The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise all travel to the island of Ambae, where the Mount Manaro volcano is threatening a major eruption. The Government of Vanuatu has begun evacuating people from the centre of Ambae, and is considering a wider evacuation of the entire island.

We advise caution when considering travel to the islands of Tanna and Ambrym, which are also currently affected by volcanic activity (see Natural Disasters Section). The Government of Vanuatu issued a warning, advising people not to go near the crater of the Mount Yasur volcano on the island of Tanna.

Vanuatu is in an earthquake zone and suffers frequent tremors and shocks. Three earthquakes measuring between 6.2mw and 5.6mw hit Vanuatu on 25 and 26 September 2005. No serious injuries or damage were reported.

The British High Commission in Port Vila closed to the public on 21 October 2005. There is no longer any British consular representation in Port Vila. Routine consular services for British nationals will be provided by the New Zealand High Commission in Port Vila. The British High Commission in Fiji will be responsible for non-routine consular matters. Please see Travel Advice: Fiji for contact details.

Violent crime is increasing and you should avoid visiting isolated locations alone.

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.

The Peruvian judiciary’s web page has been targeted by a suspected Chilean hacker. There have historically been disputes between Chile and Peru. Now they are embroiled in a diplomatic dispute over fishing waters in the Pacific Ocean. Peru is claiming a 37,900 sq km (14,600 sq miles) area that is currently under Chile’s control.�

In the past, Chileans and Peruvians have also argued over the rights to Pisco, an alcoholic drink which Peru claims as its own but is trademarked, produced and marketed in greater volume by Chile. They have even argued over whose seafood is better.�

The Peruvian authorities said the suspected Chilean hacker posted several anti-Peru messages on the country’s judiciary website. One read: “We fight for what is ours. The ocean and pisco are Chilean!” There were also insults directed at Peruvians in general.�

Media reports say that a cyber attacker has posted missives proclaiming: “We do as we like with our policy and our ocean” and “Nobody can match ceviche (citrus-cured fish) and pisco, or equal their quality”.

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!!

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

UK based Neil wrote in to the Beetle warning travellers about Garuda. This is what he says:

Garuda have a reputation for being unreliable. On a recent trip to Indonesia and East Timor I had first hand experience of this. At check-in at Heathrow I found I was not on either the flight to KL or the onward flight to Bali. All my tickets were confirmed. The supervisor said this was common, and promptly found me a seat on both (Malaysian were the carrier in association with Garuda and Virgin).

In Bali, three days before I was due to fly, I found that I was not on the flights (flying with Merpati Nusantara) to and from East Timor. These had been booked through Garuda (by Trailfinders) in London. After phoning Trailfinders from Bali, the flights were re-booked, but had to be paid for again in Bali, a considerable inconvenience.

The moral of the story is never assume that that you have confirmed seats on flights booked with, or through, Garuda. Reconfirm at least three days before departure.

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

The FBI recently released crime figures in the USA. Murders across the United States fell for the first time in five years, while rapes increased slightly last year. Overall, the number of violent crimes, which also include aggravated assaults and robberies, fell by 1.2 percent last year. Property crimes such as burglaries, larceny/theft and car theft dropped 1.1 percent in 2004, compared to 2003. There were 16,137 murders in the United States in 2004, the last full year for which statistics are available. That was about 350 fewer than in 2003, according to the FBI data. The decrease is the first since 1999, although smaller than what the FBI reported in June. Chicago was largely responsible for the drop, recording 150 fewer murders in 2004 than in 2003.

Government data shows that the crime rate is at a 30-year low. Despite the historical trend, the FBI included a “crime clock” in its report that shows a violent crime is committed every 23.1 seconds. A murder occurs roughly every half-hour, according to the clock.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

Sir Richard Branson’s Australian budget carrier Virgin Blue was found guilty of discriminating against older women who applied to become air hostesses. Eight women aged between 36 and 56 took their case against the budget carrier Virgin Blue to a tribunal, after being put through job interviews that required them to sing and dance. Despite all being experienced former flight attendants with the failed Australian airline Ansett, none made it past the first round. One woman was told she lacked “Virgin flair”. “They were after a certain look that appeals to Richard Branson,” Theresa Stewart, 52, who had been a flight attendant for 27 years, told a hearing. “The assessment was designed to view a large number of people in a very short space of time to see how they look. If you had two beautiful, blonde girls, 25 and gorgeous, then they went to them like homing pigeons.” Virgin Blue admitted that it had not hired any cabin crew over the age of 36 in a two-year recruitment drive because mostly young women had applied. The women won their case, with one being awarded �2,000 for hurt and humiliation.

41 of the 110 Orang-Utans are missing from Bangkok’s “Safari World” wildlife and amusement park, known for its Orang-Utan kick-boxing shows. The “Safari Park” manager says the creatures died from pneumonia, but Thai police suspect the orang-utans may have been disposed of to avoid DNA testing, to show if they had been smuggled illegally into Thailand.

The Bangkok amusement park has been the target of animal rights campaigners for some time and last week, Thai authorities forced “Safari World” to suspend its Orang-Utan fights while Police investigated the many claims of cruelty and exploitation. Orang-Utans are protected and endangered animals and only found in the wild in the jungles of Malaysia and Indonesia. Forestry officials from Jakarta visited Bangkok last week with smuggling allegations and to press the Thai Government for DNA tests on Safari World’s apes to determine their origin.