www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Vinter-OL 2022 skal arrangeres i Kinas hovedstad Beijing. Det avgjorde Den internasjonale olympiske komite (IOC) på sitt møte i Kuala Lumpur i Malaysia i dag.
Etter at Oslo trakk sin OL-søknad i oktober 2014, stod det bare to søkere igjen: Almaty (tidligere Alma-Ata), den tidligere hovedstaden i Kasakhstan. Byen er kjent for vintersport, ikke minst for skøyter.
Opprinnelig var det seks søkerbyer, men både Lviv i Ukraina, Krakow i Polen, og Stockholm har trukket sine søknader. Videre var byer i Tyskland og Sveits mulige søkere, men her, som i Norge, manglet man støtte i folket.
Etter at vinter-OL i år gikk av stabelen i Sochi i Russland, er det Sør-Korea og byen Pyeongchang som er vertsland i 2018.
Almaty, tidligere kalt Alma Ata og Alma-Ata, er Kasakhstans største by. Den skiftet navn i 1993, og var hovedstad fram til 1998, da hovedstaden i landet ble flyttet til Astana.
Almaty har i mange tiår vært kjent for sine skøytekonkuranser, også internasjonale, på skøytebanen Medeo.
Beijing arrangerte sommer-OL i 2008.
Ellers avgjorde IOC i dag at Vinter-OL for ungdom i 2020 skal arrangeres i Lausanne i Sveits.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Nauru International Airport at Yaren District, the seat of government of the Republic of Nauru, which does not have an official capital.
Nauru Airlines is to extend services into the Federated States of Micronesia and this has prompted it to buy a fifth plane, Radio New Zealand International – www.radionz.co.nz
Less than two years ago Nauru Airlines was operating just one jet, but on the back of the activity brought by the Australian run detention camps on Nauru, it can now support four Boeing 737 passenger jets and a freighter.
The airline’s Brisbane based chief executive, Geoff Bowmaker, says it hopes to soon start freighting fresh tuna from Kiribati and will expand the current weekly passenger service into the Marshall Islands.
“From the 12th of June we will be extending that service right across to the Federated States of Micronesia. Initially Kosrae and Pohnpei – those two ports of the FSM. So that is a fair additional amount of flying that we will be undertaking.”
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the Capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
InterContinental Hotels Group has announced the opening of the new-build, 108-room Holiday Inn Express hotel in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, www.breakingtravelnews.com reports.
The hotel is located in the heart of the Tegucigalpa’s new financial and commercial district of Plaza San Rafael, and near the country’s major financial institutions, including BAC Honduras, Banco Davivienda and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
The Holiday Inn Express Tegucigalpa hotel is also connected to some of the main city thoroughfares such as Boulevard Morazan and is conveniently accessible to a variety of restaurants.
Owned and managed by Latin American Hospitality Management, a subsidiary of Grupo Agrisal, the hotel is franchised by an affiliate of IHG and is IHG’s fifth property in Honduras.
Additionally, the property is the second IHG-branded hotel in Tegucigalpa, joining the Real InterContinental Tegucigalpa hotel and the second Holiday Inn Express property for Honduras, joining the Holiday Inn Express San Pedro Sula.
“Bringing the Holiday Inn Express brand to Tegucigalpa aligns with IHG’s growth strategy of expanding in key cities around the globe. Tegucigalpa is the capital and the most populous city in Honduras,” said Alvaro Diago, chief operating officer, Latin America & Caribbean, Americas, IHG.
“This is also the fifth project with long-time partner Grupo Agrisal, and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them.”
The Holiday Inn Express brand is one of the largest and fastest-growing hotel brands in the industry, and in order to meet the ever-changing needs of its guest, IHG invested in the $1 billion Holiday Inn global brand re-launch, the largest in hospitality history.
The re-launch continues to drive increased quality and consistency across the global portfolio, and new hotels feature a contemporary image with emphasis on arrival and welcome services, guestroom and guest bath comfort and a redesigned logo and signage.
