Turn Around, Bright Eyes

What’s Going On With The US Navy?: Last Thursday, the US Navy issued a damning report citing errors that caused the USS Fitzgerald, a destroyer, to crash into a Philippine container ship in June off the coast of Japan, leaving seven sailors dead. Simply put, the “bridge team”–sailors responsible for keeping watch on the ship’s bridge to ensure it remains safe–failed to keep a good watch. The commanding officer, executive officer, and senior enlisted officer were relieved from duty aboard the ship, most likely ending their careers.

Then early today, the USS John S. McCain, a guided missile destroyer and an oil tanker three times its size, collided near Singapore, leaving ten US Navy sailors missing and five injured. Summing it up, for the second time in 8 weeks a Navy destroyer based at the 7th Fleet’s home port of Yokosuka, Japan, has been involved in a collision at sea. Responding to reporters’ questions about the collision as he returned to the White House Sunday night, President Trump replied: “That’s too bad.”

Driver of Van in Barcelona Attack Is Identified: The man suspected of killing 13 people and injuring 120 others when he drove his van into crowds of people in Barcelona last Thursday has been identified by Catalan authorities as Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan national. He remains at large and was the only driver of the van. Spanish security services have been working with other agencies around Europe to find him. Police carried out more raids overnight at residences in the town of Ripoll, where eight of the 12 suspects in the attack lived.

Iraqi Forces Continue Driving Out ISIS Militants: Tal Afar, a town west of Mosul and about 93 miles from the Syrian border, is one of the last pockets of ISIS territory since victory was declared in Mosul last month. Tal Afar has been a stronghold for extremists in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. The militants seized major towns and cities in the summer of 2014, including Mosul, but a coalition of US-backed Iraqi forces drove ISIS fighters from most of them. On Sunday, the coalition launched an assault to retake Tal Afar, which sits along a major road that was once a key ISIS supply route. Tens of thousands of civilians remain in and around the area, prevented from fleeing and used as human shields by ISIS in past battles against Iraqi forces. Along with Tal Afar, the militants are still fully in control of the northern town of Hawija as well as Qaim, Rawa, and Ana, in western Iraq near the Syrian border.

It Wasn’t Raining, But Hong Kongers Wielded Their Umbrellas Once Again: On Sunday in Hong Kong, the blazing August heat did nothing to deter 22,000 people from protesting the imprisonment of three pro-democracy leaders for their involvement in the 2014 “Umbrella Movement.” Activist Agnes Chow said it was the city’s largest demonstration since the 2014 movement. Last week, a Hong Kong court sentenced the three organizers of the 2014 protests to jail terms ranging from six to eight months. They were convicted of unlawful assembly after they occupied government property in June 2014, which led to a 79-day sit-in on major roads in the city’s financial district. On Sunday, protesters marched from the district of Wan Chai to the Court of Final Appeal, where the three activists are expected to file appeals for their sentences. Chow said Sunday’s massive turnout sent a powerful message to the Hong Kong government that its decision to jail the trio would not end the pro-democracy movement. “Yesterday showed the government failed,” she stated.

• How a tiny African country became the world’s key military base (Quartz)
• One dead after car runs into bus stops in Marseille (CNN)
• Barcelona attack: Spain terror cell had 120 gas canisters (BBC)
• Vietnam’s president calls for tougher internet controls (Reuters)
• Philippines drug campaign condemned by senior Catholics (BBC)
• Trump Abandons Plan for Council on Infrastructure (Bloomberg)
• There’s a hidden message of resistance in the White House arts committee’s resignation letter (CNN)
• All of the charities backing out of Mar-a-Lago events in response to Trump’s handling of Charlottesville (Quartz)
• Thousands of Counter-Protesters March Against White Nationalism in Bostona Week After Charlottesville (TIME)

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“Once upon a time I was falling in love / Now I’m only falling apart / There’s nothing I can do / A total eclipse of the sun“: Guests aboard the Caribbean-bound “Total Eclipse Cruise” have a fitting surprise (well, maybe no longer a total surprise) in store for their once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event. Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer of the classic 80s song “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, will be on board to perform the hit just as the moon crosses the sun. The ship will be positioned in the path of totalityfor this critical moment. Tyler’s song launched her career, but this is the first time she will be performing it during an actual eclipse. The song’s lyrics are apropos for this special moment in time: “I know there’s no one in the universe as magical and wondrous as you” (the sun and the moon can argue over who gets this honor), and “turn around bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart” (which you might if you don’t have the correct eyewear in place).

The original hit was one of the 1980s best-selling records with six million copies sold and was nominated for multiple Grammys in 1984. It is a karaoke favorite, and unsurprisingly, searches for the song spike in popularity right around eclipses. Spotify tracked a 75 percent increase in streams the day after last year’s March total solar eclipse, and YouTube views for the music video have been steadily increasing in recent weeks, hitting more than 300 million and counting.  “It’s going to be so exciting,” Tyler told TIME. “It doesn’t happen very often, does it?” No, it certainly doesn’t, and for those of you wanting to get your fix of the song as you prep for the big moment, here is a funny movie version and a dance version (at 1:16 you’ll be glad you watched, we promise).

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