Category Archives: Private Islands

Breathtaking beaches, crystal clear water, and amazing wildlife the Seychelles are a tropical paradise, just waiting to be explored. Here, we take a look at the top five reasons why this sun-kissed idyll should be at the top of your 2022.

Since the time when the Seychelles 115 granite and coral islands became scattered over a secluded corner of the Indian Ocean, they have remained sanctuaries for some of the rarest species of flora and fauna on Earth. So rare, that the Valle de Mai which nurtures the legendary coco-de-me, was once thought to be the original site of the biblical Garden of Eden.

The islands are also synonymous with stunning natural beauty, the wonderful harmony enjoyed by the multi-ethnic society and a near perfect climate where the temperature is always somewhere between 24 and 33 degrees Celsius, earning the islands a reputation as land of perpetual summer

Uninhabited by humans throughout most of history, the wildlife on the Seychelles Islands had plenty of time to evolve! Through careful supervision from the Seychellois, the islands remain one of natures last pristine sanctuaries making it an exciting destination for naturalists, ornithologists and eco-tourists alike.

Nowhere else on the planet will you find unique specimens such as the jellyfish tree, the Coco-de-mer, the Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher and numerous species and subspecies of birds. The Valle de Mai, once thought to be the original site of the Garden of Eden, and legendary Aldabra, the worlds largest raised coral atoll, are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. From the smallest frog to the heaviest land tortoise and the only flightless bird of the Indian Ocean, the Seychelles boasts an amazing array of endemic and indigenous species waiting to be discovered along its network of nature trails.

Keep an eye out for giant tortoises

Blue sky, crystal-clear water and glistening-white sands the beaches in the Seychelles are known for their stunning natural beauty. Across the archipelagos 115 islands, youll find a beach for every occasion and every mood. In fact, every island has its own signature spots, ranging from the more popular beaches filled with life and bustle to those most secluded spots that are the Seychelles of postcards and glossy magazines.

The Seychelles is home to some of the world's finest beaches

If spending hours on the beach isnt for you, you neednt worry. The Seychelles is bursting with activities, both for the adventurous and laid back.

Indeed, its the perfect place to do everything or absolutely nothing. If diving, sailing or fishing are your thing, then there are options in abundance. Likewise, hikers are well catered for with some excellent, well-marked trails cutting through verdant forests and along untouched coastlines. Then, theres everything from island-hopping trips to ecotourism projects to fill those long, sunny days. Of course, if you want a spa to recharge your batteries, theres a wide choice of those, too.

Hiking in the Seychelles

The Seychellois culture is characterised by the diversity of people whove settled there over the years. In fact, visiting the Seychelles is something akin to entering the home of a large family with roots in all four corners of the globe. Here, where harmony is a way of life, visitors will find a vibrant culture that is the product of over two centuries of intermingling and exchange, a mix of African, European and Asian influences that is reflected in the country's music, dance, culture and architecture and in its cuisine, warming your palate with spices such as chili, turmeric and ginger.

Seychelles has all this to offer and more but perhaps its most enduring attraction is the security it offers and its enviable pace of life. Here, cosseted within the islands welcoming sanctuary, theres still time to enjoy the finer things of life and to appreciate the elements of a truly refreshing Creole culture and laid-back island lifestyle.

Dining at Raffles Praslin

Lastly, while many potential visitors might see the Seychelles as somewhere to go, stay, relax, then leave, theres also plenty of potential for exploration outside of your chosen island enclave. Indeed, the chance to hop between islands of the opportunity to see and discover the Seychelles at their diverse best. Perhaps youll discover Mahs mountain landscapes and Victorias capital bustle, before heading off to La Digue for rum shacks and swaying palms. Or, maybe youll discover Praslins lush rainforests before swapping over to Silhouette Island the archipelagos third-largest to discover hidden beaches, shady walking trails and some of the Indian Oceans finest snorkelling. Whichever you choose, be sure to wrap things up with a private-island stay the ultimate indulgence.

Denis Island a private island resort

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Five reasons to visit the Seychelles in 2022 | Holiday Articles - Wexas

Belmond Splendido Mare

For the first time, the 2022 Gold List features a singular global list curated by the editors of Cond Nast Traveler's seven international editions in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Italy, India, the Middle East, and China.

The Gold List is the publications annual list of editors' favorite hotels from around the world, all highlighting the gold standard of service and hospitality. From the sustainable-focused Shinta Mani Wild eco retreat in Cambodia, to the Borgo Santo Pietro in Tuscany, to The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel in New York, these are exceptional places selected by the editors.

The Carlyle, a Rosewood Hotel New York

I spoke with Jesse Ashlock, Deputy Global Editorial Director & U.S. Editor, Cond Nast Traveler about why these hotels & destinations stood out to their global editors. While we traveled more in 2021 than in the year before, it was nevertheless another long, strange year in which we continued to rethink the very meaning of travel. In a certain way, this has made our Gold List franchise even more resonantthese are the hotels, cruise experiences, and destinations our editors carry in their hearts always.

Divia Thani, Global Editorial Director, Cond Nast Traveler tells me, The term luxury is always evolving, but right now, it's clearly about experiences and connections. After a year or more of sheltering, people have realized the value of travel in their lives, how enriching and important it is to spend time in beautiful and exciting places with people we love, discovering local cultures and being able to partake and share these new experiences. And while wellness and slow travel have become very popular, we are also finding our audiences very invested in traveling more consciously and sustainably, with a clear desire to give back to local communities in some way. People are spending not just more money on their trips, but more time, and they're proactively trying to make better choices.

Here are the 45 Gold List hotels from around the world that CN editors selected as their favorites for 2022:

Royal Pavilion Villa at Qasr al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara

Qasr al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara

This spectacular desert oasis is located 90 minutes from Abu Dhabi with 140 rooms, 14 suites, and 52 pool villas. There are tons of activities here, including falconry, dune bashing, and an overnight bedouin adventure.

Poolside at Park Hyatt Sydney

Park Hyatt Sydney

With stunning views of the Sydney Opera House, 155 large contemporary guestrooms and suites with floor-to-ceiling glass doors open to private balconies.

Shinta Mani Wild

Shinta Mani Wild

On the banks of the Tmor Rung river, deep in the Cardamom Mountains, is this low impact camp of 15 tents from the brilliant mind of designer Bill Bensley. To get there, guests are transported along a zip line over lush forests and waterfalls.

Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Vancouver BC

Located in the heart of Vancouver, this property features 156 old-world-style rooms and suites.

Songstam Lhasa Linka

Bulgari Hotel, Beijing

An urban resort in the heart of Beijing's leafy Chaoyang District, this Italian-style 119-room hotel is surrounded by sculptured gardens. Located in the heart of Vancouver, this property features 156 old-world-style rooms and suites.

Songtsam Lhasa Linka, Tibet

Built on a hillside overlooking the nearby Potala Palace, the interior design of the 45 rooms and suites is inspired by the lifestyle of Lhasa natives.

Nayara Tented Camp

Nayara Tented Camp

On the sloping hillsides of the Arenal Volcano, these 21 canvas tented rooms are all located on stilts within the jungle canopy. Ravines, swaying bridges, and resident sloths contribute to this adventurous retreat.

Anassa Hotel

Anassa Hotel

Located on a secluded hillside with breathtaking sea views, this Mediterranean village-style property with 166 rooms, suites, and residences, fronts Asprokremmos Beach and also features a huge Thalassa spa.

Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach

Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach

Located on Jumeirah Beach Road, the elegant resort has direct access to the coastline and a private beach. The resort offers 237 rooms, including suites.

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc

Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes

One of my favorite hotels in the world, this elegant property was built in 1869 as a private mansion; it opened as a hotel in 1887. Its 118 rooms and suites are nearly impossible to book, and for a good reason, it is pure luxury only for the rich and famous.

Le Bristol Paris

This iconic French property features 190 renovated rooms and suites in the heart of Paris. The hotel also offers a lush, 13,000 square foot courtyard garden and a stunning rooftop swimming pool.

The Vasilicos, Santorini

The Vasilicos, Santorini

Located at the highest point of the Caldera, this very intimate property features only eight suites and is adjacent to a monastery.

Mandarin Oriental

The first flagship hotel for the brand, the iconic hotel, has been overlooking Victoria Harbour for over 57 years. There are 432 guest rooms and 62 stunning signature suites, and there are also nine bars and restaurants, including two Michelin-star venues.

Leela Palace New Delhi

Leela Palace New Delhi

Modern, regal, and opulent, this iconic 260 room contemporary property is located in the exclusive Diplomatic Enclave. The rooms are among the largest in India, and the suites are available with private plunge pools and butlers. The Rooftop infinity pool offers dramatic views of the city.

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur

Located on Chittar Hill and set amidst 26 acres of lush gardens, with peacocks and a subterranean Zodiac Pool, the hotel within the palace offers 70 Art Deco-style rooms and suites. Still partly home to the current Maharaja of Jodhpur, it has operated as a heritage hotel since 1972, with Taj Hotels arriving in 2005.

St Regis Florence

Belmond Splendido Mare, Portofino

Located in the curve of Portofino harbor and on the legendary Piazzetta, the famed property started as a charming guesthouse for fishermen and weary travelers. Now there are fourteen reimagined rooms and suites filled with mid-century antiques.

Borgo Santo Pietro, Tuscany

Located in the heart of Tuscany near Siena, the stunning resort offers up a holistic spa, cooking school, Michelin-starred restaurant, 300-acre organic farm, vineyards, and 13-acre beautifully manicured gardens. Each of the 22 rooms and suites are individually styled, inspired by the villas rich history.

The St. Regis Florence, Florence

Set along the Arno River with stunning views of the Ponte Vecchio, this 15th-century, Renaissance-era palace offers 99 rooms and suites. Rooms are adorned with rich velvets and brocades, while beds are crowned with royal-style drapes. There is a Michelin-starred Tuscan cuisine and a decadent spa.

Aman Tokyo

Occupying the top six floors of the recently-built Otemachi Tower, this urban retreat offers 84 rooms and suites, each with panoramic city views. The zen-like Aman Spa and indoor pool is the real attraction here.

Lew Wilderness

Lewa Wilderness

One of Kenya's original safari lodges, just nine rooms are scattered among the Lewa Wilderness landscape. Six thatched cottages are tucked into the hillside overlooking the Eastern Marania Valley, plus three garden cottages. The safari experience here has fans raving where only three vehicles are allowed at a wildlife sighting, ensuring an exclusive game viewing experience.

1 Bedroom Water Retreat with Slide at Soneva Fushi

Soneva Fushi

This private island property is an Instagrammer dream with 63 large Robinson-Crusoe style beachfront villas and eight Water retreats, ranging in size from one to nine bedrooms. It is one of the larger resort islands in the Maldives, and they are a leader with their sustainable focus.

One&Only Palmilla

One&Only Palmilla, Cabo San Lucas

A longtime favorite of mine, this stunning Los Cabos resort is a legend in the area. Overlooking the Sea of Cortez, the resort sits on 55 acres and offers 174 guest rooms, including its signature four-bedroom Villa Cortez and the four-bedroom Villa One. The 20,000-square-foot One&Only Spa at Palmilla is a highlight.

La Mamounia

La Mamounia, Marrakech

This beautiful palace hotel in the heart of Marrakesh offers 135 rooms and 71 suites. The corridors of the property magically reproduce the Medinas narrow streets. There are four restaurants, a gorgeous spa, and lively evenings in the rooftop lounge with pool.

The Farm at Cape Kidnappers

The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay

Set on a 6,000-acre sheep and cattle farm overlooking dramatic sea cliffs and 80-degree views of the Pacific Ocean. With 24 spacious cottage suites and a four-bedroom Owners Cottage, this luxury retreat includes a spa and par 71 championship golf course.

Explora Sacred Valley

Explora Valle Sagrado

Located between Cusco and Machu Picchu, this adventure-oriented lodge with 44 spacious rooms and six larger suites is all about exploring. The hotel is a complex of long, low, minimalist buildings linked by elevated walkways and has a spa located in a refurbished colonial bathhouse from the 17th century.

Grootbus Private Nature Reserve

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve

Located along the easternmost point of the Western Cape, these two exclusive luxury lodges and two villas are hidden in aprivate reserve where ancient forest rolls down to the sea. All 27 free-standing contemporary suites have private decks overlooking the crescent of Walker Bay.

The Ritz-Carlton Abama

Finca Cortesin, Casares

Located between Marbella and Sotogrand, this luxury hotel and spa has its own championship golf course. The hotel has 67 suites and six exclusive villas built around two courtyards. The stunning spa also features Spains only Snow Cave.

The Cotton House, Barcelona

This city hotel is located on Gran Via, one of the citys most popular streets. Once the 19th-century headquarters of the Cotton Producers Guild, much of the original design was perfectly preserved including its 1957 spiral staircase. There are 83 rooms white and bright modern rooms and suites.

