Category Archives: Sidebar

Execution denounced in world protest

A coalition of international human rights organisations is calling on countries around the world to abolish capital punishment in the first World Day Against the Death Penalty. Sixty cities around the world marked the occasion by illuminating significant landmarks: Barcelona lit up the Gaudi cathedral, Santiago illuminated its central park, and Belgium lit up its Atomium structure, with a dove of peace on the top. According to Amnesty International, at least 3,000 people were executed in 31 countries across the world last year.

The event was inspired by the city of Rome, which lights up the Colosseum when an execution order is overturned or a country abolishes capital punishment. The coalition wants to bring pressure on nations such as China and the United States, where the death penalty is still widely used.

According to human rights group Amnesty International, China executed more people in the first three months of the campaign that began in May 2002, than did the rest of the world over the past three years. At least 2,600 people were put to death in China last year alone, according to Amnesty. Next to China, Iran had the second-highest tally of executions in 2001, putting to death at least 139 people, Amnesty said. Saudi Arabia was third with 79 executions, and the United States followed, having put 66 people to death, the organisation said.

So You Think You.re Well Travelled?

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

Which cities are served by airports with the following codes:

1. CPT

2. NBO

3. VCE

4. ORD

5. PRG

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

One Off Ivory Sale

The United Nations agreed last month to allow Botswana to have a one off sale of approximately 20,000 kilogrammes of ivory from elephant tusks, expected to be stockpiled by 2004. Similar bids have also been approved to take place in Namibia (who have 10,000kg of elephant tusk ivory) and South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have also asked to do the same. Some environmental and conservation groups have reacted angrily to the news, saying the decision could “spell doom” for elephants and will encourage poaching. The African elephant population has fallen from 1.3 million in 1980 to between 300,000 and 450,000 today.

Shiva Exhibition

In an exhibit billed as “The Sensuous and the Sacred,” the Smithsonian Institution introduces the public to a Hindu deity called Shiva, noted for being the Lord of Dance.

Admission to the exhibit is free. After it closes in Washington on March 9, it will be seen at the Dallas Museum of Art, April 4-June 15, and at the Cleveland Museum of Art, July 6-September 14

Orang-utans Found

Orang-utans, like gorillas and chimpanzees, are often described as the closest relatives of humans. They are in grave danger of extinction, because their habitat is under threat from illegal logging, forest fires and gold mining. According to a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the annual 5% loss of habitat means there will be virtually no intact forest left for them by 2030. Wild orang-utans exist only on two southeast Asian islands, Borneo and Sumatra.

A secret population of orang-utans has been discovered in the forests of the island of Borneo. Conservationists believe about 2,000 rare apes are living out of sight in a remote lowland region of East Kalimantan. The find, if confirmed, will raise the number of known orang-utans in the world by about 10% and represents hope of saving the endangered primate from extinction in the wild. Primate experts have predicted that the apes will be found only in zoos by the year 2020 unless immediate steps are taken to protect them.

Source: BBC

UK Visitor Numbers Drop

The number of foreign tourists visiting the UK saw its biggest fall in 20 years in 2001, according to the National Statistics Office, particularly from US, who are traditionally the UK’s biggest visitor group.

The impact of September 11 and the foot-and-mouth outbreak contributed to the sharp decline, which saw a £1.5bn drop in the amount spent by visitors to the UK. Visitor numbers fell 9% to 22.8m. Because more Britons chose to holiday overseas, rather than stay in the UK, they spent £14bn more than the amount spent by tourists in the UK.

Visitors from nearby European countries, Spain, Germany etc., have come back to holiday in the UK quite quickly, but the high spending US and Japanese markets are not so quick to return.

The British Tourist Authority (BTA) recently announced a long-term plan to increase the UK's income from tourism. Their “Leading the World to Britain” campaign aims to build on emerging markets in eastern Europe and the Far East, as well as putting more emphasis on the distinctiveness of Britain's three nations, and increasing UK tourism's Internet presence.

Tourism Based Economies Will Suffer

Tourism revenues are a major and important earner for many countries in South East Asia. Consider, then, the effect of government travel warnings. We have already seen the deserted beaches in Bali, after more than 190 people were killed on October 12th.

The US State Department recently issued a warning specifically mentioning Malaysia as a country where US nationals could be at risk of attack by the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network, blamed for the Bali bombing.

A Malaysian senior minister says: “Our forecast of visitors is now between one to 1.1 million (tourists every month) compared with 1.3 million before, which is 100,000 to 300,000 less that what we'd hoped for,” …..”if not for the travel advisory and the Bali bombing tragedy, the situation might have been better. Now everyone thinks the entire (Southeast Asian) region is affected,” he said.

Bats and Rabies

A man has died after contracting Britain's first case of rabies for 100 years, hospital bosses have confirmed. David McRae, a 56-year-old conservationist from Guthrie, Angus, Scotland, failed to recover from European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL), a type of rabies found in several northern European countries. Mr McRae, who was licensed to handle bats, was bitten by one of the creatures on at least one occasion.

In Europe, where the EBL strain is common, there have only been three cases of humans catching rabies since 1977.

If you are planning on visiting countries where there are bats, please don’t pet them. If you are bitten or scratched by a bat, you are at risk of infection and should seek urgent medical advice.

 

E-Bookers

Europe's biggest online travel agency, Ebookers, (which sells package holidays, flights and car rentals over the Internet in 11 European countries) has just announced its financial results.

The company said that its losses after tax for the three months to September 2002 came in at £2m, ($2.9m) down from £3.5m during the same period one year earlier, while sales jumped 58% on the year to £77.9m and is firmly on track to start turning a profit after tax.

They have kept costs under control by moving their ticket and payment processing operation to India, where running costs are lower. The firm estimates that having its back office operation in India rather than Europe saves it about £1m every three months.

Ebookers' strong growth in sales partly reflected growing demand for package holidays, car rentals, and hotel bookings, the company said. It added that it had benefited from the success of no-frills airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet, saying they had encouraged more people to go on holidays, and had helped popularise online travel bookings.