From BBC News:"Cleopatra, the last Egyptian Pharaoh, renowned for her beauty, was part African, says a BBC team which believes it has found her sister's tomb.Queen Cleopatra was a descendant of Ptolemy, the Macedonian general who ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great.But remains of the queen's sister Princess Arsinoe, found in Ephesus, Turkey, indicate that her mother had an "African" skeleton. There was plenty of sibling rivalry between Princess Arsinoe and her powerful sister Cleopatra - many believe the queen ordered Mark Anthony to murder her sister. "See also my post on Princess Arsinoe
From BBC News:"The balcony where, according to William Shakespeare, Romeo wooed Juliet, is to be made available for weddings.The authorities in the Italian city of Verona - setting for the tale of the two lovers - say they want to foster its image as a centre for romance.The Casa Di Giulietta (house of Juliet) is in the heart of Verona. Folklore suggests it was once the home of the Cappello family - possibly the model for the Capulets in Shakespeare's fictional play, Romeo and Juliet.Although some historians say there is scant evidence to back this up, the balcony on the 14th century building is still one of the city's most popular tourist destinations.From next month, you will be able to hire it as a venue for weddings.But before you rush to this most romantic of settings consider the price - up to $1,300 (£930) for non European Union residents. Officials say they want to enhance the city's image as the perfect place for love and marriage.But remember two things: first, that Italian health and safety laws are likely to prevent modern day Romeos from climbing up the balcony to woo their brides; and second, that Shakespeare's immortal work ends in tragedy. "
From the Telegraph:"Unlike most early modern princes the Tudor monarch was brought up in a feminine household and was almost certainly taught to write by his mother, analysis shows.This upbringing shaped Henry's "emotionally incontinent" personality, leading him to fall and love with – and marry – so many women, Starkey claims.Starkey, a Tudor specialist who has presented several television series about English monarchs, has curated a new exhibition at the British Library where examples of the king's handwriting will go on show.Henry's square, laboured letters bear a strong resemblance to those of his mother Elizabeth of York and sister Mary, but are different to the styles of his tutors and advisers, including Sir Thomas More.The young prince was raised by his mother from the age of 11 following the death of his father Henry VII in 1509, and surviving papers indicate that she was the strongest influence on his education and personality, according to Starkey."Henry's handwriting shows how very close he was to females in his youth," he said."He was the only boy and became emotionally dependent on women. Or, to put it more bluntly, he was emotionally incontinent."He added: "He could never be without women in his life and was always falling in love. He also married, at least when it comes to most of his six wives, for love. It is just that he would also fall out of love."Starkey is updating his biography of Henry to reflect the new research. Henry VIII: Man and Monarch, opens at the British Library on April 23."Just a quick note: Henry VIII's mother, Elizabeth of York died in 1503 giving birth to a daughter, Katherine - six years before the death of his father, Henry VII. So this theory is a little moot.
From the Independent:"She is Russia's richest woman, and one of its most despised. Now Yelena Baturina, who rose from life as a factory worker to become a construction magnate and wife of Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, is seeking a state bailout – to the joy and consternation of many.Some are happy to see her suffer. Since Ms Baturina built her firm, Inteko, into a construction and real estate powerhouse, Moscow's landscape has been transformed. Cranes and gaudy buildings line streets that used to house centuries-old buildings and relics of Soviet architecture.But many are up in arms that Ms Baturina, who has fallen off the Forbes list of billionaires after two years as Russia's first and only female billionaire, could be saved by the state as average Russians continue to see their quality of life deteriorate."
From IOL:"A firebrand politician, self-styled living goddess and champion of India's most oppressed class is making a powerful, and some say credible, play to become the country's first "untouchable" premier.Mayawati Kumari, a member of the Dalit community at the bottom of India's caste hierarchy, is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state which boasts a population roughly the size of Brazil's.Hugely popular with her regional power base, she has now taken her ambitions to the national level ahead of general elections that start April.On Sunday, she announced her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP, the Dalit Society Party) would contest seats across the country on its own, challenging the two main national parties - the ruling Congress, and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."See my posts:
A rather cheeky article from Nick Curtis of the Evening Standard:"Confirmation that male beautification is on the rise came with the sighting this weekend of Prince Harry's nail varnish. We'd already grown acclimatised to footballers like David Beckham and comedians such as David Walliams plucking and painting like billy-ho. We'd become blasé about film stars and TV presenters, such as High School Musical's Zac Efron and Alex Zane, slapping on the slap. Thanks to Eddie Izzard we've even adjusted to the idea of a butch, bearded, heterosexual man in full maquillage.But this was a strapping, martial male royal - a war veteran and a roister-doister of the first order - with the cuticles of his left hand varnished a fetching pink. The rest of us are clearly going to have to raise our cosmetic game."
