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The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe Bush administration has been quietly laying the groundwork for the start of a military withdrawal from Iraq.

Those close to the administration said the White House envisions the start of a troop pullout in late 2005. They said the administration would begin discussions on the feasibility of a significant reduction in U.S. troops following Iraqi national elections, scheduled on Jan. 30, 2005.

СI think elections in Iraq are going to be one more step on the path towards a stable and secure and a democratic Iraq,Т Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Nov. 23. СIt won't be the final step, but it will allow us to start then looking at, if events dictate, how we can rearrange ourselves, the coalition, and Iraqi forces, for that matter.Т

The administration has been quietly urged to consider a withdrawal of the more than 140,000 troops as a priority for the second Bush term. These advocates have included Defense Department officials and consultants who supported the war to topple the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, but who have concluded that the U.S. military presence in Iraq has become counterproductiveЕФ

The EU Observer reports: УSwiss voters strongly backed a law on Sunday (28 November), allowing research on the stem cells of human embryos.

Switzerland is the first country in the world to put this controversial issue to a referendum - nationwide polls, however, are common in the country.

According to interior minister Pascal Couchepin, the result was a Сvote of confidence in researchТ.

СNo other country has the confidence to put such a question to the peopleТ, he said, according to the Guardian.

The supporters say that stem cell research could lead to a cures for illnesses like Parkinson's, cancer and diabetes.

Switzerland's influential Green Party, Catholic Church and several medical ethics groups fought against the law.

They believe that stem cell research could offer false hope to people and that human cloning could be the next stepЕФ View Original Article

The Jerusalem Post reports: УAn al-Qaeda attack on the US with non-conventional weapons is virtually Сinevitable,Т and the organization is likely Сtying up the knotsТ for such an attack, Yossef Bodansky, former director of the US Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

СAll of the warnings we have today indicate that a major strike Ц something more horrible than anything we've seen before Ц is all but inevitable,Т he said.

Bodansky, here for the second annual Jerusalem Summit, an international gathering of conservative thinkers, added that Сthe primary optionТ for the next al-Qaeda attack on US soil would be one that would use weapons of mass destruction.

СI do not have a crystal ball, but this is what all the available evidence tells us, we will have a bang,Т Bodansky said.

He said that al-Qaeda has not carried out a second major attack on the US until now for internal psychological and ideological reasons, but after the reelection of President George W. Bush, it has gotten Сthe green lightТ to do so from leading Islamic religious luminaries, as well as from Сthe elites of the Arab world.Т

According to Bodansky's reading of Osama bin Laden's mind-set, after the elaborate attacks of 9/11 there was no need for the Сbin Ladens of the worldТ to carry out a second major attack in the US, both because the target audience of the attacks Ц the Arab and Islamic world Ц had gotten the message that America could be penetrated, and because a second attack would necessarily have to be more grandiose.

Following the attacks and the US-led war on terror, a debate started within the operational arm of the organization over the potential use of weapons of mass destruction, Bodansky saidЕ

Bodansky said that while there may still be some vestiges of debate and doubt within Islamic circles, he believes that planning for such an attack is finished. СThey got the kosher stamp from the Islamic world to use nuclear weapons,Т he saidЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УSyria was said to have agreed to redraw its border with Jordan.

Jordanian officials said Syria has agreed in principle to revise its southern border with Jordan in the first such move since 1970. Officials said Syria agreed to honor a recommendation by a joint Syrian-Jordanian committee that met last week.

The committee, which met in Damascus, determined that Syria seized 125 square kilometers of Jordanian territory since 1970 when the regime of then-President Hafez Assad sent tanks and warplanes to attack the Hashemite kingdom. The panel also found that Jordan should return about 2.7 square kilometers to Syria.

Technical teams from the joint panel have completed a draft of the revised Jordanian-Syrian border. Over the next few months, the governments of Jordan and Syria were expected to ratify the draft of the joint committeeЕФ View Original Article

WorldNetDaily,com reports: УThe Wisconsin-based atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to cut off federal funding to a Christian child-mentoring program that helps troubled kids.

Last year, the federal government awarded a $225,000 contract, part of $9 million awarded to 52 Arizona groups, to Phoenix-based MentorKids USA, according to the Madison, Wisc.-based Capital Times.

The lawsuit, presided over by U.S. Judge John Shabaz, is demanding a summary judgment that federal funding of the program cease until the government Сhas a demonstrated plan in place to comply with its constitutional obligations,Т reports the Wisconsin paper.

Citing the First Amendment, the atheist foundation said, СMentoring to convert is not a suitable social service to be provided by the government,Т said the report.

MentorKids USA was launched in 1997 by Orville Krieger, in partnership with Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, Сto address the needs of at-risk youth in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area by matching caring Christian adults with youth ages 8-17 who showed warning signs of becoming criminal offenders,Т says the Christian organization's website.

Originally called Phoenix MatchPoint, the group changed its name last January to MentorKids USA. It has a long and successful track record in mentoring children in trouble with the law, who have dysfunctional family backgrounds, have been physically or sexually abused or who are involved with drug or alcohol abuse. To date, MentorKids USA has helped over 500 kids.

In the program, mentors commit time each week to be a friend and role model for an at-risk youth. The mentors Сoffer concrete expressions of unconditional love and support to the mentee,Т says the group's website, Сand the two participate in activities designed to build friendship, trust, and constructive values.ТЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УIsrael has been deemed the largest recipient of U.S. military aid and a beneficiary of terms denied most other U.S. allies.

A recent report by the Congressional Research Service listed details of U.S. military and security aid to Israel as well as what the study termed the unique aspects of Washington's assistance. The report, entitled СIsrael: U.S. Foreign Assistance,Т asserted that U.S. military aid has been used to finance military purchases in Israel as well as research and development in the United States.

СU.S. aid to Israel has some unique aspects, such as loans with repayment waived, or a pledge to provide Israel with economic assistance equal to the amount Israel owes the United States for previous loans,Т Clyde Mark author of the report, wrote. СIsrael also receives special benefits that may not be available to other countries, such as the use of U.S. military assistance for research and development in the United States, the use of U.S. military assistance for military purchases in Israel, or receiving all its assistance in the first 30 days of the fiscal year rather than in three or four installments as other countries do.Т

The report, released in July 2004, listed a series of Israeli-U.S. projects as well as U.S. aid to Israeli military programs. CRS said the United States has given Israel $625 million to develop and deploy the Arrow-2 missile defense system as well as $1.3 billion to develop the Lavi aircraft, cancelled in 1987ЕФ View Original Article

Fox News reports: УColombia's main rebel group asked followers to mount an assassination attempt against President Bush during his visit to Colombia last week, Defense Minister Jorge Uribe said. There was no evidence Saturday that rebels even tried to organize such an attack.