The hotel offers guests a comfortable, yet affordable stay with innovative, preferred-guest upgrades to ensure a pleasurable experience with amenities that include an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness centre, complimentary high-speed internet access and a business centre.
Business travellers will find large desks with ergonomic chairs, free local phone and toll free phones with private voicemail.
Additionally, guests can relax in the hotel’s Great Room lounge area and enjoy complimentary parking as well as free transportation to the nearby Multiplaza Mall.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
A rendering of Tour Triangle.
The Paris city council has approved plans to construct its tallest skyscraper in 42 years: Herzog & de Meuron’s Tour Triangle. The controversial triangle-shaped glass building was rejected by the council last November, but the decision was overturned by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who declared the vote invalid and affected by party infighting, the www.architecturaldigest.com blog reports.
The 42-story tower will top out at 590 feet, well below the 1,062-foot Eiffel Tower. The last skyscraper built in the city, the 231-meter-tall Tour Montparnasse, was completed in 1973 and is still disputed. The Tour Triangle isn’t the only tower in the works, though; the Palais de Justice by Renzo Piano a proposed 525-foot-tall courthouse, is set to be completed in 2017.
Plans for the building were first unveiled in 2008.
Because the building is shaped like a triangle, it will cast fewer shadows on nearby residential buildings, according to the Herzog & de Meuron site. Also, the firm says say Tower’s impact on the environment is limited by its “simple, compact volume.”
The $552 million tower, to be built in the 15th arrondissement, will include a 120-room four-star hotel, a panoramic restaurant, public cultural spaces, a health center and 752,397 square feet of office space.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Churchgoer Romain Oke poses for a picture inside the ruins of an evangelical church in Niamey, Niger, on Jan. 23, one of 70 churches destroyed by Islamic militants following the outcry resulting from a cover cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Christian leaders in Muslim-dominated Niger are crying for help as they try to rebuild their destroyed churches following a massive wave of arson attacks carried out early this year by Islamic militants, reports www.christiantoday.com
The militants attacked and destroyed about 70 Christian churches and other properties in the said West African country from Jan. 16 to 17 this year. This was their way of expressing their anger at the attendance of African leaders, including Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, in the anti-terror march held in Paris following the terrorist attacks in the French Capital.
One of the attacks launched by the terrorists was at the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published a cover caricature of Islamic prophet Mohammad, angering Muslims. The terrorists gunned down 12 Charlie Hebdo employees in that attack.
Many of the badly damaged churches and properties in Niger have yet to be rebuilt and the financial support promised by the government has not arrived yet.
“Since these incidents, it is as if life had stopped,” said Rev. Jacques Kangindé, who heads the Baptist “Roundabout” Protestant church in the capital of Niamey. “The church has become a source of curiosity for passers-by and a hide-out for idlers. Unfortunately our current church finances don’t allow us to begin the reconstruction.”
The church, built in 1929, is still waiting for the state’s financial aid before reconstruction could begin. Meantime, Sunday services and other activities are being held in a tent in the church’s courtyard.
“We feel that, as the emotion of the first days has now passed, our case is no longer of interest to our political leaders,” Kangindé said.
“They seem more concerned with preparations for the elections [due in 2016] and the fight against Boko Haram. The churches are abandoned to their fate.”
The two-day assault destroyed 70 churches as well as Christian schools, organisations, and an orphanage. Islamists also looted and razed at least 30 Christian homes.
The attacks, which claimed the lives of 10 people, seemed well-planned.
“How can one make sense of the fact that, in under two hours, more than 40 churches were destroyed across the capital?” asked a spokesperson for aid agency Caritas on French radio.
The Niger government announced three days of mourning for those who were killed, the BBC wrote.
The Islamist assaults not only revealed the lack of fire fighters in the country who should have responded to the arson attacks but also the inability of security forces to protect Christians and their Properties.
Rev. Zakaria Jadi of the Salama church in the capital’s northern district of Bani Fandou 2, said their resources have already ran out.
