54,000 BABBIES SICK IN CHINA

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.

Typhoon Hagupit approaches Hong Kong SEPT 23,08

HONG KONG - Typhoon Hagupit spun closer to Hong Kong on Tuesday forcing the city to shut schools and halt flights. Typhoon Hagupit was expected to brush past Hong Kong late Tuesday before slamming into mainland China, the Hong Kong Observatory said.

Earlier, Hagupit brought heavy rain in Taiwan and the Philippines where 13 miners were trapped in a flooded gold mine shaft.Typhoon-driven rain is also expected to flood low-lying areas in Hong Kong, the weather forecaster said.Hagupit was centered about 130 miles south-southeast of Hong Kong and was expected to move west or west-northwest at about 17.4 miles per hour to the south China coast.The Hong Kong government closed all schools in the territory. At least 61 flights were canceled, according to the Airport Authority.

Typhoon kills 3 in Philippines, heads for China Tue Sep 23, 12:37 AM ET

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A typhoon was gathering strength in the South China Sea on Tuesday and heading toward Hong Kong after killing three people in the northern Philippines and trapping 13 people in a gold mine. The Hong Kong Observatory raised its strong warning wind signal number 3 with Typhoon Hagupit edging west-northwest at about 30 kph toward the south China coast.The observatory will consider the need for the No. 8 gale or storm signal around dusk today, it said.

The highest signal is 10.

Hong Kong kindergartens were closed for the day and the city's bustling container ports and terminals were due to suspend operations in the afternoon.Hagupit, which means lashing in Filipino, was estimated to be 380 km (236 miles) southeast of Hong Kong at 10 a.m. (10 p.m. EDT) and was expected to make landfall in China on Wednesday.In the Philippines, the coastguard rescued 21 people from three cargo and fishing vessels that sank in rough waters as Hagupit passed the north coast on Monday. In total, three people were killed and four were missing.Authorities in the northern province of Benguet said 13 gold miners were trapped when water levels rose after heavy rain.We are working on rescue operations and our priority is to suction out the water first, said provincial Governor Nestor Fongwan.The Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council said about 120 people had fled their homes in a northern mountain village due to fears of landslide as the weather bureau lowered typhoon alerts. Taiwan also lifted its land and sea warnings after the typhoon brushed the island's southern tip overnight, causing no injuries or damage, officials said.Some areas in the northern Philippines remained isolated due to floods and landslides and without power and telephone service.Tropical Storm Watch (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/) labeled it a category 3 storm on a scale of five.

In June, about 600 people were killed and about 15 billion pesos ($325 million) worth of property and farms were destroyed by a typhoon that hit the central Philippines. Seven cargo vessels and a ferry carrying 800 people also sank.Tropical storms in the region gather intensity from the warm ocean waters and frequently develop into typhoons that hit Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and southern China during a season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.(Reporting by Manny Mogato, Nick Macfie, James Pomfret and Ralph Jennings; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Storm flooding kills four in Puerto Rico By John Marino
Mon Sep 22, 2:45 PM ET

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - A tropical disturbance dumped up to 20 inches of rain on Puerto Rico, killing four people and flooding scores of homes, businesses and roads, authorities said on Monday. Up to 12 inches more rain were expected and flash flood warnings were posted across the island. Schools and many businesses were closed and officials urged people to stay inside.We are expecting it to continue raining throughout the island and anticipate up to 12 inches in the southeast, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said at a press conference.The weather system has the potential to develop into a tropical storm by Wednesday as it moves northwest away from Puerto Rico, said National Weather Service meteorologist Sean Rossi.If the scattered mass of thunderstorms becomes well organized with winds of 39 miles per hour (63 km per hour), it would become Tropical Storm Kyle.Computer forecast models took it north-northwest over the Dominican Republic and Haiti and then into the Atlantic. Haiti has already been hit hard by recent hurricanes and tropical storms. About 700 people died when the impoverished nation was hammered by floods triggered by torrential rains from Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike.Some anticipated the latest tropical weather system would hit the Carolinas or the northeast U.S. coast, while other models kept it over the open seas. It was not expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico, where U.S. oil and gas facilities were still recovering from Hurricane Ike.In Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory's southern coast was hardest hit by flooding. Several rivers, including the Rio Grande de Arecibo and Rio de La Plata, surged over their banks.

Scores of roadways were flooded and two major highways were partly closed because of mudslides.A 52-year-old man drowned after his car was swept away by floodwaters on Sunday and a 44-year-old man drowned while trying to rescue another motorist whose car was stuck in a flooded road, police said.A third man was driving with his wife and suffered a fatal heart attack when their vehicle was swept up in floodwaters. The fourth victim suffered a fatal heart attack while trying to remove water from his flooded home, police said.

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

HALF HOUR STOCK MARKET RESULTS SEPT 23,08

09:30 AM +33.93
10:00 AM +59.42
10:30 AM +90.32
11:00 AM +22.78
11:30 AM +63.96
12:00 PM +36.80
12:30 PM +21.36
01:00 PM -72.24
01:30 PM -152.28
02:00 PM -73.75
02:30 PM -10.23
03:00 PM +35.00
03:30 PM -16.96
04:00 PM -161.52 - 10854.17 (DOW)

S&P 500 1188.22 - 18.87

NAS 2153.34 - 25.64

Bush, world leaders try to contain market fallout By Patrick Worsnip and Matt Spetalnick SEPT 23,08

