July 2018

Swiss chocolatier Camille Bloch, makers of the Ragusa and Torino brands of chocolates, opened a visitor center and museum at its factory in Courtelary, Switzerland, in October 2017.

Visitors to CHEZ Camille Bloch (Grand-Rue 21, 2608 Courtelary, Switzerland; phone +41 32 945 13 13, chezcamillebloch.swiss/en) can take the discovery tour and learn about the company, from its founding in 1929 to the present, and its products. Included are interactive chocolate experiences and the chance to sample items. 

In the Hokianga region of New Zealand’s North Island, visitors can take a sunset tour of the Waipoua Forest, home to the country’s tallest kauri trees (conifers), with Footprints Waipoua (334 State Highway 12, Omapere 0444, Hokianga, Northland; phone +64 9 405 8207, footprintswaipoua.co.nz).

At a cost of NZD95 (near $66) per person (min., two) and led by a Maori guide, the 4-hour “Twilight Tour” (leaving at 6 p.m., Oct 16-March 31, and at 5 p.m., April 1-Oct. 15) visits specimens such as the Tane¯ Mahuta, at 167 feet the tallest kauri tree in the world.

Passau now has the world’s first museum dedicated to dachshunds. The Dackelmuseum (Große Messergasse 1, Passau, Germany; phone +49 851 30439, www.dackelmuseum.de/homepage-english.html) grew out of the owners’ collection of 4,500-plus dachshund-themed items. Dachshund enthusiasts such as Albert Einstein and Leonard Nimoy are highlighted.

Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Sat.-Thurs., and on Fri. by request. €5 (near $6) adult; child up to 12 free. Dogs welcome. 

A Cubana 737 aircraft carrying 104 passengers crashed shortly after takeoff in Havana, Cuba, on May 18, killing 111 people, with two survivors in critical condition as of press time. The plane was heading to the Cuban city of Holguín.

An outbreak of ebola in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo had killed at least 27 people as of press time, out of 58 suspected cases.

The Israeli military killed at least 60 Palestinians and injured more than 2,000 during a protest along the Gaza border fence on May 14, the same day the US opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. That brought up to 100 the total number of Palestinians who had been killed at that location in protests that started seven weeks earlier.

Twenty rockets were fired from Syria into the Golan Heights, Israel, on May 10, with no casualties resulting. In response, Israel targeted sites in Syria believed to be occupied by Iranian military. According to Israeli sources, more than 70 military sites in Syria were damaged or destroyed.

Reports stated that, after the missile launch, Russia made an agreement with Israel to move Hezbollah and Iranian soldiers away from the border of Israel, but there was no official confirmation from either party.

Two families carried out suicide bombings in Indonesia in May.

On May 13, a family of six committed bombings in the city of Surabaya in the state of East Java. A mother and her two daughters, aged 9 and 12, attacked one church, while the father and their two sons attacked two other churches. At least 18 people were killed, including the bombers, and more than 40 were injured.

An attacker killed two police officers with a knife in Liege, Belgium, on May 29, taking a gun from one and using it to kill a civilian and injure four other officers before taking a hostage. He was killed by police, with no further casualties.

A Chechnyan-born French citizen killed one person and injured four others in a series of knife attacks in central Paris on May 13 before being shot and killed by police. The attacker’s name was on a watch list ofpeople who might post a threat to national security. The Islamist militant group Daesh (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack.