Nazi-looting paintings returned from Hearst Castle

California has returned three Renaissance paintings that were confiscated from Jewish art dealers in Nazi Germany during the 1930s.

The 16th-Century paintings were returned to the heirs of their former owners, Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, who died during the Holocaust.

After World War II, the paintings ended up in the collection of US newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst. . .

Copies of two of the paintings will stay on display at Hearst Castle along with the original of the third painting belonging to the couple.

From the BBC.

Fire-eater

An Indian mother is set for an entry into the Guinness World Records after eating 51 of the world's hottest chilli in two minutes.

Anandita Dutta Tamuly, 26, gobbled up the "ghost chillis" in front of visiting British chef Gordon Ramsay in the north-eastern state of Assam. . .

Guinness World Records accepted in 2007 that the ghost chilli was the world's spiciest at more than one million Scoville units, the measure of spiciness, twice the heat of its closest rival.

A standard green chilli has about 1,500 units.

From the BBC.

Liberation of Paris whitewash

Charles de Gaulle . . . made it clear that he wanted his Frenchmen to lead the liberation of Paris. Allied High Command agreed, but only on one condition: De Gaulle's division must not contain any black soldiers. . .

Finding an all-white division that was available proved to be impossible due to the enormous contribution made to the French Army by West African conscripts.

So, Allied Command insisted that all black soldiers be taken out and replaced by white ones from other units.

When it became clear that there were not enough white soldiers to fill the gaps, soldiers from parts of North Africa and the Middle East were used instead.

In the end, nearly everyone was happy. De Gaulle got his wish to have a French division lead the liberation of Paris, even though the shortage of white troops meant that many of his men were actually Spanish.

The whitewash may have been pushed by the Anglo-American commanders, but the French have plenty to answer for, too:

For France's West African Tirailleurs Senegalais, however, there was little to celebrate.

Despite forming 65% of Free French Forces and dying in large numbers for France, they were to have no heroes' welcome in Paris.

After the liberation of the French capital many were simply stripped of their uniforms and sent home. To make matters even worse, in 1959 their pensions were frozen.

From the BBC.

L'Aquila earthquake

The earthquake that killed scores of people in central Italy today has severely damaged a series of important historic buildings, including a famous medieval church and one of the country's best-preserved Renaissance castles.

At least four old churches were damaged in the 6.3-magnitude quake that struck early this morning, the culture ministry in Rome said.

Among them was the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, a striking pink-and-white stone-faced structure known for its architecture and for an annual pilgrimage honouring a 13th-century pope, Celestine V, a former hermit who was both crowned and buried there.

One nave wall in the church, which is also celebrated for its 14th-century frescoes and lavish Gothic interior, collapsed in the quake, while the bell tower of another church, the lavish Renaissance-era Basilica of San Bernardino, collapsed.

From the Guardian.

Apparently some damage in Rome to the Baths of Caracalla, according to the Telegraph.