A South African scuba diver set a new world record after living underwater in a steel tank for 10 days and surviving by eating through a tube. Tim Yarrow was (30) cheered by hundreds of onlookers shortly after 12:30pm on Saturday when he climbed out of the 3 by 2,3m tank, his home in a Johannesburg shopping mall since November 6. Yarrow spent 240 hours underwater with scuba apparatus in a controlled environment without surfacing. The initial record was just under nine days and Tim managed 10 days, Greg Wharram, team co-ordinator, said they had contacted Guinness World Records before the attempt began and now must file papers to make the record official.
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Mutual Aid
John from the UK is planning to go from Hawaii to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, South Africa, Europe, the UK, the US, and Hawaii plus any points in between, depending on limitations of the ticket. Because he intends to start from Hawaii, the UK travel agents have been giving him some very high quotes. Can anyone help him by suggesting a good travel agent, not necessarily in the UK to give a quote? He would also welcome any advice on backpacker travel insurance for the over 50's, with sailing included. To contact John, please e-mail him on: Coehabit@aol.com
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
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.
Snows of Kilimanjaro May Melt By 2020
by Charles Arthur / Independent/UK (via Common Dreams News Center)
The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, immortalized by an Ernest Hemingway short story, are melting so quickly they are expected to disappear within two decades.
Researchers have found that the ice fields capping Africa's highest mountain shrank by 80 per cent in the last century, from 4.6 square miles in 1912 to just one square mile two years ago, which has brought down the height of the mountain by several feet.
The ice covering the 19,330ft peak “will be gone by about 2020”, said Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State University. The process has cut water volume in some Tanzanian rivers that supply villages and hospitals. Global warming is one reason, but scientists say it alone cannot have caused such a dramatic change. The other factors behind the transformation remain a mystery.
Cruise Ships touted for Homeless
New York City may convert de-commissioned cruise ships into shelters for its rising numbers of homeless people. Last month, a record 37,000 homeless people were sleeping in city shelters every night according to the Coalition for the Homeless, which compiles statistics for the city. City officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commissioner of homeless services, have flown to the Bahamas to inspect disused ships. They say the idea of using them was just one option being considered – but critics say the plan is unnecessary, and have called on the city to provide affordable housing for those in need. City officials stressed that it is too early to speculate on how the cruise-ship idea might be applied in New York.