International News

Regina, Canada - The Queen's 22nd Visit to Canada

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip enjoyed their 9-day visit to Saskatchewan and attended the celebration the province's entry into the confederation. Animal rights activists in a bear costume, appeared with signs begging her majesty to "...save my skin." They attended a ceremony at First Nations University in Regina in order to honor Native veterans with their host, Chief Alphonse Bird whose head dress proved no match for the wind. This is the 22nd visit to Canada by the Queen. Regina's Latin name was chosen in honor of queen Victoria. The city's main streets now are Victoria and Albert. The 79-year-old monarch said her mother spoke very highly of Canada and described it as her "home away from home." The Queen's memories from her 22 visits to Canada remain fresh, including her previous visit to Saskatchewan 18-years ago.

Global - Autism, a Curable Condition?

Approximately 1 in every 300 pre-school children will develop autism. Scientists at the Fourth International Meeting of Autism Research in Boston discovered that affected children have abnormal immune system responses and they hope their findings could be used to develop a blood test to screen for this behavioral disorder. Low levels of immune-signaling proteins called cytokines in children with autism was found. Finding a sensitive and accurate biological marker for autism that can be revealed by a simple blood test would have enormous implications. Today, affected children receive treatment, which was developed in California, by the Norwegian-born psychologist Ivar Lovaas. Therapists breakdown language and mental and physical tasks into components that are repeated until an autistic child masters them. This particular treatment, while effective, is extremely expensive, costing approximately $60,000 each year per child. In other news on autism,  Interestingly, Abby, a golden retriever trained service dog was recently inducted into the Purina Animal Hall of Fame in Toronto and awarded a medal for helping 7-year-old Kyle Wiltsie cope with autism.

Rome, Italy - Did Leonardo Da Vinci paint the Christ Child?

The Adoration of the Christ Child, hanging in Rome's Galleria Borghese, is believed to have been painted in the late 15th century or early 16th, and depicts Joseph and Mary gazing down at the infant Jesus. A 1926 study by art critic Roberto Longhi generated wide support for the Fra Bartolommeo thesis, but doubts have remained. Attribution of the painting has long been in question and other names have come up through the centuries - Raphael and Ghirlandaio. A newly discovered fingerprints in the paint, along with stylistic similarities, are making experts think of Leonardo Da Vinci, who sometimes left a digital imprint on his works as a sort of signature.

Washington D.C., USA - Aga Khan Receives Architecture Award

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV has been awarded the 2005 Vincent Scully Prize for his dedication to improving the built environment in the Islamic world. Aga Khan IV was a Harvard educated man, is the spiritual leader for approximately 25 million Ismailis who live in two dozen countries around the world. He is one of the world's greatest leaders in development. In Toronto, an Aga Khan Museum is currently being built, which will include ceramics, metallic work, and paintings from all periods of Islamic history. It will include a 1052 edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine.The Vincent Scully Prize created in 1999 and named for Yale University's revered professor emeritus of architectural history. Previous winners of the award include Jan Jacobs, the author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities who received it in 2000, followed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, as well as Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.

London, UK - Picasso star in Christie's Auction

Pablo Picasso, Chaim Soutine and Yves Tanguy were star artists in Christie's international auction of Impressionist and Modern Art, that raised £41 million, up 36% from a previous sale of such works. Christie sold 82% of its displayed works. However, some high-priced pictures by Pierre Bonnard, Edgar Degas, and Emile Bernard did not sell. Soutine's Le Patissier de Cagnes went for £5 million. Tanguy's Les Derniers Jours was sold for £4 million. The competition was livelier for Picasso's 1965 brightly-colored painting Chat et Homard (cat-and-lobster). With a top estimate of £1.2 million, it took £2.2 million pounds from a collector bidding on the phone. The auction kicked off a week of sales of impressionist, modern, surrealist, and contemporary art showing that certain pictures can still attract buyers even though prices have risen.

San Francisco, USA - Lou Gehrig's Researcher Develops Disorder

Dr. Richard Olney, the famous neurologist and former head of center for the study of Lou Gehrig's disease at the University of California, has been diagnosed for the disease himself. Lou Gehrig's disease was named after the New York Yankees slugger who died in 1941. The disease, whose scientific name is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS), affects brain cells that control muscles but logical, cognitive and intellectual capacities remain intact, leaving the victim immobilized. About 10,000 new ALS cases are diagnosed in the USA each year. Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein, ALS researcher at John Hopkins University, is among the researchers developing a possible treatment using gene therapy. Currently, the researchers are testing on humans a common virus they have engineered to carry a gene that produces a growth factor directly to the brain and spinal cord.

Portugal - Sor Lucia Dos Santos Visions

The Portuguese Carmelite nun known worldwide as Sor (Sister) De Jesus Dos Santos was an icon to devout Catholics and one of the church's most influential women of the 20th century. She had a series of visions of the Virgin Mary near the Portuguese town of Fatima, south east of Leiria in 1917. She predicted the rise and fall of Communist Russia, flu pandemics, the Second World War and the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, which took place in St. Peters Square in 1981. The Pope believed that her visions had saved his life, leading him to visit her in 2000. Sister Lucia (1907-2005) who had been deaf, blind, and ailing for several years died in her room in the Carmelite convent of Santa Teresa in the city of Coimbra.

