TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2024
$25m sports facility wins preliminary approval
• New facility to reuse old structures, avoiding new construction
• $25m facility to include fitness, wellness, and recovery zones
• Town Planning Committee rezones site for Champion Spirit Country Club
Sandals says it has permits for chapel after concerns
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter
OFFICIALS at Sandals have insisted it has the correct permits to construct a waterfront wedding chapel after concerns were raised by neighbours.
Kevin Clarke, general manager of Sandals Royal Bahamian, said the resort has “most definitely” received the necessary approvals to construct its waterfront wedding chapel and is open to discussing the project with neighbours.
“At the end of the day, we have to exercise good community relations. I have spoken to them on several occasions, and I’m available for a consult, and we would have never done anything to jeopardise the brand or the authorities in The Bahamas,” he said.
Mr Clarke, while not providing details about the layout of the chapel, said the building will not be a two-storey structure as they have not been granted approvals for a venue of that size.
He maintained the structure will not impede nearby residents from conducting water sports in the area and will not block the ocean view of nearby residents.
“It’s no way close to their property or would impede them from kayaking or jet skiing, based on how it’s drawn,” said Mr Clarke.
“We’ve actually proposed before a drawing, and they made an injunction that we will be impeding on their property, and we revised it. So, we’re working with approval now that is a revised version of it, so there is no way that would be able to impede or block their property or view or access thereof.”
He said the structure is “quite safe” and will not cause damage to neighbouring property during a hurricane.
“Based on the construction and the approval and the permits that we’re doing, the structure is quite safe, and it’s not a thatch roof that we’re doing as well. So that shouldn’t. And it’s
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
A DEVELOPER has received preliminary approval from the Department of Town Planning to construct a $20m- $25m outdoor sporting facility. The Town Planning Committee has agreed to rezone ten acres near the western side of South Ocean Boulevard from “residential” to “commercial” to facilitate the development of the Champion Spirit Country
Honour for straw vendors at Hall
of Fame celebration
Club, a fitness/wellness facility.
The preliminary approval was granted under the conditions that the site is exclusively used as an outdoor sports facility and any changes would require further committee consent.
The Town Planning Committee also requires that the on-site drainage must meet Ministry of Works standard, a two-storey maximum building height and parking with a minimum of one space per 300 sq ft of all buildings.
Thai boxing world champion Abdoulaye Fadiga, president of Rose In Atlas Ltd, is willing to invest $20m to $25m to develop the Champion Spirit Country Club.
By ANNELIA NIXON
A HALL of fame is to honour straw vendors next
month.
The president of the Straw Vendors Advancement Association, Celestine Eneas, said 25 straw market vendors will be honoured at the event on September 19. Mrs Eneas plans to hold the function at the downtown Straw Market which she described as “the world famous Straw Market”.
She said at first the idea was to honour deceased vendors behind the founding of the Straw Market. However, after discussing it with the Straw Market Authority, in February, the idea was passed on to the SEE PAGE B2 SEE PAGE B2
“We have a room upstairs in the Straw Market and we going to set it up in the room and whoever can’t hold it in the room, we have a porch on the outside,” she explained. “We’re going to put speakers on the outside. If you’re in the market you’ll be able to hear what’s going on and then we’re going to stream it live also.” She said she expects Minister of Works Clay Sweeting to be in attendance. She did, however, state that the prime
minister would not be able to make it. “I don’t know what he’s going to do as yet but he said he already checked his calendar and he is out of town on the date that we choose and so he wouldn’t be there but the Straw Market is first priority on his list and so I’m sure he’ll do us well,” she said.
“I’ve been the president for 40 years and I’ve never done anything like it, nor no other president,” said Mrs Eneas. “So this is new to us. The name of our
association is the Straw Vendors Advancement Association. I’m the president. I was thinking that we been in existence for over 40 years and we haven’t done anything significant like this and so that’s where the idea came from.”
Andretti Bain, former Bahamian Olympic athlete and head coach for Champion Spirit, said the facility will include a high-intensity performance area catering to professional athletes and create job opportunities for local sports professionals.
Mr Bain said the proposed facility will include a recovery zone providing various treatments and serve as a “hub” for health education by providing workshops on healthy lifestyles. He added: “We’re looking to incorporate saunas, cold plunging, massage, treatments... anything that’s going to help health. In addition to a 50-metre outdoor pool the outdoor fitness facility will feature a boxing pavilion, pickleball, sand volleyball, tennis, padel and racquet courts. There will also be a gymnastics centre with Svetlana Mustafaeva, former head coach of the French Olympic rhythmic gymnastics team, serving as gymnastics advisor, indoor dojo, yoga and meditation pavilions, Pilates studio and a bouldering wall.
Andros residents protest over roads and utilities
By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
RESIDENTS of South Andros took to the streets yesterday in a demonstration to express their frustrations over ongoing issues with road conditions and utility services.
