The entire South Pacific island of Niue was named an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, an area protected because of its exceptional views of the night sky, by the International Dark-Sky Association (Tucson, AZ; 520/293-3198, www.darksky.org) on March 7.

The first whole country or territory to be given that designation, it is described by the IDA as a “dark sky nation.”

Niue, with a diameter of just over 100 miles, has a population of about 1,600 people. It is a self...

Marriott International announced on March 31 that the company had detected a breach in its customer information databases, affecting all hotel chains owned by the company. The breach exposed the names, contact details and loyalty account information of up to 5.2 million people. Account passwords and credit card numbers were not exposed.

Marriott notified all customers confirmed to have had information exposed by the breach. It also set up a website to assist customers who know or...

In Nancy, France, after years of restoration to match its original state, the Villa Majorelle (36-38, rue du Sergent Blandan; phone +33 03 83 85 30 01, musee-ecole-de-nancy.nancy.fr [in French only]) opened to the public as a historic monument on Feb. 19. Built in 1901-02, the Art Nouveau home was designed by architect Henri Sauvage for furniture designer Louis Marjorelle.

Restoration included removing exterior elements added after the original construction and, inside, adding...