The Ritz-Carlton Abama, Tenerife

This huge holistic retreat offers up 459 Moorish style rooms & suites as well as a large spa, the largest Kids club in Europe, and ten restaurants, including a Michelin-starred Japanese fusion restaurant

Eden Rock St Barths

Eden Rock St. Barths

With the perfect location perched on rocks fronting St Jean Bay, this chic iconic celebrity-studded property was the first hotel on the island and features only 37 rooms and suites. World-famous chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten oversees the dining here, and rock star General Manager Fabrice Moizan is among the best in the business.

Ocean pool villa at Six Senses Yao Noi

Six Senses Yao Noi

Arrive by speedboat from Phuket to this resort located on a cliff overlooking the stunning Phang Nga Bay; this eco-friendly property offers 56 thatched roof villas, including four suites and two residences. Every villa features a butler, and the spa is styled after a traditional longhouse designed as a small stilted village at the heart of the resort.

Heckfield Place

Heckfield Place, Hampshire

This secluded 18th-century estate-turned-countryside-hotel is just one hour out of London and offers 45 bedrooms, spaced between the original main house and the newly built modern wing. There are 400 acres of woods, where guests can enjoy falconry, fly fishing, and visit the estates biodynamic farm.

The Connaught, London

Located in the heart of Mayfair, this stunning property boasts the recent Best Bar in the World title, as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant and a holistic Aman spa. Refined and elegant, the property features 121 guest rooms, the Connaughts suites, including The Mews, spread across three floors with a grand piano and chauffeur; the Princes Lodge, The Library Suite, with a secret bookcase door, and The Apartment, with a private staircase, bar, and kitchenette, as well as a wrap-around balcony.

Bellagio Resort Las Vegas

Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

With views of the Las Vegas valley or the iconic Bellagio fountains right from your suite, this enormous 3,950 room resort is inspired by the villages of Europe. The restaurants are among my favorite in Las Vegas, including Picasso and Lago.

Chatham Bars Inn

Chatham Bars Inn, Chatham, MA

The rest is here:

Cond Nast Traveler Reveals Favorite Hotels Around The World: 2022 Gold List - Forbes

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority sold $35 million of bond anticipation notes at a high yield of 7% for tax-exempt notes and 9% for taxable notes.

WAPA closed the deal the week of Nov. 29.

High-yield investment giant Nuveen bought the $34.5 million of tax-exempt BANs and $500,000 of taxable BANs via a private placement. Immediately after the sale, Nuveen transferred the tax-exempt BANs to six of its tax-exempt funds and two of its taxable funds. The transfers are listed as trades on Electronic Municipal Marketplace Access.

The $34.5 million of exempt notes mature in July 2026 with a 6.75% coupon and yield 7%, noncall. The $500,000 of taxable notes have an 8.5% coupon and yield 9%, noncall. The notes are funded by fuel tax revenues.

The U.S. Virgin Islands WAPA received four Wrtsil generators in November in addition to three others it received in 2019, for which Wrtsil sued for payment.

No ratings were listed on deal documents or on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board EMMA site. WAPAs electric system revenue bonds are rated Caa2 by Moodys Investors Service and CCC by Fitch Ratings.

Investors are attracted to triple-tax exempt paper, said Michael Ross, director of MJR Consulting. Investors have been on the hunt for high-yield in the ultra low-rate environment and USVI and Puerto Rico issuers have been able to sell lower-rated or nonrated debt, but at a premium.

"The only real path to incremental success for some time has been looking longer out on the yield curve and lower in the credit spectrum," said Eric Kazatsky, senior municipals strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence. "Through Dec. 9, buyers who waded into the lower credit range received more than 440 basis points of additional return. To put this outperformance into context, the average total return delta between the two indexes (LMB1TR and LMA3TR) has been just 136 basis points over the past decade. However, given absolute spread levels, we question how long momentum can be maintained."

For the WAPA deal, part of the proceeds will be used to pay off the Finnish company Wrtsil, which provided three propane-fired generating engines to WAPAs Randolph Harley Power Plant in 2019. In March the company sued WAPA for failing to make the final due payment for the engines.

According to WAPA, due to this payment Wrtsil agreed to drop the suit. Wrtsil did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

Proceeds from the sale also allowed WAPA to pay other sums owed to Wrtsil and Scotland-based generator supplier Aggreko for operating and maintenance costs. The money will also be used to fund the associated debt reserve fund and the notes costs of issuance.

Sustainable Capital Advisors was the financial advisor. Duane Morris was the bond counsel. Essex Securities was the placement agent.

The issuance of the BAN is symptomatic of the continued reliance of the utility on fossil fuels. This is a short-term fix at best but so long as the fossil fuel dependence exists, it's a real problem credit," said Joseph Krist, publisher of Muni Credit News. "The nature of the geography, the vulnerability of legacy grid equipment, and the exposure of the territory to climate issues all cry out for renewables based small or microgrid technology. Given the management structure and history, I would bet against a real sustainable transformation of this utility anytime soon.

As of Dec. 31, 2020, WAPA had $190 million of electric system revenue bonds and $1.143 billion of liabilities, according to its unaudited financial statements.

Updated with Kazatsky comments.

Here is the original post:

Virgin Islands' Water and Power Authority prices BANs at 9% - Bond Buyer

Metaverse, the 3D version of the internet, is getting upgrades faster than we can imagine. With weddings moving from Zoom to Anime, companies are working 24*7 to create fantasy imagination into reality.

via GIPHY

Here are 6 new things you can do in the metaverse:

1. HUMANOIDROBOT SOPHIATO ENTER METAVERSE

Humanoidrobot Sophia, who has created records by speaking at the United Nations, having Saudi citizenship, and being on the cover of Cosmopolitan India, will set another record by entering the metaverse for a project called 'Noah's Ark'.She will enter themetaversewith an anime version of herself, named 'Sophia beingAI', and beingAI will help launch the same.

via GIPHY

Being AI is set to launch 100 intelligent non-fungible tokens (NFTs) between December 16and 21. 20 NFTs are being auctioned each day over a 5-day event. The collection is calledThe Transmedia Universe of Sophia beingAI and will feature on Binances NFT marketplace. Here's a video interaction launchedby beingAI on YouTube.

2.ONERARE LAUNCHES THE FIRST EVER FOODVERSE

Supreet Raju,has created a new metaverse for food, calledFoodverse. A food metaverse would be a place to celebrate food in all its forms and would consist of 4 elements:

Farmers market to trade items from farmersandcollectors

The Kitchen to create new recipes and mint dish NFTs and

The Playground for NFT owners to battle it out in games

This is meant to encourage more people to join the metaverse, encourage more gamersandfoodies to hang out, and also for celeb chefs like Reynold Poernomo of Masterchef Australia (famous for creating incredible desserts with 50+ ingredients) to create more dishes and interact with people.

