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

04.08.05 Huge throng gives waves of applause to a beloved pope

VATICAN CITY, April 8 – Applause rang out from a huge crowd this morning at the end of the funeral of John Paul II, the little-known Polish cardinal chosen as pope in 1978.

After a Mass that lasted about two-and-a-half hours, his plain cypress coffin marked with a cross and an "M" for the Virgin Mary was brought out from St. Peter's Basilica and placed before an altar in St. Peter's Square. The book of the Gospel was placed on the coffin and the wind lifted the pages. The bells of St. Peter's tolled and 12 pallbearers with white gloves, white ties and tails then carried the coffin on their shoulders back inside for burial, after holding the coffin to face the multitude for a prolonged moment, as the great bell of St. Peter's pealed, and waves of applause swept through the audience.

The pallbearers finally turned again and entered the church, as the crowd held on, mesmerized. The bell tolled on and on, and at last people chatted with their neighbors and began to move away, many of them weeping. [More>>nytimes.com; See also washingtonpost.com and Marc Semo's article, liberation.fr., "Nous voulions être le plus près possible de lui."

04.08.05 France urged to skip official papal honors

PARIS, April 7 – France may be a predominantly Roman Catholic country, but it is also officially secular, with separation of church and state one of its most sacred tenets. So while the death of Pope John Paul II has brought widespread mourning, there has also been pressure on the French Republic not to honor him officially.

For the moment, the political instinct to please voters has won out: the government is marking the pope's passing in a variety of ways across France, and President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette, will attend the funeral Mass at the Vatican on Friday. But defenders of the country's republican tradition as well as some foes of the center-right government have charged that by doing so, the French state is violating a 100-year-old law dictating church-state separation. They contend that any gesture that gives the appearance of favoring one religion over another is forbidden. They have even given the alleged sin a name: "papolatrie" or pope-worship. [More>>nytimes.com]

04.08.05 US, China agree to regular talks

April 8 – Glenn Kessler, Washingtop Post Staff Writer reports: President Bush has decided the United States and China should begin holding regular senior-level talks on a range of political, security and possibly economic issues, signifying both China's interest in the prestige of such sessions and the administration's efforts to come to grips with China's rising influence in Asia, senior administration officials said.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick has been assigned to head the U.S. delegation, and a Chinese vice foreign minister will be his counterpart, officials said. Regular meetings between the two countries have never been held at such a level. [More>>washingtonpost.com]

04.08.05 FM rebuts US threat of economic sanctions

April 8 – Qin Jize and Zhang Dingmin, China Daily, report: China delivered a sharp rebuke yesterday to the US Senate's threat to impose economic sanctions if Beijing fails to change its current currency policy. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing the latest analysis by the International Monetary Fund showed that China's currency does not appear undervalued. "When determining whether the currency is or is not undervalued you do not only take into consideration bilateral trade but multilateral trade as well," Qin told the regular briefing.

"China has trade surpluses with the United States yet the country is experiencing a big trade deficit with many of its Asian trading partners," he said, adding that the United States should adjust its economic imbalance by looking at its own reasons. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn]

04.08.05 Sony patent takes first step towards real-life Matrix

April 7 – Jenny Hogan and Barry Fox report: Imagine movies and computer games in which you get to smell, taste and perhaps even feel things. That's the tantalizing prospect raised by a patent on a device for transmitting sensory data directly into the human brain - granted to none other than the entertainment giant Sony. The technique suggested in the patent is entirely noninvasive. It describes a device that fires pulses of ultrasound at the head to modify firing patterns in targeted parts of the brain, creating "sensory experiences" ranging from moving images to tastes and sounds. This could give blind or deaf people the chance to see or hear, the patent claims.

While brain implants are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the only noninvasive ways of manipulating the brain remain crude. A technique known as transcranial magnetic stimulation can activate nerves by using rapidly changing magnetic fields to induce currents in brain tissue. However, magnetic fields cannot be finely focused on small groups of brain cells, whereas ultrasound could be. [More>>newscientist.com via japantoday.com]

04.07.05 Shia Islamist Ibrahim Al Jaafari named as Iraq's new PM

BAGHDAD (AP) April 7 – Iraq�s presidential council was sworn in on Thursday and named Shia Arab Ibrahim Al-Jaafari to the country�s most powerful position interim prime minister, giving Iraq its first freely elected government in 50 years, and its third set of interim leaders since the US-led invasion.

Al-Jaafari has two weeks to name his Cabinet, allowing the new government to begin work on its primary task: drafting a permanent constitution. If approved, the constitution will pave the way for elections for a permanent government in December.

Parliament speaker Hajim Al-Hassani said outgoing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi had turned in his resignation, but was asked to conduct the day-to-day work of the government until a new Cabinet is named. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

04.07.05 Rome rabbi one of 2 living people mentioned in pope's will

VATICAN CITY, April 7 – Rome's former chief rabbi is one of only two living people mentioned in Pope John Paul II's will. The document mentions "the rabbi of Rome" - a reference to the former Emeritus Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, who hosted John Paul during the pontiff's historic visit to Rome's central synagogue in 1986. It was the first time a pope had ever visited a synagogue. Toaff paid his respects at John Paul's body on Monday, raising his arm in a gesture of tribute.

Also mentioned was the pope's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, who he thanked profusely for his years of service. Israel Radio reported Thursday that Israeli singer Achinoam Nini will be the only performer at the late pope's funeral Friday. Nini, who is known outside of Israel as Noa, sang "Ave Maria" for the pontiff at the Vatican in 1994. [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

04.07.05 Cairo explosion in tourist center kills one, wounds five

CAIRO (AP) April 7 – An explosion went off at a bazaar popular with tourists near Cairo's al-Azhar mosque Thursday, killing one person and wounding five others, police said. It appeared that at least some tourists were among the wounded, police officials said. Their nationalities were not yet known.

Police were trying to determine if the blast came from an accident, but were also investigating reports that the blast came from a person on a motorcycle, the officials said. A number of tourist bazaars surround al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious Islamic institutions in the Sunni Muslim world, in Cairo's old city. [More>>haaretzdaily.com via jang.com.pk]

04.07.05 update, 04.06.05 'Al Qaeda chief in Saudi Arabia killed in clashes'

DUBAI (AFP) April 6 – The suspected chief of the Al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia was among 14 wanted militants killed in three days of fierce clashes in the kingdom, the exiled Islamic opposition said on Wednesday. Saleh al-Oufi, a former police officer who was number four on Riyadh�s most-wanted list, took over as Al Qaeda commander in Saudi Arabia in June last year. �One of the dead, who had an amputated leg, was found in a wheelchair,� the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said in an Internet statement. �According to information available to the security services, it is Saleh al-Oufi. But the body was burnt and it is not possible to be certain of his identity before a DNA analysis.� [More>>khaleejtimes.com; See also dailystar.com.lb, April 7 story, "Death toll rises in Saudi Al-Qaeda crackdown," and aljazeera.net story April 7, " Saudis: top al-Qaida operatives dead."

04.07.05 'Now is time to rejoice,' militants fail to stop Kashmir's 'caravan of peace'

SRINAGAR / Muzaffarabad (Reuters) April 7 – To the sound of cheers and rolling thunder, garlanded buses set off to take passengers across Kashmir's cease fire line on Thursday in a emotive but risky boost for South Asian peace. "The caravan of peace has started," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told thousands of Kashmiris who braving freezing drizzle at the heavily guarded Lion of Kashmir stadium in Srinagar. "Nothing can stop it."

Militants tried, throwing a grenade and firing at one of the Pakistan-bound buses soon after it left. But no one was hurt, the bus was not hit and did not stop. Militants, who have threatened to turn the buses -- the first in almost 60 years -- into rolling coffins, also attacked a fortified government complex housing passengers on Wednesday just a few hundred metres from where Singh spoke. [More>>expressindia.com; see also jang.com.pk, "30-passenger bus from Muzzafarabad arrives in Srinagar."

Editorial note: This event has been discussed and planned between Pakistan and India for many months. Besides militants there were basic international border and passport issues involved. But they pulled it off and congratulations to the two nations who are attempting to resolve the Kashmir issue, with this being a major step to that end.
Mel Copeland

04.07.05 March against terror scheduled in Washington D.C.

April 7 – Free Muslims Against Terrorism announced that on May 14th 2005, several groups made up of Arab, Iranians, Kurds, Assyrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians, Sudanese, Muslims, Christians and Jews will converge on Washington DC for a rally against terrorism and to support freedom and democracy in the Middle East and the Muslim world. This will be the first rally of its kind in Washington DC that is led by Muslims and Middle Easterners.

