Mexico Pledges To Complete Huge Elevated Train In One Year

(AP) — Mexico’s troubled Maya Train tourist project will now include a 45-mile (72 kilometer) stretch of elevated trackway through the jungle, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday.

López Obrador has changed his mind a number of times on his pet project, which is intended to ferry tourists around the Yucatan peninsula. The project was initially supposed to run on an elevated line over the coastal highway, where most hotels are.

But opposition from hotel owners led him to change the route by cutting a 68-mile (110-kilometer) swath through the jungle between the resorts of Cancun and Tulum.

That faces opposition from environmentalists who say the train will crush or contaminate the network of caves and sinkhole lakes around the resorts of Tulum and Playa del Carmen.

And engineers worried the fragile, cave-ridden limestone soil will collapse under the weight of the high-speed train. But the president now says two-thirds of the line won’t touch the ground.

Instead, it will be elevated on thousands of 80-foot (25 meter) pilings sunk into the stony soil, supporting pre-fabricate elevated sections eight feet (2.5 meters) above the ground.

“This will have a minimal effect, because where they sink the pilots is where there isn’t anything,” López Obrador said.

Activists rejected the idea that the engineers could avoid caves when they sink the support columns, or that the train won’t have any impact, noting millions of trees have already been clear-cut for the project.

They do not have the technical ability to sink the columns where there are no caves, because they (the caves) are everywhere,” said Jose ‘Pepe’ Urbina, a diver who has explored the caverns for decades.

He said the construction was already contaminating the normally crystalline water that flows through the cave systems in the Yucatan, which has no surface rivers and depends largely on the underground water.

“It’s stupid to build a train on this soil, build a train in the middle of the jungle, build a train that pollutes the water,” Urbina said.

The latest change also raised doubts about whether such an elevated trackway — which López Obrador said will include a 260-foot (80 meter) suspension bridge over one particularly extensive cavern — can be completed as the president has promised within one year.

The 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) Maya Train line is meant to run in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, connecting beach resorts and archaeological sites.

Some of the oldest human remains in North America have been discovered in the sinkhole caves known as “cenotes” on the country’s Caribbean coast, which were often dry and frequented by humans as long as 13,000 years ago.

What's New In The Bahamas In December 2022

The holidays are a particularly wonderful time to visit The Bahamas, and this December is extra special as it marks the return of The Bahamas' famous Junkanoo celebrations, which take place across its 16 islands. Travellers can expect an unforgettable vacation this holiday season complete with world-class entertainment and seasonal deals.

Junkanoo Makes a Triumphant Return to The Islands of The Bahamas — After a two-year hiatus, Junkanoo, the national cultural festival, returns for its largest celebration in downtown Nassau on Boxing Day (26 Dec. 2022) and 2 Jan. 2023. Junkanoo is a cultural festival that represents the rich heritage of the African diaspora and is a colourful tradition that speaks to the strength and resilience of the Bahamian people. Visitors will also find festivities in Grand Bahama Island, Bimini, Eleuthera, Abaco, Long Island, Cat Island, Inagua and Andros.

The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, Hosts Ultra-Luxe Holiday Events — The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, will host around-the-clock festivities for guests to celebrate the holidays island-style. Programming includes festive menus at the Martini Bar, complimentary kids' club activities, appearances from Santa Claus and live Junkanoo performances.

The Cove Eleuthera Makes the Out Islands Feel Like Home — Guests at The Cove Eleuthera will find the perfect balance between a traditional Christmas and the ultimate tropical vacation, complete with Christmas trees in guest rooms, carollers by a beachfront bonfire and special opportunities to join local Junkanoo festivities on Boxing Day (26 Jan.).

Atlantis Paradise Island Announces New Restaurants and Bars — Atlantis Paradise Island announced a series of highly anticipated restaurant and bar openings in 2023. Michelin-starred Chef Michael White will make his resort debut with his new restaurant Paranza.

Luxury Yacht Charter Company The Moorings Is Back in The Abacos — Travellers can once again enjoy the Boating Capital of The Bahamas by yacht. The Moorings officially resumed charter operations in The Abacos for the first time since Hurricane Dorian hit in 2019.

HERO World Challenge Returns to Albany — The 2022 HERO World Challenge returns this year. The event takes place from 28 Nov. - 4 Dec. at Albany's par-72 Championship Golf Course in The Bahamas.

The Bahamas Top USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Award Nominations — The Bahamas scored 11 nominations for the 2023 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards across Caribbean categories ranging from "Best Caribbean Beach Bar" to "Best Caribbean Golf Course." Voting is open now through 19 Dec.

PROMOTIONS AND OFFERS

For a complete list of deals and discounted packages in The Bahamas, visit www.bahamas.com/deals-packages.

