Taiwan is offering to pay tourists just over €150 to holiday there this year in a bid to boost visitor numbers.

The East Asian country wants to welcome six million tourists in 2023, and hopes lining their wallets with NT$5,000 (€158) in spendig money will help to win them over.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communication is also giving travel agencies subsidies of up to NT$20,000 (€633) for each group of tourists that arrives in the country.


Announcing the proposal earlier this week, Minister Wang Kwo-tsai explained that the tourists’ spending money will be delivered digitally and can be put towards accommodation and other costs in the country.

He did not specify when the scheme would start. But given the way the cost-of-living crisis is swaying our travel priorities, it may well tip the balance for some European holidaymakers.

Why is Taiwan paying tourists to visit?

It’s all part of a post-pandemic drive to rebuild the country’s tourism sector. Taiwan was one of the last countries to lift its COVID-19 border restrictions in October 2022.

Just under 900,000 people visited in 2022, according to the Taiwan Tourism Board. That’s a steep plummet from 2019 when simpler times brought a record 11.8 million international visitors to Taiwan’s shores.


Premier Chen Chien-jen says the country is trying to get back on track with 10 million tourists by 2025.

Paying tourists to visit might sound like an unusual way to restock the coffers. But a number of countries are using incentives to rebalance tourist levels after the pandemic.

Hong Kong, for example, is giving away 500,000 airline tickets to attract more visitors.

The Aruba Tourism Authority is offering what could be one of the most unique jobs in the world.

Candidates aren’t expected to have much experience, they’ll have lots to keep them busy and they’ll get to spend 6 nights at a resort on the Caribbean island’s Eagle Beach.

So what is the job?

Aruba is looking for someone with a “sunny personality” to be its weather person for a week.

The twist is that the island’s weather rarely ever changes. Most days are warm with isolated clouds appearing rarely in the sky. It officially has more sunny days than any other Caribbean island.

The tourism board says literally anyone could be Aruba’s weather person making this the “world’s easiest job”.

There’s nothing worse than making the trek to see a popular tourist attraction only to think, “Is this it?”

But just because something’s famous, doesn’t mean it’s impressive.

To help you decipher which sites are worth a visit and which you should skip, luggage storage specialist Stasher has ranked 99 of the world’s top tourist attractions.

Taking into account Google reviews, quality of local accommodation, distance from the nearest international airport, tourist safety and TikTok popularity, each attraction was scored out of 10. If data could not be found for all of these points, attractions were filtered out of the rankings.

Four out of the top five of the world’s most impressive tourist sites were found to be in Europe.

Here are the best – and worst – tourist attractions according to the data.

What are Europe’s best tourist attractions?

A semicircle of impressive government buildings flanked by tall towers hugs a large fountain in Seville’s sweeping Plaza de España.

The plaza was originally built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition World’s Fair.

52 tiled alcoves line the base of its buildings, depicting each of Spain’s provinces. Four mosaic bridges – representing the country’s four ancient regions – cut picturesque paths over the water, where rowboats float around the circular canal.

While the popular tourist site has been knocked off its top spot in Stasher’s previous rankings, it still sits proudly in the top five.

Plaza de España is a public space, meaning it’s free to enter.

Blue Lagoon, Iceland

With steam rising from its milky turquoise waters, surrounded by awe-inspiring volcanoes, Iceland’s Blue Lagoon makes for an inviting picture.

Ethereal as the landscape may be, the pool is not a natural phenomenon. The spa is filled with a byproduct from the nearby geothermal power plant.

Nevertheless, its mineral-rich water and soft white silica mud have healing properties for the skin.

It welcomes around one million visitors per year – more than double the population of Iceland – and is a firm TikTok favourite.

Ticket prices for the Blue Lagoon vary by day, time and season, starting from around €60.

Manchester will soon become the first UK city to charge a tourist tax.

The northwestern English city will introduce the new fee from 1 April 2023.

The nightly charge will apply to all visitors who stay in an apartment, hotel or guesthouse in the city centre.

Revenue from the ‘City Visitor Charge’ will be invested in cultural and tourism initiatives, such as events and festivals. It will also be used to improve street cleanliness and the tourist experience.

