MIDEAST CHRISTIANS WORRIED

1-Hurricane Helene could menace Bermuda. 2-3 wildfires scorch SoCal; 1 doubles in size in national forest. 3-Israel ready to release more prisoners than expected: 4-Israel's Livni to meet Palestinian President Abbas. 5-IMF reform could prompt EU power loss. 6-Syrian Threat, Rocket Threats. 7-Iran leader says pope remarks part of US-Israeli conspiracy. 8-Pope remarks worry Christians in Mideast.

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 could menace Bermuda Mon Sep 18,

MIAMI - Hurricane Helene continued to gain strength as a Category 3 storm in the open Atlantic on Monday, and forecasters said it could threaten Bermuda at the end of the week. It was too soon to tell whether Helene would hit Bermuda, but the storm with top sustained winds of 125 mph was expected to be near the island Friday, said Chris Landsea, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.Helene strengthened late Sunday into the second major hurricane of the Atlantic season with 115 mph winds and intensified even more early Monday. Major hurricanes are those Category 3 and higher.

At 11 a.m. EDT, it was centered about 900 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and about 1,090 miles east-southeast of Bermuda.

It was moving northwest at 9 mph and was expected to make a gradual westward turn but remain over open waters, forecasters said.Meanwhile, Hurricane Gordon picked up speed over the open Atlantic. The hurricane could pass over the Azores as a weaker storm sometime midweek, so forecasters said a tropical storm watch or warning may be required later Monday for the islands in the central Atlantic.It was centered about 1,125 miles west of the Azores and moving northeast near 20 mph, up from 14 mph Sunday. Gordon, the other storm to reach Category 3 status this year, had top sustained winds near 90 mph Monday.

The National Hurricane Center's latest forecast for the Atlantic season expects between seven and nine hurricanes, a slight reduction from earlier predictions. Scientists have said that weak El Nino conditions had inhibited hurricane development by bringing higher ocean temperatures that increase crosswinds over the Caribbean. The winds can rip storms apart or stop them from forming.But the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned that the El Nino effect on hurricanes has been small so far. And the season, which lasts until Nov. 30, is still at its traditional peak.

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

Posted on Mon, Sep. 18, 2006
3 wildfires scorch SoCal; 1 doubles in size in national forest
CHRISTINA ALMEIDA,Associated Press

OJAI, Calif. - Firefighters battling a stubborn, two-week-old wildfire that scorched more than 116 square miles of wilderness along the Los Angeles-Ventura County line were counting Monday on help from shifting winds.The Day Fire, the largest of three Southern California blazes, doubled in size when it was fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds over the weekend. But a cool, moist ocean breeze Sunday night slowed the fire and put communities that are still several miles away from the flames out of immediate danger.

Authorities had advised precautionary evacuations over the weekend.The most recent forecast called for northwest winds of 15 mph to 20 mph with a shift to cooler and moister onshore breezes.If the wind shifts as predicted ... it could cool things a bit,said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joe Pasinato.The Day Fire has burned 74,052 acres since Labor Day and was 15 percent contained Monday. No structures have been damaged.Meanwhile, two desert wildfires that forced the temporary evacuation of about 2,500 residents were mostly contained Monday. Two homes were destroyed by one of those blazes.While no one was injured and no homes were lost in the Day Fire, the blaze, which has remained largely in the Los Padres National Forest, crept within 12 miles of the artists' enclave of Ojai, in the mountains about 75 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The fire was also about seven miles north of Fillmore and 10 miles northeast of Santa Paula.

On Monday, firefighters moved equipment and personnel to the fire's western boundary and worked to set up a helibase to attack the blaze from the air. Crews also planned to drive up a hillside and hike a few miles inward, where they would use hand tools to cut fire lines and prevent the blaze from moving into populated areas.Battalion Chief Andy Ortega warned firefighters about rattlesnakes and bee stings in the wilderness. Several of the firefighters suffered minor injuries, including sprained ankles.

More than 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was ignited by someone burning debris.Officials said they expected the fire's main front to head northeast toward a group of mountains. The cooler winds pushing it could also provide a window for firefighters to get better control.

We expect stronger winds to come in Thursday and Friday, so we have a couple of days to work on it, Forest Service spokeswoman Dee Dechert said.Officials had advised the evacuation of about 350 homes in the Upper Ojai, Matilija Canyon and Wheeler Gorge areas as a precaution, said Sgt. Tim Hagel of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.Ninety students cleared out of an Ojai Valley boarding school near the fire.It was a voluntary evacuation, but they were urged to leave,said Peter Cavalho, a supervisor of maintenance at Ojai Valley Schools Upper Campus.Marsha Campiglio, 58, who lives in the small forest community of Matilija Canyon near Ojai, said she had been prepared to go at any time since being contacted by officials at 6 a.m. Sunday.

We've been putting stuff in the car all day, but we've been watching football too,she said, laughing.The fire, which has cost about $15 million to fight, also scorched a condor sanctuary in part of the Sespe Wilderness, and state Fish and Game officials were closely watching a condor fledgling. The bird was in a high, rocky area that was not in imminent danger and no intervention was necessary, officials said.In Riverside County, two homes, two commercial buildings and three outbuildings were destroyed by a wildfire that ignited Saturday about 80 miles east of Los Angeles near the town of Cherry Valley, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.The Orchard Fire burned about 1,536 acres of brush and grass, or about two square miles, before being contained.A third fire started about eight miles away in a Banning structure and spread rapidly.

That blaze, dubbed the Ranch Fire, scorched 1,658 acres and was 90 percent contained.Two outbuildings and a barn were damaged, said Capt. Steve Diaz of the Riverside unit of the California Department of Forestry.Officials had called for mandatory evacuation in parts of Banning, Beaumont and the area around the Highland Springs Resort, but the orders were lifted Sunday evening and residents were allowed back in.
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ISRAELS TROUBLE

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

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

Israel ready to release more prisoners than expected:Mubarak Mon Sep 18,

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel is ready to release in exchange for a captured soldier is higher than expected. Egyptian contacts and efforts are progressing, and according to the outline of the agreement which has not yet been finalised the soldier will be freed in exchange for the release of a large number of Palestinian women and children,Mubarak was quoted as saying Monday by the official MENA news agency.Israel will then release Palestinian prisoners in three stages, MENA quoted him as saying, without specifying a number.

Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit was captured on June 25 during an attack by Palestinian militants on a border post in the southern Gaza Strip. His seizure was claimed by three groups, including the armed wing of the governing Hamas.Israeli media reports have estimated the number of Palestinians who could be released as part of a swap at between 600 and 800.

The Israeli side has shown readiness to release a higher number than what had been expected,Mubarak added.Egypt, together with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, has been involved in diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the Israeli conscript, whose capture led to a military offensive against the Gaza Strip.An Israeli government spokesman told AFP Monday that Israel was ready to reciprocate immediately if Shalit was freed, and if a new Palestinian unity government accepts Western conditions for resuming financial aid.

If the Palestinian leadership takes the right steps, Israel would immediately take the right steps to strengthen that,foreign ministry spokesman Marc Regev said.But Israeli officials also warned against hopes of an imminent release and stressed that no agreement had yet been reached.Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya, from the Islamist movement Hamas, said Saturday that efforts to secure the release of the Israeli soldier were making progress.

Israel's Livni to meet Palestinian President Abbas
18 Sep 2006 17:10:49 GMT, Reuters
By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said she would tell Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a meeting on Monday that any unity government he negotiates with Hamas must meet international conditions for lifting a freeze on foreign aid.Those conditions are that any Palestinian government must renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept interim peace deals Israel signed with the Palestinians.Livni said it would be her second meeting with Abbas -- whom she will see on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly -- since the Islamist group Hamas came to power in March and sparked a freeze on most foreign aid to the Palestine.

The last thing that the region, our region, the Middle East, needs is another terrorist state, Livni told reporters, adding that Israel supports strengthening Abbas, whose Fatah movement wants a two-state solution with Israel.The best way to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas is to demand the implentation of these requirements and not to compromise with them,she said.The measures were set by the Quartet of peace mediators the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia as conditions for ending a freeze on most foreign aid to the Palestinians.Abbas and ruling Hamas have begun talks on a unity government in a bid to lift sanctions, but aides to Abbas said on Sunday the president froze talks after Hamas said it would not accept interim peace deals with Israel.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said talks were only delayed while Abbas is in New York.Livni said it would be unacceptable for any unity government to be recognized if Hamas has not changed its ideology.

(Hamas) needs legitimization in order to get the money,Livni told reporters. They're looking for any hesitation in the international community in order to change the government to a unity government in order to get legitimacy.The three requirements are not negotiable, they are clear,she said.

Livni said she would also discuss with Abbas the case of an Israeli soldier captured in June by Gaza militants who have demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners and a halt to Israeli attacks.

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).

IMF reform could prompt EU power loss
18.09.2006 - 09:58 CET | By Mark Beunderman EU OBSERVER

The EU could lose out in terms of power in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the body is expected today to endorse a major overhaul of voting rights. At an IMF meeting in Singapore on Sunday, the organisation's steering committee the International Monetary and Financial Committee backed reforms which boost the decision-making powers of emerging economies such as China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico.The IMF is a key international organisation which seeks to secure monetary and economic stability around the globe notably by providing credits to states with financial problems.The proposals, strongly pushed by US president George W. Bush, are being put to a vote in the 184-member IMF today (18 September) with results of the vote expected to emerge later this week.

