Daily Archives: September 22, 2019

To what extent Pyongyang will cooperate with Moscow in enforcing maritime laws remains to be seen

According to a press release issued by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday, two North Korean schooners were detained off the coast of the Kito-Yamato sandbar within Russias exclusive economic zone. Members of the FSBs border security division were carrying out a routine patrol when they detained the vessels.

Accompanying the two schooners were several smaller vessels. One schooner contained a crew of 21 individuals, while the other was crewed by over 45 people. Members of the second schooner opened fire on an FSB boarding party, injuring three officers.

The FSB detained the schooners for transportation to the port city of Nakhodka. Meanwhile, a total of 80 North Korean citizens are said to be in detention.

In response to the incident, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairscalled in the DPRKs charge daffaires in Moscow for an explanation.

Likewise, the foreign ministry, having admonished the North Korean government that it would take any measures necessary to enforce the law in its waters, requested that Pyongyang do its part to prevent such incidents from happening again.

The clash between North Korean poachers and Russian law enforcement comes only two months after DPRK authorities detained a crew of 15 Russians and two South Korean nationals for an alleged violation of North Korean territorial waters.

During the brief row over the detention of Russian citizens, one Russian diplomatic official expressed the belief that the situation would blow over quickly due to the strong relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang.

It is unlikely that North Korean officials were completely unaware of the activities of as many as 80 of its citizens

In light of the most recent incident, voices within Russias academic and policy communities have warned against letting criminal acts derail the upward political trajectory of DPRK-Russia ties.

One prominent Russian sinologist, Alexei Maslov, cautioned against letting what he called an act of piracy spoil North Korea-Russia relations, declaring that the best thing for Russia to do would be to extradite the detainees back to the DPRK to face justice.

Thanks precisely to the progression of Moscow-Pyongyang relations, repatriation to face justice remains a very real possibility for the detained North Koreans. In February of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law an extradition agreement between the Russian Federation and North Korea.

The agreement allows for a citizen of one of the countries who has been sentenced to a prison term to be extradited to their country of citizenship to serve out their sentence.

Furthermore, the agreement stipulates that an appropriate sentence for those convicted will be carried out by the receiving country in accordance with that states laws.

15 Russian and two South Korean nationals were released in July after having allegedly violated North Korean territorial waters but the stakes are higher this time | Photo: Russian embassy DPRK

That fact may be of cold comfort to the North Korean crew, particularly anyone found guilty of participating directly in the violence against FSB agents.

Andrei Klimov, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian parliaments upper house,stated that the perpetrators could face the death penalty if they are indeed extradited to the DPRK.

Im under the impression that if those guys were in Pyongyangs hands, theyd be shot, Klimov declared.

Klimov, however, was also quick to caution against letting the situation develop in a way that could have a wider negative impact on the North Korea-Russia relationship.

In addition to acknowledging that poaching was often one of the only ways for families to support themselves, Klimov warned that other countries may see this as a golden opportunity to drive a wedge between Moscow and Pyongyang.

The irritation between us and North Korea is working in favor of many, and those many are not friends of Russia said Klimov.

An incident involving large-scale poaching as well as an armed attack on law enforcement officials will not likely go unpunished. As such, the fallout from the detention of the two fishing crews could well put the vitality of the extradition agreement as well as Moscow-Pyongyang ties themselves to the test.

Indeed, the strength of DPRK-Russia ties may have played a part in the relatively quick resolution of the detention of the Russian crew last July.

Yet given the nature of this most recent development, the stakes are higher.

This particular development will be a small yet significant test of how strong the overall DPRK-Russia relationship really is

One aspect that the most recent maritime incident underscores is the difficulties North Korea and Russia could face in future bilateral as well as multilateral economic cooperation.

Fishing comprises one of the nine bridges of cooperation between Russia and South Korea as part of the latters New Northern Policy. The New Northern Policy, though at present focused primarily on deepening collaboration between Moscow and Seoul, also envisions bringing the DPRK into the fold.

For the second time in two years, North and South Korean officials were present at the 2019 Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.

How Pyongyang reacts to a development such as the detention of a large number of citizens for poaching as well as armed violence could shape how the Kremlin perceives the feasibility of economic cooperation with the DPRK, particularly in a maritime context.

The incident likewise highlights the question of to what extent the DPRK can be a reliable partner for the Russian Federation in areas beyond those on which Moscow and Pyongyang mutually agree, such as denuclearization.

Tuesdays incident will be a test of how strong the DPRK-Russia relationship really is | Photo: The Kremlin

Of course, no country can prevent its citizens from engaging in illegal acts outside of its jurisdiction.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that North Korean officials were completely unaware of the activities of as many as 80 of its citizens, even in the openness of the high seas.

One of the major tests for North Korea-Russia relations, therefore, is the extent to which Pyongyang is willing to cooperate with Moscow to enforce maritime laws.

A North Korean state feeling increased financial pressure from sanctions might possibly not be interested in curbing illegal activities that also provide a source of income.

Yet a Russian government intent on economically developing the Russian Far East would in turn be hard-pressed to turn a blind eye to criminal activities occurring in its economic waters, even in the name of international friendship.

Moscow and Pyongyang may be in relative agreement over the best way to proceed in the DPRK security crisis, butthis particular development will be a small yet significant test of how strong the overall DPRK-Russia relationship really is beyond diplomatic platitudes.

Edited by James Fretwell and Oliver Hotham

Featured image: The Kremlin

According to a press release issued by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday, two North Korean schooners were detained off the coast of the Kito-Yamato sandbar within Russias exclusive economic zone. Members of the FSBs border security division were carrying out a routine patrol when they detained the vessels. Accompanying the two schooners were

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Following high-seas incident, North Korea-Russia ties face an unusual test - NK News

Humberto strengthens to a hurricane overnight, what it means for South Florida and whats on the tropical horizon.

