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: WaPo
Mar 2, 2010
This may not mean much to you, but to an amateur archaeologist such as myself, this news is somewhat shocking: Harvard University is only now getting the first Egyptology professor it has employed since the last person holding the job died -- 68 years ago.
The school’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, is reporting that Peter Der Manuelian, a lecturer in Egyptology at Tufts University, will take the job. He has spent years studying and trying to publicize the work of the last
Source: AP
Mar 2, 2010
Turkey this week feels more threatened by a few U.S. lawmakers than it does by its neighbors or alleged coup plots or even Kurdish militants.
Turkish politicians fear if a U.S. congressional panel recognizes the World War-I era killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, that would not only damage ties with its longtime U.S. ally but hurt U.S.-led efforts to help Turkey end a century of enmity with archrival Armenia.
Ahead of Thursday's vote at the U.S. House of
Source: BBC
Mar 2, 2010
Agathe Habyarimana is accused by the current Rwandan government of helping to plan the 1994 genocide, and has long been sought by prosecutors there.
Mrs Habyarimana, who has been living in France for several years, denies the accusations.
More than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the massacres of 1994.
French officials said Mrs Habyarimana was detained in the Paris region by police executing a Rwandan-issued international arrest warrant.
Source: Independent (UK)
Mar 2, 2010
Bids for an underground nuclear shelter in the Peak District, put up for sale on eBay with a starting price of £500, have soared to £18,000.
The bunker was built in 1959 and operated by the Royal Observer Corps as a post from which nuclear fall out could be monitored.
According to the seller, the bunker was fully operational until 1991 and is "set in a stunning location with glorious views".
Source: Independent (UK)
Mar 2, 2010
An invasion of Iraq was discussed within the Government more than two years before military action was taken – with Foreign Office mandarins warning that an invasion would be illegal, that it would claim "considerable casualties" and could lead to the breakdown of Iraq, The Independent can reveal.
The extent of Whitehall opposition to the policy eventually backed by Tony Blair emerges just three days before Gordon Brown will appear at the Iraq Inquiry, where he will be ask
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Mar 2, 2010
The four-inch long nail is thought to be one of thousands used in crucifixions across the Roman empire.
Archaeologists believe it dates from either the first or second century AD.
The nail was found last summer in a decorated box in a fort on the tiny isle of Ilheu de Pontinha, just off the coast of Madeira.
Pontinha was thought to have been held by the Knights Templar, the religious order that was part of the Christian forces which occupied Jerusalem du
Source: The Washington Post
Mar 2, 2010
When CIA employees are slain in action, as happened in Afghanistan in December, when a suicide bomber killed seven officers and contractors, relatives who live in the dark about their loved one's work often fall into confusion and a passion to know more. Now, as the agency's earliest generation of Cold Warriors fades away from old age or disease, grown children who might have known only that their parents were in the CIA are stumbling upon letters and other records that fill holes in their famil
Source: Indepedent (UK)
Mar 2, 2010
Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, and Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), along with the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag, will embark today on an inspection tour along the Avenue of Sphinxes that connects the Luxor and Karnak temples.
Built by the 30th Dynasty king Nectanebo I (380-362 BC), the avenue is 2,700 meters long and 76 meters wide, and lined with a number of statues in the shape of sphinxes. Queen Hatshepsut recorded on her
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Mar 1, 2010
Decaying sea walls going back to the time of Napoleon were being blamed for the deaths of at least 50 people in violent storms which ravaged France.
In a growing scandal, those left homeless by the disaster on the western coast said proper Atlantic defences could have saved everybody.
"The sea was being held back by puny walls which were hundreds of years old," said a Gilles Aucoin, who lives near the town of L'Aiguillon-sur-Mer.
"Massive
Source: AP
Mar 1, 2010
The historic district of Washington once known as the "Black Broadway" now has its own neighborhood heritage trail and visitor center.
The group Cultural Tourism D.C. has introduced an audio tour for Washington's U Street area. You can download it for free from the organization's Web site; the link can be found at the bottom of the lefthand side of the organization's home page at http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/....
Source: www.eurekaalert.org
Mar 1, 2010
The exploits of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, are richly documented in 2,000-year-old records of his conquests across eastern China. His reign was indeed noteworthy – he is responsible for initiating construction of the Great Wall, and the discovery of life-size terracotta soldiers that guard his tomb in central China has generated worldwide attention.
But as the saying goes, history is written by the winners. Ancient texts can contain inaccuracies favorable to a strong ru
Source: Medieval News
Mar 1, 2010
Archaeologists have unearthed fragments of a moat from the 9th century, a rampart from the 10th-11th centuries and a unique schematic depiction of some Prague Castle buildings from the time, Jana Marikova-Kubkova from Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Science told reporters last week.
The researchers uncovered the depiction in the argillite material on the lowest part of the stonework. "This is the first find of this type in Prague," Jana Marikova-Kubkova said.
Source: BBC
Mar 1, 2010
A former member of Bosnia's wartime presidency has been held at Heathrow Airport over alleged war crimes.
Ejup Ganic, 63, was arrested in London after an extradition warrant was issued by Serbia, UK police said.
He is accused of conspiracy to murder wounded soldiers in breach of the Geneva Convention.
The Metropolitan Police said officers from its extradition unit arrested him at 1400 GMT. He later appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Mar 1, 2010
What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.
It was written half a millennia ago and its message was serious enough to be painted carefully on the wall of England's finest cathedral.
But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says. It was hidden for 350 years behind a monument to a local aristocrat who wa
Source: BBC
Mar 1, 2010
Efforts are being made to trace the descendants of a Swansea soldier whose story helped inspire a memorial to tunnellers killed in World War I.
Thomas Collins was working 40ft under no man's land in June 1916 when a German mine exploded and despite a remarkable rescue attempt was entombed.
Tunnellers worked underground to blow up enemy trenches.
The first memorial to the work of the tunnellers is being unveiled in Givenchy, northern France, in June.
Source: BBC
Mar 1, 2010
An Olympic torch carried through a Berkshire town prior to the 1948 games has been uncovered at a sports memorabilia day.
The torch was carried by a local athlete and member of Maidenhead Athletic Club before the event.
It was discovered at Maidenhead Heritage Centre. Experts do not know how many original torches remain.
Historian Richard Poad said about 200 torches were used during the relay, which travelled from Greece to Wembley.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Mar 1, 2010
A football programme signed by the Supreme Allied Commander of troops in Europe at a cup final weeks before the D-Day landings is to be auctioned.
Dwight D Eisenhower attended the Football League War Cup between Charlton and Chelsea on April 15 1944 in a move aimed at fooling Hitler and the Nazis into believing that the Normandy Landings were not imminent.
The five star General was introduced to the players on the pitch and even handed the cup to Charlton captain Don
Source: CNN
Mar 1, 2010
The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy was an act of violence that shocked the collective American conscience, sparking an outpouring of grief that transcended racial and economic lines.
That grief has now been cataloged by historian Ellen Fitzpatrick in a new book, "Letters to Jackie," a first-ever compilation of some of the 1.5 million condolence letters the first lady received after Kennedy's death.
Most of the letters were originally destroyed
Source: AP
Mar 1, 2010
South Korea has provided $9.2 million to Cambodia to build a new road that will circle the famed Angkor temple complex and reduce traffic in the area, officials said Monday.
The 13-mile road will be closed to trucks to reduce pollution, noise and vibrations that could damage the ancient ruins, said Soeung Kong, vice secretary-general of the Apsara Authority, the government agency that oversees the temples.
Construction will start this year and take three years to comple
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Mar 1, 2010
Five men threatened to destroy the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, a world-famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, unless its aristocratic owners paid a ransom of £4.25million, a court heard yesterday.
The Madonna of the Yarnwinder painting, which is estimated to be worth more than £30m, was stolen by axe-wielding robbers from the Duke of Buccleuch’s home at Drumlanrig Castle in south west Scotland.
Alison Russell, 25, who was working as a tour guide, said two men appeared in the ca
