(April 24, 2026)
“That was not in a serious context. We have never planned to collect such a tax,” Purbaya told reporters in Jakarta on Friday, putting an end to days of uncertainty.
Behind his response lies a deeper legal framework that governs the world’s oceans.
Purbaya pointed to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, a cornerstone of international maritime law that enshrines the principle of freedom of navigation.
(April 16, 2026)
As with the 50 previous attacks on boats in the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, the military did not publicize any evidence that the boat was carrying drugs or that its passengers were “narco-terrorists.”
(April 11, 2026)
The latest strike brings the death toll to 175 since the operations began in early September. The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for one survivor from an attack Saturday.
U.S. Southern Command posted aerial video on social media Tuesday showing a vessel bobbing in the water before being struck by a projectile and exploding. The military earlier said it struck two boats on Saturday and a third on Monday.
(Updated 3 hours ago)
The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday.
Fourteen people were killed and one survived, as a result of another attack by the U.S. War Department against three vessels sailing in the waters of the Eastern Pacific.
The information was confirmed by the Secretary of the US Department of War, Pete Hegseth, who detailed in his X account that “three lethal kinetic attacks were carried out against four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (…) A total of 14 narcoterrorists died during the three attacks.”
The first tsunami waves, at 30cm high, arrived at the northern coast of Japan‘s Hokkaido prefecture before 10.40 local time (02.40 BST), Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Waves at 40cm high have been observed in Tokachi, in Hokkaido.
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani emphasized that the operational decisions of the Iranian Navy are guided by the precise vision of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
He announced the establishment of strategic commands in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, with plans for a permanent deployment in these crucial regions in the near future.
Sogavare‘s no-show at the two-day summit, which will run through Tuesday, represents a significant blow to the Biden administration‘s efforts to rebuild influence in the Pacific region.
“The United States is committed to ensuring an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, prosperous and secure. We’re committed to working with all the nations around this table to achieve that goal,” Biden said Monday at the Pacific Islands Forum Summit at the White House.
(December 21, 2022)
As hinted at above, Mauna Loa began erupting on Nov 27 and stopped on Dec 13.
It was the first time it has actively erupted since 1984 (solar minimum of cycle 20) — and is a sign of the times…
Volcanic eruptions are one of the key climatic forcings driving Earth into its next bout of global cooling. They have been shown to increase in both number and explosivity during times of prolonged solar decline, which is thought to be due to an influx of cosmic rays (CRs) penetrating/exciting silica-rich magma. During solar mins the Sun’s magnetic field weakens and the outward pressure of the solar wind decreases, which allows more CRs to enter the inner solar system, including our planet’s atmosphere.
(December 19, 2022)
The COLD TIMES are returning, North America, in line with historically low solar activity.
One root of the problem…
In 2020, COVID-19 become a global pandemic, and lockdowns ensued: factories, restaurants, and shops all closed,bringing global supplychain almost to a halt. In this context, container carriers had no visibility on future demand and did the only reasonable thing: cut capacity.
There is no economic sense in moving half-empty ships across the globe; it is costly, especially for a sector operated on tiny margins for a very long time.The consequence was widespread vessel cancellations, which soared in the first months of 2020 (figure 3).Progressively, more trade lines and ports were involved as containment measures were enacted globally.
(…)
At present 10% of global container capacity is waiting to be unloaded on ship atthe anchor outside some por
The laying of undersea internet cables has become entwined with geopolitics.
(July 26, 2019)
Clatterbuck, the Seacom CEO, was skeptical about how much use tapping an undersea cable would be, pointing to the huge amounts of data passing through it every second, creating a huge hayfield in which to look for needles.
„If you wanted to spy on people would you put a giant microphone over the US and spy on everyone?“
Das Gebiet des Pazifiks von Nariño liegt im Südosten Kolumbiens, hat etwas über 467.000 Einwohner:innen (Juni 2020) und umfasst die Gemeinden Barbacoas, El Charco, Francisco Pizarro, La Tola, Magüí Payán, Mosquera, Olaya Herrera, Ricaurte, Roberto Payán, Tumaco und Santa Bárbara. Die Bevölkerung setzt sich fast ausschließlich aus afrokolumbianischen und indigenen Gemeinschaften zusammen.
Thus far, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil have supported the project, cast as „extraordinarily significant for regional integration.“ The officials expect that Paraguay and Bolivia will also participate.
French Polynesia, a French colonial territory in the Pacific, made up of hundreds of islands and atolls, including Tahiti, was the site of dozens of nuclear tests conducted by France over a period of 30 years.
We may never know the full impact of these explosions because in many cases, as the Royal Commission report on British Nuclear Tests in Australia found in 1985: “the resources allocated for Aboriginal welfare and safety were ludicrous, amounting to nothing more than a token gesture”. But we can listen to the survivors.
