1. ECUADOR
Maintenance work on the runway at Guayaquil’s Jose Joaquin de Olmedo Airport will force the airport to close on four weekends in November and December. Closures will run from 1 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Monday on the following dates: Nov. 10-12, 17-19, 24-26, and Dec. 1-3.
2. ITALY
Beginning in January, Venetians will have their own ferry service on the Grand Canal. Non-residents will be banned from boats on the new service that will run from Piazzale Roma to Piazza San Marco. Cost will be one euro as opposed to six euros for vaporettos, the normal water buses.
3. NETHERLANDS
A sharp increase in ambulance calls involving magic mushrooms prompted Amsterdam officials to implement a three-day waiting period for purchasing them. The ordinance is an attempt to stop tourists from indulging in what can be a dangerous practice because most tourists don’t stay in Amsterdam more than three days.
4. NEW YORK
An alliance of New York City taxi drivers representing about one-fifth of the city’s cabs plans to hold a 24-hour strike beginning at 5 a.m. Oct. 22 to protest a new requirement that all taxis have GPS and credit card systems by Jan. 31, 2008.
5. TURKEY
Istanbul is basking in the glow of a reduced crime rate revealed in a government report that shows crime for the first eight months of the year down 25 percent over the same period last year.
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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.
