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: International Herald Tribune
Jan 1, 2009
Helen Suzman, the internationally prominent anti-apartheid campaigner who befriended the imprisoned Nelson Mandela and offered an often lonely voice for change among South Africa's white minority, has died, South Africa's SAPA news agency reported on Thursday. She was 91.
Suzman was for many years among the most venerated of white campaigners urging an end to the injustices of racial rule. But, while she challenged apartheid, her views on the creation of a new society fell well shor
Source: NYT
Jan 1, 2009
BERLIN — A hole has appeared in the center of town here. The symbolism is impossible to miss.
Berlin’s plan is to erect a fake Baroque palace, a copy of the Hohenzollern Stadtschloss that once stood where that hole is, the site culminating the great avenue called Unter den Linden, at whose other end is the Brandenburg Gate. In December a little-known Italian architect, Franco Stella, won what passed for the building’s competition, which required a design faithfully reproducing three
Source: Times of Malta
Dec 31, 2008
The fate of ancient rock-cut tombs found earlier this month on the site of
the planned new St James Hospital is still uncertain as investigations
into the discovery are still at an early stage, the Superintendence for
Cultural Heritage said.
The tombs were discovered during excavation works for the new hospital ....
Eight tombs have been found and are estimated to date back to the Punic
age, a span of time which lasted between roughly 600 BC and 1000 AD.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 31, 2008
The last Nazi E-boat, which took part in an infamous raid during the Second World War, has been saved by a British military enthusiast [who paid 1 pound for it].
Schnellboot-130, once the fastest vessel in the world, helped attack an Allied convoy off Slapton Sands, in Devon, in a battle in which nearly 1,000 Allied soldiers were killed.
On the night of April 27, 1944, the boat was one of nine German vessels patrolling the English Channel when they stumbled upon Operati
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 31, 2008
Scientists in China say they have found the richest collection of dinosaur
fossils in the world in the north eastern province of Shandong.
More than 7,600 fossils have been recovered from a 980 ft-long pit near
Zhucheng city over the last seven months, and the number is still rising,
according to Zhao Xijin, the palaeontologist in charge of the project.
Source: BBC
Dec 31, 2008
The famous beards and moustaches of India - seen as representing a huge
tradition to the outside world - are under threat, a new book says.
It says that the country's famous facial hairs are disappearing as India
enters the clean-shaven digital age.
The book says that the traditional belief that facial hair is a sign of
virility appears to be facing the chop.
It says that young people in particular do not want an itchy moustache or
beard which they think makes them look
Source: BBC
Dec 31, 2008
An Iraqi-born Canadian has been charged by the US authorities with
conspiring to spy for the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein from 2000
until 2003.
Mouyad Mahmoud Darwish, 47, who worked in the US at the time, is accused
of giving information to Iraqi officials.
He was detained on 24 December as he tried to enter the US from Canada.
Source: USA Today
Dec 31, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's inauguration will be saturated in Abraham Lincoln symbolism.
The president-elect launched his campaign nearly two years ago in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Ill. Obama will ride into the nation's capital in a railroad car, as did Lincoln. And he will be sworn into office on Lincoln's bible.
But the comparisons take an abrupt turn from there as Obama faces two fundamental challenges that are the opposite of what Lincoln faced nearly a ce
Source: AP
Dec 31, 2008
WASHINGTON -— The exclusive Hay-Adams Hotel just yards from the White House will become a temporary home "suite" home for President-elect Barack Obama and his family when they move to the capital this weekend.
With daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, beginning classes Monday at the private Sidwell Friends School, the family needed someplace to stay...
Opened in 1928, the hotel sits across Lafayette Square from the White House, Obama's eventual work place and ho
Source: CNN
Dec 31, 2008
A number of atheists and non-religious organizations want Barack Obama's
inauguration ceremony to leave out all references to God and religion.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, the plaintiffs demand that the
words"so help me God" not be added to the end of the president's oath of
office.
In addition, the lawsuit objects to plans for ministers to deliver an
invocation and a benediction in which they may discuss God and religion.
An advance copy of the lawsuit was
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 31, 2008
Fifty years after Fidel Castro's guerrillas claimed control of Cuba, the
country's communist leadership will celebrate Thursday's landmark
anniversary amid a deepening economic crisis and speculation about the
frail health of the father of that revolution.
Castro's younger brother Raul, 77, who replaced the veteran dictator as
president in February, will lead the main celebrations in the eastern city
of Santiago, addressing a crowd from the same balcony where Fidel
proclaimed victor
Source: WaPo
Dec 31, 2008
While Obama vacationed, some of the main characters from his political past took turns starring in a bizarre Chicago news conference. First to the lectern was embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested this month on federal corruption charges, and from whom Obama has worked to distance himself. Blagojevich then introduced Roland Burris, his appointment to fill Obama's seat in the U.S. Senate. Burris once held a fundraiser at his house for Obama and calls the president-elect "
Source: Wall Street Journal
Dec 31, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Alberto Gonzales, who has kept a low profile since resigning as attorney general nearly 16 months ago, said he is writing a book to set the record straight about his controversial tenure as a senior official in the Bush administration.
Mr. Gonzales has been portrayed by critics both as unqualified for his position and instrumental in laying the groundwork for the administration's "war on terror." He was pilloried by Congress in a manner not usually directed t
Source: Guardian
Dec 31, 2008
In the late 18th century, it was a dangerous idea, a political view that could entail deportation to the penal colonies. But the revered Scots poet Robert Burns was openly discussing republican sentiments in the last months of his life, risking punitive action for challenging the authority of the king, an expert in Scottish literature has found.
In a biography to mark the 250th anniversary of Burns's birth, Prof Robert Crawford of St Andrews University has unearthed new evidence whi
Source: AFP
Dec 30, 2008
Amidst the rambling homes and cobble-stoned streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi's old town, two stone churches stand side-by-side, sharing a snow-covered courtyard.
One, the Georgian Orthodox Church of Jvaris Mama, is alive with parishioners and lit candles. Its neighbour, the Norashen Church, sits lonely and locked.
Unused for nearly seven decades, the Norashen Church is at the heart of long-running dispute between the Armenian Apostolic and the Georgian Orthodox
Source: CQ
Dec 30, 2008
Theodore G. Bilbo, a virulent white supremacist accused of intimidating black voters and corrupt campaign practices, was the last man denied a seat in the U.S. Senate, after the voters of Mississippi elected him to a third term in 1946.
According to the Senate historian’s office, Bilbo is one of just four appointed or clearly elected would-be senators who were not seated by the Senate since the April 8, 1913, ratification of the 17th amendment guaranteed the direct election of senat
Source: NYT
Dec 30, 2008
Democrats said they were confident of their standing under Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution, which says “each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own members.” On rare occasion, the Senate has denied seats to candidates whose election outcome was in doubt or who were caught up in corruption.
Yet constitutional experts question the extent of that authority, particularly in light of a 1969 Supreme Court decision in the case of Adam Clay
Source: BBC
Dec 30, 2008
One of the most famous sites in Hinduism, the Pashupatinath Temple in
Nepal, has experienced a significant break with tradition.
Its prayers always used to be led by high caste, Brahmin priests recruited
from south India.
But now they have been replaced by local priests - ending centuries of
tradition and long-held rituals.
Source: BBC
Dec 30, 2008
For Irving Kahn it was the start of his career. He worked on Wall Street
at the time of the stock market crash in 1929.
But as he recalls, he was one of the luckier ones."I got my pay cut to 60 dollars a week. And I remember my rich employer
saying to me 'Why are you smiling?'. And I said 'I thought you were going
to fire me'."
At the age of 103, Mr Kahn may be the oldest working financial analyst on
Wall Street.
He is chairman of Kahn Brothers, a New York investment fir
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 30, 2008
David Owen, James Callaghan's Foreign Secretary, feared that revelations about what he accepted was a "violation of British sovereignty" on Southern Thule would derail talks between the two countries about the future control of the Falklands themselves.
In diplomatic language, he described the prospect of the islanders finding out about a large Argentine base on British territory to the south of them as a "complicating factor".
Mr Owen, now Lord Owe
