March 2004

A cross-border tunnel opened between France and Spain through the western Pyrenees on Jan. 17. The 5.3-mile Somport Road Tunnel starts near Urdos, less than two kilometers south of Fort du Portalet on the French side, and emerges near Canfranc, the terminus for trains from Jaca in Spain.

Much controversy surrounds the building of the tunnel as environmental groups, who favored reopening a rail link instead, fear heavy traffic in the frontier will bring pollution and also threaten France’s last population of brown bears.

A fierce cyclone hit Niue Island in the South Pacific, Jan. 6, leaving infrastucture disrupted and many vacationers’ plans canceled until further notice.

A Brazilian judge in early January ordered police to stop fingerprinting and photographing U.S. visitors to Rio de Janeiro, arguing the practice might hurt tourism in the city. The judge, in Brasilia, overturned a Dec. 29 order by a judge in northwestern Brazil to retaliate for U.S. fingerprinting and photographing of visitors. (In January, the U.S. began taking digital photographs and inkless fingerprints of visitors from countries that require visas, part of a program intended to thwart terrorists.) The Brazilian practice led U.S.

A number of parades, salutes and rituals are coming up in which traditional ceremonies will be held at the Tower of London.
April 21 — at 1 p.m. a 62-gun salute for HM The Queen’s birthday.