RUSSIA DISPLAYS MILITARY

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.

Shopping mall in Mississippi hit by apparent tornado; no injuries Thu May 8, 11:35 AM By The Associated Press

TUPELO, Miss. - A shopping mall in Tupelo, Miss., has been damaged by what is believed to have been a tornado. No injuries are reported. However, power lines are down and authorities are getting reports of fallen trees and other debris in the area. The Lee County sheriff's office says officers spotted a possible tornado moving in and out of the clouds. But meteorologists have yet to confirm the storm was a twister. A number of northeast Mississippi counties and portions of northwest Alabama are under a tornado watch until midafternoon Thursday.

Experts warn of renewed flood risk Wed May 7, 6:27 AM

LONDON (AFP) - Britain faces a repeat of last summer's devastating floods with hundreds of power stations and water treatment facilities at the mercy of overflowing rivers, a report said Wednesday.The floods in June and July claimed the lives of nine people and cost more than three billion pounds after 44,600 homes and 7,100 businesses were flooded.Last year's events also highlighted the vulnerability of key infrastructure, such as power stations, to flooding.The government has allocated 800 million pounds to flood management, but the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee warned of a total lack of awareness about the vulnerability of hundreds of key sites and the risks posed by natural hazards are already rising and are predicted to rise further.Current flood defences focus almost entirely on river and coastal flooding but most of the 2007 floods were caused by a deluge of surface water in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the West Country -- regions not previously thought to be at risk of flooding.

The MPs said no organisation had responsibility for removing surface water, for issuing flood warnings or clearing overflowing drains.It urged the Environment Agency to take a pivotal role in dealing with such national and local events.The public will not forgive the government if it is not seen to be responding to the lessons learnt from the floods of last summer, said committtee chairman Michael Jack MP.Our report has shown how confused and chaotic was the infrastructure when it came to preventing and dealing with surface water flooding.The government must bring clarity to this situation so that the public, wherever they live, can have peace of mind that every effort is being made to avoid a repeat of the fiasco of last summer, he added.

Tornado knocks vehicles around in N. Carolina, kills 1 MAY 9,08

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Authorities were waiting for daylight early Friday so they could begin assessing the damage from a reported tornado that killed one person and injured three others in central North Carolina. What law enforcement officers said was a tornado touched down on the outskirts of Greensboro late Thursday as severe storms swept across the Southeast, damaging homes and businesses in at least three other states.An apparent tornado also wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were damaged.The person killed was in a small truck that overturned in a parking lot in a parking lot west of Greensboro, said Alan Perdue, emergency services director for Guilford County. He did not have other details.The storm also knocked down a wall at a distributing business, sending one person to the hospital, Perdue said. Two others were hurt while in vehicles, but Perdue said he did not know what happened. None of the injuries were considered life threatening.

The Winston-Salem Journal quoted the North Carolina Highway Patrol as saying the storm blew three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40.
Numerous trees and power lines were down and there were some trees on houses, Perdue said.We won't really know until we get daylight to get into the high impact areas to know if we have any other injuries or fatalities, he said.In Alabama, at least 15 school systems released students early, while others held students late as squalls passed. Winds blew a piece of metal roofing off Hamilton High School, about 90 miles northwest of Birmingham.For 10 minutes, it was pretty good wind with lightning and thunder and rain blowing sideways, said Todd Page, who works at a car dealership in Hamilton.

There were no confirmed reports of tornadoes in Alabama but winds gusting up to 60 mph flipped a mobile home, said George Grabryan, emergency management director in Lauderdale County. A house and a building in the rural county were also damaged.In Tupelo, Miss., an apparent tornado wrecked a furniture store where William Felks and Allan Jackson had to brace themselves during the storm.Me and Allan hid behind a door, and I was holding on to his belt as tight as I could. Then in seconds it stopped, Felks told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. It took less than a minute to mess this whole building up. Man, I was scared.Associated Press writer Chris Talbott in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.

Cyclone Nargis had all the makings of a perfect storm By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer Thu May 8, 3:57 PM ET

BANGKOK, Thailand - A cyclone with winds up to 120 mph. A low-lying, densely populated delta region, stripped of its protective trees. When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta and pushed a wall of water 25 miles inland, it had all the makings of a massive disaster.When we saw the (storm) track, I said, Uh oh, this is not going to be good, said Mark Lander, a meteorology professor at the University of Guam. It would create a big storm surge. It was like Katrina going into New Orleans.Forecasters began tracking the cyclone April 28 as it first headed toward India. As projected, it took a sharp turn eastward, but didn't follow the typical cyclone track in that area leading to Bangladesh or Myanmar's mountainous northwest.Instead, it swept into the low-lying Irrawaddy delta in central Myanmar. The result was the worst disaster ever in the impoverished country.It was the first time such an intense storm hit the delta, said Jeff Masters, co-founder and director of meteorology at the San Francisco-based Weather Underground. He called it one of those once-in-every-500-years kind of things.

The easterly component of the path is unusual, Masters said. It tracked right over the most vulnerable part of the country, where most of the people live.When the storm made landfall early Saturday at the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, its battering winds pushed a wall of water as high as 12 feet some 25 miles inland, laying waste to villages and killing tens of thousands.Most of the dead were in the delta, where farm families sleeping in flimsy shacks barely above sea level were swept to their deaths. Almost 95 percent of the houses and other buildings in seven townships were destroyed, Myanmar's government says. U.N. officials estimate 1.5 million people were left in severe straits.When you look at the satellite picture of before and after the storm the effects look eerily similar to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in how it inundated low-lying areas, said Ken Reeves, director of forecasting for AccuWeather.com.The Irrawaddy delta is huge and the interaction of water and land lying right at sea level allowed the tidal surge to deliver maximum penetration of sea water over land, Reeves said. Storms like this do most of their killing through floods, with salt water being even more dangerous than fresh water.The delta had lost most of its mangrove forests along the coast to shrimp farms and rice paddies over the past decade. That removed what scientists say is one of nature's best defenses against violent storms.If you look at the path of the (cyclone) that hit Myanmar, it hit exactly where it was going to do the most damage, and it's doing the most damage because much of the protective vegetation was cleared, said Jeff NcNeely, chief scientist for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.It's an expensive lesson, but it has been one taught repeatedly, he said. You just wonder why governments don't get on this.

Some environmentalists suggested global warming may have played a role. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that warming oceans could contribute to increasingly severe cyclones with stronger winds and heavier rains.While we can never pinpoint one disaster as the result of climate change, there is enough scientific evidence that climate change will lead to intensification of tropical cyclones, said Sunita Narain, director of the Indian environmental group Center for Science and Environment.Nargis is a sign of things to come, she said. The victims of these cyclones are climate change victims and their plight should remind the rich world that it is doing too little to contain its greenhouse gas emissions.Weather experts, however, are divided over whether global warming is a factor in catastrophic storms. At a January conference of the American Meteorological Society, some postulated warmer ocean temperatures may actually reduce the strength of cyclones and hurricanes. Masters, at Weather Underground, said Wednesday that in the case of Nargis, the meteorological data in the Indian Ocean region is too short and too poor in quality to make judgments about whether tropical cyclones have been affected by global warming.Despite assertions by Myanmar's military government that it warned people about the storm, critics contend the junta didn't do enough to alert the delta and failed to organize any evacuations, saying that made the death toll worse. Villagers were totally unaware, said 38-year-old Khin Khin Myawe, interviewed in the hard-hit delta town of Labutta. We knew the cyclone was coming but only because the wind was very strong. No local authorities ever came to us with information about how serious the storm was.The India Meteorological Department, one of six regional warning centers set up by the World Meteorological Organization, began sending regular storm advisories April 27. The information appeared in Myanmar's state-run newspapers, radio and television 48 hours ahead of the storm.

But the international advisories said nothing about a storm surge. And Myanmar, unlike its neighbors Bangladesh and India, has no radar network to help predict the location and height of surges, the WMO said. There also wasn't any coordinated effort on the part of the junta to move people out of low-lying areas, even though information was available about the expected time and location of landfall. How is it possible that there was such a great death toll in the 21st century when we have imagery from satellites in real time and there are specialized meteorology centers in all the regions? said Olavo Rasquinho of the U.N. Typhoon Committee Secretariat. Bangladesh has a storm protection system that includes warning sirens, evacuation routes and sturdy towers to shelter people, measures that were credited with limiting the death toll from last year's Cyclone Sidr to 3,100. Atiq A. Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies and a disaster specialist, said Myanmar's death toll would have been lower if it had such a system.

Taking some action to move people from affected areas would have dramatically helped reduce the numbers of causalities. Absolutely, Rahman said. But junta officials and some weather experts said evacuating a large area with millions of residents would have been nearly impossible, given the poor roads, the distance to some villages and the likely refusal of some families to leave. Even if they warned them, they can't go anywhere. Or they are afraid to go anywhere because they are afraid of losing their property, said Lander, the University of Guam professor. It is debatable how much of a mass exodus you could have had.Associated Press writer Lily Hindy contributed to this report.

Experts check to see if tornadoes caused damage in Oklahoma By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Thu May 8, 10:51 AM ET

OKLAHOMA CITY - Experts picked through debris and damage Thursday to determine whether tornadoes touched down after severe storms moved through the state, toppling trees and knocking out power to thousands of people. As the storms hit Wednesday with thunderstorms, high winds, hail and heavy rain, Shaydestiny Johnson, 16, and her grandmother rushed into the bathroom in their home in suburban Bethany when they saw the balcony patio fall.You could feel the house shaking, Johnson said. Pictures were falling off the wall. I was shaking.The possible twister spun up over western Oklahoma County as severe storms moved through during the afternoon rush hour. At least one injury was reported when a woman broke her leg trying to get to a storm shelter in Bethany, authorities said.Witnesses reported seeing two tornadoes on the ground about 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Ty Judd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Those two reports are ones we can say with a fair amount of confidence that tornadoes did occur, Judd said Thursday. They'll look at the damage and, based on that, they'll be able to tell how strong they were.About 14,000 customers lost power at the height of the storm, and a fraction of those were still in the dark Thursday morning.The storms toppled several trees in Bethany. One hit a gas meter, spewing gas into the air and forcing the evacuation of about 50 residents, said police spokesman Ali Razavi. They were allowed to return after the gas was shut off, Razavi said.Highway motorists also spotted the possible tornadoes in Oklahoma City during rush hour.We've had a lot of fender benders in the metro, and I don't know if that's because folks are looking at the clouds or the rain is getting the best of them, Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Betsy Randolph said.The storms were part of a system that moved out of the Rockies into the southern Plains. The storms followed an initial wave of severe weather that dumped more than 2 inches of rain on many parts of the state, including Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

It's that time of year, Ken Gallant, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.Oklahoma will get a break from the rain and wind on Thursday, but there's a chance some storms could drift out of Kansas into northern sections of the state early Friday, Gallant said. More storms are possible on Saturday.

NC officials: Fatal twister could have been worse By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer MAY 9,08

RALEIGH, N.C. - Amber Parker watched on television as the storm near her home grew into a tornado threat. Then, when the roaring wind outside suddenly fell silent, she grabbed her two toddlers and rushed to get under the stairwell. We just got inside the door frame when I was pushed inside ... then everything went, said Parker, tears welling in her eyes as she described the chaotic scene during a brief discussion with reporters near her demolished home in central North Carolina.Neighbors helped the 36-year-old Parker and her two children — a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old — out of the ruins that used to be their home, and the three survived with barely a scratch.We're blessed, she said.The powerful storm system that swept through the Southeast and the mid-Atlantic states late Thursday and into early Friday produced two tornadoes. In North Carolina, the storm left one person dead, several injured and scores of homes and businesses damaged.Donald Ray Needham, 51, of Jackson Springs, died when his truck overturned in a parking lot just west of Greensboro, authorities said. They said three others were injured, one when the storm knocked down a wall at a distributing business, and two others when their vehicles flipped off the road.

