A Staten Island mans 88 day battle with COVID-19 – SILive.com

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STATEN ISLAND N.Y. -- It was the love for his wife that helped Robert Callas, 35, of Westerleigh overcome his lengthy battle with the coronavirus.

Callas admitted himself into Staten Island University North Campus in Ocean Breeze after suffering from flu-like symptoms throughout March.

Little did he know that itd be the last thing he remembered for over 40 days.

His wife Melissa Callas, patient care assistant or PCA at SIUH North was luckily able to keep her eye on him for the duration of his treatment.

However, she explains that leaving her husband at the hospital to go home to an empty house was one of the hardest parts.

I was a wreck by the time Id get home. Ive spent days crying wondering why this happened, said Melissa.

Robert who was intubated twice, put on a ventilator and also received many other forms of treatment before waking up from his heavily sedated state was discharged from SIUH after 47 days and transported to Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Dongan Hills where he spent another 41 days.

I wanted to come home to Melissa, thats all I cared about and I feel like it made me fight harder, said Robert.

The close-knit family was unfortunately struck by another tragedy after Robert returned home.

Roberts father, Michael Callas died due to a long-term heart condition in early July.

While Robert was not able to have a proper goodbye he found comfort in knowing that Melissa and his mother were able to be by his side during his final moments.

I feel like he waited for me to come home and then he knew it was time, so he just went to sleep and never woke up, said Robert.

Though times have been tough, the couple has a hopeful outlook on the future.

Robert hopes to be able to return to his job at Amtrack and Melisa continues to report to work at SIUH daily.

Watch the video above to learn more about their touching story.

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A Staten Island mans 88 day battle with COVID-19 - SILive.com

Report: EU should treat loot boxes as a consumer protection matter rather than gambling – Pocket Gamer.Biz

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The European Union should handle video game loot boxes with consumer protection legislation rather than gambling.

That's the conclusion of a report conducted for the EU Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCP) committee titled Loot boxes in online games and their effect on consumers, in particular young consumers, which says that that the business model represents a specific problem with games design.

Is it gambling?

The IMCP's research also says that different countries banning loot boxes under gambling legislation as Belgium has done represents a threat to the EU's single market, given that the same opportunities aren't available to all citizens across all nations in the union. Furthermore, the IMCP says that parental controls in games aren't an effective deterrent because they are often not on by default and guardians often don't know how to use them properly.

"It is therefore recommended to broaden the perspective beyond gambling aspects and approach the issue of loot boxes and other problematic game designs from a wider consumer protection angle," the report concludes.

The UK's House of Lords has recently said that loot boxes should be regulated as gambling.

For the full story head over to PCGamesInsider.biz.

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Report: EU should treat loot boxes as a consumer protection matter rather than gambling - Pocket Gamer.Biz

Greece online gambling revenue fell 40% in first five months of 2020 – CalvinAyre.com

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Greeces online gambling market suffered a 40% revenue decline over the first five months of 2020 as sports halted due to COVID-19.

Figures released by the Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) show the local online gambling market generated revenue of nearly 150m in the first five months of 2020, a 40% decline from the same period last year.

The year started out well enough with revenue of 49.3m in January, but this slipped to 45m in February, by which time the race to the bottom was well and truly on as the pandemic forced the suspension of most major sports. Revenue slipped to 36.1m in March then hit bottom in April with 29.5m before rebounding slightly to 30m in May.

The Stoiximan betting brand was the unchallenged market leader with a nearly 49% share of the overall pie. Stoiximan started the year off right with revenue of 24.3m in January but this sunk to 14.8m by May.

UK operator Bet365 started the year in the runner-up position by generating around 14.3m in each of the first two months but its over-reliance on sports betting dropped the company to third place by May with just 5.2m.

GVC Holdings Sportingbet brand was in third place for most of the year but narrowly usurped Bet365 in May. Sportingbet weathered the pandemic storm better than most, as its 6.1m score for May was only moderately below Januarys 6.3m.

Greek lottery and betting operator OPAP, which is in the process of acquiring a majority stake in Stoiximan, saw its online revenue almost entirely erased over 2020s first five months. The companys fledgling online operations didnt add casino games until May, leaving it without any options when sports shut down.

Some smaller Greek-facing operators bucked these trends by increasing their revenue over the year-to-date, including Flutter Entertainments PokerStars brand. Stars effectively doubled its revenue from January to April as the lack of sports left customers seeking online casino and poker options that the site had in spades.

Similarly, NetBet more than tripled its revenue from January to May, although the companys Greek presence was minor at the start of the year, putting its May total at only 790k.

Greece recently approved the reopening of its land-based casinos and betting shops, so while the online gambling sector may be on the rebound, its no longer the only game in town.

Meanwhile, the government is proceeding with its plans to relicense its online market after its draft regulations met with little opposition from the European Commission. The HGC is expected to publish the final regulations any week now, after which the license vetting can proceed with purpose toward this oft-delayed conclusion.

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Lyke talks football scheduling, gambling and campus returns – University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

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Victor Wu

Pitt Chancellor Pat Gallagher and Athletic Director Heather Lyke stand on the field before the game. (Photo by Wenhao Wu / Assistant Visual Editor)

Athletic Director Heather Lyke said she is not encouraged by the way the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation is progressing. As cases continue to rise across the country particularly in Pitts home of Allegheny County she offered a pessimistic, yet not definitive answer to what she called the million dollar question will college football be played in 2020?

I am an optimistic person at heart, but I wouldnt say Im overly confident, Lyke said.

Pitt football players returned to campus on June 8 and began workouts after completing a two week quarantine period. According to Lyke, the program considered expanding the number of players allowed in the same workout group from 25 to 50, but a string of several days of record-setting positive COVID-19 case tallies forced Pitt to delay.

While few games on Pitts schedule have been altered save for a week two matchup with the Colonial Athletic Associations Richmond Spiders, who, despite a canceled football season, might still try to play some games they are under threat as college footballs loose plans become even more uncertain.

National college football writer Brett McMurphy reported Thursday morning that a number of options are on the table for the ACCs football season. Whether they follow the Big Ten and Pac-12s lead and play only the normal eight conference games already scheduled or a longer 10-game schedule, the move to ACC plus Notre Dame games only seems inevitable.

Pitt still plans on hosting Miami (OH) for the 2020 season opener on Sept. 5, but that game and any subsequent contests will likely look radically different from seasons past. Lyke said Pitt and its Heinz Field roommate the Pittsburgh Steelers are working on a plan to allow 15,000 to 20,000 fans in a socially distant stadium with a mask mandate.

But even that would require approval from Gov. Tom Wolf, in addition to a rapid change in the progression of virus mitigation efforts.

And more successful mitigation seems unlikely, as Lyke openly admits that with Pitts campus reopening for classes in the fall, there is little the University can do to enforce social distancing among athletes and regular students alike.

Its impossible to keep kids away from one another, Lyke said. I expect there will be some increase in cases. Hopefully its not really exorbitant.

College football might not be in the cards for 2020, but it is, for now, a safe assumption that it will be played at some point in the future. With the games, pushes for radical reform of the pre-professional football model will resume as well.

