A Holocaust-denying Catholic bishop who made headlines in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI rehabilitated him and members of his breakaway traditionalist society is heading for new trouble with the Vatican.

Bishop Richard Williamson is planning to consecrate a new bishop Thursday in Brazil without Pope Francis’ consent — a church crime punishable by excommunication. MORE

The universities of Ghent and Brussels found that since euthanasia was legalized in 2002, the acceptance of ending a life at the patient’s request has greatly increased. While a 2007 survey showed only 1.9 percent of deaths from euthanasia in the region, the figure was 4.6 percent in 2013. MORE

In a global first, the protofascist warmonger Gabriele d’Annunzio’s DNA was reconstructed without exhuming his remains, police forensics officers said, raising hopes the technique could be used to solve cold cases. MORE

An inexplicable white-and-blue flash was spotted lighting up the sky over the southern Russian city of Stavropol. A dashcam video has since triggered a heated debate over the origins of the mysterious sight. MORE

NASA’s SDO images from March 16, 2015, reveal not one but two massive holes in the sun, decribed as “dark patches, known as coronal holes.” According to the NASA.gov website, the larger of the holes, near the southern pole, covers anywhere from 6 to 8 percent of the total surface, 142 billion miles, while the one at the opposite pole they approximate as stretching 3.8 billion miles on the sun. MORE

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party scored a resounding victory in Israel’s election, final results showed Wednesday, a stunning turnaround after a tight race that had put his lengthy rule in jeopardy.

Netanyahu surged ahead after a last-minute lurch to the right in which he opposed Palestinian statehood and vowed continued settlement construction, setting the stage for fresh confrontations with the White House just weeks after criticizing U.S. talks with Iran in a divisive address to Congress. MORE

Can someone explain why the “party of limited government” continues, with a straight face, to support ethanol? Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says about the heavily subsided product, “Everything about ethanol is good, good, good.”

Really? Really? Really? MORE

As a rabbinic student in 1980s New York, Denise Eger lived away from other seminarians. She quietly started a group for fellow gay and lesbian students, but held the meetings in another borough. By the time of her ordination, she wasn’t formally out, but her sexuality was known, and no one would hire her. Later, she took the only job offered, with a synagogue formed expressly as a religious refuge for gays. MORE

Avian cholera is suspected in the deaths of at least 2,000 snow geese that fell dead from the sky in Idaho while migrating to nesting grounds on the northern coast of Alaska, wildlife managers said Monday. MORE

The three Baltic States are fearful of a possible Russian invasion, although Lithuania may have particular reason for concern.

Wedged between Russian ally Belarus and the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuania is worried that it could be the next target of Russian aggression following invasions in Georgia in 2008 and Crimea and eastern Ukraine last year. MORE

I let down my guard, I fell into your arms – Forgot who I was, I didn’t hear the alarms – Now I’m down on my knees, alone in the dark – I was blind to your game – You fired a shot in my heart LYRICS 

“What you’d expect is that as you reach the right energy, you suddenly see inside the extra dimensions, and gravity becomes big and strong instead of feeble and weak… (Source)

Tim Cook unveiled the long-anticipated Apple Watch yesterday.  The CEO called the device “a comprehensive health and fitness companion.”  It will also display boarding passes in airports, show a live feed of a person’s home and garage door, and run most of the iPhoneapps.  One hotel company plans to use it as a room key.  According to Cook, battery life will be 18 hours with regular use; costs range from $349 to $10,000, which includes an 18-karat gold body. MORE – VIDEO