China's strident tone raises concerns among Western governments, analysts - washingtonpost.com

The Washington Post reports: "China's indignant reaction to the announcement of U.S. plans to sell weapons to Taiwan appears to be in keeping with a new triumphalist attitude from Beijing that is worrying governments and analysts across the globe."

My Way News - Iran puts 16 opposition supporters on trial
My Way News reports: "Iran put 16 opposition supporters detained during anti-government protests last month on trial Saturday on charges of rioting and conspiring against the ruling system, Iran's state media reported."

My Way News - Earthquake strikes southwestern China, killing 1
My Way News reports: "A moderate earthquake jolted southwestern China on Sunday, killing one person and injuring 11 others, officials said. More than 100 houses were damaged or destroyed."

BBC News - Russia unveils its first stealth fighter jet
BBC News reports: "Russia has unveiled its new stealth fighter jet, meant to boost the country's ageing arsenal of weaponry and be a rival to the US F-22 Raptor. [...] The new jet has been developed in partnership with India. It is seen as a significant milestone in Russia's efforts to modernise its Soviet-era military hardware."

My Way News - Social forum ends with vows to fight capitalism
My Way News reports: "Leftists who converged in Brazil to protest what they view as uncontrolled capitalism ended the World Social Forum on Friday with vows to take advantage of the financial crisis to promote a global socialist agenda [...] gathering against the World Economic Forum under way at the Swiss ski resort of Davos said the meltdown proves the business titans attending the economic forum shouldn't be permitted to help reshape the global economy."

Study: Big Northwest waves getting bigger - Environment- msnbc.com
MSNBC reports: "Lots has been said about warming temperatures and rising sea levels, but a new study puts the spotlight on a more imminent threat to coastal communities: extreme waves that are growing taller in some parts of the world."

My Way News - Gates makes $10 billion vaccines pledge
My Way News reports: "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said Friday."

BBC News - A 'bumpy' Davos 2010 awaits world leaders
BBC News reports: "Most top companies will send their bosses to the Swiss Alps. More than 55 governments will be represented by top politicians. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will give the opening speech. Even the American bankers are back, a year after they were hiding behind their Wall Street desks."

My Way News - Iran's leader predicts Israel's destruction
My Way News reports: "Iran's supreme leader predicted the destruction of Israel in comments posted on his Web site on Wednesday, in some of his strongest remarks in years about the Jewish state. [...] Iran does not recognize Israel, and the two countries have been bitter enemies since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, and current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel's destruction."

My Way News - Clinton: Iran leaves penalties as only choice
My Way News reports: "Iran leaves the world no recourse but to apply penalties aimed at curbing a fast-track nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday."

My Way News - Russia official: No obstacles over Iran arms deal
My Way News reports: "Russia still considers Iran a valuable customer for its weapons, a top arms trade official said Thursday, issuing a reassuring message to Tehran despite recent indications of Moscow's support for tougher Western sanctions."

My Way News - Report: Malaysia holds 10 tied to Christmas bomber
My Way News reports: "Ten terror suspects arrested in Malaysia allegedly have ties to a Nigerian suspected in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, a news report said Thursday."

My Way News - North Korea fires more artillery toward sea border
My Way News reports: "North Korea fired more artillery near its disputed western sea border with South Korea on Thursday, a day after it lobbed dozens of shells during military exercises that prompted the South to respond with warning shots."

BBC News - Nigeria text messages 'fuelled Jos riots'
BBC News reports: "Days of deadly violence between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria last week was fuelled by inflammatory text messages, a religious leader has told the BBC."

My Way News - Israel: Turkish leader fuels anti-Semitism
My Way News reports: "The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Turkey's prime minister of fueling anti-Semitism with his criticism of Israel, officials said Tuesday, threatening to spark a new diplomatic row with one of Jewish state's few Muslim allies."

Comment: Looks like Israel has decided now is the time to alienate Turkey. Not sure what's going on with this. It's a strategic alliance that has served both countries well, but clearly a something has changed on both sides.

My Way News - Rights group: Russian religious freedom in danger
My Way News reports: "In its annual report on religions freedoms, the independent Moscow-based Liberty of Conscience Institute expressed concern that growing state support for the Russian Orthodox Church is coming at the expense of minority denominations. [...] The institute said the crackdown on religious freedoms has become so fierce that there may soon be no religious minorities in Russia."

