News items that look towards Ezekiel 38 & 39

[Shammu]

Russian sect prays to Putin icons, claims he is the 'chosen one'

Actually, he might be the chosen one. The chosen one called Gog, but only God knows for sure.

[Shammu]

Russia threatens to target US missile shield

By Harry de Quetteville and Isambard Wilkinson
Last Updated: 3:05am GMT 19/12/2007

Russia has threatened to target two proposed American bases in Europe with its nuclear missiles if the Pentagon pressed ahead with its plans for a missile defence shield.

In an escalation of the Cold War-style threats favoured by President Vladimir Putin, the general in charge of Russia's ballistic arsenal said that he could target the bases in Poland and the Czech Republic that will host the missile-interceptor shield if America insists on building them.

"I do not exclude the missile-defence shield sites in Poland and the Czech Republic being chosen as targets for some of our intercontinental ballistic missiles," said Gen Nikolai Solovtsov.

America insists that its new shield will carry only a few missiles, designed to intercept warheads fired from rogue states, such as Iran.

But Gen Solovtsov dismissed that concept as a lie, claiming that America was determined to surround Russia with its military might.

"If the Americans signed a treaty with us that they would only deploy 10 anti-missile rockets in Poland and one radar in the Czech Republic and will never put anything else there, then we could deal with this," he said. "However they won't sign, they just tell us verbally, 'We won't threaten you'."

He said that believing such verbal assurances in the past had seen Russia encircled by the Western military alliance, Nato.

"Verbally they already told us that when we re-unite Germany there won't be one Nato soldier there. Now where are they?," he said. "They already cheated Russia once."

Gen Solovtsov's remarks follow a year of increasingly bombastic comments about the proposed missile shield.

Moscow separately said that a shipment of Russian nuclear fuel had arrived in Iran, which the Bush administration suspects is seeking to develop an atomic weapons programme under the cover of civilian energy production.

The delivery of enriched uranium was made to Bushehr power station, which is being built by a Russian company and is expected to start producing electricity within six months.

President George W Bush said that "if the Iranians accept uranium for a civilian nuclear power plant, then there's no need for them to learn how to enrich".

Any suggestion that Iran is attempting to further enrich the uranium it has received in order to make it weapons-grade could trigger a military response from the US or Israel.

America and Britain are already pushing for a new round of sanctions against Teheran at the United Nations Security Council, despite a recent US intelligence report that suggested that Iran's nuclear weapons research might have been mothballed.

The heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow looked unlikely to subside soon as Mr Putin said that he was ready to become prime minister when he steps down as president ahead of elections in March.

The job will allow him to continue exerting enormous public influence under the rule of his near-certain successor, Dmitry Medvedev. It would also give him the platform to run as president again in 2012.

"If the citizens of Russia trust Dmitry Medvedev and elect him the country's president I will be ready to chair the government," Mr Putin said at a conference of the ruling United Russia party.

In two terms as president Mr Putin has led a resource-rich Russia from post-communist weakness back to the heart of global affairs through a sometimes confrontational approach.

Russia threatens to target US missile shield
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Here we go again.............

[Shammu]

Vladimir Putin seeks to keep power by creating new, larger Russia
Mark Franchetti in Moscow

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin could remain in power for at least another five years as leader of a new state born of a union between Russia and Belarus, the former Soviet republic.

A merger between the two neighbours was the main topic of discussion last week during Putin’s first official state visit to Belarus since 2003. Coming only three months before he is due to step down in accordance with the Russian constitution, which bars presidents from serving more than two consecutive terms, the visit has been described by Kremlin sources as “extremely significant”.

Insiders said the real purpose of the trip to see Alexander Lukashenko, the dictatorial president of Belarus, was to try to hammer out a unification treaty and agree on who would lead the new state as president.

A draft constitution would give the leader of a single Russian-Belarussian state power over both national governments for at least one term of five or seven years. If agreed, it would be put to voters in both countries. Putin could then become president of the new state and Lukashenko his vice-president.

In the event of such an agreement, Putin, 55, is unlikely to make an announcement about his future until after Russia’s presidential elections in March. Last week he threw his weight behind Dmitry Medvedev, a deputy prime minister and chairman of the energy giant Gazprom, as his successor.

A day later Medvedev, 42, who has worked alongside Putin for 17 years, returned the favour by proposing that if he were elected president, his mentor should be prime minister.

