Wikinews:Briefs/August 23, 2005

'Piano Man' speaks and is identified, returns home to Germany
The man known as the 'Piano Man' has left the hospital where he was staying and has returned home to his native Germany. The man, aged 20, was originally from Germany. When he lost his job in Paris, the man traveled to the UK through the Channel Tunnel. He was going to commit suicide when he was found by police on a Kent beach.

The man was found soaking wet on a beach in Kent in an expensive-looking suit from which all the labels had been removed.

Australian current affairs TV program accused of inciting religious hatred
Australian media analysis program Media Watch has accused popular national "current affairs" style program Today Tonight of deliberately quoting a Muslim youth out of context, with the intention of presenting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community. The allegations were aired during Monday nights episode.

The interviewer, Tim Noonan, dismissed the claims in a statement to Media Watch, saying "I believe the edit was an accurate representation of what they told me and I absolutely deny that anything was taken out of context."

Archaeologists find 1.8M-year-old Homo erectus skull
Archaelogists say they have found a 1.8 million-year-old Homo erectus skull in Georgia, the oldest such skull to be found in Europe. According to David Lortkipanidze, director of the Georgian National Museum, the skull was found August 6 and excavated on August 21 85km southwest of Tblisi in Dmanisi.

Previously similar fossils have been found in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.