A resource for historians and journalists, since 2004

Maravot News of the World
03:18 PM
- San Francisco
Friday, March 12, 2010
(last post
)







Search Engines & Filters



Trends, Iraq Casualties

Metric Conversion

kilometer: 0.6214 mile
meter: 39.37 inches
centimetre: 0.3937 inch
millimetre: 0.03937 inch
foot: 30.48 cm
Br. stone: 14 pounds
kilogram: 2.2046 pounds
litre: 1.0567 US quarts
hectare: 2.471 acres
– 1 djerib (Turkey)
– 1 jerib (Iran)
– 1 gong qing (China)
0° Celcius: = 32° F

Chart showing National Debt & Annual Deficits with Presidents. Democrat administrations are blue, Republican in Red. Click chart for larger image. and discussion. For old Maravot chart click here, News Trends.html.

2009 update (3.05.09)


Western News
Worth frequent visits
Best nose for news



Village Voice
Newsweek Magazine
Time Magazine
The New Yorker magazine
Vanity Fair
Aviation Week
Arch. & Prehistory news
New Scientist

Earth-Info.net
Aral Sea Disaster
oilonline.com
newsfollowup.com
information please
huggingtonpost.com
afterdowningstreet.org
Corporatewatch.org.uk
DOD News
globalsecurity.com
Le Monde.fr (
in French)
liberation.fr (
in French)
lefigaro.fr (
in French)
france24.com/en/
Spiegel Online
dw-world.de
La Repubblica.It
PeaceReporter.net (Italy)
expatica.com (Spain)
standartnews.com (Bulgaria)
NIS News (Holland)
BBC News
Sky News (London)

timesonline.uk
The Independent
guardian.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
thefirstpost.co.uk
Belfast Telegraph
cnews.canoe.ca (Canada)
GLOBEANDMAII.COM
National Public Radio
pbs.org/newshour
worldfocus.org
New York Times.com
Washington Post
Washington Times
ABC News
Fox News

CNN

CBS News
msnbc.msn.com
WWLTV – New Orleans
Detroit Free Press (Freep)
LA Times

San Francisco Chronicle
El Paso Times (Texas-Mexico)
Banderas News (Mexico)

Financial Times
ino.com (World Indices)
marketplaceoracle.co.uk
thestreet.com
Radio Free Europe
Radio News America
Democracy Now, radio & TV
The Guardian, Nigeria
Business Day (S. Africa)
AFP

AP
Reuters

twitter.com


International Agencies – News


Osama bin Laden fatwas.
This monster's own words will
lead to his destruction
Definition of fatwa (fatwah)
Maravot News Comment

04.23.06
01.19.06

12.17.04

10.29.04
2.23.98

August 1996


Maps of interest
Click on maps for larger image
Russia, Belarus & neighbors
Israel-Iraq & neighbors
Iran-Afghanistan-Pak.-India; Strait of Hormuz oil lane Iran threatens to block
Kazakhstan & neighbors

Historical map of Israel. Figure 2 shows the area allocated to
Israel by the UN in 1948. Compare to Israel' s map below of its security wall.


Israel's Security Fence.

Middle East Watch


Russia & Ukraine Watch


East Asia Watch


Relevant Works by Mel

News Headlines & Trends


9.27.09 Parts of ISI supporting Taliban, protecting Mullah Omar: Report

LONDON, September 27 - Parts of ISI are supporting Taliban and protecting their chief Mullah Omar and other militant leaders in Pakistan's Quetta city, where US officials have discussed sending commandos to capture or kill the terrorists, a media report said on Sunday. ( Watch Video ) The US is threatening to launch air strikes against Mullah Omar and the Taliban leadership in Quetta as frustration mounts about the ease with which they find sanctuary across the border from Afghanistan, "The Sunday Times" reported. The threat comes amid growing divisions in Washington about whether to deal with the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan by sending more troops or by reducing them and targeting the terrorists.

According to the report, US vice-president Joe Biden has suggested reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan and focusing on the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Quoting western intelligence officers, the report said Taliban leaders are being moved to the volatile city of Karachi, where it would be impossible to strike. It said US officials have even discussed sending commandos to Quetta to capture or kill the Taliban leaders before they are moved. It said while the government of President Asif Ali Zardari is committed to wiping out terrorism, Pakistan's powerful military does not entirely share the view. There has been tacit cooperation over the use of US drones. Some are even stationed inside Pakistan, although publicly the government denounces their use, the report said.
[>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]


9.27.09 Israeli police, protesters clash at holy site

JERUSALEM (AP) September 27 - Israeli police used stun grenades Sunday to disperse Palestinian rioters at a volatile Jerusalem site holy to Jews and Muslims, police said. The incident took place during a visit by a Jewish group to the compound in Jerusalem's Old City known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Deadly violence has erupted there several times in the past. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said around 150 Palestinians threw stones at the Jews visiting the site, which is open to non-Muslims at certain hours. Jews regularly visit the compound and it was not immediately clear what sparked the violence. Police dispersed the rioters using stun grenades, and two policemen were lightly injured. Sunday's incident ended without serious injuries.

Rabah Bkirat, an official with the Muslim religious body in charge of managing the site, said some of the protesters had come because of rumors of an ‘invasion’ by Jewish settlers. When a group of some 15 Jews entered the grounds accompanied by police, the protesters began chanting slogans and only threw stones after police used force, he said. Eleven Palestinians sustained minor injuries in the clashes, Bkirat said. Religious and nationalist sentiment connected with the site have made it a flashpoint for violence in the past. A visit in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader, helped ignite violence that engulfed Israel and the Palestinian territories for several years.

Jews venerate the Temple Mount as the location of two biblical Temples and consider it their holiest site. Jews pray at the foot of the compound at one of its supporting walls, known as the Western Wall. Sunday's violence did not affect prayers at the Western Wall ahead of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar and starts at sundown. The compound is home to the gold-capped Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque, and Muslims see it as their religion's third-holiest site after the Saudi Arabian holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The site has been under Israeli control since 1967, but is administered by a Muslim religious body known as the Waqf. [>khaleejtimes.com; See also

haaretz.com, September 27, "Hamas brands clash at Temple Mount a 'Zionist crime' ": The Islamist group Hamas branded a clash on Sunday between Israeli police and Palestinians at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as a "Zionist crime" and a provocation. Several people were wounded in the incident, which occurred a few hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. "The Israeli occupation is not interested in calm," the Palestinian news agency Ma'an quoted Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesperson, as saying. The news agency said Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called for Palestinians to rise up against Israel to retaliate for the incident. Ma'an also quoted other Islamists in Gaza as calling for an uprising and condemning Israel. "The Israeli assault is part of a central Israeli decision to escalate in the whole region," Islamic Jihad leader Khalid Al-Batsh was quoted as saying. "This escalation might reach neighboring Arab countries."...


Editorial note: "Confusion on the mount." It is unfortunate that most of the leaders who can influence attitudes towards the Temple Mount have no understanding of the underlying issues involving the fate of Israel and "Palestine." Legal arguments form the base of the issues. They begin with the Bible, then the Koran's confirmation of the Bible; then the international covenants that relate to these holy documents must be understood. First among them is the UN resolution 181 (II) of November 29, 1947, "Future government of Palestine" that created the state of Israel. It created Israel with the provision that Israel submit to the UN for approval Israel's Declaration of Independence setting forth its laws, requiring those laws to be compatible with UN requirements. The resolution also created a territory called the "Corpus Separatum of Jerusalem," which would be governed by the UN. The separate UN administered territory of Jerusalem — in the shape of a bird with wings outstretched — reached from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean sea, near Tel Aviv.

The UN resolution of 1948 also requested the Palestinians to submit for UN approval a Declaration of Independence setting forth its laws and boundaries as the state of Palestine. A document, "Palestinian Declaration of Independence," 15 November 1988 was created in Algiers. However, since the creation of this document universal Palestinian agreement on it has not been realized. So the requirement by the UN resolution of 1948 still applies: for Palestine to submit for approval its Declaration of Independence. While there have been intervening wars (beginning with the Yom Kippur War of 1967) that reset territorial boundaries in the Holy Land, and there is a general belief that "possession is 9/10 of the law" the fact remains that the UN resolution still applies.

Apart from these legal foundations is the separate reality of possession. History has shown that the possession of any property is ephemeral. We may recall that Palestine was part of the Greek empire and later occupied by Rome in 70 A.D., when the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jews rounded up and scattered to all the nations of the earth. A Roman general named Turbo swept through the land and a Roman proclamation was made to the effect that "no Jew would be allowed to gaze upon Jerusalem henceforth." Later what was Roman territory changed hands, becoming part of the Arab Empire (632>) and later the Ottoman empire. While a remnant of Jews continued to inhabit Palestine over the years, it was not until 1948 that the Jews were allowed to repossess the land called the Holy Land. In May 1948 the ingathering of what is called the diaspora began, and Jews from around the world began to reclaim the land called Israel that the UN had set aside for them.

Many nations have occupied Palestine since the father of the Jews, Abraham, entered the land circa. 1900 B.C.: the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egypt, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Ottomans and British. At the time the Jews were restored to the Holy Land under Moses (~1200 B.C.) a group of the Sea Peoples, called Pulusti (believed to have come from Crete) by the Egyptian pharaoh Rameses II, settled in the Holy Land. They were called Philistines under the Kingdom of David and Solomon (circa 1,000 B.C.) and are now known as Palestinians.

After the Yom Kippur War and the realignment of borders, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan became the authority governing the Temple Mount and its mosques through an organization called the Waqf. The Waqf has administered the Temple Mount since 1187, when the Moslems retook the mount. The Hashemite King Abdullah of Jordan is the eldest surviving, most direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed. His family negotiated the kingdom of Jordan and Transjordan (West Bank, including the Temple Mount) with the dividing up of the defeated Ottoman Empire after World War I. His family tree descends from Mohammed's daughter Fatima who was married to Mohammed's first cousin ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. 'Ali is the father of two sons,
Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein, from whom the Sharifs (nobles) and Sayyids (lords) of the original Hashemite kingdom overseeing Mecca and Medina descend respectively. Since the Hashemites were the nobles overseeing the holy sites of Mecca and Medina (now under Saudi rule), the right to oversee the Temple Mount would seem to defer to them.

During the occupation of Palestine by the Ottoman Empire (1299 - 1923) the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I sealed off the main gate to the Temple Mount (called the Golden Gate) to prevent the Jewish Messiah from entering the mount. They believed that the Jewish Messiah would destroy the (Moslem) Dome of the Rock to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed during the siege of the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D. Jews believe that when the Messiah comes the Temple will be rebuilt. Thus, from these perceptions alone we can see that the Sealed Golden Gate is a symbol of both religious perceptions, as to who is holy to God, and the de facto situation as to who has the right to occupy the Holy Land.

This brings us to a third cause, "misperceptions" and confusion on the mount. We begin with the first affect (1) the Bible, the Koran's confirmation of the Bible, and legal international documents that established the state of Israel. The second affect (2) is the de facto occupation of the land(s). The third affect (3) involves perceptions that may not be justifiable using the Bible.

If we read the chapters
of the Bible dealing with the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land, we will find that the esteemed and often-quoted prophet Isaiah has God proclaiming that "in that day all those in Jerusalem will be called holy." While many have attempted to possess the Holy Land as a God-given right, the book of Isaiah points out that the land belongs to God and, in fact, in the passages concerning the name Beulah, (Isaiah 62.4) the land will be married. Marriage customs of the Jews would be presumed to apply in such a ceremony, such as the raising of the canopy over the new couple. Jewish tradition places a canopy above the heads of the bride and groom; and it is believed that the Shekinah (Holy Spirit) of God appears above the canopy over the betrothed couple. Under the circumstance where the bride is the land, we can expect that the original canopy, or Tent, called the Tabernacle of Moses, would apply. The prophets say that such is the case, along with the restoration of the Temple, all things of which would come with the restoration of the Jews to the land and the concurrent entry of the Messiah. The name Beulah means "married to God."

The Messiah (in Greek, Christ) is a character mentioned by the prophets of the Bible. Recognizing that the Koran states that it was recited to confirm the Bible, we can conclude that the motive for sealing the Golden Gate to the Temple Mount may have been misplaced: for the Messiah is the Messiah of all peoples (not just the Jews), as described by the prophets. The Koran recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, a factor also to be considered. We discuss more on the laws and history affecting the state of Israel at Philistia Triumph thou because of me. A discussion on the Koran's confirmation of the Bible and Jesus as the Messiah (Koran THE IMRANS 3.45) is at Maravot News 4.09.09 editorial note
"Confusion over the teachings of the Koran." (reprinted from Maravot News 12.04.08).

It may be that removing the stones and Moslem cemetery sealing off the Golden Gate could lead to a reconciliation affecting all nations. The gate is a symbol of all the things preventing the peace of Jerusalem and the world. Removing some of the confusion on the Koran — see Editorial note below — will help to open this gate. As it is said, "open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them and praise the Lord," Psalm 118.19.

Mel Copeland


9.27.09 Two commanders among 16 terrorists nabbed in Swat: ISPR report

SWAT, Pakistan, September 27 - Security forces have apprehended 16 terrorists including two militants commanders during the ongoing operation Rah-e-Raast while four militants voluntarily surrendered themselves to the authorities. According to ISPR, a terrorist commander Maaz was apprehended by security forces near Fizaghat, Swat. Five terrorists were nabbed at Ser Colony near Tiligram and 4 from Banjot, Dagai near Kabbal and Tarkani near Shah Dheri.

Four terrorists voluntarily surrendered to security forces at Tighak, Galoch near Tutan Banda and Kabbal Camp. Security forces conducted search operation at Bajoro Killay, near Shergarh and apprehended 6 terrorists including a terrorist commander Janat Gul. The statement further said that 304,335 cash cards have been distributed among the IDPs of Malakand. So far 7.3 billion rupees have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.
[>thenews.com.pk]


9.27.09 Afghan minister escapes bomb attack

September 27 - At least four people have been killed after a roadside bomb targeting an Afghan cabinet minister exploded in the western city of Herat, officials have said. Mohammad Ismail Khan, the energy and water minister and a prominent anti-Taliban commander, however, escaped unharmed, a police source in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said on Sunday. "He [Khan] was on his way to Kabul and is fine, but civilians have been killed," the source said.

Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, a local police spokesman, said: "Four people were killed, including a woman and a child. And 17 other people were wounded." The local governor's office confirmed the toll. "The target was Ismail Khan," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman who claimed responsibility for the attack, told the Reuters news agency by telephone from an undisclosed location.
[More>>aljazeera.net]


9.27.09 Yemen's Qaeda wing seeks donations in Saudi Arabia

DUBAI (Reuters) September 27 - Al-Qaeda's Yemeni wing is targeting Saudi individuals to ask for donations to support its fight against the US-allied government of Sanaa, Al Arabiya television reported Sunday. The campaign comes at a time when Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa, is battling Shi'ite rebels in the north and sporadic violence in the south where secessionist sentiment is running high. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam. Arabiya aired a video showing a Saudi member of the group it identified as Saeed al-Shehri urging fellow Saudis to donate money to support al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen.

"The bearer of this message is trusted by us," the militant said after making his request. It was not immediately clear if any arrests were made or how the recording was acquired. The broadcaster said the video, in which Shehri appeared to be speaking inside a vehicle with a Yemeni militant by his side, was found in the memory of a mobile telephone. Twin suicide car bombings outside the US embassy in Sanaa a year ago killed 16 people. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
[More>>nytimes.com; See related story / history,

aljazeera.net, September 27, "Dozens die in Yemeni clashes"
: At least 30 rebel Houthi fighters have been killed in renewed clashes in the  northern Yemeni city of Saada. Four Yemeni soldiers were also killed in Sunday's fighting, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Yemen quoted security sources as saying. The Houthi rebels are concentrated mainly in the Saada and Amran provinces and form a group from within the Zaidi Shia majority north. Five weeks of fighting have led to a humanitarian crisis affecting tens of thousands of civilians who have been forced to flee their homes. The United Nations has estimated that about 150,000 people have been displaced by instability in Saada province since sporadic fighting broke out in 2004. The Saada province rebellion began in June 2004 when Husain al-Houthi founded an organization called Shabab al-Mumineen, the Believing Youth movement, and announced an uprising against the Yemeni government...


9.26.09 Iran nuclear official says IAEA can inspect new plant

September 26 - The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Saturday that U.N. nuclear experts can inspect a uranium enrichment plant, according to a report from Iran-funded Press TV. Ali Akbar Salehi said officials are trying to settle on a date for the inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that Iran was building a second uranium enrichment facility near the Shia Muslim city of Qom, about 100 miles southwest of Tehran. He said the plant won't be operational for about 18 months.

Ahmadinejad told reporters Friday that Iran had met IAEA requirements by informing it about the plant at least six months before it is slated to begin operating. The watchdog agency confirmed that it received a letter Monday from Iran revealing the existence of the underground facility on a military base. Iran told the IAEA there is no nuclear material at the site, an agency spokesman said. Iran has denied its goal is to develop nuclear weapons, a concern of the United States and other Western nations.
[More>>cnn.com; See also,

news.sky.com, September 26, "Iran secret nuke base 'will soon be operational' "
:
Iran's secret nuclear enrichment plant will soon be operational, according to a senior aide to the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Shown: Satellite image of the secret base near Qum, one of the holiest Shiite sites.) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has insisted the factory hidden deep in a mountain near Qom is open to UN weapons inspectors. But US President Barack Obama has made it clear that Iran's continued defiance "could lead to confrontation."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown accused Tehran of lying to the world for years - and said it could face crippling sanctions on banks and energy production. It came as Mr. Obama, Mr. Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the G20 summit to warn Iran that enough was enough. Spy chiefs believe Iran's secret factory includes a chamber big enough to hold 3,000 centrifuges
used in uranium enrichment. They fear Mr. Ahmadinejad could create a nuclear bomb within a year....


