World
Exploring Greenland's majestic history as President-elect Trump shines spotlight on island nation
Before President-elect Trump took a shine to it, Greenland was already on the radar of the cruise ship industry with many vessels choosing picturesque Greenlandic towns for their ports of call.
Cruise ship passengers take photos of fjords in Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
One of the ports is Qaqortoq, the largest town in southern Greenland.
Qaqortoq means “white” in the Greenlandic language. (Danuta Hamlin)
Sailing from Iceland, the ship followed in the footsteps of Eric the Red, a Norseman who settled this area in 982. As Eric was exiled from Iceland, he made his home here and called it Greenland.
Some 80% of the island is covered by icecap and the remaining parts do not appear very green either.
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Majestic shores of Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
According to some historians, Eric the Red came up with the name simply for promotional purposes.
He set out to attract more settlers from Iceland and advertised the island as a green land. Some experts say that Greenland could have been warmer at the time, but starting in the 15th century it experienced what is known as “The Little Ice Age.”
Children in Nanortalik, Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Life in Greenland became too harsh for Europeans. But the native population of the Island found ways to persevere.
Julianehåb River runs through the center of Qaqortoq, Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Nestled in the midst of a scenic fjord system, with a creek cascading across the town, and snow capping the mountain peaks even in the spring, Qaqortoq is a fascinating place to explore.
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Qaqortoq is the fourth-largest town in Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Building highways in Greenland is expensive, therefore Qaqortoq is not connected by road to any other town or village. However, when the weather is warmer, the region provides ample opportunities for nature hikes, kayaking and fishing.
Qaqortoq Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
The town was founded in 1775, as a trade colony, by Norwegian explorer Anders Olsen. With a population of just a little over 3,000, it offers a glimpse of Greenlandic life, Viking history and Nordic-inspired architecture.
The hills are peppered with colorful houses, creating a delightful contrast with the severe peaks of the surrounding fjords.
A street sign in Greenland. Greenlandic is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 57,000 speakers. (Danuta Hamlin)
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, but the official language is Greenlandic. It’s a polysynthetic language which means that, technically, there is no limit to the length of a Greenlandic word.
Deciphering local signs can be fun and challenging at the same time.
Stone & Man, an open-air art project in Qaqortoq, Greenland, featuring rock carvings and sculptures (Danuta Hamlin)
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Although trees are not easy to find, the area is full of all kinds of rocks and boulders. Some of them were turned into carvings of faces and whales, in a tribute called “Stone & Man.” This open-air gallery is the work of local Qaqortoq artist Aka Høegh.
Mindebrønden fountain is the older of the only two public fountains in Greenland. (Danuta Hamlin)
Qaqortoq boasts the oldest fountain in the country – Mindebrønden – Memorial Fountain. The fountain was completed in 1932 and is turned off during the winter months.
A fish market in Qaqortoq. Seal meat is a key ingredient in Greenland’s national dish, Suaasat. (Danuta Hamlin)
The town’s fish market sells whatever has been caught on a given day by local fishermen. It could be fish, or it could be whale meat, or perhaps a seal.
Qaqortoq is, after all, a fisherman’s town and seafood plays a vital part in Greenland’s diet.
Nanortalik is a village on Nanortalik Island, with some 1,072 inhabitants. (Danuta Hamlin)
The official religion of Greenland is Evangelical Lutheranism. In another port of call, a village called Nanortalik, members of the local congregation welcomed tourists with a musical performance.
Nanortalik choir singing outdoors in Greenland in 2018. (Danuta Hamlin)
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Nanortalik means the “Place of Polar Bears”. No bears, however, were spotted loitering around the village.
Nanortalik’s old colonial port area is an open-air museum. (Danuta Hamlin)
Greenland is the world’s largest island – a treat for any tourist adventuresome enough to venture there.
Cruise ship passengers take photos of fjords in Greenland (Danuta Hamlin)
The author recently took a cruise to Greenland.
Iranians mourning the country’s supreme leader condemned U.S. strikes that Washington called retaliation for Iran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a tightly controlled state funeral in Mashhad — one of Iran’s most conservative cities, where opponents of the government were unlikely to be found in the crowd — mourners voiced defiance and called for revenge.
