RUSSIA ELECTIONS UNFAIR

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.

Power is out, schools closed, rivers rising - it's fall in B.C. Mon Dec 3, 2:39 PM

VANCOUVER (CBC) - The biggest storm of the season transformed the South Coast of B.C. from a winter wonderland into a slushy mess overnight Sunday.More than 40,000 BC Hydro customers lost power as high winds blasted Vancouver Island and the South Coast from Victoria to Hope, while heavy rain washed away the five to 50 centimetres of snow that fell Saturday and Sunday.With 40 to 140 millimetres of rain expected to come down by Monday night, the combination of heavy rain and melting snow promoted government officials to issue a flood watch for Greater Vancouver, South and Central Vancouver Island, Howe Sound and the Lower Fraser valley.

Environment Canada's Alyssa Charbonneau said Monday morning the rain that started Sunday night will continue through Monday night, as the weather system won't move beyond the South Coast until late Tuesday. But there is sunshine in the forecast beginning Thursday.
The largest power outages were in Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, Cowichan Valley, the Southern Gulf Islands and across the Fraser Valley. According to the BC Hydro website, people should expect their power back later this afternoon.Schools were reporting closures in Campbell River, the Southern Gulf Islands, Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Comox Valley and the Malaspina University College at its Nanaimo and Parksville campuses.West Vancouver police were asking drivers to avoid the Sea-to-Sky Highway because of deep puddles between Horseshoe Bay and Lion's Bay.Freezing rain and snowfall coats Interior highways.Even though winter is does not official begin until Dec. 22, the Eastern Fraser Valley and the Interior were getting a prolonged blast of the winter weather, with freezing rain and as much as 60 cm of snow at higher elevations predicted for the Southern Interior.

The colder temperatures in the Eastern Fraser made roads icy, and public schools from Agassiz to Boston Bar were reporting closures.
Travel east of Vancouver was treacherous, with the Trans-Canada Highway closed from Hope to Jackass Mountain and from Jackass Mountain to Spences Bridge because of a high avalanche hazard. Most other Interior routes were reporting compact snow.The Coquihalla Highway remained open, but there was compact snow and limited visibility, although temperatures were expected to climb later Monday.The Vancouver Island Avalanche Bulletin issued an extreme advisory for the Mount Cain Ski Area in the north to the Beaufort Ranges in the south, including Strathcona Regional Park and the ranges surrounding Mt. Washington.

Winter storm barrels through Northeast after pounding Midwest; wrecks deadly on slippery roads Mon Dec 3, 2:14 PMBy Valerie Bauman, The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. - Drivers in much of the Northeast navigated a treacherous mix of rain, sleet and snow Monday as a storm blamed for at least 16 deaths slid through the region after pounding the Upper Midwest. Schools cancelled or delayed classes from New York to Maine as the region's first snowstorm of the season whipped up wind gusting to 65 km/h. At the same time, a new storm system was wreaking havoc on the West Coast and expected to give the Midwest a second blast of snow. States in the Northeast put hundreds of plows on the roads, including about 650 in New Hampshire alone. The speed limit on part of the Massachusetts Turnpike was cut to 60 km/h as police reported numerous traffic accidents around the state. Most courts in Maine closed for the day and Gov. John Baldacci considered sending state workers home early. Communities around the state imposed parking bans for Monday and Tuesday to make way for snowplows. It's snowing so hard you can hardly keep your eyes open, said Bill Swain, spokesman for Maine's Sugarloaf USA ski area in Carrabassett Valley. The National Weather Service said 30 centimetres of snow was possible in northern New England, with the potential for 50 centimetres in northern Maine. Winter storm warnings were in effect in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and northern and western New York. Nearly 26,000 customers were without power around noon Monday in Connecticut.

The tail end of the storm raked northeastern Ohio on Monday with wind gusting to 80 km/h, and up to 30 centimetres of snow was possible in the area along Lake Erie into Tuesday. Power outages in northeast Ohio northwest Pennsylvania had blacked out more than 20,000 customers, according to Duke Energy, FirstEnergy and American Electric Power. Air travel was disrupted Monday at the Portland International Jetport in Maine as flights were cancelled because of poor conditions at connecting airports. Hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed by wind, ice and poor visibility during the weekend at the New York City area's three main airports and Chicago's O'Hare. Airliners slid off slippery pavement during the weekend at airports in Syracuse, N.Y.; Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wis. No one was injured. On the opposite side of the country, a new storm system hammered the Northwest with wind gusting higher than 160 km/h in some spots and surf reported about 14 metres high.

