Friday, January 26, 2007

BEIRUT CURFEW IMPOSED

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Quake rocks eastern Turkey, no casualties. 3-Angolans face killer floods, death toll up to 81. 4-Storm, surge warnings prompt Cape Breton school closures. 5-Flood cleanup begins in B.C. city. 6-Bitter cold Northeast. 7-Thousands of Israelis seeking asylum in Canada: reports. 8-Jean Charest seeks free trade deal with EU. 9-Iran calls for summit with Iraq, Syria. 10-IAEA chief says attack on Iran would be catastrophe. 11-Olmert's party proposes handing West Bank to Europe. 12-Livni, Peres, Abbas Share Visions for PA State at World Forum. 13-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein. 14-Honored for Outstanding Dedication to Israel. 15-Curfew imposed in Beirut after clashes.

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 = Sat Jan 27 12:00 AM EDT
JAN 27,07MAP 2.5 CHANNEL ISLANDS REGION, CALIFORNIA

JAN 26,07
MAP 4.9 ROTA REGION, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 4.4 ECUADOR MAP 2.6 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 3.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 OLYMPIC PENINSULA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN QUEBEC, CANADA
MAP 4.7 EASTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.2 OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 4.4 SEA OF JAPAN
MAP 5.1 TONGA

JAN 25,07
MAP 5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.9 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 PUERTO RICO
MAP 4.2 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 3.4 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 6.0 TAIWAN REGION
MAP 4.9 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.9 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.1 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.0 PAPUA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.6 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION
MAP 3.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 MOLUCCA SEA

Quake rocks eastern Turkey, no casualties JAN 26,07

ISTANBUL (AFP) - A moderate earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale jolted the eastern Turkish province of Elazig, causing minor damage but no casualties, officials said.The epicenter of the quake, which hit at 10:20 am (0820 GMT), was in Baskurt village near the town of Karakocan, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.The tremor caused walls to crack in five houses in a nearby village, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths, Elazig Governor Muammer Musmal told Anatolia news agency.A tremor measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale on Sunday jolted the province of Agri, northeast of Elazig, again causing damage to buildings but no casualties.Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several major fault lines.Two violent temblors in the heavily populated, industrialised northwest claimed about 20,000 lives in August and November 1999.

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.

Angolans face killer floods, death toll up to 81 by Manuel Muanza Fri Jan 26, 12:01 PM

ET LUANDA (AFP) - Relief and repair workers struggled to deal with havoc wreaked by torrential rain and flash floods in Angola, where the death toll around the seaside capital Luanda rose to 81. During search operations 10 more bodies were found in Luanda. The toll is now 81, fire service spokesman Faustino Sebastiao told AFP, adding that 18 people were known to be missing.Fifty-nine of the deaths were in Cacuaco, one of the worst-hit areas just north of the capital, a local official said over radio.Other parts of southern Africa have been hit by heavy downpours, including Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.Central Luanda was cut off from Monday when three key bridges were damaged by heavy rain, but two of those have been repaired, linking the downtown area to the south and north east.Officials said makeshift shelters had been set up to house 1,300 displaced families while residents of the sprawling but rundown city of 4.5 million struggled to cope with the rising waters.Despite Angola's oil riches, Luanda has a skeletal infrastructure, which still bears the scars of a brutal 27-year civil war that ravaged the former Portuguese colony.Telephone lines which were been badly hit were slowly being repaired and it had become possible to make international calls again, the head of the state-runtele phone company said over radio.

Meanwhile, heart-rending scenes were witnessed in Cacuaco, home to some 900,000 people, which was still cut off from Luanda since a link bridge has been damaged.A young man on the beach in Cacuaco wept copiously by the side of his wife's body, recovered by troops who are helping in rescue and search operations.At least I have seen her body, he said. When the rains started lashing our area, we climbed on the roof. But the currents were too strong and our house collapsed. After that I lost sight of her.Businesswomen and shoppers meanwhile traversed the river separating Cacuaco and Luanda on rocks they have put alongside the destroyed bridge.On Thursday, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos visited Cacuaco and urge officials there to get to work.The capital was eerily still Friday with most vehicles off the roads.I walked four kilometres (three miles) before coming to a road where I could take a taxi, Marcos Costa said.Luanda's governor Job Capapinha told an emergency meeting his three main priorities were providing emergency relief, restoring road links and ensuring proper sanitation to stem the tide of cholera, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives across the country since February last year.The cholera epidemic broke out then in a sprawling Luanda slum and has been blamed on poor sanitation, an acute shortage of drinking water and inadequate infrastructure.In March 2005, flooding in northern Angola left over 10,000 people without shelter.

Storm, surge warnings prompt Cape Breton school closuresFriday, January 26, 2007 11:24 AM AT CBC News

Schools across Cape Breton are closed Friday as the island braces for a winterstorm.
Environment Canada expects the storm to hit its peak in the evening with up to 20 centimetres of snow and winds gusting to 90 kilometres per hour.Jean-Marc Couturier, a meteorologist at the Maritime weather centre in Halifax, said the expected storm surge is a concern, particularly in the St. George's Bay area where it could reach as high as one metre.It's the force of the system that's going to be building waves, and any shoreline that will be exposed to a northerly flow will see these waves crashing in, he said.

Flood cleanup begins in B.C. cityThursday, January 25, 2007 11:32 AM PT CBC News

Residents of Terrace have begun cleaning up following the heavy rain that led to serious flooding closing roads and triggering a mudslide in the northwestern B.C. city on Wednesday. Fire Chief Peter Weeber told CBC Radio Thursday that the flooding stopped almost as quickly as it started.Some streets in Terrace, B.C., were underwater on Wednesday following a heavy rainstorm.He said officials are now trying to find out why the rainwater flooded the town, instead of just draining away.If you take a step back and look at it, that volume of water coming down a frozen mountain, anything loose or anything that can be undermined, it was.Several streets were closed by the flooding on Wednesday, and Highway 16 between Terrace and Prince Rupert was closed because of the threat of an avalanche.The community is getting a break from the winter storms, with sunshine in the forecast for the next few days.

Bitter cold Northeast Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Fri Jan 26, 4:59 AM ET

Northeast

The big story will be the cold start to the day today, and again Saturday morning, as arctic air overtakes the area. After temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 below over northern New England, to the single digits and teens over the Mid-Atlantic, afternoon highs will recover only into the single digits north, to the teens and 20s south. Wind chill values this morning will be dangerous across northern New England, where readings will dip into the 30 to 40 below range. Elsewhere across the Northeast, expect wind chills in the 5 above to 15 below range today. Another cold morning will take place again Saturday morning, with temperatures similar to this morning. Wind chills, while still low, should not be as cold. A few lake effect snow showers may linger near the Great lakes today, but a general decrease in activity is expected through the day as winds shift to a more west and southwest direction ahead of the next arctic cold front. This next front is scheduled to move across the Northeast Saturday night into Sunday, with show showers accompanying its passage. Lake effect snow showers will then set up across the Great Lakes for the start of the upcoming week.

Midwest

A few lingering snow showers and flurries will be found across the Great Lakes this morning, otherwise generally dry conditions will expand across the central Plains and Midwest today. A new arctic front will enter the northern Plains and Upper Midwest by late day, producing a few snow showers there, otherwise milder conditions will be found across the region. Afternoon highs today will range from the 40s and 50s from Omaha, Kansas City, St, Louis, and Louisville, to the 20s and 30s from Minneapolis and Chicago, to Cleveland. The arctic front will sweep south into the Plains and Midwest Saturday, dropping afternoon highs into the single digits
and teens across the Upper Midwest. Highs only in the 20s will spread as far south as Omaha and Chicago. By Sunday afternoon temperatures in the 20s will reach to the Ohio River with single digits and teens across all of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Morning low temperatures this weekend, will drop into the single digits to below zero over much of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Scattered snow showers will accompany the arctic front Saturday, as it moves across the Midwest. Lake effect snow showers will then take over near the Great Lakes by Sunday.

South

High pressure will dominate the South today, resulting in plenty of sunshine in most areas. After a chilly start this morning, afternoon temperatures will rebound into the lower and middle 50s from Atlanta, Memphis, and New Orleans, to the lower 60s from Dallas, Houston, and Orlando. Lower 70s will be confined to far southern Florida. Clouds will be on the increase across parts of Texas today, as a weather disturbance moves across northern Mexico and a cold front approaches from the north. Rain showers will develop tonight across most of Texas. Saturday, the cold front will sweep rapidly south, as the weather disturbance crosses the northern Gulf of Mexico. This will spread rain showers across the Lower Mississippi River Valley during the afternoon, moving into the Southeastern states Saturday night. Rain showers will advance into southern Florida by Sunday, as the cold front pushes south. This will leave the entire South dry, but chilly, with afternoon highs only in the 40s across a widespread area.

West

High pressure will generally dominate much of the West today, resulting in fair weather conditions from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, through Denver, into the northern Rockies. This same high pressure will also result in some low clouds, areas of dense fog, and stagnant air across parts of the Pacific Northwest this morning, affecting areas from Seattle and Portland to Spokane. One exception to the fair weather will be across north central California, north of the San Francisco area, where a weather disturbance will bring a few rain showers inland. The other exception will be over the far southern mountains near the Mexico boarder where a weather disturbance will result in areas of rain and snow. Saturday into Sunday, rain showers will linger across western and central California, as the weather disturbance slowly drifts south across that area. A few snow showers may also develop across the interior western mountains as some upslope flow develops there. It looks as if the next more significant storm system may begin to take shape across the central and southern Rockies Tuesday into Wednesday.

Thousands of Israelis seeking asylum in Canada: reports Friday, January 26, 2007 12:35 PM ET CBC News

At least 3,000 Israelis, most of them citing a fear of spousal abuse and Palestinian violence, have requested asylum in Canada since 2000, recent reports out of Israel said.Two major newspapers in Israel said that Canada has already granted refugee status to hundreds of Israelis, but thousands of others have filed applications.The reports, from the Yediot Ahronot and Maariv newspapers, both quoted figures from the Israeli Foreign Ministry that show at least 3,000 Israelis filed applications seeking asylum in Canada. Maariv said that upwards of 500 of the applications had been approved in the last six years.Yediot quoted the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Alan Barker, as saying many of the applications Canadian officials were seeing were in fact bogus and that they were harming Israel's image and representing it as a country whose citizens are persecuted.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the department was aware of the number of Israelis seeking asylum in Canada, and said we have taken the matter up with the Canadians, but he did not elaborate. The Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv said it did not have the data, and referred inquiries to the government in Ottawa.With files from the Associated Press

Jean Charest seeks free trade deal with EUFriday, January 26, 2007 12:33 PM ET The Canadian Press

Quebec Premier Jean Charest wants a free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union, he said Friday.Charest said he has already spoken about the idea to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as well as his provincial counterparts, and has received a positive response.Charest is in Davos, Switzerland, for an annual economic forum.The Quebec premier wants to tap the economic potential of the European market, which has 450 million consumers. He also said an accord would ease the exchange of workers between Canada and Europe. Canadian government data suggests a free trade deal with the European Union would boost Canada's exports by $2.4 billion annually.The Canadian Press

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.


ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Iran calls for summit with Iraq, Syria By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers Fri Jan 26, 6:35 PM ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iran has invited the Iraqi and Syrian presidents to Tehran for a weekend summit with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to hash out ways to cooperate in curbing the runaway violence that has taken Iraq to the verge of civil war and threatens to spread through the region, four key lawmakers told The Associated Press on Monday. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has accepted the invitation and will fly to the Iranian capital Saturday, a close parliamentary associate said.The Iranian diplomatic gambit appeared designed to upstage expected moves from Washington to include Syria and Iran in a wider regional effort to clamp off violence in Iraq, where more civilians have been killed in the first 20 days of November than in any other month since the AP began tallying the figures in April 2005.The Iranian move was also a display of its increasingly muscular role in the Middle East, where it already has established deep influence over Syria and Lebanon.All three countries intend to hold a three-way summit among Iraq, Iran and Syria to discuss the security situation and the repercussions for stability of the region, said Ali al-Adeeb, a lawmaker of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party and a close aide to the prime minister.

Both Iran and Syria are seen as key players in Iraq. Syria is widely believed to have done little to stop foreign fighters and al-Qaida in Iraq recruits from crossing its border to join Sunni insurgents in Iraq. It also has provided refuge for many top members of Saddam Hussein's former leadership and political corps, which is thought to have organized arms and funding for the insurgents. The Sunni insurgency, since it sprang to life in late summer 2003, has been responsible for most of the U.S. deaths in Iraq.Iran is deeply involved in training, funding and arming the two major Shiite militias in Iraq, where Tehran has deep historic ties to the current Shiite political leadership. Many Iraqi Shiites spent years in Iranian exile during Saddam's decades in power in Baghdad. One militia, the Badr Brigade, was trained in Iran by the Revolutionary Guard.An Ahmadinejad spokesman said that Talibani's visit was scheduled several weeks ago for late November to work on improving bilateral relations. But Majid Yazdi told the AP that he had no information on a coming visit by the Syrian leader.But Talabani confidants said the invitation was issued on Thursday by Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazimi Qumi, who said Syrian President Bashar Assad also would be in Tehran for the talks with
Ahmadinejad.AP correspondents Bassem Mroue in Baghdad and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

IAEA chief says attack on Iran would be catastrophe By Stella Dawson Fri Jan 26, 5:23 PM
ET DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - An attack on Iran would be catastrophic and encourage it to develop a nuclear bomb, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Thursday. It would be absolutely counterproductive, and it would be catastrophic, ElBaradei said at a discussion on nuclear proliferation at the World Economic Forum.The Bush administration in recent weeks has toughened its stance against Iran, which the West has accused of seeking to secretly build an atomic bomb, raising fears among political and business leaders that the U.S. plans an attack.President George W. Bush has moved an additional aircraft carrier into the Gulf and told Iran that he would not allow it to provide weapons and support to insurgents in Iraq.Israel has refused to rule out pre-emptive military action against Iran on the lines of its 1981 air strike against an atomic reactor in Iraq, although many analysts believe Iran's nuclear facilities are too much for Israel to destroy alone.The United Nations imposed sanctions in December to prevent Iran using its nuclear energy program for military weapons, and Iran this week banned 38 IAEA nuclear inspectors.

ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, has been engaged in meetings here at the gathering of world political and business leaders. He said diplomacy is the only way forward, and talk of military action can only backfire.This strengthens the hands of those in Iran who say let's develop a bomb to protect ourselves, he said.The Bush administration has said it wants a diplomatic solution and that it is not preparing to attack either Iran or Syria.Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also warned against an attack, while Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami urged calm to reduce tensions over Iran's nuclear program.If there is military action, it will have catastrophic results, not only in the region, but the whole world, Aziz said.I hope they would be good enough in managing the situation. We deeply need patience and understanding and not to get too emotional, Khatami said.ElBaradei said force should not be ruled out, but past experience has shown that it should not be used with haste, citing Iraq where no evidence ofnuclear weapons was found after the U.S.-led invasion.

I am convinced that the only way forward in Iran is engagement, ElBaradei said. We have to invest in peace, he said, adding that if the international community failed to do that the consequence will be 10 times worse.I hope we will stop speaking about a military option and focus on finding a solution, ElBaradei said.Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity but the West fears it is secretly seeking an atom bomb. In December, the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology to try and stop enrichment work that could produce bomb material.

YES, ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER QUICK NOW, THE EU (REVIVED) ROME IS GETTING INTO THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS, AND WILL TAKE CONTROL OF IT AND IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE, THE DICTATOR WILL COME ON THE SCENE, WILL BE ELECTED LEADER OF THE EU AND WILL SIGN THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY BETWEEN ISRAEL - ARABS AND MANY OF DANIEL 9:27. I LOVE THIS HEADLINE

Olmert's party proposes handing West Bank to EuropeFollows WND reports of secret talks to evacuate strategic territory under EU supervisionPosted: January 25, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – A member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party yesterday proposed transferring control of the West Bank to a European task force until the establishment of a Palestinian state, at which time the strategic territory would be handed to security forces associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The proposal comes after WND broke the story earlier this week that, according to top European and Egyptian diplomatic sources, Israel has been conducting behind-the-scene negotiations to hand over most of the West Bank to Abbas' security forces. The sources said the transfer of security control to
Abbas would be coordinated by the European Union and Jordan. The West Bank borders Jerusalem and is within rocket-firing range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. At Israel's prestigious Herzliya Conference, Knesset Member Shlomo Breznitz, reportedly a close confidante of Olmert, said yesterday the West Bank should be transferred temporarily to the Europeans and that most of the territory's Jewish communities should be evacuated.

The only way to get out of the impasse is to transfer the territories, for a limited time, to an international mandate, that will run them until the establishment of a Palestinian state, said Breznitz at the conference. The Herzliya Conference is attended by Israel's top leadership and regularly maps out the country's agenda for the coming year. In 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip at the conference. Breznitz told Israel's Maariv daily newspaper the West Bank should be transferred to the European community and not the U.S. because, he said, after the invasion of Iraq, America lost its status as an honest broker in the view of the Palestinians and the Arab states.Breznitz said his West Bank transfer proposal received a warm reception from European and Palestinian officials. I have reason to believe, and I don't want to expand on this, that the Palestinians will support the proposal. Ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from European countries who were shown the proposal also believe that without international help it will not be possible to resolve the conflict, said Breznitz.

According to the Israel Resource News Agency, Olmert regularly consults with Breznitz and is known to spend vacation time with the Breznitz family. The Knesset member's plan comes after WND reported yesterday the EU is in the process of expanding its offices in Israel, including in the Palestinian areas, in anticipation of an increased security role here following what Europeandiplomatic sources say is new momentum regarding an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. The sources, who said they were directly involved in behind-the-scene negotiations, said one proposal being considered is for the EU and Jordan to supervise the transfer of the northern West Bank to Abbas' security forces, which reportedly are receiving aid, weapons and training from the U.S. The sources said major changes in Israeli-Palestinian affairs are expected within a few weeks to two months.

According to an aide to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, speaking on condition of anonymity, there will be a historic political evolution and movement in negotiations in the next few weeks and few months, unseen since the Camp David peace talks in 2000. During the Camp David talks, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem. According to the diplomatic sources, still being debated in the purported West Bank negotiations is the role of Hamas, which leads the PA and maintains the majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament.

Negotiations between Abbas and Hamas leaders for a national unity government have mostly fallen through. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said he viewed any Palestinian elements recognizing the state of Israel as a partner for negotiations even if it is Hamas.Olmert has made similar comments. So far, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel but recently offered a 10-year truce with the Jewish state. In a series of interviews this past weekend, Hamas leaders told WND during any 10-year truce period they would build a large Palestinian army and plan for the destruction of Israel.

Olmert's office this week denied the WND reports on negotiations to evacuate the West Bank. There were no negotiations regarding a West Bank withdrawal. This would go contrary to other things we have said in the recent past, said Olmert's spokesperson, Miri Eisin. Perhaps the officials talking to WorldNetDaily were referring to general expectations for movement in the Israeli-Palestinian arena,Eisin said. But the European and Egyptian sources stood by their statements that Israel agreed in principal to transfer West Bank security control to Abbas. Israeli leaders previously have denied reports of pending withdrawals only to later carry them out. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected in 2001 on a platform against unilateral withdrawal, at first denied media reports Israel was planning to evacuate the Gaza Strip but later announced his Gaza withdrawal plan. Olmert was elected prime minister on the platform of carrying out a withdrawal from the West Bank, but after this summer's Lebanon war, he has stated a West Bank withdrawal would not occur. Olmert in August called the policy of unilateral withdrawal a failure and said it was no longer relevant.

But he can argue handing the West Bank to Abbas in an agreement is not unilateral.
Contradicting Olmert, Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On of Olmert's Kadima party said last summer, The withdrawal plan is not dead, though its implementation has been postponed. The plan is now on the shelf or in the freezer, but when the time comes it will be accessed. Several recent public opinion polls showed the majority of Israelis now oppose a West Bank withdrawal. The leaders of Egypt and Jordan have expressed reservations about withdrawal plans, fearing terrorism can spill over into their respective countries. Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. It had occupied a small section of Lebanon's border with Israel following repeated attacks by Palestinian terrorists in the area. Since the withdrawal, Hezbollah has staged numerous attacks against Israel, including rocket bombardments of civilian population centers, raids against military outposts and ambushes and kidnappings of Israeli troops. Hezbollah built an arsenal in south Lebanon of more than 13,000 short- and medium-range rockets capable of hitting central sections of the Jewish state Israel withdrew last August from the Gaza Strip. Since then, rockets have been fired almost daily into nearby Jewish communities, Hamas has been elected to power and both Israeli and Palestinian officials have stated al-Qaida has infiltrated the territory. Israel says the Palestinians have smuggled hundreds of tons of heavy weaponry into Gaza and are preparing for a large-scale confrontation.

