We have seen four fatal plane crashes this month in Europe and South America claim the lives of hundreds of people.   On 6 August at least 13 of 39 passengers and crew were killed after a Tunisian passenger plane made an emergency landing in the sea off the Italian island of Sicily.  On 14 August,…

Since 2001, in Swaziland, teenage girls have had to wear large woollen tassels as a sign of their chastity. Now news comes that Swaziland's King Mswati III has ended a five-year sex ban he imposed on the kingdom's teenage girls a year early and there is to be a ceremony where all tassels are burned.…

A US official has said that International travellers should get used to having their fingerprints taken or their irises scanned because traditional airport security tests are outdated and open to abuse. “As a general principle, certainly in the area of international travel, biometrics is the way forward in virtually every respect,” said Michael Chertoff, US…

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

Uganda has imposed a smoking ban in all public places, the environment minister has said. Smoking in restaurants, educational institutions and bars will now be an offence with a fine for offenders of between $10 and $50 if arrested by policemen who have been instructed to enforce the law. No-one is sure yet how rigorously…

Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet said it would launch cut-rate domestic flights in May 2005 to lure travellers from popular train services. “The fares will be slightly higher than AC (air conditioned) train fares,” chief executive Mark Winders said. “We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in the low cost model in India. The air market…

Tens of thousands of Snickers and Mars chocolate bars have been withdrawn from sale in Australia’s New South Wales after the manufacturer was sent a letter threatening to poison a member of the public. The letter warned that up to seven Snickers and Mars bars in the metropolitan Sydney area had been contaminated. Police believed…

You may have heard about Schappelle Corby, the Australian surfer who has been arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling in 4.5 kgs of cannabis in her boogie board case into Bali. Some people say that the drugs were put inside her case by luggage handlers in Australia – and if true,…

According to a recent survey conducted by condiments giant Ajinomoto, it seems that traditional eating habits are changing fast in Japanese homes. The report says that only about 20 percent of married women in major city areas lay out eating utensils correctly in accordance with traditional Japanese etiquette standards. The survey showed that modern families…

Pretoria was named after Andries Pretorius, a Boer settler and a folk hero of Afrikaners who later set up the apartheid racial discrimination system. The city council approved the switch to Tshwane in March as part of moves to make place names more African, but opposition campaigners say they feel marginalised. Hundreds of predominantly white…