Free Republic

Israeli police today detained two of Madonna’s bodyguards after they assaulted photographers waiting for the star outside her Tel Aviv hotel. Two of the photographers and a policeman who tried to break up the brawl were wounded, said Tel Aviv police spokesperson Liat Pearl. “Two security guards were detained for questioning by the Tel Aviv police department,” said Pearl. The pop diva has been in Israel since Wednesday with 2,000 other students of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. Madonna’s visit to the country has sparked a media frenzy with the local dailies devoting pages detailing her luxury hotel suite and even...

Capital city of ancient superpower discovered By David Keys Archaeology Correspondent 26 October 2002 British archaeologists have discovered a capital city of one of the ancient world's most mysterious superpowers. The metropolis, covering more than a square mile, was the main western administrative centre of the ancient Median Empire, a vast Middle Eastern imperial state which flourished in the first half of the 6th century BC between the fall of the Assyrian empire and the rise of Persia. The discovery reveals the sheer scale of the threat which would soon be posed to Europe by the ancient Middle East. For...