Arts & Entertainment:

Vodun: African Voodoo exhibition – picture preview
Vodun: African Voodoo is an exhibition of the amazing private collection of Voodoo art collated by African and tribal art expert Jacques Kerchache.

Kerchache, a key cultural adviser to Jacques Chirac, was instrumental in introducing African and tribal art to the Louvre in 2000.

The success of the Louvre’s new galleries led to Kerchache’s biggest achievement – the creation of the Musée du Quai Branly in 2006, France’s first major institution devoted to indigenous art, cultures and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. Read full story from independent.co.uk

News:

Police watch as mob kills suspected witches
A couple accused of witchcraft was killed after the body of an eight-year-boy was discovered in a maize plantation Monday morning in Nyahera Village, Kisumu.

Residents were shocked when they found the partly mutilated body dumped in a maize plantation.

Although circumstances under which the child died were not immediately established, enraged villagers descended on the man and his wife, who they suspected of causing the boy’s death.

Residents stormed the home of the suspects where they argued with the man before killing him. They then turned on his wife. Read full story from standardmedia.co.ke

Scots site may hold the key to Arthurian mystery
IT is a mystery that has baffled generations of historians, but the secrets of King Arthur’s round table could finally be laid bare thanks to modern technology.

A circular earthen mound near Stirling Castle has been linked variously to the legendary king, to British aristocrats and to Roman invaders, but its origins remain shrouded in history.

Now, for the first time, a team of archaelogists from Glasgow University is preparing to use hi-tech scanners to survey the ground beneath it, providing a clear insight into the mound’s beginnings.

The structure, often referred to as the King’s Knot, has long fascinated national historians. Despite the mysteries it may contain, however, it has remained undisturbed for fear of damaging it. The new project, scheduled to run next week, will provide a full geophysical survey of the entire area.

Stirling Local History Society (SLHS) and Stirling Field and Archaeological Society have secured funding from Historic Scotland and Stirling City Heritage Trust for the operation. Read full story from heraldscotland.com

Syrian mass grave found near Deraa, residents say
Thirteen bodies have been retrieved from a mass grave in Deraa, the hub of Syria‘s protest movement, according to residents cited by rights organisations.

People from the southern city say hundreds are unaccounted for since a crackdown on protests began on 18 March and intensified when the army moved in on 25 April to try to quash unrest against Bashar al-Assad’s 11-year rule.

Radwan Ziadeh, the US-based head of the Damascus Centre for Human Rights, said so far seven bodies had been identified by residents. Read full story from guardian.co.uk

Photography:

Best Night-Sky Pictures of 2011 Named
Organized by astronomy-education projects The World at Night (TWAN) and Global Astronomy Month, the contest honors pictures that meet one of two criteria: “either to impress people on how important and amazing the starry sky is, or to impress people on how bad the problem of light pollution has become.” In total, ten winners were announced May 9 in either the “Beauty of the Night Sky” or “Against the Lights” category. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

Religion:

Tens of thousands celebrate Buddha’s birthday at temple in southern Nepal
LUMBINI, Nepal — Tens of thousands of devotees chanted sutras and lit incense Tuesday at a temple in southwestern Nepal to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha’s birth.