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☆ Sex and marriage patterns in an ancient empire revealed by DNA
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

With opulent graves but no written records, the empire and its people have remained largely in the shadows of history until recently. But a landmark April 2022 study involving ancient DNA taken from the graves of the Avar elite shed light on the empire’s far-flung origins. A tiny sample is drilled from a bone at the ancient DNA laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In the case of men, researchers found two partners in 10 cases, three partners in four cases and four partners in one case. “Polygamy (having multiple marriage partners), serial monogamous marriages and extramarital relations are all possible explanations,” she said.

Persons: ”, Zsófia Rácz, Rácz, aren’t, Guido Alberto Gnecchi, Max Planck, Eötvös Loránd University Múzeum Lara Cassidy, “, polygyny, Ruscone, Cassidy, Bryan Miller, wasn’t Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd, Múzeum, University’s, Archaeological Sciences, Max, Max Planck Institute, Eötvös Loránd University, Trinity College Dublin, Turks, Central, University of Michigan Locations: Central, Eastern Europe, Hungary, Rákóczifalva, Budapest, Leipzig, Germany, Europe, Mongolia, Caucasus, what’s, Constantinople, Byzantine, Eurasia

☆ The extraordinary ancient secret places hidden under Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lisa Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Less obviously visible but equally impressive are the historical treasures, some more than 12,000 years old, that can be found underground. Unlike the Basilica, this underground chamber was completely forgotten about until less than 15 years ago. Other than locals herding their livestock through the ruins of a garrison city dating to the 6th century, few people went there. Now, the site has given up numerous treasures including rock-cut tombs, an olive processing workshop and a series of underground cisterns. Yeraltı, literally meaning underground, was originally a dungeon in the basement of a fort built by the Byzantines in the 8th century CE.

Persons: James Bond, Theodosius II, Theodosius, Derinkuyu, tufa, émigrés, Han, Rümeli Han, Sarıcazade Ragıp Pasha, Sultan Abdülhamid II’s, Sancaklar, Göbeklitepe, Yeraltı, –, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Grand Vizier Bahir Mustafa Paşa, dervish Organizations: CNN, Love, UNESCO, Şanlıurfa Archaeology Locations: Turkey, Europe, Asia, Russia, Faith, Istanbul, Constantinople, Fatih, Belgrade Forest, Valens, Dara, Mardin, Nevşehir, Cappadocia, Derinkuyu, Taksim, stairwells, Sancaklar, Büyükçekmece, Mecca, Göbeklitepe, everyone’s, Şanlıurfa, Karaköy, Yeraltı, Ottoman, Grand

☆ I was in Moscow the day Putin invaded Ukraine, and some Russians were in tears
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Cameron Manley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Russian police officers detain a woman during an unsanctioned protest rally against the military invasion on Ukraine, March,6, 2022, in Central Moscow, Russia. These quickly ceased when they saw Russian colleagues in tears, whose life savings had halved overnight. Russian friends began referring to Tbilisi as the "new Constantinople," referencing the city where anti-Bolshevik Russians fleeing the Communist revolution had taken refuge a century before. Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets French President Emmanuel Macron (R) on February 07, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. I stood at the glass window silently as the Russian border guard inspected my passport and now useless work permit.

Persons: —, Cameron Manley, Russia's, didn't, Vladimir Putin, Putin idi nakhui, Putin, Mir, Pushkin, Konstantin Zavrazhin, Alexey Malgavko, Stringer, Zelenskyy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Karen Minasyan, pragmatically, gossiped, Emmanuel Macron Organizations: Service, Business, REUTERS, National Guard, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Armed Forces of, Facebook, Bolshevik, Communist, Kremlin Press, AP, Saint Locations: Edinburgh, Scotland, Moscow, Ukraine, Russia's, Europe, Russia, Central Moscow, Russian, Omsk, Kyiv, Armed Forces of Ukraine, seeping, Belarus, Yerevan, Armenia, AFP, Istanbul, Dubai, Tbilisi, Constantinople, St Petersburg, Helsinki, West, Switzerland, Saint Petersburg, Finland

☆ Why Yemen’s Houthi rebels welcome conflict with the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Since mid-November the rebels have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab al-Mandab. The Red Sea is a vital waterway that connects to the Suez Canal, through which 10% to 15% of world trade passes. In its fight, the Houthi group has distracted from Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, shored up domestic and international support, and made its name known among those who knew little to nothing about the movement, they say. That narrative has taken hold among those who oppose the Gaza war the world over. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when Houthi forces stormed the capital Sanaa and toppled the internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government.

Persons: Abdel Malek al, Houthi, ”, Allah, Thomas Juneau, ” Juneau, ’, Ahmed Nagi, Juneau, Israel, “, Biden, Netanyahu, ” Mohamed Ali al, Nagi, ” Nagi, ” Mohammed Ali Al, Yemen's Houthi, ” “ Houthis, Nadwa, Yemenis, ” Dawsari Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemeni, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada’s Department of National Defense, Yemeni Armed Forces, European Union, NATO, United, Crisis, UN, BBC, Political Council, Galaxy Leader, Getty, Middle East Institute Locations: Constantinople, Istanbul, United States, Saudi, Israel, Gaza, Bab, Suez, Iran, China, India, Tehran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Red, Solidarity, Aden, Instagram, US, United Kingdom, Brussels, Saudi Arabia, tatters, Yemen's province, Hodeida, AFP, America, Washington ,

For a few hundred years, money poured in from the church, which was eager to expand its influence in the Dodecanese, this group of islands so close to Turkey that on a map it looks like a jeweled choker wrapped around the country’s southwestern coast. Pilgrims seeking either enlightenment or refuge — from the fall of Constantinople, the waning influence of Crete — soon settled this island’s Chora (“town” in Greek) in the shadow of the monastery. Patmos continued to grow into the modern era as a locus of cross-cultural currents and commerce: Prosperity and geography made it ideal for seafaring, as boats brought back wooden furniture from Venice and crafts from Istanbul and Cairo. By the 15th century, both immigrants and rich merchants were building the small churches and blocky mansions that still crowd Chora’s narrow, steep pathways. Although throughout history various interlopers — pirates, Ottoman expansionists and Nazis among them — have claimed this territory as their own, Patmos has belonged to Greece since the late 1940s.

Persons: Crete —, Patmos, Ottoman expansionists, — Locations: Turkey, Constantinople, Crete, ”, Venice, Istanbul, Cairo, Ottoman, Greece

Group members said Russian occupiers are snuffing out religious and other freedoms in areas of Ukraine under Russian control. “We are eyewitnesses of Russian atrocities going on in our country,” said Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zoria, a representative of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has declared its independence from Moscow and proclaimed its loyalty to Ukraine, but a government study commission contended that the UOC remains a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church. The other separate, but similarly-named church, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, was officially recognized as independent by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2019, but the Russian church has disputed the legitimacy of that recognition. Zoria decried statements by Moscow Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has strongly supported the war as part of a metaphysical battle against Western liberalism and has said the Russian war dead have their sins forgiven.

Persons: Ivan Rusyn, ”, Freedom, “, Bartholomew of Constantinople, you’re, Zoria, Kirill, ” Zoria, Yaakov Dov Bleich, ” Bleich, Vladimir Putin, Ukraine Akhmed Tamim Organizations: WASHINGTON, Ukrainian Evangelical Church, Ukrainian, of, U.S . Institute of Peace, Orthodox, of Ukraine, The U.S . Commission, ” UNESCO, U.S . State Department, Church, Orthodox Church of, Ecumenical, Metropolitan Zoria, Russian Orthodox Church, Administration, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Ukrainian, United States, Ukraine, Russian, Rusyn, Christianity, The, ”, Houston, Moscow, Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church of Ukraine, of Ukraine, “, Kyiv, America, Yugoslavia

☆ Papal envoy says Moscow visit focused on humanitarian issues, not peace plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, July 2 (Reuters) - Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi said on Sunday his mission to Moscow on the Ukraine war was focused on humanitarian issues and had not involved any discussions of a peace plan. Pope Francis had in May asked Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops' conference, to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine. There is not a peace plan, not a mediation", Zuppi told state broadcaster RAI. On the same day, a Vatican statement said the visit was "aimed at identifying humanitarian initiatives, which could open roads to peace". During his Sunday blessing, Francis called on pilgrims to keep praying for peace, "even during summer time and especially for Ukrainian people".

Persons: Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis, Zuppi, Vladimir Putin's, Yuri Ushakov, Kirill, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Constantinople, Francis, Gianluca Semeraro, David Holmes Organizations: MILAN, Papal, Russian Orthodox Church, RAI, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, Russian

☆ China is looking all over the world for help building and flying its fighter jets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet at RAF Coningsby in May. Daniel Duggan, a former US Marine Corps pilot, has been accused of violating the Arms Export Control Act by training Chinese military pilots. "Currently, Chinese jet engines can at best achieve one-fourth the life span of Western engines," the report says. To manufacture engines, China still needs to import complex machine tools, including equipment made in Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. A J-20 stealth fighter jet at Airshow China 2022 in Zhuhai in November.