9.26.09 Taliban destroy cell phone tower in north Afghanistan

KABUL (RIA Novosti) September 26 - Taliban militants have destroyed a cell phone tower in the northeast Afghan province of Kapisa, some 80 miles from the capital Kabul, police said. Afghan police said the "enemies of peace and stability" had attacked and destroyed communications antennas belonging to the Ariba company. Ariba is one Afghanistan's major cell phone companies and has been operating in the country since a US-led force toppled the radical Islamic Taliban group in 2001. This is the first attack on a cell phone tower by the Taliban for some six months. NATO forces have previously pinpointed the locations of Taliban militants by homing in on their cell phone conversations. [>en.rian.ru]


9.26.09 Two car bombs kill 16 in Pakistan

(AP) September 26 - Two suicide car bombs killed 16 people and wounded about 150 others in separate attacks in north-western Pakistan today, just days after the Taliban warned suicide strikes were coming if the military pressed forward with an offensive. A third bomb injured four in the restive region. Pakistan's mountainous, lawless north-west region along the Afghan border where the government holds little control is a favoured area for insurgents to plan attacks on US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as well as on Pakistani security forces and government workers. A suicide bomb was detonated outside a bank affiliated with the army in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, police said. Ten people were killed and 79 wounded, said Sahibzada Mohammed Anis, a senior government official.

...A suicide blast also hit a police station in the province's Bannu district earlier today, killing at least six people and wounding nearly 70 others, police said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. A third bomb exploded in the northern town of Gilgit, wounding four people, Pakistan's SAMA news channel quoted local police Chief Ali Sher as saying. He described it as a "low-intensity bomb" but provided no further details. The latest strikes came two days after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it was ready to stage more suicide attacks in the region after it was ousted from the Swat Valley in July by an army offensive. Qari Hussain Mehsud
known for training Taliban suicide bombers warned of more attacks in an interview at a secret location in North Waziristan on Thursday, just hours before US missiles hit the area and killed 12 people. [More>>independent.co.uk]


9.26.09 Afghan report stirs Pakistan debate

September 26 - US accuses Pakistan of backing Afghan groups. Pakistan's army and its intelligence service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), have long been accused of supporting armed groups fighting in Afghanistan. But the latest warning has come from no less than the US forces' commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. In a report submitted to the Obama administration recently, he says "Afghanistan's insurgency is clearly supported from Pakistan."

McChrystal identifies the Shura Council of the Taliban in Quetta, in southwest Pakistan, led by Mullah Omar, as the biggest force fighting the NATO-led troops in Afghanistan. Then there is the Haqqani network
 run by Jalaluddin Haqqani which is believed to have close ties to al-Qaeda and which uses North Waziristan as its main base. McChrystal says its funding comes from Pakistan and Gulf Arab networks. Finally, his report says, there is the Hezbi-I-Islam, run by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a veteran guerrilla from the Soviet war in the 1980s. Many Afghan officials agree with McChrystal's assessment.

In an interview to Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, Daoud Muradian, a senior adviser at the Afghan foreign ministry, said the main factor in the Taliban's resurgence is the support it enjoys from Pakistan's intelligence services. "What we face in Afghanistan is a triangle of terror
it comprises Taliban, al-Qaeda and the ISI of Pakistan," he said. [More>>aljazeera.net]


9.26.09 Palestinians fire Kassams into South

September 26 - Hours after an IAF strike in the northern Gaza Strip killed three members of a terrorist cell, Palestinians fired several Kassam rockets into southern Israel on Saturday morning. The rockets struck open areas in the Eshkol region, causing no casualties. Also Saturday, Islamic Jihad vowed to revenge for the previous day's air strikes. On Friday evening Israeli planes intercepted a vehicle which was transporting rockets to be fired into the country. In a statement released directly after the strike, the IDF said that the terrorists had exited the vehicle and were unloading weapons when the IAF fired missiles at them. The IDF added that the three had been involved in launching rockets into Israel in recent weeks. [More>>jpost.com]


9.25.09 Online chats led to Texas terror suspect's arrest

Dallas, Texas, September 25 - A terror suspect accused of plotting the bombing of a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, drew authorities' scrutiny because of his violent posts on an extremist chat site, court papers indicate. The suspect, a 19-year-old Jordanian, was arrested Thursday in a sting operation, the FBI said. Federal officials said Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, who entered the United States illegally and lived in Texas, tried to set off an explosive attached to a vehicle at the base of the 60-story Fountain Place office tower.

Long before authorities arrested Smadi, however, they were reading his posts on the extremist chat site, according to a court affidavit. "Smadi was discovered by the FBI within an online group of extremists," the affidavit says. "Among many others in the group who espoused and endorsed violence, Smadi stood out, based on his vehement intention to actually conduct terror attacks in the United States." Undercover officers then contacted Smadi, posing as members of an al-Qaeda sleeper cell. After months of conversations, the agents considered Smadi a legitimate threat.
[More>>cnn.com]


9.25.09 Zazi investigation: Terror plot suspect linked to Canada

September 25 - Authorities say that terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi has made several trips to Canada, raising concern among investigators that Zazi may have tried to organize a terror cell in that country. Canada has been the target of several alleged al-Qaeda plots. The information was revealed at a court hearing for Zazi today in Denver. Meanwhile, Zazi's lawyers say he will be transferred to New York City tomorrow to face terrorism charges at the Eastern District Court in Brooklyn. [More>>abcnews.go.com]


9.25.09 Iran is warned over nuclear 'deception'

PITTSBURGH, September 25 - President Obama and the leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years. Appearing before reporters in Pittsburgh, Mr. Obama said that the Iranian nuclear program "represents a direct challenge to the basic foundation of the nonproliferation regime." President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said that Iran had a deadline of two months to comply with international demands or face increased sanctions.

"The level of deception by the Iranian government, and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the entire international community," Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain said. "The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand." The extraordinary and hastily arranged joint appearance by the three leaders — and Mr. Obama said that Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany had asked him to convey that she stood with them as well — adds urgency to the diplomatic confrontation with Iran over its suspected ambition to build a nuclear weapons capacity. The three men demanded that Iran allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct an immediate inspection of the facility, which is said to be 100 miles southwest of Tehran, near the holy city of Qum. [More>>nytimes.com]


9.25.09 Chinese president makes proposal at UNSC nuclear summit before heading for Pittsburgh

UNITED NATIONS/PITTSBURGH, September 24 - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday made a five-point proposal for building a safer world through nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament during his address at the UN Security Council (UNSC) nuclear summit, after which he headed for Pittsburgh to attend the Group of 20 financial summit. In his address, Hu said "nuclear proliferation remains a pressing issue and nuclear disarmament a long and arduous task."

"To realize a safer world for all, we must first and foremost remove the threat of nuclear war," he said. The Chinese president called for efforts be made in the following five areas:

First, to maintain global strategic balance and stability and vigorously advance nuclear disarmament: All nuclear-weapon states should fulfill in good faith obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and publicly undertake to not seek permanent possession of nuclear weapons. "Countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should continue to take the lead in making drastic and substantive reductions in their nuclear weapons," he said.

To attain the ultimate goal of complete and thorough nuclear disarmament, the international community should develop, at an appropriate time, a viable, long-term plan composed of phased actions, including the conclusion of a convention on the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons, he said.

Second, to abandon the nuclear deterrence policy based on first use and take credible steps to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons: "All nuclear-weapon states should make an unequivocal commitment of unconditionally not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones, and conclude a legally-binding international instrument in this regard," Hu said. In the meantime, nuclear states should negotiate and conclude a treaty on no-first-use of atomic weapons against one another.

Third, to consolidate the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms:

[More>>xinhuanet.com; See related story,

guardian.co.uk, September 23, "Barack Obama signals new direction in US-UN relations" :
Barack Obama today promised to work with the United Nations rather than acting unilaterally, as the US did under the George Bush administration, when he addressed the general assembly in New York. The US president called on other countries to work with America on climate change, peace and nuclear non-proliferation. Obama who was given a two-minute ovation at the end of his 40-minute speech said: "This cannot be solely America's endeavour."

However, problems of international diplomacy and etiquette surfaced within minutes of the end of his speech when the arrival of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, at the podium sparked a walkout. Gadaffi then proceeded to embark on a rambling 94 minute speech that threw the scheduling of the general assembly into chaos
delegates had been asked to speak for no longer than 15 minutes. The US president was applauded repeatedly throughout his speech as he promised to push for peace in Sudan and the Middle East, close Guantánamo Bay and tackle climate change...


9.25.09 Deaths in Pakistan drone attack

September 25 - At least 12 people have been killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on the border with Afghanistan, intelligence sources say. The attack on what was a suspected Taliban hideout took place just before midnight on Thursday in Dandy Darpa Khel village, near the town of Mir Ali. "According to the information we have received from our local sources, 12 people died in the strike while several were injured," the intelligence official said. "Almost all of those killed were Taliban." [More>>aljazeera.net]


9.25.09 Five US soldiers killed in Afghan attacks

KABUL, September 25 - Military Says In Statement Roadside Bomb Kills 3, 1 Shot To Death, 1 Killed While On Patrol. Five American troops were killed in attacks in southern Afghanistan, where the US and NATO have ramped up operations against the Taliban and seen casualties rise quickly in what has been the deadliest year of the war for international forces. Four soldiers died Thursday in the same small district of Zabul province, including three killed when their Stryker vehicle struck a bomb, said US military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr. The fourth was shot to death in an insurgent attack, Carr said. The Stryker brigade in Zabul is part of the influx of US troops sent by President Obama over the summer to try to reverse Taliban gains.

A US Marine was fatally shot while on foot patrol in Nimroz province and died Thursday, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a military spokeswoman. The deaths come as the Obama administration debates whether to send still more forces to Afghanistan. The Pentagon said the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, would ask this week for additional American forces
a number that officials said could reach as high as 40,000 troops. But some question the wisdom of sending more troops to support a government facing allegations of widespread fraud from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election. As the news from Afghanistan moves to the front pages of American newspapers, McChrystal has told 60 Minutes that the spread of violence in the country was more than he expected. [More>>cbsnews.com]


9.25.09 Muslims declare fight against terrorism

SURAKARTA, Central Java, Indonesia, September 25 - Around 5,000 Muslims from various districts across Surakarta gathered at Kotabarat square Friday to declare their fight against terrorism. A number of Islamic organization and boarding school leaders took turns in denouncing acts of terrorism that had killed hundreds of people in the country. "Islam doesn't teach terrorism and terrorism cannot be connected with Islam," said Ahmad Sukino, who chairs the Koran interpretation assembly. [More>>thejakartapost.com]


9.25.09 Dinosaurs had 'earliest feathers'

September 25 - Exceptionally well preserved dinosaur fossils uncovered in north-eastern China display the earliest known feathers. The creatures are all more than 150 million years old. The new finds are indisputably older than Archaeopteryx, the oldest recognized bird discovered in Germany. Professor Xu Xing and colleagues tell the journal Nature that this represents the final proof that dinosaurs were ancestral to birds. The theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs has always been troubled by the absence of feathers more ancient than those on the famous Archaeopteryx.

This has given critics room to question the idea. But the new fossils, which come from two separate locations, are in most cases about 10 million years older than the German bird discovered in the late 19th Century. One of the dinosaurs, named Anchiornis huxleyi, is spectacular in its preservation. It has extensive plumage covering its arms and tail, and also its feet — a "four-winged" arrangement, says Professor Xu from the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing.
[More>>bbc.co.uk]


9.24.09 The Beauty Parlor Bomb plan; massive terror plot alleged

September 24- Denver Man, Others Accused of Stockpiling Chemicals, Building Bombs. The accused al-Qaeda bomb maker from Denver planned to use chemicals and hair care products he bought at beauty parlor supply stores to build a series of devastating bombs, according to a federal indictment made public today of 24-year old Najibullah Zazi. According to court documents, Zazi "purchased unusually large quantities of hydrogen peroxide and acetone from beauty supply stores in the Denver metropolitan area." The chemicals in the products matched those listed in nine pages of hand written bomb-making instructions Zazi received when he attended an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan late last year, according to officials.

The court documents filed today say other individuals traveled with Zazi to Pakistan. "We believe any imminent threat arising from this case has been disrupted," said attorney general Eric Holder in a prepared statement. "We are investigating a wide range of leads," he added. Liquid Developer Clairoxide, Ms. Kay's Liquid 40 Volume and Ion Sensitive Scalp Developer were among the products the government said Zazi and other unnamed coconspirators purchased this summer. An employee at one beauty product supply store told ABCNews.com that FBI agents had shown a photo spread of three men with beards and two young, blond-haired women. One of the men was recognized as Zazi, said the employee who asked that her name not be used.

Authorities say Zazi and the other alleged terrorists actually tried to mix the chemicals at a hotel suite Zazi rented in the Denver suburb of Aurora on Sept. 6 and 7. Court documents say Zazi sent text messages to the others, "each communication more urgent in tone than the last
seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives." Officials told ABCNews.com that one of Zazi's text messages included the phrase, "the wedding cake is ready," which authorities believe was a code indicating the plot was nearing the attack phase. [More>>abcnews.go.com; See other details,

cbsnews.com, September 24, "Zazi indicted for plotting terror attack" :
Terror suspect Najibullah Zazi plotted for more than a year to detonate homemade bombs in the United States, had recently bought bomb-making supplies from beauty supply stores and was looking for "urgent" help in the past two weeks to make explosives, an indictment charged Thursday.

...The government says evidence including surveillance videos will prove Zazi and the others made repeated purchases of the chemicals over the last three months...On those days, Zazi rented a suite at a hotel in his hometown of Aurora, Colo., authorities charge. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives and residue in the suite found the presence of residue in the vent above the stove.

...A second, unrelated indictment unsealed Thursday in the same court charged a Brooklyn man with supporting terrorism in what authorities say is an investigation. An indictment alleges Betim Kaziu traveled to Pakistan this year to try to receive training from a militant group linked to al-Qaeda, and tried to go to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight against US forces there...

msnbc.msn.com, September 24, "Terror charges: Plot in 'urgent' stage" : ...Senior counterterrorism officials, speaking with NBC News on condition of anonymity, said investigators are "actively" monitoring multiple suspects in New York and Denver. The number keeps changing, said one official, depending on analysis of contacts that Zazi has had in the US in recent weeks. At one point last week, the number had reached eight in New York and five in Denver.

...One official said there are conflicting signals about whether the alleged plot is connected to al-Qaeda. Among those under surveillance are immigrants from at least three predominantly Muslim states, suggesting the involvement of an international terror group, the official said. Officials say sponsorship of the camp where Zazi allegedly received terrorist training is uncertain, with the possibility that it was not an al-Qaeda camp but run instead by one of the various Islamic militant groups in Pakistan. Officials noted that two Pakistani groups, Lashkhar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed, both have camps. "It doesn’t really matter," said one of them. "The camps all espouse the same basic philosophy and teach the same basic techniques. It’s about killing the infidel."


Editorial note: See Maravot News article and Editorial note, "Confusion on the Islamic Faith," below, 9.20.9 Chechen leader urges Muslims to unite against Wahhabism, concerning Islamic teachings that promote killing unbelievers (unbeliever, infidel = kuffar). Within the link is another Editorial note that explores the Islamic precept on infidels, 08.07.05 Inside the sect that loves terror. Here one may read:

Editorial note: An interesting site by an Islamic scholar defines what "kuffar" (disbeliever) means. His site, renaissance.com.pk Arguments and Rational details the Koran's verses and traditional and modern applications of the verses dealing with disbelievers: identifying them, punishing them, preaching to them and "'displaced directives." His argument refers heavily to Old Testament verses that set the foundation for verses of the Koran involving the punishment of disbelievers. The site (Punishing the Disbelievers) says, "In other words, what authorizes a Messenger to punish the Kuffar is that it can be ascertained in this very world that they are guilty of denying the basic truths in spite of being convinced about them. Good and evil are elucidated with ultimate clarity and people who accept evil do so not because of any confusion but because of their own stubbornness.

So it can be concluded that since a Messenger reveals the basic truths in their ultimate form and those who deny it do so because of their stubbornness and even confess their sins, a Messenger has the perfect justification to punish his people after they have denied him." But in other places says, (Misplaced Directives) "In other words, what is construed from this Hadith is that a Muslim will be rewarded with Paradise if he kills a non-Muslim. Consequently, Imam Abu Da¹ud, the celebrated Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadith has placed this Hadith in a chapter entitled: (bab fi fadli man qatala kafiran: Chapter on the Reward of a Muslim who Kills a Kafir). Again, it needs to be appreciated that these words relate to the Idolaters of the Prophet¹s times who had lost their right to live after they had deliberately rejected the truth. These words are not related to later Muslims."

It is worthwhile for those who are trying to defeat Muslim terrorists to read the arguments listed in renaissance.com.pk.