Lyke also testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on Wednesday afternoon about the NCAAs policies regarding the rights players have to their own name, image and likeness, as well as state and federal college sports gambling laws.

Her testimony offered a prediction of the negative effects that gambling on college sports could have on the psyche of competing athletes.

While currently a spectators pride and team spirit might hinge on a win or loss, if sports gambling is permitted, ones livelihood could depend on the outcome of a Saturday afternoon game, she said in her written testimony. This significantly increases the pressure of student-athletes to perform or not perform depending on the current bet.

She said she is also worried about the accessibility of sports gambling today. Gamblers can submit bets online from almost anywhere, making it too easy for betters to, as Lyke puts it, turn your college football venues into a casino.

Lyke said her testimony represents an opinion shared by college athletics officials and staff, as well as the athletes themselves, from across the ACC. According to Lyke, her testimony was universally supported by the conferences presidents, athletic directors, athletic faculty representatives and student-athlete advisory councils.

I think its been well received, she said. Ive gotten a number of messages from across the country and the ACC as a sort of thanks for carrying the torch The addition of college gambling is another level.

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Lyke talks football scheduling, gambling and campus returns - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News

Racial injustice has been fuelled by centuries of prejudiced hierarchies – Temple University News

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The author of more than 90 books and 500 articles, Molefi Kete Asante is one of the worlds most prolific African American scholars. Professor and chair of the College of Liberal Arts Department of Africology and African American Studiesone of the oldest in the U.S. and the first to offer a doctoral programAsante is the founding and current editor of the Journal of Black Studies, the top peer-reviewed journal in the field.

The young people are writing a new history of America. They believe that its possible to have a narrative of American society that is not based on negativity, Asante said. That even if there were things that happened in the past that were negative, the future doesnt have to be that way. And this futurism is I think something thats going to generate change.

We spoke with Asante about the George Floyd protests, Afrocentricity and how people can bring about lasting change.

Temple Now: Youre a pioneer of Afrocentricity. What is that and how does it relate to the protests against racial and social injustice that are happening now?

Molefi Kete Asante: I think that this movement is fundamentally an Afrocentric-inspired movement. Afrocentricity is the idea that people of African descent are subjects of the human narrative and not marginal to the European experience. That in order to understand world history and African history or African experiences, whether they are transgenerational, meaning from different centuries, or whether they are transcultural, meaning whether they are on the continent of Africa or in South America and North America or Europe, or in Asia. That African people must be viewed and must learn to view ourselves in the middle of our own story. Otherwise we participate in the racist discourse of Europe. So basically what I have seen in this current movement is that there is now a critical mass of Black people, white people, Asian people and Latinx people who understand this fundamental idea.

The assumption is that African people are less than. And if you make that assumption, then you feel that African people do not deserve equal treatment in any way. And I think thats what the society has done for so many years.

-- Molefi Kete Asante, professor and chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies

TN: In your book, Erasing Racism, you wrote, Racism often becomes somebody elses problem, when it is really a national concern. What did you mean by that?

MKA: Racism is not anything more than a problem that engulfs the entire nation. Race is a constructed phenomenon. There [is] no scientific basis to the notion of race. Theres one race, the human race. But what has happened is that in the way the Eurocentric world views things, you have the ranking of human beings on the basis of skin color, texture, religion, gender, previous conditions of servitude, etc. This ranking, this hierarchy perhaps is the very generator of what we call racism. That is the fundamental problem of Europe: The notion that was established in the European mind by many of the best European writersI mean beginning in the 15th [or] 14th centurythat the Nordics or the Aryans were at the top and the Africans and the Native Americans were at the bottom, and everybody else was in between. This hierarchy had emerged. Our former PhD student who is very brilliant and has written How to be an Antiracist, Ibram Kendi, CLA 07, has argued that racist policy is what has really crippled the African American community, that you have to deal with the question of policies, what people enact.

But my argument is a little before that, and it is that racism is generated by the notion of ranking people on the basis of skin color and hair texture and so forth. The hierarchy is the problem. Because if we solved the problems of police brutality tomorrow, and we defunded all the police programs and reconstruct them, we will still have other areas such as education, such as housing, such as banking, such as university programsall these things will still be there and be arenas of racism. Because the generator is still the same. The assumption is that African people are less than. And if you make that assumption, then you feel that African people do not deserve equal treatment in any way. And I think thats what the society has done for so many years.

Molefi Kete Asante feelsyoung people are writing a new history of the United States. (Photo by Joseph V. Labolito)

TN: There have been protests against racial and social injustice and police brutality before. What makes the ones inspired by George Floyds death different?

MKA: The most prominent thing that comes to my mind is that probably for the first time, there is such a broad understanding on the part of the young white people. That racism is endemic to the American way of life. The second part would be the social media because social media itself creates its own energy and dynamics. I remember the Kerner Commission report [which examined the cause of the 1967 race riots in the U.S.]. One of the things that it blamed the uprising and the African American communities for was creating a national consciousness of discrimination. People would look at television and they would see something going on in Birmingham and maybe people in Houston would have their own uprising. The television stations stopped showing incidents in cities where there was an uprising on the national news. And in a sense, basically shut down the distribution of information about what was going on in one city and in one place. So, you didnt get the idea that it was happening everywhere. But the incredible thing about social media now is that it is not dependent on the networks or the cable news. People were showing me images of things happening after the George Floyd murder that people had taken on their own cell phones. Lots of people were becoming journalists.

TN: How can people who have already been working toward racial equity make the best use of this moment?

MKA: I would love to see some of these young people take on particular issues in the American community, for example, the whole issue of the statues of the Confederacy. It seems to me logical that they should have been pulled down a long time ago. There are many African Americans who have called for this for generations. But the problem now is what is the narrative of American history? Ive traveled to Germany many times. And in Germany, you do not see any statues to Nazis. They dont want to honor the Nazi regime. In fact, its against the law.

But in America, what happened was that when the Confederacy was defeated in 1865 there was no transformation of the philosophies of the South, or even of the nation to the degree that we were able to change the way people thought about race. When you have a treasonous rebellion against the state, almost no society would honor the traces and put those traces up as statues. But this country did it because again, I go back to hierarchy: As far as the whites who had left the union were concerned, the four and a half million Black people who had been enslaved for 246 years did not count as much as the white people who had rebelled against the government. In fact, there were many people in the North that still thought that white people were a higher race and deserving of more worth.

TN: What advice would you give people who would like to get involved in their communities in some way?

MKA: I think that there are probably a couple of things that people can do. I would like to see students organize chapters of clubs that deal with revisiting the historical experiences of America itself. I dont know what the name of such clubs would be, but it just seems to me that what is happening in the African American community is that at least a certain part of that community has a much wider appreciation for historical facts about European invasions than the white community. For example, if you talk to a Black person, immediately, Black people take the side of the Native Americans and say their country was stolen from them. But if you talk to white people about this, this becomes an issue of contention only because white people have an assumption that they have a right to take the native peoples land. And that assumption is based, again, on the ranking of people. Its a hierarchy. These people do not farm the land. They are only hunters, so they can not be as highly ranked as people who farm or engage in agriculture. So whites have the right to take the land from them and to do something with it. That is the European mentality. African people understand that. We know that that kind of thing doesnt take into consideration any of the philosophy or traditions of native peoples and thats a flaw.

