Olmert later told a conference involving Nobel Laureates and Israeli and Arab youth on ways to solve conflicts in the Mideast that his country was "ready to sit down and talk about it carefully" and was willing to listen to Arab views.
"We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully," he told the conference in the ancient city. Describing the plan as "very interesting," Olmert said "we are ready to cooperate to find the appropriate manner to implement it. If the Arab countries want to present their peace initiative, we will be more than happy to sit down and listen carefully."

Olmert invited the "22 leaders of the Arab nations that are ready to make that kind of peace with Israel, to come to Israel, wherever they want and to sit down with us and start talk and present their ideas." He added that if they were willing to invite him somewhere for talks, then "I'm ready to come." Olmert went on to say that "if Hamas agrees to abide by the Quartet's conditions we will agree to sit with them around the negotiating table,", adding, however, that Hamas was "an obstacle to peace since it refuses to recognize Israel."

The conference in Petra, a city carved into rose-red stone and built by the Nabataean culture some 2,000 years ago, was hosted jointly by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and the New York-based Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.

Ridiculous examples include the case of a Cheshire man who was cautioned for being "found in possession of an egg with intent to throw". In Kent, a child was arrested for throwing a slice of cucumber from a tuna sandwich at another youngster, while a was boy arrested for throwing a cream bun on a school bus.

North Wales chief constable Richard Brunstrom wanted his traffic officers to arrest at least eight motorists a month or face an investigation. One inspector serving in the North of England said: "Blogging is the only way many of us can make our views known about the state of policing in the UK, where officers are encouraged to meet targets via the most trivial of incidents." And a blog from "Another Constable" noted: "My favourite type of arrest is a drink-driver. However, the statisticians would much rather I give out a £30 fixed penalty to a ten-year-old for drawing on a wall, or carving their initials into a tree."

"Officers are saying-they are forced to make arrests or cautions for this lunacy because the Government believes they should be judged by what can be counted." Federation chairman Jan Berry said: "We have police officers who are considering leaving the service over this because it is not the job they signed up to do.
"These examples we have compiled are ludicrous but when people are being pushed to show results they will use anything they can to demonstrate they are doing a good job."

Veterinarians said the birds have very sensitive lungs and the toxins in the smoke are poison to them, Local 6 reported Monday. Video showed birds slamming head-first into buildings and glass in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.Officials said smoke from the wildfires in Florida disorients the birds and causes them to fly into windows, according to a WSVN report. The birds are dying from either the impact of the crash or suffering from head and neck injuries.

Wildfires started about a month ago in southeast Georgia and have spread into Florida. More than 300,000 acres have burned in both states.The wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida was started by lightning more than a week ago.

By Sunday night, it had burned 102,500 acres in Florida and was 30 percent contained. Georgia reported 41 wildfires in the state covering 267,136 acres.

The wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida was started by lightning more than a week ago. By Sunday night, it had burned 102,500 acres in Florida and was 30 percent contained.

Off the coast of Southern California, continued cool weather Sunday helped firefighters on Santa Catalina Island maintain control of a blaze that had threatened the resort community of Avalon.The 4,200-acre or 6.5-square-mile fire was 76 percent contained Sunday and was expected to be encircled by Tuesday evening. One home and six businesses burned Thursday but no one was seriously injured.

Elsewhere, a blaze feeding on drought-stricken forest in northern Minnesota was only 15 percent contained as of Sunday. The fire had burned a combined 93 square miles in Minnesota and Canada. Meteorologists said there was a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms Sunday night. The storms weren't expected to bring enough rain to counterbalance the danger from high winds and lightning.

The fire had closed about half of the 57-mile-long Gunflint Trail, a key route from Grand Marais into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness that is dotted with resorts and lake homes.Officials said the fire had destroyed 133 buildings, including 61 residences. They estimated the value of buildings lost at $3.7 million.
Georgia officials on Sunday also were working a new area of flames in the northern part of the state. The fire covered approximately 200 acres in Gilmer County and Murray County, according to Georgia Forestry Commission spokesman Devon Dartnell. It was believed to have been caused by lightning Saturday night, Dartnell said.

