Just two years after the sinking of the Titanic, another maritime disaster, one that took the lives of more than 1,000 passengers, occurred near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in northeastern Canada. On May 29, 1914, the RMS Empress of Ireland collided with a Norwegian ship, the SS Storstad, and sank within 14 minutes.
Dear Globetrotter:
Last month, I presented the first batch of the On-the-Road Travel Tips (and my own comments, where appropriate) from readers responding to a request in my January 2020 column. In the spirit of continued sharing of travel wisdom, I invite you to keep them coming.
Applying to anything that makes your travel experience work better for you while actually traveling, your travel tip (in 125 words or fewer) can involve luggage, clothing, electronic devices, transportation, accommodation, dining, etc. See my email or address at the end of this column.
At press time, COVID-19 infections had been confirmed in 212 countries or territories, with more than 3.2 million confirmed cases and, of those, more than 230,000 deaths.
On March 26, the US became the country with the highest number of confirmed cases, which at press time was more than 1 million. The US also had the highest death toll, more than 61,000, followed by Italy, the UK, Spain and France. At least a third of the world’s total population was under stay-at-home orders issued by local governments.
Two suicide bombers detonated their bombs near the US Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, on March 6, killing one policeman and injuring several people. It was the first terrorist attack in the country since a series of Daesh (ISIL) suicide bombings in June 2019.
The group responsible for March’s attack was not known at press time, but authorities believe the two bombers were members of an al-Qaeda-allied group that operates in the south of the country.
Shortly after the US government agreed on the terms of a peace deal with the Islamist militant group the Taliban in Afghanistan on Feb. 29, Taliban forces began attacking Afghani military targets throughout the country, causing the deaths of at least 20 people, some civilians.
On March 4, the US began conducting air strikes against Taliban positions in Helmand Province, where Taliban forces had been vigorously attacking Afghani military checkpoints.
