• London's new Thames cable car in place — but will it be ready for the Olympics?

    Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

    Cable cars pass over the River Thames on May 16, 2012 in London, England.

    Engineers have been testing a new cable car system crossing the River Thames, Getty Images reports. The gondola-style cable cars will carry commuters between the Greenwich Peninsula and East London. 

    The system, which is estimated to be costing nearly £60 million ($95 million), is expected to open to the public this year but doubts have been raised over whether it will be ready in time for the opening of the Olympic Games on July 27.

    Related content:

    Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

    The 1 km (0.62 mile) cable car line crosses the river from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks, linking two important Olympic sites. Up to 34 gondolas, each carrying a maximum of 10 passengers, will transport people across the river.

    The transport link between two Olympic venues that might not be ready for the Games. It is the spectacular cable car running across the Thames. Construction began in July last year, with officials admitting that getting it ready for the Games was going to be extremely challenging ITN's Simon Harris.

     

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  • Sand is thicker than blood: Summer travelers prefer beach over family, survey reveals

    Elizabeth Ruiz / EPA

    Beach vacations are popular, in part, because they are affordable to other getaways, according to findings from the 2012 Flip Flop Report, released Wednesday.

    By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

    With summer starting just weeks away, you might be starting to plan that big trip to visit the folks or other family.


    Unless, that is, you’re like many travelers and you’re planning on hitting the beach instead.

    That’s among the findings of the 2012 Flip Flop Report, a global survey sponsored by Expedia.com and released on Wednesday. When asked if they could take only one holiday, 33 percent of respondents said they’d prefer the beach vs. 10 percent who said they’d want to visit family or relatives.

    “Beaches are definitely top of mind right now,” said Joe Megibow, vice president and general manager. “But even if you take seasonality out of it, beach-going and travel have been best friends for years.”

    The survey, which included 8,599 consumers in 21 countries, also found that:

    • 52 percent of respondents worldwide expected to vacation at the beach in the next 12 months, up from 45 percent last year, although, sadly, only 23 percent of Americans expected to do so;
    • When at the beach, 60 percent of Americans preferred doing nothing/relaxing vs. exercising (13 percent) and “posing for pictures you wouldn’t want business associates to see (2 percent);
    • 38 percent of Americans cited prevalence of sharks when picking a beach vacation vs. 67 percent of Singaporeans and 70 percent of Brazilians;
    • 2 percent of Americans have sunbathed nude vs. 8 percent of Spaniards and Indians and 15 percent of, wait for it, Germans.

    Silly statistics aside, the most telling insight, perhaps, is that 77 percent of travelers (and 78 percent of Americans) cited the “estimated price of total vacation” as their top concern when choosing a beach destination.

    “It’s less about whether they spend more or less; it’s more about how much buying power they have with their budget,” said Megibow. “As flights get more expensive, they don’t fly or they fly and spend fewer days.”

    That impression is echoed in two other reports released this week. On Tuesday, AAA released its annual Memorial Day forecast, projecting that budget-minded consumers will still travel but that they’ll stay closer to home, take shorter trips and decide to drive rather than fly.

    Also on Tuesday, a new report from Deloitte suggested that 54 percent of Americans would take a trip between June 1 and Labor Day, a slight increase over the 52 percent who did so last year. With airfares and gas prices up over last year, says the company, travelers will be on the lookout for deals, discounts and complimentary amenities.

    For fliers, that may mean choosing airlines that don’t charge to check bags or use onboard Wi-Fi; for hotel guests, seeking out complimentary breakfasts and free parking. At Expedia, the priority travelers are placing on their budgets has prompted the company to launch what Megibow says is its largest summer sale ever, with some 12,000 participating hotels in 700 destinations.

    As for the 77 percent of Americans who don’t expect to take a beach vacation in the next 12 months, one last study might be worth considering. Released last month, a paper by researchers at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health in the UK revealed that visits to coastal environments resulted in greater calmness, enjoyment and refreshment than visits to other outdoor locations, such as rural settings and urban parks.

    By that token — and regardless of the dent it may make in your budget — a beach vacation could be priceless.

