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Extracts taken from Anonymus and Master Roger The Deeds of the Hungarians/Epistle to the Sorrowful Lament upon the Destruction of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Tatars edited by Martyn C. Rady, Laszlo Veszpremy, Janos M. Bak Central European University Press, 1 January 2010

The Black Death, often called the largest pandemic in human history, is conventionally defined as the massive plague outbreak of 1346 to 1353 C.E. that struck the Black Sea and Mediterranean, extended into the Middle East, North Africa, and western Europe, and killed as much as half the total population of those regions. Yet genetic approaches to plague’s history have established that Yersinia pestis, the causative organism of plague, suddenly diverged in Central Asia at some point before the Black Death, splitting into four new branches—a divergence geneticists have called the “Big Bang.” Drawing on a “biological archive” of genetic...

RATEPAYERS could be stung up to $45,000 to install curtains at a public pool so Muslim women can have privacy during a female-only exercise classes. The City of Monash has won an exemption from equal opportunity laws to run the sessions outside normal opening hours. The council says the privacy screen is needed for "cultural reasons". It follows moves by other councils to introduce women-only sessions for the Muslim community, such as Greater Dandenong asking a tribunal to approve a ban on uncovered shoulders and thighs for those attending a family event at a pool. Special exercise classes for women...

Scientists: 13th-C. Saint Died From Blocked Heart Researchers examining Saint Rose of Viterbo's mummified body have concluded that she died of a heart condition, rather than tuberculosis, as had previously been thought. (June 12) -- The miracles performed by Rose of Viterbo are well known to many Catholics. Legend has it the 13th-century Italian saint stood for hours on a raging pyre without being burned (a useful skill if you want to impress and convert pagans) and could foretell events. But exactly how this godly young prodigy died in 1252 at the age of just 18 or 19 -- some...

A baby boy died in an Italian hospital after his Nigerian parents performed a circumcision at home, police said. The mother, 24, and the person who performed the procedure might be charged with manslaughter, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The 2-month-old boy began bleeding heavily. He was taken to a hospital in Bari, but doctors there were unable to save his life. Fabio Ferri of Bambin Gesu Hospital in Rome told the news agency even hospital circumcisions can be risky because the penis holds a large amount of blood. He said the procedure should never be done outside a...