Bob Dylan has been placed under judicial investigation in France for allegedly provoking ethnic hatred of Croats.
The move follows a legal complaint lodged by a Croat association in France over a 2012 interview Bob Dylan gave to Rolling Stone magazine.
In the interview Bob Dylan allegedly compared the relationship between Jews and Nazis to that of Serbs and Croats.
Bob Dylan, 72, was served notice of the investigation last month.
At the time the singer was in Paris to receive the Legion of Honor, a prestigious French award.
In the Rolling Stone interview, Bob Dylan was sharing his thoughts about US history and the country’s racial divide.
Bob Dylan has been placed under judicial investigation in France for provoking ethnic hatred of Croats
The singer is reported to have said: “Blacks know that some whites didn’t want to give up slavery – that if they had their way, they would still be under the yoke, and they can’t pretend they don’t know that.
“If you got a slave master or [Ku Klux] Klan in your blood, blacks can sense that. That stuff lingers to this day. Just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood.”
During WWII, the Croat Ustashe fascist movement killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Roma and others in their death camps.
Croats and Serbs also fought each other during the break-up of Yugoslavia, in a 1991-1995 war that left around 20,000 people dead.
After the interview was published, the Council of Croats in France (CRICCF) filed a complaint.
Being placed under judicial investigation means that authorities are taking the complaint seriously, but that it won’t necessarily go further.
Bob Dylan, who played concerts in Serbia and Croatia in 2010, rose to fame in the 1960s partly for his support of the US civil rights movement.
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Russia has sent the Olympic torch into space ahead of the Sochi Winter Games.
A Soyuz rocket is delivering the torch to the International Space Station- as part of efforts to showcase next year’s games in Russia.
On Saturday, two Russian cosmonauts will take it on a historic first spacewalk. The torch will not be lit.
The Soyuz rocket blasted off at 04:14:25 GMT from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Three cosmonauts – Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koici Wakata from Japan – are taking the torch to the ISS, which it is due to reach in six hours.
A Soyuz rocket is delivering the Olympic torch to the International Space Station
The Olympic torch will be handed over to fellow cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, who are already on the orbiting station, when they go on the spacewalk on Saturday.
“Our goal here is to make it look spectacular,” Oleg Kotov said earlier.
“We’d like to showcase our Olympic torch in space. We will try to do it in a beautiful manner. Millions of people will see it live on TV and they will see the station and see how we work.”
The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before – in 1996 and 2000 – but it has never left a spaceship.
The Sochi torch will then be returned to earth and used to light the Olympic cauldron in February 2014.
It is all part of the elaborate preparations for Russia’s first Olympics since the Soviet era. It is also the most expensive one so far, costing around $50 billion (1,620 billion roubles).
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Find what’s Si Robertson’s favorite story from his new SI-COLOGY 1 audiobook.
Si Robertson’s new SI-COLOGY 1 audiobook
Find out in this behind-the-scenes interview on the audiobook:
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Ben Ellis, from Gilmer County, Georgia, a 14-year-old boy was found dead in his bed the day after having his wisdom teeth removed.
Ben Ellis had the dental surgery on Wednesday morning. Less than 24 hours later he was dead.
Law enforcement is investigating the teenager’s mysterious death and will perform an autopsy and toxicology tests, but there is said to be a history of seizures in the family, which Ben Ellis has suffered from before.
Ben Ellis’ family told the Sheriff’s Office that he seemed fine on Wednesday after the surgery, according to wsbtv.com.
“He had dental surgery at approximately 10:30 on Wednesday morning. Through the rest of the day he seemed to be doing fine. He went to bed.
“Through the day he had taken one penicillin tablet and one Oxycodone, that we’re aware of. They [his parents] checked on him around 1am, and again, he was doing fine.
“Then at 6:00 a.m., when they went to get him up, they found him deceased,” Lt Frank Coleman said.
Ben Ellis, who was a freshman at Gilmer County High School, was the youngest of four children and was active in the Future Farmers of America, winning competitions for his goats
Ben Ellis, who was a freshman at Gilmer County High School, was the youngest of four children and was active in the Future Farmers of America, winning competitions for his goats.
Teacher Ashton Allen, who has taught Ben Ellis for two years in a row, told wsbtv.com: “He loved showing his goats more than anything. You could see it on his face when he walked into the show ring.
“He was the person I would always count on. Every time I would walk into class he’d be sitting here smiling at me. He was just so full of life and full of joy.”
School principal Erick Hofsteter was moved to tears by Ben Ellis’ death and said: “It serves as a reminder of just how fragile life can be. He was our friend. We’re going to miss him.”
The GBI is performing an autopsy and toxicology tests. Test results could take as long as three months.
