Shabbat Times
by Rabbi Ari Kahn
Understanding why God rested on the seventh day, and what it means for me.
Exodus chapter 35 begins with Moses gathering the people, ostensibly to teach them the Torah which he received at Sinai. He begins with the laws of Shabbat. This should come as no surprise; we know that Shabbat is among the most "important" of mitzvot, a cornerstone of Judaism.
Some commentaries highlight the juxtaposition of this teaching with the sin of the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf was surely idolatry, on some level; Shabbat, as testimony to God's having created the world in six days, serves as a spiritual antidote for idolatry in the future.
Another connection between the sin of the Golden Calf and the choice of Shabbat as the first lesson lies in the very nature of the sin: If we say that the Golden Calf was an attempt to "know God," Shabbat is offered by Moses as the correct method to achieve this goal. If you seek God and wish to know Him, observe Shabbat. This is the proper way to experience the Divine.hat is striking is that the Jews had already been commanded to keep Shabbat, the ...   more »

By Barak Ravid  
The government is considering resuming funding for the advanced laser-based Skyguard missile protection system, security officials told Haaretz. They added that if the system is approved, it can be operational within 18 months.
The project was dropped about a year and a half ago, despite several successful tests and in spite of repeated rocket attacks from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, but Public Security Minister Avi Dichter has been enlisted to spearhead the effort to resurrect Skyguard by a strong lobby group, including former defense ministry officials, that has developed.
To address the threat from Palestinian Qassam rockets, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then-defense minister Amir Peretz approved the development of an alternative missile-defense system which is based on intercepting rockets rather then laser beams. The missile interceptor, named Iron Dome ("Kipat Barzel" in Hebrew), was to be developed by Rafael, the national authority for the development of weapons and military technology, and completed within three years.    
Olmert and Peretz's decision to go ahead with the Iron Dome project was made in conjunction with the Defense Ministry's recommendation to develop the system in Israel, and facilitated by the fact that a foreign country agreed to ...   more »

Assad encouraging army officers to settle in Syrian side of disputed region in preparation for possible confrontation. ‘We have an answer in case Israel attacks our cities,’ says senior official in Damascus
In a secret message relayed to Jerusalem, Syria warned the Israeli government that should it continue to reject Damascus’ peace overtures, a war of attrition may break out in the Golan Heights, according to a report published Thursday.  
Yedioth Ahronot has learned that in recent days Israel received reports of increased Syrian presence on its side of the Golan Heights in preparation for a possible war.  
Syrian President addresses military saying country committed to restoring hold on Golan. Meanwhile Syrian FM says 'Syria will take part in any International peace conference'      
During the past year the Syrian government has encouraged its citizens to settle in the Syrian side of the Golan Heights; Israel has recently learned that many of those who have made the Golan their new home were officers in active or reserve army duty who had lost their jobs following Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005.  
Should a military conflict erupt in the region, these officers are expected to spearhead acts of ...   more »

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Syrian army marking the 62nd anniversary of its establishment that had the tone of preparing soldiers for imminent armed conflict.
“The Syrian army and the Syrian people are stronger than they have ever been, and Syria is determined to return every grain of dirt from its occupied land,” wrote Assad, referring to the Golan Heights region, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War.
“Our desire for peace does not mean that we have given up our rights,” continued Assad. “The liberation of our occupied land is a sacred duty and a right guaranteed by international laws.”
Israeli military experts have been warning for months that Syria is preparing the ground for war, and may try to spark a broader conflict by first engaging in limited cross-border aggression.
Orignal Source

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By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies  
On the first day of her Middle East tour, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday signed a joint statement with Egypt, Jordan and six Persian Gulf states, endorsing the 2002 Arab peace initiative as one of the foundations for Middle East peace.
Visiting the region with Rice is Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
The initiative offers Israel normalized relations with all Arab countries in return for full withdrawal from the territory Israel captured in 1967. 
Speaking at a joint news conference with Rice at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, where the conference took place, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit emphasized the importance of the Palestinian issue.
Aboul Gheit addressed U.S. President George W. Bush's speech of July 16, in which he proposed an international peace conference later this year.
The Egyptian foreign minister indicated he would like to see an elaborate agenda for the U.S.-hosted meeting, giving high priority to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the near future.
"I believe that what is needed is accelerated moves in order to reach the horizon of that [Palestinian] state, and an agreement between the Israeli ...   more »

By Jerome R. Corsi
Iran has intensified pressure on the falling U.S. dollar by demanding that Japan begin paying for Iranian oil in yen, instead of dollars.
Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, or NIOC, has confirmed the company has asked Japan to open letters of credit in yen in preparation for NOIC issuing oil invoices in Japanese currency.
In April, WND reported Iran successfully pressured China to begin paying for Iranian oil in euros, not dollars.
To date, Iran has not followed up on the announcement that Iran would create an Iranian oil bourse to quote oil in euros, instead of dollars.
Still, according to Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, 70 percent of Iran's oil income is now paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Iran also has announced that the country will not participate in any OPEC move to increase oil production to counter rising oil prices.
Yesterday, crude oil prices rose to a record high $78 a barrel on international markets.
Iran's continued switch from the dollar reflects its concern with the currency's falling value along with a desire to counter the U.S.-backed sanctions imposed by the U.N. on Tehran for transparency violations in its ...   more »

