TIME TO SHARE EU close to passenger data deal

The European Union is on the brink of clinching a deal on sharing airline passenger information which security experts consider vital to stop extremists travelling to and from the Mideast.

Gov. Greg Abbott enjoyed dinner and a private concert in Havana but made little progress in finding opportunities for Texas businesses on the second day of a three-day trip to Cuba. The Texas Republican was at least the third US governor to travel to Cuba since the declaration of detente with the US last year. He appeared to be trying to maintain a low profile, announcing the trip at the last minute and declining to speak with international media based in Cuba.

A Canadian man is expected to appear in federal court in Michigan on Tuesday to plead guilty in a smuggling case. Kai Xu was arrested last year while returning to Windsor, Ontario, with 51 live turtles stuffed down his pants.

Here’s one of the reasons that Charlie the Irish Jack does not fly. Bethany, a Pembroke Welsh corgi was headed from Seattle to her new owner in Mississippi on Saturday when she made a wrong connection in Dallas and flew instead to Honolulu.

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) expressed concern Tuesday that ambiguous, generalized worldwide travel warnings that offer no country-specific details can be confusing to travellers and risk discouraging travel across the board.

Organizers of the upcoming men's world team squash championship in Egypt plan to carry on with the event despite the withdrawal of six countries - including Canada - amid security concerns. Canada, Germany, France, the United States, Finland and reigning champion England pulled out Tuesday, leaving a weakened 17-team field at the Dec. 12-18 competition in Cairo.

A rudder control system problem that had occurred nearly two dozen times in the previous 12 months coupled with the pilots' response led to last year's crash of an AirAsia plane in Indonesia that killed all 162 people on board, investigators said Tuesday.

The federal Public Safety Department has rejected Air Canada's request for regular access to security risk assessments, something the airline wanted in order to play a bigger role in passenger safety. The air carrier has expressed concern to the federal government about accommodating sky marshals on its flights, often at significant cost.

Two cruise passengers suffered minor injuries when a freak wave struck the side of MSC Divina as she sailed in the Caribbean. The wave hit the side of the ship, damaging a small cabin porthole.

Africa. A continent made up of 54 countries and the African Union state of Western Sahara (not recognized by Morocco) has a population of over one billion and is the world’s second largest continent.

Well he did it and we let him and is Canada any better for it’s latest citizen? So what now? Will Dror Bar-Natan who was so repulsed by swearing allegiance to the Queen that he had to recant it immediately after, be equally repulsed handling Canada’s currency or sticking a stamp on his correspondence? What will he do next?