HAS REGION CHANGED FOREVER

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

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.

Sharp 6.2 quake shakes sea floor near Vanuatu AUG 12,08

AFP WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A strong earthquake has struck near the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 6.2 quake was centered 290 miles northwest of the key city of Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo.Vanuatu is part of the Pacific ring of fire — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from Chile in South America through Alaska and down through Vanuatu to Tonga in the South Pacific.Vanuatu is made up of 83 islands and lies just over 1,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.

Small earthquake shakes northern Israel AUG 13,08

Wed Aug 13, 6:12 am ET AFP/File – A seismograph reading. A small earthquake has struck northern Israel without causing casualties or damage, … AFP JERUSALEM (AFP) – A small earthquake struck northern Israel on Wednesday without causing casualties or damage, the national seismological institute said.The quake, the epicentre of which was 50 kilometres (30 miles) off the northern coast near the seaside town of Acre, registered 3.2 on the Richter scale, the institute said.In June, scientists warned of the dangers of a large earthquake in southern Lebanon that could radiate across the region, urging local medical services to prepare disaster relief plans.Since February, abnormal seismic activity has been noted in southern Lebanon, which suffered some 500 minor quakes in a three-month period, the Israeli health ministry said.Similar concern has been voiced by Lebanese seismologists.

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.

Atlantic Disturbances, Tropical Storm Iselle Chris Dolce – Wed Aug 13, 6:05 pm ET

Reuters – Volunteer Bob Whitman (R), helps Ronald Wattigny to rebuild his home in More hurricanes predicted for Atlantic 11 News Houston Two disturbances in the Atlantic Ocean continue to be watched, but neither is likely to become a tropical storm soon. The disturbance closest to the United States is located about 200 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving toward the west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph. Showers and thunderstorms have flared during the day with this area of low pressure after a lull overnight. This system will be monitored over the next several days and may eventually get into a better environment for development. However, it does not appear likely to strengthen rapidly in the near future. In the Leeward Islands, expect increasing showers the next 36 hours. Farther east, about 700 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, squally weather co-located with low pressure has seen little change in organization today. Some slow development of this system is possible over the next couple of days as it plows westward at 10 to 15 mph well away from any land areas. Another disturbance is just now pushing off the west coast of Africa several hundred miles southeast of the Cape Verdes. In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Depression 10-E has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Iselle. Iselle is located about 230 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. The depression is moving toward the west-northwest at 10 mph away from land. Only minor strengthening is expected the next several days as the storm moves out to sea.

Fresh floods in Vietnam kill teenager, toll 120 Wed Aug 13, 1:47 am ET Reuters

News Houston HANOI (Reuters) – Fresh floods triggered by rains swept away a teenager in northern Vietnam and several boats were destroyed, the government said on Wednesday, as it struggled to deliver aid to thousands of people hit by the worst floods in four decades.At least 120 people have been killed after days of heavy rains triggered by the remnants of a tropical storm. Another 44 are missing.On Tuesday, rescue workers found the body of a 13-year-old boy in Quang Ninh province after it was hit by torrential rains from a tropical low-pressure system, the government said in a report.Another four people were missing.The low-pressure system weakened as it made landfall in Quang Ninh, moved further inland and dispersed, the national weather bureau said.The region is about 1,500 km (930 miles) north of Vietnam's main rice and coffee production zones. Preliminary estimates of property losses in three of the 11 provinces affected by the disaster stood at 1.74 trillion dong ($105 million).The government estimated nearly 800 houses collapsed or were swept away, nearly 17,900 homes and more than 15,000 hectares of rice and other crops were destroyed. River waters peaked on Sunday at close to the record level in 1968, the government said.Provincial authorities should stay together with the people to instruct forces to urgently overcome the consequences, helping people stabilize life and keep updating damages, the government report said.Rescuers recovered five bodies in Lao Cai province on the border with China, bringing the death toll in the province to 53 while another 37 were still missing after floods swept through villages at the weekend.All the victims were residents of Lao Cai, popular among foreign tourists for its mountain resort town of Sapa.More than 200 people, among some 700 foreign tourists stranded in Lao Cai, have been airlifted by helicopter back to Hanoi while more were expected to leave by trains or cars as workers repaired the damaged sections of roads and the railways.The Lao Cai People's Committee has asked the central government for urgent aid of 70 tonnes of rice, blankets, mosquito nets and clothes to help flood victims, the government said.
(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

