'My memory is fine' - Biden lashes out at criticism

An angry, emotional US President Joe Biden defended his mental competence in a rare evening address to Americans to respond to biting comments in a report released hours earlier on his mishandling of classified documents.

Ethnologia: Japón guarda un minuto de silencio en memoria de las víctimas de Hiroshima

Ethnologia: Japón guarda un minuto de silencio en memoria de las víctimas de Hiroshima

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Belgium marks one year since Brussels terror attacks

Belgian leaders, victims and families of those who died in the March 22 coordinated suicide bombings on the Brussels airport and subway marked Wednesday the first anniversary of the attacks that the killed 32 people.

Churkin left bright mark in history of Russian diplomacy, Lavrov says

Russia’s former Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who died on February 20 in New York, has left a bright impression in history of the Russian foreign policy and diplomacy, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the farewell ceremony.

Iran holds ceremony to pay tribute to dead Iranians in Saudi Hajj disaster

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday urged for an investigation into the latest Hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia which left 465 Iranian pilgrims dead.

Obamas lead moment of silence to mark anniversary of 9/11 attacks

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama led a moment of silence on the White House lawn Friday to mark the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Asia Marks 10th Anniversary of Tsunami

Beach side memorials, moments of silence, and religious services are planned across Asia on Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed at least 220,000 people in 2004.

Kiev parade shows aggressive plans to escalate crisis."Russian and Ukrainian peoples who have common origin, history and culture.” (Sergei Naryshkin)

MOSCOW, August 25. /ITAR-TASS/. The speaker of Russia’s parliament lower house State Duma Sergei Naryshkin believes that a parade held in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, on the occasion of Independence Day of the country was a manifestation of aggressive plans to escalate the crisis.
“Yesterday a military parade was held in Kiev, where military units carrying out a punitive operation in the country’s east already for several months also participated,” Sergei Naryshkin told reporters on Monday.

Japan PM sends offering to war dead shrine, cabinet ministers visit

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday sent a ritual offering to a Tokyo shrine to war dead but did not join cabinet ministers in a visit, seen as an effort to avoid further inflaming ties with China as he seeks a summit with Beijing.
Abe's offering to the Yasukuni Shrine on the 69th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two was still likely to anger China and South Korea, where bitter memories linger of Japan's actions before and during the war.

Abe visited the shrine in December, sharply chilling ties with China and South Korea.

Serbs visit cemetery in southern Mitrovica. - "In the Albanian cemetery there are no damaged headstones."

Nearly 500 Serbs from northern Kosovska Mitrovica visited Saturday morning an Orthodox cemetery in the southern part of the city on the occasion of the Saturday of Souls, a Christian holiday commemorating the dead.
Serbs arrived by bus at the cemetery in southern Mitrovica, where about 90 percent of headstones have been torn down, and this time they were not escorted by the Kosovo police.

This holiday is our only opportunity to visit the graves of beloved relatives and friends, Serbs said.

Learning foreign languages triggers brain growth

In the Swedish Academy of young translators, new recruits study a crash course in complex languages. It is not only about military discipline: specialists discovered that intensive study of foreign tongues stimulates the growth of the hippocampus and causes changes in other structures of the brain. Learning languages also helps in preventing Alzheimer's disease.

In the Swedish Academy, young people are offered to study Arabic, Russian or Dari (the language of the Afghan Tajiks) in 13 months. Newcomers had to learn the language all day long, every day, at a very intense pace. Their hard work gave unexpectedly impressive results. The experiment showed that it was not just active intellectual activity, but the study of foreign tongues. Researchers used a group of students of the Medical University of Umeå to control the research. Medics are known for their extensive studies, but the subject of their studies has nothing in common with foreign languages. Both groups took MRI tests before the experiment and after three months of active studies.

Genocide of the Ukrainians and achievements of humaneness

N. Lygeros (OPUS)

Translated from the Greek by Evi Charitidou

In Greece the genocide of the Ukrainians is almost unknown. Holodomor has not been heard not even as a word. Whereas 17 countries have already recognized the genocide of the Ukrainians as a crime against humanity. In a way we could say that as to Greek standards this has been a successful genocide, since society has either forgotten it or is indifferent to it. However, this does not mean that victims and executioners do not exist.