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Violent protests in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, on Oct. 30 resulted in protesters capturing and setting ablaze the parliament building, the city hall and the ruling party’s headquarters. Witnesses reported that homes of members of parliament also were set on fire as protesters moved toward the presidential palace. At least three protesters were killed when the military fired on crowds. 

The protesters rallied against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed...

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In eastern Yemen and in the capital, Sana’a, a series of suicide bombings in October targeted ethnic Houthis.

The Houthis, a Shia Muslim group, have been in conflict with both the ruling Sunni government and Ansar al-Sharia (in the West, commonly known as “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”). After deadly clashes in Sana’a in September, Houthi rebels captured government buildings and demanded a change in government.

A peace deal between the Houthis and Yemen’s government,...

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In Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico, on Sept. 27, students from a teaching college who were protesting unfair hiring practices were fired on by police as they boarded buses they had hired to transport them. Six people were killed. Witnesses say 43 students then surrendered to police, were forced into police vehicles and have been missing ever since.

Searches for the missing students have uncovered more than a dozen mass graves around Iguala. DNA tests have, so far, excluded the missing...

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For our third trip to Svalbard, the Arctic archipelago northwest of mainland Norway, my wife, Gwen, and I chose to travel on Quark Expeditions’ (Waterbury, VT; 888/332-0008, www.quarkexpeditions.com) all-suite, 120-passenger Sea Spirit. The ship is the old “Spirit of Oceanus” of the former line Cruise West.

Excluding airfare but counting a 5% discount for being past customers, the cost for our 10-night, 11-day cruise, June 14-24, 2013, was approximately $20,000 for the two of us. ...

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My husband, Ed, and I spent four days in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in April 2013 (May ’14, pg. 14). Our final full day there was special.

On its website, we learned about a tour at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Cultural Understanding, or SMCCU (www.cultures.ae). We made reservations via email (smccu@cultures.ae) for the 90-minute “Heritage Tour,” which cost AED55 (near $15).

Our guide was a charming young woman who provided much information and “debunked” many...

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Prague is truly a city for walking. My husband and I went there for the first time in June 2014. We chose one hotel as a base from which to do some genealogical research and travel around the countryside.

We decided on Residence Agnes (Haštalská 943/19, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic; phone +420 222 312 417, fax 312 840, www.residenceagnes.cz).

A letter in ITN (Nov. ’13, pg. 33) recommended this small, 22-room, boutique hotel, and we were not disappointed. For the two of us,...

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Following a Bolzano visit during my 14-day/13-night Italy trip in 2014 (Oct. ’14, pg. 16), I spent six days around and in Venice, in the Veneto region. Because I had a 6:45 a.m. flight out on my last day, I looked for a place to stay near the airport for the five nights, May 10-15. 

After much research, I settled on the 14-room, family-run Agriturismo Ca’ Beatrice (Via Triestina, 99/A, 30173 Favaro, Veneto [VE], Italy; phone +39 041 63 53 22, www.agriturismo...

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Before joining a Douro River cruise in Portugal in June 2014, my husband and I booked a small-group day trip from Lisbon to Sintra and Cascais at $70 per person. We booked it through Viator (San Francisco, CA; 866/648-5873, www.viator.com).

Departing from and returning to the Hard Rock Café, the tour lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included round-trip transportation in a van with a driver/guide, who provided commentary throughout the day, as well as admission to the Pena National...

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