Lets face it - not everyone has the time or money to visit Paris.

For some visitors, it's as iconic as the real one - for others, it's just tacky.

In Britain, archaeologists have now decided there's nothing wrong with faking the tomb of the most famous Egyptian pharaoh.

"Is this exhibition a con, a delusion, a postmodern joke?" asks Jonathan Jones

from the Guardian newspaper. "Is it not a bit rich to sell tickets to a display that is really no more authentic than a horror film with mummies chasing screaming actors through digitally created pyramids?"

But the question is, so what? If technology allows us to experience something that seems authentic, does it matter if it isn't?

We'll talk to the curator of the exhibition this week on World Update. What do you think - can a fake be as good as the real thing?

]]> Eleonore Dresch Eleonore Dresch https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2010/10/are_fakes_as_good_as_the_real.html#269264 https://nontonwae.pages.dev/blogs/worldhaveyoursay/2010/10/are_fakes_as_good_as_the_real.html#269264 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:30:22 +0000

A Brazilian artist has provoked outrage by unveiling a series of drawings in which he depicts himself assassinating nine world leaders.
Amongst his "victims" are the Pope, George W Bush, the Queen and the Brazilian president Lula da Silva.

Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is also depicted being executed as he sits tied to a chair - the artist running a big knife across his throat.

Vicente said he came up with the provocative idea because of his "disappointment" with leaders whom he saw as inflicting wrongs on the world with impunity.

>"Because they kill so many other people, it would be a favour to kill them, understand? Why don't people in power and in the elite die?" he asked.

The sketches have attracted a lot of criticism. The national lawyers association demanded that the pieces should be taken down, alleging that they encourage violent crime and that "there have to be limits to exhibiting it publicly".

Biennal organisers remain adamant that Gil Vicente's work remains, as they assert that freedom of expression is fundamental to their institution.

We'll be looking at the issue on World Update this week.

In Iran, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was sentenced to death by stoning after having been convicted of murder and adultery. The sentence led to widespread international criticism. Since then the Iranian authorities have suspended her execution by stoning, but the death sentence remains in place.

Last month, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned Ashtiani in a declaration, and urged Iran to respect the fundamental freedoms of its citizens.

That's the picture in Iran.

Meanwhile, this Thursday in the American state of Virginia, another woman, Teresa Lewis, is due to be executed from lethal injection, barring a last-minute reprieve from the US Supreme Court .The 41-year-old has admitted that she conspired with two accomplices who shot and killed her husband and stepson in 2002. One of them was her lover at the time. The two gun-men were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Human rights organisation have called for a halt to her execution - a request that has not been granted by the governor of Virginia.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Iran's parliamentary human rights committee said it would file an official complaint to the international community against the US if the execution goes ahead.

In addition to that, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has slammed the US media, arguing it provided wide coverage of Ashtiani, while ignoring Teresa Lewis's case. "A woman is going to be executed in the US but nobody cares," the Iranian president said.

So what do you think? Is Teresa Lewis's case comparable to that of Sakineh Mohammadi? Let us know.

We'll be looking at the issue on World Update on Thursday

As the presumed date approaches - July 31st - journalists, bloggers and tabloids justify their near-blanket coverage by suggesting that the Clintons are essentially America's royal family.

The Washington Post has come to Chelsea's defence, calling for her and the groom to be granted the privacy they so desperately seek.

"The prying reportage is beginning to smell of dumpster diving. Have we no shame? No, apparently, we do not," The Post charged. "If there is anything particularly noteworthy about Clinton -- and this is a sad reflection on our pop-culture universe -- it's that as the child of two public and controversial parents, she seems well-adjusted, intelligent and pleasant," the newspaper says. "This is how our culture rewards decorum."

The weddings of other former US presidents have passed with far less fanfare. John Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette in a modest Georgia church, with no paparazzi in sight. As for Jenna Bush, she diffused any chance of a tabloid feeding frenzy by previewing details of her wedding in Vogue.

But it may be that the case of Chelsea Clinton is unique. She has been an object of fascination since her teenage years in the White House, when she was obliged to publicly endure her parents' marital difficulties. It appears many Americans feel they've watched the junior Clinton grow up, and therefore deserve to be part of her happy moment.

In a world where women announce their pregnancies on Facebook, it may be that we can't quite grasp the concept that someone in Chelsea's position simply doesn't want the publicity, or any further intrusion.

Or, is it unrealistic for the high-profile daughter of two of the planet's most famous people, to expect effective anonymity on what's likely to be the biggest day of her life?

Tell us what you think and listen to World Update this Friday as we will be discussing Chelsea and Marc's wedding.

The reaction from the Association of Spanish Newspaper Editors was prompt. "if it was illegal, then newspapers wouldn't carry the ads" said the spokesperson for the association.

Women associations like Federacion de Mujeres Progresistas, (progressive women association) have been extremely critical of the newspapers' attitude. "No media outlet can proclaim itself a defender of human rights when it publishes this kind of advertising, which makes them directly complicit in this type of slavery" she said.

Sex adverts constitute a significant source of income for the Spanish press, and newspapers are fearing a further drop in their already diminishing advertising revenues.

Spain is the only European country where broadsheet newspapers carries advertisements for sex. With the migration of most classified advertising to the internet, prostitution now accounts for 60 percent of the Spanish classified ad market.

The article has provoked a torrent of comments.

The US based Christian KSS blog complains that these days, "parents see children as projects to be developed. These children - especially those in the middle and upper middle class families - are constantly en route to one practice or another and pushed into the level of academic and social success that their parents think absolutely necessary for success in life."

Sarah Wildman, from Politics Daily reckons the reason for unhappy parents is the lack of subsidised childcare, and she reminds us that in Sweden, men are almost forced to take paternity leave.

Meanwhile, blogger, Maedline Holler, thinks that Jennifer Senior has got it all wrong.

And in the UK, Kate Kellaway writes in the Observer that childless people "often turn out to be the most creative, generous and en rapport with other people's chidren." She concludes that parenting is not about happiness - it is about love - not the same thing at all.

We will discuss the issue on World Update next Thursday. So - what do you think? Is having kids bad for your happiness?