SANHEDRIN WANTS TO BUILD 3RD TEMPLE

TODAY IS THE NATIONAL PRAYER DAY. PLEASE GOD HEAL THE WORLD, COME QUICKLY LORD JESUS WE PRAY.

The 56th annual National Day of Prayer will take place Thursday, May 3, throughout the U.S. (and many believers are joining from around the world). The theme for this year—America, Unite in Prayer—based on 2 Chronicles 7:14 which states: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Deep tremors may hold key to predicting big quakes. 3-Bangkok faces flooded future, expert says. 4-The Nation's Weather 5-The Sanhedrin’s peace initiative - Rebuild 3RD TEMPLE. 6-Terror fear, climate change concerns make Aussies return to Church. 7-Rice meets with Syrian counterpart. 8-Olmert opponents plan mass rally. 9-Dealers plan alternative Canada stock trade system. 10-The European Union needs a new treaty: Finnish President Tarja Halonen. 11-Iran, Syria Hold Conferences on a Culture of Resistance. 12-Shimon Peres: It's A
Great Day for Kadima.

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 = Thu May 3 11:35 AM EDT

MAY 3,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA
MAP 5.7 SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS
MAP 5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

MAY 2,07
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 UTAH
MAP 2.7 UTAH
MAP 2.9 UTAH
MAP 4.7 CENTRAL PERU
MAP 3.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 OFF THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 OREGON
MAP 2.5 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.4 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 NEVADA
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA

Deep tremors may hold key to predicting big quakes Wed May 2, 1:06 PM ET

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Researchers have identified a link between a series of recently discovered earth movements that they believe may hold the key to better forecasting major earthquakes. Instances of deep tremors, low-frequency and silent earthquakes have only been observed in the past two decades, with the advent of equipment like the Global Positioning System (GPS), and researchers have been studying them as disparate events.But scientists in Japan and the United States say these events may be symptoms of what is known as a slow earthquake, if they occur in the same place and around the same time.They can be thought of as different manifestations of the same phenomena and they comprise a new earthquake category, they wrote in the latest issue of the journal Nature.Big earthquakes are a result of high-frequency seismic energy and can cause massive damage in a matter of seconds.But slow earthquakes, which can last for months, give off little or no seismic energy. The researchers said slow earthquakes occur in places where there are regular quakes.

Slow earthquakes occur very close to areas of regular earthquakes. Although slow earthquakes don't radiate seismic waves, they increase the stress in areas of regular earthquakes, Satoshi Ide at the University of Tokyo told Reuters.If we know more of these slow earthquakes, we can estimate how much stress is accumulated in regular earthquake zones. We can assess the probability of (damaging) earthquakes happening; we can tell how high the risk is.The researchers made their observations in the Nankai trough in western Japan. Similar phenomena were also detected elsewhere, such as the Cascadia subduction zone along the North American Pacific coast.The last slow earthquake observed in Japan was on Shikoku island in 2002, Ide said. The slow quake of 6.8 magnitude lasted three months and resulted in no visible damage.

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.

Bangkok faces flooded future, expert says By Gillian Griffith-Jones
Wed May 2, 10:38 AM ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's capital, Bangkok, will be under water in 20 years because of rising seas from global warming and subsidence, says a top Thai climate expert who warned of a tsunami years before the 2004 disaster. If nothing is done, Bangkok will be at least 50 centimeters to one meter under water, Smith Dharmasaroja, head of Thailand's National Disaster Warning Centre, said in an interview.Bangkok, a sprawling city of more than 10 million people and criss-crossed by more than 1,000 canals, is between 1 and 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) above sea level and is sinking into its soft, loamy soil at an alarming rate, he said this week.Smith, giving his scenario for Bangkok in 2025, is renowned in Thailand for controversial predictions.He was dismissed as a crackpot for his tsunami warnings years before the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster which killed 5,395 Thais and foreign tourists on its Andaman Sea coast.The problem, he says, is two-fold.

The city is subsiding at a rate of 10 cm (4 inches) per year, partly due to excessive pumping of underground water.Global warming is causing seas to rise and there is evidence of severe coastal erosion just downstream from Bangkok.His comments come as scientists and government officials from around the globe are meeting at a U.N. conference in Bangkok to work out ways to fight climate change and curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.To avert disaster, Smith said, the city
needed to construct a massive dyke to protect it from rising seas and increasingly violent storms.The system has to be started right now. Otherwise it will be too late to protect our capital city, he said.

