ROYAL DILEMMA FOR SPAIN

1-FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE. 2-Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents. 3-Atlantic tropical depression could form Tuesday. 4-New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference. 5-Russia, Iran agree power station launch date. 6-Palestinian media calls pope stupid, criminal. 7-EU to admit Bulgaria, Romania. 8-Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years. 9-Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas. 10-Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army. 11-Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain.

FORD SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
September 25, 2006

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire email list of family and friends.Ford supports homosexual marriage groups as a matter of principle, not economics.Ask new CEO to stop promoting homosexual marriage

Dear Stan,

Ford Motor Company has hired a new CEO. Alan Mulally replaces Bill Ford as CEO, while Ford will remain as chairman. Whether Ford will continue funding groups promoting homosexual marriage is not known. What is clear at this point is that Ford has made financial support for groups promoting homosexual marriage a matter of principle, not economics. Ford supported The Advocate, which bills itself as The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine, with two full-page ads in the September 12 issue. One ad, featuring all the different brands of Ford made autos, states: Standing strong with America's families and communities.What an insult to traditional marriage and families!

Ford has stated that their support for homosexual groups is an effort to secure sales from the 2% who are homosexual. But in securing one sale from the homosexuals, the company is losing hundreds of sales from those who oppose homosexual marriage.

That makes no economic sense at all. It does say that Ford shares the goal of the homosexual groups—which is homosexual marriage—and believes that goal worthy of financial support, even at great financial loss.

Incidentally, in a poll by the homosexual magazine, 52% of respondents said that boycotts (such as AFA's boycott of Ford) can change the pro-gay policies of large corporations. Even the homosexuals are saying our boycott can make a difference. Despite the tremendous amount of money given to the homosexual groups by Ford, not a single homosexual group has publicly supported Ford.

How is that for appreciation?

Take Action
1. Email new CEO Alan Mulally asking him to stop supporting homosexual marriage.
https://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/takeaction.asp?id=213

2. Forward this email to your local Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda or Ford dealer. Find their email address here

Ask him to forward it on to CEO Alan Mulally.

3. Sign the Boycott Ford Pledge if you have not already done so.
http://www.boycottford.com/

4. Print out and distribute the Boycott Ford Petition.
http://www.boycottford.com/ford/paperpetition.pdf

We have been asked if buying a used vehicle from a Ford dealer is ok. Yes, it is. Ford Motor Company does not receive any money on used car sales by the dealer.If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift to help us continue? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
http://www.afa.net/

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.

Minor earthquake awakens S.C. residents Mon Sep 25, 4:13 PM ET

BLENHEIM, S.C. - A minor earthquake awakened residents early Monday in northeastern South Carolina, the second quake to hit the area in several days. The magnitude 3.7 quake hit at 1:44 a.m. and was centered near Society Hill, about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, N.C., according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Denver.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Roy Allison, director of emergency management for Marlboro County, said he and other residents were woken up by their shaking houses.At a furniture and appliance store in Wallace, about 10 miles north of the epicenter, the windows sounded like they were about to bust out,said Valerie Perhealth, daughter of the store's owner. It scared me so bad.

A magnitude 3.5 quake shook the area Friday. The centers of the two quakes were about 10 miles apart.

Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the earthquake center, said the area gets small earthquakes now and then because of faults connected to the Appalachians.There's no fear of a bigger earthquake. These (small tremors) just happen,Sigala said.There were no reports of damage from Friday's quake but there were reports of windows cracking and dishes rattling.South Carolina each year has, on average, 10 to 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between 3 and 4 normally is recorded about once every 18 months.The area's most devastating quake on record was a magnitude 7.3 that rumbled near Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886, killing more than 100 people.

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 tropical depression could form Tuesday: NHC Tue Sep 26, 7:39 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tropical depression could form in the Atlantic later Tuesday or Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said in an outlook issued Tuesday. Even if it forms, however, the major weather models forecast the disturbance, which is heading east-northeast, would turn away from the United States near Bermuda and remain over open ocean waters, following the paths of Hurricanes Florence, Gordon and Helene.The NHC said the disturbance is located about 925 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and that atmospheric conditions are expected to become a little more favorable for development.The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St. Martin, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Barthelemy, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.

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)

New MAS Freedom Foundation Human and Civil Rights Director Addresses High-Level United Nations Conference Date Posted: Friday, September 22, 2006

Ibrahim Ramey, MAS Freedom Foundation Civil and Human Rights Director. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful/WASHINGTON, DC - Sept. 22, 2006 (MASNET) On the commemoration of World Peace Day, September 21, 2006, more than 200 representatives of United Nations (U.N.) member states, global civil society, and the specialized U.N. agencies, met in New York City for a high level conference organized by the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace.Ibrahim Ramey, Director of the Human and Civil Rights Division of the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation addressed the international gathering as one of ten representatives of international civil society.The Tripartite Forum, initiated in 2005, also includes U.N. member states and specialized U.N. agencies.

H.E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, delivered the keynote address for the conference. Foreign Ministers and state representatives from Greece, El Salvador, Montenegro, the Philippines, the Holy See (Vatican), and other nations then addressed the delegates, as did representatives of the United Nations Secretariat, UNESCO, and other major U.N. organizations.After offering traditional Islamic greetings of peace to the audience, and saluting the courageous and excellent work of outgoing U.N.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ramey commented that the promotion of universal human rights and the global commitment to environmental restoration and protection are two pillars that could bring the Tripartite Forum partners together in closer collaboration.However, the biggest applause from the conference came when Ramey informed the delegates about the new cooperation between MAS Freedom Foundation, Pax Christi USA and PAX Christi International as a demonstration of true interfaith dialogue and common work in action.The announcement members of the Catholic faith will join the Muslim community for their annual Ramadan fast has been warmly embraced. Additionally, MAS Freedom will encourage mosques to open their doors in hospitality to Christians, and other faith communities, throughout the sacred month of Ramadan,Ramey stated.Concluding Ramey offered, This is an example of faith over fear, and what real interfaith dialogue and action should look like.Ramey also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of Religious NGO's at the United Nation, a coordinating body for more than 100 faith-based national and international Non-Governmental Organizations.Also: Pax Christi Announces Solidarity with Muslim Community Through Voluntary Fasting for Ramadan

Russia, Iran agree power station launch date by Conor Humphries
Tue Sep 26, 8:44 AM ET

MOSCOW (AFP) Russia and Iran have signed an agreement setting next September as the deadline for the launch of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station. The deal reaffirmed a commitment to press ahead with the decades-long construction effort at Bushehr, in southern Iran, in the face of US objections.At a second day of talks between Russian and Iranian officials, an additional agreement to the contract to build the Bushehr station was signed, which fixes September 2007 as the launch date, Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's atomic energy agency, told AFP.The plant will actually produce electricity from November next year, he said, while the nuclear fuel for the plant will be delivered no later than next March.

The agreement was signed at talks between the head of Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Iranian vice-president Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who heads the country's nuclear energy agency.In all 80 tonnes of fuel will be delivered to the station in March, said Sergei Shmatko, the head of state-run company Atomstroiexport, which is building Bushehr, RIA Novosti reported.The agreement indicates that Russia has decided that the contract, worth an estimated one billion dollars, is worth risking the ire of the United States, which has applied heavy pressure on Moscow to suspend the program.Washington accuses the Islamic republic of trying to use its atomic energy program to help it develop a nuclear weapons capability.Iran has consistently denied the US charges, saying that its nuclear programme is solely for civilian energy purposes, a right it says is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The United States has led calls at the United Nations for the Security Council to take enforcement action against Iran after it failed to heed an end of August deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in extended form, the core of an atom bomb.Russia and China, both of which have major economic interests in Iran, have rebuffed the US pressure, and France too has demanded that more talks be held to provide the assurances being sought by the international community that the Islamic republic's nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.In an effort to assuage Western concerns, Russia early last year secured Iran's agreement to an amendment of the Bushehr deal, requiring that all spent nuclear fuel from the reactor be returned to Russia for reprocessing.Igor Ivanov, the head of Russia's security council, said that the latest deal struck a good balance between Iran's rights and the concerns of others that Iran's nuclear energy program is merely a cover for a covert nuclear weapons program.

We think agreements must be made that fully respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic energy, and at the same time take away the anxieties of the world community about non-proliferation,Ivanov said after talks with Aghazadeh at the Kremlin, Interfax reported.

Repeated delays had prompted the Iranians to threaten to freeze Russia out of the project if a fixed timetable for fuel imports was not set.On Monday Aghazadeh told Iran's semi-offical Mehr news agency that Iran could complete the station on its own within six months without Russia's help.

I see theres no respect for other religions in extremist Islam.