Edirin Oputu

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Racial injustice has been fuelled by centuries of prejudiced hierarchies - Temple University News

Nepal’s overall imports have gone down but agriculture import continues to expand, hitting record Rs 250 billion – The Kathmandu Post

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Nepal's agricultural goods import bills continue to expand, ballooning to an all-time high crossing Rs250 billion in the fiscal year 2019-20 as a result of the countrys import-promoting policies, high production costs and change in consumer behaviour, among other factors.

While the countrys overall imports dropped by 15.63 percent to Rs1.19 trillion in the last fiscal year, ending mid-July, due to Covid-19 pandemic related restrictions, agricultural goods imports continued to increase. The share of agro products in the total import bill has swelled to 21 percent.

The agricultural goods imports bill in 2009-10 amounted to Rs 44.43 billion. In 10 years, it has grown by almost six times.

Agriculture economist Devendra Gauchan said that the government has been putting no restriction on imports.

Although in a liberal economic policy curbing the imports of cheaper goods is against consumer rights, we could still make it more difficult for imports with strict quality check and imposition of quarantine, said Gauchan, also the director of Nepal Agriculture Economic Society

Pawan Kumar Golyan, chairman of the Golyan Group, one of the leading private sector enterprises promoting agri business, agrees.

The government had imposed mandatory quarantine at the borders to stop imports of vegetables that have high levels of pesticide residues, he said. But that has been lifted now.

The problem is also factors that affect productivity in Nepal.

There is high land fragmentation, and the cost of agricultural labour is high, said Chandan Sapkota, an economist. Absence of scientific land reform to enable proper utilisation and distribution of land is a factor. Smaller agricultural holdings are increasing but larger holdings are decreasing, and this obviously results in low production.

According to the Department of Customs statistics, cereal tops the list of agro imports followed by edible oil, vegetables, fruits and nuts and seeds. Cereal import bill amounted to Rs56.88 billion, almost a fifth of the total agriculture import bill.

Nepal started importing cereals nine years ago, according to government statistics.

Of the total cereal imports, rice accounts for Rs22.23 billion and maize comes second with Rs14.75 billion.

Imports of maize have been growing at an alarming rate and it's due to the demand of livestock feed. Besides, Nepal spends Rs15 billion on the imports of animal fodder alone.

The rise in the income mainly from remittance has given people a choice, said Gauchan.

Choice is the reason behind the growth of rice imports too, according to Rameshore Khanal, a former finance secretary.

Nepal is importing fine varieties of rice mainly due to the expanding number of middle-income Nepalis who prefer to eat basmati rice, and Nepal doesnt grow such fine rice in sufficient quantities, he said. Its a preference. People will buy what they like.

After cereals, the biggest import bill is for vegetable fats and oils which stands at Rs50.24 billion, up from Rs37.12 billion in the previous fiscal year.

A significant share of this is taken by the import of crude palm oil which is then exported to India, taking advantage of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), according to government officials.

As the SAFTA agreement provisions zero tariffs on goods exported from underdeveloped countries like Nepal, Nepali traders have been importing crude palm oil from other countries paying minimum tariffs and then exporting the finished product to India with zero tariffs.

Its sad to know that the vegetable import bill is increasing every passing year. In vegetables, we can be self-sufficient within six months, said Golyan, who has acquired 35 hectares (220 bighas) of land in Jhapa for commercial fruits, vegetables and cereal production. The basic things that we lack are the basic infrastructure like processing zones, cooling centres and agriculture rural roads.

Nepal is the third largest producer of ginger and fifth largest producer of lentils but it is yet to take full advantage, according to Golyan. This is simply because there is a lack of attention to the agriculture sector.

According to Gauchan, Nepal can learn some lessons from India which provides massive subsidies to farmers. It has become cheaper to buy from India than produce inside the country due to high production costs, said Gauchan. Traders import in larger volumes, as a result it becomes cheaper as transaction costs are low.

Meanwhile, in Nepal it is difficult being a farmer.

According to Sapkota, multiple factors, including timely unavailability of key inputs such as chemical fertilizers, seeds, irrigation, finance, labour, machinery/technology diffusion, and infrastructure like roads, energy and ICT, make productivity costs high in Nepal.

So basically, its an import-promoting policy of the government that is stopping the country from being self-sufficient on its production, said Gauchan, the agriculture economist. Because the government is focused on making revenueno matter from where it comes.

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Nepal's overall imports have gone down but agriculture import continues to expand, hitting record Rs 250 billion - The Kathmandu Post

The West Live: West Coast Fever gear up for Queensland for mega netball hub – The West Australian

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West Coast Fever star Verity Charles will join The West Live this morning ahead of her team's move to a Queensland's new mega netball hub.

The 29-year-old and her West Australian teammates are gearing up to start the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball season on August 1.

The fixture for the first six rounds of the condensed season that will be based out of Brisbane, with a tough five games in 13 days draw handed to the Fever.

Also joining podcast host Ben O'Shea, constitutional lawyer Greg McIntyre Eddie Koiki Mabo's solicitor in Australia's landmark Aboriginal land rights case will weigh in on Clive Palmer's high-profile legal battle to tear down WA's border.

Yesterday was the first day of the stoush with the Queensland mining billionaire in the High Court, with Mr Palmer arguing there's no justification for WAs interstate border to be closed and that it's "unconstitutional" because it restricts the free movement of Australians across the country.

Later on the show, Tenancy WA executive manager Carmen Acosta has slammed REIWAs calls this week to end COVID-19 tenant rules restrictions on landlords seeking to evict tenants due to rental arrears as a result of the pandemic.

Ms Acosta is pushing for the moratorium on residential tenancy evictions to be extended like the Federal Government's JobKeeper package.

Shadow Health Minister Zak Kirkup will also join O'Shea to discuss the WA Liberal's response to the States $5.5 billion coronavirus recovery plan.

While opposition leader Liza Harvey said she would back any proposal to create WA jobs, her opposition finance spokesman Steve Thomas called for WA Premier Mark McGowan to immediately reveal the full details of the recovery plan.

Sunrise Perth correspondent Matt Tinney will also be in the studio with WA's latest news headlines.

After 9am, The West Australian's AAA/Confidential Reporter Lily Hoffman will be on to share some quirky stories from across the State and provide the latest in national and international celebrity, entertainment and culture news.

Tune in here at 8.45AM.

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The West Live: West Coast Fever gear up for Queensland for mega netball hub - The West Australian

The innocents at home, anti-mask tales of purity – Greensburg Daily News

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The conservative politicians who oppose Gov. Eric Holcombs statewide mandate that Hoosiers wear masks while in public have the purest histories and the cleanest hands one could imagine. They wouldnt dream of endangering their fellow citizens lives and creating dissension in a time of crisis out of personal pique.

