Humans have rarely encountered an enemy as devastating as the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Between 1347 and 1351, it sparked the Black Death, an infection carried by fleas that spread rapidly across Europe, killing around 50 million people. Now scientists have uncovered some of the genetic secrets of the plague thanks to DNA fragments drilled from the teeth of victims buried in a graveyard in east London. The researchers say that all current strains circulating in the world are directly related to the medieval bacterium.

除了鼠疫耶尔森氏杆菌，人们还几乎没遭遇更具毁灭性的敌人。1347到1351年，这种病菌引发了黑死病，跳蚤携带这种病菌很快传遍了欧洲，5000人死亡。如今，在英国东部黑死病死者墓穴中，科学家从死者牙齿中发现DNA破片。研究人员说，现代世界上所有瘟疫病菌都直接与中世纪黑死病菌有直接关系。

Masked thieves have stolen an invaluable Christian relic from an ancient monastery in the south of the Irish Republic. The relic, said to be part of the cross on which Jesus died, was kept in a gold and bronze case in the shape of a cross. A local priest appealed to the thieves to return the relic, which he said had an immeasurable religious and emotional value.

蒙面盗贼进入爱尔兰共和国南部的一个古老修道院，盗取价值连城的基督教文物一件，据说这是耶稣死时所用十字架的一部分，被保存在一个金铜铸造的十字架型盒子里，一位当地牧师要求盗贼返还文物，他说此物具有极重要的宗教和情感价值。