The airline industry has faced challenges recently, which is not surprising to most. Airline industry leaders quickly battled to regain their footing as lockdowns lifted, but a busy summer season this past year was filled with unprecedented cancellations and delays.

Still, the industry has recognized some standout global stars that've managed to push their way to the top despite the turbulence.

The Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022 in London recognized those global airline names that have kept customers as happy as possible through the rough flights.

Delta came out as the best leading airline in the United States and won six region-specific award categories, CNN Travel reported.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

While this year's winner for best airline worldwide might be one that not many in the U.S. have flown, it's known as a standout star for avid international travelers.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways group chief executive, thanks his "incredible employees" after the airline took the number one spot. As CNN Travel reported, just two months ago, the airline won number one on AirlineRatings.com's global rankings.

Al Baker said, "to win these awards in the same year that we celebrate our 25th anniversary is even more rewarding."

Qatar's number one spot was followed by Singapore Airlines at number two, Emirates at number three, Qantas Airways at number five, Turkish Airlines at number seven, Air France at number eight, and Virgin Airways at number 19.

Singapore won for best cabin staff, ANA All Nippon Airways won for the world's best airline cabin cleanliness, Ryanair won for the best low-cost airline in Europe, and Scoot won for the best long-haul low-cost airline.

Skytrax is a UK-based airline and airport review and rankings site.

2022's ceremony was the first time the Skytrax World Airline Awards have been held in person since 2019.

WASHINGTON —

President Joe Biden on Thursday opened the first White House Summit for Democracy by sounding an alarm about a global slide for democratic institutions and called for world leaders to “lock arms” and demonstrate democracies can deliver.

Biden called it a critical moment for fellow leaders to redouble their efforts to bolster democracies. In making the case for action, he noted his own battle to win passage of voting rights legislation at home and alluded to challenges to America's democratic institutions and traditions.

“This is an urgent matter," Biden said in remarks to open the two-day virtual summit. “The data we’re seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction.”

The video gathering comes as Biden has repeatedly made a case that the U.S. and like-minded allies need to show the world that democracies are a far better vehicle for societies than autocracies.

That is a central tenet of Biden's foreign policy outlook — one that he vowed would be more outward looking than his predecessor Donald Trump's “America First" approach. Biden in his speech announced plans to launch an initiative that would spend up to $424 million for programming around the world that supports independent media, anti-corruption work and more.

But the gathering also drew backlash from the United States’ chief adversaries and other nations that were not invited to participate.

Ahead of the summit, the ambassadors to the U.S. from China and Russia wrote a joint essay describing the Biden administration as exhibiting a “Cold-War mentality” that will “stoke up ideological confrontation and a rift in the world.” The administration has also faced scrutiny over how it went about deciding which countries to invite. China and Russia were among those not receiving invitations.

Other leaders took turns delivering their own remarks on the state of democracy — many prerecorded — often reflecting on the stress that rapidly evolving technology is having on their nations. They also bemoaned the increase of disinformation campaigns aimed at and undermining institutions and elections.

“The democratic conversation is changing,” said Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. “New technologies and large tech companies are increasingly setting the stage for the democratic dialogue, sometimes with more emphasis on reach than on freedom of speech.”

The summit comes as Biden is pressing Russia's Vladimir Putin to stand down after a massive buildup of troops on the Ukraine border, creating growing concern in Washington and European capitals that Russia may look to once again invade Ukraine. Biden on Wednesday said that he warned Putin in a video call of “severe consequences” if Russia invaded.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took part in Thursday’s summit, was to speak with Biden later in the day. He said on Twitter, “Democracy is not a given, it must be fought for.

Poland's Andrzej Duda also spoke out against Russia in his address, decrying Moscow and its support of Belarus. Poland and Western allies have accused Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation European Union in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian regime. Hundreds of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, last month flocked to the Belarus-Poland border. Most were fleeing conflict or despair at home and were looking to reach Germany or other Western European countries.

Poland “took on a commitment to be a support for democracy in Eastern Europe,” Duda said. “It is a beautiful task, but it has its consequences. It has made us the target of the Kremlin propaganda.”

The U.S. may be at its own pivot point.

Local elected officials are resigning at an alarming rate amid confrontations with angry voices at school board meetings, elections offices and town halls. States are passing laws to limit access to the ballot, making it more difficult for Americans to vote. And the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol has left many in Donald Trump's Republican party clinging to his false claims of a stolen election, eroding trust in the accuracy of the vote.

