Pete Doherty, of all people, is set to give a lecture this Friday at Trinity College Dublin as the guest of the University Philosophical Society, not the chemistry department. He follows in the footsteps of dignified writers, entertainers, and political figures including: Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Helen Mirren, and John McCain.

We haven't quite worked out just what this school could have been thinking inviting the UK's biggest celebrity junky into their classrooms to speak on his philosophies on life, but nevertheless, he will in fact be there. According to the university website, Doherty will talk about "life, love and much more."

Pete is currently making rounds on a promotional tour to support his debut solo album, "Grace/Wastelands", which is set to be released March 16. He is currently living in both the French capital and his Wiltshire country home.

According to a senior official in Brussels on Thursday, Iceland could join the European Union by 2011 if its governement applies to join this year. Their application would be fast-tracked, and according to EU Commssioner Olli Rehn, they would be welcomed with open arms, despite their recent catastrophic banking and currency collapse.

Expectations in Brussels are that Iceland could submit a formal application after a general election in May, as long as a pro-EU government is returned to power. The application process typically takes many years. Croatia is expected to become the 28th member in 2010, and has been carrying out a number of internal reforms in order to meet the entry criteria.

If Iceland were to apply however, they could jump the queue of other candidate countries, including Bosnia, Turkey, and Macedonia. According to Rehn, the EU prefers two countries joining at the same time rather than individually, so if Iceland can get in their application they could join along with Croatia.

Rehn said of Iceland:

“It is one of the oldest democracies in the world and its strategic and economic positions would be an asset to the EU.”

More than 1,000 students at South Devon College in Paignton, England were taught how to pole dance at school. The school invited a pole dancing company, The Art of Dance, to give lessons to students during lunchtime as a part of the school's "Be Healthy Week".

1,000 students aged 14 to 19 packed in the main public area of the school for the first performance by company owner Sam Remmer.

A number of teachers complained about the pole-dancing.

Remmer told the Daily Mail, "When we returned after the first performance we were asked to display in a different area as we were told there had been complaints. On querying the nature of the complaints I was told that most of them had come from members of staff who had not actually seen our displays but had just assumed that they were inappropriate for their students."

According to Remmer, many students recorded video of the performance on their mobile phones. Staff complained that after the performance, students were more interested in watching videos of it on their phones than in paying attention in class.

When Remmer returned two days later for another performance, she was asked to move the show into the sports hall and away from the main public area due to the complains.

When most of the government of Iceland up and quit last week, the country was left without a leader. Now the economically devastated country has appointed an "out and proud" lesbian to serve as their interim Prime Minister.

When the country first began spiralling towards collapse, Johanna Sigurdardottir became the public face of the people's revolution in Iceland. Sigurdardottir, 66, had been the country's social affairs minister, and now holds the highest office in the country.

While its unlikely she'll remain in office after the election in May (her party isn't doing so well in the polls), she's already made history by becoming the first openly gay leader in the world.

While serving as social affairs minister, Sigurdardottir was well-liked and known for allocating large amounts of government funding to programs such as domestic abuse prevention and aid for the disabled.

Sigurdardottir currently lives with her partner, a journalist, and two children from a previous marriage.

Boy George was found guilty of false imprisonment in December 2008, and was today sentenced to serve 15 months in jail. Tried under his real name - George O'Dowd - the former Culture Club singer will begin serving his sentence right away.

The incident leading up to the trial and now sentencing occurred in April 2007 at O'Dowd's east London flat, where he is said to have tied up, beaten, and falsely imprisoned a man he invited to the property. Audun Carlsen, 29, a male escort, told the court how he was tied to the singer's bed after being accused of obtaining private photos from his laptop. Carlsen claims that O'Dowd said, "Fucking whore! Now you're going to get what you deserve."

During the trial, O'Dowd, 47, chose not to present evidence and refused to speak publicly about the case. He mentioned the case just once, with a brief reference at his last gig at London's Pigalle club on December 17, when he said:

"I like to think you can say a lot by saying nothing. I'll just say this: none of us are defined by our mistakes."

Photo: The University College Hospital in London where the child was born.

The first known child to have been screened as an embryo for the BRCA-1 gene, the gene which often causes breast and ovarian cancer, was born this week in Great Britain. A spokesman for the University College London told media that the girl was screened through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, a process that tests a group of embryos created through in vitro fertilization when each contains eight cells.

The cells are tested, and only those which are free of the BRCA-1 gene are returned to the mother's womb.

Around the world, doctors already test for genes causing an array of diseases including Huntington's Disease and Cystic Fibrosis, but this is the first time that a child has been known to have been tested for a gene that is only likely to cause disease.

Those with the BRCA-1 Gene have a 50 to 80 percent chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer in their lifetime. The UK media is calling the child the "cancer-free" girl, which is inaccurate. The girl could still develop a non-genetic form of either breast or ovarian cancer.

Russian Professor Predicts the US Will Collapse & Split Into Six Parts in 2010

While the Russian economy continues to tumble, Igor Panarin, a Russian professor, is being pushed out into the limelight of Putin's state media to make bold predictions of a United States collapse in 2010.

So what's the professor got to say? He believes that when times get tough, rich states like California and New York will withhold funds from the federal government, which would lead to collapse and civil war. The U.S. would thus dissolve into six distinct parts:

1. Atlantic America: Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Vermont, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, the District of Columbia, and Tennesee. He says they might even join the European Union.
2. The Central-North American Republic: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. He says this area would be a part of Canada or under Canadian influence.

On Thursday experts indicated that Russia is now headed towards a major economic crisis, following news that the price of oil had fallen below $50 a barrel. The collapse of the value of oil is said to have several catastraphoic consequences for Russia, including a severe drop in living standards next year and a possible devaluation of the rouble.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin insisted that the country's economy was still robust. Speaking at a meeting of the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party, Putin told delegates in Moscow that Russia would survive the current global financial crisis, which he blamed on the United States.

The Kremlin, however, is aware that any loss of confidence in the Russian economy would also lead to a loss in confidence in Putin and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

Putin said that his administration would do everything possible to prevent a recurrence of Russia's last oil-related financial crash in 1998, however the continually dropping price of oil leaves him few available options. Experts now suggest that Russia's economy is facing profound difficulities, despite two massive stabilization funds accumulated during the booming oil years.

It's been little more than a month since Madonna and Guy Ritchie revealed publicly that they would be getting divorced, but a judge granted the couple the divorce Friday, officially ending their eight year marriage.

District Judge Caroline Reid pronounced the degree nisi in the uncontested divorce at the family division of the High Court in London. The case was listed as Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S, and was among 17 cases read out by a court clerk.

The judge then asked if anyone wished to show just cause against the decrees or raise the question of costs, and then said "I therefore pronounce the decrees." Neither Madonna nor Ritchie attended the hearing, which they are not required to do by law. The hearing lasted under a minute, and has to be one of the quickest high-profile divorces on record.

Madonna, 50, and Ritchie, 40, married at a Scottish castle in December 2000 in a lavish ceremony, and announced mid-October that they were divorcing. Together they have an eight year old son, Rocco, and a three year old adpoted son, David Banda. Madonna also has a 12 year old daughter, Lourdes, by her former trainer Carlos Leon.

Now that the split is official, will Madonna start stepping out more often with rumored boy toy Alex Rodriguez?

Photo: Michael being escorted by his royal hosts in Bahrain in 2005.

Back in 2005, Michael Jackson fled the US and stayed for six months in Bahrain with Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa in an attempt to keep a low profile after being acquitted of child abuse allegations. While there, the Sheikh reportedly put together a recording studio and paid Jackson an advance of around 7 million to create new material. He also wanted Jackson to write an autobiography.

Needless to say, Jackson never followed through on the new music or the book and the Sheikh is now claiming that Jacko simply took the money and ran. As a result, he's going to bring a lawsuit before the High Court in London on Monday.

What does Jackson have to say about all this? He apparently thinks that the money was given to him as a "gift."

If Michael lands up in court again, expect another great circus to ensue.