New York  - Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise-line operator, Tuesday reported first-quarter profits after cutting costs and offering heavy discounts.

The Miami-based Carnival said its net income was 260 million dollars, up from 236 million dollars a year earlier. Sales dropped 9.1 per cent to 2.86 billion dollars in the three months ending February 28.

"Considering the economic climate, achieving higher quarterly net income is quite remarkable," Carnival CEO Micky Arison said in a statement.

Taipei - Taiwanese interpreter Clare Wang became the top contender for the dream job as caretaker of an unmanned island off the coast of Australia Thursday after the No 2 candidate was disqualified.

The Queensland tourism board removed Russian candidate Julia Yalovitsyna from the top-50 shortlist because she featured in an "inappropriate video." The judging panel was also probing claims that she worked as a porn star.

Karbala, Iraq  - In a sign of improved security, a European tour group visited antiquities and monuments near the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, the city's tourism authority said on Tuesday.

The group, which included British, Russian and other European tourists, visited archaeological sites near Karbala, was the first of its kind to visit Karbala in "many long years," according to Karbala's tourism authority.

Berlin  - African exhibitors at the world's largest travel fair are on the lookout for new income streams, as the consequences of the global financial crisis loom large for the continent.

Flags are flying at Berlin's ITB travel fair for South Africa, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Algeria and Uganda.

Experts predict that many of Africa's developing countries could be amongst the worst-hit, as funding and investment channeled to the continent dries up due to the global economic downturn.

Berlin  - Italy's first ever state secretary for tourism emphasised the role of the travel industry to combat the deepening global recession during a visit Wednesday to the world's biggest travel fair (ITB) in Berlin.

Tourism Secretary Michela Vittoria Brambini said that, at times of economic hardship, "it is all the more important to encourage those branches of the economy that generate wealth and create possibilities in the short term," adding that Italy was well positioned to do so.

Berlin - The world's biggest travel fair (ITB) opens its door this week against the backdrop of a deepening global recession with officials reporting Tuesday a fall in the number of exhibitors attending the five-day event.

The world travel industry is gathering in Berlin amid signs of falling demand as both consumers and business cut back their travel plans in the face of the biggest downturn in the global economy since the Great Depression.