Mel Copeland


9.24.09 19 killed as Qaumi Lashker clashes with extremists in Bannu

BANNU, Pakistan, September 24 - Nineteen people have been killed in clashes between Qaumi Lashker and extremists. According to sources extremists opened fire on a peace Jirga in Jani Khel area of District Bannu. In the attack the Chief of Jani Khel tribe and six other elites were killed, while five others including a child sustained injuries. The dead bodies of the deceased have been moved to District Hospital Bannu. The Qaumi Lashker of Jani Khel tribe decided to kill the extremists on sight starting action against such elements in Jani Khel. So far 12 people have been killed in clashes between Qaumi Lashker and extremists including four citizens, six extremists and two members of the Qaumi Lashker. [>thenews.com.pk; See other details,

aljazeera.net, September 24, "Pakistan elders killed in ambush."
: At least four pro-government tribal elders have been shot dead in an attack by Taliban fighters in the country's northwest, police say. The assailants ambushed cars carrying members of the anti-Taliban committee, who were travelling to meet security officials in Bannu district on Thursday. Bannu is located 240km southwest of Islamabad, the country's capital. "Taliban militants attacked the tribal elders who were on their way to a nearby village to mediate a dispute between local people," Iqbal Marwat, a police chief, said. The victims included Malik Sultan, a tribal chief, who was active in raising a government-sponsored militia against fighters in the area, Marwat said.

The attack followed another attack by fighters on Thursday, which killed two members of another anti-Taliban committee in Swat, in the North West Frontier Province. The assailants struck as members of the committee slept in Swat's Sertelegram area, Mohammad Ibrar Khan, the mayor, said. Security guards were reported to have battled with the fighters and killed several of them, although no bodies were recovered. Local residents formed the group last week to protect the area from Taliban fighters who were rooted out by an army offensive last month. [end]


9.24.09 Taliban widen Afghan attacks from base in Pakistan

WASHINGTON, September 24 - Senior Taliban leaders, showing a surprising level of sophistication and organization, are using their sanctuary in Pakistan to stoke a widening campaign of violence in northern and western Afghanistan, senior American military and intelligence officials say. The Taliban's expansion into parts of Afghanistan that it once had little influence over comes as the Obama administration is struggling to settle on a new military strategy for Afghanistan, and as the White House renews its efforts to get Pakistan's government to be more aggressive about killing or capturing Taliban leaders inside Pakistan. American military and intelligence officials, who insisted on anonymity because they were discussing classified information, said the Taliban's leadership council, led by Mullah Muhammad Omar and operating around the southern Pakistani city of Quetta, was directly responsible for a wave of violence in once relatively placid parts of northern and western Afghanistan. [Full story>>nytimes.com: See earlier report on the al-Qaeda base in Quetta, Maravot News, 3.23.09, 3.19.09 Al-Qaeda, Taliban are not in Balochistan: Pakistan]


9.24.09 16 Qaeda prisoners escape from Iraqi jail

TIKRIT, Iraq, September 24 - Fugitives assisted by prison system: security official. Sixteen al-Qaeda members, including five who have been sentenced to death, escaped during the night from a prison in the heart of Tikrit in central Iraq, a security official said on Thursday. The group managed to remove the windows from a prison bathroom, crawled through the opening and scaled a ladder to climb over the prison wall, the official said...One of the fugitives was recaptured on Thursday morning but the remainder are still at large..[Full story>>alarabiya.net]


9.24.09 Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found

September 24 - The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth "a seven figure sum." It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown.

Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of." It may take more than a year for it to be valued. The Staffordshire hoard contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far bigger than the Sutton Hoo discovery in 1939 when 1.5kg of Anglo-Saxon gold was found near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum's Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: "This is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries..."

...Mr. Herbert, 55, of Burntwood in Staffordshire, who has been metal detecting for 18 years, came across the hoard as he searched land belonging to a farmer friend over five days in July. The exact location has not been disclosed. "I have this phrase that I say sometimes; 'spirits of yesteryear take me where the coins appear,' but on that day I changed coins to gold," he said. "I don't know why I said it that day but I think somebody was listening and directed me to it.

...A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts, although the list includes 56 clods of earth which have been X-rayed and are known to contain further metal artefacts. This means the total number of items found is likely to rise to about 1,500. Following the initial find, Alex Jones, director of Birmingham Archaeology and his colleagues were invited to excavate the site, Birmingham University said.
[Full story w/video>>bbc.co.uk]


9.24.09 Pioneering heart surgery saves man's life

September 24 - Surgeons have, for the first time, used a combination of an artificial heart and stem cells to save the life of a dying man. Ioannis Manolopoulos was fitted with the mechanical pump because his heart was too weak to push blood around his body. Surgeons then injected his failing heart muscle with six million of his own stem cells in the hope that they would repair the damage. Speaking exclusively to Sky News, he said he owed the British and Greek surgeons his life. He said: "If things go well, I must go to church and pray because I feel very lucky to get this device and have the chance of a normal life."

The team was led by British surgeon Professor Stephen Westaby. He has pioneered the use of mechanical pumps in patients suffering from heart failure. But the NHS will not pay for the treatment. Instead he relies on charity funding - or travels abroad to implant pumps in countries where governments are prepared to fund the £60,000 devices. He said: "I am very frustrated that all the work that I have done back home in the UK has to be translated into patient care in other countries.."
[More>>news.sky.com]


9.23.09 Top al-Qaeda leader killed in US drone attack

WASHINGTON, September 23 - The intelligence sources are confirming that Nazimuddin alias Yahyo an important and close Uzbek comrade of Osama Bin Laden was killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan on September 14. Yahyo who was under surveillance for quite some time was involved in some deadliest attacks on troops of Pakistan army's elite forces. Though there is no official confirmation on Yahyo's death because the US confirms such incidents after a detailed check and scrutiny, the intelligence officials are confirming that Yahyo's chapter has been closed, "he is dead." Intelligence sources are also confirming that another important leader of al-Qaeda known as Ilyas Kashmiri was also killed in another drone attack about a week earlier. Ilyas Kashmiri was stated to be the al-Qaeda's commander for Pakistan. [>thenews.com.pk; See also

thenews.com.pk, September 23, "3 arrested in Swat search operation: ISPR report." .
..in Kanatai and Gamsar and 2 suspects including Muhammad Amin Qari (notorious terrorist who played a major role in the murder episode of Pir Sami Ul Haq) were apprehended...At least 14 individuals voluntary surrendered to security forces in Bar Shaur along with 2 SMGs and 2 x 12 bore guns. In Swat areas of Devolai, Salhand and Shah Dheri also, 7 terrorists surrendered...


9.23.09 Al-Qaeda warns Obama in new video

September 23 - Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second man in charge, has warned the US administration that it will be defeated at the hands of the Muslim world. In a new video released on Tuesday, al-Zawahiri said the government of Barack Obama, the US president, would be brought down by the Mujahid youths of the Muslim Umma (nation). "God willing, your end will be at the hands of the Muslim nation, so that the world and history will be free of your crimes and lies," he said. The 106-minute video, called The West and the Dark Tunnel, is part of a series of messages by al-Qaeda marking the eighth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The message also featured Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, an American who converted to Islam and joined al-Qaeda. [More>>aljazeera.net]


9.23.09 Iran arrests top woman reformist: report

TEHRAN (AFP) September 23 - Iran has arrested a prominent woman reformist as part of its continuing crackdown on those challenging the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a reformist website said on Wednesday. The reformist, Azar Mansouri of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), was arrested on Tuesday evening, website Norooznews said. Mansouri is a deputy to Mohsen Mirdamadi who himself has been arrested and is on trial on charges of being involved in unrest which rocked Tehran after the June 12 election. The IIPF said that Iran's intelligence authorities have so far arrested at least 20 of its members. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]


9.23.09 Ancient Trojan war-era couple found in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) September 23 - Man and woman believe to have died in 1, 200 BC. Archaeologists in the ancient city of Troy in Turkey have found the remains of a man and a woman believed to have died in 1,200 B.C., the time of the legendary war chronicled by Homer, a leading German professor said on Tuesday. Ernst Pernicka, a University of Tubingen professor of archaeometry who is leading excavations on the site in northwestern Turkey, said the bodies were found near a defense line within the city built in the late Bronze age. The discovery could add to evidence that Troy's lower area was bigger in the late Bronze Age than previously thought, changing scholars' perceptions about the city of the "Iliad." "If the remains are confirmed to be from 1,200 B.C. it would coincide with the Trojan war period. These people were buried near a moat. We are conducting radiocarbon testing, but the finding is electrifying," Pernicka told Reuters in a telephone interview. [More>>alarabiya.net]


9.22.09 US and China vow action on climate threat but cite needs

UNITED NATIONS, September 22 - Some 100 heads of state gathered at the United Nations on Tuesday for an unprecedented daylong conference on combating climate change, with leaders like Presidents Obama and Hu Jintao of China acknowledging that agreement is an important goal, but also stressing their own needs. Negotiators have been struggling to hammer out a deal to cut global emissions by December in Copenhagen, and the United Nations organizers are hoping that gathering the leaders will give the talks new political momentum. Mr. Hu said that while China had made great strides in development, it still lagged relatively in terms of its wealth per individual, and that had to be taken into account in fighting emissions.

