In 1978, after a failed coup of the Principality of Sealand, Alexander Gottfried Achenbach established a shadowy Sealandic government-in-exile. He and his associates pretended to be the micronation and issued illegitimate passports and documents bearing the Sealandic emblem to questionable individuals and groups. These people ranged from money launderers to Russian arms dealers and even the murderer of fashion icon Gianni Versace, tarnishing the reputation of the principality and its rulers. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here