Quartet to convene Mideast peace conference in Moscow later this year - Haaretz - Israel News


Haaretz reports: "The Quartet of Middle East peacemakers decided this week to convene a regional conference in Moscow in November [...] the conference is to provide the stage either for the signing of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement or, in a much more likely scenario, a joint statement on the course of negotiations planned for 2009."

Comment: This is an interesting development. It's interesting because the first Quartet hosted international peace conference was held in Annapolis last year and shortly after that then Russian President Putin offered Moscow as the next host, raising the possibility that each member of the Quartet will get to host an international peace conference. After Russia we would then expect the UN or the EU to be the next host in 2009. Either venue sets up interesting possibilities for the fulfillment of the Covenant With Many prophecy, especially if the Moscow conference is a ministerial meeting and not a head-of-state meeting, that would make the 2009 conference much more significant.

My Way News - Syria denies bombed site was a nuclear reactor
AP reports: "Damascus strongly denies U.S. allegations that it is involved in any nuclear activities and fears that Washington could use the accusations to rally international pressure against it."

My Way News - Sarkozy combative as France assumes EU presidency
AP reports: "Some analysts have questioned whether Sarkozy's sometimes brash and often direct style will be suited to the task of building consensus among the EU's 27 member nations as France holds the rotating presidency for the next six months."

My Way News - UN: Farmers suffer $6B in damages from China quake
AP reports: "An estimated 30 million people in rural communities were affected, many losing most of their assets, the Food and Agriculture Organization said. It will take three to five years to rebuild the agriculture sector in the southwest Chinese province, the agency said."

My Way News - Hamas emboldened by Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap
AP reports: "Israel has balked at Hamas' demands for a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted in deadly attacks. But the Islamic militants said there was no reason to soften their demands in light of Israel's swap deal with Hezbollah."

Comment: Governments used to say that they wouldn't negotiate with terrorists, that if you give into their demands, it only encourages them and they will then kidnap more of your people. Israel is learning the hard way the truth of that simple logic.

My Way News - WHO: New quick TB test rolled out in Africa
AP reports: "A new test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis will be rolled out in four African countries this year, the World Health Organization said Monday."

AFP: Israeli authorities warn hospitals to prepare for earthquake
AFP reports: "A strong earthquake could soon rock Lebanon and parts of Israel, authorities said on Monday, urging health officials in northern Israel to make preparations for such an event."

Arab agents infiltrate Temple Mount
WND reports: "The Arab countries are 'near certain' Israel will eventually evacuate the Temple Mount and likely hand it over to the PA together with a coalition of Muslim states, said an informed security source."

My Way News - Report: Iran to hit Israel if attacked
AP reports: "The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that Tehran would respond to an attack against it by barraging Israel with missiles and controlling a key oil passageway in the Persian Gulf, said a newspaper report published Saturday."

My Way News - Scientists: Nothing to fear from atom-smasher
AP reports: "The most powerful atom-smasher ever built could make some bizarre discoveries, such as invisible matter or extra dimensions in space, after it is switched on in August."

My Way News - France's Nicolas and Carla assume Europe's throne
AP reports: "French diplomats hope Sarkozy stakes out a high EU foreign policy profile while the United States is sidelined with a presidential transition over the next half-year. Sarkozy is likely to maintain pressure on Iran, but any breakthroughs on that front are likely to come from the United States or Tehran - not Paris or Brussels. EU partners, meanwhile, threw cold water on Sarkozy's ambitious plans for a Mediterranean Union joining nations around the volatile Mediterranean rim. A watered-down union will be inaugurated in Paris on July 13."

My Way News - This summer may see first ice-free North Pole
AP reports: "There's a 50-50 chance that the North Pole will be ice-free this summer, which would be a first in recorded history, a leading ice scientist says."

Iran ready to strike at Israel’s nuclear heart - Times Online
The Times Online reports: "The sources said Iran was preparing to retaliate for any onslaught by firing missiles at Dimona, where Israel’s own nuclear weapons are believed to be made."

My Way News - Israel closes Gaza, Palestinians fire mortars
AP reports: "For the third day in a row, Israel prevented food trucks from entering Gaza by closing crossings in retaliation for repeated Palestinian rocket attacks, Israeli army spokesman Peter Lerner said. Later in the day, Palestinian militants fired two mortar shells toward Israel, Israeli police said, but no injuries or damage were reported."

Comment: This is what a ceasefire agreement with Hamas means.

My Way News - Nuclear weapons programs around the world
This is an AP factsheet on nuclear weapons, just in case you wanted some background info on this important issue.

My Way News - Crowd watches Pakistan militants kill 2 Afghans
AP reports: "The executions in the Bajur region highlighted the power of local Taliban forces in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border. Also Friday, a top U.N. official expressed fears that Pakistan's peace deals with militants were sparking a wave of similar abuses."

Comment: This appears to be more evidence of a resurgent Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

My Way News - S. African TB patients protest hospital conditions
AP reports: "There were 2,901 cases of multidrug-resistant TB in South Africa last year, and 561 cases of extensively drug-resistant TB. But the reported figures are believed to be only an indication of the real situation, because many patients die before they can be diagnosed."

My Way News - US checks if tomatoes caused Salmonella outbreak
AP reports: "The widening outbreak - with 810 people confirmed ill - means whatever is making people sick could very well still be on the market, federal health officials warned on Friday."

My Way News - Reserving Tamiflu for workers in case of pandemic

AP reports: "Pandemics can strike when the easy-to-mutate flu virus shifts to a strain that people have never experienced. There is concern that the Asian bird flu known as H5N1 might trigger one if it acquires the ability to spread easily from person to person."

My Way News - Thousands of Somali children suffer malnutrition
AP reports: "Somalia needs urgent medical aid to save thousands of malnourished children and wounded adults who are trapped in one of the most violent, lawless countries in the world, an international aid group said Thursday."

My Way News - Rocket hits Israel, second violation of Gaza truce
AP reports: "Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Thursday, further straining a shaky, week-old truce as Israel kept vital Gaza border crossings closed in response."

Comment: I wonder how many rockets it takes to end the truce?

