Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

Schools told it's no longer necessary to teach right from wrong
By David Charter, Chief Political Correspondent

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SCHOOLS would no longer be required to teach children the difference between right and wrong under plans to revise the core aims of the National Curriculum.

Instead, under a new wording that reflects a world of relative rather than absolute values, teachers would be asked to encourage pupils to develop “secure values and beliefs”.

The draft also purges references to promoting leadership skills and deletes the requirement to teach children about Britain’s cultural heritage.

Ministers have asked for the curriculum’s aims to be slimmed down to give schools more flexibility in the way they teach pupils aged 11 to 14.

Ken Boston, the chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), set out the proposed new aims in a letter to Ruth Kelly, when she was the Education Secretary.

The present aims for Stage 3 pupils state: “The school curriculum should pass on enduring values. It should develop principles for distinguishing between right and wrong.”

The QCA’s proposals will see these phrases replaced to simply say that pupils should “have secure values and beliefs”.

The existing aims state that the curriculum should develop children’s “ability to relate to others and work for the common good”. The proposed changes would remove all references to “the common good”.

The requirement to teach Britain’s “cultural heritage” will also be removed. The present version states: “The school curriculum should contribute to the development of pupils’ sense of identity through knowledge and understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural heritages of Britain’s diverse society.”

The proposals say that individuals should be helped to “understand different cultures and traditions and have a strong sense of their own place in the world”.

References to developing leadership in pupils have also been removed. One of the present aims is to give pupils “the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership”. This is due to be replaced by the aim of ensuring that pupils “are enterprising”.

Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham’s centre for education and employment research, said: “The idea that they think it is appropriate to dispense with right and wrong is a bit alarming.”

Teachers’ leaders said that they did not need to be told to teach children to distinguish between right and wrong.

A spokeswoman for the National Union of Teachers said: “Teachers always resented being told that one of the aims of the school was to teach the difference between right and wrong. That is inherent in the way teachers operate. Removing it from the National Curriculum will make no difference.”

But she insisted that it was important for children to understand about their cultural heritage. “To remove that requirement can undermine children’s feelings of security in the country where they are living,” she said.

A spokesman for the QCA said: “The proposed new wording of the curriculum aims is a draft which will be consulted on formally next year as part of the ongoing review of Key Stage 3. One aim of the review is that there should be more flexibility and personalisation that focuses on practical advice for teachers.

“The new wording states clearly that young people should become ‘responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society’. It also identifies the need for young people who challenge injustice, are committed to human rights and strive to live peaceably with others.”

IN A QUANDARY
# In citizenship classes, teachers ask pupils to discuss issues such as whether it is ever right to pass on information received in confidence and situations such as what they would do if they saw someone writing graffiti on a bus; heard friends talking about stealing; found a wallet full of cash; or saw people fighting

# The current wording states that the curriculum should pass on enduring values, develop pupils’ ability to relate to others and to work for the common good and help them “to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership”

# The proposed changes remove references to “the common good”. Teachers should simply ensure that pupils have secure values and beliefs and a strong sense of their place in the world. Rather than develop leadership skills, the pupils should be enterprising

Schools told it's no longer necessary to teach right from wrong

[Shammu]

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate'
Sun. 30 Jul 2006
Associated Press
By NASSER KARIMI

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The presidents of Iran and Venezuela, leading U.S. critics, pledged Saturday to support one another in disputes with Washington, with the Iranian calling Hugo Chavez "a brother and trench mate."

As Chavez arrived for a two-day visit. Iran faced renewed international criticism for its nuclear program and for backing Hezbollah guerrillas in its war with Israel.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday reached a deal on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Iranian state radio said Saturday the government would reject the proposed resolution.

Chavez pledged that his country would "stay by Iran at any time and under any condition."

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, said he saw in the Venezuelan president a kindred spirit. "I feel I have met a brother and trench mate after meeting Chavez," the state-run Iranian television quoted Ahmedinejad.

Chavez, who peppers his speeches with mentions of assassination plots and purported U.S. efforts to oust him, said he admired the Iranian president for "his wisdom and strength."

He invited Iranian oil companies to invest in Venezuela. Venezuelan state TV also reported that the countries are considering having Iran participate in a natural gas project off the Venezuelan coast. The two nations are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - Iran is the world's No. 2 oil exporter and Venezuela No. 5.