Livni, Peres, Abbas Share Visions for PA State at World ForumBy Alex Traiman (INN) JAN 26,07

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tzippy Livni, Shimon Peres, and Mahmoud Abbas shared their visions for a two-state solution within the disputed borders of Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni made the formation of Palestinian state her top diplomatic priority during her speech at the forum of world leaders. According to Livni, the formation of a state for the Arabs within the biblical territories of Judea and Samaria is not an illusion. It's there. It's achievable.I would like to negotiate, to speak, to meet, to talk, Livni said, signaling an Israeli desire to yet again restart bilateral peace talks. There is nothing I want more. ... This is part of our dream; this is part of our goal.While acknowledging that terrorism must be reigned in for a two-state solution to be viable, Livni compared any future decision by the Palestinian Authority to stop terror with the Israeli government’s decision to expel 10,000 citizens from their homes during the Gush Katif Disengagement of August 2005.There are difficult decisions to take on both sides, and fighting terrorism is one of those decisions, and we cannot afford to put this obstacle aside. I know that it is not easy, Livni said. I can say it was also difficult for me to vote in favor of the disengagement plan. I voted to uproot Israelis, in order to give peace a chance. So there are difficult decisions, but the best way is to give an answer, and not to say, Okay this is too difficult, let's find something else.

The Israeli government has already formed a committee to study the ability to remove as many as 100,000 Jewish residents from their homes in the areas considered for the creation of a Palestinian State.Livni cautioned PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas against compromising with extreme elements within the Authority, labeling Abbas one of the moderate forces within the PA. The term often is used despite calls by Abbas at a Ramallah Fatah rally last week for arms, ostensibly received to protect him and his Fatah faction from Hamas, to be turned against Israel, which he referred to as occupying forces.Livni added in her address that PA Arabscurrently living in Judea and Samaria should remain in a new state to be created on those lands, as opposed to the PA demand that they be allowed to find homes within all of Israel.While Abbas also stressed his commitment to return to the negotiating table, he reiterated long-standing Arab demands that other Arabs be resettled in Israel, and not in any newly created Palestinian nation.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the most serious conflicts that require a solution, Abbas said during his address. I am fully convinced that despite all the difficulties, an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of the peace process exists, one that could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.He added that a just solution must be found to solve the refugee crisis, stating that refugees wishing to return to their homes ... should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date.Abbas stressed that a permanent resolution is necessary to end the long-standing conflict, as opposed to any temporary decisions, urging Israel to begin
discussing issues of final border status and insisting on the Israeli borders of 1967 as a starting point. We have the road map, a road map that includes the Arab initiative as well as President Bush's vision regarding the two-state solution, Abbas said. What is required now, in all honesty, is for us to trace the beginning and the end of this peace process.Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres also addressed the forum, expressing a vision of shared economic cooperation between Israel and the PA.

He said Israel and the Palestinians should work together alongside Jordan to stimulate foreign investment in the region. Peres stated that Israel, Jordan and PA have already agreed in principle to take the whole length of the frontier, a 500 kilometer-long strip along the current Israeli-Jordanian border, and convert it into an ongoing economic zone.We cannot save the Dead Sea unless we do it together. We cannot build new industry ... unless we do it together, Peretz added.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already announced plans to gather the Quartet committed to Middle East peace (US, UN, European Union and Russia) in Washington D.C. at the beginning of February. She will return to the Middle East for a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas, two weeks later.

This Week with Rabbi Eckstein January 25, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

Since her founding in 1948, Israel has faced many threats. War and terrorism have taken their toll, and the price for her continued independence and freedom has too often been paid in Jewish blood.But, despite painful losses, Israel has always prevailed. And I am convinced that one of the main reasons for this is that her righteous friends have been quick to raise their voices in prayer to God, the One who watches over Israel and neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4), for the welfare of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.This Sunday, January 28, on The Fellowship's 2007 International Day of Prayer and Solidarity for Israel, you have an opportunity to unite with Christians worldwide in raising a chorus of prayer to God for Israel's security, well-being, and protection.

This overwhelming expression of intercessory support comes as Israel faces multiple crises. Her enemies remain firmly committed to her destruction, and are even becoming bolder in their threats. Hamas, the ruling Palestinian group, still refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. On the heels of last summer's devastating war, the Hezbollah terrorist group is solidifying its control of Lebanon, Israel's neighbor to the north - and the U.N. forces stationed there to keep the peace seem powerless to stop the re-armament. Iran continues its race toward nuclear weapons, meaning that its radical Muslim president may soon be able to realize his threat to wipe Israel off the map.In the face of these grim realities, it is especially comforting and encouraging to know that, in just a few days, Christians in churches around the world will pray for Israel. They will gather in churches of all sizes, from suburban megachurches with thousands of members to small rural congregations, and in countries as far-flung as Tanzania, Kenya,Malaysia, India and, of course the U.S. But, wherever they are, and whatever language they speak, their appeal for God's blessing and protection upon Israel will be heard by Him.

On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend my thanks to you for your prayers and heartfelt concern for Israel. On Sunday, as we pray, let us take to heart these words that express the deepest hopes of Jews and Christians alike: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels (Psalm 122: 6-7).

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel EcksteinPresident
Support The Fellowship! P.S. Online resources to help you and your church observe The Fellowship’s Day of Prayer are still available download your FREE Day of Prayer Action Kit today! http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=SFI_2006DOP_FAK

Rabbi Eckstein Bestows Ambassador Award to Pastor Hagee and Bishop ButlerThursday, January 25, 2007 Honored for Outstanding Dedication to Israel Chicago, IL, January 25, 2007
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) presented its highest honor, the Ambassador's Award, to Pastor John Hagee of Cornerstone Church of San Antonio, TX and Bishop Keith Butler of Word of Faith International Christian Center of Southfield, MI, for their outstanding support, leadership, and dedication to Israel. The award from The Fellowship and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, its founder and president and Goodwill Ambassador to Evangelicals for Israel, was presented during the January 7, 2007, Night to Honor Israel event held at the Word of Faith Center.It is indeed an honor to bring greetings from Jerusalem on this special evening as we honor dear friends with whom The Fellowship works alongside and who are a blessing Israel, said Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein in a video message to the audience of more than 6,000 people at Bishop Butler's mega-church in Southfield, MI. Rabbi Eckstein quoted Psalm 133:1 encouraging the audience of Christians and Jews, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity! Thanks to the generous support of Christians across America, The Fellowship's On Wings of Eagles program has helped more than 300,000 Jews make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) from countries including the former Soviet Union, Ethiopia, India and various Arab lands. And each day, The Fellowship's Guardians of Israel program provides basic necessities of food, medicine, clothing, and much more to an estimated 65,000 needy people in Israel.Rabbi Eckstein applauded Pastor Hagee for his ministry which has helped Jews return to Israel and provided assistance to orphanages, absorption centers, and hospitals.
More and more Christians are understanding their Jewish roots and the Biblical perspective that calls them to stand with Israel, declared Rabbi Eckstein. That didn’t just happen. Committed leaders like John Hagee have led the way, and for that, we are grateful.Rabbi Eckstein called Bishop Butler a hero with impeccable qualities of leadership. He has always been there in times of need. On one trip to Israel, he joined us on the front lines where we were dodging bullets. We are thankful for Bishop Butler and his commitment to stand with Israel.

Bishop Butler, who may be best known for his worldwide television outreach, The Word of Faith, is also a prolific Bible teacher, often appearing at U.S. and international churches, conferences and seminars. Both honorees expressed appreciation for The Fellowship and reaffirmed their ongoing commitment to support Israel. Pastor Hagee said, I am honored to receive the Ambassador’s Award. During these difficult days, I look forward to working with Rabbi Ecksteinand all other friends of the Jewish people to defend Israel from very serious threats looming. Butler added his thanks before his congregation, I am supremely honored by this award. My love for the nation of Israel compels me to do all I can to help.Founded by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein in 1983, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has a two-fold mission to promote understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews and to build broad support for Israel and Jewish people around the world. The Fellowship provides financial support to help Jews in distress make aliyah (emigrate) from countries around the world to Israel. In addition, The Fellowship provides emergency aid in times of crisis to Israel and ongoing funding to help needy Jewish children, families and the elderly throughout the world.For more information, visit www.ifcj.org.

Media interested in an interview with Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and recipients of the Ambassador's Award should contact Gregg Wooding, president of I AM PR services, (972) 567-7660 or
via email at gwooding@texasprototypes.com

Curfew imposed in Beirut after clashes By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer JAN 26,07

BEIRUT, Lebanon - University students loyal to Lebanon's government clashed with Hezbollah supporters Thursday, setting cars ablaze and battling with homemade clubs and stones. The melee deepened worries that Lebanon cannot contain the political and sectarian rivalries threatening to push it toward civil war. At least three people were killed and dozens were injured before army troops backed by tanks and firing barrages of warning shots into the air dispersed most rioters. The military then declared Beirut's first curfew since 1996.But the fallout reaches far beyond the casualty count. The clashes, sparked by a cafeteria scuffle between pro-government Sunni Muslims and pro-Hezbollah Shiites, reinforced fears that Lebanon's sectarian divisions are erupting into violence as they did during the 1975-1990 civil war.It was the third straight day of violence, sparked by a Hezbollah-led strike Tuesday that came ahead of a crucial gathering of donor nations in Paris. The conference Thursday raised pledges of $7.6 billion to help Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's U.S.-backed government rebuild after last summer's devastating Israel-Hezbollah war.

The money and show of international support could boost the embattled Saniora. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah has vowed to bring him down unless the opposition is given more power.The chaos has paralyzed the government. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that donors were backing the wrong side in the standoff and that he could topple Saniora at any time.In Paris, Saniora pleaded to his countrymen to distance themselves from tensions.No one can help a country if the people of this country don't want to help themselves, he said. I call on your wisdom and reason. Leaders on all sides called for calm. Nasrallah who has insisted in recent days he does not want Lebanon to tumble into civil war went on TV in the evening to tell followers it was a religious duty to get off the streets to allow security forces to keep order.I appeal to you in the name of Lebanon and human conscience ... It's a pity to waste Lebanon like this, said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. It is time we learn from the past.During Lebanon's civil war, Christians battled Muslims. But the new confrontation has taken different sectarian lines: Shiites support the opposition, Sunnis back the prime minister and Christian parties are divided between the two camps.

If sectarian divisions explode in Lebanon, it would likely further fuel Sunni-Shiite tensions around the Arab world, already heightened by Iraq's turmoil. Mainly Sunni Arab nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have shown alarm at Hezbollah's increasing strength in Lebanon and have backed Saniora.Thursday's clashes in Beirut showed just how quickly any spark can turn into a wildfire.Students said it began with a scuffle in the cafeteria of Beirut Arab University between Sunni Muslims and supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah. As Sunnis in the surrounding Tarik el-Jadideh district moved in, Hezbollah activists called in reinforcements.Hezbollah activists with walkie-talkies were seen coordinating as a ragtag convoy of hundreds of vigilantes raced to the campus. Gangs many wearing blue and red construction hard hats and wielding clubs made from sticks and even chair legs poured into the area and battled Sunni students and riot police and soldiers.Hezbollah backers claimed Sunni gunmen fired from apartment balconies near the school, wounding several people. The claim could not be independently confirmed.Thick black smoke rose over the campus and the neighborhood on the southern edge of Beirut as rioters set fire to vehicles, tires and trash. Bands of youths clashed with stones andclubs in running street battles as the army tried to close off streets with tanks and armored vehicles. Troops fired tear gas and warning shots into the air.We are afraid about the future of the country. We are afraid about civil war, said Mohammed Abdul-Sater, a 21-year-old Shiite student.

Three people were killed and 169 injured, security officials said. It appeared one of the dead was Sunni and the other two Shiite, judging by the district of the hospitals their bodies were taken to. Up until the 8:30 p.m. curfew was imposed, young men were in the streets around the university. Government backers set fire to the offices of a small pro-Hezbollah party and burned its banner in the street as sporadic gunfire was heard. Hezbollah supporters smashed store windows miles away in downtown Beirut as they left a protest camp ahead of the curfew. After the curfew began, most streets were emptied. The last time Lebanon imposed a curfewwas February 1996 to stop labor unions from holding anti-government protests. In 1984, the army imposed a curfew to halt street battles between the army and Muslim militias.The alarming violence signaled what Lebanese have been fearing for months: that the drawn-out confrontation between Hezbollah and Saniora's government could move into the streets and rage out of control. Nobody should be surprised when things start to spin out of control, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said in an interview with Alhurra, the U.S. government-funded Arabic-language satellite television network that broadcasts to the Middle East.

He said he suspected Syria which backs Hezbollah and controlled Lebanon for nearly three decades was behind the current troubles, but did not provide any evidence. There was no immediate reaction from Syrian officials. A woman who answered the phone at the Syrian U.N. mission in New York said nobody was available to speak to the media. The Hezbollah-led opposition has staged two months of demonstrations and sit-ins in a bid to topple Saniora's government. But the prime minister has held out, refusing the opposition's demands for a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet. On Tuesday, the opposition stepped up the confrontation with its general strike, which erupted into street battles around the country between its activists and government supporters. Three people were killed. Gunbattles broke out for a second day Wednesday in the northern city of Tripoli. The alarming violence has stunned supporters of both sides. But the leadership of the two camps do not appear to be backing down. Hezbollah, in a statement on its television station, accused pro-government factions of provoking the clashes even as it called on its supporters to get off the streets to avoid a strife which is being inflamed by pro-government groups. I find this a very strange debate, the U.S. ambassador said. There is a government that came to power after elections, the parliamentary majority that endorsed it is still there. And a party that voluntarily pulled itself out of the government is now saying they will use all means in order to impose their will on the country.

PERMISSIVE TREASON IN ISRAEL

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Quake strikes off Taiwan's east coast. 3-Malaysian rain warning triggers fears of more floods. 4-Bitter cold takes hold of the Northeast. 5-71 killed in Angolan floods as relief work under way. 6-St. John's and vicinity Issued at: 11.00 AM. 7-Fence Route Changed Due to Illegal Arab Construction. 8-Olmert Slams Katzav, Hopes For Sharon Revival and Warns Iran. 9-Iran air-defense missiles obtained from Russia. 10-Netanyahu urges trial for Iran leader, fearing new Holocaust. 11-Norovirus sickens hundreds aboard QE2.12-Permissive Treason in Israel.

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 26 12:00 AM EDT

JAN 26,07
MAP 5.1 TONGA

JAN 25,07
MAP 5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.4 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 6.0 TAIWAN REGION
MAP 4.9 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.9 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.1 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.0 PAPUA, INDONESIA
MAP 3.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.6 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION
MAP 3.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 MOLUCCA SEA

JAN 24,07
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.0 SAN JUAN URBAN AREA, PUERTO RICO
MAP 4.8 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.9 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 2.8 MONA PASSAGE, PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.4 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 NEVADA
MAP 2.9 NEVADA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 NEVADA
MAP 4.1 NEVADA
MAP 4.9 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.5 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.9 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.9 PUERTO RICO

Quake strikes off Taiwan's east coast Thu Jan 25, 6:21 AM ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A strong earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Taiwan on Thursday, rocking buildings in the capital of Taipei. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The Central Weather Bureau measured the quake at 6.2-magnitude. It put its epicenter 39 miles southeast of the city of Chengkung, or about 82 miles southeast of Taipei.Quakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

Last month a 6.7 offshore tremor south of the city of Kaohsiung severed two undersea cables, disrupting telephone and Internet service to millions of users throughout Asia.

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.

Malaysian rain warning triggers fears of more floods Thu Jan 25, 12:06 AM ET

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia has issued its highest red stage rain warning for the southern state of Johor, triggering fears of a third wave of flooding after weeks of chaos caused by torrential downpours. The Meteorological Services Department said in a statement late Wednesday that moderate to heavy rain was expected to persist until Sunday in Johor, which borders Singapore, and central Pahang state.Residents in the flood zone, where tens of thousands were forced to shelter in evacuation centres during the crisis which has peaked twice since late December, said they were not bothering to do repairs yet in light of the warning.I only cleaned up the house a little because we fear the floods will come again, for the third time, 61-year-old Hassan Saadon told the official Bernama news agency.

Hassan said his family cleared up the flood damage after the first wave of floods in the closing days of 2006, only to be devastated again just two days later when bad weather returned.State Drainage and Irrigation Department chief Chong Chee Han said river levels had already beached their danger mark.We never had heavy flooding twice within a month, but that too has occurred. All we can hope for is that a third wave does not happen, he told The Star newspaper.The floods, the worst in a century, have claimed 17 lives and caused damage worth 350 million ringgit (100 million dollars) to infrastructure in the south. The private sector has reportedly estimated economic losses at 2.4 billion ringgit.

Bitter cold takes hold of the Northeast Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Thu Jan 25, 5:07 AM ET

Northeast

Gusty north winds flowing across the Great Lakes in the wake of a cold front will continue to bring very cold air and snow showers across much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern States today. The most persistent snow showers and squalls will occur just downwind of the Great Lakes, affecting areas from Cleveland and Pittsburgh, to Buffalo and Syracuse. Scattered snow showers will reach as far east as Philadelphia and New York City. Several inches will accumulate in the lake effect snow bets off Lake Erie and Ontario, where locally up to a foot could accumulate. Several inches will also be possible across the higher elevations further south as well. Afternoon highs will range from the teens and 20s west of the Appalachians, to the lower 30s across the eastern Mid-Atlantic. Gusty winds will push wind chill values into the single digits and teens, with below zero readings across northern New England. Even colder air will settle in Friday into Saturday, with morning low temperatures in the single digits to below zero, and afternoon highs only recovering into the single digits and teens in some locations. Wind chills both Friday and Saturday morning may reach 20 to 30 below zero over parts of New England.

Midwest

The cold temperatures which dominate the Upper Midwest and northern Great Lakes yesterday will begin to shift eastward today. It will remain chilly across the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes though, with afternoon highs in the teens and 20s from Chicago and Minneapolis, to Fargo. Highs in the 30s will dominate the Midwest and Plains, from Louisville to Kansas City.

Lake effect snow showers will also persist across the northern and central Great Lakes, where several inches could accumulate along the eastern snow belts. Friday, another cold front will enter the Upper Midwest. This will bring milder temperatures to much of the Midwest and central Plains, as southerly flow kicks in ahead of the front. By Saturday, much colder air will begin to spill into the Great Lakes and Midwest, along with windy conditions and an increased chance of snow showers. Bitter cold temperatures will dominate the Great Lakes and Midwest this weekend, with afternoon highs in the single digits and teens, and morning low temperatures below zero. Wind chills will be well below zero at times.

South

A persistent flow of moisture across the Gulf of Mexico, coupled with a weather disturbance, will finally exit Texas. Drying conditions are expected today across the Lone Star State. The unsettled weather will continue to impact Florida, where scattered showers will dominate the central and southern parts of the state, but these too will be ending by the later portion of the day.

Across the remainder of the South, from Memphis to Atlanta, high pressure will build south bringing an end to the cloudy dreary conditions which have dominated the area. As this high pressure builds in, windy conditions will develop on its leading edge, from Georgia into South Carolina. Dry conditions will remain across much of the South through Friday, but a cold front will begin to approach the Mississippi Valley Saturday, bringing the chance of rain showers back into that area. Much colder temperatures will settle across all of the southern states Sunday into Monday.

West

High pressure remains in control of much of the West, resulting in generally dry conditions. As a result of this high pressure, morning fog, and even some freezing fog, will continue to be an issue across parts of the Pacific Northwest, while much of the Southwest, including southern California, experience above average temperatures. A weak weather disturbance will enter the western coast by Saturday, bringing a few scattered rain showers to parts of northern California, with snow showers further inland.

Snow showers will also increase across the interior Rockies. This area of disturbed weather will linger and drift slowly south, bringing scattered rain and snow showers so parts of the southern Rockies and Southwest into the first part of the upcoming week. Generally, the Pacific Northwest will remain dry through the weekend.

71 killed in Angolan floods as relief work under way by Manuel Muanza JAN 25,07

LUANDA (AFP) - Flash floods in Angola had by claimed 71 lives as authorities in the seaside capital Luanda clambered to shelter some 1,300 homeless families and repair damaged bridges and roads.

