Burial box damaged on trip to Canada

Burial box damagedon trip to Canada
TORONTO -- A limestone burial box that may be the oldest archaeological link to Jesus was badly damaged in transit from Israel to Canada, Royal Ontario Museum officials said Friday.
Dan Rahimi, the museum's director of collections management, said in a telephone interview the box -- called an ossuary -- had wide cracks but remained whole.
"The box was badly damaged, but still intact. It has not broken," Rahimi said. "It's very serious damage, but not unusual for a limestone box of this age."
He said impact or vibration during the trip from Israel probably widened old cracks and caused new ones. Some of the cracks were less than an eighth of an inch wide, enough to "slip a dime in," Rahimi said.
The limestone box, which is scheduled to go on display Nov. 16, is inscribed in Aramaic with the words "Ya'akov [James], son of Yosef [Joseph], brother of Yeshua [Jesus]."
If, as some scholars maintain, the box and the inscription are authentic, it would be the first physical artifact from the first century related to Jesus.
Israel granted a four-month export license for the ancient burial box, which belongs to a private Israeli collector.
Judge orders releaseof former cartel leaders
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A judge ordered two leaders of the former Cali drug cartel released from prison Friday after serving about half their term, drawing cries of protest by top government officials.
Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez were captured and convicted of trafficking cocaine to the United States. They were sentenced that same year to 14 and 15 years, respectively.
Judge Pedro Suarez ordered their release after they served seven years. They had participated in a work-study program to cut their sentence -- a program usually meant for less serious offenses.
"These men, with their gigantic economic power, are generating a judicial result that doesn't correspond with the evidence," said Fernando Londono, who's both Colombia's interior and justice minister.
"This shows us once again that judicial power in Colombia is incapable of dealing with the issue of drug trafficking," he said.
Luis Camilo Osorio, Colombia's attorney general, said the decision to release the men was "unfortunate," and that he was going to look into it.
Trade center toll dropsafter 2 are found alive
NEW YORK -- The World Trade Center death toll has dropped by two to 2,795 after a New York City woman and a Florida man who had been reported missing were found alive, city officials said Friday.
Police located Tina Spicer of Manhattan and Peter Montoulieu of Miami more than a year after they were listed as terrorism victims, and seven weeks after their names were read during the ground zero anniversary ceremony.
"It was verified that they are alive and well," said Inspector Jeremiah Quinlan, who has overseen the trade center missing-persons effort.
Montoulieu told The Associated Press on Friday that the closest he got to the trade center last year was during a layover at New York's La Guardia Airport about a week before the terrorist attack.
He said his former wife reported him missing because she thought an Indianapolis convention had taken place in Manhattan. He called police recently after he learned that his name was on the victim list.
"They were really happy to hear from me," said Montoulieu, 44.
Officials did not say how the Spicer error was discovered.
Restrictions eased
NEW YORK -- The atmosphere was jubilant -- and misty -- Friday at Lincoln Center when officials turned on its huge centerpiece fountain to mark the end of six months of emergency drought water restrictions, just in time for winter.
With colder weather already here and a forecast for frost this weekend, there were no plans to turn on fountains elsewhere in the city. In addition, annual restrictions that prohibit watering lawns and sidewalks between Nov. 1 and March 31 are in effect.
But at Lincoln Center, anyway, a crowd that included 100 eager schoolchildren cheered as the Revson Fountain sprayed water 15 feet into the air after being filled with 10,000 gallons.
Barring any new restrictions, fountains in city parks will come alive in March.
Heavy rainfall in September and October combined with conservation measures -- including a ban on car washing, operating ornamental fountains and a two-hour limit on lawn sprinkling -- allowed the city to suspend its drought restrictions Friday.
Associated Press