India: the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade lifted its travel advisory for India on July 23, 2002, but maintains that Canadians should still not travel to Jammu and Kashmir and those areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab close to the border, and areas of Ladakh close to the Line of Control.  Some progress has been made in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan.  However, the security situation remains unpredictable and could deteriorate at short notice.  This can be expected to continue for the foreseeable future.  Should there be an escalation of hostilities, commercial travel could be disrupted, limiting travellers' ability to depart on short notice.  All Canadian citizens are encouraged to monitor developments and to register with the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. See the Department's Travel Reports for destination-specific information.

Following a fire that killed at least 24 and injured 13 others in one of Beijing's internet parlours, the mayor of Beijing has ordered the immediate closure of all cyber cafes in the Chinese capital.

Mayor Liu Qi also suspended new licences that are still waiting for safety inspections. An official hi-tech police – nicknamed “the great firewall of China” – keeps watch over the internet 24 hours a day. A few weeks ago, a senior figure in China's Communist government expressed concern about the amount of time young people are spending surfing the internet and called for tighter regulation of cyber cafes.

Tens of thousands of internet cafes have sprung up in China in recent years, with many people – especially the young – seizing the chance to explore life in other countries through the internet. Journalists say China's tight controls on the internet have driven many operators underground. 

The British Museum, one of the greatest museums in the world, tops the visitor charts.  Founded in 1753, it is also the oldest museum in the world and its contents catalogue over two million years of world history and culture.  With over 94 galleries and thousands of artefacts, the British Museum will have something for everyone!  The most famous exhibits include the Elgin Marbles – sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone.  The Reading Room was recently incorporated into the Great Court (a huge covered courtyard) has witnessed the likes of Karl Marx, Mahatma Ghandi and George Bernard Shaw working there.  Admission is free and there are lots of events and special exhibitions taking place throughout the year.

The British Museum opens daily 10:00-17:30 Sat-Wed, 10:00-20:30 Thurs-Fri (selected galleries).  The Great Court opens 09:00-18:00 Mon-Wed, 09:00-23:00 Thurs, Fri and 09:00-18:00 Sat and Sun, closed 24-26 Dec and 1 Jan. Tube: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn or Russell Square. Enquiries: 020 7323 8299

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has reached Australia and finally succeeded on his 6th attempt in becoming the first solo balloonist to circumnavigate the globe, completed after covering nearly 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometres) around the southern hemisphere.  It took 13 days in the air and his silvery balloon, often travelled along at speeds up to 200 mph (322 km/h), at an altitude more familiar to jetliners.

Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

A disease which has devastated one type of Caribbean coral, Elkhorn coral, has been traced back to bacteria found in human faeces. On some reefs, 95% of Elkhorn corals, which used to be the commonest coral in the Caribbean, have been wiped out by the condition, called white pox that shows itself as white spots on the coral, which spread and kill the coral, destroying the living tissue. On average, the disease spreads at a rate of 2.5 square centimetres of coral a day.

The problem is particularly bad in the Florida Keys, where human waste is treated in septic fields rather than extensively treated to kill bacteria.  It is thought to be the first time that a human gut bacterium has been linked to coral disease.

Be careful dancing in Iran: an Iranian dancer who left Iran 22 years ago and has been living in Los Angeles has just been given a 10-year suspended prison sentence in Iran on charges of corrupting the nation's youth.  Mohammed Khordadian had been making a living giving lessons in Iranian traditional dance and performing for the large Iranian community in California. 

He returned to Iran after learning that his mother had died and spent a couple of months visiting relatives and friends but was arrested at the airport when he tried to leave.  Some of his performances were beamed into Iran by TV stations run by Iranian exiles and his videos also found their way onto the domestic Iranian market.  After several months in jail he has finally been released, following sentence by a Tehran court.  In addition to the suspended jail sentence, he was banned from leaving the country for 10 years, banned from attending weddings for three years, except for those of close relations, and banned from giving dance lessons ever again. 

Although many Iranians dance at private parties, especially weddings, the ruling clerical establishment frowns on such behaviour, especially when it involves the mingling of the sexes. For unmarried people, even to appear in public together is a punishable offence, though it is only sporadically enforced, although there are reports of alarm from young people in Tehran who have noticed the recent appearance on the streets of a tough new police unit, equipped with smart black four-wheeled drive vehicles.