The beginning of the drive to justify the use of force or other serious actions against Syria for its possible involvement in Rafiq Hariri's killing is reminiscent of the run-up to the 2003 US-led war against Iraq. As then, it is the United Nations Security Council which is the instrument for escalating the tensions, with yesterday's unanimous passage of its resolution demanding that Syria co-operate in UN investigator Detlev Mehlis's Hariri investigation by arresting those he suspects of complicity and that interrogations be conducted outside Syria. If the Iraq experience is a guide, the demands will multiply regardless of the level of co-operation Syria offers, with the US still free to resort to war if it chooses. With or without war, the resolution will intensify charges of UN double standards and further polarize Muslim-western relations.

The arguments being advanced for intervention this time are infinitely more spurious than the claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The highly speculative and overtly political Mehlis report relies on partisan witnesses, does not offer any concrete evidence that Syria was involved in the Hariri killing and in any event contends only that such involvement is probable.

Comment: See the flashback below to get an idea of who was really behind the Hariri killing...

The resolution's passage offers yet more proof that the Security Council is an instrument of western power invoked principally for intimidating or punishing Arabs. [...]

To put maximum pressure on both Syria and the Council in advance of the vote, US president George Bush had dramatically heightened the stakes by asserting that the American use of force against Syria was an option if it did not cooperate with the Mehlis inquiry. The Hariri killing was an atrocious act, but the notion that the US could attack Syria even if its officials were involved in the Hariri assassination defies all international covenants relating to the legal use of force. [...]

On the surface, the fear that the US might initiate new hostilities in the region seems preposterous when the US is so hopelessly bogged down in the Iraqi occupation.

But there are numerous American strategists who believe that Iraq can only be secured if the anti-US regimes in Syria and Iran are deposed...

[But the decision by France, a staunch foe of the Anglo-American drive to attack Iraq, to mend fences with the super-power by co-operating with it for short-term gains over Syria, and the election of a new pro-Bush German Chancellor, are major setbacks to this hope. In addition, since the July terror attacks in Britain, Prime Minister Blair is no longer seen as merely a weak Bush follower but an angry and independent challenger of the Muslim world.]

Comment: Blair is an "angry and independent challenger"?! Let's not forget who the perpetrators of the London bombings were, as well as the convenient timing of the events that allowed Blair to push through draconian anti-terror laws...

With the current united front, there is now no major European ally counseling US moderation in projecting its power in the Middle East. The inevitable result is yet more polarization in the Muslim world and a continuing marginalization of its reformers. A tougher world, and increased instability, stare us all in the face, as the perpetrators of 9/11 rejoice.

MIDDLEEAST.ORG - MER - Washington - 16 February: The Americans are 'profoundly outraged' that Rafik Hariri -- long known as the Saudi and U.S. supported man in Lebanon -- was assassinated. They were quick to 'recall' the American Ambassador for Syria and hint 'though not accuse' that Damascus was responsible if not for the assassination directly then for setting 'the climate' that allowed it to happen.

Last year the Israelis assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of Hamas. This is the same Sheik Yassin who a few years ago they had let out of their gulagish prisons -- under demand at the time from King Hussein of Jordan -- after a botched assassination attempt of another leading Hamas figure then in Amman (now in Damascus). At the time both Yasser Arafat and King Hussein quickly rushed to Yassin's hospital bedside to show their respect and even homage. Then, last March, a few years after his return to Gaza, the paralyzed and blind Sheik was bombed to death by the Israelis with an American OK further fueling the raging Intifada at the time. There was no 'profound outrage' from Washington nor any talk about who was responsible for 'the climate'.

HAMAS FOUNDER ASSASSINATED

Mid-East Realities - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 3/21/2004: They held him in their prisons not that long ago. Then they let him go after a botched Mossad attempt to assassinate other Hamas leaders in Amman. It was a deal orchestrated with King Hussein of Jordan and the CIA. Indeed King Hussein and Yasser Arafat were the first to rush to Yassin's hospital bedside paying him personal homage. Now he goes into history as one of the most significant Palestinian martyrs just as the recent secret meeting between the CIA-installed son of King Hussein, Abdullah II, with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has leaked out. And just as the top al-Qaeda leaders are being hunted down by the CIA and the Pakistanis and what may be a threat to use briefcase nukes is being published in Australia.

