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December 24 - December 30, 2007 
 Weekly News In Review
 Vol 2, Issue 32
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This newsletter will wrap up 2007. We have compiled a list of twenty trends, in the news, for 2007. You can read this review by clicking on the link below

http://www.understandthetimes.org/yir200 7.shtml

 

 December 15 - Prince Charles will appear at conference as a hologram
 Article: Misc.

His detractors may argue that his green principles do not stand up to close examination. But now Prince Charles is set to confound his critics by addressing an energy conference - as a hologram.

Determined to keep his environmental damage to a minimum, Charles will save the 15 tons of carbon that would have been generated by flying himself and his staff 7,000 miles to the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Instead, a three-dimensional image of the Prince will be seen giving a five-minute talk.

Charles recorded the message at Highgrove last month. It will be transformed into a hologram-style image using technology based on a Victorian music- hall technique called "ghosting".

A video projector will beam an image of the Prince on to the floor. It is then reflected up on to a paper-thin sheet of foil to create an optical illusion that makes him appear as a 3-D image on stage.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore used similar technology to appear as a hologram at Wembley Stadium at the beginning of the Live Earth concerts earlier this year.



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 December 23 - Silent fright - Birthplace of Jesus hijacked by Muslims
 Article: Misc.

BETHLEHEM - Muslim street peddlers here bombarded tourists with discounted souvenirs in Manger Square - the hub of Bethlehem's holiday activity - setting up shop in front of Christian stores some of whose owners complained their businesses were being hijacked.

"Tourism is up this year. Christians are visiting from all over. They come out of the Church of the Nativity and before they arrive at my store they've already been approached by a half-dozen Muslim vendors selling the same stuff but cheaper," said the manager of one shop situated across from the Church of the Nativity alongside Manger Square.

But the thoroughfare has been packed with Muslim vendors selling souvenirs and religious items such as crosses and cedarwood carvings - much the same objects found in the surrounding Christian stores.

Upon observing the scene for an afternoon, it was clear during that time the Muslim vendors were raking in the majority of business. According to local shopworkers, this has been the situation for the past two weeks.

Qumsiyeh and other Christian leaders said if current trends in Bethlehem continue, there may be no Christians left in the city in 15 years. He said he appealed to U.S. Christian leaders to help initiate housing projects and find ways to fortify and strengthen Bethlehem's Christian population, but that little assistance was offered.

"The way things are, soon there will not be a single Christian living in the land of Jesus," he said.



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 December 24 - A Bible, But No E-mail
 Article: Misc.

How do you see the relationship between Russia and the U.S., going forward?
Russia and the U.S. were allies during the Second and the First World Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult times. Today to be successful, one must be able to reach agreements. The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.

Do you think the U.S. wants to see a strong Russia or a weak Russia?
I believe the U.S. already understands that only a strong Russia will respond to the genuine interests of the U.S.

What role does faith play in your leadership?
First and foremost, we should be governed by common sense. But common sense should be based on moral principles first. And it is not possible today to have morality separated from religious values.

The government has arrested some ?Russian industrialists and seized their assets. Why?
Well, "Thou shalt not steal." They didn't have difficulties with me. They had difficulties with the people of the country and with the law.

Earlier you used the phrase Thou shalt not steal. Have you read the Bible?
Yes, I have. And the Bible is on my plane.



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 December 25 - Some Protestants warm up to Mary
 Article: One World Religion

A determined group of Protestant writers and teachers is trying to change that. With books like The Real Mary, and Mary for Evangelicals, and articles in magazines like Christianity Today and the Christian Century, they are trying to persuade Protestants to embrace Mary.

The rift between Protestants and Catholics over Mary began during the Reformation and worsened in the 1850s, when the Immaculate Conception of Mary became an official Catholic doctrine. In 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced that Mary was "exempt from all stain of original sin."

In explaining Catholic devotion to Mary, Choby said it stems from love for her son, the savior. "She's the mother of Jesus," he said, "If you have a close relationship with Jesus, it makes sense that you'd have a close relationship with his mother."



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 December 26 - Bethlehem sermon calls for peace in Middle East
 Article: Israel And The Last Days

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - The Catholic leader in the Holy Land again called for peace in the Middle East on Tuesday as he addressed thousands of Christians gathered at the traditional site of Jesus's birth.

"This land of God cannot be for some a land of life and for others a land of death, exclusion, occupation, or political imprisonment," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah said in a sermon for the Christmas midnight mass.

"All those whom God, the lord of history, has gathered here must be able to find in this land life, dignity and security," he said, addressing thousands of Christians from all over the world in a sermon delivered in his native Arabic.

Sabbah, who last week said that peace in the Middle East depended on Israel, reiterated that message in a less direct way on Tuesday.

