News Briefs

PHONE IMPLANTS

Nanotechnology will make mobile
phones tiny enough to be imbedded
under the skin, making the device
subdermal except for the earpiece.
Keypad would either be on the
sleeve of ones shirt or appear as an
interactive hologram Courier Mail April 20 2005

BIBLE BAN LIFTED

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmed Badawi said yesterday there
was no ban on Bibles published in
the Malay language but they must be
stamped with the words, "Not For
Muslims." Courier Mail April 20 2005

ITALY RATIFIES EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION

Italy became the first major EU
country to ratify the European
Constitution following a parliamentary
vote on Wednesday. The
European Commission welcomed
the news saying it was 'pleased
about this ratification' and noted that
Italy is the first of the six founding
members of the EU to ratify.

This brings the number of countries
that have ratified the document to
four. A yes vote remains far from
certain as the debate has become
embroiled in several other diverse
issues - including Turkish membership
of the European Union; an
unpopular EU proposal to open the
market in services and the general
unpopularity of the government.

A no from France would throw the
EU into chaos and would probably
have a direct effect on the referendums
to follow. The Dutch government
is already looking into emergency
scenarios to cancel its own
poll if the French vote no, according
to Dutch press agency reports.
EU Observer 7 April 2005

PROMISE KEEPERS

The Promise Keepers financial
woes have been attributed to their
watered down Statement of Faith
and their ecumenical thrust toward
Mormons and Roman Catholics for
the sake of unity. One of many evidences
for the accusation that
Promise Keepers have sacrificed
the Lord to embrace unity is the
report they gave that during Pope
John Paul II's trip to Latin America
he called for those who had abandoned
Catholicism to return to the
fold, saying, "..all those who at some
time prayed to the Most Holy Virgin
.... conserve in their hearts an
ember of faith which can be revived.
The Virgin awaits them with maternal
arms open wide." (see 1 Timothy 2:5
Editors note) Christianity Today

MUSLIMS PROTEST JEWISH TEMPLE MOUNT VISIT

Thousands of Muslims protested
throughout the Middle East against
a plan to bring 10,000 Jews to the
Temple Mount, while a senior security
source says a Palestinian terror
group is looking to use the Jewish
visit to spark violence.
Revava, a Jewish organization with
the stated mission of 'restoring selfesteem
to the state of Israel by
restoring national pride and values,'
is bringing 10,000 Jews to the heavily
restricted Temple Mount to spark
Israeli dialogue about reclaiming the
holy site from its Islamic custodians.