No, no, no.

These guys have unblemished reputations of selfless, unimpeachable devotion to serving both the state and its citizens, uncorrupted by baser considerations or loyalties. They are above such crass motivations.

Take Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, for example.

Hill issued an opinion at the request of several conservative state lawmakers that Holcombs order exceeded his authority. The attorney general devoted at least 15 or 20 seconds of research and analysis to this carefully reasoned argument.

One would expect such diligence and creativity from a man who argued with vehemence that he should remain as attorney general even though his license to practice law had been suspended and Indiana law requires that one be an attorney in good standing to hold the office.

The demands that Hill resign his office came from every corner. The chorus calling for him to leave included most Hoosier Republican officeholders.

But Hill recognized that to honor his duty to the law he must ignore, even break, the law. To do otherwise would be to violate his oaths both as an officer of the court and as the states highest-ranking defender of the law.

So, Curtis Hill stayed fought tooth and nail, in fact, to hold onto his office in the face of unending criticism and censure from the Indiana Supreme Court because his devotion to the law knows no bounds. He knew it would be wrong to deprive Indiana of such a paragon of principled commitment to the rule of law.

No, none dare call them hypocrites.

Then theres Indiana Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour.

Lucas recently found himself on the receiving end of a spanking from his own partys leadership. He lost several key committee assignments because he had posted a racist meme on Facebook a picture of a laughing Black child in what appeared to be a diaper chortling, We gon get free money.

After his trip to the woodshed, Lucas said he was going to leave social media and try to strike a more respectful tone.

That lasted about 90 seconds.

The day after the governor announced the mask mandate, Lucas offered the following calm and reasoned post on Facebook:

Starting Monday, the governor wants to lock me in a cage for 180 days and fine me $1,000 if I dont wear a mask that has no published standards for effectiveness.

What if I dont comply, Governor Eric Holcomb?

The words sat atop a photo of a gun and a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution.

Many people who saw the post called it a threat to the governor and thus a violation of the law. Lucas denied that.

He always does.

Thats because Lucas is like the kid in the band who just knows that everyone but him is marching out of step.

His devotion to the Constitution is depthless. Thats why he likes to berate and shout down citizens who want to exercise their First Amendment right to petition government for redress of grievances. Thats also why he tried to waive gun owners Fourth Amendment rights a few years back so he could make it possible for them to bring their guns to school.

Hes just following the wisdom of the Vietnam War general who said, In order to save the village, it was necessary to destroy the village.

Lucas knows that, to save the Constitution, sometimes one must destroy the Constitution.

No, none dare call them hypocrites.

Eric Holcombs motivations arent nearly so high-minded and complicated. Hes requiring Hoosiers to wear masks because, selfishly, he wants to see fewer of us getting sick and dying.

What a cad.

What a tyrant.

Hill, Lucas and the others who oppose the governors mandate have one other thing in common.

They all say theyre pro-life.

No, none dare call them hypocrites.

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

John Krull is director of Franklin Colleges Pulliam School of Journalism.

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The innocents at home, anti-mask tales of purity - Greensburg Daily News

Offshore Wind: The Missing Link in California’s Energy Mix? – Natural Resources Defense Council

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If youve ever driven a car, youve certainly read the phrase objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. California law requires the states electricity to be zero carbon by 2045 and the economy to be carbon neutral by then as well. The goal is appropriate, ambitious, and the challenges are novel. Because of the scale of change required, just like that object in the mirror, 2045 is closer than it appears.

As a renewable source, offshore wind can help California to solve its carbon reduction puzzle. However, its development has a unique set of challengesenvironmental, regulatory and economic.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has kicked off the federal Outer Continental Shelf leasing Process by identifying three Call Areas where offshore wind could be built: Humboldt on the North Coast, and Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon on the Central Coast. If developed fully, the Call Areas have a potential of around 8 GW. Yet, there is more work needed to identify the best locations within those Call Areas to balance technical and economic feasibility and minimize environmental and stakeholder conflicts.

Through this two-part blog, we explain why California needs to seriously consider offshore wind as an option to meet its zero-carbon goals and why it needs to commit to building the first 100 MW within the next year. Lessons learnt from this first commitment will help the industry scale up smoothly.

While trying to meet its zero carbon goals by 2045, California is also increasing its electric demand. With a wave of cities passing building electrification legislation, electric vehicles growing popularity and the recently adopted Advanced Clean Trucks rule, the trend is clear.

To address the question of how to supply this increasing demand with clean and affordable electricity, the California Legislature passed the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act (Senate Bill 350). A key part of this bill is for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Energy Commission, and the states electricity providers to figure out how to cut these emissions in a least-cost manner.

California gets almost 35 percent (100 GWh) of its electricity from gas fired power plants. To move away from these fossil plants and to meet the states climate action goals of carbon neutrality by 2045, new sources of clean electricity need to come online. And while the current go-to renewable resourcessolar, onshore wind and battery storageare technically capable of helping us get to zero-carbon electricity, it would be cheaper and easier to reach that goal with a broader range of technologies. So, Californias electricity providers should invest in renewable sources of electricity that are a good complement to solar, onshore wind, and batteries.

Offshore wind can be an important complement because it can meet Californias renewable energy needs during rainy and cloudy winter months when less solar is energy available. Even more appealing from an energy planners perspective is that offshore winds ramp up in the afternoon and evening when the sun goes down. This means that offshore wind could reduce the need to build expensive storage, and the need to retain gas power plants.

While offshore wind operates under the same premise as onshorecapturing energy from the wind to generate electricity turbines on the ocean present a unique set of challenges. Depending on the oceans depth, turbines could be fixed at the bottom of a shallow seabed or float on deeper oceans. The vast majority of offshore wind exists in shallow waters where the bottom of the turbines can easily reach the seabed.

Many states off the East Coast have taken advantage of shallower waters and kickstarted offshore wind development through public policy. For instance, in 2016, Massachusetts signed the Act to Promote Energy Diversity to spur the building of 1.6 GW of offshore wind energy by 2027the target was later doubled in 2018. New York and New Jersey both committed in 2019 to a goal of 9 and 7.5 GW by 2035. With five metal giants standing on the horizon, the Block Island wind farm in Rhode Island can produce more than 125,000-MWh of electricity annually, enough energy to power 17,000 homes.

Compared to the East Coasts Atlantic seashore states, Californias continental shelf drops off steeply meaning that relatively novel floating turbines are the only option. However, the novelty of floating offshore wind technology shouldnt be prohibitive. Hywind Scotland, the first floating offshore wind development globally, was brought online in 2017.

California has the wind energy resource technical potential to power at least 110 GW of offshore wind. However, environmental, stakeholder, regulatory and economic considerations mean that only a portion of that total can be feasibly built.

Before the state commits to power the first few houses from these floating metal-turbines, it needs to make sure that offshore wind development can be conducted in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner. Specifically, the states regulators and legislators need to figure out the following concerns:

Our next blog in this series will propose a solution to help Californias policymakers answer these questions and chart a path forward to a clean electricity future powered (in part) by offshore wind.

