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This page features brief excerpts of news 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.
Highlights
Breaking News
This page features brief excerpts of news 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. Because most of our readers read the NYT we usually do not include the paper's stories in HIGHLIGHTS.
Name of source: Guardian (UK)
SOURCE: Guardian (UK) (7-28-10)
The last party-goers seem to have cleared up very carefully after the final celebration at Marden Henge (Wilthsire, England), approximately 4,500 years ago. All left-overs from the feast - the pig bones, the ashes and the burnt stones from the barbecue that cooked them, the broken pots and bowls - were tidied up into a dump to one side. A few precious offerings were carefully laid on the clean chalk, one of which included an exquisitely worked flint arrowhead. Then the revellers covered the whole surface with a thin layer of clay, stamped it flat, and departed. Forever.
In the past two weeks, English Heritage archaeologists have removed the thin layer of turf covering the site, which has miraculously escaped being ploughed for more than 4,000 years. They were astonished to discover the undisturbed original surface just as the prehistoric Britons left it years ago. "We're gobsmacked really," said site director Jim Leary.
In the past two weeks, English Heritage archaeologists have removed the thin layer of turf covering the site, which has miraculously escaped being ploughed for more than 4,000 years. They were astonished to discover the undisturbed original surface just as the prehistoric Britons left it years ago. "We're gobsmacked really," said site director Jim Leary.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 18:38
Comments
SOURCE: Guardian (UK) (8-10-10)
Spain's Costa Blanca provided a safe haven for many Nazis, allowing them to enjoy a retirement without regret or atonement.
Mention the Costa Blanca and most people will have heard of it. The community of Valencia, to which the Costa Blanca belongs, has three of Spain's first-division football teams, is renowned for its popular fiestas, the home of the traditional paella and, of course, the Valencia orange. However, mention the fact that the region was also a retirement home for Nazis and someone, somewhere will be reaching for Godwin's law.
Over the last year in Spain, two books have been published that deal with the subject of Nazis who found refuge on the Costa Blanca. The first is Clara Sánchez's critically acclaimed bestseller and prize-winning novel, What Your Name Hides (Lo que esconde tu nombre), which tells the story of Sandra and Julian and their connection with a group of retired Nazis on the Costa Blanca.
Sandra, a young pregnant woman from Madrid, escapes to the coast to rethink her life and ends up forming a close relationship with an elderly couple. Julian, on the other hand, is an octogenarian survivor of the Mauthausen death camp and retired Nazi hunter who lives in Buenos Aires, but who comes to Spain in search of justice after receiving a tipoff about the location of a former high-ranking Nazi. Although the two narrators of the story are fictional, the location is not: Denia is a real city, which served as both a refuge and transit point for a number of prominent Nazis – some of whom are portrayed in Sanchez's novel.
The second book, The Footprint of the Boot (La huella de la bota), is the work of investigative journalist Joan Cantarero, who dedicates a complete chapter to the subject of Nazis who found refuge in that part of Spain. Cantarero's research exposes the close ties between Spain's legally established neo-Nazi and extreme-rightwing groups and key members of nazism who sought refuge in Spain and South America after the second world war. It details a historical continuum in the relationship between Nazis in Europe from the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, through the second world war, the cold war and the fall of the iron curtain to present day....
Mention the Costa Blanca and most people will have heard of it. The community of Valencia, to which the Costa Blanca belongs, has three of Spain's first-division football teams, is renowned for its popular fiestas, the home of the traditional paella and, of course, the Valencia orange. However, mention the fact that the region was also a retirement home for Nazis and someone, somewhere will be reaching for Godwin's law.
Over the last year in Spain, two books have been published that deal with the subject of Nazis who found refuge on the Costa Blanca. The first is Clara Sánchez's critically acclaimed bestseller and prize-winning novel, What Your Name Hides (Lo que esconde tu nombre), which tells the story of Sandra and Julian and their connection with a group of retired Nazis on the Costa Blanca.
Sandra, a young pregnant woman from Madrid, escapes to the coast to rethink her life and ends up forming a close relationship with an elderly couple. Julian, on the other hand, is an octogenarian survivor of the Mauthausen death camp and retired Nazi hunter who lives in Buenos Aires, but who comes to Spain in search of justice after receiving a tipoff about the location of a former high-ranking Nazi. Although the two narrators of the story are fictional, the location is not: Denia is a real city, which served as both a refuge and transit point for a number of prominent Nazis – some of whom are portrayed in Sanchez's novel.
The second book, The Footprint of the Boot (La huella de la bota), is the work of investigative journalist Joan Cantarero, who dedicates a complete chapter to the subject of Nazis who found refuge in that part of Spain. Cantarero's research exposes the close ties between Spain's legally established neo-Nazi and extreme-rightwing groups and key members of nazism who sought refuge in Spain and South America after the second world war. It details a historical continuum in the relationship between Nazis in Europe from the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, through the second world war, the cold war and the fall of the iron curtain to present day....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:50
Name of source: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-9-10)
A treasure trove of rare and valuable Aboriginal art has been found languishing in the back of a school store cupboard in Canberra.
The bark paintings, which are estimated to be about 25 years old, were unearthed during a spring clean at Dickson College in the Australian capital.
The artworks were found by stunned staff members who had been emptying parts of the school in preparation for renovations.
The 12 paintings, which were well preserved in the dark and dry conditions of the cupboard, were created by well-known indigenous artists from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory....
The bark paintings, which are estimated to be about 25 years old, were unearthed during a spring clean at Dickson College in the Australian capital.
The artworks were found by stunned staff members who had been emptying parts of the school in preparation for renovations.
The 12 paintings, which were well preserved in the dark and dry conditions of the cupboard, were created by well-known indigenous artists from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 17:03
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-10-10)
A lawsuit filed by descendants of the Native American chieftain Geronimo, who claimed some of his remains were stolen in 1918 by the secretive Skull and Bones society of Yale University, has been dismissed by a federal judge.
The lawsuit was filed last year in Washington by 20 descendants who want to rebury the Apache warrior near his New Mexico birthplace.
It claimed that during the First World War, Skull and Bones members, including Prescott Bush, the grandfather of former US President George W Bush, took the remains from a burial plot at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geronimo died in 1909....
The lawsuit was filed last year in Washington by 20 descendants who want to rebury the Apache warrior near his New Mexico birthplace.
It claimed that during the First World War, Skull and Bones members, including Prescott Bush, the grandfather of former US President George W Bush, took the remains from a burial plot at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geronimo died in 1909....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 17:01
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-10-10)
The home is so old that when it was built Britain was still part of Continental Europe.
The circular structure near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, which dates back to the Stone Age 8,500 years BC, was found next to a former lake.
The house predates the dwelling previously thought to be Britain's oldest, at Howick, Northumberland, by at least 500 years.
The team said they are also excavating a large wooden platform made of timbers which have been split and hewn. It is thought to be the earliest evidence of carpentry in Europe....
The circular structure near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, which dates back to the Stone Age 8,500 years BC, was found next to a former lake.
The house predates the dwelling previously thought to be Britain's oldest, at Howick, Northumberland, by at least 500 years.
The team said they are also excavating a large wooden platform made of timbers which have been split and hewn. It is thought to be the earliest evidence of carpentry in Europe....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 16:48
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-10-10)
Cloning still triggers fear in the public, as the recent food furore shows. But the genetic process has powerful uses for good, writes Roger Highfield.
The cloned food furore has been a timely reminder of how, even when we recognise a big idea, no one can quite predict its consequences. It is 13 years since the breakthrough that made it possible to clone adult animals was announced by a team at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh. Called nuclear transfer, it offered a way to wind back cellular time. The team used it to take the mammary cell of an adult sheep and turn it into an embryo, which then grew into a clone of the sheep. The clone was called Dolly.
Headlines reflected the shockwaves her birth sent out: they raised “dreaded possibilities” such as “the abolition of man”. One writer described how Dolly “looks at you with those intense red eyes – eyes full of hate”.
I went to Edinburgh to meet the red-eyed menace, and found an affable, plump sheep. A few years on, I wrote a book about the scientist who led the cloning effort, Sir Ian Wilmut, who is no Dr Frankenstein, but an ordinary bloke with a beard.
Little has changed since then. Even though there are plenty of clones around us (identical twins, bananas, potatoes, bacteria) the word still triggers knee-jerk fear.
The current palaver concerns the use of nuclear transfer to copy endangered species and elite breeds, along with pets. Copies have been made of wildcats, wild ox, a mouflon (an endangered species of sheep), racing horses, mules and camels.
Today, US companies clone cattle, horses and pigs for breeding on farms. It was never likely that consumers would find themselves eating pork chops made from cloned pigs, because the process is so inefficient and expensive. Instead, the goal has been to clone prize animals, and breed from them conventionally....
The cloned food furore has been a timely reminder of how, even when we recognise a big idea, no one can quite predict its consequences. It is 13 years since the breakthrough that made it possible to clone adult animals was announced by a team at the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh. Called nuclear transfer, it offered a way to wind back cellular time. The team used it to take the mammary cell of an adult sheep and turn it into an embryo, which then grew into a clone of the sheep. The clone was called Dolly.
