This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: WSJ
Oct 9, 2009
Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature, praised for her portraits of life behind the Iron Curtain.
Ms. Müller, whose body of work is heavily influenced by her life in Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaucescu, is the 12th woman to win the prize and the first German-speaking author since 2004, when Austrian playwright Elfriede Jelinek was the recipient.
Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy hai
Source: Times (UK)
Oct 9, 2009
His poetry is difficult, his images obscure, and when he gave a reading of The Waste Land in front of the Royal Family the Queen Mother got the giggles at “this lugubrious man in a suit”.
Yesterday, however, more than 90 years after the publication of The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, the suspicion with which the British public usually regard modern poetry was laid aside when T. S. Eliot was announced as the nation’s favourite poet.
In a BBC online poll which seemed to
Source: Times (UK)
Oct 9, 2009
The “Royal disease” that afflicted Queen Victoria’s family line was a severe form of haemophilia, according to a new study. The verdict was reached after genetic analysis of the bones of the wife and children of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, who were descendants of the British monarch.
Tsarina Alexandra, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, and two of her children, Crown Prince Alexei and his sister Anastasia, all carried genetic mutations associated with the condition, also known
Source: NYT
Oct 8, 2009
SECAUCUS, N.J. — Babe Ruth has struck out looking. Displeased, he leans on his bat, right hand on his hip, and looks back at the umpire. He utters something that can only be imagined. Lou Gehrig, on deck, leans on his bat, too, as if he has seen this act before. Ruth finally shuffles away, head turned to the umpire, dragging his bat through the dirt.
The scene, along with eight seconds of footage of Ruth playing the outfield, was found by a New Hampshire man in his grandfather’s hom
Source: EIRB.com
Oct 8, 2009
A group of archaeologists working in the Astigarraga cave in Deba have uncovered the oldest cave paintings discovered in Gipuzkoa to date. Dating back between 20,000 and 22,000 years, the markings represent a group of 16 "paired fragments" in red.
Doctor of History and expert in cave paintings, Marcos García Díez, speaking during a conference with press, stressed that this was one of the most important discoveries made in the Basque Country since the discovery of the Altxe
Source: Bloomberg.com
Oct 8, 2009
Iran will sever all ties with the British Museum unless an ancient artifact, the Cyrus Cylinder, is loaned to the National Museum of Iran, state-run Press TV reported on its Web site.
The Cylinder, dated about 539-530 B.C. and inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform, has been described as the world’s earliest charter of human rights. The British Museum said after the Press TV report that it would keep its promise to lend the Cylinder, and was watching the Iranian political situation to ma
Source: The National Security Archive
Oct 8, 2009
Washington, DC, October 8, 2009 - A declassified U.S. State Department document filed in a Colombian court yesterday blames the Colombian Army, and Col. Alfonso Plazas Vega in particular, for the deaths of over 70 people during military operations to retake the Palace of Justice building from insurgents who had seized the building in November 1985. The document, a January 1999 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, was obtained by the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information
Source: The Age (Australia)
Oct 8, 2009
It was a moment that went a long way to putting Afghanistan and its cultural heritage back on the map. In a small space in a once bombed-out building on the southern edge of Kabul, Afghan dignitaries and western diplomats squeezed past each other to see into the display cases: bronze age digging implements, pieces of carved marble and elaborate metal goods spanning Afghanistan's rich history.
It was only a two-room exhibit and much of the rest of Afghanistan's National Museum remain
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Oct 8, 2009
Professor Ellen van Wolde, a respected Old Testament scholar and author, claims the first sentence of Genesis "in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth" is not a true translation of the Hebrew.
She claims she has carried out fresh textual analysis that suggests the writers of the great book never intended to suggest that God created the world -- and in fact the Earth was already there when he created humans and animals.
Prof Van Wolde, 54, who wi
Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Oct 8, 2009
A fossil of a prehistoric mammal discovered in northeastern China may help scientists figure out how the delicate hearing organs in mammals developed, an article authored by a team of Chinese and American scientists reports in the latest issue of Science.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History curator Dr. Zhe-Xi Luo was part of the team of paleontologists that studied the small, squirrel-like mammal, termed Maotherium asiaticus, and he co-authored the Science report, which appears in th
Source: telegraph.co.uk
Oct 8, 2009
Hitler and his new bride Eva Braun were already dead and the couple knew they were in the final moments of the Third Reich.
