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THE NEXT WORLD WAR,WHAT PROPHECY REVEALS ABOUT EXTREME ISLAM AND THE WEST.
Product Description:
The Next World War
What Prophecy Reveals About Extreme Islam and the West
by Grant R. Jeffrey
Book Summary
For decades, prophecy expert Grant R. Jeffrey has been analyzing geopolitical developments through the lenses of history, intelligence, religion, and prophecy. As current events unfold according to the prophecies of the Bible, Jeffrey says Islamic
extremists are preparing to attack Israel and conquer western civilization, destroying our freedom. Drawing from firsthand interviews, intelligence reports, and ancient biblical prophecy, Jeffrey reveals:
Saddam Hussein's role in the 9/11 attack on America
Where Iraq hid its Weapons of Mass Destruction
How Russia and the forces of extreme Islam will launch World War III
The Bible's prophecy of the destruction of extremist Islam
How Israel will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
With Grant Jeffrey's incisive and sometimes surprising analysis, you will be able to understand the hidden agenda and powerful players behind today's news headlines.
On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, President Bush remarked, It is clear that the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle between extremists who use terror as a weapon to create fear and moderate people who work for peace.He also said that America looks to the day when the people of the Middle East leave the desert of despotism for the fertile gardens of liberty, and resume their rightful place in a world of peace and prosperity.But is such a vision of world peace a realistic possibility? What does biblical prophecy disclose about the greatest crisis facing our world today-and its future? Dr. Grant Jeffrey takes on this challenging, yet
fascinating subject in his new book, The Next World War: What Prophecy Reveals About Extreme Islam and the West. Drawing from firsthand interviews, intelligence reports, and ancient biblical prophecy, he reveals The strategic goal of Islamic terrorists is nothing less than the annihilation of Judeo-Christian Western civilization.But he reminds us that according to prophecy, Jesus the Messiah will return, defeat the enemies of God and finally establish true peace on earth.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Next World War
Part I: The Ancient Beginning of the Last Days
1 The Roots of Arab Muslim Hatred
Enmity Between Ishmael and Isaac Has Now Come Home to Roost
2 God Brings His People Back to the Holy Land
How Arab Powers and European Authorities Stacked the Deck against Israel
3 Koranic Prophecies of Islam's Defeat
Amazingly, the Muslim Scriptures Predict Israel's Ultimate Victory
Part II: The Origins of Modern Terrorism
4 The Birth of Islam
The Strategy of Conversion by Conquest
5 The Sixth Pillar of Islam
How Jihad Gained Unrivaled Prominence
6 Radical Islam versus the West
Taking a Closer Look at Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda
7 al-Qaeda's Strategies and Resources
Weaponry, Communications, and Plans for Warfare
Part III: The Deeper Significance of Global Terror
8 Islam's War Against All Perceived Enemies
The Militant Justification for Violence against Non-Muslims 9 The Full-Scale War against America
Osama bin Laden's Nuclear Threat to the West
10 The Strategies and Goals of Islamic Terrorism
How the News Media Missed the Reality of Today's Global War
Part IV: Our Generation Has Entered the Last Days
11 The Arab War against Israel
Overwhelming Evidence of the Commitment to Eliminate Jews in Palestine
12 Will This War Signal the Last Days?
Understanding the Coming War of Gog and Magog
13 The Rise of Antichrist
Signs and Developments That Point to the End Times
14 A New Temple in Jerusalem
Detailed Plans for Building on the Temple Mount
Conclusion: Peace Between Arabs and Jews
How God Will Bring about a Final Reconciliation
Appendix 1
Requirements for the New Sanhedrin
Appendix 2
Further Evidence of Direct Links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden
Appendix 3
A Saudi Journalist Compares Extremist Islamic Ideology to Nazism
Saturday, September 30, 2006
CHINA TESTFIRES FUSION REACTOR
1-Strong quake rocks Trinidad. 2-Two Earthquakes Hit Mount Desert Island. 3-Tropical Storm Isaac slows in Atlantic. 4-Some Trees & Powerlines Down After Storms Race Through Region. 5-Rice to leave for Middle East visit. 6-Oxfam warns EU trade deals could sink poor countries. 7-China test fires fusion reactor. 8-France hopes Israel will withdraw from Lebanon within days. 9-Huge rally for Hamas in Gaza Strip amid vows to never recognize Israel. 10-Israel backs off plan to kill Nasrallah. 11-Select group of politicians to tackle EU constitution.
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.
Strong quake rocks Trinidad 1 hour, 6 minutes ago
CARACAS (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 has struck north of the island of Trinidad, just off Venezuela's northeastern coast, Venezuela's seismological institute has said. The tremors were felt throughout most of eastern Venezuela, but there were no immediate reports of major damage there, Gustavo Malava, director of Venezuela's seismological institute, told state-owned VTV television.Earlier, the US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center said in a statement that the temblor struck at 1308 GMT, 41 kilometers (26 miles) northwest of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.Trinidad and Tobago, with more than 1.3 million people mainly of African and East Indian descent, is among the Caribbean's more prosperous nations. Its economy depends largely on oil and petrochemicals.The USGS reported it as a magnitude-6.0 quake. That reading was based on the open-ended moment magnitude scale, often used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
Two Earthquakes Hit Mount Desert Island
Web Editor: Aaron Roberts, Reporter
Updated: 9/28/2006 7:28:36 PM
According to the Weston Observatory in Massachusetts, the two earthquakes were recorded shortly before 10:00 A.M. Thursday. Experts say they were aftershocks from last Friday's 3.4 magnitude earthquake. They measured 2.5, and 1.8 on the richter scale. Thursday's epicenter was just north of Bar Harbor in Frenchman Bay. The earthquakes were small enough that a lot of people didn't notice them, but many did, including a dispatcher with the Bar Harbor Police Department. She took about ten to fifteen calls from curious residents.Sharon Worcester says, It sounded like loud thunder that happened outside, but the thing that was different was that the building moved a little bit at the same time. So I said, well I've never felt thunder that moved a building before, so maybe we're having another earthquake. The Weston Observatory says there have been about 20 aftershocks from last Friday's earthquake that registered 3.4 on the richter scale.NEWS CENTER
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.
Tropical Storm Isaac slows in Atlantic 35 minutes ago
MIAMI - Tropical Storm Isaac slowed slightly Friday in the central Atlantic on a path that could take it near Canada early next week, but it didn't appear to be a major threat to land, forecasters said. At 11 a.m. EDT, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season had top sustained winds near 45 mph, the same as Thursday night. Its center was about 550 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and moving toward the west-northwest near 6 mph.The storm was expected to move north and then northeast in the open Atlantic, with an area of low pressure blocking it from nearing the United States, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.
Isaac should also stay to the east of Bermuda, but the Canadian Maritimes and Newfoundland could feel the outer edges of the storm sometime Monday or Tuesday, hurricane specialist Eric Blake said. It was too soon to tell whether the strongest parts of the storm would reach land, he said.Isaac could lose its tropical characteristics by then, Blake said.The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. September is traditionally one of the busiest months of the season.
News : Some Trees & Powerlines Down After Storms Race Through Region
Posted by ChadMerrill on 2006/9/28 19:50:22
NBC25 NEWS- Severe thunderstorms ahead of a vigorous cold front ripped through the region putting down heavy rains and gusty winds.Two trailers were blown over at the Food Lion Distribution Center in Greencastle.
There was damage to one part of the building, but fortunately no injuries were reported.Damage reports from National Weather Service Office included trees down in Berkeley Springs and Springfield, West Virginia and wires down in Augusta, West Virginia. Reports of damage were more concentrated in Chambersburg and Greencastle. One report indicated a fire due to a potential lightning strike at a home in Chambersburg. If you have a damage report or a picture of the destruction the storms left behind, click on weather@nbc25.com.
Prepare for falling temperatures and cold weather, especially for Friday night football. Click here for your latest forecast.Reported by Chad Merrill
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.
US News
4,400 firefighters battle southern California blaze
Sep 28, 2006, 21:35 GMT
Los Angeles - More than 4,400 firefighters were desperately trying to contain a stubborn fire Thursday that has grown to the fifth largest in California history as worsening weather conditions threatened to fan the blaze. The so-called Day Fire was ignited at the start of the month by someone burning building debris and as of noon Thursday had burned through some 650 square kilometres in Los Padres National Forest, about 120 kilometres north of Los Angeles. So far no injuries have occurred and no homes have been destroyed.
But meteorologists are forecasting the start of the region's infamous Santa Ana winds strong warm breezes that blow in from the south east every autumn which are a major catalyst of wildfires every year. We are expecting extremely low humidities today and winds,said fire information officer Greg Cleveland, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.These low humidities and hot temperatures makes for explosive conditions. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
JPost.com,Updated Sep. 29, 2006 4:29
Rice to leave for Middle East visit
By NATHAN GUTTMAN,WASHINGTON
Amid talk of renewing direct talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is leaving for the region Sunday to explore the chances of reviving the peace process. The State Department announced the trip Thursday, pointing out that Rice's mission will be to follow up on President Bush's commitment to work on renewing peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Rice's tour of the region will focus on the moderate Arab countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan which are viewed by the administration as key players in any future peace process and in dealing with the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb. During her tour, Rice will stop for a 24-hour visit in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and will meet with Olmert and Abbas.
Rice's visit is part of an effort, announced by Bush at the UN General Assembly, to advance the Middle East peace process with Rice serving as the administration's point person for this issue. Diplomatic sources in Washington said that Rice will not be bringing new ideas to the table and will focus on showing personal involvement in the process and assessing the ability of both the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward on the basis of the road map peace plan. Rice's agenda, in her visit to the region, will also include apart from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the issues of Iran's nuclear program and the post-war situation in Lebanon.
The US, according to diplomatic sources, senses a new approach coming from the moderate Arab countries and would like to harness this new approach to advance the peace process and block Iran's nuclear aspirations.
The sources said also that ever since the war in Lebanon this summer, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have positioned themselves closer to the American view of the region and are now looking for ways to act to curb Iran's influence on the region. A senior State Department official said several weeks ago that for the moderate Arab countries there needs to be progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for them to join a coalition that will pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear plans. Rice's last visit to the region took place in July during the Lebanon war and was dedicated to working out a cease-fire between the sides.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
Posted to the web on: 27 September 2006
Oxfam warns EU trade deals could sink poor countries
Siseko Njobeni,Trade and Industry Correspondent
FREE trade agreements mooted between the European Union (EU) and several African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries could destroy the economies of poor countries, development agency Oxfam has warned.
In a report called Unequal Partners, Oxfam said that since the collapse of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, the EU had stepped up the pressure in trade negotiations with 75 poor countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.Four years ago, the EU and the ACP countries officially resumed negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The negotiations were meant to last for five years and the agreements are meant to come into force in 2008.But trade expert Hilton Zunckel said yesterday that the negotiations had been slow and were unlikely to be wrapped up next year. One of the deal-breakers in the Doha round of negotiations was the developing countries refusal to expose their infant industries to competition from developed countries.
Oxfam said current free trade agreements could bankrupt fledgling industries in poor countries because of stiff competition from European multinationals.Oxfam campaigns and policy director Phil Bloomer said: Unless there is a radical shift in approach from the EU, these negotiations will produce free trade deals that jeopardise jobs and entire industries in developing countries.
Perhaps the biggest danger is that poor countries will be signed up to deals that stymie their opportunities and jeopardise future development,the organisation said.Oxfam said the EU should drop its ambition to have reciprocal market access in ACP countries.
Instead, the development agency said, Europe should further open its own market to ACP exporters. As a result of the free trade agreements, Oxfam said the ACP countries stood to lose control over key policy instruments such as tariff policies, competition and investment regulations.
Developing countries were steadfast in their refusal to include competition and investment policy in the failed Doha Round of negotiations. Oxfam said it was unacceptable for the EU now to propose matters that the poor countries had rejected at the WTO meetings.Zunckel said: The concern raised by Oxfam reaffirms the importance for Africa of making progress on the multilateral level at the WTO. In the WTO forum, developing countries can take a more combined, hence stronger, stand, whereas the ACP is essentially divided six ways and negotiates with much less weight under the various EPA talks with the EU. He said it would make sense for Southern African Customs Union (SACU) members Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland to disengage from the EPA negotiations and be absorbed into the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA). The EU is yet to respond formally to this proposal from SA.The TDCA, which created a freer trade area between SA and the EU, has seen the EU open its markets faster and more extensively than SA.
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ARATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
China test fires fusion reactor
The team trumpeted their device - called Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) as the first of its kind in operation in the world. They didn't, however, disclose whether they'd got more energy out of the reaction than they'd pumped in obviously critical for a viable commercial reactor.Apart from its domestic efforts, China is a partner in the €10bn ITER experimental nuclear fusion reactor project, slated to get under way in Cadarache, France, next year.The EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the US are also backing the world's most expensive science experiment, which they hope will bring the first sustained fusion reactions
to produce electricity
POL-FRANCE-LEBANON-ISRAEL SEPT 29,06
France hopes Israel will withdraw from Lebanon within days
PARIS,KUNA) Despite continuous delays by Israel in this process, France said on Friday that it hoped for a full withdrawal of the Israeli army from south Lebanon, in the coming days,in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that established a cease-fire between Hezbollah resistance and Tsahal last month.Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which includes 2,000 French troops and is commanded by a French general, was now at the needed strength and deployed in south Lebanon, and this meets the requirements for Israel to withdraw.
Mattei declined to provide an explanation for the Israeli delays, saying that was for the Israelis to do, but he noted there were a number of tripartite contacts between UNIFIL, the Lebanese army and the Israeli forces and that these were continuing.We understand these contact are to continue. We hope, on the French side, that the Israeli withdrawal could happen in the coming days, in line with what is set out in Resolution 1701,the official added.He declined to comment on differences between UNIFIL and the Israelis over the rules of engagement in south Lebanon, saying this was a UN matter, but he did emphasize that Israel had no right to violate Lebanese air space as it has continued to do since the cease fire in August.We consider that in virtue of the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, these flights should not take place, the spokesman remarked, noting this is exactly the same message we transmit to the Israeli authorities.(end) jk.tg,KUNA 291857 Sep 06NNNN
Huge rally for Hamas in Gaza Strip amid vows to never recognize Israel
Posted: 29-09-2006 , 16:04 GMT
Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters held a peaceful rally in Gaza on Friday to denounce the state of Israel and announce that they would never recognize its right to exist. We ask God to punish the so-called Israel and the allies of Israel and to punish those who recognize Israel and those who called on us to recognize Israel,Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told the crowd that thronged the Jabalya refugee camp.We vow to God that we will never recognize Israel even if we would be all killed, Masri told the cheering followers.Masri also aimed criticism at Fatah, saying it was trying to pressure Hamas into recognizing Israel. Those people are
demanding us openly to recognize the occupation and that will never happen,Masri said. The protest aims to stress our rejection to recognize the legitimacy of the occupation,Masri said.The protest is against the siege and against the attempts by some to carry out a coup against the government,Masri added.Masri vowed that Hamas' administration would go on governing no matter how much pressure was applied to it. This government and the leadership of Hamas of the Palestinian people will continue throughout its legal term, for four years,Masri said.© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba
Israel backs off plan to kill Nasrallah Fri Sep 29, 6:49 AM ET
JERUSALEM -Israel has quietly backed off its plan to assassinate Hezbollah's leader because of the international condemnation that his killing would create, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday. During the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended Aug. 14, Israel had targeted Hassan Nasrallah for assassination, security officials said, according to Maariv.Nasrallah went underground, though he repeatedly recorded videos from his hiding place that were broadcast on Lebanese television.
When the war ended, the army recommended that the efforts to kill Nasrallah be called off because his assassination would lead to international criticism of Israel and would ignite an even more violent war, Maariv reported.
