Ivana Andrés, the captain of the Spanish women’s national team, has apologized after the country’s football federation (RFEF) posted a now-deleted video on social media of four players appearing to mock New Zealand’s traditional haka.

The haka is a ceremonial Maori war dance, with many of the country’s national teams across a variety of sports performing their own version before matches.

Ahead of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the Spanish players and the federation were accused of being disrespectful towards the dance and Maori culture.

“We’ve only been here a few days in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and there’s still much to learn about this culture,” Andrés said at a traditional welcome ceremony, according to Reuters.

Andrés went on to ask for “forgiveness for our mistakes” and vowed to be “better each day.”

At the ceremony, Andrés gave the tribe a Spain jersey bearing the name Papaioea, the Maori name for the city of Palmerston North, where the ceremony was held.

“This shirt symbolizes all the sacrifices and the victories that have made it possible today to have the privilege of being here to play the World Cup in this admirable land and to do it with the value of the friendship that we all share together today,” Andrés said.

According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the local Rangitane tribe called the ceremony “a very good outcome.”

“Their words came from the heart and there was an acknowledgement that they understood the haka is very precious, not only to Maori, but to all of Aotearoa,” the spokesperson said.

Spain will play all of its group stage matches in New Zealand, starting with Costa Rica on Friday.

Rory McIlroy delivered a sensational finish to triumph at the Scottish Open on Sunday, birdieing the final two holes to snatch victory from home hero Robert MacIntyre.

As blustering winds battered the field at The Renaissance Club, the Northern Irishman struck “one of the best shots” of his glittering career with a stunning approach at the 18th hole before rolling home to clinch a one-stroke victory.

A first ever triumph in Scotland sees the 34-year-old become the first player to win The Scottish Open, The Irish Open and The Open Championship, which returns to Royal Liverpool for the first time since 2014 – the year of McIlroy’s last major triumph – on Thursday.

The four-time major champion had carried a one-stroke lead into the final round, which had teed off early in an attempt to get out ahead of expected heavy winds, but saw his advantage evaporate after a grisly start.

Four bogeys across his first nine holes contrasted a faultless, bogey-free start from MacIntyre, who shot an eagle at the 10th before closing with a birdie to cap a blistering, round-best six-under 64 and set the clubhouse target at 14-under par.

It put the world No. 54 ranked Scot within touching distance of a fairytale home victory, with McIlroy needing to birdie one of the two notoriously challenging closing holes for the first time that week just to force a playoff.

McIlroy went one better. After arrowing his 5-iron tee shot to within five feet of the par-three penultimate hole to draw level, he switched to his 2-iron to send an incredible 200-yard effort onto the 18th green.

A putt from almost 11 feet to win was no easy feat, but there was a certain inevitability about the outcome given preceding events. McIlroy lasered home to card 68 for the round and 16-under overall, sealing the £1.2 million (almost $1.57 million) winner’s prize money and leapfrogging Jon Rahm to No. 2 in the world rankings.

“This is right up there with the best of them,” McIlroy told reporters about the end of the tournament.

“I thought if I can birdie one of the last two and get into a playoff, that would be a bonus. The two iron shots that I hit … are probably two of the best shots I’ve hit all year, and then to finish them off with the putts as well.”

His 16th win on the DP World Tour, the victory provides a perfect momentum boost as McIlroy heads to Royal Liverpool to attempt to end a nine-year major drought on Thursday.

Victory at the Merseyside course highlighted the best season of McIlroy’s career in 2014, with the Northern Irishman adding his fourth major triumph at the PGA Championship a month later. Yet despite finishing inside the top-10 on 19 occasions since, McIlroy’s wait for a fifth major crown endures.

After missing the cut at The Masters, McIlroy finished tied-seventh at the PGA Championship before falling narrowly short of Wyndham Clark at the US Open in June, his third runner-up finish at a major since 2014.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” McIroy said.

“I’ve had a few close calls recently so to get over the line and get this bit of confidence going into next week and the rest of the season is huge.”

McIlroy’s ecstasy contrasted agony for MacIntyre, who had been roared on by the Scottish crowds in pursuit of his national tournament and a third DP World Tour win.

The 26-year-old had pulled off a remarkable birdie of his own on the final hole, superbly hitting his approach to within a few feet after his tee drive had settled on a spectator path, and was given a rousing reception as he left the 18th green.

“I’ll never forget it … that’s why I play this sport,” MacIntyre told reporters.

“The Scottish Open will be up there with the event I want to play for the rest of my life. It’s one I’ve dreamed of winning since I watched at home, and I thought today coming down once I birdied 18, I thought, this might be the one.

“But it’s not to be just now, and plenty of years ahead … Rory McIlroy’s potentially the best in the world, and he showed why today. I take my hat off to him.”

For years, tennis’ so-called ‘Next Gen’ stars have tried and largely failed to topple the sport’s ‘Big Three’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Between Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka winning consecutive grand slams – Wimbledon then the US Open – in 2016 and Carlos Alcaraz’s 2022 US Open victory, only Daniil Medvedev won a grand slam title, the 2021 US Open, in which one of the ‘Big Three’ was beaten during the tournament.

Many of the players once tipped to take over the mantle of being one of tennis’ leading men came and went, while others are still knocking on the door.

But in much the same way that Federer’s fourth-round Wimbledon win over Pete Sampras in 2001 signaled the passing of the torch to a new era, so too Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Djokovic in Sunday’s final could finally herald the next generation’s coming of age.

And a decade on from his last defeat on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Djokovic having his aura of invincibility shattered could also help tennis’ young stars emerge, Alcaraz said.

“I did it for myself, not for [the next] tennis generation, honestly,” Alcaraz told reporters after the final. “It was great. Beating Novak at his best, in this stage, making history, being the guy to beat him after 10 years unbeaten on that court, is amazing for me.

“It’s something that I will never forget, that’s for sure. It’s great for the new generation as well, I think to see me beating him and making them think that they are capable of doing it. It’s great for me and I think for the young players as well.”

Not that Djokovic is likely to go anywhere anytime soon.

While Alcaraz was a deserving winner on the day, Djokovic has proven over the last two weeks that he is still capable of playing some of the best tennis of his career – and this at the age of 36.

As the Serb said following his victory in the semifinals: “36 is the new 26” and Djokovic certainly appears to have enough left in the tank to win multiple grand slam titles.

Now, however, there is finally a player that looks capable of stopping him that isn’t named Federer or Nadal.

But Alcaraz isn’t so sure that tennis’ changing of the guard has finally happened.

“Let’s talk about it in some years ahead. In the future we can talk about it, but right now, it’s not the right moment.”

A mix of Roger, Rafa and Novak?

Though it’s hard to pinpoint any one defining moment in a five-set, near five-hour epic that decided the outcome of the match, Djokovic’s gruelling 26-minute service game in the third set, which Alcaraz eventually won, was certainly a crucial stage of the final.

There were 32 points in total – as many as in the entire first set – 13 deuces and seven break points before Alcaraz finally came out on top to go two breaks of serve to the good. The Spaniard eventually took the third set 6-1.

On almost any other day, against almost any other player, it seems hard to image that Djokovic would have lost that game, which turned into as much of a battle of the mind as it was of the body.

But Alcaraz is different. Djokovic acknowledged his opponent’s remarkable “mental resilience” for a player who is barely 20 years old.

Ever since Alcaraz burst onto the scene, the youngster has been likened to a mix of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.

“I would agree with that,” Djokovic said. “I think he’s got basically best of all three worlds.
He’s got this mental resilience and really maturity for someone who is 20 years old. It’s quite impressive.

“He’s got this Spanish bull mentality of competitiveness and fighting spirit and incredible defense that we’ve seen with Rafa over the years. And I think he’s got some nice sliding backhands that he’s got some similarities with my backhands.

“Two-handed backhands, defense, being able to adapt. I think that has been my personal strength for many years. He has it, too.

“I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest. Roger and Rafa have their own strengths and weaknesses. Carlos is very complete player. Amazing adapting capabilities that I think are a key for longevity and for successful career on all surfaces.”

