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Fresh sign Prince William is getting closer to the throne

Fresh sign Prince William is getting closer to the throne

News.com.au27-04-2025

The last time the Vatican was buffing their ceremonial staffs for a sitting Pope's funeral was in 2005, when Prince William and his future wife Kate, The Princess of Wales were still letting the student bar Midori and lemonade stains out of their mortar boards having only just finished university.
Then Prince Charles delayed his wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles by a day, with the prawn vol-au-vents put back in the fridge, to attend.
Time has not only marched but sauntered, and then dashed, and now full on pelted since then.
As world leaders prepare to jet into Rome and wonder if they have time for a quick turn around the Borghese Gardens and a double-scoop gelato, William is set to notch up another milestone in his Kingly apprenticeship, with Buckingham Palace having announced that he will be attending this weekend's funeral of Pope Francis, rather than Charles.
While this is not concerning – it's protocol that the Sovereign does not attend funerals – still, William's visit to Italian capital will be just the latest outing that has seen the him rub Brioni- clad shoulders with the sorts of people who have their own sets of nuclear codes, with the last 12 months having seen the HRH very obviously assume a far greater and higher-profile international role.
His freshman global statesman training wheels are about to officially come off.
The last 12 months has seen the prince undergo not only incredible personal tumult, as his wife and father King Charles battled cancer, but has also seen his job as Prince of Wales undergo a serious makeover, clocking up the airmiles as he quietly took an unprecedentedly out-size place on the world stage for an heir to the throne.
Part of this was simply practical, with his father undergoing treatment for an unspecified form of cancer as was the case when he stood in for His Majesty during the commemoration for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France last year.
However things have progressed much further with William seemingly having quietly ripped up and firmly chucked away the guidelines for being Prince of Wales with a firm eye on global politics.
Let us simply review the ever-growing collection of used Ryanair boarding passes he has acquired of late.
In March this year, at a time of heightened global tensions over the war in Ukraine, William flew to Estonia to visit British troops stationed near the border with Russia and to meet with the Estonian president Alar Karis.
In a very similar vein, it was the prince who was forced to rep the royal family and to freeze inside the rebuilt Notre Dame with the great and good for the famed cathedral's reopening ceremony in December, 2024.
That same night, he was tasked with (and deemed fully up to) having the UK's first one-on-one meeting with the freshly re-elected Donald Trump, spending 40 minutes speaking with him in private. (How much of that time was William banging on about his beloved Aston Villa's defensive line, do you think?)
In November, William was in South Africa for his Earthshot Prize, taking time away from helping bright, exciting minds save the Earth from climate catastrophe to meet with Cyril Ramaphosa, the South Africa president.
And before that it was the father-of-three who stood in for Charles at the international D-Day landing commemorations in France in May.
Getting the picture?
William clearly has his eye on a far bigger pitch than his safe, British home turf with royal aides and sources making clear how big his global ambitions are.
Already this year we know he will be heading to Brazil for the Cop30 climate conference and next Earthshot Prize. Contrast that with 2022 when Charles held a Palace reception for Cop participants and in 2023 when he delivered the opening address at Cop28 in Dubai in 2023.
Torches appear to be being passed.
All this jet setting and hobnobbing with presidents is right up his alley and reports suggest he is not bored witless having to ask polite questions about the current state of the Estonian tractor part industry or some such.
'He is extremely comfortable in doing this,' a well-placed palace source has told the Telegraph.
In fact, the prince, a royal aide told the Sunday Times, has a vision for 'the role that modern monarchy has in diplomacy'.
Now if all of this is making you worried that the ever-sensitive Charles' nose might be out of joint by all of his son's Davos-adjacent derring do, never fear.
Last year a friend of His Majesty told The Times: 'If there was ever a green-eyed monster or a sense of rivalry between the two, that is a chapter of the past.
The King sees his son as a useful ally on family matters and increasingly in discharging the duties of nation and state.'
And so while the prince neatly packs his carry on and re-downloads Duo Lingo for the 17th time to brush up on his Italian basics, he has already made his impact felt far beyond Britain's shores.
While in Estonia in March he visited the Mercian Regiment where he was reportedly surprised at how rudimentary, if not downright crappy, their rec room was.
'You don't have a fridge? You're joking? You do need a fridge. I'm definitely getting you a fridge,' the prince said at the time.
True to his word, he later arranged a personal donation. The Mercian Regiment won't be the last people to raise a cold one to William.

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BEN HARVEY: Why Rita Saffioti's the human punchline
BEN HARVEY: Why Rita Saffioti's the human punchline

West Australian

time29 minutes ago

  • West Australian

BEN HARVEY: Why Rita Saffioti's the human punchline

Rita Saffioti, you are weak as p***. The writing was on the wall that bare-knuckle boxing was politically poisonous but you didn't have the guts to use your power as Sports Minister to veto it. Instead, you let the Combat Sports Commission do your dirty work by putting a last-minute kybosh on the Bare Knuckle Boxing Championship event. You were the only person who wanted this thing to happen, Rita. For weeks you failed to read the room, insisting community concern was a storm in a teacup that would blow over when West Australians realised just how much fun it was watching two people bash each other the way nature intended. You knew best. Perhaps it was because eight years ago you stared down those opposed to cage fighting. Perhaps it was because, having represented the good burghers of West Swan for so long, you know a thing or two about punch-ups. You refused to intervene even when it emerged that a former bikie who went to jail for bashing a police informant was being considered for the card. His opponent? A British reality TV 'star' called Aaron Chalmers who, presumably, decided that having his head punched in was worth it because it gave him the requisite brain damage for another season on Geordie Shore. 'The advice to me is that with very strict protocols and criteria that the event, if the organiser were to meet that, that it could be conducted in WA,' you said. In making it clear you were a woman not for turning you made the entire Cabinet look like hapless idiots. Why buy tickets to Cirque du Soleil when you can watch Meredith Hammat contorting herself while dodging questions about how a health minister could endorse what the Australian Medical Association was calling a blood sport. If it was up to the AMA the most dangerous sport in WA would be Ring a Ring o' Roses (perhaps accompanied by someone playing the lute) so we don't want to be led by the nose by medicos, but still. Your government, which adhered slavishly to medical advice during COVID, was very quick to discount the opinion of doctors on this one. I hope you apologised to Meredith for making her look such a fool. You owe Paul Papalia a beer as well. He didn't hesitate in going over the top for you, making out that bare-knuckle boxing was something the Famous Five might indulge in, refreshing themselves with lashings of ginger beer between bouts. At least Paul sounded like he believed what he was saying. Perhaps his performance was compelling because he was a navy clearance diver before politics. Let's face it, anyone who swims towards the bomb has a unique appreciation of risk. Rita, so terrified are ministers of your wrath in Budget expenditure review committee meetings, they would have built a Thunderdome in your honour. Two men enter, one man leaves, they would have chanted, had you asked. You took advantage of their pathetic weakness and insisted they back your absurd rationale that the Combat Sports Commission could never be questioned. It's not the bloody Roman Senate, Rita; it's sports administration. 'I can't stop one and then not stop others,' you said, hinting that your ministerial override risked the fall of the Westminster system. It was only when the July 19 card was confirmed that you appeared to have realised there might be a political problem. It turns out there is something as bad as a former bikie who bashed a police informant being the star of the show. Alex 'Godly Strong' is a 140kg, 195cm meat-axe who went to prison for bashing a drug dealer during an aggravated home invasion. It was a bridge too far. Labor had ceded the moral high ground to Basil Zempilas and was enjoying what must have been a novel view. Everyone knew the wound needed to be cauterised. But still you refused to act. And now you're asking us to believe that at the last minute the Combat Sports Commission 'independently' arrived at the conclusion that this show could not go on. The same commission whose chair, Bob Kucera, had been so enthusiastic about this event he was practically humming Eye of the Tiger. This was a contest between 'superb athletes', Bob told us a couple of weeks ago. Strict medical conditions had to be met before anyone could step in the ring, he said. And it was best to have these kind of events held out in the open, otherwise bare-knuckle fighting might go underground, the former cop warned ominously. Bob even managed to keep a straight face when he said that last one. I was waiting for him to gush, 'I would like to thank the Academy' at the end of each interview. He was so convincing the promoters started selling tickets to the fight! Bob had your back, Rita. And you hung him out to dry. You made him look like a stooge. Does anyone believe that there was no political pressure here? That nobody in the executive arm of government had a quiet word to the commission about the need to somehow get the shit back in the horse? That there were no phone calls asking that the commission take one for the team? Bull****. I can't imagine what the atmosphere was like in the State Solicitor's Office when the commission knocked back the event application. Did someone at least give them the heads-up that we were about to pick a legal fight with Conor McGregor, the man who owns Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship? Rita, do you have any idea how wealthy this bloke is? He earnt $US130 million in one fight against Floyd Mayweather, for the love of God. The only people richer than Conor are his lawyers. We were worried about Clive Palmer's lawsuit bankrupting us; wait for this costs order! Rita, I know that you didn't initiate this mess. That was your predecessor, David Templeman. David should never have recognised bare-knuckle fighting as a sport when the application was made prior to the last State election. He should have understood the politics but was probably distracted by the excitement of delivering his last end-of-year serenade to the Legislative Assembly. You, on the other hand, Rita, should have known better. You're no political fool. There's no excuse for allowing this public policy absurdity to run for so long.

