Report highlights growing take-up of virtual reality technology in offshore market – Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

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Baker Hughes uses virtual reality technology to assist digital design of oilfield equipment.

(Courtesy Baker Hughes)

Offshore staff

LONDON Oil and gas companies and service providers are increasingly adopting virtual reality (VR) technology, according to data analytics specialist GlobalData.

Its report Virtual Reality in Oil & Gas - Thematic Research examines the use of VR for subsurface studies, training and simulation, and for developing and improvising processes and products.

BP, in collaboration with Maersk Training, is applying VR to prepare its offshore drilling teams for real-life challenges, using simulation facilities in Svendborg, Denmark, and Houston to replicate physical conditions during drilling operations.

ConocoPhillips Norway division has created an Onshore Drilling Centre to operate North Sea drilling activities. The facility, which features a 3D visualization suite to form a virtual team of domain experts, evaluates real-time data, also providing 3D visualization of downhole drilling equipment.

Oslo-based Hydro and the Bergen-based Christian Michelsen Research institute have jointly designed a 3D simulator using VR technology known as Cave to support oil and gas operations. Equinor is using the technology to create a 3D simulation of its offshore assets and operations.

Geophysicists, geologists and drilling engineers wearing 3D spectacles can study geologic structures in close detail and observe the various layers of oil, gas, and water present in the reserves.

At its research center in Qatar, ExxonMobil developed a 3D immersive training platform with EON Reality which creates a virtual plant environment to provide knowledge about equipment and processes to plant operators and engineers.

The simulated facility replicates various real-life scenarios such as an unplanned shutdown, abnormal operation, and emergency response in a safe, controlled environment.

Shell is deploying VR with 3D simulation for deepwater safety training for personnel at the Malikai project offshore Malaysia. This is designed to help technicians deal with potential hazards due to unsafe actions and to take appropriate measures to overcome any unforeseen event.

Saudi Aramco is using VR to train its personnel in how to operate critical equipment in oil and gas complexes correctly. In collaboration with Eon Reality, the company has built a practical training platform that demonstrates different processes to be adopted in real-life situations at an oil and gas facility.

Baker Hughes uses VR technology to assist digital design of oilfield equipment. This is said to lead to improved accuracy and clarity about the equipment and working mechanism prior to installation.

Halliburton is applying Microsoft technologies for simulation and 3D modeling of oil and gas reserves and to create designs for digital representation of physical assets.

01/02/2020

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Report highlights growing take-up of virtual reality technology in offshore market - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Bike about Vice City in GTA V with this mod – Rock Paper Shotgun

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Theres always a man, a lighthouse, and a city. Sometimes, those cities are sucked from 2002 and splatted into modern videogames, like the Vice Cry: Remastered mod that takes the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City map and plops it into Grand Theft Auto V. Bet Ayn Rand didnt see that one coming.

The mods been floating about for years but only recently hit version 1.0. It started life as a makeover mod for the original Vice City, so in theory its a better version even before GTA Vs technobits.

Heres a trailer, which confusingly features remade cutscenes from Vice Citys singleplayer campaign that you cant play with the mod you only get to muck about with the map, and some homemade missions. GTA is obviously at its best when youre just larking about with trucks and drawbridges, so I wouldnt worry.

I say obviously, despite not having played any of Vice City. Six-year-old me was sadly deprived of gang violence. And these excellent fish.

The download page promises a full port of the original mod, plus modern enhancements I dont understand but would gladly sign up for. MLO interiors. Instanced Grass. Pour it all over me.

Youll need to faff around a tad with other, supporting mods, and faff a tad further if you want the cars to be authentically 80s.

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Bike about Vice City in GTA V with this mod - Rock Paper Shotgun

OPINION: Hateful, and then some | Cit – Independent Tribune

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Nancy Pelosi says she doesnt hate anybody, and I have no reason to doubt her. She said so a few weeks ago in response to a reporter who asked why she hates Donald Trump. She cited her Catholicism for the conviction that hate has no place in human interactions. I am no longer a Catholic, but I am a liberal, so I think I understand how it works. I, too, if I am to maintain an honest self-awareness, do not hate the actual man so much as perceive what a grasping, transparently insecure, pathetic man-baby he is and always has been; but I hate every single thing he has done to my fellow citizens, and everything he seems poised to do. I not only want him out: I think he deserves prison.

If Im to talk honestly about my emotional and physiological response to the sight and sound of Donald Trump, it requires the airing of a long list of complaints encompassing not only what he does, but who he is; his projections of self upon our political and social landscape. I found I disliked him initially when he was just a bankrupt, two-bit showman and poseur with an unfathomable appeal to people who aspire to his level of vulgarity and ostentation. To me, hes a cartoon realization of what underprivileged people think a tycoon must be; an Ayn Rand captain of industry gone berserk.

My disrespect for the man is comprehensive. Im repelled by him for glibly mocking fellow humans at every turn, including all women, people with disabilities, anyone of non-European extraction, and any actual Europeans who fail to flatter him. I disdain him for his refusal or inability to learn, or to understand what he needs to learn; for his dismissal of science, his repeated attacks on the honest press, his frank racism and eagerness to inflame the worst racist hearts, his cruelty, his bottomless ignorance, his casual undermining of the very structure of democracy solely to enshrine himself as the biggest pig at the trough; for endangering the lives of desperate refugees; for sucking up to the worst dictators in the world; for lies and misrepresentation, at all times and about everything; for enriching himself and his entitled spawn at the expense of the American people; for dividing Americans at every opportunity; for false religiosity; for favoring the insatiable desires of billionaires over the needs of the people; for attacking public service; for open-faced corruption; for endangering our republic, spewing propaganda created by our adversaries, ballooning our debt and for his ridiculous haircut. All of it.

And most of all, I deplore him and every other member of the Republican Party for failing to rise to the most existential threat we have ever faced, an environmental catastrophe of our own making, a challenge for which they have not only failed to provide any leadership whatsoever, but have dedicated themselves to making things worse, sooner. That sort of ignorance deserves active and relentless derision. Trump and his Republicans have become insurgent outliers in American politics. They are ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of their political opposition. The impending doom from the inaction of these institutionally obtuse Trumpites will be famine and drought, the collapse of the oceans, the deepening worldwide refugee crisis, looming wars over resources and territory, epidemics and spread of disease, and extinctions; and all of it sooner than we previously feared. All of it is on Trump, and on Republicans, every last feckless one of them.

Trump is a man so uneducated and, frankly, stupid that he either believes there is no crisis as long as he still has a bedroom thermostat, or he doesnt give a tinkers curse as long as hes still rich. His sole claim to respect comes from his Machiavellian self-preservation. But even this is in peril as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and others, ask questions about the fairness of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells proposed approach to the impeachment trial. We cant impeach him for hatefulness or stupidity. We can, however, impeach him for corruption, for obstruction, for abuse of power all of it blatant and uncontested. In the pestilent cesspool of stupid that is the Republican defense of Donald J. Trump, the stupidest thing being said is that liberals are trying to undo his election because we hate him. If that actually did it for us, wed be the luckiest group of voters in the world.

Gerry Dionne is a writer, musician and coffee-table philosopher who moved to our area when he was 18. Hes in his 70s now, so yall give him a break.

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OPINION: Hateful, and then some | Cit - Independent Tribune

The notion of victory and other reasons people (politicians) tell lies | By Godwin Uche Uwadilachi – Qwenu!

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People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What Ive learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because it surrenders ones reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person ones master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that persons view requires to be faked. And if one gains the immediate purpose of the lie the price one pays is the destruction of what the gain was intended to serve (Ayn Rand, 1957 Atlas Shrugged).

I participated as an ad-hoc staff in the last Nigerian presidential general elections. It was one hell of an experience, one I never hoped to have acquired. Before arriving at our polling unit, my colleagues and I, I might have thought about some anomalies before, during or after the election, but I never imagined something so outrageous would happen to us.

When we arrived and had set up all we needed to run a smooth electoral process, a countless number of youths who seemed more like thugs invaded the vicinity ranting and sweating. With their bloodshot eyes, some were holding sticks, some had daggers tucked into the back of their trousers, some smoking nothing short of hemp and marijuana.

They swore that no election would hold, and no one was leaving that place. It was almost like a hostage situation, and much so, though we werent bonded with ropes nor chains and werent locked up in a dark, unventilated room. Their anger was tied to the previous failed promises of some political leaders: they had promised them money (this was their utmost priority), they had promised them jobs; a better life.

They had failed to honour those promises and now, they wanted their votes? Thats not happening! They lit a big fire at a close end to stress how seriously they meant to beat nonsense out of us and set us together with our materials on fire if we dared do anything without their permission. Truly, we had nothing to do with this, we were innocent, poor us that had just come to carry out our duties.

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But they felt they had to do something, they wanted to express themselves, to send a capital signal because they were hurt by the lies, the empty promises. And in their prejudiced thoughts, the only way they could get back at the government was by hurting us. After all, we were the governments children, we were corps members.

Lies have their ways of making the unimaginable happen. The tiniest lie that proves itself to not mater at the moment could wreak severe havoc sooner or later. It is on the foundation of lies that trust is broken, and of course, this is the commonest of all the upshots of telling lies. But before I dive into these effects, there are reasons people tell lies and these reasons one way or another are linked to the notion of victory. Ayn Rand (1957), says people think that is to say, if people think, it means also that the liar thinks the same victory. But the question is; what kind of victory?

Victory, regardless of how little is the aim of most people, if not all. It could be a major, minor and sometimes even an unconscious aim. But commonly, people want to gain the victory of being held with high esteem, of being accorded so much value even if they have to debunk the necessary sacrifices of attaining such position. People want to be loved, they love to be looked up to and hate being looked at as bad people, so they lie.

The government is for the people and has a responsibility of fostering equity, justice, peace and development. In Nigeria today, the quest for victory (power) this victory that is as sweet as honey on a little finger has turned the political ground into a city of war with weapons of lies, deceit and even bloodshed. It is almost common now that whatsoever that proceed out of the mouths of these people vying for places of authority are always false. They tell lies because they are desperate and of course they gain victory over those to whom they lie. Yes, they do. Almost all the time. Because we believe them, we do what they want: hate each other, curse each other, carry weapons, fight each other and later face disappointments.

Lies do not just eventually break trusts, they destroy nations. Nigeria is almost in chaos now because of the lies that have been told; parents lie to their children, religious leaders lie to their subjects, political leaders lie to the people they are sworn to protect. We have been brainwashed that we cannot coexist together, why? Because each of us in our sectionals has been misled into believing that the other is the enemy. Instead of protecting the present and watering the ground for the future, we dwell on the false pasts which compel us to destroy the present and even unpluck the future from coming into existence.

A nation without a future is doomed. And a nation in which people who are expected to uphold the truth guard it as sacred and pass it down to generations as a legacy do otherwise, has no hope. Regardless of what people want to achieve, regardless of whether or not they would be loved, regardless of whether or not they would be held with high esteem, the truth should always be the foundation on which they stand because the bitterest truth told is better than the sweetest of lies.

If this is so, what then is a victory gained on the basis of lies when in the end the price that is paid is destruction? It then means that truth is the orchestrator of actual victory, not lies.

A third term for President Buhari: an agenda taken too far by many | By Albert Igbebina

Qwenu!publishes opinions, stories, reflections, and experiences on contemporary issues. Clickhereto read articles from many Africans at home and in the diaspora. Embedded tweets and guest articles do not represent the opinions ofQwenu!as we only provide a platform for writers to express themselves. Email your articles toeditor@qwenu.comFollow us@qwenu_mediaFeatured image: Joshua Oluwagbemiga/Unsplash

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The notion of victory and other reasons people (politicians) tell lies | By Godwin Uche Uwadilachi - Qwenu!

EDITORIAL: What next? – Washington Times

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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The beginning of a new year is a time to take stock in ourselves, to revise our goals and plans for the future, and to hope against hope the coming year will be better than the last. Frankly, there are lots of reasons for optimism. The economy is humming. The United States is as close to full employment as it is ever likely to get and, now that Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell has concluded things arent overheating and theres no need for a hike in interest rates to cool things off, growth and expansion should continue.

The beginning of a new decade, as this also is, presents an opportunity to take stock in the kind of nation we are and want to be in the future. Thats healthy, even as the rhetoric flies, reckless, hot, fast and furious out of our televisions and across our computer screens and smartphones. Theres a lot at stake. America is still, as Lincoln put it succinctly in his 1862 State of the Union message, the last, best hope of earth. We have to decide, all 300 million-plus of us, what kind of nation we want to be.

In that regard, there are warning signs many of us want to break significantly with the past. America was established as a place where the right of conscience was not only respected but protected, and not just in some ambiguous, amorphous way derived from traditions going back centuries as in England. Here, the founders took steps to ensure the right of conscience was enshrined in written law so that no man or woman could be forced to think as the government dictated.

That concept grew beyond the government to become a dominant theme in our common culture. As a nation, we are rightfully proud of what some call our free speech culture in which ordinary people can, as it was popularly put not all that long ago, speak truth to power without fear or reprisal.

That appears to be changing. The concept of victimization as embraced by the American left as a political organizing tool and path to power is an inherent assault on our individual right of conscience. All ideas are still said to be equal, as George Orwell might observe if he were writing today, but some ideas have become more equal than others. At Americas colleges and universities, there are countless examples of groupthink where debates over political, moral, and social issues have run freedom of expressed thought to ground, in many cases with the active assistance of university leaders.

Some might call that tyranny and, if it indeed is, be warned that it is spreading to all aspects of American life. Where no less a person than Hillary Rodham Clinton asserted during her husbands presidency that dissent was patriotic, thoughts deviating from so-called cultural norms expressed by the major and social media are now considered dangerous.

It is fair to ask now as we begin the decade in which the sester- or semiquincentennial of the American experiment will be celebrated what kind of a nation we want to be in the future. Do we still want the right of conscience to occupy its position of prominence atop the list of enumerated rights we enjoy? Do we expect or even want free men and women to still be able to think for themselves? Or are those intent on remaking the American system have it in mind to impose some kind of official or quasi-official standard against which the acceptability of thoughts expressed shall be measured? There are hints abundant that they do.

These questions matter as we debate seemingly mundane things like the responsibility of social media platforms for user-posted content and the requirement of non-for-profit groups engaged in issue advocacy to disclose their funding sources to the government. For most of its history, America has been a place where we have many times accepted that people have an intrinsic right to be wrong. There are a few notable exceptions none of us should forget that add fire to the arguments of those who would disagree with that premise. Yet we know from experience the government cannot make people virtuous. As people as varied as Hannah Arendt and Ayn Rand have observed, a government powerful enough to make people believe something is one with enough power to force people to believe, contrary to their personal knowledge and better judgment, that A is B.

We saw plenty of that in the last century. It always ended badly. Let us now, as we move into the future, be boundless in our optimism and continue to respect our traditions of decent respect for the various opinions of man and womankind. The right to be wrong may someday turn out to be the most important right we have.

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EDITORIAL: What next? - Washington Times

High Seas Season 3: Netflix Release Date, Cast And Other Details – The Digital Wise

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High Seas, the period drama, is another title from the list of fan-favorite Spanish originals on Netflix. Other uniformly enticing names on this slate include Cable Girls, Money Heist, and Elite, among others.

The events of High Seas, as the name hints, take place aboard a luxury cruise ship, touring from Spain to Brazil throughout the 1940s. Two sisters are also part of this trip, but things take a wicked turn when a certain death opens up a pandora box of dangerous, dirty secrets.

This foreign-language thriller brings in a different combo of vintage glamour and mystery elements and hence, it did not appear as a surprise when the series renewed for a second season within a brief time. Now the mystery is, will there be a High Seas season 3? Heres what we know about it.

High Seas stars an ensemble cast, showcasing some famous names from the world of Spanish entertainment. We meet Jose Sacristan, who performs the role of the captain of Barbara de Braganza, the vessel, which is the center-stage of all the ensuing drama. Ivana Baquero casts as Eva Villanueva.

Jon Kortajarena performs Nicolas Vasquez, the chief investigating officer, who takes up the burden of determining the murderer on-board. His character in High Seas, Nicolas, is also the love interest of Eva.

Joining the lead cast is Alejandra Onieva as Carolina Villanueva (Evas older sister and fiancee to Fernando), Eloy Azorn as Fernando Fbregas (the ships owner), Manuela Vells as Louisa aka Sofa Plazaola, and Chiquinquir Delgado as Teresa.

The second season of High Seas ended with the cruise coming in Rio De Janeiro. Also, some of the mysteries are left open-ended with the second season itself. Therefore, the forthcoming season will probably concentrate on those. Also, the cruise dropped its anchor in Rio. It is not apparent while the next season will continue on the cruise journey or will fall to the center. The show has also brought on quite a paranormal way in the second season too. Therefore, its going to be exciting to see where the story sails to in the third season of the High Seas.

High Seas season 2 released on Netflix in all its entirety on November 22, 2019. The second season includes eight episodes, just like its predecessor.

The series, before its original launch, had earlier planned for two seasons. And hence, it did not appear as a surprise when the second installment landed within a pause of just six months.

Now, as far as a third season goes, Netflix has not appeared with an announcement yet. The audience reviews are more or less favorable, no doubt. But a new season will depend on whether the creators needed to make it a multi-season story in the first place.

As of now, if Netflix remains to follow its regular airing schedule and chooses to resume the series, we can expect High Seas season 3 to premiere sometime toward theend of2020.

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High Seas Season 3: Netflix Release Date, Cast And Other Details - The Digital Wise

Advanced Native 4K Projector Technology Hits the High Seas, as Panasonic Collaborates with Princess Cruises to Deliver Its First Immersive…

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Sky Princess is the first cruise ship outfitted with Panasonic's new PT-RQ50KU 3-Chip DLP SOLID SHINE Laser Projector. It will be used for 5-SKIES the most visually advanced production show in the Princess Cruises fleet. As part of this thrilling new show, Princess Cruises used Panasonic's new 50,000 lumens 4K laser projector, featuring bright, crisp, vivid colors, superior resolution and dynamic contrast for an exciting, captivating and memorable entertainment experience. The 5-SKIES production show made its debut on Sky Princessin December 2019, and later will also be featured on Enchanted Princess in 2020.

Since weight and space are essential considerations, Princess chose the world's lightest, most compact native 4K projector in the 50,000lm class. Small but mighty, this latest Panasonic projection state-of-the-art technology enables Princess Cruises to develop, create and offer new forms of entertainment that will enhance its cruise line's onboard guest experience, previously accessible only at the most advanced entertainment venues in the world.

"We knew right away the new Panasonic PT-RQ50KU projector, the most advanced native 4k projection technology available, would help us push the boundaries of theatrical design so that 5-SKIES would wow our guests night after night," said Denise Saviss, Princess Cruises vice president of entertainment experiences.

The Panasonic PT-RQ50KU laser projector combines native 4K resolution at 50,000 lumens of brightness with separate red and blue SOLID SHINE laser-phosphor technology to deliver pure and powerful visuals. It provides significant workflow advantages with simplified transportation, quick and flexible installation and adjustment while its vibrant color capabilities and reliable operation delivers up to 20,000 hours of virtually maintenance-free projection.

"We are very excited to work with customers like Princess Cruises who have ambitious visions of creating one-of-a-kind exciting entertainment experiences," said John Baisley, Senior Vice President of Professional Imaging & Visual Systems, Panasonic System Solutions of North America. "The PT-RQ50KU is the ideal laser projection technology for cruise ships because it offers powerful visuals and advantages that maximize every aspect of a ship's space and weight."

1: For laser-phosphor projectors in the single-body 50,000-lumens-class or higher, as of June 2019.

About Princess CruisesOne of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises is the fastest growing international premium cruise line and tour company operating a fleetof 18 moderncruise ships, carrying two million guests each year to 380 destinations around the globe, including the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand, the South Pacific, Hawaii, Asia, Canada/New England, Antarctica and World Cruises. A team of professional destination experts have curated 170 itineraries, ranging in length from three to 111 days and Princess Cruises is continuously recognized as "Best Cruise Line for Itineraries."

In 2017 Princess Cruises, with parent company Carnival Corporation, introducedMedallionClassVacations enabled by theOceanMedallion, the vacation industry's most advanced wearable device, provided free to each guest sailing on aMedallionClassship. The award-winning innovation offersthe fastest way to a hassle-free, personalized vacation giving guests more time to do the things they love most.MedallionClassVacations will be activatedon five ships by the end of 2019. An activation plan will continue across the global fleet in 2020 and beyond.

Princess Cruises continues its multi-year, "Come Back New Promise" a $450 million-dollar product innovation and cruise ship renovation campaign that will continue to enhance the line's onboard guest experience. These enhancements result in more moments of awe, lifetime memories and meaningful stories for guests to share from their cruise vacation. The product innovations include partnerships with award-winning Chef Curtis Stone; engaging entertainment inspired shows with Broadway-legend Stephen Schwartz; immersive activities for the whole family from Discovery and Animal Planet that include exclusive shore excursions to onboard activities; the ultimate sleep at sea with the award-winning Princess Luxury Bed and more.

Two new Royal-class ships are currently under construction - Enchanted Princess, scheduled for delivery in June 2020, followed by Discovery Princess in November 2021. Princess previously announced that two new (LNG) ships which will be the largest ships in the Princess fleet, accommodating approximately 4,300 guests are planned for delivery in 2023 and 2025.Princess now has four ships arriving over the next five years between 2020 and 2025. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;NYSE:CUK).

About Panasonic Corporation of North AmericaNewark, NJ-based Panasonic Corporation of North America is committed to creating a better life and a better world by enabling its business-to-business customers through innovations in Sustainable Energy, Immersive Entertainment, Integrated Supply Chains and Mobility Solutions. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation. One of Interbrand's Top 100 Best Global Brands of 2018, Panasonic is a leading technology partner and integrator to businesses, government agencies and consumers across the region. Learn more about Panasonic's ideas and innovationsatwww.na.panasonic.com/us and @PanasonicUSAon all social media channels

SOURCE Panasonic Corporation of North America

http://www.panasonic.com

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Advanced Native 4K Projector Technology Hits the High Seas, as Panasonic Collaborates with Princess Cruises to Deliver Its First Immersive...

These 5 Navies Are Uncontested On The High Seas – Yahoo News

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Key point:The role of navies worldwide has expanded in the past several decades to include new missions and challenges.

Its a universal truth handed down since antiquity: a country with a coastline has a navy. Big or small, navies worldwide have the same basic missionto project military might into neighboring waters and beyond.

The peacetime role of navies has been more or less the same for thousands of years. Navies protect the homeland, keep shipping routes and lines of communication open, show the flag and deter adversaries. In wartime, a navy projects naval power in order to deny the enemy the ability to do the same. This is achieved by attacking enemy naval forces, conducting amphibious landings, and seizing control of strategic bodies of water and landmasses.

The role of navies worldwide has expanded in the past several decades to include new missions and challenges. Navies are now responsible for a nations strategic nuclear deterrent, defense against ballistic missiles, space operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. With that in mind, here are the five most powerful navies in the world.

United States

First place on the list is no surprise: the United States Navy. The U.S. Navy has the most ships by far of any navy worldwide. It also has the greatest diversity of missions and the largest area of responsibility.

No other navy has the global reach of the U.S. Navy, which regularly operates in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa. The U.S. Navy also forward deploys ships to Japan, Europe and the Persian Gulf.

The U.S. Navy has 288 battle force ships, of which typically a third are underway at any given time. The U.S. Navy has 10 aircraft carriers, nine amphibious assault ships, 22 cruisers, 62 destroyers, 17 frigates and 72 submarines. In addition to ships, the U.S. Navy has 3,700 aircraft, making it the second largest air force in the world. At 323,000 active and 109,000 personnel, it is also the largest navy in terms of manpower.

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These 5 Navies Are Uncontested On The High Seas - Yahoo News

High Seas Season: Heres Why This Spanish Suspense Drama Is A Must See! – TheNationRoar

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High Seas is another title from the catalog of fan-favorite Spanish originals on Netflix being the extravagant, engrossing, and suspense-packed period drama.

It has made its place on the shelf with Cable Girls, Money Heist, and Elite.

This foreign-language thriller is the unique yet fascinating combo of vintage glamour and mystery elements. Form the response it receives for the first season, the renewal of the franchise within a short span did not come as a surprise.

Now the question is, will the season get renewed for the third time? Okay, so lets find out! And before that, makes quickly look into the details of the series.

High Seas showcases some prominent names from the world of Spanish entertainment.

Jose Sacristan enacts the role of the captain of Barbara de Braganza, the vessel which is the center-stage of all the ensuing drama.

The fame of Pans Labyrinth and The Shannara Chronicles; Ivana Baquero plays the role of Eva Villanueva.

The role of Nicolas Vasquez, the chief investigating officer, is played by Jon Kortajarena. His character is also the love interest of Eva.

He takes the responsibility of finding the murderer on-board.

The model and actor are famous for his modeling stints with elite fashion brands such as Just Cavalli, Versace, Giorgio Armani, and H&M, among others.

Joining the lead cast is Alejandra Onieva as Carolina Villanueva (Evas older sister and fiancee to Fernando), Eloy Azorn as Fernando Fbregas (the ships owner), Manuela Vells as Louisa aka Sofa Plazaola, and Chiquinquir Delgado as Teresa.

Sisters Carolina and Eva, in an attempt to get out of the monotony of their high-society lives, decides to embark on a cruise across the high seas.

Even though the siblings share a close sisterly bond, they are quite different from each other.

Fernando is Carolinas fianc, and Nicols becomes interested in Eva while.

However, when a woman gets mysteriously murdered on-board, the passenger thing that one of them is a killer- or are led to believe that the murderer is amongst them.

A web of suspicions entangles along as the time passes and conflicts arise, creating unrest among those still journeying on the vessel.

When the investigation commences, Eva and Carolina unravel some dark, disturbing secrets about their family, which include complex plots, conspiracies, and even murders.

They became the prime suspect when they end up accidentally injuring a young woman and become the key suspects when the lady is murdered.

In an unexpected twist, in-between all this there is also Carolinas wedding, which is somehow linked to the murder plot.

High Seas Season 2 landed on Netflix on 22nd November 2019 and gathered over a considerable fan-base in a short period.

The franchise, before its debut was planned for two seasons, so the release of the second season with in the next six months did not come as a surprise.

Now, Netflix has not released any official statement regarding the third installment.

The renewal of the new season will also depend upon the creators, whether if they wanted to create a multi-season saga from the start.

Lets wait for more concrete news from the streaming giant.

As of now, if Netflix continues to follow its regular airing schedule and decides to renew the series, we can expect High Seas season 3 to premiere sometime toward the end of 2020.

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High Seas Season: Heres Why This Spanish Suspense Drama Is A Must See! - TheNationRoar

Deadly conditions for Indonesian migrant crews tied to illegal fishing – Mongabay.com

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KUTA, Indonesia D, 28-year-old Indonesian man, was witness to a deadly assault on a fellow boat crew member by the captain when they worked aboard the Taiwanese fishing vessel Da Wang a few years ago. The captain hit his friend in the head, then forced them to continue working.

In the morning when we woke up for breakfast, we found him dead in his room. The captain wrapped up my dead friends body with a blanket and then stored him in the freezer, D said in an interview in July 2019.

D is one of 34 Indonesian sailors featured in an investigative report by the environmental group Greenpeace and the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) published on Dec. 9. The organizations looked into their complaints of forced labor during their employment on 13 fishing vessels registered in China, Taiwan, Fiji and Vanuatu.

The crews statements described conditions in which they experienced overwork, withholding of wages, debt bondage, and physical and sexual violence. These conditions eventually forced them to cut short their working contracts, which typically run about two years, and forfeit the deposits they were typically required to pay to get the jobs.

Theres a strong interrelation between illegal fishing and forced labor of crews aboard fishing boats its two sides of the same coin, Arifsyah Nasution, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told Mongabay.

With coastal fisheries being depleted due to overfishing, vessels are heading farther out into open waters and high seas, in turn racking up higher operating costs. Companies look for cheap labor to reduce costs and stay profitable and much of that cheap labor comes from Southeast Asia.

The way for [companies] to survive is by doing illegal activities: unreported catch, shark finning, transshipment so they can stay out in the seas longer, and sacrificing standards for salary and life on board, Arifsyah said.

Citing the Taiwan Fisheries Agency, the report says 21,994 Indonesian fishers were working on Taiwanese coastal and distant-water fishing vessels as of June 2019. Migrant boat crews from Indonesia and the Philippines make up a large component of Taiwans distant-water fleets, one of the top five in the world and responsible for an industry valued at $2 billion a year, according to Greenpeace.

While the abuse mostly occurs once the crews are aboard the vessel, exploitative working arrangements begin with recruitment by fly-by-night hiring agents, the report says.

Many Indonesian migrant fishers are reportedly given false seafarers papers by the hiring agencies, which in most cases arent even licensed to send workers overseas; only two of 124 registered manning agencies had permission from the Indonesian Transportation Ministry to recruit and place migrant fishers aboard foreign vessels, according to government records cited in the report.

The migrant fishers also have to agree to a payment scheme in which their salaries are deducted to pay guarantee deposits and processing fees for the first six to eight months of their employment, forcing them to work long hours for little or no pay, the report says. And when a crew member fails to complete their contract, they will lose the deposit, it adds.

The clauses in the contract are already unfair, Arifsyah said. Theres an indication that [working conditions] are designed to be inconvenient [for the boat crews], and its being used to benefit the local recruiters and agencies abroad.

Despite the onerous conditions, many Indonesians still seize on the opportunity to break free from poverty, the report says. Some even consider it a prestigious first work experience because of the overseas placement, Arifsyah said.

According to Arifsyah, most of the migrant fishers come from Indonesias most populous island, Java,with hiring agencies concentrated in the province of Central Java and the cities of Jakarta and Bekasi. Theres also been an increase in the number of candidates coming from eastern Indonesia and the Sumatran provinces of Lampung, North Sumatra and Aceh, Arifsyah said.

Its likely that [recruiters] are looking for new pockets to source the boat crews, he said. It seems that theres a network that consolidates them all so that people from outside Java can register to the agencies in Java.

Greenpeace and SBMI, the migrant workers union, reached out to the companies and individuals operating the respective fishing vessels. All of them denied accusations of withholding or deducting salaries paid through the recruitment agencies. Some of the boat operators also promised to investigate the allegations and to improve efforts in upholding the human rights of their migrant boat crews.

Arifsyah said some key aspects of the trade still needed to be exposed, such as finding out where the fish caught by these vessels end up, and also identifying the middlemen involved in the recruitment process.

But that should be a concern of the law enforcers as this is a cross-country issue and involves multi stakeholders. Law enforcers should up their game, for instance, by involving Interpol, Arifsyah said.

In response to the report, the Indonesian fisheries ministry said it would compile a comprehensive database of Indonesian migrant fishers and hiring agencies in the country. It also vowed to improve coordination with other government institutions including the ministries of labor, transportation and foreign affairs, and the national agency for migrant worker protection to set up clear jurisdictional authority for resolving these issues.

Protecting our boat crews is an absolute [necessity] not only for our fishermen or businesses, but also boat crews, Zulficar Mochtar, the ministrys head of capture fisheries, told Mongabay on the sidelines of a recent event in Kuta, Bali.

Greenpeace is calling on governments across Southeast Asia to resolve slavery at sea as part of efforts to achieve sustainability for fisheries and marine protection. This includes ratifying and implementing the International Labour Organizations Work in Fishing Convention to protect their citizens from human rights abuses on fishing vessels, Greenpeace said.

We cant continue to ignore both environmental and social issues [in global fisheries], and only resolve one of them, Arifsyah said. It has to be both.

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Factbox: Highlights of Austrian conservative-Greens coalition deal – Reuters

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VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian conservative Sebastian Kurzs coalition cabinet with the Greens was sworn in on Tuesday.

Austria's newly appointed Chancellor Sebastian Kurz speaks during the handover ceremony at the chancellery in Vienna, Austria, January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Both parties say their main campaign pledges form the core of the deal: a hard line on immigration and security twinned with tax cuts and a balanced budget for Kurzs party, greater government transparency and tax reforms to better price in carbon emissions for the Greens.

Here are the deals main measures:

IMMIGRATION, SECURITY AND FIGHT AGAINST POLITICAL ISLAM

- Banning girls from 14 and under from wearing headscarves in school, up from around the age of 10 now.

- Introduce preventive custody for people for whom facts support the assumption that they pose a threat to public safety but have yet to commit a crime: an idea put forward under Kurzs previous coalition with the far right after a fatal stabbing apparently committed by an asylum seeker.

- Ensure people rescued on the high seas are returned to countries outside the EU. Protect Austrias borders if the EUs external border protection is not working completely.

- Take measures to prevent people denied asylum from disappearing, with the option of moving them to repatriation centers.

- In the event of unforeseen challenges in migration and asylum or a failure to implement agreed policies in a timely manner, if both parties leaders cannot agree on a way forward, either side can submit a bill on the issue to parliament.

- Cut corporate tax rate to 21% from 25%.

- Reduce the tax rate for the first three income tax brackets, to 20%, 30% and 40% from 25%, 35% and 42%.

- Increase the annual tax break for families with children, to 1,750 euros ($1,950) per child per year from 1,500 euros.

- Reform the EU banking union. A deposit insurance scheme should not lead to disciplined banks assuming liability for banks with large losses.

- Push for a digital tax on tech giants at international or European level (Austria already has one in place).

- Make Austria climate neutral by 2040.

- Produce 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

- Aim to equip 1 million roofs with photovoltaics.

- Introduce a so-called 1-2-3 rail ticket, granting unlimited travel in one of Austrias nine provinces for 1 euro a day, 2 euros a day if you include a neighboring province, and 3 euros a day for all of Austria.

- Increase cyclings share of the traffic mix to 13% by 2025 from 7% currently.

- Reform existing tax on flights out of Austria, currently ranging from 3.50 euros per passenger for short-haul trips to 17.50 euros per passenger for long-haul. A flat rate of 12 euros will be introduced, a de facto increase.

- Work towards the most efficient economic instruments to establish cost truth for carbon emissions in sectors outside the emissions trading system by 2022.

- Ecologise the road toll for trucks so that the most polluting vehicles cost more to drive. Similarly, adjust car taxation to better reflect emissions.

- Take measures to reduce truck traffic through Austria, particularly on the busy Brenner route connecting Italy to Germany. Propose a corridor toll between Munich and Verona to adapt to the cost of more expensive routes, such as through Switzerland. Support local emergency measures to limit truck through-traffic such as truck quotas at the border. Make goods transport by train more attractive financially.

- As of the moment necessary to achieve the Paris climate goals, only allow new car registrations for emissions-free vehicles.

- Invest a billion euros in improving conditions of public transport, particularly expanding and improving services in and near urban areas. Invest a billion euros to ensure public transport is available nationwide, beyond urban areas.

- Demand within the European Council that European production standards be a condition for EU trade deals with third countries. No to Mercosur in its current form.

- Abolish official secrecy as currently applied across the civil service and make freedom of information an enforceable right.

- Give the Court of Audit the power to examine political parties accounts.

- Require 40% of board members at state-controlled enterprises to be women.

($1 = 0.8981 euros)

Reporting by Francois Murphy and Kirsti Knolle in Vienna and Michael Shields in Zurich, Editing by Alexandra Hudson

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Gavin Creel to Perform at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – Playbill.com

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Art lovers and Broadway fans alike should put on their Sunday clothes June 22 as Gavin Creel presents a concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Hello, Dolly! Tony winner, last seen on Broadway in Waitress, will perform a set list of original songs inspired by his visit to the famed institutionhis first after 20 years of living in New York City.

In addition to the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly! and the Sara Bareilles-composed Waitress, Creel has appeared on the Main Stem in Tony-nominated turns in Hair and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as The Book of Mormon (having earned an Olivier for his work in the West End production), She Loves Me, and La Cage aux Folles. Before his concert, Creel will reprise his turn as Dr. Pomatter in Waitress in Londons West End opposite Bareilles.

For more information, visit MetMuseum.org.

The Tony-winning actor celebrates his birthday April 18.

Creel will be a special guest performer on an upcoming excusrsion with Playbill Travels Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travels first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, and Faith Prince (April 26May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31September 7, 2020), featuring Creel, Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020January 7, 2021) and Broadway on the Caribbean (February 1522, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.

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[UPDATE 9:27 am] Coast Guard Works to Rescue Three Crew Members of Commercial Fishing Boat Damaged Near the South Jetty – Redheaded Blackbelt

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The image above is a stock photo from the Coast Guard of one of Sector Humboldt Bays MH-65 Dolphin helicopters.

At approximately 8:15 p.m. the U.S. Coast Guard began working to rescue three crew members of a 35 foot commercial fishing vessel in distress near the South Jetty of Humboldt Bay.

According to Petty Officer Taylor Bacon, Sector Humboldt Bay had received a report of the vessel which has lost propulsion near the South Jetty. He said the Coast Guard deployed a motor lifeboat and a MH-65 dolphin helicopter carrying a rescue swimmer.

When the Coast Guard arrived on scene, they found all three crew members had managed to get to the beach. The rescue swimmer was deployed, Bacon said. The swimmer found that one of the crew members had a serious laceration and that person was taken to St Josephs Hospital by helicopter. At this time we dont know the condition of that crew member.

Bacon said the vessel was in very poor condition [Note: we want to clarify that Bacon was describing the vessels condition after being battered by the high seas.] He explained waves were quite high with 8 to 10 foot seas.

UPDATE 9:27 a.m.: According to Cassie Michel, the boat owner, [E]veryone is doing well, accounted for and with their love onesThe men where all able to make it to the shore in their survival suits and the life raft deployed as expected.

UPDATE: Coast Guard Works to Rescue Three Crew Members of Commercial Fishing Boat Damaged Near the South Jetty

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[UPDATE 9:27 am] Coast Guard Works to Rescue Three Crew Members of Commercial Fishing Boat Damaged Near the South Jetty - Redheaded Blackbelt

Tony Winner Paulo Szot and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Erika Jayne Join Broadway Cast of Chicago January 6 – Playbill.com

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Tony winner Paulo Szot and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Erika Jayne join the Broadway production of Chicago beginning January 6 at the Ambassador Theatre.

Opera star Szot steps into the role of Billy Flynn for a four-week run through January 31. He begins his engagement the same day singer/reality star Jayne makes her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart. Szot will later return to the company for a nine-week run March 16May 19.

Szot made his Broadway debut as Emile de Becque in Lincoln Center Theaters South Pacific in 2008, winning Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Awards for his performance. He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Scala di Milano, Paris Opera, Teatro Real (Madrid), London's Barbican, and more.

Jayne is the latest star from the Real Housewives franchise to step into the long-running musical, following Atlantas NeNe Leakes and Kandi Burruss and Beverly Hills Lisa Rinna (albeit five years before joining the series). In addition to the Bravo series, Jayne's television oeuvre includes Dancing With the Stars, The Young and the Restless, and Lip Sync Battle.

Jayne and Szot are joined onstage by by Amra-Faye Wright as Velma Kelly, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart, NaTasha Yvette Williams as Matron Mama Morton, and R. Lowe as Mary Sunshine.

See What Else Is Coming to Broadway in the Near Future

With a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Ebb, Chicago is now the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, the staging is the winner of six 1997 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Recording.

Directed by Tony winner Walter Bobbie and choreographed by Tony winner Ann Reinking, Chicago features set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Tony winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony winner Ken Billington, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and casting by Stewart/Whitley.

Szot has been a special guest performer on Playbill Travels Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travels first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, and Faith Prince (April 26May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27, 2020January 7, 2021) and Broadway on the Caribbean (February 1522, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.

(Updated January 6, 2020)

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Tony Winner Paulo Szot and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Erika Jayne Join Broadway Cast of Chicago January 6 - Playbill.com

Going Big with Marine Conservation – The UCSB Current

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In the first days of 2020, the Pacific Ocean archipelago nation of Palau took the momentous step of protecting 80% 500,000 square kilometers of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from fishing. The move is at once a cultural tradition, a far-sighted strategy for future generations and an example of the level of conservation needed to protect ocean biodiversity and habitat.

Why dont more coastal and island nations dive into this large-scale regenerative practice? Economics is among the major obstacles, according to UC Santa Barbara marine conservation scientist Juan Carlos Villaseor-Derbez.

Various scientists and organizations recognize the need to protect 10 to 30% of the ocean, said Villaseor-Derbez, a doctoral student at UC Santa Barbaras Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. But its very difficult for a country to conserve a region where extractive activities are so profitable, even if conservation may bring benefits in the future. In addition, while marine protected areas have in fact greatly improved biodiversity and increased fish stocks, the distribution of the spillover benefits is unequal, he said, often benefiting neighboring countries that may not be enacting their own conservation, as well as those fishing in the high seas.

To find a way around this conundrum, Villaseor-Derbez and fellow Environmental Market Solutions Lab members Christopher Costello, also of UC Santa Barbara, and John Lynham of the University of Hawaii, have proposed a market-based approach. The team simulated and tested a system that allows a conserving country the ability to offset the cost of conservation and recapture the benefits of protected areas within their maritime territory. Their findings are highlighted in a paperpublished in the journal Nature Sustainability,

Well-designed fishing markets can incentivize countries to engage in large-scale marine conservation, Lynham said.

The researchers took their cue from the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), a coalition of nine Pacific Island nations who collaboratively manage 25% of the worlds tuna within their waters. Palau is one of the member countries, as is Kiribati, which in 2015 created the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), one of the worlds largest marine protected areas.

Of particular interest to the researchers was the PNAs vessel-day scheme (VDS), a system that grants fishing vessels typically from countries fishing far from their own territories rights to fish within their tuna-rich waters. Vessel days (capped at around 45,000 per year at the time of the study) are allocated between the PNA countries, which then grant purchasing vessels 24-hour rights to fish in their waters. The VDS not only allows PNA countries to maintain limits on the amount of fishing in their waters, it also brings in revenue for each country by selling access to the highly desirable tuna. Importantly, according to the study, it also acts as a form of currency within the PNA vessel days can be traded between countries. In the event of a closure, the conserving country can recoup the cost of any lost revenue by selling its fishing rights to the other countries, which stand to benefit from increased fish stocks thanks to the conservation efforts.

Countries that conserve can sell fishing rights to countries that want to increase fishing pressure, said Costello, a professor of resource economics at the Bren School. If designed right, this can offset 99% of the cost of conservation. Effectively, the market-based solution turns an otherwise economically untenable conservation zone into a viable long-term strategy.

The researchers analyzed the effects of this large-scale marine conservation in action by tracking 313 tuna fishing boats for seven years more than 30 million individual points of data.

Vessel-tracking data from Global Fishing Watch was instrumental to our work, because we were able to empirically test the effect of a large spatial closure in an area managed under fishing effort markets, Lynham said. Specifically, they studied the patterns of fishing in Kiribatis EEZ and the changes that occurred since the 2015 implementation of PIPA, which protected valuable tuna spawning habitat but also displaced a number of vessels fishing in its waters.

According to the data, the number of vessels in Kiribatis waters did indeed decline as a result of the new fishing restrictions. So did its revenue. However, the decrease in Kiribatis revenue was less than the decline in fishing effort. At the PNA level, however, the fishing effort remained constant, suggesting a redistribution of fishing vessels within the PNA and an offset in costs enabled by the trading of fishing rights from Kiribati to other PNA countries.

Vessels are displaced when a marine protected area is created, but the conserving nation can still profit by selling fishing rights to the very nations where vessels redistributed to, Villaseor-Derbez said.

According to the researchers, with appropriate modifications and incentives such as biomass-based fishing rights allocations an economic framework with cross-country transferable and tradeable rights could enable long-term, widespread conservation efforts needed to protect biodiversity, habitat and food security.

Our work provides a template for how to incentivize countries to engage in large-scale marine conservation within a market-based setting, Costello said.

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Going Big with Marine Conservation - The UCSB Current

Enmeshed economies will bring us togeher Himal Southasian – Himal Southasian

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Himal: You are acting as if time were running out in your search for energy.

Mani Shankar Aiyar: For energy security India must maximize domestic production of oil and gas, but our energy needs are so great that we need to look elsewhere as well. Hence, the importance of pipeline diplomacy. In India, we need energy so as to sustain high rate of growth in order to really get rid of poverty. Energy security is therefore at the core of both economic growth and national security. And we do not become more secure by avoiding Pakistan and denying ourselves access to something that we need.

What about the obvious American distaste for the whole project?

We have not been refuted when we have said that India has civilisational linkages with Iran, or that this project is very important for our economy. The pipeline is on track, though I am not pretending that it will be smooth. The real US position will emerge when we have a concrete agreement on our hands. An expression of anxiety at this stage does not mean that the pipeline is in jeopardy.

How can a gas pipeline be a confidence building measure?

The pipelines from Iran and Myanmar would merge India's economic interests with those of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which would be the transit countries. Sending ships with LNG on the high seas to Haldia or Gujarat may satisfy our energy needs, but there would be no peace implications.

Are already looking beyond to a Southasian energy grid?

The future lies in all the countries of the region being brought together, while respecting the political independence and sovereignty of each. Our historical truth is that we were one economy that was broken up. So we must work for integration after the past decades of disintegration. We need enmeshed economies and people's interaction across the frontiers. Without exaggerating the importance of the pipeline project as a peacebuilding exercise, I have no doubt it will make a major contribution.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's Member of Parliament and Minster of Petroleum and Natural Gas, was interviewed in his office at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.

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Enmeshed economies will bring us togeher Himal Southasian - Himal Southasian

Cable Girls Season 5: 5 Things To Know Before Its Scheduled Netflix Release – The Digital Weekly

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The Cable Girls return for a fifth and final season in 2020. The Cable Girls (or as it in Spain, Las Chicas del Cable) are looking for the latest in season 5, when it comes out, what to expect, and more? Let you in

The series is reaching the end of its fifth season. Cable Girls has been on Netflix since 2017 and was one of the first complete Netflix originals in the region.

The period drama (joined by High Seas) is about a group of girls who lived in Madrid at the beginning of the 20th century. He presents his place of work, which is a switchboard in a telecommunications company.

At the end of season 4, 1931 was the date one year after the explosion and a new regime established. Thanks to Dize Minutes, we know that season 5 progresses over several years and takes place between 1936 and 1939.

Thanks to a press release, we know what we can expect to be a story in season 5.

In this last season and after the tragic and painful death of Engels, one of the most challenging episodes of his life, which seemed a promising future, girls take very different paths. The Spain they met divided into two sides, and after years of struggle and progress towards equality, independence lost in a civil war that will change its fortunes, as well as their families and new characters. What will seem to reverse everything? The rights acquired in the free period would disappear. Women expelled from the labor market, and all girls would find themselves against the ropes.

Despite the difficulties, their lives destined to cross, and they will have to live together to face who comes next. One thing is clear: your friendship will always be above anything else. This group will also give them lives to save each other.

Thanks to Ten Minutes, we meet some of the cast members.

Returning members include Lydia Agiller, Ana Fernndez, Nadia de Santiago and Ana Polvorosa.

Maggie Civantos will not return in any way for Season 5.

Season 5 scheduled to be the last season, as we now know. However, Netflix is ready to divide the season into two parts.

It confirmed that Season 5 of Cable Girls would launch on Netflix in February 2020. To be exact, the first half of Season 5 will launch on Netflix on February 14, worldwide.

Season 5, Part 2, will also air sometime in 2020, although an official release date has not announced.

Are you waiting for the Cable Girls final on Netflix?

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Cable Girls Season 5: 5 Things To Know Before Its Scheduled Netflix Release - The Digital Weekly

Climate models agree things will get bad. Capturing just how bad is tricky – Science News

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Earths climatic future isuncertain, but the world needs to prepare for change.

Enter climate simulations, which re-create the physical interactions between land, sea and sky using well-known physical laws and equations. Such models can look into the past and reconstruct ancient ice ages or hothouse worlds with the help of data gleaned from rocks and ice cores.

But climate scientists alsouse these simulations to envision a range of different possible futures,particularly in response to climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions. These ChooseYour Own Adventuretype scenarios aim to predict whats to come as a result of different emissionslevels over the next few decades. That means putting upper and lower boundarieson answers to questions such as: How hot will it get? How high will the seasrise?

The good news is that climatesimulations are getting better at re-creating even the subtlest aspects of climatechange, such as the complicated physics of clouds, the impact of aerosols andthe capacity for the ocean to absorb heat from the atmosphere.

Headlines and summaries of the latest Science News articles, delivered to your inbox

But theres also bad news: Moreinformation doesnt always mean more clarity. And that is now feeding into uncertaintyabout just how bad the worst-case scenario might be for Earths climate.

Five years ago, the probableworst-case climate scenarios were worrisome enough. Under a so-called business-as-usualscenario, in which humankind takes no action to abate greenhouse gas emissions,by 2100 the planet was projected to warm between 2.6 degrees and 4.8 degrees Celsius relative to the averageEarth temperature from 1986 to 2005 (SN:4/13/14). Global mean sea level was thought likely to increase by up to a meter inthat same scenario, according to the 2014 report by the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change, or IPCC.

But the newest generation ofclimate models suggests Earths climate may be even more sensitive to very highlevels of atmospheric carbon dioxide than once thought. And that, in turn, is increasingprojections of just how hot it could get.

Were having discussions ofDo we believe these models? says Andrew Gettelman, a climate scientist withthe National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, in Boulder, Colo.

Thats because the simulations use the same equations to look at past and future climate conditions. And many simulations still struggle to re-create accurately the climate of very warm time periods in the past, such as the Eocene Epoch (SN: 11/3/15). As the world gets hotter, it turns out, the uncertainties start to ramp up. Nobody is arguing about whether [the temperature increase will be] less than 2 degrees, Gettelman says. Were arguing about the high end.

The first whiff thatsomething very strange was going on with the latest models came in March, at ameeting in Barcelona of scientists and modelers working on next-gen climatesimulations. Many of the simulations are destined to be incorporated into thenext IPCC assessment report, the first part of which is scheduled for releasein April 2021.

All of the simulations include estimates of something called equilibrium climate sensitivity, or ECS. That basically means how Earths future climate is expected to respond to a new normal specifically, an atmosphere that contains twice as much carbon dioxide as during preindustrial times.

A similar trend is shown byseveral well-known simulations, developed by teams at NCAR, the U.S. Departmentof Energy, Englands Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter and the Paris-based Institut PierreSimon Laplace, or IPSL. In those models, the ECS was higher, meaning the Earthwas more sensitive to carbon dioxide, than in previous model generations. Ifreal, that suggests that the gases can exert even more influence on Earthsatmosphere than thought. Ultimately, that could mean that temperatures could gethotter than even the highest previous projections suggested.

In September, scientistswith IPSL and the French National Center for Scientific Research, or CNRS, alsoin Paris, went public with their simulations. Based on projections from two separateclimate models, the teams reported that average global warming by 2100 could climb as high as 6 to 7 degrees C (or about 11 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) relative to preindustrial times.

Like many new-gen climatesimulations, the two French models feature finer-scale resolution and betterrepresentations of real-world conditions than past simulations. When testedagainst present-day climate observations, the new simulations also do a betterjob of reproducing those observations, says CNRS climatologist Olivier Boucher.

But the high ECS remains a surprise.Our [model] is better in terms of the physics, Boucher says. But it doesntautomatically translate into having more confidence for the futureprojections.

This ECS conundrum, which somany of the models still show, came up again November 21 at a meeting of the NationalAcademy of Sciences atmospheric and climate science board in Washington, D.C. Thelikeliest cause of the high ECS, Gettelman said at the meeting, was in how muchthe models estimate that clouds willenhance warming (SN: 3/22/14). Among other factors, how high theclouds are in the atmosphere matters: Lower-altitude clouds can reflectsunlight back into space, while higher-altitude clouds can trap heat. Gettelmanand his colleagues also discussed the significance of clouds in ECS modeling inJuly in Geophysical Research Letters.

Clouds at high latitudeslook like theyre quite important, Gettelman says. The region over the SouthernOcean is one of particular interest, but there are now studies afoot to examinethe effects of high-altitude clouds in the Arctic as well as lower-altitudeclouds in the tropics.

Puzzling out how to discussthe high-ECS models will likely be a headache for the authors of the next IPCCreport. The landscape of climate simulations is getting more complicated inother ways as well.

For the 2014 IPCC report,climate modelers also participated in the fifth iteration of a project to setstandards and scenarios for climate projections. That project is called the WorldClimate Research Programmes Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, or CMIP5for short.

CMIP5s future projectionswere organized using a concept called representative concentration pathways,or RCPs. Each pathway outlined a possible climate future based on the physicaleffects of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, as they lingerin the atmosphere and trap radiation from the sun. An Earth in which greenhousegas emissions are dramatically and swiftly curbed was represented by a scenariocalled RCP 2.6. The business-as-usual scenario was known as RCP 8.5.

The IPCCs upcoming sixthassessment report will rely on projections from CMIP6, the new more sensitivemodels. And in them, RCPs are out, and a new paradigm called sharedsocioeconomic pathways, or SSPs, is in.

While RCP projections arebased solely on how different concentrations of gases warm the atmosphere, SSPprojections also incorporate societal shifts, such as changes in demographics,urbanization, economic growth and technological development. By tracking howsuch changes can affect future climate change, scientists hope that SSPs canalso help nations better assess how to meet their own emissions target pledgedunder the Paris Agreement(SN: 12/12/15).

Human behavior isnt theonly source of uncertainty when it comes to envisioning worst-case scenarios. Scientistsalso are wrestling with simulating the complicated physical interactions of iceand ocean and atmosphere, particularly as temperatures continue to rise.

Most oceans have air on topof them, and [some] oceans have ice on top of them. And the ice is moving, theice is interacting. Its a very difficult thing, says Richard Alley, aglaciologist at Penn State.