CLAIM DEAD BIGFOOT ON ICE
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72299

ISRAELI FORCES BAR JEWS FROM RECLAIMING JERUSALEM PROPERTY
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72298

ISRAEL ADOPTS U.S PLAN TO SPLIT NATION IN 2
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72178

GEORGIA GETS RELIEF AIDE FROM U.S
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72178

NEWS VIDEOS TODAY AUG 13,08
http://news.yahoo.com/video

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.

Anne Penketh: Moscow flexed military muscle, and left West humiliated Wednesday, 13 August 2008

Russia is back. That is the indisputable result of the six-day war in the heart of Europe which may have changed the borders of a state for ever.The conflict, conducted with brio by Vladimir Putin, who clearly remains the man in charge of the Kremlin, has ended on Russia's terms, and there is nothing the West can do about it. Moscow has demonstrated that it is prepared to use military might to further its strategic goals, while the democracies of the West are not. In the world of international power games, Mr Putin's newly assertive Russia has chalked up a victory whose ripples will be felt for years to come. The US and Europe, dependent on Russian goodwill and gas, have been humbled. But the most chilling defeat is for Georgia, the former Soviet republic which dared to switch strategic allegiances and stand up to the Kremlin. Russia's goals in embarking on the war in Georgia were twofold. It wanted to get rid of a troublesome leader who was too independent for Russia's liking, and had attracted the personal enmity of Mr Putin, who now wants the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, hauled before a war crimes tribunal like Saddam Hussein. But the Kremlin had also drawn a line in the sand over Nato membership for Georgia. Mr Saakashvili's botched attempt to bring a breakaway region under central government control last Thursday gave Mr Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, the opportunity he had craved on the pretext of humanitarian intervention to halt a genocide. The revenge for Russia – and Mr Putin personally – is sweet. At a stroke, it is payback time for the Russians, who were ignored by the US and its allies before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo independence earlier this year. We can now see that they took Russia for granted at their peril. Moscow has not been such a dominant player on the global stage since the days of the Soviet Union.

No one in Georgia or a Western capital doubts that Moscow's lightning retaliation when Georgian forces launched their surprise attack on the South Ossetian capital was long planned. Mr Saakashvili ignored Western warnings – including those from the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to Georgia – not to respond to Russian provocation. But in the end he fell into the Russian trap by ordering an ill-planned strike while the eyes of the world were on the Olympic Games in Beijing. He cannot have anticipated the overwhelming response from the nuclear power across the border, involving massive firepower from tanks, warplanes and battle-hardened Russian soldiers.The Russian fightback was branded disproportionate by US and European leaders who urged a ceasefire, convened the UN Security Council and sent envoys scurrying to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and Moscow. The latest leader to sue for peace was the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, bearing a plan which has yet to be fully endorsed by all sides. Russia now holds the best cards because Mr Putin realised early on – presumably from his conversations with President George Bush in Beijing – that the West has no stomach for a war with Russia to save Georgian democracy.Mr Bush spoke out strongly in the White House Rose Garden on his return to Washington from Beijing on Monday. It now appears that an effort may be under way to depose Georgia's duly elected government. Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century, he said. But what are the penalties for violating the territorial integrity of a sovereign state? Russia recognises that Georgia's breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgian territory. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, it resulted in UN sanctions and a war against Saddam Hussein. In this case, the UN Security Council – where Russia holds veto power – has been paralysed. President Bush has warned that Russia risked harming its relations with the US and the EU.The Kremlin masters will hardly be trembling in their boots, although they have now pulled back Russian troops from Georgia proper. The war ended as quickly as it began. But Dmitry Medvedev, who has replaced Mr Putin as President, made it clear that the Russian peacekeepers who had been stationed in both breakaway regions would remain. The EU-backed plan provides for discussion of the future status of Georgia's breakaway regions – so the borders of Europe are no longer sacrosanct.The most surprising thing about the West's reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia is the shock that the military action generated. The Cold War warriors of Europe, the former Soviet bloc states which are now Nato and EU members, were certainly not surprised as they watched the rise of an authoritarian brand of government in Russia under Mr Putin. Russian leaders, and successive defence ministers, have warned for years that the Kremlin remained fundamentally opposed to Nato's encroachment as it gobbled up former Soviet states and countries of the former Soviet bloc. To the north, the three Baltic states are now Nato members. To the west, there is Poland. Ukraine and Georgia are campaigning for membership, threatening Russia with strategic suffocation. Although last April's Nato summit failed to set a timetable, the two former Soviet republics were given assurances of eventual membership of the Western alliance.