World
Beloved musicians among victims in deadly Bahamas plane crash; aviation authority grounds flights
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A devastating double-aviation crisis in the Bahamas, including a deadly North Andros plane crash and a separate aircraft fire on Friday, prompted the government to suspend flight operations for a local airline and launch a federal safety probe.
Shortly after 1 p.m. local time Friday, a Cessna 402 aircraft with Bahamian registration departed Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau bound for San Andros Airport.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) said the plane “encountered difficulties” and crashed into bushes prior to landing.
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Authorities said 10 people were killed in a Bahamas plane crash on Friday. (Our News Bahamas via AP)
First responders, including the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Airport Authority and emergency medical personnel, rushed to the dense brush where the aircraft went down.
The Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union confirmed in a statement Saturday that 10 people died in the crash, including prominent members of the “The Pond Band” and a local DJ, whose artistry the union said “touched so many lives and helped to enrich the cultural fabric of The Bahamas.”
Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis said a sole survivor was pulled from the wreckage.
“Ann and I are praying for the families who are now facing unbearable grief,” Davis wrote in a statement on X. “We are also praying for the survivor, whose recovery and care will remain in our thoughts.”
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The identities of those killed in the crash have not yet been released.
While the AAIA’s preliminary reports initially indicated seven people were on board, officials are still establishing the facts of the flight manifest.
Just hours before the fatal crash in North Andros, a Flamingo Air flight en route to Mayaguana was forced to turn back to Nassau after the pilot reported a concern, according to the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Aviation (MoET).
After the aircraft landed and passengers safely deplaned, the plane caught fire on the runway.
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FILE – The Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate following two aircraft incidents Friday. (iStock)
Following the two back-to-back safety incidents, the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas (CAAB) temporarily suspended Flamingo Air’s Air Operator Certificate, according to MoET officials.
“The suspension is a precautionary safety measure and should not be treated as an adverse compliance action against Flamingo Air,” the agency wrote in a statement.
FILE – The plane crashed in North Andros on Friday after taking off from Lynden Pindling International Airport. (Melissa Alcena/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Investigators from the AAIA and inspectors from the CAAB remain at the scene in North Andros as they work to determine what caused the Cessna 402 tragedy.
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Flamingo Air did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on •Updated
Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan on Saturday as the country’s next prime minister to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned earlier this month over differences with the ruling majority.
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In a video posted to social media, Sandu said Tofan’s primary responsibility, after his candidacy is approved by the country’s parliament, would be to move the country further towards its path of “integration” into the European Union.
He should also “strengthen the resilience of state institutions and society”, and “revive the economy”, added Sandu.
The Moldovan businessman now has two weeks to secure parliamentary backing, a prospect he hopes to achieve after submitting his government programme and his ministerial cabinet nominations.
Tofan had been mentioned as a possible prime minister last year even before the appointment of Munteanu.
Igor Grosu, who heads Sandu’s Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) which won the last parliamentary elections in September, announced on Friday that he had selected him as his candidate to replace the outgoing premier.
He said Tofan shared “the same objectives” as him and PAS, specifying that “EU accession in the years to come, institutional reform and economic growth”, were among the biggest points of agreement.
The nominee for prime minister, who graduated Harvard Business School and turns 44 on Sunday, has a degree in public management from the Netherlands and is a managing partner at Horizon Capital, a private equity firm with assets primarily in Ukraine and Moldova.
He has also chaired the board of directors of Moldova’s Purcari winery, considered the crown jewel of the country’s winemaking sector.
Munteanu, another businessman who like Sandu previously worked at the World Bank, had been chosen to boost the economy and bring it closer to the EU, but turbulence with PAS saw him vacate his post less than a year into holding office.
He resigned on 3 July after less than eight months, stating that he could no longer carry out his mandate “according to (his) principles and (his) convictions”.
The EU last month officially launched a first round of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Both countries became official EU candidate countries on 23 June 2022.
Additional sources • AFP
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