixth film may see Johnny Depp return to his famous role.

Will Turner went from being a humble blacksmith to taking over the duties of Davy Jones as captain of theFlying Dutchmanover the span of three films. Unfortunately, his duties ferrying lost souls to the netherworld occurred right after he'd married his longtime love, Elizabeth Swann.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Best Villains (& The 5 Worst)

Fortunately his son Henry Turner had grown up incredibly resentful of the curse that bound his father, especially since he only got to seehim once at the age of 10 when he could come on dry land. Henry was able to locate Poseidon's Trident and destroy it, thus ending all curse on the High Seas and ensuring Will could return to his family.

The Blackbeard that appeared inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesis based on the infamous pirate of history, who famously boarded ships with lit matches in his beard and drew from the bracers of six pistols slung across his chest.

In the film, Blackbeard dies during a duel over the Fountain of Youth. While he may have been one heinous pirate, his death was premature, as the real Edward Teach continue to plunder and pillage for several more years.

Once a decorated member of the Spanish Royal Navy, Armando Salazar hated pirates with such a fiery passion he made it his solemn duty to wipe them all out. However, he was double-crossed by Captain Jack Sparrow in The Devil'sTriangle, and then forced to haunt it with his cursed crew for eternity.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 10 Ways Real Life Pirate History Influenced The Franchise

Armando Salazar deserved to be killed in the climactic battle for the Trident of Poseidon at the end ofPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,but not simply because he was a ruthless killer. He was a pale imitation of Captain Hector Barbossa and his plotline fromPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

First introduced inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlas Captain Jack Sparrow's mutinous first mate aboard theBlack Pearl,Hector Barbossa later became Captain of thePearl and a cursed man until Jack could be reinstated.

He was resurrected inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,and fulfilled a position as begrudging ally to Jack Sparrow and his comrades as they fought both the Royal Navy and Davy Jones. He'd survived in all five films through all manner of luck and magic, only to be unceremoniously killed in the fifth filmjustas he's reunited with his daughter.

With Commodore Norrington's reputation in disgrace after failing to capture Jack Sparrow, Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company arrived in Port Royal to finish the job inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

Beckett desired to eradicate all pirates and see law and order pervade the High Seas, which drove him to hunt down the Pirate Brethren and destroy them collectively inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.The sanctimonious and vindictive bureaucrat was suitably destroyed by themin fitting irony.

Governor of Port Royal, Jamaica and father to Elizabeth Swann, Governor Weatherby Swann was a man of tradition, who disapproved of his daughter cavorting with piratesand her choice of fiance in the blacksmith Will Turner. He did however desire to see her happy, despite his reservations.

His dedication to British principles caused him to ally with the brutal Lord Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company inPirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest,despite the fact that Beckett would turn around and have him killed off-screen simply becausehe's "outlived his usefulness".

NEXT:Pirates of the Caribbean: 10 Fan Art Pictures That Captain Jack Sparrow Would Steal

NextThe Vampire Diaries: Katherines 5 Best Outfits (& 5 Worst)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 Characters Who Got Fitting Endings (& 5 Who Deserved More) - Screen Rant

The shipping forecast is probably the closest thing we have in the modern age to a national epic. The institutions rhythms and rituals have changed little since it was first broadcast on New Years Day 1924: there is poetry in the daily litany and mystery in its terminology. The radios prayer, Carol Ann Duffy called it. For Seamus Heaney it was a sibilant penumbra.

The forecast reminds us were a maritime nation and its map binds us to our continent, covering not only our own coasts and waters but an area extending from Norway to Portugal to Iceland. There is democracy in its geography, where tiny Fair Isle carries as much heft as mighty Biscay while Lundy, a sliver of rock in the Bristol Channel, is equal in importance to the Irish Sea. And from the salty old seadog in his brine-encrusted fishing boat to the merchant banker on his yacht, the shipping forecast, all seafarers are equally reliant on it.

Of the four daily broadcasts by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, my favourite is in the early morning. Usually this one goes out at 05.20, but in our current emergency its broadcast at 05.33, those 13 minutes representing the only significant schedule shift since the service was suspended altogether during the second world war. Before this, no disaster, no crisis and certainly no Test match climax had shunted the iron horse of the schedule from its position.