North America - Will the Monarch Butterflies Disappear?

Robert Pile, a researcher who has studied the butterflies for more than 30 years, and author of the book Chasing Monarchs, noted that there is a dramatic decline in the number of monarch butterflies, Canada's national colored insect, which he found very disturbing. Mexico's Environment Department said that 75% fewer monarch butterflies have appeared in 2005 compared to previous years, blaming cold weather and agricultural practices in Canada and the USA. Up to 200 million monarchs head for Mexico, where they cluster for the winter in a few forested areas, including Monarch ecosystem, Oyamel fir forest. In the spring, they head north again and disperse across North America.

Kiev, Ukraine - Princess of the Orange Revolution

Ukraine's political crisis has made Yulia Tymoshenko, 44, a heroine and a familiar figure in the Orange Revolution, which forced the redo of the fraudulent November 21, 2004 presidential election. Many credit her as the driving force behind the campaign which pushed Viktor Yushchenko to becoming the president of Ukraine. The current Prime Minister of Ukraine is a controversial personality, as she is inspirational. Pollsters say that while she constantly ranks as one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine, she also scores high on the list of the most disliked. Her business enemies nicknamed her the "Gas Princess," since she was one of the founders of the giant United Energy Systems of Ukraine. The diminutive blond woman in a black fur coat and high-heeled winter boots was lifted on top of a bus, grabbing a microphone and chanting for Yushchenko, was a common scene at the time of the political unrest in the country late last year.

Paris, France - Memoirs of Marlon Brando's Ex-Wife

The memoirs of Marlon Brando's Tahitian former wife, Tarita Teriipaia, entitled Marlon, My Love, My Suffering is one of the best-sellers in France. The book lifts the lid on the secretive author's troubled life and the suicide of their daughter Cheyenne and discusses the tortured 43-year relationship. Brando landed in Tahiti in late-1960 to film Mutiny on the Bounty, in which Tarita, 63-years-old today, was cast as his love interest. Tarita was born to a fisherman on the French Polynesian Island of Bora Bora. Brando worshipped his daughter, but when she began having violent fits, he withdrew and consigned her to a series of psychiatric institutions. Brando's son by Welsh actress Anna Kashfi was sentenced to 10-years in jail for the murder of Cheyenne's boyfriend. She never recovered from this tragedy and hanged herself at age 25. Tarita mentions in her book, "Marlon attracted me, at the same time he scared me. Despite everything, we loved each other. It was probably impossible but it was our love."

USA - Controversial Christo's New York Gates

Six hundred workers raised 7,500 rectangular orange arcs threading along 37-kilometers of foot paths, as part of the artist Christo's  mammoth Central Park project, The Gates. They are built of hard vinyl square tubes that reach 4.87-metres, and vary in width from 1.67-5.8-metres. The Gates have been engineered to be as simple as an Ikea bookshelf. While some New Yorkers and tourists enjoyed the Central Park artwork, others were not interested with the saffron fabric of Christo's project. Critics of The Gates antagonized the city and the artists for the exorbitant amount of money spent on the spectacle. Interestingly, before the official opening of the project, a curious dog walker strolled through The Gates with plenty of dogs!

Ottawa, Canada - Rediscovery of the Shaman Artist

A fierce battle has erupted over the work of Norval Morrisseau - involving allegations of concerted deception, market manipulation and forgeries being produced in an almost factory-like manner. He is the most famous First Nations painter in Canada, the man who's revolutionary, color-packed synthesis of Native mythology and personal expression pushed him into the mainstream of Canadian art. Next February 2006, the National Gallery will unveil a three-month retrospective of 60 Morrisseau works and will mark the first time a First Nations artist has been given a solo showcase in the Gallery's 126 year history. The 73-year-old Canadian artist, is living now in a nursing home in Nanaimo where he is being treated for Parkinson's Disease, which slowed his artist output to virtually nothing since 2001. A five member experts committee are investigating the flood of allegedly fake Morrisseau painting, that have entered the art market in recent years. He stated that the "Kinsman Robinson's Galleries are my sole authorized representations in Canada. Artworks sold by them are guaranteed to be done by me." Morrisseau's colorful pictographic paintings, sometimes referred to as Woodland Indian Art, have been lauded for their fusion of Native themes with the European easel-painting tradition. In the late-60s, he was living and sleeping on the streets of Vancouver, selling paintings for as little as $10 to buy alcohol. He produced many paintings to support his bad habits. By the 1970s, his paintings were selling for tens of thousands of dollars, and the creator was named a member to the Order of Canada. Starting in February 2006, Morrisseau will be the subject of a 3-month retrospective subtitled, "Shaman Artist" at the National Gallery in Ottawa which will include all his genuine work.