Humberto is mustering to a major Category 3 hurricane far from the U.S. coastline, but ripples from the burgeoning storm are pounding Florida beaches with dangerous swells.

From Palm Beach County through the Space Coast, high waves and sloshing seas radiating from the slowpoke cyclone triggered small craft advisories, rip current warnings and high surf alerts that could continue through the week.

As of the 11 p.m. Monday advisory from the National Hurricane Center, the 90-mph hurricane was 625 miles west of Bermuda and expected to build to a 115-mph cyclone by mid-week. It was moving east-northeast at 8 mph with a reach that drew surfers from hundreds of miles away to southeast Florida.

Im always keeping an eye on what its doing, said Chris Ulman, who drove from Sarasota on Monday to surf the south side of the Juno Beach Pier. Today, its fairly challenging.

Red flags flapped in an offshore breeze at Juno Beach, which is just north enough to catch swell sneaking around the Bahamas. Head-high waves were common, but Ulman said by midday they started closing out, meaning the wave crashed all at once, instead of forming a long barreling line.

The National Weather Service has a high risk of dangerous rip currents in effect for Palm Beach County to north of Vero Beach. A high surf advisory is in effect for the Volusia and Brevard county coasts.

Palm Beach Countys offshore waters could have seas building to 9 to 12 feet by the end of the week. If that holds true, a high surf advisory may be issued.

Humbertos tropical storm-force winds extend about 105 miles from its center. Its hurricane-force winds extend about 30 miles.

Whenever you have large, long period swells coming in, its going to enhance the rip current threat because they allow a lot of water to pile up on the beach and it has to run out somewhere, said Matt Bragaw, a meteorologist with the NWS in Melbourne. If portions of a sandbar break, and the water finds a preferred channel, it can overpower even the strongest of swimmers.

Why hasn't Palm Beach County been hit by a massive storm lately? Well, it ain't science. @BMcNoldymade a map that was so shocking we had to write a story https://t.co/IEhk4VdaaW pic.twitter.com/acTQskumjH

Humberto is also opening a window for north- northwester winds to drag down some drier air from higher latitudes, reducing rain chances to just 20 percent Tuesday and Wednesday.

South Florida will get northwest winds turning north as Humberto continues to pull away and an area of high pressure moves in. High temperatures are forecast to reach near 90 degrees with heat index temperatures in the triple digits.

RELATED: Why a warming planet may mean more Dorian-like storms

Theres always a chance the dry air doesnt materialize in South Florida, said Harry Weinman, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Miami. But Im looking forward to seeing some of it.

Weinman said the high waves could stick around into the weekend.

Humberto may be one of the more memorable hurricane swells in the past two seasons with 2018s Florence promising bigger waves, then flaking out.

Mesmerizing view of the cloud structure & motions in intensifying #Hurricane #Humberto pic.twitter.com/SrwBnGrzPY

John Higgins, a Sunny Isles Beach resident who drove north for waves Monday, said Humbertos waves were chunky and messy, and quickly fizzled.

It wasnt very good, he said about Dorian after surfing at the Juno Beach Pier Monday. It was too rough, and then much smaller.

Humberto may not be the last chance for hurricane swell this season.

The National Hurricane Center is giving a system about 1,200 miles east of the Lesser Antilles a 90 percent chance of development over five days, but said a tropical depression could form by Wednesday.

Also being watched is a disorganized cluster of showers and thunderstorms in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. While it has just a 20 percent chance of development, it could still mean heavy rain along portions of Texas coast.

The next name on the 2019 storm list is Imelda, followed by Jerry.

kmiller@pbpost.com

@Kmillerweather

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Hurricane Humberto brings big waves, high seas and surfers to South Florida - Palm Beach Post

The open sea has turned treacherous this week. Offshore and surf anglers are turning to the Halifax River and catching snook, trout, flounder and redfish.

High seas because of all the tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean is sending the regular offshore fishermen to the safety of the Intracoastal Waterway.

SURF, PIERS: Roy Mattson (royssurffishing.com) said there has been limited activity because of rough seas. It will stay like that through the weekend, he said. Gene Lytwyn at The Fishin Hole in downtown Daytona Beach said only a handful of his regulars are casting into the surf. The surf has been good when weather conditions allow, he said. We are seeing whiting, pompano and a few redfish. Windy conditions have led to rough surf and strong currents, making surf fishing difficult.

OFFSHORE: Capt. Michael Mulholland (seaspiritfishing.com) said the ocean has been a no-go situation. The weather has been so bad and blowing nobody has been out, he said, adding the Sea Spirit remains in dry dock for maintenance. Capt. Jeff Patterson (smallboatbigfish.com) said he fished the mouth of the inlet one day before the waves became too high to handle. Rough seas probably until Sunday, he said. We managed to get out to the jetties Tuesday morning before the north wind picked up and it was already like a washing machine. Capt. David Caruthers (strippinlipscharters.com) is an offshore regular, but stayed in the river all week. It was too rough to get offshore, he said.

