Backpedaling on Polanski: The French have thought better of their initial support for filmmaker and admitted child molester Roman Polanski. When the dual Polish-French citizen was arrested in Switzerland on a U.S. extradition request, France formally urged the U.S. to drop the case, and thousands of politicians, artists, and intellectuals signed a petition saying Polanski was being persecuted because of his fame. But most ordinary French citizens didn’t share that sentiment: Letters to newspapers and comments on websites have been overwhelmingly in favor of sending Polanski back to the U.S. President Nicolas Sarkozy now says he won’t try to intervene in the extradition process. Polanski fled in 1978 after pleading guilty to charges that he had sex with a 13-year-old girl.
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New doubts about the shroud: Those who believe the Shroud of Turin is the actual cloth that covered Jesus in the tomb are facing a new challenge to their faith. The shroud was first discovered in 1360, and carbon dating done in 1988 indicated it was made around the time it was found. But many people still insist that only a miracle could account for the cloth’s full-body image of a bearded, crucified man. Italian chemist Luigi Garlaschelli has now created a replica of the shroud using materials and techniques available in the 14th century. “Many people believe the shroud has unexplainable characteristics that cannot be reproduced by human means,” he said. “The result obtained clearly indicates that this could be done with the use of inexpensive materials and with a quite simple procedure.”
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