This week in travel

Wanderlust presents a selective guide to the week's travel-related news

Published November 6, 1998 8:00PM (EST)


- - - - - - + From CNN
The controversial practice of attracting sharks so that tourists in underwater cages can see them is endangering surfers and swimmers off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, according to an article published in New Scientist magazine. "The sharks are getting the opportunity to find out that every time they see a surfboard there might be food around," said a shark expert from the Florida Museum of Natural History. "One day they will find out there is a human on the other side of the sandwich."

- - - - - - + From the Associated Press
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Switzerland, warns a report from that country's Federal Commission on Racism. "Comments by various politicians and a few flame-fanning newspaper headlines helped to heat up the situation," the commission said. Also heating up the situation were recent accusations that the country acted as a "banker to Nazi Germany" during the Holocaust. One-tenth of the population shares these anti-Semitic sentiments, according to the report.

- - - - - - + From MSNBC
Southwest Airlines is reportedly planning to expand its low-fare service to the New York area by opening up a terminal at MacArthur Airport on Long Island, 40 miles from LaGuardia. Such a move would allow the airline to compete with the hold other carriers -- such as Delta and US Airways -- have on the New York-Boston and New York-Washington markets. Flights are scheduled to begin next March or April, according to sources familiar with the airline. Southwest declined to comment on the reported expansion.

- - - - - - + From The (London) Times
Londoners commuting through a popular rail stop now have a choice when it comes to taxis: to queue or not to queue. In an effort to reduce the amount of time people spend waiting for a cab, train officials are paying "taxi marshals" at Paddington Station to encourage ride sharing for those traveling from the station in the same direction. Marshals pass out colored tickets to passengers -- with each color denoting a different zone of London -- and place up to four people together in a cab, at a fixed rate per person.

- - - - - - + From the Washington Post
After devastating Central America, by midweek, Hurricane Mitch moved on to Florida, where winds were blowing at 70 mph. The Florida Keys received the brunt of Mitch's recent wrath; tornadoes, power outages and at least one death have been reported there. Forecasters are predicting that Mitch will move out to sea at the end of the week.

- - - - - - + From the San Francisco Chronicle
In a little over a year, one sunfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium grew from 57 pounds to a wave-making 880 pounds, all on a diet of squid, clams and prawns. On Wednesday, a helicopter trailing a harness attached to a thick cable was used to hoist the sunfish up and return it to the ocean. The sunfish is said to be the largest of its kind ever kept in a North American aquarium and then returned to the wild.


By Susanna Stromberg

MORE FROM Susanna Stromberg


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