Thanks to the likes of Madonna and Angelina Jolie, adoptions of children from overseas seems to have developed a high profile in recent months. According to the US State Department, China is the most popular source of US overseas adoptions; since 2000, 6,493 visas issued for Chinese orphans in fiscal 2006, Guatemala is the second most popular country in 2006, with 4,135 visas and Russia third, with 3,706 adoptions. China has recently announced some new rules, to take effect as of May 1st 2007 that could effectively rule out up to 25% of prospective parents. The nation that for years legislated for one child only has stated that prospective parents who are unmarried, over 50 or obese will not be able to adopt children from China. Those who qualify under the new rules are parents aged between 30 and 50 years, who are married and have had no more than two divorces between them, said US adoption agencies. Gay couples, people taking medication for anxiety and depression, and those with a body mass index (BMI) – the measure of a person’s weight relative to height – of more than 40 will be excluded.

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A recent report published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) examines the impact that no-frills airlines have had on the airline market, on passengers and on society more widely. The report called “’No-frills carriers: Revolution or Evolution?’ shows that no-frills airlines have revolutionised the short-haul airline market, radically changing the fares on offer, and the choice of airlines, airports and destinations available to passengers. Other airlines now run their businesses differently as a result of the advent of no-frills airlines,” stated CAA. “However, contrary to common perceptions, no-frills airlines appear to have had little impact on overall rates of traffic growth, and there is little evidence of any marked change to the income and socio-economic profile of air passengers.” Most of the no-frills airlines’ growth seems to have been at the expense of other carriers. Although the number of leisure passengers from all income groups has increased, the majority of this increase has come from those in middle and higher income and socio-economic groups.

MSN.co.uk has re-launched its travel channel which has teamed with major travel brands including Expedia and Conde Nast Traveller, comprises “exclusive content, bespoke information and a holiday booking service provided by Expedia”. There are travel guides from Rough Guides and Dorling Kindersley in addition to independent travel opinions by Tripadvisor. Guardian Travel will provide travel features and its archive will also be available. The channel is aimed at 25- to 44-year-old frequent flyers, who travel regularly and book their holidays online.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to parts of the north western Copperbelt, Central and Luapula provinces, which are close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularly after dark. There are continuing reports of armed cross-border raids from the DRC. You should also be aware of landmines in this area, and on the borders with Angola and Mozambique.

The threat from terrorism is low. But you should be aware of the global risk of indiscriminate terrorist attacks which could be against civilian targets, including places frequented by foreigners.

Around 100,000 British tourists visit Zambia every year and most visits are trouble free, although armed robberies and car hijackings are on the increase. The main types of incident for which British nationals require consular assistance in Zambia are for stolen passports and drug and immigration offences.

We strongly recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for the activities you want to undertake.

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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!!

Mosnews, the Moscow based online daily newspaper recently reported a Goodyear poll researching why Russians are among the worse drivers in Europe. They report that being such bad drivers can be largely attributed to a penchant for getting a little overly amorous while behind the wheel. Around 25 per cent of those quizzed for the Goodyear poll admitted to mobile rumpy-pumpy, and a fair percentage of those also admitted driving while drunk, chatting on the mobile, jumping red lights, not wearing a seatbelt and breaking the speed limit. 30 per cent have driven while drunk, while 36 per cent “regularly” exceed the speed limit. So be careful when driving in Russia!

The British gave us the Full Monty, the Americans gave us the Chippendales, and now there is a troupe of disabled male strippers, who self-mockingly call themselves The Crippendales. The group of men are the subject of a new documentary which has been selected for the New York Film Festival. The film, which carries the tagline, “They might not have legs, but do they have the balls?” was screened for an audience of stroke survivors and “brought the house down”, according to a member of the group Different Strokes.

The Kyoto Protocol is the only global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, though its attempts at reducing emissions and the effects of climate change are limited. The world’s biggest polluter, the United States, has rejected the protocol and it is not binding on emerging boom economies such as India and China. According to the US Environment protection Agency, in 1997, the United States emitted about one-fifth of total global greenhouse gases.

The UK has signed up to the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050. Great news – except that a recent study conducted by Oxford University’s Environment Change Institute for the government-funded UK Energy Research Centre states that CO2 emissions from aviation in Britain are set to surge by between four and ten times 1990 levels by the middle of the century, accounting on their own for two-thirds of the government’s emission target for that year.

Therefore, the study says, the UK government must curb the huge expansion in air travel or risk overshooting its self-imposed target. UK government policy, however, is currently actively promoting airport expansion which could see passenger numbers more than double from 200 million to 470 million a year by 2030. “Unless the rate of growth in flights is curbed, the UK cannot fulfil its commitments on climate change. It has to undertake demand management. Relying on technological fixes alone is totally unrealistic,” said a spokesperson for the study.

Golf, once frowned upon by China’s Communist Party, is now enjoyed by the country’s rich and powerful, and has grown in popularity in recent years. News comes from the China Daily newspaper that golf lessons are going to be made compulsory for some students at Xiamen University in Fujian province. The president of Xiamen University in south-east China was quoted as saying it would help produce “socially elite people with the best education”. Those majoring in management, law, economic and software engineering courses would “be required” to take the course, reports. One critic accused the university of “vulgar elitism.”