The array of 13 pieces is expected to attract great interest and could fetch thousands of pounds at an auction next month.

Among them is a self-portrait by the infamous German leader. Signed with the initials A.H., the picture of a man sitting on a stone bridge appears to depict the Austrian-born politician’s trademark side-parting.

Several of the other paintings – mainly landscapes – are signed A. Hitler in the corner.

The works were liberated in 1945 by a soldier from the Royal Manchester Regiment, which was stationed in Essen, Germany, at the time.

They were then sold to a collector, who put them in his garage and forgot about them until now.

Their report says troops ordered the boy to walk in front of them for several hours under fire, entering buildings and opening suspect packages.

The UN team responsible for protection of children in war zones says it found “hundreds” of similar violations.

An Israeli military spokesman dismissed the UN findings as inaccurate and politically motivated.

“The report claims to examine Israel’s actions while it wilfully ignores and downplays the terrorist and other threats we face,” Ambassador Aharon Leshno Yaar told the UN’s 47-nation Human Rights Council.

The demand for resources will create a crisis with dire consequences, Prof Beddington predicts.

Demand for food and energy will jump 50 per cent by 2030 and for fresh water by 30 per cent, as the global population tops 8.3 billion. Climate change will exacerbate matters in unpredictable ways.

“There’s not going to be a complete collapse, but things will start getting really worrying if we don’t tackle these problems. My main concern is what will happen internationally, there will be food and water shortages,” he said.

He said we need more disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants and better practices, better harvesting procedures. Prof Beddington said the “storm” would create war, unrest and mass migration.

Growing populations and success in alleviating poverty in the Third World will create huge demand for food and water in the next two decades with climate change depleting resources.

He said food reserves are at a 50-year low but the world requires 50 per cent more energy, food and water by 2030.

The United Nations Environment Program predicts widespread water shortages across Africa, Europe and Asia by 2025. The amount of fresh water available per head of the population is expected to decline sharply in that time.

Business interests said to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee that with a growing number of Texas workers getting laid off, some might start shooting if they had a gun stowed in their car. Proponents said that as crime grows with the deepening recession, they need a pistol to make it safely to and from work.

Sen. Glenn Hegar said that despite the opposition, “having a weapon locked in your car does not mean it will be an unsafe work environment.”

Luke Bellsnyder, executive director of the Texas Association of Manufacturers, which represents 300 businesses that employ 900,000 Texans, said the measure would infringe on an employer’s right to keep workers safe and set the rules on the property.

Noting the danger that a stray bullet could pose at some manufacturing plants, Hector Rivera, president and CEO of the Texas Chemical Council, said many plants “don’t even allow security guards at our facilities to carry weapons, to guard against an accidental discharge.”

Patterson said that the measure should be enacted to prevent employers from restricting the rights of licensed Texans to carry concealed firearms. At least 10 other states have such a law.

At the UM primatology lab in Missoula, researchers have successfully organized 100 chimpanzees into a group which can process pieces of paper, each of which indicates through its color and shape different living factors, such as feeding schedules and mating arrangements.

In this case, the hairy junior legislators are given packs of the coded paper, which they then sort, evaluate and accept or reject. The process, punctuated by alternating bursts of hooting and activity and deep, refletive silence, continues to astonish primatologists and political scientists alike.

Dr. Roy Conway, a professor of Political Economy at UM serves as an advisor to the project. “This incredible organization of the chimps is even more impressive when you consider that they are able to democratically organize every facet of their lives at a rate of speed which shames any organized human government,” he said.

Indeed, “meeting” only once every two weeks, the chimps are able to decided what they eat and when, which chimps will mate, where toys and other items are stored in the enclosure, which humans are allowed in the enclosure and over 30 other “bills” in less than 36 hours.

By contrast, on average the U.S. Senate takes 10 months to consider and approve a bill.

The MSI-Fiamma Tricolore party, the descendant of Mussolini’s fascist party, said the initiative in the poor, southern region of Basilicata was meant to keep alive names “at risk of extinction” and pay tribute to the movement’s roots.

“Benito and Rachele are nice names and I hope our original initiative will get people going,” said party official Vincenzo Mancusi.

Mussolini ruled from 1922 to 1943 when he was ousted after leading Italy to ruin by entering World War Two as an ally of Germany. He was executed along with his mistress Claretta Petacci in 1945. His widow Rachele died in 1979.

Under a draft law approved by the Socialist-led government, about 3,300 inmates with light sentences or nearing the end of their terms will be released, the cabinet said in a statement.

Criminals serving time for murder or assault will stay in jail. The amnesty also aims at marking the 130th anniversary of the Justice Ministry in 2009 and is in line with prepared amendments to the penal code, the statement said.

Some 12,000 people in the Balkan country of 7.6 million are behind bars.

The draft law needs parliament approval. A previous government attempt to free about 1,500 prisoners to mark

Bulgaria’s EU accession in 2007 failed after deputies rejected the plan as populist.

Obama has promised his daughters a new pet but one of his daughters is allergic to most breeds, he said Friday while speculating the type of dog that they would choose.

The hairless Peruvian breed can be dated back to 3,000 years and is often depicted in Hispanic murals and ceramics and due to its lack of hair, it is tolerable for people that have allergies.
“They do not cause any type of allergy and are very friendly and sweet,” said Claudia Galvez, 38, director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association.

“We want to give a male puppy to Obama’s daughters, so they get to experience all the joys of having a dog but without any allergies.”

Galvez has sent a letter to the US Embassy in Peru detailing her offer and hopes Obama will accept it. She has a 4-month-old puppy that she is looking forward to send to the Obama family who has been given the name “Ears” because of his large, perky ears.

“But if we send it to the United States, its official name will be Machu Picchu,” she said, referring to the ancient Incan citadel, Peru’s top tourist attraction.

Page Six Reports:

“There are several of our imprints who are eager to talk to Governor Palin,” Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum said. “She clearly has a constituency and we know books by conservatively-centered politicos usually sell very, very well.”
Public-relations powerhouse Howard Rubenstein added, “She’s poised to make a ton of money.” But he warned, “She ought to keep an eye on what her goals are for 2012. If she plays a game and looks foolish, if she sounds like she doesn’t know what she’s talking about – like saying Africa is a country – she may talk herself out of a political job.”
Linda Mann, president of Mann Media, which books celebrities and fashionistas for TV, noted, “Her buzz is incredible. She has car-wreck appeal. You’re compelled to watch, hoping she’ll say the dumbest things possible. I’d propose a show combining her love of fashion and lack of brainpower – ‘Project Dumbway.’ “