An archaeologist has sparked a Da Vinci Code-style hunt for the Holy Grail after claiming ancient records show it is buried under a 6th century church in Rome.
Clueless Catholics Causing Confusion...
We are in a serious time. There is no reason to fear. There is also no reason to ignore the facts. We are on the brink of a huge challenge and there are signs around us and we are not to discount them.
The Social Democratic Party is in trouble. A new poll shows they have their lowest approval ratings since elections in September 2005. Their fall from favor is partly due to a failure to get their proposed minimum wage accepted at this week's summit with the CDU.
German press...
The grand coalition reached compromise agreements on a minimum wage and nursing care this week after marathon late-night talks. The middle way has left few people satisfied - least of all German commentators.
The history of German-Polish relations is long and often marked by bloodshed. Der Spiegel presents an overview of the events and long-term developments that help explain today's conflicts between Berlin and Warsaw.
Most EU summits are dull affairs, but the week leading up to today's meeting on a new EU treaty has been a rollercoaster ride. After no small amount of saber-rattling, Poland finally looks like coming round - but now Britian has come up with a whole list of objections. European Commission President Barroso is not amused.
Germany on Wednesday tried to play down the consequences of possible failure at an EU summit meeting to rewrite the bloc's faltering constitution, even as Poland appeared to pull back from its threat to plunge the EU into crisis by blocking a new treaty. But on Wednesday, senior German officials appeared resigned to the distinct possibility of failure at the meeting. And in a sign that Berlin is preparing the ground for failure, German diplomats conceded that delaying the treaty was an option.
If Poland perseveres, they would block adoption of a critically needed constitutional treaty and plunge the EU into crisis. Merkel pressed for the removal of all the trappings of a European federation from the new treaty, thus lifting the fear among many Europeans that members states were increasingly surrendering their sovereign powers to Brussels.
(UPI: Europe's recovery)
Russia and Serbia have rejected the latest EU and US plan for status resolution in Kosovo, with the west suggesting 120 days of fresh talks that would automatically end in Kosovo's independence.
(UPI: The battle for Kosovo)
Bush and Olmert scramble to prop up Abbas, but the Hamas takeover boosts Iran and leaves hopes for a Palestinian state in tatters.
As they gave up compound after compound to advancing Hamas forces, weary Fatah fighters loyal to Palestinian Authority President Abbas fell back toward the seaside presidential compound in Gaza to make their last stand. But there was no last stand. Instead, Fatah leaders fled the Gaza Strip by boat and on foot, leaving lower-level fighters feeling betrayed. In 5 days of fighting, Fatah never put up a real fight. The question is why not.
"The region as a whole is highly volatile and unstable, overshadowing efforts to make political progress."
Tony Blair could become a part-time peace envoy to the Middle East when he quits Downing Street next week after being urged to take on the role by President Bush. They want him to become special envoy for the so-called "Quartet" of powers which is heading the push to find a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.
(LT op/ed: Blair's new mission)
A group of hardline Pakistani Muslim clerics has bestowed a religious title - "Saifullah", or sword of Allah - on Osama bin Laden in response to a British knighthood for the author Salman Rushdie.
Warmongering...
A group funded, trained and armed by Iran was responsible for kidnapping 5 British civilians in Baghdad last month, according to the commander of US forces in Iraq.
An Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister dismissed the US and UK allegations that Iran supported Taliban. "Such allegations are so unfounded and irrational that independent officials and circles in the two states have assessed them unsubstantiated and unreal."
In a development that underlines the tensions between the anti-Iran agenda of the Bush administration and the preoccupation of its military command in Afghanistan with militant Sunni activism, a State Department official publicly accused Iran for the first time of arming the Taliban forces last week, but the US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan rejected that charge for the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks.
Puh-leaze!...
The US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to charge Iranian President Ahmadinejad with violating international laws pertaining to genocide by calling for the destruction of Israel.
Once again chickenhawk Sean Hannity used the Palestinian unrest as an excuse to foment animosity against Iran. From the safety of the Hannity & Colmes studio, the non-serving Hannity fixed the facts around his cause as he did his best to talk other people into starting a war.
Prime Minister Olmert visited Washington yesterday and met with President Bush to finalise plans for a joint US-Israel strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Olmert also met with Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid to obtain their broad support for military action against Iran.
To the barricades!...
President Sarkozy pledged Wednesday to move boldly ahead with sometimes painful reforms to save France from what he said would be sure decline otherwise. The speech clearly was meant to prepare the nation for the changes that lie ahead, and a sort of warning to sectors, such as labor unions, that might oppose the reforms.
Bageant is a redneck, and his book is about rednecks, who are a huge, sprawling class of people found everywhere but mostly invisible. They aren't what people think they are. Rednecks, as Bageant explains in detail, are dumber than dirt. They're not bad people. And my god, the born-again evangelical Christians who are waiting to be sucked up by the Rapture as if by a god-powered Hoovermatic vacuum cleaner. They are serious as melanoma and could give any Muslim sect known a run for its extremism money.
The major investment and brokerage firm Merrill Lynch is going ahead with a sale of $850 billion worth of financial assets seized from two troubled hedge funds controlled by another major Wall Street firm Bear Stearns. The confrontation between the two Wall Street giants started to unfold on Tuesday following news that the two hedge funds, set up only 10 months ago, were experiencing sharp falls in the valuation of their assets. But if the assets have to be liquidated at so-called "fire sale" prices this could trigger turbulence across financial markets.
The London Stock Exchange said Wednesday that it was in merger talks with Borsa Italiana, the company that manages the Italian Stock Exchange.
Modern-day druids, pagans and partygoers gathered at Stonehenge to watch the dawn break on the longest day of the year.
(But ... it's also the dawn of winter)
(Wiki: Solstice)
For my WARriorettes...
Women who use make-up on a daily basis are absorbing almost 5lb of chemicals a year into their bodies, it is claimed. Many use more than 20 different beauty products a day striving to look their best. "We really need to start questioning the products we are putting on our skin and not just assume that the chemicals in them are safe. We have no idea what these chemicals do when they are mixed together, the effect could be much greater than the sum of the individual parts."
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