Daily Archives: November 27, 2021

Updated 20 hours ago

STORM ARWEN IS bringing strong winds to Ireland today as Met ireann warns of a risk of high seas and toppled trees.

The forecaster has issued Status Yellow wind warnings for Donegal, Mayo, and Sligo, while the UK Met Office has done the same for all of Northern Ireland.

Therell be cold, windy and showery weather for the rest of the day, it said, with sleet and snow on high land.

At noon today, there were rain showers recorded at the weather stations in Belmullet, Finner, Gurteen, Knock and Sherkin Island, with recent rain, clouds, and drizzles recorded elsewhere around the country.

In the UK, the Met Office has upgraded its warning to a red alert for parts of Scotland and the north of England.

Cold, windy & showery for the rest of today, heavy at times, falling as sleet & snow over hills and mountains, particularly in the northNorthwesterly winds will be fresh to strong & gusty & will continue to reach gale force on north facing coasts Highs 6 to 9 degrees pic.twitter.com/kmKaJKYnGE

Starting in the afternoon and continuing in the evening and night, northerly winds are expected to reach average speeds of 45 to 65km per hour with gusts of 90 to 110km per hour.

Along north facing costs and on the Inishowen Peninsula, significantly higher gusts are forecasted.

In Donegal, the Status Yellow warning comes into effect this afternoon at 3pm and lifts tomorrow at 6am.

The warning in Mayo and Sligo is set to ease slightly earlier at 5am.

In Northern Ireland, the UK Met Office has imposed a Yellow wind warning from 9am this morning until midnight and is cautioning that high winds could bring some travel disruption and damage.

Two marine warnings preempt northern or strong gales on coasts from Fair Head to Carlingford Lough to Carnsore Point on the Irish Sea (Status Orange); and for all coasts and on the Irish sea (Status Yellow).

In a statement yesterday, Met ireann meteorologist Elizabeth Coleman said today will be cold and very windy.

Gale to strong gale force winds are forecast along north facing coasts, generating large coastal waves and spray overtopping, Coleman said.

She warned that strong northerly winds over land in the north and northwest could bring down some trees and power lines.

This system will generate high seas too, in the north and west through Friday, with the storm force winds and high seas transferring to the Irish Sea on Friday night.

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In the UK, the Met Office has issued a rare red warning for parts of north-east England and Scotland, cautioning that flying debris leading to injuries or danger to life is likely.

The warning, which is the maximum issued by the Met Office, indicates that the impact is likely to be high.

The red alert warns of the potential for damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down.

The alert warns people in the zone of the potential of roads, bridges, and railway lines closed, with delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights and of large waves and beach material being thrown on to coastal roads, sea fronts and homes.

Earlier, UK Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon told the PA news agency that the worst-affected areas will predominantly be on the coasts, with gusts of over 75mph bringing possible disruption to travel and longer journey times, power cuts, flying debris and large waves, with beach material being thrown around.

Storm Arwen is moving in from the North Sea and will travel south before easing on Sunday, he said.

With reporting by Press Association

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Storm Arwen: Winds pick up speed as weather warnings to come into effect - thejournal.ie

Justin Swart and Jason Hinch deliver an intricate and impassioned performance on 'Sticks and Stones' Live from High Seas, the latest single from The Amblers upcoming live studio album. The track is vibrant and distinctive, possessing the vintage signature sound that will forever be associated with the blues-rock duo.

The guitar sound is a blissed-out Twin Reverb fuzz-fest that hits like a ten-ton hammer dressed in furs, the drums dig deep into the Bonham tight but loose swing of Bonham legacy (complete with bombastic weight), and the vocals soar with ethereal, cavernous delicacy, making for a delicious array of sounds that totally, totally dig on each other.

Sticks and Stones is a song we really enjoy playing live. A rumbling rollercoaster. Slow, gentle open with a balls to the wall centre-piece, leaning into a gentle close. It's quite the romance. Comments guitarist and vocalist Justin Swart.

The grit, the grime, the sweat on the walls, the blood on the instruments and callouses on the fingers and hands. Any rock & roll band thats put valuable time into fleshing their sound and creating personal chemistry from the garage to the streets wears this badge with pride, and The Amblers have clearly walked this hallowed path. This is a band seemingly born in the past with a keen eye on the future.

Justin Swart (guitar/vocals) and Jason Hinch (drums) are a South African pair that give previous power duos a run for their money in the bluesy/fuzzed-out, minimalist rock department. Unlike, say, the White Stripes, however, these fellas mesh a swinging Yardbirds-meets-Raconteurs vibe (complete with large Stooges cojones) with a folk-induced mindset that makes for a more cerebral listen whilst still rocking out completely, stripped of any bloated clutter.