Persons: —, Der Spiegel, Christopher Furlong, Daniel Duggan, Duggan, Chen Jimin, Deng Hua, John Paul Jones, walling, Michael Peck Organizations: Service, Privacy, China, NATO, Taiwan, British Royal Air Force Eurofighter, Coningsby, US, Chinese headhunters, US Marine Corps, Western, China News Service, Getty, Center for Strategic, International Studies, CSIS, Nations, Soviets, Defense, Foreign Policy, Twitter, LinkedIn Locations: China, May, Australian, Zhuhai, US, Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, Xinhua, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, Hungarian, Russia, Russian, Nazi, Forbes

[1/2] A journalist takes a picture of Saint John the Baptist 6th century Encaustic painting on wood panel, a rare Byzantine icon from the collections of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, one of 16 icons that were evacuated in the utmost secrecy to be safeguarded by the Paris... Read morePARIS, June 13 (Reuters) - The Louvre Museum in Paris will exhibit five rare icons evacuated from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to protect them from the war. The icons, on display from Wednesday, are from a group of 16 extremely fragile works from Kyiv's Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum that were secretly evacuated in May to be safeguarded by the Paris museum. "It's a very symbolic and effective gesture of support for Ukrainian culture," Oleksander Tkachenko, Ukrainian culture minister, told reporters at the Louvre. At the start of the Russian invasion, the collections of the Khanenko Museum were hidden and the historic building is currently empty. The Louvre exhibition, titled "The Origins of the Sacred Image: Icons from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv", will continue until Nov. 6.

Persons: Saint John the Baptist, Bohdan, Varvara Khanenko, Read, Kyiv's Bohdan, Saint Nicholas, Elizabeth Pineau, Antony Paone, Dominique Vidalon, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Louvre Museum, Varvara Khanenko Museum, Khanenko, Museum of Arts, Moscow, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Paris, PARIS, France, Poland, Germany, Saint Catherine's, Egypt's, Constantinople

☆ Ecumenical patriarch: Russian Church shares blame for 'crimes' in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's comments are a rebuke for Russian Patriarch Kirill, whose full-throated blessing for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church. Bartholomew, who in 2019 infuriated Moscow by recognising the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine, said Russian authorities were using the Church as an "instrument for their strategic objectives". The Russian Orthodox Church had no immediate comment. 'MOTHER CHURCH'The Ecumenical Patriarch is based in Istanbul and is viewed as "first among equals" in the Orthodox Church, which has some 260 million followers worldwide, around 100 million of them in Russia. Ukraine says Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at seizing land and crushing its independence.

Mo Abbas / NBC NewsKuvtun is among the Ukrainian Christians who turned Christmas into a fresh front in the war with Russia. We choose this civilization,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy Zorya, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. Hours later, Putin ordered his military to observe a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine for Russian Orthodox Christmas and called on Kyiv to do the same. And even as it has sought to distance itself from Russia, the UOC has also stuck with Christmas on Jan. 7. Zorya, the OCU spokesman, said the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the UOC still bears at least a nominal connection, remains hopelessly imperial in its outlook.

☆ The tunnels and bridges linking Asia to Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Lisa Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Sometimes called FSM Köprüsü, it’s another gravity-anchored steel suspension bridge similar in length to the First Bridge and costing a similar toll fee to use. Yavuz Sultan Selim BridgeThe Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge opened in 2016. irina lepnyova/Adobe StockIn 2016, a third suspension bridge opened up across the Bosphorus, near the Black Sea. With a 58.8-meter-wide single deck slab, it is the world’s widest suspension bridge, able to carry eight lanes of traffic and a double-track railway line. Çannakale 1915 BridgeThe 1915 Canakkale Bridge has the world's longest suspension bridge span. Measuring just short of 2.3 miles, it now claims the world record for the longest suspension bridge span.

Persons: peters, Fatih, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Mehmet the Conqueror, King Darius I, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Sultan Selim Bridge, irina lepnyova, Yavuz Sultan Selim, Tershanesi, It’s, OZAN KOSE, Sabiha, Sultan Abdülmecid I, Abdul Hamid II, Çeşmesi, Ryzhkov Aleksandr Organizations: Istanbul CNN, CNN, Istanbul Marathon, Adobe, Horn, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Atatürk Airport, Istanbul Kart, Ferries, Princes Locations: Istanbul, Bosphorus, Marmara, Europe, Asia, Princess, Photosensia, Turkish Republic, Ortaköy, Fatih Sultan, mehmet, Constantinople, Byzantine, Hısarüstü, Kavacık, Anatolia, Canakkale, Gelibolu, Lapseki, Turkey, OZAN, AFP, Kazlıçeşme, Göztepe, Istanbul’s, Eurasia, Ryzhkov, ’, Ottoman, Princes ’, Sirkeci, Bursa, Yalova, Mudanya, Taksim

☆ Two companies have luxury trains called the 'Orient Express.' Here are the differences
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The "Orient Express" has been called the "king of trains" and the "train of kings." By the 1970s, the original Orient Express trains had made their last journeys, and the carriages fell into disrepair. The Orient Express 'La Dolce Vita'Accor has more plans to use the Orient Express name. A rendering of the "Orient Express La Dolce Vita," which will connect Rome to cities like Paris, Istanbul and Split. A rendering of a bedroom suite on the "Orient Express La Dolce Vita," showing the train's 1960s-style decor.