3. NON-EXISTENT YACHT SELLS FOR $6,50,000 IN MOST EXPENSIVE NFT DEAL

The Metaflower Super Mega Yachtis a digital NFT yacht and was sold for 149 Ether in Sandbox, which is a virtual world where players can build, own and monetise their gaming experience. The yacht is a part of"The Fantasy Islands", which is a self-described "luxury real estate development project of 100 NFT private islands (comprised of NFT land in the Sandbox + architecturally unique 3D NFT villas)".

This will be created on the Ethereum blockchain and what will the owner enjoy? ADJ booth, helicopter landing pad, and hot tub. Its details are available for everyone to watch. This is what it will look like:

4. TOP REAL ESTATE DEALS IN METAVERSE

Get ready for some eye-popping real estate deals that the metaverse has been seeing these days. Projects like Decentraland, Sandbox are providing virtual land for sale and investors are flocking in to trade in virtual land units which are also considered NFTs. The deal is similar to the one in the physical world - the owner owns the rights to the virtual land and can do anything on it:rent it, create an advertisement board and rent that, create a monument, whatever. As if buying property in real world isn't tough, there is a new variety of choice in the metaverse!

On November 30, Sandbox sold a piece of land for US $4.3 million, while Decentraland sold a piece of its land for US $2.43 million. How do you buy virtual land? Using virtual currency, of course! Eg: To buy property in Decentraland, you use currency called MANA.What'sits value? Check it here.

The larger-than-life Metaverse. Illustration: Seemon, DailyO

5. GETTING MARRIED IN THE METAVERSE

Yes, someone got married in the metaverse. Apparently, a free game called "Final Fantasy XIV"allows users to get married, and the couple gets a ring which allows free transportation to the event once a day. If you pay, you can get a fancier location and more frequent trips. You can also get a range of formalwear to choose for your wedding. We wonder what they do for honeymoon...

Seems like some people who got married in real life coudn't digest the news:

6. RALPH LAUREN IN METAVERSE (ADDICTION ALERT!)

Ralph Lauren Winter Scape is a virtual experience replete with digital Ralph Lauren garmentsand holiday activities like Treasure Hunt that will be open till January 3, 2022. The intention is to lead the digital space andengage with customers on the platform. The company will trackit's growth by using metrics like user engagement, time spent by users in gaming, and units of digital goods sold on the metaverse. Ralph Lauren tweeted this:

OH BTW, ICYMI, ICELAND TOURISM MOCKED ZUCKERBERG FOR ITS META VIDEO, AND MARK RESPONDED.

Iceland Tourism created a fun video on the lines of Mark Zuckerberg's Meta reveal video, and invited viewers to the real-life "Icelandverse" instead. The actor here was dressed like Mark and was called 'Zack Mosbergsson', the Chief Visionary of Icelandverse. The video is a total mockery of Metaverse - right from how it allows people to connect in a place which already exists (i.e Iceland) without being super weird, to being in an actual reality without silly-looking headsets. The actor tries to mimick Mark's postures (and fails to do so which is fabulous because it shows how orchestrated Mark's one-hour talk was), and takes a dig at Mark's recent viral post about sunscreen. After this was launched, Zuckerberg even replied to the fun video which was posted from the Inspired by Iceland account:

So, which one caught your interest?

Follow this link:

Metaverse is brimming with updates. 6 new things you can do in it - DailyO

On 14 March 2020, I left my home in the Orkney Islands to drive to Edinburgh international airport. I was due to travel to Germany for a research trip. Full of nervous anticipation, and making frantic last-minute preparations, I hadnt paid as much attention to the coronavirus crisis as I might have, but events were developing so quickly across Europe, it was dawning on me that international travel might not be an option for much longer.

By 5am, as I boarded the ferry, the radio bulletins seemed apocalyptic. On board, passengers sat separately, in their own private islands of paranoia. I wore a mask over my nose and mouth, and cleaned my armrests with a baby wipe soaked in Dettol. In the toilets, the ship pitching beneath my feet, I scrubbed my hands for 60 seconds and examined my own reflection. Grey, I thought. Anxious.

Four hours later, I stopped in at my parents place near Inverness, where I ate some lunch and checked emails on my phone. I had a lot of them. Dont come, one of my German contacts said, simply. Another had cancelled our meeting due to childcare problems; all schools had suddenly closed. A hotel regretfully informed me that it would not be able to honour my booking. My flight, however, was still scheduled to depart on time.

Far above, thousands of planes were still pinballing around Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas. They crowded the airspace over London and Amsterdam and Paris, converging from all directions before spiralling down. They were launching over oceans with a cannonball momentum; weaving cleanly between each other in a mannered, balletic dance.

Normally, planes are in constant motion, massing with the daylight but never truly ceasing, moving in predictable patterns like currents over the Earth the invisible infrastructure of the world. Regular routes these passageways and corridors and elevated motorways through the sky have grown more crowded and important as air travel has increased in popularity over recent decades, more tightly stitched into the fabric of our lives and the global economy.

Back in 2004, 2 billion passengers boarded flights over the course of a year. By 2019 that figure had more than doubled, to 4.5 billion. On an average day, 100,000 flights or more might take off; on 25 July 2019 the busiest recorded day in aviation there were 230,000.

In 2020, passenger numbers were expected to rise yet again until the Covid-19 pandemic brought the aviation industry to its knees. Suddenly, all around the world, people were watching the news, clutching their tickets, checking for updates and wondering what to do.

Very soon, flights would be grounded on a scale never before seen. A year without flying for many of us forced major changes in the way we ran our business, family life, leisure time, and how we looked at the world.

As I uncertainly considered my flight to Germany, 9,100 miles away, in Perth, Australia, Daria Kuznetsova and Andrew Rodger were making their own calculations. For an international couple, home is a complicated proposition. Theyd been in Australia for nearly a month, introducing baby Alexander to Andrews family, and they had tickets booked to travel back to the UK, where they had both lived since they were students.

Their tickets were valid, but something was holding them back. The Australian prime minister had just called on his countryfolk everywhere to come home. For Andrew, an Australian citizen, it felt difficult to disobey. And wouldnt they, by returning to Europe, be flying into the eye of the storm? What about Darias family her parents in Washington DC, her sister in Turkey, her brother in Moscow? What would they do? Who did they have?

They debated for a few days. In Australia they felt safe. But when they thought about their cosy London flat, the mural on the living room wall, their babys cot, their books, they knew that was home. They decided to go.

