SYRIA - IRAN MEET

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather. 3-Avalanches block highways in Colo. 4-Israel, U.S. to shun Palestinian unity govt: Olmert. 5-Pre-Summit Clash: Olmert Says Yes, PA Says No. 6-Israeli Archeologist Discloses Muslim Room Under Disputed Ramp. 7-Syrian and Iranian Presidents Meet in Tehran.

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.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Mon Feb 19 12:00 AM EDT

FEB 18,07
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.9 VANUATU REGION
MAP 4.7 TAJIKISTAN
MAP 4.8 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.0 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.5 CERAM SEA, INDONESIA
MAP 4.4 NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KORYAKIA, RUSSIA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.6 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA

FEB 17,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 CHANNEL ISLANDS REGION, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.4 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 OFF THE COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA
MAP 2.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.9 NEW IRELAND REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.9 SOUTH OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.1 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 6.0 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

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.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun Feb 18, 7:51 AM ET

Cold temperatures were forecast for the Northeast and Southwest on Sunday, while rain and snow were expected in the Northwest. Light snow showers were forecast for the East, with heavier snow expected in the Great Lakes region. A low-pressure system could bring moderate accumulations to coastal Maine.An approaching Pacific storm was to bring rain to the valleys and snow to higher elevations in the West. Clear skies were forecast for the central and southern Plains and the South.
Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of minus 5 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont., to a high of 89 degrees at Oceanside, Calif.On the Net:Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com.National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov.Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

Avalanches block highways in Colo. By CHASE SQUIRES, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 17, 8:47 PM ET

DENVER Thousands of travelers heading to ski areas for the holiday weekend were stalled by giant traffic jams Saturday as highways were blocked by crews removing snow slides. One avalanche at Berthoud Pass on U.S. 40, the main road to the Winter Park ski resort, knocked a state maintenance vehicle off the road during the night, said Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stacey Stegman.

The pass reopened Saturday afternoon.That pass was the scene of an avalanche last month that knocked two vehicles off the road and stranded several motorists. No injuries were reported because of snow slides or avalanche mitigation.Elsewhere, avalanche crews firing explosive charges to break up potential avalanches dislodged a massive slide that buried Interstate 70, the main access from Denver and the urban Front Range corridor to many of the state's major ski resorts, including Vail and Aspen.

We've just gotten so much snow up there in the last two days, Stegman said. This is one of the biggest ski weekends of the year. We would love to keep the highway open. It's just so much snow.By the time officials reopened I-70 shortly after 10 a.m., the traffic jam stretched east for 10 miles, Stegman said.The storm, which had moved out of the state Saturday, piled up as much as 18 inches of snow in the mountains, Stegman said.The storm also blasted the metropolitan area with wind as high as 100 mph. At Denver International Airport, officials were still baffled Saturday by cracks that formed during the storm in the windshields of 12 airliners, airport spokesman Steve Snyder said.

Investigators had found no evidence of wind-blown debris that could have caused the cracks, which delayed some flights, Snyder said. No emergencies were declared and no injuries were reported.Elsewhere, a twin-engine Cessna crashed during a snowstorm southeast of the airport at Council Bluffs, Iowa, killing at least three people late Friday, officials said. The cause of the crash was not yet known.In Pennsylvania, three major interstate highways reopened Saturday after crews cleared them of ice and snow following a storm that left hundreds of motorists stranded. Speed limits on interstates 78, 80 and 81 were reduced to 45 mph until authorities deem it safe to drive at regular speeds.At least 24 deaths were blamed on the storm system and accompanying cold: six in Ohio; three in Nebraska; two each in Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Jersey and Delaware; and one each in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Hampshire and Louisiana.

