This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
May 3, 2011
As President Barack Obama and his team sat on tenterhooks in the Situation Room, the CIA director Leon Panetta broke the silence with the memorable words: "We have a visual on Geronimo."
It was the first confirmation that Osama bin Laden, who had been given the 19th Century Apache leader's name as a code word, was definitely in
Source: Newsweek
May 1, 2011
The postrevolution elation has masked a disturbing uptick in archeological plunder.The euphoria with which Egyptians greeted the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February was quickly tempered by the news—at first denied by officials, but later confirmed—that thieves had stolen several priceless objects from the Egyptian Museum, including pieces from the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, among them a gilded wooden statuette of the king and a silver trumpet.
Source: BBC News
May 1, 2011
German experts are carefully taking apart a complete Celtic grave in the hope of finding out more about the Celts' way of life, 2,600 years ago, in their Danube heartland.It wasn't the most glorious final journey for an aristocratic Celtic lady who, in life, clearly had a bit of style.She died just over 2,600 years ago and rested in peace until a few months ago when her grave was dug up in its entirety - all 80 tonnes of it - and transported on the back of a truck through countless German towns.
Source: Jerusalem Post
May 1, 2011
For Yad Vashem campaign described as "race against time," thousands of survivors' personal relics are collected and preserved.For 80-year-old David Ariel, a survivor of the Holocaust, parting with cherished letters from his mother, killed at Auschwitz, was a painful but necessary duty.
Source: Haaretz (Israel)
May 2, 2011
A Yemenite Jew named Israel Subaryi supervised the transport of weapons and other supplies from Nazi Germany to Yemen in the 1930's; a well-respected businessman, he was the chief representative of his country's leader, the imam.In May 1938, the Sturmfels sailed from Hamburg, Germany to Yemen, with seven rifles, 16 pistols, 340 barrels of gunpowder, water canteens, food and other supplies. During the Nazi years, this was one of many ships that brought arms and other goods to Yemen.
Source: BBC News
May 3, 2011
Scientists have shed new light on the origins of rice, one of the most important staple foods today.A study of the rice genome suggests that the crop was domesticated only once, rather than at multiple times in different places.Tens of thousands of varieties of rice are known, but these are represented by two distinct sub-species.The work published in PNAS journal proposes that rice was first cultivated in China some 9,000 years ago.
Source: BB
May 1, 2011
Israel is marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. Samuel Willenberg, who is now 87 years old, is one of the last two known survivors of the Treblinka extermination camp.Treblinka was one of the most notorious Nazi death camps.Part of the Nazis' "final solution", the camp in occupied Poland was dedicated to extermination, designed for efficient mass murder.
Source: BBC
May 2, 2011
An exceptionally well-preserved Stradivarius violin, the Lady Blunt, which fetched $10m at its last sale in 2008, is to be auctioned for charity.The 1721 violin is being sold by the Nippon Music Foundation, with the entire proceeds going to their Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.The Lady Blunt set a record price every time it was sold last century.Auctioneers Tarisio said they will sell the instrument online on 20 June. ....
Source: BBC
May 2, 2011
When Charles Muriuki heard that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, he rushed to the memorial park which now stands on the site of what used to be the US embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.His mother was one of the more than 200 people killed when al-Qaeda operatives blew up the US mission on 7 August 1998. Like her, most of the victims were Kenyan.
Source: BBC
May 1, 2011
The site of one of Scotland's most important mainland broch settlements may have been home to early people for up to 1,000 years, evidence suggests.Archaeologists and volunteers have uncovered what could be the remains of walls dating back to 700 to 500 BC at Nybster in Caithness.Andy Heald, of AOC Archaeology, said further investigations would need to be made to confirm the structure's age.Evidence of possible Pictish and medieval occupation has been recorded.
Source: BBC
May 2, 2011
A bomb disposal team have detonated a World War II shell near Holy Island.A member of the public saw the shell at Goswick Sands on Sunday evening and alerted Berwick coastguard.It was identified as an unexploded shell and a controlled explosion was carried out by the Faslane bomb disposal team at 0800 BST.Humber Coastguard warned people to beware of unexploded WWII ordnance that may be washed up on the North East coast. ...........
Source: Fox News
May 2, 2011
Years of intelligence gathering, including details gleaned from controversial interrogations of Al Qaeda members during the Bush administration, ultimately led the Navy SEALs who killed Usama bin Laden to his compound in
Source: National Journal
May 2, 2011
Osama bin Laden’s body had barely hit the water before people were predicting the impact his death would have on the war in Afghanistan, U.S. relations with the Islamic world and President Obama’s reelection campaign. The only problem with these immediate statements is that events are unlikely to work out the way anybody expects right now.
That has been the historic pattern. With events like this, unforeseen consequences have been the norm.
Source: NYT
April 28, 2011
The beatification is widely seen as a way not just to honor John Paul but to energize the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, like John Paul’s 26-year papacy itself, it has become intensely polarizing.
For one thing, Benedict waived the traditional five-year wait and began the process weeks after John Paul’s death, and critics across the Catholic spectrum have questioned the alacrity. Others say that the sex abuse crisis that emerged under John Paul is grounds against sainthood. On Saturday, at least one victims’ group plans a worldwide protest.
Source: NYT
May 1, 2011
WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden has been killed, two United States
officials said. President Obama was expected to make an announcement on
Sunday night, almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon....
Source: Time
May 1, 2011
If the research is true, we all know who won.
The first humans may have had to battle the beasts to claim their living space. The study to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science sheds light on how cavemen conquered the bears, leading to their extinction.
Source: BBC
May 1, 2011
German experts are carefully taking apart a
complete Celtic grave in the hope of finding out more about the Celt's
way of life, 2,600 years ago, in their Danube heartland.
It wasn't the most glorious final journey for an aristocratic Celtic lady who, in life, clearly had a bit of style. She died just over 2,600 years ago and rested in peace until a few
months ago when her grave was dug up in its entirety - all 80 tonnes of
it - and transported on the back of a truck through countless German
towns.
Source: BBC
April 27, 2011
A Pablo Picasso painting worth millions of dollars has been given to the University of Sydney by a mystery US-based donor.The donor has said that proceeds from its sale must be used to fund scientific research.Entitled Jeune Fille Endormie (Young Girl Asleep), the 1935 painting depicts Picasso's lover, Marie-Therese Walter.It is expected to raise between $15m and $20m (£9m-12m) when it is auctioned in London in June.
Source: BBC
May 1, 2011
The late Pope, John Paul
II, has been beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds
of thousands of Catholic faithful.
Among those at St Peter's Square is French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's Disease.
Her apparently miraculous cure is part of the case for the beatification, the last stage before sainthood.
It comes amid criticism of the Church for the speed of the beatification and the clerical child sex abuse scandal.
Source: Discovery News
April 29, 2011
A 2,000-year-old Roman ship in the middle of a plain near the ancient port of Rome has been unearthed by Italian archaeologists.
The wooden vessel was found at a depth of 13 feet during repair work on a bridge that links the modern town of Ostia with Fiumicino, where Rome's main airport is located.
Measuring 36 feet in length, the ship is the largest ever excavated near the ruins of Ostia Antica, a port city near the mouth of the Tiber River that rivals the riches of Pompeii....