“It is a blow to our church. For nearly a month, there was neither water nor electricity. We have done our best to allow our worship activities to restart, but we have now reached our limit. The reconstruction work may probably take some time,” said the pastor.
The victims also need psychological support, said US NGO Samaritan’s Purse. From the organisation’s small sample of 40 respondents, 32 are suffering from severe trauma while the remaining have moderate trauma.
Jadi, who not only lost his church but also his house, said it is not easy to endure the pain, but he said he has forgiven the attackers and wants to move on.
“I felt very bad, such an indescribable feeling when I saw my ripped-up Bible on the ground. For a pastor, it was like my entire life was torn apart. I could not stop shedding tears,” he said.
“It was truly hurting, but I was well supported by brothers and sisters who have encouraged me a lot. And I received my greatest encouragement from God. He has really strengthened me in order to overcome that ordeal. And He also allowed me to support those who were in tears.”
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, With a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Sometimes the best solution to a technical problem is social engineering. After a journey of two years, that’s exactly how Belize has come to a major milestone in its technological development, reports www.caribjournal.com
The country’s Internet service providers (ISPs) have committed to set up Belize’s first-ever Internet exchange point (IXP), a piece of critical Internet infrastructure through which they can exchange local Internet traffic between their networks. The process was as 2simple and as difficult’ as getting nine Internet service providers (ISPs), all fierce competitors, to agree to work together for the greater good.
Belize Telemedia, Speednet, BroadBand Belize, and Network Solutions signed the historic agreement on April 16 at the University of Belize?s (UB) Belize City campus, clearing the way for the establishment of the region?s latest IXP, called Belize IX or BIX.
“As with all things important and meaningful, it was not an easy task to get to this point. However, the journey of the negotiating the pathway to this agreement for the Belize Internet exchange (BIX) was in indeed rewarding,” said Michael Kong, owner and CEO at NetKing Solutions, who spoke at the signing on behalf of the ISPs.
Other signatures to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) include Centaur Communications Corporation, Alliance IP Belize and NetKing Solutions.
“I speak on behalf of all providers when I say that determined team effort and collaboration for the greater good made this historic day a reality. We can all be happy and proud to know we are part of a milestone that will go down in ICT history in Belize,” Kong said.
The agreement marks a significant moment for Belize. It is the first time that the country’s ISPs put aside their differences to work together to address a challenge that affects them all bandwidth.
“The upcoming launch of BIX will put an end to a costly and inefficient situation whereby data and access to other critical local services has to be routed internationally just to get back to a local customer, who could be only a few feet away from the person who sent it. In other words, we were using expensive international Internet connections to exchange domestic traffic,” said Bevil Wooding, Internet strategist with international non-profit Packet Clearing House, speaking in an interview following the signing.
Packet Clearing House, a non-profit organisation, plays a key role in implementing IXPs around the world. In the Caribbean, Wooding and his team have worked closely With the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, regulators and local ISPs to set up IXPs across the region.
Traditionally, local internet traffic would need to leave Belize to an ISP in the United States and then get rerouted back to Belize. Once BIX is set up, that local traffic will no longer have to leave the country. That means better speeds for local Internet users.
Establishing a local IXP brings benefits not only to local consumers but also to the ISPs bottom line, Wooding explained.
A local IXP improves the quality and cost effectiveness of delivering local Internet-enabled services to citizens and businesses. That’s a major benefit for local ISPs. The IXP also enables new forms of local innovation and entrepreneurship, as Internet users benefit from greater opportunities for e-commerce and local content development, including online education.
Alan Slusher, President of the University of Belize, said the university is looking forward to greatly expanding its capacity to deliver training across the length and breadth of the country and directly into the homes and workplaces of our work people. “Thus greatly reducing the costs of education while expanding its availability. We are looking for a great leap forward as a result of this Corporation.”
The soon-to-be established IXP will not only address the inefficiency of local Internet traffic exchange. It will also allow other important Internet infrastructure to be located in Belize, such as domain name root services and content delivery caches from major content networks like Google, Netflix and Yahoo.