"Due to their low development level and shortage of capital and technology, developing countries have limited capability and means to deal with climate change," he said. "Developing countries need to strike a balance between economic growth, social development and environmental protection." Mr. Hu said his country would take four steps toward greener development, although he did not give any specific numerical targets. He said China would cut carbon dioxide emissions by a “notable margin” by 2020 compared with 2005 levels; drastically increase the size of forests; increase the use of nuclear or nonfossil fuels to 15 percent of power by 2020; and work to develop a green economy. [More>>nytimes.com; See also chinadaily.com, September 22, "Hu: 'Join hands to address climate challenge.' "]


9.22.09 Tiny technologies could produce big energy solutions

September 22 - Forgot to charge your cell phone last night? Imagine that you could power it by walking. Weirder still, you might be able to just spray a new battery on. These concepts are being developed by two leading nanotechnology researchers who are developing cleaner, more efficient ways of delivering electrical power. In working toward making these ideas realities, they are making use of structures that are 100 nanometers or smaller, where one nanometer is a billionth of a meter. "[The nanoscale] can make the components small, sensitive and high-performance," said Zhong Lin "Z.L." Wang, distinguished professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Engineering. "The toughness and the flexibility increase by orders of magnitude."

Wang and colleagues are working on harnessing the energy of the body's natural movements to power small devices. Even the simple act of moving your fingers while typing creates energy that could power a small device, and these researchers are showing that nanotechnology can enable this transformation. Here's the hard science: To take advantage of animal movement for energy, Wang's team makes use of the piezoelectric effect, which refers to the ability of certain materials to generate an electric potential when a stress is applied to them. For instance, if you compress a crystal, it temporarily changes shape, causing the ions inside the crystal to polarize and produce a voltage drop.

...Scientists want to develop energy sources based on inexpensive, abundant, eco-friendly materials that generate higher power. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers are doing that by engineering viruses that build materials for batteries. "We're letting biology help us work on solving those problems, solving what the next-next generation batteries are going to be," said Angela Belcher, professor of materials science and engineering at MIT and winner of a 2004 MacArthur Foundation genius grant. Here's how it works: Belcher and colleagues synthesize a virus called M13 bacteriophage, which is wire-shaped and only about 9 nanometers thin. This virus is common
"you have bacteriophage all over you," Belcher said and is harmless to humans. [Full story>>cnn.com; See also mit.edu press release]


9.22.09 Terror alerts issued for stadiums, hotels

September 23 - Security Bulletins Also Released on Mass Transit Systems in Wake of Alleged Bomb Plot in Denver, NYC. Counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the US about terrorists' desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels the latest in a flurry of such internal warnings as investigators chase a possible bomb plot in Denver and New York. In the two bulletins sent to police departments Monday and obtained by The Associated Press officials said they know of no specific plots against such sites, but urged law enforcement and private companies to be vigilant. These two bulletins followed on the heels of a similar warning about the vulnerabilities of mass transit systems. The bulletin on stadiums notes that an al-Qaeda training manual specifically lists "blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin... and attacking vital economic centers" as desired targets of the global terror network. [More>>cbsnews.com]


9.22.09 "People's War shed more blood than imagined'

KATHMANDU, Nepal, September 22 - For years, Nepal's Maoist guerrillas claimed that their decade-old "People's War" resulted in the death of 10,000 people. But now, after a tentative body-count started by the government, the toll has already crossed 16,000 and is expected to go still higher up by next year. "After the signing of a peace agreement between the Maoists and the main parties in 2006, the government formed two teams to fan out to all the districts and assess the extent of destruction," said Dhurba Gaida, senior official at the Peace and Reconstruction ministry.

"According to the latest count, 16,274 people died during the conflict while 5,640 people were injured and 70,425 people displaced." However, the toll, Gaida says, will rise further after the third team continues the assessment once the ongoing Dashain festival is over. "In many villages, the peace committees have yet not been formed," he says. "So the information sent by the villagers is still lying there unassessed. Once all that is added, the casualties will rise."
[More>>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]


9.22.09 ADL: Anti-Semitism in Spain on the rise

September 22 - Anti-Semitism in Spain is on the rise, according to a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). A statement released by the Jewish watchdog group on Tuesday cited an increase in public expressions of anti-Semitism, and a "greater acceptance of virulent anti-Jewish attitudes." The report noted "viciously anti-Semitic" cartoons published in major Spanish newspapers such as El Pais and El Mundo, as well as opinion pieces which equate Israel with the Nazi regime.

The ADL took care to note that the European Union's racism watchdog defines such statements as anti-Semitic. Also cited in the report was a 2009 ADL poll, which found that 75 percent of all Spaniards believe Jews possess "too much power" in financial markets, and more than half think Jews have "too much power in business," echoing classic anti-Semitic sentiments. The report detailed the occurrence of anti-Semitic placards at anti-Israel demonstrations in Spain, as well as the "all too common" incidence of Israeli flag burning. In terms of anti-Semitic acts, the report noted three incidents so far this year:
[More>>jpost.com]


9.22.09 Analysis / This is no George Bush summit

September 22 - US President Barack Obama stood behind a podium in New York City on Tuesday like a strict schoolteacher scolding the two pupils sitting before him Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as well as their ministers. Obama explained that the resolution of the Middle East conflict is in the US's interest and that a permanent solution is a priority for the entire world. The American president compensated for having failed to immediately revive peace talks with stern remarks directed at both sides: forget history, obstacles and disagreements sit down and get done with it. Two major differences were apparent Tuesday between Obama's summit and those hosted by his predecessor, George W. Bush (in Aqaba in 2003 and in Annapolis in 2007).

The Bush administration put an emphasis on synchronizing statements and agreements between the two sides. As soon as the summits were over, the Israelis and Palestinians were sent on their way to hold talks on their own
with American supervisors. However, Obama does it differently. He read his statement as a command directed at the two sides, and not as a joint statement. The president is planning to lead active American mediation efforts, spearheaded by his Middle East envoy George Mitchell. The envoy's first task will be relaunching the peace talks.

In his statement, Obama explained that the Americans are not interested in suggestions raised by Israel
interim agreements which mainly benefit Netanyahu. He also made clear that Washington does not accept Abbas' refusal to enter into talks until Israel completely halts settlement construction. The President is satisfied with Netanyahu's (so far privately made) promises to limit construction, and places the resumption of peace talks at the top of his priority list. [>haaretz.com]


9.22.09 Canadian pleads guilty to terrorism: reports

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) September 22 - Plot targeted Toronto, Ottawa landmarks. A Canadian has pleaded guilty of a terrorist association with a group of alleged Islamic militants accused of plotting attacks in Toronto and Ottawa in 2006, Canadian media reported. Ali Dirie, 26, who entered the plea Monday, was the second member of the "Toronto 18" group to plead guilty to terrorism charges, after Saad Khalid, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison earlier this month. The reports in the National Post and the Toronto Star could not immediately be confirmed with the Canadian justice ministry. Born in Somalia and raised in Syria and Toronto, Dirie was arrested on the Canadian-US border August 13, 2005 while trying to reenter Canada with two loaded semi-automatic handgun, the National Post said on its website. The driver of the vehicle, Yasin Mohamed, also was carrying a weapon, according to authorities. [More>>alarabiya.net]


9.22.09 In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants

September 22 - 'Destroying the Jungle does not solve the problem, it simply moves it somewhere else.' As police cars tore through the streets of Calais this afternoon with their sirens wailing, Rustam Mahfouz and his friends were keeping a low profile. Hidden from view below a quiet underpass near the main canal circling the old town, the 23-year-old and his group of nine fellow Iranians spent most of the day smoking cigarettes and quietly biding their time. At dawn hundreds of riot police had poured into what was once their home, a squalid collection of tarpaulin tents on the outskirts of the city known locally as "the jungle,"carting off the predominantly Afghan inhabitants and bulldozing what remained. But knowing the raid was about to take place the Iranians had chosen to leave the night before and sleep rough.

As they quietly watched the police roll by, Mr. Mahfouz remained philosophical. "We will wait and see what happens," he said, in neat and concise English. "If the police do destroy the jungle we will build another one somewhere else. But I am very scared of sleeping outside. Now we are sleeping under a bridge and it gets very cold. We must try to find a truck to England." Like so many young men who ply the well-worn routes from the trouble spots of Asia or Africa to Western Europe, his friend Salim Marri said their ultimate goal would always be Britain.

Wrapping a scarf tighter around his neck he repeated a commonly-held but false mantra given to them by the human traffickers that Britain would somehow welcome them with open arms
if only they could get across the Channel. “It's an open-minded country, they don't care if you are black or white, Muslim or Christian,” he said. “Once we get to UK, everything will be good.” After months of claiming they would finally act to remove Calais' ever present network of migrants and traffickers, today the French government began a major crackdown on those who use the port town as a springboard to smuggle themselves onto lorries heading to Britain. [More>>independent.co.uk]


9.21.09 General calls for more US troops to avoid Afghan failure

WASHINGTON, September 20 - The top military commander in Afghanistan warns in a confidential assessment of the war there that he needs additional troops within the next year or else the conflict "will likely result in failure." The grim assessment is contained in a 66-page report that the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, submitted to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30, and which is now under review by President Obama and his top national security advisers.