With two EPs under their belt, The Dustling Man (2017) and Ratty Old Mo (2018), and an exciting new release in the pipeline, The Amblers are set to be your next favourite band, one that will burn through the electrical crackle of the airwaves and land squarely in your psyche.

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THE AMBLERS Release Second Track From Their Upcoming LIVE AT HIGH SEAS EP - Underground Press

The German linguist Heinrich Zimmer once described the ocean as limitless and immortal the beginning and end of all things on Earth.

Standing on the shores of any ocean, one can easily sense this. Yet, the more we reveal about the myriad processes within the worlds oceans, the more we begin to question just how limitless and immortal the ocean truly is.

The ocean is one of the Earths greatest climate regulators. It absorbs almost a third of emitted carbon dioxide and more than 90% of excess heat. But the latest scientific report from the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed the ocean may be nearing a tipping point.

Historic levels of ocean acidification, warming and deoxygenation (oxygen loss) are irreversibly affecting marine biodiversity and critical ecosystem functions.

Despite a critical need to incorporate the ocean into climate policies, a connection between climate, ocean and biodiversity regimes has been slow to form.

The Glasgow Climate Pact, decided during COP26 earlier this month, may herald a new age. For the first time, the ocean was formally included in UN climate negotiation processes.

A request was also made for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to hold an annual Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue to strengthen ocean-based action.

This annual meeting will build on the first Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, which was requested by COP25 in Madrid in 2019 and held virtually as part of UNFCCC discussions in 2020. Prior to this meeting, submissions were sought on priorities and perspectives for ocean-related climate mitigation and adaptation.

In our paper, we share in-depth analysis of these submissions and the first Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue, providing a baseline for continued progress. This analysis also informs the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, as well as ongoing negotiations on managing the high seas, or areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction.

In total, there were 47 submissions, from governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Governmental submissions represented 120 of the 197 nations within the UNFCCC, from largely coastal or island nations with a strong history of ocean management and policy. However, several major coastal nations were absent (including the US, China, India, Brazil and the Russian Federation).

The COP26 summit highlighted the lack of inclusion for all groups in the negotiations, particularly limited access for developing countries, observers and NGOs. The very format of the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue allowed for a more inclusive process. It revealed different perspectives between governmental and NGO submissions on several key issues.

For example, NGOs more frequently considered ocean ecosystem impacts (such as changes to species distribution and ocean circulation), the deep sea and vulnerabilities to saltwater intrusion into drinking water reserves. The differences in focus highlighted by the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue underscore the need to ensure all global concerns are heard fully during future COP summits.

All submissions reflected the intrinsic ties between society and the services the ocean provides, from fisheries to carbon sequestration. They also highlighted the many intersections between climate adaptation and mitigation and respective policies.

As seen in the Glasgow Climate Pact, many submissions joined ocean, climate and biodiversity issues. This reflects the growing emphasis on actions and policies that consider the climate crisis holistically, instead of focusing just on atmospheric or terrestrial components.

Most submissions highlighted the need for policies that promote ecosystem resilience and include biodiversity management to support crucial ecosystem functions, such as trapping carbon.

This included nature-based solutions, such as restoring mangrove forests to enhance shoreline protection from storms and promote healthy fisheries, and blue carbon, capable of trapping more carbon per unit area than forests.

A focus was seen in the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue on ensuring adequate funding to achieve climate goals. More than half of all submissions referred to finance, but it was more strongly considered by NGOs than by governments.

Finance was a pivotal issue at COP26, reported as one of the most challenging plans to agree on. This includes issues such as how much finance goes to adaptation over mitigation, and the degree to which rich nations support developing countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, despite being the least responsible.

Human rights issues and the importance of transparent, inclusive, fair governance (good governance) were mentioned frequently in the submissions in relation to ocean management, mitigation and adaptation measures.

The continued evolution towards integrated climate action through the Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue and the Glasgow Climate Pact is a major victory. However, high ambition was elusive at COP26 and it will require more work to prevent severe climate impacts on sensitive marine ecosystems and the people who rely on them.

The Dialogue highlighted several next steps, including featuring the ocean in the UNFCCC global stocktake, addressing gaps in ocean finance and increasing ocean science in (and produced by) developing countries.

The ocean has been buffering the impacts of climate change since the industrial revolution, but we are now reaching the limits of this capacity. Integrated ocean-climate policy is a crucial part of our fight against the code red for humanity. The next year of negotiations will show if we can achieve this.