PONCE INLET, HALIFAX RIVER: Capt. Kyle Busby (nobigreel.com) reports catching doormat flounder in Spruce Creek by free-lining jumbo-sized shrimp. There are some really nice flounder coming from the Dunlawton Causeway area, both around the flat bridge and also under the main bridge around the fenders, Busby said. He said the inlet is holding plenty of tarpon as the mullet run begins. Snook up to 20-inches have been all over the place, but the larger snook are a little harder to find, he said. Mattson said there are lots of redfish around the inlet and flounder all over the river. Pompano are on area sandbars, he added. Lytwyn said his customers are catching snook. Snook activity has been strong both inshore and at the jetties, he said. Most anglers are using artificials, but live bait is working, too, such as shrimp and finger mullet. The inlets are still having plenty of activity with large redfish and tarpon. Inshore around the bridges and docks there are flounder, redfish, ladyfish and jacks or keeping anglers busy. Patterson said since he could not fish the inlet, he concentrated on fishing the river. We were fishing around some docks and managed to find one slot redfish and one 30-inch redfish, he said. Caruthers said he caught plenty of redfish, pompano, flounder and mangrove snappers. Offshore probably isn't going to happen anytime soon because its looking rough all through the week, he added.

TOMOKA BASIN, RIVER: Capt. Barry Englehardt (fishwithcaptainbarry.com) said he went out twice in the last week. He bagged nine redfish and three snook on Day 1 and four reds and a snook on Day 2. Salty Dawg Outfitters Highbridge is located just north of Tomoka. Salty Dawgs Dave Farlow said his customers are catching snook. Trout fishing has been ridiculously good around dock lights at night, he said. The redfish count is down a bit because of high waters. We have been getting some solid reports of flounder and tarpon as well. Black drum seem to be stacking up at Highbridge and Tomoka.

MOSQ. LAGOON, INDIAN RIVER: Capt. Michael Savedow (edgewaterriverguide.com) said the Edgewater Backcountry has been backed up with higher levels of water. We are seeing water at flood levels with all the east wind, he said. The migrating mullet schools have started coming through with jacks and blues busting on them. Savedow said he has caught a variety of fish including trout, mangrove snapper, snook, whiting and ladyfish.

MATANZAS INLET, RIVER: Capt. Chris Herrera (palmcoastfishing.com) said he has been dealing with high winds and water levels during the last week. During these high tides it's best to cover grass lines with a popping cork and live shrimp, he said. We have caught snook, redfish, trout and jack. The inlet bite has been great for redfish during slack tide on either high or low tide using live mullet.

ST. JOHNS RIVER: Capt. Bryn Rawlins at Highland Park Fish Camp in DeLand gives bass fishing a thumbs up even with the high water. She said anglers are catching bass up to 8 pounds. Speckled perch season is almost here and we have already seen good catches coming in from Lake Woodruff, she said. Most anglers are trolling for them.

SEND PHOTOS: We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com. Be sure to include type of fish, size of fish (weight and/or length), where the fish was caught, first and last names and hometown of angler who caught the fish, and first and last name of person who took the photo. If a child is in the photo, please include their age. The News-Journal will use one or two photos in print each week and the other photos submitted will go into the online gallery called Readers Fish Photos.

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Fishing Report: High seas shuts door on offshore fishing, but plenty of action in the river - Daytona Beach News-Journal

Overview

Each year, thousands of commercial fishing vessels ply the worlds high seas, hauling in catch ranging from sardines to giant tunas. In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, vessels operating in these areas beyond national jurisdiction caught 4.4 million metric tons of fish, valued at $7.6 billion.1 To ensure that fishing on this scale is sustainable, regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) must be able to accurately track this catch and other vessel activities in the areas they oversee.

But monitoring fisheries is challenging, especially when boats operate far from shore. In an effort to collect complete data on fishing, many RFMOs have mandated that observers be onboard all purse seine vessels. But managers, scientists, and other stakeholders increasingly recognize that more coverage is needed on other vessel types to gather more information on catch, bycatch, fishing effort, and compliance with regulations.

Electronic monitoring (EM) is a proven way for RFMOs to expand coverage of their fishing fleets. EM systems have already been installed on a variety of vessels and have shown that they can generate high-quality, cost-effective monitoring data. Implementing a well-designed EM program that collects and then analyzes data on a fleets catch, fishing effort, and discards will help RFMOs gauge the status of fish stocks and make appropriate decisions for managing them, such as adopting sustainable harvest strategies, and create stronger enforcement tools.

Onboard fisheries observers have traditionally been the primary way to collect independent information on a vessels activities and catch. However, when faced with the possibility of having to increase coverage, fishers often note that placing more observers on vessels can create challenges due to the additional cost and space required onboard.

Electronic monitoring offers an efficient and cost-effective alternative. The systemsusually a central computer attached to gear sensors and video camerasallow authorities to monitor and record a vessels activity in real time. And installing and using EM systems that cover all fishing activities has been demonstrated to be considerably cheaper than placing observers on vessels. While savings estimates vary based on fishery size and type, a 2018 study in Peru estimated that an EM system cost half that of human observers;2 for pot cod vessels out of Alaska, costs were estimated at 27 percent to 41 percent less than observers;3 and for commercial gillnet vessels out of Denmark, they were estimated at 15 percent less.4

Studies tracking the performance of EM over more than 25,000 fishing days at sea have proved that the systems improve the accuracy of onboard logbooks; reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; increase data collection on bycatch species for biodiversity and conservation concerns; and expand authorities ability to monitor compliance with regulations.5

When standardized and implemented properly, electronic monitoring can increase:

Most important, electronic monitoring can be used to supplement low observer coverage and help managers ensure compliance with sustainable policies.

For these reasons and more, many countries have already embraced these technologies, and more are likely to follow.

