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HAWAII
Hawaiian adds to Maui routes
Hawaiian Airlines said yesterday it will begin nonstop flights from Maui to Portland, Ore., and San Diego next year.The airline will operate flights three times a week to Portland February through April, and resume them again in October. The San Diego flights will begin June 1 and operate four days a week.
In addition, Hawaiian said it is changing its Las Vegas flight schedule. Beginning Jan. 8, the airline will fly nonstop to Las Vegas three days a week. On the four remaining days, it will fly to Las Vegas, but with a stop in Ontario, Calif.
At the same time, Hawaiian's current one-stop service to Las Vegas through Los Angeles will change to a daily Honolulu-Los Angeles flight.
MAINLAND
GAO warns against blocking visitors
WASHINGTON >> Stopping foreigners from entering the United States for short visits without visas could harm tourism, business and diplomatic relations and still not keep terrorists out, a congressional report said yesterday.While supported by some in law enforcement and in Congress in the name of national security, such a policy would burden U.S. missions overseas with new visa applications and cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the General Accounting Office.
The visa waiver program, passed in 1986 and renewed two years ago, was created to lighten the workload on State Department employees who review visa applications by allowing some residents of 28 "low-risk" countries to enter the United States without a visa for up to 90 days. Included in the list of countries are those that have secure policies on the issuance of passports, for example, like Britain, France and Japan.
The attorney general can remove a country from the list. Argentina was removed earlier this year, for example, because its economic crisis may have prompted a flood of illegal immigration.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, lawmakers and some in the law enforcement community have questioned whether the waiver program should be eliminated because it could be exploited by terrorists who enter the country under it and then disappear.
Burger King cuts prices
MIAMI >> Burger King Corp. will slash the price of its double cheeseburger, the company said yesterday as the fast-food industry tries to boost lagging sales by cutting prices.Miami-based Burger King will offer the burger for 99 cents from Nov. 25 to Dec. 29. The double cheeseburger normally ranges from $1.79 to $1.89.
The price cut at the world's second largest fast-food chain follows a similar offer of comparable $1 sandwiches launched last month by McDonald's Corp., the industry leader.
"Everybody is hurting now in the category," said Burger King spokesman Rob Doughty.
SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina eases banking curbs
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina >> President Eduardo Duhalde loosened a 11-month-old banking freeze yesterday, allowing Argentines full access to their checking and savings accounts.Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna said the government will allow unlimited cash withdrawals starting Monday. The restrictions will remain in place, however, for long-term certificate deposits, or CDs, where many Argentines have larger amounts of money saved.
Finding ways to fully lift the widely hated freeze has bedeviled Duhalde since he took over as caretaker president last January. The restrictions, imposed Dec. 1 to end a run on the nation's banks, have prompted months of widespread protests by angry Argentines.
The move was seen as a gesture toward the IMF in the hope of breathing new life into stalled talks over an emergency loan program.