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Bobbi-Jo Dobush, an independent ocean conservation and policy consultant based in the US.

By Sarah Seabrook, Microbial Ecologist, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Elisabeth Holland, The University of the South Pacific; Lisa Levin, University of California San Diego, and Natalya Gallo, University of Bergen

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The ocean and climate policies need to be linked - Cosmos

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Below Deck available to stream on hayu (aka if you want some of the shows sassiest scenes to remain a surprise, stop reading now).

Ready to set sail on a trip down memory lane?

For those who are already fans of the hit reality series Below Deck, you might watch it for an all-access pass to a diverse cast of crew members (aka yachties) who band together to run a superyacht for a charter season. Or maybe you watch it for a glimpse into the lives of the super wealthy (and often super inebriated) guests who book the cruises. If not, you definitely watch it for the romance, tension, gossip, and high drama that go hand in hand with the high seas.

If you havent yet discovered the show in all of its binge-worthy glory, weve got your back. All seasons of Below Deck and its equally engrossing spinoffs, Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, are available to stream on hayu. We did the math, and that adds up to approximately 17 seasons (or 261 episodes) of reality TV ready to be streamed anytime, anywhere. And did we mention the newest season is now available to stream as well?

Need extra encouragement to watch or rewatch the series and its spinoffs? Well then batten the hatches, people! Here are some of the most shocking moments from the Below Deck universe.

Below Deck, Season 3, Episode 10 (hayu)

Put this one down for most creative ways to quit your job. After Captain Lee fires the yachts chef for accidentally starting a fire in the galley while cooking a pizza, Rocky jumps ship literally. While it seemed like wed seen the last of the free-spirited deckhand, she ultimately returned to the ship (with a little coaxing from Eddie).

Below Deck, Season Season 6, Episode 10 (hayu)

This is a moment that had fans collectively holding their breath and reminded everyone of the real dangers the crew members face on a daily basis. While working at the back of the boat, Ashton is yanked overboard when his leg becomes tangled in a rope used to tow the tender. Thinking fast, one of the cameramen leaps into action, rescuing Ashton by loosening the rope and allowing him to swim to safety.

Below Deck, Season 8, Episode 10 (hayu)

Despite his gruff exterior, Captain Lee is often a model of patience: attending dinners with drunk guests and wearing ridiculous costumes at the request of the stews. But he has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to unsafe behaviour, which is why he angrily cancels a trip mid-charter after one of the guests ignores his rules and jumps off the boat for a late-night swim. Really, Dolores?

Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 5, Episode 12 (hayu)

The departure of one of the longest-running stars of the show was a major moment in the series. Whether youre Team Malia or Team Hannah, its hard to pull away from the scene where Captain Sandy fires Hannah for allegedly possessing unregistered drugs on the yacht.

Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 4, Episode 1 (hayu)

When you book a luxury charter yacht, you probably expect to be served lobster tails, caviar, and filet mignon. What you dont expect? Pub-style nachos smothered in prepackaged cheese and topped with canned corn and jarred salsa. Apparently, the guests agreed, and Chef Mila departed the boat before the next charter.

Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, Season 2, Episode 11 (hayu)

Its hard to use the phrase smooth sailing after watching Below Deck: Sailing Yacht. The spinoff, which sees a crew manning a 177-foot sailboat, encounters one of its most dramatic moments when Parsifal III malfunctions while docking and crashes into a concrete pier. Nothing a coat of paint cant fix, right?

Below Deck, Season 6, Episode 9 (hayu)

When it rains it pours, especially in Tahiti. After saying goodbye to Chandler, the crew is surprised to learn that Caroline will be departing, too. The third stew initially gives two days notice, but when she refuses to work, she is unceremoniously and loudly kicked off the boat by Kate and Josiah.

Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 2, Episode 9 (hayu)

Among the first rules of yachting: dont hook up with the charter guests. But when Bugsy discovers that Chief Stew Hannah has been exchanging flirty messages with a billionaire guest, it brings her commitment to her job into question. Hannahs rebuttal: they got a good tip out of it all, didnt they?

Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 5, Episode 18 (hayu)

Theres no use crying over spilt milk, but what about frozen fish? Chef Tom and Captain Sandy exchange heated words after Tom is repeatedly frustrated by substandard food provisions. But Tom soon learns in Sandys words hes chosen the wrong person to piss off.