The airport was almost deserted, and felt unnerving. But the plane itself was packed. There wasnt a spare seat; they had unwittingly booked themselves, months before, on to what would be one of the last flights out of Australia. The atmosphere was strained, Daria remembers. There was a feeling that we had no idea what we were flying into. And it could be really bad.

It was a long flight: about 17 hours, direct. In the darkened cabin, Daria held Alexander over her shoulder and paced the aisles, jogging him to sleep. As she walked, she moved in and out of earshot of other passengers conversations. There were raised voices, determined plan-making, black humour. A few were genuinely panicked.

Daria wasnt frightened, not exactly, but it was certainly unsettling. She didnt know at the time that it would be the last flight she would take for many months, that she would miss her sisters wedding, would need to counsel her family through hard times over Zoom. She didnt think to wonder how long it would be until they saw their families again.

The final weeks of March 2020 saw a last mad scramble for flights before the departure boards went dark. For those working in the aviation industry, it was all hands on deck, as 1.3 million British nationals returned to the UK via commercial air routes. Those who didnt, or couldnt, or hadnt appreciated the urgency, soon found themselves fighting over the remaining seats.

Timetables were torn up as governments chartered planes to repatriate stranded citizens. According to the Foreign Office, 38,000 Britons were flown back on 186 flights, from 57 different countries and territories, a crisis response with no postwar precedent in terms of scale, complexity and duration. The Ministry of Defence was drafted in to help hundreds more in particularly far-flung locations, repatriating 90 scientists, support staff and construction workers from the British Antarctic Survey, among others.

But after the panic, an eerie silence. Airports were slowing to a near halt. Most airlines cut capacity by 80 or 90%, parking their jets on off-ramps, taxiways, even runways. Satellite images from around the world showed their cruciform shapes bristling from every corner, or arranged in neat, herringbone designs, wingtip to wingtip, nose to tail. Others were offloaded into hibernation in remote desert boneyards, their engines filled with a preservative oil and bags of desiccant distributed through the empty cabins to guard against rust and mould. At one point, two-thirds of all the worlds planes were grounded.

One British Airways pilot I spoke to lets call him John suddenly found his schedule was bare. Every month, we would get our roster as normal all the flights we were expected to do and steadily, as the month went on, every single one would be cancelled. From 28 March onwards, he had 100 days without any flights.

By the start of May, more than 80 countries had suspended flights in and out. Increasingly, there was nowhere left to fly. Pilots pay is tightly coupled to their workload; without payments for flight time and stopovers, Johns income was tumbling. Then he and his colleagues accepted a cut to basic pay, as part of efforts to stem job losses though he had been at the company long enough to escape the axe himself, under BAs last-in, first-out policy.

Others in the industry were less fortunate. Some airlines, already under financial stress, buckled almost immediately in the chaos. Flybe collapsed overnight in early March after a Covid-related fall in bookings; Italian national airline Alitalia ceased operations in October. Overall, passenger numbers on international flights fell by 75.6% in 2020, compared with the previous 12 months, making it the worst year on record for the aviation industry.

Those carriers that did survive had to think outside the box. Some retired older, trouble-ridden aircraft early, rather than fork out for their storage. Some, such as Icelandair, converted passenger jets into cargo planes by stripping out seats; Emirates chief Tim Clark said it had converted into a mini UPS to get by. Finnair left business class seats in place, with only a thin curtain separating them from where packages were piled high in place of the economy section.

Many airlines slashed staff across Europe, about 18,000 pilots jobs are thought to have been lost or are under threat, along with many tens of thousands of ground staff, cabin crew and airport workers. You can find those pilots online, posting wistful footage from past flights. One former Flybe pilot, posting to Twitter under the handle @pilot_ems, has pinned a video of her final landing as a sort of calling card for future employers (a manually flown steep approach on a raw data ILS Im available immediately). In the meantime, she sells flight-themed T-shirts and calendars online.

It has been a major setback for new pilots, who have racked up tens of thousands of pounds of debt while training. Without regular flight or simulator time, these expensive credentials lapse within months. Regaining a type rating which qualifies you to fly a particular aircraft, a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320, say might cost an out-of-work pilot 30,000 or more.

Meanwhile, John thanked his lucky stars for being at the right company for the right amount of time, and for flying the right kind of aircraft. He refreshed his roster and waited. Every few weeks he returned to the simulator to fly virtual flights over virtual worlds, as he waited for the real world to change.

Frankie Ward knows all about virtual worlds. The esports host presents arena events where gaming championships unfold live in front of 10-12,000 fans. She estimates that in 2019 she spent seven cumulative months away from home, ping-ponging around the world, never staying anywhere longer than a week. Berlin! Rio! Shanghai! Miami! Sydney! Her career was taking off, and travel was part of the package.

Her line of work involves long hours sometimes 16-hour days, on stage and in front of the camera. Its a high-adrenaline, emotional experience, she tells me. At the end of it all, you travel home, and you cant really talk for a couple of days. Its like being hit by a truck. She was hosting the Intel Extreme Masters event in Katowice, Poland, when the bottom fell out the 2020 final was played on 1 March in an empty 11,500-seat arena, after Polish authorities pulled its mass-event licence. (More than a million tuned in online.) After that, overnight, her work diary went blank.

Though the esports industry should have been well placed to adapt to an online world, there were difficulties. Normally, in-person tournaments take place using a single local server. Domestic internet connections arent nearly as fast or as stable; at the top levels, a fraction of a second delay might be the deciding factor in the fight for a seven-figure prize pot. It is also, it turns out, much easier to cheat when all the players are working from home.

But with tech-friendly organisers and an existing culture of watching gameplay in real time, thanks to the streaming platform Twitch, it took only a few months to get the show back on the road. Soon, international championships had returned, audiences boosted by an influx of traditional sports fans looking for a new fix. Frankies work schedule filled up again, but her world closed in around her she went from travelling to five continents in a month to long days filming alone in a room in her house. She became proficient with green screens nodding encouragingly into empty space, watching herself superimposed on to faraway rooms, with faraway people.

She soon realised that its one thing to shrug off jet lag while flooded with adrenaline on a stage, and quite another to be working long days, in other timezones, from your spare room. She stayed awake until 5 or 6am, adapting her body clock to American or Asian schedules. It was hard. She missed sunlight. She missed her partner. Id made up a bed in a different room, because I didnt want to wake him up. In the end, she gave up the overnight events. On the internet, many things can be truly global. But, in the end, your body your life cannot.

