WORLDS SUPER SOFT POWER

Deadly storm Noel barrels over Bahamas by Nicanor Leyba NOV 1,07

SANTO DOMINGO (AFP) - The death toll from Tropical Storm Noel's Caribbean rampage rose to 100 on Thursday, as floodwaters hampered the rescue of people trapped on rooftops in the Dominican Republic. Even as the deadly storm barreled over Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, its sequels still wrought havoc in the Dominican Republic Thursday, four days after it slammed into the Caribbean nation.The death toll in that country rose to 66 people, with 27 more reported missing, officials said on Thursday.In Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, the death toll reached 34, officials said on Thursday. A further 14 people were listed as missing.No deaths were reported in Cuba, which was hit on Wednesday, but there was significant damage to agricultural fields.The islands of the northwestern Bahamas were placed under a hurricane watch amid concerns the storm could strengthen as it barrels over the Atlantic Ocean.

Residents boarded up their homes and stocked up on basic goods, as schools shut down and Bahamasair grounded its flights.The storm drenched the islands of Andros and New Providence Thursday and forecasters warned it could dump as much as 38 centimeters (15 inches) of rain.Even after the storm swirled over the Atlantic Ocean, the three Caribbean countries slammed by Noel earlier in the week remained on high alert.Rains in Hispaniola and Cuba are expected to cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, said forecaster James Franklin of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).Noel's rip through the Caribbean came at a time when dams were already full, rivers bloated and the soil saturated from weeks of rain.Rescue officials said improved visibility made it possible for the first time on Thursday to deploy helicopters to the worst affected areas of the Dominican Republic, where surging flood waters forced people to perch on their rooftops.Torrents of water smashed several bridges, while authorities reported that 664 homes were destroyed and a further 15,600 were damaged. In all 62,428 people have fled their homes, 21,503 of whom are staying in official shelters.The Dominican government is seeking international emergency loans for a total of 100 million dollars to deal with the disaster, officials said.

In Haiti, the fatalities included a 14-year-old girl and her mother killed when an uprooted tree crushed their house in the capital, while several homes were swept away by floods.I want to appeal to the whole world .... send clothes, blankets, food, everything you can, said Gustave Benoit, the deputy mayor of Cite Soleil, a slum in the Haitian capital that at the best of times looks like it has been hit by a hurricane.With thousands of people in need of urgent assistance, Benoit did what he could to help, handing out rice and water from his beat up car.In Cuba, almost 1,300 homes were damaged. Some interior areas remain incommunicado due to flooded roads, and coffee crops were damaged by flooding.
On Thursday evening Noel packed maximum sustained winds of 104 kilometers (65 miles) per hour, with higher gusts, the NHC said. It said the storm could strengthen following its romp through the Bahamas, while at the same time losing its tropical storm characteristics as it travels north.

This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
November 2, 2007
Dear Friend of Israel,

This week is a special one for all of us at The Fellowship. On Wednesday, 114 participants in our 2007 Journey Home Tour to Israel arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. The next day, they began exploring the Holy Land, ending the day with dinner with myself and members of our Israel staff.For Christians and Jews alike, visiting the Holy Land can be a life-changing experience. Journey Home Tour participants will walk in the footsteps of the patriarchs, the apostles. For ten days, they will be able to see biblical sites many have only read about. Scripture will come alive for them and their faith walk will truly never be the same.Participants will also spend time visiting various Fellowship projects. Every month, we work hard to share stories with our donors about the lifesaving impact their faithful giving has on Israel and Jewish people worldwide. But few things can communicate this impact as effectively as firsthand experience. When you have served food to a hungry person at a Fellowship-sponsored soup kitchen in Jerusalem, held a baby in a Fellowship-supported daycare center, or seen the gratitude in the faces of new immigrants helped through our On Wings of Eagles program, your heart is touched and you view the work of The Fellowship with deeper understanding.