Uribe told reporters late Friday that informants said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, told followers to attack Bush during his four-hour visit in the seaside city of Cartagena last Monday, where he met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

The defense minister, who is no relation to the president, said security forces were on full alert during the visit. About 15,000 Colombian troops and police, along with U.S. troops and Secret Service agents provided security. There was no indication Bush's life was ever in danger.

Uribe did not say where the informants had heard about the purported order to attack Bush.

СWe have full confidence in the fine work of the Secret Service and their work with security officials on the ground when the President travels,Т White House spokesman Jim Morrell said SaturdayЕФ View Original Article

CNN reports: УIran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said the new draft resolution put forward by three European powers at a key meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog is still unacceptable despite recent changes, Iran's state-run news agency reported Saturday.

СThere has been a good deal of changes in the draft resolution, but still, there are points that are not acceptable to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and run contrary to the Paris agreement,Т Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said, according to IRNA.

Kharazi also rejected reports from Vienna that Iran agreed to give up the use of 20 centrifuges as part of a plan to freeze its nuclear program entirely.

The Iranians had initially asked the IAEA to exempt the 20 centrifuges, which can spin gas into fuel-level or weapons-grade uranium, despite an agreement reached earlier this month in Paris which obliges Iran to suspend all its uranium enrichment activities until a broader agreement is arranged with Great Britain, Germany and France.

Diplomats in Vienna, where the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency is meeting, are extremely concerned about Kharazi's comments and told CNN's Matthew Chance it may make it difficult to put a deal back together again.

Over the weekend, representatives from Iran and Great Britain, Germany and France will hold informal talks in the Austrian capital in an effort to break the deadlock before the IAEA's board of governors reconvenes MondayЕФ View Original Article

WorldNetDaily.com reports: УShortages of energy on planet Earth have some experts looking to space for answers, and the moon is being eyed as a potential source.

Scientists meeting in India for a global conference on moon exploration say the satellite could be key in meeting future demand.

СWhen compared to the Earth, the moon has a tremendous amount of helium 3,Т Lawrence Taylor, a director of the U.S. Planetary Geosciences Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, told Agence France-Presse.

Helium 3 is a variant of the gas used in lasers and refrigerators, as well as to blow up balloons, and it's deposited on the lunar surface by solar winds. If ever used on Earth, it would need to be extracted from moon soil and rocks by heating it above 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

СWhen helium 3 combines with deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) the fusion reaction proceeds at a very high temperature and it can produce awesome amounts of energy,Т Taylor told AFP. СJust 25 tons of helium, which can be transported on a space shuttle, is enough to provide electricity for the U.S. for one full year.ТЕФ View Original Article

The London Daily Telegraph reports: УMore than a million people from all over Europe are to deliver a petition to Tony Blair and fellow EU leaders calling for changes to the constitution recognizing Europe's Christian heritage.

Refusing to accept a secular Сfait accompliТ from Brussels, a Christian coalition is demanding that each EU state publish its version of the constitution's preamble, with references to God if desired.

Already armed with 1,149,000 signatures and with thousands more pouring in from Holland since the murder of the film-maker Theo van Gogh, the group claims that most states want some reference to Christianity but were blocked by France.

The move is keenly backed by Pope John Paul II, who has repeatedly condemned the Сmoral driftТ of Brussels. СOne does not cut the roots to one's birthright,Т he told pilgrims this summer.

Euro-MPs voted this week to back the calls for a change in the text. Petitioners, led by Italy's International Mission Centre, will now take their case to EU governments. The current version of the preamble eschews Christianity, talking vaguely of Сthe cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of EuropeТ.

Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president, deliberately left the issue open when he wrote the document, inviting a petition.

СI have chosen not to insert the reference to the Christian heritage in the constitution,Т he said. СRather I appeal to you to persuade me of its necessity.Т

A British official said it was too late to change the preamble, although national parliaments could add a СriderТ stressing their country's Christian roots.

An EU official said: СThese Christians could at least have the good grace to accept that they lost the argument.ТЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УSudan's air force was said to have resumed air operations against villages in Darfour.

Western diplomatic sources and relief agencies said Khartoum violated an agreement reached on Nov. 9 to end air attacks on villages in Darfour. They said that on Tuesday Sudanese air force planes bombed Tawila in the northern part of the province.

The air attack was said to have been part of a military effort to regain control of Tawila amid a rebel offensive. On Nov. 22, rebel groups captured Tawila, located in northern Darfour and which contains about 30,000 refugees.

СThe parties have committed themselves to refrain from all hostilities and military actions,Т UN envoy Jan Pronk said. СI fully expect them to live up to their obligations.ТЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УAlgeria and Russia have signed an accord that could pave the way for production of Russian satellites for the North African country.

Russian officials said the accord was signed on Oct. 9 during a visit by an Algerian delegation to Moscow. They said the accord would lead to Russian assistance to Algeria's satellite and space program.

Russian Federal Space Agency, known as Rosaviakosmos, said the accord was signed by Algerian Space Agency director Izzedin A-Sadiq. Rosaviakosmos director Mikhail Bulishtshuk signed the agreement for Moscow.

Officials said the accord envisioned the prospect of Russian training, technology transfer and joint scientific research for Algeria. They said the two countries would also discuss a Russian project to establish ground stations in Algeria to receive real-time images from Russia's reconnaissance satellitesЕФ View Original Article

Voice of America News reports: УMalaysia says it has discovered a new outbreak of bird flu in northeastern Kelantan state, near the Thai border.

A Malaysian veterinary services official says workers have slaughtered scores of poultry in the affected area as a precaution. The official said it is not clear whether the outbreak has spread.

Malaysia reported its first case of bird flu in August in Kelantan state. Officials say the disease entered the country through fighting birds smuggled from neighboring Thailand.

Bird flu has killed 32 people in Thailand and Vietnam this year, and led to the slaughter of millions of birds across AsiaЕФ

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe United States has warned Americans throughout the Middle East to be on guard for a major Islamic strike in wake of the death of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

U.S. officials said warden messages posted in embassies throughout the Middle East have warned of the prospect of an attack on Americans. They said the attack could be carried out by a Palestinian insurgency group or an Islamic cell in an Arab state or Turkey.

СThe recent death of PA Chairman Arafat has the potential to produce demonstrations and unrest throughout the region,Т a State Department announcement said. СIn addition, the Department of State continues to warn of the possibility for violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests in the region.Т

The announcement, posted in warden messages on Nov. 17, said Americans could be attacked on passenger jets, buses or ships throughout the Middle East. The department regards the Middle East as including the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Peninsula and North AfricaЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe United States has again ruled out military action against Iran.

Officials said the State Department has assured European and other allies that the United States would not seek to destroy Iran's nuclear program. They said Iran's nuclear program would be resolved through diplomatic means.

СMilitary action is not something that we're talking about,Т State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said on Nov. 19. СWe have said quite clearly that we are committed to dealing with this threat through multilateral diplomacy, and that remains our position.Т

Earlier, Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirmed that the Bush administration, in cooperation with the European Union, would press for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program. Powell has also ruled out any U.S. effort to change the regime in TeheranЕФ View Original Article

ITV.com reports: УITV News understands that the security services have thwarted four or five September 11-style attacks on targets including Canary Wharf and Heathrow Airport.

One plot is said to have involved pilots being trained to fly into target buildings, including London's famous financial centre and the world's busiest airport.

It is one of a number of attacks planned by al-Qaeda since 9/11 that have come to nothing after the authorities intervened.

The disclosure comes as the Government prepares to unveil a series of tough law-and-order Bills in this morning's Queen's Speech, setting out the legislative program for what is expected to be the final session of the current ParliamentЕФ

The EU Observer reports: УDefense Ministers on Monday are expected to commit up to 16,500 troops to make up a series of EU 'battle groups' which can be deployed to the World's hot spots.

EU council diplomats said that they expected ministers to pledge enough troops to create 11 battle groups, with each group expected to number 1,000-1,500 troops, ready to be deployed for peacekeeping missions within 10 days, for a period of up to four months.

The groups are set to be operational by 2007 and are expected to work under a UN mandate. The EU council of ministers would have to agree unanimously before any deployment takes place.

France, Italy, Spain and the UK are to set up their own groups which are likely to be ready before 2007 - possibly by 2005 according to EU military sources.

The Middle East Newsline reports: УA Palestinian operative deemed a leading financier for the former Saddam Hussein regime in the West Bank has been sentenced to eight years.

Israeli authorities have identified Rakhed Salem as the liaison of the former Saddam regime in the West Bank. Salem, a regional head of the Arab Liberation Front, was convicted in early November of distributing $15 million in Iraqi funds to families of suicide bombers and other insurgents.

Details released by the military outlined the intervention of the Saddam regime in the Palestinian Authority from 2000 until the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq two years later. Israeli officials said Iran has filled the vacuum left by the toppling of the Saddam regime.

From his office in Ramallah, Salem, 60, was said to have received millions of dollars from Saddam as part of an effort to fuel the Palestinian insurgency war and bolster the rule of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. The indictment against Salem, released by the Israeli Army, asserted that he purchased weapons from PA security chief Brig. Gen. Haj IsmailЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УIran, aiming to achieve nuclear weapons capability in 2005, has been operating a secret uranium enrichment plant in a Defense Ministry base in Teheran, an opposition group said.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran disclosed a Defense Ministry facility in northeastern Teheran where the Islamic republic has been conducting secret nuclear weapons activities. The council, whose information has been regarded as highly reliable, said the site was unknown to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

СIt [Teheran facility] continues to enrich uranium as we speak,Т NCRI spokesman Farid Soleiman said.

Soleiman told a news conference in Vienna on Wednesday that the Teheran site contained gas centrifuges meant for the enrichment of uranium. He said he did not know how many centrifuges were in the 60-acre site, called the Center for the Development of Advanced Defense TechnologyЕФ View Original Article

Voice of America News reports: УInsurgents in Baghdad stepped up their attacks Saturday killing Iraqi and American soldiers as well as civilians. In the meantime, Iraq's minister of electricity says insurgents are reducing Iraq's ability to provide electricity.

In Baghdad Saturday, there were several insurgent attacks, including a roadside bomb that killed three Iraqi National Guard forces. The explosion occurred following heavy clashes involving National Guard troops and insurgents in the Baghdad suburb of al-Amiriyah.

There was an ambush in Baghdad that killed a U.S. soldier and wounded nine others. Military officials say the attack occurred in the central section of Baghdad and involved improvised explosive devices, small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.

Elsewhere in the capital, four interim Iraqi government employees were killed in a drive-by shooting as they were traveling to work. And, a car bomber attacked a convoy of five sport utility vehicles in Baghdad. A civilian passerby was killed in the blast.

North of Baghdad, in the city of Mosul, the bodies of nine Iraqi soldiers were discovered Saturday. Iraqi military officials said all of them appeared to have been killed by bullets to their heads. The bodies were located near the scene of heavy clashes with insurgents in Mosul.

In the meantime, Iraq's interim Minister of Electricity, Aiham al-Sammarae said Saturday, that insurgents are succeeding in their effort to curtail the supply of electricity throughout the country. The minister said Iraq has lost almost 1,600 megawatts of power in recent weeks, down from October's supply of more than 4,700 megawattsЕФ View Original Article

MSNBC reports: УThe United States has intelligence that Iran is working to adapt missiles to deliver a nuclear weapon, further evidence that the Islamic republic is determined to acquire a nuclear bomb, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday.

Separately, an Iranian opposition exile group charged in Paris that Iran is enriching uranium at a secret military facility unknown to U.N. weapons inspectors. Iran has denied seeking to build nuclear weapons.

СI have seen some information that would suggest that they have been actively working on delivery systems. . . . You don't have a weapon until you put it in something that can deliver a weapon,Т Powell told reporters traveling with him to Chile for an Asia-Pacific economic summit. СI'm not talking about uranium or fissile material or the warhead; I'm talking about what one does with a warhead.Т

Powell's comments came just three days after an agreement between Iran and three European countries -- Britain, France and Germany -- designed to limit Tehran's ability to divert its peaceful nuclear energy program for military use. The primary focus of the deal, accepted by Iran on Sunday and due to go into effect Nov. 22, is a stipulation that Iran indefinitely suspend its uranium enrichment program.

