UN SCHEME TO CRIMINALIZE CHRISTIANS

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

FANNIE AND FREDDIES TROUBLE
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UNDERSTANDING THE MORTGAGE CRISES
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US spells out Fannie-Freddie backstop plan By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer JULY 14,08

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve and the Treasury announced steps Sunday to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose shares have plunged as losses from their mortgage holdings threatened their financial survival. The steps are also intended to send a signal to nervous investors worldwide that the government is prepared to take all necessary steps to prevent the credit market troubles that started last year from engulfing financial markets and further weakening the economy and housing markets.The Fed said it granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend to the two companies should such lending prove necessary. They would pay 2.25 percent for any borrowed funds — the same rate given to commercial banks and big Wall Street firms.The Fed said this should help the companies' ability to promote the availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in financial markets.

Secretary Henry Paulson said the Treasury is seeking expedited authority from Congress to expand its current $2.25 billion line of credit to each company should they need to tap it and to make an equity investment in the companies — if needed.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in our housing finance system and must continue to do so in their current form as shareholder-owned companies, Paulson said Sunday. Their support for the housing market is particularly important as we work through the current housing correction.The Treasury's plan also seeks a consultative role for the Fed in any new regulatory framework eventually decided by Congress for Fannie and Freddie. The Fed's role would be to weigh in on setting capital requirements for the companies.The White House, in a statement, said President Bush directed Paulson to immediately work with Congress to get the plan enacted. It also said it believed the plan outlined by Paulson will help add stability during this period.Investors may not be as sanguine, however, according to Chris Johnson, an investment manager and president of Johnson Research Group in Cleveland. Stocks of financial institutions are going to get clobbered, he predicted. It is a situation where regulators and the government are trying to play catch up, and that means everything is not discounted in the stock prices yet.The Dow Jones industrials on Friday briefly fell below 11,000 for the first time in two years and Johnson expects shares of investment banks and regional banks could fall even lower as investors react to this weekend's developments.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac either hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt. That's about half the outstanding mortgages in the United States.The announcement marked the latest move by the government to bolster confidence in the mortgage companies. A critical test of confidence will come Monday morning, when Freddie Mac is slated to auction a combined $3 billion in three- and six-month securities.Fannie was created by the government in 1938 to provide more Americans the chance to own a home by giving financial institutions an outlet to sell mortgage loans they originated, freeing more cash to make more home loans. It moved from government to public ownership in 1968 and Freddie was started two years later.

Sunday's announcements are likely to raise anew criticism that the government should have moved sooner to rein in the two companies, especially since investors widely assumed they would be bailed out if they got into trouble.The government denied it, but what was seen by investors as an implicit guarantee of support allowed Fannie and Freddie to borrow at rates only slightly higher than the Treasury — and lower than what their banking competitors had to pay.

This really blows away the notion of an implicit guarantee, independent banking consultant Bert Ely said of the Treasury's plan to ask Congress to allow it to make equity investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It suggests a greater concern about how these companies are doing. It says the problems are deeper. It gets to the solvency of the companies, not just the liquidity.Paulson's goal is to get his plan attached to a sweeping housing-rescue package. The Senate and House have each passed bills and a final package has to be hammered out. The centerpiece of the legislation is to help strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure legislation but it also contains provisions to revamp oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Senate Democrats stand ready to work with the administration to quickly and effectively address the situation currently facing these institution.Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, speaking with reporters before the plan was announced, said he favored congressional action to shore up the housing market, as well as legislative consultation about any taxpayer dollars used to support the mortgage companies. Republican rival John McCain believes the measures announced Sunday are consistent with the goal of providing support for a path through the current duress toward steps that include regulatory reform, market discipline and mission focus, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser. House GOP leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Republican Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said they stand ready to work with Secretary Paulson and congressional Democrats to take appropriate steps to ensure the soundness of our mortgage markets.Officials from Treasury, the Fed and other regulators worked in close consultation throughout the weekend after growing investor fears about the companies' finances sent their shares and the overall market plummeting last week.

Shares of Fannie Mae plunged 45 percent last week and are down 74 percent since the beginning of the year. Freddie Mac shares fell 47 percent last week, and have fallen 77 percent so far this year. A senior Treasury official said any increase in the line of credit — now at $2.25 billion for each company_ would be at the Treasury secretary's discretion. The same would apply to any equity investment made by the government. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also sought to send a calming message about Fannie's and Freddie's financial shape, saying: There's been no deterioration of the situation since Friday.The Fed's offer of funds is viewed as a temporary backstop until Treasury can get its plan in place. The collateral they would have to pledge — Treasury securities and federal agency securities — is more narrow than the collateral commercial banks and Wall Street firms must pledge for emergency lending privileges. Freddie Mac Chairman Richard Syron said Sunday that preliminary second-quarter results show that his company had a substantial capital cushion above the 20 percent minimum surplus it is required to maintain. Fannie Mae President and CEO Daniel Mudd said he believes the steps could send a calming message. Given the market turmoil, having options to access provisional sources of liquidity if needed will help to strengthen overall confidence in the market. We will continue to do our part to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market now and in the future.Last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Paulson, appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, made a point of saying that the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has found both companies adequately capitalized. AP Business Writers Stephen Bernard and Joe Bel Bruno in New York contributed to this report.

Fannie, Bernanke and data to rule stocks By Ellis Mnyandu
Sun Jul 13, 12:57 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The bears have Wall Street cornered and they just won't let go. This week is almost sure to be a rocky ride for the U.S. stock market as investors fret about the stability of Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N), the government-sponsored home finance companies that own or guarantee about one in every two mortgages in this country.Barring any news, say over the weekend or early this week, that quashes fears of capital constraints at Fannie and Freddie, analysts and money managers said U.S. stocks were set to fall further into the bear market's arms.

Wall Street will focus on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week, when he is scheduled to appear twice on Capitol Hill to give his semiannual testimony on monetary policy. He is set to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, and on Wednesday, before the House Financial Services Committee.Investors will latch on to anything Bernanke says about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as his take on the U.S. economy, inflation and interest rates.The bottom line is that we're in the middle of a financial tsunami. This is a storm the likes of which this country hasn't seen, said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey. The market right now needs to see results. It no longer gives anyone the benefit of the doubt.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee almost $5 trillion in mortgages and package them into bonds, are confronted by mounting losses from loan delinquencies and foreclosures. Investors fear that if they are hampered from doing business, the paralysis will only make the housing crisis get worse.This week also brings a torrent of numbers from earnings reports and economic indicators. It will be one of the busiest weeks for quarterly earnings, with reports from Dow component Citigroup (C.N), the No. 1U.S. bank, and technology bellwether Google (GOOG.O), the leading Web search company.Making the terrain even more treacherous for stock investors are worries about oil and inflation. On Friday, oil shot up to a record above $147 a barrel. This week, investors will scrutinize data on consumer and producer prices for any signs of rising inflationary pressures.Major economic reports on tap include the U.S. Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, industrial production and capacity utilization, and housing starts.

I have my helmet on and my body armor on, said Frederic Dickson, senior vice president and market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. We expect it to be another volatile week with the market reacting to a triple play of earnings, oil and the mortgage agencies.The market is going to remain nervous, watching developments with oil and tensions in the Middle East, and the avalanche of earnings and outlooks that will really start to hit the tape with banks and tech companies (this) week.

OIL, PPI AND CPI

Political tensions over Iran's nuclear work and supply worries drove oil prices to yet another all-time high last week.August crude gained $3.43, or 2.4 percent, to settle on Friday at $145.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it hit an intraday record of $147.27, eclipsing the previous NYMEX high of $145.85 set on July 3 -- the day before the Independence Day holiday.The government's report on Producer Price Index for June is set for Tuesday, followed by June CPI on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve also is expected to release the minutes from its most recent policy-making meeting on June 24-25. At that meeting, the Fed held its benchmark fed funds rate for overnight bank lending at 2 percent.

FANNIE AND FREDDIE FALLOUT

Concerns about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's stability drove Friday's sharp sell-off, marking the sixth straight weekly drop for both the Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index -- their longest weekly losing streaks since 2004. Earlier last week, the S&P 500 entered its first bear market since 2002. It joined the Dow and the Nasdaq, which had already slid 20 percent or more from their most recent closing highs, set last October. During Friday's roller-coaster session, the Dow dropped below the 11,000 level for the first time since July 2006. For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) lost 1.4 percent and booked its fourth straight weekly decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) slipped 0.3 percent for the week, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) slid 1.9 percent. The anxiety over Fannie and Freddie is likely to spill over into this week. As the twin pillars of the U.S. housing market, Fannie's and Freddie's troubles put the U.S. economy and its banking system at risk, according to analysts. If the Fannie and Freddie crisis is not resolved, the markets are going to be in worse shape than they are right now, said John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers in Newark, New Jersey. There's a lot of fear and uncertainty about what is going to be the outcome, Praveen said, adding that such a resolution could occur over the weekend or this week, and it is probably going to set the tone for the market.U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered no hint of an imminent government bailout, saying on Friday his major aim was to back Fannie and Freddie in their current form.Paulson's statement followed a report in The New York Times saying that the U.S. government was considering taking over the two if their funding problems get worse.

EARNINGS AND MORE FROM THE FED

In addition to quarterly report cards from Citigroup and Google, this week's earnings to watch include chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O). This barrage of quarterly numbers and companies' comments on what they expect for the rest of the year are likely to make stock trading extremely choppy. Friday's session, marked by a spike and a pullback in the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, illustrated just how jumpy the stock market has become. The VIX (.VIX), which is Wall Street's barometer of fear, shot up 15 percent in midday trading to 29.44, its highest level since March 20. By the close, the VIX was higher, but more subdued. It ended at 27.49, up 7.42 percent. Besides Bernanke, the week's agenda includes appearances by two other Fed officials: Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is scheduled to speak on the housing market on Tuesday in Hollywood, California. Thomas Hoenig, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, is set to speak on monetary policy and the economic outlook on Wednesday in Durango, Colorado. (Wall St Week Ahead runs weekly. Questions or comments on this one can be e-mailed to: ellis.mnyandu (at)thomsonreuters.com)
(Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Jan Paschal)

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

HAWAII VOLCANO ERUPTS
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CHILE VOLCANO REVS UP
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Volcano erupts, fishing boat rescues 10 people By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 13, 5:54 PM ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A fishing vessel rescued 10 people after a volcano erupted, sending rocks and ash down on a cattle ranch on a remote island in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The Tara Gaila picked up the people Saturday evening after receiving an urgent call from the Coast Guard. The fishing vessel brought them to Dutch Harbor about 65 miles away, where they were staying at a hotel on Sunday.There were no reported injuries, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read.The Coast Guard sent a helicopter to help out, but it had to land in Dutch Harbor because of the danger of falling ash.It also sent two cutters to the island, located in the western Aleutians about 860 miles southwest of Anchorage, but recalled them after the Tara Gaila responded to the emergency call.The 3,500-foot Okmok Caldera, which consists of a 6-mile-wide circular crater about 1,600 feet deep, erupted with little warning Saturday morning, just hours after seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Center began detecting a series of small tremors.The explosion flung a large ash plume into the sky.

