My Way News - US defense visit will renew ties with rising China
My Way News reports: "Stealth fighter jets in development. Guided missiles dubbed 'carrier killers.' As America's top defense official visits China next week, its growing military capabilities are redrawing the security landscape in Asia, putting the country with the largest standing army on a potential collision course with the United States."

My Way News - Chile says it recognizes a Palestinian state
My Way News reports: "Chile recognized Palestinian statehood on Friday, joining other South American nations in a push for Palestinians and Israelis to keep negotiating toward a lasting peace in the Middle East."

My Way News - Egypt Christians mark mournful Christmas Eve Mass
My Way News reports: "Egypt's Christians packed churches Thursday for mournful Christmas Eve Masses, weeping and donning black in place of colorful holiday clothes, under a heavy security cordon by police out of fear of another attack like the New Year's suicide bombing of a church that killed 21 people."

Ahram Online - Egypt Muslims to act as "human shields" at Coptic Christmas Eve mass
Ahram Online reports: "“Although 2011 started tragically, I feel it will be a year of eagerly anticipated change, where Egyptians will stand against sectarianism and unite as one,” Father Rafaeil Sarwat of the Mar-Mina church told Ahram Online. The Coptic priest was commenting on the now widespread call by Muslim intellectuals and activists upon Egyptian Muslims at large to flock to Coptic churches across the country to attend Coptic Christmas Eve mass, to show solidarity with the nation's Coptic minority, but also to serve as 'human shields' against possible attacks by Islamist militants."

My Way News - Israeli, Egyptian leaders discuss peacemaking
My Way News reports: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Egypt on Thursday to help persuade the Palestinians to enter direct peace talks, bringing calls from Egypt's president for Israel to take 'confidence building' steps to bring a resumption of negotiations."

CNN.com - Sources: Security threat level for London raised to 'severe'
My Way News reports: "New information has emerged from an intelligence operation about the possibility of an attack being planned in or near London, with subway stations and airports of particular concern to officials, a British security source told CNN Thursday. CNN understands that the intelligence operation concerns a possible Mumbai-style attack, the source said."

CNN.com - Israeli forces hit Gaza with air strikes
CNN reports: "Israeli forces carried out air strikes late Thursday in Gaza, but there were no reports of casualties, Israeli officials and a Hamas official concurred Friday [...] The attacks were carried out 'in response to rocket fire overnight,' she said. Rockets and mortars fired from Gaza landed in the southern Israeli regions of Eshkol and Sdot Negev on Wednesday and Thursday, according to an IDF news release."

My Way News - Ivory Coast election winner wants rival ousted
My Way News reports: "The internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast's presidential election is asking for special forces to launch a commando operation to remove the country's defiant sitting president who has refused to cede power five weeks after losing the vote."

My Way News - NATO: $20 billion over 2 years for Afghan training
My Way News reports: "By the end of the year, NATO will have spent $20 billion on developing Afghan security forces since the start of 2010 and will maintain a training presence through at least 2016, the commander of the training mission said Wednesday."

My Way News - Iran arrests Christians, says they're hard-liners
My Way News reports: "Iranian state television said Wednesday that leaders of the country's Christian minority have been arrested and accused of spreading a hard-line version of their faith [...] A website of Iran's political opposition reported that 60 Christians have been arrested since Christmas, including a priest taken into custody on Friday."

My Way News - Prejudices against Egypt's Copts stoke tensions
My Way News reports: "In the wake of a shocking New Year's suicide bombing of an Egyptian church, the government is heavily touting national unity. But on the ground, personal prejudices between members of Egypt's two faiths have always run deep and wide, often fueled inadvertently or not by government policies."

My Way News - Egypt's Christians fear new attack on holiday
My Way News reports: "Egyptian Christians say they fear a repeat attack against their community on Coptic Christmas Eve Thursday despite authorities planning heavy security following a New Year's suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria that killed 21."

My Way News - Cheers and tears in Pakistan after assassination
My Way News reports: "Even so-called moderate Muslim scholars praised 26-year-old Mumtaz Qadri for allegedly killing Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer on Tuesday in a hail of gunfire while he was supposed to be protecting him as a bodyguard. Qadri later told authorities he acted because of Taseer's vocal opposition to blasphemy laws that order death for those who insult Islam."

Reuters - Australia floods cause catastrophic damage
Reuters reports: "Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its coal mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday."

Examiner.com - Dead birds and fish: Bible prophecy Web searches explode - National Cultural Oddities
The Examiner reports: "As hundreds more dead blackbirds were found in Louisana Monday, Jan. 3, and added to the 4,000 the fell from the sky New Year’s Eve in Arkansas, thousands of dead fish are also in the mix. The incidents have prompted Christian sects to look to the Bible and, most importantly, to the sky, for more alleged signs of apocalyptic happenings."

The Guardian - Apocalypse now? Mystery bird deaths hit Louisiana | Environment
The Guardian reports: "Today it emerged that about 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings had been found dead in Louisiana. Their tiny corpses littered a short stretch of highway near the city of Labarre after apparently falling dead from the sky. That would be spooky enough. But the Louisiana bird die-off came just a few days after up to 5,000 blackbirds fell to earth in neighbouring Arkansas in the small town of Beebe."

Comment: Apparently these dead birds are big news in some circles and as you can see from this blog, it's not something I've been focused on. And, not only is it big news, people apparently think it has something to do with Bible prophecy. I just thought I'd perform a public service and let you know that there's no connection at all to Bible prophecy. Well, no direct connection. It's not like Jesus said that in the end times there would be earthquakes, pestilences, famines, wars and lots and lots of dead birds falling from the sky.

On the other hand, it's an event that causes people to pause and wonder, perhaps getting a little apprehensive and fearful, thinking about what's happening in the world. In a very general sense you could say it's an example of a class of "fearsome events" that are not significant in themselves but rather in the response they provoke in people. They are, in this context, similar to extreme weather and other natural disasters that force people to break out of their normal routine and think about deeper spiritual matters. And, of course, it's a mystery, and who doesn't love a good mystery.

My Way News - Anti-Christian drumbeat loud before Egypt attack
My Way News reports: "In the weeks before the New Year's Day suicide bombing of an Egyptian church, al-Qaida-linked websites carried a how-to manual on 'destroying the cross,' complete with videos on how to build a bomb and the locations of churches to target - including the one that was attacked."

My Way News - Christians demonstrate in south Egypt
My Way News reports: "About 500 young Egyptian Christians have defied a call by their leaders to avoid demonstrations and descended into the main streets of this southern city protesting the New Year's Day church bombing that killed 21. The demonstrators gathered Tuesday evening in front of the ruling party's headquarters in the city of Assuit, which has a large Christian population, shouting slogans and vowing to protect the cross with their 'blood and souls.'"

My Way News - Pakistani governor who opposed blasphemy law slain
My Way News reports: "The governor of Pakistan's most dominant province was shot and killed Tuesday by a bodyguard who authorities said was angry about his opposition to blasphemy laws carrying the death sentence for insulting the Muslim faith [...] The laws came under renewed international scrutiny late last year when a 45-year-old Christian woman, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Taseer called for granting Bibi a pardon, a stance that earned him death threats from Islamists."

NYTimes.com - Pakistanis Rally in Support of Blasphemy Law
The New York Times reports: "A crippling strike by Islamist parties brought Pakistan to a standstill on Friday as thousands of people took to the streets, and forced businesses to close, to head off any change in the country’s blasphemy law, which rights groups say has been used to persecute minorities, especially Christians."

Comment: Apparently, in that country, if you have a grudge against someone and you are seeking revenge, all you have to do is say they insulted the Prophet Muhammad (PBJUH) and that's all it takes to get them in serious trouble. Yeah, no chance that kind of power will be abused. That's apparently what happened to Bibi, who fell out of favor with her kind peace-loving neighbors. And then this moderate politician publicly acknowledged the injustice and called for reform, and got killed for his efforts.

Please join me in praying for the persecuted church in Pakistan, they are in a difficult situation. Maybe they could flee to Iraq for safety. Oh wait a minute...on second thought, no, not exactly safe there either. Maybe they could flee to Egypt? Hmmn, maybe not. Well, I'm sure if they tried they could find an Islamic country that wasn't out to kill them, after all, everyone knows how peaceful and tolerant the "great religion" of Islam is, I'm sure it will all work out somehow.

My Way News - Analysis: Ivory Coast military op a big stretch
My Way News reports: "More than a week after the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States vowed to consider military force in Ivory Coast, it remains unclear how that operation would come together and which countries would contribute troops. Defense chiefs from the region met in Nigeria, where ECOWAS is based, to strategize last week, but it appears no one plans an imminent attack."

My Way News - Mexican police detain head of Death Saint church
My Way News reports: "The church's followers [...] say people from all backgrounds worship the Death Saint, at ceremonies that include an altered version of the Roman Catholic Mass. They place offerings of candy and cigarettes before images of the saint, usually depicted as a robed skeleton. At Romo's church, chains are hung on walls as examples of favors granted by the saint, often including getting out of jail."

My Way News - Bombing opens vein of Christian anger in Egypt
My Way News reports: "The New Year's Day suicide bombing of a church that killed 21 people has opened up a vein of fury among Egypt's Christians, built up over years of what they call government failure to address persistent discrimination and violence against their community."

My Way News - Aftenposten: Israel gears up for Iran attack
My Way News reports: "Israel believes it would have only 10-12 minutes' warning if Iran launched rockets but that threats from Hamas and Hezbollah are the most pressing, according to leaked U.S. State Department cables published in a Norwegian newspaper."

AFP- Natural disasters 'killed 295,000 in 2010'
AFP reports: "A total of 950 natural disasters were recorded last year, making 2010 the second worst year since 1980. The average number of events over the past 10 years was 785. And in terms of economic cost, insured losses amounted to approximately $37 billion, putting 2010 among the six most loss-intensive years for the insurance industry since 1980."

Major earthquake strikes central Chile - CNN.com
CNN reports: "A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the central coastal area of Chile on Sunday, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Temuco, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of major damage or injury."

CNN.com - Security tightened after deadly church blast in Egypt
CNN reports: "Government officials in Alexandria, Egypt, increased security around places of worship following an explosion that killed at least 21 people at a church in the region, the governor told state media Saturday [...] Copts, who are adherents of an Egyptian sect of Christianity, make up about 9% of the nation's population. About 90% of Egyptians are Muslims."