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Heat Waves are Getting More Dangerous in Europe for Tourists
Mary Beth Walsh believed she was used to hot weather as she grew up in Texas. Heat waves are common in her hometown of Dallas, which is now experiencing intense heat waves.
However, the 21-year-old was taken aback by the “unbearable” 98 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) heat waves she experienced when she traveled to Athens with her companions in mid-June. She told CNN, “It was pretty surprising because I had no idea about the heat waves that were going on until we were there.”
“I always joke around that in August (in the US), I bring my sweatshirt to class because I have such a high heat tolerance,” she said. However, she was living in an apartment without air conditioning, and it was too hot during the day to explore the city. “We didn’t have as much energy as we had anticipated,” she said.
Walking in the intense heat waves felt pretty awful.” Many visitors are aware that Europe will soon experience scorching summers due to the climate problem. According to analysts, record heat waves and wildfires in 2023 caused a decline in interest in travel to the hotter Mediterranean countries, while interest in more moderate places increased.
This trend northward might be exacerbated by recent heat-related fatalities and disappearances in Greece, such as the British TV personality Michael Mosley’s. These events have an impact on travel plans.
Southern European nations, many of which depend on tourism to support their economies, are beginning to face more challenges regarding the travel industry’s and travelers’ ability to adjust to the increasing effects of climate change.
Night Shift
The recent high temperatures have pushed the climate catastrophe to the forefront for several European visitors. “The climate disaster that we had feared would occur in 10 or 15 years has already occurred in certain regions. That’s the terrifying bit,” Roo Clark, 28, of Suffolk, eastern England, told CNN while visiting with his girlfriend on the Greek island of Skyros.
“Five years ago, me and my friends wouldn’t have even spoken about it (climate change), whereas now it’s more of a conversation.” Authorities in Greece have frequently advised visitors not to underestimate the severe heat waves, particularly during the middle of the day. Hiking in hot temperatures has been a common thread connecting recent tragedies nationwide.
According to CNN meteorologists, temperatures in Greece are expected to range from 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (low to mid-30s Celsius) during the next several weeks, a few degrees above the summer norm. However, rain is predicted for one or two days, which will bring temperatures down.
The owner of Greece’s biggest outdoor-focused travel business, Stefanos Sidiropoulos, advised travelers not to dive right into activities. It’s more challenging for those traveling from Canada or northern Europe, which have colder climates. They need time to get used to these circumstances,” he said to CNN.
Trekking Hellas, Sidiropoulos’ vacation firm, now offers some activities during lower temperatures, including dawn and dusk. “Or with torches at night,” he continues.
Infatuated with travel
Certain nations that rely on tourism-related revenue would suffer greatly from climate change’s impact on where visitors choose to holiday. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Greece’s tourism industry makes up around 20% of the nation’s total GDP, or over 38 billion euros ($41 billion).
In Italy, where the highest degree of warning, level three heat warnings, has just been issued for the cities of Rome, Perugia, and Palermo, according to current data, 10% of the nation’s GDP is attributed to tourism, with one in every eight jobs related to the sector.
Following Europe’s 2023 summer heat wave, which forced thousands to flee wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes, the European Travel Commission (ETC), a nonprofit organization in charge of promoting Europe as a travel destination, reported a 7% increase in expressions of concern about climate change among European travelers.
According to ETC, this followed a drop in interest in southern Mediterranean holiday spots during the summers of 2022 and 2023, as colder places such as the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Denmark became more enticing.
“Travelers are increasingly aware of extreme weather events and their potential impact on their vacations,” Eduardo Santander, CEO of ETC, told CNN, adding that in the future, this could lead to more travelers visiting southern Europe in the spring and late fall rather than the hotter summer months.
Santander said that visitor fears over climate change are often short-lived. “Travelers are concerned after the summer but tend to forget about those events when booking their next holidays in the spring,” he told me.
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NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
Jamie Foxx has yet to publicly divulge the reason for his hospitalization last year, although he did share further facts during a videotaped encounter.
The Oscar-winning actor was hospitalized in April 2023 due to a health problem while filming the Netflix film “Back in Action” in Atlanta.
In a TikTok video posted this week, Foxx informs an unidentified group of people that he has a “bad headache” on April 11, 2023. He remembers asking his friend for an Advil, and then “I was gone for 20 days.”
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“I don’t remember anything,” he claimed in a video shot on June 29 in Phoenix.
Foxx went on to say in the video that he was told his sister and daughter took him to the doctor, who him a cortisone shot. Another doctor told him something was “going on up there,” as Foxx pointed to his head.
“I won’t say it on camera,” he remarked throughout the video.
The singer is known to be discreet about his personal life, and he disappeared from the spotlight at the time due to what his daughter Corinne Foxx described as a “medical complication” on social media.
In July 2023, the “Ray” star revealed that he chose not to reveal more information because he did not want the public “to see me like that.”
“I want you to see me laughing, having fun, partying, cracking jokes, or performing in a movie or television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes coming out of me and wondering if I was going to make it,” he said in a video posted on Instagram at the time, adding that he felt like he had gone “to hell and back.”
Foxx provided another health update on his verified social media accounts in August 2023.
Jamie Foxx | Fox Image
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“You are looking at a thankful man…” “I’m finally starting to feel like myself,” he wrote at the time. “The journey has been unexpectedly dark…” “But I can see the light.”
He added that he was “thankful to everyone who reached out and sent well wishes and prayers.”
According to IMDB, “Back in Action” is now in post-production.
SOURCE – CNN
NEW YORK — Hunter Biden filed a complaint accusing Fox News of illegally distributing sexual photographs of him as part of a streaming series.
The president’s son filed the complaint on Sunday in state court in Manhattan over photos from “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which will premiere on Fox Nation in 2022. According to the lawsuit, the series included a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on crimes he has not faced, as well as photos of Biden naked and engaging in sex acts.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
The lawsuit argues that the distribution of intimate photographs without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn legislation.
“Fox published and disseminated these Intimate Images to its vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program in order to humiliate, harass, annoy and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation,” the lawsuit states.
In an emailed statement, a Fox News representative termed it an “entirely politically motivated lawsuit” that was “devoid of merit.” According to the statement, Biden’s attorneys filed a letter demanding its removal from streaming sites in April 2024.
“The program was removed within days of the letter, out of prudence, because Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been investigated several times and is now a convicted felon. According to the emailed statement, Fox News has faithfully covered Mr. Biden’s newsworthy events by the First Amendment, and we look forward to defending our rights in court.
Hunter Biden was convicted last month of three felony charges stemming from the purchase of a revolver in 2018. Prosecutors claimed the president’s son lied on a mandated gun-buy form by claiming he was not unlawfully using or addicted to narcotics.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
According to the lawsuit, the series’ simulated trial included bribery claims and inappropriate financial relationships with foreign governments, which Hunter Biden has not faced.
The lawsuit says Fox did not completely remove promotional materials and that the program is still available on some third-party streaming sites.
SOURCE – (AP)
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