"We are with you and with Iran forever. As long as we remain united we will be able to defeat (U.S.) imperialism, but if we are divided they will push us aside," Chavez said.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has emerged as one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy. He takes his message against what he calls President Bush's "imperialist" government everywhere he goes.

During his trip, Chavez is to meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian state television said.

"We do not have any limitation in cooperation," Ahmedinejad was quoted as saying. "Iran and Venezuela are next to each other and supporters of each other. Chavez is a source of a progressive and revolutionary current in South America and his stance in restricting imperialism is tangible."

The Venezuelan leader has been on a trip that included a visit to Belarus, where he met with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington and shares Chavez's strong anti-U.S. views.

Earlier this week he secured an arms agreement with Russia that prompted U.S. criticism.

Chavez boasted in Moscow on Thursday that Russia had helped his country break a U.S.-imposed "blockade" by agreeing to sell fighter planes and helicopters worth billions of dollars to Venezuela.

Chavez is also hoping to set up Kalashnikov weapons plants and ammunition plants in Venezuela under Russian license.

During his visit to Qatar, which began Friday, Chavez said Venezuela could eventually export guns and ammunition to Bolivia and other allies once these plants were built.

Chavez accused the United States of "threatening" to stop supplying replacement parts for the weapons to leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales' government. If the U.S. follows through, Chavez said, "we could supply Bolivia... and other friendly countries that also require a minimal level of defense."

"Maybe in the future we'll become an (arms) exporting country," Chavez said.

Bilateral trade last year between Iran and Venezuela amounted to $1 billion. Iranian investment in Venezuela includes a production line for tractors and several housing projects.

During his visit, Chavez was to inaugurate the new Venezuelan embassy in Tehran and meet Iranian business leaders. He was also to tour Iran-Khodro, Iran's giant public sector automobile manufacturer. The leaders and top officials were expected to sign memorandums of understanding in various fields.

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate'

[Shammu]

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate'

Yup just wait till ImageAdud, is finished with you.  Then it will be your turn.

[Shammu]

Photos that damn Hezbollah

Chris Link

July 30, 2006 12:00am
Article from: Sunday Herald Sun

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

1 of 3 photos


Anti-aircraft gun: these pictures were taken by
a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

They emerged as:

US President George Bush called for an international force to be sent to Lebanon.

ISRAEL called up another 30,000 reserve troops.

THE UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland called for a three-day truce to evacuate civilians and transport food and water into cut-off areas.

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a UN resolution aimed at ending the 18-day war, and:

A PALESTINIAN militant group said it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.

Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

The release of the images comes as Hezbollah faces criticism for allegedly using innocent civilians as "human shields".

Mr Egeland blasted Hezbollah as "cowards" for operating among civilians.

"When I was in Lebanon, in the Hezbollah heartland, I said Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending in among women and children," he said.

Photos that damn Hezbollah

[Shammu]

Residents flee south Lebanon as Israel eases air strikes
07-31-2006, 08h35
SIDON, Lebanon (AFP)

Thousands of exhausted residents of south Lebanon heaped their possessions into cars and fled northward, taking advantage of a pause in Israeli bombardments after being trapped in villages for almost three weeks.

Israel had agreed overnight to suspend air raids for 48 hours following global outrage over the killing of 52 civilians in strikes on the village of Qana, giving civilians the chance to flee to safer havens Monday.

The region around the southern port city of Tyre was spared the air strikes that have battered the area over the past weeks as escaping villagers clogged the roads heading to the city of Sidon further to the north and Beirut.

But despite the promised halt, the Israeli air force carried out fresh air strikes in a border region in support of troops carrying out a ground incursion and also attacked a Lebanese customs post on the Syrian border.

Cars carrying heaps of luggage on their rooftops and pick-ups loaded with mattresses and blankets streamed from various mountain villages toward the coastal highway leading northward to Beirut, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Thousands of cars converged on the port city of Sidon, jamming all the entrances to the town. Many of the cars passed through the city and continued northward towards the capital and surrounding areas.

Most vehicles which reached Sidon gathered at the municipality building from where officials were allocating the displaced villagers to schools, buildings and empty commercial centers.

"We were trapped for 20 days with no food and no water. We finally escaped as the Israelis let us go," said a delighted Hassan Mahmoud Akid, 65, as he headed north in a packed pick-up from his besieged village of Jibbain.

The lull in air attacks also allowed the first Red Cross aid convoy and journalists to reach the village of Bint Jbeil, which had been caught up in the middle of a major and bloody Israeli ground incursion.