Headlines reflected the shockwaves her birth sent out: they raised “dreaded possibilities” such as “the abolition of man”. One writer described how Dolly “looks at you with those intense red eyes – eyes full of hate”.
I went to Edinburgh to meet the red-eyed menace, and found an affable, plump sheep. A few years on, I wrote a book about the scientist who led the cloning effort, Sir Ian Wilmut, who is no Dr Frankenstein, but an ordinary bloke with a beard.
Little has changed since then. Even though there are plenty of clones around us (identical twins, bananas, potatoes, bacteria) the word still triggers knee-jerk fear.
The current palaver concerns the use of nuclear transfer to copy endangered species and elite breeds, along with pets. Copies have been made of wildcats, wild ox, a mouflon (an endangered species of sheep), racing horses, mules and camels.
Today, US companies clone cattle, horses and pigs for breeding on farms. It was never likely that consumers would find themselves eating pork chops made from cloned pigs, because the process is so inefficient and expensive. Instead, the goal has been to clone prize animals, and breed from them conventionally....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:24
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-9-10)
The Statue of Liberty will be closed for security upgrades from October 2011, depriving tourists a chance to visit the crown, base and pedestal for up to 12 months.
Visitors to one of New York's most popular attractions will still be able to visit the park surrounding the statue on Liberty Island but the security upgrade will restrict access to the statue.
The Statue of Liberty celebrates its 125th anniversary on October 12, 2011....
Visitors to one of New York's most popular attractions will still be able to visit the park surrounding the statue on Liberty Island but the security upgrade will restrict access to the statue.
The Statue of Liberty celebrates its 125th anniversary on October 12, 2011....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:18
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-6-10)
Even Roald Dahl could not have dreamt up the horrifying series of events that rocked his family in the 1960s, just as his career was taking off. In an exclusive extract from his intimate new biography, his friend Donald Sturrock reveals the extent to which Dahl’s life was shaped by catastrophe - and why his wife called him 'Roald the Rotten’.
The year 1960 began calmly enough for Roald Dahl, but it would prove to be tumultuous in many ways. Kiss Kiss, his fourth collection of short stories, was published in the United States in March and stormed into The New York Times bestseller lists. As Dahl boarded the boat back from New York to England in early April with his wife, the actress Patricia Neal, he was pleasantly surprised to find that many of his fellow passengers were reading his book. Nor had this escaped the notice of two other passengers in the publishing business who were also making the crossing on the Queen Mary – the London literary agent Laurence Pollinger and the publisher Charles Pick.
Pick and Pollinger seized the opportunity to persuade Dahl that they were the team to revitalise his British career. Pick’s flattery worked a treat. “I have never been so assiduously and pleasantly wooed and wined and dined as I (and Pat) were on board ship by Messrs Charles Pick and Laurence Pollinger,” Dahl wrote to his New York agent Sheila St Lawrence on his arrival in England, informing her that from now on he intended Pollinger to represent him in Britain and Michael Joseph to publish both Kiss Kiss and the incomplete James and the Giant Peach.
Most significant of all, 1960 was the year that Dahl – who already had two daughters, Olivia, five, and Tessa, three – became the father of a strapping young son. Theo Matthew Roald was born on July 30, and the arrival of an exotic new male in this family of women was the cause of both excitement and fascination. “He has a pair of testicles the size of walnuts and a sharp wicked penis,” Dahl wrote a fortnight after his birth. Another progress report was despatched three days afterwards: “He’s a fine nipper, and his circumcised tool (now healed) glows with promise, like the small unopened bud of some exotic flower.”...
The year 1960 began calmly enough for Roald Dahl, but it would prove to be tumultuous in many ways. Kiss Kiss, his fourth collection of short stories, was published in the United States in March and stormed into The New York Times bestseller lists. As Dahl boarded the boat back from New York to England in early April with his wife, the actress Patricia Neal, he was pleasantly surprised to find that many of his fellow passengers were reading his book. Nor had this escaped the notice of two other passengers in the publishing business who were also making the crossing on the Queen Mary – the London literary agent Laurence Pollinger and the publisher Charles Pick.
Pick and Pollinger seized the opportunity to persuade Dahl that they were the team to revitalise his British career. Pick’s flattery worked a treat. “I have never been so assiduously and pleasantly wooed and wined and dined as I (and Pat) were on board ship by Messrs Charles Pick and Laurence Pollinger,” Dahl wrote to his New York agent Sheila St Lawrence on his arrival in England, informing her that from now on he intended Pollinger to represent him in Britain and Michael Joseph to publish both Kiss Kiss and the incomplete James and the Giant Peach.
Most significant of all, 1960 was the year that Dahl – who already had two daughters, Olivia, five, and Tessa, three – became the father of a strapping young son. Theo Matthew Roald was born on July 30, and the arrival of an exotic new male in this family of women was the cause of both excitement and fascination. “He has a pair of testicles the size of walnuts and a sharp wicked penis,” Dahl wrote a fortnight after his birth. Another progress report was despatched three days afterwards: “He’s a fine nipper, and his circumcised tool (now healed) glows with promise, like the small unopened bud of some exotic flower.”...
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 12:06
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-6-10)
Nelson Mandela, the Former South African president, may have fathered an illegitimate daughter following a brief affair with a woman he met in Cape Town, in 1945, his foundation has admitted.
Mpho Pule spent almost 12 years battling to see the man she believed was her father but died just a month before his office wrote to say that they were close to confirming her claim.
Now her children are continuing her fight to be recognised as the seventh child fathered by the former apartheid-era freedom fighter.
Verne Harris, a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said yesterday that Mrs Pule's claim matched the documentary record of his life, but stressed that only a DNA test would provide absolute confirmation....
Mpho Pule spent almost 12 years battling to see the man she believed was her father but died just a month before his office wrote to say that they were close to confirming her claim.
Now her children are continuing her fight to be recognised as the seventh child fathered by the former apartheid-era freedom fighter.
Verne Harris, a spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said yesterday that Mrs Pule's claim matched the documentary record of his life, but stressed that only a DNA test would provide absolute confirmation....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:11
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-8-10)
As Rwandans prepare to vote in their presidential elections, many are questioning the rule of incumbent President Paul Kagame.
The former manager of the Hotel des Milles Collines, he famously sheltered more than 1,200 Tutsi refugees during the 1994 genocide, persuading local militiamen to turn a blind eye by plying them with best Burgundy.
But 16 years after the slaughter that killed 800,000 people, the man whose quiet tact inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda has abandoned the role of diplomatic maitre d'. Instead, he is an outspoken critic of the other Rwandan hailed as a hero in the West - President Paul Kagame, the shoo-in favourite to be returned to power in tomorrow's elections.
Critics of the 52-year-old incumbent say he shows all the signs of becoming yet another African "Big Man", welshing on the democratic reforms he promised when he came to office 10 years ago. In recent months, his intelligence services have been linked to grisly murders, several opposition supporters have been arrested, and two independent newspapers suspended - all part of a Mugabe-like plan, critics say, to cling to power....
The former manager of the Hotel des Milles Collines, he famously sheltered more than 1,200 Tutsi refugees during the 1994 genocide, persuading local militiamen to turn a blind eye by plying them with best Burgundy.
But 16 years after the slaughter that killed 800,000 people, the man whose quiet tact inspired the Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda has abandoned the role of diplomatic maitre d'. Instead, he is an outspoken critic of the other Rwandan hailed as a hero in the West - President Paul Kagame, the shoo-in favourite to be returned to power in tomorrow's elections.
Critics of the 52-year-old incumbent say he shows all the signs of becoming yet another African "Big Man", welshing on the democratic reforms he promised when he came to office 10 years ago. In recent months, his intelligence services have been linked to grisly murders, several opposition supporters have been arrested, and two independent newspapers suspended - all part of a Mugabe-like plan, critics say, to cling to power....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:09
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (8-8-10)
Fidel Castro returned to address Cuba's parliament for the first time in four years, taking the opportunity to issue a dire warning of a nuclear "holocaust".
Castro, 83, looked much fitter and more energetic than in previous appearances as he rose to the podium of the National Assembly Saturday to expand on his favourite theme of recent days – alleged US preparations for a nuclear war in the Middle East.
In a series of internet articles and public comments, the former Cuba leader has been talking about his fear that the United States and Israel are about to launch a nuclear attack on Iran.
According to Castro, Mr Obama's advantage was that he was not comparable to former US President Richard Nixon, who was forced to resign in 1974 amid a political scandal....
Castro, 83, looked much fitter and more energetic than in previous appearances as he rose to the podium of the National Assembly Saturday to expand on his favourite theme of recent days – alleged US preparations for a nuclear war in the Middle East.
In a series of internet articles and public comments, the former Cuba leader has been talking about his fear that the United States and Israel are about to launch a nuclear attack on Iran.
According to Castro, Mr Obama's advantage was that he was not comparable to former US President Richard Nixon, who was forced to resign in 1974 amid a political scandal....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:05
Name of source: BBC News
SOURCE: BBC News (8-4-10)
President Alvaro Uribe may go down as one of Colombia's greatest presidents, with his policies for tackling guerrillas and drug-traffickers now a permanent fixture in the country.
