Breaking News

Decades After WWII, Female Pilots Finally Honored

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:25:00 -0400

Source: NPR (7-4-09)

President Obama signed a bill Wednesday granting the Congressional Gold Medal to a group of women most Americans have never heard of: the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP.

These were the first women to fly military aircraft. During World War II, they volunteered for noncombat duty, as test pilots and trainers. They freed up their male counterparts to go to Europe and fight in the war.

But even though they wore uniforms and worked on bases, they were never considered members of the military. Their contribution to the war effort was so controversial, in fact, that all records pertaining to their service were sealed and deemed classified in 1944. That pretty much consigned the WASP to the dustbin of history for decades.

V2 rocket code woman's life story

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:21:00 -0400

Source: BBC (7-5-09)

A woman whose talent for maths helped foil German V2 bombs in World War II has published her life story.

Eileen Younghusband, 87, from the Vale of Glamorgan, received the coded message that the first V2 rocket had been launched against Britain.

She had the secret task while in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).

Her book, Not An Ordinary Life has been published with the help of the Lifelong Learning centre at Cardiff University.

Vladimir Putin rejects Barack Obama's claim he has one foot in the past

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:10:00 -0400

Source: Telegraph (UK) (7-3-09)

Vladimir Putin has insisted he is not 'bow-legged' after US President Barack Obama described him as having 'one foot' in Russia's Cold War past.

Mr Putin also called on the United States to shelve plans for a missile defence shield in Europe.

There have been some signs of hope. The two Cold War adversaries are making progress towards a deal slashing their respective nuclear arsenals while Russia agreed to allow the United States to transport arms to Afghanistan across its territory, a significant concession.

Bush Jokes About Retirement, Describes Courage as Key to American Spirit

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:04:00 -0400

Source: Foxnews (7-5-09)

Former President George W. Bush looked back as far as the signers of the Declaration of Independence and as recently as the U.S. soldiers fighting wars abroad as examples of the patriotism and bravery that define Americans.

George W. Bush marked the Fourth of July with an address to a massive crowd in Woodward, Okla., that appeared thrilled to receive the former president for its holiday celebration.

The audience at the Rodeo Arena was the largest Bush has addressed since he left office. Woodward's entire population is 12,000. By Mayor Bill Fanning's count, more than half that number showed up to hear the speech, which was part of festivities marking the $25 million renovation of a local park

The president said victims of Hurricane Katrina also displayed great courage. He then described a blind man who lost his home in the 2005 hurricane but went on to graduate summa cum laude from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Formula One Racing Chief Praises Hitler, Saddam Hussein

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:01:00 -0400

Source: The Times (UK) (7-5-09)

Bernie Ecclestone, the man who controls Formula One auto racing, said Friday that he preferred totalitarian regimes to democracies and praised Adolf Hitler for his ability to "get things done."

In an outspoken interview with The Times of London, the 78-year-old British billionaire chastised contemporary politicians for their weaknesses and extolled the virtues of strong leadership.

Instead, Ecclestone endorsed the concept of a government based on tyranny.

Last year, Mosley won a libel suit against the London tabloid News of the World after it published photos of what it said was a "Nazi sex orgy" involving him and five prostitutes.

Alberta salvagers face legal troubles

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:05:38 -0400

Source: Calgary Herald (7-3-09)

A pair of Alberta brothers accused of pillaging Yukon's history are gearing up for an unusual legal battle that sees them fighting against charges while simultaneously suing the wreckage of a Second World War bomber.

Brian and John Jasman are accused of excavating a B-26 Marauder-- an American bomber plane--from the depths of Watson Lake without a permit under the Yukon Territory's Historic Resources Act after they salvaged the nose piece in the spring.

The wreckage had sat at the bottom of the lake for more than 60 years after the plane, en route to defend Alaska, crashed in the Yukon territory.

Now, the warbird's fate is up in the air, again, caught in a power struggle between the brothers who say they have rightfully salvaged it, and the territorial government that says the plane is its to keep.

From beyond the grave, Saddam reveals all (nearly)

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:43:08 -0400

Source: Independent (UK) (7-5-09)

Some of the last, frank thoughts and confessions of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq have been revealed in transcripts of a remarkable series of interviews with the former dictator's interrogators.

