International News

Norway - The first female monarch since the 15th century

In January, about three hours after the 30-year old Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit gave birth to a daughter, Norway's red, white and blue flag was flown at official buildings across the country and a 21-gun salute announced the baby's arrival into the world. A number of possible names for the baby have been circulating in the media including Ingeborg, Ragnhild, Margrete, Louise, and Josephine. Despite all these media suggestions, the Crown Prince Haakon and his wife gave their daughter the name Ingrid. The small princess is the second only to her father in line to the Norwegian throne, and may in the future be the first woman to become queen of Norway since Margaret of Denmark, who died in 1412. After the deaths of her husband and her only son, Margaret took the throne of both Denmark and Norway, which were linked together in a union. Following centuries of male succession, the Norwegian constitution was amended in 1990, stipulating that the throne must go to the ruling monarch's first born child regardless of gender.

London, UK - Queen Nefertiti, Dr. Fletcher and Prof. Hawass

In the previous issue of The Ambassadors Magazine, we published information about Dr. Joann Fletcher's views on discovering the mummy of Queen Nefertiti. However, this view was quickly countered by Prof. Zahi Hawass, who denied the findings and stated that the mummy found is that of a male, and not a female. Following Dr. Fletcher's release of a Discovery Channel documentary about her findings in Egypt, she wrote a book about the topic, The Search for Nefertiti : The True Story of an Amazing Discovery, which is set to be released later on this year by William Morrow & Co. Publishers. The Ambassadors Magazine will be reviewing this book upon its release.

New York, USA - Picasso's Boy with a pipe sets new record

More than 40 Impressionist and Modern paintings from one of the last great American collections in private hands were sold at Sotheby's in New York on May 5. The collection included works by Corot, Bazille, Manet, Degas, Monet, and Sargent as well as a rare Rose Period Picasso painting, Boy with a pipe, which was painted 100 years ago when he was only 24 years old, soon after he had settled in the Paris district of Mont Martre. It depicts an adolescent boy known as "p'tit Louis," holding a pipe in his left hand with a garland of roses on his head. In the background are two large bouquets. This rare canvas was sold for more than US$104 million by the Green Tree Foundation, setting a record for a work of art bought at an auction by eclipsing the previous record of a Van Gogh painting Portrait of Dr. Gachet by over US$20 million. John Hay Whitny and his wife, art collectors and owners of some great race horses, bought Boy with a pipe in 1950 and hung it in their living room for many years. Two important shows of the Whitny collection were in the Tate in London (1961) and in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (1983). Previously, the most expensive Picasso sold at auction, Women with Crossed Arms, from his Blue Period, sold for US$55 million in 2000. In other news, about 200 works by Pablo Picasso, including sketches, paintings and sculptures from the collections of his daughter-in-law Christine Ruiz-Picasso and his grandson, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso are being displayed in the Museo Picasso, which is housed in Malaga's 16th century Palacio de los Condes de Buenavista. Picasso was born in this house in 1881 and had hoped to open a gallery there one day, but he lived the last days of his life in France, refusing to return in Spain while General Francisco Franco remained in power. For more information about the Picasso collection visit - www.museopicassomalaga.org.

The Noble Laureate, Prof. John Polanyi, a distinguished Chemist delivered a speech at the University of Toronto prior to a performance of Cantata 105 at the inaugural Bach festival under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. He believes that science and music appear to speak different languages, but they have a common aim which is to make sense of our existence and that internal peace can be maintained without resorting to violence. He said that, "these peaceful kingdoms are the greatest gifts that our professions hold out to the world in its pursuit of peace. They are not two cultures, but one." As part of his speech, he showed a photo of Albert Einstein with his violin and described how mind and spirit interplay together in life. "The mysterious Albert Einstein is the source of all art and science. Every scientific proposition and every musical composition is aimed at eternity," said Prof. Polanyi.

The Nature magazine reported that, "a genetically-engineered plant that detects landmines in soil by changing color could prevent thousands of deaths and injuries by signaling where explosives are concealed. Some 100 million unexploded landmines are believed to be lurking in the soil of about 75 countries the world over and clearing them to cultivate the soil is difficult and dangerous work. The plant, a modified version of Thale Cress (Arabidopsis Thaliana) is sensitive to nitrogen dioxide gas which is released by underground landmines. The leaves of the plant change from green to red after 3-5 weeks of growth in the presence of this gas. Prof. Carston Meier, of  the University of Copenhagen, who served as scientific adviser to Aresa, the Danish company that developed the plant, mentioned that, "this plant can easily spot landmines and that one person can check and clear just 2 sq. meters a day."