"We were on the point of being a failed state," said Maria Victoria Llorente of the think tank Fundacion Ideas para La Paz.
"There was only one item on the political agenda and that was the rebels and security. He was the man for the job."
But for some, the success in taking on the rebels is balanced by a more negative legacy as Mr Uribe prepares to bow out on 7 August after eight years at the helm....
"We were on the point of being a failed state," said Maria Victoria Llorente of the think tank Fundacion Ideas para La Paz.
"There was only one item on the political agenda and that was the rebels and security. He was the man for the job."
But for some, the success in taking on the rebels is balanced by a more negative legacy as Mr Uribe prepares to bow out on 7 August after eight years at the helm....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 15:51
SOURCE: BBC News (8-10-10)
The former agent of supermodel Naomi Campbell has denied lying in her testimony at the war crimes trial of ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor.
Under cross examination, Carole White repeated allegations that Ms Campbell received diamonds from Mr Taylor after a dinner in South Africa in 1997.
Defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths called her account "a complete pack of lies" made up to assist a lawsuit over breach of contract with Ms Campbell.
"It's not a lie," Ms White said.
The former agent is suing Ms Campbell for breach of contract, claiming that the model owes her about $600,000 (£375,000) in lost earnings over the past two years.
"Put bluntly," said Mr Griffiths, "For you this is all about money, there ain't nothing funny."
Ms White responded by saying: "I can categorically tell you, this happened. I told people about it after the journey, people that I trusted. It was quite funny at the time. It's not so funny now."
"It has nothing whatsoever to do with my business argument with Naomi Campbell," Ms White added. "This is not about money. This is about a very serious matter and I am telling the truth."
Blood diamonds
Mr Taylor is standing trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague....
Under cross examination, Carole White repeated allegations that Ms Campbell received diamonds from Mr Taylor after a dinner in South Africa in 1997.
Defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths called her account "a complete pack of lies" made up to assist a lawsuit over breach of contract with Ms Campbell.
"It's not a lie," Ms White said.
The former agent is suing Ms Campbell for breach of contract, claiming that the model owes her about $600,000 (£375,000) in lost earnings over the past two years.
"Put bluntly," said Mr Griffiths, "For you this is all about money, there ain't nothing funny."
Ms White responded by saying: "I can categorically tell you, this happened. I told people about it after the journey, people that I trusted. It was quite funny at the time. It's not so funny now."
"It has nothing whatsoever to do with my business argument with Naomi Campbell," Ms White added. "This is not about money. This is about a very serious matter and I am telling the truth."
Blood diamonds
Mr Taylor is standing trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, sitting in The Hague....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 10:55
SOURCE: BBC News (8-8-10)
In the Brazilian Amazon, long-forgotten workers drafted in to help the Allies in World War II are dreaming of a home they left when they were still in their teens.
Now in their mid-80s, they are awaiting the outcome of legal moves that may finally bring them the recognition and compensation they were promised 67 years ago.
In 1943, while the US, Britain and their allies were fighting on the battlefields of Europe, North Africa and the Far East, thousands of impoverished Brazilians were being urged to do their own patriotic duty.
Manuel Pereira de Araujo remembers the day that would change his life forever as he joined the ranks of the "rubber soldiers".
"An army official came to my town and told us we could join the fight on the front line in Italy or go to the Amazon. He said we would become heroes in the rubber battle and get rich tapping rubber," he said.
The recruitment drive was part of an agreement signed by Brazil and the US.With the main rubber-producing country at the time, Malaysia, under Japanese occupation, and synthetic rubber not available on the scale needed to supply the war effort, the US needed a reliable source of rubber.
Subsistence farmers
The Washington Accords required Brazil to supply all the latex it could in exchange for $2m (which would be some $25m today) from the US.
Now in their mid-80s, they are awaiting the outcome of legal moves that may finally bring them the recognition and compensation they were promised 67 years ago.
In 1943, while the US, Britain and their allies were fighting on the battlefields of Europe, North Africa and the Far East, thousands of impoverished Brazilians were being urged to do their own patriotic duty.
Manuel Pereira de Araujo remembers the day that would change his life forever as he joined the ranks of the "rubber soldiers".
"An army official came to my town and told us we could join the fight on the front line in Italy or go to the Amazon. He said we would become heroes in the rubber battle and get rich tapping rubber," he said.
The recruitment drive was part of an agreement signed by Brazil and the US.With the main rubber-producing country at the time, Malaysia, under Japanese occupation, and synthetic rubber not available on the scale needed to supply the war effort, the US needed a reliable source of rubber.
Subsistence farmers
The Washington Accords required Brazil to supply all the latex it could in exchange for $2m (which would be some $25m today) from the US.
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 12:15
SOURCE: BBC News (8-9-10)
German police have shut down the Hamburg mosque where the 9/11 hijackers met before their suicide attacks on the US in 2001.
Police said they believed the Taiba mosque was again being used as a meeting point for extremists.
The cultural association that runs the mosque has also been banned.
A German intelligence report last year said radical Muslims had travelled to military training camps in Uzbekistan after associating at the mosque.
"We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for Hamburg's state interior ministry.
He said 20 police officers had been searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers, the Associated Press reported.
There was no announcement of any arrests....
Police said they believed the Taiba mosque was again being used as a meeting point for extremists.
The cultural association that runs the mosque has also been banned.
A German intelligence report last year said radical Muslims had travelled to military training camps in Uzbekistan after associating at the mosque.
"We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for Hamburg's state interior ministry.
He said 20 police officers had been searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers, the Associated Press reported.
There was no announcement of any arrests....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:08
SOURCE: BBC News (8-9-10)
Oscar-winning US actress Patricia Neal has died aged of 84 from lung cancer.
Neal won an Academy Award for her role in the 1963 film Hud, but gave up acting two years later at the age of 39 after suffering a series of strokes.
But she returned to the screen after rehabilitation to earn a further Oscar and several Emmy nominations.
The star, who was born in Tennessee, was married to author Roald Dahl for 30 years and is the grandmother of model and TV presenter Sophie Dahl.
Indomitable grace
Neal's daughter Tessa is the mother of Dahl.
The actress was a star on Broadway before making the move to Hollywood in the late 1940s.
Among her early screen roles were 1951 sci-fi movies The Day The Earth Stood Still and A Face In The Crowd directed by Elia Kazan....
Neal won an Academy Award for her role in the 1963 film Hud, but gave up acting two years later at the age of 39 after suffering a series of strokes.
But she returned to the screen after rehabilitation to earn a further Oscar and several Emmy nominations.
The star, who was born in Tennessee, was married to author Roald Dahl for 30 years and is the grandmother of model and TV presenter Sophie Dahl.
Indomitable grace
Neal's daughter Tessa is the mother of Dahl.
The actress was a star on Broadway before making the move to Hollywood in the late 1940s.
Among her early screen roles were 1951 sci-fi movies The Day The Earth Stood Still and A Face In The Crowd directed by Elia Kazan....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:06
SOURCE: BBC News (8-9-10)
Actress Mia Farrow has testified that model Naomi Campbell said she got a "huge diamond" from men sent by ex-Liberian president Charles Taylor.
Ms Farrow's testimony directly contradicts Ms Campbell's account that she received two or three stones and did not know who sent them.
Linking Mr Taylor to illegal "blood diamonds" is key to the prosecution's case at his war crimes trial in The Hague.
Mr Taylor denies all 11 charges.
He is accused of war crimes during Sierra Leone's civil war, including using the diamonds to fund rebels.
Breakfast chat
Giving evidence to the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Netherlands last week, Ms Campbell said she was given some "dirty-looking stones" after a dinner hosted by former South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997.
But she said she did not know they were diamonds or who the gift was from.
However, Ms Farrow told the court that when Ms Campbell came down for breakfast the next morning, she began speaking even before she sat down.
"What I remember is Naomi Campbell... said, in effect, 'Oh my god... last night I was awakened by knocking at the door and it was men sent by Charles Taylor and he sent me... a huge diamond'," Ms Farrow said.
Ms Farrow said the suggestion that Mr Taylor sent the gift came directly from Ms Campbell, contradicting Ms Campbell's testimony that she did not know who had sent it.
"And she said that she intended to give the diamond to Nelson Mandela's children's charity."...
Ms Farrow's testimony directly contradicts Ms Campbell's account that she received two or three stones and did not know who sent them.
Linking Mr Taylor to illegal "blood diamonds" is key to the prosecution's case at his war crimes trial in The Hague.
Mr Taylor denies all 11 charges.
He is accused of war crimes during Sierra Leone's civil war, including using the diamonds to fund rebels.
Breakfast chat
Giving evidence to the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Netherlands last week, Ms Campbell said she was given some "dirty-looking stones" after a dinner hosted by former South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997.
But she said she did not know they were diamonds or who the gift was from.
However, Ms Farrow told the court that when Ms Campbell came down for breakfast the next morning, she began speaking even before she sat down.
"What I remember is Naomi Campbell... said, in effect, 'Oh my god... last night I was awakened by knocking at the door and it was men sent by Charles Taylor and he sent me... a huge diamond'," Ms Farrow said.
