Maravot's News of the World: news headlines and trends

03.27.05 Stem-cell breakthrough could allow women to grow their own breast implants

March 27 – A revolutionary technique using stem-cell research could soon allow women to choose breast enhancements made of living tissue instead of silicone. Scientists who have been able to grow human fat cells in the laboratory for the first time say the breakthrough means that patients could, in effect, grow their own implants. The researchers also claim that, in the longer term, it may be possible to grow replacement organs for transplant surgery.

The target patients are cancer sufferers and others who need reconstructive surgery. But the man who is pioneering the new technique, Jeremy Mao, professor of tissue engineering at the University of Illinois in Chicago, acknowledges that there could also be a substantial cosmetic market. Doubts persist about silicone or saline implants which, despite technical improvements, can rupture or leak. [More>>independent.co.uk]

03.27.05 Iraq security, protesters clash; 1 dead

BAGHDAD (AP) March 27 – Security officials opened fire on a crowd of protesters outside a government building Sunday, killing one, and al-Qaida's arm in Iraq posted a video purportedly showing an Iraqi Interior Ministry official being killed.

Iraq's newly elected lawmakers, meanwhile, were expected to meet Tuesday to choose a speaker and two deputies, the National Assembly said. The lawmakers met March 16 but repeatedly have postponed a second meeting because of negotiations over Cabinet positions. It was unclear whether they would name the country's new president, expected to be Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, on Tuesday. [More>>Associated Press]

03.27.05 Car bomb rocks Beirut Eastern District

March 27 – East Beirut was rocked by a huge explosion, the third blast in the past week, that a police officer said was caused by a car bomb and which left eight people hurt according to local media. One of the injured was said to be an Indian national. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.27.05 Indo-Saudi Arabia ties to soar: Aiyar

DUBAI (PTI) March 27 – Indo-Saudi Arabian relations will soar to new levels with the proposed visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to India, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has said. Saudi Arabia has come to recognize India as a significant power and begun to take the country seriously, Aiyar, who begins a three-day visit to the Arab Kingdom on Monday, was quoted as saying by the Arab News daily on Sunday...Noting that every continent has a regional organisation except Asia, Aiyer said, "We will be able to develop Asian countries into a strong, regional organisation" and spoke about making 21st century "the Asian century, with New Delhi-Riyadh as its axis." [More>>hindustantimes.com & yemendaily.com]

03.26.05 Islamist group claims it carried out Texas blast-Saudi Arabia ties to soar: Aiyar

DUBAI (PTI) March 27 – A shadowy Islamist group which claimed it carried out last week's suicide bombing in Qatar said in an Internet statement it was responsible for an oil refinery explosion in Texas that left 15 people dead. "It was a new kind of operation as we promised before," said the "Jund al-Sham Organization" (Organization of Soldiers of the Levant) in the statement posted on an Islamist Web site and dated March 24. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.26.05 Land mine kills four US soldiers in Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) March 26 – Four U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday when their vehicle struck a land mine in southeast Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. The United States has lost more than 100 military personnel since deploying troops in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, but most of the deaths have been accidents.

The latest marked the worst loss of life in a single day for the United States in Afghanistan since three U.S. military personnel and three U.S. civilians were killed in a plane crash last November. [More>>reuters.com]

03.26.05 US unveils plans to make India 'major world power'

WASHINGTON (AFP) March 26 – ...US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has presented to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the Bush administration's outline for a "decisively broader strategic relationship" between the world's oldest and largest democracies, a senior US official said. "Its goal is to help India become a major world power in the 21st century," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement."

He did not elaborate but noted that South Asia was critical, with China on one side, Iran and the Middle East on the other, and a somewhat turbulent Central Asian region to the north. The US-India plan was announced as Washington decided Friday to sell an undetermined number of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan under a plan to prop up Pakistan on the political, military and economic fronts. [More>>newkerala.com; See also expressindia.com, "F16 sale to Pakistan: PM conveys disappointment to George Bush."NEW DELHI, March 25 – US president George W Bush on Friday telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convey the administration�s decision to supply F-16 warplanes to Pakistan, which Mr Singh said was a �great disappointment� for India and could have �negative consequences� for its security environment. �The Prime Minister received a telephone call from the US President this evening. They had 15 minutes of wide-ranging conversation,� PMO spokesman Sanjaya Baru said...

