Feel like you've been hit all week with a dead eel? The Wrap has a sport for you. Whether it's topless sunbathing, Ariabian wonderlands, gambling or a little eel slapping, we've got it all here.

Take the ancient English game in which contestants knock each other over with a 5ft dead conger eel.

An innocent enough pastime you may think, but animal rights activists have written to complain that it was "disrespectful" to the dead fish.

Conger cuddling, as the locals call it, has been staged annually for more than 30 years at the harbour in Lyme Regis, Dorset, as a fund-raising event.

Teams stand on 6in high wooden blocks and others take it in turns to swing a 25lb eel at each other. The team with the most people left standing at the end wins.

Ken Whetlor, the mayor of Lyme Regis, told London's Daily Telegraph

"The writer of that letter is a gutless troublemaker with nothing better to do. I cannot see how using a dead conger eel landed by a local fisherman is unethical."

We Say: The Wrap reckons the mayor should take a dead conger and chase the animal rights activists out of town.

The big cover-up in Paris

More evidence, this time from France, that people are not being allowed life's simple pleasures.

Women who sunbathe topless or in thongs on Paris Plage, a man-made summer beach on the banks of the Seine, are being threatened with fines unless they cover up.

City hall officials and police have moved among the sunbathers ordering them to cover up of faces fines of 38 euros.

Paris Plage is intended to mimic the ambience of a Mediterranean beach. It is more than two kilometers long, dotted with palm trees, parasols and cafes.

But the order forbidding the exposure of flesh declares: "Behaviour must conform to good morals, tranquility, safety and public order."

City officials insist that the rule forbidding nude sunbathing dates from Paris Plage's origins in 2002. But one assistant mayor, Pascal Cherki, was ridiculed by Le Parisien daily newspaper for suggesting that inappropriate clothing worn so close to a river "could provoke dangerous temptations and behaviour".

And 42-year-olfd Monique Ferrero told the IHT,"We have so many problems in our country whether you take off your top or wear a thing is so trivial."

The Wrap was involved in something similar. A local beach in Australia came under the jurisdiction of the state port authority, which sent officers to patrol the beach at weekends, warning topless bathers to cover up.

We Say: The Wrap wrote to the local paper, suggesting these men would be better employed working to increase efficiency on the wharves. The newspaper ridiculed the port authority in a cartoon – and the men were soon withdrawn from "topless" duty.

Stay safe: Visit Ireland

Thailand is the most hazardous destination for British holidaymakers, where they are most likely to suffer food poisoning, theft, traffic accidents or the loss of belongings.

A survey based on more than 60,000 claims made to insurer Norwich Union in 2005 found travellers to South Africa were the most likely to suffer violent robberies, while Mexico was named as the destination with the highest number of claims for sun over-exposure.

Austria was named the most likely place to suffer a skiing or snowboarding accident, and the Czech Republic had the highest number of claims for pick pocketing.

The safest destination was Ireland, followed by Belgium, Holland, Germany and France, said Norwich Union.

Says Dawn McMullan, travel product manager at Norwich Union, "The purpose of our research is to not to worry tourists looking forward to their holidays, just to make them aware of what can go wrong when they're away from home. It's very easy to forget simple security measures when you're lying in the sun with a cocktail in your hand."

Dubai floats another winner

As Singapore strives to ignite a reputation as a city with real buzz, rival Dubai will soon unwrap yet another head-spinning tourist attraction.

The emirate's answer to the legendary lost city of Atlantis is emerging from the depths of the Arabian Gulf on the Palm Jumeirah. The US$1.5 billion development is the second Atlantis project launched by Kerzner International following the hotel and water-park built on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.

When the first phase of the Dubai resort is completed in late 2008, it will be home to 65,000 marine animals and 1,539 hotel guests. It will also feature an underwater maze, 42 acres of water parks and a series of luxury shops and convention facilities.

Genting or Kerzner? Place your bets

The bets are on. Who will win the race to build the Sentosa Integrated Resort?

It's a four-horse race now that Harrah's has come in the last minute to join Keppel in the competition to build the family-themed resort project. The other three who have submitted disclosure forms to the Singapore government are Eighth Wonder Asia; Genting International/Star Cruises/Universal and Kerzner International/CapitalLand.

The local media seems to be tipping Genting as the chosen one, but if you speak to folks in the travel industry, most seem to favour Kerzner.

Genting's strengths are seen to be its understanding and experience of the Asian market and its tie-up with Universal Studios.

But Kerzner is favoured for the international stature it will bring to Singapore, not to mention its tie-up with architect Frank Gehry who put Bilbao on the world map with the Guggenheim Museum.

Submission date for bids is October 10 with a decision due by year-end. So start placing your bets now.

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