My Way News - 2 strong earthquakes hit Iran, injuring hundreds
My Way News reports: "Two strong earthquakes shook different parts of Iran in less than 24 hours, injuring more than 200 people and damaging hundreds of homes, Iranian media reported Saturday. The first quake, which had a magnitude of 5.7, struck villages and towns in the northeast on Friday evening, injuring more than 200 people [...] Late Saturday morning, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake rattled the Negar region, 670 miles (more than 1,000 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran. There were no reports of casualties, but state television said there was extensive damage, most of it to buildings made of mud and brick."

My Way News - Turkey, Syria engage in bird diplomacy
My Way News reports: "Turkey and Syria earlier this year lifted travel visas to boost trade, and the Turkish military staged a joint drill with Syrian soldiers on their shared border. Turkey, which aspires to be a regional mediator in the Middle East, also worked to ease tensions between Iraq and Syria over demands that Damascus extradite two suspects wanted in suicide attacks on government ministries in Baghdad."

My Way News - Pakistan spy scraps UK talks after PM's comments
My Way News reports: "Pakistan insists that it has done more than any other country to combat terrorism, sending the army to fight Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants within its borders and cooperating closely with Western intelligence agencies. But its spy agency has long been accused of secretly aiding Afghanistan's Taliban and other Islamic militants."

My Way News - Death toll in Pakistani floods surges past 800
My Way News reports: "The death toll in the massive flooding in Pakistan surged past 800 as floodwaters receded Saturday in the hard-hit northwest, an official said [...] Monsoon rains come every year, but rarely with such fury."

My Way News - US, allies complete Pacific military training
My Way News reports: "Monthlong military drills in the Pacific, which conclude this weekend, were intended only as training exercises to combat terrorism and piracy - and were not meant to send a message to North Korea, the commander of the drills says [...] the biennial 14-nation Rim of the Pacific military exercises [...] brought together 20,000 personnel, 32 ships, five submarines and more than 170 aircraft in waters surrounding Hawaii."

My Way News - Coast Guard allows toxic chemical use on Gulf oil
My Way News reports: "The U.S. Coast Guard has routinely approved BP requests to use thousands of gallons of toxic chemical a day to break up oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico [...] The chemicals break down masses of oil into small droplets that allow the oil to be more easily consumed by bacteria. But the chemicals also are toxic and it's not known what impact the large volume of chemicals being used against the BP spill might be having on marine life."

My Way News - PLO official says Obama sends warning to Abbas
My Way News reports: "A senior PLO official says President Barack Obama has warned Mahmoud Abbas in a letter that U.S.-Palestinian relations might suffer if the Palestinian leader refuses to resume direct peace talks with Israel. The White House has been pushing Abbas hard in recent days to move quickly to face-to-face negotiations, but had no comment Saturday."

My Way News - 5.7 quake shakes Iran
My Way News reports: "A 5.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the northeast Iranian city of Torbat-e Heydariyeh on Friday, injuring at least 110 people. Iran's state TV said the quake also damaged several villages and temporarily disrupted communications."

My Way News - Israeli airstrike kills senior Hamas rocket maker
My Way News reports: "Israeli warplanes fired missiles at five targets across Gaza, killing a senior commander of the Hamas military wing and wounding 11 people, the group said Saturday. The Israeli military confirmed the air strikes and said they came in response to a rocket attack from Gaza on the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Friday [...] The Islamic militants have been building crude rockets for the past decade, and have fired hundreds of them at Israeli border towns."

My Way News - Syria, Saudi leaders travel together to Lebanon
My Way News reports: "The unusual joint visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad and Saudi King Abdullah underscored the depth of Arab concern over potential chaos in Lebanon. Many people fear indictments of Hezbollah members could spark clashes between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shiites, or that Hezbollah's nemesis Israel could be pulled into a conflict, causing wider turmoil. The summit also consecrated both countries' roles as power brokers in the region, where Syria is an ally of Iran and Saudi Arabia generally supports the U.S."

My Way News - US casualties in Afghanistan soar to record highs
My Way News reportsww: "In a summer of suffering, America's military death toll in Afghanistan is rising, with back-to-back record months for U.S. losses in the grinding conflict. All signs point to more bloodshed in the months ahead, straining the already shaky international support for the war [...] U.S. commanders have been stepping up the fight against the insurgents in their longtime strongholds such as the Arghandab Valley, Panjwaii and Zhari - all on the outskirts of Kandahar city, the biggest urban area in the ethnic Pashtun south."

My Way News - Floods ravage NW Pakistan, kill 430 people
My Way News reports: "Boats and helicopters struggled to reach hundreds of thousands of villagers cut off by floods in northwest Pakistan on Friday as the government said 430 people had been killed in the deadliest such disaster to hit the region since 1929."

My Way News - China says it opposes EU sanctions against Iran
My Way News reports: "China said Friday that it opposes the sanctions the European Union is imposing on Iran over its disputed nuclear program, saying it supports Iran's renewed efforts to hold talks on a possible swap of nuclear fuel [..] The European Union and Canada adopted new sanctions Monday against Iran that target its foreign trade, banking and energy sectors [...] China has vast energy needs and has large investments in Iran, and its position as a permanent member of the Security Council can challenge further U.N. pressure on the issue."

My Way News - Chavez: Venezuela has deployed troops amid spat
My Way News reports: "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said he has deployed troops and air units in case of a conflict with neighboring Colombia [...] Chavez cut off diplomatic relations with U.S.-allied Colombia last week after outgoing President Alvaro Uribe's government presented photos, videos and maps of what it said were Colombian rebel camps inside Venezuela."

My Way News - Cell phone shipments continue to recover
My Way News reports: "The number of cell phones shipped worldwide rose 14.5 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, with much of the growth coming from smaller challengers like the iPhone and BlackBerry [...] Nokia Corp. of Finland is still the world's largest maker of phones, but its growth is slower than the industry's and its share of the market is 35 percent compared to 40 percent two years ago. Motorola Inc. has fallen to seventh place in the world from number three. Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., both based in South Korea, are No. 2 and 3."

My Way News - Saudi king in Syria amid regional tensions
My Way News reports: "Syria on Thursday warned the United States to stop trying to interfere as Arab leaders try to defuse heightened tensions in the Middle East [...] Washington has urged Syria to move away from its alliance with Iran [...] Syria backs militant groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas."

My Way News - Arab League backs Palestinians on restarting talks
My Way News reports: "Arab nations on Thursday backed the Palestinian president's refusal to immediately restart direct talks with Israel despite heavy U.S. pressure. The Arab foreign ministers endorsed the idea of direct negotiations, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, but left the timing up to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has laid down several conditions."

