Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalBiden Bans Russian-linked Ships from US Ports
President Joe Biden announced on Thursday the United States will ban Russian-affiliated ships from American ports, joining Canada and European nations, in the latest step to pressure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The White House will release a proclamation with more details. Reuters first reported Biden's planed action on Thursday and reported in early March the ban was under consideration by the White House.
"That means no ship, no ship that sails under the Russian flag or that is owned or operated by a Russian entity will be allowed to dock in a United States port or access our shores. None," Biden said Thursday.
The sources said that in 2021 Russian vessels made about 1,800 visits, a small percentage of overall traffic. The issue prompted an extensive Biden administration review to ensure the ban on Russian ships would not seriously impact U.S. supply chains.
https://www.marinelink.com/news/biden-bans-russianlinked-ships-us-ports-495972
Beirut Port Blast Suspect to Face Extradition Hearing in Madrid
A Portuguese man is set to face an extradition hearing in Madrid over allegations he was involved in the devastating 2020 port explosion in Beirut, authorities said on Thursday.
The man, named in court as Jorge Manuel Mirra Neto Moreira, flew to Chile from the Spanish capital this week but was put on a plane back to Madrid after Chilean authorities detained him at the request of global police agency Interpol.
He appeared before a Madrid high court judge on Wednesday and was released on bail while he awaits an extradition hearing.
Lebanon's justice minister Henry Khoury did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Lebanon would seek the man's extradition. Extradition processes in Spain can take several months.
https://www.marinelink.com/news/beirut-port-blast-suspect-face-495976
Tennis great Pam Shriver: 'I was in an inappropriate relationship with my 50-year-old coach at 17
American tennis great Pam Shriver breaks her silence on sport's unspoken scandal, why she believes it is still rife and how by telling her story she hopes to promote future safeguards.
When the pandemic cut back my work schedule last year, I realised I couldn't put it off any longer. I finally found the courage to visit a therapist and address my experiences as a young tennis player. Now, another year on, I have decided to share my story publicly.
The short version of this story is that I had an inappropriate and damaging relationship with my much older coach, which began when I was 17 and lasted a little over five years. I've set out the details of my painful and emotional journey below. It hasn't been easy to rake over what happened, but I believe this is an important issue, and one that needs to be brought out into the open.
My main motivation is to let people know this still goes on - a lot. I believe abusive coaching relationships are alarmingly common in sport as a whole. My particular expertise, though, is in tennis, where I have witnessed dozens of instances in my four-and-a-bit decades as a player and commentator. Every time I hear about a player who is dating their coach, or I see a male physio working on a female body in the gym, it sets my alarm bells ringing.
It's not only women who suffer from abusive coaching relationships, but they make up the majority. Sometimes it's young girls and much older men. Sometimes the ages are similar, and you could argue that two consenting adults are entitled to do what they want. But mixing your personal and professional lives creates all sorts of extra tensions, especially in the pressurised world of sport.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/tennis-great-pam-shriver-i-was-in-an-inappropriate-relationship-with-my-50-year-old-coach-at-17/DY3BL7Q7L2NRXO2C56B5PH5PRE/
EU plan for universal mobile charger port takes step closer
The European Union's bid to adopt a common charging port for mobile phones, tablets and headphones took a step forward today when an EU panel backed the proposal, paving the way for an assembly vote next month.
The European Commission suggested a single mobile charging port more than a decade ago, hoping phone makers would be able to find a common solution.
It proposed draft legislation last year, a world first, after they failed to do so.
The European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Wednesday agreed with the Commission's proposal.
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0420/1293341-eu-plan-for-universal-mobile-charger-takes-step-closer/
Venice readies day-trip booking system to ease crowds
Venice plans to trial a reservation system for day-trippers, officials have said, in a bid to ease over-tourism as visitors flock back to the Italian city following the pandemic.
The pay-to-visit scheme will not cap tourist numbers but aims to entice some people to visit during the low season by charging them less.
"We will start with an experimental phase during which the reservation will not be mandatory, but optional" and will cost nothing, Venice's deputy tourism councillor Simone Venturini said.
Visitors just popping in for the day will be encouraged to sign up through incentives "such as discounts on museum admissions", he said. The start date will be announced in the coming weeks.
https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2022/0420/1293336-venice-italy-booking-crowds/
Britain's Queen Elizabeth gets own Barbie doll for Platinum Jubilee
Britain's Queen Elizabeth is being honoured with a Barbie doll in her likeness to mark her Platinum Jubilee this year.
Toy maker Mattel said today it was commemorating the monarch's 70 years on the throne with a Tribute Collection Barbie doll.
