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A plan for the building of a new settlement, Ma'aleh David, in the middle of an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem was filed for approval by the relevant municipal committee at the Jerusalem Municipality. The plan calls for the construction of 104 housing units on the land where the former headquarters of the Judea and Samaria police was housed in the neighborhood of Ras al-Amud. The new settlement is planned to be connected to an existing Jewish neighborhood, Ma'aleh Zeitim, and together will be occupied by some 200 families, forming the largest Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem

TEL AVIV, Israel (UPI) -- The day Osama bin Laden's suicide squads attacked the United States, Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan, who in 2001 headed Israel's National Security Council, was conducting a "strategic dialogue" in New Delhi with his Indian counterpart, Brajesh Mishra. Dayan's presence in the Indian capital on Sept. 11, 2001, was, of course, pure happenstance. But the events of that fateful day cemented a strategic relationship that has never stopped growing and has strengthened Israel's burgeoning influence in southern and central Asia. Today, Israel has overtaken Russia as India's leading defense supplier. Both Israel and India, one Jewish,...

Most American "Christians" think in a Western mindset when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is true that the West has been the place for the spreading of the Gospel for over 1700 years. In his ministry Paul the apostle moved westward as he proclaimed the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. From there it spread westward into Africa and Europe, to the Americas, then unto China and India “full circle.” Although there are many “false gospels,” the True Gospel message (as preached by Paul) is contained in the following scriptures:

There aren't many things you can say for sure about the future amid the global financial meltdown. But here's one: All-American companies, from General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) to General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ), are going to be looking halfway around the world to China and India as their best shots for improving profits in the coming year. With the American, European and Japanese economies hitting the skids, China and India are the only fast-growing countries big enough to make a difference to most companies' bottom lines. That's where multinational companies will...

Truths for a new world of them and us By Philip Stephens Published: May 29 2008 17:47 | Last updated: May 29 2008 17:47 Globalisation belonged to us; financial crises happened to them. The world has been turned on its head. Consumers in the wealthiest nations are struggling with the consequences of the credit crunch and with the soaring cost of energy and food. In China, retail sales have been rising at an annual 15 per cent. I cannot think of a better description of the emerging global order. The trouble is that the politics of globalisation lags ever further...

Pressure is mounting on central banks in the Gulf to fight surging inflation when they meet on Wednesday by severing the link between their currencies and the tumbling US dollar. Officials in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have denied rumours of an imminent decoupling, but investors are betting on reform and are rushing to buy local currencies as investment banks issue fresh calls for revaluation. Analysts said that, despite the momentum, the Gulf states were unlikely to decouple suddenly from the dollar. They predicted more measured moves towards links to a basket of currencies. “The feeling is [that] unilateral...

Blair accused of 'stabbing Hillary Clinton in the back' after supporting RepublicansLast updated at 00:56am on 20th January 2008  Former allies: Bill Clinton and Tony Blair   Tony Blair was accused of betrayal last night as he waded into the American Presidential campaign to support George Bush's Republican world view. As the former PM recommended Mr Bush's policies to 400 millionaire bankers in Las Vegas, former ally Bill Clinton was campaigning in Nevada for his wife Hillary, who hopes to be the Democratic candidate for the White House and is an arch Bush critic. In a move liable to...

Western analysts are forever bleating about the strategic importance of the middle east. But despite its oil, this backward region is less relevant than ever, and it would be better for everyone if the rest of the world learned to ignore it Why are middle east experts so unfailingly wrong? The lesson of history is that men never learn from history, but middle east experts, like the rest of us, should at least learn from their past mistakes. Instead, they just keep repeating them.

Armenia's artistic bridge from East to West By Souren Melikian Published: April 27, 2007A fragment of a capital from Dvin, 5th or 6th century. PARIS: It is not easy to display the art of a major culture left in tatters by organized physical destruction over centuries that reduced its territory to a tiny fraction of its historical dimension. What mostly survives is the art of religion, the hard-core to which the persecuted cling and carry away if portable. Otherwise it is fragments collected from ruins. Hence the title of the Armenian art show on view at the Louvre until May...

Sunday, February 18, 2007 The 2006 estimate of Iraq's population was 26,783,383 people. This is a number we read, yet it's impossible for us to translate this number into manageable terms. It's beyond our ability to imagine the personal connection to this many people. Engrossed in our own lives and concerns, it is hard to understand or realize that we, as a single person, can make a difference. Yet, we can. We've all held a newborn baby and felt that incredibly tender feeling of awe, of wonder, where our hearts were overwhelmed with the beauty of life. Holding that vulnerable,...

The Yin Yang symbol from Chinese Philosophy represents opposing natural forces. Yang, literally translated, means the sun or sunny. Yin, being the natural opposition is thought to be the moon, darkness or shade. Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion: - To every action there is an equal but opposite reaction - is an extremely pure definition of the Yin Yang symbol. While natural balance, God’s fulcrum if you will, is accepted by the mortal mind even when the opposing forces have complex dependencies like “morality” and are thusly, vague. Chinese philosophers commonly apply Yin Yang symbolism vaguely, including, among...

Hope for a Middle East peace breakthrough faded on Friday when the militant group Hamas contradicted President Mahmoud Abbas's declaration that a new Palestinian unity government would recognize Israel. Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Abbas said a coalition being negotiated between his Fatah party and Hamas, the militant group that heads the Palestinian government, would recognize the Jewish state. Such a move would be a huge reversal for Hamas, which is formally dedicated to the destruction of Israel. On Friday, Hamas political advisor Ahmed Yousef told the Associated Press that "there won't be a national unity government if...

Next time you stop at the pump and pay through-the-stratosphere prices to fill your car's tank, just ponder this: We are not — repeat, we are not running out of oil. There is no good reason you should be paying through the nose. There are only bad reasons for it. If you are also angry about illegal aliens pouring over the border, you should know that illegal immigration is the price we are paying to keep to keep gas prices from going even higher, maybe two or three times higher.

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – The commander of coalition forces in East Baghdad is “cautiously optimistic” for the future in his area of operations. Army Col. Thomas Vail, commander of the 506th Regimental Combat Team, told Pentagon reporters via a teleconference from Baghdad that Operation Together Forward is having an effect in his area. The 506th is the 4th Brigade of the Multinational Division Baghdad, and covers an area of 1,500 square kilometers with 5 million people. Operation Together Forward is trhe main effort in the region. The Iraqi-planned and -run operation is cutting in to the sectarian violence in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2006 – The activities in the Hezbollah-Hamas battlespace are being manipulated by Iran, directed by Syria and executed by Hamas in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon, a senior U.S. military official, speaking on background, said today. The official also spoke about conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said three major movements are coursing through the Middle East. The first is Iran’s posturing for leadership in the region. Iran’s prominence in the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, the official said, points to the problem a nuclear-armed Iran would pose to the region and world. Iran’s sponsorship of Hezbollah and its moves...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2006 – The current Middle East crisis between Israel and Hezbollah is part of a larger struggle between the forces of freedom and terror, President Bush said today in Miami.   “For decades, the status quo in the Middle East permitted tyranny and terror to thrive,� Bush said during a speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Integrated Support Command. “And as we saw on September the 11th, the status quo in the Middle East led to death and destruction in the United States, and it had to change.�   Bush said America must continue to oppose...

U.S. Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment take a break in Ramadi General Hospital during a patrol outside Combat Operation Post Hawk's perimeter near Ramadi, Iraq, July 14. Department of Defense photo by Cpl. Trenton E. Harris. BAGHDAD -- During a radio address to the nation Saturday, President George W. Bush discussed U.S. involvement in the Middle East. Although a majority of the radio address was focused on confronting the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, the president said as the international community works to resolve that crisis, we must recognize that Lebanon is only the latest flashpoint in a broader struggle...

No end to fighting as Rice tours Middle East By Patrick Bishop and George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 25/07/2006) Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel last night with no sign that America's belated diplomatic intervention would bring an early end to the violence in Lebanon. The US secretary of state had earlier visited Beirut where she said she was "deeply concerned" by the plight of the Lebanese people who have been suffering the consequences of two weeks of Israeli attacks. Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora greets Condoleezza RiceThe White House announced that it was sending helicopters and ships to provide humanitarian...

Missile defence unready for Middle East crisis 12:23 19 July 2006 NewScientist.com news service Paul Marks As rockets and artillery shells continue to devastate Israeli and Lebanese towns, aerospace companies are developing antimissile shields that could one day defend against such attacks. Hezbollah has used Katyusha rockets to hit targets inside Israel, including the coastal town and naval port of Haifa, killing at least 25. Meanwhile, Israeli artillery bombardments and bombs have hit targets inside Lebanon, destroying infrastructure and leaving more than 270 dead. Prototype missile defence systems offer the promise of intercepting incoming rockets and artillery shells in flight....

