Atlantis Found? Probably Not

Civilizations have been drawn to the myth of Atlantis for thousands of years. Was Atlantis a utopian fantasy conjured up by the ancient philosopher Plato 360 years before Christ? Or is it truly a lost civilization? American architect Robert Sarmast thinks he's got the answer. On Sunday, he and a team of researchers claimed they had found the long, lost city after six days of scanning the floor of the Mediterranean between Cyprus and Syria using sonar equipment. Sarmast said his team had "definitely found the Acropolis of Atlantis," near Cyprus, including two long walls along a slope that, he said, perfectly fit Plato's description of the city's "Acropolis hill." But critics point out that Sarmast may have an ulterior motive for his discovery: He wants to promote sales of his recent book, which argues the city of Plato's legend was most likely located near Cyprus. (4:45 p.m. CET)

Kosovo War Crimes Trial Starts

A new war-crimes trial begins on Monday in The Hague. And for the first time, ethnic Albanians will be sitting in the dock rather than Serbians. The three defendants, all former members of the now-disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), stand accused of torturing and murdering civilians in the Lapusnik Prison Camp in central Kosovo. Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu, all of whom worked at the prison camp, allegedly murdered 14 prisoners in 1998 and then, upon losing the region to Serb forces, marched a further 21 prisoners into the nearby mountains where Limaj ordered 10 of them to be massacred. Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said she is concerned about reported attempts to influence witnesses. One Kosovo Albanian man has already faced charges of intimidating potential witnesses and attempting to buy off others. (4:20 p.m. CET)

Tut Unwrapped

Tutankhamen is probably the most abused mummy in the world. Since being removed from its grave in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, it's been the subject of at least two autopsies -- one using a hammer and chisel and the other using an X-ray machine. Each time the mission is the same: to find out why Tut died so young -- likely at age 17. During the first X-ray in 1968, researchers discovered a bone splinter in Tut's skull, which led to some speculation he may have been killed by a blow to the head. Others believe the anomaly to be the result of previous handling of the cadaver. Egypt's chief archeologist, Zahi Hawass, says the country will soon take Tut to Cairo from his stone coffin near Luxor, unwrap him, and zap him using a 3-D X-ray scanner. The project being sponsored by the advanced technology's developer, Siemens, and National Geographic. "We're going to find out which illnesses and injuries he had and how old he actually was," he said. It will also be the first time anyone has seen the mummy, clothed or unclothed, in nearly 36 years. (3:55 p.m. CET)

Iran Pledges To Stop Enriching Unranium, But Will It Stick?

Iran once again appears to have acquiesced to the efforts of German, French and British negotiators and has agreed to give up its uranium enrichment program. The last time this happened, in October 2003, newspapers and government spokesmen across Europe heralded the agreement as a major negotiating-table success against nuclear proliferation. The agreement, however, didn't last long and Iran soon indicated it would continue with its efforts to enrich uranium. This time around, despite a letter of intent delivered on Sunday by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- the United Nations anti-proliferation watchdog -- European leaders are a bit more cautious in their reactions. There are two reasons for Europe's wariness: First, Iran's announcement is a unilateral decision rather than an inked agreement -- negotiations to achieve such an agreement will continue on December 15 -- and Iran continues to insist on its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. Second, Iran itself indicated on Monday that the move was voluntary and that the suspension would be brief. "Accepting the suspension is a politically motivated move," said Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi. What motivation is Asefi talking about? The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Nov. 25 to discuss possible sanctions against Iran stemming from its nuclear program. (2:20 p.m. CET)

US To Reject ElBaradei

Meanwhile, the US government is seeking to prevent IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei from getting a third term as head of the nuclear watchdog. The Egyptian, in office since 1997, is hated in some Bush administration circles. American hardliners resent him over his statements early on that he doubted Saddam Hussein had a nuclear program. Worse yet, he went public with news that a major stockpile of weapons had been stolen right under the noses of US troops in Iraq just before the presidential election, leading some to accuse him of partisan politicking aimed at killing Bush's re-election chances. That's a charge he has firmly denied. Nevertheless, US diplomats have told the European Union they will vote against an additional term for ElBaradei. (2 p.m. CET)

ETA Cries 'Uncle'?

