links: 02.07.2026

PBS News: Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland PBS News reports that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, in open defiance of Pope Leo XIV, consecrated four bishops without papal consent in Écône, Switzerland — an act that under church law brings automatic excommunication for both the new bishops and the […]

links: 25.06.2026

Yle: What annoys Finns the most? Wars, selfishness, and telemarketers A survey commissioned by a Finnish communications agency has found what annoys Finns most: wars, selfishness and telemarketing cold calls. It also revealed generational differences — pensioners tend to be irritated by more things (three in four are angered by wars, and many are also bothered by boastfulness […]

links: 23.06.2026

The New York Times: X-Ray Specs for the World’s Oldest, Sealed Letters A team of historians, scientists and engineers has built a portable X-ray scanner that can read 4,000-year-old letters without breaking open the clay envelopes they were sealed in. More than half a million cuneiform artefacts have been found across the Middle East, but many went unstudied […]