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Bone tests on teenage Chinese athletes have shown that thousands had faked their age, often in order to keep competing in junior events. A study in the southern province of Guangdong found one in five had lied, with some discovered to be seven years older than their registered age. For talented young people from poorer areas in China, sports tournaments can offer a chance to make a better life...

When 138 senior Muslim scholars and clergy tried to establish the common ground between Islam and Christianity last year, they said the very peace of the world hung on the outcome. On Tuesday, a high-ranking delegation is beginning a rare visit to Rome in an effort to persuade the Pope to endorse what they say are the shared origins and values of the world's two biggest religions. Their letter, A Common Word, cited passages from the Koran which the scholars said showed that Christianity and Islam worship the same God, and require their respective followers to show each other particular...

Hezekiah 3:16 The book of Hezekiah is one of the most significant books of the Old Testament. This book is often quoted in the press, cited by bloggers, and many people refer to it in daily conversation. One of the most significant passages in the book of Hezekiah is Hezekiah 3:10-16 where the author speaks about the Antichrist and the Beast. Hezekiah 3:16 reveals that the number of the Beast is 666. Anyone who knows the Bible and reads the paragraph above will know that what is written above is a bunch of nonsense. Hezekiah does not mention the number...

GOMBE, Nigeria, March 27 (Compass Direct News) – Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a teacher at Government Secondary School of Gandu in this northern Nigerian town, was in high spirits last Wednesday (March 21) as she made her way to school where she teaches government... ...Soon her happiness would be cut short. Muslim students at the school, along with outside Islamic extremists, murdered Oluwasesin on March 21 over claims that she desecrated the Quran. They beat, stoned, and clubbed her to death, then burned her corpse...

Two NHS doctors plotted "indiscriminate and wholesale" murder with car bomb attacks on London and Glasgow Airport, Woolwich Crown Court has heard. Prosecutors say Dr Bilal Abdulla was in a car filled with explosives which rammed the terminal in June last year. He and Kafeel Ahmed, now dead, are also said to have left cars full of explosive material in central London. Dr Abdulla, 29, and Dr Mohammed Asha, 27, deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw QC told the court that the men were motivated by revenge for how they believed the UK was...

The number of Chinese babies known to have fallen ill with kidney stones as a result of contaminated milk powder has risen to 432, officials have announced. "This is a severe food safety accident," health ministry official Gao Qiang, said. Those responsible would be "severely" punished, he added. Later, it was announced that 19 people had been arrested. Tests showed the milk powder contained the industrial chemical melamine. One infant has died. The new scare revived memories of a fake baby milk formula scandal four years ago in which at least 13 babies died. Vow to punish ...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says two Russian bombers have arrived in the country to carry out training flights. The Russian Air Force said the bombers would be based in Venezuela for several days and fly over neutral waters. Earlier this week Russia confirmed that it would send a Navy squadron and long- range patrol planes for joint exercises with Venezuela in November. Mr Chavez has developed close relations with Moscow, including the purchase of Russian arms and co-operation on oil. Hugo Chavez announced that two Tu-160 bombers would carry out manoeuvres, saying that it was part of a move towards...

Councillors have been ordered not to eat during town hall meetings while Muslim colleagues fast during the holy month of Ramadan. All elected members at Left-wing Tower Hamlets Council in East London have been sent an email asking them to follow strict Islamic fasting during September no matter what their faith. As well as restricting food and drink until after sunset, the authority's leaders have decided to reduce the number of meetings throughout the month so they do not clash with the requirements of Ramadan. ...continued

...He was born in New York City, and raised in a Jewish home. He graduated from the City University of New York with a degree in Psychology. He then earned his master’s degree and his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Wayne State University. After a year’s internship in the department of psychiatry at Wayne State University Medical Center, in Detroit, Michigan, he followed that with a year of Post-Doctoral study in the department of child psychiatry at Upstate Medical Center, in Syracuse, New York, where he was later on the Clinical Faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, as well as...

