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: Guardian (UK)
Sep 13, 2010
There will be a rare chance this week to compare two famous portraits of Queen Elizabeth I as they are displayed together for the first time in 25 years, after art detective work proved both were painted on timber from the same two oak trees, in the same studio and almost certainly by the Tudor genius Nicholas Hilliard.
The two paintings, which show the queen magnificently dressed and festooned with pearls and gold chains, are known as the Phoenix and the Pelican portraits, after th
Source: AOL News
Sep 13, 2010
Barring intervention from the governor or Supreme Court, the state of Virginia plans to execute a woman later this month for the first time in nearly a century.
Teresa Lewis, a 41-year-old grandmother with such a low IQ that she's classified as borderline mentally retarded, is set to die by lethal injection on Sept. 23. She'll be the state's first female prisoner put to death in 98 years....
If Lewis' sentence is carried out, it would be the 12th execution of a woman in
Source: BBC
Sep 13, 2010
A Scottish scientist has helped reconstruct a "warts and all" image of William Shakespeare for a new documentary.
Dr Caroline Wilkinson from Dundee University carried out authentication analysis on several death masks including that of the playwright.
Computer technology was then used to create 3D images of him and other, famous figures from history.
Death Masks is to be shown on The History Channel at 2100 BST....
Source: BBC
Sep 13, 2010
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is to be awarded one of the US's highest private honours for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Mr Blair will be given the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Monday.
The award comes as Mr Blair has cancelled promotional events for a new autobiography amid protests by critics of his role in the US-led Iraq war.
Officials with the centre acknowledge Mr Blair is a contentious ch
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 13, 2010
A rare Chinese stamp from 1897 has fetched nearly HK$3.5m (£300,000) at auction in Hong Kong.
The "Small One Dollar" stamp, one of 32 recorded copies in existence and described as "the king of stamps" in China, was the result of an error by the Chinese Post Office who printed the stamps with a typeface that was too small to read, meaning only a tiny number were ever made.
The sale came during a three-day auction in Hong Kong that ended on Monday ha
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 13, 2010
The Vatican Library is to reopen to scholars after a three year, £7.5 million renovation, with 21st century technology enlisted to safeguard books and manuscripts dating back nearly 2,000 years.
Each one of the library's 70,000 books, which are stored in a bombproof bunker, has been fitted with a computer chip capable of emitting radio signals in order to prevent loss and theft.
The undertaking was in part motivated by an attempted theft by an American art history prof
Source: AP
Sep 13, 2010
French investigators said Monday they will try to find out who shot down the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in 1994, sparking the Rwandan genocide that killed more than half a million people.
A previous French investigation suggested that people close to current Rwandan President Paul Kagame may have been responsible for the crash that killed Rwanda's then-leader Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira.
Rwanda cut off diploma
Source: AP
Sep 13, 2010
President Felipe Calderon on Monday criticized both Americans and Mexicans for their roles in the 1846-1848 war that cost Mexico half its territory during a ceremony commemorating the definitive battle of the conflict.
Speaking on the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Chapultepec, Calderon called the war an "unjust military aggression motivated by clearly imperialistic interests."
According to traditional accounts, six cadets — the "child heroes" —
Source: AP
Sep 13, 2010
The imam leading the effort to build an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero says there is a "misperception" that the proposed site is sacred ground.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said Monday that the location where the center would be built, two blocks from the World Trade Center, has a strip joint and betting parlors nearby. He says it's "absolutely disingenuous" to suggest that it is "hallowed ground."
Rauf, speaking before the
Source: Guardian (UK)
Sep 13, 2010
Silvio Berlusconi urged to apologise after impromptu speech in which he also advises young Italians to marry into money
Faced with a tottering economy and a crumbling coalition government, Silvio Berlusconi has chosen to woo a youth rally with jokes about Adolf Hitler and his own sexual prowess....
The former cruise ship entertainer told a joke in which Adolf Hitler is begged by his supporters to return to power after they discover he is still alive. After resisting, Hi
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 13, 2010
A Roman bronze helmet complete with face-mask - thought to be one of only three of its kind to be found in Britain - has been discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Cumbria.
