Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot suggests street vendors ditch cash to combat crime

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that street vendors in an area seeing an increased number of robberies should consider not using cash to conduct transactions.

Lightfoot made the comment during a mayoral debate hosted by ABC7 Chicago on Thursday night.

“I heard a lot of rhetoric here, a lot of soundbites, but not a lot of concrete solutions on how we get the job done and make our residents and our workers safe. We’re doing it every single day,” Lightfoot said. “We have been in Little Village working with those street vendors, understanding what the nature of the crime is, making sure that we’re doing things in concert with them to help them, to make sure that their money is secure. Not use money, if at all possible, using other forms of transactions to carry themselves.”

The Chicago mayor said that street vendors in Little Village can protect themselves by not using cash in transactions.

MAN WITH DISABILITIES SHOT IN THE HEAD WAITING FOR CHICAGO BUS: POLICE

Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, speaks during a news conference in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.

Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, speaks during a news conference in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.
(Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“We’ve been in Little Village working with those vendors hand and glove to make sure that they are doing things that they can do to protect themselves like not using cash, making sure that the cash that they do take in is secure,” Lightfoot added.

In the 10th police district, where Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood is located, there has been a 13% increase in robberies in 2022 when compared to 2021, with 477 robberies taking place in 2022, according to public data.

So far in 2023, robberies in the 10th district are already up by 114% when compared to the same time in 2022 with 30 robberies taking place this year.

Citywide, while the number of shootings decreased by 20% in 2022 versus 2021, violent crime as a whole increased by 41%.

In 2022, there were 8,996 reports of robberies versus 7,911 in 2021.

CHICAGO ALDERMAN SOUNDS OFF ON GUN VIOLENCE AFTER SPECIAL NEEDS MAN SHOT IN THE HEAD WAITING FOR SCHOOL BUS

Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduces Jazmine Sullivan during 2022 Lollapalooza day one at Grant Park on July 28, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois

Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduces Jazmine Sullivan during 2022 Lollapalooza day one at Grant Park on July 28, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois
(Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

The city’s crime crisis has even forced the CEO of McDonald’s to speak out during a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago in September.

“Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question,” Chris Kempczinski said. “‘What’s going on in Chicago?’ There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis.”

LORI LIGHTFOOT CONTINUES TO GASLIGHT ITS CITIZENS, NEW AD IS ‘RIDICULOUS’: GIANNO CALDWELL

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposes her 2022 budget.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposes her 2022 budget.
(Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

The McDonald’s CEO said that people need to “face facts” and acknowledge that companies are leaving Chicago in part due to the rising crime in the city.

After Kempczinski made his comments, Lightfoot fired back, saying that he needs to “educate himself.”

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I think what would have been helpful is for the McDonald’s CEO to educate himself before he spoke,” Lightfoot said.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.

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Former Walmart employee who was fired last year targeted specific people in shooting, police say



CNN
 — 

At least one person was wounded in a shooting at a Walmart in Evansville, Indiana, on Thursday night, with the suspected gunman later shot and killed by responding law enforcement, according to the Evansville Police Department.

Police identified the suspect as 25-year-old Ronald Ray Mosley II, who was fired from Walmart in May, according to police spokesperson Sgt. Anna Gray said in a Friday afternoon news conference.

Mosley was fired after being arrested for multiple battery charges against other employees, Gray said.

He left a suicide note at his house on Thursday night, Police Chief Billy Bolin said.

Mosley had regularly attended mental health court hearings after being arrested on battery charges, Vanderburgh County Prosecuting Attorney Diana Moers said in Friday’s news conference.

Individuals who are admitted to a mental health court participate in a supervised treatment plan with regular reviews of progress hearings, according to an Indiana state website.

Mosley attended mental health court nearly every two weeks and had attended a hearing on Thursday afternoon related to the battery cases, Moers said.

Police first heard reports of a shooting at 9:59 p.m., Gray said at a news conference late Thursday night.

The shooting started after Mosley went into a break room in the back of the store when a meeting was about to begin, Bolin said Friday. Roughly 40 shoppers were in the store at the time, police said.