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and other world leaders scrambled on Tuesday to contain the fallout from a financial crisis engulfing Wall Street and sending shock waves across the globe. In his farewell speech to the United Nations, Bush offered assurances of his commitment to stabilizing world markets, for the moment overshadowing international concerns about tense standoffs with Russia, Iran and North Korea.But he also faced criticism at the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders over the excesses of global capitalism that Washington has long pushed as the path to economic growth and prosperity.Bush spoke amid intensive efforts in Washington to craft an unprecedented $700 billion bailout spurred by the worst upheaval in the U.S. financial system since the Great Depression.I can assure you that my administration and our Congress are working together to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy, and I'm confident we will act in the urgent time frame required, Bush said.But the main thrust of his speech, his eighth and final to the United Nations, was a call to redouble the international fight against terrorism -- a focus Brazil's president said was regrettable given the severity of the financial crisis.With investors still worried and the meltdown spreading internationally, other economic powers are also feeling the pinch. Poor countries fear this could lead to cuts in the aid budgets of their biggest donors.Speaking a few miles from Wall Street, U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon said financial turmoil endangers efforts to cut world poverty and demands a new approach with less uncritical faith in the magic of markets.His words resonated with delegates of leftist governments that have long opposed the free market orthodoxy the Bush administration has advocated.

BOUNDLESS GREED

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former labor leader with close ties to Washington, blamed the crisis on speculators. We must not allow the burden of the boundless greed of a few to be shouldered by all, he said.Reflecting the depth of concern among dozens of world leaders assembled at U.N. headquarters, Lula gently chided Bush for not devoting more of his speech to what the U.S. government is doing to curb the financial meltdown.He opted to talk again about terrorism, Lula told reporters. I was expecting he was going to talk about the economic crisis because I think this is the most important thing at this moment.French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a summit of world leaders by year's end to address the financial crisis.Let us build together a regulated capitalism in which whole swathes of financial activity are not left to the sole judgment of market operators, he said.

Invoking the pain felt in the Third World, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said, Economic uncertainty has moved like a tsunami around the globe, wiping away gains.Bush reasserted accusations that Iran and Syria sponsor terrorism -- charges they deny -- and urged U.N. member states to enforce sanctions against Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.Foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States are planning to meet on Thursday to discuss the possibility of drafting a fourth U.N. sanctions resolution against Tehran over its nuclear program. Previous rounds of sanctions and an offer of economic incentives have failed to budge Iran, which denies it seeks nuclear weapons and insists it only wants nuclear energy. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an outspoken U.S. foe who was present for Bush's speech, was certain to contradict Bush when he addresses the assembly in the afternoon. Bush renewed U.S. support for Georgia, which Russia invaded in August after the former Soviet republic tried to retake control of its pro-Moscow breakaway region of South Ossetia. But Bush was less strident in his criticism of Russia than he had been previously. The United Nations Charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small, he said. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words.Russia's military resurgence has added to an East-West chill not seen since the Cold War. But Bush must walk a cautious line. He still needs Moscow's diplomatic cooperation on issues such as reining in Iran's nuclear program. With Bush leaving office in four months, many world leaders are already looking beyond him to the next U.S. president -- Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama, locked in a close battle ahead of a November 4 election. (Editing by Chris Wilson) (Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, Sue Pleming, Louis Charbonneau, Isabel Versiani, Walter Brandimarte and Claudia Parsons in New York and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington)

Bernanke: Approve bailout or risk recession By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writers SEPT 23,08

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned reluctant lawmakers Tuesday they risk a recession with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures unless they act on the Bush administration's $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry. Despite the warning, influential lawmakers in both parties demanded changes in the White House-backed proposal, and conservative Republicans recoiled at the prospect of federal intervention into private capital markets.Six weeks before the elections, both major party presidential contenders also insisted on alterations in the administration's prescription for the worst financial crisis in decades.Bernanke's remarks about the risk of recession came in response to a question from Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who seemed eager to hear a strong rationale for lawmakers to act swiftly on the administration's unprecedented request.The financial markets are in quite fragile condition and I think absent a plan they will get worse, Bernanke said.Ominously, he added, I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, that our credit rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way.GDP is a measure of growth, and a decline correlates with a recession.Dodd later spoke disparagingly of the administration's proposal. What they have sent us is not acceptable, he told reporters after presiding over a lengthy Senate Banking Committee hearing at which Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged swift action by Congress.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the panel's senior Republican, added, We have got to look at some alternatives to the administration's plan.The legislation that the administration is seeking would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other troubled assets held by endangered banks and financial institutions.Getting those debts off their books should bolster the institutions' balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan works, it could help lift a major weight off the sputtering national economy.The White House and key lawmakers have been in negotiations since the weekend on terms of the legislation. It was not clear what impact the new congressional complaints would have on the discussions.Nobody is happy about the bailout request, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., although he spoke of possible passage of legislation by the weekend.Nobody wants to have to do this, agreed Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader. He said he was hopeful of a quick agreement.Presidential politics have become part of the debate.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, called a news conference to urge changes in what he called the administration's stubborn inflexibility.He said Wall Street executives must not be allowed to walk away from the mess with multimillion-dollar severance packages, taxpayers who are bearing the risk of the bailout must benefit if it succeeds and homeowners should be able to get relief from unaffordable mortgages.Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, has also said he wants steps to limit the compensation of CEOs who leave financially wrecked firms. The stakes were unmistakable. I understand speed is important, but I'm far more interested in whether or not we get this right, Dodd said at the hearing.

Later, he told reporters he hopes for legislation soon.

But it is not going to be a blank check or a simple signing on to a bill that sends a blank check to this secretary or any other secretary. He noted that either Obama or McCain would probably be appointing a new treasury secretary after he takes over in the White House. Across the Capitol complex, Vice President Dick Cheney and Jim Nussle, the administration's budget director, met privately with restive House Republicans, some of whom emerged from the session unpersuaded. Just because God created the world in seven days doesn't mean we have to pass this bill in seven days, said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. Added Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., I am emphatically against it.Still, prospects for legislation seemed strong, with lawmakers eager to adjourn this week or next for the elections. Differences include a demand from many Democrats and some Republicans to strip executives at failing financial firms of lucrative golden parachutes on their way out the door. The administration balked at another key Democratic demand: allowing judges to rewrite bankrupt homeowners' mortgages so they could avoid foreclosure. Paulson, seated next to Bernanke at the committee hearing, objected strongly when Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., asked if $150 billion might be enough to get the program started, with a promise of more to come. Paulson said that would be a grave mistake, and would fail to give the markets the confidence they need to rebound. Paulson repeatedly fielded questions from committee members asking why taxpayers should accept the burdens of a bailout. You worry about taxpayers being on the hook? he replied at one point. Guess what — they're already on the hook. Paulson suggested that the fallout from the credit crisis would hit everyone's pocketbook unless forceful action was taken. Moreover, a flawed and outdated regulatory system, which didn't catch abuses, needed to be overhauled, he said.

Despite the unresolved issues, President Bush predicted the Democratic-controlled Congress would soon pass a a robust plan to deal with serious problems. He spoke before the United Nations General Assembly. In his testimony before the Banking Committee, Paulson told senators that quick passage of the administration's plan is the single most effective thing we can do to help homeowners, the American people and stimulate our economy.But even before Paulson could speak, lawmakers expressed unhappiness, criticism of the plan and — in the case of some conservative Republicans — outright opposition. This massive bailout is not a solution. It is financial socialism and it's un-American, said Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. So far this year, a dozen federally insured banks and thrifts have failed, compared with three last year. The country's largest thrift, Washington Mutual Inc., is faltering. The U.S. has taken extraordinary measures in recent weeks to prevent a financial calamity, which would have devastating implications for the broader economy. It has, among other things, taken control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, provided an $85 billion emergency loan to insurance colossus American International Group Inc. and temporarily banned short selling of hundreds of financial stocks

Dodd: No second act to fixing financial mess By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer SEPT 23,08

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration urgently pressed Congress in public and private Tuesday to move quickly on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry as Democratic and Republican lawmakers vented their anger over a crisis that pushed the nation's economy to the brink. Stocks rose in the opening hour as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson went before the Senate Banking Committee to say that quick passage of the administration's plan is the single most effective thing we can do to help homeowners, the American people and stimulate our economy.But even before Paulson could speak, lawmakers expressed their unhappiness.We all recognize the gravity of the situation, said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the committee's chairman. He said a combination of private greed and public regulatory neglect had produced an economic maelstrom.Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the panel's senior Republican, was even more blunt. I have long opposed government bailouts for individuals and corporate American alike, he said. Seated a few feet away from Paulson and Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal reserve, he added, We have been given no credible assurances that this plan will work. We could very well send $700 billion, or a trillion, and not resolve the crisis.Dodd and other key Democrats have been in private negotiations with the administration since the weekend on legislation designed to allow the government to buy bad debts held by banks and other financial institutions. Key details remain unresolved, although the Democratic-controlled Congress is expected to vote in the next several days on a far-reaching measure.The hearing unfolded as Vice President Dick Cheney and Jim Nussle, the Bush administration's budget director, met privately with House Republicans. Some members of the GOP rank and file have expressed concerns about the bailout proposal, either because they view it as an unwarranted government intrusion into the financial markets, or because the $700 billion price tag gives them pause.Just because God created the world in seven days doesn't mean we have to pass this bill in seven days, said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.Added Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., I am emphatically against it.Despite the bipartisan unhappiness, the prospects for legislation seemed strong.

Differences remained, though, including a demand from many Democrats and some Republicans to strip executives at failing financial firms of lucrative golden parachutes on their way out the door.The administration is balking at another key Democratic demand: allowing judges to rewrite bankrupt homeowners' mortgages so they could avoid foreclosure.The administration's plan is designed to let the government buy bad mortgages and other troubled assets held by endangered banks and financial institutions. Getting those debts off their books should bolster their balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan works, it should help lift a major weight off the sputtering economy.Buttressing Paulson's comments, Bernanke said in his prepared remarks that action by lawmakers is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what otherwise could be very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy.So far this year, a dozen federally insured banks and thrifts have failed, compared with three last year. The country's largest thrift, Washington Mutual Inc., is faltering.President Bush was in New York, his speech before the United National General assembly crafted to offer assurances to world leaders that the U.S. government has its financial problem under control.He said he is confident that Congress will pass the necessary legislation to deal with the problem and said he has assured other leaders that the financial package is a robust plan to deal with serious problems. He said there are ideas about how to change it, but that there is a desire to get a package done quickly.The U.S. has taken extraordinary measures in recent weeks to prevent a financial calamity, which would have devastating implications for the broader economy. It has, among other things, taken control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, provided an $85 billion emergency loan to insurance colossus American International Group Inc. and temporarily banned short selling of hundreds of financial stocks. Bernanke and Paulson defended their unprecedented steps — many just in the past few weeks — to stem the crisis. Even so, Bernanke said that global financial markets remain under extraordinary stress.In promoting the massive rescue plan, Paulson said the piecemeal approach the government has taken so far was necessary but insufficient.

We must now take further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address the root cause of this turmoil, the Treasury chief said. The root cause goes back to the rotten debts held by financial institutions, which are choking off the flow of lending, a crucial ingredient to the economy's health. Wall Street has been dramatically reshaped amid all the fallout. The Fed agreed to let Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — the country's last two investment banks — become bank holding companies so that they can take deposits, like a commercial bank, in a bid to survive. Merrill Lynch agreed to be bought by Bank of America. Lehman Brothers sought bankruptcy protection, and Bear Stearns was taken over by JPMorgan Chase.

