In Disney-fication of Venice, world hits its overtourism tipping point

Demonstrators try to break through the blockade created by police officers to enter the city at Piazzale Roma, opposing the charge for tourists to enter the city on April 25, 2024 in Venice, Italy. Today Venice authorities launched a pilot program charging visitors a 5-euro entry fee in the hope that it will discourage at … Read more

Dubai flooding and a climate change drain test the world is failing

Traffic diverts away from a flooded street in Sharjah on April 20, 2024, after the heaviest rainfall on record in the UAE. Ahmed Ramzan | Afp | Getty Images The Dubai flooding last week illustrated how urban engineering is failing a major climate change test. In a world marked by the increasing possibility of extreme … Read more

Amazon’s long journey to get rid of its signature brown boxes

Amazon parcels are prepared for delivery at Amazon’s Robotic Fulfillment Centre on December 19, 2023 in Sutton Coldfield, England.  Nathan Stirk | Getty Images News | Getty Images Every year, the U.S. goes through enough cardboard boxes for shipping to pave a one-mile-wide road from New York City to Los Angeles three times, or build … Read more

Female founders say it is an amazing time for women to be in business

In 2022, only 2.1% of venture capital investments in the U.S. went to businesses that are founded solely by women. But some say the gap may be closing. Maskot | Digitalvision | Getty Images Starting a business is always challenging and while women have historically faced additional challenges, some female founders say the landscape is … Read more

Economy, Gaza war and China ties dominate

Presidential candidates Anies Baswedan, Prabowo Subianto, and Ganjar Pranowo, along with their vice presidential candidates, are posing for photos after the first presidential candidate debate at the General Election Commission (KPU) office in Jakarta, Indonesia, on December 12, 2023. Indonesia is preparing to hold general elections for president and vice president for the 2024-2029 period … Read more

In tough real estate market, a century-old home idea could come back

A crane taking four 15-foot-wide by 60-foot-long modular home segments and stacking them one on top of the other to make a new duplex in Aurora, Colorado in 2018. Hyoung Chang | Denver Post | Getty Images A century ago, a first-time homebuyer might begin their search in a catalog for a kit-built home from … Read more

A new luxury hotel with rooms made from buses opens in Singapore

The resort hotel has 20 rooms which will be open for stays from Dec. 1, 2023. Source: The Bus Collective It only costs a dollar to ride a Singapore bus — but 398 Singapore dollars to sleep in one. The Bus Collective is Southeast Asia’s first resort hotel to repurpose decommissioned public buses into luxury … Read more