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A TUI travel agent with 31 years’ experience has one destination she always recommends to customers going through relationship changes – whether newly single or couples needing to reconnect

A seasoned travel agent has revealed her top pick for a destination that’s perfect for those seeking romance.

With 31 years of experience at TUI’s Penarth branch, Hannah Sterling has become a dab hand at pairing life events with the perfect holiday destinations. When it comes to clients undergoing relationship transitions, be it a first trip as a couple or a newly single individual embarking on their maiden solo journey, there’s one place she suggests above all others.

” Thailand,” Hannah declares. “It works for everyone, but especially for people going through relationship changes. I’ve seen it work wonders for hundreds of my customers over the years.”

Recent research from TUI indicates that 64% of Brits would book a holiday to commemorate a significant life event, with relationship shifts often serving as a key motivator. Engagements and weddings were the most common reasons to book a holiday (19%), while an unexpected 8% said they’d celebrate newfound freedom by booking a ‘divorce-moon’.

“The beauty of Thailand is that it caters perfectly to both groups, just in different ways,” Hannah elaborates. “For newly singles, it’s the ideal place to dip your toes into solo travelling. For couples who’ve lost their spark, it encourages them to reflect and reconnect.”, reports the Express.

Do you have a romantic travel tale to tell? We’d. Email webtravel@reachplc.com

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TUI has seen a surge in passenger numbers to Thailand, with an increase of over 30% for this winter, making it one of the travel giant’s most popular long-haul destinations in 2025. The company is set to ramp up capacity even further for 2026.

“Thailand has this magical ability to make you slow down,” says Hannah. “The moment you arrive, you feel the pace shift. For couples stuck in the rat race – rushing to work, managing kids, staring at screens – Thailand forces you to be present. You’re sitting on a beach, sharing a meal, watching the sunset. Suddenly you’re actually talking to each other again.

“It gives you time to think, to process, to just be with yourself without the chaos of daily life. I’ve had customers tell me that sitting on a Thai beach was the first time they’d felt calm since their break-up.

“Thailand offers the perfect combination of comfort and adventure. It’s safe, it’s welcoming, but it’s also completely different from daily life in the UK. Whether it’s a couple reconnecting or a newly single person rediscovering themselves, Thailand gives you the space to do it.”

TUI provides the following trips to Thailand:

Seven-night trips to Khao Lak, Thailand staying at the 4T TUI BLUE Mai Khao Lak on a bed and breakfast basis from £1515 per person. Price is based on one adult staying in a Premium Double Room with Pool View and Balcony, with direct TUI Airways flights departing from London Gatwick Airport on 3rd February 2026. Includes transfers and 25kg luggage per person. For more details or to book, visit tui.co.uk, stop by your local TUI holiday store, or download our app.

Seven-night trips to Phuket, Thailand staying at the 4T+ Cape Sienna Phuket Gourmet Hotel & Villas on a bed and breakfast basis from £1210 per person. Price is based on two adults sharing a Deluxe Double Room with Sea View and Balcony with direct TUI Airways flights departing from London Gatwick Airport on 3rd February 2026. Includes transfers and 20kg luggage per person. For more details or to book, visit tui.co.uk, stop by your local TUI holiday store, or download our app.

Seven-night trips to Phuket, Thailand staying at the 4T The Marina Phuket Hotel on a room only basis from £1017 per person. Price is based on two adults sharing a Deluxe Double Room with direct TUI Airways flights departing from Manchester Airport on 5th February 2026. Includes transfers and 20kg luggage per person. For more details or to book, visit tui.co.uk, stop by your local TUI holiday store, or download our app.

Seven-night trips to Phuket, Thailand staying at the 4T Nipa Resort on a room only basis from £1326 per person. Price is based on two adults sharing a Deluxe Double or Twin Room with indirect Turkish Airlines flights departing from Edinburgh Airport on 9th February 2026. Includes transfers and 20kg luggage per person. For more details or to book, visit tui.co.uk, stop by your local TUI holiday store, or download our app.

