PALESTINIAN FORCE IN HEBRON

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.

More than 60 killed in fierce Yemen storms by Hamoud Mounasser – OCT 25,08

SANAA (AFP) – Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.

At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.

Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.

A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day, one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a national catastrophe and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen's flood victims.OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount the grave humanitarian crisis.Ihsanoglu called for OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world's least developed nations.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.Rescue coordinators said that among the victims were seven people who perished in Al-Mukalla, which is on the shores of the Arabian Sea.Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones.Bad weather continued to batter southeast coastal regions on Saturday but residents said the skies were clearing inland.Military helicopters and others operated by oil firms were hampered on Friday by strong winds as they fought to rescue thousands of people stranded by the floods, according to one emergency official.

Local authorities in Yemen said that more than 500 houses were destroyed across Hadramaut province and 3,500 families made homeless. Flooding also caused heavy damage to roads and power and water networks.Among the affected areas was the UNESCO world heritage site of Shibam which was totally cut off by the flood waters. But the situation was returning to normal on Saturday, local officials said. Shibam, with more than 20,000 residents, is famed for its high-rise mudbrick buildings, mostly dating from the 16th century, that have given the town the moniker the Manhattan of the desert.It was established in the third century and built with the profits from frankincense, which is still sold there. Floods and lightning also claimed the lives of at least 25 people in April 2006 across eight provinces of the Arabian peninsula country.

Tropical depression nears tropical storm strength OCT24,08

MIAMI – A tropical depression is just below tropical storm strength as it swirls in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the depression's maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph early Friday.The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible and the depression could briefly become a tropical storm later in the day before it begins to weaken.The depression is centered about 255 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and moving northwest near 8 mph.

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.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Strong 6.2 earthquake rocks Papua New Guineau OCT 24,08

SYDNEY (AFP) – A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guineau on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or tsunami.The quake struck off Wewak on the main island's northern coast at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) at 8:04 pm (1004 GMT), it said in an alert seen here.Papua New Guinea is home to many active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where several tectonic plates collide. The region is frequently rocked by earthquakes.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

EU and Cuba formally restore ties
LEIGH PHILLIPS 24.10.2008 @ 09:51 CET

The European Union has officially renewed ties with Cuba after a five-year freeze in relations and announced it will deliver millions of euros in aid to the Communist-led island. Development commissioner Louis Michel and Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque signed a joint declaration in Havana on Thursday (23 October) that restores bilateral co-operation between the EU and Cuba and recognises the country's political independence and the principle of non-intervention in its domestic affairs.

Havana has also agreed to a political dialogue with Brussels without taboo,according to Mr Michel.We have stated the will to deepen a constructive and respectful dialogue that must be based on strict respect, without taboo, said Mr Michel after signing the declaration, newswires report.The commissioner added that the occasion marks the renewal of strong, strategic, useful, positive and respectful relations with Havana.Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque said: There has been an important advance in the relations between the EU and Cuba.The EU is to immediately deliver an emergency €2 million to aid reconstruction efforts after two hurricanes, Ike and Gustave, hit Cuba at the end of the summer, causing billions of euros of damage to homes, farms and infrastructure.A further €25 to €30 million will be provided next year, following the visit of an EU delegation to the island in November to assess Cuban aid requirements.The agreement renews relations after a five-year deep freeze. The EU imposed sanctions on Havana after the 2003 arrest of 75 opponents of the Communist government accused of receiving funding from Washington and the execution of three Cubans for hijacking a ferry and ordering it to travel to the United States.The sanctions were suspended in 2005 and lifted entirely in June this year. The EU wants to offer encouragement after Raul Castro replaced his brother, Fidel, as president of the country in the hope that the new leader will put Cuba on the path toward liberalisation of the island's economy.Some 55 opponents remain in jail. Mr Michel has no plans to meet any opposition groups over the course of his trip, which is to end on Sunday.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

Strained relations between Russians, EU monitors in Georgia
VALENTINA POP 24.10.2008 @ 17:57 CET

EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – Russia is not informing the EU mission of their deployment of troops, nor is it allowing observers to enter Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Hansjorg Haber, the head of EU's civilian monitoring mission to Georgia (EUMM) has said.The German diplomat held talks with EU ambassadors to inform them about the situation in Georgia, a month after the mission was deployed to monitor the withdrawal of the Russian troops to their initial positions prior to the August war.After the first big task was largely completed – monitoring the Russian withdrawal from the adjacent areas to Abkhazia and South Ossetia – EU monitors now try on a daily basis to enter the territory of the two breakaway provinces, so far unsuccessfully however, Mr Haber told journalists on Friday (24 October) in Brussels.We ask, we knock at the door and we think that the Abkhaz and South Ossetian de facto authorities may have their own interest in admitting us if they want alleged shootings from the Georgian side to be investigated and reported on, said the head of the EUMM mission.Both the president of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov have accused the EUMM of turning a blind eye to Tbilisi's deployment of special forces on the border who shoot at Ossetian positions.Mr Haber dismissed these allegations as overblown, saying that the situation is surprisingly calm in the adjacent areas. Georgian special forces are not what Moscow understands. They're lightly armed police units, not travelling in armoured vehicles, and needed to restore law and order in adjacent areas, Mr Haber said.