The media refer to a plan in which Israel is recognized and violence eschewed. But does the plan really say that? Much of the Western media has been referring to a document signed by Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails as a breakthrough in the peace process. A New York Times headline "Palestinian Leader Plans a Vote on Accepting Israel" refers to Palestinian President Abbas' initiative to hold a referendum on the so-called "prisoners' plan" characterizing it as a "coexistence plan." The Times states: The proposal calls for a Palestinian state alongside Israel, based on the borders that existed before the...

Where It All Began The very thing which is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients also, nor was it wanting]rom the inception if the human race until the coming if Christ in the flesh, at which point the true religion which was already in existence began to be called Christian. -ST. AUGUSTINE, Retractiones THIS ASTOUNDING STATEMENT by St. Augustine, one of the most brilliant thinkers in the earliest centuries of the Church, utterly refutes the traditional view that Christianity, though of obvious Jewish roots, virtually fell from the skies as a radically new, unique, all- surpassing religion...

TAMPA, Fla., May 1, 2006 – Civilian leaders returned here yesterday from a whirlwind trip through Southwest Asia with a fresh new perspective about U.S. military operations under way and the caliber of the men and women serving the country in uniform. The 47 business, academic, civic and organizational leaders, all participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, agreed that it's one thing to draw conclusions based on what they read in newspapers and see on TV, but quite another to draw their own firsthand conclusions. The group members visited Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar to observe ongoing operations. They met...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, April 30, 2006 – It's critical that the American people muster up the will to see the conflict here through to victory, the commander of U.S. Central Command told civilian business, civic and academic leaders visiting here yesterday. Army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, tells participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference it's critical that the United States complete its mission in Southwest Asia. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Larry Chambers, USGC  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Military officials asked that the visit's exact location not be released. Army Gen. John Abizaid...

MANAMA, Bahrain, April 27, 2006 – Maritime operations in the Middle East are all about anti-terrorism activities, the deputy commander of coalition forces serving with Naval Forces Central Command said here. British Royal Navy Commodore Simon T. Williams said maritime operations have an active and passive deterrence role in what Americans call the Central Command area of operations. "The main effect is trying to change the risk calculus for terrorists," he said in an interview. The command, which has ships from 17 different nations, has task forces covering the seas from the southern border of Kenya to the Pakistan-India border....

LONDON, April 23 (IranMania) - According to IRNA, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani in Manama on Sunday held talks with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa on the latest developments in the region, situation in Iraq and Iran's nuclear program. The Bahraini king said that Bahrain supports Iranian program to produce nuclear energy, adding that all states are seeking to diversify their energy resources. He said other states in the region should also take steps towards using nuclear energy. Al-Khalifa said that there is no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East except in...

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2006 – Four state governors just returned from Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait shared glowing reports today about the operations they observed there, but reserved their highest praise for the men and women in uniform they met, including National Guard troops from their states. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack shares a meal with Iowa Army National Guard soldiers deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during Vilsack's visit to Kuwait. Photo by Spc. Debralee P. Crankshaw, USA   The four governors -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and West Virginia Gov. Joe...

The BBC re-published an online article today that they first published 11 years ago. Note the following paragraph: The State Department would not discuss the possibility of this being a terrorist attack but the FBI and Oklahoma police put out an alert for three men believed to be of Middle Eastern origin driving a brown Chevrolet pick-up truck. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and ten of his supporters are currently on trial for the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. We all know today that the government dropped its search for any connection to Middle East terrorists, despite strong evidence...

REGULAR meals of mammoth meat helped some early human tribes to expand more quickly than their largely vegetarian contemporaries, according to a genetic study. Human populations in east Asia about 30,000 years ago developed at dramatically different rates, following a pattern that appears to reflect the availability of mammoths and other large game. In the part of the region covering what is now northern China, Mongolia and southern Siberia, vast plains teemed with mammals such as mammoths, mastodons and woolly rhinoceroses and the number of early human beings grew between 34,000 and 20,000 years ago. Further south, where the terrain...

Collins: Why control of Iraq’s oil mattersCommentary by U.S. Rep. Mac CollinsRecently, I had dinner with Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, and one of the other guests asked the Prince an interesting question. The guest was a prominent Georgia Democrat and he wondered aloud “why the Republicans didn’t just admit that the war in Iraq was all about oil?” I sat back, so as not to interrupt the gentleman, and then asked the Prince a question of my own: “Keeping in mind the strength of al Qaeda in Iraq today, and their relationship with Syria...

The Palestinian Authority’s new foreign minister, Mahmoud Al-Zahar of the Hamas told Xinhua, China’s official news agency, that he envisions a map of the Middle East that does not have Israel on it. Al-Zahar, who took office last week with the swearing in of the PA’s new Hamas government, said, "I dream of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it." Al-Zahar’s statement echoes that of Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in which he vowed “to wipe Israel off the map.” "I hope…to have our independent state...