However, the government declined to call off the hunt, the newspaper reported. Nasrallah emerged from hiding on Sept. 22 to address a massive rally in Lebanon celebrating Hezbollah's fight against Israel. Israel army officials determined they could assassinate him with an airstrike during the rally, but dozens of bystanders also would be killed, Maariv reported.
The government decided an airstrike was not worth the risk, and accepted the army's recommendation that it should abandon efforts to kill Nasrallah for the time being, the newspaper reported. However, the government did not make a formal decision regarding Nasrallah.Israeli government spokesman Miri Eisin declined to confirm whether Nasrallah had been a target or if he no longer was being pursued.We've always said that any terrorist should feel that his activities put him under our eye,she said.
Select group of politicians to tackle EU constitution
28.09.2006 - 17:42 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS Work on the EU constitution is to begin again in an informal manner when a wise group of politicians and officials from across Europe meet
this weekend to see if they can come up with solutions to pull Europe out of its
institutional impasse.Italian former prime minister Giuliano Amato, who was vice president of the 200-strong body that drew up the constitution six years ago, is the driver behind the group which will have its first meeting in Rome on Saturday (30 September).
Supported by the European Commission which is sending two commissioners Danuta Hubner (regional policy) and Margot Wallstom (communications) the group also includes British ex-commissioner Chris Patten, former French foreign minister Michel
Barnier, ex-German justice minister Otto Schily, former prime ministers Paavo Lipponen and Wim Kok of Finland and the Netherlands.
The group represents the first public attempt at resuscitating the document which has been languishing in the political hinterlands since it was rejected last year by French and Dutch voters.It is also an acknowledgement that nothing can be done at governmental level until the French elections early next year are over and done with.
Since the shock votes in mid 2005, the EU has not found the political will to tackle the constitutional question with member states in June finding it politically expedient to instead prolong the period of reflection about what to do about the constitution.European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso put the issue back on the political table earlier this week by saying that there will be no further enlargement until there is an institutional settlement.
Romania and Bulgaria joining in January and bringing the number of member states to 27, the power-sharing limit foreseen under the current framework the Nice Treaty will only serve to make the issue more pressing.This is particularly the case for countries that support further enlargement to take on Croatia, such as Germany.
Berlin takes over the EU presidency in January and supports a revival of the EU constitution but has so far been lukewarm about the proposals being touted in some capitals.Last week, chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that she did not want to pick out parts of the document, appearing to reject ideas by French centre-right presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian prime minister Romano Prodi.
The mini-treaty idea had found favour in some quarters because it could get around a major political stumbling bloc in that it may only need to be approved by national parliaments, sidestepping unpredictable French voters. However, Mrs Merkel also
re-opened a can of political worms by resurrecting the idea that there should be a reference to God in the constitution.
The God debate during original negotiations on the EU charter was long and bitter with the document eventually emerging without a reference to Christianity.Berlin's position has left some analysts wondering whether it is possible to keep the whole document alive as well as reopening difficult issues like the religious heritage question.
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.
Strong quake rocks Trinidad 1 hour, 6 minutes ago
CARACAS (AFP) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 has struck north of the island of Trinidad, just off Venezuela's northeastern coast, Venezuela's seismological institute has said. The tremors were felt throughout most of eastern Venezuela, but there were no immediate reports of major damage there, Gustavo Malava, director of Venezuela's seismological institute, told state-owned VTV television.Earlier, the US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center said in a statement that the temblor struck at 1308 GMT, 41 kilometers (26 miles) northwest of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.Trinidad and Tobago, with more than 1.3 million people mainly of African and East Indian descent, is among the Caribbean's more prosperous nations. Its economy depends largely on oil and petrochemicals.The USGS reported it as a magnitude-6.0 quake. That reading was based on the open-ended moment magnitude scale, often used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released.
Two Earthquakes Hit Mount Desert Island
Web Editor: Aaron Roberts, Reporter
Updated: 9/28/2006 7:28:36 PM
According to the Weston Observatory in Massachusetts, the two earthquakes were recorded shortly before 10:00 A.M. Thursday. Experts say they were aftershocks from last Friday's 3.4 magnitude earthquake. They measured 2.5, and 1.8 on the richter scale. Thursday's epicenter was just north of Bar Harbor in Frenchman Bay. The earthquakes were small enough that a lot of people didn't notice them, but many did, including a dispatcher with the Bar Harbor Police Department. She took about ten to fifteen calls from curious residents.Sharon Worcester says, It sounded like loud thunder that happened outside, but the thing that was different was that the building moved a little bit at the same time. So I said, well I've never felt thunder that moved a building before, so maybe we're having another earthquake. The Weston Observatory says there have been about 20 aftershocks from last Friday's earthquake that registered 3.4 on the richter scale.NEWS CENTER
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.
Tropical Storm Isaac slows in Atlantic 35 minutes ago
MIAMI - Tropical Storm Isaac slowed slightly Friday in the central Atlantic on a path that could take it near Canada early next week, but it didn't appear to be a major threat to land, forecasters said. At 11 a.m. EDT, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season had top sustained winds near 45 mph, the same as Thursday night. Its center was about 550 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and moving toward the west-northwest near 6 mph.The storm was expected to move north and then northeast in the open Atlantic, with an area of low pressure blocking it from nearing the United States, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.
Isaac should also stay to the east of Bermuda, but the Canadian Maritimes and Newfoundland could feel the outer edges of the storm sometime Monday or Tuesday, hurricane specialist Eric Blake said. It was too soon to tell whether the strongest parts of the storm would reach land, he said.Isaac could lose its tropical characteristics by then, Blake said.The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. September is traditionally one of the busiest months of the season.
News : Some Trees & Powerlines Down After Storms Race Through Region
Posted by ChadMerrill on 2006/9/28 19:50:22
NBC25 NEWS- Severe thunderstorms ahead of a vigorous cold front ripped through the region putting down heavy rains and gusty winds.Two trailers were blown over at the Food Lion Distribution Center in Greencastle.
There was damage to one part of the building, but fortunately no injuries were reported.Damage reports from National Weather Service Office included trees down in Berkeley Springs and Springfield, West Virginia and wires down in Augusta, West Virginia. Reports of damage were more concentrated in Chambersburg and Greencastle. One report indicated a fire due to a potential lightning strike at a home in Chambersburg. If you have a damage report or a picture of the destruction the storms left behind, click on weather@nbc25.com.
Prepare for falling temperatures and cold weather, especially for Friday night football. Click here for your latest forecast.Reported by Chad Merrill
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.
US News
4,400 firefighters battle southern California blaze
Sep 28, 2006, 21:35 GMT
Los Angeles - More than 4,400 firefighters were desperately trying to contain a stubborn fire Thursday that has grown to the fifth largest in California history as worsening weather conditions threatened to fan the blaze. The so-called Day Fire was ignited at the start of the month by someone burning building debris and as of noon Thursday had burned through some 650 square kilometres in Los Padres National Forest, about 120 kilometres north of Los Angeles. So far no injuries have occurred and no homes have been destroyed.
But meteorologists are forecasting the start of the region's infamous Santa Ana winds strong warm breezes that blow in from the south east every autumn which are a major catalyst of wildfires every year. We are expecting extremely low humidities today and winds,said fire information officer Greg Cleveland, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.These low humidities and hot temperatures makes for explosive conditions. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
JPost.com,Updated Sep. 29, 2006 4:29
Rice to leave for Middle East visit
By NATHAN GUTTMAN,WASHINGTON
Amid talk of renewing direct talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is leaving for the region Sunday to explore the chances of reviving the peace process. The State Department announced the trip Thursday, pointing out that Rice's mission will be to follow up on President Bush's commitment to work on renewing peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Rice's tour of the region will focus on the moderate Arab countries Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan which are viewed by the administration as key players in any future peace process and in dealing with the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb. During her tour, Rice will stop for a 24-hour visit in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and will meet with Olmert and Abbas.
Rice's visit is part of an effort, announced by Bush at the UN General Assembly, to advance the Middle East peace process with Rice serving as the administration's point person for this issue. Diplomatic sources in Washington said that Rice will not be bringing new ideas to the table and will focus on showing personal involvement in the process and assessing the ability of both the Palestinians and the Israelis to move forward on the basis of the road map peace plan. Rice's agenda, in her visit to the region, will also include apart from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the issues of Iran's nuclear program and the post-war situation in Lebanon.
The US, according to diplomatic sources, senses a new approach coming from the moderate Arab countries and would like to harness this new approach to advance the peace process and block Iran's nuclear aspirations.
The sources said also that ever since the war in Lebanon this summer, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan have positioned themselves closer to the American view of the region and are now looking for ways to act to curb Iran's influence on the region. A senior State Department official said several weeks ago that for the moderate Arab countries there needs to be progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for them to join a coalition that will pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear plans. Rice's last visit to the region took place in July during the Lebanon war and was dedicated to working out a cease-fire between the sides.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
Posted to the web on: 27 September 2006
Oxfam warns EU trade deals could sink poor countries
Siseko Njobeni,Trade and Industry Correspondent
FREE trade agreements mooted between the European Union (EU) and several African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries could destroy the economies of poor countries, development agency Oxfam has warned.
In a report called Unequal Partners, Oxfam said that since the collapse of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, the EU had stepped up the pressure in trade negotiations with 75 poor countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.Four years ago, the EU and the ACP countries officially resumed negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The negotiations were meant to last for five years and the agreements are meant to come into force in 2008.But trade expert Hilton Zunckel said yesterday that the negotiations had been slow and were unlikely to be wrapped up next year. One of the deal-breakers in the Doha round of negotiations was the developing countries refusal to expose their infant industries to competition from developed countries.
Oxfam said current free trade agreements could bankrupt fledgling industries in poor countries because of stiff competition from European multinationals.Oxfam campaigns and policy director Phil Bloomer said: Unless there is a radical shift in approach from the EU, these negotiations will produce free trade deals that jeopardise jobs and entire industries in developing countries.
Perhaps the biggest danger is that poor countries will be signed up to deals that stymie their opportunities and jeopardise future development,the organisation said.Oxfam said the EU should drop its ambition to have reciprocal market access in ACP countries.
Instead, the development agency said, Europe should further open its own market to ACP exporters. As a result of the free trade agreements, Oxfam said the ACP countries stood to lose control over key policy instruments such as tariff policies, competition and investment regulations.
Developing countries were steadfast in their refusal to include competition and investment policy in the failed Doha Round of negotiations. Oxfam said it was unacceptable for the EU now to propose matters that the poor countries had rejected at the WTO meetings.Zunckel said: The concern raised by Oxfam reaffirms the importance for Africa of making progress on the multilateral level at the WTO. In the WTO forum, developing countries can take a more combined, hence stronger, stand, whereas the ACP is essentially divided six ways and negotiates with much less weight under the various EPA talks with the EU. He said it would make sense for Southern African Customs Union (SACU) members Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland to disengage from the EPA negotiations and be absorbed into the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA). The EU is yet to respond formally to this proposal from SA.The TDCA, which created a freer trade area between SA and the EU, has seen the EU open its markets faster and more extensively than SA.
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ARATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
China test fires fusion reactor
The team trumpeted their device - called Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) as the first of its kind in operation in the world. They didn't, however, disclose whether they'd got more energy out of the reaction than they'd pumped in obviously critical for a viable commercial reactor.Apart from its domestic efforts, China is a partner in the €10bn ITER experimental nuclear fusion reactor project, slated to get under way in Cadarache, France, next year.The EU, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the US are also backing the world's most expensive science experiment, which they hope will bring the first sustained fusion reactions
to produce electricity
POL-FRANCE-LEBANON-ISRAEL SEPT 29,06
France hopes Israel will withdraw from Lebanon within days
PARIS,KUNA) Despite continuous delays by Israel in this process, France said on Friday that it hoped for a full withdrawal of the Israeli army from south Lebanon, in the coming days,in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that established a cease-fire between Hezbollah resistance and Tsahal last month.Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which includes 2,000 French troops and is commanded by a French general, was now at the needed strength and deployed in south Lebanon, and this meets the requirements for Israel to withdraw.
Mattei declined to provide an explanation for the Israeli delays, saying that was for the Israelis to do, but he noted there were a number of tripartite contacts between UNIFIL, the Lebanese army and the Israeli forces and that these were continuing.We understand these contact are to continue. We hope, on the French side, that the Israeli withdrawal could happen in the coming days, in line with what is set out in Resolution 1701,the official added.He declined to comment on differences between UNIFIL and the Israelis over the rules of engagement in south Lebanon, saying this was a UN matter, but he did emphasize that Israel had no right to violate Lebanese air space as it has continued to do since the cease fire in August.We consider that in virtue of the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, these flights should not take place, the spokesman remarked, noting this is exactly the same message we transmit to the Israeli authorities.(end) jk.tg,KUNA 291857 Sep 06NNNN
Huge rally for Hamas in Gaza Strip amid vows to never recognize Israel
Posted: 29-09-2006 , 16:04 GMT
Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters held a peaceful rally in Gaza on Friday to denounce the state of Israel and announce that they would never recognize its right to exist. We ask God to punish the so-called Israel and the allies of Israel and to punish those who recognize Israel and those who called on us to recognize Israel,Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told the crowd that thronged the Jabalya refugee camp.We vow to God that we will never recognize Israel even if we would be all killed, Masri told the cheering followers.Masri also aimed criticism at Fatah, saying it was trying to pressure Hamas into recognizing Israel. Those people are
demanding us openly to recognize the occupation and that will never happen,Masri said. The protest aims to stress our rejection to recognize the legitimacy of the occupation,Masri said.The protest is against the siege and against the attempts by some to carry out a coup against the government,Masri added.Masri vowed that Hamas' administration would go on governing no matter how much pressure was applied to it. This government and the leadership of Hamas of the Palestinian people will continue throughout its legal term, for four years,Masri said.© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba
Israel backs off plan to kill Nasrallah Fri Sep 29, 6:49 AM ET
JERUSALEM -Israel has quietly backed off its plan to assassinate Hezbollah's leader because of the international condemnation that his killing would create, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday. During the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah that ended Aug. 14, Israel had targeted Hassan Nasrallah for assassination, security officials said, according to Maariv.Nasrallah went underground, though he repeatedly recorded videos from his hiding place that were broadcast on Lebanese television.
When the war ended, the army recommended that the efforts to kill Nasrallah be called off because his assassination would lead to international criticism of Israel and would ignite an even more violent war, Maariv reported.
However, the government declined to call off the hunt, the newspaper reported. Nasrallah emerged from hiding on Sept. 22 to address a massive rally in Lebanon celebrating Hezbollah's fight against Israel. Israel army officials determined they could assassinate him with an airstrike during the rally, but dozens of bystanders also would be killed, Maariv reported.
The government decided an airstrike was not worth the risk, and accepted the army's recommendation that it should abandon efforts to kill Nasrallah for the time being, the newspaper reported. However, the government did not make a formal decision regarding Nasrallah.Israeli government spokesman Miri Eisin declined to confirm whether Nasrallah had been a target or if he no longer was being pursued.We've always said that any terrorist should feel that his activities put him under our eye,she said.
Select group of politicians to tackle EU constitution
28.09.2006 - 17:42 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS Work on the EU constitution is to begin again in an informal manner when a wise group of politicians and officials from across Europe meet
this weekend to see if they can come up with solutions to pull Europe out of its
institutional impasse.Italian former prime minister Giuliano Amato, who was vice president of the 200-strong body that drew up the constitution six years ago, is the driver behind the group which will have its first meeting in Rome on Saturday (30 September).
Supported by the European Commission which is sending two commissioners Danuta Hubner (regional policy) and Margot Wallstom (communications) the group also includes British ex-commissioner Chris Patten, former French foreign minister Michel
Barnier, ex-German justice minister Otto Schily, former prime ministers Paavo Lipponen and Wim Kok of Finland and the Netherlands.
The group represents the first public attempt at resuscitating the document which has been languishing in the political hinterlands since it was rejected last year by French and Dutch voters.It is also an acknowledgement that nothing can be done at governmental level until the French elections early next year are over and done with.
Since the shock votes in mid 2005, the EU has not found the political will to tackle the constitutional question with member states in June finding it politically expedient to instead prolong the period of reflection about what to do about the constitution.European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso put the issue back on the political table earlier this week by saying that there will be no further enlargement until there is an institutional settlement.
Romania and Bulgaria joining in January and bringing the number of member states to 27, the power-sharing limit foreseen under the current framework the Nice Treaty will only serve to make the issue more pressing.This is particularly the case for countries that support further enlargement to take on Croatia, such as Germany.
Berlin takes over the EU presidency in January and supports a revival of the EU constitution but has so far been lukewarm about the proposals being touted in some capitals.Last week, chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that she did not want to pick out parts of the document, appearing to reject ideas by French centre-right presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian prime minister Romano Prodi.
The mini-treaty idea had found favour in some quarters because it could get around a major political stumbling bloc in that it may only need to be approved by national parliaments, sidestepping unpredictable French voters. However, Mrs Merkel also
re-opened a can of political worms by resurrecting the idea that there should be a reference to God in the constitution.
The God debate during original negotiations on the EU charter was long and bitter with the document eventually emerging without a reference to Christianity.Berlin's position has left some analysts wondering whether it is possible to keep the whole document alive as well as reopening difficult issues like the religious heritage question.
Friday, September 29, 2006
UKRAINE REMEMBERS ISRAELI MASS MURDERS
1-Strong quake off Samoa generates brief Pacific tsunami threat. 2-Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands. 3-Tropical Storm Isaac forms in Atlantic. 4-Manila whipped by storm as it heads for Vietnam. 5-US welcomes EU expansion and calls for more. 6-Iran-EU nuclear talks positive but no accord. 7-Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern. 8-Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews. 9-Israel, U.N. hope for pullout by October. 10-Ukraine Remembers 34,000 Jews Mass-Murdered at Babi Yar. 11-Energy Ministers From 11 Countries Say Russian Energy Policy Raises Risks for Europe. 12-Vatican: Extremists undermining religion. 13-UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan.
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.
Strong quake off Samoa generates brief Pacific tsunami threat by Marc Lavine Thu Sep 28, 8:12 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 has struck the Pacific's Samoa islands region, sparking a brief tsunami threat that sent ripples but no big waves across the region. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying a tsunami had been generated by the temblor, which struck at 0622 GMT between the Tongan town of Hihifo and Pago Pago in American Samoa.But the danger and fears about the potential size of the wave -- quickly subsided, with tidal swells of only eight centimetres (3.1 inches) recorded in Pago Pago, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the quake's epicenter.
There is no danger and as it turns out, there probably was no danger, said Stuart Weinstein, deputy director of the tsunami warning center in Hawaii.I have not heard any credible story about any large tsunami generated by this quake. All of our sea level readings show that is a small wave of eight centimeters,he told AFP.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had issued a bulletin that a tsunami had been spawned by the undersea temblor, sending officials and journalists across the region scrambling for details.
Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter, the center said in the bulletin on its website, adding that if no wave was sighted within two hours, the risk would have passed.The quake, which the US Geological Survey separately measured at 6.7, struck at 0622 GMT about 195 kilometers (120 miles) east-southeast of Hihifo at a depth of 43.9 kilometres (27.3 miles) below the Pacific.Radio and television stations in Australia interrupted their news programmes with headlines about the possible tsunami, as correspondents raced to follow up, after two major tsunamis in Asia in the past eight years.In July 1998, a huge tidal wave spawned by a 7.0-magnitude quake killed up to 2,000 people in Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
Then, on December 26, 2004, a 9.3-magnitude quake off Indonesia triggered a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean that wrought death and destruction in 11 nations, killing some 220,000 people.But Australian and Japanese geoscientists on Thursday quickly said the temblor generated only a small wave and that it was unlikely to cause major damage in coastal regions.It appears not to have caused any damage,Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen told AFP in Sydney.We can't say for certain because we don't know the geography of where the wave hit, but an eight-centimetre surge would not indicate a major tsunami.He said people would most likely have felt a mild shaking from the quake.Officials in the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were alerted to the tsunami scare, but all reported that their countries were not expecting any tidal wave.
The Japanese weather agency, which closely monitors earthquakes around the Pacific, also said the tremor was unlikely to cause major destruction to coastal areas near the epicenter.
We've been watching the quake as well, but considering the size of the earthquake we don't think it would be anything like the Sumatra tsunami of December 2004, said Kiyoshi Sakuma of the Japan Meteorological Agency. It would be about 10 centimeters at most, even if the fluctuation of the sea surface gets bigger, he added.
The killer 2004 tidal wave prompted calls for a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean region. Since then, experts at the Pacific tsunami alert center in Hawaii have been quick to warn of possible tidal waves to prevent officials in countries that could be affected from being caught unawares. A tsunami refers to a particular class of ocean waves. It has nothing to do with their height, but people tend to think that these are only really big waves,Weinstein said.
Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands 57 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale has struck off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.The intensity of the earthquake was moderate. It was recorded north of the Andaman Islands this evening,an official at the Indian Meteorological Department said Thursday.No tremors were felt in the archipelago a chain of more than 500 islands in the Indian Ocean the official said.The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 257 kilometers (160 miles) east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands and 384 kilometers (238 miles) west of Mergui in Myanmar.The 2004 tsunami was triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
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.
Tropical Storm Isaac forms in Atlantic 1 hour, 46 minutes ago
MIAMI (Reuters) /Tropical Storm Isaac, the ninth of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday but was no immediate threat to land. The center of Isaac was about 665 miles east-southeast of Bermuda at 11 a.m. and the storm's predicted path would keep it out to sea well east of the British territory, the U.S.National Hurricane Center said.Isaac was moving northwest at about 8 mph (13 kph). It had sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was not expected to reach hurricane strength during the next four days.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, has been milder than experts predicted, partly due to the development of El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific.
The warm-water phenomenon tends to dampen hurricane activity in the Atlantic by increasing wind shear, which disrupts storm formation.Forecasters had predicted an above-average season following last year's record-breaker, which saw 28 tropical storms, 15 of which became hurricanes. The average season has about 10 tropical storms, six of which develop into hurricanes.One of last year's hurricanes, Katrina, swamped New Orleans, killed 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Manila whipped by storm as it heads for Vietnam By Dolly Aglay
Thu Sep 28, 7:06 AM ET
MANILA (Reuters) Typhoon Xangsane weakened over the Philippines on Thursday but fierce winds and driving rains killed at least eight people, displaced nearly 5,500 and devastated parts of the central islands and Manila. Xangsane, which swept into the center of the country on Wednesday with winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts of 160 kph, is expected to strengthen again over the South China Sea, drawing power from its warm waters.The storm roared through the capital Manila, emptying the sprawling streets as most of the city's 12 million residents took shelter from uprooted trees, overturned trucks and cars and other flying debris.It sounded like a train passed on the roof,said one occupant of a fourth-floor apartment.Then the roof in one of our rooms was gone. I can now see the sky.
The center of the storm was about 100 km (60 miles) west of Manila and moving further west out to sea at 22 kph. Xangsane is expected to reach the Vietnam coast early on Sunday.It will likely regenerate to a typhoon when it reaches the South China Sea, weather specialist Renato Molina told Reuters.But the weather bureau said it had spotted a new depression thousands of kilometers to the east of the Philippines which might develop into a storm and enter the country's area of responsibility by Saturday.Violent winds and seas stranded around 3,500 ferry passengers and killed at least eight people. A further five were feared dead after heavy rains triggered a mudslide south of Manila.Rescue efforts have been hampered by power failure, blocked roads and cut communication lines, forcing dozens of people in the central Philippines to take refuge on roofs.Six provinces in the central Bicol region, famed for its coconut plantations, were left without electricity as high winds toppled power lines.
Our people are doing their best to restore power. Hopefully, we will restore electricity by early evening,said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla. He said the outage was partly due to voluntary shutdown of plants to avoid storm damage.
TOO DANGEROUS
Xangsane brought Manila to a near standstill with all flights and sea travel in and out of the city canceled. The international airport reopened at around 3 pm (0700 gmt) after the runways were cleared of debris.Public offices were shuttered and local trading in the peso and shares was canceled. Government offices and schools will remain closed on Friday while a clean-up gets under way.
Power was interrupted in wide areas of the main island of Luzon, including Manila, forcing the suspension of train services. Taxi drivers were reluctant to take to the road.It's too dangerous, said one cab driver, Armando Legaspi. Trees were falling left and right.
So many things were flying out there. Visibility was also poor and I was so afraid the wind could flip my car.Agriculture officials said an initial estimate showed 60 million pesos ($1.19 million) worth of crops, particularly fruit trees, had been destroyed.Xangsane was the 13th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, disaster officials said.
Storms regularly hit the archipelago of about 7,000 islands. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in the central province of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
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).
US welcomes EU expansion and calls for more
27.09.2006 - 17:29 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS /The US has welcomed the EU's decision to expand to include Bulgaria and Romania from January and urged the bloc not to stop there but to continue and make good on promises to Balkan states and Turkey.
State department spokesperson Sean McCormack called the green light for Sofia and Bucharest welcome news for those two countries as well as the EU.He went on to say that the EU is wrestling with these issues of expansion and at what pace to take the talks that they have ongoing with a variety of other countries.While noting that enlargement is something for the Europeans to decide on, Mr McCormack stressed that Washington certainly would encourage the EU to continue to keep open a European horizon for a number of states, including those in the Balkans and Turkey, as well.
The US has long been a supporter of Turkey's bid to join the EU causing some anger in 2002 when it openly pushed member states to begin talks with Ankara a NATO member and ally of Washington.Similarly, in April, Nicholas Burns the US under-secretary for political affairs, said Our business in Europe isn't finished because the Balkans remains an island in the heart of Europe that is not connected to the great transatlantic institutions: EU and NATO.Europe has tended to react to the US statements on enlargement with an irritated shrug at what it sees as Washington meddling in internal European affairs. This time around, US enthusiasm for enlargement comes just as the bloc looks set to close the doors for some time after Romania and Bulgaria join.Earlier this week, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that there should be an enlargement pause from January until the bloc agrees a new institutional settlement.
The current impasse over the EU constitution already looks near impossible to break with countries reluctant to pick out different aspects of the document which was the result of years of haggling and painstaking compromise.Adding two new countries bringing the total to 27 to the decision mix is not going to make the situation any easier.Meanwhile, public opinion across several member states has become sceptical about the benefits of further enlargement with 12 new countries having joined the bloc in under three years by January and several more lining up.Reflecting a general frustration in some quarters at the way Europe is continuing with enlargement despite not having sorted out some of its more fundamental problems, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on Wednesday said a true Europe is at risk.He said that the parliament was being hypocritical by saying yes to Bulgaria and Romania although their EU progress report contained a raft of caveats. Mr Cohn-Bendit said MEPs would not have given the green light to Turkey under similar conditions.This latest enlargement, whose terms and rhythm should
have been better thought out, risks a renationalisation of the thoughts, policies and practices of member states, according to the MEP.
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)
Iran-EU nuclear talks positive but no accord by Fabien Novial
2 hours, 15 minutes ago,Sept 28,06
BERLIN (AFP) Talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana have failed to produce an accord but both men said the meeting was positive and constructive.
It has been a long, constructive negotiation,Larijani told reporters at the end of two days of meetings in the German capital.We have been able to arrive at some positive conclusions,he said Thursday.Today we have discussed modalities with the aim of coming back to the main negotiations as soon as possible.In a businesslike press conference, Solana told reporters: We have been progressing. We will have a new contact in the middle of next week.Sources close to the talks said the contact could take place over the phone and did not necessarily mean they would be meeting face to face.
A defiant president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran's stance on its nuclear programme was unyielding.The Iranian nation will not bend one inch against any (international) force and pressure,he told supporters in a speech in the city of Karaj just outside Tehran broadcast on state television.Ahmadinejad said that world powers had been seeking to impose unjust conditions on Iran's enrichment of uranium, a sensitive process that the West wants the Islamic republic to suspend.Why are they insisting that we stop it (enrichment) even for one day? Why should we pretend to stop it even for one day? he asked a cheering crowd of thousands of people packed into a local stadium.
Ahmadinejad claimed that Western powers had initially demanded that Iran must suspend uranium enrichment indefinitely but told the crowd that faced with your resistance they corrected their position.A few months ago they told us 'only a three months (suspension), then we can have negotiations.But we told them why three months? Three months represents a great loss.
Larijani was to hold talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier later on Thursday at the request of Solana.The Berlin talks were the first time Solana and Larijani had met for more than two weeks.During that time European diplomats have tried to ratchet up the pressure by warning that time is running out for Iran to agree to UN Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment activities and thus avert possible United Nations sanctions.
Iran defied the Security Council's August 31 deadline for it to stop uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors but also, in highly refined form, the raw material for atomic weapons.Iran insists its enrichment work is solely for peaceful purposes.The negotiations were given a fresh chance after Washington, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet the August deadline. The deal offered by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany calls on Iran to accept a package of incentives in exchange for it halting enrichment. The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the Islamic republic was close to agreeing a secret deal that would see it suspend enrichment for 90 days to allow it to hold further talks with European nations.
However there was confusion over whether Iran is considering such a step. European diplomats said Larijani made an offer at his last talks with Solana on September 9-10 in Vienna, but several Iranian officials have denied any suspension is on the cards.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said ahead of the latest round of negotiations she had wished Solana luck, but warned that Iran could not prolong the process of negotiations indefinitely. I just said clearly this will not go on very much longer,Rice said.
Obviously, if we can come out of this with an Iranian decision to suspend its enrichment completely and verifiably, then we would be on a course for negotiations. That is the course we would all like to pursue. According to European diplomats, Western powers have set the start of October as a final deadline for Iran to give its definitive response to the Security Council offer.
Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern
By Yechiel Spira(INN)
Changing its long-time assessment regarding the Syrian threat, military intelligence now believes Damascus might launch a military action against Israel. For the first time in many years, IDF intelligence officials are signaling concern that President Bashar al-Assad’s administration may be contemplating a military offensive across Israel's northeastern border. Officials emphasize that though Syria has not taken any operational steps towards a military action, the situation cannot be ignored.Meanwhile, Knesset Speaker MK Dalia Itzik (Kadima) says Israel must not miss the opportunity to enter into dialogue with Syria.
Itzik insists that Assad has repeatedly exhibited a willingness to enter into negotiations with Israel, and that if Jerusalem turns her back on such statements, the opportunity for dialogue could be lost forever. Itzik continues to encourage senior government ministers to take Assad’s statements seriously and begin opening diplomatic channels that could lead to a peace agreement.
Peres: The Syrian Administration Opposes Peace
Vice Premier Shimon Peres, currently in London, stated that Bashar al-Assad is providing refuge for a wanted terrorist Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal. It is Meshal who is preventing the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, Peres explained, adding that even the PA (Palestinian Authority) Hamas-led administration wishes to release Shalit at this point. If his father Hafez [al-Assad] would only have come to Camp David with Sadat, the Golan Heights would have already been in his hands for years.
They are opponents of peace,stated Peres. Military intelligence over the past year has discarded Assad's statements calling for peace. Both the governmental and the intelligence communities were in agreement, during the Sharon administration, that such calls have not been sincere, and were nothing more than Syria’s ploy towards compelling Israel to retreat from the Golan Heights, which Israel liberated in the June 1967 Six Day War.
Itzik’s Statements UndermineAmerican Policy
Some analysts point out that Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik’s calls to open a dialogue with Damascus openly undermine American policy. Her repeated statements come at a time when the United States is working to enlist support for calls to impose sanctions on Syria, seeking to isolate Damascus from the world community.U.S. Secretary of State Rice has been signaling Jerusalem to refrain from such open statements at this time while the State Department is seeking to enlist allies to pressure Assad into backing down. The U.S. accuses Syria of supporting terror,as does Israel. Analysts explain that remarks such as those made by the Knesset Speaker are most unwanted at this time, especially given Syria’s willingness to permit Hizbullah weapons to reach southern Lebanon and thus infuse life into the terror organization. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has approved the appointment by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz of Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkott as the new Northern District Commander. Eiskenkott is currently the IDF’s Chief of Operations.
The other serious contender for the post was IDF Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yoav Gallant. At the end of the year, Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh will also be resigning from his post. Eisenkott, 46, has been serving in the IDF for 27 years. He spent most of his years in the Golani Brigade, and served as military secretary to Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He is viewed as a respected member of the General Staff. Some critics oppose the appointment, explaining that Eisenkott is one of a number of senior officers who will be questioned and debriefed by the Winograd Commission investigating the war in Lebanon. This they explain may lead to further embarrassment following his new appointment. Others explain that Eisenkott was a model of stability and professionalism during the war, an anchor on the General Staff who continued acting in a professional fashion despite the chaos that prevailed in senior military circles. Officials in the Northern Command expressed satisfaction over the appointment.
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)
Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews
By Ryan Jones,September 27, 2006
Fearing violence by Muslim mobs fired-up by the Ramadan sermons now being delivered daily atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Israeli authorities have instructed Jewish residents of parts of the capital's Old City to remain indoors during the evening hours.
Local Jews complained that police should be enforcing the law equally among all citizens, rather than cowering in fear at the mere hint of Muslim hostility.But in a further sign that many Israeli officials are more interested in appeasing the followers of Mohammed than in protecting the religious rights of their fellow Jews, police arrested a Jewish prayer leader for blowing his shofar (ram's horn) at the Western Wall during the recent Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Biblical Lens:
then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord.(Deuteronomy 12:11). As the site where the Almighty chose to make His name abide, the Temple Mount stands at the center of the Middle East conflict.While much of the peace process negotiations that appear in the mainstream media focus on various pieces of land throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, most in Israel understand that control over the Temple Mount is the final and largest hurdle to reaching a settlement.Israel's enemies who are driven by the enemy believe that solidifying their hold on the Temple Mount, the heart of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, will end Israel's hopes, rooted in biblical promises, concerning the arrival of a divine savior and the presence of the LORD.
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. ... And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(Ezekiel 43:2, 4, 5)
The necessity of a restored Temple prior to the coming of Messiah is also alluded to in the New Testament:Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.(2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3, 4)
This building is often wrongly referred to as the temple of the anti-Christ. While it is occupied for a time by the man of sin, it is still clearly referred to by scripture as the temple of God. And it is clear that this temple, and not Allah's gold dome, must be situated atop the Temple Mount prior to the return of God's manifest glory to that hill.Viewed through this lens, it becomes understandable
why the enemy is investing so much effort in ensuring the Jews never regain full control over the Temple Mount or feel they have a right to rebuild their temple to the God of Israel. Sadly, many spiritually-blind Israeli officials desiring to be accepted by a politically correct world are assisting in this effort by making those Jews faithful to the Word of God feel unwelcome anywhere near His Holy Hill.
But the Psalmist reassures us:
Why do the gentiles rage and the people imagine a vain thing? He Who sits in heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision (and say): Yet have I set My king upon My Holy Hill!'(Psalm 102:16)
Prayer Points:
Pray that those Jews who already today understand the central importance of Jerusalem and God's Holy Hill will be rewarded for their faithfulness with divine protection, blessing and increased courage;
Pray that those Jews who today are blindly assisting the enemy of their people and their God will, sooner rather than later, have their hearts and their eyes opened by the only One who can do so.
Sept. 28, 2006, 7:00AM
Israel, U.N. hope for pullout by October
By LAURIE COPANS Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
JERUSALEM Several disagreements regarding the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon have delayed a final Israeli troop withdrawal from that country, Israeli military officials said Thursday.But the problems were expected to be quickly worked out in ongoing security talks, and Israeli and U.N. officials said they hoped for a full Israeli pullout next week.The unresolved issues involved security arrangements for an Arab village that straddles the border, and the coordination between U.N. war rooms that will be set up on each side of the border with each country's army, the military officials said on condition of anonymity, since they were not authorized to talk to the press.
The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is a key component of a cease-fire that took effect Aug. 14, ending 34 days of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia based in southern Lebanon.The truce is outlined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for an international force of 15,000 troops to join 15,000 Lebanese soldiers in patrolling southern Lebanon to prevent a further outbreak of violence.Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, denied reports of a disagreement between Israeli and U.N. officers over the international force.Israeli officials said earlier this week that UNIFIL had refused in pre-withdrawal talks to commit to Israel's demand that the U.N. forces stop or disarm any Hezbollah militants who approach the border. UNIFIL has said the Lebanese army was responsible for any efforts to disarm Hezbollah and its job is merely to assist the Lebanese army in that.
Ivanko said the United Nations expected the Israeli withdrawal to be completed by the end of the month.That is the force commander's understanding and we are working very actively on ensuring that that happens,he said.Other Israeli military officials, speaking privately, said that only minor details still need to be worked out, but it would be difficult for Israel to complete the withdrawal by the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, which begins Sunday at sundown.At the height of the fighting, Israel had as many as 30,000 troops in Lebanon, but has pulled most of them out since then cease-fire and withdrawn to the border area. The army declined to say how many troops remained, but the number was reported at several thousand.Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said Wednesday that Israel was still trying to iron out the last details on the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces before pulling its last troops out of south Lebanon.
We haven't completed negotiations,Halutz told an Israeli Cabinet meeting Wednesday. We are delaying the transfer of territory until the understandings are worked out.But Halutz said the final details should be concluded in a day or two.Halutz also warned that Hezbollah would not be allowed to use surveillance equipment near the border.
Any military equipment that will be in the hands of Hezbollah, including intelligence gathering equipment, is from Israel's perspective a violation of the agreement,Halutz told the ministers, according to a participant in the meeting. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would withdraw as
soon as the U.N. and Lebanese forces fulfill their commitments.We have no interest in staying in Lebanon, Regev said.Israel was primarily concerned about the enforcement of two clauses in Resolution 1701: The international arms embargo on Hezbollah and the ban on the group's armed presence in south Lebanon, Regev said.
Ukraine Remembers 34,000 Jews Mass-Murdered at Babi Yar
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Some 1,000 religious and political leaders and others took part in an impressive memorial ceremony for the nearly 34,000 Jews massacred in just two days at Babi Yar 65 years ago.
The memorial event took place yesterday (Wednesday) at the infamous ravine outside Kiev, Ukraine, where the myriads of Jews were systematically machine-gunned to death. The slaughter continued for 48 hours, on Sept. 29-30, 1941. The Nazis marched the Jews from Kiev in groups of ten, ordered them to strip naked, and then machine-gunned them to death, leaving them to fall dead into the pit.Among those who took part in the ceremony were witnesses to and survivors of the Nazi massacres at Babi Yar and elsewhere, liberators of Kiev, and those recognized as Righteous Gentiles for their Holocaust-era heroism.A conference entitled Let My People Live! sponsored in part by the Government of Ukraine was held at the memorial ceremony.
The conference was also organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and Yad Vashem. President Moshe Katzav and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko addressed the gathering.The World Holocaust Forum stated that the goals of Let My People Live! include memorializing the victims of Babi Yar and other mass-murder sites, uniting world leaders in confronting manifestations of xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and more. A Pan-European Holocaust Educational Program for Teachers has been inaugurated as well. Yad Vashem, which has collected the names of 3.5 million Holocaust victims thus far, has the names of only 3,000 Jews less than 10% known to have been killed at Babi Yar. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev told Haaretz that more than 90% of Jewish victims killed in western and central Europe are known, 35-40% of those killed in Romania, Hungary and Poland and only about 20% of those killed in the former Soviet Union.
The Simon Weil Holocaust Research Fund in France, the Holocaust Museums in Paris and Washington, and the Zaka Organization are sponsoring a wide-ranging campaign to find other mass Jewish graves in eastern Europe. Last month, the remains of some 1,800 Jews murdered by Nazis in Ukraine were discovered in the pit that became their mass grave. The memorial events in Kiev were the brainchild of Russian Jewish leader and business magnate Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, JTA reports. Kantor said the idea came to him a few years ago when he noticed young boys playing soccer near the site of the Babi Yar massacre, oblivious to the travesties that occurred there decades before. Most people today simply don’t know what happened there,said Kantor, who is the
founder of the World Holocaust Forum, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Jewish Congress. The recent memorial events aim to change that.
Energy Ministers From 11 Countries Say Russian Energy Policy Raises Risks for Europe Created: 28.09.2006,6 hours 7 minutes ago,MosNews
Eleven energy ministers warned of rising political and commercial risks to Europe’s energy markets as President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to unconscientious investors, Agence France Presse reported on Thursday .
The ministers note the recent developments in energy markets and the ever increasing potential risks of a political and commercial nature,the 11 Black Sea-region ministers said.The reliability of access to energy (is) subject at this stage to challenges and threats of both a short-term and long-term nature,they said in a statement.The warnings after a two-day summit of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation organisation (BSEC) came shortly after Russia rattled energy investors by threatening to shut down the world’s largest private oil and gas project.
Russia last week withdrew a crucial environmental permit for the $20bn (15.8bn-euro) Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian far east, citing environmental violations by the foreign companies running the project.Putin added a further warning yesterday, saying that the government would take action against companies that were too slow in developing their projects.I expect the (natural resources) ministry and the government as a whole to take such decisions, including toward companies that work unconscientiously or do not fulfill licence agreements,he said at a meeting with the minister for natural resources in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
Russian officials also hammered foreign firms developing Sakhalin-2 at a separate energy industry conference in Sakhalin yesterday.The warnings from the 11 energy ministers seemed to reflect conflicting interests in the Black Sea region, which Russian Energy Minister called an indispensable energy bridge between Europe and Asia.The region’s clearest conflict has been between Russia and its Western neighbor Ukraine, which have had tense energy relations since Russia cut gas to Ukraine on January 1 during a price dispute.Khristenko’s Ukrainian counterpart Yury Boiko was kept from the Sochi summit by tense talks in Moscow on a new gas supply contract.Analysts have said that Russia’s ultimate goal is gaining control over Ukraine’s gas transport infrastructure, while Khristenko said that achieving predictability was Russia’s main motivation.The worst sort of predictability is better than the best unpredictability,the minister said at a news conference.The Black Sea ministers also faced conflicts over competing pipeline projects, such as Russia’s plans to expand its Blue Stream gas pipeline through Turkey to Israel and possibly Europe, which would rival the planned Nabucco pipeline.
The planned Nabucco pipeline would bring natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to European markets without crossing Russian territory.Khristenko insisted that the Russian-Turkish Blue Stream gas pipeline had “proved its effectiveness both in financial terms and in terms of securing regional energy security.
Russia and Turkey have clashed over Blue Stream since the pipeline came online in 2003, however, and delivery volumes have been growing at a slow pace amid price disputes and lower demand projections from Turkey.The BSEC, which Russia is hosting this year, was formed in 1992 to co-ordinate the economic interests of Black Sea-region states such as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The group is one of several regional organisations embracing countries bordering the sea, and holds numerous annual ministerial meetings to coordinate the group’s economic policies.Russia directs 30% of its gas exports to BSEC members. The group’s main members are Russia, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine.COMPANY NEWS,MosNews
Vatican: Extremists undermining religion
Posted 9/28/2006 6:01 AM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) The Vatican's foreign minister said Wednesday that misunderstanding between cultures is breeding a new barbarism and expressed hope that reason and dialogue would stop those who use their faith as a pretext for attacks.In a speech on the closing day of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting, Giovanni Lajolo said extremists are far from devout and undermine the very religion they claim to defend.Violent reactions are always a falsification of true religion,Lajolo said in a passage devoted to the pope's Sept. 12 speech at Regensburg University in Germany.Benedict XVI quoted words attributed to a 14th century Byzantine emperor: Show me just what Mohammed 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.
Muslims angered by the remarks took to the streets in Indonesia, Turkey and Syria. Churches were attacked in the West Bank; an effigy of the pope was burned in Iraq; and a nun was shot dead in Somalia in an apparently related attack.Lajolo reiterated the Vatican's view that Benedict's remarks were misinterpreted. He said the pope has sought only to promote rational dialogue and understanding.Benedict has expressed regret for offending Muslims and said they did not reflect his personal views, but he has not offered a complete apology as some had sought.Lajolo suggested that the anger may also lie in the lack of understanding between religions, and a schism between reason and faith.As the Pope affirmed, were reason to turn a deaf ear to the divine and relegate religion to the ambit of subcultures, it would automatically provoke violent reactions,Lajolo, who also serves as president of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, told the assembly.
It falls to all interested parties to civil society as well as to states to promote religious freedom and a sane, social tolerance that will disarm extremists even before they can begin to corrupt others with their hatred of life and liberty,he said.Lajolo referred to the story of the Tower of Babel, saying the confusion of tongues in the Biblical city was a symbol of fracturing and hostilities in the
contemporary world.Human pride hampers the acknowledgment of one's neighbor and the recognition of his or her needs and even more makes people distrusting,he said.Today, that same negative fundamental attitude has given rise to a new barbarism that threatens world peace,the Vatican minister said.Terrorists bent on rejecting the best achievements of our civilization are one example, Lajolo said.Major powers, in their attempt to make the world more fair, may also occasionally slide into believing that this can only be achieved by force, he said.It can go so far as to regard the possession of nuclear weapons as an element of national pride,he said.,The Associated Press.
UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan By Evelyn Leopold
Thu Sep 28, 3:23 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is moving quickly to select a successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in October, a procedure that favors front-runner South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon. A third informal poll is set for Thursday and another, more revealing poll on Monday will indicate which of the seven candidates is backed or opposed by any of the veto-bearing council members the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. A candidate needs at least nine votes and no veto.The campaigning for votes has been intense, with nominees speaking at various forums in New York and traveling around the globe to secure the post of the world's top diplomat.We are at the point where we should make a decision,U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Wednesday, saying governments had had all year to nominate a candidate to replace Annan, whose term ends on December 31.
Most diplomats believe the United States favors Ban and a quick vote would confirm his front-runner status.On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Chris Hill called Ban a very, very consummate professional,after a congressman alleged the South Korean was too pro-China.Only Britain has spoken against the rush to close the process, arguing that two candidates Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani had entered late and should have the chance in straw polls, council members said.Britain, they said, also wanted to keep the race open for any other candidate who might want to run.
A REAL CHOICE
Using colored ballots to distinguish between the five permanent council members and the 10 nations elected for two-year terms, could, for all practical purposes, end the contest after Monday's poll.But on Thursday afternoon, council ambassadors will mark ballots to encourage, discourage or express no opinion as in the previous two straw polls.In the last informal poll, Ban received 14 out of 15 favorable votes, ahead of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian novelist and the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information, who got 10 positive votes.The other three candidates are Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister; Jordan's U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein; and Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former U.N. undersecretary-general for disarmament.
Tharoor said the next balloting would be crucial.
I was second in both the two straw polls because I do believe that many ambassadors and many governments are looking for a real choice,Tharoor said in an interview. But I acknowledge, as a realist, that if Mr. Ban consolidates his lead Thursday, it could be all over.The secretary-general's job has changed over the years, but Bolton said the first priority was to be the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and institute management reforms.Even Ban had some qualms about that. He told the Asia Society on Monday that many of the administrative operations would be left to a deputy. In an interview last week, he spoke of playing a bridging role between developed and developing nations but stressed the need for reform.The Security Council selects the new secretary-general, who then has to be confirmed by the 192-member General Assembly. U.N. tradition deems that the next U.N. leader come from Asia.
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.
