US Navy – Plans to allow women and gays, ban smoking shake world of Navy submarines

Washington PostPlans to allow women and gays, ban smoking shake world of Navy submarines

Imagine 150 fraternity brothers packed into a container the size of a three-bedroom house. Announce you are breaking hallowed traditions by taking away their cigarettes and admitting women. Then lock the doors and push the container deep into the sea, for months at a time. That’s what the Navy, after decades of contemplation and controversy, has decided to do with its Submarine Force, an elite fraternity of 13,000 active-duty sailors that has been patrolling the oceans for 110 years.

Geopolitics / China – The Geography of Chinese Power

New York TimesThe Geography of Chinese Power

Robert D. Kaplan writes that China’s blessed geography is so obvious a point that it tends to get overlooked in discussions of the country’s economic dynamism and national assertiveness. Yet it is essential: It means that China will stand at the hub of geopolitics even if the country’s path toward global power is not necessarily linear.

Royal Navy – (Ashkirk?) – Royal Navy called in to repatriate Britons stranded by volcanic ash

The TimesRoyal Navy called in to repatriate Britons stranded by volcanic ash

Two Royal Navy warships have been deployed to the English Channel to rescue stranded Britons. HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean are ready to start a Dunkirk-style relief mission. A third Royal Navy vessel, HMS Albion, is already on its way to Santander in Spain to pick up troops and “may be able to be of help.”

New York Times‘Little Ships’ Rerun Finds Its Own Dunkirk