Tensions rise as Brazil reinforces its northern border following US air strikes in Venezuela and the abduction of its President Nicolas Maduro.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Brazil plans to send national guard troops to northern Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and has a strong presence of illegal armed groups who traffic drugs and mine illegally on both sides of the international boundary, according to a government decree.

In an official decree published on Thursday, the government authorised an unspecified number of National Public Security Force (FNSP) troops to be sent to Pacaraima, as well as Roraima’s capital, Boa Vista, about 213km (132 miles) from the border.

The move comes after the US on Saturday bombed Venezuela and abducted its president, Nicolas Maduro. On Sunday, Brazil temporarily closed its border with Venezuela near Pacaraima.

The decree said the FNSP will support the state’s public security agencies and operate in ways “essential to the preservation of public order and the safety of people and property”.

Brazilian media reported on Wednesday that Venezuela was reinforcing its military presence on the border, and multiple armed groups, including Venezuelan colectivos and Brazilian gangs like the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV), operate in the area.

Gimena Sanchez, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told Al Jazeera that Brazil’s deployment of guard troops to the border is an “appropriate move”. She said that violence caused by Colombian rebel groups active in Venezuela is pushing the population further south towards Brazil.

She added it “makes sense [for Brazil] to reinforce the border”, but noted there still has notbeen a mass displacement of Venezuelans.

Brazil has been a fierce critic of the US attacks. On the social media platform X, its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the US had crossed an “unacceptable line”.

Asked whether President Lula’s comments could provoke Washington, Sanchez said that the US is more concerned with Cuba, Mexico and Colombia at the moment. “Given that context and also that some European countries as well condemned it, I don’t think Brazil is at risk of being the focus of ire of the Trump administration,” she concluded.

Caracas, January 6, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Brazilian government will send medical equipment and medicine to Venezuela in the wake of the January 3 US bombings against military sites and other infrastructure.

Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha made the announcement Tuesday, invoking humanitarian reasons as well as regional health concerns, after medicine warehouses in Venezuela’s La Guaira state were destroyed by the US attacks.

“We are trying to mobilize, via the public healthcare sector and private companies, dialysis supplies and medicines to support the Venezuelan people after this distribution center was targeted,” Padilha said in a press conference.

The minister recalled Venezuelan solidarity in shipping oxygen to the Brazilian city of Manaus in 2021 during a coronavirus crisis. Venezuela’s eastern neighbor will also deploy healthcare professionals as part of its solidarity efforts.

The offer of assistance follows the Lula da Silva government’s firm condemnation of the US strikes and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores as “unacceptable” and a “dangerous precedent for the international community.”

According to local reports, the warehouses belonging to the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS) were destroyed during the US bombing of La Guaira port in the early hours of Saturday.

In a statement, the IVSS reported that the lost supplies were destined for renal patients and denounced the “terrorist character of the US government” in targeting healthcare facilities.

Nelare Bermúdez, from La Guaira state’s healthcare authority, said that three-months worth of medicines for renal patients had been lost. Nevertheless, she vowed that authorities will work to ensure that healthcare services are not affected.

Venezuela has an estimated 16,000 patients suffering from chronic kidney conditions. The direct destruction of supplies adds to difficulties chronic patients already face under US sanctions. A 2018 CEPR report found that 300,000 Venezuelans with heart and other conditions were at risk as a consequence of US economic coercive measures.

In recent years, sanctions have also seen Venezuelan authorities face prohibitions, delays and overpricing in acquiring medical equipment and medicines. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Venezuela suffered delays in securing necessary vaccines.

Washington’s January 3 attacks have killed a reported 80 people, with 32 Cuban nationals confirmed dead. Venezuelan authorities have yet to disclose information on damages and casualties from the strikes.

On Tuesday, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez decreed seven days of mourning in honor of the Venezuelans killed in the US military operation.