Since then, Russia has set about strengthening ties with Georgia's rebellious regions to punish Mr Saakashvili, culminating in the short, sharp war. Nato is now in a bind. The Western alliance is loath to be seen allowing a third country – Russia – a veto in its affairs. So yesterday, the Nato secretary general reaffirmed that the offer of Georgia's membership still stood. But Mr Saakashvili's headstrong and impulsive behaviour in the crisis, following his disastrous crackdown on demonstrators last November, has eroded Western support. For Ukraine, the future looks even bleaker. If Russia was prepared to act militarily over Nato membership of Georgia, a country of four million people – what calamity awaits Ukraine, a powerhouse of 46 million with a sizeable Russian minority?

Russia defies truce with Georgia; US sending aid By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press AUG 13,08

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia – A Russian military convoy defied a cease-fire agreement Wednesday and rolled through a strategically important city in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which claimed fresh looting and bombing by the Russians and their allies.President Bush said a massive U.S. aid package was on the way for tens of thousands uprooted in the conflict and demanded Russia keep its word and act to end this crisis.The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected, Bush said sternly in Washington.One day after the Kremlin and its smaller neighbor agreed to a French-brokered cease-fire to end the dispute over two pro-Russian breakaway territories, the pact appeared fragile at best.An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of Russian trucks and armored vehicles leaving the city of Gori, some 20 miles south of the separatist region of South Ossetia and home of a key highway that divides Georgia in two, and moving deeper into Georgia.Soldiers waved at journalists and one jokingly shouted, Come with us, beauty, we're going to Tbilisi. The convoy roared southeast, toward the Georgian capital, but then turned north and set up camp about an hour's drive away from it.Georgian officials said the Russians had looted and bombed Gori before they left. Moscow denied the accusation, but it appeared to be on a technicality: A BBC reporter in Gori said Russian tanks were in the streets while their South Ossetian allies seized cars, looted homes and set houses on fire.As confusion reigned on the first day of the cease-fire agreement, Bush called a Rose Garden speech to express concern about reports the Russians were already breaking it.He said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice first to France and then to Tbilisi to reinforce U.S. efforts to rally the world in defense of a free Georgia.

For her part, Rice said: This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.The president said a huge U.S. aid effort was under way, including American naval forces and C-17 military cargo planes, to get clothes, blankets, medicine and other supplies to refugees. The European Union agreed to consider deploying European peacekeeping monitors to the area.Besides the hundreds killed since hostilities broke out last week, a United Nations agency estimates 100,000 Georgians may have been uprooted. A spokesman said the U.N. refugee agency was helping evacuate about 1,500 people fleeing the Kodori Gorge in the breakaway province of Abkhazia alone on Wednesday.Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili conducted a blitz of interviews with news outlets at home and abroad and made a series of claims, some of which were disputed as inaccurate or exaggerated.