FLOOD-FIGHTING NETWORK

As if to highlight the threat from flooding and bad weather, the capital has been hit by an unexpectedly early start to the rainy season. An intense storm has also caused widespread flooding in parts of southern and central Thailand.Asked what was being done to avert disaster, Smith said: The government does not pay any attention at all.However, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration says it has made flood control a top priority in recent years.The BMA has more than 60 pumping stations and a network of water gates to regulate river and canal flows. Sewers and drains are regularly cleaned, waterways cleared of debris, and basins temporarily trap floodwaters.Most Bangkok residents still remember the floods of 1995, among the worst in decades.

Large areas of the capital were inundated as high tides on the Chao Phraya river, which runs through the city, collided with floodwaters flowing down from central areas of the country. Rubbish-choked canals and drains were blamed for exacerbating the problem. Since then, the government has deployed prisoners to clear the canals and drains before the onset of the monsoon season. However, Smith insists only a massive seawall would prevent his prediction of a paralyzed city from coming true. You will need a motorboat instead of a car, he said.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Thu May 3, 6:39 AM ET

Thunderstorms marched across the East from Texas early Thursday, while high pressure kept the Northeast warm and snow fell in the Rockies. Low pressure was to sweep through the West, pushing rain and high elevation snow into the Rockies and Great Basin. Snow advisories were are in effect for some areas.High winds were expected from western Utah through Southern California, where forecasters predicted sustained winds up to 35 mph in some spots.In the East, a slow-moving stationary front was to continue to drape itself from the mid-Atlantic to the Southern Plains.There was a slight chance of severe weather through much of Texas and some thunderstorms in the region may produce tornadoes. Showers also were likely from the mid-Atlantic through the mid- and upper-Mississippi Valley.

The Eastern half of the country should be quite warm Thursday as temperatures in the Southeast will rise into the 80s and 90s. The Northeast and Plains will see temperatures in the 50s, 60s and 70s.The Northwest and Northern Rockies should rise into the 40s and 50s as the Pacific trough of low pressure ushers cool temperatures into the region.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Wednesday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Roseau, Minn., to a high of 93 degrees at Rockingham, N.C.

REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

DANIEL 9:27
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.

The Sanhedrin’s peace initiative - Rebuild 3RD TEMPLE MAY 3,07

Jewish group devoted to rebuilding Temple in Jerusalem to send letters to all world leaders, including Arab ones, inviting them to take part in project, attend conference on Temple Mount in Israel Kobi Nahshoni Published: 05.01.07, 20:48 / Israel Jewish Scene

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been gearing up for an Israeli offensive in recent months, is bound to be surprised by the peace feelers he is set to receive from Jerusalem soon.

Animal Sacrifice

Renew animal sacrifices on Mount says radical rabbi / Yaakov Lappin. Member of Sanhedrin says sacrifices were not possible when the people of Israel were in the
Diaspora, but now they are. Adds: Jerusalem Temple should be rebuilt, Israeli government standing in our way.Without Saudi mediation or diplomatic procedures, the president will get a Letter of Love and Peace, accompanied by a historic invitation to visit Jerusalem, from The Supreme Judicial Court of the Jewish People, better known as the Sanhedrin. After having tried their luck with the High Court of Justice and the government, the members of the Jewish group have set out on a new track in their struggle for the Temple Mount, aimed at rebuilding the Temple in the Jewish capital. In recent days, the group members have drafted a letter that will be translated into 70 languages and sent to all government institutions in the world, including the sons of Esau and Ishmael who do not hold diplomatic ties with Israel.

Jews responsible for world peace

In the letter, the rabbis of the self-proclaimed Sanhedrin warn that the world is nearing a catastrophe, and write that the only way to bring peace among nations, states, and religions is by building a house for God, where Jews will worship, pray and offer up sacrifice, according to the vision of the prophets. The rabbis also call on the non-Jews to help the people of Israel fulfill their destiny and build the Temple, in order to prevent bloodshed across the globe. The letter will initially be translated into English, Spanish, Arabic, French and Farsi, and later also into Russian, Chinese and Japanese, and will include an invitation to world leaders to attend a conference dedicated to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem five months from now, during Succot. Prof Hillel Weiss of the Sanhedrin explained that the Torah and the prophets have tasked the Jewish people with the responsibility for world peace. He stressed that the group’s project was to rebuild the Temple, not a church for all nations, but added, We have all descended from the same father, this is not another primitive and racist approach.

