CE 26-30

CE 26: Italy arrests 'top mafia boss'

When you first hear the phrase, "mob boss", what comes to mind? A rather physically fit man who is dressed in the best designer suit with a tommy-gun, is what comes to my brain. Well, in this current event, the mob boss was 73 years old and was caught April 11, 2006, after being the most wanted man in Italy since having taken over the mafia in 1993. But, Bernardo Provenzano has actually been on the run for 42 years. His skill at evading capture and creating disguises has allowed him to actually not be photographed in a crazy amount of time. The last time he was actually photographed by the police was in 1959.

He has been sentenced to life in prison.

CE 27: Self-repair gene therapy promise

Researchers are taking a new approach to repairing genes. "Gene therapy experts say they have found a way to persuade cells to repair themselves."

German researchers have found a drug that could possibly influence the way a faulty gene repairs itself as opposed to replacing the whole gene. The European Society of Human Genetics conference in Amsterdam is currently researching/focusing on spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a common inheirted disease that is the leading cause of death in infants.

CE 28: Tight controls on food labelling

"The European Parliament has passed new laws to clamp down on misleading claims on food product labels."

The labels on the food now have to follow a strict regulation. For example if they say that they are 'low fat', they have to meet a standard definition set forth by the EU. Other foods, such as those that make a claim to be low in salt, on the same label have to say that they are also high in fat or in sugar. This is so that when consumers are reading their labels in the supermarket, they have all of the information they need upfront.

"EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: 'The new laws will ensure that consumers will be able to rely on the truth and accuracy of information on food labels.' "

In the next few years, these laws will be slowly phased in. One member of parliament says that she welcomes the changes because it will finally make it much harder for producers to make strange claims and false promises about their foods. It will also allow the European people as a whole, to make better, healthier choices when food shopping.

Yay for being healthy!

CE 29: More men dying from skin cancer

"The number of men who have died from skin cancer in the UK has topped a thousand a year - a rise of nearly a third over the past decade."

The Cancer Research UK suggests that a major reason for this is that men fail to get strange moles checked by doctors. Each year more women are diagnosed with melanoma, yet more men die of it? This is due to the fact that by the time men are diagnosed with melanoma much later than average women are, and that is when it is more difficult to treat.

"The latest figures show 1,777 people, including 1,002 men, die from melanoma each year in the UK."

CE 30: Man died after scratch from cat

Days after being scratched by the family cat, 61-year old Martin Maas died.

Strange as it sounds, if you think about it, it sort of makes sense? After being scratched by the cat, the injury became infected and he died of the infection. The coroner says that the cause of death is of natural causes. Laying the blame solely on the cat would just be ridiculously harsh. The scratch was just the means for infection.

The family does not hold any grudges against the cat. =)

French Revolution: Marie Antoinette

Maria Antonia was the seventh child of Francis I and Emperess Maria Theresa of Austria. The Emperess made it a point to marry off her children to European royalty, a way of maintaining peace. All of Maria Antonia's sisters were married off, next in line was Maria Antonia. Austria and France were intermittently fighting and so, to prevent this, there was a peace treaty to be signed. To further ensure peace, Louis-Auguste was to marry one of Empress Maria Theresa's. Because the daughter that was next in line, Johanna Gabriella had passed away in 1762 of smallpox, Empress Maria Theresa agreed to allow Maria Antonia to marry. In May of 1769, only fourteen years old, she left Austria for France. Upon arrival, she changed her name to sound more French. Around two weeks later, she was presented at the royal palace of Versailles where she first met her future husband, Dauphin Louis-Auguste. Being only one year older than her, marriage or anything sexual was not on his mind. Hours later, they were married.

Being only 14 and 15 years old, they were not having sex and therefore did not have a child for the first seven years of their marriage. Rumors began to spread that Louis-Auguste was impotent or that he suffered from phimosis. There were also rumors that Marie Antoinette was simply unable to give birth. People began to suggest that she be divorced and sent back to Austria. May 10th, 1774, King Louis XV died of smallpox and Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were named king and queen.

The following year, Marie-Antoinette's sister-in-law gave birth to her first child, and the rumors began again. Everyone wondered why Marie had not produced a son for her King. They began to resuggest that she be divorced for another more capable woman. Hearing this, she would spend the following days crying in her rooms, much to the distress of ther ladies-in-waiting. A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant who attends to a queen, princess, or other noblewoman. Depending on her status, the lady-in-waiting is can either range from a royal companion and confidant to the queen (such as a sister or other female relative) to someone who is only required for ceremonial occasions. Because she was being ridiculed by many, she began to become very selective in who she spoke to and confided in. This made the courtiers think that she was deliberately excluding them. In reality, she was simply trying to protect herself. Nonetheless, the gossip at Versailles began to use her as their target. To avoid the gossip, she was convinced to attend operas in disguise. But in the end, this plan backfired as well and she was accused of having secret and scandalous affairs. Being only twenty-one years old and having a rather large amount of money at her disposal, Marie Antoinette was addicted to spending. She would buy countless articles of expensive clothing and diamonds.

Eventually, more rumors began to circulate and by means of an illegal press, pamphlets began to be printed, depicting the queen having sex with her brother-in-law. Although the rumors were untrue, they began to convice the public that Marie-Anoinette was nothing more than a problem.

On December 8, 1778, Marie-Antoinette gave birth to her first child, Princess Marie Therese, named for her mother the Empress of Austria. In 1781, Louis Joseph was born. He was to be the next King of France. Sadly this would never be because amongst the public, resentment began to grow. The royals and noblemen locked themselves away at the Palace of Versailles and ignored the needs of the people. The King and Queen were oblivious to the needs of their people and instead indulged in extravagent parties and excessive gambling. As the country and it's economy was crumbling, the royals and noblemen ignored any issues that should've been taken care of.

Finally, in 1789, the people could stand it no more and had themselves a revolution.

Realizing that their lives and the lives of their children were in jeopardy, the royal family tried to escape France, but were instead captured near the border in 1791. The Austrians invaded France with the hope of restoring the two to the throne, but were forced to retreat. In August of 1792, Marie-Antoinette and her husband, King Louis XVI were accused of treason. The king was executed January 1793. Soon after this, things steadily began to get worse for the former queen of France. Her son, Louis XVII was taken from her and she was transferred from the Temple Prison to the Conciergier where she was tried before the Revolutionary Tribuneral from October 14-15 of 1793. She was found guilty of treason and guillotined on October 16th.

Armenian Genocide

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/

Genocide the the systematic extermination of a people; it's sole purpose is to put an end to the "collective existence" of a race. The Armenian Genocide did precisely this. During WWI, from 1915 to 1918, the Armenian people were subject to "deportation, expropriation, abduction, torture, massacre, and starvation. Throughout the Ottoman Empire, Armenians were removed and sent to the desert to die of thirst and hunger. Nearing the end of WWI, the atrocities began to calm down, but in 1920-1923 they were renewed and the Armenians that managed to survive the first wave of extermination, were again subject to expulsions and massacres. From 1915 to 1923, it is estimated that 1.5 million Armenians perished; at the time, there were only about 2 million living in the Ottoman Empire.

The Armenian Genocide is commemorated on April 24th because on the night of April 24, 1915, the Turkish government placed over 200 Armenian community leaders. They were all sent to prison where most were executed. The Turks that were held responsible for the Armenian Genocide had been planning for years prior to there actually being action. They started by disarming Armenian recruits in the Ottoman Army and "reducing them to labor battalions and working them under conditions equaling slavery." They were able to keep all of this under the protection of the government. It was not until April 24th that public began to detect their true intentions for the Armenians.