Official Google Blog: Google Crisis Response: a small team tackling big problems

Official Google Blog: Google Crisis Response: a small team tackling big problems

Tours and Tales has moved

We have moved our Tours and Tales blog to its own site at http://toursandtales.com

You're very welcome to visit our site and we hope you enjoy reading the entertaining travel journals and other stuff. Tip: there is an option in the top left corner to subscribe to the Tours and Tales feed via Google's feedburner.

We also tweet at http://twitter.com/toursandtales and have a facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lelystad-Netherlands/Tours-and-Tales/91647826052

'Solar Impulse' to introduce pollution-free flight

Pioneer Bertrand Piccard is designing a solar plane to fly around the world. In a bid to create pollution-free flight, Piccard and his team are creating a plane that travels solely on the energy received from the sun. The immediate goal isn't one of commercial travel, but rather to create a mindshift in current technologies.

You can read more about this exciting project at http://www.solarimpulse.com - check out the animations for Take-off and Flight, and Around the World to get a good idea of what they're aiming.

Starbucks & Ethopia in coffee-bean dispute

One year ago, the Ethiopian government approached Starbucks global HQ in Seattle and asked the company to recognise Ethiopia’s legal ownership of the names of its coffees. Despite its much-publicised commitments to farming communities, Starbucks has not taken the Ethiopian request seriously. It’s time for Starbucks to recognise Ethiopia’s rights. Read full story on Oxfam's website.

Rebel group slaughtering hippos in National Park

Hippos falling victim to a poaching spree in a national park could die out in the area by Christmas unless the culling stops, Zoological Society of London conservationists are warning.

A Congolese militia group is already thought to have killed half the hippo population in Virunga National Park since setting up a base there two weeks ago. Lake Edward, in the centre of the park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was once central to Africa’s greatest concentration of these magnificent beasts (read full story).

Wine Farmers Share Profit with Workers in South Africa

Through the creation of the Wijn de Caab Trust (representing Delta's resident employees and their families, mainly descendants of the dislocated Gorachoqua and Indian Ocean slaves, whose labour made the estate what it is today) the current owners are attempting in a small way to address the persistent economic inequality and other bitter legacies of South Africa's past. Profits of the estate are now shared equally between Solms-Delta (Pty) Ltd. and the beneficiaries of the Trust. Read full story ...

Wildlife Souvenirs - THINK TWICE

South African born actor, Arnold Vosloo, has joined forces with IFAW to champion the Think Twice campaign urging tourists not to buy souvenirs made from wildlife when visiting South Africa - watch the video | take the pledge.