English becomes the official language in the USA
The American Senate voted for the official proclamation of English as the state language of the United States of America. The measure, supported by the Republican majority in the Senate, was adopted as an amendment to the immigration bill currently being heard in the Senate.
The amendment instructs the government to make efforts to preserve and enhance the role of the English language in the life of the country. Democratic minority leader Harry Reid called it racist and threatening to split the country. The Democrats put forward their own version of the amendment, proclaiming English as the common and unifying language of the USA.
A compromise between the two proposals is expected to be reached when this bill is combined with the immigration law already adopted by Congress last year.
Unemployment in the UK is growing
Unemployment in the UK has reached its highest level in four years. This data was released by the British National Statistics Bureau.
As of the end of March this year, the number of unemployed in the United Kingdom reached 1.59 million, which is 177 thousand more than a year earlier. Thus, the share of unemployed among the economically active population was 5.2% - the highest since 2002.
Also, according to the National Statistics Bureau, the number of jobs in manufacturing has reached a record low over the past 20 years - now it stands at just over 3 million. In particular, it is due to workers in this sector that the rise in unemployment is occurring, and it continues now. In 2005-2006, the car plants MG Rover, Peugeot, TVR, and literally just before - Vauxhall, announced large-scale staff reductions. The services sector also suffered from the cuts - both public and private. Several hundred people were dismissed from the National Health Service (NHS), telecommunications provider NTL, and other companies.
Low unemployment has always been a trump card for the policy of the Labour Party, which has ruled Britain since 1997. In 2004, the unemployment rate for the first time reached its lowest level in 20 years, since the early era of Margaret Thatcher. But now Labour no longer has to count low unemployment among its achievements.
Tourists will have to take an HIV test to travel to the UAE
The issue of introducing a mandatory HIV test at the country's checkpoints has already been decided positively. At the moment, law enforcement officers are trying to find the most acceptable way to conduct it. All carriers of the virus will be denied entry to the territory of the UAE.
The country has repeatedly announced such plans. "Tourists and businessmen entering the country may be infected with HIV and transmit the disease to others during their stay in the Emirates," a senior official of the local Ministry of Health told the Gulf Today newspaper in April. The proposal to check tourists was put forward at a meeting of the supreme national committee on combating AIDS.
Representatives of the domestic tourism industry reacted extremely negatively to such projects. "Such a measure will definitely undermine the country's tourism business," experts say. At the same time, they allow the possibility of such a check only for that category of business tourists who come to the UAE for a long time. // "Russian Emirates"
UK introduces fine for smoking while driving
The UK is introducing a fine of 30 pounds sterling for smoking while driving a car. This sanction is included in the new set of road traffic rules, which will be issued and come into force in 2007.
According to traffic controllers, smoking while driving causes accidents every year that kill hundreds of Britons. "Some will see this as a restriction of freedoms, but it aims to improve road safety," the Automobile Association of England said in this regard.
Currently, road traffic rules in the UK are quite strict. A policeman has the right to issue a fine on the spot in the amount of 30 pounds sterling for poor driving, loud music in the cabin, looking at a map while driving, changing CDs in the player, eating, drinking soft drinks, or aggressive behavior towards passengers.
Reaction to the new ban was mixed. Some saw in the ban a further attack by the British authorities on the rights of smokers. The latter, even under threat of punishment, cannot indulge in the harmful habit in public institutions, stadiums, and most pubs.
The new version of the road traffic rules also tightens the punishment for using mobile communication devices while driving. The fine for a cell phone in the driver's hand increases from 30 to 60 pounds sterling and is punishable by three 'points' on the license.
Jordan punishes smoking in public places
Smoking in public places in Jordan is becoming an expensive pleasure. According to official data, about 350 million packs of cigarettes are sold annually in this country with a population of 5.5 million.
Nevertheless, the smoking ban already operates in airports, medical institutions, schools, cinemas, public libraries, museums, indoor sports grounds, lecture halls, and transport. Previously, violators had to pay 25 dinars for the first time; lighting up again entailed paying double the fine, and later the fine reached 500 dinars. Now, those caught for the first time will have to pay 100 dinars, and the maximum fine will be 1,000 dinars ($1.5 thousand).
Jordan became the first country in the region to introduce, back in 1977, an anti-tobacco law banning smoking in public places and on transport, as well as cigarette advertising. It also signed the international agreement on tobacco control, and November 1 is declared in the kingdom as “Day without Tobacco.”
Muslims banned from publishing photos of women
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, at a meeting with the country’s media representatives, asked them to refrain from publishing photographs of women, reports The New York Times. Up to that point, the policy of the new king, who took the throne in August of last year, was considered liberal. He had voiced no objections to photographs of Muslim women in burqas, nor to articles about women’s rights that had begun to appear in the local press.
Now, however, Abdullah has decided to put an end to this. The king announced that he regards images of women, even if the Muslim woman’s body in the photograph is covered by clothing in accordance with all Islamic norms, as a serious temptation for young men.
A culinary dispute flares up between Turkey and Cyprus
A “confectionery scandal” has erupted between Turkey and Cyprus. At the heart of the conflict is a dispute over which of the two countries’ traditional delicacy baklava is.
Recently in Cyprus, as part of events dedicated to Europe Day, a brochure was distributed claiming that baklava is an original Greek delicacy. In response, Turkey’s Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek made a sharp statement directed at Greek Cypriots. “Some people are engaging in cultural theft and trying to claim the copyright for baklava,” the press quotes the minister as saying.
The head of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Sinan Aygün, for his part, convened an emergency press conference at which he stated that the word “baklava” is Turkish, and the first official mention of the sweet, traditionally made from layered dough and a spicy nut filling, dates back to the 15th century. According to State Minister Ali Babacan, who is in charge of EU negotiations in the Turkish government, Ankara intends to raise the question of the ownership of the traditional Turkish delicacy in the European Union. The General Secretariat for EU Affairs has already begun looking into the issue of registering baklava as an international trademark of Turkey.