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CDC says few people in U.S. over 50 hit by new flu

May 3rd, 2009
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The new H1N1 flu virus appears to be fairly widespread in the United States and seems to be hitting mostly younger people, with very few cases reported in people over 50, U.S. health officials said on Sunday.

"We think very few of the cases we have confirmed are in people over 50," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Dr Anne Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing. "Whether this will pan out over the weeks ahead we don’t know."

The CDC reported 226 cases of the new H1N1 swine flu virus and one death in 30 states. The CDC previously had confirmed 160 cases in 21 states.

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Easter weekend getaway beginning

Apr 9th, 2009
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A busy weekend on the road and rail networks is expected as millions of people head off for the Easter break.

Tourism and motoring organisations have reported an increase in people choosing to remain in the UK instead of heading abroad this weekend.

Ten million drivers are expected to take to the roads with Thursday likely to see the largest volume of traffic.

Planned engineering work will bring disruption to several train routes, including the West Coast Main Line.

With the recession forcing many people to tighten their belts, staying in the UK has become a popular option this Easter. Domestic tourism body Visit Britain says many British companies have reported an increase in bookings.

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Pierre Gagnaire

Apr 9th, 2009
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pierregagnaire

Pierre Gagnaire at 6 rue Balzac in Paris (in the 8th arrondisment) is considered one of the finest in France, specialising in ‘modern French’ cuisine, and has garnered three Michelin stars. Pierre Gagnaire is the Head Chef and owner of the eponymous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant

In 2005 both restaurants were ranked in the top 20 in the world by industry magazine Restaurant with Pierre Gagnaire ranking third chef in 2006 and 2007.

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London restaurant says 'pay what you want'

Feb 3rd, 2009
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Little Bay restaurant A LONDON restaurant is asking customers to pay only what they want for meals in a bid to beat the credit crunch.

The Little Bay restaurant in central London will present diners with absolutely nothing when they ask for the cheque during February, leaving it up to them to decide what the meal was worth.

“Anything between a penny and 50 pounds ($111) will make me happy, it’s entirely up to the customer to decide,” restaurateur owner Peter Ilic said.

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Tourist attractions deepen discounts

Feb 3rd, 2009
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Georgia Aquarium ATLANTA – Hoping the price cuts will woo cash-strapped travelers, the nation’s tourist destinations are taking a page from the retail playbook, offering deep discounts and freezing gate prices.

There are free stays offered at Walt Disney World in Florida and coupons worth $15 at Pennsylvania’s Hershey Park. The Georgia Aquarium, the world’s largest fish tank, is holding admission at last year’s prices.

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American Airlines limiting passengers on some jets

Feb 3rd, 2009
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americanairlinesDALLAS – American Airlines is limiting the number of passengers on some planes while it orders additional life rafts needed in case of a water landing like the one made this month on the Hudson River by a US Airways jet.

American will allow no more than 228 people including passengers and crew on its Boeing 767-300 aircraft, which normally holds 236 people including a crew of 11, spokesman Tim Wagner said Wednesday.

The planes are mostly used on flights over the Atlantic to Europe, and to Latin America.

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Record Heat Wave Hits Australia

Feb 3rd, 2009
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australia_heatwave In the final days of 2008, residents of Australia’s southeast might have been forgiven for thinking summer had finished early. On the island state of Tasmania in the far south, freezing gales blew, blanketing mountains with snow. In the state of Victoria, in the southeastern corner of the mainland, the number of sunny hours a day dropped from the normal 8.3 to a mere seven. “Where has our summer gone,” moaned a newspaper report, while some readers commented that it made you wonder if global warming was real.

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Snow brings deaths and travel chaos to Europe

Feb 3rd, 2009
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london_tower Snow storms brought travel chaos to western Europe, grounding most flights at London-Heathrow airport after one jet slid off a taxiway and killing at least five people in storm incidents.

Two climbers died on Mount Snowdown in Wales and three people were killed in accidents and from the cold in Italy.

London lay under 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow, the most recorded in the British capital in 18 years. The storms also hit France and Spain, closing roads and rail tracks, and spread as far south as Morocco.

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Passport applications plunge as recession chokes off foreign travel

Feb 3rd, 2009
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With the recession choking foreign travel, passport applications are plunging and the workload at the State Department is easing enough that those applying are getting their documents in three weeks or less.

The State Department said last week that it expected to issue 12 million passports this fiscal year, about 25% fewer than last year. In early December, it was forecasting 17 million passports for the year ending Sept. 30.

Demand has fallen so quickly that the State Department has made what an official called “painful reductions” in contract employees, those who perform tasks such as processing payments and keying in data. Brenda Sprague, the department’s deputy assistant secretary for passport services, said that no cuts were planned “at this time” in the full-time passport staff, which validates the citizenship of applicants.

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Travel firms respond to events, share news via Twitter

Feb 3rd, 2009
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anis Krums of Sarasota, Fla., boarded a ferry on the Hudson River on Jan. 15 expecting a ride, not a rescue.

When US Airways Flight 1549 crash landed in the river off Midtown Manhattan, the ferry Krums was riding rushed to help. On the way, Krums took a photo on his iPhone and shared the photo on Twitter.

“There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy,” Krums wrote when posting the photo online at TwitPic.com. Within the hour, Krums (or ‘jkrums’ on Twitter) was talking to MSNBC about the rescue and photo, which attracted nearly 40,000 views in the first four hours after the crash.

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