A Beverly Hills scuba diving store has resisted a federal grand jury subpoena demanding that they identify everyone who had taken, but not finished, recreational dive classes over the last three years.

The subpoena was based upon far-fetched fears that an underwater terrorist attack could be accomplished by partially-trained divers. Apparently the FBI has already obtained information about every certified diver in the United States through the certification organisations PADI, NAUI, and SSI.

Ken Kurtis, co-owner of Reef Seekers, stated: “The scenario the FBI was painting–of divers swimming into a harbor with explosives to blow up ships–is extremely difficult and far-fetched for even the most skilled and experienced diver, and would be next-to-impossible for a newly certified diver, let alone one who had dropped out of a class and never completed training.”

The Malaysian prime minister condemned the new security checks on Muslim and Arab visitors introduced at US airports in October 2002.

Mahathir Mohamad labelled the new immigration rules as “anti-Muslim” and said America's stance was unfortunate. Passengers arriving in the US from Muslim and Middle East countries are now photographed and fingerprinted by the immigration authorities at all ports of entry.

In particular, nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Sudan will be heavily scrutinized. Visitors from other countries, including Malaysia, who are thought to be a possible security risk, will also undergo the tougher immigration checks.

The authorities will compare pictures and fingerprints with criminal and terrorist data held by the US government. There could be a personal element here: Mr Mahathir made his attack on the system after his deputy, Ahmad Abdullah Badawi, claimed he was forced to remove his belt and shoes during a security check at Los Angeles International Airport as he arrived for a United Nations meeting.

Kevin, our membership secretary likes this one!
theangkorguide.com

We've all seen those wispy white trails that aircraft leave in the skies. Until now, scientists have been unable to calculate the impact on weather of these vapour trails. That is until post 9/11.

The grounding of flights for three days after the 11 September attacks gave scientists in the US a unique opportunity to see what the weather would be like with no air traffic at all.

They compared temperatures at 4,000 weather stations across the country with figures for the previous three decades at the same time of year. Their findings show that the gap between daytime and night time temperatures was more than one degree Celsius larger than normal when flights were at a standstill.

This is thought to be because the jet trails reflect sunlight and trap heat. That makes the day cooler and the night warmer where air traffic is heavy. However, the effect is almost certainly outweighed by the global warming influence of greenhouse gases, created by the burning of fuel including emissions from jet engines.

Airlines in Europe will have to pay increased compensation to passengers who are stranded by cancellations or overbooking on flights if new legislation is approved.

At present, passengers who are forced to take a later flight because of overbooking – a common practice among carriers – or find their flight has been cancelled get between EUR150 and EUR300.

The new levels of compensation are lower than figures first proposed by the European Commission that were proposed at between EUR750 and EUR1500 depending on length of flight. Travelers on short haul services that are “bumped” from a flight or are affected by a cancellation, can now claim EUR200 (USD$195).

Those on longer flights can be compensated by up to EUR600 (USD$586). Some low cost carriers have warned that the proposals, passed by the European Parliament on Thursday, could mean a rise in fares unless carriers are willing to accept lower profit. The low cost airlines are unhappy about this and believe that the level of compensation should be adjusted to the price of the passenger ticket, rather than a flat rate covering every airline.

Not covered by this new compensation are events outside the direct control of carriers, including poor weather, long running strikes and security matters.

The Beetle knows that a lot of readers are interested in tracing their ancestors, and come to the UK and Ireland to do just that, so this piece in BritainExpress.com caught her little Beetle eye.

Everyone from amateur historians, genealogists, students and teachers through to tourists and parents will be able to gain something a new website dedicated to British history, history.uk.com

History.uk.com has a dedicated editorial team ensuring that the site is updated daily and showcases regular online features.

Source: britainexpress.com

There are a few to choose from, so we thought we'd tell prospective visitors to London about the top four, plus the Harrods coach.

The convenient thing about taking one of these tours is that you can get to see pretty much all of the major sites of historical importance in one day, and this can save a lot of shoe leather, tube journeys and strange bus journeys going in the wrong direction!

Once you've “done” the touristy thing, there are plenty of less famous sites of equal interest to keep all site seers happy. And this includes mastering the London bus by not going in the wrong direction….we drive on the left, you see!

Convenient places to board these tours include St Pauls Cathedral, St. Martins-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, Baker Street underground station, Haymarket Street just off Piccadilly Circus, and opposite Victoria Station at Grosvenor Gardens.

Coach and Bus Tours – Harrods in Knightsbridge offer a 90 minute coach tour around the city. Sign up at the store.

The following three companies offer double-decker bus tours that feature hop-off service. The Big Bus Co has an all-night service if you just can't wait to see the sights after you arrive (or you are suffering from jet-lag and your body hasn't caught up to local time).

The Big Bus Company

Adults £16, children £6

bigbus.co.uk

Email: info@bigbus.co.uk

London Pride

Adults £15

Children £7.50 londonpride.co.uk

The Original London SightseeingTour

Adults £15, children £7.50

theoriginaltour.com

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!!

Whilst walking her dog, a local hotelier on Staffin island, off Skye found a dinosaur footprint dating from the Jurassic period in rock on the beach.

Experts say huge meat-eating dinosaurs that left their prints in the sand 165 million years ago probably made the tracks. Scientists have described the discovery on the east coast of the Isle of Skye as significant.

A passenger on a Virgin Atlantic flight has won a GBP£13,000 (USD$20,000) award after being injured by an obese woman in the next seat.

Barbara Hewson, from Swansea in Wales, was travelling economy class from London to Los Angeles, 11 long hours when the incident happened. She suffered injuries to her chest, torn leg muscles and developed sciatica after being crushed by the oversized passenger.

The woman next to Ms Hewson, was so large she had to raise the armrest to fit into the seat and because the flight was full there was no alternative seat so the woman's arm rested on Hewson's chest for much of the journey. Ms Hewson is only 4 feet 11 inches tall. When the flight arrived in Los Angeles Hewson was admitted to hospital.

Source: airnews.com