Kremlin sources said Putin might still accept the Russian prime ministership but was taken with the idea of becoming president of a new Russian-Belarussian state.

“Becoming prime minister after having been president for eight years is a bit humiliating,” said a Kremlin aide. “No matter how much power Putin would wield, it would still be seen as a step backwards in his eyes.”

Russia and Belarus agreed to boost ties in 1997 in the days of Boris Yeltsin, Putin’s predecessor, but attempts to form a union have so far failed. The main stumbling block has been Lukashenko, an erratic figure whom Putin is said to dislike and mistrust.

Relations between the neighbouring states have been tense lately. Earlier this year the Kremlin threatened to cut off gas supplies to Belarus, prompting Lukashenko to warn that he “would never kneel down” before Moscow.

If the two presidents fail to reach an agreement, Putin could accept the job of prime minister and make a series of constitutional changes to increase the powers of that office.

Earlier this month United Russia, Putin’s party, won an overwhelming majority in parliamentary elections. Its dominance of the Duma, the lower house, means that a vote on changes to the constitution supported by Putin would pass without opposition.

“Make no mistake, Medvedev may be different from his master but the real power in the Kremlin after the March elections will be with Putin,” said Alexei Venediktov, Russia’s most respected opposition journalist. “Whether as president of a new state or as a powerful prime minister, Putin will be the one calling the shots.”

Vladimir Putin seeks to keep power by creating new, larger Russia

[Shammu]

 Russians 'absolutely, definitely' commit to 2008 Iran reactor startup
MOSCOW — Officials said Iran and Russia have agreed on a timetable for the completion of the nuclear reactor at Bushehr.

Officials said Atomstroiexport was prepared to launch full operations of the 1,000 megawatt reactor by October 2008.

"We have resolved all the problems with the Iranians," said Sergei Shmatko, president of Russia's state-owned Atomstroiexport, the prime contractor of Bushehr. "We have agreed with our Iranian colleagues a time frame for completing the plant and we will make an announcement at the end of December."

"We absolutely, definitely intend to build the Bushehr atomic power station and intend definitely to deliver the fuel to the plant," Shmatko said.

"The first nuclear fuel shipment for the Bushehr atomic power plant arrived in Iran Monday," the Iranian news agency quoted Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh as saying.

Shmatko said Iran and Russia could form a joint venture to operate the $1 billion Bushehr reactor. He did not elaborate.

In November, the Interfax news agency reported, Putin decided to send the first nuclear shipment to Bushehr. The Moscow-based agency did not say whether the Russian president has set a date for the nuclear shipment.

Russians 'absolutely, definitely' commit to 2008 Iran reactor startup

[Shammu]

Israel, Russia reach agreement eliminating visa requirement
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
19/12/2007

Israelis and Russians will soon stop needing visas to visit each other's countries, under a new agreement reached by representatives of both foreign ministries in Moscow last week.

Government sources said the Russian government is expected to approve the new consular agreement soon after Christmas. Once the agreement is approved, the visa requirement should be eliminated within 90 days, they added.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, initialed a memorandum of understanding on eliminating the visa requirement in September, when they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. However, further talks were needed to translate this memorandum into a detailed agreement.

In Israel, the main push for eliminating the visa requirement came from the Tourism Ministry, which estimates that abolishing visas would increase Russian tourism to Israel by about 100,000 people a year. The Public Security Ministry, in contrast, opposed the move, fearing that eliminating visas would make it too easy for Russian criminals to enter Israel.

In the end, the cabinet sided with the Tourism Ministry, but decided that the visa requirement should be waived only if Russia would in turn waive its visa requirement for Israelis. Russia accepted this proposal in September, setting the stage for last week's agreement.

Israel, Russia reach agreement eliminating visa requirement

[Shammu]

China, India building trust in first joint military exercises

15 hours ago

BEIJING (AFP) — China said its first-ever joint military exercises with India that began this week were aimed at building trust between the neighbours, which still have rival claims to Himalayan territory.

The nine-day military exercises in southwest China, which involve around 100 troops from each side, began on Wednesday, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing.

"The aim of the training is to enhance mutual understanding and mutual trust between the Chinese and Indian militaries," Qin said.

A Chinese defence ministry spokesman was quoted earlier on the official Xinhua news agency as saying that the training, in Yunnan province, would focus on counter-terrorism exercises.