My Way News - Russia grants more powers to KGB successor agency
My Way News reports: "Russians may now face jail time for crimes they have not yet committed under a new security law signed Thursday by President Dmitry Medvedev. The law restores Soviet-era powers to the Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor agency, a move that rights advocates fear could be used to stifle protests and intimidate the Kremlin's political opponents [...] The opposition has accused the Kremlin of turning Russia into a Soviet-style police state, and many Russians say they have experienced or fear abuse at the hands of FSB officers."

My Way News - French woman admits to suffocating her 8 newborns
My Way News reports: "A French woman who admitted suffocating eight of her newborns and concealing their corpses in the garden and garage of her home has been charged with manslaughter."

My Way News - Indian students demand teachers wear burqas
My Way News reports: "Students at an Islamic university in eastern India have refused to allow a female lecturer to teach unless she wears an all-encompassing Muslim veil, the teacher said Thursday. The student union has ordered all female students and all eight female lecturers at the small Calcutta campus of Aliah University to wear the veil, called a burqa in South Asia."

My Way News - Egypt: US assurances may boost direct peace talks
My Way News reports: "Egypt said Wednesday it has received U.S. assurances that may help in restarting direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel [...] President Hosni Mubarak has received a letter from Obama, followed by calls from Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, all signaling a U.S. commitment to establish a Palestinian state."

My Way News - Supertanker damage raises alarm in Persian Gulf
My Way News reports: "A Japanese shipping line raised alarm Wednesday that one of its supertankers was damaged by an explosion in a possible attack in the Persian Gulf, but authorities on both sides of the tense waterway denied that any strike occurred."

My Way News - Police find corpses of 8 newborns in French home
My Way News reports: "A French couple was in custody Wednesday after police found the corpses of eight newborn babies in a village in northern France, a judicial official said. The official said the detained couple, in their mid-40s, were the parents of the dead babies, and that the corpses were found on two different parts of their property in Villers-au-Tertre, not far from the city of Lille."

The Associated Press: Worst floods in a decade in China, 30,000 trapped
AP reports: "Floods caused by heavy rains in northeastern China stranded tens of thousands of residents without power Wednesday, as the worst flooding in more than a decade continued to besiege many areas of the country."

My Way News - Plankton, base of ocean food web, in big decline
My Way News reports: "Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world's oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world's oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. And they are declining sharply."

My Way News - Scientists say global warming is continuing
My Way News reports: "Compiled by more than 300 scientists from 48 countries, the report said its analysis of 10 indicators that are 'clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: Global warming is undeniable.'"

My Way News - Israel, Jordan leaders discuss Mideast peace talks
My Way News reports: "In a surprise visit to Amman on Tuesday, Israel's prime minister tried to mobilize Jordan's king in his effort to persuade the Palestinians to resume direct peace talks, though the chief Palestinian negotiator again rejected the idea."

This Day in Paranormal History: ‘Washington flap’ UFO wave of 1952 - Paranormal Old Pueblo

The Tucson Citizen reports: "Today marks the 58th anniversary of a bizarre wave of UFO sightings in Washington D.C. that wrapped up on July 27, 1952. Also known as the “Washington flap”, the sightings took place over two-week period, most notably July 19/20 and July 26/27. Unlike the recent China UFO sighting, these objects in 1952 were detected on radar in two places: Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base. The objects reportedly reached speeds of up to 7,200 mph. (Yes, 7,200 mph. That is not a typo.)"

Comment: Let's be skeptical for a moment and suggest that the most famous UFO event in history, the Roswell Incident, was a hoax or a myth, nothing more than a misidentified military exercise involving high altitude weather balloons crashing to Earth. But this event, when UFOs buzzed the capital city of the United States, this event happened, it's been verified and corroborated. I've long felt that there is indeed a military cover-up of UFO matters because of this event and properly so. No foreign power can invade the skies over our capital without provoking a military response and I'm sure a response followed. That the response was kept secret does not bother me. I just hope our military has correctly identified those foreign powers and understand their hatred and enmity toward humanity is limitless. Is it possible that the military could apply a Biblical perspective and therefore gain a strategic advantage? Maybe, but it's doubtful in this secular age, but we can always hope...and pray. For more on the identity of these foreign powers from a Biblical perspective, see this video from Prophecy In The News:

Tom Horn / L.A. Marzulli Interview Pt. 2 from J.R. Church on Vimeo.

My Way News - France declares war against al-Qaida
My Way News reports: "France has declared war on al-Qaida, and matched its fighting words with a first attack on a base camp of the terror network's North African branch, after the terror network killed a French aid worker it took hostage in April."

My Way News - Turkey gears up for referendum
My Way News reports: "Turkey's justice minister said Tuesday that a September referendum on changes to the military-era constitution would accelerate democratic change in a country struggling with internal challenges even as it asserts itself on the international stage."

Comment: Just remember that things are a bit upside down in Turkey. Accelerating democratic change in Turkey is not necessarily a good thing if it gives more power to an Islamist political party bent on pushing Turkey away from the West, but then again, that's what we expect to happen given our prophetic insight.

My Way News - Immigrants drive EU population beyond half-billion
My Way News reports: "The European Union's population has crossed the half-billion mark and the growth has come mostly from immigration, the Eurostat statistics agency said Tuesday. As of Jan. 1, the 27-nation bloc had a population of 501.1 million - up 1.4 million from a year earlier, the report said. Eurostat said 900,000 came from immigration over 2009, while 500,000 came from birth-minus-deaths population growth."

My Way News - Koreas mark truce, but drills underscore tensions
My Way News reports: "On the 57th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Korean War, U.S. and South Korean ships intensified high-profile military exercises Tuesday that underscore rising tensions in a region yet to truly find peace."

BBC News - US Congress approves new funding for Afghan war
BBC News reports: "The US House of Representatives has approved funds to pay for President Barack Obama's increase in US troop numbers in Afghanistan [...] The bill provides funds for the deployment of an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan."

BBC News - Iran nuclear sanctions by EU unacceptable, says Russia
BBC News reports: "Russia has branded EU sanctions against Iran as 'unacceptable', saying they undermine international efforts to rein in Tehran's nuclear ambitions."

My Way News - France upgrades diplomatic ties with Palestinians
My Way News reports: "France is upgrading its diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Territories to try to spur international efforts toward creating a Palestinian state, the French foreign minister said Monday [...] the United States made a similar move last week, upgrading the Palestinian presence from a PLO media office in Washington to a Mission of Palestine in Washington."

My Way News - US presses Abbas to resume direct peace talks
My Way News reports: "A senior U.S. envoy warned the Palestinian president that he must move quickly to direct talks with Israel if he wants President Barack Obama's help in setting up a Palestinian state, according to an internal Palestinian document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday."

