Family Warns Vacationers After Terrifying Incident Severely Injures Child

The U.K. is considering a proposal that would require international visitors to pay an entry charge to access its museums. The government is exploring this option to help fund the arts sector. The plan suggests that museums would use digital IDs (not currently in use) to differentiate domestic tourists from international visitors. The recommendation was made by politician Margaret Hodge in December, and the government agreed that it might be beneficial for the sector.

If introduced, this would be a departure from the longstanding policy of free admission. National museums and galleries in the U.K. have been free to visit since 2001, a move that has boosted tourism in the country.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport sponsors 15 museums and galleries in the U.K., including the famous British Museum in London. Experts worry that a levy might discourage people from visiting the country.

Last year, a four-year-old girl was seriously injured while on a family holiday in Mexico. Paloma Quatrini was staying at a resort in Punta Mita with her parents, Carolina Velez and Adam Quatrini. On the last day of her vacation, she was in a shallow pool at the Kupuri Beach Resort with her younger brother and cousins when the pool drain cover came off. It exposed the suction opening, and as Paloma sat in the pool, the Quatrini family says that it trapped her, resulting in the loss of her small intestine. She couldn’t be pulled away because of the powerful force, and it took several minutes to locate and turn off the pool pump.

Paloma suffered severe internal injuries as her small intestine was pulled from her body. She was taken home to Pittsburgh and stayed in the hospital for two and a half months, where doctors performed seven operations. Her digestive system was reconstructed after the accident, but she lost her small bowel. According to her doctor, the small intestine absorbs nutrients from food, and without it, she depends on total parenteral nutrition to receive nutrients directly into her bloodstream.

Last year, her parents filed a complaint in Pittsburgh, where they live, against the resort and the manufacturer of the drain, Hayward. They refiled the lawsuit in March, naming the company as the only defendant and demanding $150,000 in damages. The complaint states that Paloma will continue to have medical issues for the rest of her life.

The family is also trying to warn other travelers about the dangers of pool drains and is asking parents to be cautious.

A Frontier plane landed in Atlanta on Sunday and was immediately parked at a remote location after a passenger made a false verbal bomb threat while the aircraft was taxiing, causing alarms to go off. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the airline confirmed that the threat was not credible.

Passengers deplaned via stairs and were transported to the terminal by bus. The FBI said there was no ongoing threat. The pilot told the tower that the unruly passenger also threatened to kill the passenger seated next to him. The FBI is investigating the incident.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay TSA workers after staff shortages crippled airports across the country. Around 50,000 workers should receive their paychecks today, but border czar Tom Homan has stated that ICE agents will remain stationed at airports until “normal operations” resume.

TSA staff have been working without pay since a partial government shutdown began last month. More than 500 have quit, and on Friday, 3,500 called in sick. The effects have been felt by travelers who have had to wait for hours in lines. Even with ICE deployed at airports, wait times have remained consistent, and critics have remarked that the additional force has not eased the pressure. The partial shutdown, which has impacted the Department of Homeland Security, is now the longest in U.S. history, with 45 days without a deal.

Meanwhile, in a shocking incident last week, a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were detained by ICE agents at San Francisco Airport after a TSA tip. Passengers watched and recorded the episode as the mother was handcuffed on her knees, crying, and local police formed a boundary between the detainees and onlookers. Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter, who were in the country illegally, were deported to Guatemala.

Related: ICE Agents Have Been Deployed to U.S. Airports Amid TSA Crisis

A 40-foot humpback whale, nicknamed Timmy by rescuers, has been stuck on the Baltic coast in northern Germany since Monday. Onlookers have watched its struggle to escape the shallow waters, but after three attempts, it is still stuck on the sandbanks. Believed to be male, Timmy weighs 13 tons, making it a challenge to tow or rescue.

All last week, the humpback captivated audiences in Germany after it was found stranded on the coast. Marine experts are trying to guide it to the Atlantic by clearing its path and digging out sand. However, the mammal is sick and weakened, and it is believed that a fishing net has injured it. Its best chance of survival is to swim to deeper waters on its own, but the Atlantic is a long way off, across German and Danish waters.

Humpback whales are rare in the Baltic Sea. The shallow waters lack the salt and nutrition they require. However, they might enter the area following a food source, carried by currents, or by becoming disoriented by submarines.