Later last year the Israelis then pulled off their biggest assassination of all. In his case, only a few years ago the most frequent foreign visitor to the White House in Washington when his co-optation was so much desired, the 'stealth assassination' of Yasser Arafat remains legally unproven as is likely to be the case with the brutal assassination of Hariri this week.

The Israelis have a long history of assassinating Palestinian and Arab leaders over many decades in many places through many means.

The history of American assassinations -- from the infamous Phoenix program in Vietnam to the 'black' CIA hit-squads harder at work than ever in today's Middle East -- is considerable and mostly still secret. [...]

Former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast in central Beirut on Monday.

The explosion destroyed a number of public buildings and vehicles, showing that the complicated terrorist act was carried out by a well equipped organization.

The situation in Lebanon and the region is now so critical that any discord could cause a new crisis for this small but strategic country.

Lebanon, which has been the cradle of peaceful coexistence among different religious and ethnic groups, experienced a 15-year civil war due to a series of domestic, regional, and international factors in the 1970s and 1980s.

The war left thousands of Muslim and Christian civilians dead, causing Lebanon huge financial losses.

In 1990, the various groups finally put aside their differences and calm and national unity ruled the country again.

Then, following the Zionist army's defeat in south Lebanon in 2000, Lebanon was once more put into the worldwide spotlight.

Lebanon eventually regained its regional economic position thanks to reconstruction and economic restoration, partly due to the efforts of the late Hariri.

However, regional and trans-regional powers such as the United States and the Zionist regime are trying to steer Lebanon toward a crisis, aiming to extend their military and political presence in some parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

The United States? strong support of UN Resolution 1559, which requires Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanese soil, is part of Washington?s plan to politically influence Lebanon and the region once again.

Israel and the U.S. seek to sever the spiritual and physical contacts between Syria and Lebanon in order to isolate Syria in the Middle East and check its political sway in the region.

Neither the Lebanese government nor the majority of its citizens want Syrian troops to quit their country.

However, if Syrian forces withdraw from Lebanese territory, it would surely pave the way for the political and military machinations of the United States and Israel.

The Lebanese and Syrian nations, due to their historical, ideological, and ethnic affinities, are in fact one nation in two separate lands. The regional and trans-regional powers must understand this and must realize that the two nations cannot be separated spiritually.

Now, the question is: Who benefited from the assassination of Hariri, a man who played a constructive role in the reestablishment of security in Lebanon?

All the evidence indicates that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad killed Hariri, since it had previously plotted to assassinate important Lebanese politicians.

The Mossad is trying to help the Zionist army claw its way back into Lebanon, since history has shown that the stability of Lebanon is not to the advantage of Israel.

Lebanon now faces a more complicated situation and should stay alert in order to thwart the Zionist regime's plots to dominate the country once again.

CHARLES Clarke, the Home Secretary, has admitted that MI5 did not request a new law allowing terror suspects be detained without charge for up to 90 days - directly contradicting Tony Blair, the Prime Minister.

Mr Clarke's admission, confirming advice first revealed in The Scotsman last month, came as government insiders admitted he is increasingly at odds with Mr Blair over whether to water down the controversial 90-day plan.

The battle comes as Mr Blair turns his 90-day proposal into a litmus test of his authority - after postponing a Commons vote on the issue on Wednesday through fear it would be defeated.

Throughout the debate on the Terrorism Bill currently before parliament, ministers have said they are enacting the wishes of the "police and security services" - claiming they say they need 90 days to investigate detainees. [...]

In August, Mr Blair called the plan for a 90-day detention a "police and security service request".

Hazel Blears, the Home Office minister for counter-terrorism, last month said that "the three-month period is what the police and security service say is necessary".

But, as The Scotsman revealed on 18 October, Whitehall officials insist that MI5 has not directly requested or advocated any particular policy. [...]