    More stories you might like:

    Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

     

  • Heathrow chaos: Travelers spend more time in line than in the air

    By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

    LONDON -- Welcome to London's Heathrow Airport -- where waiting to clear immigration can take longer than your international flight.

    Some visitors have recently reported waits of more than two hours, triggering front-page headlines as Britain prepares to host the Summer Olympics from July 27 until August 12.


    NBC News' Theresa Cook captured these scenes on her cellphone after arriving at Terminal 5 on a flight from Amsterdam on Monday night.

    "We made it to the back of the line at 9:10 p.m. (4:10 p.m. ET) ... and finally reached the border agent's desk at 10:33 p.m.," she said. "Our flight from Amsterdam Schiphol to Heathrow was scheduled to take 55 minutes, but we made good time and landed early. That means we spent almost twice as much time getting through U.K. border control as we did in the air."

    The disruption has been blamed on the reintroduction of full passport checks for all arriving passengers, following political embarrassment that checks by the U.K.'s border agency had been relaxed, apparently without the knowledge of the government. 

    Heathrow feels the heat as Olympics approach

    'Very apologetic'
    Cook said the immigration officer who checked her passport said that he had been sent from the English Channel port of Dover to help.

    "He admitted they don't have enough staff, was very apologetic for the wait and said: 'We're trying our best but clearly it's not good enough'."

    Uh-oh Heathrow! Long lines, waits hit travelers ahead of Olympics

    London Mayor Boris Johnson last month warned the delays were giving "a terrible impression of the U.K." and demanded action.

    Heathrow typically handles an average of 190,000 arriving and departing passengers each day, but is braced for a major influx during the Olympics.

    At London's Heathrow Airport, the corporate slogan is "Making Every Journey Better". An experienced Border Agency immigration worker says waits of up to three hours have left staff facing public order problems. Channel 4 Europe's Andy Davies reports.

     

    BAA, the Spanish-owned company that operates Heathrow and five other U.K airports, is among those furious at the waiting times. The firm has accused Britain's border agency of not providing enough staff to conduct the necessary passport and visa checks, causing the delays and demanded Britain's interior ministry, the Home Office, takes action.  

    NBC News' Theresa Cook, msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

    Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

  • Man who stripped naked to protest TSA screening wants a trial

    Police arrested John Brennan of Portland, Ore., for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct after the incident. MSNBC's Chris Jansing reports.

    By Jeff Black, msnbc.com

    A technology consultant who stripped naked at Portland International Airport last month to protest security screening has decided to fight the misdemeanor indecent exposure charge levied against him and go to trial.


    In a hearing on Wednesday, John E. Brennan, 49, could have just entered a Multnomah County Circuit Court’s community program, which would have meant the misdemeanor charge could be treated like a citation. To do that, he would have to admit guilt, and would likely be required to perform community service and write an apology letter, according to Oregonlive.com, the website of the Oregonian newspaper.

    Related: Man protests TSA, strips naked at Portland International

    Instead, his attorney told a judge that Brennan wanted to go to trial, the report said, because an apology wasn’t appropriate because Brennan hadn't done anything wrong.

    Brennan, at the airport on April 17, was scheduled to board an Alaska Airlines flight to San Jose, Calif., on a business trip. He reportedly grew frustrated after a security wand detected trace amounts of an explosive component on his clothing and he was ordered to do further screening. He stripped naked to show he didn't have a bomb, he said at the time.

    News of Brennan's disrobing made national headlines.

    "I believe I am within my rights as an Oregonian to use this form of protest, this form of free speech really, and to assist the TSA in their screening process," Brennan told NBC station KGW in Portland outside the courtroom on Wednesday.

    Brennan said he is upset with the government taking away the rights of citizens and that stripping was his way of fighting back.

    More stories you might like:

  • Where and how to see the eclipse

    Reuters file

    A "ring of fire" glows around the dark moon on Jan. 26, 2009, as seen from Bandar Lampung in Indonesia during an annular solar eclipse.

    By Alan Boyle

    Eclipse-chasers have been known to plan their expeditions months or even years in advance, but if you can get to the western United States, there's still plenty of time to plan your party for this month's solar eclipse. If the skies are clear, all you have to do is look up — with the proper eye protection, of course.

