No shit. According to Iran’s parliamentary speaker-cum-chairman Ali Larijani, America and her allies are attempting to propagate a perverted image of Islam in the Middle East. Quoted in the Tehran Times, he claims the deep-rooted divisions between the differing Islamic schools of thought in the region have been forged by foreign intelligence services. Known for his philosophical outlook, Larijani added that it’s the responsibility of each Islamic sect to “make every effort not to fall ... Read Full Story

Such is the aim of a program at The Russian Museum reports local newspaper the St. Petersburg Times. Together with obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr. Marina Komova the gallery runs special, uniquely themed tours for pregnant women, purposefully avoiding paintings that may evoke negative emotions in mother and unborn baby, such as those depicting blood, death, illness, or [I assume] George W. Bush. The long-term goal behind the project is that of breeding future generations appreciative of ar... Read Full Story

A court in Stuttgart has sentenced an unnamed (as far as I can tell) 25 year old to half a year in the slammer after he uploaded a ‘jihad’ monologue onto video sharing website YouTube. The ethnic Turk, who had no involvement with making the film, claims that he hadn’t even watched most of it and only uploaded it to warn fellow Muslims to stay away from possible bomb targets. 48hrs and 4,000 hits later he took it down. Not that it mattered, as it was (and still is) posted elsewhere on YouTube ... Read Full Story

Bring black Labradors and the military into the same conversation and most people immediately think of the Dam Busters – those brave fellows of Operation Chastise fame. Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his faithful canine companion Nig . . . well, perhaps it’s best not to go into all that after all – different age, different generation, pre-political correctness and the like. The important thing is that he was a Lab owner, which is all you need to know when it comes to judging a chap’s cha... Read Full Story

Well he was according to 1% of British schoolchildren, with a more concerning one in seven believing him to have invented gravity in 1650. A survey of 2,000 nine to fifteen year olds across the UK, which was carried out by the veteran’s charity Erskine, also revealed that two in five youngsters don’t know when Remembrance Day is (a staggering number of adults don’t either). Of notable concern interest : 15% of young Britons believe Auschwitz to be a World War Two based theme park. 9% that th... Read Full Story

Yep, it’s official, Gorby has joined the micro-blogging cosmos, after quite miraculously mastering the English language. Perhaps a touch of personal glasnost is at play (we’ve always known you could speak it, Gorby): http://twitter.com/mgorbachev Still in doubt that it’s *the* Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union? Well it’s been confirmed by his staff and valebrity: http://valebrity.com/2009/11/09/mikhail-gorbachev-mgorbachev/ The 78 year old has already become an active t... Read Full Story

Well two elite Czech soldiers, both of whom were decorated upon their homecoming by the Czech defence minister and chief of staff, evidently thought it a good idea to do so. Jan Cermak and Hynek Matonoha, members of a rapid reaction unit stationed up until recently in Logar province, sported for most of their deployment emblems of the 9th Waffen SS Panzer Division “Hohenstaufen” and 36th Waffen Grenadier Division Of The SS “Dirlewanger” respectively. Literally a brigade of criminals the latte... Read Full Story

Islamic leaders in parts of Switzerland yesterday opened up the doors of their Masjids as an open invitation to non-Muslims, and not for the purposes of da’wah. Instead, they sought to counter prejudices towards Islam ahead of a highly controversial vote at the end of this month. The ballot to be held on November 29th, as an initiative of the country’s majority Swiss People’s Party, seeks a constitutional ban on Mosque minarets, which are seen by some as symbols of Islamic political aut... Read Full Story

Plans to sell a certain, some might say controversial, building in the city of Braunau-am-Inn, north-west Austria, have set the city up in arms – figuratively speaking that is. And it’s not the £2 million (€2.2 million, $3.3 million) plus price tag that’s to blame either. The property at Salzburger Vorstadt 15 (previously number 219) has a somewhat chequered history. Having served as a petrol station, public house, lending library, school, bank, technical institute, and for the last tw... Read Full Story

We’ve all encountered them at some point or another. They’re easily identified by their choice of baseball cap or hoodie (often both), pasty complexion splattered by the telltale spots of poor diet and drug use, inability to grasp the basics of the English language, and for reasons that are incomprehensible to all but their fellow ‘ASBOs’ they ride bicycles designed for children half their age. For sure, these are the ‘feral’ youths who are plaguing the streets of Western society. So to Kyrg... Read Full Story