Palestinian media calls pope stupid,criminal
Warns pontiff will be judged by Allah 'when eyes stare in terror'
Posted: September 25, 2006,5:00 p.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein,© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI is arrogant, stupid, and criminal,and will be judged by Allah on the day when eyes will stare in terror, declared a sermon delivered this past weekend on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' state-run television.
The sermon coincided with a cartoon also published this weekend in an official Hamas-run daily newspaper in which the pontiff is depicted holding a swastika while wearing a scarf of American and Danish flags. The pope has been drawing fire from Muslims worldwide for remarks he made earlier this month concerning Islam. To this arrogant Pope criminal and arrogant this message is from Allah the Elevated and the Exalted, as it was said: Think not that Allah is unaware of what the wicked do. He but gives them a respite until a day when eyes will stare (in terror),'stated Gaza preacher Osama Al-Mazini in a sermon broadcast by the official television station of Abbas' Fatah party.

For this ignorant and stupid pope, who has no one to attack besides Islam and the prophet [Muhammad] ... [the pope] characterized Islam as a cruel religion and characterized Muhammad, may the Creator have mercy on him and protect him, as a cruel man, spilling blood, who strove to kill, Al-Mazini said in the sermon, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch. The Palestinian media was responding to a speech in which the 79-year-old pope quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who wrote, Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached. The pontiff last week said he was deeply sorry for the reaction to his comments and later explained the emperor's words did not reflect how he himself felt. He said the intent of his remarks was to call for a dialogue on the role of religions in modern life.

Benedict XVI met today with a group of Muslim leaders in a bid to calm anger that has spilled over into international Muslim protests. The envoys invited to the Vatican included leaders from major Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, and from the Arab League. During today's meeting, the pope expressed his esteem and profound respect for members of the Islamic faith. He spoke of the need for authentic dialogue between faiths and condemned violence. [We must] guard against all forms of intolerance and oppose all manifestations of violence,said the pope. Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, expressed his hope the pope's speech today will suffice to end the anger ignited by his original remarks. Mario Scialoja, an adviser to the Italian section of the World Muslim League who attended the audience with Benedict, told reporters afterwards he thought it was a very good and warm speech. Still, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, warned Benedict not to travel to Turkey, stating his life would be at risk.In an interview with WND last week, a prominent Gaza preacher called for holy war against the pope.

He declared the green flag of Muhammad would soon be raised over the Vatican. We did not need the words of the pope in order to understand that this is a Crusader war against Islam and it is our holy duty to fight all those who support the pope, who follow him and who did not condemn what this small racist had to say,said Abu Saqer, speaking to WND from the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. The day will soon come when the green flag of La Illah Illah Allah (There is no god but Allah) and Muhammad Rasul Allah (Muhammad is the prophet of Allah) will be raised upon the Vatican and all around the world and on the fortresses of those who want to destroy Islam, because they know that this religion obliges them to face the truth that Islam is Allah's favorite religion.

And until they join Islam, hell is their last station, Abu Saqer said. Immediately following the pope's original remarks on Sept. 12, Palestinians wielding guns and firebombs attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches in the north Samaria city of Nablus and a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City. A group calling itself the Lions of Monotheism claimed responsibility for the church attacks, saying the violence was carried out to protest the pope's remarks. Abu Saqer said he rejected the pope's stated apologies. He did not

apologize. He said everything but an apology, which proves these are diplomatic acts and not a feeling of being sorry. Abu Saqer claimed he did not condone violence. He blamed the pope for recent anti-Christian attacks in the Palestinian territories. We are deeply sorry for these acts that we condemn,he said. But I am sorry that this little racist did not think of the consequences upon the Christians in the Arab world when he insulted our prophet. It is an open war – the Muslims against all the others.

Asked to respond directly to Paleologus' observations about Muhammad and Islam, Abu Saqer replied, About your stupid question about our contribution to civilization, did not you read about who were the pioneers in medicine, in mathematics, in astronomy? Did not you hear about Averroes and others? I am not reading poetry, I am saying the truth. Islam, it is not the source of violence. Who is occupying by force and violence Iraq and Afghanistan? Who is occupying Palestine? Who occupied for years the black people and turned them into slaves while one of the first leaders of Islam was the black Bilal Ibn Rabah? Continued Abu Saqer: Violence is a result of lack of faith. See the Western society and culture. See what free sex brings to your Western world and then see the family cell in Islam. Even our problems in Islam come when some parts of the Islamic population want to imitate your way of life.

The Gaza preacher said the pope and the Christian world are panicking because they realize who is winning. See how Islam is progressing and gaining more and more members and see the moral crisis in the West,he said. See today the support of Islam in the Arab and Muslim world and how Islam is gaining more and more adherents in Europe and even in the United States and you understand that Islam is the future and that this dwarf pope was wrong. But I can sympathize with him. He is frustrated because he understands where things are heading.

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 to admit Bulgaria, Romania
POSTED: 1028 GMT (1828 HKT), September 26, 2006

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- Bulgaria and Romania will get the green light on Tuesday to join the European Union in January, rather than a year later. The executive European Commission, however, will set unprecedented entry conditions. The Commission's recommendation, due to be approved by EU leaders in October, will list reforms the Balkan neighbors must complete to avoid being deprived initially of full membership benefits, including EU aid. Bulgaria and Romania have made further progress to complete their preparations for membership, demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from Jan. 1, 2007,said the Commission's draft report.

Toughest ever conditions

It will be the EU's second wave of enlargement into ex-communist eastern Europe, locking the Black Sea duo into the zone of stability and prosperity and promising a boost to their fast-growing economies.

But the toughest conditions ever imposed on entrants reflect concern about the countries' shortcomings, including corruption, organized crime and food safety standards, and doubts over their ability to administer billions of euros in EU aid properly. (Analysis).The conditions are meant partly to reassure critics of enlargement who say the two countries are too poor and too weak administratively to cope with EU membership. Bulgaria and Romania's economic output per capita is around one-third of the EU average and existing member states even those with open labor markets like Britain are hesitant about opening their doors to job seekers from both countries.

Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Monday that once Romania and Bulgaria have joined the EU, the bloc should not enlarge further until it has reformed its creaking institutions. The EU could have delayed Romanian and Bulgarian membership until 2008, but some Commission officials say privately that this would have humiliated the two nations, prompted an anti-EU backlash and reduced Brussels' leverage with Bucharest and Sofia.

Sanctions

The countries will be obliged to report regularly on progress in reforms and may face sanctions after entry unless the Commission deems their performance satisfactory. Both states will have to complete mechanisms to allocate billions of euros in farm subsidies and regional aid. If they do not, Brussels may freeze part of the funds. Bulgaria will be required to amend its constitution to remove ambiguity about the independence and accountability of the judicial system. It must also adopt new laws to improve the transparency and efficiency of the judicial process. Romania must strengthen its Superior Council of Magistracy and establish, as promised, an integrity agency that will verify the assets of senior state officials, the draft said. Failure to meet these obligations could mean that other EU members may refuse to recognize judgments of the newcomers' courts. In the farm sector, the EU may keep its ban on pork produced in both countries unless they improve measures to fight swine fever. Some restrictions may also apply to their milk sectors. Bulgaria and Romania will add about 30 million citizens to the bloc's present population of more than 450 million. 2006 Reuters.(CNN)

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.

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.

Earth may be at warmest point in 1 million years
POSTED: 2101 GMT (0501 HKT), September 25, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent El Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported on Monday.This doesn't necessarily mean there will be more frequent El Ninos which can disrupt normal weather around the world but could well mean that these wild patterns will be stronger when they occur, said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.The El Nino phenomenon is an important factor in monitoring global warming, according to a paper by Hansen and colleagues published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

El Ninos can push temperatures higher than they might ordinarily be. This happened in 1998 when a so-called super El Nino helped heat the Earth to a record high.What is significant, the scientists wrote, is that 2005 was in the same temperature range as 1998, and probably was the warmest year ever, with no sign of the warm surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific typical of an El Nino.

The waters of the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and the difference in temperature between these two areas could produce greater temperature swings between the normal weather pattern and El Nino, they wrote.They blamed this phenomenon on global warming that is affecting the surface of the western Pacific before it affects the deeper water.

EL Nino and global warming

Overall, Earth is within 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) of its highest temperature levels in the past million years, Hansen and the others wrote. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface temperatures increasing about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) for each of the last three decades.Scientists attribute this rise to human activities, notably the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases notably carbon dioxide which let in sunlight and trap its heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse.

Human-caused global warming influences El Ninos much as it sways tropical storms, the scientists wrote.The effect on frequency of either phenomenon is unclear, depending on many factors, but the intensity of the most powerful events is likely to increase as greenhouse gases increase, they wrote.Slowing the growth rate of greenhouse gases should diminish the probability of both super El Ninos and the most intense tropical storms.