Ring In 2023 at Resorts World Bimini — Toast to new beginnings in paradise and enjoy a weekend of live entertainment at Resorts World Bimini. Hotel packages start at $897 per person and include round-trip transportation, hotel accommodations, buffet dinners, and complimentary entry to Resorts World Bimini Beach.

Explore all the islands have to offer at www.bahamas.com

Travelore News: Real ID Deadline For Air Travelers Extended By 2 Years

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday the new deadline will be May 7, 2025, allowing Americans more time following delays caused by the COVID pandemic. The old cutoff was slated for May 3, 2023.

Americans wishing to trade their license or ID in for a compliant Real ID, which has a star symbol at the top of the card, must undergo a more stringent ID check during application. According to DHS, security features on Real IDs are designed to prevent counterfeiting and fraud, using documentary evidence and record checks to confirm travelers are who they claim to be. The Real ID will be required by travelers 18 or older to board a plane, enter a federal building or a military base. Passports, military IDs or Global Entry cards also will qualify to pass through airport security.

The Real ID Act was passed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks after several of the hijackers improperly obtained state IDs. All 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and four of five U.S. territories are covered by the REAL ID Act.

Under the law, following the enforcement deadline, federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will not accept driver's licenses and identification cards that do not meet REAL ID standards.

Over the past decade, REAL ID enforcement has repeatedly stalled after states failed to comply with the security requirements for issuing the updated driver's licenses. But officials say this time, it's the COVID-19 pandemic that's at fault, preventing Americans from accessing state motor vehicle departments to retrieve the updated identification. According to DHS, Real ID progress over the past two years has been "significantly hindered" by backlogs at state driver's licensing agencies created by the pandemic.

According to a DHS official, states have primary responsibility for increasing the REAL ID adoption rate, which currently stands at 52%, according to state-provided data.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Monday that the extension "will give states needed time to ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card," adding, "DHS will also use this time to implement innovations to make the process more efficient and accessible."

BY NICOLE SGANGA

British Museum Reportedly In Talks On Parthenon Sculptures

The British Museum has pledged not to dismantle its collection, following a report that the institution’s chairman has held secret talks with Greece’s prime minister over the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles.

The report by the Greek newspaper Ta Nea is the latest twist in the long-running dispute over ownership of the ancient sculptures, which originally stood on the Acropolis in Athens and have been a centerpiece of the British Museum’s collection since 1816.

Ta Nea reported Saturday that negotiations between museum Chairman George Osborne and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis have been taking place since November 2021 and are at an advanced stage.

While the museum didn’t deny that talks have taken place, a spokesman refused to discuss the specifics of the Ta Nea story. The museum said it was prepared to “talk to anyone, including the Greek government” about a new Parthenon “partnership.’

“As the chair of trustees said last month, we operate within the law and we’re not going to dismantle our great collection as it tells a unique story of our common humanity,” the museum said in a statement released Saturday. “But we are seeking new positive, long-term partnerships with countries and communities around the world, and that of course includes Greece.”

The Greek government offered no comment on the report.

Although British authorities have rebuffed efforts to return the sculptures to Greece since at least 1941, there has been a change of tone recently as museums around the world seek to address concerns about the way ancient artifacts were acquired during periods of imperial domination and colonial expansion.

In July, Jonathan Williams, the British Museum’s deputy director, said the institution wanted to “change the temperature of the debate” around the marbles.

“What we are calling for is an active ‘Parthenon partnership’ with our friends and colleagues in Greece,” he told the Sunday Times. “I firmly believe there is space for a really dynamic and positive conversation within which new ways of working together can be found.”

On its website, the museum says it is willing to consider loaning the sculptures to Greece, but that successive Greek government’s have refused to acknowledge the museum’s ownership. There are no current negotiations about the issue, the museum says.

Speaking during a visit to London on Nov. 28, Greek PM Mitsotakis implied that some talks have taken place.

“I don’t want to speak publicly about the discussions that we have had,” he said. “But I think there is a better sense of understanding that maybe a win-win solution can be found that will result in a reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Greece, while at the same time also taking into consideration concerns that the British Museum may have.”

The issue is complicated by an act of Parliament that prohibits the museum from selling, giving away or otherwise disposing of any items in its collection unless they are duplicates or not needed for study.

The marbles are remnants of a 160-meter-long (520-foot) frieze that ran around the outer walls of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis, dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom. Much was lost in a 17th-century bombardment, and about half the remaining works were removed in the early 19th century by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin.
They ended up in the British Museum, which has repeatedly rebuffed Greek demands for their return.

Successive Greek governments have lobbied for the return of the British Museum’s share of the works, which include statues from the Parthenon’s pediments — the all-marble building’s gables. They argue that Elgin illegally sawed off the sculptures, exceeding the terms of a questionable permit granted by Turkish authorities while Greece was an unwilling part of the Ottoman Empire.

The British Museum rejects that stance — despite indications that public opinion in the U.K. favors the Greek demand — and has shown little willingness to permanently return the works.

The Parthenon was built between 447-432 B.C. and is considered the crowning work of classical architecture. The frieze depicted a procession in honor of Athena. Some small bits of it — and other Parthenon sculptures — are in other European museums.

By DANICA KIRKA

Czech Museum To Return Original Beethoven Score To Heirs Who fled To Escape The Holocaust

A musical manuscript handwritten by Ludwig van Beethoven is getting returned to the heirs of the richest family in pre-World War II Czechoslovakia, whose members had to flee the country to escape the Holocaust.

The Moravian Museum in the Czech city of Brno has had the original manuscript for the fourth movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet n B-flat Major, Op. 130 in its collection for more than 80 years. The museum put the score on display for the first time this week in anticipation of handing it over to its rightful owners.

“It’s one of the most precious items in our collections,” museum curator Simona Šindelářová said.

The museum said a restitution law on property stolen by German Nazis made the return possible. Details about how the family, whose wealth came mainly from mining industry and banking in Central Europe, after World War I acquired the piece from one of the German composer’s late quartets is unknown.

“We’re sorry about losing it, but it rightly belongs to the Petschek family,” Šindelářová said.

Beethoven composed the six-movement String Quartet in B-flat Major in 1825 -1826 as part of his work on a series of quartets commissioned by Russian Prince Nicholas Galitzin. It premiered in March 1826 at the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, Austria.

Museums, archives and libraries in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland and the United States currently have almost 300 pages of the entire autograph in their possession.

It’s known that Beethoven, who died in 1827, gave the fourth movement to his secretary, Karl Holz, and at least two other private owners in Vienna acquired it before the Petscheks.

The family tried but failed to send the manuscript abroad by mail in March 1939 during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, drawing the attention of the Gestapo.

According to Šindelářová, the Germans asked an expert from the Moravian Museum at the time to verify Beethoven had penned the document, and “he denied that in an effort to save it” from the occupiers.

The lie could have cost him dearly, but it worked; the museum was allowed to keep the piece. However, the Nazis seized most of the Petschek family’s assets and possessions, which Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime nationalized after the war.

From his new home in the United States, Franz Petschek, who had run the family’s mining businesses in Czechoslovakia, tried to get the piece back but was unsuccessful due to the post-war division in Europe and creation of the Iron Curtain.

The Moravian Museum signed a deal on Aug. 3 to transfer the ownership of the manuscript to his heirs. However, other families with claims to property and valuable items lost during World War II are still waiting for their cases to be resolved.

Anne Webber, the co-chair of the London-based Commission for Looted Art in Europe, said that despite 47 countries agreeing in 2009 to try to resolve Holocaust-era injustices, “the restitution of artworks that were looted often seems to be as distant prospect as ever.”

“Some 90% of all artworks being sought today by families have been neither found nor returned,” Webber said at a conference held in Prague last month to review the progress made since the non-binding Terezín Declaration was adopted.

The declaration urged governments to make every effort to return former Jewish communal and religious property confiscated by the Nazis, fascists and their collaborators, and recommended that countries implement programs to address the issue of private buildings and land.

Oceania Cruises Announces New 33-Day Grand Voyage For Fall 2023

Oceania Cruises, the world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, announced a brand-new immersive Grand Voyage itinerary for 2023. Now on sale, the Mediterranean Connection sailing on Marina will embark on a 33-day journey from Venice to Barcelona, immersing guests in the highlights of the Eastern Mediterranean and Holy Lands like never before. Departing on October 11, 2023, this Grand Voyage will call on 28 ports, not repeating one throughout the journey, and will offer three shorter segment options up to 12 days long.

"With demand continuing to increase for longer and more destination-immersive voyages, we are thrilled to reveal this new itinerary offering experiences in both iconic and off-the-beaten-path ports of call in a corner of the world with rich history and cultural wonders," stated Howard Sherman, President and CEO of Oceania Cruises.

This Grand Voyage is ideal for time-rich travelers to enjoy special luxuries available on board. Ranging from a state-of-the art cooking school teaching the flavors of the region to private dining at Privée offering the ultimate exclusive dining experience, there are endless selections for guests to indulge in. This special Grand Voyage itinerary was designed for the intrepid explorer, enamored by the celebration of history, culture, and cuisine in myriad mesmerizing destinations. During this expedition, Marina will call on Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Malta, Israel, Egypt and more.