СI'm talking about information that says they not only have these missiles, but I am aware of information that suggests that they were working hard as to how to put the two together,Т Powell said, referring to the process of matching warheads to missiles. He spoke to reporters during a refueling stop in Manaus, BrazilЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe United States has quietly determined that Syria helped finance the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

Officials said the regime of President Bashar Assad has used the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria to relay hundreds of millions of dollars to Saddam Hussein loyalists in Iraq. They said the money has been employed to finance the insurgency against the U.S.-led coalition primarily in Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

The Commercial Bank of Syria held more than $1 billion in Saddam regime accounts on the eve of the U.S.-led war in Iraq in March 2003, officials said. Most of that money stemmed from Iraqi arms and oil smuggling as well as illegal commissions obtained from Iraqi oil sales overseen by the United Nations.

Officials said that over the last 18 months Damascus transferred up to $800 million of Saddam's assets to senior aides of the former president, several of whom have been based in Syria. They said much of the money was believed to have been transferred to ex-Iraqi Vice President Izzet Ibrahim Al Douri, identified as the chief financier of the Sunni insurgencyЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe U.S. military in Bahrain has come under threat from an Islamic insurgency group.

An Islamic group linked to Al Qaeda has warned of suicide attacks against Americans in Bahrain. The group cited the U.S. embassy as well as the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Manama.

The group was identified as the Bahrain Branch of Ansar Al Islam. Ansar has been described as an Iranian-based group composed of Kurds who seek to establish an Islamic state in Iraq. Ansar has been based in northern Iraq and Iran.

Ansar, said to comprise up to 1,000 members, warned Muslims to avoid U.S. installations and places frequented by Americans in Bahrain. The group cited the U.S. embassy, the area around the residence of the U.S. ambassador, the University of Bahrain as well as hotels, night clubs and oil pipelinesЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УA submarine from a NATO navy was said to have entered Israeli territorial waters on a reconnaissance mission.

Military sources said the submarine came from what appeared to be a NATO navy that patrols the eastern Mediterranean. The sources said the submarine entered three miles into Israeli territorial waters off the coast of Nahariya before it was detected. The submarine then left Israeli waters.

СThe speed and signature of the submarine were that of an advanced NATO navy vessel,Т an Israeli military source said. СWe are very disturbed by this because this is not the first time that this has happened.Т

Several military sources, acknowledging that they did not have sufficient evidence, suggested that the intruding vessel was a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine. They ruled out the possibility that the submarine belonged to Iran or an Arab or Soviet-bloc navyЕФ

Voice of America News reports: УIran's decision to temporarily suspend its uranium enrichment activities is being quietly welcomed in European capitals, but diplomats say a long-term agreement aimed at neutralizing fears that Iran aims to make a bomb could take several months.

Diplomats in Brussels who have been monitoring the negotiations in Tehran say the agreement for Iran to suspend its uranium conversion activities in exchange for political and economic incentives from Europe's Big Three is still a work in progress.

They say the most immediate consequence of the deal is that Iran will probably escape the threat of sanctions when the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors meets in Vienna next week to discuss what the United States and other critics of the regime in Tehran say is a nuclear weapons program.

Iran says its move to suspend uranium enrichment pending a longer-term accord with the Europeans is a voluntary move and not a legal obligation. It says uranium enrichment activities will remain suspended for as long as talks continue with Britain, France and Germany on the broader issue of what incentives they are prepared to offer IranЕФ View Original Article

The Guardian UK reports: УAmerican scientists are developing hypersonic cruise missiles that will fly 10 times faster than current rockets, penetrate concrete armoring and could be launched from any site in the world.

The missiles would have a range of 9,000 miles, more than a third of Earth's circumference and be able to reach their targets within two hours. First prototypes are expected to be tested next year, though the missile is not expected to be deployed until the end of the decade.

'If someone is messing with us - or Britain - from far away, we could whack them straight away,' said Preston Carter, an aerospace engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California.

The new missiles will exploit supersonic combustion ramjet - or scramjet - technology. NASA engineers will tomorrow attempt to fly a robot X-43A scramjet over the Pacific at speeds around 7,200 mph, 10 times the speed of sound.

The flight will be crucial in demonstrating the feasibility of hypersonic travel. Most media attention has focused on its commercial exploitation for jets that could travel from London to Sydney in two hours. The prime aim is to create hypersonic rockets that would replace current cruise missiles.

'The new missiles could strike pretty much anywhere within a couple of hours,' said Graham Warwick, Americas editor of Flight International . 'Current cruise missile have to be carried on a B52 bomber. That involves planning and takes at least 24 hours. The military want a quick solution, so if they knew bin Laden was sipping coffee at a cafe they could get a bomb on target in two hours.'ЕФ View Original Article

CNN reports: УA woman and her boyfriend are accused of plotting to sacrifice the woman's three children on a church altar.

Nicole Mancini, 29, and John Thurber, 35, were arrested at St. Mary's Church on Wednesday after workers said they heard the woman say she wanted to sacrifice the boys.

СWe could tell this woman was not right,Т said church secretary Donna Landolfi. СShe said, 'Let's go make the sacrifice.Т'

Mancini and Thurber were in jail Saturday on more than $25,000 bail. They were arraigned Friday on three counts each of misdemeanor child endangerment. Thurber was also charged with marijuana possession.

The children, ages 9, 7 and 2, were not harmed and were placed in state custody. Police said Thurber is the father of the youngest boy.

Police said Mancini told them that Jesus sacrificed himself for her, so she was going to sacrifice the boys to free her soul.

СEighteen years I've been doing this and I've never come across anything like it,Т police Lt. Paul Callaghan said.

СThey were never tied to the altar, there was no blood, there were no constraints for sacrificial use,Т she saidЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe U.S. military has launched what officials termed the final stage in the operation to capture Faluja.

Officials said the coalition has extended its control over more than 90 percent of Faluja. They said they expected the heaviest fighting to take place over the next 48 hours.

СToday in operations we are ahead of schedule,Т Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division, said on Thursday.

Officials said about 12,000 U.S. troops and 2,000 Iraqi soldiers were advancing toward a corner of southern Faluja, located in the Al Anbar province near the Syrian border. They said that between 2,000 and 3,000 Sunni insurgents, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, automatic weapons and explosives, were holed up in a maze of homes and alleys. So far, the insurgents have downed two U.S. helicopters, but no pilots were reported killedЕФ View Original Article

WorldNetDaily.com reports: УA prominent Beijing house-church leader, found in possession of a massive cache of Bibles and Christian literature, faces a harsh sentence if convicted in his upcoming trial, according to Chinese contacts of the U.S. activist group Voice of the Martyrs.

Cai Zhuohua, 32, the leading minister to six house churches in Beijing, will be tried formally in court in the Chinese capital any day now, the Oklahoma-based group said.

The pastor was seized Sept. 11 by three plain-clothes officers believed to be from the Department of State Security, VOM said. Eyewitnesses said he was waiting at a bus stop when three strong men approached and pushed him into a white van.

Cai was on his way home from a Bible study session. His wife, Xiao Yunfei, was arrested Sept. 27 with her brother, Xiao Gaowen, and sister-in-law, Hu Jinyun, while hiding in Hunan province. All four are held at Qinghe Detention Center, Haidian District, Beijing.

Cai and his wife face a harsh sentence because of their prominent role in Beijing's house-church movement, which is banned by the communist government. The regime allows Protestant church activity only under the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement. Catholics also are restricted to a government church, which rejects ties to the Vatican.

The case is being handled directly by the Department of State Security. Qiang Wei, deputy general secretary of the Politics and Law Commission of Beijing, issued a two-word, handwritten directive, СYan Ban!Т -- meaning to deal with it harshly and severely, according to VOM sources.

The central government, the sources say, has labeled it the Сmost serious case on overseas religious infiltration since the founding of the People's Republic of China.Т

Authorities apparently were shocked to find about 200,000 copies of the Bible and other Christian literature in a storage room managed by Cai.

The government allows only a publisher affiliated with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement to print a strictly limited number of Bibles and Christian literature each year. The publications cannot be sold in public bookstoresЕФ View Original Article

CNN reports: УPresident Bush on Friday promised to Сspend the capital of the United StatesТ to establish a Palestinian state and secure a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Bush met Friday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of his staunchest allies in the Iraq war. Blair arrived at the White House on Thursday night.

At a news conference after Friday's meeting, Bush stressed the importance of having Israeli and Palestinian states peacefully co-existing.

СI think it is fair to say that I believe we've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state,Т Bush said. СAnd I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state.Т

Bush said that a free and democratic Palestinian state was in the best interests of the world and of the Palestinian people.

The president pledged to mobilize the international community to help revive the Palestinian economy, build up security institutions to fight terror, help the government fight corruption and overhaul the Palestinian political system and build democratic institutionsЕФ

Voice of America News reports: УBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair has arrived at the White House for talks with President Bush on reviving Middle East peace talks.

As the president's biggest ally in the war in Iraq, Mr. Blair is hoping to use that influence to convince President Bush to take a more active role in restarting Middle East peace talks following the death of Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat.

Prime Minister Blair says Middle East peace must be the international community's highest priority.

Before Mr. Arafat's death, President Bush said there would be an opening for peace if Palestinians chose leaders who renounce violence and embrace efforts to build a democratic and free society.

If that happens, and the president says he believes it will, Mr. Bush says America will help build the institutions necessary so Palestinians can have their own state living side by side in peace and security with Israel.

In a written statement following the Palestinian leader's death, President Bush said all the world must help in making progress toward peace during the period of transition that is ahead for the Palestinian people.

A White House statement says the United Kingdom stands as one of America's closest allies, and Tony Blair as one of America's greatest friends.

It says President Bush looks forward to discussing with Prime Minister Blair how to further strengthen U.S. cooperation with the United Kingdom and all of Europe to address together the many challenges of the 21st centuryЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe U.S. military has asserted that coalition forces have trapped thousands of Sunni insurgents in Faluja.

Officials said the insurgency command structure in Faluja has been shattered and small bands of enemy combatants were fighting without communications or logistical support. They said insurgents have been unable to flee the city.

СThey are now in small pockets, blind, moving about the city,Т Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the Marine Corps force in Iraq, said. СThey do not know where we are. They do not know where we are coming from now or where we will be within the next hour.Т

Officials said the U.S. military has captured more than 75 percent of Faluja and expects to control the entire city by Nov. 12. But they acknowledged that significant resistance was likely to continue for at least another weekЕФ View Original Article

Voice of America News reports: УPalestinians begin a 40-day mourning period following the death, early Thursday morning, of their leader, Yasser Arafat. Mr. Arafat died in the military hospital outside of Paris, where he had been taken two weeks ago for urgent medical treatment.

The news had been expected. Yasser Arafat lay in a deep coma for the past week and Palestinian officials warned Wednesday that he was in his final hours.

Hospital spokesman, General Christian Estripeau, confirmed Yasser Arafat had died.

Palestinian officials announced the traditional Muslim mourning period. Flags at Mr. Arafat's compound in Ramallah were lowered to half staff and Palestinian television broadcasts carried excerpts from the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

In Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into the streets to show their grief and gunmen fired into the air and people waved Palestinian flagsЕФ View Original Article

NewScientist.com reports: УA device that automatically moves electrodes through the brain to seek out the strongest signals is taking the idea of neural implants to a new level. Scary as this sounds, its developers at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena say devices like this will be essential if brain implants are ever going to work.

Implants could one day help people who are paralyzed or unable to communicate because of spinal injury or conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou GehrigТs disease). Electrodes implanted in the brain could, in principle, pick up neural signals and convey them to a prosthetic arm or a computer cursor.

But there is a problem. Implanted electrodes are usually unable to sense consistent neuronal signals for more than a few months, according to Igor Fineman, a neurosurgeon at the Huntington Hospital, also in Pasadena.

This loss of sensitivity has a number of causes: the electrodes may shift following a slight knock or because of small changes in blood pressure; tissue building up on the electrodes may mask the signal; or the neurons emitting the signals can die.

To get around these problems, Joel Burdick and Richard Andersen at Caltech have developed a device in which the electrodes sense where the strongest signal is coming from, and move towards it. Their prototype, which is mounted on the skull, uses piezoelectric motors to move four electrodes independently of each other in 1-micrometre increments.

It has successfully been used to decode motor signals in rats and intention signals in monkeys. When surgeons implant electrodes in the brain they normally have to СtuneТ individual electrodes by positioning them to pick up signals from a single brain cell.

With the new device, which the Caltech teams calls an autonomous microdrive, an fMRI scan is enough to locate the electrodes in the general area where the signals are coming from. Each electrode then homes in on the strongest nearby signal.

Piezoelectric motors were chosen for the microdrive because they are capable of moving the electrodes hundreds of micrometers with great accuracy, Burdick says.