03.26.05 T-Rex fossil yields tissue

(AFP) March 26 – A team of US palaeontologists claim to have discovered what appear to be cells and blood vessels in a 70-million-year-old dinosaur fossil, presenting the tantalizing possibility of extracting its DNA.

The tissues come from a femur of a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil, known as MOR 1125, found in the northwestern state of Montana, the researchers said in a report published on Friday in Science magazine. It measures 1.07m and comes from an 18-year-old Tyrannosaurus. The fossil was broken when it was removed from the site, allowing researchers a clear view of its interior, North Carolina State University palaeontologist Mary Schweitzer and her colleagues said. "The vessels and contents are similar in all respects to blood vessels recovered from ostrich bone," she said.

If they can manage to isolate certain proteins in the tissues, Schweitzer said, "then perhaps we can address the issue of the physiology and life of the dinosaur". "Tissue preservation to this extent has not been noted before in dinosaurs," she said. [More>>aljazeera.net; See related aljazeera.net article, Feb. 2004, "Dinosaur fossils found in Antarctica" : Seventy million-year-old fossils found in Antarctica have turned out to be two completely new species of dinosaur. One set of bones belonged to a quick-moving meat-eater and the other a giant plant-eater. The carnivore's remains have rested for millenniums at the bottom of an Antarctic sea, while remains of the 30m long herbivore were found on the top of a mountain. They would have lived in a different Antarctica - one that was warm and wet, according to two teams of researchers - both funded by the National Science Foundation.

03.24.05 Investors riot at Karachi stock market

March 24 – Hundreds of furious Pakistani investors have rioted at the Karachi Stock Exchange after shares plummeted from last week's record highs. Officials said police were called in as around 400 small investors who had been prevented from off loading their falling stocks, hurled stones and smashed up cars and office windows in the building's courtyard on Wednesday. "We have arrested five people and the situation is now under control," senior police officer Sanaullah Abbasi said.

The unrest broke out as the KSE-100 (Karachi Stock Exchange) continued to fall for a sixth consecutive day, from the record of 10,304.72 points on 15 March to 8367 points at lunch time on Wednesday. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.24.05 Temple Mount Controversy: Jerusalem police ban three far-right activists from Temple Mount

March 24 – Jerusalem police on Thursday refused to allow three far-right activists to enter the Temple Mount, saying they feared their presence could lead to riots, Israel Radio reported. Attorney Baruch Ben-Yosef, who has been active in attempts to restore the Third Temple on the site of today's Dome of the Rock, tried to enter the area Thursday and was prevented from doing so by police. The police also decided they would not allow Baruch Marzel or Itamar Ben-Gvir, activists from the outlawed Kach movement, to enter the Temple Mount, spurring charges of police persecution. "This is a political persecution by the Israel Police," said Ben-Yosef. "We will agree to this and we will struggle to scrap the ban." [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

Editorial note: The Dome of the Rock covers the highest point of the Temple Mount. Visitors to the Dome of the Rock will observe that the center of the structure contains the mountain peak. Steps carved into the peak reflect the fact that it was used for ritual purposes in antiquity. The Dome of the Rock covers and exposes this strange edifice because tradition says that it is the last place on earth the prophet Mohammed touched, riding his horse, before passing to Paradise. He would, of course, leave from the highest point of the Temple Mount. This compares to the tradition on the Ascension of Jesus Christ from the Mount of Olives.

Woodcut attributed to the Jewish historian Josephus (who recorded the siege of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D.). Image shows A, Three crosses with comet (possibly Halley's comet of 66 A.D. [3]) reflecting Christ's crucifixion; B, the Temple of Solomon adjacent to the mountain ridge atop the Temple Mount. Note that the original shape of the Temple of Solomon was rectangular, 20 cubits wide, 30 cubits high and 60 cubits long (I Kings 6.2), whereas the last Temple of Herod, destroyed by Titus, was a cube, 60 cubits by 60 cubits by 60 cubits (a cubit was 18 inches). Map makers in antiquity tended to copy from previous maps, and this one that contains the crucifixion recalls the earlier Temple of Solomon which was not in existence at the time of Christ. Note also that the image contains another mountain where the church of the Holy Sepulcher is located, marking the continuing controversy on the location of Golgotha (where the crucifixion occurred) and Christ's tomb. Note the street that winds from behind Solomon's Temple and ends at the Forum and near the base of a mount. That mount is the palace of the Macabbes and laterAgrippa. See the Hebrew University maps to which this map coincides:

� Hogenberg, d.ca. 1590 A.D. http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/maps/jer/html/gallery3.html

� Adrichem, 1533-1585 A.D. http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/maps/jer/html/gallery1b.html

Note that the Hebrew University maps show the "squared" Herod's Temple.

Following this old map from Josephus one can conclude that in all likelihood the restored Temple of Solomon can be placed adjacent to the Dome of the Rock. There is a prophesy that warns that when the temple is "squared" it will be destroyed; thus any restoration would have to involve the original Temple of Solomon. Click on image for larger view.
Mel Copeland

It is not probable that the original Temple of Solomon covered the highest peak of the Temple Mount. It is probable that it was set adjacent to the ridge that marks the peak contained in the center of the Dome of the Rock. Based upon a woodcut attributed to the original work of the Jewish historian, Josephus, one can see that the original Temple of Solomon (4) was adjacent to the ridge, facing the Golden Gate (east). Moslems fear that attempts to restore the Temple threaten the Dome of the Rock. Since 1530 A.D., the reign of the Ottoman Khan, Sulieman I, Moslems have sealed the main gate to the Temple Mount, called the Golden Gate, to prevent the restoration of the Temple. Click on Trends & Concerns above to view the Sealed Golden Gate. Until the issues of the Temple and the Golden Gate can be resolved there can be no peace in Jerusalem, for they lie at the heart of the controversy of Jerusalem.

Mel Copeland

03.24.05 British government urged to explain Iraq war legality

LONDON (Xinhuanet), March 24 – The British government was urged by the opposition parties on Thursday to explain why its top legal adviser apparently changed his mind over the legality of the Iraq war that broke out on March 20, 2003. The demand came after the British Channel 4 News reported Wednesday evening that some lines from a resignation letter by former government legal adviser Elizabeth Wilmshurst showed Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, chief law officer of the government, changed his mind over the legality of the war between March 7 and March 18, 2003, days before the US-led war joined by Britain.

Some critics suspected that the few lines suggest Goldsmith shifted stance due to political pressure. Goldsmith was fully entitled to change his mind, but "the difficulty is that change of mind is against the backdrop of the prime minister (Tony Blair) having massaged the truth when he appeared before Parliament (to win the case for the Iraq war)," major opposition Conservative Party shadow attorney general Dominic Grieve told the BBC. [More>>xinhuanet.com]

03.24.05 US will not interfere in Kyrgyzstan; approves of pipeline to China: Ordway

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, March 24 – The United States is following a policy of noninterference in the situation of Kyrgyzstan, stated US ambassador to Kazakhstan John Ordway at a press conference in Almaty. He also denied the rumors spreading in the neighboring republic on the alleged funding of Kyrgyzstan�s opposition by the USA.

"Our efforts are directed exclusively at the promotion of democracy and the provision of free and honest elections in accordance with international standards. We have no role or intention to support either the government or opposition. We believe it is very important to establish dialogue between the opposition and the government with the purpose of settling the problems of the country," says John Ordway, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the USA to RK.

Speaking on Kazakhstani-US relations, the ambassador explained that active construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is underway. At the same time, the US government welcomes Kazakhstan�s decision to build an oil pipeline to China. The ambassador stated that this will strengthen Kazakhstan�s competitive potential in delivering hydrocarbons to the world market. [khabar.kz]

As the opposition has taken over government offices, the President of Kyrgyzstan and his family have been reported to have fled to Moscow, and is now in Kazakhstan according to turkishpress.com. This is the third former Soviet Republic, following the Ukraine and Georgia, that has overthrown the old Soviet leadership.

03.24.05 Death toll in Asian tsunami disaster above 273,000

PARIS (AFP) March 24 – Three months after the tsunami disaster which devastated 11 Indian Ocean countries, the number of people believed to have perished stands at more than 273,000.

