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Turkmenistan is planning to build the reclusive gas-rich state’s answer to the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty, the chief architect of the capital Ashgabat said on Saturday.
“A competition has been announced to design an edifice that will become a symbol of Ashgabat just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in the US,” Bayram Shamuradov told AFP.
“The monument will be constructed right in the center of the city,” he said.
Turkmenistan has unveiled a string of ambitious projects for Ashgabat over the last months, including the construction of a “Palace of Happiness” for weddings and an “Olympic Village” for summer and winter sports.
Garish construction projects sprang up across Turkmenistan during the rule of dictator Saparmurat Niyazov, who died in 2006, even as much of the population remained mired in poverty.
His successor Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has erased some of the more bizarre aspects of Niyazov’s personality cult but has been given a bad press from critics who accuse him of simply replacing it with his own.
“We are doing everything to realize the task set by the president — to make Ashgabat the most beautiful and comfortable city in Central Asia,” said Shamuradov.(AFP)
土庫曼斯坦首都阿什哈巴德的首席建築師上週六說，這個盛產天然氣且隱世獨立的國家正計畫建設可媲美艾菲爾鐵塔或自由女神的新地標。
貝倫．沙穆拉朵夫對法新社表示：「阿什哈巴德市已宣布舉辦一場地標設計比賽，徵選可以媲美巴黎艾菲爾鐵塔或美國自由女神的雄偉建築設計。」
他說：「這座紀念塔將建在市區的正中心。」
土庫曼過去幾個月來，已針對阿什哈巴德公佈了一連串雄圖大略的計畫，其中包括建造一座結婚主題館「快樂宮殿」，以及可舉辦夏季和冬季運動會的「奧運村」。
土庫曼前獨裁總統薩帕莫瑞特．尼亞佐夫（二ＯＯ六年逝世）任內，即便多數人民都為貧困的生活所苦，各項俗麗的建設計畫仍在各地大肆進行。
雖然尼亞佐夫的接班人葛班古利．柏迪穆哈梅多夫總統上任後，已取消其中一些崇拜尼亞佐夫 的怪誕計畫，但他也遭輿論批評，說他只是把造神對象換成自己罷了。
沙穆拉朵夫說：「我們正竭盡所能地實踐總統所定下的任務，就是要將阿什哈巴德打造成中亞最美麗且舒適的城市。」（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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Whether they are a Siamese, Persian, Maine Coon, or Domestic Shorthair, there are hundreds of millions of cats living with people around the world. But despite their popularity as pets, the history of cat domestication has remained difficult for scientists to decipher. A new genome study is providing some insight into the matter by determining the timing of a key milestone in feline domestication - the introduction of domestic cats into Europe from North Africa. Domestic cats pounced into Europe roughly 2,000 years ago in early imperial Roman times, the researchers found, probably thanks to maritime trade. Some of these furry trailblazers
You’re half-asleep with your head resting on the desk during your lunch break. All of a sudden, your leg kicks violently, your head snaps up, and you’re wide awake in a split second. This __1__ sensation is called a “hypnic jerk,” a common phenomenon that strikes just as your body starts to relax, but your brain mistakenly hits the panic button. A hypnic jerk is an involuntary muscle spasm that usually occurs during the __2__ from wakefulness to sleep, especially during the early stages of sleep. As the body begins to relax, muscles loosen and breathing slows down. One
In English, “name idioms” are part of what makes English fascinating. Let’s put a few examples under the microscope. Doubting Thomas This expression stems from the Bible. Thomas, one of Jesus’s disciples, refused to believe Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. He declared he wouldn’t accept it until he could see the nail marks in Jesus’s hands and touch his wounds himself. Today, this idiom refers to someone who won’t believe something without concrete evidence. For instance, if your friend’s expertise is reliable, but you’re still suspicious, you might be a “doubting Thomas.” Smart Aleck The origin of this phrase likely comes from
Scientists at Argentina’s Marambio Station in Antarctica have detected high levels of ammonia gas in the air near an “Adelie penguin” colony. The ammonia, released from nitrogen-rich penguin guano, reacts with sulfur compounds emitted by oceanic plankton to form aerosol particles. These particles boost cloud formation and can sometimes lead to fog. Scientists found that even after the penguins left the area, the remaining guano continued to give off significant amounts of ammonia. Clouds created by the guano can influence the local climate by either reflecting sunlight or trapping heat, depending on environmental conditions. In other words, penguin waste
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