My Way News - NATO, Russia formally resume military ties
My Way News reports: "Moscow has repeatedly expressed its willingness to help the war effort in Afghanistan because of fears that any return to power by Taliban extremists would destabilize Central Asia and endanger Russia's own security. It has allowed NATO nations to use its territory and air corridors for the transport of supplies to Afghanistan as routes through Pakistan have come under repeated Taliban attack."

My Way News - London meeting to seek ways to win Afghan war
My Way News reports: "No one pretends the war is going well: Western casualties are up, public support in coalition countries is down, and ever-bolder Taliban rebels have successfully attacked the center of Kabul, power base of the feeble central government led by Karzai. Al-Qaida leaders, on the run for eight years, have regrouped, their tentacles grasping beyond their base near the Pakistan-Afghan border."

My Way News - US asks Pakistan to stop blocking nuclear talks
My Way News reports: "India has a larger stock of fissile material and the capacity to build more warheads than Pakistan. Pakistan fears that India is gaining disproportionate power in South Asia after a 2008 agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and India, and a series of strategic and economic cooperation deals it has concluded with countries including Russia."

My Way News - Book: John Paul II used belt to whip himself
My Way News reports: "The Vatican must now confirm that a miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession occurred in order for him to be beatified - a step which many Vatican watchers have suggested may come as early as October."

Comment: This is the most pernicious part of this unscriptural practice. Read that sentence above and consider carefully what it means. If you believe that a miracle is an act of God, then consider that this bureaucratic saint making process requires a miracle, demands a miracle, and will probably manufacture a miracle in order for the process to be completed. Also consider carefully the person the miracle is to be attributed to. Do you believe that dead humans can perform miracles? Nah, neither do I.

My Way News - China issues warning over US arms sales to Taiwan
My Way News reports: "Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu warned that the Obama administration risked damaging ties with China if it proceeds with the arms package deal, which is likely to include Black Hawk helicopters and Patriot missiles. [...] Arms sales to Taiwan are mandated by a U.S. law requiring Washington to ensure Taiwan is capable of defending itself from Chinese threats, including the more than 1,000 ballistic missiles pointed at the island."

My Way News - Reports: 2 Koreas fire artillery along coast
My Way News reports: "North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along their disputed western sea border on Wednesday, two days after the North designated no-sail zones in the area, the military and news reports said. [...] The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 war ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty. "

My Way News - FBI looking into Pittsburgh arts student beating
My Way News reports: "The FBI is looking into whether Pittsburgh police officers violated the civil rights of an 18-year-old violist who accused them of brutally beating him as he walked to his grandmother's house after dark."

My Way News - Teen violist alleges Pittsburgh police brutality
My Way News reports: "The confrontation began around 11 p.m. Jan. 12, when the teenager walked out of his mother's home and headed to his grandmother's, where he spends most nights [...] As Miles walked up the block, he noticed three men sitting in a white car [...] 'Where's the money?' one shouted, according to Miles. 'Where's the gun? Where's the drugs?' the other two said. 'It was intimidating; I thought I was going to be robbed,' Miles said. [....] 'That's when they started beating me, punching, kicking me, choking me,' he said. Not until 15 minutes later, when uniformed officers drove up in a van and Miles overheard their conversation, did he realize he had been arrested, he said. Initially, when the handcuffs were clamped around his wrists, he thought he was being abducted, he said."

Comment: Crazy world when the good guys become the bad guys.

My Way News - French report wants limits on Muslim face veil
My Way News reports: "Mass transport, hospitals, post offices - these and all public services in France would be off-limits to Muslim women wearing face-covering veils if a parliamentary panel's recommendations, released Tuesday, become law. [...] veils are widely seen as a gateway to extremism and an attack on gender equality and secularism, a basic value of modern-day France."

My Way News - Bin Laden endorses bomb attempt on US plane
My Way News reports: "Osama bin Laden endorsed the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day and threatened new attacks against the United States in an audio message released Sunday that appeared aimed at asserting he maintains some direct command over al-Qaida-inspired offshoots."

My Way News - Pope to priests: Go forth and blog
My Way News reports: "Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog. The pope [...] urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures."

My Way News - NKorea: Pre-emptive strike from South would be war
My Way News reports: "North Korea warned Sunday it would consider any pre-emptive strike by South Korea a declaration of war - the latest salvo in a battle of rhetoric even as the rival nations showed signs of cooperating after months of tension over the North's nuclear program. [...] The two Koreas technically remain at war because the Korean conflict ended with a 1953 cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty."

My Way News - US envoy fails to lure Abbas back to Mideast talks
My Way News reports: "President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy failed Friday to lure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas back to peace talks with Israel, as Abbas stuck to his insistence that an Israeli settlement freeze come first."

Comment: I don't really understand why they insist that Israel make all the concessions. What concessions have the Palestinians made for peace? It seems odd to me that Palestinian demands seem to be driving the process. I mean, it's not like they have any leverage or credibility. From an anthropological or historical perspective, they've never even been a "nation" nor are they united now. And yet they demand that the international community reward them with a state of their own? What have they done to demonstrate that they are worthy of statehood? The international community should make demands on the Palestinians, establish benchmarks and standards to demonstrate worthiness, so that statehood is the final step in a process of growth and development and not a prize collected by the perpetrators of longest running good-cop (Fatah) bad-cop (Hamas) scam in history. And yet, as clear as it seems that the Palestinians are spoilers, BP suggests that there will come a time when Israel is universally seen as the bad guy. That process seems to be well underway.

CNN - Mitchell in Mideast trying to jump-start peace talks
CNN reports: "George Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, was in the region on Thursday, in a bid to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. He planned to spend three days in Jerusalem and Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank."

CNN - Mega churches mean big business
CNN reports: "Mega churches are extra-large churches that can accommodate upwards of 15,000 people and are common among members of the evangelical Christian faith."

Comment: As long as they are preaching the gospel I'm fine with mega-churches, but once they ditch the gospel in favor of prosperity theology, then they lose me. I wish them well, but I fear that the temptation to compromise the gospel in favor of a pop-psychology centered self-improvement approach and corporate fundraising mentality will undermine their witness, undercut their harvest and spoil their fruit.

BBC News - Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant to open in 2010
BBC News reports: "Iran's first nuclear power plant will be operating by mid-2011, Iranian and Russian officials say. [...] Any nuclear fuel from the plant will be brought from and returned to Russia so that it cannot be used for a weapons programme."

My Way News - Pakistani army: No new offensive for 6-12 months
My Way News reports: "The Pakistani army said Thursday it cannot expand its offensive against militants for at least six months, and the United States backed off public pressure on an ally considered vital in the war next door in Afghanistan."

My Way News - Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker faces hate speech trial
My Way News reports: "Wilders' criminal trial for allegedly inciting hate against Muslims has resonance across Europe: He is one of a dozen right-wing politicians on the continent who are testing the limits of freedom of speech while voicing voters' concerns at the growth of Islam. [...] 'I know the words I use are sometimes hard, but they are never impetuous,' he told judges Wednesday. 'I also do not intend to hurt people's feelings. I have nothing against Muslims. I have a problem with Islam and the Islamization of our country because Islam is diametrically opposed to freedom.'"

My Way News - Gates: Terror groups aim to destabilize South Asia
My Way News reports: "A syndicate of terror groups affiliated with al-Qaida might try to start a new war between rivals India and Pakistan as part of an organized effort to sow upheaval across South Asia, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday."

My Way News - Netanyahu demands Israeli presence in West Bank

My Way News reports: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel must have a presence in the West Bank to stop rockets from being imported even after a peace agreement is achieved - the first time such a demand has been spelled out."

Comment: A new Palestinian state should not be a terrorist state bent on destroying Israel - this seems self-evident and hardly requires any explanation, right? That said, Netanyahu's idea will surely be an extremely controversial move in the irrational world of Mideast peace. At any rate, discussing the status of military forces in a new Palestinian state is a distraction at this point, given the state of negotiations. The more interesting part of that report is this incredible idea floated by the Palestinians:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proposed that the Obama administration negotiate the final borders of a Palestinian state with Israel, a Palestinian official said Wednesday, as a U.S. envoy headed to the region for another attempt to restart Mideast peace talks. Such a proxy arrangement could provide a way around the current deadlock over reviving Israeli-Palestinian talks, which broke off more than a year ago. As an alternative, U.S. officials could replace Palestinian negotiators in border talks with Israel, said an Abbas aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the content of internal meetings.

Yes, you read that right, the Palestinians are proposing a bizarre new level of Mideast peace negotiations in which they step back and the Americans step in to negotiate with Israel on their behalf. This is basically diplomatic-speak for, "please Mr. President, impose a peace agreement on us." It's really an extraordinary move on their part, let's see how Obama reacts to it.

