Things to Know

Things grotesque, things macabre and things of interest in the news:

1. The first trial in Serbia to deal with the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslims included video footage of six young Bosnians being taunted about their virginity as they were murdered.
2. Adolf Hitler until very recently was an honorary citizen of Bad Doberan, a town that will host the annual G8 summit.
3. In March, a US war crimes court handed out its first sentence since World War II - to a Muslim convert.
4. Anti-Americanism began in Paris in the 18th Century.
5. Not a single senior member of the British government who committed Britain to the Iraqi invasion has a child in the army. << Iraq War
6. The Sabian Mandaeans of Iraq are one of the oldest religious groups in the world.
7. In 1987, US President Ronald Reagan declared that the US was about to enter an incredible new era of technology. It didn't.
8. A New York gallery has angered a US Catholic group with its decision to exhibit a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.
9. The Creationists are a strong movement in America that argue God created the world in six days and want their beliefs given equal status to evolutionary science.
10. Chimps and bonobos differ from humans by only 1% of DNA and could accept a blood transfusion or a kidney.
11. Bones thought to be the holy remains of 15th Century French heroine Joan of Arc were in fact made from an Egyptian mummy and a cat, research has revealed.
12. Dogs can seemingly perform the Heimlich manoeuvre – a technique for helping someone who is choking.
13. It is reputed that current US President George W. Bush has bought a piece of the moon.
14. The comic 2000AD has celebrated its 30th birthday.
15. The average duvet is home to 20,000 live dust mites.
16. Having a baby can cost you up to two months sleep in the first year.
17. Women have much less serotonin in their brains, a key chemical that makes people feel good.
18. Exposure to dirt may be a way to lift mood as well as boost the immune system.
19. Eating a Mediterranean diet could help protect children from respiratory allergies and asthma.
20. It can also help us live longer.

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