Since 2001, in Swaziland, teenage girls have had to wear large woollen tassels as a sign of their chastity. Now news comes that Swaziland's King Mswati III has ended a five-year sex ban he imposed on the kingdom's teenage girls a year early and there is to be a ceremony where all tassels are burned. The sex ban was allegedly imposed to fight the spread of HIV/Aids.

The king fined himself a cow for breaking the ban by marrying again – he married a 17-year-old girl as his ninth wife just two months after imposing the sex-ban in September 2001, sparking unprecedented protests by Swazi women outside the royal palace. Swaziland has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates, at about 40% of the population. Meanwhile, the health ministry has released new figures which show that 29% of Swazis aged 15-19 are HIV positive and for pregnant women, the figures were 42%.

British airline bmi plans to launch daily services to Mumbai. Bmi, which hopes to compete with larger rivals British Airways and Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, starts the four-times-a-week service from London to Mumbai this Saturday.

Kenya Airways will start direct flights to Istanbul in June 2005, hoping to serve an increasing number of African traders visiting Turkey. The twice weekly flights to Istanbul will make Kenya Airways the only airline from sub-Saharan Africa to fly to Turkey, the airline said.

Mexico's government is privatising top carriers Mexicana and Aeromexico, and has recently handed out concessions to low-cost airlines. A Mexican billionaire called Carlos Slim and broadcaster Televisa are joining forces in a new low-cost airline to be called Vuela. Vuela already has a concession to operate and expects to begin flights in the first half of next year from the international airport in Toluca, west of Mexico City. Earlier in July 2005, Brazilian airline Gol said it planned to launch a low-cost carrier in Mexico. Another new airline, ABC Aerolineas, also plans to begin service in the low-cost market, which has quickly grown in the United States and Europe with mixed results.

Yes, it is possible to tour one of the most famous television centres in the world. The tour lasts up to 2 hours. You'll see into the studios, visit BBC News, play in the interactive studio and be shown around by well-informed, entertaining guides.

Please note that Television Centre is a working building so no two tours are ever the same.

Pre-booking is essential. Regular tours Monday to Saturday. They are open to anyone over 9 years old.

Prices – Adult £8.95 Concession £7.95

Students £6.50

Children (over 9 years) – £6.50

Family ticket (2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children) £25.00

Group rates available
Prices valid until 31st March 2006

To book tickets:

Please call: 0870 603 0304

Outside the UK call: +44 28 9053 5904

Textphone for hearing-impaired callers: 0870 903 0304

If you have any special interests or requirements please state them at the time of booking.

The Inka Porter Project has issued a new set of environmental guidelines for trekkers on the Inca Trail in Peru and other Andean hiking circuits. Visit their website at www.peruweb.org/porters for the full guidelines, which give advice on dealing with rubbish, washing with biodegradable soap, using refillable water bottles, toilet etiquette while trekking, and how best to respect flora and fauna.

Reunion Kingston London Sunday 11th Sept 2005 for any member of Globetrotters who travelled overland to India or on the rail tours organised by Butterfields. Please e-mail butterfieldashley@yahoo.co.uk

In a speech accusing the South African government of failing to make crime a priority issue, a South African politician claims that the murder rate in South Africa is roughly the same as the death rate from terror attacks on civilians in Iraq. “The murder rate in South Africa, at about 43 murders per 100 000 people, is roughly the same as the death rate from terror attacks on civilians in Iraq” were the figures quoted. “So, despite the government's claims that crime is 'stabilising', South Africans are still living in what amounts to a state of civil war between criminals and law-abiding residents.

According to the South African Law Commission, only 6% of violent crimes reported to police result in a conviction, and 75% do not even make it to court. South Africa's overcrowded prisons were described as “universities of crime”. and said they are not rehabilitating criminals. An alarming recent trend is the rise in crime involving youths. “Forty-four percent of the children under 14 who were taken to Durban mortuaries in 2004 had been shot dead, for example.” Young people are also, increasingly, the perpetrators of crime. “The number of children convicted of violent crime jumped by 5% from 2003 to 2004, according to the National Institution for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders.

Spotted by Webmaster Paul, here's a satellite photo from Google of the Lake District.

