Dangerous Superbug In Canada

A dangerous strain of a superbug that can be caught outside hospital settings has moved beyond the boundaries of the high-risk groups it first plagued in Canada, causing illness in healthy adults and children in a number of provinces across the country, researchers reported Tuesday. In a series of articles and commentaries rushed to print by the Canadian Medical Association Journal, they reported on the spread of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - known in the medical community as CA-MRSA. The drug-resistant forms of the bug that are spreading in the community - strains labeled USA300 and USA400 - generally cause hard-to-treat skin and soft-tissue infections, weeping wounds that will not heal. But they can also occasionally cause severe illness and even death in previously healthy individuals. ‘It's sweeping across the nation, no doubt about it,’ said Dr. John Conly, senior author of one of the papers and a leading researcher on the scope of Canada's problem with community-acquired MRSA.

Chemical Warfare Claimed In Showdown At Gaza

A spokesman for Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip say they fired a rocket tipped with a chemical warhead at Israel. ‘The Al Aqsa Brigades have fired one rocket with a chemical warhead’ at southern Israel, Abu Qusai said, according to Reuters. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is an armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

Family Life & Major Government Invasion

Government surveillance of all children, including information on what they eat is headed your way. Experts say it is the biggest intrusion in history into the role of parents. Doctors, schools and the police will have to alert the database to a wide range of "concerns". Two warning flags on a child's record could start an investigation. There will also be a system of targets and performance indicators for children's development. Children's services have been told to work together to make sure that targets are met.

Russian Transhumanists Dream Of Raising Their Dead Into Cyborg Bodies

Daniil Fedorenko is hopeful. “When she is resurrected, she’ll be able to choose her own new body,” he said, adding that he hoped microscopic robots would have been invented by then to transmit detailed information from her neurons to a computer. It is hoped that eventually that information would lay the groundwork for a new brain, body — and life. “We can put our brains in better, stronger bodies,” Potapov said. These new bodies could feature harvested organs and robotic body parts.

Iran to Order More Nuclear Power Plants from Moscow

A senior Iranian official has voiced frustration at delays in construction of the Bushehr nuclear power station by Russia and said Iran hoped to order another two nuclear power stations from Moscow, in an interview quoted by AFP. Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari said on Tuesday, Russia had yet to deliver nuclear fuel for the plant in southwest Iran, that equipment had not been delivered and that work had also been slowed by personnel changes on the Russian side. “The joint work has dragged out, but I am confident that construction will be finished at the end of 2006,” Safari was quoted as saying. The United States has urged Russia to halt work at Bushehr, suspecting that Iran’s nuclear energy program is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.

Chaplain faces punishment for gospel message

The Navy chaplain who went without food for 18 days to protest the service's prayer policy has submitted a whistleblower complaint to Sen. Hillary Clinton and other lawmakers, charging top naval officials with violating the Constitution by affirming the actions of officers who barred him from praying "in Jesus name" and quoting certain Bible passages during an optional worship service. Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt's complaint to Congress was issued Monday after an admiral and top Navy lawyer capped an 18-month investigation by ruling the chaplain's superior officer, Capt. James R. Carr, had grounds for punishing him. Military Judge Anita K. Baker, designated by Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter, endorsed a decision by Rear Adm. F.R. Ruehe, commander of the Navy's Mid-Atlantic region, to dismiss Klingenschmitt's original complaint as being "without merit." Ruehe, meanwhile is convening a special court-martial against Klingenschmitt for the chaplain's participation in a March 30 event with former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in front of the White House. The special court-martial, considered a misdemeanor court, will take place in August or September. The maximum punishment is a reprimand and a fine of up to two-thirds of his annual salary, but Klingenschmitt believes the trial will lead to a review board that could dimiss him from the Navy.

PSI Captures Nuke Goods To Iran

A U.S.-led program has captured a shipment of nuclear and missile equipment to Iran. Officials said that over the last year the Proliferation Security Initiative blocked several attempts to ship missile and nuclear equipment to Iran. They said the detained shipments comprised dual-use and military products. ‘PSI cooperation has stopped the export to Iran's missile program of controlled equipment and dual-use goods,’ Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph said. ‘One PSI partner has also stopped the export of heavy water-related equipment to Iran's nuclear program. Addressing a PSI conference in Warsaw, Poland on June 23, Joseph said PSI partners in Europe, Asia and the Middle East prevented missile and weapons of mass destruction transfers to Iran and other so-called countries of concern. Such countries have included Cuba, North Korea and Syria.

Glaciers are melting at their fastest rate for 5,000 years

Mountain glaciers are melting faster now than at any time in the past 5,000 years because of an unprecedented period of global warming, a study has found. Ice cores taken from mountains as far apart as the Andes in South America and the Himalayas in Asia have revealed how climate change is leading to a full-scale retreat of the world's tropical glaciers. Scientists have warned that human activities over the past 100 years may have nudged the global climate beyond a critical threshold which could see most of the highest ice caps disappearing within the near future. Melting glaciers in South America and Asia not only contribute to rising sea levels, they are also vital sources of freshwater for many millions of people who live within their range at lower altitudes, the scientists said.

Iran says will not benefit from talks with U.S.

Iran's supreme leader said on Tuesday the country would not benefit from talks with the United States, playing down the significance of a prominent element in proposals to defuse a nuclear standoff. Washington, which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, said it would join the European Union's direct talks with Iran if Iran first agreed to suspend uranium enrichment. The offer came in a package of incentives backed by six world powers. The U.S. offer of talks was viewed as a major policy shift in Washington and by some analysts, particularly in the West, as a possible deal clincher. But Iran has shown no sign it is ready to stop enrichment and says it is suspicious of U.S. motives.
"Negotiating with America does not have any benefit for us and we do not need such negotiations," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.

Belgian Children to be given electronic identity cards

Electronic identity cards for all children under 12 are to be introduced in Belgium. They will bear a code designed to allow parents of missing children to be traced instantly. The announcement came as Belgian police continued to search for two young girls who vanished from the street outside a bar in the middle of the night a fortnight ago.

