Carriers across the board cashed in on a historic summer, announcing record profits, bumper dividends and a string of aircraft orders. So-called ‘pent up demand’ — referring to holidaymakers desire for travel post-lockdown — stole the show despite a chaotic summer of disruption, which included a monumental slip-up at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS), European wildfires and continued airspace issues across the continent. Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary’s furious tirade against NATS in a commons committee hearing summed up the thoughts of the entire sector on the UK’s air traffic system. Wildfires, war in the Ukraine and Middle East and air traffic control strikes in Europe can’t be legislated for. The sector is famously volatile, with thin profit margins and return on capital.

Severe thunderstorms battered parts of eastern Australia on Saturday, bringing heavy rain, giant hail and strong winds, days after another storm hit the region over the Christmas holidays. “We’re now entering another active period of thunderstorms,” David Grant, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said during a press briefing. About 28,000 properties are still without power and the latest storms will hamper reconnection efforts, Queensland state Premier Steven Miles told reporters. As Queensland endures its second major storm in a week, an intense heatwave was sweeping across Australia’s north and west. But mild weather is forecast for the southeast, including Sydney, on Sunday as Australia’s biggest city gears up for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Ruth Leon recommends… Exhibition Tour—Africa & Byzantium Ruth Leon recommendsnorman lebrecht December 30, 2023Exhibition Tour—Africa & ByzantiumArt history has long emphasized the glories of the Byzantine Empire (circa 330–1453), but less known are the profound artistic contributions of North Africa, Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, and other powerful African kingdoms whose pivotal interactions with Byzantium had a lasting impact on the Mediterranean world. Bringing together a range of masterworks—from mosaic, sculpture, pottery, and metalwork to luxury objects, paintings, and religious manuscripts—this exhibition recounts Africa’s central role in international networks of trade and cultural exchange. With artworks rarely or never before seen in public, Africa & Byzantium sheds new light on the staggering artistic achievements of medieval Africa. Our guide to this virtual tour of the exhibition about Africa & Byzantium is its curator, Dr Andrea Myers Achi. This is a wonderful exhibition and this virtual tour is essential viewing as a precursor for anyone who is going to see it in person at the Met.

March 5-7 and 12-14: Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16Will “CCL Fever” become “CCC Fever”? Several NWSL teams play in MLS venues, and the Royals, Houston Dash, Orlando Pride and Portland Thorns are affiliated with their hometown MLS clubs. Both the North Star Cup winner (playoffs) and regular-season champions (the CPL Shield, won by Cavalry in ‘23) now earn berths in the expanded Concacaf Champions Cup. 2-4 and 9-11: Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinalsChampions Cup continues with four matchups featuring the eight round-of-16 winners. 3-May 2: Concacaf Champions Cup semifinalsCCC continues with the final four survivors vying for a place in the tournament final.

Tunisia has extended a long-running state of emergency by one month until Jan. 30, 2024, the state news agency reported on Saturday citing the official gazette. The North African nation has been under a state of emergency since 2015 after an attack in which several presidential guards were killed. Declared initially on November 24, 2015, in response to the attack on the presidential guard resulting in 12 fatalities, the state of emergency in the country has been continuously extended. This measure empowers the nation’s security forces with exceptional authority, enabling control over the press and prohibiting strikes and meetings that may cause disorder. Criticised by rights groups, the state of emergency has been condemned for contributing to extensive human rights violations.

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PRETORIA: Nandre Burger added his name to the conveyor belt of prolific South African quick bowling talent as he took four wickets on Thursday to help his country to an innings and 32 run victory over India in the first test at Centurion. It has been a good month for Burger, who also debuted for South Africa in Twenty20 and One-day Internationals against India earlier in December. “It’s a feeling I never thought I’d experience to make my debut in all three formats over the last weeks,” said Burger. It kind of sunk in after I took my first wicket that every wicket you take is for your country. I think on the first day bowling first was quite nice, because it allowed me to get myself into the game.

