In other news: Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats; Los Angeles Zoo sets record with 17 condor chicks hatched in 2024

Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 27, 2024

Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats, breaking with a 50-year tradition

Southwest Airlines plans to drop the open-boarding system it has used for more than 50 years and will start assigning passengers to seats, just like all the other big airlines. The airline said on Thursday that preferences have changed over the years and the vast majority of travelers now want to know where they are sitting before they get to the airport. Southwest’s unusual boarding process started as a fast way to load passengers and limit the time that planes and crews spend sitting idly on the ground, not making money. It helped the airline squeeze a few more flights into the daily schedule. Southwest also plans to offer redeye flights for the first time.

Los Angeles Zoo sets record with 17 California condor chicks hatched in 2024

A record 17 California condor chicks have hatched during this year’s breeding season for the endangered birds at the Los Angeles Zoo. Officials say Wednesday that all the chicks will be candidates for release into the wild as part of the California Condor Recovery Program. Zookeepers say the 17th and final bird of the season hatched in June and is thriving. The previous record was set in 1997 when 15 California condor chicks hatched at the zoo. The recovery program’s goal is to propagate the iconic bird that decades ago was on the brink of extinction from habitat loss and lead poisoning.

Andrew Tate’s defamation lawsuit against human trafficking accuser can proceed, judge says

A judge says controversial social media personality Andrew Tate’s defamation lawsuit against a Florida woman who accused him of imprisoning her in Romania can proceed. Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joseph Curley ruled that the widely followed former professional kickboxer and his brother, Tristan, can present their allegations that the woman in 2022 enlisted another woman in a plot to extort money from them. The Tates have been charged in Romania with sex trafficking, in part because of the woman’s accusations. They have denied the accusations. The woman’s attorneys say her allegations are true and the lawsuit is retribution for her reporting them to Romanian authorities.