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☆ Travel news: US airline staffing at ‘highest level’ in decades – so why the flight delays?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Maureen O'Hare | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Extreme weatherHeat waves, wildfires, floods and storms have been hitting regions across North America, Europe and Asia. Air travel woesUS passenger airline employment is now at its highest level in over two decades, says a new statement from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as carriers build up their workforces to meet the huge demand for post-pandemic travel. However, passengers this summer are still facing “unacceptable delays and disruptions” because of a shortage of air traffic controllers in North America. If all this has got you wistful for a bygone “golden age of air travel,” however, you’d be very wrong.

Persons: you’d, we’ve, Jay Khan, Janet Yellen’s, jian, Yellen, Liesbet Collaert, she’d, Christina Ward, Wahid Kandil, you’re, they’ve Organizations: CNN, Southern, International Air Transport Association, US Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, NAV Canada, US Locations: North America, Europe, Asia, Italy, Southern Europe, Ireland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Las Vegas, Chicago, Hong Kong, Beijing, Yunnan, Belgian, California, Egypt, Barra, American, Paris

☆ Royal destinations you need to visit in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

A version of this story appeared in the July 7 edition of CNN’s Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on Britain’s royal family. Research in 2011 by Visit Britain found that around 60% of tourists to the UK are likely to visit places associated with the royal family, according to Ross Bennett-Cook, a visiting lecturer at the School of Architecture and Cities at London’s University of Westminster. While there is no more recent data on royal sites specifically, in 2022 Visit Britain found that history and heritage were the biggest pull factors for tourists. Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesCornwall: Dear to local and international tourists alike, Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of the UK pointing out into the Atlantic Ocean, is also a special destination for the royal family. The medieval parish church of St Mary Magdalene is regularly used as a place of worship by members of the royal family and dates back to the 16th-century.

Persons: Ross Bennett, Cook, we’ve, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III, William the, Edward III, Prince Harry, Prince Philip, Peter Titmuss, Duke of Cornwall, Prince William, Mary Magdalene, Bauer, Griffin, Queen, King George VI, Queen Victoria . Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, Andrew Milligan, Prince Albert, daytrippers, Mary Queen of Scots, It’s, Peter Byrne, King Charles, Prince of Wales, Work, wasn’t, King Edward I, Wales, Edward II, Tim Rooke, King George IV, Albert, There’s, shouldn’t Organizations: CNN’s Royal, CNN, Wimbledon, School of Architecture, London’s University of Westminster, Guard, Getty, Radcliffe, Sandringham, Sandringham House, Queen, Highlands, Scottish, Caernarfon, Royal Palaces Locations: Europe, London, Windsor, St, George’s, Duchy, Cornwall, Lostwithiel, UK, British, England, Scilly, Sandringham, Norfolk, Royal Parkland, Scotland, Cairns, Edinburgh, Holyroodhouse, Scottish, Caernarfon, Wales, Menai, Anglesey, Prince, Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, Brighton, Isle of Wight, Osborne

☆ Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Environmental Photography Award: Powerful images show challenges and hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Editor’s Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. CNN —A windswept Arctic fox, a murmuration of birds facing a snowstorm in the Himalayas, and a man and a boy in a flooded living room are among the images recognized in this year’s Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation’s Environmental Photography Award. “Photography is a powerful tool for giving a voice to threatened wildlife and biodiversity,” said jury president Sergio Pitamitz in a press release. A photograph of elephants being transported between national parks in Malawi claimed first place in the “Change Makers: Reasons for Hope” category. The winning images are now being exhibited in Monaco on the Promenade du Lavotto, before touring internationally.