The 10 people, including three children, were at Fort Glenn, a private cattle ranch six miles south of the volcano. The ranch residents managed to call military police on Kodiak Island using a satellite phone before losing their connection.The volcano erupted at 11:43 a.m. and reached peak activity about two hours later, said Cyrus Read, a geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which has several seismic stations on the Okmok Caldera. The Okmok Caldera contains more than a dozen volcanic cones. Scientists weren't sure which cone exploded Saturday.One of the observatory's seismic stations that was placed at the rim of the volcano likely was destroyed in the explosion, Read said. Several others stations were functioning Sunday.It continues at this time, Read said. It is a pretty solid plume.Trace amounts of ash were being reported in Dutch Harbor on Saturday. There were no new reports of ash falling in the large fishing port.Ash was expected to continue drifting south. The ash cloud was estimated at 45,000 feet on Sunday and posed a risk to aircraft.The last time the volcano — formed about 2,000 years ago — erupted was in 1997, sending a fountain of lava and ash into the air, it was active for eight months, Read said. But he said there was no way of knowing how long the eruption would last this time.http://www.avo.alaska.edu

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Tropical Storm Elida grows off Mexico Sun Jul 13, 5:18 PM ET

MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Elida gathered strength off western Mexico on Sunday, but forecasters said it was moving away from the coast and was not expected to hit land. Elida, the fifth named storm of the Pacific season, could become a hurricane before it reaches cooler waters in the next couple of days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.On Sunday afternoon, Elida had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph) and was centered about 245 miles (395 kilometers) southwest of the port city of Manzanillo. It was traveling west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).The hurricane center said large swells and high surf could reach Mexico's southwestern coast in coming days.

Bertha weakens to tropical storm near Bermuda Sun Jul 13, 2:15 PM ET

HAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - Hurricane Bertha weakened back into a less-menacing tropical storm on Sunday after stalling for a day near the British colony of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The top sustained winds of what had been the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season slipped to near 65 miles per hour (100 km per hour), below the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold at which tropical storms are classified as hurricanes, the Miami-based hurricane center said.Little change in strength was expected over the next 24 hours and the storm had stalled again after inching its way northwest for a brief period early on Sunday.

The center of Bertha is expected to slowly pass not far to the southeast and east of Bermuda during the next day or so, the hurricane center said.It said the storm's motion could be erratic at times but that it could pass closer to Bermuda, a wealthy mid-Atlantic offshore finance center, than indicated earlier.At one point a major Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity, as Hurricane Katrina had been when it came ashore near New Orleans in 2005, Bertha weakened because of its lack of movement.Its energy had churned up colder waters from beneath the sea surface, depriving it of the warm water that fuels tropical storms.Bermuda, which is also a major tourist resort, has strict building codes and a tropical storm is unlikely to pose any significant threat to its 66,000 people.Few of the shops in Hamilton's retail heart of Front Street had storm shutters up on Sunday and some public beaches were still open despite high storm-related surf.Many islanders said they were looking forward to the arrival of Bertha, as it would bring some much-needed rain after a long drought. As of Friday the island has had just 1.3 inches of rain in six weeks, 20 percent below normal.Oil markets had kept a wary eye on Bertha after it formed because of the potential of hurricanes to cause havoc among the oil rigs of the Gulf of Mexico. But the Gulf has not been in Bertha's track for many days.By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), Bertha was around 190 miles (310 km) south-southeast of Bermuda.

Hurricane experts have forecast that the 2008 Atlantic storm season will be average or above average. The long-term average is for 10 tropical storms to form between June 1 and the end of November, of which six become hurricanes.Bertha formed near the Cape Verde Islands off Africa and its development that far east so early in the season is viewed by some hurricane experts as ominous. Storm activity does not usually get into high gear in the Atlantic until August.On one Bermudian beach, 28-year-old English accountant Helen Grimwood took a more sanguine view of Bertha, however.I am quite excited and interested to see what it will be like, said Grimwood, who arrived in Bermuda just three days ago to start a new job.I am not worried about it, she said.(Reporting by Michael Christie and Matthew Taylor; Editing by Tom Brown and Cynthia Osterman)

Slow-moving tropical storm nears Bermuda By ELIZABETH ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer JULY 14,08

HAMILTON, Bermuda - Tropical Storm Bertha kicked up deadly surf as far away as New Jersey on Sunday and threatened to lash Bermuda with rain and high winds in the next 24 hours. The storm apparently played a role in the deaths of three swimmers along the New Jersey coast, where the U.S. National Weather Service said Bertha created tricky waves and currents.Authorities said one man drowned and another was missing and feared dead following a Saturday evening swim off the Wildwood beach. A third man died the same day after being plucked from a rip current in Atlantic City, though doctors said Sunday night that he died of natural causes rather than drowning.Business owners in this British Atlantic territory said they planned to send workers home by noon Monday as a preventive measure, while residents began taping windows and securing boats.

Bermudians are pretty used to this, said local resident Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch, 25. We've been through this several times, so everyone's relaxed but prepared.The slow-moving, meandering Bertha was drifting northwest about 3 mph (6 kph) on Sunday night, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said predicted it would pick up speed as it moves north Monday and Tuesday.The storm's center is expected to pass to the east of Bermuda in the next 24 to 48 hours, generating large swells and high surf. Bertha's outer bands could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain, the center said.JetBlue canceled Monday flights from Bermuda to Boston and New York, while American Airlines passengers scheduled to travel to Miami and New York that day were flown out on Sunday. British Airways said it would announce Monday whether it will cancel an evening flight to London.

Over the weekend, most tourists avoided the storm-whipped surf and rip currents along Bermuda's southern coast. Authorities posted signs announcing beach closures.On Sunday night, the storm had maximum sustained winds of near 65 mph (100 kph), with higher gusts, and was centered about 160 miles (255 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda. Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the center.Bermuda native Mikaela Ian Pearman, 22, who lives on the island's eastern end, worried that the causeway that links her to the main island will close, preventing her from reaching the capital if she gives birth on her due date next Saturday.It scares me because of the fact that I don't do pain, she said, adding that she might stay with someone in Hamilton so she doesn't get trapped.Bertha became the Atlantic season's first hurricane on July 7.In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Elida swirled about 345 miles (555 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and was headed farther out to sea, the hurricane center said. It had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).
Associated Press writer Sam Strangeways in Hamilton, Bermuda, contributed to this report.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

FAMINE

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: 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 food crisis: Australia's drought threatens major source of wheat By Tanalee Smith, The Associated Press JULY 13,08

POOCHERA, Australia - Glen Phillips kneels down, scoops up a handful of dirt and squashes it in his fist to test whether the soil in this dry patch of the Australian Outback is ready to take a crop of wheat. It should clump together when you squeeze, says Phillips, whose family has lived off the land on the edge of the Great Australian Bight since 1949. That's how you know it's good to plant, it's moist enough to hold the roots.He opens his hand and the earth sifts dustily between his fingers. Phillips looks up, lifts his hat slightly and squints into an empty blue sky with no sign of rain. We'll plant anyway, he says. We don't have a choice.