Ms Farrow said the suggestion that Mr Taylor sent the gift came directly from Ms Campbell, contradicting Ms Campbell's testimony that she did not know who had sent it.
"And she said that she intended to give the diamond to Nelson Mandela's children's charity."...
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:00
Name of source: Cincinnati.com
SOURCE: Cincinnati.com (8-7-10)
Just after lunch on a sunny, September Sunday, two guys stood on a rooftop in Newport and took eight snapshots of Cincinnati's skyline.
For 162 years, no one knew exactly what time of day Charles Fontayne and William Porter took their photos.
Now, they do. Solving that mystery was an added bonus from a recent $40,000 examination, restoration and stabilization of one of the most famous set of photos from the 1840s.
The images Fontayne and Porter captured from the current site of the Newport Aquarium are woven into the fabric of Cincinnati history. And, they changed the way the world looks at photography.
"This is a tour de force, work of art of the highest level. It was a marvel in its day at exhibitions in Philadelphia and London and continues to be held in high esteem today," declared Ralph Wiegandt. As senior project conservator at Rochester's George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, he oversaw the work on the eight historic snapshots....
For 162 years, no one knew exactly what time of day Charles Fontayne and William Porter took their photos.
Now, they do. Solving that mystery was an added bonus from a recent $40,000 examination, restoration and stabilization of one of the most famous set of photos from the 1840s.
The images Fontayne and Porter captured from the current site of the Newport Aquarium are woven into the fabric of Cincinnati history. And, they changed the way the world looks at photography.
"This is a tour de force, work of art of the highest level. It was a marvel in its day at exhibitions in Philadelphia and London and continues to be held in high esteem today," declared Ralph Wiegandt. As senior project conservator at Rochester's George Eastman House International Museum of Photography, he oversaw the work on the eight historic snapshots....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 13:36
Name of source: Hurriyet (Turkey)
SOURCE: Hurriyet (Turkey) (8-10-10)
The Tourism and Culture Ministry started a research investigation into an illegal excavation which took place in the Zeus Karios area in Milas, Bodrum. The illegal excavation revealed the large tomb stone of King Hekataios.
The tomb stone was made in 390 B.C. and it is said that the discovery is one of the most important archeological discovery in modern times.
Speaking after the research, Undersecretariat of Culture and Tourism Ministry Özgür Özarslan said: “The discovery revealed that the tomb stone belongs to Hekataios’s father Mausolos. Mausolos was the satrap of Karia.”
The tomb stone is thought to have been created some 2,400 years before. “However, currently, we need to work on the stone. It is damaged. We will analyze this event,” said Özarslan.
“Even with its damaged parts the tomb stone is one of the most important archeological discoveries of all times. It has a very rare and precious workmanship.”
“The tomb stone could be as precious as Great Alexander’s, which is exhibited at the Istanbul Archeology Museum,” said Özarslan, adding that the relic first had to be saved. “The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will deal with that issue,” he said....
The tomb stone was made in 390 B.C. and it is said that the discovery is one of the most important archeological discovery in modern times.
Speaking after the research, Undersecretariat of Culture and Tourism Ministry Özgür Özarslan said: “The discovery revealed that the tomb stone belongs to Hekataios’s father Mausolos. Mausolos was the satrap of Karia.”
The tomb stone is thought to have been created some 2,400 years before. “However, currently, we need to work on the stone. It is damaged. We will analyze this event,” said Özarslan.
“Even with its damaged parts the tomb stone is one of the most important archeological discoveries of all times. It has a very rare and precious workmanship.”
“The tomb stone could be as precious as Great Alexander’s, which is exhibited at the Istanbul Archeology Museum,” said Özarslan, adding that the relic first had to be saved. “The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will deal with that issue,” he said....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:54
Name of source: hurriyet (Turkey)
SOURCE: hurriyet (Turkey) (8-9-10)
A piece of obsidian (volcanic glass) dating back 4,000 years and believed to have been used as a scalpel for surgery has been unearthed during excavations carried out in the Black Sea province of Samsun.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Professor Önder Bilgi, the chairman of the excavations, said that the work in the ruins of the İkiztepe village in Samsun’s Bafra district had begun in 1974.
“During this year’s excavations, which started July 15, we discovered a piece of obsidian that was used as a scalpel in surgeries. Obsidian beds are generally situated in the Central Anatolian region of Cappadocia. We think obsidian was brought to this region through trade,” Bilgi said. “As this stone is very sharp and hygienic, it was [likely] used as a scalpel in brain surgeries. Glass scalpels are still available.”
The excavations have also revealed that there was continuous settlement in the region between 4000 B.C. and 1700 B.C.
Weapons, devices, ovens and ornaments were unearthed separately during the excavations, showing that the inhabitants of the İkiztepe region played an important role in the development of mining in Anatolia....
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Professor Önder Bilgi, the chairman of the excavations, said that the work in the ruins of the İkiztepe village in Samsun’s Bafra district had begun in 1974.
“During this year’s excavations, which started July 15, we discovered a piece of obsidian that was used as a scalpel in surgeries. Obsidian beds are generally situated in the Central Anatolian region of Cappadocia. We think obsidian was brought to this region through trade,” Bilgi said. “As this stone is very sharp and hygienic, it was [likely] used as a scalpel in brain surgeries. Glass scalpels are still available.”
The excavations have also revealed that there was continuous settlement in the region between 4000 B.C. and 1700 B.C.
Weapons, devices, ovens and ornaments were unearthed separately during the excavations, showing that the inhabitants of the İkiztepe region played an important role in the development of mining in Anatolia....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:53
Name of source: Monsters and Critics
SOURCE: Monsters and Critics (8-8-10)
Wearing nothing but a loincloth, history student David Vogelbacher stood in an ancient amphitheatre near Vienna on a recent morning, sparred with a sword and went about learning a new occupation - gladiator.
He and 19 other students have embarked on an experimental archaeology project in the former Roman city of Carnuntum near the Austrian capital, in an effort to find out how these fighters trained and battled in their bloody spectacles.
The group of young men from Regensburg University in Germany has set up camp at Carnuntum for two weeks in August, living in tents without beds or other comforts.
A team of archaeologists, sports scientists and psychologists want to measure how their training changes their bodies, and whether it has an effect on their aggression levels.
After the sparring exercises in hot sunlight on a recent morning, the students started lifting logs to gain strength. Most of them had little in common with the muscular he-men depicted in films like the 2000 hit Gladiator.
'I haven't done any sports for the past eight years,' said Vogelbacher, who is slim and wears dark long dreadlocks and a beard.
But gladiators in the ancient Roman empire came in various shapes and sizes, depending on the roles that they played in the games of the ancient Roman empire.
Equipped with a short curved sword and metal helmet, Vogelbacher is training to become a so-called Thracian....
He and 19 other students have embarked on an experimental archaeology project in the former Roman city of Carnuntum near the Austrian capital, in an effort to find out how these fighters trained and battled in their bloody spectacles.
The group of young men from Regensburg University in Germany has set up camp at Carnuntum for two weeks in August, living in tents without beds or other comforts.
A team of archaeologists, sports scientists and psychologists want to measure how their training changes their bodies, and whether it has an effect on their aggression levels.
After the sparring exercises in hot sunlight on a recent morning, the students started lifting logs to gain strength. Most of them had little in common with the muscular he-men depicted in films like the 2000 hit Gladiator.
'I haven't done any sports for the past eight years,' said Vogelbacher, who is slim and wears dark long dreadlocks and a beard.
But gladiators in the ancient Roman empire came in various shapes and sizes, depending on the roles that they played in the games of the ancient Roman empire.
Equipped with a short curved sword and metal helmet, Vogelbacher is training to become a so-called Thracian....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:52
Name of source: The Local (Germany)
SOURCE: The Local (Germany) (8-9-10)
The German government said Monday it believed there may be a way to bring to justice an SS hitman who has lived as a free man in Germany since escaping from a Dutch prison in 1952.
ustice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger asked her employees upon taking office last year to examine the case of Klaas Carel Faber, 88, convicted after World War II in the Netherlands of murdering 22 Jews.
"The result of the enquiry is that there will perhaps be a possibility to enforce the verdict of the Dutch court," her spokesman told a regular news conference.
The minister has had to send a request to the Bavarian justice ministry, which has responsibility for the case, however, asking it to review the options, the spokesman said. No reply has been received so far.
Public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk this month cited the state's justice ministry as saying it needed "new facts not known until now" before the Dutch verdict could be enforced.
Last week a petition by 150 Israeli lawyers was presented to the German government calling on Berlin to do more to bring Dutch-born Faber to justice, Israeli media reported.
Faber, who is high on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of wanted Nazis, was given German citizenship for serving in the SS. Several attempts to extradite him have failed.
He served in a special SS unit in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands which killed Dutch civilians deemed as "anti-German" as reprisals for resistance attacks.
In March this year, another member of this unit who also escaped to Germany, Heinrich Boere, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court. His lawyers had said they were planning an appeal and Boere, 88, remains free.