Different combinations of electronic monitoring technology can be used to meet regulators needs and make the best use of available resources. Vessels can use the systems to supplement onboard observers, capture the data needed for science, and/or monitor compliance with regulations.6

The type of fishing gear a vessel uses often influences an EM systems effectiveness. Studies on longline vessels have been largely positive, as static cameras can easily capture data on fish that are brought onboard one at a time.7 An Australia-based study that sampled data from both gillnet and longline vessels found that on average, catches reported by the EM analyst and by fishers in their logbook were more similar for longline than gillnet fishing gear.8 But EM has been shown to be effective on a variety of gears, including trawlers and seiners.

EM systems do have some limitations. They cannot collect biological data and also may not capture compliance with mitigation measures that dont happen on deck, such as steps to reduce bycatch and discards. And the technology requires basic maintenance by the crew, such as making sure that cameras are powered and their lenses are clean. However, many of these challenges can be addressed by careful camera placements and crew training, in addition to dockside collection of biological samples, such as otoliths and gonads.

A well-designed EM program should incorporate more than the technology onboard a vessel. Because many high-seas vessels fish in multiple jurisdictions, effectively monitoring them electronically will require agreement on standardscomparable to the standards that regional observer programs useto ensure that the information collected is accurate and consistent. For programs to be effective and efficient, RFMOs should develop standards to accurately and consistently record data that is similar to that collected by observers and ensure that the information is shared, reviewed, and audited in a uniform way.

Advances in electronic monitoring technology offer many possibilities for improving fisheries management and increasing transparency and accountability, which would benefit authorities, fishers, and other members of the supply chain. But significant work by RFMOs remains if they are going to implement effective electronic monitoring programs.

To improve monitoring and increase transparency on the high seas, Pew recommends that RFMOs:

Fixed lens cameras affixed to the forward rigging of a bottom trawler. EDF/Leslie Von Pless

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Electronic Monitoring: A Key Tool for Global Fisheries - The Pew Charitable Trusts

Vessel location data suggests that more than 1,500 transfers of fish catch may have occurred on the high seas in the western and central Pacific Ocean in 2016 far more than the 1,000 transshipments that were actually reported.

Another 700 or more transfers, called transshipments, may have taken place in national waters in the region.

The dearth of clear information on transshipment in the waters overseen by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the lack of effective reporting, monitoring and data sharing of transshipment activity threatens to obscure illegal fishing while contributing to inaccuracies in fish stock assessments.

A new report by The Pew Charitable Trusts concludes that there is a strong probability more transshipment occurred in WCPFC waters than was reported to the secretariat by carrier vessels or their relevant flag or coastal state authorities.

It appeared that there was a lot more activity on the high seas than what was being reported, Mark Young, a senior manager for international fisheries at Pew who spent 23 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, including as chief of enforcement for the Pacific district, told SeafoodSource. What we found were a lot of data gaps or anomalies or non-standard responses.

Transshipment, which is the practice of transferring catch from one vessel to another, enables fishing vessels to stay at sea longer, offloading their catch to carrier vessels with enormous sub-freezing refrigerated holds. But that transfer also makes it possible for illegal, unreported and unauthorized catch to enter the seafood supply chain.

A 2016 study estimated that more than USD 142 million (EUR 128 million) worth of IUU catch is transshipped each year in the western and central Pacific Ocean alone, most of it misreported or not reported by licensed fishing vessels.

At-sea transshipment is poorly managed across tuna regional fishery management organizations (RFMO), according to Holly Koehler, vice president of policy and outreach at the International Sustainable Seafood Foundation, which advances long-term conservation and sustainable use of global tuna fisheries.

"A lack of visibility into and oversight over these high seas transshipment activities is a detriment to all RFMOs ability to wipe out IUU fishing activities globally, among other challenges to the sustainable, long-term management of tuna fisheries, Koehler told SeafoodSource.

To estimate how many vessels conducted transshipping activities, Pew compared public data from WCPFC reports with vessel location data derived from automatic identification system signals.

Pews analysis found that only 25 carrier vessels reported high seas transshipments in the secretariats territory in 2016, but location data showed that more than 100 vessels might have conducted 2,200 transshipments at sea or in port in the region.

Pew wasnt able to count an additional 381 vessels not observed on AIS, most of which were under 300 gross tons, and couldnt observe any transshipments between two longline fishing vessels. Significant gaps in AIS data also might have hid transshipments during the voyages of another 70 authorized carrier vessels.

More than half of the AIS-detected potential high seas transshipments took place in two relatively small regions: On the high seas off Japan and in an area of overlapping jurisdiction between the WCPFC and the IATTC in the central Pacific.

Transshipment activity can be detected by the vessels unique movement patterns. A carrier vessel must be stationary or moving very slowly during transshipment, a sharp reduction from transiting speed, Young said.

Computer algorithms can detect those movement changes, and alert human analysts to potential transshipment activities.

Not typically does it stop and loiter around because time is money. Youre using fuel. Why would you slow down? One reason is you might be meeting a fishing vessel and doing transshipment, Young said. When a carrier vessel is out on the high seas and theyre in known productive fishing grounds and they slow down to one or two knots, theres only a couple reasons they might do that.

Implementing best practices around monitoring, reporting and data sharing would help combat illicit transshipment, Young said.

Vessels should be required to report transshipments to all the relevant authorities, not just flag states, but also coastal and port states and the secretariat of any governing regional fishery management organization, Young said. And that reporting should be done in real time. Carrier vessels entering the convention area of an RFMO should be required to submit a simple report stating theyve entered the area an intend to do transshipment so they can confirm if they have a fishery observer aboard.

All vessels involved in transshipment should be required to have human or electronic observation, Young added. Carrier vessels already have requirements for 100 percent observer coverage, but there is no requirement that the observers submit reports to the WCPFC, only to the flag states, where the fate of those reports becomes a mystery.