Finance is another sector that traditionally requires its workers to undertake a lot of international travel. I spoke to one senior executive at an investment company a Briton, based in New York who said that in her globetrotting line of work, she would travel long haul a minimum of twice a month, and often twice a week or more. Not long before the global shutdown, she travelled to Mexico City, So Paulo, San Francisco, Toronto and New York in the space of eight days.

One good thing was that I was travelling a lot to Europe, so I could tag on trips home to London, she says. I felt like I was having it all: being able to live in a different country but go home frequently, and not at my own expense. Now, living abroad feels different. She can no longer drop in on her old life. She misses her parents, her sister, her friends.

Work, too, is more difficult and less enjoyable. For the first year of Covid, I was mainly seeing through deals that had started pre-Covid. So I had done a lot of the relationship building, and we could go seamlessly into the virtual version. Where it gets really tough is when youre starting something new. Its almost impossible to build a good relationship on a call. And because you dont have that trust and familiarity, youre probably more cautious and more indecisive than you would be in person. Cultural factors play a role here, too: Brazilians, for example, like to do everything face to face. When we speak, she has just come off a four-hour conference call to Rio, for a deal in which the language and cultural barriers were exacerbated by being unable to interact with the other parties in person.

Now that the hotel rooms, the starlit nights in So Paulo and the business-class lounge have been replaced by back-to-back video calls from 8am until 8pm, its a lot less fun. And its harder to find a few undisturbed hours for thinking, reading, strategising. Its the same job, she says, but it doesnt feel the same.

For scientists conducting international research, the grounding of flights caused major problems. Crucial fieldwork in the worlds most remote places had to be indefinitely postponed, including long-running climatological studies that will suffer from an unprecedented year-long gap in the data at a point when the real-time study of changes to permafrost, ice sheets and tropical forests has never been more crucial.

On one high-profile polar expedition, the $155m Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (Mosaic), about 90 scientists, technicians and crew members were stranded on board an icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean for two months, after Norwegian travel restrictions halted their planned resupply flights. In the end, they had to suspend data gathering for several weeks to sail south to meet ships in ice-free international waters.

Restrictions to nonessential air travel also forced a year-long hiatus at the EastGRIP project in Greenland, an international facility where ice-core drilling offers vital insight into the Earths climatological history. Researchers there are looking for answers to increasingly urgent questions, as the Greenland ice sheet shrinks by an estimated 270bn tonnes a year.

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Planes themselves are also valuable sources of data: commercial airliners are major contributors of meteorological observations constantly feeding temperature, humidity, pressure and wind speed information to the World Meteorological Organisation as they cruise. Normally, planes from 43 different airlines provide about 800,000 observations a day but this stream sputtered and nearly ran dry. Lufthansas contributions fell from 14,000 a month to just over 2,000; easyJet, which normally provides 16,000, sent none. (The UK was buffered from the worst of the impact, thanks to the Met Offices network of automated weather stations.)

For some, however, the shutdown in air transport has offered an opportunity for study. With populations in lockdown, transport restricted and industrial activity slowed, it has been a chance for climatologists and atmospheric scientists to check the accuracy of their models; they have been able to measure the impact of the unprecedented sudden change in carbon emissions, and in aerosols produced by the burning of fossil fuels, and see if it lines up with the effects they might have predicted. As one researcher said: I dont think we could have designed a better experiment for our atmosphere.

Perhaps counterintuitively, researchers found that lockdown had a slight warming effect in spring 2020: as air pollution dropped, so did the aerosols particles in the atmosphere that reflect sunlight away from the planet. The impact was temporary and tiny, an estimated 0.03C. It was, however, larger than the impact of lockdown-related drops in CO2 emissions, underlining how extraordinarily complex the task of climatological modelling is.

Of course, when it comes to air travel and our carbon footprints, climatologists are as hopelessly conflicted as any of us. Indeed, one 2020 study found that climate scientists especially professors tended to fly more often than other researchers, mainly due to remote fieldwork and the number of overseas conferences discussing international responses to the climate crisis. One study calculated that a single gathering of the American Geophysical Union, attended by 28,000 scientists, clocked up 177m air miles. This averages at three tonnes of CO2 a scientist, about the weekly emissions of the city of Edinburgh. Recent estimates suggest the Cop26 summit in Glasgow was responsible for the release of about 102,500 tons of CO2, roughly equal to the annual emissions of more than 8,000 UK residents with international flights thought to contribute 60% of the total.

Time and again, people told me that the global grounding of flights had challenged their industry to rethink how their work might continue to function without expensive, time-consuming, carbon-emitting air travel. One humanitarian worker separated from his wife and infant children for six months due to a combination of flight cancellations, border closures and visa problems says air travel restrictions upended the normal power structure of the development sector, forcing organisations to give more agency to nationals of the country receiving the aid. The constant turnover of international staff slowed, too, allowing for stronger relationships and greater consistency.

In corporate sectors, greater oversight of work-related travel has been introduced. Staff are asked to consider whether its completely necessary, marking a culture change in industries in which jumping on a plane used to be second nature. This could have a serious environmental impact, given that frequent-flying super emitters representing just 1% of the worlds population are responsible for half of aviations carbon footprint.

Before Covid, demand for air travel had been increasing by just short of 6% a year since 2010; studies estimated that by 2050, aviation would account for about a quarter of all global carbon emissions. But since the pandemic, demand has been deeply affected, resulting in a 40% fall in related CO2 emissions, which are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2025.

Overall, Covid has thrown the challenge we face into sharp relief: in 2020, as travel bans and stay-at-home orders flickered in and out, during industrial slowdowns and the effective closure of business districts, global carbon emissions fell by an estimated 5.8%. This represents the largest decline since the second world war, but nevertheless falls short of the 7.6% cut believed necessary to prevent the planet from warming more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

And already we are returning to our carbon-guzzling ways. With jets roaring back into action, the hushed days of lockdowns feel like a distant dream for those living under busy flight paths. Harriet Grace, a careers coach and creative writing tutor, lives directly under Heathrow flight path 27R. Its a lovely, leafy area, with Kew Gardens an easy stroll away, the Thames to the north, Richmond Park, with its herds of wild deer, just to the south. But the planes, she says, are a blight. They start flying over her house at three or four in the morning. Its like living directly below a motorway one that gets busier and busier as the summer heats up, just as you want to spend time outside.

She remembers those early days of lockdown with a perverse fondness. At Heathrow, which normally sees about 600 landings a day, incoming flights fell to 60 or fewer. Though it was a frightening period the struggle over food deliveries, not knowing whether to go out she still recalls it as a sunlit time. No planes overhead. The roar of the South Circular road, too, had been muffled. It was, she says, extraordinary, ethereal. The sky emptied completely. And more than that: they knew it wasnt going to start up again in just a moments time. They could, in other words, fully relax, for what felt like the first time in years.

