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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: Telegraph (UK)
SOURCE: Telegraph (UK) (5-3-11)
As President Barack Obama and his team sat on tenterhooks in the Situation Room, the CIA director Leon Panetta broke the silence with the memorable words: "We have a visual on Geronimo."
It was the first confirmation that Osama bin Laden, who had been given the 19th Century Apache leader's name as a code word, was definitely in the compound in Pakistan.
Shortly afterwards, a Navy Seal halfway across the world sent the message "Geronimo EKIA" – meaning enemy killed in action – which was relayed to a jubilant White House Situation Room....
Name of source: Newsweek
SOURCE: Newsweek (5-1-11)
The postrevolution elation has masked a disturbing uptick in archeological plunder.
The euphoria with which Egyptians greeted the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February was quickly tempered by the news—at first denied by officials, but later confirmed—that thieves had stolen several priceless objects from the Egyptian Museum, including pieces from the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, among them a gilded wooden statuette of the king and a silver trumpet. Over the next few days, there were more alarming reports: police throughout Egypt had abandoned their posts, leaving hundreds of archeological sites unguarded. A few weeks later, Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, resigned. Though he later resumed his post as minister of archeological affairs, the SCA was left rudderless and confused in his absence. Gangs of armed treasure hunters took advantage of the chaos and began plundering ancient tombs and antiquities storerooms throughout Egypt. The robberies are ongoing and thought to exceed 400 incidents so far.
Antiquities theft is as old as the pyramids, but never before has it so shocked Egyptians. The Egyptian press voiced the public’s revulsion at the desecration, and hundreds of youthful protestors and ordinary citizens in Cairo and Luxor volunteered to stand guard at museums and archeological sites. It was a noble gesture but a futile one. There are simply too many sites to protect in such an ad hoc way....
Name of source: BBC News
SOURCE: BBC News (5-1-11)
German experts are carefully taking apart a complete Celtic grave in the hope of finding out more about the Celts' way of life, 2,600 years ago, in their Danube heartland.
It wasn't the most glorious final journey for an aristocratic Celtic lady who, in life, clearly had a bit of style.
She died just over 2,600 years ago and rested in peace until a few months ago when her grave was dug up in its entirety - all 80 tonnes of it - and transported on the back of a truck through countless German towns.
In the grave, too, was a child, presumed to be hers. Their last inglorious journey ended in the back yard of the offices of the archaeological service of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
When the truck arrived, the grave encased almost entirely in concrete, was unloaded and a tent constructed around it....
SOURCE: BBC News (5-3-11)
Scientists have shed new light on the origins of rice, one of the most important staple foods today.
A study of the rice genome suggests that the crop was domesticated only once, rather than at multiple times in different places.
Tens of thousands of varieties of rice are known, but these are represented by two distinct sub-species.
The work published in PNAS journal proposes that rice was first cultivated in China some 9,000 years ago.
Another theory proposes that the two major sub-species of rice - Oryza sativa japonica and O. sativa indica - were domesticated separately and in different parts of Asia.
This view has gained strong support from observations of large genetic differences between the two sub-species, as well as from several efforts to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the crop....
Name of source: Jerusalem Post
SOURCE: Jerusalem Post (5-1-11)
For 80-year-old David Ariel, a survivor of the Holocaust, parting with cherished letters from his mother, killed at Auschwitz, was a painful but necessary duty.
Ariel and thousands of other elderly Israeli survivors answered a call by Yad Vashem to hand in Holocaust-era keepsakes to preserve their memory for future generations.
Ariel's contribution to Yad Vashem's "Fragments of Memory" campaign consisted of the few letters his mother Zelma had written to him and other family members before she was killed at Auschwitz during World War II.
"I felt like I was separating from her all over again when I handed them in, even though I knew I didn't have the proper conditions to preserve them and they were starting to yellow and tatter," he said.
Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said the drive to collect fading memorabilia, including letters, photographs, toys and articles of clothing, before survivors died was "a kind of race against time so that they will be remembered".
Recent attempts to deny the Holocaust, particularly by Israel's arch-enemy Iran, have refocused Israeli efforts to collect survivors' testimonies and relics....
Name of source: Haaretz (Israel)
SOURCE: Haaretz (Israel) (5-2-11)
A Yemenite Jew named Israel Subaryi supervised the transport of weapons and other supplies from Nazi Germany to Yemen in the 1930's; a well-respected businessman, he was the chief representative of his country's leader, the imam.
