Wednesday, February 07, 2007

GEOPOLITICS OF US EU CHINA

Wednesday February 7,07 12:00 AM

1-7 YR TREATY PROOF. 2-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.3-In flooded Jakarta, conditions worsen. 4-Quick-hitting snowstorm lower Midwest. 5-Snow squalls strand workers at power plant: report 6-Fires On Australia's Snowy Mountains Not Yet Under Control. 7-ARMAGEDDON. 8-Muslims say Israeli work threatens Jerusalem mosque. 9-One Generation Is All They Need. 10-EU drafts plan to combat militant Islamists. 11-Putin plans arms-selling tour of the Mideast. 12-Europe ripe for our ideas, says far right. 13-Evolving geopolitics of the US, EU and China.

7YR TREATY BY PROOF

GENESIS 2:2-3 GOD RESTED THE 7TH DAY
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

LEVITICUS 25:1-9 THE 7 YEAR SABBATICAL
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

God has always dealt with Israel in 7's, it just makes sense the last dealing with Israel and the World will be a 7 yr treaty. God rested from creation on the 7TH DAY. Every 7TH YEAR Israel is suppose to rest the land. And the 7X7=49 YRS and the jubilee is the 50TH YEAR.

Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29

27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Isn"t this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in Daniel 9:24-27.

GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

1 CHRONICLES 17:6-14
6 Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?
7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
8 And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.
9 Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,
10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.
11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32-35
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(MAY 14,1948 ISRAEL BECOMES A NATION IN 1 DAY).
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.(JERUSALEM IN JEWSH HANDS JUNE 6-10, 1967).

DANIEL 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,(7X7=49 YRS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YRS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (69x7=483 YRS TO THIS POINT, THE FINAL 7 YR TREATY IS IN THE NEXT VERSE TO FULFILL THE 490 YEARS OF DANIELS PROPHECY.
9:27 And he (THE FUTURE ROMAN PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3RD TEMPLE DESECRATED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WW3)

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 = Tue Wed Feb 7 12:02 AM EDT

Feb 07,2007 No Quakes yet

FEB 6,2007
MAP 3.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.6 TAJIKISTAN
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 GUATEMALA
MAP 4.6 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 PUERTO RICO
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.1 GUATEMALA
MAP 3.0 SAN JUAN URBAN AREA, PUERTO RICO
MAP 4.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

FEB 05,2007
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.6 TONGA
MAP 5.7 TONGA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
MAP 3.6 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION

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.

In flooded Jakarta, conditions worsen By ANTHONY DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writer FEB 06,07

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A boat ride with emergency workers Tuesday revealed the hardships residents are suffering five days after torrential rains unleashed floodwaters that have killed 44 people and chased hundreds of thousands from their homes in this city of 12 million. In a low-lying riverside district of the capital, dead chickens floated in the same filthy floodwaters that women used to bathe children and wash clothes. Men sitting on rooftops or balconies dangled hooks in the debris-filled water for fish amid the stench of raw sewage. An elderly woman called out to rescuers for food and water from her second-floor balcony. Boys scavenged plastic bags and other recyclable waste to sell for a few pennies.While some parts of Jakarta began drying out under gray skies, water is still several feet deep in low-lying areas along river banks where tens of thousands of the city's poorest live in cluttered allies.

The emergency workers delivered dried noodles, rice and fresh water to residents of central Jakarta's Bendungan Hilir district, a mixed-income neighborhood. Indonesian soldiers paddled the boat past abandoned furniture, people wading in chest-high water with plastic containers balanced on their heads, and children swimming as if they were in a public pool. Some boys used a sofa cushion as a raft.Flooding was still 8 feet deep amid the simple, two-story cinder block and brick homes. The district's main market, hospital and most houses were inundated, forcing residents to move to upper floors. The fear of their homes being looted kept many from leaving.Indonesia's poor — a majority in the country of 220 million people — have borne the brunt of a recent string of natural disasters, including the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed more than 160,000 people on Sumatra island. This month's flood, the worst in the capital in recent memory, was no exception.As many as 38,000 other people in the southwestern district, which borders some of the city's wealthiest high-rise apartments and sleek skyscrapers, are crammed into unhygienic shelters, officials said.We are sharing two toilets between 1,000 people said Nelly, whose family of nine awoke in the middle of the night Thursday when the river overflowed its banks just 100 yards away.The 25-year-old mother, who uses a single name, recalled rushing outside in panic as the water swept in.It came suddenly, she said. The water was up to my neck when I carried my daughter out above my head.

Her 2 1/2-year-old daughter has diarrhea. They sleep on the floor of a classroom with 30 other people.Nelly and her family are too poor to move to higher ground in Jakarta, where floods are common during the annual rainy season.For Rina, a 27-year-old mother of two whose house was still inaccessible Tuesday, next week offers challenges enough. The school where she is staying is scheduled to reopen then, and she fears she will be kicked out.We just don't know where we will go, she said, although officials were predicting the rains were expected to let up in the next few days.

Health workers warned that medicine was running short, raising fears of disease spreading among the displaced.Unsanitary conditions were blamed for widespread skin problems and diarrhea, while health officials said they feared exhausted flood victims had become more vulnerable to dysentery, cholera or typhoid.Many people were angry at what they said was a sluggish government response.We live in modern times, said Stefanus Lamury who lives in a flooded-out residential area close to the city center's gleaming glass and steel skyscrapers. People should have been warned. No one should have died because of this.

There was confusion as to the number of people still in shelters.

Health Ministry official Dr. Rustam Pakaya said the evacuees fell Tuesday to 221,088 from almost 340,000 on Monday, as people began returning home. But Eko Prasetyo, a spokesman from the National Disaster Coordinating Agency, put the number of displaced at 430,000. He said the figure included a new wave of people forced from their homes by overnight floods in east Jakarta. Rival government agencies often give different numbers of dead and missing during natural disasters in Indonesia due to poor communications and coordination. There is a shortage of baby food and blankets, said one local official, Alamsyah, as he oversaw the cooking of rice and instant noodles at a shelter. We need more supplies.Nuraini, a military doctor working on the relief effort, said he had run out of medicine. Most people have diarrhea and are sick after being in the water for too long, said Nuraini.

Electricity to much of the capital remains cut off.

The cost to the country so far is estimated to be some $452 million, Planning Minister Paskah Suzzeta said, mostly due to an inactive economy and closure of offices and factories.The flood has caused little damage to city infrastructure, buildings or homes. Officials are expecting most people to be able to return to their houses once the water recedes. Citywide floods last occurred in 2002 in Jakarta, much of which is below sea level. Environmentalists blame the flooding on rivers clogged with rubbish, rampant overdevelopment, and deforestation of hills to the south of the city. The city administration must have the guts to tear down buildings that violate planning codes, said Slamet Daroyni, from local conservation group Walhi. They must do so unless we want to live with the floods every year.

Quick-hitting snowstorm lower Midwest B. Bernard, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Tue Feb 6, 12:26 PM ET

A quick-hitting snowstorm--a clipper system--will produce a swath of 4- to 6-inch snow across the lower Midwest this afternoon and evening. Cities such as Indianapolis and Cincinnati could pick up close to a half foot of fresh powder by sunset. The snow will move into West Virginia by evening where some locations can expect to be coated in 6 to 10 inches. The system will weaken crossing the mountains into Virginia and Maryland overnight, but Washington, D. C., and Baltimore could see an inch or two of fresh cover by sunrise. Elsewhere this afternoon, lake-effect snow off Lake Superior will continue to whip over the eastern U. P. of Michigan where another 4 inches could accumulate. Off Lake Erie, from Buffalo southward, look for a lake-effect band to produce another 6 to 9 inches. The biggest snow-maker, however, will be the seemingly ever-present band off the eastern end of Lake Ontario. In the core of the band, which is edging northward now, expect snowfall rates of 1 to 2 feet every 12 hours. Some locations could end up with 5 or 6 feet (storm total) by tomorrow night.