It would be wonderful if each and every Christian was able to personally experience Israel at least once in their life, but the reality is that not all who want to make the journey will have the opportunity. So for the next 10 days, we’re going to post daily updates and photos from tour participants on our website so that you can feel part of this extraordinary event. You’ll travel with them as they visit the Sea of Galilee, the ancient city of Jerusalem, the Garden of Gethsemane, ruins of ancient cities and Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial). You’ll also feel their emotions as they visit Fellowship-sponsored projects.Please join me today in praying for a good, safe trip for this band of pilgrims, many of whom are making their first trip to Israel. If you’d like information on how you can be a part of our next Journey Home Tour, sign up to receive updates on our tour upcoming in 2008!

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS.

Report: Al Qaeda Schedules Cyber Jihad for Nov. 11
Unconfirmed report raises questions, sets bloggers blogging
OCTOBER 31, 2007 | 4:05 PM By Tim Wilson

The IT security blogosphere is burning up today, following an unconfirmed report that Osama Bin Laden and his followers are planning a massive cyber attack on Western targets in less than two weeks. DEBKAfile, an Israeli news organization, yesterday published a report stating that counter-terrorism sources have intercepted and translated an Arabic Internet announcement that proposes an attack on Western electronic targets to begin on November 11. The attack will begin with 15 targets and will expand to untold numbers, according to the report. Dark Reading canvassed U.S. law enforcement agencies in an attempt to confirm the report. So far, none has provided confirmation, although media representatives acknowledged that they have received numerous calls. Google searches show many instances of the DEBKA story on a variety of Websites, but so far there is no official word to suggest that the report -- attributed to unnamed sources -- is anything more than a rumor.

However, a security researcher says there might be cause for concern, following his analysis of the latest version of electronic jihad software being passed around the Web. Paul Henry, vice president of Secure Computing, said through a spokesman that the new software is significantly easier to use and potentially more dangerous than early versions. (See Electronic Jihad App Offers Cyberterrorism for the Masses .) The new Electronic Jihad Version 2.0 software has the potential to create havoc among sites that might be targeted, according to the spokesman. Secure has a screen shot that has been translated into English that shows how easy it is to configure attacks. Additionally, the version of the software adds detail and intelligent coordination capabilities, providing focus for the attacks to make them much more effective. It could get even scarier if the jihadists implement Web 2.0 style attacks down the road.Secure Computing has not seen the Internet announcement from Al Qaeda and cannot confirm the DEBKA report, the spokesman said.

US official warns Iran on nuke program By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer NOV 1,07

VIENNA, Austria - A senior U.S. official challenged Iran's hard-line president Thursday over his claim that Iranians are immune from further U.N. sanctions, saying such action is in the works unless Tehran meets demands to curb its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered his own warning in Tehran, saying his government would make unspecified economic retaliation against any European country that followed the U.S. lead in imposing sanctions on some Iranian banks and businesses.A Saudi Arabian official, meanwhile, said Arab states in the Persian Gulf had proposed to Tehran that they set up a consortium to provide Iran with enriched uranium as way to defuse the nuclear fight.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns made his comment after a meeting with the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency that was meant to demonstrate unity following recent strains on how best to deal with Iran's defiance.Burns stopped to talk with Mohamed ElBaradei at the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters before heading to London, where he was to discuss the Iran standoff with his counterparts from Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.He planned to press them for agreement on a third set of U.N. sanctions to be threatened unless Tehran changes its position and obeys U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment and related programs.

France and Britain back new sanctions if Tehran remains defiant, but Russia and China — the two other veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council — are skeptical.Washington and its allies say Iran is using the program to secretly develop nuclear weapons, while the Islamic republic insists it needs enrichment technology to produce fuel for atomic reactors that will generate electricity.Ahmadinejad has been adamant that Iran will not curtail its nuclear program and has ridiculed previous sanctions as ineffective.On Thursday, he said Europeans would suffer if they matched the latest U.S. sanctions that bar American companies from dealing with businesses and banks linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a military force that has holdings in oil, construction and other sectors.

If they plan to cooperate with the enemy of the Iranian nation, we cannot interpret this as a friendly behavior. We will show reaction, Iranian state radio quoted Ahmadinejad as saying. You, Europeans, know well what will happen in the economic sphere if Iran takes a serious move in this matter.According to Iranian statistics, Europe is Iran's largest trading partner.ElBaradei angered Washington by suggesting it was too late to insist on a full Iranian enrichment freeze and then reaching an agreement with Tehran that commits Iran to answer questions it has been dodging about its nuclear program.While Washington has since swung its support behind that approach, U.S. officials worry Iran will use the deal to try to weaken Security Council attempts to force an enrichment halt. Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials have said that if Iran meets its commitment to tell all to the IAEA, the matter before the Security Council will be closed.Burns took pains to rebut that view after his hour-long meeting with ElBaradei.

