U.S. hotel markets recover from the pandemic; San Francisco an outlier

By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) – A snapshot of 15 major U.S. hotel markets shows that travel to cities is rebounding, with one notable exception: San Francisco. Several hotel activity metrics, including average price per room, revenue per room, and supply growth, show most major cities have rebounded from the worst of the pandemic….

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Biden pushes for ‘Dreamers’ to get US citizenship at ‘Flamin’ Hot’ film showing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Thursday urged Congress to pass a law that would provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship for young people brought to the country illegally as children, using a White House movie night to underscore his support for Latinos. Biden and his wife, Jill, hosted a showing of “Flamin’ Hot,”…

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Why Walmart’s new bet on fashion brands, home decor threatens specialty chains

By Siddharth Cavale (Reuters) – Price-conscious shoppers flock to Walmart Supercenters to pick up $1 potato chips and $3 gallons of milk, but the world’s biggest retailer will now try to sell them $298 cozy swivel chairs and $50 Wrangler jeans, too. Using low-cost and low-margin groceries as a draw, Walmart is adding more than…

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Italy launches ‘Berlusconi’ legal reform to bolster rights of accused

By Emilio Parodi MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s cabinet on Thursday approved a justice reform aimed at strengthening the rights of defendants, measures long advocated by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who died this week after years of legal battles with prosecutors. The bill, which Giorgia Meloni’s rightist government dedicated to Berlusconi, curbs the use of…

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Croatia eying record tourist season after joining Schengen area

By Antonio Bronic ZADAR, Croatia (Reuters) – Croatian tourism officials are anticipating a record year for the sector after the country joined Europe’s free-movement Schengen zone in January, which has boosted the number of visitors to its picturesque Adriatic coast. Tourism accounts for 20% of Croatia’s economy and following a slump during the COVID-19 pandemic,…

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TikTok to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia to boost e-commerce business

By Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) -Short video app TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, said on Thursday it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security. Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630…

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British actor Glenda Jackson, two-time Oscar winner then left-wing politician, dies aged 87

By Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) -Actor Glenda Jackson, a two-time Oscar winner who later served as a socialist politician in the British parliament for 23 years, has died. She was 87. One of four daughters of a bricklayer and a cleaning lady in northwest England, Jackson never forgot her roots even as…

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