World News

A major environmental project is under way in St. Eustatius – affectionately known as Statia – and Saba to reduce erosion and safeguard endangered reefs around the two islands in the Caribbean Netherlands. The project, dubbed “Healthy and Resilient Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Through Reforestation of St Eustatius and Saba”, will include the reforestation of areas stripped bare of vegetation due to land erosion caused by heavy rainfall.

The United States Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-California) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) are introducing a bill in the House of Representatives, calling for a new federal no-fly list for ‘abusive’ and ‘unruly’ passengers, that would ban people convicted of certain criminal offenses from getting on commercial flights. The same bill was also introduced in the Senate by Senator Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island).

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (“First Quantum” or “the Company”) (TSX: FM) have announced that it has entered into an agreement with Rio Tinto to progress the next phase of the La Granja copper project (the “Project”) in Peru.

The Project is located in the district of Querocoto in the northern region of Cajamarca, Peru, approximately 90 kilometres northeast of Chiclayo, the capital of Lambayeque region, at an altitude of between 2,000 and 2,800 meters.

SKAL International Cuzco, Peru took an important responsibility in developing youth and talent. SKAL knows the future of the travel and tourism industry is in the hand of young people.

The youth will also be the future leaders of SKAL International. Recently the Cuzco club of SKAL signed an agreement with Vida y Vocación Perú, an NGO providing scholarships in that institution for young people.

Ziggy and Cedella Marley have joined the fight with the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement to keep Bob Marley beach - named after their late, great father - open to the public. The eight times Grammy-award winner shared a poster for the petition on social media which calls for the protection of unconditional access to Jamaica's beaches.

As part of the international Quran and adhan competition presented by the Otr Elkalam show, one of the initiatives of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, the third episode of the show witnessed the rivalry between European Moroccans in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with humbling recitations of the Holy Quran that reflect meanings and rely on extreme accuracy. In the recitation track, Ahmed Al-Hasnawi from France competed with Mohammed Al-Habti, who lives in Spain, where he leads the prayers in a mosque and teaches children the Holy Quran.

Jamaica's vibrant cultural capital, Kingston, beat out 152 entrants from 28 nations to be selected Best Creative Destination for 2023 by the jury of the 9th Creative Tourism Awards.

The award was recently presented to the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, by Caroline Couret, Director of the Creative Tourism Network®, on behalf of the International Committee, on the margins of ITB Berlin, the world's leading travel trade show, in Germany.

At least 12 people were injured and 30 houses damaged after a tornado hit the Bakenwala village in this Punjab district, officials said on Saturday. The tornado also damaged standing crops in the fields and kinnow orchards, they said.

Bakenwala resident Gurmukh Singh said: "Villagers saw the tornado around 4 pm on Friday." It caused damage in a 2-2.5-km area, he said. Deputy Commissioner Senu Duggal, who visited the affected village, said the administration shifted those villagers whose houses were damaged to the local government school.

Airbus has delivered the first A321neo aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line Asia (FAL Tianjin) to China’s Juneyao Air in Tianjin, China. The aircraft is powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines and features 207 comfortable seats, 8 in Business and 199 in Economy class. Its delivery flight is to use a ten percent Sustainable Aviation Fuel blend in support of the green aviation strategy in China.

“Since we announced the commissioning of the first A321 aircraft at FAL Tianjin last November, the relevant final assembly activities and tests went on smoothly, showcasing the maturity of FAL Tianjin to quickly adapt to new products,” said George Xu, Airbus Executive Vice President and Airbus China CEO.

A lawmaker in the US have introduced a bill to make caste discrimination illegal in the state's senate. If it's passed, California - home to some of the world's biggest tech companies - will become the first US state to outlaw discrimination based on caste.

The bill was authored and introduced by Senator Aisha Wahab, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, who proposed to add caste as a protected category in California's anti-discrimination laws alongside gender, race and disability.

Americans, like people from other countries, revere their nation’s history. They study the men and women who helped found their country, performed acts of heroism in its service and led it in good times and bad.

They visit national monuments and parks. They read books about the United States to learn new stories. In recent years, growing numbers of Americans have come to understand that their history is richer and more complex, if less uniformly triumphant, than they once thought.

STL, a leading optical and digital solutions company, on the occasion of World Water Day, announced that it has replenished 1.4 billion litres (1.4 million m3) of water in 12 villages of Aurangabad, in the state of Maharashtra, India. The company has designed a water resilience program in partnership with the Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF) to improve water and sanitation management in the region.

With the local hotel room-stock set to grow by 20,000 new rooms over the next five to ten years, Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has welcomed a resurgence of the villas sub-sector. Crediting the COVID-19 pandemic for bringing about a revival in villas for visitor accommodation, he said “Jamaica is now leading the way in providing new and exciting villa experiences for tourists across the region.”

In celebration of World Tattoo Day today (Tuesday 21 March), the teams behind two iconic Sydney brands - the Sydney Tower Eye and Bondi Ink are collaborating to host the 'The World's Highest Tattoo Studio,' 250m above Sydney.

Chris and Cristina, artists from the leading tattoo parlour, will give two lucky winners one of two Sydney-skyline-inspired tattoos, in a pop-up-parlour, at the Sydney Tower Eye Observation Deck. Creative inspiration for the two unique semi-realistic designs came following a Bondi Ink team building SKYWALK experience, where the crew got to experience Sydney from the highest vantage point in the city, 268m up high.

A powerful magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Ecuador today, with tremors felt as far away as Guayaquil, Machala, and neighbouring Peru, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.

The quake was at a depth of 10 kilometres (6.21 miles). The earthquake, which struck at 12:12 p.m. local time on Saturday, was centred in Azuay Province, about 47 kilometres northwest of Cuenca and 77 kilometres southeast of Guayaquil.

Indian television actress Dalljiet Kaur tied the knot with businessman Nikhil Patel on March 18, 2023, in a beautiful day wedding in Mumbai, India.

The couple was dressed in ivory-coloured ensembles for the ceremony, which was attended by close friends and family. The wedding was shared on social media by celebrities Karishma Tanna and Ridhi Dogra, who shared pictures and videos from the ceremony.