JULY 3 ASTEROID TO FLY PAST EARTH

1-EU Israel,Palestinians must step back from brink.2-Quake 5.6 hits IRAN. 3-Northeast floods kill 9.4-July 3 asteroid to fly past Earth.

Notice the EU is in the thick of it.

DANIEL 9:27
27 And he(EU President) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(7 YRS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Israel, Palestinians must step back from brink -EU
28 Jun 2006 11:05:40 GMT,Source: Reuters

More BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) - Israel and Palestinian militants must "step back from the brink" before a crisis over the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier spirals out of control, the European Union said on Wednesday.All sides need to consider their responsibilities extremely carefully, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.She reiterated a call for those holding Corporal Gilad Shalit to free him and urged Israel to act with prudence" to allow diplomatic efforts to secure his release to work.

Both sides must step back from the brink before this becomes a crisis that neither can control, she said.Israel sent tanks backed by helicopter gunships and artillery into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to step up pressure on Palestinian militants to release Shalit,who was captured in a cross-border raid by Palestinian gunmen three days earlier.

LUKE 21:11,25-26
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
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; the sea and the waves roaring;
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.

Quake hits Iran; no reports of casualties Wed Jun 28, 6:33 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - An earthquake shook southern Iran early Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Radio reports said residents of the southwestern city of Bandar Abbas poured into the streets after the quake hit.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 1:32 a.m. (local time) and had a magnitude of 5.6. It was centered about 35 miles southwest of Bandar Abbas or about 650 miles southeast of Tehran, the capital.No other details were immediately available.

Even moderate quakes have killed thousands of people in the past in the Iranian countryside where houses are often built of bricks. In March, three strong earthquakes and several aftershocks jolted western Iran overnight, killing at least 66 people. In February last year, a 6.4-magnitude quake rocked the town of Zarand in southern Iran, killing 612 people and injuring more than 1,400.Some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6-magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam in the same region in 2003.

U.S. Northeast Floods Kill 9; Evacuations Ordered (Update7)

June 28 (Bloomberg) -- A storm system that battered the mid- Atlantic U.S. this week moved north to New England, causing floods that killed at least nine people in three states, forced thousands from their homes and washed out four lanes of Interstate 88 in New York. States of emergency were declared for counties in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey today as rivers rose. While the storms have passed and the sun has peeked from the clouds, the situation is expected to worsen as water from the storms feeds from tributaries into major rivers like the Susquehanna and the Delaware. We pray that we're going to be spared here, but it looks like the danger may be far from over,'' said Justin Fleming, a spokesman for the Emergency Management Agency in Pennsylvania.

Officials in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, ordered an evacuation of as many as 200,000 people from the Wyoming Valley, including Wilkes-Barre, after forecasters said the Susquehanna may crest tonight as high as 15 feet above flood stage. Three people died last night in Maryland when they were swept out of the bed of a pickup truck stranded in high water, the Associated Press reported.

Interstate Disaster

In upstate New York, high water washed out a section of Interstate 88. This morning, two tractor-trailer drivers were killed after their rigs fell into the 55-foot-wide, 25-foot-deep chasm that stretched across all four lanes of the highway near Unadilla, New York, state police Lieutenant Robert Galletto said. Officials in Binghamton ordered evacuations of at least 4,000 people as the Susquehanna --
20 feet higher than the norm for this time of year -- lapped over flood walls in the city.In Trenton, New Jersey, police closed state route 29 along the Delaware, forecast to crest tomorrow about eight feet above flood stage.Traffic accidents related to high water also killed one person in Pennsylvania and another in Maryland. A 15-year-old boy drowned in a Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, lake, and the boyfriend of the boy's mother also drowned trying to rescue him, AP said.

Rescue crews in Maryland searched for two teenagers who were reported missing last night. Their parents said the boys went to look at a rain-swollen creek in Frederick County; the father of one of the boys later found his 14-year-old's bicycle and some
clothing.In Alleghany County in southwestern Virginia, rescuers searched for a missing 8-year-old girl who was swept into floodwaters yesterday afternoon, the Roanoke Times reported.

Storm's Path

A low that formed yesterday off the Carolinas moved over the Chesapeake Bay overnight with gale-force winds between 39 and 54 miles per hour (63 to 87 kilometers per hour), the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center said. The system is now over New England.`The rain has gone; it's now draining off into rivers and creeks,' weather service meteorologist Roy Miller said in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Rainfall of 6.11 inches was recorded this morning in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, and 4.75 inches in Myerstown, he said. One observer for the weather service reported 13.3 inches in Nescopeck in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Coastal and inland flood warnings and watches were issued today for eight states from Vermont to Virginia. About 50 National Guard members in Pennsylvania have been sent to two flooded counties, and about 650 more could be called in if flooding worsens, said Fleming of the Pennsylvania emergency office. Evacuations are ordered on rivers in four counties, he said.

