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For history nerds, it's fascinating to see the word "Crimea" back in the news. The last time this peninsula on the Black Sea dominated world headlines was nearly 160 years ago. (Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met there at the town of Yalta in 1945, but that wasn't really about the region.)

The Crimean War of 1853-1856 pitted the Russians against the British Empire, France, the Ottoman Empire and Sardinia. Russia lost. That's about all you need to know about the geopolitics. But the Crimean War played a huge role in the Western zeitgeist of the time, and is notable for the literary, cultural and technological impacts that still reverberate. Here's a quick survey:

Poetry: Alfred Tennyson wrote about a doomed British cavalry charge at the Battle of Balaclava:

"Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred."

Long ago, McDonald's chose to honor St. Patrick banishing the snakes from Ireland with its Shamrock Shake, made with real snake. It was known for its subtle flavor and powerful aphrodisiac qualities. While the recipe has changed slightly over the years, the powerful aphrodisiac qualities remain.

Peter: Sucking this up through the straw is pretty hard work just to get something that tastes like toothpaste.

Miles: Shamrocks are good luck, but I think the woman who rang us up took it too far when she said, "You're gonna need it."

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The Chinese government has blamed the deadly stabbing attack in southwest China on Muslim separatists from the country's northwest. But the government has yet to provide hard evidence for the claim.

Police said they have captured the final three suspects in a knife-attack that killed 29 people and left more than a 140 injured in the city of Kunming on Saturday, according to the state-run New China News Service.

Police say they shot and killed four suspects and captured an injured female suspect at the Kunming Rail Station, the scene of the massacre. China's Ministry of Public Security said the eight-member gang was led by a man named Abdurehim Kurban.

Xia Fanchao arrived at the Kunming Rail station in southwest China's Yunnan province around 9 p.m. on Saturday. He planned to catch a train toward the east coast, where he'd lined up a job installing elevators.

As the skinny 18-year-old stood outside the entrance, he noticed something strange.

"I saw a man carrying a bag, which he dropped on the floor of the Square," said Xia, who spoke from his bed at the Kunming No. 1 People's Hospital. "Quite a few people rushed to the bag and unzipped it. Each took out a knife and then split up among the crowd and started to slash people."

Xia says the assailants, all clad in black, moved about the square without speaking. They slashed at people as though "they were chopping firewood." Xia said some of the knives were 20 inches long.

A woman in a long black dress and a black veil ran towards Xia.

"She lifted the knife and was about to slash me," he said. "I dodged and it cut my neck. It felt like I was being electrocuted."

"The first witness at Oscar Pistorius' murder trial told the court on Monday she heard 'bloodcurdling screams' from a woman followed by shots," Reuters writes.

It was, the wire service adds, "a dramatic opening to a case that could see one of global sports' most admired role models jailed for life."

NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reminds our Newscast Desk that:

"Pistorius was a hero to many in and outside South Africa. He earned the 'Blade Runner' nickname, because of the hi-tech carbon fiber blades he used to power to victory as a paralympian.

"But that image crumpled when Pistorius was accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's day last year. He says it was a tragic accident and that he mistook the 31 year-old model and law graduate for an intruder."