Eurovision Song Contest Albania leading online voting by 34% Kosovan signer, Rona Nishliu who is representing Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest is leading the online voting by 34 percent, followed by Sweden with 10.5 percent. The other countries ranked as favorite in online voting are Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Turkey. Rona’s “Suus” got the singer to the finals which is scheduled to be held on May 26 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Continue reading →
The French President François Hollande has made a surprise flying visit to Afghanistan. Hollande’s predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, had already informed NATO French forces would be leaving the country a year ahead of schedule in 2013. Now Hollande is bringing that date forward to the end of this year. Speaking to French troops at the Nijrab base, north-east of Kabul, Hollande said the withdrawal would be conducted “intelligently” and would be fully co-ordinated with France’s allies. He added that US President Barack Obama understood France’s reasons for leaving, but that development projects would continue.More about: Afghanistan, Army, France, François HollandeCopyright © 2012 euronews JavaScript is required in order to view this article’s accompanying video Continue reading →
A vet checks the health of a Penguin 337 after its recapture in Tokyo. Photograph: Tokyo Sea Life Park/AFP/Getty Images First, there was a daring breakout up a sheer rock wall and through a barbed wire fence. Then there were 82 days on the run, in which the fugitive eluded capture and at times appeared to taunt his pursuers with carefree frolics in the sea. But now, after 82 days on the lam, Japan's most-wanted escapee is back behind bars.More than two months after it slipped out of an aquarium in Tokyo, Japan's fugitive penguin is back in captivity following its capture in the capital on Thursday night.Two keepers picked up the Humboldt penguin after receiving reports that it had been seen swimming in a ... Continue reading →
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If you've never seen the hammer throw up close, especially during a New England winter, the most arresting part of every heave is the conclusion: how hardened earth erupts when the metal comet splits the ground. Weighing nearly nine pounds with a four-foot wire tail, the stainless-steel ball is menacing enough that airports ban it from carry-on luggage. And on a brisk February morning in Williamstown, Mass., every toss by Keelin Godsey offers further proof of its violence. At 5'9" and 186 pounds, Godsey is tautly muscular. He wears glasses and is dressed in black from his sneakers to his knit cap, which sheathes his blond, spiky hair. Over and over, from in front of a chain-link backstop, he grips the hammer's handle and whirls ... Continue reading →
During his 14 years at Shorter University, Michael Wilson, a librarian, built a library collection for the college’s satellite campus in Atlanta. He shaped his post as the first full-time librarian for adult and professional students. Then he won tenure, and planned to stay at the Baptist college in Rome, Ga., until retirement. Instead, last week, he effectively handed in his resignation. Gay Voices at a Christian U. At Biola University, an underground group goes public, to mixed results on the campus. Read more. In October, the college announced it would require all employees to sign a “lifestyle statement” rejecting homosexuality, adultery, premarital sex, drug use and drinking in public near the Rome, Ga., college’s campus. It also requires faculty to be active members of ... Continue reading →