My Way News - G-8 foreign ministers focus on North Korea
AP reports: "The North Korean declaration was the core topic as the Group of Eight ministers met for their second and final day of talks aimed at setting the political agenda for the annual G-8 summit next month."

My Way News - Political theater seen in Israeli drill
AP reports: "Israel considers Iran its most dangerous foe, an assessment bolstered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent calls for Israel's destruction. Although Israel has said it favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff, it has not ruled out a military strike. This month, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel would have no choice but to attack Iran if it didn't stop enriching uranium."

My Way News - Thousands protest in Indian-held Kashmir
AP reports: "Tens of thousands of Kashmiris filled the streets for a fourth day of protests Thursday, after police killings during earlier demonstrations enflamed their anger over the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine in this Muslim-majority region."

My Way News - Texas teen charged in baby's school bathroom death
AP reports: "A 14-year-old girl who secretly gave birth in a school bathroom was charged with capital murder Thursday by police, who said she killed the newborn by choking and flushing him in the toilet."

My Way News - Senate reaches an agreement on global AIDS bill
AP reports: "Senate negotiators said Wednesday they had reached a tentative agreement on a key obstacle to one of the most ambitious federal health initiatives ever, a $50 billion act to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other countries hard-hit by those diseases."

My Way News - NYC urges docs to do routine HIV testing on adults
AP reports: "Health officials are trying to persuade doctors to offer HIV tests to nearly every patient in a New York City community hit harder than most by AIDS."

My Way News - Christians on trial in Algeria for spreading faith
AP reports: "Two men who converted from Islam to Christianity went on trial Wednesday on charges that they illegally promoted the Christian faith in Algeria."

Comment: Let's pray for Rachid Mohammed Seghir and Jammal Dahmani and the church in Algeria that they will endure this persecution with fortitude, demonstrating both courage and the love of Christ towards their persecutors.

My Way News - Israel keeps Gaza crossings closed after rocket fire
AP reports: "Israel will keep Gaza border crossings closed another day in response to Palestinian rocket fire that had violated a new cease-fire, the Defense Ministry said late Wednesday."

My Way News - US forces face spike in deadly violence in Iraq
AP reports: "The U.S. military says violence in Iraq has dropped to its lowest level in more than four years, but attacks are continuing as Sunni and Shiite extremists try to regroup and undermine security gains."

Comment: Sometimes the good news is buried in the report, past the more negative headline.

My Way News - World condemnation of Zimbabwe grows
AP reports: "At least 300 Zimbabwean opposition supporters, meanwhile, were seeking refuge at the South African Embassy in Zimbabwe. Ronnie Mamoepa, a spokesman for the South African Foreign Ministry, said the ambassador was talking with the group and that the situation was under control."

My Way News - Pakistan vows to prevent attacks on Afghanistan
AP reports: "The statement came as the latest spasm of violence between militants and tribesmen left 37 people dead in tribal regions of northwest Pakistan, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters."

My Way News - Ky. gunman argued with boss over phone, goggles
AP reports: "The first shooting took place as the supervisor was escorting Higdon from the building. Other co-workers were shot in the break room and on the plant floor. One worker was injured and was being treated in the critical care unit at St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center in Evansville, Ind."

My Way News - Plastics expert wins $500K Lemelson-MIT award
AP reports: "The $500,000 prize to chemistry professor Joseph DeSimone was to be announced Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The prize recognizes people who turn their ideas into inventions that help change the world."

Technology Leaders Favor Online ID Card Over Passwords - NYTimes.com
The New York Times reports: "The idea is to bring the concept of an identity card, like a driver’s license, to the online world. Rather than logging on to sites with user IDs and passwords, people will gain access to sites using a secure digital identity that is overseen by a third party. The user controls the information in a secure place and transmits only the data that is necessary to access a Web site."

Comment: I always feel like I have to add a comment to these posts, a reassurance that I'm not saying that this kind of ID card is the MOTB, merely that it's another step on the path toward a technology and a system that gives each person one official ID.

My Way News - Russia plans to hold military exercises in Arctic
AP reports: "A senior Russian general says Russia will conduct military exercises in the Arctic to uphold the country's claim to the region's vast natural resources. [...] A U.S. study suggests the area may contain as much as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas."

My Way News - Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza shake truce
AP reports: "Islamic Jihad, a militant group backed by Syria and Iran, claimed responsibility for the rocket fire from Gaza. Although the West Bank is not included in the truce agreement, the group said the rockets were retaliation for the Nablus raid."

Comment: Did anyone really believe that Hamas would keep this truce?

My Way News - Defiant Mugabe refuses to bow to world pressure
AP reports: "President Robert Mugabe refused Tuesday to give into pressure from Africa and the West, saying the world can 'shout as loud as they like' but he would not cancel this week's runoff election even though his opponent quit the race."

My Way News - Ex-con found guilty of torturing NYC grad student
AP reports: "An ex-convict was found guilty Tuesday in the rape and torture of a Columbia University graduate student who survived 19 hours of nightmarish sadism in which he scalded her with boiling water and attempted to blind her before trying to burn her to death."

My Way News - French president says Israel must share Jerusalem

AP reports: "French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday there could be no Mideast peace unless Israel drops its refusal to cede sovereignty over parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians [...] he tempered his address by assuring Israel that it could count on France's support in halting Iran's nuclear program."

My Way News - Russian teens convicted in flame killing
AP reports: "He reprimanded the teenagers, who were smoking and drinking around the town's eternal flame, part of a memorial to Soviet soldiers killed in World War II, the magazine Ogonyok wrote. The teenagers beat Denisov unconscious and threw him face-first into the flame, Ganenko said."

My Way News - Myanmar: 84,500 confirmed dead from cyclone
AP reports: "Myanmar's ruling junta has announced that 84,500 people perished in Cyclone Nargis in May, up from an earlier confirmed toll of 77,700."

My Way News - Police raid Zimbabwe opposition headquarters
AP reports: "Zimbabwe's opposition leader took refuge in the Dutch Embassy after pulling out of the presidential runoff, and the U.N. Security Council condemned a 'campaign of violence' in the African nation that has made a fair election impossible."

My Way News - European Union approves new sanctions against Iran
AP reports: "The sanctions, almost a year in the making by EU experts, were considered unlikely to deter Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from pursuing his country's uranium enrichment plan, a key demand made by Washington, EU capitals, Moscow and Beijing."

My Way News - Trial delayed in Texas sex club involving children
AP reports: "The third trial of an alleged member of a swingers club accused of forcing children into sex shows was postponed Monday amid allegations that the foster father to the young victims molested other children."

My Way News - NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance'
AP reports: "James Hansen told Congress on Monday that [...] Earth's atmosphere can only stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises."

Widespread deaths in famine-hit N. Korea: S. Korean groups
AFP reports: "Local aid group Good Friends, which operates in North Korea, listed 26 famine-hit cities or counties, including 17 in North and South Hwanghae provinces, which are the main grain production region."

Welsh police confirm 'UFO' sighting - ABC News
Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports: "UFO enthusiasts got a boost overnight when Welsh police confirmed that one of their helicopter crews had spotted an 'unusual aircraft' flying over Cardiff earlier this month."

My Way News - Messianic Jews say they are persecuted in Israel
AP reports: "Israel's tiny community of Messianic Jews, a mixed group of 10,000 people who include the California-based Jews for Jesus, complains of threats, harassment and police indifference."

Comment: Let us pray for believers in Israel.

My Way News - UN inspectors face tough job in Syria
AP reports: "Washington hopes that the U.N agency team will come back with persuasive evidence backing U.S. intelligence that the structure hit by the Israel in September was a nearly completed plutonium-producing reactor."

My Way News - Typhoon Fengshen kills 80 in Philippines
AP reports: "Typhoon Fengshen lashed the Philippines for a second day Sunday leaving at least 80 people dead, but the death toll could rise significantly after a passenger ferry capsized carrying more than 740 passengers and crew."

My Way News - US health official says flu threat high
AP reports: "U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Julie Gerberding says bird flu fatigue among countries and the public is a growing concern. Scientists have identified the H5N1 bird flu virus as a potential candidate that could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people."

Sea of Trash - Pollution in the World's Oceans - NYTimes.com
The New York Times reports: "In 2002, Nature magazine reported that during the 1990s, debris in the waters near Britain doubled; in the Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica the increase was a hundredfold. And depending on where they sample, oceanographers have found that between 60 and 95 percent of today’s marine debris is made of plastic."

Comment: If we can agree that it is not a good idea to continue to throw plastic into the oceans perhaps we can do something about it. Either we try to do something or become reconciled to the slow death of the oceans. Is there some point, some critical mass, at which the amount of plastic in the oceans disrupts the food chain?

My Way News - Study: Moving virus research could be costly

AP reports: "The new National Bio-and Agro-Defense Facility would replace the existing 24-acre research complex on Plum Island, which is about 100 miles northeast of New York City in the Long Island Sound. Besides foot-and-mouth disease, researchers also would study African swine fever, Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley fever and the Hendra and Nipah viruses. Construction would begin in 2010 and take four years."

Comment: So what we have here is a plan to move a bio-research facility from the safe confines of an island setting to the mainland. What could go wrong?

My Way News - Floodwaters to widen 'dead zone' in Gulf of Mexico
AP reports: "There are hundreds of dead zones around the world that wreak havoc with marine ecology and cut off vast areas for commercial fishing. The zone in the gulf is the largest in the Western Hemisphere."

Comment: We are killing off our coastal areas, and it's only going to get worse as time goes on.

My Way News - Calif officials: Bureaucracy failed abused boy, 5
AP reports: "The little boy's body was a study in pain. He was covered in cigarette burns, including to his genitals. He couldn't fully open his hand because it had been burned on a stove. His tooth was broken with a nerve exposed. And he had been made to sit in his own urine and feces, authorities say."

China floods displace 1m people - guardian.co.uk
The Guardian reports: "More than a million people have been forced to flee their homes in southern China by major flooding that has cost 57 lives and added to the misery of last month's earthquake."

AFP: Iran warns of 'strong blow' if Israel attacks

AFP reports: "Tehran Friday warned its arch-enemy Israel of a 'strong blow' if it takes forceful measures, after the US media reported military exercises by the Jewish state were a possible practice for a strike against Iran."

My Way News - Israel shows abilities for Iran strike
AP reports: "In a substantial show of force, Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean, Pentagon officials said Friday. Israel's military refused to confirm or deny that the maneuvers were practice for a strike in Iran."

The Associated Press: Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran
AP reports: "Russia has maintained close ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr, which is expected to go on line later this year. It has backed limited U.N. sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, but has opposed the U.S. push for harsher measures."

My Way News - EU urges action on fuel crisis, treaty
AP reports: "All EU countries must approve the treaty for it to go into effect. Britain became the 19th country to do so on Wednesday."

My Way News - Genetically modified mosquitoes may combat malaria
AP reports: "Malaria kills nearly three million people worldwide every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of bed nets have been handed out, and villages across the continent have been doused with insecticide. But those measures haven't put a significant dent in malaria cases."

My Way News - South Korean ex-professor claims dog clones
AP reports: "A South Korean team led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said Thursday it has created 17 clones of an endangered dog breed popular in China."

My Way News - Study: Treating herpes doesn't prevent HIV
AP reports: "The finding may spark a rethinking of HIV prevention strategies in Africa, where controlling sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes is usually part of general AIDS prevention plans."

Truce takes effect between Israel and militants in Gaza - CNN.com
CNN reports: "A truce between Israel and Palestinian militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza took effect at 6 a.m. local time Thursday, after both sides spent the previous day trading blows."

VOA News - Syria's Assad Forges Economic Ties With India
The Voice of America reports: "New Delhi has emphasized that its growing friendship with Israel will not come at the expense of its traditional good relations with the Arab world. In fact, India has been reaching out to countries like Syria and Iran as it searches for new sources of energy to feed its growing economy."

Is Turkey Headed for a Coup? - Newsweek.com
Newsweek examines the unstable situation in Turkey in this editorial: "The question is whether Turkey's secular establishment—its courts, bureaucracy, and generals—will cede at least some power gracefully, or decline to give an inch and chance the people's reaction."

My Way News - Israel-Hamas Gaza truce goes into effect
AP reports: "A long-sought truce between Israel and Gaza militants went into effect early Thursday, with the aim of halting militant attacks and a bruising Israeli blockade that have made life unbearable for people living on both sides of the border."

