Sun, Nov 22 2009
The online version of The Independent reports on the 5000-year-old golden dagger found in a Thracian tomb in Bulgaria.
According to the head of the Bulgarian National Museum of History Bozhidar Dimitrov the dagger is believed to have been made of gold and platinum. Probably it belonged to a ruler or a priest, The Independent reports.
Archaeologists suppose that the dagger was used for sacrifices because of the engravings found on the hilt.
The artefact sheds light on the civilization of Thrace and shows that the Thracians were sophisticated metal-workers, The Independent says.
Together with the dagger, more than 500 pieces of delicate golden jewellery were found in the tomb.
Welcomed by the UK government, France and Germany, as well as the US, the naming of Belgium’s Herman van Rompuy as European Council President and Catherine Ashton as foreign policy chief has caused misgivings in some circles, including Turkey which believes that Van Rompuy will oppose Turkish membership of the bloc.
The dinner meeting of EU leaders to decide on the European Council President and the bloc’s new foreign minister and head of secretariat could take a few hours or all night, says host Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister.
Russia and the European Union have agreed on an early warning system if another natural gas cutoff looms. Some say that Bulgaria, among other countries hard-hit by the January 2009 crisis, is now better prepared. Not everyone is convinced.
Five Bulgarian films screened at the World Film Festival in Bangkok.
A complicated game, played partly in the dark, and with elements of everything from poker to tug ‘o war – that’s the way Europe’s leaders will come up with its new European Council President, foreign minister and European Commission.