Protestors voiced concerns regarding the state of the area’s major thoroughfare, utility outages, and water supply disruptions. Julian Gibson, owner/ operator of Eula Nixon Convenience Store and Last Stop Gas Station, voiced the community’s growing impatience.
He said while the company contracted to carry out roadworks may have encountered difficulties sourcing materials residents expected that they would have made an attempt to
level the existing road so traffic could flow smoothly.
“Residents have been waiting too long for the roadworks to be completed,” Mr Gibson told Tribune Business.
“The contractor might have issues. He might be waiting on asphalt, but just scrape. Just scrape that little piece of bad road between Little Creek and Deep Creek. Just scrape it for the people so they can transit little smoothly.”
Mr Gibson emphasised the critical nature of the road, noting its importance to daily life in the area.
“There’s only one main road. So, everybody is affected. The guys who go fishing in the morning they got to pass this, break up their trucks. They got to pass this way.” he said.
“When school starts in September, all the school
SEE PAGE B2
ANDRETTI BAIN
CONSTRUCTION begins on Sandals waterfront wedding chapel. $5.60
Honour for straw vendors at Hall of Fame celebration
FROM PAGE B1
Minister of Works who she said thought it was great and that she should expand on it.
“The three presidents that have passed and gone on, they had different organisations and then the minister say why don’t you take it a little further and see if you can find out some history and then we can put some other pictures up,”
she said. “This is what I was told. So the Straw Market Authority is helping me with supplying the pictures on the wall so it’s going to be a really nice service.”
Mrs Eneas said 24 of the 25 vendors are aware that they’ll be honoured and the last vendor will be surprised at the event.
“It’s going to be very exciting and the ladies are excited.”
$25m sports facility wins preliminary approval
FROM PAGE B1
He said the facility aims to bridge the gap between high-level elite athletes and the local economy by providing the facilities and services they need to further their careers locally.
Documents filed with the Town Planning Committee revealed there was an “initial confusion” as to the zoning of the $5.6m site as Mr Fadiga was initially informed by both the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) and the Department
of Inland Revenue, as well as his attorneys and the vendor, that it was zoned for commercial use only to discover this was not the reality.
The project plans to make use of the existing building on the property, which was previously a horse ranch, instead of constructing new ones.
Mr Fadiga said once the necessary approvals have been granted the facility should take about two years to construct using a phased approach.
Andros residents protest over roads and utilities
FROM PAGE B1
children and teachers have to pass this way because there’s only one main road.”
The situation was further aggravated over the weekend when BTC internet and telephone services were down for over 24 hours.
Mr Gibson explained residents could not obtain information about their goods on the mailboat or its expected arrival.
“The internet and telephone services were down from Friday morning, shortly after 10 o’clock. People needed to call Nassau, the mailboat left Friday night and they didn’t know whether their stuff was on the boat, they didn’t know if the boat was coming because the whole communication system crashed,” he explained.
“It came back on Saturday probably around about 3.30. In this day and time you can go to the States and still get all kind of
communications. So, people are just frustrated because of the issues we have going on.”
He said water supply issues have also been a persistent problem, with residents experiencing daily cuts between 10pm and 5am consistently for months.
“The water goes off every single night between 10 o’clock and five o’clock in the morning. If you go out fishing, you have to get home before 10pm or risk going to bed fishy,” said Mr Gibson.
“People who own restaurants have to down by 9.30pm and go home because the restaurant won’t have water and they want to shower before bed. You think this fair? No, man! It’s a whole heap of problems for the people.”
In response to the concerns, Leon Lundy, MP for Central, South Andros, and Mangrove Cay, provided an update on the situation.
Mr Lundy assured residents that the necessary
equipment for the roadwork is en route to South Andros and the project should take between 12 to 16 months to complete. He said the contractor will coordinate efforts with the Ministry of Works and the Water and Sewerage Cooperation who will begin work to increase water flow in the area.
“All of the equipment is on the boat about to head down in South Andros. I fought to make sure that they got asphalt, rather than the sand, sealed, which was signed. The new contract was signed, and they know the work is about to be done,” said Mr Lundy.
“We’re trying to ensure that the water supply is a lot better. And we have a contract that’s going to pipe water from the Bluff to the Smith Hill Community that’ll help out the flow of water in the Southern part.
“Just Friday, the Ministry of Works, along with Water and Sewerage, was down there to collaborate
to ensure that the person’s doing the road doesn’t do that section, and then they have to dig it up in order to do the piping.”
Regarding the recent BTC outage, Lundy explained it was caused by a “fault” in Mangrove Cay but confirmed that service was restored by Saturday morning.
“On Friday, we had a fault in Mangrove Cay and BTC was fixing the problem. I understood that caused almost an island wide situation down in Andros, and there was also a situation going on countrywide with some of their services that affected it, but it was back on stream by Saturday morning, and everything is good now.” Mr Lundy explained. He assured residents of his commitment to addressing their concerns and working to ensure the work is “done properly and long lasting”.
