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  • Travel Email Marketing – Now Offered on Visited App

    Travel Email Marketing – Now Offered on Visited App

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    Press Release
    •

    Jun 25, 2024

    Visited has launched a new and innovative email marketing advertising platform, offering unique segmentation that’s never been seen in the travel industry.


    TORONTO, June 25, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Arriving In High Heels Corp., the company behind the popular travel app Visited, now offers travel email marketing services for U.S.-based travelers. Visited’s travel marketing email list of 300,000+ U.S.-based travelers offers unique segmentation not commonly seen on most platforms.

    Never before could advertisers segment travelers based on where the travelers want to visit or what their interests are as identified by them. “It is an innovative travel product because we can email users that live in a specific city or state, that want to visit a specific country, state or destination. We can also segment further based on what experiences they’d like to have abroad,” said Anna Kayfitz, CEO of Arriving in High Heels Corporation. 

    Data is collected via the app Visited, which now has over 2+ million downloads, with the majority of users using iOS devices and having visited on average 15 countries. The user signs up and maps where they have been and where they want to go. Travel lists allow users to select destinations or places that they have been to or want to go based on their point of interest or experience. With over 150 lists and growing, there is no shortage of segmentation possibilities, including hotel chains, cruise ships, art museums, snorkeling destinations and more. 

    To learn more about Visited’s travel email marketing services or about the app, check out visitedapp.com.

    About Arriving In High Heels Corporation
    Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company that is behind the Visited app. The visited app was created for the purpose of keeping track of a user’s travel and bucket list. It has expanded into travel planning by adding destinations of interest based on travel lists. The app was developed by data-driven travelers and has important insights into the number of countries a traveler has been to and what percentage of their personal travel journey they are on, as well as many other travel stats. 

    Source: Arriving In High Heels Corporation

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  • 2023 In Review Fast Facts | CNN

    2023 In Review Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look back at the events of 2023.

    January 3 – Republican Kevin McCarthy fails to secure enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House in three rounds of voting. On January 7, McCarthy is elected House speaker after multiple days of negotiations and 15 rounds of voting. That same day, the newly elected 118th Congress is officially sworn in.

    January 7 – Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, is pulled over for reckless driving. He is hospitalized following the arrest and dies three days later from injuries sustained during the traffic stop. Five officers from the Memphis Police Department are fired. On January 26, a grand jury indicts the five officers. They are each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. On September 12, the five officers are indicted by a federal grand jury on several charges including deprivation of rights.

    January 9 – The White House counsel’s office confirms that several classified documents from President Joe Biden’s time as vice president were discovered last fall in an office at the Penn Biden Center. On January 12, the White House counsel’s office confirms a small number of additional classified documents were located in President Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.

    January 13 – The Trump Organization is fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme.

    January 21 – Eleven people are killed in a mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, as the city’s Asian American community was celebrating Lunar New Year. The 72-year-old gunman is found dead the following day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

    January 24 – CNN reports that a lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI.

    January 25 – Facebook-parent company Meta announces it will restore former President Donald Trump’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks, just over two years after suspending him in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack.

    February 1 – Tom Brady announces his retirement after 23 seasons in the NFL.

    February 2 – Defense officials announce the United States is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States. On February 4, a US military fighter jet shoots down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean. On June 29, the Pentagon reveals the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the country.

    February 3 – A Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derails in East Palestine, Ohio. An evacuation order is issued for the area within a mile radius of the train crash. The order is lifted on February 8. After returning to their homes, some residents report they have developed a rash and nausea.

    February 7 – Lebron James breaks the NBA’s all-time scoring record, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    February 15 – Payton Gendron, 19, who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May, is sentenced to life in prison.

    February 18 – In a statement, the Carter Center says that former President Jimmy Carter will begin receiving hospice care at his home in Georgia.

    February 20 – President Biden makes a surprise trip to Kyiv for the first time since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.

    February 23 – Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly is sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Chicago federal courtroom on charges of child pornography and enticement of a minor. Kelly is already serving a 30-year prison term for his 2021 conviction on racketeering and sex trafficking charges in a New York federal court. Nineteen years of the 20-year prison sentence will be served at the same time as his other sentence. One year will be served after that sentence is complete.

    February 23 – Harvey Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York, is sentenced in Los Angeles to an additional 16 years in prison for charges of rape and sexual assault.

    March 2 – SpaceX and NASA launch a fresh crew of astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, kicking off a roughly six-month stay in space. The mission — which is carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

    March 2 – The jury in the double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh finds him guilty of murdering his wife and son. Murdaugh, the 54-year-old scion of a prominent and powerful family of local lawyers and solicitors, is also found guilty of two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the killings of Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021.

    March 3 – Four US citizens from South Carolina are kidnapped by gunmen in Matamoros, Mexico, in a case of mistaken identity. On March 7, two of the four Americans, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, are found dead and the other two, Latavia McGee and Eric Williams, are found alive. The cartel believed responsible for the armed kidnapping issues an apology letter and hands over five men to local authorities.

    March 10 – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announces that Silicon Valley Bank was shut down by California regulators. This is the second largest bank failure in US history, only to Washington Mutual’s collapse in 2008. SVB Financial Group, the former parent company of SVB, files for bankruptcy on March 17.

    March 27 – A 28-year-old Nashville resident shoots and kills three children and three adults at the Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter is fatally shot by responding officers.

    March 29 – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. On April 7, he is formally charged with espionage.

    March 30 – A grand jury in New York votes to indict Trump, the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges. On April 4, Trump surrenders and is placed under arrest before pleading not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege that Trump sought to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election through a hush money scheme with payments made to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump. He has denied the affairs.

    April 6 – Two Democratic members of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, are expelled while a third member, Rep. Gloria Johnson, is spared in an ousting by Republican lawmakers that was decried by the trio as oppressive, vindictive and racially motivated. This comes after Jones, Pearson and Johnson staged a demonstration on the House floor calling for gun reform following the shooting at the Covenant School. On April 10, Rep. Jones is sworn back in following a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council to reappoint him as an interim representative. On April 12, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners vote to confirm the reappointment of Rep. Pearson.

    April 6-13 – ProPublica reports that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, have gone on several luxury trips involving travel subsidized by and stays at properties owned by Harlan Crow, a GOP megadonor. The hospitality was not disclosed on Thomas’ public financial filings with the Supreme Court. The following week ProPublica reports Thomas failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal he made with Crow. On financial disclosure forms released on August 31, Thomas discloses the luxury trips and “inadvertently omitted” information including the real estate deal.

    April 7 – A federal judge in Texas issues a ruling on medication abortion drug mifepristone, saying he will suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s two-decade-old approval of it but paused his ruling for seven days so the federal government can appeal. But in a dramatic turn of events, a federal judge in Washington state says in a new ruling shortly after that the FDA must keep medication abortion drugs available in more than a dozen Democratic-led states.

    April 13 – 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard is arrested by the FBI in connection with the leaking of classified documents that have been posted online.

    April 18 – Fox News reaches a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, paying more than $787 million to end a two-year legal battle that publicly shredded the network’s credibility. Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.

    April 25 – President Biden formally announces his bid for reelection.

    May 2 – More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) go on strike for the first time since 2007. On September 26, the WGA announces its leaders have unanimously voted to authorize its members to return to work following the tentative agreement reached on September 24 between union negotiators and Hollywood’s studios and streaming services, effectively ending the months-long strike.

    May 9 – A Manhattan federal jury finds Trump sexually abused former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996 and awards her $5 million for battery and defamation.

    June 8 – Trump is indicted on a total of 37 counts in the special counsel’s classified documents probe. In a superseding indictment filed on July 27, Trump is charged with one additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts, bringing the total to 40 counts.

    June 16 – Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018, is convicted by a federal jury on all 63 charges against him. He is sentenced to death on August 2.

    June 18 – A civilian submersible disappears with five people aboard while voyaging to the wreckage of the Titanic. On June 22, following a massive search for the submersible, US authorities announce the vessel suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” killing all five people aboard.

    June 20 – ProPublica reports that Justice Samuel Alito did not disclose a luxury 2008 trip he took in which a hedge fund billionaire flew him on a private jet, even though the businessman would later repeatedly ask the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf. In a highly unusual move, Alito preemptively disputed the nature of the report before it was published, authoring an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he acknowledged knowing billionaire Paul Singer but downplaying their relationship.

    June 29 – The Supreme Court says colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis for granting admission, a landmark decision overturning long-standing precedent.

    July 13 – The FDA approves Opill to be available over-the-counter, the first nonprescription birth control pill in the United States.

    July 14 – SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, goes on strike after talks with major studios and streaming services fail. It is the first time its members have stopped work on movie and television productions since 1980. On November 8, SAG-AFTRA and the studios reach a tentative agreement, officially ending the strike.

    July 14 – Rex Heuermann, a New York architect, is charged with six counts of murder in connection with the deaths of three of the four women known as the “Gilgo Four.”

    August 1 – Trump is indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, DC, in the 2020 election probe. Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

    August 8 – Over 100 people are killed and hundreds of others unaccounted for after wildfires engulf parts of Maui. Nearly 3,000 homes and businesses are destroyed or damaged.

    August 14 – Trump and 18 others are indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges stemming from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump now faces a total of 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases. On August 24, Trump surrenders at the Fulton County jail where he is processed and released on bond.

    August 23 – Eight Republican presidential candidates face off in the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign in Milwaukee.