In May 1938, the Sturmfels sailed from Hamburg, Germany to Yemen, with seven rifles, 16 pistols, 340 barrels of gunpowder, water canteens, food and other supplies. During the Nazi years, this was one of many ships that brought arms and other goods to Yemen.
The person who supervised this process, thanks to his close connections with Nazi officials, was none other than a Yemenite Jew named Israel Subaryi. A well-respected businessman, he was the chief representative of his country's leader, the imam, in Hitler's Germany, where he resided until war erupted in 1939....
Name of source: BB
SOURCE: BB (5-1-11)
Israel is marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. Samuel Willenberg, who is now 87 years old, is one of the last two known survivors of the Treblinka extermination camp.
Treblinka was one of the most notorious Nazi death camps.
Part of the Nazis' "final solution", the camp in occupied Poland was dedicated to extermination, designed for efficient mass murder.
Between 1942 and 1943 around 870,000 Jews were killed there, according to Israel's Holocaust Memorial, Yad Vashem.
Not many of those who were sent to Treblinka lived to tell the tale.
Yad Vashem estimates that a few hundred people escaped from the camp, but only a few dozen of those survived the war.....
Name of source: BBC
SOURCE: BBC (5-2-11)
An exceptionally well-preserved Stradivarius violin, the Lady Blunt, which fetched $10m at its last sale in 2008, is to be auctioned for charity.
The 1721 violin is being sold by the Nippon Music Foundation, with the entire proceeds going to their Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
The Lady Blunt set a record price every time it was sold last century.
Auctioneers Tarisio said they will sell the instrument online on 20 June.....
SOURCE: BBC (5-2-11)
When Charles Muriuki heard that Osama Bin Laden had been killed, he rushed to the memorial park which now stands on the site of what used to be the US embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
His mother was one of the more than 200 people killed when al-Qaeda operatives blew up the US mission on 7 August 1998. Like her, most of the victims were Kenyan.
A similar attack took place just minutes later in neighbouring Tanzania, where the embassy in Dar es Salaam was also targeted and 11 people lost their lives.
The reaction has been largely subdued - there have been no jubilant crowds like those seen outside the White House in Washington, and in New York.
Kenyans are getting on with their lives, although they are in the main relieved to hear about the death of the militant leader.
Most see this as a victory for the Americans.
Some also reflect with bitterness that Kenyans were not specifically targeted by al-Qaeda - those killed were bystanders caught up a battle between a superpower and the Islamist militant network.....
SOURCE: BBC (5-1-11)
The site of one of Scotland's most important mainland broch settlements may have been home to early people for up to 1,000 years, evidence suggests.
Archaeologists and volunteers have uncovered what could be the remains of walls dating back to 700 to 500 BC at Nybster in Caithness.
Andy Heald, of AOC Archaeology, said further investigations would need to be made to confirm the structure's age.
Evidence of possible Pictish and medieval occupation has been recorded.
A key feature of the site are the remains of a massive stone wall roundhouse, known as a broch.
Caithness has more brochs per square mile than any other part of Scotland, according to Highland Council.
Examples of the ancient buildings are also found on Orkney.....
SOURCE: BBC (5-2-11)
A bomb disposal team have detonated a World War II shell near Holy Island.
A member of the public saw the shell at Goswick Sands on Sunday evening and alerted Berwick coastguard.
It was identified as an unexploded shell and a controlled explosion was carried out by the Faslane bomb disposal team at 0800 BST.
Humber Coastguard warned people to beware of unexploded WWII ordnance that may be washed up on the North East coast....
SOURCE: BBC (5-1-11)
German experts are carefully taking apart a complete Celtic grave in the hope of finding out more about the Celt's way of life, 2,600 years ago, in their Danube heartland.
It wasn't the most glorious final journey for an aristocratic Celtic lady who, in life, clearly had a bit of style.
She died just over 2,600 years ago and rested in peace until a few months ago when her grave was dug up in its entirety - all 80 tonnes of it - and transported on the back of a truck through countless German towns.
In the grave, too, was a child, presumed to be hers. Their last inglorious journey ended in the back yard of the offices of the archaeological service of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
When the truck arrived, the grave encased almost entirely in concrete, was unloaded and a tent constructed around it.
The archaeologists decided that removal of the whole grave would allow them to use the most modern resources of analysis, from computers to X-rays....