SANDALS SAYS IT HAS PERMITS FOR CHAPEL AFTER CONCERNS
FROM PAGE B1
not directly across from their property, where it would cause damage to affect their property.” Mr Clarke explained.
Speaking to Tribune Business, nearby residents voiced concerns about the lack of consultation done by the resort and authorities prior to giving Sandals the green light for the project. They noted that Department of Environmental Planning and Protection guidelines require a public consultation process to be undergone prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) and questioned why they were not allowed to voice their objections or view the necessary approvals.
Residents said the construction of the wedding chapel would obstruct their views and impede their ability to enjoy water sports such as jet skiing and kayaking.
They raised further concerns about the structure causing damage to their property during storms as debris from the thatch roof on the previous building at that site landed in their yards during hurricanes.
The neighbours allege that the concrete structure stretches beyond the previous structure, extending about 40 feet past the sea bed and could damage the fragile ecosystem of the area.
In a letter sent on August 30, 2023, to Acting Port Controller Lieutenant
Commander Berne Wright residents documented their objections to the project and requested “wide consultation” by all stakeholders prior to approval being granted.
“We wish to record our objection to the plan by Sandals to expand the eastern dock beyond the footprint of the existing structure that was previously damaged. We met with representatives from Sandals today who confirm that it is their intention to construct an enclosed building that will serve as a wedding chapel and a venue for small dinners and parties,” said the residents.
“We were advised that the proposed structure will extend an additional 40ft
into the seabed beyond the existing structure. The proposed structure will be fully enclosed and significantly larger in width, length and height. In our view the proposed structure is excessive and obstructive.
“We believe that if this structure is permitted as presented it will not only negatively impact the ocean views for ourselves and our neighbours but will lower property values in the area. We strongly object to this expansion and we believe that Sandals should not be given approval to rebuild the dock beyond the existing footprint. The structure should be rebuilt in a style consistent with the existing gazebo structure.”
EAST PALESTINE RESIDENTS WANT MORE TIME AND INFORMATION BEFORE DECIDING TO ACCEPT $600M SETTLEMENT
By JOSH FUNK Associated Press
SOME East Palestine, Ohio, residents want more time and more information before they have to decide by a deadline this week whether to accept their share of a $600 million class-action settlement with Norfolk Southern over last year's disastrous train derailment.
But it's not clear whether the judge will rule on their motion before Thursday's deadline for people who live within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the derailment to file a claim.
Residents who live within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the Feb. 3, 2023, crash near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border also have to decide whether to accept up to $25,000 per person for personal injuries, although accepting that money will force them to give up the right to sue later if someone develops cancer or other serious illness because of the chemical exposure.
The amount residents can receive varies by how close they lived to the derailment, with people who lived within 2 miles receiving $70,000 for property damage. People who lived at the outer edge of the area might only receive a few hundred dollars.
One of the key complaints in the motion filed by attorney David Graham is that attorneys who represented residents in the lawsuit haven't disclosed any of the results of testing done around town by their own expert, Stephen Petty, who has testified in hundreds of lawsuits about contamination concerns, to determine the extent of
the contamination caused when toxic chemicals spilled and burned after the derailment.
Some of the attorneys involved in the case promised residents in news interviews early on that Petty's data would be disclosed in court filings to lay out the impact on East Palestine.
So Graham asked the judge to order that information to be released to try to address residents' concerns.
"Fast forward to their present, post-settlement posture, and class counsel and their PR machine have now forgotten all about their star testing expert, Petty," Graham wrote.
Instead of Petty, the lawyers brought out a different expert at an online town hall meeting a couple weeks ago who told residents he didn't think anyone in town would develop cancer as a result of the derailment.
OWNER OF THE 7-ELEVEN CONVENIENCE STORE CHAIN GETS TAKEOVER BID FROM CANADA'S COUCHE-TARD
THE owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores and other retail chains has received a buyout offer from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard.
Japan's Seven & i Holdings on Monday said that a special committee that made up of outside directors has been formed to review the bid, but released no other details.
Shares of Seven & i jumped 23% in Tokyo, the largest single day jump for the stock in the company's history.
"This potential takeover bid is a huge deal. 7-Eleven is the biggest operator in the US convenience retail store space with a 14.5% share of the market in 2023," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.
"By comparison, Alimentation Couche-Tard's banners had a 4.6% market share. So, combining the two would produce an entity that controls almost a fifth of the market."
The company has been trying to streamline operations and last year sold the department store chain Sogo & Seibu Co. to a U.S. investment fund.
Seven & i said that its board, as well as the special
committee, have not made any decision yet as to accepting or rejecting the offer, to enter into talks with Couche-Tard or to pursue alternative options.
