My Way News - China to Continue Modernizing Military
AP reports: "China said Friday it will strengthen its military to thwart any attempt by Taiwan to push for independence, but vowed that it was committed to the peaceful development of the world's largest army." [Kings of the East, Rev 16:12]

Space War - Iran Becomes Regional Superpower
RIA Novosti reports, "Iran may become one of the top 10 features of the outgoing year for a number of reasons, including its nuclear dossier and the Holocaust conference, as well as the anti-Israeli rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In short, Iran has made others view it as a regional superpower and the key player in the Middle East." [Persia/Iran, Ezekiel 38:5]

As we continue to monitor the status of the belligerents in the Ezekiel War, here is an update on Russian nuclear forces from Space War and RIA Novosti:

According to official figures, as of July 1, 2006, Russia had 760 strategic missile systems capable of carrying 3,360 nuclear warheads. Of them, 502 are with the Strategic Missile Force and are tipped with 1,852 nuclear warheads. The Navy has 12 strategic missile carriers with ballistic missiles that can carry 636 nuclear warheads. The Air Force has 78 strategic bombers and 872 long-range cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads. As President Vladimir Putin said recently, the country's nuclear missile shield reliably protects the national interests of Russia and its allies.

Space War - Rift Valley Fever Outbreak Toll Rises To 24 In Northern Kenya
AFP reports, "An outbreak of Rift Valley fever has killed at least 24 people in northeastern Kenya in the past two weeks, officials said Wednesday, as medics were rushed to the region to contain the situation." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

My Way News - Somalia Government Advances on Capital
AP reports: "Clan leaders considered abandoning Islamic militias who control the Somali capital and throwing their support to government forces, which advanced to within striking distance of this beleaguered city Wednesday." [Wars and Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6]

My Way News - Abbas Proposes Closed Talks With Israel: AP reports: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proposed Wednesday that he start closed-door talks with Israel on some of their most difficult disputes including the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. [...] Recent weeks have seen a growing momentum toward reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Taiwan Quake Severs Communications Lines: AP reports: "Undersea fiber-optic cables were damaged by a powerful earthquake off the southern tip of Taiwan, causing the largest outage of telephone and Internet service in years and demonstrating the vulnerability of the global telecommunications network." [Quakes, Matthew 24:7]

Solar Cycle Heats Up
NASA Science News: Evidence is mounting: the next solar cycle is going to be a big one. [Signs in the Sun, Luke 21:25]

Pandemic: Then and Now
As the U.S. prepare for a possible new flu pandemic (My Way News - State Pandemic Preparations Vary Widely), survivors look back on the flu pandemic of 1918 (My Way News - Survivors Recall Horror of Flu Pandemic).

My Way News - State Pandemic Preparations Vary Widely
AP reports: "States and communities are getting creative as they struggle to answer the Bush administration's call to prepare for the next influenza pandemic, whether the culprit is the much-feared Asian bird flu or some other super-strain." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

WorldNetDaily: North American Union leader says merger just crisis away

This is an interview with Robert Pastor, a professor at American University in Washington, DC. The story has a lot of links to documents that concern the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Is the NAU a possible kernel for the united-world regime of the Monster of the Sea (Revelation 13:1-7)? More likely, it's the sort of sub-federation that will join with the European Union to form something much larger.

My Way News - Ban Sworn in As U.N. Secretary-General
AP reports: "South Korea's Ban Ki-moon took the oath of office as the next secretary-general of the United Nations on Thursday, promising to restore the organization's tarnished reputation and push for peace in the Middle East and Darfur." [Global Government, Rev 13:7; 17]

My Way News - EU Wants a Middle East Free of WMDs
AP reports: "The European Union called Thursday for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, responding to recent comments by the Israeli prime minister that have been interpreted as acknowledging his country has a nuclear arsenal." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Palestinians Fire Rocket Into Israel
AP reports: "Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel at dawn Thursday, the Israeli military said, a violation of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip."

My Way News - Putin Inspects Russia's Latest Missiles
AP reports: "President Vladimir Putin on Thursday inspected Russia's top-of-the line intercontinental ballistic missiles, hailing their ability to penetrate prospective missile defenses." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6; King of the North, Ezekiel 38:3/Daniel 11:40]

VOA News - Israeli PM Visits Rome to Discuss Mideast Peace
VOA reports: "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Italian prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome to discuss the Middle East peace process. Prodi said the present status quo is in no way sustainable." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Iran President: Israel Will Be Wiped Out
AP reports: "Iran's hard-line president said Tuesday that Israel will one day be 'wiped out' as the Soviet Union was, drawing applause from participants in a conference casting doubt on the Holocaust." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6; Persia/Iran, Ezekiel 38:5]

Scotsman.com News - Germany to renew Mideast peace efforts -Merkel
Reuters reports: "Germany will use its presidency of the European Union next year to launch new efforts aimed at helping secure peace in the Middle East, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a regular video podcast on Saturday." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Small Nuclear War Could Lead to Cooldown
AP reports: "Using modern climate and population models, researchers estimated that a small-scale nuclear conflict between two warring nations would cause 3 million to 17 million immediate casualties and lead to a marked cooldown of the planet that could lead to crop failures and further misery."

My Way News - Holocaust Conference Begins in Iran
AP reports: "Iran hosted Holocaust deniers from around the world Monday at a conference examining whether the Nazi genocide took place, a meeting Israel's prime minister condemned as a 'sick phenomenon.'" [Persia/Iran, Ezekiel 38:5]

My Way News - Deaths of 3 Children Threaten Gaza Peace
AP reports: "By threatening to ignite a Palestinian civil war, the killing of three children in the Gaza Strip on Monday has jeopardized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's efforts to restart long-stalled peace talks."

Yahoo News - West must prepare for Chinese, Indian dominance: Wolfensohn
AFP reports, "Western nations must prepare for a future dominated by China and India, whose rapid economic rise will soon fundamentally alter the balance of power, former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn has warned." [Kings of the East, Rev 16:12]

Yahoo News - Blair to launch Mideast peace mission
AFP reports, "The United States and Britain signalled a new bid to break the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock, a day after a high-level US panel said wider Middle East peace was key to saving Iraq." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Experts: Syria, Iran Willing to Aid U.S.
AP reports: "Syria and Iran are willing to help stabilize Iraq, as the Iraq Study Group recommended Wednesday, but both countries will want something in return and neither has a magic solution to the chaos, Mideast officials and analysts said." [Damascus, Isaiah 17:1; Persia/Iran, Ezekiel 38:5]

My Way News - Scientists Criticize Bird Flu Search
AP reports, "Birds from Latin America - not from the north - are most likely to bring deadly bird flu to the main U.S., researchers said Monday, suggesting the government might miss the H5N1 virus because biologists have been looking in the wrong direction." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

Banning Christmas?
According to this AFP report (Yahoo News - British employers banning Christmas decorations for fear of offense), the climate of political correctness has run amuck in the UK, where Christmas decorations are being banned so as not to cause offense to other faiths:

Three out of four British businesses have banned Christmas decorations from the workplace out of fear for offending people of other faiths, according to a report. According to a survey carried out by law firm Peninsula, which queried 2,300 employers, 74 percent of respondents banned decorations because they did not want to offend other faiths, while half also thought that they made offices look unprofessional. "Christmas trees and decorations may well be a thing of the past in many workplaces this Christmas as political correctness culture has spread to the workplace," said Peter Done, a managing director at Peninsula. "Although employers who are enforcing the ban are sceptical and dismayed by this trend, they feel that they have little choice in the matter due to the threat of litigation; as they have to protect themselves, their reputation and their livelihood."

I guess the general idea seems to be that if you can't take the "Christ" out of Christmas you can just ban the public celebration of Christmas. It's not exactly persecution (Matthew 24:6) but it is representative of an anti-Christian sentiment. Amazing that this is happening in England, one of the great bastions of Christendom. This is not their finest hour.

Yahoo News - Schumer warns on no-swipe credit cards
AP reports, "No-swipe credit cards that use radio waves to relay their data put consumers at increased risk of identity theft, Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday." [Mark of the Beast/commerce tech, Rev 13:16-18]

My Way News - Warnings, Worship Mark World AIDS Day
AP reports, "World Aids Day was marked around the globe by somber religious services, boisterous demonstrations and warnings that far more needs to be done to treat and prevent the disease in order to avert millions of additional deaths." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]