Since the Nuremberg trials after World War II, where several top Nazi henchmen were sentenced to death, German authorities have examined more than 25,000 cases but the vast majority never came to court....
ustice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger asked her employees upon taking office last year to examine the case of Klaas Carel Faber, 88, convicted after World War II in the Netherlands of murdering 22 Jews.
"The result of the enquiry is that there will perhaps be a possibility to enforce the verdict of the Dutch court," her spokesman told a regular news conference.
The minister has had to send a request to the Bavarian justice ministry, which has responsibility for the case, however, asking it to review the options, the spokesman said. No reply has been received so far.
Public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk this month cited the state's justice ministry as saying it needed "new facts not known until now" before the Dutch verdict could be enforced.
Last week a petition by 150 Israeli lawyers was presented to the German government calling on Berlin to do more to bring Dutch-born Faber to justice, Israeli media reported.
Faber, who is high on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of wanted Nazis, was given German citizenship for serving in the SS. Several attempts to extradite him have failed.
He served in a special SS unit in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands which killed Dutch civilians deemed as "anti-German" as reprisals for resistance attacks.
In March this year, another member of this unit who also escaped to Germany, Heinrich Boere, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court. His lawyers had said they were planning an appeal and Boere, 88, remains free.
Since the Nuremberg trials after World War II, where several top Nazi henchmen were sentenced to death, German authorities have examined more than 25,000 cases but the vast majority never came to court....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:49
Name of source: CS Monitor
SOURCE: CS Monitor (8-10-10)
Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan surprised Koreans with a contrite apology Tuesday for an entire era of Japanese colonial rule that began a century ago this month and did not end until the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, ending World War II.
The “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology” offered by Mr. Kan, however, is not likely to have a significant effect on a society accustomed to Japanese apologies in recent years and doubtful about Japan's intention to ever compensate for forcing more than 1 million Koreans to work in Japan as slave laborers and thousands of Korean women to serve as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers.
“To me it’s not inspiring or impressive,” says Park Ho-chan, who works in an office in central Seoul. “It’s a total cliche from one of those politicians.”
Yet the apology resonates among conservative Korean leaders at a time when they are deeply concerned about confrontation with North Korea, which is strongly allied with China. Kan followed the apology with a 20-minute telephone conversation with South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak in which Mr. Lee seemed impressed by “the sincerity” of the apology and called for “wise and sincere” cooperation....
The “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology” offered by Mr. Kan, however, is not likely to have a significant effect on a society accustomed to Japanese apologies in recent years and doubtful about Japan's intention to ever compensate for forcing more than 1 million Koreans to work in Japan as slave laborers and thousands of Korean women to serve as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers.
“To me it’s not inspiring or impressive,” says Park Ho-chan, who works in an office in central Seoul. “It’s a total cliche from one of those politicians.”
Yet the apology resonates among conservative Korean leaders at a time when they are deeply concerned about confrontation with North Korea, which is strongly allied with China. Kan followed the apology with a 20-minute telephone conversation with South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak in which Mr. Lee seemed impressed by “the sincerity” of the apology and called for “wise and sincere” cooperation....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:32
Name of source: CNN
SOURCE: CNN (8-10-10)
Mark David Chapman, John Lennon's killer, is up for parole for the sixth time and may be questioned as early as Tuesday, authorities said.
Chapman's latest quest for freedom comes just months short of the 30th anniversary of the death of the former member of the Beatles.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by two members of the parole board during this week, and that interview could happen Tuesday.
The last time Chapman was up for parole, in 2008, the New York State Division of Parole issued a release saying his request was denied "due to concern for the public safety and welfare." He also was denied parole in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Chapman, 55, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Lennon outside Lennon's New York City apartment on December 8, 1980.
He has served 29 years of his sentence at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility, where he is held in a building with other prisoners who are not considered to pose a threat to him, according to officials with the state Department of Correctional Services.
He has his own prison cell but spends most of his day outside the cell working on housekeeping and in the library, the officials said....
Chapman's latest quest for freedom comes just months short of the 30th anniversary of the death of the former member of the Beatles.
Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by two members of the parole board during this week, and that interview could happen Tuesday.
The last time Chapman was up for parole, in 2008, the New York State Division of Parole issued a release saying his request was denied "due to concern for the public safety and welfare." He also was denied parole in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006.
Chapman, 55, is serving a sentence of 20 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Lennon outside Lennon's New York City apartment on December 8, 1980.
He has served 29 years of his sentence at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility, where he is held in a building with other prisoners who are not considered to pose a threat to him, according to officials with the state Department of Correctional Services.
He has his own prison cell but spends most of his day outside the cell working on housekeeping and in the library, the officials said....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:03
SOURCE: CNN (8-10-10)
The former head of NASA was a passenger on the private aircraft that crashed in Alaska on Monday night, his company said.
He is Sean O'Keefe, EADS North America's chief executive officer.
"Local authorities are reporting that there are survivors and a rescue operation is under way," said Guy Hicks, EADS North America spokesman "No other details are available at this time."
EADS North America is a subsidiary of EADS, the European aerospace company.
The National Transportation Safety Board has assembled a team to probe the Monday night plane crash in Alaska.
The agency said on Tuesday the plane crashed near Dillingham and cited reports that say five of the nine people on board died. Earlier, the Alaska Air National Guard statement said there were some apparent survivors and "potential fatalities."
Senior air safety investigator Clint Johnson, from the NTSB's Anchorage regional office, will be the investigator in charge, and the entire team is expected in Dillingham by midday.
Inclement weather was reported in the area at the time of the crash, said Guard spokesman Major Guy Hayes.
The NTSB said the plane, a DeHavilland DHC-3T (N455A), crashed 10 miles northwest of Aleknagik about 8 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time (midnight ET).
The Air Force 11th Rescue Coordination Center, which is manned by Alaska National Guardsmen, was contacted by Dillingham Flight Service after someone spotted the downed aircraft....
He is Sean O'Keefe, EADS North America's chief executive officer.
"Local authorities are reporting that there are survivors and a rescue operation is under way," said Guy Hicks, EADS North America spokesman "No other details are available at this time."
EADS North America is a subsidiary of EADS, the European aerospace company.
The National Transportation Safety Board has assembled a team to probe the Monday night plane crash in Alaska.
The agency said on Tuesday the plane crashed near Dillingham and cited reports that say five of the nine people on board died. Earlier, the Alaska Air National Guard statement said there were some apparent survivors and "potential fatalities."
Senior air safety investigator Clint Johnson, from the NTSB's Anchorage regional office, will be the investigator in charge, and the entire team is expected in Dillingham by midday.
Inclement weather was reported in the area at the time of the crash, said Guard spokesman Major Guy Hayes.
The NTSB said the plane, a DeHavilland DHC-3T (N455A), crashed 10 miles northwest of Aleknagik about 8 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time (midnight ET).
The Air Force 11th Rescue Coordination Center, which is manned by Alaska National Guardsmen, was contacted by Dillingham Flight Service after someone spotted the downed aircraft....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 11:02
SOURCE: CNN (8-9-10)
One American president's legitimacy was questioned because he was accused of wearing women's underwear.
Another's qualifications were questioned because he got drunk at an inaugural ball.
A third president didn't belong in office because critics said his rich daddy stole the election.
A recent CNN poll revealed that one out of four Americans doubt that President Obama is a citizen. Many are "birthers" who believe he is an illegitimate president because he wasn't born in this country.
But historians say Americans have long accused their presidents of being illegitimate officeholders for all sorts of dark, and bizarre, reasons....
Another's qualifications were questioned because he got drunk at an inaugural ball.
A third president didn't belong in office because critics said his rich daddy stole the election.
A recent CNN poll revealed that one out of four Americans doubt that President Obama is a citizen. Many are "birthers" who believe he is an illegitimate president because he wasn't born in this country.
But historians say Americans have long accused their presidents of being illegitimate officeholders for all sorts of dark, and bizarre, reasons....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:10
SOURCE: CNN (8-9-10)
Kim Shin Jo is a protestant minister - the gentle leader of his church. But the 69-year-old is best known by history as a trained killer.
Three decades ago, he and 30 others slipped from North Korea into Seoul to kill the South Korean president.
He was the face of evil and terror for a generation of Koreans - a North Korean commando fighter who came into Seoul to assassinate the South Korean president at the time, Park Jung Hee.
Kim later worked for the South Korean military, became a citizen, married and had a family. Then he became a minister.
He is now the country's symbol of redemption....
Three decades ago, he and 30 others slipped from North Korea into Seoul to kill the South Korean president.
He was the face of evil and terror for a generation of Koreans - a North Korean commando fighter who came into Seoul to assassinate the South Korean president at the time, Park Jung Hee.
Kim later worked for the South Korean military, became a citizen, married and had a family. Then he became a minister.
He is now the country's symbol of redemption....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:08
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (8-9-10)
The white fortress loomed above the fields, a crumbling but still imposing redoubt perched on a rock mound above a plain of golden rapeseed shimmering in the morning light.
A battle here in 1904 changed the course of Tibetan history. A British expedition led by Sir Francis E. Younghusband, the imperial adventurer, seized the fort and marched to Lhasa, the capital, becoming the first Western force to pry open Tibet and wrest commercial concessions from its senior lamas.
