In response to missile attacks on Israel during last summer's Lebanon war and the current Kassam attacks on Sderot, Israeli engineers have developed the LifeShield - a new mobile bomb shelters that allow people to live as normal a life as possible while under attack. Already being installed in Sderot and sparking international interest, the LifeShields, which have been designed to meet the strict requirements of the Israeli Homefront Command, are 42-ton steel reinforced shelters that can be moved quickly from one location to another as needed. They can be set up in any busy or open area not served by fixed shelters, enabling residents to go to locations they might otherwise avoid for fear of being caught in the open unprotected.With residents of Sderot and its surroundings suffering a daily Kassam missile bombardment from the Gaza Strip, Israeli ingenuity has developed a solution to try to make life for residents as normal as possible - mobile bomb shelters. "We came up with the concept of these portable shelters that can be deployed and redeployed as security needs change," said Josh Adler, the co-founder of Operation Lifeshield, a new organization that is behind the initiative. Currently the only mobile air-raid ...   more »

British-Jewish academic, speaking before boycott vote, says 'there's something in the air in the UK, boycott will lead to anti-Semitism' Yaakov Lappin
Hours before members of the University and College Union (UCU) gather in Bournemouth, southern England, to vote on a motion calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, British-Jewish academics told Ynetnews they expected the vote to be close, adding that it could "could go either way."
"I really don't know what will happen," said Ronnie Fraser, Chairman of the Academic Friends of Israel. "Sally Hunter (Joint Secretary General of UCU) has just spoken, coming out against a boycott. But there are too many unknowns." British academic unions have flirted with boycotts of Israel on a number of occasions in the past few years, and in 2005, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) passed an Israel boycott motion. It was overturned shortly afterwards. Anti-Semitic attitudes  Eve Garrard, a Senior Lecturer in professional ethics at the University of Keele, will speak during the conference, and attempt to convince UCU members to vote against the motion. "I'm planning to say that the standard justifications for a boycott of Israel are thoroughly inadequate," she said. "No sound reason has been given for singling out ...   more »

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied that America has nixed Israeli talks with Syria, but still appeared to throw cold water on the idea when questioned about it Tuesday. "My understanding is that it's the view of the Israelis and certainly our view that the Syrians are engaged in behavior right now that is destabilizing to the region," she said. "But it's not a view that there shouldn't be such a track. When it's ready, it should be." Rice's comments implied that current conditions are not ripe even as discussion in Israel over whether to respond to Syrian overtures has intensified.
Editorial: Call Assad's bluff
She was speaking en route to Germany with reporters, one of whom had asked about Israeli debate over moving away from the Palestinian track to focus on Syria. "There's no substitute for trying to get to the place where the Palestinians finally have their state, and the Israelis finally have a neighbor who can live in peace and security with them," Rice said, describing that situation as "at the core of a lot of problems in the region." She described the Israeli-Palestinian track as something that "unlocks the key" to Israeli engagement with the ...   more »

by JASON LEWIS -
The Government has established a shadowy new national anti-terrorist unit to protect VIPs, with the power to detain suspects indefinitely using mental health laws
The Government has established a shadowy new national anti-terrorist unit to protect VIPs, with the power to detain suspects indefinitely using mental health laws.
The revelation is set to reignite the row over the Government's use of draconian measures to deal with terror suspects amid accusations they are abusing human rights.
The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC) was quietly set up last year to identify individuals who pose a direct threat to VIPs including the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Royal Family.
It was given sweeping powers to check more than 10,000 suspects' files to identify mentally unstable potential killers and stalkers with a fixation against public figures.
The team's psychiatrists and psychologists then have the power to order treatment - including forcibly detaining suspects in secure psychiatric units.
Using these powers, the unit can legally detain people for an indefinite period without trial, criminal charges or even evidence of a crime being committed and with very limited rights of appeal.
Until now it has been the exclusive decision of doctors ...   more »

