The best travel stories on the internet.

Powered By Travel Channel

• Home»
• Travel Blog»
• News and Briefs

Travel Blog: News and Briefs

The Rise of the Russian Traveler

by Michael Yessis | 06.16.08 | 10:53 AM ET

Fascinating front-page story in yesterday’s New York Times about how Russians, newly prosperous and free of Soviet-era travel restrictions, are hitting the road by the millions. Countries like Turkey are now scrambling to cater to the influx of Russians—one resort resembles the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral—and Russians are wondering how seeing more of the world may change the way they see themselves and their homeland.

Read More »

‘High’ Risk of Terrorist Attack in UAE

by Jim Benning | 06.16.08 | 10:24 AM ET

The warning for the United Arab Emirates comes from the UK Foreign Office but included few details. BBC report here.

Ezra Pound, Foreign Correspondent

by Eva Holland | 06.16.08 | 10:21 AM ET

In the latest issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, Jon Schneider writes about Ezra Pound’s unlikely (and brief) stint as a European correspondent for the Richmond News Leader, during his final years in Italy. Included with the essay are scanned images of Pound’s “feisty, allusive” submissions to the paper—all but one of which were deemed unpublishable by the editor.

World Hum’s Most Read: June 7-13

by World Hum | 06.13.08 | 1:47 PM ET

Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:

1) Attachment and Loss at 10,000 Feet
2) The Man at the Bus Stop
3) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ (pictured)
4) Audio Slideshow: Promised Land Closed
5) ‘Girls of Riyadh’: Saudi Arabia’s ‘Sex and the City’?

China, Taiwan Approve Regular Direct Flights

by Jim Benning | 06.13.08 | 12:34 PM ET

Just how historic is the agreement? Reports Reuters: “Apart from special holidays, there have been no regular direct flights since 1949, when China’s defeated Nationalists fled to the island amid civil war with the Communists.”

Cross-Cultural Theme Restaurants on the Rise in Los Angeles

by Jim Benning | 06.13.08 | 12:20 PM ET

The Los Angeles Times covers this very cool shrinking planet phenomenon. Just one example: “[I]n Culver City, you will find a New York art collector’s interpretation of a Japanese maid cafe (or “maid-kissa”)—Royal/T Cafe, which opened last month in the Royal/T art gallery. Works by the likes of Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama and Chris Ofili are featured.” I know where I’m going for dinner soon.

Photo by forklift via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

The Long Descent: US Airways to Charge $2 for Soft Drinks

by Jim Benning | 06.13.08 | 11:20 AM ET

Clearly, nothing is sacred. US Airways has become the first airline to announce it will charge for non-alcoholic drinks. What’s more, apparently inspired by American Airlines, both US Airways and United announced they’ll start charging $15 for the first checked bag.

Related on World Hum:
* Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Airlines May Start Treating Passengers as ‘Freight’‘

What’s the Cost of Tourism in the Water-Starved Mediterranean?

by Joanna Kakissis | 06.13.08 | 9:47 AM ET

Last year, when I was driving through the Mesara Plain in southern Crete, I found not the green farmland I remembered as a kid but a cascading plain of desiccated land. Some swathes looked like desert, covered only by dehydrated foliage. The island has always been dry, with resourceful farmers literally working the land to life. But I’d never seen it look as dry as this.

Read More »

U.S. Image Rebounds Abroad

by Julia Ross | 06.13.08 | 9:35 AM ET

In 10 of 21 countries, according to the latest Pew Global Attitudes survey. Tanzanians are really showing the love, up 19 points in favorable views of the U.S. over last year. Has Obama-mania crept across the Kenyan border? In nearly all countries surveyed, people express more confidence in Obama than McCain on foreign policy. That jibes with this dispatch from Cairo.

Belgian Brewer Bids on Bud

by Elyse Franko | 06.13.08 | 9:31 AM ET

For years, Anheuser-Busch has been duking it out with a Czech brewery over the name Budweiser. Now Belgium’s InBev has bid to take over the iconic U.S. maker of Budweiser and other beers. Could a war to protect the American-as-apple-pie integrity of our keg beers be next?

Related on World Hum:
*Global Warming’s Next Victim: Beer?
*American Beer: Beyond Bud Light

Five Writers’ Tales From Hotels

by Michael Yessis | 06.12.08 | 1:06 PM ET

Nice little essays in Travel + Leisure from five writers chronicling time spent at hotels around the world. Among the contributors: Gary Shteyngart (The Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon), Mark Leyner (Grand Hotel Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria) and Daphne Merkin (Mizpe Hayamim in Rosh Pina, Israel).

A Cartoonist’s Take on Life in New York City

by Eva Holland | 06.12.08 | 12:53 PM ET