Italy: Roman statue found at underwater palace
Italian archaeologists on Thursday said they have recovered an ancient Roman marble statue spotted by a diver in an imperial palace that is now under water in the Bay of Naples.
“The discovery is significant and quite important for us because of the quality of the marble and the excellent workmanship of the sculpture,” said Paolo Caputo, a local heritage official.
The statue is of a woman and was discovered in October just off the shore near the town of Baia in what is already an underwater archaeological park. ...
The Local
Spain: ‘Bullfighting will come back to Catalonia’
Spain’s Parliament on Wednesday voted to give bullfighting “cultural heritage” heritage status, a decision that has angered animal rights activists worldwide.
The motion was passed despite only having the support of Spain’s ruling conservative Popular Party (PP).
Coming in response to a petition signed by some 600,000 Spaniards, it means all of Spain’s regions will now be obliged to “develop measures to promote and protect ” bullfighting and associated activities ranging from the breeding of bulls to the design of posters for bullfights.
This includes Catalonia, where the past time was banned in 2011. ...
The Local
South Korea: 650,000 students take annual college entrance scholastic test
More than 650,000 students took the annual college entrance exam Thursday. Public offices and the stock market opened an hour later than usual, and airport runways closed temporarily for the nationwide test.
This year, 650,747 high school students and graduates applied for the state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, better known as the Suneung, according to the Ministry of Education. The number of test takers dropped by 17,775 from last year, due to a decline in the overall number of students, the ministry added.
The test took place at 1,257 centers across the country. To ensure the smooth operation of the nation’s biggest test, the government imposed traffic control and anti-noise measures. ...
Korea Herald
Germany: No Training, No Work - Unemployment Rising Despite More Jobs
Although there are more jobs than ever before, unemployment continues to rise in Germany. Many long-term unemployed are looking for work again, but their lack of qualifications means they hardly stand a chance in a highly specialized industrial society.
A trunk. A suitcase. Another trunk. A trunk, and then another suitcase. The conveyor belt rattles along. As she stares at a monitor, Monika Lenzner, 58, pushes the pieces of luggage across the conveyor bars.
She found her job at the X-ray machine in the departures area at Berlin’s Tegel Airport on her own, without the help of a job center. After being unemployed for 12 years, and after many unsuccessful training programs and rejected job applications, she now works as an aviation safety assistant. ...
Spiegel Online
Indonesia: Baby boom expected soon
The shortage of marriage registration books, which has hit some regions in the country, could point to a serious demographic problem that has resulted from the failure of the family planning program.
Sri Moertiningsih Adioetomo of the University of Indonesia’s Demographic Institute said that the government had been too slow to respond to changes in population trends, including an increase in the number of couples getting married at an early age.
She said shortage in the marriage registration books exposed the government’s hands-off approach to demographic change, especially the rising numbers of young couples. ...
The Jakarta Post
France: France marks 100th birthday of literary ‘rebel’ Camus
France on Thursday remembers one of its best-loved and most controversial literary figures, Albert Camus, who was born on November 7, 1913. The writer is best known outside France for his 1942 novel “L’Etranger” (The Outsider/The Stranger).
France marks the 100th birthday of Albert Camus, one of France’s most significant and controversial 20th century literary figures.
Camus is probably best known outside France for his novel “L’Etranger” ( “The Outsider” or “The Stranger” in English), which has been translated into more than 40 languages. ...
France 24
Panama: Opportunity knocks for Latin America cocoa
The American continent, the original home of the cocoa plant, has a great opportunity if the quality of the grain it produces can be joined with European methods for the manufacture of chocolate says a report from Paris,
“When we wake up (and we have started moving) there will be a ”boom“, because people will start to appreciate our quality and richness,” says José Ramón Castillo, one of America’s foremost chocolatiers in Latin America, from the International Chocolate Salon held in Paris,” reported Portafolio.co. ...
Newsroom Panama