Israel, U.S. to shun Palestinian unity govt: Olmert Sun Feb 18, 6:58 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday he and President Bush agreed to shun a Palestinian unity government unless it accepted international demands on policy toward Israel. A Palestinian government that does not accept the Quartet's conditions, cannot receive recognition and there will not be cooperation with it, Olmert said, referring to calls by international mediators for a unity government to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by existing interim peace accords.I spoke about this on Friday with the President of the United States, and I can tell you the Israeli and U.S. positions are completely identical, Olmert said in broadcast remarks before talks later in the day with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Pre-Summit Clash: Olmert Says Yes, PA Says No
By Hillel Fendel (INN) FEB 18,07

PM Olmert says PA gov't must abide by agreements with Israel, or else Israel and U.S. won't recognize it while PA spokesman says the new gov't is obligated to no one.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that both the U.S. and Israel agree that there would be no recognition of a Palestinian Authority government that would not abide by the Quartet's conditions. Olmert said he had talked with U.S. President George Bush over the weekend, and that both agreed to this ultimatum.The Quartet the U.S., Russia, European Union and United Nations has long stated that it would not grant recognition or funding to a PA government that would not renounce terrorism, recognize Israel and abide by past Israeli-PA agreements.

The Fatah terror organization publicly accepted the above conditions, while Hamas did not - and failure of the two to agree led to civil-war violence and killings, mainly in Gaza, over the past several months. An agreement on a Fatah-Hamas unity government reached in Mecca earlier this month raised hopes that the conditions would be met but in vain.

Razi Hamad, spokesman for the current, outgoing PA government, said today that the new government is not required to recognize Israel or to abide by agreements made with Israel. Speaking on BBC's Arabic broadcasts, Hamas said that if the US Administration refuses to recognize the unity government, it is as if it it is standing up against the entire Palestinian nation [sic].U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who arrived in the Middle East over the weekend, also reiterated the Quartet's demands.

It is reasonable to obligate [the PA] to renounce violence, to recognize [Israel's] right to exist and honor international agreements, Rice told reporters. The White House spokesman took a slightly less aggressive approach, saying that final decisions would not be made until the unity government is actually formed. Rice, Olmert and Fatah PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are to meet tomorrow (Monday) for a three-way summit. She and Abbas were to hold a joint press conference this afternoon, but it was abruptly canceled yesterday for unspecified reasons. The cancellation may be linked, however, to the apparent refusal of Hamas to adhere to the required conditions. Abbas warned U.S. Middle East envoy David Welch in preparatory talks on Saturday that there would be no major policy changes in the new PA unity government. This agreement was the best we could get. We cannot change it. You either take it or leave it, a PA official quoted Abbas as telling Welch.

Israeli Archeologist Discloses Muslim Room Under Disputed Ramp
By VOA News 18 February 2007

Israeli workers dig with bulldozers a walkway to the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in east Jerusalem's Old City (8 Feb 2007) An Israeli archeologist says a Muslim prayer room has been found underneath a ramp near Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.The disclosure, by Israeli government archeologist Yuval Baruch, has fueled new controversy over Israeli excavations at the site. Writing on an Israeli government website, the archeologist says the room was discovered in 2004, when the ramp leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque collapsed. He says the room may have been part of an ancient Muslim school.

An Israeli newspaper (Yediot Aharonot) says the room dates to the 11th century.

The director Adnan Husseini of the Islamic group (Waqf) that overseas Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, has criticized Israel for not having told Muslim authorities about the find. Israeli excavations alongside the Mughrabi ramp have sparked Muslim protests. Islamic officials fear Israeli excavations could damage the foundations below the mosques.Israel has said there is no danger to the Muslim sites. Last week, Israel postponed plans for a new ramp while continuing controversial excavations.The al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest site. It sits on an ancient esplanade, which Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary. Jews call it the Temple Mount because it was the site of two ancient Jewish temples.Jews pray below the esplanade at the Western Wall, a retaining wall of the Roman period temple. The site has been a flash point between Israel and the Palestinians. Muslim worshippers have frequently clashed with Israeli troops during controversies over the site. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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)