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Offshore Wind: The Missing Link in California's Energy Mix? - Natural Resources Defense Council

Coronavirus on the Decline in UK Offshore Sector – The Maritime Executive

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By The Maritime Executive 07-28-2020 09:24:49

Oil and Gas UK (OGUK), the industry association for Britain's offshore oil and gas sector, reports that the number of possible coronavirus cases requiring medical evacuation is on the decline in the UK North Sea rig workforce.

OGUK confirms that the number of medevac flights for potential COVID-19 cases accounted for only 0.03 percent of total persons on board offshore installations last week. "The reduction in c-med flights is a recognition of both industry-imposed barriers and UK measures being effective," said Trevor Stapleton, OGUKs health, safety and environment director. It is worth noting that a Cat-C passenger is only symptomatic of COVID-19 and may not be a positive case, therefore the percentage figure is the worst-case scenario. However, now is not the time for us to become complacent and we will be paying close attention to the figures going forward."

"Category C" evacuees are workers who display non-life-threatening symptoms consistent with coronavirus. The industry's standard medevac protocol calls for the use of a CMED or SAR helicopter and a maximum of three passengers on board.

From late March through late May, a total of about 200 individuals had to be evacuated due to potential COVID-19 symptoms, according to UK industry outlet Energy Voice. In early April, the count peaked at 56 flights in a week, and it has declined significantly since.

As we move into the recovery phase which will mean increasing [persons on board] offshore a missing piece of the jigsaw is still asymptomatic testing for our offshore workforce, carried out using the NHS UK test centers. We continue to make the case for this with both the UK and Scottish governments," Stapleton added.

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Coronavirus on the Decline in UK Offshore Sector - The Maritime Executive

Hampton Roads Alliance Announces Offshore Wind Supply Chain Development Initiative – Yahoo Finance

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To lead the effort, regional expert Matt Smith will join the Alliance as its first Director of Offshore Wind Business Development

NORFOLK, Va., July 29, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Hampton Roads Alliance (the Alliance) is pleased to announce a new initiative to develop a comprehensive supply chain to serve the east coast offshore wind industry. This effort is made possible largely thanks to a Department of Housing & Community Development GO Virginia grant of $529,788 that will help fund the first two years of this effort. This initiative will position Hampton Roads as the premier destination for offshore wind companies to invest, while also creating new economic prospects for existing businesses, attracting new investments to the region, and sparking new permanent job creation.

"The Alliance is proud to be a key partner in the collective effort to bring offshore wind to the Hampton Roads region. We would like to sincerely thank Governor Ralph Northam and these Virginia General Assembly for leading the charge to bring renewable energy to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and GO Virginia for awarding the Alliance a grant which will be used to kick off our supply chain development initiative," said Doug Smith, President & CEO of the Hampton Roads Alliance.

This initiative will entail efforts to both recruit offshore wind companies to establish operations in the region, while simultaneously identifying opportunities for existing Virginia businesses to become part of the supply chain. This effort will involve significant coordination and collaboration with local, regional and state partners, including the Virginia Division of Offshore Wind within the Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (DMME) and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). In support of this new initiative, the Alliance is pleased to announce the hiring of Matt Smith as the Director of Offshore Wind Business Development. In the spirit of collaboration, a hiring committee comprised of representatives from the Hampton Roads Alliance, Virginia DMME, Port of Virginia, Virginia Maritime Association and Portsmouth Economic Development conducted the search and selection of this new hire from a wide pool of candidates. The committee unanimously recommended Matt for the role and is excited to welcome him to the Alliance team.

Before joining the Alliance, Matt served as the Senior Regional Planner at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) and worked in the areas of strategic, environmental and comprehensive planning. Matt led efforts at the HRPDC on issues ranging from offshore wind to site development readiness. Matt came to the HRPDC from the City of Hampton's Community Development Department where he helped begin Hampton's resilience planning program.

Prior to his career in community development, Matt worked for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and for a research and consulting firm. Matt, a native of Hampton Roads, earned a Master's Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.A. in American History from Washington and Lee University.

"We are very excited to have Matt Smith join our team as our first Director for Offshore Wind Business Development," said Brian K. Skinner, Chief Banking Officer for TowneBank and Chair of Alliance Board of Directors. "Matt comes to the Alliance with a history of serving the 757 region, and we look forward to the experience and passion he will bring with him to this inaugural role."

"The Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy is pleased to have the Alliance as an important partner in the State's burgeoning offshore wind industry," commented Jennifer Palestrant, Chief Deputy, DMME. "Matt's experience, along with his knowledge of the local business community and regional development opportunities, will serve this emerging industry well."

"Virginia is positioned to be a leader in the offshore wind energy industry, and we are excited to partner with the Hampton Roads Alliance, DHCD and DMME on these initiatives to expand Virginia's offshore wind supply chain," said Stephen Moret, VEDP President and CEO. "It is through collaboration among state, local and regional organizations that we can recruit new business, growing this industry and creating economic opportunity in the Hampton Roads region and throughout the Commonwealth."

Story continues

"As offshore wind energy production and its supporting supply chain begin to take footing along the U.S. East Coast, the Hampton Roads Harbor and the existing maritime cluster is poised to be a key hub in this emerging industry," remarked John F. Reinhart, CEO and Executive Director, Virginia Port Authority. "The Port of Virginia is pleased to see the Alliance establish an offshore wind supply chain development program, as well as the addition of Matt Smith as the Director of Offshore Wind Business Development. The Port of Virginia and the Alliance are strategic economic development partners, and we look forward to working with Matt to grow the offshore wind industry here in Virginia."

"We are very happy to have Matt join the Alliance. His in-depth local knowledge, planning expertise and regional network will be invaluable in establishing our region as a major player in the East Coast offshore wind supply chain," said Will Fediw, Vice President of Industry & Government Affairs, Virginia Maritime Association.

"From economics to workforce to infrastructure and industry planning, offshore wind will be a major aspect of our region's future," commented Robert D. Moore, Director, Portsmouth Economic Development. "The City of Portsmouth is excited to collaborate with our local, regional and national partners to ensure that the 757 is the preferred East Coast hub for the industry. Matt's knowledge of the region and technical background will support those efforts."

To further this new initiative, the Alliance is also establishing a European-based offshore wind economic development office. Located in Frankfurt, Germany, the Hampton Roads Alliance Offshore Wind Office will be staffed by experts who will engage with European-based companies and promote the assets of the region.

"We as the European arm of the Hampton Roads Alliance are thrilled to represent this initiative. As one of the first pioneers to help European offshore wind companies navigate through the U.S. and Hampton Roads, the Alliance will start by opening an office in Frankfurt," said Andreas Paulicks, Director Europe, Hampton Roads Alliance Offshore Wind Office. "This decision is based on the fact that Europe and especially Germany are among the leading nations within the renewable energy industry and in particular offshore wind. The strong presence of renewable energy in Europe will bring great opportunities to support investments from Europe to Hampton Roads."