While many prefer the cosy, late-night feel of the 00.48 forecast, all soothing nocturnal intimacy and somnolent talk of falling slowly, for me you cant beat being roused from sleep by the familiar rhythmic intonation of the pre-dawn broadcast. Every morning Im coaxed awake by a meteorological gazetteer of familiar names Tyne, Dogger, Fisher and cryptic crossword clues of forecast detail, on the face of it impenetrable but actually fairly straightforward. First theres the wind and its direction and predicted strength according to the Beaufort Scale, north-westerly five or six, followed by the weather conditions, rain later, and finally the visibility, good becoming moderate.

Theres reassurance in regularity. The forecast always progresses in the same order around its 31 sea areas, beginning with Viking off the coast of Norway and moving broadly clockwise, zigzagging across the North Sea, along the Channel, turning south towards the Iberian peninsula then tracing the Atlantic fringe back up to south-east Iceland.

For those not out at sea, its a journey to fire the imagination without lifting your head from the pillow, a 31-stop tour better measured in duvet togs than kilometres, an odyssey in the mind through familiar places Dover, Hebrides, Wight and locations that seem to defy conventional mapping: Fisher, Sole, North Utsire.

The shipping forecast is the closest I ever came to reading out poetry on the air

Not many people can say theyve been to Utsira. I have. North and south. (The island off south-west Norway has been officially spelled with an a since 1924, though neither North or South Utsire appeared in the shipping forecast until they were introduced in 1984.) Reached by a heaving, churning 70-minute ferry ride across some of the most tempestuous waters in northern Europe, Utsira wears its forecast fame lightly. Not many places are namechecked on the BBC eight times a day, but forecast familiarity hasnt inspired a flood of visitors. When I explained to the captain of the ferry why I was there (hed assumed that, with Utsira boasting Norways widest variety of avian life, I must be a birdwatcher) he blinked a couple of times, said OK, and climbed back up to the wheelhouse.

By chance I happened to be there the weekend Utsiras football club was holding its annual knees-up, and I wangled an invite. Fielding a team from a population of a little over 200 is achievement enough, but the impressive collection of trophies I saw in a cabinet suggested that on the football field at least, Utsira was punching above its weight.

They [the trophies] are all old, one of the players shouted into my ear above the music. The sea crossing to the island is very rough. Sometimes teams would arrive barely able to walk from the seasickness, so wed beat them easily. Then they all got together to complain. Now we have to play all our matches on the mainland and dont win anything any more.

Ive now travelled to, or through, all of the shipping forecasts 31 sea areas, which means the daily broadcast invocation conjures up my night on the lash with Utsiras footballers, along with many other faces and places to which I can return without getting wet.

In area Thames, for example, I was lucky enough, after a six-month visa application process, to visit the Principality of Sealand, since 1967 a self-declared independent nation on a former British gun emplacement in the North Sea. The platform on two vast concrete legs eight miles off Harwich looks like a North Sea Stonehenge. Arriving was unforgettable: Prince Michael of Sealand himself escorted me out there on a royal RIB and the micro-nation remains the only country in the world Ive been winched into. Once I was through immigration, the pizza delivery leaflet pinned to a corkboard represented one of the greatest examples of optimism Ive ever seen.

Im convinced that wherever you go, however unpromising or uninspiring a place might appear, youll always find something to make the visit worthwhile: a quirky piece of local history perhaps, or someone with a hell of a story to tell. Its a theory that has served me well wherever Ive been and Ive been to Stevenage and has only failed me once.

Shipping forecast area Fisher widens into the North Sea from a small stretch of the west coast of Jutland, northern Denmark. The only place to visit is the port of Hanstholm, where I spent a long weekend. A really long weekend during which I found nothing to do and nothing to see. Nobody hangs around Hanstholm; they roll off the overnight ferry from Norway and head straight off. Not me. My weekend there must have come close to contravening the part of the Geneva Convention dealing with sensory deprivation. To give you an idea, according to someone I spoke to, the name Hanstholm is derived from an old Norse word meaning islet of the glove. The story goes that many years ago a woman once dropped a glove there.

Fortunately the broadcast sweeps me past Fisher and on to other memories, other places I can revisit without leaving home. There was the time in Galicia when I sat for hours and watched the sun set over the Atlantic from the tip of Cape Finisterre from finis terrae, the end of the earth, a holy place since way before Christianity. It gave its name to the sea area until 2002, when the Met Office renamed it FitzRoy to avoid confusion with the French and Spanish forecasts, whose Finisterre is of different dimensions. FitzRoy is named for Vice-admiral Robert FitzRoy, best-known as captain of the Beagle when Charles Darwin was aboard, but who in 1854 founded what became the Met Office, set up specifically to provide weather information for seafarers.

As the area forecast reaches its conclusion I think of how I once stood on a black beach at the foot of a black mountain looking out at a grey sea under a grey sky, a monochrome vista that was the legacy of a 1973 volcanic eruption on the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar) off southern Iceland. Standing on land thats younger than you are is a sobering way to finish any journey.

For all the poetic inspiration of its curious place names and recondite meteorological phrasing, the shipping forecast is there to save lives. The number of disasters and tragedies averted thanks to sailors and skippers being made aware of impending storms and high seas is impossible to calculate. The reassurance of its rhythmic incantation goes much further though, way beyond the seafarer. The daily recital wakens and nurtures something deep within us, a maritime people, its poetry of protection an evocative reminder that not everything about being an island nation is insular or inward-looking. The beauty of its composition and delivery serves only to elevate the forecast further in our national consciousness.

The shipping forecast is the closest I ever came to reading out poetry on the air, the BBC broadcaster Charlotte Green once told me and she should know, having been effectively the voice of the forecast for years. Theres a real appeal about it, even if you dont know anything about the sea and dont know what the terms mean. Its absolutely mesmerising.

Charlie Connelly is author of Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast (Little, Brown)

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Moderate becoming good: my journey to every place in the shipping forecast - The Guardian

The Bangladeshi government has been urged to open its ports and allow two boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees to come ashore so they can be given urgent medical care, food and water.

It is believed more than 500 people, including children, are onboard the stranded trawlers, which were recently seen in the Bay of Bengal but have reportedly returned to the high seas.

Last week, Bangladeshs foreign minister, Abdul Momen, said the boats would not be allowed entry, adding: Bangladesh is always asked to take care of the responsibility of other countries.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh rescued a separate boat that had been left adrift for two months after attempting to reach Malaysia. The charity Mdecins Sans Frontires, which treated about 400 survivors, said the passengers were mostly aged between 12 and 20, and some younger children were also onboard. More than 70 people are reported to have died on the boat.

Many of them couldnt stand or walk on their own, said Hanadi Katerji, MSF nurse and medical team leader. They were just skin and bone a lot of them were barely alive.

The boat had carried hundreds of Rohingya refugees fleeing desperate conditions in Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh, where more than 1 million refugees live in overcrowded camps. It had attempted to reach Malaysia but was turned away.

Described as the worlds most persecuted people, 1.1 millionRohingyapeople live in Myanmar. They live predominately in Rakhine state, where they have co-existed uneasily alongside Buddhists for decades.

Rohingya people say they are descendants of Muslims, perhaps Persian and Arab traders, who came toMyanmargenerations ago. Unlike the Buddhist community, they speak a language similar to the Bengali dialect of Chittagong in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya are reviled by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants and suffer from systematic discrimination. The Myanmar government treats them as stateless people, denying them citizenship. Stringent restrictions have been placed on Rohingya peoples freedom of movement, access to medical assistance, education and other basic services.

Violence broke out in northern Rakhine state in August 2017, whenmilitants attacked government forces. In response, security forces supported by Buddhist militia launched a clearance operationthat ultimately killed at least 1,000 people and forced more than 600,000 to flee their homes. The UNstop human rights officialsaid the militarys response was "clearly disproportionate to insurgent attacks and warned that Myanmars treatment of its Rohingya minority appears to be a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

When Aung San Suu Kyi rose to power there werehigh hopesthat the Nobel peace prize winner would help heal Myanmar's entrenched ethnic divides. But she has been accused of standing by while violence is committed against the Rohingya.

In 2019, judges at the international criminal court authorised a full-scale investigation into the allegations of mass persecution and crimes against humanity. On 10 December 2019, the international court of justice in The Hague opened a case alleging genocide brought by the Gambia.

Rebecca Ratcliffe

It is not clear how long the two boats stranded off Bangladesh have been stuck at sea, or how many additional ships may be adrift elsewhere.