No need to regulate hedge funds, commission says
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today SEPT 23,08 @ 09:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Hedge funds and private equity should be watched closely, but no new regulation in the field is needed, EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy told MEPs who called for legislation to make the way such funds work more transparent.I don't believe it is necessary at this stage to tar hedge funds and private equity with the same brush as we use for the regulated sector. The issues relating to the current turmoil are different, Mr McCreevy told parliamentarians gathered for a plenary session in Brussels on Monday (22 September).

He underlined that several recent market initiatives indicate that the need to remain vigilant is understood by the sector.Our role should be to monitor closely these and other developments in the market and be ready to respond if and when necessary, he said.The commissioner acknowledged the need to take measures in the face of the current crisis, which he said would eventually transform the financial sector.No one is out of the woods yet. There are difficult trading conditions ahead. The downturn in economies will have its effects, he said.However, he insisted that the investment funds should not be blamed for the turmoil and that one should rather focus on better monitoring of international banks.It has turned out that it was the regulated sector that had been allowed to run amok with little understood securitisation vehicles, the commissioner stressed, referring to the banking sector.

Criticism from the left

Mr McCreevy went further, pointing out the positive effects that their [hedge funds'] activities have.Let me be clear: The EU economy is going to need massive investment in the time ahead. Without sovereign wealth funds; private equity and the like, Europe's recovery from today's turmoil will be all the slower, he stressed.But his opinions were far from receiving universal backing from the parliamentarians, with some Socialist MEPs strongly criticising his stance.It's like hearing there is hurricane and tsunami coming and he's telling us we have to reflect on the positive things, Dutch Socialist Ieke van den Burg said, calling the commissioner's position ridiculous.It's leaving the mouse in charge of the cheese. Voluntary codes of conduct are useless, added her Spanish colleague Manuel Medina Ortega.MEPs are later this week set to adopt a report by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the European Socialists, calling for the commission to prepare legislative proposals strengthening the control over all relevant financial market participants, including hedge funds and private equity.

Backing the US initiative

Meanwhile, the European Commission, as well as the Group of Seven industrialised nations – G7, welcomed the most recent measures taken by the US to counter the credit crisis, including a $700-billion rescue plan aiming to buy back bad debt from US banks and financial institutions.The announcement of the initiative was very positive but we need to know the details, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters during a visit to Bratislava, AFP reports.It is up to [EU] governments to consider if they can follow this initiative. The situation is not the same in Europe, he added.Additionally, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - or the G7, stated: We strongly welcome the extraordinary actions taken by the United States to enhance the stability of financial markets and address credit concerns.We are ready to take whatever actions may be necessary, individually and collectively, to ensure the stability of the international financial system, they added, AFP reports.But some national leaders, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have shown some reserve towards the need to copy the US.

From the German government's point of view, a measure such as the one that the US has drawn up is not necessary at the moment, because the situation is not the same, a spokesperson for the chancellor was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.Ms Merkel would also like the 15 October EU summit in Brussels to tackle global finance issues in the wake of the crisis, Polish news agency PAP reports.

Iranian president blames US for market collapse By KRISTA LARSON, Associated Press Writer SEPT 23,08

UNITED NATIONS - Iran's president blamed U.S. military interventions around the world in part for the collapse of global financial markets and said the campaign against his country's nuclear program was solely due to the Bush administration and a couple of their European friends.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's interviews, ahead of his speech to the United Nations on Tuesday, came after the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that he could not determine whether Iran is hiding some nuclear activities.Last year, thousands rallied at the United Nations to protest Ahmadinejad's speech. When Ahmadinejad was ushered to the podium of the General Assembly to speak, the U.S. delegation walked out, leaving only a low-ranking note-taker to listen to his speech.In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ahmadinejad said the collapse of global financial markets was due in large part to U.S. military interventions abroad.Problems do not arise suddenly, he said. The U.S. government has made a series of mistakes in the past few decades. The imposition on the U.S. economy of the years of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world ... the war in Iraq, for example. These are heavy costs imposed on the U.S. economy.The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United States, and by the U.S. government, he added.In a separate interview with National Public Radio, Ahmadinejad said he does not want confrontation with the United States. He said he wants diplomatic relations to develop between the two countries and was willing, for example, to cooperate on upholding security in Iraq.We do not have confrontations with anyone, he said. The U.S. administration interferes, and we defend ourselves.Despite U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad claimed vast international support for his position and said the campaign consisted of only three or four countries, led by the United States and with a couple of their European friends.