Under questioning by the FBI during 20 formal interviews and at least five "casual conversations" over a four-month period from February to May 2004 after his capture by US troops in December 2003, Saddam said he had made a mistake in destroying Baghdad's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) without independent verification from UN inspectors. He also told FBI interrogators that claims he had links with Osama bin Laden were incorrect.

On WMD, Saddam said Iraq's stockpile had been "eliminated" by UN sanctions. But such was his concern about neighbouring Iran that he did not allow inspectors into Iraq for fear of appearing weak. He felt Iraq was vulnerable and he would have sought a "security agreement with the US to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region".

Berlin to pardon 30,000 Germans branded 'traitors' by the Nazis

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:18:00 -0400

Source: Daily Mail (UK) (7-4-09)

Thirty thousand Germans condemned as traitors by Nazi courts in the Second World War are to get a posthumous pardon.

Twenty thousand were executed, often for crimes as trifling as writing a diary entry criticising Hitler. The other 10,000 were sentenced in wartime but not executed.

Relatives expressed some satisfaction that at last their ancestors will have the stigma of traitor lifted from them.

New York growth besieges Revolutionary patriots' graves

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:44:00 -0400

Source: The Canadian Press (7-4-09)

Ed Spaeth was researching his family tree when he discovered an 18th-century ancestor likely was buried in the woods just down the hill from his Hudson Valley home.

Although he can't pinpoint Francois Martin-Pelland's grave, historical evidence has led Spaeth to the nearby grove believed to be the final resting place of hundreds of other Revolutionary War soldiers posted here when Fishkill was the main supply source for Gen. George Washington's northern army.

Today, commercial development has whittled the wooded parcel down to about five hectares hemmed in by roads, a shopping mall, a gas station and a Mexican restaurant. A group of preservationists, history buffs and civic leaders has mustered in this Dutchess County town to try to save what could be the single largest-known burial site of Revolutionary War soldiers in the United States.

Treasurer hunters battle over share of 500,000 pounds hoard

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:41:00 -0400

Source: Telegraph (UK) (7-4-09)

Two treasure hunters face a legal battle over how they are going to split a reward of up to £500,000 for finding a rare hoard of more than 800 Celtic gold coins.

Metal detecting enthusiast Michael Darke, 60, realised he might be on the trail of a major treasure find when he found 10 Iron age coins buried in a meadow.

He called his friend Keith Lewis, 54, for advice and invited him the following weekend to help him search the land at Dallinghoo near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Suffolk County Council archaeologists later unearthed another 42 coins from the field – making it the largest haul of Iron Age coins found in Britain since 1849.

Russian spacecraft crash landed on moon hours before Americans

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:38:00 -0400

Source: Telegraph (UK) (7-4-09)

A previously unheard recording of a Russian spacecraft attempting to beat NASA's Apollo 11 in 1969's race to the moon has been released.

In July 1969, the telescopes at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, in Cheshire, were tracking the Americans' Eagle Lander carrying astronauts towards the moon's surface.

Sir Bernard Lovell, the astronomer, was among the team listening to transmissions coming from the area of space and began tracking the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 15, which was trying to collect samples of lunar soil and rock and then return to Earth before the US mission.

The recordings from Jodrell's Lovell radio telescope, which were hidden in archives until researchers found them, show the Russian craft orbited the Moon and crash-landed onto its surface at 15:50 on July 21 – just a few hours before the Americans lifted off.

Obama, McCain Invoke Nation's Founders in Dueling Independence Day Speeches

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:34:00 -0400

Source: AP (7-4-09)

The onetime presidential rivals both cited the spirit of the nation's founders in their U.S. Independence Day radio and Internet addresses Saturday.

President Obama sought to rally support for his domestic initiatives, while Sen. John McCain called for Americans to support millions of Iranian election protesters.

Saturday Evening Post hopes to make its hallmark art, fiction new again

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Source: AP (7-4-09)

The Saturday Evening Post, a centuries-old publication that helped make illustrator Norman Rockwell a household name and showcased some of America's greatest writers, is returning to its roots to show readers the value of a quiet read in an increasingly frenetic digital age.

A redesign launching with its July/August issue combines the Post's hallmarks -- art and fiction -- with folksy commentary and health articles. The revamped Post promises a more relaxing option for people who are used to doing much of their reading online, or are simply tired of special-interest magazines crammed into tight niches.