One of Australia's worst droughts on record is hurting wheat farming just as the world needs it most. Australia is usually the world's third or fourth-largest exporter of wheat. Exports dropped 46 per cent from 2005 to 2006, then fell 24 per cent last year.

Most of its exports go to the Middle East and Southeast Asia to make bread and cereals, but the fall in supply has led to a spike in prices. A ton of Australian wheat now costs Australian $381 (US$367), compared with A$269 (US$258) in early 2007, an increase poor countries can ill afford. When they pay high prices, they pass on an increase to their poorest people, who can no longer afford it, says Kunhamboo Kannan, director of agriculture, environment and natural resources at the Asian Development Bank.

Just look at Egypt.

Riots over rising bread prices and shortages have led to at least 10deaths in Egypt this year. Relief may be on the way. Wheat sowing rose by 13 per cent this year, according to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Research Economics, due to rainfall in the eastern part of the wheat belt and dry-planting elsewhere. If all goes well, the 2008 wheat harvest could be close to normal at 23.7 million tons, compared with 13 million last year. It all depends on whether the rain comes, and experts say it will be months before they know how the current crop of wheat will fare. In any case, stocks are low after several years of drought in a row. Poochera is one of dozens of one-pub towns on the Eyre Peninsula where grain silos are the tallest buildings and there are just enough stores to supply the surrounding farms. Another year without rain would be the third in a row, and this May was the country's driest on record. The peninsula, a giant wedge of land jutting into the ocean off southern Australia, forms part of a narrow crescent known as the wheat belt that includes some of Australia's most arable land.

It is also among the hardest hit by the drought.

The drought has made it harder to grow everything from wheat to rice to corn. Phillips says good wheat crops can grow with next to no rain. The problem is, he's been getting less than that. In 2006, after promising autumn downpours, the rain stopped in winter and Phillips watched his crop die. The same thing happened last year, although he managed to scrounge about one-third of what the land produces in a good year. In two years, he estimates, the drought has cost him more than half a million dollars. This season he had to take out a loan for the first time to cover the costs of planting and feeding his livestock. Elsewhere in Australia, recent rains have led to hope the drought is easing, but the relief is patchy and it will take time to restore former production levels.

According to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, most of the country received below average or very much below average rainfall from March 1 to May 31, the sowing months.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

PROGRESS IN FIGHT AGAINST WILDFIRES
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Heavy rains complicate Calif. firefighting efforts By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writers JULY 14,08

SAN FRANCISCO - Violent thunderstorms brought rain bursts that modestly helped firefighting efforts Sunday, but the downpours also triggered mudslides that complicated California's unfolding wildfire disaster. If it isn't fire, it's flood. If it isn't fire or flood, it's the mud, said Christina Lilienthal, an interagency fire spokeswoman. A horrendous amount of precipitation in the Sequoia National Forest dampened the ground, but also caused a creek to flood, cutting off a firefighting crew's escape route when a road washed out, she said.The firefighters didn't need the escape route, because fires burning nearby did not threaten them. They moved to higher ground as a precaution against the rising waters, Lilienthal said.But the 59 firefighters could not reach their camp Saturday evening, stranding them in the field overnight, Lilienthal said. They reopened the road Sunday afternoon, amid new threats of erratic winds and falling trees weakened by the soft ground.A huge mudslide in an area that was devastated by wildfires last year damaged about 50 homes and caused the temporary closure of a main road in the California town of Independence on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Severe thunderstorms Saturday set off the mudslide, which was 300 yards wide and up to three feet deep, said Carma Roper, spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

The slide oozed near California Highway 395 — reducing it to one open lane — and came within a half mile of the Los Angeles Aqueduct which supplies much of Los Angeles' water. Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the department, said the aqueduct was not harmed.Residents of more than 50 homes were evacuated, Roper said. The rain did nothing to help fires, which were not burning in that easternmost corner of California.And no rain fell on most of the other California fires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 288 blazes were still burning around the state, most in the mountains ringing the northern edge of the Central Valley.There was no rain in Butte County, north of Sacramento, where thousands of homes were threatened as recently as Friday. But moist air and calmer winds Sunday morning helped firefighting efforts in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Thousands of people who were evacuated from their homes twice in the past month began returning to Paradise for the first time since Tuesday.About 300 homes remained threatened in and around the town, down from 3,800 homes on Friday, and officials said the fire was 55 percent contained.An evacuation order was lifted on Sunday for the nearby town of Concow, one ridge away from Paradise and prone to strong winds, Butte County and fire officials said.Fifty homes were destroyed and one person was apparently killed in the area last week when wind-propelled flames jumped a containment line. The person's charred remains were found Friday in a burned-out home; the cause of death hadn't been determined.The Butte County blazes were among hundreds of wildfires to blacken nearly 1,200 square miles and destroy about 100 homes across California since an enormous lightning storm ignited most of them three weeks ago.Just to the south, a pair of blazes burning in the foothills west of Lake Tahoe were sending plumes of smoke toward the alpine resort area. The soot was sporadic, but air quality was so bad it prompted the cancellation of the annual Donner Lake Triathlon.

Residents in the tourist town of Big Sur, driven away by flames just days ago, were returning to their homes, said Paul Van Gerwen, a CalFire battalion chief stationed in the area.They're in a cleanup period, Van Gerwen said. Many businesses and homeowners are getting the (fire-retardant) gels off their structures, cleaning up roadways, driveways, the debris that falls from trees. They're trying to get over the emotional state of the evacuation.On Sunday morning, state authorities reopened the last piece of scenic Highway 1 near Big Sur that had been closed because of the fires, he said.The fire was 61 percent contained after destroying 26 homes, and all evacuations near the town of Big Sur were lifted, he said. Firefighters continued to make progress against a fire that has raged through the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County. As of Sunday morning, fire crews had contained 85 percent of the fire and expected to complete the containment lines on Wednesday, U.S. Forest Service spokesman David Daniels said. Fifty-five homes remained under evacuation warning. In far Northern California, the Trinity County Sheriff's Department ordered evacuations in sparsely populated communities in the mountains west of Redding. Isolated thunderstorms were expected across parts of Southern California and flash flood watches were in effect Sunday for the Antelope Valley and the mountains of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, said Steven Van Horn, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. The moisture from the south was starting to move up the state and isolated storms were expected over the mountains farther to the north. But Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said more than patchy rain was needed to douse California's unprecedented early fire season, especially in the north. In Washington, 200 residents from Spokane Valley who were forced to evacuate Friday were allowed to return to their homes. Firefighters were mopping up the fire that burned 1.5 square miles and reported it 60 percent contained. Associated Press writers Christina Hoag and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Assad sits out Olmert speech at Paris summit By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JULY 13,08

PARIS - Syria's president sat out the Israeli prime minister's speech to a Paris summit Sunday in an apparent rebuff just hours after Ehud Olmert urged Damascus to open direct peace talks, Israeli officials said. Syrian leader Bashar Assad also did not shake hands with Olmert at a meeting of more than 40 European, African and Middle Eastern states in the French capital to launch a new Mediterranean union aimed at closer cooperation in the region.

We are not seeking symbols, Assad said on French television, adding he avoided a handshake with Olmert because the two nations are still only in indirect peace talks.Nevertheless, Assad agreed to sit down with Olmert at the same table in a historic first for the enemy states: Never before had the leaders of the two countries been so close.There had been some buzz before the one-day summit about whether the two men might make history by shaking hands or meeting one-on-one. Israeli officials were openly skeptical: Even though the two countries recently resumed peace talks, mediated by Turkey, after an eight-year breakdown, Syria had long resisted meetings at the highest level.But that did not come to pass. And two Israeli officials said Assad was absent from the enormous room in the ornate Grand Palais exhibition hall when Olmert got up to address leaders at the summit. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss matters with diplomatic implications.There was no official Israeli reaction to the apparent snub.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who organized the summit, said no one left the meeting for bad reasons, adding that many participants came and went during the four-hour session for various reasons.Mr. Assad was very present throughout the afternoon," Sarkozy said. I don't know who said (he wasn't), but he must have had a hidden agenda.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who co-hosted the meeting, did not rule out the possibility that Assad might have been out of the room when Olmert spoke.If Mr. Assad ... had other things to do outside the room, I don't see the problem, Mubarak said.Hours before the afternoon session began, Olmert used the Paris forum to appeal to Syria to forego the Turkish mediation.

We have begun a process with Syria, he said. It is indirect, but I hope they will soon become direct contacts that will allow progress on this track.Assad later acknowledged Israel and Syria were moving toward reconciliation.We have no other choice but peace, he told France-2 TV. But he said he had much more hope that peace would be achievable after President Bush leaves the White House in January.

He suggested that after agreement in direct talks, a complete peace accord could take six months to two years to implement if both sides are serious.Olmert himself said before the summit that resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict was at the conference's core. But longstanding enmities and grudges were still apparent.

Although Mubarak told the gathering that all countries aim to one day normalize their relations with Israel, some Arab leaders refused to be photographed with Olmert so there was no joint photograph at meeting's end. Most Arab states have refused to have any dealings with Israel before it resolves its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians, though Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties. Israel and the moderate Palestinian government that rules the West Bank renewed direct talks in November, though they have since backed away from their declared objective of reaching a final accord by year's end. Olmert waxed optimistic about prospects for reaching an accord, and he met multiple times Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We have never been as close to a possible (peace) agreement as we are today, Olmert told reporters. Although talks have been troubled since they were relaunched under U.S. auspices in November, the atmosphere was friendly when he and Abbas posed on the steps of the French presidential palace, each with an arm resting on the other's back.

Olmert told Abbas Israel was willing in principle to release some of the more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners it holds — a gesture meant to show ordinary Palestinians that Abbas' path of moderation pays. But as is the case with Syria, prospects for reaching long-elusive peace agreements could be jeopardized by burgeoning corruption allegations that could topple Olmert. Associated Press writer Laurent Lemel contributed to this report.

Israel to swap prisoners with Hezbollah Wednesday By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 13, 5:07 PM ET

JERUSALEM - The Israeli government said it will swap prisoners with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah on Wednesday, closing a chapter between the enemies two years after they fought an inconclusive war. The prison service said Sunday Israel would free five Lebanese, including the perpetrator of one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history. In exchange, Hezbollah will return two soldiers it captured in a cross-border raid that sparked the 2006 war. Israel believes the soldiers are dead.After nearly two years of negotiations through German mediators, Israel's government approved the release on June 29, but it took several weeks to work out final arrangements. The Israeli announcement came a day after the government received a report from Hezbollah on a missing Israeli soldier who disappeared in Lebanon two decades ago. That report was one of the last sticking points.In the report, Hezbollah said it does not know what happened to Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator who was captured alive after his fighter jet went down in Lebanon in 1986, Israeli officials said.

According to the document, Hezbollah believes that Arad is dead, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the report was not released to the public. The Israeli Cabinet is expected to discuss the report on Tuesday.Israeli officials said the report contains two new pictures of Arad and parts of a diary he kept in the 1980s. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the material has not been made public, said the diary and the pictures had only sentimental value and did not shed light on Arad's fate. The Hezbollah report offered some new lines of inquiry, but no definite information, they said.A letter from Arad was delivered to his family during that time and a videotaped message Arad recorded in the late 1980s was released several years ago. But he has not been heard from since then.The Israeli prison service said that on Wednesday it will free Samir Kantar, a Lebanese man serving multiple life terms for a 1979 attack. After infiltrating Israel, he killed a policeman, then kidnapped a man and his 4-year-old daughter and killed them outside their home.

Israel says Kantar brutally beat the girl to death, though he has denied the accusation. As the attack unfolded, the girl's mother hid inside a crawl space inside their home and accidentally smothered their 2-year-old daughter, fearing Kantar would find them.

His release has stirred emotional opposition from relatives of victims of the attack and others. Israel's Supreme Court last week turned down an appeal against his release from children of the dead police officer.Israel said it would also release four Hezbollah prisoners captured in the 2006 war. Israel also is expected to turn over the bodies of some 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters. Military crews dug up the bodies from an Israeli cemetery last week in preparation for the exchange.In return, Israel is to receive the two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006, that set off a fierce 34-day war. More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in the fighting, according to Lebanese officials, while 159 Israelis were killed, including 40 civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he believes the captive Israeli soldiers are dead. Hezbollah has given no sign that they are alive, and the Red Cross has never been allowed to visit them.Listing the names of the prisoners to be freed started a 48-hour period for Israelis to appeal against their release to the Supreme Court. The court was not expected to intervene.Hezbollah has confirmed the planned swap, but it declined comment on Israel's announcement.In Jerusalem, Red Cross spokesman Helge Kvam confirmed that Israel had approached his organization about assisting in the upcoming swap with Hezbollah.

He said several technical issues still had to be resolved. The Red Cross must interview the Lebanese prisoners to ensure they want to return to their country. It also would need to bring in enough trucks, most likely from Jordan, if the sides ask it to transport the prisoners and bodies across the Israel-Lebanese border.The ICRC confirms we have been approached by Israeli authorities and we have informed them that we are ready to act as a neutral intermediary, as the neutral link between Israel and Hezbollah, he said. The reason this is important to us is for the families on both sides. It's extremely important that even if they only get mortal remains, they can bury them according them to their traditions and religions.

As part of the deal, Israel is to provide information on four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. Iran claims they were kidnapped by Lebanese militiamen allied with Israel, who delivered them to Israeli troops. Israel has long denied holding them, and Samir Geagea, former head of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, has said militiamen killed them. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, taking over large areas as part of a military sweep to expel Palestinian guerrillas.

Sarkozy launches the Mediterranean Union JULY 13,08

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a new international body with 43 member nations aimed at ending conflict in the Middle East. The Union for the Mediterranean will tackle issues such as regional unrest, immigration to pollution. At the summit's opening in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said its aim was to ensure the region's people could love each other instead of making war. Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier expressed optimism about peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel and the Palestinians have never been as close to a peace deal as they are now. He was speaking after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who said both sides were serious and wanted to achieve peace.

Transform the region

Mr Sarkozy urged Middle Eastern countries involved in long-running conflicts to end the deadly spiral of war and violence, as European nations had done by making peace which each other during the 20th Century. He said the grouping will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe. Comprising 27 EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, Israel and the Arab world, the union's membership will include 756m people from Western Europe to the Jordanian desert. Welcoming the presence of Arab states alongside Israel, Greece alongside Turkey and Morocco alongside Algeria, Mr Sarkozy said the group would not be north against south, not Europe against the rest... but united. He outlined the group's determination to focus on concrete projects focusing on the environment, immigration, security cooperation, transport and education. The French president was clearly buoyed by the presence in Paris of so many Mediterranean rim leaders and said the union would be based on concrete projects.But critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there are continuing disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League. The only leader boycotting the Paris meeting was Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism, and he may just be right. Mr Sarkozy played down the absence of Moroccan King Mohammed VI, saying he had sent his brother as a senior representative. He also dismissed suggestions the Syrian president had snubbed Israel by walking out of a speech by Ehud Olmert.Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said both he and Mr Olmert were serious and wanted peace. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said his country had never been so close to reaching an agreement with the Palestinians as now. He added that he would like direct talks with Syria, but warned they must not hinder talks with the Palestinians.

Qatari Amir meets Olmert JULY 13,08

DOHA: Qatari Amir, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday in Paris on the sidelines of a Mediterranean Union launch summit.It said the two leaders discussed efforts to relaunch the Middle East peace process and the possibility of lifting the Israeli blockage imposed on the Gaza Strip.The Qatari prime minister, Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, who doubles as foreign minister, also took part in the meeting.Qatar maintains contacts with Israel despite the absence of diplomatic relations and has since 1996 housed an Israeli trade office. Representatives of the two countries hold frequent meetings.

Jul 13, 2008 23:46 Analysis: Conducting diplomacy under the cloud of investigation By HERB KEINON, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT PARISPrint Subscribe

French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked like a giddy schoolboy as he held Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's hand in one of his own, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's hand in the other, after the three issued statements to the press on Sunday in a gilded room in the Elysee Palace. This was Sarkozy's moment - the French president had organized a meeting of 45 of the world's leaders for his new Mediterranean Union, and was now front and center as one of the world's peacemakers. It was obvious that Sarkozy, flanked by Olmert and Abbas, was relishing the moment, and didn't want to let it go. So, following the statements, he did something neither Olmert nor Abbas did. He waded into the arms of waiting journalists and briefed them on the morning's events. Olmert, by contrast, seemed to be avoiding journalists. Though it has become somewhat of a tradition for Israeli prime ministers, when they go abroad, to brief the traveling press, no such briefing was on Olmert's two-day schedule in Paris. On the way from Tel Aviv to Paris late Saturday night, Olmert greeted reporters with a brief tw- minute statement, in which he took the police to task for leaking details of his investigation. While Sarkozy was looking for the microphones and the glare of the camera, Olmert was trying to avoid it - at least the Israeli cameras and microphones. There was something bewildering about the prime minister saying on Sunday alongside Sarkozy and Abbas that the moment of truth with the Palestinians was at hand, and that both Israel and the Palestinians would have to make difficult and painful decisions.

We have never been so close to an agreement as now, he said. As if Olmert - his position weakened badly as a result of the latest investigation - would be in any position to make those painful and critical decisions. One Israeli diplomatic official said that the Arab world was bewildered by the brouhaha over Olmert's corruption charges. The leaders in the Arab world have so many humps on their back, they can't imagine why we are making so much noise over just one on Olmert's back, the official said. The official added, however,that there was an understanding in the Arab world of the depth of Olmert's problems, and that there was an interest in coming to some kind of agreement with him now on the Palestinian issue in order to obligate any government that comes after.