Hampton Roads is uniquely positioned to support the growing $100 billion East Coast offshore wind industry. The region boasts unmatched port infrastructure, America's largest and most skilled maritime workforce, no overhead bridge restrictions between key port facilities and the open ocean, and abundant waterfront land. Dominion Energy also recently completed installation of the first two turbines in Federal waters as part of its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.

"Offshore Wind represents a once in a generation opportunity to bring an entirely new industry to the region," said ReInvent Hampton Roads CEO & President, Jim Spore.

For further information or to secure an interview with Alliance President & CEO, Doug Smith, please contact Jillian Goodwin, Director of Marketing & Communications at jgoodwin@757alliance.com.

About the Hampton Roads Alliance The Hampton Roads Alliance is the leading regional economic development organization for Hampton Roads, VA. It is a nonprofit, public-private partnership representing 11 localities and over 70 private sector investors. With the support of its community and business partners, the Alliance serves as the region's single point of contact for regional economic development to assist domestic and international companies who are considering expansion or relocating to the Hampton Roads region. Its mission is to work collaboratively to attract, grow and retain higher-wage industries and talent to create a more resilient, inclusive and diverse region of choice.

SOURCE Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance

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Hampton Roads Alliance Announces Offshore Wind Supply Chain Development Initiative - Yahoo Finance

U.S. Offshore Wind Keeps Spinning in July Legislative Update – JD Supra

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While offshore wind has been on the radar for many years in the United States, there has been a palpable surge in the momentum behind the industry over the past several months. For example, earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a massive renewable energy solicitation that included a record breaking 2,500 MW offshore wind procurement. In conjunction with the solicitation, the state will require offshore wind generators to partner with one of 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, manufacture key components, or coordinate operations and maintenance activities. Funding for port investments will include $400 million in both public and private funding.

Despite the surge in new activity, questions regarding one of our countrys oldest laws still loom over the industrys development. The Jones Act celebrated its 100th birthday last month (and original requirements for use of U.S. flagged vessels for transportation between U.S points date back to legislation introduced in the first Congress). The Jones Act prohibits the transportation of merchandise between U.S. points on a vessel that isnt U.S. flagged and coastwise qualified (i.e., owned, operated, and controlled by U.S. citizens). Of particular significance to offshore wind, regulatory and legislative activity at the end of last year and the early part of this year called into question the extent to which foreign flagged heavy lift vessels will be authorized to conduct installation operations in U.S. waters. This issue is critical to the industry because there are currently no U.S. flagged heavy lift vessels capable of performing certain aspects of offshore wind projects. This fact, in addition to the long lead time required to secure the use of these vessels, means that any uncertainty regarding whether use of a U.S. coastwise qualified vessel is or will be required in the future has the potential to present significant complications for project owners.

On February 17, 2020, a previously issued decision of Customs and Border Protection (the agency responsible for interpreting and administering Jones Act requirements) to broaden the scope of activities that a foreign flagged vessel could undertake as part of lifting operations went into effect. Specifically, CBPs decision revoked prior CBP interpretative rulings that prohibited any movement of a foreign flagged vessel with merchandise aboard during a lifting operation. Instead, under its revised interpretation, CBP indicated that it will permit a foreign flagged vessel to engage in lifting operations that include certain lateral movements when the movement is necessary for the safety of surface and subsea infrastructure and/or the vessels and mariners involved. CBP clarified that this interpretation applies to all lifting operations (i.e., not just heavy lift).

Concurrent to that action by CBP, legislative efforts to define the scope of permissible foreign flagged vessel involvement in lifting operations were also underway. In July of last year, the House of Representatives passed the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 3409). The House version of the bill included provisions that would have essentially overridden CBPs revised interpretation of lifting operations with respect to heavy lifts by instead prohibiting use of foreign heavy lift vessels unless there has been a finding by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation that there are no available qualified U.S.-flag vessels. A companion bill introduced in the Senate (S. 2297) did not contain these provisions. Neither version was ultimately enacted into law as negotiations on this language appeared to have stalled. Thus, the question of whether CBPs interpretation would be allowed to remain in place by Congress remains largely unsettled.

That changed, at least in part, last week when the House passed the Elijah Cummings Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2020 as part of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021. The 2020 version of the Houses Coast Guard Authorization Act did not contain the heavy lift waiver language. The bill now heads to the Senate to be reconciled in conference with the Senate version of the NDAA. Given that the Senate did not adopt the heavy lift waiver language last year, it would seem that CBPs more permissive reading of the Jones Act will continue to apply. Obviously, all eyes in the industry will be watching this legislations progress closely.

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U.S. Offshore Wind Keeps Spinning in July Legislative Update - JD Supra

NJBPU issues solicitation guidance for second offshore wind project in NJ – Daily Energy Insider

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NJBPU issues solicitation guidance for second offshore wind project in NJ

Published on July 27, 2020 by Dave Kovaleski

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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) issued solicitation guidance on the states second offshore wind project.

The solicitation guidance document includes information on the timeline for the second solicitation, the application requirements, and the criteria for evaluating applications.

The states first offshore wind solicitation was for 1,100 megawatts (MW) of energy. The states goal is to have 7,500 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035.

Using lessons learned from our first successful solicitation of 1,100 MW, we are very excited to move forward with our second offshore wind solicitation which could bring the state up to a total of 3,500 MW of offshore wind energy, NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said. Offshore wind is the linchpin of our clean energy program and will help us reach Governor Murphys goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, build an innovation economy, and combat the impacts of climate changes.

The board also scheduled a virtual public meeting on Aug. 5 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., which will feature a presentation by NJBPU staff on New Jerseys offshore wind goals and activities, as well as information on the requirements of the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act. Staff will also summarize the content of the solicitation guidance document for the second project, with public comment to follow. NJBPU also will accept written comments on the solicitation guidance document by Aug. 19.

After this meeting, NJBPU expects to consider the second solicitation at its September board meeting. Applications would then be accepted in December 2020 with a final decision by the board in June 2021.

In June 2019, NJBPU approved an application for a 1,100 MW offshore wind generation project submitted by Ocean Wind. The project is currently underway and should be operating in 2024.

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NJBPU issues solicitation guidance for second offshore wind project in NJ - Daily Energy Insider

ADNOC adds China’s CNOOC as new partner in two offshore concessions – Offshore Technology

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]]]]]]>]]]]>]]> ADNOC transfers rights in major offshore concessions from CNPC to CNOOC. Credit: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

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UAEs Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced the transfer of ownership rights in two offshore concessions to China National Offshore Oil Corporations (CNOOC) subsidiary CNOOC Limited.

ADNOC will transfer the rights in Lower Zakum, and Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore concessions from China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to CNOOC.

Transfer of rights in these concessions was approved by Abu Dhabis Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC).

CNOOC will join a consortium, which includes ONGC Videsh, INPEX, CNPC, Eni, and Total as participants in the two concessions, in which ADNOC holds a 60% stake.

ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: The transfer also illustrates ADNOCs strengthened access to international markets and partners and our commitment to generating sustainable returns for the UAE.

CNOOC joins our other international partners in the Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif and Nasr concessions and bring world-class expertise and technology to help us continue to maximise value from the concessions as we create a more profitable upstream business and deliver our 2030 strategy.

