Workers threaten strikes at the Warsaw Chopin Airport and Zielona Gora Airport on May 7th.

Roads will be closed in and around the city centre as thousands of spectators are expected to fill the streets for the Giro d’Italia cycle race from May 9th-11th. Giro will begin in Belfast on May 9th and finish at Belfast City Hall on May 11th. Riders will cycle from Belfast to the Causeway Coast and back on Saturday, May 10th.

The “freedoms of the air” are a set of nine commercial aviation rights granting a country’s airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace.

1st – right to fly over a foreign country without landing
2nd – right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a foreign country without embarking or disembarking passengers or cargo
3rd – right to fly from one’s own country to another
4th – right to fly from another country to one’s own
5th – right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one’s own country
6th – right to fly from a foreign country to another while stopping in one’s own country for non-technical reasons
7th – right to fly between two foreign countries while not offering flights to one’s own country
8th – right to fly inside a foreign country, continuing to one’s own country
9th – right to fly inside a foreign country without continuing to one’s own country

Numbers 5, 7, and 9 are related and are sometimes all termed “5th freedom” by the general public. Each grants the airline in question the right to fly either within a foreign country or between two foreign countries. For example, the 5th freedom might grant Lufthansa the right to carry passengers from New York to London only without continuing on to Germany while the 9th freedom might grant Lufthansa the right to carry passengers between San Francisco and Chicago only without continuing on to Germany. 5th freedom flights are increasingly common though 7th and 9th freedom flights remained largely restricted to the European Union.

• Roughly one-quarter of the world’s people know at least a smattering of English
• 12.4% of people speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language
• The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights has been translated into more than 300 languages, making it the most translated document in the world
• Reading a newspaper in China requires knowledge of about 2,000 characters
• There are 13 different ways to spell the “o” sound in French
• School children in Luxumbourg spend about 50% of their day in language studies – English, French, and German
• After the Bible, the book available in the most languages is – Pinocchio

National Car Rental has launched its third annual “Go Like A Pro” golf sweepstakes. From now until August 15, 2014, golf fans can register daily through National’s Facebook page for the chance to win a four-person VIP package to the 2014 PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Southampton, Bermuda. One sweepstakes winner will receive a prize package that includes four Champions Club tickets to the event at Port Royal Golf Course, roundtrip airfare, lodging at the Fairmont Southampton from Oct. 12 to 16, and access to the Welcome Reception and Champions Celebration.

“You’re a miracle worker . . . thanks so much! There will be smiles all around. I greatly appreciate your willingness to assist and the speed with which you received action.”