    The May 20 event won't be quite as spectacular as a total solar eclipse, but if you can make it to a 200-mile-wide strip of territory that extends from the Oregon-California coast to northwestern Texas, you just might see a rare "Ring of Fire" eclipse near sunset. And that zone of annularity runs through some of the most picturesque parts of the country, including the Grand Canyon and 32 other national parks.

    Outside the strip, Westerners will see a partial solar eclipse for the first time in seven years.

    "Think of Pac-Man taking a bite out of the sun," Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, said in a news release. "That 'bite' will take out 55 to 80 percent of the disk of the sun, depending on where you are, and that's still a very special experience."

    The park service has put together an interactive website that shows you where the eclipse will be visible, lists events tied to the eclipse and provides more online resources about the phenomenon. Don't dawdle over your travel plans: Some of the park events, such as a viewing session from New Mexico's Petroglyph National Monument, are already sold out.

    This eclipse will be an international spectacle that's not to be missed. Over the course of three and a half hours, the moon will blot out at least part of the sun, as seen from earthly locales stretching from Southeast Asia through China and the Pacific to North America and Greenland. Because of the moon's position with relation to Earth, the lunar disk will never block the sun completely, but will leave at least an edge of the solar disk exposed.

    Safety first
    For that reason, it's important to use the proper protection when gazing at the eclipse, even during the "Ring of Fire" phase. You can buy safety glasses for less than a buck each from Telescopes.net, with all of the proceeds going to support Astronomers Without Borders. Eclipse shades are available as well from Rainbow Symphony and lots of other online vendors.

    You can also put a solar filter on your telescope or binoculars — but regular sunglasses won't do the trick. The filters should be specially designed for solar viewing. Same goes for your camera: Unless you know what you're doing, taking a picture of the sun without the proper filter is a good way to ruin your point-and-shoot. NASA's top eclipse expert, Fred Espenak, offers a guide to photographing any kind of solar eclipse easily and safely.

    National Park Service

    A graphic shows U.S. national parks within the zone of annularity for the May 20 solar eclipse. A partial solar eclipse can be seen from parks outside the zone that are marked in orange. Click on the interactive map.

    Another way to view the eclipse is to fashion a "pinhole camera" from a box, aluminum foil and a sheet of white paper — or even from just two squares of cardboard. This Exploratorium webpage shows you how. The simplest way to get a sense of the eclipse is to find a semi-shady spot and watch the circles of sunlight falling through tree leaves. During a partial eclipse, the circles will turn into half-moons or crescents. If the sun goes annular, you'll see bright rings on the ground.

    If you're in the Western states, the best time to look will be in the late afternoon of the 20th. NASA has put a clickable map online that shows you when the different stages of the eclipse occur for the locality you click. One caveat: The times are listed as Universal Time, so you'll have to subtract seven hours for Pacific Daylight Time, six hours for Mountain Time, or five hours for Central Time.

    Where to go
    You can track eclipse visibility using the maps available from NASA or the National Park Service, but how do you pick just the right place? Paul Doherty, senior staff scientist for the Exploratorium in San Francisco, advises matching up the maps with places that are accessible and tend to have clear skies. Eclipser's Forecast Desk provides long-term projections of global sky conditions for the hard-core eclipse-chaser, and when you get within 48 hours of the event, the Clear Sky Chart can give you a better idea what to expect.

    It's a good idea to scout out your location in advance if you can, and it's also a good idea to retain some flexibiliity in your itinerary, just in case you have to shift your base of operations to find a clear patch of sky. I'm planning to head for Crescent City, Calif., to see a close-to-sunset eclipse over the Pacific, but from what I've been hearing about the fogginess on the coast, it'd be prudent for me to check out some vantage points farther inland.

    Make sure you've got good western exposure, though. "You don't want mountains to be in the way," Doherty said. The farther east you go, the later the eclipse occurs — and the closer the sun will be to the western horizon. Some observers have dubbed Albuquerque, N.M., as the prime urban spot for seeing this eclipse, but the "Ring of Fire" will flash there just before sunset. That means you'll need a clear line of sight to the far horizon.