The historic manoeuvres were announced after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Singapore last month.

China and India have a history of rocky relations, and they have yet to resolve a border row that triggered a brief but a bitter war in 1962.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometres (14,670 square miles) of its territory, while Beijing claims the whole of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is 90,000 square kilometres.

However ties between the regional rivals have thawed since the 1990s, and trade between the two has flourished in recent years.

Qin played down the effects of the lingering border dispute, emphasising the world's two biggest developing countries had much in common on international issues.

"In fact, it's very natural and normal for two countries to have differences," he said.

A second military drill is scheduled to take place in 2008 in India, an Indian defence ministry spokesman said earlier.

China, India building trust in first joint military exercises
~~~~~~~~~~

And the gathering is coming together, just as the Bible says.

[Shammu]

North Korea resists Dec 31 declaration deadline
Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:04pm EST

By Arshad Mohammed and Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is still struggling to get North Korea to disclose its nuclear programs, a challenge in a society so tight-lipped that it would keep even clothing sizes secret, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

North Korea has promised to make a declaration by December 31 as part of a wider deal to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits from the United States and others.

The senior official told Reuters that reflexively secretive North Korea was reluctant to detail its nuclear proliferation activities -- which it has steadfastly denied -- as well as what it regards as military secrets in its declaration.

"They have real weapons and so they should tell us what the weapons program looks like," said the official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

"That is where you get into military secrets and, in a country that would keep a sweater size secret, you can imagine the difficulty in revealing military secrets," he added.

North Korea has published no economic statistics in the past several decades and severely limits its citizens' travel and contact with the outside world. Its leader, Kim Jong-il, has uttered only several words in public in his long career.

Sung Kim, a U.S. State Department official who is in Pyongyang to discuss North Korea's nuclear declaration, has reported progress in some areas but sticking points in others, the official said.

"It was a very mixed picture because we are not there yet with the declaration after one day. We made some progress but there are some sticking points remaining," the official said of Kim's first day of talks with officials from North Korea's General Directorate of Atomic Energy and its foreign ministry.

Kim has two more working days in North Korea to pursue the issue, which is widely seen in Washington as a key indicator of whether or not North Korea is committed to abandoning its nuclear weapons under a September 2005 multilateral deal.

Washington has already signaled that North Korea might not make the December 31 deadline for the declaration.

The official was upbeat about North Korea's work to disable its Yongbyon nuclear facility, also due by December 31, although he said this could slide into February for technical reasons. The foreign officials overseeing the disablement have chosen to go slowly on removing fuel rods for safety reasons.

"The disabling of the facilities is going ahead well. They have five of 11 tasks fully done and the others are under way. I think everyone involved with the disablement process is very satisfied," he said.

'NO ONE TURNS INTO A PUMPKIN'

The official showed Reuters before-and-after photographs of the disablement. One depicted a "fuel rod machine lathe" -- a piece of equipment that shapes plutonium fuel rods -- first with the machinery intact and then taken apart and removed.

"The timeline, of course, of December 31 is notional. No one turns into a pumpkin on December 31, but obviously we would like to get these 'phase two' tasks done at or around December 31 so that we can move on to the next phase, which would be dismantlement and abandonment of the fissile material," he added.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday a lot was at stake and she wanted a "complete and accurate" declaration from North Korea.

"This is now a crucial step, because if we are to move forward ... on all of the benefits that would come to North Korea through the successful completion of this second phase, we really must have an accurate declaration," she said.

If North Korea provides the declaration and dismantles Yongbyon, the United States has dangled the possibility of removing it from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list.

The official said he expected Pyongyang to be taken off the list before U.S. President George W. Bush steps down in January 2009, assuming it qualified under U.S. law and met its denuclearization commitments.

North Korea resists Dec 31 declaration deadline

[Soldier4Christ]

Ex-CIA official: Israel will attack Iran 
Adviser to 3 presidents became convinced after November trip

Bruce Riedel, a former career CIA official and senior adviser to three US presidents, including Bush, tells Newsweek he came back from trip to Israel in November convinced that Jewish state would attack Iran. 'Israel is not going to allow its nuclear monopoly to be threatened,' he says

