TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
PARIS (AP) — Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is getting its bells back, just in time for the medieval landmark’s reopening following a devastating 2019 fire.
A convoy of trucks bearing eight restored bells — the heaviest of which weighs more than 4 tons — pulled into the huge worksite surrounding the monument Thursday on an island in the Seine River.
They are being blessed in a special ceremony inside the cathedral before being hoisted to hang in its twin towers for the Dec. 8 reopening to the public.
Cathedral Rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, wearing a hardhat as he prepared to enter the cathedral and bless the bells, called them ‘’a sign that the cathedral will again resonate, and that its voice will be heard again. A sign of the call to prayer, and a sign of coming together.”
The bells will be raised one by one and tested out, but they won’t ring in full until the day of the reopening, said Philippe Jost, overseeing the massive Notre Dame reconstruction project. He called the bells’ arrival ‘’a very beautiful symbol of the cathedral’s rebirth.’’
While construction on the cathedral started in the 12th century, the bronze bells damaged in the fire are from the 21st century. They were built according to historical tradition to replace older bells that had become discordant, to mark the monument’s 850th anniversary.
Czech authorities erected metal barriers or protective walls from sandbags, while water was released from dams to make space in reservoirs. Residents have been warned to get ready for possible evacuations.
Some public events planned for the weekend have been cancelled at the request of authorities, including soccer matches in the top two leagues.
“We have to be ready for the worst case scenarios,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a meeting of his government’s central crisis committee. “A tough weekend is ahead of us.”
Meteorologists say a low pressure system from northern Italy was predicted to dump much rainfall in most parts of the Czech Republic, or Czechia, including the capital and border regions with Austria and Germany in the south, and Poland in the north.
Central Europeans are especially wary because some experts have compared the weekend forecast to devastating floods in 1997 in the region, referred to by some as the flood of the century.
Over 100 people were killed in the floods 27 years ago, including 50 in the eastern Czech Republic where large sections of land was inundated.
The biggest rainfall was predicted in the eastern half of the country, particularly in the Jeseniky mountains. The second largest city of Brno, located in eastern Czech Republic, is among places that have not had flooding protection work completed, unlike Prague.
Czechs were asked not to go to parks and woods as high winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour were forecast.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled on Friday to the southwestern Polish city of Wrocław where floods are forecast. Authorities appealed to residents to stock up on food and to prepare for power outages by charging power banks.
Tusk, meeting with firefighters and other emergency officials, said the forecasts were “not excessively alarming.”
“There is no reason to panic, but there is a reason to be fully mobilized,” he stressed.
The German Weather Service warned of heavy precipitation across swaths of the country, including the Alps, where heavy snowfall and strong winds are expected at higher altitudes.
The Alpine nation of Austria is also getting ready for heavy rains, and a massive cold front that is expected to bring snow to higher elevations.
The weather change arrived following a hot start to September in the region. Scientists have recorded Earth’s hottest summer on record, breaking a record set just one year ago.
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s air safety authority said Thursday that a defect in an engine component of a Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A350 that caused a fire, forcing a Zurich-bound flight to return to Hong Kong, could have caused “extensive damage” to the aircraft.
The report on the Sept. 2 incident by Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority said the steel braided sheath of a fuel hose connecting to a fuel spray nozzle was ruptured. Had the faulty component not been promptly detected and repaired, it could have escalated into a more serious engine fire.
A preliminary investigation found soot on a section of the aircraft’s core engine, indicating signs of a fire.
Five other fuel hoses in the Cathay jet also were found to have either “frayed metal braids or collapsed structures,” the report said.
Cathay Pacific said in a statement that it “acknowledged” the report.
“Following the incident, Cathay Pacific immediately contacted the aircraft and engine manufacturers as well as the regulator,” the statement read. “As a precautionary measure, it proactively initiated a fleet-wide inspection of its Airbus A350 aircraft that cleared the aircraft for operation.”
The engine fire aboard the Cathay plane caused cancellations of 70 flights and prompted inspections of the carrier’s fleet of 48 Airbus A350 jets. Other airlines, such as Japan Airlines, conducted inspections on similar models in their fleets following the incident.
The report released Thursday recommended that Rolls-Royce, which makes the Trent XWB-84 and XWB-97 engines that power Airbus’ A350 jets, provide information including the inspection requirements of the affected components “to ensure their serviceability.”
After the incident, the European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a directive requiring a one-time fleet inspection for some A350s after receiving safety recommendations from Hong Kong’s Air Accident Investigation Authority.
BERLIN (AP) — Officials are investigating why a concrete bridge partially collapsed in eastern Germany early Wednesday, disrupting a major traffic artery in Dresden and interrupting the heating system for a city nicknamed “Florence on the Elbe” for its Baroque architecture.
No one was injured when a section of the Carola Bridge fell into the Elbe River, the Dresden fire department said on its website. Police are treating the collapse as an accident, because there are no signs of foul play, according to German news agency dpa.
The bridge dates back to East Germany’s formerly communist era, dpa reported, and officials at the scene said that chlorine corrosion from the time could have contributed to Wednesday’s collapse.
The emergency closure of the entire bridge snarled travel for the city’s tram system, as well as motorists, pedestrians and cyclists who use the span to travel between Dresden’s Old Town and New Town. Boat traffic is also halted, affecting cargo ships and tourism sightseeing vessels.
Crews were alerted shortly after 3 a.m. and are concerned more of the bridge — one of several crossings over the Elbe — could collapse in the coming hours.
The last tram crossed the span just 18 minutes before the collapse, dpa reported. The section that fell was scheduled to be renovated next year, while other parts only reopened in March after months of construction.
Pipes that are part of the city’s heating system were also damaged.
“In addition, due to the bursting of two large district heating pipes, we have the problem that the supply of hot water has come to a complete standstill in the entire federal state capital of Dresden,” fire department spokesman Michael Klahre told reporters.
Dresden is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Berlin.
A Southwest Airlines plane takes off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, July 12, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines is planning to reduce service to and from Atlanta next year, cutting more than 300 pilot and flight attendant positions, according to a company memo seen by CNBC.
The changes come a day before Southwest’s investor day, when executives will map out the company’s plan to cut costs and grow revenue as pressure mounts from activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
Southwest told staff it isn’t closing its crew base in Atlanta. Instead, it will reduce staffing by as many as 200 flight attendants and as many as 140 pilots, for the April 2025 bid month.
The airline also isn’t laying the crews off, but they will likely have to bid to work from other cities.
Read more CNBC airline news
Southwest will reduce its Atlanta presence to 11 gates next year from 18, according to a separate memo from the pilots’ union.
It will service 21 cities from Atlanta starting next April, down from 37 in March, the carrier said.
“Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability,” Southwest said in its memo. “This decision in no way reflects our Employees’ performance, and we’re proud of the Hospitality and the efforts they have made and will continue to make with our Customers in ATL.”
The unions that represent Southwest’s pilot and flight attendants railed against the airline for the staffing and service cuts.
“Southwest Airlines management is failing Employees while impacting Customers. Management continues to make decisions that lack full transparency, sufficient communication with Union leadership, and most alarmingly, a lack of focus on what has made the airline great, the Employees,” said Bill Bernal, the flight attendants’ union president.
A Southwest spokesman confirmed the changes and said the carrier will “continue to optimize our network to meet customer demand, best utilize our fleet, and maximize revenue opportunities.”
Travelers check in at a Southwest counter at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The airline had already pulled out of certain airports, some of which it experimented with during the pandemic to focus on more profitable service.
Southwest is not only facing changing booking patterns and oversupplied parts of the U.S. market but aircraft delays from Boeing, whose yet-to-be-certified 737 Max 7 airplanes are years behind schedule
The airline’s COO, Andrew Watterson, told staff last week that it will have to make “difficult decisions” to boost profits.
The reduction in Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport and Delta Air Lines home hub, is the latest development for the airline. In July, Southwest announced it plans to get rid of open seating and offer extra legroom on its airplanes, the biggest changes in its more than half-century of flying.
Also on Wednesday, Southwest released an expanded schedule, selling tickets through June 4. In addition to the planned cuts in Atlanta, the carrier said it will boost service to and from Nashville, Tennessee. It will also start offering overnight flights from Hawaii, beginning April 8. Those include service from Honolulu to Las Vegas and Phoenix; Kona, Hawaii, to Las Vegas; and Maui, Hawaii, to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Hurricane Helene is expected to bring wind and rain to the Orlando area and that will likely cause delays and cancellations at area airports.
Check below to see the status of all the flights at Orlando International Airport as well as Lakeland Linder airport.
**Be sure to double check your flight status on the airport websites as information could be delayed**
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico, September 25, 2024 (Newswire.com)
– As the holiday season approaches, families are seeking a getaway that will delight both kids and adults. Solmar Hotels & Resorts’ five stunning properties in Los Cabos offer something for everyone—world-class golf, luxurious spas, private beaches, kids’ clubs, water parks, outdoor activities, and a range of dining options, as well as spacious suites with kitchens. The season is filled with unique experiences like whale watching and festive holiday celebrations.
