Things don’t look like they are going to improve in Zimbabwe; mad despot President Robert Mugabe who has been president since 1980, has warned he will resist protests against his proposal to postpone presidential elections until 2010. The ruling Zanu-PF party backed a move to extend Mr Mugabe’s reign from 2008 to 2010, but opposition parties have vowed to resist the plan. Critics say he has ruined what was one of Africa’s most developed economies. Zimbabwe shamefully has the world’s lowest life expectancy, highest inflation rate and chronic unemployment. Mr Mugabe says he is the victim of a Western plot to bring him down because of opposition to his seizure of White-owned land.
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Buddha Relics in Mumbai
A huge stone pagoda being built on the outskirts of India’s financial capital, Mumbai (Bombay) was recently opened to the public after Buddha’s ashes and bones were enshrined in it. Work on the pagoda began in 1997 and it will take at least another three years to complete.
The Mumbai pagoda may be one of the largest Buddhist structures and will be used as a centre to promote meditation (or Vipassana) as taught by Buddha, but no particular religion.
The British handed the relics over to a Buddhist society in 1920 which were kept in a monastery until 1997, when they were placed in a shrine in a shallow pit on top of the dome. Women are not allowed to visit the place where the relics are kept. This year is special for Buddha’s followers as it is 2,550 years since he attained enlightenment.
China Child Adoptions
Thanks to the likes of Madonna and Angelina Jolie, adoptions of children from overseas seems to have developed a high profile in recent months. According to the US State Department, China is the most popular source of US overseas adoptions; since 2000, 6,493 visas issued for Chinese orphans in fiscal 2006, Guatemala is the second most popular country in 2006, with 4,135 visas and Russia third, with 3,706 adoptions. China has recently announced some new rules, to take effect as of May 1st 2007 that could effectively rule out up to 25% of prospective parents. The nation that for years legislated for one child only has stated that prospective parents who are unmarried, over 50 or obese will not be able to adopt children from China. Those who qualify under the new rules are parents aged between 30 and 50 years, who are married and have had no more than two divorces between them, said US adoption agencies. Gay couples, people taking medication for anxiety and depression, and those with a body mass index (BMI) – the measure of a person’s weight relative to height – of more than 40 will be excluded.
Help Your Friends Out
People you care about can benefit from the wealth of information about travel available on the Internet. Help them learn how to do it by forwarding them this issue of the Globetrotters eNewsletter!
Impact of Low Cost Airlines in the UK
A recent report published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) examines the impact that no-frills airlines have had on the airline market, on passengers and on society more widely. The report called “’No-frills carriers: Revolution or Evolution?’ shows that no-frills airlines have revolutionised the short-haul airline market, radically changing the fares on offer, and the choice of airlines, airports and destinations available to passengers. Other airlines now run their businesses differently as a result of the advent of no-frills airlines,” stated CAA. “However, contrary to common perceptions, no-frills airlines appear to have had little impact on overall rates of traffic growth, and there is little evidence of any marked change to the income and socio-economic profile of air passengers.” Most of the no-frills airlines’ growth seems to have been at the expense of other carriers. Although the number of leisure passengers from all income groups has increased, the majority of this increase has come from those in middle and higher income and socio-economic groups.
MSN Travel Channel
MSN.co.uk has re-launched its travel channel which has teamed with major travel brands including Expedia and Conde Nast Traveller, comprises “exclusive content, bespoke information and a holiday booking service provided by Expedia”. There are travel guides from Rough Guides and Dorling Kindersley in addition to independent travel opinions by Tripadvisor. Guardian Travel will provide travel features and its archive will also be available. The channel is aimed at 25- to 44-year-old frequent flyers, who travel regularly and book their holidays online.
MEETING NEWS
Meeting News from London by Padmassana November 2006 London Meeting
Our first speaker was Janice Booth, whose talk on Rwanda was something different. Instead of highlighting the gorillas and monkeys that tourists go to see Janice told us about how she became involved with the country. She began by doing translation work, which then lead to sponsoring a child through Primary school. Janice had kept a distance between the country and herself, but after the genocide she wanted to find out if Peter, the child she had sponsored, had survived. She went ot Kigali not knowing what to expect, but delighted at the peoples integrity, such as the newpaper seller, who went running off with a large denomination note, to return quite a while later beaming with Janice’s change. Janice got in touch with an ex headmaster from one of the schools who told her to come back in a week after he had made enquiries. Janice used the week to explore the country and returned to the news that Peter had been killed, however a brother had survived and one of his sisters, Chantalle, was living in Kigali. Janice got in touch with Chantalle and was able to discover Peter’s fate.Janice has since been able to help Chantalle. Janice is still deeply involved with Rwanda, having lead tours there when the tourist industry was re-emerging and helping with charity projects as well as being the author of the Bradt guide to Rwanda. Globies had a collection on the day raising over £60.
Our second speaker was the ever popular Martin Featherstone! Martin is a Globie and has spoken on a number of occassions. This afternoon’s talk on Morocco was as entertaining and irreverant as ever. Ex soldier Martin started by saying he thought Janice very brave as he wouldn’t go to Kigali without 60 paratroopers behind him! Martin drove through France and Spain and got the ferry across to Tangier. Big mistake he said, as it took him four hours to get through the arabic entry red tape. Once he had escaped he headed out into the desert, visiting Foreign Legion forts. Trying to navigate by GPS and incomprehensible arabic road signs. One Belgian Cafe owner, whose establishment is way out in the desert does not have an address, he advertises in off road magazines just with his gps co-ordinates, Martin’s gps found it ok! The GPS’s map showed bold lines denoting roads, but these turned out to be nothing more than boulder strewn tracks in the desert. Martin also travelled along the coast, which is littered with the rusting hulks of ships wrecked along alongthe beaches. To his surprise the 21st century has reached places like Tantan where Martin was able to visit a cyber cafe and send home that days photo’s to those at home. The locals fascinated watched over his shoulder until he opened an e-mail with a pornographic attachment! Martin’s trip took him to the Algerian border and a run in with the Moroccan military, before heading back to the relative safety of Marakech, where he showed us the goings on in Djem-el-fna, including a picture of a uk school teacher on holiday. (you had to be in the room to get this one!)
By Padmassana
Coming Next:
Saturday, 2nd December
Helena Drysdale will be talking about Strangerland – Travels in the Footsteps of a family at war in 19th century New Zealand Helena discovers her pioneering 19c cousins who leave the East India Co. for backbush NZ. Tales of war, adultery and God – photos paintings / views from Himalayas to the Chatham Islands and John Pilkington will be showing slides on The Heart of the Sahara; in early 2006 John joined a camel caravan from Timbuktu to the notorious salt mines of Taoudenni – a three week/450-mile journey to the very heart of the Sahara. Stunning desert landscapes and a taste of Sahara life as it was a millennium ago, when the Taoudenni mines were first established and salt was worth its weight in gold.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
Overseas Meetings
We used to have meetings in New York City and New Braunfels, Texas. Regrettably, after having done a superb job, neither organisers are able to give their time to Globetrotter meetings. If you are based in New York or New Braunfels and have the time to commit to pick up where our previous organisers left off, we’d love to hear from you – please see our FAQ or contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at Meeting FAQ. If you are based elsewhere and are interested in starting a branch of the Globetrotters, please feel free to contact us.
Meeting News from Ontario
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermane@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November, usually at the Old York Tower, 85 Esplanade (It is at the south-east corner of Church & Esplanade – 2 blocks east from the Hummingbird Centre at 8.00 p.m. Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.