    Jan. 15, 2010: Astronomers believe a solar eclipse seen across Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean may be the longest annular eclipse in more than 1,000 years. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Hang onto those glasses
    After the eclipse, you can put your sun-viewing glasses through another tryout during the transit of Venus on June 5. Over the course of several hours, the planet Venus will be visible as a tiny speck of black, making its way across the sun's disk for what Doherty calls a "micro-eclipse." This map from NASA shows that the transit will be visible from most of North America in the hours leading up to sunset (although Alaskans will be out of luck this time around).

    The same eclipse safety rules apply to the transit: Don't gaze directly at the sun with your naked eye. Use the proper solar filters on your telescope, binoculars or camera. Feel free to make a pinhole projector, although Venus' tiny speck will be much harder to track than the effects of a solar eclipse.

    Looking even farther ahead, there's a total solar eclipse on tap for Nov. 13, with the track of totality running across the northern tip of Australia and a wide expanse of the Pacific. That's the year's big prize for eclipse-chasers, but time is running out to make arrangements for a trip to Cairns or a Pacific cruise.

    "A year or two is the rule for getting to a total solar eclipse," Doherty said. "But there's always this tradeoff between time ahead and money spent. If you want to go the less expensive way, plan early. If you're willing to pay a little bit more, go late."

    The good news is that Americans have plenty of time to plan for a convenient total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. On that day, the path of totality will stretch diagonally across the United States, from Oregon to North Carolina. 

    "That eclipse, you're just going to be able to drive to," Doherty said. "So if you miss this one, start planning now for 2017."

    Tune us in online
    To hear more tales of eclipses past, present and future, join us tonight for "Virtually Speaking Science," an hourlong talk show that plays out on BlogTalkRadio and in the Second Life virtual world. Doherty (a.k.a. Patio Plasma) and I will be at the StellaNova Small Auditorium, courtesy of the Meta Institute for Computational Astrophysics, starting at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT/SLT).

    If you miss the live event, don't worry: It'll be archived by "Virtually Speaking" on BlogTalkRadio as well as iTunes.

    On Friday, head on over to the Cosmic Log Facebook page for our weekly "Where in the Cosmos" picture puzzle. If you're the first to solve the riddle, you'll be eligible to receive a pair of sun-viewing safety glasses for this month's eclipse and next month's transit. In the meantime, check out these podcasts from previous episodes of "Virtually Speaking Science," plus links to eclipse-related resources:

    Corrections for 10:25 p.m. ET: A couple of the Web links went to information about the November total solar eclipse when they should have referred to the May annular solar eclipse, but that's been fixed. I've also fixed the reference to the eclipse's timing in Albuquerque. From that location, the annular phase will last a little more than four minutes, from 7:33 to 7:38 p.m. MT, followed by sunset a little after 8 p.m. I originally (and erroneously) wrote that the "Ring of Fire" would occur four minutes before sunset.  

    Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.

  • Shakespeare celebrated at world festival

    By Jane L. Levere, msnbc.com contributor

    The World Shakespeare Festival will show all of the Bard's 37 plays, each in a different language, and each by a different international company, at the Globe Theatre in London. NBC News' Peter Jeary reports.

    The World Shakespeare Festival, the biggest celebration ever of the Bard and his work, begins in the United Kingdom on April 23, his birthday.

    Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the renowned theater company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, the festival is an unprecedented collaboration among over 50 arts organizations from around the world. Offering almost 70 Shakespeare productions, the festival will run through November. 

    What makes the festival extraordinary is the diversity of its productions: There will be performances of Shakespeare plays and other works inspired by Shakespeare's plays, done in dozens of different languages by professional, semi-professional and amateur actors from dozens of different countries.

     


    Andrew Shuttleworth, marketing communications manager for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, plans to attend the festival in the summer. Shuttleworth acted as a child and young adult growing up in Maine, in “Macbeth,” “King Lear,” and “The Taming of the Shrew.”

