Video still from the Keep Him Home advert A Dutch TV ad making use of erotic images of supposedly Ukrainian women has triggered a diplomatic row between Amsterdam and Kiev. While Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry rages with indignation, Dutch diplomats act as though nothing has happened. The advert titled Keep Him Home is based on the assumption Ukrainian women are sexy and promiscuous, therefore Dutch... 

The 2010 census noted the highest number of interracial marriages in America’s history, noting a huge 28 per cent jump over the past decade. One out of every 10 married straight couples identified as different races, which shows an increase from 7 per cent in the 2000 census data. Greater social acceptance of the unions and demographic shifts throughout the country are thought to be the two... 

A 2008 survey says 0.8% of Christian Palestinians cited 'fleeing religious extremism' as a reason for emigration Despite claims by Israeli government officials, Christian Palestinians regularly face discrimination. A recent report by CBS show 60 Minutes on “Christians of the Holy Land” has received a lot of attention, not least for the embarrassing contribution by Israeli Ambassador... 

Debris are seen on the site of a blast which occured in a dairy plant on April 23, 2012 in Fredrikstadt, some 100km south of Oslo A huge explosion has rocked a dairy plant in Fredrikstad in south-east Norway. At least one person was killed while three others were seriously injured. A number are unaccounted for and are feared to have perished. Police have confirmed one person has died in the blast,... 

The happy couple: The South African polygamist president, 70, and his newest wife address guest at their wedding South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma has wed his fourth wife in a traditional ceremony at his rural home, his office confirmed. The polygamist premier, 70, married Gloria ‘Bongi’ Ngema in a customary service which started at around 6am yesterday. The Zulu statesman’s... 

Pentagon building in Washington, DC The Pentagon is pushing for more power when it comes to international spying. The US military is now making a case to open up an undercover operation aimed at the overseas civilian sector. The US Department of Defense has asked Congress to approve a change in intelligence outlines which would permit America’s undercover units to send spies into the offices of foreign... 

Maritime scientists in Peru are trying to solve a mystery that has turned stretches of the country’s beaches into a grim dolphin morgue. Officials in Lima said last week that 877 carcasses have washed up, an unprecedented number, along 100 miles of the Piura and Lambayeque coast. Nearly all are bottle-nosed dolphins, many in an advanced state of decomposition. A possible explanation for the... 

A Red Cross volunteer talks to Hoang Thi Kim Phung, whose two-and-a-half -month-old son was admitted to hospital in Long An, Vietnam, with symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease Hanoi has asked the World Health Organization for help to cure a virulent disease affecting children. Symptoms include blistering on hands, feet and mouths accompanied by high fever and eventual organ failure. ­Nineteen... 

Bahraini protests attend a demonstration calling for the cancellation of the upcoming Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix race in Isa town, near Manama. Anti-regime protesters stage a mass demonstration near Manama to demand the cancellation of the Formula One Grand Prix which is slated to start on April 22 in Bahrain, Press TV reports. Demonstrators took to the streets of Karrana, a village in the Northern... 

Iraqi activists said this unnamed teenager was brutally killed by religious police for having an 'emo' hairstyle Iraqi activists sounded the bell over the killing of dozens of teenagers by religious police for having “emo” haircuts reported the Daily Mail and Al Arabiya in March 2012. Activists told the Lebanon-based al-Akhbar daily that at least 90 Iraqi teenagers with “emo” appearances... 

For now the Endangered Species Act will not be used to shut down power plants and factories in the United States in order to save polar bears. On Tuesday, the Obama administration proposed a rule that would exempt operations outside polar bear territory from restrictions on activity. It is considered a setback for environmentalists who want to put coal-fired power plants and large factories on a different... 

Health experts are demanding tighter controls on electronic cigarettes amid fears customers could be exposed to poisonous chemicals. The nicotine vapour inhaler devices are not subject regulation, and fears are growing that people could be subjected to ‘unclean’ and ‘unsafe’ products. The devices hit the headlines earlier this year when it emerged Standard Life had banned its... 

The Nepalese government has teamed up with notorious agricultural giant Monsanto to force farmers use its GMO seeds. The strain, banned in several EU countries, will be used to substitute imports and boost the starving nation’s maize production. ­Corn is one of Nepal’s biggest crops but the country produces only about half of what it needs for its feed industry, and imports some 130,000 tons... 

Kuipers inside the Space Station. The Dutch astronaut is one of the most prolific photographers on the ISS An astronaut on the International Space Station has designed a ‘tripod’ for taking spectacular night-time pictures of Earth – quite a technical feat when you’re on board an orbiting craft that moves at more than four miles a second. Andre Kuipers installed ‘Nightpod’... 

Colorado River Climatologists say a dry spell devastating almost all of America is starting to worry the weather community during what is one of the worst droughts in recent years. The federal agency that investigates dry weather, the US Drought Monitor, says that more than half of the continental United States are experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions, which have so far proven to be the worst...