Panama hat-trick
Splash out £1,599 per person (virtually half the brochure price) on a once-in-a-lifetime South American adventure this Christmas on Orient Lines’ Marco Polo.
Sail through the Caribbean, down the Panama Canal to the Lost City of the Incas in Peru, the Atacama Desert, the artisan markets of Lima and the architectural beauty of Coquimbo in Chile.
Departing December 6, the cruise calls at: Bridgetown (Barbados), Willemstad (Curacao), Oranjestad (Aruba), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), daylight transit of Panama Canal, Manta (Ecuador), Salaverry (Peru), Callao (Peru), Arica (Chile), Iquique (Chile), Coquimbo (Chile) and Valparaiso (Santiago).
The price includes 18 nights on board, including meals and entertainment and free scheduled flights and regional connections (subject to availability and schedules).
www.orientlines.co.uk
Son of assassinated Lebanese prime minister thanks Brazil for support
Filed under: Government & Politics, Law Enforcement and Crime
BRASILIA, Brazil – Saad Rafik Hariri, the youngest son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, thanked President Luiz Inacio da Silva for his country’s support in the investigation into his father’s killing, on a visit on Thursday to the Brazilian capital.
Brazil supported a UN resolution asking Syria to cooperate with the investigation into Hariri’s February assassination.
“I come to thank President Lula for his positions,†Hariri said during brief comments made to reporters after his meeting with Silva, who is popularly known as Lula. “Lebanaon has passed through a very difficult time after the assassination.â€
Hariri was killed in a truck bombing in Beirut that also killed 20 others. His death sparked a wave of protests by Lebanese, many of whom accused Syrian leaders of orchestrating the killing.
“I believe that with a killing like this, one has to understand that no one can kill someone because they have a different opinion,†said Hariri, who heads the largest bloc in Lebanon’s parliament.
A UN report released last month implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials in Hariri’s death. While the Lebanese government praised the report, Syria has rejected its findings as false, unprofessional and politicized.
Syria has repeatedly denied any role in Hariri’s death but was forced to withdraw its military from Lebanon in April under international pressure.
The former prime minister visited Brazil in June 2003, and Silva visited him in Lebanon during a tour of Arab countries in December of the same year.
The younger Hariri arrived here from island of Curacao, where he met with the local Lebanese community.
Frenchman, saved after weeks adrift, wants croissant
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The first thing a French fisherman asked for when he was rescued after drifting in the Caribbean for 20 days with a broken boat’s engine was a croissant, a Dutch defence ministry spokesman said on Friday.
The 27-year-old from the island of Dominica survived on rainwater and a few flying fish that landed on the deck while drifting nearly 1,300 km (800 miles).
“Do you have a ‘pain au chocolat’ (chocolate croissant) and milk?” were his first words when rescued by the crew of a Dutch frigate who spotted him while searching for drug smugglers in waters near the Dutch Antilles, spokesman Willem Cosijn said.
“Given the circumstances he is doing quite well. He had lost weight and was dehydrated and was handed over to Curacao authorities this morning,” he added.
Stranded DAE passengers go on KLM instead today
AIRPORT–Stranded passengers of Dutch Antilles Express (DAE), including Governor of the Netherlands Antilles Frits Goedgedrag and Prime Minister Etienne Ys, will be travelling on Royal Dutch Airline KLM to Curaçao today, Thursday.
Two ATR 42 aircraft of DAE, flying as BonairExpress and CuraçaoExpress, were stranded Wednesday, one in St. Maarten and the other in Curaçao, due to technical problems.
As a result, the afternoon and evening flights between Curaçao and St. Maarten were cancelled. A total of 36 passengers were stranded, according to DAE’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Floris van Pallandt.
Assistance of Windward Islands Airways International Winair was requested, but unfortunately the help of a technical expert from Curaçao was needed, said Van Pallandt, who confirmed reports that the aircraft in St. Maarten was leaking oil.
“We are trying to solve the situation as soon as possible,†he said. A technical expert will probably be flown in today with a chartered aircraft. He said the airline’s third spare plane would be put in the schedule today to rescue as many stranded passengers as possible.
A solution has been found for the St. Maarten passengers, the ones stranded Wednesday, as well as the ones who have to go to Curaçao today. They will be travelling on KLM this afternoon. Passengers are requested to check in at Arrindell Aviation Services (AAS) at the airport as of 12:00 noon. The KLM flight leaves around 4:30pm.
Van Pallandt explained that he had approached KLM to buy seats on the Boeing 747-400 to accommodate the passengers and not risk awaiting the repair of the ATR 42. “KLM had open seats on the route St. Maarten-Curaçao. I am happy that we can solve it this way,†he said.
Source: The Daily Herald