My Way News - Arab Christians try reviving town of Jesus miracle
My Way News reports: "Migration and low birth rates have diminished Christian populations across the Middle East. Israel's community of 123,000 Arab Christians is one of the few in the region whose numbers have held steady - it grew slightly by 2,000 in 2009. [..] Kufr Kana was entirely Christian at the beginning of the 20th century, but Muslims began settling in the village first as traders, and then as refugees fleeing fighting during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, locals said. Now the village is home to 16,000 Muslims and 4,000 Christians."

My Way News - NZ army to remove bible quotes from weapon sights
My Way News reports: "New Zealand's defense force said Thursday that Biblical citations on markings on weapon sights used by its troops in Afghanistan will be removed. [...] Trijicon said it has been longstanding company practice to put the Scripture citations on the equipment. Tom Munson, Trijicon's director of sales and marketing, said the company has never received any complaints until now."

Ribbon at edge of solar system explained - Space.com- msnbc.com
MSNBC reports: "A mysterious ribbon spotted on the edge of the solar system has turned out to be a reflection of particles streaming off the sun, scientists have found. [...] The sun emits a stream of charged particles called the solar wind. These particles apparently travel out to the edge of the solar system, where they encounter a strong magnetic field coming from the rest of the galaxy, that slingshots them back in the direction they came from."

Reuters - Germany warns Iran it faces new sanctions
Reuters reports: "Iran faces further sanctions unless it changes stance in talks over its nuclear program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, even if there is no United Nations agreement to act against Tehran."

My Way News - Iran rejects heart of nuclear proposal
My Way News reports: "Iran has told the head of the U.N. nuclear agency that it does not accept an international proposal committing it to quickly export most of the material it would need to make a nuclear warhead, diplomats said Tuesday. [...] The United States and its Western allies have been pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions. But with Russia, and especially China, skeptical of any new U.N. penalties, they have to tread carefully to maintain six power unity on how to deal with the Islamic Republic. A meeting Saturday of senior diplomats from the six powers focused on possible new sanctions but participants said it reached no agreement."

My Way News - Aftershock drives more from Haitian capital
My Way News reports: "A frightening new aftershock Wednesday forced more earthquake survivors onto the capital's streets to live and sent others fleeing to the countryside, where aid was only beginning to reach wrecked towns. [...] The strongest tremor since the Jan. 12 quake struck at 6:03 a.m., just before sunrise while many still slept [...] the 5.9-magnitude aftershock lasted only seconds but panicked thousands of Haitians."

My Way News - Malaysia police arrest 8 over church arson attack
My Way News reports: "Malaysian police have announced the arrest of 8 suspects believed to have participated in a firebomb attack on a Christian church. The arrests are the first in connection to a spate of assaults on churches amid religious tensions between the ethnic Malay Muslim majority and the Christian minority."

My Way News - UN climate report riddled with errors on glaciers
My Way News reports: "Five glaring errors were discovered in one paragraph of the world's most authoritative report on global warming, forcing the Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists who wrote it to apologize and promise to be more careful."

Yahoo!News - Iran in billion-euro gas deal with Germany
AFP reports: "Iran has signed a one-billion-euro (1.44-billion-dollar) deal with a German firm to build 100 gas turbo-compressors, an industry official said in newspapers on Wednesday."

Comment: Germany has long been speculated to be the Gomer referred to in Gog Alliance prophesies, but very little has occured to indicate such a link. Could this be the start?

My Way News - New tech tools help Haiti quake relief
My Way News reports: "Volunteers have built and refined software for tracking missing people, mapping the disaster area and enabling urgent cell phone text messaging. Organizations including the International Red Cross, the United Nations, the World Bank and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency have put the systems to use."

My Way News - 2000s warmest decade on record, government reports

My Way News reports: "The 2000-2009 decade was the warmest on record, easily surpassing the previous hottest decade - the 1990s - researchers said Tuesday in a report providing fresh evidence that the planet may be warming at a potentially disastrous rate. [...] Concerns about the effects of a warmer climate include rising sea levels and the potential spread of tropical diseases, changes in hurricane patterns, increased drought in some areas, disruption of crop growth and wildlife patterns, and loss of species unable to adapt."