“Here in the United States we know as well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic institutions requires constant effort,” Biden said.

Biden has said passage of his ambitious domestic agenda — the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill he signed into law, as well as the roughly $2 trillion “Build Back Better Act” of social and climate change initiatives moving through the Senate — will demonstrate how democracy can improve people’s lives.

Some advocates also want Biden to focus on other ways to shore up democracy at home. One early test was coming Thursday as the House moves to approve the Protecting Our Democracy Act, the third in a trio of bills — alongside the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act — largely backed by Democrats but stalled by Republicans in the Senate.

“The United States has a thriving democracy, but it’s been hurting in recent years,” said Michael Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House, whose annual report marked a 15th consecutive year of a global democratic slide. “Right now, we’re going through a phase in America where it’s very difficult to get things done and to really prove that democracy can deliver."

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, said in its annual report that the number of countries experiencing democratic backsliding “has never been as high” as the past decade, with the U.S. added to the list alongside India and Brazil.

Chinese officials have offered a stream of public criticism about the summit. They have also expressed outrage over the administration inviting Taiwan to take part. China claims the self-governing island as part of its territory and objects to it having contacts on its own with foreign governments.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan declined to attend the conference. In a statement issued ahead of the meeting, the foreign ministry said, "We value our partnership with the U.S. which we wish to expand both bilaterally as well as in terms of regional and international cooperation.”

Yet Pakistan’s own relationship with the U.S. has been fraught with suspicion on both sides. Islamabad has balked at Washington’s often-stated criticism that Pakistan has not been a reliable partner in the war on terror, accusing it of harboring the Taliban even as they fought the U.S.-led coalition. Pakistan says it has lost 70,000 people to the war on terror since 2001 and is ready to be a partner in peace but not in war.

Other uninvited countries have shown their displeasure. Hungary, the only European Union member not invited, tried unsuccessfully to block EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from speaking on behalf of the bloc at the summit. During the 2020 campaign, Biden referred to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a “thug.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto dismissed the summit as a “domestic political-type of event” where countries whose leaders had a good relationship with Trump were not invited.

Turkey, a fellow NATO member, and Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, were also left off. Iraq was the sole Arab nation invited. The Biden administration has raised human rights concerns about both Turkey and Egypt. However, Poland, which has faced criticism for undermining the independence of its judiciary and media, was invited.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, Justin Spike in Budapest, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer's COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses as he embraces the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year.

The stepped-up U.S. commitment marks the cornerstone of the global vaccination summit Biden convened virtually on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where he encouraged well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control.

World leaders, aid groups and global health organizations are growing increasingly vocal about the slow pace of global vaccinations and the inequity of access to shots between residents of wealthier and poorer nations.

The U.S. purchase of another 500 million shots brings the total U.S. vaccination commitment to more than 1.1 billion doses through 2022. About 160 million shots supplied by the U.S. have already been distributed to more than 100 countries, representing more donations than the rest of the world combined. The remaining American doses will be distributed other the coming year.

"To beat the pandemic here, we need to beat it everywhere," Biden said. He added that with the new commitments, "For every one shot we've administered to date in America, we have now committed to do three shots to the rest of the world."

The latest purchase reflects only a fraction of what will be necessary to meet a goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population — and 70% of the citizens of each nation — by next September’s U.N. meeting. It's a target pushed by global aid groups that Biden threw his weight behind.

Biden is pressing other countries to do more in their vaccine sharing plans.

"We need other high income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges," Biden said. He called on wealthy countries to commit to donating, rather than selling the shots to poorer nations, and to provide them "with no political strings attached."

Biden said the U.S. would also increase its funding to global aid groups that are administering shots

The American response has come under criticism for being too modest, particularly as the administration advocates for providing booster shots to tens of millions of Americans before vulnerable people in poorer nations have received even a first dose.

"We have observed failures of multilateralism to respond in an equitable, coordinated way to the most acute moments. The existing gaps between nations with regard to the vaccination process are unheard of," Colombian President Iván Duque said Tuesday at the United Nations.

More than 5.9 billion COVID-19 doses have been administered globally over the past year, representing about 43% of the global population. But there are vast disparities in distribution, with many lower-income nations struggling to vaccinate even the most vulnerable share of their populations, and some yet to exceed 2% to 3% vaccination rates.

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said the "triumph" of speedy vaccine development was offset by political "failure" that produced inequitable distribution. "In science, cooperation prevailed; in politics, individualism. In science, shared information reigned; in politics, reserve. In science, teamwork predominated; in politics, isolated effort," Piñera said.