Persons: Prince Albert II of, ”, Sergio Pitamitz, Kallol Mukherjee, Jasper Doest, ” Pitamitz, “, ” “ Doest, Marcus Westberg Organizations: CNN, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Wildlife Forensics Academy Locations: Gabon, Africa, Netherlands, Malawi, South Africa, Monaco

☆ Islay: The wild remote island at the heart of a billion-dollar industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Islay’s single malt is known for its salty and smoky flavors, that transport you to the wild and windswept island. Part of the reason is that when it comes to an Islay single malt, the place and the taste are so deeply intertwined. The Glenmorangie CompanyIslay’s whisky industry has not always been a boon for the island. Islay has a population of around 3,000 people -- most are connected to the whisky industry. “Traditions are things that are handed down from one generation to another.”Everybody’s connected to the whisky industry.” Islay Heads, general manager at Kilchoman DistilleryLike most people on Islay, Heads has strong links to the spirit.

Persons: Distillery Jackie Thomson, ”, Thompson, “, Jackie Thomson, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, Kilchoman, Ardnahoe, Port Ellen, NELL LEWIS, Anthony Wills, Wills, Kilchoman’s, Blair Bowman, Bowman, ’, Islay Organizations: CNN, Distillery, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Whisky Association, Asia –, Diageo, Louis, Islay, Kilchoman, Tourism Locations: Islay, Scotland’s, Kennacraig, Glasgow, Ardbeg, Australia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Taiwan, Asia, Port, Scotland, Aberdeen Angus, Kilchoman, Machir

☆ The Grand Canyon, a Cathedral to Time, Is Losing Its River
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Raymond Zhong | Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +19 min

And yet, the Grand Canyon remains yoked to the present in one key respect. The Colorado River, whose wild energy incised the canyon over millions of years, is in crisis. Down beneath the tourist lodges and shops selling keychains and incense, past windswept arroyos and brown valleys speckled with agave, juniper and sagebrush, the rocks of the Grand Canyon seem untethered from time. The Grand Canyon is a planetary spectacle like none other — one that also happens to host a river that 40 million people rely on for water and power. At Mile 0 of the Grand Canyon, the river is running at around 7,000 cubic feet per second, rising toward 9,000 — not the lowest flows on record, but far from the highest.

Persons: windswept, Davis, John Weisheit, ”, “, Mead Hoover, Powell, Daniel Ostrowski, Victor R, Baker, . Baker, Lake Powell, Dr, Ed Keable, wouldn’t, Jack Schmidt, Schmidt, ’, Alma Wilcox, “ There’s, we’ve, Nicholas Pinter Organizations: Rockies, York Times, University of California, Utah Glen, Lake, Mead, Recreation, Hualapai, CALIF, ARIZ . Utah Glen, Lake Mead, Area, Forest Utah, Engineers, University of Arizona, of Reclamation, National Park Service, Center, Colorado River Studies, Utah State University Locations: Colorado, The Colorado, North America, Utah, Powell, Lake Mead, Arizona, . UTAH COLO, N.M, ARIZ . Utah, Mead, NEV . UTAH COLO, Glen, ARIZ, Hopi, Nevada, Lake Powell, Arizona , California , Nevada, Mexico, Davis, Little Colorado, tamarisk, gesturing

☆ Will a Dollar General Ruin a Rural Crossroads?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Michael Corkery | Andrea Bruce | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anne Hartley’s brick house in Ebony, Va., overlooks windswept fields, a Methodist church, a general store and the intersection of two country roads, a pastoral setting that evokes an Edward Hopper painting or a faded postcard from the South. Now this scene is being threatened, Ms. Hartley said, by a plan to build what every small American town seems to have: a Dollar General. A descendant of one of Ebony’s founding families, Ms. Hartley says the discount store — which would be built next to her home — will create traffic problems in the area, with people drawn to the brand’s signature yellow sign and its aisles filled with inexpensive food and household staples. Beyond the store itself, Ms. Hartley and many others with ties to Ebony think it will open the door to additional development that will spoil the character of their tiny, rural community of about 230 people. The name of their website and the rallying cry for their campaign against the Dollar General is “Keep Ebony Country.”