The apparent contradiction between Mr Blair's claim and the reality has caused concern in parts of the security services, where many have painful memories of the government's use of the intelligence services to justify the war in Iraq. [...]

Jerusalem-area fence will imprison Palestinians, block peace Shaul Arieli

More than anything, the obstacle course currently being built around Jerusalem expresses Prime Minister Sharon's policy: It is an attempt to establish permanent borders for the State of Israel by pushing settlement activity under the guise of security, using the pretext that there is no Palestinian partner to conduct a meaningful political dialogue with.

The result of this policy could be tragic: Without a Palestinian capital in eastern Jerusalem – an absolute requirement to bring the conflict to an end and resolve all outstanding claims – there will be no possibility of reaching an agreement in future. As such, this policy will ensure ongoing violence and conflict. [...]

American Jewish millionaire Irwin Moskowitz is behind a plan to establish a new Jewish neighborhood within the Sheikh Jarrah quarter of East Jerusalem.

The new neighborhood is slated to be set up on a hill between the National Police Headquarters and the Hyatt Hotel, thus creating a contiguity stretch of Jewish neighborhoods through eastern Jerusalem, reaching Mount Scopus. A request to build the complex was submitted to the Jerusalem Municipality this week.

The proposed neighborhood would be built around the Shepherd's Hotel, which Moskowitz acquired in 1985. Organizers hope to build six eight-story buildings containing 90 apartments, as well as a synagogue and kindergarten.

The municipal planning and construction company has not yet met to discuss the request, but the city's conservation committee has decided that the hotel can be knocked down since it has no special architectural value.

The compound originally belonged to Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, and served as a hotel starting in 1945. After the Six-Day War, it was transfered to the Custodian General. When Moskowitz acquired it, the hotel was being rented to the Border Police as a base.

Yosef Alalo, head of the Meretz faction on the Jerusalem City Council, said yesterday that building at the site would constitute a provocation, since it had been agreed that no Jewish building would take place inside Arab neighborhoods.

"'We will also continue to build the 'fence' without any budgetary, implementation or political restrictions..'"

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - The Israeli Knesset on Monday approved a speech by the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that vindicated his defense minister’s remarks on Friday, which ruled out a Palestinian state or even an “interim accord with the Palestinians in the foreseeable future, thus dooming any peace prospects according to the Quartet-drafted and UN-adopted roadmap peace plan. [...]

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) swiftly condemned Sharon’s plans as the very antithesis of peace.

“Final status negotiations are the only way. Peace and settlement activity are incompatible,” said the head of the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erakat.

“We are asking the international community to pressure Israel to stop all violations, aggression and settlement activity,” Erakat told AFP.

Sharon stated that the government will have new priorities in its 2005 state budget: “Greater Jerusalem” is a top priority, he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush has frequently expressed his determination to bring justice to the Middle East. But while the U.S. administration is rapidly pressing ahead with efforts to prosecute regime leaders in Iraq and Syria, another kind of injustice - Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people - continues to go ignored.

Hopes were high that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would open the door for economic revival in the impoverished territory, but Israel has kept a firm grip on that door's key. Because Israel has refused to relinquish control of border crossings, passage to and from Gaza has actually become more difficult since the withdrawal. The number of trucks crossing the border has dropped, and no efforts have been made to reopen the territory's air and sea ports. While Israel has recently approved an agreement to deploy European inspectors at the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border, the details of the arrangement are still being negotiated - at a painfully slow pace. The fate of Rafah terminal, which has been in limbo since before the Israeli withdrawal in mid-September, is still unresolved. A senior World Bank official, Nigel Roberts, has warned that the Karni crossing into Israel must also be opened to allow the export of Gaza produce. Gazans, who trapped in an Israeli-controlled prison of poverty and despair, are still waiting to see the benefits of Israel's withdrawal.

While maintaining its stranglehold on the Palestinian economy, Israel is simultaneously pushing the situation on the ground to a breaking point. Even as embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is struggling to maintain a de facto truce, the Israeli military is engaged in a dangerous escalation of tit-for-tat violence. [...]

The United States has consistently declined to criticize Israel's offensives, which have killed thousands of Palestinian civilians, and instead upheld Israel's right to defend itself. The U.S. has also said very little about Israel's breaches of international law, such as the ongoing construction of settlements in the West Bank, an activity that clearly contravenes Israel's obligations under the "road map." America's silence on the oppression of Palestinians makes U.S. foreign policy look grossly imbalanced. If Israeli oppression of Palestinians continues to go unchecked, all of America's efforts to promote justice in the Middle East will come to naught.

BEIRUT - It was one of the most shocking massacres to scar the Middle East, the slaying of more than 2,000 Palestinians by Christian militiamen in the wretched Lebanese refugee camps.

Now a film has returned to the story of Sabra and Shatila. But for the first time it has told the story of the slaughter through the voices of the killers. In Massaker, six former Christian Phalange militiamen tell of their training by Israeli allies and recount the events of 16-18 September, 1982, when hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children were killed in the Beirut camps.

Although the identities of the men are disguised in the 90-minute documentary, they make no attempt to hide the gruesome details of the massacre, with some boasting about their killing skills with AK-47 assault rifles and butchers' knives.

Several parts of the film assault the viewers' senses, including one where a man describes how another militiaman, a butcher, took pleasure in carving up his victims. Another recalls how even the wails of old Palestinian women 'left them cold' as they systematically moved into the camps, tossed grenades into houses and sprayed rooms with gunfire, killing at close range. [...]

Israel's Defence Minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, authorised the entry of members of Gemayel's Lebanese Forces (a Phalangist militia) and Saad Haddad's South Lebanon Army into the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps, home to 30,000 Palestinians whose refugee families had moved to Lebanon in successive waves since 1948.

The camps had been sealed off by Israeli tanks. When the militiamen, who were worked into a frenzy after being told that the Palestinians were responsible for Gemayel's killing, entered on the evening of 16 September, the only resistance they encountered was from a few lightly armed young men.

For the next 38 hours, the militiamen raped, tortured, mutilated and massacred civilians. The exact number killed is still not known. On 22 September the International Red Cross gave a figure of 2,400, but Palestinians claim more died.

One of the most controversial revelations in the film is the alleged extent of Israeli involvement in the preparation and execution of the operation, down to providing body bags before the killings began. 'You'll be needing these,' one of the militiamen is told by an Israeli officer.

The United States has raised the prospect of a military invasion of Saudi Arabia.

The House Armed Services Committee considered the possibility of a Saudi coup and U.S. response during a hearing on Oct. 26. Saudi Arabia, with 200,000 military and National Guard troops, is the largest oil producer and exporter, with an output of nine million barrels of oil per day, according to Middle East Newsline. The Arab kingdom is the third largest supplier of oil to the United States, with more than 1.55 million barrels per day.

The scenario was outlined by Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, who cited a Saudi coup as one of several threats to the United States.

"How should the United States respond if a coup, presumably fundamentalist in nature, overthrows the royal family in Saudi Arabia?" O'Hanlon asked. "Such a result would raise the specter of major disruption to the oil economy."

The response could include the deployment of three U.S. Army divisions backed by fighter-jets and airborne early-warning and alert aircraft. In all, the U.S.-led mission could include up to 300,000 troops.

58 Percent in Poll Question His Integrity

For the first time in his presidency a majority of Americans question the integrity of President Bush, and growing doubts about his leadership have left him with record negative ratings on the economy, Iraq and even the war on terrorism, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows.

On almost every key measure of presidential character and performance, the survey found that Bush has never been less popular with the American people. Currently 39 percent approve of the job he is doing as president, while 60 percent disapprove of his performance in office -- the highest level of disapproval ever recorded for Bush in Post-ABC polls.

Washington - The United States on Wednesday defended its landmark nuclear deal with India, saying it would be far easier to monitor New Delhi's atomic energy activities within the fold of the international regime than outside of it. [...]

"We decided that it was in the American interest to bring India into compliance with the standards and practices of the international non-proliferation regime," Burns said, explaining the rationale for the July 18 agreement reached between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush. [...]

Under the terms of the deal, Washington would give India access to civil nuclear energy related technology once India separates civilian and military nuclear programs and place its nuclear reactors under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections. [...]