In the end, perhaps only a potent mix of the ‘Big Three’s’ best bits was ever going to be enough to topple Djokovic.

However, the 23-time grand slam champion doesn’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon and sees the potential for a great new rivalry at the top of tennis.

“I would hope so, for my sake,” Djokovic said with a smile. “He’s going to be on the tour for quite some time. I don’t know how long I’ll be around. I mean, let’s see.

“It’s been only three matches that we played against each other. Three really close matches. Two already this year in later stages of grand slams.

“I hope we get to play in US Open. Why not? I think it’s good for the sport, one and two in the world facing each other in almost a five-hours, five-set thriller. Couldn’t be better for our sport in general, so why not?”

The search continues for a 2-year-old girl and her 9-month-old brother who were swept away in ferocious flood waters that left their mother dead in southeastern Pennsylvania as a powerful storm hammered the region over the weekend.

The children and their family were visiting from South Carolina and were driving to a barbecue when they got stuck in flash flooding, Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said Sunday afternoon.

The family tried to escape the floodwaters, with the mother and grandmother grabbing the two children, while the father took a 4-year-old boy, Brewer said.

The father and young sibling “miraculously” made it to safety, he said. But the two women and young children were swept away by the flood waters.

The mother, who has not been identified, was found dead on Saturday, Brewer said. There was no sign of the two children.

The children’s grandmother survived and was treated at a local hospital, Upper Makefield Township Police said.

Search efforts will continue, Brewer said Sunday, adding that crews remain “steadfast on the commitment on finding and bringing these two children home.”

“We cannot even begin to imagine what the family is going through with two beautiful children gone,” Brewer said.

The children’s mother is among five people who died as storms battered Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Brewer said Sunday. Another seven people were still missing in flood waters, according to authorities.

“The mass casualty incident, like these, which we have never seen before, (is) unbelievable and devastating to all the families involved,” Brewer said.

Storms hit Southeastern Pennsylvania hard Saturday, bringing flash floods and inundating roadways less than a week after parts of the state were ravaged by storms.

Over the last month, parts of interior New England and the Northeast have seen 200% to 300% of their average monthly rainfall, leading to last week’s disastrous flooding event in parts of Vermont, New York and western Massachusetts.

Floods are among the deadliest weather hazards in the US, according to the weather service. It only takes 2 feet of rushing water to carry away most vehicles, including pickups and SUVs, the weather service says.

A flash flood can happen anywhere intense rain falls faster than the soil can absorb, and generally happen within a short time period after rain, making them more life threatening, according to the National Weather Service.

Search and rescue crews in Southeastern Pennsylvania are expected to see more favorable conditions Monday as the region gets a reprieve from the rain.

The threat of excessive rainfall decreases across the region Monday, with a marginal risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the Northeast to the Ohio Valley, according to the National Weather Service. There is a marginal risk for excessive rainfall for western Pennsylvania on Monday, as well as a marginal risk for severe storms, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

“Heavy rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast will move off the coastline provide a well needed break to start the week,” the National Weather Service said.

A pilot of a small plane suffered a medical emergency in the air Saturday, prompting a passenger to take over controls and make a crash landing with no landing gear at Martha’s Vineyard Airport, authorities said.

The pilot of the aircraft, a Piper Meridian Turboprop six-seater plane, suffered a medical condition as it approached the airport Saturday afternoon, the West Tisbury Police Department said in a statement.

The passenger then took over the controls and “crash landed” at approximately 3:15 p.m. in the grass near a runway, Massachusetts State Police said. The hard landing caused the aircraft’s left wing to break in half, state police said.

The woman, 68, suffered minor injuries, West Tisbury police said. The man was extricated from the plane and flown to a Boston hospital in serious, life-threatening condition, state police said. Both are Connecticut residents, according to state police.

The plane had departed from Westchester, New York, earlier in the afternoon.

“Back! Back! Now, forward! Stop! GET DOWN, GET DOWN!”

Rajendra Shrestha’s voice reverberates through Abu Dhabi’s Jebel Hafeet mountains as we navigate the treacherous twists and turns of the rapids.

“He fell off! He fell off!”

Shrestha screams as I am abruptly pulled beneath the churning water. Emerging back to the surface, I desperately flail my arms, searching for something to hold onto, hoping to regain stability.

“Relax, relax,” he reassures me, his voice cutting through the chaos. Shrestha reaches out, hauling me back into the raft. He places my paddle in my hands, and we forge ahead, resuming our journey.

This is no ordinary river; it is the result of a $50 million man-made park constructed between Abu Dhabi’s arid mountains on one side and a sprawling desert on the other.

Located in the oasis city of Al Ain, just an hour and a half from Abu Dhabi’s city center, Al Ain Adventure Park proudly claims the title of the Middle East’s first destination for white water rafting, kayaking and surfing.

It’s an unusual sight in a region where no natural rivers exist, and summer temperatures often soar upwards of 120 F (49 C).

World-class watersports

In a country where nearly everything is artificially created, including beaches, snow, and even rain, Al Ain Adventure follows suit.

The park boasts a world-class kayaking and rafting experience. White water channels span 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles), providing a challenging journey for kayakers and rafters of all levels.

Shrestha is a seasoned watersports enthusiast who has spent most of his life rafting. He’s competed professionally in world rafting competitions in Nepal, Japan, India and the UAE. He served as captain of Nepal’s national team, twice.

Shrestha joined the Al Ain Adventure team back in 2010, bringing a wealth of experience to the park.

He says his favorite part of the job is the unique combination of thrilling sports all in one location.

A proving ground for the pros

Al Ain Adventure Park has gained international recognition as a hub for sports professionals seeking to hone their skills in various disciplines.

Drawing athletes from across the globe, including surfing champions, rafters and Olympic kayak teams, the park has become a preferred training destination.

Each year, from November to March, slalom kayakers from Europe and Russia converge on the park for intensive training sessions. The park says it regularly hosts 300-plus athletes from 35 different countries.

Notable competitions held at the park include the prestigious World Rafting Championship organized by the International Rafting Federation in 2016, as well as a series of slalom kayaking training and other competitions.

Water ways

Maintaining a water park in the middle of a desert environment poses unique challenges that require meticulous upkeep and careful management.

The park relies on desalinated water sourced from another emirate in the country, Ras Al Khaimah, located over 300 kilometers away (186 miles).

This process involves converting seawater into freshwater, which is then treated to meet quality standards.

Overall, the park says it utilizes around 12.4 million gallons of water at any given time.

Al Ain Adventure Park reopened in December 2022 after a three-year hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

For Shrestha, being back in business is a breath of fresh air.

He says the park plans to add more activities – including a cable park for wakeboarding and a zip line course.

Al Ain Adventure Park aims to offer a unique experience where action-packed water sports can coexist in the UAE’s harsh desert climate.

One of the United Kingdom’s leading news anchors, Huw Edwards, was named by his wife on Wednesday as the BBC presenter who was suspended following allegations over payments for sexually explicit images.

The longtime BBC anchor, one of the network’s highest-earning stars, has led coverage of some of the biggest stories in the UK in recent years, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, royal weddings, elections and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, said he was being treated in the hospital with “serious mental health issues,” and that she was issuing the statement on his behalf after days of speculation “primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children,” according to a statement published by BBC News.

The statement came soon after London’s Metropolitan Police said that there was no indication that a criminal offense had been committed.

“Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years,” Flind said. “The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”

The statement did not detail any of the allegations made against Edwards over the past week. Flind said that she hoped the statement would bring an end to recent media speculation about other BBC presenters.

“In the circumstances and given Huw’s condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected,” the statement said.

She also said Edwards “was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday” and that he intends to respond “once well enough to do so.”

The case, which has dominated the British news agenda this week, emerged when The Sun newspaper reported Friday that a mother had accused an unnamed presenter of paying for sexually explicit photographs from her teenage child, who was 17 when contact was first made, and who is now 20.

The BBC suspended “a male member of staff” following the report and said in a statement on Sunday that it first became aware of the complaint in May.