Indonesia was the worst hit country, with the latest figures showing a total of 220,416 people dead or missing. According to the National Disaster Relief Coordination Agency, the number of confirmed dead was 126,473 people while 93,943 were listed as missing. The toll from other areas: Sri Lanka, 30,957, 5,637 reported missing; India, 10, 749 with 5,640 missing; Thailand, 5,395, with 3,001 missing; Maldives, 82, with 26 missing; Malaysia, 68, most of them in Penang; Somalia, 298; Tanzania, 10; and one in Kenya. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

3.24.05 US Supreme Court refuses to hear the Schiavo appeal

Fox News announced ~ 7:30am PST that the Supreme Court has refused to hear the Shiavo appeal, in spite of the claim that Terri Schiavo's brain injury appeared to be less severe than previously thought. It is now the sixth day in which Ms Shiavo has been starving, as a result of a court-order allowing her feeding tube to be removed.

03.24.05 Death toll from Ebola-like virus climbs to 98 in Angola

LUANDA, Angola (AFP) March 24 – The death toll from an outbreak in northern Angola of the Marburg virus, an Ebola-like bug, has risen to 98 following the death of two nurses, a health official said late Wednesday.

Angolan health officials are battling to contain the outbreak detected in October in the northern Uige province that has claimed the lives of scores of children...The Marburg disease, a severe form of hemorrhagic fever in the same family as Ebola, was first identified in 1967, affecting simultaneously laboratory workers in Marburg, Germany and also in Frankfurt and Belgrade who had come into contact with infected monkeys from Uganda. The largest outbreak on record occurred from late 1998 to 2000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing 123 people. [More>>inq7.net]

03.24.05 Toshiba must pay $380 million for stealing trade secrets

LOS ANGELES, March 24 – The California Superior Court ordered Japan's Toshiba Corp. to pay $380 million (40.2 billion yen) in damages Wednesday for stealing trade secrets from U.S. digital equipment manufacturer Lexar Media Inc.

The jury found Toshiba and its U.S. subsidiary, Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc., liable of breach of fiduciary duty and theft of trade secrets, according to a statement issued by Lexar, which is based in Fremont, California. (Kyodo News) [More>>japantoday.com]

03.24.05 Explosion rocks Texas oil refinery

TEXAS CITY, Texas, March 24 – An explosion leveled a portion of a massive oil refinery Wednesday, killing at least 14 people, injuring more than 100 and sending plumes of smoke billowing over the Texas coastline.

Don Parus, manager of the BP refinery, said some employees were still unaccounted for. Workers continued combing through the rubble for bodies Wednesday night. "Words cannot begin to express how I and the people of BP feel right now," Parus said.

The explosion tore through the 1,200-acre BP oil refinery in Texas City, about 40 miles southeast of Houston. The facility, the third-largest in the nation, can process as much as 437,000 barrels of crude oil each day. Enough gasoline is produced at the refinery to fill a car every seven seconds. The heat from the blast was so powerful that several cars in a nearby parking lot exploded. [More>>latimes.com]

03.23.05 Three killed as new blast rocks Beirut shopping mall

BEIRUT (AFP) March 23 – Three people were killed early Wednesday when a bomb ripped through a shopping center in the coastal night life and shopping district of Kaslik, 20 kms north of Beirut, the second explosion since the assassination last month of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri plunged Lebanon into political turmoil. Police confirmed that the blast, which occurred near the port of Jounieh, was caused by an explosive device. Three people were security personnel at the mall.

The blast followed an explosion in another Beirut suburb early Saturday, which injured 11 people, and seemed certain to heighten fears of a resurgence in the sectarian violence that devastated Lebanon during its 1975-1990 civil war. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.23.05 Abu Sayyaf planned bombins in metro Manila, key cities: ji member

March 23 – ABU Sayyaf has planned bombings in Metro Manila and the cities of Davao and Cagayan de Oro in the last week of March with alleged help from a Moro Islamic Liberation Front member. Arrested Jemaah Islamiyah member Rohmat or Zaki disclosed on Wednesday that he was present during a meeting between Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman in the first week of March when the bomb plots were conceived.