Group Threatens Israel with Chemical Weapons

The Aksa Martyrs Brigades announced on Sunday that its members have succeeded in manufacturing chemical and biological weapons. In a leaflet distributed in the Gaza Strip, the group, which belongs to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party, said the weapons were the result of a three-year effort. According to the statement, the first of its kind, the group has managed to manufacture and develop at least 20 different types of biological and chemical weapons. The group said its members would not hesitate to add the new weapons to Kassam rockets that are being fired at Israeli communities almost every day. It also threatened to use the weapons against IDF soldiers if Israel carried out its threats to invade the Gaza Strip. "We want to tell [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz that your threats don't frighten us," the leaflet said. "We will surprise you with our new weapons the moment the first soldier sets foot in the Gaza Strip.

Witchcraft abuse of children 'is rife' in the UK

Ministers are preparing to publish a "harrowing" report on abuse meted out to African children in Britain branded as witches. The highly sensitive inquiry was ordered, after a string of cases in which children were alleged to have been beaten in exorcism rituals. Some suspect that there may have been as many as 50 such cases in London in the past five years, but the exact figures will be revealed in an official report to be published in the next two weeks. It is expected to detail abusive practices, such as slashing with razors, starving and rubbing chilli peppers into children's eyes. Attention focused on witchcraft rituals after the discovery of "Adam", an unknown African boy whose torso was found in the Thames river. A Metropolitan Police investigation found that hundreds of children visiting Britain from Africa could not be accounted for.

Iran repeats oil is potential weapon

Iran on Sunday repeated threats that it was ready to use its massive oil exports as a weapon to defend itself if it felt in danger in an international dispute over its atomic program. But Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said international sanctions on 2.5 million barrels per day of Iranian crude exports would be impractical and would send oil prices over $100 a barrel, up from around $70 now. Iran has been hauled before the U.N. Security Council over suspicions it is seeking nuclear missiles, a charge it denies. It could face economic sanctions and the United States has consistently declined to rule out military action.

Hamas: Islam Will Conquer U.S., Britain

A new video on the website of the Palestinian terrorist and governing group Hamas promises the eventual defeat and subjugation of Western nations under Islam. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in the face of terrorist attacks is present as the prototype for future Israeli and Western behavior in the face of Islamic force, reports Palestinian Media Watch. The video is a collection of statements by Hamas terrorist leader Yasser Ghalban, who was killed last week by Palestinians among ongoing internal fighting. Ghalban declares, ‘We will rule the nations, by Allah's will, the U.S.A. will be conquered, Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered

Pastor faced charges for evangelism at mall

Matthew Snatchko, who regularly takes a small group of youth from his church to the Galleria Mall in Roseville, Calif., said he was interrupted by a security guard May 8 while in the middle of a conversation. Pointing out no one has ever complained of his activities at the mall, Snatchko told WND the guard demanded he leave because he was "walking around and talking to people." The pastor, 23, said he "kind of laughed," insisting he wasn't doing anything wrong, because "everyone else was walking around and talking as well." A second security guard then joined the encounter and informed Snatchko he was being placed under citizen's arrest for "trespassing." The pastor says he agreed to leave peacefully, but, instead, the guards grabbed him, roughly shoved him against a storefront window and handcuffed him tightly enough to draw blood. Snatchko later was taken to the police station where he was booked on charges of battery and trespassing.

'Osama' Planning EMP Bomb Attack On U.S.

A former Pakistani intelligence agent who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden says that the U.S. may well be attacked with electro-magnetic pulse bombs. During an interview with Adnkronos International news agency Khalid Khawaja said, "The e-bomb shall be the new threat for the USA, not the nukes or gas attacks." An e-bomb or electromagnetic pulse weapon is designed to disable electronic equipment over a wide area by generating an intense surge of electromagnetic radiation. The weapon generates an electromagnetic shock wave, inducing heavy currents in all electronic gadgets with semi-conducting materials, frying their circuitry.

'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon

For thousands of years, prophets have predicted the end of the world. Today, various religious groups, using the latest technology, are trying to hasten it. Their endgame is to speed the promised arrival of a messiah. For some Christians this means laying the groundwork for Armageddon. With that goal in mind, mega-church pastors recently met in Inglewood to polish strategies for using global communications and aircraft to transport missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission: to make every person on Earth aware of Jesus' message. Doing so, they believe, will bring about the end, perhaps within two decades. In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a far different vision. As mayor of Tehran in 2004, he spent millions on improvements to make the city more welcoming for the return of a Muslim messiah known as the Mahdi, according to a recent report by the American Foreign Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank. To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi was the last of the prophet Muhammad's true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful. Ahmadinejad hopes to welcome the Mahdi to Tehran within two years. Conversely, some Jewish groups in Jerusalem hope to clear the path for their own messiah by rebuilding a temple on a site now occupied by one of Islam's holiest shrines. Artisans have re-created priestly robes of white linen, gem-studded breastplates, silver trumpets and solid-gold menorahs to be used in the Holy Temple — along with two 6½-ton marble cornerstones for the building's foundation.

No Iran nuclear suspension even after talks

Iran is not considering a halt to its nuclear fuel program even after any negotiations with major powers, a senior Iranian official said on Friday. The Iranian Embassy in Vienna said Tehran's deputy nuclear negotiator had been misquoted in a German translation of a speech he gave on Thursday that raised the possibility of Iran stopping uranium enrichment as a result of negotiations. "Iran considers a suspension of uranium enrichment neither as a precondition for talks nor as a result of such talks," Javad Vaeedi told an Austrian think-tank, according to a corrected text of his speech provided by the embassy.

UN Chief: World 'Sleepwalking' Into Nuclear Fire

The world faces more atomic bombs and "a world in which a growing number of states feel obliged to arm themselves with nuclear weapons, and in which nonstate actors acquire the means to carry out nuclear terrorism," Annan said. "The international community seems almost to be sleepwalking down that latter path not by conscious choice, but rather through miscalculation, sterile debate and paralysis.

World scientists unite to attack creationism

The world's scientific community united yesterday to launch one of the strongest attacks yet on creationism, warning that the origins of life were being "concealed, denied or confused". The national science academies of 67 countries warned parents and teachers to ensure that they did not undermine the teaching of evolution or allow children to be taught that the world was created in six days. Some schools in the US hold that evolution is merely a theory while the Bible represents the literal truth. There have also been fears that these views are creeping into British schools. The statement, which the Royal Society signed on behalf of Britain's scientists, said: "We urge decision-makers, teachers and parents to educate all children about the methods and discoveries of science and foster an understanding of the science of nature. Knowledge of the natural world in which they live empowers people to meet human needs and protect the planet.

Episcopalians refuse affirmation of Christ

The House of Deputies of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church today overwhelmingly refused to even consider a resolution that affirmed Jesus Christ as the "only name by which any person may be saved." "This type of language was used in 1920s and 1930s to alienate the type of people who were executed. It was called the Holocaust. I understand the intent, but I ask you to allow the discharge to stay," said the Rev. Eugene C. McDowell, a graduate of Yale Divinity School and Canon Theologian for the Diocese of North Carolina.

Husband, Wife On Trial For Preaching

A husband and wife arrested while preaching on a corner in downtown Kansas City will get a new trial. Michael and Joy Wheeler spent a night in jail Nov. 7 after being arrested at the Kansas City Area Transit Authority's Transit Plaza on the corner of 10th and Main streets. Represented by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, the Wheelers appealed charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing. Michael Wheeler said he was sharing his faith, with his wife quietly praying alongside, when a Metro bus supervisor approached and told the couple to leave. The Wheelers began to pray, and police soon arrived to arrest them. Michael Wheeler was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct and Joy Wheeler was charged with disorderly conduct.

Police launch eye-in-the-sky technology above LA

Police launched the future of law enforcement into the smoggy Los Angeles sky on Friday in the form of a drone aircraft, bringing technology most commonly associated with combat zones to urban policing. The unmanned aerial vehicle, which looks like a child’s remote control toy and weighs about 5lb (2.3kg), is a prototype being tested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Police say the drone, called the SkySeer, will be able to accomplish tasks too dangerous for officers and free up helicopters for other missions. “This technology could be used to find missing children, search for lost hikers, or survey a fire zone,” said Commander Sid Heal, head of the Technology Exploration Project of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The SkySeer would also be a helpful tool to nab burglary suspects on rooftops and to chase down suspects fleeing on foot. The drone comes equipped with low-light and infrared capabilities and can fly at speeds up to 30mph (48kph) for 70 minutes. The plane collapses and can fit into a shoulder pack smaller than a golf bag. Its portability and ease of assembly could be a big advantage for law enforcement. “It’s basically a high-tech kite that field officers could set up in a matter of minutes,” said Heal.

N Korea threatens to ‘wipe out’ US forces

North Korea yesterday threatened to “mercilessly wipe out” US forces in case of war during a national meeting to mark leader Kim Jong-Il’s 42 years’ work at the ruling party. The threat, in a ruling party report carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came as North Korea was reportedly preparing to test-fire a long-range missile despite strong protests from the United States and its allies. Choe Thae Bok, a ranking Workers’ Party official, said Washington was “hell-bent on provocations of war of aggression” in the report to mark the 42nd anniversary of Kim’s start at the party, KCNA said. “If the enemies ignite a war eventually, the Korean army and people will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and give vent to the deep-rooted grudge of the nation,” Choe was quoted as telling the meeting. North Koreans are customarily advised to watch the televised event, according to Seoul officials. Japanese and South Korean media said North Korea was planning a missile test for this week.

New US church leader says homosexuality no sin

Newly elected leader of the U.S. Episcopal Church Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on Monday she believed homosexuality was no sin and homosexuals were created by God to love people of the same gender. Jefferts Schori, bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, was elected on Sunday as the first woman leader of the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church. the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. She will formally take office later this year. Interviewed on CNN, Jefferts Schori was asked if it was a sin to be homosexual. "I don't believe so. I believe that God creates us with different gifts. Each one of us comes into this world with a different collection of things that challenge us and things that give us joy and allow us to bless the world around us," she said. "Some people come into this world with affections ordered toward other people of the same gender and some people come into this world with affections directed at people of the other gender.

Mixing animal, human cells gets exotic

On the sun-splashed Caribbean island of St. Kitts, Yale University researchers are injecting millions of human brain cells into the heads of monkeys afflicted with Parkinson's disease. In China, there are 29 goats running around on a farm with human cells coursing through their organs, a result of scientists dropping human blood cells into goat embryos. The mixing of humans and animals in the name of medicine has been going on for decades. People are walking around with pig valves in their hearts and scientists have routinely injected human cells into lab mice to mimic diseases. But the research is becoming increasingly exotic as scientists work with the brains of mice, monkeys and other mammals and begin fiddling with the hot-button issue of cloning. Harvard University researchers are attempting to clone human embryonic cells in rabbit eggs.
Such work has triggered protests from social conservatives and others who fear the blurring of species lines, invoking the image of the chimera of Greek mythology, a monstrous mix of lion, goat and serpent.

Al-Qaeda 'planned US cyanide attack'

Al-Qaeda militants were within 45 days of launching a lethal cyanide attack on New York's subway system in early 2003, US intelligence sources suggest. But the attack, masterminded by Saudi militants, was called off by Osama Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Unnamed US officials confirmed their knowledge of the plot to the New York Times. The city's underground was placed on high alert in February 2003. CIA officials came to learn about the plot after members of the cell were arrested in Bahrain in February 2003. The plan was allegedly found on one of the computers they had been using. The device they planned to use would have released deadly hydrogen-cyanide gas using a remote trigger. "We were aware of the plot and took the appropriate precautions".

N. Korea appears close to testing missile

North Korea appeared close Sunday to test-firing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, prompting the White House to warn of an appropriate response and Japan to threaten a "fierce" protest to the United Nations. North Korea was silent on the issue but vowed to bolster its "military deterrent" in a burst of fiery rhetoric carried by its state news agency. A test launch of what is believed to be a Taepodong-2 missile would inflame a region already tense over the North's continuing nuclear weapons program. "There are signs" of an imminent missile launch, Jung Tae-ho, a spokesman at the South Korean president's office, told The Associated Press. He added that security officials were "closely watching the situation.

National ID Card A Future Biometric Job Requirement ?

President Bush, who supports the Senate bill, said recently that all foreign workers should have a secure ID card that proves they are who they say. That might mean U.S. citizens would not need any new documents. But Latino civil rights advocates, who have played a major role in pushing Congress to act on immigration, say a universal verification system would be more fair.

U.S. North Korean Missile Test Would Be Provocative Act

The Bush administration has served notice on North Korea that it would consider a long-range missile firing a provocative act, and it says U.S. officials are urging countries in the region to try to talk Pyongyang out of going ahead with such a test. The State Department went public with U.S. concerns following reports in the Japanese news media in recent days that there have been signs of preparations for a missile test since early last month. At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack would not say what information the United States has gathered about test preparations. But he made clear U.S. officials take the matter seriously, and that efforts are being made to dissuade North Korea from going ahead.

Mark Of The Beast Technology Really Catching On At Fast Rate

Rather than search their pockets for house keys, a Vancouver couple this winter implanted tiny computer chips in their hands. Now, with just a quick wave, the door opens.
No question it's convenient. Amal Graafstra says he can also start his computer with the chip instead of typing in a password. But it's also easy to imagine how quickly this new technology, radio frequency identification chips, could be put to more Orwellian use. Alberta Privacy Commissioner Frank Work says human chip implantation is inevitably coming to Canada, though there's been precious little debate about the ethics of putting such technology to work here. Many uses will be "well-intentioned" at first, says Work. But there are bound to be more troubling uses with serious implications for individual privacy, he says. In 2004, the U.S. approved the use of microchips for patients' health records, and a few hundred doctors have bought such chips for implantation. If you end up in the hospital emergency ward, the chip could be helpful to medical staff who could get an instant picture of your medical history. But who would have access to all the information? Will police or insurance companies also get it?
These microchips already end up coming home in the clothes you buy, although they aren't supposed to activate after they leave the store. Every new shirt will soon have a chip to allow for inventory control. The potential uses of the microchip for surveillance and security in police work are obvious, and both tempting and troubling. A U.S. company is touting the VeriChip, an identification tag injected into the flesh that could be used to verify a credit-card purchase. But the company is also marketing it as a way to identify immigrants and guest workers.

Government Ramps Up Data Mining

At the federal level, 52 government agencies had launched, or planned to begin, at least 199 data-mining projects as far back as 2004, according to a Government Accountability Office study. Most of the programs are used to improve services, such as detecting Medicare fraud and improving customer relations. But a growing number of agencies are exploring the technology to analyze intelligence.

Russian Stealth Aircraft to Appear in 2007

Russia will launch its first fifth-generation aircraft, which would be invisible to air-defense systems, in 2007, the commander of the country’s air force said Thursday. Several experimental models will take to the skies as early as 2007, but for now they will be equipped with intermediary engines,” Vladimir Mikhailov is quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying. “In the future they will get fifth-generation engines, development of which is ongoing.” He said fifth-generation engines would be created by 2010, but that: “If everything goes well, we will be able to complete work earlier.” Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said June 14 that Russia’s first fifth-generation plane could make its maiden flight in 2009. He said the air force’s financing would be increased in 2007, but did not name the exact figure.

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found in Iran by Bible Explorers

On June 5th, Bible Historian and explorer Bob Cornuke led an expedition of 15 geologists, historians, archeologists, scientists and attorneys on an exhausting mission 13,300 feet above sea level to locate and document the tremendous sections of what is thought to be Noah’s Ark located in the Ararat mountain range six hours North of Tehran, Iran. It had been essentially buried beneath the preservation of glaciers until last year when Iran recorded the hottest year on record which melted some of the snowcap revealing a 450 by 75-foot footprint of the “object.” Through mapping scriptures in Genesis with ancient maps, Cornuke pieced together the clues and found where the Ararat Mountain Range made home for Noah’s Ark in Northern Iran not far from Turkey. After crawling on hands and knees miles above the earth’s surface in four below zero weather, the expedition found an altar, which could very well be the altar Noah built because it was made from the same materials they later found in the Ark. They found grapevines over two inches think in the area, of which the DNA from the grapes is the oldest known to man. Genesis 9:20 says that Noah planted a vineyard. But most amazing was the ark itself. It was found in sections, somewhat like a house that had collapsed over the years. Sections of petrified wood 12 to 14 feet high and 40 feet long were found. They found a huge pile of timber, thought to be floors or walls, in four-to-six foot sections. Geologists took nine samples of the ark under the strict eye of a video team for analysis by the Smithsonian Institute. Over 23,000 feet of video was taken and will be released to the public. You can get your first glimpse of it on Fox News with John Kasich Saturday at 8:00pm Eastern time, according to the Cornuke team.

U.S. To Respond If North Korea Tests Missile

The top US envoy to South Korea warned Wednesday that Washington and its allies would ‘respond appropriately’ if North Korea test-fired a missile capable of reaching the United States. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said Washington was monitoring preparations for a long-range missile test that have reportedly been under way for more than a month at a remote launch pad in northeastern North Korea. ‘We really don't know what are the intentions of chairman Kim Jong-Il or any other military leaders in North Korea,’ Vershbow said in an interview with state-run KBS radio. ‘But as I said we want them to understand that tests in light of other problems that we have in our relations with North Korea will be viewed as a very serious matter and we will take appropriate measures in response.

Smallpox DNA Bought On The Internet

The Guardian Unlimited reports: “DNA sequences from some of the most deadly pathogens known to man can be bought over the internet, the Guardian has discovered. In an investigation which shows the ease with which terrorist organizations could obtain the basic ingredients of biological weapons, this newspaper obtained a short sequence of smallpox DNA. The deadly virus has existed only in laboratories since being eradicated from the world's population 30 years ago. The DNA sequence of smallpox, as well as other potentially dangerous pathogens such as poliovirus and 1918 flu are freely available in online public databases. So to build a virus from scratch, a terrorist would simply order consecutive lengths of DNA along the sequence and glue them together in the correct order. This is beyond the skills and equipment of the kitchen chemist, but could be achieved by a well-funded terrorist with access to a basic lab and PhD-level personnel. One study estimated that because most people on the planet have no resistance to the extinct virus, an initial release which infected just 10 people would spread to 2.2 million people in 180 days.

VeriChip For Immigrants - No buying or selling without it

Applied Digital CEO, Scott Silverman said, “We are exploring a guest worker application we believe is appropriate to help the U.S. with its current immigration crisis." Using VeriChip’s secure implantable RFID technology, the Department of Homeland Security can ensure that a secure, tamper-proof system is in place to identify, register and confirm guest worker credentials at the border or at an employer’s premises (an "employer's premise" = no income for buying and selling without chip).

Google Building Monster Supercomputer

On the banks of the windswept Columbia River, Google is working on a secret weapon in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing. But it is hard to keep a secret when it is as big as two football fields, with twin cooling towers protruding four stories into the sky. The towers, looming like an information-age nuclear plant, mark the site of what may soon be one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, helping to supply the ever-greater horsepower needed to process billions of search queries a day and a growing repertory of other Internet services. And odd as it may seem, the barren desert land surrounding the Columbia along the Oregon-Washington border - at the intersection of low-cost electricity and readily accessible data networking - is the backdrop for a multibillion-dollar face-off among Google, Microsoft and Yahoo that will determine dominance in the online world in the years ahead. Microsoft and Yahoo have announced they are building giant data centers upstream in Washington State, 130 miles to the north. But Google is doing something radically different here. The very need for two cooling towers, each connected to a football field-sized data center, is evidence of its extraordinary ambition. As imposing as Google's new Oregon data center is, when it opens it will only be a piece of a worldwide computing system known as the Googleplex, which is tied together by strands of fiber optic cables. A similar computing center has recently been completed in Atlanta. "Google has constructed the biggest computer in the world, and it's a hidden asset," said Danny Hillis, a supercomputing pioneer and the cofounder of Applied Minds, a technology consulting firm, referring to the Googleplex.

TERMINATOR Hunter-Killer Machines Coming True At A Fast Rate

War is about to change, in terrifying ways. America's next wars, the ones the Pentagon is now planning, will be fought by hunter-killer machines that think and kill on their own. Much of the hardware and software is in place and the race to produce the rest of it is on such a fast pace scale that US officials are calling it the "new Manhattan Project". Already there are killing machines operating by remote control. Soon the machines will be able to kill on their own initiative. War is about to change, in terrifying ways. America's next wars, the ones the Pentagon is now planning, will be nothing like the conflicts that have gone before them. In just a few years, US forces will be able to deal out death, not at the squeeze of a trigger or even the push of a button, but with no human intervention whatsoever. Many fighting soldiers - those GIs in tin hats who are dying two a day in Iraq - will be replaced by machines backed up by surveillance technology so penetrating and pervasive that it is referred to as "military omniscience". Any Americans involved will be less likely to carry rifles than PlayStation-style consoles and monitors that display simulated streetscapes of the kind familiar to players of Grand Theft Auto - and they may be miles from where the killing takes place.

Asteroid-watchers worry about cosmic Katrina

Natural events such as hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes rock this planet from time to time. But when Earth gets stoned by an asteroid, consider it akin to a Katrina from outer space. When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the United States in August of last year, it became a deadly, destructive, and costly episode — one that has also become a metaphor for lack of government action, both pre- and post-strike. At the current time there is no agency of the U.S. government — or of any other government in the world — that has the explicit responsibility to develop and demonstrate the technology necessary to protect the planet from collisions with near-Earth objects, or NEOs.

Microchips in humans inevitable

Imagine a world where you're taken unconscious and with no identification to a hospital. The doctor scans the microchip implanted in your shoulder, downloads your medical identification number and links up with a secure network that says you're a diabetic and allergic to Tylenol. In a world where more than 230 physicians in the United States have bought microchips for implantation in patients, and where a club owner in Spain offers to implant VIP chips into posh people so they don't need to carry credit cards or identification. "This is all happening relatively quickly," said Ian Kerr, an expert in ethics, law and technology who spoke Friday at the Access and Privacy Conference in Edmonton. "I don't think we're that far off." People in the U.S. can have $100 to $200 radio frequency microchips inserted under their skin. The rice-sized implant releases a patient-specific code when it is scanned. With that code, an authorized health-care professional can then link up to a network to find information on the patient's medications or prior treatments. In the U.S., 97 health-care facilities and 230 physicians have jumped aboard. Harvard Medical School's chief information officer had one implanted in his body. Mexico's attorney general did the same thing so that he could access secure areas in his office. uch a chip on equipment in a hospital say, a rare mobile cardiac machine also could help doctors find the machines quickly in an emergency. Wal-Mart is looking into similar technology to track inventory and microchips are already used in pets. A school near Sacramento, Calif., outraged parents when administrators made students wear identification badges outfitted with microchips. When the students walked through doors equipped with chip readers, teachers could monitor the students' whereabouts through their palm pilots. "Worried or scared, you know that if there is an advantage to it, either economic or medical, someone is going to perfect it," Work said. "Someone is going to bring it to a point where it can be used in the near future. "We'll do it in a well-intentioned way, wanting to look after people. But like with anything, as soon as you bring in the well-intentioned application, someone will figure out the evil application.

Iran Engaged In Secret Nuke Project

New evidence has come to light indicating that Iran is engaged in an as-yet-undeclared nuclear development project intended for military use. The project, codenamed Zirzamin 27, has caused concern among nuclear experts in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, who are demanding a full disclosure from Iran. Ever since 2003, when UN inspectors found enriched uranium at the Teheran-area Lavizan military base, many have suspected Iran of developing a secret military nuclear program. Now, evidence suggests that this is, in fact, the case-that the Iranians have moved the Lavizan project to a new, top-secret site outside Teheran. Although the exact location of the project is unknown, the name Zirzamin-’basement’ in Farsi- implies that the research laboratories involved in the project are underground. IAEA officials are currently studying reports of Zirzamin 27's activities.

North Korea threatens to "punish" US over spy flights

North Korea's Air Force Command has threatened to "punish" the United States for its spy flights over the communist state, recalling the fate of a US Navy plane it shot down 37 years ago. In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, the air force said that a US RC-135 reconnaissance plane had made flights over its territorial waters on June 6, 8 and 10. Describing the alleged US espionage flights as "openly crying out for a preemptive attack" on the communist state, the command warned of a possible repeat of 1969, when it shot down another US Navy plane, killing all 31 crew. "The (North Korean) Air Force seriously warns the US imperialists that it will sternly punish the aggressors if their planes continue illegally intruding into the sky ... on espionage missions," it said.

China's thirst for oil rattles old order

China's surging appetite for energy is engraved in the landscape of this gritty port city: waterfront piles of coal, gas pipes snaking along grimy roads, and tankers anchored amid islands where pirates once lurked. Zhenhai is at the heart of a global energy revolution. As China's leading oil receiving center, the city provides this nation of 1.3 billion people with hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude per day to feed its galloping economy. The shifting pattern of energy consumption is rattling Washington and aggravating an already intense rivalry with neighboring Japan over access to oil and gas supplies, adding to tensions in an already volatile region. "The global demand for oil has been rising faster than supply because there's new economies that are beginning to gin up, new economies growing, like China and India.

Record meteorite hit Norway

At around 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, residents of the northern part of Troms and the western areas of Finnmark could clearly see a ball of fire taking several seconds to travel across the sky. A few minutes later an impact could be heard and geophysics and seismology research foundation NORSAR registered a powerful sound and seismic disturbances at 02:13.25 a.m. at their station in Karasjok. Farmer Peter Bruvold was out on his farm in Lyngseidet with a camera because his mare Virika was about to foal for the first time. "I saw a brilliant flash of light in the sky, and this became a light with a tail of smoke," Bruvold told Aftenposten.no. He photographed the object and then continued to tend to his animals when he heard an enormous crash. "I heard the bang seven minutes later. It sounded like when you set off a solid charge of dynamite a kilometer (0.62 miles) away," Bruvold said. The meteorite hit a mountainside in Reisadalen in North Troms. "This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the (atomic) bomb," Røed Ødegaard said.

Physicists probe the fifth dimension

The cosmos would make perfect sense if it turns out we're living in a 10- or 11-dimensional realm where gravity is bubbling off a different plane entirely. At least that's what's emerging as the hottest concept on the frontier of physics. Though these sound like virtually unverifiable claims, physicists are trying to come up with ways to gather evidence to back up or disprove the extradimensional theories currently in vogue. But it’ll take several years to get that evidence, if it can be gotten at all. The claim that the cosmos has more than the four dimensions we can perceive — that is, three spatial dimensions plus time — is exotic enough. But the quest to prove that claim brings in a virtual menagerie of mysteries: mini-black holes and dark matter, gravitational waves and cosmic inflation, super-high-energy particle collisions and ultra-powerful gamma-ray bursts.

Hamas fires rockets at Israel, ending truce

Hamas fired rockets at Israel on Saturday, formally ending a 16-month-old truce, after seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach were killed by Israeli shelling. Thousands of Palestinian mourners wept with 7-year-old Huda Ghalya as she kneeled to kiss her dead father before he, her mother and three siblings were buried in northern Gaza. The five, including a 4-month-old, a 3-year-old and a 10-year-old, were among the seven killed during a seaside outing on Friday after Israeli gunboats shelled the area to curb cross-border rocket fire. Twenty people were wounded.

Atheist to take over pulpit at Parkview Church

Hemant Mehta proved he didn't mind putting himself out there when he auctioned his soul to the highest bidder over the Internet earlier this year. Now the 23-year-old self-avowed atheist is putting himself back in the spotlight. He will take center stage during services at Parkview Christian Church. The Sandburg High School graduate and the Rev. Tim Harlow most likely will tackle controversial topics such as evolution, intelligent design, gay rights, heaven and hell. Mehta said he's "a little nervous" about trying to answer questions on behalf of atheists in front of "thousands of people who disagree with me" at the mega-Evangelical church. "I'm not expecting to change anyone's mind," the DePaul graduate student said. "I'm hoping they will see what it's like to be an atheist, and that (we) just want to be respected like anyone else.

China Detains 28 Christians During Raid on Unauthorized Church

Chinese authorities detained 28 Christians in a raid on a non-government-authorized church service at a private home, an overseas monitoring group said Friday. Three members of the congregation, including the host and the presiding minister, were still being held following the May 28 action in Henan province, reported the Texas-based China Aid Association. All others have been released, some after paying fines of 1,600 yuan (US$200;euro157), said the group. Host Chen Xuelan, 58, another woman, 55-year-old Cao Yan, and pastor Li Shunmin were being held at the Bayi prison in Henan's Fugou township, the association said. Police produced no identification or legal documentation during the raid, and confiscated Bibles and notebooks belonging to the congregation without issuing required receipts, the report said.

MPAA places Christianity in same category as sex, violence, profanity

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is now warning parents of movies which contain a reference to the Christian faith, equating Christianity as being on the same level of sex, violence and profanity when it comes to objectionable material. The MPAA is controlled by Hollywood moguls known for their bitter opposition to Christianity. A new family film featuring miracles and a pro-God theme has earned the PG rating because it would offend non-believers. The MPAA refuses to give movies which promote the homosexual lifestyle a similar warning. In other words, MPAA warns parents if a movie has Christianity presented in a positive manner but refuses to warn them if homosexuality is presented in a positive manner.

NextGen to build morphing UAV

NextGen Aeronautics is to build a small unmanned air vehicle able to change shape in flight under the next phase of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) morphing aircraft structures programme. The 90kg (200lb) autonomous vehicle will demonstrate NextGen’s morphing wing in flight. Award of a contract for Phase 3 of the DARPA technology demonstration follows “enormously successful” windtunnel tests of a full-scale model of NextGen’s wing, says president Jay Kudva. The wing, which has an articulating lattice structure covered with a stretchable reinforced skin, was tested at speeds up to Mach 0.92 and “very high” dynamic pressures. The model demonstrated morphing from 15° to 45° sweep – wing chord and area changing by a factor of almost two – in just 10s, he says.

Call For No-Consent Euthanasia In The UK

One of the country's leading experts on medical ethics today calls for doctors to be able to end the lives of some terminally ill patients ‘swiftly, humanely and without guilt’ - even if they have not given consent. Len Doyal, emeritus professor of medical ethics at Queen Mary, University of London, takes the euthanasia debate into new and highly contentious territory. He says doctors should recognize that they are already killing patients when they remove feeding tubes from those whose lives are judged to be no longer worth living. Some will suffer a ‘slow and distressing death’ as a result. It would be better if their lives were ended without this unnecessary delay, Professor Doyal writes in an article in Clinical Ethics, published by the Royal Society of Medicine. He calls for the law and professional guidance to be changed.

China Reports New Bird Flu Outbreak In Poultry

China has confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in poultry in the western Xinjiang region. State media say the virus was identified after domestic poultry died at a farm in Hetian County. Officials confirmed the cause of death was the deadly H5N1 viral strain. Wednesday, Asian and Pacific nations held a 24-hour disaster exercise, to practice coordinating information about managing a bird flu outbreak. Indonesia and Vietnam have suffered significant human losses from bird flu cases believed to have been transmitted from bird to human. The World Health Organization is investigating whether the deaths of seven members of one family in Indonesia could be linked to human-to-human transmission of the virus.

Over One-Third of Russians See U.S. as the Enemy

On Tuesday the Yuri Levada polling center released the results of their yearly opinion poll, in which Russians were asked which countries they consider to be friends or enemies. According to Komsomol’skaya Pravda, in this year’s poll, Russians warmed up a bit to China and Kazakhstan, but strongly grew cold towards the U.S., Ukraine, Moldova and Poland. Incidentally, Russians were inclined to consider Ukraine as both a friend and an enemy. That is to say, either it is yet to be determined what the Russian attitude is to their closest neighbor, or, perhaps it is Ukraine’s unpredictable politics that are affecting Russians’ attitudes.

Hamas amassing large stockpiles of weapons

Hamas has been amassing large stockpiles of weapons so its members will be ready to launch attacks immediately should its leadership decide to end a long-term truce with Israel, according to Israeli security officials. The report follows a WorldNetDaily exclusive interview in which Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, stated his group is developing electronically guided missiles to target Jewish communities and is seeking the ability to fly explosive-laden airplanes 9/11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers.

Largest Apocalyptic "Continuity of Government" Exercise To Be Conducted

On Monday, June 19, about 4,000 government workers representing more than 50 federal agencies from the State Department to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will say goodbye to their families and set off for dozens of classified emergency facilities stretching from the Maryland and Virginia suburbs to the foothills of the Alleghenies. They will take to the bunkers in an "evacuation" that my sources describe as the largest "continuity of government" exercise ever conducted, a drill intended to prepare the U.S. government for an event even more catastrophic than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The exercise is the latest manifestation of an obsession with government survival that has been a hallmark of the Bush administration since 9/11, a focus of enormous and often absurd time, money and effort that has come to echo the worst follies of the Cold War. The vast secret operation has updated the duck-and-cover scenarios of the 1950s with state-of-the-art technology -- alerts and updates delivered by pager and PDA, wireless priority service, video teleconferencing, remote backups -- to ensure that "essential" government functions continue undisrupted should a terrorist's nuclear bomb go off in downtown Washington.

Hamas trying to add toxic chemicals to bombs

Hamas operatives in the West Bank have experimented with adding toxic chemicals to their bombs, security sources told Haaretz yesterday. The sources said the experiments have involved relatively simple chemicals, and as far as is known, the organization is not yet able to integrate such agents into its bombs effectively. However, they said, Hamas' West Bank cells include several skilled bombmakers who are investing great effort in trying to upgrade their weapons. The organization also is amassing large stocks of explosives so operatives will be ready to launch attacks immediately should its leadership decide to end the security "lull," the sources added.

Is The Apocalypse Upon Us?

Are current events really evidence that the end of human existence is coming? Do highly destructive weather patterns, devastating earthquakes, emerging new diseases and man-made disasters foretell a pending apocalypse? Are the predictions throughout human history of the coming end of the world fact or fiction? Events that have some people wondering about the end times include a record-setting hurricane season last year, and a 500 percent increase in tornadoes over the normal U.S. average so far during 2006. Predictions of global warming, the threat of a worldwide bird flu pandemic, increase in earthquakes over the past decade, and today is 06/06/06.

Backing for baby cloning to beat disease

A proposal to create babies that are both cloned and genetically altered to prevent serious hereditary disease is outlined today by the leader of the team that created Dolly the sheep. Ever since news that Dolly had been cloned from an adult cell made headlines around the world, Prof Ian Wilmut has repeatedly said he is "implacably opposed" to cloning a human being. But in his forthcoming book After Dolly, serialised today in The Daily Telegraph, he argues that, when the techniques are shown to be safe, society should consider cloning with genetic modification to prevent the birth of babies with serious diseases. The Edinburgh University professor argues in the book, written with the Telegraph's science editor, Roger Highfield, that cloning an IVF embryo consisting of 100 or so cells is not the same as cloning a person.

Russia Can Use Energy as Diplomatic Weapon

Russia could use energy as a diplomatic weapon to achieve foreign-policy objectives but rejects the idea that a new Cold War has started, the chairman of the upper chamber of parliament’s international affairs committee Mikhail Margelov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying Monday. Russia has been subjected to increasing criticism of its use of mineral reserves — U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accused it of using energy to blackmail other states in a vitriolic attack in May — but senior officials in Moscow have dismissed the notion. As mutual criticism continued, some Western media said that sides are engaged in an exchange of rhetoric that almost matches the bad old days of the Cold War.

Toronto Terror Plot Foiled

Canadian police said on Saturday they had halted a ‘real and serious’ terror threat in and around Toronto. Twelve men and five youths said to have been inspired by al Qaeda were arrested in the operation involving hundreds of officers, authorities said. The group was ‘planning to commit a series of terrorist attacks against solely Canadian targets in southern Ontario,’ Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said at a news conference. ‘This group took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate and other components necessary to create explosive devices,’ he said. ‘To put this in context, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people took one ton of ammonium nitrate.

Iran hints it may use oil weapon in nuclear row

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the world's fourth largest oil exporter, said on Sunday that if the United States makes a "wrong move" toward Iran, energy flows in the region would be endangered. Iranian officials have in the past ruled out using oil as a weapon in Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, but Khamenei's comments suggested Iran could disrupt supplies if pushed. His remarks, which are likely to unsettle wary oil markets, come days before EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due to deliver a package of incentives agreed by six world powers and designed to persuade Iran to abandon plans to make nuclear fuel. "If you (the United States) make a wrong move regarding Iran, definitely the energy flow in this region will be seriously endangered," Khamenei, who has the last word in all matters of state, said in a speech which discussed the dispute.

EU's Solana set to take nuclear offer to Iran

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will soon present Iran with the incentives agreed by major powers to try to persuade Tehran to end nuclear fuel development, his spokeswoman said on Saturday. Iran said the plan might offer a way forward, but insisted it would not give up uranium enrichment -- which the West is demanding as proof that it is not developing nuclear weapons. The incentives were agreed on Thursday by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China -- plus Germany. Solana's spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said no date had been set for the trip. However, Solana plans to be in the Middle East on Sunday and on Monday.