Outside in the world, on the television, on the radio all hell was breaking loose. But in the garden she found an uncharacteristic peace. She breathed in. Listened. She heard the birdsong, the wind through the trees.

Recently, I took my first flight south since the pandemic. Lifting off from the archipelago where I live, I watched the sunlight glimmer off the sea with a pewter sheen. The frilled edges of the coastline spooled by below. Seeing all this, a whole country spread out below me, seemed to add a dimension to the way I understood the land and my place in it. As my gaze zoomed out, I felt my comprehension expand, too my sense of being part, not only of the town I live in, but the country as a whole, even the world. A world that, for the first time in a long time, seemed accessible and therefore more real.

Later, when we made our descent, I saw all London set out below me. The arch of Wembley and the cross-hatched streets, the meandering river. The plane spiralled down east over the city. I saw the nub of the Albert Hall, the sparkling cut-sapphire of a pond. There were train tracks striating the ground, long and thin like musculature, and the ribbing of the streets. Something fired inside me that I hadnt felt in some time. I realised how my world had shrunk these past few months, how my identity had shifted.

At the start of the first lockdown, many of us had that haunting sense that somehow we deserved all this. That we had been riding for a fall. That we had been too busy, too globe-trotting, too carefree, for too long. Its hard to remember that sense of moral reckoning, now that many of us have spent so much time craving international travel, many for far more crucial and heartrending reasons than my own.

The plane made what felt like a handbrake turn and swooped over Hammersmith Bridge, the whole city laid out just for me, and I thought: what a privilege it is to see the world from this perspective. I remembered John, the way he said hed felt the first time hed returned to the cockpit after so long: his job, he said, was really a treat. Hed missed it.

Many of us, forced to make changes during the shutdown in global travel, adapted our lives. Research has shown that people felt they had rediscovered the value of family, of their local area, even the joys of sharing life at a distance, through virtual means. There have been silver linings to committing to being in one place. Frankie, the esports host, found time to renovate her house with her new husband, and is pregnant with their first child. She wont be flying much for a while. The New York investment executive moved in with her partner; they bought a house together upstate. Shes not sure how her old globe-trotting habits could fit in with this new settled way of being. For many, being forcibly grounded has brought a sense of groundedness, too.

The plane banks and turns into a low haze. Below me, I picture baby Alexander now a toddler, taking his first steps. Harriet in her garden, hearing the roar of the engine. And a hundred thousand other people outside in the streets, who might look up at any moment and see my descent.

This article was amended on 4 December 2021 to remove some personal information.

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Grounded! What did a year without flying do to the world? - The Guardian

As we enter December, thoughts of what 2022 will bring start to pop into mind. Travel is hopefully something the new year does bring us. Its one of the biggest luxuries so many have been deprived of since early 2020 so as we browse through resorts and hotels, the more luxurious the better.

Below are the coveted, Emirates Woman approved luxury destinations we are dreaming of visiting throughout 2022. From the Caribbean to Rome, these luxury locations are sure to make 2022 travel worth the wait.

Perched on a clifftop in the Caribbean is NIAnguilla. The resort has the exclusivity of a private villa yet all the benefits of a five-star resort. All stays at the resort are under the luxury package of half-board meals, drinks and massages. ANI is popular for group bookings so that families and friends seeking quality time can do so and make memories in an idyllic destination.Privacy is a guarantee as each group has the resort to themselves. Panoramic views of the North Coast of Anguilla and 33 beaches, this destination is the definition of a tropical paradise.

If a refresh on an island sounds dreamy, then Isla Palenque is ideal for you. A resort in a forest in theGulf of Chiriqui, Panama, Isla Palenque is surrounded by 400-acres of private island. With 7 beaches, archaeological history and Indigenous design, the resort is a place with presence. Accommodation is comprised of eight thatched casitas are set back from the beach and are named after adventure novels; Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island.The islands beauty is something taken from a fantasy novel and the contemporary and sustainable design of the resort encompasses that.

Situated in northern Thailand on the border of Burma and Laos, is the Four Seasons Tented Camp in the Golden Triangle. The signature Four Seasons treatment is continued in this resort, will all-inclusive experiences; explore the jungle or the mountains or relax in your tent. Rooms are spacious and luxurious with hand-hammered copper bathtubs, outdoor showers and private decks with views of the Ruak River. The resort combines the spirit of luxury and 19th-century explorer which is sure to provide a unique experience and many fond memories.

In 1995 Miraval opened their flagship property in Arizona. Since then they have expanded yet the original resort and spa in Tuscon captivates you from the moment you look to book. Offering a tailored experience for wellness dependent on your intentions; nourishing the body, enhancing mental wellbeing or creating spiritual resilience, Miraval offers a unique type of luxury. Caring for the mind, body and soul is at the heart of the resort and is led by a team of wellness experts. Set in the Sonoran Desert, Miraval combines the luxury of your surroundings and facilities with the luxury of prioritising yourself.

Opening this month is the W Rome, the W Hotels debut in Italy. A luxury-lifestyle hotel that will provide guests with an unapologetically Italian experience. Located near the Spanish steps and spanning two adjacent 19th-century properties on Via Liguria this addition to the W Hotels range will exude 1970s glamour.Vibrant yet classic Italian interiors have private balconies or terraces that boast views of the Istituto Svizzero. A rooftop bar and pool will become the places to be and the restaurant with a curated menu by Sicilian chefCiccio Sultan will surely book up fast.

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The top luxury destinations we are dreaming of for 2022 Emirates Woman - Emirates Woman

Last week saw the much-anticipated return of international flights touch down in Fijis Nadi International Airport. The now quarantine free destination has officially reopened and is welcoming tourists from Australia back to its tropical shores this December. With COVID-19 safety measures in place, Fijis luxury resorts are ready to reintroduce you to their island home. If youre getting ready for a Fijian escape then these are the luxury resorts you need to know about.

Escape the crowds and relax in the tropical paradise that is Kokomo Private Island Fiji. The island is part of the Kadavu island group thats located just 25 minutes away from Nadi International Airport by twin-otter seaplane or helicopter. Kokomo guests travel to the island via the resorts dedicated aviation hangar and are greeted with a traditional Fijian welcome ceremony. From here, the Kokomos luxury experience only continues to unfold with ocean view suites, beach yoga class, treatments at the Yaukuve Spa Sanctuary and plenty of cocktails by the pool. If you happen to be travelling via Superyacht then youre welcome to take advantage of the resorts Anchor and Stay experience.