Emergency responders work the scene of a shooting at the West Side Walmart located in Evansville, Indiana, on Jan. 20, 2023.

“He told everybody to line up against the wall, he had a gun in his hand, and he told two of them to stay in the middle. He ends up shooting a female at this point,” the chief added. The woman was shot in the face and is still being treated at a hospital in stable condition, according to police.

Bolin said there was another male in the room that was also an “intended target” but he took off running during the shooting. Authorities did not identify the man and woman that the shooter pointed out nor their relationship to Mosley.

When officers arrived, they encountered the suspect who fired multiple times at officers, Gray said. Officers fired back, killing the suspect.

No officers were injured during the encounter with the suspect.

During Friday’s news conference, Bolin called the store’s team lead a hero.

He said that when the shooter began firing, the shift lead “took off out the door and she ran and called 911.”

The team lead later ran back into the break room after seeing the suspect leave the area and helped the wounded woman go into another room and hide.

The investigation remains ongoing, police said.


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Georgia couple accused of sexually abusing adopted boys, husband bragged about molesting son: report

A Georgia couple is being accused of sexually abusing their adopted children and using them to produce “homemade” child pornography, prosecutors allege, according to a new report.

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock were arrested on July 27 in Oxford, Georgia, after police raided their home and found video evidence that they were “engaging in sexually abusive acts” with the adopted children.

The couple is now facing a grand jury indictment under charges of felony sexual exploitation of children, aggravated child molestation, felony prostitution of a minor, aggravated sodomy, and incest, amounting to possibly nine life sentences, according to court documents obtained by Townhall.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. Their attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital.

MEMPHIS WOMAN ROBS 2 MEN MET ON DATING WEBSITE AT GUNPOINT WITH ACCOMPLICE: POLICE

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock were arrested on July 27 in Oxford, Georgia, after police raided their home and found video evidence that they were "engaging in sexually abusive acts" with the adopted children.

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock were arrested on July 27 in Oxford, Georgia, after police raided their home and found video evidence that they were “engaging in sexually abusive acts” with the adopted children.
(Walton County Sheriff’s Office)

According to the indictment, the boys, both in third and fourth grade at the time of the arrest, were sexually abused by the couple who anally raped the minors in addition to performing oral sex on them. The indictment also alleges that the couple forced the boys to perform oral sex on them, and in on case, the older sibling was injured due to the anal rape.

The documents state that the Zulock’s sexual abuse of the children dates back to potentially 2019. According to the report, the boys were adopted in November 2018 when the couple went through a now-shut down Christian adoption agency focusing on special-needs children in Watkinsville, Georgia, called All God’s Children, Inc.

William Zulock allegedly admitted to forcing the couple’s 11-year-old adopted son to “perform an act of sodomy – oral capitulation” with the “intent to satisfy his own..sexual desire,” police wrote in an affidavit obtained by Townhall.

MEMPHIS POLICE SAY BURGLARS ‘DRAGGED’ POPEYES EMPLOYEES ACROSS FLOOR, DEMANDED CASH AT GUNPOINT

William Zulock and Zachary Zulock pictured at a wedding.

William Zulock and Zachary Zulock pictured at a wedding.
(Zachary Zulock/Instagram)

In a press release posted to Facebook when the couple was first arrested, police said that they were tipped off after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective received information about someone who “may have been downloading child sexual abuse material.” After an investigation and interview with the suspect, police found that there was a secondary suspect who “was producing homemade child sexual abuse material with at least one adopted child who lived in the home with the perpetrator.”

Another affidavit states that Zachary Zulock filmed his husband, William Zulock, performing acts of sexual abuse on the child. Zachary is accused of also being “engaged in sexually abusive acts” on the boy as well, the affidavit states.

NEW YORK DAD AND DAUGHTER FOUND DEAD IN HOME FROM APPARENT MURDER-SUICIDE

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock at a wedding.

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock at a wedding.
(Zachary Zulock/Instagram)

Zachary allegedly told police in a recorded interview that the “routine” sexual abuse of their children was sent to “less than a dozen people.”

The men were also charged with soliciting two other men through social media to “perform an act of prostitution” on one of their children, the court documents state, adding that Hunter Clay Lawless, 27, and Luis Armando Vizcarro-Sanchez, 25, were both part of the prostitution ring.

Zachary Zulock

Zachary Zulock
(Zachary Zulock/Instagram)

Lawless told police that he received “numerous” Snapchat messages from Zachary which allegedly said “f–king [his] son tonight,” telling him to “be prepared” to get images and “video documentation” of the sexual abuse, court documents state, adding that the men met on the gay hookup app Grindr.

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock standing at a wedding.

Zachary Zulock and William Zulock standing at a wedding.
(Zachary Zulock/Instagram)

“I’m going to f–k my son tonight. Stand by,” Zachary messaged Lawless, according to prosecutors.

Lawless told police that he didn’t engage in sexual contact with the Zulock’s children but said that Zachary asked him to participate “multiple times.”

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Zachary Zulock wearing a mask.

Zachary Zulock wearing a mask.
(Zachary Zulock/Instagram)

A folder titled “US” on Zachary’s phone was found by law enforcement and allegedly contained videos of his husband, William, participating in acts of sexual abuse on one of the children.

Included in the evidence collected by law enforcement are the 149 images, a text message from Lawless, a Snapchat letter, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examination results conducted on the children, court documents state.

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New Zealand Education Minister Chris Hipkins bids to replace Jacinda Ardern as PM



CNN
 — 

Chris Hipkins, New Zealand’s education minister, is bidding to replace Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, after her shock resignation announcement earlier this week.

Hipkins emerged as the only candidate to be nominated for the leadership of the ruling Labour party on Saturday morning.

The Labour Party caucus is due to meet on Sunday to formally endorse and confirm Hipkins as leader, party whip Duncan Webb said.

New Zealand’s next general election is expected to be held on October 14.
Hipkins is a career politician who entered Parliament in 2008, and became a household name leading New Zealand’s pandemic management as Covid-19 response minister in Ardern’s cabinet. Aside from being education minister, he is also minister for police and the public service, and Leader of the House.

Speaking to reporters after nominations closed at 9 a.m. local time in the capital of Wellington, he said he aims to reach consensus about who is “best to lead the Labour party, and therefore, New Zealand forward.”

“I am absolutely humbled and honored,” he said, then added, “there is still a bit to go in this process. There is still a meeting tomorrow and a vote, and I don’t want to get too far ahead of that.”

The minister went on to thank his party members, saying “we have gone through this process with unity and we will continue to do that.”

He committed to leading the country in a “strong, stable and unified” way but cautioned there were challenges ahead.

“I acknowledge that at the moment, we’re going through some economic turbulence and we’re going to have to navigate our way through there,” he said.

Hipkins also told reporters that he is “incredibly optimistic about New Zealand’s future” and is “really looking forward to the job. I am feeling energized and enthusiastic.”

He served almost two years as Covid-19 response minister in a country that kept infections and deaths relatively low after shutting its borders. He also oversaw New Zealand’s phased reopening before fully welcoming back all international travel last July.

Ardern said Thursday that she would stand aside for a new leader, saying she doesn’t believe she has the energy to seek reelection.

Speaking at a news conference then, Ardern said her term would end by February 7, when she expected a new Labour prime minister would be sworn in – though “depending on the process that could be earlier.
Hipkins said Ardern – whose tenure coincided with a terrorist attack, natural disasters and a global pandemic – was “the leader that we needed at the time that we needed it.”

And he acknowledged that, like Ardern, he would be opening himself up to “a lot scrutiny and a lot of criticism” by putting his name forward.

“I go into this job with my eyes wide open, knowing what I’ve what I’ve stepped into,” Hipkins said.

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UK man fined for silently praying outside abortion clinic: report

A UK man was reportedly fined after he admitted he was praying in front of an abortion clinic.

Adam Smith-Connor, a physiotherapist and army veteran from Southampton shared video of his confrontation with two local council officers while he was standing and silently praying outside a BPAS clinic in Bournemouth. 

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (“BPAS”) describes itself as the United Kingdom’s leading abortion provider.

After repeatedly being asked what the nature of his prayer was, Smith-Connor told the authorities he was praying for his son who was “deceased.” The officers warned him he was in an area under a Public Spaces Protection Order (“PSPO”) which establishes a “safe zone” around abortion clinics and prohibits “engaging in any act of approval/disapproval” including praying. 

The UK man was fined for silently praying outside a BPAS abortion clinic in Bournemouth (Courtesy ADF UK)

The UK man was fined for silently praying outside a BPAS abortion clinic in Bournemouth (Courtesy ADF UK)
(ADF UK)

PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST ARRESTED FOR PRAYING SILENTLY NEAR AN ABORTION FACILITY

The abortion clinic in Bournemouth is the 5th one in the country to have this type of censorship zone, according to local news reports.

Smith-Connor recorded the exchange and shared the video with the UK branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a faith-based legal advocacy organization. 

The man explained to ADF UK that he was praying for his son who was aborted over twenty years ago, a decision that haunts him to this day.

“22 years ago I drove my ex-girlfriend to a facility and paid for her to have an abortion. It was a pivotal moment in my life. The consequences of my actions that day came back to grieve me years later, when I realized I had lost my son Jacob to an abortion I had paid for. Recently, I stood outside a similar facility and prayed to God for my son Jacob, for other babies who have lost their lives to abortion, for their grieving families, and for abortion clinic staff,” he said.

Adam Smith-Connor was fined for silently praying outside an abortion clinic (Courtesy ADF UK).

Adam Smith-Connor was fined for silently praying outside an abortion clinic (Courtesy ADF UK).
(ADF UK)

UK WOMAN ARRESTED FOR PRAYING NEAR ABORTION CENTER WARNS MORE ARRESTS MAY COME

The organization is challenging his fee and blasted the move in a statement.

“Nobody should be criminalised for what they believe – especially not when they express that belief silently, in the privacy of their own minds. Just like in the case of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce last month, Adam could now face prosecution for holding thoughts, and lifting those thoughts to God in prayer, within a censorship zone. The rapid proliferation of orders criminalising volunteers such as Adam and Isabel should be a wake up call to all those who value freedom of expression – even freedom of thought – no matter their views on abortion,” said Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK.

The UK man once worked in a hospital-based abortion unit before changing his views on the practice. He told ADF UK it was hard to believe he could be treated as a criminal for simply praying.

“I would never have imagined being in a position to risk a criminal record for praying silently. In the past, I assisted with abortions in hospital as part of my army medical training, but now I pray for those who perform abortions because I realise how harmful abortion is to women and families, and that every single human life is valuable – no matter how small. Most of all, I’m moved to pray because of what happened to my son, Jacob,” he said.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce
(ADF UK)

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Smith-Connor isn’t the first person punished for praying outside abortion clinics in the UK.

A pro-life charity worker, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, was standing near another BPAS clinic in Birmingham when police approached her after an onlooker complained she might be praying outside the abortion facility.

Vaughan-Spruce was arrested after silently praying in a PSPO “censorship zone,” according to ADF UK. 

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool Council told Fox News Digital they could not comment on individual cases.

Fox News’ Kendall Tietz contributed to this report.

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Ana Walshe owned multiple properties worth at least $1.88 million



CNN
 — 

A search of property records reveals that Ana Walshe had a valuable real estate portfolio and that she sold one property shortly before she disappeared.

Walshe owned at least four residential properties, according to publicly available property assessment records and tax records in Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington, DC, where she worked for a real estate firm. Her husband, Brian Walshe, is not listed as owner or co-owner of any of the properties.

Those properties include two apartments in Lynn, Massachusetts, a rowhouse in Baltimore, and a 2,500-square-foot home in DC.

At the time of her disappearance, Ana Walshe, whose husband is charged with her murder and in jail without bail, had a real estate portfolio worth nearly $2 million, according to CNN’s analysis of publicly available documents.

Ana Walshe sold at least two properties since March 2022, including one just days before her disappearance.

In March, she sold a home in Cohasset, Massachusetts, for nearly $1.4 million and purchased a home in DC for $1.3 million.

Since 2018, she sold at least four properties worth more than $2.7 million and had at least four remaining with an estimated value of $1.88 million.

The Cohasset home where she lived with her husband and her three children was rented, according to the Cohasset assessor’s office.

Property records examined by CNN include those in both her married name and the name she used before marrying Brian Walshe, Ana Knipp, but may not be an exhaustive picture of her real estate holdings.

Prosecutors have been poring over Google searches they say Brian Walshe made in the days before and after he allegedly killed his wife, dismembered her body and disposed of her remains in dumpsters around suburban Boston.

Prosecutor Lynn Beland read aloud the disturbing searches in court Wednesday as Brian Walshe, 47, was charged with murder and disinterring a body without authority. He had previously been charged with misleading investigators looking into his wife’s disappearance. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, and his defense attorney suggested the evidence against him was not strong.

In particular, the searches showed prosecutors Brian Walshe’s focus on dismemberment and disposing of a body as well as insight into his motive, including a search about divorce and one about inheritance, Misty Marris, a defense attorney, told CNN.

“The story is really coming together, and those Google searches, they were essential to putting together the pieces,” she said.

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Why red squirrel moms gamble on the trees

Red squirrels that gamble at the game of reproduction outperform their counterparts, even if it costs them in the short term, research finds.

Imagine overhearing the Powerball lottery winning numbers, but you didn’t know when those numbers would be called—just that at some point in the next 10 years or so, they would be. Despite the financial cost of playing those numbers daily for that period, the payoff is big enough to make it worthwhile.

Animals that live in highly variable environments play a similar lottery when it comes to their Darwinian fitness, or how well they are able to pass on their genes.

Natural selection favors female squirrels that have large litters in years when food is abundant because they contribute lots of babies to the gene pool, says Lauren Petrullo, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow in biopsychology at the University of Michigan.

“We were surprised to find that some females have large litters in years when there won’t be enough food for their babies to survive the winter,” she says. “Because it’s biologically expensive to produce offspring, we wanted to know why these females make what appears to be an error in their reproductive strategy.”

The red squirrels studied live in the Canadian Yukon and experience a “mast year,” or boom in their main food source—seeds from the cones of white spruce trees—once every four to seven years. Squirrels forecast the large mast crop of food before it occurs and increase litter sizes in the months prior, ensuring better future survival for their babies and better fitness for themselves.

“There is a constant tug-of-war between the trees and the squirrels at our study site,” Petrullo says, “with each player trying to deceive the other for its own fitness gain.”

Petrullo and Ben Dantzer, associate professor of psychology and of ecology and evolutionary biology, used data collected by the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a collaborative, 34-year-old field study involving the University of Michigan, the University of Colorado, the University of Alberta, and the University of Saskatchewan.

“This is exciting because it suggests that squirrels are eavesdropping on the trees.”

“Each year, we collect data on how many babies squirrels produce and how many spruce cones the squirrels eat,” Dantzer says.

The scientists quantified the reproduction of female squirrels during both food booms and busts, discovering differences in their fitness whether they gambled with their reproductive strategy or not. While some squirrels played it safe by keeping litter sizes small each year, those that took a “pie in the sky” approach by having large litters even when food was scarce enjoyed greater lifetime fitness if they got to experience a mast year, the research showed.

Unlike the Powerball example, though, squirrels aren’t guaranteed to eventually win.

“In some ways, this strategy of gambling with litter sizes is like playing with fire,” Petrullo says. “Because the average squirrel lifespan is 3.5 years and masts only happen every four to seven, a female could potentially be sabotaging her fitness by having too many babies in low-food years, hoping for a mast when she may die before she ever gets to experience a mast at all. This could be pretty costly.”

Alternatively, for squirrels, the cost of not gambling at all in the game of reproduction can be insurmountable if they end up missing their shot at the jackpot.

“It’s essentially impossible for a female to recuperate the fitness costs of not ramping up reproduction in a mast year, so the stakes are extremely high,” Petrullo says.

Females that increased litter sizes in low-food years did take a short-term hit to their fitness. But they were more likely to increase litter sizes if and when they experienced a mast, taking home the ultimate prize of greater lifetime reproductive success, she says.

The squirrels’ best bet, according to the researchers, is to take their chances and suffer short-term fitness costs in order to avoid the unmatched cost of missing the fitness jackpot completely.

“Determining the relative costs of different types of errors is key to understanding why animals make what look to us like mistakes,” Petrullo says.

Scientists are still unsure exactly how the squirrels are able to forecast future food production. The animals may be eating parts of the spruce trees that affect their physiology and alter the number of babies they produce, Dantzer says.

“This is exciting because it suggests that squirrels are eavesdropping on the trees, but we still have much more to do to solve this puzzle,” he says.

Because many animals use cues about things like food in their environment to make reproductive decisions, and the reliability of these cues is declining due to global climate change, scientists also wonder how the costs of these types of errors will alter what is the best reproductive strategy.

“If the predictability of a food boom is reduced and squirrels can no longer forecast the future, this could impact the number of squirrels out there in the Boreal forest,” Dantzer says. “This could be problematic given that squirrels are prey for many predators.”

The research, which appears in Science, had partial funding from the National Science Foundation and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Source: University of Michigan

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World's 'most powerful' tourism city revealed

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments.



CNN
 — 

Paris is a city beloved for fine food, fine art and fine fashion.

But a new index from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) also says that Paris is the world’s most powerful city for tourism.

The WTTC, a nonprofit travel industry body based in the UK, analyzed tourism data from the year 2022 to see where travelers were spending the most money.

The overall list of most powerful tourism cities didn’t only take museum tickets and hotel rooms into account, though. The other factor was how much local and national governments and businesses are investing in these cities as tourist destinations.

Take list-topper Paris for example: the city is preparing to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Although fewer than 5% of the facilities will be newly built for the Games, the city is pouring resources into infrastructure, security and other measures that will help them get ready to host the world.

By that accounting, the French capital’s overall tourism total came to $35.6 billion.

So, who else made the list?

Las Vegas' total tourism income was $23 billion, according to the WTTC.

Two countries each had three cities on the WTTC list. One was the United States, with Orlando, New York City and Las Vegas representing the nation.

While each city makes a significant chunk of cash from tourism, they cater to different kinds of travelers – Orlando is popular with families visiting the city’s theme parks, Las Vegas is an internationally known gambling and nightlife hub and New York attracts foodies and art lovers, among others.

Of this group, Orlando was the highest earner, raking in $31 billion for 2022. That’s a whole lot of Mickey Mouse ears.

Three Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – landed in the top 10 for 2022.

Other Chinese destinations are working their way up the index. In particular, the beach getaway of Sanya – on sunny Hainan Island in southern China – and Macao were cited as places to keep an eye on in the future.

China has invested heavily in tourism and is advertising to international travelers now that its border has reopened. Macao is the only city in China with legal gambling, and it’s easier for most tourists to go there without a visa – unlike the mainland.

The WTTC predicts that by 2032 China will dominate its rankings.

“Major cities such as London, Paris and New York will remain global powerhouses but over the next few years, Beijing, Shanghai, and Macao will be moving up the list of top city destinations,” Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said in a statement.

Of course, there are more than two countries represented in the WTTC list. Tokyo, Mexico City and London placed in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively to round out the rankings.

In some ways, it was just as interesting to see who didn’t make it on the list.

Two surprising omissions were in the Middle East, which has skyrocketed in popularity over the past decade.

Although luxury-packed Dubai and soccer World Cup host Doha topped the list of most amount of tourism revenue, they didn’t score as highly in the other categories and wound up outside the top 10.

Amsterdam, Barcelona and Singapore also fell victim to the same phenomenon, scoring highly for amount of money spent by visitors but not landing on the overall “most powerful” list.

Beijing was second only to Paris on the WTTC list.

1. Paris, France

2. Beijing, China

3. Orlando, Florida

4. Shanghai, China

5. Las Vegas, Nevada

6. New York, New York

7. Tokyo, Japan

8. Mexico City, Mexico

9. London, UK

10. Guangzhou, China

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