Ethiopia - Modern Humans Date Back 159,000 Years

Paleontologist Dr. Richard Leakey claims to have evidence of modern humans' existence dating back 159,000 years. His research, published in the journal Nature, reported that new dating analysis of Ethiopian rocks found nearly 40 years ago holding the partial skulls of two modern humans, concludes that the remains date back to that era. The Australian geologist Ian McDougell, re-examined Dr. Leakey's study and concluded that the early human bones are very close in age to a layer of ash laid down 196,000 years ago. American anthropologist, Prof. John Fleagle, noted that "there is a huge debate in archeological literature regarding modern aspects of behavior. There was a great time gap between the appearance of the modern skeleton and the modern behavior."

USA - Revisiting Atkin's Diet

Recently, the Annals of Internal Medicine published a detailed study by Dr. Boden on the Atkin's Diet. The ten participants in the first week were allowed to eat anything they wanted, with 3000 calories and 300 grams of carbohydrates daily. In the two remaining weeks, they were placed on the induction phase of Atkin's Diet, which limited them to no more than 20 grams of carbs daily, forbidding all breads, pastries, soft drinks, potatoes, pasta, rise, milk, fruits, and most vegetables. Dieters, can eat unlimited amounts of red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayonnaise, and butter. The dieters lost an average of almost 2 kg over the two week period - all the loss was in fat. Those suffering from diabetes saw their blood sugar and cholesterol levels improving. Dr. George Bray, chief of clinical obesity at Pennington Biomedical Research Centre said, "low carbohydrate diets may have a place in the treatment of obesity and that what matters in a diet is restricting the caloric intake. Interestingly, the number of adult people adopting low-carb diets dropped from 10% to below 5% as shown in a recent survey, raising the question of whether Atkin's Diet revolution is over?!

Canada - Protection of Grizzly Bears

Canadian scientists have been warning about the decline of the grizzly bear population. When spring comes to the Alberta Foot Hills, some hunters head into the wilderness in search of the ultimate big-game trophy: a grizzly bear. An eminent wildlife biologist, Ray Makowecki, said "it is very difficult to count bears. The new estimates are in the 700 range." The government has responded by reducing the number of hunting permits offered annually. Recently, 19 North American scientists urged Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to enforce the declaration of grizzlies as a threatened species under the province's Wildlife Act. In 2002, the grizzly bear status was changed from a species that "may be at risk" to one that is "threatened." Some have reported that in British Columbia, there are an estimated 13,800 grizzly bears. The bear-license draw in B.C. is open to foreign hunters who pay up to $12,000 to hunt a grizzly, while the Alberta draw is restricted to provincial residents.

Stockholm, Sweden - Hemmingway and "art of the novel"

Recently, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that the Swedish Academy had been considering the war correspondent and the classic American novelist Ernest Hemingway for up to seven years before he was awarded the Nobel laureate for literature in 1954. In 1947, the Swedish writer Per Hallstrom criticized Hemmingway, the author of For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises, for hurling readers straight into the story, a practice that had "little to do with the act of the novel." Hemmingway was discussed again in 1950, but his Across The River and Into The Trees story was found by the head of the Academy to contain, "a regretful relaxation, both in terms of technique and human interest." It was a narrative of an old Cuban fisherman's struggle against nature, that finally persuaded the Swedish Academy that  Hemmingway was not too rich or too famous to be honored a Nobel Prize.

USA - Shakespeare: A Woman?

American author, Robin Williams, argues that Shakespeare was actually a woman: Mary Sidney, the Countess of Pembroke. Newsweek said "Sidney is a logical suspect, she was the most educated woman in England after Elizabeth I." She gathered leading writers around her in a sort of literary salon dedicated to elevating English literature. Sidney-as-bard...would clarify why the first collection of Shakespeare's plays was dedicated to the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery--Sidney's sons--and it would explain Ben Johnson's phrase "sweet swan of Avon." She had two estates on the River Avon and her personal symbol was the swan. Case closed? Robin Williams will be presenting his theory at a conference of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust in London in June.

Vancouver, BC, Canada - Dr. Kalla's Pandemic

Dr. Daniel Kalla, a 38-year old emergency doctor at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital suddenly is being compared to superstar suspense writers such as Chikov, Robert Ludlum, Nelson De Mille, John Le Carré, John Irving, Yousef Adris, Tom Robbins, and Khairy Shalabi. Two years ago, Vancouver's only confirmed SARS patient was discovered. Later, Dr. Kalla was appointed director of the hospital's SARS-screening taskforce. This proved to be the inspiration for Pandemic, his first published novel, a best-selling thriller about a new killer flu unleashed on the world by suspected fundamentalist bio-terrorists. The book delivered fully-fledged characters and neatly resolving a domestic drama which proved to be due to a mysterious new strain of influenza, leading to acute respiratory collapse. Dr. Kalla had only taken a couple of courses in script writing at Simon Fraser University, before writing this book. Pandemic is now flying off shelves and has already hit number 2 on the best-selling paperback books list.

