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Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as a credibly nutritious substitute for meat. Unusual among...

In late November and early December, Peruvian business leaders gathered in the industrial city of Arequipa for the 50th Annual Conference of Executives (CADE). When the polling firm Ipsos Apoyo asked CADE attendees whether they approved of the job performance of Peruvian president Ollanta Humala, a remarkable 75 percent said yes. In other words, a former Hugo Chávez acolyte—who led a failed military coup in 2000, who reportedly received money from Chávez during his 2006 presidential campaign, and whose wife once earned $4,000 per month in “consulting” fees from a pro-Chávez newspaper based in Caracas—now enjoys overwhelming support from the...

"IRAN SPY NETWORK 30,000 STRONG Pentagon report: Iranian intelligence linked to spying, terror attacks" SNIPPET: "Iran’s intelligence service includes 30,000 people who are engaged in covert and clandestine activities that range from spying to stealing technology to terrorist bombings and assassination, according to a Pentagon report." SNIPPET: "“MOIS provides financial, material, technological, or other support services to Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), all designated terrorist organizations under U.S. Executive Order 13224,” the report said. The spy service operates in all areas where Iran has interests, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Central Asia, Africa, Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, France,...

SNIPPET: "Social media is no longer simply a fun way to share updates on the harmless idiosyncrasies of our lives. It can undermine national security, and there ought to be a more robust discussion between the Bay Area technology world and Washington on what to do about it. Cyber-terrorism, especially the potential for electronic tampering with U.S. industrial or military installations, is a paramount national security threat that Washington is working to forestall. We're all working to protect our accounts from hackers. But the cyber-threat getting far less public attention involves the social media networks we use every day and the...

The first findings of the most detailed study yet by two British archaeologists into the Nazca Lines – enigmatic drawings created between 2,100 and 1,300 years ago in the Peruvian desert – have been published in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity. As part of a five-year investigation, Dr Nicholas Saunders of the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and Anthropology and Professor Clive Ruggles of the University of Leicester walked 1,500 km of desert in southern Peru, tracing the lines and geometric figures created by the Nasca people between 100 BC and AD 700. The confusing palimpsest of...

An offering featuiring pieces of pottery, stones and a ceremonial pot was found in Machu Picchu Inca citadel during archaeological excavations. The pieces, which were discovered by experts of Cusco's Regional Directorate of Culture, were found 70 centimeters underground. According to archeologist Carlos Werner Delgado, the artifacts were left as an offering to the gods of Machu Picchu and Salkantay snowcapped mountain due to the position they were placed underground. He noted that the pieces would date back to time of Pachacutec, between 1438 and 1470, but the ceremonial pot of Chimu culture would be the oldest one dating back...

AMSTERDAM -- Joran van der Sloot, who is serving a 28-year-sentence for murdering a young Peruvian woman, has impregnated a woman while imprisoned in Lima, according to a Dutch newspaper. ((snip)) The woman, identified by the paper only as "Leidi," was said to have become pregnant during an unsupervised visit with Van der Sloot.

My video about our trip to Peru. I hope you enjoy the video as much as we did the trip! :) Made using iMovie and iPhoto, by the way!

Archeologists said Friday they have discovered a tomb about 1,200 years old, from the pre-Inca Sican era, in northern Peru. Human remains and jewelry were found July 4 along with the tomb, likely that of a member of the aristocracy of the Sican or Lambayeque elite, head researcher Carlos Wester La Torre told AFP. A gold earflap, a silver-plated crown, and some 120 silver and copper ornaments that served as emblems of power, along with 116 pieces of pottery and seashells were found in the tomb. The tomb was located in a burial chamber some six meters (20 feet) deep...

The Peruvian government claims that nearly 900 dolphins died of natural causes between February and April of this year. A separate dolphin necropsy disagrees with this statement and lays the blame on bursts of high-pressure compressed air used to look for oil deposits beneath the ocean. The government’s report didn’t say what killed the dolphins or why so many died at one time. Blaming natural causes doesn’t specify any particular culprit. And it seems odd that 800 individuals all died at once, especially considering they were of different ages and species. It would be as if everyone at a shopping...

A team of archaeologists from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) has discovered a spectacular tomb containing more than eighty individuals of different ages. This discovery -- provisionally dated to around 1000 years ago -- was made at the site of Pachacamac, which is currently under review for UNESCO World Heritage status. Pachacamac, situated on the Pacific coast about thirty kilometres from Lima, is one of the largest Prehispanic sites in South America... It was here -- directly in front of the Temple of Pachacamac -- that the most important discovery was made. A scatter of later period burials was...

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A new project to help -- indeed, convince -- former coca-producers in Peru to pursue licit economic activities is about to be unveiled by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency will enlist the help of private contractors to help it "pursue the overall goal of promoting and sustaining licit local development in communities formerly dependent on an illicit economy." The project will complement U.S.- and Peruvian-funded alternative development endeavors underway aiming " to reduce illicit coca cultivation in Peru." According to a presolicitation notice that U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor located today via routine database research: USAID...

Manmade mounds shaped like orcas, condors and even a duck may be the oldest evidence of animal mounds outside of North America, according to former University of Missouri anthropologist. Writing in the magazine Antiquity, Robert Benfer, a professor emeritus, describes a series of mounds, some more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) across, in coastal valleys in Peru. Archaeological evidence at the sites pegs some at more than 4,000 years old. "It's going to shake everybody's views," Benfer told LiveScience. "The previous oldest animal figures were at Nazca and they're 2,000 years old." The Nazca Lines are simple stone outlines of...

Peru upgrades air defense with $140M plan Peru has embarked on a much delayed modernization of its air defense system and awarded a $140 million contract to an international consortium of military suppliers. LIMA, March 20 (UPI) -- Peru has embarked on a much-delayed modernization of its air defense system and awarded a $140 million contract to an international consortium of military suppliers. The Latin America country isn't in any conflict with neighbors but faces an increasingly violent threat from what the security agencies call "narcoterroists." The category covers a range of criminal and militant groups engaged in drug smuggling...

Peru cancels visit by British frigate over Falkland Islands Peru has cancelled an upcoming visit by a Royal Navy frigate to the country as tensions between Britain and Latin America mount over the Falkland Islands. HMS Montrose was scheduled to dock at Peru's El Callao naval base this week, but the visit has been cancelled by Peru in a show of solidarity with Argentina. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has criticised Britain’s territorial rights to the Falkland Islands, known in Latin America as the Malvinas. The dispute comes ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war in April,...

    Summer 2000 (8.2) Scandinavian Ancestry Tracing Roots to Azerbaijan by Thor Heyerdahl Above: Thor Heyerdahl with Peruvian children who still construct traditional boats made of reeds, the principle material that enabled early migrations on trans-oceanic voyages. Courtesy: Thor Heyerdahl. Archeologist and historian Thor Heyerdahl, 85, has visited Azerbaijan on several occasions during the past two decades. Each time, he garners more evidence to prove his tantalizing theory - that Scandinavian ancestry can be traced to the region now known as Azerbaijan. Heyerdahl first began forming this hypothesis after visiting Gobustan, an ancient cave dwelling found 30 miles ...

Peru may buy 10 Embraer Super Tucanos -Brazil * Deal with Embraer could be worth $150 mln * Peru also interested in Embraer's KC-390 planes * Brazil, Peru want to boost border security BRASILIA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Peru is considering buying ten Super Tucano light attack aircraft from Brazil's Embraer as it works with Brazil to bolster surveillance along their jungle border, Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim said on Tuesday. Amorim said the Peruvian military is also interested in Embraer's KC-390 military transport plane and the armoured land vehicle Guarani, a Brazilian army project that is expected to start...

The Legenday White-Skinned Cloud People Of PeruVillage of the Cloud People Archeologists have discovered a 12-acre lost city deep within the Amazon rain forest that may shed light on a long-lost tribe of white-skinned, blonde-haired people known as the Cloud People. The Cloud People, also known in legend as “the white warriors of the clouds” established expansive kingdom located in the northern regions of the Andes in present-day Peru during the ninth century. Bordered by the Maranon and Utcubamba rivers, in the zone of Bagua, their civilzation extended up to the basin of the Abiseo river, and to the very...

Is Peruvian Mummy a Giant Toddler? by Brian Thomas, M.S. | Feb. 10, 2012 Some say that giant humans are too incredible to have been real and that the Bible's references to them are fiction. However, many extra-biblical records corroborate the existence of giants, including sober accounts from early explorers like Magellan and ancient texts like the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hebrew Book of Enoch, and the Book of Giants. Now, a mummy skeleton found in Peru looks like a giant toddler. If that is indeed what it is, then it adds more weight to the idea that giants...