World Travel News: February 2007

Culling and contraception have been added to the management options that South Africa could enlist to control its ever-growing elephant population, according to reports. About 20,000 elephants exist within South Africa and this is expected to double by 2020, with a current growth rate of five per cent a year. more

Figures released today by the Met Office suggest that this winter has been the second warmest on record in the UK. A mean temperature of 5.47 degrees C has been recorded and ranks second when compared to the national records which date back to 1914. more

A fourth person has died after an attack on a group of French tourists in Saudi Arabia on Monday, according to reports. A hospital doctor confirmed to Reuters that a teenager had died of bullet wounds in the attack by militants. more

Refugee camps are becoming crowded in Mozambique, with some officials concerned over a lack of food, according to reports. Heavy rain over a number of weeks has caused flooding throughout the country, with 45 people reported to have died and 170,000 displaced. more

An annual kite festival in Pakistan has resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people, with over 100 more left injured, reports the Associated Press (AP). A ban on kite flying was lifted for the event, after authorities took action following deaths at last year's festival. more

A tiger in a Chinese zoo has killed a six-year-old girl who was waiting to have her picture taken with the animal, according to state media. The zoo charges around £1 for tourists to have their photo taken with the tiger and the young girl was standing behind the animal with her mother. more

Lord Triesman, foreign office minister for Africa and Hilary Benn, international development secretary, met the president of the transitional government of Somalia yesterday. After a sustained period of conflict, the transitional government extended its control over Somalia at the end of last year. more

A tropical cyclone has hit Mozambique, with winds close to 110 mph over the island of Bazaruto. Cyclone Favio is expected to lay down several inches of rain over Mozambique before moving inward and dispersing. more

A fire on an Indonesian ferry has killed at least 16 people with a number still unaccounted for, according to reports. Levina 1 caught fire out at sea after leaving the capital Jakarta on the way to the island of Bangka. more

At least 35 people have died in Bolivia as a result of flooding and a further ten are missing, reports the BBC. Months of heavy rain has left whole communities displaced, with up to 340,000 people affected by the flood waters. more

A number of student priests from Rome's theological colleges will be competing in a football World Cup, according to reports. Italy are the current holders of the professional tournament trophy and amateurs from Rome's seminaries will be hoping to bring home the Clericus Cup as well. more

Sydney harbour basked in the glow of a huge fireworks display on Tuesday evening, as Cunard's Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 saluted each other. Queen Mary 2, met her sister, Queen Elizabeth 2 off Sydney's Garden navel base. more

The flooding situation in Mozambique is worsening, according to Mozambique's top disaster official. Paulo Zucula told Reuters that a number of the evacuation centres cannot now be accessed by road and supplies are being airlifted with just one UN helicopter. more

Two explosions on a train in India have killed at least 66. Fire caused by the explosions swept through two carriages on the train, which was en route from India to Pakistan. When the bombs were detonated the train was 80 km north of Delhi near the Indian town of Panipat. more

Brazil Carnival was opened last night by Rio Samba, Rio's oldest Samba group. The carnival, held in Rio de Janeiro, boasts a kaleidoscope of brightly adorned floats and more than 4,000 dancers ? who will take part in the carnival's centrepiece, a dance competition. more

An official from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned of the increasing security problem that internally displaced people (IDPs) face in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, assistant high commissioner for operations, expressed concern for the hundreds of thousands of IDPs and humanitarian workers in the area. more

Millions of people are travelling back home for Chinese New Year, with more than 150 million people in China alone returning to their families, according to reports. Sunday marks the start of the Year of the Golden Pig, which only comes along every sixty years and marks the last animal out of the 12 used in the Chinese zodiac. more

Venezeula's president Hugo Chavez has said that he will nationalise food outlets that sell meat above the government-set price, according to reports. The enigmatic leader has stepped up his socialist agenda since being re-elected to serve a third term and had a law put forward for him to rule by decree. more

The Estonian parliament has voted to prohibit monuments in the country which exalt the years of Soviet rule, according to the BBC. A statue in the capital Tallinn, depicting a Soviet soldier from World War II, has been at the centre of the legislation, with Estonia's ethnic Russian community backing the maintenance of the monument. more

Los Angeles Zoo has gone to extreme lengths to make sure three Chinese monkeys due to be loaned to them later this year feel at home when they arrive, according to reports. As well as creating an enclosure that resembles a Chinese village, architects brought in a feng shui expert to make sure the environment had a lot of positive energy. more