Persons: Anne, Edward Hopper, Hartley, Ebony, ” Organizations: Methodist, Dollar Locations: Ebony , Va, windswept

☆ Hurricanes of Data: The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Porter Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +35 min

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea Shortly after dawn on Sept. 30, 2021, Richard Jenkins watched a Category 4 hurricane overrun his life’s work. That August, a sister ship, SD 1031, successfully entered Tropical Storm Henri, but only in its early stages. Hurricane research, modeling and forecasting requires many terabytes of data for every square mile the storm passes through, including vitally important sea-level data from inside a storm. The next day, the depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and officially given the name Sam. And four months later, Tropical Storm Megi killed more than 150, wiped out several villages with landslides and displaced more than a million people.

☆ Factbox: Old disputes overshadow visit by Japan's Kishida to South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 5 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be visiting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday in the latest effort to improve bilateral ties. - Relations between the two North Asian U.S. allies have been strained over disputes dating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea. - Relations deteriorated in 2019 when Japan restricted exports of high-tech materials for making chips and display panels to South Korea. - In late March, Japan's trade ministry lifted export curbs to South Korea on the high-tech materials, while South Korea withdrew its complaint filed at the World Trade Organization on Japan's export controls. Under Yoon, South Korea has resumed trilateral military drills and agreed to more intelligence sharing on issues like tracking ballistic missile launches from North Korea.

[1/5] Britain's Camilla, Queen Consort attends a Garden Party, in celebration of King Charles' coronation, at Buckingham Palace, London, Britain. When Charles' divorced first wife, the popular, glamorous Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, Camilla bore the brunt of media hostility. That's the strength of love," Camilla told Charles in the secretly recorded telephone conversation publicised in 1993. From being able to appear in public together, to marriage and last year's approval from Queen Elizabeth to Camilla taking the title Queen Consort, their success is complete. Other surveys have also indicated only a minority thought she should be Queen Camilla.

☆ Is Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld’s Cat, Going to the Met Gala?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Callie Holtermann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Had Choupette deigned to attend the Met Gala, she would have joined many other immaculately groomed guests with elite pedigrees. Choupette, the Birman cat once owned by Karl Lagerfeld, led a life of decadence by the designer’s side. In Vogue’s recent tribute to Mr. Lagerfeld, she lolled over the arm of a windswept Naomi Campbell. She received an invitation to the Met Gala celebrating her onetime owner, according to her agent, Lucas Bérullier. (Like anyone who’s anyone in fashion, Choupette has an entourage.)

☆ A Well of Conservative Support for Public Schools in Rural Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

NEW HOME, Texas — Bright yellow uprights tower over what was recently a flat expanse of cotton fields, now transformed into football turf. Nearby, cranes pull up the walls of what will soon be a new elementary school. Not too long ago, you could count on two hands the number of annual graduates from the New Home Independent School District. Now, families are flocking to the windswept patch of West Texas just south of Lubbock, drawn to the deeply conservative farming community by the promise of good public schools. “What’s keeping this place together is the school,” said Ramon Benitez, 39, an agriculture science teacher at New Home.

[1/4] A Chinese warship fires at a target during a military drill near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands that are close to the Chinese coast, China, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas PeterFUZHOU, China, April 8 (Reuters) - A Chinese warship in seas facing the Taiwan Strait began live-fire drills on Saturday as Beijing began military exercises it calls a warning against what it considers pro-Taiwan independence forces. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Smoke and muzzle flares were visible from the stern of the warship as shells were fired on targets on land and water. When asked about Taiwan, Zhao said he hopes the two sides could "reunite" as quickly as possible.

☆ Replica of Kremlin critic Navalny's cell on display at Dutch exhibit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Anthony Deutsch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Alexei Navalny's spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh is seen in a replica of the prison cell where the jailed Russian opposition leader is being held, on display as part of the exhibit "Silenced" at Loevestein Castle, the Netherlands, March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Anthony DeutschLOEVESTEIN CASTLE, Netherlands, March 31 (Reuters) - A replica of the two-by-three-metre prison cell holding Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny went on display in the Netherlands on Friday as part of an exhibit entitled "Silenced" about political prisoners through the centuries. Navalny, the leading Russian opposition figure, nearly died after being poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent while campaigning against Russian President Vladimir Putin in August 2020. Amid a crackdown by Russian authorities on the opposition, many of Navalny's most prominent allies left Russia rather than face restrictions or jail at home. She said Navalny's prison conditions are harsh, even by the standards of an authoritarian government.

