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This page features brief excerpts of news 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.
Highlights
Breaking News
This page features brief excerpts of news 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. Because most of our readers read the NYT we usually do not include the paper's stories in HIGHLIGHTS.
Name of source: Politico
SOURCE: Politico (6-29-10)
A student of history, Robert Byrd became a chapter onto himself: a half-century in the Senate and remarkable life that was its own Pilgrim’s Progress from Wolf Creek Hollow through American politics....
“He was very much a man of the Senate,” recalls former Republican leader Howard Baker of Tennessee. Sam Nunn, the former Democratic senator from Georgia, still finds himself reciting Byrd lines — the Senate as the “anchor of the republic” — or hearing his old teacher say “senator” aloud.
And teaching was part of what Byrd was.
“While the rest of us were out playing golf or doing whatever, he was devoted to a life of learning,” Nunn told POLITICO. “He really was an educator of what the Founding Fathers meant the Senate to be. He didn’t cotton to people abusing those powers. But he put the Senate as an institution far above party.”...
Byrd had a remarkable memory: He could famously recite the English monarchy in order and by year — “I remember when they died,” he once said. Excerpts from Milton and Shelley laced his speeches. Hannibal’s battles inevitably found their way into Appropriations Committee markups. And even as his mind faded, numbers could trigger biblical references: Seven years of the Iraq war set him off on the seven years of Jacob working for his uncle Laban in Genesis....
“He was very much a man of the Senate,” recalls former Republican leader Howard Baker of Tennessee. Sam Nunn, the former Democratic senator from Georgia, still finds himself reciting Byrd lines — the Senate as the “anchor of the republic” — or hearing his old teacher say “senator” aloud.
And teaching was part of what Byrd was.
“While the rest of us were out playing golf or doing whatever, he was devoted to a life of learning,” Nunn told POLITICO. “He really was an educator of what the Founding Fathers meant the Senate to be. He didn’t cotton to people abusing those powers. But he put the Senate as an institution far above party.”...
Byrd had a remarkable memory: He could famously recite the English monarchy in order and by year — “I remember when they died,” he once said. Excerpts from Milton and Shelley laced his speeches. Hannibal’s battles inevitably found their way into Appropriations Committee markups. And even as his mind faded, numbers could trigger biblical references: Seven years of the Iraq war set him off on the seven years of Jacob working for his uncle Laban in Genesis....
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 10:20
Comments
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (6-29-10)
China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact Tuesday that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war....
The deal was signed in the southern Chinese city of Chongqing -- a venue with an evocative history. Communist leader Mao Zedong and Nationalist President Chiang Kai-shek tried to negotiate a truce there after World War II -- but failed. The two sides then resumed the civil war that ultimately saw Chiang's government driven from the mainland to Taiwan in 1949....
The deal was signed in the southern Chinese city of Chongqing -- a venue with an evocative history. Communist leader Mao Zedong and Nationalist President Chiang Kai-shek tried to negotiate a truce there after World War II -- but failed. The two sides then resumed the civil war that ultimately saw Chiang's government driven from the mainland to Taiwan in 1949....
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 10:09
SOURCE: AP (6-27-10)
Authorities in Georgia on Sunday tore down another monument to Soviet dictator and native son Josef Stalin.
The monument in the town of Tkibuli in western Georgia was taken down two days after authorities tore down a bigger and more famous monument to Stalin in his hometown of Gori.
Both statues were brought down in the middle of the night in an apparent bid to avoid protests and media attention....
The monument in the town of Tkibuli in western Georgia was taken down two days after authorities tore down a bigger and more famous monument to Stalin in his hometown of Gori.
Both statues were brought down in the middle of the night in an apparent bid to avoid protests and media attention....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:54
SOURCE: AP (6-25-10)
Lt. Col. George Custer and the men of his 7th Cavalry Regiment went into the Battle of the Little Bighorn with flags flying, but they were wiped out, and nearly all their military artifacts were carried away by the victorious Lakota Sioux warriors.
Since 1895, the silk American flag, called a guidon, has been the property of the Detroit Institute of Arts, which has decided to sell it and use the proceeds to build its collection.
The guidon, discovered by Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson while on a burial detail of the battlefield, has been valued at $2 million to $5 million and will be auctioned in October, Sotheby's auction house announced on Friday, the 134th anniversary of the battle.
Since 1895, the silk American flag, called a guidon, has been the property of the Detroit Institute of Arts, which has decided to sell it and use the proceeds to build its collection.
The guidon, discovered by Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson while on a burial detail of the battlefield, has been valued at $2 million to $5 million and will be auctioned in October, Sotheby's auction house announced on Friday, the 134th anniversary of the battle.
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:09
SOURCE: AP (6-25-10)
Details of the sweeping intelligence sharing pact struck between the United States and Britain at the dawn of the Cold War were made public for the first time Friday, laying bare the details of an unprecedented espionage arrangement.
The 1946 UKUSA agreement — a secret deal to not to spy on one another and to share nearly every single piece of radio intercept material — was a keystone of the United States' global intelligence-gathering apparatus, allowing it to pool its resources with Britain and other countries.
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand signed on to the pact in later years....
The 1946 UKUSA agreement — a secret deal to not to spy on one another and to share nearly every single piece of radio intercept material — was a keystone of the United States' global intelligence-gathering apparatus, allowing it to pool its resources with Britain and other countries.
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand signed on to the pact in later years....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:47
SOURCE: AP (6-25-10)
An ethnic Hutu opposition candidate who hoped to run for president in Rwanda has been denied the right to appear on the ballot because of charges of denying the country's genocide, party officials said Friday.
Victoire Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years, a return she says she made because the country needs an open discussion to promote reconciliation.
Ingabire's party and other opposition parties tried to demonstrate against Rwanda's electoral commission on Thursday, but police shut down the protest, calling it illegal. The opposition parties say they tried to apply for a permit but were never given a response from the government....
Victoire Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years, a return she says she made because the country needs an open discussion to promote reconciliation.
Ingabire's party and other opposition parties tried to demonstrate against Rwanda's electoral commission on Thursday, but police shut down the protest, calling it illegal. The opposition parties say they tried to apply for a permit but were never given a response from the government....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:45
SOURCE: AP (6-25-10)
Authorities in Georgia have torn down a monument to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in his birthplace of Gori to make way for a memorial to the fallen in the Russian-Georgian war of 2008.
Gori is just a few kilometers from the separatist enclave of South Ossetia, where Russian forces crushed the Georgian army in a brief conflict in August 2008.
Officials say the overnight dismantlement of the towering bronze statue, approved last week by the city's parliament, was spurred by the appeals of a younger generation who have embraced Western ideals of freedom....
Gori is just a few kilometers from the separatist enclave of South Ossetia, where Russian forces crushed the Georgian army in a brief conflict in August 2008.
Officials say the overnight dismantlement of the towering bronze statue, approved last week by the city's parliament, was spurred by the appeals of a younger generation who have embraced Western ideals of freedom....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:42
Name of source: CNN.com
SOURCE: CNN.com (6-27-10)
One of South America's largest historical archives -- 35 million pages that chronicle widespread killing, forced disappearances and torture committed by Brazilian military rulers from 1964 to 1985 -- is rotting away in an obscure government building in Brazil's capital.
Carlos Fico, a leading historian of the so-called "lead years" in Brazil, confirmed accounts first reported in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo about deteriorating conditions at the Brazilian national archives building.
Fico -- who has led an academic commission to study classified documents relating to that era -- said Brazil's government suddenly made a large amount of classified documents available to the public. That resulted in an avalanche of military documents that have now been jammed into every corner of the government archives building, including bathrooms....
Carlos Fico, a leading historian of the so-called "lead years" in Brazil, confirmed accounts first reported in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo about deteriorating conditions at the Brazilian national archives building.
Fico -- who has led an academic commission to study classified documents relating to that era -- said Brazil's government suddenly made a large amount of classified documents available to the public. That resulted in an avalanche of military documents that have now been jammed into every corner of the government archives building, including bathrooms....
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 10:05
Name of source: Science Daily
SOURCE: Science Daily (6-28-10)
The hidden secrets of some of the world's most famous paintings have been revealed thanks to a partnership between EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and the National Gallery.
Culminating in the first major exhibition of its kind in summer 2010, scientists at the Gallery have been using the latest equipment to shed new light on the history behind some of the Gallery's priceless works of art.