Other parts of southern Africa have been hit by heavy downpours, including Malawi where at least 20 villages are under water and Mozambique where torrential rains have claimed five lives and turned 3,500 homeless.

According to the last count, there have been 71 deaths, fire service spokesman Faustino Sebastiao told AFP, saying 65 of these were in Luanda and six in the southern province of Benguela.We are carrying out search operations for bodies with the help of the defence forces and police, he said.Luanda's centre had been cut off after three key downtown bridges were damaged following heavy rains on Monday. Two of them have repaired.Residents of the sprawling but rundown city of 4.5 million are struggling to cope with the rising waters.Despite Angola's oil riches, Luanda has a skeletal infrastructure which still bears the scars of a brutal 27-year civil war that ravaged the former Portuguese colony.Telephone lines have been badly hit and vast tracts of low-lying and sordid slums are under water.

The Angolan government meanwhile approved a 10 million dollar (7.7 million euro) emergency relief plan to shelter, re-home and provide other forms of assistance to citizens between now and June, a communique said.

This followed warnings by the national weather office that the torrential rains were set to continue until June, traditionally the end of the monsoon in the southern African country.Luanda's governor Job Capapinha told an emergency meeting that his three main priorities were providing emergency relief, restoring road links and ensuring proper sanitation to stem the tide of cholera, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives across the country since February last year.The cholera epidemic broke out in February last year in a sprawling Luanda slum and has been blamed on poor sanitation, an acute lack of drinking water and inadequate infrastructure.We will put people in tents or in roofed shelters. We are seeing to it that the roads are quickly cleared of water before enforcing measures to prevent cholera, governor Capapinha told a news conference late Wednesday.Antonio Miguel Germano, a police official from Cacuaco, Luanda's worst-hit quarter, added: There are still people who are missing. We are carrying out searches.In March 2005, flooding in northern Angola a former Portuguese colony which is still recovering from a 27-year civil war left over 10,000 people without shelter.

Environment Canada Weather Forecast St. John's and vicinity Issued at: 11.00 AM NST Thursday 25 January 2007

Wind warning in effect. Today..Cloudy with 70 percent chance of flurries or freezing drizzle. Wind west 30 km/h increasing to 50 gusting to 80 this afternoon. Temperature steady near minus 1. Tonight..Cloudy periods. 60 percent chance of flurries this evening. Wind southwest 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming south 20 overnight. Low minus 3. Friday..Increasing cloudiness. Snow and blowing snow beginning in the afternoon. Amount 5 to 10 cm. Wind southeast 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming east 60 gusting to 100 late in the day. High zero. Saturday..Periods of snow. Windy. Low minus 5. High minus 3. Sunday..Flurries. Windy. Low minus 1. High zero. Monday..Cloudy with 60 percent chance of flurries. Low minus 3. High minus 1. Normals for the period..Low minus 8. High zero.

Fence Route Changed Due to Illegal Arab Construction
07:45 Jan 25, '07 / 6 Shevat 5767


(IsraelNN.com) The route of the security fence in Judea and Samaria has been changed drastically in at least two locations due to illegal Arab construction. The original route, which was determined in 2003, was changed after local Arabs built houses illegally along the proposed route. The changes caused the fence to be much longer in both areas, making it far more expensive than originally planned.One of the changes was near the Yakir junction west of Ariel; another is just north of the Gush Etzion town of Efrat. The new route of the fence will completely block the northern entrance to Efrat. The new route near Ariel will require the construction of an alternate road for Ariel residents. The new road is expected to be expensive, and will considerably lengthen the residents travel time.

Olmert Slams Katzav, Hopes For Sharon Revival and Warns Iran
By Ezra HaLevi(INN) JAN 25,07


Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called upon President Moshe Katzav to resign and addressed the Iranian threat in his address before the Herziliya Conference Wednesday evening. The prime minister spoke following a panel on government corruption that referred to many specifics of the criminal allegations against him and his government. Immediately preceding his speech, however, was the televised address of President Moshe Katzav, which provided him the opportunity to play the prosecutor rather than the prosecuted.

I cannot speak tonight without referring to the events of the past day, and the Attorney General’s decision to hold a hearing for the President in light of the possibility that serious charges may be filed against him. In these circumstances, I have no doubt that the President cannot continue to fulfill his role and he should leave the President’s Residence. This is a sad day for the State of Israel, Olmert said.He went on to express his hope that Ariel Sharon would return to us.Olmert focused on Iran for the remainder of his speech, offering a run-down of diplomatic moves his government has been taking against Iran’s nuclear program. He cited his recent visit to China and took credit for the United Nations resolutions aimed against Iran.We know our efforts had much influence in this regard, he said.Those who believe, as we do, that a diplomatic solution is preferable, must exert pressure to bring about change in the near future, he said. Dragging our feet at this point…will only make harsher steps more necessary in the future. Iran is vulnerable and susceptible to international pressure in this regard despite its defiant and belligerent public declarations.Olmert urged the international community to act so Israel does not have to. At this stage, there is still time ­ though not unlimited ­ to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power that will threaten its adversaries, first and foremost Israel, he said. Israel is not spearheading the struggle against this threat. It must be dealt with first and foremost by the superpowers and other key countries. We are working to try to place this on the top of the agenda of world leaders.The prime minister stressed, though, that Israel would not rely on the world to protect it. The Jewish people, upon whose consciousness the scars of the Holocaust are deeply engraved cannot afford to ignore those who want to destroy us. In the past, the world remained silent and the results are known. Our role is to prevent the world from repeating this mistake, Olmert said. When the leader of a country announces, officially and publicly, his country’s intention to wipe off the map another country, and creates those tools which will allow them to realize their stated threat, no nation has the right to weigh its position on the matter. This is an obligation of the highest order, to act with all force against this plot.

In a direct message to the people of Iran, who would presumably be negatively impacted by an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, Olmert recalled past Israeli-Iranian cooperation. We have nothing against the Iranian people, he said. Prior to the takeover of Iran we had impressive and warm relations under the Shah.Olmert concluded with an explicit assurance that Israel will reserve the military option should diplomacy leave Iran with nuclear weapons.

We have the right and freedom of defensive actions in defense of our interests, he said. Nobody should misconstrue our hesitation for reluctance to defend the State of Israel…There is no difference between right, left and center in this regard ­ and the people stand united as well.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

Iran air-defense missiles obtained from Russia
By Nasser Karimi - The Associated Press JAN 25,07


TEHRAN, Iran Iranian officials said Wednesday they have taken delivery of advanced Russian air-defense missile systems weapons intended, according to one Russian news agency, to defend Iran's major nuclear facilities.Announcement of the delivery of the Tor-M1 mobile missile launchers came as Iran launched three days of military maneuvers, its first since the U.N. Security Council approved sanctions against Iran on Dec. 23.We have had constructive defense transactions with Russia, and we purchased Tor-M1 missiles that were recently delivered to us, the official Web site of Iranian state television quoted Minister of Defense Mostafa Mohammad Najjar as saying.Najjar did not say how many missiles were delivered or when they arrived. Russia previously said it would supply 29 of the mobile surface-to-air missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005, Russian media has reported.In New York, Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, called the development troublesome given that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terror in the world.

It certainly isn't an appropriate signal to be sending a government which is under U.N. sanctions for trying to develop a nuclear weapon, Grenell said.According to Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency, the weapons were expected to be used to protect major government and military installations such as the nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Bushehr, Tehran and in eastern Iran.ITAR-Tass on Tuesday quoted Sergei Chemezov, the head of the country's state-run weapons exporter, as saying that the Tor-M1 missiles had been delivered before the end of December 2006.It is not clear whether the sale was completed before the Security Council vote.

Russian officials have repeatedly said the sale would not violate any international obligations.Russia U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, current president of the Security Council, did not explicitly confirm the handover. But he said whatever deliveries may have been carried out, they had nothing to do with the U.N. sanctions on Iran over its uranium enrichment.Iran denies U.S. accusations that it is using its nuclear-power program as a cover to develop nuclear weapons. On Monday, Iran conducted missile tests and said it had barred 38 U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the country.The Seattle Times Company

Netanyahu urges trial for Iran leader, fearing new Holocaust Thu Jan 25, 5:18 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be put on trial to prevent what he warned could be a new Holocaust by a nuclear-armed Iran.

Comparing events in Iran to those of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Netanyahu told BBC radio Thursday he was here as part of efforts to raise international support for such a trial.Both Britain's ruling Labour Party and opposition Conservative MPs are trying to drum up support here in Britain, a country that finally stood up against another hateful apocalyptic, hateful fanatic sect and ended up stopping it, he said.He added he was also trying to drum up support within the United States for a trial.Right now people have to understand that the combination of unbridled fanaticism of the militant Islamic government of Iran and its attempts to arm itself with nuclear weapons as it prepares another Holocaust, as it denies the previous Holocaust, is something unconscionable, he said.Men and women of conscience have to stop it, Netanyahu said.

One of the ways of stopping it is to bring Ahmadinejad to trial because he has expressly violated a 1948 convention against genocide which outlaws not only the action of genocide but the incitement to genocide, he said.When asked why Iran should comply with UN resolutions when Israel has flouted those concerning the Palestinians, Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations replied that the UN General Assembly resolutions are that the world is flat.These are not binding international conventions, he said.

Netanyahu left the door open for Israel to take unilateral action against Iran, but only after diplomacy and eventual economic sanctions are given a chance.I think those have to be tried before stiffer action is required, he said.Asked how long he would give for diplomacy and economic sanctions to work, he replied: The real timetable that you have to ask is when does Iran develop nuclear bombs.He cited estimates by Israel's domestic intelligence agency Mossad that Iran could develop nuclear weapons in three years.Diplomats in New York said Tuesday that the United States is circulating at the UN General Assembly a proposed resolution condemning any denial of the Holocaust as increasing the risk that such a terrible historic event could be repeated.According to several diplomats, the draft resolution, which does not name any country, was inspired by the behavior of Iran, where Ahmadinejad has publicly denied repeatedly that the Holocaust occurred.

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

Norovirus sickens hundreds aboard QE2
POSTED: 1206 GMT (2006 HKT), January 25, 2007


SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) A highly contagious form of stomach flu sickened hundreds of passengers during a worldwide voyage on the famed Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship in what health officials called an unusually large outbreak.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 276 passengers and 28 crew members had come down with norovirus by the time the ship docked Wednesday in San Francisco, California, for a regularly scheduled stop, though only four passengers remained sick.The CDC boarded the QE2 on Friday in Acapulco, Mexico, to investigate the outbreak.Investigators determined the emergency sanitation measures put in place by the ship's crew, from disinfecting casino chips to halting self-service at the ship's buffet, were containing the outbreak.This one was a good example where they had a lot of cases but they did gain control over the spread of infection, Ames said.

The infections affected nearly 17 percent of the ship's 1,652 passengers, a particularly high percentage, said Jaret Ames, acting chief of the CDC's vessel sanitation program. By comparison, a norovirus outbreak last month aboard the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, infected 338 passengers out of 3,823, or less than 9 percent.

In rare cases, the elderly and young children can die from dehydration caused by norovirus symptoms. The infection, which ranks second only to the common cold in reported cases, usually clears up in two or three days with no lasting effects.No passengers have canceled their tickets as a result of the outbreak, said Brian O'Connor, a spokesman for Cunard Line, the company that operates the QE2.The ship departed January 8 from New York on the first leg of its 106-day cruise around the world. It was to leave San Francisco for Honolulu, Hawaii, on Wednesday night.

Permissive Treason in Israel
Prof . Paul Eidelberg JAN 25,07


Article III, Section 3 of the American Constitution includes, in its definition of treason against the United States , adhering to their Enemies and giving them Aid and Comfort .

Israel ’s Penal Law on treason is more complex: it defines treason in terms of four kinds of acts:

1 . the category of acts which impair the sovereignty of the State of Israel —section 97(a);
2 . the category of acts which impair the integrity of the State of Israel —section 97(b);
3 . the category of acts under section 99 which give assistance to an enemy in war against Israel , which the Law specifically states includes a terrorist organization;
4 . the category of acts in section 100 which evince an intention or resolve to commit one of the acts prohibited by sections 97 and 99 .

The punishment prescribed in the Penal Law for the first three categories of acts of treason is death or imprisonment for life The harshness of the punishment emphasizes the seriousness with which the State of Israel originally viewed the crime of treason. This is no longer the case .Treason has become permissible in Israel .No less than six Israeli prime ministers, dozens of past and present cabinet ministers, and scores of past and present Knesset members are prima facie guilty of having violated at least section 99 of the law governing treason—by yielding, or by agreeing to yield, Jewish land to Israel’s implacable foe, the PLO-Palestinian
Authority .(I leave aside how often various Israeli governments have armed this enemy of the Jewish State since 1993 . ) Moreover, since various past and present members of the Supreme Court have adopted the mendacious ruling of the International Court of Justice that Judea, Samaria, and Gaza constitute belligerent occupied territory—territory over which no state other than Israel could claim sovereignty under international law—one can only conclude that Israel’s High Court of Justice has made treason legitimate and even respectable in the Jewish State .

To clinch my thesis, let us review the Geneva Accord or Geneva Initiative which was launched on December 1, 2003 at a ceremony in Geneva . Among its signatories were Israeli politician Yossi Beilin, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, and former PLO-Palestinian Authority minister Yasser Abed Rabbo .This non-governmental agreement, reportedly distributed to two million Israelis, yields to Israel ’s enemy not only Gaza but almost all of Judea and Samaria .The agreement stipulates that the Temple Mount and most of the Old City of Jerusalem will come under Arab control . The Western Wall will remain Israeli, as will the Zion and Dung Gates—but the other city gates will be under Arab control . Jews will be permitted, according to the agreement, to walk freely from Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter .Even the cities of Ariel and Efrat will be dismantled and evacuated, according to the agreement, as would most of the other Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria .As many as 200,000 Jews would thus be expelled from their homes .In return for this Israeli withdrawal, the Palestinians would limit their right to return! Whatever the term limit may mean, the Geneva Accord would return Israel close to the borders that existed before the 1967 war—which Abba Eban dubbed Israel’s Auschwitz lines .Although the Geneva Accord sanctions treason, it did not prevent Mr . Beilin from returning to the
Knesset—a return facilitated by Israel pernicious system of proportional representation and fixed party lists . But what is more, Israel ’s territorial withdrawal, as stipulated by the Beilin-Abed Rabbo agreement, appears to be the basis of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s realignment plan! Mr . Olmert need not worry about being indicted for treason .

Treason having become legitimate and respectable in Israel , he’s free to dispense with Jewish land as he might his own apartment . Aiding and abetting Israel’s enemy is not to be taken seriously in the Jewish State—certainly not so long as most Jews, too ignorant to realize that this State is their most dangerous enemy, lack the wherewithal to liberate themselves from bondage .

Thursday, January 25, 2007

EU WANTS ISRAEL SECURITY ROLL

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Quake shakes Indonesia's Sulawesi. 3-Heavy rains claim 53 lives in Angolan capital 4-Snow around the Great Lakes. 5-Heavy rains hammer northwestern B.C. 6-Schools close as storm sweeps across N.L. 7-Canada readies for Atlantic tsunami peril. 8-Drilling said caused Indonesia mud volcano. 9-Yemen's Last Jews Threatened and Banished. 10-Luxembourg calls off EU constitution conference. 11-Activists protest free trade pact at EU base in Kenya. 12-EU expecting role in Israel's security 13-Jewish Withdrawal from Judea and Samaria Back on the Table. 14-EU expecting role in Israel's security.

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 = Thu Jan 25 12:27 AM EDT

JAN 25,07
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 MOLUCCA SEA

JAN 24,07
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN
MAP 2.9 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NEVADA
MAP 3.4 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 NEVADA
MAP 2.9 NEVADA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 NEVADA
MAP 4.1 NEVADA
MAP 4.9 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.5 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.9 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII

JAN 23,07
MAP 2.9 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 AISEN, CHILE
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.9 VANUATU
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.1 PAPUA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 CENTRAL PERU
MAP 3.2 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING
MAP 2.8 YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.7 BANDA SEA
MAP 4.7 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 TONGA
MAP 3.0 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Quake shakes Indonesia's Sulawesi Wed Jan 24, 5:10 AM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 has shaken the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage. The quake hit at 4:40 pm (0840 GMT) Wednesday and was centered about 98 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of the North Sulawesi provincial capital Manado at a depth of 33 kilometres under the seabed, the meteorology agency here said.The tremor was felt in Manado, an official at the agency said.A major 6.5-magnitude undersea earthquake rocked Sulawesi Sunday, causing panic but no serious damage.The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.There have been several quakes and aftershocks this week alone.Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Asian tsunami in December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in western Aceh province.

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.

Heavy rains claim 53 lives in Angolan capital Wed Jan 24, 10:14 AM ET

LUANDA (AFP) Fifty-three people have died in Luanda, Angola's seaside capital, in torrential rains that have lashed the city for three days, a police spokesman has said. We have recorded 53 deaths until now, Divaldo Martins told AFP Wednesday, adding that more than 1,300 families were homeless.Luanda's governor Job Capapihna on Tuesday met with senior local officials in the city of some 4.5 million, whose creaking infrastructure has been further damaged by the downpours, to assess the damage.In March 2005, flooding in northern Angola a former Portuguese colony which is still recovering from a 27-year civil war that shattered most of its infrastructure left over 10,000 people without shelter.Makeshift shelters have been put up in Luanda to house those rendered homeless by the flash floods, which have also hit telephone lines.The country has been cut off from the rest of the world because the rains have destroyed the optic fibre cables. We will do our best to address the situation, said Manuel Cesar, spokesman of the state-run telephone firm Angolatelecom.

Snow around the Great Lakes Tom Moore, Sr. Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Wed Jan 24, 12:53 AM ET

A narrow band of lake-effect snow will continue overnight in Michigan's U. P. and northern lower Michigan. Heavier bands of lake-effect snow will continue east of Lakes Erie and Ontario. In the Tug Hill Plateau east of Lake Ontario, 10 to 20 inches are expected through Wednesday. Another area of snow will fall well to the south of Buffalo. Expect 6 to 12 inches in these areas, with locally higher amounts. Elsewhere, look for periods of rain around coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana. A plunge of polar air will sweep across the Northeast on Wednesday night and Thursday so get ready for the coldest air of the season.

Heavy rains hammer northwestern B.C.
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 | 2:26 PM PT CBC News


Heavy rain has flooded neighbourhoods in the Terrace area of northwestern B.C. and shut down highways across the region.Terrace fire Chief Pete Weeber said that because of the frozen ground, the water can't be absorbed, so it's flowing freely down some streets.He said a number of streets that are covered with several feet of water have been blocked off, and the water has also caused a mudslide in the eastern part of the city.Weeber also said volunteers have been busy filling sandbags, and that there have not been any widespread evacuations.Most of Highway 16 from Prince Rupert to Terrace has been closed because of avalanche danger and massive pools of water.Highway 37 from Terrace to Kitimat is open, but crews report water ponding at Furlong Bay. There is also water ponding at Morrison Creek near Kitimaat Village.Officials say they expect this rain to taper off, with sunshine in the forecast for the next few days.

Schools close as storm sweeps across N.L.
Highways hit by slippery conditions, poor visibility
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 | 6:39 PM NT CBC News


A winter storm ripped into much of Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday, with a treacherous combination of snow, high winds and ice pellets hitting many communities.The blizzard was powerful enough to close scores of schools, government offices, businesses and community groups.Blizzard or heavy snowfall warnings were in effect for almost all of Newfoundland and along Labrador's coast. (CBC) The storm tapered off along the eastern coast of Newfoundland by late afternoon, but was still raging in other areas.Snowfall and other warnings remained in effect Wednesday evening for southern, central and northern Newfoundland, as well as for all of Labrador's coast.The storm made for difficult driving on highways, with slippery conditions coupled with poor visibility.The provincial Department of Transportation urged motorists to stay off the Burgeo Highway. A part of the Trans-Canada

Highway was temporarily closed after a truck went off the road.

While crews began dealing with cleaning up the snowfall as much as 25 centimetres fell within a few hours residents were bracing for more snow, forecast for Thursday.A blizzard warning remained in effect for parts of Newfoundland's northeast coast, which received some of the toughest weather.The Bonavista Peninsula and other areas were expected to be hit by northeasterly gusts as strong as 110 kilometres per hour.It's going to be a pretty messy day, said Wanda Rideout, a meteorologist at Environment Canada's Gander office, on Wednesday morning.Schools in St. John's and in many other communities closed for the day, as did Memorial University's St. John's campus.Also closed were banks, most government offices, community centres and many businesses.The storm caused numerous cancellations and delays at St. John's International Airport.