"They gave the orders (for the bomb attack) to an MILF member," Rohmat told reporters at the Fort Bonifacio Army headquarters. "They did not say the exact targets but these are crowded places. I'm not sure if it includes malls and terminals," Rohmat said in Filipino...Authorities have been placed on red alert amid threats of attacks from the Abu Sayyaf during the Lenten break. The bandits had vowed to avenge the death of their three leaders and 19 inmates killed in a prison revolt at a police camp in Taguig City last March 15. [More>>inq7.net]

03.23.05 Controversial Gujaret Chief Minister Modi to face protests in UK

LONDON (PTI) March 23 – Unfazed by the cancellation of his visa by the US government and subsequent storm over the issue, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is flying in here on Friday to attend the March 26 'Vibrant Gujarat' celebrations amidst signs of brewing protests in the UK. Even as the Asian Music Circuit, organizers of the event at the Royal Albert Hall here are busy giving finishing touches, South Asia Solidarity Group, AWAAZ and other organizations today announced their decision to organize protests outside the venue... Modi was denied a visa to the US "because of his role in the 'infringement of religious freedom'," the statement said. [More>>Press Trust International]

03.23.05 US demands Japan hand over chess legend Fischer

WASHINGTON (Kyodo News) March 23 –The United States demanded Tuesday that Japan hand over Bobby Fischer despite Iceland's move to accept the chess legend currently detained by Japanese immigration authorities since last July. "That's what we've asked for," Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, told reporters, when asked if the United States wants Japan to hand him over to the United States...On Monday, the Icelandic legislature enacted a law immediately giving Icelandic citizenship to Fischer. The legislation will come into force after President Olafur Grimsson signs it. Fischer had a landmark match in Iceland with his old rival Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in 1972 and his supporters say he is regarded as a hero in Iceland for helping to give it a greater international profile for hosting the match...Fischer was detained for allegedly carrying an invalid U.S. passport while trying to leave the country. He has argued his passport was illegally revoked and has been fighting deportation to the United States, where he is wanted for violating economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing a highly publicized chess match there in 1992 when he won $3 million in prize money.

His supporters say he is being persecuted for his past controversial statements including anti-Semitic remarks and comments hailing the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.[More>>japantoday.com]

03.23.05 EU to permit bigger budget deficits

March 22 – European Union leaders have approved a watered-down version of the euro's fiscal rule book in order to allow bigger budget deficits. The deal on the revamped euro stability pact comes in response to pressure from Germany and France, both of which have overshot the present national deficit limit of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) every year since 2002. Berlin and Paris will now be able to spend more public funds in a bid to stimulate their flagging economies. While making no formal change to the 3% of GDP budget deficit limit, the new and more lenient euro pact will allow countries to run up more debt by creating loopholes. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.23.05 Federal Reserve raised new worries about inflation

WASHINGTON, March 22 – The Federal Reserve raised new worries about inflation on Tuesday, setting off alarms in the stock and bond markets that the central bank might drive up interest rates faster than investors had been expecting. The Fed nudged up short-term interest rates for the seventh time in the last year, raising the federal funds rate on overnight loans between banks to 2.75 percent from 2.5 percent. It restated its intention to keep raising them at a "measured" pace in the months ahead.

But in a departure from previous declarations, the central bank said there were rising inflationary pressures beyond those tied directly to the recent jumps in oil prices. [More>>nytimes.com]

Editorial note: What is not being reported is the fact that interest rates are tied to the US National Debt. As the debt increases (this year the deficit is expected to exceed $420 billion, and interest on the debt which exceeds $8.2 trillion, is about $1 billion per day. Because the annual deficits are financed via the bond market, and because the amount of the bonds being sold exceeds demand, it is necessary to raise interest rates to attract investors in the US bonds financing the US debt. This routine of increasing debt on an exponential scale was experienced under the administration of George H. W. Bush. I predicted increasing interest rates "to sell bonds" in my conversation with Wm. F. Buckley Jr. at that time, in 1993, and I have repeated the prediction with regard to the current Bush administration's excesses and need to sell more bonds to finance the extraordinary deficits. The rate increases will continue in order to sell the overabundant US bonds. In a few words, George Bush's debt is causing your mortgage rates to increase, and they will continue to increase until the US assumes fiscal responsibility. Click here for details on this trend.

Mel Copeland

03.23.05 Norway ready to take extensive oil field experience to Iraq

OSLO (AFP) March 23 – Norway, a major oil exporter, is ready to help Iraq's oil industry by sharing experience, training, and technology, a deputy minister said Tuesday. "There is real interest in doing this and getting it going this year," Norwegian Deputy Minister of International Development Leiv Lunde said.

Norway is the world's third-largest oil exporter with a capacity of 3.2 million barrels plus natural gas from offshore fields.

Iraq is also a potentially major oil supplier, but its industry has been hit hard by war, sabotage, and mismanagement under the regime of ousted President Saddam Hussein. "Iraq presents its own special challenges," said Lunde. He said Norway, with more than 30 years experience as an oil producer, is discussing needs with Iraq, and is ready to help when details are settled. The talks were requested by Iraq, which is seeking help in such areas as training and technology, Lunde said. Ministry spokesman Espen Gullikstad said Norway envisions a three-year, $3.8 million program. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.23.05 Gun battles leave many dead in Iraq

March 23 – A full-scale shoot out between shopkeepers and armed gangs erupted on Tuesday in Baghdad's al-Dura district as violence continued elsewhere. Shopkeepers in the neighborhood grabbed their guns and returned fire on three cars from which armed men were spraying their premises with bullets, interim Defence and Interior Ministry officials said. Three armed men were killed and another three arrested, along with six civilians injured, in the sudden clash near the Shia al-Sadr mosque.

In Samarra, a unit from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior 1st Police Commando Battalion was attacked as they conducted a raid on a camp thought to house anti-US fighters near Lake Tharthar at about 11am (0800 GMT). At least seven Iraqi commandos died during the raid with the backing of US troops, the US military said in a statement. Six other commandos were wounded, the military added.

Violence continues to sweep Iraq. An undetermined number of anti-US fighters were killed, the statement said, adding that there were no US military casualties. Elsewhere, an Iraqi army general died of his wounds suffered in an attack on Sunday and seven bodies of executed Iraqi soldiers were found in the north and south, said police sources.

Meanwhile, Iraqi police seized last week 30 men involved in three beheadings, the rape and murder of three women and the murders of 40 other people, General Adil Mulan said on Tuesday. [More>>aljazeera.net; See turkishpress.com, " Iraqi forces say 84 insurgents killed in lakeside camp."

03.23.05 Arab leaders relaunch Saudi Mideast peace initiative

ALGIERS (Reuters) March 23 – Arab leaders on Wednesday relaunched a 2002 peace initiative which offered Israel normal relations in return for withdrawal to 1967 borders. A communique read out at the final session of an Arab summit in Algiers by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said peace was the Arabs' "strategic option" to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"[We] affirm in this context the Arab peace initiative approved by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002," it said. The Beirut initiative, originally proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, states that Arab states would open normal ties with Israel once Arab conditions were met. The communique also spelt out in detail traditional Arab conditions for a comprehensive peace. These included:

� "full Israeli withdrawal from the Arab territories occupied in Palestine, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Shaba farms to the lines of June 4, 1967".
� the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
� a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees based on UN General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948.

Aome Arab governments resisted any new gestures towards the Jewish state at this juncture. ?We don't see any reason for a rush (to normal relations)," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. "Israel is still building settlements and the barrier {through the West Bank]. They don't deserve anything ... If they had taken any step, we would have taken a step," he added. [More>>haaretzdaily.com; See also Jerusalem Post, "Summit concludes with return to 2002 Saudi initiative – Jordanian proposal rejected; Gaddafi calls Israelis , Palestinians 'stupid.'"

03.23.05 US denies covering up North Korean nuke sale

March 23 – The US State Department has denied a recent Washington Post report that it misled allies about North Korea's nuclear export to increase pressure on the communist state. In a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, the State Department said the story was "inaccurate." It explained that U.S. officials informed allies of the intelligence community's assessment of the most likely source of nuclear material that was transferred to Libya through the A. Q. Khan network. A. Q. Khan is a Pakistani scientist suspected of giving help to Iran to develop a nuclear weapons program.

"The United States government has no evidence that the Government of Pakistan authorized the transfer," the statement said. The Washington Post reported Sunday the Bush administration told its Asian allies earlier this year that Pyongyang had exported nuclear material to Libya. The report alleged it was Pakistan that sold the material to Libya, citing two officials "with detailed knowledge of the transaction." The report also alleged it was such accusation that prompted North Korea to boycott the six-party talks in February. (The Korea Herald) [More>>asiannewsnet.net]

03.23.05 Iraqi forces say 80 insurgents killed in raid on training camp

TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) March 23 – Eighty insurgents were killed in an operation involving Iraqi and US forces against a suspected training camp near Lake Tharthar, north of Baghdad, an Iraqi army commander said Wednesday. �We have killed 80 fighters in a battle that lasted 17 hours. We lost 12 of our men including four officers,� said Colonel Mohammed Ibrahim with the Joint Coordination Centre, a rapid reaction unit that includes Iraqi and US forces. A US military spokesman based in Tikrit confirmed the operation, which took place on Tuesday without being able to comment on the insurgent casualty toll given by the Iraqi side. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.23.05 'Bin Laden eluded US forces in 2001': Pentagon document

WASHINGTON, March 23 – A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a commander for Osama bin Laden during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and helped the Al-Qaeda leader escape his mountain hide-out at Tora Bora in 2001, according to a US government document. The document, provided to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information request, says the unidentified detainee "assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora".