They had already taken the decision to murder their five daughters and one son to save them from a world "without their Fuehrer to lead and guide them".
The children were knocked out with morphine by an SS doctor and then had cyanide capsules crushed between their teeth. Afterwards Goebbels shot his wife and then himself.
Th
Source: Guardian (UK)
Oct 8, 2009
A historic accord to normalise relations between Turkey and Armenia, long at odds over Armenian claims of first world war genocide, was thrown into doubt tonightwhen Turkey's foreign minister refused to say whether the signing ceremony would go ahead as planned in Zurich on Saturday.
Ahmet Davutoglu said he remained confident that the accord, which would also reopen the common border closed by Turkey in 1993, would be completed. But he added: "I am not giving any dates. Let's w
Source: Times (UK)
Oct 8, 2009
The only surviving Union Jack to have been flown by the Royal Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar has been discovered in a drawer. The flag was flown from the jackstaff of HMS Spartiate, one of Nelson’s warships, as the battle against the French navy raged 204 years ago this month.
After the defeat of the French, the flag was presented by a grateful crew to Lieutenant James Clephan, one of the most popular officers in the Royal Navy and one of the few to have risen from the ranks. After
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 8, 2009
The theory is based on a newly discovered document that shows Hitler's dentist had about 11lbs of dental gold from the concentration camps at his disposal for the treatment of senior Nazis.
Co-author Henrik Eberle, a historian who has written several successful books on the Nazi leader, said dentist Hugo Blaschke had put 10 fillings in Hitler's mouth in 1944.
"The most likely place the gold came from is from the supply Blaschke had from the concentration camps,&quo
Source: Artdaily.org
Oct 8, 2009
The head of Egypt's antiquities department has announced the severing of ties with France's Louvre museum after it refused to return what he says are stolen artifacts.
Zahi Hawass issued a statement saying that no archeological expeditions sponsored by France's premier museum would be allowed to work in Egypt due to the disagreement.
Hawass told the Associated Press Wednesday that the Louvre had ignored repeated Egyptian requests for the return of four reliefs he says
Source: BBC
Oct 8, 2009
An ancient document that details the moment when King William the Lion of Scotland granted Royal Burgh status to Perth in 1210 has been restored.
Experts at the National Archive of Scotland repaired and cleaned the historic parchment and reattached its official wax seal.
The work has been completed ahead of next year's Perth 800 celebrations.
The year-long programme of culture and sporting events will mark the 800th anniversary of the honour.
Source: BBC
Oct 8, 2009
An auction of Churchill memorabilia, including a pair of Sir Winston's customised gloves and a rare marble dining table, are to be auctioned.
The table - valued at more than £60,000 - is being sold by Dominic Winter in Cirencester, Gloucs, on Thursday.
The auction will also feature books and letters from the Churchill family library dating back to the early 1400s.
A document signed by Francis I, the King of France in 1597 is expected to fetch up to £500.
Source: BBC
Oct 8, 2009
A radio operator from Greater Manchester, who helped unlock German coded messages during World War II, has been recognised for his efforts.
Albert Garforth, 83, of Foxdenton Lane, Middleton Junction, spent the last year of the war helping the code-breakers at Bletchley Park unlock the Enigma code.
Their work meant the Allies gained vital information about German troop movements, securing victory in 1945.
Mr Garforth has received a Bletchley Park Commemora
Source: BBC
Oct 8, 2009
A holiday company is to retrace the voyage of the Titanic as part of the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
The 12-night cruise, with tickets priced from £2,595, will follow the route of the ill-fated ship which sank in April 1912 killing 1,517 people.
HM Balmoral will depart Southampton on 8 April 2012, bound for New York, and will pass the point where the Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg.
Source: BBC
Oct 8, 2009
Joseph Stalin's grandson has launched a court action claiming a liberal Russian newspaper has defamed the former Soviet dictator.
Yevgeny Dzhugashvili says an article claiming Stalin personally ordered the deaths of Soviet citizens is a lie.
A Moscow court has agreed to hear the case against the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
The paper published a piece referring to declassified death warrants which it says bore Stalin's personal signature.