French President Jacques Chirac has again urged world leaders to impose a levy on airline tickets to finance extra aid for Africa. If accepted, the tax would be imposed on tickets of planes leaving from airports in participating countries.

Chirac, who told the World Economic Forum in January that a tax of USD$1 per airline ticket could raise USD$10 billion a year to fund campaigns against diseases in Africa, pressed his case in a letter he wrote to more than 140 world leaders.

“I offer you to associate yourselves with the establishment of an international solidarity contribution on plane tickets, aimed, particularly, at financing the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria”.

The Group of Eight industrialized nations have decided to consider imposing a levy on airline tickets to finance extra aid for Africa, a proposal which has run into opposition in Europe and the United States.

Chirac's idea has received support from Germany, but even though talks so far have centered on a voluntary tax, some other European governments, including tourist destinations Greece and Italy, have given the idea an icy reception.

Every September the annual Open House London event takes place and this year the dates are 17th & 18th September 2005. Over 600 buildings are opening their doors to everyone and turning the capital into a living architectural exhibition. And it's absolutely free!

Two former America West pilots have been convicted of operating a packed passenger plane while drunk and sent to prison on Thursday by a Florida judge, who called their crime “outrageous and horrendous.”

Judge David Young sentenced Thomas Cloyd, 47, to five years behind bars — the maximum term — and Christopher Hughes, 44, to 2-1/2 years in prison for trying to fly from Miami Airport on July 1, 2002, after a night of beer drinking.

The pilots' Airbus A319 aircraft was being towed to the runway for takeoff to Phoenix with 124 passengers and three flight attendants aboard when it was ordered back to the terminal. A security screener had reported that the pilots smelled of alcohol. They had spent the evening before playing pool and drinking at a Miami area bar. They left the bar around 5 a.m. after running up a tab for 14 jumbo glasses of beer — the equivalent of nearly 22 pints (10.5 litres) — and showed up late for the 10:30 a.m. flight. FAA rules bar pilots from consuming alcohol for eight hours before a flight.

Unusually high concentrations of jellyfish have appeared along Spain's Mediterranean coast this summer. The Red Cross said its lifeguards had treated almost 11,000 people for stings on beaches so far this season in the north eastern region of Catalonia alone, twice the number from the same period last year, when the jellyfish count had already begun to rise. Factors like drought, heat and over fishing contribute to a rising jellyfish count, according to the international environmental group Oceana.

France: water-rationing is in place across more than half of France, with the west particularly affected by drought. A plague of locusts in the south of France, around Aveyron, has been put down to the continuing dry, hot weather.

Spain: is suffering its worst drought since records began in 1947, with the east particularly badly hit. Temperatures have risen to 40C (104F) in parts of Andalusia, in the south. Water is also being rationed across half the country, including in major tourist centres.

Portugal: Portugal faces its worst dry spell since the 1940s. Some 97% of the country is suffering a severe or extreme drought, ministers say. Shortages are particularly acute in the Algarve region, where the population more than doubles during the peak tourist season.

Italy: the temperature has topped 35C (95F) in cities including Milan, Florence and Turin. Several people have died in northern Italy as a result of the intense heat.

According to the Nepal Tourism Bureau, in the first four months of this year, covering the peak spring tourist season, Nepal logged roughly 72,000 tourists, a reduction of 34 percent from the same period last year. The Tourism Board has also tried to lure back trekkers, slashing fees by half – to about $5,000 for a team of seven – for some prime peaks, including Kanchenjunga, which at 8,600 meters, or 28,200 feet, is the world's third-highest mountain. Government tourism officials have said that Nepal, after King Gyanendra's emergency proclamation, is safer than ever before.

The Maoist insurgents, who have been fighting the government since 1996, officially welcome foreign tourists. Well, they would – a significant part of their income is derived from charges or tolls extracted from individual tourists, lodges and other tourism-related industries.

Many foreigners have stayed away from Nepal. Peace Corps activities were suspended in September because the U.S. government lists the Maoist rebel group as a terrorist organization so American citizens are forbidden to contribute funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Maoists, according to the State Department.

