U.S. announces date of final land and sea entry requirements rule

Wondering when you’ll need a passport to enter (or re-enter) the U.S. by sea or land? The The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced the final deadline: June 1, 2009.

As of this date, everyone (including citizens of the U.S., Bermuda and Canada who were previously exempt) will need a passport or WHTI compliant document to enter the United States by land or sea. This requirement is already in place for air travel.

The U.S. government hopes that announcing the date more than a year in advance will allow people ample time to get their documentation in order, and hopefully prevent a repeat of the severe backlogs that occurred last year.

The good news? Enhanced driver's licenses will also meet this requirement, and special provisions will be made for school trips.

Want to see the government’s announcements? See the FAQ and recent press release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Watch for more information as the Canadian and American governments launch their educational campaigns.

See AST's article Crossing borders with new entry requirements for more information.

Lights out for Earth Hour

Last year, millions of Sydney residents did it. This year, people all around the world will do it too. On March 29, Earth Hour participants will make a powerful statement about global warming by using as little power as possible.

From 8:00 – 9:00 pm (local time) residents and businesses all over the world will shut off their lights for one hour to draw attention to the need to act on climate change. In 2007, 2.2 million Sydney residents and 2100 businesses participated – leading to a 10.2% drop in energy consumption across the city. This year, cities and communities across the globe are joining in on the effort.

For more information or to sign up, visit the Earth Hour website or check out this video here:

Kosovo gets its own advice

Looking for travel advice specific to Kosovo? Now you can find it.

If you’ve been listening to the radio, watching TV or reading the news, you already know that Kosovo declared independence on February 17. Word of the announcement and related civil unrest has already made it into government travel advice for Serbia.

But the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has taken it one step further: it has released a travel advice page specifically for Kosovo. The FCO is the first governent to separate Serbia and Kosovo travel advice.

Other governments may follow suit in the coming weeks. For now, all advice pertain to Serbia and/or Kosovo can be found on the Serbia (Kosovo) Travel Advisory page. (Note: Currently the advice and news is still so tightly integrated that we're keeping it on one page... for now...)