The helmet, with its enigmatic and virtually intact features, would have been worn, possibly with colourful streamers attached to the object, as a mark of excellence by Roman soldiers at cavalry sport parades.
Described as a ''hugely important discovery'', it is now expected to fetch £300,000
Source: CNN
Sep 13, 2010
Asking Liberace Museum director Tanya Combs to describe some of its popular exhibits is an invitation to sensory overload.
There's the outfit the late entertainer wore to Radio City Music Hall in New York. Decked in pink turkey feathers for that show, Liberace emerged from a giant Faberge-style egg to adulation.
Then there are the matching piano and Rolls Royce, each covered in mirrored tiles.
And the piano and car covered with crystal rhinestones?
"S
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Sep 13, 2010
Oscar-nominated actor Kevin McCarthy, known for his roles in Death of a Salesman and Invasion of the Body Snatchers died Saturday in Hyannis, Mass., according to the New York Times.
He was 96 years old, and no cause of death was immediately reported. McCarthy first portrayed Biff in the 1949 London stage version of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman before scoring an Oscar nod and Golden Globe win for doing the role in the 1951 film version.
His most remembered part,
Source: LA Times
Sep 13, 2010
There's an extra reason Father Miguel Hidalgo is considered the Father of the Nation.
The priest fathered numerous children with a string of "wives" he canoodled with even as he fought for the independence of Mexico.
The peccadilloes of Hidalgo and others in Mexico's pantheon of national heroes are getting a fresh hearing these days as the country marks the 200th anniversary of its independence and the 100th anniversary of its revolution.
Dozens o
Source: AP
Sep 13, 2010
Japan's foreign minister apologized Monday for the suffering of a group of former World War II prisoners of war visiting from the United States and said they were treated inhumanely.
The six POWs, their relatives and the daughters of two men who died are the first group of U.S. POWs to visit Japan with government sponsorship, though groups from other countries have been invited previously....
Source: BBC News
Sep 13, 2010
In the midst of World War II, workers at a Welsh aircraft factory gave up their weekend off to build a Wellington bomber from scratch in just 24 hours. Why? To set a new world record.
With the country under attack and the war effort in full swing, worrying about world records might have seemed like a strange thing to do.
But after months of nightly bombing raids by the Luftwaffe, the Ministry of War was keen to show the world - friend and foe - that Britain could dish i
Source: Daily World (LA)
Sep 12, 2010
For Lt. Col Francis Lowe, this was no ordinary Mass.
In the pulpit of St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas, Lowe, a priest and Air Force chaplain, celebrated the life of a man he'd never met, but who would affect his life, his family and the lives of multitudes across more than 70 years.
Father Verbis Lafleur, a native of Opelousas, died about 66 years ago, a Japanese prisoner of war. Lafleur died in the hull of a "hell ship" stuffed with 750 of his fellow
Source: San Jose Mercury-News
Sep 12, 2010
A few decades ago, when America celebrated its 200th birthday, the world was invited. And what a yearlong patriotic party it was, stretching from small towns to the National Mall.
Now it's Mexico's turn, with a cross-border, double spin.
The first of many local events celebrating and reflecting on Mexico's bicentennial kicked off Sunday with a parade in downtown San Jose commemorating the country's 1810 war of independence with Spain and social revolution of 1910 over l
Source: Independent (UK)
Sep 12, 2010
Plans by the energy giant BP to sink an oil well off the Libyan coast could have disastrous consequences for the region's rich heritage of coastal ancient city sites and shipwrecks – already under threat from oil tankers, coastal erosion and tourist developments – archaeologists from around the world have warned.
The energy company has been under increased scrutiny following the leak from its well in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year which spewed oil for three months in the world
Source: Daily Progress
Sep 12, 2010
Thomas Jefferson is known as one of the great architects of independence, but largely out of sight of his esteemed guests at Monticello was a world of enslavement, which archaeologists are gradually bringing to life through excavations.
“We want to be able to show what life was like then,” said Thomas Jefferson Foundation spokeswoman Lisa Stites, adding that a true picture would show the world of Jefferson’s slaves. Jefferson had as many as 200 slaves at any given time.