Fires and the smoke from them plagued area residents all weekend. Authorities closed approximately 75 miles of Interstate 75 and 10 on Saturday and were only able to reopen stretches periodically Sunday. Haze from the fires has traveled as far south as the Miami area, about 340 miles away.

The move marks a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made revising the constitution one of his top priorities, correspondents say. The current constitution has not been changed since 1947. Drawn up by the US occupation authorities after WWII, it bans military force in settling international disputes and prohibits maintaining a military for warfare.

But Mr Abe wants Japan to be more assertive on the world stage, with a military able to take part in peacekeeping missions abroad. Critics of the proposed changes say the pacifist constitution has kept Japan out of war since the 1940s and allowed the country to focus on economic growth instead. The move may also meet concern from South Korea and China, which remain suspicious of Japan because of its wartime aggressions.

Japan's constitution has been stretched in recent years to allow the country to have a self-defence force. Under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, this was pushed still further, to allow troops to join peacekeeping missions in Iraq.

Gen. Ronald Keys, who leads the Air Combat Command, points to cracked wings on A-10 attack planes and frayed electrical cables on U-2 spy planes.Compared to 1996, the Air Force now spends 87% more on maintenance for a warplane fleet that is less ready to fly, Air Force records show.

They also show that as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, Air Force and other military aircraft are flying more missions in harsh environments.The average Air Force warplane is 23.5 years old compared with 8.5 years in 1967. In 2001, the average plane was 22 years old.

The Air Force says it wants to buy new planes to lower the average age of its fleet to 15 years over the next two decades. That will cost an estimated $400 billion.

Professor Mike Hulme, of the UK's Tyndall Centre, has been conducting research on people's attitudes to media portrayals of a catastrophic future. He says strong messages designed to prompt people to change behaviour only seem to generate apathy.

His initial findings will be shown to a meeting run by the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
"There has been over-claiming or exaggeration, or at the very least casual use of language by scientists, some of whom are quite prominent," Professor Hulme told BBC News. His concern is that these exaggerations have given the green light to the media to use the language of fear, terror and disaster when covering scientific reports - even when those reports are much more constrained in their description of the course of likely future events.

He says extravagated claims simply generate a feeling of helplessness in the public. "My argument is about the dangers of science over-claiming its knowledge about the future and in particular presenting tentative predictions about climate change using words of 'disaster', 'apocalypse' and 'catastrophe'," he said.

These were subsequently echoed by two leading Royal Meteorological Society figures - Professors Paul Hardaker and Chris Collier - in March this year. They said reports of catastrophe and the "Hollywoodisation" of weather and climate were creating confusion in the public's mind.

All three men hold the view that human activity lies behind the recent rise in Earth's global average temperature.

More than 31 million prescriptions for drugs such as Prozac were issued in 2006 - a 6% rise on the year before.

THE FIGURES COME AS TWO STUDIES SHOWED "STARTLING" BENEFITS OF COUNTRY WALKS IN PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION.

Mind, the charity that reported the findings, said GPs should consider "ecotherapy" as a valid alternative.
The National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence issued guidance in 2004 recommending that antidepressants should not be used as first-line therapy for mild to moderate depression. Instead patients should be offered guided self-help and psychological therapies in the first instance.

But figures from the Information Centre indicate the number of prescriptions for antidepressants are still on the rise. In particular prescriptions for a group of drugs known as SSRIs, which include Prozac, rose by 10% last year from 14.7m to 16.2m. There have been fears that the drugs are linked to suicidal thoughts and self-harm in some cases. In 2003, experts said SSRI antidepressants should not be given to teenagers after experts' concerns they made some patients suicidal.

Mind, the mental health charity, say the UK is trailing behind other countries in the use of other therapies.
In the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Slovenia, patients with depression are prescribed agricultural work. Holland has 600 care farms that are part of the health service compared with 43 in the UK none of which are aimed at mental health.