Religious Violence Flares Again in Nigerian City - VOA
Voice of America reports: "Houses and cars were set ablaze after Muslim youths attacked a Catholic church. Calm returned to the city on Monday. [...] Security sources say more than 50 people may have been killed since Sunday when clashes started. Red Cross officials say 5,000 people have been displaced by the rioting."

Turkey Turning

VOA - Israeli Defense Minister Visits Turkey to Mend Fences
The Voice of America reports: "Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met Turkey's foreign and defense ministers in Ankara to try and mend fences. The two nations have close strategic ties, but relations have plummeted since the Gaza War a year ago, when Turkey accused Israel of using excessive force against the Palestinians."

My Way News - London-based Jewish newspaper attacked by hackers
My Way News reports: "Turkish hackers attacked the Web site of Britain's flagship Jewish newspaper, replacing the main page with a Palestinian flag and anti-Semitic writings, the paper's editor said Monday. The Web site for the Jewish Chronicle - the world's oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper - was defaced for a 'couple of hours' on Sunday, editor Stephen Pollard said Monday."

My Way News - Israel threatens to expel Turkish ambassador: "The Israeli official who touched off a diplomatic crisis with Turkey this week said Saturday that the country's ambassador could be expelled if Turkish TV dramas continue to depict Israeli security forces as brutal. [...] the TV program that Israel found so objectionable is the second of its kind to air in Turkey in recent months. Turkey's warming relations with Iran are also of great concern to Israel, which considers Tehran to be its most menacing enemy."

My Way News - Storms in Mideast kill British tourist, 6 others
My Way News reports: "Rare torrential rains across the Middle East swept away homes, marooned resort towns and killed seven people Monday, including a British tourist, in what officials are calling the worst flooding in at least a decade."

My Way News - Taliban attacks paralyze Afghan capital for hours
My Way News reports: "Taliban militants wearing explosive vests launched a brazen daylight assault Monday on the center of Kabul, with suicide bombings and gunbattles near the presidential palace and other government buildings that paralyzed the city for hours."

My Way News - Haitians praise God after apocalyptic quake

My Way News reports: "Drumbeats called the faithful to a Sunday Mass praising God amid a scene resembling the Apocalypse - a collapsed cathedral in a city cloaked with the smell of death, where aid is slow to reach survivors and rescue crews battle to pry an ever-smaller number of the living from the ruins. [...] As Catholic and Protestant worshippers across the city met for their first Sunday services since the magnitude-7.0 quake, many Haitians were still waiting for food and water and some took vengeance against looters."

Comment: I have donated to the Red Cross to aid the relief effort in Haiti, but more importantly, I'm praying for the survivors and the rescue workers. People are still buried under the rubble and getting them out is the first order of business, as well as getting food, water and medicine to survivors. The task must seem daunting, but let's all agree to pray for them.

My Way News - Vandals smash Malaysia church window amid tensions
My Way News reports: "A church in southern Malaysia has been vandalized, apparently the latest in a string of attacks on Christian houses of worship in this Muslim-majority nation, police said Saturday."

My Way News - Malaysia minorities fear Islamization in Allah row
My Way News reports: "The dispute has spawned attacks on 10 churches and has hardened a long-standing sense of alienation among the non-Muslim minority, threatening 40 years of ethnic peace and stability that underpins Malaysia's economic success."

My Way News - Turkey's Jews urge calm after spat with Israel
My Way News reports: "Disputes between Turkey and Israel must be resolved courteously, or they could inflame anti-Semitism, Turkey's main Jewish group said Thursday. [...] On Wednesday, a major Jewish American group raised concerns about rising anti-Semitism in Turkey, criticizing statements by Turkish government officials and the "hateful depiction" of Jews and Israel in the media."

My Way News - US steps up missile attacks in Pakistan
My Way News reports: "The United States has unleashed an unprecedented number of missile attacks by unmanned drones in northwest Pakistan over the last two weeks, including one Thursday that officials said killed 12 alleged militants at a meeting of Taliban commanders."

My Way News - Appeals judges mock 'fleeting expletives' policy
My Way News reports: "A federal appeals court seemed poised Wednesday to toss out a government policy that can lead to broadcasters being fined for allowing even a single curse word on live television, with three judges hearing arguments sometimes mocking the government's position. [...] 'What are you protecting children from?' asked Judge Pierre Leval."

