World News

The president and founder of the Excelencias Group, Jose Carlos de Santiago, will unveil the call for the first edition of the Magical Ecuador by Excelencias Awards. 

The 6th International Smart City Ecuador Congress has been the framework chosen to present these awards, with which the Excelencias Group seeks to recognize the great wealth of Ecuador's cultural, natural and historical heritage. The Magical Ecuador by Excelencias Awards will reward those Magical Towns in Ecuador that work to maintain and preserve their heritage, culture, tourism development and art, always with an eye on ensuring sustainability in the process.

The U.S. partnership with India drives security, innovation and prosperity for both countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

In June 12 remarks at an event organized by the U.S.-India Business Council, Blinken celebrated the two nations’ deep economic and cultural ties. He also echoed President Biden’s description of the U.S.-India partnership as the “defining relationship” of the 21st century.

On the first morning of the 2023 Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, H.E. Mr. Akbar Al Baker unveiled the new Gulfstream G700 in the presence of Qatar’s Minister of Transport, H.E. Jassim bin Saif bin Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to France, H.E. Sheikh Ali bin Jassem Al-Thani, COO of HIA, Eng. Badr Mohammed Al Meer, and President of Gulfstream Aerospace, Mark Burns.

Rohit Singh is a second-generation Indian immigrant living in Mornington Peninsula, a beachy cape that's about an hour's drive from Melbourne. Over the past two years, he has been helping his parents run Avani, a boutique winery they founded after migrating to Australia in the 1990s.

Mr Singh says that in the past decade, the South Asian community in Melbourne has burgeoned, so Avani has started hosting wine pairing events that spotlight Indian dishes - meen pollichathu (a baked fish recipe from southern India) is served with Pinot Gris; dal makhani (a slow-cooked, creamy black lentil dish) is paired with a Pinot Noir.

A new chapter in travel has arrived on the global stage with the world class, digitally-led airline Riyadh Air, making its international debut at the 54^th bi-annual Paris Air Show. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner adorned with Riyadh Air's unique livery touched down after a stunning fly-over the city of Riyadh for its first official reveal on Monday 12^th June.  

The disruptive new airline from Saudi Arabia will fly to more than 100 destinations, and reach 100 million visitors, by 2030 making Riyadh City a hub for global travel and encouraging visits to the Kingdom for business and leisure.

New York City’s Caribbean American community came together in a show of strength and unity in downtown Manhattan for a special flag-raising celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Gathered at Bowling Green, New York City Mayor Eric Adams; Kenneth Bryan, chair of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation; and other officials delivered remarks to members of the media and the Caribbean American community.

Marking the annual International Day of the African Child, the African Tourism Board had explained the role which tourism plays in the development of African children welfare, directly and indirectly.

While the relationship between tourism and child welfare is complex, there are several ways in which the tourism industry can contribute to the well-being of children in Africa, African Tourism Board (ATB) President Cuthbert Ncube said through a message. “Tourism is a major contributor to economic growth in many African countries. Increased tourism revenue can lead to more public resources being available for social services, including education, healthcare, and child protection,” Mr. Ncube said.

Several international research institutes and centres have developed a growing interest in the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage season, one of the largest annual human gatherings on earth, with some US and British universities publishing research papers proving that Hajj is an abundant source of positive human emotions.

Some of these papers found that Hajj supports the principles of tolerance and peace among pilgrims, facts that are considered as a testimony by neutral parties for the benefit of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, as well as other Saudi authorities who strive to provide millions of pilgrims with a modern yet spiritual atmosphere.

The Buccaneer Beach & Golf Resort on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands is welcoming news of increased American Airlines flights from Charlotte, North Carolina this winter season. The Dallas-Fort Worth-based carrier advised this week that seat capacity to the Caribbean and Latin America will increase by 40 percent compared to winter 2022 and “The Big Island” of St. Croix will benefit from daily Charlotte flights starting December 5, 2023.

Seven African leaders are travelling to Ukraine and Russia on a peace mission, hoping to work towards ending the war, which has badly affected living standards across the whole of the continent. The delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda is meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

But the timing of the visit seems off. It comes just as Kyiv is launching its much-vaunted counter-offensive. So, what can this mission actually achieve?

After English-speaking visitors noticed the pun in taking route 666 to “Hell”, the bus line became a tourist attraction. Polish transit operator PKS Gdynia announced that due to complaints from the Roman Catholic Church it will be renumber its notorious ‘Satanic Bus’ route serving Pomeranian resort area.

According to the operator, bus route 666, serving Poland’s Baltic Sea resort of Hel, will be re-numbered at the end of June. “We changed the number from 666 to 669, [to be] less controversial and less conspicuous,” PKS Gdynia executive said, citing complaints by the church as one of the reasons for the decision.

“There is no single Caribbean American identity,” President Joe Biden said in a proclamation, referring to the roughly 8 million Caribbean Americans living in the United States today. “The mix of cultures, languages, and religions alive across the United States and the islands reflects the diversity of spirit that defines the American story.”

Here are images of art by five Caribbean American artists who work in an array of mediums as they address issues from colonialism within the Afro Caribbean diaspora to climate change. Ana Mendieta was born in Havana and came to live in the United States with her sister when Fidel Castro took power in 1960.

Chair and Founder of Precision Air Mr. Michael Shirima passed away last weekend at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. His family confirmed his death and said that the leading aviation industry expert in Tanzania had passed away and will be laid to eternal rest this week at his family home in Kilimanjaro region in northern Tanzania.

The family described Mr. Shirima as an inspiration and a leader to many, and promised to forever cherish his life.

Texas native Opal Lee has seen a lot of history in her 96 years. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. In this century, she voted for the first African American president of the United States. Lee herself has made history, too.

In 2016, at age 89, the retired schoolteacher and longtime community activist took up the cause of elevating Juneteenth as a federal holiday. And she succeeded.

Tens of thousands have been evacuated in India and Pakistan as parts of the countries braced for an extremely severe cyclone today. Biparjoy - a cyclone over the Arabian Sea - is forecast to make landfall in Kutch in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

In Pakistan, the storm is expected to hit the coast of Sindh province and affect parts of Karachi city. Seven people have died in India amid heavy rains.

Jamaican poet Christena Williams is one of ten young Caribbean creatives who will be featured at the 40th edition of UNESCO’s Poetry Market to be held from 7 to 11 June at the Place Saint Sulpice in Paris, France.

Her selection means that Christena will participate in public readings of her poems, meet with publishers, and enjoy exchanges with other authors. Williams will also be able to network with important figures in Europe’s literary scene.