Syria: Death of tourism most visible sign of major economic damage

The Ayenor boutique hotel in Damascus has a fountain splashing in its sunlit courtyard and four-poster beds in $100-a-night rooms that were usually full, until three months ago. Now, every room is empty, (more…)

Airlines aim to take hassle out of security checks

Eye scanners and futuristic security tunnels may be standard in airports soon as the airline industry seeks to maintain safety while reducing the hassles of boarding a plane that deter some people from flying. (more…)

Passengers stage mutiny aboard Lebanese airline

Passengers ‘mutinied’ on a flight from Heathrow after a thunderstorm left them waiting for take-off for almost seven hours.

Trouble erupted after a Beirut-bound Middle East Airlines plane, with 230 passengers aboard, had to abort a 5pm take-off on Thursday, having already missed its original 1pm departure slot. (more…)

Iceland’s most active Volcano erupts on Saturday

Iceland’s most active volcano erupted Saturday, with a white plume shooting 18,000 feet into the air, scientists said. (more…)

Israeli flights halted over contaminated fuel

Israel halted most departures from Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion international airport on Thursday after routine checks found aviation fuel supplies were contaminated, an airport spokesman said. (more…)

France urges citizens to leave Syria

France urged any of its citizens living in or visiting Syria to leave Wednesday and warned others to cancel any plans to visit during the current political crisis, the foreign ministry said. (more…)

UK warns against travel to Syria

UK citizens are being warned against “all but essential” travel to Syria, after three weeks of unrest which have reportedly left 170 protesters dead. (more…)

US Travel ban to Lebanon linked to Syrian unrest, report

David Schenker a senior fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Al Rai newspaper that the the US State department issued the travel advisory against travel to Lebanon , primarily because of what is happening in Syria. (more…)

U.S. urges its citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon

The United states issued today a travel advisory urging its citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon.

It appears that the attack against the US embassy convoy last weekend in the city of Sidon did not help Lebanon’s reputation and will surely hurt its economy as a result of this travel ban. (more…)

US travel advisory for Lebanon to be updated soon

U.S. Embassy in Beirut issued a press release in which it stated that ” An updated Travel Warning for Lebanon is being drafted and is expected to be released in the coming days, in line with the requirement to update such warnings every six months.” (more…)