Roosevelt Blades, chair of the ISP working group, is already looking ahead. He announced at the signing there are plans to have a similar facility built in Belmopan, once the Belize City IX is up and running.
Technical discussions about how to set up the IXP started two years ago, with a working group that included ISPs, the Belize Public Utilities Commission, government ministries, Packet Clearing House with support from other regional stakeholders, including the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, and the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG).
Speaking at an October 2013 CaribNOG event at which the plans to establish BIX were announced, Kingsley Smith, then Director of Telecommunications at the Belize Public Utilities Commission said, “This development is expected to provide significant benefits to local ISPs and the Internet users in Belize.”
With the signing finally becoming a reality, Belizean Internet users are one step closer to a faster, stronger and more secure Internet.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
Lavprisselskapet AirAsia krever hastereparasjoner av den nye KLIA2-rullebanen på flyplassen i Kuala Lumpur i Malaysia. Selskapet hevdes at banelegemet rett og slett synker, og at den sprekker flere steder, skriver nrk.no
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
InterContinental Hotels Group, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, announces the opening of the first Holiday Inn Express hotels for Managua, Nicaragua.
The new-build, 114-room Holiday Inn ExpressManagua hotel is located minutes from the city center and within walking distance of the city’s most exclusive mall, Galerias Santo Domingo. The Holiday Inn Express Managua hotel is also 20 minutes away from the Augusto C.Sandino International Airport and near the Inter-American Development Bank and various multinational companies.
Owned and managed by Latin American Hospitality Management S.A., a subsidiary of Grupo Agrisal, the hotel is franchised by an affiliate of IHG. This hotel is the sixth project in Central America with Grupo Agrisal and is IHG’s fourth property for Nicaragua – current properties include the Real InterContinental Hotel Metrocentro Managua, Crowne Plaza Hotel Managua and the Holiday Inn Hotel Managua.
“Introducing the Holiday Inn Express brand in major cities like Managua aligns with IHG’s strategy to expand our portfolio in key markets across the region,” said Alvaro Diago, chief operating officer, Latin America and Caribbean, Americas, IHG. “We see great potential for our brands in Nicaragua with IHG already having a portfolio of internationally recognized brands here, and we look forward to continuing Our strong relationship with longtime partner Grupo Agrisal.”
The Holiday Inn Express brand is one of the largest and fastest-growing hotel brands in the industry, and in order to meet the ever-changing needs of its guest, IHG invested in the $1 billion Holiday Inn global brand relaunch, the largest in hospitality history. The relaunch for The Holiday Inn Portfolio of Brands continues to drive increased quality and consistency across the global portfolio, and new hotels feature a contemporary image with emphasis on arrival and welcome services, guestroom and guest bath comfort and a redesigned logo and signage.
The hotel offers guests a comfortable, yet affordable stay with innovative, preferred guest upgrades to ensure a pleasurable experience with amenities that include an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center, complimentary high-speed Internet access and a business center. Business travelers will find large desks with ergonomic chairs, and free local and toll free phone calls with voicemail. Additionally, guests can relax in the hotel’s modern lounge area and enjoy complimentary parking.
“We are very excited to open the first Holiday Inn Express hotel for Managua as it’s ideal for meeting the needs of Nicaragua’s growing business and leisure travel markets,” said Gerardo Murray, regional vice president, Distribution and Commercial Marketing, Mexico, Latin America and Caribbean, IHG. “This new and modern hotel offers a combination of premium accommodations and great services that will enable our guests to have a successful trip.”
