By ERIC ASIMOV, The New York Times
The white wine grapes of Greece — with names like moschofilero, roditis and assyrtiko — sound a bit scary, like alien beings. But I think of them as the constituents of a parallel universe in which crowds of people embrace these wonderfully refreshing, intriguing whites, rather than default to generic summer white wines like pinot grigio. I imagine this for the assyrtiko, especially.
Kairos Palestine, a group of Palestinian Christians who co-authored the document "A Moment of Truth," condemned on Tuesday 21st May, the kidnapping of two bishops in Syria – as well as the way such an act damages efforts toward peace and stability in a country already ravaged by violence. The bishops, Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji of the Greek Orthodox Church, were kidnapped on April 20th 2013 in northern Syria; they were on a humanitarian mission to negotiate the release of two priests who had been kidnapped in February. Since their capture, almost no information has been divulged about their welfare or whereabouts, Kairos Palestine said in a press statement.
By LIZ ALDERMAN, The New York Times
The sun was blazing above the Acropolis, draping the ivory pillars of the Parthenon in a golden sheen. The red-tiled roof of the ancient Agora museum glimmered in the heat, and a breeze ruffled the boughs of olive trees. On the rough cobbles of Plaka, a cafe-lined tourist area, crowds of camera-toting visitors paused to soak it all in.
By Greg Palast, Opednews.com
It wasn't too difficult picking out the Fat Bastard in the crowd of Russian models, craven moochers and media mavens. Besides, Fat Bastard and I were both desperate for coffee and heading for the same empty urn. (We'd both signed on for Kazakhstan's annual Eurasia Media Forum, a kind of Burning Man festival for Eastern oilgarchs and their media camp followers.) Now, it is my policy never to mention an interlocutor's weight, nor question the legitimacy of their birth, given my own vulnerabilities. (A would-be groupie told me, "You could do a few sit-ups, you know." Yes, I know.)
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, The New York Times
BOSTON — A man with ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect, was shot and killed by a law enforcement official in Orlando, Fla., as the F.B.I. tried to interview him early Wednesday morning, according to a law enforcement official.
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