"It is not up to the weakest to submit themselves and continue to live a life of deprivation; it is up to the strongest, to those who have everything in hand, to detach themselves and to give to the weakest what is due to them."



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 December 17 - Emerging Pastor to Young Believers: Ask Anything
 Article: Emerging Church

Emerging pastors who cater their ministries to young people and those traditionally not found in the pews have opened the pulpit to questions boggling young believers today.

Mars Hill founding pastor Mark Driscoll opened the "Ask Anything" floor in October, encouraging congregants to submit any questions they wanted addressed in next year as part of a sermon series.

The second most popular question asked by Mars Hill attendants was: "What can traditional/established churches learn from 'emerging' churches?"

"We take the Bible as literally true," Driscoll has said to The Associated Press. "If the Bible doesn't forbid something, we believe there's a lot of freedom in cultural issues."



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 December 24 - 'Blair's plan to convert began at 10 Downing Street'
 Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days

LONDON: Former British prime minister Tony Blair began preparations to convert to Roman Catholicism four months before leaving office, a media report has said.

A source close to the Vatican said that Blair had actually begun the course of informal instruction with RAF chaplain Father John Walsh, in February, while still at 10 Downing Street.

One of Blair's final official engagements before leaving office was a visit to the Vatican in June, during which he met Pope Benedict XVI.

Blair was formally accepted into Roman Catholicism during a Mass led by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of Catholics in England and Wales, at Archbishop's House, Westminster on Friday.

The former prime minister's conversion has ended years of speculation but raised fresh questions about whether he had renounced his views on issues such as gay rights, abortion and stem-cell research. Before receiving full communion, he would have had to confess all his sins.

"He has wanted to do this for some time, and now he's done it. It is something that matters to him a great deal," Blair's former spokesman Alastair Campbell was quoted as saying in the report.



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 December 26 - Russia launches final satellites for its own GPS
 Article: One World Government

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia successfully launched a rocket on Tuesday carrying the last three satellites to complete a navigation system to rival America's GPS.

The military-run GLONASS mapping system works over most of Russia and is expected to cover the globe by the end of 2009, once all its 24 navigational satellites are operating.

Work on GLONASS -- or Global Navigation Satellite System -- began in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s to give its armed forces exact bearings around the world.

Officials said GLONASS would mainly be used alongside the U.S. global positioning system, which Washington can switch off for civilian subscribers, as it did during recent military operations in Iraq.



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 December 27 - Ahmadinejad sends Pope Christmas greeting
 Article: One World Religion

TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad congratulated Pope Benedict XVI on the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ and the New Year in a message on Wednesday.

The president expressed hope that the New Year would be the year when cruelty and aggression are abolished.

"I hope 2008 will be the year of peace and friendship, and that people's rights will be more respected and morality will be promoted in societies throughout the world," he stated.

All divine religions convey a similar message, and that is the need to worship God, defend the oppressed, and promote moral values, he said.

Ahmadinejad also sent separate Christmas greeting messages to his counterparts in Christian countries.

Peace, friendship, brotherhood, justice, and security will be established anywhere in the world that Jesus Christ's teachings are put into practice, the president said in the message.

"Let us all play a role in establishing justice and love in the world," he added

 



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 December 26 - Anglican Head Emphasizes Love for Creation in Christmas Sermon
 Article: Social Gospel

LONDON - The spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion stressed the need to protect the environment in his Christmas sermon Tuesday.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams said "human greed" is threatening to distort the fragile balance of the earth and that the message of Christmas is about God's love for creation, according to the Press Association.

"And God's way of making sure that this joy is fully available is to join humanity on Earth so that human beings may recognize what they are and what they are for."

"When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just put our material survival at risk, more profoundly we put our spiritual sensitivity at risk - the possibility of being opened up to endless wonder by the world around us," the archbishop added, according to the Press Association.

Williams encouraged people to show reverence to God's creation and to each other.



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 December 28 - Russia denies claims of missile deal
 Article: Wars And Rumors Of Wars

The federal agency overseeing Russia's military exports on Friday denied reports that the country is planning to deliver S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.
 
Iran's defense minister said this week that Russia is preparing to equip Iran with the missile systems that would dramatically increase the country's ability to repel an attack.
 
But the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service denied the claim in a brief statement. "The question of deliveries of S-300 systems to Iran, which has now arisen in the mass media, is not currently taking place, is not being considered and is not being discussed at this time with the Iranian side," said the agency, known by its Russian initials, FSVTS.

The S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 145 kilometers and at altitudes of about 27,000 meters. Russian military officials boast that its capabilities outstrip the US Patriot missile system.



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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a blessing to you.

In Jesus,
Roger Oakland


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