Tag: armenian news

  • Rare white reindeer calf spotted on digicam in Norway

    Reindeer stands in snow Image copyright Mads Nordsveen / Caters Image caption The rare animal’s appearance is because of a genetic mutation Presentational white space

    A Norwegian photographer has shared photographs of a rare white reindeer calf he encountered at the same time as mountaineering with friends.

    Mads Nordsvee, 24, from Oslo, stated he noticed the animal within the snow on a walk in northern Norway.

    The pictures, where the animal almost fades into the landscape, has now been appreciated virtually 20,000 times given that they were posted on Monday.

    Sharing the photographs on Instagram, the photographer commented: “He almost disappeared into the snow!”

    White reindeers are regarded as very rare. In 2016 a white stag was once noticed on a street facet in Mala, in northern Sweden.

    Symbol copyright Mads Nordsveen / Caters Symbol caption Mr Nordsvee said it was the same as the animal “posed” for him and his pals

    Mr Nordsvee told the Caters news company he spotted the “small, superb creature” even as walking out within the mountains.

    “He came to me very close and we appeared into every other’s eyes. He was very calm when he noticed that I didn’t have dangerous intentions,” the photographer stated.

    “He behaved as if he was once posing for my pictures… he used to be very curious and humorous, like a little explorer”

    The animal reportedly left him and his friends after a couple of minutes, while he returned to his mom on the fringe of the woodland.

    Mr Nordsvee has described the come upon as “very magical” and a “fairytale moment”.

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  • France gasoline protests: Tear fuel fired in clashes in Paris

    Protesters stand in smoke from police grenades in Paris on 1 December 2018 Image copyright AFP Image caption The clashes broke out before the legit demonstration even began

    Police and protesters have clashed in Paris prior to a third weekend of mass “yellow vest” demonstrations sparked by emerging fuel prices.

    Police fired tear gasoline even as a few officers had yellow paint thrown at them. at least SIXTEEN other folks were arrested.

    Thousands of individuals had been taking to the streets in protest at gasoline prices and the top price of residing.

    President Macron struck a conciliatory tone in advance within the week but stated he wouldn’t abandon his fuel tax.

    He stated it was once a key part of France’s long term energy technique to fight world warming, but added that he used to be open to concepts approximately how the tax may well be carried out.

    However his speech does not appear to have long past far sufficient in assuaging other folks of the view that he’s out of touch with unusual folks.

    Media playback is unsupported to your software

    Media captionFrance gasoline protests: who’re the folks in the yellow vests?

    Saturday’s clashes started even earlier than the authentic demonstration started in imperative Paris, as police locked down the preferred tourist road of Champs Elysees and searched other people as they were getting into.

    A Couple Of shops, banks and cafes had boarded up their windows in anticipation of the protest.

    Police fired tear gasoline to disperse protesters – some wearing face mask – who had been trying to tear down the barricades. a bunch of cops, dressed in protecting tools and helmets, have been spattered with shiny yellow paint.

    Will Macron face down French gas protesters? Jobseeker: Macron might be useful me find paintings

    The gilets jaunes (yellow vest) rallies had been at first about gasoline tax will increase. Protesters donned the yellow vest required to be carried in each and every car by way of law and blocked roads, inflicting widespread site visitors jams.

    But the protests have now spread to surround emerging anger at top taxes and living prices, and span all of the political spectrum – even the some distance proper, which the federal government blamed for violence in Paris in the course of the first demonstration on 17 November.

    Most demonstrators have remained non violent. However one person died throughout the protests after they were struck by means of a panicked driving force. a couple of days later, a motorcyclist was additionally killed when they have been hit by way of a van making a unexpected flip in the site visitors chaos.

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  • Final call to save lots of the sector from ‘climate catastrophe’

    “Scientists may want to jot down in capital letters, ‘ACT NOW, IDIOTS,’ but they need to mention that with information and numbers,” mentioned Kaisa Kosonen, of Greenpeace, who was once an observer on the negotiations. “and so they have.”

    The researchers have used those data and numbers to paint a picture of the arena with a dangerous fever, due to humans. We used to suppose if we could keep warming underneath degrees this century, then the adjustments we’d experience could be doable.

    No Longer any longer. This new take a look at says that going prior 1.5C is dicing with the planet’s liveability. And the 1.5C temperature “shield rail” could be surpassed in exactly 12 years, in 2030.

    we will stay under it – but it will require pressing, large-scale changes from governments and individuals and we will be able to need to make investments a huge pile of money yearly, approximately 2.5% of worldwide gross household product (GDP), the value of all goods and services and products produced, for 2 many years.

    Even then, we can still need machines, trees and plants to seize carbon from the air that we will be able to then retailer deep underground – forever.

    What can i do?

    is this plan at all feasible?