From our current understanding, its a bit of a black hole, Young said.

Photo courtesy of Adam Baske

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Transshipment in western and central Pacific most likely underreported - SeafoodSource

ORLANDO, Fla. It's going to be a cruise to nowhere, but that will be just fine with die-hard Star Wars fans.

Disney officials offered new details on its recently announced Star Wars-themed resort in Florida.

"Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" will be like a two-day cruise in that it drops visitors into a completely self-contained world. Except instead of traveling on the high seas, visitors will be made to feel like they've been launched from a parking lot at Walt Disney World in Florida to a spaceship millions of miles above Earth.

Once aboard the "ship," visitors become part of a narrative involving other passengers, crew members and cast members dressed as Chewbacca or stormtroopers. They are given tours of the ship's "bridge" where navigation and defense systems are explained. At various points during the two days, they may have to put knowledge they've acquired on the cruise to use as part of the storytelling, said Ann Morrow Johnson, a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, during a presentation where video and still photography were prohibited.

"There are characters on the ship, and many you will be meeting for the first time," Johnson said. "It's a dangerous time in the galaxy and you should be wary about who you make allegiances with because your choices matter. The choices will affect how your Star Wars story unfolds."

Hotel room windows won't look out to the Florida sun and palm trees, but rather a screen showing the twinkly lights of stars in the vast darkness of space. The bedrooms have king-sized beds and also bunk beds built into the walls.

The opening date hasn't been set yet.

The details on the hotel were given as Walt Disney World prepared to open its $1 billion, 14-acre Star Wars-theme land at Disney's Hollywood Studios park last month. A near-identical park opened in Disneyland in California earlier this summer.

Visitors staying at the Star Wars hotel will get to visit the new land, "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," as their "port of call" during their two-day stay.

Disney officials gave new details on the most anticipated ride at the Star Wars land. "Rise of the Resistance" won't open at the Florida park until December, but Disney officials described it as one of the most ambitious and complicated rides ever built at a Disney park.

It has "everything that makes 'Star Wars' Star Wars, all in one attraction," said Scott Trowbridge, creative portfolio executive at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Passengers on the ride are part of a rag-tag group of rebels who are pulled into the enemy First Order's ship, where they try to make their way to an escape pod using a ride system. Once they arrive at the escape pod, their ride car gets into a motion-based simulator. There's a stomach-in-throat surprise drop, and then the simulator makes them feel like they're returning to their home planet.

"There's a kick-in-the-pants final moment," Trowbridge said.

Along the way, passengers encounter the Star Wars characters of Rey, Poe and Kylo Ren.

Doors swoosh open to reveal the command bridge of a Star Destroyer. Three dozen stormtroopers are lined up in three rows before a gigantic screen of small stars set against the blackness of space.

Travel on 09/22/2019

Print Headline: Star Wars hotel to be immersive

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Disney World Star Wars hotel to be immersive - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Boris Johnson looks set to lose the high-profile supreme court battle over his decision to prorogue Parliament, legal experts have claimed.

With the verdict expected to be announced early next week, insiders toldThe Observer there is a growing belief the court will rule against the government.

Philippe Sands QC, professor of law at University College London, told the newspaper: The dominant feeling among informed observers is that the government is on the ropes and its going to lose.

While another legal insider, who did not wish to be named, said the UK is heading towards a constitutional eruption of volcanic proportions if the court finds against the government.

The supreme court hearing testimony about the suspension of Parliament last week. (Reuters)

A panel of 11 justices heard appeals over three days arising out of separate legal challenges in England and Scotland, in which leading judges reached different conclusions.

At the close of the unprecedented hearing on Thursday, the courts president Lady Hale said the judges hope to give their decision early next week.

She said: I must repeat that this case is not about when and on what terms the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

The result of this case will not determine that. We are solely concerned with the lawfulness of the Prime Ministers decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament on the dates in question.

As we have heard, it is not a simple question and we will now carefully consider all the arguments that have been presented to us.

Depending on the legal basis upon which the judges reach their conclusions, Parliament may have to reconvene if Mr Johnson who has refused to rule out a second suspension loses the case.

Documents submitted to the court revealed three possible scenarios in the event the court rules the suspension was unlawful, two of which could see the Prime Minister make a fresh decision to prorogue Parliament.

The other outcome could see the court order Parliament to be recalled, but Mr Johnsons lawyers urged the judges to consider the very serious practical consequences involved in this option, as it would require a new Queens Speech and State Opening of Parliament.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has claimed Britain will be a good global citizen after Brexit. (Reuters)

Lawyers for Mr Johnsons opponents said Parliament should meet urgently after the ruling to decide what to do in the event the prorogation is declared null by the court.

Asked shortly after the hearing ended to rule out proroguing Parliament for a second time, Mr Johnson said: I have the greatest respect for the judiciary in this country.

The best thing I can say at the moment whilst their deliberations are continuing is that obviously I agree very much with the Master of the Rolls and the Lord Chief Justice and others who found in our favour the other day.

He added: I will wait to see what transpires.

It comes as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain will be a good global citizen after Brexit.

Mr Raab intends to use a meeting of the United Nations general assembly in New York next week to stress the UKs international influence after it leaves the European Union.

Ahead of his visit to the US, Mr Raab said: As we leave the EU, the UK will walk tall in the world and step up our commitment to being a good global citizen.

Our message to the United Nations is that we will lead by example and work tirelessly to strengthen the rules-based international system to tackle climate change, protect journalists from attack, and uphold freedom of navigation on the high seas.

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Boris Johnson set to lose supreme court battle, legal insiders claim - Yahoo Lifestyle

In all the arts, comparisons are inevitable to previous work by an artist. It can be a painting, a sculpture, a film or documentary, a symphony, an opera, a pop tune, a jazz score, a musical, a ballet, etc., or the composition, staging, interpretation or direction of it or all its myriad elements.

And so, after seeing and hearing the latest staging of Benjamin Brittens opera Billy Budd at San Francisco Opera, which ends today at the War Memorial Opera House, I longed for the companys production during its 2004-05 season. It starred in the title role baritone Nathan Gunn, giving a poignant reading of part, with conductor Donald Runnicles drawing out the lush music for the orchestra, one of largest in the composers canon.

Be that as it may, the new production directed by Michael Grandage, the score interpreted by conductor Lawrence Renes, and baritone John Chest in the title role, lacked, as the curtain came down three hours after it first went up, the engaging heft of Willy Deckers production 15 years ago. I recall audience members here and there sniffling or wiping tears off their cheeks. That didnt happen this time around.

Still, resonating in brief moments only, this mediocre production from the Glyndebourne Festival shares with nearly every opera a few things worth noting.

Based on Herman Melvilles 1891 novella, an unfinished work of fiction that wasnt discovered until long after authors death, Billy Budd is generally regarded as one of the 20th centurys finest operas, with a libretto written by E.M. Forster (A Room with a View and Howards End fame) and Eric Crozier.

The story unfolds aboard the HMS Indomitable during the French Wars of 1797, as the ship enters enemy waters. The lowest-ranking seamen are in perpetual conflict. Billy, a handsome young man press-ganged from The Rights o Man merchant ship, comes aboard and catches the envious eye of the evil master-at-arms, John Claggart, and the fate of Billy, whom Claggart hates and trumps up suspicion that Billy may lead the crew in mutiny, is tragically sealed.

The score is typical Britten in its grand opera ambitions, marked by massed choral scenes, elaborate ensembles, and emotional solo outbursts. The music, by turns lyrical and dissonant, explores the battle between good and evil, of law and order on the high seas. But in many ways the story and the music, drawing out the homoerotic subject matter, more accurately serve as a psychological examination of innocence inexorably overwhelmed by a twisted envy.

What this story shares with Melvilles greatest work, Moby-Dick, is the story of a man obsessed with some idea or fantasy beyond himself, not the great white whale of the novel most of us read in high school but, in the shorter work of fiction, the repressed sexual attraction of an older man for a much younger one.

Tenor William Burden leads the all-male cast in the role of Edward Fairfax Vere, the ships captain. Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn portrays Claggart.

On Christopher Orams massive, gray-and-black hulk of an 18th-century fighting ships innards, stretching from stage wing to the other, Burden kicks off the opera with Veres prologue. As a retired ships captain, he looks back over his life, the good and the less so, finding always some flaw in the good that has come his way. His voice was adequate for the role, sounding reflective and somewhat recessive as a man who eventually must sentence Billy to hang. The haunting motif during the prologue, a sinuous figure that moves between a major and minor chord, serves as something of a repeated theme, moral ambiguity, throughout the opera.

If there was a redeeming element of this production, it is Van Horn, tall and dominating in his all-black naval uniform, a stovepipe hat atop his head, his vibrato chilling, especially when he reveals his attraction for Billy and, later, when he bribes one sailor to incite Billy to mutiny.

Vere at first scoffs at the notion that Billy could lead a mutiny, but agrees to hear the circumstances, which, in a scene in the captains quarters, leads a falsely accused Billy to strike Claggart in the head, killing him.

There are some poignant moments when Chest, his fate inescapable, sings his ballad, Look! Through the port comes the moonshine astray! And alone in another scene, he sings, Ive sighted a sail in the storm, the far-shining sail. Sadly, just before he is hanged, Chest, in deep admiration of the captain, cries out, Starry Vere, God bless you!

At operas end, Burdens Vere, a much older man remembering the court-martial, sings, I could have saved him. He knew it. But he has saved me. I was lost in the infinite sea, but Ive sighted a sail in the storm, the far-shining sail. At that moment, the operas main musical theme of tonal ambiguity returns, symbolizing the sometimes moral uncertainty of life.

The San Francisco Opera production of Billy Budd continues its last performance at 2 p.m. Sunday at the War Memorial Opera, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Tickets range from $26 to $398 (with standing-room tickets $10 on day of show only at the box office). The companys production of Gounods Romeo and Juliet continues to Oct. 1, followed by Mozarts The Marriage of Figaro, Oct. 11 to Nov. 1; Puccinis Manon Lescaut, Nov. 8 to 26; and Humperdincks Hansel & Gretel, Nov. 15 to Dec. 7.

For more information, visit http://www.sfopera.com or telephone (415) 864-3330.

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At the opera: Herman Melvilles obsession with obsessed men - TheReporter.Com

Wednesday, 18 September 2019, 10:24 amPress Release: New Zealand Defence Force

A multi-national, interagency, high seas fisheries patrol insupport of the sustainable management of Pacific tunafisheries has recently concluded with high levels ofcompliance found.

Although bad weather affected thepatrol, nine fishing vessels were inspected with threealleged offences detected during the patrol.

A positivetrend apparent was the increased level of compliance withinthe licensed fleet compared with previous years. Rules areput in place on the high seas by the Western Central PacificFisheries Commission (WCPFC) which are designed to not onlyprotect the tuna stocks from overfishing but to alsominimise fishing impact on the surrounding marine ecosystem.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) provides operationalsupport to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) forfisheries patrols.

Royal New Zealand Navy offshore patrolvessel HMNZS Otago patrolled international waters adjacentto the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of New Zealand,Samoa, Tokelau, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga and Fijiwhile Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraftsupported the patrol with forward air support. The patrolwas also carried out in conjunction with Australia, Franceand the United States.

Maritime Component Commander,Commodore Tony Millar, Acting Commander Joint Forces NewZealand, said the NZDF regularly worked with MPI bydeploying ships and aircraft to assist New ZealandsPacific neighbours with fisheries monitoring andsurveillance activities.

These patrols are important asthey support our Pacific neighbours in the sustainablemanagement of the Pacific tuna fisheries, CommodoreMillar said.

The Commanding Officer of HMNZS Otago,Lieutenant Commander Ben Martin, said the ship supported MPIwith boarding teams, and maritime aviation via the SH2ISeasprite helicopter that was embarked on the ship.

Otago was involved in extensive patrols over a largearea of the South West Pacific, hailing and boarding fishingand transhipment vessels. The boardings found a number ofcompliant and non-compliant vessels, he said.

Thepatrols are carried out to ensure compliance with theWestern Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Treaty whichwas established in 2000 for the conservation and sustainablemanagement of highly migratory species including tuna,billfish and marlin.

During the inspections, catch recordsare checked, holds are inspected and the boarding partymakes sure the vessels fishing equipment meetsregulations.

MPI spokesperson Steve Ham, FisheriesCompliance Manager, said that overall the levels ofcompliance were high but the non-compliance identifiedshowed the importance of boarding inspections at sea.

Allmatters of non-compliance had been referred back to theresponsible flag state for investigation, he said. Inprevious years non-compliance like this had resulted insanctions such as fines, skippers removed from the fisheryand companies having fishing permits revoked.

One memberof the boarding party was HMNZS Otago Able ElectronicTechnician (AET) Timothy Ong, who speaks Mandarin and wasable to communicate with Chinese fishing captains, gainingvaluable information about their fishing activities.

Itwas also during the patrol in the Pacific that the crew of aP-3K2 Orion located a Chinese fishing vessel damaged by fireand arranged for the ships sister ship to rendezvous withthe stricken vessel. The next day the P-3K2 located a memberof the ships crew who had gone overboard, dropping a liferaft to the man who had been in the water for about 50 hoursby that stage. All 18 crew members were rescued.

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High seas fishery patrol completed - Scoop.co.nz

ELK RAPIDS, Mich. Not long after Hefzur Rahman enrolled at his new school in Michigan three years ago, his fifth-grade class studied the subhuman conditions that enslaved Africans endured in overcrowded ships bound for North America.

He knew what it was like to be on a boat in fear for his life, he told his classmates.

At the age of 11, he had joined hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing violent oppression in Myanmar, cramming onto boats piloted by smugglers. The men beat their human cargo, he recalled, and he watched desperate people drink seawater only to die of dehydration. As his boat began to sink, Hefzur tied empty water bottles around his waist and jumped into the ocean. I thought I would pass away, he said.

Today, Hefzur is safe, living with a foster family in small-town Michigan, where most of the boats that ply nearby Elk Lake are filled with families headed for sunny afternoons on the water.

But he stays up at night worrying about his parents, who put him on the boat leaving Myanmar not just to save his life, but also in the hope that he would help get the rest of the family out. They are still counting on him. I feel like I am in jail, he told his foster mother, anxious that he was spending too much time at school. I want to work. I must send money to my family.

About 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in the summer of 2017, and almost all of them, like Hefzurs parents, are living in camps in neighboring Bangladesh. A few thousand have been admitted to the United States part of a dwindling number of refugees granted resettlement under a program that President Trump has been scaling back and is expected to slash again this week.

Intent on curbing immigration, the Trump administration will admit no more than 30,000 refugees this fiscal year, the lowest number since the programs inception in 1980. In the coming days, Mr. Trump is likely to announce another reduction for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, perhaps setting a cap as low as 10,000 refugees or suspending admissions entirely.

For much of the past century, the United States was a world leader in refugee resettlement. The government admitted hundreds of thousands of displaced people after World War II and enacted its first refugee legislation in 1948. It later took in large numbers of refugees from Southeast Asia, the former Soviet Union and Cuba, and in more recent years, accepted those fleeing war and genocide in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Adopting even lower limits on refugees would be the latest move by the president to restrict immigration at a time when the countrys proportion of foreign-born residents has reached its highest level in nearly a century. On the southwestern border, the administration has also imposed strict new limits on asylum seekers, mainly from Central America, who are fleeing violence in their homelands.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have faced systemic repression in the majority-Buddhist country for decades. But in August 2017 the military and allied mobs began burning entire villages. The violence, which the United Nations described as ethnic cleansing, pushed hundreds of thousands of Rohingya out of the country.

In 2015, 4,071 Rohingya refugees were admitted to the United States. About 3,000 arrived the following year. But far fewer have come since President Trump took office, and as of Friday, 593 Rohingya had been admitted this year.

For the dozens of children like Hefzur who have been arriving from Myanmar without family, an initial expectation that their parents would join them has faded, leaving many of them frustrated and distraught.

My dream is to bring my family here, Hefzur said. Im afraid my mom and dad will die before I can touch them again.

Bruce Mossburg, program director for refugee foster care at Bethany Christian Services, which has sponsored many of the Rohingya in Michigan, says the children his agency works with often appear to struggle with survivors guilt.

Its hard for them to heal and move forward if their families are in crisis and they do not know if they will ever see them again, he said. Cutting the numbers is devastating for them.

In Michigan, the Rohingya community is centered in the city of Grand Rapids, where they have formed a soccer club, attend mosque together and share the latest news about developments affecting their families left behind.