Miss Jessen is an exquisite example of what antiabortion advocates call a "survivor." Well into her third trimester of pregnancy, Gianna's biological mother was injected with a saline solution intended to induce a chemical abortion at a Los Angeles County abortion center. Eighteen hours later, and precious minutes before the abortionist's arrival, Gianna emerged. Premature and with severe injuries that resulted in cerebral palsy. But alive. Had the abortionist been present at her birth, Gianna would have been killed, perhaps by suffocation. As it was, a startled nurse called an ambulance, and Gianna was rushed to a nearby hospital, where,...

ewish groups around the world have condemned Pope Benedict XVI's new version of a Catholic Good Friday prayer. SPIEGEL ONLINE talks to prominent German rabbi Walter Homolka about why the prayer is insulting to Jews and discusses alleged anti-Semitic tendencies within the Catholic Church. Rabbi Walter Homolka: "The Catholic Church does not have its anti-Semitic tendencies under control." Around the world, millions of Catholics are celebrating Good Friday, when they commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But for many Jews, this year's ceremonies leave a bitter aftertaste, due to a controversial new version of a prayer that many claim is...

"...nvolve your congregation in Earth Ministry. Ask them to support us by taking our Membership Challenge, and maybe you will win a special workshop for your congregation. And what better day to support our work by taking a special collection or shared plate offering? These congregational gifts are a significant source of support for our work. The enclosed Celebration resource package gives you all you need to get started. As you celebrate Earth Day 2008, rejoice in the knowledge that you do so in spiritual community committed to the interdependent web of all existence. In Faith, Claudia Kern for the...

This post got booted from Craig's list but why ? All the vile garbage on there why would *this get booted ?? ============================================== * Earth worship day idea -- more ideas water bottles This builds off of your idea, takes it a step further. Collect water bottles of all sizes and shapes and build (depending on volume of bottles collected) a giant idol of Gaia. The bottles might need to be mashed down flat to fit all together but I think it could work if a creative mechanical type person can come up with a workable design. The sculpture could...

A Watsonville farm manager already facing charges that he molested a 5-year-old girl was rearrested Tuesday on suspicion he sent the little girl to Mexico so she couldn’t testify against him. Virgelio "Hilo" Garcia Yepez, 50, and another Dutra Farms employee, Jose Oscar Ramirez, 52, allegedly worked together to move Yepez's family and the girl, who was known to him, to rural Guanajuato, Mexico, in October, according to the District Attorney’s Office. They were arrested at the farm Tuesday morning on suspicion of kidnapping, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. "The whole thing is sufficiently troubling," prosecutor Andrew Isaac said. "We...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/c/a/2007/12/24/BAA0U3VHO.DTL "San Francisco officials have a moral obligation to try and stop black residents from abandoning the city and should consider a local version of the Marshall Plan to help African Americans, the Rev. Amos Brown, president... "...He said the flight of black residents has resulted in fewer black-owned businesses, and fewer black families who are able to compete successfully for low- income housing, which is awarded through a lottery system. "If San Francisco is serious about making amends for what's been done against the black people, they need to put their money where their mouth is," Brown said. "We...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon driver’s license workers have begun reporting applicants with suspicious documents to the police, rather than just turning them away. The intent is to deter people looking for fake identification papers from shopping among driver’s license offices in search of a lax employee. The new policy has resulted in some arrests, convictions and dropped charges...

"We go out to drive the kids to school," he says, "and there's human poop between the cars." There must be many who are as fed up as Kiely, because politicians like Newsom are taking a tough stand. In an election year, you can bet he wouldn't go out on an unpopular limb. Now it will be interesting to see how the Board of Supervisors, traditionally progressive and more pro-homeless people, will react...

By Gregg Kilday Sept 28, 2007 Back in 1998, when he battled New Line Cinema and star Edward Norton over the final cut of "American History X," director Tony Kaye earned a reputation as something of a hothead, a metaphoric bomb-thrower who wasn't afraid to challenge the Hollywood establishment. Now that Kaye is about to release his latest film, a 2 1/2-hour documentary about abortion called "Lake of Fire," filmgoers might expect the director to offer up a fiery polemic. Instead, the film, which ThinkFilm is releasing Oct. 5 in New York and a week later in Los Angeles, is...

It's long been reported that a lack of sleep can be hazardous to one's health, but so can too much sleep, UK researchers report. Researchers from the University of Warwick and University College London found that both a lack of sleep and too much sleep can more than double the risk of death in individuals, according to a study of more than 10,308 people. Professor Francesco Cappuccio from the University of Warwick’s Warwick Medical School, speaking Monday to the British Sleep Society, said researchers studied data on the mortality rates and sleep patterns on the same group of civil servants...

By TOM RAGAN SENTINEL STAFF WRITER Immigration reform debates still rage. Thousands of Mexicans still cross daily into the United States for a better life. Some risk their lives by walking across the hot Arizona desert. Others take their chances with the unpredictable Rio Grande. One group, however, is getting a free pass from Mexico to the United States: