American millionaire Gregory Olsen´s dream of spaceflight came true as he and an American-Russian crew launched into space on a Soyuz craft, headed for the International Space Station. Mr. Olsen and an American-Russian crew hurtled toward the International Space Station Saturday on a Soyuz craft in a journey his family said was motivated by a devotion to science.

Royal Caribbean International announced the appointment of Alice Norsworthy to senior vice president of Marketing, effective on October 4. Norsworthy is formerly of Walt Disney World and will be responsible for all aspects of the cruise line´s marketing program, including brand strategy and positioning, consumer and trade advertising, Web and loyalty marketing, research, and brand development. In her former position at Disney, Mrs. Norsworthy served as senior vice president of Business Integration, Products & Services where she was responsible for the development of new products and services concepts for the Walt Disney World Resorts.

Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, told Caribbean tourism industry professionals that there is relevance for both land- and cruise-based tourism strategies in the Caribbean, and called for diligent discussion between stakeholders on the robust development of balanced and sustainable cruise tourism. Delivering the feature address at the opening of the 12th annual Florida Caribbean Cruise Conference and Trade Show, that took place at St. Kitts Marriott Resort, Dr. Douglas spoke of the importance of tourism on which almost 15 percent of Caribbean GDP and 2.4 million jobs depend.

Air and cruise arrivals to the U.S. Virgin Islands flagged a bit this summer, while hotel occupancies rose 7 percent over the same period last year. In July, the volume of cruise passengers to St. Thomas/St. John dropped by almost 25 percent from July 2004, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Development. Cruise passengers totaled 94,655, arriving on 29 ships in July, down from 123,655 passengers who arrived on 40 ships in July 2004.

Four landmarks in Kenya are set to be listed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, according to the country`s minister for National Heritage, Najib Balala. The minister said that he would lead a delegation to France to present a report about the sites, which include the Mombasa Old Town, Fort Jesus, the Great Rift valley and the country`s Coastal traditional sacred forests known here as `Kayas` to UNESCO so that they could be listed as world heritage sites.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) invites Caribbean reporters working in the region and those from Caribbean communities in North America and Europe to submit their work for the UNFPA 2005 Caribbean Media Awards to be presented in Kingston, Jamaica on December 6 this year. The competition will recognize print, radio and television reporters´ efforts under the theme “Gender Equality, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals.”