Rohim Mohammod, a teenager who was resettled in Grand Rapids in 2017, mastered English within a year of arriving and has received invitations to speak on panels about the refugee experience. In May, he won his sophomore classs Champion of Character which he hung in the bedroom of the neat, two-story Craftsman house where he lives with an American family.

But like Hefzur, he often talks about his mother and two younger brothers who are trapped in Myanmar. Rohim, 17, recently got a job at a hospital cafeteria, and is sending as much money as he can to his family.

He was basically the man of the house, Tori McGarvey, Rohims case manager, said. His younger brothers looked up to him. His mother counted on him.

Deprived of an education as a Rohingya in Myanmar, Rohim has relished school, devoting long hours to improving his math skills. Having never heard of the Holocaust, he devoured Night, Elie Wiesels memoir of his childhood experiences in death camps.

I look forward to graduating from high school, going to college, Rohim said. I always wanted to start a new life. I want to have a good job, a house, find someone who I love one day.

But even more, he said, I would like to bring my brothers over here.

In Myanmar, parents who feared for their childrens safety paid to smuggle them to Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country. Instead they ended up in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, rescued from boats that were adrift in the high seas. After languishing in detention centers or camps for more than a year, the stateless minors were granted refugee status by the United Nations and flown to the United States.

I never heard of United States, said Hefzur, sitting on the edge of the lake at his foster familys vacation home.

His paperwork said he was 12, and he looked that age, said Karen Grettenberger, his foster mother. The family enrolled him in fifth grade, and for the first few months, he was quiet and polite.

Gradually, though, he started to withdraw. When Ms. Grettenberger began taking Hefzur to therapy, thats when we realized that we had an angry kid, she recalled.

His responses were so vehement the interpreter apologized before translating, she said. Later, at home, He sat on the floor and refused to look at me while he played with miniature superheroes. He pulled his legs to his chest and rocked. He directed his anger at us for keeping him captive, which hurt.

Hefzur wanted to quit school and get a full-time job to send money to his family, frustrated that his age which had been roughly calculated when he arrived because most Rohingya do not keep records of birth dates rendered him too young to legally work. You need to change my age, he told his foster mother.

The Grettenbergers asked Bethany Christian Services to arrange a bone-density test, which estimated he was 14 old enough to work.

He took a job stocking shelves at a grocery store for minimum wage, and mowed lawns and moved dirt for neighbors. He sent almost all he earned to Myanmar, and his family used it for food and medicine, he said.

Hefzur stayed in touch with his parents via cellphone. They struggled to envision his new life, and were displeased that their son was living with non-Muslims.

Through an interpreter, the Grettenbergers told them that they had no intention of converting him even though Lou Grettenberger, a United Methodist pastor, had been taking Hefzur to church on Sundays with the rest of his family.

The Grettenbergers also ordered decals of Quran passages one reads Praise be to God for Hefzurs room. They bought him a new prayer book, which he placed on a bookcase beside his prayer rug. On Fridays, they drove him to the mosque for prayers.

While Hefzur was adjusting, conditions for the Rohingya in Myanmar, where his family was still living, were deteriorating. His parents described villages burning in the distance. They had to go, they informed him.

They told him they had collected money from his brother in Malaysia and sold a married sisters gold earrings to pay for safe passage to Bangladesh. Then the phone calls stopped.

For seven days Hefzur had no idea what happened to them.

I remember awakening and hearing him singing his prayers, Ms. Grettenberger said.

She and her husband felt helpless. It was an exceptionally surreal situation where we watched the genocide unfold in the media, she said, and our son was getting updates from his relatives, hiding in their homes and by the river, describing the same burning villages we were watching on TV.

When Hefzur finally learned that his family had made it to Bangladesh, he was overjoyed.

Gradually, Hefzur began settling into school, and feeling less guilty about the time he spent there. When he was in 10th grade, Ms. Grettenberger was approached by his teachers. They ganged up on me and said, Your child needs to be wrestling, she recalled.

Once he became a powerful member of the varsity team, he started getting high-fives in the hallways. While his English was still halting and academics did not excite him, Hefzurs other talents were becoming evident.

When the Grettenbergers bought a trampoline, Hefzur assembled it by studying the picture. He built a playhouse from an elaborate kit without reading instructions, repaired the motorboat and tractor, and created a pulley system to reach the bird feeders above the deck.

Gradually, Ms. Grettenberger said, his anxiety seemed to subside.

It took time for him to see us as allies, she said. Eventually, he put the anger aside and embraced what help we are able to give.

Denied citizenship in their homeland, the Rohingya children, like other legal residents of the United States, can become naturalized Americans after five years. When they become adults, they can apply for their parents to join them through a process known as family reunification, which Mr. Trump has said he wants to cut back.

Hefzur has begun to make plans. This semester, he started a vocational program that would enable him to graduate with a certificate in plumbing. He hopes to take a driving test soon.

Ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha last month, Hefzur sent his family money to buy a cow for slaughter. I will keep helping them, he said, but I also used some of my money to buy a computer. After setting it up, he made a 3-D sketch of the Grettenberger house and insisted they hang it on the wall.

When people asked me how I am when I first came, I could only say, Fine. But I really didnt know what it meant, he said on a Saturday afternoon when he could enjoy his new hobby, sailing, after a week of hard work. Now I really am fine and I want my family to be fine, too.

He hoisted the sail on his foster familys sunfish boat and set out across Elk Lake, its waters, as they nearly always are this time of year, placid.

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Refugee Cutbacks Could Isolate Rohingya Children in the U.S. - The New York Times