HAPPY ROSH HASHANAH ISRAEL

1-Rosh Hashanah in a Nutshell. 2-Police raise level of alert ahead of holidays. 3-Hurricane Helene weakens, spins away from U.S. 4-Islam, Religion of Peace. 5-Canada’s National Broadcaster Promotes Anti-Religion Extremist. 6-Israel's FM Livny in UN Speaks Out Against Iran. 7-American Jewry Protests Global Jihad Outside UN. 8-Iran given till early October to accept nuclear deal. 9-EU-US free trade agreement mooted in Berlin. 10-EU Rapid Reaction Battle Group, Including Bulgaria, to be Certified in June 2007.11-UN moves to revive stalled peace process.

HAPPY ROSH HASHANAH ISRAEL, MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT USE AND LEAD USE IN ALL THAT IS HOLY. WE PRAY FOR USE TO RAISE UP LEADERS TO DEMAND THE 3RD TEMPLE BE REBUILT BY THE DOME OF THE SPIRITS.

IN THE FUTURE, THIS IS THE DAY ROSH HASHANAH, I BELIEVE THE 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY OF DANIEL 9:27 WILL BE SIGNED ON.

Rosh Hashanah in a Nutshell

The festival of Rosh Hashanah --the name means Head of the Year --is observed for two days beginning on Tishrei 1, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in G-d's world.

Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between G-d and humanity: our dependence upon G-d as our creator and sustainer, and G-d's dependence upon us as the ones who make His presence known and felt in His world. Each year on Rosh Hashahnah, all inhabitants of the world pass before G-d like a flock of sheep, and it is decreed in the heavenly court, who shall live, and who shall die... who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise.But this is also the day we proclaim G-d King of the Universe. The Kabbalists teach that the continued existence of the universe is dependant upon the renewal of the divine desire for a world when we accept G-d's kingship each year on Rosh Hashanah.

The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram's horn, which represents the trumpet blast of a people's coronation of their king. The cry of the shofar is also a call to repentance; for Rosh Hashanah is also the anniversary of man's first sin and his repentance thereof, and serves as the first of the Ten Days of Repentance which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Another significance of the shofar is to recall the Binding of Isaac which also occurred on Rosh Hashanah, in which a ram took Isaac's place as an offering to G-d; we evoke Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son and plead that the merit of his deed should stand by us as we pray for a year of life, health and prosperity. Altogether, the shofar is sounded 100 times in the course of the Rosh Hashanah service.

Additional Rosh Hashanah observances include: a) Eating a piece of apple dipped in honey to symbolize our desire for a sweet year, and other special foods symbolic of the new year's blessings. b) Blessing one another with the words Leshanah tovah tikateiv veteichateim, May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. c) Tashlich, a special prayer said near a body of water (an ocean, river, pond, etc.) in evocation of the verse, And You shall cast their sins into the depths of the sea.And as with every major Jewish holiday after candlelighting and prayers we recite Kiddush and make a blessing on the Challah.

Police raise level of alert ahead of holidays(YNETNEWS)
Efrat Weiss

Thousands of policemen, soldiers to be stationed at city entrances, recreation centers on Rosh Hashanah. Police also preparing for month of Ramadan In preparation for the holidays, the police are raising the level of alert throughout Israel in fear of terrorist attacks. Police Chief Moshe Karadi said Monday that the police have received warnings of the intention of terrorist organizations to carry out attacks during the holidays, and the police are preparedly accordingly. On the night of Rosh Hashanah, the police will be on the highest possible alert level throughout the country. Policemen will be in full operational deployment. The police will operate in a number of concentric zones, from the seam line to areas within the country. Thousands of policemen, border police, and civil guard volunteers, along with the aid of Israel Defense Forces soldiers, will take part in the deployment that will focus on the morning of the holiday in markets and cemeteries, and throughout the holiday at synagogues, vacation spots, parks, and civilian entertainment spots. The security activities will be reinforced and stationed at mobile checkpoints and entrances to cities.

Civil guard volunteers will be incorporated into security missions in synagogues throughout the country while intensively acting to prevent the entrance of illegal Palestinian aliens into Israel. There will also be increased traffic patrols. Policemen will patrol main traffic routes in order to make it easier for drivers and to reduce expected traffic jams. During the holiday, the police will report traffic jams and suggestions for alternate routes in the media. The police are also preparing for the month of Ramadan, which the Muslims mark from this upcoming weekend. Jerusalem Police will be stationed around the Temple Mount.

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.

