WITH Christmas looming (so the shops tell us anyway), many will be contemplating whether to spend the festive season in warmer climes; however, travel availability can be difficult around New Year, particularly to destinations such as the Canary Islands and Portugal.

In less that 20 years, rising sea temperatures caused by global warming could kill Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest chain of living coral, an expert said today.

AUSTRALIA’S Great Barrier Reef will become the largest protected marine region in the world when a ban on fishing over a third of its area is comes into force on July 1.

Four Australians are feared dead after a plane flying to the Barrier Reef crashed in rugged terrain.