Ahmadinejad said in September the Security Council case is closed, Burns told reporters. I am sorry to tell him it's not closed. There are sanctions being implemented ... and there will be a third Security Council sanctions resolution if Iran continues to defy the council.Burns said he and ElBaradei agreed that it's important that Iran finally tell the truth about its activities in the past ... but we also agreed that all of us back a third round of sanctions if necessary.Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, suggested a way out of the crisis is a proposal by the Arab nations around the Persian Gulf to form a consortium that would build a uranium enrichment plant to supply the region's states, including Iran, with reactor fuel. Speaking with the Middle East Economic Digest in London, he said the plant should be sited in a neutral country outside the region. The U.S. is not involved, but I don't think it (would be) hostile to this, and it would resolve a main area of tension between the West and Iran, the magazine quoted Prince Saud as saying. He said the idea had been proposed to Iran's government, which said it would consider the plan. The Iranians previously ignored a similar proposal from Russia — to host Iran's uranium enrichment facilities on its territory to allay Western concerns about monitoring. The agreement between the IAEA and Iran commits Tehran to clear up by December all questions about its program — much of which the Iranians had kept secret until discovered four years ago. In Tehran, Iranian officials and IAEA representatives wrapped up four days of talks on some of those questions Thursday, state media reported. The Iranian side expressed satisfaction with the discussions, but there was no comment from the U.N. agency. Associated Press writers Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

World's choice: Super, soft or herbivorous power?
A global public-opinion survey reveals increasing support for a redistribution of international power, report Ivan Krastev & Mark Leonard. From openDemocracy.By Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard for openDemocracy (30/10/07)

An ambitious survey of public opinion around the world contains valuable findings of great interest to the world's citizens and policymakers alike. The project, conducted by Voice of the People for the European Council on Foreign Relations and released on 25 October 2007, has discovered:There is widespread support for a more multipolar world and a greater role for herbivorous powers - countries not widely perceived as military superpowers.There is mistrust of the cold-war powers as well as Islamist-inspired Iranian autocracy. More people want to see a decline rather than an increase in the power of Russia (29 percent decline, 23 percent increase), of China (32 percent decline, 24 percent increase), of the United States (37 percent decline, 26 percent increase), and of Iran (39 percent decline, 14 percent increase). On the other hand, there is strong support for an increase in the power of fast-developing powers such as South Africa, India and Brazil (the IBSA countries).

The European Union is the most popular great power. Uniquely among great powers, more people across all continents want to see its power increase than decrease. This demand for more European power extends to many former European colonies.Whilst American soft power has declined, the rise of China has led to a resurgence in support for American power in Asia. Increasing Russian influence in Eastern Europe is paralleled by a demand for a greater American role.Outside Europe, the west is still seen to some extent as a single actor: countries suspicious of American power tend also to be against EU power.In the run-up to the Iraq war, Mary Robinson called global public opinion the second superpower. She may have exaggerated its ability to sway the decision to invade Iraq, but she was right to point to its importance as a source of legitimacy in world politics. Even in the many places where citizens cannot vote in free and fair elections, governments constantly poll the public to understand their aspirations and pre-empt them. Their findings can have an impact on decisions about war and peace and can even affect the positions they defend in institutions such as the United Nations and World Trade Organization.

