CHAMPION LEAGUE FINAL 2011: BARÇA BEATS MANCHESTER UNITED AT LONDON'S WEMBLEY STADIUM

Barça Football Club won last night their fourth Champion League Final against Manchester United at London's Wembley Stadium. Here's how British media have reported the news:

[guardian.co.uk]

Champions League press reaction: 'This Barça is the best team in the world'
• Spanish press places Barcelona in the pantheon of greats.

The Spanish press were united in hailing Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final as a landmark for the club and for European football. As they groped for superlatives nearly all the newspapers found space for a headline containing Sir Alex Ferguson's quote: "No one has given us such a hiding."
The notoriously madridista Marca saluted the victors as "A dream Barça", with all its echoes of Johan Cruyff's Dream Team of the 1990s. Indeed the paper referred to the "Pep Team" after their coach, Pep Guardiola, and described their football as "excellent".

La Vanguardia did not stint on the hyperbole with the headline: "Barcelona enters Olympus with the gods."

El País proclaimed: "Wembley falls in love with Barça." Recalling the club's first European Cup victory at the same stadium in 1992, the paper observed: "From Wembley to Wembley Barcelona has undergone an extraordinary process of maturing ... There is no better defence of an idea than victories, but there is no better victory than the fact that the stability of a club does not depend exclusively on a final result, but on a route map. That is the greatness of this Barça, which, make no mistake, will also be the principles that will enable them to vaccinate themselves in defeat."

The already pro-Barcelona Mundo Deportivo was beside itself and felt the best way to express its enthusiasm was by placing four exclamation marks after the word "Champions" (in English).

The celebrating Barcelona fans, the culés, have taken up José Mourinho's pointed question – with its suggestion of skulduggery – of "why?" do Barcelona keep winning as a chant: "por qué?". El Mundo Deportivo produced a long list of reasons why, including Guardiola's brilliance, David Villa's conclusive third goal, Eric Abidal's return from life-threatening surgery, etc...

In Barcelona 132 people, including 37 local police, were injured in disturbances as up to 50,000 people celebrated the victory on the streets. Police made 84 arrests for public order offences around Plaça de Catalunya, Las Ramblas and the Arc de Triomf which come in the wake of weeks of unrelated street protests in the Catalan capital.

Videos from Euronews:

TONIGHT'S FAREWELL PARTY FOR RAFAEL DIESTE 2011 2nd BAC STUDENTS

Foto taken before Farewell Party (Friday 27th May, 8:30h)

2-BAC A

2-BAC B

Another year has already gone by and, once again, we'll be celebrating a farewell party at Rafael Dieste Secondary School. Once again a group of students, who have spent their last six years with us, will move on to the beginning of a new stage in their lives. Here are the photos taken at the beginning of Friday's party and the official photos shot a month ago in front of the school as a souvenir of their stay here. Good luck to them all!

GRIMSVÖTN: ANOTHER ICELANDIC VOLCANO DISRUPTS EUROPEAN SKIES A YEAR AFTER

Here's information on Iceland's 2011 volcano, which threats to close down European skies:

[bbc.co.uk]
Iceland has closed its main international airport and cancelled domestic flights after its most active volcano, Grimsvotn, began erupting.
A plume of smoke has risen 20km (12 miles) into the sky from the volcano.
But Iceland's Meteorological Office says the eruption should not cause widespread disruption to air traffic.
Last year, ash clouds from another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokul, led to the closure of a large section of European airspace.
Governments feared that ash particles could cause aircraft engines to fail, and the closure caused chaos to air travellers.
Different ash
Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for the Isavia civil aviation authority said: "We have closed the area until we know better what effect the ash will have."
The authority said Keflavik airport, the country's main hub, would remain shut for the rest of Sunday.
But officials say the eruption is unlikely to have the same impact as Eyjafjallajokul in 2010.
University of Iceland geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said this was Grimsvotn's largest eruption for 100 years, "much bigger and more intensive than Eyjafjallajokull".
He added: "There is a very large area in south-east Iceland where there is almost total darkness and heavy fall of ash. But it is not spreading nearly as much. The winds are not as strong as they were in Eyjafjallajokull."
He said this ash was coarser than last year's eruption, falling to the ground more quickly instead of floating long distances.