Amid the fevered speculation about the presenter’s identity, a lawyer for the young person at the center of the controversy disputed the claims reported in The Sun, saying in a letter to the BBC that they were “rubbish.”

After assessing the case, police said they had “determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offense has been committed.”

There were fresh allegations made against the presenter this week, according to BBC News, which reported that a second unnamed person had come forward with claims.

The police said they were aware “of media reporting” regarding the further allegations but “no specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time,” the police said in its statement on Wednesday.

The BBC said it had seen the police’s statement and would “move forward” with its own investigation.

Who is Huw Edwards?

Edwards is a prominent figure in the British media landscape, known for presenting the BBC’s flagship News at Ten program – equivalent to the anchor of a network evening news program in the US. He has also been the BBC’s go-to anchor for coverage of major state events such as royal weddings and funerals.

After joining the BBC as a trainee in 1984, he pursued a career in political journalism and became the network’s chief political correspondent at Westminster.

In the late 1990s, he cemented his status as one of the BBC’s main anchors, presenting the Six O’Clock News.

More recently, he was the anchor who delivered the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on the BBC.

Edwards and his team won a BAFTA in 2012 for their coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. That same year, he starred as himself in the James Bond film “Skyfall.”

He is one of the BBC’s highest-paid journalists, earning up to £439,999 ($571,470) per year for appearing on air on the News at Six, the News at Ten, the News Channel and news specials, according to the BBC’s latest report on the top salaries it pays.

The Welsh journalist is also an honorary professor of journalism at Cardiff University, and lives in London with his wife and five children.

Questions over The Sun’s reporting

A flurry of disputed claims published by The Sun led to a heated debate over the ethics and standards of its reporting.

The Sun first reported Friday that the then-unnamed presenter had paid the person in question more than £35,000 ($45,000) since they were 17 years old in return for explicit images. It is a criminal offense in the UK to take or obtain sexually explicit photographs of anyone under the age of 18. The Sun later updated its reporting to say only that contact had begin when the youth was 17.

A lawyer for the young person later rebuffed the claims, saying the statement their mother gave to the tabloid was “totally wrong and there was no truth to it,” according to the BBC.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that there was no indication that a criminal offense had been committed in the case of the BBC presenter.

After Edwards was named and his mental health struggles revealed, The Sun said it had “no plans to publish further allegations.”

“We must also re-emphasise that The Sun at no point in our original story alleged criminality and also took the decision neither to name Mr Edwards nor the young person involved in the allegations,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“Suggestions about possible criminality were first made at a later date by other media outlets, including the BBC.”

Some commentators pointed out that that one of the follow-up stories published on The Sun’s website suggested that the then-unnamed presenter could face jail time.

“From the outset, we have reported a story about two very concerned and frustrated parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and payments from him that fuelled the drug habit of a young person,” The Sun added.

The spokesperson said it was now for the broadcaster to “properly investigate,” adding that The Sun would cooperate with the BBC’s internal investigation.

Iran’s morality police will resume patrols to make women comply with strict Islamic dress codes, state media reported Sunday, 10 months after the death of a young woman in their custody triggered nationwide protests.

Saeid Montazeralmahdi, spokesman for Iran’s enforcement body, Faraja, said police will restart vehicle and foot patrols across the country from Sunday, the state-run Fars news agency reported.

Officers will first warn women who are not complying, while those who “insist on breaking the norms,” may face legal action, he said.

The morality police were cast into the international spotlight in September last year, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died three days after being arrested by the force for wearing her hijab, or headscarf, incorrectly and taken to a “re-education” center.

Her death sparked nationwide protests that rocked the country, posing one of the biggest domestic threats to Iran’s ruling clerical regime in more than a decade.

Authorities responded violently to suppress the months-long movement, during which witnesses said the morality police had virtually disappeared from the streets of Tehran.

Iran executed at least 582 people last year, a 75% increase on 2021, according to human rights groups who say the rise reflects an effort by Tehran to instill fear among anti-regime protesters.

The centers act like detention facilities, where women – and sometimes men – are taken into custody for failing to comply with the state’s rules on modesty.