Mexico - Discovering Our OTHER North American Neighbor

The 2004 Dorothy J. Killam Memorial Lecture series in Dalhousie University was entitled "Mexico, Our OTHER North American Neighbor." Three of the main speakers from Mexico are a leading political figure, an international diplomat, and a widely recognized author. Dr. John Kirk, professor of Spanish and Dalhousie University Research Professor said, "the idea of looking at Mexico through the Killam Lecture series is timely indeed. Trade with Mexico has risen dramatically in recent years. The study of Mexico has also increased. Here at Dalhousie [University], we have 23 students spending the Fall semester studying Spanish in Mexico. Mexico, too, is part of North America and is our other neighbor in the region. It is in the long term interest of both Mexico and Canada for us to know each other and this series is one step along that road." The 2004 series included a lecture on "Mexico and the Challenges of the 21st Century" by Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the president of the Foundation for Democracy in Mexico City. Another lecture, "Canada-Mexico and the Futrue of North America" was given by Andres Rozental a special presidential envoy and expert in international affairs. The final lecture by one of Mexico's foremost poets and novelists, Homero Aridjis entitled, "Towards an Understanding of Mexican Culture."

Michigan, USA - Cure for Lymphoma Patients

Dr. Mark Kaminski of the University of Michigan's Cancer Center, found that about 75% of patients with follicular lymphoma (a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) had a complete remission after 5 years which happens with only one week treatment with bexxar injections. This study Dr. Kaminski published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has been viewed by many other scientists as a great breakthrough for the treatment of lymphoma patients. This chemotherapy, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKlein, contains a radioactive antibody that targets then zaps lymphoma tumors throughout the body, while leaving surrounding healthy cells intact, with no hair loss.

Tokyo, Japan - Princess Aiko will succeed father to the throne

Japan's royal family are facing their most serious succession crisis in centuries. The current law bars women from ascending the Chrysanthemum Throne and no boy has been born to the Emperor family since the 1960s. Japan's Princess Aiko, the 3-year-old daughter of Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife will be next the throne after her father.

Montreal, QC, Canada - Hero's war medals for sale

Eight years after his death, the youngest son of a Canadian war hero is auctioning off his father's medals. Canada's most famous French-speaking soldier's, Brigadier-General Dollard Menard, was celebrated in front page newspaper articles nationwide. Menard was lionized as a hero after he continued to direct his men despite being wounded five times during the bloody 1942 raid. Throughout his service, he earned the "Distinguish Service Order," the French Legion of Honour, the United Nations Bronze Medal for Peacekeeping among other awards.  He left behind a legacy and many accounts of his harsh experiences during the war. The Dieppe raid affected him to the point that he shunned barbeques because he could not stand the smell of burning flesh. Menard died in 1997 at age 83.

Monaco - Prince Rainer's Journey

Prince Rainer III was Europe's longest serving monarch and head of the 700-year-old Grimaldi dynasty in Monaco--which encompasses less than 250 hectares. It was in 1297, that Francois Grimaldi and his Guelph supporters seized the fortress in that tiny corner of the south of France, not far from Nice. Prince Rainer achieved global fame in 1956 when he married the 27-year old Hollywood movie star, Grace Kelly. Before his marriage, he had lived with the French actress, Gisele Pascal but he left her after medical tests determined that she could not have children. His wife, Grace, died in 1982 as a result of a car accident, leaving behind three children, Albert, Caroline and Stephanie. Fame and titles had not brought happiness to the heavy-smoking prince, recently looked like he was more than 100-years-old, but was actually 82. He died after a long struggle from heart, kidney and respiratory diseases. His son Albert, a regular in Hollywood celebrity circles has assumed the throne.

Sweden - Count Bernadette's Exotic Flowers

Count Lennart cultivated rare plants, exotic flowers and trees on the island. The park attracts today more than one million visitors yearly. Count Lennart Bernadotte was born in Stockholm in May 1909 and died on his island of Mainau, Germany on December 2004 when he was 95-years-old. The Swedish prince and contender for the Swedish throne, wed a commoner, Karin Nissvandt, giving up his royal title, retreating to 40-hectare, unusually palmy, German island, which he built into a tourist attraction. He lived there for more than half a century. He was the only child of Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. After his parents divorced, his uncle King Gustav V and aunt Queen Victoria of Sweden, took over his upbringing. His family entrusted its property on Mainau, an island in Lake Constance, to his care in 1932 - the same year he got married. He and his first wife had four children until divorcing in 1970, following which he married his assistant from whom he had five more children. Besides his horticultural interests, the Count was also an amateur photographer and filmmaker and wrote several plays for local theatre groups. Most of the picture postcards of Mainau, came from his camera.

China - The Reptile-Mammals of the Mesozoic Era

The 130-million-year-old fossils found in northeastern China described in January 2005 in Nature journal, suggested that ancient mammals deserve more respect. Dr. Meng Jin, curator of paleo-ontology at the American Museum of Natural History said that the fossil record is too scant for researchers to know whether such large mammals were alive when dinosaurs disappeared 65-million-years-ago. Some of the recently discovered fossils were the size of a large dog, had the teeth and jaws of carnivores and included smaller dinosaurs on their menus. Dr. Meng and his colleagues dubbed the new group of creatures Repenomamus, or reptile-mammals.

British Columbia, Canada - Basketball player with Tourette Syndrome

Ken Hilborn, a 6 foot-7, 210 pounds Ken is a native of Coquitlam, B.C., joins the ranks of other athletes with Tourette syndrome. When Ken was 4 years old, his parents noticed continuous blinking of his eyes. As an adult, when he became a member of the University of Toronto Blues basketball team, he showed involuntary, sudden body movements and often uncontrollable vocal sounds. He was later diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome, a disorder which affects nearly 2% of the general population. Other celebrities diagnosed with this syndrome, like Jim Fisenreich who enjoyed a 15-year baseball career and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, former NBA basketball player. The Hockey Night in Canada commentator, Elliott Friedman, learned about 14 years ago that he also has a mild form of Tourette Syndrome. Ken is now a 23-year-old criminology and sociology graduate from the University of Toronto.

Germany - "The Young and Breastless"

As a youngster, Gabriele Helms loved horses, skier, and rock-and-roll dance. She studied Russian, Greek, Spanish and English. As a student, Gabriele joined the University of British Columbia (UBC) on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service in 1988 to gain her PhD in Canadian literature. After earning the degree and winning the Jean Elder Prize for the dissertation written by a woman that year, she suffered a miscarriage in 2001, several weeks later she found a lump which was diagnosed as breast cancer. This was a very difficult diagnosis for her to handle at this young age while planning to have a baby. In May 2003, she then started a conference called, "The Young and Breastless," the first national event for young Canadian women with breast cancer, which was held a year later at UBC. She became pregnant again in the summer of 2004 and was admitted to hospital with an enlarged liver. On November 29, an ultrasound revealed she was carrying a baby girl and that her cancer had metastasized. However, she decided to carry the baby until it could be born by cesarean and then she would undergo aggressive cancer treatment. The baby was born at 26 weeks and Dr. Helms died two days later on New Year's eve. "The Young and Breastless" campaign has now become a national symbol for the fight against cancer.

France - Tolstoy in Oprah Winfrey Book Club

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonski, the husband and wife team, whose English translation of the Tolstoy classic love story Anna Karenina, was selected by Oprah to her book club on her show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah's show is watched by millions. Soon after the selection, the translation of Anna Karenina topped Amazon's online bestseller list, and Penguin Books decided to print one million copies. The husband and wife translators also had translated a collection of novels by Chekhov and two short novels by Dostoyevski, and are now working on Tolstoy's epic War and Peace. Oprah revived her Book Club last June with a twist, recommending only classics 3 to 5 selections a year, after a hiatus of more than a year. The club had been discontinued in 2002 when she could not keep up with the reading required to find contemporary books that she enjoyed. East of Eden by John Steinbeck was the first book she selected upon the revival. With 46 recommendations in 6 years, Winfrey had championed a diverse group of modern authors - Toni Morrison, Wally Lamb and Mary McGarry.  

USA - FDR After 60 Years

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who founded the welfare state in America, died sixty years ago. He was described publicly as sphinx-like with intermittent coldness to his wife. FDR's patrimony: massive public spending to help the poor and changed; strong labor law; the Wagner Act designed to encourage the formation of unions; creation of the United Nations with U.S. adherence to international law; and a strict regulation of an out-of-control arrogant Wall Street finance system. Three of FDR's initiatives-- the payroll-funded social security system, the 'make-work' Works Progress Administration, and the Securities and Exchange Commission constituted the most radical transformations of the American political system since the suffrage laws were passed. FDR, the "American fox" had been crippled due to polio and as president-elect survived an assassination attempt which claimed the life of Chicago mayor, who was in the car at the time of the shooting.

Global - Discovering Our Ancient Ancestors

Dr. Spencer Wells, a population geneticist at Oxford University, has traced his family tree back 45,000 years to when his ancestors left Africa for the Middle East. Generations later, at the start of the last Ice Age, they trekked up through the grasslands of central Asia, and emerged as the first modern "Western Europeans." Through DNA studies, he succeeded to reach this conclusion after looking to hundreds of populations with indigenous groups from these regions. Dr. Wells and his colleagues hope to gather one of the largest collections of human DNA, analyze it with some of the world's most powerful computers, and show that humanity has taken a common journey over the past 60,000 years that leaves us all closely interconnected. They will be soliciting anonymous DNA donations from the public and giving them the ability to trace their own ancestry on the internet. The genographic project is a partnership between the National Geographic Society and IBM, designed to chart human development in the past few thousand years. Perhaps the team will be able to find traces of Alexander the Great's armies in today's Central Asian populations or it may discover what impact the Inca Empire had on North and South America.

Edinburgh, Scotland - Novelist Toni Morrison's Battles

The African-American 73-year-old Nobel Prize winner, Pulitzer Prize winner and Princeton University professor, Tony Morrison, presented her most recent novel Love to an intellectual gathering at Channings Hotel in Edinburgh, UK. She is the most feted and loved writers in all America with her novels selling in the millions, thanks at least in part to her having been featured in her friend, Oprah Winfrey's Book Club. She was born in Ohio and insists she felt the effects of poverty far more than racism. After school, she went to Howard, an all-Black university in Washington, where she met her husband, a Jamaican architect named Harold Morrison. They divorced after six years when she was pregnant with her second child. She moved to New York and worked as an editor at Random House. She was almost 40 when her first novel, The Bluest Eye, the story of a black girl who longs to look like Shirley Temple. Her next book, Sula, sold modestly but her third, The Song of Solomon in 1977 won the Critics Circle Award. Her next five novels, including Beloved, were best-sellers, which led to her receiving the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993, following which she commented, "No! I have not succeeded at anything. I have written good, sometimes great books. But, for me, success is not a public thing. It is a private thing. It is when you have fewer and fewer regrets."

Egypt - King Tut's New Face

The first C-scan facial reconstruction of King Tut's mummy has produced images strikingly similar to the Golden King's ancient portraits and bears a strong resemblance to the gold mask of King Tut, found in his tomb in 1922 by the British excavators Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Three teams of forensic scientists from Egypt, France and the US working independently, each building a model of the pharaoh's face of 1700 high-resolution photos from CT scans of his mummy to reveal what he looked like the day he died nearly 3,000 years ago. Dr. Zahi Hawass, leader of the Egyptian scientific team and secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council Antiquities, said the shape of the face and skull are remarkably similar to a famous image of Tutankhamen as a child, where he was shown as the sun god at dawn rising from a lotus blossom. The three teams came up with portraits of the king as a 19-year-old Caucasoid North African, who was slightly built, 5 feet 6 inches tall with a baby face and chubby cheeks. The French sculptor, Elizabeth Daynes, presented the king as a doe-eyed teenager. The American version showed him with a markedly weaker chin and sharper nose, while the Egyptian team had differently shaped ears than the other two. In addition to discovering what the king looked like, the CT scans debunked the notion that he was murdered, discovering that the mysterious lump in the back of his skull seen in an 1968 x-ray was just a hardened clump of embalming resin.

Vancouver, Canada - Black-Market to Mutilated Bald Eagle Parts

Last  February, more than two dozen mutilated bald eagles were discovered in the woods of North Vancouver. The discovery sparked disgust among animal lovers and activists, raising speculations about possible culprits who use eagle parts, including feathers and talons for ceremonial purposes. In 1999, conservation officers broke up an eagle smuggling ring that has trafficked parts from 158 birds to the U.S.A. The large pinoine feathers on eagles wing can sell on the black market for $100 a piece. Breast feathers fetch $10 and eagle down is plucked and used in head dresses which sell for up to $85,000.

Bald eagles are a protected species under British Columbia's Wildlife Act.  Violators face up to $50,000 in compensation. The annual eagle gathering draws bird lovers from across the continent. David Hancock, the author of Adventures with Eagles, said the major market for eagle parts would be within the native community - largely in the United States, (Eagle feathers and taloines would be of value mostly for use on Indian regalia).

When RCMP officers searched his room on the Cowichin Reserve looking for illegal eagle parts. His son Terry (51 years old) a spiritual mask dancer and renowned craftsman who made ritual costumes with eagle feathers, down, talons and whistle shapes from bones was arrested in Florida  in 1999. They found parts of 153 eagles in his home to sell them to spirit dancers and winter dancers. Terry became famous for his skills in weaving eagle feathers into dance costumes.

In the U.S. trial, Terry's lawyer said the case illustrated the clash of cultures, but he got 2 years in jail and a fine of about $250,000. In only 2 hours, the jury convicted him under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Still, there is a tremendous black-market demand for eagle parts on the bow-wow circuit in North America and huge sums of money are paid to get eagle feathers, feet, heads and other parts. Interestingly, at the various annual bow-wows held across North America, participants compete for tens of thousands of dollars in prize money awarded for the best costumes and dances.

Atlanta, USA - Jane Fonda's Life So Far.    

On her 60th birthday, the two-time Oscar-winning actor, Jane Fonda, delivered her new 579-page book entitled "My Life So Far." She chronicles her life in terms of men who influenced it. Her father, who was cold and remote, who's wife committed suicide by slitting her throat in a mental hospital when Jane was still 12 years old. Her first husband, the late French filmmaker, Roger Vadim, politician and activist, Tom Hayden and her third husband, the CNN mogul, Ted Turner. She mentioned how she suffered from bulimia since her teenage years. She had added breast implants, but she had them removed later. Though she exercises regularly, she has an arthritic hip-joint and will have hip replacement surgery very soon. Fonda's two foundations are the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and the Jane Fonda Centre for Adolescent Reproductive Health. 

California, USA - Music by Mozart and Beethoven Stimulates Brain

In 1993, researchers from the University of California reported that a group of college students who listened to Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major experienced an increased IQ. Dr. Gordon Shaw speculated that hearing such music might only provide a warm-up exercise for parts of the brain that perform high levels of abstract thinking. As an expert on particle physics, Dr. Shaw began studying classical music's effects on higher level thinking after a chance reading of a 1973 paper on brain theory. He devised a computer model to match musical notes to brain patterns and reported that it was not Mozart, but it sounded like Western classical music. He began to see music as a possible window on the brain and that Mozart's music prepared the brain for more difficult tasks. In 1998, he co-founded the non-profit Music Intelligence Neural Development Institute, which developed a curriculum and piano keyboard training to improve math learning. Recently, Dr. Shaw died, 72, of kidney cancer, with one of his last papers showing that Mozart's music is better than Beethoven's at stimulating the brain with no particular reason why that was the case. 

