SpaceX Says A Step Closer to Launching Manned Space Mission – International Business Times

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SpaceX said it moved one step closer to launching a manned space flight after it successfully completed its 10th parachute drop test.The Elon Musk-led space exploration company's Crew Dragon astronaut capsule will be ready for launch in the first quarter if everything goes according to plans.

The latest drop inNew Mexico on December 22 tested the three-parachute Mark 3 system, which replaced Mark 2 earlier this year.According to a report bySpaceNews, the company will attempt ten more drop tests to continue analyzing the safety data before moving forward.

The successful test has given the company a lead over its competitors, including Boeing, in the race to get a new capsule certified by Nasa for crude space flight. Mark 3 solves problems with deployment by using a process known as asymmetrical loading of the chutes.

Personnel from NASA, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force have begun practicing recovery operations for the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Using a full-size model of the spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station, Air Force parajumpers practice helping astronauts out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon following a mission. Photo: SpaceX/ Public Domain Emergency escape and safety have been the primary focus of NASA while developing a new space program. The agency is not willing to send another craft into space containing humans unless they can safely eject and land.

SpaceX will now sit down withexperts and pour over the data from the ten drop tests making any necessary changes before the next ten are completed. There is a race to get the space program back in action, but SpaceX is focused on the safety of the astronauts.

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SpaceX Says A Step Closer to Launching Manned Space Mission - International Business Times

U.S. tests ways to sweep space clean of radiation after nuclear attack – Science Magazine

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Aurorae were seen widely after Starfish Prime, a 1962 nuclear test in space.

By Richard StoneDec. 26, 2019 , 11:45 AM

The U.S. military thought it had cleared the decks when, on 9 July 1962, it heaved a 1.4-megaton nuclear bomb some 400 kilometers into space: Orbiting satellites were safely out of range of the blast. But in the months that followed the test, called Starfish Prime, satellites began to wink out one by one, including the worlds first communications satellite, Telstar. There was an unexpected aftereffect: High-energy electrons, shed by radioactive debris and trapped by Earths magnetic field, were fritzing out the satellites electronics and solar panels.

Starfish Prime and similar Soviet tests might be dismissed as Cold War misadventures, never to be repeated. After all, what nuclear power would want to pollute space with particles that could take out its own satellites, critical for communication, navigation, and surveillance? But military planners fear North Korea might be an exception: It has nuclear weapons but not a single functioning satellite among the thousands now in orbit. They quietly refer to a surprise orbital blast as a potential Pearl Harbor of space.

And so, without fanfare, defense scientists are trying to devise a cure. Three space experimentsone now in orbit and two being readied for launch in 2021aim to gather data on how to drain high-energy electrons out of the radiation belts. The process, called radiation belt remediation (RBR), already happens naturally, when radio waves from deep space or from Earthour own radio chatter, for example, or emissions from lightningknock electrons trapped in Earths Van Allen radiation belts into the upper atmosphere, where they quickly shed energy, often triggering aurorae.

Natural precipitation happens all the time, says Craig Rodger, a space physicist at the University of Otago. But it would not nearly be fast enough to drain nuclear-charged radiation belts, where electron fluxes can be millions of times higher than in Earths Van Allen belts.

Scientists got a glimpse of a potential solution from NASAs Van Allen Probes, which launched in 2012 and ducked in and out of Earths radiation belts until the mission ended last summer. It offered a deep dive into natural remediation processes, showing how radio waves resonate with high-energy electrons, scattering them down the magnetic field lines and sweeping them out of the belts. Compared to 10 years ago, we just know so much more about how these wave-particle interactions work, says Geoff Reeves, a space physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Now, researchers are ready to try artificial remediation, by beaming radio waves into the belts. Physicists have tested using the U.S. Navys very low frequency (VLF) antenna towers, powerful facilities used to communicate with submarines, says Dan Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a lead investigator on the Van Allen Probes. The antennae of the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program in Alaska and the giant dish of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico might also be enlisted to generate cleansing radio beams.

An orbiting RBR platform, closer to the target, could be more effective. In June 2019, the U.S. Air Force launched what it bills as the largest uncrewed structure ever flown in space: the DSX dipole antenna. Nearly as long as a U.S. football field, DSXs primary mission is to transmit VLF waves into the Van Allen belts and measure precipitating particles with onboard detectors. Its a new way to prod the belts and explore basic questions in space physics, says DSXs principal investigator, James McCollough at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

A team of scientists at Los Alamos and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center is spearheading a second experiment in VLF precipitation. In April 2021, the team plans to launch a sounding rocket carrying the Beam Plasma Interactions Experiment, a miniature accelerator that would create a beam of electrons, which in turn would generate VLF waves capable of sweeping up particles. Reeves, who leads the experiment, believes the compact electron accelerator could ultimately be a better broom than a gigantic VLF antenna. If we validate it with this experiment, we have a lot more confidence we can scale it up to higher power, he says.

A third experiment would coax the atmosphere itself to kick up turbulent waves that would draw down electrons. In the summer of 2021, the Naval Research Laboratory plans to launch a mission called the Space Measurements of a Rocket-Released Turbulence. A sounding rocket will fly into the ionospherean atmospheric layer hundreds of kilometers up thats awash in ions and electronsand eject 1.5 kilograms of barium atoms. Ionized by sunlight, the barium would create a ring of moving plasma that emits radio waves: essentially a space version of a magnetron, the gadget used in microwave ovens.

The missions should help show which RBR system is most feasible, although an operational system may be years off. Whatever the technology, it could bring risks. A full-scale space cleanup might dump as much energy into the upper atmosphere as the geomagnetic storms caused by the Suns occasional eruptions. Like them, it could disrupt navigation and communication for commercial airliners. And it would spawn heaps of nitrogen oxides and hydrogen oxides, which could eat away at the stratospheric ozone layer. We dont know how great the effect would be, says Allison Jaynes, a space physicist at the University of Iowa.

Besides safeguarding against a nuclear burst, RBR technology could have a civilian dividend, Jaynes notes. NASA and other space agencies have long wrestled with shielding astronauts from the Van Allen belts and other sources of radiation on their way to and from deep space. VLF transmitters might be used to clear out high-energy electrons just before a spacecraft enters a danger zone. When we become more active space travelers, she says, it could provide a safe passage through the radiation belts.

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Christmas Eve at the Moon: Apollo 8’s Historic Message Beamed to Earth Today in 1968 – Space.com

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Fifty-one years ago, the world got a Christmas Eve message from on high.

On Dec. 24, 1968, the astronauts of NASA's Apollo 8 mission beamed home gorgeous images of their home planet as seen from lunar orbit, read some verses from the book of Genesis and wished the people of Earth a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

"We were told that on Christmas Eve we would have the largest audience that had ever listened to a human voice," Apollo 8's Frank Borman said during 40th-anniversary celebrations in 2008, according to a NASA feature about the mission. "And the only instructions that we got from NASA was to do something appropriate."

Related: Apollo 8: NASA's First Crewed Trip Around the Moon in Pictures

That audience was indeed huge. About one-quarter of the world's population saw or heard the broadcast, current NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said in a video published last year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8.