The bloody invasion made the Manchu rulers of the Qing court in Beijing realize that they had to bring Tibet under their control rather than continue to treat it as a vassal state.
So, in 1910, well after the British had departed, 2,000 Chinese soldiers occupied Lhasa. That ended in 1913, after the disintegration of the Qing dynasty, ushering in a period of de facto independence that many Tibetans cite as the modern basis for a sovereign Tibet.
The Chinese Communists seized Tibet again in 1951, perhaps influenced by the Qing emperor’s earlier decision to invade the mountain kingdom....
A battle here in 1904 changed the course of Tibetan history. A British expedition led by Sir Francis E. Younghusband, the imperial adventurer, seized the fort and marched to Lhasa, the capital, becoming the first Western force to pry open Tibet and wrest commercial concessions from its senior lamas.
The bloody invasion made the Manchu rulers of the Qing court in Beijing realize that they had to bring Tibet under their control rather than continue to treat it as a vassal state.
So, in 1910, well after the British had departed, 2,000 Chinese soldiers occupied Lhasa. That ended in 1913, after the disintegration of the Qing dynasty, ushering in a period of de facto independence that many Tibetans cite as the modern basis for a sovereign Tibet.
The Chinese Communists seized Tibet again in 1951, perhaps influenced by the Qing emperor’s earlier decision to invade the mountain kingdom....
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 10:52
SOURCE: NYT (8-8-10)
Most New York City mayors are typically booed at ballgames, but fortunately only one, William J. Gaynor, was wounded in an attempted assassination. It happened a century ago on Monday.
The bullet, fired by a disgruntled former municipal employee, remained lodged in Gaynor’s neck. Three years later, suffering from the lingering effects of the wound, he succumbed to a heart attack — the only mayor of modern New York to die in office.
Although nominated by the Tammany machine in 1909, Gaynor emerged as a fiercely independent reformer. He fought police use of excessive force and corruption (though Police Lieut. Charles Becker would be convicted during Gaynor’s tenure of ordering the murder of the gambler Herman Rosenthal). He championed mass transit. He abolished East River bridge tolls.
Few tangible signs of his legacy endure, though....
The bullet, fired by a disgruntled former municipal employee, remained lodged in Gaynor’s neck. Three years later, suffering from the lingering effects of the wound, he succumbed to a heart attack — the only mayor of modern New York to die in office.
Although nominated by the Tammany machine in 1909, Gaynor emerged as a fiercely independent reformer. He fought police use of excessive force and corruption (though Police Lieut. Charles Becker would be convicted during Gaynor’s tenure of ordering the murder of the gambler Herman Rosenthal). He championed mass transit. He abolished East River bridge tolls.
Few tangible signs of his legacy endure, though....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 10:31
SOURCE: NYT (8-8-10)
...India’s ability, or inability, in coming decades to improve the lives of the poor will very likely determine if it becomes a global economic power, and a regional rival to China, or if it continues to be compared with Africa in poverty surveys.
India vanquished food shortages during the 1960s with the Green Revolution, which introduced high-yield grains and fertilizers and expanded irrigation, and the country has had one of the world’s fastest-growing economies during the past decade. But its poverty and hunger indexes remain dismal, with roughly 42 percent of all Indian children under the age of 5 being underweight.
The food system has existed for more than half a century and has become riddled with corruption and inefficiency. Studies show that 70 percent of a roughly $12 billion budget is wasted, stolen or absorbed by bureaucratic and transportation costs. Ms. Gandhi’s proposal, still far from becoming law, has been scaled back, for now, so that universal eligibility would initially be introduced only in the country’s 200 poorest districts, including here in Jhabua, at the western edge of the state of Madhya Pradesh....
India vanquished food shortages during the 1960s with the Green Revolution, which introduced high-yield grains and fertilizers and expanded irrigation, and the country has had one of the world’s fastest-growing economies during the past decade. But its poverty and hunger indexes remain dismal, with roughly 42 percent of all Indian children under the age of 5 being underweight.
The food system has existed for more than half a century and has become riddled with corruption and inefficiency. Studies show that 70 percent of a roughly $12 billion budget is wasted, stolen or absorbed by bureaucratic and transportation costs. Ms. Gandhi’s proposal, still far from becoming law, has been scaled back, for now, so that universal eligibility would initially be introduced only in the country’s 200 poorest districts, including here in Jhabua, at the western edge of the state of Madhya Pradesh....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 10:29
Name of source: New York Post
SOURCE: New York Post (8-6-10)
Plea negotiations broke down this morning for accused Dead Sea Scrolls cyber-bully Raphael Golb -- who now says he's taking his wacky identity theft and impersonation case to trial.
Golb, 49, is charged with trying to boost his historian father's scholarship on the 2,000 year old scrolls by going online in the name of rival scholars -- notably Dr. Lawrence Schiffman of New York University -- to discredit their work.
Plea negotiations before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman fell apart today when prosecutors insisted that any deal include probation -- a deal breaker for Golb, said his lawyer, Ronald Kuby....
Golb, 49, is charged with trying to boost his historian father's scholarship on the 2,000 year old scrolls by going online in the name of rival scholars -- notably Dr. Lawrence Schiffman of New York University -- to discredit their work.
Plea negotiations before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman fell apart today when prosecutors insisted that any deal include probation -- a deal breaker for Golb, said his lawyer, Ronald Kuby....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:34
Name of source: AP
SOURCE: AP (8-9-10)
North Carolina's claim that it lost the most men during the Civil War is getting a recount from a state historian who doubts the accuracy of the accepted, 144-year-old estimate.
Howard is reviewing the military records of every Tar Heel who served in the 1861-65 conflict, as the state prepares to mark its sesquicentennial, The News & Record of Greensboro reported Monday.
Since shortly after the war ended, North Carolina has boasted that it sacrificed more men to the Confederate cause than any other state, at 40,275. That's more than twice the death toll of South Carolina, where the war's first shots were fired. It suffered the second-highest toll at 17,682....
Howard is reviewing the military records of every Tar Heel who served in the 1861-65 conflict, as the state prepares to mark its sesquicentennial, The News & Record of Greensboro reported Monday.
Since shortly after the war ended, North Carolina has boasted that it sacrificed more men to the Confederate cause than any other state, at 40,275. That's more than twice the death toll of South Carolina, where the war's first shots were fired. It suffered the second-highest toll at 17,682....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:30
SOURCE: AP (8-9-10)
Scottish lawmakers have demanded the country's government release full details of the medical advice that led to the release from jail of the Lockerbie bomber almost a year ago.
Opposition Labour Party legislators called for the prognosis made of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's health before he was freed on compassionate grounds — and the names of the doctors who made the assessment — to be made public.
James Kelly, community safety spokesman for the Labour Party in Scotland, said the Scottish government's justice secretary Kenny MacAskill must disclose the medical advice which led to al-Megrahi being freed....
Opposition Labour Party legislators called for the prognosis made of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's health before he was freed on compassionate grounds — and the names of the doctors who made the assessment — to be made public.
James Kelly, community safety spokesman for the Labour Party in Scotland, said the Scottish government's justice secretary Kenny MacAskill must disclose the medical advice which led to al-Megrahi being freed....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:14
SOURCE: AP (8-9-10)
Monks in the southern Italian town that was home to Padre Pio say would-be thieves damaged a display case in a chapel holding some of the saint's relics.
Father Stefano Campanella told The Associated Press that after the attempted theft the relics, consisting of clumps of the Italian mystic's hair, fabric used to dry his bloody wounds, which some believers say were like those suffered by Christ, and a pair of his gloves, were taken to the monks' convent for safekeeping.
Police searched the chapel in San Giovanni Rotondo on Monday for clues after the overnight incident. They declined to talk about the case....
Father Stefano Campanella told The Associated Press that after the attempted theft the relics, consisting of clumps of the Italian mystic's hair, fabric used to dry his bloody wounds, which some believers say were like those suffered by Christ, and a pair of his gloves, were taken to the monks' convent for safekeeping.
Police searched the chapel in San Giovanni Rotondo on Monday for clues after the overnight incident. They declined to talk about the case....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:12
SOURCE: AP (8-9-10)
Israel's prime minister defended the deadly commando raid on an international flotilla protesting the Gaza blockade before an internal inquiry commission Monday, suggesting that Turkey had sought the violent confrontation on the high seas.
Benjamin Netanyahu told the commission that Ankara had rejected Israel's prior appeals to halt the flotilla and refused to intervene despite the prospect of violence between Israeli troops and the Turkish Islamic charity that organized the mission.
"As we got closer to the date it became clear our diplomatic efforts would not stop it," Netanyahu said. "Apparently the government of Turkey did not see potential friction between Turkish activists and Israel as something that goes against its interests."
The six-ship flotilla was trying to deliver aid to Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli naval commandos enforcing the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the seaside strip. When troops encountered unexpected resistance on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, they opened fire and killed nine Turkish activists, one of them a dual American citizen.
The bloody crackdown sparked wide international outcry and pressured Israel to loosen the blockade of Gaza, imposed with Egypt after Hamas militants seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007....
Benjamin Netanyahu told the commission that Ankara had rejected Israel's prior appeals to halt the flotilla and refused to intervene despite the prospect of violence between Israeli troops and the Turkish Islamic charity that organized the mission.