Inside the facilities, detainees are given classes about Islam and the importance of the hijab, and are forced to sign a pledge to abide by the state’s clothing regulations before they are released.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will not seek re-election and will retire from politics, his party said Tuesday.

The announcement came two days before Thailand’s parliament was set to vote for a new prime minister following a May election that saw Thais overwhelmingly reject military-backed rule.

Prayut, 69, has ruled Thailand since 2014, when as army chief, he seized power in a coup and declared himself prime minister. In 2019, his party’s coalition won the most seats in parliament and he was elected leader with the backing of the senate.

Thai opposition parties swept the board in May’s nationwide election as voters delivered a powerful rebuke of the military-backed establishment that has ruled since the coup, capping years of rising anger over how conservative cliques have governed the kingdom.

The progressive Move Forward Party, which gained a huge following among young Thais for its reformist platform, won the most seats and the largest share of the popular vote.

Pheu Thai, the main opposition party that has been a populist force in Thailand for 20 years, came second.

Prayut was not expected to gain enough support in the lower house to win another term as premier, as his party only won 36 seats in the May election – though the final outcome still remains uncertain.

Prayut will remain as prime minister until the new government is formed.

The former general’s rule as a military coup leader turned prime minister has been marred by growing authoritarianism and widening inequality.

In 2020, young people across the country took to the streets and called for Prayut’s resignation. The mass protests stemmed from failed promises to restore democracy, and what activists say is a repression of civil rights and freedoms.

His government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and economy, nepotism and lack of transparency and accountability, also amplified calls for Prayut to step down.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political scientist and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, said Prayut’s retirement “represents the defeat of the military regime that has been in power over the past nine years since the coup in 2014,” and could be seen as a “boost to pro-democracy supporters.”

“To many Thais, Prayut’s departure from politics is overdue. He seized power in May 2014, ran a lackluster military government for five years and another rickety elected government since 2019 thanks to a military-arranged constitution,” Thitinan said.

“Thailand has seen signs of economic stagnation, political decay and its lowest international standing ever.”

It could potentially help Move Forward’s leader Pita Limjaroenrat and his chances to form a post-election government, Thitinan added.

A record 16 Chinese warships were spotted in waters around Taiwan in a 24-hour period late last week, the island’s Defense Ministry reported, in what analysts said was the latest sign of an intimidation campaign against Taipei by China’s ruling Communist Party.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) activity in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. local time Saturday followed exercises earlier last week that saw dozens of Chinese warplanes fly past the median line of the Taiwan Strait and into the key regions of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

Over 72 hours in the middle of last week, 73 PLA aircraft either crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line – an informal demarcation point that Beijing does not recognize but until recently largely respected – or entered the southeastern or southwestern parts of the island’s ADIZ.

During that same period, nine PLA vessels were reported in waters around Taiwan in three consecutive days.

The 16 Chinese ships around Taiwan on Friday into Saturday was the most since the island’s Defense Ministry began providing daily updates of PLA activity around the island in August 2022.

The military operations indicate Beijing’s efforts are twofold, he said.

One, constant PLA activities around the island present its defenders with a range of possible attack routes to design defenses for, and two, to “practice, rehearse and train for the ‘moment’ should it come,” Schuster said.

That moment would be a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its territory despite never having controlled it, and has spent decades trying to isolate it diplomatically. Beijing has not ruled out using force to take control of the island.

Chinese state media on Sunday touted the naval activity, noting the PLAN “breaking the record for the number of vessels deployed in its drills in the region,” in a story in Global Times.

“Analysts said Sunday that the recent intensive exercises demonstrate the PLA’s capabilities in encircling the island,” the Global Times story said.

Neither Taiwan’s Defense Ministry nor the Global Times article gave details on what PLA warships were in the waters around Taiwan.

But Chinese state-run media said the PLA exercises “likely featured amphibious landing training” and the story was topped with a picture of a PLAN amphibious assault ship it said was taken “during a maritime real-combat training exercise recently.”

Schuster said he expects the PLA to keep increasing the pressure on Taiwan.

“We will see more such exercises and next year’s will more complex and larger in terms of units involved and extent of their activities,” he said.