Mudslides halted north-south Amtrak passenger train service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver. Fallen trees and flooding blocked all highways into Tillamook, Ore., and at one point early Monday almost every road into Aberdeen, Wash., was closed, authorities said. Utilities said some 70,000 homes and businesses were blocked out in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. In 30 years of law enforcement, it's as bad as I've ever seen, said Grays Harbor County Sheriff Michael J. Whelan, whose own truck was smashed in his driveway by a falling tree. A second blast expected on the coast later Monday could be the strongest storm coming ashore since 1999, weather service meteorologists said, issuing issued the region's first warning for hurricane-force wind. The Northwest's severe weather was expected to reach the Upper Midwest with snow on Tuesday, the weather service in Minneapolis said. That would be just three days after that region was battered by the storm that was affecting the Northeast on Monday. Minnesota's Grand Marais, on Lake Superior's North Shore, got 50 centimetres of snow Saturday, according to the weather service. Earlier, that same system dumped about 90 centimetres of snow in one mountain area in western Colorado. Icy or wet pavement was blamed for four deaths in Michigan, three in Wisconsin, two each in New Jersey and Ohio, and one each in Illinois, Indiana, New York, North Dakota and Colorado. One of the New Jersey deaths occurred during the night in a 15-car pileup that also injured 28 people, police said.

Winter storms plague many Canadian regions Mon Dec 3, 12:33PM

EDMONTON (CBC) - Atlantic Canada is bracing Monday for heavy snowfalls by the same massive weather system that has hammered Ontario and Quebec.The official start to winter may be still three weeks away, but wintry weather is already blasting much of Canada.
It's going to be a very messy day across a good part of the country, the CBC's Colleen Jones said early Monday.Many Canadians were still digging themselves out after three weather systems brought snow to much of the country over the weekend, with systems moving up along the Atlantic and Pacific shorelines as well as through Central Canada.Environment Canada's senior climatologist, David Phillips, remarked Sunday that if Monday were Dec. 25, we'd have a white Christmas from coast to coast to coast. By Monday's end, Phillips said, snow could be everywhere.

Rain brings new woes to B.C.

Many residents in southern B.C. didn't get the chance to shovel away the five to 50 centimetres of snow that fell over the weekend before rain washed it away.Flooding is now a concern as river levels rise. A flood watch was issued for Greater Vancouver, south and central Vancouver Island, Howe Sound and the Lower Fraser Valley, with 40 to 260 millimetres of rain expected by the end of Monday.But other parts of the province were still feeling the chill of winter, with freezing rain and snowfall forecast for parts of the southern Interior and southeastern B.C.At the other end of the country, thousands of residents in eastern Newfoundland awoke to darkness after heavy snow and strong winds brought down power lines. Crews inspecting the electrical lines said it was some of the worst damage they've seen in a decade.More than 45 centimetres of snow fell in Gander and more than 20 centimetres in St. John's.That same storm struck Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, dumping more than 20 centimetres of snow over the weekend.

The storm that was tracking through Ontario and Quebec on Monday was expected to move into Atlantic Canada by Tuesday. Up to 50 centimetres are forecast for New Brunswick and up to 40 centimetres for Nova Scotia. In anticipation of the heavy snowfalls, school officials in southwestern Nova Scotia closed some schools earlier than usual.

Storm slams Ontario, Quebec

Large sections of Ontario and Quebec were under weather warnings as a storm system moved in from Colorado.Up to 20 centimetres of fresh snow promised to bury much of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Ten more centimetres were also in the forecast for Montreal, which had about 15 centimetres over the weekend.A number of flights at Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport were cancelled or delayed, while the Ottawa International Airport faced some delays.In the Prairies, meanwhile, many parts were shivering through a temperature of -25 C with wind chill.
Environment Canada warned of a potentially severe winter weather system moving in from Alberta that could bring 10 to 20 centimetres of snow to southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan.With files from the Canadian Press

Troubled waters adds tension in West Bank
By MEL FRYKBERG (Middle East Times)Published: December 03, 2007

Amid peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians over how to divide land, there is another conflict bubbling just beneath the surface; this one is over water, a precious resource in the Middle East. The sleepy Palestinian village of Qattaneh just north-west of Jerusalem and with approximately 10,000 inhabitants, many of them refugees, has had its piped water reduced to only one day per week, according to a recent Humanitarian Monitor report released by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Just exactly who is to blame for this depends on whom you talk to, with accusations and counter accusations being traded between the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and the Israeli Water Authority (IWA). During the rest of the week the villagers have to rely on rainwater collected in their cisterns from last winter's rains, and this has almost run out due to a recent drought. Or if they can afford it, they pay for tanked water which costs four times that of piped water.