Strong quake off Samoa generates brief Pacific tsunami threat by Marc Lavine Thu Sep 28, 8:12 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 has struck the Pacific's Samoa islands region, sparking a brief tsunami threat that sent ripples but no big waves across the region. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin saying a tsunami had been generated by the temblor, which struck at 0622 GMT between the Tongan town of Hihifo and Pago Pago in American Samoa.But the danger and fears about the potential size of the wave -- quickly subsided, with tidal swells of only eight centimetres (3.1 inches) recorded in Pago Pago, about 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of the quake's epicenter.
There is no danger and as it turns out, there probably was no danger, said Stuart Weinstein, deputy director of the tsunami warning center in Hawaii.I have not heard any credible story about any large tsunami generated by this quake. All of our sea level readings show that is a small wave of eight centimeters,he told AFP.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had issued a bulletin that a tsunami had been spawned by the undersea temblor, sending officials and journalists across the region scrambling for details.
Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter, the center said in the bulletin on its website, adding that if no wave was sighted within two hours, the risk would have passed.The quake, which the US Geological Survey separately measured at 6.7, struck at 0622 GMT about 195 kilometers (120 miles) east-southeast of Hihifo at a depth of 43.9 kilometres (27.3 miles) below the Pacific.Radio and television stations in Australia interrupted their news programmes with headlines about the possible tsunami, as correspondents raced to follow up, after two major tsunamis in Asia in the past eight years.In July 1998, a huge tidal wave spawned by a 7.0-magnitude quake killed up to 2,000 people in Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.
Then, on December 26, 2004, a 9.3-magnitude quake off Indonesia triggered a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean that wrought death and destruction in 11 nations, killing some 220,000 people.But Australian and Japanese geoscientists on Thursday quickly said the temblor generated only a small wave and that it was unlikely to cause major damage in coastal regions.It appears not to have caused any damage,Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen told AFP in Sydney.We can't say for certain because we don't know the geography of where the wave hit, but an eight-centimetre surge would not indicate a major tsunami.He said people would most likely have felt a mild shaking from the quake.Officials in the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia were alerted to the tsunami scare, but all reported that their countries were not expecting any tidal wave.
The Japanese weather agency, which closely monitors earthquakes around the Pacific, also said the tremor was unlikely to cause major destruction to coastal areas near the epicenter.
We've been watching the quake as well, but considering the size of the earthquake we don't think it would be anything like the Sumatra tsunami of December 2004, said Kiyoshi Sakuma of the Japan Meteorological Agency. It would be about 10 centimeters at most, even if the fluctuation of the sea surface gets bigger, he added.
The killer 2004 tidal wave prompted calls for a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean region. Since then, experts at the Pacific tsunami alert center in Hawaii have been quick to warn of possible tidal waves to prevent officials in countries that could be affected from being caught unawares. A tsunami refers to a particular class of ocean waves. It has nothing to do with their height, but people tend to think that these are only really big waves,Weinstein said.
Earthquake hits off India's Andaman Islands 57 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale has struck off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were badly hit by the December 2004 tsunami. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.The intensity of the earthquake was moderate. It was recorded north of the Andaman Islands this evening,an official at the Indian Meteorological Department said Thursday.No tremors were felt in the archipelago a chain of more than 500 islands in the Indian Ocean the official said.The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was 257 kilometers (160 miles) east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands and 384 kilometers (238 miles) west of Mergui in Myanmar.The 2004 tsunami was triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
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.
Tropical Storm Isaac forms in Atlantic 1 hour, 46 minutes ago
MIAMI (Reuters) /Tropical Storm Isaac, the ninth of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday but was no immediate threat to land. The center of Isaac was about 665 miles east-southeast of Bermuda at 11 a.m. and the storm's predicted path would keep it out to sea well east of the British territory, the U.S.National Hurricane Center said.Isaac was moving northwest at about 8 mph (13 kph). It had sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was not expected to reach hurricane strength during the next four days.The Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June through November, has been milder than experts predicted, partly due to the development of El Nino conditions in the eastern Pacific.
The warm-water phenomenon tends to dampen hurricane activity in the Atlantic by increasing wind shear, which disrupts storm formation.Forecasters had predicted an above-average season following last year's record-breaker, which saw 28 tropical storms, 15 of which became hurricanes. The average season has about 10 tropical storms, six of which develop into hurricanes.One of last year's hurricanes, Katrina, swamped New Orleans, killed 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Manila whipped by storm as it heads for Vietnam By Dolly Aglay
Thu Sep 28, 7:06 AM ET
MANILA (Reuters) Typhoon Xangsane weakened over the Philippines on Thursday but fierce winds and driving rains killed at least eight people, displaced nearly 5,500 and devastated parts of the central islands and Manila. Xangsane, which swept into the center of the country on Wednesday with winds of up to 130 kph (81 mph) and gusts of 160 kph, is expected to strengthen again over the South China Sea, drawing power from its warm waters.The storm roared through the capital Manila, emptying the sprawling streets as most of the city's 12 million residents took shelter from uprooted trees, overturned trucks and cars and other flying debris.It sounded like a train passed on the roof,said one occupant of a fourth-floor apartment.Then the roof in one of our rooms was gone. I can now see the sky.
The center of the storm was about 100 km (60 miles) west of Manila and moving further west out to sea at 22 kph. Xangsane is expected to reach the Vietnam coast early on Sunday.It will likely regenerate to a typhoon when it reaches the South China Sea, weather specialist Renato Molina told Reuters.But the weather bureau said it had spotted a new depression thousands of kilometers to the east of the Philippines which might develop into a storm and enter the country's area of responsibility by Saturday.Violent winds and seas stranded around 3,500 ferry passengers and killed at least eight people. A further five were feared dead after heavy rains triggered a mudslide south of Manila.Rescue efforts have been hampered by power failure, blocked roads and cut communication lines, forcing dozens of people in the central Philippines to take refuge on roofs.Six provinces in the central Bicol region, famed for its coconut plantations, were left without electricity as high winds toppled power lines.
Our people are doing their best to restore power. Hopefully, we will restore electricity by early evening,said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla. He said the outage was partly due to voluntary shutdown of plants to avoid storm damage.
TOO DANGEROUS
Xangsane brought Manila to a near standstill with all flights and sea travel in and out of the city canceled. The international airport reopened at around 3 pm (0700 gmt) after the runways were cleared of debris.Public offices were shuttered and local trading in the peso and shares was canceled. Government offices and schools will remain closed on Friday while a clean-up gets under way.
Power was interrupted in wide areas of the main island of Luzon, including Manila, forcing the suspension of train services. Taxi drivers were reluctant to take to the road.It's too dangerous, said one cab driver, Armando Legaspi. Trees were falling left and right.
So many things were flying out there. Visibility was also poor and I was so afraid the wind could flip my car.Agriculture officials said an initial estimate showed 60 million pesos ($1.19 million) worth of crops, particularly fruit trees, had been destroyed.Xangsane was the 13th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, disaster officials said.
Storms regularly hit the archipelago of about 7,000 islands. In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in the central province of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
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).
US welcomes EU expansion and calls for more
27.09.2006 - 17:29 CET | By Honor Mahony
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS /The US has welcomed the EU's decision to expand to include Bulgaria and Romania from January and urged the bloc not to stop there but to continue and make good on promises to Balkan states and Turkey.
State department spokesperson Sean McCormack called the green light for Sofia and Bucharest welcome news for those two countries as well as the EU.He went on to say that the EU is wrestling with these issues of expansion and at what pace to take the talks that they have ongoing with a variety of other countries.While noting that enlargement is something for the Europeans to decide on, Mr McCormack stressed that Washington certainly would encourage the EU to continue to keep open a European horizon for a number of states, including those in the Balkans and Turkey, as well.
The US has long been a supporter of Turkey's bid to join the EU causing some anger in 2002 when it openly pushed member states to begin talks with Ankara a NATO member and ally of Washington.Similarly, in April, Nicholas Burns the US under-secretary for political affairs, said Our business in Europe isn't finished because the Balkans remains an island in the heart of Europe that is not connected to the great transatlantic institutions: EU and NATO.Europe has tended to react to the US statements on enlargement with an irritated shrug at what it sees as Washington meddling in internal European affairs. This time around, US enthusiasm for enlargement comes just as the bloc looks set to close the doors for some time after Romania and Bulgaria join.Earlier this week, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that there should be an enlargement pause from January until the bloc agrees a new institutional settlement.
The current impasse over the EU constitution already looks near impossible to break with countries reluctant to pick out different aspects of the document which was the result of years of haggling and painstaking compromise.Adding two new countries bringing the total to 27 to the decision mix is not going to make the situation any easier.Meanwhile, public opinion across several member states has become sceptical about the benefits of further enlargement with 12 new countries having joined the bloc in under three years by January and several more lining up.Reflecting a general frustration in some quarters at the way Europe is continuing with enlargement despite not having sorted out some of its more fundamental problems, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, on Wednesday said a true Europe is at risk.He said that the parliament was being hypocritical by saying yes to Bulgaria and Romania although their EU progress report contained a raft of caveats. Mr Cohn-Bendit said MEPs would not have given the green light to Turkey under similar conditions.This latest enlargement, whose terms and rhythm should
have been better thought out, risks a renationalisation of the thoughts, policies and practices of member states, according to the MEP.
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)
Iran-EU nuclear talks positive but no accord by Fabien Novial
2 hours, 15 minutes ago,Sept 28,06
BERLIN (AFP) Talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana have failed to produce an accord but both men said the meeting was positive and constructive.
It has been a long, constructive negotiation,Larijani told reporters at the end of two days of meetings in the German capital.We have been able to arrive at some positive conclusions,he said Thursday.Today we have discussed modalities with the aim of coming back to the main negotiations as soon as possible.In a businesslike press conference, Solana told reporters: We have been progressing. We will have a new contact in the middle of next week.Sources close to the talks said the contact could take place over the phone and did not necessarily mean they would be meeting face to face.
A defiant president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed Iran's stance on its nuclear programme was unyielding.The Iranian nation will not bend one inch against any (international) force and pressure,he told supporters in a speech in the city of Karaj just outside Tehran broadcast on state television.Ahmadinejad said that world powers had been seeking to impose unjust conditions on Iran's enrichment of uranium, a sensitive process that the West wants the Islamic republic to suspend.Why are they insisting that we stop it (enrichment) even for one day? Why should we pretend to stop it even for one day? he asked a cheering crowd of thousands of people packed into a local stadium.
Ahmadinejad claimed that Western powers had initially demanded that Iran must suspend uranium enrichment indefinitely but told the crowd that faced with your resistance they corrected their position.A few months ago they told us 'only a three months (suspension), then we can have negotiations.But we told them why three months? Three months represents a great loss.
Larijani was to hold talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier later on Thursday at the request of Solana.The Berlin talks were the first time Solana and Larijani had met for more than two weeks.During that time European diplomats have tried to ratchet up the pressure by warning that time is running out for Iran to agree to UN Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment activities and thus avert possible United Nations sanctions.
Iran defied the Security Council's August 31 deadline for it to stop uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors but also, in highly refined form, the raw material for atomic weapons.Iran insists its enrichment work is solely for peaceful purposes.The negotiations were given a fresh chance after Washington, under pressure from Europe and China, backed down on its demand for immediate sanctions against Iran for failing to meet the August deadline. The deal offered by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany calls on Iran to accept a package of incentives in exchange for it halting enrichment. The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the Islamic republic was close to agreeing a secret deal that would see it suspend enrichment for 90 days to allow it to hold further talks with European nations.
However there was confusion over whether Iran is considering such a step. European diplomats said Larijani made an offer at his last talks with Solana on September 9-10 in Vienna, but several Iranian officials have denied any suspension is on the cards.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said ahead of the latest round of negotiations she had wished Solana luck, but warned that Iran could not prolong the process of negotiations indefinitely. I just said clearly this will not go on very much longer,Rice said.
Obviously, if we can come out of this with an Iranian decision to suspend its enrichment completely and verifiably, then we would be on a course for negotiations. That is the course we would all like to pursue. According to European diplomats, Western powers have set the start of October as a final deadline for Iran to give its definitive response to the Security Council offer.
Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern
By Yechiel Spira(INN)
Changing its long-time assessment regarding the Syrian threat, military intelligence now believes Damascus might launch a military action against Israel. For the first time in many years, IDF intelligence officials are signaling concern that President Bashar al-Assad’s administration may be contemplating a military offensive across Israel's northeastern border. Officials emphasize that though Syria has not taken any operational steps towards a military action, the situation cannot be ignored.Meanwhile, Knesset Speaker MK Dalia Itzik (Kadima) says Israel must not miss the opportunity to enter into dialogue with Syria.
Itzik insists that Assad has repeatedly exhibited a willingness to enter into negotiations with Israel, and that if Jerusalem turns her back on such statements, the opportunity for dialogue could be lost forever. Itzik continues to encourage senior government ministers to take Assad’s statements seriously and begin opening diplomatic channels that could lead to a peace agreement.
Peres: The Syrian Administration Opposes Peace
Vice Premier Shimon Peres, currently in London, stated that Bashar al-Assad is providing refuge for a wanted terrorist Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal. It is Meshal who is preventing the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, Peres explained, adding that even the PA (Palestinian Authority) Hamas-led administration wishes to release Shalit at this point. If his father Hafez [al-Assad] would only have come to Camp David with Sadat, the Golan Heights would have already been in his hands for years.
They are opponents of peace,stated Peres. Military intelligence over the past year has discarded Assad's statements calling for peace. Both the governmental and the intelligence communities were in agreement, during the Sharon administration, that such calls have not been sincere, and were nothing more than Syria’s ploy towards compelling Israel to retreat from the Golan Heights, which Israel liberated in the June 1967 Six Day War.
Itzik’s Statements UndermineAmerican Policy
Some analysts point out that Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik’s calls to open a dialogue with Damascus openly undermine American policy. Her repeated statements come at a time when the United States is working to enlist support for calls to impose sanctions on Syria, seeking to isolate Damascus from the world community.U.S. Secretary of State Rice has been signaling Jerusalem to refrain from such open statements at this time while the State Department is seeking to enlist allies to pressure Assad into backing down. The U.S. accuses Syria of supporting terror,as does Israel. Analysts explain that remarks such as those made by the Knesset Speaker are most unwanted at this time, especially given Syria’s willingness to permit Hizbullah weapons to reach southern Lebanon and thus infuse life into the terror organization. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has approved the appointment by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz of Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkott as the new Northern District Commander. Eiskenkott is currently the IDF’s Chief of Operations.
The other serious contender for the post was IDF Southern Command Chief Maj.-Gen. Yoav Gallant. At the end of the year, Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh will also be resigning from his post. Eisenkott, 46, has been serving in the IDF for 27 years. He spent most of his years in the Golani Brigade, and served as military secretary to Prime Minister/Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He is viewed as a respected member of the General Staff. Some critics oppose the appointment, explaining that Eisenkott is one of a number of senior officers who will be questioned and debriefed by the Winograd Commission investigating the war in Lebanon. This they explain may lead to further embarrassment following his new appointment. Others explain that Eisenkott was a model of stability and professionalism during the war, an anchor on the General Staff who continued acting in a professional fashion despite the chaos that prevailed in senior military circles. Officials in the Northern Command expressed satisfaction over the appointment.
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)
Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews
By Ryan Jones,September 27, 2006
Fearing violence by Muslim mobs fired-up by the Ramadan sermons now being delivered daily atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Israeli authorities have instructed Jewish residents of parts of the capital's Old City to remain indoors during the evening hours.
Local Jews complained that police should be enforcing the law equally among all citizens, rather than cowering in fear at the mere hint of Muslim hostility.But in a further sign that many Israeli officials are more interested in appeasing the followers of Mohammed than in protecting the religious rights of their fellow Jews, police arrested a Jewish prayer leader for blowing his shofar (ram's horn) at the Western Wall during the recent Rosh Hashanah holiday.
