1. Where is the United States in
Prophecy?
Your Tax Dollars at Work in Gaza
The confusing and complex campaign for aid to a pro-terror Palestinian Authority. Last week, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that American officials are again pressing Congress to open up the U.S. aid pipeline to the Palestinian Authority. If the plea sounds familiar, it ought to. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, Americans have been subsidizing the activities of the P.A. to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Today, as in the past, the arguments in favor of this policy are urgent. We are told by both administration officials who are friends of Israel and by some Israelis that unless we help fund the training and the payment of Palestinian security forces, the P.A. will have no way to cope with terrorists who want to sink any chance of a two-state solution which would enable Israel to live side-by-side with a peaceful Palestinian partner. With Hamas in control of Gaza, the P.A., under the current leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, is, we are informed, the only address for creating a moderate force that will work for peace. Given the alternative of the Iranian-backed Hamas or the equally unpalatable choices of either Israel reoccupying the territories or an international peacekeeping force doing so, reinforcing the P.A. seems to make sense. But does it really?
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If Foreigners Could Vote in '08
For America's presidential candidates, the global electoral map is looking as divided as the domestic one. When foreigners look at the three contenders, Sen. Barack Obama seems to have the lead among Europeans and Africans. Sen. Hillary Clinton is popular among Mexicans and Chinese. Sen. John McCain just returned from a campaign swing through the Middle East and Europe. U.S. presidential contests often attract interest from foreign countries. The world's sole superpower has such an impact on the globe that, as a Belgian newspaper recently suggested, the rest of the world may feel it should be allowed to vote, too. This time around, all three candidates have made restoring America's stature abroad a key part of their foreign-policy platforms, making overseas opinions of the U.S. of greater interest to American voters. And the fact that Sen. Obama -- a man with African and Muslim roots and an Arabic middle name, Hussein -- could become U.S. president has created buzz around the world. In Germany, the title of a recent book, "Obama: the Black Kennedy," echoes frequent newspaper headlines comparing Sen. Obama with Germany's favorite former U.S. president. In Kenya, the homeland of Sen. Obama's father, people order the local beer, Senator, by asking for an "Obama." As in the U.S., however, some people elsewhere harbor doubts about both Sen. Obama's experience and his policies. In China and Mexico, two countries with economies that rely on exports to the U.S., people fret over the senator's antitrade rhetoric and largely back Sen. Clinton on the assumption she will follow her husband's free-trade
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2. Israel - God's Timepiece
U.S. road map monitors: PA failing in fight against terror
The American officers responsible for monitoring Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the road map peace plan recently criticized the Palestinian Authority's counterterrorism efforts. Specifically, the Americans are concerned that the PA does not engage in the full spectrum of counterterrorism activities, including arrests, interrogation and trial, as it would if it were trying to eradicate the armed wings of Islamic terrorist organizations. Instead, it makes do with trying to "contain" terror - to prevent specific attacks, and to keep Hamas from growing strong enough to threaten Fatah's rule in the West Bank. The PA security services do occasionally arrest members of Islamic organizations, but they do not then follow up with the other steps in the "chain of prevention": interrogations, arrests of additional operatives, indictments and trials. Trials generally take place only if the PA is under external pressure, as in the case of the Palestinians who killed two off-duty soldiers out on a hike near Hebron three months ago. And when they do take place, they are generally hasty affairs. Israel has been complaining about the lack of a "chain of prevention" for years, ever since the second intifada broke out in 2000. Now, it seems that the American monitoring team, headed by General William Fraser, has adopted Jerusalem's position on this issue.........
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Report: Iranian, Syrian missiles to pound Israel in next war
Hundreds of dead, thousands of injured, missile barrages on central Israel, full paralysis at Ben-Gurion Airport, constantly bombed roads, nationwide power outages that last for long hours, and whole regions' water supply being cut off – this is what the next war could look like. A secret report recently distributed among government ministries and local municipalities details various wartime scenarios. The report deals with very harsh possibilities, including some that are downright horrifying, formulated as part of the lessons drawn in the wake of the Second Lebanon War. Notably, the document does not aim to predict future developments with certainty, but rather, only aims to serve as a guideline for civilian war preparations. The above assessment is characterized as a "severe reasonable scenario" – that is, it is not the gravest scenario, but also not the most favorable. According to this scenario, the war will last for about a month and will include the participation of Syria (military operations on the Golan Heights front and the firing of many Scud missiles at the home front,) Lebanon (the firing of thousands of Hizbullah rockets at the Galilee and Haifa as well long-range missiles at central Israel,) and the Palestinian Authority (relatively limited conflict that would include short-range rockets fired from Gaza and the West Bank as well as terror attacks such as suicide bombings within Israel.)........