They want to send a message of hope to the people of the Muslim world and the Middle East who seek freedom, democracy and who reject radical Islam that 'we are with them and that we will do all we can to support them.'

This rally is not limited to Muslims and Middle Easterners. Anyone who supports the group's message is invited to join them at the rally. They want to send a message to the extremists and terrorists that American Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of all faiths are united against terrorism and extremism. [For more information or to participate in the rally go to freemuslims.org]

04.07.05 US university enrolment 'in decline'

April 7 – Donald MacLeod reports: Participation in higher education has stagnated and even gone into decline for the first time in the US, a conference in Oxford heard yesterday. The unexpected development in the country that invented mass higher education, but is now seeing its lead whittled away by European countries, including the UK, has prompted soul searching among American public universities and state authorities.

The massive expansion of higher education, which began in the 1850s, has been based on public universities, especially the large state-wide institutions like the universities of California and Texas, rather than private Ivy League universities like Harvard or Yale.

"California has been a leader in college-going rates, but for the first time we are seeing a decline. Is the American advantage in higher education waning?" said John Aubrey Douglass, senior research fellow at the centre for studies in higher education at the University of California Berkeley. [More>>guardian.co.uk]

04.07.05 Skull suggests compassionate early humans

April 8 – John Noble Wilford, New York Times writes: The toothless skull of an early human ancestor discovered in the Caucasus region may attest to evolution's oldest known example of compassion for the elderly and handicapped, scientists reported Thursday.
.
Other experts agreed that the discovery was significant, but cautioned that it might be a stretch to interpret the fossil as evidence of compassion.
.
The well-preserved skull, found in Georgia, belonged to a male Homo erectus about 40 years old. All his teeth, except the left canine, were missing. Regrowth of bone indicated that the man had been toothless for at least two years before he died at what was then an old age, leading discoverers to call him the "old man."

...Philip Rightmire of Binghamton University in Vestal, New York, a team member who specializes in Homo erectus, said in an interview that the old man might have been able to take care of himself by cracking bones for the marrow and even softening pieces of meat with stone hammers. But the loss of teeth, signifying either disease or advanced age or both, suggested that he might have needed help.

...Susan Anton of New York University, an editor of The Journal of Human Evolution who has conducted research at the Dmanisi site, but was not involved in the current report, said the old man is "a very interesting specimen."..But she also said, "Going from the clear biological signals of tooth loss before death to provisioning, compassion and care of the individual by others in the group is something of a leap." She cited examples of toothless chimpanzees surviving without assistance. [More>>International Herald Tribune]

04.07.05 Smoking can shorten women's fertile life

April 7 – Smoking has a devastating impact on a woman's chances of conceiving with fertility treatment, research has found. Women in their 20s and 30s who have problems getting pregnant are adding 10 years to their reproductive age if they smoke. Even if they do conceive, women who use tobacco are more likely to suffer a miscarriage, according to the study in Human Reproduction.

Dutch researchers studied success rates of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures in more than 8,000 women, whose average age was 32. The women were all starting their first cycle of IVF treatment and, while some had been diagnosed with a specific problem, many had "unexplained sub fertility," meaning they had trouble conceiving but doctors could not pinpoint why. Forty three per cent of the women in the study were smokers who continued with the habit through their fertility treatment. The researchers found that the overall live birth rate for all the women was 15.2 per cent, and was highest for the women with unexplained sub fertility, at 17.8 per cent. But the birth rate among women who smoked was 28 per cent lower than the overall average. [More>>chinadaily.com]

04.07.05 Japanese, Monaco women have longest life span at 85 years

TOKYO, April 7 – Japanese women have the longest life expectancy in the world with an average of 85 years, tying with women in Monaco, according to a report by the World Health Organization released Thursday. The average life span of a Japanese person in 2003 was 82, also the world's longest, with Japanese men reaching 78 years, tying with their counterparts in Switzerland and Sweden, the report shows. (Kyodo News) [japantoday.com]

04.07.05 US remains number one source of spam, says Sophos

April 7 – Thirty-five percent of the unsolicited e-mail detected during the first three months of 2005 came from North America, according to a report from the anti-virus firm Sophos. In its latest "Dirty Dozen" list of spam-producing countries, the
United Kingdom-based firm said the United States continues to lead the pack in data gathered by its SophosLabs, a global network of virus and spam analysis centers. After the US, South Korea followed, contributing 24.98 percent of spam detected by Sophos in the first quarter this year. China (including Hong Kong) was third, followed by France, Spain, Canada, Japan, Brazil, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Poland....Sophos estimated last month that more than 50 percent of the world's spam came from zombie computers, which are PCs that have been compromised by hackers or virus writers. [More>>inq7.net]

04.06.05 Prince of glamour Rainier dies

MONACO, April 7 – MONACO: Prince Rainier III, Europe's longest-reigning monarch, whose marriage to American actress Grace Kelly brought elegance and glamour to Monaco, has died. The prince, who was 81, died yesterday almost a month after he was first admitted with a lung infection to a heart and chest clinic in his Mediterranean principality.

He will be succeeded by his 47-year-old son, Prince Albert, who recently assumed his father's royal duties.

Renowned for his jetsetting lifestyle, Rainier succeeded his grandfather in 1949 and had a whirlwind romance with Hollywood star Kelly as she filmed Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief with Cary Grant along the mountain roads of Monaco's coastline. [More>>theaustralian.news.com.au]

04.06.05 UK National Party leaders arrested for making racist comments

April 6 – The leader and founding chairman of the far right British National Party (BNP) have both been charged with making racist comments during a secretly filmed television documentary. Police arrested BNP leader Nick Griffin, 45, and John Tyndall, 70, in December following the BBC broadcast The Secret Agent, a documentary which filmed BNP members giving speeches across Britain attacking Islam.

West Yorkshire police said in a statement they had charged a 45-year-old man from Welshpool, a 70-year-old man from Brighton and a 24-year-old man from Leeds with using words or behaviour intended to, or likely to, stir up racial hatred. They are due to appear at Leeds Magistrates court on Thursday. [More>>theaustralian.neews.com.au]

Editorial note: See link photo, "Do you know this man?" in the sidebar. The press and leaders around the world need to understand the consequences of hate mongering. The photo in the sidebar is there as a reminder.
Mel Copeland

04.06.05 Three intelligence agents and soldier's body recovered 4 years after abduction

COLUMBIO, Philippines (AFP) April 6 – The bodies of a soldier and three intelligence agents were exhumed near this southern Philippine town on Wednesday, four years after they were abducted by communist guerrillas.

The remains of Marine Sergeant Jeremias Rosete, assigned with military intelligence, and three civilian agents were dug up after town councillor Fred Cano received information that the communist New People's Army (NPA) wanted to turn the captives over to him. "We thought that the victims were still alive," said Cano. He theorized that the skeletal remains found in four wooden boxes indicated that the men had been dead for at least a year.

NPA guerrillas captured the four men in Columbio town on September 4, 2001. Some legislators had been negotiating for their release but the talks got bogged down in 2002. [More>>inq7.net]

04.06.05 Trawlers nationwide in Thailand blockade bays in protest

April 6 – Trawler operators yesterday staged nationwide protests against the soaring price of diesel by blocking bays in their provinces with thousands of fishing vessels. Protesting fishing operators moored their trawlers at piers in Prachuab Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Songkhla, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong, Trat and Rayong coastal provinces.

The protests came after the government refused to comply with their demands for cheaper diesel. They called on the government to sell the so-called green fuel (subsidized diesel sold offshore) at 13.70 baht a litre. Green fuel is currently being sold at a fixed price of 16.19 baht a litre. [More>>bangkokpost.net]

04.06.05 Thailand on 'red alert'

April 6 – [Thailand] Security forces have gone to the highest state of alert after Sunday's multiple bombings in Songkhla took the nation from a state of regional unrest in the deep South to a real threat of terrorist action against general civilian targets.

