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: Jerusalem Post
Jul 31, 2009
The Obama administration has failed to name an envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism around the world as mandated by US law since the previous ambassador was relieved of his duties at the start of the president's term more than six months ago, officials said Thursday.
The failure to name a new envoy for the post raises questions about the importance the new administration attaches to the fight against anti-Semitism, said Rafael Medoff, director of the Washington DC-based
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jul 31, 2009
Henry II spent vast sums on Dover Castle as an international public relations exercise to counter the growing "anti-monarchial cult" of Thomas Becket's shrine in nearby Canterbury, according to a new analysis.
The fiery monarch spent at least £6,440 throughout the 1180s – more than a quarter of his average annual income – building and furnishing the impressive keep at the castle, according to a study of his finances by John Gillingham, Professor Emeritus in medieval histor
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jul 31, 2009
OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Art Jibilian hoped his presence here at the largest private air show in the world would, in a small way, help right a terrible wrong that had been done so long ago.
Mr. Jibilian, of Fremont Ohio, and surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the pioneering squadron of black fighter pilots, were honored here yesterday at AirVenture 2009 for their roles in Operation Halyard, the greatest rescue of downed American airmen in World War II.
Two former Western
Source: NYT
Jul 31, 2009
Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines, who was swept into office on a wave of “people power” in 1986 and then faced down half a dozen coup attempts in six years as president, died Saturday in Manila. She was 76.
Her son, Senator Benigno S. Aquino III, known as Noynoy, said she died at 3:18 a.m., The Associated Press reported. She learned she had advanced colon cancer last year and had been hospitalized in Manila for more than a month, he said. The cancer had spread to other organs, h
Source: The Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
Jul 31, 2009
An archeological dig conducted on the southern side of the Singhasari Temple in Bungkuk village, Malang, East Java, has uncovered an ancient residential complex.
The confirmation was announced to the public on Thursday by a team of researchers from the National Archeology Research and Development Center (Arkenas), in Jakarta, after excavating the site from July 22.
"We believe it was a residential complex from the Singosari Kingdom during the rule of King Kertane
Source: AP
Jul 31, 2009
Archaeologists have found the skeleton of a warrior from up to 5,000 years ago floating in a tomb filled with sea water on a beach near Rome, Italy's art squad said Friday.
The bones — believed to date from the 3rd millennium B.C. — were discovered in May as art hunters were carrying out routine checks of the region's archaeological areas, Carabinieri art squad official Raffaele Mancino said.
Archaeologists believe the warrior was likely killed by an arrow, part of whic
Source: AP
Jul 31, 2009
An earthenware vessel from the time of Jesus Christ bearing a rare and mysterious inscription has been found at a dig in Jerusalem, a British archaeologist announced on Friday.
Similar ritual artifacts have been found in the past at the archaeological dig just outside Jerusalem's Old City, but what makes this one rare is the writing engraved on it.
The letters, either ancient Hebrew or Aramaic, are legible though the meaning of the 10 lines of text is yet to be decipher
Source: Swissinfo
Jul 31, 2009
As they do every August 1, the Swiss commemorate on Saturday the pact signed by their forefathers in 1291.
But historian Georges Andrey draws swissinfo.ch's attention to a few inconsistencies in the roots of Switzerland's national day, which was created just over 100 years ago.
Legend has it that on August 1, 1291, amid continuing Habsburg repression, representatives from three forest cantons around Lake Lucerne – Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden – met on the Rütli meadow to s
Source: BBC
Jul 31, 2009
Worshippers at a 13th Century rural church are preparing to gather outside it for its final service.
The small congregation at St Elidyrs in the parish of Crunwere in Pembrokeshire will say goodbye on Sunday to a building deemed unsafe two years ago.
The church has been surrounded by orange tape and signs warning people not to enter since it was declared structurally unsafe in the summer of 2007.
The graveyard and its grounds have and will remain open for
Source: AP
Jul 31, 2009
Authorities say they've found discarded burial vaults in a heavily wooded part of a historic black Chicago-area cemetery where workers allegedly dug up bodies and dumped them in a scheme to resell plots.
Cook County Sheriff's office spokesman Steve Patterson says about 10 to 12 cement vaults were found in the same area where hundreds of remains were discovered this month.
Patterson said Friday that officials didn't know how many bodies were buried in the vaults at the B
Source: foxnews
Jul 31, 2009
Police are investigating the suspicious death of an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, who was found in his Manhattan luxury apartment with his arms tied behind his back.
Detectives say the building superintendent found the body of Guido Felix Brinkman Thursday night in bed in his Upper East Side building. He had suffered a head injury and was lying face-down under a sheet.
Someone called the superintendent because Brinkman had not been heard from in a while and he lived a
Source: Times (UK)
Jul 31, 2009
The bustling harbour of Altinum near Venice was one of the richest cities of the Roman empire. But terrified by the impending invasion of the fearsome Germanic Emperor Attila the Hun, its inhabitants cut their losses and fled in AD452, leaving behind a ghost town of theatres, temples and basilicas.
Altinum was never reoccupied and gradually sunk into the ground. The city lived on in Venetian folk tales and historical artefacts but its exact position, size and wealth gradually faded
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jul 31, 2009
Today his descendants are rickshaw pullers and domestic servants in Calcutta, shunned by India's remaining royal families and humiliated by officials of a trust established to provide for their welfare.
But more than 200 years after Tipu Sultan was finally overpowered and killed by East India Company forces, mainly led by Scots officers, in the Fourth Mysore War at Seringapatam, his impoverished descendants are to have their royal status restored.
They are being rehabil
Source: Deutsche Welle
Jul 31, 2009
ETA, founded by nationalist students inspired by Marxist-Leninist teachings during the reign of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco, has campaigned for five decades for an independent Basque homeland encompassing parts of northern Spain and southwest France.
The militant group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, has advocated armed struggle since its separatist campaign took a violent turn in 1968. Since then it has been blamed
Source: BBC
Jul 30, 2009
A serving soldier who is refusing to return to Afghanistan has delivered a letter to the prime minister urging him to "bring our soldiers home".
L/Cpl Joe Glenton, of the Royal Logistic Corps, delivered his letter to 10 Downing Street on Thursday.
He said: "I know that the Afghan people are very resilient. I can't see us getting much further."
The soldier, who lives in York, faces a preliminary court martial on Monday for refusing to go
Source: Boston Globe
Jul 30, 2009
After sharing beers on the Rose Garden patio this evening , there was no final resolution to the confrontation between Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cambridge police Sergeant James Crowley that turned into a national racial issue.
But President Obama, Crowley, and Gates's lawyer, while declining to divulge details of the private talks, said there had been progress through a cordial, frank discussion.
“I am thankful to Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley fo
Source: NYT
Jul 30, 2009
Istanbul may be filled with bookshops, but public libraries are
another matter. Most of the city’s libraries belong either to academic
or private institutions and are, for the most part, off limits to the
public.
This being the case, the opening of any new public library is a cause
for celebration. But the new home of library of the Istanbul-based
Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, or IRCICA
(Yildiz Sarayi, Seyir Kosku, Barbaros Bulvari, Besiktas;
90-212-259-1742
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jul 30, 2009
Sir John Chilcot warned that his team would "not shy away from making criticism" if they uncovered mistakes.
Launching the long-awaited inquiry on Thursday, Sir John said the former prime minister, who sent British forces into the conflict alongside the US, would be among witnesses called; and he also suggested the current premier, Gordon Brown, would be on the list.
He repeated his insistence that, "wherever possible", evidence would be heard in p
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jul 30, 2009
A full military service was held for Mr Allingham, who died in his sleep aged 113 on July 18 at St Dunstan's care home for blind ex-service personnel in Ovingdean, near Brighton, East Sussex.
Many of his relatives travelled from the United States to join royal, political and military dignitaries to honour Mr Allingham, the last founder member of the RAF and the final survivor of the Battle of Jutland.
Guests included Veterans' Minister Kevan Jones, incoming Chief of A
Source: NYT blog: The Caucus
Jul 30, 2009
New York Times reporters Helene Cooper, Peter Baker and Jeff Zeleny are live-blogging the so-called beer summit of President Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the officer who arrested him
