Vatican unveils Pope's Twitter account @pontifex

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20581755

A spokesman said Pope Benedict XVI wanted to "reach out to everyone" with tweets translated into eight languages.
The first tweet from his account, whose name means both pontiff and builder of bridges, is expected on 12 December.
Last year, the Pope sent his first tweet last year from a Vatican account to launch the Holy See's news information portal.
"We are going to get a spiritual message. The Pope is not going to be walking around with a Blackberry or an iPad and no-one is going to be putting words into the Pope's mouth," Greg Burke, senior media advisor to the Vatican said.
"He will tweet what he wants to tweet," he added, though the leader of the world's 1.2 billion or so Roman Catholics is expected to sign off, rather than write, each individual tweet himself.

Unicorn lair 'discovered' in North Korea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/30/unicorn-lair-discovered-north-korea

In what appears to be a genuine world exclusive, the inimitable Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has now broken the incredible news that archaeologists in Pyongyang have discovered a unicorn's lair.
Or rather, the report says that they have "recently reconfirmed" the lair of one of the unicorns ridden by the ancient Korean King Tongmyong, founder of a kingdom which ruled parts of China and the Korean peninsula from the the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD.
The KCNA goes on to state that the location happens to be 200 metres from a temple in the North Korean capital, adding: "A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair."

Spain reveals shipwreck treasure

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20561014

Spanish authorities have revealed some of the treasures from a ship that sank more than 200 years ago.

The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes galleon sank off Portugal's coast near the straits of Gibraltar in 1804 with more than 500,000 silver coins.
Spain won a five-year legal dispute to claim ownership for the treasures found by a US firm.
Only a small portion of the treasure, estimated to be worth $500m (£310m; 385m euros) has been displayed.

Building tensions: Israel authorizes construction of 3,000 new settlements

http://rt.com/news/israel-settlement-expansion-palestine-991/

Israeli authorities will allow the construction of 3,000 new settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The decision follows Thursday’s UN General Assembly vote to upgrade Palestinians’ diplomatic status to ‘non-member observer state’.
Celebrations within Palestine that the UN has implicitly recognized its right to statehood might be short-lived according to the latest Israeli media reports.
Apart from approving construction on 3,000 new housing units in the occupied territories, Israel’s “security cabinet,” a forum of nine top Israeli ministers lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will also go ahead with planning procedures for another 1,000 housing units in the area E1 that connects Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim.

Advent calendar: 1st of December

The advent calendar updates daily at this page.