The World’s Worst Dictators Name Country In Power Since 1. Omar al-Bashir Sudan 1989 2. Kim Jong II North Korea 1994 3. Than Shwe Myanmar 1992 4. Hu Jintao China 2003 5. King Abdullah Saudi Arabia 2005 6. Muammar al-Qaddafi Libya 1969 7. Pervez Musharraf Pakistan 2001 8. Saparmurat Niyazov Turkmenistan 1990 9. Robert Mugabe…

Mac has not been very well, but is still e-mailing strong. In this edition of the Globetrotter e-newsletter, Mac talks about a Japanese tea ceremony he attended whilst based in Japan shortly after WW2 and also the beginning of his five and a half year stint as a soldier in Japan in the 1950s. Nikko…

A passenger jet flying for Ryanair mistakenly landed at Ballykelly Army airstrip instead of at its intended destination of City of Derry Airport, six miles away. The Liverpool-to-Londonderry flight, operated by Eirjet on behalf of the Irish LCC, landed at the wrong airport due to an “error by the Eirjet pilot who mistakenly believed he…

Meeting news from around the world

Our first speaker was Gavin Fernandes, who showed us life and death at Varanassi. Daily life including everything from bathing, praying, meditating and funerals taking place on the ghats by the side of the river. We saw ash covered saddhus and Bollywood films being made. Gavin also showed us the Kumb Mela, (a grand Hindu…

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259. Meetings and travel presentations are held on the 3rd Friday in January, March, May (4th Friday), September and November at the Old York Tower, 85 The Esplanade (SouthEast corner of The Esplanade & Church) –…

On Christmas Eve I flew from London to Beirut on BA and landed during a spectacular thunderstorm. I managed to get in for free after buying a visa at the airport bank for $18, the immigration man said it's free today, go, and get your money back, so we did! By total coincidence, the next…

8am and damn hot, 8am and bloody humid, 8am in the Brazilian rainforest. Tramping through the jungle and trying to keep up the fast pace of the Indian guides, the perspiration stung as it ran into my eyes. My camera pack seemed to weigh a ton and was biting into my shoulders. Then we burst…

The first step to getting great digital photo prints is to make sure you use a good quality digital camera. Digital photos are gaining popularity over traditional film photos because of the features and convenience associated with the newer technology. In some cases it’s even more cost effective to print your own photos at home…

The Similan Islands can be found about one hundred kilometres northwest of Phuket, Thailand. They comprise nine granite islands covered in tropical jungle. The word Similan is said to be given by Malay fisherman who named it “The Nine Islands” (Sembilan is “nine” in Malay) and now the islands are identified by a Thai name…