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/ 4 September 2006
Philosophers, scientists and other intellectuals close to Pope Benedict will gather outside Rome this month for intensive discussions that could herald a fundamental shift in the Vatican’s view of evolution. There have been signs that the pope is considering aligning his church more closely with the theory of ”intelligent design”.
The split within the international community over the Lebanon war was clearly exposed recently when the United States and Britain combined at a Rome summit to block a move by European and Arab countries to demand an immediate ceasefire.
In the end, it turned out better than he must have feared at times during Italy’s long, tense election night. Recently, Romano Prodi seemed assured of a majority in both houses of Parliament, though the fate of his next government could rest on a knife edge in the Senate. The outcome was not the clear victory promised by opinion.
A British artist has outraged Roman Catholics around the world by advertising a statuette of the Virgin Mary enveloped in a condom in a respected Jesuit weekly. The artist, Steve Rosenthal, offered readers a chance to buy a ”a stunning 22cm statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent, wearing a delicate veil of latex”.
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/ 8 December 2004
Millions of Italians stopped work last Tuesday in protest at the economic policies of their government. The half-day stoppage crippled public transport and shut factories and banks. Alitalia cancelled more than 100 flights. Government departments were shut and medical staff staged an eight-hour strike.
A recent survey revealed that more and more people are boycotting companies that behave unethically. George W Bush tops the list of brands that have sparked consumers’ ire, but it also includes Coca-Cola, Benetton, Budweiser and more. Here’s your consumer’s guide to all the big baddies.
Of all the world’s great writers, Petrarch is the best known for losing his head. On Good Friday in 1327, the then 23-year-old writer and scholar fell madly — and forlornly — in love with a woman he saw in a church congregation.
With unemployment figures at 4,7-million, the country finally appears to be heading for radical reforms. What has led to the alteration of course that is apparently imminent is not a change of mind, but a change of circumstances.
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/ 14 February 2003
Composer John Cage’s Organ2/ASLSP‘s first notes will be joined by two more in July 2005, writes John Hooper.
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/ 20 September 2002
Germany’s knife-edge general election campaign took an extraordinary new turn this week when the conservative candidate, Edmund Stoiber, pledged himself to the deportation of 4 000 alleged Islamist militants if he is voted in as chancellor on Sunday.