CHANGES COMING IN ISRAEL

1-Quake near Pacific island of Vanuatu. 2-Small quake rumbles north Calif. 3-Two Greek islands declared disaster areas after night of floods. 4-HAWAI'I BRIEFS,Severe storms hit Big Island, Kaua'i. 5-Ignatieff, Harper and Israel,CBC News Viewpoint. 6-No Agreement on Lieberman´s Five Points. 7-PM Sets His Sights on Nobel Laureate Wiesel for the Presidency. 8-North Korea calls UN sanctions a declaration of war. 9-Europe fears RFID privacy threat. 10-EU Foreign Ministers Approve 2007 Entry for Bulgaria, Romania. 11-Big Powers Split on Proposed Arms Trade Treaty.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Quake near Pacific island of Vanuatu 2 minutes ago

SYDNEY, Australia - A magnitude 6.2 earthquake rumbled deep below the earth's surface off the Pacific island of Vanuatu on Wednesday, but no damage or injuries were reported. The quake struck 86 miles below the seabed off the coast of Vanuatu at 9:45 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was centered about 195 miles northwest of the capital, Port Vila. No tsunami warning was issued.Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides Islands, is made up of 13 main islands located about 1,400 miles east of Australia.The archipelago nation is part of the Pacific ring of fire, and earthquakes of this magnitude are common in the region.

Earlier this month, another magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck near Vanuatu, but caused no damage or injuries.

Small quake rumbles north Calif. coast Wed Oct 18, 12:21 AM ET

EUREKA, Calif. - A small earthquake about 90 miles off the northern California coast Tuesday generated no reports of damage or injuries, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department said.

We didn't feel a thing, said Brenda Godsey, a sheriff's department spokeswoman in Eureka.The magnitude-4.9 quake's epicenter was located about 260 miles northwest of San Francisco, according to a preliminary report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey.The USGS said it received reports from people who felt the temblor in the San Francisco Bay area, including San Jose.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Two Greek islands declared disaster areas after night of floods
Wed Oct 18, 7:08 AM ET

ATHENS (AFP) - Two Greek Aegean islands and an entire prefecture in northwestern Crete were in a state of emergency after overnight storms flooded homes, businesses and hotels across the region, the Greek Civil Protection Authority has said. The Greek fire department was called out Wednesday to drain water from dozens of buildings and rescue people trapped inside their cars in Hania prefecture on Crete, a major tourist destination attracting thousands of visitors every year.Flood-related damage was also reported across the northern coast of Crete in the cities of Heraklion and Rethymnon, and on the islands of Astypalaia and Leros, the civil protection authority told AFP.

With the amount of mud that washed down, it is fortunate that we do not have any victims, Aegean Minister Aristotelis Pavlidis told NET state television.On Astypalaia, local police rescued an elderly man carried away by rushing water, and local authorities said landslides had clogged some of the island's roads.The road network has been damaged, some parts are actually dangerous to drive on,Astypalaia mayor Panormitis Kontaratos told NET state television.A planned damage-assessing visit by the minister was delayed on Wednesday because of poor weather, which also forced the cancellation of a local flight between the islands of Rhodes and Kastellorizo, NET reported.The southern Aegean was struck by a storm front on Tuesday with gale-force winds that reached 10 points on the Beaufort scale, disrupting traffic between the Greek islands and forcing many ships to port.Most scheduled services from the Athens ports of Piraeus and Rafina were cancelled on Wednesday, with an exception made for ships sailing to the Saronic Gulf islands a short distance from the capital, the merchant marine ministry said.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
HAWAI'I BRIEFS,Severe storms hit Big Island, Kaua'i

Flooding forced the partial closure last night of a section of the Big Island's Akoni Pule Highway, the major coastal roadway in North Kohala.Troy Kindred, Hawai'i County Civil Defense administrator, said at 8:45 p.m. there was 3 feet of water on the highway at the 5-mile marker, where a bridge was damaged in Sunday's earthquake. Officials kept one lane of the highway open.Hilo and Puna, meanwhile, were experiencing heavy rains and lightning.At 10:43 p.m. last night the weather service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Kaua'i. The warning said the storm could produce nickel-sized hail and winds of more than 60 mph.The weather service said the storm would affect Kaua'i from Barking Sands to Polihale.

COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL

EZEKIEL 38:10-19
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.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.

LARRY ZOLF: Politics
Ignatieff, Harper and Israel,CBC News Viewpoint,October 17, 2006
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Veteran journalist and Canadian political expert Larry Zolf is a regular contributor to CBC News Online. Larry has been a critic, reporter, producer and consultant for CBC news and current affairs since he joined the CBC in 1962. Born and raised in North End Winnipeg, the hotbed of general strikes and socialism, Larry has covered stories such as integration in Mississippi and the October Crisis in Quebec. He was one of the hosts of the CBCs flagship current affairs television show This Hour Has 7 Days.He is now retired.
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When Michael Ignatieff recently described an Israeli bombing that killed at least 28 civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana as a war crime, he launched another row about Israel in the midst of the Liberal leadership race. The leadership front-runner had earlier aroused a controversy by saying the deaths in Qana wouldn't cost him any sleep. Then he made the war crimes comment during an interview with Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language network. Although he apologized for it repeatedly, the comment was to say the least insensitive towards Israel and the Canadian Jewish community that so consistently supports it. Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Ignatieff on it, alleging that most of the candidates vying for the leadership of the Liberal party hold an anti-Israeli position.

Harper is right.

Catering to Liberal party's left wing

Ignatieff made the comment to cater to the left wing of the federal Liberal party, where he doesn't have strong support. That wing is definitely not pro-Israel it sees Israel as being in bed with U.S. President George W. Bush to the tune of billions in aid and high-tech weaponry.

The left wing feels Israel was way too disproportionate in launching weeks of air strikes and land invasions in Lebanon in the summer in response to the shelling of its own towns and cities by the Lebanon-based militant organization Hezbollah These left-of-centre Liberals feel Israel is not doing enough to help create a Palestinian state. It is the left wing of the Liberal party that is most similar to the NDP, whose bias against Israel is blatant. To the New Democrats, everything Israel does is wrong. The NDP and these left Liberals see Israel not as a democracy but as an American branch plant in the Middle East.

Bashing Israel to expand his Quebec base?

Ignatieff may also have been catering to another group with his comment, albeit perhaps subconsciously. Ignatieff has been campaigning hard on a pro-Quebec ticket, where his policy to recognize Quebec as a nation has put him in the lead. And anti-Israel feelings are extraordinarily high in Quebec. Many people in the province seem to view Israel as a Bush puppet state and sympathy for Lebanon during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict was high in the province, with anti-Israel feelings bordering on the anti-Semitic.

Ignatieff may be unconsciously playing crude, crass politics with Israel and with the Jewish Canadian community that supports it, bashing Israel to help expand his Quebec base.

Harper a true friend of Israel

Viewed from that perspective, Harper's comments about the Liberal left and Israel make sense. Harper is a true friend of Israel. To Harper, there is a difference between terrorists like Hezbollah and Hamas, which have both been listed by Canada as terrorist organizations, and the democratic state of Israel. Harper was once again merely rising to the defence of Israel as he had recently done at the La Francophonie summit when he opposed a proposed resolution that would have recognized the suffering of only the people of Lebanon. He forced the organization to adopt a resolution that also recognized Israel's suffering. Harper is doing more than just playing politics. Certainly, by attacking Liberals on their soft stand on Israel, the prime minister is painting the Conservatives as the only party that truly recognizes Israel's worth and welcoming the Canadian Jewish community to join them.

Harper understands and agrees with the Canadian Jewish community's loyalty toward Israel and its outrage at Ignatieff's remarks. Harper agrees with Israel that the attack on Qana was a mistake the Israeli military later admitted it had made an error and thought all the civilians had fled the village and was anything but a war crime.

Harper not afraid to take unpopular stance

Israel's linkage with Bush and Harper in the war against terrorism and its massive bombing of Lebanon has not made Israel popular in Quebec and other parts of Canada but Harper has embraced Israel nonetheless. What Ignatieff and the left Liberals have proved to the Canadian Jewish community and Israel is that Harper and Bush are really Israel's best friends. The outraged cries of the Liberal candidates Harper has described as mostly anti-Israel are really the cries of a party that has played fast and loose with Israel.

Unlike Ignatieff, who is bending himself into a pretzel over his Israel fiasco, Harper has never played fast and loose with Israel and the Canadian Jewish community.Unlike Ignatieff, Harper does not have to plan sudden trips to Israel and Palestine as a fact-finding, face-saving exercise. Harper is a man of his word. Harper's friends and allies are his friends and allies. Israel is Canada's friend and ally and Harper is not afraid to say so.

No Agreement on Lieberman´s Five Points
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz(INN)

Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni said Tuesday that Jewish unauthorized outposts will be destroyed, regardless of demands by prospective coalition partner Avigdor Lieberman. Destroying the outposts is on the government's agenda and Lieberman must come to terms with that,Livni told reporters. While she said she would be happy to see the government widening and becoming more stable, it would have to be based on its own principles.Not uprooting the outposts is one of five preconditions Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party has laid down to joining the Olmert government. The othera of his five points are:

- Changing the government to one of direct presidential elections, including a constitution;

- Establishing a state commission of inquiry to investigate what is felt to be the mismanagement of the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon;

- Officially ending Olmert's convergence (unilateral withdrawal) plan; and

- Passing a law that would allow civil marriage.