CNOOC will acquire a 40% stake of CNPCs majority-owned subsidiary PetroChina Investment Overseas, which, in turn, holds a 10% interest each in the Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif and Nasr concessions.

Post the transfer of rights to CNOOC, PetroChina will retain a 6% stake in the concessions.

CNOOC chairman Wang Dongjin said: We are very pleased to participate in the Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif and Nasr concessions. This further strengthens the strategic relationship with ADNOC and PetroChina.

Last month, ADNOC reached a $20.7bn gas infrastructure deal with a consortium of investors. The group consists of six investors, namely Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Brookfield Asset Management, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, Singapores sovereign wealth fund GIC, NH Investment & Securities, and Snam.

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ADNOC adds China's CNOOC as new partner in two offshore concessions - Offshore Technology

ScottishPower completes 2.5bn East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm – Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy

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Image: ScottishPower Renewables

ScottishPower Renewables has announced the completion of the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm with a total capacity of 714MW.

Located 43km off the Suffolk coast, the 2.5 billion wind farm consists of 102 turbines, capable of producing enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of more than 630,000 homes.

Almost 3,500 jobs were created during the construction phase, which began in 2017, while 100 long term skilled jobs have been created at the operations and maintenance base in Lowestoft.

ScottishPower suggests more than half of the wind farms supply chain came from the UK market over the course of the project.

Charlie Jordan, East Anglia ONE Project Director at ScottishPower Renewables, said: The final commissioning of East Anglia ONE is an incredible milestone for us and our project partners, as well as our wider stakeholders, the East Anglian region and the whole of the UK. And it comes at a crucial time as the UK takes it first steps towards a green economic recovery.

Reaching this point was always going to be an extremely important moment for us heralding the start of full production of green energy from a major site that will play a real part in the UKs path to net zero I am delighted East Anglia ONE will play a leading roll in the regions green energy production and will also become a hub of industry, investment and skills as we continue to build the green energy sector thats so important for our future.

The project is a joint venture between ScottishPower Renewables and Macquaries Green Investment Group (GIG), with the completion of this project bringing the total capacity of UK offshore wind supported by the latter companies to more than 5.7GW across 14 projects.

If you enjoyed this story you can sign up to our weekly email for Energy Live News and if youre interested in hearing more about the journey to net zero by 2050, you can also sign up to the future Net Zero newsletter.

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ScottishPower completes 2.5bn East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm - Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy

Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth During 2020 to 2025 – AlgosOnline

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Global Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Market 2020 report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the global key players. It also provides analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.

The Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market report is an exhaustive assessment of this business space and provides crucial insights with regards to development trends of the market during the estimated timeframe. Additional details including regional scope of the industry and various policies are outlined in the report. Moreover, the report encompasses numerous parameters such as the impact of current market trends on investors.

Details concerning the Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market scenario such as advantages and disadvantages of products launched by industry players are mentioned in the report. The study further offers a summary of the competitive scenario as well as a complete analysis of the raw material and downstream buyers matrix.

Request a sample Report of Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Market at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/2819610?utm_source=Algosonline.com&utm_medium=AN

COVID-19, the disease it causes, surfaced in late 2020, and now had become a full-blown crisis worldwide. Over fifty key countries had declared a national emergency to combat coronavirus. With cases spreading, and the epicentre of the outbreak shifting to Europe, North America, India and Latin America, life in these regions has been upended the way it had been in Asia earlier in the developing crisis. As the coronavirus pandemic has worsened, the entertainment industry has been upended along with most every other facet of life. As experts work toward a better understanding, the world shudders in fear of the unknown, a worry that has rocked global financial markets, leading to daily volatility in the U.S. stock markets.

Revealing a gist of the competitive landscape of Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market:

Explicating the geographical landscape of Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market:

Ask for Discount on Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Market Report at:https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/2819610?utm_source=Algosonline.com&utm_medium=AN

Additional takeaways from the Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market report:

Research Objective:

This report considers the below mentioned key questions:

Q.1. What are some of the most favorable, high-growth prospects for the global Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market?

Q.2. Which products segments will grow at a faster rate throughout the forecast period and why?

Q.3. Which geography will grow at a faster rate and why?

Q.4. What are the major factors impacting market prospects? What are the driving factors, restraints, and challenges in this Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market?

Q.5. What are the challenges and competitive threats to the market?

Q.6. What are the evolving trends in this Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry market and reasons behind their emergence?

Q.7. What are some of the changing customer demands in the Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Industry market?

For More Details On this Report: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/covid-19-outbreak-global-offshore-oil-pipeline-industry-market-report-development-trends-threats-opportunities-and-competitive-landscape-in-2020

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Offshore Oil Pipeline Industry Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth During 2020 to 2025 - AlgosOnline

Export Cable Laying Soon to Begin at Moray East Offshore Wind Project – Offshore WIND

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The boulder picking operations have begun at the export cable route of the Moray East offshore wind project in Scotland.

The boulder picking work started on 24 July using Olympic Triton, while the export cable laying and trenching operations are set to begin circa 28 July.

NKT Victoria will be laying the three export cables between the project site and the cable landfall, via three separate drilled HDD ducts near Boyndie Bay.

The vessel Havila Phoenix will undertake operations to bury these subsea power cables. Cable laying is expected to be completed by approximately 3 October.

According to the projects weekly notice of operations, ten jacket foundations have so far been installed at the site some 22km off the Aberdeenshire coast.

The 950 MW Moray Eastwill consist of 100 MHI Vestas 9.5 MW turbines and three offshore substation platforms expected to be operational by 2022.

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Export Cable Laying Soon to Begin at Moray East Offshore Wind Project - Offshore WIND

Rocket Arena’s first season fires off with new hero Flux – Rock Paper Shotgun

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Its time to get very, very serious about shooting your pals with rockets. Rocket Arenas first season takes off today, bringing a heap of newness to EAs bouncy battle arena a new battle pass, new ranked season, a series of new limited-time events thatll bring in new maps, and a dorky new hero who blows up baddies by tossing interdimensional cat-heads at them.

Rocket Arenas headline addition is Flux, a child prodigy who reckons getting punted by high explosives is a small price to pay for extracurricular curiosity.

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Annoyingly, the Season One update post doesnt give us much on Flux beyond her being excitable, effusive, and easily distracted by anything that tickles her scientific fancy. At least the video gives us a look at some of her abilities, with largely appear to involve robot cat heads at folks to blow them up / compress them into a horrifying singularity. She can also dimension shift to sneak about, sorta like Wraith off of Apex Legends. Importantly, you wont have to pay a penny to play as Rocket Arenas nerdy murderchild.

Season 1 also brings in Rocket Arenas first battle pass (sorry, Blast Pass), your standard affair with 117 levels of rewards split across free and paid tiers. But itll also feature two time-limited events, permanently adding new maps along with brief, themed gamemodes to show off the new locales. The first, Blast In Paradise, kicks off on August 12th by adding Grand Harbor and Lagoon of Doom to the games map pool.

Rocket Arenas core premise wot if Super Smash Bros but with rocket launchers is a goodun, though Ill admit I havent heard much buzz around the game since its release two weeks ago. If youre up for giving it a bash, Rocket Arena is currently available on Steam and Origin for 25/$30/30.

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Rocket Arena's first season fires off with new hero Flux - Rock Paper Shotgun

The Investor | Blockchain was set to transform real estate. What happened? – The Investor JLL

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An apartment in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, made history in 2017 when it became the first real estate asset to trade via blockchain, changing hands for US$60,000.

The buyer, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, paid for the property with a combination of two digital currencies and the transfer took place entirely online using smart contracts.

The deal was struck at the height of the hype around blockchains potential to make real estate more tradable and transparent.

But beyond a subsequent flurry of small-scale residential transactions and a number of government-backed pilot programs to bring land registries online, blockchain has failed so far to live up to the commercial property sectors expectations.

Its been very slow going with blockchain in real estate, despite it being touted as a game changer for a number of years now, says Matthew McAuley, director, global research at JLL.

As groups started to pursue blockchain-lead solutions, hurdles that emerged from the technological and regulatory, to the systems sheer permanence have yet to be overcome, despite concerted efforts.

The route to more transparent transactions

In its simplest form, a blockchain is a database of recorded transactions. Each step in a transaction is a block. Each new block is added to the previous one to form a chain. With no single party in control, the system was designed to be completely secure, with even administrators unable to change the information recorded in each chain.

The benefits could be wide ranging for real estate, not least the systems ability to authenticate and track transactions in real time without the use of a third party, such as a bank. For example, every part of a lease or sale agreement could be automated, with payments received instantly even outside of business hours.

As well as making real estate deals more efficient, this would remove some significant barriers for investors by making commercial assets more liquid and transparent.

Governments around the world are trialling the use of blockchain within land registries in the hope that recording this information digitally could reduce costs, save time and increase security across the transaction.

These trials are at a fairly preliminary stage in most cases, says McAuley.

Dubai and Sweden are home to some of the worlds most advanced applications of blockchain in real estate.

The Dubai Blockchain Strategy is actively working on a process to record all real estate transactions on blockchain and is part of a wider blockchain ecosystem that spans utilities and telecommunications. In Sweden, the government is testing transfer of property ownership via blockchain.

Elsewhere, JLLs 2020 Global Real Estate Transparency Index has identified 31 territories where there is some government engagement with the technology. Among these, the UKs Digital Street program is testing a blockchain prototype that supports the digital transfer of a property in a system that automatically updates the land register.

Putting the pilot schemes into practice, however, poses significant challenges.

Its just very difficult to implement as all of the technological, logistical and regulatory building blocks need to be in place, McAuley says.

The onset of blockchain fatigue

A Google Trends analysis shows worldwide interest for blockchain emerged in 2013, and began to grow in earnest in early 2016. It peaked at the end of 2017. Interest has since fallen back to early-2017 levels.

Outside of real estate, mass implementation of blockchain across supply chains has struggled to live up to the initial enthusiasm. A Gartner survey labelled this blockchain fatigue, citing immature technology, lack of standards and overly ambitious scope as contributing factors.

Even moving land registries online and setting up contracting systems is a major logistical challenge that relies on multiple markets having robust regulatory frameworks in place.

For blockchain to be adopted more widely, you need three things: the computing power to run it, legislative frameworks to police it, and a practical workaround for immutability, McAuley says.

One of blockchains major drawbacks is its permanence actions cannot be undone and remain forever etched into the system.

Anything involving humans will never be error free, McAuley says. But with blockchain it becomes more difficult to enforce regulatory oversight or legal judgements.

Keeping the systems that rely on blockchain free of fraud and error human or otherwise has deterred the industry.

I find it difficult to believe blockchain will be as used, or as useful, in real estate as was thought initially, McAuley says.

That said, efforts continue undeterred. COVID-19 could go some way to accelerating blockchain initiatives as the imperative for faster, remote transactions increases.

But the industry will continue to approach the technology with caution as it develops over the years ahead.

The potential is still there, McAuley says. But so are the challenges.

Click to read about what the world will look like in 2030.

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The Investor | Blockchain was set to transform real estate. What happened? - The Investor JLL

Rescue operation fails to find any sign of Bribie Island couple after boat sinks in stormy seas off African coast – ABC News

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Dangerous conditions have hindered the search for a missing Bribie Island couple after their boat sank off the coast of Tanzania in East Africa.

Del and Craig McEwan were sailing across the Indian ocean to the Seychelles archipelago when their boat began to sink after encountering stormy seas on Monday night.

It's unclear whether or not the couple successfully boarded a life raft while waiting to be rescued by the Seychelles Coast Guard.

The couple had been travelling the African coast in a catamaran named Ohana-Uli and were planning on returning to Australia.

In a statement, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said a distress beacon registered to an Australian catamaran was detected in the Tanzanian search and rescue region on Monday evening.

"AMSA identified and contacted the closest and only available merchant ship, the tanker Atlantic Lily. The Atlantic Lily diverted to the location," it said.

"Upon arrival on scene the next morning, the ship's crew encountered extremely challenging conditions, including rough seas and strong winds in darkness and attempts to recover survivors were unsuccessful.

"AMSA would like to express its condolences to the families involved and its gratitude to the crew of Atlantic Lily who attempted to provide assistance as per their international obligations in highly challenging conditions."

The sailing community have expressed their concern for the couple with many posting to a Facebook group.

One member, Nikki Loolah said search and rescue teams were sent out on Wednesday to find the couple but were unsuccessful.

"Sadly there was no success finding Del and Craig yesterday," Ms Loolah posted on Wednesday.

"No sightings or debris, last sighting was at 6:00am Tuesday morning and I can confirm the damage to the life raft was significant enough that they were in the water heartbreaking."

Another member, Graham Gower said he had been in contact with the Seychelles Coast Guard who told him a military plane also searched the area on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Cheffers met the couple five years ago when he and his partner's boat was moored next to theirs in the Darwin marina.

"They were living permanently on their vessel and were travelling the world when this accident happened so they're extremely experienced sailors," Mr Cheffers said.

"I can't imagine this would be human error, put it that way."

"The last sighting is that they were sort of floating in the water in very rough conditions off the Seychelles and the word from the Seychelles [Coast Guard] is the conditions were too rough and too dangerous to search for them," Mr Cheffers said.

"So it's all looking a bit tragic for our friends.

"They would have been left floundering and if it was really rough seas and dark it would be catastrophic there wouldn't be worse conditions to find yourself in.

"So it doesn't look good if they're 250 miles off the coast you can't see land, you can't swim for assistance and there's no one there to help."

Mr Cheffers described his friends as seasoned sailors who were friendly and helpful to newcomers on the sailing scene.

"I can remember six or eight of us sitting on the rear deck [of their boat], all lounging in the sun, joking, laughing, having a chat [and] probably a glass of wine.

"Hopefully a miracle occurs and they're rescued."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been providing the couple's family with consular assistance.

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Rescue operation fails to find any sign of Bribie Island couple after boat sinks in stormy seas off African coast - ABC News