Toronto, Canada - Curing an Incurable Lung Disease

Dr. Duncan Stewart, director of the cardiology division at the University of Toronto, and his colleagues are looking for a cure to a fatal lung disease--Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PEH)--that can leave people breathless simply from combing their hair. Many patients die waiting for a lung transplant, but the Toronto group will use stem cells, genetically primed to repair and regenerate new blood vessels. The therapy involves collecting stem cells from the patient's blood stream and the corrective cells will be delivered straight to the site of the body where they are needed, helping to bolster a gene that had become lazy.

Newfoundland, Canada - Memoirs of a Rural Doctor

In 1944, Dr. Noel Murphy ran a cottage hospital in isolated western Newfoundland. Almost sixty years ago, he arrived in St. John's few days after VE-Day and the time of the death of US president Franklin Roosevelt. For a decade, he was the medical officer in charge in a hospital serving 7,000 persons. He was the only doctor in charge, handling out-patients, in-patients, emergency department, as well as taking x-rays. He was also responsible for preventive medicine, health education, pulling teeth and was often called out to crime and accident scenes. To reach patients, he traveled by horse and sleigh, and later the federal government provided a bombardier snowmobile. In 1954, he took up private practice in nearby Corner Brook, where he specialized in obstetrics and also won three terms as mayor in Corner Brook. He also became active in politics, running for the Conservatives in 1962, later becoming leader of the opposition. Among his awards are an honorary doctorate in law from Memorial University (Newfoundland), Canadian Broadcaster of the Year in 1984, and Order of Canada 1988. In 2003, he published his memoirs in the book, "Cottage Hospital Doctor: The Medical History of Dr. Noel Murphy 1945-1954." He died at the age of 89 of kidney failure in Corner Brook.

Arkansas, USA - "Extinct" Woodpecker Reappears

The Ivory-billed woodpecker was for decades thought to be extinct. After 61 years, scientists reported 7 confirmed sightings in Arkansas Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. The Science magazine published last April, at least one-male ivory-bill is living in Arkansas's Big Woods habitat of oak forest, bayous and oxbow lakes. Dr. John Fitzpatrick, director of Cornell University's laboratory of ornithology was behind this remarkable story. In February 2004, an amateur naturalist reported a large red-crested bird flew towards him in the Arkansas's Big Woods. Prof. David Luneau of University of Arkansas, captured four seconds of video showing an apparent ivory-bill flying off a tree's trunk.

Seoul, South Korea - Medical Breakthrough from "Nuclear Transfer"

The journal Science presented a South Korean scientific breakthrough led by Prof. Woo Suk Hwang and Dr. Gerald Schatten, a University of Pittsburgh biologist. The new nuclear transfer technology can be used safely to provide an effective treatment, perhaps even cure, to many devastating diseases and spinal cord injuries. Patients with Alzheimer's Disease, diabetes mellitus, cancer, genetic immuno-defficiency disorders and Parkinson's may benefit from this breakthrough. Scottish scientist, Ian Wilmut, also known as "Dolly's cloner," expressed his interest in working with the South Korean on Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr. Paulberg, a Nobel Laureate from Stanford University said, "it is a tremendous advance. Dr. Stephan Minger, director of stem cell biology lab at Kings' College London was enthusiastic about the discovery, "it is fantastic - a major major breakthrough."

Egypt - Al-Ahram Canadian University (ACU)

Dr. Farouk Ismail, president of the newly established Al-Ahram Canadian University, announced that the recently constructed university in Egypt has began accepting applications into four programs for its first academic year. The curriculum includes courses in pharmacy, communications, management, and computer studies. Mr. Ibrahim Nafie, the chief editor of Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram and head of ACU's board of directors, noted that the university has a brand new building in the 6th October City (a suburb of Cairo). The inaugural year for ACU will illustrates the cooperation and collaboration of four Canadian universities, which are: University du Quebec au Montreal, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, McMaster University, and the University of New Brunswick.

Canada - Richard Lyons Restores Native "Ojibwa Culture"

Before Richard Lyons learned to dance, Ojibwa culture in Northwestern Ontario was quietly slipping its way towards extinction. The son of an interpreter for the Department of Indian Affairs of the Couchiching, studied grass dancing and later moved to traditional styles based on war dances. In 1972, he founded the Dick Lyons Dance Troupe which performed for Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to Thunder Bay in 1973. That single event turned into a large annual pow-wow which now takes place every Canada Day. Richard Lyns, who died of cancer at age of 80, was a spiritual advisor to aboriginal inmates in the Thunder Bay district and the founder of Dilico-Ojibway Child and Family Services. The man who restored Native culture and spirituality to Ontario was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002.

Canada - May is Ontario Museums Month 

Last May 18, Ontario's museums, galleries and historic sites celebrated the provinces 150th anniversary. In Ottawa, the spectacular Canadian War Museum officially opened, just nearby Parliament Hill, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of VE-Day. The striking design is by Raymond Moriyama. The museum brings together works from Australia, Britain and Canada. Some of them never before publicly displayed. In addition, the new Museo Park in Xanier will celebrate the region's Francophone heritage. On the occasion of its 125th birthday, the National Art Gallery is presenting a treasured collection of Inuit sculptures and 125 masterpieces by Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Rafael.

South Korea - "Salamander" and Their Friends

The 48-year-old Buddhist nun, Venerable Jiyul Sunim, clings to life after a 100-day fast. She battled death to protect a rare habitat. Her long fast was a protest against government plans to blast a tunnel through the habitat of several and endangered species, including a rare salamander. Korea Ecocentre helped to file an injunction under the name "'Salamanders and their Friends," which was aimed at stopping the tunnel's construction in 2003. The injunction was rejected. While the project poses a threat to the natural habitats of several endangered species, the high-speed railway project will eventually cut travel time for the 400-km journey between Seoul and Pusan.

Iraq - Saddam and Tabloid Ethics

The Sun, Britain's biggest tabloid, and its sister publication the New York Post, splashed a photograph of a semi-nude 68-years-old deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The photos were taken 18 months ago while the former dictator awaits trial on charges of genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. Both newspapers are owned by Robert Murdoch's News Corp. Murdoch who believes this was an acceptable journalistic decision and that the pictures are an extraordinary iconic image that will be appreciated at the end of the century. Even those who dislike the former dictator considered the publication of the photos a breach of the Geneva Conventions' guidelines for the treatment of POWs . These guidelines state that POWs must be protected from "public curiosity." 

New York, USA - The 8th Dean of Magic

The professional magician, Jay Marshall, 85, died of a heart attack in Chicago. He was the 8th elected Dean of the Society of American Magicians and his picture was on the commemorative coin issued upon its centennial, three-years ago. He was the writer, editor, collector of all things magic as well as the owner of the Chicago Magic Inc. He performed 14 times on the Ed Sullivan Show, appearing with such celebrities as Paul Robson, Sid Caesar and Walter Cronkie. In the 1950s, he was editor of the New Phoenix. He then sold his huge collection of magic posters to the magician David Copperfield. When he was 7-years old, he was challenged by the performance of the legendry magician Houdini. At a magic society convention in New York, he met Naomi Baker, whose father, Al, was a Dean of Magic. He married her, but then divorced and re-married with Frances Ireland, a magician and writer. In 1993, he and his wife wrote a 3-volume book advising magicians on how to be successful. He was the originator of a famous trick known as the Jaspernese thumb-tie.

Netherlands - Dutch Pay Tribute to the Aged Canadian Liberators

On May 8, 2005, About 200,000 Dutch citizens paid tribute to the 1,500 aged Canadian veterans most of whom are in their 80s. The veterans were part of a team who liberated their country from Nazi tyranny 60 years ago. They marched and rode through Apeldoorn's streets and were greeted with unrestrained affection on the 60th anniversary of V-E Day in Europe. More than 7,600 Canadians died in the campaign to oust the Germans from the Netherlands. Some veterans managed to march through not quite in step while others were pushed in wheelchairs by family members. Some rode in military jeeps and waved to the crowds. In Ottawa, waves of cheers greeted thousands of vets who paraded down Wellington spree in front of the parliament buildings. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Conservative leader Stephen Harper placed wreaths in memory of more than 40,000 Canadians killed during the Second World War. In the photo, Canadian veteran, Sam Wormington celebrates the parade in Apeldoorn.

USA - Marilyn's playwright dies

Arhut Miller, a renowned playwright died with heart failure in February 10, 2005. His great success came at the age of 33, when he won the Triple Crown of theatrical artistry; the Pulitzer Prize, the New York's Drama Critics Circle Award, and the Tony Award. This success was as a result of his play, Death of a Salesman which had opened on Broadway that same year. The play was translated into 29 languages, and performed even in Beijing, China. Lines from the script became hallmarks of the post-War era such as, "You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away".

His works include an adaptation of Ibsen's drama in 1950, An Enemy of the People, and The Crucible, about Salem witch trials, inspired by his virulent hatred of McCarthyism. Two years later, he wrote the famous play, A View from the Bridge, which was a drama of obsession and betrayal. In 1956, he was called to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, such as his views reflected in his plays. That same year, Miller established himself as a Broadway heavyweight when he married the Hollywood star, Marylyn Monroe, a union that Norman Miller sourly remarked brought together, "the Great American Brain and the Great American Body"! For most of his 4-years of marriage with Marylyn Monroe, he wrote almost nothing, except for the play The Misfits, which he composed as a gift to his wife, who found herself increasingly tormented with drug abuse. The film premiered in 1961, shortly after the couples marriage ended in divorce and six months before Monroe committed suicide.

After the Fall, his most autobiographical play, brought him a storm of criticism in 1964. He professed surprise when critics noted the resemblance of Miss Monroe and drug-addicted blond protagonist in the play and accused him of capitalizing her fame and defiling her image. In 1965, he accepted the Presidency of Pen International, the association of poets, editors and other literary figures, and became increasingly active in defending the rights of writers. His dramas of social conscience were drawn from life and informed by the Great Depression, the event he believed had had a profound impact on his family and the United States.