Occasional Digest

Turkmenistan is the southernmost state in Central Asia and the second largest.

Throughout its history, the region has been conquered by such notable figures as Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. The Turkmen people first arrived in the area in about the 10th century, though there is some debate as to where they came from.

Turkmens first came under the gaze of the Russian Empire in the late 18th century, but resistance wasn’t finally broken until the Battle of Gök-Tepe (now Gökdepe) in 1881, after which the area of present-day Turkmenistan incorporated into Russian Turkestan.

After the Russian Revolution, Turkmenistan formed part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) in 1921, becoming a constituent republic of the USSR in 1925. 

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Turkmen Communist Party supported the failed coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, but declared independence on October 27th 1991.

On October 27th 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic adopted the Constitutional Law “On Independence and Principles of State Structure of Turkmenistan.” This act formally declared the nation’s sovereignty as the Soviet Union dissolved.

ON A date, but prefer to keep all that getting-to-know-each-other conversation to a minimum? Choosing these will make the evening as silent as a long marriage:

Cinema

Watching a film together quietly will be excellent practice for the rest of your relationship. But since going to an arthouse flick is cooler than slumping in front of Ludwig,you’ll both be able to invest in the fiction that you like each other and are compatible before moving things along to sex.

Theatre

Like the cinema but more so, the theatre only truly exists to persuade couples they’re doing something other than facing in the same direction while not speaking. Doing this as a date? Legitimises your shared pretence you are classy so means you can skip straight to rutting like beasts, because they did in Pretty Woman. 

Gig

Trickier, as you need to agree on an artist you both like. Or pick someone entirely unknown and hope the audience is cool enough to validate it. But has the appeal of conversation being impossible and you can hold hands so as to not lose each other in the crowd, and once you’re holding hands you may as well do oral later.

Comedy club

Suggests you’re fun because you like to passively enjoy other people being fun. In reality it’s likely to be either dull (weekday) or drowned out by pissed arseholes (weekend) but at least the poor bastards on stage will be the ones straining to say something interesting, rather than you. And it encourages drinking, which encourages sex.

Ice skating

Introduces very real danger into the equation. Your date will be so busy concentrating on not falling over, making a tit of themselves and breaking an ankle they’ll forget to ask if you have a good relationship with your mother or have any pets. Also they’ll clutch onto you a lot and be so grateful it’s over you’ll be banging as soon as you’re in proper shoes again.

Silent disco

Taking off the headphones is cheating, you explain, adding that it’s also expected to move around the venue and you needn’t stick together. Then groove to your heart’s content, meeting up with them at the end. Remove your headphones and say ‘So, fancy coming back to mine for full intercourse?’ It might work.

Since antiquity, the region of modern-day Yemen has been an important strategic and commercial location, effectively forming a long land bridge between North Africa and Asia.

When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918, Imam Yahya Muhammad declared northern Yemen an independent sovereign state and proclaimed the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen in 1926. A King and an Imam, Yaha ruled Yemen until his death in 1948, when he was succeeded by Ahmad bin Yahya

On September 19th 1962 Ahmad died in his sleep. His son, Muhammad al-Badr was proclaimed Imam and King.

From its inception, the kingdom had proved unstable with various revolts and assassinations taking place and Al-Badr’s reign would prove very short-lived. 

Only a week after he ascended to the throne, army officers with the support of Egypt, staged a coup overthrowing the monarchy and deposing al-Badr on September 26th 1962. Abdullah as-Sallal, the commander of the royal guard, declared himself president of the Yemen Arab Republic. This event marked the start of the North Yemen Civil War which would last for the next six years.

A WOMAN who listens to podcasts about violent crime in every spare moment would prefer never to be the victim of a violent crime herself, she has admitted.

Crime aficionado Maria, not her real name, loves nothing more than tales of innocent women being brutally murdered by persons unknown but, despite her obsession, plans to live into old age and to die of natural causes.

She explained: “I watched a documentary about Ted Bundy as a teenager and I’ve been fascinated ever since. There’s not a serial killer I don’t know, even the niche hipster ones.

“I know loads about victimology, criminal profiling and how dangerous predators are caught, but nonetheless I personally would hate to be kidnapped and held in a cellar by a psychopath? Is that weird? It just gives me the ick.”

Criminologist Dr Helen, not her real name, said: “Maria is wrong. When it comes to murder, as with many things, women get confused about what they actually desire.

“If she likes finding out about things it automatically follows she would enjoy being personally involved in those things, even if it does inevitably lead to a shallow grave in the woods.

“The contradiction is further compounded by the fact that Mary, as a young, attractive woman with her life ahead of her, fits the profile of the ideal murder victim. It’s a tragedy for the true crime community. Imagine the content we’d get out of it.”

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match. It is traditionally held on the final Saturday in September to determine the Australian Football League champions for that year.

The final takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia. The holiday gives a chance for opposing fans to gather in a holiday atmosphere before the big game.

The day also provides a chance for fans to get up and close to the players as the teams involved in the final take part in the AFL Grand Final Parade in Melbourne. The parade, which has been a pre-game tradition since 1977, starts from the Old Treasury Building and ends at the AFL Grand Final Live Site near the MCG in Yarra Park.

Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Australia. It was invented in Melbourne in 1858 and is a combination of soccer and rugby resulting in a contact sport similar to Gaelic football.

As far as we know, Victoria is the only region in the world that celebrates not one, but two sporting events as public holidays. In addition to AFL Grand Final Eve, Victoria also observes a holiday for the Melbourne Cup horse race, which takes place in early November.

Public transport services will operate to a Saturday timetable, but some services may be altered or will not run.