According to the official, there was an interest in getting a deposit from Olmert now, along the liens of the famous deposit then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin gave at the time to US Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1993 regarding an Israeli willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace. They want something in their pocket before Olmert leaves office, the official said. One Italian diplomat, when asked about how Olmert's political problems impacted on his country's Middle East policies, said that while Olmert's problems interested the Italian media, for the Italian government they really did not matter. He is the only address we have, the official said. He still represents Israel. We will continue to work with him, what else do we have? An Algerian journalist covering the gathering, Hassan Moali from the El Watan newspaper, said that Olmert's problems did not interest the Algerians. We don't care about the corruption, he said. But it does seem that anyone in Israel who wants to make peace will be driven from office.

M East leaders hopeful at Med Union launch
Sunday, 13 Jul 2008 21:28

Nicolas Sarkozy welcomes Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas to the Grand Palais .US In Focus From our own correspondent: Tehran If the US public is aware of the extent to which the White House was interfering in the internal affairs of Tehran in an attempt to topple the Iranian government, they would demand an immediate.

The inauguration of the Mediterranean Union in Paris has been heartened by signs a Middle East peace deal could be near.Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told attendees the Jewish state had never been as close to an accord with the Palestinians.Over 40 leaders are meeting in Paris to launch the Mediterranean Union, the brainchild of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Twenty-seven European countries and 17 from North Africa and the Middle East are present as they kickstart work on a number of projects, including the development of solar energy, cleaning up the polluted Mediterranean and cultural exchanges.The goal of the summit is that we learn how to love each other in the Mediterranean, instead of continuing to hate and wage war, Mr Sarkozy said at the Grand Palais on the Champs-Elysees.It doesn't mean that all of the problems are resolved of course.But adding to Mr Olmert's comments, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said both sides were serious and wanted to achieve peace.

The forum's first breakthrough was announced last night when it emerged Syria and Lebanon were to renew ties. The two countries have not had fully-fledged embassies in each other's capitals in the postcolonial era. Lebanon also blames Damascus for interference in its political system, while Syrian authorities have been implicated in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Mr Sarkozy said on Saturday after talks with Lebanese president Michel Suleiman and Syrian leader Bashar Assad the embassy development could be an historic step forward. Elsewhere attention will be focused on the symbolism of the meeting, with Mr Olmert and Syrian counterpart Mr Assad being present in the same room. Talk of a handshake between the pair is being played down by the experts. Many are instead concentrating on the region's other areas of tension, including Algeria and Morocco's disagreements and the Cyprus issue. The meeting… will be as important for what's happening in the corridors as for the launch of the actual project, Clara O'Donnell of the Centre for European Reform (CER) thinktank told politics.co.uk. Mr Sarkozy will be hoping the MU, the centrepiece of France's EU presidency, will not be scathingly compared to its predecessor, the Barcelona process. But following heavy opposition from German chancellor Angela Merkel such criticism could be difficult to avoid. Her objections to the use of EU funding for projects which would benefit France heavily has led to claims of diminished relevance for the MU. Ms O'Donnell believes practical issues pose a greater problem, however. Infrastructure developments could be difficult between Algeria and Morocco because of their ongoing border dispute. Proposals to establish a secretariat may prove difficult if it is based in an Arab country which does not recognise Israel. And the involvement of the European Commission complicates the entire organisation's independence. The southern partners have big issues working together. The problems the Mediterranean Union will be facing now would have happened without the watering down, she added. After winning the French presidency in the summer of 2007 Mr Sarkozy said he wanted the MU to become a bridge between Europe and Africa. Whether he succeeds will begin to emerge from today.

A New Med Voyage Mark Mardell 14 Jul 08, 01:00 AM

Many of the 44 leaders who came to Paris for the Mediterranean Union summit will make their excuses and leave before the 14 July spectacle. Those who stay may enjoy a little booklet to help them spot the uniforms of the various French troops who will be marching down the Champs Elysees. I know it is the sort of thing I would have not only poured over, but memorised as a ten-year-old. The cloaked and heavily armed amphibious troops of the First Regiment of Spahis, and the bearded Sappers of the Foreign Legion would have been my favourites.This sort of march-past is extremely rare in Europe, and the only countries in this neck of the woods who mount such displays would be the Turks and the Russians. But of course the French are particularly concerned with demonstrating that they are still a major power in their own right. President Sarkozy was cock-a-hoop at the end of the meeting. He said his idea and initiative was an extraordinary concept, and extraordinary gamble. He had asked the leaders of the Arab world to sit in the same room as the Israeli prime minister and the wager paid off. He said that the real problem of the Middle East was a lack of trust, and he hoped to take a risk and establish that trust.

While it is still not clear why President Sarkozy thought up the idea of the Mediterranean Union in the first place, it's true the first ever summit in Paris this weekend made a real impact, at least in media terms. The Syrian president suggested that diplomatic relations with Lebanon might be established for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister said a deal with the Palestinians had never been closer. The churlish might suggest there was nothing new here. But as one diplomat put it, freshness is not the point, it's the continuing thaw and it doesn't matter if the mood music is played twice. Statements were made in public and relayed to people round the region that wouldn't have been made without the Paris meeting. It is certainly higher profile than the already existing Barcelona process, which set up similar links 13 years ago. But the Med Union will get its own bureaucracy in the form of a yet-to-be-established secretariat, at a yet-to-be-identified location and a joint permanent committee based in Brussels. There are also six concrete projects, with enough detail to keep policy wonks happy for decades to come.A document that's been given out says that the North and South of the Med share not only interests but also a common destiny, although it is not spelt out what this destiny might be. It points out that the wealth divide between the North and South of the Med is at least 10 to one and that 40 million new jobs will have to be created in the next 15 years just to maintain unemployment at its present level.