Biblical Lens:
then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord.(Deuteronomy 12:11). As the site where the Almighty chose to make His name abide, the Temple Mount stands at the center of the Middle East conflict.While much of the peace process negotiations that appear in the mainstream media focus on various pieces of land throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, most in Israel understand that control over the Temple Mount is the final and largest hurdle to reaching a settlement.Israel's enemies who are driven by the enemy believe that solidifying their hold on the Temple Mount, the heart of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, will end Israel's hopes, rooted in biblical promises, concerning the arrival of a divine savior and the presence of the LORD.
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. ... And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple.(Ezekiel 43:2, 4, 5)
The necessity of a restored Temple prior to the coming of Messiah is also alluded to in the New Testament:Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.(2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3, 4)
This building is often wrongly referred to as the temple of the anti-Christ. While it is occupied for a time by the man of sin, it is still clearly referred to by scripture as the temple of God. And it is clear that this temple, and not Allah's gold dome, must be situated atop the Temple Mount prior to the return of God's manifest glory to that hill.Viewed through this lens, it becomes understandable
why the enemy is investing so much effort in ensuring the Jews never regain full control over the Temple Mount or feel they have a right to rebuild their temple to the God of Israel. Sadly, many spiritually-blind Israeli officials desiring to be accepted by a politically correct world are assisting in this effort by making those Jews faithful to the Word of God feel unwelcome anywhere near His Holy Hill.
But the Psalmist reassures us:
Why do the gentiles rage and the people imagine a vain thing? He Who sits in heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision (and say): Yet have I set My king upon My Holy Hill!'(Psalm 102:16)
Prayer Points:
Pray that those Jews who already today understand the central importance of Jerusalem and God's Holy Hill will be rewarded for their faithfulness with divine protection, blessing and increased courage;
Pray that those Jews who today are blindly assisting the enemy of their people and their God will, sooner rather than later, have their hearts and their eyes opened by the only One who can do so.
Sept. 28, 2006, 7:00AM
Israel, U.N. hope for pullout by October
By LAURIE COPANS Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
JERUSALEM Several disagreements regarding the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon have delayed a final Israeli troop withdrawal from that country, Israeli military officials said Thursday.But the problems were expected to be quickly worked out in ongoing security talks, and Israeli and U.N. officials said they hoped for a full Israeli pullout next week.The unresolved issues involved security arrangements for an Arab village that straddles the border, and the coordination between U.N. war rooms that will be set up on each side of the border with each country's army, the military officials said on condition of anonymity, since they were not authorized to talk to the press.
The Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is a key component of a cease-fire that took effect Aug. 14, ending 34 days of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia based in southern Lebanon.The truce is outlined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for an international force of 15,000 troops to join 15,000 Lebanese soldiers in patrolling southern Lebanon to prevent a further outbreak of violence.Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the U.N. force known as UNIFIL, denied reports of a disagreement between Israeli and U.N. officers over the international force.Israeli officials said earlier this week that UNIFIL had refused in pre-withdrawal talks to commit to Israel's demand that the U.N. forces stop or disarm any Hezbollah militants who approach the border. UNIFIL has said the Lebanese army was responsible for any efforts to disarm Hezbollah and its job is merely to assist the Lebanese army in that.
Ivanko said the United Nations expected the Israeli withdrawal to be completed by the end of the month.That is the force commander's understanding and we are working very actively on ensuring that that happens,he said.Other Israeli military officials, speaking privately, said that only minor details still need to be worked out, but it would be difficult for Israel to complete the withdrawal by the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, which begins Sunday at sundown.At the height of the fighting, Israel had as many as 30,000 troops in Lebanon, but has pulled most of them out since then cease-fire and withdrawn to the border area. The army declined to say how many troops remained, but the number was reported at several thousand.Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said Wednesday that Israel was still trying to iron out the last details on the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces before pulling its last troops out of south Lebanon.
We haven't completed negotiations,Halutz told an Israeli Cabinet meeting Wednesday. We are delaying the transfer of territory until the understandings are worked out.But Halutz said the final details should be concluded in a day or two.Halutz also warned that Hezbollah would not be allowed to use surveillance equipment near the border.
Any military equipment that will be in the hands of Hezbollah, including intelligence gathering equipment, is from Israel's perspective a violation of the agreement,Halutz told the ministers, according to a participant in the meeting. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel would withdraw as
soon as the U.N. and Lebanese forces fulfill their commitments.We have no interest in staying in Lebanon, Regev said.Israel was primarily concerned about the enforcement of two clauses in Resolution 1701: The international arms embargo on Hezbollah and the ban on the group's armed presence in south Lebanon, Regev said.
Ukraine Remembers 34,000 Jews Mass-Murdered at Babi Yar
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Some 1,000 religious and political leaders and others took part in an impressive memorial ceremony for the nearly 34,000 Jews massacred in just two days at Babi Yar 65 years ago.
The memorial event took place yesterday (Wednesday) at the infamous ravine outside Kiev, Ukraine, where the myriads of Jews were systematically machine-gunned to death. The slaughter continued for 48 hours, on Sept. 29-30, 1941. The Nazis marched the Jews from Kiev in groups of ten, ordered them to strip naked, and then machine-gunned them to death, leaving them to fall dead into the pit.Among those who took part in the ceremony were witnesses to and survivors of the Nazi massacres at Babi Yar and elsewhere, liberators of Kiev, and those recognized as Righteous Gentiles for their Holocaust-era heroism.A conference entitled Let My People Live! sponsored in part by the Government of Ukraine was held at the memorial ceremony.
The conference was also organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation and Yad Vashem. President Moshe Katzav and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko addressed the gathering.The World Holocaust Forum stated that the goals of Let My People Live! include memorializing the victims of Babi Yar and other mass-murder sites, uniting world leaders in confronting manifestations of xenophobia and anti-Semitism, and more. A Pan-European Holocaust Educational Program for Teachers has been inaugurated as well. Yad Vashem, which has collected the names of 3.5 million Holocaust victims thus far, has the names of only 3,000 Jews less than 10% known to have been killed at Babi Yar. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev told Haaretz that more than 90% of Jewish victims killed in western and central Europe are known, 35-40% of those killed in Romania, Hungary and Poland and only about 20% of those killed in the former Soviet Union.
The Simon Weil Holocaust Research Fund in France, the Holocaust Museums in Paris and Washington, and the Zaka Organization are sponsoring a wide-ranging campaign to find other mass Jewish graves in eastern Europe. Last month, the remains of some 1,800 Jews murdered by Nazis in Ukraine were discovered in the pit that became their mass grave. The memorial events in Kiev were the brainchild of Russian Jewish leader and business magnate Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, JTA reports. Kantor said the idea came to him a few years ago when he noticed young boys playing soccer near the site of the Babi Yar massacre, oblivious to the travesties that occurred there decades before. Most people today simply don’t know what happened there,said Kantor, who is the
founder of the World Holocaust Forum, the president of the Russian Jewish Congress and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Jewish Congress. The recent memorial events aim to change that.
Energy Ministers From 11 Countries Say Russian Energy Policy Raises Risks for Europe Created: 28.09.2006,6 hours 7 minutes ago,MosNews
Eleven energy ministers warned of rising political and commercial risks to Europe’s energy markets as President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to unconscientious investors, Agence France Presse reported on Thursday .
The ministers note the recent developments in energy markets and the ever increasing potential risks of a political and commercial nature,the 11 Black Sea-region ministers said.The reliability of access to energy (is) subject at this stage to challenges and threats of both a short-term and long-term nature,they said in a statement.The warnings after a two-day summit of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation organisation (BSEC) came shortly after Russia rattled energy investors by threatening to shut down the world’s largest private oil and gas project.
Russia last week withdrew a crucial environmental permit for the $20bn (15.8bn-euro) Sakhalin-2 project in the Russian far east, citing environmental violations by the foreign companies running the project.Putin added a further warning yesterday, saying that the government would take action against companies that were too slow in developing their projects.I expect the (natural resources) ministry and the government as a whole to take such decisions, including toward companies that work unconscientiously or do not fulfill licence agreements,he said at a meeting with the minister for natural resources in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
Russian officials also hammered foreign firms developing Sakhalin-2 at a separate energy industry conference in Sakhalin yesterday.The warnings from the 11 energy ministers seemed to reflect conflicting interests in the Black Sea region, which Russian Energy Minister called an indispensable energy bridge between Europe and Asia.The region’s clearest conflict has been between Russia and its Western neighbor Ukraine, which have had tense energy relations since Russia cut gas to Ukraine on January 1 during a price dispute.Khristenko’s Ukrainian counterpart Yury Boiko was kept from the Sochi summit by tense talks in Moscow on a new gas supply contract.Analysts have said that Russia’s ultimate goal is gaining control over Ukraine’s gas transport infrastructure, while Khristenko said that achieving predictability was Russia’s main motivation.The worst sort of predictability is better than the best unpredictability,the minister said at a news conference.The Black Sea ministers also faced conflicts over competing pipeline projects, such as Russia’s plans to expand its Blue Stream gas pipeline through Turkey to Israel and possibly Europe, which would rival the planned Nabucco pipeline.
The planned Nabucco pipeline would bring natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan to European markets without crossing Russian territory.Khristenko insisted that the Russian-Turkish Blue Stream gas pipeline had “proved its effectiveness both in financial terms and in terms of securing regional energy security.
Russia and Turkey have clashed over Blue Stream since the pipeline came online in 2003, however, and delivery volumes have been growing at a slow pace amid price disputes and lower demand projections from Turkey.The BSEC, which Russia is hosting this year, was formed in 1992 to co-ordinate the economic interests of Black Sea-region states such as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The group is one of several regional organisations embracing countries bordering the sea, and holds numerous annual ministerial meetings to coordinate the group’s economic policies.Russia directs 30% of its gas exports to BSEC members. The group’s main members are Russia, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine.COMPANY NEWS,MosNews
Vatican: Extremists undermining religion
Posted 9/28/2006 6:01 AM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) The Vatican's foreign minister said Wednesday that misunderstanding between cultures is breeding a new barbarism and expressed hope that reason and dialogue would stop those who use their faith as a pretext for attacks.In a speech on the closing day of the U.N. General Assembly's ministerial meeting, Giovanni Lajolo said extremists are far from devout and undermine the very religion they claim to defend.Violent reactions are always a falsification of true religion,Lajolo said in a passage devoted to the pope's Sept. 12 speech at Regensburg University in Germany.Benedict XVI quoted words attributed to a 14th century Byzantine emperor: Show me just what Mohammed 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.
Muslims angered by the remarks took to the streets in Indonesia, Turkey and Syria. Churches were attacked in the West Bank; an effigy of the pope was burned in Iraq; and a nun was shot dead in Somalia in an apparently related attack.Lajolo reiterated the Vatican's view that Benedict's remarks were misinterpreted. He said the pope has sought only to promote rational dialogue and understanding.Benedict has expressed regret for offending Muslims and said they did not reflect his personal views, but he has not offered a complete apology as some had sought.Lajolo suggested that the anger may also lie in the lack of understanding between religions, and a schism between reason and faith.As the Pope affirmed, were reason to turn a deaf ear to the divine and relegate religion to the ambit of subcultures, it would automatically provoke violent reactions,Lajolo, who also serves as president of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, told the assembly.
It falls to all interested parties to civil society as well as to states to promote religious freedom and a sane, social tolerance that will disarm extremists even before they can begin to corrupt others with their hatred of life and liberty,he said.Lajolo referred to the story of the Tower of Babel, saying the confusion of tongues in the Biblical city was a symbol of fracturing and hostilities in the
contemporary world.Human pride hampers the acknowledgment of one's neighbor and the recognition of his or her needs and even more makes people distrusting,he said.Today, that same negative fundamental attitude has given rise to a new barbarism that threatens world peace,the Vatican minister said.Terrorists bent on rejecting the best achievements of our civilization are one example, Lajolo said.Major powers, in their attempt to make the world more fair, may also occasionally slide into believing that this can only be achieved by force, he said.It can go so far as to regard the possession of nuclear weapons as an element of national pride,he said.,The Associated Press.
UN accelerates pace to choose successor to Annan By Evelyn Leopold
Thu Sep 28, 3:23 AM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is moving quickly to select a successor to Secretary-General Kofi Annan in October, a procedure that favors front-runner South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon. A third informal poll is set for Thursday and another, more revealing poll on Monday will indicate which of the seven candidates is backed or opposed by any of the veto-bearing council members the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China. A candidate needs at least nine votes and no veto.The campaigning for votes has been intense, with nominees speaking at various forums in New York and traveling around the globe to secure the post of the world's top diplomat.We are at the point where we should make a decision,U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Wednesday, saying governments had had all year to nominate a candidate to replace Annan, whose term ends on December 31.
Most diplomats believe the United States favors Ban and a quick vote would confirm his front-runner status.On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Chris Hill called Ban a very, very consummate professional,after a congressman alleged the South Korean was too pro-China.Only Britain has spoken against the rush to close the process, arguing that two candidates Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani had entered late and should have the chance in straw polls, council members said.Britain, they said, also wanted to keep the race open for any other candidate who might want to run.
A REAL CHOICE
Using colored ballots to distinguish between the five permanent council members and the 10 nations elected for two-year terms, could, for all practical purposes, end the contest after Monday's poll.But on Thursday afternoon, council ambassadors will mark ballots to encourage, discourage or express no opinion as in the previous two straw polls.In the last informal poll, Ban received 14 out of 15 favorable votes, ahead of Shashi Tharoor, an Indian novelist and the U.N. undersecretary-general for public information, who got 10 positive votes.The other three candidates are Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister; Jordan's U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein; and Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka, a former U.N. undersecretary-general for disarmament.
Tharoor said the next balloting would be crucial.
I was second in both the two straw polls because I do believe that many ambassadors and many governments are looking for a real choice,Tharoor said in an interview. But I acknowledge, as a realist, that if Mr. Ban consolidates his lead Thursday, it could be all over.The secretary-general's job has changed over the years, but Bolton said the first priority was to be the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and institute management reforms.Even Ban had some qualms about that. He told the Asia Society on Monday that many of the administrative operations would be left to a deputy. In an interview last week, he spoke of playing a bridging role between developed and developing nations but stressed the need for reform.The Security Council selects the new secretary-general, who then has to be confirmed by the 192-member General Assembly. U.N. tradition deems that the next U.N. leader come from Asia.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
NUCLEAR EGYPT ISRAEL NOT WORRIED
1-Eruption of Alaska volcano possible. 2-Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana. 3-Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode. 4-Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land. 5-Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site. 6-Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel. 7-Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt. 8-Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public. 9-Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit. 10-US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact.
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.
Eruption of Alaska volcano possible Tue Sep 26, 8:20 PM ET
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.
Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory,
said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but nothing is imminent.According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.Even a small eruption can cause floods, debris and mud flows, so the area on remote Cape Douglas is considered hazardous, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Mountain is about 80 miles northwest of Kodiak and 220 miles southwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet.
The observatory is installing seismometers around the mountain, a Web camera and instruments that measure how the ground is moving, Cervelli said. The mountain had not been monitored by instruments.Observatory staff who flew over Fourpeaked over the weekend reported linear vents running north from the summit. Many were emitting steam and vapors. Near the vents, a glacier was slumping and pieces had sloughed into the vents, Cervelli said.Staff members detected sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide coming from the vents. Volcanic gases could be smelled far away from the summit.Ash emission Sept. 17, the abundant volcanic gases, the presence of new vents at the summit and the disruption and floods occurring at and below glaciers suggest new magma at shallow levels beneath the volcano, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Volcano is not known to have erupted in the last 10,000 years. However, geological investigations have been limited and ice covers much of the area, the observatory said.The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a consortium that includes USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the
state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.On the Net:Alaska Volcano Observatory: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
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.
Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana
September 27, 2006
A cold front will swoop through Indiana on Wednesday, bringing a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms to all but the extreme northwestern part of the state.Southerly winds and sunshine will boost temperatures into the mid-70s in advance of the cold front, providing fuel for thunderstorms that are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening.Severe thunderstorms are expected to intensify as the near central Indiana. Strong winds and large hail are the primary threat from the storms as the push southeastward during the evening hours. Tornadoes do not appear likely with this storm system, but severe thunderstorms do have the capability of producing tornadoes.After the front passes, low clouds and shower chances are expected to hang around on Thursday, with temperatures expected to stay below 60 degrees.2006 by TheIndyChannel.com
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
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.
Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:00 AM
Sacramento, CA -- Residents of several southern California mountain communities in the path of the three-week-old Day Fire have been urged to leave their homes.But most have chosen to remain. The northwest flank of the fire jumped a road Tuesday threatening hundreds of homes. C.D.F. officials say six unoccupied structures have been destroyed. The Day Fire is only 42% contained ... it has burned 145,000 acres.To the north of the Mother Lode, the Pigeon Fire in Trinity County has now burned 87,580 acres ... it is only 36% contained.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist. Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.
After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius.Dr Kingsley said: The treasure resonates fiercely across modern politics. Since the mid-1990s, a heated political wrangle has been simmering between the Vatican and Israel, which has accused the papacy of imprisoning the treasure.The Temple treasure remains a deadly political tool in the volatile Arab-Israeli conflict centred on the Temple Mount [the site of the Jewish Temple and the Muslim Dome of the Rock].
The treasure’s final hiding place ,in the modern West Bank, deep in Hamas territory ,will rock world religions.Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem after a Jewish revolt and Roman forces took about 50 tons of gold, silver and precious art to Rome.The Arch of Titus, built a decade later, depicts Roman soldiers bearing the sacred spoils on their shoulders. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world.Between AD75 and the early 5th century, the treasure was on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Forum, in Rome.The Vatican has told Dr Kingsley that there is no evidence in its archives that the treasure resided in Rome from the medieval period onwards.He said: One thing is for sure it is not imprisoned deep in Vatican City.
I am the first person to prove that the Temple treasures no longer languish in Rome.Dr Kingsley’s sources include Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian who sometimes exaggerated but is an authority on Roman and Jewish history. Dr Kingsley also found evidence in, among others, the works of Procopius, a court historian of the Emperor Justinian, who died in AD562, and from Theophanes Confessor (c760-817), a Christian monk from Constantinople.
In Chronographia, which spanned AD284 to 813, Theophanes recorded that Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, loaded the treasures that Titus had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem on a boat to Carthage in Tunisia in AD455.In the first holy crusade in AD533, the Byzantine Belisarius seized the treasure from a royal ship fleeing the Algerian harbour of Hippo Regius. It was then shipped to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.In the 7th century, Persians sacked Jerusalem, killing thousands of Christians, and dragging the Patriarch, Zacharias, to Persia. Dr Kingsley believes that his replacement, Modestus, spirited away the treasures to their final hiding place in AD614.Dr Kingsley will reveal his findings in God’s Gold: The Quest for the Lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem, to be published by John Murray on October 5.
Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site
At drilling site north of Dead Sea, oil struck at depth of 1,800 meters. According to estimates, there are about 6.5 million barrels of crude oil, worth about USD 300 million Oil spurted Monday at a depth of about 1,800 meters during drilling near the Dead Sea. The drilling was planned only to reach 2,000 meters. Drilling partners, Ginko Oil Exploration and Lapidot (20 percent) are expected to carry out a series of tests in the coming days in order to estimate the quantity of oil found in the drilling, and its value. It should be noted that crude oil, about 120,000 barrels, has already been extracted from this same drilling site in 1995. Drilling was renewed following the rise in oil prices, and as a first stage in preparation for drilling in Ginko's licensed drilling areas in the Dead Sea, particularly in the area of Zerach.
Oil drilling at Dead Sea
Ginko declined responding to reports of its renewed oil findings at the site, but notified that the essence of the tests that will be performed in the coming days revolve around checking the static pressure in the oil strata, and its rate of change. Renewal of drilling in areas from which crude oil was extracted in the past has become a new world trend in the face of high price of oil, which increases profitability of such oil extraction. Ginko is prepared for extraction at this particular drilling site and has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel.
The drilling site in which oil was discovered lies within the Zerach licensed zone, which is north of the Dead Sea and sits on 400 square kilometers of land. In the past, gas fields were found in a nearby licensed zone. From the collective efforts near the gas and oil fields as well as new seismic findings recently published, it emerges that there is a closed structure in the area that ensures an oil reserve of about 6.5 million barrels of equal or higher value than the oil previously found.
According to geologist Gidon Gab-Am, there is an estimated two strata of oil, one of which contains about 5.5 million barrels of oil, and the other about one million barrels. As per today's crude oil prices, this quantity is worth between USD 300-350 million.
Ginko Oil Exploration is owned by accountant Yair Karni, Nissan Khakshouri, Rami Karmin and Elgadcom Group (owned by the Shushan and Salouk brothers), who recently acquired 8 percent of the company for and investment of USD 1.2 million.
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)
Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel: poll Wed Sep 27, 7:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Most Palestinians favor launching rockets at Israeli cities the way Lebanon's Hezbollah militia did during its 34-day war with Israel, according to a poll. Some 63 percent think that Palestinians should emulate Hezbollah's methods and launch rockets at cities, compared with 35 percent who disagreed, the poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed Wednesday.Some 77 percent, however, support the call for a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis and 74 percent believe that Palestinians cannot depend on armed action only and must reach a political settlement, the center said.
The survey examined Palestinians' attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the aftermath of the Lebanon war, during which Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 41 civilians.As to the impact of the war on attitudes towards violence, our findings suggest that Hezbollah tactics provide an attractive model for Palestinians' armed resistance,the center wrote.Some 57 percent favor armed attacks on Israeli civilians inside Israel, compared with 41 percent who oppose such attacks, it said.Around 75 percent support operations in which Palestinian militants seize Israeli soldiers for exchange with Palestinian prisoners, compared with 23 percent who oppose.And 59 percent support a Hamas-led Palestinian government negotiating with Israel, compared with 38 percent who oppose holding such talks.The survey was conducted between September 10-19, questioned 1,270 adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and has a three percent margin of error.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt
UPI,September 27, 2006
JERUSALEM -- Israel isn't worried about Egypt's plans for nuclear power plants, citing a difference between its friendlier neighbor and Iran, with which it is at odds. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday Egypt's plans for a nuclear power plant, which was announced Sunday, will be for civilian purposes only, the Jerusalem Post has reported. Israel has backed the United States in its huff over Iran's uranium enrichment program which it, along with other countries, says is a precursor to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Tehran insists it is for nuclear energy purposes only, not weapons. Egypt plans to bring a $1.5 billion, 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant online within 10 years. As a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Egypt has called for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. There is no official nuclear state in the area, although Israel neither confirms nor denies allegations it has amassed an arsenal. The treaty ensures member states won't contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation. While Egypt and Turkey, another regional player who is moving toward nuclear energy, aren't attempting to create a uranium enrichment facility, easing weapons fears, the Iran controversy centers on enrichment.
Enriched uranium, available for purchase on the open market, can be used for both civilian and military nuclear purposes, depending on how much it was enriched. Iran claims it has a sovereign right to the program, which was kept secret until recently. While some are concerned any increase in nuclear programs in the Middle East will lead to armed states, Olmert was open to Egypt's plans, saying, It's not similar in any form or manner to what the Iranians are trying to do. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, an anti-proliferation organization, told the BBC the plans by Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, let alone Israel, could have a domino effect.
Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route,Fitzpatrick said.
Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Prime Minister Olmert told top religious-Zionist and other leaders, We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public. His words were taken with a grain of political salt. A day-long conference on the role of religious-Zionism in Israel was held yesterday at the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute. One of the participants, Rabbi Avi Gisser of Ofrah, said that Olmert most definitely had political interests in appearing. Everyone does, to some degree,Rabbi Gisser said. We discussed [the question of whether we should participate] amongst ourselves [religious-Zionist rabbis and leaders] beforehand, some 30 of us, and we realized that though there were definitely political overtones, it was clear to us that when you're invited to speak about the Jewish character of the State of Israel, and the role of Religious-Zionism is placed at the center of the national discourse, then that's the right thing to do.
The day-long summit was entitled, The Jewish Character of the State of Israel - Religious Zionism as an element motivating national discourse.Among the topics discussed at length, Rabbi Gisser said, was the importance of finding ways to strengthen public Sabbath observance and the conversion-to-Judaism framework, amidst as wide of a consensus as possible.Olmert, in his remarks, showed understanding for the religious-Zionist sector - known as the orange camp, after the color chosen to symbolize the struggle against last year's expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron - but also had criticism. He said that we must strive towards a new definition of Zionism,though he did not specify what he had in mind.We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public and find a path for honest and deep discourse with them,Olmert said. This sector is in deep distress, he said, because of the public conflict which raised basic questions as to the State’s character and outlook. [These people] dealt with the difficult experience of having to reconcile themselves with the concession of the territories and settlements.
However, he said that one's Zionism cannot be based only on whether or not he supports withdrawals. Olmert noted that hundreds of thousands of people served in the territories for over 35 years and participated in enforcing Israel’s policies there, despite their wholehearted belief that the State’s actions were erroneous and severely harmed our social tapestry.
Olmert thus implied that the orange camp must similarly not let the act of the Disengagement affect its feelings towards the State. This, despite the inherent differences between the passive policy of continuing to hold on to territory won in war and the pro-active act of disenfranchising an entire public and thousands of citizens from their homes and lifework.Olmert described the religious-Zionist sector as one that lives on the periphery and has felt neglected for years.
In response, IsraelNationalRadio's Alex Traiman, a self-described religious-Zionist, commented that he doesn't feel peripheral: Even citizens living in Judea and Samaria are doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., working in the center of the country and in the center of Israeli public life..Public perception within much of the religious-Zionist public is that Olmert has twice betrayed it: once after he left the office of Mayor of Jerusalem, where he had been staunchly in the right-wing camp, and took on a more left-wing stance upon entering national politics, and again when he became Ariel Sharon's chief ally in promoting the unilateral withdrawal plan of 2005.
Rabbi Gisser said that the conference discussions did not center on practical solutions, but rather on an investigation of the issues. Throughout the day, however, there was the background tension of Olmert's diplomatic plans - frozen or suspended or whatever they may be at present. Many of us warned clearly of the dangers we feel they present.Regarding the essential need for religious/secular respect and cooperation, Rabbi Gisser said, It was clear that the boundaries of Jewish dialogue must be broadened so that we can all find our place in Israel on the basis of the importance of strengthening the State's Judaism. This was something that everyone agreed upon, even those who are not religious... For instance, there is an initiative in the Knesset, led by non-religious MKs, to promote public Sabbath observance - not on the basis of religious law, but on the basis of social justice, allowing everyone to have a day off, etc.In addition, Rabbi Gisser said, there was a desire on the part of everyone to promote and strengthen the conversion framework, headed by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, but there was an attempt to find a way to overcome bureaucratic and ideological difficulties on the part of the non-Jewish Russian public and enable and encourage them to come to Jewish law courts for the purpose of conversion.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
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).
Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit
Reuters,Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 7:41 AM
WashingtonPost.com
CAIRO (Reuters) - Spain has floated the idea of a second Middle East peace summit along the lines of the Madrid conference which opened the way to direct peace talks between Israel and its neighbors in 1991.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who served as the European Union's Middle East envoy until 2003, said in an article published on Wednesday that the quartet of Middle East mediators might also be expanded to include new countries.Perhaps it would be timely for all the interested parties to meet again, at the same level as in 1991, to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive solution and to the basic principles on which that should be based,he said in the article in the Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat.The Madrid peace conference of 1991 brought together former U.S. President George Bush, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and foreign ministers from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
The conference was based on the principle that Israel should give up occupied land in return for peace with its Arab neighbors, as had already happened between Israel and Egypt.It led to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994 and a series of high-level talks between Israel and Syria, which came close to an agreement in 2000.
Moratinos said the war between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah this summer showed the futility of seeking military solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict or of trying to impose solutions unilaterally.At this stage the important thing is not to invent new solutions but to have the courage, the historic generosity and the political will to apply the formulas..which have already been examined to a very large extent in the course of previous negotiations, such as Camp David and Taba,he added.
At Camp David in 2000 and at the Red Sea resort of Taba in early 2001, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state.Subsequent Israeli governments stepped back from the proposals then on offer and have preferred to try unilateral solutions, such as building a barrier through the West Bank and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a formal agreement.On the Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Moratinos said: (It) could incorporate the added value of some countries which are key to the region.The European Union and the Arab League, seeing an opportunity after the Lebanon war, have floated several proposals for reviving Middle East peace negotiations.The Arab countries tried this month to persuade the U.N. Security Council to initiate a process but the United States, Israel's ally, prevented the council from making a statement.
US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact
The United States has pledged to bolster trade with Jordan, which a senior US official described as a cornerstone for its bid to establish a Middle East-wide free trade pact.
The two sides also agreed to diversify their trade ties as part of their five-year-old free trade agreement, the first between the United States and an Arab country, officials said.According to US trade official Shaun Donnelly, the success of the deal was highlighted last year when Jordanian exports to the United States rose to 1.3 billion dollars from 90 million dollars the year before.
We have also seen in the past two years.... exports diversify beyond the textile and apparel garment sector, and exports in other sectors now total over 100 million dollars, Donnelly said after two days of talks with Jordanian Trade Minister Sharif al-Zohbi. We want to build a comprehensive US-Middle East free trade area.
We want to engage with each of our partner countries in the Middle East and Jordan is a cornerstone of that activity, the American official added.In the Middle East, the United States has signed free trade agreements with Bahrain, Israel, Oman and Morocco, and is also engaged in talks with Egypt.Jordan secured its trade deal with the world’s biggest economy in October 2000, with the accord going into force in December 2001.We have to diversify our exports... [beyond] garments and textiles, the Jordanian minister, Zohbi, told reporters after meeting with Donnelly.Jordan was also seeking to speed up the tariffs reduction period, Zohbi said.According to the agreement, US tariffs on imports from Jordan will be phased out completely by 2010.The United States is Jordan’s second largest trading partner after Saudi Arabia, with 33 percent of our exports going to the American market, Zohbi explained.
Garments and textiles account for 90 percent of all Jordan’s exports to the United States, Zohbi indicated, adding the private sector was working hand in hand with the government to diversify its US-bound exports.We are cooperating with the private sector to diversify the exports to include medicine, jewelry, electrical appliances, electronic goods and cooling systems, according to the minister.
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.
Eruption of Alaska volcano possible Tue Sep 26, 8:20 PM ET
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Vents on Alaska's Fourpeaked Mountain have been spewing volcanic gases and experts at the Alaska Volcano Observatory say an eruption is possible.
Peter Cervelli, a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and the observatory,
said it is hard to predict if or when an eruption will occur but nothing is imminent.According to the observatory's Web page, an explosive eruption could occur in the coming days to weeks. Volcanic activity could be ash plumes exceeding 33,000 feet above sea level, with lava flows, or it could be nothing.Even a small eruption can cause floods, debris and mud flows, so the area on remote Cape Douglas is considered hazardous, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Mountain is about 80 miles northwest of Kodiak and 220 miles southwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet.
The observatory is installing seismometers around the mountain, a Web camera and instruments that measure how the ground is moving, Cervelli said. The mountain had not been monitored by instruments.Observatory staff who flew over Fourpeaked over the weekend reported linear vents running north from the summit. Many were emitting steam and vapors. Near the vents, a glacier was slumping and pieces had sloughed into the vents, Cervelli said.Staff members detected sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide coming from the vents. Volcanic gases could be smelled far away from the summit.Ash emission Sept. 17, the abundant volcanic gases, the presence of new vents at the summit and the disruption and floods occurring at and below glaciers suggest new magma at shallow levels beneath the volcano, according to the observatory.Fourpeaked Volcano is not known to have erupted in the last 10,000 years. However, geological investigations have been limited and ice covers much of the area, the observatory said.The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a consortium that includes USGS, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the
state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.On the Net:Alaska Volcano Observatory: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/
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.