"I came back from a trip to Israel in November convinced that Israel would attack Iran," Bruce Riedel, a former career CIA official and senior adviser to three US presidents - including George W. Bush - on Middle East and South Asian issues, told Newsweek Thursday, citing conversations he had with Mossad and Israeli defense officials.

"And that was before the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). This makes it even more likely. Israel is not going to allow its nuclear monopoly to be threatened," the American magazine quoted Riedel as saying in an article titled, "What will Israel do?".

Published in early December, the American NIE determined that Iran  had shelved its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

According to Newsweek, "a rising tide of opinion in Israel's intelligence and national-security circles believes that the NIE does signal American retreat-and, more profoundly, renewed Israeli isolation over what is deemed an existential threat out of Tehran."

'Israel has gotten away with it'

The magazine quoted Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh, a former deputy defense minister who has "warned for years that Israel would eventually have to confront Iran alone," as saying that "today we are closer to this situation than we were three weeks ago ... we have to be prepared to forestall this threat on our own."

David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington told Newsweek that Israel was likely encouraged by the non-reaction to their September air strike on a reported Syrian nuclear facility, "which may have been a test run for Iran, or at least a warning directed at Tehran".

"Israel has gotten away with it in a sense," Albright was quoted as saying. He suggested that any Israeli pre-emptive action might not be a "traditional strike" but could involve more "sabotage of equipment".

Newsweek said Israel also knows that the Arab states are "terrified of an Iranian nuclear power, possibly to the point of looking the other way at another such strike".

The magazine said one reason for Bush's abruptly announced nine-day visit to the Middle East in mid-January was "to deal with the fallout from the NIE, which includes not only the possibility that Israel will act unilaterally but also that Bush's prized Annapolis peace process will stall.

"The Bush trip is, in part, an implicit concession to US hawks that the NIE went too far in absolving Iran. It is also a conscious effort to reassure both Israel and the Arab states that Washington will stand up to Iran's increasing intrusiveness and hegemonic tendencies," Newsweek said in its report.

[Shammu]

Think tank sees Israel, not Iran, surviving a Mideast nuclear war
December 20, 2007

WASHINGTON — Iran could sustain up to 28 million and Israel 800,000 casualties in a nuclear war between the two countries.

A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies envisioned a nuclear missile war between Iran and Israel that would last 21 days. Authored by former Defense Department strategist Anthony Cordesman, the report said Israel could conceivably survive a nuclear war, but Iran would not.

"Iranian recovery is not possible in the normal sense of the term," the report, entitled "Iran, Israel and Nuclear War," said. "Israeli recovery [is] theoretically possible in population and economic terms."

The report was released on Nov. 19 amid Iranian threats to destroy the Jewish state. Cordesman said Israel could cause tremendous damage to Iran because of its much more powerful nuclear weapons.

"Israel and U.S. capability to preempt is factor, but main issue may be Israel's ability to clearly develop mutual assured destruction and U.S. capability to deploy credible level of extended deterrence," the report said.

Israel has produced nuclear weapons with a yield of one megaton, the report said. In contrast, Iran would be unable to assemble a weapon of more than 100 kilotons.

A megaton weapon could inflict third-degree burns at three times the radius, and radiation fallout could kill others at a distance of 130 kilometers. A 100 kiloton bomb could result in casualties within a radius of 13 kilometers.

The report expressed confidence in Israeli missile defense capabilities. Cordesman said most Iranian nuclear missiles could be intercepted by the Israeli-origin Arrow-2 missile defense system, bolstered by the U.S-origin PAC-2 Guided Enhanced Missile Plus.

The report envisions a war between 2010 and 2020, when Iran was expected to acquire an arsenal of up to 30 nuclear warheads. Cordesman expected Israel to have more than 200 nuclear warheads, launched by ground- and sea-based systems.

"Prevention [of Iran's nuclear weapons] may stimulate massive covert, dispersed effort," the report said. "Preemption becomes radically different once Iran has nuclear armed force."

Cordesman expects Syria, albeit without nuclear weapons, to join any war. The report envisions Syria firing chemical and other nonconventional weapons that could kill up to 800,000 Israelis. For its part, Syria could lose 18 million in an Israeli nuclear retaliation.

Egypt could also join an Iranian war against Israel. The report expected Israel to retaliate by firing nuclear missiles toward Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo and other cities. Cordesman said Egypt's Suez Canal and Aswan Dam would be destroyed.

"Rational actors do not fight nuclear wars, but history is not written about rational actors behaving in a rational manner," the report said.

Think tank sees Israel, not Iran, surviving a Mideast nuclear war

[Shammu]

Somebody in this think tank knows Biblical prophecy, this is just a quick run down.....

