Author: Ximena Santiago
Tajikistan. President Emomali Rahmon has proposed three new national holidays that would individually honor wrestling, horse riding and flower planting. These holidays would honor the country’s three traditional new year activities. If the proposal is accepted, March 22 will become the “Day of Wrestlers,” with equestrianism and horticulture holidays following.
BBC
England. A radar scan of William Shakespeare’s burial place revealed the playwright’s skull may be missing. Archaeologists report that grave robbers likely stole it in the 18th century, when the practice was popular. Scientists, led by Kevin Colls, archaeological project manager for the Centre of Archaeology at Staffordshire University, found “an odd disturbance at the head end,” with a shift in material present in the general area, according to Colls. An 1879 report — previously dismissed as fiction — in British magazine Argosy, is being considered a legitimate account of the robbery of Shakespeare’s skull considering the details match Colls’ findings. Shakespeare’s tomb is only about 1 meter deep, and he was probably wrapped in shroud. “It is very likely to me that the skull is not there,” Colls said.
CNN
Kenya. The national examination board was declared defunct Thursday, and the government will arrest the ex-members of the board for helping students to cheat on university entrance exams. Education Minister Fred Matiang’i called the cheating “unprecedented.” Nine of the top board members are to be arrested, as ordered by Internal Security Minister Joseph Nkaissery. Of about half a million high school students that take the annual exam, 5,101 test results were revoked due to cheating. Current investigations report there may be many more cases of cheating still to be confirmed, according to local media. There is an ongoing problem in schools where teachers help students cheat and parents buy exams for their children, education official Kilemi Mwiria said.
The New York Times
United States. American bison currently living in Canada’s Elk Island National Park will return to the midwest after being captured and taken to Alberta 140 years ago. The bison will be moved to Montana’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation following a 2014 treaty between American and Canadian tribes, a goal of which was to restore bison to the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. Millions of bison roamed these areas until they were nearly hunted to extinction in the late 1800s. Captured by American Indians first, and then sold to a pair of ranchers, the herd was then offered for sale to the U.S. government. U.S. officials refused the offer and the animals were purchased and relocated to Canada in the early 1900s. “They’ve made a big circle, but now they’re coming home,” Ervin Carlson, president of the Intertribal Buffalo Council and member of the Blackfeet, said. The Blackfeet will also loan 20 of the Elk Island bison to the Oakland Zoo for a special exhibit opening this fall.
CBS News
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