A state-of-the-art, EPSRC-funded gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometer (GC-MS) has helped specialists in the National Gallery's scientific department study the organic chemistry of old master paintings to understand how paintings were made and how they have changed over time. In painstaking investigations, the scientists used GC-MS to study the characterisation and composition of paint binding media, additions to paint media such as resins, and the composition of old varnishes.
The results of this work have raised complex questions of disputed authorship and authenticity, such as period copies or modern forgeries, and shed light on the original colour balance of paintings.
One example is The Virgin and Child with an Angel, which was originally attributed to the Renaissance painter-goldsmith Francesco Francia and dated about 1490. The painting's authenticity was queried in 1954 when another version appeared on the market and years of uncertainty ensued. Finally in 2009 a renewed campaign of scientific examination and comparative testing, including GC-MS testing on the paint media and varnish, proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the gallery's painting was indeed a fake that was painted in the 19th century....
Culminating in the first major exhibition of its kind in summer 2010, scientists at the Gallery have been using the latest equipment to shed new light on the history behind some of the Gallery's priceless works of art.
A state-of-the-art, EPSRC-funded gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometer (GC-MS) has helped specialists in the National Gallery's scientific department study the organic chemistry of old master paintings to understand how paintings were made and how they have changed over time. In painstaking investigations, the scientists used GC-MS to study the characterisation and composition of paint binding media, additions to paint media such as resins, and the composition of old varnishes.
The results of this work have raised complex questions of disputed authorship and authenticity, such as period copies or modern forgeries, and shed light on the original colour balance of paintings.
One example is The Virgin and Child with an Angel, which was originally attributed to the Renaissance painter-goldsmith Francesco Francia and dated about 1490. The painting's authenticity was queried in 1954 when another version appeared on the market and years of uncertainty ensued. Finally in 2009 a renewed campaign of scientific examination and comparative testing, including GC-MS testing on the paint media and varnish, proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the gallery's painting was indeed a fake that was painted in the 19th century....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 21:40
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-28-10)
Two Canadian teachers who wanted a memento of their trip to Auschwitz have been arrested by Polish police for stealing pins from the camp's railway track, according to reports.
The two male teachers were caught in possession of retaining pins used to hold down the rails which once transported hundreds of thousands to their death.
RMF FM, a Polish radio station, reported that the Canadians, who, allegedly admitted to stealing the pins, took them because they wanted a memento of their trip to Nazi Germany's most infamous death camp.
Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a museum spokesman, said that the two men had attracted attention when they bent over the track where cattle trucks had once stopped to disgorge their human cargo. Suspicious of their activities, other visitors informed security....
The two male teachers were caught in possession of retaining pins used to hold down the rails which once transported hundreds of thousands to their death.
RMF FM, a Polish radio station, reported that the Canadians, who, allegedly admitted to stealing the pins, took them because they wanted a memento of their trip to Nazi Germany's most infamous death camp.
Jaroslaw Mensfelt, a museum spokesman, said that the two men had attracted attention when they bent over the track where cattle trucks had once stopped to disgorge their human cargo. Suspicious of their activities, other visitors informed security....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 17:48
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-28-10)
On the second day of September 1940, Siegfried Bethke, a young 23-three year-old German fighter pilot, sat at his fighter group’s airfield at Beaumont-le-Roger, in Normandy, jotting in his diary.
It had been given to him exactly a year earlier by his fiancée who had inscribed it, “In these momentous times one must keep a diary. I wonder what words you will write here.”
Rather breathless entries conveying excitement and high confidence had characterised much of his earlier scribbles as the Luftwaffe had seemingly swept all before it, but now the tone had begun to change to one of agitation and frustration. Every time they finally reached England, the British fighters were invariably already there, waiting above them.
“We can almost never surprise them,” he noted.
Even worse, there was little time to engage with the enemy – their Messerschmitt 109s did not really have the range for what was required of them; fear of ditching in the Channel through lack of fuel haunted them all. As they were all well aware, the strip of sea separating Britain from France might look narrow from 20,000 feet but it was enormous when a lone pilot was left treading water, waiting for a rescue launch that would almost certainly never find them.
And there was an even more serious problem by this first week of September: a severe shortage of aircraft. British pilots might see skies that were appeared to be full of black crosses, but in fact numbers were diminishing fast. Each fighter staffel – or squadron – was supposed to have 12 aircraft, Bethke had just five left in his....
It had been given to him exactly a year earlier by his fiancée who had inscribed it, “In these momentous times one must keep a diary. I wonder what words you will write here.”
Rather breathless entries conveying excitement and high confidence had characterised much of his earlier scribbles as the Luftwaffe had seemingly swept all before it, but now the tone had begun to change to one of agitation and frustration. Every time they finally reached England, the British fighters were invariably already there, waiting above them.
“We can almost never surprise them,” he noted.
Even worse, there was little time to engage with the enemy – their Messerschmitt 109s did not really have the range for what was required of them; fear of ditching in the Channel through lack of fuel haunted them all. As they were all well aware, the strip of sea separating Britain from France might look narrow from 20,000 feet but it was enormous when a lone pilot was left treading water, waiting for a rescue launch that would almost certainly never find them.
And there was an even more serious problem by this first week of September: a severe shortage of aircraft. British pilots might see skies that were appeared to be full of black crosses, but in fact numbers were diminishing fast. Each fighter staffel – or squadron – was supposed to have 12 aircraft, Bethke had just five left in his....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 13:12
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-28-10)
German police have recovered a 400-year-old painting attributed to Italian master Caravaggio worth tens of millions of pounds stolen two years ago from a museum in Ukraine.
In a joint operation on Friday involving German and Ukrainian authorities, police arrested four suspected members of an international band of art thieves as they attempted to sell the stolen painting in Berlin.
Police in Ukraine also arrested 20 further suspects thought involved with the gang.
Experts in Germany have authenticated the masterpiece The Taking of Christ, painted around 1602, as the work stolen from a museum in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa in July 2008.
"The Ukrainian authorities have valued the painting in the tens of millions," the German police statement said.
Some experts cited have said the painting could fetch up to $100 million (£66 million) on the black market.
The source of the work, often also known as the Judas Kiss, has been in doubt in the past....
In a joint operation on Friday involving German and Ukrainian authorities, police arrested four suspected members of an international band of art thieves as they attempted to sell the stolen painting in Berlin.
Police in Ukraine also arrested 20 further suspects thought involved with the gang.
Experts in Germany have authenticated the masterpiece The Taking of Christ, painted around 1602, as the work stolen from a museum in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa in July 2008.
"The Ukrainian authorities have valued the painting in the tens of millions," the German police statement said.
Some experts cited have said the painting could fetch up to $100 million (£66 million) on the black market.
The source of the work, often also known as the Judas Kiss, has been in doubt in the past....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 12:52
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-27-10)
A haunting portrait of Andy Warhol which reveals his scars left behind by an assassination attempt is to go on display.
As a master of hiding behind his celebrity persona, few people ever saw the real Andy Warhol.
But a haunting portrait of the pop artist is to go on display in Britain for the first time, revealing an image of a damaged and lonely man, isolated by his fame and fortune.
Andy Warhol, painted in 1970 by Alice Neel, an influential 20th-century American artist, shows Warhol with his eyes closed and stripped bare to the waist.
The scars across his chest from the assassination attempt carried out by radical feminist writer Valerie Solanas two years earlier, are clearly visible....
As a master of hiding behind his celebrity persona, few people ever saw the real Andy Warhol.
But a haunting portrait of the pop artist is to go on display in Britain for the first time, revealing an image of a damaged and lonely man, isolated by his fame and fortune.
Andy Warhol, painted in 1970 by Alice Neel, an influential 20th-century American artist, shows Warhol with his eyes closed and stripped bare to the waist.
The scars across his chest from the assassination attempt carried out by radical feminist writer Valerie Solanas two years earlier, are clearly visible....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:54
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-25-10)
On the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, China has finally rewritten its history of how the conflict began to point the finger of responsibility at North Korea.
Until now, the Chinese have staunchly supported their North Korean allies, along whose side they fought in the war.
China previously insisted that the war was waged out of American aggression. The official title of the conflict on the mainland is "The War to Resist America and Aid Korea".
Chinese history textbooks state that the Korean War began when "the United States assembled a United Nations army of 15 countries and defiantly marched across the border and invaded North Korea, spreading the flames of war to our Yalu river."
The official Chinese media stated for the first time that it was North Korea that dealt the first blow. In a special report, Xinhua's International Affairs journal said: "On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army marched over 38th Parallel and started the attack. Three days later, Seoul fell."...
Until now, the Chinese have staunchly supported their North Korean allies, along whose side they fought in the war.
China previously insisted that the war was waged out of American aggression. The official title of the conflict on the mainland is "The War to Resist America and Aid Korea".
Chinese history textbooks state that the Korean War began when "the United States assembled a United Nations army of 15 countries and defiantly marched across the border and invaded North Korea, spreading the flames of war to our Yalu river."
The official Chinese media stated for the first time that it was North Korea that dealt the first blow. In a special report, Xinhua's International Affairs journal said: "On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army marched over 38th Parallel and started the attack. Three days later, Seoul fell."...
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 16:17
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-25-10)
Dozens of unwanted babies born during Roman times were murdered and buried on the site of a Roman brothel in Buckinghamshire, archaeologists suspect.
An extensive study of a mass burial at a Roman villa in the Thames Valley suggests that the 97 children all died at 40 weeks gestation, or very soon after birth.
The archaeologists believe that locals may have been killing and burying unwanted babies on the site in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
Unwanted pregnancies were common in Roman brothels due to little contraception and Romans also considered infanticide less shocking than it is today.
Infants were not considered to be human beings until about the age of two and were not buried in cemeteries if they were younger than that.
Consequently, infant burials tended to be at domestic sites in the Roman era.
“The only explanation you keep coming back to is that it’s got to be a brothel,” Dr Jill Eyers, of Chiltern Archaeology, told the BBC.
Experts say that the number of children killed at Yewden villa in Hambleden is unusually large.
“There is no other site that would yield anything like the 97 infant burials,” said Dr Simon Mays, a skeletal biologist at English Heritage’s Centre for Archaeology, who has been investigating the finds.
The babies were all found to be of roughly the same size, suggesting systematic infanticide at birth rather than death from natural causes, which would have struck infants at different ages, Dr Mays added....
An extensive study of a mass burial at a Roman villa in the Thames Valley suggests that the 97 children all died at 40 weeks gestation, or very soon after birth.
The archaeologists believe that locals may have been killing and burying unwanted babies on the site in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
Unwanted pregnancies were common in Roman brothels due to little contraception and Romans also considered infanticide less shocking than it is today.
Infants were not considered to be human beings until about the age of two and were not buried in cemeteries if they were younger than that.
Consequently, infant burials tended to be at domestic sites in the Roman era.
“The only explanation you keep coming back to is that it’s got to be a brothel,” Dr Jill Eyers, of Chiltern Archaeology, told the BBC.
Experts say that the number of children killed at Yewden villa in Hambleden is unusually large.
“There is no other site that would yield anything like the 97 infant burials,” said Dr Simon Mays, a skeletal biologist at English Heritage’s Centre for Archaeology, who has been investigating the finds.
The babies were all found to be of roughly the same size, suggesting systematic infanticide at birth rather than death from natural causes, which would have struck infants at different ages, Dr Mays added....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 11:00
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-25-10)
Archaeologists have discovered evidence to support the theory that St Peter was imprisoned in an underground dungeon by the Emperor Nero before being crucified.
The Mamertine Prison, a dingy complex of cells which now lies beneath a Renaissance church, has long been venerated as the place where the apostle was shackled before he was killed on the spot on which the Vatican now stands.
It been a place of Christian worship since medieval times, but after months of excavations, Italian archaeologists have found frescoes and other evidence which indicate that it was associated with St Peter as early as the 7th century.
In the 17th century a church – St Joseph of the Carpenters – was built over the Mamertine Prison and it still stands today, overlooking the ruins of the Roman Forum....
The Mamertine Prison, a dingy complex of cells which now lies beneath a Renaissance church, has long been venerated as the place where the apostle was shackled before he was killed on the spot on which the Vatican now stands.
It been a place of Christian worship since medieval times, but after months of excavations, Italian archaeologists have found frescoes and other evidence which indicate that it was associated with St Peter as early as the 7th century.
In the 17th century a church – St Joseph of the Carpenters – was built over the Mamertine Prison and it still stands today, overlooking the ruins of the Roman Forum....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:58
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-25-10)
On the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, China has finally rewritten its history of how the conflict began to point the finger of responsibility at North Korea.
Until now, the Chinese have staunchly supported their North Korean allies, along whose side they fought in the war.
China previously insisted that the war was waged out of American aggression. The official title of the conflict on the mainland is "The War to Resist America and Aid Korea".
The Korean War, which has never formally ended, has been largely forgotten in the West, despite the deaths of between two and three million people in the fighting....
Until now, the Chinese have staunchly supported their North Korean allies, along whose side they fought in the war.
China previously insisted that the war was waged out of American aggression. The official title of the conflict on the mainland is "The War to Resist America and Aid Korea".
The Korean War, which has never formally ended, has been largely forgotten in the West, despite the deaths of between two and three million people in the fighting....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:53
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-25-10)
Dozens of unwanted babies born during Roman times were murdered and buried on the site of a Roman brothel in Buckinghamshire, archaeologists suspect.
An extensive study of a mass burial at a Roman villa in the Thames Valley suggests that the 97 children all died at 40 weeks gestation, or very soon after birth.
The archaeologists believe that locals may have been killing and burying unwanted babies on the site in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
Unwanted pregnancies were common in Roman brothels due to little contraception and Romans also considered infanticide less shocking than it is today.
Infants were not considered to be human beings until about the age of two and were not buried in cemeteries if they were younger than that....
An extensive study of a mass burial at a Roman villa in the Thames Valley suggests that the 97 children all died at 40 weeks gestation, or very soon after birth.
The archaeologists believe that locals may have been killing and burying unwanted babies on the site in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.
Unwanted pregnancies were common in Roman brothels due to little contraception and Romans also considered infanticide less shocking than it is today.
Infants were not considered to be human beings until about the age of two and were not buried in cemeteries if they were younger than that....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 09:51
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (6-23-10)
The subterranean passageways of the Colosseum in which gladiators waited to do battle and terrified wild animals were caged are to be opened to the public for the first time this summer.
An ingenious system of pulleys, ropes and platforms enabled lions, tigers, bears and other wild beasts to be winched up into the sand-covered arena, to the cheers and jeers of 50,000 baying spectators.
The opening of the 2,000-year-old underground tunnels and galleries will enable tourists to get a taste of a key scene from the Ridley Scott blockbuster Gladiator, in which the former general Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, waits with his fellow fighters to run out into the arena.
An ingenious system of pulleys, ropes and platforms enabled lions, tigers, bears and other wild beasts to be winched up into the sand-covered arena, to the cheers and jeers of 50,000 baying spectators.
The opening of the 2,000-year-old underground tunnels and galleries will enable tourists to get a taste of a key scene from the Ridley Scott blockbuster Gladiator, in which the former general Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, waits with his fellow fighters to run out into the arena.
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 14:48
Name of source: Press Release
SOURCE: Press Release (6-28-10)
The often-overlooked Nixon Tapes, which were in operation for approximately 85 percent of Salvador Allende’s tenure in office in Chile, are one source that can help re-focus the debate on U.S. policy, particularly the Nixon Administration’s response to the Allende Government’s expropriation policy. To that end, nixontapes.org is pleased to bring you a selection of nearly 100 pages of excerpted transcripts on Chile and Allende, downloadable as an online briefing book at: http://nixontapeaudio.org/chile/chile.pdf
Transcripts, digital audio clips, and tape summaries are available online at http://nixontapes.org/chile.htm. Please direct any questions or requests for broadcast-quality audio to nixontapes@nixontapes.org. Please see below for sample materials from the collection:
“Friends of the United States will be rewarded! Enemies of the United States will be punished! And that includes Peru to the extent we can. It includes Bolivia to the extent we can. And it includes, by all means, Chile, to the extent we can. That's the way the game has to be played.”
—President Nixon, June 16, 1971, OVAL Conv. No. 523-004
“I have decided…You give us a plan, we’ll carry it out…We're going to play it very tough with him [Allende]…I’ve decided we're going to give Allende the hook.”
—Nixon, October 5, 1971, OVAL Conv. No. 584-003
“The only thing you can ever hope is to have him overthrown, and, in the meantime, you will make your point to prove, by your actions against him, what you want, that you are looking after American interests.”
—Connally, October 5, 1971, OVAL Conv. No. 584-003
“I would go to a confrontation with him; the quicker the better…Maybe not in a brutal way, but in a clear way.”