Weak El Nino conditions were present this month in the tropical Pacific, and could strengthen to a moderate event by winter, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors the phenomenon.In the United States, private forecaster WSI Corp. predicted warmer-than-normal weather over the Northeast and Midwest for the rest of this year, spelling sluggish energy demand for the start of the heating season.The warm outlook, after the mildest winter on record last year, is due to uncertainty over the El Nino a warming of Pacific waters around the equator that can drive weather patterns around the globe, WSI Corp. said.2006 Reuters.(CNN)

Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas Mon Sep 25, 11:24 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Dozens of Israeli university lecturers, writers and reserve officers have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open contacts with Syria and the Palestinians, including Hamas. Among the 71 signatories were well-known writers Amoz Oz and A.B. Yehoshua, as well as Aaron Ciechanover, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2004, and retired general Shlomo Gazit, a former head of military intelligence.The war in Lebanon is behind us, but its results have significantly increased the risk of another war: a new war in south Lebanon, a war with Syria or even a conflict involving the Iranian army,said the petition seen by AFP.Everything should be done to avoid that,it continued.

The petition urged the prime minister to examine any appeal for dialogue emanating from an Arab country and to sound out the possibility of secret negotiations.According to the signatories,Israel should act on the three axes of Syria, the Palestinians and Lebanon to consolidate the ceasefire and UN resolution 1701 that ended Israel's recent 34-day war with Shiite militia Hezbollah.

On the Palestinian front, the intellectuals said the idea of talking to officials from the ruling Islamist movement Hamas should not be ruled out.The petition was delivered to Olmert and five of his cabinet ministers, said Naphtali Raz, a teacher behind the initiative.

Middle East News
Israel withdrawn from 90 per cent of land occupied in Lebanon: army
Sep 26, 2006, 10:43 GMT

Tel Aviv Israel has withdrawn from more than 90 per cent of the area it occupied in southern Lebanon during its 33-day war with the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The last Israeli troops, however, will not leave before the end of the week, the radio said, quoting a senior military official. Lebanese army sources said Monday that Israeli troops are still manning positions in ten different locations in southern Lebanon, stretching from Yarin in the east to Kfar Kila in the central sector. The Israeli troops are still in positions like Kfar Kila, Markaba, Blida, Maroun al-Ras, Rmeish, Ramiyeh, Marwaheen and Yarin,the sources said.

The Israeli military official said Israel was pleased with the performance of the United Nations forces and Lebanese Army troops who have deployed in southern Lebanon. The forces are displaying 'seriousness,' setting up roadblocks and conducting searches, said the official. Some 5,000 UN troops - a third of the total which is to deploy eventually - are now in southern Lebanon, along with Lebanese soldiers who have taken up positions in the southern border area for the first time since 1968.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Royal pregnancy poses political dilemma for Spain
By Sinikka Tarvainen Sep 26, 2006, 15:11 GMT

Madrid - Spanish media are agog over the news that Crown Princess Letizia, 34, is expecting her second child, but the glossy photographs, smiles and congratulations hide a serious constitutional problem. If the child due in May is a boy, Spain will find it increasingly difficult to dodge a long and complicated constitutional reform establishing the equality of the sexes in the succession to the throne. Nobody is calling into question that King Juan Carlos will be succeeded by Crown Prince Felipe, 38, even if he has an older sister. But with all the political parties agreeing that the constitutional principle of sexual equality must apply to the throne, what will happen with Felipe's children?

Felipe married television journalist Letizia Ortiz in May 2004, and the couple's first child Leonor was born in October 2005.

She is second in line to the throne after her father and could become the first female head of state in Spain since 19th century Queen Isabella II. If, however, the couple's new baby is a boy, the 1978 constitution would give him precedence over Leonor.

Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has made the equality of the sexes one of its flagship causes.

None of the other parties oppose Spain following the example of liberal northern European countries such as Sweden or Belgium, where it is birth order and not sex that determines the right to the throne. The primacy of male succession should never have been written into the constitution,constitutional expert Javier Perez Royo says. It contravenes the basic principle of sexual equality.

The only problem is that the process of amending the constitution is very complicated. Changing the rules governing the right of succession would require nothing less than two-thirds approval by the lower house of parliament and senate, dissolution of parliament, new elections, two- thirds approval by the new parliament and senate, and, finally, a referendum.

The government fears that the referendum could become a popularity test for the monarchy, which does not traditionally enjoy strong backing in Spain and whose current popularity is largely based on the personalities of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

The government is hoping to dodge the problem by submitting several constitutional amendments to the referendum simultaneously, but that could lead to problems with the opposition conservatives, who are against some of the proposed amendments, such as a reform of the senate. Posing in the arms of her radiant mother, baby Leonor is still unaware of the political debates that will determine her future. The best solution, many experts are suggesting, could be to put the issue on ice until Felipe becomes king and the question of his succession will become more current. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur