Bosnia’s Muslim, Croat and Serb leaders agree the formation of a central government, ending 14 months of political paralysis.

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Bosnia parties agree government

Cosmologists have measured the biggest black holes ever found, work that could shed light on the formation and evolution of galaxies.

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Astronomers Find Biggest Black Holes Yet

The announcement about Prime Minister George Papandreou comes amid economic and political turmoil in Greece and the formation of a coalition government tasked with saving the nation from bankruptcy.

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Stage set for prime minister to resign

The EU welcomes the formation of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) as “a positive step forward”, despite warnings from Damascus.

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EU hails Syria opposition council

CAIRO — Syrian dissidents meeting in Istanbul on Sunday announced the formation of a council uniting most of their country’s fractious opposition groups , a step that activists hailed as a potential breakthrough in the months-long standoff between a largely leaderless protest movement and the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Read full article > >

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Syrian dissidents form council, hope to win greater international support

Scientists’ predictions of the formation and characteristics of dark matter are shaken by research into dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.

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Dark matter theory ‘may be wrong’

Scientists’ predictions of the formation and characteristics of dark matter are shaken by research into dwarf galaxies surrounding the Milky Way.

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Dark matter theory ‘may be wrong’

JERUSALEM — The reconciliation pact signed last week by the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas was denounced by Israel and has left Washington weighing its response, but Palestinian mediators who helped broker the deal say it opens new opportunities for a resumption of peace talks. The accord, which provides for the formation of a transitional government of technocrats to prepare for elections in a year, also sets a goal that Fatah and Hamas say they share: a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a capital in Jerusalem, next to Israel. Read full article > >

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Fatah-Hamas pact called new chance for peace

I want to heartily recommend Lawrence Wright’s piece on Paul Haggis and Scientology . I’ve been working on a piece that’s required some rethinking of the Nation of Islam, so it was interesting to be doing that thinking, and reading this piece at the same time.  What’s interesting to me about Wright’s piece (and with the Nation) is how a group that brooks no real dissent, and is deeply conspiratorial about the outside world, careens right into violence. That violence is then rationalized or utterly ignored. I was tempted to write this off to the sociology of cults. But thinking on this more, I’m not quite convinced that cults work entirely differently than the rest of society. Surely since the formation of the DEA, an incredible amount of violence has followed that is rationalized or utterly ignored.  This isn’t so much an argument, as it is me thinking out loud. It just occurs to me that, as Americans and maybe as members of any state, we excuse a tremendous amount of violence done in our name. And we don’t just excuse it, as in “We know we messed up.” We pretend that we were right all along, and we rationalize it away. I’m not sure it matters how many innocents the cops shoot. The overriding mandate is to protect our collective security. I’m just wondering if cults work in much the same way. Call me naive, but I was utterly shocked to see Anne Archer and (ostensibly) Tom Cruise explain the evidence away. I guess I shouldn’t be, though.

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Society Is a Joint Stock Company

An agreement for the formation of a new “super university” is described as a “radical” move which “bridges educational boundaries”.

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‘Super university’ plan is agreed

A three-year investigation of six “prosperity gospel” ministries has concluded with the formation of a commission to look into the lack of accountability by tax-exempt religious groups.

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Tax-Exempt Ministries Avoid New Regulation

Iraq’s MPs are meeting to vote on the formation of a new government, ending an eight-month deadlock following inconclusive elections.

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Iraq MPs voting on new government

A lingual mystery has arisen in Scotland, surrounding symbols on stones that predate the formation of the country itself.

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Ancient language mystery deepens