—Kissinger, October 5, 1971, OVAL Conv. No. 584-003
“Now, that he [Allende] is elected, and he is expropriating, and he is taking an anti-American attitude in foreign policy, to hell with him, at this point, on renegotiating loans! …I'm not taking him on personally; not taking him on rhetoric; we just drag our feet at the negotiation.”
—Nixon, January 18, 1972, OVAL Conv. No. 650-012
“[The Chileans] brought this on themselves; they're ruining the Chilean economy with their expropriation and everything else…Cuba sucks from Russia a million dollars a day, and that's one of the reasons we are not going to change our attitude toward Cuba…Now the same with Chile…If they want more support from us, they must come a long way.”
—Nixon, February 8, 1972, EOB Conv. No. 320-028
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 17:44
Name of source: Fox News
SOURCE: Fox News (6-28-10)
Rev. Jeremiah Wright unleashed a slew of racially charged proclamations at a seminar in Chicago last week, reportedly comparing the United States with apartheid South Africa and claiming the civil rights movement was about "becoming white."
The comments were reported by the New York Post, which provided details about a five-day class President Obama's former pastor taught at the Chicago Theological Seminary.
According to the New York Post, Wright also alleged that the American education system is built to poorly educate black students "by malignant intent" and criticized civil rights leader Martin Luther King for advocating nonviolence....
The comments were reported by the New York Post, which provided details about a five-day class President Obama's former pastor taught at the Chicago Theological Seminary.
According to the New York Post, Wright also alleged that the American education system is built to poorly educate black students "by malignant intent" and criticized civil rights leader Martin Luther King for advocating nonviolence....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 17:24
Name of source: CNN
SOURCE: CNN (6-28-10)
Colleagues of Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia mourned his death as family and friends planned his funeral.
Byrd, the longest-serving member of the U.S. Congress, died Monday at the age of 92.
Under West Virginia law, the state's popular two-term Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, has the power to appoint Byrd's successor. Manchin is expected to name a fellow member of his party to succeed Byrd, who was also a Democrat, thereby keeping a total of 59 Democrats in the Senate.
There are questions, however, regarding exactly how long Byrd's appointed successor can serve before another election is held....
Byrd, the longest-serving member of the U.S. Congress, died Monday at the age of 92.
Under West Virginia law, the state's popular two-term Democratic governor, Joe Manchin, has the power to appoint Byrd's successor. Manchin is expected to name a fellow member of his party to succeed Byrd, who was also a Democrat, thereby keeping a total of 59 Democrats in the Senate.
There are questions, however, regarding exactly how long Byrd's appointed successor can serve before another election is held....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 17:17
SOURCE: CNN (6-28-10)
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday that justices on the nation's highest court should be even-handed and impartial in order to promise "nothing less than a fair shake for every American."
In her opening statement to her confirmation hearing, Kagan sought to address Republican concerns that her background as an academic and policy specialist in the Clinton administration would bring a liberal bias in her court rulings.
If confirmed by the 19-member committee and then the full Senate, Kagan would be the 112th Supreme Court justice and the fourth woman to sit on the nation's highest court.
While her confirmation is considered likely, Republican senators on the panel questioned Monday whether Kagan can be an impartial justice, displaying a partisan divide over President Barack Obama's second Supreme Court nomination since he took office in January 2009. The Senate confirmed Obama's first candidate, Sonia Sotomayor, last year....
In her opening statement to her confirmation hearing, Kagan sought to address Republican concerns that her background as an academic and policy specialist in the Clinton administration would bring a liberal bias in her court rulings.
If confirmed by the 19-member committee and then the full Senate, Kagan would be the 112th Supreme Court justice and the fourth woman to sit on the nation's highest court.
While her confirmation is considered likely, Republican senators on the panel questioned Monday whether Kagan can be an impartial justice, displaying a partisan divide over President Barack Obama's second Supreme Court nomination since he took office in January 2009. The Senate confirmed Obama's first candidate, Sonia Sotomayor, last year....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 17:13
SOURCE: CNN (6-27-10)
The political irony for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is who she is, what she hopes to be and the path necessary to fulfilling a long-held dream.
Confirmation hearings for the 50-year-old academic and government lawyer begin Monday. Although she has never been a judge, Kagan is seeking a lifetime job on the nation's highest court.
To get there, she herself must first be judged -- by 17 senators on the Judiciary Committee, who will decide whether she deserves a final floor vote.
The hearings promise to be an intense examination of her record advocating for two Democratic White Houses and her work as a teacher and administrator at top law schools....
Confirmation hearings for the 50-year-old academic and government lawyer begin Monday. Although she has never been a judge, Kagan is seeking a lifetime job on the nation's highest court.
To get there, she herself must first be judged -- by 17 senators on the Judiciary Committee, who will decide whether she deserves a final floor vote.
The hearings promise to be an intense examination of her record advocating for two Democratic White Houses and her work as a teacher and administrator at top law schools....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:47
SOURCE: CNN (6-27-10)
The cause for former Vice President Dick Cheney's hospitalization is related to his recurring heart trouble, a family friend of Cheney's told CNN Sunday.
Cheney was suffering from atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm, the friend said.
Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital on Friday as a result of "progressive retention of fluid related to his coronary artery disease," Cheney's office said.
At the hospital, Cheney was placed on intravenous medication and his condition has "markedly improved," his office said in a statement Saturday....
Cheney was suffering from atrial fibrillation, or irregular heart rhythm, the friend said.
Cheney was admitted to George Washington University Hospital on Friday as a result of "progressive retention of fluid related to his coronary artery disease," Cheney's office said.
At the hospital, Cheney was placed on intravenous medication and his condition has "markedly improved," his office said in a statement Saturday....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:46
SOURCE: CNN (6-27-10)
Voters in Guinea cast ballots Sunday in the first free election since the west African nation gained independence in 1958.
The country has been ruled by a series of authoritarian and military dictators since it gained independence from France, its former colonial master.
The most recent coup came in December 2008, the day after the death of longtime President Lansana Conte, who had himself seized power in 1984.
Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara led the 2008 coup and promised elections and the introduction of civilian rule, but by the following summer it seemed clear that he planned to run for president himself, according to the U.S. State Department....
The country has been ruled by a series of authoritarian and military dictators since it gained independence from France, its former colonial master.
The most recent coup came in December 2008, the day after the death of longtime President Lansana Conte, who had himself seized power in 1984.
Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara led the 2008 coup and promised elections and the introduction of civilian rule, but by the following summer it seemed clear that he planned to run for president himself, according to the U.S. State Department....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:44
SOURCE: CNN (6-25-10)
A flag that accompanied Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry into their final battle 134 years ago will be put up for auction, the auction house that will handle the sale said Friday.
The flag that will be sold in October is tattered and fragile, measures 27½ by 33 inches and may be stained with blood. It was found three days after the Battle of Little Bighorn -- or the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek, as the victors called it -- beneath the body of one of Custer's men killed in the battle.
Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson, a member of the burial detail assigned to retrieve the remains of the 7th Cavalry, found the Cavalry guidon, or swallow-tail flag, that was used by cavalry companies. The design reduced wind drag as the soldiers advanced....
The flag that will be sold in October is tattered and fragile, measures 27½ by 33 inches and may be stained with blood. It was found three days after the Battle of Little Bighorn -- or the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek, as the victors called it -- beneath the body of one of Custer's men killed in the battle.
Sgt. Ferdinand Culbertson, a member of the burial detail assigned to retrieve the remains of the 7th Cavalry, found the Cavalry guidon, or swallow-tail flag, that was used by cavalry companies. The design reduced wind drag as the soldiers advanced....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 12:43
Name of source: Irish Times
SOURCE: Irish Times (6-28-10)
SEVENTY YEARS ago this summer, Adolf Hitler’s general staff drew up detailed plans to invade Ireland. In June of 1940, Germany’s 1st Panzer Division had just driven the British Expeditionary Force into the sea at Dunkirk.
The Nazis, intoxicated by their military victory in France, considered themselves unstoppable and were determined to press their advance into Britain and Ireland. Germany’s invasion plans for Britain were codenamed Operation Sealion. Their invasion plans for Ireland were codenamed Unternehmen Grün or Operation Green.
Like Operation Sealion, Operation Green was never executed. The Nazis failed to achieve air superiority over the English Channel that summer. By the autumn of 1940 the Battle of Britain had been won by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Hitler postponed his British and Irish invasion.
