My Way News - Nigeria Reports Bird Flu Cases in Humans
AP reports: "Health officials reported Nigeria's first cases of bird flu in humans Wednesday, saying one woman had died and a family member had been infected but was responding to treatment." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

My Way News - Israel Has No Plans Against Iran
AP reports: "Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres says that Israel does not intend to use military force against Iran, which Israel suspects is building nuclear bombs. In addition to Iran's nuclear program, Israel considers the Mideast country a threat because of repeated declarations by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map."

My Way News - Israel Examines Moving Separation Barrier
AP reports: "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office on Wednesday said the government is looking into moving a stretch of its separation barrier deeper into the West Bank to include two Jewish settlements"

My Way News - U.S.-Iran Tensions Could Trigger War
AP reports: "Citing Iranian involvement with Iraqi militias and Tehran's nuclear ambitions, the Bush administration has shifted to offense in its confrontation with Iran - building up the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf and promising more aggressive moves against Iranian operatives in Iraq and Lebanon. The behind-the-scenes struggle between the two nations could explode into open warfare over a single misstep, analysts and U.S. military officials warn." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6]

My Way News - Senators Warn Against War With Iran
AP reports: "Republican and Democratic senators warned Tuesday against a drift toward war with an emboldened Iran and suggested the Bush administration was missing a chance to engage its longtime adversary in potentially helpful talks over next-door Iraq."

Biofuels expansion "to raise risk of famine"� - Reuters
Reuters reports: "Switching more land from food to biofuel production raises the risk of future famines, a conference organised by the Soil Association, the country's leading organic certification body, was told." [Famine, Matthew 24:7]

My Way News - World Scientists Meet on Global Warming
AP reports, "The planet's temperature is rising, sea levels threaten to swallow coastlines and the world's residents want to know how much to be afraid. An authoritative answer comes this week." [Fear/Apprehensive for the Future, Luke 21:26]

MyWay News - Palestinian Suicide Bomber Kills 3
AP reports, "A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three Israelis at a bakery Monday in the first such attack inside the country in nine months, and the two radical groups that claimed to have sent him said they were trying to end weeks of Palestinian infighting by taking aim at Israel instead."

Jerusalem Newswire - New minaret planned to tower over Golden Gate
According to this report, "Four Muslim minarets already dominate the Temple Mount, holiest site to Jews and Bible-believing Christians. Plans are being drawn up, however, to build a fifth platform from which to sing out praises to Allah - the god of Islam.[...] Muslims insist that the entire Temple Mount is one big mosque, and forbid Jews and Christians from praying on it." [Temple Mount/Holy Place, Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15 & 2 Thessalonians 2:4]

MEMRI:

MEMRI: Editor of Iranian Kayhan Daily Reacts to U.N. Resolution Against Holocaust Denial:'The Resolution Prepares the U.N.'s Corpse for Burial in the Graveyard of History'

The editor continues with an incredible screed against anyone who understands that the Holocaust actually happened.

This suggests two things:

1. Ezekiel's War [chh. 38-9] cannot be too far away.
2. The Beast [Revelation 13:1-10] is even less likely to be a Muslim and is more likely to be a secularlist. Either that, or the UN as we know it will fall in favor of a New Baghdad (or Teheran) Caliphate.

Jerusalem Newswire - Driving the Christians out
The Jerusalem Post reports, "A few decades ago Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, was a thriving town, a tourist magnet and a majority Christian town. [...] Resorting to violence, terrorism, brazen land-theft and massive abuse of power, Muslim Arab civilians and Muslim members of the Palestinian Authority are effectively and purposefully driving the Christians away." [Believers Persecuted, Matthew 24:8]

The Register - High-tech tattoo more than a pretty picture
Here is a news report on a new approach to identification verification that combines the simplicity of a tattoo with the technology of radio frequency tagging:

Somark Innovations, a small company working out of Saint Louis, has successfully tested an RFID tattoo, on cows, mice and rats: enabling an identifying number embedded under the skin to be read from over a meter away. [...] Somark are in the process of raising money to exploit the technology, and point out that what works for animals can, of course, also work for people; identifying Military Personnel as one of their secondary markets, after cattle and other livestock.

We had many debates about the Mark of the Beast (Rev 13:16-18) on the Bible Prophecy-L discussion group and there were always many people who rejected the notion that the mark would be technological, insisting that it could be something as simple as a tattoo. Perhaps it will be both?

Breaking News -- Thirteen people were killed when a U.S. forces helicopter they were riding in went down northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

My Way News - Three Nations Join China Test Protest
AP reports: "Britain, Japan and Australia joined the United States on Friday in voicing concern about the rising militarization of space after China successfully carried out a test of an anti-satellite weapon." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6]

My Way News - Rice Has Loose Agenda for Mideast Talks
AP reports: "Israel and the Palestinians can pick any agenda they want for a preliminary peacemaking summit with the United States, but it is too early to tackle the toughest issues, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday." [Covenant With Many, Daniel 9:27]

My Way News - Democrats Warn Bush Not to Attack Iran
AP reports: "Democratic leaders in Congress lobbed a warning shot Friday at the White House not to launch an attack against Iran without first seeking approval from lawmakers." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6]

My Way News - UNICEF: 1,000 Under 15 Get HIV Each Day
AP reports: "Despite progress in preventing HIV transmission from pregnant mothers to their babies, more than 1,000 children around the world were infected with the disease each day in 2006, according to a U.N. report." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

My Way News - Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight
AP reports: "The world is nudging closer to nuclear or environmental apocalypse, a group of prominent scientists warned Wednesday as it pushed the hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock closer to midnight." [Fear for the Future, Luke 21:26]

My Way News - Cholera Outbreak in Angola Kills 2,760
AP reports: "More than 2,760 people have died of cholera in Angola since an epidemic broke out last February, authorities said Monday." [Pestilence, Luke 21:11]

My Way News - U.S. Bringing Second Carrier to Mideast
AP reports: "The deployment of the USS John C. Stennis to the Middle East will put two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf region for the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion, in a clear response to Iran's aggressive posture in the region." [Rumors of War, Matthew 24:6]