Apollo 8 was a historic mission. Borman and fellow crewmates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans ever to orbit a world beyond Earth. And Anders took one of the most famous photos of all time on that Christmas Eve the iconic "Earthrise" image, which is widely credited with helping to spur the modern environmental movement.

Apollo 8 was also the first crewed flight of the huge Saturn V moon rocket, which launched the Apollo 11 crew on their epic mission to the lunar surface in July 1969. (The first crewed mission of the Apollo program, Apollo 7, launched to Earth orbit atop a Saturn IB in October 1968.)

Apollo 8 launched on Dec. 21, 1968 and splashed down here on Earth six days later. The crucial engine burn that rocketed the mission homeward from lunar orbit occurred a few hours after the famous Christmas Eve broadcast.

When contact with mission control was re-established on Christmas morning, Lovell broke the news of a successful burn by saying, "Please be informed: there is a Santa Claus."

"That's affirmative," Ken Mattingly, the capsule communicator at mission control who was on duty at the time, responded. "You're the best ones to know."

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Christmas Eve at the Moon: Apollo 8's Historic Message Beamed to Earth Today in 1968 - Space.com

ULA gets the nod to launch GOES-T satellite – SpaceFlight Insider

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SpaceFlight Insider

December 23rd, 2019

The Atlas V with GOES-R before launch. Photo Credit: Chris Giersch / NASA Edge

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA has selected a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket to ferry the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T to orbit.

ULA is pleased once again to be selected to launch a GOES mission and we look forward to working with our mission partners from NASA and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) for this important launch, said Tory Bruno, ULAs president and chief executive officer.ULA and its heritage vehicles have a long history with the GOES Program and have launched all 17 operational missions to date.

The space agencys Launch Services Program selected the Atlas V (in its next-to-most powerful iteration, the 541) to push the satellite through Earths dense atmosphere.

If everything goes as it currently envisioned, GOES-T should be launch in December of 2021 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Space Launch Complex 41 located in Florida.

United Launch Alliance was selected via a competitive Launch Service Task Order evaluation viathe NASA Launch Services II contract.

GOES-T is designed to provide weather (to include solar and space) and is the third of the next generation weather satellites that NASA is launching on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Tagged: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 The Range ULA United Launch Alliance

SpaceFlight Insider is a space journal working to break the pattern of bias prevalent among other media outlets. Working off a budget acquired through sponsors and advertisers, SpaceFlight Insider has rapidly become one of the premier space news outlets currently in operation. SFI works almost exclusively with the assistance of volunteers.

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ULA gets the nod to launch GOES-T satellite - SpaceFlight Insider

Hurricane season is over, but threats to Space Coast rocket launches are still out there – Florida Today

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In 2017, as Hurricane Irma churned in Atlantic waters with its sights set on Florida, an Air Force spaceplane tasked with a top secret mission sat on the pad at Kennedy Space Center, waiting for its ride to space.

Some 600 miles to the southeast on Sept. 7, the 400-mile-wide Irma was a Category 5 storm packing maximum sustained winds of 175 mph a catastrophic scenario for anyone in its path, including the Boeing-built X-37B. In 72 hours, the outer bands of Irma would start spinning uncomfortably close to the Space Coast.

The Air Force had a critical decision to make: thread the needle and launch the robotic spacecraft before Irma hit, or wait for the storm to pass? Its ride to orbit, SpaceXs Falcon 9, could be ready in time. So could company and Air Force support personnel.

Turns out the safest place for the 29-foot-long spacecraft was anywhere other than Cape Canaveral.

It was far safer up on orbit than it was anywhere else we could put it on the Cape, Air Force Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith said in 2018, then commander of the 45th Space Wing, which oversees two bases responsible for the United States busiest spaceport. We launched that rocket and I immediately drove from there back to Patrick Air Force Base and signed a total evacuation order for the wing.

Luckily for the Space Coast, Irma ended up shifting west, but it still followed the spine of the Sunshine State. The price tag for statewide damages: about $50 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The storm and ones since highlight the precarious position the Eastern Range can find itself in during hurricane season, which ended Nov. 30 and begins on the first day of June. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center are Americas national security, science, and commercial space focal points. There are no comparable backups.

Since the Capes founding as a spaceport in 1950, dozens of storms have threatened operations. But despite technological advances since the dawn of the Space Age, an analysis of 170 years of storms shows there is no single, reliable pattern at work. And there are still countless mysterious surrounding the colossal entities of low pressure, potentially affecting forecasting and preparedness.

But these uncertainties have reaffirmed the importance of one defense tool: vigilance.

A new chapter in spaceflight began in July 1950 with the launch of the first rocket from Cape Canaveral: Bumper 8.(Photo: NASA/U.S. Army)

Before towering, propellant-packed rockets dotted the horizon, Cape Canaveral not the city to the south, but the land to the north was home to sprawling wetlands, sleepy fishing houses, and the occasional cemetery. Ancient cultures walked along these beaches as far back as 5,000 B.C.

But when officials in charge of Americas efforts to gain a foothold in space realized launches over land could fail and come crashing down over populated areas, a new challenge was added.

In many ways, Cape Canaverals selection as the future spaceport was written in the stars. It was situated with views of the Atlantic to the east, meaning rockets could launch away from people and over water. Its proximity to the equator meant rockets would also benefit from an extra push thanks to Earths rotation, a critical advantage that helps expend less fuel after liftoff. The Capes protrusion also meant launches could target slightly northern or southern trajectories without interfering with land.

And it helped, of course, that few people lived there.

Cape Canaverals role as a spaceport began in July 1950 with the launch of a repurposed German V-2 rocket. Prior to the kickoff of this Space Age, hurricane data exists going back as far as 1850, but lacks critical information obtained by satellites that would become more advanced in the 1960s and beyond.

We measure these things so well now, said Philip Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State Universitys Department of Atmospheric Science. We were flying one plane a day and it was very rudimentarily operated. Now we have all this amazing satellite data and were flying multiple planes almost constantly as these things are approaching land.

An analysis of the data shows that since that first launch in 1950 and through 2019, 45 systems ranging from tropical storms on the low end to Category 4 hurricanes on the high end have come within 100 statute miles of the Cape. Of those, 31 were tropical storms and 14 were Category 1 and above. Any of those intensities, however, would be enough to delay a launch or reorganize operations around its effects.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale rates storms by wind speed, starting with Category 1 at 74 mph all the way up to Category 5, which begins at 157 mph. Systems under 74 mph but above 39 mph are classified as tropical storms and were used in this analysis due to their ability to affect spaceflight operations.

But attempting to find trends in that data even when looking back as far as 1850 doesnt offer the Eastern Range much in the way of predicting the future.

Theres no long-term trend in the number of land-falling hurricanes or major hurricanes, Klotzbach said. But with that being said, the Space Coast in the past few years has had some very close calls.

Aside from Irma in 2017 and its impacts on X-37B, hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Dorian in 2019 seriously threatened the Cape. Just a few dozen miles are all that separated the Space Coast from the Category 4 and Category 2 storms, respectively.

