Junior Foreign Office minister Derek Fatchett said 100 British embassies were conducting a survey on the general state of readiness to fight the bug. Hmmm... I wonder what they'll determine about the state of readiness for Dee Cee, where they have an embassy. Also, New York, where they have a consulate. Hmmm... Likewise I wonder what the US will determine London's state of readiness will be!

UK has Y2K worries...

-- Ex (pats@theready.com), March 19, 1999

Answers

The Electronic Telegraph reported Fatchett's news as follows:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?P4_ACCESS=ac%3D000154642417163%26rtmo %3DqMRq9bX9%26atmo%3D99999999%26pg%3D%2Fet%2Fsearch%2Fcallfx.html&pg=% 2Fsearch%2Feditorial.html&ac=000154642417163&P=y2k&B2=M03+March&B3=Y19 99&DB=editorial

Millennium bug travel warning, By Robert Uhlig, Technology Correspondent

TOURISTS were advised not to travel to former Soviet republics, the Far East and possibly some European Union countries because the Millennium bug threatens to disrupt vital services, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

Derek Fatchett, Foreign Office minister, said Britons should be aware of potential disruptions in all forms of transport in these areas. He said that the Millennium bug could also threaten telecommunications, credit cards, banks and cashpoint machines, medical services, power supplies, water and sanitation, and the distribution of food and other goods.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has surveyed more than 300 airports around the world, but has refused to publish its findings. Mr Fatchett said: "We urge the IATA to release the information and to get it out to the public. We will be persuading them that the public have a right to know and we would encourage openness." He said he believed that the public appetite for more information would grow until organisations such as IATA would be forced to go public.

Information showed that the former Soviet republics and south-east Asia were areas of concern. Mr Fatchett said: "In the European Union G8 countries, we are not saying all is 100 per cent okay, but we are confident they are now dealing with the problem."

France, in particular, and Italy have been criticised for the lack of preparations to avert computer systems from crashing. Mr Fatchett said the British Embassy in Paris had contacted the French government to check that its channel ports would be able to operate after Dec 31. He said: "Our posts in Cairo and Panama City will be talking to the canal authorities to establish what they are doing to address the Millennium."

Cut and pasted by

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 19, 1999.

Old Git,

I believe that Russia and some other former Soviet republics supply a large portion of Western Europe's natural gas. If Russia's infrastructure suffers severe problems, the buildings in Berlin and Paris may be very cold.

-- Incredulous (ytt000@aol.com), March 20, 1999.

Anybody know how bad it will be in Northern Italy? I have in-laws there, and my son keeps telling me not to worry because they are not as dependant on computers as we are.

Yet, I keep reading that Italy is toast. If anyone could give me some specific examples, perhaps he would do a better job of getting the message across to the in-laws.

-- housemouse (jgj@nevermind.net), March 20, 1999.