A spring snow at the Potala Palace in Lhasa, in west China's Tibet region.The Associated Press
ON THE GROUND
Tibet off limits to travellers in March
Don't even think about visiting Tibet this month. China has closed the region to foreigners throughout March. The official reason is that tourists will be unsafe because of cold weather, ice, a shortage of hotel rooms, crowds attending Tibetan New Year festivities, and the anniversary of Tibet's "liberation" in 1951. But skeptics say it has more to do with keeping out journalists and trouble makers during the third anniversary of bloody anti-government riots.
IN THE AIR
No children in the overhead bin, please
The incident began innocently, according to Australian airline Virgin Blue. A father was playing peek-a-boo with his 17-month-old son when a male flight attendant decided to join in the fun. But the steward's actions led to a formal complaint from the boy's mother. The carrier agreed that its employee went too far when he placed the boy in an overhead bin and closed the latch. The mother was offered free flights, and the flight attendant was fired.
ON TOUR
Potter movie studio to open in London
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been a major draw for Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., since opening last year. Now rival Warner Bros. has purchased Leavesden Studios outside London where all eight movies about the boy wizard were filmed. In Spring 2012, Warner Bros. will open Studio Tour London -The Making of Harry Potter. In this three-hour tour, visitors will see original costumes, props, effects and sets, including the one for the Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Sources: Sunday Herald Sun, Reuters, South China Morning Post
Special to The Globe and Mail