Iran insists its nuclear activities are geared only toward generating power. But Israel says the Islamic Republic could have enough nuclear material to make its first bomb within a year. The U.S. estimates Tehran is at least two years away from that stage.Ahmadinejad's speech will come just hours after President Bush made his final address to the General Assembly.In his speech, Bush said he realizes that other nations are watching how the United States deals with the financial meltdown that is shaking the global economy. He said that his administration is working with Congress to come to fast agreement on a $700 billion bailout bill, in addition to other recent actions he called bold steps aimed at stabilizing markets and keeping credit flowing.Bush said he is confident that the U.S. will act in the urgent timeframe required to prevent broader problems. He did not ask for any action by other countries.The U.S. president also met on the sidelines of the General Assembly with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.Pakistan is under growing pressure from the United States to act against al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents along its border with Afghanistan, a staging ground for attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan and bombings in Pakistan. Pakistan accuses the U.S. of violating its sovereignty.Also Tuesday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for global leadership to restore order to international financial markets, make trade concessions and act on climate change.Addressing more than 120 world leaders and dozens of ministers, Ban painted a grim picture of a world facing not only a financial crisis but food and energy crises as well as new outbreaks of war and violence and new rhetoric of confrontation.We must do more to help our fellow human beings weather the gathering storm, he said. I see a danger of nations looking more inward, rather than toward a shared future. I see a danger of retreating from the progress we have made, particularly in the realm of development and more equitably sharing the fruits of global growth.Turning to the U.S. financial meltdown which has spread around the world, the secretary-general said the global financial crisis endangers all our work — financing for development, social spending in rich nations and poor, the Millennium Development Goals to improve life for the poorest. We need to restore order to the international financial markets, he said. We need a new understanding on business ethics and governance, with more compassion and less uncritical faith in the magic of markets. And we must think about how the world economic system should evolve to more fully reflect changing realities of our time.

I BELIEVE THE CRASH WILL FORCE ISRAELIS TO GO TO ISRAEL LIKE GOD SAYS WILL HAPPEN. HE WILL USE THE STOCK MARKET CRASH TO MAKE ISRAELIS REALISE JESUS IS GOD AND HIS WORDS ARE TRUTH AND ISRAELIS WILL FLOCK TO ISRAEL FROM NEW YORK AND FINALLY MAKE THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE. WITH AT LEAST 3 MILLION ISRAELIS GOING TO ISRAEL FROM NEW YORK, THEY WILL OUT NUMBER ARABS AND CAN FORCE THE 3RD TEMPLE TO BE REBUILT. SO WE SEE GOD DOES NOT HAVE TO QUAKE THE DOME OF THE ROCK. ISRAEL CAN TAKE OVER THEIR MOUNT BY PURE NUMBERS.

With Wall Street in turmoil, some turn to religion Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:34pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As financial workers suffer through tumultuous times on Wall Street, some are turning to an old source of solace: religion.Religious leaders said attendance was up at lunchtime meetings in New York's financial district last week, with many more people in business attire than usual.That is hardly surprising, said Reverend Mark Bozzuti-Jones of Trinity Church Wall Street, given that people don't know if their employers will survive from one day to the next.The economic financial crisis is a reminder that we cannot put our faith in riches, that we cannot put our faith in money, Bozzuti-Jones said in his sermon at lunchtime on Friday, which he devoted to coping with the financial crisis.A handful of men in suits and ties and women in business attire were among dozens of people at the Episcopal church, which was hit by debris from the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001.The church, which normally attracts tourists and a few financial workers, experienced an upturn in visitors this week, Bozzuti-Jones said. In the past few days he had requests for help to pay rent from those who had lost their jobs.People are just sitting there, praying or crying and definitely exhausted. There has definitely been an increase in the number of people who have come in, he said in his office after the service.The church was putting on special workshops and seminars over the next few weeks including Coping with stress in an uncertain time and Navigating career transitions.Just a few blocks away, St. Peter's Church has seen a slight uptick in attendance among people in suits, said Father Peter Madigan. St. Peter's, a Catholic church, displays a cross found in the rubble of September 11.

In the past couple of days there was high anxiety and trepidation, Madigan said. The situation we are faced with today by economic standards is very much unknown, uncharted territory and faith helps us deal with those situations.The Wall Street Synagogue is opening its doors nightly starting this week to accommodate Wall Street people. But rather than a rush of people last week, Rabbi Meyer Hager said he has noticed a change in his regular worshippers.I can see it on the faces of certain people who come here who are regular people -- some work for AIG and other large banking houses -- I can see the expression of strained concern, he said.He noted that the synagogue was founded in 1929, the year of the Wall Street crash.A mosque located in the financial district about a mile from Wall Street did not return a call seeking comment.Lou Janicek, who works as a financial adviser on Wall Street, said he had not considered attending a religious service, but said Wall Street would benefit if people applied the same morals they learned in church to the workplace.

What you do at work matters as much as whether you regularly attend church or the synagogue or whatever, said Janicek, who was brought up as a Christian. If you are an accountant or you find yourself in an unethical situation, you can't just stand by and let it happen -- then you have another Enron.(Reporting by Christine Kearney; Editing by Eddie Evans)

Are Bibles giants set for return? Author warns genetic engineering could bring back Nephilim September 19, 2008 8:04 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

The benei Elohim saw the daughters of Adam, that they were fit extensions.
Genesis 6:2 (Interlinear Hebrew Bible)

New experiments in genetic engineering could open the doors for the return of fearsome giants described in the Bible – the offspring of human women and fallen angels – warns author Thomas Horn in his best-selling book, Nephilim Stargates: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers.In the Book of Genesis, beings of great stature called giants appear, which some biblical scholars believe came into existence after powerful angels known as Watchers' descended to earth and used women (or their biological matter) to construct bodies of flesh, which they used to extend themselves into the material world.The Apocryphal books of Enoch, 2 Esdras, Genesis Aprocryphon and Jasher support the Genesis story, adding that the sin of the angels grew to include genetic modification of animals as well as humans. The Book of Jasher, mentioned in the Bible in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18, says, After the fallen angels went into the daughters of men, the sons of men taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order to provoke the Lord (4:18).

