Bricks marked with swastikas on a crumbling building in Brazil have helped historians trace an astonishing plan by Adolf Hitler for a Nazi empire in South America. They have also found some of the young men who were kept as slaves by German settlers and local Nazi supporters. They were known as ‘ Nummernmenschen’ – the number people – as the dehumanisation practised in the concentration camps... 

Top stealth-plane experts have re-created a radical, nearly forgotten Nazi aircraft: the Horten 2-29, a retro-futuristic fighter that arrived too late in World War II to make it into mass production. (See Hitler’s stealth fighter in pictures.) The engineers’ goal was to determine whether the so-called stealth fighter was truly radar resistant. In the process, they’ve uncovered new... 

African-Americans really like President Obama, but more and more feel that race relations have not gotten better since he took office, a new national poll found. Ninety-six percent of African-Americans approve of how Obama is handling his presidency, according to a CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Thursday. During the 2008 election, 38 percent of blacks surveyed thought racial... 

(CNN) — Entertainer Michael Jackson has died after being taken to a hospital on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest, according to multiple reports including the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. CNN has not confirmed his death. A Los Angeles fire official told CNN that paramedics arrived at Michael Jackson’s home after a 911 call. Jackson, 50, had been in a coma at the hospital,... 

The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world’s most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos. Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this... 

A 35,000-year-old flute made of vulture bone found in a cave in southwestern Germany is the world’s oldest known musical instrument. The artifact suggests music may have been one advantage our ancestors had over their cousins, the now-extinct Neanderthals, according to a report published in the journal Nature. The five-holed flute, which is fully intact and made from a griffon vulture’s radius... 

A report by the Interior Ministry shows that Germany’s Muslim community is larger and more diverse than previously estimated. According to the latest figures, Germany’s Muslim community numbers close to 4 million people, or about 5 percent of the entire population. Past estimates put the number of Muslims in the country at 3.1 to 3.4 million. Additionally, the survey funded by the Interior... 

German Defense Minister Jung has insisted that Germany is not fighting a war in Afghanistan, rejecting calls for such an admission after three German soldiers died in the country this week. The parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Reinhold Robbe, on Wednesday called on the German government to recognize it was fighting a war in Afghanistan. “It is still being publicly denied that... 

Judges in the United States can now order a veiled woman witness to remove her face covering to testify in court, according to a new court ruling issued last week that has human rights groups worried about potential discrimination against veiled Muslim women. In a majority 5-2 vote, Michigan’s Supreme Court ruled that judges should “exercise reasonable control” over the appearances... 

Brussels, Asharq Al-Awsat- When I met Mahinur Ozdimer in one of the biggest shopping malls in Brussels just one day before the Belgium elections that took place on June 7, I noticed that she was the only female candidate wearing Hijab as the candidates handed out leaflets and met and spoke with voters. I asked Mahinur “Aren’t you worried about the reaction you’ll get from Belgian voters because... 

A devoutly Catholic nurse at the centre of a crucifix row has resigned after hospital officials banned her from wearing the religious symbol at work. Helen Slatter, 43, was ordered before a disciplinary hearing after refusing to remove the gold necklace. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital ruled the chain and crucifix -which is less than one inch tall – posed a health and safety risk to patients. Miss... 

Up to 100 Romanian Gypsies are to quit Northern Ireland after a series of racist attacks, it was revealed today. Twenty-five have already left and another 75 are planning to return home, Stormont minister Margaret Ritchie disclosed. Air fares are being paid out of an emergency fund. Just 17 who were caught up in the violence in Belfast last week, when families were offered temporary accommodation,... 

A former public schoolboy accused of making his own suicide vest using home-made explosives described in court how he became interested in explosives to make himself ‘cool’ and ‘popular’. Isa Ibrahim, formerly known as Andrew in his school days, also told the court he started using hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine while at school and played online computer games for... 

Police are investigating whether marchers in a recent parade in Saxony-Anhalt broke the law by wearing Nazi-era SS and Wehrmacht uniforms. The incident has sparked outrage beyond the borders of the eastern German state. The state-funded parade last weekend through the town of Thale had over 4,000 participants representing different periods of the state’s history. Over 200,000 people came to watch... 

The Islamic burka is “not welcome” in France because it is not a symbol of religion but a sign of subservience for women, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday. “The burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience,” he told lawmakers. “It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic.” A group of French lawmakers has been calling for...