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moil.
• The closed-door talks at an army facility in Bangkok were taking place two days after Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha declared martial law, giving the army expansive powers and broadly censoring the media. Most Thais were watching the talks with a mix of skepticism and hope.
• One of the army's explanations for declaring martial law was to avoid feared clashes between the two sides in the conflict, and prevent more violence. The crisis, which started in November, has left 28 people dead and hundreds injured, many by drive-by shootings and grenades hurled at protest sites.
• Thailand has been gripped by bouts of political instability for more than seven years. The latest round of unrest started in November, when demonstrators took to the streets to try to force Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down. They accused her of being a proxy for her popular billionaire brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail sentence on a corruption conviction.
• Many of Thailand's highest-profile political figures were summoned by the army chief for the gathering of rivals, which was unthinkable until now. They included the acting prime minister -- who declined to attend the talks but sent four representatives in his place -- and anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, as well as Suthep's rival from the pro-government Red Shirt group, Jatuporn Prompan.
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• HONOLULU (AP) -- To take the Hokulea for a spin off the coast of Oahu is to see the Hawaiian islands in perhaps the same way as their discoverers did hundreds of years ago.
• Those seafarers likely arrived on a boat resembling the double-hulled canoe, bridged by a modest deck, compelled by three sails, steered by a rudder, its components held fast with ropes rather than screws or nails.
• Weather willing, the 62-foot vessel is scheduled to leave Hawaii Monday on its longest-ever ocean voyage. Relying on wind and stars to guide it, the Hokulea will chase the horizon for 47,000 miles, dropping anchor at 85 ports on six continents.
• "We could be sailing around the world on a high-end yacht, but we're not," said Chad Kalepa Baybayan, one of five master navigators who take shifts on the Hokulea. "We're doing it on traditionally built voyaging canoes, reflective of the architec

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