Everyone seems to have a theory on where the 377 tons of high explosives missing from Iraq have disappeared to. One theory, which comes courtesy of U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw, is causing international tempers to flair. Shaw, who was responsible for documenting Iraq's contacts with conventional weapons suppliers, claimed in Thursday's Financial Times that Russia made off with the explosives to cover up past arms deals with Saddam Hussein. "Various Russian units on the eve of hostilities ... orchestrated the collection of munitions and assured their transport out of Iraq via Syria." Russia called the allegations "absurd and ridiculous" on Thursday.

While the diplomatic grenades were being tossed, however, an Iraq-based extremist group, al-Islam Army Brigade, claimed that it was in possession of the explosives and threatened to use them against foreign troops in Iraq. Col. David Perkins, commander of the unit that originally occupied the weapons depot said on Thursday it was unlikely that so much explosive material could have been stolen unnoticed. (5:50 p.m. CET)

Meanwhile, Earlier in Iraq ...

Another terror exclusive from al-Jazeera: the Arab broadcaster ran a new video late Wednesday showing kidnapped Care International chief Margaret Hassan, the British-Iraqi aid worker who has devoted 30 years of her life to improving life for Iraqis. The medium and the message were all too familiar: "Please don't bring the soldiers to Baghdad. Take them away. Please, on top of that, please release the women prisoners." Though no group has taken responsibility for the kidnapping, the warning is the same as that delivered last month by Kenneth Bigley and by two American hostages believed killed by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. In an earlier video, Hassan told British Prime Minister Tony Blair she faced the same fate.

*In another disturbing development, officials in Warsaw confirmed Thursday a Polish woman had been kidnapped from her home in Baghdad. A group calling itself the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Fundamental Brigades passed video containing images of the woman to al-Jazeera, and demanded Poland withdraw its troops from Iraq. Poland's foreign minister confirmed the woman had been living in Iraq for decades but did not been released for "security reasons." The country's defense minister, Jerzy Szmajdzinski said none of the 2,500 Polish troops would be removed from Iraq. "Poland is not in the business of meeting demands of hostage takers," he said.

* Meanwhile, British soldiers are continuing their move from Southern Iraq to areas near Baghdad, where they are to provide relief for US soldiers getting dispatched into hot spots like Fallujah, where al-Zarqawi and Sunni insurgents are giving troops fierce resistance. In total, about 850 soldiers from Scotland's Black Watch and the Queen's Dragoon Guards of Wales will be re-stationed.

Parading for Putin in Kiev

There is a big military parade today in Ukraine. So big, in fact, that Russian premier Vladimir Putin is there to check it out. Officially, the parade is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ukraine's liberation from the Nazis in 1944 -- a noble enough goal considering the terrible World War II battles that were fought on Ukrainian soil. There's just one thing -- normally the anniversary is celebrated in mid-November.

With the presidential election just days away, opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko is claiming the date of the parade was moved for electioneering purposes and to give Putin one more excuse to try to influence the vote outcome. Putin's dominance of the airwaves during his three-day visit and his indefatigable support of President Leonid Kuchma's hand-picked protégé Viktor Yanukovich seem to support that claim. As does the fact that, according to independent news sources in Ukraine, Russia has spent over $300 million on Yanukovich's campaign to date. For more on dirty electioneering in Ukraine, check out this SPIEGEL story on alleged attempts by the Ukrainian government to poison Yushchenko. (5:35 p.m. CET)

The On-going Saga of Words War II

The epic tabloid drama over whether or not Queen Elizabeth II will apologize for the 1945 decimation of Dresden by British Royal Air Force bombers continued Thursday with a war of words between the German and British press. In an editorial for the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Journalist Sabine Rennefanz fires back at Fleet Street, where several editorials published in the trash press over the past two weeks have warned the Queen against apologizing for the bombings. Rennefanz extensively quotes Daily Mail columnist Simon Heffer, who she describes as one of the most-hated men in Great Britain, before laying in with her own tirade. Earlier this week, Heffer wrote Germany should not only never receive an apology, but that it "should never be allowed to forget its ugly past." That's fair, says Rennefanz, but nobody's asking for that either. Her issue is that the Daily Mail writer uses every opportunity he can find to polemicize readers against Germany. One recent Heffer column, she notes, referred to the government of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as the "Fourth Reich."

Fortunately, this is a spat that will only play out on paper. When she visits Germany for two days next week, Queen Elizabeth will attend a gala concert benefiting the reconstruction of Dresden's Fraunkirche church. The funds, in addition to the 750,000 pounds donated by the British government will be used to complete the church's splendid baroque interior. "Such dignified gestures of reconciliation," Rennefanz writes, "are probably too complicated for papers like the Mail or the Express." (5:11 p.m. CET)

Barroso Gets Ready to Do the Shuffle

Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday he "needed more time to get it right" with his proposed European Commission line-up. He asked the European Parliament to delay a confirmation vote his Commission was expected to fail. A day later, Barroso told radio station Europe 1 he only planned to make small changes to the Commission. "There won't be a major reshuffling, it will be very limited," he said, adding he hoped to resubmit the line-up to parliament for consideration within a month. Major changes are in any case not an option. According to Italian press reports, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is still standing behind Rocco Buttiglione, the nominee for Justice Commissioner who became unpalatable to parliament members after making comments considered anti-gay and critical of women. However, the influential Corriere della Sera wrote that Rome would consider having Buttiglione placed in another Commission slot, like transportation. But the can of worms has already been opened and Barroso may need to do more than a musical chairs number. Hans-Gert Poettering, who heads the conservative European People's Party, is demanding that the incoming president change four or five of the positions. "It's thinkable," he said, "that one or more may have to be dropped out." (2:13 p.m. CET)

Does Bush Consider Europe a Security Risk?

Wanna log on to George W. Bush's re-election website? No problem. If you happen to be in the United States that is. For everyone else on the planet, the Web site www.georgewbush.com is blocked. "Error message 403. Access denied." The move by Bush campaign officials to block the site to visits from outside the US comes following an attack on the domain last week that shut it down for two days. The assault was a so-called "Denial of Service" attack, whereby a huge number of computers are hijacked and used to simultaneously log-on to the same site. The site's server crashes under the strain. The site was blacked out on Monday. "We took this measure for security reasons," Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel said on Wednesday following days of silence on the issue. (1:45 p.m. CET)

Yasser Arafat Deathwatch

The newswires were running timelines of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's political history on Thursday -- the kind of data that make it easier for editors to write obituaries. And it might not be long before they are printed. Arafat's ailing health deteriorated Wednesday night, with his deputies saying they were preparing for the worst. What exactly is wrong, nobody is saying but a team of doctors is currently fighting to save the ailing 75-year-old's life at Arafat's compound in Ramallah. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has held Arafat in a state of virtual house arrest in Ramallah since 2001, ordered Israeli security forces to ease access for foreign doctors and to allow him freedom of travel for treatment. Israeli officials said they were preparing emergency plans to restore peace in the West Bank and Gaza Strip if riots break out in the event of Arafat's death. Many may not be sad if Arafat does go -- Arafat is seen as a hindrance to the Middle East peace process. European officials, among others, have criticized his inability to stamp out the terrorist wing of Hamas, his role in corruption scandals and his reluctance to hand over more competencies to his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia.

Sharon, meanwhile, continued to scrap with Israeli politicians over his decision to withdraw all Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, a move approved by the Israeli parliament on Tuesday. The National Religious Party, a major government coalition partner, is ordering Sharon to hold a nationwide referendum on the issue within two weeks. If he doesn't, four key party members, including former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have threatened to leave the government. (1:10 p.m.)

Americans' View of Germany Improves

When German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledged, in 2002, to oppose a US attack on Iraq, the image of Germans in the mind of most Americans went down the tubes. Now, however, a new poll offers hope that the transatlantic ice age may be ending. US pollster Magid, working with the German Information Center, asked Americans how they viewed German-American relations and found that 35 percent felt they were "excellent" or "good," up from only 17 percent in a poll taken a week after Baghdad fell in April 2003. After Britain, which got an 88 percent approval rating, 57 percent of Americans further said that Germany was the country's most-important European partner. Nevertheless, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin still has its work cut out for it: 45 percent of Americans still think Germany is a stray ship. Still, "the trend is going in the right direction," Germany's ambassador to Washington, Wolfgang Ischinger told reporters. (12:38 p.m. CET)

Homer Simpson for President

More than a few people out there would probably rather see their favorite television character get elected US president than George W. Bush or John Kerry. The British television mag Radio Times asked readers what TV personality they would vote for if that person or animation cell were on the ballot. Here's how they voted:

1. Homer Simpson ("The Simpsons")
2. Josiah Bartlet ("The West Wing")
3. Frasier Crane ("Frasier")
4. Sgt. Bilko ("The Phil Silvers Show")
5. Gil Grissom ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation")
6. Jack Bauer ("24")
7. Dr. Cliff Huxtable ("The Cosby Show")
8. Phoebe Buffay ("Friends")
9. Tony Soprano ("The Sopranos")
10. Roseanne Conner ("Roseanne")

Upon hearing of Homer's popularity, the scriptwriters of the hit American show offered the following Simpson platform: "I promise there will be fewer nuclear disasters with me as your mayor than with me as your nuclear safety inspector." With the nuclear crisis in Iran, that could be a useful platform for a future American president. (12:20 p.m. CET)

An IKEA for the Cemetery?