Applying a voltage to the crystal causes it to expand momentarily, and because it has a roughened edge, feeding it a sequence of voltage pulses causes it to ratchet forward another surface in contact with it Ц in this case an electrodeЕФ View Original Article

NewsMax.com reports: УThe FBI is investigating the reported thefts of scores of propane cylinders in the Denver area, a crime spree that has raised fears of a terrorist attack.

About 100 cylinders, each containing about 7.8 gallons of the highly flammable gas and weighing about 33 pounds, have been stolen from businesses since July, FBI agent Monique Kelso said Monday.

СThe potential threat is that these propane tanks get into the wrong hands ... and get into the hands of those that are willing to commit a crime on the magnitude of the Oklahoma City bombing or another terrorist attack,Т Kelso told the station.

She said Monday the tanks might also have been taken to power equipment such as farm machinery. The tanks are larger than those used for barbecue grills.

Twenty-eight propane cylinders have been stolen from Dal-Tile Corp. of Denver, including 10 in the past six months, said Randy Warren, operations manager at the ceramic tile manufacturerЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УIraq and the United States, launching a long-expected air and ground offensive, have completed the first phase of the operation to capture Faluja.

U.S. officials said Marine Corps units, backed by air gunships, helicopters, artillery and tanks, punched into Faluja and killed up to 50 Sunni insurgents in heavy fighting on Monday and Tuesday. In an operation dubbed СDawn,Т the U.S. troops were accompanied by 1,000 Iraqi commandos and security forces who helped capture and secure key facilities in the northern part of the city.

Officials said Saddam Hussein loyalists as well as operatives led by Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi were fighting coalition forces from mosques, hospitals and schools. They said an estimated 6,000 insurgents had mined and placed car bombs throughout Faluja.

СIraqi forces entered Falujah hospital, capturing four foreigners and killing 38 persons,Т Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Alawi said on Monday. СWe do not know whether they are Iraqis or not. They were stationed in the hospital in order to carry out terrorist actions.ТЕФ View Original Article

Arafat's Wife Lashes Out
Suha Arafat says husband's aides are trying to take over Palestinian leadership
Х Profile: Suha Arafat

Fallujah Battle Begins
U.S. forces storm part of Iraqi city, seize hospital and two bridges
Х Iran-Iraq Border Probed

'Ground Attack Has Begun'

Elements of Task Force 2-2 of the First Infantry Division move into Fallujah

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has flown its first unmanned aerial vehicle.

Israeli military sources said the UAV, described as a small tactical Iranian-built platform, was seen flying on Sunday inside Israeli air space. The sources said the UAV, dubbed Mirsad-1 by Hizbullah, contained a simple camera payload and flew to an altitude of 250 feet.

СThis morning an Iranian UAV operated by the Hizbullah terror organization infiltrated into Israel over the western Galilee,Т a military statement said. СThis incident is a part of the terrorist activity carried out by the Hizbullah terrorist organization with the support of Iran and Syria and under the auspices of Lebanon, with the aim of targeting Israeli citizens.Т

The UAV, which was detected but not identified by Israeli ground radar, spent about 20 minutes over northern Israel and then returned to Lebanon. The sources said the UAV was believed to have crashed in Mediterranean SeaЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УSaudi Arabia wants to build a partnership with Russia based on the transfer of its energy technology to the Gulf kingdom.

Saudi executives said Moscow offered the kingdom prospects because of Russian technology in crude oil and natural gas exploration and development. They said Russia has developed advanced techniques in enhanced oil recovery to boost production at heavily-eroded fields.

Russia has sought to win contracts for the development of Saudi oil and gas fields. The two countries have already been coordinating in export policy.

СDeveloping technology should be the main platform for cooperation,Т A.G. Munawar, a representative of Saudi Aramco, told the four annual gas and oil week in Moscow last week. СDependence on one country, or on a single technology, is not in the best interest of the Middle East. I am talking to Russian companies so that we might rely on you for technological advances.ТЕФ

The Washington Post reports: УThe United States remains woefully unprepared to protect the public against terrorists wielding biological agents despite dramatic increases in biodefense spending by the Bush administration and considerable progress on many fronts, according to government officials and specialists in bioterrorism and public health.

Although administration officials have spoken at times about bioterrorism's dangers, they are more alarmed than they have signaled publicly, U.S. officials said. As President Bill Clinton did, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have thrust themselves into the issue in depth.

СThere's no area of homeland security in which the administration has made more progress than bioterrorism, and none where we have further to go,Т said Richard A. Falkenrath, who until May was Bush's deputy homeland security adviser and is now a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Unlike many other areas of domestic defense, which are centralized in the Department of Homeland Security, responsibility for biodefense is spread across various agencies. It is coordinated by a little-known White House aide, Kenneth Bernard, whose power is relatively limited.

Biological and nuclear attacks rank as officials' most feared types of terrorist attacks. Because of the technical difficulties in creating such weapons, they reckon the chances of a devastating attack are currently small. But the consequences of a big biological strike could be epically catastrophic, and rapid advances in science are placing the creation of these weapons within the reach of even graduate students, they said.

Given the escalating risks, many public health and bioterrorism experts, members of Congress and some well-placed Bush administration officials express mounting unease about what they believe are weaknesses in the nation's biodefensesЕФ

The EU Observer reports: УIran and three of the EU's biggest member states have reached a preliminary compromise on the country's nuclear program.

The agreement could mean Tehran avoiding economic sanctions threatened by the UN.

The breakthrough came after two days of meetings between Iran, France, the UK and Germany in Paris.

Under the deal, Iran would freeze all nuclear fuel enrichment and reprocessing activities until it has reached a final agreement with the EU over a package of economic, technological and security incentives in return for abandoning potential weapons-related nuclear activities, according to Reuters.

Officials from all four camps are now presenting the deal to their capitals - if this is approved by them, the agreement will be formally announced within a few daysЕФ View Original Article

Voice of America News reports: УIndia's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has hailed a European Union proposal to forge a strategic partnership with India.

Mr. Singh told reporters the move is a recognition of India's growing stature and influence and India welcomes the development.

The prime minister said the 25-nation EU is India's largest trading partner and the largest source of foreign direct investment.

He described the European Union and India as Сnatural partnersТ and said his talks with European leaders would include terrorism, nuclear proliferation, energy and global trade issues.

