Playing God: Mossad’s Murder of Achmed Bouchiki
On the evening of 21 July 1973, in the quiet Norwegian town of Lillehammer, a couple walked home from the cinema. The woman was seven
Ancient DNA Finally Solves the Mystery of the World’s First Pandemic
Scientists have finally uncovered direct genetic evidence of Yersinia pestis — the bacterium behind the Plague of Justinian — in a mass grave in Jerash,
Exceptional Roman Mausoleum Modeled After Augustus' Tomb Discovered
French archaeologists have unearthed a remarkably well-preserved Roman mausoleum at Saint-Romain-en-Gal near Lyon, representing one of only 18 tumulus mausolea discovered in France, and the
Christian Cross Shows Ancient Religious Diversity On the Arabian Peninsula
Archaeologists have unearthed a remarkable 1,400-year-old Christian cross on Abu Dhabi’s Sir Bani Yas Island, adding to our understanding of Christianity’s eastward expansion in the Arabian
When Summer Meant Sea Serpents
From the 1860s, late July through to mid-September became known as the ‘silly season’. With Parliament and law courts in summer recess, and with little
Cosmic Tunnels Connect Our Solar System to Distant Stars
Scientists have discovered extraordinary “interstellar tunnels” that create direct pathways from our solar system to distant stellar regions, fundamentally changing our understanding of the space
Spain Was Different: Tourism Under Franco
South of the Pyrenees lies the holidaymakers’ Utopia’, promised a 1958 Thomas Cook brochure: ‘a spectacular, flamboyant kingdom of the sun’. The kingdom was Spain,
Cowboy Diplomacy in the Spanish-American War
By 1898 tensions at Arizona’s border with Mexico had waned but not disappeared. The end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 had seen Mexico concede
Million-Year-Old Tools Reveal Mystery Human Species
Archaeological excavations on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi have uncovered seven stone tools dating back at least 1.04 million years, potentially extending to 1.48 million
The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax
Between 1288 and 1300 European merchants competed with one another to obtain the right to collect duties on wine shipments to the port of Tunis