The disclosure of details in the assessment, reported Sunday night by The Washington Post, coincided with new skepticism expressed by President Obama about sending any more troops into Afghanistan until he was certain that the strategy was clear. His remarks came as opposition to the eight-year-old war within his own party is growing. General McChrystal's view offered a stark contrast, and the language he used was striking.

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," General McChrystal writes. A copy of the assessment, with some operational details removed at the Pentagon's request to avoid compromising future operations, was posted on The Post's Web site.
[More>>nytimes.com]


9.21.09 Pakistan's security gains contrast Afghan turmoil

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, September 21 - A successful army offensive against militants, the killing of some of their top leaders and a shift in public opinion against them have fueled optimism in Pakistan, while progress against militants in neighboring Afghanistan appears stalled amid post-election turmoil. The Obama administration has made it clear it sees victory in the fight against Islamist extremism as dependent on successes in both South Asian nations. Forging a common strategy for "AfPak," as the region is now dubbed in Washington, is a key priority.

..Still, no one is saying overall victory is in sight. In particular, the tribal region of Waziristan remains an al-Qaeda and Taliban haven despite past army efforts to clear it. On Friday, a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-laden vehicle into a hotel in the northwestern town of Kohat, killing more than 30 and wounding dozens of others. "Clearly there are victories but there are still a lot of Taliban and there are still a lot of battles to come," said Kamran Bokhari, Middle East and South Asia director for US-based global intelligence company Stratfor. "But for now the government still has the upper hand."
[More>>japantoday.com]


9.21.09 Hafiz Saeed under house arrest: Pakistan media

LAHORE, September 21 - Pakistani police on Monday restricted the movement of Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, and barred him from leading Eid prayers in Lahore citing "security concerns." Security was beefed up outside Saeed's residence in Johar Town area here late last night. TV channels reported that he has been placed under house arrest but there was no official word on it. Superintendent of Police (Lahore division) Sohail Sukhera said Saeed's movements had been restricted due to concerns for his security.

"We have only stopped Saeed from offering Eid prayers at a ground near Gaddafi Stadium to ensure the safety of him and his people. We have intelligence information in this regard and that is why we cannot allow him to move freely," Sukhera said. 59-year-old Saeed, also the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba that has been blamed for the Mumbai attacks, was to have led the Eid prayers at the ground near Gaddafi Stadium. The prayers were led by his son.
[More>>indianexpress.com]


9.21.09 Suicide attacks mastermind arrested in Swat

MINGORA, Pakistan, September 21 - Member of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Shura Nasim alias Abu Faraj has been apprehended with injuries from Charbagh, Swat. According to sources, Nasim alias Abu Faraj was masterminded suicide attacks in the country. He is son of a militants commander Darvesh who voluntarily surrendered himself to the security forces a few days ago. Abu Faraj used to train children on carrying out suicide attacks. He was considered to be a close member of Maulana Fazlullah. [>thenews.com.pk]


9.21.09 Pakistan foils suicide attack on provincial minister

ISLAMABAD, September 21 - A suspected suicide bomber targeting a provincial minister was killed while two others escaped during a successful operation launched by police in Pakistan's northwest on Monday, the official news agency APP reported. According to police official Abdul Rashid Khan in Buner of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the suicide bomber was apparently planning to assassinate NWFP Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak during visit to his hometown Totalai to exchange Eid greetings with the people of his constituency.  

On information that a suspected teenage[er] wearing [a] suicide jacket and two other militants were hiding in a middle school in Buner, the police quickly rushed to the area. But sensing the presence of the police the militant opened fire on [the] police party. During [the] exchange of fire two persons accompanied the bomber..escaped from the back wall of the school; followed by a loud explosion [that] rocked the building of the school as the lone teenager, age 14 to 16 year-old, blew him up.
[More>>xinhuanet.com]


9.21.09 32 die in war on rebels in Philippines

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) September 21 - Twenty-four al-Qaeda-linked rebels and eight soldiers were killed as the military over-ran one of the extremists' main strongholds in the south of the country, officers said Monday. Troops on Sunday took control of the Abu Sayyaf group's biggest camp on the island of Jolo following rounds of air strikes, said Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, head of military forces in the south. The military recovered the bodies of two Abu Sayyaf fighters, according to Dolorfino. "But based on intelligence reports we believe there are 17 more deaths on the Abu Sayyaf side," he told reporters. However on Monday, as Philippine Marines were leaving the newly-captured camp, they were ambushed by Abu Sayyaf fighters resulting in the deaths of eight troopers and five guerrillas, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner. Fourteen soldiers were wounded in two days of fighting including two forward air controllers who were with ground troops to direct the bomb attacks against the militants, the officers said. [More>>khaleejtimes.com; See related story,

newsinfo.inquirer.net, September 21, "Abus threaten to behead 3 teachers" : MANILA, Philippines -
On the day Muslims celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the Abu Sayyaf gang threatened to decapitate three kidnapped teachers in Zamboanga Sibugay while government forces using air strikes pounded the bandits’ hideout on Jolo Island. The Department of Education Sunday said that kidnappers of Jocelyn Enriquez, Jocelyn Inion and Noemi Mandi in Zamboanga Sibugay had informed the provincial crisis management committee that the teachers would be beheaded unless a ransom demand was met.

The teachers of Bangkaw-Bangkaw Elementary School in Naga town were abducted in March. Their photograph was released last month as proof they remained alive to press demands for a P10-million ransom. "We have no plans of paying any ransom," committee spokesperson Salvador Briones told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone. Maj. David Hontiveros said Sunday's assault on the Abu Sayyaf hideout in Indanan town on Jolo came after the bandits opened fire with automatic rifles and grenade launchers on Marines out to serve warrants for the arrest of its leaders...


9.21.09 'Millions at risk' as deltas sink

September 21 - Most of the world's major river deltas are sinking, increasing the flood risk faced by hundreds of millions of people, scientists report. Damming and diverting rivers means that much less sediment now reaches many delta areas, while extraction of gas and groundwater also lowers the land. Rivers affected include the Colorado, Nile, Pearl, Rhone and Yangtze. About half a billion people live in these regions, the researchers note in the journal Nature Geoscience.

They calculate that 85% of major deltas have seen severe flooding in recent years, and that the area of land vulnerable to flooding will increase by about 50% in the next 40 years as land sinks and climate change causes sea levels to rise...Most of the at-risk river basins are in the developing countries of Asia, but there are several in developed nations as well, including the Rhone in France and the Po in Italy. The Po delta sank by 3.7m during the 20th Century, mainly from methane extraction, the researchers say.
[More>>bbc.co.uk]


9.21.09 Paralyzed rats learn to walk and run again

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) September 21 - Scientists using a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise have enabled paralyzed rats to walk again, signaling a breakthrough for people confined to wheelchairs, a science journal said. Researchers at the University of Zurich and California said that the regeneration of severed nerve fibers is not required to enable paralyzed rats to learn to walk again. Scientists believe that the same methods used in the animal tests could be applied to people with spinal injuries.

Nature Neuroscience magazine said the tests involved rats that were suffering from spinal injuries and that had no voluntary movement in their hind legs. Rats were set walking on a treadmill and given drugs to stimulate neurotransmitters and then electrical currents were applied below the point of injury. After daily treadmill sessions the rats were able to walk again of their own accord. Researchers believe the same techniques could be applied to patients suffering from spinal cord injuries. Scientists said that human trials could start in five years time.
[>en.rian.ru]


9.20.09 Captured Taliban commander Qasab succumbs to bullet wounds in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, September 20 - A top Taliban commander, who was captured after being injured seriously in a gunbattle with security forces in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley, succumbed to his wounds today, the military said. "Sher Mohammad Qasab, who had multiple bullet wounds, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning," the military said in a statement. A team of army doctors was treating Qasab but "he could not survive," the statement said. Qasab, who was carrying a reward of Rs 10 million on his head offered by the NWFP government, was a close aide of Maulana Fazlullah, the chief of the Taliban in Swat.

The army had earlier said Qasab was arrested on Wednesday after being injured in a military operation in which three of his sons were killed and another was captured. Qasab was the third high-profile Taliban commander to be arrested in Swat after militant spokesman Muslim Khan and commander Mahmood Khan. Security officials said Qasab was personally responsible for beheading security personnel and setting on fire girls' schools in Swat. They said he also ran a "slaughter centre" in Charbagh, a former Taliban stronghold in Swat.
[>timesofindia.indiatimes.com; See related story,

"8 terrorists killed, 26 nabbed: ISPR report"
: ...the security forces conducted search operation in Bara Banda and killed 2 terrorists including terrorist commander Chamtu Khan. 21 suspects were apprehended including first cousin of Muslim Khan. At least four terrorists voluntarily surrendered to security forces in Chuprial, 11 in Bar Shaur and four others give up arms to security forces in Gwalerai. The security forces conducted search operation in Jambil and killed 3 terrorists. The search operation was conducted in Charbagh and Dakorak where three terrorists were killed and one was apprehended A suspected militant was apprehended in Takhtaband during search operation. Also, local Lashkar apprehended 3 terrorists from Shah Dheri...