Other US legislators have warned that the nuclear cooperation deal could be jeopardized if India fails to show sufficient cooperation in US efforts to restrict the nuclear ambitions of Iran, a country with which New Delhi has valuable energy ties. [...]

Did the Bush White House, in a deliberate and organized manner, misrepresent the truth to Congress, the American people and the world in making its case for the military invasion of Iraq? This is a critical question that demands a clear answer. To this point, Congress has abdicated its responsibility to investigate all the facts. That must change. [...]

Congress has a clear role to play in this issue, because Fitzgerald's investigation seeks only to punish criminal action and does not deal with the much broader issue of whether the White House deliberately misled the American people. Congress, both in its responsibility to exercise oversight of federal government action and because we received much of the potentially incorrect information being put out by the administration on Iraq, has the duty of ensuring open and honest communication between the White House and Congress.

And yet this Congress has not looked into the matter at all. The same Congress that launched investigations into the suicide of Clinton aide Vince Foster and the hiring actions of the Clinton White House with regard to their travel office, among countless other investigations, has sat silent on the critical issue of whether the White House deliberately put out false information in an effort to push our nation into war.

In an effort to get Congress to investigate this important issue, I have co-sponsored a resolution of inquiry calling for the White House to turn over to Congress all information involving the White House Iraq Group. [...]

Last week, a legal thunderbolt struck at the heart of the grubby conspiracy that led the United States and Britain into an illegal war of aggression against Iraq. But this searing blow didn't fall in Washington, where a media frenzy raged over a White House indictment, but in southern England, in a military courtroom, where a lone soldier stood against the full force of the great war-crime enterprise, armed only with a single, rusty, obsolete weapon: the law.

While Potomac courtiers were reading the entrails of the cooked goose of Scooter Libby -- the first Bushist honcho caught in the slow-grinding gears of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation -- in Wiltshire, Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith faced a court martial after declaring that the Iraq war was illegal and refusing to return for his third tour of duty there, The Guardian reports.

He has been charged with four counts of "disobeying a lawful command." But Kendall-Smith, a decorated medical officer in the Royal Air Force, says that his study of the recently revealed evidence about the lies, distortions and manipulations used to justify the invasion has convinced him that both the war and the occupation are "manifestly illegal." Thus any order arising from this criminal action is itself an "unlawful command," The Sunday Times reports.

In fact, the RAF's own manual of law compels him to refuse such illegal orders, Kendall-Smith insists. [...]

HONG KONG - FBI agents in Los Angeles have arrested four people with ties to Hong Kong for allegedly trying to smuggle sensitive material on US military technology to mainland China, a press report said Friday.

The material included research into silent propulsion systems for US warships, a technology that is banned from export to China, the South China Morning Post reported, citing an FBI affidavit.

The four, all ethnic Chinese, allegedly planned to steal secrets from a defence contractor where one of them worked and transport the information to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on encrypted CDs, the newspaper said. [...]

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands - US military activity in the Western Pacific will be stepped up after the relocation of 7,000 US Marines from Okinawa, the US regional naval commander said.

Rear Admiral Charles J. Leidig, the commander of US naval forces for the western Pacific, declined to say how many of the 7,000 marines to leave Okinawa would be moved to the US territory of Guam. Reports have indicated the bulk of the relocated forces would go to the Pacific island. [...]

"You're going to see more training, whether in the sea or in the air, in the western Pacific region," Leidig said.

"You're going to see increased military presence throughout the region. I'm working specifically on increasing the number of ships visiting the region," he added. [...]

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez charged Wednesday that Colombian intelligence agencies have been behind plots against his government, but he added they failed to undermined relations between the two neighbors.

The accusations come days after the firing of one top official in the Colombian secret police and the resignations of two others in a scandal over alleged links to right-wing paramilitary groups that have battled that country's leftist rebels.

In an interview with the Caracas-based Telesur television station late Tuesday, Chavez said his government has ``many pieces of evidence'' that "conspiracies are hatched against us in Colombian intelligence bodies.''

Chavez did not directly link the resignations in Colombia to his claims of plots, but suggested that the recent scandals illustrate his complaint.