Dressed in an ivory gown with a blue sash adorned with miniature medallions and ribbons, the figure also has a tiara based on the one Elizabeth wore on her wedding day.
Elizabeth, who turns 96 today, ascended the throne on the death of her father King George VI on 6 February 1952. She is the longest-ruling monarch in British history.
https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2022/0421/1293444-queen-elizabeth-barbie/
Stalking and non-fatal strangulation to become standalone offences
Stalking and non-fatal strangulation will become standalone offences under new plans, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has announced.
Courts will also be able to issue restraining orders without a criminal prosecution.
These new laws are the result of a campaign by Eve McDowell and Una Ring along with Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers.
Both stalking and non-fatal strangulation are already crimes, but these changes aim to make the law in this area clearer and stronger.
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/0421/1293491-stalking-offence/
APN podcast: No, Russia is not "moving equipment to the Finnish border"
As Finnish security policy debates step up, disinformation campaigns are also evident.
YLE NEWS
21.4. 07:29
Is Russia moving military equipment to the Finnish border? Headlines last week suggested that might be happening, but the reality is quite different. A video filmed in Russia and posted on social media was the source, but it did not show very much at all.
Charly Salonius-Pasternak, a researcher at the Finnish institute for International Affairs, told the APN podcast that most of the troops ordinarily stationed near Finland have been fighting in Ukraine.
"And based on various reports, one might say they've been decimated, or at least severely degraded," said Salonius-Pasternak.
"Some are even completely destroyed. So from a Finnish defence perspective, that's of course not a bad thing. And that's one of the reasons why basically every Finnish military analyst, or people who do research on these things, is saying that Russia does not have anywhere near the ability to conduct an operation against Finland like we're seeing in Ukraine."
https://yle.fi/news/3-12411892
Connecting with Ukrainian creativity one portrait at a time
Filmmaker Marc Wilkins is one of the few Swiss expatriates still living in Ukraine. He is raising funds with his film portraits of Ukrainians.
This content was published on April 21, 2022 - 09:00 April 21, 2022 - 09:00
Wilkins and his Ukrainian wife fled to Berlin on the first day of the Russian invasion. Once there, however, they found the inactivity and uncertainty hard to bear and decided to return to Ukraine. After five weeks in Lviv, the couple is now back in their house in the countryside south of Kyiv. They felt too homesick when they were away.
“We were in a state of shock,” Wilkins says of their first few days back in Ukraine. At first he was ready to do anything and everything to help his wife’s motherland and his adopted home in the war effort. “I wanted to join the army, evacuate people from Kharkiv with my car and do a lot of social media – but mostly I felt lost and didn’t know what to do.”
Opportunity beckons
A few days later he was contacted by his Swiss production company and they wanted to do something. And so #u4Ukraine was born – a project which aims not just to appeal for donations, but also to create a personal link between donors and civil society in Ukraine.
Through short films, Wilkins introduces individuals “who have been unable to go about their normal business since the beginning of the war but who are now doing incredible things”. The idea is to help people to help themselves – through direct donations and not through second-hand clothes or cans of food.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/connecting-with-ukrainian-creativity-one-portrait-at-a-time/47529568?utm_campaign=teaser-in-channel&utm_medium=display&utm_source=swissinfoch&utm_content=o
Switzerland joins NATO-led cyberdefence exercise in Estonia
Switzerland is among 33 countries currently participating in an annual international cyber defence exercise designed to simulate a large-scale cyberattack on critical infrastructure.
This content was published on April 21, 2022 - 10:55 April 21, 2022 - 10:55
Twenty-four members of Switzerland’s Cyber Battalion 42 are representing the country in the two-day Locked Shields exercise in Tallinn that started on Wednesday. Around 2,000 cyber experts from 33 countries will be tested against 8,000 attacks on 5,500 virtual targets.
“According to the scenario, a fictional island country located in the northern Atlantic Ocean, Berylia, is experiencing a deteriorating security situation as there have been a number of coordinated cyberattacks against Berylian military and civilian IT systems,” states the Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence in Tallinn that is hosting the event in cooperation with NATO.
The attacks are designed to cause disruptions to government and military networks, communications, water purification systems and the electric power grid. For the first time, the exercise will also include testing of a central bank’s emergency response systems and incorporate a 5G communication platform as part of the critical infrastructure under attack.
Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, has been accepted as a contributing participant this year. Other contributing participants apart from Switzerland are Austria, Finland and South Korea.
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-joins-nato-led-cyberdefence-exercise-in-estonia/47532694
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