He made the remarks as he embarked on a two-day visit to Netherlands. There, Mr. Singh is scheduled to hold talks with his Dutch counterpart, Jan Peter Balkenende, and meet separately with European Commission President Romano Prodi.

If the EU proposal goes through, it will give India the special relationship now shared by the Union with the United States, Canada, Russia, China and JapanЕФ View Original Article

Escalation in Ivory Coast
8 French soldiers, American civilian killed in attacks; Chirac orders more troops; U.N. Security Council to meet

U.S. Surrounds Fallujah
Soldiers gear up for assault; attacks in Samarra kill 29
Х Copycat Beheadings Seen Around Globe

Arafat Clings to Life
Docs report no changes in comatose Palestinian leader
Х Qureia Visits Gaza
Х 3 Militants Killed

The EU Observer reports: УThe EU expressed solidarity with Palestinians as conflicting reports about Yassir Arafat's state of health emerged on Thursday.

The leader of the Palestinian Authority, who has been in hospital in France since 29 October, was pronounced brain dead on Thursday (4 November), something that was immediately followed by reports that the veteran leader had died.

СWe expressed our solidarity with the Palestinian people and also the hope that in the period ahead we will be able to work with the legitimate leadership, with the new leadership of the Palestinian AuthorityТ, said Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday evening announced that Mr. Arafat had died - but later retracted the statement.

US President George W. Bush, who was also wrongly informed by a journalist, reacted by saying СGod bless his soulТ.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was tasked by EU leaders on Thursday to consult with Israel, the Palestinians and the Quartet [Russia, the UN, the US and the EU] over the situation.

The news of Mr. Arafat's critical condition comes just days after Mr. Solana unveiled a paper pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian stateЕФ View Original Article

CNN reports: УEuropean Union leaders will present a reconstruction aid package to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on Friday, as the bloc seeks a fresh start with U.S. President George W. Bush after bitter internal divisions over Iraq.

But French President Jacques Chirac, a leading opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, will skip a meeting between the European Union leaders and Allawi in a move criticized by EU diplomats. Chirac's office denied it was a snub.

СI'm pleased that we did manage to put together a package which we are now in a position to submit to Allawi,Т Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told a late-night news conference on Thursday.

The package was relatively modest, consisting of 16.5 million euros ($21 million) in financing for Iraqi elections scheduled for January, support for developing the criminal justice system and the prospect of help for a United Nations protection force for the elections.

In the longer term, the 25-nation EU envisages extending preferential trade terms to Iraq and preparing a Trade and Cooperation Agreement which would formalize commercial links between the EU and Iraq for the first time.

СThat is a solid, established and well rounded package for a country like Iraq,Т said Bot.

Allawi, who heads a U.S.-backed interim government in Iraq, will meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's closest ally on Iraq. He will also meet EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU Commission President Romano Prodi and visit NATOЕФ

The EU Observer reports: УThe EU expressed solidarity with Palestinians as conflicting reports about Yassir Arafat's state of health emerged on Thursday.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, arriving for a summit in Brussels on Thursday evening announced that Mr. Arafat had died - but later retracted the statement.

US President George W. Bush, who was also wrongly informed by a journalist, reacted by saying СGod bless his soulТ.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was tasked by EU leaders on Thursday to consult with Israel, the Palestinians and the Quartet [Russia, the UN, the US and the EU] over the situation.

The news of Mr. Arafat's critical condition comes just days after Mr. Solana unveiled a paper pushing for the establishment of a Palestinian stateЕФ View Original Article

U.S. Targets Fallujah
Jets hit rebel-held Iraqi city
Х Marines Prep for Fight
Х Report: Al-Qaqaa Looted
Х City Gov't Planned

F-16 Fires on School
Fighter jet strafes N.J. elementary school with 25 rounds of ammo

CLAMART, France - Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) was reportedly fighting for his life Thursday at a French military hospital after losing consciousness, as anxious Palestinian officials transferred some of their 75-year-old leader's powers to Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

Doctors at Percy Military Training Hospital outside Paris, where Arafat was airlifted last Friday after more than two years of confinement in the West Bank, quashed a swirl of reports that he had died. But the French doctors would not say much else, and Palestinians issued conflicting reports about Arafat's condition and how close to death he was.

The confusion continued early Friday when an Israeli Cabinet minister said Arafat is brain dead and being kept on life support. "They will need to decide when to stop it," Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israel TV's Channel Two.

He was the first senior Israeli official to speak in detail about Arafat's condition, but the source of his information was not immediately clear.

"I don't know more than what the whole world knows," he told the network, which had reported the same condition Thursday.

"He is in a coma. We don't know the type but it's a reversible coma," Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France, told French RTL radio.

Earlier Arafat's personal physician, Dr. Ashraf Kurdi, told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television that "Arafat has no type of brain death." He also said a brain scan showed that Arafat had not suffered a hemorrhage or stroke.

Outside the hospital, some 50 well-wishers held a vigil late into the evening. Some held candles, others portraits of Arafat. A large Palestinian flag hung from the hospital's outer wall.

"It tears your heart up," said Mahmod Nimr, a 36-year-old unemployed Palestinian. "I can't see someone taking his place."

In an emergency meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah, the PLO executive committee empowered Qureia to deal with urgent administrative and financial matters in Arafat's absence, said committee member Qais Abdel Karim. Qureia also will meet with security chiefs in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) on Friday to ensure that no internal conflict erupts in the volatile area at a time of uncertainty, a Palestinian official said. MORE...

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe European Union has drafted plans to deploy a peace-keeping force in the Gaza Strip.

EU officials said Brussels was discussing a proposal to help organize a force to stabilize the Gaza Strip after an Israeli withdrawal in September 2005. The officials said the EU would send both peace-keepers and trainers to ensure order and bolster Palestinian Authority security forces.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the EU planned to send trainers in a joint effort with Egypt. Solana said the EU trainers would arrive over the next few months to prepare PA security forces for the Israeli withdrawal.

