Travel Briefs

Hidden behind closed doors for over two centuries, the Royal Academy’s suite of Fine Rooms has been restored to its Neo-Palladian glory and in March opened to the public for the first time.

On the first floor of Burlington House in London’s Piccadilly, the suite displays art treasures built up by the foundation since 1768. It includes paintings by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Constable, Spencer and David Hockney as well as Michelangelo’s marble sculpture “Taddei Tondo.”

For info on upcoming exhibits, call the Royal Academy at 020 7300 8000 or visit www.royalacademy.org.uk.

Years after their counterparts in much of the world, some US banks have begun issuing credit cards that, in addition to the magnetic stripe, have “chip-and-PIN” technology, enhancing security. (A microprocessor chip is embedded in the card, and when it is read at the point of sale, the customer inputs a personal identification number.)

Bank of America is leading the changeover. All of its new BankAmerica Travel Rewards, BankAmerica Privileges, Virgin Atlantic and Merrill Lynch credit cards will be chip-and-PIN cards. B of A, upon request, will also replace several of their other...

The Madagascar government has proclaimed 15 new conservation areas, adding 2.65 million acres for a total of nine million acres under protection.

About 80% of the island nation’s plants and animals can be found nowhere else. More than 90% of the island’s original forests are gone, mostly burned to clear land for crops and raising cattle.