Two airplanes have “highly likely collided” with each other at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japanese public broadcaster NHK is reporting, citing the country’s transport ministry.

The two passenger aircraft involved belonged to EVA Air and Thai Airways and are thought to have come into contact with each other near a taxiway at around 11 a.m., NHK reported on Saturday morning.

It cited the Tokyo Aviation Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which is working to confirm the details of the situation.

The broadcaster said 207 passengers and crew were on board the EVA Air plane, while 264 others were on the Thai Airways flight. No injuries have been reported.

The runway near where the two aircraft were stopped has been suspended, leaving just three in operation.

Airport video footage from NHK shows part of one of the Thai aircraft’s wings missing and debris on the runway close by.

The video also shows aviation staff cleaning up the debris.

The Tokyo Airport Office has sent staff to the area to check the situation.

This is a developing story. More to come.

UK to charge travelers for entry

Visa waiver schemes have been around for a while. The United States has the $21 ESTA, valid for two years, and Europe will be introducing the 7 euro ETIAS (about $7.50 on exchange rates this week) in 2024. That one will last you three years.

The United Kingdom, you may recall, rather famously fled the EU coop a couple of years back. Now it’s revealed the price tag for its own scheme, the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation): £10 (about $12.50) for two years.

Admittedly, that’s only about the price of a large fish and chips, but it does mean access to the nations that gave us the Tower of London and Edinburgh Castle will be more expensive than a pass to the home countries of the Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, the Sagrada Familia and the Acropolis combined.

The plan is for the scheme to be rolled out for people who don’t require a visa to enter the United Kingdom – including US and EU nationals – by the end of 2024, with the first nation to join the scheme being Qatar later this year.

Bunk beds and double-decker seats

The new version is roomier and with improved incline but, when all’s said and done, if you’re on the lower set, face cheeks and butt cheeks are level in a way that makes many uncomfortable.

There was a warmer welcome for Delta’s groundbreaking airplane seat concept that allows powered wheelchair users to stay in their own chair, which could improve the flying experience for millions around the world. Our video shows how it works.

Finally, Air New Zealand’s economy class bunk beds were a winner at the Crystal Cabin Awards and are set to hit the skies in 2024. That follows the news in March that Lufthansa will be introducing double bed suites for first class passengers as part of its $2.65 billion transformation of long-haul aircraft cabins.

Award-winning food and wine

Where can I get Haitian food in the Pacific Northwest? Which Philadelphia restaurant does the best tasting menu? Which emerging wine producers should I brag to my friends about discovering? Don’t worry, Travel friends, we’ve got you.

Just check out the illustrious winners of two of the biggest awards in food and drink – the James Beard Awards for US chefs and restaurants and the Decanter World Wine Awards for venerable vinos, both announced this week.

Law and order

There’s been a boom in bad behavior on airplanes in recent years – yet another US-bound flight was diverted last weekend – but the most egregious recent example has to be the passenger who opened the door on a South Korea flight. Here’s what the man who was seated next to him had to say about the ordeal.

Down on ground level, there are still people not getting the message that you don’t mess with wildlife. Tourists put a baby elk in their car in Yellowstone National Park in the latest of a string of incidents.

In case you missed it

A real, 3D-printed cultivated fish fillet has just been created. 

Welcome home, honey, your dinner’s in the printer.

Three sand cat kittens were born at North Carolina Zoo.

Witness the cuteness here.

Six years ago, a man set out on a solo hike around the coastline of the United Kingdom. 

Then things took a turn.

Not since the 1970s has Steve Perillo, CEO and third-generation owner of New Jersey-based tour operator Perillo Tours, seen such a spike in travelers booking trips to Europe.

The company, which is best known for its custom tours to Italy, usually sells about 80% of its capacity in a year, Perillo says. So far in 2023, approximately 96% of the operator’s 500 annual departures, which also include Spain and Greece as destinations, are booked – and Perillo expects that figure to hit 100% within a few weeks, before the company starts marketing for its 2024 season.

For Perillo, hints of the blockbuster season ahead started appearing last fall, when the company offered a Black Friday discount of about 5%. “We should have charged more for Black Friday,” he jokes. “That’s when we noticed that [demand] was outrageous, and I called all my friends the night of Black Friday and said, ‘this is going to be crazy.’”

In many parts of Europe, the craziness is already well underway, as droves of Europe-bound tourists follow in the well-trodden footsteps of their 2022 predecessors in last season’s post-Covid lockdown surge.

According to travel insurance provider Allianz Partners, the number of Americans traveling to Europe this summer is expected to soar by 55% over last year’s figures – which were already a staggering 600% higher than in 2021. London, Paris, and Dublin topped the 2023 list of the 10 most popular destinations revealed by Allianz’s annual review; Rome, Reykjavik, Amsterdam, and Lisbon also made the top 10.

The European Travel Commission also forecasted strong demand for European vacations in 2023, with nearly half of all destinations on the continent expecting a return to more than 80% of 2019 numbers.

Of course, all that demand has sent prices surging. According to flight tracking site Hopper, airfare to Europe is at a five-year high. Roundtrip tickets to the continent are currently averaging more than $1,200, which is approximately $300 higher than 2022 (and a 26% jump from pre-pandemic prices in 2019), according to a company spokesperson.

Hotel prices have surged, too. According to American Express Global Business Travel, hotel prices in Europe will experience the largest increases during 2023. Paris (up 10% year-over-year), Stockholm (9%) and Dublin (8.5%) are among the destinations AEGBT predicted to see the highest rises.

Yet those higher prices haven’t dampened the collective wanderlust. For weeks, many European hubs have been swarmed with tourists, and sold-out hotels, packed museums and overflowing restaurants are increasingly commonplace, especially in in-demand cities like Barcelona, Rome and Paris.

‘You could barely move through the street’

What’s especially surprising for some is how early in the season the crowds have arrived. “If I look out of the window, it already feels a bit like July,” says Milou Halbesma, director of the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam, which is located in the former home of the Dutch master.

This spring, the museum unveiled a major renovation that opened the attic space to the public, offering “30% more Rembrandt” to museum visitors, Halbesma says. In anticipation of the “very busy summer” ahead, the museum has brought in five extra staffers for July and August and added new visitor services, including a multimedia tour available in 13 languages and a children-specific tour.

As a whole, Amsterdam’s cultural scene is enjoying a moment in the spotlight following the spectacular success of the Rijksmuseum’s just-ended Vermeer exhibit. Art enthusiasts and museum-goers are an especially sought-after travel demographic by city officials amid ongoing campaigns to reduce “nuisance tourism” like bachelor and bachelorette parties.

“We’re very happy to welcome everybody, and we also hope that there will be more cultural tourists and less stag parties and groups like this,” Halbesma says. “People in Amsterdam are the nicest people, the most tolerant, relaxed people in the world. But [rowdy tourists] should behave a little bit.”

Meanwhile, in other destinations across the continent, popular shows like “The White Lotus” by HBO and Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” also have enticed hordes of selfie-snapping fans. According to data from Expedia, flight searches to cities in Sicily — the idyllic island where “The White Lotus”’s second season was filmed — have spiked by triple digits this summer, with searches to Messina up by a whopping 335% and Palermo by 180%.

Jenn Rice, a North Carolina-based journalist and brand consultant, witnessed that popularity first-hand on a recent trip to Palermo. Rice described the Sicilian capital as “absolutely insane” in early June, with tourists “spilling onto the street like it was Mardi Gras.”

“I just haven’t seen that many people on a street on a Saturday night,” says Rice, who’s traveling around Europe for three months for the second summer in a row. “You could barely move through the street to get to another bar. People were just like sardines, packed in everywhere.”

Traditionally popular attractions, landmarks, and events also are feeling the crush. Perillo says he’s heard anecdotes about tour guides in Rome having to call by a certain weekly deadline just to try to secure reservations for the Coliseum. “People start lining up on the call at midnight just to have a shot,” he says. “Everyone who wants to go to Rome wants to go to the Coliseum.”

You could barely move through the street to get to another bar. People were just like sardines, packed in everywhere.

Jenn Rice

In Paris, Arnaud Morandi, general manager of Fauchon L’Hôtel Paris, a five-star, 54-room boutique property, says visitors hoping to secure last-minute tickets for events like the French Open, which is currently underway, major concerts, or reservations at in-demand restaurants should temper expectations.

“It seems like everything has sold out so quickly,” Morandi says. “Everything dealing with leisure, including fine dining and luxury hotels, is booked so far in advance, much earlier than before.”

Fauchon, which opened in 2018, continues to set its own occupancy records with several sold-out days already on the books for June, July and August. “[The city] is not as busy as it’s going to be in a few weeks, but we’re almost there,” Morandi says.

‘You just have to get creative’

To cope with the record-breaking crowds and higher costs this summer, many Europe-bound travelers have been forced to adjust their plans. Rice, for example, is relying on trains and ferries to avoid “insanely expensive” flight costs, even on budget airlines like easyJet and Ryanair.

European residents also are feeling the pinch for their own summer vacation plans. Sarah Ferguson, who moved to Amsterdam from South Florida in April 2021 with her husband and their four sons, has yet to return to the United States with her family because the cost of six airline tickets “is just not worth it, so we just tell everyone to come here,” she explains.

But traveling around Europe – a big incentive for the family’s move abroad in the first place – has become increasingly cost-prohibitive. Tickets for the train, a mode of transit Ferguson and her husband were eager to do more of, are often pricier than airfare.

“Before we moved, we had this idea to show our kids these awesome countries on these amazing train trips, and all six of us were going to learn how to pack one bag and just go,” Ferguson says. “Unfortunately, that’s not been the case at all. Over these two years, our expat friends talk all the time about how train tickets are more expensive than flying. It’s ridiculous.”