Thousands of pro-government supporters have attended a rally to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, according to reports. Huge numbers of police have been sent to Beirut's Martyrs' Square to prevent any clashes between the Hariri crowd and Hizbullah protesters who have been camped outside of government buildings since December. more

Dr Kim Howells, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) minister, will visit Sri Lanka today where he will meet with local representatives to discuss the country's civil unrest. Since a civil war began in Sri Lanka in 1983, more than 67,000 civilians have been killed, with 3,000 dying in the last year. more

A lone gunman killed five people in a shopping centre in the US state of Utah before being shot by police, according to reports. Police eventually cornered the man, who was killed in a shoot out after he reportedly fired random shots in a crowded shopping complex. more

The glitz and glamour of the 79th Academy Awards is an unbelievable experience, even if it spent on the sidewalk trying to catch a glimpse of the red carpet stars. Ellen Degeneres will host the awards bash this year after her Emmy award-winning run on her self-titles show. more

Abortion will be legalised in Portugal, the prime minister Jose Socrates has said. The pledge follows a public referendum where 59.3 per cent voted to change the current laws. However, as turnout was only around 40 per cent and below the 50 per cent necessary to change the law, the change will be debated before being passed through parliament. more

Six people have died in underground caves in Tenerife and several more are in hospital. The stricken team, comprised of five Spaniards and one Italian, were some of the 29 people who became trapped in the underground tunnels, water-logged and filled with volcanic gas, after taking a wrong turn on Saturday. more

South Africa's president has announced that he intends to increase the size of the country's police force over the coming years. The move, which is thought to have been partly as a result of the approaching World Cup in 2010, could see an extra 28,000 police officers on the country's streets within three years. more

The al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's has been the site of violent clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli police. Protestors have been upset at renovation work taking place on the Temple Mount, which will eventually see a walkway built to the compound housing the mosque, said to be Islam's third holiest site. more

Work to repair a walkway near Jerusalem's holiest site has begun, amid calls for protests from Palestinians, according to reports. The Temple Mount, or al-Aqsa Mosque, has often been at the centre of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. more

Girija Prasad Koirala, the Nepalese prime minister, has made concessions in talks with representatives of Madheshi protesters, according to reports. Madheshi groups have been protesting for a number of weeks, campaigning against what they say is a discriminating governmental system. more

The United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of a looming food crisis which could affect two million flood victims in the African country of Burundi. Recent floods in Burundi have left many people cutting down on meals and resorting to 'famine foods', like cassava leaves or bitter banana. more

Flood waters in the Indonesian capital Jakarta have begun to recede, although many areas are still coping with heavy flooding, according to reports. Heavy rain hit the city towards the end of last week, causing muddy water to envelop the streets and cause damage to homes and businesses. more

The newly elected president of Congo has appointed his cabinet after last year's landmark election, according to reports. President Joseph Kabila announced in December that Antoine Gizenga, a former opposition leader, would be prime minister. more

The Vietnamese government is set to embark upon a highly ambitious railway project with an estimated cost of $33 billion (£15 billion). Plans have been approved for the new rail connection, which will link the northern capital of Hanoi and the southern city of Ho Chi Minh. more

A group of school kids who turned up for their morning swim in Darwin got the surprise of their lives this morning (February 5th) when they realised a croc had beaten them to it. After noticing a dark shape circulating in the water, the children realised that a crocodile was swimming around in the pool. more

There are concerns over health in Jakarta amid days of heavy flooding, with some parts of the city flooded by up to four metres of water, according to reports. More than 50,000 residents have sought treatment for various ailments, from coughs to diarrhoea, with heightened concerns that more serious diseases could spread. more

The Eiffel Tower was plunged into darkness last night to symbolise growing concerns over climate change. Many of Paris' lights were dimmed at 19:55 local time for five minutes in anticipation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published today. more

Torrential rain in Indonesia has caused the worst flooding seen for five years in Jakarta, according to reports. The Indonesian capital was hit with heavy rain, causing muddy water of up to two metres to envelop roads and other areas of the transport network. more

Martin Strel, a marathon swimmer from Slovenia, is set to tackle the Amazon and become the first person to swim the entire length of the river. Mr Strel has conquered the Yangtze in China, the Mississippi in the US and the Danube ? Europe's longest river ? in his amazing career. more

Auschwitz, the enduring symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust, is beginning to disintegrate, according to reports. The former Nazi death camp is now a museum which came under new management in September, but it's in need of a great deal of funding to prevent it from falling into a state of irreparable decline. more