    “The aspect of the World Shakespeare Festival that I’m most excited about is that it’s not just high-level productions, it’s also a celebration of community, amateur, and youth Shakespeare,” Shuttleworth told msnbc.com.

    “There’s something extremely cool about a festival that embraces immaculately produced theater right alongside rough-hewn, smaller-budget shows. Small shows can be just as inventive, just as much fun as the big ones.”

    The festival is part of the London 2012 Festival, which is itself the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, an arts event held as part of Olympics celebrations. The 2012 Summer Olympic games will take place in London from July 27 to August 12.

    The festival will include the following productions:

    • Thirty-seven of Shakespeare’s plays performed in as many different languages at Shakespeare’s Globe, a 20th century reconstruction, on the South Bank of the Thames in London, of a theater built by Shakespeare in the late 16th century.  These plays will range from a production of “Cymbeline” by a theater company from the world's youngest country, South Sudan, and the three “Henry VI” plays by the national theaters of Serbia, Albania and Macedonia, to a performance of “Love’s Labor’s Lost” performed in British Sign Language by Deafinitely Theater, and a production of “Richard III” by the National Theater of China.
    • A multimedia production of “Troilus and Cressida” by the RSC and The Wooster Group of New York from Aug. 3 to Aug. 18 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
    • A production of “Desdemona,” based on a character from “Othello,” by American novelist Toni Morrison, Malian singer and songwriter Rokia Traoré, and American director Peter Sellars, at the Barbican in London on July 19 and 20.
    • A full-scale production of “West Side Story,” featuring professionals, semi-professionals and amateurs, in Gateshead from July 4 to July 7.
    • “In a Pickle,” a play described as a “voyage of discovery through the landscapes of Shakespeare’s imagination,” for children age two to four, in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and Newcastle Upon Tyne in May and June.
    • A special exhibit, called “Shakespeare: Staging the World,” on display at the British Museum in London from July 19 to Nov. 25.  Featuring almost 200 objects ranging from paintings to everyday items like a sweetmeat fork, it will explore the emerging role of London as a world city four hundred years ago, interpreted through the perspective of Shakespeare’s plays.
    • A social networking platform, myShakespeare, designed to generate a global conversation on Shakespeare, with discussions about his influence on everything from culture to politics to economics. The festival has invited artists from around the world to create new work for the site.

    Michael Boyd, artistic director of the RSC, believes that these and the festival's many other events have the power to unite individuals across cultures: “People of all races, creeds and continents have chosen to gather around [Shakespeare's] work to share stories of what it is like to be human, to fall in love or fall from grace, to be subject to the abuse of power, or to live with the dreams of angels in the shadow of our own mortality.”

    More from msnbc.com:

  • Mishandled bag rates drop, but tensions remain in the airline cabin

    By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

    With the busy summer travel season just months away, there’s good news and bad news on the baggage front.


    The good news is that fewer checked bags are being damaged, delayed, pilfered or lost. According to a new report from SITA, a provider of information technology to the airline industry, the total number of mishandled bags dropped 20.3 percent worldwide last year and is down by more than half since 2007.

    “Last year was a fantastic year in the world of baggage, probably the best year ever,” said Nick Gates, SITA’s director of baggage solutions. The main reason, he told msnbc.com, was a Baggage Improvement Program developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

    The program is a multi-year effort to analyze where mishandling occurs and to train employees to share information on best practices for baggage handling. Covering 200 airports around the world, it’s targeted for completion this year and is expected to save the industry $1.9 billion annually.

    Airlines mishandled 25.8 million bags worldwide last year, the SITA report shows, down from 32.3 million in 2010, despite carrying 6.9 percent more passengers (2.87 billion).

    That translates into 8.99 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers, a drop of 25.5 percent from 2010. In the U.S., the numbers were even better, dropping to 3.39 bags per 1,000 passengers (domestic flights only) from 3.51 bags in 2010, according to the Department of Transportation.

    Some problems remain, especially in the realm of connecting flights, which accounted for 53 percent of all mishandled bags last year. “Transfers have always been a challenge and probably always will be,” said Gates. “If you’re flying from Point A to Point B, your bags are touched twice. If you’re flying from Point A to Point B to Point C, the number of touchpoints effectively doubles.”