Hurricane Helene weakens, spins away from U.S. 1 hour, 54 minutes ago

MIAMI (Reuters) - Weakening Hurricane Helene turned away from the United States on Thursday on a northeastern path that forecasters said would probably keep it over the central Atlantic Ocean. Helene's increasingly ragged center was about 505 miles
east-southeast of Bermuda, the U.S.National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was moving into an area where cooler water and shearing winds were sapping its strength and was expected to complete a northeasterly turn that would prevent it from reaching land.Helene was once a powerful Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale but weakened on Thursday to a minimal Category 1 with top sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).

Helene is the eighth named storm of the surprisingly mild 2006 Atlantic storm season and the fourth to reach hurricane strength.

Last year's Atlantic hurricane season saw a record onslaught of 28 named storms, with 15 strengthening into hurricanes. Forecasters initially expected the six-month season that began on June 1 would also be unusually busy.But several factors have combined to make the storms fewer and weaker this year, including the presence of Saharan dust over the Atlantic and the development of El Nino conditions.El Nino is a warming of equatorial Pacific waters and is accompanied by changing wind patterns that make it harder for storms to form or strengthen in the Atlantic.Forecasters also kept an eye on a tropical disturbance far out in the Atlantic about 700 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands but said it had not grown more organized overnight.

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 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)

Islam, Religion of Peace
By Captain Toke

After 9/11, the fear of backlash against Muslims caused world leaders, church leaders from all religions and even President Bush to come out in defense of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace, was uttered over and over. In November of 2004, a Muslim extremist murdered Theo van Gogh, grandson of Vincent van Gogh. Theo van Gogh made a film about violence against women in Islamic societies. He also wrote columns that criticized Islamic violence. Van Gogh had received death threats for his past works, but he never took them seriously. Salmon Rushdie on the other hand, another author who criticized Islam, did take the threat seriously when Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini condemned him to death for insulting Islam, the prophet Mohammed and the holy Koran.

In May of 2005, Newsweek ran a story, later proven to be false, that Korans were being desecrated by US soldiers at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba. Muslim outrage and threats worldwide, fueled by Muslim clerics and Arab news reports, put Americans and US soldiers at risk. Thousands of Muslims rioted, hundreds of people injured, and fifteen to twenty five people killed. When foreign newspapers ran cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed in a less than flattering context (although simply depicting Mohammed is a capital offense), there were more riots, violence and death. In a clever response, Iran's president sponsored a 'Holocaust Cartoon Contest'. How did the Jews respond to that? Not with violence.

Ramadan, one of Islam's holiest of holidays, traditionally results in spikes Muslim violence. Islam's holiest of holidays causes spikes in Muslim violence. Does any other religion's most revered holidays cause a spike in violence? Christmas suicide bombings? Yom Kippur riots? Easter beheadings? In a speech, the pope recently quoted a 14th century Byzantine Emperor. The quote criticized Mohammed's spread of Islam by the sword as evil and inhuman. The pope has since apologized if he offended Muslims. After being criticized for being violent, Muslims around the world responded with violence. Muslims around the world have rioted. Muslim leaders have called for the death of the pope. The pope has been burned in effigy. Christian churches in the West Bank have been bombed and burned. A Catholic nun in Somalia has been killed.

What happened after 9/11? In the Arab world, Muslims were dancing in the streets, celebrating the deaths of three thousand Americans. In America we were being reminded that Islam is a religion of peace.

Well the Bible does say, Christians and Jews will be hated in these last days. As the old saying goes "THE TRUTH HURTS". Even when I tell people what will be happening at Tim Hortons, I get odd looks, your nuts, or they just up and leave. ALL I HAVE TO SAY TO THESE MOCKERS AND SKEPTICS IS "GODS IN CONTROL" AND WE WILL SEE WHO WILL PREVAIL, AND WHOS FLESH SHALL BE CONSUMED BY THE BIRDS IN THE NEAR FUTURE FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM.

REVELATION 19:11-21
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.(KING JESUS)
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.(JESUS IN THE FLESH)
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(ARMIES AGAINST JERUSALEM)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Canada’s National Broadcaster Promotes Anti-Religion Extremist
Condemns all adherents of God-centered religion as would-be murderers
By Gudrun Schultz

TORONTO, Ontario, September 18, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A documentary condemning all adherents of God-centered religion as would-be murderers, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, is being promoted by Canada’s national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.Showcased by CBC Newsworld’s The Big Picture with host Avi Lewis, The God Delusion is a radical condemnation of God-centered religion. Scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins, a man the CBC refers to as the UK’s best-known atheist, who holds a chair in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, accuses Judaism, Christianity and Islam of plotting to destroy civilized science-based society.

There are would-be murderers all round the world who want to kill you and me, and themselves, because they’re motivated by what they think is the highest ideal, Dawkins says at the beginning of his documentary.The suicide bomber is convinced that in killing for his God, he will be fast-tracked to a special martyr’s heaven. This isn’t just a problem of Islam. In this program, I want to examine that dangerous thing that is common to Judaism and Christianity as well, that process of non-thinking called faith.To a background of film clips interspersing violence, car burnings and religious ceremonies, Dawkins warns of the danger posed by religious faith to science and rational thought, saying, the 21century should be an age of reason, but irrational militant faith is back on the march.

The time has come for people of reason to say enough is enough.Religious faith discourages independent thought, it’s divisive and it’s dangerous.Host Avi Lewis questions the intensity of Dawkins’ anti-religious fervor, acknowledging a fundamentalist totality in Dawkins’ rejection of religion.[A]s Dawkins categorically dismisses all people of faith (including moderates) as dangerous dupes, you’re tempted to ask whether he himself is demonstrating a certainty that borders on fundamentalism - whether his unshakeable faith in science is just as fixed as the beliefs of those he condemns.

Israel's FM Livny in UN Speaks Out Against Iran
By Hillel Fendel(INN)

At a UN General Assembly session attended by family members of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, Israel's Foreign Minister called on the world to act according to its values and stand up to Iran. If we want to protect our values,Minister Tzippy Livny said, it is not enough to believe in them we must act according to them. There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by the leaders of Iran. They deny and mock the Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their desire to wipe Israel off the map. And now, by their actions, they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective, to imperil the region and to threaten the world.Saying that the moment of truth had arrived, Livny continued, The international community is faced with no greater responsibility than to stand against this dark and growing danger not for Israel’s sake, but for its own; for the sake of the values it claims to embrace; for the sake of the world we all wish our children to inherit.

What more needs to happen for the world to take this threat seriously? she asked. What more needs to happen to end the hesitation and the excuses? We know the lessons of the past. We know the consequences of appeasement and indifference. There is no place for such leaders in this forum. There is no place for such a regime in the family of nations.For any who still had doubts, the Foreign Minister said, the Iranian threat was exposed to all in the recent conflict in Lebanon. Armed, financed and directed by Iran, Hezbollah kidnapped Israeli soldiers and targeted Israeli cities, but it was the hopes of an entire region that they aimed to take hostage. Out of the conflict and because of Israel’s response to it opportunity has emerged. But much is needed to turn opportunity into reality. Hizbullah can never again be allowed to threaten the future of the region. The world faces a critical test to ensure the full implementation of resolution 1701, and the immediate and safe release of the Israeli hostages.

U.S. President George Bush, speaking with CNN on Wednesday, said that if he were Israel’s foreign minister, he too would be deeply concerned about Iran's threats to destroy his country. Asked how the US would react if Iran attacked Israel, Bush said, You can't just hope for the best. You've got to assume that the leader, when he says that he would like to destroy Israel, means what he says. If you say, Well, gosh, maybe he doesn't mean it,and you turn out to be wrong, you have not done your duty as a world leader. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said that the U.S. should continue to talk with Iran. Clinton told NBC, If you think you might have trouble with somebody, and [certainly] if you think it could lead to a military confrontation, then there needs to be the maximum amount of contact beforehand.

Livny's speech addressed both of the above points, noting that Iran threatens the entire world, not just Israel, and speaking of the dangers of hesitation and excuses.Iran's Ayatollah Haminai took the opportunity to warn that Iran's armed forces are sufficiently ready to give a response to any threat such that the enemy would be surprised and defeated.At least one U.S. Senator takes the Iranian threat very seriously. I think he's a Hitler type of person,said Sen. George Voinovich (R.-Ohio) about Iranian President Ahmedinejad, adding, I call him Ahmed-in-a-head. The Senator said, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing this week, that the Iranian leader has made it clear that he wants to destroy Israel. He has made it clear he doesn't believe in the Holocaust. He's a, he's a we all know what he is.

American Jewry Protests Global Jihad Outside UN
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)

A large number of protestors gathered opposite the United Nations building in New York Wednesday afternoon to protest against Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and demand the release of Israel's captives. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni, US Ambassador John Bolton, New York State Governor George Pataki, Holocaust survivor and author Eli Wiesel and human rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz, among others, addressed the crowd, which stretched down the streets and avenues surrounding the plaza opposite the United Nations. Also attending the rally and issue emotional pleas for the release of their captive family members were Carmit Goldwasser, wife of Ehud Goldwasser, and Benny Regev, brother of Eldad Regev both being held by Hizbullah after being abducted at the beginning of the recent war.