The EU's richest states such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries are set to become big losers on the reform. Germany and the Netherlands said over the weekend that the proposed new formula determining IMF voting rights taking countries' economic power more into account should be adapted and based more on the openness of states' economy. German finance minister Peer Steinbruck said over the weekend The one-sided position of the US that GDP [Gross Domestic Product] should play the predominant role is not in line with our views,according to Bloomberg.

Echoeing his German counterpart's words, Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm said voting weights should be based on an international factor the openness of the economy, adding GDP cannot be the only basis for an international institution.EU finance ministers meeting earlier this month sought to coordinate positions for the Singapore meeting, agreeing that they would back a one-off increase of voting weights of China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico but remaining cautious on longer-term IMF reform.

EU members must be treated equally with other under-represented members in this exercise,they said in a 9 September statement. Meanwhile, the member states of the eurozone – the EU's common currency area - are divided on ideas to merge to group eurozone states' seats on the IMF board into one. The plan has the backing of the president of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet as well as of the chairman of eurozone finance ministers, Luxembourg leader Jean-Claude Juncker, DPA reports. Germany, the largest eurozone member, is however against the idea, wishing instead to stick to its own seat.

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)

Syrian Threat, Rocket Threats
By Hillel Fendel(INN)

Tensions with Syria continue, while Israel Air Force officer says short-range rockets are the main threat. Syria's Information Minister Muhsin Bilal says the Syrian nation will not wait much longer for the return of the Golan Heights.He told the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper that though Syria has waited patiently for 16 years hoping the peace for land formula would be implemented, nothing has happened.In the meanwhile, an Israel Air Force officer said today that the main threat against Israel today stems from short-range rockets from Gaza, Lebanon and possibly Judea and Samaria.

If the IDF had had full intelligence on everything going on in southern Lebanon near Israel, we could have prepared better for a better solution, both from the air and on the ground, to the short-range Katyusha missiles, he said. The officer said that the maps used by the Air Force were more up-to-date than those used by the ground forces.Two Kassam rockets were fired by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza Monday morning. The rockets landed just short of the northern Gaza border fence, causing no damage.

Iran leader says pope remarks part of US-Israeli conspiracy Mon Sep 18, 8:21 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei has said remarks by the pope on Islam and violence were just the latest links in the chain of a US-Israeli conspiracy aimed at creating conflict between religions. Leaders of the arrogant imperialists have already defined the links of the chain in this US-Zionist project by attacking Iraq, Khamenei said in comments broadcast on state television.

The issue of insulting cartoons and remarks of some politicians about Islam are different links in the conspiracy of the crusaders and the pope's remarks are the latest links in this, he added.The pope's comments in his native Germany, which unleashed a wave of anger in the Islamic world, came after caricatures published in a Danish newspaper last year deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed set off deadly protests.

Pope remarks worry Christians in Mideast
2006/9 By ANNA JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago

CAIRO, Egypt - Extra security guards around churches in Egypt and Lebanon. Armed officers surrounding at least one. With the tensions over Pope Benedict XVI ‘s remarks on Islam still high, many in the Mideast‘s large Christian communities are worried about a backlash. Christians a minority in the Mideast that varies from nearly 40 percent in Lebanon to tiny communities in the Gulf states generally live in peace with the majority Muslims. Muslims, and some Christians, across the region have expressed anger over comments Benedict made Tuesday in Germany where he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam‘s Prophet Muhammad as evil and inhuman. There were no reports of violence against Christians in much of the Mideast on Sunday, but two churches in the Palestinian West Bank were set afire a day after Muslims hurled firebombs and opened fire at four other West Bank churches and one in the Gaza Strip .

On Monday, about 150 people in the Pakistani-controlled region of Kashmir demanded that the pope apologize over his remarks on Islam, chanting Death to the Pope and burning his effigy. Christians have been targeted in other cases. Car bombs exploded in January, killing at least three people in a coordinated spree of attacks outside the Vatican mission and at least five churches in Iraq , where Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq‘s 26 million people. We in Egypt, despite coming from two different religions, have lived together for 14 centuries and engaged in religious dialogue, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III told reporters Sunday in Cairo. The tension being expressed over the pope‘s comments is not just coming from Muslims in the region.

Some Christians have openly expressed their dislike for Islam. Despite growing friction, Christian leaders gave mixed responses to the pope‘s words and the Vatican response, with some defending the pontiff and others saying his comments were offensive.

But one Roman Catholic priest in the Jordanian capital of Amman said he felt the pain of our Muslim brothers. We lived with our brothers in Islam in the good times and the bad times. We shared the laughter of joy and the tears of sorrow. We as Christians were so loyal to our nation. We have martyrs in all the battles of the Arab Jordanian army where the blood of Christians has mixed with that of Muslims,the Rev. Jihad Shweihat said. Magd in Cairo, Hamza Hendawi in Beirut, Lebanon, and Dale Gavlak in Amman Jordan contributed to this report.