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1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Winter blast slams Western Canada. 3-Storm sinks Irish trawler, disrupts travel in northwest Europe. 4-Behind the Headlines: Six months in terrorist captivity. 5-Iranian Jews Reject Urgent Warnings to Leave. 6-New Torah Ark Dedicated at Hebron´s Tomb of the Patriarchs. 7-Advocacy Groups Report Escalating Christian Persecution in China, India. 8-New Comet is Brightest in 30 Years. 9-US-made calf reopens clone debate. 10-Scorpions on planes not terror, say feds. 11-Madrid conference opens to mark 1991 Mideast peace talks

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Fri Jan 12 12:05 AM EDT

JAN 12,07
MAP 2.9 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

JAN 11,07
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.9 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.9 SERAM, INDONESIA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 VANUATU
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KORYAKIA, RUSSIA
MAP 2.9 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 CASPIAN SEA
MAP 3.4 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION

JAN 10,07
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.4 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION
MAP 4.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.1 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.8 CENTRAL ALASKA

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Winter blast slams Western Canada Wed Jan 10, 7:42 PM ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Rescue Crews used helicopters and snowmobiles on Wednesday to search for drivers stranded by a blizzard that rolled through northeastern British Columbia and other large swathes of Western Canada. At least 16 vehicles were located with people in them on a road between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia, but no injuries were reported despite a windchill that made it feel like it was -40 Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit).To the east, two people were reported to have frozen to death on the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan as bone-chilling cold returned to the Prairie region after a month of unseasonably mild temperatures.Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported a 17-year-old boy and a 38-year-old woman appeared to have died of exposure overnight after their car got stuck in the snow and they tried to walk to safety.Temperatures in the
region, about 50 km (31 miles) north of Lloydminster, Alberta, were forecast to fall to -29 C (-20 F) on Wednesday. With the wind, it will feel like -38 C (-36 F), Environment Canada said.

In the British Columbia storm, stranded motorists were urged to stay with their vehicles until help arrived and emergency officials had set up a special facility to help warm up drivers as they were brought in by rescue crews.The winter blast created hazardous driving conditions on highways throughout Western Canada.For the second time in a week, an avalanche closed the Trans-Canada Highway in eastern British Columbia on Tuesday. It was slated to reopen late Wednesday afternoon.The Alberta government reported poor driving conditions on most highways in central and northern areas of the province due to blowing snow.

Storm sinks Irish trawler, disrupts travel in northwest Europe by Andrew Bushe Thu Jan 11, 7:19 AM ET

DUBLIN (AFP) - A storm packing gale-force winds has sunk an Irish trawler leaving five crew members missing, while sea and air traffic were disupted in the Netherlands and Britain, which issued flood warnings. Irish coastguards were battling winds of up to 130 kilometers (80 miles) per hour in a major air and sea search for the five fishermen, whose trawler the Pere Charles went down in heavy seas southeast of Ireland.The storm severely disrupted sea traffic across the English Channel, with departures shut down entirely for several hours between Calais and the English port of Dover, while only large ships were using the French port of Dunkirk.

The English Channel is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, particularly over the 25-mile (40-kilometre) stretch between Dover and Calais on the northeast French coast.In Calais, there is no traffic, but the port has not been closed, the harbour master said.

The port at Dover more fully exposed to the gale-force winds -- was closed from 5:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) to 8:00 a.m., he added Thursday.Regional traffic control authorities in France forecast a surge in cargo traffic through the Eurotunnel as trucks scheduled to cross the Channel by sea divert to rail instead.Elsewhere in Britain, winds reached 90 miles (144 kilometres) per hour in Scotland and low-lying eastern English counties were put on flood alert.In the Netherlands, the gathering stormfront disrupted air traffic at the Schiphol International airport, one of Europe's busiest.The number of planes allowed to take off and land was cut back to 50 from the normal flow of 70, airport authorities said according to Dutch news agency ANP.

The rest of the day should be calmer, an airport spokesman was quoted as saying.In Ireland, coastguards searching for the missing fishermen said a gas cylinder and life ring have been recovered since the vessel disappeared from radar screens Wednesday night, after which a nearby trawler was alerted by its emergency radio beacon.The French-built trawler had been fishing for herring off Hook Head in County Wexford and had been due to return to the nearby fishing port of Dunmore East in County Waterford.Conditions in the area are horrendous. The winds have been up to storm force 10. They will be gale force all day today, a coastguard spokesman told AFP.Hopes were fading for the men, four Irishmen and a Ukrainian, but there was a chance they could have taken to a life raft, he said.That is the hope, although there was a vessel very close by that had her on the radar. When she disappeared they were over very quickly and they found nothing, said the coastguard spokesman.

She must have gone down very quickly. The other vessel saw her lights and had her on radar and when they turned round to look for her again she was gone, he added.Two search and rescue helicopters, two lifeboats, local trawlers and fishing boats and four coastguard shore crews resumed the search at first light.Officials said Ireland's Marine Casualty Investigation Board had begun an inquiry into the tragedy. Irish Transport Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher, who is responsible for the coastguard, said police and navy divers were on standby to try and locate the sunken trawler when the weather improves. Hopefully we might find some survivors but as the hours move on there is less and less chance, he told RTE state radio. We have to now concentrate on retrieving bodies. I am sad to say that, Gallagher said.

ARABS FREE THE ISRAELI SOLDIERS NOW.

Behind the Headlines: Six months in terrorist captivity - 11 Jan 2007

Six months have passed since the unprovoked abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border, and of Gilad Shalit on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza. Six months have passed since the unprovoked abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border, an action that precipitated widespread confrontation between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization. To date no word has been heard from the two captive soldiers, and neither their families nor the government of Israel have any knowledge of their whereabouts or their current state of health. Two weeks prior to their abduction, another soldier, Gilad Shalit, was abducted as well, this time on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza. His family, too, anxiously awaits news from him. Especially grave is the fact that these unprovoked abductions were carried out on sovereign Israeli territory.

Taken from their families six months ago, these captive soldiers are denied the most basic of human rights as enshrined in the Geneva Convention. In a gross breach of U.N. Resolution 1701, the terrorist organizations that carried out these abductions, and Syria and Iran who support them, behave as if these human rights are nothing more than a bargaining chip in their game of negotiation, refusing even to transmit messages to the captives from their families. International bodies who met with the captives' families have also tried to forward messages and letters, but they have been met with a negative response as well. The Israel Foreign Ministry is active in efforts to gain their release on all levels: Foreign Ministry Tzipi Livni and her fellow ministers, alongside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raise the issue at the highest levels in their diplomatic meetings, in Israel and abroad - as do the Foreign Ministry's director-general and other senior officials. The Foreign Ministry also assists the families of the kidnapped soldiers in their meetings, both abroad and with visiting dignitaries in Israel, in an effort to keep the cause of the abducted soldiers on the international public agenda.

Israel's embassies abroad are also taking part in this effort, with emphasis on the humanitarian aspect: the families await a clear sign that their sons are alive and well. Those with influence, whether direct or indirect, on Syria and Iran are being asked to exert this influence on these countries. Thus, it is hoped, Syria and Iran, which sponsor the terrorist organizations holding the abducted soldiers, will be forced by growing international pressure to bring their influence to bear to obtain the hoped-for news and their eventual release.Neither Israel nor any other civilized, law abiding country can accept this situation. We urge you to support us in our endeavor - to bring our soldiers home.

Iranian Jews Reject Urgent Warnings to Leave
By Hana Levi Julian and Gil Zohar(INN) JAN 11,07

Iranian Jews are ignoring urgent warnings by American Jewish community leaders and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) to quit the Islamic Republic.The campaign to convince Iran’s 25,000 Jews to flee for their lives has stalled. According to statistics compiled by HIAS, only 152 Jews left Iran in the year between October 2005 and September 2006, down 40 percent from the same period in 2004-5. The year before that only 183 Jews left Iran.Sources said those Jews who left Iran in the past several years cited economic and family concerns as their primary reasons for leaving – not political considerations.It would appear that the repeated threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map have not raised an alarm among the 25,000 Jews who still live in his country.

