Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old mosaic in Rome depicting the Greek god Apollo surrounded by his muses in a cellar once used as a park tool shed near the Colosseum, officials have said.
“This is a very important discovery. The mosaic is in perfect condition and it can be dated exactly to between 64 and 109 AD,” Umberto Broccoli, head of the culture department of the Rome city council, said. Excavations are being done in an underground gallery of the ancient Trajan Baths, a vast structure near the ruins of Nero’s palace, the Domus Aurea.
The parts of the mosaic uncovered so far are made with various shades of bronze-coloured tesserae and show columns, Apollo and one of the muses. (AFP)
Lifetime award
Blood and gore mix well with fine wine, to judge by an unusual Slovenian festival that presented British veteran actor Christopher Lee this weekend with a lifetime achievement award.
The Grossmann Film and Wine Festival in Ljutomer, northeastern Slovenia, rewards every year the best horror and fantasy films from around the world as well as the country’s finest vintages. Guest-of-honour Mr Lee – best known for his Dracula portrayals as well as more recent roles in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, was handed a lifetime achievement award at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday.
The highly unusual programme of the week-long event included: wine sampling, blood donations, a Vampire ball and a Queen of the Scream contest to determine the festival’s most hair-raising shriek – open only to women aged 16 and over. (AFP)
Happy families
A US mother and daughter have three big lottery wins in the last 20 years between them. Kimberly McCauley won $100,000 this month playing a new instant-scratch card game.
In 2007, her mother, Amy McCauley won more than $160,000. But the family’s big win came in 1991, when Amy won $15.5 million in the New York Lotto. (PA)
Bizarre theft
An investigation was launched after thieves stole a valuable rhino horn from a UK museum exhibition.
The burglars broke into Ipswich Museum in an early hours raid and made off with the horn and a separate rhino skull, Suffolk Police said.
The theft came weeks after museums were warned about a spate of rhinoceros horn thefts from museums around Europe. The Museums Association’s website said the commercial value of rhino horn has soared recently, largely because the Chinese market uses it in traditional medicines as a cure for cancer. It is also highly prized in Yemen, where it is used for dagger handles. (PA)
Hell raisers
One in 20 householders has been forced to move because of a feud with a neighbour, according to new research. A study of more than 2,000 adults by life assistance company CPP found that home and garden maintenance issues topped the list of arguments, as well as excessive noise, parking spaces and disputes over boundaries.
Almost one in five of those polled said they had been involved in a row with a neighbour in the past year, while almost a third never spoke to people living next door. (PA)
Dwarf spared jail
A dwarf who appeared in the Harry Potter and Star Wars films has dodged a short spell behind bars for indecently exposing himself to a teenager on a train.
Former pantomime star Nicholas Read, 40, who played an Ewok in Return Of The Jedi, was given a suspended 20-week jail term after a judge said it would offer the best opportunity for rehabilitation. Mr Read, of Wade Close, Cheadle, north Staffordshire, was convicted of indecent exposure after a 17-year-old girl told Leicester Crown Court he performed a sex act under the cover of a juggler’s hat. (PA)
Saved by dryer
A bonnet dryer saved a German grandmother from serious injury or worse when the ceiling of the salon where she was having her hair done collapsed, the Bild daily has reported.
“At first I didn’t realise what was happening. You can’t hear a thing under the bonnet,” said Karin Koellner, 72, from Gladbeck in western Germany. “Then bits of the ceiling broke off. But the dryer worked like a protective helmet.”
A shocked Nermin Karagad, owner of the Cut and More salon, told the paper: “I’m just happy nothing worse happened. The ceiling was redone seven years ago.”
Two other people escaped with slight injuries in the incident. (AFP)