ECUADOR
Prompted by concerns raised by UNESCO’s World Heritage director about the fragile environment in the Galapagos Islands, President Rafael Correa urged his cabinet and local officials to meet and make preservation plans, perhaps restricting tourism and residency permits and flights to the islands.
HONG KONG
Shops that cater to tourist groups have been swindling mainland Chinese visitors with fake jewelry, so the Hong Kong government is cracking down with what may be the world’s most stringent consumer protection policy. The measure will extend the period for unconditional returns from 14 days to six months and eliminate the requirement that the original packaging be intact.
INDONESIA
Two recent air accidents — a January plane crash and an aircraft overshooting a runway in March — prompted a government audit of Indonesia’s 54 air carriers. None received the top of three grades, and six were warned to meet safety regulations in three months or face closure. Independently, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ruled that Indonesian carriers do not meet International Civil Aviation Organization standards, causing the U.S. Embassy to urge Americans to fly straight to their destinations on international airlines that do rather than flying domestically.
RUSSIA
The Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported April 17 that Russia and its former Soviet neighbors in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are the most dangerous places in the world to fly, with an accident rate in 2006 of 13 times the global average. The CIS accident rate was even twice the rate of African countries. The rate was 8.6 accidents per million flights.
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Compiled from various news services and travel sources. For the latest on world conditions, check the State Department’s automated service at 888-407-4747; fax 202-647-3000; travel.state.gov.