People are coming from as far away as California,Conference of Presidents Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein told Arutz-7 an hour before the rally began. The plaza is already filled with Jews, Christians, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics an unbelievable rainbow of the American people.Hoenlein doubted that any of the rally's speakers would issue calls for an attack on Iran to prevent the Islamic republic from attaining nuclear capability, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised the UN it would continue to pursue.

The purpose of the rally is to show solidarity with Israel and to demand the release of the MIAs, Hoenlein said. Leaders of the world meeting across the street will have a hard time not hearing our message and Ahmadinejad will know that his threats to wipe out Israel are unacceptable. The US is obligated to let him into the country, but we are obligated to let him know what we think.

More than 140 buses were on their way to the rally, organizers said, adding that many more people were flying in from across the country for the event.The rally enjoys one of the widest array of organization support in decades. Jewish organizations from Meretz to AFSI (Americans For a Safe Israel) have lent their support, and the Council of Torah Sages of the hareidi-religious Agudah movement have made the decision to support the protest as well, calling upon members of the movement to attend.In honor of the upcoming Rosh HaShanah holiday marking the Jewish new year, hundreds of shofarot, ram's horns, were blown in unison during the protest.The shofar has traditionally been blown both at times of trouble, to encourage the Jewish people to mend their ways, and during wartime, to rally the troops, demoralize the enemies of Israel and to signal Divine assistance for the Jewish nation.

Iran given till early October to accept nuclear deal
September 21, 2006

The United Nations or U-N Security Council, together with Germany and Italy agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to give negotiators more time to convince Iran to reach a nuclear resolution deal. Iran is believed to be enriching uranium aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iran’s strongest critic, the United States has agreed to the latest extension. But pressed its partners to come up with a deadline to impose sanctions on Iran.

Will Iran respond positively to the October deadline?

Loretta Foo put this question to Dr Christoph Marcinkowski, Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nayang Technological University, Singapore. CM: Well, it’s quite difficult to predict but from the experience with deadlines in the past, it is very difficult to pressure a country like Iran into following deadlines because from the self-perception of Iran, they perceive themselves already as a regional power and also matters of national pride are involved and I think that there will not be a positive response to a deadline. The President Ahmadinejad is actually not that popular in Iran. However the nuclear energy issue is actually what is at stake here from the Iranian perspective is very crucial for Iran. Large segments of the population regardless of their political setting, I think they will support him on that. To set a deadline is not that easy.

Why have the major powers given Iran multiple chances in complying with the nuclear deal?

CM: First of all, they know that all these sanctions will not be effective. Actually Iran feels itself in a very strong position and actually they are quite happy with the US involvement in Iraq. Actually they did the job that Iran was trying to do in the 1980s. US went into the trap, Iraq and they know basically of their weakness right now. They are offering several different options for Iran and from the Iranian perspective is a kind of weakness. The West is not united on that and they know that very well. Actually in the end if you ask me whether they want a bomb, I think, no but in the interest of Iran right now strategically speaking, maybe they are pursuing it. Whether they are close to it, I don’t think so there are some scholars from the Carnegie Foundation in the US who actually doubt it. The main interest of Iran is nuclear energy and the export of it to neighboring countries. The money coming in from that is in connection with the diversification of its economy. The oil will be finished in one day and the kind of income they would be interested in would be from the energy sector.

Why did the USA change its hard-line position regarding immediate sanctions on Iran?

CM: First of all the United Nations Security Council members, they are still not united over that because countries like Russia and so on have different interests. Beyond that of course, the United States has not military option to enforce anything on its own because of Iraq. Last but not least, the Lebanon war was a kind of test case. In the case of Iran, militarily speaking would be different from Iraq. The population of the United States itself, the approval rates of the President are on the lowest now. I would see that there are more diplomatic initiatives in the future. The disagreement of Iran and the UN Security Council over what it would mean for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment has been the main obstacle to the nuclear issue’s resolution. What other factors are involved in the issue?

CM: What Iran is interested in actually are security guarantees. I mean Iran sees itself also from historical experiences in the past. And Iran sees itself as a major regional power. I think it’s most important to stress that it’s not so much a matter of Islam or Shi’ism ad all that. It is more or less propaganda over some means to achieve some goals. Iranian nationalism is very important and it is an issue that can be somehow addressed if there would be some direct talks between the United States and Iran. That would be the major breakthrough. How to achieve that right now is difficult because there are still some propaganda issues on both sides. Iran feels that they are basically surrounded by unfriendly situations here. I mean if you look around, Iraq is already under occupation. I think it’s not easy fro them, regardless of what kind of regime is in power in Tehran. If that could be addressed somehow, I think things would be much easier.