Snow squalls strand workers at power plant: report
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 CBC News


Workers are stranded at a southwestern Ontario nuclear power plant after snow squalls led to road closures along the eastern shore of Lake Huron.Some of those stuck at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station have been there for about 48 hours, a spokesperson told a local Owen Sound radio station. The number of stranded employees were unknown.Employees in nearby communities such as Port Elgin and Kincardine have been put on standby to relieve their colleagues as soon as roads are cleared.Highway 21, a route to the nuclear plant, was one of three highways closed by police in southwestern Ontario because of treacherous driving conditions.Other closures caused by the snow squalls include Highway 9 and Highway 23.With files from the Canadian Press

Weather warning for: Bracebridge, Dundalk, Fort Erie, Gravenhurst, Kincardine, Midland, Muskoka, Niagara Falls, Orillia, Owen Sound, Port Colborne, Port Elgin, Prince Edward Picton, Saugeen Shores, South Bruce Peninsula, Walkerton, Welland, Wiarton

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Fires On Australia's Snowy Mountains Not Yet Under Control February 6, 2007

Two fires in the Kosciuszko National Park of the Snowy Mountains in southeast Australia are still not under control. So far 1,500 hectares of the park north of the Yarrangobilly Caves and at Tantangara Dam has been burnt, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported Monday. Andrew Grant from the National Parks and Wildlife Service said the fires have led to some visitors being moved out of the Blue Waterholes area. We're not at the point yet to actually declare them contained, but certainly one of them is well on the way, he was quoted as saying. The other fire's more to the east, it's got a little bit more work to do before we can call that contained, he said. But work's going really well, we've got a lot of crews going up there today, a lot of aircraft and dozers and so forth working on the fires, he added. However, the fires are not posing any threat to property and the Snowy Mountains Highway has reopened to traffic after being closed overnight.

Grant said the fires were caused by lightning.

Part of the park is going to be burnt, that's one of the things that does obviously happen, there's obviously some effect on wildlife and the flora, but it's also part of the natural cycle, he said. Both these fires were caused by lightning, which is a natural cause, and we're just really limiting their spread, he said. He said firefighters are pretty confident that they'll be able to contain these fires although the conditions are very dry and remain very hot this week.Written by Xinhua News Agency - CEIS Courtesy of 2007, YellowBrix, Inc.

ARMAGEDDON FEB 06,07 DR JACK VAN IMPE

Armageddon has come to stand for the most terrible of all wars. The word actually means mount of Megiddo, referring to a small mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The great valley there has been a battlefield for many conquerors and it will be the focal point of the earth's final conflict.Since the fall of man, earth's population has been training for Armageddon. Every tiny skirmish and world war has been a preliminary to the battle of battles: Armageddon.Following the defeat of Russia and her armies by Israel, the final world dictator, the Antichrist, will be revealed for who he is -- a ruthless, satanically controlled, evil person. The length of his reign after the Israeli defeat of Russia will be three and one-half years (forty-two months; see Rev. 13:5) and during that time he will bring the world to its most violent hour.

The World's Most Violent Hour

There is considerable speculation as to just what triggers the Battle of Armageddon. Why do the armies of the world gather in the Middle East at the end of the Tribulation period? Is there a rebellion in the kingdom of the Antichrist? What precipitates the final conflict? Although there is mystery surrounding some of these questions, there are a number of certainties about Armageddon.

It takes place at the end of the Tribulation (Rev. 16:16).
It involves all the nations of the world (Joel 3:12).
It pits all nations against the Lord and His anointed (Ps. 2).
It ends with the revelation of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:11 -- 21).
While many events of the end time are hidden from us, it is not difficult to sort out some important developments during the Tribulation period that lead to the Battle of Armageddon.

1. The Consolidation of the Power of the Antichrist

When the Beast (the Antichrist) makes peace with Israel and guarantees her security at the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week, he is not in complete control of the world. Although he is headed for ultimate dictatorship, the earth is at that time still given to considerable nationalism. The Beast will have to fight for total control of the earth. To gain unchallenged dominion, he will have to face the military might of both the Russian confederacy and a powerful Eastern force, probably China. Writing of this international turmoil, Daniel explained: And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north 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 (Dan. 11:40).That this crisis is not confined to the northern alliance is made clear by Daniel 11:44: But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.Following the miraculous defeat of the Russian armies and their allies for Israel's sake, the Antichrist will vent his fury against the massive Eastern force of 200 million that is moving toward the Middle East to challenge his power. The casualties in this confrontation will total one-third of the world's population. Here is John's description of the struggle and slaughter:

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For this power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt" (Rev. 9:15 -- 19).It is not difficult to envision nuclear weaponry here, and in the populous Eastern nations the destruction unleashed by the Antichrist will be dreadful.With all the world subservient to him, the final world dictator will deify himself, demanding worship in the Jews' temple in Jerusalem. He will then assume total economic control, requiring his mark in the hand or forehead in order for a person to transact any business. The Beast will rule the earth, assisted by the false prophet and energized by Satan. The entire world will be under the control of a satanic trinity:

And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:4 -- 8).It is clear then that all opposition to the Beast will finally be put down, making him a world dictator. Threats from the north, the south, and the east will be overcome. .therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious mountain. (Dan. 11:44,45).

The Antichrist will have accomplished the dream of Hitler, Napoleon, the Caesars, and others. He will be dictator of the world.

2. The 144,000 Converted Jews

Another important factor as the world moves toward Armageddon will be the conversion to Christ of 144,000 Jews -- 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (see Rev. 7). The result of their missionary activity during history's most difficult time will be phenomenal. They will reap converts from all nations, even though conversion will mean martyrdom for many (Rev. 7:9 -- 17).The message of these 144,000 Hebrew Christian evangelists will be the gospel of the kingdom -- that is, it will be the gospel with a kingdom emphasis. They will be announcing the coming kingdom of Christ, and during their ministry Matthew 24:14 will be fulfilled: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

In his book, The Jews and Armageddon, Milton B. Lindberg describes the work of the 144,000 Jews as follows:

The Gospel of Christ has a number of descriptive designations because of a variety of emphases. In Matthew 24 it is called the gospel of the kingdom because the emphasis in its proclamation will be upon the Saviour's near return to set up His kingdom.... How these redeemed sons of Israel will delight to proclaim the good news of salvation with the added emphasis that at last the long- looked-for kingdom is about to be established. At long last, the Messianic hopes of Israel are to be realized. Jerusalem is to be the capital of Messiah's kingdom. Israel's Messiah is to be king over all the earth (Zech. 14:9).An added dimension to the kingdom message of the 144,000 servants of God will be their ability to announce the approximate time of the Lord's return. Tribulation chronology will make this possible.A number of prophecies state that the rule of the final world dictator will continue for three and one-half years after breaking the agreement for peace with Israel. Daniel described this period as a time and times and the dividing of time (Dan. 7:25). John similarly spoke of a time, and times, and a half a time (Rev. 12:14). Becoming more specific, he wrote: And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (Rev. 13:5).Armed then with the evidence of fulfilled prophecy and the unfolding Tribulation drama, these end-time messengers will reap a great harvest. To quote Lindberg again:

When the 144,000 begin to preach the Gospel, they will be given a hearing. Even today the world loves to hear the testimony of those who, like Paul, having hated Christ and persecuted the church, now proclaim the grace of God. Not only will these transformed Jews have a hearing, but as Revelation 7 indicates, their preaching will result in a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues coming out of the Great Tribulation, having washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. What a mighty revival will result when these enemies of Jesus Christ become His devoted servants! Onward sweeps the revival in mighty power, drawing multitudes to faith in Christ.It is not difficult to imagine the reaction of the world dictator to these who publicly proclaim the end of his reign and announce the coming kingdom of Christ. His anger will explode in an avalanche of persecution. Multitudes will be martyred. There will be no Sunday-go-to-meeting Christians during the Tribulation. Great numbers will be called upon to seal their testimonies with blood.

Muslims say Israeli work threatens Jerusalem mosque by John Russell
Tue Feb 6, 12:03 PM ET


JERUSALEM (AFP) - Muslim and Arab leaders have urged Palestinians to rush to the flashpoint Jerusalem mosque compound to protest Israeli works they claim threaten the site's foundations.

The Waqf religious trust said work by the Israel Antiquities Authority under heavy police protection endangers the foundations of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.The news drew international condemnation, including from Jordan's King Abdullah II, whose country has a formal role in maintaining Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.An AFP reporter saw a small bulldozer digging up a path next to Dung Gate that leads to one of the mosque entrances, near the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.The Waqf said two underground rooms connected to the mosques lie under a mound, the focus of the works, and that levelling it would threaten the foundation of the compound.

The Antiquities Authority said the work was to strengthen an access ramp to Dung Gate for the benefit and safety of visitors after damage caused by an earthquake and snowstorms in February 2004.Tayssir al-Tamimi, head of religious courts in the Palestinian territories, said on Al-Jazeera television that the occupation bulldozers are headed (to the mosques) to destroy the historic route from Dung Gate.He urged Palestinians to go immediately to the compound to protect the site from the Israeli works.Jerusalem's mufti, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, also denounced the aggression.Speaking to reporters before leaving the Gaza Strip for talks in Saudi Arabia, Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya called on all the sons of the Palestinian people to unite and rise up en masse to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said there was absolutely no basis for accusations that holy sites would be harmed.

The works are not intended to harm any of the holy sites. On the contrary, the purpose is to maintain the sites because of some erosion that happened in the past, she said after talks with her British counterpart Margaret Beckett.The compound, which houses both Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, is where the second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 following a controversial visit by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.It is also revered by Jews as the site of their ancient temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.Several hundred Israeli police were deployed throughout the Old City, and restrictions imposed on access to the compound to prevent disturbances, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.Eleven people were arrested for throwing stones in sporadic disturbances in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, but none in the Old City, said Rosenfeld.In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians marched to denounce the Israeli aggression, and a similar protest was held in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Islamic Jihad said a rocket attack on southern Israel -- which caused no casualties or damage -- was in response to the criminal Zionist aggression against the Al-Aqsa mosque.Only a few dozen Palestinians gathered at Dung Gate, among them the head of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah.

What's happening here is criminal and it could reach into the depths of the Al-Aqsa mosque, he told reporters. Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei accused the Israeli government of playing with fire, saying in a statement its behaviour could start a new intifada.In Cairo, the Arab League voiced its extreme concern and ire over excavations, and the supreme leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood called on all Arabs, Muslims ... to express their anger and reject this Zionist crime.

Jordan's King Abdullah II said in Amman his country would take all the measures capable of preserving the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, in keeping with our responsibilities and in line with the terms of the peace treaty with Israel.Under the 1994 treaty, Jordan has a formal role in overseeing maintenance of those sites. He said he had ordered urgent contacts with the Israeli authorities to stop their measures and warn of their negative consequences.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

One Generation Is All They Need
Added: Feb 4th, 2007 10:36 AM
Kevin Haggerty Special to the Star RNN.com


By the time my four-year-old son is swathed in the soft flesh of old age, he will likely find it unremarkable that he and almost everyone he knows will be permanently implanted with a microchip. Automatically tracking his location in real time, it will connect him with databases monitoring and recording his smallest behavioural traits. Most people anticipate such a prospect with a sense of horrified disbelief, dismissing it as a science-fiction fantasy. The technology, however, already exists. For years humane societies have implanted all the pets that leave their premises with a small identifying microchip. As well, millions of consumer goods are now traced with tiny radio frequency identification chips that allow satellites to reveal their exact location.A select group of people are already chipped with devices that automatically open doors, turn on lights, and perform other low-level miracles. Prominent among such individuals is researcher Kevin Warwick of Reading University in England; Warwick is a leading proponent of the almost limitless potential uses for such chips.

Other users include the patrons of the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, many of whom have paid about $150 (U.S.) for the privilege of being implanted with an identifying chip that allows them to bypass lengthy club queues and purchase drinks by being scanned. These individuals are the advance guard of an effort to expand the technology as widely as possible.From this point forward, microchips will become progressively smaller, less invasive, and easier to deploy. Thus, any realistic barrier to the wholesale chipping of Western citizens is not technological but cultural. It relies upon the visceral reaction against the prospect of being personally marked as one component in a massive human inventory. Today we might strongly hold such beliefs, but sensibilities can, and probably will, change. How this remarkable attitudinal transformation is likely to occur is clear to anyone who has paid attention to privacy issues over the past quarter-century. There will be no 3 a.m. knock on the door by storm troopers come to force implants into our bodies. The process will be more subtle and cumulative, couched in the unassailable language of progress and social betterment, and mimicking many of the processes that have contributed to the expansion of closed-circuit television cameras and the corporate market in personal data.A series of tried and tested strategies will be marshalled to familiarize citizens with the technology. These will be coupled with efforts to pressure tainted social groups and entice the remainder of the population into being chipped.

This, then, is how the next generation will come to be microchipped.

It starts in distant countries. Having tested the technology on guinea pigs, both human and animal, the first widespread use of human implanting will occur in nations at the periphery of the Western world. Such developments are important in their own right, but their international significance pertains to how they familiarize a global audience with the technology and habituate them to the idea that chipping represents a potential future.An increasing array of hypothetical chipping scenarios will also be depicted in entertainment media, furthering the familiarization process.In the West, chips will first be implanted in members of stigmatized groups. Pedophiles are the leading candidate for this distinction, although it could start with terrorists, drug dealers, or whatever happens to be that year's most vilified criminals. Short-lived promises will be made that the technology will only be used on the "worst of the worst. In fact, the wholesale chipping of incarcerated individuals will quickly ensue, encompassing people on probation and on parole.Even accused individuals will be tagged, a measure justified on the grounds that it would stop them from fleeing justice. Many prisoners will welcome this development, since only chipped inmates will be eligible for parole, weekend release, or community sentences. From the prison system will emerge an evocative vocabulary distinguishing chippers from non-chippers.

Although the chips will be justified as a way to reduce fraud and other crimes, criminals will almost immediately develop techniques to simulate other people's chip codes and manipulate their data.The comparatively small size of the incarcerated population, however, means that prisons would be simply a brief stopover on a longer voyage. Commercial success is contingent on making serious inroads into tagging the larger population of law-abiding citizens. Other stigmatized groups will therefore be targeted. This will undoubtedly entail monitoring welfare recipients, a move justified to reduce fraud, enhance efficiency, and ensure that the poor do not receive undeserved benefits.Once e-commerce is sufficiently advanced, welfare recipients will receive their benefits as electronic vouchers stored on their microchips, a policy that will be tinged with a sense of righteousness, as it will help ensure that clients can only purchase government-approved goods from select merchants, reducing the always disconcerting prospect that poor people might use their limited funds to purchase alcohol or tobacco.Civil libertarians will try to foster a debate on these developments. Their attempts to prohibit chipping will be handicapped by the inherent difficulty in animating public sympathy for criminals and welfare recipients — groups that many citizens are only too happy to see subjected to tighter regulation. Indeed, the lesser public concern for such groups is an inherent part of the unarticulated rationale for why coerced chipping will be disproportionately directed at the stigmatized.

The official privacy arm of the government will now take up the issue. Mandated to determine the legality of such initiatives, privacy commissioners and Senate Committees will produce a forest of reports presented at an archipelago of international conferences. Hampered by lengthy research and publication timelines, their findings will be delivered long after the widespread adoption of chipping is effectively a fait accompli. The research conclusions on the effectiveness of such technologies will be mixed and open to interpretation.Officials will vociferously reassure the chipping industry that they do not oppose chipping itself, which has fast become a growing commercial sector. Instead, they are simply seeking to ensure that the technology is used fairly and that data on the chips is not misused. New policies will be drafted. Employers will start to expect implants as a condition of getting a job. The U.S. military will lead the way, requiring chips for all soldiers as a means to enhance battlefield command and control — and to identify human remains. From cooks to commandos, every one of the more than one million U.S. military personnel will see microchips replace their dog tags.Following quickly behind will be the massive security sector. Security guards, police officers, and correctional workers will all be expected to have a chip. Individuals with sensitive jobs will find themselves in the same position.The first signs of this stage are already apparent. In 2004, the Mexican attorney general's office started implanting employees to restrict access to secure areas. The category of sensitive occupation will be expansive to the point that anyone with a job that requires keys, a password, security clearance, or identification badge will have those replaced by a chip.Judges hearing cases on the constitutionality of these measures will conclude that chipping policies are within legal limits. The thin veneer of voluntariness coating many of these programs will allow the judiciary to maintain that individuals are not being coerced into using the technology.

In situations where the chips are clearly forced on people, the judgments will deem them to be undeniable infringements of the right to privacy. However, they will then invoke the nebulous and historically shifting standard of reasonableness to pronounce coerced chipping a reasonable infringement on privacy rights in a context of demands for governmental efficiency and the pressing need to enhance security in light of the still ongoing wars on terror, drugs, and crime.At this juncture, an unfortunately common tragedy of modern life will occur: A small child, likely a photogenic toddler, will be murdered or horrifically abused. It will happen in one of the media capitals of the Western world, thereby ensuring non-stop breathless coverage. Chip manufactures will recognize this as the opportunity they have been anticipating for years. With their technology now largely bug-free, familiar to most citizens and comparatively inexpensive, manufacturers will partner with the police to launch a high-profile campaign encouraging parents to implant their children to ensure your own peace of mind.

Special deals will be offered. Implants will be free, providing the family registers for monitoring services. Loving but unnerved parents will be reassured by the ability to integrate tagging with other functions on their PDA so they can see their child any time from any place. Paralleling these developments will be initiatives that employ the logic of convenience to entice the increasingly small group of holdouts to embrace the now common practice of being tagged. At first, such convenience tagging will be reserved for the highest echelon of Western society, allowing the elite to move unencumbered through the physical and informational corridors of power. Such practices will spread more widely as the benefits of being chipped become more prosaic. Chipped individuals will, for example, move more rapidly through customs.Indeed, it will ultimately become a condition of using mass-transit systems that officials be allowed to monitor your chip. Companies will offer discounts to individuals who pay by using funds stored on their embedded chip, on the small-print condition that the merchant can access large swaths of their personal data. These discounts are effectively punitive pricing schemes, charging unchipped individuals more as a way to encourage them to submit to monitoring. Corporations will seek out the personal data in hopes of producing ever more fine-grained customer profiles for marketing purposes, and to sell to other institutions.