Holiday Festivities
While Cabo may be known for its tropical climate, Solmar Hotels & Resorts transforms the destination into a winter wonderland. Guests can partake in festive activities like Christmas tree lighting ceremonies, Santa’s unforgettable parachute arrival, piñata parties, gingerbread house-making workshops, and indulgent churros and chocolates for Three Kings Day. To elevate the festivities, La Roca, Brigantine, and Anica offer special menus for Christmas. The celebrations culminate with dazzling themed New Year’s Eve parties at each property, such as the Fabulous 50s featuring an Elvis Presley tribute at Solmar Playa Grande.
About the Resorts
Grand Solmar Pacific Dunes offers an upscale retreat with expansive suites overlooking the Pacific. Guests enjoy direct access to the 18-hole Solmar Golf Links designed by Greg Norman, along with a variety of amenities, including a kids’ club with a water park, a luxurious spa, pickleball court, fine dining restaurant, and water activities like paddleboarding and kayaking.
Grand Solmar Land’s End boasts a prime location near the world-famous Cabo Arch at the southernmost tip of the peninsula with stunning panoramic views, infinity pools, kids’ club, swim-up bars and farm-to-table dining.
Playa Grande Resort is perfect for action-packed fun with mini-golf, tennis courts, award-winning spa, two jacuzzies and four pools (with distinct adult, family and children’s areas), kids’ club, theme nights, and daily activities.
The Ridge at Playa Grande is ideally located in the heart of Cabo San Lucas, within walking distance to the marina, which boasts numerous restaurants and activities. The hotel offers a more intimate experience with spacious family suites with kitchens, kids’ club, mini golf court, tennis court, infinity pool, private beach, theme nights and full-service spa using traditional and ancient techniques.
Solmar Resort, the brand’s first hotel, was established in 1974. This 100-room hotel, showcasing inviting Mediterranean-style architecture, seamlessly blends comfort with excitement. Guests enjoy private beach access, two pools, a jacuzzi, two restaurants, and the convenience of being close to Cabo’s vibrant city center.
Destination Attractions
Beyond the resorts, Cabo San Lucas is a haven for adventure. Renowned as one of the world’s top whale-watching destinations, December marks the start of the season, offering guests extraordinary encounters with humpback and gray whales. Solmar Hotels & Resorts arranges these excursions, while also providing opportunities to explore the vibrant underwater world through scuba diving and snorkeling. For a more leisurely experience, guests can embark on a sunset cruise along Cabo’s stunning coastline with the Solmar Sea Experience.
Just in time for Halloween, Estes Park’s Stanley Hotel will host a horror-themed weekend that includes interactive events and screenings of a new series from Peacock and Blumhouse Productions.
Blumhouse, the company behind frightening films such as “Get Out,” “Sinister” and “M3GAN,” is turning the historic hotel into an immersive experience, according to a statement. The “Overnightmare,” as it’s called, runs Oct. 18-20.
Tickets are $1,031 each at stanleylive.com/peacock-blumhouse-overnightmare and include a two-night stay in a double-occupancy room in The Lodge, the themed experience of your choice, one dinner, $100 breakfast/lunch credit, two drinks, two nights of screenings, and “interactive moments and photo ops.”
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.
As an entrepreneur or business owner, travel might be a fundamental aspect of your strategy to network, expand, or oversee operations. Though, it probably isn’t in your business plan to spend a lot of money doing so. In 2023, Zippia reports that the average business traveler spends $949 in fees.
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Your most affordable business trip yet
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A travel app designed for entrepreneurs
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
The budget motel chain Motel 6 is being acquired by the parent company of Oyo, a hotel operator based in India.
The New York-based investment firm Blackstone, which owns Motel 6’s parent company G6 Hospitality, announced Friday that the deal would be an all-cash transaction worth $525 million.
The transaction will also include the sale of the Studio 6 motel brand, which caters to customers seeking extended stays. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Oyo, which launched in India just over a decade ago, has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. over the past few years. The company says it currently operates 320 hotels across 35 states and is aiming to add 250 more this year.
“This acquisition is a significant milestone for a startup company like us to strengthen our international presence,” Gautam Swaroop, OYO’s international division chief, said in a statement.
Blackstone had purchased Motel 6 and Studio 6 in 2012 for $1.9 billion. Since then, the private equity giant says it has heavily invested in the brand and pursued a strategy that converted the chain into a franchise.
“This transaction is a terrific outcome for investors and is the culmination of an ambitious business plan that more than tripled our investors’ capital and generated over $1 billion in profit over our hold period,” Rob Harper, the head of Blackstone Real Estate Asset Management Americas, said in a statement.
Under the deal, Oravel Stays, which owns Oyo, will acquire G6 Hospitality.
A pleasant female voice greets me over the phone. “Hi, I’m an assistant named Jasmine for Bodega,” the voice says. “How can I help?”
“Do you have patio seating,” I ask. Jasmine sounds a little sad as she tells me that unfortunately, the San Francisco–based Vietnamese restaurant doesn’t have outdoor seating. But her sadness isn’t the result of her having a bad day. Rather, her tone is a feature, a setting.
Jasmine is a member of a new, growing clan: the AI voice restaurant host. If you recently called up a restaurant in New York City, Miami, Atlanta, or San Francisco, chances are you have spoken to one of Jasmine’s polite, calculated competitors.
In the sea of AI voice assistants, hospitality phone agents haven’t been getting as much attention as consumer-based generative AI tools like Gemini Live and ChatGPT-4o. And yet, the niche is heating up, with multiple emerging startups vying for restaurant accounts across the US. Last May, voice ordering AI garnered much attention at the National Restaurant Association’s annual food show. Bodega, the high-end Vietnamese restaurant I called, used Maitre-D AI, which launched primarily in the Bay Area in 2024. Newo, another new startup, is currently rolling its software out at numerous Silicon Valley restaurants. One-year-old RestoHost is now answering calls at 150 restaurants in the Atlanta metro area, and Slang, a voice AI company that started focusing on restaurants exclusively during the Covid-19 pandemic and announced a $20 million funding round in 2023, is gaining ground in the New York and Las Vegas markets.
All of them offer a similar service: an around-the-clock AI phone host that can answer generic questions about the restaurant’s dress code, cuisine, seating arrangements, and food allergy policies. They can also assist with making, altering, or canceling a reservation. In some cases, the agent can direct the caller to an actual human, but according to RestoHost cofounder Tomas Lopez-Saavedra, only 10 percent of the calls result in that. Each platform offers the restaurant subscription tiers that unlock additional features, and some of the systems can speak multiple languages.
But who even calls a restaurant in the era of Google and Resy? According to some of the founders of AI voice host startups, many customers do, and for various reasons. “Restaurants get a high volume of phone calls compared to other businesses, especially if they’re popular and take reservations,” says Alex Sambvani, CEO and cofounder of Slang, which currently works with everyone from the Wolfgang Puck restaurant group to Chick-fil-A to the fast-casual chain Slutty Vegan. Sambvani estimates that in-demand establishments receive between 800 and 1,000 calls per month. Typical callers tend to be last-minute bookers, tourists and visitors, older people, and those who do their errands while driving.
Matt Ho, the owner of Bodega SF, confirms this scenario. “The phones would ring constantly throughout service,” he says. “We would receive calls for basic questions that can be found on our website.” To solve this issue, after shopping around, Ho found that Maitre-D was the best fit. Bodega SF became one of the startup’s earliest clients in May, and Ho even helped the founders with trial and error testing prior to launch. “This platform makes the job easier for the host and does not disturb guests while they’re enjoying their meal,” he says.
KAWARAMACHI, Japan (AP) — Time seems to stop here.
Women sit in a small circle, quietly, painstakingly stitching patterns on balls the size of an orange, a stitch at a time.
At the center of the circle is Eiko Araki, a master of the Sanuki Kagari Temari, a Japanese traditional craft passed down for more than 1,000 years on the southwestern island of Shikoku.
Each ball, or “temari,” is a work of art, with colorful geometric patterns carrying poetic names like “firefly flowers” and “layered stars.” A temari ball takes weeks or months to finish. Some cost hundreds of dollars (tens of thousands of yen), although others are much cheaper.
Staff work on the temari at Sanuki Kagari Temari in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
These kaleidoscopic balls aren’t for throwing or kicking around. They’re destined to be heirlooms, carrying prayers for health and goodness. They might be treasured like a painting or piece of sculpture in a Western home.
The concept behind temari is an elegant otherworldliness, an impractical beauty that is also very labor-intensive to create.
“Out of nothing, something this beautiful is born, bringing joy,” says Araki. “I want it to be remembered there are beautiful things in this world that can only be made by hand.”
Natural materials
The region where temari originated was good for growing cotton, warm with little rainfall, and the spherical creations continue to be made out of the humble material.
At Araki’s studio, which also serves as head office for temari’s preservation society, there are 140 hues of cotton thread, including delicate pinks and blues, as well as more vivid colors and all the subtle gradations in between.
The women dye them by hand, using plants, flowers and other natural ingredients, including cochineal, a bug living in cacti that produces a red dye. The deeper shade of indigo is dyed again and again to turn just about black. Yellow and blue are combined to form gorgeous greens. Soy juice is added to deepen the tints, a dash of organic protein.
Outside the studio, loops of cotton thread, in various tones of yellow today, hang outside in the shade to dry.
Cotton thread used for making the Japanese traditional craft “tamari” hang to dry at Sanuki Kagari Temari in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
Various shades of cotton thread used for making the Japanese traditional craft of Sanuki Kagari Temari are stored in shelves in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Creating and embroidering the balls
The arduous process starts with making the basic ball mold on which the stitching is done. Rice husks that are cooked and then dried are placed in a piece of cotton, then wound with thread, over and over, until, almost magically, a ball appears in your hands.
Then the stitching begins.
The balls are surprisingly hard, so each stitch requires a concentrated, almost painful, push. The motifs must be precise and even.
Each ball has lines to guide the stitching — one that goes around it like the equator, and others that zigzag to the top and bottom.
A staff member works on the temari at Sanuki Kagari Temari in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
Several completed Sanuki Kagari Temari balls are on display in Eiko Araki’s studio in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Appealing to a new generation
These days, temari is getting some new recognition, among Japanese and foreigners as well. Caroline Kennedy took lessons in the ball-making when she was United States ambassador to Japan a decade ago.
Yoshie Nakamura, who promotes Japanese handcrafted art in her duty-free shop at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, says she features temari there because of its intricate and delicate designs.
“Temari that might have been everyday in a faraway era is now being used for interior decoration,” she said.
“I really feel each Sanuki Kagari Temari speaks of a special, one-and-only existence in the world.”
Sanuki Kagari Temari balls are in a gift box in Eiko Araki’s studio in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Araki has come up with some newer designs that feel both modern and historical. She is trying to make the balls more accessible to everyday life — for instance, as Christmas tree ornaments. A strap with a dangling miniature ball, though quite hard to make because of its size, is affordable at about 1,500 yen ($10) each.
Another of Araki’s inventions is a cluster of pastel balls that opens and shuts with tiny magnets. Fill it with sweet-smelling herbs for a kind of aromatic diffuser.
A tradition passed down through generations
Araki, a graceful woman who talks very slowly, her head cocked to one side as though always in thought, often travels to Tokyo to teach. But mostly she works and gives lessons in her studio, an abandoned kindergarten with faded blue paint and big windows with tired wooden frames.
She started out as a metalwork artist. Her husband’s parents were temari masters who worked hard to resurrect the artform when it was declining in the modern age, at risk of dying out.
Eiko Araki, a master of the traditional Japanese craft of Sanuki Kagari Temari, talks to The Associated Press at her studio in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
Eiko Araki, a master of the traditional Japanese craft of Sanuki Kagari Temari, shows several temari balls at her studio in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ayaka McGill)
They were stoic people, rarely bestowing praise and instead always scolding her, she remembers. It’s a tough-love approach that’s common in the handing down of many Japanese traditional arts, from Kabuki acting to hogaku music, that demand lifetimes of selfless devotion.
Today, only several dozen people, all women, can make the temari balls to traditional standards.
“The most challenging aspect is nurturing successors. It typically takes over 10 years to train them, so you need people who are willing to continue the craft for a very long time,” Araki said.
“When people start to feel joy along with the hardship that comes with making temari, they tend to keep going.”
Two completed Sanuki Kagari Temari balls are on display in Eiko Araki’s studio in Kawaramachi, Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
___
AP journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.
The U.S. is in the midst of a booming air travel year
The North America Airport Satisfaction Study analyzed 6,290 surveys between August 2023 and July 2024 from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport
Cleveland Hopkins ranked among the lowest of the three Ohio medium-sized airports, Cincinnati/Kentucky International ranked second and John Glenn ranked first
The U.S. is in the midst of a booming air travel year. The Transportation Security Administration reported more than 3 million passengers passed through its checkpoints on July 7 this year, setting a record for one-day passenger travel volume.
Additionally, as travel rebounds since the pandemic, many areas are seeing increased volumes of air travel over the holidays.
Despite the hustle and bustle of airports and crowds, this hasn’t stopped people from traveling, and for the most part, many people find their travel experience satisfactory, according to the study.
The North America Airport Satisfaction Study analyzed 6,290 surveys between August 2023 and July 2024 from Americans or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport. The rankings are based on seven factors: ease of travel through the airport, airport staff, departure and arrival experience, food and beverage, and more. Each score was set out of 1,000 points.
The list was then broken down by size: mega airports, large airports and medium airports.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport ranked among the lowest of the three Ohio medium-sized airports, Cincinnati/Kentucky International Airport ranked second and John Glenn Columbus International Airport ranked first. However, among the entire list of medium-sized airports, these three airports fell into the bottom half.
Other key findings of the report include:
As record passenger volumes increased, many airports were able to adjust. Around 60% of North American airport passengers said they either “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree” that they enjoyed their time in one of the airports. Around 59% said the airport helped alleviate their stress.
Rising costs may have calmed down. Overall, passengers spent around $3.53 per person less than they did last year on food and other items.
Crowds impacted airport scores greatly. Airports that passengers said are “not at all crowded” scored an average of 736 out of 1,000 points on the scale. However, the score tanked for airports that passengers said were “severly crowded,” down to 429.
There are also submerged treatment options, with in-water massages and ‘float therapy’ providing the opportunity to to soak up all the expertise of ‘bodyworkers’ without having to leave the lagoon.
If that all sounds far too relaxing, you can call on any member of the infinitely-attentive – yet in no way intrusive – team of hosts to book you on one of the many external excursions, ranging from helicopter tours of the Reykjanes Peninsula to guided photography tours, volcano tours, snowmobiling, snorkelling among the subaquatic hot springs at Kleifarvatn lake and ATV adventures.
We opted for the latter one morning, and quickly found ourselves motoring across lava fields, black sand beaches and insanely lunar-like mountainscapes before stopping-off to warm our freezing hands in one of those puffs of volcanic steam; the unmistakably eggy sulfur smell being the only thing to bring you back to reality during an otherwise entirely otherworldly experience.
Whether you spend your days white-knuckling your way around the island’s outdoor activity scene or soaking the day away in the lagoon, your worked-up appetite is in no danger of being left wanting.
With a cosy, universally dressing gown-clad breakfast served in the sunken lobby seating pre-sunrise (fear not the lie-in was safe – sunrise isn’t until 11am in December) and afternoon tea served daily in the same spot, other mealtimes offer up the impressive choice between the spa restaurant (serving an exceptional burger), Lava restaurant (relaxed dining with stunning views out onto the shores of the Blue Lagoon) or the jewel in the crown: Moss restaurant.
Having been awarded a Michelin star earlier this summer, Moss, led by Head Chef Aggi Sverrisson, sees 5 and 7-course set menus take you on a diverse tour of the heritage of Icelandic cuisine.
Switching effortlessly between food from the mountains to the farmlands, via rivers and oceans, dishes are almost Oscar-worthy in their visual theatrics, with dry ice tumbling over salt-fresh prawns and perfectly-seared beef served atop a smoking lump of authentic volcanic rock.
After heading back through that vast-yet-cosy lobby to our room on the final night, we received our first much-anticipated ‘wake-up call’ while packing. The Northern Lights had finally appeared.
Before heading to school, Kinsey acquired her first credit card, an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa. Although she also banks with EQ Bank, her primary bank card was with Alterna Savings and Credit Union. “So it was kind of natural and the easiest way for me to get a credit card,” she explains.
Still new to credit cards, Kinsey doesn’t have a credit score—a number between 300 and 900 that shows lenders how creditworthy you are (the higher the score, the better). She’s looking to build one while also earning rewards—be it cash back (to “make the most of my spending”) or travel points (she’s an Aeroplan member).
Kinsey is an avid traveller—she recently visited Greece and Japan, where she has family. “I’ve been down south to Cuba and Florida. I went to Halifax, because I have some friends out there. I’ll travel within Canada, but I’m definitely more interested in visiting places in Europe,” she says.
Photo courtesy of Aya Kinsey
What credit card features does she need?
Like many university students, Kinsey’s ambitious, eager to travel and just wants to find her financial footing. Given her existing ties to Alterna, it’s no surprise she ended up with an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa—most Canadians stick with the same financial institutions for a good part of their lives. But, Kinsey can find a credit card better suited to her needs by expanding her horizons.
With Alterna, she gets 1 Collabria reward point per $1 spent on groceries, gas, public transit, select recurring bills and digital streaming purchases, and 0.5 points on all other purchases. The value of those points maybe an issue. The value of a Collabria point fluctuates based on what you’re redeeming for: cash back offers the best value, at $0.01 per point, but you must redeem in increments of 3,000 points (for $30), 5,000 points ($50) and 10,000 points (for $100), depending on the Collabria card you have. And when redeeming for travel, merchandise or gift cards, a point can be worth anywhere from $0.002 and $0.008. This means cardholders earn a maximum return of 1% in rewards ($0.01) for every dollar they spend. Often, the return is less than that.
For Kinsdey, it’s clear travelling is a priority. She needs a credit card that can cheapen the costs of flying to visit family and friends. At the same time, she’s just getting familiar with paying for life on her own, tuition being her biggest expense, and her income this year will be modest at best—she hopes to freelance as a content marketer.
So, right now, Kinsey’s primary goals should be building a credit score and increasing her income potential by completing her studies. Later in life, she will likely have access to plenty of premium travel credit cards to match her desired lifestyle—for example, she’ll need a personal annual income of $60,000 for Visa Infinite cards and $80,000 for World Elite Mastercards.
Which credit card should she get?
Credit card pick #1: CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students
For her current situation, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students would tick a lot of boxes. It’s a no-fee, no-income-required card. Kinsey’s already an Aeroplan points collector, and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa would add 1 Aeroplan point to her account per $1 spent on Air Canada purchases (such as future flights) and on groceries—she has a campus meal plan but expects it won’t cover all her food expenses. That’s in addition to points already earned as an Aeroplan member, through the “earn points twice” feature of Aeroplan credit cards.
Before heading to school, Kinsey acquired her first credit card, an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa. Although she also banks with EQ Bank, her primary bank card was with Alterna Savings and Credit Union. “So it was kind of natural and the easiest way for me to get a credit card,” she explains.
Still new to credit cards, Kinsey doesn’t have a credit score—a number between 300 and 900 that shows lenders how creditworthy you are (the higher the score, the better). She’s looking to build one while also earning rewards—be it cash back (“to make the most of my spending”) or travel points (she’s an Aeroplan member).
Kinsey is an avid traveller—she recently visited Greece and Japan, where she has family. “I’ve been down south to Cuba and Florida. I went to Halifax, because I have some friends out there. I’ll travel within Canada, but I’m definitely more interested in visiting places in Europe,” she says.
Photo courtesy of Aya Kinsey
What credit card features does she need?
Like many university students, Kinsey’s ambitious, eager to travel and just wants to find her financial footing. Given her existing ties to Alterna, it’s no surprise she ended up with an Alterna Savings Cash Back Visa—most Canadians stick with the same financial institutions for a good part of their lives. But, Kinsey can find a credit card better suited to her needs by expanding her horizons.
Her Alterna card is associated with Collabria rewards, a loyalty program that works with some Canadian credit unions. She gets 1 Collabria reward point per $1 spent on groceries, gas, public transit, select recurring bills and digital streaming purchases, and 0.5 points on all other purchases. The value of a Collabria point fluctuates based on what you’re redeeming for: cash back offers the best value, at $0.01 per point, but you must redeem in increments of 3,000 points (for $30), 5,000 points ($50) and 10,000 points (for $100), depending on the Collabria card you have. And when redeeming for travel, merchandise or gift cards, a point can be worth anywhere from $0.002 and $0.008. This means cardholders earn a maximum return of 1% in rewards ($0.01) for every dollar they spend. Often, the return is less than that.
For Kinsdey, it’s clear travelling is a priority. She needs a credit card that can cheapen the costs of flying to visit family and friends. At the same time, she’s just getting familiar with paying for life on her own, tuition being her biggest expense, and her income this year will be modest at best—she hopes to freelance as a content marketer.
So, right now, Kinsey’s primary goals should be building a credit score and increasing her income potential by completing her studies. Later in life, she will likely have access to plenty of premium travel credit cards to match her desired lifestyle—for example, she’ll need a personal annual income of $60,000 for Visa Infinite cards and $80,000 for World Elite Mastercards.
Which credit card should she get?
Credit card pick #1: CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students
For her current situation, the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Card for Students would tick a lot of boxes. It’s a no-fee, no-income-required card. Kinsey’s already an Aeroplan points collector, and the CIBC Aeroplan Visa would add 1 Aeroplan point to her account per $1 spent on Air Canada purchases (such as future flights) and on groceries—she has a campus meal plan but expects it won’t cover all her food expenses. That’s in addition to points already earned as an Aeroplan member, through the “earn points twice” feature of Aeroplan credit cards.
ROME (AP) — Seemingly every tourist in Rome knows the key to returning to the Eternal City is to toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain and make a wish. The result: Hoards of visitors packing the Baroque monument any given day, taking selfies and betting on a return trip.
