The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning "to cultivate", generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity. Anthropologists most commonly use the term "culture" to refer to the universal human capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically. This capacity is long been taken as a defining feature of the genus Homo. However, primatologists such as Jane Goodall have identified aspects of culture among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.Goodall, J. 1986. The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.

Defining "culture"

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BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Markets mixed in volatile trade
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:55:12 -0000
Most world markets climb on a day of volatility amid persistent worries over the strength of financial institutions.
Euro MPs stick to climate targets
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:36:30 -0000
Euro MPs refuse to dilute emissions targets, despite pressure to protect industry in the economic downturn.
Hijacked tanks 'for South Sudan'
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:09:25 -0000
The BBC sees evidence suggesting a Ukrainian ship held by pirates off Somalia is carrying tanks bound for South Sudan.

NYT > Europe

News Media Feel Limits to Georgia’s Democracy
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:00:37 -0000
Georgia’s critics cite a lack of press freedom as an example of the shortfalls in the country’s democratic standards.
Russia Says Georgia Tries to Provoke New Conflict
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:20:42 -0000
Russia accused Georgia of “seeking to provoke new hostilities” even as Russian peacekeepers were dismantling checkpoints outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Discoverers of AIDS and Cancer Viruses Win Nobel
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:06:19 -0000
Three European scientists who discovered viruses behind two devastating illnesses, AIDS and cervical cancer, will share the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

L.A. Times - Europe

One-fourth of wild mammal species may face extinction
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
A survey, released in Barcelona at the World Conservation Congress, evaluates the status of the world's 5,487 mammal species. The prognosis is not good. At least one-quarter of the world's mammal species in the wild are threatened with extinction, according to an international survey released Monday that blames the loss of wildlife habitat as well as hunting and poaching for the steep declines.
Nobel Prize awarded for AIDS, cervical cancer research
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The awards recognize two French researchers who discovered the human AIDS virus and a German scientist who showed that human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer. Two French researchers who discovered the human AIDS virus and a German scientist who showed that human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer were awarded Monday the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Tuesday's Talk Shows
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Paris Hilton is on 'The Ellen Degeneres Show.' The Early Show The second presidential debate; Felicity Huffman discusses pet adoption. 7 a.m. KCBS 95587

UN News Centre - Europe

UNICEF chief spotlights plight of Roma children during visit to Albania
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
The head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the plight of Albania's Roma children, especially the poor rates of school enrolment among the minority community, during a two-day visit to the South-Eastern European country.
UN mission in Georgia thrown into uncertainty by recent conflict - Ban
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Dramatic changes due to the Russian-Georgian conflict in South Ossetia have cast a veil of uncertainty over the future function of the 14-year-old United Nations mission entrusted with overseeing the ceasefire accord between the Government and Abkhaz separatists in north-western Georgia, according to the latest UN report on the region.
Better security needed to protect displaced in Georgia – UN rights expert
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Effective security is the key to ensuring the return home of tens of thousands of people displaced by the recent conflict in Georgia, a United Nations human rights expert said today, warning about the ongoing climate of fear faced by civilians in the region.

Europe - International Herald Tribune

Europe seeks unified policy on bank crisis
By CARTER DOUGHERTY AND NELSON D. SCHWARTZ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:40:48 -0000
Finance ministers gathered to seek common ground on bolstering the continent's financial system, raising the minimum level of guarantees for bank deposits to €50,000.
Europeans handle crisis together and separately
By Nelson D. Schwartz and Carter Dougherty Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:30:56 -0000
European governments pledged to safeguard bank deposits in a bid to stem financial panic, but they stopped short of a coordinated strategy.
In a weak climate, U.S. dollar has muscle
By Mark Landler Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:40:37 -0000
Stock markets are swooning, credit markets remain frozen, and some foreign officials are predicting that the U.S. will lose status as a financial superpower. And yet the dollar is surging.
U.K. bank shares slide as investors await possible cash injection
By DAVID CLARKE AND DOMINIC LAU Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:40:48 -0000
Shares in British banks collapsed Tuesday amid fears over their capital strength and speculation that the government would inject public money into the lenders.
Bank of America, announcing weaker earnings, aims to raise $10 billion
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:18:05 -0000
The Bank of America Corporation, citing "recessionary conditions," halved its dividend on Monday and said it would sell at least $10 billion in new common stock to bolster its capital; it also said quarterly profit slid 68 percent.
BankWest target of possible takeover
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:32:00 -0000
Commonwealth Bank of Australia said it had started exclusive talks with HBOS about that British bank's Australian operation.

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