The company will make it's decision public, it said Monday.
Couche-Tard runs a number of convenience store chains under brand names like Couche-Tard, Circle K, and On the Run. It has more than 14,000 stores across Canada, Ireland, Mexico Russia, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United States.
Saunders said that any buyout attempt would get attention from U.S. regulators.
"Because convenience stores form a part of a much wider food and groceries market, there not all that many competition concerns," Saunders said. "However, the levels of concentration will almost certainly attract FTC scrutiny which, given the current negative sentiment around consolidation and competition in the food and essentials space, will not make this deal an easy one."
But Dr. Arch Carson didn't make clear what data he relied on for that opinion other than a brief mention of tests from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Researchers studying the health of residents in the area and tracking respiratory problems, rashes and other ailments they are reporting say it may not be clear for years what the long-term implications of the derailment will be.
"I completely disagree with Dr. Arch Carson –there is no research data that suggest that his statement is correct," said Dr. Erin Haynes, who is leading one of the main studies in town and is chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health.
Graham suggested that the plaintiffs' attorneys
might be more interested in collecting their up to $180 million in legal fees than representing residents' interests.
The plaintiffs' lawyers didn't immediately respond to the motion Monday, but they have previously defended the settlement that was announced in the spring. They have said the settlement is bigger than any past derailment settlement that has been made public, and that the amount of time residents received to evaluate the deal is similar to other settlements.
Some residents have complained that the initial opt-out deadline in the lawsuit came less than a week after the National Transportation Safety Board held a hearing on its findings in the investigation.
US SETTLES WITH BILLIONAIRE CARL ICAHN FOR USING COMPANY TO SECURE PERSONAL LOANS WORTH BILLIONS
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
BILLIONAIRE
Carl
Icahn and his company were charged by U.S. regulators with failing to disclose personal loans worth billions of dollars that were secured using securities of Icahn Enterprises as collateral.
Icahn Enterprises and Icahn have agreed to pay $1.5 million and $500,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to settle the charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday. The agency said that from at least Dec. 31, 2018 to the present, Icahn pledged approximately 51% to 82% of Icahn Enterprises' outstanding securities as collateral to secure personal loans with a number of lenders.
The SEC said Icahn Enterprises failed to disclose Icahn's pledges of the company's securities as required in its annual report until Feb. 25, 2022.
Icahn also failed to file amendments to a required regulatory filing describing his personal loan agreements and amendments, which dated back to at least 2005, and failed to attach required guaranty agreements. Icahn's failure to file the required amendments to the regulatory filing persisted until at least July 9, 2023, the agency added.
Icahn became widely known as a corporate raider in the 1980s when he engineered a takeover of TWA, or Trans World Airlines. Icahn bought the airline in 1985 but by 1992 it filed for bankruptcy. TWA emerged from bankruptcy a year later but continued to operate at a loss and its assets were sold to American
Airlines in 2001. In February Icahn took a nearly 10% stake in JetBlue.
Icahn Enterprises and Icahn, without admitting or denying the findings, have agreed to cease and desist from future violations and to pay the civil penalties.
In May 2023 Icahn Enterprises' shares tumbled following a report from short-selling firm Hindenburg Research. In the report, Hindenburg claimed that Icahn Enterprises had been using inflated asset valuations. The report also pointed to "ponzi-like economic structures" at the holding company — alleging that Icahn had used money from new investors to pay out dividends to old ones.
Icahn, in statement on Monday, hit back at Hindenburg. ""After Hindenburg issued a false report to make money on its short position at the expense of ordinary investors, the government investigation that followed has resulted in this settlement which makes no claim (Icahn Enterprises) or I inflated (net asset value) or engaged in a 'Ponzi-like' structure," he said. "Hindenburg's modus operandi, which is to publish scurrilous and unsupported allegations, did damage to (Icahn Enterprises) and its investors. We are glad to put this matter behind us and will continue to focus on operating the business for the benefit of unit holders."
Shares of Icahn Enterprises fell more than 6% Monday.
FINANCIER Carl Icahn poses for photos upon arriving for the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala in New York, March 16, 2010.
Photo:Henny Ray Abrams/AP
DEBRIS from a Norfolk Southern freight train lies scattered and burning along the tracks, Feb. 4, 2023, the day after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
Photo:Gene J. Puskar/AP
PEOPLE shop at a 7-Eleven convenience store in New York, Tuesday, March 19, 2024.
Photo:Ted Shaffrey/AP
TOO MANY PEOPLE, NOT ENOUGH MANAGEMENT: A LOOK AT THE CHAOS OF ‘OVERTOURISM’ IN THE SUMMER OF 2024
By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press
THE doorbell to Martinho de Almada Pimentel's house is hard to find, and he likes it that way. It's a long rope that, when pulled, rings a literal bell on the roof that lets him know someone is outside the mountainside mansion that his great-grandfather built in 1914 as a monument to privacy.
There's precious little of that for Pimentel during this summer of "overtourism."
Travelers idling in standstill traffic outside the sunwashed walls of Casa do Cipreste sometimes spot the bell and pull the string "because it's funny," he says. With the windows open, he can smell the car exhaust and hear the "tuktuk" of outsized scooters named for the sound they make. And he can sense the frustration of 5,000 visitors a day who are forced to queue around the house on the crawl up single-lane switchbacks to Pena Palace, the onetime retreat of King Ferdinand II.
"Now I'm more isolated than during COVID," the soft-spoken Pimentel, who lives alone, said during an interview this month on the veranda. "Now I try to (not) go out. What I feel is: angry."
This is a story of what it means to be visited in 2024, the first year in which global tourism is expected to set records since the coronavirus pandemic brought much of life on Earth to a halt. Wandering is surging,
rather than leveling off, driven by lingering revenge travel, digital nomad campaigns and so-called golden visasblamed in part for skyrocketing housing prices.
Anyone paying attention during this summer of "overtourism" is familiar with the escalating consequences around the world: traffic jams in paradise. Reports of hospitality workers living in tents. And "anti-tourism" protests intended to shame visitors as they dine — or, as in Barcelona in July, douse them with water pistols.
The demonstrations are an example of locals using the power of their numbers and social media to issue destination leaders an ultimatum: Manage this issue better or we'll scare away the tourists — who could spend their $11.1 trillion a year elsewhere. Housing prices, traffic and water management are on all of the checklists.
Cue the violins, you might grouse, for people like Pimentel who are welloff enough to live in places worth visiting. But it's more than a problem for rich people.
"Not to be able to get an ambulance or to not be able to get my groceries is a rich people problem?" said Matthew Bedell, another resident of Sintra, which has no pharmacy or grocery store in the center of the UNESCO-designated district. "Those don't feel like rich people problems to me."
What is 'overtourism,' anyway?
The phrase itself generally describes the tipping point at which visitors and their cash stop benefitting residents and instead cause harm by degrading historic sites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly more difficult for those who live there.
It's a hashtag that gives a name to the protests and hostility that you've seen all summer. But look a little deeper and you'll find knottier issues for locals and their leaders, none more universal than housing prices driven up by shortterm rentals like Airbnb, from Spain to South Africa.
Some locales are encouraging "quality tourism," generally defined as more consideration by visitors toward residents and less drunken behavior, disruptive selfie-taking and other questionable choices.
"Overtourism is arguably a social phenomenon, too," according to an analysis for the World Trade Organization written by Joseph Martin Cheer of Western Sydney University and Marina Novelli of the University of Nottingham. In China and India, for example, they wrote, crowded places are more socially accepted. "This suggests that cultural expectations of personal space and expectations of exclusivity differ."
The summer of 2023 was defined by the chaos of the journey itself — airports and airlines overwhelmed, passports a nightmare for travelers from the US. Yet by the end of the year, signs abounded that the
visit the old center of Sintra,
COVID-19 rush of revenge travel was accelerating.
In January, the United Nations' tourism agency predicted that worldwide tourism would exceed the records set in 2019 by 2%. By the end of March, the agency reported, more than 285 million tourists had travelled internationally, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023. Europe remained the mostvisited destination. The World Travel & Tourism Council projected in April that 142 of 185 countries it analyzed would set records for tourism, set to generate $11.1 trillion globally and account for 330 million jobs.
Aside from the money, there's been trouble in paradise this year, with Spain playing a starring role in everything from water management problems to skyrocketing housing prices and drunken tourist drama. Protests erupted across the country as early as March, when graffiti in Malaga reportedly urged tourists to "go f——— home." Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Spain's Canary Islands against visitors and construction that was overwhelming water services and jacking up housing prices. In Barcelona, protesters shamed and squirted
water at people presumed to be visitors as they dined al fresco in touristy Las Ramblas. In Japan, where tourist arrivals fueled by the weak yen were expected to set a new record in 2024, Kyoto banned tourists from certain alleys. The government set limits on people climbing Mount Fuji. And in Fujikawaguchiko, a town that offers some of the best views of the mountain's perfect cone, leaders erected a large black screen in a parking lot to deter tourists from overcrowding the site. The tourists apparently struck back by cutting holes in the screen at eye level.
Air travel, meanwhile, only got more miserable, the U.S. government reported in July. UNESCO has warned of potential damage to protected areas. And Fodor's " No List 2024 " urged people to reconsider visiting suffering hotspots, including sites in Greece and Vietnam, as well as areas with water management problems in California, India and Thailand.
Not-yet-hot spots looked to capitalize on "detouristing" drives such as Amsterdam's "Stay Away" campaign aimed at partying young men. The "Welcome to MonGOlia" camapaign, for example, beckoned from the land of Genghis Khan. Visits to that country by foreign tourists jumped 25% the first seven months of 2024 over last year.
