The Israeli and Palestinian authorities are divided over how to investigate the killing of the Al Jazeera journalist in the West Bank.
The bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has become the central point of contention between Israelis and Palestinians to find out who shot her. Palestinian officials said that Israel could not be trusted to investigate the killing, and would not allow Israeli officials to examine the bullet. As Palestinian investigators combed the area where Abu Akleh was killed, a top Israeli official rejected Israeli calls for a joint inquiry and accused Israeli soldiers of killing her. Israeli officials maintain that she may have been hit by Palestinian fire, and they said they would need to examine the bullet to see if it could be matched to an Israeli rifle. They claimed that Palestinians were refusing to provide the bullet in order to obscure its origin. Explanation: The bullet could reveal the gun that fired it, and its condition may contain signs about the direction and distance it was fired from. Israel said both sides fired M 16 s, which could complicate the investigation.
For the first time in decades, a Stradivarius from the early 1700s will be up for auction. The Stradivarius, known as the da Vinci, was the instrument of choice for Toscha Seidel, who bought it in 1924 for $25,000. The sale made the front page of The Times. Seidel was famous: He had a weekly broadcast on CBS in the 1930s and gave lessons to Albert Einstein. He played the da Vinci on some celebrated film scores, including The Wizard of Oz. Seidel, who died in 1962, treasured the violin and said he wouldn't trade it for a million dollars.