He said on national television that the U.S. arrival of a military cargo plane with humanitarian aid means that Georgia's ports and airports will be taken under the control of the U.S. Defense Department.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell stressed the United States had no plans to take over Georgian airports or seaports to deliver the aid.It is simply not required for us to fulfill our humanitarian mission, he said. We have no designs on taking control of any Georgian facility.In a sharp response to Bush's speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Georgia's leadership a special project of the United States. And we understand that the United States is worried about its project.Russian news agencies quoted him saying the United States would have to choose support for a virtual project and or real partnership on issues such as U.S.-Russian cooperation on Iran and other world tension spots. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili criticized Western nations for failing to help Georgia, a U.S. ally that has been seeking NATO membership. In a way, he said, Russians are fighting a proxy war with the West through us.The conflict centers on South Ossetia and another region claimed by Georgia that leans Russian, Abkhazia. When Georgia cracked down on South Ossetia on Aug. 7, Russia sent its tanks and troops into the two regions and deeper into Georgia proper. Georgia, bordering the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Abkhazia lies close to the heart of many Russians. Its coast was a favorite vacation spot in Soviet times and the province is just down the coast from Sochi, the Russian resort that will host the 2014 Olympics. Russia has distributed passports to most in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and stationed peacekeepers there since the early 1990s. Georgia wants the peacekeepers out, but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has insisted they stay.

Jeffrey Mankoff, an adjunct fellow for Russian studies at The Council on Foreign Relations, said it was too soon to tell the real intentions behind Russia's push into Georgia. On the one hand this could be a way to set up a buffer zone between the separatist regions, and on the other it also seems there is an aspect of disbanding the Georgian military aspects, Mankoff said. In defiance, a few dozen Abkhazian fighters, some with assault rifles and one with a dagger, planted their red, white and green flag in Georgian territory across the Inguri River. This is Abkhazian land, one of them said. Another laughed that Georgians retreating from Abkhazia had received American training in running away.The peace plan apparently would allow Georgian forces to return to the positions they held in South Ossetia and Abkhazia before Aug. 7 and clearly requires Russia to leave all parts of Georgia except South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Nevertheless, Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said 50 Russian tanks entered Gori on Wednesday morning. Some of the Russian units that later left to camp outside the city were camouflaged with foliage. The convoy was mainly support vehicles, including ambulances, although there were a few heavy cannons. There were about 100 combat troops and another 100 medics, drivers and other support personnel. About six miles away from the camp, about 80 well-equipped Georgian soldiers were forming what appeared to be a new front line, armed with pistols, shoulder-launched anti-tank rockets and Kalashnikovs. Sporadic clashes continued in South Ossetia where Russians responded to Georgian snipers. In the Black Sea port of Poti, and Georgian television showed boats ablaze in the harbor. Georgia's security chief also said Russian forces targeted three Georgian boats, while Lavrov said Russian troops were nowhere near the city. For several days, Russian troops held the western town of Zugdidi near Abkhazia, controlling the region's main highway. An AP reporter saw a convoy of 13 Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers in Zugdidi's outskirts Wednesday. Later in the day, Georgian officials said the Russians pulled out of Zugdidi. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree Wednesday saying that Russian navy ships deployed to the Georgian coast will need authorization to return to the navy base Russia leases from Ukraine. The rights group Human Rights Watch said it has witnessed South Ossetian fighters looting ethnic Georgians' houses and has recorded multiple accounts of Georgian militias intimidating ethnic Ossetians. The report was important independent confirmation of the claims by each side in the Russia-Georgia conflict. Meanwhile, at the Olympics in Beijing, Georgia and Russia clashed in competition for the first time. Georgia rallied to beat Russia in beach volleyball, two sets to one. Russia and Georgia are actually friends. People are friends, said the Georgian beach volleyball team leader, Levan Akhtulediani. I say once again, its better to compete on the field rather than outside the field. Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia reported from Zugdidi, Georgia, and near the Kodori Gorge; Matti Friedman and Sergei Grits from outside Gori, Georgia; Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili and David Nowak from Tbilisi, Georgia; Vladimir Isachenkov, Jim Heintz, Lynn Berry and Angela Charlton in Moscow; Matthew Lee, Pauline Jelinek and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; John Heilprin at the United Nations; and Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.

Georgian president's Russia claims raise eyebrows By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI. AUG 13,08 Reuters

TBILISI, Georgia – It was a claim that could have provoked a dangerous Kremlin response: The United States is readying to take over airports and ports in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.The claim, by U.S.-backed Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday was swiftly shot down by officials in Washington, who denied any such designs on Georgian soil.Yet, it was the latest in a string of overstated pronouncements by the American-educated Georgian leader that are further fueling tensions with Moscow.His comments — along with a stream of biased, conflicting and often false information coming from both Russian and Georgian officials — have made it hard to figure out what is really happening in the world's latest hotspot.Fighting between the Russian and Georgian armies raged for days, leaving hundreds dead and some 100,000 forced from their homes. The U.S. government and world diplomats are scrambling for a way to cool the tensions.Warfare erupted when Georgia sought to retake control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia last Thursday and Russia responded with overwhelming military force.Saakashvili has been conducting daily interviews in his fluent English on international television networks and making frequent televised speeches at home.On Wednesday, he said in an interview on CNN that Russian troops were closing on the capital, circling, and planning to install their own government in Tbilisi.Associated Press reporters in the area saw no sign of an impending coup. An AP reporter saw dozens of Russian trucks and armored vehicles heading south from the central city of Gori in the direction of Tbilisi, but they later turned away.Saakashvili said Russian troops moving deeper into Georgia even steal toilet seats.He later said on Georgian national television that the U.S. arrival of a military cargo plane with humanitarian aid means that Georgia's ports and airports will be taken under the control of the U.S. Defense Department.Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell responded, We have no need, nor do we intend to take over any Georgian air or seaport to deliver humanitarian aid. ... We have no designs on taking control of any Georgian facility.Saakashvili has repeatedly compared the Russian incursions to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939, to the Soviet crackdown in Prague in 1968 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.In his Wednesday TV address, he said, Russia has lost more airplanes than in any conflict of this scale since 1939. While such figures are not publicly available, the calculation seemed unlikely given how brief the fighting has been and how uneven the two countries' forces are.

He also cited rumors that Russia was planning to bomb a rally in Tbilisi on Tuesday. The rally ended peacefully.Saakashvili insists he's not overstating anything, and lamented Wednesday that the West ignored his warnings that Russia was planning a military operation in Georgia as exaggerations.Now look what they're doing. This has already exceeded my worst expectations.Saakashvili, who graduated from Columbia University Law School, has always been blunt, and his bold language and flamboyant manner helped drive the Rose Revolution that brought him to power after disputed elections in 2003. He has long been derided in Russia, where he is seen as a vassal of the United States as it seeks to expand its influence in Moscow's backyard. The conflict has made that worse. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev indirectly referred to his Georgian counterpart as a lunatic on Tuesday. Russia's leadership has been fierce — and often wrong — in its claims about the conflict, too. Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said in a BBC interview Wednesday, There were many reports that Russian tanks are inside Georgia which later proved out to be totally untrue.AP reporters saw a Russian convoy in the area of Gori on Wednesday, including support vehicles, ambulances, heavy cannons and about 100 combat troops. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Moscow contributed to this report.