"As we got closer to the date it became clear our diplomatic efforts would not stop it," Netanyahu said. "Apparently the government of Turkey did not see potential friction between Turkish activists and Israel as something that goes against its interests."
The six-ship flotilla was trying to deliver aid to Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli naval commandos enforcing the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the seaside strip. When troops encountered unexpected resistance on one of the vessels, the Mavi Marmara, they opened fire and killed nine Turkish activists, one of them a dual American citizen.
The bloody crackdown sparked wide international outcry and pressured Israel to loosen the blockade of Gaza, imposed with Egypt after Hamas militants seized control of the coastal territory in June 2007....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:49
SOURCE: AP (8-8-10)
A Khmer Rouge prison chief who oversaw crimes of savagery a generation ago is told he will spend the next 19 years in jail: That's the same sentence that many low-level drug dealers, women who shoot their husbands after a lifetime of abuse and political scapegoats receive.
Far from providing closure from the trauma of the "killing fields" regime that scarred a generation of Cambodians, the sentence given to Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, seen by many as too lenient, has become another example of the failings of the country's criminal justice system.
For decades, the rich and powerful have enjoyed near impunity, while those who have neither money to pay off corrupt police and judges, nor political or military ties, end up in jail, sometimes for years....
Far from providing closure from the trauma of the "killing fields" regime that scarred a generation of Cambodians, the sentence given to Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, seen by many as too lenient, has become another example of the failings of the country's criminal justice system.
For decades, the rich and powerful have enjoyed near impunity, while those who have neither money to pay off corrupt police and judges, nor political or military ties, end up in jail, sometimes for years....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 22:58
SOURCE: AP (8-8-10)
U.S. military officers were flying in Sunday to serve as jurors in war-crimes proceedings as the Guantanamo tribunal system geared up for one of its busiest weeks under President Barack Obama.
The Pentagon is holding military commission sessions this week for two detainees: a young Canadian going on trial for the slaying of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan and an aide to Osama bin Laden who is to be sentenced after pleading guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
The tribunal system that ground to a halt after Obama took office is coming alive with lawyers, human-rights observers and more than 30 journalists who are at the U.S. Navy base in southeastern Cuba to attend Monday's proceedings in two courtrooms....
The Pentagon is holding military commission sessions this week for two detainees: a young Canadian going on trial for the slaying of a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan and an aide to Osama bin Laden who is to be sentenced after pleading guilty in a deal with prosecutors.
The tribunal system that ground to a halt after Obama took office is coming alive with lawyers, human-rights observers and more than 30 journalists who are at the U.S. Navy base in southeastern Cuba to attend Monday's proceedings in two courtrooms....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 22:54
SOURCE: AP (8-8-10)
Muslims trying to build houses of worship in the nation's heartland, far from the heated fight in New York over plans for a mosque near ground zero, are running into opponents even more hostile and aggressive.
Foes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding prayer services and spray painted "Not Welcome" on a construction sign, then later ripped it apart.
In the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, opponents of a new Islamic center say they believe the mosque will be more than a place of prayer. They are afraid the 15-acre site that was once farmland will be turned into a terrorist training ground for Muslim militants bent on overthrowing the U.S. government....
Foes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding prayer services and spray painted "Not Welcome" on a construction sign, then later ripped it apart.
In the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, opponents of a new Islamic center say they believe the mosque will be more than a place of prayer. They are afraid the 15-acre site that was once farmland will be turned into a terrorist training ground for Muslim militants bent on overthrowing the U.S. government....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 22:51
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (8-9-10)
Japan has marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945.
The attack killed more than 70,000 people and led to Japan's surrender less than a week later.
The United States sent its ambassador for the first time to the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima last week, but not to Nagasaki.
A choir of survivors of the nuclear attack performed a song as the ceremony began, called Never Again.
At two minutes past eleven a bell tolled, to mark the moment the bomb fell on Nagasaki 65 years ago....
The attack killed more than 70,000 people and led to Japan's surrender less than a week later.
The United States sent its ambassador for the first time to the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima last week, but not to Nagasaki.
A choir of survivors of the nuclear attack performed a song as the ceremony began, called Never Again.
At two minutes past eleven a bell tolled, to mark the moment the bomb fell on Nagasaki 65 years ago....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:24
SOURCE: BBC (7-30-10)
Its name in Arabic is Wadi Hitan but it is known as the Valley of the Whales.
For years palaeontologists have been unearthing a remarkable collection of whale fossils, all the more surprising because the area is now inland desert in upper Egypt.
It is believed that about 40 million years ago the area was submerged in water, part of the Tethys Sea. As the sea retreated north to the Mediterranean it left a series of unique rock formations and also a cornucopia of fossils.
One of the most exceptional finds was a 37 million-year-old whale from the species Basilosaurus isis, unearthed by a team led by Prof Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan in the United States....
For years palaeontologists have been unearthing a remarkable collection of whale fossils, all the more surprising because the area is now inland desert in upper Egypt.
It is believed that about 40 million years ago the area was submerged in water, part of the Tethys Sea. As the sea retreated north to the Mediterranean it left a series of unique rock formations and also a cornucopia of fossils.
One of the most exceptional finds was a 37 million-year-old whale from the species Basilosaurus isis, unearthed by a team led by Prof Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan in the United States....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:22
SOURCE: BBC (8-6-10)
Southern Sudan has asked musicians and writers to compose a national anthem, six months ahead of a referendum on independence.
The South Sudan National Anthem Committee said the contest did not mean that it was backing separation.
However it said the region needed to be prepared for independence.
The BBC's Peter Martell in Juba says Sudan's national anthem is rarely played in the south, which fought a brutal two-decade war with the north....
The South Sudan National Anthem Committee said the contest did not mean that it was backing separation.
However it said the region needed to be prepared for independence.
The BBC's Peter Martell in Juba says Sudan's national anthem is rarely played in the south, which fought a brutal two-decade war with the north....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:20
SOURCE: BBC (8-5-10)
A doctor who examined the Lockerbie bomber says he could not have faked his illness.
Leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora examined Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, in prison and estimated he had about three months to live.
Last August, the Libyan was released from jail on compassionate grounds.
Former prison doctor and writer Theodore Dalrymple agreed that it would be impossible for Megrahi to fake the severity of his disease....
Leading oncologist Professor Karol Sikora examined Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, in prison and estimated he had about three months to live.
Last August, the Libyan was released from jail on compassionate grounds.
Former prison doctor and writer Theodore Dalrymple agreed that it would be impossible for Megrahi to fake the severity of his disease....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:19
SOURCE: BBC (8-8-10)
Evidence of ruthless land clearance by Norman knights has been found in Lincoln.
Archaeologists working in the castle grounds have discovered remains of Anglo-Saxon houses.
When William the Conqueror decided to build a castle inside the old Roman fort, he swept away 166 homes - more than 10% of the existing town.
Now the first of a series of digs has uncovered a fireplace, pottery and the marks of structural timbers.
Lincoln was one of the first castles built by William, following his victory at Hastings in 1066, to help secure the country....
Archaeologists working in the castle grounds have discovered remains of Anglo-Saxon houses.
When William the Conqueror decided to build a castle inside the old Roman fort, he swept away 166 homes - more than 10% of the existing town.
Now the first of a series of digs has uncovered a fireplace, pottery and the marks of structural timbers.
Lincoln was one of the first castles built by William, following his victory at Hastings in 1066, to help secure the country....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:17
SOURCE: BBC (8-8-10)
The British historian and intellectual Tony Judt has died aged 62.
The London-born author and academic died from complications associated with motor neurone disease at his home in New York.
As Professor of European studies at New York University he courted controversy with his views on Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians.
He suggested Israel should accept Arabs as equal citizens in a secular state....
The London-born author and academic died from complications associated with motor neurone disease at his home in New York.
As Professor of European studies at New York University he courted controversy with his views on Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians.
He suggested Israel should accept Arabs as equal citizens in a secular state....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:15
SOURCE: BBC (8-8-10)
Testimony given by model Naomi Campbell to Charles Taylor's war crimes trial will come under scrutiny on Monday.
Her ex-agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow are due to give evidence as the prosecution seeks to link Mr Taylor to so-called "blood diamonds".
But she said she was given a pouch containing the stones by two unidentified men who appeared at her door later that evening, and she had no knowledge of who was the ultimate donor....
Her ex-agent Carole White and actress Mia Farrow are due to give evidence as the prosecution seeks to link Mr Taylor to so-called "blood diamonds".
But she said she was given a pouch containing the stones by two unidentified men who appeared at her door later that evening, and she had no knowledge of who was the ultimate donor....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:14
Name of source: Fox News
SOURCE: Fox News (8-9-10)
Naomi Campbell's former business agent told a war crimes court Monday that the fashion model flirted with former Liberian President Charles Taylor at a 1997 dinner and he arranged to send her a gift of uncut diamonds.
The testimony from Campbell's former agent, Carole White, contradicts the British model's statements at the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal, in which she said she received a pouch of "dirty-looking diamonds" from unknown men.
The prosecution called Farrow and White to testify about a gift of uncut diamonds that Taylor allegedly gave the model after a September 1997 party they all attended hosted by then-South African President Nelson Mandela....
The testimony from Campbell's former agent, Carole White, contradicts the British model's statements at the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal, in which she said she received a pouch of "dirty-looking diamonds" from unknown men.
The prosecution called Farrow and White to testify about a gift of uncut diamonds that Taylor allegedly gave the model after a September 1997 party they all attended hosted by then-South African President Nelson Mandela....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 20:16
SOURCE: Fox News (8-9-10)
CIA doctors who oversaw enhanced interrogation techniques violated medical ethics, researchers say.
A report out this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that physicians in the CIA Office of Medical Services (OMS) violated medical ethical standards by approving and overseeing enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.
"According to OMS guidelines, physicians and other health care professionals performed on-site medical evaluations before and during interrogation, and waterboarding required the presence of a physician," say researchers Leonard S. Rubenstein, of Johns Hopkins, and retired Brigadier General Dr. Stephen Xenakis, of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.
"Exercising these functions violated the ethical standard that physicians may never use their medical skills to facilitate torture or be present when torture is taking place."
Rubenstein and Xenakis based their commentary on documents released by the Obama administration in 2009.
OMS physicians who advised the agency and the Justice Department approved most techniques for use as long as certain limitations were observed, such as decibel levels for noise exposure, weight loss or malnutrition from starvation techniques, and time limits for cold exposure and confinement.
These limits, the authors claim, allowed OMS doctors to certify that no one practice would lead to "severe mental of physical pain or suffering," but say the doctors failed to take into account the effect these methods in aggregate could have on detainees.
Rubenstein and Xenakis also claim the physicians did not follow standard protocols in making their recommendations.
"The OMS failed to take account of pertinent medical and nonmedical literature about the severe adverse effects of enhanced methods," including waterboarding....
A report out this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that physicians in the CIA Office of Medical Services (OMS) violated medical ethical standards by approving and overseeing enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.
"According to OMS guidelines, physicians and other health care professionals performed on-site medical evaluations before and during interrogation, and waterboarding required the presence of a physician," say researchers Leonard S. Rubenstein, of Johns Hopkins, and retired Brigadier General Dr. Stephen Xenakis, of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences.
"Exercising these functions violated the ethical standard that physicians may never use their medical skills to facilitate torture or be present when torture is taking place."
Rubenstein and Xenakis based their commentary on documents released by the Obama administration in 2009.
OMS physicians who advised the agency and the Justice Department approved most techniques for use as long as certain limitations were observed, such as decibel levels for noise exposure, weight loss or malnutrition from starvation techniques, and time limits for cold exposure and confinement.
These limits, the authors claim, allowed OMS doctors to certify that no one practice would lead to "severe mental of physical pain or suffering," but say the doctors failed to take into account the effect these methods in aggregate could have on detainees.
Rubenstein and Xenakis also claim the physicians did not follow standard protocols in making their recommendations.
"The OMS failed to take account of pertinent medical and nonmedical literature about the severe adverse effects of enhanced methods," including waterboarding....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 11:43
Name of source: Canada Free Press
SOURCE: Canada Free Press (8-8-10)
We, who have seen war, will never stop seeing it. In the silence of the night, we will always hear the screams. So this is our story, for we were soldiers once, and young…..” “We Were Soldiers Once… and Young:” Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway (Random House -1992)
I will call him Jim—though that isn’t his real name. He is elderly now, a reserved gentleman who doesn’t speak much anymore about something that happened over half a century ago when he was a youth born and bred on Canada’s prairies and thrust as a young man into a strange and brutal world four thousand miles from his home, a worrisome world, a world at war.
“Jim” and his pals in the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment are the last living element of a remarkable chapter in our nation’s military history, a chapter which will fade away like the old soldiers that they have become—if something is not done to keep their legacy alive.
For Jim is a Canadian Kangaroo, a proud veteran who served in the only fighting regiment in Canada’s history that was formed, went into battle and was disbanded, without ever setting foot on Canadian soil.
This is his story. And theirs….
The place? Somewhere in Northwest Europe. The time? The summer of 1944.
By the end of July 1944, the Allies had punched their way out from the D Day beachhead at Normandy. The German front they faced was teetering on the verge of total collapse
Accordingly, Harry Crerar, General Officer Commanding 1st Canadian Army (North-West Europe) had instructed Lieutenant General Guy Simonds, commander of II Canadian Corps to plan a major operation to break through the German positions. The plan which unfolded—TOTALIZE- was to be the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy. Taking its name from the area around the town of Falaise, a place in which the German Seventh and Fifth Panzer Armies had become encircled by the advancing Allies, the battle is historically referred to as ‘Falaise Gap’—after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow for their escape. The ensuing combat resulted in the destruction of the bulk of Germany’s forces west of the River Seine and opened the way to Paris and the German border.
TOTALIZE contained two features of marked originality- both required considerable preparation. One was the directed intervention of heavy bombers in a ground battle in darkness. The other was the use of what have since come to be called armoured personnel carriers in what seems to have been their first appearance on the battlefield....
I will call him Jim—though that isn’t his real name. He is elderly now, a reserved gentleman who doesn’t speak much anymore about something that happened over half a century ago when he was a youth born and bred on Canada’s prairies and thrust as a young man into a strange and brutal world four thousand miles from his home, a worrisome world, a world at war.
“Jim” and his pals in the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment are the last living element of a remarkable chapter in our nation’s military history, a chapter which will fade away like the old soldiers that they have become—if something is not done to keep their legacy alive.
For Jim is a Canadian Kangaroo, a proud veteran who served in the only fighting regiment in Canada’s history that was formed, went into battle and was disbanded, without ever setting foot on Canadian soil.
This is his story. And theirs….
The place? Somewhere in Northwest Europe. The time? The summer of 1944.
By the end of July 1944, the Allies had punched their way out from the D Day beachhead at Normandy. The German front they faced was teetering on the verge of total collapse
Accordingly, Harry Crerar, General Officer Commanding 1st Canadian Army (North-West Europe) had instructed Lieutenant General Guy Simonds, commander of II Canadian Corps to plan a major operation to break through the German positions. The plan which unfolded—TOTALIZE- was to be the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy. Taking its name from the area around the town of Falaise, a place in which the German Seventh and Fifth Panzer Armies had become encircled by the advancing Allies, the battle is historically referred to as ‘Falaise Gap’—after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow for their escape. The ensuing combat resulted in the destruction of the bulk of Germany’s forces west of the River Seine and opened the way to Paris and the German border.
TOTALIZE contained two features of marked originality- both required considerable preparation. One was the directed intervention of heavy bombers in a ground battle in darkness. The other was the use of what have since come to be called armoured personnel carriers in what seems to have been their first appearance on the battlefield....
Monday, August 9, 2010 - 12:18
Name of source: Discovery News
SOURCE: Discovery News (8-6-10)
Even though it isn't wired for broadband, this prehistoric domicile does have beds and even a fireplace.
Anthropologists have unearthed the remains of an apparent Neanderthal cave sleeping chamber, complete with a hearth and nearby grass beds that might have once been covered with animal fur.
Neanderthals inhabited the cozy Late Pleistocene room, located within Esquilleu Cave in Cantabria, Spain, anywhere between 53,000 to 39,000 years ago, according to a Journal of Archaeological Science paper concerning the discovery.
Living the ultimate clean and literally green lifestyle, the Neanderthals appear to have constructed new beds out of grass every so often, using the old bedding material to help fuel the hearth....
Anthropologists have unearthed the remains of an apparent Neanderthal cave sleeping chamber, complete with a hearth and nearby grass beds that might have once been covered with animal fur.
Neanderthals inhabited the cozy Late Pleistocene room, located within Esquilleu Cave in Cantabria, Spain, anywhere between 53,000 to 39,000 years ago, according to a Journal of Archaeological Science paper concerning the discovery.
Living the ultimate clean and literally green lifestyle, the Neanderthals appear to have constructed new beds out of grass every so often, using the old bedding material to help fuel the hearth....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:34
Name of source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer (8-6-10)
The popular public archaeology lab at Independence National Historical Park, forced from its longtime home at Third and Chestnut Streets by a land deal undertaken by the park and a private group, will not reopen in its new quarters for up to two years, park officials said this week.
When they closed it in June, the officials predicted a late-summer reopening for the lab, which is analyzing about one million artifacts unearthed in the park a decade ago.
Although the move from the old park visitors' center to the First Bank of the United States building directly across the street has been contemplated for almost a year, park officials said they belatedly determined that the bank's electrical and cooling facilities were inadequate.
The Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, a professional association dedicated to preserving and advancing awareness of archaeological resources, expressed dismay about the delays....
When they closed it in June, the officials predicted a late-summer reopening for the lab, which is analyzing about one million artifacts unearthed in the park a decade ago.
Although the move from the old park visitors' center to the First Bank of the United States building directly across the street has been contemplated for almost a year, park officials said they belatedly determined that the bank's electrical and cooling facilities were inadequate.
The Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, a professional association dedicated to preserving and advancing awareness of archaeological resources, expressed dismay about the delays....
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - 23:31
