Free Republic

COMBAT OUTPOST SHUKVANI, Afghanistan, Aug. 22, 2011 – As a torrent of bullets whizzed past their heads, the Marines in Observation Post 8 quickly dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding what could have been their deaths. As they lifted themselves off of sandbags covering the bottom of the small bunker, they looked up to see Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christopher Sharp smiling down at them. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christopher Sharp prepares for Operation Black Sand in an observation post in the southern portion of the Musa Qalah district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Aug. 5, 2011. U.S. Marine Corps photo...

MUMBAI: M V Alpha, a ship which is suspected to have carried the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, was today found 112 km from here by the Coast Guard, officials said. A CG spokesman said that searches were being carried out on board the ship but declined to elaborate. The Coast Guard had launched two aircraft, choppers and its vessels after receiving information that the ship could have carried the terrorists from Gujarat to Mumbai.

Search 'locates' Homer's Ithaca An amateur British archaeologist says he has located Ithaca, the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus. Robert Bittlestone - backed by two experts - claims the rocky island depicted in The Odyssey is part of Greek tourist destination Cephalonia. He used satellite imagery to match the area's landscape with descriptions in the poem about the return of the man behind the wooden horse of Troy. Many experts had stated Homer was referring to the island of Ithaki. They had explained geographical inconsistencies in The Odyssey by suggesting that Homer lived much later than the events portrayed...