The document sets out six big projects:

Combating pollution: The aim is to clean up the Med by 2020 and make it the cleanest sea in the world. There's a suggestion the whole of the seabed could be declared a protected area, there will be a new body to coordinate coastal protection and a more coherent development of projects like whale sanctuaries. Transport: One potential aim is developing a modern railway network running from Casablanca to Istanbul, and a high-speed rail network linking Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. They also want to promote motorways of the sea, which basically means modernising ports and integrating sea traffic with road links. Civil Protection: The development of more coordination and eventually a common emergency response force to cope with earthquakes and fires, floods and drought.Solar energy: Developing modern, large-scale solar power stations in North Africa and the Middle East to help the European Union meet its low-carbon targets.Higher education: Greater contact between universities of North and South and common standards for approved courses.Business: Spreading the Italian/Spanish Med Agency, which helps small businesses with financing to Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia and eventually to the whole region.

Doubtless some of these projects will move along quicker than others, some will work and others will fail. But can the Med Union permanently push the pace on the peace process, or is this first high-profile event a one-off?

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

FAITH UNDER FIRE U.N. scheme to make Christians criminals
Sharia-following Islamic nations demanding anti-defamation law
July 10, 2008 12:00 am Eastern By Bob Unruh 2008 WorldNetDaily

Dozens of nations dominated by Islam are pressing the United Nations to adopt an anti-defamation plan that would make Christians criminals under international law, according to a United States organization that has launched a campaign to defend freedom of religion worldwide.Around the world, Christians are being increasingly targeted, and even persecuted, for their religious beliefs. Now, one of the largest organizations in the United Nations is pushing to make a bad situation even worse by promoting anti-Christian bigotry, the American Center for Law & Justice said yesterday in announcing its petition drive.The discrimination is wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called Combating Defamation of Religions, the announcement said. We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith that attempts to criminalize Christianity.The anti-defamation plan has been submitted to the U.N. repeatedly since about 1999, starting out as a plan to ban defamation of Islam and later changed to refer to religions, officials said. It is being pushed by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference nations, which has adopted the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, which states that all rights are subject to sharia law, and makes sharia law the only source of reference for human rights.

The ACLJ petition, which is to be delivered to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, already had collected more than 23,000 names in just a brief online existence.The ACLJ's European division, the European Center for Law & Justice, also has launched its work on the issue. It submitted arguments last month to the U.N. in opposition to the proposal to institute sharia-based standards around the globe.The position of the ECLJ in regards to the issue of defamation of religion resolutions, as they have been introduced at the U.N. Human Rights Council and General Assembly, is that they are in direct violation of international law concerning the rights to freedom of religion and expression, the organization's brief said.The defamation of religion resolutions establish as the primary focus and concern the protection of ideas and religions generally, rather than protecting the rights of individuals to practice their religion, which is the chief purpose of international religious freedom law.Furthermore, defamation of religion replaces the existing objective criterion of limitations on speech where there is an intent to incite hatred or violence against religious believers with a subjective criterion that considers whether the religion or its believers feel offended by the speech, the group continued.Interestingly, in nations following Islam, the present practice is to use such laws to protect Islam and to attack religious minorities with penalties up to and including execution, the brief noted.What should be most disconcerting to the international community is that laws based on the concept of defamation of religion actually help to create a climate of violence, the argument explained.For example, just two months ago an Afghanistan court following Islam sentenced to death a 23-year-old apprentice journalist who had downloaded an article from an Iranian website and brought it to his class, the ECLJ said. Other instances include:Award-winning author Mark Steyn has been summoned to appear before two Canadian Human Rights Commissions of vague allegations of subject[ing] Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt for comments in his book, America Alone, the group said.

In Pakistan, 15 people were accused of blasphemy against Islam during the first four months of 2008, the organization said.Another Pakistani man sentenced to life in prison for desecrating the Quran was jailed for six years before being acquitted of the charge.In Saudi Arabia a teacher was sentenced to three years in prison plus 300 lashes for expressing his views in a classroom.In the United Kingdom, police announced plans to arrest a blogger for anti-Muslim statements. In the United States, a plaintiff sued his Internet service provider for refusing to prevent participants in an online chat room from posting or submitting harassing comments that blasphemed and defamed plaintiff's Islamic religion.The ECLJ said, The implementation of domestic laws to combat defamation of religion in many OIC countries reveals a selective and arbitrary enforcement toward religious minorities, who are often Christians. Those violations are frequently punishable by the death penalty.The newest anti-defamation plan was submitted in March. It specifically cites a declaration adopted by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers at a meeting in Islamabad which condemned the growing trend of Islamophobia and systematic discrimination against adherents of Islam.It also cites the dictates from the OIC meeting in Dakar, in which the Organization expressed concern at the systematically negative stereotyping of Muslims and Islam and other divine religions.It goes on to cite a wide range of other practices that target Islam, but does not mention any other religions, and urges all nations to provide adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from the defamation of any religion.According to published reports, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' 53 members voted to adopt the resolution earlier this year, with opposition from the United States and the European Union.At the time, Cuba's delegate, Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, said: Islam has been the subject of very deep campaign of defamation.They're attempting to pass a sinister resolution that is nothing more than blatant religious bigotry, the ACLJ said in its promotion of its petition. This is very important to understand. This radical proposal would outlaw Christianity … it would make the proclamation of your faith an international crime.

In his recent dissent on the Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo Bay, Justice Scalia said, America is at war with radical Islamists. Never has this rung more true than today. Never have Christians been more targeted for their religious beliefs. And never have we faced a more dangerous threat than the one posed by the OIC, the ACLJ said.On the Grizzly Groundswell blog, the author described the situation as, The United Nations: 160 cannibals and 17 civilized people taking a majority vote on what to have for dinner.The U.S. State Department also has found the proposal unpalatable.This resolution is incomplete inasmuch as it fails to address the situation of all religions, said the statement from Leonard Leo. We believe that such inclusive language would have furthered the objective of promoting religious freedom. We also believe that any resolution on this topic must include mention of the need to change educational systems that promote hatred of other religions, as well as the problem of state-sponsored media that negatively targets any one religion.