“Our young martyrs gave their lives to defend our country,” Rodríguez told reporters. “My heart was broken by the images of the fallen bodies but I know they sacrificed themselves for the values of this nation.”

Rodríguez was sworn in on Monday after the Supreme Court declared a “temporary absence” in the Venezuelan presidency. Maduro, as well as First Lady and legislator Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to charges including cocaine importation conspiracy during their arraignment hearing on January 5.

The USmilitary operations followed months of buildup and regime-change threats from the Trump administration. The US president has threatened Rodríguez and the Venezuelan government to accept US demands, including favorable oil deals.

[UPDATE: Venezuelan authorities reported the arrival of a shipment with supplies for dialysis patients on Tuesday night at Maiquetía airport but did not specify its origin and contents.]

Jan. 6 (UPI) — The leaders of the Britain, France and Ukraine signed a trilateral agreement Tuesday to pave the way for French and British forces to deploy to Ukraine after it signs a peace agreement to end the war with Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted about two dozen leaders from the “Coalition of the Willing” at a summit that aimed to secure Ukraine’s ongoing security once there is a cease-fire.

Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the agreement Tuesday evening.

“Following a cease-fire, the U.K. and France will establish military hubs across Ukraine,” Starmer said.

“The ‘Multinational Force for Ukraine’ will act as a reassurance force to bolster security guarantees and Ukraine’s ability to return to peace and stability by supporting the regeneration of Ukraine’s own forces,” Starmer said in a statement.

“The signing of the declaration paves the way for the legal framework to be established for French and U.K. forces to operate on Ukrainian soil, securing Ukraine’s skies and seas and building an armed forces fit for the future.”

Zelensky posted on X about the meeting.

“Military officials from France, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine worked in detail on force deployment, numbers, specific types of weapons, and the components of the Armed Forces required and able to operate effectively. We already have these necessary details. We understand which country is ready for what among all members of the Coalition of the Willing. I would like to thank every leader and every state that truly wishes to be part of a peaceful solution,” Zelensky said.

He also discussed the role of the United States in the post-war coalition.

“We had very substantive discussions with the American side on monitoring — to ensure there are no violations of peace. The United States is ready to work on this. One of the most critical elements is deterrence — the tools that will prevent any new Russian aggression. We see all of this,” he said.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks led to “significant progress on several critical workstreams.”

“We agree with the Coalition that durable security guarantees and robust prosperity commitments are essential to a lasting peace in the Ukraine and we will continue to work together on this effort.”

He said talks will continue Tuesday night and Wednesday, and “we are hopeful to achieve additional positive momentum in the near future.”

The leaders of about 35 countries calling themselves the “Coalition of the Willing” met Tuesday afternoon in Paris to continue work on the joint statement released by European leaders after a summit in Berlin in December.

In his New Year’s speech, Macron said he expects “firm commitments” to be made in protecting Ukraine against Russian aggression after any cease-fire.

Zelensky recently met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida and said that the peace plan is about 90% agreed. But Russia hasn’t agreed to the plan since revisions were made.

Trump suggested there would be a security agreement for Ukraine and said “European nations are very much involved.”

“I feel that European nations have been really great, and they’re very much in line with this meeting and with getting a deal done. They are all terrific people,” Trump said.

The 10% that’s left in the plan is about territorial disputes. Kyiv hasn’t agreed to cede land.

Russia controls about 75% of the Donetsk region and 99% of Luhansk. Together, they are the industrial region of Donbas. Ukraine doesn’t want to let them go.

Causing anxiety in Europe is the recent invasion of Venezuela by the United States, as well as Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, which is part of NATO through Denmark.

Ever since Hugo Chávez came to power in 1998, the United States has attempted to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution. They have tried everything short of a full-scale military invasion: a military coup, selecting a substitute president, cutting off access to the global financial system, imposing layers of sanctions, sabotaging the electricity grid, sending in mercenaries, and attempting to assassinate its leaders. If you can think of a method to overthrow a government, the United States has likely tried it against Venezuela.