☆ Factbox: South Korea moves to resolve historical, legal disputes with Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korea on Monday proposed establishing a public foundation to compensate victims of wartime forced labour by Japan, to help resolve strained ties between the two countries. Efforts to overcome historical disputes between South Korea and Japan were renewed under South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May, with both countries vowing to improve ties. Japan says the matter of any compensation for forced labour was settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic ties and providing South Korea with economic assistance. - Relations deteriorated in 2019 when Japan restricted exports of high-tech material to South Korea. Under Yoon, South Korea has resumed trilateral military drills and agreed to more intelligence sharing on things like tracking ballistic missile launches from North Korea.

REUTERS/Miguel VidalA CORUNA, Spain/LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - In Spain's A Coruna, two contrasting fashion business models collide - pitching the growing demands for the clothing industry to become more sustainable against the constant need to drive sales. This rainy, windswept, city on the rugged Atlantic coast is the unlikely headquarters of Zara-owner Inditex (ITX.MC) - the world's biggest fast fashion retailer. It also hosts small boutiques offering high quality, durable products that consider themselves an alternative to the fast and affordable fashion propelling Inditex's annual sales of 28 billion euros ($30 billion). "If you release tonnes and tonnes of clothes, textiles, shoes into the market, you will have to collect it," he said. But Circ and its competitors are only capable of producing 1% of the textiles needed to make the 109 million tonnes of clothes per year that the global fashion industry churns out.

☆ In England's north, Ukraine's civilians become soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Ukrainian civilians receive urban warfare training at a military installation in the north of England, part of a program that has so far trained more than 10,000 volunteers, February 16, 2023. Kyiv and its Western allies, including Britain, say these are baseless pretexts for an unprovoked war of acquisition. On Wednesday, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain is training Ukrainian soldiers to fight in a more "Western way" and use less ammunition than the traditional Soviet way of fighting. The programme also includes urban warfare, where men train how to fight in ordinary houses and civilian structures, and shooting practice. "I think that all of us will be ready to come back, because Ukraine really needs us, the soldiers who will stand for Ukraine," he said.

Small businesses like his in Britain are being hammered by rising costs which they would struggle to pass onto cash-strapped consumers. It has left many small businesses fighting for survival. Over the course of last year citrus ingredients shot up by between 25% and 35% in price, he said. They now cost nearer to 15 pounds because of a 50% jump in the price of tinned tomatoes. He said: "We're just looking into every single aspect of the expenses that we incur to try and make a living."

☆ On the one hill with mobile signal, Ukrainian kids build makeshift classroom
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Vitalii Hnidyi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Vitalii HnidyiHONTARIVKA, Ukraine, Jan 24 (Reuters) - At the only place in their village where they could find a strong mobile internet signal - a windswept hill on the barren steppe - Ukrainian fifth-grader Mykola Dziuba and his friends have built makeshift tent to serve as a remote classroom. "We sit here for around two or three hours, sometimes just for an hour," said Dziuba as the wind rattled the rickety structure. He said they collected the materials - plastic sheeting, wooden poles, bricks and sand - from around their homes. In the shadow of a water tower on a low hill they discovered the mobile coverage was good enough for a stable internet connection. Repeated Russian missile strikes on critical infrastructure since last October have also plunged large parts of the country into periodic power outages.

