Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said Saturday that Iran has produced nuclear fuel pellets for its 40-megawatt heavy water nuclear reactor, a technological advancement in the cycle of nuclear fuel, according to the state news agency.
"Fuel pellets to be used in the 40-megawatt Arak research reactor have been produced," IRNA quoted Aghzadeh as saying Saturday.
Iran has gone a long way in building a 40-megawatt heavy water nuclear reactor in Arak, central Iran, which the United States fears could be used to produce plutonium and build nuclear weapons. 
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By Floyd and Mary Beth Brown
It's been called a dirty little secret. So what is it?
"This is the dark underbelly of cohabitation," said Brad Wilcox, sociology professor at the University of Virginia. "Cohabitation has become quite common, and most people think, 'What's the harm?' The harm is we're increasing a pattern of relationships that's not a good thing for children."
And we aren't just talking about numbers either. These are real children with heart-wrenching stories. Such as:
Two-year-old Devon Shackleford of Mesa, Ariz. was drowned in an apartment complex swimming pool by Derek Chappell, 25, in 2004. Chappell committed the murder because he believed Devon caused problems in his relationship with the little boy's mother.
The body of 9-month-old Jermauri Craig was found with bruising around both eyes at a motel where 21-year-old Travels Bullard was caring for the baby while his mother was at work. Bullard faces murder charges in the July death of the infant who suffered a skull fracture along with bite marks to the side of his face and arm.
And a little girl named Olivia Scoggins died in August, a few weeks before her second birthday, at the hands of Kerry Joe Smith, ...   more »

Ron Gray
A Canadian political party leader's posting of a WND article on homosexuality has brought him before the country's Human Rights Commission to face accusations he was motivated by "hate and defamation."
Ron Gray of the Christian Heritage Party says he's been told directly by an employee of the Human Rights Commission that the Canadian Human Rights Act, under which he is being accused, is "about censorship," according to a report by WND columnist Tristan Emmanuel, who heads the Canada-based activist group ECP Centre
Two of the three complaints filed by Edmonton man Rob Wells relate to the posting of an April 2002 WND story titled "Report: Pedophilia more common among 'gays.'"
The third complaint against Ron Gray is for several commentaries he wrote and distributed to party members. One, titled "Sitcom prophet," compared the current climate of debate about homosexuality in Canada to the "Cone of Silence" in the 1960s-era television comedy "Get Smart." In the show, the leading characters would use the cone for security but ended up unable to hear each other.
(Story continues below)
Gray wrote: "The problem with Canada's 'Cone of Silence' over the issue of homosexuality is that, like the security device in ...   more »

But many Democrats in new poll can't stomach 'Merry Christmas' 
A new poll finds Americans overwhelmingly prefer that stores use the phrase "Merry Christmas" in their seasonal advertising rather than "Happy Holidays.
The Rasmussen survey found 67 percent favor "Merry Christmas" while just 26 percent prefer "Happy Holidays."
Rasmussen said the poll results were the same for males and females, and there were few demographic differences.
A sharp difference, however, showed up between Republicans and Democrats.
While 88 percent of Republicans prefer "Merry Christmas," just 57 percent of Democrats favor the saying.  
Rasmussen also found 57 percent of respondents say they will attend a Christian service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year.
About 30 percent won’t go to a special service. Women are more likely to attend a Christmas service than men, the survey found.
Several activist groups have launched campaigns in the last few years to encourage stores to acknowledge that their biggest retail season of the year is about Christmas, not winter or simply "holidays."
As WND reported, a group called the Committee to Save Merry Christmas launched a successful boycott against Macy's then targeted Sears for eliminated references to Christmas in its advertising.
The ...   more »

With his new discovery controversy 'will be just a funny historical footnote'
James Thomson (Photo: N.Y. Times)
The scientist who helped ignite cultural and political controversy with the use of embryos in stem-cell research believes his new discovery – using ordinary adult skin cells – means the war is virtually over.
"A decade from now, this will be just a funny historical footnote," James A. Thomson told the New York Times in an interview.
Thomson's laboratory at the University of Wisconsin was one of two that announced Tuesday a new way to turn ordinary human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells without using a human embryo.
The technique involves adding four genes to ordinary adult skin cells.
Stem cells are used to research treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's because of their ability to turn into any of the body's 220 cell types. Scientists hope it eventually will be possible to use the cells to grow replacement tissues for patients.
Thomson, 48, has a degree in biophysics from the University of Illinois and two doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania, one in veterinary medicine and one in molecular biology.
In 1998, his laboratory was ...   more »