Peter oconnor

The effort to rescue Ever Given is complicated by the thousands of tonnes of cargo it is carrying © CNES/AFP/Getty Fears of significant disruption to global trade have risen after rescuers warned that the Suez Canal could remain blocked for “weeks” by the grounding of a giant container ship. Specialist dredgers arrived on Thursday to attempt to dig out and refloat the 220,000-tonne Ever Given after it became wedged across the canal during a sandstorm on Tuesday. Despite efforts to move the ship, as at 5pm London time satellite tracking showed the vessel was still stuck across the canal. Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the Ever Given, said an attempt to refloat the vessel in the morning had been unsuccessful, with another planned later. Dutch shipping services provider Boskalis, which own Smit Salvage, a group involved in the rescue effort, likened the operation to trying to free a beached whale. “The more secure the ship is, the longer an operation will take,” Peter Berdowski, chief executive of Boskalis, told the Netherlands’ Nieuwsuur television programme on Wednesday. “It can take days to weeks. Bringing in all the equipment we need, that’s not around the corner.” The 400m long Ever Given, operated by Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine, is one of the world’s largest container ships and is weighed down by thousands of tonnes of cargo, with its position suggesting its bow and stern are wedged on the shallower banks of the canal edge at the southern end. While salvage experts hope higher tides may help release the vessel if the dredgers can remove enough sand and soil, fears are growing that refloating the Ever Given may prove more complex. Salvage companies may need to remove fuel from the ship’s tanks to help lighten the vessel and consider offloading some of its containers — an arduous task given the relatively remote location, sheer height of the ship and lack of infrastructure on the ground. Ranjith Raja, an analyst …

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The visitors joined Southampton in the semi-finals after the south-coast side earlier beat local rivals Bournemouth 3-0 away. Manchester United visit Leicester City on Sunday with Chelsea hosting Sheffield United. * France bathed in pride and joy on Saturday after beating Wales 32-30 to stay on course for a first Six Nations title in 11 years at the end of an exhilarating test that coach Fabien Galthie compared to a boxing match. France's win also denied Wales a second Grand Slam in three years with Les Bleus now hoping to beat Scotland by at least 21 points with a bonus point to secure the title in Paris on Friday in their rescheduled game. * Goalkeeper Bono was Sevilla's unlikely hero as they snatched a 1-1 draw at struggling Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday thanks to his strike deep in stoppage time. Sevilla stay fourth and move to 55 points, 10 ahead of fifth-placed Real Sociedad who host Barcelona, in third on 59 points, on Sunday. * Newcastle United remain outside the Premier League's bottom three but the abject nature of Saturday's 3-0 defeat by fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion did not bode well for their hopes of avoiding the drop. The visitors failed to register a shot on target and are now six games without a league win, leaving them in 17th place, two points above third-from-bottom Fulham. * Robert Lewandowski's hat-trick helped 10-man Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich stay in the driving seat to retain the title with a 4-0 drubbing of Vfb Stuttgart, while Borussia Dortmund lost ground in the top-four race with a draw at Cologne on Saturday. The result left Bayern on 61 points from 26 games, four ahead of closest rivals RB Leipzig. * Prolific striker Erling Haaland continued his rich vein of form as he netted twice including a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw for Borussia Dortmund at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The result left fifth-placed Dortmund losing ground in the hunt for a top-four finish as they have 43 …

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‘Binh Ngo Dai Chien’ recalls the Tot Dong- Chuc Dong battle of in 1426 when the Lam Son troops, under the command of national hero Le Loi, defeated the Ming invaders from the north. After the battle, Dại Viet gained independence, and Le Loi became king in 1428. After its cinema debut, the film was broadcast on Duoc Moi's YouTube channel and has attracted approximately 3.5 million views thus far. The making of the 60 minute-film resulted from the joint efforts of all team members during 15 hardworking months and 13 script changes. ‘Binh Ngo Dai Chien ’ is likely to be the biggest animated historical film (fundraised) so far as it has received VND1.3 billion, donated by 1,600 people, exceeding the production team’s initial target of VND1 billion. Although the funding is just about enough to cover members' accommodation, the participating film makers were willing to join the team without being paid ,simply following their passion for film-making and their aspiration to introduce Vietnamese history to young audiences. Their enthusiasm received great support from prestigious artists including Khanh Hoang, Duc Thinh, and Meritorious Artist Thanh Loc. The first film of the series was 'Tu Chien Thanh Da Bang' (Battle at Da Bang). It was released in 2018 and has drawn much interest from the audience. After the project was completed, the participants returned to their normal jobs as illustrators, scriptwriters and consultants for historical and cultural projects. The success of the ‘Viet Su Kieu Hung ’ project proved that community efforts can help independent artists further promote their creativity to create valuable products which can benefit the community. However, the practice of crowdfunding in Vietnam hides certain risks such as if the project team cannot raise enough money for the project, they must give up or carry on in a way so as “robbing Peter to pay Paul”, which can result in a less effective project. Although young independent artists …

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