Huge parts of the countryside are effectively no man's land, where the rebels or government troops may be found. On the Annapurna trail, there are plenty of rebels who try to collect their taxes from tourists and it is considered dangerous to refuse the demands of the guerrillas. The Mount Everest trail from Lukla onward remains untouched by fighting, according to trekking groups that organize tours to Everest.

Sometimes a tourist hotel is bombed, but it is said that this some of these attacks are staged because the hotel owner's payments to the guerrillas have been regarded as unsatisfactory. The latest incident came on May 20, when a hotel in Pokhara, in the foothills of the Himalayas and a stop on the Annapurna trail, was attacked with a homemade bomb, injuring two waiters.

Educational travel conference at York St John College in York, UK on Saturday 15th October 2005 from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm. Tickets cost £15 (£10 for students) including lunch and refreshments.

A practical day of advice and guidance to help prepare and support young travellers on their gap year travels.

Young travellers, educators and parents are
encouraged to attend this one day Educational Travel Conference & Exhibition which will provide information & options on how to get the maximum out of travel experiences whilst keeping safe.

Full programme of experts including former BBC war correspondent and independent MP, Martin Bell and Deidre Bounds, founder of Leeds-based i-to-i the UK's largest company specialising in volunteer travel.

For further information, see:
www.carolinesrainbowfoundation.org

When the first modern humans evolved in Africa, they lived mainly on meat hunted from animals. Scientists had always thought the exodus from Africa around 70,000 years ago took place along a northern route into Europe and Asia. Now, according to a new genetic study, it seems that early modern humans followed the beach, possibly lured by a seafood diet. The study believes that humans quickly reached Australia but took much longer to settle in Europe. Dr Martin Richards of the University of Leeds, who took part in the study, says the first humans may have moved south in search of better fishing grounds when stocks in the Red Sea dwindled due to climate change. The new research suggests they moved along the coasts of the Arabian peninsula into India, Indonesia and Australia about 65,000 years ago. An offshoot later led to the settlement of the Middle East and Asia about 30 to 40,000 years ago.

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

Potential good news for those wishing to travel to Spain. According to newspaper ABC, Spain's flag-carrier Iberia will launch a low-cost airline at the beginning of next year. The new airline may be called “Mediterranea” and will have its hub in the Mediterranean city of Barcelona, the paper said. An Iberia spokeswoman said it was still considering the option of a no-frills sibling, but nothing had been decided yet. “We still don't know whether we're going to do it or not,” the spokeswoman said. “It's something that will be covered in the strategic plan we'll unveil in September.”

Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet said it would launch cut-rate domestic flights in May 2005 to lure travellers from popular train services.

“The fares will be slightly higher than AC (air conditioned) train fares,” chief executive Mark Winders said. “We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in the low cost model in India. The air market is dramatically under served here.”

SpiceJet said its most expensive fares were 55-60 percent cheaper than regular full economy fares of competitors such as Jet Airways, India’s largest domestic airline. SpiceJet will also offer more than 9,000 seats for as low as 99 rupees (USD$2.30) each for the first 99 days of operations.

Rock bottom fares by SpiceJet and rival Air Deccan are helping to fuel the supply of low cost carriers and stimulating demand.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on currencies. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!

Where would you find the following currencies?

1. Lek
2. Loti
3. Pula
4. Ruble
5. Cedi

For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.

Do not drink home made alcohol – anywhere, not just Kenya. Over 50 people have died after drinking home made alcohol laced with a substance believed to have been methanol in Machakos, south east of Nairobi. Local newspaper, The People Daily, identifies its own culprit. “The provincial administration and the police are squarely to blame. They have failed to arrest and charge individuals involved in the brewing and distribution of illegal liquors.” This is not the first time that such a tragedy has occurred. Just don’t do it!

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

A Chinese boy died after falling from the landing gear of a passenger jet on take-off in north China. The stowaway, believed to be aged around 10, fell from a China Eastern Airbus A320 at the airport in Dunhuang, a popular tourist spot for Buddhist grottoes in Gansu province, Xinhua news agency said without elaborating. The jet, en route from Dunhuang to the provincial capital of Lanzhou, landed safely.

Last November, a 14 year old homeless boy who stowed away in the landing gear of a plane survived a 700 km (430 miles) flight across southwest China. A friend riding with him fell from the plane and died.

Two former America West pilots Christopher Hughes and Thomas Cloyd were removed from an Airbus A319 in Miami on July 1, 2002, and charged with operating a plane under the influence of alcohol.

They were in the cockpit as the aircraft was being towed to the runway for takeoff from Miami International Airport on a flight to Phoenix, Arizona. But after a security screener reported the pilots were red-eyed, flushed and reeking of alcohol, air traffic controllers ordered the plane back to the gate.

The jury were told that the pair had played pool at a bar until 5 a.m. before the 10:30 a.m. flight and consumed 350 ounces of beer between them, the equivalent of nearly 22 pint glasses (10 litres), after earlier sharing a bottle of wine with two flight attendants.

A completely new family of rodents, a kind of rat has been found in Laos. The animal has long whiskers, stubby legs and a tail covered in dense hair and was on sale in a hunters’ market. Dr Robert Timmins working with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Thailand saw that it was probably unknown to science and brought it to the attention of his colleagues. “It was for sale on a table next to some vegetables,” said Dr Timmins. “I knew immediately it was something I had never seen before.” “To find something so distinct in this day and age is just extraordinary. For all we know, this could be the last remaining mammal family left to be discovered,” Dr Timmins said.

Spanish travel group Marsans, which owns Aerolineas Argentinas, plans to create a new unit in Peru and begin flights there within five months.

An Aerolineas spokesman said they expected the debut of the new Peruvian company, called Aerolineas del Peru, to take no longer than five months because of the Peruvian government’s warm welcome.

As we previously reported, one of the key competitors in Peru, Chilean airline LAN, has become unpopular with the Peruvian government due to a scandal over an in-flight video depicting images of Lima considered offensive.

Spotted by Webmaster Paul, here’s a satellite photo from Google of Spaghetti Junction.

Spaghetti Junction

Reunion Kingston London Sunday 11th Sept 2005 for any member of Globetrotters

who travelled overland to India or on the rail tours organised by Butterfields. Please e-mail butterfieldashley@yahoo.co.uk

Pretoria was named after Andries Pretorius, a Boer settler and a folk hero of Afrikaners who later set up the apartheid racial discrimination system. The city council approved the switch to Tshwane in March as part of moves to make place names more African, but opposition campaigners say they feel marginalised. Hundreds of predominantly white South Africans have staged a demonstration against plans to change the capital’s name from Pretoria to Tshwane which means “we are the same”. and was the name of pre-colonial local chief.

According to a recent survey conducted by condiments giant Ajinomoto, it seems that traditional eating habits are changing fast in Japanese homes. The report says that only about 20 percent of married women in major city areas lay out eating utensils correctly in accordance with traditional Japanese etiquette standards.

The survey showed that modern families are showing little regard for traditional Japanese table manners, often placing bowls in the wrong spots or lining chopsticks incorrectly. The survey discovered that the role of soup, once an essential accompaniment of almost every Japanese meal, is declining as people consume beverages like tea with their meals instead of waiting until they had finished as had been the custom in the past.

Families served rice with nearly every evening meal. Proper etiquette requires the rice bowl be placed on the left and the soup bowl on the right, but the correct method was used by only 20 percent of the 235 married women from 20 to 64 living in and around Tokyo and Osaka.

According to correct tradition in Japan, chopsticks are supposed to be arranged horizontally in front of the eater with the fatter of the two ends where the sticks are held on the right. However, 21 percent of the respondents lined chopsticks with the fat end either left or right, another 7 percent placed them on a stand or holder, 6 percent placed them on dishes and 2 percent lined them vertically.

And finally, around 70 percent of women served beverages at the beginning of meals instead of waiting until after the meal as tradition demands.

You may have heard about Schappelle Corby, the Australian surfer who has been arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison for smuggling in 4.5 kgs of cannabis in her boogie board case into Bali. Some people say that the drugs were put inside her case by luggage handlers in Australia – and if true, this is not the first time Australian baggage handlers have come under suspicion for this kind of thing. It makes you wonder about how just safe your luggage is from tampering. Many airports offer plastic shrinkwrap around suitcases and yet the US advises that luggage should be left unlocked so that customs can make routine inspections. What to do – what do you think?