However, many people in the village are unemployed and there is a high level of poverty as many of them lost work in Israel because they were not given security permits to cross the separation wall which was partially built on land expropriated from their village.
The villagers living on top of the steep hill have even less water due to a decrepit piping network with the weak water pressure unable to reach the higher homes. Sometimes we don't have water even to flush the toilets. We have to purchase tanked water which UNWRA doesn't pay for and this eats into our limited budget, a teacher from the UNRWA elementary school, situated at the higher end of the village, said. Wissam Mali, an engineer from the Qatteneh municipality told the Middle East Times the village loses about 40 percent of its water through leakage. Fadel Kaawash, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, accused the Israelis of deliberately cutting off and decreasing water supply to both Qatteneh and many other villages and towns in the West Bank. However, Israeli Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor denied that the Israeli water company Mekorot, which supplies water to the PWA, was either cutting off or decreasing water supply to the Palestinians. Schor told the Middle East Times, Israel is actually supplying the PWA with more water than was agreed to in the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement signed in Washington in 1995 and how the PWA chooses to distribute the water is up to them.

At present the Palestinians get approximately 40 million cubic meters from Israel and the same amount annually from wells and springs in the West Bank, according to Kaawash. The consumption rate in the West Bank is less than 50 liters per capita per day in 90 percent of communities connected to networks, said Kaawash. The situation in Gaza is even more dire.According to the World Health Organization the minimum requirement for domestic consumption is 100 liters per capita per day. Kaawash said the daily consumption of Israelis is between 300-400 liters, a figure backed by Israeli geography professor, Moshe Inbal. The average in London and other Western capitals is about 200 liters. The Palestinians are obviously not getting their fair share, said Rima Abu Middan, the Natural Capital team leader from the U.N. Development Program in Jerusalem. The amount being supplied is inadequate and the Israelis should be obliged to supply more.Approximately 85 percent of the West Bank's water resources are appropriated by the Israelis, the Palestinians get the remaining 15 percent and much of this they have to purchase from Mekorot. Under international law and according to various U.N. Security Council resolutions the West Bank and its resources belong to the Palestinians so they should not have to be either sharing the water with or purchasing it from Israel. Kaawash added, The shortages are also due to the age and state of disrepair of the water networks in the West Bank, some of which are over 25 years old, and an inadequate amount of water being supplied from wells and springs also in urgent need of upgrading.

Schor said the IWA would supply Qatteneh villagers with more water but the network had to first be repaired. Kaawash said that repairing the networks in the West Bank would cost about $800 million and would take up to 10 years. Money which he says the PWA doesn't have. During the decades of Israeli occupation, the Israeli authorities did little to upgrade the Palestinians' water network but neither did the PLO when it took over certain parts of the West Bank following the Oslo Accords. Schor acknowledged the disproportionate rationing of the West Bank's water resources but said that would be dealt with in a final political settlement between Palestine and Israel. The scarcity of water is one of the key areas of conflict in the region and one of the issues that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wanted to discuss at Annapolis. But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his negotiating team refused to address any of the core issues, preferring to leave them for a later date.

Israel frees Palestinian prisoners to help Abbas By Wafa Amr Mon Dec 3, 8:25 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel released 429 Palestinian prisoners on Monday to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas after a U.S.-sponsored conference last week on Palestinian statehood, Israeli officials said. The inmates, most of whom belong to Abbas's secular Fatah movement and were serving sentences ranging from seven months to 15 years, were bussed from the desert prison of Kitsiyot to Israel's borders with the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.There are nearly 11,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The Jewish state says most are there for involvement in militant groups behind a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000.Israel's Prisons Service said 20 prisoners were sent to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and 409 to a crossing near the West Bank city of Ramallah, where a formal homecoming reception took place attended by Palestinian Authority officials and families.

The Israelis need to release those with long sentences to show they are serious about the peace process, said Abbas aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim. President Abbas has exerted maximum effort to keep the prisoner issue on top of the world's agenda.Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched formal peace talks at the conference in Annapolis, Maryland. The plan is to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008 as U.S. President George W. Bush winds up his term in office.But Olmert has balked at declaring a deadline for the talks given past accords which collapsed amid mutual non-compliance.We refused to set a deadline for concluding the talks for obvious reasons, but we need to finish these negotiations as quickly as possible, Olmert told his parliamentary faction.

