Karen Jones

DNA tests are underway to determine whether the two stillborns discovered inside Tutankhamun’s tomb were offspring of the famous young pharoah. They were discovered inside King Tut’s tomb in 1922 by explorer Howard Carter.

By determining the relation of these stillborns to King Tut, scientist can then test the tomb of what is thought to be Nefertiti, the famous queen and mother of Ankhesenamun, King Tut’s wife whom he married at only twelve years of age.

“For the first time we will be able to identify the family of King Tut,” Mr Hawass told Reuters news agency. BBCNews.com Cairo paternity test for King Tut

Hopefully this will be able to show the lineage of King Tut’s family. Below is the creepy picture of one of the stillborns found in King Tut’s tomb.

Shockingly, Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe, is willing to share power with opponent Morgan Tsvangirai. It’s not exactly what the people of Zimbabwe want, but it’s a start. Talks are underway which will be mediated by South African President, Thabo Mbeki.

It has been proposed that Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai will serve as two prime ministers. Mugabe will be the head of his party, Zanu-PF, and be in charge of the military; Mr. Tsvangirai would be the head of the Movement for Democratic Change party and would be in charge of the police. However nothing is written in stone just yet.

BBC African analyst, Martin Plaut says,

For the two men to achieve a power-sharing deal will be no easy matter, as they share nothing but a mutual loathing. BBCNews.com Mbeki tries to seal Zimbabwe deal

It seems impossible for two men with polar opposite political views to be ruling side by side, but hopefully this will work for the Zimbabwean people.

population (more potential competitors) and income levels (more resources to develop competitors) are crucial determinants of Olympic success. Both also agree that other factors enable countries to punch above their economic weight, including past performance, having been a member of the Soviet/Communist bloc, and/or home-field advantage. Newsweek.com Olympics: Can China Rule the Olympics?

According to this article from Newsweek.com, China has a strong chance at dominating at the Olympic games. After all, everything seems to be in their advantage: their home turf, high number of athletes, and an urgent necessity to show the rest of the world who they are. The Chinese medal count for these Olympics are predicted to increase by 40%. Other big contenders like the U.S., are predicted to receive less medals than they won in the 2004 Olympics.

With their rapidly growing economy and modernization, it looks like its China’s time to shine.

According to a BBC News article, Australian scientist Dr. George Wilson believes that in order to lower greenhouse emissions, we should start raising kangaroos instead of our traditional livestock. Why you ask? Well, according to this article,

The methane gas produced by sheep and cows through belching and flatulence is more potent than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment. BBCNews.com Eat Kangaroo to “Save the Planet”

Since Kangaroos have a different digestive system than that of livestock, they produce close to zero methane gases. The question is, would people actually give up delicious beef and eat kangaroo just to lower methane emissions? I think not. However Dr. Wilson does make a good argument to eat kangaroo in order to save our planet. As for me, I’ll stick to recycling.

As you may have already heard, Colombia led an extremely successful operation to free 15 captors from the guerrilla army, FARC, last Thursday. Among the prisoners was Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt who had been held captive since 2002. Ms. Betancourt was a Colombian senator who ran for president in ’02 for the Oxygen Green Party. Colombia has been ravaged by civil war since the 1960′s with the liberal rebel army, FARC, fighting the Colombian government for independence through means of violence and kidnappings.

The Farc, which has been waging a war of independence for the past four decades, still holds more than 40 high-profile hostages, among up to 700 other captives. BBCNews.com End FARC ‘hate,’ Betancourt urges

Despite being held hostage for six years by FARC, Ms. Betancourt urges the Colombian government to stop hate towards the FARC. She sees it as more logical to resolve issues with peaceful and civil negotiations.

I think we have reached a point where we must change this radical, extremist vocabulary of hate of very strong words that intimately wound the human being. BBCNews.com End FARC “hate,” urges Betancourt

The drama just keeps on coming with Zimbabwe’s fascist president, Robert Mugabe. Elections held to elect a new president for Zimbabwe have been extremely unsuccessful. Mugabe has been manipulating the election to secure a false victory for himself despite overwhelming support for Mugabe’s opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr. Tsvangirai has since pulled out of the election with Mugabe proclaiming himself the “sole candidate.” Now, according to BBCNews.com, Kenyan prime minister, Raila Odinga , has pleaded with the African Union to have Mugabe suspended until he allows a fair election. Not only has another African country gotten involved but now, the Italian Foreign Ministry is in the process of pulling out ambassadors from the country in protest of Mugabe’s unjust rule.

In a statement on Monday, the Italian foreign ministry said pulling out all EU ambassadors would signal the “firmness and disapproval that is shared by the international community” at the conduct of the run-off. BBCNews.com Kenya Urges AU to Suspend Mugabe</blockquote

Hopefully the AU ans UN come up with a solution to end Mugabe’s presidency and get Zimbabwe the help and justice it deserves.

I’m not sure if everyone has heard but there was a story that broke out last week about a group of teenage girls from Gloucester High School in Massachusetts who supposedly made a pregnancy pact. My first thought, as I’m sure many others’ was, was WHY?! Why would young girls who have their entire lives ahead of themselves want to ruin it by having a kid? The idea of wanting to do this on purpose is completely bizarre and deranged. Suspicion of a planned pact arose when there was an increase in pregnancies at Gloucester High. Seventeen teens had recently become pregnant at nearly the same time, however there is no evidence that supports there was ever a pact. According to the article “No Pregnancy Pact, says U.S. Mayor” on BBCNews.com,

The number of pregnancies at the school has quadrupled since last year. BBCNews.com No Pregnancy Pact, says U.S. Mayor

Whether it is to “fit in,” or to feel loved, the reason for wanting to become a teen mother completely and utterly baffles me. Some blame parents and schools for not educating kids on safe sex and others blame the media and hollywood for movies such as “Juno” and pregnant teen celebs like Britney Spear’s little sister influencing teens and glamorizing teen pregnancy. Maybe some of these people are to blame or maybe some kids are just plain dumb and obviously lack common sense.

It’s official! Gays in California can now be legally married. Despite all the controversy surrounding this Supreme Court ruling and protestors gathering outside city halls, ceremonies were held in 5 counties in California. In San Francisco, mayor Gavin Newsom officiated the ceremony of one of the first couples to be married. He said it was an

extraordinary and humbling gift. BBCNews.com “First California Gay Couples Wed”

Mayor Newsom has long since been a supporter of gay marriage. Although it is a day of happiness and celebration for many, it is overshadowed with the November referendum that will determine the fate of same-sex marriage in California. But for now, gay couples around the state celebrate their new marriages. Good for them!

There has been a lot of controversy with Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe’s recent attendance to the UN Food Summit in Rome. President Mugabe has been Zimbabwe’s only president since they received independence form Britain in 1980. Since then, Pres. Mugabe has ruled with an iron fist banning political opposition and freedom of the press. After reading the article “Eyes on Mugabe at Rome Summit” on BBCNews.com, I learned on how outraged other UN leaders were of Pres. Mugabe’s presence at the food summit. This is what Douglas Alexander, Britain’s international Development Secretary had to say:

I think we must state unequivocally that we don’t see Mugabe as gaining any legitimacy from attending this meeting when four million of his people require food aid as a direct consequence of his profound misrule of the country. -Douglas Alexander; www.BBCNews.com

According to this article, Pres. Mugabe is more concerned with land redistribution than with feeding the millions that are living in abject poverty in his nation. Pres. Mugabe has also denounced countries like America for “foisting food on his people.” His presence at this food summit is adding insult to injury and is a giant “screw you” to his own nation. What do you guys think?

“Teens, Tans, and Truth” is an article I found on Newsweek.com about, well, tanning. I’ve never “faked baked” before but after reading this article the last thing I want to do is lay in a cancer box. Apparently, exposure to sunlight makes you generate more vitamin D so naturally, the tanning companies have jumped all over this and have started to promote the benefit of tanning:

vitamin D, otherwise known as the “sunshine vitamin.” Newsweek.com ”

Vitamin D is also said to reduce the risk of colon cancer. Very Ironic. However, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy medical director of the American Cancer Society says that

while it’s true that vitamin D shows cancer-prevention potential, there’s more promise than proof at this stage. Newsweek.com “Teens, Tans,and Truth”

She also went on to say that prescribing tanning to generate more vitamin D as a way to prevent cancers, etc. is like prescribing smoking for stress. Completely preposterous.

Excessively tanning, especially in tanning beds, often leads to skin cancer which is one of the leading types of cancer. So remember to soak yourselves in sunscreen before being exposed to sunlight!!