Art historians had always detected the style of Leonardo da Vinci in the mysterious painting Adoration of the Christ Child, which is regarded as a gem of the Renaissance. But there was never any proof. Now a fingerprint discovered in the original paint may finally solve the puzzle.

Even six months later, their traces remain in the thick snow: the tent strings laced to a tree, the makeshift tap made from a bottle, the rubbish heap. It was here, deep in the woods near the village of Psedakh in Ingushetia, that 32 gunmen gathered in August last year for up to seven days before they took 1 227 people hostage at Beslan’s Middle School One.

The scorched carpet has been ripped up and replaced, the smoke-stained walls wear a fresh coat of paint, and the swimming pool where desperate refugees came to drink the stagnant water has been cleaned and refilled. But memories are not erased as easily. ”There were people sleeping everywhere,” the concierge, Zozo, recalled.

It’s not a book known for its comedic value, but look beyond the death, disease and destruction of the Bible, and lo, you will find a joke or two. That is the view of theological scholars who have gathered in Italy to try to dispel the idea that ancient Christians were a po-faced lot, who struggled for a sense of humour.

The Bush administration on Tuesday night withdrew its ambassador from Syria and expressed ”profound outrage” at the assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri. Amid rising tension over the death of the construction magnate on Monday, the State Department announced that it had recalled Margaret Scobey.