The first world science fiction convention was held in 1939 and boasted a visit from a young writer named Isaac Asimov, who happened to publish his first short story that same year. Sci-fi conventions typically conjure up images of bearded computer programmers peddling obscure comic books or debating who the captain of the universe really is. This year's convention attracted thousands of fans, many of them doctors, lawyers, engineers and teachers from more than 20 countries. The convention or "WorldCon" as it is better known will give more than five thousand science fiction enthusiasts a chance to meet their favorite writers, artists and filmmakers. Torcon 3 is Canada's fourth WorldCon, following Torcon 1 (1948), Torcon 2 (1978) and Conadian held in Winnipeg in 1994. The renowned sci-fi author from Mississauga, Robert J. Sawyer, was nominated for the Hugo award. Artist Frank Kelly Freas, a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists, is the most popular sci-fi artist in the history of the field according to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

Mel Gibson's Passion raised its domestic sales total to $370.2 million since opening in February 25, 2004. In the all-time top grossing list, the controversial movie surpassed Jurassic Park (1993) which earned $357 million to take the 7th position. Opening in third place in the same week, with $11.4 million was the serial-killer thriller, Taking Lives, while the comedy Starsky and Hutch finished fourth with $10.7 million. The thriller, Secret Window, rounded up the Top 5 at $9.6 million. Newmarket Films, which is distributing Mel Gibson's film depicting the final pain-filled 12-hours of Jesus Christ's life, raised the number of movie prints to 4,000 from 2,500 and the number of theatres playing the film from 2,000 to 2,800 worldwide during the first week of release of this movie. The movie spurred controversy over its view of the Jewish people with the possibility of increasing anti-Semitism at the time of Jesus. In an attempt to curb popular criticism, Mel Gibson spoke before a congregation of 3,800 invited guests at Evangelical Azusa Pacific University asserting that he was not anti-Semitic. 

The American business tycoon, Donald Trump, released a new book entitled, "Trump: How to Get Rich" published by Random House in March 2004. This book will face stiff competition, since already 13 published books listed on Amazon.com discuss the same topic. They include, "How To Get Rich Using the Power of Your Mind" by Harry Lorayne, "How To Get Rich On Purpose" by Dewayne Owens, 'It's Your Turn To Get Rich" by Adam Lear, "How To Use Your Hidden Potential to Get Rich" by David Bendeh, "Get Rich In Spite Of Yourself" by LouisGrafe, "How To Get Rich Sooner Than You Think" by Joanne Jordan, "The Fastest Way To Get Rich" by Harvey Koch, "Get Rich On The Obvious" by Tom Taylor, "How to Get Rich In Real Estate Without Losing Your Job" by Willie Boyd, "Stay Home And Get Rich" by StewartKime, and "How To Get Rich While You Sleep" by David Huskin. On Trump’s side is his newly-found popularity among television audiences after the airing of his blockbuster show The Apprentice.

About 300,000 Acadians living in the Maritimes will celebrate next year the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Samuel de Champlain and 80 colonists in the New World and the establishment of the first French settlement on the small island of St. Croix between what is now New Brunswick and Maine, but they also will reflect upon their struggle for survival and whether their future will be kinder. The Acadians have endured mass expulsions and continuous assimilation into the larger Anglophone population. The president of the National Society of Acadia, Euclide Chiasson, said that the 400th anniversary will be an occasion to say, "even though we are small, we are still kicking, and we are looking forward to the next 400 years." 

The renowned Arab writer, Mohamed Hasanyn Haykal, wrote an article on his 80th birthday announcing his complete retirement as a writer. Thousands of his readers, including those opposed to his views, requested that he continue his writing as a distinguished political analyst in an era where the Middle East is passing through difficult times. Mr. Haykal was the former chief editor of Al-Ahram daily newspaper (Egypt) and Minister of Information during President Nasser's time. From his beautiful villa on the Mediterranean in the village of Al-Rowad, he wrote his most recent best-selling and widely-reviewed book, "The American Empire and the Invasion of Iraq" in Arabic, which raised a lot of discussions and debates among intellectuals in the region.

The former President of the Canadian Philippine Medical Association, Dr. Nestor Yanga, at age 54, is the only doctor to have died from SARS virus in North America. He graduated from medicine the University of Santo Tomas in Manilla in 1975, and immigrated to Canada in 1981. He trained in Newfoundland Hospital as well as McMaster and Toronto universities. A SARS patient turned up at his East Toronto clinic, the family doctor shortly developed a slight fever with dry cough. When the symptoms worsened, he was admitted to Sunnybrook Hospital where he died after four months of struggling with the disease. Like many physicians as chronicled in the history of medicine, Yanga is one of the fallen on the front lines of medicine's battle against disease. The President of the Ontario Medical Association, Dr. Larry Erlick, said "It is a risk that physicians face everyday." Dr. Yanga leaves behind his wife, Remy, sons Nelson (20) and Ronald (16) and thousands of his loving patients.

With marked sales of Harry Potter blockbuster about a boy wizard books - J. K. Rowling has only written seven in the series - children's literature is a booming market. People really want more of that high fantasy adventure. Children bookstores are filling up with new books by different authors that have the taste of the Harry Potter phenomenon for example, the Amulet of Samarkand, the first of a proposed three-part series. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by British author Jonathan Stroud is just one of the Harry Potter homages. Stroud was offered £1 million after reading the 92-pages of the Amulet of Samarkand. Miramax snapped up the film rights before the book was even published.

A new study reported in the Lancet followed the AIDS infection rates of nearly 2,300 originally uninfected young men in India. After roughly a decade of observations, the Indian and American researchers involved in the study reported that the uncircumcised men had between 6-7 times the infection rates of circumcised men but there was no difference in the rates of other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea and herpes. Dr. Robert Bollinger of Johns Hopkins University, and one of the authors of the new study, suggested that foreskins are full of certain cells which are essentially a magnet for HIV infection. Recently, there has been considerable debate in countries like Canada on whether routine infant circumcision - something which now takes place in an estimated 20-25% of Canadian newborns can ever be medically justified. The findings can be found in the Lancet, Volume 363, Number 9414 (27 March 2004).

At a ceremony marking 90 years since the opening of the Royal Ontario Museum's (ROM) on March 18 by Duke Connaught, Hillary Weston, representing Canada's second wealthiest family and former Lieutenant-governor of Ontario donated $20 million to the Toronto museum, in return, receiving naming rights, in perpetuity to the new Canadian First People's Gallery and Canadian Galleries. The ROM collected more than $150 million for the first phase of its renovation which will be distinguished by a huge 4-storey crystal structure made of glass and steel fronting Toronto's busy Bloor Street West. Ontario's new Minister of Culture, Madeleine Meilleur, confirmed that her government will contribute $10 million to the second phase. In April last year, the Burlington-based mutual-funds mogul Michael Lee-Chin donated $30 million towards the building of the new steel-and-glass entrance way. 

Three tiny figurines carved from mammoth tusks have been discovered in Swabian Jura region of southwestern Germany and scientists believe they were made more than 30,000 years ago, when modern humans became the dominant hominid species in Europe and Neanderthals became extinct. The figures may help debunk the notion that early human art was more primitive than later human efforts. The carvings of a water bird, a horse and a figure that appears to be half man half lion, show close attention to detail on the part of the unknown artists. The water bird, the oldest known sculpture of a bird, looks like either a duck or a cormorant. Its neck is extended as if it is diving deep into the water. Its wings are tucked close to its body, marked with distinct lines that appear to represent feathers.

In 2003, the new edition of THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary was published by Oxford University Press and written by Simon Winchester which looked at explaining the roots and meanings of thousands of words. Interestingly, the Oxford English Dictionary, the greatest reference work ever published, began as a project in the late 1870s after more than 20 years of effort by James Murray, Henry Bradley and thousands of volunteers who donated time scouring books for illustrative uses of all the words in our heterogeneous fluid language. At the end of its 70-year journey, the first edition of OED was released in 1928, boasting 414,825 headwords and 1,827,306 illustrative quotations.

The San Francisco Chronicle mentioned that, Bikram Choudhury, the Beverilly Hills, California yoga master and owner of 900 studios worldwide has copyrighted, trademarked, and franchised his poses, breathing techniques and dialogue - creating the first chain of its kind. His lawyers issued letters warning yoga teachers not to teach his Bikram yoga or anything "derivative" unless they have graduated from his training program and are paying a studio franchise fee. A non-profit organization of yoga enthusiasts is countering his intellectual property lawsuit with a US federal lawsuit. They believe that we can't treat the yoga poses as private property! They say that yoga is a 5,000-year-old tradition that cannot be owned. The suit is asking the judge to determine whether Choudhury is entitled to copyright and trademark his material under federal copyright laws.

In San Clemente, California, a park for older dogs only has been opened. Gregg Lipanovich, who launched the campaign for senior canines, mentioned that, "dogs are like kids. They like to roughhouse, but ask an 80-year-old if he likes to roughhouse. He may want to, but it is not the same anymore." The city spent $275,000 on the entire complex and the San Clemente Dog Lovers organization plans to sell advertising banners that will hang on the perimeter chain-link fence to finance the park's maintenance.

The exiled Tibetan leader and Buddhist monk Tehnzin Gyatso, 69-years old, the 14th Dalai Lama is one of the best known religious leaders after the Pope and Billy Graham. He was both the spiritual and governmental leader of Tibet until China claimed the country in 1950 and took full control in 1959 - at which point the Dalai Lama fled across the Himalayas into exile in northern India, where he has lived ever since joined by more than 80,000 of his followers. In his visits to Western countries, the British PM Tony Blair met him as a religious and not a political leader. The former Canadian PM Jean Chrétien met him in 1990 when he was still the opposition leader and not in 1993 when he became PM. US President Bush, however, did not bother drawing a distinction when he met him last September in Washington. The Chinese government continues to call him a "splittist", which adds to the confusion of what exactly the Dalai Lama's identity really is. Last April, the Dalai Lama visited Canada and was greeted by PM Paul Martin, the first PM to ever meet with him, yet the interfaith meeting was held at the official residence of Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcal Gervais. However, the Dalai Lama himself stated that he was "a simple Buddhist monk" while receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia during his visit to Canada this year.

The American filmmaker, Oliver Stone, spent a few days in Cuba with President Fidel Castro, 76, talking about his youth, power, and drinking nights with different Russian leaders such as Gorbachev. Stone traveled with him in the presidential Mercedes in the streets of Havana and collected 30 hours of interviews. The HBO film, Commandante, would not be shown because it puts a human face on the American eternal enemy. However, the CBC Newsworld's The Passionate Eye program aired Stone's documentary twice during the end of March. Oliver Stone is famous for other documentaries such as National Born Killers about the assassination of JFK, The Sopranos, Salvador, Platoon, and the upcoming Alexander due out in November.

An evangelical novel about the return of Jesus Christ based on an apocalyptic reading of the Bible's book of Revelations hit the bookstores and best-sellers lists. Bookshops have ordered more than 2 million copies of this book, which is the last in a 12-book series called, Left Behind, published over the past 9 years. The first 11 novels sold more than 40 million copies, make the authors Tim La Haye and Jerry B. Jenkins, the best-selling novelists in the US, ahead of John Grisham. Glorious Appearing should be the final episode, in which Jesus finally returns - although the publisher, Tyndale House plans a postscript and a prequel.

Romeo Dallaire, the retired Canadian Lieutenant-General, won the $15,000 Writers' Trust of Canada's prize for political writing for his searing memoir, Shake Hands With The Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, published by Random House in 2003. The book chronicles the 1994 genocide of 900,000 Tutsis in 100 days by forces of the ruling Hutus. Most of the world's governments knew the genocide was happening but did nothing to intervene even after Dallaire, then the force commander of the UN assistance mission in Rwanda, sent repeated appeals for help to the UN. The book beat The Story of Jane Doe: A Book About Rape and Road to Hell: How the Biker Gangs Are Conquering Canada to win the prestigious prize.

Prof. Tony McMichael, Director of the National Center of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian University Canberra, mentioned "SARS, AIDS, Ebola, and Marburg's Disease have all emerged in the past 30-40 years. There have been 30 new diseases in 1975 and we can expect a similar number in the future." It seems that most infections occurred as a result of increased human contact with animals. AIDS is believed to have arisen when humans moved into the forests of Africa on logging expeditions and butchered chimpanzees for their meat, Professor McMichael said. His ideas are found in his recent book Human Frontiers, Environments and Disease: Past Patterns, Uncertain Futures published by Cambridge University Press in 2001.

About 1 billion people in 80 tropical countries are at risk of contracting lymphatic filariasis, and at least 120 million are carriers. The infection is spread by mosquitoes which carry a microscopic parasitic worm that invades the lymphatic system. About one-third of those infected live in India, another third are in Africa, and the remainder are in Southeast Asia, Pacific and the Americas. Elephantiasis is the extreme form of the disease. During the past 4 years, 80 million people have been successfully treated for elephantiasis, one of the world's most disfiguring diseases, that leads to stunted growth, learning disabilities, and growth enlargement of arms, legs and genital organs. Glaxo-SmithKline, a major pharmaceutical company, has donated drugs to fight this disease, such as albendazole and ivermecitn. Scientists believe that elephantiasis could be eradicated within 20 years.

A 53-old Australian woman punched and kicked a 3-meter salt water crocodile on the nose to free its teenage nephew from its jaws during an attack in Australia's Outback. He was loading wild geese into his small tin boat at the water's edge when a crocodile launched at his leg and pulled him in the creek. Without hesitation, his aunt raced to his rescue and let her fists and feet fly. She said, "I hit him with my fist on the nose and I yelled out, ‘Help in the name of Jesus!’ and it let him go." Her nephew recovered in the Royal Darwin Hospital following surgery for three deep cuts in his left leg.

Paul Llyinsky, the son of exiled Russian royalty who became mayor of Palm Beach, died at the age of 77. He's the great-grandson of Tsar Alexander II and first cousin once-removed to Czar Nicholas II, the last of Romanov rulers. His father took part in the murder of Rasputin, the mystic priest who influenced the royal family. While living in the United States, Mr. Llyinsky was elected to the Palm Beach town council in 1981 and won the mayor's job in 1993 serving until 2000. He had entered a verbal battle with Mr. Armand Hammer over the industrialist's sympathies for Soviet Russia, an entrepreneur, Donald Trump, over plans to built a marina.

In 1930, an American heroine was born -- a teenage detective named Nancy Drew. In the 74 years that have since passed, Nancy has matured from sixteen to eighteen years old while solving over 350 mysteries. The first Nancy Drew book was entitled, The Secret of the Old Clock, and was the first entry in a new series. All her books were published under the pseudo-name Carolyn Keene. This pen name was later used by many different people- both men and women- over the years. The company that was the creator of the Nancy Drew series, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, hired a variety of writers to write the series. Some of the latest books in the series are Nancy Drew's Guide to Life and Intrigue At the Grand Opera.

The Arab satellite news station, Al-Jazeera, has gained interest around the world since September 11 and its broadcasting of the Bin Laden exclusive videos. Media analysts around the world have become highly interested in learning more about the station by reading the only published book about the station, Al-Jazeera, written by Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar and published by Westview Press. In addition to the release of the paperback edition of the book in August 2003, only a year after its original release, the book has been translated into Korean. Most recently, the book has been translated into Turkish by Arif Başaran and edited by Onur Atalay, published by Gelenek. There are further plans being made to translate it to Spanish and Italian.

From 1933-1945, Nazi hordes systematically ransacked the treasures of Europe including a stunning cash of artworks by Van Gogh, Rnoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Munch, Klimt, Maurice de Vlaminck, Oscar Kokoschka, Wilhelm Busch and Manet, amassed by a man who fled Hitler's horror to make his home in Canada. In March 1939, the 50-years-old, Oscar Federer was being smuggled out of his native Czechoslovakia by British intelligence agents, just as Nazi Germany tightened its grip on the hapless country. Federer took his wife Elizabeth and his 16-year old son Henry out of the country with all of his beloved collection. Seven decades later, 7,000 km away, Oscar Federer's 41-year-old son, is trying on behalf of himself and his family to reclaim and bring to Canada some of the artwork which he claims his grandfather owned. This issue has raised a lot of debate and controversy over who is entitled to the lost artwork and where can it be found. One of paintings being claimed from the Czech Republic by Oscar Federer is Edvard Munch'sSouthern Coast (c. 1910).

The newly approval drug, Levitra which is developed by Bayer Health Care and GlaxoSmithKline Inc., is competing now with Viagra (Pfizer) and Cialis (Eli Lilly). These drugs allow more blood to flow to the penis of men with erectile dysfunction when they are sexually stimulated. The three companies have launched very strong ad campaigns for their products, demonstrating the existence of a growing competition in the marketing of such drugs.

The trauma of Kennedy's assassination 40 years ago still echoes through many books and movies. The death of the 46-year-old Harvard graduate and 35th President of the United States in Dallas on November 22 was shocking and unexpected. His death raised conspiracy theories concerning the shooting. Don Del Lillo, America's best chronicler of paranoia and conspiracy, wrote the brilliant novel, Libra, based on this subject after Oliver Stone's book on JFK. Cultural theorist, Fredric Jameson, says "conspiracy theory requires a potentially infinite network, along with a plausible explanation of its invisibility." In Del Lillo's Libra, agent Nicholas Branch is charged with taking care of the CIA's archives. Another book exploring the assassination, Shooting Kennedy: JFK and the Culture of Images by David M. Lubin deals with this topic. Contract On America: The Mafia Murder of President John F. Kennedy by David Scheim mentions how the killing might have been a plan by the mafia. There is also the book, The Triangle of Death, by Bradley O'Leary and L. E. Seymour supports the argument that there was a massive CIA conspiracy, Vietnamese and French mafia involvement behind the death of JFK.

Breda Dutch Museum in Amsterdam opened a new exhibition including what it claims to be a previously unknown painting by Van Gogh, and says there may be more among a collection of 250 works once regarded as worthless. The painting, Houses Near the Hague was investigated by a team of experts, who concluded it was among Van Gogh's early works that had been left with his mother when he moved to France in 1885. It is part of the museum's display entitled, Vincent Van Gogh: Lost and Found. Despite the team's confirmation, many others are still skeptical of the authenticity of the painting belonging to Van Gogh. The Museum in Breda is in a town located 10km away from Van Gogh's birthplace in Zundert. The painting was among a collection first discovered in 1939 in the attic of collector Barend den Houter's house. Many of van Gogh's works from the early 1880s have been lost. In 1902, a large number of paintings and drawings that his mother had put in storage were found and put on sale in the street. A few items in the so-called "Breda crates" were later authenticated as genuine van Goghs, but many others are regarded as controversial. It is ironic that finding Van Gogh paintings has great value today, when it is known that the artist committed suicide in 1890 after a career of only 10 years having sold virtually none of his works.

Prof. Armond Goldman published in the Journal of Medical Biography with a group of Texas researchers an article challenging the widely accepted belief that Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) suffered from poliomyelitis. They argue that the US President was in fact paralyzed by Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). The team scrutinized the President's symptoms based on extensive published accounts which revealed that a 75% likelihood that FDR suffered from GBS and only 25% likelihood he suffered from polio. In August 1921, 39-year-old Roosevelt and his family went on a holiday to New Brunswick and fell into cold waters of the Bay of Fundy. Next afternoon it was paralyzed. Within two days, he was paralyzed from the neck down and in severe pain. He recovered some of his feelings but remained paralyzed from the waist down. Prof. Goodman said, "Roosevelt's vigorous exercise preceding the illness, fever during the initial phase, and permanent paralysis were consistent with the diagnosis of polio. However, there were many more features of his illness that were consistent with GPS. These include age of onset for the disease, the symmetrical and ascending nature of paralysis, the numbness, extreme pain, bladder and bowel dysfunction and descending pattern of recovery." Roosevelt, the champion of freedom, died in April 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage after creating the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, popularly known as the March of Dimes.

Lolita, the heroine of the Russian immigrant Vladimir Nabokov's novel published first in Paris by Putnam in 1955 is now embroiled in a new scandal. An academic claimed that her character was plagiarized from a 1916 novel by a German journalist who went on to support Hitler. A German literary scholar, Michael Marr, suggested that Lolita written in 1916 by Heinz von Eschwege, may have provided the foundations for Nabokov's novel. Marr wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "When you read it today and compare it with Nabokov's novel you may have surreal sense of deja vu. The accordance of the stories' plots, the perspective from which they are told, and the choice of name are amazing. Unfortunately there is not a logical rule which will tell us when a certain number of coincidences stop being chance." Nabokov's son mentioned that the allegation was either a journalistic tempest in a tea cup or a deliberate mystification since his father, who wrote in Russian, English and French spoke no German.

Elias Rahbani, 66-year-old gifted Lebanese musician has received many awards in a ceremony held in Lebanon recognizing him as one of the best Arab musicians today. He was awarded the top Medal of Honor "Al-Arz Medal" from Lebanese President Lahood. His music is well known in the Arab world, particularly the songs he composed for the famous singer Fairuz. It is worth noting that his entire family is involved in the music industry including his father, his brothers and sons. Rahbani is also recognized internationally, having received awards from Greece, Bulgaria, Brazil, Iran, Spain and an honorary doctorate from the USA.

Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed by President Chirac, a French band playing God Save the Queen and British flags rippled along the Champs- Elysees during her three-day state visit to France with Prince Phillip. They arrived in France via the Channel Tunnel, and paid their respects at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and then they took a stroll on a Paris market where children gave her Easter chocolate eggs. Her Majesty's visit to France marks a century of cooperation between the two countries. The monarch's trip coincided with the centennial of the Entente Cordiale, a colonial-era agreement that ended centuries of wars and hostility between France and Britain.

The Canadian surgeon Robert Stubbs will move to the British Virgin Islands to restore the hymens of females who lost their virginity in pre-marital sex. Interestingly, the surgeon, who is an expert in hymen restoration, will be restoring virginities in a place called the Virgins! The one-hour procedure is expected to cost $2500 plus the cost for the trip there. He also has a willing partner, Dr. Robin Tattersall, who operated in the Caribbean island plastic and reconstructive surgery at Bougainvillea Clinic.

For dogs, the answer seems to lie in 12,000-year-old graves in the Levant (the regions bordering the Eastern Mediterranean) where puppies have been carefully buried. But the earliest signs of domesticated cats had been from Ancient Egypt, about 4,000 years ago where they were sometimes mummified and given places of honor in crypts. Recently the journal Science mentioned that the discovery of an 8-month old cat that may have been a pet, buried 9,500 years ago was found in a Neolithic village of the island of Cyprus. Its own burial hole is about 4cm from where a human body had been laid to rest with polished stones, axes, ochre, flint tools and 24 sea shells. The head of both the human and cat points the same way which demonstrates "the existence of special friendship between the pet and human that ran through life and after life" said Jean-Denis Vigne, vice president of the Scientific Council of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, who excavated the site. At the time the kitten and human were buried, the Ice Age had recently retreated and the climate was changing to what we have today.

New figures from The Sunday Times show that 40 billionaires live in London, more than any other city on the planet. The rest of the top-5 cities on the list are New York with 31; Moscow with 23; Geneva with 20; and Los Angeles with 18 billionaires. Toronto came in 19th with only 5 billionaires. At the top of the Times' London billionaire list is Roman Abramovich, one of Russia's so-called oligarchs, who at a net worth of £6.5-billion, is 26 times richer than Britain's monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

The Egyptian government and a Toronto-based team of web designers have established a website known as EternalEgypt.org paid for by the IBM Corporation with $2.5 million. HE Mr. Farouk Hosny, Egyptian Minister of Culture, mentioned that this project "will enable us to treat the entire country of Egypt as a single museum that can be toured by individual visitors or a global audience." A person sitting at a computer will be able to visit the Temple of Luxor, Tutankhamum's death mask, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the streets of Old Cairo. The information is available in English, French or Arabic and can be heard as well as read. The 3-year collaboration project turns all of Egypt into a virtual museum. Interestingly, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) along with the British Museum displayed an exhibition of their best pieces of Ancient Egyptian art last February entitled "Eternal Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art" at the ROM which included 150 objects, none of which were mummies. They included Amenhotep III's polished quartzite bust, his two celebrated red granite lions, and other objects from the 18th Dynasty. In addition, it included the Satirical Papyrus which includes animals doing the jobs of humans.

A new journal was born in Aden last September tackling the issues of kidney diseases and renal transplantations. It was founded by Prof. Salih Ali Ba-Surrah, Director of Aden University with the distinguished urologist Prof. Hussain M. Al-Kaff as its editor-in-chief. The issue includes studies about acute and chronic renal failure, renal dialysis, donation and donors of kidneys. It also includes a study about globalization and health in the region as well as articles about qat(some call it the 'flower of paradise') chewing and bladder neck dysfunction. Interestingly, during the first Yemeni International Conference on Nephro-Urology held in Aden March 2003, the first kidney transplant operations to be held in Aden were carried out successfully. Consequently, the university bestowed an honorary PhD on Drs. N. Hakim, R. Fitzgerald, F. Shaheen and A. Al-Khader for their efforts in the surgery. The new journal announced the founding of a new scholarship, Al-Sayyari Annual Prize in Medical Sciences, which was offered by Dr. Abdullah A. Al-Khader Al-Sayyari, commemorating his late father and brother.

The wife of Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, 46, is slowly emerging as a public figure after attending the first conference held with other first ladies from the Asia-Pacific region in Pakistan. Before that, she was quite anonymous that she was able to go shopping alone in Kabul while her husband moved around with 16 American bodyguards. Dr. Zenat Karzai, 34, is a gynecologist who is interested to help her society on a macro level, not just in medicine but in areas of education and national elections. She recently registered to vote in the fall elections, the first for Afghanistan in nearly 40 years, in an attempt to encourage more Afghani women to do the same.

Micheline Charest, the famous Canadian businesswoman, co-founder and former chair of the award-winning animation house Cinar, died last April at the age of 51. She was reported to have been in a Montreal private plastic surgery clinic to receive a facelift and to perk up her breasts. However during recovery from the seven-hour cosmetic surgery procedure, she experienced complications and later died at Notre-Dame Hospital. The private clinic, Clinique de Chirurgie Esthetique Notre-Damne, has an excellent reputation, having done 3,220 operations under general anesthetic since 1985 with no single death. Interestingly, her father died on the operating table as well following hip surgery in 1995. Charest and her partner Ronald Weinberg were once a power couple in the entertainment industry. They founded Cinar, an award-winning animation company that produced such popular children's TV shows as "Arthur" and "Caillou.”She was an emotionally tough and physically fit mother of two, who ran the New York marathon, climbed part of Mount Everest and prided herself on her top physical form. Hollywood Reporter once named Charest -- the public face of Cinar -- the 19th most-powerful woman in Hollywood, ahead of Madonna and Barbara Streisand.

The 15-year-old, 5'4", 130 lbs Russian teenager, Alyona Pisklova suddenly became a celebrity in her country with her face appearing on t-shirts as a popular figure among her country's youth. About 40,000 Russian teenagers decided that the pleasantly plain teenager, with blond curls fit their definition of beauty better than the 999 other contestants in an online competition to decide who should be Russia's entrant in the international pageant of Miss Universe of this year. Being just 15, it means that she is too young for the contest, which is only open to those 18 and older. However, the teenager now has become a frequent guest on TV talk shows. When the contest officials offered her a consolation prize, she chose to get a new puppy. In a blow to convention, her supporters hit back by creating a website called "Say No to Barbie Dolls". Alyona said that she is comfortable with her new role as the Anti-Barbie.

The annual meeting of the American Heart Association discussed the effect of the new drug - Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) on five heart attack patients. The study was presented by Dr. Chris Glover from the University of Ottawa. Charles Biscope, 62, was the first patient in this study, and showed improvements with this drug. The findings provide hope that researchers may soon be able to help damaged hearts repair themselves. Stem-cell therapies may be able to stimulate the growth of badly needed new heart cells either with transplants or by using drugs such as the one which helped Mr. Biscope.

Thousands today are interested in visiting Tolstoy's home, Russia's greatest 19th century novelist, which is now the property of Russia's Ministry of Culture. The director now is Vladimir Tolstoy, the great-great-grandson of the well-known novelist. Leo Tolstoy is well known for two particular books; War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The opening of his home as a museum is taking place as a commemoration of 175 years since his birth. The University of Toronto's Russian Studies department invited Mr. Vladimir to Canada, after helping to organize a recent series of Tolstoy scholarship conferences at the Yasnaya Polyana estate, which is near the edge of the fallout path of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, 62 years old, had set foot on European soil for the first time since 1989, the year his secret agents downed a French airliner over Niger and destroyed Pan-American flight 103 over Lockerbie killing 440 people. Col. Gadhafi, who ruled since 1969, wearing a burnoose and cap, was accompanied by female bodyguards in mottled blue camouflage and pearl earrings when he arrived to Brussels. He setup a spacious Bedouin tent pitched in the garden of the city's opulent Chateau Val Duchesse where he would stay during his visit. He was received by black African demonstrators playing drums and waving placards greeting the "guide of the revolution" as Col. Gadhafi began talks on energy, investment, and immigration with EU president Romano Prodi. Protestors were kept by riot police but slogans such as " Gadhafi is a murderer" echoed in the deserted streets. The man once known as the "mad dog of Tripoli" told reporters while flashing the victory sign," Libya is determined and committed to play a leading role in achieving world peace." It is well known that Libya announced late last year of scrapping its chemical and nuclear weapons programs. Recent visits to Tripoli by British PM Tony Blair and Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi demonstrated the shifting policies towards Libya.

Dr. Boutros Ghali, the first African and Arab UN Secretary-General and first head of La Francophonie received his citation for an honorary Order of Canada from Claude Laverdure, the Canadian Ambassador to France at a ceremony at the embassy in Paris on May 7th. This announcement marks the ninth time since the creation of the Order of Canada that an honorary appointment has been made. Past honorary recipients include John Kenneth Galbraith; James Hillier; Charles Dutoit; Nelson Mandela; Lois Lilienstein; Tanya Moiseiwitsch; Vaclav Havel and The Queen Mother whose award was made public on August 3, 2000, the day before her 100th birthday. The Canadian cabinet minister, Denis Paradis, who was responsible for La Francophonie during the last 2-years of the Chretein government, nominated Dr. Boutros-Ghali a year ago. He mentioned, "Whether as a jurist, diplomat, scholar or director of international institutions, Boutros Boutros-Ghali has been unrelenting in his efforts to promote peace. He brought a new dimension to La Francophonie; not just the promotion of France, but the promotion of values like democracy, human rights and good governance. He has always been a good friend of Canada." This award is given to those in recognition of outstanding lifetime achievement and service to humanity at large and to Canada in various fields of human endeavour. In her recent autobiography, former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, criticizes Boutros-Ghali for being hyper statue-conscious and for seeming to believe that administrative tasks were beneath him.

Dr. Gianna Beretta Molla, a physician in the 1960s, was diagnosed with a uterine tumor during her pregnancy and was told by a surgeon to have an abortion to save her life - she refused to end her pregnancy and died 5-days after giving birth, at the age of 39, to her daughter who became a doctor specialized in geriatric medicine and Alzheimer Disease. The year was 1994, when Pope John Paul II beatified Dr. Molla, a major step towards sainthood. Vatican authorities have approved two miracles attributed to her occurring in Brazil, a necessary condition of sainthood. In mid-May this year, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her as a saint. Interestingly also, the 84-year-old Pope released a new book on his birthday in May entitled, Get Up, Let Us Go, which was published in Italian by Mondadori.

Ms. Sonia Gandhi, 57, an Italian-born daughter of a Tuscan building contractor who became an Indian in 1983, led India's Congress Party to a huge upset over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. She met her late husband, Rajiv Gandhi, at Cambridge University where she was studying English and he was trying to earn an engineering degree, marrying in 1968. She can converse in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Hindu. Like the Kennedys in the United States, the Gandhis are India's first family in politics, whose rise has been marred by tragedy. Her mother-in-law, PM Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. Her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, was blown up by a Tamil suicide bomber while campaigning in 1991. The brave widow and daughter-in-law of the Gandhi clan never felt that voters looked at her as a foreigner. She brought into politics her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka, sending a strong message that the Gandhi dynasty was here to stay. Sonia Gandhi is convinced that India can become a secular state, saying "By secular state, I mean one that will encompass all religions." Despite winning the elections and being called for the PM position, she bravely declined the offer which was given to HE Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh to be named to that position.

Kuwait's cabinet approved a draft law allowing women to vote and run in parliamentary polls, moving them a step closer to full political rights they have sought for decades. The draft needs parliament's approval to pass into law. A decree issued by the Emir Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah giving women the vote was narrowly defeated in the 50 -man house in 1999 by an alliance of Islamist and conservative tribal MPs. The council decided to approve the draft law and transfer it to the Emir in order to transfer it to the National Assembly again. In another development in Kuwait, local Islamic activists are suing their government for allowing a concert by young stars of the Lebanese reality-TV program, Star Academy, to go ahead, urging the court to cancel the show which contravenes with Islamic Shari'a laws and Kuwaiti traditions. After several years of banning public concerts, Kuwait has recently resumed granting permits for concerts by well-known Arab pop singers until a Kuwaiti fatwa (religious edict) was passed this May to prohibit all music shows involving women entertainers.

Renowned American architect Daniel Libeskind has agreed to design a Salvador Dali museum in the Czech capital. The museum will show-case the work of the late Spanish surrealist. Libeskind unveiled the model of his design on May 11, the 100th anniversary of Dali's birth. The museum, estimated to cost $15.7 million, is to display 1,000 and 1,500 of Dali's works on loan from collections in Spain, France and Germany and estimated construction to be completed in 2007. Prague Mayor Pavel Bem, who owns a gallery in Prague, said he had the idea of creating a museum here after some 35,000 people visited a Dali exhibition in his gallery over a two-month period about five years ago.