    Analysis through David Shukman, BBC science editor

    The countdown to the worst of worldwide warming turns out to have speeded up. Significantly destructive impacts aren’t any longer on a distant horizon later this century however within a timeframe that appears uncomfortably shut.

    By the similar token, the report’s “pathways” for retaining a lid on temperatures all mean that hard choices cannot be behind schedule:

    a shift away from fossil fuels by way of mid-century coal phased out a long way sooner than previously instructed huge tracts of land given over to forests

    It Is thoughts-bending stuff and a few will say it’s hopelessly unrealistic, a climate scientists’ fable. So is any of it doable? at the one hand, the global economic system relies on carbon and key activities depend on it. at the other, wind turbines and solar panels have tumbled in worth and extra and more nations and states such as California are atmosphere ambitious green targets.

    In The End, politicians will face a hard choice: convince their citizens that the modern amendment outlined in the record is urgently wanted or ignore it and say the scientists have gotten it mistaken.

    Is all this about saving small island states?

    the idea of maintaining the global temperature rise to 1.5 is something very on the subject of the hearts and minds of small island and low-mendacity states, which concern being inundated with flooding if temperatures visit levels.

    But over the three years that the record was once in education, more and more medical proof has been revealed appearing the benefits of staying just about 1.5C aren’t only for island international locations within the Pacific.

    “for those who retailer a small island usa, then you retailer the sector,” stated Dr Amjad Abdulla, an IPCC author, from the Maldives. “since the report clearly states that no-one goes to be immune. It’s about morality – it is approximately humanity.”

    How lengthy have we got?

    Now Not lengthy at all. However that factor is now in the palms of political leaders. The report says arduous decisions can no longer be kicked down the street. If the international locations of the world don’t act quickly, they could have to depend even more on unproven applied sciences to take carbon out of the air – a pricey and unsure street.

    “they really need to get started paintings in an instant. The record is clear that if governments just fulfil the pledges they made within the Paris settlement for 2030, it is not adequate. it’s going to make it very tough to consider international warming of 1.5C,” stated Prof Jim Skea.

    “In The Event That They read the report and decide to increase their ambitions and act more in an instant, then 1.5C remains within sight – that is the nature of the choice they face.”

    Campaigners and environmentalists, who have welcomed the report, say there may be merely no time left for debate.

    “this is the moment the place we wish to make a decision” stated Kaisa Kosonen. “We want to transfer to clean power, sustainable existence. We wish to offer protection to our forests and species. that is the instant that we can understand that; that is the yr whilst the turning element came about.”

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  • Turkey bans use of foreign currency in property market

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech at Grand Ankara Hotel, Turkey, 13 September 2018 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Erdogan has said that only exporters and importers should deal in foreign currency

    Turkey is banning the use of foreign currencies in the country’s property market as it looks to stem the dramatic fall of its own currency, the lira.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Thursday announcing that contracts for sales, rent and leasing must in future be made in lira.

    Mr Erdogan has previously urged Turks to sell their dollars and euros.

    The move came as Turkey’s central bank increased interest rates sharply in an attempt to curb the tumbling lira.

    The currency has lost almost a third of its value against the dollar since January.

    Thursday’s decree, which was published in the government’s official gazette, said all current agreements in the property sector made in foreign currencies must be changed within 30 days.

    Rental and sale agreements in Turkey are often offered in euros and dollars to foreigners living in the country.

    However, the property and construction market has become a concern for investors worried that Turkish companies that borrowed heavily to profit from a boom may struggle to repay loans in foreign currencies, as the weakened lira means there is now more to pay back.

    Turkey’s lira crisis explained Is Turkey heading for an economic crisis?

    In a speech to a traders’ confederation in the capital, Ankara, Mr Erdogan said on Thursday that nobody should carry out business in foreign currency apart from exporters and importers.

    He also criticised Turkey’s central bank, accusing it of failing to control inflation and urging it to cut interest rates just hours ahead of its announcement that it was raising rates to 24%.

    “As of today I have not seen the central bank fix inflation rates as they promised,” Mr Erdogan said.

    “Interest rates are the cause, inflation is the result. If you say ‘inflation is cause, the rate is the result’, you do not know this business, friend,” he added.

    Turkey’s lira jumped sharply following news of the rate increase.

    Ordinary Turks unmoved as business fears ‘calamity’

    By BBC Monitoring

    The new decree received limited attention from people in Turkey as most property sold or rented in foreign currency tends to be either commercial or high-end.

    Social media users commented that even if contracts were to change on paper, people who have valuable property would continue to receive their rent in dollars. Those who cannot “were renting out in Turkish liras anyway”, one said.

    Critics of the government called on the authorities to apply the new rule to its own agreements too.