    The impressive baggage handling numbers have a flip side.

    As things improve in the cargo hold, many passengers remain convinced that things are getting worse in the cabin as fee-averse travelers try to take more and bigger bags aboard. 

    “People are pushing the carry-on regulations to the limit,” said Michael Hess, president and CEO of bag maker Skooba Design and a longtime frequent flier. “It makes sense that there are fewer bags getting lost because there are fewer bags going into the baggage hold of the plane.”

    Neither DOT nor the airlines track specific numbers, but as Bobbie Egan, spokesperson for Alaska Airlines told msnbc.com, “I think that, in general, the industry has seen an increase in carry-on bags.”

    Some travelers try to cram bags into already packed overhead bins, impeding boarding procedures, while others take advantage of gate-checking, in which they give up their bags just before boarding, typically avoiding bag fees in the process.

    Either way, for many travelers, the improvement in mishandled-bag rates is likely to be considered small consolation in light of the crush of carry-on bags in the cabin. In fact, according to a report issued by U.S. Travel, an industry trade association, last November, 72.4 percent of air travelers listed “people who bring too many carry-on bags through the security checkpoint” as one of their top five frustrations — more than any other complaint.

    “All [the airlines] have done is move the problem from the belly of the plane to the cabin,” said Hess. “You sit there and someone comes in and insists they can fit their piano in the overhead bin. It’s ridiculous.”

    SITA's Gates cautions against over-simplification. “There’s some evidence that the total number of checked bags is reducing slightly but the drop in mishandling rates far exceeds that,” he said. “I don’t think it has a significant impact on the overall data.”

    What do you think about the improved baggage handling numbers and the overall flying experience? Tell us on Facebook.

    More stories you might like:

    Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

  • Tunisia still wants sun lovers, new Islamist government says

    Lionel Bonaventure / AFP - Getty Images, file

    Tourists look at the sea in Sidi Bou Said on October 19, 2011, days before a historic national election in Tunisia.

    By Reuters and Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com

    Sun worshippers are welcome on Tunisia's beaches even though an Islamist government now runs the Mediterranean country which relies heavily on tourism to fill its coffers, its prime minister said on Monday.

    "We will respect the traditions of our visitors in their food, and clothing and lifestyle," Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said at a conference to promote tourism held on the island of Djerba, known for its white sandy beaches and luxury spas.

    As if to reinforce his message, a wide selection of alcoholic beverages was on offer at the opening ceremony of the tourism conference on Sunday night.

    That message is in stark contrast to neighboring Libya, which earlier this year told msnbc.com it does not intend to follow Tunisia and Morocco down the road of mass tourism and relatively widespread alcohol sales.

    Jebali's moderate Islamist Ennahda party took power at the head of a coalition in an election after last year's revolution, which ousted veteran leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and sparked the Arab Spring.

    Could sun-soaked Libya be the Mediterranean's next tourism hot spot?

    Tunisia, which relies on tourism for almost 7 percent of its gross domestic product, saw visitor numbers and tourist revenues drop by more than a third after the revolution.

    "Unfortunately, some want to paint Tunisia as a jungle and sow fear of the Ennahda government but this does not reflect reality and the proof is that these critics speak freely," Jebali told journalists on the sidelines of the conference.

    Fethi Belaid / AFP - Getty Images, file

    Residents of Tunisian town of Hammamet hold placards reading "Don't touch my tourism!" as take part in a silent march named "citizen walk in support of tourism " in April 2011.

    About 5 million tourists visited the country last year, down from 7 million in 2010 as fears over security caused tourists to flee or to cancel bookings.

    Tunisia has since made a relatively smooth transition to democracy and tourists are returning to its coastal resorts. But occasional protests and lingering fears that Ennahda will slowly seek to Islamise society have held back the recovery, as has the economic crisis in Europe.

    Jebali said bookings had improved for 2012 and Tunisia hoped to regain its 7 million tourists and top that by encouraging visits to historical, cultural sites and the southern desert.