The charge is expected to rake in around £3 million (€3.4 million) per year.

How much will Manchester’s tourist tax be?

Manchester’s tourist tax will be set at £1 (€1.14) per room, per night.

It will apply to all hotels and short stay serviced apartments in the city centre with an annual rent value of £75,000 (€85,000) or more.

Properties in the loosely defined Manchester Accommodation BID zone will be subject to the charge. Currently this includes 73 properties, mostly within the Manchester and Salford Inner Ring Road.

The visit of Syria’s Foreign Minister to Egypt is a positive step toward restoring ties between the two countries, which have been strained since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. The visit signals a willingness by both countries to engage in dialogue and work toward normalizing relations

The Syrian Foreign Minister’s visit to Egypt comes after years of tensions between the two countries, which have supported opposing sides in the Syrian conflict. Egypt has been a vocal critic of the Syrian government’s crackdown on protesters and has supported the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad.

However, recent developments in the region, including the withdrawal of US forces from Syria and the ongoing conflict in Libya, have prompted a reevaluation of relationships among countries in the Middle East. Egypt and Syria are both members of the Arab League and have a shared interest in regional stability and security.

During his visit to Egypt, the Syrian Foreign Minister met with his Egyptian counterpart and other officials to discuss a range of issues, including the situation in Syria and ways to strengthen bilateral ties. The visit has been hailed as a positive development by both sides, and there are hopes that it will lead to further cooperation and collaboration in the future.

On the first night of WWE WrestleMania 39, Rey Mysterio made his entrance on a low-rider with Snoop Doog while Eddie Guerrero’s entrance music briefly played before making his normal entrance where he beat Dominik Mysterio in a singles match

While speaking at the post-show press conference, Rey commented on the tribute:

You can only imagine [what it meant to me] I already had mixed emotions from the Hall of Fame the night before, and the rebirth of the LWO [during this week’s SmackDown on FOX.] Knowing that I had to fight my son, knowing that my wife and daughter were there, a lot of family members. And on top of that [was the Guerrero tribute.]”

” To be able to ride with Snoop was legendary. ‘Nothin’ but a G’ is something I heard when I was a kid. When I was growing up, everybody heard that song. And then to mix it into Viva La Raza, the representation of the representor, the fullest representor of Hispanics: Eddie Guerrero. It’s incredible. I walked into that match very emotional, and a lot of my work tonight was in honor of Eddie Guerrero.”

Elon Musk broke US labor law in 2018 when he tweeted Tesla factory workers would forgo stock options if they chose to unionize, according to a federal appeals court. On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision spotted by Business Insider, upheld a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling that found Musk made unlawful threats around employee compensation

In May 2018, a Twitter user asked Musk about his stance on unions. “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted,” he tweeted in response. “But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.”

of painted yellow lines & tape. Report about forklifts not beeping is also bs. These are both demonstrably false, but were reported as “facts” by Reveal.

The tweet immediately drew the attention of labor activists, and in 2021, the NLRB, responding to a complaint from the United Auto Workers union, found Musk had threatened employees. Tesla has argued the tweet was Musk’s way of pointing out that workers at other automakers don’t receive stock options. NLRB chair Wilma Liebman saw it differently. “The employee is going to hear it as, ‘If I vote to unionize, stock options will no longer be an option,'” she told Bloomberg in 2018.

After reviewing the decision, the Fifth Circuit Court sided with the NLRB. “Because stock options are part of Tesla’s employees’ compensation, and nothing in the tweet suggested that Tesla would be forced to end stock options or that the UAW would be the cause of giving up stock options, substantial evidence supports the NLRB’s conclusion that the tweet is as an implied threat to end stock options as retaliation for unionization,” the panel wrote.

The court ordered Musk to delete the tweet. As of the writing of this article, the message is still live. The Fifth Circuit Court also upheld an order from the NLRB that Tesla reinstates Richard Ortiz, a worker the automaker fired for organizing employees at its Fremont factory in California.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday said it has new evidence that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine, this time in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return.

It’s the latest accusation that Russia, desperate for weaponry and restricted by sanctions and export controls, is turning to “rogue” nations to help it continue to prosecute the 13-month-old war.