Asked to describe how daily communication with the Russians proceeds, Mr Haber said that the EUMM does not have any telephone number from their side, although we have been asking for it and are asking for it again.We work with the Russians through the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi, he explained.Relations with the Russians are also difficult he said because Moscow is in the process of exchanging its peace-keepers with regular troops, Mr Haber explained.Since the EU does not recognise the independence of the two breakaway provinces, there is no legal foundation for the stationing of an announced 3700 Russian regular troops to replace the 500 peacekeepers, he said.There are still regular troops displaying peacekeeping insignia, so we don't know how many they are at this moment, Mr Haber added.

Returning refugees forced to take Russian passports

Some 4,400 people have fled the Akhalgori valley, previously a Georgian-inhabited and administered district within the South Ossetian borders, and have found shelter mostly in Tbilisi, Mr Haber said. Yet for the people returning to South Ossetia, the situation is tough, as according to reports, they are required to take Russian passports, he said.If Russia recognises South Ossetia, then it also has an obligation that certain standards be observed. Forcing refugees to accept different passports just to be able to return to their homes is certainly not one of these standards, said the German diplomat.Mr Haber added that internally displaced people are sometimes returning too rapidly to areas where there are still unexploded munitions. We are collaborating with Halo Trust who are collecting ordnance. We are also conducting a mine awareness campaign in these areas where there is unexploded ordnance, already identified by Halo Trust, he said.

Palestinian force enters Hebron in security drive OCT 25,08

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent hundreds of security officers into Hebron on Saturday as part of a Western-backed campaign to strengthen his control over the occupied West Bank.Israel, which is trying to bolster Abbas against his Hamas rivals, approved the deployment of some 550 armed officers in the biggest West Bank city, a frequent flashpoint between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.We are serious and willing to arrest anyone who disturbs law and order ... starting with illegal armed groups and whoever deals with illegal arms, said Samih al-Saifi, the Palestinian security chief for the Hebron area.Abbas is under pressure to assert control over the West Bank so U.S.-sponsored talks with Israel can progress. Abbas's administration complains about Israeli intervention in the deployment of its forces, and that continued Israeli raids in the West Bank undermine its credibility.Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip after routing Abbas's forces in 2007. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led government and appointed a new administration in the West Bank, where his Fatah faction remains dominant.

Palestinian officials said Abbas had postponed a meeting scheduled for Monday with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose Kadima party leaders are busy trying to forge a new government coalition.An Israeli security source said the Palestinian deployment in Hebron had been coordinated with the Israeli army and that the Palestinian force would not be allowed to intervene in areas where Jewish settlers live.They are meant to police the community and strengthen the Palestinian Authority's ability to fight Hamas, the source said.Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the deployment was part of a campaign that has been successful in other West Bank cities.Without enforcing law and order, the Palestinians can't live a sustainable life and have a sustainable economy, Fayyad said.Some 650 heavily guarded Jewish settlers live in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron, among about 30,000 Palestinians. About 180,000 Palestinians live in the city overall.(Reporting by Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh and Wafa Amr; writing by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Andrew Roche)

Coalition talks flop, push Israel toward election OCT 24,08 By Douglas Hamilton and Ori Lewis.

AFP JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel stepped closer to an early election on Friday when a Jewish religious party refused to join a new coalition under Tzipi Livni, the designated successor to scandal-hit outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Unless reversed, the decision of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a linchpin of successive governments, could kill off already dwindling hopes of a peace deal with Palestinians this year by leaving Israel under caretaker leadership for months.Shas said its word was final, and its refusal to consider dividing Jerusalem for the sake of a peace deal lay at the heart of it. But Shas was also seeking an increase in the budget for welfare, which Livni's centrist Kadima party rejected.Shas made its decision based on its principles. If our demands had been met, we would have been in. They were not met, and we cannot join, said Shas chairman Eli Yishai. Shas cannot be bought and Shas will not sell out on Jerusalem.A Livni ally cautioned there was still time for a coalition deal to be forged, and Livni had 48 hours to negotiate before the expiry of her self-imposed Sunday evening deadline.I don't think we've failed. It's not over until it's over, Yoel Hasson, a Kadima lawmaker, said. He added that efforts to establish a coalition would continue through Sunday and if they failed, we will go for an election, and win it.Gidon Saar of the right-wing opposition Likud, which is riding high in the polls and favors an election, accused Livni of still trying to tempt all sorts of party fragments and to form some sort of clumsy government.

LIVNI SILENT

There was no reaction from Livni herself, who is not likely to give up easily on her quest to be confirmed as Israel's first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
Israeli television stations said Livni could muster a slim majority of 63, on the basis of talks she has held with two left-wing parties, Labour and Meretz, a pensioners party and members of another religious party called United Torah Judaism.