From Boston.com:"And for the most part, the starry cast of the latest Broadway revival of "Blithe Spirit" delivers the goods, artfully keeping the classic Noel Coward comedy spinning merrily at the Shubert Theatre.But then it helps to have Angela Lansbury on hand to play Madame Arcati, the irrepressible spiritualist who delights in contacting those beyond the grave. She makes it look easy -- and blissfully funny -- as the woman who inadvertently sets up an otherworldly love triangle. The complications involve an urbane novelist named Charles Condomine (Rupert Everett), his second wife, Ruth (Jayne Atkinson), and his departed first wife, Elvira (Christine Ebersole), who returns as a ghost to haunt her hubby."Biography: Angela LansburyIMDB: Angela LansburyWikipedia: Angela Lansbury
Three stories regarding the practice of female circumcision - or female genital mutilation - from the Times Online:"The NHS is to advertise free operations to reverse female circumcisions, with experts warning that each year more than 500 British girls have their genitals mutilated.Despite having been outlawed in 1985, female circumcision is still practised in British African communities, in some cases on girls as young as 5. Police have been unable to bring a single prosecution even though they suspect that community elders are being flown from the Horn of Africa to carry out the procedures. Female circumcision, which is done for various reasons, such as religious and cultural traditions, can cause severe health complications including infections and psychological problems. The procedure, predominantly carried out on girls aged between 5 and 12, can range from the removal of the clitoris to the removal of all the exterior parts of the vagina, which is then sewn up."Case Study - the Husband"It took a death threat to stop Abdi’s wife from circumcising their two daughters, aged 2 and 4. She called him from Somalia while on holiday to say she wanted to carry out the procedure."Case Study - the Daughter"Both she and her sister, then 10, had been taken there by their mother for a “holiday”. “When that happened to me, I immediately lost all trust in my mother and I think that hasn’t changed to this day,” Zarah said. “In fact, I’ve lost trust in both my parents because my father was also aware of what was going to happen to us.” Zarah said that the psychological scars were worse than the pain. She has nightmares, and relationships have been ruined by her fear of intimacy. "
From Times Online:"ARCHEOLOGISTS and forensic experts believe they have identified the skeleton of Cleopatra’s younger sister, murdered more than 2,000 years ago on the orders of the Egyptian queen.The remains of Princess Arsinöe, put to death in 41BC on the orders of Cleopatra and her Roman lover Mark Antony to eliminate her as a rival, are the first relics of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be identified.The breakthrough, by an Austrian team, has provided pointers to Cleopatra’s true ethnicity. Scholars have long debated whether she was Greek or Macedonian like her ancestor the original Ptolemy, a Macedonian general who was made ruler of Egypt by Alexander the Great, or whether she was north African.Evidence obtained by studying the dimensions of Arsinöe’s skull shows she had some of the characteristics of white Europeans, ancient Egyptians and black Africans, indicating that Cleopatra was probably of mixed race, too. They were daughters of Ptolemy XII by different wives.The results vindicate the theories of Hilke Thür of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who has long claimed that the skeleton was Arsinöe. She described the discovery of Arsinöe’s ethnicity as “a real sensation which leads to a new insight on Cleopatra’s family”.Fellow experts are now convinced. Günther Hölbl, an authority on the Ptolemies, said the identification of the skeleton was “a great discovery”.The forensic evidence was obtained by a team working under the auspices of the Austrian Archeological Institute, which is set to detail its findings at an anthropological convention in the United States later this month. The story of the discovery will also be the subject of a tele-vision documentary, Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer, to be shown on BBC1 at 9pm next Monday.The institute’s breakthrough came about after it set out to examine Thür’s belief that an octagonal tomb in the remains of the Roman city of Ephesus contained the body of Arsinöe. According to Roman texts the city, in what is now Turkey, is where Arsinöe was banished after being defeated in a power struggle against Cleopatra and her then lover, Julius Caesar. Arsinöe was said to have been murdered after Cleopatra, now with Mark Antony following Caesar’s death, ordered the Roman general to have her younger sibling killed to prevent any future attempts on the Egyptian throne.The distinctive tomb was first opened in 1926 by archeologists who found a sarcophagus inside containing a skeleton. They removed the skull, which was examined and measured; but it was lost in the upheaval of the second world war.In the early 1990s Thür reentered the tomb and found the headless skeleton, which she believed to be of a young woman. Clues, such as the unusual octagonal shape of the tomb, which echoed that of the lighthouse of Alexandria with which Arsinöe was associated, convinced Thür the body was that of Cleopatra’s sister. Her theory was considered credible by many historians, and in an attempt to resolve the issue the Austrian Archeological Institute asked the Medical University of Vienna to appoint a specialist to examine the remains.Fabian Kanz, an anthropologist, was sceptical when he began this task two years ago. “We tried to exclude her from being Arsinöe,” he said. “We used all the methods we have to find anything that can say, ‘Okay, this can’t be Arsinöe because of this and this’.”After using carbon dating, which dated the skeleton from 200BC-20BC, Kanz, who had examined more than 500 other skeletons taken from the ruins of Ephesus, found Thür’s theory gained credibility.He said he was certain the bones were female and placed the age of the woman at 15-18. Although Arsinöe’s date of birth is not known, she was certainly younger than Cleopatra, who was about 27 at the time of her sister’s demise.The lack of any sign of illness or malnutrition also indicated a sudden death, said Kanz. Evidence of the skeleton’s north African ethnicity provided the final clue. Caroline Wilkinson, a forensic anthropologist, reconstructed the missing skull based on measurements taken in the 1920s. Using computer technology it was possible to create a facial impression of what Arsinöe might have looked like. “It has got this long head shape,” said Wilkinson. “That’s something you see quite frequently in ancient Egyptians and black Africans. It could suggest a mixture of ancestry.”"
