Farmers find monastery beneath Israeli soil

After a group of Israeli farmers sought last year to expand their property in the hills near Jerusalem, they discovered an archeological gem beneath the dirt. A team led by Daniel Ein Mor barely had to scratch the surface before finding the remains of a Byzantine monastery, he told CNN on Wednesday. “The excavation at Nes-Harim supplements our knowledge about the nature of the Christian-Byzantine settlement in the rural areas between the main cities in this part of the country during the Byzantine period,” including Jerusalem, Mor said

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Brown condemns killing of N. Irish policeman

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday condemned the "murderers" who shot dead a police officer in Northern Ireland but pledged there would be "no return to the old days" when such killings were common. The officer was shot late Monday, just two days after two British troops were killed at a military base in the province. Police said 48-year old Stephen Paul Carroll was shot in the head in Craigavon, a town southwest of Belfast

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Man held after mailing HIV-tainted blood to Obama

An Ethiopian immigrant with a history of mental health problems is in custody after being accused of mailing a letter with HIV-tainted blood to Barack Obama when he was president-elect, according to court records. Saad Bedrie Hussein told investigators that he is an admirer of Obama and that the letter — containing his photo, an admission ticket to Obama’s election night victory party in Chicago’s Grant Park and six index cards containing writing and reddish stains — was his way of seeking government help and tickets to Obama’s inauguration

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Japan’s industrial production falls steeply

Japan’s industrial production in January dropped 10 percent from the previous month, a decline for the fourth straight month, the government said. Harlyn Geronimo has sued Yale and the society — the Order of Skull and Bones — to try to recover the remains. “I think what would be important is that the remains of Geronimo be with his ancestors,” he said.

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