Rhonda Schwartz Reports:
 A new al Qaeda propaganda ad, headlined "Wait for the Big Surprise" and featuring a digitally altered photograph of President George Bush and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf standing in front of a burning White House, was posted on the Internet today.
The brief clip from al Qaeda's "as Sahab" propaganda arm juxtaposes the doctored photo of Bush and Musharraf along with previously seen images of al Qaeda's top leadership -- Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri and Adam Gadahn -- as well as a photo of an SUV in a motorcade.
There is no additional information provided in the ad, and it closes with the words, "Soon -- God willing," written across the screen and repeated several times.
See the Al Qaeda Web Ad Captured by ABC News
Following the recent failed London-Glasgow terror plot, U.S. intelligence officials have been paying closer attention to the now frequent propaganda releases from as Sahab, studying the videos for hidden clues or signals.
The full video is expected to be released on the Web in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Original Source
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is developing a proposed $20 billion, 10-year arms sales package for Saudi Arabia, a senior administration official confirmed on Saturday.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, left, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Saudis next week.
 The proposed sale, first reported in The New York Times, is intended to upgrade the Saudi military's ability to counter possible Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf region, the official said.
"This is all about Iran," said the official, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because discussions with the Saudis are still going on and the arms sale deal has not been completed.Israel is expected to raise objections to the arms package, and has expressed concerns about previous Saudi arms deals.
The official said the Bush administration is mindful that Israel must maintain its "qualitative edge" in the region.
Besides Saudi Arabia, other countries in discussion with the United States about arms sales include the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
One of the more controversial proposals will probably be selling the Saudis, for the first time, satellite-guided bombs known as JDAMs. The sale may include a 500-pound and a 2,000-pound version ...   more »

A new government study is being condemned by the Christian ministry the Barnabas Fund because its proposals would move closer to imposing Islam in the United Kingdom as "a religion of state."
Among the proposals from the study being considered for implementation is the provision by universities for Islamic studies for all students.
The report was initiated by Bill Rammell, the minister of state for higher education and lifelong learning, officials said. He appointed Ataullah Siddiqui, senior research fellow at the Islamic Foundation, to write it.
The Barnabas Fund, in an analysis, said the report "signals another step toward the Islamisation of Britain and its education system"
"Should this report be implemented, education will be handed over more and more to Muslims who will train and shape the next generation," the analysis said.
The Barnabas Fund, which works primarily with Christians in Muslim-majority environments by channeling money from Christians, through Christians to Christians for projects developed by local bodies of believers, said the appointment of Siddiqui, at the outset, signaled a problem.
"It is well known that the Islamic Foundation is an Islamist institute founded by high ranking members of the Pakistani Islamist party, Jama'at-I Islami," the group said. "However, ...   more »

Russian explorers have planted their country's flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow's claims to the Arctic.
They were travelling aboard two mini-submarines on what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind.
Having planted the rust-proof titanium metal flag, the explorers will collect scientific samples and begin the risky journey back to the surface.
Melting polar ice has led to competing claims over access to Arctic resources.
Russia's claim to a vast swathe of territory in the Arctic, thought to contain oil, gas and mineral reserves, has been challenged by other powers, including the US.
The mission's leader, explorer and parliamentarian Artur Chilingarov, told Itar-Tass news agency that his mini-submarine had a "smooth" landing on the seabed.
"The yellowish ground is around us, no sea dwellers are seen," he said.
'Heroic mission'
The mini-submarines, Mir-I and Mir-II, were brought to the North Pole by the two ships in the Russian expedition - a nuclear-powered ice-breaker and a research vessel.
 It's a very important move for Russia to demonstrate its potential in the Arctic... It's like putting a flag on the Moon
Sergei Balyasnikov
Russian Arctic and Antarctic Institute  
The expedition ...   more »

Police are seeking powers to take DNA samples from suspects on the streets and for non-imprisonable offences such as speeding and dropping litter.
The demand for a huge expansion of powers to take DNA comes as a government watchdog announced the first public inquiry into the national DNA database.
There is growing concern among MPs and civil liberties groups about the number of children under 10 and young black men on the database — the biggest in the world. But a number of police forces in England and Wales are backing proposals that would add millions more samples to it.
The Association of Chief Police Officers gave a warning, however, that allowing police to take samples for non-recordable offences — crimes for which offenders cannot be imprisoned — might be perceived as indicative of “the increasing criminalisation of the generally law-abiding public”.
Support for an extension of police powers to take samples was disclosed yesterday in responses to a Home Office consultation paper that was published this year. “A number of respondents welcomed the ability to reduce the threshold, including to the extent of allowing for the taking of fingerprints, DNA and footwear impressions for non-recordable offen-ces for the purpose ...   more »