They will be at high risk of death because thats what weve heard in testimonies of survivors that were rescued previously by the Bangladesh government, said Saad Hammadi, south Asia campaigner at Amnesty International. Its a responsibility of all governments in the region to ensure that their seas do not turn into invisible graveyards.

On Friday, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, wrote to Momen describing the situation as a human tragedy of terrible proportions.

I appeal to you in the strongest terms to open your ports and allow the boats to land, she wrote. The reportedly more than 500 men, women and children aboard these boats have been at sea for an extended period of time, and we understand that they require urgent rescue, food, medical care and other necessary humanitarian assistance.

Bachelet added that she was also encouraging other governments in the region to take similar action.

Malaysia has turned away at least two boats, with the countrys air force stating that it recently refused entry to about 200 refugees in order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus within the country, which remains under lockdown.

Rights groups fear that governments are using the global health crisis as a pretext to push boats back, and say it is an alarming reminder of a 2015 Andaman sea crisis, when many Rohingya died at sea after south-east Asian nations refused them entry.

Momen said Bangladesh could not rescue any more people, adding that the country had no room to shelter any foreign people or refugees.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar following a brutal army crackdown that began in August 2017. The UN has since described the militarys actions as ethnic cleaning and akin to genocide.

Brad Adams, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Bangladesh had shouldered a heavy burden as the result of the Myanmar militarys atrocity crimes, but this is no excuse to push boatloads of refugees out to sea to die.

He added: Bangladesh should continue to help those at grave risk and preserve the international goodwill it has gained in recent years for helping the Rohingya.

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Bangladesh urged to open ports to allow in Rohingya refugee boats - The Guardian

This photo, provided by the Imperial War Museum AFP/Getty Images, was taken on June 6, 1944 and shows Canadian soldiers from 9th Brigade landing with their bicycles at Juno Beach in Bernieres-sur-Mer as Allied forces storm Normandy beaches in northwestern France on D-Day. The 75th anniversary of the D-day landings falls on Thursday, June 6.

NORMANDY, France Its Tuesday, June 6, 1944 D-Day.

An historic day for Europe, for German-occupied France, and for Joe Sullivan.

The 23-year-old radio operator from Douro, Ont., near the City of Peterborough, is one of about 200 soldiers of the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry Highlanders who are fighting seasickness on board of LCI299 (Landing Craft Infantry).

Clumsily, the bulky troop transport is searching its way through the high waves towards the beach. A day earlier, Sullivan and his regiment had embarked in Southampton, England, and had been transported to the French coast by the Southampton Road.

We didnt know anything, Sullivan recalls, only on our way to France did the officers tell us where we were going and that this would not be another exercise, but a real operation.

This mission is the largest landing operation in history.

At 6 a.m., the ships artillery begins the bombardment.

There was deafening noise around us, says Sullivan.

In addition to a battleship, several cruisers and destroyers fire salvo after salvo towards the French coast. Simultaneously, the allied bomber fleet is flying attacks on German coastal positions.

Around 7 a.m., under the roaring noise of the guns, Sullivan sees the first wave of Canadian troops head towards the coast. They are men from the 7th and 8th Infantry Brigades of the 3rd Canadian Division.

The conditions for the troops were very bad, Sullivan describes, looking back at the landing on Juno Beach.

The first wave of assault craft were hampered by high seas and dangerous coastal reefs. Several of them hit the notorious beach obstacles, and are destroyed by exploding mines that are attached to rammed piles just below the waters edge.

We saw the clouds of smoke on the beach and heard the battle noise. I suspected that there would be huge losses on that section of the beach that day, Sullivan says.

Library and Archives CanadaLanding craft 299 lands at Juno Beach, Courseilles-sur-Mer, France, on June 6, 1944. The men making their way ashore were members of the Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry Highlanders.Handout Not For ResaleSupplied

His 9th brigade, called the Highlander Brigade, has been declared the reserve on that day. At 11 a.m., in addition to the Glens, the Highland Infantry of Canada, and the North Nova Scotia Highlanders all receive their marching orders for the small seaside resort of Bernires-sur-Mer, which is part of the Canadian landing section called Juno Beach.We landed before noon and for me as a greenhorn as a green boy it was the first shocking encounter with the war, Sullivan recalls of his first day in combat in the Second World War.

