This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Portfolio (Hungary)
February 12, 2010
Heirs of Jews killed in the Hungarian Holocaust of 1944 filed a lawsuit at a Chicago court on Tuesday local time against Hungarian state railways MÁV, demanding compensation of USD 1.24 billion (HUF 244 bn) for the company's involvement in deporting Jews during World War II.
The crimes
Plaintiffs, who are Hungarian Jewish victims of the Hungarian Holocaust or their heirs or next of kin, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, bring this action for c
Source: BBC News
February 12, 2010
The legacy of Saddam Hussein continues to divide Iraq. Preparations for the country's parliamentary election have been thrown into chaos by a row over a decision to ban hundreds of candidates because of alleged links to the former president's now outlawed Baath Party.
At a recent demonstration in Baghdad, there was a palpable sense of anger among the crowd.
"We'll stamp out the Baathists," they chanted. "No to the return of killers to the parliament."
Source: BBC News
February 12, 2010
The man who invented the Frisbee, one of the world's most popular toys, has died at his home in Utah aged 90.
Walter Frederick Morrison conceived and developed his aerodynamic plastic disc in the 1950s, and hundreds of millions have been sold worldwide since.
Frisbee historian Phil Kennedy said Mr Morrison and his future wife, Lu, got the idea from playing with a metal cake pan on the beach in California.
He originally called his toy the Pluto Platter and s
Source: BBC
February 12, 2010
He said they agreed Mr Blair would have a clear run, and then support Mr Brown to take over when he stepped down.
But he told ITV1's Piers Morgan's Life Stories the deal was not made at the Granita restaurant as widely believed.
The prime minister also wept when he spoke about his daughter Jennifer, who died aged 10 days after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2002.
Source: Independent (UK)
February 12, 2010
A student who spoke out in Arabic during protests against a speech by an Israeli minister at the Oxford Union has denied he called out the words: "Slaughter the Jews".
A statement issued by the office of Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, on Wednesday said that a student protester had uttered the words in question as Mr Ayalon faced protests over his appearance at the Union on Monday night.
But the Oxford Student newspaper yesterday quoted second
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 12, 2010
A passing out parade will be held at HMS Sultan in Gosport, Hampshire, for the final graduates of the Marine Engineering Artificer Qualifying Course.
The rank of artificer, affectionately referred to as ''tiffs'' or ''tiffies'', will now fall under the new banner of engineering technicians (ET) - ME for marine engineers and WE for weapons engineers.
A Royal Navy spokeswoman said: ''This change of rank better reflects the job of artificers in the 21st century and recog
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
February 11, 2010
A group of young far-right supporters have shocked Austria by wearing pro-Nazi T-shirts and giving the Hitler salute during a visit to a death camp where 120,000 people were murdered.
The skinhead group from the town of Wels posted photographs of themselves on the Internet wearing the shirts at the site of the Mauthausen camp where tens of thousands of people were gassed, worked to death or killed in hideous medical experiments.
Perhaps the sickest picture of all shows
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
February 11, 2010
At £15, this 200-year-old set of Encyclopaedia Britannica seemed a snip.
And more than 30 years later it has become clear just how much of a bargain it was - as it has emerged that it's really worth £9,000.
The 18 volumes were printed in 1797 and are thought to be the oldest privately owned set.
Source: 2-11-10
December 31, 2069
Mexican researchers are to study the impact of apocalyptic interpretations of the ancient Mayan calendar, as in the recent US blockbuster movie "2012," on modern-day Mayan communities.
Experts will travel in March to southern Mexico and Guatemala to carry out research with priests in Mayan communities, amid fears that sects may capitalize on the theories to sway potential followers.
The recent movie directed by Roland Emmerich refers to Mayans and the Mesoamer
Source: The Hindu
February 11, 2010
Prehistoric remains from one of the most important Iron Age burials in the State, located here, near Tirunelveli, is likely to be housed on a site museum next to it.
The Archaeological Survey of India, the Central body that carries out excavations in the area, has been approached for setting up the museum. The State government is in the process of identifying land near the site of the remains.
No activity is permitted within 100 metres of any ASI excavation site that ha
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 11, 2010
An Italian court has ordered an ancient Greek statue bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum seized, officials said.
The Los Angeles museum said it would appeal the decision to Italy's highest court and would "vigorously defend" its right to keep the bronze.
The "Victorious Youth" statue, which dates from 300-100BC, was pulled from the sea by Italian fishermen in 1964 off the eastern town of Fano, near Pesaro.The Italian
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 11, 2010
A collection of Valentine letters and cards sent to a relative of the present day Duchess of Kent during the 1850s have been unearthed in a county records office.
The 22 illustrated Valentines were sent by would-be suitors to Catherine Worsley, daughter of Sir William Worsley of Hovingham, in the 1850s.
Three generations of the family later, Katharine Worsley, married into Royalty and is now the Duchess of Kent. Catherine was considere
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 11, 2010
Gordon Brown has admitted for the first time that he believed he, and not Tony Blair, should have become prime minister when New Labour came to power.
leader John Smith’s death, and that he had the experience and skills to lead the country.
Mr Brown admitted that he and Mr Blair had fights during Labour’s first 10 years in office and that their relationship was “incredibly difficult”. His remarks confirm the simmering feud that characterised much of the time the pair
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 11, 2010
Academics have attacked a decision by a top university to scrap research into English history before 1700.
It was claimed that the move by Sussex University risked jeopardising the nation’s understanding of the subject and “entrenching the ignorance of the present”.
Under plans, research and in-depth teaching into periods such as the Tudors, the Middle-Ages, Norman Britain, the Viking invasion and the Anglo-Saxons will be scrapped, along with the Civil Wars.
Source: Huffington Post
February 11, 2010
Former President Bill Clinton had two stents inserted in one of his heart arteries after being hospitalized with chest pains, an adviser said Thursday. Clinton, 63, "is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," said adviser Douglas Band.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left Washington and headed to New York to be with her husband, who underwent the procedure at New York Presbyteria
Source: NYT
February 10, 2010
The climactic moment in William Faulkner’s 1942 novel “Go Down, Moses” comes when Isaac McCaslin finally decides to open his grandfather’s leather farm ledgers with their “scarred and cracked backs” and “yellowed pages scrawled in fading ink” — proof of his family’s slave-owning past. Now, what appears to be the document on which Faulkner modeled that ledger as well as the source for myriad names, incidents and details that populate his fictionalized Yoknapatawpha County has been discovered.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 11, 2010
Opposition leaders were attacked and security forces flooded the streets of Iran's major cities on Thursday as the authorities put down protests they feared would mar rallies to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic.
The three men who have become unofficial leaders of the "Green" opposition movement all faced off against police and plain-clothes government security forces as they tried to join government rallies.
There were contradictory repor
Source: Time.com
February 11, 2010
A day before Deborah Melville's death in July 2007, the 12-year-old was visited by a Northern Territory child-protection worker at her foster home outside of Darwin, Australia. The caseworker noted the girl's distress, who, according to the Australian media, was crying on the kitchen floor when she arrived. The social worker comforted Deborah, reassuring her that she would not be uprooted and moved to another home.
Melville, an indigenous child placed in the care of her great-aunt a
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
February 10, 2010
She was the mystery figure at Hitler's side that the world never knew about during the lifespan of the Third Reich.
Now the first comprehensive biography of Eva Braun reveals how the hidden First Lady of Nazism was the polar opposite of everything her beloved Adolf decreed should be found in a woman.
'Eva Braun: Life With Hitler,' by renowned German historian Heike B. Goertemaker, paints Eva not as an air-head besotted by a dominant man, but a fiercely loyal, independe
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
February 10, 2010
British children of the time were playing marbles and hidding in air raid shelters.
But for youngsters under the Third Reich, this board game was invented to teach them the tactics of warfare - against a British foe.
The war time amusement, Adlers Luftverteidigungs spiel, which translates as the Eagle Air Defence Game, involves two or more players attacking enemy positions on a geographically illustrated board while defending friendly territory.
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