In French Guiana, the fight against illegal gold mining is rapidly being lost and creating an environmental and health disaster, according to the World Wildlife Fund. During an aerial survey in early August, park rangers counted 239 illegal sites within the protected area in record.
Read full articleTUI is adding five hotels to its TUI BLUE portfolio for UK customers in Croatia, Madeira and Egypt, across summer 2027 and summer 2028. TUI BLUE Diane in Croatia and TUI BLUE Calheta Beach in Madeira join for summer 2027. In Egypt, TUI BLUE Vistamar and TUI BLUE Makadi Oasis also join in summer 2027, with TUI BLUE Palace Sharm following in summer 2028.
This festive season, Orient Express unveils “A Journey, Written to Last”, a cinematic celebration of the journeys, encounters and gestures that become lasting memories. At the heart of the campaign, a film unfolds like a story told through letters, following a guest on an evocative journey across three extraordinary worlds: Orient Express La Minerva in Rome, Orient Express Venezia and La Dolce Vita Orient Express.
Breakfree Holidays, the family-owned British travel business offering affordable holidays across the UK and Europe, has unveiled a bold new brand identity and website as the next generation of the Sakal family sets out to challenge outdated perceptions of holiday parks and introduce the business to a wider, younger audience. Having helped more than 20 million people enjoy a holiday, and with roots dating back to 1989, Breakfree Holidays is embarking on a new chapter, combining its longstanding commitment to affordability with a bold new identity, an enhanced digital booking experience and an extensive portfolio spanning British coastal escapes, European holiday parks, cottages, lodges, hotels and boating holidays.
Hanoi recorded the fastest growth in accommodation searches among solo travelers in 2026, with searches rising 22% in the second half of the year, according to digital travel platform Agoda. The finding arrives as 11.11 Singles Day celebrates the joy of doing things independently, from treating yourself to a trip to setting your own itinerary. Agoda’s accommodation search data shows that Tokyo, Bangkok and Seoul were the most popular destinations for solo travelers according to searches made between July and October 2026, followed by Osaka and Kuala Lumpur rounding out the top five.
Nigel Ng Kin-ju is in Los Angeles, adjusting a coffee grinder and apologising for the noise, when he tries to account for the past seven years over the phone. The voice on the line is his own – not the exaggerated Cantonese-inflected pidgin English of Uncle Roger, his orange-polo-wearing alter ego who famously roasted a BBC egg-fried rice tutorial in 2020 – but the measured, faintly amused tone of a 35-year-old Malaysian who still seems to be watching his own plot unfold from a slight...
The internationally acclaimed pianist Yuja Wang has denied making a last-minute change to a recent performance in Hong Kong that resulted in audience refunds, saying the concert organiser was told weeks in advance about the revised programme. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Beijing-born American pianist and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra accused the local organiser, Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, of withholding the announcement of a change that had been “communicated weeks in advance by...
"Entire days would pass without me being able to come up with a single interesting conversation topic. Doug’s reticence certainly wasn’t helping." View Entire Post ›
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday that halted nearly all departing flights for almost five hours. It was the longest nationwide halt to air travel since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and one of the single worst US travel days ever.
Navigating a Chinese Gym? Master These Essential Workout Terms
"I went to buy a SIM card and discovered I could also buy pet fish, auto parts, and shoes...in the same store." View Entire Post ›
Remarkable biodiversity and history – among the richest of any civilisation in the world – have made Peru a bucket list destination for generations of travellers, including myself. Famously, it is home to the wondrous citadel of Machu Picchu, an archaeological marvel of the Inca Empire; herds of adorable llamas, alpacas and vicuñas, prized for their woolly fibres; and an incredible array of landscapes, from the snowy peaks of the Andes, the highest mountain range in the Americas, to the verdant...
After four days of battling exhaustion and dehydration following an epic swim around Hong Kong Island, Gabrielle Little is impressed by how quickly she feels like herself again. “I’ve never actually swum 45km [28 miles] before,” the 56-year-old says with a laugh. “But I knew the distance wouldn’t be a problem for me.” Little slipped into the dark water in the early hours of November 1, 2026, to attempt the formidable circumnavigation known as the HK360 Swim. Views of glowing skyscrapers kept her...