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☆ Crowds swarm Art Basel Hong Kong as galleries report sales bonanza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] An installation titled "Calligraphic Wig" by Daniel Knorr is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong, China, March 23, 2023. Art Basel Hong Kong is one of the first big events the city has held since dropping its COVID-19 mask mandate this month. City authorities are welcoming the art fair as they try to reinvigorate the economy and promote Hong Kong as a vibrant cultural hub. Teresa Choi, a visitor from Macau, said Hong Kong was much busier than during COVID times. "Hong Kong has always been the international financial hub for Asia ... Travellers are regaining their confidence about Hong Kong and the economy and want to come."

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☆ Vienna 'few degrees' exhibit tilts paintings to call for climate action
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, March 22 (Reuters) - A Vienna museum where climate activists recently attacked the glass screen shielding a Gustav Klimt painting has responded with an exhibit entitled 'A Few Degrees More' that tilts works to draw attention to the need for action on climate change. [1/5] A visitor of the Leopold museum looks at the painting " A boy at the spring " by Albin Egger Lienz after the museum tilted 15 of its paintings in protest of climate change in Vienna, Austria, March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger 1 2 3 4 5It involves hanging 15 works by artists including Klimt and fellow Austrian great Egon Schiele at an angle, with texts calling attention to the effect that global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels would have on the landscapes depicted in them. According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emissions must be halved by the mid-2030s if the world is to have any chance of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels - a key target enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Reporting by Leonhard Foeger Writing by Francois Murphy Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence Anonymous hacked Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A screenshot of Carlson’s Twitter bio shared on social media says “Non-binary climate change activist of color. One March 15 tweet said: “Last night, Tucker Carlson's Twitter was hacked by Anonymous to show him as a ‘non-binary climate change activist of color’” (here). As of March 20, Carlson’s Twitter bio (@TuckerCarlson) reads: “Emmy-award-winning broadcast journalist, graduate of Harvard College & Yale Law School. A similar bio could be seen on May 12, 2022, according to archived versions of Carlson’s Twitter account (here), (here). There is no evidence that Anonymous hacked Tucker Carlson’s Twitter account or changed his bio, and a Fox News spokesperson denied the allegation.

☆ Adventure Awaits in the Scottish Highlands—for Those Who Make the Trek
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Matthew Kronsberg | Photographs Robert Ormerod For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

I HAVE LONG been of the mind that the harder a place is to reach, the better it must be. That bit of folk wisdom hasn’t always worked to my advantage, but a trip to the west coast of Scotland left me more convinced than ever. The odyssey began at the former fishing village of Badachro, a 70-mile drive west from the city of Inverness. Those driving the scenic North Coast 500 route detour here for elevated pub grub at the Badachro Inn, with its views of Loch Gairloch. He issues each visitor a passport; mine was number 14,933.

☆ Ecuador lawmakers declassify documents in bid to impeach Lasso
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Alexandra Valencia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Legislators of Ecuador's National Assembly attend a session to debate a report recommending the opening of impeachment hearings against President Guillermo Lasso, in Quito, Ecuador March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Karen ToroQUITO, March 14 (Reuters) - Ecuador's national assembly on Tuesday voted to declassify documents tied to investigations into allegations of corruption at public companies, in a bid to shore up impeachment charges against President Guillermo Lasso. Lasso has denied corruption accusations and said his government will cooperate fully with the investigations by the attorney general's office. Any impeachment process against Lasso - who survived an ouster attempt last year during anti-government protests - would also require approval by the constitutional court. The CONAIE Indigenous organization, which led protests last year, has called for Lasso's resignation but so far not backed national protests.

"Most luxury retailers don't think Hong Kong will return to the dizzy levels of 2014 when the market here peaked," said Simon Smith, Savills' senior director of research and consultancy in Hong Kong. Morgan Stanley (MS.N) forecast Hong Kong visitor numbers this year will reach just 70% of 2018 arrivals. It estimates retail sales will grow 15%, holding at around 80% of retail trade from the pre-COVID year. That outstripped total Hong Kong retail sales from a peak hit in 2013 at HK$494.5 billion ($63.0 billion), according to the city's statistics department. ($1 = 6.8510 yuan)($1 = 7.8498 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Farah Master, Jessie Pang, Anne Marie Roantree, Angel Woo and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong, Sophie Yu in Beijing, and Mimosa Spencer in Paris; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ McLaren a potential customer for Red Bull, says Horner
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Alan Baldwin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MANAMA, March 3 (Reuters) - McLaren boss Zak Brown visited Red Bull's factory to discuss a potential Formula One power unit supply when the engine rules change in 2026, Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner said on Friday. They have also been linked to a return to their former suppliers Honda, who have a partnership deal with Red Bull until 2026. Horner told reporters at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix that Brown had been a visitor to Red Bull Powertrains in Milton Keynes. News of Brown's visit raised some eyebrows given apparently strained relations between the American and Horner last year when Red Bull were found to have breached a budget cap. Without naming Red Bull directly, Brown spoke at the time of excessive spending being effectively cheating.