Britain had, a few days earlier, announced it would divert its patrol vessel HMS Trent to Guyana, a former British colony, as tensions and territorial disputes continue to heat up between Guyana and Venezuela over the oil-rich Essequibo region, which Maduro has claimed following a referendum in early December. Essequibo makes up about two-thirds of Guyana's territory. Venezuela, however, does not share the UK’s views, with Maduro recently claiming that Essequibo is actually Venezuelan land. The decades-old territorial dispute that has flared ever since U.S. oil and gas producer, ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) and its partners discovered massive oil deposits more than a decade ago. Earlier in December, Maduro met with Guyana’s leadership, with both vowing to avoid violence.

Morocco becomes thus the first country in North Africa region to host a World Cup. It marks a historic moment for African football and builds on Morocco’s stunning world cup performance in Qatar after becoming the first African and Arab team to reach a World Cup semi-final. What a great message of peace, tolerance, and inclusion,” underlined chief of the World football governing body. According to the FIFA, Morocco’s football rise was “no accident.” It is the result of years of hard work, meticulous planning, and implementation of the royal strategy. Few days after gaining the World cup bid, Morocco has been chosen to host the 2025 African Cup of Nations.

The United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) is a widely respected metric for gauging a country's level of development. This global index evaluates over 150 international indicators encompassing life expectancy, education, and per capita income and consolidates them into a single "human development" value for over 150 countries worldwide. It further classifies nations into four categories of human development: low human development (0-.55), medium human development (.55-.70), high human development (.70-.80), and very high human development (.80-1.0) Continue reading to learn about the ten most underdeveloped countries according to the 2022 United Nations report. The Least Developed Countries In The World (2023)These countries contend with long-standing developmental challenges deeply rooted in historical, sociopolitical, and economic factors. Ongoing conflicts, political instability, ethnic tensions, and poor infrastructure impede their progress, resulting in low rankings on the Human Development Index.

The authorities in Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray region warned Friday of a looming famine linked to drought and the lingering effects of the devastating two-year war in the north of the country. A file photo showing workers at a water point at an internally displaced person campe near Mekelle Industrial Park in Mekele, the capital of Tigray region, Ethiopia, on June 28, 2021. In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Getachew likened the situation to the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s which cost the lives of around one million people. The situation on the ground in northern Ethiopia cannot be independently verified as media access to Tigray is restricted by the federal government. USAID and the WFP halted all food aid to Ethiopia in June, alleging a “widespread and coordinated” campaign to divert donated supplies, but deliveries are slowly resuming.

Donald Edmond Warren was arrested earlier this month in connection to an assault in Stacy, Minnesota in 2010 and another in Lindstrom, Minnesota in 2017. CENTER CITY, Minn. — Investigators used DNA from a cigarette butt to potentially link a North Branch man to two separate sexual assaults. He's charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct in the 2010 case and attempted criminal sexual conduct in 2017. Authorities were able to get Warren's DNA from a discarded cigarette butt outside of his North Branch apartment. Court documents say that the DNA profile obtained from the cigarette butt is consistent with the DNA gathered back in 2010.

LESS ... MOREGlobal think tanks put out an annual, projected conflict risk index every year, mapping likely conflict hotspots. Format for analysisThe current focus is on the Ukrainian, Gaza and Armenian (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflicts. While it is risky to draw lessons from unresolved wars, some important trends need to be deciphered. In these long drawn-out conflicts, new paradigms are emerging along with countermeasures. For long conflicts, nations need to build resilience in the logistics chain, and spurt capabilities to ramp up inventories.

New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) Pakistan army on Saturday said that they have killed five terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in the Mir Ali area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan District, media reports said. “An intense exchange of fire took place during the operation and five terrorists, including their commander, Rahzaib Khuray, were sent to hell,” reports quoting Pakistan military’s media affairs wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. It said that the terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as extortion and targeted killings of civilians. ISPR has said that weapons and ammunition were also recovered during the operation. Media reports said that Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government last year.

THE HAGUE: South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against Hamas in Gaza. The ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the United Nations venue for resolving disputes between states. In a statement from South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), the government said the application against Israel was filed on Friday. “Israel, since Oct 7 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide,” Dirco said in a statement. South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority in South Africa during the repressive apartheid-era, a comparison Israel vehemently denies.