NPR News

Image is everything — at least when it comes to tourism.

A country might boast the best beaches or amazing antiquities, but if potential visitors have reason to worry about their safety, they won't come. That's the problem now confronting several countries that generally rely heavily on tourism.

"You may have the greatest attractions, but any bad news will put them on the back burner," says Jafar Jafari, a tourism expert affiliated with universities in Spain, Portugal and Wisconsin.

If you fly a lot you've had this happen.

Seconds after the jet's in the air, the @#$%^&* in front of you reclines his seat, crunching your knees and raising some questions:

-- 1. Do you recline your seat as well and spread the pain to the person behind you?

-- 2. Do you grin and bear it like the stoic person you think you are?

-- 3. Do you ask the offender to give you a break and put the seat up at least a little?

From his start with the band Bluesology in 1961, multi-award winner Elton John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight) has time and time again proven himself to be one of the most iconic singer-songwriters of our day. Rising to international fame by the 1970's with the hit "Your Song," Elton has since released an overwhelming number of studio albums, many of which have climbed their way to the top of the charts.

The 2011 Encuentro! Latin Jazz Festival at NJPAC takes place Oct. 29, and JazzSet will be there for Omar Sosa and the Gonzalez Brothers.

Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique has a high HIV rate, reaching nearly 20 percent among some sectors of the population. In Mozambique, the challenge is not just getting medications to the people who need them, but making sure they stay on the drugs.

The country is large, its roads are bad and there's a shortage of doctors, with just over 1,000 for a country of 22 million people. But a simple program being run on the local level is revolutionizing HIV care in the country.