He did not provide details of any specific violent plots, but said there are elements in Colombia "who obey Washington'' and who attack Venezuela with false claims about him supporting leftist rebels.

Chavez, a leftist, has repeatedly accused the United States of supporting efforts to oust him - accusations that U.S. officials have denied.

Some Colombian authorities have, in the past, accused Venezuela of turning a blind eye to rebels crossing the border to flee Colombian troops. Chavez says Venezuela has stepped up its security along the border and that past claims of rebels bases in Venezuelan territory are not true.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said knew nothing of alleged plots within his nation's intelligence agencies, adding that hoped Chavez would give him details this week at the Americas Summit in Mar de Plata, Argentina.

"I hope President Chavez, in Mar de Plata, helps us with evidence,'' Uribe told reporters as he left a meeting in Bogota.

Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco said the government had never had any internal discussions on any plot against Venezuela. "Countries' sovereignty is respected,'' she said.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Almost all New Orleans public schools, now closed because of Hurricane Katrina, could eventually be reopened by the state as charter schools under proposed legislation to wrest power from the city's fractious school board.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco outlined the proposal Thursday at the same news conference where state education officials released figures showing 68 of 110 New Orleans schools operating before Katrina were "academically unacceptable," based on student testing.

The state already can take over perennially failing schools. Blanco's proposal would allow the state to take over any New Orleans school with a performance score below the current state average and hand it to an independent operator as a charter school. That would make 97 city schools eligible for takeover.

Such a large-scale takeover would be a daunting task, but Katrina gives the state a chance to ease into the job.

Enrollment in New Orleans schools was around 60,000 before the storm hit Aug. 29. Now, a survey shows only about 3,700 students are expected to return when the first schools reopen, perhaps later this month. It is uncertain how fast others will come back.

"The silver lining of Katrina's storm clouds is the historic opportunity that we have now to start anew," Blanco said. [...]

RENO, Nev. - Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has suggested that those who deface freeways with graffiti should have their thumbs cut off on television.

Goodman, appearing Wednesday on the "Nevada Newsmakers" television show, said, "In the old days in France, they had beheading of people who commit heinous crimes.

"You know, we have a beautiful highway landscaping redevelopment in our downtown. We have desert tortoises and beautiful paintings of flora and fauna. These punks come along and deface it.

"I'm saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb," the mayor added. "That may be the right thing to do."

Goodman also suggested that whippings or canings should be brought back for children who get into trouble. [...]

Another panelist on the show, Howard Rosenberg, a state university system regent, responded by saying that cutting off the thumbs of taggers won't solve the problem and Goodman should "use his head for something other than a hat rack.''

PARIS - Gangs of youths again stoned police and set cars ablaze as France's worst rioting in more than a decade raged for its eighth straight night, sparking fears that racial and social divisions were fuelling growing violence.

In a worrying sign, the rampages that have gripped the poorer immigrant-populated outskirts of Paris since October 27 spread, for the first time, to other parts of the country, to Dijon, Marseille and Normandy, and inside the capital itself.

They have also taken on an increasingly dangerous tone, with buckshot fired at riot squad vans -- and prosecutors revealing that a handicapped woman was deliberately set on fire the night before. [...]

Those responsible are groups of young Muslim men, the sons of families from France's former Arab and African colonial territories, who have said in interviews that they are protesting economic misery, racial discrimination and provocative policing. [...]

Speaking on French television late Thursday, Sarkozy said the violence was being orchestrated by unknown organisers. "What we have been witnessing ... has nothing spontaneous about it. It was perfectly organised. We are trying to find out by who and how," he said. [...]

Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe of the opposition Socialist Party warned on Europe 1 against hasty conclusions being made "between one religion, Islam, and a few extremists" and the range of criminal networks in the down-trodden suburbs.

Small-scale suburban violence is a regular but unreported fact of life in many poor areas on the outskirts of major French cities. According to the police intelligence service, a total of 28,000 cars were burned across the country this year -- even before the latest outbreak.

WEDNESDAY - A nicotine vaccine, a ray of hope for millions of smokers wanting to quit, has come one step closer to reality.