Some analysts think she may also be able to rely on the support of smaller parties outside government, including Arab politicians.Kadima and Labour, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, favor pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians and insist now is not the time to burden Israel with elections, more so in view of the mounting world economic crisis.Olmert, who resigned last month over corruption inquiries, formally remains premier, but without the political authority to sign a historic pact with the Palestinians as President George W. Bush desires before he leaves the White House in January.Livni and Barak would press on with talks, launched a year ago, in search of an accord to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Likud, by contrast, has condemned Olmert's peace moves and on Friday suggested that Livni would sacrifice Jerusalem.Both Israel and the Palestinians claim the city as their capital. Olmert is ready to discuss giving parts of the city seized in the 1967war back to the Arabs.Livni has been trying to forge partnerships since she was elected leader of Kadima in mid-September. Her overtures for a grand coalition of the main parties were quickly rejected by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who heads Likud.Hasson, Livni's ally, said Netanyahu had sabotaged the coalition talks by secretly offering Shas a bigger welfare budget for its poor religious supporters than anything Livni has offered. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem)(Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Dominic Evans)

Israel religious party rejects conditions to join govt OCT 24,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Leaders of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party said on Friday that they had rejected conditions set by ruling Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to join a coalition government.The decision was taken by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the 87-year-old spiritual leader, after consulation the party's supreme authority, Shas said.On Thursday, Livni set an ultimatum for her Kadima party's potential coalition partners, saying if there was no agreement on a coalition by a Sunday deadline she would call a snap general election.

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

THE MARKETS LOST 3 TRILLION DOLLARS ALREADY.

Full text of Chinese president's speech at Asia-Europe summit opening session
Oct 24, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --

[Full text of speech by Hu Jintao, president of the People's Republic of China, delivered at the Opening Session of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting in Beijing on 24 October 2008: Asia and Europe Cooperate Hand in Hand To Obtain Win-Win Results] Beijing, 24 Oct (Xinhua) - Honourable guests,

Ladies, gentlemen and friends,

First of all, I would like to express warm congratulations on the opening of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting and sincere welcome to our colleagues and guests of honour! In the past few months, the Chinese people have gone through very unusual times. We have withstood the stern test of the extraordinarily disastrous Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and have also shared with the international community the happy time of the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympic Games. In the course of this, the Chinese people have obtained the sincere help and strong support of the international community, especially various countries in Asia and Europe. I would like to express heartfelt thanks for this on behalf of the Chinese Government and people!

Ladies and gentlemen!

Recently, the serious impact on the international financial market produced by the US subprime mortgage crisis has seriously affected the economic development and the people's livelihood of various countries of the world and has caused the governments and people of various countries to worry. In the face of this global challenge, various countries of the world should strengthen policy coordination, cooperate closely and make joint response. At this critical moment, strengthening confidence is more important than anything else. Only by strengthening confidence and making efforts hand in hand will it be possible for us to tide over our difficulties together. China appreciates and supports positive measures to respond to the financial crisis taken by relevant countries and hopes these measures will achieve success as soon as possible. China has actively striven to respond to the financial crisis within its capacity and has taken a series of important measures, including ensuring the stability of its domestic financial system, increasing the liquidity of its financial market and financial institutions, closely coordinating and cooperating with the macroeconomic policies of other countries and so on. China will, with a responsible attitude, continue to work together with the international community to strive to maintain international financial stability and economic stability. Since the beginning of this year, China has actively responded to the complicated changes in the international economic environment and the severe challenges of nature. Its economy has maintained a relatively fast growth, its financial industry has operated steadily, and the basic situation of its economic development has not changed. Besides, the global financial crisis has notably increased factors of instability in China's economic development and China's economic development is faced with numerous difficulties and challenges. China is a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion people, China's economy has become more closely linked to the world economy with each passing day, and maintaining a good momentum of China's economic development itself is an important contribution to the stability of the global financial market and the development of the world economy. Because of this, we shall first of all do our own work well. We shall, according to changes in the economic situation at home and abroad, increase the predictability, pertinence and efficiency of macro regulation and control, readjust policies in good time, strive to expand domestic demands, especially consumption demands, maintain economic stability and financial stability and the stability of the capital market, and continue to promote good and fast economic and social development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

