And once again, we set off for a quick trip around the world with interesting news that you probably won’t see anywhere else today.
Thailand: Bangkok loses from list of world’s top 10 best cities for travel
Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital famed for its historical landmarks, was ranked the best city in the world for 2014 instead.
Kyoto jumped four places from last year, unseating Bangkok from the top spot in the magazine’s 2014 World’s Best Awards list. ... (Read more)
Thai PBS
Iceland: So What’s This Naming Law I Keep Hearing About?
Harriet Cardew, the adorable ten-year-old daughter of an Englishman and an Icelandic woman, has been in the world news lately because the Icelandic National Registry refused to approve a passport for her because it does not approve of the name Harriet. Nor did it much care for her brother being called Duncan. In fact, the National Registry only referred to them by the Icelandic words for “girl” and “boy” because their names did not meet the required standards of Icelandic naming laws. ... (Read more)
Grapevine
New Zealand: English language test: ‘No xtra time’
A Kiwi nurse required to sit a three-hour English exam before practising in Britain says candidates were told on a noticeboard they would be allowed “no xtra time”.
Hospital intensive care nurse Kathryn Carey said the spelling error was written three times under separate headings in an exam room at Auckland University at the weekend, injecting light relief into what became a six-hour ordeal after she had to wait around for a 15-minute interview. ... (Read more)
The New Zealand Herald
Italy: Clean Colosseum arches unveiled
Visitors to Rome can begin to enjoy the fruits of a multi-million euro restoration project at the Colosseum after the first five clean arches were unveiled on Monday.
Workmen removed the protective sheet covering the arches on the Forum side of the nearly 2,000 year-old Flavian amphitheatre, allowing Romans and tourists to get a glimpse of the restored travertine ... (Read more)
ANSA
Singapore: National Library will discard and pulp three children’s titles it removed recently
Three children’s titles recently removed by the National Library Board (NLB) as they were deemed not “pro-family” will not be put back on the public libraries’ shelves.
The three titles are: And Tango Makes Three, The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption, and Who’s In My Family: All About Our Families.
In a press conference held at the children’s section of the Toa Payoh Public Library, Ms Jasna Dhansukhlal, assistant director of NLB’s public library services, said the books will go through a “discarding process” where they will be pulped. ... (Read more)
The Straits Times
Denmark: Meet Anne and Peter, the average Danes
Denmark’s statistical yearbook offers an insight into the life of the average Dane: how old they are, how much money they make, how much television they watch and even where they prefer to holiday. The Local asked one of the authors if any normal behaviour struck her as abnormal.
Hawaii: Hawaiian monk-seal hospital gets first patients
Four malnourished Hawaiian monk seals from remote atolls northwest of Hawaii’s main islands arrived Wednesday for emergency care at a new seal hospital in Kailua-Kona.
The National Marine Fisheries Service picked up the seals during a recent research trip to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. ... (Read more)
The Garden Island
*Image of THAILAND,BANGKOK , Yaowarat Road via Shutterstock
