We had seen reports about America’s militarist ICE agents, who shot and killed two American citizens in their heavy-handed crack down on illegal immigrants in Minneapolis …we heard they were being deployed to 14 US airports to “help” during the period when TSA agents were not working because of the government;s financial shutdown. So I asked our Minneapolis correspondent Kristin Henning for an update
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On September 10, 2001, Oral Patrick was laid off from his job in New York’s Twin Towers. It saved his life. The next day, the towers were destroyed. Oral returned to Ground Zero as a volunteer, beginning a battle with illness and PTSD. In this 9/11 commemoration, 24 years on from the terror attack, Bridgett Leslie interviews him about his book, “Restorative Healing Begins With Rest”.
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New York correspondent Bridgett Leslie speaks to an Artificial Intelligence expert who is leveraging AI Tools to better help people understand the differing perspectives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bridgett speaks with Adam Boaz Becca, founder of Headon.ai
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Graeme Kemlo fell into a trap for the unwary while searching for the official Indonesian visa website. At the top of search results, one that said “Welcome To Bali”, sounded right. It wasn’t. Graeme was quickly $227 out of pocket and still had no visa. Graeme and Carolyne discuss the tricks of visa applications, how he resolved the situation and how going to the government’s smarttraveller.gov.au is the best first step.

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While hopes for a ceasefire in Ukraine have not been realised, our New York-based reporter Bridgett Leslie gets an exclusive interview with Maria Pysarenko, journalist and a communications advisor in the Ukraine Defence Ministry. Maria was in Washington when President Zelensky visited the Trump White House. She tells of her reaction to this event, her personal feelings on the loss of friends and colleagues at the hands of the Russians and the future of the conflict.
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This week’s theme is clearly aimed at visitors to this country in the wake of last week’s rescue of a German woman missing for 11 nights in the rugged outback of Western Australia. It appears she became disoriented after hitting her head as her vehicle slid off the track. The whisper should be shouted out loudly – anyone travelling in our outback should be aware that surviving 11 days is a miracle – you can die in hours from lack of water when the temperature soars into the 50s Celsius., Your car is the largest, safest shelter out there. Then there’s some of the deadliest snakes in our bush. You need to tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return so that if you are missing for more than a few days an alarm can be raised. You also need a phone, or failing to find a cell phone signal, which is common out there – you need a personal locator beacon which pinpoints your location via satellite. They cost about $400, but you can rent one for $50 a week or a month for $115. Of course you need power, so you may need a power bank to charge it. Then there is the announcement by Elon Musk of his satellite phone using the network of satellites he already has for Starlink TV. It promises to truly change the mobile communications landscape with its potential to allow anyone anywhere on the planet to call someone anywhere else.Read More 

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Flying to Europe is quite a journey; so the decision on the airline as well as the day that you choose to fly is important.

I live in Melbourne and I prefer to fly with one of the three Middle Eastern airlines operating out of Melbourne Airport.  Their flight times and routings suit my personal travel patterns. They all depart late, somewhere between 7.30pm and 3.00am and the longest leg (almost 14 hours) is the first one.  I get on board after a full day; then enjoy a late dinner, a drink, a movie and with luck I then sleep for up to eight hours.  I arrive in the Middle East in time for breakfast, after which it’s only a short eight hour daylight flight to my destination.  As I arrive in the middle of the day, I find the transition to local time is easier because of the shorter time span before I revert to a “normal” sleep pattern.

Friday is my favourite day for business travel, as I end one working week at home and start another overseas, and that works best for me.  On holiday it is less important but I prefer flying midweek (Tuesday – Thursday) as it often less crowded on board and because I arrive in the middle of a working day, which can mean less crowds and traffic on arrival.

Whoever you choose to fly with make sure that you pick the airline and the departure day that works best for you.

How do you save money when you use your mobile phone overseas?  That’s easy you can save a fortune on your next overseas trip by using a pre-paid Global SIM Card in your phone?

Do you know that if you make and receive 20 minutes of calls to/from  Australia with normal roaming it will cost on average $700. With a prepaid Global SIM, the bill will be around $170, saving you over $500!

The top tips for saving on your mobile phone bill when travelling overseas are:

First use more SMS, this is an excellent way to communicate cheaply when international roaming. However, avoid texting conversations as these can quickly become more expensive than one quick call.

Have people call you, it is cheaper to receive a call when overseas than to make one back to Australia. Even with normal roaming where you pay to receive calls, this is a cheaper way to stay in touch. Send a text to your family and friends to call you back. With most Global SIM cards it is free to receive calls in a large number of countries.

When I travel overseas I always carry a Global SIM, there are plenty of options available so do your research to out find what suits you best. For the last three years I have used a company called BackChat Mobile; I find them to be most efficient and supportive and they have most certainly saved me money.

Arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport, after 24 plus hours travelling from Oz; produces all sorts of emotions and those emotions affect almost everything that happens over the next few days.  Most of us arrive gritty and tired, and in need of a long hot shower; we are also a tad disorientated and grumpy.  Which is why choosing you arrival time is so important; and no I do not mean the actual hour you arrive, that for the most part is beyond your control.  I mean the day you arrive relative to what you are doing next.

I have often been asked “what is the best day to fly?” Short of the quick glib answer; the day of the cheapest fare, I guess it really does depend on what you are doing when you get there.  If you are flying to the UK on business then in my view you need at least two sleeps to prepare.  So to work on Monday arrive on Saturday morning, spend the day quietly getting settled have a good night’s sleep, have a normal day on Sunday then catch up on some more sleep and you are ready to face the world.  When you are on holiday you may need less recovery time, but then you should be less rushed so you can afford to take more time.  Whatever day you fly, pick the one that suits your personal schedule and your body clock best.

Imagine being taken ill in a foreign country; imagine being rushed off to a local hospital, to be a looked after in a medical system you know nothing about and then being told that you will need to be flown elsewhere, by air ambulance, for more tests which could well lead to heart surgery. Imagine your answer to this question; “do you have proper travel insurance, and does it cover heart disease?
Well – do you have travel insurance cover and does it cover any pre-existing illness? Perhaps you just taken that policy that comes with your credit card, or taken discount insurance on line, or simply not bothered about any insurance cover; assuming “it will not happen to me”! It’s an important question as the next part of that question goes like this; “because depending upon what has to be done, the costs of your treatment will be anywhere between 90,000 and 500,000 dollars”!
Do I have your attention now?
It all happened to me, and I was “lucky”; I did have travel insurance and it did cover my pre-existing illness and my insurer got me home safely, and all paid up. What would happen to you in the same situation, would you have played safe and be well covered or would you have gambled and lost. Of all the things that you can leave behind when you travel overseas; travel insurance is NOT one of them. Get professional advice and travel safely.

– Peter Watson