Empty airports around the world show coronavirus affected air travel – Business Insider – Business Insider

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International airports around the world have become increasingly empty as flights have been canceled and more travel warnings have been issued during the coronavirus outbreak.

The novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, China has now killed 2,810 people, with at least 60 deaths of those occurring outside of China. As of now, over 82,500 people have been infected globally, although 95% of the cases have been in China.

At least 47 countries outside of China have reported cases of coronavirus, and the fear of contracting and spreading COVID-19 has caused a significant drop in flights to and from Asia: 73 airlines have canceled flights to China. Flights that don't start or end in China are also being canceled, with Italy and the Middle East as major hotspots now.

Keep scrolling to see the effects that the novel coronavirus has had on airports around the world, from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska:

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Coronavirus Travel Advisories: Map Shows CDC’s Areas Of Concern : Goats and Soda – NPR

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Updated at 9:05 a.m. ET, Feb. 29

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regularly issues "Travel Health Notices" that address disease outbreaks and other health-related matters in international destinations. The newly discovered coronavirus is now a topic of concern.

The point of the warnings is to indicate countries where the CDC believes there is a risk of infection with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

There are three levels of notices based on the risk presented by the outbreak and what precautions are needed to prevent infection.

On Friday, Italy and Iran were moved into the highest notice level "Warning Level 3" joining China and South Korea. CDC advises travelers to avoid all nonessential travel to these countries. As part of the warnings, which were issued in late February, the CDC also cites limited access for visitors to adequate medical care. If travel is necessary, CDC advises travelers to discuss with their health-care provider.

Hong Kong, Macau and the island of Taiwan are excluded from this notice.

The only other country with a Warning Level 3 notice is Venezuela; CDC cites "outbreaks of infectious diseases" as well as the breakdown of the country's health-care infrastructure.

During the Ebola outbreak in 2014, this warning level was issued to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The second notice level, "Alert Level 2," suggesting that potential travelers "practice enhanced precautions," has been issued for travel to Japan, which is experiencing person-to-person and community spread of COVID-19. This notice, according to CDC, is directed at older adults and those with "chronic medical conditions," who are at greater risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 if infected. CDC advises them to consider postponing nonessential travel to any country with this alert level.

The third notice level is "Watch Level 1." At this level, the CDC does not recommend canceling or postponing travel but advises potential travelers to practice general precautions such as avoiding contact with sick people and washing hands for 20 seconds with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with 60% to 95% alcohol.

The CDC also currently has other travel health notices unrelated to COVID-19. For example, it has issued the Level 2 Alert for several countries in Africa and Asia because of polio and a Watch Level 1 for some parts of Central and South America for dengue.

Many countries with confirmed cases of COVID-19 do not currently have travel advisories from the CDC. Dr. Lin Chen, president of the International Society of Travel Medicine, said when deciding to go to these countries, travelers should look into the country's health-care system and make sure they have travel medical insurance that will provide coverage in their destination.

"I think it's important to identify what a traveler would do if they become sick," Chen said. "Having travel medical insurance is actually really important and gives you, perhaps, a peace of mind if you're going into a country that has some [confirmed] cases."

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Coronavirus Travel Advisories: Map Shows CDC's Areas Of Concern : Goats and Soda - NPR

The travel industry is suffering its worst shock since 9/11 because of coronavirus – KTVZ

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Its one of the largest industries in the world, with $5.7 trillion in revenue. It is responsible for an estimated 319 million jobs, or roughly one in 10 people working on the planet. And no sector is more at risk from the novel coronavirus.

The travel industry has already taken a huge hit due to travel restrictions and canceled trips for both business and pleasure, but thats just the beginning.

It could be the worst crisis for the industry since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, according to some experts.

Its on the front line of the fallout, said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moodys Analytics. Its the most directly and immediately impacted.

The hit to the travel industry has the potential to become a major drag on the global economy if the coronavirus continues to spread around the world.

Its vital. If you measure the entirely of the impact of travel, it is bigger than any other industry around the world. No other industry can say it supports 1 in 10 jobs, said Adam Sacks, president of Travel Economics, a leading research firm that follows the industry. His firm produced the data on the industrys global revenue and employment, the latter for the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Its partly because its such a diverse industry. It includes a lot of things you dont think of, said Sacks. Besides airlines and hotels, its part of retail, part of restaurants, parts of technology.

The effect on travel is growing by the day.

There has been a sharp drop in travel across the Pacific, not just to and from China, the epicenter of the outbreak, but also to other Asian countries. This week United Airlines disclosed that it had seen a near total drop in demand to China and about a 75% decline in near-term demand on the rest of its trans-Pacific routes.

Chinese nationals have become the most frequent global travelers in the world, with 180 million holding passports, compared to the 147 million Americans who have passports. And travel by the Chinese has been virtually halted due to the crisis.

The falloff in travel has expanded beyond the Chinese market.

Several major conferences expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors each were canceled even if their location has yet to experience an outbreak. Thats because people traveling from around the world could bring the virus to the event, and infected people are slow to show symptoms.

Canceled conferences include the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the leading show for the mobile phone industry, the Geneva Motor Show, Facebooks F8 conference, and ironically enough, the ITB Berlin, the leading trade show for the travel industry itself. It was expected to draw 160,000 participants starting Wednesday.

The fact that the largest global travel show is being canceled right now is telling, said Sacks.

But its not just the big shows being canceled. All kinds of business trips are being canceled or put on hold because of companies concerns with exposing employees to unknown risks.

Major companies such as Amazon are on record discouraging non-essential travel for employees. According to a survey of 400 businesses by the Global Business Travel Association, nearly half of businesses have already canceled or postponed at least some meetings or travel. The group estimates that up to 37% of business travel is at risk of being lost.

The steep and immediate drop in willingness to travel is comparable to what happened following the 9/11 attacks, said Scott Solombrino, the trade groups executive director. Confidence started to improve as time passed after the attacks, he said. In the case of coronavirus, the concern about travel is growing each day amid new reports of outbreaks around the world.

It is fundamentally affecting the way many companies are now doing business, he said. If this turns into a global pandemic, the industry may well lose billions of dollars an impact that will have negative ramifications for the entire global economy.

Its not just business travel. Americans who were busy making plans for spring and summer trips are also thinking twice.

A survey of 1,200 US adults by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that one in eight have already changed their travel plans due to concerns about the virus.

The overall impact depends on how long the outbreak continues. Past health crises, such as SARS epidemic, indicate people will be willing to start traveling as normal again soon after there is a sense that is safe to do so, Sacks said.

Travel globally is incredibly resilient, he said. Peoples desire and need to travel outweigh their concerns fairly quickly.

But much of the travel that has been lost already, or will be canceled in weeks or months to come, is unlikely to be made up.

This is gone, lost forever, said Zandi. Its not like youll hold two conferences in the fall if the one this spring is canceled.

So far there has not been deep job cuts announced in the travel industry. But millions of workers could lose their jobs, or have their hours cut, if the demand for travel continues to be depressed. That is especially true for lower paid service jobs such as housekeeping at hotels and waiters and waitresses at restaurants.

And as those workers are forced to cut back their own spending, the impact of the slowdown will ripple through the broader economy.

Lower income workers will be hit harder, said Sung Won Sohn, professor of business at Loyola Marymount Unviersity. Theyll have to cut back their spending immediately. That has a significant multiplying effect throughout the world. He said the drop in economic activity globally could be as much as $1 trillion.

Experts dont believe that the hit to the travel industry is enough to spark a global recession by itself. But the virus is having a widespread effect on the global economy.

There has been a steep plunge in financial markets and the resulting wealth destruction, the disruption of global supply chains for manufacturers and retailers around the globe, the drop in energy prices and production due to reduced consumption All those things could combine with the hit to the travel industry to bring about a global recession.

I dont think the worst is behind us in terms of the economic impact. The worst is yet to come, said Sohn.

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There are $4 flights in China but dont expect many other coronavirus airfare deals – MarketWatch

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By Jacob Passy

Published: Feb 29, 2020 6:13 am ET

It doesnt cost much to fly within China right now, but getting there is more expensive than usual.

Flights within China can cost as little as $4 as a result of the coronavirus.

A one-way flight between Shanghai and Chongqing, which takes three hours, costs 29 yuan ($4.10) on Chinas largest low-cost carrier Spring Airlines, the South China Morning Post reported. Thats less than the price of a tall caffe latte at a Starbucks in China 32 yuan, or $4.50.

For less than $10, travelers can take a Spring Airlines flight from Shanghai to Harbin, which is the capital of the Heilongjiang province in Northern China.

Other airlines are also offering cheap flights within China. Shenzhen Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Air China, is offering $14 flights between Chongqing and Shenzhen, as is Chengdu Airlines for its route between Shenzhen and Chengdu.

Airlines have slashed prices as they resume service after thousands of flights were cancelled across China in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, which had sickened nearly 84,000 people worldwide and caused over 2,800 deaths as of Friday. Most cases of the illness have occurred in China the virus first emerged in the city of Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province.

Read more: If the coronavirus spreads in America, food delivery companies could see a surge in demand are they ready?

Analysts told the South China Morning Post that prices could come down even lower because domestic airlines in China can receive government subsidies to offset potential losses.

Around the rest of the world, travel discounts wont be as easy to come by despite the infectious disease outbreak thats rattled markets and caused factories and shipping to slow down. Although demand for flights between the U.S. and China has fallen some 48% because of the coronavirus, according to travel company Hopper, its actually more expensive to make those trips. Airfare prices for U.S.-China flights have increased more than 14% since the beginning of January, largely due to the wide number of airlines that have cancelled flights between the two countries.

Airfares have dropped slightly for flights between the U.S. and some Asian destinations. The price of a trip between the U.S. and Vietnam has dropped 5.7% since early January. Airfare costs to Thailand and Japan have also fallen, in part because of lower demand, Hopper found.

Hopper recorded 38% fewer searches for flights to Vietnam between the beginning of January and end of February, for instance. The only country to see an increase in flight searches in South or East Asia in that time was Bangladesh.

Also see: One possible coronavirus side effect cheaper almonds for U.S. shoppers

The U.S. State Department has issued travel advisories advising caution in traveling to China, Japan and South Korea because of the high numbers of coronavirus cases in those countries.

Tourism to destinations in Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and much more of SE Asia is likely to be heavily impacted by the virus, as 30% or more of available flights from the US to these countries included a layover in China, Hopper economist Hayley Berg wrote in a report.