Video from ITN News:

Video from Channel 4 News:

SPAIN'S LOCAL & REGIONAL ELECTION RESULTS

Once again, we've looked at the British media to see how the news of Spain's local and regional elections has been covered:

[From bbc.co.uk]

Spain's governing Socialist party has suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.
Amid anger at the failing economy, the centre-right Popular Party (PP) won 37% of the vote to the Socialists' 28%, and nearly all the 13 regions up for grabs.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero conceded defeat but ruled out early general elections.
There was a shock result in the Basque country, where a new radical separatist alliance beat the Socialists.
The new grouping, Bildu, which was nearly banned by the courts for members' alleged links to the armed group ETA, won more than 25% of the council election vote.
That put it second behind the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, which won about 30%, and pushed the Socialists, with 16%, into third.

Voting took place amid mass protests against high unemployment and the government's handling of the economy.
Young demonstrators holding sit-ins in Madrid and other cities said rallies would continue for another week.
Mr Zapatero said three years of economic crisis had taken their toll.
"It destroyed thousands of jobs. It is a crisis that had profound effects on citizens' morale. I know that many Spaniards suffer great hardship and fear for their futures," he said.
"Today, without doubt, they expressed their discontent," he added.
However, he vowed to pursue job-creating reforms until the end of his mandate. A general election must be held by March of next year. He has already said he will not stand for re-election.Bastions fall
Jubilant PP supporters celebrated outside their party headquarters in Madrid as the final votes were being counted.
The party seized power in several regions, including Castilla-La Mancha where the Socialists have always held power.
In municipal elections, the PP won by about two million votes, compared to its victory margin of 150,000 in 2007.

The Socialist party also lost bastions such as the town halls in Barcelona and Seville.
Prime Minister Zapatero's government has been struggling to overcome recession and create jobs.
Spain's overall jobless rate soared to 21% in the first quarter of this year, the highest in the industrialised world. Youth unemployment stands at 45%.
Meanwhile, thousands of young protesters remain camped out in squares across the country.
What began as a sit-in in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square a week ago has turned into a national protest movement popularly known as 15-M.
About 30,000 people were estimated to have occupied the central square in the run-up to the vote.
The protests, which have also taken place in cities including Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Bilbao, have so far been peaceful.
Demonstrators defied a government ban on political protests on the eve of the election.
On Sunday, protesters in Puerta del Sol voted to stay in the square until at least 29 May.

Video from Euronews:

TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION...

"Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution'" is the second single from African American contemporary folk artist Tracy Chapman. The politically aware song was released in August 1988. Internationally, this single was a big hit, reaching the Top 40 in several countries, including France and New Zealand, becoming a classic in Chapman's song repertoire. The song received heavy radio play in Tunisia in 2011 during the Tunisian Revolution and it appears here as a possible soundtrack to these days Spanish Revolution sit-ins on our streets, as the lyrics show a situation of crisis and unemployment. Here's the video with lyrics.

Video "TALKIN' 'BOUT A REVOLUTION", Tracey Chapman:

SPANISH TAKE THE STREETS ON PROTEST BEFORE SUNDAY'S LOCAL ELECTIONS

The 2011 May Spanish protests, also referred to as the 15-M Movement, Spanish revolution or Indignados (Spanish for outraged) are a series of demonstrations in Spain whose origin can be traced to social networks and the ¡Democracia Real Ya! (True Democracy Right Now!) civilian digital platform, along with 200 other small associations.

Starting on 15 May 2011 with an initial call in 58 Spanish cities,the series of peaceful protests demand a radical change in Spanish politics, as protesters don't consider themselves to be represented by any party nor favoured by the measures approved by politicians. The protests have been staged close to the municipal elections, to be held on May 22. The press has related them to the economic crisis, Stéphane Hessel's Time for Outrage!,the NEET troubled generation and current protests in the Middle East and North Africa, Greek, as well as the Icelandic protest and riots.
Even though protesters form a heterogeneous and ambiguous group, they share a strong rejection against Spanish politicians, the current two-party system in Spain between PSOE and PP and political corruption and a firm support for basic rights: home, work, culture, health, education.
A protester in Madrid with the hashtag #spanishrevolution in his banner. Social networks have played a decisive role in these demonstrations, but Twitter has been the most important by far, with hundreds of tweets per minute in critical moments and some hashtags becoming rapidly global trending topic, such as #DemocraciaRealYa, #NoLesVotes, #AcampadaSol or #NoNosVamos.
These protests have also appeared in a critical situation: Spanish youths are academically more prepared than ever before but they're facing a 50% youth unemployment, and 89% of Spaniards think political parties only care about themselves, according to Metroscopia. Protesters' purpose is to camp in cities' main squares until May 22.
There have also been several protests outside Spain: Braga, Coimbra, Faro, Lisboa and Porto in Portugal, Dublin in Ireland, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Paris in France and London in the United Kingdom.

Video from Euronews:

GALICIAN'S LITERATURE DAY 2011: LOIS PEREIRO

Luis Ángel Sánchez Pereiro alias Lois Pereiro (born in Monforte de Lemos, 16 February 1958-died in A Coruña, 24 May 1996) was a Galician poet and writer. The Día das Letras Galegas ("Galician Literature Day") will be dedicated to him in 2011.
He was born in Monforte de Lemos, in a family from O Incio. He studied in the school of the Escolapios, and began to write at the age of 15. After finalising the COU left to Madrid, where he initiated the university studies of Political Sciences and Sociology. After a stay in Monforte working in the familiar company, devoted to the glass industry, he returned to Madrid to study English, French and German. There he founded the magazine Loia with Antón Patiño, Manuel Rivas and his brother Xosé Manuel Pereiro.
In 1981, he goes to live to A Coruña, where he joins to the magazine La Naval. In this period he made contact with a group of poets participating in several anthologies.
Between 1983 and 1987 he travelled throughout Europe. He worked as a German, French and English translator of scripts and, especially, for television, dubbing conventional series (episodes of Dallas and Kung Fu).
He published two collections of poems while alive, "Poemas 1981/1991" (1992) and "Poesía última de amor e enfermidade" (1995). In 1996, year of his death, "Poemas para unha Loia" was published. It collects works of his period in Madrid, published in the magazine Loia.
Pereiro suffered from AIDS, but the final cause of his death was a liver failure. Officially and according to a sentence of the Provincial Audience of Lugo, after a lawsuit, the reason of his death was an intoxication by rapeseed denaturalised oil.

Lois Pereiro's poems have been translated into English. Here's one translated by Jonathan Dunne:
V
What can I offer the one who attempts me?
Numbered days of inert passion
and eternal love always shared
with the debt owing to an existence
redeemed for usurious payments
conjugating the verbs “live” and “love”
in the first person plural
reduced to the forms of the present.

What can I offer the one who attempts me
if I’m a loose thread of the hope
Penelope weaves
and unweaves?

PS22: A CHOIR OF TEN YEAR-OLDS FROM THE INTERNET TO LIVE-PERFORMANCE SUCCESS

The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York). It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders (10 year-olds), and is directed by Gregg Breinberg. Students are assigned to the chorus after an annual auditioning process at the beginning of each school year. PS22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island which draws students from a wide cross section of ethnic groups and socio-economic levels. The chorus meets twice a week during school hours to practice, and performs throughout the year at school functions, local events, and on special requests. It has been featured on several major national news and music networks after its videos had gained international attention within the popular video-sharing site YouTube. As of April, 2011 the chorus’s videos have been watched more than 32,000,000 times.
The PS22 chorus was founded in 2000 by the school's music teacher, Gregg Breinberg, who started blogging about it in September 2006 following requests on a Tori Amos fan page, where he had shared some of his videos. Since then the chorus has become an Internet phenomenon.
The students performed at the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27, 2011, as you can see on this video:

Their latest is a cover version of Roxette's "Listen to Your Heart" –which has, in just over a day, already had over 25,800 views.

Compare with the original by Roxette:

You can watch more on their blog:
http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

VIDEO-LESSONS ON THE PASSIVE VOICE (+Exercise practice)

Once again video explanations & practice on the Passive Voice. Have a look to check on what we've said in class. Video-lessons PASSIVE: 

Links to exercises:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/passiv.htm

http://www.english-4u.de/passive.html

LORCA'S EARTHQUAKE ON THE BRITISH MEDIA

Last Wednesday afternoon, two earthquakes shook the town of Lorca (Murcia) in the southeast of Spain. The news has had coverage on the British media. We have found some examples:

[From bbc.co.uk]

Hundreds of people have spent the night outdoors in the southern Spanish town of Lorca after an earthquake which killed at least 9 people.
The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings after striking at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), 120km south-west of Alicante.
Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.
Wednesday evening's quake came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor.
It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens.
Military deployed
Spanish TV captured dramatic images of a church bell tower crashing to the ground, landing just metres from a cameraman.
Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces. Old buildings were badly damaged.
As night fell many people were still too afraid to return to their homes.
"The whole of the centre of Lorca has been seriously damaged," a delegate from the regional government of Murcia told national radio.
"There are thousands of very disorientated people."
A doctor told the online edition of El Pais that she and her colleagues went into the streets and treated people with serious injuries, many of them "unconscious".

Video report from ITN-News with footage from RTVE:

Video report from Euronews:


Video from BBC-Breakfast News:

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

[Extract from the beginning of the book. Read during the Intercultural Week, lecture on the USA, 10th May]

YOU don't know about me without you have read a
book by the name of The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was
made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth,
mainly. There was things which he stretched, but
mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never
seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it
was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt
Polly - Tom's Aunt Polly, she is - and Mary, and
the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book,
which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as
I said before.

Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom
and me found the money that the robbers hid in the
cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars
apiece -- all gold. It was an awful sight of money
when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher he took
it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar
a day apiece all the year round -- more than a body
could tell what to do with. The Widow Douglas she
took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize
me; but it was rough living in the house all the time,
considering how dismal regular and decent the widow
was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it
no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my
sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied. But
Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going
to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would
go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went
back.

Link to listen to the extract above. 

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a book by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Considered as one of the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective).
The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Satirizing a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist about twenty years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing look at entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.
The work has been popular with readers since its publication and is taken as a sequel to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". It has also been the continued object of study by serious literary critics. It was criticized upon release because of its coarse language and became even more controversial in the 20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes and because of its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger", despite that the main protagonist, and the tenor of the book, is anti-racist.

THE CAT IN THE HAT

[Whole story read at Multicultural Week, lecture on USA, 10th May]

"The Cat in the Hat" is a children's book by Dr. Seuss and perhaps the most famous, featuring a tall, anthropomorphic, mischievous cat, wearing a tall, red and white-striped hat and a red bow tie. He also carries a pale blue umbrella. With the series of Beginner Books that The Cat inaugurated, Seuss promoted both his name and the cause of elementary literacy in the United States of America.

In the first book featuring the character ("The Cat in the Hat", 1957), the Cat brings a cheerful, exotic and exuberant form of chaos to a house with two young kids, brother and sister, one rainy day while their mother leaves them unattended. The Cat performs all sorts of wacky tricks—the Cat at one point balances a teacup, some milk, a cake, three books, the Fish, a rake, a toy boat, a toy man, a red fan, and his umbrella to amuse the children, with mixed results, while the pet-fish gets angry. Then, the Cat gets a box from outside. Inside the box are two creatures named Thing One and Thing Two, who begin to fly kites in the house. The Cat's funny tricks are vainly opposed by the family pet, a sapient and articulate fish. The children (Sally and her unnamed older brother, who serves as the narrator) ultimately prove exemplary latchkey* children, capturing the Things with a net and bringing the Cat under control. To make up for the chaos he has caused, he cleans up the house on his way out, disappearing a second before the mother arrives.

The book has been popular since its publication, and a logo featuring the Cat adorns all Dr. Seuss publications and animated films produced after "The Cat in the Hat". Seuss wrote the book because he felt that there should be more entertaining and fun material for beginning readers. From a literary point of view, the book is a feat of skill, since it simultaneously maintains a strict triple meter, keeps to a tiny vocabulary, and tells an entertaining tale. Literary critics occasionally write recreational essays about the work, having fun with issues such as the absence of the mother and the psychological or symbolic characterizations of Cat, Things, and Fish.

More than 11 million copies of "The Cat in the Hat" have been printed. It has been translated into more than 12 different languages. In particular, it has been translated into Latin with the title "Cattus Petasatus"

A beloved favorite, this Dr. Seuss classic comes to life in an animated adaptation. Impulsive and imaginative, the Cat in the Hat romps through the house dispelling boredom for a brother and sister on a rainy day — naturally, only while Mum is away!

"The Cat in the Hat" is a 2003 American slapstick comedy film loosely based on the 1957 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss.

Video trailer of the 2003:

[*latchkey children = children who have the key of their house to go back in after school because their parents are working]

Tatiana & Charlene reading "The Cat in the Hat" at our school library in front of their class-mates and German exchange students on Tuesday, May 10th.

RAFAEL DIESTE'S MULTICULTURAL WEEK (9th-13th May)

[UPDATED WITH PHOTOS OF THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS]

Argentinian Tango dancers (Thursday at 13:20h, main hall)

African Bongo players from Senegal (Friday at 11:20h, assembly hall)

From Monday 9th May to Friday 13th, we'll be celebrating our Multicultural Week at Rafael Dieste Secondary School. Organized by our school's library, with this week we want to be aware of the cultural diversity that is visible in our school every day. We'll have presentations from the different countries where some of our students come from, and also show it to the German exchange students, who are visiting us.
So on Monday 9th, we are going to pay tribute to Galicia, our homeland, by one of its greatest poets Rosalia de Castro, plus a Lois Pereiro exhibition, this year's Galician Literature Day's writer and we'll be talking about Colombia and Venezuela.
On Tuesday 10th, it's the United States' turn.
On Wednesday 11th, we are showing Brazil.
On Thursday 12th, we'll be at Argentina, Croacia and Uruguay and dancing Tango.
And at last, on Friday 13th, we'll be dancing Dominican merengue, we are travelling to Africa and hearing African bongos playing. We'll be visiting Aremenia, Dominican Republic & Argentina.
Hope you enjoy our multicultural virtual trip!