By Dennis Cauchon
The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel. The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006.
"We're on an unsustainable path and doing a great disservice to future generations," says Chris Chocola, a former Republican member of Congress from Indiana and corporate chief executive who is pushing for more accurate federal accounting.
Modern accounting requires that corporations, state governments and local governments count expenses immediately when a transaction occurs, even if the payment will be made later.
The federal government does not follow the rule, so promises for Social Security and Medicare don't show up when the government reports its financial condition.
Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 ...   more »

In promising strategy to fight pandemic, vaccine made from survivors' blood shown to treat disease
Joseph Hall
health reporter
An international team of researchers has used antibodies derived from Vietnamese survivors of the avian flu to successfully treat and prevent the disease in mice.
And the promising and unique strategy for fighting a pandemic could be fast-tracked into human trials and provide a new tool in public health efforts to control any outbreak, according to a scientific paper published today in the Public Library of Science's online journal PloS Medicine.
After inoculating 60 mice with one of the monoclonal antibodies, 58 survived. All the mice in the control group died within 10 days. The other three antibodies made from the human blood provided "robust" protection, even 24 hours after the mice were infected.
"That was really quite remarkable because the virus actually replicates ... very rapidly in the mice," said study author Dr. Kanta Subbarao, a senior investigator with the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. "So we were very intrigued to see how effective treatment was after the virus was administered."
The research marks the first time human antibodies have been used to fight ...   more »

CAIRO, Egypt  —
An American member of Al Qaeda warned President Bush on Tuesday to end U.S. involvement in all Muslim lands or face an attack worse than the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a new videotape.
Wearing a white robe and a turban, Adam Yehiye Gadahn, who also goes by the name Azzam al-Amriki, said Al Qaeda would not negotiate on its demands.
"Your failure to heed our demands ... means that you and your people will ... experience things which will make you forget all about the horrors of September 11th, Afghanistan and Iraq and Virginia Tech," he said in the seven-minute video.
Gadahn, who has been charged in a U.S. treason indictment with aiding Al Qaeda, spoke in English and the video carried Arabic subtitles. The video appeared on a Web site often used by Islamic militants and carried the logo of Al Qaeda's media wing, as-Sahab.
Gadahn, who appeared in an Al Qaeda video last September in which he called on Americans to convert to Islam, demanded that Bush remove all U.S. military and spies from Islamic countries, free all Muslims from U.S. prisons and end support for Israel. He said a withdrawal of U.S. troops ...   more »

Kissinger, Rockefeller, media moguls among those scheduled to attend
Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The super-secret Bilderberg Group, an organization of powerful international elites, is set to meet this week somewhere in Turkey – but even the precise location is a mystery.
The meeting begins Thursday and continues through Sunday.
Those expected to attend include Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of the Washington Post, Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, John Vinocur, senior correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, Paul Gigot, editor of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Nicholas Beytout, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro, George David, chairman of Coca-Cola, Martin Feldstein, president and chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Timothy F. Geithner, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Vernon Jordan, senior managing director of Lazard Freres & Co., Anatole Kaletsky, editor at large of the Times of London and General William Luti, the new "war czar."
According to reports from Turkey, Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions and global energy issues will be on the agenda – but only invitees know for sure.
Welcome to the mysterious world ...   more »

Halliburton's former engineering and construction subsidiary has a contingency contract with the Department of Homeland Security to construct detention facilities in the event of a national emergency, according to WND columnist Jerome Corsi.
As Corsi reported last week, President Bush recently signed a little-reported National Security and Homeland Security Directive granting extraordinary powers to the president in the event of a declared national emergency, apparently without congressional approval or oversight.
Houston-based KBR was awarded an initial $385 million contract in January 2006 for one year, with four one-year options extended into 2007. KBR held a previous emergency detention contract with ICE from 2000 to 2005.
ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback told Corsi the primary intent of the contract was to build temporary detention facilities that could be used in the event of a mass migration crisis, but she confirmed the facilities could be employed in national emergencies, including natural disasters.
"The idea of the KBR contract is to support the Army Corp of Engineers in case we experienced a sudden mass immigration and we had to respond quickly," she said. "We would need immediate detention facilities in the form of temporary housing that would enable us to determine if the large ...   more »