World News

After months of advocacy, high level discussions and partnerships, Jamaica has been successful in receiving the necessary support to have February 17 officially declared Global Tourism Resilience Day. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution yesterday with the support of over ninety countries. This will be the first ever Global Tourism Resilience Day which will now be recognized every year on that day. 

In the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, Emirates is setting up an airbridge with the International Humanitarian City (IHC), to transport urgent relief supplies, medical items and equipment to support on-ground aid efforts and search and rescue activities in both countries. The first shipments are due to go out today on EK 121 and EK 117, consisting of high thermal blankets and family tents from UNHCR, followed by World Health Organization (WHO) and World Food Program (WFP) relief cargo of medical kits and shelter items, coordinated by the IHC in Dubai.

The partner of footballer Christian Atsu, who has been missing since the earthquake in Turkey on Monday, has called for equipment to be sent to the collapsed building where he was living.

It was reported that Atsu, who plays for Turkish club Hatayspor, was rescued from a building with injuries. But a day later his agent later confirmed his whereabouts are unknown.

Using jack hammers and pick axes to dig through collapsed buildings, emergency responders are still finding those buried beneath the rubble.

Some are still alive after the February 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck 3 days ago, but the death toll has risen to over 20,000. This is even greater than the 2011 earthquake off Fukushima, Japan, that triggered a tsunami, killing more than 18,400 people.

Sean Sherman, known as “the Sioux Chef” and founder of the award-winning restaurant Owamni, believes that Native cuisine — in the United States and around the world — can educate people about Indigenous history and cultures.

“I knew Japanese cuisine, North African, all sorts of European recipes,” Sherman SAID, “but I didn’t know anything about my own heritage. That set me on a path of wanting to understand and reconnect.

An Indian-built light fighter was the first to land aboard and launch from the Indian Navy’s first domestically built aircraft carrier, the service announced this week.

A naval variant of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) made an arrested landing aboard INS Vikrant (R 11) before then again launching from the carrier’s ski-jump ramp.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Government of the Federal Republic of Somalia agreed to deepen and formalize cooperation with the aim of strengthening the economic and social benefits of aviation in Somalia.

Under an agreement signed by Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice President, Africa and the Middle East, and H.E. Fardowsa Osman Egal, the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Federal Republic of Somalia, a new framework was established that will also see an expansion of IATA’s activities in the country.

Footballer Christian Atsu has been pulled from the rubble of a building "with injuries" after the earthquakes in Turkey, his club's vice-president Mustafa Özat has told Turkish radio.

Former Chelsea star Atsu, who now plays for Hatayspor, was trapped after the earthquakes that have killed at least 4,800 people. The ex-Ghana forward, 31, played 107 games for Newcastle and has had spells with Chelsea, Everton and Bournemouth.

UK humanitarian charity Human Appeal has launched an emergency appeal on its website and deployed its team on the ground after the devasting earthquake that struck Turkey which is already being described as the worst to hit Turkey in the last century. The Human Appeal humanitarian aid workers are at the town of Gaziantep near to the epicentre of the devastating earthquake that struck the area of Kahramanmaraş close to the Turkish Syrian border.

“In order to look to the future, it is often necessary to get a clear picture of the past,” Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1957. “In order to know where we are going, it is often necessary to see from whence we have come.”

Among the ways the United States grapples with the racial injustice in its history are museums and public monuments. Five racial-justice museums in the United States include:

Hollywood superstar, Idris Elba OBE, went back to his roots as he spent some time travelling to Africa, which included a visit to Ghana, where he met with the president, Nana Akufo-Addo, as well as attending the first Akwasidae of the year - a 40-day traditional occasion observed every six weeks in Asanteman – at the Manhyia Palace.

Louis D’Amore, the man of peace, is not only a Tourism Hero according to Worlt Tourism Network but also a US Marine Hero. A poster is proof.

The founder and president of the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, Louis has been a travel and tourism celebrity for decades.

The five-dollar bill is Australia’s smallest-denomination banknote and is worth about $3.55 in US dollars. There are approximately 208 million fivers currently in circulation, sporting the Australian parliament building in Canberra on the reverse and the traditional portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. 

Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September 2022, after a 70-year reign. Though Australia has been formally independent from Great Britain since 1901, it considers the British monarch its symbolic head of state. But the things are about to change Down Under now.

A sixth police officer involved in the events leading to the arrest of Tyre Nichols has been fired, the Memphis police department has said. An internal police investigation found officer Preston Hemphill had "violated multiple department policies," including stun gun deployment rules.

Mr Nichols, a 29-year-old father, died in hospital three days after being pulled over and beaten by police. Five other police officers have already been fired and charged with his murder.

Pope Francis celebrated one of his biggest Masses, with around a million attendees in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, estimates say.

Huge crowds started to gather in Kinshasa well before dawn, including scores of schoolgirls dressed in white who danced along the Pope's route. A public holiday was declared, so as many people as possible could attend.

The Anguilla Tourist Board (ATB) have just announced the opening of the brand-new ferry terminal facility at the port of Blowing Point. The official opening ceremony took place on January 20, attended by Government officials, tourism stakeholders, media representatives, and representatives from other governmental departments and statutory bodies, before it then began operations.
 
The Hon. Minister Haydn Hughes, Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Housing, Utilities and Tourism for Anguilla, said: “This Administration made a commitment to significantly modernize Anguilla’s infrastructure, for the benefit of both our visitors and importantly, our on-island community.