Packed with weapons, equipment, rations and his radio, he and his comrades, some with folding bikes, disembark over the landing ships narrow, rocking gangway and work their way through the deep water to the beach with the help of stretched ropes.

The buildings located close to the beach are massively damaged. Numerous dead Canadian and German soldiers still line the landing site. Sullivan sees how medics are taking care of the wounded in hastily erected emergency hospitals.

It was a harrowing sight to see the scores of dead and wounded on the beach, he says.

In Bernires-sur-Mer, he has his first encounter with the Germans. Weary from battle, they wait on the beach for their transport to prison camp in England. For them, the war is over.

For Sullivan and the advancing troops of the 9th brigade, it is just beginning.

In late April of the following year, he would set foot on German soil for the first time. On May 6, 1945 exactly 11 months after the landing he and his regiment would march into the completely devastated City of Emden, Germany.

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VE Day 75th: Even the longest journey starts with a single step - Standard Freeholder

ThePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise reignited the world's love for the danger, intrigue, andexcitement of the High Seas. For an action adventure film series it didn't skimp on the romance, and amidst all the canon fire, swashbuckling, and plundering of buried treasure, it showcased several amorous pairings.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Ways The Franchise Aged Perfectly (& 5 Ways It Did Not)

The most memorable of these Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and their love story was chronicled across three films. The latter two films,Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger TidesandPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesintroduced fans to new lovers, to mixed results. Below are 5 couples fans loved and 5 they'd make walk the plank.

From the moment Will Turner was fished out of the sea during Elizabeth Swann's voyage to Port Royal, Jamaica, the pair would share a connection. It developed into puppy love inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,butbyPirates of the Caribbean: At World's Endthey were exchanging wedding vows.

Though their fates were disrupted bythe likes of Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa, Davy Jones, and other outlaws of the Seven Seas over the course of the film franchise, their trials and tribulations only caused them to grow closer together.

Infamous womanizer Jack Sparrow may have encountered Angelica inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,but they had a long romantic history together before that, which ended when he left her.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Reasons Why Captain Jack Sparrow Is A Great Pirate (& 5 Why He's The Worst)

She got her revenge by using him to get to her father, the pirate that all other pirates hate, Blackbeard, and discern the whereabouts of the Fountain of Youth. Their relationship lacked chemistry and was rooted in emotional manipulation, causing fans to reject it.

An unexpected flirtation blossomed between Elizabeth Swann and the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,despite the fact that he was a loathsome pirate who had kidnapped her in the previous film.

Elizabeth needed Jack to save Will, who had been taken prisoner aboard theFlying Dutchman,and was willing to use her feminine wiles to make him help her. Whether she developed true feelings for the pirate or not,fans felt she had more chemistry with him than anyone else.

Despite being the nefarious pirate charged with ferrying souls to the netherworld, Davy Jones had a tender side. His heart belonged to the goddess Calypso, but her betrayal of their love caused him to imprison her in a human vessel and carve out his own heart.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Worst Thing Each Main Character Has Done

Calypso's excuse for not meeting Davy Jones on the one day he could go ashore every 10 years was simply it's in her "nature" to be as fickle as the sea, which to most fans sounded like a cop out.Her choiceresulted in Jones going on a murder streak and hastening the deaths of dozens of innocent people.

Elizabeth and Commodore Norrington were betrothed inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,and though his ardor for her was unrequited, some fans believed that she grew to care about him in later films, especially when he sacrificed himself to save her life.

His role increased inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chestwhen, after having his commission taken and his reputation slandered, he begrudgingly joined Jack Sparrow's crew. Though he had difficulty expressing his emotions, he retained his honor and his valor.

When Jack Sparrow finally arrived in Tortuga, the gathering port town of all scalawags inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,he encountered Giselle and Scarlett, two ladies of ill repute who had their hearts broken by him years before.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: The 10 Greatest Sword Fights

Jack's strategy was to make one believe he was in love with her, then proceed to see the other behind her back. This worked for a time until they found out about one another, and inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's Endtake up with Joshamee Gibbs.

The playful and mischievous Tia Dalma was a welcome addition to the colorful cast of characters inPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.She helped to resurrect both Captain Hector Barbossa and to an extent, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Some years prior to their reunion Tia Dalma and Captain Jack had been "nigh inseparable", until her true nature as Calypso the sea goddess and his true nature as a self-serving scalawag ended things.