Astronomen beobachten das Licht, das von entfernten Himmelsobjekten zu uns kommt, um das Universum zu erkunden. Licht verrät jedoch nichts über hochenergetische Ereignisse außerhalb unserer Galaxie, wie etwa über die Jets aktiver galaktischer Kerne, Gammastrahlenausbrüche oder Supernovae. Denn auf ihrem langen Weg durch das Universum verlieren Photonen mit extrem hohen Energien einen Teil ihrer Energie durch Interaktion mit anderen Teilchen.
The Pacific Vanguard exercise near the U.S. island of Guam takes place ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan this weekend, as Washington looks to allies in Asia to help counter China’s military might in the region.
Japan ist seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg bekannt für seinen Pazifismus. Pazifistisch eingestellt ist ein Großteil der Bevölkerung und kriegsablehnende Elemente weist die japanische Verfassung seit Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges auf. So lautet die weitverbreitete Annahme – Betonung auf Annahme. Tatsächlich nehmen militärische Handlungen und Reden seit geraumer Zeit zu. Dass sich die militärische Rhetorik verschärft, ist nicht neu, neu hingegen ist, dass Premierminister Shinzo Abe das Jahr 2020 zu einem magischen Jahr für die Militarisierung Japans gemacht hat.
Im Oktober ist nun Ursula von der Leyen als erste deutsche Verteidigungsministerin nach Australien gereist, wo sie insbesondere mit ihrem Amtskollegen Christopher Pyne zusammentraf. Wie das Verteidigungsministerium bestätigt, kooperiert die Bundeswehr eng mit Australiens Streitkräften – nicht nur in Einsätzen wie etwa in Afghanistan und im Irak, sondern auch mit gemeinsamen Trainingsmaßnahmen. Darüber hinaus gebe es „regelmäßige Gespräche auf Ebene der Verteidigungsressorts“.
The surveys were conducted in areas with cobalt-bearing crusts in West Pacific. It found out about the conditions of the crusts in more than 30 areas, Yang said.
Mit diesen Aktivitäten bewegen sich die deutschen Militärs zunehmend in ein Territorium hinein, in dem die Spannungen nach dem angekündigten Ausstieg der USA aus dem INF-Vertrag und einer möglichen Aufrüstung der US-Streitkräfte mit Mittelstreckenraketen ganz erheblich zunähmen.
Ein wichtiges Rekrutierungsgebiet sind die Pazifiknationen allerdings für deutsche Reedereien. In Kiribati gründeten deutsche Reeder bereits im Jahr 1967 eine Berufsschule für Seemänner. Sechs deutsche Reedereien bezahlen bis heute den Schulleiter sowie weitere Ausbilder und bieten den Seeleuten nach ihrer Ausbildung Jobs im Niedriglohnsektor an.[2] Mehr als 5.000 Kiribatier, rund fünf Prozent der Bevölkerung, arbeiten derzeit als Seeleute für deutsche Reedereien.[3] Auch in der tuvaluischen Hauptstadt Funafuti unterhalten Schifffahrtsgesellschaften aus der Bundesrepublik ein Rekrutierungsbüro.[4] Darüber hinaus versucht das offizielle Berlin, mit Entwicklungshilfe Einfluss auf die Pazifikregion zu nehmen:
German soldiers will soon participate in maneuvers in the Pacific and will be on hand as observers on patrols in the South China Sea, according to announcements by the US Navy and the French Minister of Defense, Florence Parly. At a top-level conference in Singapore last weekend, Parly declared that Paris will dispatch warships to the South China Sea in the next few days and will also navigate through the territorial waters of Islands China claims as its territory. According to Parly, German military observers will embark on these ships. At the same time, German soldiers are preparing their participation in the US led RIMPAC 2018 maneuver, taking place mainly near Hawaii. RIMPAC is the world‘s largest international maritime exercise. During RIMPAC 2016 German soldiers trained in „liberating“ an island, which, according to the scenario, was held by the „Draco“ militia. „Draco“ is the Latin term for „dragon“ – a symbol for China.
Deutsche Militärs werden in Kürze an Manövern im Pazifik teilnehmen und sich als Beobachter für Patrouillenfahrten im Südchinesischen Meer zur Verfügung stellen. Dies geht aus Ankündigungen der U.S. Navy und der französischen Verteidigungsministerin Florence Parly hervor. Wie Parly am Wochenende auf einer hochrangig besetzten Konferenz in Singapur erklärte, wird Paris in Kürze Kriegsschiffe ins Südchinesische Meer entsenden; sie werden dort auch Hoheitsgewässer von Inseln durchqueren, die China als sein Hoheitsgebiet betrachtet. Der Ministerin zufolge haben sich deutsche Militärbeobachter auf den Schiffen einquartiert. Zugleich bereiten sich deutsche Soldaten auf die Teilnahme an dem US-geführten Manöver RIMPAC 2018 vor. Bei dem Manöver, das vor allem vor Hawaii stattfinden wird, handelt es sich um die größte Seekriegsübung der Welt.