Nor has a recent Holocaust denial conference hosted by the Iranian president seemed to have made much of a dent in the Jewish community’s unwillingness to move.Last year’s contest by a leading Iranian newspaper soliciting Holocaust cartoons as a response to the uproar caused by a Danish caricature contest of the founder of Islam, Mohammed, has also had no noticeable effect.Other minority groups in Iran are not wasting time, however. HIAS workers in Vienna have noted a substantial increase in the number of refugees from Iran of other faiths, including the Bahai.

New Torah Ark Dedicated at Hebron´s Tomb of the Patriarchs
By Alex Traiman(INN) JAN 11,07

A Torah Ark was installed this week in the holy city of Hevron (Hebron) at the Cave of the Patriarchs, the ancient monument housing the graves of the Jewish Patriarchs and Matriarchs.The Ark strengthens the Jewish presence at the holy site called Me'arat HaMachpela, a double cave which the Torah (Genesis 23) records Abraham purchased from the Hittites for 400 silver shekels to use as a burial cave for his wife Sarah.Donated by New York financier and philanthropist Ira Rennert, the new Holy Ark was designed by Avraham Avargel - the same architect who constructed the large Ark at the Western Wall plaza.Standing more than four meters tall and three meters wide, the Ark will house handwritten Torah scrolls read on Monday, Thursday, Sabbath and holiday services.

The ark, featuring an etched wooden facade flanked by stone, stands in the large open courtyard that connects the smaller Jewish prayer rooms, each built in memory of one of the holy couples Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah.

(Rachel's Tomb is located in Bethlehem, between Jerusalem and Hebron.).The addition of the Ark is one of a series of uniquely Jewish improvements made to the site in recent years. Worshippers have noticed the additions of numerous prayer and study books and libraries, as well as several framed wall pieces with prayers for recitation at the site.This coming summer, a roof will be constructed over the courtyard where Jewish worshippers come to pray, rain or shine.Hevron spokesman David Wilder believes it is important to beautify the site, which is one of the holiest in Jewish history.

Every day when we pray to the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob, he said, we have to understand that this is where these people have been for almost 4,000 years.The monumental Cave of the Patriarchs complex was built over the caves 2,000 years ago by Herod the Great, then King of Judea. Since then, both Christians and Muslims have added onto the structure, at many points claiming the site belonged to them.

Arabs kept Jews from entering the holy site for 700 years between 1267 and 1967, when the IDF liberated Hevron together with the rest of Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War.Today both Jewish and Muslim worshippers pray regularly at the site, entering through separate gates, and praying in separate areas. Except for special days, neither Jews nor Arabs are allowed full access to the entire site. Muslims pray in the large room memorializing the Jewish forefather Isaac. The room bears the only entrances to the actual burial caves, and can house more than 1,000 worshippers. Jews are relegated to an outdoor courtyard, and the much smaller adjacent rooms.

Relations between Jews and Muslims at the site remain tense.

They continue to claim that the site belongs to them, said Wilder. If they controlled the site they would again declare it off limits.One of the ways to maintain our possession of the site, he said, and to show how important it is to us, is to bring such beautiful objects of sanctity into the building such as this beautiful aron kodesh (Holy Ark). Originally, when we came back to the site in 1967, we weren’t allowed to bring in anything that showed any permanence. Everything had to be movable because the Arabs claimed that it didn’t belong to us, it belonged to them, and they wanted to expel us at any given moment.By bringing in such beautiful works of art, such holy objects, we show both the Jewish people and people around the world that this is the second holiest site in the world for the Jewish people and we have no intentions of [leaving it].Wilder and the Hebron community are grateful that members of the Jewish community worldwide are aiding in the efforts to help build-up Jewish presence at the holy site.

I think that it is very noteworthy that people from all over the world have taken part in trying to beautify such a site because Me'arat HaMachpela doesn’t belong to me any more than it belongs to any other Jew in the world, Wilder says.It belongs to all the Jewish people from throughout all of the generations in the past to the present and in the future, and I am very happy that people around the world take such interest and want to partake in honoring such an important and significant site.