By this point all major organizations will be looking for opportunities to capitalize on the possibilities inherent in an almost universally chipped population. The uses of chips proliferate, as do the types of discounts. Each new generation of household technology becomes configured to operate by interacting with a person's chip.Finding a computer or appliance that will run though old-fashioned hands-on' interactions becomes progressively more difficult and costly. Patients in hospitals and community care will be routinely chipped, allowing medical staff — or, more accurately, remote computers — to monitor their biological systems in real time.Eager to reduce the health costs associated with a largely docile citizenry, authorities will provide tax incentives to individuals who exercise regularly. Personal chips will be remotely monitored to ensure that their heart rate is consistent with an exercise regime. By now, the actual process of chipping for many individuals will simply involve activating certain functions of their existing chip. Any prospect of removing the chip will become increasingly untenable, as having a chip will be a precondition for engaging in the main dynamics of modern life, such as shopping, voting, and driving.The remaining holdouts will grow increasingly weary of Luddite jokes and subtle accusations that they have something to hide. Exasperated at repeatedly watching neighbours bypass them in chipped lines while they remain subject to the delays, inconveniences, and costs reserved for the unchipped, they too will choose the path of least resistance and get an implant.

In one generation, then, the cultural distaste many might see as an innate reaction to the prospect of having our bodies marked like those of an inmate in a concentration camp will likely fade. In the coming years some of the most powerful institutional actors in society will start to align themselves to entice, coerce, and occasionally compel the next generation to get an implant.Now, therefore, is the time to contemplate the unprecedented dangers of this scenario. The most serious of these concern how even comparatively stable modern societies will, in times of fear, embrace treacherous promises. How would the prejudices of a Joe McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover, or of southern Klansmen — all of whom were deeply integrated into the American political establishment — have manifest themselves in such a world? What might Hitler, Mao or Milosevic have accomplished if their citizens were chipped, coded, and remotely monitored?

Choirs of testimonials will soon start to sing the virtues of implants. Calm reassurances will be forthcoming about democratic traditions, the rule of law, and privacy rights. History, unfortunately, shows that things can go disastrously wrong, and that this happens with disconcerting regularity. Little in the way of international agreements, legality, or democratic sensibilities has proved capable of thwarting single-minded ruthlessness.It can't happen here has become the whispered swan song of the disappeared. Best to contemplate these dystopian potentials before we proffer the tender forearms of our sons and daughters. While we cannot anticipate all of the positive advantages that might be derived from this technology, the negative prospects are almost too terrifying to contemplate.

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.

WORLD TERRORISM

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

EU drafts plan to combat militant Islamists
By Ingrid Melander - REUTERS - 7:42 a.m. February 6, 2007


BRUSSELS – European Union states should clamp down on radical imams and Internet hate speech and train police and teachers on the dangers of Islamist militancy, according to a confidential plan seen by Reuters. The paper on combating radicalisation, agreed by EU ambassadors, urges governments to monitor travelling imams inciting to violence, talent spotters, recruiters and other leading figures and their movements within the European Union. It says EU states should collect and exchange information on these radical inspirational figures, and pay special attention to diminishing their influence in prisons. Member states should encourage the Muslim communities not to rely on external imams, but also to ensure that imams are trained and recruited from their own communities, it adds. Militant Islam is now seen as the major terrorism threat in the 27-nation EU. Authorities are trying to understand how young Muslim men are being radicalised and recruited for operations like the 2004 Madrid train bombings and 2005 suicide bombings on London's transport system. Some plots have also featured women. British authorities last week thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap and kill a British Muslim soldier, the sixth operation they say they have foiled since the attacks of July 2005.

The EU paper says national security authorities should seek to share more information with partner countries on individuals who may have been involved in radicalisation, including potential terrorists trained inside or outside the EU. But in a tacit acknowledgement of the difficulties involved, it says this should be done with due regard for data protection considerations. Many EU states have strict privacy rules limiting the sharing of data on individuals with third countries. Some U.S. officials privately express their exasperation with the European approach, saying security arguments should take precedence.

MODERATE ISLAM

The EU paper – an updated version of an action plan first adopted in 2005 – insists on the importance of promoting moderate, home-grown, Islam and calls on states to support the training of imams in language and teaching skills. It presses EU states to see how they can help promote moderate Islamic literature to counteract the effects of the radical message and stress the incompatibility of such a message with the main principles and values of Islam.Member states are urged to ensure that the basic training of all police forces includes teaching on mainstream Islam, radicalisation and recruitment, and to do the same with teachers and social workers. States are also encouraged to make sure that police forces reflect the communities which they police.The revised plan, expected to be rubber-stamped by EU governments later this month, urges EU states to check the Web more closely for fundamentalist activities, asking them to consider systematically investigating radical sites. The document cautiously treads on the issue of free speech. States are only encouraged to consider raising the issue of hate speech on Internet with web service providers. EU officials must also become more visible in Muslim media to make the bloc 'better understood', the plan says.

Putin plans arms-selling tour of the Mideast
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, January 23, 2007


MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin plans to market Russia's newly-reformed arms industry during his upcoming trip to the Middle East.Russian officials said Putin would be accompanied by a large delegation in his visit to such countries as Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in early February. They said the delegation would include senior officials from the state-owned arms export agency Rosoboronexport, which has come under direct presidential control.Putin scored a huge success in Algeria in 2006 and wants to market Russian weapons to other countries as well, an official said. The president has clearly been the most effective salesman for our arms industry.Officials said Rosoboronexport has briefed Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on a range of Russian military platforms. They said Jordan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to consider Russian weapon procurement, which would include defense industry cooperation.Putin plans to meet Saudi King Abdullah on Feb. 11 and 12, the Kremlin said in a statement on Jan. 29. From Riyad, the Russian president was scheduled to fly to Qatar. Jordan would comprise the last leg of Putin's tour in the Middle East.

Russia's relations with Gulf states are a positive factor in resolving conflicts in the Middle East, Putin told a news conference on Thursday.Officials said Russia has also offered nuclear energy cooperation to several Middle East states. They said Amman and Riyad have already expressed interest.In December 2006, Putin assigned all weapons exports to Rosoboronexport. The decree, meant to take effect on March 1, would affect such major, and formerly independent, arms suppliers as MiG as well as Instrument Manufacturing Design Bureau, or KBP.A report by the Washington -based Jamestown Foundation asserted that Rosoboronexport's monopoly over Russia's arms trade enables direct control by Putin. The report, authored by Pavel Felgenhauer, said profits from Russian weapons exports, including those to the Middle East, have been tremendous.

Russian-made weapons have also shown up recently in the Middle East, the report said. KBP supplied Syria with the modern anti-tank Russian Kornet missiles that Hizbullah allegedly used against the Israelis in Lebanon last summer. The fact that Islamists or their supporters in Lebanon and in the Horn of Africa used independently exported Russian weapons may have lead Putin to impose a strict arms trade monopoly.

Europe ripe for our ideas, says far right FEB 06,07
Christian Science Monitor.


They formed a new bloc in the European Parliament last month and now receive $1.5 million in public funding.By Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor PARIS - For more than a decade far-right parties in Europe have been lost in regional and ideological squabbles, some of them dating to the 1930s. But with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union last month, a move at first opposed by the far-right, the ultranationalists suddenly found enough fellow travelers to formalize a coalition. The Identity, Tradition, and Sovereignty caucus, born Jan. 16, is constituted inside the European Parliament. It includes the Attack party from Bulgaria, which published lists of Bulgarian Jews on its website; the party of Alexandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of Italy's World War II fascist leader; and is led by Bruno Gollnisch of Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right French party, who faced trial in Lyon this fall for Holocaust denial. Yet right-wing leaders insist they are not racist, represent 23 million voters, and have two main goals: To hone their message to be more respectable, and to put aside differences in order to get that message more broadly heard.

Indeed, in a Europe embroiled over new immigrants, cultural wars about European identity and values, and with skepticism of a super-Europe run in Brussels, people are ripe for their ideas, Identity members feel. By joining forces, we will be able to get our message more powerfully heard, says Philip Claeys, vice president of Identity and member of Vlaams Belang or Flemish Interest party, in a Monitor interview. Identity is the core issue in Europe today, and our ideas put us in the center of every major debate about Europe's future. Immigration used to be a taboo issue. But with large masses of people not willing to integrate, and with problems getting worse and worse in the cities, it is time to talk, he says. Though comprising only 20 out of 785 parliament members, the coalition receives $1.5 million in support, and can table amendments.With a faction you get money, jobs, you have staff members; you go abroad to other countries; you hold conferences, says Jean-Yves Camus of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris. It is a way to raise money without having to go to your membership. They [right-wing parties] find it easier to operate. They are less isolated.