In Greensboro, some homes and businesses on the outskirts of town were damaged, and two FedEx airplanes were pitched off the tarmac and into an airport construction site. No one was injured at the airport.And while officials scoured through wreckage when daylight arrived Friday, they found no new injuries or fatalities.I thought we were going to come back to something a lot worse than what we have out there, said David Douglas, assistant chief for the Greensboro Fire Department. It could have been much worse than it was.The National Weather Service reported preliminary indications that the Greensboro tornado clocked in as a category EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, meaning the funnel was packing winds between 111 and 135 mph.Julia Jarema, a spokeswoman with the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said the storm blew three tractor-trailers off Interstate 40. Michelle Brock, assistant coordinator for Forsyth County emergency management, said firefighters rescued five people because of flooding in Winston-Salem. She said high water had displaced about 10 people.Earlier Thursday, an apparent tornado wrecked a shopping area in Mississippi and strong winds flipped a mobile home in Alabama. In south-central Tennessee, at least four homes and a few barns were reported damaged.The storm made its way to Virginia and Maryland late Thursday and early Friday, leaving between 75 and 100 homes in northeastern Virginia damaged, about 30 of them severely, said Stafford County spokeswoman Cathy Riddle. She said two people were injured; one of them was taken to a hospital and later released. The National Weather Service confirmed later Friday that a tornado was responsible.Dozens of residents were taken to a temporary shelter at a middle school.Weather service officials confirmed Friday that a tornado also touched down Thursday night in Franklin and Henry counties in western Virginia. The EF1 twister, with winds of 86 to 95 mph, downed trees and damaged homes in a mile-long path, officials said.Portions of northern and central Virginia and southern Maryland remained under a flood warning Friday morning.
Associated Press writers Chris Talbott in Jackson, Miss., and Jack Jones in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.

100,000 FEARED DEAD NOW.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7744208&ch=4226714&src=news

Malaria, diarrhea reported after storm hits Myanmar By MARGIE MASON, AP Medical Writer Thu May 8, 3:44 PM ET

Health experts are scrambling to prevent widespread illness after reports of malaria outbreaks and diarrhea surfaced in areas of Myanmar hardest hit by a cyclone, U.N. health officials said Thursday. Early estimates indicate 20 percent of children in the most devastated areas are suffering from diarrhea, and the situation could worsen, said Osamu Kunii, UNICEF's chief of health and nutrition in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city.Most of the area is covered by dirty water, he said. There's a lot of dead bodies and they have very poor access — sometimes no access — to clean drinking water or food.Water purification tablets are unlikely to help because much of the water supply has been contaminated by saltwater, he said.It was unclear how many people may have malaria, but the mosquito-borne disease is endemic to Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, deputy director of the World Heath Organization's Southeast Asia office in New Delhi. She said 10,000 mosquito nets were being sent in.Safe water, sanitation, safe food. These are things that we feel are priorities at the moment, Singh said.Cyclone Nargis lashed Yangon along with the country's major rice-growing region Saturday, killing tens of thousands.The WHO team in Myanmar is working to assess the situation, and a few international technical experts are making their way into the country, Singh said.It reminds me of the tsunami when every day the figures kept rising, and that's really the pattern here, she said, referring to the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed nearly 230,000 people.

Kunii said the situation in Myanmar is worse in some ways because more people suffered severe injuries from strong winds, high tides and flooding. And he noted that after the tsunami, food and water could be obtained from inland areas that were not hit by the killer waves.This time it is quite difficult because most of the areas are quite remote and difficult to access, Kunii said. We are trying our best.Tens of thousands of people die every year in Myanmar, also known as Burma, from tuberculosis, AIDS and diarrhea. Malaria alone kills about 3,000 people annually in the country.In 2000, WHO ranked Myanmar's health system as the world's worst after war-ravaged Sierra Leone. There are hospitals, but most people cannot afford treatment because about 90 percent of the population lives on just $1 a day.Margie Mason covers medical issues for The Associated Press across the Asia-Pacific. She is based in Hanoi, Vietnam.

FAMINE

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

WERE I LIVE GAS IS 5.25 A GALLON.

Gas jumps above $3.67, oil passes $126 on Venezuela concerns By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer Fri May 9, 4:20 PM ET

NEW YORK - Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time Friday, bringing its advance this week to nearly $10, as investors questioned whether a possible confrontation between the U.S. and Venezuela could cut exports from the OPEC member. Gas prices, meanwhile, rose above an average $3.67 a gallon at the pump, following oil's recent path higher. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published a report that suggested closer ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and rebels attempting to overthrow Colombia's government. Chavez has been linked to Colombian rebels previously, but the paper reported it had reviewed computer files indicating concrete offers by Venezuela's leader to arm guerillas. That appears to heighten the chances that the U.S. could impose sanctions on one of its biggest oil suppliers.If we put on sanctions, I'm sure Chavez would threaten to cut off our oil supply, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. "Obviously that would have a major impact on oil prices.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery vaulted to a new record of $126.25 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating slightly to settle up $2.27 at a record $125.96. Oil futures set new records for the fifth straight day, and ended the week up $9.64, or 8.3 percent.Even if Chavez cut oil shipments to the U.S., Venezuelan oil would still make its way to the U.S. via middle men, who would buy it from Venezuela and resell it to the U.S., Flynn said. But that new layer in the supply chain would bump up costs.

Oil prices also were boosted Friday by the dollar, which declined against the euro. The European Central Bank said it was unlikely to consider interest rate cuts to cool the strong euro against the slumping dollar. Investors often buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback falls. A weaker dollar also makes oil less expensive to overseas investors.Many analysts believe the dollar's protracted decline has much to do with the doubling in oil prices since this time last year. Another school of thought thinks tight global supplies of oil, driven by growing demand in countries such as China, Brazil and India, is the primary factor driving oil higher.Oil's surge is pushing retail gas prices higher. The national average price of a gallon of regular gas jumped 2.6 cents overnight to a record $3.671 a gallon according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The Energy Department expects prices to peak at a monthly average of $3.73 in June, though many analysts say national average prices could rise as high as $4. Consumers in many regions, including parts of California and Hawaii, are already paying that much.

Demand for diesel fuel is also growing worldwide, but supplies of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, fell unexpectedly last week, the Energy Department said Wednesday. That's pushing U.S. diesel prices to record highs and inflating heating oil prices in the futures market; heating oil futures are often viewed as a proxy for diesel.Heating oil for June delivery rose 12.62 cents to settle at $3.636 on the Nymex after earlier setting a trading record of $3.6524. At truck stops, retail diesel prices rose 1.8 cents overnight to a record national average of $4.269 a gallon,Diesel is used to move most of the world's food, consumer and industrial goods via truck, ship and rail. Skyrocketing diesel prices are part of the reason food and consumer goods prices are so high.In other Nymex trading Friday, June gasoline futures rose 6.34 cents to settle at a record $3.2012 a gallon after rising to its own record of $3.2038, and June natural gas futures rose 27.4 cents to settle at $11.537 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, June Brent crude futures rose $2.56 to settle at $125.40 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.Associated Press Writer Pablo Gorondi in Budapest and AP Business Writer Thomas Hogue in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.

Oil surpasses $125 per barrel ahead of US driving season By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer MAY 9,08

Oil prices surged past $125 per barrel Friday on the eve of the U.S. driving season as a weakening U.S. dollar drove investors to snap up commodities. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose as high as $125.12 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at midday before falling back to $124.86 by early afternoon in Europe.On Thursday, the contract rose to a record close of $123.69 a barrel.In London, Brent crude contracts also hit record highs before slipping and traded up $1.13 on the day at $123.97 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Earlier Friday, Brent had reached $124.25 before falling back.On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published a report that suggested closer ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and rebels attempting to overthrow Colombia's government, heightening chances that the U.S. could impose sanctions on one of its biggest oil suppliers as a state sponsor of terror.

Chavez has been linked to Colombian rebels previously, but the paper reported it had reviewed computer files indicating concrete offers by Venezuela's leader to arm guerillas.Comments Thursday from European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet signaling that the bank was unlikely to consider interest rate cuts helped strengthen the euro against the U.S. currency.By midday in Europe, the euro stood at $1.5466 compared to $1.5404 in late trading Thursday night in New York. The dollar was also weaker Friday against the British pound and the Japanese yen.Investors view commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation, and some analysts think the dollar's protracted decline is the main reason behind oil prices doubling from a year ago. Also, a weaker dollar makes oil cheaper to investors overseas.A prediction by analysts at Goldman Sachs seeing oil rising as high as $150 to $200 a barrel within two years also has boosted prices.Analysts, however, struggled to explain the continued rise of oil futures after a larger-than-expected build in crude oil stocks reported Wednesday in the United States.Some pointed to a small decline in distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil and normally drive prices during the Northern Hemisphere winter; others said speculation and computer-generated buying was keeping oil prices high.

Crude oil is currently held up in a tug-of-war between the Goldman reality and the physical reality, said Olivier Jakob of Switzerland's Petromatrix in a research note, adding that the investment bank's prediction made for a great story to support pension funds piling more into commodities.Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank in Melbourne, Australia, said it may be a combination of continued wariness over potential supply disruptions as well as prospects for a strengthening in crude demand heading into the U.S. summer driving season.U.S. gasoline stocks have certainly dropped quite sharply over the last month, he said. What'll happen in the near term is that we may likely see an uptick in U.S. refining capacity to rebuild gasoline stocks and we may see a short-term build in crude demand as a result.Computer files retrieved from the laptop of a top guerrilla suggested broader and deeper ties between Venezuela's leader and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia than has been reported in the past, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Ties between the U.S. and Venezuela are already strained. Chavez has said the computer files are fakes.Prices may also be getting a boost from comments Thursday by the OPEC secretary general.

Abdalla Salem El-Badri on Thursday reiterated his position that oil supplies are adequate. He said several Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries oil projects are coming on line, but he noted that several member countries are having a hard time finding buyers for their additional supplies. In other Nymex trading, June gasoline futures rose 1.92 cents to $3.1570 a gallon, while heating oil futures rose 3.02 cents to $3.54 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 5.1 cents to US$11.314 per 1,000 cubic feet. AP Business Writer Thomas Hogue in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.

70 people sickened during San Francisco conference By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - It's a new kind of virus for Sun Microsystems Inc.
At the company's JavaOne conference this week in San Francisco, 70 people came down with what officials believe is norovirus, a type of medical virus easily spread by touching dirty surfaces.The city's Department of Public Health started receiving reports on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, the department warned people who felt they had been infected to stay home.Shawn Dainas, a spokesman for Santa Clara-based Sun Microsystems, which makes servers and software and is accustomed to protecting against viruses of the digital variety, said the company also alerted attendees about the illness by e-mail.David Perry, spokesman for the Moscone Center, said 67 of people infected were staff working at the weeklong conference and 3 were attendees. He said the facility had been fully cleaned and disinfected by Friday afternoon, when the conference was winding down on schedule.Norovirus causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and lasts 24 to 48 hours.No victims were hospitalized, said Jim Soos, the health department's assistant director of public policy and planning.Workers disinfected surfaces including food preparation tables, escalator handrails, desks and bathrooms to reduce the risk of the virus spreading further, Soos said. It was unclear where the virus started.We're saying that healthy people should be careful, wash their hands a lot, kind of the standard public health practices, he said.

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *
60 WAYS TO BLESS ISRAEL AT 60 By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., May 8, 2008) -- Israel turns 60 today on the Jewish calendar. The Joshua Fund team salutes the brave men and women whom God brought back to the Holy Land to fulfill the prophecies of Ezekiel 36 & 37 -- to rebuild the ancient ruins, make the deserts bloom, create an exceedingly great army and forge a homeland to protect and defend the Jewish people from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

We also salute all those Jews, Christians and other righteous Gentiles in the U.S. and around the world who have shown unconditional love and unwavering support to Israel in the face of tremendous opposition. Last month The Joshua Fund gathered 2,000 Christian and Jewish leaders at the international convention center in Jerusalem for the inaugural Epicenter Conference. We celebrated Israel's birthday, examined the threats facing her at present from radical Islam, and discussed ways Christians could bless Israel at this critical hour. Out of that conference came 60 Ways To Bless Israel At 60. We hope you will be moved to pursue some of these ways in the days and weeks ahead.

1. Help provide brand new backpacks and school supplies for needy Israeli school children. The Joshua Fund has committed $100,000 to this project, working with Jewish and Christian allies in Israel. The backpacks need to be purchased soon and in bulk to get the best prices. They will be distributed in September, when the new school year begins. Would you consider signing up to make a monthly donation to The Joshua Fund of $25, $40 or $60? All donations are tax deductible. For more information on how to make contributions by mail -- or by secure on-line credit card transactions -- please see below.

2. Stock one bomb shelter in northern Israel with food, water, a first aid kit, other emergency supplies and a secure storage locker. There are currently some 5,500 bomb shelters that need to be urgently stocked with supplies before the next war. The Joshua Fund is currently raising funds to stock 100 as soon as possible. Cost per bomb shelter: $5,500.

3. Provide one ton of food to care for needy families in northern Israel who were hit by 4,000 rockets and missiles during the 2006 war with Hezbollah. These families are still recovering from that war. Many live on less than $500 a month. And food prices are rising in Israel, as they are around the globe. Every month, therefore, The Joshua Fund pays for about 10 tons of food to be purchased by one of our allies in Israel, distributed to the needy in the north, as well as stockpiled for the next war. Cost: $2,500 per ton.

4. Help purchase desperately needed medical equipment such as respirators, ventilators, operating room lamps, mobile x-ray machines and the like for under-funded regional hospitals in Israel. At the request of hospital administrators, The Joshua Fund has adopted the Barzilai Medical Center in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon to help them raise funds for such equipment. Barzilai is the only hospital and trauma center serving the 500,000 Israelis living near the Gaza border and facing a nearly constant barrage of rockets, missiles and mortars. They are doing heroic work, but they do need our help. Cost: Some of this equipment is very costly, averaging between $20,000 to $80,000 each. A donation of $5,000 would help significantly towards meeting these vital needs.

5. Help provide food baskets to needy families in Jerusalem on Jewish holidays. Working with our local allies, The Joshua Fund recently helped finance the distribution of 680 food baskets to needy Israeli families for Passover.

6. Provide food, blankets, wheelchairs and other assistance to Holocaust victims in Israel, many of whom tragically live at or below the poverty level, even within the Jewish State.

7. Help care for the homeless in Israel.

8. Help finance soup kitchens in Israel.

9. Help care for Sudanese refugees in Israel.

10. Help provide blankets and heaters for the elderly in Israel during the cold winter months, since many do not have -- or cannot afford -- central heating. Help finance the purchase of vans for Israeli organizations that distribute humanitarian aid so they can get supplies to the people that need them most in a more efficient manner. The Joshua Fund is involved in all these areas of relief work -- caring for Holocaust victims, the homeless, refugees, and others -- and we would be honored to get you involved in funding critically important projects such as these.

11. Track daily news coverage of Israel in English through The Jerusalem Post.

12. Track daily news coverage of Israel in English through Ynetnews.com.

13. Track daily news coverage of Israel in English through Haaretz, one of the leading papers in Jerusalem.

14. Track the latest statements and interviews by radical Islamic fanatics -- translated into English -- at the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

15. Become a faithful prayer partner for Israel and her neighbors. The Joshua Fund is looking for 100,000 partners to sign up for free Flash Traffic email alerts that include analysis and commentary on events and trends in Israel and the epicenter, Joshua Fund project updates, and prayer requests. More than 52,000 people from all over the world have joined already. You can join the team by clicking below.

16. Take your family on a tour of Israel.

17. Join us on a future Joshua Fund Prayer & Vision Trip to Israel.

18. Take Hebrew classes for the summer at your local Jewish Community Center.

19. Make friends with a local Rabbi, find ways to bless the synagogue he runs, and discuss ways to bless Israel together.

20. Learn more about the Israeli economy and business opportunities through the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce.

For 40 more suggestions, please visit my weblog.

Celebrate Israel's 60th Birthday!
May 9, 2008 Dear Friend of Israel,

On May 14, 1948, the 5th day of the month of Iyar on the Jewish calendar, Jewish leaders gathered in Tel Aviv to sign the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel - Israel's Declaration of Independence. This extraordinary document states, By virtue of our natural and historic right and on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, [we] hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel.With this bold declaration, the modern state of Israel was born. And so it is that every year at this time Israel Independence Day is observed. Yom HaAtzmaut, as it is known in Hebrew, falls this year on May 8. It is a day of jubilation — a day for Jews to mark the re-establishment of their sovereign nation after generations of exile, and celebrate the history and accomplishments of the modern state of Israel.

At the very beginning, Israel extended a hand of friendship to neighboring states, encouraging them, as Israel's Declaration of Independence puts it, to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people. Despite this, most of Israel's neighbors still do not recognize the Jewish state. Some, in fact, are preparing themselves for the day that they can, in the words of the Iranian president, wipe Israel off the map. Though it is seldom reported outside of the Israeli media, scarcely a week passes without news of another terrorist attack that has been thwarted by Israel. Every day, more missiles are fired at innocent Israeli civilians by terrorists operating from Gaza.Even in the West, with its values of democracy and personal liberty - values fully embraced by Israel - Israel's legitimacy is routinely questioned in academic circles, on newspaper op-ed pages, and even in some churches. Sixty years after its birth, it seems Israel is still the only nation on earth that is continually called on to justify its existence.

Because of this, Israel cannot afford to forget the threats she faces. She must always be prepared to spread the truth about her ongoing struggle for peace and security, and to confront those who question her legitimacy. But for Israelis and friends of Israel - indeed, for any fair-minded person who values democracy and freedom - Israel Independence Day should be, first and foremost, a day for celebration. On this day, let's thank God for a nation that stands as a beacon of democracy in the midst of authoritarian regimes… for a nation where every day scientific and technological advances are made that benefit the entire world … for a nation that, since its inception, has worked to fulfill the biblical promise, Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn (Isaiah 60:3).Today, I invite all of you to offer your congratulations to the Israeli people on the 60th birthday of the Jewish state. We'll take your comments, print them on a scroll, and send them to our Jerusalem office, where they will be put on display. I know the words of Israel’s supporters will send a strong message of congratulations and encouragement -- and I can’t think of a better way for those living outside of Israel to share in the joy of this festive day.Thank you, my friends, for your continued support of Israel and the Jewish people, and your continued prayers for the peace of Jerusalem.

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

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).

May 09, 2008 17:41 PM Flexible Approach To Drive European Union-Asean FTA Negotiations By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah

PUTRAJAYA, May 9 (Bernama) -- A flexible approach within the regional framework of the European Union (EU)-Asean free trade agreement (FTA) will help drive the negotiations forward, according to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.Mandelson said while maintaining the regional framework, the EU would be willing to go faster in talks with those Asean countries ambitious to conclude an agreement quickly.Other Asean countries could participate in the process and then join the pact in their own time, he said after the tabling of a report on the proposed EU-Asean FTA at the European Parliament early this week in Brussels.We should not give up the regional approach. But we are in the process of introducing some flexibility in this regional framework, a dose of 'variable geometry' that takes into account the different levels of development within Asean and that could allow us to go faster with individual Asean members, Mandelson said This would be economically sound and could pave the way for others to join later, he told Bernama.The fourth meeting of the EU-Asean joint committee, which is the regional framework for the FTA negotiations, was held in Bangkok last month. The fifth round will be held in Manila next month.

Asean, comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is the fifth largest export market of the EU and also its fifth largest trading partner.The EU is the second largest trading partner for most countries in Asean after the United States.Asean exports to the EU accounted for about 13 percent of its total exports while EU exports to Asean amounted to around 4.0 percent of its total exports.The EU and Asean have focused on promoting region-to-region economic relations.In 2003, the EU and Asean launched the Trans-Regional EU-Asean Trade Initiative (Treati) as a framework for dialogue and regulatory cooperation between the two regions.The priority areas for cooperation under Treati are closely linked to Asean's own moves towards closer economic integration, covering sanitary standards, agriculture and fisheries, industrial product standards and technical barriers to trade.It also covers closer cooperation in investment.The positive experience with the Treati encouraged both sides to consider deeper economic integration through an FTA.In April 2007, the European Commission (EC) was given a mandate by the European member states to negotiate an FTA with Asean as part of the commission's Global Europe strategy. The negotiations started in May 2007.Independent research commissioned by the EC suggested that the likely economic benefits for both Asean and the EU from an EU-Asean FTA were considerable.Asean could see its exports to the EU rise by 18.5 percent and expect economic gains equivalent to 2.0 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020, according to the studies.

The EU could see its exports to Asean countries up by almost 2.0 percent, the studies said.One of the biggest areas of gain for both sides will be in the area of business services, a key reason for the EU-Asean FTA to tackle services trade.-- BERNAMA

FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS

MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.

1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Christianity without Christ.No creeds, no miracles, no Resurrection: Minister preaches faith without the symbolism Charles Lewis, National Post Saturday, May 03, 2008

There is a Bible on a pedestal in Gretta Vosper's West Hill United Church in Toronto. She would prefer it did not have a special place, she said, because it is just a book among other books. In a similar way, the cross that is high above the altar has no special meaning, but there are a few older congregants for whom the Bible and the cross are still nice symbols so there they remain.Though an ordained minister, she does not like the title of reverend. It is one of those symbols that hold the church back from breaking into the future -- to a time when the label Christian won't even exist and the Church will be freed of the burdens of the past. To balance out those symbols of the past inside West Hill, there is a giant, non-religious rainbow tapestry just behind the altar and multi-coloured streamers hang from the ceiling.The central story of Christianity will fade away, she explained. The story about Jesus as the symbol of everything that Christianity is will fade away.

The head of the United Church of Canada, David Giuliano, who went to divinity school with Ms. Vosper 20 years ago, said if he felt the way that she does, he would not be a minister. But it is not his job to condemn, he said, and the church is structured in such a way that complaints have to come from the congregation before any action can be taken. And so far there have been no complaints. He also sees the United Church, considered the most liberal of the mainline Protestant churches, as broad enough to encompass a wide range of theologies.Even Rev. Giuliano agrees that the name Christian -- which carries the baggage of colonialism and other ills -- should probably be phased out. Instead, he would replace Christian with Follower of the Way or Follower of Jesus.But it is an absolute certainty that Ms. Vosper would not go for Follower of Jesus.Ms. Vosper does not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the miracles and the sacrament of baptism. Nor does she believe in the creeds, the presence of Christ in communion or that Jesus was the Son of God.In With or Without God, her book that was formally launched this week, she writes that Jesus was a Middle Eastern peasant with a few charismatic gifts and a great posthumous marketing team.