The complimentary Express Start breakfast bar features a full range of breakfast items, including regional and local dishes, a rotation of egg and meat selections, breads, yogurt, juices, fruit, pastries, cereals, and coffee. Guestrooms will feature contemporary styling, a 32-inch HD LED TV, comfortable twin, queen or king-sized beds, a sitting area with a lounge chair and an in-room coffee machine. Bathrooms feature a signature shower curtain with curved rod, upgraded 100 percent cotton terry towels, bathroom amenities and hairdryer. Guests will enjoy crisp, fresh bedding that features an attractive decorative throw, a medium-weight duvet blanket, soft, 200 thread-count sheets and pillows that come in two comfort levels: “soft” and “firm”.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
The capital city’s tourism sector has launched a number of promotion programmes to attract tourists from Belarus and five Western European countries – Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain, reports www.vietnamnet.vn
The move comes after the Government granted one-year visa exemptions for tourists from Western European countries and five years for Belarus, as heard at a conference in Hanoi on July 23.
Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh revealed that tourists from the five Western European countries all consider Hanoi their primary destination when visiting Vietnam.
As such, the Government’s visa exemption policy presents a good opportunity for the capital to build new high-quality tourism products, he said.
Businesses asked the tourism sector to host more art performances such as puppetry, ‘ca tru’ ceremonial singing, ‘cheo’ (traditional operetta) and circuses to entertain visitors.
Meanwhile, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism should hold similar programmes at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Van Mieu (the Temple of Literature) and Quoc Tu Giam (Vietnam’s first national university).
Deputy Director of the Ho Guom tourism company Do Mai Huong said other destinations such as Ha Long, Da Nang and Quang Binh are pushing ahead with tourism product Development.
Therefore, if Hanoi is not quick to create high-quality products, visitors will flock to these vicinities, she noted.
Tourist agencies and service suppliers should collaborate on promotion programmes, Director of the Newstartour Company Luong Duy Ngan recommended.
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam Tourism Association ought to work with airlines to reduce air tickets prices, experts said.
They also advised launching agency promotion campaigns and ask them to open new tours with reasonable prices.
The Vietnam Tourism Association, in particular, has been encouraging businesses to join the drive and popularising the visa exemption policy to target markets.
www.hovedsteder.blogg.no is a Norway-based blog about the capitals of the world, with a focus on tourism and travel, the environment, diplomatic affairs, lifestyle, culture and entertainment, food and drink. See also our travel blog at www.minbestereise.blogg.no – Contact us at [email protected]
The grey marble facade of Parliament is having a makeover this weekend in celebration of Wellington’s 150th year as the capital city, reports Radio New Zealand International – www.radionz.co.nz
The reins of parliament were handed over in 1865, much to the despair of the then-capital Auckland, where it was felt that the city’s political and commercial advantages more readily lent it to being the capital than windy Wellington.
But the change went ahead, and a ship packed with all of the Government’s papers set sail south.
By July of that year, Parliament had settled in to its new Wellington home, based out of the now long-gone council chambers.
Wellington City Council is putting on a party to mark the milestone, with a light and sound show at Parliament on Saturday evening, projected onto the facade of the building, alongside performances from Dave Dobbyn and Wellington’s Orpheus Choir.
Event director Grant Stevenson said there was room for about 15,000 people to watch the show, and if more turn up, it would be re-run on following days.
For him, Wellington’s capital status goes beyond politics.
“We have the headquarters of our cultural infrastructure here, the National Library, the National Archives, Government House, Premier House – this is where the artefacts, the exhibitions, the stories of the nation are lodged, so it’s about identity.”
The council is also offering free buses for people to visit some of the city’s landmarks and historic places, including some that are not always open to the public, such as Premier House.
Wellington historian Redmer Yska, who wrote a biography of the city in 2006, said the city owed a lot to the decision to move the capital there.
In the 1800s, there was little going for economically but whaling and flax weaving and becoming home to government radically changed its economy, he said.
“It was described by one newspaper as ‘the tithe that leads to fortune’ – this was going to be the motherlode, this was going to be what made a difference for the city.”
“The seat of government is so important to Wellington’s economy – I think it’s the lifeblood of the city, and as far as Wellington is concerned, thank God it’s here.”
And while occasionally talk of moving the capital back to Auckland surfaces from time to time, in 1865, the city’s harbour, land and defence opportunities made Wellington the unambiguous first choice.
