The US carrier Horizon Air, based in Seattle, is set to equip its entire fleet of 60 regional aircraft with defibrillators and medical kits to deal with in-flight heart attack emergencies.
Horizon is making the move two years ahead of a US Federal Aviation Administration deadline requiring any US commercial plane of at least 7,500 pounds and carrying at least one flight attendant to install the life-saving equipment.
There are three galleries offering a change of photographic exhibitions from photographers around the world.
Admission is free and the small gallery can be found at 5&8 Great Newport Street WC2H, tel: 020 7831 1772, website: www.photonet.org.uk From 4th October to 16th November, there is a great exhibition called Brixton Studio which looks at local photographer Harry Jacobs and four other contemporary artists. There's a great bookshop too.
The nearest tube is Leicester Square, so you could combine this with a visit to the great National Portrait Gallery that is close by, followed by a Chinese dinner in China Town, or a film in Leicester Square.
Yes, it's almost that time of year again. The annual Regent Street Christmas lights will be turned on Wednesday 13 November and will remain lit until 6 January 2003.
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:
For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.
Some information on one of the best accommodation bargains in Spain if not Europe via Membership of The European Alpine Federation.
British residents can join through the Austrian Alpine Club-UK Section PO Box 43, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, AL8 6PA, Tel 01707-386740. Or e-mail: e-mail: manager@aacuk.uk.com
website: www.aacuk.demon.co.uk/
Membership costs £30 per year and entitles members to stay at the many Spanish mountain huts for between 3.45 – 4.10 Euros per night, less than £2.50. Non-members pay between three and four times these prices.
Facilities are roughly comparable to very simple grade Youth Hostels with shared dormitories and sometimes a hot shower. You can self cater or buy a 4 course meal from the Guardian.
Your membership card also entitles you to massive discounts in the mountain huts of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Slovenia plus medical and mountain rescue insurance anywhere in the world.
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.
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.
The Museum is housed within the Bank of England, at the heart of the City of London. It traces the history of the Bank from its foundation by Royal Charter in 1694, to its role today as the nation's central bank. Displays include: gold, bank notes and a reconstruction of the 18th century office. In addition, inter-active systems allow visitors to look behind the doors of the central bank or to examine the intricacies of bank note design and production, and a computer-driven simulation gives visitors an idea of what it is like to deal on the US Dollar/Sterling spot market.
The museum is open Monday to Friday, 10.00 – 17.00 and admission is free.
Historical Bank of England Trivia
Ø The Bank of England was founded in 1694 by a Scotsman, William Paterson, and the Bank of Scotland in 1695 by an Englishman, John Holland.
Ø The monarch's portrait didnot appear on Bank of England notes until 1960.
Ø The highest value bank note issued by the Bank of England was the £1000 denomination. It was last issued in 1943.
Ø The fiver (£5) is the longest running denomination of Bank of England note: it was first issued in 1793.
Ø Bank of England notes were not wholly printed until 1853. Until that year they were still signed by one of the Bank's cashiers.
Ø Kenneth Grahame, the author of children's book, The wind in the Willows, was the Secretary of the Bank of England 1898 – 1908. The book was published in 1908, the year in which he retired from the Bank. It is possible that some of the characters in the book were based on those people he knew and worked with.