☆ Greek monastery manuscripts tell new story of Ottoman rule
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

MOUNT ATHOS, Greece — A church bell sounds, the staccato thudding of mallet on plank summons monks to afternoon prayers, deep voices are raised in communal chant. And high in the great tower of Pantokrator Monastery, a metal library door swings open. The libraries of the self-governed community, established more than 1,000 years ago on northern Greece’s Athos peninsula, are a repository of rare, centuries-old works in several languages including Greek, Russian and Romanian. Byzantine scholar Jannis Niehoff-Panagiotidis says it’s impossible to understand Mount Athos’ economy and society under Ottoman rule without consulting these documents, which regulated the monks’ dealings with secular authorities. “Ottoman was the official language of state,” he told The Associated Press from the library of the Pantokrator Monastery, one of 20 on the heavily wooded peninsula.

☆ International desserts: 50 famous desserts around the world
▼ + stars: | 2018-11-30 | by ( Jen Rose Smith | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +41 min

Taste that rich filling for evidence of the Arab influence that infuses Sicilian cuisine: The candied citrus that often flavors the creamy interior remains beloved throughout the Middle East. In the 1990s, the cake became a menu star as a lava cake or molten chocolate cake. A soft, flaky dough is shaped into a plump half-moon that barely contains the sweet filling, then topped with a light blanket of powdered sugar. Variations on medovik differ widely, but the most popular takes incorporate one of two very Russian ingredients into the sweet filling. Sesame Balls, Jian Dui, ChinaShutterstockBite into the crisp shell of a deep-fried jian dui to discover a sweet filling within the golden, sesame-seed-studded exterior.

Persons: Hong, Austria Natasha Breen, it’s, United States Robert Lachman, Fannie, they’ve, Katharine Hepburn, “, don’t, ” Cannoli, Johanna Kindvall, Ruth Wakefield, Cornes, Brûlée, France David Carson, Louis, Dan Tats, eggy tarts, beignets, Maine’s, Bob Fila, you’re, Gulab Jamun, gulab, Eid, kashata, Kouign Amann, amann, Dominique Ansel, Brittany, kouign amann, kulfi, Pierre Hermé, Torte, daubing, ma’amoul, they’re, blini, United States Nathan Congleton, Pavlova, Aussies, Anna Pavlova, you’ll, Rigó, Rigó Jancsi, Princesse de Caraman, Saffron, Jian, Anita Chu, jian, Xue Hua Bing, Taipei’s, xue, bing, Sticky Rice, rong, treacle, ’, Tatin, you’ve, ”, Tim Krob, tim krob Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Times, Boston Cooking, Southern, Morocco –, Louis Post, Dispatch, TNS, Chicago Tribune, Gelato, Sudan –, New, NBC, Philadelphia, Taste Research, New Zealand, Kiwis, Midwestern, Le, Central America Locations: Africa, Asia, Italy, Portugal, South, Argentina, Peru, de leche, America, Vienna, Baklava, Turkey, Ottoman, Levant, Balkans, Caucasus, North Africa, Constantinople, Germany, Middle East, East, United States, Fannie Farmer’s, Sicily, Palermo, Sweden, fika, Singapore, pandan, States, Massachusetts, Boston, France, Southern United States, Gazelle, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Moroccan, Tetouan, St, Hong Kong, nata, Macau, Portland, Portland , Oregon, Torta, Hungary, Austro, Europe, Sarajevo, Budapest, Latin America, Spain, Mexico, Chocolat, Gelato, Bologna, India, Persia, York, East Africa, Kifli, Knafeh, Amman, Alexandria, Palestinian, Nablus, Brittany, SoHo, Breton, Kulfi, Mughal, Paris, Austria, Linz, Austrian, Tangier, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Medovik, Russia, borscht, New York, Eastern Europe, Philadelphia, Netherlands, Wageningen, Australia, New, New Zealand, Philippines, Manila, Mexico City, Qatayef, Rigó Jancsi, Belgium, Cream, Iran, Persian, Saffron, Tehran, Tehrangeles, China, Taiwan, Midwestern United States, Midwest, Mango, Thailand, Southeast Asia, United Kingdom, Treviso, Umbria, Ulaanbaatar, Tres, Central, United, Oakland

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