The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has just issued a travel warning about the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. There has been no recent history of terrorism in Trinidad and Tobago, although an Islamic group, the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, attempted to overthrow the government by force in 1990. We believe Trinidad and Tobago to…

Malaysian Airlines are currently embroiled in a row over saying “customers prefer to be served by young, demure and pretty stewardesses, especially Asian ladies”, and has placed age limits on its female cabin crews. The flight attendants union has launched a campaign against an MAS policy which grounds female cabin crew aged over 40. Those…

Where? A small island group in the South China Sea claimed in their entirety by China and Vietnam and in part by Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia – because of potential oil and gas reserves. Recent reports state that Vietnam is considering its first-ever tours to the disputed Spratly Islands. China and the Philippines…

A recent World Values Survey on the levels of happiness in more than 65 countries shows Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico. Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest. “New Zealand ranked 15 for overall satisfaction, the U.S. 16th, Australia 20th and Britain 24th…

US firm Far & Wide (www.farandwide.com), a holding company for 21 well-known tour operators, went bankrupt and shut down several of its subsidiaries. They blame their closure on the TwinTowers, then two wars, the SARS crisis, and a national economy that has been throwing more and more people out of work.

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