And if you visit the nearest Jewish settlement ask to see the grave of Baruch

And if you visit the nearest Jewish settlement, ask to see the grave of Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli who massacred 29 Palestinians in a Hebron mosque; his grave is now a shrine. In Hebron, ask local Palestinians why their forefathers massacred the Jewish inhabitants in the Twenties. If you're staying in the splendid King David hotel, ask reception who blew it up in 1948 (answer: Menachem Begin, when it was the British military HQ). The Egyptians, of course, can find no trace of their visitor.Jordan: The rose-red valley of Petra, the resort of Aqaba, are unbeatable. But you might ask why electoral laws were changed to keep Muslim opponents of the so-called peace process out of parliament, why dozens of political detainees are held after unfair trials at the State Security Court, and why Jordan is hanging more of its citizens (including women) for crimes confessed to under fierce interrogation.Israel/ Palestine: While enjoying Jerusalem, why not ask your Israeli tour guide to point out the Russian Compound where Palestinian prisoners have been brutally tortured and where torture (by "shaking") continues to this day? Ask the Palestinian merchants how many of their families have had their land taken by Israelis for Jewish settlements.

If travelling outside the capital, ask the friendly guide where the Tora prison complex is - it's where opposition militants are given women's names and forced to rape each other as a punishment. If you're staying at the downtown Cairo As-Safir hotel, it's worth remembering that a previous guest, the Libyan exile Mansour Kikhiya, was last seen there in 1993 while attending a human rights conference; the Americans believe the Egyptian police kidnapped him and sent him back to Libya for execution. But why not ask the tour guide to point out the Lazhougli Street security police headquarters in central Cairo - systematic torture with electrodes is carried out against suspected militants on two floors of the building. There are moments when you wonder why on earth you have come on holiday This was one of them.

The proportion of the US workforce currently in work is, at 64.2 per cent, the highest ever.The figures also showed a jump in the average working week from 34.6 to 34.8 hours.. "They're a good set of results, it's just that Tesco's results were better. So its `not bad, could do better'," said Clive Vaughan of research group Verdict.Sainsbury said that its 24 hour opening programme over Christmas has proved very popular with customers and it planned to extend the scheme. "Our customers are telling us that it made shopping easier and lead to shorter queues at the check out."The group also plans to open 18 new stores this year and 19 next, including 3 more stores in Northern Ireland as it seeks to expand outside England.. Countrywide, the UK's second largest network of independent financial advisers, was yesterday fined pounds 250,000 for one of the worst cases to date of failure to clear up the pension mis-selling scandal.