Gambia’s President Adama Barrow has taken the oath of office in neighboring Senegal, while the country’s defeated longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh refuses to step down, deepening a political crisis. Barrow, the winner of a disputed December 1 vote, was inaugurated on Thursday in a hastily-arranged ceremony at Gambia’s embassy in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. “This is a day no Gambian will ever forget in a lifetime,” Barrow said in a speech immediately after being sworn...
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has stressed that its “One-China” policy is not negotiable and called on US President-elect Donald Trump to acknowledge the “high sensitivity” of matters relating to Taiwan. Beijing made the announcement in reaction to remarks Trump made in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, in which he said he would not commit to the “One-China” policy unless China amends its currency and trade policies. “The One-China principle, which is the political foundation...
Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority has slammed government plans for opening cinemas and concerts in the kingdom, saying such places would be harmful and corrupting. In remarks published on his website on Saturday, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said cinemas would encourage immorality in the kingdom. “I hope those in charge of the Entertainment Authority are guided to turn it from bad to good and not to open doors to evil,” Al al-Sheikh said on his weekly television program...
The Philippines’ leading airline, Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB), strengthens its partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to reach millions of undernourished children in the country. The endeavor is part of the global organization’s Change for Good program which accepts contributions from passengers on board flights of partner airlines. Proceeds contribute to the UN children’s agency’s First 1,000 Days campaign which provides optimal nutrition, from a mother’s pregnancy to a...
The new chief of the United Nations has vowed to combat sexual abuse by UN “peacekeepers” around the globe, declaring plans to devise a fresh “game-changing” approach to address the issue. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who succeeded Ban Ki-moon on January 1, designated a nine-member task force on Friday to come up with a new strategy aimed at enhancing the response to the string of damaging and growing reports of sexual abuse carried out by UN peacekeeping forces. According...
Why was the U.S. House of Representative Oversights Committee ignoring an urgent letter delivered on April 28, 2016 by Washington DC attorney Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org ? The United States of America aviation system is not safe according to Flyersrights, and Hudson may have a point, and he may have had a valid warning delivered to the US House committee in April 2016. Could Mr. Hudson’s warnings, if they were followed by the oversights committee helped to avoid an attack...
He is not a terrorist, but an American hero. He is Esetan Santiago, gunmen and a terrorist who killed 5 people, injuring 8 others today at Ft. Lauderdale International airport in Florida, USA. Why did he do this? Did ISIS tell him? Most likely not. His attack has a known issue. It’s about a broken profit driven mental health system in the United States of America. Mental health care covered by insurance or affordable treatments will be a dream of the past. Who can afford $30,000.00 a...
The Turkish parliament has approved the three-month extension of the country’s state of emergency, which was initially implemented after a failed July coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ahead of the voting on Tuesday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus stressed government’s determination “to fight against all terrorist organizations.” “With the attack in Ortakoy, they wanted to give different messages comparing to other terrorist attacks. One of...
How can we help the millions of people from having conflict and wars with no end in sight? He is a big man from a small nation, from a peaceful nation and he seems to be stunned by both the United States and Russia to restart a nuclear arms race.In the early hours of Sunday morning (New Year’s Day) – I took the time to listen to the Appeal For Peace Address of the new United Nations’ Secretary General António Guterres. These words were from Sir James R Mancham, the founding president of the...
Pankaj Pradhananga of Four Season Travel & Tours, in Kathmandu, Nepal is a special person with a positive outlook and a big heart. Tourism and leadership is in his blood. His active participation to rebuild Nepal’s tourism industry after the terrible earthquake had been noticed around the world. His support to include inclusive tourism into the concept is not only unique, but it has been unheard of in the way Pankaj was able to structure it It pushed Nepal up to a welcoming...
A YouTube star known for pranks and hoaxing said he was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight after he spoke in Arabic on the phone. Adam Saleh described the incident on Delta Flight 1 from London Heathrow Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport via tweets and videos on twitter saying, “We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone.” Saleh was traveling with friend Slim Albaher who is also a YouTube personality, Saleh started videotaping from the...
The International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP) today issued this statement on recent criminal attacks on the international travel and tourism industry. Juergen T. Steinmetz, chairman of the organization said: “Yesterday we were all Jordanians, today we’re all Berliners. On behalf of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners, I would like to extend our sympathy and condolences to the victims and their loved ones involved in yesterday’s criminal attack in Jordan, and today in Berlin...
For some it’s a human right, for others, it’s a crime. For India, it remains a crime. In tourism David Scowsill, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) told eTN at a recent press conference at World Tourism Day in Bangkok, Thailand: “Tourism is for all, and it includes sexual orientation” UNWTO echoed this, but in an otherwise progressive India, hundreds of people marched in the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Sunday in an annual gay rights parade in a...
Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan has criticized the European Union’s “meddling” today and warned that regime could extend a state of emergency in place since the failed July coup.
The president of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP), Professor Geoffrey Lipman is alarmed. In his blog addressed to ICTP members he published his concern about the President Elect of the United States Donald J Trump. Professor Lipman is viewed as a senior authority in the global travel and tourism industry. Previously he was the first CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), and assistant secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)...
The United States warned tourists: Turkey is not safe. Turkey warns its tourists: The United States is not safe. Washington deemed it unsafe for Americans citizens to remain in Turkey, following extremists’ threats to “kidnap and assassinate westerners and US citizens.” Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, reacted to the move by saying that Istanbul or capital Ankara were “not more unsafe than any US state.” Turkey has issued a travel warning to its citizens in the US, urging them to...
Violent Protests surprised locals and tourists visiting the shopping and dining district in the heart of the Indonesian Capital Jakarta on Friday. One protester died on Friday. “Jakarta is back to normal today, including tourism. I have just had my lunch in the mall: the place is packed with people. More than normally. Some streets are also jammed with traffic. So we are back in business.” These are the words by Wuryastuti Sunario posted to her Facebook. Wuryastuti is the editor for...
Central Quito was in gridlock for almost a week when 30,000 people gathered in the Ecuadorian capital as the city hosted the UN's Habitat III conference.
With sanctions on Iran being relaxed and airlines including British Airways reintroducing direct flights to Tehran, Iran is once again attracting foreign businesses and travellers. Having just returned from a one-month self-drive tour of the country, I can assure you the destination has much to offer. Justine Oliver is an independent travel security specialist with extensive global expertise, who specialises in solo female travel. For the last 16 years she has advised multi-nationals, NGO’s...
The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) today filed a complaint with US Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings against Southwest Airlines for racial and religious profiling of a Muslim passenger.
