MERCILESS warlord Oliver Cromwell had a softer, effeminate side and was hooked on fancy scented cosmetics, new research has revealed. Academics now believe the man, who ordered the brutal slaughter of tens of thousands of people here in 1649 and coined the phrase “to Hell or to Connacht”, was obsessed with his appearance. Chemical [...]
Dinosaur gases ‘warmed the Earth’
Giant dinosaurs could have warmed the planet with their flatulence, say researchers. British scientists have calculated the methane output of sauropods, including the species known as Brontosaurus. By scaling up the digestive wind of horses, they estimate that the total population of dinosaurs, produced 520 million tonnes of gas annually. They suggest the gas could [...]
Rebekah Brooks reveals ‘LOL’ texts from David Cameron
David Cameron ended some text messages to Rebekah Brooks with the letters LOL, she has told the Leveson Inquiry. The former Sun and News of the World editor was asked about the frequency of text contacts between the two when she was head of News International. She said the prime minister signed off most texts [...]
Anne Boleyn: witch, bitch, temptress, feminist
We argue over her, we admire and revile her – we constantly reinvent her. Henry VIII’s second wife is one of the most controversial women in English history As a small child I remember being told by a solemn nun that Anne Boleyn had six fingers on one hand. In the nun’s eyes, it was [...]
François Hollande: Mr Normal reveals €1.2m wealth
France’s socialist president-elect says his principal asset is a house on the Riviera, but lags far behind Sarkozy’s €2.7m François Hollande in Tulle, central France on Friday. Photograph: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty Images François Hollande, the socialist “Mr Normal” who will be sworn in as French president next week, says he is worth almost €1.2m (£960,000), [...]
Smallest mammoths found on Crete
The smallest mammoth ever known to have existed roamed the island of Crete millions of years ago, researchers say. Adults were roughly the size of a modern baby elephant, standing over a metre tall at the shoulders. Remains were discovered more than a century ago, but scientists had debated whether the animal was a mammoth [...]
Hugo Boss enlists Gwyneth Paltrow
39-year-old actress Gwyneth Paltrow is the face of Hugo Boss’s latest fragrance. It seems (former?) actress Gwyneth Paltrow has had a career change of tack of late. What with keeping up her lifestyle blog GOOP, hanging out with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, doting on her family, and walking countless red carpets there’s barely any time for [...]
Hairdressing legend Vidal Sassoon dies
The man credited with ‘changing the world with a pair of scissors’ passed away from natural causes at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday. Last year as a documentary film telling his remarkable life story was released in the UK, it was revealed that the lifelong health fanatic was suffering from Leukaemia. A genuine tale [...]
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet: Why is it so loved?
Kahlil Gibran is said to be one of the world’s bestselling poets, and his life has inspired a play touring the UK and the Middle East. But many critics have been lukewarm about his merits. Why, then, has his seminal work, The Prophet, struck such a chord with generations of readers? A poet’s life Born [...]
Ecuador seeks answer to riddle of Inca emperor’s tomb
Does the final resting place of Inca Emperor Atahualpa lie here? The mystery surrounding the tomb of the last Inca emperor – and its reputed treasure – might be closer to being solved. If Ecuadorean historian Tamara Estupinan is right, Emperor Atahualpa’s mummified body was kept in the lush, hilly lowlands, a six-hour drive south-west [...]
Maya civilization – Lost Mayan palace found in Guatemala
Can Cuen dates back to the eighth century Archaeologists in Guatemala say they have found an ancient palace which is forcing scholars to reconsider their ideas about the Mayan civilisation, which was prevalent before the arrival of the Spanish in Central America. Mayan cities were in a constant state of war with their structures [...]
Maya civilization – Ruins of Ek Balam
The ruins of Ek Balam may have important significance One hundred and fifty miles inland from the crowded beaches and throbbing bars of Cancun, Mexico, lies a recently discovered ancient Mayan city of great beauty and potentially huge archaeological significance. Since the discoveries at Ek Balam are so recent, they do not yet appear in [...]
Maya civilization – Discovery of Mayan tomb
Archaeologists working in Honduras say they have discovered the jade-encrusted remains of a powerful Mayan king, which they hope will throw more light on to the political organisation of the Maya civilization. One of the archaeologist, Seiichi Nakamura, told the BBC the remains belong to a king of a dynasty ruling in the ancient city [...]
Maya civilization – Historic Mayan mural found ‘by chance’
An accidental find by an archaeologist in Guatemala has turned out to be the oldest-known Mayan wall painting. The mural, which is 1.2m long, dates from 100 AD and is being seen as one of the most important finds in Mayan archaeology for decades. William Saturno was looking for some shade at the pyramid site [...]
Maya civilization – Maya treasure found in Guatemala
The find – described as the Mayan equivalent of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel – was on the western wall of a room attached to a pyramid. (Kenneth Garrett/©National Geographic) Archaeologists working in Guatemala say they have uncovered one of the most spectacular pieces of artwork created by the ancient Maya people. They say they have [...]
Maya civilization – Mayan art and calendar at Xultun stun archaeologists
The preservation of the artwork surprised archaeologists, given the dwelling’s shallow depth Archaeologists working at the Xultun ruins of the Mayan civilisation have reported striking finds, including the oldest-known Mayan astronomical tables. The site, in Guatemala, includes the first known instance of Mayan art painted on the walls of a dwelling. A report in Science [...]
Freddie Mercury ‘to appear’ in Queen show
Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed that Freddie Mercury will “appear” on stage during a special performance of West End musical We Will Rock You. He told the BBC that the production team had been working on ways to give the late singer a presence during its 10th anniversary show for some time. May stressed [...]
Google gets Nevada driving licence for self-drive car
Driverless cars will soon be a reality on the roads of Nevada after the state approved America’s first self-driven vehicle licence. The first to hit the highway will be a Toyota Prius modified by search firm Google, which is leading the way in driverless car technology. Its first drive included a spin down Las Vegas’s [...]
Francois Hollande celebrates French presidential win
Hollande came to Paris late on Sunday evening to make a victory speech RESULTS (After 99% of vote) Source: Interior Ministry Share Vote F. Hollande 51.7% N. Sarkozy 48.3% Turnout 81% French socialist Francois Hollande has been celebrating victory in the country’s presidential election. Mr Hollande – who polled just under [...]
South Korea rebrands ‘scariest place on Earth’
The Demilitarised Zone in South Korea draws about 6.5 million visitors each year As tourist sites go, the frontier between North and South Korea offers more than the usual souvenir T-shirt – though it sells those, too. A living piece of the Cold War, the so-called Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is guarded by a million soldiers [...]
Mahatma Gandhi and his anti-tea campaign
Tea is one of India’s most popular drinks and by this time next year, it may get the official seal of approval as the country’s national drink. But for many years, it was viewed with suspicion and even fear. Thanks to British colonial policies of the first half of the 19th Century, India remained the [...]
Modern ambitions of calligrapher’s ancient art
Syrian curator and calligrapher Khaled al-Saai looks intently at the stark painting of a man holding a horizontal scimitar – a sabre with a curved blade – fashioned out of carefully crafted Arabic letters. It spells out the phrase “If Words Could Kill” and, for Saai, this graphic, modern work by Iraqi artist Ayad al-Kadhi, [...]
Bigger and brighter ‘supermoon’ graces the night sky
A “supermoon” has graced the skies, appearing bigger and brighter than usual, as it comes closer to the Earth – and is likely to bring higher tides. The phenomenon, known as a perigee full moon, means the Moon appears up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet. The [...]
Why US and China need a deal on Chen
The Chen Guangcheng case has created a crisis for Beijing and Washington. For the Chinese government, the case has further intensified the elite power struggle provoked by the still unfolding saga of former Chongqing leader Bo Xilai. Moreover, Mr Chen’s request for protection from the US Embassy has again drawn international attention to the abuse [...]
Who won World War II?
The Nazi regime collapsed in May 1945, squeezed ever more tightly between two fronts – the Soviet Union on one side and the Western Allies on the other. But which of these fronts was the most important? Allied aid to the Soviet Union, from food to lorries, played a vital role Throughout the Cold War, [...]
The Bin Laden family on the run
The Bin Laden letters released on Thursday provide an insight into the workings of the mind of the slain al-Qaeda chief, but they reveal precious little about his family life during the years in hiding in Pakistan. We know from other sources though, that during their 10-year stay he and his family travelled all across [...]
Nepal floods: Thirteen dead near Annapurna
At least 13 people have died in Nepal and dozens more are missing, police say, after a mountain river burst its banks, causing flooding around Mount Annapurna in the west of the country. Three Russian tourists trekking in the area are among the missing. Their names have not been released. The floodwaters have swept into [...]
Japan facing uncertain nuclear future
With Japan’s last operating nuclear reactor due to go offline for maintenance, the BBC’s Roland Buerk looks at the ongoing debate in the country on its nuclear future. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was built when Japan believed in a nuclear-powered future. There are seven reactors stretched along a vast expanse of coastline feed electricity lines that [...]
Timeline: Nuclear plant accidents
The nuclear crisis in Japan has revived fears over the safety of nuclear power and the potential danger posed to public health when things go wrong. There have been a number of serious nuclear incidents since the 1950s. Below are details of the most serious. The dramatic explosion at Chernobyl and the resulting widespread [...]
