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Great Wall Of China Damaged By Workers Using Excavator 

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Two individuals have been arrested in northern China after they allegedly damaged a section of the Great Wall using an excavator to create a huge gap in the ancient structure, local police said in an online statement. 

A 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, who were construction workers, were supposedly trying to create a shortcut in order to save time going around the world. The police stated that the structure was “severely damaged.”

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“It had been one of the existing complete border walls and beacon towers with important protection and research value,” the county police department said.

China’s northwest Youyu County police responded to reports on August 24th of a gap that had been dug into the structure known as the 32nd Great Wall, a section that’s been standing since the Ming Dynasty. 

“Excavators were used to excavate the original gap of the ancient Great Wall into a large gap, so that the excavator could pass through the gap, which caused irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics,” the police statement said. 

The authorities detained the two suspects pending further investigation. The oldest portions of the Great Wall were created more than 2,000 years ago.

The structure is also listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as one of the greatest creations of ancient human engineering. 

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About 30% of China’s Great Wall has disappeared in recent years due to climate challenges and “reckless human activities,” including stealing bricks to build houses. This damage has eroded the already old structure, causing long term damage. 

The investigation regarding the two construction workers is currently underway, ideally, this news will deter future individuals and groups from messing with the Great Wall and maintain its beauty that makes it such a historical landmark in our world’s story. 

To avoid damage to the Great Wall, in recent years authorities have implemented multiple measures to deter individuals from damaging the structure. 

For example, in April 2020 the Badaling Great Wall tourism site near the capital city of Beijing implemented new regulations that allows them to blacklist tourists and give them administrative penalties depending on their specific infraction. 

In May 2021, two foreign tourists were banned from the Great Wall after ignoring a “no crossing sign” on an undeveloped section of the monument and climbing onto the restricted area, according to reports. In August, another tourist was detained and fined for using a hairpin to carve on the wall.

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American Airlines Suing Travel Company For ‘Bait And Switch’ Sales Tactic

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American Airlines is suing Skiplagged, a travel company, claiming that they’re deceiving customers with a “bait and switch” tactic on ticket pricing.

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Thousands of Flights Canceled as Storms Sweep Across the East Coast

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Thousands of flights were delayed or canceled in the wake of severe storms that pummeled the East Coast over the weekend. According to FlightAware, more than 330 flights were canceled, and another 1,400 were delayed as of Tuesday morning.

The figures reflect the ongoing travel disruptions caused by turbulent weather in the Eastern U.S. Midday on Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tweeted that they were working to avoid delays and cancellations.

“The FAA is re-routing aircraft around the storms heading to the East Coast as much as possible. Soon we will likely have to pause departures in and out of East Coast airports, including NYC, Philly, DC, Charlotte and Atlanta. Monitor http://fly.faa.gov. #FAAWeatherSad”

By the end of the day Monday, however, 8,200 flights were delayed, and 1,600 were canceled. On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines had to cancel 100 flights, consisting of around 3% of its total schedule, and another 226 were delayed. There were 20 flight cancellations and 22 flight delays at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Atlanta, Newark Liberty, and Boston Logan are a few of the other major airports experiencing a moderate number of cancellations and delays.

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The recent storms left nearly 400,000 homes and businesses without power in large regions along the East Coast. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail also led to the deaths of two people, damaged structures and homes, and left dozens of drivers stranded for hours.

People were trapped in their cars for up to five and a half hours in Westminster, Maryland. State police reported that severe weather on Monday caused power lines to fall onto vehicles. Crews worked for hours to de-energize the power lines so drivers could leave the scene.

On his way home from work, Jeffrey Campbell told CNN he was trapped for hours when a utility pole collapsed in front of his vehicle onto other cars, leaving exposed live wires on the ground on either side of his truck. A wire knocked his exterior mirror off the side of his car. “It’s just poles coming down one after the other,” Campbell said.

Authorities shared that no injuries were reported, but 33 adults and 14 children had to be rescued.

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Tom Tomovich, a resident of Hockessin, DE, told 6ABC-TV that the storms ripped the roof of his house off.