The Bible is used in her services, but it gets rewritten to be more contemporary and speak to more people. Even the Lord's Prayer -- also known as the Our Father -- does not make the cut because it creates an image of a God who intervenes in human existence. And then there is the Father part that is not inclusive language and carries with it the notion of an overbearing tyrant who condemns people to hell.So why exactly does she still call herself a Christian, let alone a minister? I could leave the Church because I don't hold those orthodox understandings, she said.[But] I think that in a generation or so we might stop using the term Christian, and I hope, perhaps we will stop using labels for every religious tradition. There is nothing wrong with a faith tradition evolving.

And I believe that's what we're doing. It's been evolving for a long time but we're afraid to acknowledge that so this is merely the next iteration of what Christianity needs to be.She envisions a time when there is no religious divisions and everyone shares in their common values and their only differences are cultural. Still, she said there is no conflict with this and being in the church.The church is extremely important because it can be a transformative element in individuals' lives and communities, she said. And that was the root of what the Christian Church was about: transforming the way people see themselves in relation to the communities around them and in relation to each other and about living that in community. Christianity took over that story and manipulated it into a very different story.Ms. Vosper believes most liberal ministers do not really believe in orthodoxy and see things like the Resurrection or the miracles as metaphors, not real events. She is also chair of a group called the Canadian Centre For Progressive Christianity, which also espouses a vague form of religious belief, in which they offer a challenge to the church to do a complete overhaul of the beliefs it has been carrying about for the last several hundred years.It's not that we're trying to do something new. It's that we're trying to catch up on a thousand years of backlogged progress files that have yet to be inputted into the 21st century.

In With or Without God, Ms. Vosper writes: [It is time to live] in the current paradigm, being progressive enough to let go of the beliefs and traditions to which we've had to tip our hats and curtsy in the past but which can no longer prevail in our contemporary world.Ms. Vosper did not change her views over time but said she felt the same way when she took her divinity degree at Queen's University in 1990. She said when the creed was mentioned, which contains those declarations of faith that acknowledge basic Christian tenants, it was uncomfortable. I fled when I had to read the creed, she said.For all of this, she still feels rooted in the church. She still loves the stories, metaphors though they may be. And she still measures her life against the meaning of those metaphors.The focus of her spiritual life is love. And since love is the common bond between all people, it is really the only thing worth believing in.Here in the context of seeking out harmony with all things, the purest understanding of those values that enhance and sanctify life becomes the foremost spiritual practice, she writes.We call it love, radically inclusive love. It is here, in the caring, challenging, prophetic role with which it is so familiar that the church can really shine.clewis@nationalpost.com

LEBANON VIDEO
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7751921&ch=4226714&src=news

Warfare in Beirut: more Mideast trouble for Bush, U.S. allies By Warren P. Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers MAY 9,08

WASHINGTON — Iranian-backed Hezbollah's seizure Friday of large swaths of Muslim Beirut in a blow against the U.S.-backed Lebanese government is the latest in a string of setbacks to U.S. allies in the Middle East and the latest bad news for President Bush from a region that he set out to remake five years ago. Less than two years ago, in the summer of 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice bet that an Israeli attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon would weaken Hezbollah and its foreign patrons and described the resulting war as the birth pangs of a new Middle East.Three years ago, when Beirut erupted in pro-democracy demonstrations that were dubbed the Cedar Revolution, Bush and Rice made it a showcase in their drive for Arab democracy.Instead, analysts said, Hezbollah's new power play may have permanently altered Lebanon's precarious power balance and weakened the Washington -supported government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora .In a test of strength against the government, Hezbollah came out swiftly on top,said Jon Alterman , the director of the Middle East program at the Washington -based Center for Strategic and International Studies . It is a balance of power that is much less favorable to the allies of the United States .A senior State Department official acknowledged that, Hezbollah has made advances in terms of control of territory on the ground.

But he said that Hezbollah , which has portrayed itself as a national resistance movement, might face a backlash for attacking fellow Lebanese. Politically, they've bitten off a bit much, said the official, briefing reporters Friday on condition of anonymity.
Still, the events in Lebanon are the latest grim developments in the region for Bush as he enters his final months in office.The president travels next week to Israel , where Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is fighting for his political life in the face of bribery allegations.Olmert's troubles reduce the already long odds that Israelis and Palestinians will be able to reach a framework peace deal while Bush is in office. Olmert's departure would be a Shakespearean tragedy because the negotiations are making quiet progress, a second State Department official said.Elsewhere, the Iraq war continues to rage. Iran shows no sign of backing away from its nuclear ambitions and is aiding a range of groups in Iraq , Lebanon and the Palestinian territories in what some analysts see as a proxy war with the United States .The renewed fighting in Lebanon could provide fresh ammunition to Bush administration officials and their allies who're arguing for military strikes on targets in Iran .For months, the administration has accused elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a group that supports Hezbollah — of arming and training anti-U.S. Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq .

The White House and the State Department on Friday were quick to blame the violence in Lebanon on Iran and Syria , Hezbollah's principal patrons.Backed by Syria and Iran , Hezbollah and its allies are killing and injuring fellow citizens, undermining the legitimate authority of the Lebanese government and the institutions of the Lebanese state, Rice said in a statement.Other U.S. officials, however, said they had no solid evidence that either Iran or Syria was behind this week's events.The jury's still out in some ways, the senior official said. Given the potential for the violence to spill across Lebanon's borders, it's hard to imagine Hezbollah would have taken this kind of step without . . . some kind of green light from Iran , he said. Lebanon has been in political deadlock for months, and has had no president since last November. The latest violence erupted after the Siniora government earlier this week moved against Hezbollah , reassigning the chief of security at Beirut airport and targeting a parallel fiber optics network maintained by the group.

Hezbollah responded by taking to the streets.

The United States has given the Siniora government $1.3 billion in aid in the last two years, including $400 million in military and police assistance. The Bush administration on Friday tried to bolster the Lebanese central government. Rice spoke to Siniora, as well as to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal of Saudi Arabia , whose Sunni rulers sympathize with Siniora. U.S. and French officials also suggested that they'd seek action by the U.N. Security Council early next week, following an emergency meeting this weekend of the Arab League .What remains unclear is whether Lebanon will remain on the precipice of a wider civil war, or slip over. For now, the struggle is primarily political, officials and analysts said. It is a civil war. Who am I kidding? said Emile El-Hokayem of the Washington -based Henry L. Stimson Center. But, he predicted, that war would remain controlled and restricted.

Hezbollah overruns west Beirut as Lebanon on brink by Jocelyne Zablit MAY 9,08

BEIRUT (AFP) - Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with pro-government foes in the Lebanese capital pushed the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war. The sectarian fighting had eased by early afternoon as the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Shiite opposition forces who routed Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government.There are no clashes anymore because no one is standing in the way of the opposition forces, a security official said on condition of anonymity.The rattle of gunfire and the thump of exploding rocket-propelled grenades rang out across mainly Muslim west Beirut during much of the morning as Sunni government loyalists fought street battles with Shiite gunmen.At least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting that erupted on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said a government crackdown on his Iranian- and Syrian-backed group was a declaration of war.The unrest triggered urgent international appeals for calm amid fears that the protracted political feud could plunge the divided multi-confessional nation back to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.Beirut residents were fleeing for shelter elsewhere as tanks rolled through the streets and hundreds of riot police and troops patrolled the city, but did not get involved in the fighting.

Lebanon was largely cut off from the outside world, with the international airport and Beirut port shut and some roads to neighbouring Syria blockaded by burning tyres.Arab nations led by regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia are pushing for a special session of foreign ministers to tackle the crisis and some Middle East states have begun trying to evacuating residents.President Shimon Peres of Israel -- whose country fought a devastating war against Hezbollah in 2006 -- claimed the violence was fomented by Iran to further what he said was Tehran's goal to control all of the Middle East.In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- whose country is Iran's closest regional ally -- said the unrest was a purely internal affair.Witnesses reported fierce gunbattles in several parts of west Beirut as the Sunni neighourhoods considered bastions of Lebanon's ruling bloc fell to militants from Hezbollah and its ally Amal.Everyone is running away, said 35-year-old businessman Imad as people rushed to stores that remained open to stock up, while others remained trapped in their homes by the fighting.It was a hellish night. The armed militants were everywhere shooting all over the place, said Rima, another west Beirut resident.Hezbollah, the most powerful armed movement in Lebanon, has also forced the shutdown of all media belonging to the family of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, while a rocket hit the outer perimeter of his Beirut residence.Hariri, whose father Rafiq Hariri was assassinated in 2005, had made a television appeal to try to calm the situation but this was rejected by Hezbollah.

Gunmen firing rocket-propelled grenades surrounded the headquarters of the Hariri's Future Television and his movement's Al-Mustaqbal newspaper early Friday, forcing all its media outlets to close.The army is in control of institutions placed under its authority, such as the media outlets of the Future Movement, the army said. It also controls the area around the government headquarters, the central bank, major roads and the area where Hariri and Jumblatt's residences are located in west Beirut, referring to prominent Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Air traffic was paralysed for the third straight day with no flights scheduled to land or take off from Beirut international airport, an airport official said, after Hezbollah supporters blocked access with mounds of earth and burning tyres. Nasrallah delivered his defiant speech on Thursday after the government launched a probe into a private communications network run by Hezbollah, which is seen in the West as a terrorist outfit and which critics say has become a state within a state.

The decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war... on behalf of the United States and Israel, Nasrallah charged. The hand that touches the weapons of the resistance will be cut off.The United States delivered a blunt warning to Hezbollah to stop its disruptive activities while UN Security Council members said they were deeply concerned over the crisis, a view reflected by other Arab and European leaders. The crisis will be the focus of talks between President George W. Bush and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora in Egypt next week during the US leader's tour of the Middle East. Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which backs the Siniora government, called for an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers, while Yemen suggested army chief Michel Sleiman be mandated to chair a dialogue to resolve the crisis. The long-running political standoff, which first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the cabinet, has left the country without a president since November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down. While the rival factions have agreed on Sleiman as a consensus candidate, they disagree on the make-up of the new cabinet and so far 18 sessions of parliament to choose a president have been cancelled.

The Blood Moon Scenario Ikvot ha'Mashiach
Perspective by Jack Kelley MAY 9,08

There's a video currently on the web, promoted by a well known prophecy website, that a whole bunch of you have either sent links to or asked about it or both. Here's my response.This video shows the result of tracking solar and lunar eclipses and comparing them with Levitical Feasts, and notes that the only time in this century when 4 consecutive full lunar eclipses, known as a tetrad, will coincide with either Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles is in the years 2014-2015. Lunar eclipses are also known as blood moons because the moon often takes on a red cast during an eclipse. There will also be 2 solar eclipses during that time. In the spring of 2015 Israel's religious year will begin with a total solar eclipse, followed two weeks later a total lunar eclipse on Passover. And then six months later the sequence will repeat itself with a second solar eclipse on Rosh Hashanna followed two weeks after that by another total lunar eclipse on the Feast of Tabernacles, all in 2015. The last time anything like this happened was in 1967, when Jerusalem became an undivided Jewish city again, and before that there were several occurrences during the years of 1948-50, as Israel was becoming a nation. There were none at all in the 1800's, 1700's, or 1600's, and none in the 1500's that coincided with Feast Days.

What Does That Mean?
The conclusion being drawn from this by the video's producer is that 2015 is the most likely year for the Lord's 2nd coming in the entire 21st Century, and the fall is the best time in that year.
Prophecy buffs from across the spectrum are falling all over themselves to get on board this. But in the rush of emotion that rightfully accompanies thoughts of the Lord's impending return most are ignoring a tool for evaluating where we are in the end times that I first introduced in my series entitled Seven Things You Have To Know To Understand End Times Prophecy. It's a business management tool called back scheduling. (You can access the series from our home page.)Sensational claims like the one made in this video can result in real confusion if you don't know the sequence in which major End Times events will occur. Actually their order is very logical, and once you learn it, you'll wonder why you didn't see it before. The best way to figure it out is to perform what the business world sometimes calls a back scheduling exercise. It involves going to the very end of a process and identifying its final outcome. Then you list in reverse order all the things that have to happen to produce that outcome, backing into the present. It's simpler than it sounds, and much simpler in prophecy than in business because there are many fewer events to organize. Here's how it goes.We all think of Eternity as the final outcome, and so starting at the end and working backwards means we begin there. But the last major event described in any detail in the Bible is the Kingdom Age or Millennium, the Lord's 1000 year reign on Earth, which is distinguished from and precedes Eternity. Simply put, Eternity can't begin until the Millennium ends.

The Millennium obviously can't happen till the Second Coming, because that's when the Lord returns to establish it. And the Second Coming can't happen till the end of the Great Tribulation. And that can't happen till the anti-Christ stands in the Temple in Israel declaring himself to be God. (2 Thes. 2:4) That's the event Jesus warned Israel to look for as the Great Tribulation's opening salvo. He called it The Abomination of Desolation in Matt. 24:15-21.

But that can't happen till there's a Temple. There hasn't been a Temple in Israel since 70AD and there won't be one until the Jews decide they need one. That won't happen until God reinstates their Old Covenant relationship, signaling the start of Daniel's 70th week. And that can't happen till the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39 is won, because it's Ezekiel's battle that officially draws the Jews back to God. (Ezek. 39:22) And that can't happen till the Church is gone, because the Church and Israel are mutually exclusive to Him. (Romans 11:25 & Acts 15:13-18) And that brings us to the present, because there is no preceding event for the Rapture of the Church. It could happen at any time.Using this scheduling tool we can see how end times events are scheduled to take place, and the only one whose timing is at all speculative is the Rapture. Some argue that there's doubt about the timing of the Battle of Ezekiel 38 but I think the Bible is pretty clear in saying that the battle of Ezekiel 38 is Israel's wake up call to begin Daniel's 70th week. It's the event that brings Israel back into covenant with God, requiring that a Temple be built. Daniel's 70th week by definition is seven years long. The last half is the Great Tribulation, after which the Lord will return.

What's The Point?
That brings me to my point, and to make it, I'll use the back scheduling tool again. In order for the Lord to return in the fall of 2015, Daniel's 70th week will have to begin the fall of 2008, a few months from now. That means that over the summer, the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will have to take place, and God will have to re-introduce Himself to Israel, bringing them back into an Old Covenant relationship that results in Biblical Judaism becoming the official and national religion of Israel. And the anti-Christ will have to appear and gain enough power to help Israel negotiate a seven year treaty that includes provisions for a Temple. (Daniel 9:27) Then there's the matter of the Rapture of the Church. While this schedule is of course possible for God, having all these events take place this summer would be a major departure from His normal approach to things. In truth, there are several interesting facts you should know about this summer that make it an attractive possibility if you disregard everything we've just covered. Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday and at the same time the world's population is projected to reach 6,666,666,666. The 1976th birthday of the church will also occur. (Because of calendar differences much of the Western church will celebrate on May 11, but the correct date is June 8-9.)Also, some military experts say that June will effectively be the last time this year that Israel will have an opportunity to take out Iran's nuclear capabilities, an act that will obviously cause major repercussions in the Middle East. Iran's rainy season begins in July making visibility an uncertain thing, and by September the US Presidential election will be ramped up for its all out run to our November election. Many observers believe that the current administration won't agree to let such a distraction interfere with America's focus on the election this fall. Adding these things into the mix has tempted a number of prophecy buffs to throw off all constraints and proclaim that the Day of the Lord is at hand.

Hold On Just A Minute!
But before we join them, let's take a closer look. Have the conditions for Ezekiel 38 been met? Most of the players are lined up, the exception still being Turkey. But Syria, not mentioned in Ezekiel 38, is right in the thick of things, teamed up with Iran and North Korea in a new axis of evil focused against Israel. Can Isaiah 17 also happen this summer? And then there's the requirement that Israel be living in such a state of supposed peace as to be taken by surprise in a battle to the death. (Ezek. 38:11) If Israel goes after Iran's nukes next month, they'll be the ones pulling off the sneak attack. Could Iran's certain retaliation in any way be called an unexpected surprise that catches Israel off guard? I don't think so.No, I think it's much more likely that any war this summer between Israel and the Moslems would result in Syria's demise and end in a false peace that puts into place the conditions necessary for Ezekiel 38 to happen some time later. And despite my earlier speculation about the 2012 magnetic polar reversal fulfilling the 6th seal of Rev. 6, I have to admit that the most likely coming event that fits the sequence and is worthy of announcement by signs in the heavens in 2015 would be the beginning of Daniel's 70th week.

If these earlier Blood Moons did in fact announce the re-birth of the nation and the reunification of Jerusalem as it appears, then the next major step in Israels' journey toward the Kingdom is their national reunion with their Creator. This is the way Ezekiel saw it happening, and in my view is important enough to God to merit such a celestial announcement. After all He's been waiting to take them back for 2000 years.Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:1-2)

Thankfully, it won't be long until we know for sure who's right and who's wrong. And it won't take any rocket science to tell. Because if the 70th week is set to begin in September then the next few months will astonish the world in a breath taking series of prophetic fulfillments unparalleled since the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

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 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.

CNN TALKS TO GORBACHOV ABOUT RUSSIAS FUTURE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7740883&ch=4226714&src=news

Tanks, missiles roll through Red Square on Victory Day By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer MAY 9,08

MOSCOW - Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the annual Victory Day parade Friday, reviving a tradition of the Soviet era and demonstrating Russia's growing military confidence. Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday, both honoring the enormous sacrifices of World War II, in which nearly 9 million Red Army soldiers are estimated to have died, and asserting the country's military strength.Russia has nearly quadrupled its defense spending in recent years, aiming to resuscitate the military forces that deteriorated in the post-Soviet period.Topol missiles, which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, were part of the display of more than 100 tanks, mobile missile units and armored vehicles that was aimed at underlining the military revival. But many of the heavy weapons shown were only slightly modernized versions of equipment developed decades ago.Although the display was significantly smaller than in Soviet-era parades, the return of the tradition has raised concerns that Russia harbors aggressive ambitions.But President Dmitry Medvedev, in a speech opening the parade, said the true purpose of weapons and military equipment is to give reliable defense of the homeland.

Medvedev, who took office Wednesday, stayed away from controversial statements such as predecessor Vladimir Putin's parade speech last year, which implied parallels between the U.S. and the Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.But he said we must not allow contempt for the norms of international law.Russia has consistently criticized both the U.S.-led war in Iraq and wide Western recognition of Kosovo's independence as arrogant violations of international principles.

Putin, who was named Russian prime minister on Thursday, stood just behind Medvedev's shoulder and his face was prominently shown in TV broadcasts as the president spoke — underlining the wide belief that Putin will be the power behind the presidency.Although Russian officials deny any intentions of returning to Soviet ways, the style and symbolism of Victory Day is heavily redolent of the Communist era.Posters proclaiming the holiday throughout the city include the hammer-and-sickle insignia, which is also seen on the banners and period uniforms used by some of the regiments, which goose-stepped across the 6-acre (2.5-hectare) square under clear skies.Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reviewed troops before the parade by standing in the back seat of an open 1980s-era ZIL limousine.Russian news reports said about 3 million World War II veterans are still alive. Although veterans receive extensive public praise, their pensions are small and many live in poor conditions even as Russia's economy soars.In a tacit recognition of their straits, Medvedev's first decree after taking office was to order that all World War II veterans receive housing by 2010.

Putin signals he intends to stay in charge of Russia By LYNN BERRY, Associated Press Writer Thu May 8, 2:59 PM ET

MOSCOW - When Boris Yeltsin left the Kremlin eight years ago, he gave Vladimir Putin the pen he had used to sign important documents and decrees, a gesture symbolizing the transfer of power to Russia's new president. When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him. Putin, who became prime minister Thursday, has signaled that he intends to remain Russia's principal leader, at least in the short term — and possibly much longer. He is keeping the trappings of his presidency and many of its powers as well. It was not always meant to be this way. Putin initially said he intended to hand the full powers of the presidency to his chosen successor and step aside. But as the time drew near, he clearly changed his mind as infighting between rival Kremlin factions spilled into the open, threatening to undermine political stability.

Veterans of the secret services have come to dominate the government under Putin, a 55-year-old former KGB officer. These powerful figures, known as the siloviki, have been given leading roles in major businesses — including oil companies and aircraft and automobile manufacturers — that Putin has brought back under state control.They see Putin as the key to preserving their positions and continued access to financial flows. Some of them opposed Putin's choice of Dmitry Medvedev, a 42-year-old lawyer, who was inaugurated as president on Wednesday.Putin may have decided to stay around to keep the peace and protect his protege until he consolidates his position.Immensely popular and at the height of his powers, Putin appears to want Russians to see him as still in charge and to anticipate his return to the presidency in 2012, which he has not ruled out.In a fervent 45-minute speech Thursday before parliament, Putin laid out huge ambitions for the economy and boasted that under his leadership Russia had not just changed but become a different country. He was approved by a vote of 392-56, with only the Communists opposing him.Medvedev, by contrast, was a lackluster supporting player, introducing Putin in a bland five-minute address that underlined Putin's potency.

Putin left the Kremlin on Wednesday, but just moved down the road to the building known as the White House, the government headquarters near the U.S. Embassy. In anticipation of his arrival, the prime minister's fifth-floor office overlooking the Moscow River has been renovated and its staff greatly expanded. Many of those who served him as president have made the switch, and others are expected to follow.Putin will continue to travel to work in a motorcade from the same wooded estate in one of Moscow's most exclusive suburban neighborhoods where he lived as president and which is now his to keep.While quietly laying the groundwork for expanding the scope of the prime minister's office, Putin has firmed up his position by becoming chairman of the Kremlin's dominant political party, which gives him control over parliament and strong leverage over regional leaders.

Members of that party still have Putin's portrait in their offices.

Putin has said he feels no need to hang the portrait of Russia's new president in his office in a traditional sign of respect. Other government officials will hang a picture of Medvedev and have to decide whether to take down Putin. Many are expected to hedge their bets by displaying both.Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, whom Forbes magazine calls Russia's richest man, said recently that it is clear Putin remains in charge. In Russia, in our culture we need to have a leader, Deripaska said at a lunch with foreign journalists.With Putin in control, Deripaska said there is no risk of political instability. There is no chance for any intrigue. Don't bet on it, he said.Putin and Medvedev, who have worked together since the early 1990s, stress their friendship and full agreement on Russia's course.But Putin seems to be taking no chances that Medvedev will turn against him. His party has a 70 percent majority, which gives it the power to change the constitution, block legislation or impeach the president.As prime minister, Putin will control the budget and oversee gigantic state corporations, including Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer. These corporations, staffed with Putin loyalists, have allowed Russia to reassert its global might.