    The changes are expected to affect mostly businesses, and many retailers have previously criticised the dollar-based rent policy in shopping centres, where it has been blamed for the bankruptcy of at least one major company. Shopping centre managers, however, say the change could be dangerous as it could be costly to repay bank loans taken out in dollars.

    Car rental companies, who would also be affected by the decree, are “in shock”, according to Turkish news website Dünya. A representative from the industry was quoted as saying that the move could “drive the industry to calamity”.

    Last month, Turkey’s weak currency received a small boost after Mr Erdogan raised tariffs on US imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco.

    The US earlier hit Turkey with tariffs on items such as steel and aluminium in an effort to increase pressure on the country to free the detained American pastor Andrew Brunson.

    Mr Brunson has been held for almost two years because of his alleged links to political groups that are outlawed in Turkey, which accuses the US of trying to bring it “to its knees” over the administration’s demands.

    US-Turkey row: Pastor a ‘pawn in personal feud’

    The fall in the value of the lira in recent months has pushed up the price of everyday items in Turkey and raised fears the country is sliding into an economic crisis.

    Experts have also warned that its weakness could infect other emerging market currencies.

  • Coca-Cola to buy Costa coffee for £3.9bn

    Describing the sale as a “win-win” for everyone, she said the price paid by Coca-Cola was far higher than if Costa had been demerged into a stand-alone company on the stock market.

    She said she thought the beverage giant would use Costa to create “ready to drink, cold brew coffees”.

    “You could see Costa absolutely everywhere, in vending machines, hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes – in all the places you see Coke today,” she added.

    Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey told investors on a conference call that Costa was “a winning company that can go global”.

    He acknowledged that retail sales were a new area for Coca-Cola, but said Costa already had “a strong management team” and that Coca-Cola intended to “make it attractive for them to stay”.

    .news-vj-spw-wrapper ]]> Image copyright Heritage Images

    From beer to beans to beds: Whitbread’s long history

    1742 – Samuel Whitbread forms partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell

    1750 – Whitbread creates UK’s first mass-production brewery in London

    1868 – Begins producing beer in bottles

    1968 – Starts brewing Heineken under licence

    1974 – Opens first Beefeater steakhouse

    1990s – Buys David Lloyd Leisure, Marriott Hotels, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, Premier Lodge

    1995 – Buys Costa Coffee from Sergio and Bruno Costa for £19m when it had 39 outlets

    2000 – Sells brewing business to focus on Premier Inn and Costa

    Whitbread also owns restaurants Beefeater and Brewers Fayre. Over the years, it has owned well-known brands such as TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut and Marriott Hotels.

    The deal is subject to the agreement of Whitbread’s shareholders and various other approvals, including from anti-trust regulators.

    It is expected to complete in the first half of next year.

    Analysis: Dominic O’Connell, Today business presenter

    For years, demerger was a dirty word at Whitbread. When asked, as they often were, about the logic of having a hotel chain and a coffee chain in the same company, executives would extol the benefits of having two leisure brands under one roof.

    Shareholders were always less convinced, but were happy to go along with the idea while Whitbread grew its revenue, profits and share price at a steady clip over the last decade.

    All that changed with the arrival of Alison Brittain as chief executive – and the appearance on the shareholder register of Elliott Management, an aggressive, deep-pocketed US hedge fund with a track record of shaking up big companies. It pushed hard for a demerger, and Ms Brittain, who judged that Costa and Premier had reached sufficient scale to stand on their own feet, opened the door.

    The plan was that Costa would be spun off at some time in the next two years, but Coca-Cola pre-empted that with a knockout offer.

    While this is a landmark deal for Whitbread, it is also a significant move for Coca-Cola, taking it into hot beverages for the first time and, it hopes, providing the growth for which its investors have been crying out.

    Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described the deal as “a bitter-sweet moment for Whitbread investors”.

    “On the one hand, £3.9bn is an undeniably rich valuation and likely far better than Costa could achieve as an independently listed company, valuing its earnings higher than those of the mighty Starbucks,” he said.

    “On the other, Costa has long been the jewel in Whitbread’s crown and some will be sad to see it go at any price, especially given the growth potential in China and elsewhere.”

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  • Skripal poisoning: Suspects ‘civilians, not criminals’ says Putin

    Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Image copyright Rex Features Image caption Sergei Skripal (right) and his daughter Yulia

    Russian President Vladimir Putin says there is “nothing criminal” about the men named by UK authorities over the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

    UK authorities have named the men as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, thought to be officers of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU.

    But Mr Putin said they were civilians and would tell their story soon.

    Mr Skripal and Yulia were poisoned in the city of Salisbury in March.

    “We know who they are, we have found them,” Mr Putin said in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

    “I hope they will turn up themselves and tell everything. This would be best for everyone. There is nothing special there, nothing criminal, I assure you. We’ll see in the near future,” he added.