Gog and Magog first appear in Ezekiel 38-39.  In light of recent events in the world today, this prophecy has received more attention.  There are of course no guarantees, but some people, myself included, believe that this could occur at literally any time.

Ezekiel 38-39 are next in the time line as chapter 40 begins the description of the Millennial Kingdom.  This does not mean that these events are imminent, as there is a time span of 1900 years between chapters 36 and 37, but it is next in line by Ezekiel’s timeline. This does also not mean that other things described in other prophecies will not happen before the battle of Gog and Magog. It is quite possible that the rapture occurs before this battle, but we have no guarantee. But at the same time, Isaiah 17 can happen, that is the destruction of Damascus.

Ezekiel 39:9 begins the description of the aftermath.  It is gruesome but also amazing in its detail when looked at in comparison to today.  “Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up, the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears.  For seven years they will use them for fuel. 

However, this event cannot happen at the beginning of the tribulation because the tribulation begins with the antichrist signing a peace treaty with Israel. This means that this battle occurs before the tribulation.  While it is purely speculation on my part, I believe that this is the final straw that leaves everyone crying out for peace and the perfect setting for the antichrist to step in and give it to the nations.

I believe (and these are my own thoughts maybe not yours) that we will be taken before the tribulation.  However, even if I’m correct, we have no assurance how long before the tribulation we’ll be taken.  The rapture may occur and then this horrific battle takes place.  Or we may be witness to it.  If we are, let the readers (guests) know that the prophetic calendar is being fulfilled in our presence.

The reason for all of this destruction is for God to be glorified.  In verses 21-22 he says, “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them.  From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Israel has nothing to fear from their enemies though, because they are protected by the Lord of Hosts. Another words, Israel will NOT be harmed in Ezekiel 38-39.

[Shammu]

S.Korea's Lee seeks joint project with N.Korea, Russia
Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:37pm IST

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president-elect Lee Myung-bak on Friday proposed a landmark project to exploit natural resources in the Russian Far East using North Korean labour, saying it would benefit all three countries.

Lee, who two days ago became the first former CEO to win South Korea's presidency, made the proposal in a meeting with Russia's ambassador.

"He has been interested for years in linking Korean technology with Russia's resources," said Yim Songbin, an adviser to the Lee camp on international relations.

Lee, who will be the first businessman to run South Korea, struck deals in parts of the Soviet Union when he was CEO of Hyundai construction.

The president-elect will push to implement the resource development project when he takes office in late February, Yim said.

The cooperation with North Korea, which has a border with Russia, would provide the destitute state cash for its workers and fees for the use of its land for transporting materials back to the South, Yim explained.

In his first news conference as president-elect, Lee said he would review the way South Korea has been handing over aid to its prickly neighbour and tie it more closely to specific actions from the North, such as scrapping its nuclear arms programme.

Lee stormed to victory on Wednesday with pledges to find practical solutions that breathe new life into the world's 13th largest economy.

Despite his popularity, Lee has been dogged by allegations of involvement in a securities fraud, a problem that flared up again just before the election when a liberal-dominated parliament agreed a special investigator should look into the accusations.

Outgoing President Roh Moo-hyun plans to approve the special counsel despite calls from Lee's conservative Grand National Party to veto the measure for the sake of national unity, local media reported on Friday.

S.Korea's Lee seeks joint project with N.Korea, Russia

[Shammu]

Russian military to get new missile, tank
Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:25pm IST

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian armed forces will receive a new submarine-based intercontinental ballistic missile in 2008 and a new type of tank in 2009, local news agencies quoted a top Russian general as saying on Saturday.

Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Makarov was quoted as saying the nuclear submarine Yuri Dolgoruky, equipped with the Bulava missile, will become part of the Russian navy next year.

Makarov was quoted as saying tests of the missile were almost completed and "we will get it in 2008".

The Bulava is a flagship project that President Vladimir Putin has said can pierce any anti-missile shield.

The armed forces have carried out regular missile tests in the past few years. They are viewed by the political and military leadership as evidence of a revival of Russia's military might.

Buoyed by huge oil revenues, Russia under Putin has been boosting military spending while at the same time using diplomacy to increase its influence as it seeks to counter U.S. plans for a missile defence shield in Europe.