Both men have said Medvedev will set foreign policy.

Boris Makarenko, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies, said there will be no need to amend the constitution, which in spelling out the powers of the president and prime minister leaves room for interpretation. The gray areas will be shared differently than they are now, he was quoted in Vremya Novostei as saying. An early signal of the level of Putin's influence will come when Russia forms a new government. Most members of his team are expected to remain in high posts. Another important sign will be the TV coverage of Putin and Medvedev on national channels, which are all under Kremlin control and have served as a political bellwether. Medvedev has been given lavish coverage, but Putin remains the main hero of the evening news.

Iran clerics rebuke Ahmadinejad over hidden imam May 7 05:47 AM US/Eastern

Ahmadinejad Among Tens of Thousands at Mecca for Hajj.Ahmadinejad: Why Isn’t The Holocaust Open To All Forms Of Research?
Ahmadinejad: In Iran, We Don’t Have Homosexuals Like In Your Country. Clerics have told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stick to more worldly issues after he was quoted as saying the hidden imam of Shiite Islam was directing Iran. Ahmadinejad has always been a devotee of the Mahdi, the twelfth imam of Shiite Islam, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and who will return one day to usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

But in a speech to theology students broadcast by state television on Monday, Ahmadinejad went further than ever before in emphasising his belief that the Mahdi is playing a critical role in Iran's day-to-day politics. The Imam Mahdi is in charge of the world and we see his hand directing all the affairs of the country, he said in the speech, which appears to date from last month but has only now been broadcast. We must solve Iran's internal problems as quickly as possible. Time is lacking. A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities, which are arriving with great speed.Two leading clerics retorted that Ahmadinejad would be better off concentrating on Iran's social problems -- most notably its double-digit inflation -- than indulging in such mystical rhetoric. If Ahmadinejad wants to say that the hidden imam is supporting the decisions of the government, it is not true, sniped Gholam Reza Mesbahi Moghadam, the spokesman of the conservative Association of Combatant Clerics. For sure, the hidden imam does not approve of inflation of 20 percent, the high cost of living and numerous other errors, he said, according to the Kargozaran daily. Ali Asghari, a member of the conservative Hezbollah faction in parliament, told the president not to link the management of the country to the imam. Ahmadinejad would do better to worry about social problems like inflation ... and other terrestrial affairs, Etemad Melli daily quoted him as saying. Since becoming president in 2005, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly stated that his government is paving the way for the return of the Mahdi and chided his foes for not believing that his return is imminent.

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

Chinese nuclear submarine base
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:13PM BST 06/05/2008

China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region, it can be disclosed. Satellite imagery, passed to The Daily Telegraph, shows that a substantial harbour has been built which could house a score of nuclear ballistic missile submarines and a host of aircraft carriers. In what will be a significant challenge to US Navy dominance and to countries ringing the South China Sea, one photograph shows China’s latest 094 nuclear submarine at the base just a few hundred miles from its neighbours.

Other images show numerous warships moored to long jettys and a network of underground tunnels at the Sanya base on the southern tip of Hainan island. If even greater concern to the Pentagon are massive tunnel entrances, estimated to be 60ft high, built into hillsides around the base. Sources fear they could lead to caverns capable of hiding up to 20 nuclear submarines from spy satellites.

The US Department of Defence has estimated that China will have five 094 nuclear submarines operational by 2010 with each capable of carrying 12 JL-2 nuclear missiles. The images were obtained by Janes Intelligence Review after the periodical was given access to imagery from the commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe.

Analysts for the respected military magazine suggest that the base could be used for expeditionary as well as defensive operations and would allow the submarines to break out to launch locations closer to the US. It would now be difficult to ignore that China was building a major naval base where it could house its nuclear forces and increase it strategic capability considerably further afield.

The development so close to the sea lanes vital to Asian economies can only cause concern far beyond these straits. Military analysts believe that China’s substantial build up of its forces is gaining pace put has remained hidden from the world in the build-up to the Olympics. China has diverted much of its resources from the huge Peoples Liberation Army to the navy, air force and missile development. An old Russian aircraft carrier, bought by Beijing for leisure activities has been picked over by naval architects who hope to reverse engineer the ship. Within the next five to 10 years the People's Liberation Navy is expected to build up to six carriers which will also coincide with the Royal Navy’s construction of two major carriers. The location of the base off Hainan will also give the submarines access to very deep water exceeding 5,000 metres within a few miles, making them even harder to detect. Britain’s Trident submarines have to remain on the surface when they leave Faslane in north east Scotland and cannot dive to depth until outside the Irish Sea. While it has been known that China might be developing an underground base at Sanya, the pictures provide the first proof of the base’s existence and the rapid progress made. Two 950 metre piers and three smaller ones would be enough to accommodate two carrier strike groups or amphibious assault ships.

Christian Le Miere, editor for Jane's Intelligence Review, said the complex underlined Beijing’s plan to assert tighter control over this region. This is a challenge to any hegemonic power, particularly the US which still remains dominant in the region.So far China has offered no public explanation for its building at Sanya.

EUROPE DAY MAY 9,08

Last update - 22:14 08/05/2008 FM Livni: Israel ready to make sacrifices for peace By Haaretz Service

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday that Israel's leadership must make difficult decisions during its negotiations with the Palestinians, adding that Israel is prepared to make sacrifices to reach peace.During celebrations marking Israel 60th anniversary at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, Livni said the state's leadership need to look in the eyes of Israelis and tell them that this is the right thing to do.Livni is serving as Israel's chief negotiator for talks with the Palestinians, alongside former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. Diplomats from more than 80 states participated in the ceremony on Thursday, alongside a number of Israeli regional leaders, including Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky and Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal. President Shimon Peres said during the ceremony that relations between Israel and the Palestinians was much more calm and tranquil, adding that the most difficult step now was putting these conditions on paper.

He said he hoped one day Israelis and Palestinians could live together side by side and called for an end to the hatred and misunderstandings as soon as possible.On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced hope that the solution for the Middle East conflict was within reach, speaking at an official memorial ceremony for Israel's victims of terror at the national military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. There is nothing we desire more than to end the conflict with our neighbors, and there is nothing that would benefit both sides more than the end of the conflict, Olmert said.

EU congratulates Israel on its anniversary, aims for closer ties 08.05.08 18:30

The European Union on Thursday congratulated Israel on the 60th anniversary of its independence, with officials vowing to forge even closer ties with the Middle Eastern state, dpa reported.The head of the bloc's executive, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said Israel's significance for Europeans went beyond normal forms of cooperation with a close neighbour.Both the European Union and the state of Israel were born out of the same great convulsion of the Second World War and the Shoah, Barroso said in a message.In its 60 years as an independent state, Israel has had to contend with many challenges. Yet through it all it has continued to adapt, develop and prosper.We now take almost for granted impressive Israeli achievements in fields such as science and technology, industry, agriculture, education and the arts. In retrospect, we can only wonder at how all this was achieved under such difficult circumstances, Barroso added.

The commission chief noted that the EU and Israel were already cooperating on a range of issues such as climate change, counter-terrorism and the fight against racism and anti-Semitism.The EU is Israel's main trading partner and Israel is the only non-European country to participate in the EU's Research and Development programme, noted External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.Hundreds of project proposals by Israeli researchers have received EU funding, for example developing innovative cancer diagnostic techniques, hydrogen cars, machine translation techniques. Also, Israeli students are benefiting from scholarships under the EU's Erasmus Mundus exchange programme, Ferrero-Waldner told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.And Israel is now close to being granted special status within the EU's neighbourhood policy, officials in Brussels said.Such a special status might include deals in the area of air transport, higher education, trade in agricultural products and services, social security, customs, information society, environment as well as consumer protection.

The EU and Israel are closer now than they were ever before, the commissioner said.

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).

NUMBERS 12 + 13 RATIFY THE LISBON TREATY.

Lithuanian, Latvian MPs Approve New EU Treaty
By VOA News 08 May 2008

The parliaments of Lithuania and Latvia have approved the European Union's new reform treaty.The treaty, which must be approved by all 27 EU states to take effect, will give the bloc a long-term president and a more powerful foreign policy chief, while streamlining its decision-making. In Vilnius Thursday, well more than half of the country's 141 lawmakers endorsed the charter by a vote of 83 to 23. In Riga, 70 of 100 Latvian legislators approved the document -- a simplified version of the bloc's draft constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch lawmakers in 2005.Legislators in Germany and Denmark approved the charter late last month.Today's vote brings to 13 the number of EU states that have given final approval to the draft.Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

Europe Day MAY 8,08

On May 9, 1950, Robert Schuman presented his proposal for the creation of an organized Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.This proposal, known as the Schuman Declaration, is considered the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union (EU). In the words of Schuman, Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity.The ninth of May has become a European symbol which, along with the emblem and the anthem, identifies the political entity of the European Union. Europe Day is an occasion for activities and festivities that bring Europe closer to its citizens and peoples of the Union closer to one another.Growing from six member states in 1951 to 27 in 2007, the European Union embraces more than 490 million people with the accession of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia. The other EU member states are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands (sometimes referred to as the founding members), Denmark, Ireland, and United Kingdom which joined in 1973, Greece in 1981, Portugal and Spain in 1986, and Austria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995. Last year, Bulgaria and Romania became the newest members. Croatia and Turkey are formal candidate countries with which accession negotiations started in October, 2005.

To update the political and legal structure of the Union, the Treaty of Lisbon was signed in December, 2007, and awaits ratification in 2008 to amend the existing treaties. Important institutions and bodies of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.

We congratulate the member states and peoples of the European Union led by Their Excellencies, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission, President Hans-Gert Pottering of the European Parliament, and President Janez Jansa of the European Council, and the European Commission in the Philippines headed by H.E., Ambassador Alistair B. MacDonald, on the occasion of Europe Day.

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)

German foreign minister favours EU army
08.05.2008 - 17:43 CET | By Honor Mahony

Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has indicated he would like to see a European army established.Speaking at a Social Democrat security policy conference in Berlin on Monday (5 May), Mr Steinmeier said he favoured the setting up of a European armed force and that he would like to see moves in this direction speeded up.German daily Tagespiegel reported Mr Steinmeier as referring to the fact that the EU's new treaty, currently undergoing ratification across the European Union, allows for the possibility of a group of member states to move ahead in defence policy.He noted that from Berlin's point of view, France is the key partner for this. Mr Steinmeier said he had already spoken with his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, on concrete steps to improve common areas in the military field.These include the areas of transport, helicopter capacity and procurement.The end result of a consolidation of military capacities must be a European army, said Mr Steinmeier, according to German news agency DPA.

At the same conference, other leading politicians from the Social Democratic party - which currently forms part of the governing coalition with the Christian Democrats in Germany - also spoke out in favour of the idea. Former defence minister and head of the SPD group Peter Struck said: There will still be opposition to the idea of a European army as there once was against the single currency, the euro.But single states are no longer able to handle the threats of today, he continued.The German politicians' comments appear to be in line with the views of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has in the past made several statements on the need for common European defence.The French president has more recently not spoken on the issue. This is being seen as a deliberate ploy not to upset the EU treaty ratification process, particularly in neutral Ireland - the only country to have a referendum on the charter and where military issues are highly sensitive with the electorate.

