EU CONSTITUTION BY 2009 AT LATEST

Update on quake in Indonesia dead 3,600 as of 1:30 AM Sunday may 28, 2006.

Story 1 EU constitution must be done by 2009 at the latest, Torah readings for this day and New Guniea, Tonga quakes.

EU aims to complete constitution ratification by 2009 www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-28 11:19:21

VIENNA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Member states of the European Union plan to complete the process for the ratification of the EU constitution by 2009 at the latest, Foreign Minister of Luxemburg Jean Asselborn said on Saturday. Asselborn made the remarks on the first day of a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Austria's Klosternneuburg on the future of the EU constitution and the process of the bloc's enlargement. Describing the year 2009 as the "deadline," Asselborn told media that EU countries had the same political will to end the process for the ratification of the EU constitution by 2009 at the latest.

The foreign ministers of 25 EU countries did not mention 2010 or 2011 as the "deadline" for the EU constitution, he added. No one considers that the 'fundamental treaty' is already dead. EU will decide whether to reserve the current contents of Constitution or not, Asselborn added. At Saturday's meeting, the foreign ministers reportedly agreed to prolong their yearlong "period of reflection" by another 12 months, after the frustration in the Netherlands and France last year. According to local media, Germany would stick to the "political substance" of the current constitution.

The constitution will provide the EU with measures on policy-making which "we do need," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the meeting. He added that by the middle of 2007, the EU could decide the further direction of the EU constitution, and Germany would make efforts toward this end during its EU presidency in the first half of 2007.

A draft EU constitution was rejected last year by France and the Netherlands. Under EU rules, all 25 member states must ratify the constitution before it comes into force. Enditem, Editor: Yao Runping.

The Parshah in a Nutshell(Chabad.org)
Shavuot Torah Readings Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17

The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that G-d has chosen them to be His "kingdom of priests" and "holy nation." The people respond by proclaiming, "All that G-d has spoken, we shall do."On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai. G-d descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightening, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and summons Moses to ascend.

G-d proclaims the Ten Commandments, commanding the people of Israel to believe in G-d, not to worship idols or take G-d's name in vain, to honor their parents, keep the Shabbat, and not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness or covet another's property. The people cry out to Moses that the revelation is too intense for them to bear, begging him to receive the Torah from G-d and convey it to them.
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On the second day of Shavuot we read from Deuteronomy chapters 14-16 which detail the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals -- Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot -- on which all Jews came "to see and be seen before the face of G-d" in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

May 28, 2006, 12:00AM(AP)Magnitude-6.2 Quake Rocks Papua New Guinea

SYDNEY, Australia — A magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the U.S. Geological survey said Sunday. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The quake hit at 1:12 p.m. local time (11:12 p.m. EDT) around 117 miles northeast of Papua New Guinea's New Britain region and 1,500 miles north of Brisbane, Australia.The quake posed no risk of a Pacific-wide tsunami, said Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
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Strong quakes rattle Tonga, PNG: USGSSun May 28, 2006 1:12am ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A strong quake measuring 6.7 in magnitude rocked the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.The New Britain region of Papua New Guinea was also shaken by a 6.2 magnitude quake, the USGS reported. It was unclear whether the tremors had caused any casualties or damage.It said the Tonga quake hit at 4:36 p.m. local time (0336 GMT) 145 km (90 miles) northeast of the capital Nuku'alofa. The tremor was registered at a depth of 50 km (31 miles).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said the quake near Papua New Guinea's New Britain island hit at about 0326 GMT Sunday.No destructive Pacific-wide tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said on its Web Site, adding the PNG quake was 6.7 in magnitude.But the U.S. Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia both registered the quake at 6.2. Sunday's quakes followed a quake of similar magnitude which hit Indonesia's main island of Java on Saturday, killing more than 3,000 people. We haven't had any reports of damage," a Geoscience Australia spokeswoman said. © Reuters 2006.