Monday, in the news...

First, from the EU Observer, we see the following headlines

"EU reforms to feature at 'jumbo' ministers meeting". From this article we see that almost 100 EU ministers will gather in Brussels today and tomorrow, where "corridor discussions are likely to focus on the EU's top jobs and the institutional changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty."

Also of interest, it appears that David Miliband has removed himself from the short list of those considered for the position of EU foreign policy chief - as he was "visibly absent" from the meetings.

Also of interest we see the following quotes:

"Defense ministers will at a special event mark 10 years of the EU's security and defense policy, amid concerns that the EU's future diplomatic service should include enough experienced military personnel in its joint civilian-military strategic planning unit."

"The military chiefs are set to review the EU's 12 ongoing field operations and renew calls for more efficient defense spending and pooling of military resources, with a keynote briefing by the chief of the bloc's defense agency..."

There seems to be a lot of military planning and military focus right now, within the EU. In a few days, we'll see a very powerful head of this wing of the EU "selected" and it should be fascinating to see who is selected for this top spot.

Also in the news is a developing story that seems to be gaining some momentum.

"PA Demands UN Recognize 'Palestine'". In this story we have a nice summary of this emerging situation. In brief, the Palestinian Authority (PA), is attempting to ignore any settlement with Israel and is attempting to go straight to the UN Security Council in efforts to create a separate "Palestinian State". In other words, the PA would like to see the UN mandate a new Arab state within Israeli borders, including the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. This would be done independently from Israel, and ignoring Israel completely. In this scenario, the UN would mandate the establishment of a Palestinian state within Israel and Israel would, theoretically, be helpless to stop the process. Quotes below:

"The Palestinian Authority is claiming that it has received a 'positive response' to its demand that the United Nations Security Council recognize a new Arab state within Israel's current borders, according to lead PA negotiator Saeb Erekat. The negotiator told the Al Ayyam newspaper on Saturday that the PA has demanded the U.N. recognize the so-called new Arab state of 'Palestine' in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital."

"On the PA side, however, impatience appears to have led to the language of threats, with PA negotiators moving ahead with plans to issue a unilateral declaration in the hopes a new Arab state will simply be recognized as a fait accompli by the U.N."

"The new country, Erekat said, would be formed along the borders of Israel that existed on June 4, 1967 - prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel was attacked by its surrounding Arab neighbors. At that time, Judea and Samaria were occupied by Jordan, and Gaza was occupied by Egypt."

This is a very interesting development. If this were to happen, the only way to make it work would be to send in "peace-keeping" international forces. Or, one could call such action "confirming the covenant" as seen in Daniel 9:27, where the antichrist will become known (well, at least known to the biblical-prophecy student). It is hard to imagine that this could ever really happen, against Israel's will - but then again, in these end times, things are already very strange and anything can happen. This story is worth watching.