One goal is respectability. Many far-right parties now distance themselves from neo-Nazis and skinheads, and eschew the use of symbols like the swastika. Their language is less toxic, though their basic beliefs appear to remain fairly hard-edged. These parties have a following greater than the numbers suggest, argues Mr. Camus. Voters aren't so interested in European elections.Indeed, boosting numbers is not a main agenda issue right now. The groups say they represent a deeper sentiment, and that the trend in Europe is toward the right. In the past three years, for example, a country like the Netherlands, long regarded as liberal and open, has taken a sharp conservative turn that roughly dates to the street murder of film-maker Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim of North African descent. Amsterdam itself is 45 percent non-Dutch, as Ian Buruma notes in his new book, Murder in Amsterdam.Many scholars agree with this trend. European democracies are now under the influence of a ultranationalist current, argues Pascal Perrineau, a university professor at the Fondation National de Sciences Politiques in Paris. The right is given a boost, Dr. Perrineau says, by East European groups: In less than a year, we saw in Poland a government with the hardest extreme-right representatives. We saw in Slovakia the building of an coalition with social-democrats, nationalists, and right populists. We saw in Hungary increasing agitation maintained by the extreme right, in reaction to declarations of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

All these are examples of a rapid populist development, waiting since the end of the fall of the Iron Curtain, but more noticeable when these countries joined the European family, he adds.Europe's political establishment is implacably opposed to Identity. Last week, in a secret ballot the European Parliament blocked the coalition members from becoming vice-chairs of two committees. Human rights groups are agitated that tax dollars will help promote views variously interpreted as anti-Semitic, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, and narrowly pro-Christian. Gypsy or Roma groups say East European parties especially target their interests: "The agenda [of Identity]... is far from promoting a tolerant and democratic Europe, argued the European Roma Information Office. Other experts say Identity has small numbers, no political clout, and that their presence shows the strength of Europe's liberal democracy. Mr. Claeys, the vice-president of Identity, calls the blocking in parliament of his group, a perfect example of discrimination and bias based on old ideas about multicultural political correctness; we were all elected to this body, we have a right to representation.

Camus, author of a recent book on extremism in France, says Europe now has two variants of the far right, the respectable far-right parties, and the unrepentant extremist far right. In fact, they don't have much difference between them. Several weeks ago, Le Pen's Front National was the first European party to establish a headquarters inside the popular Second Life online virtual world. This brought a virtual protest outside the virtual headquarters, with virtual placards, and some participants throwing (virtual) exploding pigs. One protester, Ichi Jaehun, told James Au of New World Notes, which reports on Second Life, that this nationalist idea that Front National is advocating is something that has spread all over Europe like a virus.We had 23 million voters for our party, so I hardly think we are extremists, counters Claeys. He admits his group may struggle. But Identity has opened negotiations with the Polish Family League, and the Northern Italian League, to add members. We expect by 2009 [the next European-wide election] to be in much better shape.

The Leaders in the last Days. NORTH - RUSSIA, SOUTH - EGYPT, EAST - CHINA, WEST - EUROPEAN UNION. This story got 2 of the 4 right.

Ezekiel 39:1-2 KING OF THE NORTH RUSSIA
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:

Daniel 11:40 KING OF THE SOUTH EGYPT
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.

Daniel 11:44 KING OF THE EAST CHINA
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)

Daniel 7:23-24 KING OF THE WEST EUROPEAN UNION (ROMANS) NOT U.S.A
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).

Evolving geopolitics of the US, EU and China FEB 06,07

How will global politics evolve from the US seemingly slipping hegemony? Some observers believe that geopolitics is evolving into a system with three great powers - the US, China and the EU - over the next several decades, with Japan and India playing secondary roles.By Richard Carney and Richard A Bitzinger for RSIS

While relations between these countries will vary according to specific issues, we contend that the overall relationship will lean towards the formation of a broadly bipolar geopolitical structure with China and the EU on one side, and with the US, Japan and India on the other. Although the mishandling of post-invasion Iraq has diminished the US standing, its economic and military might remain dominant. However, China's rise may undercut US influence in certain areas, particularly within Asia. Unsurprisingly, the US is deeply concerned with containing China's hard and soft power influence in the region. Indeed, American foreign policy towards China, as well as its focus on terrorism, seems likely to guide the US' strategic role in Asia - and globally - for some time to come. Although these two countries are in a co-dependent trade relationship - which could be weakened as Chinese, Asian, and European consumers buy more and as Americans spend less - the US and China are clearly at odds over energy issues and security policy in Asia. Indeed, the US sees China as its main threat to global hegemony, and for this reason we view these countries as the two dominant powers driving the structure of geopolitics over the next several decades. The EU may become increasingly unified politically as a result of environmental, energy, and security issues; however, its political arrangements will undoubtedly remain too fragmented to permit decisive, unified foreign policy actions in the realm of hard power issues. To curb China's creeping economic influence in Asia, and to circumscribe its military aspirations, the US is looking for partners. In this regard, Japan and India are obvious choices. Both seek to compete with China for economic influence regionally and globally - particularly with regard to access to scarce energy and natural resources. Both also have territorial disputes with China and seek to balance Beijing's increasing military power. While Japan and the US have remained close partners since the end of World War II, the US has recently made increasingly strong gestures of crafting a political-military partnership with India. This is best illustrated by the signing of a civilian nuclear-power accord with New Delhi in December 2006, as well as offering, for the first time, to sell India advanced fighter jets and anti-ballistic missile defences.

The new European wildcard

What about the EU? As a result of America's unilateralist foreign policies during the Bush administration, Europe has grown increasingly disenchanted with its military dependence on and partnership with the US. Because America is likely to remain more focused on combating terrorism than is Europe, Europeans are likely to remain unsupportive of US foreign policies. Consequently, Europe has begun developing a common, independent security and defence policy, and has moved towards forming military capabilities that are less reliant on US support. This includes the establishment of a European Defence Agency (EDA) and the creation of a 60,000-soldier European Rapid Reaction Force. Additionally, the EU does not have any hard power aspirations in Asia or seek to project military influence in the region, nor does it share the US' concerns about curbing China's growing power projection capabilities. In particular, Washington has not been able to adequately convince the Europeans why and how China constitutes an actual or potential threat to Europe. Not only does the EU not share the US's security priorities, it also seeks to form closer economic and political ties with China. According to current estimates, China is expected to eclipse the US as the EU's main trade partner by 2020; the EU, meanwhile, is already China's largest trade partner, and as the EU's security apparatus permits it to act more independently from the US, it will not wilt under US pressure regarding China. The EU, for example, is on track to abandon its embargo - implemented after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre - on selling arms to China, despite considerable objections from Washington.

Implications for Asia

Viewing the evolution of geopolitics in this light, what are the implications for Asia? Europe is unlikely to oppose China's growing influence in the region. An expanding Chinese military does not directly affect Europe or threaten European security. Taiwan is a small issue in the EU-Chinese relationship, and Europe is relatively unconcerned about increased Chinese military activities in such areas as the South China Sea or the Malacca Straits. And, of course, Europe is increasingly prepared to sell Beijing the weapons it needs to increase its hard power further. At the same time, the US-Japan alliance has perhaps never been stronger, and Tokyo is more willing than ever to use this partnership as a means to normalize its international standing. Japan is in a process of revising and revamping its security and defense policy. By aligning closely with the US and engaging in cooperative military missions with Washington, Tokyo has been able to expand its military and security role in Asia. Not surprisingly, therefore, Japan has been the US' strongest ally in the Six-Party Talks on North Korean nuclear weapons and in constructing a missile-defense shield in northeast Asia. Tokyo also shares Washington's growing apprehensions over an increasingly expansionist China. India's relationship with the US is not as deep as Japan's, but it is potentially no less critical as a partner. India and China still share considerable enmity over territorial disputes, and India's nuclear weapons are as much aimed at Beijing as they are at Islamabad. The US and India have recently embarked on a new strategic dialogue that includes missile defense and other types of military cooperation. The Indian Navy is an important complement to US forces operating in and around the Indian Ocean.