[Activities will take place at the school's central hall, library and assembly hall]

SPANISH CHAMPION GOLFER, SEVE BALLESTEROS DIES AT 54

Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros Sota (9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He announced himself to the golfing world in 1976, when at the age of 19 he finished second at The Open Championship. A member of a gifted golfing family, Ballesteros won five major tournaments between the years of 1979 and 1988, including The Open Championship three times, and The Masters twice. He was also successful in the Ryder Cup, helping the European team to five wins both as a player and captain. He is best known for his great short game, and his erratic driving of the golf ball.
Because of back-related injuries, Ballesteros struggled with form during the 1990s. In spite of this, he continued to be involved in the game of golf, creating the Seve Trophy and running a golf course design business. Ballesteros eventually retired from competitive golf in 2007 because of continued poor form, and in 2008 was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. After reports that Ballesteros would make a return to the spotlight at the 2010 Open Championship, following the advice of doctors, he did not travel to St Andrews in 2010 for the Open Championship.
Ballesteros was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for the second time at the BBC Sports Personality Awards 2009. He was presented with the award at his home in Spain by his friend, compatriot and former Ryder Cup team-mate José María Olazábal. Ballesteros died of brain cancer on 7 May 2011, aged 54.

Video on Seve Ballesteros death from SkyNews:

Video extract from "Seve's story":

GERMAN STUDENTS ARRIVING TODAY ON A 10-DAY STAY

[Photo update: Spanish & German partners at Colegiata on Wednesday afternoon]

The German students from the Willstätter Gymnasium in Nuremberg will be arriving to A Coruña this afternoon. They take part in our school-exchange programme. Tomorrow will be their first day in our school. They are going to be with us until Thursday 12th May.
They'll be around our school, but we've also prepared lots of extra activities for them.
Wedsnesday 4th: Welcome breakfast at 10:10h at English classroom 2. Visit to A Coruña city centre in the morning, stopping at Plaza de Lugo fish market. Visit to the Old Town in the afternoon.
Thursday 5th: Trip to the Cies Islands with their Spanish partners, all day.
Friday 6th: Visit to the Bellas Artes Museum.
Weekend with their host families.
Monday 9th: Visit to the Hercules Tower and Aquarium in the morning.
Tuesday 10th: Visit to A Coruña's port in the morning and trip to Betanzos in the afternoon. In the evening, they'll attend Deportivo's football match at Riazor Stadium.
Wednesday 11th: Visit to Inditex's General Headquarters in Arteixo in the morning. In the evening, there'll be a farewell dinner with all the students, their host families and teachers at the school's cafeteria.
Thursday 12th: Trip to Santiago with their Spanish partners and departure from airport in the afternoon.

BUSY DAYS AT RAFAEL DIESTE'S

Definitely, we're living busy days at Rafael Dieste Secondary School.

Today, Tuesday 3rd May, our 1st and 2nd year ESO students have gone out on our traditional trip to Lugo, organized by the Religion Department. They'll spend the day in Galicia's Roman capital visiting museums, the Cathedral and the Roman Walls.

For the students staying at school, we'll receive the visit of Miguel D'Ors, a Spanish professor and poet, born in Santiago de Compostela in 1946. He's been considered one of the most important contemporary Spanish poets. His works have influenced many young poets and have been translated to English, French, Portuguese, German, Russian, Armenian and Polish. He retired as Spanish Literature teacher at the University of Granada. he has been invited to our school to attend a performance organized by our Reader's Club at 12:30h at our Assembly Hall. Students from 3rd & 4th year ESO and 1st Bac participate in it.

Tomorrow, 2nd year ESO-students will be attending Movilab, mobile laboratories at the Mendez Nuñez Gardens and 3rd and 4th year ESO-students will be marching at this year's Correlingua from Riazor to the Tower of Hercules in support of the use of Galician language.

OBAMA CONFIRMS BIN LADEN'S DEATH

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎, March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011) was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda, responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship and was disowned by his billionaire family.
Osama bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings. Since 2001, Osama bin Laden and his organization had been major targets of the U.S. War on Terror. He was believed to be hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas with fellow al-Qaeda leaders.
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in an operation conducted by a small group of American military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Video Obama's statement to the world on Bin Laden's death+a short Bin Laden's biography:

Video first 5 minutes CNN TV coverage on 9/112001: