Tourist | featured news

An American tour operator has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for alleged “hostile acts” against the repressive regime, according to its official state news agency. Kenneth Bae, who is in his mid-40s and lives in Washington state, has been described by friends as a devout Christian who took tourists on trips to North Korea, The Associated Press reported.

The fishing trip off the rugged north coast of St. Lucia was supposed to last all day, but about four hours into the journey, the boat's electric system crackled and popped.

South African officials say an elephant has overturned a vehicle carrying two tourists, injuring one of them. A statement from Kruger National Park says the tourists are of "Chinese origin." The statement says an elephant in the park attacked the vehicle on a road at 6:30 a.m. Monday, and a medical team in a helicopter rushed to help the injured male driver. He was taken to a hospital for further treatment.

A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her husband has been gang-raped by eight men, police said Saturday. The attack comes three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians.

A hot air balloon full of tourists exploded near the southern city Luxor just after dawn Tuesday, killing at least 18 people and injuring three in the latest blow to Egypt’s moribund tourism industry.

It’s “cash only” now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy’s central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state.

Tourists in Venice put plastic bags over their legs and residents wore rubber boots as water rose to knee-high levels in many parts of the lagoon city on Thursday. The median level of the Adriatic Sea swelled to about 1.4 meters (1.5 yards) above normal - the highest in nearly two years - sending water from the lagoon into St. Mark's Square and many narrow alleyways.

A popular lodging area in Yosemite National Park could be linked to a rare rodent-borne disease that has killed a California tourist who stayed there this summer, officials said. A man who stayed at Curry Village in June died after contracting hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. A woman who also stayed in a canvas tent cabin about 100 feet from him on overlapping days has become seriously ill, park officials said.

Two U.S. tourists were held hostage in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday by Bedouin tribesmen seeking the release of an imprisoned kinsman, security sources said.

Chinese shoppers attracted by lower prices spend more on luxury products abroad than they do at home, and retailers are looking to cash in.