CARRIE UNDERWOOD SIGNS UP TO SING

Singer Carrie Underwood starts a tour this weekend called The Storyteller. She will be meeting with, and performing for, military families as a result of her partnership with Carnival Cruise Line. Together they will work on an initiative to support US military families in a programme called Honour. Family. Fun.

Saturday will be a busy day for the people (and pirates) in Tampa Bay. There’s a flotilla invasion, the mayor will surrender the key to the city and then there’s the parade - it is a full day for a buccaneer. Tampa has been celebrating the Gasparilla Pirate Festival since 1904, an event that brings a hefty $23 million to the city's treasure chest.

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship travelling between Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel Mexico rescued Cuban refugees on a man-made raft in the Atlantic Ocean. Two weeks after the incident, a Canadian recalled the dramatic rescue mission of 17 people, one of whom was pregnant.

Several European airlines will resume their flights to Iran after nearly five years following a landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, the state-owned Iran daily reported on Thursday.

Thai Smile Airways is taking advantage of the Luk Thep trend in Thailand. Luk Thep is a life-like doll that is believed to have supernatural powers. The dolls are popular and expensive and treated as real children, so the airline is inviting people to pay for a seat for the dolls to enjoy the full cabin experience!

The view of London’s Southbank has been temporarily altered. Until Friday at 6:00 pm a safari tree house installation is on display that is based on Chalkly’s Treehouse in Lion Sands Game Reserve in South Africa.

It is lost on no one that the smaller seats, reduced seat pitch (distance from one row of seats to the next) and diminishing leg space are not only undesirable but create frustration and anger as a result of discomfort.

Plane and train maker Bombardier struggles to regain its footing as, for the first time in 25 years, its shares closed below $1 on Wednesday. The Montreal-based company lost two cents or almost two percent to reach 99 cents. That's the lowest level since 1991, adjusting for stock splits.

Zika virus is spread primarily through mosquitoes, which mainly bite during daytime hours. It is not transmitted from person to person. Symptoms of Zika typically develop 3-12 days after being bitten and may include fever, headache, skin rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis (red eyes).

It’s hard to remember back to the days when one wasn’t able to access cash from automated teller machines by using a card. But soon, you may not need one anymore.