LOOTING ARRESTS:

3 Palestinians nabbed for antiquities theft
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS (Jerusalem Post)

Three Palestinians wanted for a series of antiquities thefts over the last five years are under arrest, Israel's Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

The three Palestinian men, from the West Bank village of Beit Ula, were caught red-handed over the weekend plundering antiquities dating back to the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods during a night-time Antiquities Authority raid at an archaeological site in the West Bank, said Amir Ganor the head of the Authority's anti-theft division.

[...]

Any progress in the fight against antiquities looting is always welcome, but the situation is still very serious. The article concludes with the now standard Jerusalem Post paragraphs telling how looting has increased by more than 50% in the last year and "has taken on gold-rush dimensions."

(Via Bible and Interpretation News.)

UPDATE: Jim West e-mails to note the discussion of this article on the Biblical Studies list.