Difficult Situation

In Trenton, officials ordered about 1,500 residents to evacuate the so-called Island and Glen Afton neighborhoods near the Delaware River, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said.`We really have a very difficult situation on our hands, he said in a telephone interview.In parts of Maryland and Virginia, more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain fell in the past four days, according to the weather service. Power outages and flooding forced several government buildings in Washington, including the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service to close this week.

Montgomery County, Maryland, officials ordered the evacuation of about 2,000 people below a leaking earthen dam at Lake Needwood east of Rockville, said Lieutenant Dorcus Howard Richards, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County's fire and rescue service. The lake rose 25 feet above normal, she said. Maryland's Brunswick commuter train line remained closed today because of trees knocked onto the tracks by the storm, Maryland Transit Administration spokeswoman Cheron Wicker said. Freight trains were stopped on the tracks, and five trains on the agency's Penn Line were canceled. Maryland expects to have service fully restored tomorrow, she said. State lawmakers in Trenton trying to agree on a budget by a June 30 deadline delayed a key hearing by the Assembly's budget committee because of flooding around the statehouse.

To contact the reporter on this story:Shannon D. Harrington in New York at sharrington6@bloomberg.net.

LUKE 21:11,25
11 and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars(in Space)

Huge Asteroid to Fly Past Earth July 3 Joe Rao,SPACE.com

An asteroid possibly as large as a half-mile or more in diameter is rapidly approaching the Earth.There is no need for concern, for no collision is in the offing, but the space rock will make an exceptionally close approach to our planet early on Monday, July 3,passing just beyond the Moon's average distance from Earth. Astronomers will attempt to get a more accurate assessment of the asteroid's size by pinging it with radar. And skywatchers with good telescopes and some experience just might be able to get a glimpse of this cosmic rock as it streaks rapidly past our planet in the wee hours Monday.

The closest approach occurs late Sunday for U.S. West Coast skywatchers.The asteroid, designated 2004 XP14, was discovered on Dec. 10, 2004 by the Lincoln
Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), a continuing camera survey to keep watch for asteroids that may pass uncomfortably close to Earth. Although initially there were concerns that this asteroid might possibly impact Earth later this century and thus merit special monitoring, further analysis of its orbit has since ruled out any such collision, at least in the foreseeable future.

Size not known

Asteroid 2004 XP14 is a member of a class of asteroids known as Apollo, which have Earth-crossing orbits. The name comes from 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered. There are now 1,989 known Apollos. The size of 2004 XP 14 is not precisely known. But based on its brightness, the diameter is believed to be somewhere in the range of 1,345 to 3,018-feet (410 to 920 meters). That's between a quarter mile and just over a half-mile wide. Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth [Map] and its estimated size, this object has been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” (PNA) by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

There are currently 783 PNAs. The latest calculations show that 2004 XP14 will pass closest to Earth at 04:25 UT on July 3 (12:25 a.m. EDT or 9:25 p.m. PDT on July 2). The asteroid's distance from Earth at that moment will be 268,624-miles (432,308 km), or just 1.1 times the Moon's average distance from Earth.Spotting 2004 XP14 will be a challenge, best accomplished by seasoned observers with moderate-sized telescopes.On April 13, 2029, observers in Asia and North Africa will have a chance to see another asteroid, but without needing a telescope.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis, about 1,000 feet (300 meters) wide, is expected to be visible to the naked eye as it passes within 20,000 miles (32,000 km). Astronomers say an asteroid that large comes that close about once every 1,500 years.

Observing plans

As 2004 XP14 makes its closest approach to Earth, astronomers will attempt to gauge its size and shape by analysis of very high frequency radio waves reflected from its surface. Such radar measurements of the exact distance and velocity of the asteroid will allow for precise information on its orbit. From this scientists can also discern details of the asteroid's mass, as well as a measurement of its density, which is a very important indicator of its overall composition and internal structure. Astronomers plan to utilize NASA's 70-meter (230-foot) diameter Goldstone radar, the largest and most sensitive antenna in its Deep Space Network.

Located in California's Mojave Desert, the Goldstone antenna has been used to bounce radio signals off other Near-Earth asteroids many times before, and it is now being readied to “ping” 2004 XP14 on July 3, 4 and 5. Augmenting the Goldstone observations will be radar observations scheduled at Evpatoria in the Ukraine, commencing several hours prior to the July 3 observations at Goldstone.Editor's Note: A SPACE.com viewer's guide for 2004 XP14 will be presented in Joe Rao's weekly Night Sky column on Friday, June 30.