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 Foreign Office is urging travellers to avoid all non-essential travel to major Turkish cities following November’s bomb attacks in Istanbul which killed at least 27 people, including three British citizens, and injured 450.

Updated advice on the Foreign and Commonwealth website (www.fco.gov.uk) now reads: 'There is a high threat from terrorism in Turkey. We urge you to be vigilant in all parts of the country, and especially in the vicinity of potential terrorist targets.

'We advise against all but the most essential travel to Istanbul and other major cities, until the situation becomes clearer.'

The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on David Frost’s BBC programme, responded to FCO advice by insisting his country is safe for anyone to visit.

Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on capital cities. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!

What is the capital city of the following countries:

1. Bangladesh
2. Guyana
3. Oman
4. Syria
5. Vietnam

For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.

A tour company in Kuala Lumpur are offering a tour on Asian ghosts, spirits and superstitions. It costs US $44 and starts at the site where more than a decade ago, a terrible triple murder occurred in Bangsar in Malaysia. Two children and their maid were killed by a security guard who had just started work that day at the expatriate’s home. The guard was caught, tried, sentenced to death and hanged in 2002. The tour takes in an Indian temple, a Chinese cemetery, a prison, old railway station and a den. For those of you who would like more info, see: KL Ghost and Spook Tour

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

Malaysia’s Petronas Towers used to be the world’s tallest buildings. Taiwan intends to top this (groan… with a 508-metre (1,667-feet) tower, the Taipei 101 which is expected to be completed in November 2004. No inauspicious activities have been spared – feng shui and geomancy experts have been called in. The $1.7 billion skyscraper is meant to resemble a bamboo stalk, known for its sturdiness and vigour. It will have 101 storeys and will house the Taiwan Stock Exchange and offices for 12,000 people. There are plans for the world’s fastest lifts: 34 double-decker shuttles that can reach speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph) and take passengers to the 90^th floor in less than 39 seconds. Wow! That will be some tourist attraction in its own right!

Win a Frommer’s guidebook on the USA 2003. See www.frommers.com for info on Frommer’s guidebooks.

The winner of last month’s Frommer’s guide to Los Angeles is Nancy Haggarty.

Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some research; try google.com or Ask Jeeves, if you need help with the answers.

With effect from Thursday 13 November, entry clearance will become mandatory for nationals of the ten phase one countries and all work permit holders (except for nine EU accession countries) who wish to stay in the UK for more than six months.

Nationals of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong (SAR passports), Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and the USA will require entry clearance before travelling for all stays in the UK of longer than six months.

The entry clearance requirement will also apply to all work permit holders staying for more than six months, with the exception of the nine non-visa national EU accession countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovenia).

For more information, see: UK Visas