A new proposal to end the decades-long, violent struggle to establish an independent Basque territory in north-western Spain comes from an unexpected source. Speaking before thousands of supporters in a sports stadium in San Sebastian on Sunday, Arnaldo Otegi, head of the banned party Batasuna, called for negotiations between the separatist group ETA and the Spanish and French governments to end the 36-year-old conflict. An eight-page proposal also calls for a demilitarization of the conflict with an eye toward an eventual referendum on the future of Basque territories. Batasuna, however, stopped short of condemning ETA violence, which has killed 850 people since 1968, and also avoided the ceasefire declaration some had expected. The new declaration puts pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's seven-month-old Socialist government, which has consistently ruled out negotiations with ETA. ETA has been severely weakened this year through the arrest of over 100 suspected members and the capture in early October of ETA boss Mikel Albisu Iriarte, aka "Mikel Antza." (1:30 p.m.)

Casting Spells in Parliament

Since 1989, Romanian politicians have struggled mostly in vain to improve the country's economy. Witchcraft may be the ultimate answer. Timisoara Velcu, a powerful gypsy and a practicing witch from the southern industrial city of Craiova, is running for Romania's upper house of parliament in the general elections to be held on Nov. 28. "I inherited this gift (of witchcraft) from my mother and I will use my powers a little bit to make sure I get elected," she said. She is hoping to also use her powers to improve the lot of Romania's 2 million gypsies, who are largely unrepresented in Romania and often live in abject poverty. Velcu is one of dozens of gypsies running in this year's election, a dramatic change after years of political apathy among the socially marginalized gypsy population. Velcu's husband, Vasile Velcu Nazdravan, admits he is a bit afraid of his wife's powers and is backing his wife's candidacy. He is a candidate for Romania's lower house of parliament. (12:43 p.m.)

Should Mosques Preach in German?

The trouble with Islamic fundamentalists is that you've got to speak the language to penetrate their cells -- a frustrating daily reality for German secret service agents trying to keep tabs on extremism in the country. With Holland in the midst of an identity crisis over the killing of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, politicians in Germany are doing some soul searching of their own. "We can't continue to allow that languages are used in preaching in mosques that aren't understood outside the Islamic community," Annette Schavan, the deputy chairwoman of the conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union said this weekend. "In a free society, everyone has to be ready to make themselves understood in the country's language. She said the government must do what it can to prevent the growth of "parallel societies" while at the same time offering Muslim youth perspectives for the future. "But van Gogh's assassination and its consequences show that that's a challenging job," she said. Schavan's proposal has been greeted with considerable controversy in Germany. Cornelie Sonntag-Wolgast, the domestic policy spokeswoman for the ruling Social Democrats, described the proposal as "very dangerous," adding, "we can't just suspect that someone is an agitator or hooligan just because he speaks Arabic." Schavan also seems to have forgotten that a number of Catholic churches in Germany still celebrate Mass in Latin. There are also hundreds of churches across the country that hold services in English and other languages that aren't German. (11:10 a.m. CET)

German Economy has Emphysema

The debate in Germany about how to increase work hours, and thus give a boost to the country's lagging economy, is approaching the absurd. Two weeks after the government seriously considered canceling the country's Reunification Day, a new proposal, put forth in the Sunday tabloid Bild am Sonntag by Norbert Walter, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, is threatening another national institution: the cigarette break. According to Walter, employees shouldn't expect employers to pay for their coffee, tea or cigarette breaks. In fact, he says, if workers punch out for their fix, labor costs would sink. Parliamentarian Michael Fuchs of the conservative Christian Democrats praised the proposal, saying it is unfair to non-smokers that smokers get paid for their breaks. "After all," he said "there is enough free time in the day when one can smoke." Leading German economists on Monday were likewise urging a return to the 40 hour workweek saying such a move could increase Germany's economic performance by up to 5 percent. (10:30 a.m. CET)

Iraq Update

For the first time, a leading Iraqi politician has indicated that the elections in Iraq, scheduled for January 27, may be postponed if violence continues. Speaking to the British newspaper The Guardian, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said that while holding elections was a clear obligation, "nearer the (election) time, the Iraqi government, the United Nations, the independent election commission and the national assembly will have to engage in a real and hard-headed dialogue to assess the situation." Salih, however, holds out hope that the violence that is currently gripping Iraq may die down by January.

Meanwhile, US troops in Fallujah have come across the mutilated corpse of a woman that may be the body of kidnapped CARE head Margaret Hassan, who was captured on October 19. The only other western woman known to have been kidnapped in Iraq is 54-year-old Pole Teresa Borcz Khalifa, who, like Hassan, is married to an Iraqi.

In a more uplifting note, the Arab news channel al-Jazeera is reporting that two female relatives of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi have been released. Allawi's male cousin, Ghazi Allawi -- kidnapped on Nov. 2 -- remains in captivity. Ghazi Allawi's wife and pregnant daughter-in-law have been released. (10:10 a.m. CET)

Germany Renews Participation in War on Terror