Señor, ten piedad

Palestine - Israel
Israel Warns Gaza Invasion Impending
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
ASHKELON, Israel (AP) - Israeli leaders warned Friday of an approaching conflagration in the Gaza Strip as Israel activated a rocket warning system to protect Ashkelon, a city of 120000 people, from Palestinian rockets.

Iraq - Kurdistan - Turkey
Turkey confirms its troops withdrawn from Northern Iraq
Reuters - 1 hour ago
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's military General Staff said on Friday that its troops had returned to bases in Turkey after a major ground offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq.

Russian Federation
Putin seeks big voter turnout to help successor
Reuters - 1 hour ago
By James Kilner MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin appealed to Russians to vote in large numbers on Sunday in a presidential election he hopes will hand his chosen successor a convincing victory and rebuff opponents who call his democracy a sham.

Pakistan - United States
US Embrace of Musharraf Irks Pakistanis
New York Times - 49 minutes ago
Pakistanis at a rally in Islamabad, the capital, on Sunday heard speakers who demanded that President Pervez Musharraf resign. By DAVID ROHDE ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Bush administration’s continued backing of President Pervez Musharraf, ...

Hezbollah - United States - Lebanon
US warship threatens stability - Hezbollah MP
Reuters - 3 hours ago
By Laila Bassam BEIRUT, Feb 29 (Reuters) - The pro-Iranian Hezbollah group accused the United States on Friday of endangering regional stability by deploying a warship off Lebanon and vowed to defy what it called an act of military intimidation.

Descend, Holy Spirit

Descend, Holy Spirit of Life!
Come down into our hearts,
that we may live.
Descend into emptiness,
that emptiness may be filled.
Descend into the dust,
that the dust may flower.
Descend into the dark,
that the light may shine in the darkness.
Amen.
—Frances Caryll Houselander

--the BB