    In an effort to allay fears that Tunisia would impose sharia, or Islamic law, as some conservative Islamists have demanded, Jebali said a constitution is being drafted that would protect the "civil" nature of the state.

    "We want to reassure everyone and even our own people that there is nothing to fear from freedom and democracy," he said.

  • Light show projects image of Titanic onto giant iceberg

    Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter projected pictures of the Titanic on a giant iceberg off Greenland to mark the 100th anniversary of its maiden voyage.

    Mike Kessler / Gerry Hofstetter Marketing via EPA

    A light projection of the Titanic on a 500-meter-long iceberg in the Northern Polar sea of Greenland, during the night of 13 April 2012.

    Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter is one of the best-known light artists working today. He uses light to project huge images in unexpected places, like a cross on the famous Matterhorn peak in the Alps, and hieroglyphics on the outside of the pyramids in Giza. His projects transform monuments, buildings and landscapes into something new. Sometimes his work has a serious tone, as when he projected polar bears on melting glaciers, but he also does fun lightshows for clients for events such as festivals and openings. His goal is to illuminate each of the world’s greatest monuments and sacred places.

    See more of Hofstetter’s work on his website.  

    See photos of a projection in Switzerland by Hofstetter for the Jungfrau railway's anniversary on PhotoBlog.

    Related content:

    Slideshow: Titanic: 100 years later

    Hulton Archives / Getty Images; AFP - Getty Images

    A look at the memorials, museum exhibits and memorabilia that commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, including the photos from 1912 that capture the anticipation and the aftermath around this "unsinkable" ship.

    Launch slideshow

    One century after the Titanic sank during its maiden voyage, the historic day is being commemorated around the world. NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports.

    Slideshow: Titanic Belfast

    David Moir / Reuters

    The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new visitor attraction location in Belfast's Titanic Quarter, on the original site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard -  birthplace of RMS Titanic.

    Launch slideshow

  • In the hole to Uncle Sam? Bill aims to strip your passport


    By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

    Have passport, will travel?

    Not if you’re delinquent on your taxes and some of your elected officials have their way. With tax season upon us, it seems that old dictum — No man’s life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session — may also apply to Americans’ international travel plans.

    That strange bit of governance can be found on page 1,447 (!) in S. 1813, which passed the Senate on March 14. Sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the bill was ostensibly written to reauthorize federal aid for the nation’s highways.

    But in an impressive display of legislative sausage-making, the bill also authorizes the “denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport” for anyone with “a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000.”

    Translation: You don’t have to be found guilty of tax evasion but if the IRS has filed a lien against you for big bucks, you would have to rethink that trip to the French Open or London Olympics.

    What restricting international travel has to do with funding American highways is unclear, especially as spokespeople for Sen. Boxer’s office and the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works declined to comment on the matter.

    “The way in which laws get cobbled together is something I don’t even try to understand,” said Robert Wood, a San Francisco tax attorney who recently addressed the issue for Forbes.com. “A lot of weird things sneak in in odd ways.”

    “I don’t know what this has to do with transportation,” said Paul Ruden, senior vice president for legal and industry affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents, who nevertheless, understands the rationale behind the proposed regulation.

    “If someone owes a lot of money to the government and they’re carrying a government instrument that says they’re free to go, they might not come back,” he told msnbc.com.

    The IRS has yet to respond to an inquiry from msnbc.com about how many Americans might be subjected to the rule if it were to pass.

    At this point, the passport-confiscation provision is only a proposal and neither Ruden nor Wood expects the Senate bill to pass as is in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority has a markedly different approach to funding and regulations.

    And even if does, suggests Ruden, the majority of travelers should be able to hold on to their little blue books.

    “I’m going to be an optimist and say there aren’t that many Americans in this situation and planning to use their passport to leave the country,” he said.

    More from Overhead Bin:

    Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

  • Police meet unruly child and family at Portland airport

    By KMTR

    An unruly child put an end Tuesday evening to a plane trip by a family flying from Long Beach, Calif., to Vancouver, B.C., authorities said.


    A young child refused to stay seated during an Alaska Airlines flight, according to Port of Portland spokesman Steve Johnson, and neither the parents nor flight attendants were able to control the child.