Officials are now considering a plan to manage tourism to one of Rome’s most-visited sites: A 2-euro ($2.25) ticket to access an open-air fountain that has always been free of charge.
The proposal by city’s top tourism official, Alessandro Onorato, comes after the Italian lagoon city of Venice tested a controversial 5-euro daytripper access fee to the city this summer. It must be deliberated by the City Council before it takes effect, but the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, has already voiced support.
“Two euros is more or less the same amount that people toss into the fountain to make a wish,’’ Onorato told The Associated Press Friday.
Cities across the globe are grappling with how to manage the ever-growing number of tourists, who fuel the economy but can create inconveniences to residents by converging on the same top sites.
“We have to avoid, especially in a fragile art city like Rome, that too many tourists damage the tourist experience, and damage the city,’’ Onorato said. “We need to safeguard two things, that tourists don’t experience chaos and that citizens can continue to live in the center.”
Onorato said he hopes to test the entrance fee, which would be managed through a reservation system and a QR code, in time for the 2025 Jubilee Holy Year, and have the system operational by spring.
Passersby in the piazza overlooking the fountain will not have to pay. The fee would be charged only to those entering the nine stone steps leading up to the fountain’s edge. It would be free to Romans.
Onorato said the system would also help discourage people from eating on the steps overlooking the fountain and feeding pigeons or, worse, from reenacting Anita Ekberg’s plunge into the fountain in Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” a frequently repeated offense that carries a fine.
“It would happen less, or maybe it wouldn’t happen at all, because whoever would enter, we would know their names and where they live. It becomes more complicated,’’ he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — The famed Cyclone roller coaster in New York City’s Coney Island has reopened two weeks after a mechanical problem forced a mid-ride stop and people had to be helped off the attraction.
The 97-year-old wooden roller coaster at Luna Park returned to service Saturday after city inspectors gave a thumbs up following repairs.
The Cyclone was shut down indefinitely on Aug. 22 due to a damaged chain sprocket in the motor room. The operator stopped the ride and several people were removed without injury, the city’s Department of Buildings said. The department cited Luna Park for violations related to the damaged equipment and failing to immediately notify the city.
City inspectors said the ride passed inspection Saturday morning after test runs over several days.
“This American icon has captivated guests for nearly a century, and our dedicated team and attraction engineers continue to ensure that this legendary 97-year-old landmark continues to operate safely and smoothly,” Alessandro Zamperla, president and CEO of the amusement park’s owner, Central Amusement International, said in a statement.
Devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are overheating more often during airline flights and passengers often put them in checked bags that go into the cargo hold, where a fire might not be detected as quickly.
Overheating incidents rose 28% from 2019 to 2023, although such events remain relatively rare, UL Standards & Engagement said in a report released Monday.
E-cigarettes overheated more often than any other device, according to the report.
In 60% of the cases, the overheating — called thermal runaway — happened near the seat of the passenger who brought the device on board.
In July, a smoking laptop in a passenger’s bag led to the evacuation of a plane awaiting takeoff at San Francisco International Airport. Last year, a flight from Dallas to Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing in Jacksonville, Florida, after a battery caught fire in an overhead bin.
More than one-quarter of passengers surveyed for the study said they put vaping cigarettes and portable chargers in checked bags. That is against federal rules.
The Transportation Security Administration prohibits e-cigarettes and chargers and power banks with lithium-ion batteries in checked bags but allows them in carry-on bags. The rule exists precisely because fires in the cargo hold might be harder to detect and extinguish.
UL Standards & Engagement, part of a safety-science company once known as Underwriters Laboratories, said it based its findings on data from 35 passenger and cargo airlines including nine of the 10 leading U.S. passenger carriers.
The Federal Aviation Administration reports 37 thermal-runaway incidents on planes this year, through Aug. 15. There were 77 reports last year, a 71% increase over 2019, according to the FAA numbers.
Considering that airlines operate about 180,000 U.S. flights each week, incidents in the air are relatively uncommon, and lithium batteries can overheat anywhere.
“We also know that one of these thermal-runaway incidents at 40,000 feet does present unique risks,” said UL’s David Wroth.
Those risks have been known for many years.
After cargo planes carrying loads of lithium-ion batteries crashed in 2010 and 2011, the United Nations’ aviation organization considered restricting such shipments but rejected tougher standards. Opponents, including airlines, argued that the decision on whether to accept battery shipments should be left up to the carriers, and some no longer take bulk battery shipments.
The most common lithium-ion-powered devices on planes are phones, laptops, wireless headphones and tablets. About 35% of reported overheating incidents involved e-cigarettes, and 16% involved power banks.
