hArtifacts unearthed during subway excavation

hArtifacts unearthedduring subway excavation
NEW YORK -- Mysore Nagaraja, construction chief for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, holds a medallion, top, dated 1755, which was found in Battery Park a few months ago, and a smaller coin, a 1744 British halfpenny, which was unearthed more recently near a wall in the park. The coins were dug up during construction of a new subway tunnel.
Magnetic pole is drifting,shifting Northern Lights
SAN FRANCISCO -- Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America and toward Siberia at such a clip that Alaska might lose its spectacular Northern Lights in the next 50 years, scientists said Thursday. Despite accelerated movement over the past century, the possibility that Earth's modestly fading magnetic field will collapse is remote. But the shift could mean Alaska may no longer see the sky lights known as auroras, which might then be more visible in more southerly areas of Siberia and Europe. The magnetic poles are part of the magnetic field generated by liquid iron in Earth's core and are different from the geographic poles, the surface points marking the axis of the planet's rotation.
Lawyers ask why Germanwasn't allowed in country
WASHINGTON -- Lawyers asked the Bush administration Thursday why a German citizen, taken prisoner by the CIA in a case of mistaken identity in 2004, was not allowed into the United States last weekend. Khaled al-Masri was seeking entry to publicize the lawsuit he filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., against former CIA Director George Tenet and 10 "John Doe" CIA employees involved in his abduction to Afghanistan. Al-Masri was thrown into the CIA's "rendition" program for terror suspects, beaten and held in a cell for four months, the last two while U.S. officials debated how to handle his release after discovering he was the person he said he was. The CIA had suspected he was an associate of the Sept. 11 conspirators, a man with a similar name.
Jetliner slides off runway,collides with vehicle
CHICAGO -- A jetliner trying to land in heavy snow slid off a runway at Midway International Airport, crashed through the boundary fence and slid into a busy street, hitting one vehicle and pinning another beneath it. There were no reports of injuries on the plane, but two people on the ground were hospitalized, Aviation Department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said. The nose of the plane, Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 from Baltimore, was crushed and a severely damaged engine was on the ground, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. "It got really bumpy, and then a big crashing sound," passenger Katie Duda told WMAQ-TV. The next thing she knew, she said, the airplane was past the airport and in the street. "Everyone was very calm. Everyone around me seemed very OK," she said. The passengers used inflatable slides to get out of the plane in the blowing snow. According to the FAA, 90 passengers were aboard. The Boeing 737 slid through the northwest corner of the airport, through the boundary fence and into the roadway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's regional office in Chicago. Langford said at least two vehicles were damaged, and one was pinned under the plane.
Suicide bomber kills self,6 others in Bangladesh
NETROKONA, Bangladesh -- A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up on a crowded street Thursday, killing six others and wounding dozens in the latest attack authorities attribute to extremists who want to create an Islamic state in Bangladesh. Hundreds of people had gathered on a narrow street in the northern town of Netrokona after police safely detonated another bomb found in a building, when the suicide blast sent shrapnel ripping through the air.
Associated Press