A young and impressionable missionary when fans first meet him inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,Philip is taken hostage by Blackbeard and only allowed to live because Blackbeard's daughter Angelica believes he can help restore her father's wayward soul.

RELATED:Pirates Of The Caribbean: 5 Reasons Curse Of The Black Pearl Is The Best (& 5 Reasons It's Dead Man's Chest)

Most fans felt that Philip was a poor man's Will Turner, especially since Orlando Bloom didn't return for the fourth film. When he was given a shoehorned love story that involved Syrena the mermaid, its melodrama felt forced and inconsequential to the overall plot.

While not technically a romantic couple, Pintel and Ragetti were two inseparable rascals under the purview of Captain Barbossa and later Captain Jack Sparrow. They were both incredibly loyal to one another even as their leaders changed, andcreated some of the franchise's most hilarious scenes.

The last time they were seen was inPirates of the Caribbean: At World's End,and were supposed to be brought back for the fourth installment, when it would be revealed they were each serving aboard different ships and believing the other to be dead, only to be happily reunited, but the subplot never made it into the film.

The introduction of Henry Turner (son of Will Turner) in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Taleswas a welcome one to fans, except that he wasn't given any more character development than to occupy a potential love interest for Hector Barbossa's daughter Carina.

The possibility for a romance between Henry and Carina never reached the heights of Will and Elizabeth Turner, and perhaps that was for the best, because it couldn't possibly ever eclipse one of the foundation elements of the first three films.

NEXT:MCU: 5 Couples Everyone Loved (& 5 That Were Just Annoying)

NextBrooklyn Nine-Nine: 5 Things That Changed After The Pilot (& 5 That Stayed The Same)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she's particularly proud of. When she isn't writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she's working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: 5 Couples Fans Loved (& 5 They Hated) - Screen Rant

Chinas ties with the ASEAN or Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the South China Sea is at a critical stage. The ASEAN region is crucial to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) the dream project of President Xi Jing Ping but ongoing disputes over the crucial South China Sea between US-backed ASEAN has only complicated the matter.

ASEAN nations have often criticized aggressive Chinese activities and plans in the South China Sea (SCS) as Beijing attempts to strengthen its grip on the disputed territories.

As reported by EurAsian Times earlier, the South China Sea is a key naval passage linking Asia with Africa and Europe. As estimated $3.37 trillion of international trade passes through the SCS and it is believed to be abundant in untapped natural resources such as oil and gas.

China lays claims to 80% of the SCS. It is also claimed by Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei all of who form the part of the ASEAN nations. Other members of the ASEAN includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

With the ASEAN countries busy dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, China has taken advantage of the situation and has used this opportunity to forward its territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Last month, China established two districts to manage the Spratly Islands and Paracel.According to reports, the two new districts will be under the authority of the local government in Sansha, a city in Hainan.

The new districts will govern the Paracel and Macclesfield Bank an area claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan and the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, where there are multiple overlapping claims from the Philippines, Malaysia and even Brunei.

Prior to this, the Chinese had named and effectively claimed 80 geographical features in the SCS. According to reports, this includes 25 islands, shoals and reefs, and 55 undersea mountains and ridges. But the Chinese actions have not gone unnoticed and have drawn criticism and protests by most of ASEAN members including Vietnam, Philipines and Malaysia.

Chinese provocative actions drew immediate criticism from Vietnam. Vietnam currently occupies 13 of the reefs in the West. Vietnams Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang said that the move had seriously violated Vietnams sovereignty.

On April 2, a Vietnamese fishing vessel sunk after colliding with a Chinese coastguard ship near Parcel Islands. The sailors on board were rescued by the coast guard but the Chinese denied any wrongdoing.

Surprisingly, Vietnam got support from the Philippines, as they remembered the event in June 2019. In this incident,22 Filipino fishermen were left floating in the high seas when a Chinese vessel rammed and sank their boat at Reed Bank. Vietnam immediately came to the rescue saving the men adrift in the seas.

Vietnam also sent a diplomatic protest note to the UN over Chinas illegal claims over the South China Sea.Le Thi Thu Hang emphasised that Vietnam asserts its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos in the East Sea in accordance with international law.