China to rival US as world power by 2020

The United States will lose its position as the world's undisputed leading power over the next decade and a half, with China emerging as a formidable rival, according to a new survey from Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation. In the survey, based on interviews of 10,250 people worldwide, 57 percent of respondents said they believed the United States would be a world power in the year 2020 compared to 55 percent who saw China in that role. That compared to 81 percent who currently see the United States as a world power and 45 percent who believe China has already attained that status.

Iran could direct Hezbollah to attack U.S.

If cornered by the West over its nuclear program, Iran could direct Hezbollah to enlist its widespread international support network to aid in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials say. In interviews, several Western intelligence officials said they have seen signs that Hezbollah's fundraisers, recruiters and criminal elements could be adapted to provide logistical help to terrorist operatives. Such help could include obtaining forged travel documents or off-the-shelf technology - global positioning equipment and night goggles, for example - that could be used for military purposes.

Proposal to Implant Tracking Chips in Immigrants

Scott Silverman, Chairman of the Board of VeriChip Corporation, has proposed implanting the company's RFID tracking tags in immigrant and guest workers. He made the statement on national television on May 16. Silverman was being interviewed on "Fox & Friends." Responding to the Bush administration's call to know "who is in our country and why they are here," he proposed using VeriChip RFID implants to register workers at the border, and then verify their identities in the workplace. He added, "We have talked to many people in Washington about using it. The VeriChip is a very small Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag about the size of a large grain of rice. It can be injected directly into the body; a special coating on the casing helps the VeriChip bond with living tissue and stay in place. A special RFID reader broadcasts a signal, and the antenna in the VeriChip draws power from the signal and sends its data. The VeriChip is a passive RFID tag; since it does not require a battery, it has a virtually unlimited life span. RFID tags have long been used to identify animals in a variety of settings; livestock, laboratory animals and pets have been "chipped" for decades. Privacy advocates have long expressed concerns about this technology being used in human beings.

Russia plans to spend $186 billion on arms by 2015

Russia will spend $186 billion on buying arms between next year and 2015, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying on Friday. "Over nine years almost 5 trillion roubles ($186 billion) will be apportioned," Interfax news agency quoted him as telling a meeting of the government military-industrial commission, which he heads. "What matters is what the money is spent on, that it is spent effectively," Ivanov, also a deputy prime minister, added. He gave no further details. Domestic orders would be a boost to an arms industry that is fighting to recover from a post-Soviet decline.

Mandatory Smart Cards For Childcare Centers

Parents will be given a pin number or swipe card to check their children in and out of childcare under the plan. The scheme, which should be up and running within two years, will also provide the Department of Family and Community Services with information on what types of care parents are using, for how many hours a week, and where the shortages are.

Bio Warfare Arms Race Begins in Maryland

Ft. Detrick in Frederick, MD, just 45 miles away from the nation’s capitol, is going through a massive expansion into the largest bio-weapons facility in the world. The federal government is installing a 220 acre campus that will bring together numerous federal agencies anchored by a massive U.S. Army building – 22 acres in size. The National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC) is likely to ignite a bio-weapons arms race.

North Korea invites US envoy, issues "strongest" threat

North Korea invited US envoy Christopher Hill to Pyongyang in an apparent bid to renew stalled talks over its nuclear weapons programme. But it also threatened to take the "strongest" but unspecified measure if Washington maintained a "hostile policy" towards the Stalinist state. It said Hill, a US assistant secretary of state, would be welcome in Pyongyang if Washington sincerely wanted to uphold a joint statement agreed last September at six-party nuclear disarmament talks. "If the United States has sincerely made a political decision to implement the joint statement, we again invite the US chief delegate to six-way talks to visit Pyongyang and explain it directly to us," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency.

Iran to build two more nuclear plants

Iran plans to build two 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactors and will solicit bids within the next two months, a senior official said on Wednesday. The tender will be open to domestic and international firms. The decision to build two more nuclear plants comes amid mounting Western pressure on the Islamic state to suspend its uranium enrichment work. "We want to build two nuclear power plants through an international tender," said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. "Iranian and international companies can participate in the tender, which will be within the next two months," he added. He did not say where the reactors would be located.

Russia-China Relations at Unprecedented High

Relations between giant neighbors China and Russia have reached an unprecedented high, China’s president said in comments published on Wednesday ahead of a regional security forum summit. President Hu Jintao also called Russia China’s most important strategic cooperation partner in an interview with journalists from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups the two with the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. “Relations between the two countries have reached unprecedented levels,” Hu said, in comments that were carried on the Foreign Ministry’s website. “The volume of bilateral trade has had seven years of extremely high growth and cooperation in the fields of energy and investment has made great progress,” he said.

Haniyeh Calls U.S. 'An Enemy Of Islam'

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called the US an ‘enemy of Islam,’ an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. ‘Washington is doing its utmost to ensure the failure of the Hamas-led Palestinian government,’ claimed Haniyeh. The PA prime minister added that the US's decision to attack Muslims was ‘influenced by the Zionist lobby.’ He rejected the assessments of an imminent civil war between Hamas and Fatah, saying ‘We have only one enemy - the Israeli occupiers.’ Still, PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar rejected the ultimatum laid down last week by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who warned he would take the initiative, drafted by Marwan Barghouti and other security prisoners, to a national referendum if Hamas did not accept it. Zahar called the referendum a waste of time and a waste of money.

Iran is providing Hizbullah with the best and latest of its weapons

Israel has reported the transfer of an advanced Iranian-origin rocket to Hizbullah. Israeli officials said the unnamed rocket was the most advanced in Hizbullah's arsenal and could strike major population centers. They deemed the rocket the first strategic weapon of Hizbullah. ‘Iran is providing Hizbullah with the best and latest of its weapons,’ an official said. ‘It's clear that Iran sees Hizbullah as its strategic arm in the Middle East.’ The unguided rocket was believed to be an advanced version of the Fajr-5, with a range of more than 100 kilometers. Officials said the latest weapon for Hizbullah has a range of 200 kilometers and is propelled by solid fuel.