Below Deck Mediterranean, Season 6, Episode 5 (hayu)

Just when you think youve seen everything Below Deck has to throw at you, there comes a moment so shocking that it lives in your head rent-free. In Season 6 of Below Deck Mediterranean, that moment came when Lexi unleashes a torrent of insults during a late-night hot tub session, even manhandling a fellow crew member and rubbing her chest in his face. Its a scene that has to be watched to be believed.

You can catch all these jaw-dropping moments fromBelow Deck and its spinoffs on hayu. For just $5.99/month, hayu offers thousands of hours of top reality content, all in one place including other iconic series like Keeping Up With the Kardashians and The Real Housewives, meaning youll never run out of new episodes to watch. It also makes for the ultimate digital stocking stuffer this season (or, a perfect gift for yourself).

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Relive the 10 most shocking moments in Below Deck history | Curated - Daily Hive

The coming Monday, November 29, will see the much-awaited trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. The British socialite was arrested in July 2020 from New Hampshire after being accused of pimping girls and young women to Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York.

Media mogul Robert Maxwell was the father of Ghislaine. He died in 1991 in Spain and its been said that he was the one who introduced his youngest child to Epstein -- the disgraced financier, who was facing sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Also, just weeks after Roberts death, Ghislaine was seen with Epstein at a memorial event for her father.

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During an interview with the Broken: Seeking Justice podcast, Journalist Emily Saul while referring to an unearthed photograph said: Shot at the Plaza Hotel during a memorial event for Robert Maxwell, the picture shows Ghislaine and Epstein in conversation. Wearing a blue silk jacket, Ghislaine smiles coyly at Epstein, who is seated to her right, wearing a white bowtie and an enormous grin. It doesnt look like a first date.

Ghislaine is not only known as the daughter of Robert. She is also the founder of reportedly now-defunct -- the TerraMar Project, which was started in 2012. As per reports, the nonprofit was founded to create a global ocean community to give a voice to the least protected, most ignored part of our planet - the high seas.

But in 2019, after Epstein's arrest and associations between the two began to unravel, the organization also seemingly got wiped off by the waves of criticisms. Its website also appears to be taken down, but the official Instagram page is still there with more than 3000 followers. The bio of the account reads, The TerraMar Project transforms the way people think about the ocean and value the seas. Explore our free news, education, and ocean actions today! The last post shared on the social media platform was on July 11, 2019.

Before the apparent shut down of the TerraMar Project, Ghislaine had talked about it in an interview with CNN International in 2013. She said, All citizens of the world are citizens of TerraMar, or citizens of the high seas, if you will, part of the global commons. You will get a digital passport with your name and your ID number, and we will - you will be able to follow the progress of the high seas, anything that happens significant on the high seas, now, you'll be able to find out what's going on.

She added at the time: We have a million and a half marine species, and you can select one to be the ambassador to TerraMar and be the spokesperson for that species. You can sponsor a piece of the ocean. Also, a 2013 brief in the Manila Bulletin quoted Ghislaine saying, Once the general public can understand ... that it is not just a big blue place where you go play on the beach, then it is possible to create a movement around it that will then empower politicians to take the incredibly difficult decisions that they need to make, but that are absolutely essential for the future of our planet.

See more here:

Ghislaine Maxwell trial: What happened to the British socialite's TerraMar Project? - MEAWW

Giraffes on a Micato Safari

For the tenth time, Micato Safaris has been ranked #1 on Travel + Leisures list of the Worlds Best African Safari Tour Companies.

An African safari is an adventure like no other, says Dennis Pinto, Micatos Managing Director. Safaris offer game drives, hot-air balloon rides over the savanna, meals in the bush, and other countless bespoke experiences, ones that are now more appealing than ever before as travelers are seeking out small group, socially-distanced adventures in wide-open spaces.

Dennis Pinto and his son, Tristan

Dennis Pinto represents the second generation of Pintos at the helm of the family-owned business founded by his parents, Felix and Jane, more than 55 years ago. He expanded the geographic reach of the business from Kenya to India and Southern Africa and co-founded AmericaShare, Micatos non-profit philanthropic arm.

Forbes.com caught up with Dennis Pinto to find out how the luxury safari operator has been faring after the travel industry hiatus:

Dennis Pinto: We have weathered many other crises, including SARS, Ebola, election disruptions, financial meltdownseven Somali pirates on the high seas! The downcycles in Africa come more frequently than those in the US so our business model calls for healthy financial reserves for the inevitable downturn.

