Choose Your Holidays

Ganges River dolphin; Credit: © WCS

Three new official wildlife sanctuaries in Bangladesh will help protect endangered freshwater dolphins, says a top wildlife group. The protected areas in the giant Sundarbans mangrove forest have been specially created to benefit rare Irrawaddy dolphins and Ganges River dolphins.

The move by the Bangladeshi government has come about after the sites – in one of the world’s largest mangrove forests – were initially identified by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Director of the WCS’s Asian Freshwater and Coastal Cetacean Programme, Brian D.

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With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, people everywhere are preparing to ignite, rekindle or fan the flames of love.

While chocolate, jewelry and roses are popular ways to say “I love you,” other species are also feeling amorous and preparing to perform their own courtship rituals. Love is in the air for many feathered friends, and their ways of expressing it at times mirror our own.

“There are many interesting parallels between bird courtship and human courtship,” said Caitlyn Stone, education program coordinator for the National Aviary.

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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) will release earnings on Wednesday, Jan. 25, before markets open, while United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE:UAL) will report results on Thursday, Jan. 26, before markets open.

Bob McAdoo, a senior research analyst at Avondale Partners, said that the overall outlook for the airline industry was positive.

“The airlines are not flooded with surplus seats,” he said, making them profitable despite high oil prices.

Delta improves

Analysts are bullish on Atlanta-based Delta, predicting earnings of 35 cents per share in the fourth quarter, up 84.2 percent from 19 cents per share in the previous year, according to Zacks.

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Space-starved Hong Kong has long been plagued by high rents and steep hotel rates, vexing university students and tourists alike.

But help may be at hand, thanks to one Hong Kong firm: tiny pods stacked up in tiers to create capsule lodgings at low cost.

Inspired by Japan’s inexpensive capsule hotels, capsule bed manufacturer Galaxy Stars HK is offering wifi-enabled capsules that can be stacked together in cupboard-like formations to ease the high-priced room crunch.

“It’s like Legos,” said Eric Wong, managing director at Galaxy Stars HK, explaining how the units can be pieced together in a matter of days.

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New Year new you? Feel like getting fit and hitting the slopes?

It´s not just about the fantastic runs up on the Sierra Nevada in the south of Spain.

Just 30 kms from France in the shadows of the peaks of the Pyrennees you´ll find the town of Jaca a base for the ski slopes and the first capital of the Kingdom of Aragon.

Lively, historic and a great departure point for snowy sports up on the piste let´s go!

A short hop of only 30 kms from the border at France and you´ll find the bustling bars and shops of Jaca.  Lots of people wearing ski jackets and poring over maps in the bars will give you your first indication that this is the last stand before most visitors hit the slopes and the snow for some ski fun.

In the shadow of the mountains to the north, this town has always been a point of departure, originally for the pilgrims in the Middle Ages on the Santiago de Compostela walk.  They would stop here to rest and recuperate after crossing the mountains and before heading westward.

Winding back history when Jaca was taken back from under Moorish rule it became the first capital of Aragon - those wily Moors tried to snatch it again in 795.

But behind every man as they say.the Moors were not prepared for the local women who fought with such force that it was never again attempted!  If you dare, visit in May when the battle is re-enacted with 2 groups of the local `ladies´. A litt

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