СProbably together with Egypt, we will send well-prepared people so that the Palestinians can enact a sensible command structure and also have the ability to fulfill their duty,Т Solana told the German weekly Der Spiegel. СWe are ready to contribute and to cooperate with our Palestinian friends on all the elements that they need: security, or administration reform, or whatever is necessary.ТЕФ View Original Article

U.S. Doctors Save Iraqi Baby

Father takes daughter to America for life-saving operations

Weapons Galore

Reporter's Notebook: Greg Palkot isnТt surprised by missing explosives in the weapons bazaar that is Iraq

Oil-for-Food Scandal

CIA report lays out Saddam's $1.7 billion scam

Saddam's Killing Field

Reporter's Notebook: Discovery of mass graves promises justice for victims, peace for families

Crisis in Sudan

Read FOX News' four-part series on the troubles in the African nation
Х Photos: Sudan's Troubles

The Afghan Boomlet

Reporter's Notebook: Some normalcy returning to Kabul, and a different boom is capturing peopleТs attention Ч an investment one

Fallujah Offensive
U.S. forces gear up for major assault on stronghold before January election

Japanese Hostage Slain
Decapitated body found in Baghdad was that of Shosei Koda, 24, official confirms
Х Japan Won't Pull Out

The Times Online reports: УPeople with inherited forms of cancer have won the right to select embryos free from genes that might trigger the disease in future generations, The Times has learnt.

Four couples affected by a genetic form of bowel cancer will start the procedure by the end of the year, after the GovernmentТs fertility watchdog allowed a London clinic to screen IVF embryos for the disorder.

One of the patients, a 35-year-old accountant from Bristol, said: СWe are overjoyed to have been given this chance, not only to do as much as possible to make sure our children donТt have this gene, but to stop them from passing it on.Т

The ruling by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority deepens the controversy over designer babies. It sets a precedent that will allow doctors to Сcherry-pickТ embryos for a much wider range of traits than at present. Applications to extend the procedure are expected within months.

Such tests can potentially eradicate some disorders, enabling parents to be certain of having healthy children. But critics said that the decision will push Britain farther towards Сdesigner babiesТ chosen for social reasonsЕФ View Original Article

Voice of America News reports: УSouth Korea says its patrol boats fired on North Korean naval vessels after they crossed a disputed maritime border.

In the latest incident along the tense frontier, the South Korean navy says its ships fired several warning shots after three boats from the North crossed the Northern Limit Line.

South Korean defense officials say the North Korean navy vessels did not respond to radio warnings to back off. They say the North's boats retreated after nearly an hour without firing a shot in return.

South Korean officials say there were about 80 Chinese fishing boats in the area at the time.

The Yonhap news agency reports that the North Korean vessels told South Korean authorities via radio that they were chasing illegal fishing boats and denied crossing the border.

The incident comes just days after holes were discovered in fences in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two countries, setting off an alert in the South for possible North Korean infiltrators.

Earlier last week, South Korea hunted - without success - for two North Korean submarines that were thought to have crossed into the South's watersЕФ View Original Article

Gibson takes on cloning
Braveheart vs. Terminator in California political debate

Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Dr. James C. Dobson will interview Mel Gibson, director of the critically acclaimed "The Passion of the Christ," on his daily radio program Monday on the actor's outspoken opposition to CaliforniaТs Proposition 71, the initiative proposed to amend the stateТs constitution to create $6 billion in public debt to fund the cloning of human embryos for embryonic stem-cell research.

"Why are we being misled into thinking Prop 71 isnТt about cloning, when it is?" Gibson asked. "I'm voting 'no' on Prop 71 Ц creating life simply to destroy it is wrong, particularly when there are effective alternatives readily available. In 23 years, [animal] embryonic stem-cell research has not produced a single human cure. All it's yielded is tumors, rejection and mutations."

Gibson's offensive puts him squarely at odds with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Republican governor is supporting a California ballot initiative to sell bonds to finance stem-cell research, putting him at odds also with the Bush administration, which limits federal funding for similar studies.

Gibson told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he has an "ethical problem" with the research, and called the governor Wednesday night to talk about it. But when Gibson reached Schwarzenegger, he said the governor told him he had to make a speech and would call him back. "Well, Arnold, I'm still waiting for your call," Gibson said.

"I don't know what this was all about," the governor said in Los Angeles. "I did talk to him for several minutes and explained to him what my position was on" the stem cell proposal, the governor said. Schwarzenegger said he had to cut short the call because he had to give a speech in San Diego. "After that, I called back at 9 o'clock and left a message on his phone," Schwarzenegger said. "He hasn't returned my call."

Gibson, a Roman Catholic, as is the governor, said that when he first heard about the proposition he was overjoyed but changed his mind. Gibson said he had no faith in the cloning of human embryos but would support the use of adult stem cells.

"I found that the cloning of human embryos will be used in the process and that, for me, I have an ethical problem with that," he said. "Why do I, as a taxpayer, have to fund something I believe is unethical? The true promise for treatment and cures lies with adult stem-cells, which do not require the cloning of human embryos nor the destruction of those embryos,Ф Dobson said. "The National Institutes of Health reports at least 74 diseases treatable by adult stem-cells. Sacrificing the tiniest members of the human family on the altar of science Ц and questionable science at best Ц is nothing short of state-funded cannibalism."

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe United States has warned of an Al Qaida plot to strike Qatar.

The U.S. embassy in Qatar said Americans could be the target of an attack in Doha. The embassy said the targets could include hotels frequented by Americans. Later, diplomatic sources said the warning was meant to cover the week of the U.S. presidential elections, which takes place on Nov. 2. They did not elaborateЕФ View Original Article

The Middle East Newsline reports: УThe Palestinian Authority has been thrown into turmoil amid the absence of Yasser Arafat.

PA officials said the PA Cabinet has not been briefed regarding key issues meant to maintain operations in Arafat's absence. They said financial and security decisions still required the approval of Arafat, who has been hospitalized in a military facility outside Paris.

СIt is true that many things need Arafat's signature and approval, like financial and security issues, and we will be in touch with him in Paris,Т Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Rawhi Fatouh said.

Arafat arrived in Paris on a French Air Force jet on Oct. 29, and on Saturday his physicians prevented all visits except for family members. The physicians said they would issue a statement on Arafat's health on Nov. 1ЕФ View Original Article

October Surprise
Bin Laden tells Americans they will be safe if they leave Muslims alone
Х No Terror Alert Change

Having a Scream
Researchers say relief that follows adrenaline rush makes horror movies, haunted houses fun

9 Marines Killed in Iraq
9 others wounded outside Fallujah; 7 killed by car bomb at Al-Arabiya TV station
Х Airstrikes in Fallujah

Voice of America News reports: УThe Arabic television channel al-Jazeera says it received the new videotape from Osama bin Laden at its offices in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Al-Jazeera officials say an unknown individual left the videotape at the front gate of the Islamabad office on Friday.