Canada readies for Atlantic tsunami peril Tue Jan 23, 3:13 PM ET

OTTAWA (AFP) Canada has activated an Atlantic tsunami warning system to better prevent deaths or destruction from massive waves and frequent storm surges, the government said.

The devastating tsunami in southeast Asia heightened concerns about tsunami warnings in coastal areas around the world, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said in a statement.Today, I'm pleased to announce that we are taking action to strengthen our security by activating a warning system for tsunamis along Canada's east coast.More than 70 percent of tsunamis actually occur in the Pacific Ocean, produced by sea earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions.But the most devastating wave to hit Canada smashed its eastern seaboard, killing 29 people and damaging some 50 coastal towns in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia provinces in 1929.The new alert system would eventually become part of an international structure for issuing Atlantic tsunami warnings, operated in collaboration with the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and similar to the one existing for the Pacific Ocean, the government said.In December 2004, more than 220,000 people were killed, most of them struck without warning, as a massive tsunami battered Indian Ocean coasts.The tragedy led to worldwide calls for a more effective tsunami response system including both the technology to predict the disasters and the means to get the message out.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Drilling said caused Indonesia mud volcano By ANTHONY DEUTSCH,
Associated Press Writer Wed Jan 24, 3:22 AM ET


JAKARTA, Indonesia A mud volcano that inundated dozens of villages was probably triggered by commercial gas drilling, research published in a respected scientific journal shows, contradicting an Indonesian government minister who insists it was a natural disaster.

It is very likely that the mud flow on the island of Java, which has spewed a million barrels of mud a day for eight months, is manmade, four researchers say in the February issue of the Geological Society of America's GSA Today.Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie whose family controls the PT Lapindo Brantas drilling company at the center of the scandal has repeatedly claimed the geyser was sparked by a May 27 earthquake and that his company bears no financial liability.But the British-based scientists believe drilling at a depth of more than one mile ruptured a highly pressurized pocket of hot gas and water which created fissures in a bed of porous limestone.Once initiated, the fractures would have propagated to the surface, driven by the deep pressure, the report stated. It would be highly coincidental for an earthquake-induced fracture to form 200 meters away from this well and provide the entire fracture network required for an eruption on the earth's surface.Since May, around 163,000 cubic yards of sediment equal to about 50 Olympic swimming pools has gushed from the site. Around 11,000 people have been forced from their homes while four villages, and 25 factories have been consumed by a 30-foot layer of smelly gunk.In November, a natural gas pipeline cracked under the weight of a dam built to channel the mud to the sea, triggering a powerful explosion that killed 13 people and injured a dozen others. It took emergency workers several days to find the bodies in the sludge.The government has said it will seek an initial $420 million in damages from Lapindo, including $276 million paid to the victims, by March 2007.

Yemen's Last Jews Threatened and Banished
By Hillel Fendel (INN) JAN 23,07


Jews in Yemen have been abruptly targeted by a local sheikh, told they were moral destroyers, and ordered to leave or else and some have. Jewish sages have been killed, one woman reports. Only some 50 Jewish families remain in virulently anti-Israel Yemen, but after years of being largely ignored by the local population and authorities, they have now been targeted by Moslem extremists. Some of the families, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, were confronted by masked men who told them that if they do not leave within ten days, things will be bad for you. Other Jews were told that the Moslems don't want to see even one Jew left in the region.

Reports of Killings

In a phone call engineered by Voice of Israel Radio on Monday, a Jewish woman living in Yemen said that the Moslems have already killed the wise men.

No confirmation of this has been received from other quarters though news from Yemen does not flow freely.The stated explanation for the Moslem anti-Semitism, according to a letter circulated by local Sheikh Yahya Sad Al Khudhair, is that the Jews are associated with groups and activities that primarily serve global Zionism that works actively to corrupt the people and cause them to abandon their ethical values and religion and disseminate all types of abominations... Our religion has ordered us to fight the corrupt people and expel them. In the Voice of Israel phone call, Masoud - a Yemenite Jew who moved to Israel six years ago and now lives in Be'er Sheva - spoke with a woman relative in Yemen. The conversation was held in Hebrew-spiced Arabic. Kif halak? Masoud asked in Arabic, meaning, How are you?, and the response came in Hebrew, Baurich Hashem, Blessed be G-d.The woman told Masoud, On Friday [11 days ago], they received letters saying that whoever doesn't leave will get killed or have his children taken away or I don't know what... Now they saw these [threatening] letters and are scared; what can they do? They took everything they had, with the children, and left, and now they're in a hotel. Some 45 Jews are now
reportedly in the Paris Tower Hotel in Saana.Asked why the remaining Jews do not come to Israel, Masoud said simply that they are currently not interested in that option.Earlier last week, according to the Yemen Observer, local authorities and tribal sheikhs held meetings to discuss the complaints from the Yemeni Jews but they resulted only in oral reassurances for the Jews, who were told to ignore the threats and go back to their villages. Yes, they received threats, the area's DeputyGovernor said Monday about the Jews, and they are now here in the hotel, but I can assure you that the problem will be solved today, and the Jews will return to their villages.

Yemenite Jews Converted to Islam

Dr. Moshe Nachum, of the Israeli Federation of Yemenite Jews, accuses modern Israel of having led indirectly to many thousands of Jewish converts to Islam. He told Arutz-7 that 56,000 Jews - roughly 2/3 of the Jewish population in Yemen - were brought over to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet (also known as Operation Eagles' Wings) in 1949-50, following murderous Muslim riots. A trickle of migration was allowed to continue until 1954, at which point it stopped. In 1962, another 2,300 Jews were allowed to immigrate, but many families were then left split between Israel and Yemen. I went to Yemen in 1977, Nachum said, at which time I learned that there were between 25,000 and 28,000 Jews there. No one was allowed to leave until 1993, at which time a trickle began, leading to a total of 900 or 1,000 Jews coming to Israel. A few hundred now remain there.A-7: What happened to the 25-28,000 Jews you said were there in 1977 and before?

Dr. Nachum: Very simple they converted to Islam. Because of uncaring behavior on the part of the officials here in Israel, we lost thousands of Jews... I started to actively lobby to have Israel bring the remaining Yemenite Jews to Israel, but in response, the officials released statements that there were no Jews left in Yemen.Dr. Nachum also blames the Satmarer Hassidim for trying to bring Yemenite Jews to New York or to Europe or even to return to Yemen - anywhere but Israel.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Luxembourg calls off EU constitution conference
23.01.2007 - 09:26 CET | By Mark Beunderman


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS Luxembourg has called off a planned February meeting on the EU constitution in order to avoid the impression of working against the German EU presidency, while this week's friends of the constitution meeting in Madrid continues to stir controversy. The Luxembourg conference, scheduled for 27 February, was meant as a follow-up to a gathering of 18 EU states supporting the constitutional treaty which will take place as planned this Friday (26 January) in Madrid.

Spain and Luxembourg the only two countries which approved the charter by referendum took the intitiative for both meetings, but have now decided to ditch the second conference in Luxembourg in order not to interfere with the German EU presidency's efforts to revive the constitution, Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn told EUobserver. The initial idea was that we hold a meeting in Madrid, and then a later meeting in Luxembourg. We have said now about the meeting in Luxembourg: we are not doing this for the moment, Mr Asselborn said after meeting EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday (22 January). It emerged that maybe we give the impression of disregarding the presidency. Of course we want to help the presidency, he stated. From the start this was cleared with the Germans, that we wouldn't work against the presidency. But it could be interpreted as such, he said.

French-Dutch unease

Although Germany has publicly welcomed the first friends of the constitution meeting in Madrid this week, EU diplomats say Berlin was unhappy particularly with the second meeting in February, which was scheduled just before the signing of a major declaration on the EU's 50th birthday in March. The second meeting, which would bring the pro-constitution camp and the constitution sceptics together, would also encroach on what Germany sees as the prime task of its presidency - to bridge the divide between the two camps and seek a new consensus on an EU treaty.Meanwhile, Mr Asselborn said that the meeting had also been cancelled because of resistance by France and the Netherlands, which would be forced at the Luxembourg conference to define their exact position on the constitution at an early stage.We don't want to bring France, the Netherlands and others in a difficult position.

Luxembourg and Spain do not want to force anyone to take part, he said, with France's presidential elections planned for May and the Netherlands being engaged in a cabinet formation which could take until March. Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot told reporters that especially after the French and Dutch reactions, they have given it some re-consideration.

All invited to watch

Meanwhile, Mr Bot had in a Benelux chat with Mr Asselborn on Monday morning expressed his worry that Friday's restricted meeting could look like a ganging up of pro-constitution states.

But Mr Asselborn said I have repeated with [Spanish foreign minister] Moratinos that this initiative of the Spanish and the Luxembourgers is directed against nobody, neither against the French and the Dutch nor against anyone else.In order to counter any fears of secrecy, Spain and Luxembourg have now decided that all EU capitals, including Paris and The Hague, are free to send observers to the meeting. The official invitation has been sent to the 18 [states who have ratified the constitution]. If the others want to participate under an observer statute, we have said: everyone who wants to come, can come,according to Mr Asselborn.

We will not negotiate

The Luxembourg politician added that the 18 ratifiers will not take an official position after the meeting, which will take place at the level of EU affairs ministers. In Madrid, we will not negotiate. Those who are there, do not have a mandate of their governments, he said, but added that the 18 will produce some kind of paper.Ireland and Portugal, which have not ratified the treaty but strongly
support it, will send observers to the meeting. Germany as EU chair also chose to be represented as an observer only - sending its ambassador in Madrid to take notes of the meeting. The Netherlands appears to have politely declined the invitation to also send an observer, with Mr Bot saying that we will not go to Madrid.

Activists protest free trade pact at EU base in Kenya Wed Jan 24, 10:02 AM ET

NAIROBI (AFP) Some 2,000 anti-globalisation activists were marching in Kenya's capital Nairobi to protest against a plan to liberalise trade between developing nations and the European Union. The marchers said implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and a group of African, Caribbean and Pacific nations, due to come into force in 2008, should be delayed for several years.Fight poverty, stop the EPAs. We do not need euros, chanted the protesters marching from Nairobi's Uhuru (Independence) Park to the EU offices where they unsuccessfully sought an audience with the heads of mission.The protests were held during the ongoing World Social Forum, a gathering of thousands of anti-globalisation activisits which wraps up on Thursday.We are demanding a moratorium of several years on the signing of the EPAs to enable ACP countries, particularly African nations emerging from conflicts, to revamp their agriculture, said Ousainou Ngum, an activist.Ngum said African governments were willing to sign the EPAs without being worried that their markets will be flooded by goods from the more developed European countries whose agricultural sector benefits from subsidies.At a meeting between representatives of the the two blocs in Khartoum last month, the ACP regretted the lack of progress with the EPAs.