My Way News - Israel urges Lebanon to talk peace
AP reports: "Israel on Wednesday urged Lebanon to open peace talks, the latest move in a flurry of developments aimed at easing the multiple conflicts in the region."

My Way News - 2 earthquakes strike Greece; no injuries

AP reports: "A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 struck near the Greek capital before dawn Wednesday, followed hours later by a much weaker quake off the Aegean island of Karpathos, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said."

My Way News - US-India nuclear deal appears to be in trouble
AP reports: "And even though the deal only covers civilian nuclear power, it tacitly acknowledges India as a nuclear-weapons state, giving its weapons program a degree of international legitimacy - and adding to India's growing clout."

Comment: Even if the deal fails, India is still a growing global power. I'm actually optimistic though that the deal will eventually be approved and that in the rough and tumble politics of India, some way around the Communist objections will be found, India just has too much to gain and much to lose in rejecting the deal.

My Way News - Death toll from Japan earthquake reaches 11

AP reports: "Search teams Wednesday recovered another body from the wreckage of a hotel destroyed by a landslide following an earthquake in northern Japan, bringing the quake's death toll to 11, media reports said."

My Way News - Somalis flee terror, pour into Kenya refugee camp
AP reports: "Thousands of civilians have been killed in Somalia since 2007, caught in vicious disputes over ancient clan loyalties, religion and government. The country has not had an effective central government since 1991, when warlords toppled dictator Siad Barre and carved Somalia into armed camps ruled by clan law."

My Way News - Afghan, NATO troops kill 36 Taliban near Kandahar
AP reports: "Backed by helicopters firing missiles, hundreds of NATO and Afghan forces hunted Taliban militants in villages outside Kandahar on Wednesday, killing dozens of insurgents."

My Way News - Midwest flooding may cause more levee overflows
AP reports: "Record-breaking storms and flooding across six states this month are still forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Since June 6, there have been 24 deaths and 148 injuries because of the storms and flooding, according to federal briefing documents obtained by The Associated Press."

My Way News - Intel extends command in fast-computers tally
AP reports: "The fastest computer on the list is the $100 million 'Roadrunner' machine built by IBM Corp. for the Department of Energy's nuclear lab in Los Alamos, N.M. Roadrunner is the first computer in the world to surpass a petaflop - 1,000 trillion calculations per second. It's more than twice as fast as the IBM machine that ranks No. 2 on the list."

My Way News - Internet domain name for China surpasses ".net"
AP reports: "The findings come as China reported that the number of Internet users there has soared to 221 million, by some measures tying the U.S. online population as largest in the world."

My Way News - Sweden adopts contentious eavesdropping plan
AP reports: "Sweden's Parliament narrowly approved a contentious law Wednesday that gives authorities sweeping powers to eavesdrop on all e-mail and telephone traffic that crosses the Nordic nation's borders."

My Way News - Scientists fighting disease with climate forecasts
AP reports: "A cyclone wrecks coastal Myanmar, spawning outbreaks of malaria, cholera and dengue fever. Flooding inundates Iowa, raising an array of public health concerns. [...] scientists are working to be able to better predict health dangers as they forecast the weather."

My Way News - CDC counts 383 salmonella cases from tomatoes
AP reports: "Federal health officials have learned of 106 more cases of salmonella linked to tainted tomatoes, putting the outbreak's toll at 383 on Wednesday and counting."

Is there a hidden planet in our solar system? - Space.com- msnbc.com
MSNBC reports: "The hidden world — thought to be much bigger than Pluto based on the model — could explain unusual features of the Kuiper Belt, a region of space beyond Neptune littered with icy and rocky bodies. Its existence would satisfy the long-held hopes and hypotheses for a 'Planet X' envisioned by scientists and sci-fi buffs alike."

Comment: I have to admit that I've always been skeptical about the "Planet X" hypothesis, but this new computer model suggests that it may not be so fanciful. Still, it's worth noting that the planet predicted by this model is not the planet the "Planet X" enthusiasts were hoping to find, it would be far smaller and much farther from the Sun than what they expected. It would not have the mass or eccentric orbit needed to perturb the inner planets as the mythic "Planet X" was supposed to do.

My Way News - Hamas says Gaza cease-fire reached with Israel
AP reports: "The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas militant group said Tuesday it has reached a cease-fire with Israel meant to halt a cycle of deadly Palestinian rocket attacks that rained hundreds of rockets on Israel in the past year and Israeli reprisals that have killed hundreds of Palestinians."

Comment: So, a cease-fire means that a temporary halt to the conflict has been negotiated. This is good. I wonder though, if for Hamas it means temporary as in "let's import more weapons from Iran via Syria and then start up the conflict again?"

My Way News - Number of refugees worldwide rises to 11.4 million
AP reports: "The display, set up to mark World Refugee Day this week, came as the U.N. refugee agency reported a record 11.4 million people were driven from their home countries last year."

Comment: People are being forced from their homes and countries in record numbers. This has always been a low-level problem, refugees are a perpetual consequence of war, famine and disaster, but as these things increase, so do the flow of refugees.

My Way News - Sarkozy wants greater role in NATO
AP reports: "French President Nicolas Sarkozy made the case for greater French participation in NATO, saying Tuesday that nothing prevents the country from rejoining the trans-Atlantic alliance's military structures. [...] Sarkozy said he wanted to see European countries become more influential in NATO, which has been dominated by the United States for decades."

Comment: Are we seeing the evolution of the Western military force that will extend security guarantees to the demilitarized Middle East under the auspices of the Covenant With Many?

My Way News - Indian army wants military space program
AP reports: "The comments by India's army chief raise the possibility of a regional race that could accelerate the militarization of space and heighten tensions between the Asian giants, who have been enjoying their warmest ties in decades."

My Way News - Pakistan's A.Q. Khan denies new nuke weapons claim
AP reports: "The architect of Pakistan's nuclear program on Tuesday rejected a report alleging that his network may have shared blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon with countries such as Iran and North Korea."

Seattlepi.com - Record flooding and other severe weather will likely send food and fuel prices even higher this summer
The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports: "The images on TV are dramatic and painful to watch, with houses piling up behind bridges as flood waters continue to rampage through much of the Midwest. Ag experts anticipate massive destruction to the nation's corn supply, as well as concerns about the area's huge livestock operations."