Syrian and Iranian Presidents Meet in Tehran
By Hana Levi Julian (INN) FEB 18,07

Iranian and Syrian leaders met in Tehran Saturday to discuss the situations in their mutual arenas of influence Lebanon and Iraq.Syrian President Bashar Assad was greeted with the red carpet treatment upon his arrival in Tehran Saturday for talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian and Syrian leaders focused their discussions on the situations in Lebanon and Iraq. Iran has helped escalate instability in both countries by generously funding and rearming terrorists who oppose the current governments. The U.S. has accused both Syria and Iran of increasing the violence in Iraq by allowing terrorists to infiltrate the border and funding their activities. Officials in Iraq shut down the border with both Iran and Syria for a three-day period this past week in order to rearrange border control outposts and implement more stringent security measures. Iran is also responsible for supplying Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon with sophisticated weaponry as well as funding for training camps in which Palestinian Authority terrorists are being taught to wage war against Israel. The Iranian aid is smuggled into Lebanon through the Syrian border.

The Israeli port city of Haifa and other northern cities, including Nahariya, Tzfat and Kiryat Shmonah, were bombed by Iranian long-range missiles fired at the Jewish State by Hizbullah terrorists during last summer’s war.

In a related matter, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed Saturday that Tehran was being forced to develop nuclear energy in order to replace diminishing oil and gas reserves. Iranian state television quoted Khamenei as saying the Islamic republic would become dependent on domination-seeking powers if it didn’t develop nuclear fuel, which it says it needs for peaceful purposes.Iran owns the second largest natural gas reserve in the world. It is also the second largest exporter of crude oil among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but experts have said their current reserves will be depleted in 15 years. Israel and the U.S. have long suspected the Iranians of gearing their nuclear development activities toward building a weapon of mass destruction, which poses an existential threat to the Jewish State as well as other nations. A recent internal paper circulated among the European Union nations confirmed Jerusalem’s fears, documenting that Iranian scientists are working to develop a nuclear bomb. The United Nations Security Council imposed limited sanctions on Iran, forbidding transfer of nuclear technology to Iran.

Both the U.S. and Israel have been pressuring the world body to tighten the noose by including economic sanctions as well.

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS

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.

METEORS HIT THE EARTH

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

UN urged to take action on asteroid threat By Irene Klotz
Sat Feb 17, 8:03 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday. Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036.Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near future, former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said.It's not just Apophis we're looking at. Every country is at risk. We need a set of general principles to deal with this issue, Schweickart, a member of the Apollo 9 crew that orbited the moon in March 1969, told an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Francisco.

Schweickart plans to present an update next week to the U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on plans to develop a blueprint for a global response to an asteroid threat.

The Association of Space Explorers, a group of former astronauts and cosmonauts, intends to host a series of high-level workshops this year to flesh out the plan and will make a formal proposal to the U.N. in 2009, he said.Schweickart wants to see the United Nations adopt procedures for assessing asteroid threats and deciding if and when to take action.The favored approach to dealing with a potentially deadly space rock is to dispatch a spacecraft that would use gravity to alter the asteroid's course so it no longer threatens Earth, said astronaut Ed Lu, a veteran of the International Space Station.The so-called Gravity Tractor could maintain a position near the threatening asteroid, exerting a gentle tug that, over time, would deflect the asteroid.An asteroid the size of Apophis, which is about 460 feet long, would take about 12 days of gravity-tugging, Lu added.

Mission costs are estimated at $300 million.

Launching an asteroid deflection mission early would reduce the amount of energy needed to alter its course and increase the chances of a successful outcome, Schweickart said.

NASA says the precise effect of a 460-foot (140-meter) object hitting the Earth would depend on what the asteroid was made of and the angle of impact.Paul Slovic, president of Oregon-based Decision Research, which studies judgment, decision-making and risk analysis, said the asteroid could take out an entire city or region.