Weird Links

They supported Hizbullah during the war - whether by free will or the constraints of the times – and Hizbullah promised them no end in compensation for their loyalty. But now the residents of southern Lebanon say they feel abandoned by the organization that swore to rebuild their homes and lives.

Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.

The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.

The [ICC's] chief prosecutor said at the weekend that he would be willing to launch an inquiry and could envisage a scenario in which the British Prime Minister and US President George Bush could one day face charges at The Hague [for alleged coalition war crimes in Iraq].

New measurements of Mars' south polar region indicate extensive frozen water. The polar region contains enough frozen water to cover the whole planet in a liquid layer approximately 11 meters (36 feet) deep.

FYI:

Banks and other businesses are to be sold access to personal information stored on the Government's ID cards database. Ministers want to raise hundreds of millions towards the £540million a year cost of running the controversial scheme.

Mr Blix told Sky News that the Prime Minister and those involved in compiling the Government's dossier on Iraq which was used to justify the war had "exercised spin", replacing question marks with exclamation marks.

He said the war was "clearly illegal", adding that US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had tried to argue the coalition forces were upholding the authority of the UN Security Council despite the majority of the council being against the war.

The man has keratin-like matter growing out of the skin on hands and feet, which started when he was young, and very slowly continues to spread and grow. The areas begin as skin lesions, and the matter sprouts from those spots. The growths are very difficult to remove, and the man has so far just had to learn to live with it.

A single, specific memory has been wiped from the brains of rats, leaving other recollections intact...using a drug known to cause limited amnesia (U0126, which is not approved for use in people).

James Hall, the official in charge of the supposedly-voluntary scheme, said the Government would allow people to opt out [of the ID card database] - but in return they must "forgo the ability" to have a travel document.

The first ID cards will be issued in 2009, to anybody who applies for a passport.

[Personal biometric data] will be stored on a giant ID cards Register, which can be accessed by accredited Whitehall departments, banks and businesses.

Israel argues that the U.N. committee's remit, to ensure compliance with a 1965 international treaty against racial discrimination which the Jewish state has ratified, does not apply to the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967.