    September 12 – House Speaker McCarthy announces he is calling on his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, even as they have yet to prove allegations he directly profited off his son’s foreign business deals.

    September 14 – Hunter Biden is indicted by special counsel David Weiss in connection with a gun he purchased in 2018, the first time in US history the Justice Department has charged the child of a sitting president. The three charges include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm as a prohibited person.

    September 22 – New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is charged with corruption-related offenses for the second time in 10 years. Menendez and his wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, are accused of accepting “hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes” in exchange for the senator’s influence, according to the newly unsealed federal indictment.

    September 28 – Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female US senator in history, dies at the age of 90. On October 1, California Governor Gavin Newsom announces he will appoint Emily’s List president Laphonza Butler to replace her. Butler will become the first out Black lesbian to join Congress. She will also be the sole Black female senator serving in Congress and only the third in US history.

    September 29 – Las Vegas police confirm Duane Keith Davis, aka “Keffe D,” was arrested for the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

    October 3 – McCarthy is removed as House speaker following a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the post.

    October 25 – After three weeks without a speaker, the House votes to elect Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

    October 25 – Robert Card, a US Army reservist, kills 18 people and injures 13 others in a shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine. On October 27, after a two-day manhunt, he is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

    November 13 – The Supreme Court announces a code of conduct in an attempt to bolster the public’s confidence in the court after months of news stories alleging that some of the justices have been skirting ethics regulations.

    November 19 – Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passes away at the age of 96.

    January 8 – Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro storm the country’s congressional building, Supreme Court and presidential palace. The breaches come about a week after the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in a runoff election on October 30.

    January 15 – At least 68 people are killed when an aircraft goes down near the city of Pokhara in central Nepal. This is the country’s deadliest plane crash in more than 30 years.

    January 19 – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden announces she will not seek reelection in October.

    January 24 – President Volodymyr Zelensky fires a slew of senior Ukrainian officials amid a growing corruption scandal linked to the procurement of war-time supplies.

    February 6 – More than 15,000 people are killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Turkey and Syria.

    February 28 – At least 57 people are killed after two trains collide in Greece.

    March 1 – Bola Ahmed Tinubu is declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election.

    March 10 – Xi Jinping is reappointed as president for another five years by China’s legislature in a ceremonial vote in Beijing, a highly choreographed exercise in political theater meant to demonstrate legitimacy and unity of the ruling elite.

    March 16 – The French government forces through controversial plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.

    April 4 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.

    April 15 – Following months of tensions in Sudan between a paramilitary group and the country’s army, violence erupts.

    May 3 – A 13-year-old boy opens fire on his classmates at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, killing at least eight children along with a security guard. On May 4, a second mass shooting takes place when an attacker opens fire in the village of Dubona, about 37 miles southeast of Belgrade, killing eight people.

    May 5 – The World Health Organization announces Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency.

    May 6 – King Charles’ coronation takes place at Westminster Abbey in London.

    August 4 – Alexey Navalny is sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media reports. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum-security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.

    September 8 – Over 2,000 people are dead and thousands are injured after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hits Morocco.

    October 8 – Israel formally declares war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas after it carried out an unprecedented attack by air, sea and land on October 7.

    November 8 – The Vatican publishes new guidelines opening the door to Catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex couples.

    November 24 – The first group of hostages is released after Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary truce. Dozens more hostages are released in the following days. On December 1, the seven-day truce ends after negotiations reach an impasse and Israel accuses Hamas of violating the agreement by firing at Israel.

    Awards and Winners

    January 9 – The College Football Playoff National Championship game takes place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Georgia Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University’s Horned Frogs 65-7 for their second national title in a row.

    January 10 – The 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards are presented live on NBC.

    January 16-29 – The 111th Australian Open takes place. Novak Djokovic defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to win a 10th Australian Open title and a record-equaling 22nd grand slam. Belarusian-born Aryna Sabalenka defeats Elena Rybakina in three sets, becoming the first player competing under a neutral flag to secure a grand slam.

    February 5 – The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena.

    February 12 – Super Bowl LVII takes place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. This is the first Super Bowl to feature two Black starting quarterbacks.

    February 19 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the 65th Annual Daytona 500 in double overtime. It is the longest Daytona 500 ever with a record of 212 laps raced.

    March 12 – The 95th Annual Academy Awards takes place, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting for the third time.

    March 14 – Ryan Redington wins his first Iditarod.

    April 2 – The Louisiana State University Tigers defeat the University of Iowa Hawkeyes 102-85 in Dallas, to win the program’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship.

    April 3 – The University of Connecticut Huskies win its fifth men’s basketball national title with a 76-59 victory over the San Diego State University Aztecs in Houston.

    April 6-9 – The 87th Masters tournament takes place. Jon Rahm wins, claiming his first green jacket and second career major at Augusta National.

    April 17 – The 127th Boston Marathon takes place. The winners are Evans Chebet of Kenya in the men’s division and Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the women’s division.

    May 6 – Mage, a 3-year-old chestnut colt, wins the 149th Kentucky Derby.

    May 8-9 – The 147th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show takes place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. Buddy Holly, a petit basset griffon Vendéen, wins Best in Show.

    May 20 – National Treasure wins the 148th running of the Preakness Stakes.

    May 21 – Brooks Koepka wins the 105th PGA Championship at Oak Hill County Club in Rochester, New York. This is his third PGA Championship and fifth major title of his career.

    May 22-June 11 – The French Open takes place at Roland Garros Stadium in Paris. Novak Djokovic wins a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, defeating Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5 in the men’s final. Iga Świątek wins her third French Open in four years with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory against the unseeded Karolína Muchová in the women’s final.

    May 28 – Josef Newgarden wins the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500.

    June 10 – Arcangelo wins the 155th running of the Belmont Stakes.

    June 11 – The 76th Tony Awards takes place.

    June 12 – The Denver Nuggets defeat the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1 and claim their first NBA title in franchise history.

    June 13 – The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Florida Panthers in Game 5 to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

    June 18 – American golfer Wyndham Clark wins the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club.

    July 1-23 – The 110th Tour de France takes place. Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard wins his second consecutive Tour de France title.

    July 3-16 – Wimbledon takes place in London. Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in the men’s final, to win his first Wimbledon title. Markéta Vondroušová defeats Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4 in the women’s final, to win her first Wimbledon title and become the first unseeded woman in the Open Era to win the tournament.

    July 16-23 – Brian Harman wins the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, Wirral, England, for his first major title.

    July 20-August 20 – The Women’s World Cup takes place in Australia and New Zealand. Spain defeats England 1-0 to win its first Women’s World Cup.

    August 28-September 10 – The US Open Tennis Tournament takes place. Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic defeats Daniil Medvedev.

    October 2-9 – The Nobel Prizes are announced. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

    November 1 – The Texas Rangers win the World Series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5.

    November 5 – The New York City Marathon takes place. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola sets a course record and wins the men’s race. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri wins the women’s race.

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  • Travefy Launches Hotel Content Integration for Internova Travel Group’s Network of 100,000+ Travel Advisors

    Travefy Launches Hotel Content Integration for Internova Travel Group’s Network of 100,000+ Travel Advisors

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    Travefy now offers advisors from ALTOUR, Global Travel Collection and Travel Leaders Network direct access to hotel content for the Internova SELECT Hotels & Resorts program within Travefy’s award-winning platform.

    Press Release
    –

    Feb 22, 2023


    LINCOLN, Neb., February 22, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Travefy – the leading itinerary, proposal and client management tool for travel advisors – announced that Internova Travel Group’s exclusive SELECT Hotels & Resorts content is now directly integrated in Travefy’s platform.

    Travel advisors, affiliated with Internova’s family of brands, including ALTOUR, Global Travel Collection and Travel Leaders Network, can now import property content for the Internova SELECT Hotels & Resorts Program into any Travefy itinerary or proposal with photos, description and Internova SELECT benefits automatically included.

    Internova SELECT Hotels & Resorts, a competitive, value-added amenity program carefully curated by Internova Travel Group, is a collection of more than 1,600 of the world’s most distinguished premium properties. The program offers exclusive amenities, creating memorable experiences for travelers who book through their trusted Internova travel advisor.

    “Travefy is thrilled to further support Internova and its entire family of travel agency brands with this key integration to help them streamline their itinerary creation process,” notes Travefy’s VP of Sales and Marketing, Scott Rutz. “This ability allows advisors to add valuable and stunning details to their itineraries in seconds that levels up quality they can deliver to clients.”

    In 2022, Travefy was honored to become a preferred support provider with Internova Travel Group. Travefy provides travel advisors across all Internova brands streamlined access to Travefy’s award-winning technology, including preferred pricing and exclusive training, among other benefits. 

    “From day one, we have been impressed with Travefy’s ability to build itinerary management and client communications tools for our business,” said Jeremy Van Kuyk, Chief Information Officer for Internova Travel Group, one of the industry’s largest travel services companies. “We are proud to continue our partnership as we work together to fulfill our mission to empower our network of travel advisors with the most exceptional programs, products and support to deliver unparalleled experiences to the traveler.”

    ABOUT TRAVEFY

    Travefy’s mission is to power the success of travel professionals. Our award-winning suite of itinerary, proposal, client management, and marketing tools help Travel Advisors and professionals save time, impress clients and sell more. 