Id like to think that each crisis has made us more adept at handling the next one. Shortly before the pandemic was officially declared we had our first virtual company meeting. I reinforced the Micato mindset from previous incidentsthat every crisis has a beginning, middle, and endand that our focus had to be on ensuring we were well prepared for the inevitable pent-up demand at the end of the pandemic. Because of our sometimes hard-earned knowledge and experience, we have fared very well and are positioned to have our best year ever in 2022.

DP: Not only do we see travelers coming back, but they are coming back with a vengeance: longer, more expensive trips with friends and family members.

DP: Absolutely! I was on safari in June with my wife, Joy, and our two children, Tristan and Sasha, and we had incredible wildlife encounterssome of our best everand truly felt like we had the bush to ourselves.

All of the destinations in Africa where we operate (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, *South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe) are open and welcoming visitors, so choosing a destination just comes down to considering the time of year and the prior safari experience a traveler has had.

Giraffes on safari with Micato

DP: Ideally, I would say about two weeks, but in 2022 the average length of our safaris is 17 days. We do, of course, customize shorter or longer ones to best meet the needs of our travelers.

Pre-COVID, the average size of our Classic Safaris (scheduled small-group departures) was around 12 people. These days, the size varies, and since we never cancel a departure, some guests have had completely private safaris all to themselves even though they did not pay for a private trip.

DP: In a word, I would say stressless. Once there, a traveler should be left wanting for nothing; except perhaps wishing for the trip not to end.

Every step of a Micato luxury safari is meticulously thought out in advance by our destination offices so guests have seamless 24/7 access to the best in-country resources. From the moment a guest lands and we meet them at the aircraft door to the time they ride back to the airport for their flight home, they can be assured that they will be taken care of by our team. They neednt worry if theyve forgotten to bring a certain medication or if they need a camera battery in the middle of the bush.

Micato safaris are truly all-inclusive, too, from our no-tipping policy to complimentary daily valet laundry service, Wi-Fi, and alcoholic beverages. Heck, you could even take one of our trips and leave your wallet at home! It is a wonderful freedom to not be constantly digging into your pocket for change especially in this era of COVID.

DP: I tend to recommend East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) for first-time travelers since East Africa provides the experience of your imagination. When you think of the large herds of animals on the vast African plainsthat is East Africa. Southern Africa is also quite spectacular, so we evaluate the needs of the traveler before determining which area is better for the guest.

Rhinos on a Micato safari

DP: I can say, without any exaggeration, that we have hosted travelers aged 2 to 102. It entirely depends on the health and fitness level of the individual. At 102, Mrs. Carlotta Niles was our oldest guest to date, and we arranged a special meeting for her with a local Maasai Elder who himself was 98 years old.

One of our safari specialists just brought her 8-month-old baby with her on safari. The African cultures are very respectful of the elderly, so older travelers or those with mobility challenges are warmly welcomed and graciously accommodated.

What changes has the pandemic brought to the ways in which Micato operates?

DP: Micato is connected with top-ight security and advisory networks in the U.S. and Africa and has a dedicated full-time ground team, which allows us to make the health and safety of our guests our number one priority.

Once the pandemic was declared and air flight resumed in late summer 2020, we already had a go-plan in place. We were able to quickly, but safely, transition our teams and methodically began developing extensive COVID safety protocols. By the summer of 2020, we were able to resume operating safaris with the highest safety standards in place, without missing a beat.

Our goal was to ensure that our guests could both bookand ultimately travelwithout worry.

Consequently, we quickly adapted our cancellation policies to make them more flexible.

DP: From the beginning, my parents came from a farming background and while they took us on many safaris, they certainly didnt have any experience running them for visitors. But their modus operandi was always to treat their guests the same way they would like to be treated when traveling overseas

It was a simple concept which meant they personally met all guests at the aircraft gate upon arrival; they invited every traveler to our home for cocktails and dinner; they only employed highly skilled African guides instead of ex-pat former white hunters, as was the norm at the time; and they were very focused on details. In short, they wanted to offer more than just a safari, rather a rich cultural and wildlife experience.

We are exceptionally proud that Micato has been committed to education and hands-on involvement in local communities for over three decades. Our non-profit arm, Micato-AmericaShare has been a passionate advocate for East African children and their families through our educational programs, which include.

One other measure of our success: We are proud that each year, over 30% of our guests have traveled with us before; another 35% are referrals from past guests, with the remaining 35% new to Micato. I think that says a lot about the quality of the Micato experience.

A wildebeest herd

Note: This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

11/26 Update: The New York Times reported today that the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant (Omicron) with a high number of mutations has led some countries to halt or restrict travel to and from South Africa.

More here:

Back To Africa? What To Expect On A Luxury Safari - Forbes