The World Health Organization says only 15% of promised donations of vaccines — from rich countries that have access to large quantities of them — have been delivered. The U.N. health agency has said it wants countries to fulfill their dose-sharing pledges "immediately" and make shots available for programs that benefit poor countries and Africa in particular.

COVAX, the U.N.-backed program to ship vaccines to all countries has struggled with production issues, supply shortages and a near-cornering of the market for vaccines by wealthy nations.

The WHO has urged companies that produce vaccines to prioritize COVAX and make public their supply schedules. It also has appealed to wealthy countries to avoid broad rollouts of booster shots so doses can be made available to health care workers and vulnerable people in the developing world. Such calls have largely gone ignored.

COVAX has missed nearly all of its vaccine-sharing targets. Its managers also have lowered their ambitions to ship vaccines by the end of this year, from an original target of some 2 billion doses worldwide to hopes for 1.4 billion now. Even that mark could be missed.

As of Tuesday, COVAX had shipped more than 296 million doses to 141 countries.

The 70% global target is ambitious, not least because of the U.S. experience.

Biden had set a goal of vaccinating 70% of the U.S. adult population by July 4, but persistent vaccine hesitance contributed to the nation not meeting that target until a month later. Nearly 64% of the entire U.S. population has received at least one dose and less than 55% is fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. officials hope to increase those figures in the coming months, both through encouraging the use of vaccination mandates and by vaccinating children once regulators clear the shots for the under-12 population.

Aid groups have warned that the persistent inequities risk extending the global pandemic, and that could lead to new and more dangerous variants. The delta variant raging across the U.S. has proved to be more transmissible than the original strain, though the existing vaccines have been effective at preventing nearly all serious illness and death.

___

Associated Press writers Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Josh Boak at the United Nations and David Biller in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

CHICAGO, Ill. — After a year of being disconnected from one another, live music is returning.

In a highly polarized time when even mask-wearing divides, an eclectic group of musicians is focused on unity. The Surabhi Ensemble is forging cross-cultural connections with each note they play.

“I'm a passionate practitioner of the southern Indian ancient acoustic instrument called ‘Sarasvati veena,’” said Saraswathi Ranganathan, who founded the Surabhi Ensemble ten years ago.

“'Surabhi' means an unending source of spiritual treasure. So, it's a Sanskrit word,” said Ranganathan.

The spiritual treasure of Surabhi melds together Indian, Middle Eastern, and Spanish flamenco influences.

“I play the instrument known as 'al oud.'”

With his Palestinian roots, Ronnie Malley says the sounds and instruments they play together are all interconnected as well.

“Today, anybody who makes a guitar or a violin or anything like that is called a luthier. Well, that European lute eventually becomes the guitar. And so, this instrument is ultimately the great, great grandfather of the guitar,” said Malley.

Carlo Basile plays Spanish guitar with the ensemble.

“Essentially on stage, let the music speak for itself. And we find commonalities in the music, and we find commonalities and the rhythms in it and in the melodies. And so, when we put them together, it just feels right,” said Basile.

“The idea is not to just lose ourselves completely, but also retain our originality, our tradition where we are from today and spread your wings,” said Ranganathan.

In a time of increased polarization and amplified division, the group hopes to represent unity and fellowship through their common language of music and art.

“We're very specific about the traditions that we present on the stage,” said Malley. “And we explain that to the audience so that they may have come to watch a flamenco show. But at the same time, they're going to walk away seeing something African, something Arab, something Indian, and learn about instruments and the journeys that they take to travel to create this dialog.”

In the wake of the pandemic and calls for social justice, they performed a song about breathing. It was one of their first for an indoor audience and incorporated both Indian and Spanish dance.

“We wrote 'Un Respiro Libre' about a free breath because of the masks, because of the George Floyd situation,” said Basile. “And the dances come together and they're almost like breathing as one. To watch it happen in real-time and to have an audience for the first time respond to it the way they did, the response was just amazing.”

The ensemble is now on a global peace tour to promote cross-cultural connections through their world music collective.

“In music, we try to find this dialog,” said Malley. “We try to represent something that we can get along and celebrate our differences.”

“I call it less fear. And then when there is less fear there is obviously less pain,” said Ranganathan. “So, those go hand in hand too, less fear, less hate, and hopefully more love.”

“We have to have to really do our best to realize that we're all in this together,” said Basile. “I mean, if this last year doesn't prove it, I don't know what does.”