Free Republic

On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 157 service members became America's newest citizens during a naturalization ceremony in Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory, Baghdad. Photo by Lee Craker, MNC-I. BAGHDAD — A naturalization ceremony here on Veterans Day in Camp Victory's Al Faw Palace saw 157 U.S. Soldiers and Marines from 60 countries take the oath to become United States citizens. "How fitting it is that so many, on this Veterans Day, will gain their American citizenship while serving in 'America's Corps'," said Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., commanding general of Multi-National Corps - Iraq. "I can think of no...

Saddam Hussein spent billions building dozens of vast, gaudy palaces all over Iraq, many of which are still occupied by US troops. But the Iraqi government is divided - as usual - on what to do with them once the soldiers have gone... [snip] ...‘For sale/rent: 80 presidential palaces, average unit living space half-a-million square feet. Attached gardens featuring disused swimming pools, personal zoos/nuclear bunkers etc. Rooms fitted with thrones and gold lavatories, en suite torture chamber optional. Some bomb damage. Suit megalomaniac or similar.’

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher (right) and Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher share some laughs with U.S. servicemembers during a National Football League coaches USO tour of Iraq, at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad, July 2. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Edwin L. Wriston, Joint Combat Camera Center – Iraq. KIRKUK — It was a long line for Soldiers and Airmen, but awaiting them at the end were legendary NFL coaches ready to sign photos, shirts or anything else you could scribble a signature on. The coaches, who included New York Giants’ Coach Tom Coughlin, Baltimore Ravens’...

A campaign by heirs of Polish aristocrats to recover a palace seized by the communists has exposed Poland's continued failure to resolve the restitution of property to former owners after two decades of democracy. The Branicki family says it has now decided to demand the return of the entire estate at Wilanow Palace,not just family heirlooms and archives as previously planned, due to frustration over lack of progress in a legal battle dating back to 1990. The baroque palace of Wilanow, situated in a rolling green park in a southern suburb of Warsaw and now a museum, has been dubbed...

Note: The following text is a quote: https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=97428 YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Equatorial Guinea Presidential Palace Attack CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Equatorial Guinea 17 Feb 2009 Printer Friendly Email Article RELATED REPORTS 30 Jan 2009 PIRACY TRENDS IN THE GULF OF GUINEA U.S. Embassy Malabo issued the following Warden Message on February 17: In the early morning hours of February 17 there was an apparent attack in the vicinity of the presidential palace located in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. In response to the apparent attack there is heightened security...

Honolulu (AP) -- The leader of a Hawaiian pro-sovereignty group that broke into a historic palace once home to royalty said he planned to chain himself to the throne but couldn't find it because he had never been in the palace before. But palace officials said three locks, including those securing the throne room, were damaged. No artifacts were damaged or stolen, but the group broke into a barracks building and raised a flag on the flagpole, officials said. Police arrested 23 people during the stunt, in which members of the Kingdom of Hawaii locked the gates to the Iolani...

Archaeologists uncover Aberdeenshire’s hidden history on slopes of Bennachie Archaeologists have uncovered ancient traces, from tiny bead ornaments to massive walls, of a forgotten prince’s palace on the slopes of Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. Only yards from a busy car park used by walkers visiting the landmark hill, a 15-strong team rediscovered remains of Maiden Castle just below the surface of a wooded hillside mound. A stone’s throw from the Rowantree car park, near Pitcaple, and also close to one of the most important Pictish carved monuments in the country, the two-week dig confirmed the importance of the 2,000-year-old fort area....

Nepal celebrates as former king evicted from palace By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent Last Updated: 11:16PM BST 11/06/2008 Nepal's former king has been evicted from his palace as his former subjects revelled in the loss of his dignity and the opening of his secrets. Gyanendra loses his £1.5 million annual allowance and 600 staff The country was declared a republic two weeks ago and Gyanendra – now Mr Shah – was told to pack his bags and leave. In his final public act before leaving the palace, he addressed the nation on television. "I have assisted in and...

Mexican archaeologists unearth ruins of Aztec palace The Associated PressPublished: June 10, 2008 MEXICO CITY: Mexican archaeologists said Monday they have unearthed the remains of an Aztec palace once inhabited by the emperor Montezuma in the heart of what is now downtown Mexico City. During a routine renovation project on a Colonial-era building, experts uncovered pieces of a wall as well as a basalt floor believed to have been part of a dark room where Montezuma meditated, archaeology team leader Elsa Hernandez said. Montezuma's palace complex — known as the Casas Nuevas, or New Houses to distinguish them from his...

Mysterious church and palace from the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. discovered by Polish archaeologists in Sudan Archaeological site in SelibAt the beginning of this year, archaeologists from Warsaw University, headed by Dr Bogdan Żurawski discovered the remains of an Early Christian church and an even older palace. "During research in the area of Selib, a village located on the right bank of the Nile, between the 4th and 3rd cataract, the remains of a building erected on the plan of a huge rectangle were found. It soon turned out that this was one of the most unique churches...

