Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary Formula One pilot Ayrton Senna, looks the most likely candidate to join Pedro de la Rosa in the first Formula One line-up fielded by newcomer Campos Meta next season, having apparently been able to confirm the necessary backing to finally secure his graduation to the top flight, crash.net reports.
The Brazilian, who was thought to have been close to a deal to join Jenson Button at Honda for 2009 …

Jordan is to refill the shrinking Dead Sea with salt water from the Read Sea, despite concernsabout the threat to its unique eco-system, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Water levels in the lowest and saltiest body of water on the planet are falling by more than four feet a year, giving rise to quips that the Dead Sea is dying.
The Government in Amman has said they are planning to extract more than 10 billion cubic feet a …

More than 40 “climate protesters”, otherwise known as idiots, have climbed onto the roof of Parliament in the latest breach of security there.
The demonstrators, from the Greenpeace pressure group, have unfurled banners and flags stating “change the politics, save the climate”, the BBC reports.
The latest security breach comes as MPs are set to return to Westminster on Monday after the summer recess. Police sources said the protesters had entered Parliament on Sunday by using ropes and …

US President Barack Obama pledged to allow homosexual men and women to serve openly in the military, the AP reports.
“I will end “don’t ask-don’t tell”,” Obama said yesterday, however, he offered no timetable or specifics and he acknowledged some may be growing impatient. “I appreciate that many of you don’t believe progress has come fast enough. Do not doubt the direction we are heading and the destination we will reach.”
Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and …

According to an economic forecast, the UK interest rates will stay low for years amid tax rises and spending cuts, the BBC reports.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) believe the rate will remain at its current 0.5% level until 2011 and not reach 2% until 2014.
The report predicts the pound will weaken further, falling to $1.40 and “possibly” below 1 euro. The forecast is based on the Government managing to slash the UK budget deficit …

Attorney General Baroness Scotland is to be investigated by a legal watchdog over her employment of an illegal immigrant, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Government’s chief law officer faced censure last month after she hired Loloahi Tapui-Zivancevic, a Tongan national, as her cleaner. She was fined £5,000 for failing to keep records of documents purporting to show that Tapui-Zivancevic was entitled to live and work in Britain.
Now, the Bar Standards Board – part of the Bar Council – …

Despite that many believe that 21st December, 2012 will be the end of the world, since that’s supposedly the day Mayan calendar ends, Maya themselves laugh off claims like that and insist that the doomsday theory comes from Westeners, not Mayans.
Maya elder Apolinarop Chile Pixtun says that 21st December, 2012, will definitely not be the end of the world, the AP reports. The Guatemalan says the doomsday theories spring from Western, not Mayan ideas.
A significant …

Another socialist besides British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair is apparently vying to become European Union’s President – namely Finnish former premier Paavo Lipponen.
According to Finnish publication Kaleva, Lipponen is a strong candidate for the position, however, it poses a problematic situation for Finland, as the country’s Government is lobbying for European Council Commissioner Olli Rehn to become EUs Foreign Minister.
Diplomatic sources say, however, that the Finnish Government don’t want to throw Lipponen’s name in the …

Foreign Secretary David Miliband is being lined up to become the European Union’s first Foreign Minister as a “plan B”, should former Prime Minister Tony Blair be blocked from becoming the union’s president, the Daily Telegraph reports.
With resistance growing in some countries to Blair, diplomats have been suggesting alternatives to boost Britain’s standing in the reshaped EU. One “hypothetical” suggestion gaining ground in Brussels links Miliband to the job of High Representative for the Common Foreign …

The issue of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s health resurfaced last night after Downing Street said that two retinal tears had been found in his good eye, the Daily Mail reports.
A No10 spokesman said that Brown had visited Moorfields Eye Hospital on Friday for tests which concluded that the minor tears, which were discovered during the summer, had not led to any deterioration in his sight. For this reason, he will not be undergoing any operations to …

Toyota’s Formula One driver Timo Glock will miss the Brazil Grand Prix after suffering a cracked vertebra during qualifying for the race in Japan, the BBC reports.
The 27-year-old German did not compete in Suzuka, but it was thought his injuries were limited to a leg wound. However, tests revealed he also suffered a back injury in a high-speed crash in the second qualifying session.
Japanese reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi will make his F1 debut as Glock’s replacement …

Postal union leaders are considering launching 10 days of rolling strikes that could leave a backlog of 100m undelivered letters, The Times reports.
The crippling industrial action, which could start as early as next week, would encourage hundreds of Royal Mail customers to defect to other providers.
The “nuclear option” is being weighed up this weekend by Dave Ward, chief negotiator for the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Tomorrow he will offer for the first time to go …

Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark agreement to establish diplomatic relations and open their sealed border after a century of enmity, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped the two sides clear a last-minute snag, The Independent reports.
The contentious issue of whether the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide is only hinted at in the agreement.
The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers signed …

At least 325 MPs will be ordered this week to repay money or provide further details of their parliamentary allowances by the head of an official inquiry into the Commons expenses scandal, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Sir Thomas Legg will dispatch hundreds of letters tomorrow notifying MPs of the findings of his investigation into the widespread abuse of allowances system. MPs returning from their summer break will also receive an email containing a point by point analysis …

Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski signed the European Union’s reform treaty into law yesterday, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document, The Times reports.
Kaczynski, a eurosceptical conservative, signed the Lisbon Treaty at a ceremony in the presidential palace attended by senior EU officials, including the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.
Before signing, Kaczynski stressed that the EU remained a union of sovereign nation states and said it must …