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Study projects 10m Israelis by 2030
Israel's population is expected to grow from around 7 million today to between 9.6 and 10.6 million by 2030, according to estimates released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. The exhibited projection, based on 2005 population statistics, was also derived from three possible options - high, middle and low - differentiated by various assessments of differing components of population growth. According to the middle option, the average annual growth rate between 2006 and 2030 will be 1.4 percent. and the proportion of Jews is expected to rise by 1.2%. Ninety-three percent of the projected growth is estimated to be derived from natural growth, while the remaining 7% is expected to be the result of immigration. The number of Jews in 2030 is expected to stand at 7.2 million (72% of the population), up from 5.3 million at the end of 2005 (76%). Correspondingly, the number of Arabs is expected to be 2.4 million by 2030 (24% of the population), up from 1.4 million in 2005 (20%)............read
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Palestinian poll reveals why land for peace is flawed
On the evening of March 6 in Jerusalem, a heavily armed Palestinian terrorist from nearby East Jerusalem entered the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and opened fire on the unarmed teenaged students studying there. Eight died, and 11 were badly wounded before another student and an off-duty soldier shot the terrorist. The atrocity ignited wild celebrations in Gaza. If you thought the celebrations were anomalous, you might want to know about recent findings just published by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an independent polling organization based on the West Bank. According to its polls, 84 percent of Palestinians approved of this attack. Moreover, 64 percent approve of Hamas randomly firing rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israeli communities and 75 percent favor ending negotiations between their leaders and the Israeli government. In September 2005, Israel in an irenic gesture withdrew its military from Gaza, but since then it has endured some 2,500 rocket attacks from Gaza and almost an equal number of mortar attacks. I wonder if 64 percent of the Palestinians would approve if Israel began reciprocal random attacks on Gaza. What is the old line, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"...........
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Obama advisor: US Jews hinder peace
General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, Senator Barack Obama's military advisor and co-chair of his presidential campaign is a longtime anti-Israeli critic who has slammed Israel harshly during his career, according to an inquiry by conservative American media outlets. McPeak, who served as the chief of staff to the US Air Force before retiring in 1994, made headlines over the past week after accusing former President Bill Clinton of McCarthyism. Yet as it turns out, over the years he has criticized Israel for failing to withdraw to the 1967 borders and charged American Jews were preventing American pressure that would lead to a Mideast peace agreement. The examination of McPeak's career, undertaken by conservative magazine American Spectator, revealed McPeak appears to take great pleasure in slamming Israel and pro-Israel Jews. In an interview with The Oregonion about five years ago, McPeak argued that the influence exerted by American Jews is responsible for the lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. According to the general the problem was New York and Miami. "We have a large vote here in favor of Israel. And no politician wants to run against it," he said. McPeak also charged that Jews and Christian Zionists manipulated American foreign policy in Iraq.........
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Canada's lone voice against UN discriminatinon of Israel
The lead human rights body of the United Nations Wednesday picked a Jewish academic to monitor Israeli treatment of Palestinians - but Canada said he was the wrong man for the job. An emeritus professor at Princeton University, Richard Falk has compared Israeli actions affecting Palestinians to the Nazi persecution of Europe's Jews. Canada used its seat on the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to question his commitment to "impartiality and objectivity" as the next Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories. Arab and Islamic states had been keen to see him named to the post, which carries a mandate to investigate "Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law." "Canada has serious concerns about whether the high standards established by the council will be able to be met by this individual," said Marius Grinius, the Canadian delegate, as the council endorsed Falk among a series of other monitoring appointments. "It is with disappointment, therefore, that Canada dissociates itself from any council decision to approve the full slate.".........
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4.
Gog/Magog War
Russia set on Mideast parley, whether Israel likes it or not
Russia is determined to go ahead with an international Middle East conference in Moscow in June whether Israel likes it or not, government sources told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, summing up Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit here last week. The sources characterized Lavrov's one-day visit last Thursday as "nasty," saying the Russian minister was agitated throughout his meetings with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and President Shimon Peres. He was, the sources said, in a slightly better mood during his talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. According to the sources, Russia's determination to go ahead with the conference - despite a decidedly cool, though officially noncommittal, reception to the idea from both Israel and the US - stemmed from Moscow's assessment that it desperately needed to increase its involvement in the Middle East and "make its mark" in the region. Moscow wants to dramatically increase its role and influence in the region. According to the source, a nuclear cooperation deal Russia signed with Egypt during Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Russia on Tuesday was also aimed at gaining influence in the region. Moscow, according to Israeli officials, saw arms sales and nuclear technology as a way to once again assert its presence and gain leverage in the Middle East, as it had during the period of the Soviet Union...
