Richard III updates

There have been many articles and discussions since Richard's body was formally identified by Leicester University on Monday. Here are a few of them:

• There has been some debate between academics over the value of the find. Neville Morley from Bristol University argues that Richard's celebrity has overshadowed research by others into more "ordinary" people from the time and Caroline Fletcher from Sheffield University questions the decision to announce the discovery through a press conference and television programme rather than more rigourous academic channels. 
• Here Paul Lay from History Today discusses how the find will affect Richard's reputation and considers why he has been able to inspire such dedicated supporters such as the Richard III Society.
• Richard III's face has been reconstructed based on the skeletal remains. You can read more about it here and see a video here.
• Here is some discussion about how Richard might have acquired his injuries at the Battle of Bosworth.
• Here is an article on whether Richard was responsible for the deaths of the Princes in the Tower and whether there are any other suspects. Meanwhile this article suggests that the bodies in Westminster Abbey believed to be the princes will not be re-examined in the light of Richard's discovery.
• And finally...here are some of the many Richard III jokes currently doing the rounds on Twitter. Our favourite is "Richard III officially announced 1485 Hide and Seek Champion". There are many more!

East German jokes

West Germany's intelligence service has released a collection of jokes made in East Germany during the Cold War. You can read some of the here, such as,
"If Christmas had happened in East Germany, it would have been cancelled. Mary would't find any napppies for the baby Jesus, Joseph would be called up to the army and the three kings wouldn't get a travel permit."
Or, "What would happen if the desert became communist? Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage."
The humour is pretty dry, but it reveals the way many East Germans coped with the repressive regime and their dreary surroundings - through cynicism and sarcasm. Of course, the penalty for being caught telling such jokes could be very high. The Stasi had 189,000 informants who reported any criticsm of mockery of the government, and many people were arrested and sent to labour camps.

The report is published by Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, and you can find further coverage (in English) of the events marking the anniversary of 1989 here.