Long-term trends aside, Klotzbach points to several issues when it comes to hurricane data:

Thanks to satellites and general advances in technology, its difficult to compare todays storms to the past;

With sea level rise, even if the storm frequencies and intensities stay the same, surges from hurricanes will likely cause more water damage;

More people live on coastlines than ever before, meaning its hard to compare damages wrought by previous storms versus how much damage future ones will do;

A potentially warmer atmosphere fueled by climate change also means storms could hold more water, presenting yet another threat in the form of increasingly intense rainfalls;

And modern structures, including those at the Cape, can withstand incredibly high winds, but an increase in water presence is something that cant easily be overcome.

Klotzbach also draws attention to mysteries in his field that impact both in favor of and against hurricanes.

A short-term oscillation of storm patterns, for example, has been present in the Atlantic for hundreds of years. For 20 to 30 years, the Atlantic basin will produce powerful storms, then quietly subside for an equal amount of time due to unknown mechanisms. From the 1940s to the late 1960s, for example, Florida was hit by five Category 4 hurricanes in six years, followed by a comparatively quiet period until 1995. But the length of these cycles means the National Hurricane Center and other entities really only have reliable, high-tech data for two instances since 1950 and five to seven if looking back to 1850.

El Nio and La Nia, meanwhile, are names for the opposite ends of a cycle of temperature fluctuations between the ocean and atmosphere. While they occur in the Pacific, their impacts can carry over into the Atlantic basin,especially during hurricane season.

Thats one of the biggest questions we dont know the answer to, Klotzbach said. If we get more El Nio events, that could mean even if the waters get warmer due to climate change, a strong enough El Nio could kill the hurricane season regardless.

But studies have shown the oscillation could go either way in the future, he said.

Yet another issue impacting data and hurricanes is wind shear, a powerful force that can help tame and even direct hurricanes along their path. Strong enough wind shear can tear a hurricane apart; too weak, and it can continue relatively unabated.

Hurricanes respond to a lot of different factors, Klotzbach said. They respond to the water temperatures, which should go up (with climate change); they respond to temperatures throughout the atmosphere, which are also going to go up even more; and then the shearing winds may change, meaning if they become stronger that could counteract other factors.

Taken together, these issues and countless more show that regardless of how many satellite constellations orbit the Earth and how advanced technology becomes, mysteries will fight on. Datacenters full of supercomputers crunching wind shear, temperature, and other inputs can help with short-term predictions, but long-term patterns are difficult to forecast.

The data is important, but Earth is always changing.

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If its short-term forecasts that are the most reliable, then the answer is constant vigilance, or constantly being prepared and on guard.

To achieve that, new structures at the Cape and even some of the old have been built to withstand powerful hurricanes. The iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, where NASAs Apollo Saturn V and space shuttles were stacked, has withstood impacts from dozens of storms and survived with moderate damages at worst.

The same can be said for launch pads: Atlas, Delta and Vulcan rocket operator United Launch Alliance, for example, said all its facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are hurricane-rated. Most structures are able to handle up to Category 3 winds, which begin at 111 mph.

And for launch weather officers and the overall 45th Weather Squadron, which provides weather support to the Air Force station and Kennedy Space Center, their work doesnt just happen on launch days.

We are in constant contact with all of our partners, where that is NASA, Boeing, SpaceX or ULA, said Will Ulrich, a launch weather officer with the Air Forces 45th Weather Squadron. If we see a threat developing in the Atlantic, even out there seven days before, we are receiving calls and trying to provide them information to make decisions.

When youre talking about rockets and the buildings that store those rockets, it takes a significant amount to time for them to secure and move everything, Ulrich said, noting that the forecasting is still required outside hurricane season.

That year-round necessity, he said, reaffirms the idea that launch operations arent all about launch day. As of this writing in December, a ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket is in its vertical integration facility at Launch Complex 37, a full seven months before its flight in June with a classified spacecraft. That means during the entire window of preparation whether or not the rocket is in the hangar, whether or not the spacecraft is stacked on top of the rocket can be months-long. And in the case of human rated vehicles, that timeline could be years.

This means the six months of hurricane season are critical to U.S. access to space, which has long been touted as a warfighting domain by the military, but so are the six months devoid of major storm activities. Whether its billion-dollar national security spacecraft or a batch of communications satellites slated for low-Earth orbit, the stakes are high for the worlds busiest spaceport.

The infrastructure and the robustness of that infrastructure are at the forefront of our minds every day, said Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, commander of the Air Forces Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, California.

There are many other sites as well that we consider critical infrastructure to our nations space enterprise, he said, referencing Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It is also active for launches, but its position on the West Coast makes it less efficient and, in turn, far less active than Cape Canaveral. Its primary advantage comes from being able to launch rockets to the south on polar trajectories, a capability unmatched by Florida.

The Air Forces massive investments into forecasting and preparedness along with its government and commercial partners still come together in the off season. This December alone, up to five launches are slated to take flight from the range.

True to poetic form, X-37B stands out as one of the highlights of 2019. After skirting by Irma in 2017 and spending a record-breaking two years on orbit, the mini-shuttle returned to its Kennedy Space Center runway for a horizontal landing in October, completing its clandestine mission.

Considering the storm activity that Florida saw in the interim, Gen. Monteith had been right: the safest place for X-37B was indeed on orbit.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

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Hurricane season is over, but threats to Space Coast rocket launches are still out there - Florida Today

10 Things That Blasted Through Space in 2019 – Space.com

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Zooming through space

Big rocks, small rocks, dust and astronauts these are just a few things that hurtled through the inky darkness of space over the past year. Sometimes, objects came crashing to Earth, but we couldn't always tell exactly what they were. From pyramid-size asteroids to black hole-buddies, here are 10 things that blasted through space in 2019.

Related: The Greatest Spaceflight Moments of 2019More: The Private Spaceflight Decade: How Commercial Space Truly Soared in the 2010s

On Sept. 25, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir climbed aboard a spacecraft docked at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and blasted off toward the International Space Station. With picture-perfect timing, Meir's best friend, astronaut Christina Koch, snapped a photo of her ascent during the second stage of the rocket launch. "What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space," Koch wrote in a tweet.

In mid-September, a mammoth space rock hurtled past Earth but thankfully, it was about 3 million miles (5 million kilometers) away when it did. Asteroid 2000 QW7 measures between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (300 to 600 meters) wide and glided by our planet moving at about 14,361 mph (23,100 km/h). Although the asteroid posed no danger on this time around, NASA has kept track of the rock since 2000 and shall continue to track its future travels. The asteroid will next drift near Earth on Oct. 19, 2038.

Three asteroids flew past Earth on Sept. 9 of this year, and initially, NASA scientists predicted that one of the space rocks might cut its pass pretty close. By "pretty close," they meant that the asteroid might come within 310,000 miles (500,000 km of Earth, well outside even the moon's orbit. The near-Earth objects had fallen under the gravitational influence of nearby planets and all veered toward our home planet. The three asteroids all passed the planet within a 12-hour time window, and with plenty of room to spare.

In August, a Ukrainian skywatcher named Gennady Borisov spotted a comet streaking across the sky. Turns out, the ball of ice and dust may have been visiting from beyond our solar system. After numerous sightings, scientists named the comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) and tracked its course over time. The comet's trajectory appeared to follow a hyperbola shape, unlike most comets seen in our solar system, which race around the sun in elliptical orbits. Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) may be the second interstellar object to pass through our cosmic neighborhood, apart from 'Oumuamua, which was discovered in October 2017.

In January, astronomers caught sight of a dying star's final moments as the celestial body let loose a dramatic burst of ultrahigh-energy light, known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB). The GRB took place about 7.5 billion light-years away from the Earth, and carried light particles with energies measuring trillions of electronvolts that are trillions of times more powerful than the photons from our own sun. While GRBs aren't a rare occurrence, astronomers often struggle to capture measurements of the bursts because the event itself may last only a fraction of a second. With the help of telescopes like MAGIC and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.), scientists expect to catch more in the future.

A cloud of debris circling a star serves as the only remaining evidence of a massive asteroid's cataclysmic destruction. In 2018, a white dwarf star in our galaxy suddenly began to shine brighter and brighter, and its luminescence continues to build even today. Now, scientists finally think they know why. They theorize that the star entrapped an enormous asteroid in its gravitational field and tore the space rock to bits, creating a cloud of metallic bits. Light from the star heated the asteroid bits until they emitted their own light, an effect that made the star itself appear brighter through Earth's telescopes.

A near-Earth object called 2019 SX5 boasts similar dimensions as the Great Pyramid of Giza and recently flew right past our planet. The asteroid whizzed by Earth at about 49,000 mph (78,900 km/h), but luckily, its trajectory placed the massive rock about 4 million miles (6 million km) away. According to current estimates, enormous asteroids fly by Earth every few days in fact, a different pyramid-size rock glided past the planet in July.

Hundreds of meteors raced across the heavens in November in a rare event known as a "unicorn" meteor shower. The alpha Monocerotid meteor shower takes place every year but usually includes only a handful of meteors. This year, scientists predicted that onlookers might see up to 1,000 meteors light up the sky near the unicorn constellation, Monoceros, hence the whimsical name of the shower. The meteors originally formed from the dust trail of a comet that occasionally veers extra close to Earth's orbit. The closer the comet, the more meteors tend to form.

Three monstrous black holes about 1 billion light-years from Earth are steadily scooching toward each other, and someday, they will probably collide. The supermassive black holes lie at the center of three merging galaxies, sucking up dust and gas from their surroundings. Currently, the distance from one black hole to the next ranges from 10,000 light-years to 30,000 light-years, but scientists predict that the black holes will eventually merge just like their parent galaxies.

Mysterious flaming objects rained from the sky in Chile in September, and officials weren't sure what the UFOs were or where they came from. Based on geological surveys of sites where the objects crashed, experts determined the fireballs probably weren't meteorites but may have been falling space debris. A month later, something thought to be a meteor burned over northeast China, lighting up the midnight sky until it almost seemed like daytime. The fireball cast dark shadows on the ground as it made its way across the heavens, according to local news reports.

Originally published on Live Science.

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The 10 Best Jamaica Resorts to Visit in 2020 Caribbean Journal – Caribbean Journal

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The best Jamaica resorts set the standard for the Caribbean travel experience; since the dawn of the jet-set age, Jamaica has been a haven for rarefied, elegant, character-filled hospitality, and thats even more true today.

Few islands boast as diverse and fascinating a hotel product as Jamaica, from its all-inclusive stays to its classic beach resorts to its hidden-away boutique hotels and everything in between.

While Jamaica continues to evolve as a destination, what hasnt changed is its enviable, remarkable and unique take on the Caribbean vacation experience.

Here are our favorite Jamaica resorts for your 2020 trip to the island.

Half Moon The Grande Dame of Jamaica resorts, Half Moon is about as iconic a hotel as there is in the Caribbean, a luxurious, opulent hotel where the service is bold and brilliant and the ambience is serene. But Half Moon will have a particularly interesting 2020 with the debut of its new standalone resort, the 57-room Eclipse at Half Moon, a Half Moon for the 21st century and its as exciting a hotel as has come to Jamaica in years.And while that resort makes its debut in March, the original resort (whose guests have included the Queen) is just about the pinnacle of lovely.

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The 10 Best Jamaica Resorts to Visit in 2020 Caribbean Journal - Caribbean Journal

Celebrating the Festive Season in the Caribbean – Travel Weekly

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Gay Nagle Myers

How is Christmas celebrated Caribbean-style?

Since today is Christmas Eve, it may be too late to book a flight to witness a jolly Santa, garbed in a stocking hat and swim trunks and toting a sack full of toys, glide in on a surfboard, step onto a white sand beach and dole out gifts to good boys and girls. But to visit the region during the Festive Season, as it is dubbed in the Caribbean, is to be a witness to and a participant in holiday traditions and customs that reflect the history of the islands of the region.

As visions of sugar plums dance in our heads here at home, down in the islands the festival fever extends well into January.

In St. Croix, for example, the month-long, islandwide Crucian Christmas Festival in both Christiansted and Frederiksted features calypso shows, soca competitions, steel pan orchestras, quadrille dancers, horse races, pageants, face painting for the kiddos, Latin music venues, food fairs with johnny cakes, roti and plenty of coquito. These festivities morph right into the Crucian Carnival celebrations, with the finale on Jan. 4 with Jump Up events: huge, town-wide parties with live music and performances by costumed mocko jumbie dancers who perch on tall stilts high in the air above the crowds.

Puerto Rico's holiday traditions continue through to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian Jan. 15 through 19 that marks the unofficial closing of the long holiday season.

During the multiday celebrations, Old San Juan is taken over by live music, circus performances and impromptu dancing on every street corner.

By day the plazas and streets are filled with local artists and artisans showcasing their wares. Once the sun goes down, concerts and parties take place across the walled city into the wee hours.

Puerto Ricans love parrandas, their version of caroling where friends and family go from house to house, surprising people with live music and food.

The lifesize gingerbread house at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf & Beach Resort.

Visitors who stop in (or stay at) the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf and Beach Resort will get an opportunity for an Instagram-worthy photo of the resort's life-sized edible gingerbread house, created by the resort's pastry team and on display through early January.

Ingredients included 75 pounds of butter, 132 pounds of chocolate, three pounds of cinnamon and 600 eggs.Visitors to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and many other islands during the holiday period will be treated to black cake, a rich fruitcake whose ingredients include a mix of spices and fruits soaked in wine and lots of rum for several months.

Jamaica also hosts the Grand Market, a holiday tradition that features pop-up markets across the island in December with decorated vendor stalls selling toys, gift items and food.

These festive markets stay open late with music throughout the night.

Haitians place a large nativity scene under the pine Christmas trees in their homes and in the markets. Anisette, a mild alcoholic beverage prepared by soaking anise leaves in rum and sweetened with sugar, is the traditional beverage served on Christmas Day.

A traditional Jamaican holiday meal is a spread with baked ham, chicken, oxtail or curried goat, accompanied by yampi (sweet yam), rice and gungo peas.

Sorrel wine, a sweet Caribbean-style cocktail, is the official drink of the festive season in Jamaica as well as in Trinidad, Montserrat and Antigua.

The tart-and-tangy holiday punch is made with dried sorrel (hibiscus seeds) spiced with cloves, fresh ginger, pimento and laced with white rum.

Holiday drinks of choice include ponche de crema eggnog with added rum in Trinidad and Tobago, and shrub beverage (local rum infused with spices and clementine orange peels) in Guadeloupe.

The main dishes for Christmas dinner vary across most of the islands, but it's common for a whole hog or goat to be slaughtered for the grand meal that day, served alongside macaroni pie, baked ham and turkey, Johnny cakes, plantains and potato pudding, topped off by black cake for dessert. The most popular dessert in the French-speaking islands is buche de Noel (Christmas log).

Antigua's Christmas celebrations include the moko jumbie dancers, while Montserrat and St. Kitts feature a full calendar of musical and beauty competitions, fetes and parades right through the New Year.

Christmas day in Barbados is marked by musical performances by the Royal Barbados Police Force Band, tuk bands and gospel singers at Queens Park in Bridgetown.

Throughout the holiday season on Aruba, gaita bands perform at public venues all over the island. The music originated in Venezuela, and gaita bands are composed of a female singer accompanied by musicians on piano, tambu drum and guitars.

The Cayman Islands' National Trust hosts a Christmas Lights bus tour so visitors can sample beef and cassava cake during a tour of local homes and gardens decked out for the season.

Junkanoo Festival in the Bahamas runs from Boxing Day on Dec. 26 through Jan. 1.

From 1 a.m. through the early morning hours, downtown streets in Nassau and on many of the Out Islands are abuzz with parades of exuberant performers in colorful horned masks who drum and dance through the streets to the sounds of goatskin drums and cowbells.

Guadeloupe wraps up its Christmas and New Year's celebrations with the start of its lively Carnival season on Jan. 1 that runs through March 6. Dance marathons, song contests and parades are centered in the capital of Basse-Terre.

In Bermuda, visitors and locals gather at Elbow Beach for food, drink and music on Christmas day followed by the arrival of the Gombies on Boxing Day, traditional troupes of costumed dancers who move to the rhythms of goatskin drums, tin whistles and beer bottles.

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Celebrating the Festive Season in the Caribbean - Travel Weekly

Caribbean Home: A Mansion in the Heart of Old San Juan – Caribbean Journal

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One of the coolest listings to hit the Caribbean real estate market this month is a gorgeous colonial home in the heart of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Listed by Puerto Rico Sothebys International Realty, the home at 250 Norzagaray Street in Puerto Ricos historic capital has hit the market at $3.9 million.

The exquisite 16th century building has seven bathrooms, seven bathrooms and a total of 8,113 interior square feet.

It actually spans an entire block of the old quarter, with views of the sea, a gourmet kitchen and even a wine cellar.

According to Sothebys, the layout of the home means it can be used as a single-family home or converted into three separate properties.

Old San Juan has long been one of the most enchanting neighborhoods in the wider Caribbean, and this is a rather unique property.

For more, visit 250 Norzagaray.

CJ

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Caribbean Home: A Mansion in the Heart of Old San Juan - Caribbean Journal

Sugary Beverages Are Feeding A Childhood Obesity Epidemic In the Caribbean – Forbes

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Rainbow-coloured drinks with tropical names and fruit-inspired flavours are the beverage of choice for many children in the Caribbean. But happy neon tongues and adorable food dyed lips disguise a public health crisis that is anything but cute. With a single serving of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) exceeding the World Health Organisations daily-recommended maximum sugar intake, and in a region where there are more soft drinks consumed than anywhere else in the world, SSBs have been linked to the Caribbeans deadly childhood obesity epidemic.

The Caribbean exhibits some of the highest rates of childhood obesity globally, says Maisha Hutton, Executive Director of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, a Caribbean Non-Communicable Diseases alliance of over 100 organisations. One in every three Caribbean children is obese and at risk for developing non-communicable diseases including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

"Happy neon tongues and adorable food dyed lips disguise a public health crisis that is anything but ... [+] cute."

Excessive consumption of sweet beverages is one the major drivers of obesity, yet most Caribbean children are still consuming carbonated drinks loaded with sugars on a daily basis, continues Hutton.

It has been found that the odds of obesity in children increase by approximately 60% with each additional serving of a sugary drink per day. (Francis et. al, 2009)

Fizzy, sugary drinks on a supermarket shelf. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

According to the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, approximately 75% of Trinidadian students between the ages of 13 and 15 consume carbonated sugar sweetened beverages every day. In Barbados, it is more than 73%. In Jamaica, it is almost 70%. In the Bahamas, it is 69% and in St. Kitts and Nevis, it is 62%.

The typical 12-ounce can of soda or any sugar sweetened beverage has around 40 grams of added sugar which adds calories with no essential nutrients and accounts for at least 40% of the added sugar in Caribbean childrens diets. (Pan American Health Organisation)

Children aged 2-18 years are advised to consume less than 25 grams of sugar daily (WHO), yet popular beverages from the region, such as Canada Dry Ginger Ale (35g sugar/container), Fanta Orange (48g sugar/container), Pinehill Passion fruit (32g sugar/container), Vita Malt (46g sugar/container), Frutee Red (68g sugar/ container), Angostura Lemon Lime Bitters (37g sugar/ container) and Tiger Malt (31g sugar/ container) all exceed the maximum recommended amount in just one serving.

It is no wonder that, according to the Global Atlas on Childhood Obesity, three Caribbean nations (Dominica, the Bahamas and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) are among the top twenty countries in the world with the highest risk of having a significant childhood obesity problem in the coming decade.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition and its regional member civil society organisations have been working collaboratively across the Caribbean since 2017 to advocate for healthy nutrition policies which tackle unhealthy diets and in particular the unacceptably high levels of overweight and obese Caribbean children.

Urgent action is needed to ban the sale and promotion of sweet beverages in schools, tax sweet beverages and make front of package nutrition warning labels mandatory. Strong public education is needed to inform the general public about the dangers of excess consumption of sugar and the levels of sugar in the beverages commonly consumed, says Hutton.

Taxation has proven to be a successful strategy in curbing the consumption of sweet drinks. According to the Pan American Health Organisation, Price elasticity models for SSB sales estimate a 6-16% reduction with a tax rate of 10%. These measures have already been put in place in Barbados, Dominica and St. Lucia and the rest of the region appears to be supportive of the tax.

A 2019 Jamaican survey found that 82% of Jamaicans support the sugary drinks tax if the proceeds go towards funding obesity prevention programmes, particularly for children, while 71% are supportive of a sugary drinks tax in general.

In 2015, Barbados imposed taxes on carbonated soft drinks, juice drinks, sports drinks and fruit juices, with mixed findings. While there was a 4.3% decline in SSB sales and an increase of 7.5% in bottled water sales during the first year of implementation, a recent study found evidence suggesting that consumers responded to the price increase by purchasing cheaper sugary drinks that are typically associated with higher levels of sugar.

One of the most critical policy priorities is the restriction of sugar sweetened beverage sales in schools. Regulation banning or restricting the sale and marketing of SSBs already exists in the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada (from January, 2020), Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Despite regulatory impediments to consumption, at an average of 1.9 eight-ounce servings per day, the Caribbean continues to have the highest recorded consumption levels of sugar sweetened beverages in the world (Singh et al. 2015). This has lead to weight gain, increasing the risk of obesity, with direct links to cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Latin America and the Caribbean has the highest absolute mortality related to SSB consumption in the world and among the 20 countries with highest SSB-related deaths, at least 8 of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Singh et al. 2015)

Given that childrens health and nutritional choices are guided by adults, childhood obesity is a social justice issue and should be addressed as such by policy makers, parents and schools. Allowing children to consume sugary drinks on a regular basis is a violation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that provides for the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.

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Jamaica Jeffs in Belmont Center offers flavors of the Caribbean – The Boston Globe

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Where to Jamaica Jeffs in Belmont Center, in the space that formerly housed the restaurant Kashish Indian Cuisine. Now its done up with flags of the Caribbean, brightly colored tables, and a shiny blue motorcycle in the storefront window. Its been open for two months.

Why To slip into one of the 14 tables and feel happy. At lunch, for the moment, owner Jeff Lasseter is the waiter and hes a welcoming, enthusiastic host, delighted youre in his place. Hell offer you everything but the aqua blue Caribbean water and snorkeling equipment.

The Back Story Lasseter, who was known as Jamaica Jeff when he lived in Kingston, Jamaica, while working for the US State Department, got to know and love the the food and drink of the region. He was assigned to all the neighboring islands and had lived in Barbados (and Africa, South America, Europe, and Southwest Asia). For some of his time abroad, his family stayed in Belmont, so he decided it was the ideal place to open a restaurant.

What to Eat Jerk chicken (youll gnaw the bones), baby back ribs, jerk pork, fried or sauteed fish of the day, Caesar with plump shrimp, a wedge of citrusy, creamy Key Lime pie, and more.

What to Drink Lasseter has one of Belmonts coveted all-alcohol licenses. He built a bar with 12 seats he did much of the renovation himself and offers Red Stripe lager (from Jamaica), along with Carib beer (Trinidad and Tobago), and Banks (Barbados); many rums, including Mount Gay (Barbados), Kirk and Sweeney (Dominican Republic), Havana Club rum, local craft beers, wine, and a full bar.

The Takeaway The owner says he hired the first dozen high school students, with or without experience, who came in looking for a wait staff job. He wants them to put down their phones, learn life skills, and interact with the community. Theyre learning as they go. (Lasseter is a dad of two teenagers.) This is a real neighborhood place with an attentive, indefatigable host who wants very much for you to enjoy yourself. And with a background of calypso, afrobeats, soca, dancehall, and reggae, you cant help but get into the spirit. 61 Leonard St., Belmont Center, Belmont, 617-484-5333, http://www.facebook.com/JamaicaJeffs.

Sheryl Julian can be reached at sheryl.julian@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @sheryljulian.

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Jamaica Jeffs in Belmont Center offers flavors of the Caribbean - The Boston Globe

Pet of the Week: Caribbean native Luna is looking to settle in R.I. – The Providence Journal

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By Karen KalunianSpecial to The Journal

ThursdayDec26,2019at5:28PMDec26,2019at5:42PM

Luna is sweet, smart, playful and adorable 10-month-old potcake (a type of mixed-breed dog found on Caribbean islands) who traveled to Rhode Island all the way from Haiti. She's awaiting adoption in Glocester.

If you have been thinking about adding a new family member, think about meeting Luna. She has all the great qualities you would want in a pet.

Luna is sweet, smart, playful and adorable. She is a 10-month-old potcake (a type of mixed-breed dog found on Caribbean islands) who traveled to Rhode Island all the way from Haiti. She is available at the Abandoned Dogs of Rhode Island at 29 Paris Irons Rd. in Glocester. Call them at (401) 568-7000 for more information about Luna. Go meet Luna, and you will fall in love!

If you know of an animal in need, please contact Karen directly at ilovedogs1920@gmail.com

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Pet of the Week: Caribbean native Luna is looking to settle in R.I. - The Providence Journal

Fascinating Recreations of 19th Century Caribbean Dance Music – World Music Central

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Bellegarde Anba Tonl

Bellegarde Anba Tonl (Bellegarde, 2018)

Canadian percussionist and composer Daniel Bellegarde exploresthe encounters of 19th century European ballroom dance music with themusical genres from the French-speaking Caribbean on Anba Tonl.

The modernized styles featured on Anba Tonl include contradans(square dance), the quadrilles of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Dominica;minuet-congo of Haiti; and Haitian twoubadou guitar music.

Bellegarde brought in musicians from diverse backgrounds who play typically European instruments like the violin and hurdy gurdy along with a wide range of percussion instruments and French Creole vocals.

Based in Montreal, Bellegarde has performed with numerousartists in the Quebec music scene as well as Cirque du Soleil.

The lineup includes Daniel Bellegarde on percussion and manouba (thumb piano); David Boulanger on violin; Hassan El Hadi on banjo and ud; Marco Jeanty on lead vocals; Toto Laraque on guitar, bass and banjo; Erik West-Millette on acoustic and electric bass; The Kreol Supremes Choir: Sylphir Soulafy, Cynthia Soudin and Cynthia Cantave; Nicolas Boulerice on hurdy-gurdy; Diol Kidi and Sacha Daoud on percussion; Frtiz Pageot on bass manouba; Francis Franklin Brisebois on guitar, bass and banjo; Jean Christophe Germain on violin; Bruno Rouyere on vocals; and Olivier St-Pierre on lap steel, manouba, mandolin, guitar, bass and banjo.

Buy Anba Tonl

Author: Angel RomeroAngel Romero y Ruiz has been writing about world music music for many years. He founded the websites worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. Angel produced several TV specials for Metropolis (TVE) and co-produced Musica NA, a music show for Televisin Espaola (TVE) in Spain that featured an eclectic mix of world music, fusion, electronica, new age and contemporary classical music. Angel also produced and remastered world music albums, compilations and boxed sets for Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Music of the World.

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Fascinating Recreations of 19th Century Caribbean Dance Music - World Music Central

Inside the 20,000-a-week Caribbean villa where Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds will celebrate New Year – The Sun

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BORIS Johnson and girlfriend Carrie Symonds arrived today at the 20,000-a-week, six-bedroom Caribbean villa where they will see in the New Year.

The couple arrived at the island paradise of Mustique to rest up after the hard-fought election campaign.

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They couple celebrate the PMs dominant election win at the Oceanus, a Moroccan-style house nestled on the hilltops of Mustique.

Guests can pick from one of three private pools and will be looked after by a team of staff including a butler, housekeeper and private gourmet chef.

Boris and Carrie will be staying with the German aristocratic Von Bismarck family at the rented villa, although it is not clear who is picking up the tab.

However, the PM is understood to have paid for their British Airways flight.

After landing on a nearby island, the couple then took a small plane to Mustique.

Each of the villas master suites faces the ocean, offering romantic sunset evenings, while the property is made of natural materials.

A brochure for the villa says: The open air plan provides the perfect balance of indoor and outdoor living spaces.

"Multiple sunset decks and lounge areas with seven lighted water features make the property well suited for entertaining.

This tranquil villa rests harmoniously on a hilltop overlooking Britannia Bay, which offers perfect trade wind breezes and panoramic views of the surrounding Caribbean and lush landscape of the island.

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Mustique is a favourite of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and is home to singers Mick Jagger and Bryan Adams, and the fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.

Singer Harry Styles won a drinking competition on the island earlier this year.

It is owned by the Mustique Company, which is controlled by the islands residents.

PMs hol upgrade

BORIS and Carries luxury break is a cut above those taken by previous PMs.

His predecessor Theresa May goes on annual walking holidays around Snowdonia, Wales.

David Cameron was a regular visitor to Cornwall but took wife Samantha to Lanzarote for a short break.

And in 2009, Gordon Brown took his family to the Lake District.

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Inside the 20,000-a-week Caribbean villa where Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds will celebrate New Year - The Sun

The Most Stunning Caribbean Beaches To Visit This Winter – TheTravel

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It turns out that the Caribbean is one of the most fascinating places on the planet: who knew? The answer: everyone who has ever taken the time to go there. From the people to the weather and beyond it's a tremendous place - but beneath the surface, one anecdote we really enjoy more so than anything else is their beaches.

They're big, they're beautiful, and they're so unbelievably unique. With over 700 islands you would think they may, on the off occasion, run out of stunning destinations to fill up: but nature is a pretty wonderful thing.

Alas, you should trust us when we say that the weather alone doesn't make the Caribbean a home run of a place to go if chilling out on the beach is your main agenda on holiday. It's worth so much more than that.

So if deciding where to go next summer is still a source of contention, allow us to put your minds at ease.

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you: the sand really is that white.

Alongside the beautiful colors, you've also got the great sights and sounds, many of which spread across this insanely gorgeous beach that is known almost as much for its unbelievable width.

Just picture hanging out down the beach, playing some baseball and taking in the weather with a nice cold one.Oranjestad, as a whole, is a super friendly and charming down that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime.

We all have work-related stresses because that's life, but here, you really do feel like they just fall away into irrelevancy.

As far as a form of rehabilitation goes, we'd argue that's a pretty successful tactic. Congrats, Aruba.

That water is so crystal blue that we might need to start asking Walter White some questions. This two-mile-long beach features bars, restaurants and just about everything in-between. It gives off a really secluded vibe, too, which is great for those of us who just need to escape from time to time.

Once you sit back and allow yourself to fall in love with Shoal Bay, three hours will go by and it'll feel like three minutes. There's also lots of open ground and hills for people to walk or run along, and while that isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, there are going to be very few opportunities in your life when you're able to stretch your legs on a patch of land as breathtaking as this.

Snorkeling and swimming are particularly popular activities here, and so is the fact that the mountains descend upon the ocean to make for a fantastic contrast between land and sea. If you looked up only at the top half you'd think you're in Cornwall, with the bottom representing paradise.

The huts alone make us want to jump on a plane with our swim shorts at the ready, but of course, there's so much more to it than that.

It's not too crowded, it's not too noisy, and it doesn't really matter who you're going with either. There are families to be found from head to toe to go right alongside couples that have gone for a quick break in the sun.

Plus, and we can't understate how important this point is, the frozen drinks on offer will quite literally blow your mind as you attempt to deal with the relentless heat.

Why Picking The Window Seat On A Plane Means You're Selfish

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The Most Stunning Caribbean Beaches To Visit This Winter - TheTravel

Artistic Treasures of Caribbean Civilizations – Art & Object

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Alongside works of art created by their better-known Tano peers, the exhibition will present objects created by the artists of the Tairona in northern Colombia, the diverse kingdoms in the Isthmus of Panama and Costa Rica, and the networks of sculptor communities in the Ula Valley, Honduras. Objects created from luxury materials including greenstone, shell, gold, and marble will underscore the range of trade connections between Caribbean peoples. In a fourth section, the exhibition will explore the ancestral legacies into the 20th century and today by incorporatingRumblings of the Earth (Rumor de la tierra), 1950, by painter Wifredo Lam (Cuban, 19021982), on loan from theSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will offer a variety of educational programs in 2020, including anArtists on Artworksevent, a lecture,Conversations With a Curator(bilingual in English and Spanish),TeenCareer Lab, and aFamily Afternoon(for families with children ages 311).

These programs are made possible by The Reed Foundation.

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Sunwing Is Launching Its First-Ever Flights to Grand Cayman – Caribbean Journal

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Canadian travel giant Sunwing is launching a new Caribbean destination: Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands.

The tour operator has announced a new seasonal flight service from Toronto to Grand Cayman, with service set to launch from Feb. 2, 2020 through May 3, 2020.

We are excited to be offering travellers departing from Toronto Pearson even more ways to Vacation Better this winter with the addition of this new destination. With its pristine beaches and picturesque landscapes, were sure that Grand Cayman will be a popular choice amongst Torontonian sun-seekers.

The flights will be operating once-weekly on Sundays, a big boost for Cayman from the important Canadian market.

We are so pleased to welcome Sunwing in offering Canadians with more opportunities to visit the Cayman Islands, said Rosa Harris, director of tourism at the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. We are proud to share our exceptional attractions, from our pristine Seven Mile Beach to the Crystal Caves and, as the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean, our diverse and exceptional restaurants.

Sunwing has a broad footprint across the wider Caribbean region.

The company said it would be highlighting Grand Caymans Margaritaville Beach Resort on Seven Mile Beach for travelers from Toronto.

CJ

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These Cruises Go To The Most Stunning Caribbean Destinations – TheTravel

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There are so many different wants to enjoy a luxury holiday, and there are so many ways to reach a destination like the Caribbean. One idea, that sticks out in our mind, is a cruise. If you don't like being out at sea then it might be a bit of a challenge, but if you're able to overcome that, there's a whole world full of possibilities available.

The idea of drifting from place to place without having to lift a finger is a pretty remarkable thing, and it's even more unbelievable once you consider all of the amazing advancements that have been made in this form of travel over the years. From pillar to post, the desire and intrigue surrounding cruises is at all all-time high.

Of course, with so many endless islands to explore there are plenty of options out there regarding the Caribbean, many of which come across as being perfectly valid. However, while there are different companies to enjoy and speak of, we're decided to narrow it down to three that really do seem to put the interests of the people first.

There's a wide variety of places that the Royal Caribbean can jet off too, but in particular, we enjoy their getaways to places like Aruba and Curacao.

One of the biggest issues with air travel is that you sometimes miss out on the specific locations that might otherwise fly under the radar. From the architecture to the beaches, there isn't all too much not to adore - and beyond that, there's quite an astonishing volume of beaches to enjoy in both of the islands that we've just mentioned.

You can tell by the name that the Caribbean is the priority, and they really do put everything they've got into giving customers what they want.

Disney has already established that they're great at an awful lot of things - and one particular trait that we feel isn't appreciated is their phenomenal variety of cruises. It's a little bit rugged, but one of the best locations that the Disney Cruise Line heads to is Jamaica. When you truly peel back the curtain, there's so much to love about this exotic paradise.

Then you've got Puerto Rico which is just littered with so much culture that it'll be coming out of your ears. We like how unconventional these destinations are painted out to be, because Disney takes those stereotypes and throws them directly in the trash where they belong.

There's an edge to these places that you just aren't going to find anywhere else in the world, and we can all but guarantee you'll leave a different person to the one that arrived (in a good way).

The rich and the famous come out to play with Seabourn - especially when you're paying thousands upon thousands of dollars to jet around the finest parts of the Caribbean seas.

The stop-off in Saint Barthelemy is always great, mainly because it's the sort of island that redefines what it means to be high-end. Then there's Guadeloupe, where it's quite literally impossible not to stop and take in the magnificence that surrounds you from every direction.

Nich is a word that's thrown around a lot and isn't always given the best connotations, but trust us when we say that these destinations will leave you begging your friends and family members to return.

Oh, and how can you not love a place that has a runway which flies directly over the beach? It's like something out of a James Bond movie.

Survey Says Two Weeks Vacation Is Not Enough For Most Of Us

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These Cruises Go To The Most Stunning Caribbean Destinations - TheTravel

Boris Johnson criticised for not visiting flood-hit areas before jetting off to Caribbean – The Independent

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Boris Johnson has faced fresh anger fornot visiting flood-hit parts of the countryafter it emerged that he is not expected to travel to stricken areas over Christmas.

Despite floods having hit parts of Cornwall, Kent, Suffolk and Norfolk, and warnings being in place across the country, the prime ministers spokespersonsaid there were no plans for him to visit the affected areas.

Opposition parties accused Mr Johnson of being perfectly comfortable weathering the storm from the comfort of his own home.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The Environment Agency has issued 200 flood warnings and alerts, mainly in the south of England, and further rain is forecast before Christmas and on Boxing Day. In some areas, families have had to be evacuated from their homes and risk being unable to return before Christmas.

Mr Johnsons official spokesperson said: We are working closely with the Environment Agency. The EA is monitoring the rainfall and river levels, and they have crews on the ground already operating defences. We will be keeping the closest possible eye on it.

The Independent compares Boris Johnson's victory to Donald Trump's in America, branding it a "post-truth" election

The Guardian focuses on Jeremy Corbyn's loss, as well as the Tory win

The Times leads with an image of the prime minister with his dog, calling his win a "landslide"

The i simply said: "Johnson unleashed"

The Daily Mail was triumphant after the Conservative win, saying the result "will finally see Brexit delivered"

The Daily Mirror called the result a "NIGHTMARE BEFORE XMAS"

Daily Star led with a picture of Labour's Diane Abbott, claiming she wore two left shoes on Thursday

The Telegraph called it a "historic victory"

The prime minister was heckled during visits to flood-hit parts of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire last month, with one local resident asking him: Why has it taken you so long?

Mr Johnson will spendChristmas in Downing Street with his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds.

He is reportedlythenset to travel to Mustiquewith Ms Symonds to see in the new year. The exclusive Caribbean island is a favourite of the royal familyand a host of A-list celebrities. Mr Johnson is expected to be hosted by the Von Bismarck family of German aristocrats.

Criticising Mr Johnson for not visiting the flooded areas, Wera Hobhouse, the LiberalDemocratMP for Bath, said: With so many flood warnings in place across the UK, hundreds of families are facing the awful prospect of being forced out of their homes over the Christmas period.

The fact that, once again, the prime minister isnt even planning to visit flood-hit communities says it all. This is a man who is perfectly comfortable weathering the storm from the comfort of his own home, rather than confronting the grim reality that hundreds of people across the UK are having to deal with.

The government needs to recognise that current flood protection is inadequate. It must invest in better flood defences to ensure these scenarios are not repeated time and again.

On Monday, Prince Charlesvisited the Yorkshire village of Fishlake, which was hit by floods last month, and spent two hours talking to residents, police officers, firefighters and soldiers.

He is also understood to have made a donation to the flood relief fund.

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Boris Johnson criticised for not visiting flood-hit areas before jetting off to Caribbean - The Independent

American Airlines Kicks Off Two New Nonstop Routes to St Thomas – Caribbean Journal

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The worlds largest airline launched a pair of new routes this week to a Caribbean destination on the rise: St Thomas.

The latest boosts to St Thomas tourism renaissance came with the arrival of new winter flights from both Chicago OHare and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Both of those nonstop flights will be operating weekly on Saturdays, now through April 4, 2020, St Thomas tourism officials confirmed to Caribbean Journal.

The Chicago-St Thomas flight will be running on an Airbus A319 with 128 seats, while the Dallas-St Thomas flights are operating on Boeing 757s with 176 seats.

American Airlines is pleased to provide nonstop service to the beautiful island of St. Thomas from these importanthubs, saidAlfredo Gonzalez,Americans Managing Director, Caribbean, in a statement We would like to thank the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, the Virgin Islands Port Authority, and other agencies for working seamlessly with us to make these flights possible.

The new routes come as St Thomas tourism sector, still recovering from the storms of 2017, welcomed back the US Virgin Islands leading hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas, which reopened its doors at the end of last month.

That complements a strong contingent of hotels that have been operating in St Thomas for some time now, from the beloved Bolongo Bay Beach Resort (Iggys, anyone?) to the Secret Harbour hotel.

And the USVIs most popular destination will this year see the launch of two more hotels: the transformed Frenchmans Reef Marriott Resort and Spa, and a new hotel called Noni Beach, a St Thomas Resort. The latter will be a member of Marriotts Autograph Collection, with the combined openings totaling more than $200 million investment.

American is also adding more flights to St Thomas out of Miami, with a third daily flight that launched earlier this week.

We are delighted to inaugurate these flights which open up and enhance the very important Chicago and Texas markets, said Joseph Boschulte, Commissioner of the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism. We are very happy with the deepening of our partnership with American Airlines and look forward to working with their team to bolster airlift to our Territory this winter and beyond.

St Thomas also serves as a crucial air hub for the neighboring British Virgin Islands, which will undoubtedly see a benefit due to the increased air capacity, too. (While travelers can fly to Tortola through airports like San Juan on Cape Air, St Thomas-Tortola ferry service is also a very popular option).

The new routes are an important sign of confidence from American, and part of a wider Caribbean expansion American is undertaking throughout the second half of this month.

CJ

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American Airlines Kicks Off Two New Nonstop Routes to St Thomas - Caribbean Journal