The Philippines, another ASEAN member, has seen massive investments from Beijing in the country but remains dissatisfied by the Chinese antics. The Philippines also opposed Chinas establishment of two districts to govern Parcel and Spratly Islands.

In the latter, China has turned seven reefs, including Fiery Cross, into missile-protected island bases, including three with runways. The Philippines has a presence on at least nine islands and islets in an area it claims in the Spratlys.

The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a statement objecting to what it called Chinas illegal designation of Fiery Cross Reef as a regional administrative centre in the hotly contested Spratly archipelago.

The Philippines calls on China to adhere to international law, the department said, reminding Beijing of a 2002 agreement that urged all governments involved in the SCS dispute to exercise self-restraint abject from provocative actions that could threaten the stability of the region.

Malaysia, another ASEAN member, has been at the receiving end of Chinese intimidation. A Malaysian oil vessel was followed by a Chinese survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi.

The Malaysian coast guard confirmed that the survey activity was inside Malaysias exclusive economic zone. According to Haiyang Dizhis travel history, it left port at Sanya on Hainan Island on 9 April, went through Vietnamese waters and entered the waters of Malaysia and Brunei on 17 April.

The United States is also actively involved in the SCS dispute as it views Chinese actions as examples of expansionism and regional bullying. In addition to the air and naval exercise in response to Chinese activities, Washington also spoke to ASEAN member countries via video call earlier last week.

U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, warned his ASEAN counterparts that China is taking advantage of the worlds preoccupation with the coronavirus. Since many member nations are weak to respond at this critical juncture, the Chinese have the perfect window of opportunity to swiftly assert their position.

ASEAN countries cannot afford the colonization of the South China Sea by Beijing. Experts talking to the EurAsian Times stated that as long as ASEAN members continue to argue amongst themselves, China will find it easier to split them and reap in the rewards of a fractured association.

ASEAN must work with the US, who although is not a claimant in the South China Sea dispute, but remains the only country that can thwart Beijings actions and plans.

Despite the international outcry and criticism, China seems determined to push forward and defend its regional interests. China launched a counter-protest to Vietnams issuing of diplomatic notes to the UN, saying Any country that attempts to deny Chinas sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea in any form and to reinforce their illegal claims is doomed to fail, said Geng Shuang, the Ministry spokesperson.

China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

However, experts have warned that ASEAN nations must unite and unequivocally back the US to contain China and at the same time seriously negotiate with Beijing to find a long-lasting solution. Else, the day the US starts slipping, China would have controlled the entire region, either by economic might or military muscle.

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The Inevitable Clash Between China & ASEAN Nations Over The South China Sea - EurAsian Times

Javier Tebas has been talking about the topic of when football can kick off again.

Tebas is the president of La Liga who saw the Spanish government this past week approve a protocol for sporting activity.

For football, this paves the way for La Liga clubs to begin testing players on Monday with a view to the clubs returning to training the following week.

La Liga hoping to able to play games starting in mid-June, if the virus situation continues to improve and allow it.

With regard to the issues and debate surrounding the return of professional football, Javier Tebas has been speaking intelligently about the realities of the situation. What he says of course, equally applies to the Premier League as well as La Liga, the same with Serie A and the Bundesliga who are also working towards the return of football and completing this 2019/20 season.

Javier Tebas saying:

I do not understand why there would more danger in playing football behind closed doors, with all precautionary measures, than working on an assembly line, being on a fishing boat on the high seas.

If important economic sectors cannot restart, in a safe and controlled manner, they could end up disappearing. That could happen to professional football.

In Spain, football is an important economic driver that we need to reactivate like many others.

We continue to focus on this reactivation, in a responsible manner and adhering to health recommendations, as soon as possible.

I am fed up reading stuff from attention seeking journalists who talk about it being impossible for football to return any time in the near future, even behind closed doors, as though it was some kind of a special case that should be treated differently to every other industry and aspect of society. I also read quotes from players and others involved in football, stating even behind closed doors games can only happen when it is 100% safe to do so.

There will never be a 100% safe time, that is not reality, whatever kind of work you do.

As Javier Tebas brilliantly puts it, it is ridiculous to claim there would be more danger of playing football behind closed doors, with all the extra precautions top tier football can afford, compared to those working in factories (assembly line) or out on a fishing boat.