Syria, Lebanon agree to establish diplomatic ties Associated Press Writer Albert Aji, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 13, 5:16 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time, taking a step toward healing tensions that have fueled decades of turmoil in Lebanon.Many Lebanese had long seen Damascus' refusal of ties as proof it had not given up claims that its smaller neighbor is part of Syrian territory and still aimed to dominate Lebanon. The deal is a significant symbolic victory for them, acknowledging Lebanon as an independent state.Syria, however, only agreed to relations after its influence in Lebanon was guaranteed by the creation on Tuesday of a unity government in Beirut that gives Damascus-allied Hezbollah a strong say in Lebanese decision-making.Still, the agreement — along with the unity government — could go a long way to easing three years of continuous crisis in Lebanon, where the power struggle between pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. But the rivalry remains uneasy, and any attempt by either to dominate could spark new unrest.Syria controlled Lebanon for nearly 30 years, after sending its army in as peacekeepers during the 1975-90 civil war. Its direct hold was broken in 2005, when anger over the slaying of ex-Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri — blamed by many on Damascus — forced the troops to leave.Even after the withdrawal, anti-Syria Lebanese accused Damascus of trying to maintain its influence, saying it was egging Hezbollah to topple the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. They also accused Syria of being behind a string of assassinations of anti-Syria figures since 2005 to intimidate Beirut and destabilize the country.

Syria denies any role in the Hariri killing or the other attacks.

The decision to open embassies in each another's capitals came during a landmark visit to Syria by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the first such visit by a Lebanese head of state since the Syrian troop withdrawal.Suleiman and his Syrian counterpart, President Bashar Assad, decided Wednesday to establish diplomatic relations ... on the level of embassies in accordance with the United Nations charter and international laws, said Assad's adviser, Buthaina Shaaban.No date was given for opening the embassies.The United States, which backs Saniora, welcomed the decision but pushed for Syria to stay out of Lebanese affairs.We have long stood for the normalization of relations between Syria and Lebanon on the basis of equality and respect for Lebanese sovereignty. One of the steps that has long been required is the establishment of a proper embassy for Syria in Lebanon and vice versa, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.Now, if the Syrians will go ahead and demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria, and respect Lebanon's sovereignty in other ways, then this will have proved to be a very good step, she added.Many Lebanese lawmakers also have called for the border to be formally demarcated, and Syria's official news agency, SANA, said Suleiman and Assad discussed that issue.

The new progress comes after Lebanon appeared about to break into civil war in May, when Hezbollah fighters battled with Saniora supporters and seized parts of Beirut.

After the display of Hezbollah's power, the factions worked out a peace deal. They agreed to elect then-army chief Suleiman as president — a post left empty for months — and to form a unity government that gives Hezbollah and its allies enough Cabinet seats to veto major decisions.

Lebanon's parliament approved the new government Tuesday.

Assad had first raised the idea of establishing ties to Suleiman when they met in Paris last month on the sidelines of a Euro-Mediterranean summit. Assad told Suleiman the step was possible once a unity government was confirmed. State-run Syrian newspapers welcomed Suleiman's visit, saying it would put Syrian-Lebanese relations back on track. The newspaper Tishrin said in an editorial that the visit would lay the foundations for a new phase of brotherly relations.Welcome President Michel Suleiman. Welcome Lebanon, said a headline in another newspaper, al-Thawra.
Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report.

US dispatches envoy in bid to break NKorea nuclear deadlock
by P. Parameswaran P. Parameswaran – AUG 13,08