The Bulava missile is designed for Russia's new Borei (Arctic Wind) class nuclear submarines. The first, long-delayed submarine of the class was launched last April.

Makarov said that in 2009 the army would also receive a new type of tank "with an entirely new chassis, weapons, target recognition and fire control systems." Russian ground forces are currently equipped with T-90, T-72 and T-80 tanks.

"Now we are carrying out tests, which we plan to complete next year, and in 2009 the new tank will go into production," he said.

Russia currently has two tanks in the works -- the "Black Eagle", created in the 1990s by the Omsk tank design bureau and first shown to public in 2004, and the T-95, created by Uralvagonzavod. Few details on the T-95 are publicly available.

Putin signed a law suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty in a step which could allow it to deploy more forces close to western Europe. Russia declared 5,063 tanks deployed in the European area in 2007.

Russian military to get new missile, tank

[Shammu]

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan sign Caspian gas pipeline deal

Moscow (AP): Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan signed a landmark agreement on Thursday to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian Sea coast that would strengthen Moscow's monopoly on energy exports from the resource-rich region.

The deal, which follows a preliminary agreement reached in May, ended months of tense arguments over the price of gas supplies. It reaffirms Russia's monopoly on gas supplies from Central Asia and deals a strong blow to Western hopes of securing alternate energy export routes.

``We have just signed an extremely important agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on building the Caspian pipeline,'' President Vladimir Putin said. ``It will become a new important contribution of our nations into strengthening the European energy security.''

Late last month, Russia's state-controlled monopoly OAO Gazprom gave in to Turkmen price demands and agreed to pay US$130 (euro90) per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas in the first half of 2008 and US$150 (euro104) in the second half.

The agreement will likely disappoint the United States and the European Union, which have been lobbying for a rival pipeline to be built under the Caspian Sea, bypassing Russia.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov have expressed interest in undersea pipelines and voiced support for multiple export routes.

However, prospects for pipelines under the Caspian have been clouded by high costs, environmental concerns and disputes over ownership of the sea resources.

Russia controls existing export pipeline for gas from Turkmenistan, which has the largest reserves in the former Soviet Union after Russia. The pipeline has an annual capacity of 50 billion cubic meters.

The new pipeline would have an initial annual capacity of 20 billion cubic meters, and it could grow significantly in the future.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said the new pipeline would be built by 2010.

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan sign Caspian gas pipeline deal

[Shammu]

Putin congratulates the military
Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:08:53

Russia's President Vladimir Putin congratulates the military on the successful test launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The military test-fired the experimental RS-24 missile with multiple warheads from the northern Plesetsk launch pad Tuesday, and also conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from a Northern Fleet nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, AP reported.

Defense Minister, Anatoly Serdyukov reported on the launches to Putin on Wednesday, saying that all of the test warheads had hit their designated targets on the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Putin hailed the launches as: "beautiful holiday fireworks behind which was big work by military experts and civilian engineers. ... Please congratulate them all, it was a serious step in strengthening Russia's defense capability.''

Serdyukov meanwhile, referred to the new missiles as a "modernized Topol-M", saying for the first time that it carried three test warheads during Tuesday's launch.

This is while the US-Soviet 1991 START I arms treaty specifically bans the fitting of multiple warheads to existing types of missiles. However, the treaty expires in December 2009, before the new missile is expected to enter service.

Putin congratulates the military

[Shammu]

Afghanistan rejects Canada claim
Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:24:57

Afghanistan has rejected claims by Canada that explosive devices being used in anti-NATO attacks in the country are coming from Iran.

There is no proof from where the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) actually come from and who brought them into Afghanistan, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada Omar Samad told CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.

"Iran is a neighbor and we have good relations," he said, adding that one million Afghan refugees are living in the neighboring country which shares a 1,000-kilometre border with Afghanistan.

Canada's Defense Minister Peter MacKay claimed on Tuesday that many IEDs in Afghanistan have come from Iran.

Before blaming any states, the top diplomat said, more investigation is needed to determine whether certain groups in other countries are involved in sending weapons to Afghanistan.

Relations between Tehran and Ottawa have been difficult since 2003.

Afghanistan rejects Canada claim