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Demand for cruises appears undimmed despite hantavirus and other onboard outbreaks
Recent outbreaks of hantavirus and norovirus on cruise ships are making headlines, but they’re unlikely to dim the growing popularity of vacation cruises, according to industry representatives and travel experts. In fact, many within the industry still expect a record number of people worldwide to take cruises this year despite three passengers aboard the MV […]
Walmart and Amazon race to win over rural America with speedier deliveries
PEA RIDGE, Ark. | Walmart and Amazon are racing to speed up online order deliveries in rural areas of the U.S., a rich source of untapped sales that major retailers long wrote off as too sparsely inhabited, too remote or too impoverished to serve profitably. Walmart has a running start in the contest to build […]
Bam! Pow! Krakoom! The everlasting allure of the American comic book
BARCELONA, Spain | Pick one up. Be seduced by its glossy cover. Gaze upon the impossibly muscular body clad in a skin-tight suit. Our hero or heroine will surely be soaring, shouting, blasting a villain into next week. They are ridiculous. They are addictively great. Comic books, of the superhero variety, are 100% American. Compare […]
Created as IDs, dog tags became a crucial link between military families and fallen troops
Family members often clench them as if they were still clasping their fallen loved one’s hands. Companions-in-arms have broken down reading them. More than a century after a U.S. Army chaplain pushed for “dog tags” to become standard issue for troops, they remain one of the most powerful links for grieving military families to their […]
Summer travelers who relied on Spirit Airlines may struggle to find budget alternatives
Days after Spirit Airlines shut down in the middle of the night, a lawyer for the defunct budget carrier stood before a bankruptcy judge and apologized to the price-conscious customers who might struggle to find affordable flights in its absence. “We apologize most specifically for those Americans who may now be priced entirely out,” Spirit […]
Researchers stunned by a forgotten medieval book in Rome hiding the oldest English poem
ROME | The researchers in Ireland looked at their computer screen, marveling at a medieval book tracked down in a Roman library. They flipped through its digitized pages and found their sought-after treasure: the oldest surviving English poem. “We were extremely surprised. We were speechless. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we first saw that,” […]
Barbra Streisand won’t attend Cannes Palme d’Or ceremony after a knee injury
CANNES, France | Barbra Streisand announced on Sunday that she will not attend the Cannes Film Festival ‘s closing ceremony later this week where she was to receive an honorary Palme d’Or, after sustaining a knee injury. The festival organizers said they would still honor the singer-actor despite her absence, according to a press release […]
PHOTO ESSAY: A symbolic marriage ritual and beauty pageant brings India’s trans community together
KOOVAGAM, India | Under stage lights, hundreds of transgender women adjusted their sarees, tucked flowers into their hair, and waited to be called onstage. One by one, they waved to cheering crowds and struck poses at one of India’s largest gatherings for the transgender community. Held each year in Koovagam village in southern India’s Tamil […]
Somalia is in a deadly drought again. Most humanitarian aid isn’t there this time
PUNTLAND, Somalia | Most of Abdi Ahmed Farah’s hundreds of goats have died. It has not rained steadily in this part of Somalia for three years, something the 70-year-old never thought possible. He is in debt from buying water. The reservoir outside his tent is nearly empty. His family is down to one meal a […]
Zimbabwe’s vivid English first names carry family histories, from Privilege to Shame
HARARE, Zimbabwe | Have-A-Look. Handsome. Thanks. Trust. Privilege. Doubt. Problem. Shame. In Zimbabwe, these aren’t just random words. They are names chosen with intention in a culture where naming a child goes beyond identity and can offer a snapshot of family history, emotion and circumstance. At first, Privilege Mubani, a 37-year-old bar manager in the […]