Siberia: Siberian princess goes global 2,500 years after her death
Her ancient tattoo is a showpiece of the glittering opening ceremony for the Sochi Paralympics.
Known as ‘Princess Ukok’, her superbly-preserved remains were found in a permafrost burial chamber high in the Altai Mountains of Southern Siberia.
The ancient mummy of the mysterious young woman - her body covered in entrancing tattoos - is now kept in a glass sarcophagus at a special mausoleum at the Republican National Museum in capital Gorno-Altaisk. ... (Read more)
Siberian Times
The 2,500-year-old mummy of Princess Ukok in Siberia. Note the tattoos on her arm. (Wikimedia Commons)
Romania: Group of Romanian MPs proposes chemical castration for child sex offenders
A group of 27 MPs from the Social Democratic Party PSD proposed chemical castration for offenders who commit sexual abuse on children. ... (Read more)
Romania Insider
Switzerland: Skiing meshes with yoga on St. Moritz piste
Ski-yoga is more than a fashionable gimmick, as The Local’s Emily Mawson learns when she finds her skiing improving on St. Moritz’s new yoga piste — the first of its kind in the world.
High above the glistening Engadine valley in a gondola tightly packed with harassed half-term skiers, Sabrina Nussbaum emanates an air of calm.
It is infectious – I would normally feel stressed, but I don’t. And this is exactly what the 49-year-old yoga snow sport instructor (known locally as ‘the angel’ after her first aid help at two ski accidents this winter) hopes to teach with her ‘Yoga on Snow’ piste in St. Moritz. ... (Read More)
The Local
New Zealand: Gran has thumb on pulse of Gen X, Y
Octogenarian Elizabeth Ruffell is in the vanguard of older New Zealanders for whom texting and the internet is overtaking face-to-face contact with family and friends. The Christchurch woman, 83, uses Facebook to keep up with many of her 22 grandchildren and is also a dab hand at texting and Skyping.
“I keep in touch with the younger generation through Facebook and often through Skype as well,” she told the Weekend Herald. “I can see my grandchildren growing up - sometimes I know things that the parents don’t know.”
Mrs Ruffell, who gained computer skills in 1999 through a SeniorNet learning centre and was then recruited to teach others, is in good company. ... (Read more)
New Zealand Herald
Kenya: Illegal Ripening of Fruits Exposes Millions to Cancer
In an investigation in Kenya and India, writer Kiprotich Koros, discovers how corrupt businessmen use cancer-causing chemicals to ripen fruits. Officials now warn millions of people risk early grave by eating fruits laced with these chemicals. ... (Read more)
The Star via All Africa
Kuwait: Buried in Kuwait
With the wide variety of nationalities living in Kuwait who also have different beliefs and religions, Kuwait has provided different cemeteries. … (Read more)
Kuwait Times
Australia: Universities spend billions in race to be the best
The University of Sydney plans to spend $2.5 billion transforming its historic campus, as a building arms race between higher education providers reaches unprecedented levels. ... (Read more)
Sydney Morning Herald
*Image of Bronze-Age paintings in Siberia via Shutterstock