Conclusion: A new geopolitical cosmology

One can frame this emerging geopolitical structure with the EU and China increasingly in one camp, and with the US, Japan, and India increasingly in the other, with a cosmological metaphor. China and the EU can be seen as a binary star system in which both stars revolve around each other but effectively constitute a single sun. The US is the single star of a neighboring solar system, with Japan in a closer orbit, and metaphorically in closer cooperation with the US, than is India. This new geopolitical cosmology has the potential to affect cooperation and conflict in Asia in many ways - trade, human rights, the environment, terrorism, and, of course, traditional security concerns. Indeed, this emerging system will likely be in play, in some form or another, in nearly every major issue affecting the region. Broadly speaking, both Beijing and Brussels share a common interest in multipolarity, whether they choose to call it that or not. Both wish to increase their influence in global governance, even though this naturally sets them up to clash with US unilateralism and hegemony. The consequences of this evolution in geopolitics will likely be felt most strongly in the Asia-Pacific, where China and the US (along with India and Japan) have their strongest friction points. The sooner the other Asian states recognize this and figure out their own role in this emerging international system, the better it will be for them. IDSS. 2007 S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyan Technological University, Blk S4, Level B4, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

CHURCH SUPPORTS ISRAEL

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Moderate quake shakes Croatia. 3-Strong quake jolts western Caribbean. 4-No warmth in sight for Ontario. 5-Icy weather to keep hold of U.S. through this week 6-29 dead in Indonesia flood; 340,000 flee 7-9 U.S. towns ready for Atlantic tsunami. 8-46 Countries Back France's Proposal for World Environmental Body. 9-Bribery Investigation in Defense Ministry. 10-Church rally supports Israel Event organized by evangelicals, Jews. 11-Abbas´s Envoys To Visit Washington after Hamas Summit. 12-Iran installs 328 centrifuges at atomic site: sources. 13-Merkel focuses on GCC free trade.

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 = Tue Feb 6 12:00 AM EDT

FEB 5,07
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 KYRGYZSTAN
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 TONGA
MAP 5.6 TONGA
MAP 5.7 TONGA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 POTOSI, BOLIVIA

FEB 04,07
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 6.1 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 6.2 CUBA REGION
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
MAP 5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.9 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA

Moderate quake shakes Croatia Mon Feb 5, 6:30 AM ET

ZAGREB (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale has shaken western Croatia, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 9:30 am (0830 GMT), was 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of the northern Adriatic town of Senj, said the country's seismological institute on Monday.The tremor was felt on the northern part of the Adriatic coast, as well as in central Croatia, including the capital Zagreb, the HINA news agency reported.The national seismological institute said there was a possibility that damage occurred in and around the epicentre.

Strong quake jolts western Caribbean Sun Feb 4, 6:20 PM ET

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A strong earthquake shook parts of Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Sunday, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 and was centered in the Caribbean Sea about 75 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and 125 miles southwest of Bayamo, Cuba, the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado said. It occurred just before 4:00 p.m.

Authorities in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands said no damages or injuries had been reported.We consider it a strong earthquake, said USGS geophysicist Bruce Presgrave. It's enough off the coast that I would not expect any major damage,(though) there's a possibility of some minor damage.Presgrave said tremors are relatively common in the area, which lies on the boundary between two tectonic plates.No tsunami warnings were issued for the Caribbean and no tsunami activity was observed in the region, said Stuart Weinstein, assistant director of the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.Margaret Grandison of the University of the West Indies' seismic unit said the quake was felt the strongest in Jamaica's west end and nearly all of the country's parishes have reported feeling it.My children were upstairs and I thought they were playing, said Lloyd Hill, who lives in Hanover parish located some 160 miles west of the Jamaican capital, Kingston. When we ran outside, we saw some neighbors and they were obviously shaken.

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.

No warmth in sight for Ontario
Monday, February 5, 2007 AM ET CBC News


Blistering cold winds kept much of Ontario in a deep freeze Monday and meteorologists say there's no relief in sight.

Environment Canada issued wind chill warnings for many areas, with parts of eastern Ontario expected to feel as cold as –40.A pigeon tries to warm itself on a heating grate in Toronto, where gusting winds made temperatures feel as cold as –28 C in the early morning.(Dwight Friesen/CBC) It's a pipeline of arctic air coming down from the northwest … reaching all the way down to southern Ontario, said Environment Canada meteorologist Isabel Ruddick. Ruddick says the extreme cold will moderate slightly around mid-week, but will be followed by another arctic blast next weekend.

Massive snow squalls expected

The blast of arctic air is not unusual for this time of year, says Ruddick, but what's unique is that the Great Lakes are above zero and have very little ice cover.As the cold front moves over the milder waters, it's causing massive snow squalls, very low wind chill values and the possibility of blizzard-like conditions [in the Lake Huron area], she says.The most intense snow squalls will likely be in the area extending from Wiarton east to Uxbridge, where five centimetres of snow is expected every hour.Environment Canada says the snow squalls will drift southwest through the day.

Cities issue cold weather alerts

Winds gusted up to 50 kilometres an hour in some places, causing a wind chill of –30.The frigid temperatures prompted several cities, including Toronto and London, to issue extreme cold weather alerts in effort to get the homeless out of the cold and into shelters.

In Ottawa, the city's medical officer of health issued a frostbite warning.The cold also caused Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to cancel school buses. Provincial police said several roads had been shut down because of poor visibility and blizzard conditions in the counties of Bruce, Grey, Perth, Huron and Wellington. Sgt. Bruce Pritchard of the Orillia regional headquarters says there have been a lot of cars in the ditch but we haven't had any serious injuries.With files from the Canadian Press

Icy weather to keep hold of U.S. through this week MON FEB 05,07

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Frigid weather that slammed the U.S. Midwest and Northeast over the weekend could stick around for several more days, ushering in a month of below-normal temperatures, forecasters said on Monday. The chill, which pushed the mercury to its lowest level since January 2004 in Chicago, may ease briefly after Wednesday. But sharply below-normal temperatures that have kicked up demand for heating fuels could return.It looks like the month is going to be a cold one, said Tom Kines, senior meteorologist for private forecaster AccuWeather.

There may be another blast of colder air coming later this week or early next week.

The cold weather has pushed oil prices back toward $60 a barrel, up around $10 from lows hit last month, as homes and businesses burn more heating oil.

The Northeast is home to roughly 80 percent of the nation's heating oil demand, while the Midwest tends to favor natural gas as a heating fuel.The intense cold in the Midwest and East is expected to moderate over the next several days, but it will still be very cold, said Rod Ferguson of WSI Corp. I'm expecting it to be below normal on average into late February. We're locked into a cold pattern.

29 dead in Indonesia flood; 340,000 flee By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer FEB 05,07

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Filthy brown water flooded large parts of Indonesia's capital Monday, forcing 340,000 people from their homes and cutting off power and clean water in the city, where at least 29 have died after days of torrential rain. In scenes reminiscent of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, residents of Jakarta waded through poor neighborhoods in water up to their necks, or floated on makeshift rafts bearing clothes and other salvaged possessions.

Some scrambled onto roofs to await rescue from soldiers and emergency workers in rubber dinghies from floodwaters as deep as 12 feet.Rising along with the water was the threat of diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery. Also increasing were complaints and anger about the response to the floods by local officials.The government is awful, said Augustina Rusli, who spent four days on the second floor of her suburban house with her 10-month-old baby. We have a neighbor who is sick with cancer, but no one has come to rescue her.

Authorities estimated between 40 percent and 70 percent of the city, which covers an area of more than 255 square miles, had been submerged.Skies cleared Monday and floodwaters receded in some parts of the city of 12 million. Residents of some districts were able to begin cleaning out their homes, witnesses and media reports said.But Indonesia's meteorological agency predicted more rain in the coming days, and officials warned that more floods were possible because river levels were still high.

I really hope the forecast is wrong, said Jayeng, 45, as volunteers handed out cups of hot milk to children at a shelter where hundreds have been sleeping under leaky tarps.We are still afraid the water might rise again, said Jayeng, who uses a single name.The seasonal, torrential rains in Jakarta and the hills to the south forced rivers to overflow their banks Thursday. Some residents initially chose to stay in the upper stories of their homes, expecting the waters to quickly subside, but as the disaster dragged into Monday, some left for makeshift camps at schools and mosques, or to stay with relatives.

Hundreds of thousands of residents remain without electricity and clean water.

Landslides and flash floods during the wet season kill hundreds in Indonesia every year, and the capital is not immune, but it has rarely if ever seen floods as bad as those in recent days. The high water washed into rich and poor districts alike, inundating scores of markets, schools and businesses. Environmentalists blame the annual flooding on trash-clogged storm drains and rivers, inadequate urban planning, and deforestation of hillsides south of the city, often to make space for the development of luxury villas.Low-lying river areas where thousands of poor people are crammed into shacks made of plywood and metal sheets are often the most devastated. On Monday, many of these were only accessible by boat.

Some people rented horse-drawn carriages to ford flooded streets or were pulled to dry land in garbage carts.The floods entered most districts slowly, causing little initial structural damage to buildings or city infrastructure, and authorities expect they will recede in full, allowing residents to return.The government dispatched medical teams on rubber rafts to worst-hit areas, where doctors treated people for diarrhea, skin diseases, respiratory problems and exposure after they had spent days in damp, dirty clothes.We have to be alert for diseases like typhoid, those transmitted by rats and respiratory infections. Hopefully, there will be no dysentery, said Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari. We know it's hard for the residents (to keep clean) under the circumstances, but they have to.The flood conditions were also favorable for spreading malaria, dengue fever and the bird flu virus, which has killed more humans in Indonesia than anywhere else, said Bayu Krisnamurthi, the country's leading avian influenza official.

Dr. Rustam Pakaya, from the Health Ministry's crisis center, said nearly 340,000 people had been driven from their homes.

Jakarta's governor who promised action the last time citywide floods occurred in 2002 said he was not responsible, insisting they were part of a natural cycle of extreme weather every five years. There is no point in throwing abuse around, Gov. Sutiyoso told el-Shinta radio station, responding to growing anger at his handling of the crisis. I was up till 3 a.m. this morning trying to handle the refugees, said Sutiyoso, who also goes by a single name. Wealthy residents flocked to upscale hotels as vacant rooms grew increasingly scarce. In the poorest districts, waters washed away scores of shacks. My life is guided by the flow of the water, said Ijah, a 45-year-old widow who has survived on donated rice and noodles. At least I have my health.AP writer Zakki Hakim in Jakarta contributed to this report.

9 U.S. towns ready for Atlantic tsunami By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 5, 10:43 AM ET

MIDWAY, Ga. - Standing outside his home along the Medway River 8 miles upstream from the Atlantic Ocean, John T. Woods III has a hard time imagining a towering tidal wave one day crashing over the dock where a lone fisherman stands casting his line. Yet emergency managers here in Liberty County soon plan to post a warning sign near Woods' house depicting a stick man running uphill from a monstrous wave and declaring the surrounding area a Tsunami Hazard Zone.The closest thing that Woods, a lifelong Georgia coast resident, has been to a natural disaster was Hurricane David, a Category 2 storm that caused no devastation in 1979. Tsunamis, he says, have never been a factor.

I really think it's a waste of time, said the 47-year-old shrimper. But you never know.While tsunamis are primarily considered a threat on the Pacific Coast, emergency officials are paying closer attention to the potential for killer waves on the Atlantic Coast since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 11 countries.The government's West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center now watches out for the East Coast as well. A tsunami-detection buoy monitors for sudden changes in sea level 320 miles off Charleston, S.C.

And a few local governments along the East Coast, including Liberty County, have enrolled in a National Weather Service program to prepare for the remote chance of killer waves spawning in the Atlantic.There is a possibility, though a very slight possibility, said Tom Burris, emergency management director for Liberty County. Just like a hurricane, you can talk until you're blue in the face and people will say it ain't going to happen here.On Jan. 9, Liberty County became only the ninth community on the eastern seaboard to be certified by the Weather Service as officially ready to respond to tsunamis, tidal waves caused by earthquakes or rock slides under the sea.Also certified are Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.; Onslow County, N.C.; Norfolk, Va.; and five South Carolina communities Charleston County, Horry County, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach.

After the tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004, it really became important that, jeez, it may be a rare event, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared for it, said Paul Yura, warning coordination meteorologist for the Weather Service in Charleston, S.C.

The budget for the TsunamiReady program was $750,000 in fiscal 2006. Rather than build seawalls or fortify existing infrastructure, it aims to set standards to alert and evacuate people during tsunami warnings.Emergency managers receive no special training other than a briefing from the Weather Service on tsunami threats. The most intensive part is mapping which portions of a city or county are vulnerable to flooding. Participation is voluntary.Not everybody took it seriously when Indian
Harbour Beach, a city of 8,700 located 70 miles southeast of Orlando, was named the first tsunami-ready city on the Atlantic in 2005. Officials there spent about $500 on extra megaphones to use for evacuations and signs for the beach with flashing warning lights.Pranksters would steal the signs almost as soon as they were installed, likely coveting them as novelty souvenirs, City Manager Jackie Burns said.A couple of the other cities laughed at us, Burns said. But hey, whatever you can do to protect your people. And I think people want to feel protected since Sept. 11. It's just an unsettling time for people.According to the National Geophysical Data Center, seven tsunamis have been recorded in Atlantic and Gulf Coast states since 1886 when large waves followed earthquakes that struck Charleston, S.C., and Jacksonville, Fla., on the same day. No Americans died in the seven tsunamis, and most produced waves so small they could barely be detected.

Geologists say an Atlantic Coast tsunami could be triggered by the breaking of old fault lines offshore or by inland earthquakes causing an undersea landslide of sediments piled where the shallow continental shelf drops sharply into the ocean. What isn't known is how often such events might produce powerful tsunamis in the Atlantic our recorded history doesn't reach back far enough, said Martitia Tuttle, a geologist in Georgetown, Maine, who studies underground deposits of sand, pebbles and other deposits swept ashore by tsunamis hundreds or even thousands of years ago. You want to get an idea of recurrence, Tuttle said. If these large events occur, let's say, every 2,000 years, you have to go back more than that to get an idea of the repeat time.TsunamiReady program: http://www.tsunamiready.noaa.gov

46 Countries Back France's Proposal for World Environmental Body
By VOA News 04 February 2007


Forty-six countries have joined France in calling for a new world environmental agency. President Jacques Chirac Saturday called for the transformation of the U.N. Environment Program into a more powerful international membership organization to combat global warming. He said the planet is at risk and the future of humanity demands it.Mr. Chirac spoke in Paris after the world's top scientists issued a report saying that global-warming was largely man-made. The U.N. report also said that the trend can be expected to continue.The European Union and many other countries are backing the so-called Paris Call for Action. But some of the world's top polluters, including the United States, China and Russia, have not signed on.Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, whose documentary on the perils of global warming (An Inconvenient Trruth) has won two Oscar nominations, welcomed Mr. Chirac's efforts.The U.N. report, Climate Change 2007: the Physical Science Basis, is aimed at pressing governments and companies around the world to adopt policies that will curb the emission of greenhouse gases released into the air. It was reviewed by 25-hundred scientists from 113 countries. Some greenhouse gases are naturally occurring, while others are made-made pollutants, such as emissions from burning fossil fuels. The gases trap energy from the sun that would otherwise reflect back into space. Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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.

Bribery Investigation in Defense Ministry
By Hillel Fendel (INN) FEB 05,07


The suspects, managers in the Defense Ministry, have reportedly already confessed to accepting gifts from contractors bidding for Ministry contracts. The national police department's unit for international crimes, together with Defense Ministry investigators, are looking into the charges. Under suspicion are managers in the Assets and Administration Wing of the Defense Ministry.One manager responsible for electric infrastructures apparently received gifts, restaurant meals, and electrical work in his home.

His deputy and others are also suspected of receiving gifts. Under investigation are also eight contractors suspected of providing the gifts in order to receive preferential treatment in receiving Defense Ministry contracts.Maariv-NRG quotes a source close to the investigation as saying, The message must be made clear that this is not acceptable. Wherever there is money and buying, the temptation to grab is very great. It is something that is seen everywhere, not only in this wing and not only in the Defense Ministry.

Labor MK Ami Ayalon, a candidate for Labor Party Chairman in the upcoming May elections, told the NFC Hebrew new website, Corruption has become a strategic threat against Israel's very existence no less dangerous than Iranian rockets and Syrian tanks. It threatens to crumble us from within and to shake the public trust in the institutions that are supposed to protect us... The investigation must be quick and to the point.Ayalon has made this point in the past. Following Defense Minister Peretz's nomination last month of Raled Majadle as a Cabinet minister - Israel's first from the Arab sector - many accused Peretz of political motivations. Ayalon said at the time, Corruption is an existential threat. Personal-political considerations drive people to places they don't belong.

Monday, February 5, 2007
Church rally supports Israel Event organized by evangelicals, Jews
By Peter Smith. psmith@courier-journal.com. The Courier-Journal


Christians have a religious obligation to support Israel in its conflicts with Arabs and Muslims, several speakers told a church rally of about 1,800 people last night. The 2½-hour rally which packed the Evangel World Prayer Center campus in southeastern Jefferson County despite competition from the Super Bowl marked an unprecedented local pro-Zionist effort held jointly by evangelical Christians and Jews. It was filled with passionate pro-Israel speeches, Jewish folk music, the waving of Israeli flags and the blowing of ram's horns, a traditional Jewish ritual. Dancers performed Israeli folk dances while wearing that nation's blue and white colors. The singing of the Israeli national anthem was accompanied by video images of Israeli soldiers in action.

