Taliban Confirms Bin Laden's Death; CUNY Board Reconsidering Kushner Decision

By Rosie Gray Sat., May 7 2011 at 9:36 AM

Categories: Caffeine Nation, Crime, Link Dump, Osama bin Laden, Rosie Gray

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The Taliban has joined al Qaeda in admitting that Osama Bin Laden is in fact dead. Bin Laden "embraced martyrdom as per the Will of the Almighty Allah during an abrupt attack by the American invading soldiers," as per their statement. In other Bin Laden-related news, the U.S. has demanded to know the names of top Pakistani intelligence officials so they can suss out whether any of them were in contact with Bin Laden or his associates during the years when he was hanging out in a huge mansion right under their noses. As Jon Stewart put it, Pakistan's got some 'splaining to do. And on Friday, the president and vice president met with the members of the Navy SEAL Team 6 who carried out the OBL raid. [CNN, NYT]

The CUNY Board of Trustees announced they'll be holding an emergency meeting Monday to reconsider whether or not to give playwright Tony Kushner an honorary degree. John Jay College had planned on giving Kushner an honorary doctorate, but CUNY didn't approve the decision because of Kushner's criticism of Israel. And now, after a huge PR mess, it looks as though Kushner will ge the degree after all. [NYO]

Two imams from Memphis were kicked off a flight to Charlotte yesterday after being told that the pilot wouldn't fly with them aboard. They were going to an anti-prejudice conference. [Gawker]

A Bronx father was stabbed to death in front of his wife and young son on their way home from the grocery store. Two men were charged with murder, manslaughter and weapons possession. [NYP]

Parents and teachers are not happy about Bloomberg's plan to lay off 4100 teachers. [NYDN]

Two Craigslist prostitutes were attacked and robbed in Midtown hotels by the same man this past week. One woman was slashed with a knife and the other was put in a choke hold and left unconscious. Police are searching for two suspects. [Gothamist via NYDN]

[rgray@villagevoice.com] [@_rosiegray]

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