My Way News - Taliban prepare for battle outside Kandahar
AP reports: "Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday that between 300 and 400 militants - many of them foreigners - took over the Arghandab region 10 miles northwest of Kandahar. But NATO disputed the account, saying its troops there saw no signs of a Taliban offensive."

My Way News - Energy prices fuel US-China strains
AP reports: "Looming in the background to these and other discussions about U.S. competition with China is the prospect of armed conflict - if not over China's demand for the return of Taiwan, then over energy resources. China has invested greatly in modernizing its military in recent years, although its budget - even by the Pentagon's high-end estimate - is hardly one-quarter what the U.S. spends on defense."

Comment: Bible prophecy foretells a time (Rev 16:12) when military powers from the east of Israel will invade. What could prompt such an invasion? If other military powers have been humbled or destroyed and no longer control that strategic area, perhaps China and India will believe that their time to control the Middle East has arrived?

BBC NEWS - EU vows to pursue Lisbon treaty

The BBC reports: "EU foreign ministers have agreed to keep the Lisbon reform treaty alive despite its rejection by Irish voters. The ministers said those EU members who have not yet ratified the treaty should carry on and do so."

Comment: This report suggests that EU leaders are determined to pass this treaty and will push forward with ratification by those states remaining while figuring out how to "get around" the Irish rejection. So much for democracy. Let's pay attention to that statement about a "coalition of the willing" as an example of growing sentiment for a two-tier EU.

My Way News - Astronomers find 'super Earths' circling a star
AP reports: "European astronomers have found a trio of 'super-Earths' closely circling a star that astronomers once figured had nothing orbiting it, demonstrating that planets keep popping up in unexpected places."

Space War - Physicists Produce Quantum-Entangled Images
SPX reports: "Using a convenient and flexible method for creating twin light beams, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce Deparent's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have produced 'quantum images,' pairs of information-rich visual patterns whose features are 'entangled,' or inextricably linked by the laws of quantum physics."

My Way News - Rice meets jointly with Israelis and Palestinians

AP reports: "The latest Rice visit, her fifth this year, generated little attention in Israel. While her visits were once front-page news, neither of Israel's two mass-circulation dailies carried stories on the subject Monday, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office declined comment. The lack of attention reflects growing sentiment that the lame-duck U.S. administration is running out of time to broker a peace agreement by a year-end target set by President Bush."

My Way News - Britain sending more troops to Afghanistan
AP reports: "Defense Secretary Des Browne announced Monday that 230 more British troops are going to Afghanistan, bringing the country's troop strength there to more than 8,000. [...] There are currently 7,800 British troops in the country, most based in Helmand province in the south."

My Way News - France: A new defense plan for new threats
AP reports: "The paper puts France's international emphasis on a stronger European Union defense policy - and Paris has sought to assure the U.S. that EU defense doesn't conflict with NATO."

Comment: It looks like France may be turning toward greater collaboration with the EU and NATO in military affairs, this will be a boon to European unity.

My Way News - More than 1M homeless from flooding in China
AP reports: "Weeks of rain pushed rivers over their banks in southern China, killing at least 112 people, displacing more than 1.27 million and forcing some to huddle on rooftops Monday as the region braced for more downpours."

My Way News - Taliban take over villages near Kandahar
AP reports: "The Taliban assault on the outskirts of Kandahar is the latest display of prowess by the militants despite a record number of U.S. and NATO troops in the country."

TheStar.com - Private firm's work with visas raises concerns
The Star.com reports: "Biometric visas, which embed personal information and images in a chip, is their next big breakthrough field, Sanjay Bhaduri, chief operations officer, told The Economic Times of India in February. [...] VFS, with more than 200 offices in 39 countries handling 6 million visa applications a year, has doubled its business each year in recent years."

My Way News - EU to issue stronger Iran sanctions
AP reports: "The European Union agreed Monday on the need to sharpen sanctions on Iran - possibly targeting the oil and gas sectors in what would mark Europe's strongest punishments yet to discourage Tehran's nuclear ambitions."

Security Document World - Biometric PAN moves a step closer
Security Document World reports: "The Indian government has confirmed it is set to introduce biometric permanent account numbers (PAN) for income tax payers."

Palestinian Authority holds court in Israel's capital

WND reports: "Ziliani said the regular PA meetings in Jerusalem are, in part, held in anticipation of a future Palestinian state encompassing all of eastern Jerusalem. The Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – is located in the eastern section of the city. 'Our political program as Fatah dictates there will be no Palestinian state if these areas – all of east Jerusalem – are not included,' Ziliani told WND."

My Way News - Strong quake shakes northern Japan, at least 2 dead

AP reports: "A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked a rural area of northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least two people, triggering landslides and reportedly knocking down a bridge, fire and disaster management officials said. At least 64 were injured."

My Way News - Irish voters veto EU treaty

AP reports: "Irish voters vetoed a painstakingly drafted treaty Friday that had been designed to streamline the European Union. Politicians from all of Ireland's major parties worked hard to sell the complex, deeply technical document to a confused and suspicious public."

Comment: Nationalism is not dead in Europe and voters continue to jealously guard their national sovereignty. What will the EU do now? They could ignore the Irish vote and proceed with the treaty anyway, but I'm not sure how that would survive a legal challenge. Most likely, they will continue on under the existing treaty arrangement while continuing to work for greater unity. It's possible that we may see the rise of a two-tier Europe, one where a smaller subset of countries (possibly ten?) forge a closer federal arrangement while the rest remain bound to the existing framework. I also plan to closely monitor the French plan to build a Euro-Med Union, which could be another potential fulfillment of the Ten Kings prophecy.

My Way News - May's combat deaths in Afghanistan outnumber Iraq
AP reports: "Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the statistical comparison to dramatize his point to NATO defense ministers that they need to do more to get Afghanistan moving in a better direction. He wants more allied combat troops, more trainers and more public commitment."

My Way News - 3 in Ohio guilty of plot against US troops in Iraq
AP reports: "Mohammad Amawi, 28, Marwan El-Hindi, 45, and Wassim Mazloum, 27, face maximum sentences of life in prison. Prosecutors said the men were learning to shoot guns and make explosives while raising money to fund their plans to wage a holy war against U.S. troops."

My Way News - Floods swamp Iowa town; Drinking water near gone
AP reports: "Hospital patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers were evacuated in the middle of the night as the biggest flood Cedar Rapids has ever seen swamped more than 400 blocks Friday and all but cut off the supply of clean drinking water in the city of 120,000."

My Way News - Finance ministers weigh rising oil, food prices
AP reports: "The finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S. - are mapping out an agenda for a summit of their leaders next month in northern Japan."

My Way News - Potential new weapon against TB: free cell minutes
AP reports: "In 2006, the most recent year statistics are available, 9.2 million people worldwide were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 1.7 million died. The disease can be cured with a steady regimen of drugs."

Comment: This sounds like a very innovative treatment that could really help curb the spread of TB.

My Way News - Ireland holds key vote on EU treaty

AP reports: "The Lisbon Treaty seeks to reshape EU institutions and powers to cope with the bloc's near-doubling in size over the past four years from 15 to 27 nations with 495 million people. It contains many of the same reform plans as the EU's previous master plan - a constitution that French and Dutch voters rejected in 2005."

My Way News - Israel lobby critics face campus queries in Israel
AP reports: "The pair argue that pro-Israel special interest groups have manipulated the U.S. political system to promote policies that favor Israel and run counter to American interests. Jewish American groups and U.S. administration officials have criticized them."

Comment: Moral relativism is a dangerous thing. Isn't Israel a democratic ally of the United States? Isn't Israel a democratic state surrounded by repressive countries that would love to destroy it? Don't such circumstances call for an extraordinary level of commitment and support? And when such support is provided the critics wonder why Israel is treated like a special case and demand that we don't preference Israel. I don't get it, but then again, I'm part of the Israel lobby.

My Way News - Iranian leader calls Bush a 'wicked man'
AP reports: "Bush, who has seven months left in office, said he won promises from fellow leaders in the European Union to tighten pressure on Tehran with more U.N. sanctions and possibly other penalties."

My Way News - Israeli envoy returns without Gaza truce deal
AP reports: "An Israeli envoy engaging in Gaza cease-fire talks returned without a deal late Thursday, after another day of bloodshed in the coastal territory that included seven Palestinians being killed in a house explosion that Hamas blamed on an accident."

My Way News - SC first to get 'I Believe' license plates
AP reports: "South Carolina's lieutenant governor announced Thursday that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue 'I Believe' license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window."

My Way News - Cedar Rapids struggles to endure historic flood
AP reports: "Days of heavy rain across the state have sent nine rivers across Iowa at or above historic flood levels. [...] Gov. Chet Culver has declared 55 of the state's 99 counties as state disaster areas."

My Way News - Rice warns Iran that world has lost its patience
AP reports: "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned on Wednesday that the world has lost patience for Iranian foot-dragging regarding a possible return to bargaining over its nuclear program."

My Way News - China denies hacking into US computers
AP reports: "China denied accusations by two U.S. lawmakers that it hacked into congressional computers, saying Thursday that as a developing country it wasn't capable of sophisticated cybercrime."

My Way News - CDC: Salmonella-tainted tomato illnesses reach 228
AP reports: "The toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes jumped to 228 illnesses Thursday as the government learned of five dozen previously unknown cases and said it is possible the food poisoning contributed to a cancer patient's death."

My Way News - Moderate quake strikes Greek island; no damage
AP reports: "An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 has struck the southern Greek island of Crete, but no injuries or damage have been reported."

My Way News - Israel rules out Gaza invasion now to seek truce
AP reports: "Israeli leaders decided Wednesday against mounting a major attack on militants in the Gaza Strip, saying they would give Egypt more time to broker a truce with the territory's Hamas rulers."

My Way News - Pakistan, US differ over deadly border airstrike
AP reports: "Pakistan's army and the U.S. military gave widely differing accounts Wednesday of a clash on the Afghan border that left 11 Pakistani troops dead."

My Way News - Marine expelled, another punished over puppy video
AP reports: "The clip shows two Marines joking before one hurls the puppy into a rocky gully. A yelping sound is heard as it flips through the air."

My Way News - Bush doesn't rule out military strike in Iran
AP reports: "President Bush on Wednesday raised the possibility of a military strike to thwart Tehran's presumed nuclear weapons ambitions, speaking aggressively even as he admitted having been unwise to have done so previously about Iraq."

My Way News - Lawmaker says Chinese hacked Capitol computers
AP reports: "A congressman said Wednesday the FBI has found that four of his government computers have been hacked by sources working out of China."

My Way News - Telescope launched to scout out gamma rays
AP reports: "With superior new technology and insight gained from Compton and other telescopes, Glast will be able to do in three hours, or two orbits of Earth - survey the entire sky - what Compton took 15 months to do. What's more, Glast and its particle detectors are much more sensitive and precise, and should provide an unprecedented view into the high-energy universe."

My Way News - Ancient cave linked to early Christians in Jordan
AP reports: "Al-Housan said there was evidence that the underground cave was used as a church by 70 disciples of Jesus in the first century after Christ's death, which would make it the oldest Christian site of worship in the world."

My Way News - Experts: New Bird flu vaccine looks promising
AP reports: "The first experimental bird flu vaccine made from lab-grown cells instead of chicken eggs shows promise in blocking the highly lethal virus, scientists report."

My Way News - FDA still hunting source of salmonella in tomatoes
AP reports: "The outbreak, which has sickened 167 people in 17 states since April, is not over even though it has been two weeks since the last confirmed case of a person falling ill, said Dr. Ian Williams of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Space War - Global Military Spending Equal To 200 Dollars Per Person Annually

RIA Novosti reports: "Global military spending totaled almost $1.34 trillion in 2007, a real-term increase of 45% since 1998, or some $200 a year for every person in the world, a prominent political think-tank said on Monday."

My Way News - Israeli officials say Syria talks resume next week
AP reports: "Syria wants Israel to return the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. In the past, Israel has agreed in principle, but the two sides have not been able agree on a final border or terms of peaceful relations. Polls also say a significant majority of Israelis oppose giving up the region."

