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Due for major earthquake, Israel seeks to keep Holy Land's ancient treasures standing
• JERUSALEM (AP) -- With Israel situated in one of the world's earthquake-prone areas, officials are taking action to protect the Holy Land's most important ancient treasures so they don't come tumbling down.
• After a series of five moderate earthquakes shook the country in October, experts installed a seismic monitoring system at the Tower of David, one of Jerusalem's most important -- and most visible -- historical sites.
• The project is Israel's first attempt to use such technology to determine structural weaknesses in the countless ancient edifices that dot the Holy Land. The efforts, however, have been slowed by authorities' reticence to publically declare sites as vulnerable, as well as the explosive geopolitics surrounding ancient Jewish, Christian and Muslim sites at the heart of the Mideast conflict.
• "We have to remember that this is the Holy Land," said Avi Shapira, head of a national steering committee for earthquake preparedness. "We have some responsibility not only to preserve the historical monuments of our personal heritage ... but also for the rest of the world."
• Most of Israel's historical sites "have not been checked," said Shapira. "We have them on the map, but an engineer still hasn't visited them."
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Police: 2 arrested at Texas border used data from Target breach for credit card fraud
• McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- A South Texas police chief said Monday that two Mexican citizens who were arrested at the border used account information stolen during the Target security breach to buy tens of thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise. But a federal official said later there currently was no connection between the arrests and the retailer's credit card data theft.
• McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said Mary Carmen Garcia, 27, and Daniel Guardiola Dominguez, 28, both of Monterrey, Mexico, had used cards containing the account information of South Texas residents. Rodriguez said they were used to purchase numerous items at national retailers in the area including Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us.
• "They're obviously selling the data sets by region," Rodriguez said.
• Late Monday, a federal official with knowledge of the case said there currently (Continued on page 28)
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