Unipolar vs multipolar

Who will gain and who will lose from the emergence of global public opinion as a superpower? Which of the current great powers will succeed in capturing the global imagination? The results of the 2007 edition of Voice of the People - the world's largest survey of public opinion in 2007, based on interviews with 57,000 people from fifty-two countries - show that more world citizens want to see an increase in the power of the European Union than any other great power. In the survey, which asked people if the global influence of various major international powers (Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the United States) should increase or decrease to make the world a better place, the EU received the highest number of positive answers. More than a third of respondents (35 percent) said they wanted to see an increase in EU power while only 20% want it to decline.Just over one in four respondents believe that India and South Africa should have greater influence (27 percent and 26 percent, respectively), whereas two in ten declare the opposite (20 percent and 18 percent). Almost a quarter (23 percent) think Brazil should be more influential while 17 percent believe the contrary. Russia and China provoke more negative than positive reactions. While 23 percent and 24 percent of respondents respectively want to see the power of these countries increase, 29 percent and 32 percent believe the world would benefit from a decline in their power.

Respondents are most hostile to the influence of Iran and the United States. Although 26 percent of respondents believe an increase in US power would make the world a better place, 37 percent think the opposite. In the case of Iran, 39 percent would like to see its power decline, while only 14 percent want it to have more influence in the world. Approval ratings for each of the eight powers have been inferred on the basis of the balance of respondents who wish to see a power's influence increase or decrease. These are set out in the love / hate maps that accompany the survey.Overall, the results suggest little enthusiasm for a unipolar world; but the multipolar world sought by world citizens appears more complex and unpredictable than some may have thought.

A new balance

The negative perceptions of Russia, China and Iran seem to be linked to the fact that they are perceived not so much as rising economic or political powers, but as military powers with potentially global reach. This suggests that the new world order will be determined not simply by the balance of hard power (the ability to use economic or military power to coerce or bribe countries to support you), but by the balance of what the American academic Joseph Nye has called soft power - the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion and payment, arising from the appeal of your culture, political ideals, and policies. The survey backs the view that the ability to project military power around the globe can substantially damage soft power.This theory seems to be borne out by the relatively positive view of the herbivorous powers - South Africa, India and Brazil - whose rise is not connected in the global imagination with military might on a worldwide scale. The public does not yearn for a world order where America's hegemony is simply replaced by the rivalry of other military powers such as Russia and China.

Two poles

Each continent has a different approach to power. Africa and Latin America mark two extreme positions. A majority of Africans would welcome increased influence among all the rival centers of power - there is support for a more powerful United States, European Union and China. In Latin America, by contrast, a majority is at best skeptical, and often hostile, to increases in the global influence of powers outside the region.Turkey presents a very special case. It demonstrates the instincts of an unrecognized world power. Turkish public opinion resists the influence of any of the rising powers and demonstrates a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the US as a global power. Turkish respondents expressed a strong rejection of both EU and US leadership of world affairs.

The stealthy superpower

The EU is unique among the big four powers (the other three being the US, China and Russia) in that no one wants to balance its rise. It is striking that a continent with a military budget second only to the United States, and the biggest number of serving peacekeeping forces, is perceived as a force for good. This suggests that EU policy-makers' attempts to achieve greater visibility for EU power may well be misguided. The fact that European peacekeepers tend to operate under a NATO or a national flag rather than a European one probably helps to make the EU seem less threatening. The fragmentation of European power among twenty-seven member-states endows the EU with a stealthy quality on the world stage.It is equally remarkable that the union's increase in power is supported by many former European colonies, demonstrating that the colonial legacy of EU member-states is declining in importance. What is more, unlike the United States, the EU is highly appreciated in its own neighborhood. However, a closer look at the figures and a comparison with previous surveys, reveals two worrying trends for the EU.

First, it suggests that the EU's soft power is closely related to the prospects of enlargement in the European neighborhood. It is safe to assume that the stark rise in the attractiveness of Russia in some parts of the former eastern bloc and the ex-Soviet Union - particularly in Ukraine - is linked to European foot-dragging on enlargement, which is having a negative impact on its reputation in the European neighborhood.Second, the poll shows a growing resistance to EU influence in places (such as Bosnia) where the union acts as a quasi-colonial power. This makes clear that the EU faces a choice in the Balkans either to press ahead with enlargement so as to normalize relations with these countries, or to face further hostility if it continues behaving like an imperial power.

Does the west still exist?
Has the EU benefited from the collapse in American soft power following the Iraq war? Has the EU gone from being a US ally to constituting an alternative world power?

The findings of the survey demonstrate that, at least in Europe (both western and eastern), the EU's stress on multilateralism and the rule of law, and its distaste of power politics means that it is perceived as an alternative to American unilateralism. But in other parts of the world, the EU and US are perceived as twins rather than alternatives.The dynamics differ from region to region, but there seems to be a hardening anti-western block in global public opinion that is particularly strong in Latin America.

The balancing superpower

Foreign-policy debates in recent years have centered on the question of how to deal with the unipolar moment - of how to balance US power. But strikingly, this survey reveals that in many parts of the world, a new question is being asked: how can the United States balance the rise of aggressive new emerging global powers? It is no coincidence that there is a great appetite for increased American power in Asia - the site of the contest between the new global powers.It is also intriguing to see that while the American public is hostile to increased Russian power, the Russian public is much more positive in its view of American power. This poll shows that the multipolar world might lead to a resurgence of American soft power - not necessarily as a model for the world, but as a way of buttressing the power of new regional superpowers.

The paradox of power

The findings of the Voice of the People poll make encouraging reading for European decision-makers. They reveal a world that is neither unipolar nor keen to return to traditional power politics. Furthermore, it is a world that seems to be crying out for greater European leadership. However, there are some warning signs among the good news.The paradox of the European Union's power is that its strength may be rooted to some extent in the perception of its weakness. The fact that nobody is interested in balancing the EU may stem - at least in part - from a perception that the EU is unlikely to get its act together. Moreover, the decline of the EU's soft power in the ex-Soviet Union, Turkey and the Balkans shows that softness in the long run may generate sympathy, but not necessarily respect. Whilst legitimacy is an increasingly important element in global politics, the EU must not make the mistake of confusing popularity with power.

Tears for a Divided Jerusalem?
By Chris Mitchell CBN News Jerusalem Bureau
October 30, 2007

CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - For weeks, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators - with help from the U.S. - have been preparing for the upcoming peace summit scheduled for late November.One of the main issues they've discussed is dividing Jerusalem - perhaps the most difficult issue of all.

Same Old Formula

CBN News has learned Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are using the same formula President Bill Clinton used seven years ago to divide Jerusalem. In those Camp David talks held in July 2000, Clinton proposed giving what's Jewish to Israel and giving what's Arab to the Palestinians.

JERUSALEM DATELINE:Dividing Jerusalem?
What Israelis Think about Dividing Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem is a congested one, with one neighborhood running into the next. Walk through the city's streets and neighborhoods, and it becomes clear that Clinton's formula of dividing Jerusalem between Jewish Jerusalem and Arab Jerusalem is anything but simple.CBN News spoke with author Judy Lash Balint about what it would mean to divide Jerusalem. For more than ten years, Balint has studied, lived in, and written about Jerusalem.
If you look out in Jerusalem, look at a map of Jerusalem, it's very easy to see that there is no easy, clear division between eastern Jerusalem and western Jerusalem. We are all jumbled in together, she said.Balint notes the proposed plan would put major Christian sites like the Garden Of Gethsemane and The Church of the Holy Sepulcher under the control of an international body.

She also points out that Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem are woven together like a tapestry.You have to come and see it. There's no way to describe it accurately. Even to look at photos I think. You really have to come here and feel Jerusalem. In the streets, in the alleys in the neighborhoods - it's really impossible for people to imagine how closely we live with each other, she said.

Divide Jerusalem and Suffer the Consequences

One place where Jews and Arabs live close to each other - literally side by side - is at a complex called Maale Ha Zeitim. It is located in the heart of the Arab neighborhood, Ras Alamud.
Arieh King lives in Maale Ha Zeitim and serves as its spokesman. He likens the complexity of Jerusalem to an onion, with successive layers of Jews and Arabs living around its heart, the Temple Mount.
Behind this first layer, we have a second layer. … We have another location where Jews are living around the first layer. But then again we have Arabs living. And behind the second layer of the Arabs we have a third layer of Jews again living, he explained.
King warns those trying to cut an onion or a city will suffer the consequences.What is happening when you are cutting the onion? You start crying. You have tears, he said. I believe this is what will happen to anybody that will try and cut this onion, he said.

A Matter of Security

With layers of neighborhoods so close, security remains one of the most serious issues. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed this issue during a recent press conference from the Mount of Olives.We've seen what happens when we leave. It's not an Arab majority. It's Hamas. Let's be very clear. It's an Iranian base, he said. If we leave here, Hamas comes here. They start rocketing. They don't have to rocket. They can use small arms fire right into every one of these neighborhoods. Look how intertwined it is.Finally he said, It's hard for me to see how people cannot see that instead of being the end of conflict, it would be the beginning of a conflict we cannot even imagine.Despite any public warnings, the private negotiations continue for the November summit.In the midst of these plans, some see an irony of history.
This year, Israel celebrated the 40th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem.The battle 40 years ago during the 1967 Six Day War reunited a divided city between Jordan and Israel. And for the first time in more than 2,000 years, Israel controlled the city of Jerusalem.Some fear that what Israel won on the battlefield could be lost at the negotiating table.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

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

BIZNETDAILY Stocks dive as credit crisis deepens - Inflation concerns loom in wake of final interest rate cut of year
November 1, 2007 - 6:38 p.m. Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi
2007 WorldNetDaily.com

All major stock indexes took a fall today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 362.14 points, or 2.6 percent. The Wall Street sell-off came two days after the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point (.25 percent) decrease in the target federal funds rate, lowering the rate to 4.5 percent. In making the cut, the Federal Open Market Committee advised that inflation concerns were looming and this rate cut was the last one the market should anticipate receiving this year. The Commerce Department also reported a seasonally adjusted 3.9 percent growth in the nation's Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, a higher-than-anticipated figure, which further stimulated market concerns that inflation risks are intensifying.

The sell-off was prompted after analysts downgraded Citicorp over concerns the company holds some $350 billion in CDOs, or collateralized debt obligations. CDOs are securities formed when financial institutions sell loans to institutional buyers. Since the bursting of the housing bubble, foreclosures in the housing market have eroded the underlying economic value of trillions of dollars of CDO instruments sold to banks and pension funds worldwide. Citicorp was the worst performer in the Dow, losing fully 7 percent of its value. At this point, analysts are uncertain how many billions of dollars of near-worthless CDOs institutions such as Citicorp hold on the balance sheet and in off-balance sheet funds. Fallout from the global collapse of the credit markets also has shaken Merrill Lynch & Co., where over the weekend the board voted to fire CEO Stanley O'Neal, again on huge losses taken in CDOs. As the stock market was being rocked with losses, the Federal Reserve quietly pumped a $41 billion cash infusion into the temporary reserves of U.S. financial institutions, the largest cash infusion since 9/11. As WND previously reported, the Fed is in a dilemma.

The lower interest rates being demanded by Wall Street to prop up a plummeting stock market have an adverse effect in pressuring the dollar downward in world currency markets. The dollar closed today at a new low of 76.67 on the U.S. Dollar Index, reflecting a continuing low of $1.44 to the euro. Gold, which closed above 800 earlier this week, remained high yesterday at $790 an ounce, while oil remained high, closing at $93.65 a barrel. The market sell-off triggered investor concerns that the bursting of the housing bubble could impact consumer spending, stimulating fears the U.S. is entering a recession.

EU rebuffs trade deal accusations

Mr Mandelson says the WTO has set the deadline European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson has denied accusations that controversial new trade deals will be harmful to developing nations. In a letter to the Guardian, Mr Mandelson said deals being discussed with some 80 former colonies would help a shift from dependency to growth. But campaign groups, including Oxfam, want talks to continue and say the deals are being rushed through.
The EU has warned that without the new deals, certain nations would miss out.

Poker

The EU argued that there were misconceptions about EPAs (economic partnership agreements) and that critics were complicating the job of those in the regions who want and need them. Mr Mandelson said: Calling for an end to Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiations when there is no credible alternative is playing poker with the livelihoods of those we are trying to help.As for accusations that the EU is trying to hurry through the agreements before the year ends, the EU has said that the World Trade Organization - not it - has set the deadline. At present, some developing nations are given better trade terms than others, said the EU. This is not right morally, nor compatible with international trade rules, the trade commissioner wrote in the Guardian. He said the EU had pledged to put in place a new system by the end of 2007 for countries outside the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, and that unless it did, the WTO could and would challenge the EU.