The town, which once was home to 40,000 people, has suffered massive devastation, particularly in its centre where dozens of buildings were totally destroyed, an AFP correspondent said.

The temporary halt in air attacks was announced by an aide to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who left the Middle East on Monday saying she hoped for a ceasefire this week.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the announcement Monday.

"All air operations have been suspended across all of Lebanon, mainly to allow the population of the south to evacuate the region," she told AFP, adding however that Israel reserved the right to strike Hezbollah commandos preparing attacks.

Israeli artillery bombarded villages in south Lebanon, including Jibbain and Kafra south of Tyre, as well as the regions of Arkoub and Rashaya Al-Fakhar in southeast Lebanon.

One Lebanese soldier was also killed and three wounded by Israeli naval fire north of Tyre, police said, in the latest raid on Lebanon's military which has stayed on the sidelines of the conflict.

Police said there were also violent clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli fighters in the border region of Aadissiyeh in south Lebanon for control of a hill.

The Israeli army had staged a fresh incursion in the same region on Sunday, sparking intense firefights with Hezbollah around the village of Taibe.

But after promising to halt air attacks, Israeli forces carried out an air strike Monday in support of the ground operation near Taibe, an army spokeswoman said.

And in an indication of Israeli determination to prevent Hezbollah being resupplied, Israeli air strikes also targeted areas near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria on Monday for the third time in as many days, police said.

Warplanes swooped twice on the frontier post between Lebanon and Syria, wounding five people -- four of them Lebanese customs officers, security sources said.

A civilian was killed Sunday evening in an Israeli air raid on the village of Deir Harfa, just before the 48-hour halt to the air strikes came into force.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon warned that the temporary halt to air strikes in no way meant that Jewish state was ending its war against Hezbollah.

"The suspension of our aerial activities does not signify in any way the end to the war. On the contrary, this decision will allow us to win this war and lessen international pressure," Ramon told army radio.

By late afternoon Monday, hundreds of Lebanese refugees fleeing from the south had finally made it in their cars to the outskirts of Beirut.

"We will go back home!" shouted one young man, making the victory sign from the top of a pick-up as it whizzed by.

Residents flee south Lebanon as Israel eases air strikes

[Shammu]

Israel satisfied with UN ultimatum to Iran


Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem expressed satisfaction with the United Nations' issuing of an ultimatum for Iran to halt uranium enrichment by the end of August or face sanctions.

"The whole world understands what Israel has been warning about for years. We can only hope that the international community increases pressure on Iran," officials said.

Israel satisfied with UN ultimatum to Iran

[Soldier4Christ]

Iranian leader calls Chavez a 'trench mate'

That must be because of trench mouth because they sure aren't in the trenches with real Soldiers.

[Shammu]

Protest Against US Flights
Updated: 15:32, Monday July 31, 2006

Peace campaigners have staged a protest outside an RAF base which was used as a refuelling stop for planes thought to be carrying missiles to Israel.

About 30 protesters gathered at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk after two US flights carrying "hazardous" cargoes landed at the airbase over the weekend.

It came after anti-war protesters in Scotland claimed a victory after two planes travelling from Texas to Tel Aviv were diverted from Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire to RAF Mildenhall.

Campaigners claim the flights are the latest in a series of weapons transfers from the US to Israel which have used Britain as a stopover.

They say the weapons could be used against Lebanese civilians and that Britain should not assist in their transfer to Israel.
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Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett complained to the US after its flights landed at Prestwick without proper authorisation.

At the Suffolk protest, Peter Lanyon, of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), said: "We are horrified and condemn entirely the weapons transports to the Middle East.

"This will only add to the worsening humanitarian crisis.

"These flights are probably carrying 'bunker-buster' missiles and, because Britain has told America to fly these things through our midst, everyone who goes about their daily lives without saying something is allowing the Government to get away with it."

Mr Lanyon, a 73-year-old ex-serviceman, added: "We wanted a ceasefire from the very moment this conflict started. We are disgusted that the British Government didn't go along with that and instead sided with the Americans."

He said the protest was also attended by representatives from the Campaign Against American Bases, the Quakers and the Norfolk branch of the Jewish Peace Group.

Protest Against US Flights

[Shammu]

Israeli PM: Israel Will Pursue Hezbullah Anywhere and at Any Time

 31 July 2006 | 20:21 | FOCUS News Agency

Jerusalem. Israel will continue to pursue the Lebanese Shia group Hezbullah “anywhere and at any time”, The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced, cited by AFP. “We are not going to allow Hezbullah” to restore its forces”, he stressed.