Terror fear, climate change concerns make Aussies return to Church
From our ANI Correspondent MAY 3,07

Sydney, Apr 6: Australians in recent years are attending Church services in large numbers, as fears of impending terror attack and the growing impact of global climatic change have prompted many to find solace in religion. According to the Daily Telegraph, recent reports of Islamic terrorists planning to carry out bombings in different Australian cities have led faithful to seek guidance from their religion, and people are giving a second thought to their absent or misplaced religious beliefs. The 2006 census of Australia, due out later this year, is expected to show an increase in church attendance, the paper said.In his Easter message, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell said that God often struggled for press coverage, adding, many Australians are uneasy about the climate including the continuing drought, irregular weather patterns and global warming.According to the most recent data, there are more than five million Catholics Down Under who constitute 26 per cent of country's population.Dailyindia.com/ANI

Rice meets with Syrian counterpart By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer MAY 3,07

SHARM El-SHEIK, Egypt - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her meeting with the Syrian foreign minister, the first high-level talks in years between the United States and Syria, was professional and focused on how to improve security in Iraq. Rice met with Walid Moallem for a half-hour on the sidelines of a two-day conference about Iraq's future, taking the opportunity to air U.S. concerns about Syria's notoriously porous border with its neighbor.I didn't lecture him and he didn't lecture me, Rice said afterward. I would say it was professional. It was businesslike.Rice said she was not seeking a similar meeting with Iran's foreign minister.The Bush administration has shunned Syria, which it considers a state supporter of terrorism, and last month President Bush assailed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) for making a trip to Damascus, saying it sent mixed messages to the Syrian government. But the White House has been under pressure to talk with Syria and Iran, another U.S. opponent in the region.In Baghdad, U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said Syria had tightened its borders to and reduced the number of foreign insurgents crossing into Iraq — a chief demand of the United States.

There has been some movement by the Syrians ... there has been a reduction in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq for more than a month, Caldwell said.Rice and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem met on the sidelines of Thursday's conference. Earlier, a senior State Department official said they would discuss Iraqi security issues.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was still being arranged.Both the United States and Iran had also spoken favorably of a possible meeting, but the chances for that remained unclear.Rice and the Iranian foreign minister exchanged pleasantries over lunch, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said. They said hello, that's about it, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.Iraq and the United States hope Thursday and Friday's conference of nearly 50 nations at this Egyptian Red Sea resort will rally international support — particularly from Arab nations — for an ambitious plan to stabilize Iraq.

Iraq is pressing for forgiveness of debt and for Arabs to take greater action to prevent foreign fighters from joining the Iraqi insurgency. Arab countries, in turn, demand his government ensure greater participation by Sunni Arabs in Iraq's political process, echoing the United States.Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki opened the conference by urging all countries to forgive his country's enormous
foreign debts — estimated at about $50 billion. Another $100 billion has already been written off by the Paris Club of lender nations.But Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, told the conference only that his country has expressed its readiness to alleviate some of the debts on Iraq and was currently in discussions with Iraqi officials to deal with the issue in line with the regulations and bases of the Paris Club.Iraqi and U.S. officials had said Saudi Arabia privately had already committed to forgiving 80 percent of Iraq's $17 billion debt.Al-Faisal, addressing the conference, renewed a Saudi offer of $1 billion in loans to Iraq, on the condition that the money be distributed equally among Iraq's geographical sectors.Al-Maliki pledged to institute reforms to boost Sunni participation but said
forgiving Iraq's debts was the only way the country could rebuild.

Rice's meeting with Moallem marked the first such high-level talks since the February 2005

assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syria denies it had anything to do with the killing, but U.S. and European officials have since shunned the Damascus government. Iraq and many Arab countries have been particularly eager, even desperate, for such talks between the United States and its Mideast opponents — saying they are only the way to stabilize Iraq and lessen Iran's growing influence in the region.