    Travefy powers thousands of travel businesses across the globe ranging from small, independent travel advisors to the largest travel agencies, consortia and organizations. Travefy has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes among other publications and has won numerous industry honors, including the ASTA Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

    For more information, please see: https://travefy.com 

    ABOUT INTERNOVA TRAVEL GROUP

    Internova Travel Group is one of the largest travel services companies in the world with a collection of leading brands delivering high-touch, personal travel expertise to leisure and corporate clients. Internova manages leisure, business and franchise firms through a portfolio of distinctive divisions. Internova represents more than 100,000 travel advisors in over 6,000 company-owned and affiliated locations predominantly in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a presence in more than 80 countries.

    Source: Travefy

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  • This company will make employees pay a hefty fine if they bother colleagues on vacation | CNN Business

    This company will make employees pay a hefty fine if they bother colleagues on vacation | CNN Business

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    New Delhi
    CNN
     — 

    Getting urgent work emails from colleagues even during vacation? This is a common occurrence for many white-collar workers, especially in India where employees feel overworked and underpaid compared to their global peers, according to several studies over the years.

    But one Mumbai-based firm has come up with a novel way to fix this problem.

    Dream11, a fantasy gaming platform, will fine its employees 100,000 rupees ($1,200) if they contact colleagues with “work-related calls or messages” during their time off.

    This is part of the company’s efforts to ensure that its employees get to “switch off and enjoy a healthy work-life balance,” according to a statement shared by Dream11 with CNN.

    Under the policy, called Unplug, employees log off from all office work for seven days in a year.

    “Individuals who have opted for an unplugged leave are logged out of … emails, Slack and WhatsApp groups,” the statement added.

    The spokesperson did not share when the policy was first introduced. According to a December interview with CNBC, the company’s co-founders said the policy has been effective so far.

    Founded in 2008, Dream11 has more than 1,000 employees, is valued at $8 billion and includes Tiger Global and Tencent among its investors, according to to data platform Tracxn.

    Not taking a break can be dangerous for health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), working long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year through stroke and heart disease.

    In a global analysis of the link between loss of life, health and working long hours, WHO and the International Labour Organization estimated that in 2016, some 745,000 people died as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week.

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  • The Bidens make an island escape ahead of consequential 2024 announcement | CNN Politics

    The Bidens make an island escape ahead of consequential 2024 announcement | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    President Joe Biden this week returns to St. Croix, one of his and first lady Jill Biden’s beloved vacation spots, seeking a final opportunity for rest before what is expected to be a contentious 2023 and reelection run.

    As Biden unwinds in a familiar spot – the first couple have visited the US Virgin Islands for more than a dozen years, vacationing there approximately ten times since the mid-2000s – the work on his path forward intensifies back in a frigid Washington, DC. Advisers are already preparing the president’s annual State of the Union address, typically delivered in late January or early February, viewing the speech as an opportunity to lay down the stakes and themes that Biden could adopt on the campaign trail.

    The first couple arrived in St. Croix on Tuesday, along with family members, a gathering of the tight-knit clan who, according to several people with knowledge of recent conversations who have spoken to CNN, have now pledged support for another White House run by Biden. Senior administration officials once viewed this week’s tropical escape as a crucial juncture that would play a major part in deciding his political future, and – while the president does still plan to mull with his family the pros and cons of mounting a reelection bid – people who have discussed the matter with him lately say the decision is essentially made.

    CNN Exclusive: Pelosi and Schumer say Biden should run for re-election in 2024

    Clues that Biden was expected in St. Croix were everywhere in the run-up to his arrival: the jumbo C-17 transport planes sitting among the puddle jumpers at the airport; temporary security checkpoints among the bougainvillea along the quiet coastal road; unusually high numbers of visitors from Washington.

    Even for a popular tourist destination accustomed to a wave of winter travelers, this week’s presidential visit has maxed out the island’s resources. Rental cars were all taken, and hotels were at capacity, according to residents.

    After the Bidens skipped the US Virgin Islands tradition the last two years, this trip may have some of the same vibes as one of their more recent vacations. In the early hours of 2019, when Biden was last contemplating a presidential bid, the couple were photographed taking a selfie at Point Udall in St. Croix on New Year’s Day, catching the first sunrise of the new year at the easternmost point under the American Flag, as the popular tourist spot is known.

    A decision had been made. Several months later, Biden would announce his candidacy for the presidency.

    In 2014, Joe and Jill Biden enjoyed their time on the island so much, they visited St. Croix twice – once to ring in the new year and again for a weekend in March, a quick getaway trip not on the then-vice president’s official schedule.

    In 2015, the couple again passed the week after Christmas there, after deciding he would not run for the White House.

    In 2016, Bidens spent the waning days of his vice presidency relaxing on St. Croix, ahead of Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House.

    Biden’s loyalty to the US territory has been the most high-profile of any American politician in recent history. A sitting American president has not visited St. Croix since Harry S. Truman in 1948. Truman arrived by yacht – the USS Williamsburg – and was hosted at an estate owned by the manufacturer of Jeeps.

    In 1997, President Bill Clinton visited neighboring St. Thomas, another of the US Virgin Islands, for his winter vacation, chartering a catamaran with his family and snorkeling with daughter Chelsea.

    In a 2020 statement, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. said of Biden, “We consider him our hometown president.” Asked why the Bidens have picked St. Croix as their island getaway, Vanessa Valdivia, the first lady’s press secretary, told CNN, “Over the years, the president and first lady have frequently traveled to a warmer location the week after Christmas, going to the US Virgin Island several times.”

    For the entirety of his presidency, Biden has skipped out when he can on weekends in Washington, DC, in favor of his longtime family home in Wilmington, Delaware, where residence staff and storied rooms aren’t a thing.

    St. Croix, for the first couple, has provided that sort of intense privacy, plus the warmth and beach that the Bidens favor.

    During their visits in the years after Biden served as vice president, when his security apparatus dwindled and normalcy found a return to their daily routine, the first couple could be spotted around the island on occasion with virtually no entourage, driving themselves along the flower-lined roads in a rental Toyota sedan.

    The home they leased was modest – only a few bedrooms – and was available at other times of the year for other tourists on vacation rental websites.

    Yet on Tuesday, law enforcement was busy in the same area making preparations for Biden’s visit, including setting up flood lights and popping up white tents to act as checkpoints along the roadside.

    The Bidens are staying at the home of his friends Bill and Connie Neville in St. Croix, the White House says. The president and first lady have stayed at the home of the tech executive on previous visits to the island.

    The first couple are “beach people,” said a family friend familiar with their vacation preferences. Others who know them well said there is little more they enjoy when relaxing than pitching an umbrella on the beach, tossing a towel onto the sand and closing their eyes under a warm sun.

    Their Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, neighbors are now used to being screened by Secret Service agents during beach walks, the telltale signal the president and/or first lady have walked down from their oceanside vacation residence to the beach for a respite closer to the waves.

    The first lady, in particular, finds peace in her books and soaking up the sun. This spring, staff for Jill Biden – on a solo, whirlwind, three-country visit to Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica – made sure to schedule private time for the first lady beside the pool at a resort out of Panama City, so she could lay out like dozens of other vacationers, steps from the waterside.

    “They both prefer hot and sunny and humid to wet and snowy and cold,” said another close acquaintance of the Bidens.

    For the first couple, a true respite involves privacy as well, not just sun and warmth. St. Croix has fit the checklist. Locals have spotted the couple in years past at the grocery store, going mostly unnoticed as they shopped for vacation provisions at Seaside Market and Deli. Joe Biden has played rounds of golf at the Buccaneer Resort, a par-70 course described as “challenging, yet very playable” on the property’s website.

    They have attended mass at the white-steepled Holy Cross Catholic Church in the island’s main town Christiansted.

    The break from Washington comes on the heels of a busy holiday season. Jill Biden – so tasked with dozens of White House celebrations, photo lines, family visits and general hosting duties that she had laryngitis for several days – is on her second week off from her teaching duties at Northern Virginia Community College.

    For Joe Biden, the stakes of getting away are not just about rest and recuperation.

    Barring unforeseen events or a sudden change of heart, Biden’s team is laying the groundwork for a reelection announcement in the coming months, putting to rest persistent speculation about whether the 80-year-old president would seek another term.

    CNN has reported that Jill Biden is “all in” on the 2024 campaign despite previous concerns about the deep implications of what a second run might mean for her family and her husband. She has, as one White House official told CNN, “zero concerns” about Joe Biden’s schedule and stamina.

    “This is, ultimately, a family decision,” Joe Biden said at a news conference last month. “I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it.”

    Aside from the rigors of launching the final political campaign of his career, Biden will face a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, intent on stymieing many of his legislative ambitions. Republican leaders have also vowed to mount investigations into Biden’s administration and his family.

    With his legislative prospects dampened, Biden plans to travel extensively in the new year promoting the accomplishments from his first two years in office. It will be an intense period that could ultimately include a rematch with his 2020 opponent, Trump – and one that will require the full backing of his wife of 45 years, along with the support of his extended family.

    If there is a time to speak up on hesitations, either his own or from his offspring, it would be during this vacation.

    Wayne Nichols, who leads Alexander Hamilton tours of St. Croix in the character of the founding father, recalled a 2019 encounter he had with Biden, with whom he engaged while the then-not-quite-presidential candidate was walking alone on the east end of the island.

    At the time, Biden was also mulling a daunting campaign. After passing on a bid in 2016 following the death of his son, he was being encouraged by his family to mount a challenge to Trump.

    Nichols said he stopped Biden to ask if he would run.

    “My question to him was, ‘Well, you’re going to run?’ He goes, ‘Well, I’m running now.’ And I thought, well, technically you’re walking,” Nichols recalled this week, wondering whether he might again cross paths with Biden.

    Nichols came across Joe Biden a second time that week in 2019, while out for a walk on the island – Joe Biden up front, Jill Biden walking a few paces behind – when someone in the group told Jill Biden that her husband ought to run for president.

    “‘When you get up there, let him know that,’” Nichols said she responded.

    As the Bidens make similar deliberations this year, they won’t be getting around in a rented Toyota and their stops on the island will go less unnoticed.

    “I have a feeling this is the place,” Nichols said of Biden often choosing St. Croix as his spot to find stillness for a consequential decision about the future. “Chilling there by the water with the nice weather. They get to talk about it. And I believe he’ll run again, only because I don’t know that he thinks there’s any alternative.”

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  • Beijing, Shenzhen scrap COVID-19 tests for public transport

    Beijing, Shenzhen scrap COVID-19 tests for public transport

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    BEIJING — Chinese authorities on Saturday announced a further easing of COVID-19 curbs with major cities such as Shenzhen and Beijing no longer requiring negative tests to take public transport.

    The slight relaxation of testing requirements comes even as daily virus infections reach near-record highs, and follows weekend protests across the country by residents frustrated by the rigid enforcement of anti-virus restrictions that are now entering their fourth year, even as the rest of the world has opened up.

    The southern technological manufacturing center of Shenzhen said Saturday that commuters no longer need to show a negative COVID-19 test result to use public transport or when entering pharmacies, parks and tourist attractions.

    Meanwhile, the capital Beijing said Friday that negative test results are also no longer required for public transport from Monday. However, a negative result obtained within the past 48 hours is still required to enter venues like shopping malls, which have gradually reopened with many restaurants and eateries providing takeout services.

    The requirement has led to complaints from some Beijing residents that even though the city has shut many testing stations, most public venues still require COVID-19 tests.

    The government reported 33,018 domestic infections in the past 24 hours, including 29,085 with no symptoms.

    As the rest of the world has learned to live with the virus, China remains the only major nation still sticking to a “zero-COVID” strategy which aims to isolate every infected person. The policy, which has been in place since the pandemic started, led to snap lockdowns and mass testing across the country.

    China still imposes mandatory quarantine for incoming travelers even as its infection numbers are low compared to its 1.4 billion population.

    The recent demonstrations, the largest and most widely spread in decades, erupted Nov. 25 after a fire in an apartment building in the northwestern city of Urumqi killed at least 10 people.

    That set off angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls. Authorities denied that, but the deaths became a focus of public frustration.

    The country saw several days of protests across cities including Shanghai and Beijing, with protesters demanding an easing of COVID-19 curbs. Some demanded Chinese President Xi Jinping step down, an extraordinary show of public dissent in a society over which the ruling Communist Party exercises near total control.

    Xi’s government has promised to reduce the cost and disruption of controls but says it will stick with “zero COVID.” Health experts and economists expect it to stay in place at least until mid-2023 and possibly into 2024 while millions of older people are vaccinated in preparation for lifting controls that keep most visitors out of China.

    While the government has conceded some mistakes, blamed mainly on overzealous officials, criticism of government policies can result in punishment. Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was recently fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for criticizing conditions in team quarantine facilities, according to local media reports.

    On Friday, World Health Organization emergencies director Dr. Michael Ryan said that the U.N. agency was “pleased” to see China loosening some of its coronavirus restrictions, saying “it’s really important that governments listen to their people when the people are in pain.”

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  • Hawaii volcano’s lava oozes toward key Big Island highway

    Hawaii volcano’s lava oozes toward key Big Island highway

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    KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii — Rivers of glowing lava oozing from the world’s largest volcano could swallow the main highway linking the east and west coasts of Hawaii’s Big Island as early as this weekend, and there’s nothing humans can do to stop it, experts said.

    Mauna Loa awoke from its 38-year slumber Sunday, spewing volcanic ash and debris into the sky. The molten rock is drawing thousands of awestruck viewers to Route 200 as it passes near Volcanoes National Park, and they endure a thick smell of volcanic gases and sulfur to watch the wide stream of lava creep closer.

    “It’s a thrill,” said Kathryn Tarananda, 66, of Waimea. She set two alarms to make sure she didn’t miss her chance to see the sun rise against the backdrop of the eruptions. “We’re out in the middle of raw nature. It’s awe inspiring that we live in this place. … I feel really, really fortunate to be an islander.”

    The lava tumbling slowly down the slope has drawn within several miles of the highway, which runs through old lava flows. Known as Saddle Road, it bisects the island, connecting the cities of Hilo and Kailua-Kona. If it becomes impassable, the alternative is a longer coastal road, adding several hours of driving time.

    Ken Hon, scientist in charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said Wednesday that at the current flow rate, the lava could reach the road in as little as two days, though it will likely take longer. “As the lava flow spreads out, it will probably interfere with its own progress,” Hon said.

    Lava crossed the Mauna Loa Observatory access road Monday night and cut off its power, Hon said. It’s the world’s premier station that measures heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The federal government is looking for a temporary alternate site on the Hawaiian island and is contemplating flying a generator to the observatory to get its power back so it can take measurements again.

    Meanwhile, scientists are trying to measure the gas emitted from the eruption.

    Anne Andersen left her overnight shift as a nurse to see the spectacle Wednesday, afraid the road would soon be closed.

    “It’s Mother Nature showing us her face,” she said, as the volcano belched gas on the horizon. “It’s pretty exciting.”

    Gordon Brown, visiting from Loomis, California, could see the bright orange lava from the bedroom of his rental house, so he and his wife went out for a closer view. “It is so bright, it just blows my mind,” Brown said.

    Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984. The current eruption is its 34th since written record keeping began in 1843. Its smaller neighbor, Kilauea, has been erupting since September 2021, so visitors to the national park were treated to the rare sight of two simultaneous eruptive events: the glow from Kilauea’s lava lake and lava from a Mauna Loa fissure.

    Officials were initially concerned that lava flowing down Mauna Loa would head toward the community of South Kona, but scientists later assured the public the eruption had migrated to a rift zone on the volcano’s northeast flank and wasn’t threatening communities.

    Gov. David Ige has issued an emergency proclamation to allow responders to arrive quickly or limit access as needed. He’s dealt with multiple volcanic eruptions during his eight years as governor, and said it’s impossible to redirect the glowing rock.

    “There is no physical way or technological way to change the course of where the lava flows,” Ige told a news conference, recalling how many wished it was possible in 2018, when Kilauea sent lava pouring across homes, farms and roads.

    “The power of Mother Nature and Madam Pele overwhelms anything that we can do,” Ige said, referring to the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire.

    If lava does cross the highway, the Hawaii National Guard can help plan for alternatives and try to set up bypass routes, the governor said.

    ———

    Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu and Greg Bull and Haven Daley in Hilo.

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  • Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers

    Hawaii volcano eruption has some on alert, draws onlookers

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    HILO, Hawaii — The first eruption in 38 years of the world’s largest active volcano is attracting onlookers to a national park for “spectacular” views of the event, and it’s also dredging up bad memories among some Hawaii residents who have been through harrowing volcanic experiences in the past.

    It was just four years ago that Nicole Skilling fled her home near a community where more than 700 residences were destroyed by lava. She relocated to the South Kona area, only to find herself packing her car with food and supplies this week after Mauna Loa erupted late Sunday.

    Officials were initially concerned that lava flowing down the side of the volcano would head toward South Kona, but scientists later assured the public that the eruption migrated to a rift zone on Mauna Loa’s northeast flank and wasn’t threatening any communities.

    Still, the uncertainty is somewhat unnerving.

    “It just happened last night, so I really haven’t had a lot of time to worry about it yet, basically,” Skilling said Monday. “And thankfully, right now, it’s at the northeast rift zone. But if it breaks on the west side, that’s when we’re talking about coming into a large populated area. … That’s why I do have a little bit of PTSD.”

    Even though there were no evacuation orders, some people decided to leave their homes, prompting officials to open shelters in the Kona and Kau areas. Very few if any stayed in them overnight, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said, and they would be closing Tuesday.

    “Cleary the danger for the Kau area and Kona area has gone, so there’s really no need to have the shelter up there any longer,” Roth said.

    Despite that, some in the area were preparing for unpredictable changes.

    Kamakani Rivera-Kekololio, who lives in the south Kona community of Hookena, was keeping supplies like food and blankets in his car.

    “We’re being makaukau for anything,” Rivera-Kekololio said, using the Hawaiian word for “ready.”

    Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said Tuesday that the lava was flowing “not super fast” at less than 1 mph. It was moving downhill about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Saddle Road, which connects the east and west sides of the island. The flow was likely to slow down about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the road when it hits flatter ground.

    Lava crossed the Mauna Loa Observatory access road Monday night and cut off power to the facility, Hon added. It could move toward the county seat of Hilo, but that could take a week or longer.

    Meanwhile, scientists are trying to measure the gas emitted from the eruption.

    “It’s just very early in this eruption right now,” Hon said.

    The eruption is drawing visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is open 24 hours a day. “The viewing has been spectacular” especially before sunrise and at night, park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said.

    Visitors there are currently able to witness two eruptive events: the glow from Kilauea’s lava lake and lava from a Mauna Loa fissure.

