World News Updates

Tuesday Oct. 7, 2008
http://www.thebereanchronicles.com/

7 Palin aides to testify in trooper investigation
Seven aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her power by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.

U.S. bank failures almost certain to increase in next year
Here's a safe bet for uncertain times: A lot of banks won't survive the next year of upheaval despite the U.S. government's $700 billion rescue plan to restore order to the financial industry.

‘Gay Day’ Bill Vetoed in California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have designated May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day," named after the homosexual San Francisco supervisor who was murdered in 1978.

Yoga at NY high school causes stress among critics
A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.

New law cracks down on child soldiers
Under a new law signed yesterday by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch has said. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts.

Mormons told to avoid faith-related arguments
Mormons should never respond with arrogance or hostility to attacks on their faith, but be peacemakers among themselves and in the community of faith, said several speakers at the 178th Semiannual LDS General Conference on Sunday.

Your contribution to the Bible
More than 31,000 Americans will have a hand in publishing a new Bible.
Zondervan, one of the world's largest religious publishers, is launching a cross-country tour by motor coach to mark the 30th anniversary of its New International Version of the Bible. The 135-day Bible Across America tour will give people an opportunity to write a Bible verse by hand. Copies of the handwritten Bible will then be published and sold.

French PM says world 'on edge of abyss'
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Friday the world stood on the "edge of the abyss", gripped by a global financial crisis now threatening industry, trade and jobs worldwide.

Maybe We Should Blame God for the Subprime Mess
Has the so-called Prosperity gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of Pentecostal Christianity believes.

US congressman: “If we don’t pass this bill, we’re going to have martial law in the United States”
In the wake of Monday’s vote in the US House of Representatives rejecting the $700 billion bailout package for the American financial industry, prominent voices in the US and international media have responded by denouncing the lower house of Congress and complaining that the American political system is too susceptible to popular opinion and insufficiently obedient to the will of the corporate and political elite.

Boy, 7, goes on killing spree in zoo, feeding reptiles to crocodile
When keepers arrived for work at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre they thought there had been a mass break-out. Thirteen animals, including a large turtle, bearded dragons and various lizards had apparently escaped from their outdoor pens.

VP Debate: McCain's Big Gamble Comes Up Snake Eyes
I watched the vice presidential debate in a ballroom at the Four Seasons hotel in Aviara, just north of San Diego, along with a couple of hundred women attending Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit -- a receptive audience, you would think, for a debate featuring a woman who might become the most powerful in the land. It was an ideologically mixed crowd, including representatives of ExxonMobil, a major sponsor of the conference.

Miraculous Physical Recoveries
Nearly a quarter of American adults report having witnessed a “miraculous, physical healing,” and, perhaps more surprisingly, 16 percent say they have actually experienced such a miracle themselves.