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday sent an envoy to Beijing for talks to help break a deadlock over a mechanism to verify North Korea's nuclear weapons program.Sung Kim, the State Department's top Korea expert, is going to consult with the Chinese regarding efforts to secure a strong verification regime and additional progress in the six party talks, a department official told AFP.He is expected to conclude his meeting in Beijing over the weekend, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.This is the second trip by Sung Kim to Beijing in two weeks and is aimed at breaking an impasse with North Korea over a verification protocol that Washington wants the hardline communist state to adopt before it is removed from a US terrorism blacklist.North Korea has reportedly rejected parts of US-proposed protocol aimed at examining nuclear programs declared by Pyongyang, as part of a six-nation accord aimed at ending its nuclear weapons drive in return for diplomatic and security guarantees and energy aid.It was not clear whether Sung Kim would also meet with North Korean officials as he did during the last trip to the Chinese capital.China is chair of the six-nation talks involving also the United States, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.As part of a six-nation accord, Pyongyang has already shut down its main nuclear reactor and is disabling it, ahead of dismantlement and surrendering of its nuclear weapons.But the denuclearization process is stuck over disagreement on the verification measures, which Washington says should be adopted before it removes North Korea from its State Sponsors of Terrorism blacklist.The Bush administration reportedly provided North Korea with a four-page draft verification protocol at the latest round of six-way talks in Beijing last month.Among other requirements, it called for full access by inspectors to all North Korean nuclear sites, Asian diplomats said.While Pyongyang agreed to general principles for verifying the nuclear declaration, including visits to facilities, review of documents, and interviews with technical personnel, there is no agreement yet on the extent to which access can be provided to international inspectors, the diplomats said.The Bush administration also wants the protocol to be rigorous, covering Pyongyang's plutonium program -- from which it manufactured bombs, one of which was test fired in 2006 -- as well as its sensitive uranium enrichment program and its proliferation activities.In a related development, Washington hailed Wednesday an agreement reached between North Korea and Japan over terms for a probe into Pyongyang's abduction of Japanese nationals that could pave the way for Tokyo to lift some sanctions on its neighbour.We welcome the reports that an agreement was reached, the State Department official said.We understand that ... Japan and North Korea agreed to the basic outline of a resolution to the abduction issue and to steps for eventual removal of some Japanese sanctions on the DPRK (North Korea), the official said.Japan, a key US ally, had wanted a resolution of the abduction issue before North Korea could be removed from the US terror blacklist.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Canada's Harper aims to bolster Arctic sovereignty By Randall Palmer Randall Palmer

Tue Aug 12, 4:22 pm ET Reuters – Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (top L) gestures after he unveiled a recently rediscovered … OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Canada's far north in late August in a bid to bolster claims to Arctic sovereignty and to paint the opposition as weak on foreign policy and defense issues ahead of a possible election this fall.Harper will fly to the small coastal town of Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean and will even chair a meeting of top cabinet ministers in Inuvik in the Mackenzie River Delta region of the Northwest Territories.With increased international focus on the Arctic and the Northwest Passage through Canada opening up as ice melts, Ottawa has made it a priority to assert the country's claims over its northern waterways.It now has a geopolitical importance that a few years ago wasn't obvious, a senior Conservative official said, noting the region's potential as a new source of oil and gas, and also its strategic and environmental risks.Harper's minority Conservative government, keeping an eye on a possible election campaign, has pledged to buy new Arctic patrol ships, expand aerial surveillance and bolster the numbers and capabilities of the Canadian Rangers northern military unit.The Conservative source said Stephane Dion, leader of the main opposition Liberal Party, had said parks were needed more than ships but this naively ignored strategic realities.It's real focus, boots on the ground, (that is needed) ... to actively assert Canadian sovereignty, he said.

Dion spokesman Mark Dunn, reacting to the comments, turned the argument towards global warming.Maybe if Harper had an environmental policy the Arctic would still be frozen, Dunn said. Mr. Dion has always supported Arctic sovereignty.Dion and Harper could be going head to head in an election within the next few months, perhaps just after the U.S. election in November, with two prominent issues likely to be the environment and their leadership qualities.Dion has advocated what he calls the Green Shift, imposing new carbon taxes on fossil fuels as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan calls for the new carbon taxes to be offset by income tax cuts and subsidies for the poor.How well the Green Shift program is accepted by the public might determine whether Dion decides to pull the plug on the minority Conservative government, which was elected in January 2006. By-elections on September 8 to fill three vacant parliamentary seats may give an early indication.

If the Conservatives are not defeated in Parliament, triggering a new general election, a vote will automatically be held next October.Polls suggest neither the Conservatives nor the Liberals have enough popular support to win a majority if an election were held now.

Oil rebounds after US gasoline supplies drop By STEVENSON JACOBS, AP Business Writer Wed Aug 13, 4:48 pm

Reuters – An oil tanker nears the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Marine Terminal in Valdez, Alaska, August, 9 2008. (Lucas … NEW YORK – Oil prices rebounded Wednesday, jumping back to $116 a barrel after the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline supplies. But more signs of dwindling U.S. demand cast doubt on the rally's longevity.At the pump, a gallon of regular gasoline shed on average another penny overnight to $3.787, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's nearly 8 percent lower than record prices above $4a gallon reached last month, but still 37 percent higher than a year ago; retail gasoline prices tend to lag behind crude oil's moves by several weeks.In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said gasoline supplies fell by 6.4 million barrels to 202.8 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 8, nearly three times more than the 2.2 million barrel drop analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts had expected.The big drop in gasoline stocks prompted traders to buy oil and gasoline contracts on signs of supply tightness. However, analysts said the surprisingly large drawdown suggests that U.S. refineries are scaling back on production in response to falling demand — not that Americans are suddenly driving more because of easing pump prices.There's no doubt that refiners are making less gasoline, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. The demand is bad so why store a product that you're going to have trouble selling? Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose $2.99 to settle at $116 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling as low as $112.87 and after dropping about $7 in the last three sessions. Oil's advance has for the time being stopped a monthlong slide that took crude $35 below its July 11 high of $147.27.

Gasoline futures also jumped, with the September contract adding 8.91 cents to settle at $2.9323 a gallon on the Nymex.Despite the rebound, analyst doubted crude would regain the upward momentum seen last month, noting that traders have been quick to cash in on oil rallies in recent weeks and send prices lower.We've got a good-sized rally ... but it still doesn't feel like it's sustainable. We're not seeing the frenzy of buying that we would have seen a couple months ago, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.I think the true underlying demand weakness is still out there, he added, saying he believed that Americans were not yet reacting to easing pump prices by driving more. I don't think people are going to change their commuting habits that fast.The EIA said demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Aug. 8 was almost 2 percent lower than a year earlier, averaging 9.4 million barrels a day.Also Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said gasoline purchases fell in the first six months of 2008, sending overall U.S. demand for oil products to its lowest level in five years.

Gasoline deliveries fell 1.7 percent through the end of June compared to the first six months of 2007, the first significant decline in 17 years, the trade group said. Oil product deliveries were down 3 percent compared to the year-ago period.Higher pump prices and a slowing economy were undoubtedly factors, API statistics manager Ron Planting said.The EIA also said crude stockpiles fell by 400,000 barrels to 296.5 million barrels last week; analysts had expected crude supplies to increase by 500,000 barrels.Inventories of distillate fuel, which include diesel and heating oil, decreased by 1.7 million barrels to 131.6 million barrels for the week ended August 8. Analysts expected distillate stocks to rise by 1.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, a cease-fire declared by Russia and Georgia in their conflict over South Ossetia appeared to lower concerns that hostilities there could curtail oil shipments through Georgia.The International Energy Agency dropped its forecast on Tuesday for oil product demand from 30 developed countries, located mostly in Europe and North America, to 48.6 million barrels a day, down 1.3 percent from last year.

The Paris-based energy watchdog's report arrived a day after China said its crude imports in July, while historically strong, were down 7 percent from the same month last year. The IEA cautioned it is too early to determine whether the recent fall in oil prices is a longer-term trend. It said demand in developing countries could offset declines in developed nations, and that it sees Chinese oil demand continuing to grow at a robust pace. In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 5.89 cents to settle at $3.1317 a gallon, while natural gas futures rose 12.6 cents to settle at $8.456 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, September Brent crude rose $2.32 to settle at $113.47 a barrel. Associated Press writers Ernest Scheyder in New York and George Jahn in Vienna, Austria contributed to this report.