Advocacy Groups Report Escalating Christian Persecution in China, India JAN 11,07

Persecution continues to increase against Christians throughout India and in Communist China, AgapePress reports.

Representatives of organizations that minister to and advocate for believers in those countries say government authorities in both nations are severely oppressing Christians and limiting their religious freedom. Late last month, Hindu extremists torched a church in the Indian state of Orissa after members had decorated and prepared the sanctuary for Christmas services. The Global Council of Indian Christians is investigating the church burning. Ten Indian Christian missionaries along with a pastor were beaten and arrested for singing Christmas carols. An expert on Christian persecution within communist China says believers in that country will face increasing scrutiny from authorities.

New Comet is Brightest in 30 Years Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer - SPACE.com - Wed Jan 10, 2:30 PM ET

A newfound comet has backyard skywatchers buzzing about its incredible brightness even though it is a challenge to spot.Comet McNaught, named for Australian astronomer Robert McNaught who found it last year, is about to circle the Sun. It sets right after the Sun, making it visible in the West [sky map] for only a few minutes in twilight. Tonight (Wednesday, Jan. 10) may be the best chance for Northern Hemisphere viewers to spot it.Comet McNaught has become the brightest comet in 30 years, according to the International Comet Quarterly at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.The comet, dazzling in pictures, is brighter than was Hale-Bopp in 1995.

But this comet remains a challenge to see. You need a very clear view of a very flat horizon and good sky conditions. Look for it moments after sunset from high ground or tall buildings if possible. Binoculars can help to first detect the comet, but it is visible to the naked eye, several observers have reported. On Jan. 12, Comet McNaught's orbit [video] will take it closer to the Sun than the planet Mercury. Solar radiation could cause the comet to become even brighter. During its trip around the Sun, the comet will be visible on the Internet in images from the SOHO spacecraft.

Comet McNaught Viewer's Guide
Images: Comet McNaught Gallery
More Images: Great Comets
Original Story: New Comet is Brightest in 30 Years - Visit SPACE.com

US-made calf reopens clone debate JAN 10,07
The Holstein calf could grow up to be a productive dairy cow

A calf grown from an embryo taken from a cloned cow has been born on a British farm for the first time. The calf, named Dundee Paradise, was born on a farm near Wolverhampton after being created by scientists in the US. As the Holstein calf is not itself a clone, the environment department (Defra) says no health and welfare rules have been broken. Some animal rights groups say cloning causes suffering to animals and warns against buying their offspring. Dundee Paradise began life in a US laboratory, where scientists created an embryo from a normal bull and the clone of a prize-winning dairy cow. She was then flown to the UK as an embryo and implanted into a cow on a farm near Wolverhampton.

Novel food

A Defra spokeswoman said the animal's health was not of particular concern as the calf had not been genetically modified. Any offspring from a cloned animal is considered to be the same as any other naturally-born cow, she said. The animal was born as the majority of the 220,000 animals that we register in the UK every year are born - as a result of artificial insemination.

Simon Gee Holstein UK .However, the Food Standards Agency said it was in discussions about the legal requirements relating to offspring of cloned animals. Any products taken from Dundee Paradise could need authorisation from an EU committee of experts and labelled a novel food. Simon Gee, of Holstein UK, an organisation that represents the Holstein and British Friesian breeds, said the calf was created using conventional breeding technology. The animal was born as the majority of the 220,000 animals that we register in the UK every year are born - as a result of artificial insemination. The difference here is that the embryos were imported into the UK, frozen in liquid nitrogen and then implanted into recipient cows here.

REVELATION 9:1-11
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Scorpions on planes not terror, say feds Pair of deadly creatures attacks passengers on American, United flights in same week January 10, 2007 - 9:35 p.m. Eastern - By Joe Kovacs - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

It's not Snakes on a Plane causing concern among the traveling public, but scorpions, as two of the deadly creatures have attacked passengers on separate U.S. flights in the past week. Yet federal officials are downplaying the possibility the events are related to terrorism. We have no reason to believe there is any connection to any kind of terrorist activity, said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, a division on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The first incident took place Jan. 3 as David Sullivan of Stowe, Vt., was stung twice on a trip home from San Francisco. He and his wife, Helena, boarded a United Air Lines connecting flight in Chicago, and were just minutes from their destination in Burlington, Vt., when he first noticed a problem with his right leg, feeling as if it had gone to sleep. After the plane landed, Sullivan was waiting for his luggage, and again felt a strange sensation, but this time it was his left shin.