Mediterranean Connection: Grand Voyage 33 Days Aboard Marina – October 11, 2023 – November 13, 2023

Set sail for just over a month aboard the 1,238-guest Marina to delight in an array of brilliant discoveries throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. From Venice, this voyage takes guests through iconic marquee ports and hidden gem destinations across the Mediterranean with a truly unique itinerary featuring sought-after culinary experiences in soul-stirring Italian locales, an intriguing blend of history and culture throughout the Greek Isles and a comprehensive journey through the sacred sites of the Holy Lands.

Mediterranean Connection Grand Voyage Highlights

With no repeat ports of call, explore 28 diverse ports ranging from iconic cities to off-the-beaten-path destinations Embarking in fall 2023, experience all that the Eastern Mediterranean has to offer with a more temperate climate and fewer crowds Explorations of 10 legendary countries, easily connecting diverse corners of the region An overnight in Istanbul offering guests ample time for in-depth exploration of the magnificent city astride two continents

Ports of Call

Venice (Trieste), Italy

Split, Croatia

Kotor, Montenegro

Corfu, Greece

Katakolon, Greece

Chania (Crete), Greece

Santorini, Greece

Messina (Sicily), Italy

Salerno, Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Naples/Pompeii, Italy

Catania (Sicily), Italy

Bodrum, Turkey

Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece

Kavala/Philippi, Greece

Istanbul, Turkey (including one overnight)
Antalya, Turkey

Limassol, Cyprus

Jerusalem (Haifa), Israel

Jerusalem (Ashdod), Israel

Cairo (Port Said), Egypt

Alexandria, Egypt

Valletta, Malta

La Goulette, Tunisia

Barcelona, Spain

For guests interested in shorter segments of the Mediterranean Connection Grand Voyage, Oceania Cruises is offering three segments that compose it for ease and convenience aboard the luxurious Marina, followed by three additional Grand Voyage itineraries of up to 23 days.

Greek & Italian Shores – Venice to Rome – 10 days, October 11 – October 21, 2023 Legendary Pathways – Rome to Istanbul – 11 days, October 21 – November 1, 2023 Holy Land & Treasures – Istanbul to Barcelona – 12 days, November 1 – November 13, 2023 Mediterranean Mystique – Barcelona to Rome – 22 days, September 29 – October 21, 2023 Icons of Civilizations – Venice to Istanbul – 21 days, October 11 – November 1, 2023 Seas of Revelation – Rome to Barcelona – 23 days, October 21 – November 13, 2023

The itineraries are now available to book online at www.OceaniaCruises.com. For additional information on Oceania Cruises' small-ship luxury product, exquisitely crafted cuisine, and expertly curated travel experiences, visit OceaniaCruises.com, call 855-OCEANIA, or speak with a professional travel advisor.

Japan Commitment To Reopen Cruising Sets Stage For Long-Awaited Holland America Line Asia Voyages

For the first time in two-and-a-half-years, cruising will return to Japan, and Holland America Line's Westerdam is preparing for a series of itineraries in early 2023 that will let guests explore lands where ancient temples and cultures steeped in tradition mix with soaring skyscrapers and bustling capitals.

The government of Japan reported on November 15 it is ready to start receiving international cruise ships again to allow tourists to enjoy the wonders of cruising to the country's many ports.

"We're grateful for the work that the Japanese authorities have done to allow for a return to cruising," said Gus Antorcha, president, Holland America Line. "Holland America Line's guests love longer voyages to unique parts of the world, and we'll be sailing to some incredible locations as our season in Japan and the rest of Asia begins."

Westerdam, currently sailing in Australia and New Zealand, starts the Asia season following a January drydock in Singapore. Beginning February 3, the ship sails a series of Far East voyages showcasing the diversity of countries visited while celebrating histories that have been thousands of years in the making.

Sailing roundtrip from Yokohama, Japan, or Singapore, or between Yokohama and Singapore, cruises are 11 to 14 days and can be combined to form nonrepeating Collectors' Voyages. Countries explored include Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. Five different itineraries are offered including "Indonesian Discovery," "Japan, Taiwan & The Philippines," "Japan Explorer," "Japan Discovery" and "Southern Japan." Overnight calls include Singapore; Kobe and Osaka, Japan; and Phuket, Thailand. The season concludes April 24 with a 14-day "North Pacific Crossing" from Yokohama to Seattle, Washington where Westerdam will homeport for its Alaska season.

As protocols for cruising in Asia are finalized, each departure will be added to Holland America Line's Voyage Lookup tool, which allows guests to see any specific health protocols for their cruise.

For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com.