    The pilot radioed ahead to have police waiting at the gate in Portland to remove the family of four from the plane.

    Officers spoke with the family but did not arrest or cite them. They were not allowed to get back on the flight to Vancouver. Johnson said the stop in Portland was a scheduled stop for the flight.

    He was unsure of the exact age of the child.

    In February, a family of four was removed from a JetBlue flight after one of the children refused to remain seated before takeoff. Dr. Colette Vieau and her husband, Dr. Mordecai Stolk, told TODAY that they believe the decision by the airline was excessive.

    The family removed from a JetBlue flight because their daughter wouldn't settle down at takeoff tells TODAY's Matt Lauer why they feel it was an unfair. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.

    This story originally appeared on Eugene, Ore., NBC-affiliate KMTR.

    Related stories:

  • 5 fitness gizmos for athletic travelers

    Courtesy Wahoo Fitness

    Wahoo Fitness' Blue HR heart rate monitor utilizes Bluetooth technology and can be synced to a compatible iPhone.

    By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

    Technology, they say, marches on but for fitness-focused travelers, it also runs, bikes and swims. Thanks to a slew of new gadgets, it’s easier than ever to monitor — and, hopefully, maintain — your fitness routines when away from home.


    “When you’re traveling, exercise can help your immune system and improve your mental productivity,” said fitness blogger Ben Greenfield, aka The Get-Fit Guy at QuickAndDirtyTips.com. “Logging your workouts can provide more motivation to work out.”

    And thanks to the development of new wireless technologies, such as ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart Ready, monitoring those workouts is getting easier all the time. “Logging with technology is very convenient,” said Greenfield. “You no longer need to jot your heart rate down in a notepad or on your hand while you’re running.”

    For travelers hoping to maintain their fitness routines, the following five gadgets are just what the sports doctor ordered:

    Sportiiiis
    Talk about visualizing your workout. The Sportiiiis ($199) is a small device that attaches to a pair of sunglasses and uses LEDs to track your speed, heart rate and other performance data. Once you’ve programmed your target rates and paired the unit with the appropriate ANT+ device, such as a heart-rate strap (not included), attach the boom-like unit to your glasses and go. The LEDs blink green if you’re in the zone, yellow if you drop below it and orange or red if you start overdoing it.

    Courtesy of Pyle

    This GPS watch from Pyle allows you to set coordinates for your run, a great feature for when you're in a new location.

    GPS Sports Watch
    New destinations mean new, and often, unfamiliar running routes. The new GPS Sports Watch ($307) from Pyle can help keep you on track by providing directions to the coordinates you set, along with data on your current speed and estimated time of arrival. Pair it with the wireless chest strap (included) and you can monitor your heart rate along the way.

    Hydro Tracker GPS
    Counting laps in the hotel pool? Piece of cake. Monitoring your workout in open water? That’s a little trickier, unless you’re sporting the new Hydro Tracker GPS ($130) from Finis. Attach the unit to your goggle strap and it’ll record your route in real-time. Afterwards, upload the data to an online training log and you can view it on Google Earth, analyze your performance and even watch a time-lapse animation of your progress.

    Blue HR
    According to the folks at Wahoo Fitness, the Blue HR heart rate monitor ($80) is the first chest-strap unit to use the new Bluetooth Smart Ready technology, which lets you sync low-energy devices directly to compatible smartphones. Strap it on and your phone will display your data either through Wahoo’s free app or via apps you already have, including RunKeeper and MapMyRide. Alas, the iPhone 4S is currently the only Smart Ready phone on the market, although others are expected later this year.

    eSport Clip
    More attuned to everyday users than ultramarathoners, the just-released eSport Clip MP3/video player ($22) from eMatic packs a lot of features into a travel-friendly form. Clip it on your sleeve and you can listen to 2,300 songs, watch 20 hours of video (or shoot your own) and play it all back on the 1.8 inch screen. True, it won’t monitor your performance like the other products listed here, but hey, if cueing up LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” doesn’t inspire you to get out and get moving, we don’t know what will.

    More from Travel Kit:

    Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

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