It's amazing what $5 US per gallon of gas can buy... This palace is owned by the family of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former president of the United Arab Emirates and rule of Abu-Dhabi. My Mom said to always look at the bright side of things -good things these people are doing so 'well'!

Prince Andrew angers Palace with US attack By Andrew Pierce Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 06/02/2008 The Duke of York has angered the Queen and senior politicians with his extraordinary attack on the White House on the eve of his trade mission to the United States. Downing Street and the Foreign Office were also dismayed by the timing of his comments so close to the Super Tuesday primaries. The Duke of York is about to embark on a 10-day mission to the US as British trade envoy The duke's criticism, in a newspaper interview, of President Bush's post-war strategy for Iraq...

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian rebels surrounded the presidential palace in N'Djamena on Saturday after storming into the capital, and France began evacuating French and foreign nationals from the city. After a day of fierce clashes in the streets of N'Djamena, there was speculation about the whereabouts of President Idriss Deby, but at least two of his ministers said he remained inside the palace complex at the head of loyal troops. The official Libyan news agency JANA reported one of the leaders of the rebels, Mahamat Nouri, had agreed to a ceasefire and negotiations with government forces following mediation by Libyan...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — In the midst of a combat zone, the Prince of Peace was honored with a Christmas Eve candlelight service. The service held in Al Faw Palace filled the nearly four story rotunda as sounds of carols echoed off the marble hall. It was time for Christians to remember their roots, Chaplain (Col.) Mike Tarvin said. Those roots go back to the Middle East, a place many Americans and others from a host of nations now find themselves, the senior chaplain for Multi-National Corps-Iraq said. “I love Christmas, even here in Iraq,” the Christian Church of Disciples...

Archaeologists have uncovered a royal palace used by King Henry II AN ANCIENT royal palace near Kingsclere unearthed during recent excavations will be open to the public over the weekend (September 22-23). The Royal Palace of Fremantle has lain hidden under the Hampshire Downs at Tidgrove Warren Farm, in the parish of Hannington, for nearly 900 years. Over the last three years the site has been excavated by staff and students from the University of Southampton in association with the Kingsclere Heritage Association local volunteers. Explorations have revealed a medieval enclosed settlement surrounded by a massive ditch - larger than...

From The Times (UK)August 22, 2007 Inside the Emperor’s underground palace Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent It covers an area the size of Cambridge but so far only a tiny proportion of the site of the First Emperor of China’s underground palace for the afterlife has been excavated. Now Chinese archaeologists have used computerised imagery to complete a 3-D reconstruction of the giant tomb that lies 30 metres beneath a mound, with the Qinling mountains in the background. The dramatic imagery has been made available to The Times by the historian John Man, before he publishes pictures and a detailed description...

Palace of Darius the Great Discovered in Bolaghi Gorge Discovery of remains of a gigantic palace in Bolaghi Gorge and its similarity to the constructions of the time of Darius I, Achaemenid King, in Persepolis show that it was built during the same period of time. Tehran, 15 May 2006 (CHN) -- Iran-French joint archeology team at Bolaghi Gorge succeeded in discovering and identifying the remains of a gigantic palace, believed to be from the Achaemenid era (648 BC–330 BC), during their second season of excavations in the area. “Before the start of this season of excavations, our geophysical tests...

/5/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- A common trait exists among the injured Airmen recuperating at hospitals in the capital region, said the Air Force chief of staff. “Every Airman I’ve met wants to return to active duty and (his or her) unit,” said Gen. T. Michael Moseley in recent testimony on Capitol Hill. “I am proud of them and their courage as they travel the hard road to recovery.” The determination of injured Airmen inspired the creation of a program dedicated to helping them -- Palace HART, or Helping Airmen Recover Together. This program is offered to separated or retired...

Palace of Homer's hero rises out of the myths From John Carr in Athens ARCHAEOLOGISTS claim to have unearthed the remains of the 3,500-year-old palace of Ajax, the warrior-king who according to Homer’s Iliad was one of the most revered fighters in the Trojan War. Classicists hailed the discovery, made on a small Greek island, as evidence that the myths recounted by Homer in his epic poem were based on historical fact. The ruins include a large palace, measuring about 750sq m (8,000sq ft), and believed to have been at least four storeys high with more than thirty rooms. Yannos...

Does an amazing new discovery show that the Bible is supported by science? Many archeologists are calling the latest Israeli archeological discovery “the find of the century” (Canadian Jewish News, October 20). Eilat Mazar, an Israeli archeologist, is claiming to have unearthed, in East Jerusalem, the palace of biblical King David. King David was the 10th century b.c. poet-warrior and slayer of Goliath, whom the Bible says consolidated and expanded the ancient Israelite kingdom into a regional power. In approximately 1000 b.c., King David conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites (Washington Post, December 2), and subsequently made it his capital....