At present, the Eurasian continent is undergoing profound changes and readjustments. The political situation in Asia is on the whole stable, various kinds of regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms are vying with each other to develop, and Asia has become one of the regions with the greatest vitality for development of the world. The integration of Europe is developing at a deeper level, Europe's cooperation with other regions is expanding with each passing day, and Europe is playing a more and more important role in international affairs. At the same time, the peace and development of Europe and Asia are still faced with numerous issues and challenges: local conflicts and hotspot issues are sometimes up and sometimes down, traditional security threats and nontraditional security threats are interwoven, the turbulence in the international financial market is especially strong, the issues of energy security and grain security are conspicuous, and the pressure of inflation is increasing. They have constituted stern challenges to global economic development. Against the backdrop of the in-depth development of economic globalization, the future and destiny of the Eurasian continent has become more and more closely linked with the future and destiny of the whole world. Asia and Europe cooperating hand in hand to obtain win-win results is our best choice. That the current Asia-Europe Summit Meeting has taken dialogue, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results as its theme is entirely in keeping with the demands of the situation of the development of the relations between Asia and Europe. Since the first Asia-Europe Summit Meeting held in 1996, the meeting has made remarkable achievements in various fields and has become an important platform for Asia-Europe dialogue and cooperation. Being faced with the demands of the new era, both the Asian and European sides should further make good use of this platform, strengthen dialogue, expand consensus, enhance trust and deepen cooperation. Both the Asian and European sides should respect each other's social systems, ideologies, cultural backgrounds and modes of development, and increase the understanding of each other's policies and directions for development. Both the Asian and European sides should, in the spirit of opening up, make full use of the advantage of the strong economic complementarities between the two sides, deepen existing cooperation, constantly nurture new growth points in cooperation, and properly handle trade and economic frictions through dialogue and consultation on an equal basis. Both the Asian and European sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly meet global challenges, promote the stability of the international energy market and grain market, strengthen cooperation in guarding against and resisting disasters, actively respond to climate change, promote the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals, promote multilateralism, promote proper solution to regional and international hotspot issues, and jointly promote world peace and development. Both the Asian and European sides should carry forward the spirit of equality, opening up and inclusiveness, advocate harmonious coexistence of different civilizations, learning from each other's civilizations and using each other's civilizations for reference, and work together to make contribution to the flourishing and progress of human civilization. Strengthening and developing friendly cooperation with other Asian countries and European countries is an important part of China's foreign policy. China will persistently get along harmoniously with other Asian countries and make common development, continue to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU and its member states, deepen PRC-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, actively participate in the progress of the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting, and make its own contribution to promoting Asia-Europe cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Our predecessors once opened up the "Silk Road," which wrote a brilliant page in the history of Asia-Europe relations. Today, we should all the more have greater farsightedness than our predecessors and open up a new situation of Asia-Europe cooperation to bring benefit to the people of various Asian and European countries. Let us work hand in hand and make unremitting efforts to create a new type of Asia-Europe partnership and promote the building of a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity. Finally, I heartily wish the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting complete success. Thank you! Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1222 gmt 24 Oct 08 BBC Mon AS1 AsPol qz.

Posted on Sat, Oct. 25, 2008 Leaders endorse IMF in aiding stricken economies
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press

BEIJING - Seeking a common approach to the global financial turmoil, Asian and European leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.The 43 nations participating in the Asia-Europe Meeting summit reconvened for a second day of meetings in China's capital Saturday, a day after adopting a statement calling on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, the statement said.The leaders also agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, it said.The document is one of the strongest endorsements yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF, long known as the international lender of last resort, and appears to mark a step toward an Asian-European consensus ahead of next month's crisis summit of the 20 largest economies in Washington.Countries as varied as Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland and Pakistan have already turned to the IMF for help bridging their liquidity crunches.On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Asian and European nations need to take a unified front to the Washington meeting.

Europe would like Asia to support our efforts and would like to make sure that on the 15th of November we can face the world together and say that the causes of this unprecedented crisis will never be able to happen again, Sarkozy said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the meeting Saturday that the IMF must become a guard for the stability of the international finance system, and that there was unanimous agreement that the body needed to take on a supervisory role.She also called for the step-by-step integration of the IMF into the Financial Stability Forum, founded in 1999 by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and aimed at bolstering the international financial system.The IMF, whose loans normally include strict provisions, is discussing loan packages with close to a dozen countries and is examining ways to speed up the process.In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday of a global recession and a serious hit to emerging economies, calling for drastic measures to shore up banks and extend lines of credit to the world's poorest states.The U.N. chief said the era of self-regulation among the biggest banks and other money-lending institutions had ended, and he pledged to support European and American efforts to rethink the global financial architecture.The Beijing gathering, known as ASEM, is held every two years but has no mandate to issue decisions and participants differ widely on their views toward international cooperation and intervention by global bodies. Free-trading Singapore and economic powerhouse Germany are attending, along with isolated, impoverished Myanmar and landlocked, authoritarian Laos.Asian financial systems had less direct exposure to the toxic sub-prime mortgages that are wreaking havoc on U.S. and European markets, but their export-driven economies are expected to take a major hit from a drop in exports and foreign investment. Asian stock markets were among the biggest losers Friday in a worldwide plunge in share prices.Associated Press writers Henry Sanderson in Beijing and Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing contributed to this report.

Summit leaders: Global teamwork needed to fight crunchStory Highlights
EC President calls for unity in tackling current global crisis OCT 25,08 Summit calls on financial institutions to support banks,Group of more than 40 nations call for reform of financial, monetary systems,Statement is strongest show yet of Asia-Europe coordinated voice on crisis

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Asian and European leaders vowed Saturday to act together to address the global financial crisis, calling for decisive action following a two-day summit in the Chinese capital.Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right.The ASEM meeting brought together the leaders of 43 Asian and European nations, along with the heads of the European Commission and ASEAN, a group of southeastern Asian nations.Europe and Asia have come together in Beijing at a time of global crisis, and indeed, we are in a moment where we need global teamwork, said EC President Jose Manuel Barroso. We either stick together or we sink together.While the summit is usually a forum for political, economic and cultural issues, it has taken on added significance this year because of the unfolding crisis.On Friday leaders at the summit called for new rules in dealing with international finance. They also urged a leading role for the IMF to help countries like Iceland and Pakistan that are struggling with the current crisis.Europe would like to try and come up with a common position among all of us as to a common response to this unprecedented financial crisis, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. This was a very useful and very promising summit. Europe and Asia have many things that they can do together.In a statement released Friday, the ASEM nations said the crisis can be overcome if all countries take firm, decisive and effective measures in a responsible and timely manner. They called on the international community to boost coordination and cooperation to restore market confidence, stabilize the markets, and promote financial growth.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said investor confidence will ultimately help the world get through the crisis, so that should now be a key focus.

