ON a muggy afternoon in Cambodia’s ancient Angkor complex, workers in hardhats hunch over the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle, painstakingly assembling sandstone blocks.Walled-off from camera-toting tourists, they are finally close to completing an astonishing reconstruction of the fabled 11th century Baphuon Temple.”This is not easy to plan like a construction project is,” architect Pascal Royere from the French School of Asian Studies, who is leading the rebuilding team, said.
AN Adelaide man who allegedly swore at an undercover police officer in the United Arab Emirates has had his passport confiscated.Former Australian soldier Sun McKay, 32, was working as a private security consultant in Afghanistan when he was arrested for allegedly swearing at an airport policeman at Dubai late last month.Mr McKay told Channel Seven that when he stepped out of a line in the departure lounge of the airport to use an ATM he was grabbed by the police officer.”This guy in a blue shirt grabbed my wrist quite hard, pulled me towards him and started yelling at me in Arabic and I just said, ‘What the f–?’,” Mr Mckay said.
AUSTRALIAN astronaut Andy Thomas says NASA’s groundbreaking space rocket test could help put tourists on the moon by 2020.The test launch of Ares I-X, expected to take place late tonight (11pm AEST), will deliver the agency vital technical information that could help it set up a manned space station on the moon within a decade.
CUSTOMS officers at Dublin airport were shocked to discover a live dog inside a passenger’s bag.When they first saw the outline of the dog on the airport scanner staff thought it was a stuffed toy, the UK’s Telegraph reports.However when they opened the luggage for closer inspection they discovered the tiny Chihuahua inside, hidden in a cage.The luggage belonged to a Bulgarian man who arrived in the airport on a flight from Madrid, Spain.
A NORTHWEST Airlines flight carrying 144 passengers from San Diego to Minneapolis lost contact with air controllers for more than an hour and overflew its destination by 241km.The National Transportation Safety Board said the two pilots of Flight 188, an Airbus A320, told authorities after landing safely on Wednesday night that they had become distracted during a “heated discussion about airline policy”.
A SHIPPING line’s alleged failure to notify a straight couple they were being booked on a gay cruise has landed them in hot water.An Italian couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are suing the Grimaldi shipping line for £800 ($5000) after claiming they were not told the ship they had booked their holiday on was hosting the nation’s first gay cruise.The couple say they were embarrassed to see people they knew, but did not realise were gay, onboard the cruise from Civitavecchia, Rome, to the Spanish city of Barcelona.
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A NEW fleet of pink taxis driven exclusively by women cater to those tired of leering male drivers.The fleet of 35 pink Chevy taxis at the Mexican city of Puebla come with beauty kits, a GPS system and an alarm button that alerts emergency services.The pink taxis refuse to stop for male passengers.“Some of the woman who have been on board tell us how male taxi drivers cross the line and try to flirt with them and make inappropriate propositions,” Pink Taxi driver Aida Santos told the Associated Press.
AUSTRALIA has a proud history of horror movies, many based on its haunting landscape.But is our talent for films like Wolf Creek, Razorback and Undead chasing potential tourists away or creating “dark” drawcards?Queensland University of Technology researcher Mark David Ryan completed his doctorate looking at the growing horror movie industry in Australia.He says the rich, unique landscape of this country often serves as a major character in horror films.
There was no fire, engine woe or medical emergency when an Air Canada Jazz flight made an unscheduled stop in western Canada on Tuesday: the pilot diverted the jet over a beer theft, police said.Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Steve Holmes said a passenger had stolen beer from a beverage cart and tried to flush the empty cans down the 50-seat jet’s toilet to dispose of the evidence.
A UK airport has started using a security scanner which produces naked X-ray images of travellers complete with genitalia, body piercings and breast implants, officials said.Staff at Manchester airport in northwest England, where it is on trial, say the machine takes a black and white picture of each passenger which is examined by one security officer before being deleted.Travellers who do not like the idea can instead opt for the traditional frisking procedure, but the new machine speeds up the security process as it does not require passengers to remove coats, shoes or belts.