Some military historians also believe that the plans for Operation Green, drawn up in minute detail, may have been a feint to divert British resources away from Germany’s invasion of southern England. However, had the RAF been overwhelmed that summer by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, Operation Green gives a sobering insight into what fate neutral Ireland would have suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
Operation Green was conceived under the scrutiny of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. Bock had a fearsome reputation as an aggressive campaign officer – well versed in the concept of Blitzkrieg. Bock had been commander of Germany’s army group north during the invasion of Poland in 1939 and army group B during the invasion of France in May of 1940. Nicknamed Der Sterber, or Death Wish, by his fellow officers, von Bock was ultimately given responsibility for Germany’s planned assault on Moscow (Operation Typhoon) during Germany’s subsequent invasion of Russia.
In the summer of 1940 however – before Hitler had turned his attentions towards Russia – von Bock was preoccupied with invasion plans for neutral Ireland and assigned responsibility for it to the German 4th and 7th army corps, army group B under the command of General Leonhard Kaupisch....
The Nazis, intoxicated by their military victory in France, considered themselves unstoppable and were determined to press their advance into Britain and Ireland. Germany’s invasion plans for Britain were codenamed Operation Sealion. Their invasion plans for Ireland were codenamed Unternehmen Grün or Operation Green.
Like Operation Sealion, Operation Green was never executed. The Nazis failed to achieve air superiority over the English Channel that summer. By the autumn of 1940 the Battle of Britain had been won by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Hitler postponed his British and Irish invasion.
Some military historians also believe that the plans for Operation Green, drawn up in minute detail, may have been a feint to divert British resources away from Germany’s invasion of southern England. However, had the RAF been overwhelmed that summer by the German air force, the Luftwaffe, Operation Green gives a sobering insight into what fate neutral Ireland would have suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
Operation Green was conceived under the scrutiny of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. Bock had a fearsome reputation as an aggressive campaign officer – well versed in the concept of Blitzkrieg. Bock had been commander of Germany’s army group north during the invasion of Poland in 1939 and army group B during the invasion of France in May of 1940. Nicknamed Der Sterber, or Death Wish, by his fellow officers, von Bock was ultimately given responsibility for Germany’s planned assault on Moscow (Operation Typhoon) during Germany’s subsequent invasion of Russia.
In the summer of 1940 however – before Hitler had turned his attentions towards Russia – von Bock was preoccupied with invasion plans for neutral Ireland and assigned responsibility for it to the German 4th and 7th army corps, army group B under the command of General Leonhard Kaupisch....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 13:14
SOURCE: Irish Times (6-25-10)
SUBMARINER, SAILOR and author Cdr Bill King is due to celebrate his 100th birthday with friends, family and neighbours in Oranmore, south Galway, today.
Cdr King, the oldest surviving submarine commander from the second World War, danced to a version of Cab Calloway’s Sweet Jenny Lee on his actual birthday two days ago at his home in Oranmore Castle.
“We had lamb on a spit, lobster, music,” his daughter, artist Leonie King, told The Irish Times. “He rose to the occasion and we had a good old jamboree into the small hours.” Joining them were his son Tarka, grandchildren Cian and Heather, nephews, nieces and cousins.
The wider community is marking the occasion today, when the Fastnet Trophy, which he was recently awarded by the Irish Cruising Club for his sailing achievements, may also be displayed.
Cdr King already holds the Blue Water Medal, presented by the Cruising Club of America. He secured it for being the first Irish sailor to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly, in his yacht Galway Blazer II , after several attempts and a dramatic collision with a whale or shark.
He holds seven medals for military service. Cdr King was raised by his mother in England, as his father and uncle were killed in the first World War. Aged just 12, he was dispatched to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where flogging was regularly employed as incentive and deterrent. He was sent to sea aged 17. His “nursery” was a battleship, HMS Resolution , in the Mediterranean....
Cdr King, the oldest surviving submarine commander from the second World War, danced to a version of Cab Calloway’s Sweet Jenny Lee on his actual birthday two days ago at his home in Oranmore Castle.
“We had lamb on a spit, lobster, music,” his daughter, artist Leonie King, told The Irish Times. “He rose to the occasion and we had a good old jamboree into the small hours.” Joining them were his son Tarka, grandchildren Cian and Heather, nephews, nieces and cousins.
The wider community is marking the occasion today, when the Fastnet Trophy, which he was recently awarded by the Irish Cruising Club for his sailing achievements, may also be displayed.
Cdr King already holds the Blue Water Medal, presented by the Cruising Club of America. He secured it for being the first Irish sailor to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly, in his yacht Galway Blazer II , after several attempts and a dramatic collision with a whale or shark.
He holds seven medals for military service. Cdr King was raised by his mother in England, as his father and uncle were killed in the first World War. Aged just 12, he was dispatched to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where flogging was regularly employed as incentive and deterrent. He was sent to sea aged 17. His “nursery” was a battleship, HMS Resolution , in the Mediterranean....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 11:05
Name of source: BBC News
SOURCE: BBC News (6-28-10)
Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega has gone on trial in Paris for money-laundering in a case which could put him in jail for another 10 years.
Now believed to be 76, the man who ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989 was extradited from the US in April after two decades in prison for drug-trafficking.
A French court sentenced him in his absence to 10 years in 1999.
France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited from the US.
The trial is due to last three days. However, the verdict is not expected to be announced for several months, AFP news agency reports.
Birth discrepancy
The former strongman is now frail and decrepit, so much so that he even stumbled recalling his date of birth, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Paris.
When asked about the discrepancies, first he said 1936, then corrected himself to state he had been born in 1934....
Now believed to be 76, the man who ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989 was extradited from the US in April after two decades in prison for drug-trafficking.
A French court sentenced him in his absence to 10 years in 1999.
France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited from the US.
The trial is due to last three days. However, the verdict is not expected to be announced for several months, AFP news agency reports.
Birth discrepancy
The former strongman is now frail and decrepit, so much so that he even stumbled recalling his date of birth, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Paris.
When asked about the discrepancies, first he said 1936, then corrected himself to state he had been born in 1934....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 12:43
SOURCE: BBC News (6-28-10)
A set of three X-rays of Marilyn Monroe's chest taken during a 1954 hospital visit have sold for $45,000 (£29,900) in Las Vegas.
The X-rays, sold at a movie memorabilia auction at Planet Hollywood, had a $3,000 (£2,000) pre-sale estimate.
A chair from Monroe's final photo shoot sold for $35,000 (£23,250).
Earrings worn by Kate Winslet in Titanic sold for $25,000 (£16,600). A dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in musical Funny Face fetched $56,250 (£37,360).
Other Monroe items up for sale included a prompt book from unfinished film Something's Got to Give and a bottle of Chanel perfume she owned....
The X-rays, sold at a movie memorabilia auction at Planet Hollywood, had a $3,000 (£2,000) pre-sale estimate.
A chair from Monroe's final photo shoot sold for $35,000 (£23,250).
Earrings worn by Kate Winslet in Titanic sold for $25,000 (£16,600). A dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in musical Funny Face fetched $56,250 (£37,360).
Other Monroe items up for sale included a prompt book from unfinished film Something's Got to Give and a bottle of Chanel perfume she owned....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 12:37
SOURCE: BBC News (6-28-10)
The castle of the last Pasha of Marrakech in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco is finally getting a face-lift after more than 50 years of neglect, as the BBC's Bojan Kveder discovered.
The Kasbah of Telouet, built not more than 100 years ago, has been crumbling into the reddish dust of the valley since 1956, the year Morocco won independence from France and T'hami el-Glaoui fell from grace with the king.
He is considered a traitor to this day for siding with the French colonisers and helping to topple two sultans.
At the time of his death in 1956, the Lord of the Atlas was the most powerful man in Morocco and one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Now, the remote village of Telouet is only accessible by a side road branching off from the trans-Atlas highway running from Marrakech to Ouarzazate.
Getting there is a feat in itself. Before embarking on the journey from Marrakech, I combed the city for a travel agency organizing trips there, to no avail. Whoever I asked would respond with shrugging shoulders and a look of consternation mixed with embarrassment.
"Why Telouet? Tourists don't go there. You have so many attractive places to choose from," was the standard reaction.
Finally I managed to find a hole-in-the wall agency with two banged-up 4x4's through my hotel, but the bargaining went on for more than a day....
The Kasbah of Telouet, built not more than 100 years ago, has been crumbling into the reddish dust of the valley since 1956, the year Morocco won independence from France and T'hami el-Glaoui fell from grace with the king.
He is considered a traitor to this day for siding with the French colonisers and helping to topple two sultans.
At the time of his death in 1956, the Lord of the Atlas was the most powerful man in Morocco and one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Now, the remote village of Telouet is only accessible by a side road branching off from the trans-Atlas highway running from Marrakech to Ouarzazate.
Getting there is a feat in itself. Before embarking on the journey from Marrakech, I combed the city for a travel agency organizing trips there, to no avail. Whoever I asked would respond with shrugging shoulders and a look of consternation mixed with embarrassment.
"Why Telouet? Tourists don't go there. You have so many attractive places to choose from," was the standard reaction.
Finally I managed to find a hole-in-the wall agency with two banged-up 4x4's through my hotel, but the bargaining went on for more than a day....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 09:49
SOURCE: BBC News (6-25-10)
A previously top secret intelligence-sharing agreement between Britain and America is being released to the public for the first time.
Until a few years ago, even the existence of the agreement was not acknowledged by the two governments.
Signed in 1946, it remains the basis for the sharing of intercepted communications between the countries.
Some of the material shared on the Soviet Union in the 1940s is also being released by the National Archives.
During World War II, Britain and America had co-operated closely on so called "signals intelligence" - intercepted communications.
When the war came to an end, the two sides decided to institutionalise that co-operation and establish it in the new context of the emerging Cold War with the Soviet Union.
'Truly global coverage'
As well as revealing the deal itself, the National Archive files lay bare the negotiations which led to its signing on 6 March 1946, and the follow-up agreements throughout the 1950s that were needed to make it operate in practice.
"It's the nuts and bolts of how it works," said Dr Edward Hampshire, principal records specialist at the National Archives.
Details of the agreement are being released simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic following separate Freedom of Information requests to British and American governments....
Until a few years ago, even the existence of the agreement was not acknowledged by the two governments.
Signed in 1946, it remains the basis for the sharing of intercepted communications between the countries.
Some of the material shared on the Soviet Union in the 1940s is also being released by the National Archives.
During World War II, Britain and America had co-operated closely on so called "signals intelligence" - intercepted communications.
When the war came to an end, the two sides decided to institutionalise that co-operation and establish it in the new context of the emerging Cold War with the Soviet Union.
'Truly global coverage'
As well as revealing the deal itself, the National Archive files lay bare the negotiations which led to its signing on 6 March 1946, and the follow-up agreements throughout the 1950s that were needed to make it operate in practice.
"It's the nuts and bolts of how it works," said Dr Edward Hampshire, principal records specialist at the National Archives.
Details of the agreement are being released simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic following separate Freedom of Information requests to British and American governments....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:52
SOURCE: BBC News (6-25-10)
Fans across the globe are paying tribute to singer Michael Jackson on the first anniversary of his death at the age of 50.
Thousands of people are likely to gather at the Los Angeles cemetery where the musician is at rest, along with members of his family.
Jackson's mother Katherine is expected at the family home in Gary, Indiana, where tributes will be paid.
A monument has also been dedicated to the star at London's Lyric Theatre.
In New York, the Apollo Theatre - where Jackson and his brothers won a talent contest and were subsequently signed to Motown Records - there will be a commemoration of his life.
Flowers have been left in tribute to the late star in Tokyo, where 50 fans will have the chance to spend the night in an exhibition of his possessions.
Jackson devotees gathering at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California said they had come to both grieve and celebrate his life.
Evdokia Sofianu, who had travelled from Greece, told the Associated Press: "I came because I love Michael very much."
"I'm just hoping to embrace the fans from everywhere," added Julia Thomas.
Prisoners' tribute
Michael's brother Randy said he would also be at the cemetery to pay his respects.
The star's three children are expected to mark the anniversary along with their grandmother and guardian Katherine at the former family home in Indiana.
Thousands of people are likely to gather at the Los Angeles cemetery where the musician is at rest, along with members of his family.
Jackson's mother Katherine is expected at the family home in Gary, Indiana, where tributes will be paid.
A monument has also been dedicated to the star at London's Lyric Theatre.
In New York, the Apollo Theatre - where Jackson and his brothers won a talent contest and were subsequently signed to Motown Records - there will be a commemoration of his life.
Flowers have been left in tribute to the late star in Tokyo, where 50 fans will have the chance to spend the night in an exhibition of his possessions.
Jackson devotees gathering at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California said they had come to both grieve and celebrate his life.
Evdokia Sofianu, who had travelled from Greece, told the Associated Press: "I came because I love Michael very much."
"I'm just hoping to embrace the fans from everywhere," added Julia Thomas.
Prisoners' tribute
Michael's brother Randy said he would also be at the cemetery to pay his respects.
The star's three children are expected to mark the anniversary along with their grandmother and guardian Katherine at the former family home in Indiana.
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:48
SOURCE: BBC News (6-25-10)
"Sometimes I get a little annoyed," says Max Desfor.
He is a former Associated Press photographer who covered the Korean War and has been invited by the South Korean government to take part in commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the war.
"I ask anyone who'll listen - why do they celebrate the start of the war? They celebrate the start, of course, because it's never ending - it's still going on."
The US, which backed the South, and North Korea signed a temporary truce in July 1953, but there was never a peace treaty. Technically they are still at war.
"The North Koreans invaded Korea, South Korea, and I immediately volunteered my services to the AP and said, 'I will cover that war' and my boss said, 'the war isn't going to last more than two weeks!'"
Pulitzer prize
I met Max at the Korean War Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC.
The 96-year-old has long since retired, but still carries a camera and stops to snap pictures as we talk....
He is a former Associated Press photographer who covered the Korean War and has been invited by the South Korean government to take part in commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the war.
"I ask anyone who'll listen - why do they celebrate the start of the war? They celebrate the start, of course, because it's never ending - it's still going on."
The US, which backed the South, and North Korea signed a temporary truce in July 1953, but there was never a peace treaty. Technically they are still at war.
"The North Koreans invaded Korea, South Korea, and I immediately volunteered my services to the AP and said, 'I will cover that war' and my boss said, 'the war isn't going to last more than two weeks!'"
Pulitzer prize
I met Max at the Korean War Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC.
The 96-year-old has long since retired, but still carries a camera and stops to snap pictures as we talk....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:42
Name of source: CHE
SOURCE: CHE (6-28-10)
Robert C. Byrd, a U.S. senator from West Virginia and self-taught scholar of the U.S. Constitution who was a champion of earmarks for colleges and other recipients, died early Monday of an unspecified illness. He was 92.
Mr. Byrd, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the Senate, was valedictorian of his high-school class but lacked the money to go to college. (See lengthy obituary in The Washington Post.) He earned a law degree while in Congress by attending night classes at American University, and he later created the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program to help high-achieving students afford a college education....
Mr. Byrd, a Democrat and the longest-serving member of the Senate, was valedictorian of his high-school class but lacked the money to go to college. (See lengthy obituary in The Washington Post.) He earned a law degree while in Congress by attending night classes at American University, and he later created the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program to help high-achieving students afford a college education....
Monday, June 28, 2010 - 09:24
Name of source: LIFE.com
SOURCE: LIFE.com (6-25-10)
In Korea, it's known as the "6-2-5 (yug ee oh) War," a reference to June 25, 1950, when the North Korean People's Army invaded the South. Among North Koreans, it's "the Fatherland Liberation War." In America, however, the Korean War is often called "The Forgotten War," a strange, if accurate, phrase to describe a conflict that killed millions of combatants and civilians on both sides -- including almost 40,000 Americans. On the 60th anniversary of the start of the war, LIFE.com remembers -- with a selection of never-before-seen images from Korea by some of the era's finest photographers, and relevant, revealing excerpts from articles that appeared in LIFE at the time....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 16:16
Name of source: Discovery News
SOURCE: Discovery News (6-25-10)
The famous pilot and her navigator may have eaten turtles, fish and bird to survive on a remote island after making an emergency landing.
Amelia Earhart, the legendary pilot who disappeared 73 years ago while flying over the Pacific Ocean in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator, may have survived several weeks, or even months as a castaway on a remote South Pacific island, according to preliminary results of a two-week expedition on the tiny coral atoll believed to be her final resting place.
TIGHAR's expedition to Nikumaroro was the tenth since 1989. During the previous campaigns, the team uncovered a number of artifacts which, combined with archival research, provide strong circumstantial evidence for a castaway presence.
Other candidates for DNA extraction include two buttons, parts of a pocket knife that was beaten apart to detach the blades for some reason, a cloth that appears to have been shaped as a bow, and cosmetic fragments of rouge from a woman's compact....
Amelia Earhart, the legendary pilot who disappeared 73 years ago while flying over the Pacific Ocean in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator, may have survived several weeks, or even months as a castaway on a remote South Pacific island, according to preliminary results of a two-week expedition on the tiny coral atoll believed to be her final resting place.
TIGHAR's expedition to Nikumaroro was the tenth since 1989. During the previous campaigns, the team uncovered a number of artifacts which, combined with archival research, provide strong circumstantial evidence for a castaway presence.
Other candidates for DNA extraction include two buttons, parts of a pocket knife that was beaten apart to detach the blades for some reason, a cloth that appears to have been shaped as a bow, and cosmetic fragments of rouge from a woman's compact....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 13:10
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (6-27-10)
Fundraisers hoping to save the wooden chalet in which Charles Dickens wrote some of his most famous works have organised a charity garden party.
The Rochester and Chatham Dickens Fellowship wants to raise £100,000 to repair the chalet, which has fallen into disrepair.
It wants visitors to dress in Victorian costume for a party at the chalet on 3 July.
The chalet once stood in the grounds of Dickens' house at Higham....
The Rochester and Chatham Dickens Fellowship wants to raise £100,000 to repair the chalet, which has fallen into disrepair.
It wants visitors to dress in Victorian costume for a party at the chalet on 3 July.
The chalet once stood in the grounds of Dickens' house at Higham....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 13:05
SOURCE: BBC (6-27-10)
The Queen is preparing to deliver one of the most important speeches of her 58-year reign in New York early next month.
She is expected to appeal for world unity and world peace when she addresses the 192-member General Assembly of the United Nations for the first time in more than half a century at the end of her summer tour of Canada.
According to senior royal sources, the Queen, who arrives in Canada tomorrow, is hopeful that her speech of 6 July will be remembered as one of the high-points of her reign.
The Queen, who will be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh for her visits to Canada and New York, last addressed the UN General Assembly five years after acceding to the throne following the death of her father, George VI....
She is expected to appeal for world unity and world peace when she addresses the 192-member General Assembly of the United Nations for the first time in more than half a century at the end of her summer tour of Canada.
According to senior royal sources, the Queen, who arrives in Canada tomorrow, is hopeful that her speech of 6 July will be remembered as one of the high-points of her reign.
The Queen, who will be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh for her visits to Canada and New York, last addressed the UN General Assembly five years after acceding to the throne following the death of her father, George VI....
Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 13:02
SOURCE: BBC (6-25-10)
Ceremonies have been held in South Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak paid tribute to veterans and called for peace on the peninsula.
North Korea has also marked the anniversary in state media.
On Tuesday it reaffirmed its position that the US provoked the war. On Thursday Pyongyang demanded $65 trillion (£43.5 trillion) in reparations from Washington.
It has also announced a temporary ban on shipping off a section of its west coast - something which has in the past preceded a short-range missile test....
In Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak paid tribute to veterans and called for peace on the peninsula.
North Korea has also marked the anniversary in state media.
On Tuesday it reaffirmed its position that the US provoked the war. On Thursday Pyongyang demanded $65 trillion (£43.5 trillion) in reparations from Washington.
It has also announced a temporary ban on shipping off a section of its west coast - something which has in the past preceded a short-range missile test....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:02
SOURCE: BBC (6-25-10)
Supporters of an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants are set to mark the fourth anniversary of his capture by holding rallies in Tel Aviv.
Gilad Shalit, 23, has been held in Gaza by Hamas militants who are demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his release.
Thousands are expected to rally outside the military headquarters in Tel Aviv calling for his release.
Sgt Shalit was captured in a raid into Israel by militants in 2006 exactly four years ago....
Gilad Shalit, 23, has been held in Gaza by Hamas militants who are demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his release.
Thousands are expected to rally outside the military headquarters in Tel Aviv calling for his release.
Sgt Shalit was captured in a raid into Israel by militants in 2006 exactly four years ago....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 10:00
Name of source: EU Observer
SOURCE: EU Observer (6-22-10)
Louis Michel, the Belgian former EU development commissioner and current prominent Liberal MEP has shocked his home nation and its one-time central African subjects by calling King Leopold II, the Congo's colonial master responsible for between 3 million and 10 million deaths, a "visionary hero."
"Leopold II was a true visionary for his time, a hero," he told P-Magazine, a local publication, in an interview on Tuesday. "And even if there were horrible events in the Congo, should we now condemn them?"
In the late 19th Century, the Belgian colony of the Congo Free State, effectively the personal property of Leopold II, became infamous for the enslavement and brutal treatment of the Congolese people.
Estimates of the number killed while the region was plundered for its rich resources vary substantially, but researchers believe between 5 million and 20 million died....
"Leopold II was a true visionary for his time, a hero," he told P-Magazine, a local publication, in an interview on Tuesday. "And even if there were horrible events in the Congo, should we now condemn them?"
In the late 19th Century, the Belgian colony of the Congo Free State, effectively the personal property of Leopold II, became infamous for the enslavement and brutal treatment of the Congolese people.
Estimates of the number killed while the region was plundered for its rich resources vary substantially, but researchers believe between 5 million and 20 million died....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 12:31
Name of source: Deutsche Press
SOURCE: Deutsche Press (6-24-10)
Archaeologists have discovered the well-preserved remains of a Roman road dating back to the first century in south- eastern Serbia, Belgrade media reported Thursday.
The Roman military road, or Via militaris, near the town of Dimitrovgrad used to connect the western parts of the Roman empire with the eastern parts, archaeologists said.
'This road was one of the main roads of the Roman empire,' archaeologist Miroslav Lazic told the Novosti daily.
'We are working on preservation of the site and preparing a presentation for European academic circles,' he said, adding that the road 'was built in the mid-first century and was used for several more centuries, most likely until the seventh century.'
The eight-metre wide road was constructed from large blocks of stone and had two lanes.
The excavations also unearthed numerous artifacts, including horseshoes and metal parts of carts....
The Roman military road, or Via militaris, near the town of Dimitrovgrad used to connect the western parts of the Roman empire with the eastern parts, archaeologists said.
'This road was one of the main roads of the Roman empire,' archaeologist Miroslav Lazic told the Novosti daily.
'We are working on preservation of the site and preparing a presentation for European academic circles,' he said, adding that the road 'was built in the mid-first century and was used for several more centuries, most likely until the seventh century.'
The eight-metre wide road was constructed from large blocks of stone and had two lanes.
The excavations also unearthed numerous artifacts, including horseshoes and metal parts of carts....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 11:24
Name of source: Copenhagen Post
SOURCE: Copenhagen Post (6-24-10)
In what they describe as a ‘sensational’ discovery, archaeologists from Århus find the remains of 10th century king’s royal residence
After speculating for centuries about its location, the royal residence of Harald Bluetooth has finally been discovered close to the ancient Jelling complex with its famous runic stones in southern Jutland.
The remains of the ancient wooden buildings were uncovered in the north-eastern corner of the Jelling complex which consists of royal burial mounds, standing stones in the form of a ship and runic stones.
Harald ruled Denmark between 940 and 985 AD and is reputed to have conquered Norway and converted the country to Christianity. The Bluetooth interface developed by Ericsson for wireless connections – with a logo consisting of the runic letters H and B – is named after him.
Mads Dengsø Jessen, the archaeologist from Århus University who led the dig said four buildings from Harald’s time had been discovered at the site. The buildings are characteristic of those built at round fortresses known as Trelleborg.
‘This tells us that we have uncovered a large complex, and the strict geometrical construction is a typical example of Harald’s work,’ Jessen said.
Archaeologists have yet to identify the remains of Harald’s royal hall, but Jessen believes they can be found under the existing Jelling Church, where the remains of a large wooden building were discovered on a previous dig....
After speculating for centuries about its location, the royal residence of Harald Bluetooth has finally been discovered close to the ancient Jelling complex with its famous runic stones in southern Jutland.
The remains of the ancient wooden buildings were uncovered in the north-eastern corner of the Jelling complex which consists of royal burial mounds, standing stones in the form of a ship and runic stones.
Harald ruled Denmark between 940 and 985 AD and is reputed to have conquered Norway and converted the country to Christianity. The Bluetooth interface developed by Ericsson for wireless connections – with a logo consisting of the runic letters H and B – is named after him.
Mads Dengsø Jessen, the archaeologist from Århus University who led the dig said four buildings from Harald’s time had been discovered at the site. The buildings are characteristic of those built at round fortresses known as Trelleborg.
‘This tells us that we have uncovered a large complex, and the strict geometrical construction is a typical example of Harald’s work,’ Jessen said.
Archaeologists have yet to identify the remains of Harald’s royal hall, but Jessen believes they can be found under the existing Jelling Church, where the remains of a large wooden building were discovered on a previous dig....
Friday, June 25, 2010 - 11:06
Name of source: Civil War Preservation Trust
SOURCE: Civil War Preservation Trust (6-16-10)
On Saturday June 26, 2010 — almost precisely 148 years after the battle fought there — living historians and preservationists will dedicate ahistorical marker on the Glendale Battlefield in Henrico County, Va. The property, recently acquired by Civil War Preservation Trust, is located along Long Bridge Road. The historical marker was constructed by Civil War Trails of Richmond, Va. and financed by the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteer” Civil War Reenactors Organization....
The marker celebrates the successful bayonet charge by the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteers,” who recaptured a Union artillery battery taken by Confederate forces earlier in the fighting. The battery had been placed near the Whitlock House at the front of the Pennsylvania Reserves position. Confederates who broke through the Union lines that afternoon captured the battery....
The marker celebrates the successful bayonet charge by the 69th Pennsylvania “Irish Volunteers,” who recaptured a Union artillery battery taken by Confederate forces earlier in the fighting. The battery had been placed near the Whitlock House at the front of the Pennsylvania Reserves position. Confederates who broke through the Union lines that afternoon captured the battery....
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 17:29
Name of source: Rapid City Journal (SD)
SOURCE: Rapid City Journal (SD) (6-18-10)
When the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001, Clarence Wolf Guts asked his son to call the U.S. Department of Defense to see if the country needed his code talking abilities to find Osama Bin Laden.
Wolf Guts was in his late 70s at the time, so his son, Don Doyle, did not make the call, but said the request personified his father's love of country.
"He still wanted to help. He was trying to still be patriotic," Doyle said.
Wolf Guts, 86, the last surviving Oglala Lakota code talker, died Wednesday afternoon at the South Dakota State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.
A Native American code talker from World War II, Wolf Guts helped defeat Axis forces by transmitting strategic military messages in his native language, which the Japanese and Germans couldn't translate.
"He's the last surviving code talker from the whole (Lakota) nation. It's going to be a little like the passing of an era," Doyle said.
The 450 Navajo code talkers were the most famous group of Native American soldiers to radio messages from the battlefields, but 15 other tribes used their languages to aid the Allied efforts in World War II. Wolf Guts was one of 11 Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Native American code talkers from South Dakota. Wolf Guts, of Wamblee, enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 17, 1942, at age 18. While in basic training, a general asked Wolf Guts if he spoke Sioux. He explained the three dialects to the general and said he spoke Lakota. Wolf Guts helped develop a phonetic alphabet based on Lakota that was later used to develop a Lakota code.
He and three other Sioux code talkers joined the Pacific campaign; Wolf Guts' primary job was transmitting coded messages from a general to his chief of staff in the field....
Wolf Guts was in his late 70s at the time, so his son, Don Doyle, did not make the call, but said the request personified his father's love of country.
"He still wanted to help. He was trying to still be patriotic," Doyle said.
Wolf Guts, 86, the last surviving Oglala Lakota code talker, died Wednesday afternoon at the South Dakota State Veterans Home in Hot Springs.
A Native American code talker from World War II, Wolf Guts helped defeat Axis forces by transmitting strategic military messages in his native language, which the Japanese and Germans couldn't translate.
"He's the last surviving code talker from the whole (Lakota) nation. It's going to be a little like the passing of an era," Doyle said.
The 450 Navajo code talkers were the most famous group of Native American soldiers to radio messages from the battlefields, but 15 other tribes used their languages to aid the Allied efforts in World War II. Wolf Guts was one of 11 Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Native American code talkers from South Dakota. Wolf Guts, of Wamblee, enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 17, 1942, at age 18. While in basic training, a general asked Wolf Guts if he spoke Sioux. He explained the three dialects to the general and said he spoke Lakota. Wolf Guts helped develop a phonetic alphabet based on Lakota that was later used to develop a Lakota code.
He and three other Sioux code talkers joined the Pacific campaign; Wolf Guts' primary job was transmitting coded messages from a general to his chief of staff in the field....
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 17:27
Name of source: Chattanooga Free Press
SOURCE: Chattanooga Free Press (6-24-10)
The Civil War Preservation Trust has named two Northwest Georgia battlefields in their 15 "at risk" sites.
The national group said the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and the Resaca Battlefield are at risk, but for different reasons.
Chickamauga "is beset by proposals for cellular communications towers" and Resaca is still struggling to secure funding and move forward with an interpretive center, the group said....
The national group said the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and the Resaca Battlefield are at risk, but for different reasons.
Chickamauga "is beset by proposals for cellular communications towers" and Resaca is still struggling to secure funding and move forward with an interpretive center, the group said....
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 17:22
Name of source: Guardian (UK)
SOURCE: Guardian (UK) (6-24-10)
The disgraced former Telegraph owner Conrad Black and the Enron fraudster Jeffrey Skilling have won fresh hope of early release from jail following a US supreme court ruling that their convictions partly relied on a controversial corruption law that was too broad in its scope.
In a major legal victory for the two jailed tycoons, America's top court issued separate, but related, rulings declaring that the men were treated unfairly when appeal court judges threw out their attempts to overturn their convictions.
However, the rulings shed doubt only on certain aspects of the men's multiple convictions and stop well short of acquittal.
Black, currently an inmate at Florida's Coleman prison, was sentenced in 2007 to six and a half years for defrauding shareholders in his Hollinger media empire out of $6.1m (£3.7m) by attaching a "non-compete" clauses to the sale of newspaper businesses that siphoned off funds from investors. The Canadian-born peer was stripped of the Conservative whip following his conviction. He has vigorously protested his innocence from the beginning....
In a major legal victory for the two jailed tycoons, America's top court issued separate, but related, rulings declaring that the men were treated unfairly when appeal court judges threw out their attempts to overturn their convictions.
However, the rulings shed doubt only on certain aspects of the men's multiple convictions and stop well short of acquittal.
Black, currently an inmate at Florida's Coleman prison, was sentenced in 2007 to six and a half years for defrauding shareholders in his Hollinger media empire out of $6.1m (£3.7m) by attaching a "non-compete" clauses to the sale of newspaper businesses that siphoned off funds from investors. The Canadian-born peer was stripped of the Conservative whip following his conviction. He has vigorously protested his innocence from the beginning....
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 15:15
Name of source: USA Today
SOURCE: USA Today (6-24-10)
The old warlord, infamous for backstabbing and bloodletting, can hardly complain. When Chinese state television broadcast a live excavation this month of the tomb of General Cao Cao, the destruction found inside confirmed that tomb robbers had beaten archaeologists to the underground site.
Back in the third century, Cao Cao organized his soldiers into a treasure-hunting, tomb-raiding division. These days, the Chinese government threatens the death penalty for stealing cultural relics, yet this history-obsessed country still struggles to protect its rich historical legacy from a surge in an ancient trade: tomb raiding.
As China grows more prosperous, more Chinese are taking up antique collecting, and the growing demand is often met by fakes or tomb robbing, says antiques expert Wu Shu, 60.
Tomb raiding is "the worst in 20 years, when the antique collection market started" in China, he says. Government figures suggest that from 200,000 to 300,000 ancient tombs have been raided in the past two decades, "but the reality far exceeds that number," says Wu, who agrees with a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimate that tomb robbers number more than 100,000. "When I speak to the leaders of archaeological teams, they tell me, 'Of 10 tombs, nine are empty,' " Wu says....
Back in the third century, Cao Cao organized his soldiers into a treasure-hunting, tomb-raiding division. These days, the Chinese government threatens the death penalty for stealing cultural relics, yet this history-obsessed country still struggles to protect its rich historical legacy from a surge in an ancient trade: tomb raiding.
As China grows more prosperous, more Chinese are taking up antique collecting, and the growing demand is often met by fakes or tomb robbing, says antiques expert Wu Shu, 60.
Tomb raiding is "the worst in 20 years, when the antique collection market started" in China, he says. Government figures suggest that from 200,000 to 300,000 ancient tombs have been raided in the past two decades, "but the reality far exceeds that number," says Wu, who agrees with a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimate that tomb robbers number more than 100,000. "When I speak to the leaders of archaeological teams, they tell me, 'Of 10 tombs, nine are empty,' " Wu says....
Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 14:50