However, in 2025, the escalation became unmistakable. The US sent its warships to patrol Venezuela’s coast, began sinking small boats and killing those on board as they left the South American mainland, and seized an oil tanker bound for Cuba. The quantity of attacks on Venezuela has increased, suggesting the quality of the threats has now reached a different magnitude. It feels as if the United States is preparing for a full-blown invasion of the country.

Donald Trump came to office saying that he was opposed to military interventions that did not further US interests, which is why he called the illegal US war on Iraq a waste of “blood and treasure”. This does not mean Trump is against the use of the US military – he deployed it in Afghanistan (remember the “Mother of all Bombs”) and Yemen, and has fully backed the US/Israeli genocide against the Palestinians. His formula is not for or against war categorically, but about what the US would gain from it. With Iraq, he stated that the problem was not the war itself, but the failure to seize Iraqi oil. Had the US taken Iraq’s oil, Trump would likely have been in Baghdad, ready to build – with Iraqi treasure – a Trump hotel on one of the former presidential properties.

Naturally, the US military buildup in the Caribbean is about Venezuelan oil – the largest known reserves in the world. The US-backed politician, Maria Corina Machado, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize just this week after supporting the Israeli genocide and calling for a US invasion of her own country, is on record promising to open up her country’s resources to foreign capital. She would welcome the extraction of Venezuela’s wealth rather than allow its social wealth to better the lives of its own people, as is the goal of the Bolivarian Revolution started by Hugo Chávez. A hypothetical “President Machado” would immediately surrender any claim to the Essequibo region and grant ExxonMobil full command of Venezuela’s oil reserves. This is certainly the prize.

But it is not the immediate spur. A close reading of the 2025 National Security Strategy of the United States shows that there is a renewed emphasis on the Western Hemisphere. The Trump Corollary to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine is clear: the Western Hemisphere must be under US control, and the United States will do what it takes to ensure that only pro-US politicians hold power. It is worth reading that section of the National Security Strategy:

“After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region. We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere. This ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is a common-sense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.”

When Argentina faced local elections, Trump warned that the US would cut off external financing if candidates opposing pro-US President Javier Milei lost. In Honduras, Trump intervened directly to oppose the Libre Party, even offering to release a convicted drug trafficker (and former President). The United States is moving aggressively because it has accurately assessed the weakness of the Pink Tide and the strength of a new, far-right “Angry Tide”. The emergence of right-wing governments across South America, Central America, and the Caribbean has emboldened the US to squeeze Venezuela and thereby weaken Cuba – the two major poles of the Latin American left. Overturning these revolutionary processes would allow a full-scale Monroe Doctrine domination of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Since the 1990s, the United States began to speak of Latin America as a partner for shared prosperity, emphasizing globalization over direct control. Now, the language has changed. As the Trump Corollary asserts: “We want a Hemisphere that remains free of hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets and that supports critical supply chains…We want to ensure our continued access to key strategic locations.” Latin America is seen as a battlefield for geopolitical competition against China and a source of threats like immigration and drug trafficking. The attack on Venezuela and Cuba is not merely an assault on these two countries; it is the opening salvo of direct US intervention on behalf of the Angry Tide. This will not deliver better lives for the population, but greater wealth for US corporations and the oligarchies of Latin America.

Trump is ready to revive the belief that any problem can be solved by military force, even when other tools exist. The Trump Corollary promises to use its “military system superior to any country in the world” to steal the hemisphere’s resources.

The aggression against Venezuela is not a war against Venezuela alone. It is a war against all of Latin America.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is an editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest books are On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle (with Noam Chomsky), Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism, and (also with Noam Chomsky) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power. Chelwa and Prashad will publish How the International Monetary Fund is Suffocating Africa later this year with Inkani Books.

Source: Globetrotter