It was getting more intense. It felt like a small electric shock, Sullivan told the Burlington Free Press. I could feel the venom work its way through my body. When he pulled up his pants leg to investigate, an inch-and-a-half-long scorpion scooted down his leg and onto the floor, where a fellow passenger stepped on it. The feeling of electrical shock remained in Sullivan's legs for 36 hours, and he suffered flu symptoms for several days afterward. The second incident took place Sunday, as a Canadian college student was returning to Toronto on an American Airlines flight out of Miami. Anthony Harris, 21, who had been in Costa Rica prior to stopping in Miami, suddenly felt as if someone were tearing the hair out of his leg. He told the Toronto Star that when the sharp pain dulled to a throbbing ache, he thought his leg had simply cramped up.

Then I looked down and there was a scorpion crawling up my leg, he said. Harris was unsure if the arachnid snuck into his knapsack in Costa Rica, or if it came with someone else, but he used his school textbook to kill the creature. I scooped it up and sort of smooshed it closed, he said. Though Harris and Sullivan didn't suffer any serious complications from their encounters, the fact that two scorpions made it onto U.S. commercial flights and stung two passengers in the same week is raising eyebrows.

Melendez at the TSA, which was created as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America, told WND this is the first time he's ever heard of incidents involving scorpions, let alone two within four days of each other. But he adds the scorpions have not changed the way the agency is handling security. As far as TSA is concerned, nothing [different] is being done. We're looking for prohibited items such as knives and bombs and guns, Melendez said. We don't have a prohibition on God's creatures going on planes. When WND contacted the Federal Aviation Administration, officials there had not even heard of the scorpion incidents, but later indicated airlines are not mandated to inform the agency of such cases unless they create serious problems. There's no requirement to report such an occurrence to the FAA unless there's a medical emergency that requires the plane to divert or to declare an emergency and land, or if the animal or bug or whatever causes damage to the aircraft that results in a system malfunction, said Les Dorr, an FAA spokesman. Officials at American and United have not commented on how they believe the scorpions got aboard their respective flights, nor any measures they might have in place to preclude such incidents in the future.

But United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski told the Associated Press the Sullivan case is something that we will investigate and look into. We're very sorry for what happened. Our customer safety and security is our No. 1 priority. The airlines tell you you can't bring water or shampoo on a plane, Helena Sullivan told AP, referring to recent security restrictions. All the security we go through apparently didn't apply to the scorpion, she said. While healthy adults can normally withstand scorpion stings, the venom can be lethal to the young, elderly, infirm or those allergic to the venom.

Madrid conference opens to mark 1991 Mideast peace talks JAN 11,07

An international conference began on Wednesday to commemorate the 1991 peace talks which brought Israeli and Arab leaders together for the first time and paved way for the Oslo Accords.

The Madrid conference aimed to bring new vigor to the stalled Mideast peace process. Some leaders involved in past efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict sent letters to voice their support for the conference, which is sponsored by private peace foundations. Messages from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ex-U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III were read out at the opening session. The convening of this conference 15 years later could not be more timely, wrote Baker, who helped arranged the 1991 talks. It offers an opportunity to assist the possibility of moving forward toward Arab-Israeli conflict resolution. Clinton underlined the importance of the 1991 talks in his letter, saying It was the first time that Israeli and Arabs met at the conference table rather than on the battlefield. He said the new meeting showed there was still hope for the future. The two-day conference brought together foreign ministers from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and experts from the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the Middle East. The Madrid conference in October 1991 set the framework for a peace process which ultimately led to the Oslo Accords, which in 1993 outlined a plan for a Palestinian state. Source: Xinhua