New scandal: bishops as porn producers.(GERMANY)

For about l0 years, some German laity had been quietly and with some insistence telling the German bishops to get out of the porn business. In 2008 each bishop was sent a 70-page dossier with details. None replied. It turns out that the bishops have been involved in several companies that are financially lucrative. They are the sole owners of Weltbild, one of the most profitable book companies in Germany, with a $1.7 billion annual turnover and 2500 porn titles, with sexually explicit covers. They own another company that produces pornographic novels and books on Satanism, the occult and atheism. Oh yes, they also produce some religious books.

Now the news has hit the …

COUNTY URGED TO SHUT CLAVERACK LANDFILL *BOARD WANTS TO CONTINUE DISPOSAL.(Local)

Byline: Gary Sheffer Staff writer

More than 100 people jammed the County Board of Supervisors chambers Wednesday night, most to demand that the Claverack landfill be closed.

The county is considering beginning eminent domain proceedings to seize the landfill on Snydertown Road so that it can continue dumping at the site.

The landfill was scheduled to close Saturday under a state consent order, but the county last week won a temporary extension from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to Sept. 17.

The board voted to address 10 conditions imposed by EnCon that will help the state decide whether to grant a longer extension. …

PARENTIAL CONSENT AT ISSUE HEALTH THREAT QUESTIONED.(Local)

Byline: Deborah Gesensway Capitol bureau

Teenage pregnancy isn't ended by laws that deny abortions to minors who don't tell their parents, but these laws can threaten girls' mental and physical health, according to lawyers and sociologists from two states with mandatory parental consent laws.

Two anti-abortion legislators are about to introduce such parental consent bills in New York's Legislature.

In Massachusetts, a 1981 consent law hasn't stopped teenage girls from getting abortions, said Virginia Cartoof, a Boston-based sociologist who studies teenage pregnancy and parenthood issues. The girls, she found, merely traveled to neighboring New England states that don't …

Venezuela condemns pro-ETA vandalism at Spanish Embassy in Caracas

Venezuelan authorities promised to catch the people who hurled a tear gas canister into the Spanish Embassy and spray-painted slogans in favor of a Basque separatist group on its walls.

Unidentified vandals pulled up to the embassy Friday on motorcycles and spray-painted the insignia the group ETA and slogans including "stop the repression" and "resistance of the Basque people."

They also threw a tear gas canister inside the embassy compound, prompting security guards to flee, the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal reported.

The Venezuelan government issued a statement Friday night condemning it as a …

Weary Dow rises 5 after 3 hectic days

NEW YORK Thursday's stock trading was downright boring comparedto the three previous days of tumultuous activity. The Dow Jonesindustrial average gained 5.59 points to 3,007.38 in active trading.

Advancing issues outnumbered declines by a narrow margin ofabout 9-to-7 on the New York Stock Exchange, with 894 up, 688 downand 512 unchanged.

Volume on the floor of the Big Board came to 173 million sharesas of 4 p.m., down from 231.73 million in the previous session.

With the Soviet crisis quiet for the moment, investors tookprofits by selling high-value growth stocks that rose sharply duringWednesday's rally. The Dow gained 88.10 points Wednesday after …

Chocolate company goes green.

Staff at Somercotes chocolate-maker's Thorntons were given lessons in how to reduce waste at home and make the best use of the recycling facilities available.

Derbyshire County Councillor John Allsop, cabinet member for technology and recycling, said: "County council staff spoke to about 160 Thorntons workers about how to make the most of the food they buy, saving them money by better planning and portion control."

The average UK household throws away up to [pounds sterling]50 worth of food that could be eaten, food which ends up in …

Memorial for former editor unveiled at gardens.

A PERMANENT tribute to a former Belper News editor has been unveiled at Beaurepair Gardens in Belper.

Peter Hampson, hailed as the saviour of the Belper News, died in November following a battle with cancer.

On Saturday friends and family attended the unveiling of a memorial in his name at the gardens at Bridgefoot.

The memorial was the idea of close friend Peter Davies, who Mr Hampson had nominated for an MBE.

Daughter Rebecca Hampson said: "The day was lovely. Peter had gone to a lot of trouble and the attention to detail is great. If you look around there are tributes to other people - it's nice for families to go there and see them as …