    “This is a rare time where we have two eruptions happening simultaneously,” Ferracane said.

    Hilo resident Lea Ferreira said she doesn’t plan to be one of those spectators. And she’s not worried about this eruption because she remembers the last one in 1984.

    “This is nothing. She came out quiet, very quiet,” she said, referring to Pele, the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire. “In 1984, you could see the flow high in the air.”

    Ferreira said she could see only a bit of the glow and a “very small amount of lava” from Hilo.

    Some people were driving to get a closer look, but Ferreira won’t: “I’ll let her do her thing.”

    ———

    Kelleher reported from Honolulu. Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed.

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  • Monkeys in central Thailand city mark their day with feast

    Monkeys in central Thailand city mark their day with feast

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    LOPBURI, Thailand — A meal fit for monkeys was served on Sunday at the annual Monkey Feast Festival in central Thailand.

    Amid the morning traffic, rows of monkey statues holding trays were lined up outside the compound of the Ancient Three Pagodas, while volunteers prepared food across the road for real monkeys — the symbol of the province around 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Bangkok.

    Throngs of macaque monkeys ran around, at times fighting with each other, while the crowds of visitors and locals grew.

    As the carefully prepared feast was brought toward the temple, the ravenous creatures began to pounce and were soon devouring the largely vegetarian spread.

    While the entertainment value of the festival is high, organizers are quick to point out that it is not just monkey business.

    “This monkey feast festival is a successful event that helps promote Lopburi’s tourism among international tourists every year,” said Yongyuth Kitwatanusont, the festival’s founder.

    “Previously, there were around 300 monkeys in Lopburi before increasing to nearly 4,000 nowadays. But Lopburi is known as a monkey city, which means monkeys and people can live in harmony.”

    Such harmony could be seen in the lack of shyness exhibited by the monkeys, which climbed on to visitors, vehicles and lampposts. At times the curious animals looked beyond the abundant feast and took an interest in other items.

    “There was a monkey on my back as I was trying to take a selfie. He grabbed the sunglasses right off my face and ran off on to the top of a lamppost and was trying to eat them for a while,” said Ayisha Bhatt, an English teacher from California working in Thailand.

    The delighted onlookers were largely undeterred by the risk of petty theft, although some were content to exercise caution.

    “We have to take care with them, better leave them to it. Not too near is better,” said Carlos Rodway, a tourist from Cadiz, Spain, having previously been unceremoniously treated as a climbing frame by one audacious monkey.

    The festival is an annual tradition in Lopburi and held as a way to show gratitude to the monkeys for bringing in tourism. This year’s theme is “monkeys feeding monkeys,” an antidote to previous years where monkey participation had decreased due to high numbers of tourists, which intimidated the animals.

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  • Review: A portrait of an artist in Venice-winning doc

    Review: A portrait of an artist in Venice-winning doc

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    Nan Goldin, the subject of Laura Poitras’ Venice Film Festival-winning documentary “ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” is a name you probably either know well or not at all. In the art world, she is unequivocally famous. Her photographs depicting downtown life in the late 1970s and ’80s and the vibrant, glamorous bohemians she encountered on the scene, like John Waters It-Girl Cookie Mueller, have been displayed at the Whitney, the Tate and MoMA.

    To look at any of the photos in her most well-known work, the ever-evolving slideshow “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency,” you can see how influential she was on generations to come with her raw, public-private snapshots of parties that didn’t end until dawn, beautiful “queens” and even her face, one month after a “dope-sick” boyfriend beat her so badly she almost lost her eye. The New York Times review of a collection of those photographs at the time said that “The Ballad” was to the 1980s what Robert Frank’s “The Americans” was to the 1950s. And it would become a devastating document of many of the young lives lost in the AIDS epidemic.

    This is only part of Goldin’s story, as you’ll learn in “ All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” which begins its theatrical run this week in New York before expanding to more markets in the coming weeks. Poitras, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “ Citizenfour,” started filming Goldin to document her protest efforts against museums accepting money from the Sackler family. Their company, Purdue Pharma, developed and marketed the widely prescribed and widely abused painkiller OxyContin, the brand name for the opioid oxycodone. Opioids, which also include fentanyl, have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

    Goldin several years ago found herself addicted to opioids which she was prescribed for a surgery and took according to instructions. But, she said, she became addicted overnight. When she got out of treatment, she started reading about Purdue and the Sacklers, a name she associated with museums and philanthropy. Sackler-run foundations have given many millions of dollars to some of the world’s most prestigious museums and universities, from the Guggenheim to Oxford. And her mission became clear: To use her status in the art world to get museums to stop accepting money from the Sacklers, take down their name from galleries and to change how we think about addiction and treatment. And partially as a result of her efforts, many museums from the Louvre to the Met, have distanced themselves from the Sacklers.

    Poitras smartly saw that there was a very clear through-line from what Goldin did in the ’80s, when she came out of rehab and saw all her friends dying of AIDS, and what she was doing now. The documentary weaves together these threads to make a holistic portrait of an artist’s battle cry.

    Though the Sackler protests are the hook, the film’s strongest portions are its historical ones. Poitras artfully overlays Goldin’s heartbreaking eloquence with her photographs and a camera shutter soundtrack. Goldin speaks about everything from her stifling childhood in suburbia to the ripple effect of her older sister Barbara’s teenage institutionalization to her death by suicide at age 18 that left Nan, then Nancy Goldin, bouncing between foster homes. It wasn’t until she found a camera that she found her voice and her true family (her friends).

    There are some particularly devastating family realizations that Poitras and Goldin save for last. It’s trite to call that an origin story, but with Goldin, everything stemmed from those confusing days. She’d been told early on never to let the neighbors know about their troubles. Brushing it under the rug, not talking about it and not dealing with it would destroy them, though.

    Goldin might not have known it when she started photographing her LGBTQ friends, but her work has always been about looking at the so-called fringe cultures in society, about showing the problems that the masses would rather just ignore and making them so urgent that you can’t look away anymore. It is an act of hope in the idea that things could be better because the alternative, the silence, is infinitely worse. Goldin would know.

    As Goldin says at the start, “It’s easy to make your life into a story. But it’s harder to sustain real memories.”

    “The real memories are what affect me now,” she continued. “Even if you don’t actually unleash the memories, the effect is there, it’s in your body.”

    “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a NEON release in limited release now, expanding on, has not been rated by the Motion Picture Association. Running time: 117 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

    ———

    In a story published Nov. 25, 2022, reviewing “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” The Associated Press erroneously reported that OxyContin had been responsible for more than 500,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. That death toll is attributed generally to opioids, which include oxycodone and fentanyl.

    ———

    Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.

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  • Macao awards casino licenses to MGM, Sands, Wynn, 3 others

    Macao awards casino licenses to MGM, Sands, Wynn, 3 others

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    BEIJING — Macao has tentatively renewed the casino licenses of MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and three Chinese rivals after they promised to help diversify its economy by investing in non-gambling attractions, the government said Saturday.

    The announcement is positive news for owners who have invested billions of dollars to build the former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong into the biggest global gambling center. But the requirement to spend on theme parks, music and sports adds to financial pressure at a time when revenue has plunged under anti-virus restrictions.

    Regulators will negotiate final terms before licenses take effect Jan. 1, the office of Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced. A seventh bidder, newcomer Genting Group of Malaysia, received no license.

    The territory of 700,000 people on a peninsula in the South China Sea is the world’s most tourism-dependent economy. It’s under pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to diversify with retailing, entertainment and other industries and to reduce reliance on gamblers from the mainland, its main revenue source.

    License applicants promised to fulfill requirements including “exploring overseas customer markets and developing non-gaming projects,” a government statement said.

    It gave no details, but TDM Radio Macau reported earlier the winners would be expected to invest a total of $12.5 billion.

    Macao’s economy has shrunk since anti-virus restrictions that shut down most tourist travel were imposed in 2020.

    The Chinese operators include SJM Holdings, part of the empire of the late Stanley Ho, who had a four-decade monopoly on casinos until 2001.

    The others are Melco International, run by Ho’s son Lawrence, and Galaxy Entertainment Group.

    The decision to allow in foreign-owned casinos in 2002 brought a flood of money to Macao. The six license holders operate a total of 41 casinos.

    Annual revenue from slot machines, dice tables and other games peaked at $45 billion in 2013, more than triple Las Vegas’ level. But it slid after Beijing tightened controls on how often mainland gamblers could visit.

    By 2019, before the pandemic, gambling revenue sank 19% from 2013′s level to $36.4 billion. In 2020, it collapsed 80% to just $7.6 billion. Last year, revenue climbed back to $10.8 billion, but that is down 75% from 2013.

    In the latest quarter, the economy shrank by another one-third from last year’s depressed level due to anti-virus controls imposed after outbreaks in June, according to the government. It said gambling revenue plunged 72.5% and tourist arrivals shrank 50.8%.

    Adding non-gambling assets would make Macao more like Las Vegas. Casinos there try to attract families and non-gamblers with roller coasters, music, shopping centers, art exhibits and water parks.

    SJM operates a zip line and indoor skydiving attractions. It dropped a proposal for a Hello Kitty theme park. The tycoon behind Galaxy talked about a possible theme park resembling the movie “Avatar,” but it never went ahead.

