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Medieval slave trade routes in Eastern Europe extended from Finland and the Baltic Countries to Central Asia April 15, 2014 University of Eastern Finland Summary: The routes of slave trade in Eastern Europe in the medieval and pre-modern period extended all the way to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. A recent study suggests that persons captured during raids into areas which today constitute parts of Finland, the Russian Karelia and the Baltic Countries ended up being sold on these remote trade routes. The routes of slave trade in Eastern Europe in the medieval and pre-modern period extended all the...

A European team of researchers led by the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom postulates that the 'Protestant work ethic' that emerged in the 19th century may have helped to propel the economies of northern Europe over their southern neighbours. The study is presented in two articles published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Scandinavian Journal of Economics. Lead author Dr Sascha Becker, the deputy head of Warwick's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), collated data to determine if Max Weber's Protestant Work Ethic theory - that Protestantism encouraged hard work as a duty...

Colonel Sebastien Vallette swings back in his desk chair, minutes after landing his Mirage fighter on a Soviet-era runway. A detailed map on his wall shows Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, flanked by bold warnings: "Do Not Enter Russian Airspace". For six years, NATO allies have taken turns patrolling the airspace of the three Baltic states, minnows which won freedom from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 and have testy ties with Moscow. Vallette and six other French flyers under his command are the current eyes in the sky. "The point about airspace sovereignty is to know who's doing what in...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-nsd-1338.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, December 14, 2009 Terrorism Defendants Sentenced in Atlanta Ehsanul Islam Sadequee Receives 17 Years in Prison; Co-defendant Syed Haris Ahmed Receives 13 Years Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., and Syed Haris Ahmed, 25, of Atlanta, were sentenced today in federal court following their convictions earlier this year in separate but related criminal trials, the Justice Department announced. "With their words and their actions, these defendants supported the wrongheaded but very dangerous idea that armed violence aimed at American interests will force our Government and our people...

The sun was not necessary for Vikings to navigate, say researchers Vikings may have used a special crystal called a sunstone to help navigate the seas even when the sun was obscured by fog or cloud, a study has suggested. Researchers from Hungary ran a test with sunstones in the Arctic ocean, and found that the crystals can reveal the sun's position even in bad weather. This would have allowed the Vikings to navigate successfully, they say. The sunstone theory has been around for 40 years, but some academics have treated it with extreme scepticism. Researcher Gabor Horvath from...

A NORTH Wales man's hobby of shooting his air pistol at trees and signs in a wood has landed him in hot water. Police saw him walking along a road near Holywell and he was carrying a pistol which was loaded. At Flintshire Magistrates' Court yesterday, Paul Trevor Donnelly, 25, of Moor Lane, Holway, Holywell, admitted unlawfully possessing the pistol in Greenfield Road in Holy-well, on August 8. Magistrates gave him a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £55 costs. Justin Espey, prosecuting, said he told police he had simply been shooting the gun at signs and trees...