Storms Packing Large Hail, Strong Winds Threaten Indiana
September 27, 2006
A cold front will swoop through Indiana on Wednesday, bringing a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms to all but the extreme northwestern part of the state.Southerly winds and sunshine will boost temperatures into the mid-70s in advance of the cold front, providing fuel for thunderstorms that are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening.Severe thunderstorms are expected to intensify as the near central Indiana. Strong winds and large hail are the primary threat from the storms as the push southeastward during the evening hours. Tornadoes do not appear likely with this storm system, but severe thunderstorms do have the capability of producing tornadoes.After the front passes, low clouds and shower chances are expected to hang around on Thursday, with temperatures expected to stay below 60 degrees.2006 by TheIndyChannel.com
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
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.
Fires Continue To Burn Outside The Mother Lode
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 06:00 AM
Sacramento, CA -- Residents of several southern California mountain communities in the path of the three-week-old Day Fire have been urged to leave their homes.But most have chosen to remain. The northwest flank of the fire jumped a road Tuesday threatening hundreds of homes. C.D.F. officials say six unoccupied structures have been destroyed. The Day Fire is only 42% contained ... it has burned 145,000 acres.To the north of the Mother Lode, the Pigeon Fire in Trinity County has now burned 87,580 acres ... it is only 36% contained.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Treasures looted by Rome are back in the Holy Land
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent
A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist. Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.
After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius.Dr Kingsley said: The treasure resonates fiercely across modern politics. Since the mid-1990s, a heated political wrangle has been simmering between the Vatican and Israel, which has accused the papacy of imprisoning the treasure.The Temple treasure remains a deadly political tool in the volatile Arab-Israeli conflict centred on the Temple Mount [the site of the Jewish Temple and the Muslim Dome of the Rock].
The treasure’s final hiding place ,in the modern West Bank, deep in Hamas territory ,will rock world religions.Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem after a Jewish revolt and Roman forces took about 50 tons of gold, silver and precious art to Rome.The Arch of Titus, built a decade later, depicts Roman soldiers bearing the sacred spoils on their shoulders. The Jews were expelled from Jerusalem and dispersed throughout the world.Between AD75 and the early 5th century, the treasure was on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Forum, in Rome.The Vatican has told Dr Kingsley that there is no evidence in its archives that the treasure resided in Rome from the medieval period onwards.He said: One thing is for sure it is not imprisoned deep in Vatican City.
I am the first person to prove that the Temple treasures no longer languish in Rome.Dr Kingsley’s sources include Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian who sometimes exaggerated but is an authority on Roman and Jewish history. Dr Kingsley also found evidence in, among others, the works of Procopius, a court historian of the Emperor Justinian, who died in AD562, and from Theophanes Confessor (c760-817), a Christian monk from Constantinople.
In Chronographia, which spanned AD284 to 813, Theophanes recorded that Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, loaded the treasures that Titus had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem on a boat to Carthage in Tunisia in AD455.In the first holy crusade in AD533, the Byzantine Belisarius seized the treasure from a royal ship fleeing the Algerian harbour of Hippo Regius. It was then shipped to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium.In the 7th century, Persians sacked Jerusalem, killing thousands of Christians, and dragging the Patriarch, Zacharias, to Persia. Dr Kingsley believes that his replacement, Modestus, spirited away the treasures to their final hiding place in AD614.Dr Kingsley will reveal his findings in God’s Gold: The Quest for the Lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem, to be published by John Murray on October 5.
Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site
At drilling site north of Dead Sea, oil struck at depth of 1,800 meters. According to estimates, there are about 6.5 million barrels of crude oil, worth about USD 300 million Oil spurted Monday at a depth of about 1,800 meters during drilling near the Dead Sea. The drilling was planned only to reach 2,000 meters. Drilling partners, Ginko Oil Exploration and Lapidot (20 percent) are expected to carry out a series of tests in the coming days in order to estimate the quantity of oil found in the drilling, and its value. It should be noted that crude oil, about 120,000 barrels, has already been extracted from this same drilling site in 1995. Drilling was renewed following the rise in oil prices, and as a first stage in preparation for drilling in Ginko's licensed drilling areas in the Dead Sea, particularly in the area of Zerach.
Oil drilling at Dead Sea
Ginko declined responding to reports of its renewed oil findings at the site, but notified that the essence of the tests that will be performed in the coming days revolve around checking the static pressure in the oil strata, and its rate of change. Renewal of drilling in areas from which crude oil was extracted in the past has become a new world trend in the face of high price of oil, which increases profitability of such oil extraction. Ginko is prepared for extraction at this particular drilling site and has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel.
The drilling site in which oil was discovered lies within the Zerach licensed zone, which is north of the Dead Sea and sits on 400 square kilometers of land. In the past, gas fields were found in a nearby licensed zone. From the collective efforts near the gas and oil fields as well as new seismic findings recently published, it emerges that there is a closed structure in the area that ensures an oil reserve of about 6.5 million barrels of equal or higher value than the oil previously found.
According to geologist Gidon Gab-Am, there is an estimated two strata of oil, one of which contains about 5.5 million barrels of oil, and the other about one million barrels. As per today's crude oil prices, this quantity is worth between USD 300-350 million.
Ginko Oil Exploration is owned by accountant Yair Karni, Nissan Khakshouri, Rami Karmin and Elgadcom Group (owned by the Shushan and Salouk brothers), who recently acquired 8 percent of the company for and investment of USD 1.2 million.
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)
Most Palestinians favor using Hezbollah methods on Israel: poll Wed Sep 27, 7:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Most Palestinians favor launching rockets at Israeli cities the way Lebanon's Hezbollah militia did during its 34-day war with Israel, according to a poll. Some 63 percent think that Palestinians should emulate Hezbollah's methods and launch rockets at cities, compared with 35 percent who disagreed, the poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah showed Wednesday.Some 77 percent, however, support the call for a ceasefire between Palestinians and Israelis and 74 percent believe that Palestinians cannot depend on armed action only and must reach a political settlement, the center said.
The survey examined Palestinians' attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the aftermath of the Lebanon war, during which Hezbollah launched nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel, killing 41 civilians.As to the impact of the war on attitudes towards violence, our findings suggest that Hezbollah tactics provide an attractive model for Palestinians' armed resistance,the center wrote.Some 57 percent favor armed attacks on Israeli civilians inside Israel, compared with 41 percent who oppose such attacks, it said.Around 75 percent support operations in which Palestinian militants seize Israeli soldiers for exchange with Palestinian prisoners, compared with 23 percent who oppose.And 59 percent support a Hamas-led Palestinian government negotiating with Israel, compared with 38 percent who oppose holding such talks.The survey was conducted between September 10-19, questioned 1,270 adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and has a three percent margin of error.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
Israel not worried about a nuclear Egypt
UPI,September 27, 2006
JERUSALEM -- Israel isn't worried about Egypt's plans for nuclear power plants, citing a difference between its friendlier neighbor and Iran, with which it is at odds. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday Egypt's plans for a nuclear power plant, which was announced Sunday, will be for civilian purposes only, the Jerusalem Post has reported. Israel has backed the United States in its huff over Iran's uranium enrichment program which it, along with other countries, says is a precursor to a nuclear-armed Iran.
Tehran insists it is for nuclear energy purposes only, not weapons. Egypt plans to bring a $1.5 billion, 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant online within 10 years. As a signatory to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Egypt has called for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East. There is no official nuclear state in the area, although Israel neither confirms nor denies allegations it has amassed an arsenal. The treaty ensures member states won't contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation. While Egypt and Turkey, another regional player who is moving toward nuclear energy, aren't attempting to create a uranium enrichment facility, easing weapons fears, the Iran controversy centers on enrichment.
Enriched uranium, available for purchase on the open market, can be used for both civilian and military nuclear purposes, depending on how much it was enriched. Iran claims it has a sovereign right to the program, which was kept secret until recently. While some are concerned any increase in nuclear programs in the Middle East will lead to armed states, Olmert was open to Egypt's plans, saying, It's not similar in any form or manner to what the Iranians are trying to do. Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies, an anti-proliferation organization, told the BBC the plans by Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, let alone Israel, could have a domino effect.
Having a nuclear infrastructure is the step which a country needs to accomplish if it decides to embark on the path of nuclear weapons. Pakistan took that route,Fitzpatrick said.
Olmert Addresses Religious-Zionist Public
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Prime Minister Olmert told top religious-Zionist and other leaders, We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public. His words were taken with a grain of political salt. A day-long conference on the role of religious-Zionism in Israel was held yesterday at the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute. One of the participants, Rabbi Avi Gisser of Ofrah, said that Olmert most definitely had political interests in appearing. Everyone does, to some degree,Rabbi Gisser said. We discussed [the question of whether we should participate] amongst ourselves [religious-Zionist rabbis and leaders] beforehand, some 30 of us, and we realized that though there were definitely political overtones, it was clear to us that when you're invited to speak about the Jewish character of the State of Israel, and the role of Religious-Zionism is placed at the center of the national discourse, then that's the right thing to do.
The day-long summit was entitled, The Jewish Character of the State of Israel - Religious Zionism as an element motivating national discourse.Among the topics discussed at length, Rabbi Gisser said, was the importance of finding ways to strengthen public Sabbath observance and the conversion-to-Judaism framework, amidst as wide of a consensus as possible.Olmert, in his remarks, showed understanding for the religious-Zionist sector - known as the orange camp, after the color chosen to symbolize the struggle against last year's expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron - but also had criticism. He said that we must strive towards a new definition of Zionism,though he did not specify what he had in mind.We must understand the troubles of the religious Zionist public and find a path for honest and deep discourse with them,Olmert said. This sector is in deep distress, he said, because of the public conflict which raised basic questions as to the State’s character and outlook. [These people] dealt with the difficult experience of having to reconcile themselves with the concession of the territories and settlements.
However, he said that one's Zionism cannot be based only on whether or not he supports withdrawals. Olmert noted that hundreds of thousands of people served in the territories for over 35 years and participated in enforcing Israel’s policies there, despite their wholehearted belief that the State’s actions were erroneous and severely harmed our social tapestry.
Olmert thus implied that the orange camp must similarly not let the act of the Disengagement affect its feelings towards the State. This, despite the inherent differences between the passive policy of continuing to hold on to territory won in war and the pro-active act of disenfranchising an entire public and thousands of citizens from their homes and lifework.Olmert described the religious-Zionist sector as one that lives on the periphery and has felt neglected for years.
In response, IsraelNationalRadio's Alex Traiman, a self-described religious-Zionist, commented that he doesn't feel peripheral: Even citizens living in Judea and Samaria are doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., working in the center of the country and in the center of Israeli public life..Public perception within much of the religious-Zionist public is that Olmert has twice betrayed it: once after he left the office of Mayor of Jerusalem, where he had been staunchly in the right-wing camp, and took on a more left-wing stance upon entering national politics, and again when he became Ariel Sharon's chief ally in promoting the unilateral withdrawal plan of 2005.
Rabbi Gisser said that the conference discussions did not center on practical solutions, but rather on an investigation of the issues. Throughout the day, however, there was the background tension of Olmert's diplomatic plans - frozen or suspended or whatever they may be at present. Many of us warned clearly of the dangers we feel they present.Regarding the essential need for religious/secular respect and cooperation, Rabbi Gisser said, It was clear that the boundaries of Jewish dialogue must be broadened so that we can all find our place in Israel on the basis of the importance of strengthening the State's Judaism. This was something that everyone agreed upon, even those who are not religious... For instance, there is an initiative in the Knesset, led by non-religious MKs, to promote public Sabbath observance - not on the basis of religious law, but on the basis of social justice, allowing everyone to have a day off, etc.In addition, Rabbi Gisser said, there was a desire on the part of everyone to promote and strengthen the conversion framework, headed by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, but there was an attempt to find a way to overcome bureaucratic and ideological difficulties on the part of the non-Jewish Russian public and enable and encourage them to come to Jewish law courts for the purpose of conversion.
SPAIN #11 IN THE EU
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).
Spain floats idea of new Madrid peace summit
Reuters,Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 7:41 AM
WashingtonPost.com
CAIRO (Reuters) - Spain has floated the idea of a second Middle East peace summit along the lines of the Madrid conference which opened the way to direct peace talks between Israel and its neighbors in 1991.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who served as the European Union's Middle East envoy until 2003, said in an article published on Wednesday that the quartet of Middle East mediators might also be expanded to include new countries.Perhaps it would be timely for all the interested parties to meet again, at the same level as in 1991, to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive solution and to the basic principles on which that should be based,he said in the article in the Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat.The Madrid peace conference of 1991 brought together former U.S. President George Bush, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and foreign ministers from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
The conference was based on the principle that Israel should give up occupied land in return for peace with its Arab neighbors, as had already happened between Israel and Egypt.It led to a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan in 1994 and a series of high-level talks between Israel and Syria, which came close to an agreement in 2000.
Moratinos said the war between Israel and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah this summer showed the futility of seeking military solutions to the Arab-Israeli conflict or of trying to impose solutions unilaterally.At this stage the important thing is not to invent new solutions but to have the courage, the historic generosity and the political will to apply the formulas..which have already been examined to a very large extent in the course of previous negotiations, such as Camp David and Taba,he added.
At Camp David in 2000 and at the Red Sea resort of Taba in early 2001, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came close to agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state.Subsequent Israeli governments stepped back from the proposals then on offer and have preferred to try unilateral solutions, such as building a barrier through the West Bank and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip without a formal agreement.On the Quartet, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Moratinos said: (It) could incorporate the added value of some countries which are key to the region.The European Union and the Arab League, seeing an opportunity after the Lebanon war, have floated several proposals for reviving Middle East peace negotiations.The Arab countries tried this month to persuade the U.N. Security Council to initiate a process but the United States, Israel's ally, prevented the council from making a statement.
US to bolster Jordan trade, eyes Mideast-wide pact
The United States has pledged to bolster trade with Jordan, which a senior US official described as a cornerstone for its bid to establish a Middle East-wide free trade pact.
The two sides also agreed to diversify their trade ties as part of their five-year-old free trade agreement, the first between the United States and an Arab country, officials said.According to US trade official Shaun Donnelly, the success of the deal was highlighted last year when Jordanian exports to the United States rose to 1.3 billion dollars from 90 million dollars the year before.
We have also seen in the past two years.... exports diversify beyond the textile and apparel garment sector, and exports in other sectors now total over 100 million dollars, Donnelly said after two days of talks with Jordanian Trade Minister Sharif al-Zohbi. We want to build a comprehensive US-Middle East free trade area.
We want to engage with each of our partner countries in the Middle East and Jordan is a cornerstone of that activity, the American official added.In the Middle East, the United States has signed free trade agreements with Bahrain, Israel, Oman and Morocco, and is also engaged in talks with Egypt.Jordan secured its trade deal with the world’s biggest economy in October 2000, with the accord going into force in December 2001.We have to diversify our exports... [beyond] garments and textiles, the Jordanian minister, Zohbi, told reporters after meeting with Donnelly.Jordan was also seeking to speed up the tariffs reduction period, Zohbi said.According to the agreement, US tariffs on imports from Jordan will be phased out completely by 2010.The United States is Jordan’s second largest trading partner after Saudi Arabia, with 33 percent of our exports going to the American market, Zohbi explained.
Garments and textiles account for 90 percent of all Jordan’s exports to the United States, Zohbi indicated, adding the private sector was working hand in hand with the government to diversify its US-bound exports.We are cooperating with the private sector to diversify the exports to include medicine, jewelry, electrical appliances, electronic goods and cooling systems, according to the minister.
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