Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Turkmenistan on Thursday to inaugurate Israel’s embassy in Ashgabat, as the country considers opening an embassy in Israel.
Cohen arrived to Turkmenistan Wednesday evening after a two-day visit to Azerbaijan, and was received at the Ashgabat airport by Turkmenistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Berdyniyaz Myatiev. It was the first visit in 29 years by an Israeli minister. The first and last such visit took place in 1994, a year after the two countries established diplomatic ties, when then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres traveled to the country.
On 15 November 2022, the world’s population surpassed 8 billion people.
Earth’s population continues to explode » from 1 billion in 1820 to 2 billion in 1930, to 3 billion in 1960, to 4 billion in 1974, to 5 billion in 1987, to 6 billion in 1999, to 7 billion in 2012, and 8 billion in 2022.
Following are the 50 most populated countries using the latest figures available »
Crossing high-altitude deserts with snow-capped mountains rising on the horizon, meandering through gorges along vertical rock walls. And that for 766 miles! How can that not be attractive to any overland traveler? The largely unpaved road alternates with smooth asphalt and paved stretches that have turned into washboards and potholes, so you never know what to expect around the corner.
The Pamir Highway challenges you to stay alert every second.
You inflate your tires because it seems that ‘from now on the road is good’ and deflate them after half a mile on rock-protruding road surface that is killing your suspension and your back. Your mood swings from wondering what the heck you’re doing in this desolate part of the world seeing nobody and nothing for ages to marveling why you have never heard of this gorgeous route before.
Welcome to the Pamir Highway, locally dubbed the Roof of the World!
Mehdi Balamissa and Gabriel Martin cycled 3 months and over 7,000km, crossing 13 countries, from Paris to Doha, Qatar, so that they could cheer for the French national football team, Les Bleus.
Cycling to the World Cup I Close Up
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Well-known Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie, 83, arrived on June 4 off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan after crossing the Pacific, becoming the oldest person to sail solo and nonstop across the world’s largest body of water.
Horie set sail from San Francisco on March 26 on a voyage lasting 69 days. The trip, which covered about 8,700 km, went relatively smoothly. But he had to battle through bad weather at times, sailing into a storm and high seas immediately after leaving San Francisco. In his online diary, he wrote, “Can’t do anything but wait for it to pass.” In a later entry, he simply wrote: “I’m fed up.”
It was the latest achievement for the octogenarian adventurer, who in 1962 became the first person in the world to successfully complete a solo nonstop voyage across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco.
Sixty years later, he traveled the opposite route.
In 1924, Alexandra David-Neel, the Paris-born, Buddhist scholar, travel writer, relentless explorer, and former opera singer, crossed the Himalaya in winter to reach the sacred city Lhasa. She became the first European woman to do so.
On the border of Tibet, at 4,000m, the two lived in a cave between 1914-1917. They braved freezing temperatures and scrounged for food. They spent most of their time meditating. Twice, they attempted to infiltrate the forbidden city of Lhasa in disguise.
Tibet was a common beacon for foreigners. But the country was strictly closed. David-Neel and Aphur entered illegally and were swiftly expelled.
With World War I at Europe’s doorstep, the pair set off in the opposite direction, first to Japan, then onward to Korea and China. For two years, they translated Tibetan books, living as monks in China’s Kumbum Monastery.
But again, David-Neel was restless. She struggled to stay in one place for long, and Tibet beckoned. She and Aphur set off again to attempt to enter Lhasa. This time, they succeeded.
On Saturday, 52-year-old Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa summited Mount Everest for the 26th time, breaking his own world record of 25 ascents of the world’s tallest mountain, which he set in May of last year.
He has now broken the record for summiting Everest five times in four years.
With more than 35 years of mountaineering experience, Kami Rita is a world-renowned climber. He first set the record for Everest summits at 22 in May 2018, after having shared the 21-summit record with two other climbers.
He broke that the following year when he conquered Everest a 23rd time on May 15, 2019, according to Guinness World Records. Kami Rita broke his own record six days later with his 24th summit.