Tourism is surging and shifting so quickly, in fact, that some experts say the very term "overtourism" is outdated.
Michael O'Regan, a lecturer on tourism and events at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that
"overtourism" has become a buzzword that doesn't reflect the fact that the experience depends largely on the success or failure of crowd management. It's true that many of the demonstrations aren't aimed at the tourists themselves, but at the leaders who allow the locals who should benefit to become the ones who pay.
"There's been backlash against the business models on which modern tourism has been built and the lack of response by politicians," he said in an interview. Tourism "came back quicker than we expected," he allows, but tourists aren't the problem. "There's a global fight for tourists. We can't ignore that. ... So what happens when we get too many tourists? Destinations need to do more research."
Of visitors vs being visited
Virpi Makela can describe exactly what happens in her corner of Sintra.
Incoming guests at Casa do Valle, her hillside bedand-breakfast near the village center, call Makela in anguish because they cannot figure out how to find her property amid Sintra's "disorganized" traffic rules that seem to change without notice.
"There's a pillar in the middle of the road that goes up and down and you can't go forward because you ruin your car. So you have to somehow come down but you can't turn around, so you have to back down the road," says Makela, a resident of Portugal for 36 years. "And then people get so frustrated they come to our road, which also has a sign that says `authorized vehicles only.' And they block everything."
GERMANY HOPES INTEREST FROM RUSSIAN ASSETS WILL EASE THE
STRAIN
OF FINANCING AID TO UKRAINE
BERLIN Associated Press
GERMAN officials on Monday rejected suggestions that national budget constraints could hurt weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Berlin is its biggest supplier after the United States.
The German government hopes a $50 billion international loan package funded by interest on profits from frozen Russian assets will ease some of the strain of financing military support to Kyiv starting next year.
Weekend reports that aid financing could be curbed by Germany's domestic budget concerns drew criticism from some in the governing coalition.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has struggled to balance the priorities of three ideologically disparate parties and produce budgets that comply with Germany's strict selfimposed rules on running up debt.
This year's budget foresees nearly 7.5 billion euros ($8.3 billion) in military aid for Ukraine while next year's plan is for 4 billion euros, a figure that could increase as the budget goes through parliament.
The government hopes the loan package for Ukraine that Group of Seven leaders agreed to in June will play a growing role in financing aid, with Kyiv procuring weapons directly. Interest earned on profits from Russia's frozen central bank assets would be used as collateral.
German government spokesperson Wolfgang Büchner said Germany is confident that the system will be set up by the end of this year.
Büchner said "there is no European state that has planned more support for Ukraine, including next year" and it's reasonable for Germany's planned support to diminish in coming years as the "windfall profits" from seized Russian assets come into play.
"Germany remains absolutely engaged, and the chancellor's word is still valid that support for Ukraine will be continued for as long as necessary, and that no one, above all the Russian president, can hope that we will let up," he told reporters in Berlin.
A letter from Finance Minister Christian Lindner to the defense and foreign ministers, cited by German news agency dpa on Saturday, said additional "new measures" on aid to Ukraine could only be embarked on if financing is secured in the budget plans. However, Defense Ministry spokesperson Arne Collatz said all ministries are convinced that "pragmatic solutions" will be found for any short-term needs that arise, and the Finance Ministry said it's prepared to look at such additional requirements.
Collatz and Büchner dismissed suggestions that IRIS-T air defense systems, for example, might not be delivered as pledged.
TOURISTS
Portugal, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024.
Photo:Ana Brigida/AP
Bus vendor cancellations create chaos as school opens in St. Louis
By JIM SALTER Associated Press
THE first day of school was chaotic for many St. Louis families Monday after three bus vendors pulled out at the last minute, leaving hundreds of parents scrambling to get their kids to classes.
St. Louis Public Schools has been struggling to devise a plan to get kids to classes since March, when Missouri Central School Bus Co. canceled its 2024-25 school year contract with the district, which serves about 19,600 students. Unable to find a single vendor as a replacement, the solution involved a combination of using other school bus companies, metro buses, taxis and other shuttle services.
But the district announced Saturday that three vendors provided notice this month that they wouldn't be able to provide buses, after all. While some parents were given gas cards to pay for transporting their own kids to school, the district was still working on alternative plans.
"As a result of bus and driver shortages, this continues to lead to disruptions for St. Louis Public
Schools," a statement from the district read. "We understand the challenges that bus and driver shortages have presented for our families, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions and minimize disruptions to our students."
Parents and volunteers spent Monday morning standing at bus stops and taking other steps to help make sure that kids were safe and that their rides
showed up. Others worked to coordinate rides.
