Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive.

Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines. Our seat cushions can be used for flotation and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments, as you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.

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.

From a newspaper article spotted by Frank in the US.ï¿Â½ Workers at San Francisco’s Department of Animal Care and Control located the owner of a newly arrived stray cat they couldn’t believe what they found: the cat belonged to a woman in Bradenton, Fla. – 3,000 miles away.ï¿Â½ Florida resident Pamela Edwards had adopted the black, short-haired cat in the summer of 1997, naming it Cheyenne. Just a few months later, Cheyenne disappeared. Edwards hung flyers and ran ads in the local paper to try to locate the cat, but had no luck.

Cheyenne was dropped off at Animal Care and Control after someone found her wandering down a San Francisco street.ï¿Â½ After scanning her for a microchip and finding she had been lost in Florida seven years ago, they wondered if it was a joke.ï¿Â½ Animal Care and Control is trying to find a way to return Cheyenne, who is now 10 years old, to Edwards.ï¿Â½ The agency can’t afford to ship her to Florida, so workers there have been searching for a traveller to carry her on a plane trip.

Moscow’s Vnukovo airport has launched a new international terminal as part of a $1.3 billion modernization plan.ï¿Â½ Anyone who has passed through Vnukovo airport will agree that it is pretty shabby. “Unfortunately when you visit Moscow’s airports…you feel only ashamed when you see such conditions, all these buildings and the atmosphere,” Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said at an opening ceremony marked with a 15-minute jet fighter air show.ï¿Â½ The three-story terminal, with modern-looking check-in facilities, electronic arrival boards, cafes and newspaper stands, stretches 25,000 square meters and can handle up to 10 million passengers a year.

This advice is from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office about Zambia.

Violent and armed robberies and vehicle hijackings are increasing. Lusaka, the Copperbelt towns and other tourist centres are the favourite targets of criminals but attacks can happen almost anywhere. Mugging, bag-snatching, theft from parked cars and vehicle hijackings are common in downtown areas, particularly near bus and railway stations and in some shopping areas. Vehicle hijackings can happen anywhere at any time. Drivers must stay alert and should not, for example, stop to give lifts to people flagging them down at the roadside. Drivers should also be wary where objects appear to have been placed to block the road. Walking after dark, particularly in tourist or downtown areas, can be particularly dangerous. There are continuing reports of armed cross-border raids from Democratic Republic of Congo. These are often cattle or food raids, targeting border villages. But some have been attributed to the Congolese Mai Mai faction. The border area between Zambia and Angola remains sensitive and a large number of firearms left over from Angola’s civil war are in circulation. British residents who consider their presence essential in these areas should remain vigilant.

Landmines are a potential danger in Zambia’s border areas, particularly those neighbouring Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.

Travel by long-distance public transport at any time can be hazardous owing to poor standards of driving, lack of rest periods for drivers on long journeys, dilapidated vehicles and the poor condition of some roads. Some short distance journeys by public transport can also be dangerous for similar reasons. For example, minibuses used in urban areas are usually severely overcrowded, poorly maintained and badly driven.

A new bridge over the River Tarn in France’s Massif Central mountains has just been finished. The bridge which completes a new motorway link that connects Paris and the Mediterranean is 2.5km (1.5 miles) long and 270m (885ft) high. Cars will be allowed to use the bridge by the end of 2004.