The keynote speaker, Walid Shoebat, a Palestinian native of Jericho, said he shifted from hating to loving Israel after converting to Christianity, reading the Bible and talking to Jews, who he said dispelled stereotypes he had been taught about them.

It is a biblical commandment to support Israel, Shoebat said, citing such passages as a verse in Genesis in which God promises Abraham he would be the father of a great nation and that God would bless those who bless him.

You must choose Jerusalem for the Jews, Shoebat added. Do not choose Jerusalem for the Arabs. Jerusalem is for the Jews. He said this stance has to do with your eternal destiny before God. Do not make the wrong choice.The event was initiated by Evangel, one of Louisville's largest churches, in cooperation with the Jewish Community Federation of Louisville. Most of last night's crowd was Christian, while several dozen local Jews also attended. While the Christian speakers made the most strident pro-Zionist statements, several Jewish leaders also spoke and said they hoped the event marks a new partnership with evangelicals. That relationship has often been strained in the past because some evangelicals have sought to convert Jews.

Last night's event contained no conversion efforts.

At a time when there's so much criticism, so much anti-Zionism directed at Israel, ... it's refreshing to know that there are people of faith that share our passion for the Jewish homeland, said Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel of Congregation Keneseth Israel. Pastor Bob Rodgers of Evangel said he has made more than 35 trips to Israel since his first visit shortly after the 1967 war, in which Israel defeated
Arab armies and occupied the West Bank and other territories. He said he was impressed with the Israelis' sense of destiny and a right to exist in that land that God had promised their father Abraham. He said he believes America is strong because it supports Israel, comparing it with the decline of the Spanish empire, which he said he believes resulted from its expulsion of Jews in 1492.

But some Jewish speakers talked of the need for peace efforts between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In a videotaped message, Israeli Consul General Uriel Palti cited Israel's signing of peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. We will continue to do everything to ensure peace will prevail in the Middle East, he said. And Rabbi Gaylia Rooks of The Temple congregation led her synagogue's teen choir in a song using the words shalom and salaam Hebrew and Arabic for peace. We don't believe we will truly have peace till we can put together shalom (and) salaam with Jews and the Arab world, she said. Mark Isaacs, who is Jewish, said the event was an amazing show of kinship with people who support Israel, but he would continue his work with local Palestinians in support of a two-state solution. It may be true that God gave this land to the Jews, but in saying seek peace and pursue it, God has also said, don't let any obstacle keep you from achieving peace, he said. Keta Sodrel, wife of former U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., said she believed the number one reason we (Americans) have been blessed is that we have honored God's word, including supporting Israel.

She contended Israel and the United States are in a common fight against Islamic fundamentalism. If you think you can feed Israel to the Islamic fascist crocodile and think it won't come after you, you are mistaken, she said. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar remarks in a videotaped message prepared for the event, saying both nations are in a fight for civilization.Reporter Peter Smith can be reached at (502) 582-4469.

Abbas´s Envoys To Visit Washington after Hamas Summit
19:28 Feb 05, '07 / 17 Shevat 5767


(IsraelNN.com) Envoys sent by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet with American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington this week following what is billed as a crucial summit meeting with Hamas leaders in Mecca on Tuesday.Abbas has increasingly voiced his refusal to follow the American roadmap, which calls for temporary borders for a new Arab state on most of Israeli land restored to the country after the Six-Day War in 1967.Secretary Rice has planned a joint meeting with Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later this month in an effort to advance negotiations based on the Roadmap policy. Yasser Abed-Rabbo, an aide to Abbas, said that any agreement with Israel would have to be confirmed by a public referendum. However, Abbas already has stated that he would not agree to a new Arab country that does not include Jerusalem as its capital and the permission by the Israeli government that millions of Arabs in foreign countries live in Israel.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30
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.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Iran installs 328 centrifuges at atomic site: sources By Mark Heinrich
Mon Feb 5, 9:00 AM ET


VIENNA (Reuters)-Iran has installed two cascades of 164 centrifuges each in its underground nuclear plant, laying a basis for full-scale enrichment of uranium and upping the stakes in a standoff with the West, European diplomats said on Monday. The cascades were to be test-run shortly, without uranium feedstock inside, and fuel material would then be added if the tests were successful, they said.

The 328 centrifuges would be the vanguard of 3,000 planned for installation in the coming months.Iran recently finished installing piping, electrical cables and other equipment needed to begin so-called industrial-scale enrichment in the vast subterranean complex, which is fortified and ringed by anti-aircraft guns in the central Iranian desert.Firing up the cascades would dramatically sharpen Iran's
confrontation with Western powers that pushed through limited U.N. sanctions on Tehran six weeks ago to try to curb what they suspect is a disguised effort to assemble atomic bombs.

The Islamic Republic, the world's No. 4 oil producer, says it wants solely civilian atomic energy from uranium enrichment.Diplomats said the installation of the first two cascades was likely to be the gist of Iran's planned announcement of significant nuclear progress on February 11, when it caps anniversary celebrations of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.Two cascades have been installed in the underground plant, but they are not yet being run with gas, said a European Union diplomat in Vienna, headquarters of the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has inspectors at Natanz.Their plan is to start dry-spinning the cascades within days and then start feeding them with UF6 (uranium feedstock gas), the diplomat told Reuters, alluding to findings during recent visits by IAEA inspectors.The Iranians appear to intend to have about six cascades (about 1,000 centrifuges) installed by the spring, and the rest of the 3,000 by around June. Iran plans to rig up a total of 54,000 centrifuges at Natanz in the longer term.A diplomat from another EU state gave an identical account.

IAEA REPORT TO SECURITY COUNCIL PENDING

There was no immediate IAEA comment. Such confidential information would be wrapped into a report the IAEA must deliver to the U.N. Security Council on February 21 on whether Iran has heeded a demand to stop enriching uranium.If not, Iran faces the threat of broader sanctions.Iran is heading in the opposite direction from that sought by the Security Council, said the first EU diplomat.

Iranian media have repeatedly quoted hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying February 11 will be a day to prove the Iranian nation's obvious right to nuclear technology.

Three-thousand centrifuges going nonstop could purify enough uranium for one bomb within a year, assuming Iran wants one.Tehran has run two pilot cascades of 164 centrifuges in a small research-level wing of Natanz for months, enriching token amounts of uranium but more often dry-spinning them. But Iran has struggled to get centrifuges to spin smoothly in unison without overheating or vibrations for
sustained periods the key to producing volumes of enriched uranium. Analysts say that even if Iran has 3,000 on line in Natanz by June, no sure thing given a litany of previous delays, it may well need another year to iron out technical glitches and a further year to generate usable quantities of nuclear fuel.

Therefore, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said plenty of time remains for the major world powers and Iran to resuscitate negotiations on a compromise which analysts and media say could entail capping Iran's program short of industrial scale with trade benefits for Tehran in the bargain. He has said a last-resort, pre-emptive strike on Iran mooted in the United States and Israel would be disastrous by inflaming the whole Middle East and giving Iranian radicals an excuse to pull Tehran out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But a war of nerves between Iran and the West is worsening. As Washington moved a second aircraft carrier group into the Gulf, Iran barred entry to 38 IAEA inspectors with Western nationality, among the 200 designated to work in the country. Diplomats close to the IAEA say Iran has also held up the installation of IAEA cameras to monitor the underground Natanz hall, although Tehran has strongly denied this. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in Berlin and Edmund Blair in Tehran)

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).

Merkel focuses on GCC free trade MON FEB 5,07

Merkel, left, started her Middle East tour by meeting Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president [AFP]Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has urged the EU and the Arabian Gulf states to complete negotiations on a long-awaited pact to establish a free trade zone.I think that now is the time to come to an agreement, Merkel told an economic conference in the Arab emirate of Abu Dhabi on Monday.

That would be a significant signal.

Earlier, in Saudi Arabia, Merkel met Abdul Rahman, the general-secretary of the GCC, to discuss the next steps in the trade talks between the EU and the Gulf states.The GCC is made up of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.A German official on tour with Merkel said on condition of anonymity: There is a clear political desire on both sides to get a swift resolution to the disputed points.Germany holds the EU presidency until the end of June.Talks between the group and the EU began in 1990, but were slowed by the GCC agreeing only in 1999 to move towards forming a customs union and a new EU negotiating strategy adopted in 2001 to include the services sector in the talks.The EU is the GCC's top trade partner, while the Gulf group ranks number six for the 27-nation union.Other issues Merkel wants to discuss with Middle East leaders are Iran's nuclear programme and her efforts to revive the stalled peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.In addition to Saudi Arabia, Merkel has visited Abu Dhabi and Egypt during her four-day
trip. On Tuesday, she heads for Dubai and Kuwait.

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