Yisrael Beiteinu's bill calling for election reform and a change in the structure of government will undergo a preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum next Wednesday. Lieberman has said that his party would not enter the coalition government if the bill does not pass.There is no doubt that if the bill passes it will eliminate many points of contention [with coalition leaders],Lieberman told reporters on Monday. However, he added that there are no negotiations currently underway between his party and the Kadima-led coalition: We have no ideology to sit in the coalition. and I am not looking for excuses to sit in the opposition. Everything is open.

Meanwhile, the Shas party has threatened to quit the coalition if Olmert agrees to Yisrael Beiteinu's precondition regarding a change in the current marriage laws to permit civil administrative marriages.Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Kadima) said Sunday that he is not opposed to Yisrael Beiteinu joining the government as long as there are no changes to the government's coalition guidelines.

In an interview with Arutz-7 Hebrew Radio on Tuesday, MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (National Union-NRP) said he was convinced Lieberman's party would not enter the government, particularly in light of the prime minister's comments yesterday that he is committed to the current coalition guidelines. I am surprised at Lieberman, who wants to be a national-camp leader. It looks like he is rushing and crawling to get in, and that he wants to be on the inside.MK Levy added that the discussion of Yisrael Beiteinu joining the coalition appears to him to be more of a political manipulation than a serious plan. If Lieberman were to join the government, Levy added, it would only harm him, because within a year, there will be reports from the committees investigating the war [in Lebanon], which will obligate everyone sitting in the government. Furthermore, MK Levy estimated that if Labor remains in the coalition, Lieberman's influence in such a coalition would be minimal. This government is unfit to lead the country, Levy said, and we must wait for further developments and create a better government.

PM Sets His Sights on Nobel Laureate Wiesel for the Presidency
By Yechiel Spira(INN)

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is suggesting a new candidate for president not an Israeli, but Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel.In a surprise move, the prime minister suggested Wiesel as a possible candidate to replace President Moshe Katzav.

While Mr. Olmert has been careful not to publicly undermine the president, it is now apparent that Mr. Katzav will likely be compelled to step down from office in the near future. Katzav will likely be facing a multi-count criminal indictment and his future will be determined by the outcome of the judicial proceedings against him.Olmert has made it clear that he prefers a president who does not emerge from the ranks of the political arena, as was the case with Katzav and others. Wiesel, who is internationally acclaimed, has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize and is widely respected internationally.

Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, would be compelled to move to Israel if he accepts the nomination and is elected, and would immediately be granted Israeli citizenship. Olmert pointed out that selecting a non-Israeli for the post is not without precedent; Albert Einstein was encouraged to move to Israel to serve as Israel's president in its early days, but he turned down the offer.Mr. Wiesel speaks Hebrew, along with a number of other languages, making him even more suited for the post, the prime minister explains.Mr. Olmert is also considering throwing his support behind former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky, who recently announced his resignation from politics. He has accepted a position in Jerusalem’s prestigious Shalem Center.

Sharansky served in the past as a cabinet minister and is respected worldwide for his published views regarding issues of human rights and terrorism. He sat in Soviet prison for close to a decade because of his struggle to emigrate from the former USSR to Israel.Other candidates on the horizon include Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau. A child survivor of the atrocities of the Holocaust like Wiesel, Rabbi Lau is perhaps best know for his ability to articulate traditional Jewish views and his tenacious efforts to bridge the gap between Jews. While identified with the ultra-Orthodox world and uncompromising in his observance, Rabbi Lau continues to exhibit a policy of tolerance and respect, preferring to utilize dialogue and understanding as his weapons.

Other names of likely candidates include former Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who enjoys wide support in the Knesset. However, the prime minister is unlikely to support Rivlin, who remained in the Likud Party when Olmert and his supporters left to join Ariel Sharon’s Kadima Party. Since the break-away from Likud, Rivlin and Olmert have been political rivals. Senior Labor Party official Minister Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer is also a candidate, but few believe he has a realistic chance.Vice Premier Shimon Peres has already signaled he too may run for the post. Peres lost to Katzav six years ago in the secret Knesset vote.

Many analysts believe that despite being among the most respected politicians in the world, Peres would not take a chance on running once again for office. Peres, 83, is widely known in Israel as The Loser, barely ever having won an election. The president, Israel’s head of state, is elected to a five-year term by a majority of the Knesset in a secret ballot. The president can be reelected for only one more consecutive term.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

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.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES

NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

North Korea calls UN sanctions a declaration of war
PM - Tuesday, 17 October , 2006 18:26:00,Reporter: Shane McLeod

MARK COLVIN: There's a growing fear among North Korea's neighbours that the world's newest nuclear power is about to conduct a second atomic test.The US, using what's assumed to be sensitive chemical-sniffing satellite technology, has now let it be known that last Monday's underground blast was indeed a nuclear device.But there's been persistent speculation that it didn't deliver the explosive power that the North Korean leadership had been hoping for.While diplomacy continues, an official statement from North Korea called the UN Sanctions Resolution a declaration of war.

North Asia Correspondent Shane McLeod.

SHANE McLEOD: Intelligence sources in the United States quoted by the New York Times say last week's test was a nuclear device, and most likely used plutonium.

That's given some analysts cause for hope because plutonium would have come from North Korea's older nuclear program, and not enriched uranium process it's believed to have started using technology imported from Pakistan.But the news came along with reports that North Korea may be planning another test of its nuclear capability.

US intelligence sources have spotted truck movements near a site in the northern Hamyong province that could be preparations for another test.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading for Tokyo today and she says another test would be provocative.

CONDOLEEZA RICE: I think it goes to say that that would further deepen the isolation of North Korea and I hope they would not take such a provocative act.Because people went out of their way in this resolution, to have a strong and firm hand, and strong and firm response, but to leave open a door for North Korea to take a different course if it wishes to do so.

SHANE McLEOD: Speculation about another test has been confirmed by South Korea and Japan.In Tokyo, Government

Spokesman Yasuhisa Shiozaki wouldn't go into detail.

(Sounds of Yasuhisa Shiozaki speaking) We know there are many media reports, he says. But we are continuously exchanging intelligence, so I shouldn't go into detail.After conducting its first nuclear test a week ago Pyongyang has been widely expected to follow it up with another.Dr Lee Sang-Hyun is the Director of Security Studies at the Sejong Institute in Seoul. He believes another nuclear test is North Korea's most probable response, to the imposition of sanctions by the UN Security Council.

LEE SANG-HYUN: Of course there are other options as well, for example, North Korea may intentionally increase the tension around the Korean peninsula. For example, a minor clash in (inaudible).Or some minor provocation along the demilitarized zone.
But I think in the context of a nuclear crisis, probably a second nuclear test will be most probable and likely option that North Korea can do.

SHANE McLEOD: The diplomatic effort is focused on a united approach to implementing the Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang.China's opposition to a cargo inspection regime is well known but reports out of China suggest that Beijing may be imposing other controls aimed at punishing North Korea.One news agency says that banks in areas along the border have told customers they've stopped all foreign exchange with North Korea.And there have been signs of stepped up inspections of trucks heading across the border.The US chief negotiator on North Korea, Christopher Hill, has set out what the diplomatic deal making is now focused on.Not North Korea's return to the six country talks on its nuclear programs, but for Pyongyang to start implementing a deal it agreed to at those talks more than a year ago.

CHRISTOPHER HILL: We want this Security Council resolution to be effective in bringing North Korea around to implementing its obligations under the joint statement.

SHANE McLEOD: It's a position the other countries lined up against North Korea can be expected to endorse.But their cohesion may disappear if North Korea proceeds with another demonstration of its nuclear technology.This is Shane McLeod reporting for
PM.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Europe fears RFID privacy threat Tuesday October 17, 04:12 PM By Tom Espiner, ZDNet UK

Many individuals and organisations are concerned about the privacy implications of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, according to the European Commission.

A six-month study into RFID, which culminated on Monday, found that people worry their privacy may be infringed through loss of control of the data collected via the use of radio tags.Information and Media Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said Europeans needed assurance that radio tags would not be used for large-scale surveillance, and said she would consider legislation concerning RFID andprivacy.The overriding message that comes out of the consultation is that citizens have concerns over privacy issues,said Reding, in a speech on Monday.

The large majority are willing to be convinced that RFID can bring benefits but they want to be reassured that it will not compromise their privacy. This is the deal that we have to strike if we want RFID to be accepted and widely taken up. This is the deal I am looking to make,Reding added. Almost 2,200 people took part in the survey. Seventy percent thought it was important to label tags and give consumers the opportunity to disable or destroy them. RFID tags can be used in supply chains to help companies track their stock from the supplier to the shop floor, and possibly beyond. They are being tested by many retailers, and are also being trialled in a range of environments. One kind of tag has been recently developed to track passengers at airports.

