Man cleared over Lucie Blackman death

The family of Lucie Blackman who died in Japan in 2001 have been left devastated as the man they believed killed their daughter has been cleared.
54-year-old Joji Obara, a Japanese businessman, was cleared of raping and killing Miss Blackman.
21-year-old Lucie had been working at a bar in Tokyo and disappeared in July 2000.
The judge said [...]

British backpacker dies in New Zealand crash

A British backpacker has died in a road accident in New Zealand while on a round the world trip.
23-year-old Adam Birdsey was taking a gap year after completing a degree in business at the University of Derby.
He was killed after the camper van they were driving collided with a pick-up truck that was towing a [...]

Good news for rail travellers

Those of you thinking of heading off around Europe this summer on one of those inter-rail passes will be pleased to know that the French have set a new record speed with their TGV service. This should allow faster links between European cities, which means you can see more with your rail pass.

New bumper passports

Gap year travellers can now get a ‘bumper passport’ for all those far away country stamps.
 
The new passport, costing £77, has 16 extra pages in it.
 
It is identical to current passports, but has 48 pages, and is biometric.

First Choice buys out meaningful travel firm

Meaningful travel company i-to-i is just one of three businesses purchased by holiday provider First Choice.

i-to-i was part of a buyout that saw First Choice spending £16.6m to extend its portfolio of travel companies.

The two other businesses, iExplore and TKJ Pty Ltd, will join i-to-i in making up the First Choice activity holiday [...]

Carbon footprint awareness boosts rail travel

A growing awareness of leaving a ‘carbon footprint’ while travelling has boosted rail holidays and business trips.
 
Rail operators in Europe are seeing a huge increase in demand for their inter-rail tickets, as cheap flights fall out of favour with environmentally friendly travellers.
 
Stephanie Draper, spokesperson for Forum for the Future, a sustainable development charity, said: “I [...]