Comment: Someone tell the judge that it's not about protecting children, it's about protecting civilized society. Profanity coarsens the culture, cheapens our society, and demeans our relationships. Words once spoken can never be taken back and vile words are like verbal pollution which infect all those who hear them, spreading corruption like a contagion. A judge in his position should have a concern to raise up standards in society, not tear them down to the basest level. Shame. What can one say about a judge without wisdom?

My Way News - Catholic bishops criticize Israel on Palestinians
My Way News reports: "A high-level delegation of Roman Catholic bishops criticized Israeli polices in Arab sectors of Jerusalem on Thursday and called for more contacts between ordinary Israelis and Palestinians. [...] The issue of Jerusalem - home to holy sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims - remains the most flammable in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians claim the city's eastern sector as the capital of their future state."

My Way News - Thousands feared dead in Haiti quake; many trapped

My Way News reports: "Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake flattened the president's palace, the cathedral, hospitals, schools, the main prison and whole neighborhoods. Officials feared thousands - perhaps more than 100,000 - may have perished but there was no firm count."

My Way News - Major quake hits Haiti; many casualties expected
My Way News reports: "The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area shook Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help. Other buildings also were damaged and scientists said they expected 'substantial damage and casualties.' [...] The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said."

China's exports rise as economy picks up - CNN.com
CNN reports: "Following strong export figures last month from South Korea and Taiwan, China said on Sunday that its exports climbed 17.7 percent, well ahead of the modest increase that economists had predicted. These numbers put China on track to overtake Germany as the world's largest exporter."

My Way News - China says missile defense system test successful
My Way News reports: "China's military successfully tested a system for intercepting missiles in mid-flight on Monday, state media reported. [...] China's military is in the middle of a major technology upgrade, spurred on by double digit annual percentage increases in defense spending. Missile technology is considered one of the military's particular strengths, allowing it to narrow the gap with the U.S. and other armed forces."

Comment: China's ascent to superpower status continued today with two fresh reports out about China's economic and military power.

My Way News - Palestinians under pressure to resume peace talks
My Way News reports: "The Palestinians found themselves on the defensive Sunday, after Washington announced a new push to relaunch Mideast peace talks. [...] Mitchell is set to return to Israel and the West Bank this month. He told PBS he hopes to persuade Israelis and Palestinians during this trip that it is in their best interest to resume negotiations that broke down in December 2008."

AFP: Powerful quake hits off California coast: USGS
AFP reports: "A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California, the US Geological Survey said. The quake occurred 22 miles (35 kilometers) west of Ferndale and 224 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento, at a depth of nine miles (16 kilometers)."

4th church firebombed in Allah dispute - CNN.com
CNN reports: "Attackers firebombed another church in Malaysia on Saturday, the latest violence amid widespread Muslim rage over the Christian use of the word Allah as a term for God. The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in southwestern Kuala Lumpur received minor damage to its front porch, but no injuries were reported."

Comment: Let's pray for the church in Malaysia that they will endure this persecution with good faith, love, and forgiveness. Let's pray for the bombers as well, that they may come to know the truth about what they attack.

My Way News - Suspects in Egypt's Christmas slayings surrender
My Way News reports: "Three suspects in a drive-by shooting that killed six Christians in southern Egypt surrendered to police Friday, while authorities faced mounting pressure to resolve the sectarian dispute in the tense community reeling from a bloody Coptic Christmas Eve attack."

My Way News - 3 Malaysian churches attacked in 'Allah' dispute: "Religious tensions in Muslim-majority Malaysia turned violent Friday with firebomb attacks on three churches following a court decision that allows Christians to translate God as Allah. [...] The ruling also applies to the ban's broader applications, such as Malay-language Bibles, 10,000 copies of which were recently seized by authorities because they translated God as Allah."

Comment: In a bizarre turn of events, followers of Islam in Malaysia are insisting that "Allah" is only for them and should not be used by Christians to refer to God. They make a very good point. That said, it's unfortunate that they are attacking churches and seizing Bibles to make their point.

My Way News - Israel completes testing rocket defense system
My Way News reports: "Israel has successfully completed testing a high-tech rocket defense system designed to protect its civilians from attacks by militants in Gaza and Lebanon, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. [...] Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel over the years and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah bombed northern cities with rocket barrages from Lebanon during fierce fighting in the summer of 2006."