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  • Mexico issues arrest warrant for US citizen accused of killing her friend while on vacation in San Jose del Cabo | CNN

    Mexico issues arrest warrant for US citizen accused of killing her friend while on vacation in San Jose del Cabo | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An arrest warrant has been issued in Mexico for a woman suspected of fatally assaulting a friend from North Carolina while on vacation last month in San Jose del Cabo, a prosecutor says.

    Shanquella Robinson, 25, was traveling with college friends from Winston-Salem State University when she died while staying in a vacation rental property, said her father, Bernard Robinson.

    Robinson, with six friends, arrived October 28 in Mexico, according to a Thursday statement by Mexican prosecutors working on extradition proceedings with their country’s attorney general and Foreign Affairs Ministry.

    Evidence shows the death resulted from “a direct attack, not an accident,” and involved a female friend of the victim, the prosecutors said.

    Mexican authorities have said the death occurred in San Jose del Cabo. The FBI said it occurred in nearby Cabo San Lucas, and the agency has not answered CNN’s request for comment.

    Mexican officials have not named the suspect but confirmed she is a US citizen who is believed to be in the United States. No one has been charged in the case, and authorities have not released the names of Robinson’s friends.

    CNN has reached out to the US State Department, FBI and US Justice Department for comment.

    Lawyer explains two ways Shanquella Robinson investigation can go


    02:08

    – Source:
    CNN

    The extradition process was underway for the suspect, the attorney general for Mexico’s Baja California Sur, Daniel de la Rosa, told local media Wednesday.

    “There is already an arrest warrant issued for the crime of femicide to the detriment of the victim and against an alleged, responsible for these acts, a friend of hers,” de la Rosa said Wednesday.

    The death did not result from a “quarrel” but from “a direct aggression that this person made,” de la Rosa said.

    “We are already carrying out all the relevant procedures, both the Interpol file and the extradition request,” he said.

    The arrest warrant is valid in Mexico, prosecutors said, adding they are in consultation with federal government officials in both countries about the extradition request.

    Mexico and the US have a longstanding extradition treaty and a history of cooperation on such matters, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson said Friday.

    “On the one hand, you could see Mexico engage in the prosecution,” Jackson said. “On the other, we certainly have a statute in the United States that would provide for our government to be involved. … In the event that you go overseas and an American citizen is ultimately killed by another American citizen, there’s a statute that could provide for the prosecution to take place in this country.”

    Robinson last spoke to her mother, Salamondra, on the phone on the morning of October 28, her father told CNN last week. The next day, Shanquella Robinson was found dead at her vacation rental, US and Mexican authorities said.

    The cause of death was “severe spinal cord injury and atlas luxation,” which is instability or excessive movement in the uppermost neck vertebrae, states a copy of her death certificate obtained by CNN affiliate WBTV. She was found unconscious in the living room of the rental residence on October 29, the document states.

    The death certificate classified Robinson’s death as “accidental or violent,” noting the approximate time between injury and death was 15 minutes.

    Video posted online appears to show a physical altercation inside a room between Robinson and another person. It’s not clear when the video was taken or if it depicts the moment she suffered the fatal injury.

    It is Robinson seen in the video being thrown to the floor and beaten on the head, Bernard Robinson confirmed to CNN.

    It’s unclear what led to the altercation or how many people were in the room at the time. It’s also unclear if anyone tried to intervene.

    The FBI Charlotte Field Office has opened an investigation into Shanquella Robinson’s death, it has confirmed.

    Her family had been waiting for more information from her friends and Mexican authorities, her father said a week ago.

    “You took my only jewel from me,” he told CNN by phone. “You put a big hole in my heart. The only thing I can do is fight for her; I cannot let her die in vain.”

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  • High-flying balloon characters star in Thanksgiving parade

    High-flying balloon characters star in Thanksgiving parade

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    NEW YORK — Throngs of spectators lined the streets of New York on Thursday as colorful, high-flying balloons helped usher in the holiday season during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

    The annual tradition, which dates back nearly a century, packed streets as a procession of giant inflatables and floats streamed for more than 40 blocks from Central Park to Herald Square.

    Children balanced atop metal barricades and hung from scaffolding to watch the balloons amid mostly sunny skies and a slight breeze.

    “Blue, Blue. There’s Blue,” yelled Divyam Kumar, 6, as his father helped balance him and his 4-year-old brother Aanu Aryan on a metal rail.

    The youngster was referring to the star of the animated show “Blue’s Clues” — not to be confused with the international cartoon sensation Bluey, an Australian cattle pup making her parade debut.

    Bluey’s balloon towered as tall as a four-story building and stretched as wide as seven taxi cabs.

    Stuart, the one-eyed Minion, was also there to thrill the crowd.

    But it was Snoopy that especially caught the eye of Brenner Chenenko, 8, even more so than the more contemporary pups.

    “It’s one of the classics,” said the youngster from Rochester, New York, who lined the parade route with his father Nate and grandfather John Wopperer.

    It was the first time the father and son had seen the parade in person. Wopperer last saw a parade live three years ago, before the pandemic sidelined the event for a year.

    Snoopy, dressed as an astronaut, was followed by another old-time favorite, Papa Smurf.

    This year’s parade featured 16 giant balloons, 28 floats, 40 novelty and heritage inflatables, 12 marching bands, 10 performance groups, 700 clowns and one Santa Claus.

    The procession of characters were joined by singer Paula Abdul, in her first parade appearance; indie pop band Fitz and the Tantrums; boy band Big Time Rush; “Blue’s Clues & You!” host Josh Dela Cruz; singer Gloria Estefan; gospel singer Kirk Franklin; actor Mario Lopez; reggae star Ziggy Marley; and Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles.

    Singers Joss Stone, Jordin Sparks and Betty Who were also part of the festivities, as were the stars of Peacock’s “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin” — Adam Devine, Sarah Hyland and Flula Borg. Jimmy Fallon & The Roots were on a float celebrating Central Park.

    President Biden and Jill Biden called into the parade, as he did last year. Biden thanked firefighters, police officers and first responders, saying, “They never take a break.”

    They thanked the troops and Biden said he would be reaching out to speak to some today.

    Asked about their plans for the day in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the Bidens said it would involve family, and some time spent locally, thanking first responders.

    ———

    Associated Press reporter Deepti Hajela contributed to this story.

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  • Official: Organized crime likely behind Celtic gold heist

    Official: Organized crime likely behind Celtic gold heist

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    FILE — Coins of the Celtic Treasure are on display at the local Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, Germany, May 31, 2006. A senior official said Wednesday that organized crime groups were likely behind the theft of a huge horde of ancient gold coins stolen from a museum in southern Germany this week. (Frank Maechler/dpa via AP, file)

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  • Bison spread as Native American tribes reclaim stewardship

    Bison spread as Native American tribes reclaim stewardship

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    BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, S.D. — Perched atop a fence at Badlands National Park, Troy Heinert peered from beneath his wide-brimmed hat into a corral where 100 wild bison awaited transfer to the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

    Descendants of bison that once roamed North America’s Great Plains by the tens of millions, the animals would soon thunder up a chute, take a truck ride across South Dakota and join one of many burgeoning herds Heinert has helped reestablish on Native American lands.

    Heinert nodded in satisfaction to a park service employee as the animals stomped their hooves and kicked up dust in the cold wind. He took a brief call from Iowa about another herd being transferred to tribes in Minnesota and Oklahoma, then spoke with a fellow trucker about yet more bison destined for Wisconsin.

    By nightfall, the last of the American buffalo shipped from Badlands were being unloaded at the Rosebud reservation, where Heinert lives. The next day, he was on the road back to Badlands to load 200 bison for another tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux.

    Most bison in North America are in commercial herds, treated no differently than cattle.

    “Buffalo, they walk in two worlds,” Heinert said. ”Are they commercial or are they wildlife? From the tribal perspective, we’ve always deemed them as wildlife, or to take it a step further, as a relative.”

    Some 82 tribes across the U.S. — from New York to Alaska — now have more than 20,000 bison in 65 herds — and that’s been growing in recent years along with the desire among Native Americans to reclaim stewardship of an animal their ancestors lived alongside and depended upon for millennia.

    European settlers destroyed that balance when they slaughtered the great herds. Bison almost went extinct until conservationists including Teddy Roosevelt intervened to reestablish a small number of herds largely on federal lands. Native Americans were sometimes excluded from those early efforts carried out by conservation groups.

    Such groups more recently partnered with tribes, and some are now stepping aside. The long-term dream for some Native Americans: return bison on a scale rivaling herds that roamed the continent in numbers that shaped the landscape itself.

    Heinert, 50, a South Dakota state senator and director of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, views his job in practical terms: Get bison to tribes that want them, whether two animals or 200. He helps them rekindle long-neglected cultural connections, increase food security, reclaim sovereignty and improve land management. This fall, Heinert’s group has moved 2,041 bison to 22 tribes in 10 states.

    “All of these tribes relied on them at some point, whether that was for food or shelter or ceremonies. The stories that come from those tribes are unique to those tribes,” he said. “Those tribes are trying to go back to that, reestablishing that connection that was once there and was once very strong.”

    HERDS SLAUGHTERED

    Bison for centuries set rhythms of life for the Lakota Sioux and many other nomadic tribes that followed their annual migrations. Hides for clothing and teepees, bones for tools and weapons, horns for ladles, hair for rope — a steady supply of bison was fundamental.

    At so-called “buffalo jumps,” herds would be run off cliffs, then butchered over days and weeks. Archaeologists have found immense volumes of bones buried at some sites, suggesting processing on a major scale.

