A spacecraft left behind by US astronauts on the lunar surface could be causing small tremors known as moonquakes, according to a new study.

Researchers revealed the previously unknown form of seismic activity on the moon for the first time through an analysis of Apollo-era data using modern algorithms.

Massive temperature swings that occur on the moon can cause human-made structures to expand and contract in a way that produces these vibrations, the report suggests. The lunar surface is an extreme environment, oscillating between minus 208 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 133 degrees Celsius) in the dark and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius) in direct sun, according to a news release about the study.

In fact, the entire surface of the moon expands and contracts in the cold and heat, noted the study published September 5 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Yet scientists were able to use a form of artificial intelligence to gain such an intimate understanding of the Apollo-era data that they could pinpoint gentle tremors that emitted from an Apollo 17 lunar lander module sitting a few hundred yards away from instruments recording the moonquakes, according to a synopsis of the study by researchers from institutions including the California Institute of Technology and NASA. (NASA provided funding for the study.)

The analysis offers new insights into how the moon responds to its surroundings and what can affect its seismic activities. The rumbles were not dangerous and likely would be imperceptible to humans standing on the moon’s surface.

Understanding moonquakes could be essential to future exploration, experts said, should NASA and its partners build a permanent outpost on the moon’s surface — a goal of Artemis, the agency’s lunar exploration program.

“How strong do we need to build our structures, and what other hazards do we need to mitigate for?” Dr. Angela Marusiak, an assistant research professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said of the questions that this type of data analysis can help answer. Marusiak was not directly involved in the study, though she did have contact with the authors as a fellow expert in lunar seismology.

Mining for moonquakes

Marusiak noted that every Apollo mission carried instruments for detecting moonquakes. But the Apollo 17 mission, launched in 1972, was noteworthy because it left behind an array of seismometers capable of detecting thermal moonquakes — or the tremors induced by the drastic heating and cooling of the lunar surface.

“Thousands of these signals were recorded during an 8-month span from 1976 to 1977 on four seismometers deployed during the Apollo 17 Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment, but the poor quality of data makes analysis difficult,” the researchers wrote. “We developed algorithms to accurately determine the arrival timing of the waves, measure the strength of the seismic signal, and find the direction of the moonquake source.”

Scientists revisited the data for the first time in decades. The fresh analysis allowed the research team to conclude that a certain type of moonquake — called an impulsive thermal moonquake — did not come from natural sources but rather from the nearby spacecraft heating and cooling.

“Every lunar morning when the sun hits the lander, it starts popping off,” said study coauthor Allen Husker, a research professor of geophysics at Caltech, in a statement. “Every five to six minutes (there was) another one, over a period of five to seven Earth hours. They were incredibly regular and repeating.”

These tremors differed from another type of moonquake, called emergent thermal moonquakes, that are likely caused by the ground’s natural reaction to sunlight exposure, according to the study.

Other seismic activity

The researchers said they are hopeful that future lunar missions will offer an even more holistic picture of the phenomena.

Apart from thermal quakes, the moon has also been known to have deep and shallow tremors as well as activity believed to be caused by meteorite strikes.

It’s important to note a key difference between the moon and Earth: On the lunar surface, there are no shifting tectonic plates that might cause catastrophic events. But the moon has an active interior life, and — like Earth — certain types of seismic events can occur at any time or location on the lunar surface, Marusiak said.

Marusiak was keen about India’s lunar lander mission, Chandrayaan-3, which included a seismometer. Already, the Indian Space Research Organization has confirmed that the instrument was able to detect a moonquake. (ISRO researchers have not yet released extensive data on the recording or proposed a suggested cause of the event.)

The Chandrayaan-3 instrument, which recorded activity near the lunar south pole for the first time, was put to sleep in early September. Researchers will attempt to awaken the spacecraft for further data collection on September 22, when the Chandrayaan landing site reenters sunlight.

“I’m hoping that with the Artemis program, seismometers will continue to be included because they are really vital for understanding what goes on, not just at the very surface, but even deeper down into the regolith (soil),” Marusiak said.

But scientists are enthusiastic that poring through Apollo-era data with modern technology can yield fascinating new results.

“It’s important to know as much as we can from the existing data so we can design experiments and missions to answer the right questions,” Husker said. “The Moon is the only planetary body other than the Earth to have had more than one seismometer on it at a time. It gives us the only opportunity to thoroughly study another body.”

A rare meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at a space launch center in the Russian Far East earlier this week has triggered alarm from countries from South Korea and Japan to Ukraine, the United States and its partners in Europe.

But China, the biggest economic lifeline for both Moscow and Pyongyang whose border lies less than 200 miles (321 kilometers) from where the two leaders met, may have a different view.

Rather than look to oppose or limit cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Beijing may see more benefits than risks for itself in this emerging axis, analysts say – particularly in regard to its great power rivalry with the US.

And while it’s unclear exactly how much insight Chinese officials have into negotiations between North Korea and Russia, analysts say the meeting itself may not have gone forward with some level of consideration of China’s ties to the two.

“(Given) the importance of the support that China provides to both, China is of course looming in the background,” said Alexander Korolev, a senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“China is too important for both North Korea and Russia, so for them it would be foolish to do something behind China’s back that it wouldn’t like,” he said. “The China factor is there.”

‘Between the two countries’

Neither North Korea or Russia has released details of any agreements reached during the more than five hours Putin and Kim spent together during a tour of the Vostochny Cosmodrome, closed-door talks, and a lavish state dinner – where both leaders toasted to their countries’ growing friendship.

But observers say it’s clear what each is looking for from the other.

Moscow is desperate for fresh supplies of ammunition and shells to feed what’s become a war of attrition in Ukraine – and Pyongyang is believed to be sitting on a stockpile. Pyongyang, after years of sanctions over its nuclear weapon and missiles program, is in need of everything from energy to food to military technology – all of which Russia has.

To be sure, North Korea potentially pumping munitions into Russia could raise awkward optics for China, which accounts for the vast majority of North Korea’s trade and remains Russia’s most powerful diplomatic partner after its Ukraine invasion.

The international community has long looked to Beijing to exert pressure over its government to follow the rules.

And in recent months Beijing has been at pains to frame itself as a proponent of peace in the conflict in Ukraine – part of a bid to win back lost goodwill in Europe, which has recoiled over Beijing’s decision to continue to strengthen its ties with Russia despite its war.

Beijing has already signaled what its official response to any military cooperation between the two would be, with its Foreign Ministry this week repeatedly telling reporters that Wednesday’s meeting was “between the two countries” – implying it’s not China’s business.

But while China itself has appeared careful to avoid any large-scale military support of Russia, analysts say it may see potential support from North Korea as a boost to its own geopolitical calculus, where Russia remains a crucial partner amid rising tensions with the West.

“(If) North Korea is really prepared to provide ammunition to Russia, it would be good for the Chinese expectation that Russia doesn’t experience a major military defeat in the battlefield in Ukraine,” said Li Mingjiang, an associate professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

“In that respect, it’s good for China’s geopolitical interests … in terms of China and Russia on the one hand and Western countries on the other,” he said.

Balance of power

China, which supported communist North Korea in the Korean War some 70 years ago, has maintained a complicated relationship with its rogue neighbor.

Like Russia, it has backed past United Nations sanctions against North Korea’s weapons programs – though it’s also been accused of practicing an arbitrary implementation of these controls and in recent years has blocked efforts to strengthen sanctions and led efforts to ease them.

Now, as China feels constrained by what it sees as an increasingly hostile US and its allies, it may welcome a stronger coordination with both Russia and North Korea as counterweights, analysts say.

In that vein, a shift in the relationship between Russia and North Korea which sees Moscow lending support to Pyongyang could also take pressure off China – and strengthen its position in the region.

“China would support a more capable North Korea in many respects – economically, militarily – and a North Korea that continues to serve as a troublemaker for the US,” said Li.

One reason? “When you have a more assertive North Korea it will lead to some sort of incentive for the US and South Korea to seek China’s cooperation in terms of dealing with North Korea,” he said.

Meanwhile, mutual support between the two sanctions-hit neighbors could mitigate international pressure on China over its strong ties to both.

“Since China is not the sole supporter of either, it reduces China’s isolation for its support of both,” Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington, who said that while their tightening of ties is not without drawbacks for Beijing, its leaders would still likely see this as a “net gain.”

Even a transfer of military technology from Russia to North Korea, which may be concerning to China given its interests in regional stability, may have a silver lining, according to Sun.

China has a stake in avoiding seeing tensions between North Korea and US-allied South Korea escalate into conflict, which could spark to an influx of refugees across its own borders — as well as American military response.

“Such a (military technology) transfer will be destabilizing for the region, but China will turn the table and blame the US and its allies for pushing both Russia and North Korea in a corner. This reinforces China’s opposition to the ‘Asian NATO’ it sees US as orchestrating,” she said.

But despite the potential gains, experts also say China is not immune to the risks that can come from a stronger Russia or a stronger North Korea.

“Beijing has a large stake in global trade,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“(It) can ill afford collateral damage from destabilizing pariah state behavior, such as the invasion of Ukraine and habitually threatening the use of nuclear weapons,” he said.

Ukraine has identified the ships hit in its attack against a Russian naval base in occupied Crimea, claiming the vessels are beyond repair.

The attack early Wednesday morning in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, marks Ukraine’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began and comes as Kyiv steps up missile and drone strikes on the peninsula.

On Wednesday, Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said the landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don had been destroyed in the attack. Both had been undergoing repairs at the time.

Speaking to Ukrainian media, Yusov called the destruction of the landing ship an “irreparable loss” to the Russian sea fleet, because, as he claimed, Russians do not produce such ships any longer. He added that the Defense Intelligence doesn’t want to get into the details of what weapon was used to hit the shipyard, but that the demilitarization of occupied Ukrainian territories is underway.

In recent weeks Ukraine has focused its efforts on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort due to its location on the Black Sea.

A day after the Sevastopol attack, Ukraine carried out another operation, attacking two ships in the early hours of Thursday morning. The ships were of the Project 22160 type in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, said a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff.

The Defense Intelligence arm released video of the incident, showing what appears to be a Russian patrol ship coming under attack from naval drones. The night vision footage appears to have been recorded from one of the drones as it moves towards the patrol ship, which appears to open fire as the attack vessels close in.

The General Staff said later Thursday that the strikes had caused “some damage.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry also acknowledged that one of its ships, “Sergei Kotov,” had come under attack overnight. “In the course of repelling the attack, five enemy unmanned boats were destroyed by [the ship’s] fire,” a ministry statement said, though it did not make reference to any attack on a second patrol ship.

Also on Thursday, Ukrainian forces in the Crimean city Yevpatoria destroyed a Russian air defense complex in an overnight attack using cruise missiles and drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the operation “a triumph” in his nightly address, adding: “It is a very significant achievement, well done!”

The shift in focus to Crimea also came after Russia allowed the Black Sea Grain Initiative to lapse in July. The agreement, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, allowed the export of Ukrainian grain – until the deal expired, with Moscow declining to renew the pact.

Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has since resumed its blockade of Ukraine’s ports, preventing vital grain exports and threatening global food security.

There are also other restrictions at play within Europe; in May, the European Commission banned imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia until June 5, a measure aimed to ease logistical bottlenecks and protect local farmers from being undercut in price by cheaper Ukrainian grain.

In June, the European Union decided to gradually reduce precautions for the import of Ukrainian products until September 15 – this Friday. On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he expects the European Commission to “keep its word” and lift all restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports by Friday, saying it would not be “acceptable” to continue the ban.

The NBA Board of Governors approved a new “Player Participation Policy” (PPP) on Wednesday in order to combat the rise of ‘load management’ and ensure that basketball’s biggest names are on the court throughout the season.

The new rules, which have replaced the Player Resting Policy (PRP) introduced in 2017, are “intended to promote player participation in the NBA’s full 82-game regular season” and prevent teams from resting more than one “star” player on any given night, often referred to as load management.

The PPP defines a star player as any individual who has been named to the All-NBA or All-Star teams in any of the previous three seasons. This means that the Boston Celtics, for example, are required to make at least one of their elite duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown available for every game across the regular season, providing neither are injured.

Forty-nine players are defined as stars by these new provisions across 26 different teams. However, only the 15 teams with multiple star players will be affected by this rule in particular.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the new regulations at a press conference on Wednesday.

“This is ultimately about the fans, and that we’ve taken this [load management] too far,” Silver said. “This is an acknowledgment that it has gotten away from us a bit.

“That doesn’t mean we’re turning the clock back, that players are expected to play through injuries or that players never need rest. But there’s a statement of a principle in this league that, if you’re a healthy player, you’re going to play.”

The PPP, which is solely focused on star players, does not stop here, however. It also dictates that uninjured, eligible players are required to suit up for nationally televised games, as well as the entirety of the new in-season tournament which will begin in early November.

It also prevents the “shutdown” of star players towards the end of the season. Across previous years, teams have kept their best players out of action for the final stretch of the regular season and have been accused of tanking – or deliberately not trying their best to win games – in an attempt to maximize the chances of getting a higher pick in the NBA Draft.

Examples from last season include the Washington Wizards shutting down Bradley Beal, who was suffering with “knee soreness” according to the team, for their final 10 games, while the Portland Trail Blazers filed Damian Lillard’s 11-game absence under “right calf soreness.” Under the new regulations, both teams would have been investigated and potentially fined by the league.

Teams must also “maintain a balance between the number of one-game absences for a star player in road games and the number of one-game absences for a star player in home games, with a preference under the Policy for such absences to occur in home games.”

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors all played in a home loss against the Indiana Pacers last season, before all being rested for a trip to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz two days later. Again, this would constitute grounds for an investigation by the NBA under the 2023/24 guidelines.

The final element of the PPP is retained from the PRP – healthy players that are sitting out games due to rest are expected to be present at games and visible to fans.

Silver emphasized the need for participation across the whole year and stated that the regulations are a “changed approach to reinforcing the notion that we’re an 82-game league.”

Teams will be fined $100,000 if they are found to have violated any of these rules. A second violation would bring about a $250,000 fine and a third would be $1.25 million.
Any further violations would result in a team being fined $1 million more than its prior punishment.

Aside from injuries and personal reasons, exceptions to the regulations will be based on a player’s age, career minutes logged and injury history and must be submitted to the NBA a week in advance. LeBron James falls into all three of these categories (which are: 35 years old on opening night, 1,000 regular season games played and 34,000 minutes logged) and is therefore eligible for rest on occasion.

Opening night of the NBA’s 78th regular season will tip off on Tuesday, October 24.

Players competing in the top-tier of women’s football in Spain – Liga F – have called their strike off after reaching a minimum pay agreement, players’ union FUTPRO announced on Thursday.

The dispute between the five unions representing the players – including many of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad – and Liga F primarily came about because of a disagreement in the minimum salary for players and the wage gap which exists.

The players initially asked for a minimum salary of €23,000 (about $24,600) to be introduced for the upcoming season, rising to €25,000 (about $26,750) for next season.

The unions originally called for two weeks of strike action encompassing the first two matchdays of the new Liga F soccer season, but have now agreed to return following one week of strikes.

“The agreements consist of a minimum salary of €21,000 (about $22,544) for the 2023/24 season, €22,500 (about $24,153) for 2024/25 and €23,500 (about $25,223 for 2025/26,” FUTPRO said in a statement.

“These amounts could reach €23,000 (about $24,689) for the 2023/24 season, €25,000 (about $26,834) for 2024/25 and €28,000 (about $30,054) for 2025/26, based on the profits obtained for commercial activities and other commercial sources of income proposed by the unions, like matches played for a national team by first division players.”

‘They do not want equal payment’

“If we need to understand and compare this minimum salary, we need to also compare the incomes and when it comes to men’s football in La Liga, it’s [two billion] euros per year, only in TV rights, against six million euros that we have in Liga F.

He added: “It’s absolutely impossible to sustain this equal payment if the incomes are not equal. This is a thing that players understand, absolutely.

“They do not want equal payment. What they want is equal opportunities of growth. And I think this is no issue with the players in Spain. Trust me.”

His comments mirror those made by Keka Vega, the women’s football coordinator of the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) union, who said, per Reuters: “First of all, it was the women players who said that they were not looking for equal pay.

“The difference, as you have rightly said, is huge […] what we have to work on as trade unions and the women soccer players, what they are demanding, is to reduce this pay gap.”

When asked how long he thinks it will take until pay parity is reached, Malabia said it was difficult to predict while the difference in league revenues remains so large.

“I believe women’s football is on the right track. I believe the value of women’s football is so high,” he added.

“We believe all of the scenarios of stability, of the World Cup, of being the world champions and of the big talent of our players and clubs, hopefully within the next year, we will experience a big growth.”

According to FUTPRO, the minimum pay agreement is the first step in a more comprehensive collective bargaining agreement and work was needed to “advance on very important points like maternity, harassment protocols, compensation lists and others which we consider equally as important for the correct development of the activity of our footballers.”

The deal comes against the backdrop of Spain’s Women’s World Cup success and the fallout of the unwanted kiss from Luis Rubiales, the former president of the country’s soccer federation, to La Roja star Jennifer Hermoso.

Ex-Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Rubiales is set to testify in Spain’s National Court on Friday after being summoned by the presiding judge to aid in the court’s investigation into potential charges of sexual assault and coercion against him.

Rubiales resigned from his position on Sunday following weeks of pressure from all spheres of Spanish society.

The 2023/24 Liga F season gets underway on Friday with Valencia hosting Real Madrid.

Hurricane Lee unleashed strong winds on Bermuda ahead of a track that will bring heavy rain, wind and coastal flooding to coastal New England and Atlantic Canada on Friday and through the weekend.

After days of uncertainty, there’s little time left for Lee’s track to change considerably, and confidence has grown now that the massive storm has completed its long-awaited northward turn and begun to pick up its pace.

Lee is expected to track far enough away from the East Coast to avoid delivering a substantial blow to a more widespread and inland area of New England, but will still affect the coast ahead of a weekend landfall somewhere between northeast Maine and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

Parts of the East Coast were already feeling the storm’s effects, including “dangerous surf and rip current conditions,” according to the National Hurricane Center.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon and requested federal assistance in preparation for Lee’s arrival.

Lee was about 210 miles west of Bermuda as of Thursday afternoon and was churning with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph – a Category 1 hurricane – according to the hurricane center. An island-wide tropical storm warning is in effect for Bermuda as Lee tracks west of the island.

Power outages mounted across Bermuda on Thursday afternoon as Lee’s winds battered the island, according to the island’s utility provider. Winds gusted up to 51 mph at Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport.

Hurricane and tropical storm watches have been issued for many of New England’s coastal residents in anticipation of the colossal storm’s impact on Friday and through the weekend.

A tropical storm warning issued along New England’s coast was extended northward to the US and Canada border, the hurricane center said in a 5 p.m. advisory. And a tropical storm warning in effect for the coast of Massachusetts was extended westward to Westport, according to the advisory.

Though the storm is expected to weaken as it approaches land, it will still have a massive radius of damaging winds that could pound coastal New England and Canada’s Atlantic provinces. As of Thursday evening, hurricane-force winds extended up to 105 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds stretched for up to 345 miles, according to the hurricane center.

Hurricane-strength winds are possible from the northern coast of Maine into portions of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Saturday. Tropical storm-force wind gusts are possible across a much larger area of New England and Atlantic Canada.

These strong winds will contribute to storm surge flooding up to 3 feet that could inundate parts of the southeast Massachusetts coast late Friday and Saturday.

Heavy rainfall could pose a flood threat to some already rain-drenched areas of the Northeast, where saturated ground may be particularly susceptible to flash flooding. Lee’s heaviest rain will fall over portions of Maine Saturday, but states like New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are not completely in the clear.

Lee could deliver 1 to 2 inches of rain from Rhode Island to northern Maine, while 2 to 4 inches of rain can fall across the Massachusetts Cape and much of Maine. Repeated downpours may bring up to 6 inches of rain to southeastern Maine.

The softened soil combined with stiff wind gusts will also increase the likelihood of downed trees, which in turn could knock out essential power lines and cause outages. Areas at and near the coast, which will feel the strongest of Lee’s winds, will be the most at risk of wind damage and power outages.

A luxury cruise ship that ran aground off Greenland’s eastern coastline earlier this week has been successfully freed, Denmark’s military Joint Arctic Command said on Thursday.

The Ocean Explorer – carrying 206 passengers and crew – ran aground in Alpefjord on Monday. The JAC said the cruise ship had been pulled free by a fishing research vessel on Thursday morning.

The vessel had failed in several earlier attempts to refloat, raising concerns it would be stuck for days awaiting the arrival of a larger Danish naval ship which was en route to assist.

Earlier, three passengers on board were placed in isolation after contracting Covid-19, tour agency Aurora Expeditions, the ship’s operator, announced Thursday. All others aboard were said to be healthy and safe. It said neither the ship, its passengers, nor the surrounding water had been in danger due to the incident.

SunStone, the ship’s Florida-based owner, said Ocean Explorer had been successfully assisted off its grounding by Tarajoq, a Greenland research vessel that been involved in several earlier attempts to refloat the cruise ship.

“There have not been any injuries to any person on board, no pollution of the environment and no breach of the hull,” SunStone said in a press release.

The company said it had “arranged additional tug assistance in case it was needed,” but that it has now stood down on this.

“We would like to thank our charterer Aurora Expeditions as well as all their passengers for an excellent cooperation in this unexpected and difficult circumstance,” SunStone added.

“The vessel and its passengers will now be positioned to a port where the vessel’s bottom damages can be assessed, and the passengers will be taken to a port from which they can be flown back home.”

The company did not specify what that port would be.

‘No panic’

While the ship was awaiting help, one passenger, named only as Lis, had joked that the main fear on board was running out of alcohol.

“I had swimming lessons before I came and I’m a good swimmer. So look out: I could be swimming back to Iceland.”

There was no panic amongst passengers, Varga said.

She said staff had been doing a good job at trying to keep passengers entertained. “Today they’re offering a towel-folding workshop to learn some towel origami,” she said.

The Ocean Explorer had made several unsuccessful attempts to free itself on tidal currents in the past few days, according to a statement from Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command (JAC).

A larger Danish naval vessel, the Knud Rasmussen, was dispatched to assist, according to the JAC, but faced a journey of 1,200 nautical miles (around 2,222 kilometers) to reach the cruise ship. It wasn’t due to arrive until late Friday.

“As soon as we realized that the Ocean Explorer could not get free on its own, we sent a ship towards the wreck,” Arctic Commander Brian Jensen said.

Danish military personnel boarded the cruise ship on Tuesday and said all 206 people aboard were “doing well,” according to the Danish Armed Forces on Wednesday.

The ship was “purpose-built for expedition travel to the world’s most remote destinations,” according to the official website for Aurora Expeditions.

One day in 2021, Megan Clawson was walking home from a night out when she was inspired to record a video on her phone.

“Yo, can you imagine that Henry VIII used to come home steaming to this, and I come home steaming to this?” she said to the camera, eyes wide, laughing.

Then, Clawson turned around her cell phone to show what “this” was: the imposing stone turrets of the Tower of London, bathed in an eerie darkness.

Later, she posted the video on her TikTok: “Walking on the cobbles sober is hard enough; when you’re drunk it’s an Olympic sport,” Clawson wrote.

The Tower of London is located on the banks of London’s River Thames. Once a royal palace for infamous Tudor King Henry VIII, the fortress has also acted as a prison and played host to 900 years of British history, from the grisly and dramatic to the romantic.

Today, it’s a tourist attraction and most people only cross the waterless moat and walk through the gated archway during the daytime – tickets in hand, on their way to see the Crown Jewels or the Tower’s famous ravens.

But around 150 Londoners call the Tower home. And midway through 2020, Clawson became one of them.

Moving into a London landmark

Clawson’s father was a Yeoman Warder or “Beefeater” – one of the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. He moved into the Tower several years ago and when Clawson started studying at Kings College London, she’d pay him regular visits – often rocking up, laundry in hand, and staying for a cup of tea.

Then, in the wake of the Covid pandemic, Clawson decided to move in with her father permanently.

When she first hauled a suitcase over the cobbles, ready to make the Tower home, Clawson wasn’t sure how to feel. Her college experience had been upended by the pandemic. Everything felt scary and miserable. She didn’t know what the future held. And while Clawson was grateful for his love and support, living with her dad at the age of 20 had never been the plan.

Instead, London was quiet. All the pubs, clubs, restaurants and museums were closed. The Tower of London, usually humming with tourists, was shuttered to everyone but its inhabitants.

Clawson’s early days in the Tower were defined by complicated emotions.

“It was both amazing and exciting. But it was still underpinned by this idea of, ‘Oh, it’s because I needed more help in a global crisis,’ more than just ‘Oh, this is my new fairytale adventure.’”

But, slowly and surely Clawson got used to life in the Tower, and London gradually woke up from its Covid hibernation.

Life in the Tower

Clawson made her bedroom in the Tower her own, putting up photographs and posters.

The cottage Clawson lived in with her father – and their dog Ethel – dated back to the 13th century. There were certain quirks – think arrow-slit windows and four flights of steep stairs – and certain rules and regulations when it came to decorating, but “it was how you would decorate any rental, really,” says Clawson.

Early on, Clawson realized the blinds to her bedroom didn’t work, so she took them down: “It was all fine because that window, there was nobody walking past there during the pandemic because the walkway was closed,” explains Clawson.

“It wasn’t until they reopened the wall without telling me that I realized I need a very, very quick solution to my non-curtain problem.”

Clawson woke up one morning to a bunch of tourists peering into her bedroom. Some were snapping photos as though she was part of the visitor attraction.

Panicking, Clawson glanced around her bedroom, looking for something she could use as a makeshift curtain. The only viable option was an old One Direction beach towel, depicting the smiling faces of Harry Styles and co.

“That was where the One Direction towel came in and lasted for far too long,” says Clawson, laughing. “It was meant to be a temporary solution that went on for a while and became a little bit of a joke after that.”

Clawson eventually took the towel down when she realized it made her bedroom more, rather than less, noticeable.

“I just used to hear people going, ‘Oh my god, is that a One Direction poster in the Tower of London?’”

Clawson’s home had a balcony with a picturesque view – the perfect place to while away an afternoon, only sometimes hampered by kids on school trips, who’d notice Clawson and start shouting to get her attention.

As well as nosy tourists, there were a few other logistical elements to living in the Tower of London.

Clawson realized she had to time her evening returns to the Tower before or after the Ceremony of the Keys – a 700-year-old tradition that plays out every night at 9:30 p.m. forming part of the ceremonial “locking up” of the Tower for the night – otherwise she’d be locked out for 30 minutes.

I just used to hear people going, ‘Oh my God, is that a One Direction poster in the Tower of London?’

Megan Clawson, former resident of the Tower of London

Clawson also figured out the best routes around the Tower to avoid “getting stuck behind loads of tourists.”

And she realized that typing in “Tower of London” into food delivery apps would result in her takeaway pizza never showing up. Sure, she was living in one of London’s most famous landmarks, but delivery drivers never seemed to be able to find it – or they just didn’t believe anyone lived there. Clawson started getting deliveries to the Starbucks across the road instead.

Clawson also started regularly hosting friends in the Tower. Guests were permitted to stay over, and Clawson could host parties – she’d usually opt for the Tower’s onsite residents’ pub, called The Keys, as the venue.

The Keys has two areas – one is more formal, and requires black tie attire. The other side’s “like any other village pub,” as Clawson puts it. Think cozy surroundings and plenty of beer, but only open to Tower residents and their friends and family.

“It was just really chilled out,” says Clawson.

Unsurprisingly, Clawson’s college classmates loved visiting. “Except, obviously, I’d have to tell them, ‘Hey, if you don’t leave by midnight, then you’re locked in here until the morning.’”

The community atmosphere of the Tower quickly became one of Clawson’s favorite parts of living there. She’d grown up in a small town in Lincolnshire, northeast of London, and appreciated how the Tower of London felt like “a village” in the middle of the busy capital city.

The Tower spans 12 acres of the city, a maze of cobbled streets and imposing stone buildings, with London skyscrapers in the distance, poking out behind the Tower’s medieval buildings.

Tower residents would come together for drinks and catch-ups in the evenings, and to enjoy events like the annual dress up Halloween party.

Clawson always felt comfortable wandering the Tower – and tried not to let rumors of potential ghostly inhabitants play on her mind.

“Some days you can be walking around and you feel completely fine, and at ease. And then there are other times where you feel like, when you walk around, somebody’s watching you,” she says.

“I do believe in the supernatural and the paranormal and things like that. And I think if there was ever going to be a place where there was a ghost, it would definitely be the Tower.”

Sharing stories

In 2021, Clawson finished her English literature degree. With more time to spare, Clawson started sharing more dispatches from the Tower of London via her TikTok and Instagram.

“As more and more people got interested, the more videos I did, the different kinds of videos I did,” she says.

From summing up the Tower’s ghost stories in bitesize videos to house tours to fun history lessons, Clawson’s videos provide a fascinating insight into an often unseen side of the Tower.

She’d directly respond to commentators’ requests too – if someone asked her a specific question about life in the Tower, Clawson would make a video response.

“It was very much just ‘What do I want to share with the world this week? What do I want to tell people? What do I want people to know?’” she says.

I think if there was ever going to be a place where there was a ghost, it would definitely be the Tower.

Megan Clawson, former resident of the Tower of London

Around this time, Clawson also started jotting down ideas for a novel – a modern day romance about a woman who lived in the Tower of London.

The story wasn’t autobiographical, but there were aspects, beyond the setting, lifted directly from her life. Clawson decided her main character would fall in love with a Royal Guard – a British military soldier posted at one of the royal residences. Her own boyfriend is also a Royal Guard who, by coincidence, often works at the Tower of London.

“I met him online, but a lot of his job was inside the Tower,” explains Clawson. There was a shorthand between the two of them right away.

“It was kind of this funny conversation of, ‘Hey, like, you’re in my house.’”

Clawson fed all these experiences into her novel and started writing in earnest, discovering plenty of atmospheric writing spots in and around her historic home.

“I would write in my bedroom,” she recalls. “And then there’s cafes that overlook the Tower outside. So I would often go and sit there and look out on it from the outside looking in.”

Clawson’s novel, “Falling Hard for the Royal Guard,” was published in spring 2023 in the UK and the US via Harper Collins. A second novel, “Love at First Knight” – which also has a Tower of London backdrop – is in the works and set to publish next year.

Saying farewell to the Tower

This summer, Clawson’s father left his job as a Yeoman Warder. He told his daughter that he felt as though he’d reached “the pinnacle of his career” and the passing of the late Queen Elizabeth II was the end of an era and the right time to move on.

“He worked for the Queen for 30 years in the military, and then was able to guard her in her final moments,” says Clawson. Before leaving, Clawson’s father worked at the Queen’s official lying in state, the Queen’s funeral and the coronation of King Charles III.

In July 2023 Clawson and her father packed up their home in the Tower of London and moved out for good. Since then, Clawson says adjusting to life outside the Tower has “been very hard.”

She misses the excitement of waking up to stone turrets that have witnessed years of history, but most of all, she misses the other residents.

“They very much became my family and my friends,” she says. “They really got me to the place that I am today.”

She often reflects on “how all of the people that lived in the Tower had very similar but incredibly different lives to get them to that point.”

It was her interactions with the other residents that taught Clawson that “everybody’s got a story to tell.”

Right now, Clawson’s figuring out what comes next. She plans to continue sharing tales from the Tower on her social media, while also expanding to spotlight other UK landmarks and highlight other tales from British history.

“I’d love to take this different approach and kind of build outwards from what I’ve achieved living in the Tower – showing my followers and the world that these are these other amazing things that are in Great Britain that not very many people know about,” says Clawson.

She’s also keen to continue novel writing and would love to turn one of her books into a movie one day, creating a “British rom-com that’s completely filled with all of this British history” with the Tower as the spectacular backdrop.

Whatever comes next, Clawson says she’ll always be grateful for the three years she spent in the Tower of London.

“I always can say that I have lived there. And obviously, with my book and everything, it’s written in black and white that this was my life, and this was this period of time and it’s there on paper, that I’ll be able to share with my children and my grandchildren.”

US President Joe Biden, along with leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, announced on Saturday the launch of a new trade route connecting India to the Middle East and Europe through railways and ports. The White House said the project would usher in a “new era of connectivity.”

Some analysts are saying it will be a direct challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure project launched a decade ago by Beijing with the aim of connecting China to the rest of the world.

Announced at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in India, Biden’s plan also includes the European Union, France, Italy and Germany. It is comprised of two separate routes – an east corridor linking India to the Gulf Arab states and a northern corridor connecting the Gulf states to Europe.

The ambitious plan shows that the US can count on its Middle East allies in its efforts to contain China’s rise, but also how the Gulf states try to find a balance between traditional allies like the US and emerging partners like China in what they see as a world order that is no longer unipolar.

At the same time, they are positioning themselves as essential economic and political partners to the world’s most powerful states.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Biden told UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ). “I don’t think we would be here without you.”

Goods and services would transit through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Europe. The route will also enable electricity and digital connectivity, as well as pipes for clean hydrogen export.

Seated between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and MBZ, Biden said the agreement announced at the summit was “a big deal.”

“The world stands at an inflection point in history,” Biden said, adding that investment in the plan today is more critical than ever.

Israel, which has made it a priority to normalize ties with Saudi Arabia, also hailed the project, saying it “changes our global and historical situation” and advances the vision of “joining Israel to the world.”

Notably absent from the summit was China’s Xi Jinping, who has never missed a G20 summit since taking power in 2012, and whose country has been strengthening ties with Gulf Arab states.

An alternative to a ‘debt and noose’ agreement

Some analysts say the corridor intends to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Beijing launched the massive infrastructure project in 2013 and has poured around $1 trillion into its projects so far. Beijing last month said that, over the years, it signed BRI cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations.

However, the plan has faced problems, including funding shortfalls and some political pushback, which have stalled certain projects. China has pushed back on assertions of risky lending when it comes to BRI, saying “such allegations do not reflect the whole picture.”

Biden last month called China’s BRI a “debt and noose agreement,” which the US and Group of Seven (G7) nations hope to counter with alternatives.

“We got together literally billions of dollars in the G7 nations to provide for alternatives to China’s – what they call Belt and Road Initiative, which is basically a debt and noose agreement that they have,” Biden told donors in August at a campaign reception in Salt Lake City, Utah.

But on Sunday, Biden said he was “sincere” about improving the US-China relationship, pushing back against comments out of Beijing that the president’s trip to India and Vietnam seemed focused on containing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.

“I don’t want to contain China, I just want to make sure we have a relationship with China that is on the up and up squared away, and everyone knows what it’s all about,” Biden told reporters traveling with him in Vietnam, adding that he wants to see China succeed as long as it succeeds “by the rules.”

The question remains whether a new trade route in the region would complement China’s BRI or compete with it.

Cinzia Bianco, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Berlin, said that there likely isn’t enough trade volume in the region to make both Biden’s project and China’s viable at the same time. “The heart of the matter is that it is an alternative (to China’s BRI),” she said.

The partners in the new trade route also have both the funds and the political will to bring the project to fruition in a sufficient enough time to be able to challenge the BRI, Bianco added.

But three of the nations in the new corridor are already members of China’s BRI, and may find themselves in an awkward position for having joined a project that is widely seen as being designed to undermine Beijing’s plans. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are already members of China’s BRI, along with Italy, the only G7 nation to have joined.

Italian media however reported Sunday that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was looking to bolster ties with China whilst seeking a “soft” exit of China’s BRI, which Rome joined in 2019.

Bianco said Italy’s BRI membership is an “anomaly,” and that Meloni was bound to withdraw.

Gulf states ‘not taking sides’

For the UAE and Saudi Arabia, however, the India-Middle East-Europe corridor isn’t necessarily a replacement to the BRI, experts say.

Baharoon added that the project, if perceived as a “replacement” or “competitor” to China’s BRI, would fail to realize its potential.

Bianco said that the Gulf states’ decision to join the new project may also be driven by the slowing of China’s economy, prompting them to “put their chips in different games and see what happens first.”

The G20 summit and Biden’s economic corridor come just weeks after oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the UAE were invited to become members of the BRICS group of developing nations.

The group currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and its first-ever potential expansion in a decade has been seen by some as a challenge to the US’ global influence.

Despite pressure to choose sides, Gulf states have insisted that they maintain a balanced position that involves political and economic cooperation across the board, something that analysts say makes Gulf states strategically vital.

“We look at BRICS from a geo-economic not a geo-political perspective, with the aim of strengthening our economic competitiveness,” the official said, against the backdrop of pouring commentary about Gulf states siding with the East.

Meanwhile, Gulf states aim to continue to remain relevant to all sides.

“Gulf countries are using this multipolarity and this new world (order) to try to put themselves at the heart of global trade, trying to invest even more in connectivity and globalization,” Bianco said.