It is the first definitive statement from the Pentagon that Bin Laden was at Tora Bora and evaded US pursuers.

The detainee is not identified by name or nationality. He is described as being "associated with" Al-Qaeda and having called for a jihad, or holy war, against the United States. In an indication that he might be a higher-level operative, the document says he "had bodyguards" and collaborated with regional Al-Qaeda leadership. "The detainee was one of Osama bin Laden's commanders during the Soviet jihad," it says, referring to the holy war against Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan. [More>>hindustantimes.com]

03.23.05 Musharraf, Karzai meeting: to fight terror together

ISLAMABAD, March 23 – Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Tuesday to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism and drugs, and in promoting trade and tourism. President General Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai told journalists after formal talks that they remained committed to rooting out terrorism for sustainable development, peace and stability in the region.

Karzai arrived in Islamabad at a time when American officials and commanders were pressing him to announce the details of a reconciliation drive for the former ruling Taliban, a move which could defuse an insurgency still busying 17,000 US troops near the border and hampering aid efforts, reported AP. President Musharraf told reporters: �We are resolved to combat terrorism until it is completely removed. We will fight terrorism together in a coordinated manner.� He said that Pakistan had been successful in its fight against terrorism and had destroyed the sanctuaries and communication links of terrorists in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. �This force (terrorists) stands defeated, although they are still there in small pockets, we have broken the communication linkages. Now what we need is to destroy their penny pockets.� The president called the fight against terrorism in the region a success story...The US military has recently said that Karzai must work out with Pakistan, which top Taliban figures would be excluded from the reconciliation drive. Lt. Gen. David Barno, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said last week that talks between Karzai and Musharraf would help address the fact that Pakistan has yet to arrest any top Taliban leaders. [More>>dailytimes.com.pk]

03.23.05 Russia interested in foreign investments in auto industry

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) March 23 – Russia is interested in prompting investments in the automotive industry. This was said at a regular sitting in Moscow of the Russian-German working group for strategic economic and financial cooperation, says the Economic Development and Trade Ministry in the press release on its results.

The sitting was attended on the Russian side by deputy minister Andrei Sharonov and foreign economic relations board director Yelena Danilova, on the German side by Bernd Pfaffenbach, state secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labor. "Serious attention was given to organizing car assembly production in Russia in cooperation with the concerns Volkswagen and Daimler-Chrysler," the ministerial communique reads. Speakers noted that the Russian side would like to prompt investments in its automobile industry though relying on the interests of domestic makers of automobiles and components. [More>>rian.ru]

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names. Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.
(3) Ronald L. Conte Jr., biblicalchronology.com. has an interesting analyses of comets and eclipses as they relate to Roman times and Biblical Chronology. His estimate of 54 A.D. for the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, rather than 70 A.D., is controversial, to say the least.
(4) In comparing the Hogenberg, Adrichem and Josephus maps, it appears that the structure noted as "Solomon's Temple" is, in fact, Pilate's palace, and the Antonia fortress and Strotion Tower. This leaves the adjacent "squared complex" in all three maps as the Temple of Herod. This leaves to be explained the mountain peak underneath the Dome of the Rock, whether the height of the Temple Mount was above that point, since no mountain peak is indicated in the area of the "squared complex." King Solomon's palace and stables were adjacent to the Temple Mount, and there may be confusion here with the "squared complex" on the maps. The image of "Solomon's Temple" on the Josephus map does match the description of the actual temple. The thesis that the Temple did not sit atop the peak underneath the Dome of the Rock still must be answered, since both those who advocate restoration of the Temple and those who resist it (Palestinians, who oversee the Temple Mount) have presumed that in order to restore the Temple the Dome of the Rock would have to be torn down.

Copyright © 1981-2005 Maravot. All rights reserved
Copyright © 1981-2005 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Painting of Apple by Mel Copeland, early 70's
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)

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