How effective will the economic sanctions be in halting Iran’s insistence on uranium enrichment?

CM: Economic sanctions are somehow already in effect unilaterally from certain Western countries. The past experience is that these kind of sanctions have actually helped Iran to be more self-sufficient. A good example is the military sector and the economic sector. It is difficult to tell whether these sanctions will be successful somehow. That was Dr Christoph Marcinkowski, Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nayang Technological University, Singapore speaking to Loretta Foo.

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).

EU-US free trade agreement mooted in Berlin
20.09.2006 - 17:35 CET | By Honor Mahony(EU OBSERVER)

Centre-right members of the German government are in favour of closer economic ties between the EU and the US, possibly resulting in a free trade agreement.According to a report in Germany's Bild newspaper, top CDU politicians - whose party is part of the ruling government coalition are increasingly calling for a transatlantic free trade zone.The paper says that chancellor Angela Merkel is also in favour of stronger cooperation between the two sides in trade issues.According to Matthias Wissman, head of the Europe committee in the German parliament, a free trade zone would be a great project for Europe and the German presidency.

Germany takes over the EU presidency at the beginning of next year for six months - being at the helm of the EU gives countries some leeway to push particular pet projects.This is not the first time the idea of an EU-US free trade zone has been mentioned Spain's last prime minister the centre-right Jose Maria Aznar also called for one in 2004 but his ideas were not taken up on an EU-wide level.Similarly, several MEPs and their counterparts from the US Congress, are members of the Transatlantic Policy Network, one of whose aims is to promote strong cooperation between the two sides on economic issues.A transatlantic trade zone would provide a counterbalance to the emerging economic power of China - with which the EU has been having a war of words, accusing Beijing of dumping cheap goods into European markets.

But any developments in this direction would likely be seen as a nail in the coffin of the stalled world trade talks, which collapsed before the summer.At the time of the collapse, trade officials warned that it could result in a series of bilateral agreements between countries last week the Conservative opposition leader in the UK suggested there should be an EU-India free trade zone.Trade representatives from 19 countries, including the US, are currently meeting in Australia to see if there is a possibility of reviving the talks, which failed mainly due to disagreements over farm subsidies in the EU and the US.The meeting will discuss compromise plans by the Australian trade minister Mark Vaile for the EU to cut agricultural subsidies by a further five percent and for the US to chop €3.9 billion from farm aid in a bid to revive the talks although the EU has already dismissed the proposal as not asking enough of the Americans.

We have to focus on the domestic politics of the European Union and the United States, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said, according to Bloomberg news agency. The question is whether countries have the courage, stamina and momentum to go this extra mile,he added.He said there was a brief window of opportunity to make the talks work referring to the fact that the current US administration's negotiating mandate runs out in July next year leaving only a short time for deal to get through the US Congress.

EU Rapid Reaction Battle Group, Including Bulgaria, to be Certified in June 2007 21 September 2006

Sofia. A EU tactical rapid reaction battle group, including Bulgaria, wil be certified in June 2007, the Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Army Gem Zlatan Stoykov said during a lecture on the topic of “Participation of the Bulgarian Army in the Establishment of European Defense Capacity. He delivered the lecture before members of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria, a journalist of FOCUS News Agency reported.

Bulgaria is in the same battle group as Greece, Romania and Cyprus. Among them, Greece is a leading country. By the end of the year, the necessary agreements have to be worked out and signed. Bulgaria will participate with one foot-company in the group.

The EU has to form nine battle groups by the end of 2007, which will ensure a rapid response by the EU.Nikola LALOV

UN moves to revive stalled peace process
September 22 2006 at 12:04AM

New York - The United Nations Security Council on Thursday opened a rare ministerial meeting on how to revive the stalled Middle East peace process, but the United States blocked moves to release a council statement at the end, a diplomat said.The meeting, called for by the Arab League, was attended by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and foreign ministers from the major powers.But the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US delegation had objected to the meeting releasing a presidential statement which it feared would be used to attack Israel.

The United States had been reluctant to agree to the meeting, the diplomat said.In opening the meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Annan said: The time has come rebuild the shattered bridge to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Our continued failure to resolve this conflict calls into question the legitimacy and the effectiveness of this council itself,he added.

The bridge to peace must be wide enough to accommodate all who have a legitimate stake in the process, long enough to span the enormous gulf of mistrust that separates the parties and strong enough to withstand efforts that will inevitably be made to sabotage it, the UN chief said. - Sapa-AFP