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Iran helps Hezbollah dramatically increase rocket range, Dimona now in sights
With Iranian backing, Hezbollah guerrillas have dramatically increased their rocket range and can now threaten most of Israel, senior Israeli defense officials said. The Lebanese group has acquired new Iranian rockets with a range of about 185 miles, the officials said Wednesday. That means the guerrillas can hit anywhere in Israel's heavily populated center and reach as far south as Dimona, where Israel's nuclear reactor is located. When Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006, Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel. The longest-range rockets fired, which Israel said were Iranian-made, hit some 45 miles inside Israel. Although Israel's air force managed to take out most of the group's long-range rockets, the military failed throughout the war to halt the short-range rocket fire that paralyzed northern Israel and killed 40 Israeli civilians..
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5.
Apostate Christianity
Pastor promotes a Christianity without Christ
That triumphal barnburner of an Easter hymn, Jesus Christ Has Risen Today - Hallelujah, this morning will rock the walls of Toronto's West Hill United Church as it will in most Christian churches across the country. But at West Hill on the faith's holiest day, it will be done with a huge difference. The words "Jesus Christ" will be excised from what the congregation sings and replaced with "Glorious hope." Thus, it will be hope that is declared to be resurrected - an expression of renewal of optimism and the human spirit - but not Jesus, contrary to Christianity's central tenet about the return to life on Easter morning of the crucified divine son of God. Generally speaking, no divine anybody makes an appearance in West Hill's Sunday service liturgy. There is no authoritative Big-Godism, as Rev. Gretta Vosper, West Hill's minister for the past 10 years, puts it. No petitionary prayers. No miracles-performing magic Jesus given birth by a virgin and coming back to life. No references to salvation, Christianity's teaching of the final victory over death through belief in Jesus's death as an atonement for sin and the omnipotent love of God. For that matter, no omnipotent God, or god. Ms. Vosper has written a book, published this week - With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe - in which she argues that the Christian church, in the form in which it exists today, has outlived its viability and either it sheds its no-longer credible myths, doctrines and dogmas, or it's toast. She is considered one of the bright, if unconventional, minds within the United Church, Canada's largest Protestant Christian denomination. She holds a master of divinity degree from Queen's University and was ordained in 1992. She founded and chairs the Toronto-based Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity.
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Obama contends belief in Jesus Christ not necessary for salvation
Senator Barack Obama has told an audience that although he believes Christ died for his sins, those who reject that teaching can also be children of God. During a campaign stop yesterday in Greensboro, North Carolina, Senator Obama told the audience that he believes he "can have everlasting life" because Jesus Christ died for his sins. But he then told a questioner that he believes Jews and Muslims who live moral lives are just as much "children of God" as he is. The Illinois Democrat added that his late mother didn't share his faith but was a kind and generous person, so he's "sure she's in heaven." In his life and in his politics, Obama said he asks himself, "How can I apply Jesus's teachings in a very concrete way?" Obama's religious beliefs have been put in the spotlight over recent revelations about his former pastor. Videotapes of some of Pastor Jeremiah Wright's sermons have been described as being racist and anti-America. Yesterday, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president referred to those sermon remarks as being "stupid," but he continues to reject suggestions that he should have left the church because of that kind of preaching from his pastor......
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6.
The Rise of Islam
Algeria Shuts Down 13 Protestant Churches, bans any media critical of Islam
Algeria, a close to fully Sunni Muslim country in northern Africa, has ordered 13 Protestant churches to shut down since November, the head of Algeria’s Protestant church group said Monday. Churches were told to close their doors until they are issued a permit that allows non-Muslim groups to hold organized worship. Algeria passed a law in February 2006 that required non-Muslim congregations to obtain a permit from their regional prefecture to hold worship gatherings. It also banned the production of media intended to “shake the faith of a Muslim,” according to Compass Direct News. After the law’s passage, however, there had not been any enforcement and no Christian churches have been closed until recently. "Thirteen chapels, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou, one in Bejaia and one in Bouira have been closed on the orders of local officials," said Pastor Mustapha Krim, who is president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), according to South Africa’s News24. No official reason has been given for the government order, but the decision might be linked to recent tension over allegations that Christians were trying to convert Muslims.......