Climate models are just nowgetting to the point where they can reproduce many of these interactions bycoupling them together into one simulation, Alley says. Doing so is key to accuratelyprojecting possible futures: Such coupled simulations reveal how theseinteractions feed into one another, raising the potential for even highertemperatures or even higher seas.

But numerous sources ofpossible uncertainty remain when it comes to anticipating the so-called worst-casescenario. For example, how fast the seas will rise is linked to how quickly thegreat ice sheets blanketing Greenland and Antarctica will lose ice to the ocean, through melting or collapse (SN: 9/25/19).

Climate simulations arestill not reproducing that melting well, even in the IPCCs special report on climate changes impacts on ice and oceans released in October 2019. Thats partly because scientists dont fully understandhow the ice responds to climate change, says glaciologist Eric Rignot of theUniversity of California, Irvine. Were making progress, he says, but we arenot there.

One of the largestuncertainties is how warming oceans can interact with the vast underbellies ofglaciers fringing the ice sheets, eroding them, Rignot says. To identify howsuch erosion might occur requires detailed bathymetry maps, charts of theseafloor that can reveal deep channels that allow warmer ocean water to sneak into fjords and eat away at the glaciers (SN: 4/3/18).He and his colleagues have been creating some of those maps for Greenland.

Scientists also are tryingto get boots-on-the-ground data to tackle other uncertainties, such as howwarming can change the behavior of the ice sheets themselves as they stretch,bend and slide across the ground. In 2018, an international collaboration ofscientists began a five-year project to study the breakup of the Florida-sizedThwaites Glacier in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in real time. Warm oceanwaters are thinning the glacier, which supports the ice sheet like a buttress,slowing the flow of ice toward the ocean. Thwaites is likely to collapse,possibly within the next few decades.

And there are otherprocesses not yet included in the CMIP models that could send ice tumbling rapidlyinto the sea: Meltwater seeps through cracks and crevasses to the base of theice sheet, lubricating its slide from land to ocean. Meltwater can alsorefreeze into solid, impermeable slabs that can speed up the flow of newer meltwater intothe ocean (SN: 9/18/19). Perhaps mostfrighteningly, some researchers have suggested that future warming could causeAntarcticas giant, steep ice cliffs to suddenly lose large chunks of ice to the ocean, rapidly raising sea levels (SN: 2/6/19).

Theres a good reason whycurrent climate models dont include the ice cliff hypothesis, Alley says. Thebest models, the ones that you can have the most faith that theyrereconstructing whats happened recently, generally do not spend a lot of efforton breaking things off, he says. The problem isnt in simulating the physicsof ice bits breaking off, its in simulating exactly which ice shelves willbreak off andwhen. That makes the potential error of simulating those processes very large.

Thats a lot of the tensionin the community right now, Alley adds. How to deal with this is stillproving very difficult.

The IPCCs 2019 special report noted the ice cliff hypothesis, but considered it extremely unlikely. But that doesnt mean its impossible, Alley says or that it hasnt happened in the past. Evidence from ocean sediments reveals that giant icebergs have broken away from continent-based cliffs and melted out at sea in the past. If Thwaites glacier retreats all the way to Antarcticas interior, ongoing calving could create massive cliffs twice as high and 10 times as wide as any observed in Greenland, he noted in December at the American Geophysical Unions annual meeting in San Francisco.

The IPCC is assuming wellget lucky and it wont happen, Alley said. But the ocean sediment data raisesreally serious questions about that assumption.

Gettelman, meanwhile,cautions that the lingering uncertainty in future projections does not mean theworld should wait to see what happens or for scientists to figure it out. Itreally means we need to do something soon, he says. Whether the high temperatureor sea level rise projections turn out to be real or not, its still prettybad.

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Climate models agree things will get bad. Capturing just how bad is tricky - Science News

Suite Life Of Zack & Cody: What Happened To Cole & Dylan Sprouse – Screen Rant

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It's been a long time since Disney Channel fans got a "suite" new adventure from Zack and Cody, starsof the Disney Channel showThe Suite Life of Zack & Codywhat have its identical twin stars Cole and Dylan Sprouse been up to since the series ended? Though the twins themselves have enjoyed a bountiful film and TV career together appearing, perhaps mostfamously, in the Adam Sandler comedyBig Daddyit wasn't until theystarred in the Disney Channel showThe Suite Life of Zack & Codythat the Sprouses became a household name.

The series, which ran for 87 episodesbetween 2005 2008, followed the two miscreant twins and their various antics in theluxuriousTipton Hotel. Together, they lived with their mother Carey (Kim Rhodes), who was the hotel's lounge singer, and hung out with an assortment of the hotel's staff and patrons: including its heiress London Tipton (Brenda Song), itscandy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick (Ashley Tisdale), and its manager Mr. Moseby (Phill Lewis).

Related: Why Even Stevens Was Cancelled After Season 3

Of course, when their time at the hotel came to the end, and the series was still in high demand, Zack and Cody upgraded toThe Suite Life On Deck, where their now-teenage exploits took place on the high seas. While London and Mr. Mosebywere the only reoccurring charactersto join the spin-off show, the cast was joined by actors Debby Ryan, Matthew Timmons, and Larramie Doc Shaw. Like the previous Disney Channel series,The Suite Life On Deckended after three years in 2011 and Zack and Cody's onscreen time together officially came to an end.

Between the two twins, Cole Sprouse has enjoyed a more prosperous entertainment career post-Suite Lifethan his brother though it's also important to note that beforehand, Cole was also given his own big gig as Ross Geller's son Ben inFriends.Once theSuite Lifeshow came to an end in 2011, however, with the exception of a pair of Danimals yogurt advertisements, Sprouse's career came to a halt for a few years.

That being said, he was reinserted back into the mainstream culture in 2017 when he was cast as Jughead Jones in The CW's teen drama series based around Archie comic characters,Riverdale.This role in the successful TV show more than likely leant its hand in Sprouse's casting in the drama filmFive Feet Apart, where he, along with Haley Lu Richardson, playedstar-crossed lovers with cystic fibrosis. The film received mixed reviews.

Following the end ofThe Suite Life on Deckin 2011, Sprouse attended New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where he obtained a four-year degree in video game design. While it was announcedin 2019 that Sprouse had been cast in the sequel to Jenny Gage's romantic dramaAfter, much of Dylan's post-Zack life hasbeen dedicated to his business: All-Wise Meadery, a bar and micro-meadery in Brooklyn, New York.

More: Every Disney Channel Original Series Available On Disney+

Luke Finally Got The Entrance Mark Hamill Always Wanted In Star Wars 9

Luke Parker is an award-winning film critic and columnist based in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. As an entertainment journalist, he has interviewed several members of the film industry and participated in some of its most prestigious events as a member of the press. Currently, he is working to obtain his bachelors degree in Mass Communication at Towson University.

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Suite Life Of Zack & Cody: What Happened To Cole & Dylan Sprouse - Screen Rant

Paul Watson: "If The Oceans Die, We Die" – Their Turn

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Paul Watson, the founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, is best known for using direct action to protect whales from Japanese whaling vessels, but hes also a world-renowned advocate for the oceans and all of its other inhabitants. During an interview with TheirTurn in New York City, Watson explained why protecting the oceans is not only vital to sea animals but also to the very survival of the human species. If the oceans die, we die.

Watson explains that oceans, which he describes as the blue lungs of the Earth, produce 70% of the oxygen that we breathe and that the source of the oxygen are phytoplankton. Since 1950, the amount of phytoplankton in the oceans has dropped by 40% due to whaling, commercial fishing, animal agriculture and other forms of pollution.

Watson is the subject of new award-winning documentary film, Watson, that chronicles his career as an eco-warrior on the high seas. Watson is available on Animal Planet.

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Paul Watson: "If The Oceans Die, We Die" - Their Turn