The Internet is helping bring about a resurgence of the planned language Esperanto, long given up by many for dead. In Rotterdam, Esperantists are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the World Esperanto Federation. The language that was developed in the late 19th century to bring about world peace was hit hard by Stalinist purges and Nazi ideology in the 20th. But its greatest blow was likely from something else: a general lack of interest, not to mention the emergence of English as the global lingua franca. But as speakers of Esperanto gather on July 19 for the beginning of the World Esperanto Congress in Rotterdam, they will be celebrating a resurgence of interest in the language as well as the fact that their world body has made it to the century mark, battered perhaps, but still kicking. This "auxiliary language" owes its boost to the online world.
The language that was developed in the late 19th century to bring about world peace was hit hard by Stalinist purges and Nazi ideology in the 20th. But its greatest blow was likely from something else: a general lack of interest, not to mention the emergence of English as the global lingua franca.
But as speakers of Esperanto gather on July 19 for the beginning of the World Esperanto Congress in Rotterdam, they will be celebrating a resurgence of interest in the language as well as the fact that their world body has made it to the century mark, battered perhaps, but still kicking.
This "auxiliary language" owes its boost to the online world.
Week-long luxury package to Abu Dhabi takes travel to new heights - or new depths - of 'trophy tourism'If you've spent the past few weeks desperately scouring holiday websites or Teletext for a cheap last-minute deal to somewhere sunny, look away now. A luxurious seven-star hotel yesterday unveiled the world's first US$1m (£500,000) holiday. Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel is offering an eye-wateringly expensive seven-day break for two people in what is being billed as the "ultimate holiday experience".But what does spending so much on a holiday get you? For a start, it brings two first-class flights, a bit of mile-high champers and a booking in the hotel's most glamorous room, the Palace Suite: three decadent gold, silver and marble bedrooms interrupted only by a giant 61in plasma TV screen. It's a "palace within a palace", the hotel claims. In return for parting with more than £70,000 a day, there's no need to throw a bag into the Teasmade as the round-the-clock dedicated staff will see to the refreshments between meals. Nor will you have to get up early to reserve a sun-lounger with a towel - your private butler will see to it.
If you've spent the past few weeks desperately scouring holiday websites or Teletext for a cheap last-minute deal to somewhere sunny, look away now. A luxurious seven-star hotel yesterday unveiled the world's first US$1m (£500,000) holiday.
Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace Hotel is offering an eye-wateringly expensive seven-day break for two people in what is being billed as the "ultimate holiday experience".
But what does spending so much on a holiday get you? For a start, it brings two first-class flights, a bit of mile-high champers and a booking in the hotel's most glamorous room, the Palace Suite: three decadent gold, silver and marble bedrooms interrupted only by a giant 61in plasma TV screen. It's a "palace within a palace", the hotel claims.
In return for parting with more than £70,000 a day, there's no need to throw a bag into the Teasmade as the round-the-clock dedicated staff will see to the refreshments between meals. Nor will you have to get up early to reserve a sun-lounger with a towel - your private butler will see to it.
GERLACH, Nevada: Five mustangs pounded across the high desert recently, their dark manes and tails giving shape to the wind. Pursued by a helicopter, they ran into a corral - unwilling recruits in an emotional debate over whether to thin, through humane means, a captive herd that already numbers 30,000. The champions of wild mustangs have long portrayed them as the victims of ranchers who preferred cattle on the range, middlemen who wanted to make a buck selling them for horse meat, and misfits who shot them for sport. But the wild horse today is no longer automatically considered deserving of extensive protections. Some environmentalists and scientists have come to see the mustangs, which run wild from Montana to California, as top-of-the-food-chain bullies, invaders whose hooves and teeth disturb the habitats of endangered tortoises and desert birds. Even the language has shifted. In a 2006 article in Audubon magazine, wild horses lost their poetry and were reduced to "feral equids."
GERLACH, Nevada: Five mustangs pounded across the high desert recently, their dark manes and tails giving shape to the wind. Pursued by a helicopter, they ran into a corral - unwilling recruits in an emotional debate over whether to thin, through humane means, a captive herd that already numbers 30,000.
The champions of wild mustangs have long portrayed them as the victims of ranchers who preferred cattle on the range, middlemen who wanted to make a buck selling them for horse meat, and misfits who shot them for sport. But the wild horse today is no longer automatically considered deserving of extensive protections.
Some environmentalists and scientists have come to see the mustangs, which run wild from Montana to California, as top-of-the-food-chain bullies, invaders whose hooves and teeth disturb the habitats of endangered tortoises and desert birds.
Even the language has shifted. In a 2006 article in Audubon magazine, wild horses lost their poetry and were reduced to "feral equids."
Sorry! I'll make it more explicit next time! "Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne
The Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke Ofcom rules, the media regulator says. In a long-awaited judgement, Ofcom says Channel 4 did not fulfil obligations to be impartial and to reflect a range of views on controversial issues. The film also treated interviewees unfairly, but did not mislead audiences "so as to cause harm or offence". Plaintiffs say the Ofcom judgement is "inconsistent" and "lets Channel 4 off the hook on a technicality."
The Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke Ofcom rules, the media regulator says.
In a long-awaited judgement, Ofcom says Channel 4 did not fulfil obligations to be impartial and to reflect a range of views on controversial issues.
The film also treated interviewees unfairly, but did not mislead audiences "so as to cause harm or offence".
Plaintiffs say the Ofcom judgement is "inconsistent" and "lets Channel 4 off the hook on a technicality."
