Inside The ‘Situation Room’ – The people who gathered Sunday in the Situation Room know all about high-pressure situations. But this was something else. For 40 minutes, the President and his senior aides could do nothing but watch the video screens and listen to the operation and ensuing firefight on the other side of the world. [time]
Bin Laden’s Death Results In Tweet Record – Twitter has released new numbers showing last night’s announcement that Osama bin Laden was dead generated the most activity on the service that it has ever seen, in terms of “sustained rate of tweets.” [searchengineland]
Osama Bin Laden’s Controversial Sea Burial – Hours after Osama bin Laden was shot in the face by Navy SEALs in Pakistan, the terrorist leader’s corpse was loaded onto the USS Carl Vinson, washed, wrapped in a white sheet, and gently pushed into the North Arabian Sea – outraging radical Muslim clerics. There was one question on everyone’s lips (and Twitter feeds): Why? [dailybeast]
How The US Tracked Couriers To The High Security Compound – The trail that led to Osama bin Laden began before 9/11, before the terror attacks that brought the son of a Saudi construction magnate to prominence. The chase grew more urgent when U.S. intelligence discovered an elaborate compound in Pakistan, a clue that eventually culminated in Sunday’s raid on a fortified and isolated fortress in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. [msnbc]
Obama To Visit Ground Zero – President Barack Obama will visit Ground Zero in New York City on Thursday for the first time as president, a trip that comes just days after the U.S. military operation that killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. [wallstreetjournal]
Bush Calls Bin Laden Death A ‘Momentous Achievement’ – Former US President George W. Bush, who was in office at the time of the September 11 attacks and famously said he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive, on Sunday called the death of the al Qaeda leader a “momentous achievement.” President Barack Obama called Bush in Dallas to inform him that bin Laden was dead and they spoke for four minutes. [reuters]
Bin Laden Raid Yields Trove Of Computer Data – The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.” The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden. [politico]
Man Who Vowed Not To Shave Until Bin Laden Dies, Finally Shaves – A teacher who vowed nearly 10 years ago not to cut his beard until Osama bin Laden was captured or proven dead said he cried Sunday night upon hearing of the terrorist’s death. “I spent my first five minutes crying and then I couldn’t get it off fast enough,” said Gary Weddle, 50, who lives in East Wenatchee but teaches middle school science in Ephrata. [dailyastorian]
Man ‘Live-Tweets’ Bin Laden Attack – A man in Abbottabad, the town where Osama bin Laden was killed by the U.S. on Monday, inadvertently live-tweeted the attack as it started. The man, who uses the Twitter handle “ReallyVirtual”, identifies himself as Sohaib Athar, “an IT consultant taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops.” [wallstreetjournal]
William And Kate To Honeymoon On Private Island – The newlywed Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to honeymoon in a £4,000-a-night villa on one of the most beautiful and romantic islands in the world. Prince William is to whisk his bride away to a secret hideaway in the Indian Ocean for a ten-day holiday later this month. [dailymail]
Donald Trump Fires Back At David Letterman – In the latest round in the war between Donald Trump and a growing list of the heaviest hitters in show business, the real-estate mogul and “Celebrity Apprentice” host fired back at David Letterman over the late-night host’s on-air suggestion that Trump is a racist. He sent a letter. Check it out. [foxnews]
Investigators Discover Second Air France Black Box – Search teams have retrieved the second black box flight recorder of an Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic in 2009 en route from Rio to Paris, killing 228 people. It was raised and lifted on board the ship Ile de Sein by the Remora robot submarine this morning and could be a breakthrough in the investigation into the disaster. [mail&guardian]
2oceansvibe Character Goes Into The History Books – The Barndog, AKA John Smit will become the second player in history to captain his team in defence of the Rugby World Cup after being confirmed yesterday as the Springbok skipper for the 2011 tournament in New Zealand. Only Australia’s Michael Lynagh from Australia has led his team as a winning captain in consecutive World Cups. [timeslive]
Bok Coach Peter De Villiers Puts His Foot In It – Some things never change, like the ability of Peter de Villiers to make eccentric pronouncements and also arguably rub up influential people in a damaging way. Only a few months out from the World Cup, the Springbok coach’s “quirky” side must remain a source of at least some concern to his SARU employers. [sport24]
Kimberley To Host World’s Richest Skateboard Tournament – The Fifa World Cup will have an unexpected spin-off in Kimberley in September when a R3-million skateboard park, which is still to be built, will host the world’s richest skateboarding competition. The Maloof Money Cup, with its $3-million prize money, will for the first time leave US soil , and South Africa has been selected to host one of its four legs. [timeslive]
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