UN: 227 MILLION ESCAPED SLUMS IN 2000's - The UN Habitat Agency reports that over a quarter of a billion people escaped from slums over the last decade. The report attributes this positive development to massive investments in housing by India and China. Sadly the number of people escaping slums during this period was more than offset by the number of people born into them plus the number of people fleeing the country for the city. Link

BURMA FREES JAILED U.S. ACTIVIST - Burma's military authorities have freed and deported Nyi Nyi Aung, an American activist who was arrested in Burma in September for allegedly forging an ID card. In December 50 U.S. law makers appealed to the Burmese government for his release. The man was a student activist during the 1988 uprising; his mother is still in prison in Burma for her role in a 2007 uprising. Link

HUMAN EGG RAFFLE SPARKS CONTROVERSY - A U.S. fertility clinic sparked international controversy for raffling off a human egg as a door prize at a fertility seminar in the UK. The winner gets one free IVF cycle in Virginia. Some people dispute that the contest is technically a raffle, because no tickets were sold for the draw. The winner will be selected randomly from among the participants at the seminar. Link

FUTURE POPE ALLOWED ALLEGED CHILD MOLESTER PRIEST KEEP WORKING WITH KIDS - Circa 1980, a German priest named Peter Hullermann was accused of abusing children in the Diocese of Essen. The then-archbishop of Munich and future pope, Joseph Ratzinger, reviewed Hullermann's case and allowed him to transfer to Munich and keep working with children. Six years later, Hullermann was convicted of child sexual abuse. Yet was allowed to return to full pastoral duties almost immediately. Ratzinger wasn't just the archbishop before he became pope. He also headed the Vatican body charged with investigating child sex abuse allegations. Hullermann was only unmasked on Sunday when a man whom the priest was scheduled to marry, stood up in the pews and denounced him as an abuser. He was fired yesterday. Link

THAI PROTESTERS POUR HUMAN BLOOD ON GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS - They said there would be blood. Sure enough, supporters of the former prime minister of Thailand poured their own donated blood outside a government building to publicize their demand for new elections. Nurses drew small amounts of blood from volunteers. The blood was collected in buckets and ceremonially poured outside the gate of the current prime minister's office, outside his home, and outside the headquarters of the ruling political party. Now that's what I call political theater. Link

CSI MICROBES: GERM FINGERPRINTS MAY HELP CATCH CRIMINALS - Scientists have discovered that each of us leaves a unique germ signature on everything we touch. So unique is each person's microbial trail that our grimy trails may be used to help catch criminals. A recent study showed that the average person carries 150 species of bacteria on their hands and only 13% of those species are shared by any two people. This discovery could help solve crimes when no DNA or fingerprints can be recovered from the scene. Link

UN CALLS FOR WAR CRIMES PROBE OF BURMA - The UN Special Rapporteur for Burma calling for a war crimes probe of the country. Tomás Ojea Quintana issued a draft report accusing Burma of systematic human rights abuses and urging the Security Council to investigate further. Ojea's call for an inquiry came after the ruling junta tightened the law so as to exclude Nobe laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Siu Kyi from the upcoming election. Link

ANGLO SAXONS, 51; VIKINGS, 0 - The skeletons of 51 decapitated Vikings were found in a burial pit in Dorset last June, UK. Only recently did Oxford archaeologists determine that they were Vikings. You may be wondering: How did they know? Did they find a bunch of horned helmets? No, the archaeologists examined teeth from the detached skulls and determined that the owners grew up somewhere much colder than Dorset. These and other clues led the investigators to surmise that the deceased were Scandinavian Vikings who perished between AD 910 and AD 1030. Link

TALKING TUNA AND IVORY IN QATAR - The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is underway in Qatar. These talks may determine the fate of over 40 threatened lifeforms, from tuna to elephants and rhinos. After many years of relative neglect, the convention is finally turning to the well-being of marine creatures. Sharks are a hot item this year. Link

AUNG SAN SUU KYI BANNED FROM BURMAN ELECTION - The ruling junta of Burma issued a new law barring pro-democracy leader, and onetime democratically elected leader of the country, Aung San Suu Kyi from running in the upcoming elections. Specifically, the law forbids Suu Kyi from joining a political party, which conveniently disqualifies her from running. Link

DELAY ON U.S./RUSSIA ARMS PACT - Negotiators for U.S. and Russia are making another push to achieve an arms pact. They've set themselves the goal of reaching a deal by the end of the month. The two sides seemed very close to an accord last month. So close, in fact, that President Obama personally called Russian Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev, thinking he was about to close the deal. To the president's surprise, the Medvedev wasn't ready to sign yet. Link

POPE'S BROTHER ENSNARED IN ABUSE SCANDAL - The Vatican is investigating a major abuse scandal, one that implicates the Pope's brother. The pope's brother led a famous boy's choir. He has admitted to slapping some of the boys across the face. The Vatican has retained an independent investigator to determine what was going on in the choir and who knew about it. Link