The decision to go to red alert came after a security meeting involving the air force, the Transport Ministry, Airports of Thailand Plc and Thai Airways International at the Royal Thai Air Force headquarters yesterday. The meeting was convened in the wake of the multiple bombings in Songkhla on Sunday. One of the targets was Hat Yai airport. [More>>bangkokpost.net]

04.06.05 US military helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) April 6 – A US military helicopter crashed in bad weather in southeast Afghanistan Wednesday, killing nine people, including four American crew members, the military said. An Afghan police official said the death toll could be higher, and that all aboard appeared to be American, but the U.S. military would not confirm that or give the nationalities of the passengers. Bad weather appeared to have caused the crash of the Chinook helicopter near Ghazni city, 125 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, military spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore told The Associated Press. [More>>thestar.com.my]

04.06.05 Young dominate anti-Japan rally

April 6 – An anti-Japan demonstration on Sunday in Shengzhen, Guangdong Province, China, was initiated mainly by private groups of patriotic young people who publicized the rally via the Internet. The rally was testimony to impact of the Chinese government's intensely patriotic education system that has imbued the public with anti-Japan sentiment.

With this year marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, there are concerns that anti-Japan sentiment in China will grow into violent demonstrations. [More>>dailyyomiuri]

04.06.05 Cardinals set April 18 date for conclave

VATICAN CITY, April 6 – The College of Cardinals today set April 18 to begin the process to select a successor to Pope John Paul II, as a seemingly endless line of mourners wound through the ancient cobbled streets surrounding St. Peter's Square.

The cardinals have approved the elaborate ritual elements of Friday's papal funeral, expected to be the largest public event ever held in the city-state. They will gather 10 days later to start their conclave at which the next pope will be chosen by secret ballots cast in the frescoed Sistine Chapel. By church practice, the sequestered gathering, whose name comes from the Latin phrase for "with a key," must commence between 15 and 20 days after the pope's death.

In a planned break with tradition, the cardinals have decided that when a new pope is chosen, it will be signaled not only with the customary puff of white smoke emanating from the chapel, but also by the pealing of the huge, deep-toned bell of St. Peter's Basilica. Black smoke signifies an inconclusive ballot. [More>>latimes.com]

04.06.05 Japan to launch manned expedition to the moon

TOKYO, April 6 – The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has compiled a long-term space exploration program, which calls for launching a domestically designed manned spacecraft to the moon by 2025, JAXA officials said Wednesday.

JAXA will complete a rocket for human spaceflight within 10 years based on the technologies being developed for the domestically made H-2A rocket. The government-affiliated agency will then design a reusable manned space vehicle that incorporates the same technologies as an unmanned transfer vehicle used for ferrying cargo to international space stations which is under development now. (Kyodo News) [japantoday.com]

04.06.05 China and Colombia agree to expand cooperation

April 6 – Chinese and Colombian leaders have agreed to expand their cooperation in various fields and push bilateral ties to a new level. Chinese President Hu Jintao met with visiting Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez Wednesday in Beijing.

Hu Jintao says China and Colombia should strengthen exchanges between their governments, parliaments and political parties. The two countries should promote cooperation in the energy and petrochemicals sectors, and strengthen their cooperation within international and regional organizations. [More>>CRI online]

Editorial note: One of the trends we have been tracking is China's pursuit of oil agreements, particularly those in South America, where they have established relationships with Venezuela, Columbia, Brazil, etc. A good part of US oil imports comes from Venezuela; thus the consequences of Chinese attempts to secure supplies for their economic well-being may be of greater interest to Americans in the days ahead, for obvious reasons. Another article in CRI online pointed out that China welcomes investment in China, part of the trend of the developing, very capitalistic, China. They will no doubt teach the US some new tricks in capitalistic ventures. They certainly have been dancing around the Bush administration who can't understand how trade is affected without weapons. It's the old Roman Empire scenario, where foreign interests (then called barbarians; the Gauls, etc.) cut out pieces of their territorial / economic interests. Thus, what we have been watching is a trend necessitated through the need for oil, to supply fastly developing nations (developed mainly via American interests). When expectations and standards are raised around countries dependent upon a dominant power they eventually cash in by cutting out the dominant power. In the case of the era led by President George W. Bush, like the Roman dictators who brought down the Roman Empire, Bush has focused on war when the countries around the new Roman dictator have cut out their own areas of interest by the which they have side-lined the US. Bush is kind like Domitian, the son of the great Vespasian, but not as bright, in my opinion. To read about the lives of the Caesars by Suetonious go to globusz.com and click on "Titus Flavius Domitanus."
Mel Copeland

04.06.05 China not a threat to other countries; Wen Jiabao

ISLAMABAD, April 6 – Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday ruled out that developed China could be a threat to other countries and assured his country would always be a trustworthy and a reliable partner of its Asian counterparts.m It is with sincerity and firmness that China adheres to the path of peaceful development. No matter how international climate might change, the Chinese people will always be a trustworthy and reliable partner for the Asian peoples."

Wen Jiabao, addressing the delegates from 26 Asian countries, gathered here to attend the 4th Asia Cooperation Dialogue ministerial meeting dispelled the impression that a stronger and more developed China will pose a threat to other countries. He said despite having a per capita GDP slightly over US l,000 dollars, China still has a long way to go before it was modernized. [More>>jang.com.pk]

04.06.05 Russia has world's best means to clean oil spills at sea: Russian Transport Minister

April 6 – MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has the world's best technologies to cope with sea petroleum pollution, said Igor Levitin, federal Transport Minister. He was addressing the media to sum up a Naval Board session after it analyzed Sea and Air Rescue Service performance. "We discussed petroleum spilling. Russia has every opportunity now to announce to all other countries its perfect technologies to combat pollution. Each our seaport has special vessels for the purpose." [More>>rian.ru]

04.06.05 Temple Mount closed to visitors Sunday

JERUSALEM, April 6 – Bracing for possible violence, Jerusalem police announced Wednesday that the Temple Mount will be completely closed off to non-Muslim visitors on Sunday, the day of a major ultra-nationalist rally to the site.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco had announced last week that he was barring a massive Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple Mount by a group of ultra-nationalists opposed to the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip following multiple intelligence warnings that such an event could prompt Palestinian violence at the bitterly contested holy site.

But organizers of the event have said that they were going ahead with the rally, setting the stage for a major show-down with police outside the Jerusalem site on Sunday. [More>>Jerusalem Post]

Editorial note: Another trend we have been following is the conflict over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which this writer predicted is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In simple terms, until the Golden Gate of the Temple Mount is unsealed, allowing all people to enter through that gate, there will be no peace in Jerusalem. The Golden Gate was blocked during the era of the Crusades by the Arabs who sought to prevent the coming of the Jewish Messiah whom certain Orthodox Jews and Christians believe will destroy the Dome of the Rock to provide room for a restored temple of Jerusalem. See Editorial note below, "Temple Mount Controversy," and "Trends" link above for more history on the issue. For those who are of a faith that worships at a temple, mosque or church – and would fight to perserve their place of worship – no doubt the destruction of the Dome of the Rock would have some significance. This issue, in fact, illustrates the mentality of the press and politicians who comment and direct American and other interests in the Middle East. They can tell you lots about wars after the fact but rarely see the smoke signaling the fire to come. In any event, the opening of the Golden Gate as I have proposed will be the beginning of peace in Jerusalem. And the prophets have explained, when there is peace in Jerusalem there will be peace in the world, for the one thing leads to the another; ergo, as the prophets pointed out: no peace in Jerusalem, no peace in the world, and many have heard and recited, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem," over the past 2,500 years.
Mel Copeland

04.06.05 Iraq assembly elects Kurdish president

April 6 – The Iraqi parliament has chosen Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country's new interim president, reaching out to the nation's Kurdish minority and bringing the country closer to its first democratically elected government in 50 years.

Ousted members of the former government - including toppled leader Saddam Hussein - were allowed to watch the event on Wednesday on television in their prison cells, Iraqi officials said. Shia Adil Abd al-Mahdi and current interim President Ghazi al-Yawir, a Sunni Arab, were chosen as Talabani's two vice-presidents. [More>>aljazeera.net; see also AP article, latimes.com]

04.06.05 Car bombings continue in Iraq

April 5 – Two car bombs targeting US and Iraqi security forces have exploded in different parts of Baghdad, killing three people, police say. The shock wave from the first blast near the international airport on Tuesday shook nearby buildings and was heard across the southwestern part of the capital. Police said two civilians were killed in the blast.

Another car bomb exploded in the path of a US military convoy in al-Dura area south of Baghdad, Aljazeera reported. A US Humvee and a civilian car were destroyed in the explosion. A US soldier was killed in the incident, the army said. [More>>aljazeera.net]

(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.)

News Headlines & Trends