Outside of Asia, demand for flights between the U.S. and Italy fell sharply after the country reported a large number of cases. The State Department had also advised caution in traveling to Italy. However, Hopper found that prices remained stable in the days following the travel advisory announcement, at an average of $764 per ticket.

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Coronavirus is threatening to end the world air-travel boom – CNBC

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Foreign travelers wearing masks walk past a departures information board at Beijing International Airport in Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 1, 2020.

Jason Lee | Reuters

The rapid spread of the new coronavirus is testing airlines and other travel companies with a risk that had been nearly unthinkable over the past decade: a broad decline in travel demand.

Air-travel demand had been growing at twice the pace of the global economy, but that bright spot is now at risk. U.S. airlines and other travel stocks have tumbled more than the broader market in this week's rout as big conferences were canceled and fears grew that customers may just opt out of trips because of the spreading COVID-19 outbreak.

The issue caps a difficult year for airlines that have been grappling with the nearly yearlong grounding of the Boeing 737 Max. Carriers need demand to stay robust, particularly in the lucrative spring and summer travel seasons, and analysts are warning that that looks unlikely.

The NYSE Arca Airline Index, which tracks 16 carriers in North America and Latin America as well as European budget carrier Ryanair, is down 20% this week, putting it on pace for its biggest weekly percentage since October 2008 during the last recession.

American Airlines shares fell 7.7% to $20.60, a new low since it started trading after its 2013 merger with US Airways. American has a higher debt load than its rivals, which has contributed to larger declines in stock price. United Airlines, which suspended its full-year guidance this week because of the virus, lost 2.4% to close at a two-year low, Delta fell 2.8% to end at a more than one-year low.

"Every day we think we could be near a bottom, and every day we are not," Cowen airline analyst Helane Becker said in a research note.

Deutsche Bank on Thursday downgraded American, Alaska, Delta, Spirit, JetBlue and United stocks to hold from buy, saying it "is becoming increasingly more likely that the spread of COVID-19 will disrupt travel patterns beyond China."

More than 81,000 people have been sickened with coronavirus and new cases are rising outside of China, where most of the cases have been reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday advised the public to avoid all nonessential travel to South Korea. Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced it will temporarily suspend the entry of foreigners for pilgrimage and tourism purposes.

Air travel demand this year will fall for the first time in over a decade and cost airlines more than $29 billion in revenue, the International Air Transport Association warned last week.

Airlines have already canceled more than 200,000 flights, mostly to, from and within China because of the virus. Now they are mulling other changes and scrambling to keep up with changing restrictions.

Delta slashed its service to South Korea, home to the largest outbreak outside of China, to 15 weekly flights from 28. All three major U.S. airlines have suspended flights to mainland China and Hong Kong and waived cancellation and change fees for China and South Korea as demand collapsed.

United and American on Thursday joined Delta in also waiving fees for several routes in Italy as the outbreak expands there. American Airlines has started stocking hand sanitizer for crew and sanatizing wipes for customers on Milan flights in addition to its trans-Pacific routes, the managing director of flight line operators told pilots in a note, which was seen by CNBC, on Thursday. Last month, the airline also put in a temporary policy allowing face masks for crews working Asia, Australia and New Zealand flights.

"Some of our pilots have said they're not comfortable flying" to South Korea said Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines 737 captain and spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, that airline's pilot union. He added that no recent flights there have been cancelled, however, due to a lack of crew.

U.S. airlines, which historically have experienced boom-and-bust cycles, have just posted their 10th consecutive year of profitability. While Asia demand has slowed, airlines' performance depends the level of demand in the U.S. and some of its larger international markets.

Some carriers are already preparing for flyers too worried to travel. The last global outbreak of this scale was SARS just under a decade ago, but the fast spread of information could lead travelers to change their plans more quickly now, analysts said.

"We didn't have Facebook and Twitter," said Darryl Genovesi, airline analyst at Vertical Research Partners.

The CDC on Wednesday reported the first possible case of "community transmission" of the coronavirus. The Northern California resident had no travel history or contacts that would have put the person at risk, the CDC said. While the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. is still relatively low, some airlines are preparing for passengers to be too scared to travel.

JetBlue Airways in a surprise move Wednesday, said it would waive fees that can reach $200 for travelers who want to cancel or change the date of tickets they buy from Thursday through March 11, a measure that pressures other U.S. airlines to follow suit.

"The risk here for airlines is this triggers a broad slowdown in travel," said Samuel Engel, head of the aviation practice at consulting firm ICF. "Airlines are by their nature diversified enterprises. They can withstand a loss of traffic on a single route or region but where the airlines get hit is when the fear makes people cancel or postpone trips."

The virus will also test airlines' reliance on high-paying corporate travelers. Carriers have also poured millions into refreshing their cabins to cater to high-paying corporate travelers. Delta has said premium-ticket revenue growth has outpaced coach class over the past several years.

The Global Business Travel Association warned Thursday that the virus could cost the travel industry close to $560 billion this year in revenue, a third of the 2020 forecast business travel spending as trips to Europe, Asia and elsewhere are called off because of the virus.

Unlike during numerous other downturns like the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the financial crisis and recession, airlines have consolidation on their side. Mega-mergers left four airlines Delta, American, United and Southwest in control about three-quarters of the U.S. market. A sharp decline in fuel prices may help soften the impact from lower demand but airlines have fixed costs like employee salaries, notes Vertical Research Partners' Genovesi.

Investors are now eagerly waiting further guidance from airlines on this quarter and year's results, which is difficult to calculate because it's not clear how long the virus will last, prompting United to withdraw its full-year guidance.

Airline executives on earnings calls last month expressed confidence about the health of consumers, particularly in the U.S., a market they've touted for years as a steady source of strength along with bolstered balance sheets compared with previous times of turmoil.

In an investor day presentation in September 2017 American's CEO Doug Parker said: "I don't think we're ever going to lose money again."

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Coronavirus is threatening to end the world air-travel boom - CNBC

Coronavirus updates live: 1st death in U.S. as outbreak spreads in other countries – NBC News

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Minyvonne Burke

22m ago / 10:36 PM UTC

TheUniversity of Connecticut said Saturday it was canceling all official travel to Italy and urged students already in the country for the university's study-abroad program to return to the United States as soon as possible.

More than 300 students at UConn participate in overseas academic programs in 29 nations, including 88 in Italy.

The school said its decision to have students return to the U.S. is due to circumstances surrounding coronavirus and comes after the CDC issued new guidance Friday evening.

"To date, no cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the State of Connecticut or at UConn," the university said in a press release.

The university had already decided to cancel all official travel to China and South Korea.

Factory activity inChinacontracted at the fastest pace on record in February, highlighting the damage from the coronavirus outbreak on the worlds second-largest economy,CNBC reported.

Chinas official Purchasing Managers Index fell to a record low of 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, well below the 50-point mark that separates monthly growth from contraction.

The somber readings provide the first official snapshot of the state of the Chinese economy since the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic.

Sara G. Miller

31m ago / 10:26 PM UTC

A total of 22 cases of the new coronavirus have been diagnosed in the U.S., the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention said Saturday. This does not include individuals who were evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship or Wuhan, China.

At least four of the 22 cases are the result of community spread, which means that exact source of exposure is unclear. Community spread can occur when an infected individual has mild symptoms and does not realize that they are sick.

At least nine patients have recovered, including patients in California, Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Wisconsin.

During a press briefing Saturday, Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Alex Azar said that most cases are mild to moderate and do not require hospitalization.For example, one of the most recently diagnosed patients, a woman who had traveled from South Korea to Washington, is at home and has not required hospitalization.

Reuters

1h ago / 9:28 PM UTC

As a new coronavirus spreads quickly around the world, U.S. health officials say they are "aggressively" assessing how long it can survive on surfaces to better understand the risk of transmission.

Based on what is known about similar coronaviruses, disease experts say the COVID-19 virus is mainly spread through coughing or sneezing. Contact with fecal matter from an infected person may also transmit the virus.

The CDC says it may be possible for a person to become infected by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or eyes.

An analysis of earlier studies of similar coronaviruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, concluded that human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces for up to nine days at room temperature.

However, they can quickly be rendered inactive using common disinfectants, and may also dissipate at higher temperatures, the authors wrote. It is not yet clear, however, whether the new coronavirus behaves in a similar way.

Nicole Acevedo

2h ago / 9:00 PM UTC

Washington Gov. Jay Insleedeclared a state of emergencyto direct agencies to use all resources necessary to prepare for and respond to and outbreak afterthe nation's first death fromcoronavirusillness COVID-19 occurred in the state.

This will allow us to get the resources we need, Inslee said in a statement. This is a time to take commonsense, proactive measures to ensure the health and safety of those who live in Washington state."

Maia Davis

40m ago / 10:17 PM UTC

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday announced additional travel restrictions involving Iran and increased warnings about travel to Italy and South Korea to combat the coronavirus.

The announcement at a White House press conference came after health officials in Washington state announced the first death in the U.S. from COVID-19.

Travel from China to the U.S. has already been restricted and Trump said he was also looking at restrictions on entry from America's southern border.

Nicole Acevedo

4h ago / 6:50 PM UTC

Health officials in Washington state said on Saturdaya coronavirus patient has died.

The death is the first from coronavirus illness COVID-19 in the United States.

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Coronavirus updates live: 1st death in U.S. as outbreak spreads in other countries - NBC News

Great Day TV: The Strongest Woman in the World is from Indy – WISHTV.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. is banning travel to Iran in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus and elevating travel warnings to regions of Italy and South Korea.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the new restrictions and warnings as President Donald Trump said 22 people in the U.S. have been stricken by the new coronavirus, of whom one has died and four are deemed very ill and that additional cases are likely.

Trump added that he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus spread though he added: This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.

Were thinking about all borders, Trump said.

Trump provided an update on the virus from the White House press briefing room for the second time this week after the first reported U.S. death Saturday, of someone he described as having a high medical risk before contracting the virus. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was no evidence of link to travel in the case of the person who died.

On Friday, health officials confirmed a second case of coronavirus in the U.S. in a person who didnt travel internationally or have close contact with anyone who had the virus. The U.S. has a total of about 60 confirmed cases. Trumps tally appeared to exclude cases of Americans repatriated from two cruise ships in Asia.

Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the virus threat.

He encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying the country is super prepared for a wider outbreak, adding theres no reason to panic at all.