“We saw the clouds coming and could hear a rumbling in the distance. We went into the house, and we were on the first floor, and before we could blink an eye, the winds just came right through the back of our house.”

The size of hailstones from Monday night’s storms in Caroline County, VA, came close to breaking state records. One hailstone, measured at around 4.75 inches, is the third largest ever found in Virginia. The last time hail this size hit the state was in the 1960s.

The initial storms affecting Philadelphia to Atlanta on Monday have since calmed. However, in the Southeast and New England, millions of people may face severe weather on Tuesday.

In a Facebook live briefing, National Weather Service meteorologist Christ Strong said, “This does look to be one of the most impactful severe weather events across the mid-Atlantic that we have had in some time.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 220,000 homes and businesses still do not have power in five states, with around 125,000 customers residing in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

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NASA Planes Could Lead To More Sustainable Air Travel By The 2030s

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NASA has revealed plans for two aircraft projects that they are hoping will be the next generation of sustainable flights. 

One of the aircrafts is called X-66A, which NASA and Boeing worked together on as a part of Boeing’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, according to reports. The two companies have the goal of building, testing, and flying the planes, which will be emission-reducing, single-aisle aircrafts, within the next decade; by 2030 ideally. 

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“It’s our goal that NASA’s partnership with Boeing to produce and test a full-scale demonstrator will help lead to future commercial airliners that are more fuel efficient, with benefits to the environment, the commercial aviation industry, and to passengers worldwide,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement according to CNN. 

“If we are successful, we may see these technologies in planes that the public takes to the skies in the 2030s.”

The design could potentially reduce fossil fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30% when compared to current aircrafts. 

According to NASA and Boeing, the concept of design is known as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, which relies on elongated thing wings that are stabilized by diagonal struts connecting to the wings of the plane, creating less of a drag and thus reducing the fuel that is burned. 

The new designs were shown off at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

“This is an experimental aircraft. This is not a commercial development of an aircraft that passengers are going to fly in today. And the reason we need to do this is because this is high-risk technology. We’re trying to validate technology,”  Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said.

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The first test flight is scheduled to ideally take place in 2028, with NASA hoping that the technology and new design will be used throughout around half of the commercial flight market for short to medium haul single-aisle aircrafts. 

According to NASA, single-aisle aircrafts account for almost half of all aviation emissions around the world. Boeing also predicts that the demand for these single-aisle aircrafts will increase by 40,000 planes between the years 2035 and 2050. 

“The goal is for the technology to serve about 50% of the commercial market through short- to medium-haul, single-aisle aircraft,” Nelson said.

As a part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, the hybrid electric aircraft that GE Aerospace and magniX are developing will also be getting an updated look to include lighter and more efficient motors, and utilize materials that will also improve fuel use to reduce emissions. 

Within the next five years, NASA is hoping to conduct at least two flight demonstrations to show off the new technology, so that ideally the aircrafts can be introduced commercially in the US between 2030 and 2035.

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Inside The World’s Smallest Restaurant In Italy, Which Only Takes Two Guests At A Time 

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Solo Per Due, “Just For Two” in Italian, is making headlines as the world’s tiniest restaurant, as it only accepts two guests at a time for a truly unique and intimate experience. 

An exclusive meal for two costs over $500, while champagne, wine, and floral decorations cost extra. Diners have an extraordinary view of an ancient Roman villa as they enjoy their meal and each other’s company. 

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The restaurant is open all year for lunch and dinner, and strangely enough, doesn’t have a menu. Instead, the food served is specifically tailored for the tastes and preferences of the clients. The dining room itself is just under 500-square-feet and is part of a rural 20th-century stone mansion located in the north of Rome, adjacent to the village of Vacone. 

The restaurant requires all reservations be made by phone 10 days prior to their dinner, to give the staff time to customize the meal. Visitors are only allowed to come to the restaurant for their reservation, and the meal can’t be canceled at the last minute. 