It is pure arrogance and disrespect if any football players think they can indefinitely stay away from work unlike NHS cleaners, supermarket workers, those working in the food supply chain and so on, never mind the doctors and nurses at the very frontline.

As Javier Tebas also points out, basic economics apply to professional football in the same way they apply to any other industry.

If all the furloughed workers at a factory currently closed refuse to go back to work once lockdown is eased, the company / business goes bust and all the workers lose their jobs, then cant pay their mortgages etc etc

Whilst nobody is feeling sorry for those in the Premier League in a financial sense at the minute, whether owners, management or players, the reality is that money doesnt magically appear. They need football to be playing on the pitch or else there is no money, simple as that.

I hear some fans and journalists saying just end this season now and then start the 2020/21 Premier League only when back to normal with full stadiums and so on.

I have no big sympathy for those who own PL clubs, in most cases anyway, but not completing this current season would lead to serious financial problems and probably legal challenges, as Ligue 1 are now finding after the French government ordered their season to end this week.

As for everything being back to normal, I have a feeling that will be a long way down the line, I doubt we will see fans allowed before the new year and certainly not 52,000 inside St James Park any time before 2021.

It is a case of making the best of a difficult situation, just as we are all having to do in our jobs and lives in general.

None of want to see behind closed doors games but that is what must happen for the time being and surely we want to see as many football clubs survive as possible? Just like me and you, when Premier League players are asked to get back to work, then that is what they have to do.

I think it is inevitable that we are going to see a lot of clubs in the other three divisions go out of business in this crisis, sad but inevitable. Even in normal times we have seen the likes of Bury and others fold, football clubs are not immune. The lower down you go the less resource clubs have to fall back on and the more reliant they are on ticket money.

We know that money hasnt been distributed fairly throughout football BUT if the Premier League isnt generating the usual revenues, there will be nothing at all to trickle down.

It isnt that nobody cares about the health and safety of Premier League players, it is simply the case that nobody cares about the health of football players any more than they do about the health of somebody working in your local shops, hospitals or factories.

We are all in this together, or at least we should be.

More here:

This is brilliant from Javier Tebas on football restarting - The Mag

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) URIs Research Vessel Endeavor started its mission just before COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic. The researchers and crew found themselves in true isolation.

We were in a safe bubble, URI researcher Rainer Lohmann said.

Lohmann left from Barbados in late February to conduct research across the Atlantic.He and the others aboard the ship were aware of the coronavirus.

It felt so far away seemed such a topic of no concern to the US, he said.

Lohmann was even asked about his yellow fever vaccination since he would be going close to Africa.

That was on the mind of the people at the time yellow fever nobody was worried about COVID, Lohmann added.

For three weeks, the researchers gathered sediment cores from the ocean floor.They were looking to see if carbon in those cores were from African wildfires, along with how much and how it got there. According to Lohmann, the sources and amount of carbon are linked to climate change.

The Endeavor was in true isolation on the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Other than an occasional passing tanker, all they would see is water from horizon to horizon.

We followed the news with more and more disbelief that the world we left was falling apart, Lohmann recalled.

Lohmann said they were hearing about the hoarding of toilet paper, cleaning products and pasta. It wasnt until they heard classes at URI and Harvard were being canceled that they knew the impacts were becoming widespread.

When the mission was completed, the crew was supposed to fly out of Portugal but travel restrictions were being put in place.

So you had to make up your mind either you try and get off and get a flight, you might get stuck, but you were not allowed to get back on the ship, Lohmann said.

A cruise back to Narragansett would take almost exactly 14 days, which would have satisfied their quarantine period, so no one got off the ship.They refueled in Cape Verde, had provisions delivered and set off for Rhode Island.

There was a lot more disinfectant being used, Lohmann said. Things were cleaned more frequently.

During the trip back across the Atlantic, the Endeavors officers took everyones temperatures daily and logged them so their time on the ship would serve as their quarantine. They spent the last day off Block Island. No one got COVID-19 or yellow fever.

Funny, surreal experience, and we all realized we were never going to forget this one, Lohmann added.

Lohmann said when they got back, they were more worried about people on land being sick because everyone on the ship had been so isolated.

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After weeks at sea, URIs research ship returned to a different world - WPRI.com