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Travel advisors who believe Oceania Cruises straddles the line between the premium and luxury categories, would be well-served to reconsider that view – as did I following after sailing on 68,000-ton, 1,200 passenger Oceania Allura’s four-night shakedown cruise from Genoa to Trieste earlier this month. Suffice it to say Ocean Allura, and its sister, Oceania Vista, fall squarely in the luxury category.A New Take on LuxuryThe line’s executives contend  that what distinguishes Oceania from its competition is the concept of “luxury with choice,” which enables guests to choose between fully all-inclusive options and those with fewer amenities. “Oceania was founded…

Privacy-focused productivity tools maker Proton on Wednesday released its AI assistant, called Lumo, which it says prioritizes protecting user data. The company says the chatbot keeps no logs of your conversations, has end-to-end encryption for storing chats, and offers a ghost mode for conversations that disappear as soon as you close the window. Available via a web client, as well as Android and iOS apps, Lumo doesn’t require you to have an account to use the chatbot and ask questions. You can upload files to have the chatbot answer questions about them, and if you have a Proton Drive account,…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Boston AP  —  A flight attendant accused of taping his cell phone to the lid of an airplane toilet to secretly film young girls was sentenced to just under 20 years in prison Wednesday. Former American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III received a sentence of 18.5 years, followed by five years of supervised release. Boston US District Court Judge Julia Kobick called his behavior “appalling” and said child victims’ “innocence has been lost” because of his actions. Thompson was arrested and charged in January 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia, after authorities said a 14-year-old girl…

NEW YORK (AP) — After five years of working long nights as a truck driver, Julius Mosley wanted a change. He found driving unfulfilling, and his teenage son needed him to spend more time at home.So Mosley took a job as a customer service representative at a telecommunications company near his home. The employee benefits included being able to take job-related classes for free. He decided he wanted to study leadership so he could learn about managing teams and helping people become the best versions of themselves. His company, Spectrum, paid for a 10-week front-line manager certificate program that Mosley…

Six years ago, Uber launched a feature in Saudi Arabia that let women drivers on its ride-hailing app ask to be connected to female riders. Since then, the “women preferences” feature has rolled out to 40 countries, from Argentina and Brazil to Canada, India, and Mexico. In a few weeks, this feature will finally make its way to the United States, the company said on Wednesday. Uber plans to pilot the feature in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Women will be able to set a preference for a woman driver in the Uber app, increasing their chances of a…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Almost 50 people including children are feared dead after a Soviet-era passenger plane crashed in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, state media reported on Thursday, citing local officials. The plane, an Antonov An-24, was flying on a regional route from Khabarovsk to Blagoveshchensk and Tynda when it disappeared from the radar, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said in a statement posted on Telegram. The Amur Center for Civil Defence and Fire Safety said on Telegram that a search and rescue helicopter spotted the wreck of the plane on a mountain slope 10 miles (16 kilometers)…

Eli Manning is not only an investor in XTECH but he wore their shoulder pads during his playing days.Evan Pinkus/XTECHTwo-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning may have hung up his shoulder pads, but he’s still taking interest in the gear.The former New York Giants quarterback on Thursday announced he has invested in sports protective equipment maker XTech.Manning, who wore XTech shoulder pads during his playing days, said he took a stake in the company because he believes in the product and wants to make sure that youth athletes have the same high-level safety equipment that NFL players have.”They’ve [XTech] gone…

Less than a week after it became Europe’s latest unicorn, Swedish vibe coding startup Lovable is now also a centaur — a company with more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Lovable took only eight months since its launch to get here, thanks to the skyrocketing popularity of its AI-powered website and app builder. The startup claims it now has more than 2.3 million active users, and last reported 180,000 paying subscribers.  With only 45 full-time employees, and 14 open positions on its careers page, that makes for an impressive employee-to-revenue ratio. Subscriptions seem to be driving the…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Bangkok, Thailand  —  Deadly violence has flared up once again on the contentious border between Thailand and Cambodia, reigniting a long-running but little-known dispute. Thailand deployed fighter jets against Cambodian military targets on Thursday, as forces from both countries clashed along the border. The escalation came after a second Thai soldier in a week lost their leg in a landmine explosion. Diplomatic relations have deteriorated as a full-blown conflict threatens to break out. Here’s what to know about the disputed border. Tensions worsened in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a brief clash between…

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Most cat owners dread their pets bringing home mice or birds. But for the owners of one felonious feline in Auckland, New Zealand, there’s a worse shame — being the unwitting accomplice to an unstoppable one-cat crimewave.His prolific laundry-pinching from clotheslines and bedrooms in the placid beachside neighborhood of Mairangi Bay has turned 15-month-old Leo into a local celebrity and earned him a new moniker. He now goes by Leonardo da Pinchy. And he’s got expensive taste. His frequent hauls include silk boxer shorts, thick men’s work socks — preferably with clothespins still attached —…