Researchers presenting at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Baltimore on Wednesday reported strong safety and efficacy results for NicVAX. [...]

The effects were significant enough to merit moving on to a full-blown clinical trial, she added. [...]

Several questions still remain, Glynn pointed out: How long will the vaccine be effective? Will smokers need a booster? Will it be a relapse preventer? And is this something that could be given to a 9-year-old to prevent him or her from taking up the habit, much like the measles vaccine prevents measles? [...]

PITTSBURGH – Anger is good for you, as long as you keep it below a boil, according to new psychology research based on face reading.

People who respond to stressful situations with short-term anger or indignation have a sense of control and optimism that lacks in those who respond with fear. [...]

Lerner previously studied Americans' emotional response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks two months afterward and found that anger triggers feelings of certainty and control. People who reacted with anger were more optimistic about risk and more likely to favor an aggressive response to terrorism. [...]

PARIS - Mediterranean countries from Tunisia to Turkey face a bleak environmental future with concrete coastlines, rising temperatures, mountains of refuse and endless oil slicks, according to a UN prognosis for the region in 2025.

Only a radical change in public policy and increased cooperation between northern and southern states will prevent the dismal forecast from coming true, according to the UN Environment Programme's "Plan Bleu" Mediterranean centre. [...]

The growth of built-up areas in northern countries and illegal urbanisation in the south, increased car use and soaring energy consumption will all exacerbate environmental problems, while carbon dioxide emissions are set to leap by 45 percent to 2.8 billion tonnes from 2000 to 2025, the study warns.

Climate change, largely caused by carbon dioxide, is likely to be "twice as fast" in the Mediterranean basin than in northern Europe, threatening more droughts, forest fires and parasitic infections. [...]

BEIJING - Large parts of Sichuan, a southwest Chinese province known as the country's breadbasket, may be covered in sand in a few years' time because of the rapidly expanding desert, state media said Friday.

Under particular threat is the Chengdu plain, a source of grain since ancient times, the China Daily reported, citing the Sichuan forestry department.

The reason is spreading desertification of the Ruo'ergai Grassland, located 300 kilometers (190 miles) away at an altitude of between 3,500 and 4,000 meters (11,700 and 13,300 feet) above sea level, according to the paper. [...]

November 3, 2005:

Magnitude 4.3 - PAKISTAN

Magnitude 5.2 - KURIL ISLANDS

Magnitude 5.1 - NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

Magnitude 4.7 - PAKISTAN

THE uncanny ability of blind people to "sense" unseen objects has been demonstrated for the first time in sighted volunteers whose vision was blanked out by scientists.

The findings suggest "blindsight", which has been observed in blind people whose eyes function normally but who have suffered damage to the brain's visual centre, is a real and not imagined phenomenon.

In tests, the blind have been able to distinguish basic shapes of objects they cannot see, as well as their orientation and direction of motion. On other occasions a blind person has reported experiencing a "feeling" that an object is present, while not being able to see it.

A number of theories have been proposed to explain "blindsight". Generally, it is suggested that other parts of the brain besides the primary visual cortex respond to nerve messages from the eyes at an unconscious level.

Scientists from the University of Houston in Texas, temporarily blinded a group of 12 volunteers by using an electromagnetic field to shut down the primary visual cortex. Images were then flashed in front of them on a screen.

In one experiment, volunteers were shown either a horizontal or vertical bar. In another, a red or green dot appeared.

Most of the time, the volunteers were unaware of the images with which they were presented. But they guessed either the orientation of the bar or the colour of the dot correctly more often than would have been expected by the law of averages.

The researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: "Despite unawareness of these 'targets', performance on forced-choice discrimination tasks for orientation and colour were both significantly above chance."

They said the findings suggested that a visual pathway bypassing the primary visual cortex must be responsible for "blindsight".

BERLIN (Reuters) - Numerous sightings of massive fireballs in the skies over Germany this week have led to an upsurge in reports of UFOs, but scientists believe the cause could be a bizarre annual meteor blitz.