Tracy Fantini was among those who volunteered at a bus stop. She has a sixth grader and a sophomore in St. Louis schools. They carpool, and Fantini started a Facebook page — SLPS Family Carpool Connection — to help other families come up with transportation. By midday, Fantini had heard some success stories from parents — and some
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was trying to bounce back from HP fraud case before being lost at sea
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer
TECH
tycoon
Mike Lynch, one of six people missing from a sunken yacht off Sicily, had been trying to move past a Silicon Valley debacle that had tarnished his legacy as an icon of British ingenuity.
Lynch, 59, struck gold when he sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. But the deal quickly turned into an albatross for him after he was accused of cooking the books to make the sale.
The fraud allegations resulting in Lynch being fired by HP's then-CEO Meg Whitman and a decade-long legal battle. It culminated with him being extradited from the U.K. to face criminal charges of engineering a massive fraud against a company that shaped Silicon Valley's zeitgeist after starting in a Palo Alto, California, garage in 1939. Lynch steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he was being made a scapegoat for HP's own bungling — a position he maintained while testifying before a jury during a 2
1/2 month trial in San Francisco earlier this year. U.S. Justice Department prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses in attempt to prove allegations that Lynch engaged in accounting duplicity that bilked billions of dollars from HP. The trial ended up vindicating Lynch, who was cleared of all charges in June. Lynch, who had remained free on $100 million bail during the trial, had pledged to return to the U,K. and explore new ways to innovate. Although he avoided a possible prison sentence, Lynch still faced a
it would not be able to provide six buses that had been scheduled to transport 1,000 students to 23 schools. The district didn't say why.
Parents were informed by email and told they could pick up a gas card.
Shuttles Pro informed the district Wednesday that it would provide 25 buses, not the 45 originally planned. Parents assigned to Shuttles Pro were given gas cards.
Victorious Life International, a nonprofit based in Swansea, Illinois, told the district Aug. 9 that it was unable to acquire 10 buses it planned to use in St. Louis.
The district didn't say how many students were affected by the pullouts of Shuttles Pro and Victorious Life International.
failures, including tales of transportation not showing up.
"I've always said if we can't get the kids to school, none of the rest matters," Fantini said. "My hope is that they will all get to school like they're supposed to, and kids will not be left behind because they have no transportation."
One of the bus companies, Xtra Care Transportation, notified the district Saturday that
potentially huge bill stemming from a civil cased in London that HP mostly won during 2022. Damages haven't been determined in that case, but HP is seeking $4 billion. Lynch made more than $800 million from the Autonomy sale.
Before becoming entangled with HP, Lynch was widely hailed as a visionary who inspired descriptions casting him as the British version of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Phone messages were left Monday with all three bus service providers. It wasn't immediately clear what consequences they could face for the late decision to opt out of service.
District spokesperson George Sells told reporters this month that the district would be "evaluating how this system works and looking for other options, looking for other ways to do this. And I would say
Lynch, a Cambridge-educated mathematician, made his mark running Autonomy, which made a search engine that could pore through emails and other internal business documents to help companies find vital information more quickly. Autonomy's steady growth during its first decade resulted in Lynch being awarded one of the U.K's highest honors, the Office of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2006. In the months leading up to the deal that would go
that everything is on the table."
Missouri Central said in a statement in March that the company asked the St. Louis district for additional money "to address unprecedented industry inflation and a nationwide school bus driver shortage." The school district said the company sought an extra $2 million. When the district refused, Missouri Central opted out for the 2024-25 school year.
In February, a Black mechanic for Missouri Central said he found a noose at his workstation, which he believed was meant to send a racist message to intimidate him after an argument with a manager over Mitchell's concern that some bus brakes were inadequate. Missouri Central officials said the racism allegations "provided irreparable harm to their reputation," the district said in March.
In August 2023, Kentucky's largest school district was beset by firstday problems. A redesign of Louisville's bus routes resulted in some students not getting picked up in the morning or arriving home hours late — some after dark. The district serves about 96,000 students.
awry, HP valued Autonomy at $46 billion, according to evidence presented at Lynch's trial. The trial also presented contrasting portraits of Lynch. Prosecutors painted him as an iron-fisted boss obsessed with hitting revenue targets, even if it meant to duplicity. But his own lawyers cast him as entrepreneur with integrity and a prototypical tech nerd who enjoyed eating cold pizza late at night while pondering new ways to innovate.
A STUDENT is helped out of a transportation service vehicle with a St. Louis Public Schools sign affixed to it, on the first day of school at Dewey Elementary in the Hi-Pointe neighborhood of St. Louis on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (Allie Schallert
Wall Street climbs to push its winning streak to 8 days, longest of the year
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
U.S. stocks climbed
Monday as Wall Street pulls closer to its record heights following its roller coaster of a summer.
The S&P 500 rallied 1% for its eighth straight gain. That clinched its longest winning streak since November and followed up on the index's best week of the year. It's back to within 1% of its all-time high after falling close to 10% below the mark earlier this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 236 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4%.