After a fire engulfed Notre Dame in 2019, horrified onlookers around the world donated nearly $1 billion to restore the cathedral. Scroll to experience an acoustic simulation of how “Viderunt Omnes” may have sounded from different places inside Notre Dame. In the survey on the acoustic experience of Notre Dame, respondents commented on the building’s unique sound. We may see Notre Dame as an eternal monument, but she hears it as a place that is always changing. When I visited Notre Dame with her, we were accompanied by a young sound engineer, as well as a historian studying metal.

☆ Britain's coronation throne gets revamp ahead of King Charles' crowning
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] The inside of Westminster Abbey in central London is seen in this general view taken April 20, 2011. Charles will follow some of his famous forebears, such as King Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and his own mother Elizabeth II, in being crowned on the chair. It has featured in coronation ceremonies since 1308, and has been the chair used to crown monarchs since Henry IV in 1399, the Abbey says. "The coronation chair is extremely fragile. It has a complex layer structure which means that the gilding layers on it often flake off," Blessley said.

☆ Putin gives U.S. actor Seagal top state award for 'humanitarian work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has bestowed a top state award on Hollywood actor Steven Seagal to reward him for his international humanitarian and cultural work, a state decree published on Monday showed. The decree said the 70-year-old star of action films such as "Under Siege" had been given Russia's Order of Friendship. The decree mentioned Seagal's work as a special representative of Russia's Foreign Ministry for humanitarian ties with the United States and Japan. The U.S.-born actor and martial arts practitioner has worked in Japan and has long admired Putin, from whom he received a Russian passport in 2016. Ukraine in 2017 banned Seagal from entering for five years on national security grounds.

☆ Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld says shareholders will be wiped out
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year, said Friday that it expected shareholders to be wiped out entirely, meaning they should not expect to recover any funds from a restructuring or sale of the business. “Based on the proposals received to date, it is not expected that any sale transaction will provide any recovery for the holders of the company’s equity interests,” it said. The British company continues to operate its theaters around the world as usual, it reiterated in its statement on Friday. Last month, Cineworld announced it was closing 39 more movie theaters in the United States. The pandemic forced movie theaters around the globe to close, dealing a devastating blow to Cineworld and others in the industry, and is still affecting visitor numbers.

☆ Macau casino stocks, bonds on a roll as Chinese visitors return
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Georgina Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Chinese tourists are returning to Macau in hordes after Beijing lifted its restrictions on travel to the world's biggest gambling hub, lifting stocks and bonds of casino operators as investors bet on a boom in their revenues. The casino operators' bonds are in demand as investors look for exposure to Chinese junk debt but seek to avoid property developers' bonds. Those bonds account for a large chunk of the high-yield market and the developers' fortunes remain under a cloud after a crackdown by Beijing. Among the three U.S. casino groups that operate in Macau, CreditSights has an "outperform" rating on Wynn Macau bonds due to higher yields. Sands China's (1928.HK) 10-year bond, rated at investment grade by Moody's Investors Service and Fitch, trades at a yield of 6.59%, compared with 9.3% on Wynn Macau's bond of the same maturity.

☆ 5 times scientists thought they'd maybe discovered signs of extraterrestrial life but sadly didn't
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Extraterrestrial life could exist, but mysterious objects in the sky aren't evidence of aliens. Scientists have thought they were close to discovering alien life a few times — none of it via UFOs. As the US discovered a flurry of UFOs — officially called "unidentified anomalous phenomena," or UAPs — in early February, Google searches for "extraterrestrial life" and "are aliens real" spiked. There have been incidents in the past where some researchers thought they'd come close to discovering signs of alien life — or even extraterrestrial intelligence — but none were UFOs. They dubbed the first interstellar object 'Oumuamua, which is a Hawaiian term meaning "a messenger from afar arriving first."

☆ Factbox: Four-day working week: some are seeing a win-win
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Mark John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Whether they will have the longevity of France's landmark 35-hour working week bill, enshrined into law in 2000, remains to be seen. The country's telecom giant Telefonica separately offered its employees a four-day week - but in exchange for a 12% pay cut. ITALY - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo last year offered staff the option of a four-day working week on the same salary from this January, the first such move by a major Italian employer. Travel company Nordic Visitor, with offices in Iceland, Scotland and Sweden, reduced the working week to 35 hours from 40. Consumer goods giant Unilever has also experimented with a four-day working week for local staff.

☆ Biden’s test: Sustaining unity as Ukraine war enters second year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

One year ago, President Joe Biden was bracing for the worst as Russia massed troops in preparation to invade Ukraine. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was offered help getting out of his country if he wanted it. Now, as Biden prepares to travel to Poland to mark the anniversary of the war, he faces a legacy-defining moment. In Poland, Biden is set to meet with allies to reassure them of the U.S. commitment to the region and to helping Ukraine "as long as it takes." From the beginning of his administration, Biden has argued the world is at a crucial moment pitting autocracies against democracies.

☆ Seen Big Ben already? Here's a Londoner's guide to visiting other parts of the city
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Central London's City of Westminster is its political heart, while the City of London is where the capital's financial decisions happen. But be warned: Several paths across Hyde Park are pedestrian-only, and police often fine people who cycle on them. The City of London is a blend of old and new, with St Paul's Cathedral close to skyscrapers as well as Roman ruins. While north London has Hampstead Heath, south of the river is Richmond Park, which dwarfs its northern counterpart in size. There's also a branch in central London's Covent Garden — the flower-filled restaurant The Petersham — that has an sit-down deli and bar.

☆ Meet the GOP leaders in charge of critical House environmental committees
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Westerman, a representative for Arkansas's fourth congressional district, has a background in engineering and is a licensed forester. He's also introduced legislation to plant 1 trillion trees globally by 2050 in order to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of House Committee on Energy and CommerceRep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) during a House Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill on April 2, 2019 in Washington, DC. "We'll be focusing on promoting innovative technologies to facilitate our clean energy transition," Lucas told CNBC. Lucas said the committee would also conduct "robust oversight" of the spending being distributed to advance the country's clean energy sector.

Jesper Brodin, CEO of IKEA stores owner Ingka, said visitor numbers and sales volumes were up so far in the group's fiscal year through August 2023. "We are currently seeing growing visitor numbers and growing sales ... It started late spring, summer, and has continued," Brodin said, adding that current trading was better than feared. Some costs such as gas prices have started to decline as well, prompting some retailers to consider price cuts. Brodin said Ingka was currently seeing no signs of weakening demand, or of any of its markets heading towards a deep recession this year.

☆ At Mexico's Chichen Itza site, researchers discover ancient 'elite' residences
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Lorenzo Hernandez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A general view of "Casa de La Luna" during a media tour to Chichen Viejo at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in Piste, Mexico February 10, 2023. Archaeologist Francisco Perez Ruiz said there were no known residential groups in Chichen Itza, meaning the housing complex would represent "the first residential group where a ruler lived with his entire family." The area, known as Chichen Viejo, is expected to be integrated in the near future into the visitor area of the Chichen Itza archaeological site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. "There must be more residential groups that have not been explored yet. Around 2 million people visit Chichen Itza site in southeast Mexico each year, according to official data.

TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The popularity of Japan's crisp powder snow among foreign skiers, surging back into the country, is luring more to seek the thrill of pristine backcountry slopes - sometimes with deadly impact. Japan's snow, prized among skiers for dryness caused by local atmospheric conditions, is a big draw. The head of Japan's National Governors Association last week said a national system of safety measures is now essential. BACKCOUNTRY CULTUREThe reputation of Japanese snow took off after the Nagano Olympics. Japan wants to welcome foreign skiers, but they need to know the reality of the risks involved, said Kenji Kubota, a researcher with the Japan Rescue Organization.

☆ White House opposes bill to lift foreign air visitor vaccination rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The White House said Tuesday it opposes legislation before Congress that would end a requirement that most foreign air travelers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Currently, adult visitors to the United States who are not citizens or permanent residents must show proof of vaccination before boarding their flight, with some limited exceptions. The White House plans to end the COVID public health emergency on May 11. "As we approach the end of the public health emergency, the administration will review all relevant policies, including this one," the White House said. In December, the United States imposed mandatory negative COVID test requirements on most travelers from China as COVID infections rocketed there.

☆ I tried to see the green comet and totally failed. I needed more planning and equipment than I expected.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

I tried to see the famous green comet in the night skies, far from the city, last weekend. The moon outshined most of the stars, and I couldn't locate the faint comet, even with binoculars. I've heard (and written) a lot of hype about this comet, called C/2022 E3 (ZTF), or Comet ZTF for short. Morgan McFall-JohnsenIf I had spotted the green comet, there's no way I would've been able to capture it on my iPhone X. Who knows, maybe I looked right at the green comet and didn't recognize it because it was too faint.

☆ George Santos' first House race took days to call in 2020. So he came to DC for new member orientation and had a blast before finding out he lost.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 2020, Santos ran his first campaign and lost — but still went to DC for new member orientation. 'He seemed nice'In cases where a congressional election takes more than a few days to fully determine, both candidates are sometimes invited to take part in new member orientation. Adam Frisch, a Democrat who almost unseated Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert this past year, attended the orientation sessions in November as the vote-counting in Colorado dragged on. In 2018, current Republican Rep. Young Kim of California attended as well, despite ultimately losing her race that year. Santos at 2020 new member orientation, seated near Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas and Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California.

☆ The green comet and Mars will appear side-by-side next weekend. Spot them together in the sky.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A green comet and Mars will appear side-by-side in the night sky on February 10 and 11. The green comet and the red planet will be visible side-by-side across the Northern Hemisphere on the nights of February 10 and 11. All that could make it much easier to spot the cosmic visitor, a ball of frozen gas and dust called Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), or Comet ZTF for short. Once you spot Mars, finding the green cosmic snowball should be a breeze if it's bright enough. How to see Mars and Comet ZTFThe Hubble Space Telescope took this snapshot of Mars in the 1990s.

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