PEACE MOMENTUM

Israel has refused to commute sentences of Palestinians jailed over lethal militant attacks but Monday's release is meant to strengthen Abbas against Hamas Islamists who seized Gaza in June.Israel understands it is crucial to reinforce the political dialogue by concrete actions on the ground, said Israel government spokesman Mark Regev. We are hopeful that today's release will help to contribute to the growing momentum in the political dialogue between us and the Palestinians.Hamas rejects peace moves with Israel.The Jewish state's forces have been rounding up Palestinians in almost nightly raids on the West Bank and Gaza. Forty-two were detained on Monday, the Israeli army said.One of those seized was Khaled Barbari. His family said he was taken by Israeli troops as he traveled to the homecoming celebration for his brother, Ahmad, who was freed on Monday.They simply made an exchange. They released Ahmad and arrested Khaled, said Mahmoud Barbari, another brother. Khaled Bardari's relative said he had no known militant affiliations.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the case.

Families of prisoners who gathered at the Beitunia checkpoint outside Ramallah said they were happy to see their loved ones return, but noted most of the freed inmates had only a few months left to serve behind bars.My happiness is not complete because I want to see all prisoners released and see all mothers happy like I am today,said Bahiyeh Alayan, whose son Hamdallah was released after serving a 5-year term. The issue of prisoners is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters against foreign occupation. Many Israelis fear that such amnesties encourage Palestinian militants to strike again. (Additional reporting by Avida Landau in Jerusalem, and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Dan Williams and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Vladimir Putin keeps Russia guessing on future
By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow 7:50pm GMT 03/12/2007

Russians are anxiously awaiting word on their leader's future as Vladimir Putin prepares to use his overwhelming victory in a flawed parliamentary election to retain power beyond his official retirement date next year. But after years of waiting, the Russian people could discover within a fortnight what his official job description will be after next March's presidential elections - a contest in which Mr Putin is currently constitutionally forbidden from participating. On December 17, the ruling United Russia party meets to choose its presidential candidate. With its crushing victory in Sunday's parliamentary election now confirmed, the party could argue that it has the popular mandate to select Mr Putin - a move that would require either a referendum or the discovery of a constitutional loophole to be put into effect. If it chooses a pliant alternative candidate, Mr Putin is instead likely to emerge as prime minister or leader of the party, positions that could be imbued with new powers now that United Russia has a constitutional majority in a parliament that lacks even a single genuine opposition deputy. Whatever option is put into place, Mr Putin's international credibility has suffered a serious buffeting, after the small number of foreign observers that were allowed to monitor the parliamentary election condemned it as seriously flawed. United Russia won over 70 per cent of the seats in the State Duma but observers said the election was characterised by intimidation and numerous violations and the West united to condemn the conduct of the poll. The Foreign Office called on the Kremlin to investigate electoral regularities while the German government took the unprecedented step of declaring that Russia was not a democracy. These were not free and fair elections, they were not democratic elections, government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.

Russia was no democracy and is no democracy.

Despite the international storm that it is likely to cause, analysts say that there are growing signs Mr Putin could defy the West - who he recently told to keep its snotty noses out of Russian affairs - by running for a third term. As the parliamentary campaign reached its crescendo last month, apparently spontaneous demonstrations erupted across the country calling for Mr Putin to stay on as president. By mid-November it was revealed that the demonstrations were being spearheaded by a movement that simply called itself Za Putina or For Putin. Its leaders insisted that the organisation was nothing more than a grassroots initiative created to express the spontaneous love of the Russian people for their president. But analysts said the movement showed all the hallmarks of being a Kremlin concoction and predicted it would be used as a vehicle to allow Mr Putin to remain as president. They also claimed that Za Putina had been deliberately modelled on Mao Tse Tung's Red Guards movement during the Cultural Revolution and would be used to make denunciations against ruling party deputies considered disloyal to the president. The organisation has already created an online petition and is planning to deliver 30 lorries with 30 million signatures to the Kremlin, pleading with the president to stay on. Everything is now ready for a referendum, said Yevgeny Kiselyov, a leading political commentator. Now this movement is being used to reinforce the notion of Putin the father, Putin the son and Putin the Holy Spirit.