News for November 16, 2005

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Dozens of UFOs reported over Wales (November 16, 2005) - DOZENS of UFOs that the Ministry of Defence cannot explain have been sighted in Wales in the past three years, the release of confidential papers has revealed. The MoD confirmed that a green, circular object seen hovering in one position over Mumbles in January 2002 was classed as a UFO. And another bright object seen hovering over West Swansea in January of this year is also being put down as a UFO. However, Julie Monk of the Ministry of Defence’s Directorate of Air Staff made it clear a UFO classification simply meant no rational explanation for a sighting could be found, not that it was extra-terrestrial in origin. MoD figures show 28 reports of UFO sightings in Wales in the past three years cannot be explained. The close encounters include a black object hovering over Rhyl, a flying disc over Newport and a spinning craft with legs spotted in the skies above Rhondda. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that there were seven sightings in 2002, eight in 2003, four in 2004 and nine so far this year. more...

All of Israel’s security branches sent strong written protests to Sharon against the new Gaza crossings deal as exposing Israel to grave terrorist peril (November 16, 2005) - US secretary Rice forced the accord through in a diplomatic blitz Tuesday Nov. 15. The protests came from the top levels of Israel’s armed forces, the Shin Beit and all other intelligence services and the police. Rarely before have so many expressions of alarm been rushed to the head of government by all of top security agencies. By this extreme step -

1. Each of the branches submitted separate warnings to prime minister Ariel Sharon and defense minister Shaul Mofaz. They were alerted to the grave hazards in store when the crossings are reopened later this month and the rest of the accord goes into effect, shorn as they have been of appropriate security controls.
2. Each branch placed its reservations in writing to clearly record where responsibility lies for the worst possible contingencies.

DEBKAfile’s security sources report gloomy forecasts from all the leading officials responsible for Israeli national security and the war on terror. The accord signed Tuesday caught them in the middle of constructing a new security system designed to safeguard the country after Israeli troops were pulled out of the Gaza Strip. The new accord threatens to push this system aside. Israel is divested of the means of keeping terrorists from making free use of the crossings which reopen Nov. 25 and the Palestinian convoys driving from Gaza to the West Bank and back from Dec. 15. There is no longer any barrier to Palestinian terrorists bringing shoulder-launched anti-air missiles any time to the point from which they can turn Israel’s international airport into a disaster zone and paralyze international air traffic to and from the country. more...

Palestinian election platforms: Terrorize Israel (November 16, 2005) - As part of their campaign for upcoming Palestinian elections, senior politicians from Palestinian Authority President Mahmous Abbas' Fatah Party have been advocating the past few days continued terror attacks against Israel, including the firing of missiles, until the Jewish state leaves the West Bank and Jerusalem, WND has learned. The rhetoric comes in spite of a cease-fire signed in February by Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and Abbas’ pledge to the international community to disarm the Palestinian terror groups. “The West Bank is still occupied, and resistance is a legitimate right. I am not in favor of [launching] missiles, but it is our right to resist, to react and to confront the occupation,” PA National Security Adviser Jabril Rajoub said in an interview last week with an Egyptian newspaper, according to a translation by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel’s Center for Special Studies. Rajoub, PA Minister of Civil Affairs Muhammad Dahlan and senior Fatah activist Muhammad Hijazi are all running in Fatah primaries slated for tomorrow, and have been making statements to the Arab media advocating terrorism in interviews highlighting their election campaigns. Rajoub then told the Arabic Al-Arabiya TV he is opposed to disarming Hamas and Islamic Jihad, stating several times during an interview the matter of weapons was an “internal Palestinian issue” that would be dealt with by a dialogue between the PA and the terror organizations. February’s cease-fire, Rajoub said, was simply to appease international public opinion and put pressure on Israel. “The lull is open and changes according to developments in the field. Its main objective is to maintain local and international momentum, which serves Palestinian interests. The lull's function is also to exert pressure on the criminal Israeli government.” more...

Islamic Radicals Plan World Revolution from Temple Mount (November 16, 2005) - One of the radical groups operating on the Temple Mount is Hizab Altahrir (The Islamic Liberation Party), which espouses an ideology similar to Al Qaeda. Hizab Altahrir’s network spans most Western European countries. The party puts Islamic revolution and an uncompromising form of Jihad (holly war) at the top of its political agenda. The group advocates subjecting the entire world to Islamic law (Shariya), and destroying non-believing nations and religions. The party has targeted Europe, specifically Denmark, for spreading its ideology, and providing a springboard for renewing Islamic conquests in Europe. A senior party activist in Jerusalem, Sheikh Issam Amira, expressed this philosophy in a recent speech which he made on the Temple Mount: “Listeners! The Moslems in Denmark make up three percent [of the population], yet constitute a threat to the future of the Danish kingdom. It’s no surprise that in Bitrab (the ancient name of Medina, a city in Arabia to which Mohammed immigrated) they were fewer than three percent of the general population, but succeeded changing the regime in Bitrab. more...

Magnitude 6.9 earthquake shakes northern part of country (November 15, 2005) - A strong earthquake shook northern Japan early Tuesday, and small tsunamis struck towns on Japan’s northeastern coast about 217 miles from the epicenter. There were no immediate reports of damage. The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9, hit at 6:39 a.m. and was centered off the east coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and Japan’s Meteorological Agency. Tsunami waves measuring 12 to 19 inches hit the city of Ofunato, on the coast of Iwate prefecture, the agency said. Smaller tsunamis 4 inches to 12 inches high hit at least four other coastal towns in Iwate, Aomori and Miyagi provinces. Tsunami waves — those generated by earthquakes — are often barely noticeable in the ocean but can rise to great heights once they arrive at shore. The agency said larger tsunamis could reach coastlines on Japan’s Pacific Coast in the provinces of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Hokkaido, and warned residents to stay away from the coast. more...

Anti-Christian rampage features 2,000 Muslims (November 14, 2005) - They came in buses to the small village of Sangla Hill in the Nankana district of Punjab in Pakistan. Some 2,000 organized Muslims first vandalized three churches, a nuns’ convent, two Catholic schools, the houses of a Protestant pastor and a Catholic priest, a girls’ hostel and some Christian homes, according to Asia News. Then they burned them to the ground, while about 450 Christian families fled yesterday. They have not returned. The Justice and Peace Commission accuses the police of “criminal negligence” because they did not intervene. Lawrence John Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore Archdiocese and chairman of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, said “the attack seems to have been planned and organized as the attackers were brought to the site in buses and instigated to commit violence and arson. It gave our people a lot of fear and anxiety but we hope the government will do something.” The violence began 10 a.m. Saturday and was apparently motivated by the latest blasphemy case. On Friday, a Christian, Yousaf Masih, allegedly burned some copies of the Quran and disappeared. One of his brothers, Salim Masih was arrested the day before. The Commission of Justice and Peace in Lahore ruled that the blasphemy accusations were false and stemmed from the accusers having a financial dispute with the families they accused. Saqib Sohail Bhatti, a Christian in Sangla Hill, explained Masih is an illiterate who would not even be able to distinguish the Quran from any other book. Muslim clerical leaders yesterday called their flocks to gather outside the Jamia Madni Masjid central mosque where they urged them to attack the Christians. In fiery speeches, the leaders provoked the mob to set to fire each and every Christian place of worship. more...