This grassroots protest movement has been driven largely by ordinary farmers like Luiten and their supporters, but it has another element: the far-right. As conspiracy-driven Telegram groups, right-wing commentators and some lawmakers would baselessly put it, Dutch farms are being shut down to make space for asylum-seekers. Right-wing populists around the world have offered their support for the farmers’ stand, including former President Donald Trump, France’s Marine Le Pen and Poland’s far-right populist government. But, in reality, many Dutch farmers are just trying to make a living. Supporters stand on highway bridges every night waving the inverted tricolor as a symbol of defiance against an unpopular government and to call for an end to the nitrogen plan.

☆ Sale jumpstarts floating, offshore wind power in U.S. waters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The cost of developing offshore wind has dropped 60% since 2010 according to a July report by the International Renewable Energy Agency. Offshore wind is well established in the U.K. and some other countries but is just beginning to ramp up off America’s coasts, and this is the nation’s first foray into floating wind turbines. Europe has some floating offshore wind — a project in the North Sea has been operating since 2017 — but the potential for the technology is huge in areas of strong wind off America’s coasts, said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president of offshore wind at the American Clean Power Association. President Joe Biden set a goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 using traditional technology that secures wind turbines to the ocean floor, enough to power 10 million homes. Then the administration announced plans in September to develop floating platforms that could vastly expand offshore wind in the United States.

☆ Can You Actually Ditch Your Car for an E-Bike? Maybe
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Brigid Mander | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE For many riders, new e-bikes offer all the same functionalities one expects from SUVs, pickup trucks and sedans. EACH WEEKDAY MORNING, like millions of other American parents, Emily Lecuyer, 39, drops her kids off at daycare. Instead of loading them in a car, however, the CFO for an IT security company in Kansas City, Mo., transports her 1- and 2-year olds on her Rad Power Bikes RadWagon, a long tail cargo electric bike. After pedaling her progeny 3 miles to their destination, Ms. Lecuyer journeys another 5 miles to her office. She might arrive with her hair a bit windswept, but, thanks to the bike’s powerful motor, she never breaks much of a sweat.

☆ Al Jassasiya: The mysterious symbols carved in Qatar's deserts
▼ + stars: | 2021-11-22 | by ( Dimitris Sideridis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

On a desolate and windswept corner of Qatar’s northeastern coast, among the sand dunes of the barren desert, lies Al Jassasiya, the Gulf country’s largest and most important rock art site. Overall, archaeologists have found a total of some 900 rock carvings, or “petroglyphs,” at Al Jassasiya. Al Jassasiya, about an hour north of Qatar’s uber-modern capital and near the old pearling port of Al Huwaila, was discovered in 1957. “We have no direct clues about the motifs used in Al Jassasiya,” he said. Al Jassasiya is located just south of the popular Azerbaijani Beach, so an excursion there can also be combined with a relaxing day beside the sea.

Persons: Al Jassasiya, Jassasiya, Ferhan Sakal, ”, “, Dimitris, Doha’s Al Bidda, Al Huwaila, Holger Kapel, Hans Kapel, Dimitris Sideridis, Sakal, ” Frances Gillespie, Faisal Abdulla Al, Naimi, ” Gillespie Organizations: CNN, Qatar Museums, ”, “ Ships Locations: Gulf, Al, Qatar, Doha’s, Qatar’s, Danish, Al Jassasiya, ”, Sands

☆ From Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard: Island hopping in New England the easy way
▼ + stars: | 2020-02-14 | by ( Heidi Sarna | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Block Island are classic New England islands. Martha's Vineyard is beloved for its frilly, gingerbread-style Victorian cottages in Oak Bluffs as well as the dramatic headlands of Aquinnah. The itinerary includes stops at New Bedford, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Block Island in Massachusetts; and Newport and Bristol in Rhode Island. Starting late August of this year, Norwegian Cruise Lines' 2,394-passenger Norwegian Gem will run a seven-night New England cruise out of Boston, which includes stops at Martha's Vineyard and Newport. kickstandIn 2021, Victory Cruise Lines' 202-passenger Victory I will begin seven-night cruises from St. John (Canada) to Boston, making stops at Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

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