Guests must arrive at a specific time that the owners agree on, which is key for the overall experience. They must call when they’re on their way 30 minutes prior to arriving, and can’t get there too early. 

Due to its small size, the space is booked months in advance. The owners are a team of three local fine food entrepreneurs who have been running Solo Per Due for 33 years, and they refuse to share their names unless you’ve booked a dinner to guarantee discretion and enhance the mysterious allure of the space, according to them. 

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“This is not a restaurant – we offer a unique, intimate experience which is at the core of our decades-long reputation. So it’s not about us or who we are – we’re in the shadow. It’s all about the diners,” says “Mr. Remo” one of the owners.

“The people who come here are not mere clients. They’re guests who we take great care of. We coddle them and ensure that this special moment is exactly how they want it to be. Everything is tailored to their needs.”

“Once the booking is confirmed our guests will choose the exact multi-course menu, be it fish or meat, the dessert, the wines, the background music, and any floral decorations. We prepare on site only seasonal, Italian food paired with top-class wine,” said Remo.

He emphasized “the two golden rules: never cancel last minute, and never arrive earlier than your allotted time.

We take care also of the two names to write on the dessert cake which is heart-shaped, of the special phrase to write on the card that will go on the flowers and of the background music chosen by the diners,” adds Remo.

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Markus Pukonen, The Man Traveling The World Without Motorized Transport

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Markis Pukonen is a Canadian firefighter who’s due to arrive back in his hometown of Toronto this summer after spending the past seven years circumnavigating the world without motorized transport, and just utilizing his “muscles and some wind.”

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NAACP Issues Advisory Warning Black Americans And People Of Color Not To Travel To Florida

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NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson recently spoke with CNN to defend the organization’s decision to issue an official travel advisory to Florida for Black Americans and people of color. 

“The governor has perfected the art of pulling stunts to gain campaign contributions. Unfortunately, this will impact people’s lives,” Johnson said, referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

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“We should not use race or othering as a tool to weaponize against people and unfortunately for a large percentage of Floridians, that’s what he has done. Therefore, we are advising African Americans and others that if you travel to Florida, beware that your life is not valued.”

This past Saturday, the NAACP released a statement saying that Governor DeSantis has been on a quest to “silence” Black Americans, and has made it clear that they’re not welcome in the state. “[The state] devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

“Due to this sustained, blatant, relentless and systemic attack on democracy and civil rights, the NAACP hereby issues a travel advisory to African Americans, and other people of color regarding the hostility towards African Americans in Florida,” the group stated. 

Within the past year alone, DeSantis has signed a multitude of legislative measures that many have argued is discriminatory, and anti-Black. He signed the “Stop WOKE Act,” meant to restrict how schools and workplace address race, has been a major advocate against critical race theory; an academic framework that looks at US history with the understanding of racism and its roots in the nation. 

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DeSantis also banned an Advanced Placement African American studies pilot program from being implemented in schools, and just recently prohibited colleges and universities from using public funding on programs involving diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Johnson stated that DeSantis is “minimizing the quality of education and issuing policies that are harmful to far too many individuals.”

“We are witnessing firsthand how he’s governing, and he’s governing to a small vocal minority of the community, not the majority interest of Florida. Nor is he governing towards a future of Florida, which will not not look like the small minority that he’s speaking to at this moment.”

The governor was recently questioned regarding this specific travel advisory before it was implemented. 

“This is part of the reason why our country, it goes through all these —  we get involved in these stupid fights. This is a stunt to try to do that, a pure stunt, and fine, if you want to waste your time on a stunt, that’s fine. But I’m not wasting my time on your stunts,” the governor said.

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US Travel Association Predicts Busy Summer Travel Season, Predicts Complications

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The US Travel Association is predicting that summer 2023 will be a massive travel season, with demands as strong as they were pre-pandemic.

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Australians Experience 50% Rise In Airfare Travel Costs To Europe 

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According to data collected by travel booking site Kayak, Australians looking to travel to Europe are seeing fares around 50% higher than what they cost last year, despite the fact that there’s also been an increase in available seats this summer and fuel prices improving within the past few months. 