This clear reference to the Genesis 6 record illustrates that animals were included in whatever cross-species experiments were being conducted, and that this activity resulted in judgment from God, explains Horn. The Book of Enoch also supports this species-crossing report, saying that the fallen angels who merged with women also sinned 'against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish' (7:5,6). The Old Testament contains associated reference to genetic mutations, which developed among humans following this activity, including unusual size, physical strength, six fingers, six toes, animal appetite for blood and even lion-like features among men (2Sam 21:20; 23:20).Now, in Nephilim Stargates: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers, he asks, What if, by corrupting the species barrier in which each creature was to recreate after its own kind, Watchers (or demons) had successfully mingled human-animal DNA, creating something new, a construct that God had not made, manipulating genetic material and crossing the species barrier, which God had forbade, resulting in a body they could incarnate within? Horn believes the fact that these powerful angels blended species in this way is vital to understanding how they were able to leave their plane of existence, and to enter ours, activity that the New Testament writers Peter and Jude say led to the judgment of God (see 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).The reason these beings had to blend species in order to create a suitable body into which they could extend themselves, he says, is because every creature as it existed at that time had its beginning in God. All life extended back to the Creator's divine order. God spoke living organisms into existence, something the angels could not do, setting the various species in motion and then commanding that each kind would reproduce after its own kind.Horn continues: This would have been problematic for the Watchers who wanted to leave their estate and to enter our three dimensional reality in bodily form. But they could no more displace the innate spirit of any of the creatures God had made than can an exorcist cast a person's innate spirit out of them. These rebel angels wanted to do more than possess humans, they wanted incarnation, and the divine order was keeping them from becoming embodied.Horn hypothesizes that, through genetic engineering, they created blended beings, not entirely human or animal – creatures that neither humans nor animal spirits would indwell, for they were neither man nor beast. This provided bodies into which they could extend themselves, just as is described in numerous ancient texts.

The results of this genetic modification were the giants known as Nephilim, he says.

Given what is happening in science today, Horn wonders if modern biotechnology may be about to repeat the science of Watchers, and, worse, provide a pathway for the return of the Nephilim.Today, molecular biologists classify the functions of genes within native species but are unsure in many cases how a gene's coding might react from one species to another. In recombinant DNA technology, a transgenic organism is created when the genetic structure of one specie is altered by the transfer of a gene or genes from another. This could change not only the genetic structure of the modified animal and its offspring, but its adaptive development, sensory modalities, disease propensity, personality and behavior traits among other things.Such transgenic tinkering already exists in many parts of the world including the United States, Britain and Australia, where animal eggs are being used to create hybrid human embryos from which stem cell lines can be produced for medical research. A team at Newcastle and Durham universities in the UK recently announced plans to create hybrid rabbit and human embryos, as well as other chimera embryos mixing human and cow genes. The same researchers have already managed to reanimate tissue from dead human cells in another breakthrough which was heralded as a way of overcoming ethical dilemmas over using living embryos for medical research. In the United States, similar studies led Irv Weissman, director of Stanford University's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine in California to create mice with partly human brains, causing some ethicists to raise the issue of humanized animals in the future that could become self aware as a result of genetic modification. President Bush in his Jan. 31, 2006, State of the Union Address, called for legislation to prohibit … creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos.Not everybody shares these concerns. A radical, international, intellectual, and cultural movement known as Transhumanism supports the use of new sciences including genetic modification to enhance human mental and physical abilities and aptitudes so that human beings will eventually be transformed into beings with such greatly expanded abilities as to merit the label posthuman.

Dr. James Hughes, executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, is a transhumanist who teaches at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.. He is also the author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future, a sort of bible for transhumanist values.Over the last two years numerous law schools including Stanford and Oxford have hosted Human Enhancement and Technology conferences where transhumanists, futurists, bioethicists and legal scholars merged to discuss the ethical and legal ramifications of posthumans.In his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenges of Bioethics, the former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, Leon Kass, provided a status report on transhumanism. He warned in the introduction that Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for alteration, for eugenic and psychic enhancement, for wholesale redesign. In leading laboratories, academic and industrial, new creators are confidently amassing their powers and quietly honing their skills, while on the street their evangelists are zealously prophesying a posthuman future. For anyone who cares about preserving our humanity, the time has come for paying attention.But imagine the staggering implications of such science if dead Nephilim tissue was discovered with intact DNA and a government or rogue agency somewhere was willing to clone or mingle the extracted organisms to make Homo-nephilim, says Horn. If one accepts the biblical story of giants as real, such discovery could actually be made someday, or perhaps already has been and was covered up. The technology to resurrect the extinct species may already exist, and cloning methods are being studied now for use with bringing back Tasmanian Tigers, Wooly Mammoths and other extinct creatures.Is the world on the verge of bringing back demonic giants? Horn believes so.

Rome bishops call on EU to protect Christians
VALENTINA POP 22.09.2008 @ 09:43 CET

Italy's Roman Catholic bishops called on the European Union on Sunday (21 September) to put the persecutions of Christians on the agenda of the upcoming EU-India summit, warning against Christianophobia in many parts of the world.Today it touches the Catholics in India. Up until this summer the most dangerous country for the Christian community was Iraq ... Persecution is spreading like oil on water, the number of martyrs continues to grow in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and hunting down Christians is an insane and bloody idea that finds more and more followers, the bishops' newspaper Avvenire says in a front-page editorial.Hailing the US government's firm stance on violence in India, the paper of the Italian Bishops Conference said Europe must urgently apply the right of humanitarian assistance to the relationship between the new and the old democracies.The occasion is at hand, say the Italian bishops - the upcoming EU-India summit to be held in Marseille on 29 September. Is it too much to hope that on the agenda there can be also the question of violences against Christians? asks the paper in a final remark.According to the Asian Center for Human Rights (ACHR), over 50 persons, mainly Christians, have been killed in the Indian region of Orissa, after a Hindu leader was murdered on 23 August by unidentified gunmen, which prompted aggressive Hindu attacks against the Christian community.Suhas Chakma, director of ACHR, stated that thousands of Christians have fled their villages and some 5,000 people are now living in seven relief camps at Chakapad, Tikabali. About 200 villages have been affected by the organized attacks and hundreds of churches have been burnt, he added.The official EU-India summit agenda focuses on trade, climate and energy issues, as well as the world food situation and is to revise a joint action plan adopted in 2004.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Election of next Israeli leader a fraud? Probe finds illegalities in 431-vote victory by Livni September 22, 2008 9:21 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni

JERUSALEM – There were multiple irregularities in Israel's Kadima party primary elections last week in which Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was said to have been victorious by a slim margin, according to an internal Kadima investigation obtained by WND.We cannot know who won this election. We need a new election, Kadima Knesset Member Ze'ev Elkin told WND.Following Livni's purported victory – by just 431 votes – ceremonial Israeli President Shimon Peres is expected to formally ask Livni to form a stable governing coalition. That means that if she can recruit enough political parties to maintain a plurality of the Knesset's 120 seats, she would finish out Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's term in office, becoming prime minister in his place until new elections are held as scheduled late next year.But a Kadima probe has found a number of problems, including possible illegalities, with last week's election, prompting Elkin to petition Kadima's internal court to hold off appointing Livni as head of the party until a new election can be held.According to the final tally, Livni won the Kadima primary election with 43.1 percent of the vote, or 16,936registered Kadima members. Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz came in a very close second with 42 percent, or 16,505 votes.Among the voting problems discovered by Kadima:

According to election committee protocols, 39,872 people cast votes but only 39,615 votes were actually counted, meaning 257 ballots may be missing. In one polling station in the city of Rahat, the entire station's ballots were disqualified after a man tore up the contents of a voting box and scattered hundreds of envelopes that were inside. The ballot box reportedly contained 430 votes, one vote shy of the margin of Livni's win. There were 70 polling stations in which ballots were unaccounted for. In 10 polling stations, the number of votes cast was more than the number of Kadima members who were slated to take part in the election in the given station. In a decision Elkin says was not coordinated with the other candidates, Kadima election committee chairman Dan Arbel granted Livni a requested extension of 30 minutes voting time at Kadima polling stations around the country.
The Kadima probe estimates the extra 30 minutes was key for Livni, because it allowed many Muslim voters to take part in the elections following a feast that ended the day of Ramadan fasting. Livni, who has been leading negotiations with the Palestinian Authority aimed at creating a Palestinian state before January, trounced Mofaz among Muslim and Arab voters in many villages.The Kadima probe concluded voters casting ballots in the last 30 minutes may have been influenced by the Israeli news media, which during the last 45 minutes of the vote wrongly announced that exit data showed Livni beat Mofaz by a wide margin of 10 percent.In the last 45 minutes, people who went to vote likely knew from Israeli radio or television that Livni won, so supporters of Mofaz may have decided there was no reason to vote for him, Elkin told WND.Elkin, who is a confident of Mofaz, said if the Kadima court rejected his petition for new elections, he would take the case to the Israeli public court system. Elkin pointed out there is precedent for reelections in Israeli parties. In 2001 in the Labor party primaries, then-Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer won a court case that contested the outcome of party primaries which claimed Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg won by 1,088 votes – more votes than Livni's 431.

Livni's team countered Elkin's petition by pointing out Mofaz already conceded the election.Elkin might not have enough time to affect the appointment of Livni. In what would be the speediest round in Israeli history of presidential consultation in forming a government, Peres last night already tasked Livni to form a new government.

If Livni goes on to lead the country, she will hardly have a mandate, as she was elected not by the majority of the Israeli public, but in internal party elections in which less than 0.5 percent of Israelis took part. More than 10 times that number vote in Israel's version of American Idol.Did 15,000 Arabs determine Israel's new leader.Assuming the Kadima election results are upheld, the question becomes who voted in the Kadima primary, in which registered party members who are regular citizens took part.About 14,000 of Kadima's 74,000 registered voters are not Jewish, according to polling data, including 6,900 registered Arab Druze and 4,600 Muslim Arabs. The rest are largely Bedouin tribe members.Poll stations reported that non-Jewish Kadima voters evidenced the highest turnout. Only about 50 percent of all eligible Kadima voters took part in the election.Kadima member and Deputy Foreign Minister Majalli Whbee, who coordinates party issues related to the non-Jewish sector, estimated that many Muslim voters would take part in the elections at night, following a feast that ended the day of Ramadan fasting.After the feast, voters will arrive (to polling stations) en masse, Whbee told Israel's YnetNews.Polling data showed the vast majority of Arabs who took part in the election voted for Livni, meaning her 16,936 votes included a large number of Arabs. This is disproportionate to the Israeli population, which is 75.5 percent Jewish.

Israel's pious Jewish press shuns images of Livni By Dan Williams SEPT 23,08

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Syrian state press has described her as a Mossad beauty. A Palestinian cartoonist compared her to the Mona Lisa. One Canadian report called her naturally blonde with eyes as blue as the Mediterranean.Yet Tzipi Livni, asked by Israel's president on Monday to form a government following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's resignation, remains largely faceless when it comes to her country's powerful ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim.Citing concerns for feminine modesty, the ultra-Orthodox refuse to publish images of women in their newspapers -- a core source of information as the reclusive community generally shuns the television, Internet and most radio stations.That poses a unique challenge for Livni, the 50-year-old foreign minister, as she tries to piece together a governing coalition and campaigns for support among ultra-Orthodox who make up an estimated 8-15 percent of Israel's population.There's no doubt that we have our work cut out for us when it comes to the haredim, Avraham Kroizer, one of Livni's strategic consultants, told Reuters.Their media are never going to change the no-photograph policy, so it comes down to arranging face-time for her with leading haredi figures who can spread the word, Kroizer said.

At meetings with religious legislators on forming political partnership, Livni dons demure skirts and wrist-length jackets, not the pant-suits she usually favors.Such deference irks many Israeli feminists, who argue it risks papering over the cultural rift in a mostly secular Israel whose Supreme Court and parliament both have women presidents.Should she become premier, Livni, once a Mossad intelligence agent and a lawyer, would be the second woman in top office since Golda Meir in the 1970s.It's strange -- these people (ultra-Orthodox) bespeak an attitude whose origins are in the Middle Ages, while on a political level it looks like they are willing to work with Livni, Galia Golan, a veteran women's rights activist, said.She said Livni radiates something feminine, something fresh, which leads many Israelis to see her as a politician who can bring a new kind of governance.A senior editor at Hamodia, an ultra-Orthodox daily, said there was no plan to reconsider the ban on publishing women's pictures.We have always done things according to the Torah, said the editor, who declined to be named. This is the way it was since the beginning of the world, and the way it shall remain.(Editing by Janet Lawrence)

DISEASES

REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

China: Out of control dairy system led to abuse By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 23,08

BEIJING - China's agriculture minister acknowledged Tuesday that the country's milk-gathering system was out of control and led to abuses that put contaminated dairy products in stores across Asia, sickening some 54,000 babies and killing four. At least six Asian countries banned or curbed imports of Chinese dairy products, and the World Health Organization warned of possible smuggling of melamine-tainted infant formula across borders. The European Union told customs authorities to keep a closer eye on food imports from China.Melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizer, has been found in infant formula and other milk products from 22 Chinese dairy companies. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added it to watered-down milk because its high nitrogen content masks the resulting protein deficiency.Since the discovery of tainted milk was made public, China's government has scrambled to respond. Recent days have seen a number of arrests and forced resignations of officials.Chinese state television reported that the company at the center of the scandal, Sanlu Group Co., received complaints about tainted formula beginning last December and waited eight months to tell the local government, which then waited another month before informing higher authorities.Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai told a meeting with the health and public security ministries that the industrial chemical melamine was likely added at stations that collect milk from small individual dairy farmers.Since milk stations began only in recent years, the country now has no specific method of supervising them, or clear-cut supervision department. The purchasing process of raw milk is basically out of control, Sun said, according to a summary of his comments posted Tuesday on his ministry's Web site.

We must crack down on them with the greatest determination and the toughest measures, Sun said in the meeting held late Monday.A group of 316 Chinese milk producers and retailers issued a joint statement promising to keep the dairy industry clean, state broadcaster China Central Television reported late Tuesday.

Among other things, producers promised to reject sub-standard raw materials, strictly inspect production, and take responsibility for product quality. Retailers also promised closer inspections.Sanlu had no comment Tuesday about the allegations on state television.CCTV reported Monday night that an investigation by the State Council, China's Cabinet, found that Sanlu had been receiving complaints about its infant formula as early as December 2007. The dairy company discovered melamine in its milk powder in June but did not report it to city officials until Aug. 2, it said.During these eight months, the company did not inform the government and did not take proper measures, therefore making the situation worse, CCTV said.The Shijiazhuang city government then failed to report the case to the Hebei provincial government until Sept. 9, CCTV said. Sanlu products were recalled from stores two days later and Shijiazhuang's top Communist Party official fired.Anthony Hazzard, the Western Pacific director of the World Health Organization, said 82 percent of the children made sick by the formula were 2 years old or younger.The sick included 12,892 babies in hospitals, 39,965 who have received outpatient treatment, and an additional 1,579 patients discharged from hospitals, he said, citing China's Ministry of Health.Hazzard said countries had been advised to focus particularly on smuggled formula by the International Food Safety Authorities (INFOSAN), a network of 167 countries organized by the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

He said authorities do not know at this stage what countries may have received the contaminated products. I think the greatest fear is if there has been illegal movement of the heavily contaminated products rather than the legal movement of products that may have very low levels of melamine, said Hazzard, speaking in Manila where the WHO's regional headquarters is located. The head of the Chinese agency that monitors food and product safety stepped down Monday. The resignation of Li Changjiang, who headed the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine since 2001, comes a year after he and the government promised to overhaul the system in response to a series of product safety scares. New regulations and procedures were introduced in an attempt to restore consumer confidence and preserve export markets after a string of recalls involving tainted toothpaste, faulty tires, contaminated seafood and in March 2007, pet food containing melamine that was blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States. According to the Health Ministry, of the 53,000 sickened children, 12,892 remain hospitalized, with 104 in serious condition. Another 39,965 children were treated and released. Baby formula and other milk products have been pulled from stores around the country and Chinese dairy products have been recalled or banned in Bangladesh, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Four Hong Kong children have been reported with kidney stones. European Commission spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki said the EU's 27 member states do not import baby formula or other dairy products from China. But she said national customs authorities across the EU were asked last week to step up checks on imports of composite products, such as bread or chocolate, to ensure they contain no traces of contaminated milk. One of China's biggest milk producers, China Mengniu Dairy Co., saw its stock price plummet slightly more than 60 percent in Hong Kong trading Tuesday after its products were found tainted with the industrial chemical melamine. Mengniu, China's No. 1 dairy producer in total volume, said only a small portion of its products were contaminated and blamed the contamination on the illegal acts of some irresponsible milk collection centers and raw milk dealers.The board wishes to sincerely apologize for the incident and any inconvenience caused to the public, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.