Rice has also said she was willing to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, after years of accusations and name-calling between the nations. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had also expressed interest in such a meeting. During Thursday's session, the two sat on far ends of the large conference hall where the ministers and top diplomats from nearly 50 nations gathered. They both attended a lunch along with the other foreign ministers.

All of us here today are bound to the future of Iraq. What happens in Iraq has profound consequences which will affect each and every one of us, Rice said in a speech to the conference. In his speech, Mottaki blamed Iraq's turmoil on the flawed policies of the occupying powers referring to the U.S. Iraq has offered to mediate between Iran and the U.S., an aide to al-Maliki told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. Al-Maliki told Rice on Wednesday that a rapprochement must take place between you and the nations of the region to solve the issue of Iraq, particularly Syria and Iran, according to Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban, a Sunni. The U.S accuses Iran of fueling Iraq's violence by arming and backing militants there, a charge Iran denies. The two-day conference in this Red Sea resort town brings together officials from Iraq, the U.S., Iran, Russia, China, Europe and Arab nations.Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Edith M. Lederer in Sharm el-Sheik and Salah Nasrawi in Cairo contributed to this report.

LUKE 21:25 NATIONS IN DISRESS (MASS COMFUSION) SOUNDS LIKE ISRAEL TO ME NOW.

A FEW STORIES BACK WE READ THE SANHEDRIN WANTS TO REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE AND NOW HERE WE SEE A MASS RALLY FOR OLMERT TO RESIGN.

ON THIS WORLD DAY OF PRAYER WE DEFINATELY NEED TO BE PRAYING FOR THE LEADERS OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD LEADERS TO GIVE OUR COUNTRIES BACK TO GOD AND GO BY HIS COMMANDMENTS.

Olmert opponents plan mass rally By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer MAY 3,07

JERUSALEM - The campaign to oust Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shifted to the streets Thursday, with a mass rally in Tel Aviv expected to draw tens of thousands of people calling for the embattled Israeli leader to step down.

Olmert, under fire for his handling of last summer's war against Lebanese guerrillas, appeared to be quashing an incipient rebellion against him in the ranks of his Kadima Party at least for now.On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a party heavyweight, called on him to quit, and another top party figure,parliamentary coalition chief Avigdor Yitzhaki, resigned to protest Olmert's refusal to step down.But other Kadima officials rallied around their beleaguered chief, no doubt mindful that a widespread mutiny could lead to early elections that could land the party on the skids. Polls indicate hawkish former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the opposition Likud Party, would win an election.Olmert himself said he intended to stay on to remedy the severe flaws in decision-making and crisis management that a government war probe identified in a scathing report Monday. Olmert was singled out in the report for exceptional censure.

At an emergency Kadima meeting called after Livni's announcement Wednesday, Olmert said he would implement the war report's recommendations down to the last detail.I'm personally in an uncomfortable position, but I'm over 60, and have had a lot of experience. I've learned to take responsibility for my actions, spokesman Jacob Galanti quoted Olmert as saying.Israel's parliament planned to interrupt its spring recess Thursday for a special session to discuss the war probe.Ahead of that session, Netanyahu for the first time added his voice to the chorus of calls demanding Olmert's resignation. Later, at parliament, he appealed for new elections. We must redress the primary flaw the report identifies — the lack of a seasoned leadership, the lack of responsibility, the inability to make tough decisions and carry them out, he told a sparsely attended deliberation.

Olmert was in the chamber but was not scheduled to speak.

Vice Premier Shimon Peres of Kadima, speaking on behalf of the government, deflected the demands for Olmert's resignation through a barrage of opposition heckling.The probe commission instructed this government to immediately redress what needs to be redressed, and it's doing just that, and will do so without hesitation, Peres said.The hostilities between Israel and Lebanon erupted on July 12 when members of the guerrilla group crossed into Israel, killed three soldiers and captured two others.