He added he wasnt altering his routine either. Youre talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think well be in very good shape.

Trump spoke a day after he denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a hoax cooked up by his political enemies. Speaking at a rally in South Carolina he accused Democrats of politicizing the coronavirus threat and boasted about preventive steps hes ordered in an attempt to keep the virus that originated in China from spreading across the United States. Those steps include barring entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China.

They tried the impeachment hoax. This is their new hoax, Trump said of Democratic denunciations of his administrations coronavirus response.

Trump said Saturday he was not trying to minimize the threat of the virus.

Again, the hoax was used in respect to Democrats and what they were saying, he said.

Some Democrats have said Trump could have acted sooner to bolster the U.S. response to the virus. Democratic and Republican lawmakers also have said his request for an additional $2.5 billion to defend against the virus isnt enough. Theyve signaled they will provide substantially more funding.

Trump said Democrats want him to fail and argued that steps hes taken so far have kept cases to a minimum and prevented virus deaths in the U.S.

As global markets plunged this week, Trump predicted they will come back, and encouraged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

The markets will all come back, he said. I think the Fed has a very important role, especially psychological. If you look at it, the Fed has a massive impact.

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THIRDHOME partners with Major Sports Alumni Associations to offer former players access to world travel – PRNewswire

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NEW YORK, Feb.26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --THIRDHOME the premier luxury home exchange and travel club, has partnered with the alumni associations of the NHL, NFL, and MLB to provide retired athletes and their families a complimentary membership intheprivate club. Members of each association will enjoy exclusive perks including free membership and travel credits upon joining THIRDHOME.

Stu Grimson, former NHL player, joined THIRDHOMEin 2019 as corporate counsel.As a former player and member of the NHL Alumni Association (NHLAA), Stu recognized that the benefits afforded to THIRDHOME members would have appeal for many other alumni associations. "During my time in the game, I've observed the NHLAA partner with remarkable companies to the benefit of all NHLAA Members," said Stu."THIRDHOMEseemed a natural fit for any major association charged with supporting its members.At THIRDHOME, we look forward to working with thousands of retired athletes affiliated with our new partners to open up an enhanced and affordable world of travel to them and their families."

Glenn Healy, Executive Director of the NHLAA, echoed Stu's remarks. "At the NHLAA, we are always looking for opportunitiestosupport and enrich the lives of our former players. For that reason, the NHLAA is thrilled that our Members are able to take advantage of auniqueopportunity to travel the world affordably withinTHIRDHOME's extensive collection of private residences."

The MLB Players Alumni Association added that "The MLBPAAisconstantly seeking out reputable companies that can offervaluableproducts and services to its members.As such, the MLBPAA is confident that THIRDHOMEwill be well-received by its members and their families."Beasley Reece, CEO of the NFL Alumni also said, "At the NFLA,contributing tothe wellness of our former players is fundamental to what we do. In partnering with THIRDHOME, our association is able to offer our Members a unique travel opportunity that will no doubt enrich their lives."

ABOUT THIRDHOMETHIRDHOMEis the premier home exchange for luxury second homeowners worldwide. The Club provides a trusted way for members to leverage time in their second home to travel the world rent-free.TheTHIRDHOMEAdventure Cluboffers travel experiences in small-group luxury tours with local insider access. The THIRDHOMEcollection is comprised of over 11,000 luxury residences in 95 countries.

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Climate activists just blocked plans to expand Heathrow, one of the world’s biggest airports – CNN

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Judges in the closely-watched case at London's Court of Appeal said the UK government, which threw its support behind the proposal, had failed to take into account what impact the move would have on Britain's commitments under the Paris Agreement.

The decision could scupper plans to expand one of the world's busiest airports, and was celebrated on the court's steps on Thursday by a number of climate groups that had brought the legal action against the UK's Transport Secretary.

The court did not rule on the legality of a third runway itself, and Heathrow said it would appeal at the Supreme Court -- but the British government said it would not contest the verdict.

The ultimate decision over whether to fight for a third runway lies with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has long opposed the idea and once said he would "lie down in front of the bulldozers" to stop it going ahead.

"We have not found that a national policy statement supporting this project is necessarily incompatible with the United Kingdom's commitment to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change under the Paris Agreement, or with any other policy the Government may adopt or international obligation it may undertake," the judges wrote in their ruling.

"The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account by the Secretary of State... and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not," they added.

The accord pushes signatories to reduce their carbon output and halt global warming below 2C by the end of the century.

London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, had supported the legal action and welcomed the decision on Thursday. "We won!" Khan tweeted after the ruling. "A new runway at Heathrow would have serious consequences on climate change, on air quality, on noise pollution, on road and rail networks and on the quality of life in our city," he added in a statement.

Campaigners celebrate the ruling on Thursday.

Leon Neal/Getty Images

The move marks a new period of uncertainty in the lengthy and controversial debate over whether to build a third runway at the site -- which would have made Heathrow the world's busiest airport by current statistics.

After the verdict, the UK's Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the government will look elsewhere in exploring expansion and would not fight the decision.

"Airport expansion is core to boosting global connectivity. We also take seriously our commitment to the environment. This Govt won't appeal today's judgement given our manifesto makes clear any #Heathrow expansion will be industry led," he wrote on Twitter.

However, a statement from Heathrow Airport said the issue identified by the court is "eminently fixable."

"We will appeal to the Supreme Court on this one issue and are confident that we will be successful. In the meantime, we are ready to work with the Government to fix the issue that the court has raised," the airport's spokesperson said in a statement.

The new airstrip would cross over the M25 motorway, London's busy and regularly congested outer ring road. About 750 homes in the villages of Longford, Sipson and Harmondsworth could be flattened to make way.

Johnson opposed the runway while he was Mayor of London -- should he decide to accept the court's judgment now, plans to build the airstrip would likely be doomed.

'This has wider implications'

Thursday's case was brought to the court by groups including Friends of the Earth, which described Thursday's ruling as "an absolutely ground-breaking result for climate justice" -- and climate groups seized on the decision as a sign of rapidly shifting attitudes towards the climate.

"This judgment has exciting wider implications for keeping climate change at the heart of all planning decisions," Will Rundle, head of legal at Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. "It's time for developers and public authorities to be held to account when it comes to the climate impact of their damaging developments."

Architect's impression showing a "third space" concept for new terminal infrastructure at Heathrow.

Heathrow Expansion

"It would have been hard to imagine this outcome even a couple of years ago," added Tim Crosland, director of the Plan B. Earth, which was involved in the case. "But as the scale and impacts of the ecological crisis become clearer, with people dying and being displaced in the UK and around the world, it's vital we reject the politics of division and unite amidst adversity."

The move was also hailed by Extinction Rebellion, whose frequent protests in London and around the world have become a notable feature of the growing climate movement.

And legal experts said the decision could be replicated around the world, as governments battle tensions between economic agendas with concerns over man-made damage to the climate.

"The last year has seen a surge in litigation across the globe associated with the effects and risks of climate change," Mary Anne Roff, a partner at the London law firm Clyde & Company, said in remarks sent to CNN.

"The Court of Appeal made clear that they have not decided that there will be no third runway at Heathrow. Nor have they decided that a national policy statement supporting this project is necessarily incompatible with the UK's commitment to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change," she added.

"But their insistence on the Government complying with its commitment to the provisions of the Paris Agreement underlines the continuing and increasing importance that those involved with the planning, construction and operation of infrastructure and other major projects must take climate change into account."

CNN's Samantha Tapfumaneyi and Simon Cullen contributed to this report.

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Climate activists just blocked plans to expand Heathrow, one of the world's biggest airports - CNN

Less-Costly Ways to Reduce the Harm of COVID-19 Without Travel-and-Immigration-Bans – Cato Institute

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The government exists to protect American citizens from threats to their lives, liberties, and property by supplying public goods that would not be supplied through the market or other voluntary means. In the sphere of immigration policy, this means preventing the travel of foreignborn terrorists, individuals who pose anational security threat, and criminals to the United States. Another category of people who should be barred is those with serious contagious diseases, as Ive written before. The spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) makes this apressing issue again.

In response to COVID-19, President Trump created minor travel restrictions and redirected flights, some Senators are calling to ban travel with China, and rumors of additional government actions to contain the spread of COVID-19 all mean that we should consider lesscostly alternatives to combat the spread of the virus. Travelandimmigrationbans are costly, what other options does the government have?

There is growing evidence that COVID-19s case fatality rate (CFR) is substantially higher than the normal flu with deaths concentrated on the elderly and those with comorbidities. Its important to note that the CFR is afatality rate for those who contract COVID-19, not afatality rate for the entire population. Thats not much of arelief as the fatality rate is high, but it does help us get abetter picture of COVID-19s threat to particular groups. For instance, COVID-19s CFR is 2.3 percent according to recent evidence from Mainland China. The CFR for those aged 39 and younger is 0.21 percent, but it is 5.96 percent for those aged 60 and above. Protecting the elderly should thus be of prime concern as younger people, especially children, dont appear to be much affected.

There are several different ways for policymakers to respond to COVID-19.Atravelandimmigration ban is an appropriate policy response if two conditions are met. First, the benefits of atravelandimmigrationban are greater than the costs of atravel ban. Second, there are no other lesscostly options. This analysis will compare the breakeven point to show how many lives atravelandimmigrationban would have to save to make sense. It will then further compare the cost of those lesscostly policies that will have big positive impacts.

The Breakeven Points for aTravel and Immigration Ban

Finding the breakeven point at which the benefits of reduced deaths from COVID-19 equal the costs incurred by aU.S. ban on travel and immigration helps form the outermost boundaries of apossible policy response. COVID-19 is spreading from China to other countries, with outbreaks reported in Italy, Iran, Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere. Currently, there are more new cases of COVID-19 reported outside of China than inside, so its conceivable that policymakers will react in this extreme way.

Travelandimmigrationbans are expensive. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimated that tourism contributed about $1.595 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2018 and 18.8 percent, or about $299.86 billion, was from international travel. Also, blocking the roughly 500,000 immigrants who receive agreen card abroad each year and those who enter on temporary work visas would also diminish their contributions to GDP. Looking at average salaries of immigrants as adecent proxy of their contribution to GDP, combined with the tourist spending, atravelandimmigrationban would impose acost of $323 billion to the U.S. economy in the first year.