    European settlers and firearms brought a new level of industry to the enterprise as hunters, U.S. troops and tourists shot bison and a growing commercial market used their parts in machinery, fertilizer and clothing. By 1889, few bison remained: 10 animals in central Montana, 20 each in central Colorado and southern Wyoming, 200 in Yellowstone National Park, some 550 in northern Alberta and about 250 in zoos and private herds.

    Piles of buffalo skulls seen in haunting photos from that era illustrate an ecological and cultural disaster.

    “We wanted to populate the western half of the United States because there were so many people in the East,” U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member, said in an interview. “They wanted all of the Indians dead so they could take their land away.”

    The thinking at the time, she added, was “‘if we kill off the buffalo, the Indians will die. They won’t have anything to eat.’”

    HARVESTING A BULL

    The day after the bison transfer from the Badlands, Heinert’s son T.J. sprawled flat on the ground, his rifle scope fixed on a large bull bison at the Wolakota Buffalo Range. The tribal enterprise in just two years has restored about 1,000 bison to 28,000 acres (11,300 hectares) of rolling, scrub-covered hills near the Nebraska-South Dakota border.

    Pausing to pull a cactus paddle from the back of his hand, Heinert looked back through the scope. The 28-year-old had been talking all morning about the need for a perfect shot and the difficulty in 40-mile (64-kilometer) an hour winds. The first bullet went into the animal’s ear, but it lumbered away a couple hundred yards to join a larger group of bison, with the hunter following in an all-terrain vehicle.

    Two more shots, then after the animal finally went down, Heinert drove up close and put the rifle behind its ear for a final shot that stopped its thrashing. “Definitely not how it’s supposed to go,” Heinert kept repeating, disappointed it wasn’t an instant kill. “But we got him down. That’s all that matters at this point.”

    BUFFALO DREAMS

    Coinciding with widespread extermination of bison, tribes such as the Lakota were robbed of land through broken treaties that by 1889 whittled down the “Great Sioux Reservation” established in 1851 to several much smaller ones across the Dakotas. Without bison, tribal members relied on government “beef stations” that distributed meat from cattle ranches.

    The program was a boon for white ranchers. Today, Cherry County, Nebraska — along Rosebud reservation’s southern border — boasts more cattle than any other U.S. county.

    Removing fences that crisscross ranches there and opening them to bison is unlikely, but Rosebud Sioux are intent on expanding the reservation’s herds as a reliable food source.

    Others have grander visions: The Blackfeet of Montana and tribes in Alberta want to establish a “transboundary herd” ranging over the Canada border near Glacier National Park. Other tribes propose a “buffalo commons” on federal lands in central Montana where the region’s tribes could harvest animals.

    “What would it look like to have 30 million buffalo in North America again?” said Cristina Mormorunni, a Métis Indian who’s worked with the Blackfeet to restore bison.

    With so many people, houses and fences now, Haaland said there’s no going back completely. But her agency has emerged as a primary bison source, transferring more than 20,000 to tribes and tribal organizations over 20 years, typically to thin government-controlled herds so they don’t outgrow their land.

    “It’s wonderful tribes are working together on something as important as bison, that were almost lost,” Haaland said.

    Transfers sometimes draw objections from cattle ranchers who worry bison carry disease and compete for grass. Such fears long inhibited efforts to transfer Yellowstone National Park bison.

    Interior officials work with state officials make sure relocated bison meet local veterinary health requirements. But they generally don’t vaccinate the animals and handle them as little as possible.

    Bison demand from the tribes is growing, and Haaland said transfers will continue. That includes up to 1,000 being trucked this year from Badlands, Grand Canyon National Park and several national wildlife refuges. Others come from conservation groups and tribes that share surplus bison.

    “WAY OF LIFE”

    Back at Wolakota range, Daniel Eagle Road approached the bison shot by T.J. Heinert. Eagle Road rested a hand on the animal’s head. Heinert got out some chewing tobacco, tucked some behind his lip and passed the tin to Eagle Road who did the same. Heinert sprinkled tobacco along the bison’s back and prayed.

    Chains fastened around the front and hind legs, the half-ton animal was hoisted onto a flatbed truck for the bouncy ride to ranch headquarters. About 20 adults and children gathered as the bison was lowered onto a tarp, then listened solemnly to tribal elder Duane Hollow Horn Bear.

    “This relative gave of itself to us, for our livelihood, our way or life,” Horn Bear said.

    Soon the tarp was covered with bloody footprints from people butchering the animal. They quartered it, sawing through bone, then sliced meat from the legs, rump, and the animal’s huge hump. Children, some only 6, were given knives to cut away skin and fat.

    The adults took turns dipping pieces of kidney in the animal’s gall bladder bile. “Like salsa,” someone called out as others laughed.

    The stomach was washed out for use in soup. The pelt was scraped and spread on a railing to dry. The skull was cleaned and the tongue, a delicacy, cut out.

    Then came an assembly line of slicing, grinding and packaging of meat distributed to families through a food program run by the tribal agency that operates the ranch. The work lasted into the night.

    A first for many, the harvest illustrates a challenge for the Rosebud Sioux and other tribes: few people have butchering skills and cultural knowledge to establish a personal connection with bison.

    Katrina Fuller, who helped guide the butchering, dreams of training others so the reservation’s 20 communities can come to Wolakota for their own harvest. “Maybe not now, but in my lifetime,” she said. “That’s what I want for everyone.”

    Horn Bear, 73, said when he was very young his grandparents told him creation stories revolving around bison. But then he was forcibly enrolled in an Indian boarding school — government-backed institutions where tribal traditions were stamped out with beatings and other cruelties. The bison were already gone, and the schools sought to erase the stories of them too.

    Standing on the blood-spattered tarp, Horn Bear said the harvest brings back what was almost totally taken away — his people’s culture, economy, social fabric.

    “It’s like coming home to a way of life,” he said.

    ———

    Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter: @MatthewBrownAP

    ———

    Video journalist Emma H. Tobin contributed to this report.

    ———

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Mexico investigates death of US tourist seen in fight video

    Mexico investigates death of US tourist seen in fight video

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    MEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors said Thursday they have opened an investigation into the death of a U.S. woman seen being beaten in a video that has gone viral.

    Prosecutors in the state of Baja California Sur said in a statement they are investigating the death of a woman they identified only as a foreigner, at a resort development in the town of San Jose del Cabo.

    A state official who was not authorized to be quoted by name confirmed the victim was Shanquella Robinson. The official confirmed that the group she had been traveling with had since left Mexico.

    A video apparently taped at a luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo shows one woman, apparently an American, beating another woman.

    The video has been reposted many times on social media sites. In it, a man with an American accent can be heard saying “Can you at least fight back?” The man did not appear to intervene in the beating.

    Prosecutors said police found Robinson dead at the villa on Oct. 29.

    The Charlotte, North Carolina station Queen City News published a report saying Robinson died of a severe spinal chord injury.

    Mexican officials said they could not confirm that was the cause of death, because it was part of an ongoing investigation.

    The video raised questions about why nobody intervened in the purported beating, or why people she was traveling with would have beaten her.

    In another case in a different part of Baja California Sur, prosecutors said they had arrested three men and one woman in the Oct. 25 disappearance of another American, identified as Rodney Davis, 73.

    Davis was last seen near El Juncalito beach in the township of Loreto, well to the north of San Jose del Cabo.

    The three suspects face kidnapping charges. Davis’s body was found two days later on a nearby highway.

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  • G20 summit casts spotlight on Bali’s tourism revival

    G20 summit casts spotlight on Bali’s tourism revival

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    NUSA DUA, Indonesia — Dozens of world leaders and other dignitaries are traveling to Bali for the G-20 summit, drawing a welcome spotlight on the revival of the tropical island’s vital tourism sector.

    Tourism is the main source of income on this idyllic “island of the gods” that is home to more than 4 million people, who are mainly Hindu in the mostly Muslim archipelago nation.

    So the pandemic hit Bali harder than most places in Indonesia.

    Before the pandemic, 6.2 million foreigners arrived in Bali each year. Its lively tourism scene faded after the first case of COVID-19 was found in Indonesia in March 2020, with restaurants and resorts shuttered and many workers returning to villages to try to get by.

    Foreign tourist arrivals dropped to only 1 million in 2020, mostly in the first few months of the year, and then to a few dozen in 2021, according to government data. More than 92,000 people employed in tourism lost their jobs and the average occupancy rate of Bali hotels fell below 20%.

    The island’s economy contracted 9.3% in 2020 from the year before and again contracted nearly 2.5% year-on-year in 2021.

    “The coronavirus outbreak has hammered the local economy horribly,” said Dewa Made Indra, regional secretary of Bali province. “Bali is the region with the most severe economic contraction.”

    After closing to all visitors early in the pandemic, Bali reopened to Indonesians from other parts of the country in mid-2020. That helped, but then a surge of cases in July 2021 again emptied the island’s normally bustling beaches and streets. Authorities restricted public activities, closed the airport and shuttered all shops, bars, sit-down restaurants, tourist attractions and many other places on the island.

    Monkeys deprived of their preferred food source — bananas, peanuts and other goodies given to them by tourists — took to raiding villagers’ homes in their search for something tasty.

    The island reopened to domestic travelers a month later, in August, but in all of 2021 only 51 foreign tourists visited.

    Things are looking much better now. Shops and restaurants in places like Nusa Dua, a resort area where the G-20 meeting is being held, and in other towns like Sanur and Kuta have reopened, though business is slow and many businesses and hotels are still closed or have scaled back operations.

