Spanish fresco ruined by good intentions
This combination of two undated handout photos made available by the Centro de estudios Borjanos shows the 20th century Ecce Homo-style fresco of Christ before, left, and after an elderly amateur artist Celia Gimenez took it upon herself to restore it in the church of the northern Spanish agricultural town of Borja
/ AP Photo/Centro de estudios Borjanos(CBS News) Cecilia Jimenez was only trying to help.
The amateur art restorer, a resident of Borja, Spain who is in her 80s, saw a deteriorating fresco of Jesus Christ in her local church and thought she could fix it.
The results were less than successful.
The fresco, titled "Ecce Homo," was painted by famous Spanish artist Elias Garcia Martinez. Seeing it worn down in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church, Jimenez took it upon herself to freshen it up, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
Continue »Pro-WikiLeaks Hackers Attack Swedish Gov't Site
A Julian Assange supporter holds up a sign as the founder of Wikileaks attended his extradition hearing in London on Dec. 7, 2010.
/ AP PhotoAnonymous hackers, engaged in a online campaign dubbed "Operation Payback," brought down the site for several hours overnight and threatened that more attacks were coming, reports UK daily The Telegraph.
The attack follows similar measures taken against MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, all of which stopped processing WikiLeaks payments after the site angered the U.S. government by leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive diplomatic cables.
Continue »NATO Official: Bin Laden Not "Living in a Cave"
As Sahab
"Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," a senior NATO official told the network. The official declined to be named.
The official said bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri have likely moved around an area hundreds of square miles in size, ranging from the Chitral region near the Chinese border to the Kurram Valley, which neighbors Tora Bora, the mountainous Afghan region from which bin Laden escaped U.S. forces in late 2001.
Pakistan has denied sheltering members of al Qaeda. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that if there was information on bin Laden or al-Zawahiri being in Pakistan, it should be shared so Pakistani officials can take "immediate action" to arrest them.
Ahmadinejad: Netanyahu a "Skilled Killer"
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks during the General Assembly meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010.
/ AP PhotoAhmadinejad made the comments during an interview with CNN's Larry King while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting. It was the latest example of the typically confrontational rhetoric Ahmadinejad uses toward Israel and the West, particularly the U.S.
On Tuesday, Ahmadinejad warned the U.S. during an interview with ABC News that it would face a war that "would know no boundaries" if America attacked Iranian nuclear facilities
During his address to the U.N. General Assembly that same day, he said that capitalism would be defeated and the "undemocratic and unjust" global decision-making bodies should be overhauled.
On Thursday at the U.N., U.S. President Barack Obama challenged Iran to demonstrate a "clear and credible commitment" toward a peaceful nuclear program. Mr. Obama also said the "door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it."
During the CNN interview, Ahmadinejad said Iran had "no interest" in a nuclear bomb, saying the ones concerned about a potential nuclear weapons program are only "the Zionist regime and some American authorities."
Report: U.N. Official Seeks to Curb U.S. Drone Attacks
CBS
Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, will push for that change in policy in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, scheduled to be released June 3.
The military, he said, has "quite abundant accountability" in having to answer to civilian deaths.
"Whereas if the C.I.A. is doing it, by definition they are not going to answer questions, not provide any information, and not do any follow-up that we know about," he told the Times.
The report isn't legally binding and stops short of calling the use of drone attacks a war crime, the Times notes.
Faisal Shahzad Led Spartan Life, Video of Apartment Shows
Faisal Shahzad.
/ www.orkut.comThe apartment's landlord allowed NY Post photographer Robert Kalfus to enter the residence after law enforcement hauled away evidence connected to the bomb attempt.
Special Section: Terrorism in the U.S.
The video, available on ABCNews.com, shows a neat kitchen, containing a well-maintained plant. The refrigerator contained milk, the cupboards housed Oreo cookies and there were empty Gatorade bottles.
His bedroom contained just an air mattress, a black folding chair and an English-language copy of the Koran in a hanging shoe bag in the closet.
Also found, a makeshift painter's studio, with professional paints and an easel. According to records, investigators confiscated a painting of a mosque and a tree.
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How You End Up on the U.S. No-Fly List
Shahzad Bought Weak Fireworks, Store Owner Says
Faisal Shahzad on Homeland Security List Since 1999
Exclusive: New Image of Shahzad in Times Square
How to Catch a Terrorist
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Ash Cloud Drifts South, May Close Ireland Airports
This aerial photo shows a plume of ash rising from the volcano in southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier, Monday, April 19, 2010.
/ AP PhotoThe Irish Aviation Authority said it may impose a no-fly zone over the country Tuesday as the cloud drifts southward. The restrictions could affect Dublin, Shannon and some regional airports, according to the IAA.
The restrictions are not expected to affect flights from the United Kingdom and Europe flying over Ireland.
The IAA will post a statement on possible delays on its web site at 8:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. EDT).
Olympic Prank May Lead to Flag Desecration Charges
Canada's Sidney Crosby (87) shoots past USA goalie Ryan Miller (39) for the game-winning goal in the overtime period of a men's gold medal ice hockey game at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.
/ AP Photo/Chris O'MearaRiverside County Sheriff's Department requested that misdemeanor charges be filed against the men, 26-year-old Matt Siefert and 25-year-old Ryan Smith, who authorities say tore down and buried an American flag placed on a hilltop to commemorate 9/11, replacing it with a Canadian flag.
The flag, located on Point Happy Mountain in La Quinta, was put up by Indian Wells resident Mayte Sterling after the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The suspects, who are California residents, showed remorse and said they had no idea why the flag was erected, Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Fiebig told the Desert Sun.
Hold the Fries: Afghan Bases Cut Fast Food
AP Photo, file
Fast food joints like Burger King, Pizza Hut and T.G.I. Friday's have given soldiers at military bases throughout the country a taste of home during their combat tours. But those days are numbered, according to a Reuters report.
"This is a war zone -- not an amusement park," Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Hall blogged earlier this year.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan"Supplying nonessential luxuries to big bases like Bagram and Kandahar makes it harder to get essential items to combat outposts and forward operating bases, where troops who are in the fight each day need."
Continue »In Czech Republic, Gay Porn Pays the Bills
In this photo from GlobalPost.com, Martin Justel waits to shoot a gay pornography scene in the studio of William Higgins.
/ Iva Skoch/GlobalPostAccording to a report by GlobalPost.com, the Czech Republic has become one of the leading production centers for gay pornography, behind the United States, which still has a powerful grip on the international market.
Pornography, in general, is big business, generating up to $12 billion worldwide, according to the report. Some estimates have gay porn accounting for up to half of that.
What makes the Czech Republic such a hub?
With unemployment rates high, "models" are attracted to the relatively big paydays. Before a recent spike in competition, Czech actors could make thousands of dollars for just a few days work.
Culturally, the Czech Republic, particularly in Prague, is much more liberal in their outlook on sex and sexuality than, say, the U.S.
Another key difference between the Czech and American industries is that the vast majority of Czech actors describe themselves as 100 percent straight - some with girlfriends and others married. According to the report, the presence of straight men in gay sex scenes boosts the films' desirability.
Iva Skoch's piece examines the origin of the industry in the Czech Republic, profiles the American entrepreneur who led the gay porn revolution in the country after the fall of Communism and looks at the men who have turned to pornography to make a living.
Below is video from the GlobalPost story:
French Game Show Pushes Players to "Kill"
The Game of Death, a French TV show, explores that very question. Under the guise of a game show, complete with a studio audience, contestants pose various trivia questions to another participant. If the answer is incorrect, contestants literally flip the switch and shock the other player, with the voltage increasing (all the way up to 460 volts) as wrong answers continue to flow in, according to a Sky News report.
The player on the other end of the electric current is an actor (a fact not known by the other contestants) and plays the part convincingly, howling in pain and begging for release until the cries stop, presumably because he's dead.
According to the show's producer, Christophe Nick, a whopping 80 percent of contestants went all the way up to the maximum voltage. Only 16 of the 80 players refused.
Continue »Bin Laden Son: Al Qaeda Will Be Deadlier after Osama
(AP PHOTO)
"From what I knew of my father and the people around him I believe he is the most kind among them, because some are much, much worse," Omar bin Laden told ABC News. "Their mentality wants to make more violence, to create more problems."
Omar also said that despite U.S. drone attacks and their offer of a $25 million bounty, his father will remain elusive.
Continue »
Qaddafi's Son Takes Turn as Hollywood Investor
(AP)
Saadi Qaddafi financed his first film - "The Experiment," a remake of a German thriller starring Oscar-winners Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker – according to a Financial Times report.
Qaddafi is the main backer of production company Natural Selection, which plans to invest $100 million on film projects.
With funding suffering from the U.S. financial crisis, the film industry is looking for other investors. Qaddafi is among a several Middle Eastern investors entering the industry, according to the report.
His foray into Hollywood is noteworthy given the tension between Libya and the West.
"It's something that we've talked about very openly," Matty Beckerman, chief executive of Natural Selection, told the Financial Times. "But we're trying to make good commercial product that has nothing to do with politics and more to do with making great movies."
Report: Blackwater Investigated for Bribery Attempts
(CBS)
The report, citing current and former government officials, said the U.S. opened the bribery probe in late 2009. In November, the Times reported that Blackwater officials authorized secret payments worth around $1 million to Iraqi officials in an effort to retain their security work. The Times couldn't confirm whether any payments were made or who received them.
Justice Department investigators obtained two documents from the State Department that may shed light on the company's efforts to soften its critics following the shooting, according to the report.
Continue »
"Chimp TV" Comes to BBC
(Furuvik Zoo)
The world's first video shot entirely by chimps is set to air on the BBC Wednesday – the result of studies into primate behavior by University of Stirling primatologist Betsy Herrelko.
According to the BBC, Herrelko introduced video technology to 11 chimpanzees at the Edinburgh Zoo over 18 months. She first trained the chimps to use a video touchscreen to select videos they wanted to watch – with choices including footage of their enclosure and of zoo workers preparing the apes' food.
Then she gave the group a "Chimpcam" – a video camera protected within box. The top of the box had a view finder screen, so the chimps could see what was being filmed.
While the chimps probably didn't actively choose to film a specific subject, the footage may give researchers some insight into chimpanzee perspective.
And the chimps get to make their television debut on their first try, which isn't bad either.
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