The statistical value of alife in the United States, which is the average dollar value that individuals place on their own lives based on the riskmoney tradeoffs that they make, is about $10 million. Dividing the $323 billion cost of atravel and immigration ban for the first year by the $10 million statistical value of life reveals how many lives would have to be saved in the first year of such aban so that the purely economic costs equal the benefits. Thus, amoratorium on travel and immigration would have to prevent 32,302 deaths to breakeven. This doesnt include the cost of people being sick, which is most of COVID-19 cases, and the cost imposed on people outside of the United States as well as the longterm costs to the U.S. economy such as lower growth and broken global supply chains.

Deaths and sickness arent the only costs imposed by COVID-19. Most of the negative impact would be due to peoples reactions and avoidance behaviors, according to aWorld Bank background paper on pandemics. As the author of that paper explained, those costs created by behavioral changes to avoid infection would be aggravated by likely confusion triggered by incomplete or inaccurate information and other inadequacies in individual subjective risk assessments. Healthy people changing their behavior to avoid becoming sick imposes another huge cost, similar to the cost that taxes impose by changing individual behavior. Its important that health people adjust their behavior enough to reduce the cost of COVID-19, but not so much that the extra cost imposed by their changing behavior outweighs the potential damage done by the virus.

There are, of course, other considerations and values, but those above are astarting point. Most of the above assumes arelatively short pandemic. If it extends for longer then the netpresent value of different longterm policy changes must also be weighed against the costs of business as normal. If many deaths, illnesses, and other costly behavior from COVID-19 can be prevented or mitigated by means other than atravel or immigration ban, then we should take those instead of the expensive options at least at first. What are some of those options?

LessCostly Actions to Limit the Spread of COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19 is agreat example of an externality, which is an economic term for acost or benefit incurred or received by athird party. The best example of anegative externality is air pollution, such as when afactory emits air pollution that imposes acost on neighbors. The best example of apositive externality is avaccine that reduces the spread of infectious diseases.

Externalities lead to inefficient economic outcomes. In the case of negative externalities, costs imposed on third parties are not borne by the economic actors that produce the cost, meaning that they will overproduce whatever good or service creates that cost. In the case of positive externalities, benefits produced for third parties will not accrue to the people producing the benefits, so they will under produce whatever it is that leads to those benefits.

Travelandimmigrationbans arent the only policy options available to the government. There are many lesscostly and less intrusive marginal measures that the government can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19 that it should consider before attempting the more expensive actions. Economists have proposed numerous ways to correct for the overproduction of goods and services with negative externalities and the underproduction of goods and services with positive externalities. They and some other economic concepts can help us understand different ways to reduce the danger from COVID-19 while being mindful of tradeoffs and selecting the best options.

Pigovian Taxes and Subsidies

A Pigovian tax is atax on any market activity that produces anegative externality when the cost of that negative externality is not included in the market price. The Pigovian tax is supposed to raise the private marginal cost of production to the marginal social cost of production, which reduces production of the negative externalitycreating good or service and internalizes the cost of the externality through higher prices for consumers and reduced profit for producers. One difficulty is figuring out the optimal tax rate for anegative externality.

Pigovian taxes on activities that spread COVID-19, such as travelling to countries with high infection rates, taking airplane trips in general, working while sick, or failing to maintain hand hygiene, would help to reduce COVID-19s spread. It would be easy for the government to tax travel as there are already high taxes on airplane tickets, but difficult to maintain hand hygiene. Atax for being sick in public might reduce private diseasemitigation behavior like wearing amask or encouraging other behavior to hide illness, which could be worse than doing nothing. Its also hard to see how levying atax for failing to maintain hand hygiene could function. Perhaps, the tax revenue raised from aPigovian tax on travel could be used to create aPigovian subsidy for increased hand sanitation in airports or other places with alot of foot traffic.

A recent paper found that mandated sick pay in American cities reduced the rate at which people contracted the flu by as much as 40 percent during the flu season, presumably because many more sick people actually face alower cost of staying home and so choose to do so. Forcing mandatory sick pay is an expensive policy however, partly because it increases shirking and the cost of hiring workers. But fining employees who show up with the flu or ticketing abusiness that lets somebody work while they are sick with the flu would be astrong temporary negative incentive.

Pigovian subsidies and taxes could also increase social distancing, astrategy used by public health officials to reduce large public gatherings of people to inhibit the spread of disease. The government could immediately reduce taxes on firms that let their employees work remotely, creating an incentive that will increase work outside of the office. They could raise the prices for mass transportation. Without asubsidy, public schools could allow distance learning and for students to study from home through the internet. For instance, schools in Japan are shutting down on March 2. The government could immediately let workers telework every day.

Coase Theorem

The Coase Theorem is adifferent way of reducing negative externalities. The theorem states that, under certain circumstances, bargains and exchanges can reduce negative externalities by efficiently exchanging property rights between the creator of anegative externality and the third party incurring the cost. In other words, both parties can change their behaviors or exchange resources to decrease the damage of an externality or compensate those harmed. Since both parties have abetter understanding of their own costs, they are much more likely to reach amutually beneficial bargain than having one imposed on them by aPigovian tax.

There are two conditions critical to striking aCoasean bargain. The first is that transaction costs need to be low enough to allocate all property rights in away to adjust negative externalities down to an efficient level. When transaction costs are positive as they always are in the real world the cost of finding the polluter and victim, negotiating, and enforcing asolution need to be less than or equal to the benefits of the bargain. If those transaction costs are too great, the aCoasean bargain will not occur.

Property rights are also important for these bargains. One of the main insights here is that if property rights are secure and transferrable and transaction costs are low, people will exchange property and make Coasean bargains to decrease the cost of negative externalities to the point where the benefits equal the costs. The negative externality will not disappear, it will decrease or change to the point where the last bit of the negative externality produced will be equal to the economic value of the last good produced.

There are fewer lessons from the Coase theorem for reducing the spread of disease, but perhaps Im just not creative enough to think of them. In the example of COVID-19, changing the behavior of those with COVID-19 or the behavior of healthy people will reduce the negative externality. The action that should be taken is that which reduces the externality at the cheapest cost down to the point where the marginal cost of the last measure to reduce spread if equal to the marginal benefit of less disease.

The government could assign property rights and liabilities to different parties to make them responsible for the spread of COVID-19, such as making airlines liable for any outbreak that occurs as aresult of the transportation of sick passengers, but that will be difficult to prove and hard to ex ante protect against. Sometimes, people travel when they are infected but before they have symptoms. Furthermore, even with such areassignment of property rights, the transaction costs would be high. It seems unlikely that, without new and secure property rights and lower transaction costs, that we can rely on the Coase theorem to produce abetter outcome.

Reduce Imperfect Information

One of the problems in apandemic is that some people who are sick do not know that they have fallen ill yet. As aresult, they spread the illness without being aware that they are exposing other people to the sickness. Economist Vincent Geloso summarizes apaper by Alice Mesnard and Paul Seabright in the Journal of Public Economics about the problems that arise in this scenario. Its difficult to know who is sick and who is not, so quarantines end up locking many sick people in with many healthy people. Healthy people and those who think they are healthy understand accurately that they would reduce their chance of becoming ill if they emigrate. By doing that, some people spread the disease. Under some scenarios, the stricter the quarantine, the more people invest in emigrating. Sometimes, this behavioral response spreads disease more.

Related to informational problems, many people might voluntarily take actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 because they themselves dont want to get sick. Although COVID-19 is an externality in that people spread it unintentionally, it also frequently imposes very heavy costs on those who get ill. Thus, reducing ignorance would improve behavior and reduce the spread of COVID-19 on its own.

For instance, making higher risk people aware of the danger and of cheap ways to reduce their likelihood of contracting the illness would reduce its spread. People voluntarily engage in selfprotective behavior when confronted with apandemic. According to apaper published in 2013, many travelers changed their travel itinerary when they became aware of swine flu. It stands to reason, then, that making travelers aware of COVID-19 will increase their hand hygiene. After all, washing ones hands more is amuch lesscostly way to avoid adisease than cancelling aflight.

Making hand sanitizer commonly and easily available will also help here. Putting hand sanitizerstations or hand washing stations in airports with big signs that let people know that keeping their hands clean will reduce the chance of getting sick and spreading the disease will boost hand hygiene at alow cost. Another way to reduce asymmetric information is through travel warnings to places with largescale outbreaks. The State Department already releases these and should continue to do so.

Because COVID-19s CFR is so much higher for the elderly than for the rest of the population, widespread dissemination of this information to retirement homes and along with monthly Social Security checks could help increase selfquarantines, where the elderly create cultural distance and thus reduce their chance of death. Since many elderly people are retired, the economic costs of this would be minor as they have generally lower opportunity cost, even though it would be boring and alienating for alot of people in the short term.

However, its also important that people dont overreact and take extremely costly precautions to avoid becoming sick. People should still go to work and should not run to the mountains and shoot all people they meet as if theyre living through The Walking Dead. The spread of information that can reduce overreactions is just as important as spreading information that helps people take reasonable precautions that pass acostbenefit test.

Regulatory Changes

As mentioned above, the cheapest and most effective way to combat the spread of flutype viruses is proper hand hygiene. Concentrating resources on increasing hand hygiene in airports, where diseases spread rapidly due to unsanitary conditions that can easily propagate around the world, can greatly reduce the spread of aglobal pandemic. Arecent paper published in the journal Risk Analysis found that increasing travelers engagement with hand hygiene at all airports can inhibit the spread of apotential pandemic by 24 percent to 69 percent.

The authors use Monte Carlo simulations to test how increases in hand hygiene in airports affect the outcomes of epidemiological models of disease transmission. They start with the assumption of asteady state that 20 percent of people in airports at any given time have clean hands. Increasing the steady state to 30 percent across all airports reduces the impact of the disease by 23.7 percent while increasing it to 60 percent reduces it by 69.1 percent. They use adifferent measurement of disease impact and get estimates of an 18.2 percent to 55.4 percent decrease in impact if 30 percent and 60 percent of people in airports have clean hands, respectively. Regardless, the effect of increased hand hygiene is large.

The government could immediately increase hand hygiene at airports by having TSA agents squirt hand sanitizer into the palms of all passengers who go through security. This would do more good for the world than the TSA has likely ever done. At abare minimum, the TSA could put hand sanitizers at the front and end of every security line. This week, my colleague Emma Ashford went through security at Ronald Reagan National Airport and noticed there was no hand sanitizer available to the public it was all behind the rope and set aside for TSA agents. Moving hand sanitizer forward is agood first step. TSA could pay alittle overtime to its agents and have them squirt the hands of passengers with hand sanitizer as they deplane or board too. The government could even ask airlines to do that and put hand sanitizers at each gate. Many bathrooms at large airports have attendants, they should remind everybody to wash their hands after using the bathroom.

Conclusion

A mix of the policy options above, from Pigovian taxes and subsidies to small changes in property rights as well as reducing ignorance and other regulatory changes at airports, could have alarge effect in reducing the spread of COVID-19 at avery low cost. Extreme options like travelandimmigrationbans might be appropriate if the expected cost of COVID-19 climbs beyond acertain point, but lesscostly policies should be tried first. In other words, lets have TSA agents squirt hand sanitizer into the hands of all travelers before closing the airports.

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Less-Costly Ways to Reduce the Harm of COVID-19 Without Travel-and-Immigration-Bans - Cato Institute

7 things I never travel without – CNET

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From mad dashes across Europe to exploring ancient castles in Japan, I've spent the majority of the last six years living and working all over the world. As a digital nomad I bring everything I need with me on trips ranging from a few weeks to a few months. I try to pack as lightly as possible, since I know all too well every extra pound is only going to weigh me down as I'm navigating cobblestone streets and interisland ferries.

I'm not a fan of specialized, and often unnecessarily expensive, single-use travel gadgets. Travel is expensive enough without piling on frivolous fancy fluff. But no matter where you're heading, or for how long, there are a few things you should definitely bring with you. I certainly do.

No matter how good your phone, after a long day taking pictures and using Google Maps to navigate some amazing location, its battery is going to be toast. USB battery packs will top up your phone's battery, often several times. The smaller ones easily fit in a pocket, the largest ones in a purse or backpack. They'll recharge anything that has a USB port, so your wireless headphones and probably your camera too.

I tend to upgrade mine every two years or so. That seems to be the stretch of time over which the size drops for a given capacity, or the capacity goes up for a given size. Models with built-in cables are super convenient, though the cable is always a weak point -- it'll likely get strained after months or years of frequent use. That said, if you're just using it for travel, the added convenience is probably a bigger consideration than its overall longevity.

New models from MyCharge have Lightning and USB-C cables built-in, as well as a third port for plugging in any old USB cable -- but at $70 and up, they're a bit too rich for my blood. I prefer the Ventev Powercell 6010 Plus, which is available iniPhone (Lightning) and Android (USB-C)versions. Like the MyCharge, the Ventev models have a good old-fashioned USB-A port for juicing up a secondary gadget. And with a built-in plug for the wall, recharging these models couldn't be easier.

For more options, check out our guides to thebest portable chargers and power banks for Android and best portable chargers and power banks for iPhone.

In six years of travel the things that I've had to replace more than anything else, by far, are USB cables. No cable is meant to endure constant plugging and unplugging, coiling and uncoiling, and getting repeatedly, albeit accidentally, stepped on.

Perhaps most frustratingly, if one of your cables does go out while you're on vacation, the insanely overpriced cables you're likely to find in touristy areas probably won't let your phone charge as fast.

I tend to bring a mix of cables with me, most short for convenience, but at least one longer, six-foot (two-meter) cable that will hopefully reach my bed from whatever terrible plug placement the hotel or hostel has. Braided cables have survived a little longer for me, so I usually go for those. Don't overpay, however. They'reallgoing to break eventually. No need to spend a fortune.

If you have an Android phone (or other non-Apple gadgets), opt for a USB-C or Micro-USB cable. These are all from AmazonBasics:

With the vast majority of hotel rooms woefully short of outlets, it's better to have an adapter that can charge multiple devices, and quickly. Not all chargers perform the same. Make sure you check out the amp rating, and aim for one that does at least 2.4 amps on each output. If your phone or USB battery pack is capable of fast charging, make sure you get a charger with that capability on at least one output as well. In CNET's testing, the RAVPower Dual-Port charged a MacBook Air from dead to 65% in an hour. If you have more USB devices you want to charge at once, there are similar models with additional USB outputs. A foldable plug, like this RAV, is an added bonus.

For more options, check out our guide to thebest USB-C PD chargers.

The vast majority of the electronics you own do not need voltage converters. Nearly all adapters automatically convert the incoming voltage (i.e. from the wall) to whatever voltage your electronics need to run or charge. Take a look at the fine print on the adapter. It will likely say "Input: 100-240V, 50-60Hz." That means you can plug it in just about anywhere in the world as long as you have an adapter to let itfit the local outlets. If itdoesn'tsay that, you likely can't use it overseas. Hair dryers and straighteners are two common items that might not work in a different country (though nearly every hotel and hostel will at least have a hair dryer).

I prefer simple and cheap plug adapters. I know many people adore the all-in-one devices that give you a block with slide-out options for outlets all over the world, but I'm not a fan. They're too bulky. Plug adapters are small enough to stay on the end of your charger and usually never get in the way. If you know your trip is going to cross areas with different plug types, grab another and throw it in your bag. If you have more than one thing to plug in, again, several of these are far easier to have with you than multiple all-in-one bricks.

I've traveled with Ceptics plug adapters for years. It sells a five-piece set that includes a small travel bag, which I use to store them when I'm home. I only bring with me the plug or plugs I'll need for that specific trip, as usually one plug type will suffice for most of a continent. Certainly double check before you leave for a multicountry adventure, however. For the completionist, there's a $17 set that'spretty much every plug type in the world.

I haven't tried it, but Anker has a new option that combines plug adapters and a charger, which seems pretty logical. At $50, it's a little pricey, but that's only slightly more than the better fast wall chargers.

I was on the fence whether to call these "vital" or just "optional." If you're tight on funds, definitely the latter. That said, I bring a pair of Bose QC20 with me on every trip. From airplanes to buses and trains, they reduce the hum and roar that can make travel between places so exhausting.

There are two important things to know about noise-canceling headphones, however. The first is that they don't "silence" the world around you. They reducesomesounds, namely low-frequency droning sounds like jet engines and tires on pavement. They won't block crying babies or chatty neighbors. The other is that not all noise-canceling headphones work as advertised. The specs are largely meaningless. Two headphones that both claim to reduce "15 decibels" can perform radically differently.

I know some people like the better isolation of over-ear headphones for travel, but their bulk is a deal-breaker for me. On the other end of the spectrum, true wireless headphones that add noise cancellation -- models such as the AirPods Pro and Sony WF-1000XM3 -- are all the rage, but I personally wouldn't travel with them for fear or losing them on the go. For me, the "just right" sweet spot are the Bose QC20because they're small, and relatively easy to fall asleep with on an airplane. At least, as much as any headphones are.

For even more options, check our our guide to thebest noise-canceling headphones of 2020.

If you have an Android phone, get the Android-specific version:

Unless you're traveling all the time, or for longer than a typical American vacation, you probably don't need a specific "travel laptop."

That said, if you are looking for a longer time away, or know you're going to be working a bit when you go, it's worth considering something small and light. A full-size laptop, with its associated bulk and myriad cables, is just the sort of hassle I aim to avoid. There's no one thing that can make travel easy, but there are a lot of little things that add up to make it hard. A heavy, annoying laptop is part of the latter.

Yes, many travelers love the iPad or iPad Pro, and for good reason -- but their software situation still requires jumping through too many hoops to get stuff done. After years of inexpensive (and excruciatingly underpowered) laptops, last year I upgraded to a Microsoft Surface Go. It's roughly the size of a tablet, but runs a full version of Windows. It's still fairly low-powered compared to most laptops, but if you spec it out with 8GB of RAM (about $500 at time of writing) it can run just fine with a bunch of Chrome tabs open. I do most of my photo editing formy various CNET travel tourswith it, and even did a little video editing withPremiere. I wouldn't recommend one of these if you do much of the latter, however.

While not for everyone, the vast majority of people have far more laptop than they really need, and the Go's size and battery life make it a far better travel companion than something larger. Just keep in mind that we may see new Surface models (and iPads) in the near future.

If you think you'll only work a little, maybe just answer a few emails, consider gettinga keyboard for your tablet.

At first glance this seems like a frivolous addition, since you can read books on your phone, tablet or in that ancient, carbon-based analog form. Tablets and phones, however, are hard to read in direct sunlight. At night, even in night mode, the light from a screen can affect sleep. Paper books are great and I prefer them, but for any extended trip you're going to have to carry an awful lot of paperbacks.

A dedicated e-book reader is a great compromise, thanks to their E Ink screens. They work great in direct sunlight and require very little power (they only need to be charged every week or two). At night you can either read using a bedside lamp, or if you don't want to disturb your partner, most models have built-in illumination. The latest Kindle Paperwhite models check all the boxes, and they're waterproof, which is a good idea for poolside reading. Just don't pay more than $90 for one -- they go on sale every few weeks.

For more options, check out our guide to thebest e-book readers.

As well as covering tech and travel, Geoff does photo tours ofcool museums and locations around the worldincludingnuclear submarines,massive aircraft carriers,medieval castlesandairplane graveyards.

You can follow his exploits onInstagram,Twitterand on his travel blogBaldNomad. He also wrote abestselling sci-fi novel.

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7 things I never travel without - CNET

Global Leisure Travel Market, Forecast to 2026 – Mobile Applications, Big Data Analytics, and AI Evolving Together Amidst Proliferating Tourism…

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DUBLIN, Feb. 28, 2020 The "Leisure Travel Market by Traveler Type Sales Channel and Age Group: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

According to the report, the global leisure travel market size was $953.9 billion in 2018, and is projected to reach $1,464.3 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 5.6% from 2019 to 2026.

Digitalization, informatization and globalization upgrade in the past few years have spurred the fast growth of the leisure travel market. In today's global economy, tourism is now playing a prominent role and taking a larger share in the economy, while bringing profound social impacts.

The outbound leisure travel market growth has gained significant momentum owing to rise in disposable income, expansion of logistics & infrastructure, rigorous promotion & advertising of tourism by the governments. The outbound tourism market has witnessed rapid increase, and thus, the number of outbound tourists maintained robust growth each year from 2002 to 2018. The number of global outbound tourists surpassed a record 1.4 billion in 2018.

New trends have emerged due to the rapid development of global outbound tourism. Citizens perceptions have changed from meeting everyday needs to improving quality of their life. Now more than ever, travel plays a vital role in the hectic lifestyle of people. Leisure holiday remained the most preferable travel type, however, adventure tourism has gained wide traction in the past few years.

Online booking has seen monumental growth in the last few years and continues to rise, driven by highly competitive digital landscape, increase in internet penetration, user-friendly app interface and platforms. Furthermore, deployment of chat bots and travel bots is expected to continue to gain high traction among the leading players operating in the leisure travel market.

UK is on the verge of Brexit and no deal exit might have appalling ramifications on the outbound tourism market. According to AMR analysis, a no deal Brexit might cause a drop of about 5-7% in out bound travelers from the UK. Spain, France, and Italy are expected to experience a significant drop of tourists travelling from the UK owing to weaker exchange rate, imposition of tariffs, higher air fare rates, and higher travel insurance premiums. A decrease in the value of British currency will result in changing UK residents preferences for domestic holidays A no deal scenario will result in increased overall expenditure incurred by the UK residents. No deal exit will have cascading effect to the UK economy, which is estimated to negatively impact the UK outbound tourism industry.

The key players operating in the leisure travel market are Expedia Group, Priceline Group, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, JTB Americas Group, World Travel, Inc., American Express Travel, Travel Leaders Group, TUI Group., Thomas Cook (India) Limited and Cox & Kings Ltd.

Key Findings

Key Topics Covered

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Executive Summary

Chapter 3: Market Overview3.1. Market Definition and Scope3.2. Market Dynamics3.2.1. Drivers3.2.1.1. Pursuit of Unique Experiences to Augment the Global Tourism Industry3.2.1.2. Mobile Applications, Big Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Evolving Together Amidst Proliferating Tourism Industry3.2.1.3. Rise of Social Media Positively Impacting Travel Industry3.2.2. Restraints3.2.2.1. Fluctuating Fortunes for Destinations3.2.2.2. Nature and Tourism No Longer in Sync3.2.3. Opportunities3.2.3.1. Unique Destinations Gaining High Traction Amongst Tourists3.2.3.2. Eco-Acommodation - New Trend Amongst Millennials

Chapter 4: Leisure Travel Market, By Traveler Type4.1. Overview4.2. Solo Leisure Travel4.3. Group Leisure Travel

Chapter 5: Leisure Travel Market, By Sales Channel5.1. Overview5.2. Conventional Channels5.3. Online Channels

Chapter 6: Leisure Travel Market, By Age Group6.1. Overview6.2. Baby Boomers6.3. Generation X6.4. Millennials6.5. Generation Z

Chapter 7: Leisure Travel Market, By Region7.1. Overview7.2. North America7.3. Europe7.4. Asia-Pacific7.5. LAMEA

Chapter 8: Company Profiles8.1. American Express Travel8.2. Carlson Wagonlit Travel8.3. Cox & Kings Ltd.8.4. Expedia Group8.5. JTB USA Inc.8.6. Priceline(Booking Holdings Inc.)8.7. Thomas Cook India Ltd.8.8. Travel Leaders Group8.9. Tui Group8.10. World Travel Inc.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/fuazz7

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

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Global Leisure Travel Market, Forecast to 2026 - Mobile Applications, Big Data Analytics, and AI Evolving Together Amidst Proliferating Tourism...

Industry chiefs to meet at World Aviation Festival – TTG

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28 Feb 2020byGary Noakes

Chief executives from United Airlines, Lufthansa, KLM, Wizz and Heathrow are confirmed as speakers at this years World Aviation Festival.

The world's aviation industry will meet in London in September

They are among 600 top name speaker appearances at the 2020 event in London, which moves to a larger home at the ExCeL Centre.

The three-day conference, on 23-25 September, includes an exhibition with more than 300 participants, with 1-2-1 meetings scheduled via the exhibition app. In all, more than 6,000 attendees are expected at ExCeL.

Among the conference topics will be how aviations environmental impact can be reduced in time to halve net CO2 emissions by 2050 and what the industry needs to do to keep up with digital native travellers.

As well as top airline figures, other keynote speakers will be the heads of the World Travel and Tourism Council and IATA.

The event also includes Airport T.EX, which showcases passenger technology and experience strategies for the worlds airports. This boasts 100 speakers and 1,500 airport attendees.

The organisers said: Airport T.EX is where the future of pre-travel, check-in, baggage, security, wayfinding, lounge, gate technology and experience will be decided.

Another part of the event is dedicated to new ventures. Start-Up Festival is set to attract more than 150 companies that will shape the future of the industry.

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Industry chiefs to meet at World Aviation Festival - TTG

Worlds largest travel fair, ITB, cancelled in Berlin – The Thaiger

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The total confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) is now 85,217, with2,924 people having succumbed to the disease.39,554 people have fully recovered, approaching 50% of total cases. In Thailand there are now 42 confirmed cases with 28 people listed as recovered. The latest Thai victim is a 21 year old salesman whose job is said to have exposed him to foreign tourists.

Regions around central South Korea remain a hotzone with 2,931 cases now reported, resulting in 16 deaths.The country has recorded its largest rise in coronavirus infections in a single day, with 594 new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours.The increase brings the total number of infections in South Korea to 2,931, according to the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.South Korea has the highest number of confirmed cases outside China where the outbreak started.

The other emerging new hotzone is around northern Italy with 889 identified cases and 21 deaths. 20 European countries have now reported cases, including some of the smaller eastern European states.

Thailands Disease Control Department is trying to locate all of the passengers who travelled on flight XJ621, from Japans Sapporo to Bangkok, on February 20, because 2 of their fellow passengers are now confirmed infected with the virus.

It is important that the passengers make contact as soon as possible, so they can be advised of important actions they need to take.

According to the department, passengers on Thai Air Asias flight XJ621 from Sapporo who were seated in rows 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41, and who have not yet sought medical advice from a suitably qualified doctor, need to call 096 750 7657 and isolate themselves to avoid contact with other people, including family members, for 14 days.

Those who do not yet have any flu-like symptoms need not see a doctor, but should remain in isolation.

In China there has been a major drop in the number of new cases reported this week, particularly outside of Hubei, the central Chinese province where the outbreak began (in the city of Wuhan). This is leading some areas to lower travel restrictions and begin the slow process of getting back to work.Liaoning, a province in northeastern China that borders North Korea, was the first to downgrade the coronavirus emergency response level from the highest level, Level 1, to Level 3 last Saturday. This has been followed by Shanxi, Guangdong, Yunnan, Gansu and Guizhou, accounting for some 305 million people.

The World Health Organisation has now increased its coronavirus risk assessment to very high as the cases outside China continue to increase. The growth rate within Chinas borders has slowed. But WHO officials say the virus can still be contained if the chain of transmission can be broken.

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHOs health emergencies program, says the new very high designation was not meant to alarm or scare people.

We are on the highest level of alert or highest level of risk assessment in terms of spread and in terms of impact.This is a reality check for every government on the planet: Wake up. Get ready. This virus may be on its way and you need to be ready. You have a duty to your citizens, you have a duty to the world to be ready.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, said yesterday that most cases can still be traced to known contacts or clusters of cases.

GRAPHIC: Infection and death rates have slowly dropped over the past week

The worlds biggest travel trade fair, the annual ITB in Berlin, Germany has been cancelled. Read the full story about that HERE.

Meanwhile the fallout on the worlds financial markets continues. US stocks tumbled further yesterday, deepening a week-long global rout.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 900 points shortly after the opening bell. Itplummeted nearly 1,200 points on Thursday its biggest one-day point drop ever. The Standard & Poors 500 slid another 2.5%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7%.

The blue-chip stock average is now well into correction territory, a decline of over 10% from a recent high.The Dow and S&P 500 were down more than 10.5% so far this week, heading for their worst weekly performance since the financial crisis in 2008.

A British citizen is the first UK man to die from coronavirus after being infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship moored in Yokohama Bay, Japan.He is the sixth passenger to die from the virus.Another person has tested positive for the virus in England. This person was infected on his home soil.The total number of coronavirus cases in the UK now stands at 20.

South Korean supergroup BTS, Green Day and the US National Symphony Orchestra are cancelling their upcoming concert dates in Asia amid coronavirus concerns.

We regret to announce that the BTS Map of the Soul tour has been cancelled.The statement issued from Big Hit Entertainment who manage BTS.

Green Day, which was scheduled to perform in Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan starting in March as part of its Hella Mega Tour, followed suit. On Friday, the group announced its cancelling tour dates in Asia.

The National Symphony Orchestra, meanwhile, cancelled the five remaining performances in Japan, citing a recommendation from Japanese PM Shinzo Abe that major cultural events be cancelled for the next two weeks.

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Worlds largest travel fair, ITB, cancelled in Berlin - The Thaiger

Travel: Has Richard Branson launched the world’s coolest cruise? – HeraldScotland

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The Scarlet Lady is ready to set sail - and she's a real beauty, says Michael Drummond.

Climbing aboard the sleek and slender Scarlet Lady cruise ship, I'm met by a glamorous interior, as the grey and windy Port of Dover is left behind and I'm immersed in a world of class and style.

This is my first glimpse of Virgin Voyages, Sir Richard Branson's luxury and strictly adults-only cruise line that will soon be chauffeuring passengers to Mexico and beyond.

What's it all about?

Named after an early Virgin Atlantic plane, the Scarlet Lady is a stunning departure from the cruise ship mould, and like the mermaid painted on her prow, she is sure to capture the hearts of sailors.

In many ways, she resembles a gigantic yacht, with her sleek silvery-grey hull, smoked glass and distinctive splashes of red. But at every turn on board, it's clear things are being done 'the Virgin way'.

The 18+ voyage is aimed at travellers who want a sophisticated cruise experience, packed with everything the Virgin Group has to offer, and don't mind paying for it.

Launching the venture, Richard Branson said his dream of 40 years is now a reality: "I wake up in the mornings and before I open my eyes, I pinch myself and think this can't be true. I must have had the most incredible dream."

What are the cabins like?

There are 1,330 cabins and 78 RockStar Suites aboard the Scarlet Lady, carrying a total of 2,770 passengers with 1,150 crew. Almost all of the cabins come with an ocean view, meaning sailors can survey their stunning surroundings as they cruise through the Caribbean.

Rooms are simply laid out with comfortable beds, as well as the thing that every seafarer never knew they needed - champagne delivered anywhere on board at the shake of an app.

Need to live the extravagant lifestyle that befits your celebrity status? The RockStar suites' marble-clad bathrooms, racks of electric guitars and exclusive stargazing terraces will keep your groupies asking if you're around...

What about food and drink?

My first taste of the Scarlet Lady's culinary delights is The Test Kitchen - a gleaming space that feels as much like a laboratory as it does a restaurant.

I'm greeted with a cup of Hojicha green tea before sitting down to six courses of master-crafted food. Among the lab-tested delights are novelties like Guinness bread and vegetarian caviar, which both pair nicely a glass of red.

If gourmet dining isn't to your taste, the ship offers everything from Mexican food and history lessons at Pink Agave, to ship-made scoops at Lick Me Till Ice Cream, in its 20-plus dining areas. So far, celebrity chefs providing their services will include Brad Farmerie of Saxon + Parole in NYC, and Sohui Kim of The Good Fork and Insa, also in New York.

How about the entertainment?

Cocktail in hand, I head to The Red Room, just in time for the Duel Reality show. The stunning acrobatics and dancing feels like Cirque-du-Soleil-meets-Shakespeare, and I'm swept along in a fast-paced modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Elsewhere on ship, sailors can belt out their favourites in private karaoke rooms, try the running track or even face the needle and get a stylish tattoo on the high seas at Squid Ink - the first ever tattoo parlour on a cruise ship.

Where's it going?

Travellers in 2020 will be able to sail off to Costa Maya in Mexico, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, Key West and The Bahamas.

From 2021, sister liner Valiant Lady will usher passengers on seven-night soirees around the Mediterranean.

In terms of excursions, Virgin Voyages promises 'authentic, off-the-beaten path' experiences catering to 'the curious traveller who wishes to truly immerse themselves in a destination and its culture'.

How to plan your trip

Virgin Voyages (virginvoyages.com/book) offers a five-night Riviera Maya itinerary from 640 per person (based on two sharing) with RockStar Suites starting from 5,090 per cabin (sleeps two). Departs Miami on April 5, 2020 and returns to Miami on April 10, 2020.

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Felicia ‘The FeeNom’ Spencer’s future could be of vital importance to the UFC after Cris Cyborg fight – Sportskeeda

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Modified 27 Feb 2020, 10:00 IST

Felicia "The FeeNom" Spencer is a true 145er for the UFC. That's as rare as Halley's Comet. This Saturday night the 29-year-old co-mains the UFC Fight Night 169 in Norfolk Virginia card. While her future is still bright, her future in the UFC is still a question. As is the "make-believe" female featherweight division. While the company has always been coy with the men's Flyweight division, there's been radio silence for the women. The division came into existence due to them wanting to be in the Cris Cyborg business. Having a long term living breathing division for the bigger women was never on their to-do list.

For the men's 125 lb division; while it's a mere shell of what it was, they at least rank who's left. The same cannot be said for the women which makes you wonder since there's no Cyborg, when will they finally cut ties with this charade. Felicia Spencer, Megan Anderson, whatever 135ers they "blow up" deserve much better. They had a The Ultimate Fighter season to try to build from the ground up and they fumbled it away like Joe Pisarcik fumbling a handoff.

Spencer lost her first-ever fight. Since then she rolled 12 straight wins (5 as an amateur, then 6 as a pro), en route to winning gold in INVICTA. Then came her shot vs Cris Cyborg. The heart she showed staying in there against a focused Cyborg for the distance, shows just how talented the Florida native is. While losing a unanimous decision, she was taught many lessons in that fight. The fact that she has the looks, and aura that can make her a household name is even more of an indictment that the organization is missing out, big time.

She faces Zarah Fairn Dos Santos on the card. The head-hunting 33-year-old is a danger on the feet and on the ground. Four of her six wins are finishes. Those four all come in the first round as well. However; if Felicia is able to get back on the winning side of the ledger, there arem't many other options. Germaine de Randamie said she's not going back to 145 again. They could ask Holly Holm to blow back up to 145 again.

Her submission win over Megan doesn't have the "we need a rematch" storyline. Or they can give her a crack at Amanda Nunes who's the lone champ-champ left in the company. But that might not end too well for her as Amanda is on such a devastating roll right now. The other female featherweights just can't be too happy with the situation at the moment, and there's only so much someone can take before they move on.

Who knows? We might see her go up 10 pounds and head to PFL. Or she could join Cyborg in Bellator MMA; possibly for a rematch. For now, we will have to stay tuned to find out.

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Felicia 'The FeeNom' Spencer's future could be of vital importance to the UFC after Cris Cyborg fight - Sportskeeda

Felicia Spencer Aiming For A Title Shot – The Official Website of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

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It kind of sucked to lose, she told UFC.com. At first, people were saying, Congratulations. It was amazing. And Im like, Wait, thats not the right word to use. But it just kept coming, honestly. There was a lot of support coming in. It was definitely nice to see.

Watch UFC Norfolk this Saturday on ESPN+|Prelims begin at 2pm ET, Main Card at 5pm ET

That bout turned out to be the final one for Cyborg under the UFC banner, extinguishing the possibility of a rematch between her and Amanda Nunes for the featherweight title. That reality, along with the fact that Nunes hasnt defended the 145-pound crown since taking it from Cyborg more than a year ago, has the womens featherweight division in an odd spot.

For Spencer, however, theres no question as to what her intention is heading into her fight with Zarah Fairn in this weekends UFC Fight Night co-main event in Norfolk.

I want to make a statement that Im going to get a title shot, Spencer said. I want to make a statement to myself. I want to show myself that Im able to be myself in the cage again and be clear and execute when I want to. And for the rest of the world, I want to show that the rest of my skills are real, and Im not just good at taking punches. I can give them, also.

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Felicia Spencer Aiming For A Title Shot - The Official Website of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Made In Abyss: 10 Burning Questions About Season One That The Sequel Could Finally Answer – CBR – Comic Book Resources

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In 2017,the first season ofMade in Abyss set the anime world on fire. While it isn't the "be-all and end-all" of indicators,Made in Abyssbeat out Season 2 ofMy Hero Academia at the Crunchyroll Awards that year, which is essentially Krillin beating Goku in a fistfight.

RELATED: Every Winner Of The 2020 Anime Awards On Crunchyroll (& What They Won)

It's beenover two years since season one ended, and 2020 looks especially bright for fans of the series. If theater listings are to be trusted, the sequel movie,Dawn of the Deep Soul,willpremiere stateside on April 13.Additionally, there's an outside chance the second season could drop at the end of the year. Withso much to look forward to, it's worth getting a quick refresher on what made the first season so compelling. Hopefully,the upcoming sequels will be able to shine the light on the following questions.

Reg is pretty much one-of-a-kind and uniquely suited for the Abyss because he's a cyborg. But because of his amnesia, we know very little about him. While his memories have been flooding in slowly, there's hope the show will uncover more in these sequels.

Honestly, this question leads to six or seven others. So far, the show has not explained who Reg was and how he became a cyborg. How did he get so far into the Abyss? Was he made in the Abyss and who made him? Is he somehow one of Lyza's children?

Nanachi has proven to be an invaluable ally for Riko and Reg during their short time together. Nanachi is extremely wise and it begs a question of how they acquired that knowledge. For instance, Nanachi knows that Orb Piercers are able to see the future, knows how to defeat them by grabbing the organ on their face, and knows that grabbing it hinders the Orb Piercer's abilities.

Nanachi also knows exactly how the Curse of the Abyss works and appears to be able to manipulate it thanks to an old relic they found. A bit of backstory next season would help bring these answers to light.

The question on the minds of Made in Abyss fans since the end of the first season is the same one Alexandre Dumas posed in 1847who is the man in the iron mask? What little we do know is that his name is Bondrewd, and he's the stranger your parents warned you about as a child. What is unknown is his backstory and what turned him into such an evil person.

RELATED: Why Fans Can't Wait For Made In Abyss: Dawn Of The Deep Soul

The trailer for Dawn of the Deep Soul appears to have him at the main antagonist. And if you remember what he did to Nanachi and Mitty (and scores of other children), we can only hope a very, very painful death is coming his way.

While searching for the source of whatever saved her from the CrimsonSplitjaw in Episode 1, Riko stumbles across the Star Compassa relic that always points down, or as Riko believes, to the bottom of the Abyss. But in the fourth episode, Riko loses it over a waterfall while testing its magnetic properties.

The Star Compass seems like too important of an object to just disappear and never be seen again. If it is not to return in the show, then what was the point of Riko finding it shortly before finding Reg?

While Riko was unconscious and healing from the Orb Piercer attack, she and Mitty appeared to have some psychic link allowing Riko to see Mittya creature she had never seen before. Not only did she see Mitty, but she also saw her clearly in human form.

Regposits a guess about Riko being connected to the Abyss since she once died as a baby and was brought back with a relic. While that could be the explanation, it would be nice to hear how Riko was able to see Mitty.

Reg was apparentlyfoundby Lyza all the way in the seventh layer of the Abyss (15,501+ meters down). And we know that the very least that Lyza's pickaxe found it's way up to the Garden of Flowers of Resilience on the 4th layer (9,000 meters down). But what made Reg continue climbing when he has seemingly no reason to do so?

It's possible that Reg was meant to deliver a message to Riko for Lyza, but we'll have to hope this question is addressed in one of the upcoming sequels.

As Riko and Reg have descended each layer of the Abyss, the worlds they've uncovered have been beautiful and terrifying. At the moment, they're only four levels deep and the creatures have only become more dangerous as they've journeyed downwards. What monsters lie below the fourth level and what threats do they impose?

RELATED: 5 Isekai Worlds We Want To Lie In (& Five That We Don't)

But putting the creatures aside, the 7th layer should be certain death according to the Seeker's records. Is the atmosphere going to be habitable and what is the ring people claim to have seen while looking down from the 6th layer?

There's another question that will be asked soon, but this needs also needs addressing. Everyone saw what happened to Nanachi and Mitty when they were forced to ascend the 6th layer. Lyza was all the way in the 7th layer when she found Reg.If she ascended at any point, there's a chance that she's undergone a serious mutation and is no longer a person.

Plus, the effects of the 7th layer and below are completely unknown. There's no telling what kind of effects the Abyss has on the human body that far down.

It's the question that led everyone on this journey into the Abyss. Riko is traveling deep into the Abyss because of the note her mom sent to her. And it's known due to a flashback that Reg saw what appeared to be a gravestone for Lyza, but it's not 100% that the grave indicates that she's dead.

Considering the stakes of this trip, one can only hope for a happy reunion when this is all said and done.

But ifthis question isn't answered by the end of season two...

Even late last year, a second season seemed preposterous, and the announcement ofa sequel shocked the voice actors of the show to the point of tears. So, if the story doesn't conclude with the second season, what should fans expect?

As readers of the Made in Abysscan tell you,the manga is still ongoing.Dawn of the Deep Soul reportedlytakes fansthrough the end of Chapter 38out of the 53available manga chapters.One would hope that if the manga continues past the end of the second season, then the series will follow. Only time can tell, but let's take that journey together!

NEXT: The 10 Most Anticipated Supernatural Anime Yet To Come In 2020

NextDoomsday: 5 Marvel Heroes He Would Defeat (& 5 He Would Lose To)

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Teamfight Tactics’ next update turns everyone into cyborgs and Sailor Moon – PC Gamer

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Teamfight Tactics' next update promises to completely upend the meta with all-new character origins and some fun new rules. It's called Galaxies and is planned for release in mid-March, alongside TFT's mobile version. When it releases, TFT's roster of champions will transform into far-future versions of themselves while adopting whole new abilities and synergies based on their new origins as Star Guardians, Cybernetics, or Mech-Pilots.

Though Galaxies was officially announced last week, Riot Games released a new blog post today further detailing how these new origins will work while giving some examples of potential team compositions players can look for. Like Rise of the Elements before it, Galaxies is kind of like a clean slate for TFT. You might recognize certain characters, but they'll sometimes have entirely new abilities and how they contribute to your overall team will change too.

Take Star Guardians, for example. Based off of one of my favorite League of Legends skin sets, Star Guardians have a trait that restores mana to all other Star Guardians whenever one of them casts a spell. As Riot explains, that naturally makes them a good fit with Sorcerers (one of the returning origin archetypes), since they're mages that use mana to deal big damage.

Another new origin is Cybernetic, which now includes characters like Yasuo and Leona. Whenever a Cybernetic champion has an item equipped, they get bonus health and attack damage depending on how many Cybernetic characters are on your team. Lastly, there's Mech-Pilot. It's easily the coolest-sounding origin because when you have three of them, they combine to form a super mech until it dies. I haven't seen the ability in action yet, but it sounds wild.

The new origins are cool, but I'm just as interested in seeing Galaxies new 'set mechanic' in play. Each time you jump into a match, you're taken to a different galaxy with slightly different rules that'll change your strategy. One galaxy, for example, gives you two items you can redeem to create certain champions to help your team. Since everyone has the same items, you'll have to take a gamble on when and how to use them. Another galaxy stocks the champion shop with powerful 4-cost champions right at the start, tempting you to spend a lot of gold for an early advantage or save it for a late game comeback.

Overall it sounds like a pretty neat update. I haven't played much TFT since the initial wave of excitement wore off in December, but Galaxies feels like the right time to jump back in and check it out. Though Riot hasn't set a specific date yet, Galaxies is expected mid-March alongside TFT's mobile version.

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Teamfight Tactics' next update turns everyone into cyborgs and Sailor Moon - PC Gamer

Star Trek: Picard Fixes The Biggest Problem With First Contact – Screen Rant

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Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picardseason 1, episode 6.

Star Trek: Picard episode 6 finally fixed the biggest problem with Star Trek: First Contact: Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) ruthlessness toward the Borg. After spending half of Star Trek: Picard season 1 gathering his crew and filling in backstory, the Starfleet legend finally came face-to-face with Soji Asha (Isa Briones), the late Commander Data's (Brent Spiner) synthetic daughter, aboard the Romulan's Borg Cube Artifact. Picard also had a heartwarming reunion with Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco) from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Most importantly, Jean-Luc gained a new perspective on the reclaimed Borg that addressed how his sheer hatred of them colored Picard's behavior in Star Trek: First Contact.

Star Trek: First Contact was the second (and best) TNG movie and it was a sequel to "The Best of Both Worlds" two-parter where Picard was assimilated and turned into Locutus of Borg. Although the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D rescued Picard and restored him back to his human self, Jean-Luc never fully recovered from the trauma of becoming a Borg. In Star Trek: First Contact, Picard faced the Borg once again when theytime-traveled to assimilate the Earth in the 21st century; Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise-E followed them to 2063 where Jean-Luc encountered the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), who tried to turn Data into her new cyborg counterpart. But as Picard led his crew to battle the Borg, who tried to assimilate the Enterprise, he displayed a terrifying and violent new side against his cyborg nemeses - something Lily (Alfre Woodard), a 21st-century stowaway Picard was protecting, directly confronted him about. Picard eventually regained his stately composure but he still didn't deal with his lingering trauma.

Related: Picard Nostalgia Risks Holding Star Trek Fans Back

In Star Trek: Picard episode 6, "The Impossible Box", Picard's hatred for the Borg flared up again before he set foot on a Borg Cube for the first time since he was Locutus. The retired Starfleet Admiral was terrified andovercome by his old trauma until the friendly face of Hugh met Jean-Luc and guided him through the Borg Reclamation Project. There, Picard saw the positive impact the work Hugh and the Romulans were doing to reclaim the Artifact's Borg drones and these scenes finally finished what Star Trek: First Contact started, showing Jean-Luc that he was wrong about the Borg and their potential to be redeemed after all.

Jean-Luc Picard displayed a frightening side of his personality in Star Trek: First Contact that was totally at odds with the wise and philosophical way Patrick Stewart played the Captain for seven seasons of TNG. First Contact's version of Picard revamped him into a literal shoot-first-ask-questions-later action hero. This ideally suited the film's sci-fi/action/horror tone and the Moby-Dick-inspired theme that the Captain had turned into Ahab obsessed with his white whale, the Borg - but it was also jarringly out of sync with the Picard Trekkers had come to know. This was especially true of how violent and ruthless Picard was, even to members of his own crew who were victimized by the Borg the way he once was.

Star Trek: First Contact's Picard was disturbingly unhinged; faced with the enemy who violated his body, mind, and soul, the Captain was hellbent onvengeance and he didn't care who he was exactinghis revenge on. At one point, Picard ordered his Starfleet Officers to kill their fellow crew members who were assimilated by the Borg, remarking, "Believe me, you'd be doing them a favor," which didn't make sense since Picard himself was a reclaimed Borg his crew risked everything to save. To prove his insane point, when an assimilated ensign begged Picard to save him, the Captain coldly killed him with a phaser blast instead. In the holodeck, Picard annihilated a Borg with a Tommy gun despite knowing the drone used to be Ensign Lynch, which left Lily aghast.

To be fair, Star Trek: First Contact's action hero incarnation of Picard was a key reason why the film was so entertaining. Picard delivered immensely quotable dialogue, especially, "The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" - which Patrick Stewart delivered with unforgettably intense ferocity. In that pivotal scene where Lily was able to get Picard to see past his anger and obsession, Jean-Luc finally regained his composure and realized he'd gone too far - to the point where he nearly came to blows with Worf (Michael Dorn). But while a rejuvenated Picard was able to team up with Data to beat the Borg Queen, he never processed the trauma that unhinged him in the first place. When the Borg were defeated, Picard just moved on like it never happened - until Jean-Luc had to face the Borg again in Star Trek: Picard and hefinally dealt with his lingering issues from First Contact.

Related: Star Trek: Picard Confirms Data's Daughters' Mission

One of the best moments in Star Trek: Picard so far was the meeting between Jean-Luc and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in episode 5, "Stardust City Rag". Since both are reclaimed Borg, no other main Star Trek characterscould possibly understand the trauma Picard and Seven share and the episode brilliantly touched upon it. As Picard bid goodbye to Seven, who planned to beam back down to Freecloud to take her revenge on her enemy Bjayzl (Necar Zadigan), they had a touching conversation about how they both lost their humanity when they were assimilated. When Seven asked Picard if he truly feels he regained all of his humanity, Jean-Luc replied with startling honesty: "No. But we're both working on it."

So, 30 years after Star Trek: First Contact and his personaltriumphagainst the Borg Queen, Picard admitted he still doesn't feel like a complete person. Besides being a heartwarming moment between Picard and Seven, Star Trek: Picard retroactively addressed Jean-Luc's behavior in Star Trek: First Contact, recontextualizing his violent obsession to reflecthis deepest fears about his lost humanity. Even better, Star Trek: Picard episode 6, "The Impossible Box", finally gave Jean-Luc the crucial understanding about the Borg (and about himself) that he longed for but hadeluded him for decades.

While Picard finally meeting Soji is a pivotal moment for Star Trek: Picard's main story, in the macro sense, the scenes where Hugh tours Picard through the Romulan Reclamation Project are even more pivotal for Jean-Luc. Picard, the same man who believed in Star Trek: First Contact that the Borg were beyond saving, marveled at the work Hugh's project accomplished. The former Locutus even remarked in awe that he never dreamed the Borg could be reclaimed at the level Hugh and the Romulans were accomplishing. For the first time, Picard finally understood that what his Enterprise crewmates were able to do for him and for Hugh wasn't a rare occurrence; the Borg could be restored to their original selves pre-assimilation, just as he was. More importantly, Picard was able to reconcile his overall hatred for the Borg and saw that, like him, the Borg were actually victims.

It's curious that Jean-Luc was never able to achieve this realization about the Borg being capable (and worthy) of being reclaimed before - especially when it happened to him - but this is a breakthrough event in Picard's life. If only Jean-Luc could haveunderstood this during the crisis aboard the Enterprise-E in Star Trek: First Contact; the Captain could have made a real effort to try to save the assimilated Starfleet Officers under his command. But to Star Trek: Picard's credit, the series forced Jean-Luc to face his trauma about the Borg at last and completed his redemption from Star Trek: First Contact.

Next: Star Trek: Picard Reverses One Of Jean-Luc's Famous Personality Traits

Star Trek: Picard streams Thursdays on CBS All-Access and Fridays internationally on Amazon Prime Video.

Better Call Saul Proves Jimmy (Accidentally) Turns Walter White Into Heisenberg

John has been writing about what he likes - movies, TV, comics, etc. - for over a decade. He's worked in movies and rubbed shoulders with big names but somehow forgot to ask for money a lot of the time - hence, he is happy to be with Screen Rant. John can be found @BackoftheHead, counts a Black Canary and an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. among his friends, believes (correctly) that Superman is stronger than the Hulk, and he is a friend to all talking gorillas.

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Star Trek: Picard Fixes The Biggest Problem With First Contact - Screen Rant