Advanced Micro Devices helped drive the market after saying it would buy ZT Systems, a supplier in the cloud computing and artificial-intelligence industries, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4.9 billion. The chip company's stock rose 4.5%.
Another chip company, Nvidia, was the single strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward after it rose 4.4%. It's clawed back most of its sharp losses from earlier in the summer, which were triggered by worries investors sent its stock price too high amid their frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. They helped offset a 4.8% drop for Guess? Inc., which said its chief financial officer is stepping down to pursue another opportunity. The apparel and accessories company said it's begun a
search for its next CFO and appointed an interim.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 54.00 points to 5,608.25. The Dow gained 236.77 to 40,896.53, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 245.05 to 17,876.77.
Trading was quiet elsewhere, including in the bond market. Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of what's likely to be financial markets' main event for the week: a speech on Friday by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The setting for the speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has been home to some big policy announcements by the Fed in the past. Expectations aren't that high this time around, with nearly
everyone already expecting the Fed will begin cutting interest rates next month.
That would be the first such cut since the Fed began hiking rates drastically in early 2022, hoping to slow the economy by enough to stifle inflation but not so much that it causes a recession. With inflation slowing from its peak above 9% two summers ago, Fed officials have already hinted cuts to rates are coming. The biggest question is whether the economy just needs the Federal Reserve to remove the brakes or if it needs more acceleration and deeper cuts.
A surprisingly weak report on hiring by U.S. employers last month raised worries the Fed has
already kept interest rates too high for too long. Such worries combined with concerns that Nvidia and other highly influential Big Tech stocks got too expensive amid the AI frenzy, along with other factors, to send markets globally through a scary couple weeks. That included the worst day for Japan's market since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
But an ensuing assurance from the Bank of Japan on interest rates there has helped calm the market. Several recent reports on the U.S. economy have also come in stronger than expected, covering everything from inflation to sales at U.S. retailers, which bolstered optimism.
MONTGOMERY,
Associated Press
Ala.
MORE than 17,000 AT&T workers in nine states across the Southeast are on strike after accusing the company of unfair labor practices during contract negotiations this summer.
This upcoming week doesn't have as many economic reports on the schedule. A preliminary report on U.S. business activity could be the highlight of the week, arriving on Thursday.
More action will likely come from corporate earnings reports as the reporting season for the spring winds down. Most companies have turned in better profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected, as is usually the case.
With more than 90% of companies in the S&P 500 having already turned in their reports, they're on track to deliver growth of nearly 11% in earnings per share from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That would be the best growth since the end of 2021.
Retailers dominate the tail end of earnings season, and Lowe's, Ross Stores, Target and TJX will be among those in the spotlight this week.
A report on Friday suggested U.S consumers are feeling better about the economy than expected, but worries have been high about how much they can continue spending. Those at the lower end of the income spectrum appear to be under particular pressure, with prices still high across the economy despite inflation's slowdown.
The Communications Workers of America — the union representing the striking employees — said workers walked off the job Friday in response to AT&T's failure to bargain in good faith. Workers have been attempting to reach a new contract since June.
In their commentaries accompanying their earnings reports, CEOs broadly seem to be remaining "in a wait and see loop" amid lingering worries, but there also seems to be confidence in "a pickup when greater macroeconomic and political clarity emerge," according to Deutsche Bank strategists led by Parag Thatte.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 3.87% from 3.88% late Friday. In stock markets abroad, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8%. It was hurt by a rise in the Japanese yen's value against the U.S. dollar. Such moves can erode profits for Japanese exporters, and big swings in the yen's value following a recent hike to interest rates by the Bank of Japan was a big factor in markets' turmoil earlier this month.
It forced hedge funds around the world to abandon a popular trade en masse, where they had borrowed Japanese yen at cheap rates to invest elsewhere.
On Monday, though, movements in other stock markets outside Tokyo were calmer, with European indexes modestly higher and Asian indexes mixed.
The labor organization said AT&T did not send representatives to the bargaining table who had authority to make decisions and that the company has reneged on agreements made in bargaining.
"Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract, but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith," Richard Honeycutt, vice president of CWA District 3 in the Southeast, said in a statement.
The strike involves AT&T technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support AT&T's residential and business wireline telecommunications network. It involves workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee
The union said it filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
AT&T denied the union's accusations.
"CWA's claims of unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact. We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since Day One and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees," the company said in emailed statement. AT&T said it reached three separate agreements this year covering more than 13,000 employees.
The labor union on Monday also accused AT&T of "sending undertrained managers and contractors to perform highly technical work" during the strike. AT&T said it has "various business continuity measures in place to avoid disruptions to operations and will continue to provide our customers with the great service they expect." 17,000
ROBERT MORAN, left, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo:Richard Drew/AP