According to the Web site of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), such fireballs have been reported elsewhere in the world and may also be due to the fact that the Earth is now orbiting through a swarm of space debris.

Many people in Germany have noticed the fireballs, said Werner Walter, an amateur astronomer in Mannheim who runs a Web site on unexplained astronomical phenomena and a hotline for reports on unidentified flying objects (UFO).

"The last reported sighting was yesterday at 7:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) in a corridor near the border of the Netherlands," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"This week we have had at least 15 emails and phone calls from people reporting these fireballs," he said. "Some people said it looks like something out of a science fiction horror film."

In addition to a possible meteor streak, Walter said amateur and professional astronomers were considering the possibility that the blitz was the result of a "falling satellite or UFOs."

"It is possible that they are UFOs, which are after all things which we cannot explain," he said.

NASA's science Web site (http://science.nasa.gov) mentions reports of recent fireball sightings in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, North Ireland and Japan. It includes images of the fireballs, which one man likened to a spotlight.

Walter described them as "super-large, colored fireballs that shoot with the speed of lightning through the sky."

However, the NASA Web site quotes meteor expert David Asher from the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland as saying that people "are probably seeing the Taurid meteor shower."

Taurids are meteors that shoot out of the constellation Taurus, which peaks at the end of October and early November.

"I thought some wise guy was shining a spotlight at me," says Josh Bowers of New Germany, Pennsylvania. "Then I realized what it was: a fireball in the southern sky. I was doing some backyard astronomy around 9 p.m. on Halloween (Oct. 31, 2005), and this meteor was so bright it made me lose my night vision.”

Bowers wasn't the only one who saw the fireball. Lots of people were outdoors Trick or Treating. They saw what Bowers saw ... and more. Before the night was over, reports of meteors "brighter than a full moon" were streaming in from coast to coast.

Astronomers have taken to calling these the "Halloween fireballs." But there's more to it than Halloween. The display has been going on for days.

Fireball sighted in Japan Oct 28th 2005

On Oct. 30th, for example, Bill Plaskon of Jonesport, Maine, was "observing Mars through a 10-inch telescope at 10:04 p.m. EST when a brilliant fireball lit up the sky and left a short corkscrew-like smoke trail that lasted about 1 minute."

On Oct 28th, Lance Taylor of Edmonton, Alberta, woke up early to go fishing with five friends. At about 6 a.m. they "noticed a nice fireball. Then 20 minutes later there was another," he says

On Nov. 2nd in the Netherlands, "The sky lit up very bright," reports Koen Miskotte. "In the corner of my eye I saw a fireball about as bright [as a crescent moon]."

And so on….

On the fourth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Laura Knight-Jadczyk announced the availability of her latest book:

In the years since the 9/11 attacks, dozens of books have sought to explore the truth behind the official version of events that day - yet to date, none of these publications has provided a satisfactory answer as to WHY the attacks occurred and who was ultimately responsible for carrying them out.

Taking a broad, millennia-long perspective, Laura Knight-Jadczyk's 9/11: The Ultimate Truth uncovers the true nature of the ruling elite on our planet and presents new and ground-breaking insights into just how the 9/11 attacks played out.

9/11: The Ultimate Truth makes a strong case for the idea that September 11, 2001 marked the moment when our planet entered the final phase of a diabolical plan that has been many, many years in the making. It is a plan developed and nurtured by successive generations of ruthless individuals who relentlessly exploit the negative aspects of basic human nature to entrap humanity as a whole in endless wars and suffering in order to keep us confused and distracted to the reality of the man behind the curtain.

Drawing on historical and genealogical sources, Knight-Jadczyk eloquently links the 9/11 event to the modern-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She also cites the clear evidence that our planet undergoes periodic natural cataclysms, a cycle that has arguably brought humanity to the brink of destruction in the present day.

For its no nonsense style in cutting to the core of the issue and its sheer audacity in refusing to be swayed or distracted by the morass of disinformation that has been employed by the Powers that Be to cover their tracks, 9/11: The Ultimate Truth can rightly claim to be THE definitive book on 9/11 - and what that fateful day's true implications are for the future of mankind.

Published by Red Pill Press

Order the book today at our bookstore.