In 34 days of fighting, Israel failed to achieve the two main goals Olmert set: to retrieve the soldiers and crush Hezbollah. Instead, Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel.Nearly 160 Israelis and more than 1,000 Lebanese died in the fighting, and Israeli soldiers returned from battle complaining of conflicting orders and shortages of food and ammunition.The White House said it
would not get involved in Israeli politics or address whether Olmert's resignation would hamper efforts to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

I'm not going to play should have, would have, could have,White House press secretary Tony Snow said. As you know, the president has a good working relationship with the prime minister. He looks upon him as a man who is committed to a two-state solution and working constructively toward peace. But after that, you get into Israeli politics, and we're not going to do it.Opinion polls released Wednesday said two out of three Israelis want Olmert out now.

In defecting from Olmert's camp, Livni — a popular figure in Kadima — told the prime minister he had lost the public's support and said she considered herself the rightful successor to lead Kadima. I told him that resignation would be the right thing for him to do, Livni told reporters. I haven't worked and am not working to topple the prime minister. That's a decision he'll have to make.Livni — a relative political newcomer and a former officer in the Mossad spy agency — is Kadima's most popular politician. The daughter of an underground fighter who fought for Israel's independence, she has quickly risen through Israeli politics in recent years and appears to be Kadima's best hope of retaining power.

Under Israel's parliamentary system, Kadima could switch its leader without losing power. The Israeli prime minister is not directly elected and usually comes from parliament's largest bloc. But emerging from the Kadima meeting late Wednesday, said the party backed Olmert in his decision not to resign.

The prime minister received here unprecedented support, Peres told reporters. Only three Kadima officials have publicly broken with Olmert — Livni, Yitzhaki and a minor lawmaker, Marina Solodkin. Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Livni's challenge would have been worse had she threatened to resign or bring down the government. We see a ball rolling, but a ball that could have taken on a lot of momentum today has slowed down, he said. Hazan said the turnout by Olmert's opponents at the rally in Tel Aviv could determine whether the momentum against Olmert grew or fizzled out. Lawmakers Effie Eitam, a hawk, and Yossi Beilin, a dove, set aside their deep political differences to team up in a joint newspaper column Thursday to demand a shake-up at the top. Both of us are convinced Olmert has to go home because of his great failure during the second Lebanon war, they wrote in the column that appeared in the Maariv daily. Alon Davidi and 34 other protesters started marching to Tel Aviv two days ago from the southern town of Sderot, 45 miles away. We want as many people as possible to come to the square and say, Ehud Olmert go home,(Defense Minister) Amir Peretz go home, Davidi told Army Radio. Sderot is Peretz's hometown, and the frequent target of Palestinian rocket attacks. Associated Press writer Laurie Copans contributed to this report.

Dealers plan alternative Canada stock trade system By Lynne Olver MAY 3,07

TORONTO (Reuters) - Seven of Canada's biggest investment dealers said on Thursday they plan to launch a new Alternative Trading System in 2008 to boost the efficiency of equity trading and make Canada more globally competitive. Named Alpha, the system will feature a continuous electronic order platform, which allows trading to occur on a price-time priority basis, the dealers said in a news release.Word of the deal hammered shares of TSX Group Inc., which runs the Toronto Stock Exchange as well as Canada's main small-cap stock market.On the Toronto exchange, shares of TSX Group fell 8.6 percent to C$43.35 a share on Thursday morning. They traded as low as C$40.00 a share early in the session.The new alternative trading system will be designed so that trades are made on the best market available, considering current exchanges and other alternate trading systems being launched in Canada, the dealers said.

Those taking part are BMO Capital Markets, Canaccord Capital Corp., CIBC World Markets, National Bank Financial, RBC Capital Markets, Scotia Capital, and TD Securities.Although created mainly by bank-owned investment dealers, the new trading system will be open to all dealer institutions that want to join as participating organizations.

We operate in a very competitive global market, TSX Group spokesman Steve Kee said, outlining steps that his company has taken to remain competitive.In the last few years, TSX has cut trading fees and spent about C$50 million a year on technology, Kee said. It has also brought in various initiatives, such as measures to optimize execution speeds for algorithmic traders.The exchange's largest trading participants get significant volume discounts.Our largest firms would also get our largest discounts, Kee said.