Bill Softens Bestiality Statute (November 16, 2005) - Four state legislators in Massachusetts have introduced a bill that would soften the crime of bestiality, a move pro-family activists say is a natural progression of the state’s legalizing same-sex marriage. Stated traditional-values organization Article 8: “State Sen. Cynthia Creem, Sen. Robert O’Leary, Rep. Michael Festa and Rep. David Linsky have some interesting things in common. “They’re all strongly endorsed by the state’s three major powerful homosexual lobbying groups. … They’re all Democrats. They’re all vocal supporters of homosexual ‘marriage’ and whatever else the homosexual lobby bids them to do. “And now all four have introduced Senate bill 938. Even the left-wing Weekly Dig can’t believe that the Massachusetts Legislature is poised to go this far.” A story in Boston’s Weekly Dig describes the legislation, entitled “An Act Relative to Archaic Crimes.” “The bill would strike down several sections of the current penal code criminalizing adultery, fornication and the advertisement of abortion,” the reported stated. “It also repeals what appears to be a sodomy statute forbidding ‘abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with a beast.’ “Archaic, indeed.” While the bill would keep bestiality technically illegal, it gives the option of less severe penalties. Previously, those convicted of “a sexual act on an animal” could receive up to 20 years in prison. Explains the local weekly: “The new measure would give activist judges the option of slapping perps with a mere two and a half years in plush local jails, or even letting zoophiliacs walk with a $5,000 fine.” more...

Esquire: Clinton is World’s “Most Influential Man” (November 16, 2005) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is “The Most Influential Man in the World,” according to Esquire magazine. The magazine has designated him as “the most powerful agent of change in the world” despite his lack of electoral standing and the fact he was laid low by a heart attack ahead of last year’s presidential election. The magazine highlights Clinton’s accomplishments in its December issue, which goes on newsstands on Thursday, profiling the world’s “Best and Brightest” men and women. Since leaving office, Clinton has been so active that his post-presidency amounts to “a third term” for the Democrat who held the White House from 1992 to 2000, the magazine said. He has tackled global issues from AIDS, poverty and global warming to the recovery from last December’s Indian Ocean tsunami. Esquire editor David Granger argued that Clinton was poised to become “something like a president of the world or at least a president of the world’s non-governmental organizations.” But it will mean giving up a leadership role in the Democratic party or pushing the political career of his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, seen as a 2008 White House contender. In the article, Clinton said that he remained loyal to his party, adding: “I’m not the leader of the opposition anymore.”

Mysterious Antarctica May be the Home of the Oldest Civilization Link Lost (November 16, 2005) - Lots of surprises may be hidden under the Antarctic ice and are waiting to be discovered by humans. The existence of the prehistoric civilization in Antarctica started drawing attention of professional historians after the World War II. The hypothesis can be proved by the medieval maps and research of the Western paleogeologists and glaciologists. In January 1820 the lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Fleet Mikhail Lazarev discovered a new continent. At the beginning of the 20th century famous Russian Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedic dictionary contained an article, according to which the continent was insufficiently explored and that there were no flora and fauna. Besides, the author mentioned the variety of seaweeds and sea animals that inhabited the Antarctic waters. About twenty years later the head of the Istanbul National Museum Halil Edhem found an old map while revising the library of Byzantine emperors in the old sultans palace. The author of the map depicted the Western coast of Africa, the Southern coast of South America and the Northern coast of Antarctica. Halil was astonished. The ice edge of the Queen Maud Land south of 70^th parallel was free of ice. The author mapped a mountain chain at this point. The name of the cartographer was well known to Edhem. It was the admiral of Ottoman Empire Fleet Piri Reis, who lived in the first half of the 16th century. In 1949 the joint British-Swedish expedition conducted a thorough seismic exploration of the southernmost continent through the thick ice. The results coincided with the map of Reis. However, it was a mystery how the map data were to agree with the level of science of 1513. Piri Reis himself explained on the margins of the map that the map was based on a lot of previous sources, some of which belonged to his contemporaries, while others could be dated with as early as the 4th century BC One of thу sources, for instance, belonged to Alexander the Great. Thus Reis could not be made responsible for the data presented on the map. Medieval maps show Antarctica without ice cover or partly covered with ice. The accuracy of maps of the 16th century is incredible. In terms of the technical means their data can be compared with those of the end of the 18th century and sometimes with those of the 20th century. more...