Oslo gay animal show draws crowds

From BBC News:

Curators say a Norwegian exhibition on homosexuality among animals has been well received, despite initial indications of strong opposition.

The Oslo Natural History Museum opened the show last week and says it has been well attended, not least by families.

Organisers reported early criticism of the project, and being told by one opponent they would "burn in hell".

But there has been strong interest in an aspect of animal behaviour the museum says is quite common.

Rest of the article

Buy Nothing Day

Renaissance masterpieces found behind bedroom door

LONDON (Reuters) - Two lost paintings by Italian Renaissance master Fra Angelico have turned up in a modest house in Oxford in a discovery hailed as one of the most exciting art finds for a generation.

The works -- two panels each painted with the standing figure of a Dominican saint in tempera on a gold background -- are expected to fetch more than 1 million pounds at auction.

They were discovered behind a bedroom door in a terraced house when art auctioneer Guy Schwinge was called in to carry out a valuation after the owner of the house. librarian Jean Preston, died in July.

rest of the article

Spanish gays blast "old-fashioned" dictionary

From Reuters UK:

MADRID (Reuters) - A gay rights group on Tuesday blasted the top authority on the Spanish language for failing to recognise same-sex marriage in its latest dictionary.

Marriage continues to be defined as a union between a man and a woman in the Real Academia Espanola's Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language published this week, ahead of the appearance of the full version in 2013.

"Marriage now in Spain and other countries is no longer just a contract between a man and a woman ... It is a reality and the academy should include it", Beatriz Gimeno, spokeswoman for The Federation of Gays and Lesbians told Spanish radio station SER.

rest of the article

The Mugs Have Arrived!

The EuroBureau mugs (see a couple posts down) have materialized and are awaiting dispatch to your domain. All we need is a $50 pledge to KMUD.
Who would want such a mug? You could literally be the only one with a EuroBureau mug in your entire state! How's that for individualism?

KMUD certainly could use your support, and the EuroBureau crew would be happy to send you one of these mugs.

Thank you,
Merci,
Dankeschön,
Grazie,
Děkuji,
Kiitos,
Tack,
Spasibo

etc.

P.S. Have we mentioned that there are only 36 mugs total?

Tomatino: The world's largest tomato fight

You heard about it on the EuroBureau:
The Tomatina -- a picture gallery from cyberpresse.ca

The Royal Mail's New Christmas Stamps

The Royal Mail's 2006 X-mas Stamps
London - Santa looks like he has stopped for a toilet break on one of this year's Christmas stamps.

The collection, on sale on Tuesday, shows Santa sitting on top of a chimney.

The collection has upset the Church of England, which claims they contain no Christian message.

There are snowmen, reindeer and a Christmas tree but no Three Wise Men, no manger and no baby Jesus.

A church spokesperson told the Mirror: "We regret the Royal Mail have decided against continuing last year's welcome return to Christian-themed designs."

Royal Mail said its stamps swapped between religious and non-religious themes each year.

The EuroBureau Mug

Finally something for the closet EuroBureau fan, too shy to advertise his or her taste for the program with the bumper sticker, yet capable of sheltering their coffee cup from surprise visitors, in the intimacy of their own home, keeping their 'penchant' for the exotic private.








So how do you get one? Make a pledge for a regular membership ($50) with KMUD and this cup can be yours!
Truth is: KMUD needs your support. If you enjoy EuroBureau, and you haven't contributed to our radio station, please do so now. Call (+1) 707 923-3911, in the US you can call 1-800-568-3723.
We, JJ and Simon, had the mugs made at our cost and we give them to KMUD so you, dear Listener, can have something to sip your soup from, or to lick that latte foam off.

Nice day for a cream wedding

from www.metro.co.uk
Friday, October 13, 2006

Viktoriya Shtefano, in puffs
Valentyn Shtefano, a baker in the Ukrainian town of Uzhhorod, gave his fiancé a wedding to remember- when he made her wedding dress out of 1,500 cream puffs.

Shtefano – rapidly gaining fame for his confectionery creations, which have included a 2-foot-long 1920s-era Cadillac made out of caramel and cream puffs, and cakes shaped like a pair of breasts – made the dress for his bride-to-be Viktoriya to wear at their wedding in August.

The finished creation weighed 20lb.

After initial attempts at sewing the (empty) cream puffs together failed when the dress crumpled, he instead opted to build a wedding-dress shaped frame. He then delicately attached the individual puffs to the frame, and Viktoriya model the dress and frame every night for several hours so that he could add more puffs.

Caramelized sugar was employed to create Viktoriya's bouquet, necklace and crown.

After some initial scepticism, Viktoriya came to think the dress was great: 'At first, it was even a little embarrassing, - cameras, interviews - but after a couple of hours, I didn't even want to take it off.'

Wanted: Boobs

EuroBureau reported on this a few weeks ago. Original article from www.metro.co.uk

A German plastic surgeon hunting women who never paid for their operations has produced what may be the greatest 'wanted' poster in history. He's published pictures of their enhanced breasts.

He hopes that publicising the pictures of the breasts will help police track down the women, who absconded from the clinic where the surgery took place without paying.

One of the women - who gave her name as 'Tanja' - asked to go out to get some 'fresh air' after the £5,400 (€8,000) was completed. She never came back.

Michael Koenig, the Cologne surgeon after the women, said: 'The women registered under fake names. After the operations, which lasted about an hour, they just ran away,' he told Germany's Bild newspaper.

Bild also published a very large picture of two of the breasts in question.

Voting machines too insecure for Dutch election

People in major Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, will find themselves using pencil and paper to cast their votes in the elections in three weeks time. It's emerged that around ten percent of the computerised voting machines are not secure enough and have been withdrawn.

Thirty-five cities are affected and although some may be able to find alternative voting computers, most will have to revert to more old-fashioned means of registering the voter's wishes.

Investigation
According to the Minister for Electoral Affairs, Atzo Nicolai, the problem machines emit a signal, which can be intercepted and used to see how the votes are being cast. The machines to be withdrawn are made by the Dutch firm SDU - almost 1200 of them will be taken away. They were investigated by the Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD.

Minister Nicolai explained the problem.
"The AIVD found that within 20 or 30 metres of the voting machines there was a signal and that it would be possible using this to see how someone had voted".

The right to secrecy whilst voting is a legal matter and so the government took the step to remove the offending machines. The withdrawal of the machines is in fact the latest step following a remarkable campaign by a group calling themselves "We Don't Trust Voting Computers."

Read the whole article here: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/ned61101