John Aiken, an analyst at Dundee Securities in Toronto, said the new ATS could be a formidable competitor to TSX Group because the seven dealers are the major suppliers of liquidity in the Canadian equities market.But the proposed system's business plan and structure is not known, so it is too early to estimate the possible financial impact on TSX Group, he said.It's raising concern in my mind but near term, it's business as usual, Aiken said.The chief executive of the proposed new entity, Jos Schmitt, said the trading system could be up and running in the second half of 2008.In an interview, Schmitt said his financial-services consulting firm Capco was approached by the dealers late in 2006, and that the past few months have been spent designing the platform.Schmitt, who has held executive and advisory roles with various Belgian stock and derivatives exchanges, declined to say how much the new Canadian ATS would cost to set up, but said a reported figure of C$100 million ($90 million) is incorrect.This is not a mechanism that supports internalization or internal trade-matching for the dealers, (this is a) straightforward, price-driven continuous order matching system, very comparable to the other platforms that are available or in the process of being established in the Canadian market, Schmitt said.

Funding is in place for the project, he said.

The system's technology will be able to handle close to 5,000 transactions per second, and would add additional capability in future, he added. That is what you need to support today's algorithmic trading and today's program trading, Schmitt said. What is driving us is really market demands, market needs, and that is what we (will) translate into the technology.He declined to quantify any expected cost savings for the dealers involved. (Additional reporting by Susan Taylor in Ottawa)
($1=$1.11 Canadian)

The European Union needs a new treaty: Finnish President Tarja Halonen
Thu, 03 May 2007 15:32:00GMT Author : DPA

Berlin- The European Union needs a new treaty to cope with its enlargement to include 27 members, Finnish President Tarja Halonen said Thursday on the first day of a three-day state visit to Germany.

We need a stronger house for our bigger family. The union needs a new treaty, Halonen said in reference to the accession of 10 countries in May 2004 and a further two at the beginning of this year. Speaking to diplomats and politicians at the German Council on Foreign Relations, Halonen said that integrating the new members, most of them from formerly communist Eastern Europe, appeared to be a longer and more difficult process than we were prepared to admit at the beginning.The desire to join the EU had tended to submerge historical differences, she said. Now we see some of these emerging again.The new member countries had also shown greater self-confidence than some older EU members had expected, along with sensitivity to instructions that seem to come from Brussels.

Halonen said Finland supported the plans and timetable for a new treaty drawn up by the current German EU presidency. At an EU summit in Berlin in March to mark 50 years since the bloc was formed, Chancellor Angela Merkel sketched out a timetable for the EU to be placed on a renewed common basis by the time of the European Parliament elections in 2009.

She said the German presidency would draw up a roadmap before the handover to Portugal in July and that the aim was to have a new version of the constitutional treaty in place by the end of the year to give member states time to ratify it. Earlier Thursday, Halonen held separate meetings with President Horst Koehler and Merkel. Koehler expressed praise for Finland's highly regarded educational system. Halonen said she had come not only to talk about Finland's success in this area, but also to learn from Germany.In her talks with Merkel, Halonen discussed the current crisis in relations between Estonia and Russia, along with general EU issues and relations between the EU and the United States, according to a German government spokesman. Halonen was schedule to walk through the Brandenburg Gate with Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit on Friday and to round off her visit in Munich on Saturday. dpa rpm sc

Iran, Syria Hold Conferences on a Culture of Resistance
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (INN) MAY 3,07

As Iran was hosting an international conference this week under the banner The Muslim World: Victim of Terrorism, Syria was holding its own international conference on Arab and Islamic Media Support of the Palestinian People. In both countries, the theme was how the Islamic or Arab peoples are under assault and occupation by Israel and the United States. On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the audience at the first-ever Culture of Resistance Conference, held in Tehran, that the Islamic world has been victimized by terrorism perpetrated by the arrogant powers. It is those powers, Ahmadinejad said, that have created and promoted international terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, the Iranian leader said, Islam's enemies are trying to cover up their failures by wrongly portraying Islam as a religion of violence.Ahmadinejad called the United States a terrorist regime and claimed that Israel, with Western backing, is continually threatening other nations.

Islam is nowadays the victim of organized terrorism, he declared.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi told conference attendees, We strongly condemn all forms of terrorism because we have suffered most from it.The two-day Tehran conference, which had as its explicit goal the promotion of a culture of resistance, ended on Wednesday and was attended by guests from 46 states. At the same time as the Iranian event, a three-day conference in Syria drew 350 people from around the globe, as well. Like its sister gathering in Tehran, the Syrian conference expressed a commitment to deepen the culture of resistance.

