Exchange Student Starved While in Egypt
EU May Take Action on US-Czech Pact
Tour Guides Take Comical Liberties With Founding Fathers
US-EU Discuss Increased Security for Trans-Atlantic Flights
High-Tech Tags May Decrease Lost Luggage
EXCHANGE STUDENT STARVED WHILE IN EGYPT – Associated Press
When Jonathan McCullum left for his exciting year-long exchange program in Egypt, he weighed a healthy 155 pounds, but when he returned only four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed only 97 pounds. He could barely carry his baggage or even climb a flight of stairs, and concerned doctors said he was at risk of possibly having a heart attack. When he was in Egypt, he was living with a Coptic Christian family, which believes in fasting for more than 200 days a year. “The weight loss concerned me, but I wanted to stick out the whole year,” McCullum said. He did not see this experience as a culture clash; instead, he said it reflected the “mean and stingy” behavior of his host family. The host father, Shaker Hanna, has said that the family went out of its way to prepare food for the boy during fast periods, and that “the amount of food he ate at each meal was equal to six people.”
Link: Associated Press
EU MAY TAKE ACTION ON CZECH-U.S. PACT - BBC
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek with President Bush discussed a new deal, which would offer Czech citizens visa-free travel to the U.S. within months, and in return, the deal would also increase security and allow information to be gathered on passengers. The European Union, however, may take legal action because the pact is thought to not follow an EU-U.S. accord signed in June 2007. Earlier this month, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said it was wrong for the U.S. to try signing accords with individual states. Citizens from several European countries do not need a visa, but many newer EU states, like the Czech Republic and Estonia, do need visas.
Link: BBC
TOUR GUIDES TAKE COMICAL LIBERTIES WITH FOUNDING FATHERS – Philadelphia Weekly
Philadelphia City Councilwoman, Blondell Richards, has made it clear that she will accept no funny business from local tour guides, some of whom have been purportedly telling tall tales to their captive tourist audiences. Historian Ron Avery, also of Philadelphia, testified in favor of regulations that would distinguish certified tour guides after he extensively researched some statements told by guides as fact. Some notable—and hilarious—reports include: “George Washington and Abraham Lincoln ate together at the Powel House,” and “Ben Franklin had 80 illegitimate children all in Sweden.”
Link: Philadelphia Weekly
EU AND U.S. DISCUSS INCREASED SECURITY FOR TRANS-ATLANTIC FLIGHTS - MSNBC
Officials of the European Union have been discussing with the U.S. expanded travel security measures that may equip planes with air marshals, take fingerprints of passengers, and electronically scan every exit and entrance of trans-Atlantic travelers. Reflective of the new U.S. visa-waiver law requiring EU countries to provide more information on international passengers, the heightened security measures have caused some critics to call the requirements invasive and ultimately ineffective in gleaning terrorists. Dutch EU lawmaker Sophie Int’Veld says, “We haven’t seen any facts and figures demonstrating the use and need for this.”
Link: MSNBC
HIGH-TECH TAGS MAY DECREASE LOST LUGGAGE – Newsweek
Nine Emirates counters at Heathrow Airport in London will begin a six-month trial or radio-tagging technology that may allow passengers to be more at ease when they check bags. These radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags—which will be equipped with silicon chips and antennas—will encode a passengers name and route, and the tags will track 50,000 bags each month to and from Dubai via Heathrow. If the tags prove successful, wireless technology will read bags with a 95- to 96-percent accuracy.
Link: Newsweek
Want to see other recent Travel News Roundups? Click here.
Or, check out more travel news you can use in our main Travel News section.
