Pond Powder Claims Puffed

And now some fresh pickings from the grapevine:

Pond Powder Claims Puffed

More than a year after former military scientist Steven Hatfill (search) was named a, "person of interest" in the hunt to solve the 2001 anthrax attacks, the director of the FBI's Washington field office now says he regrets that happened, according to The Washington Post.

Michael Mason…who became director this month but who has been with the FBI for 18 years…says, "There is absolutely zero value to coming forward with names or definitions of persons of interest."

After all, Mason says, "It's very hard to take that back if you're wrong."

Israelis See Bleak Future

A new poll shows that the vast majority of Israelis have a bleak view of their country's future.

The poll…conducted by the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in Israel and quoted in London's Telegraph…shows 73 percent of Israelis believe their children will not enjoy a better future. And, nearly 66 percent of Israelis believe the Palestinian uprising will either continue or worsen in the next year.

What's more, Israelis are split down the middle over whether their leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (search), is trustworthy enough to end the crisis in Israel.

Bias at the BBC?

The BBC is once again being accused of bias…but this time it's not for anti-war or anti-American bias... it's for anti-Catholic bias.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, England, the most reverend Vincent Nichols, is blasting the British network for, "aggressive and antagonistic" attitudes toward Catholicism, especially in three new shows: One program is about child abuse in the English Church, one documentary is called Sex and the Holy City, and one cartoon, called Popetown, caricatures the Pope.

Nichols, quoted in the Scotsman newspaper, says, "the Catholic community is fed up" and, "enough is enough."

The BBC denies any such claims of bias, saying, "We take great care to reflect all faiths in the UK and plan to celebrate the silver jubilee of Pope John Paul II (search)."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report