Specifically, the conference offered support for the Hizbullah terrorist organization, referred to in Syrian media as the Lebanese national resistance. The final statement of the conference further praised the war Hizbullah launched against Israel in July 2006, which defeated the US-Israeli schemes, according to the Syrian government's news agency, SANA. In their closing statement, the Syrian conference organizers called on Arab and Islamic media to put the Arab-Israeli conflict at the top of their agenda, especially regarding the release of convicted Arab terrorists in Israeli jails. Presented as the centerpiece of the conference's final statements, however, was a declaration in favor of Syria's legitimate right to restore the occupied Syrian Golan. To emphasize this point, the last session of the gathering was held in Kuneitra, on the Syrian side of the Golan mountain range.

Shimon Peres: It's A Great Day for Kadima
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAY 3,07

The Kadima faction was in a polite uproar Wednesday night as it met in an emergency session at the Knesset, although Vice Premier Shimon Peres acted as though it was a victory bash. After one resignation, myriad recriminations, a few threats and exhortations to reunite, the elder statesman emerged from the party meeting and told reporters, Its a great day for Kadima, the government and Ehud Olmert.The faction meeting was held to discuss the fallout from the scathing criticism of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, published Monday in the interim Winograd Commission report. Faction Chairman Avigdor Yitzchaki resigned at the meeting after warning earlier in the day that if the Prime Minister refused to step down, he would leave instead. Yitzchaki told Israel Radio that a large majority of the Kadima party believed Olmert should resign. A leader can [only] govern the public when he has legitimacy with that public and the trust of the public, said Yitzchaki. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a private meeting Wednesday that he should step down from office.

Livni clarified that she would not resign from her position as Foreign Minister and would not act to bring down the government, regardless of what the Prime Minister did. Livni said bluntly at the faction meeting, There is a crisis of confidence in the public and we cannot ignore this. The Foreign Minister warned that party members could not ignore the report and give each other mutual compliments.

Only three Kadima members called publicly for Olmert's resignation, including Livni, Yitzchaki and MK Marina Solodkin, who was the first to recommend that the Prime Minister step down. Political analysts are saying that what was perceived as a party rebellion against Olmert has apparently lost its tailwind. Tal Zilberstein, Olmerts strategic adviser, commented that there is no choice but to fire [Livni] after what she did. Her behavior is unworthy.

Other advisers in the Prime Ministers bureau warned him not to hurry, saying that such a move would hurt him because the Foreign Minister is more popular than he is. Enough with the festival of firing people and of resignations, said MK Yoel Hasson at the faction meeting. Kadima needs to preserve its unity and moves like this will only create opposing camps in the party and cause it to crumble.According to a report by Ynet, Olmert is considering replacing Livni with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz. Knesset Member Tzachi Hanegbi was tapped by the Prime Minister to replace Avigdor Yitzchaki as the new Kadima faction chairman. Hanegbi, who is chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Relations and Defense Committee, is considered to be one of Ehud Olmert's closest confidantes. Another possible casualty of the Winograd Commission may be Defense Minister Amir Peretz, whose performance just prior to the war and during its first days was also slammed in the Commission's report.

Peretz was severely censured for his lack of military experience and his unwillingness to consult with others who had more expertise. The report listed among the Defense Ministers failures the fact that he did not ask for the IDFs operational plans nor did he examine them.The Commission was blunt in its criticism of Peretz: the Minister of Defense failed in fulfilling his functions. Therefore, his serving as Minister of Defense during the war impaired Israels ability to respond well to its challenges.Yet Peretz's advisors say that they cannot find in the Winograd interim report any justification for the Defense Minister to resign. Peretz said earlier Wednesday that the word failure appears in the Winograd report relatively few times in relation to his name. The Defense Ministers attorney, Eitan Liraz, told reporters that the Winograd Report contained many compliments for his client. Meanwhile,

the Cabinet also met Wednesday in a special three and a half hour session to discuss the report. In a unanimous vote, the ministers decided to establish two new committees one to study the issue of how to carry out the recommendations listed in the report, and the second to make sure the recommendations are actually implemented. Baruch Gordon contributed to this report.