VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's butler was arrested on Friday in connection with an investigation into leaks of confidential documents, some alleging cronyism and corruption in Vatican contracts, a senior Vatican source said. The scandal, which has come to be known as "Vatileaks", involves the leaking of a string of documents to Italian media in January and February, including personal letters to the pope. Some of the documents involved allegations of corruption, mismanagement and cronyism in the awarding of contracts for work in the Vatican and internal disagreement on the management of the Vatican bank. The president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was ousted by its board on Thursday. Vatican spokesmen said earlier on Friday that a person in possession of confidential ... Continue reading →
In the late nineteen-forties, Alex Osborn, a partner in the advertising agency B.B.D.O., decided to write a book in which he shared his creative secrets. At the time, B.B.D.O. was widely regarded as the most innovative firm on Madison Avenue. Born in 1888, Osborn had spent much of his career in Buffalo, where he started out working in newspapers, and his life at B.B.D.O. began when he teamed up with another young adman he’d met volunteering for the United War Work Campaign. By the forties, he was one of the industry’s grand old men, ready to pass on the lessons he’d learned. His book “Your Creative Power” was published in 1948. An amalgam of pop science and business anecdote, it became a surprise best-seller. Osborn ... Continue reading →
El nińo que nació en la sala de espera de una oficina de empleo de Madrid el pasado miércoles se llamará Inem, según informaron sus padres, de nacionalidad nigeriana. Clarice, la madre, una cocinera nigeriana de unos 40 ańos y que tiene ya varios hijos, reside en Espańa desde hace algunos ańos. "Su padre le ha puesto Inem", explicaba en el hospital Clarice, que asegura que no se "esperaba el parto; ocurrió todo muy rápido; fue como una película". La mujer estaba en la semana 35 de gestación. Una médico brasileńa que iba a apuntarse al paro fue la que atendió el sorprendente parto en una oficina de Alcorcón. "Fue todo muy rápido, vi que rompía aguas y me lancé", declaró Simone Cristina Saurim, la ... Continue reading →
TV channels for the Syrian opposition are rife, broadcasting emotive programs and attacking the regime, while the state channel acts as if nothing in the world is amiss. The media scene has changed significantly since the eruption of the popular protests in Syria and the banning of private channels has become a thing of the past. The boom of Syrian opposition satellite channels based outside the country (Jordan and Dubai, for example) indicates that the media war is as important as the battles on the ground. Viewers switching between regime and opposition channels would think they are watching news from two different countries. While state-run Syrian satellite channels are planning for the upcoming tourist season, opposition channels unleash concentrated attacks on the regime. The Syrian ... Continue reading →
