10 August 2013 Last updated at 06:07 GMT
Researchers hope remains confirm identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalised in the 'Mona Lisa'
US embassies to reopen after al-Qaeda terror alert
The US says 18 of the 19 diplomatic missions recently closed due to security threats will reopen on Sunday.
The state department says its embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa will stay closed "because of ongoing concerns".
The US closed 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa last Sunday in response to what it said was a threat of a terrorist attack.
The consulate in the Pakistani city of Lahore, which closed after a separate threat, will also not reopen yet.
"We will continue to evaluate the threats to Sanaa and Lahore and make subsequent decisions about the reopening of those facilities based on that information," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Researchers open Florence tomb in search for identity of the real Mona Lisa
Researchers hope remains confirm identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalised in the 'Mona Lisa'
Researchers opened a centuries-old Florence tomb on Friday in a search for remains that could confirm the identity of the woman whose enigmatic smile Leonardo da Vinci immortalised in the "Mona Lisa", one of the world's most famous paintings.
A round hole, just big enough for a person to wriggle through, was cut in the stone church floor above the family crypt of Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, whose wife Lisa Gherardini is thought to have sat for the Renaissance master in the early 16th century.
HUMAN RIGHTS
'Boycotting Sochi would only hurt the athletes'
Russia's new anti-gay propaganda law has led to calls for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Black Sea resort Sochi. German Green Party politician Volker Beck tells DW why that wouldn't be a good idea.
DW: The Kremlin has reacted with "disappointment" to western criticism of its recently implemented anti-gay propaganda law, adding that its laws are "quite liberal." How do you see this?
Volker Beck: First off we must say that in Russia it is not against the law to be gay. It's been that way since the beginning of the 1990s, and this pledge of tolerance was one of the requirements for Russia's acceptance into the Council of Europe and its signing of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Turkish history has lessons for coup-happy Egyptians
August 10, 2013
Paul McGeough
There's no certainty that Egypt's ousted president Mohammed Mursi has access to the day's news while in detention but if he does, he must shake his head in wonder at the jailing this week of hundreds of senior military men, politicians and journalists in Istanbul - on charges that they plotted to overthrow Turkey's Islamist-inclined government.
Monday's verdicts in Heavy Penal Court No.13 concluded a five-year saga of litigation and politics with former armed forces chief of staff Ilker Basbug locked up for life, along with 16 of his former military colleagues.
Another court at Silivri, west of Istanbul, sentenced three opposition MPs to terms of up to 35 years for their roles in what was described as a plot to oust the government, which was to include the execution of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other prominent figures. More than 20 journalists were bundled off to jail, too.
Winnie Mandela: I was haunted by their screams
At her book launch struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she still carries a lot of guilt for choosing the nation over raising her children.
Madikizela-Mandela said she feels naïve for sacrificing her life for South Africa.
"We have made tremendous strides, but our people are back on streets demonstrating against the democratically elected government," she said. "Nelson and I chose the country over raising our children and in our old age, we got to witness Marikana - the very thing we fought against."
Still strikingly beautiful, Madikizela-Mandela nevertheless looked frail at 77. She was speaking at an intimate book launch ahead of Women's Day in South Africa, in conversation with journalist Victor Dlamini at the Constitutional Hill, where she was imprisoned several times.
She admitted that she has always been terrified of South Africa slipping back into the state it was in during the apartheid regime.
Easy credit, big debt: Peru tackles financial ed for its growing middle class
Peru's economy has expanded over 10 years of sustained growth, stoking access to credit and higher risks of debt across the rising middle class.
Enrique Diaz remembers the moment he understood how badly Peru needed a financial literacy movement: In line at a KFC restaurant, a customer handed over her credit card and the cashier asked if she would like to pay in four installments. The customer said yes, unwittingly committing to pay interest on a fast food meal for her family.
“The [economic] bonanza has come to Peru,” says Mr. Diaz, president of MC&F, whose Proyecto Alcanzar, Project Reach, partners with corporations to teach personal finance to their workers. “But people don’t know how to manage their money. They go into debt with credit cards, and they don’t know how to save.”
Peru's economy has expanded over 10 years of sustained growth, and analysts expect 6 percent GDP growth again this year. This has stoked Peruvians’ desire for the kinds of goods and services coveted by the middle class worldwide – TVs, cars, homes, and name brand clothes – and provided the higher earnings and access to credit to get them. But an unintended consequence, seen echoed across much of Latin America's emerging middle class, is the increased risk of falling into debt.
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