"Gaza should not become a second Lebanon," said Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Boim on Tuesday, reiterating a phrase used by Israeli leaders recently to mean the territory should not become a bastion of militant resistance.

"Apparently we will not have any other choice but to launch an expanded operation, like Defensive Shield, in order to destroy the stockpiles of weapons and to hit the terrorist organizations," said Boim, a close ally of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Defensive Shield, the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six Day War, was launched by Israel in 2002. It left more than 200 Palestinians and 29 Israeli soldiers dead and some 5,000 Palestinians detained.   http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/061017153818.8nxeucth.html

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the Hamas-led government of being "defiant," accusing the governing Islamic group of refusing "to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization ... and past signed agreements." He said the group's refusal to open negotiations with Israel has worsened the situation in the Palestinian territories. (Ali Waked)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3316267,00.html

Doctors in Gaza have reported previously unseen injuries from Israeli weapons that cause severe burning and deep internal wounds often resulting in amputations or death.

The injuries were first seen in July, when the Israeli military launched a series of operations in Gaza following the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.

Doctors said that, unlike traditional combat injuries from shells or bullets, there were no large shrapnel pieces found in the patients' bodies and there appeared to be a "dusting" on severely damaged internal organs.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1924524,00.html

Blackhawk helicopters and interceptor jets have begun patrolling Montana airspace along the U.S.-Canada border, and American officials say unmanned drones could be deployed as early as next year.

But the U.S. is playing down the new security measure, claiming it has little to do with Canadians but more to do with the threat of terrorists using Canada as a staging point for attacks in America.

And they say that as long as the terrorist threat exists, border security will continue to be a high priority.

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=83ed3cf5-b413-4bcb-9ec6-8f5d0d8e93fd&k=52497

Russian music download site allofmp3.com insisted it was a legitimate business and said US accusations of piracy were merely an excuse to keep Russia out of the World Trade Organisation.

"The US government is conveniently using allofmp3 as an issue to gain further concessions from Russia," said company boss Vadim Mamotin and other executives.

"We operate under Russian law, we pay taxes in Russia and we pay royalties," they said in response to journalists' questions in an online news conference.

Russia has campaigned for 12 years to join the WTO but the United States is still witholding its endorsement of Moscow's candidacy -- it is the only major economy that has not yet backed Russia's bid -- citing shortcomings in several key trade sectors.

Moscow wants to join the organisation both for the prestige of membership and as a means to spur diversification in its own economy, still focused heavily on raw materials export.

But US negotiators have repeatedly returned to the issue of the worldwide music sales of allofmp3.com -- protection of intellectual property being a major stumbling block in Russia's negotiations to join the club.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab has placed allofmp3.com on a "notorious markets" list and in a speech last month she accused Russian authorities of allowing the website to operate with impunity.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/17/061017182658.m5h8dscn.html

North Korea on Tuesday denounced UN sanctions over its nuclear test as a declaration of war and the United States and others suspected it may try a second bomb test despite international condemnation.

Defiant in the face of sanctions backed by even its closest ally, China, Pyongyang said it had withstood international pressure before and so was hardly likely to yield now that it had become "a nuclear weapons state."

"It is quite nonsensical to expect the DPRK to yield to the pressure and threat of someone at this time when it has become a nuclear weapons state," official media quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.

"The DPRK wants peace but is not afraid of war," he said, referring to the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).   http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/861608

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Associated Press that Mullah Omar, the supreme Taliban leader who headed the repressive Islamist regime ousted by U.S.-led forces five years ago, is hiding in the southeastern Pakistani city of Quetta.

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=564824384792298699

 Concern is growing among U.S. and Canadian counter-terrorism specialists that Somali-Canadians are joining Islamic militias linked to al-Qaida.
 
"We're seeing the possibility of a tragic future unfold," former senior Canadian Intelligence official David Harris told United Press International.
 
Harris said there was a possibility of future attacks by returning militia veterans who would likely have "the kind of skills that ... could make them very dangerous."
http://wpherald.com/articles/1763/1/Analysis-Somali-militias-threat-to-N-America/Future-attacks-by-returning-militia-veterans-feared.html

AN al-Qaeda general believed to be plotting dirty bomb attacks on seven US cities could be in Britain, FBI sources said yesterday.

Adnan El Shukrijumah, who has a £2.5million bounty on his head, is suspected of planning a spectacular attack using bombs that spread radioactive waste.  http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006480097,00.html