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December 2015

Lost in Space: Tourists stranded at top of Vienna wheel

Two tourists from Poland got an extra thrill on the Wiener Riesenrad, the giant Ferris wheel at Vienna's Prater amusement park: an attendant turned off the ride and went home, leaving them in the dark at the top of the 212-foot ride. The couple, last to board the ride near the end of the day, were still circling when the operator handed over controls to a colleague tasked with shutting down for the night. The new operator apparently did not know there were still passengers on board. At...

No Visa Required for 2016 Rio Olympic Games

Rio de Janeiro and Guanabara Bay from Corcovado Mountain - Photo by Cafezinho   on Wikimedia Commons The President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, signed into law a legislative bill to suspend it's visa requirement for foreign travelers next summer. The new law permits visitors to enter Brazil between June and September 18 and stay for 90 days without producing a visa. Brazil's Tourism Minister, Eduardo Alves said this about the Measure: “The measure...

Rocket flights to nowhere available for booking on Kayak

The space-age equivalent of the old cruise to nowhere—sail out into international waters and return—is now available for booking on Kayak.com, at prices ranging from £63-80,000 for a 40-minute trip from Curacao to Curacao. The  flights are being offered by XCor, one of several companies competing for rich space tourists. Passengers, one per flight, will take off horizontally, go vertical on rocket power to about 40 miles up and then glide down in a 'slow' sightseeing...

Something fishy about this Roman shipwreck...

An ancient Roman vessel carrying 3000 jars of garum, the Roman fish sauce that was found on nearly every Roman table as a condiment and source of salt, has been found in 200 meters of water off the coast of northeastern Liguria. The 25-meter-long ship is one of only five Roman "deep sea" vessels ever found in the Mediterranean. Archaeologists first started looking for it after fishermen brought up fragments of clay jars in the area in 2012. They were recognized as a type that was used only...

New security changes to make travel harder and easier

At the same time that the U.S. is imposing new restrictions on the visa waiver program, it's also taking steps to provide more overseas pre-clearance to speed up arrival in the U.S. The visa waiver program—which allows residents of 38 cooperating countries, many in Europe, to visit the U.S. without having to go through time-consuming applications—is getting limts that require visas for anyone who has visited Iran, Iraq, Syria or Sudan within the past 5 years. Exceptions may be...

£45 to meet Santa?

Hamleys Parade on Regent Street -Photo from HamleysToys on Twitter World famous Hamleys Toy Store in London is charging £45 to meet Santa at their London location. The approximate 1 hour small group visit includes snacks and a gift bag. It's for kids ages 2 to 9.   Read More: http://www.hamleys.com/explore-IMFC.irs

New French law: surplus food to be donated, not dumped

On one of the few issues that can pull together all of France's political parties, the National Assembly voted unanimously this week to require supermarkets to donate unsold or slightly-outdated food to charities instead of dumping it. The law, which will take effect in January, was also passed last year, but with technical defects that caused a court to block it. It will require each market to pair up with an approved charity that will use or distribute the food. The national statistical...

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