My Way News - Hamas squeezed between Iron Dome and steel wall
My Way News reports: "Gaza's Hamas rulers have suffered back-to-back setbacks with Israel's successful test of a rocket shield and Egypt's push to block smuggling tunnels. The Iron Dome rocket defense system, reportedly to be deployed near Gaza in May, would deprive Hamas of its main leverage against Israel - the threat of rocket salvos. Egypt's underground anti-tunnel barrier of steel beams, now under construction, could eventually cut Hamas' supply of cash and weapons."

My Way News - Israeli strikes against Gaza tunnels kill 3
My Way News reports: "Israeli airstrikes against targets in Gaza killed three men early Friday in a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border, Palestinian officials reported. The Israeli strikes came in retaliation for a rocket and mortar barrage launched into Israel on Thursday."

Comment: Hamas is looking increasingly cornered, which means they could become increasingly dangerous. The likelihood of increasing attacks on Israel will depend on what their Iranian sponsors want to do. The fear is that the Iranian clerical dictatorship will decide that a foreign war would be a good distraction from their domestic political crisis.

My Way News - Gunmen kill 7 at Egypt church after Christmas Mass
My Way News reports: "Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egypt as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, killing at least seven people in a drive-by shooting, the church bishop and security officials said."

Tehran Plans a Major Military Exercise - WSJ.com
The Wall Street Journal reports: "Iranian media on Sunday reported Tehran will conduct a large-scale defensive military exercise next month, coinciding with what government officials now say is a deadline for the West to respond to its counteroffer to a nuclear-fuel deal."

My Way News - Israeli officers cancel UK trip for fear of arrest
My Way News reports: "An Israeli military delegation has canceled an official visit to Britain, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a string of politicians and army officials to put off travel to the U.K. because of fears of war crimes prosecution."

Comment: It's really astounding the degree to which British life and culture have been hijacked by Islamic militants. Anglophiles, please join me in praying for the soul of the British people, that they wake up and assert their proud and ancient heritage before it is lost forever.

My Way News - Egypt steel border wall could choke Hamas in Gaza
My Way News: "Once completed, the steel barrier would cut off blockaded Gaza's last lifeline [...] The Islamic militants have so far shown little willingness to compromise in power-sharing talks with their Western-backed rivals or in negotiations on a prisoner swap with Israel. Their hold on Gaza is at least partly dependent on supplies and cash coming through the tunnels."

Comment: It's great to see Egypt taking a stand against Islamic militancy (they kind of have to given their domestic concerns) but I'm skeptical that the wall will stem the tide of supplies and weapons reaching Hamas. Still, it's nice to see Iran's power grab challenged by Egypt, I hope it works.

My Way News - Google to sell Nexus One, a 'super' mobile phone
My Way News reports: "Google Inc. began selling its own mobile phone Tuesday, a much-anticipated move aimed at protecting its online advertising empire as people increasingly surf the Web on handsets instead of personal computers. [...] The Nexus One should work with many carriers abroad, as GSM is the predominant technology used. Vodafone's wireless service in Europe also will begin to subsidize the Nexus One in the spring."

AFP: US plan calls for Mideast peace deal in two years: report
AFP reports: "Washington is pushing a plan to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that foresees reaching a final deal in two years and agreeing on borders in nine months, an Israeli daily said on Monday."

My Way News - Malaysia appeals 'Allah' for Christians ruling
My Way News reports: "Protests by Muslim groups, although peaceful, have raised fears of friction between the Malay Muslim majority and the large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who mainly practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. Religious minorities and some moderate Muslims have welcomed the High Court decision as a victory against what they say is institutionalized religious discrimination here. Authorities deny any discrimination, but recently confiscated 10,000 copies of Malay-language Bibles containing the word Allah."

My Way News - Destructive tsunami crashes over Solomon Islands
My Way News reports: "Authorities in helicopters flew over remote coastlines in the Solomon Islands on Tuesday trying to assess the damage from a large earthquake and tsunami that crashed ashore a day earlier, devastating at least one village. [...] A magnitude-7.2 quake sent a tsunami slamming into the shores of Rendova Island and nearby Tetepare Island about 9:30 a.m. local time Monday. Eight other quakes greater than magnitude 5.0 have rocked the region since."

My Way News - Planet-hunting telescope unearths hot mysteries
My Way News reports: "NASA's new planet-hunting telescope has found two mystery objects that are too hot to be planets and too small to be stars. [...] The new discoveries don't quite fit into any definition of known astronomical objects, and so far don't have a classification of their own."