Ecotherapy, described as getting outdoors and getting active in a green environment, should be considered as a treatment option they said.

Researchers at the University of Essex compared a walk in a country park with a walk in a shopping centre in a study of 20 people. They found 71% reported decreased levels of depression after a country walk compared with 45% after a shopping centre walk. Participants also felt much less tense and reported greatly increased self esteem after a green walk. But after a walk in a shopping centre, 50% said their feelings of tension increased and 44% said their self-esteem decreased after the walk in a shopping centre.

The Panorama programme investigates whether the Church of Scientology has moved away from its past as a brainwashing cult. But furious church members - including actor John Travolta - say the programme should be ditched because Mr Sweeney showed he was biased by losing his temper and shouting at a top scientologist.
Scientologists have sent 100,000 copies of film of the incident to MPs, civil servants and business leaders, as well as posting it on the YouTube website.

Travolta has also written to BBC executives, accusing Mr Sweeney of "personal prejudices, bigotry and animosity". But the broadcaster insisted last night that the programme would go ahead.

A BBC source said Mr Sweeney, who has apologised for his rant, had become distressed after following Scientologists for days and watching harrowing footage of people being tortured as part of an exhibition by the church attacking psychiatry. The source added: "It was a very intense time. He was completely in the wrong and should never have lost his rag - but he's only human." Mr Sweeney said: "I am hugely embarrassed. I let the side down and the BBC down and I am ashamed but I felt I was being brainwashed.
"If people see the full clip, I think they will have more sympathy with me."

Panorama has also posted its own footage on YouTube, showing a leading American Scientologist threatening Mr Sweeney. Mr Sweeney has complained of becoming a victim of intimidation while making the programme. He says he was followed and his wedding was gatecrashed.

Panorama spent six months investigating the religion - which claims humans are descended from a race of aliens called thetans - and interviewed several people who said they had cut off their families after becoming Scientologists. The documentary also exposes apparent links between Scientology leaders and City of London police officers.

Chief Superintendent Ken Stewart is shown praising the controversial organisation, which supplied hospitality worth £11,000 to the force. Policemen attended scientology dinners and the premiere of Cruise's film Mission Impossible 3.

"In our time", said Putin, "these threats are not diminishing. They have merely undergone a transformation, changing their appearance. We find in these new threats, as during the time of the Third Reich, the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionality.

In saying this, President Putin was talking about the United States. Putin was saying that fascism now flies the American flag. He was saying that the U.S. military is like the Nazi war machine, threatening the entire world. The Russian people are being oriented to a new enemy. They are being told to fear and hate the Americans.

There is no American threat to Russia. The Americans are tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, and everyone knows the Americans are losing. The American side doesn't want to be enemies with Russia. The Americans don't see any reason for conflict with Russia.

If missiles were launched against America from silos in Russia the Americans would know who to retaliate against. But if terrorists detonate atomic weapons in New York and Washington, they couldn't retaliate against anyone, even if the bomb-grade uranium or plutonium was traceable to Russia or China or Pakistan.

Here is the fateful method of launching a nuclear war without fear of retaliation. Note the precondition: FALSE FLAG TERRORISM (i.e. grey terror).

Note the psychological preparations: Russian nuclear facilities aren't terribly secure (i.e., Gen. Lebed's claim, years ago, that RUSSIAN WARHEADS WERE "MISSING").

Note America's credulity: (1) Russia is no longer our enemy; (2) Islam is the main threat to America's survival; (3) the alliance between Russia and China is not aimed at America; (4) America is the lone superpower.
The words from Red Square give the game away.
Full article:- http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2007/0511.html

Two people are reported to have been killed and at least 10 wounded as Fatah and Hamas gunmen exchanged fire. Egyptian mediators brokered a truce late on Sunday after five people were killed and 18 injured. It was the worst day of violence in Gaza since Hamas and Fatah agreed in February to form a unity government.

Egyptian mediators brokered an agreement between the factions to pull their armed men off the streets, dismantle roadblocks and return a number of hostages taken on Sunday. The truce was intended to come into effect at 0100 on Monday (2200 GMT Sunday) but within hours fighting had broken out with both sides claiming the other had attacked its members.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti called for the rival factions to control their armed forces.
"Not only the future of the government, but the future of all the Palestinian people will be endangered if these bloody acts continue," he said.

Up to 400 people have died in clashes between Palestinian factions since the Islamist Hamas won last year's parliamentary elections. Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the strip has seen a wave of infighting, armed robberies, deadly family feuds and kidnappings.

How would you like to have the equivalent of a barcode built into your arm? It would be convenient. A quick scan could save the need to show passports or ID cards. It would be handier than carrying cash or producing medical records. And a particularly clever barcode would let people find you if you were lost or abducted. Would it mean less hassle and more security? Or would it make you feel like a DVD tagged in the supermarket? Or like a criminal being monitored everywhere you went?

These are the questions being raised by the emergence of microchips that can be implanted in people's arms - with the technology moving from geeky future-gazing to a mainstream proposition.

This week, the United States Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for an implantable chip which can be used for medical purposes. A microchip the size of a grain of rice can be inserted below the skin - and will carry an individual's medical records which can be read by a scanner.

The makers of the VeriChip say it will carry information that can save a patient's life during an emergency - such as details of medication, blood groups and allergies or if they have conditions such as diabetes.
In the UK, the British Medical Association says that it would see no ethical reason for not allowing such an implanted device, as long as it was proven to be safe and there was no coercion.

In a question and answer session, following the announcement of the FDA's approval, the Florida-based company behind the chip, Applied Digital, pointed to other commercial uses. Security, which remains high on the US domestic agenda, is likely to be a key area for such microchips - offering the chance both to identify and track anyone carrying this type of implant. Military bases, federal offices, prisons or nuclear plants were mentioned as places where the technology could be applied.

These internal microchips would be checked to regulate entry to secure locations. And once inside, scanners placed around the site would precisely locate the movements of each individual.
There would be no passes, ID cards or dog-tags, because all the information would be held on the chip lodged invisibly below the skin.

Spokesperson Barry Hugill says the law is lagging behind this accelerating technology - and that more questions need to be asked about how the information gathered will be used and protected.
"When the technology is so powerful it seems wrong that it should be left to multi-nationals to decide how it should be controlled."

Even though tracking chips are intended for legitimate commercial purposes, there are concerns about how this detailed information about people's movements could be collated and who might have access.

Critics said using convicts on the railways raised urgent safety concerns and created a modern equivalent of the chain gang. The new gang, however, is comprised only of volunteers who receive payment, albeit at reduced rates. Unlike Network Rail workers, who are paid up to £17 an hour, the prisoners get the national minimum wage of just £5.35. So, for their ten-hour night shift, the inmates receive £53.50.

Under prison rules, they are allowed to retain only £20 a week of that. The rest goes into a savings account for when they are released. The prisoners, who are driven back to jail after they finish their shifts, have begun work after completing a rudimentary ten-week training course.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, said: "This is the first we've heard of this and I am devastated it's taking place. It's unbelievable. "The people they use should be dedicated people from the rail industry, but it's quite clear that they're using a glorified chaingang. "We've never been consulted on it whatsoever and we'll be making immediate representations to Network Rail."

Tory MP Lee Scott, a member of the all-party Transport Select Committee, said: "Everyone wants prisoners to reform and learn a trade, but that should be done within the confines of the prison. "Especially after recent incidents, I want to know that anyone doing rail replacement work is properly qualified to do the job. We're talking about people's lives and people's safety here. "Using prisoners, who have committed serious crimes, on rail maintenance is not the most sensible thing to do. "Nor is bussing convicts more than 100 miles to do this work. If Network Rail has vacancies, why don't they fill them from JobCentres?

A railway insider said: "The prisoners started working on the tracks about six weeks ago. One of them is serving a 12-year sentence for attempted murder. He stabbed someone, but they survived. He's only served five years of his sentence and he's already working. "It is surprising that prisoners seem to be getting work ahead of other people. I know a lot of men who have applied and been told there's no work.

