Daily Archives: May 4, 2020

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This mission is the largest landing operation in history.

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

There was deafening noise around us, says Sullivan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Javier Tebas saying:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strong winds and thunderstorms lashed Doha and other parts of the country yesterday, as the Qatar Met department said thundershowers and windy conditions are expected in some places today as well.Offshore areas, too, are likely to see thundery rain in the early hours today along with strong winds and high seas.The Met department also said in a report that the unsettled weather, with chances of thunderstorms, is expected to continue until Sunday.A state of atmospheric instability resulting from the extension of a low-pressure system over the region continues affecting the country, the Met department said in the report issued yesterday evening.Some areas witnessed thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, accompanied by strong downdraft winds that reached a speed of 39 knots in Al Wakrah, which also recorded the highest rainfall at 9.1mm.The chances of scattered thunderstorms are expected to continue in intermittent periods until Sunday. The thundery conditions will be accompanied by strong winds, resulting in rising dust and poor visibility in some areas and hail at times, according to the report.The Met department has urged people to take extra care, avoid going to sea and follow latest updates through its official accounts as this period is known for fast weather fluctuations.The authorities concerned issued safety advisories yesterday as thunderstorms, rain, strong winds as well as hail and dust were reported from many places, especially in the southern parts of the country.Videos and images shared on social media showed the intensity of the conditions.A tweet by the Met department said scattered thunderstorms were concentrated mainly to the south of Doha, accompanied by strong downdraft winds in the Hamad International Airport area.Another tweet said dusty conditions were seen in Abu Nakhla due to strong downdraft winds from thunderstorms.The department also tweeted about thunderstorms continuing in Al Wakrah and central and southern areas, accompanied by strong winds and hail at times.Todays detailed forecast says the wind speed may go up to 25 knots offshore and 24 knots inshore during thundershowers, with the sea level rising to 7ft. In Doha, the temperature is expected to range from 27C to 34C today.

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Unsettled weather expected to continue until Sunday: Met - Gulf Times