An email from a Dublin-based UK official after a briefing by an official in the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs that was leaked to the press last month suggested that one of the reasons for having the treaty referendum before summer rather than in autumn was due to a fear of unhelpful developments during the French presidency – particularly related to EU defence.In addition Britain, as the other serious military power in the EU along with France, has also reacted coolly to Mr Sarkozy's push for more integration in EU defence. London has also yet to ratify the EU treaty.But Mr Sarkozy is expected to return to the issue in the second half of this year, during his stint at the EU helm.The EU treaty, which has to be ratified by all 27 countries to come into force, allows for a group of member states who are politically willing to go forward to structured cooperation in defence.

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Nicolas Sarkozy: A new style of EU Presidency? Published: Thursday 8 May 2008Joachim Fritz-Vannahme, Bertelsmann Stiftung
Le style c'est l'homme as the French say, yet Nicolas Sarkozy's style does not suit all European policymakers, explains Joachim Fritz-Vannahme in a February paper for the Bertelsmannstiftung.

In the paper, entitled The Sarkozy Mystery, Fritz-Vannahme questions the way the EU will be governed under the French Presidency, asking whether France will become more European, or if EU policymaking will become more French.Since his mandate started, the sum total of what he (Sarkozy) has achieved is actually not that bad, at least in the area of foreign and European policy, says Fritz-Vannahme. Yet when it comes to foreign policy, Sarkozy's will to reconcile France and Europe in fact becomes debatable, he writes. Sarkozy's style represents a marked contrast to his predecessors’ approaches, insists the author, underlining that he has managed to normalise the strained relationship with George W. Bush and American policymaking in general in very little time. The French President's EU priorities have not all been welcomed by his European counterparts, the paper says, saying European policymakers are particularly sceptical about his Mediterranean Union proposal.

Fritz-Vannahme claims Sarkozy's expressed hope for common policies on immigration, defence, energy and environment has raised eyebrows, particularly those of Le Monde journalist Thomas Ferenczi, who described it as French resumption. But the complexity of these issues means they cannot be solved quickly, argues the author.Regarding the French President's attempt to position himself as the leader of a common European defence policy, it remains to be seen whether (Sarkozy's) proposals are feasible says the author, referring to the setting up of an EU intervention force with 10,000 troops.On Middle East issues, Sarkozy's policies tend to converge with the American and Israeli positions, the author says.Concerning Iran, foreign minister Bernard Kouchner raised the idea of a possible war, he adds.The author suggests that the French President will have to how a willingness to compromise on agricultural policy.

Perceived as not easy to deal with due to his plethora of ideas and his linguistic agility, Fritz-Vannahme nevertheless concludes that Sarkozy's contradictions may also be a reason for hope.

Euro area lacking single voice abroad, Brussels says
08.05.2008 - 09:24 CET | By Lucia Kubosova

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - In a review of ten years of the euro, the European Commission argues the single currency has often suffered from political attacks in countries where it is used, as well as from lacking sufficient weight on the world stage, which Brussels suggests the 16-member to be eurozone could overcome with a single chair at international financial institutions.The euro - established by the then EU leaders ten years ago this month and launched on 1 January 1999 - has been an unarguable political and economic success, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia told the European Parliament on Wednesday (7 May).

He added however that the public image of the single currency does not always enjoy the reputation it should do, partly because it frequently becomes a scapegoat for economic problems of individual member countries. In a report adopted by the EU executive on Wednesday, Brussels highlighted the key economic achievements of the euro area, such as sustained price stability, a fall in average interest rates from nine to five percent, better fiscal policies and creation of 16 million jobs since 1999.But economic growth has on average been around two percent per year since the introduction of the single currency, broadly the same rate as in the 10 preceding years, the paper acknowledged.Growth has been weak in countries where structural reforms in product and labour markets have been lagging. Such slow pace of reform perhaps reflects the fact that the single currency has provided a shield against adverse shocks, which generally act as a stimulus to reform, noted the paper.

Brussels argues that This paradox can only be resolved by strengthening the co-ordination of structural reform in the euro area. The commission itself will soon gain more powers to boost its surveillance of the national reform performances.Under the EU's Lisbon treaty - set to come into force early next year if ratified in all 27 member states, the commission will be allowed to send direct warnings to countries seen as failing in reforms, without having to wait for the bloc's finance ministers' approval.Apart from improvements on the internal front, the EU executive also calls for a better coordination of eurozone members when speaking to the outside world, with Mr Almunia noting it is absolutely necessary for them to have one single presence in international financial bodies.At the moment, it is individual countries rather than the eurozone as a bloc who are represented at institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the G7 group of leading industrialised nations, with the biggest countries enjoying the highest status. And although continually urging for a single voice and chair at international bodies for the eurozone, the commission is aware it is not yet politically acceptable.

We're aware that it's not for today, tomorrow or probably the day after either. Politically, it's delicate, but we have to do it as a medium- to long-term goal because otherwise we're a political dwarf and an economic giant, a senior official said on Tuesday.The euro area currently includes 15 countries, with Slovakia set to join on 1January 2009 after it received a green light from Brussels on Wednesday.

Commissioner attacks protectionist mirage of Obama, Clinton
08.05.2008 - 09:17 CET | By Leigh Phillips

The EU's trade chief has hit out at the more protectionist positions on trade that have increasingly been deployed by the Democratic presidential candidates in the United States.Britain's Financial Times is reporting that trade commissioner Peter Mandelson in an interview with the BBC on Thursday (8 May) attacked rhetoric coming from US candidates on the imposition of new tariffs and criticising the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

It is irresponsible to be pretending to people you can erect new protection, new tariff barriers around your economy in this 21st century global age and still succeed in sustaining peoples' living standards and jobs, he is reported as saying. It is a mirage and they know it.The two remaining presidential candidates scrapping it out for the nomination of the Democratic Party, senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have stepped leftwards in their rhetoric on trade in comparison to the strongly pro-free-trade agenda of the last Democratic administration under Ms Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, who signed NAFTA.Senator Clinton has said she wants to see a renegotiation of NAFTA, and that if that is not possible, then the US would be forced to withdraw from the trade agreement, rhetoric that has been matched by her opponent.The two politicians also support the imposition of tariffs on Chinese goods in retaliation for what they view as the undervaluation of the Chinese renminbi.

However, both candidates have surrounded themselves with advisors close to Wall Street and who are veterans of the Clinton administration. Analysts reckon much of the rhetoric on trade is just that, and that if elected, either candidate would hew closely to the liberalising trade agenda that has characterised administrations of both stripes since Jimmy Carter.Indeed, a minor scandal erupted from within the Obama campaign in March, when it emerged that one of the senator's senior economic advisors had secretly reassured Canadian officials that Obama's attacks on NAFTA should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans.But Mr Mandelson believes even the rhetoric itself is dangerous.It is very irresponsible in my view to pretend to people that we can disengage from international trade, we can create barriers around our economy and then be surprised when people retaliate by doing the same, he said. It is going to lead us into a vicious spiral of beggar-thy-neighbour policies which will take us decades back in terms of trade growth.

EU-US trade, worth some €1.89 trillion, represents around 37 percent of world trade, but the EU regularly engages in trade spats, with the European Commission regularly complaining about regulatory barriers for EU exports to the US.The latest development that is expected to spiral into a sharp dispute at the WTO is a complaint from the European Biodiesel Board, which, as its market is steadily squeezed with governments beginning to back away from their previously robust support for biofuels, says that US subsidies are creating a severe injury to their European counterparts.Additionally, towards the end of April, the commission published a report on US trade barriers that complained of the use of national security as a fig leaf for what are in reality trade protectionist measures. Shipping container security screening and related additional US customs routines are causing significant additional costs and delays to shipments of EU machinery and electrical equipment to the US, read the report.The EU hopes to finalise a deal on world trade ahead of the US presidential elections, lest negotiations have to start all over again from scratch under a new president.On Tuesday, Mr Mandelson told reporters in Brussels he believes a breakthrough in trade talks can be achieved in the next few weeks.Meanwhile, EU-US trade concerns are likely to be raised at the upcoming meeting of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) on 13 May, a government-to-government mechanism set up in 2007 with the aim of avoiding trade-related disputes and advancing economic integration between the two sides.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY ISRAEL !

Shalom to all our wonderful Intercessors ,

Isaiah 27:6 .................. Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit

As I watched the 60th birthday celebration for Israel on the television last night with our friends, I realised what a monumental victory this is for Israel. 60 years !! WOW, this is just amazing. In 60 years Israel has gone from a swamp infested, mosquito ridden land, to a cultivated, modern, economically thriving, successful, growing nation that exports fruits, flowers, herbs and other quality merchandise to the nations of the world, and has seen almost 7 million Jewish people return to the land of their forefathers as was prophesied. As I pondered on this victory I also saw what a tremendous victory it is in the face of our enemies. They know it as much as we do what a victory this is. To the glory and name of the God of Israel this land makes her statement to the world, Um Israel Chai (the people of Israel live)

The best though is still yet to come. Spectacular miracles, signs and wonders greater than what were displayed in Egypt are still yet to be manifest to the people of Israel and before the face of her enemies. However, as we all know before we will celebrate future birthdays of Israel we remain at war, there will be war, and we need to remain vigilant in our call as intercessors to stand before the Lord, and ask for His forgiveness as a nation, to plead for His mercy and to remind Him of His covenant, and promises that He may fulfill them for His great name sake, and Messiah can return.

ALIYAH - Isaiah 11: 11-12 ...... It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again for the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth

We are heading towards another summer in Israel, when generally, it is trend during the months of July and August for
thousands of Jews make Aliyah (return to their homeland). As you are aware from previous bulletins and news reports, there has been a breakthru in Aliyah from North America and Canada. This breakthru has seen a big increase each year over the last 3 - 4 years.

There are various reasons that Jewish people home. One is anti-Semitisim, one is the results of the Jewish Agency campaigns that are done to encourage Jews to return, one is the excellent package deals that are offered, one is Zionism, but I believe the under-current of all of these and any other reasons Jews come home is that the God of Israel has ordained it. It is written, therefore it is and will happen.

I have actually heard some Jewish people here say they do not know why they came back - so that gave an opportunity to explain about Aliyah from a Biblical perspective. It is the Spirit of the Lord drawing His people home, there is a clarion call going out, He is whistling for His people to come home, this sound is a spiritual sound, but it has gone forth for now is the appointed time for the second exodus and ingathering of His people to be here in the land in preparation for Messiah's return.

Almost half of those that returned last summer from North America and Canada were young adults and professional people.

Please pray for thousands more, a multiplication of last years numbers to be brought back into Israel this summer of 2008 - especially from North America and Canada. But also of course from all the nations in Europe, and in South Africa, South America, England, Wales and Scotland, Iran, Ethiopia, India, Australia and even the ends of the earth, New Zealand.

Please pray for the Birthright Programs that are targeting 18 - 25 year old young adults, that the programs would have the desired effect, that is, during their time here, their souls would make a connection with their Jewish heritage, Jewish roots, to the land, and their God.

Pleaese pray for David's nephew Jonathan Buchan (19) who is here for one year on a Birthright program (his brother Daniel, who I had you pray for two years ago and was also here on a Birthright program, will now be making Aliyah this coming September from Australia). Please pray for Jonathan as he spends time also with our boys, Stefan and Jordan and when he is in our home on the various Shabbats for quality times to share, and that he too, will conceive the seeds of Zionism while here in his homeland.