9.20.9 Khamenei says Iran 'rejects' nuclear weapons

(AFP) September 20 - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denied the West's charge that Teheran aims to develop nuclear weapons under a covert programme, insisting the republic bans such activity. "They falsely accuse the Islamic republic of producing nuclear weapons. We fundamentally reject nuclear weapons and prohibit the production and the use of nuclear weapons," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast by state television.

...The comments came ahead of a meeting in two weeks between Iran and six world powers which have demanded Teheran halt its uranium enrichment programme — a process which can be used to make material for an atomic bomb. Iran has so far defied the demand, insisting its programme is for peaceful nuclear energy. It denies accusations by the United States, European powers and Israel that it is covertly seeking to build a nuclear weapon.
[Full story>>khaleejtimes.com]


9.20.9 Chechen leader urges Muslims to unite against Wahhabism

GROZNY, Chechnya (RIA Novosti) September 20 - The president of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Chechnya urged all Muslims on Sunday to unite against Wahhabism, following the murder of a Muslim cleric in the Republic of Karachayevo-Circassia. Ismail Bostanov, deputy chairman of the Muslim Board of Karachayevo-Circassia and Stavropol, was killed on Sunday in an attack on his car at a filling station in the town of Cherkessk in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Karachayevo-Circassia. "What has happened today proves again that all Muslims must act against Wahhabism. If we want to stem this evil, the fight against it must be tough and continued," Ramzan Kadyrov said in a statement.

The Chechen leader said Bostanov was a deeply religious man, adding that the murder occurred during Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims. "He [Bostanov] held an exceptionally principled position on reactionary Wahhabism and extremism. There were assassination attempts on his life before but they didn't break his will or frighten him. In his sermons he led an uncompromising struggle against those who use Islamic slogans to commit cruel murders, terrorist acts and discredit our religion," the statement said. Kadyrov conveyed condolences to the relatives of the murdered Muslim cleric. The Russian North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia and Karachayevo-Circassia have seen an upsurge of militant violence of late, with frequent attacks on police and officials.
[>en.rian.ru]


Editorial note: (From Maravot News 11.30.08, article 11.29.08 Malaysia government sued over seized Christian CD's and Editorial note, "Confusion on the Islamic Faith") Malaysia's ban on the use of "Allah" in non-Muslim literature is an issue that points to the root of the chaos being experienced throughout the world It's from confusion on the Islamic faith. The source of the confusion has to do with Islamic teachers who have no idea that the Koran was intended to confirm the Old Testament and New Testament, even confirming that Jesus is the Messiah. There are many verses in the Koran referring to the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) and Gospel (New Testament Gospels) that claim this confirmation. Logic dictates that one cannot contradict that which one confirms. Thus, the Koran's description of God as "Allah" can only refer to the God of the Old and New Testaments. (See Maravot News 7.08.08, article 7.04.08 Sikh group joins protest against ban on use of word "Allah" in Malaysia regarding other details on the ban and scriptural references. Other comments on the Koran's confirmation of the Bible, using the Bible as its source, can be read at Maravot News "Why the Crusade and Jihad?")

Running counter to the Koran as a "confirmation of the Bible" are arguments from the Koran and teachings of Mohammed that encourage the persecution and murder of unbelievers (kuffar). This doctrine sourced in the Koran became a focal-point in a more conservative, militant (jihadist) form of Islam, adapted by the Saudis, known as the Wahhabi Sect. See Maravot News 9.07.08, article 9.05.08
Saudi cleric says celebrating birthdays un-Islamic and editorial note, "An interesting review of the Wahhabi sect" and related links. The Wahhabi teachings are at the foundation of Islamic schools (madrassas) in Pakistan. The teachings migrated to Britain with the migrants from Pakistan to Britain. In this new age of terrorism it is no wonder, then, that Islamic terrorists are rooted in Britain and Pakistan, with Pakistan being the preferred source of Islamist teachings. At the foundation of the teachings is the return to the original Caliphate, of spreading Islamic rule and law throughout the world. For further reading see Maravot News 8.08.05, article 08.07.05 Inside the sect that loves terror with editorial note and links. If Islamic, Christian and Jewish authorities can come to an agreement, that the "Koran says it confirms the Bible," then they ought to be able to isolate the creed of hatred and murder professed by Islamists as un-Islamic, and certainly un-Christian. In so doing more lives can be saved.

At work within the various jihadist activities is, of course, the element of tribal and political conflicts. For instance, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan express their principal mission as evicting foreigners (NATO) from their land. But the issue goes much further than that, since the Taliban not only wage war under the name of Allah but also persecute those who do not adhere to their strict law. It is an irony of history that Taliban generals punish women and young girls who endeavor to obtain an education, they force them to cover themselves up completely with their burkahs and yet are captured being dressed as women. They and al-Qaeda send their young men and women out to commit suicidal mayhem and murder on civilian populations under the guise of a freedom fighter. Plans for the mayhem are crafted under the leadership of immams in their mosques and schools. The first part of Islamic terrorism begins with the teachings.

Mel Copeland


9.20.9 Federal agents arrest 3 men in terror inquiry

September 20 - Federal authorities arrested an airport shuttle bus driver and his father in Colorado and another man in New York City on Saturday night, charging them with lying to investigators about an alleged terrorist plot to detonate an improvised explosive against an unknown target in the United States. Acting swiftly late Saturday after a week in which investigators worked intensely in New York and Denver to put together a case, F.B.I. agents arrested Najibullah Zazi, 24, his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, who both reside in Aurora, Colo., and Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, who lives in Flushing, Queens. The arrests indicated the case was rapidly accelerating and provided for the first time — in a sometimes confusing week of events — an explanation of why authorities were investigating the men and provided details about the alleged plot still under investigation in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere.

In a statement issued early Sunday, David Kris, the chief of the Justice Department's national security division, said: "The arrests carried out tonight are part of an ongoing and fast-paced investigation. It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack."

Affidavits filed in the case said that during a search of the younger Mr. Zazi's rental car on Sept. 11, agents found a laptop computer that contained an image of nine pages of handwritten notes. The notes, according to affidavit, "contain formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fusing system." Last Wednesday, the affidavits said, when agents interviewed Mr. Zazi in Denver, he falsely said he had never seen the handwritten notes and told agents that he had not written the notes.
[More>>nytimes.com; See also alarabiya.net, September 20, "Suspects in terrorism probe arrested in Colorado" (with strange blog comment)]


9.20.9 "Israel not planning strike on Iran"

September 20 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Israeli officials have assured him that they are not planning a military strike on Iran. In an interview with CNN television, Medvedev also confirmed that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made a secret visit to Moscow this month that included a meeting with the Russian president. In a transcript of the interview released by the Kremlin on Sunday, Medvedev hedged on the question of whether Russia would support Iran if it were attacked by Israel. [More>>jpost.com]


9.20.9 IDF kills two Palestinian militants in north Gaza

September 20 - Two Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, associates of the men and Palestinian medical workers said. An Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said troops fired mortars at two men they spotted close to the border fence in the north of the enclave. They believed they were planting explosives, she said. One of the dead was a member of Gaza's ruling Hamas Islamist movement and the other was from an allied group, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), representatives of the two groups said...Overnight, Gaza militants fired two Qassam rockets in the western Negev. No one was hurt in the attack. A radical Islamist group, which is opposed to Hamas and to the ceasefire with Israel, said it had fired a rocket overnight. [Full story>>haaretz.com]


EDITORIALS

09.11.05 When a nation lacks a competent leader it invites disaster – the legacy of Bush
08.13.05
"Using force the George W. Bush way – Bush's crusade"
11.25.04 Why the Crusade & Jihad?


NOTES

*Visitor statistics on maravot.com from 1&1. com. 46,153 page views in May 2007; monthly visitors in 2008 range between 40,000-45,0000; in 2009 35,000-45,000.

Privacy Policy: We do not store any personal data from you. We have no way of knowing any vital information about you not even your name. Third-party distribution: We do not distribute information about your site usage to any third party. We are not responsible for the content of links from our site. Usage data: supplied by our Web Hosting service, 1and1.com, which consists of usage reports, such as page views / impressions and web pages visited, visitors' servers and geographical data (ISP's and country of origin).

Maravot's Homepage


Launched: 10.25.04 / 11.02.04 – | — |
Updated: 9.20.09; 9.21.09; 9.22.09; 9.23.09; 9.24.09; 9.25.09; 9.26.09; 9.27.09
Copyright © 1981-2009 Maravot. All rights reserved
Copyright© 1981-2009 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)