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) -- New cracks appear in Elke DeMuynck's ceiling every few weeks, zigzagging across her living room, creeping toward the fireplace, veering down the wall. Month after month, year after year, she patches, paints and waits. "It definitely lets you know your house is constantly shifting," DeMuynck said. So do the gate outside that swings uselessly 2 1/2 inches from its latch, the strange bulges in the street and the geology students who make pilgrimages to her cul-de-sac. DeMuynck could throw her paint brush from her front stoop and hit the Hayward Fault, which geologists consider the most...

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2006 – The Iraqis are going through a historic process to form a government of national unity, and success in that country will provide a basis for a more stable Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday morning talk shows today. "We faced the outcome of an ideology of hatred throughout the Middle East that had to be dealt with," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press" today. "Saddam Hussein was part of the old Middle East. The new Iraq will be part of a new Middle East, and we will all be safer."...

THE career of President Vladimir Putin of Russia was built at least in part on a lie, according to US researchers. A new study of an economics thesis written by Putin in the mid-1990s has revealed that large chunks of it were copied from an American text. Putin was labelled a plagiarist yesterday after a pair of researchers at the Brookings Institution, a Washington DC think tank, established that the Russian president’s academic credentials were based on a dissertation he had lifted in part verbatim from the Russian translation of a management study written by two professors at the University...

Fault East of Bay Area 'Locked and Loaded' Saturday March 25, 2006 7:31 PM By SCOTT LINDLAW Associated Press Writer HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) - New cracks appear in Elke DeMuynck's ceiling every few weeks, zigzagging across her living room, creeping toward the fireplace, veering down the wall. Month after month, year after year, she patches, paints and waits. ``It definitely lets you know your house is constantly shifting,'' DeMuynck said. So do the gate outside that swings uselessly 2 inches from its latch, the strange bulges in the street and the geology students who make pilgrimages to her cul-de-sac. DeMuynck...

Bush Fails To Prevent East Coast Blizzard Minorities Hit Hardest by Brian Williams NBC 02/12/06 As President Bush and his staff cowered in the White House, the snow continued to pile up on the many poor and African American victims who could not afford to get out of town or to safety in Florida. Crucial supplies of blankets, hot cocoa, popcorn and dark rum, so essential to surviving the stress of any major snowstorm, lay in stores undelivered. "Where is the government? I need my sidewalk shoveled so I can get out to buy my danged lottery tickets!" said one...

Christians living in Jesus' birthplace are bracing themselves as the militant Islamic group Hamas prepares to take power as the Palestinian Authority government after winning legislative elections in January. "There are many Christians who are afraid," said Shatha, a student at the Roman Catholic Bethlehem University. "Since Hamas is new to the government, I doubt they will be able to implement Islamic law," she said the day before Hamas was to take over the Palestinian authority on Feb. 17. "But it's possible they might in the future." Bethlehem's Christian community was already concerned after a member of the city council...

(2006-02-12) — A thick blanket of snow that covered much of the northeastern United States this weekend may increase global warming by preventing the heat that radiates from earth’s molten core from escaping into the atmosphere, according to former vice president Al Gore. Mr. Gore, a noted global warming expert who also once ran for president, dismissed suggestions that the biggest snowstorm in New York City history diminishes his case that the planet is warming at an alarming rate. (...) “We must pack the snow into giant containers and launch it into outer space,” Mr. Gore said. “Every day that...

Jimmy Carter is off this week to save Cuba. With Carter on the loose, the American public needs to watch out. It seems that almost wherever he goes and whatever positions he pushes, Jimmy Carter leaves a wake of devastation and disaster. Carter, we should note, has been cozying up to North Korea for years. He helped the U.S. and the communist country come to agreement during the Clinton years to defuse a tense situation over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

SAN ANTONIO (Army News Service, Jan. 7, 2006) -- America's top high school athletes shared center stage with America's top Soldiers during the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school all-star football game held in the Alamodome January 7th. East versus West players battled in front of a nationally televised audience and in front of 31,565 fans, the largest in the Army's six-year history of hosting the event. The East won the contest 27 – 16. During pre-game activities, 78 Soldiers, who were awarded either the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star or the Purple Heart, were...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2005 – Nothing makes Army Lt. Col. Jamie Gayton more angry than someone saying coalition projects in East Baghdad have no effect. "We are making a difference every day in the lives of average Iraqis," said Gayton, the commander of 2-3 Brigade Troops Battalion and responsible for coalition projects in East Baghdad. Sadr City is a part of the area of operations for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, a unit of the 3rd Infantry Division. Hundreds of projects in the area of 2.6 million people have changed life in the neighborhoods. When Americans...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 15, 2005 – Baghdad took on an air of celebration as the polls closed on this historic election day with little terrorist action. East Baghdad saw one rocket attack, with no direct attacks on polling places or on Iraqis going to vote. Iraqi citizens reported a small homemade bomb that terrorists planted near a polling site, and Iraqi and coalition explosive ordnance technicians rendered it safe. Turnout was high all over the region. Salman Pak, a primarily Sunni area south of here, had people lined up to vote when the polls opened at 7...