Radio tags track wasp behaviour JAN 24,07
The researchers looked at a species of paper wasp


Wasps fitted with minuscule radio tags have helped scientists shed light on the insects' behaviour. Rather than just tending their home colonies, the worker wasps also buzzed into nearby relative-holding nests, helping raise the young, the team said. The researchers believed the insects were boosting their chances of propagating their genes by nurturing relatives in multiple nests.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) study is published in Current Biology. Nest drifting, which is where individual insects move between different nests, has been described in a few different species of social insects, but it has always been a puzzle as to why they have done this, explained lead author Seirian Sumner of ZSL. It has also been very difficult to quantify the standard way is to mark the wasps with paint and then carry out nest censuses so we developed a new method.To track the wasps, the team fitted the insects with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and placed sensors at the entrance of each nest to record their movements, in real time, in and out of the nests. Dr Sumner said she got the idea from the Oyster card touch in, touch out system used on the London Underground.

Passing genes

The researchers, working in the tropics of Panama, looked at an extended colony of 33 nests belonging to a species of paper wasp called Polistes canadensis. In each nest, they tagged every female worker (those in the colony responsible for nest maintenance, food gathering and care of the brood), fitting a total of 422 with the RFID tags. A staggering number, 56% of the population, were drifting from nest to nest, Dr Sumner told the BBC News website, many more than previous studies had estimated. After further observations, the ZSL team ruled out that the wasps were lost, confused by their tags or trying to lay eggs in their neighbours' nests in a bout of social parasitism. Instead, it found the wasps were helping to raise their relatives' young. Worker wasps do not reproduce themselves, but by raising relatives who share their genes they can pass on genes indirectly, explained Dr Sumner.

And these workers are gaining indirect fitness benefit by helping to raise relatives on lots of different nests rather just than their home nests.This would be particularly crucial with wasps that face a high likelihood of getting their nests destroyed, such as the P. canadensis, she said. If you have just put all of your efforts into one nest and then that nest gets eaten, then all of this effort is lost
and you haven't helped to pass on your genes, Dr Sumner said. The researchers expect to find similar behaviour in other insect species.

Jewish Withdrawal from Judea and Samaria Back on the Table
By Hana Levi Julian (INN) JAN 24,07


The government has agreed in principle to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), in secret talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. So reports WorldNetDaily.

Egypt and the European Union (EU) have been mediating the negotiations, according to the World Net Daily (WND) news website. WND quoted high-level Egyptian diplomatic and intelligence officials, and an aide to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, as saying they have been directly involved in the talks.Negotiations have been quietly proceeding apace for the past two or three weeks, according to sources quoted by WND reporter Aaron Klein, after PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas suggested to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert late last month that the two men switch to back channel talks in order to avoid media coverage.According to Egyptian and EU sources, one of the plans currently under consideration involves handing over control of central and southern Yesha to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s security forces. In northern Yesha, the transfer of responsibility to Abbas’ security forces over the area would bemonitored by Jordan and EU observers.No word about the fate, under this plan, of the many tens of thousands of Jews living in these areas has been received.

Hamas’s role in the plan remains unclear. The terrorist organization has repeatedly vowed never to formally recognize the State of Israel, renounce terrorism or uphold agreements with Israel signed by the previous, Fatah-led, PA government. That stance is not accepted by the international community.Talks toward a unity coalition between PA Prime Minister and Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Fatah faction, are all but dead, leaving Hamas in control of the PA. The streets of Gaza have become a battlefield as Hamas and Fatah struggle for control of the PA government, with bloody clashes that have resulted in the deaths of both terrorists and innocent PA residents alike in what has become a militia war.The situation may intensify further and eventually lead to escalated attacks against the Jewish State as well, in the wake of an announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week that the Bush administration has agreed to finance, arm and train Abbas’ security force.

The force will reportedly include the Fatah-controlled Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, one of the most vicious groups engaged in the terrorist war against Israel. Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades has shared responsibility with the Islamic Jihad terror group for the suicide bombings in Israel over the past two years.Rice said during her visit to the region last week that the U.S. will send Abbas $86.4 million to beef up his personal security guard, Force 17, which also polices PA areas in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Bush administration is hoping to strengthen Fatah which it perceives as a moderate group in its bid to wrest control of the PA government from Hamas.The last time the U.S. transferred arms to Fatah in order to strengthen its ability to police the PA, the weapons were ultimately pointed at Israel by a myriad of terrorist factions. When asked about that experience, Rice claimed that this time would be different.It was envisioned [then] that the Palestinian Authority would have security forces, she said. The problem is those security forces broke into essentially personal militias under [former PLO chairman Yasser] Arafat. They broke into too many that were often warring with each other.The current plan, she added, would be carried out in a way that would move over time, with the idea being that the U.S. would maintain control over what is being done with the weapons.

This plan is not just to equip [Abbas’ security forces] and train them, [but] it is also to professionalize them, to unify them [and] to put them under a single command, she said.

Now these newly-armed forces, trained and professionalized by the U.S. government would be given control over most of Judea and Samaria, placing them within rocket fire range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Ben Gurion International Airport. They would also be within range of Arad in the Negev, and other cities and smaller communities located near the pre-1967 borders.Diplomatic sources said talks are moving rapidly as the PA wrestles with Israel over the precise location of the new borders. Solana’s aide told WND that diplomats are expected to see a historic political evolution and movement in negotiations in the next few weeks and few months, unseen since the Camp David peace talks in 2000.In 2000, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to give Arafat an official PA state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Arafat turned down the offer, insisting the entire Israeli capital be transferred to the PA.

EU expecting role in Israel's security
Top diplomatic sources say secret talks held on handing West Bank to Abbas
January 24, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


JERUSALEM The European Union is in the process of expanding its offices in Israel, including in the Palestinian areas, in anticipation of an increased security role here following what European diplomatic officials say is new momentum regarding an
Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.The West Bank borders Jerusalem and is within rocket-firing range of Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. EU sources in Israel tell WND their offices here are taking on new staffers to deal with matters of security, public relations, diplomacy and regional coordination. They say they expect an increased work load due to behind-the-scenes diplomatic initiatives they state may result in an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. The sources said the EU would coordinate handing over security control of key West Bank areas to the Palestinians According to an aide to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, speaking on condition of anonymity, there will be a historic political evolution and movement in negotiations in the next few weeks and few months, unseen since the Camp David peace talks in 2000. During the Camp David talks, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Earlier this week a WND report quoted top Egyptian and European diplomatic sources stating Israel and the Palestinians have been conducting behind-the-scenes negotiations regarding handing over most of the West Bank to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The diplomatic sources said they were directly involved in negotiations mediated by Egypt and the EU, with U.S. input. The sources said major changes in Israeli-Palestinian affairs are expected within a few weeks to two months. According to the diplomatic sources, Israel agreed in principal to hand over most of the West Bank in a deal with Abbas. The sources said Israel is studying the transfer of responsibility in the central and southern West Bank to Abbas' security forces, which reportedly are receiving aid, weapons and training from the U.S. They said one proposal being considered for the northern West Bank would see Jordan and the EU supervise the transfer to Abbas' security forces. Still being debated is the role of Hamas, which leads the PA and maintains the majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. Negotiations between Abbas and Hamas leaders for a national unity government have mostly fallen through. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said he viewed any Palestinian elements recognizing the state of Israel as a partner for negotiations even if it is Hamas.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made similar comments.

So far, Hamas has refused to recognize Israel but recently offered a 10-year truce with the Jewish state.

In a series of interviews this past weekend, Hamas leaders told WND during any 10-year truce period they would build a large Palestinian army and plan for the destruction of Israel. Olmert's office yesterday denied the WND report of secret negotiations for a West Bank withdrawal. There were no negotiations regarding a West Bank withdrawal. This would go contrary to other things we have said in the recent past, said Olmert's spokesperson, Miri Eisin. Perhaps the officials talking to WorldNetDaily were referring to general expectations for movement in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, Eisin said. But the European and Egyptian sources yesterday stood by their statements that Israel agreed in principal to transfer West Bank security control to Abbas. Israeli leaders previously have denied reports of pending withdrawals only to later carry them out. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, elected in 2001 on a platform against unilateral withdrawal, at first denied media reports Israel was planning to evacuate the Gaza Strip but later announced his Gaza withdrawal plan. Olmert was elected prime minister on the platform of carrying out a withdrawal from the West Bank, but after this summer's Lebanon war, he has stated a West Bank withdrawal would not occur.

Olmert in August called the policy of unilateral withdrawal a failure and said it was no longer relevant. But he can argue handing the West Bank to Abbas in an agreement is not unilateral. Contradicting Olmert, Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On of Olmert's Kadima party said this summer, The withdrawal plan is not dead, though its implementation has been postponed. The plan is now on the shelf or in the freezer, but when the time comes it will be accessed. Several recent public opinion polls showed the majority of Israelis now oppose a West Bank withdrawal. The leaders of Egypt and Jordan have expressed reservations about withdrawal plans, fearing terrorism can spill over into their respective countries. Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. It had occupied a small section of Lebanon's border with Israel following repeated attacks by Palestinian terrorists in the area. Since the withdrawal, Hezbollah has staged numerous attacks against Israel, including rocket bombardments of civilian population centers, raids against military outposts and ambushes and kidnappings of Israeli troops. Hezbollah built an arsenal in south Lebanon of more than 13,000 short- and medium-range rockets capable of hitting central sections of the Jewish state Israel withdrew last August from the Gaza Strip. Since then, rockets have been fired almost daily into nearby Jewish communities, Hamas has been elected to power and both Israeli and Palestinian officials have stated al-Qaida has infiltrated the territory. Israel says the Palestinians have smuggled hundreds of tons of heavy weaponry into Gaza and are preparing for a large-scale confrontation. Israel in June mounted a major ground invasion of Gaza after Hamas carried out a raid against a military installation in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted.

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