A new, luxurious resort hotel just opened in Antalya, Turkey with a spectacular party. The Mardan Palace Hotel recently celebrated its grand opening with 600 special guests including a number of well-known stars and performers. On hand to welcome the new five-star hotel were Monica Belucci, Paris Hilton, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Seal, Mariah Carey, Tom Jones and Russian star Philip Kirkorov, among many...

The former French home of jazz singer and starlet Josephine Baker has recently been put on the market. Le Beau Chêne, a 19th century neo-Gothic chateau is located in the village of Le Vésinet, a suburb of Paris that was originally built for the wealth bourgeoisie of the city on its western outskirts.   The chateau was constructed in 1891 and has 600 square meters, or 6,500 square feet, of living space....

The New Acropolis Museum is finally set to open in June after many years of delays and frustrations. Construction of the museum began in November, 2004 and it was designed by Bernard Tschumi and Michalis Photiadis. There will be approximately 20,000 square meters of exhibition space in and around the museum.   The new glass and concrete museum sits at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens and will allow...

A new secure online system is making it much easier to do business in and with Cape Verde. The new system makes it easier to conduct business in several ways. For island businesses, the most important benefit is perhaps in easing the process of registering a business in the African nation. Prior to the new system, it was time consuming and difficult to file all the necessary paperwork, but now the whole...

The first quarter of 2009 saw Florida home sales rise, a trend which continued into April. That good news was driven by the fact that home prices across the state were down significantly. The new $8,000 tax rebate for first time homebuyers was also a factor in increasing sales.   For the month of April, sales of existing homes in Florida rose 18 percent compared to a year earlier. There were a total of...

The economic climate indicator for Portugal improved in May, according to the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE). The number measures business confidence, and it moved from a record low of negative 3.0 in April to negative 2.5 for May. At the same time, consumer confidence also improved in May, said the INE.   The rebound in business confidence, while still in negative territory, is positive...

The pound has reached its highest level against the US dollar since November 2008, trading this morning at $1.61.   The news has been welcomed by British buyers of property in Florida, as well as businesses importing from the States or any other region where sending US dollars abroad is required to make payment.   The dollar is also at its weakest against the Euro this year, trading at above...

A popular investment opportunity in Argentina called Greengold has led to a new program called SCS Farmland. Project Greengold was launched in 2007 and there have been four investment programs since then, each of which has sold out. Despite the global downturn in 2008, the latest phase of Greengold still sold out and investors wanted more. Farmland is a very stable property, and it is used for a product...

Morocco has received a $219 million loan to finance several infrastructure projects, Moroccan officials announced recently. The Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development has loaned the money for two highway projects and a dam for the country.   Part of the money will be for two key highways, one of which will link the towns of Fes and Oujda, and the other will link Rabat and Casablanca....

The second movie in the Twilight Saga, New Moon, is currently filming in Italy through the end of May, according to fan sites and news releases. The movie, based on the Stephenie Meyer book of the same name, is filming several scenes in the Italian town of Montepulciano.   Stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Green have been in Italy for the filming of the book about vampires. The action in...