Kayak used data from early January, up until this month, to conclude that the average price for return economy airfare from Australian cities to Europe would be around $2,500. This marks a 46% increase on average airfares for 2022, as well as a 63% increase when compared to pre-pandemic pricing. 

In general, this summer travel season is already gearing up to be increasingly expensive as well as busy for many major destinations around the world, but especially in Europe. 

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David Beirman, an adjunct fellow professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia who also specializes in tourism, stated that this increase, while jarring, isn’t exactly surprising. 

“Airlines for a long time were making next to no money on international flights, especially for economy passengers. Most carriers were still working to financially recover from the steep losses of Covid, even if some such as Qantas have been posting record profits of late. Those two years of lost revenue is what consumers are paying for now,” Beirman explained. 

“Covid was an extreme lesson in what could happen when things go wrong. So they have been forced to be more realistic about their pricing now, as irritating as it is to the traveling public,” he continued. 

“Sadly what has happened since Covid is that travel has gone from being something very democratic that just about anyone earning even a modest salary could afford to being a plaything of the elite or for people paying huge amounts of money just to see loved ones.”

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“They’ve had to recruit staff and pay them much more money than they used to get. Maybe by 2024 or 2025 people will be a bit more choosy, less eager to travel, and prices will come down but at the moment it’s very much a sellers market and airlines are, rightfully or wrongfully, taking advantage of that,” Beirman said.

Simon Elsegood, head of research at the Center for Aviation, said “while fuel prices have come back down substantially [and] we’ve seen a portion of the leisure market move up to premium economy and other classes, it’s not been enough to compensate airlines from lost business travel.”

“Air fares are a sore point because they are so much more expensive than 12 months ago but I don’t feel like people are getting a raw deal. It’s very difficult to price gouge between Europe and Australia because there are so many route options.”

“It’s just the way the market has to be at the moment. Yes, they’re making money now but they also lost billions during the pandemic. They’re not a charity and they have to make sure their shareholders are also taken care of,” he concluded. 

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FAA Issues Warning Over Airline Staff Shortages Ahead Of Busy Summer Travel Season 

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned the industry of staffing shortages throughout the nation as the travel and tourism industry prepares for yet another busy summer travel season. The FAA is requesting that key facilities prepare to make operational adjustments as a means of preparation. 

The FAA held a meeting with the aviation industry last week as a means of brainstorming ways to manage travel this summer; especially in New York’s congested airspace and transportation hubs. 

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The agency is requesting that airlines cut back on the amount of offered flights to ease airport traffic during the peaks of the summer travel season. 

Last year, the nation’s travel and tourism industry faced one of the busiest summer season since pre-pandemic. A multitude of airline’s experiences flight disruptions, delays, and cancellations which the FAA is trying to avoid this year. 

According to the agency, this summer’s travel season is forecasted to increase by 7% in terms of traffic when compared to last year. The FAA also predicted a 45% increase in delays if airlines don’t intervene to prevent disruptions. 

“The FAA is taking several steps to keep air travel to and from New York City this summer safe and smooth, even as we see strong domestic demand and a return of pre-pandemic international traffic,” the agency said in a statement. 

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The agency also stated that the New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), or N90, located on Long Island which is responsible for organizing flights to and from John F Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport, is suffering from a severe shortage of air traffic controllers and other staff. 

In a notice posted last month, the FAA revealed that the staffing throughout TRACON only covers 54% of what’s actually needed to operate smoothly during the busy summer season. 

They’ve claimed that one of the main reasons for these shortages has to do with the pandemic safety measures, which impacted workforce training throughout the past three years that agencies have still yet to recover from. 

The Washington Post reported “that airline executives expressed a willingness to cooperate with the agency; but, also some frustration, as they’re working to restore their own operations to pre-pandemic levels.”

Airlines have been told that they have until April 30th to make changes proposed by the FAA; United and Delta Air Lines have already stated they approve of the FAA’s proposal, and are ready to implement changes to make the season run as smoothly as possible for staff and travelers.