But the shadow of real crime has intruded into the popular Second Life virtual world as it emerged that police are examining claims it is now being used by paedophiles. Set up in 2003, the online world now has 6.2 million registered users who can buy "land", create virtual houses and businesses and meet each other using "avatars" - or virtual 3D characters of themselves.

However, German television revealed that one user, who poses as a 13-year-old girl, has been offering photographs of real-life child pornography to other users. Peter Vogt, the head of Germany's Central Agency for the Prevention of Child Pornography, yesterday revealed his department was working with San Francisco-based Linden Lab, the owners of Second Life.

"Linden Lab has been working very hard here against this abuser who misuses this game as a platform for child porn," Mr Vogt said. Visitors to Second Life agree to abide by terms and conditions banning offensive language and behaviour when they log on to the virtual world, which requires a computer software download and a broadband internet connection.

However, the vast number of people inhabiting Second Life - 1.7 million have logged in during the past 60 days - makes policing it a near impossibility. Instead, like YouTube, it relies on other users flagging up offensive behaviour to the owners. Users have to be aged 13 to join Second Life, and even then are kept to a "teen world" before being allowed to join the main online area at the age of 18.

MANY companies have scrambled to buy a presence in Second Life as the business opportunities of the virtual world have become clearer. Second Life now has 65,000 "acres" that residents can buy, plus 16-acre "islands", available for £844 (plus £148 per month maintenance) on which they can build virtual shops and offices. Computer giant IBM, BMW, American retailer Sears and Vodafone are among the companies with Second Life buildings.

And American lawyer, Stevan Lieberman, sees clients in a virtual office for £163 per hour. Second Life has its own currency, the Linden Dollar, which can be bought and sold like real currency. Others have chosen to mesh their real life with their online existence even more closely - one user has his real house linked to Second Life so that when his physical front door opens, the door of his virtual house opens too.

Department for Transport (DfT) officials are working with international experts to develop worldwide standards for car data recorders that record key information, including a car's speed and steering angle, in the moments up to a crash. Some are capable of sending a signal to alert the emergency services if they "think" that the driver is seriously injured. Sat-nav technology then guides police and paramedics to the vehicle.

Different types of black boxes, which are actually brightly coloured so they can be easily found following a crash, have already been installed in a small number of top-of-the-range cars in the UK and in a larger number of vehicles in the United States.

This information includes vehicle speed, engine revs per minute, acceleration, what angle the vehicle is at, data from the antilock braking system, whether the driver and passenger are wearing seatbelts, and what angle the steering wheel is at. The boxes will also collect data from the car's airbag systems. Unlike similar systems on aircraft, the black box will not record conversations in the car.

Human rights lawyer John Scott said: "This sort of development could represent a further encroachment into privacy. When we already have a number of different techniques for vehicle recognition and massive CCTV coverage all over, THIS IS ANOTHER WAY OF TRACKING US. BIT BY BIT OUR PRIVACY IS BEING ERODED. While we have a government which means us no harm, these things can be used in ways we wouldn't like."

A spokeswoman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited (SMMT) added: "This is something which has not really been discussed for quite a while. The engine management systems in some cars can record some of this kind of data, but there needs to be a balance between the issues of road safety and personal privacy. A lot more research needs to be done." Others were more welcoming but foresaw problems over fears THE DEVICES WOULD BE USED FOR ROAD PRICING.

Some cars already carry forms of black boxes, which can record some data about speed as part of engine management systems. Many newer Mercedes-Benz cars, for instance, log engine data so that mechanics can analyse any starting problem.

In addition, some newer BMWs have devices which are connected to satellite navigation networks and can analyse whether to alert the emergency services after an incident. If the vehicle's airbags have been activated and the car is not moving, the computer judges that an accident has taken place. If the driver has not pressed the SOS button available in some models, then the computer will alert a BMW rescue centre which will in turn request an ambulance and police to go to the scene of the accident.