Israeli PM: Israel Will Pursue Hezbullah Anywhere and at Any Time

[Shammu]

Israeli Armed Forces Imposed Full Blockade of Western Bank of River Jordan

 31 July 2006 | 20:06 | FOCUS News Agency

Ramalah. The Israeli army has imposed full blockade on all villages along the Western bank of River Jordan, the Palestinian Maan agency announced. According to these sources there was even a ban imposed on the streets for cars and civilians. The Israeli army didn’t specify when exactly the blockade will be lifted.

Israeli Armed Forces Imposed Full Blockade of Western Bank of River Jordan

[Shammu]

Syrian Army and Armed Groups Were Put on High Alert Because Conflict in Lebanon

31 July 2006 | 20:50 | FOCUS News Agency

Damascus. Syrian President Bashar Asad summoned the armed groups in the country to be “prepared” and in the meantime announced for the army to be put on high alert because of “incessant clashes in the occupied Palestine territories and in neighbouring Lebanon”, KUNA agency announced. In a statement towards the nation today Asad underlined that the “challenges and the recent regional conflict demand attention and full high alaert”.

Syrian Army and Armed Groups Were Put on High Alert Because Conflict in Lebanon

[Shammu]

 Olmert: We Do Not Wish to Fight Lebanon
20:20 Jul 31, '06 / 6 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told local government leaders in a nationally-televised address a short time ago that “Lebanon is not our enemy,” stating that the common enemy is terror.

The prime minister apologized for the loss of innocent lives, as well as for the destruction to civilians in southern Lebanon, adding “we will not apologize” for Israel’s yearning to exist, to live in peace.

The prime minister expressed “pain and sorrow” over the loss of lives in Kafr Qana, adding the IDF will nevertheless continue fighting until Israel’s objectives are achieved, and peace and tranquility are evident in the land.

Olmert: We Do Not Wish to Fight Lebanon

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 Kassam Rocket Lands North of Gaza
19:53 Jul 31, '06 / 6 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) A Kassam rocket has landed in an open area north of Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled Gaza. No injuries are being reported.

Kassam Rocket Lands North of Gaza

[Shammu]

 Explosive Device Detonated Along Syrian Border
20:36 Jul 31, '06 / 6 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) A landmine exploded on Sunday near the Syrian border in the Kuneitra area. The blast did not occur while a patrol passed the area.

Officials are indicating that while it may have been a Hizbullah tactic, seeking Syrian involvement in the war with Israel, officials are not ruling out the detonation of the device may have been a technical malfunction and nothing more.

There were no injuries.

Explosive Device Detonated Along Syrian Border

[Shammu]

Egypt's Mubarak says UN 'impotent' over Lebanon
01 August 2006

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said the UN Security Council had revealed its impotence in its response to Israel's conflict with Hizbollah, and again called for an immediate ceasefire.

In an address to the nation, Mubarak said the deadlock between Israel and the Palestinians was the core of the problem and so there was an urgent need to revive peace talks.

He called for an urgent international investigation into the Israeli attack on the south Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday, in which at least 54 civilians were killed.

The UN Security Council met in New York and unanimously adopted a statement deploring the Qana attack. But the United States blocked adoption of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an immediate truce.

Mubarak said: "Egypt expresses its regret and annoyance at the failure to reach an immediate ceasefire. . . The Security Council has failed to deal rapidly and effectively with the Israeli aggression and to fulfil its responsibility for international peace and security."

"This foot-dragging and impotence reflect the fundamental flaws in the joint defence system which the United Nations represents," the Egyptian president added.

Mubarak has sent Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to Saudi Arabia to discuss the crisis.
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Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – three of the Arab governments most friendly toward the United States – face outrage and protest at home against Israel's conduct, pushing them to try to take a tougher line with Washington.

The government of Morocco, which also has good relations with Washington, condemned as odious the Israeli attack on Qana, the state news agency MAP reported.

"The Moroccan government firmly condemns the odious aggression perpetrated by Israel against the village of Qana, in our brother nation Lebanon, which caused dozens of deaths, among them children, women and unarmed civilians," MAP cited the government as saying.

It called on the international community, especially the world's most influential countries and organisations, to act to put an end to the war.

Professional organisations and opposition groups are planning more demonstrations in Cairo on Monday in protest at the Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

There have been protests in Cairo most days for the past week, usually with several hundred participants

Egypt's Mubarak says UN 'impotent' over Lebanon