Vatican condemns New Moon as a “deviant moral vacuum”

November 20th, 2009 LONDON - The Roman Catholic Church has expressed concerns over the growing popularity of the "Twilight" series, as Vatican officials have called the vampire franchise a "moral vacuum with a deviant message". The worldwide hype of the series has drawn criticism from the Vatican, with officials urging parents to be more vigilant about the type of films their children are watching, reports imdb.com.

November 10th, 2009 Pope prays to musical accompaniment in new CDROME — Pope Benedict XVI sings and prays along to a mix of modern music and ancient church chants in a new album presented Tuesday before its release at the end of the month. The album, entitled "Alma Mater — Music from the Vatican," includes eight original pieces of contemporary music, interwoven with Gregorian chants and the pope's voice.

October 30th, 2009 SIR IAN MCKELLEN's penchant for ripping out pages of the Bibles he finds in hotel rooms has caught on - fans send him sections of text they've removed. The openly gay Lord of the Rings star tears out a section of Leviticus, which condemns homosexuality, whenever he finds the good book in hotel suites - and his small-scale vandalism has inspired others to do the same.

October 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Don't get excited the next time you buy something green, for although it might feel altruistic, chances are that you may behave badly afterwards. A new study found that buying products that claim to be made with low environmental impact could set up "moral credentials" in people's minds that give license to selfish or questionable behaviour.

August 22nd, 2009 Cuba condemns threats against Juanes over concertHAVANA — Cuba is condemning threats made against Colombian pop singer Juanes, who plans to stage a "Peace Without Borders" concert next month in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution. Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto blamed anti-Castro exiles in the United States for the threats and said the Sept.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Who rocker Keith Moon has been voted 'The Wildest Drummer Ever' in a new magazine poll. Moon, who passed away in 1978, has beaten Motley Crue's Tommy Lee and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin to top Rhythm magazine's poll.

July 31st, 2009 LONDON - Pop legend Michael Jackson was in advanced talks with a space scientist in a desperate bid to do his famous moonwalk on the moon before he died, says his friend. The singer wanted to beat his rivals into space by actually making it first to the moon to do his famous dance move in a $1.97 billion project, reported newsoftheworld.co.uk.

July 31st, 2009 Geffen to release album featuring Benedict XVILONDON — Pope Benedict XVI will release an album on which he sings and recites prayers to the Virgin Mary, his label said Friday. The pontiff's as-yet-untitled album also includes eight original pieces of contemporary classical music, Geffen/Universal said.

July 20th, 2009 Jones won't fly to the moon _ but his music didWASHINGTON — Quincy Jones won't fly to the moon — but his music did. As the crew of Apollo 11 rocketed toward their historic moon landing on July 20, 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin listened to Jones' arrangement of Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon." In a phone interview from Marbella, Spain, Jones told AP Radio that when he heard the news from Sinatra, it was "like something that's surrealistic.

July 14th, 2009 LONDON - The latest in the wizard film franchise, 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', has been approved by the Vatican, which said that it was the best adaptation yet of JK Rowling's hit novels. L'Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Vatican City that is ruled by the Pope, stated that the film's treatment of adolescent love achieved the "correct balance", and made the story more credible to the general audience.

June 11th, 2009 Aldrin marks moon trip anniversary with the PopsBOSTON — Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon 40 years ago. Now he's celebrating with some moon tunes performed by the Boston Pops.

June 6th, 2009 NEW YORK - David Carradine, who was found dead in his Bangkok Hotel room with a rope around his genitals, was a fan of "potentially deadly" deviant sex acts, his ex-wife claimed in court papers. TheSmokingGun.com on Friday uncovered her 2003 filing - which also claimed Carradine and a close relative shared an incestuous relationship, reports The New York Daily News.

May 5th, 2009 'Angels & Demons' premieres in Rome with Tom HanksROME — Fake Swiss Guards stood at attention on the red carpet as "Angels & Demons," the thriller based on the Dan Brown best-selling novel of the same name, had its world premiere. Brown joined actors Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor and director Ron Howard at Rome's auditorium Monday to screen the film, which has already sparked controversy over Howard's charge that the Vatican interfered with getting film permits to shoot scenes in Rome.

May 4th, 2009 Ron Howard: Vatican obstructed 'Angels & Demons'ROME — Director Ron Howard claimed Sunday that the Vatican interfered with efforts to get permits to shoot certain scenes of his "Angels & Demons" religious thriller in Rome — a charge the Vatican said was purely a publicity stunt. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and is based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, has its world premiere Monday in Rome.

May 4th, 2009 Angels & Demons director Howard accuses VaticanROME — Director Ron Howard claimed Sunday that the Vatican interfered with efforts to get permits to shoot certain scenes of his "Angels & Demons" religious thriller in Rome — a charge the Vatican said was purely a publicity stunt. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and is based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, has its world premiere Monday in Rome.