World's busiest air routes: Tiny South Korean island beats London, New York

The world’s busiest air route isn’t London to Paris or New York to Los Angeles, but the trip between Seoul and a tiny island off the coast of South Korea.

Planes made 65,000 trips between the Korean capital and Jeju island -- a journey of little more than an hour -- in 2017, equivalent to 178 flights a day, according to data from OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd. That’s almost double the 35,000 trips on the busiest North American route: Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Asian cities dominated the list, cementing the region’s status as the world’s fastest-growing travel market. Among the 10 busiest routes in the world last year, Los Angeles-San Francisco was the only North American entry and there wasn’t a single European destination. The top European route in OAG’s rankings was Dublin-London Heathrow with about 14,500 flights.
Jeju-Seoul

The beaches and resorts of Jeju, an island off the southernmost tip of the Korean peninsula, have drawn local holiday-makers for decades. These days, Japanese and Chinese tourists are joining the South Koreans on the sand.

Melbourne-Sydney

Unless you have 10 hours to spare and love driving, a 90-minute flight is the best way to shuttle between Australia’s two biggest population centers. Weekday rush-hour connections are the domain of suited bankers and business travelers. Shoppers, sports fans and tourists take the cheaper seats.

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Notorious cult leader Charles Manson dead at 83

Charles Manson, the fiery-eyed 1960s cult leader whose followers committed heinous murders that terrorised Los Angeles and shocked the US, has died at 83. He had been behind bars for 48 years.

He died of natural causes at 8.13 p.m. on Sunday at a hospital in Kern County, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a news release.

The news of his death was confirmed by Debra Tate, the sister of his most famous victim, actress Sharon Tate, who was heavily pregnant with film director Roman Polanski's baby when she was stabbed to death by his followers.

"This could be the end of an era or just the beginning," she declared, adding: "I said a prayer for his soul."

Prison officials said it's "undetermined" what will happen to Manson's corpse as he has no next of kin, the US media reported.

The diminutive and charismatic Manson orchestrated a wave of violence in August 1969 that took the lives of seven people, spawned headlines worldwide and landed him and his "Manson Family" of followers in prison for most of the remainder of their lives.
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Charlottesville violence: Hundreds rally against white supremacists in LA

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, protesting white supremacists violence in Virginia the day before.

Holding black placards with slogans like "White Silence White Consent", the demonstrators gathered outside city hall to condemn racism and violent incidents occurred in Charlottesville on Saturday, Xinhua reported.

The violent incidents that occurred in Charlottesville claimed the lives of three people while around twenty were injured.

The rally was launched by Refuse Fascism Organisation, a New York-based activist group who has dozens of offices all around the country.

Michael, a young African-American girl of the organisation, delivered a speech on stairs to the front door of city hall, calling on people to take action fighting against KKK and fascism in the US.

"We are standing against fascism, we are standing with people all of the world, we should give our hands to ourselves," Michael said.
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Olympics: Los Angeles agrees to host 2028 Games; Paris gets 2024

Los Angeles formally announced its bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics on Monday after agreeing on a deal that paves the way for Paris to host in 2024.

"The Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic bid committee in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), today announced its intention for Los Angeles to host the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 2028 and its agreement with the Host City Contract 2028," the LA bid committee said in a statement, confirming earlier comments from city officials.

Los Angeles had been in a race with Paris to host the 2024 Games, with the winner to be named by the IOC on September 13 in Lima.

But the possibility that Los Angeles would abandon a 2024 bid and instead accept the 2028 Games has been growing since the IOC decided in July that it would attempt to award both Games at its Lima meeting.

LA bid officials said Monday that an agreement had been reached with the IOC on financial considerations that would make waiting an extra four years feasible.
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Whole Foods profits dip as same-store sales fall for 8th straight quarter

Whole Foods Market Inc, which has agreed to be bought by Amazon.com Inc for $13.7 billion, on Wednesday reported a quarterly profit decline after same-store sales fell for the eighth quarter in a row.

Shares in the upscale grocer, which released the financial report more than two hours earlier than expected, were largely unchanged at $41.80 in midday trading.

Net income fell to $106 million, or 33 cents per share, from $120 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Austin, Texas-based upscale grocer reported a 1.9 percent drop in same-store sales for the third quarter that ended July 2.

Whole Foods said it expects to close its deal with Amazon during the second half of this year, and said it would not update its earnings forecasts and would not hold a conference call.
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Michael Jordan's 1984 shoes auctioned for record $190,300

A pair of shoes worn by Michael Jordon during the 1984 gold medal winning Olympic finals was sold at an auction in the US for a whopping $ 190,373, the highest price on record for game-used sneakers.

The previous record for a pair of game-used shoes sold at an auction was $104,765, also held by the US basketball player for the ones he wore in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, known as the "Flu Game."

"The record-shattering price proves that Michael Jordan has no equal in the marketplace for game-used basketball memorabilia," Dan Imler, vice president of SCP Auctions was quoted as saying by 'ESPN'.

The size 13 dual-signed shoes are considered to be in great condition, despite the wear and tear of the game use.

The highly-coveted Converse sneakers are ultra-rare as they feature Jordan's original pre-NBA autograph form and because he signed a contract with Nike shortly after US beat Spain in the basketball finals of the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, US.

The shoes are the last pair Jordan wore in a competition as an amateur, the SCP auction house said.

The white and navy blue trimmed shoes are a canvas and leather mid-top design. The navy blue Converse star logo appears on both sides and again on the upper heels.

The original white laces are present and they even include Jordan's very own navy blue orthotic inserts.

The shoes are very well-preserved with all structural and aesthetic components perfectly intact.

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