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Islam’s ‘Public Enemy #1’
Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros — named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid — has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance — free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botros’s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East. Botros is an unusual figure onscreen: robed, with a huge cross around his neck, he sits with both the Koran and the Bible in easy reach. Egypt’s Copts — members of one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East — have in many respects come to personify the demeaning Islamic institution of “dhimmitude” (which demands submissiveness from non-Muslims, in accordance with Koran 9:29). But the fiery Botros does not submit, and minces no words. He has famously made of Islam “ten demands,” whose radical nature he uses to highlight Islam’s own radical demands on non-Muslims. The result? Mass conversions to Christianity.
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7. Increase in Knowledge/New Technologies
Spy-in-the-sky drone sets sights on Miami
Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge, spy-in-the-sky technology to beef up their fight against crime. A small pilotless drone manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and "staring" using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to make its debut soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades. If use of the drone wins Federal Aviation Administration approval after tests, the Miami-Dade Police Department will start flying the 14-pound (6.3 kg) drone over urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting. "Our intentions are to use it only in tactical situations as an extra set of eyes," said police department spokesman Juan Villalba. "We intend to use this to benefit us in carrying out our mission," he added, saying the wingless Honeywell aircraft, which fits into a backpack and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, seems ideally suited for use by SWAT teams in hostage situations or dealing with "barricaded subjects." Miami-Dade police are not alone, however. Taking their lead from the U.S. military, which has used drones in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, law enforcement agencies across the country have voiced a growing interest in using drones for domestic crime-fighting missions........
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Space Tourism - The Next Frontier
A California aerospace company plans to enter the space tourism industry with a two-seat rocket ship capable of suborbital flights to altitudes more than 37 miles above the Earth. The Lynx, about the size of a small private plane, is expected to begin flying in 2010, according to developer Xcor Aerospace, which planned to release details of the design at a news conference Wednesday. The company also said that, pending the outcome of negotiations, the Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded it a research contract to develop and test features of the Lynx. Xcor's announcement comes two months after aerospace designer Burt Rutan and billionaire Richard Branson unveiled a model of SpaceShipTwo, which is being built for Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism company and may begin test flights this year. Powered by a hybrid engine SpaceShipTwo will be flown by two pilots and carry up to six passengers who will pay about $200,000 apiece for the ride......
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Your 'digital shadow' now exceeds data you create
For the first time, the amount of digital information generated by others about the average person on a daily basis has surpassed the volume of information that individuals actively create themselves. A white paper entitled "The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe," based on a survey by International Data Corporation which was sponsored by EMC Corporation, examines how society and the digital universe interact with one another. It finds that your "digital shadow," including web "footprints", surveillance video and records in databases now exceeds the volume of personal digital information people keep. The IDC report addresses how individuals actively participate in contributing to the digital universe - leaving a digital footprint as Internet and social network users, email use, through the use of mobile phones, digital cameras and credit cards. It refers to the information created about individuals as their "digital shadow" - highlighting the fast-growing passive contributions that individuals make to the digital universe - but discovered that only about half of a person's digital footprint was related to their individual actions such as taking pictures, sending emails, or digital voice calls. According to John Gantz, IDC's chief research officer and senior vice-president "the other half is what we call the 'digital shadow' - information about you - names in financial records, names on mailing lists, web surfing histories or images taken of you by security cameras in airports or urban centres..
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Fingerprint Scans Replace Clocking In
Some workers are doing it at Dunkin' Donuts, at Hilton hotels, even at Marine Corps bases. Employees at a growing number of businesses are starting and ending their days by pressing a hand or finger to a scanner that logs the precise time of their arrival and departure — information that is automatically reflected in payroll records. Manufacturers say these biometric devices improve efficiency and streamline payroll operations. Employers big and small buy them with the dual goals of keeping workers honest and automating outdated record-keeping systems that rely on paper time sheets. The new systems have raised complaints, however, from some workers who see the efforts to track their movements as excessive or creepy. "They don't even have to hire someone to harass you anymore. The machine can do it for them," said Ed Ott, executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO. "The palm print thing really grabs people as a step too far." The International Biometric Group, a consulting firm, estimated that $635 million worth of these high-tech devices were sold last year, and projects that the industry will be worth more than $1 billion by 2011..
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8. Christian Worldview/Issues
Canada revokes Charitable Status of Christian Ministry for teaching about the cults
The Canadian government has ordered a Christian ministry that teaches doctrine and the differences between Christians and cults shut down because its reference materials were "critical" of the beliefs of those who are not Christian, WND has learned. So what used to be called MacGregor Ministries with offerings in how to recognize and eliminate "faulty fads" in Christian churches has been re-created in the United States, and now operates under the name MM Outreach Media Ministries. Lorri MacGregor, who has dedicated her life to explaining the straight and narrow of Christian beliefs since she found her way out of the Jehovah's Witness system years ago, told WND Canada's version of a "hate crimes" law prevented their work from continuing as it had for nearly 30 years. "Canada is no longer a Christian nation," she said. "And watch out America!" Mrs. MacGregor told WND. "Canada has very strong hate laws." She said the ministry points out the differences between Christianity and various cult beliefs, but also with respect, and never as a proponent. She said the work always is in response to a question or issue. "When a group such as Jehovah's Witnesses said of our doctrine we're worshipping a freakish three-headed God (the Trinity), we should be able to respond," she said. "We say, 'Here's the doctrine of the Trinity and here is where it is in the Scripture.'" That, however, violates Canada's hate crimes laws, and the ministry was ordered to either make wholesale changes in its presentations, or shut down. "There was nothing we could do that would please them," she said. "They wanted us every time we criticized something to say, 'So Christianity is equal to Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses… Just decide for yourself.'" "We cannot do that," she said of the work she and her husband, Keith, have spent their lives assembling........
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The untold story of Muslims worldwide converting to evangelical Christianity
The lead story on Drudge this past weekend was the Pope baptizing a prominent Egyptian author who converted from Islam to Catholicism. It's a huge story in Italy and the Muslim world, especially coming as it did the week that Osama bin Laden accused the Pope of waging a "crusade" against Islam. But this particular baptism is just the tip of the iceberg. Despite unprecedented press coverage of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East since September 11, 2001, one big story is generally not being told by the mainstream media. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims are converting to evangelical Christianity and will be celebrating their first Easter this year, even amidst widespread persecution and the very real threat of death. I first began reporting this story in 2005 after interviewing some three dozen Arab and Iranian pastors and evangelical Christian leaders in the U.S. and the Middle East. Over the last three years, however, I have had the privilege of traveling to Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, Turkey, and Morocco. What's more, I have had the honor of meeting with and interviewing more than 200 Arab, Iranian, Kurdish, Sudanese and other pastors and Christian leaders. With more data, the trend lines are becoming even more clear and the story is even more exciting. The God of the Bible is moving powerfully in the Middle East to draw men, women and children to His heart and adopt them into His family in record numbers. More Muslims have come to faith in Jesus Christ over the last thirty years -- and specifically over the last seven to ten years -- than at any other time in human history. There is a revival going on among the ancient Catholic, Coptic, and Chaldean churches. Today, the Church is being truly resurrected in the lands of its birth.........
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9. Other Events
To Watch
Report: Saudi King plans interfaith summit for Jews, Muslims, Christians
In a rare departure from government practice, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is planning to convene an interfaith conference for Muslims, Christians and Jews, according to the Saudi-owned Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper. The call for religious dialog to include Jews is the first by the monarch, whose country's regulations prohibit the importation of non-Muslim religious objects including crucifixes and stars of David. The Saudi King said representatives of the three major monotheistic faiths need to work together "to defend humanity" from harm, speaking in an address he delivered in Riyadh on Monday. Al-Sharq al-Awsat, which is published in London, quoted King Abdullah as saying he had discussed idea of a summit to promote religious dialog a number of months ago with the Pope. "I proposed to him to address God by means of the commandments he commanded the monotheistic faiths in the bible, the New Testament, and the Koran," the king said.......
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Reshaping the New World Order - UN looks to expand security council by September
An interim proposal to tackle the divisive issue of Security Council reform would expand the UN's most powerful body from 15 to 22 members but leave it up to the 192 UN member states to decide what countries should fill them. The proposal, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, also leaves it up to UN members to decide how long the new seats should be held - with suggestions of two years, five years and permanent seats as possible options. It leaves the contentious issue of veto power to future negotiations. There is strong support for enlarging the Security Council to reflect the world today rather than the global power structure after World War II when the United Nations was created. But all previous attempts, starting in 1979, have failed because national and regional rivalries blocked agreement on the size and composition of an expanded council. The deep divisions forced the General Assembly to shelve three rival resolutions to expand the council in 2005. The so-called Group of Four - Germany, Japan, Brazil and India - aspire to permanent seats without veto rights on a 25-member council. A group of middle-ranking countries, including Italy and Pakistan, who call themselves Uniting for Consensus, want a 25-member council with 10 new non-permanent seats.........
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