The old Leederville restaurant that deserves more attention
The old Leederville restaurant that deserves more attention

Perth Now

time31 minutes ago

  • Perth Now

The old Leederville restaurant that deserves more attention

Duende has been around the block. Launched by local luminary Nic Trimboli, Perth's first Spanish tapas restaurant took over the space on an isthmus between Newcastle Street and Carr Place in Leederville previously occupied by Eminem — the much-lauded Turkish eatery, not the Detroit rapper — waaaaay back in 2003. That's so long ago the current crop of Perth food influencers were still blogging in their nappies or hitting child care for free canapes and bubbly milk when Duende served its first pimientos de padron and patatas bravas. Once considered among Perth's hottest restaurants, this joint has seen some action, and it shows. The decor is dated, menus arrive on clipboards, and the booths need new upholstery. A small fan rattled away on the bar, while daggy dance-pop blared away. Duende is Spanish for 'passion and inspiration'. At first glance, both seemed to be sorely lacking when my wife and I made a long overdue return to this Leederville mainstay for dinner on a Thursday evening. Duende tapas bar, Leederville. Credit: Supplied Duende tapas bar, Leederville Credit: Simon Collins When we walked past the chalkboards and into Duende, we were the only customers. Ay, no! By the time we left at about 8pm, only two other tables were occupied. Double ay, no! If this review achieves one thing, I hope it helps Duende return to the top of the pops. The food is banging — like, Ricky Martin's Livin' La Vida Loca banging — and the wine list has some mic-drop-worthy Spanish drops at prices that don't seem to have moved since Duende opened. Credit for the fantastic, mostly authentic, tapas goes to Indian-born chef Remya Geminiani, who grew up in Modena, Italy. The 'Italian pocket rocket', as she is described on the venue's socials, started a chef's apprenticeship when she was 14 years old, and was ducking flying frying pans in four-star hotel restaurants at 18. Chicken and chorizo paella at Duende tapas bar in Leederville. Credit: Supplied Geminiani trained and worked in kitchens across the Canary Islands, focusing on traditional techniques and Mediterranean flavours for five years before following her heart Down Under in 2016. She worked as head chef at a Melbourne cafe for four years before moving to Margaret River for a stint at Voyager Estate, where she refined her skills and built know-how around fermentation, smoking, and seasonal WA produce. While she only joined Duende in April, Geminiani has already had an impact. She's clearly a gem, and Phil Crocker, who bought the Leederville diner in 2013, did well to recruit her. Service was sharp. A lovely glass of cava and sangria, full to the brim, lobbed on the table within minutes of us plonking down on a table for four. (We had plenty of room, the waiter said.) Later we shared a brilliant bottle of Spanish wine, a Murcia-style blending monastrell and cabernet sauvignon grapes that was on special for $40. What year is it again? The padron peppers at Leederville tapas bar Duende. Credit: Supplied Duende also has signature cocktails with an Iberian twist, plus gin and tonics, spirits, and a decent roster of sherries. I remembered why I never drive home from this place. Speaking of specials, we decided to start with the chorizo de vino tino ($26), a flame-grilled fancy mini-snagger from Northbridge's Torre Butchers in red wine reduction served with charred bread. The chorizo was rich, quite gamey, and delicious. The champinones ($22), or mushrooms marinated in Pedro Ximenez sherry, were served with blue cheese and candied walnuts. A champion dish, you could really taste the PX in the mushies, which were served warm in a ceramic ramekin. A must-have dish. Gambas ajillo ($26), or prawns cooked in garlic, chilli and white wine, at Duende. Credit: Supplied Padron peppers are a staple of tapas for a good reason, and the pimiento de padron ($22) at Duende is excellent. Perhaps they could've been scorched more for that blackened, blistered skin but they were juicy and rested on a fresh herb mayonnaise with snow pea tendrils and oil — and radishes. Chef Geminiani has a thing for radishes. Where other Perth chefs overuse fried shallots, Duende's head chef popped thinly sliced radishes on almost everything bar the dessert, my sangria, and the bill. Clearly, Big Radish has got to her. After those three small plates, we ordered the chicken and chorizo paella ($22) and gambas ajillo ($26) — six delicious, well-charred prawns cooked in garlic, chilli and white wine. Another tasty winner, the small paella had as much chook and chorizo as rice. I like a bit of spice in my rice, so I asked for a hot sauce. Maybe Tabasco, if they had it. The chef whipped up a chilli sauce that was bang-on, and nearly lifted my head off. Luckily, I had some red plonk to calm my palate. The chocolate mousse at Leederville tapas bar Duende. Credit: Supplied The chocolate mousse with vanilla ice-cream and berry coulis was rich and sticky. Blackberries hid inside the smooth choccy, while more PX syrup made this a grown-up dessert. We shared a sherry drier than Hacks comedy diva Deborah Vance to really kick this home, while my wife commandeered the spoon. Daggy decor, bad dance music . . . who cares? The food rocked my socks off. I may never wear shoes again. Duende isn't the only tapas joint in Perth. It's not even the only one in Leederville. But it might be the best. To quote Eminem, the Detroit rapper, not the Turkish eatery, 'guess who's back'. Duende 662 Newcastle Street, Leederville OPEN Wednesday-Sunday, noon-late. CONTACT 9228 0123, BOOKINGS Yes THE VERDICT Hola! Plot a return to Perth's original tapas joint. New head chef Remya Geminiani has it back on track and banging with superb small dishes and great-value wines. Don't drive. 16.5/20