As a result, the family has shifted its summer vacations to road trip-style adventures. Ferguson rented two hybrid Toyota Corollas to make the 15-hour drive in August to a camping resort in Croatia, which they visited last year and where they’ll stay in a beachfront villa this time around. “We did the drive last year, and it’s beautiful,” she says. “You just have to get creative.”

Pola Henderson, a dual citizen of the United States and Poland who has lived in Paris for seven years, also has shifted how she travels around Europe. Until recently, Henderson, a content and travel writer, used to take one or two weekend trips to different countries every month. But she’s staying closer to home this summer, with weekend trips around France and more exploration of Paris itself.

“I cannot imagine living without travel, but now I’m more picky about what I do,” Henderson explains. “But it’s been very frustrating … because [travel] has become a lot more difficult and not not only in terms of prices, but also we have to plan way ahead of time.”

Time will tell whether more frustrations are in store for travelers in terms of the chaos of flight cancellations, delays, and other disruptions of last season. So far, a few hiccups have popped up, including ongoing protests in Paris, union and cast member strikes at Disneyland Paris in early June, and a failure of passport scanners at Heathrow and other UK airports over a holiday weekend in May. Yet the prevailing mood among many travelers seems to be a hybrid of excitement and a “carpe diem” attitude — even in the most packed of places.

“You can’t not go see these places just because they’re crowded,” Rice says. “Everywhere is crowded now, so you just have to be a little smarter and do more research. But most importantly, do and see what you want to see, not what everyone else is talking about. I’ve put Venice on this ‘can’t visit; too crowded list’ for years, and this is the year I’m diving in.”

Human remains found in 45 bags discovered in a suburb of Guadalajara belong to call center workers who went missing in May, Mexican authorities have confirmed.

The Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (IJCF) said Tuesday its tests had confirmed the remains belonged to the missing workers and said the next of kin had been informed. However, it did not specify whether remains from all seven of the missing workers were in the bags.

The seven workers disappeared from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara sometime after May 20. The search for them took a grisly turn last week when bags containing human body parts were found in a ravine in the municipality of Zapopan.

Mexico’s Secretary of Security Rosa Icela Rodriguez Velazquez said last Tuesday that initial investigations suggested the workers might have been involved in “some type of real estate fraud” and “telephone extortion.”

Mexico has been troubled by an epidemic of disappearances with more than 100,000 Mexicans and migrants still missing.

More than 1,500 bodies have been found in Jalisco state since 2018, official figures show. According to the office of the Jalisco’s special prosecutor for missing persons, 291 bodies were discovered in 2019, 544 bodies were found in 2020, 280 bodies in 2021, and 301 the following year. So far in 2023, 147 bodies have been found.

In March, after four Americans were kidnapped in Mexico, resulting in the deaths of two of them, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador argued that Mexico is a safer country than the United States.

Kidnapping and human trafficking are also not unusual in parts of Mexico, particularly in border areas and Mexico’s overall homicide rate is among the highest in the world.

Ukraine has opened a new front in its battle to drive out the Russian invader – in Russia. But it is oddly coy about admitting that it has sent troops, fired artillery, and flown drones into its neighbor’s territory.

The operations of Russian citizens, carrying Ukrainian military ID, wearing Ukrainian uniforms and attacking from Ukraine, remain officially opaque. It is Kyiv’s contribution to what’s become known as “hybrid warfare” in the “grey zone” of contemporary conflict.

The two terms provoked books and a tsunami of excited opinion from an army of pundits when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014.

Back then, “Little Green Men” in peculiar two-tone sport-hunting uniforms – and Russian military fatigues – appeared in Crimea.

When it was suggested that maybe, just maybe, these men were actually Russian troops, Vladimir Putin quipped “You can go to a store and buy any kind of uniform”.

Moscow’s official line was that the men who raised the Russian flag over Simferopol and stormed Crimea’s local parliament were “self defense units” of pro-Russian Ukrainians anxious to bring their territory under Moscow’s rule.

By the time Moscow admitted that its troops were actually in Ukraine, a large chunk of the 23-year-old, former Soviet nation was under Putin’s control.

Now, on a small scale, Ukraine is adapting those same tactics to try to secure strategic effect.

The Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom for Russia Legion – which fall under Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence structure – have been conducting short cross-border raids into Russia.

The principal aim? Destabilization.

While the terminology and methods may have evolved, there’s nothing new about the tactic. Aside from Russia, South Africa’s apartheid regimes used similar techniques through the 1970s and 1980s, attacking the Frontline States of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Pretoria sent troops on cross-border raids to destabilize the independent African nations opposed to its racist rule. They often posed as local liberation fighters in classic “false flag” attacks against civilians, trying to undermine support for liberation movements.