“As part of this proposed deal, Russia would receive over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions from Pyongyang,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “We also understand that Russia is seeking to send a delegation to North Korea and that Russia is offering North Korea food in exchange for munitions.”

The administration has previously declassified intelligence to present evidence that Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia over the summer and that the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, has taken delivery of arms from North Korea to help bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine.

Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong Un’s 11-year rule, but they still say they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths. Kim vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of other steps to increase grain production, North Korean state media reported earlier this month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that U.S. intelligence suggested China was considering providing arms and ammunition to Russia, though White House officials have said they have yet to see evidence of Beijing following through with weapons delivery.

The publicizing of Russia’s efforts to get weapons from North Korea is just the latest example of the Biden administration loosening restrictions on intelligence findings and making them public over the course of the grinding war in Ukraine.

The administration has said it has sought to disseminate the intelligence findings so allies and the public remain clear-eyed about Moscow’s intent and Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks twice about his actions.

Earlier Thursday, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against a Slovakian national, Ashot Mkrtychev, alleging he attempted to facilitate arms deals between Russia and North Korea.

Kirby said Mkrtychev is at the center of the new North Korea-Russia deal, which has yet to be consummated. He added that the U.S. does not have evidence that Mkrtychev was involved in the earlier transfer of weapons to Russia’s Wagner Group, whose mercenaries have been in the center of a monthslong battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Between the end of 2022 and early 2023, Treasury said Mkrtychev worked with North Korean officials to obtain over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities to be sent to North Korea.

Mkrtychev worked with a Russian citizen to find commercial aircraft to delivers goods to North Korea in the exchange.

“Russia has lost over 9,000 pieces of heavy military equipment since the start of the war, and thanks in part to multilateral sanctions and export controls, Putin has become increasingly desperate to replace them,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. “Schemes like the arms deal pursued by this individual show that Putin is turning to suppliers of last resort like Iran and the DPRK.”

North Korea, an outlier on the global stage, has sought to enhance relations with Russia since its invasion of Ukraine brought an avalanche of sanctions from the West and broad international condemnation.

Any arms deal with Russia would be a violation of U.N. resolutions that ban North Korea from exporting to or importing weapons from other countries.

North Korea is the only nation aside from Russia and Syria to recognize the independence of Russia-backed separatist territories, Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.

Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II is poised to enter a new phase in the coming weeks.

With no suggestion of a negotiated end to the 13 months of fighting between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian defense minister said last week that a spring counteroffensive could begin as soon as April.

Kyiv faces a key tactical question: How can the Ukrainian military dislodge Kremlin forces from land they are occupying? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working hard to keep his troops, and the general public, motivated for a long fight.

Here’s a look at how the fighting has evolved and how the spring campaign might unfold:

HOW DID THE WAR GET HERE?

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 2022, but its attacks fell short of some main targets and lost momentum by July. Ukrainian counteroffensives took back large areas from August through November.

Then the fighting got bogged down in attritional warfare during the bitter winter and into the muddy, early spring thaw.

Now, Kyiv can take advantage of improved weather to seize the battlefield initiative with new batches of Western weapons, including scores of tanks, and fresh troops trained in the West.

But Russian forces are dug in deep, lying in wait behind minefields and along kilometers (miles) of trenches.

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing for $7 billion in private-sector investments to help Africa prepare for the effects of climate change.

The announcement comes as she wraps up her weeklong trip to the continent on Saturday. Harris plans to visit a farm outside Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, where workers are using new techniques and technology to grow more produce, part of her effort to demonstrate ways to secure food supplies despite global warming.

“The United States is committed to these types of innovative solutions to support climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience,” she said Friday during a news conference with President Hakainde Hichilema.

Harris’ trip, which included stops in Ghana and Tanzania, is intended to advance U.S. efforts to make inroads in Africa, where China’s influence runs deep. The $7 billion announcement is the biggest-ticket item that Harris has announced, but more work will be needed to follow through.

For example, African Parks, a nonprofit group, has committed to raise $1.25 billion over the next seven years in order to expand its conservation program. Another organization, One Acre Fund, plans to raise $100 million to plant 1 billion trees by the end of the decade.