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 Israeli Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, has been reopened, after having been closed since 2002, along with 15 other Israeli embassies and consulates around the world, due to budgetary constraints.
This is the third of the 15 to be re-opened. The Israeli Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, reopened in 2010. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has announced that the re-opening would “promote cooperation and dialogue and bilateral trade and sports and cultural activities. It will also sustain the connection with the 6,000-strong Jewish community in New Zealand.
Also in 2010, Israel re-opened its consulate in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Sao Paolo is the largest city in the southern hemisphere, and serves as an industrial, economic and communications center for all of Latin America. The city also has a large, 80,000-strong Jewish community.
Still closed, however, are the embassies or consulates in Marseilles, France; Sydney, Australia; Harare, Zimbabwe; Minsk, Belarus; Montreal, Canada and others.
Paraguay will reopen it’s embassy in Israel soon, after an eight year absence.
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]
Tusenvis av demonstranter gikk i gatene i Libanons hovedstad i helgen for å vise sin misnøye med landets politikerne. Demonstrantene krever regjeringens avgang i kjølvannet av en strid som har fått Beirut til å flyte over av søppel, 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]
De første dråpene fra det nye mikrobryggeriet Svalbard Bryggeri AS i Longyearbyen er tappet, og eierne gleder seg over å få dele produktet med resten av øygruppen, skriver nrk.no
Svalbard Bryggeri AS ble etablert i 2011. Først nå, fire år senere, tappes de første dråpene i lokalet som tidligere var en lagerhall.
– Vi er endelig i gang. Det har latt vente på seg ganske lenge, så vi er veldig glad for at vi nå har begynt med bryggingen, sier bryggerimester Andreas Hegermann Riis til NRK.
I over 80 år har det vært ulovlig å produsere alkohol på Svalbard. Men etter en lovendring i fjor, skal nå kildevann fra den 2000 år gamle Bogerbreen i Longyearbyen bidra til det eierne av Svalbard Bryggeri mener er «bra øl».
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]
President Abdulla Yameen meets with the visiting delegation from Saudi Arabia in the Maldives to attend the Independence Day functions. Photo: Office of the President
A Saudi-Arabia embassy opened in the Maldives capital Male on Sunday, according to the Saudi Press Agency, the www.haveeru.com.mv website reports.
The move was based on the agreements between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Maldives to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries, Director of Media Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Osama bin Ahmad Nuqali said.
Ambassador Nuqali also said that the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking forward that the diplomatic relations between the two countries will contribute to developing bilateral relations and supporting joint interests.
During the recent visit of a top Saudi delegation to the Maldives, President Abdulla Yameen had said Maldives was open for joint venture investments with Saudi Arabia.
Highlighting the difficulties faced in travelling between Maldives and Saudi Arabia, President Yameen had also noted the importance of establishing better transportation between the two countries.
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]
Utfordringene står i kø, men borgermesteren i Albanias hovedstad Tirana startet med å synkronisere klokkene i Tirana sentrum. Borgermester Erion Veliaj startet sin gjerning med å stille viserne på klokkene, skriver nrk.no
-Vi må ta de første tingene først, men vi kan ikke ha en by som “står fast i tiden”, skriver Veliaj på Twitter.
Et fotografi viser de fire urskivene på klokketårnet “før og etter” intervensjonen til borgermesteren.
Klokketårnet er et kjent landemerke i sentrum av byen. Lyst opp av lyskastere om natten kan det igjen gi tiranabeboerne riktig informasjon om hva klokka er.
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]
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.”