Please pray for Jewish people who are living in volatile anti-Semitic nations to be roused to leave and return to their homeland.

Please pray for all hindrances to be removed, all the stones to be taken out of the way for His people to return

Please pray for all the religious Jews in the nations to have a desire to return and live permanently in Israel and to set their eyes towards Zion.

Please pray that all Jews still scattered in the nations, will sense an restlessness in their spirits and will be not at peace until they make Aliyah

Jeremiah 31: 8-9 Behold I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, and her that travails with child together. They shall come with weeping and with supplications, I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble for I am father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

PRAYER FOR ISRAEL

Israel is currently at one of her most crucial times of her entire history. President Bush representing the Quartet continues to walk and move with great intention to see a Palestinian state. He is pressing the Israeli government extremely hard to arrive at a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority before his time as President is completed at the end of this year. Israel's Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni seem to be totally under the influence of Bush and Rice and look to be ready to give up large parts of Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights.

Earlier this week the police launched another corruption and bribery investigation on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. So far Olmert has survived all of the previous investigations but this one seems to be far more serious than the previous ones. There is expectation of charges being laid against which could bring about his immediate resignation as Prime Minister. This would basically bring the peace process to a halt or at least delay it.

Please pray that this present government will be removed and that the Lord will raise up a godly government.Please pray that the Lord will give us the shepherds that He promised for Israel (I will restore your judges as at the first and your counsellors as at the beginning......... I will give you shepherds according to My heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding)Pray that all evil will be exposed, everything that his hidden in Olmert's life will come out into the light.Pray that Israel will NOT agree to a Palestinian state in our land.Pray that ALL works of darkness will be exposed

OUT OF ZION MINISTRIES - Isaiah 2:3 ... For Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem

Thank you all for praying for David's trip to Canada and his recent ministry trip to Germany. His word will not return void. The word of the Lord is going forth in the hearts of many Messianic Jews from Israel to the nations, a fulfillment of the calling on Jewish people to be a light to the nations.

Please pray that as His word is going forth it will plant seed, the seed will be watered, it bring forth fruit and reap a harvest of hearts having revelation of the true meaning of the Holy scriptures concerning Israel, the Jewish roots of Christianity , the connection of the church with Israel, the calling on the church towards Israel, the Church's relationship and responsibility towards Israel, a deep love for the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

ISRAELI FRIENDS - Smadar and Israeli Levi, Shlomo and Yehudit Zayit, Mel and Gita Cornfield, Tami, Neeva, Uriah, Hana Sherbo

Please continue to pray with us for our friends that they will know redemption, that God will be merciful to each one of them, that He will give them understanding as we speak to them from the scriptures and the prophecies in connecting with all that is taking place in Israel today and the reasons why.

OUR IDF SOLDIERS -

Pray daily for all our IDF soldiers, especially those in combat units, and also our IAF. They are doing daily combat assign-ments, usually in the middle of the night.
Pray for success, divine supernatural protection, wisdom, pray they will all come out from an assignment as whole as they go in, pray the hosts of angels will go before them, surround them, have charge over them, pray that the angels will deflect all weaponry and explosives that are thrown into their midst, pray that the eyes of our enemies will be opened to the supernatural protection around our soldiers and flee.

INTERCESSORS FOR THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL - 2008 PRAYER SUMMIT : 25 MAY - JUNE 2, 2008

Arise O God ...... and let your enemies be scattered

We are just two weeks away until we launch into our IRI 2008 prayer summit.

David and I are just doing final preparations and we are with expectation that the Holy Spirit will guide and lead us all in worship, prayer and intercession and that as His word goes forth He will be watching over it to perform it .

Please would you pray for each one coming for travelling mercies, for prepared hearts. For anointing on all we do and for angelic protection as we travel around the country. Pray also pray for our guest speakers each night for anointed messages. Please pray for our worship leader Shirley Fryer coming from Wales, for anointing as she leads us in worship and for her hands to be blessed with every note she will play.

Blessings and love from Zion ...
Josie. David & Josie Silver Out of Zion Ministries Mt Carmel
Israel www.out-of-zion.com

CHRONOLOGY-Vladimir Putin's years as Russian leader
Reuters - Tuesday, May 6 02:42 pm(Reuters)

- Vladimir Putin, who hands over the Russian presidency to his protege Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, rose from obscurity to dramatically change the face of Russia in his eight-year rule.

Following are key events during his two terms in office:

August 9, 1999 - The ailing and unpopular President Boris Yeltsin names 46-year-old Putin, the low-profile head of the FSB security service, as his new prime minister and preferred successor.

September 1999 - More than 300 civilians die in apartment block blasts blamed on Chechen rebels in cities including Moscow.

September 23, 1999 - Putin orders bombing raids against Chechen capital Grozny followed by a full-scale land offensive. Within months Russian troops retake Chechnya and install a loyal administration. Putin's popularity rating rockets to 48 percent in November from 5 percent in August.

December 31, 1999 - Yeltsin announces his early resignation. Putin becomes acting president.

March 26, 2000 - Putin wins the presidential election with 53 percent of the vote.

May 2000 - Putin appoints liberal economist Mikhail Kasyanov as his prime minister. A series of bold market reforms including tax reform, the adoption of a new land code and liberalisation of monopolies are introduced. The Russian economic recovery, helped by high oil prices, takes off.

May 2000 - The Kremlin launches a campaign against the media empire of tycoon Vladimir Gusinsky, one of a handful of oligarchs who wielded huge influence over the Kremlin at the end of the Yeltsin presidency.

The jewel of Gusinsky's empire, NTV television, ends up in the hands of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. The campaign against Gusinsky launches a process which puts Russia's biggest media outlets under the control of the Kremlin and its allies.

August 2000 - Nuclear submarine Kursk with 117 sailors and officers on board sinks in the Barents Sea. There are no survivors. The incident exposes Putin to a barrage of media reports alleging he mishandled the crisis.

September 2002 - Nearly 130 hostages die in a Moscow theatre seized by Chechen rebels. The government introduces a set of anti-terrorism laws restricting the media.

October 2003 - Russia's richest businessmen and owner of the YUKOS oil major, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is arrested on fraud and tax evasion charges. He is sentenced to 9 years in prison in May 2005, later reduced to eight years. The trial becomes a signal to the business community to stay away from politics.

September 1, 2004 - More than 330 people, half of them children, killed in attack by Chechen rebels on a school in the southern town of Beslan. Putin orders a crackdown on the rebels and demands more powers he says are needed to fight terrorism.

Within two years, rebel leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev are killed. Large-scale rebel resistance ceases.

Parliament approves new laws changing the rules of parliamentary elections and scrapping gubernatorial elections. Critics say the changes give Putin sweeping powers.

March 14, 2004 - Putin is re-elected with 71 percent of vote.

July 2006 - Russia hosts the G8 summit in St Petersburg, the high point in Putin's drive to revive Russia as a key global player.

January 2007 - Putin, addressing an international conference in Munich, accuses the United States of a desire to dominate the world. The speech irks Western governments already concerned about how Moscow uses its growing energy might.

Early 2007 - The Russian government says Gross Domestic Product has passed the level it was at in 1990, a key landmark on Russia's path to economic recovery.

December 2007 - Putin presents his long-time ally Dmitry Medvedev as his preferred successor and agrees to become his prime minister. Putin's support makes Medvedev's victory in the March 2 presidential election certain.
http://uk.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/russia
(Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; editing by Keith Weir)

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *
WHAT IS NEXT FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN?
Medvedev slated to become President Wednesday.
By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., May 6, 2008) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered hundreds of state-of-the-art tanks, fighter jets and ballistic missiles to be paraded through Red Square last Friday, a chilling signal to Russia's neighbors and enemies, though Putin insists he bears no evil intent. This is not sabre-rattling, Putin told reporters ahead of Russia's traditional Victory Day parade. We are not threatening anyone and don't plan to.Oh really? Why then is Russia selling billions of dollars of weapons -- including missiles, fighter jets, submarines, nuclear technology and enriched uranium -- to Israel's enemies, and ours? Why is Russia building strategic alliances with enemies like Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria? Why has Russia repeatedly threatened neighbors like Georgia and Ukraine? Why is Russia building vast new military and political alliances in Central Asia and Far East Asia? Tomorrow, May 7th, Putin will ostensibly hand over the reigns of the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev, the baby-faced former law professor whom Putin hand-picked and personally anointed to take his place as president. But it seems unlikely that Putin will actually give up much -- if any -- real political power.

Putin says he plans on ascending to the role of Prime Minister. In the past, that has been a less powerful position, but in Putin's hands I expect it to become a vastly more powerful role. As I have written in the past, Putin seems intent on fashioning himself as the new Czar of Russia. He is centralizing power and wealth unto himself. He is silencing political and religious opposition. He is rebuilding the offensive capabilities of the Russian military. And he seems to be itching for a military adventure of some kind, an opportunity to show Russia's new might and reclaim the glory of Mother Russia.

No wonder he has triggered the following headlines:

CZAR VLADIMIR
CBS News.com, October 3, 2007

CZAR VLADIMIR
New York Post, October 7, 2007

PUTIN, THE CZAR
Pravda (Moscow), November 26, 2007

CZAR PUTIN
CNN Special Report, November 20, 2007

PUTIN FOR CZAR?
Khaleej Times (Dubai), December 2, 2007

A CZAR IN THE MAKING:
The Cold War is dead, but Vladimir Putin is very much with us
Air Force Magazine, December 2007

And let us not forget that on December 4, 2007, Time magazine named Putin its Person of the Year. The title of the cover story that followed? A TSAR IS BORN.Now, could Medvedev eventually find a way to ice his benefactor out of the way and seize full control of Russia himself? It is conceivable, perhaps, but as of this writing seems unlikely. For starters, Medvedev is in every way Putin's junior. He is twelve years younger that Putin, just 42 at the time of his landslide victory in a rigged (read: sham) election in March 2008. Medvedev is three inches shorter than his mentor, clocking in at 5'4 as compared to Putin's already diminutive 5'7. What's more, while Medvedev has spent the last several years running Gazprom for Putin - the behemoth state-run gas monopoly that supplies 30% of Europe's gas and has a market capitalization of $345 billion - he has precious little experience in the cut-throat, winner-take-all worlds of FSB intelligence or Kremlin palace politics.

Then, of course, no sooner did Putin select Medvedev for the job of president than his puppet blurted out that Putin would and should run the country anyway. In order to stay on this path [of foreign and economic policy strength], it is not enough to elect a new president who shares this ideology, Medvedev told reporters. It is not less important to maintain the efficiency of the team formed by the incumbent president. That is why I find it extremely important for our country to keep Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin at the most important position in the executive power, at the post of the chairman of the government.Putin, for his part, has made no bones about how long he plans to stay in power or whether he will be subservient to Medvedev. I formulated the objectives for the development of Russia from 2010 to 2020, Putin has told reporters, and if I see that I can realize these goals in this position [of Prime Minister], then I will work as long as this is possible. When asked if he will hang President Medvedev's portrait in his office? I do not have to bow to [Medvedev's] portraits, Putin stated without apparent humor.

One area to keep an eye on: Putin has been working quietly but steadily in recent years on creating a merger between Russia and neighboring Belarus. Is it possible that Putin could turn himself into a Czar of a new Russian-Belarus superstate? Or is this just a head-fake for a larger, even more ambitious power grab? One of Putin's main characteristics is to never disclose his plan until the last moment, says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a foreign policy journal. He allows all sorts of misimpressions to thrive, while he bides his time and decides what he wants to do.