    The reopening of Bali’s airport to international flights and now the thousands coming for the G-20 summit and other related events have raised hopes for a stronger turnaround, Dewa said.

    More than 1.5 million foreign tourists and 3.1 domestic travelers had visited Bali as of October this year.

    Embracing a push toward more sustainable models of tourism, Bali has rolled out a digital nomad visa scheme, called the “second home visa” and due to take effect in December. It’s also among 20 destinations Airbnb recently announced it was partnering with for remote work, also including places in the Caribbean and the Canary Islands.

    The recovery will likely take time, even if COVID-19 is kept at bay.

    Gede Wirata, who had to lay off most of the 4,000 people working in his hotels, restaurants, clubs and a cruise ship during the worst of the pandemic, found that when it came time to rehire them many had found jobs overseas or in other travel businesses.

    The G-20 is a welcome boost. “This is an opportunity for us to rise again from the collapse,” he said.

    There’s a way to go.

    “The situation has not yet fully recovered, but whatever the case, life has to go on,” said Wayan Willy, who runs a tourist agency in Bali with some friends. Before the pandemic, most of their clients were from overseas. Now it’s mostly domestic tourists. But even those are few and far between.

    Bali has suffered greatly in the past. At times, the island’s majestic volcanos have rumbled to life, at times erupting or belching ash.

    The dark cloud of the suicide bombings in Bali’s beach town of Kuta that killed 202 mostly foreign tourists in 2002 lingered for years, devastating tourism on the island usually known for its peace and tranquility.

    Recent torrential rains brought floods and landslides in some areas, adding to the burdens for communities working to rebuild their tourism businesses.

    When the situation started to improve, Yuliani Djajanegara, who runs a business making traditional beauty items like massage oils, natural soaps and aromatherapy products under the brand name Bali Tangi, got back to work.

    She had closed her factory in 2020 when orders from hotels, spas and salons in the U.S., Europe, Russia and the Maldives dried up, taking orders for her products from more than 1,000 kilograms (1 ton) to almost nothing.

    So far, Djajanegara has rehired 15 of the 60 workers she had been obliged to lay off during the dark days of the pandemic.

    She’s hopeful, but cautious.

    “Tourism in Bali is like a sand castle,” Djajanegara said. “It is beautiful, but it can be washed away by the waves.”

    ———

    AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

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  • Disneyland adds dolls in wheelchairs to ‘It’s a Small World’

    Disneyland adds dolls in wheelchairs to ‘It’s a Small World’

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    ANAHEIM, Calif. — Disneyland on Friday added two new characters in wheelchairs to its iconic “It’s a Small World” attraction, saying it wanted a “more accurate representation of diversity around the world.”

    The animatronic dolls are among some 300 costumed dolls representing singing children from many nations featured in the attraction. One is in the Latin American section of the boat ride and the other appears in the finale.

    The dolls were unveiled on the first day of Disneyland’s Christmas season. Each year, the park adds special holiday decor and Christmas carols to the ride, which opened at the Anaheim park in 1966 after appearing at the 1964-65 World’s Fair in New York.

    The new characters will remain after the seasonal decor is removed sometime in January.

    In a statement, Disneyland said it was part of an ongoing effort of enhancing attractions “to reflect more accurate representation of diversity around the world.”

    While the ride has special boats designed to accommodate guests who use wheelchairs, it was the first time in Disneyland’s 67-year history that an attraction has included a character in a wheelchair.

    It took more than six months to design and create the dolls, with collaboration by a Disney unit in charge of park accessibility.

    Erin Quintanilla, manager of accessibility for the Disneyland Resort, said the designs sought to combine authenticity with the colorful, cheerful style of the original standing dolls.

    The chairs have details such as a push rim “so that the doll would be able to move through the story in a way that I move through the world,” he said, according to CNN.

    “I feel seen. I feel represented. It’s a monumental moment to have my community be in an attraction and represented,” said Quintanilla, who uses a wheelchair. “I teared up when I saw them in the attraction.”

    Similar dolls will be added next year to “It’s a Small World” rides at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris.

    Disney has added characters to “It’s a Small World” in the past. A new “Spirit of America” scene added in 2009 included Woody and other “Toy Story” characters along with dolls in Native American dress.

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  • Travefy Academy’s Third Annual Sales Workshop Reaches New Heights With Over 7,000 Registrations

    Travefy Academy’s Third Annual Sales Workshop Reaches New Heights With Over 7,000 Registrations

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    Travefy Academy’s multi-day virtual event showcases industry thought leaders to help travel advisors grow their businesses.

    Press Release
    –

    Nov 7, 2022


    LINCOLN, Neb., November 7, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Travefy Academy hosted its third annual Sales Workshop starting on Oct. 25 and set a new record with over 7,000 registrations. This three-day workshop featured industry experts across eight interactive and engaging webinar sessions. Each live session highlighted key areas to help a business grow and provide actionable guidance to travel advisors both new to the industry and veterans. 

    “I was blown away by the caliber of the content and the panelists and guests invited,” shares Debby Leong, Founder of Bravo Travel. “This workshop elevates the industry, making us more professional and giving us ideas and motivating for more sales.”

    “Travefy Academy was a wonderful opportunity for Leaders in the Travel Industry to come together, to learn and grow. There was a strong sense of community, energy, and excitement about the future of our industry,” notes Adam Duckworth, President and Founder of Travelmation. 

    “This was easily the most beneficial webinar series I’ve ever attended,” shares Travel Agent Deb Pentek

    Travefy Academy’s mission is to help travel professionals grow and succeed. “Hosting our third Sales Workshop was extremely inspiring and exciting for the travel industry. We were thrilled to have a collection of amazing speakers who could touch on different topics that travel advisors can apply to their business,” shares Stephanie Gries, Travefy’s Education Manager. 

    “Having partners like Travefy, who are committed to delivering meaningful content and education, substantially helps to level up our industry,” shares Erica Carr, Founder and Travel Designer of bookitbox TRAVEL.

    “As a travel agent of over five years in the business, I found the Sales Workshop incredibly helpful! The speakers and topics were fantastic-branding, websites, marketing, fees, groups, and much more. This series really motivated me to take a fresh look at my business and step things up for 2023 and beyond,” notes Deb Pentek, Travel Agent at Travel Memories by Deb.

    ABOUT TRAVEFY ACADEMY

    Travefy Academy is a free education resource for today’s community of Travel Advisors and travel professionals. 

    Travefy Academy was launched in 2018 as a part of Travefy’s commitment to power the success of travel professionals. It brings together travel industry experts and thought leaders to provide powerful content and educational webinars to help travel advisors grow their businesses. 

    Get more information at https://academy.travefy.com.

    ABOUT TRAVEFY

    Travefy’s mission is to power the success of travel professionals. Our award-winning suite of itinerary, proposal, client management, and marketing tools help Travel Advisors and professionals save time, impress clients, and sell more. 

    Travefy powers thousands of travel businesses across the globe ranging from small, independent travel advisors to the largest travel agencies, consortia, and organizations, and has won numerous industry honors, including the ASTA Entrepreneur of the Year Award. 

    Get more information at https://travefy.com. 

    Source: Travefy

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  • Massachusetts museum returns sacred items to Sioux tribes

    Massachusetts museum returns sacred items to Sioux tribes

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    BARRE, Mass. — About 150 artifacts considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux peoples are being returned to them after being stored at a small Massachusetts museum for more than a century.

    Members of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes traveled from South Dakota to take custody of the weapons, pipes, moccasins and clothing, including several items thought to have a direct link to the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota.

    They had been held by the Founders Museum in Barre, Massachusetts, about 74 miles west of Boston. A public ceremony was held Saturday inside the gym at a nearby elementary school that included prayers by the Lakota representatives. The artifacts will be officially handed over during a private ceremony.

    “Ever since that Wounded Knee massacre happened, genocides have been instilled in our blood,” said Surrounded Bear, 20, who traveled to Barre from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, according to The Boston Globe. “And for us to bring back these artifacts, that’s a step towards healing. That’s a step in the right direction.”

    The ceremony marked the culmination of repatriation efforts that had been decades in the making.

    “It was always important to me to give them back,” said Ann Meilus, president of the board at the Founders Museum. “I think the museum will be remembered for being on the right side of history for returning these items.”

    The items being returned are just a tiny fraction of an estimated 870,000 Native American artifacts — including nearly 110,000 human remains — in the possession of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, museums and even the federal government. They’re supposed to be returned to the tribes under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

    Museum officials have said that as a private institution that does not receive federal funding, the institution is not subject to NAGPRA, but returning items in its collection that belong to Indigenous tribes is the right thing to do.

    More than 200 men, women, children and elderly people were killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Congress issued a formal apology to the Sioux Nation a century later for one of the nation’s worst massacres of Native Americans.

    The Barre museum acquired its Indigenous collection from Frank Root, a traveling shoe salesman who collected the items on his journeys during the 19th century, and once had a road show that rivaled P.T. Barnum’s extravaganzas, according to museum officials.

    Wendell Yellow Bull, a descendant of Wounded Knee victim Joseph Horn Cloud, has said the items will be stored at Oglala Lakota College until tribal leaders decide what to do with them.

    The items being returned to the Sioux people have all been authenticated by multiple experts, including tribal experts. The museum also has other Indigenous items not believed to have originated with the Sioux.

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