Obama, a stickler for pronunciation

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:58:00 -0400

Source: Politico.com (7-3-09)

Bill Clinton. George Bush. Jimmy Carter. They’re all pretty easy to pronounce.
But Barack Obama is not so simple. And before he was world famous, people regularly butchered his African name (Bay-rack anyone?). As president, Barack Obama takes care to get pronunciations correct — from heads of state and foreign nations to the director of a small nonprofit in Jersey City.

The text of Obama’s daily briefings includes phonetic spellings of names and places, or the person briefing him will coach him how to say them. Phonetic spellings are also there in Obama’s prepared remarks — although that doesn’t always mean the words wind up rolling off his tongue.

“Did I pronounce your name right?” Obama said Tuesday, pausing after he acknowledged a woman named Alfa Demmellash during an event with nonprofit groups.

Demmellash let the president know he had.
“Good,” Obama said. “When your name is Barack Obama, you're sensitive to these things.”
The audience laughed, but Obama takes pronunciations quite seriously.

His aides know that this is an area where the president wants to be right. In Obama’s view, pronouncing someone’s name or hometown correctly is a simple way of showing respect, they say. It’s a sort of baseline diplomacy. That’s particularly so in foreign relations, where aides say the president will privately practice pronouncing a leader’s name a number times before saying it publicly.

Resolution on Stalin riles Russia

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:56:00 -0400

Source: BBC (7-3-09)

Russian delegates have walked out of an OSCE session in Vilnius after it voted for a remembrance day for the victims of both Nazism and Stalinism.

The pan-European security and democracy body passed a resolution equating the roles of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in starting World War II.

Moscow's delegation boycotted the vote after failing to have it withdrawn.

The resolution, meant to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain, said that Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union brought genocide and crimes against humanity to Europe.

It calls for making 23 August a day of remembrance for the victims of Stalinism and Nazism.

AU halts war crimes co-operation

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:54:00 -0400

Source: BBC (7-3-09)

The African Union is ending its co-operation with the International Criminal Court after it charged Sudan's president with war crimes.

Omar al-Bashir is accused over alleged atrocities in the Darfur region.

Reports from an AU meeting in Libya said the delegates agreed a statement saying they would not co-operate in the "arrest and surrender" of Mr Bashir.

Three new species of dinosaur found in Australia

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:20:00 -0400

Source: Telegraph (UK) (7-3-09)

Australian palaeontologists have discovered three new dinosaur species among fossils at the bottom of a Queensland lake.

The two herbivores and one carnivore, which date back nearly 100m years to the middle of the Cretaceous period, were excavated from the Winton formation in the state's west. They are the first significant dinosaur discovery in Australia since 1981.

All of the dinosaurs have been named after characters in the famous Australian bush poem Waltzing Matilda.

Historian 'posed as a war hero'

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:12:00 -0400

Source: BBC (7-3-09)

A military historian who posed as a war hero has been exposed as a fantasist.

Jack Livesey claimed he won the Military Medal while serving in the Parachute Regiment.

However, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Mr Livesey served in the Army Catering Corps for less than three years.

Former veterans told the BBC they were upset by the way he paraded his medals.

Newly Released Documents Detail Guantanamo Facility's Chaotic Early Years

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:10:00 -0400

Source: Foxnews (7-2-09)

The documents and memos were turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Newly released Defense Department documents and memos about the first years of operation of the jail at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, portray a chaotic and sometimes violent operation that its own commanders described as dysfunctional.

The documents and memos were turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The ACLU has sued for release of all materials related to the government's interrogation program after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Statue of Liberty's Crown Opens July 4 for First Time Since Sept. 11 Attacks

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:06:00 -0400

Source: AP (7-3-09)

Aaron Weisinger, a 26-year-old from Walnut Creek, Calif., was one of the lucky ones. He will be part of the first group of tourists in eight years to climb the 354 steps, 146 of them up a narrow spiral staircase, to stand atop the statue's head and peer from under the spikes of her crown.

Reasons vary for why the crown has been closed for so long, and there are questions about the role terrorism played in that.

In May, the Obama administration announced that the crown would once again welcome visitors, albeit cautiously. Starting Saturday, only 30 people an hour will be allowed into the crown, and they will be brought up in groups of 10, guided by park rangers along the way.