David Attenborough's Ocean a wake-up call from the sea
David Attenborough's Ocean a wake-up call from the sea

The Advertiser

time7 hours ago

  • The Advertiser

David Attenborough's Ocean a wake-up call from the sea

An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net ploughs the sea floor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. Ocean With David Attenborough is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark expose of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: "After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on earth is not on land, but at sea." The film traces Attenborough's lifetime - an era of unprecedented ocean discovery - through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. Ocean is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. "I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it," co-director Colin Butfield said. "Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere." The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidised. "For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible," Butfield said. "Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbour. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed." In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About nine million tonnes of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, Ocean is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies - they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030 - a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7 per cent of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called "protected" areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices such as bottom trawling is not just feasible - it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. "This could be the moment of change," he says. Ocean gives us the reason to believe - and the evidence to demand - that it must be. Ocean screens on National Geographic in the US and streams globally on Disney+ and Hulu from Sunday. An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net ploughs the sea floor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. Ocean With David Attenborough is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark expose of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: "After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on earth is not on land, but at sea." The film traces Attenborough's lifetime - an era of unprecedented ocean discovery - through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. Ocean is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. "I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it," co-director Colin Butfield said. "Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere." The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidised. "For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible," Butfield said. "Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbour. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed." In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About nine million tonnes of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, Ocean is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies - they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030 - a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7 per cent of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called "protected" areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices such as bottom trawling is not just feasible - it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. "This could be the moment of change," he says. Ocean gives us the reason to believe - and the evidence to demand - that it must be. Ocean screens on National Geographic in the US and streams globally on Disney+ and Hulu from Sunday. An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net ploughs the sea floor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. Ocean With David Attenborough is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark expose of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: "After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on earth is not on land, but at sea." The film traces Attenborough's lifetime - an era of unprecedented ocean discovery - through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. Ocean is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. "I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it," co-director Colin Butfield said. "Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere." The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidised. "For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible," Butfield said. "Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbour. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed." In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About nine million tonnes of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, Ocean is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies - they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030 - a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7 per cent of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called "protected" areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices such as bottom trawling is not just feasible - it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. "This could be the moment of change," he says. Ocean gives us the reason to believe - and the evidence to demand - that it must be. Ocean screens on National Geographic in the US and streams globally on Disney+ and Hulu from Sunday. An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net ploughs the sea floor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. Ocean With David Attenborough is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark expose of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: "After living for nearly 100 years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on earth is not on land, but at sea." The film traces Attenborough's lifetime - an era of unprecedented ocean discovery - through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. Ocean is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. "I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it," co-director Colin Butfield said. "Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere." The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidised. "For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible," Butfield said. "Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbour. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed." In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About nine million tonnes of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, Ocean is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies - they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030 - a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7 per cent of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called "protected" areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices such as bottom trawling is not just feasible - it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. "This could be the moment of change," he says. Ocean gives us the reason to believe - and the evidence to demand - that it must be. Ocean screens on National Geographic in the US and streams globally on Disney+ and Hulu from Sunday.

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