Insurgencies are not put down in a fortnight. But considering the successes in the recent counter-insurgency sweep in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, one fact becomes obvious to anyone with so much as a sliver of an understanding of ground combat operations: Eliminating the insurgency in Iraq is best left to those who best know how to do it.

1,700-year-old 'Roman Glass' Discovered in East China Glass remains over 1,700 years old, possibly imported from ancient Rome, have been discovered in an ancient tomb located in east China's Anhui Province, local cultural relic department said on Sunday. The tomb was found during the latest road project in Zhulong Village of Dangtu County in Anhui. Archaeologists believed the tomb was built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420). Covered with white mantlerock, the glass remains seem to have ancient Roman shapes and craftwork. According to the local cultural relic department, the owner of the tomb was possibly from an...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 24, 2005) -- The current operational tempo of the Global War on Terrorism means many Marines are deploying to combat zones on a yearly basis. Back-to-back combat tours can cause headaches for Marines and heartaches for their families, but for Sgt. C. Alexander Wolf, it’s just another day at the office. Wolf, the signals intelligence chief for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), is on his fourth deployment to the Middle East, dating back to 2003. The Kokomo, Ind., native, works for the Wing’s intelligence division, whose duties range from intercepting and analyzing electronic communications signals to...

This month, Russia lost two jet fighters during military exercises that simulated a major war with NATO. A naval task force was deployed in the North Atlantic on a mission to intercept and destroy U.S. reinforcements heading to the European theater of war. During exercises on Sept. 5, a Su-33 jet fighter fell off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov during landing and sank. The pilot ejected and was rescued. Then on Thursday, seven Air Force jet fighters were sent from the St. Petersburg area to fly over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea to Kaliningrad....

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Hamlet has become a Muslim prince at the Ottoman court in an adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy which its Bosnian director says reflects the world after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In possibly the biggest theater co-production the war-torn Balkans region has seen in some 20 years, Haris Pasovic is seeking to put "Hamlet" into a 21st Century setting. "One of the most important issues of the 21st century is the world's increased understanding of the Muslim issue following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York," Pasovic, himself a Bosnian Muslim, told Reuters...

There has been much discussion among the American People of why our military and State Department personnel are deployed in Iraq. While some offer cynical views, mostly for partisan reasons, others are closer to the mark and deserve consideration. There are four main reasons that we are here:

USSURIISK, Russia - In the mosquito-infested fields of Russia's Far East, Chinese pick tomatoes. In the markets, they sell cheap jeans and backpacks and fix shoes. At construction sites, they rebuild cities. As China and Russia embark on a new stage of cooperation by holding joint military exercises launched from the Pacific port of Vladivostok, the Chinese presence is growing in this hardscrabble region thousands of miles from Moscow. It's too early to talk of an imminent Chinese takeover, local experts say, despite such worries by some Russian politicians. Still, they acknowledge that China's hunger for resources and territory as...

NEW DELHI World War II thrust an acute test on India: Should Indians, then under British rule, join what Japan billed as a pan-Asian struggle to expel Western imperialism from Asia? Or should they fight with Britons, with whom many Indians expected friendly postcolonial relations? "Now, for the first time, you're seeing an opportunity for all three major players to develop themselves and engage with the continent," he said. It is often overlooked that Asia, and India particularly, nurtured dreams of a rapidly maturing and coalescing region after the war - and then squandered them. "There are powerful, creative impulses...

4 July 2005: At General Than Shwe’s request made to prime minister Manmohan Singh and foreign minister Natwar Singh, India will rush emergency military supplies to Myanmar, which has been almost overcome flushing out Indian insurgents in the region between the Arakan mountains and the Irrawady. India will perforce have to get into anti-terror joint operations with the Burmese, despite their suspicions about foreign militaries, because the requested supplies of helicopters, helicopter gunships, heavy rockets, navigation equipment and GPS systems would be beyond them to operate, much less use with skill in combat, and officials said this has been communicated...