Top News Stories –
Dagger in Tutankhamun’s tomb was made with iron from a meteorite –
A dagger entombed with King Tutankhamun was made with iron from a meteorite, a new analysis on the metal composition shows. In 1925, archaeologist Howard Carter found two daggers, one iron and one with a blade of gold, within the wrapping of the teenage king, who was mummified more than 3,300 years ago. The iron blade, which had a gold handle, rock crystal pommel and lily and jackal-decorated sheath, has puzzled researchers in the decades since Carter’s discovery: ironwork was rare in ancient Egypt, and the dagger’s metal had not rusted. Italian and Egyptian researchers analysed the metal with an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine its chemical composition, and found its high nickel content, along with its levels of cobalt, “strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin”. They compared the composition with known meteorites within 2,000km around the Red Sea coast of Egypt, and found similar levels in one meteorite. That meteorite, named Kharga, was found 150 miles (240km) west of Alexandria, at the seaport city of Mersa Matruh, which in the age of Alexander the Great – the fourth century BC – was known as Amunia. [Evening Standard]
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Other News Stories –
- Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Somalia (2009–present)
- In a raid by Somali forces near Kismayo, at least 16 Al-Shabaab militants are killed, including the mastermind of the Garissa University College attack. (BBC) (Daily Caller)
- Disasters and accidents
- 2016 European floods
- At least eleven people are killed in heavy flooding across Europe. (BBC) (Bloomberg)
- The Louvre will close briefly to move the artwork most at risk from flooding. (The New York Times)
- A Romanian medical helicopter crashes near Cahul, Moldova, killing four people. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
- 2016 Oklahoma floods
- At least five United States Army soldiers are killed and four are missing after their Light Medium Tactical Vehicle overturns near Fort Hood in Texas. (KXAN)
- International relations
- Law and crime
- An autopsy finds that American musician Prince died of an overdose of fentanyl, an opioid painkiller 50 times more powerful than heroin. (AP) (The New York Times)
- 2016 UCLA shooting
- A second victim of the UCLA shooter is found in Minnesota; the shooter is identified as a former Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering that claimed his first victim had “cleverly stolen his code.” (The New York Times)
- Four Syrians who are suspected of traveling to Europe on behalf of the Islamic State to attack Düsseldorf are arrested. (The New York Times)
- 2016 Mathura clash
- 24 people are killed and 368 arrested in the Indian city of Mathura as police attempt to clear members of a radical religious group from land they are occupying. (The Times of India)
- Violence breaks out in a rally supporting Donald Trump in San Jose, California. An officer and several demonstrators were assaulted, and a few people were arrested. (CNN)
- Politics and elections
- U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan endorses Donald Trump for President of the United States. (CNN), (Washington Post)
- The Supreme Court of the United States accepts a petition by five people from American Samoa arguing that people born in this U.S. territory are entitled to U.S citizenship under the United States Constitution. The State Department currently opposes this idea. (Radio New Zealand)
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