Wen also urged cooperation among countries, especially in clarifying the role of government, companies and regulators.We need even more financial regulation to ensure financial stability, he said. We need to properly handle the relationship between savings and consumption, or accumulation and consumption. We need to keep savings and consumption at a normal, balanced and coordinated relationship with each other. Only in this way can we coordinate economic stability.Countries must also coordinate the virtual economy with the real economy, Wen said. The healthy development of the virtual economy, he said, will facilitate the growth of the real economy.Wen and Sarkozy also looked ahead to next month's financial summit of G20 leaders in the United States.Europe wishes that Asia will support our efforts so together we can tell the world on November 15 that the causes of this crisis, which has no precedence, will not continue to be reproduced on the financial and monetary system, Sarkozy said Friday.Friday's joint statement said there must be more supervision and regulation of all financial actors and that they need to be kept accountable. They said all countries need to strengthen oversight and crisis management mechanisms.Also Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said central banks and the IMF may have to set up major credit lines to bolster emerging economies and help the world's poor affected by the credit crisis.Too often, in recent weeks, financial leaders have been criticized for being too slow to recognize problems, for doing too little too late, he said in a statement. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past.Asian countries have not been as sharply affected by the current crisis as those in Europe, in part because they weren't as exposed to the subprime mortgage problems.Still, growth in Asia is slowing. China announced this week that its GDP growth had slowed to 9.9 percent in the first three quarters of the year -- the lowest in five years. CNN's John Vause contributed to this report.

Finance minister says Canada headed for rough times OCT 24,08
By Frank Pingue Frank Pingue – Fri Oct 24, 3:56 pm

ETNIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (Reuters) – Canadians are headed for tough economic times but the country is better able to withstand them than most others in the West, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday.We're in for rough times. These are difficult times. Canadians should not underestimate what we're facing. We're not an island. We're a trading nation, the newly reelected Conservative minister told a news conference.The point is Canada's better positioned to endure the difficult times than other western industrialized countries.He insisted that the government would be able to maintain a modest budget surplus for the fiscal year that ends next March 31. Ottawa ran a C$1.75 billion ($1.38 billion) deficit in August but still had a C$1.16 billion surplus for the April to August period.Yet Flaherty appeared to leave the door open to possible deficits to stimulate the economy in the future, saying Canada had been paying down debt and reducing taxes.We have more tools available for us in terms of addressing the need for further economic measures if that's what's required, he said.You contrast that with some other countries that are running large deficits, and that in order to take further steps they have to add further burdens on taxpayers ultimately by increasing deficits.Flaherty has promised to present the annual autumn fiscal and economic update by the end of November, in which he will make clearer his view for the 2009-10 fiscal year.We're going to continue to monitor the scenario and make an accurate assessment of where we are. We're only in October and the uncertainty in the global markets continues. It continues today, he said.

It would be irresponsible of me to prejudge where we are going to be as we go over the next few months given that global uncertainty.Although Flaherty has not ruled out deficit spending, something that has not been done by a Canadian government since 1996-97, he said Canadians prefer a steady hand instead of grand new spending schemes.This has been, and this is, a difficult time for Canadian families, for Canadian businesses. People are worried about their jobs and their savings, he said in a speech before his news conference.However, he reiterated that Canada's banks are sound and well capitalized, unemployment is near a generational low and Canadians are able to afford their mortgages, unlike many in the United States.The country's manufacturing sector could also benefit from the recent hammering of the Canadian dollar, which makes Canadian exports cheaper, while making Canadians think twice about buying or traveling outside the country.The Canadian dollar has retreated from par with the U.S. dollar in July to C$1.2715, or 78.65 U.S. cents, to the U.S. dollar on Friday afternoon.The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index dropped nearly 7 percent at the open on Friday in line with a wave of sharp drops on equity markets worldwide, but later retraced some of those losses and was down about 2 percent late in the afternoon.(Writing by Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Belgian PM calls for European emergency fund to aid banks OCT 25,08

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Belgium's prime minister Saturday called for the creation of a European emergency fund to recapitalise banks and guarantee loans between them.In an opinion piece published in Flemish- and French-language newspapers, Prime Minister Yves Leterme said the fund could be used to acquire non-liquid assets.The European Investment Bank (EIB) could borrow the necessary means for the fund, Leterme said, but added that banks that could benefit from them should contribute as a sort of insurance premium.He said the creation of the fund, which would take time, was one of the lessons to be drawn from the rescue of the Franco-Belgian Dexia and Franco-Dutch Fortis banks which had required several European states (Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) to work together.These banks were not only too big to fail but were also too big to be saved by a single country, Leterme wrote. He said that Fortis, Dexia and the Belgian insurance company Ethias, also rescued by the state, represent assets equal to almost three times the gross domestic product of Belgium and that the value of their deposits is greater than national income.

Leterme also called for what he said was the currently controversial idea of a European eurozone financial supervisor.The supervisor would be responsible for financial institutions in the widest sense, not only banks, insurance companies and pension funds, but also credit rating agencies and speculative funds.Earlier this month EU leaders, while emphasising the need to reinforce supervision of the European financial sector only invited national supervisors to meet each month to exchange information.

World leaders pledge financial reform as gloom deepens OCT 25,08

BEIJING (AFP) - World leaders vowed Saturday to overhaul the global financial system in the face of recession fears, but US President George W. Bush urged nations to recommit to free markets despite economic turmoil.After a week of growing economic gloom and plunging stock markets, Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing promised wide-ranging reforms while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for quick change.Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) said in a statement released late Friday.They agreed to take quickly appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institutions.China's Premier Wen Jiabao called for more regulation of the world's financial system, saying after the summit we need to draw lessons from this crisis.We need financial innovation to serve the economy better, however we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety.

Wen confirmed China's participation in a crucial summit in the United States on November 15 aimed at tackling the financial meltdown, without specifying which Chinese leader would attend the meeting of 20 industrialised and emerging powers.The economic turmoil has led to growing criticism of US-style free market capitalism, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week saying the ideology of the dictatorship of the market... is dead.But Bush on Saturday, moving to set an agenda for the upcoming international economic summit, said its participants must recommit to the principles of free enterprise and free trade.As we focus on responses to our short-term challenges, our nations must also recommit to the fundamentals of long-term economic growth -- free markets, free enterprise, and free trade, Bush said in his weekly radio address.The US president, who leaves office in January, added that open market policies have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty.Ban said the Washington meet must address the need for change and joined chief executives of key UN institutions in calling for considered but large-scale reforms.The market and regulatory failures that have led to this crisis must be addressed as a matter of urgency, a joint statement said.We reaffirm the need for meaningful, comprehensive and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system and pledge our support to this end.Stock markets provided a grim backdrop to the Beijing meeting, plummeting Friday after a raft of pessimistic corporate and economic news. Tokyo's dizzying 9.6 percent slump spilt over into Europe, where London's FTSE plunged 5.0 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 312.30 points (3.59 percent) to close at 8,378.95, capping a week when the US blue-chip index dropped more than five percent.The Saudi stock market, the largest in the Arab world, began its trading week on Saturday with a nine percent plunge to sink to its lowest point in four years.Giants of the auto, airline and technology industries took emergency action on Friday.

France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault ordered huge production cuts, while Japan's electronics giant Sony Corp. and Europe's biggest airline Air France-KLM issued profits warnings.Chrysler LLC, the number three US automaker, said it would cut up to 5,000 white-collar jobs by the end of the year as prospects in the sector grow dimmer.New figures showed industrial confidence in both France and Italy had fallen to the lowest level since 1993. In Spain, the unemployment rate jumped to 11.33 percent -- the highest in more than four years.Britain's economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the three months to September compared with the previous quarter, official figures showed, marking the first contraction since 1992.German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck predicted the financial crisis would last until late 2009 in an interview to be published Sunday.The risk of collapse is far from over, he told the Bild am Sonntag weekly.

Mediterranean union water conference called off OCT 25,08

PARIS (AFP) – A conference of European Union and Mediterranean states due to take place in Jordan has been postponed indefinitely because of regional tensions, officials said on Saturday in Paris.The conference (on water) has been postponed at the request of Jordan for reasons to do with the tensions between the Arab League and Israel, said the environment ministry in France, co-chair with Egypt of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM).An official in Amman confirmed the conference had been called off, adding that the Jordanian government would later issue a statement to explain the decision.The long-planned ministerial conference was due to have taken place at Swaimeh on the banks of the Dead Sea. It was mentioned specifically in the July 13 declaration at the Paris summit marking the creation of the UPM.Its stated aim was to establish the broad framework of a long-term strategy for water in the Mediterranean and to establish the first concrete plans in the sector.The UPM has 43 members: the 27 European Union states and 16 Mediterranean nations.In Cairo, meanwhile, an Arab League official said Saturday that the 22-member organisation would attend meetings of the UPM despite Israeli objections.We all agreed the Arab League will participate in meetings given its weight and central role in supporting efforts for security and peace in the region, Fatima al-Zahra said after a meeting of Arab member states of the UPM.Israel has objected to the pan-Arab institution's presence, saying the Arab League would oppose the Jewish state's participation in the UPM.

Russia says its economy remains strong Oct. 25, 2008 at 11:58

MOSCOW, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Russian banking officials say the country's economy remains strong and there is no need to change the ruble's trading targets.We see no grounds for a revision of the corridor, said Alexei Ulyukayev, Russian Central Bank first deputy chairman, Saturday.International investors have withdrawn billions of dollars from Russia since the world credit crisis began in August while lower oil prices have reduced the flow of capital into Russia, RIA Novosti reported.About $800 million in capital flowed into Russia in the first three quarters of 2008, while Russia saw an outflow of an estimated $7 billion in August and $25 billion in September, Ulyukayev said, adding October's outflow should be less than in September.

Uses for $700 billion bailout money ever shifting OCT 25,08
By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer John Dunbar,

WASHINGTON – First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets.Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them.Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners keep the foreclosure wolf from the door.As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress.In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has deviated significantly from its original course, says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. We need to examine closely the reason for this change, said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the troubled asset relief program, or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying toxic mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices.

But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending.Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was beyond troubling.Sure enough, a day after Dodd, D-Conn., made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program, Paulson recently told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now.Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses.Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock.There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders, he said.Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money under the proverbial mattress rather than make loans.Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating.As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program.Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets, Kashkari said. The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as custodian of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct reverse auctions to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities. On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it. With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments. The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market, Dodd said. And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures.Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working closely and creatively with Treasury officials to realize the potential benefits of this authority.On the Net: Treasury: http://www.treasury.gov/

Christians face attacks in eastern India OCT 25,08
By TIM SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer

TIKKABALLI, India – They still worship in what remains of the little Baptist church not far from this forest town. The church is empty except for the rubble swept neatly into the corners. The sun comes through ragged holes where the mob smashed in the window frames.On the roof, the crucifix is just twisted metal and broken concrete. It's barely recognizable, and you have to ask to make sure that's what it once was.Here, prayers are said only in secret.We do it without making any noise, said Subhash Digal, holding his four-month-old son on his hip as he stood outside the church, where the smell of burned timber lingered on a warm autumn afternoon. We don't want these people to know we are inside.In this corner of the eastern state of Orissa, it's hard to find a Christian who isn't afraid.Bloody anti-Christian riots broke out here in late August, rampages by Hindu hard-liners that since then have left at least 38 people dead, as many as 30,000 homeless and dozen of churches destroyed. The worst of the violence ended after a week or so, when authorities finally deployed soldiers to set up checkpoints and relief camps.But nearly every day since then, the trouble has continued: a house burned, a carload of people beaten, a soldier hacked to death. Repeatedly, Christian villagers say, they have been told they must convert to Hinduism. The anti-Christian violence has also flickered across other parts of India, with churches vandalized and Christians attacked in the high-tech hub of Bangalore, the city of Mangalore and the coastal state of Kerala.In a country desperate to be seen as a stable, democratic world power, the violence is a window into India's hidden fragility, its sometimes-dangerous political climate and the fierce historical divisions buried in its vast diversity.India is more than 80 percent Hindu but its 1.1 billion people include all of the world's major religions, a caste system of near-impossible complexity, colossal divides of wealth and poverty, and, by some estimates, more than 2,000 ethnic groups.

If you look at Africa, you don't see this kind of diversity, if you look at all of Europe, you don't see this kind of diversity, said Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu intellectual and liberal social activist. When it comes to India's continued existence: Sometimes I think it's a miracle.Trouble can seem inevitable. In just the past couple weeks violence has ranged from the northeastern state of Assam, where at least 50 people have died in ethnic clashes, to the central state of Madhya Pradesh state, where three people were killed in religious riots after a Hindu procession passed through a Muslim neighborhood.Then there is Orissa's Kandhamal district, where widespread trouble began after the Aug. 24 killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a hard-line Hindu leader who rose to prominence in the area by advocating that Christian converts return to Hinduism.Police blamed Maoist guerrillas for the killing, though it's unclear why they would have targeted him.But Hindu militants quickly turned on local Christians, setting fire to a Christian orphanage and attacking churches and Christian-owned shops and homes. A nun accused a Hindu mob of raping her. At least 32 people have been killed, tens of thousands have fled their homes and thousands are believed still to be hiding in Orissa's thick forests.The Kandhamal region is a place where villagers tend farms in small valleys circled by humpbacked hills, and where roadside ponds are filled with swimming children and floating lotuses. But it's also a place long cut off by poverty and illiteracy, where electricity is unknown in most villages and the pay for day laborers — the only job most people hope for — is 30 rupees, or 60 cents. That wage is only for men: Women earn 20 rupees, or 40 cents.Kandhamal has long been a battleground over Christian missionary work among low-caste Hindus and the indigenous people known in India as tribals. While Christians account for just 2.5 percent of India, their population in Kandhamal has risen sharply in recent decades, reaching nearly 20 percent by the last census in 2001.Hindu militants say the reason for this is obvious: Missionaries are forcing or bribing people to convert, stealing followers from India's true religion.This is a kind of cultural invasion, Gauri Shankar Rath, a top official in the Orissa state VHP, the umbrella organization of Hindu nationalists, said in a telephone interview. Our culture is being attacked.

Missionaries dismiss such accusations. And conversion does offer worldly benefits: For the low-caste, there's a partial escape from the stigmas of the Hindu caste system. Some missionaries also reach out to followers by building medical clinics and schools. But as with much of India's violence, the obvious rationale for Kandhamal's bloodshed is really just one tile in a mosaic of discontent. Much of the bitterness here is rooted in competition between two groups struggling at the bottom of India's social spectrum: the Panas and the Kandhas. The Panas are dalits, the group once known in India as untouchables, while the Kandhas are tribals. The two have long competed for land, and more recently for jobs and school seats reserved by the government for the disadvantaged. Over the past 20 years, the Kandhas have largely remained Hindu while many Panas have converted to Christianity, tangling religion into their conflict. Christians — even dalit converts — are not supposed to be eligible for reserved positions, but many Kandhas insist Pana Christian still find ways to get them. The Christians deny the accusation.

Then there is politics.

Many of the attacks, victims say, were carried out by the Bajrang Dal, a militant group closely allied to the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist political party that is part of Orissa's coalition government. The Hindu right-wing has long stirred up religious resentments as a way to shore up its voter base — and Orissa, as people here quickly point out, is expected to hold elections early next year. This isn't a war between Hindus and Christians, said Ugrasena Rana, a 32-year-old Hindu from Bujulimendi, a small village where a roaming gang burned down a half-dozen or so Christian homes after the swami was killed. This is a war between the Bajrang Dal and the people who will not follow their commands.In some ways, though, the Christians of Bujulimendi are lucky. Their Hindu neighbors have tried to protect them, and many Christian families now sleep in Hindu homes in case the mobs return.

The situation is grimmer outside the ransacked Baptist church, where villagers say their attackers included many people they knew. That mob, about 50 people armed with knives, swords and clubs, stormed through the village, chanting the name of the Hindu god Ram as they destroyed the church and Christian homes. Since then, smaller groups have returned repeatedly. There is seldom violence, but they state their message bluntly: convert or die. Eventually, villagers worry, the threat will be carried out. What can we do? asked Digal, the man dangling his baby. They are trying to force us to become Hindu.So will he convert? I don't know, he said, staring down at the ground. I haven't decided yet.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Ukraine turns down Russia fleet base offer Thu Oct 23, 1:40 pm

ETKIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine has turned down a Russian proposal to extend the lease for the naval base used by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.Russia wants the fleet to remain in the Crimean port of Sevastopol beyond 2017. The Kremlin is eager to maintain its strategic foothold on the Crimean Peninsula, which was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union.Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the issue cannot be a subject of discussion. It said that Russian ships will have to leave Ukrainian waters in 2017.Russia has said it wants to negotiate new terms when 2017 draws closer. Moscow hopes pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko will be out of power by then.


Russia warns U.S. sanctions on state-run arms exporter will affect relations OCT 24,08

(RTTNews) - Russia warned the United States that its imposition of sanctions against state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport would affect bilateral relations.

Addressing a press conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington's action is against international law.Washington need not expect Russia to make concessions on the Iranian nuclear issue under pressure from the sanctions, Lavrov told reporters Friday.Rosoboronexport was included in a blacklist of firms in Russia and some other nations that the U.S. State Department published Thursday. The sanctions were imposed for allegedly selling sensitive technology to countries, including Iran, for the development of weapons of mass destruction.A punitive action is already in force on the Russian firm, with effect from 2006.For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

EU terror list outpacing court rulings
PHILIPPA RUNNER 24.10.2008 @ 09:32 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), the country's leading opposition group, will stay on the EU's terrorist register despite a second European court ruling, as EU member states outpace the courts with fresh decisions every few months.The European Court of First Instance verdict on Thursday (23 October) dissolved a decision taken by EU states in December 2007 to keep the PMOI on its blacklist, saying UK evidence against the group was invalid.The terrorist register names over 60 organisations, resulting in international stigma, a freeze on EU financial assets and a ban on fund-raising.It is managed by EU member state intelligence services meeting in a clearing house working group with no political or judicial oversight and with their decisions later rubber-stamped by EU ministers as EU common positions.The court's Thursday decision on the PMOI does not apply to a subsequent common position of July 2008, with EU member states saying that new information concerning the group has been brought to the Council's attention [that] warrants the group's inclusion on the list.The PMOI has appealed the July move as well, but the court is unlikely to issue a new verdict before the clearing house refreshes the list again in November or December, perpetuating the legal cycle.The EU court in 2006 had already annulled a previous common position of 2005.The PMOI and its Paris-based sister group, the National Resistance Council of Iran (NRCI) have been battling clearing house for six years.The Iran group - which was responsible for bombings and attacks against the Islamic regime in Iran in the 1980s and 1990s - renounced violence in 2001 and now claims to represent the strongest pro-democratic voice in the country today.NRCI leader Maryam Rajavi accuses the EU and US - which also calls PMOI a terrorist organisation - of restricting the Mujahedin to curry favour with Tehran in nuclear proliferation talks.

Meanwhile, Iranian diplomats say the PMOI-NRCI organisation is a dangerous Rajavi-personality cult mistrusted by ordinary Iranians, which should not be let off the hook for past actions.