My Way News - Russia rejects Iran's criticism on sanctions
My Way News reports: "Russia has rejected Iran's criticism of Moscow's support for United Nations sanctions against Tehran as 'unacceptable.' Russia's Foreign Ministry said Monday that Tehran should stop what it described as 'irresponsible rhetoric' and take steps to end disagreements on its nuclear program [...] In the past, Iran had depended on allies Russia and China to block UN sanctions."

My Way News - US shows its power to NKorea with carrier drills
My Way News reports: "The East Sea off the coast of the Korean peninsula roiled with U.S. and South Korean ships, submarines, fighter jets and helicopters - high-profile military maneuvers intended to show North Korea that it is being watched."

My Way News - Big Bang investigators want new atom smasher
My Way News reports: "Scientists behind the European particle collider aimed at uncovering the secrets of the universe pushed Monday to build an even bigger machine - with money and partners from around the world."

Reuters - Israeli attack on Iran would start long war: report
Reuters reports: "An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would start a long war and probably not prevent Iran from eventually acquiring nuclear weapons, a think-tank said on Thursday."

WSJ - Hayden: Iran Strike ‘Not Worst’ Option
The Washington Wire reports: "A former Central Intelligence Agency director on Sunday said bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities “might not be the worst” option for the U.S., as the Middle Eastern country continues to push ahead with its nuclear programs despite heavy international sanctions."

Reuters - Israel, U.S. sign deal to upgrade Arrow missile shield
Reuters reports: "Israel and the United States have signed an agreement to make the Arrow II ballistic shield capable of shooting down missiles at a higher altitude, the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Sunday."

WaPo - Abbas says entire world wants direct Mideast talks
The Washington Post reports: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that despite intense international pressure from the 'entire world,' he is still not willing to start direct negotiations with Israel."

Comment: Well, there you have it. Next time you encounter media spin telling you that it's Israel that is blocking peace talks, point them to this report.

My Way News - US aircraft carrier ups pressure on North Korea
My Way News reports: "A massive nuclear-powered U.S. supercarrier began maneuvers Sunday with ally South Korea in a potent show of force, four months after the sinking of a South Korean warship. North Korea threatened the exercises could lead to nuclear war."

My Way News - Quake strikes off Tonga, Samoa; no damage reported
My Way News reports: "The U.S. Geological Survey says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6 has struck the South Pacific off the coasts of Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa. There have been no reports of damage and no tsunami was triggered."

My Way News - Church blasts gay priests leading 'double life'
My Way News reports: "The Diocese of Rome issued the strongly worded statement after the conservative Panorama newsweekly said in a cover story and accompanying video that it had interviewed three gay priests in Rome and accompanied them to gay clubs and bars and to sexual encounters with strangers, including one in a church building."

VOA - Iran to Step Up Nuclear Fusion Research
The Voice of America reports: "The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Saturday that his country is stepping up its research on nuclear fusion in a bid to produce alternative sources of energy. The announcement comes as world powers pressure Tehran to suspend its controversial nuclear activities [...] Nuclear fusion is also the technology behind thermonuclear explosions used in hydrogen bombs. Such weapons are more powerful than ordinary atomic bombs, which rely on fission reactions."

CNN - Earthquakes strike waters south of Philippines

CNN reports: "A series of four strong earthquakes spanning just over an hour struck the Philippines' Moro Gulf on Saturday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Three of the four earthquakes had magnitudes between 7.3 and 7.6; the other came in at a 5.4 magnitude. The first quake struck at 6:08 a.m. (6:08 p.m. ET Friday) and the fourth hit at 7:15 a.m. The last quake ran the deepest at 616 (382 miles) kilometers."

My Way News - Ahmadinejad says Russia part of anti-Iran campaign
My Way News reports: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russia's president on Friday of turning against Tehran and joining the U.S. in spreading lies about its nuclear program, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer."

My Way News - Turkish court orders arrest of 102 in coup plot
My Way News reports: "A court ordered the arrest Friday of 102 people, including at least three retired military commanders, to be jailed pending trial on charges of conspiring in 2003 to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government in a coup plot."

My Way News - Despite rift, Israel-Turkey contacts march on
My Way News reports: "Neither side has backed down in a standoff that has implications for Israel's decades-old campaign to ease its political isolation, Turkey's aim to become the predominant broker in a conflict-prone region, and more broadly, efforts to bring peace to the Middle East."

My Way News - Funding woes overshadow AIDS conference
My Way News reports: "Rich countries must give more for the fight against AIDS or risk jeopardizing progress in battling the disease, participants at an international conference urged Thursday. At issue is the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which provides major support for AIDS programs around the world."

My Way News - US wades into South China Sea disputes
My Way News reports: "Chinese forces seized the western Paracels from Vietnam in 1974 and sank three Vietnamese naval vessels in a 1988 sea battle. [...] Along with rich fishing grounds, the area is believed to have large oil and natural gas reserves. Island groups also straddle busy sea lanes that are a crucial conduit for oil and other resources fueling China's fast-expanding economy."

My Way News - Calif. town outraged to learn of officials' pay
My Way News reports: "Residents in this modest blue-collar Los Angeles suburb where one in six lives in poverty were angry: Their city manager was getting paid more than President Barack Obama and the police chief more than the commander of the nearly 13,000-member LAPD. [...] Their mayor and three of their four council members, people they see every day at the grocery store or church, approved the contracts, and put an obscure measure on the ballot that allowed council members to pay themselves any amount of money. And they did..."

Comment: A shocking display of greed and avarice by elected officials. Their greed was matched only by their stupidity in thinking they would get away with it.

BBC News - North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war'
BBC News reports: "North Korea says it will use its 'nuclear deterrent' in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend. Pyongyang was ready to launch a 'retaliatory sacred war', the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KINA) said, quoting defence officials."

CNN - Audio purportedly from al Qaeda No. 2 says victory coming
CNN reports: "A man identified as Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, promises his followers victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, vowing that these wars will eventually lead to a battle to liberate Jerusalem, in an audio message posted Monday on jihadist websites."

My Way News - Gaza tunnel smugglers cutting through Egypt's wall
My Way News reports: "A Palestinian tunnel smuggler with a blowtorch sliced through an underground steel wall early Thursday, the latest of what officials say are hundreds of holes cut into the Egyptian barrier meant to stop smuggling of goods, cash and weapons to the blockaded, Hamas-run Gaza Strip."

My Way News - NKorea warns US drill, sanctions endanger region
My Way News reports: "North Korea on Thursday warned the United States that imposing fresh sanctions and holding military drills with South Korea this weekend will endanger the entire region and destroy hopes for a nuke-free Korean peninsula."