My Way News - Israel strike kills 3 Gaza militants firing mortar
AP reports: "The Israeli attack came after militants bombarded southern Israel with 20 mortar rounds in the space of an hour, and Hamas said the strike killed three members of one of its mortar squads. [...] This week Hamas marks the first anniversary of its violent takeover of the coastal strip from security forces affiliated with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas rejects the Jewish state's right to exist and has said publicly it wants a truce to rearm and regroup."

My Way News - Bush and allies embrace possible Iran sanctions
AP reports: "President Bush claimed progress Tuesday in his legacy-shaping drive to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, winning European promises to tighten pressure on Tehran with U.N. sanctions and possibly other new penalties."

My Way News - Iran vows 'painful response' if Israel attacks
AP reports: "Iran's defense minister warned of a 'painful response' if Israel attacks Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday."

My Way News - Israel backs away from minister's Iran statement
AP reports: "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert distanced himself on Sunday from a Cabinet minister's suggestion that Israel will be forced to attack Iran."

My Way News - Flash floods inundate Wis. town for 2nd time
AP reports: "Floodwater threatened dams across the Midwest, and military crews joined desperate sandbagging operations to hold back Indiana streams surging toward record levels. Stormy weekend weather was blamed for 10 deaths, most in the Midwest."

My Way News - Roadrunner is fastest computer
AP reports: "Scientists at the Los Alamos government weapons lab have built the world's fastest computer. It is capable of sustaining 1,000 trillion operations per second."

My Way News - Apple unveils faster new iPhone, chops price
AP reports: "The new iPhones, initially to be introduced in 22 countries, are designed to work over so-called 3G, or third-generation, wireless networks and have global-positioning technology built in."

My Way News - Caribbean monk seal becomes extinct
AP reports: "The Caribbean monk seal, first discovered during Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1494, once had a population of more than 250,000. But they became easy game for hunters because they often rested, gave birth or nursed their pups on beaches."

My Way News - McDonald's, others pull tomatoes over salmonella
AP reports: "McDonald's, Wal-Mart and other U.S. chains have halted sales of some raw tomatoes as federal health officials work to trace the source of a multistate salmonella food poisoning outbreak."

My Way News - Hunger in Ethiopia now spreading to adults

AP reports: "Aid groups say the older victims suggest there is an escalation in the crisis in Ethiopia, a country that drew international attention in 1984 when a famine compounded by communist policies killed 1 million people. This year's crisis, brought on by a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices, is far less severe."

My Way News - Strong earthquake hits Greece; 2 dead
AP reports: "A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 struck southwestern Greece on Sunday, killing at least two people, injuring more than 100 and leveling dozens of homes, authorities said."

My Way News - Israelis, Palestinians to start writing peace pact

AP reports: "Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start drafting sections of a proposed peace accord that address the main issues of their conflict, the chief Palestinian negotiator said."

My Way News - India, China jostle for influence in Indian Ocean
AP reports: "For decades the world relied on the powerful U.S. Navy to protect this vital sea lane. But as India and China gain economic heft, they are moving to expand their control of the waterway, sparking a new - and potentially dangerous - rivalry between Asia's emerging giants."

My Way News - Bird flu detected in Hong Kong market
AP reports: "Occasional H5N1 infections in wild birds are common in Hong Kong but the territory has not suffered a major outbreak of the disease since the virus killed six people in 1997. [...] At least 241 people have died of bird flu worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization."

My Way News - Israeli minister: Israel prepared to attack Iran
AP reports: "Israel will attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program, a Cabinet minister hoping to replace embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted Friday as saying."

My Way News - Muslim scholars back call for interfaith dialogue
AP reports: "Religious practice is so restricted in Saudi Arabia that even certain Muslim sects, such as Sufis and Shiites, face discrimination, while conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death."

My Way News - Israel retaliates for Hamas shelling, kills 1
AP reports: "Israel sent aircraft, tanks and ground troops to pummel the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing one Palestinian and injuring 17, a day after Palestinian militants killed an Israeli civilian in a mortar attack."

My Way News - Leaders of ex-Soviet alliance meet
AP reports: "Russia's new president met Friday with leaders of a fractious alliance of ex-Soviet republics, warning Ukraine and Georgia not to lead their countries into NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said."

My Way News - All Zimbabwe opposition rallies banned
AP reports: "Just three weeks before Zimbabwe's presidential runoff, Robert Mugabe is giving the opposition little room to campaign - detaining its candidate, banning rallies and attacking diplomats who try to investigate political violence."

My Way News - Oil's biggest day yet drags down stocks
AP reports: "Oil prices made their biggest single-day leap ever Friday, dragging the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 400 points and raising the once-unthinkable prospect of $150 oil and more record gas prices by the Fourth of July."

My Way News - Gartner: Smart phone sales double in North America
AP reports: "Sales of 'smart' phones doubled in North America in the first quarter, outstripping the category's growth in the rest of the world, according to a report by research firm Gartner."

My Way News - Study: $45 trillion needed to combat warming
AP reports: "Scientists say temperature increases beyond that could trigger devastating effects, such as widespread loss of species, famines and droughts, and swamping of heavily populated coastal areas by rising oceans."

SpaceWar - Commentary: Rainbow -- or Guns of August?
UPI reports: "This week the diminutive Iranian president left no room for ambiguity. He predicted Muslims would uproot 'satanic powers' and that Israel would soon disappear."

Comment: This commentary from UPI offers some insight into the confusing situation in Iranian domestic politics and how that is playing in the wider region.

SpaceWar - Analysis: Armament makes world insecure
UPI reports: "A group of German security and peace researchers warns that current armament tendencies may pose greater threats to the world than the Cold War did."

My Way News - Turkey, Iran launch coordinated attacks on Kurds
AP reports: "Turkey and Iran have been carrying out coordinated strikes on Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, a top Turkish general said Thursday in the first military confirmation of Iranian-Turkish cooperation in the fight against separatists there."

Comment: This is an ominous development, it means that operational links are being established between the Turkish and the Iranian military and intelligence services, links that in the future may be used to turn Turkey away from the West and towards the Russian - Iranian alliance against Israel. Let's keep a close eye on this.

My Way News - Olmert: Israel moving toward using force in Gaza
AP reports: "Israel is inching toward using military force against Hamas in the Gaza Strip because Egyptian cease-fire efforts there are not 'ripening,' Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday."

My Way News - Leaders at UN summit pledge to ease food crisis
AP reports: "World leaders at a U.N. summit pledged Thursday to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat a food crisis that is spreading hunger and violent unrest across the world."

My Way News - Russia warns NATO expansion will sour relations
AP reports: "Russia's president showed muscle on Thursday in his first major foreign policy speech since taking office a month ago, warning that a further NATO expansion eastward would ruin Russia's relations with the West."

My Way News - S. African health minister: HIV rates declining
AP reports: "South Africa's health minister said Thursday that HIV infection rates among pregnant women declined for the second straight year and claimed it was proof of the success of government policies."

My Way News - Indonesia hushes up bird flu deaths
AP reports: "A 15-year-old girl died of bird flu last month, becoming Indonesia's 109th victim, but the government decided to keep the news quiet. It is part of a new policy aimed at improving the image of the nation hardest hit by the disease."

My Way News - Video shows bystanders ignoring hit-and-run victim
AP reports: "A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away."

TheStar.com - Blair unfazed by Mideast peace obstacles

The Toronto Star reports: "As special envoy of the Quartet – the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia – his job in the Middle East is not to negotiate (despite his known skills, demonstrated in taming the IRA). Rather, it is to prepare the ground for peace – upgrading the capability of the Palestinian Authority on security for Israel, convincing Israel to ease its iron grip on the Palestinians, and improving their economic and social conditions."

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My Way News - Al-Qaida's No.2 urges holy war over Gaza Strip
AP reports: "Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader called on Muslims to launch a holy war to break Israel's economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, in an audio recording posted Wednesday on an Islamic militant Internet site."

My Way News - Al-Qaida claims it attacked Denmark's embassy in Pakistan
AP reports: "A Web posting late Wednesday purportedly by al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the suicide attack against Denmark's embassy in Pakistan that left six people dead."

My Way News - US, EU criticize Iran's defiance on nuclear work
AP reports: "The United States urged Iran to abandon the pursuit of nuclear arms forever, saying Wednesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency had overwhelming evidence of an Iranian weapons program."

My Way News - Saudi king opens conference on interfaith dialogue
AP reports: "Saudi Arabia has presented its dialogue proposal as a strictly religious initiative - an opportunity to ease tensions within Islam and between it and Christianity and Judaism. [...] though it is not clear if Israeli Jewish leaders will be invited to take part."

My Way News - UN food crisis summit delegates work on compromise
AP reports: "The proposed final declaration would call for stepped-up food production, reduced trade restrictions and more research on the contentious issue of biofuels."

My Way News - 2 bombings near Algerian capital wound 6 people
AP reports: "On Thursday and Friday, top diplomats are expected in Algiers to discuss the idea of a Mediterranean Union to bridge Europe and North Africa. Foreign ministers from France, Algeria, Egypt, Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey are expected."

My Way News - Aid group: Somalia in worst crisis in 10 years
AP reports: "Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in a decade, and the situation is deteriorating, an international aid agency said Wednesday."

My Way News - Outcry after French court rules on virginity
AP reports: "The ruling ending the Muslim couple's union has stunned France and raised concerns the country's much-cherished secular values are losing ground to cultural traditions from its fast-growing immigrant communities."

My Way News - Palestinian leader urges new dialogue with Hamas
AP reports: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for new dialogue with Hamas, in what appeared to be an about-face after insisting for a year that he would not talk with the Islamic militant movement unless it first gave up control of Gaza."

My Way News - SoftBank to sell iPhone in Japan this year
AP reports: "Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. said Wednesday it has a deal with Apple Inc. to start selling the iPhone later this year - the first such agreement in Japan for the hit cell phone. [...] Japan boasts some of the world's most sophisticated cell phones, which can be used for watching digital TV broadcasts, taking digital photos, doing restaurant searches, e-mail, electronic payments, reading digital novels and music downloads."

My Way News - Study secretly tracks cell phone users outside US
AP reports: "Researchers secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the United States through their cell phone use and concluded that most people rarely stray more than a few miles from home."

My Way News - Report: Assad says talks with Israel need US sponsor
AP reports: "Syria's president said he was willing to hold direct peace talks with Israel in the future under U.S. sponsorship, laying out his vision of how negotiations could progress. [...] The nations have fought three wars, their forces have clashed in Lebanon, and more recently, Syria has given support to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Palestinian militant groups."

My Way News - US general takes over NATO command in Afghanistan
AP reports: "The U.S. general who led American troops into Iraq took command Tuesday of the 40-nation NATO-led campaign in Afghanistan."

My Way News - Diplomats: 3 suspect Syrian nuke sites off limits
AP reports: "The U.N. agency is also interested in following up on information that Syria may have three other undeclared atomic facilities. Diplomats and a nuclear expert told the AP on Monday that at least one of the sites may have equipment that can reprocess nuclear material into the fissile core of warheads."

My Way News - Boy wrote of desire to kill many at Indiana school
AP reports: "A teenager accused of plotting a school attack wrote that he wanted 'instant recognition' for shooting a record number of victims and that he wouldn't feel sorry about it, according to documents unsealed Tuesday."

My Way News - Food aid saves millions but world hunger lingers
AP reports: "World leaders convening in Rome on Tuesday to grapple with skyrocketing food prices will have to make progress on this problem if they want to eradicate chronic hunger, say U.N. experts, nonprofit aid groups and economists."

My Way News - 6 die in bomb outside Danish Embassy in Pakistan
AP reports: "A car bomb exploded outside the Danish Embassy in Islamabad on Monday, killing six people and wounding dozens weeks after al-Qaida issued threats against Denmark over the reprinting of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad."

My Way News - Malaysian women urged to carry condoms
AP reports: "Malaysia's deputy health minister urged every woman in the country to carry a condom to protect against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, a news report said Sunday."

The Vancouver Courier - The watcher
The Vancouver Courier reports: "Interest in UFOs began in earnest in the 1950s and peaked in the 1990s when it dominated pop culture with television shows such as The X-Files, but has eroded over the past two decades."