The RFID industry has argued that self-regulation will prevent radio-tagging being abused. But this has not inspired confidence in the survey participants, with just 15 percent of respondents believing industry would do well to regulate its use of RFID.Over half of survey participants said that legislation was needed to that ensure RFID tags and any information harvested by governments and organisations were not misused.

EU Foreign Ministers Approve 2007 Entry for Bulgaria, Romania
By VOA News ,17 October 2006

European Union foreign ministers have formally endorsed the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the bloc on January 1, 2007.The ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, urged Sofia and Bucharest to continue judicial reforms and improve efforts for dealing with organized crime and corruption. Earlier this year, the European Commission suggested what it called a series of safeguard measures,which give the 25-member bloc financial leverage over the two countries. The measures will allow the EU's top executive body to limit Bulgarian or Romanian access to European funds if they lag in implementing reforms.The entry of the two countries will enlarge the European Union to 27 members.

Big Powers Split on Proposed Arms Trade Treaty Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service (IPS) Tue Oct 17, 11:56 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 (IPS) - The United Nations is responding positively to a call from peace activists and human rights organisations for a new international treaty to monitor the world's growing 1.1-trillion-dollar global arms trade. A resolution calling for the creation of a group of governmental experts to explore the feasibility of starting work on such a treaty has been gathering strong support.

As of last week, more than 80 governments (out of 192) have co-sponsored the resolution, and many more are telling us they will support it, Anna Macdonald, the manager of the Control Arms Campaign for Oxfam International, told IPS.

The momentum behind the arms trade treaty is building.The lobbying is being led by Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA). The campaign, which is supported by 20 Nobel Peace laureates, has been working towards this vote for three years.The world's major arms manufacturers described as the worst culprits are also the most powerful in the United Nations, namely the five permanent members (P-5) of the Security Council: the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia.Asked what support the campaign has from the P-5, MacDonald said: The permanent five are split on the treaty.She pointed out that Britain and France are 100 percent behind the treaty.Although Britain has been described as the world's second biggest arms exporter after the United States, it is also one of the resolution's co-sponsors.

However, Russia, China and the United States are among the key sceptics on the treaty, she added.Macdonald also said that three emerging arms exporters Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania have come out in support of the arms trade treaty for the first time.Other first time supporters include countries that have been devastated by armed violence, including Colombia, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia and Rwanda, she added.

The resolution will come up for a vote sometime next week in the U.N.'s committee on disarmament and international security, and will later go before the 192-member General Assembly for ratification, perhaps by late November or early December. Clearly, there's another week of discussions to go,Macdonald told IPS, But as it stands, the groundswell of support for the resolution is growing with every day that passes.In a statement released Monday, IANSA's U.N. Representative Mark Marge said: Since we started the Control Arms Campaign three years ago, it is estimated that over a million people have been killed by guns and other small arms. Governments must get behind the Arms Trade Treaty.The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in June this year that U.S. military spending in both Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to push global military expenditures to a new high in 2006: far above the current 1.1 trillion dollars.According to SIPRI, the United States accounted for 48 percent of total military spending worldwide in 2005.The United States, France and Britain, three of the big powers at the United Nations, are all involved in costly overseas military operations, while the fourth big power, namely China, is modernising its armed forces.In these circumstances, there is a strong likelihood that the current upward trend in world military spending will be sustained in 2006,SIPRI said.Meanwhile, in a report released Monday, the London-based Amnesty International said that lax arms controls fuel conflict and suffering worldwide.

U.N. arms embargoes are like dams against tidal waves; alone they cannot stop weapons flooding in. Only a tough global Arms Trade Treaty could stem the flow of arms to the world's war zones, said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International. The study points out that bullets from Greece, China, Russia and United States have been found in rebel hands in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).This is believed to be the first time that U.S. and Greek bullets have been recovered from rebel groups in eastern DRC, highlighting the global sources of the arms fuelling fighting in the region, AI said. AI's research, conducted last month, also reveals the origins of a sample of arms and ammunition recovered from rebel groups since the imposition of the U.N. arms embargo in 2003.

Small arms made in Russia, China, Serbia and South Africa were also found.

The study also said an estimated 3.9 million people have been killed as a result of conflict in the DRC since 1998.

Fighting continues in eastern DRC despite a peace deal in 2002, fuelled by weapons and ammunition from around the world. Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty International, said that rebel groups in the eastern DRC have an appalling track record of rape, torture and killing of civilians as well as a history of using children as soldiers.That bullets from so many countries have fuelled these abuses is yet another indication that an Arms Trade Treaty must become a reality, Khan added.