My Way News - Venezuela severs ties with Colombia
My Way News reports: "President Hugo Chavez severed Venezuela's diplomatic relations with Colombia on Thursday over claims he harbors guerrillas, and he charged that his neighbor's leader could attempt to provoke a war."

My Way News - Abbas: Specific US assurances on borders needed
My Way News reports: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants the U.S. to spell out its views on the borders of a Palestinian state before resuming direct negotiations with Israel, an adviser said Wednesday, raising a condition that Israel is unlikely to accept."

My Way News - US Navy head calls China's intentions 'opaque'
My Way News reports: "A high-ranking U.S. Navy official says that China's intentions in developing its navy remain 'opaque.' Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, says that it's crucial for the United States and other countries to strengthen their relations with the expanding Chinese navy in order to better understand the country's objectives at sea."

My Way News - Devout Muslim Indonesian province expels US family
My Way News reports: "Three Americans were expelled from Indonesia's devoutly Islamic province of Aceh on Wednesday after locals accused them of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, a local government spokesman said [...] Proselytizing is illegal in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation."

My Way News - Mexico worried by rise in hemorrhagic dengue
My Way News reports: "Mexico is facing a sort of perfect storm of floods that breed mosquitoes, prompting a big increase in the number of hemorrhagic dengue cases, the country's top epidemiological official said Wednesday [...] Only 16 people have died this year from the hemorrhagic form, but the seriousness of the disease makes it a concern."

My Way News - Earthquake shakes southern Iran
My Way News reports: "State TV says a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 has shaken southern Iran, injuring 15 people. Iranian state TV says the quake on Wednesday shook Ashkenan, a region near Lamerd in southern Iran."

My Way News - Syria bans full Islamic face veils at universities
My Way News reports: "Syria has forbidden the country's students and teachers from wearing the niqab - the full Islamic veil that reveals only a woman's eyes - taking aim at a garment many see as political. The ban shows a rare point of agreement between Syria's secular, authoritarian government and the democracies of Europe: Both view the niqab as a potentially destabilizing threat."

My Way News - China flooding kills 701 in worst toll in a decade
My Way News reports: "Flooding this year has killed 701 people, left 347 missing and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, the worst toll across the board that China has seen in a decade, a senior Chinese official said Wednesday."

BBC News - US spy chief nominee warns of N Korea 'direct attacks'
BBC News reports: "North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship may herald a 'dangerous new period', the nominee to be US director of national intelligence has warned. James Clapper told a Senate hearing that Pyongyang might seek 'to advance its internal and external political goals through direct attacks'."

My Way News - Hundreds of dead penguins dot Brazil's beaches
My Way News reports: "Hundreds of penguins that apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are still investigating what's causing them to die [...] Autopsies done on several birds revealed their stomachs were entirely empty - indicating they likely starved to death, Nascimento said. Scientists are investigating whether strong currents and colder-than-normal waters have hurt populations of the species that make up the penguins' diet, or whether human activity may be playing a role."

My Way News - 2 Pakistani Christians killed at courthouse
My Way News reports: "Gunmen killed two Pakistani Christian brothers accused of blasphemy against Islam as they left court on Monday, a government minister and police said. The men were chained together when the attack took place in the eastern city of Faislabad as they were being taken back into custody after their court appearance."

My Way News - Israel: Rocket defense system ready to go
My Way News reports: "A system that can shoot down incoming rockets has passed its last tests and will be ready for deployment in a few months, Israel's Defense Ministry said Monday. If effective, it could have far-reaching strategic implications for Israel's battle against militant groups on its borders. The 'Iron Dome' system uses sophisticated radar to track incoming rockets, intercepting and destroying them far from their targets. It is the only anti-rocket system of its kind in the world, according to experts."

My Way News - New powers given to Russia's security agency
My Way News reports: "The upper house of Russia's parliament on Monday passed a bill granting expanded powers to the country's main security agency, a move that critics say echoes the era of the Soviet KGB. The bill, which now goes to President Dmitry Medvedev to be signed into law, would allow the Federal Security Service to issue warnings to people suspected of preparing to commit crimes against Russia's security."

My Way News - Gates, Clinton to visit DMZ dividing 2 Koreas
My Way News reports: "It would be the first time the United States' top diplomat and defense chief visit the DMZ together. The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. The U.S., which fought on the South Korean side, keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect its ally against any aggression."

My Way News - Bill Clinton, Gates: Fight AIDS more efficiently
My Way News reports: "In separate speeches at an international AIDS conference in the Austrian capital, the former American president railed against spending too much money on reports that just sit on shelves and urged that funds directly target AIDS sufferers. Gates, the founder of Microsoft Corp., said health groups must adopt better business practices that deliver more bang for the buck."

My Way News - AIDS breakthrough: Gel helps prevent infection
My Way News reports: "For the first time, a vaginal gel has proved capable of blocking the AIDS virus: It cut in half a woman's chances of getting HIV from an infected partner in a study in South Africa. Scientists called it a breakthrough in the long quest for a tool to help women whose partners won't use condoms."

My Way News - WHO: 5.2 million people on AIDS drugs in 2009
My Way News reports: "The number of people taking crucial AIDS drugs climbed by a record 1.2 million last year to 5.2 million overall, the World Health Organization said Monday - but Bill Clinton says that's still not nearly enough."

BBC News - Anti-aircraft laser unveiled at Farnborough Airshow
BBC News reports: "US firm Raytheon has unveiled its anti-aircraft laser at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire. The Laser Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) can either be used on its own or alongside a gunnery system. In May, the laser was used to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in a series of tests."

My Way News - Abbas says Israel must accept foreign border force

My Way News reports: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he'll resume direct peace talks if Israel accepts its 1967 frontier as a baseline for the borders of a Palestinian state and agrees to the deployment of an international force to guard them [...] Netanyahu has [...] said he will not give up control of Jerusalem and has insisted on a continued Israeli troop presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state."

Comment: I really don't see anything new here. High level talks always generate media speculation and the appearance of movement, but the two sides area really deadlocked at the present time and neither side is making compromises. It is encouraging that Netanyahu appears to be politically strong enough to hold the line on Jerusalem.

WaPo - Earthquake in Maryland: D.C. area rocked

The Washington Post reports: "The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.6 magnitude earthquake centered in Montgomery County at 5:04 a.m. Friday. The epicenter was in Gaithersburg near I-270 and Route 124 (39.145 degrees N, 77.222 degrees W), USGS reported in a preliminary finding. Its depth was 3.1 miles."

CSMonitor.com - China UFO spotted again. Why skepticism is warranted

The Christian Science Monitor reports: "Yet another China UFO was spotted and it has lit up imaginations across the Internet. Thursday's sighting did not shut down an airport as last week's unidentified flying object did when it zoomed over eastern China. And many news outlets are reporting it as straight news [...] Thursday's sighting occurred one week after an unidentified flying object was spotted about 8 p.m. above Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou City, also in eastern China."

ABC News - UFO in China Closes Airport and Prompts Investigation
ABC News reports: "An unidentified flying object (UFO) forced Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou, China to cease operations on July 7. A flight crew preparing for descent first detected the object around 8:40 p.m. and notified the air traffic control department. Aviation authorities responded within minutes, grounding outbound flights and diverting inbound ones to airports in Ningbo and Wuxi."

My Way News - Sunni group claims Iran mosque blast killing 27
My Way News reports: "A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard."

My Way News - Rights group says 'no freedom, no rights' in Syria
My Way News reports: "An international human rights group said Friday that Syria's president has done 'virtually nothing' to improve human rights and expand freedoms during his decade in power. New York-based Human Rights Watch said President Bashar Assad has failed to deliver on promises of reform when he came to power 10 years ago this month."

My Way News - Bishop killed in Russia's Dagestan
My Way News reports: "Officials in Russia's violent, largely Muslim republic of Dagestan say a Christian bishop has been shot to death by unknown attackers."

My Way News - Kenyan police arrest suspect in Uganda bombings
My Way News reports: "Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the Uganda bomb attacks that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final on television, an official said Friday [...] Police say the man said he supported Somalia's al-Qaida linked group, al-Shabab, despite his claim to be a member of the Ugandan army."

Reuters - Brightest star explosion seen blinds satellite
Reuters reports: "The brightest explosion of a star ever seen temporarily blinded a satellite set up to watch such events, astronomers said on Wednesday [...] 'The intensity of these X-rays was unexpected and unprecedented,' Neil Gehrels, Swift's principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement."

Reuters - Pakistan, India joust after peace talks deadlock
Reuters reports: "Pakistan said on Friday that India's 'selective' approach to issues has led to what analysts say is a stalemate in talks aimed to build trust shattered by the 2008 Mumbai attacks."

My Way News - India says Pakistan must punish Mumbai attackers
My Way News reports: "Efforts to improve the strained ties between India and Pakistan will fail if Islamabad does not act against terror emanating from its territory, India's external affairs minister warned Friday."

Reuters - World simmers in hottest year so far
Reuters reports: "The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a U.S. national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide and a concern for U.S. farmers counting on another bumper year."

Times Online - What will be left after the oil spill?
The Times Online reports: "A morbid open-water experiment has now effectively been unleashed in the Gulf, tracing the food web via the cocktail of chemicals in the oil and the dispersant. But while 90 per cent of energy is lost when one organism eats another, the toxin accumulates as the bigger fish eat the numerous small ones they need to survive [...] Once inside a living body, some toxins will start to poison while others are stored away in tissues as a toxic time bomb [...] At the end of the food chain, they end up in our own fatty tissues, waiting for the moment when those reserves are broken down before they are released into our systems."

My Way News - Libyan ship with Gaza aid docks in Egyptian port
My Way News reports: "A Libyan ship carrying aid for the impoverished Gaza Strip docked at an Egyptian port on Thursday after Israel's navy stopped it from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. The director of the port of el-Arish, Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, said the diverted ship will unload its cargo and transfer it to the Red Crescent for delivery to Gaza by land across the Egyptian border."

My Way News - No breakthroughs: Pakistan, India to keep talking
My Way News reports: "India said it was hopeful Pakistan would pursue new leads in the deadly Mumbai attacks, even as it was clear following high-level talks Thursday that the two countries are nowhere near resolving key issues that have sparked three wars between them over the past six decades."

My Way News - Al-Shabab leader threatens more Uganda attacks
My Way News reports: "The leader of the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group that claimed responsibility for twin bombings in Uganda during the World Cup final threatened further attacks in a new audio message released Thursday."

My Way News - Warmest June on record, climate scientists say
My Way News reports: "Last month was the warmest June on record, extending months of record-setting heat. Worldwide, the average temperature in June was 61.1 degrees Fahrenheit (16.2 Celsius), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday. That was 1.22 degrees F (0.68 C) warmer than average for June."

WaPo - Despite diplomatic tensions, U.S.-Israeli security ties strengthen
The Washington Post reports: "While public attention has focused on the fierce diplomatic disputes between Israel and the United States over settlement expansion in Palestinian territories, security and military ties between the two nations have grown ever closer during the Obama administration."

CNN - Report: 2 blasts kill at least 20 in southeast Iran
CNN reports: "Two alleged suicide bombers were responsible for a pair of explosions in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan that left at least 20 dead and scores wounded, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported Thursday."

Reuters -Russia, Iran sign energy cooperation pact
Reuters reports: "Russia's energy minister said on Wednesday that United Nations sanctions will not stop its work with Iran in energy and power, despite others backing away from the Islamic Republic."

My Way News - Arab TV airs video of Times Square car bomber
My Way News reports: "The man who pleaded guilty to carrying out the attempted Times Square car bombing appeared in a video recorded before the failed attack that shows him meeting with senior Pakistani Taliban leaders and vowing to strike the U.S."

My Way News - Turkey to form professional army to fight rebels
My Way News reports: "Turkey is working on plans for a specially trained military unit to man troublesome outposts along the Turkish-Iraqi border and fight autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels, the defense minister said Wednesday. Turkey has long been considering a professional army to fight the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has been fighting since 1984 for autonomy for Turkey's Kurds."

Reuters - More than 1,000 exposed to dengue in Florida: CDC
Reuters reports: "Five percent of the population of Key West, Florida -- more than 1,000 people -- have been infected at some point with the dengue virus, government researchers reported on Tuesday [..] Dengue is the most common virus transmitted by mosquitoes, infecting 50 million to 100 million people every year and killing 25,000 of them."

My Way News - Afghan attacks kill 8 US troops in 24 hours
My Way News reports: "American forces suffered a deadly 24 hours in Afghanistan, with eight troops killed in attacks including an audacious Taliban raid on a police compound in the key southern city of Kandahar, officials said Wednesday [...] NATO and Afghan patrols are stepping up patrols around Kandahar province to pressure insurgents in rural areas [...] The Taliban have responded by ratcheting up suicide attacks and bombings."

My Way News - Nigeria: 5 die in new religious violence
My Way News reports: "An attack on a mosque by youths in eastern Nigeria erupted into bloodshed, leaving at least five people dead as religious violence continued between Christians and Muslims in Africa's most populous nation, witnesses and police said Wednesday [...] Street fighting erupted between Christian and Muslim youths, leaving at least five people dead [...] By the end of the violence, several mosques and churches had been burned, witnesses said."

Comment: They are trying to bring all of Nigeria under sharia law. Needless to say, religious totalitarianism is not compatible with religious liberty and it means that all non-Islamic religions will be persecuted in Nigeria.

My Way News - Scientists say Gulf spill altering food web
My Way News reports: "Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment [...] If such impacts continue, the scientists warn of a grim reshuffling of sealife that could over time cascade through the ecosystem and imperil the region's multibillion-dollar fishing industry."

CNN - Biometric ATM gives cash via 'finger vein' scan
CNN reports: "Poland's cooperative BPS bank says it's the first in Europe to install a biometric ATM -- allowing customers to withdraw cash simply with the touch of a fingertip [...] The company says that an infrared light is passed through the finger to detect a unique pattern of micro-veins beneath the surface - which is then matched with a pre-registered profile to verify an individual's identity."

CNN - 'Virtual preaching' transforms Sunday sermons
CNN reports: "They are using technology -- high-def videos, and even holograms -- to beam their Sunday morning sermons to remote 'satellite' churches that belong to their congregation [...] the technology allows churches to reach more people without constructing new buildings."

Reuters - Muslims seek to add holidays on NY school calendar
Reuters reports: "Muslim parents, students and civic groups are campaigning to add two of their religious holidays to the New York City public school calendar, pinning their hopes on state lawmakers after failing to win over Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the idea."

CNN - Third night of violence in Belfast
CNN reports: "Police were watching for any further violence Wednesday after a third night of rioting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that left one officer hurt, officials said. About 150 nationalist youths fired shots and threw petrol bombs and a pipe bomb at officers. They also shone high-powered laser pens into officers' eyes."

CNN - International group urges action against Iran
CNN reports: "Citing what its author called 'a clear and present danger,' a report compiled by an international group and released Tuesday calls on individual countries to use their own sanctions to pressure Iran on human rights and international terrorism issues."

My Way News - Israel: Gaza aid ship diverts to Egypt
My Way News reports: "A Libyan aid boat carrying supplies for Gaza was sailing toward Egypt late Tuesday instead of trying to run a naval blockade of the Palestinian territory, Israeli military officials said, apparently defusing a potential confrontation on the high seas."

My Way News - Odierno: Iran threat to US troops in Iraq on rise
My Way News reports: "The U.S. military is beefing up security around its bases in Iraq in anticipation of Iranian-backed militants looking to score propaganda points by attacking American soldiers leaving the country, the U.S. commander said Tuesday."

Our World: A war on whose terms?
The Jerusalem Post reports: "We are entering troubling times. The conviction that war is upon us grows with each passing day. What remains to be determined is who will dictate the terms of that war – Iran or Israel. Iran has good reason to go to war today."

My Way News - Pakistani official vows to fight India for Kashmir
My Way News reports: "The top official in Pakistan-held Kashmir vowed Tuesday to fight India for control of the disputed territory in a speech to thousands of people assembled by a coalition of banned militant groups [...] India and Pakistan have fought two wars over control of Kashmir since their independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim the territory in its entirety."

My Way News - Who is al-Shabab? Somali terror army extends reach
My Way News reports: "This week al-Shabab become the world's newest international terror group, after claiming twin blasts in Uganda's capital Kampala during the World Cup final that killed 76 people [...] Al-Shabab battles African Union and Somali forces in the streets of Mogadishu daily, in an effort to topple Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed administration [...] Al-Shabab members began pledging allegiance to al-Qaida last year."

My Way News - Nigeria sect leader lauds al-Qaida, threatens US
My Way News reports: "A leader of a radical Nigerian Muslim sect that started a rampage that left 700 people dead last year has issued a statement mourning the deaths of al-Qaida in Iraq commanders and threatening the United States [...] Nigeria, a nation of 150 million people, is divided between the Christian-dominated south and the Muslim-held north."

My Way News - Opponents pack hearing on mosque near ground zero
My Way News reports: "Dozens of opponents and some supporters of a mosque planned at a building near ground zero attended a raucous hearing Tuesday about whether the building should be designated a city landmark and protected from development."

Comment: To our secular and non-spiritual friends, have you never been amazed that evil sometimes seems to have a kind of intelligence behind it, an intentionality of purpose, as if it were a computer program or a meme of rebellion operating behind the scenes, calculating, planning, and executing a specific anti-human and anti-life agenda? Perhaps for you there is no single Enemy at work, either in this world or another realm, but doesn't it sometimes seem as if there is?

First Islamic militants conspire to attack the United States in the name of their bloodthirsty and oppressive god and now their compatriots want to put up a mosque designed to glorify Islam at the site of their attack. There is forethought behind this, there is strategy, as if there were other forces at work, mocking and ridiculing and pushing the limits to see how far a nation that no longer honors the God we claimed will now acquiesce to a foreign religion. If this mosque is built it will signal a defeat far greater than any lost on a physical battlefield.

My Way News - 'Twisted parliament' bodes ill for Japan's economy
My Way News reports: "The world's second-largest economy faces serious challenges, from reducing its bulging budget deficit and reviving growth to fighting deflation and shoring up its social security system as the population ages and shrinks."

My Way News - UN: HIV among young people going down in Africa
My Way News reports: "The number of young people infected with HIV in Africa is falling in 16 of the 25 countries hardest hit by the virus, according to a new report by a U.N. agency."

My Way News - French parliament approves ban on face veils
My Way News reports: "France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on wearing burqa-style Islamic veils Tuesday, part of a determined effort to define and protect French values that has disconcerted many in the country's large Muslim community."

My Way News - Hezbollah says it has list of targets in Israel
My Way News reports: "A senior official with the militant Hezbollah group said Sunday they have a list of military targets inside Israel to strike in any future war."

My Way News - Abbas: No point in direct talks with Israel now
My Way News reports: "The Palestinian president, who is under U.S. pressure to resume direct talks with Israel, said that doing so under current circumstances would be pointless."

My Way News - Gaza aid ship leaves Greece for Egypt
My Way News reports: "A ship commissioned by a Libyan charity organization has left Greece headed for the Egyptian port of al-Arish, and not for Gaza, as originally planned, according to Greek authorities [...] The Amalthea's trip comes over a month after Israel boarded Gaza-bound ships, killing eight Turks and a Turkish-American on one of them. The flotilla was trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza."

My Way News - Surge of attacks kills 6 US troops, 12 Afghans
My Way News reports: "A wave of attacks killed six U.S. troops and at least a dozen civilians in Afghanistan's volatile south and east, as American reinforcements moving into Taliban-dominated areas face up to the fierce resistance they expected [...] The hope is once the tide begins to turn, more control can be handed to Afghan forces without fear the Taliban might again seize power, bring back its harsh interpretation of Islamic law, and resume sheltering al-Qaida terrorist leaders."

My Way News - Land wars bedevil India's rush to industrialize:
My Way News reports: "Some say India is trying to industrialize too fast, without the education and infrastructure in place to give the rural poor a fighting chance. 'How long did the industrial revolution take to be implemented in the West? Two hundred years. You want to replicate the same model and squeeze it into 20 years. That's not possible. The fallout will be massive,' said Bhaskar Goswami, an economist [...] Even industrialization's staunchest advocates acknowledge that the transition out of agriculture - or for tens of millions of nomadic tribal people, a pre-agricultural lifestyle - typically takes generations."

My Way News - Estimate: Global cell subscriptions pass 5 billion
My Way News reports: "The number of wireless service subscriptions worldwide passed 5 billion this week, according to an estimate by LM Ericsson AB, the Swedish maker of wireless equipment [...] Most of the recent growth comes from developing countries like India and China."

Los Angeles Times - Increased quake activity predicted for California faults
The Los Angeles Times reports: "There is growing concern among seismologists that the 7.2 Mexicali earthquake April 4 placed more pressure on Southern California's faults, resulting in increased quake activity over the last three months. The latest evidence was Wednesday's magnitude 5.4 Collins Valley earthquake that rolled from the mountains south of Palm Springs, leaving no major damage but rattling nerves throughout the region."

CNN - Spiritual Safari: The Gospel According to Kenyan Cabbies

CNN reports: "Thanks to the rapid growth of the spirit-filled Christian style known as Pentecostalism, Christianity is running wild in Africa, expanding from 9 million to 355 million souls over the course of the twentieth century, and Kenya is no exception."

My Way News - Pakistan tries new counterinsurgency strategy
My Way News reports: "Baluchistan's geopolitical importance has grown in recent years with China's construction of a huge port on the coast connecting Asia and the Middle East and a planned gas pipeline linking Pakistan and Iran."

NYTimes.com - Facebook Makes Headway Around the World
The New York Times reports: "Facebook, the social network service that started in a Harvard dorm room just six years ago, is growing at a dizzying rate around the globe, surging to nearly 500 million users, from 200 million users just 15 months ago [...] In country after country, Facebook is cementing itself as the leader and often displacing other social networks, much as it outflanked MySpace in the United States."

Reuters - Netanyahu signals no extension of settlement freeze
Reuters reports: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled on Thursday he would not extend beyond September a 10-month moratorium on new housing starts in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank [...] The future of settlements, he said, would be addressed in the so-called final status talks with the Palestinians."

NYTimes.com - Israel Vows to ‘Take Risks’ in Talks With Palestinians
The New York Times reports: "Declaring that he intended to 'confound the critics and the skeptics,' an upbeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told an audience of foreign policy experts in New York on Thursday that he was ready to begin direct peace talks with the Palestinians 'next week' or even sooner. 'Just get on with it,' he said."

NYTimes.com - Blunt General Appointed to Lead Forces in Mideast
The New York Times reports: "A four-star Marine general known equally for blunt speech, combat prowess and understanding counterinsurgency warfare will be nominated to command American forces across the Middle East, officials said Thursday."

My Way News - Thousands march in Jerusalem for captive soldier
My Way News reports: "More than 15,000 Israelis marched into Jerusalem on Thursday and rallied at a park downtown for the government to conclude a deal for the release of a captive soldier held by Palestinian militants [...] Schalit, 23, was nabbed by Hamas-linked militants in June 2006 across the Gaza-Israel border. His captors have barred access to him and released only a brief videotape last year."

My Way News - 3 British men convicted over airliner bomb plot
My Way News reports: "A jury on Thursday convicted three British Muslims of conspiring to murder hundreds of people as part of a plot to blow up passenger planes over the Atlantic. Ibrahim Savant, 29, Arafat Waheed Khan, 29, and Waheed Zaman, 26 were found guilty at London's Woolwich Crown Court after a three-month trial. They will be sentenced Monday and face life imprisonment."

WSJ - U.S. Program to Detect Cyber Attacks on Infrastructure
The Wall Street Journal reports: "The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed 'Perfect Citizen' to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program."

My Way News - Study: Think you're hot now? Just wait a few years
My Way News reports: "As global warming continues such heat waves will be increasingly common in the future, a Stanford University study concludes [...] within 30 years average temperature could be 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 Celsius, higher than in the mid-1800s. That level of increase has been reported by others and most atmospheric scientists expect it to lead to warming and a change in a variety of weather and climate conditions."

CNN - No damage reported after quake hits southern California

CNN reports: "A 5.4-magnitude earthquake rattled southern California Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The temblor, centered about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, was first reported by USGS to be at 5.7 magnitude but the agency later downgraded it to 5.4. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries."

My Way News - Israel: Hezbollah storing weapons inside villages
My Way News reports: "Israel's military released maps and aerial photographs Wednesday showing what it described as a network of Hezbollah weapons depots and command centers inside villages in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border."

My Way News - Iran admits sanctions could slow nuclear program
My Way News reports: "Iran's nuclear chief says sanctions could delay Tehran's controversial atomic program but would not stop it. Program head Ali Akbar Salehi says the sanctions could 'slow down the job but they would not stop activities,' according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency."

My Way News - Vatican mulls how to protect impaired adults
My Way News reports: "As the Vatican grapples with how to sanction priests who rape children, it has also mulled how to punish priests who sexually abuse mentally impaired adults, The Associated Press has learned."

Comment: I'm just noting the headline and first sentence, I didn't read any further than that, and I don't want to, it's just to horrible to contemplate.

My Way News - Repeat of SKorea, US cyberattacks does no damage
My Way News reports: "Hundreds of computers that caused a wave of outages on U.S. and South Korean government websites last July launched new attacks on the same sites, but no major damage was reported, police said Thursday."

Space War - Al-Qaida digs in to resist region's armies
UPI reports: "North African Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida are reportedly building heavily fortified bunkers in the Sahara Desert against airstrikes as Algeria and its neighbors mount a combined offensive against them [...] the regional states, led by Algeria, are setting aside traditional rivalries and pooling their resources to go after the Islamists."

Space War - Obama backs Israel on nuclear conference
AFP reports: "US President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that attempts to single out Israel over its undeclared nuclear program could scupper a Middle East regional nuclear conference planned for 2012 [...] The wording on the Middle East called for holding a conference in 2012 'to be attended by all states of the Middle East, leading to the establishment¨ of such a nuclear-weapon-free zone.' The NPT review conference called on Israel to join the treaty, which would oblige the Jewish state to do away with its nuclear weapons [...] Israel, which opposes creating a nuclear free zone until Middle East peace has been achieved, has never acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons."

Space War - Russia sending APCs to West Bank
UPI reports: "Russia announced plans to send 50 armored personnel carriers to the Palestinians [...] Israel balked at such plans in 2005, when Russia moved to supply Palestinians with 50 armored personnel carriers and two M-17 military cargo helicopters. The delivery was blocked for fear of radical elements, mainly the Palestinian group Hamas, using the military hardware against Israeli forces."

My Way News - Army presence soars amid deadly Kashmir protests
My Way News reports: "India's regular army patrolled the violence-hit streets of Kashmir to enforce a round-the-clock curfew for the first time in two decades Wednesday after weeks of deadly unrest in the Muslim-majority region."

My Way News - What rift? Obama, Netanyahu say bond 'unbreakable'

My Way News reports: "Netanyahu emerged with a pile of promises from Obama that the U.S. is both committed to Israel's security and a believer that the prime minister wants peace with Palestinians. For his part, Netanyahu showed the urgency that Obama wants in boosting peace efforts, though he didn't say in public just what he might have planned."

Comment: I'm still reading reports on this White House meeting, but it's looking more and more like a staged photo-op and not a meeting that generated any substantive policy proposals to advance (or stall) the peace process.

My Way News - ET, phone Brussels: EU calls for opening UFO data
My Way News reports: "A European Union lawmaker urged member governments Tuesday to open their secret files on UFOs, saying people need to know about close encounters of the third kind."

Reuters - Scrap dollar as sole reserve currency: U.N. report
Reuters reports: "A new United Nations report released on Tuesday calls for abandoning the U.S. dollar as the main global reserve currency, saying it has been unable to safeguard value [...] The report supports replacing the dollar with the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset that is used as a unit of payment on IMF loans and is made up of a basket of currencies."

CNN - Ahmadinejad: U.S. sanctions attempt to hinder Iran's progress
CNN reports: "New U.S. sanctions on Iran show the West does not understand the Islamic republic and 'are aimed at preventing Iran from becoming an industrial pole and achieving its rightful place,' Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech Saturday, according to Iranian media."

My Way News - US largely ruling out NKorea in 2009 cyberattacks
My Way News reports: "U.S. officials have largely ruled out North Korea as the origin of a computer attack last July that took down U.S. and South Korean government websites, according to cybersecurity experts. But authorities are not much closer than they were a year ago to knowing exactly who did it - and why."

My Way News - European unity tested over crucifixes in classroom
My Way News reports: "An emotional debate over crucifixes in classrooms is opening a new crack in European unity. It all started in a small town in northern Italy, where Finnish-born Soile Lautsi was so shocked by the sight of crosses above the blackboard in her children's public school classroom that she called a lawyer to see if she could get them removed. [...] 'This is a great battle for the freedom and identity of our Christian values," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.'"

Comment: Twilight for Christianity in Europe? Not if the Italians have anything to say about it. Why do minorities (of any kind) feel entitled to dictate the culture of the majority? What an extraordinary victory the enemy gained when it became incorrect in the West to say that a country (any country) was a Christian country. There are many other countries in the world (followers of other "great" religions, for example) who have no such qualms about naming, claiming and exporting their religion.

My Way News - USAID compound attacked in Afghanistan; 4 killed
My Way News reports: "Taliban suicide attackers stormed a four-story house used by an American aid organization in north Afghanistan on Friday, killing four people before dying in a fierce, five-hour gunbattle with Afghan security forces."

Reuters - New U.S. commander pushes faltering Afghan war effort
Reuters reports: "The United States' top field commander arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to take charge of the faltering war, pledging to tackle the nine-year-old Taliban insurgency with a strategy he successfully pioneered in Iraq."

AP - Obama goal: prod direct Israeli-Palestinian talks
AP reports: "Hoping for a breakthrough, President Barack Obama will try to accelerate the prospects of face-to-face peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians when he meets Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House officials said Friday."

My Way News - Police: 8 killed in Thailand's restive south
My Way News reports: "Suspected Muslim insurgents detonated roadside bombs that killed eight people, including one civilian, in two separate attacks in Thailand's restive south, police said Friday [...] More than 4,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since an Islamist insurgency erupted in 2004."

The Jerusalem Post - Firmly behind Israel
The Jerusalem Post reports: "Last month, President Barack Obama allocated an additional $205 million to permit Israel to position additional short-range Iron Dome antimissile batteries throughout the Jewish state. This is on top of the more than $3 billion in US military aid that it will already receive from the US this year, plus more than $200 million in additional money for the US-Israel joint missile defense systems, including the longrange Arrow and the medium-range David Sling."

Comment: Despite what you may have heard about strained diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Israel, their strategic cooperation is as strong as ever.

AFP - Obama signs toughest-ever US sanctions on Iran
AFP reports: "President Barack Obama signed into law the toughest ever US sanctions on Iran, which he said would strike at Tehran's capacity to finance its nuclear program and deepen its isolation. The measures, on top of new UN Security Council and European sanctions, aim to choke off Iran's access to imports of refined petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel and curb its access to the international banking system."

My Way News - Turkey lays out conditions for better ties
My Way News reports: "Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu laid out Turkey's conditions for improved ties with Israel during a secretly held meeting with an Israeli Cabinet minister, his spokesman said Thursday [...] Turkey demands that Israel apologize for the raid, offer compensation to the victims, agree to an international probe into the incident and end its blockade of Gaza."

My Way News - Palestinian leader gives interview to Israel media
My Way News reports: "The Palestinian president made a fresh bid to win over public opinion in Israel by giving a rare interview to Israeli journalists in which he cast himself as a serious partner for peace talks."

My Way News - Iran: Sanctions do not ban S-300 Russian missiles
My Way News reports: "A senior Iranian official said Thursday that new U.N. sanctions do not ban Russia from delivering sophisticated air defense missiles to Iran as agreed under a 2007 contract, countering the Russian stance [...] Last month, the Russian government said the new U.N. sanctions prevent Russia from delivering S-300 missiles to Iran."

My Way News - Sweden charges 2 with attack on cartoonist's home
My Way News reports: "A Swedish prosecutor charged two men with arson Tuesday for an attempted attack on the home of an artist whose cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad infuriated some Muslims [...] The arson attempt was one of several attacks in May on the 64-year-old cartoonist, who was assaulted while giving a university lecture. His Web site was also hit by a hacker."

My Way News - 21 dead in Mexican gang gun battle near US border
My Way News reports: "Twenty-one people are dead in Mexico following a massive gun battle between rival drug and migrant-trafficking gangs near the U.S. border. Prosecutors in northern Sonora state say the gun battle occurred in a sparsely populated area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the Arizona border."