These groups were frequently formed of fighters from Angola, or Zimbabwe, to add “authenticity” to the atrocities they hoped to attribute to others. They were often led by white men in blackface camouflage.

The long term aim – and many times, the result – was to keep the nations supporting South Africa’s internal liberation struggle permanently off-balance.

Russia rattled

In Ukraine, it suits Kyiv to have Russians invade Russia on its behalf.

The tactical results may be limited. Brief incursions into small border villages. But the desired effect of destabilization in Russia is achieved.

Russian TV has been awash in breathless, and terrified, reports by local journalists on the artillery attacks against Russian towns.

The governor of Belgorod – the region worst hit by the latest Ukrainian campaign – has evacuated hundreds of civilians, has been in personal telephone contact with Putin, and has already picked up a bravery gong for his efforts.

Meanwhile the Freedom for Russia Legion is posting advertisements on its Telegram channel for drone pilots to join its ranks.

It may, or may not, be behind the growing numbers of drone strikes that have hit Russian territory, from the Kremlin and the upscale Moscow suburbs favored by Putin’s allies, to the cities of Kursk, Smelensk and Krasnador.

The point is to make the attacks inside Russia feel like they have a significant Russian flavor – to suggest that more Russians are heeding the dissident “Cry Freedom” and joining in a homegrown effort to depose Putin.

Both the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom for Russia Legion claim to have supporters in their home country.

They may indeed. Someone unleashed the blue and white flag of the Russian opposition movement over Moscow last week. Someone’s helping with either flying, or training, drones onto Russian targets.

As far as Ukraine is concerned, the more Russians think that their compatriots are involved in attacking the Russian regime the better. Doubt itself is destabilizing.

Judging by the rhetoric coming from Russia, it’s working.

Opening a meeting with his Security Council on Friday, Putin said “ill-wishers” must be prevented from destabilizing Russia.

He said the council would focus on ensuring domestic political security, taking into account the enemy’s intensified efforts “to stir up the situation within the Russian Federation.”

“We must exert every possible effort not to allow them to do this under any circumstances,” Putin added.

War coming home

Ukraine could ask for no greater ally in this strategy than Yezgeny Prigozhin, the outspoken leader of Russian mercenary group Wagner.

“Wagner PMC wants at least of one month of recovery as it was a tough job, tough year… And then there will be the next scuffles, I think, most likely this time on Russian territory,” he said after the incursions and drone attacks against Russia.

As a bonus for Kyiv, Prigozhin went on to lambast Russia’s military leadership. The Russian chain of command was “controlled by clowns who just treat men as cannon fodder,” he said, adding, “then we won’t be part of this chain.”

On the drone attacks on Moscow over the past week, he had this to say to Russia’s generals: “You stinking animals, what are you doing? You are swine! Get up off your asses from the offices you’ve been put in to defend this country.”

Dmitry Medvedev, a close Putin ally, was similarly rattled by the extent to which war has come to Russia. He reacted with something close to hysteria.

“It’s clear what response is needed: They need to be annihilated, not just in a personal capacity, but we have to destroy them in the hornets’ nest itself. The regime that has developed in Ukraine should be exterminated,” said Medvedev.

He may sound like a Nazi but his words contained sinister echoes of the genocidal Holodomor of the 1930s, when, under the Soviet Union, an estimated three million Ukrainians were deliberately starved to death, middle class farmers were eradicated and the Ukrainian language banned.

But such fulminations may not impress ordinary Russians.

The Belgorod governor says dozens of strikes hit border districts inside Russia over last day or so.

In a long post on his Telegram channel, Vyacheslav Gladkov said that much of the incoming fire was artillery and mortar against border districts. There had been damage to roads, property and vehicles, he added, while 12 people had been injured in 24 hours in the border town of Shebekino.

One woman who spoke to a pro-Russian Telegram channel said Shebekino was “on fire, the battles there are ongoing,” adding: “We have fled the city. “

But her views may spread. And Russia’s response to the campaign on its soil may destabilize its military campaign inside Ukraine – and with it the politics at home.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the number of years Ukraine had been an independent nation when Russia first invaded in 2014.

Hundreds of far-left protesters clashed with police in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Saturday night, during demonstrations over jail terms handed down to several people convicted of vigilante attacks against neo-Nazis.

Earlier this week, a court in Dresden convicted four left-wing activists, including a well-known student identified in German media as Lina E., of committing violent acts against neo-Nazis, sentencing them to jail for two to five years. Groups sympathetic to Lina E., who is from Leipzig, have been protesting the verdict.

An anti-fascist “Day-X” march planned for Saturday in Leipzig – where most of the attacks took place – was banned because authorities were concerned that it posed a threat to public safety. The ban was contested by the protest’s organizers, according to German newspaper Der Spiegel.

Police tried at first to accommodate the demonstration, but when it turned violent and officers came under attack, authorities responded with force. Five people were arrested, all male German citizens aged 20 to 32 years old, Leipzig police said.

Late into the evening, a group of approximately 300 people “threw stones at a police station and set fire to barricades.” Emergency forces, equipped with several water cannons were “deployed to stabilize the situation,” police said.

Separate “violent” gatherings were also reported in different parts of the city, police said, adding that “emergency force officers were attacked. Hundreds of police units are on standby and are preparing for a violent course in this phase of the operation.”

Leipzig police called for calm “to prevent the situation from escalating any further.”

The spokesperson added that police were expecting that protesters from across Europe to travel to Leipzig after call-outs on social media, and that it could be their largest operation in two years.

The calls for protests in posts online came in the aftermath of Lina E., 28, receiving a five year jail term earlier in the week for her role in a series of attacks in Leipzig and other German cities.

She had been in police custody since her arrest on November 5, 2020 and has become something of an icon among anarchist circles in Germany, with the “Free Lina” graffiti featuring on buildings in Leipzig, Hamburg and Berlin.

Lina E.’s three male accomplices, aged between 28 and 37, received prison sentences ranging from two years and five months to three years and three months.

Prosecutors said that Lina E. and her three co-defendants, known as Lennart A., Jannis R. and Jonathan M., are proponents of “militant extreme-left ideology” who carried out attacks on right-wing extremists in Leipzig and nearby towns.

The court found that the four activists spied on and attacked neo-Nazis and alleged supporters of the right-wing scene in Leipzig, Wurzen and Eisenach in the German state of Thuringia between August 2018 and the summer of 2020. Thirteen people were injured during the attacks, with two sustaining life-threatening injuries.

The trial against the group THE FOUR? started in September 2021 and was marked by the highest level of security. The accusations leveled against the group were the most serious faced by Germany’s radical left in recent years.

The judge acknowledged that right-wing extremism poses a greater threat to German society than left-wing extremism, but said that even proponents of such views have inherent rights.

Brandi Tuck had always been an overachiever. She was a straight-A student and extracurricular star, intent on becoming a high-powered lawyer in New York City.

Then, during her junior year at the University of Florida in 2004, her spring break plans fell through and it changed the course of her life.

“All of my friends were going on these community service alternative spring break trips. And I thought, ‘Nobody’s going to go to the beach with me?’” said Tuck, now 40. “So, I reluctantly signed up.”

There were several trips to choose from, each focused on a cause like HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, or the environment. But none of them spoke to Tuck. She’d done community service for years, but more out of a desire to build her resume than from any deep sense of altruism.

“I didn’t want to touch anything dirty or do anything that I felt like was going to be gross,” she recalled. “So, I picked the homelessness and poverty trip. It was the least bad of the options.”

That spring, she and a dozen other students headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to spend a week volunteering at homeless shelters. The experience was eye-opening.

“I had never been to a homeless shelter. I had never talked to someone who was experiencing homelessness,” Tuck said. “And I realized that these women are just like my mom.”

At one shelter, Tuck was entertaining children while their mothers were in a GED class. And then one young boy’s request stopped her in her tracks.

“(He) said, “Oh, I love you. Can you please not go? Stay with me,’” Tuck said. “They didn’t have a lot of attention because the moms were so stressed. And so I said ‘Okay, I’ll stay.’”

In that moment, Tuck decided to drop out of school and continue working at the shelter. But her friends argued that she should finish college. Tuck cried and agonized about her future.

“Finally, I said, ‘OK, fine. … But I promise you one day, I’ll do something about this.’”

Tuck kept her word. In 2008, she started a nonprofit, now known as Path Home, that provides shelter, support, and a host of services to families experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon. The organization has since helped more than 10,000 parents and children.

Living in tents, cars, and on the streets: Oregon’s unsheltered families with children

Between 2020 and 2022, Oregon saw one of the nation’s largest increases in homelessness, with numbers growing by more than 22%, according to federal data. Many of those people are unsheltered, which means they sleep in tents, cars, or on the streets.

“People are really living in squalor,” Tuck said. “And there are so many families.”

Oregon has the highest percentage of unsheltered families with children in the United States. Kitty Hernandez used to be one of them.

“My youngest son has always had a lot of health issues that have required my constant attention,” said Hernandez, 39, who says the unpredictability of the situation made it hard for her to keep a job. “He was always in and out of the hospital, making us homeless over and over.”

Hernandez and her two sons often resorted to sleeping in a tent outside.

“It’s just not safe. You can come back, find somebody in your tent. You can find your stuff gone. One day we woke up with snow caved in on top of us,” she said. “Not being able to give them a hot meal every night before they go to sleep – as a mother, it broke my heart.”

Last year, they were camped across the street from a hospital when a local man connected them with Path Home. When they arrived at the group’s shelter, they received a private room, hot meals, laundry – and a warm welcome.

“They made sure we had everything we needed and … they made us feel right at home,” Hernandez said. “It was like staying with family.”

The shelter houses 17 families with children, and they can stay for up to six months. Specialists help families find permanent housing, while case managers help people access the services they need. Classes about finances, life skills and parenting are also available. The goal is to help families regain control over their lives.

“When people think about homelessness, they don’t think about the families and the kids that we serve,” Tuck said. “70% of them work while they stay in shelter. And they’re just regular folks who are down on their luck.”

A place to heal from the trauma of homelessness

In 2018, Tuck’s nonprofit was able to buy an old church to create a new one-stop shelter. She was determined to make it an environment that would help families recover mentally as well as physically.

“When anyone experiences something as stressful as homelessness … your brain puts you into ‘fight or flight’ mode,” she said. “Over time, that turns into a trauma. It can actually rewire the brain.”

Traditional homeless shelters – often in gyms or warehouses – can be chaotic and cluttered spaces, with little privacy for families. So, Tuck worked with a local architect to create the first shelter in Oregon with trauma-informed design, which opened in 2019.

“It’s designed to give the sense of emotional, physical, and psychological safety,” Tuck said. “It helps families heal from the crisis of homelessness.”

The church’s classrooms were turned into private bedrooms for families, while the sanctuary was converted into common areas: living spaces, a library, a children’s play area, and a computer lab. The grounds include a playground, garden, picnic tables, and a basketball court. The spacious, clean, and open areas create a tranquil environment.

“It’s based on research done since the 1960s in hospitals, looking into what kinds of facilities promote better reactions among patients,” Tuck said. “Some of the key elements they’ve identified include having a connection to nature – lots of light, real plants indoors and outdoors – and building with natural materials, so we have lots of real wood. The color palette is also very calming – lots of greens and turquoises from the ocean.”

Hernandez and her two boys really appreciated the thoughtful family-friendly design and calming atmosphere.

“It’s a lot less stressful coming here,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. It doesn’t feel institutional. It feels homey.”

For Tuck, that’s the whole idea.

“It’s about helping families feel worthy (so) that they can get up and do the hard work to get their lives back on track,” she said.

Helping families move into permanent housing – and stay there

Staffers guide the families through the process and help them move into and furnish their new home. The nonprofit then provides rental assistance for a year to help families stabilize in their new situation.

“When a family gets their keys for the first time, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Tuck said. “Our goal here is that we put ourselves out of business.”

Hernandez was able to move into a two-bedroom apartment within 30 days.

“It’s nice being back in our own place. We can cook and we can hang out and do stuff that we like to do together,” she said. “(It’s) made their smiles come back.”

After families move out, the nonprofit continues to support them to make sure they can keep their homes, even when they run into unexpected challenges. Last year, they helped 360 families find housing and 87% of them kept it long-term.

That support has meant a lot to Hernandez.

“If I need help, they are there. They didn’t just say, ‘Oh, you’ve got a place,’ and then just forget about me,” Hernandez said. “They genuinely care about people.”

Smiling kids and happy parents, in homes of their own – that’s what has motivated Tuck since that spring break trip nearly 20 years ago. She is now working to expand her nonprofit’s campus to include transitional and permanent housing, and eventually hopes to replicate her program nationwide.

“Our vision is a society where every family receives the support and compassion they need to thrive,” she said. “When I see families succeed, that’s all that I need to continue doing this work.”

Want to get involved? Check out the Path Home website and see how to help.

To donate to Path Home via GoFundMe, click here

The Toronto Blue Jays have designated pitcher Anthony Bass for assignment following an anti-LBGTQ post the 35-year-old shared on social media last month.

The move comes hours before the Blue Jays’ first game of Pride Weekend when the team faces the Minnesota Twins. Bass was expected to take part in the festivities including catching the ceremonial first pitch on Friday.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Friday that Bass’s performance on the field was primarily a baseball decision.

“Performance was a large aspect of the decision,” Atkins told reporters. “Distraction was a small part of it and something we had to factor in.”

Atkins emphasized that the move was made to improve the team.

“I’m saying we’re trying to build the best possible team we can build and this was a baseball decision to make our team better,” Atkins said.

Atkins added that the team values the LBGTQ community and expressed regret for any mishandling of the situation.

“We definitely don’t want anyone feeling any hurt,” Atkins said. “We’re focused on the environment. We care about this community. We care about our fans. And I deeply regret if people do feel that way. It certainly was not our intention.”

In May, Bass shared an Instagram post that called for anti-LGBTQ boycotts of Target and Bud Light over their support for the LGBTQ community and referred to the support as “evil” and “demonic.”

Bass later apologized for the post while speaking to reporters, but has been booed by fans at the Rogers Centre since.

On Thursday, Bass expanded on his original apology, saying he was sorry for “any harm or hurt” that he made toward the Pride community. However, he added that he stands by his “personal beliefs.”

“The video itself, obviously, I took it down,” Bass said. “I just felt like it was too much of a distraction, right? But I stand by my personal beliefs and everyone’s entitled to their personal beliefs, right? But also I mean no harm toward any groups of people. And I felt like taking that down the second time was the right thing to do and not being a distraction. As a team, our job is to win baseball games. And that’s my focus.”

Bass said he did not perceive the post to be “hateful” but added that he understood why some people viewed it as “hurtful.”

The 12-year veteran said he had a “productive” meeting with Pride Toronto’s executive director Sherwin Modeste earlier this week to understand more about LGBTQ community in the city and learn about Modeste’s story.

“Before I said anything, I really wanted just to listen to what he had to say. Those were my intentions going into the meeting, and I felt like it was very productive,” Bass said.

Bass met with Atkins and team manager John Schneider last week and according to Atkins on Thursday, Bass apologized to them and his teammates for “creating any harm and for hurting others.”

“That was not his intent,” Atkins added. “His emotion was very strong, as was mine. I was personally hurt, myself. He felt my disappointment and anger. It was a very charged exchange.”

Atkins said he felt Bass’s apology was “sincere” and that he felt he was holding himself “accountable.”

“That was the most significant piece is that he was accountable,” Atkins said. “He wanted to apologize, not just to me, which was very important, but more importantly to our community and this community. Without that, as I said, we’d have a very different outcome. And then I think the willingness to do something about it, being paramount and seeing that step taken is a good first step.”

As for a message for fans who may be against participating in the weekend’s festivities, Atkins said the organization will “continue to work hard to make sure that this is an inclusive environment and one where we will not stand for behavior that makes it otherwise.”

Bass has a 4.95 ERA in 22 relief appearances this season for the Blue Jays. Bass has also pitched for the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins.

In a corresponding roster move, Toronto reinstated right-hander Mitch White from the 60-day injured list.

Novak Djokovic reached the French Open final after defeating an injury-stricken Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 on Friday.

The victory puts Djokovic, a two-time champion at Roland-Garros, on the verge of winning a men’s record 23rd grand slam title.

The match was evenly poised at 1-1 in the third set when Alcaraz appeared to experience cramp and began to struggle with his movement.

His condition improved in the fourth set after receiving treatment, but by now Djokovic clearly had the upper hand as he raced to victory, setting up a final against last year’s runner-up Casper Ruud after the Dane comfortably beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-4 6-0.

“First and foremost, I have to say tough luck for Carlos,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “At this level, the last thing you want is cramps and physical problems in the late stages of a grand slam. I hope he can recover and come back very soon.”

Friday’s first semifinal was the contest most had been anticipating in the men’s competition, pitting the most decorated player in the draw against the current world No. 1.

Djokovic took the opening set as Alcaraz, who failed to convert any of his four break points, was unable to find rhythm or consistency in windy conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

By contrast, Djokovic was accurate and unrelenting, heaping pressure on a player 16 years his junior.

The Spaniard stepped up his level in the second set and had the crowd in raptures when he raced to the back of the court and – almost impossibly – fired a forehand past Djokovic while facing the wrong way.

Alcaraz got his first break of the match at 4-3 when Djokovic sent a backhand long, but the Serbian hit back straight away with a break of his own.

With the match gaining intensity, Alcaraz engineered three set points at 5-4 before Djokovic responded superbly by winning the next five points in a row to ensure the set remained tied.

The same scenario occurred at 6-5 but this time Alcaraz made no mistake, converting the first of another three set points.

However, things quickly unraveled for the 20-year-old. Much to the displeasure of the crowd, he had to forfeit a service game at the start of the third set as cramps started to limit his movement.

Struggling physically, Alcaraz changed tactics and upped his shot power in an effort to shorten the points.

Although it looked at times like he could find a way back into the match, Djokovic never wavered and wrapped up the victory in three hours and 23 minutes.

He ended the contest with 39 winners and 36 unforced errors to Alcaraz’s 50.

Alcaraz later said that nerves and tension during the match had caused his whole body to cramp up.

“At the beginning of the third set I started to cramp every part of my body, not only the legs. The arms, as well, every part of the legs,” he told reporters.

“It was really tough for me to move at the third set, and in the fourth set let’s say I had a little chance, but it was really tough … It’s not easy to play against Novak, of course he’s a legend of our sport. If someone says that he goes onto the court with no nerves playing against Novak, he lies.”

Win on Sunday and Djokovic will return to No. 1 in the world rankings and move ahead of Rafael Nadal at the top of the men’s all-time grand slam list.

“I like the feeling. It’s a privilege. It’s an incredible privilege to be able to make history in the sport that I truly love, and it has given me so much,” Djokovic told reporters.

“The motivation is very high, as you can imagine. There is one more to go, and hopefully I get my hands on the trophy.”

Kevin De Bruyne has lived a charmed life. From Sergio Agüero and Romelu Lukaku to Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres, the midfielder has had his share of lethal strikers to finish the chances he’s created.

But even with those bounty of riches, none quite compare to Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian has scored a remarkable 52 goals so far in all competitions in his debut season in England, with De Bruyne providing assists for 13 of those. Together, the pair have combined brilliantly to take Man City to the brink of history.

City has won the Premier League and the FA Cup this season and faces Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday hoping to become only the second English side to win ‘the treble’ – all three major trophies in a single season.

During his glittering career, De Bruyne has learned about the connection between midfielder and attacker, something Haaland has capitalized on.

“I tried to understand what they are good at and if I can get them in the right positions and do what they are really strong at, I feel like I’ve tried to be able to do everything in my power to help my team win … I also feel like whenever I’m on the ball, people will give me options, people have the trust in me that I’m able to give them opportunities.”

But even despite the ridiculous impact Haaland has made in his first season for City, De Bruyne – and Haaland himself – have higher expectations.

“If I look at all the chances that he had and all the opportunities he had to score, I expect him also to score goals,” De Bruyne said. “And it’s stupid to say when you think about somebody scoring 50 goals. But there’s been games also where I’ve told him: ‘You could have scored three and you scored one.’ But that’s a good thing.

“Sometimes he would say it himself. But I think every player on this level is a little bit like this. And I would say the same. Like: ‘I should pass the ball that way’ or ‘I should create more.’ And it’s never with a bad intention. But I think even he feels sometimes that he could be better but at 22 years old, it’s a little bit crazy to say.”

‘Unnecessary’ comparisons

De Bruyne and his City team are on the brink of history.

The only other team to achieve the treble is City’s arch-rival, Manchester United, which won the treble in the most dramatic fashion, scoring two late goals against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in 1999.

That team was full of famous figures. Alex Ferguson as manager and legendary players Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Jaap Stam, and Denis Irwin. Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole all started against Bayern, while Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær played key parts off the bench.

And this City team has the potential to be no different. With Pep Guardiola at the helm, the team is made up of already renowned figures. Alongside De Bruyne are the established Kyle Walker, John Stones, İlkay Gündoğan, Rodri, Bernado Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Ederson. Meanwhile, Haaland, Rúben Dias, Jack Grealish, Julián Álvarez and Phil Foden are on their way to cementing their legacies.

But De Bruyne was not a fan of making what he calls “unnecessary” comparisons.

“It’s a massive achievement and if we would be able to do that on Saturday, it’s also a massive achievement,” he explained.

“But how can you compare different eras, I would say, different players, different teams you play?

“I don’t know how you compare the teams that they played against our teams. They should be proud of what they did, and if we do it, we should do the same. But it feels like a bit of unnecessary drama.

“I also understand people talk about it and it’s interesting, but I’m very happy that as a player, I don’t feel the necessity to talk about these things because I’m not that kind of guy.”

Eight years later

A lot has changed since De Bruyne signed for City.

His arrival in 2015 came with a hefty transfer fee and, with it, expectation.

With a reported $68.7 million (£54.5m) price tag attached to his name, De Bruyne faced doubt from certain areas of the media and Man City’s fanbase, questioning whether he was worth the amount of money he was acquired for. The previous season, De Bruyne had scored 16 goals and provided 28 assists to help Wolfsburg to a second-placed finish in the Bundesliga and a victory in the German Cup.

“Obviously, I think a lot was said when I when I signed for City and the amount of money,” he said. “And I thought at that moment in time when a lot of articles or people would say something, I had the feeling: ‘People don’t watch other leagues.’

“In England, the Premier League is the Premier League and they will see snippets in Europe. But I don’t feel like anybody saw what I’ve done in Germany at the time with Wolfsburg and the Europa League and winning the cup.

“We had an amazing season and I felt that nobody saw the progression that I made. And the amount of money, I couldn’t do anything about it. These are the clubs negotiating and that happens. Maybe I have a little chip on my back to say like: ‘When I come to City, I will perform.’”

Eight years later and now 31 years old, De Bruyne has achieved almost everything at Man City, becoming one of the world’s best attacking players.

His full potential unlocked under the genius of Guardiola, De Bruyne is known for his driving runs, pinpoint passes and thunderbolt strikes.

The one thing that has eluded him and City is the Champions League trophy. Man City did reach the final of the competition two years ago but lost 1-0 to Chelsea in Porto.

De Bruyne says he doesn’t harbor any “bad feelings or emotions” towards the disappointing end to the campaign. He puts the team’s stunning form this season down to the chemistry amongst the squad.

“The bond is so good, so nice. Sometimes every team has a bust up in training or whatever but I feel that’s also necessary to build a good group,” De Bruyne says.

“But like I said, I feel like the group has always been really good together, no matter what moment it happened or what happened, good or bad, it’s always been pretty good together.

“I never feel like there are many egos or people distancing themselves one way or another … I’ve been here eight years and it’s been pretty incredible to me.”