SOURCE: BBC (4-27-11)
A Pablo Picasso painting worth millions of dollars has been given to the University of Sydney by a mystery US-based donor.
The donor has said that proceeds from its sale must be used to fund scientific research.
Entitled Jeune Fille Endormie (Young Girl Asleep), the 1935 painting depicts Picasso's lover, Marie-Therese Walter.
It is expected to raise between $15m and $20m (£9m-12m) when it is auctioned in London in June.
The painting was donated last year by someone who had requested anonymity, the university's vice-chancellor, Michael Spence, said in a statement....
SOURCE: BBC (5-1-11)
The late Pope, John Paul II, has been beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful.
Among those at St Peter's Square is French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's Disease.
Her apparently miraculous cure is part of the case for the beatification, the last stage before sainthood.
It comes amid criticism of the Church for the speed of the beatification and the clerical child sex abuse scandal.
Much of the abuse occurred while John Paul II was Pope, from 1979-2005, and the Church has been criticised for not doing enough to punish those found responsible.
Police in Rome estimated that one million people had come to the city for the event, including large numbers of pilgrims from the late Pope's native Poland....
Name of source: Fox News
SOURCE: Fox News (5-2-11)
Years of intelligence gathering, including details gleaned from controversial interrogations of Al Qaeda members during the Bush administration, ultimately led the Navy SEALs who killed Usama bin Laden to his compound in Pakistan.
The initial threads of intelligence began surfacing in 2003 and came in the form of information about a trusted bin Laden courier, a senior U.S. official told Fox News on condition of anonymity. Bin Laden had cut off all traditional lines of communication with his network by this time because the Al Qaeda leader knew the U.S. intelligence community was monitoring him. It was said that he also didn’t even trust his most loyal men to know his whereabouts and instead communicated only through couriers.
But it was four years later, in 2007, that terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay military prison started giving up information about the key courier....
Name of source: National Journal
SOURCE: National Journal (5-2-11)
Osama bin Laden’s body had barely hit the water before people were predicting the impact his death would have on the war in Afghanistan, U.S. relations with the Islamic world and President Obama’s reelection campaign. The only problem with these immediate statements is that events are unlikely to work out the way anybody expects right now.
That has been the historic pattern. With events like this, unforeseen consequences have been the norm.
When 53 Americans were taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Iran in 1979, the most oft-heard prediction was that the humiliating spectacle would give a huge boost to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s drive to deny President Carter a second term. Instead, the country rallied around its commander in chief....
...[I]t was a short-lived boost and his approval numbers were down to 31 percent by November. Republican Ronald Reagan later would be able to cite that rescue failure as an embarrassing example of what he called “the hollow military.” But very few of the “experts” at the time foresaw the political impact of Iran on Carter....
Name of source: NYT
SOURCE: NYT (4-28-11)
The beatification is widely seen as a way not just to honor John Paul but to energize the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, like John Paul’s 26-year papacy itself, it has become intensely polarizing.
For one thing, Benedict waived the traditional five-year wait and began the process weeks after John Paul’s death, and critics across the Catholic spectrum have questioned the alacrity. Others say that the sex abuse crisis that emerged under John Paul is grounds against sainthood. On Saturday, at least one victims’ group plans a worldwide protest.
Defenders, however, say beatification is simply the formal seal of approval for a wildly popular pope who helped bring down Communism and whom many Catholics, especially in his native Poland, already consider a saint. Hundreds of thousands are expected in Rome, the biggest crowds since 2005, when cries of “Santo subito!” or “Sainthood now,” erupted at his funeral Mass.
SOURCE: NYT (5-1-11)
WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden has been killed, two United States officials said. President Obama was expected to make an announcement on Sunday night, almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon....
Name of source: Time
SOURCE: Time (5-1-11)
If the research is true, we all know who won.
The first humans may have had to battle the beasts to claim their living space. The study to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science sheds light on how cavemen conquered the bears, leading to their extinction.
The French researchers looked back more than 32,000 years ago, when humans began to use caves as their habitats. The Chauvet cave is one of the most prominent ancient caves to have been discovered, and researcher Celine Bon and her team have found evidence that both bears and humans used the cave for shelter – though they did most likely did not coexist.
They studied the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc and Deux-Ouvertures caves and found that the battle may have resulted in a trade-off. The bears are thought to have lived in the caves during winter hibernation, while humans took over the domain in the summer. But it appears that the humans were eventually able to overpower the cavebears....