You cant get any closer to the crystal blue waters of the Pacific than in like one of Likuliku Lagoon Resorts overwater bures. Built with traditional Vesi flooring, artisan-made wooden window pelmets, hand-woven coconut husk art and authentic palm thatching, each luxury bure offers access to the beach and lagoon, with eighteen of the bures benefiting from a private plunge pool, personal daybed, private courtyard and outdoor shower. We suggest booking one of the ten overwater bures for the ultimate Fiji experience.

Leave your shoes behind at Vomo Islands luxurious private beachfront accommodation and settle into the island life. While you might be tempted to spend your day lounging in the resorts beach hammocks, you also have the outdoor pool, tennis court, beachside dining, bars and a full-service spa offering massages, body treatments and facials to enjoy. While couples will find the Vomo island suites romantic, families are catered for with the Beachfront Family Retreats which feature stunningly large verandahs and luxurious outdoor bathtubs to enjoy.

You will want to leave the kids at home for this romantic escape. Namale Resort and Spa is a tropical hideaway set within 525 acres of Fijis luscious northern island of Vanua Levu. The boutique accommodation is made up of just 19 uniquely decorated guest suites with multiple outdoor pools, a full-service spa, golf course and complimentary shuttle to shopping designations. While you cant go wrong with any of the luxury bures, we recommend booking the Luxury grand villa with its 2,000 square feet of space that includes a large deck, covered daybed, outdoor shower, full-size infinity pool and hot tub with ocean views.

Live out your blue lagoon dreams on Fijis 174-acre Castaway Island. Offering traditional Fijian accommodation in the heart of the Mamanuca Islands, guests stay in authentic thatched-roof bures just seconds from the beach. With paddleboards and kayaks available to hire, yoga sessions and guided nature walks, the resort will make sure that you get the chance to explore the islands white sandy beaches, coral reefs and thick rainforests. But with four eateries, cooking demonstrations and spas, we will be surprised if you make it out of the resort.

Read about more luxurious getaways with our guides to the worlds best wilderness escapes, top 2022 destinations and the off-the-beaten track stays in Japan.

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Fiji Has Officially Opened: Here's Where To Stay When You Return - The Market Herald

Luxury hospitality developer Seven Tides will open the first resort on The World Islands in Dubai on December 18.

The five-star Anantara World Islands Dubai Resort is situated on Clarence Island within the South American continent of the World Islands development a remarkable offshore archipelago of 300 man-made isles, just 4km from the coast of Dubai.

It features 70 rooms, suites and villas, which combine island living with contemporary luxury. Guests can choose from rooms and suites with ocean views and beach access, while spacious villas with private pools are also available.

Accessible exclusively by boat, just a 10-minute ride from Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort, the development boasts its own private beach, plus a gymnasium, Anantara signature spa, and a guest pool, as well as a series of private infinity pools for the exclusive use of those staying in villas.

Food lovers can choose from the resorts five restaurants and bars, offering everything from fine dining to chilled-out eats.

Guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy yoga classes, water sports and the Tuk Tuk Kids Club.

anantara.com

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First luxury resort to open on Dubai's 'World Islands' this month Business Traveller - Business Traveller

Tim Cook has pushed Apples value within close range of $3 trillion, and a lot of that has to do with the former operations leads ability to manage a relationship with China, where many of its products are made and, increasingly, many of them are sold. A report this week from The Information relies on unnamed sources and internal documents to peel back some of the details about Apples ties with China.

That includes a request Apple reportedly received in 2014 or 2015 about a small group of uninhabited islands that China and Japan apparently have a dispute over in terms of who owns them. Going by either the Senkaku Islands or the Diaoyu Islands, depending on which side of the argument youre taking, they inspired a request from China to members of the Maps team to make them appear larger, even when viewers are zoomed out on the map. According to The Information, not only did Apple eventually make the change, but even today, for viewers using its map from within China, the islands are still shown at a larger scale than the territories around them.

The report also details disputes over everything from iTunes and iCloud to Apple Pay. The figure that looms over everything is a 1,250-word memorandum of understanding that The Information says Tim Cook signed during a publicized trip to China in 2016. The way its laid out, Cook went to China because of repeated regulatory actions affecting Apples business. By signing a five-year agreement (with an option to extend to a sixth year) promising investments, business deals, and training in China, worth an estimated $275 billion, the aim was to avoid further disruptions.

And as The Information has confirmed from its sources, that seems to have mostly held true. The report points out data from the analysts at Counterpoint Research who said that in October, Apple became the largest smartphone brand in China, a title it hadnt held in six years. Meanwhile, Apple has built new R&D centers in the country and started storing iCloud data for Chinese users there.

However, that relationship also has downsides, with critics questioning the companys commitment to privacy its Private Relay feature will not be available in China and business dealings with companies accused of links to Uyghur forced labor. Thats before we mention the other visible concessions that harken back to that decision about the disputed islands, like the numbers Apple wont let you engrave on an iPad in China and takedowns of certain apps.

After the report surfaced, the South China Morning Post reports (via Apple Insider) that a state-run tabloid in China referred to it as McCarthyism, claiming it was an attack clearly driven by the political correctness of Sinophobia.

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Apples concessions in China reportedly include a secret $275 billion deal and one odd change in Maps - The Verge

An oil project off the coast of Scotland that had become a test of Britains environmental credentials was shelved by its main owner on Friday.

The decision to halt Cambo, as the oil field is known, is a huge win for environmental groups like Greenpeace, and a blow to the North Sea oil industry. It comes just over a week after Shell, which owns 30 percent of the project, pulled out of the investment.

We are pausing the development while we evaluate next steps, said Siccar Point Energy, a London-based company that is backed by private equity firms, including Blackstone, the financial management giant.

Siccar Point said it had planned to invest $2.6 billion in Cambo, and had already spent $190 million on the field since acquiring it in 2017. The firm said that developing Cambo, a potentially valuable source of oil and natural gas, would have created 1,000 jobs.

Environmental groups, on the other hand, said that starting new drilling projects was not compatible with Britains goals on tackling climate change and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The British government has been considering whether to let Cambo go ahead.

Located northwest of Scotlands Shetland Islands, Cambo became a target of protests, including at the recent United Nations climate summit in Glasgow. Scotlands top politician, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has said she did not think it should be given a green light.

On Dec. 2, Shell said it would not go ahead with investment because the economic case was not strong enough.

Shells decision, which was also prompted by the potential for delays from protests and lawsuits, led Siccar Point to decide it could not progress on the originally planned time scale, the firm said.

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Cambo, an Oil Project off Scotland, Is Halted by Owner - The New York Times