Roderickwaller on PNN

The latest stories from the World section of the BBC News web site.

Updated: 24 Feb 20:34

24 Feb 20:06

Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi tells state TV that Osama Bin Laden and his followers are to blame for the protests racking his country.

New Zealand quake victims named

24 Feb 19:58

Officials in New Zealand release the first names of the 103 confirmed victims of Tuesday's earthquake in the city of Christchurch.

EU urged to share asylum burden

24 Feb 19:25

Countries in southern Europe urge the EU to share out the burden of accepting migrants from North Africa as a new influx is predicted.

Algeria ends state of emergency

24 Feb 19:24

Algeria's state of emergency is lifted after an official notice is published in the state newspaper limiting the power of the military to get involved in politics.

Saudi held on Texas terror charge

24 Feb 19:10

A 20-year-old Saudi living in Texas is held on charges of trying to make a bomb and scouting targets including George W Bush's Dallas home.

cloudtravel

Wanderlust and heavenly advice for travelers.

Updated: 24 Feb 20:21

Tempelhof Airport in Central Berlin to Close

24 Feb 12:21

With Brandenburg International Airport scheduled to open in 2011 at the site of Schonefeld military airbase to the southeast of Berlin, both Tegel and Tempelhof airports will be closed. Tempelhof in central Berlin was the first metropolitan airport to be serviced by a subway station when it opened in 1927. It is three years short of being the oldest operating major airport (Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney is the oldest). Protests and a lawsuit have failed to change the plan to close Tempelhof in the fall of 2008. Tegel,...

Unsanitary at any Altitude - How Clean is the Aircraft?

24 Feb 12:21

There was a moment when it hit me hard about the cleanliness of aircraft. Three smartly dressed airline employees boarded my flight, chatting amiably with the working crew. They stored their gear neatly and professionally before taking up a three-seat row. Then, before pushback, each of them in unison pulled out sanitizing cloths, pulled down each tray table and began to work it over, back and front. Record flight delays and crowded airplanes are causing more commercial aircraft to remain in circulation beyond their scheduled cleaning (here for consideration is...

Business Class Seating Begins to Rival First Class

24 Feb 12:21

United Airlines announced its international business-class airline seats. Revamped seats will recline to a 180-degree, 6-foot, 4-inch bed not unlike first-class transatlantic seat. The new "lie-flat" seats will be available in planes as early as this fall, making it the first domestic airline to take the leap. Domestic carriers began souping up their business-class offering in 2006. Back then American Airline offered a mostly reclining seat that wasn't quite the space hog of usual first-class seats. In January 2007, Delta offered lie-flat seats for the BusinessElite cabin that will be...

The Skyline Drive this Fall.

24 Feb 12:21

Just to the west of Washington is a drive that makes the most of the season change. Virginia's Skyline Drive runs through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park. The drive is about 100 miles in length and has a speed limit of 35 mph that makes it leisurley. Seventy-five overlooks afford panoramic views of the rolling countryside that comes aflame about this time each year. The drive is listed by the National Scenic Byways organization. They suggest that you allowing six to eight hours duration and notes 1.4...

How the Butler Packs for Travel

24 Feb 12:21

Backpackers and students on long journeys learn how to pack only what is essential to keep the hauling weight within bounds and not impinge on travel flexibility. It's great to be so compact and so sleek that you have only what you need and know just where to find it. With age come other travel considerations that eat up space and pose new challenges. Your vacation is supposed to be perfect and you want just the right outfit for each occasion, plus a joker or two in the deck. There...