Category: Sidebar

Dubai’s ruling family says a legal case filed against it in Miami in the United States for allegedly enslaving thousands of young camel jockeys is without foundation. The law suit accuses Dubai’s ruler, his brother Hamdan and 500 others of being involved in trafficking and enslaving young children from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania.

The case alleges that tens of thousands of boys as young as three were kept in poor conditions against their will and forced to take part in camel races. The Dubai family say they have overhauled the sport, banning the use of child jockeys and have been helped by Unicef in providing a rehabilitation programme for the child jockeys. It has been illegal to use children as camel jockeys in the UAE since 1993, but only recently has the law been rigidly enforced. When the new racing season begins in November, remote control robots will ride the camels in place of jockeys.

British comedian Sacha Baron who plays a fictional TV reporter called Borat has been invited by Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh first deputy foreign minister and a powerful son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbayev to go to Kazakhstan to see the truth for himself. No doubt the Kazakh authorities have invited the comedian TV reporter to show him that their country is not a nation of horse urine-drinking misogynists.

The Central Asian state’s Foreign Ministry threatened Cohen with legal action last year after he hosted an international music show as Borat, who arrived in an Air Kazakh propeller plane controlled by a one-eyed pilot clutching a vodka bottle. The Kazakh authorities shut down Cohen’s www.borat.kz site, prompting a move to a new homepage, www.borat.tv. Rather him than the Beetle who would be afraid of being boiled alive or something equally unpleasant.

The US State Department Mozambique’s recently announced that Mozambique’s 670km long railway line, Sena Railway, which has not been used for 20 years, has been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance laid in 1984 by insurgents during Mozambique’s civil war.

The railway connects Mozambique’s main port city, Beira, with its resource-rich interior. The US State Department should know – they have invested $13 million in the clearance project, which took just over two years to complete. The Government of Mozambique believes that once operational, the railway will enable the country to tap into its valuable resources such as gold, copper and diamonds. There is no indication when trains may start running again.

When wearing a money belt, first make sure it is cotton and machine washable, they can get awfully hot snug under your clothing. Secondly, use one of those small oblong plastic wallets you often get from Forex bureau’s to keep your money in, inside your money belt as sweaty money is both unattractive to handle and also to feel against the skin.

Reuters recently reported that in Miami, Florida, a leaping spotted eagle ray stabbed an 81-year-old Florida boater in the chest, leaving its poisonous barbed sting lodged close to his heart in an incident very similar to the one that killed Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin last month. The grandfather of two survived.

A shuttle boat powered entirely by the sun has been launched on the Serpentine lake in London’s Hyde Park. The 14.5m (48ft) Solarshuttle, thought to be the biggest of its kind in the UK, will carry 42 passengers every half-hour between the north side of the Serpentine and the jetty in the south, near the Princess of Wales memorial fountain. It cruises at 4mph and is silent and pollution-free. When not in use and docked, any surplus electricity generated by the boat’s solar panels will be fed back into the National Grid, they say. Designer Christoph Behling was also behind one of the world’s largest solar boats, the Hamburg Solarshuttle, which now ferries passengers across the city’s harbour.

Darts, the game of throwing small pointed missiles at a board divided into scoring segments is normally associated with British pubs and the consumption of large amounts of alcohol, has found a new following in ultra-conservative Iran. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians, including Muslim clerics and soldiers, are enthusiastically picking up their ‘arras’. Darts brings “happiness and joy and fun at a very cheap price”, according to Masoud Zohouri, head of the Iranian Darts Association.

Daintree forest, a World Heritage site in northern Queensland, one of the oldest rainforests on the planet and home to Australia’s most diverse range of species, has been saved from becoming a housing estate. The land was sold off by the state’s maverick Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen in the early 1980s, and for the last 20 years has been the centre of a battle between developers and environmentalists. At the end of September 2006, the local mayor banned all development in the forest.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all but essential travel to, or through, the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla, where there is continuing violence due to insurgency and civil unrest. Since January 2004, there have been regular attacks including bombings and shootings. There were a number of explosions in August 2006. The Thai Government has declared a serious state of emergency in the provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. You should also maintain high levels of vigilance when travelling to, or through, the neighbouring province of Satun. There have been media reports that Thai military presence in Satun is being increased due to insurgency fears.

There is a high threat from terrorism throughout Thailand. Attacks could be indiscriminate and against places frequented by foreigners.

On 19 September 2006 the Thai Army Commander, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, announced that he had established a Reform Council to take over the administration of the country. A nationwide state of martial law has been declared. The situation in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand remains calm, but the British Embassy is continuing to monitor the situation closely.

If you are currently in Bangkok, you should use discretion when travelling around the city and refrain from approaching military vehicles and personnel. If you intend to travel to, or are currently in Thailand, you should monitor all available information on the local situation and keep in contact with your tour operator. You should also avoid the areas surrounding Government buildings and locations where large crowds appear to be gathering, as well as any demonstrations.

Since December 2005, there have been a number of small explosions in Bangkok. The motives for these attacks are not clear.

Penalties for possession, distribution or manufacture of drugs are severe and can include the death penalty.

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!!