Latest victim: Judge Judy Sheindlin had to stop her courtroom TV show on Wednesday after descending into nonsensical language. A bizarre spate of television presenters dissolving into on-air gibberish has sparked claims that the U.S. military could be to blame. In four high-profile cases, the latest involving fast-talking Judge Judy, the presenters have started off speaking properly but have then descended... 

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has joined with China in calling for a ceasefire in Libya and insisting that the situation cannot be solved by “military means.” Westerwelle, who is visiting China, joined his counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing in calling for a ceasefire and a political solution on Friday – even as NATO allies are involved in a military campaign authorized by UN Security... 

U.S. consumers face “serious” inflation in the months ahead for clothing, food and other products, the head of Wal-Mart’s U.S. operations warned Wednesday. The world’s largest retailer is working with suppliers to minimize the effect of cost increases and believes its low-cost business model will position it better than its competitors. Still, inflation is “going to be... 

A 12-year-old Staten Island boy was charged with felony assault as a hate crime for attempting to rip a religious head scarf off the head of a classmate on Wednesday, sources said. Osman Daramy attacked the female student outside the Berta Dreyfus Intermediate School in Stapleton about 1 p.m., the sources said. Osman allegedly punched and kicked the girl before trying to grab the scarf wrapped around... 

An acid rain burned the leaves of trees in Bulgaria, near the border with Romania. Bulgarian weather experts say this might be the result of the bombing campaign in Libya! A very high acidity level (pH 4.9) was registered near Vidin (north-west, on the border with Romania), Lovech (north) and Karnobat (south-east). An even higher acidity (pH 4.5) was reported at Plevna, Dobrich, Montana, Shumen in... 

A judge takes two children who admitted raping a toddler away from their families. It was an emotional scene as the children, ages 7 and 9, appeared in Shelby County Juvenile Monday afternoon. The judge had some strong words for the parents. Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael says the boys admitted in court a month ago to raping a two-year-old girl in South Memphis. That happened in August. The boys... 

Alien home? The black spots represent 1,235 planets orbiting their suns. As a point of reference, the lone planet on the right below the top row represents our sun, with Earth and Jupiter as tiny black silhouettes. If aliens exist, these are what their planets look like, according to NASA. Astronomers at the U.S. space department have spent the last two years scouring the Milky Way for Earth-like planets... 

Revelation: Experts speculate that the tablets could be the lost collection of codices referred to in the Bible's Book Of Revelation. For scholars of faith and history, it is a treasure trove too precious for price. This ancient collection of 70 tiny books, their lead pages bound with wire, could unlock some of the secrets of the earliest days of Christianity. Academics are divided as to their... 

Top of the EU's list to cut climate change emissions is a target of 'zero' for the number of petrol and diesel-driven cars and lorries in the EU's future cities. The European Commission on Monday unveiled a “single European transport area” aimed at enforcing “a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers” by 2050. The plan also envisages an end to cheap... 

A most curious phenomenon of ‘gibberish’ speaking reporters sweeping North America has gained its biggest victim to date after reports that the entertainment giant known as Judge Judy had production halted on her highly syndicated show and was brought to hospital yesterday after she began speaking nonsensical words during a live taping. According to Hollywood reporting website RadarOnline.Com,... 

Infection: Officials are trying to discover how intravenous feeding bags became contaminated with bacteria after nine critically ill patients died and 10 others were sickened at Alabama hospitals. Patients were treated with contaminated intravenous feeding bags. Nine Alabama hospital patients who were treated with contaminated intravenous feeding bags have died and the maker has pulled the product... 

An electron scan showsthe HIV-1 virus budding (in green) from a white blood cell in a laboratory. An HIV vaccine that could outwit the deadly virus could undergo human trials in as little as a year’s time, scientists say. The ‘mosaic vaccine’, which is being designed by an international team of investigators, works by being able to adapt to the virus as it mutates. HIV’s ability... 

German Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel and Stefan Mappus, top candidate of the CDU in the Baden-Wuerttemberg state election (not pictured), hold a news conference after a party meeting in Berlin on March 28. Germany’s antinuclear Green Party won control of a state government for the first time in local elections Sunday. In France, Le Pen’s right-wing... 

Documenting an alleged Jewish plot for taking over the world, the text was written by the Russian secret police in 1901 and then disseminated internationally in the early 20th century. Moscow’s chief prosecutor has refused to ban the sale of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, one of the world’s most infamous fake anti-Semitic texts, a top human rights group said Monday. The Moscow-based... 

China’s President Hu Jintao Wednesday warned French leader Nicolas Sarkozy that air strikes on Libya could violate the “original intention” of the UN resolution authorising them if civilians suffer. The tough talk from Hu came during a meeting at the start of Sarkozy’s mini-tour of Asia, which will include a G20 meeting on global monetary reform and a stop in disaster-struck...