PALESTINIAN FORCE IN HEBRON

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

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

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

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

At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.

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

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

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

Tropical depression nears tropical storm strength OCT24,08

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

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

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

EARTHQUAKES

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

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

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

Strong 6.2 earthquake rocks Papua New Guineau OCT 24,08

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

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

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

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

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

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Returning refugees forced to take Russian passports

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

Palestinian force enters Hebron in security drive OCT 25,08

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

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

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

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

LIVNI SILENT

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

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

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

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

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

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

THE MARKETS LOST 3 TRILLION DOLLARS ALREADY.

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

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

Ladies, gentlemen and friends,

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

Ladies and gentlemen!

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

Ladies and gentlemen,

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

Ladies and gentlemen,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mediterranean union water conference called off OCT 25,08

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then there is politics.

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

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

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

IRAN TO BUILD 1ST BOMB FEBRUARY 2009

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI OCT 24,2008

09:30 AM -167.10
10:00 AM -325.60
10:30 AM -434.37
11:00 AM -335.48
11:30 AM -258.93
12:00 PM -264.95
12:30 PM -342.72
01:00 PM -348.94
01:30 PM -309.51
02:00 PM -439.34
02:30 PM -383.03
03:00 PM -224.85
03:30 PM -183.27
04:00 PM -312.30 8378.95

S&P 500 876.77 -31.34

NAS 1552.03 -51.88

GOLD 733.0 +18.3

OIL 64.80 -3.04

TSE 300 -120.09 9,211.26

CDNX -27.04 830.96

S&P/TSX 60 -6.54 555.98

HANG SENG -1,142.11

NIKKEI -811.90

TRADER TALK TODAY

-No Capitulation breeds frustration.
-Buyers waiting for sellers.
-Unwind of carry trade disrupts Currencies.
-Watching emerging Markets.

Analysts were expecting a gigantic drop at the open,never happened.
Nasdaq opens down 6.2% or at Limit Down.
At open markets plunge less then 500 points.
At 9:40 AM Dow down -449 points.
Dow below 8300 points at 9:40 AM.

NEW LOWS TO BREACH OCT 10 LOW/SUPPORT

-Dow has to fall 809 points or 9.3%.
-The SPX has to fall 69 points or 7.6%.
-Next support could be 10 to 20% lower if breached.

FUTURES LIMITS

-Limit extended to 10% at open.
-Trading halted for 2 minutes if reached.
-Limit then extended to 20%.
-Trading halted for 2 minutes if reched.
-Limit then extended to 30%.

NYSE CIRCUIT BREAKER

-1100 point Dow drop.
-Before 2PM: 1 hour trading halt.
-2-2:30PM: 30 minute trading halt.
-3PM or Later: No trading halt.

-290 was the least Dow was down as of 10:15AM.
-450 was the worst Dow was down as of 10:15AM.

Dows low today was 503 points so far.
All 30 Dow stocks lower today so far.
Dow has not closed below 8000 points since March 31,2003.
Dow intraday low s 7882 on Oct 10,08.
S&P intraday low is 839 on Oct 10,08
NYSE companies:NEW LOWS 732,NEW HIGHS 4.
NASDAQ dips below OCT 10,08 lows.
Volatility index reaches all time high of 89.

Argenina,Hungary,Indonesia and Turkey all are spending alot of their reserves to support their currencies that are in a free-fall today.
Hungary,Ukraine,Belarus are all in talks with the IMF for possible loans.
Chrysler to cut 1/4 or 25% it salary workforce in November.
On Nov 1,08 OPEC cuts 1.5 million barrels of Oil a day.
Crude Oil down more than $40 a barrel in the last month.

APR 1 - OCT 17,08 the Dows down 28%,but in the last hour of trading in that span its down 13%,almost half the drop came in the last hour of trading.

OILS ECONOMIC STIMULUS

-Oil price down $20/Barrel=Down $635 Billion energy spending.
-US retail gas price down $0.01=$1 Billion in consumers hands.

TODAYS MARKETS WRAPUP

-Stocks tumble on Global recession fears.
-European stocks at 5 year lows.
-Paris CAC 40 down 3.5% today.
-Russian stocks plunge 13.7% today.
-Russian Rouble at 2 year low.
-Asian stocks plunge.
-Japanese Yen at 13 year high verses the dollar.
-UKS ftse down 5% today.
-Germanys DAX down 5% today.
Nas fell 6.9% at days low.
Nas down 3.2% today.
Nas drops 9.3% this week.
Nas drops 25.8% in October.
S&P fell 6% at days low.
S&P down 3.5% today.
S&P fell 6.8% this week.
S&P down 24.8% in October.
Dow fell 6% at days low.
Dow down 3.5% today.
Dow fall 5.4% this week.
Dow down 22.8% in October.
All 30 Dow stocks down today.
Major averages hit fresh 5 1/2 year lows before cutting losses.
Crude down 4% today.
Stocks have dropped 4 times in the last 5 weeks.

TIPS

IF OBAMA WINS
-Own Generik drugs.
-own Hospital Management Companies.
-Own Clean energy Companies.
-Own Natural Gas.
-Own Wind,Solar.
If Democrates get 60 seats in the Senate,they will pass a big package and quickly including higher Taxes.

IF MCCAIN WINS
-Own Big Oil.
-Own Coal.
-Own Big Pharma.
-Own Dividend Payers.

Shock and fear gripped the market before the beggining of trading today.

LUKE 21:25
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)

Stocks fall on belief global recession is at hand OCT 24 4:50PM
By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer

AP – A couple of brokers take a break outside the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 in New York. … NEW YORK – Wall Street capped another difficult week with steep losses Friday, sending the major indexes to their lowest levels in more than five years as markets around the world skidded lower on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand.It was a dramatic, fractious day on the Street, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 500 points soon after trading began and, following the pattern of recent sessions, recovering ground only to fall sharply again. They ended the day with a loss of 312.The pullback on Wall Street wasn't as steep as some observers had feared after stocks plunged overseas in response to another round of grim corporate news. A profit warning Friday from electronics maker Sony sent its shares tumbling in Japan and offered only the latest example that companies are girding for a slowing economy and a pullback among consumers worried about falling home prices and losses on their investments.And in Germany, Daimler's stock fell sharply after the automaker reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue forecast. That followed news in the U.S. late Thursday from Microsoft Corp., which issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for its fiscal second quarter, pointing to the economy.

People have been saying that we're in a recession. This is the realization, said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York.It is clear that many investors are convinced the world economy is headed for a severe downturn even as governments have raced to jump-start credit markets on the hope that a return of more normal lending levels by banks and other financial houses will fan economic activity.But some say the recent pullbacks have been set off by forced selling, keeping some bargain-seeking traders from entering the market.

There's nothing new going on, said Scott Bleier, president of market advisory service CreateCapital.com. This is all about the unwinding of massive leverage.

Bleier attributed the declines to margin calls and investors in hedge funds and mutual funds cashing out. A margin call occurs when investors are forced to sell holdings, like stock, to raise cash at the demands of brokers.Market participants' fear is not that the economy is slowing, he said. The fear is there is an endless supply of things for sale, regardless of price.Steve Gross, principal at alternative investment and advisory firm Penso Capital Markets, said most large hedge funds have already slashed their positions. Instead, he sees a lack of demand: There are no buyers at all.Investors were nervous going into the session after U.S. stock futures — the bets traders place on where the market will go — fell so sharply before Friday's opening bell that selling halts were imposed.By the close, according to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 312.30, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95 after falling 504 in the early going. Still, the blue chips remained above the 8,000 level; at its recent low of Oct. 10, the Dow traded as low as 7,882.51.Broader stock indicators also fell. The S&P 500 index declined 31.34, or 3.45 percent, to 876.77, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 51.88, or 3.23 percent, to 1,552.03.Friday's finish was the lowest for the Dow since April 25, 2003, when it ended at 8,306.35. For the S&P, it was the lowest ending since April 11, 2003 when the index finished at 868.30.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 18.80, or 3.84 percent, to 471.12.Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.58 billion shares.Friday was the 79th anniversary of the day that, according to many market historians, the October 1929 stock market crash began. Selling began on Thursday, Oct. 24, and accelerated the following week on the days that have since become known as Black Monday and Black Tuesday, Oct 28 and 29. For the week, the Dow fell 5.35 percent, the S&P 500 lost 6.78 percent and the Nasdaq fell 9.31 percent.

Wall Street set for plunge on recession fears,Dow index futures drop 550 points, maximum allowed price change,Gloomy outlook for U.S. markets

Oct. 24: The Dow futures drop dramatically as overseas markets tumble on growing fears of a looming global recession. CNBC’s Erin Burnett reports from the New York Stock Exchange.

Historic bear markets
Our current stock slide joins the list of most notable bear markets in the past 80 years. BREAKING NEWS - NEW YORK - Wall Street headed for another precipitous drop Friday as fears of a punishing global recession stirred panic among investors and sent world financial markets into a tailspin. The Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 550 points, triggering a freeze in selling.The massive decline was caused by increasingly grim news from overseas. In Japan, shares of Sony sank more than 14 percent after it slashed its earnings forecast for the fiscal year. In Germany, Daimler’s stock dropped 11.4 percent in morning trading after it reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue guidance.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell a staggering 9.60 percent. In Europe, Germany’s benchmark DAX index was down a massive 10.76 percent, France’s CAC40 was down 10 percent while Britain’s FTSE 100 was 8.67 percent lower after third quarter GDP fell 0.5 percent, putting the country on the brink of recession.The dour outlook convinced investors that the world economy is headed for a long and severe downturn despite a raft of government rescue efforts aimed at pulling the financial system from the brink. It also indicated that the tremors caused by the global credit crisis may have only begun to be felt in their true scope and magnitude.Fearing more carnage in world equity markets, big hedge funds and other institutional investors have been pulling out their money en masse in a bid to reduce risk and raise cash — moves that only intensify the selling.Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell the maximum allowed limit of 550, or 6.27 percent, to 8,224. That triggered circuit breakers that automatically freeze selling until the market’s 9:30 a.m. EDT open. However, traders can still buy stocks and send the market higher. Selling eased slightly later in the morning, leaving Dow futures 548 points lower.The Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures was also down the maximum allowed 60 points, or 6.56, to 855.20, and the Nasdaq 100 index futures was down 85.00, or 6.20 percent, to 1,175.75.On Thursday, the Dow rose 172 points as investors went looking for bargains after two days of selling. Analysts have predicted that trading will remain volatile for the foreseeable future while investors test whether or not the market has hit a bottom.Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 8.3 percent to 12,618. Markets in India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were also down sharply as investors bailed from emerging markets to cut their exposure to risky assets and meet redemption needs at home.The sudden gloom over growth expectations is having the added impact of putting small economies and currencies under extreme pressure. Investors are pulling money out of countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia on fears vulnerable countries will not only be hit hard by the financial crisis but may also default on debt. Tell us your retirement story How has the economic downturn affected your retirement plans? Are you putting less – or more – money in your retirement account? We are interested in your situation for an upcoming story.

In Europe, for example, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus are all, like Iceland, in talks with the IMF to discuss possible loans.Meanwhile, credit markets remained tight but still much improved from where they were last week. The three-month bill, regarded as the safest assets around, yielded 0.95 percent, up slightly from 0.94 percent late Thursday. Last week the yield was at 0.20 percent, indicating investors were willing to trade the slimmest of returns for a safe place to keep their money.The U.S. dollar, meanwhile, plunged below 93 yen, a 13-year low, as traders reacted to dismal U.S. jobs data that spurred speculation the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates. Meanwhile, gold prices plunged.Light, sweet crude was down $4.09 to $64.37 premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sell-off, another sign that investors fear a severe recession, came despite OPEC’s announcement that it will cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day in a bid to shore up sagging prices.

States call for IMF critical role in crisis OCT 24,08 8:45 AM

BEIJING – Asian and European leaders meeting in China's capital will demand that the International Monetary Fund play a critical role in helping countries hardest-hit by the global financial meltdown, according a draft statement seen by The Associated Press on Friday.The IMF, along with other international financial institutions, should act now to help stabilize struggling banks and plunging share prices, said the draft, which is to be issued at the end of the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting of 43 world leaders that opened in Beijing on Friday.The gathering seeks to build consensus on handling the crisis ahead of a Nov. 15 meeting of the 20 largest economies in Washington D.C.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, the draft said.If adopted, the statement would be among the strong calls yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF.Countries as disparate as Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland and Pakistan have already turned to the fund, known as the international lender of last resort, for helping bridging their liquidity crunches.

The draft statement says leaders agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems.They agreed to quickly take appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institution, the statement says.In remarks Friday to the meeting's opening session, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped Asia would support Europe's proposals on redrawing the system of international capitalism at the Washington meeting.Europe is going to act in a united way, and we will submit proposals that we have developed together. Europe would like Asia to support our efforts and would like to make sure that on the 15th of November we can face the world together and say that the causes of this unprecedented crisis will never be able to happen again, Sarkozy said.

World markets slump on recession fears By CARLO PIOVANO, AP Business Writer OCT 24,08

AP – An employee of the Korea Stock Exchange works in front of a screen that shows the falling Korean benchmark … LONDON – World stock markets tumbled Friday on growing alarm that a global recession will ravage corporate profits and push smaller developing economies to the brink of collapse.Futures indicated a sharp drop on Wall Street, with futures down 550 points, the maximum daily price change.In the European morning, Germany's benchmark DAX index was down a massive 10.76 percent at 4,033.27. The French CAC40 down 10 percent at 2979.95 while Britain's FTSE 100 was 8.67 percent lower at 3,733.33 after third quarter GDP fell 0.5 percent, putting the country on the brink of recession, which is technically defined as two quarters of negative growth. The previous quarter's growth was 0.0 percent.Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average slid 9.6 percent to 7,649. U.S. stock index futures were down sharply. On Thursday, the Dow rose 2 percent to 8,691.25.Quarterly earnings have been poor so far, with profit warnings coming thick and fast across all industries. Shares in Europe's automotive companies fell hard on worrying third quarter figures, with truck-maker Volvo AB down 19 percent and PSA Peugeot-Citroen falling 12.4 percent. Daimler AG and Fiat Spa also warned about profits.But heavy industry was not the only sector to feel the pain, with the likes of Sony also warning of tough times ahead. Its shares slid 14 percent in Asia.The sudden gloom over growth expectations is having the added impact of putting small economies and currencies under extreme pressure. Investors are pulling money out of countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia on fears vulnerable countries will not only be hit hard by the financial crisis but may also default on debt.Periods of panic punctuated by occasional calm appears to be the manner of things for now, said Daragh Maher at Calyon.He said that as investors flee economies they view as less stable, the repatriation of money has boosted the dollar to the detriment of smaller currencies.

For now this means much of the focus is on the International Monetary Fund and what it might have in mind to insulate emerging markets, given that they are now the clearest pressure point, said Maher.Markets are afraid that the world may see more countries go the way of Iceland, whose economy effectively collapsed this month after its financial sector went bankrupt.In Europe, for example, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus are all, like Iceland, in talks with the IMF to discuss possible loans.

The euro, which investors consider very exposed to the vulnerable Eastern European markets, fell to a two-year low against the dollar, dipping below the US$1.25 level. The British pound dropped to US$1.5264 against the dollar, the weakest since August 2002.The dollar fell against the yen, however, as low as 90.89 yen, the weakest since August 1995. This is because the yen is used a currency to fund riskier investments — it is sold to raise cash to put in higher growth areas. When investors are scared of losing money in emerging markets, they undo those trades, buying the yen back. This flow intensified Friday, leading some to wonder whether governments and central banks may intervene in foreign exchange markets.We are getting used to wild swings in the markets, but today's moves verge on the bizarre, said Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics.He said direct intervention in currency markets could be warranted, since a rate cut by the central bank to support stock markets would do little, considering Japan's interest rates are already at just 0.5 percent.Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 8.3 percent to 12,618. Markets in India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were also down sharply as investors bailed from emerging markets to cut their exposure to risky assets and meet redemption needs at home.Funds are pouring out of emerging markets, said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. A lot of money that flowed into the region during the last five years from the U.S. and Europe is being cashed out. On top of all this, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Friday cut its output by 1.5 million barrels a day as of next month in an effort to keep oil prices higher. Light, sweet crude for December delivery today traded around US$64 a barrel, over 50 percent less than this year's historic heights because the worldwide economic crisis has put a huge crimp in demand for crude. Lower energy costs help economic growth at a difficult time, so the production cut's effort to boost oil prices was not welcomed by stock markets. AP writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore, Shino Yuasa in Tokyo and Kelly Olsen in Seoul contributed to this report.

OPEC agrees output cut, oil slide goes on By Peg Mackey and Michael Georgy OCT 24 8:30AM

VIENNA (Reuters) - An emergency OPEC meeting on Friday reached swift agreement to chop production by 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) as a first step toward halting a deep oil price slide.International benchmark U.S. crude has slumped by well over 50 percent from a record high of $147.27 hit in July. On Friday, it fell again to just over $63 a barrel.The decision was straightforward, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said after the meeting.OPEC will do whatever is necessary to balance oil markets.

Before the roughly two hours of talks, which ended just before noon, ministers had been in broad agreement about the need to reduce production, but had disagreed over the extent of any cut.They said they had to balance their own needs with those of a flailing world economy.Any cut should not affect the global (financial) market, said Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammed al-Olaim, adding the reduction would be a wise cut.

Kuwait and other core Gulf producers, which have relatively low price requirements and are nervous about further destruction of demand in consumer countries, had favored a relatively modest output reduction of around a million bpd, delegates said.

Venezuela, Iran and Libya, which are more dependent on higher oil revenues, were among those who had pushed for a deeper cut, with some asking for around 2 million bpd.The two sides met in the middle. They also said they could take further action if necessary before the next scheduled meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in December in Oran, Algeria.If a further decision has to be made, it will be made and we will not necessarily wait for the Oran meeting, said OPEC President Chakib Khelil who will host the Algeria meeting.

SAUDI SETS THE PACE

Top exporter Saudi Arabia is the only exporter to be pumping significantly above its agreed target and it would be expected to lead the reduction in supplies.But it has repeatedly said other countries must play their part.Of the 1.5 million bpd being removed from the September output target of 28.8 million bpd, Saudi Arabia would pump 466,000 bpd less and Iran 199,000 bpd, OPEC said in a communique.When prices were racing toward their July record, Saudi Arabia unilaterally increased its production to try to calm a rally, which was then perceived as out of control.It has already reduced supplies slightly as global economic recession has destroyed demand and the oil price has plummeted, reviving bad memories for OPEC of the 1998 price crash when the market fell below $10.Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramirez said there was a risk oil could fall back to that level.We have to handle the situation in a very, very responsible manner as OPEC.... that way we can avoid a price collapse like 1998, he said.In the near term, analysts have said whatever the group does it could struggle to influence the price.One and a half million barrels per day may not have too much of an effect, said a London-based analyst who asked not to be named.Two million would maybe have a more psychological impact, but I still don't know if it would help the price to increase.(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall, Luke Pachymuthu and Rania El Gamal; writing by Barbara Lewis, editing by William Hardy)(OPEC newsroom)

US dollar falls to 95.32 yen, lowest in 13 years OCT 24,08

TOKYO – The U.S. dollar has fallen to its lowest level against the Japanese yen in 13years.In afternoon trading in Tokyo Friday, the dollar sank as low as 95.32 yen, the lowest since August 1995.Traders said the dollar is being pressured on worries about a recession in the U.S. economy amid the unfolding financial crisis.Dollar-selling also intensified amid speculation that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates again to shore up the sagging U.S. economy.A strong yen hurts Japanese exporters by eroding their overseas earnings when converted back to yen.

Asian stocks sink; Sony drops on earnings revision By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer OCT 24,08

AP – Pedestrians are reflected on an electric market board in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. Japanese shares … SINGAPORE – Asian stocks tumbled for a third day Friday on persistent worries that a global recession will eat into corporate profits. Shares of Sony plunged more than 12 percent after it slashed its earnings forecast for the fiscal year.Sony's news was yet another indicator that the global economy is really slowing, said Yutaka Miura, senior strategist at Shinko Securities in Tokyo. The revision had a very negative impact on other tech-related stocks, such as Panasonic Corp.Investors remain worried over growing uncertainty about the state of the global economy, Miura said.Asian markets seemed to shrug off a rebound in European markets and the Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average was down more than 7 percent to 7,847 in afternoon trading — a 5 1/2-year low — while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 4.6 percent to 13,125.The dollar, meanwhile, fell to a 13-year low in Tokyo trading amid worries about a slowdown in the U.S. economy. The dollar sank to 95.32 yen, the lowest since August 1995.The stronger yen is hurting Japanese exports, which is a big part of that country's economy, said Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.South Korea's stock market fell sharply for a second day as figures showed the economy there was slowing. The Kospi was down nearly 9 percent to 9,550, falling below the 10,000 mark for the first time in more than three years.Economic growth in South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, was measured at 3.9 percent in third quarter, the slowest since the second quarter of 2005.Markets in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were also down sharply as investors bailed from emerging markets around the world to cut their exposure to risky assets and meet redemption needs at home.

On Thursday, key indices in Russia, Brazil and Mexico also fell.

Funds are pouring out of emerging markets, Yip said. A lot of money that flowed into the region during the last five years from the U.S. and Europe is being cashed out. The global crisis has come to Asia.Electronics giant Sony Corp. plummeted 12.4 percent to 2,005 yen after it cut its annual profit and sales forecasts. Sony said Thursday afternoon its net profit for the fiscal year through March 2009 would likely drop 59 percent from the previous year to 150 billion yen (US$1.5 billion). It blamed deteriorating sales of flat-panel TVs and other gadgets for the dismal projection.Previously, Sony had expected to post 240 billion yen (US$2.4 billion) in profit for the fiscal year.Overnight in New York, the Dow rose 2 percent to 8,691.25, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose and the Nasdaq fell.Oil rose in Asian trade Friday, with light, sweet crude for December delivery up 55 cents to US$67.39.

India's central bank meets, more easing measures eyed OCT 24,08

MUMBAI (AFP) - India's central bank was slated to hold its quarterly policy meeting Friday with analysts expecting it to signal more monetary measures to stimulate a flagging economy.The Reserve Bank of India meeting comes after India's inflation hit a four-month low Thursday, opening the door for further monetary easing, economists said.It also comes four days after the central bank cut its key short-term lending rate for the first time in four years by a surprise percentage point to eight percent to boost spending and investment and try to stabilise markets.I think we'll see the Reserve Bank saying growth needs to be propped up, Dharma Kriti Joshi, economist at ratings agency Crisil, said ahead of the meeting.On Thursday, the Reserve Bank said growth in the fiscal year to March 2009 might slow to 7.7 percent from 9.0 percent last year amidst the worst global financial crisis in decades.The forecast, taken from 13 brokerage estimates, was down from a projection of 7.9 percent in June and fanned economists' expectations of more monetary easing to boost the economy.On Thursday, annual inflation measured by the wholesale price index slipped by nearly four-tenths of a percentage point -- more than markets anticipated -- to 11.07 percent.But the rate was still significantly above the central bank's end-of-year target of seven percent.But I'm confident as these (global crude and commodities) prices moderate, it'll come down, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

Some analysts said the central bank might deliver another half percentage point cut in its repo lending rate to persuade commercial banks to lower their interest rates to grease the economy.Coming on top of Monday's cut, it would send a fairly strong signal to commercial banks to drop their prime lending rates, said Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank.However, other economists said the bank might choose other monetary tools to stimulate the economy but expected further rate cuts later.

The bank has already pumped 20 billion dollars into the financial system this month by lowering the cash reserve ratio (CRR) -- the sum commercial banks banks must keep in reserve -- by 2.5 percentage points to unfreeze credit markets.While another interest rate cut was possible Friday, Joshi said the bank was more likely to cut the cash reserve ratio rate or the statutory liquidity ratio -- the amount banks must keep in government securities.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned this week India was experiencing the ripple effects of the global financial upheaval and "must be prepared for a temporary slowdown.India's economy expanded by 7.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, its slowest since late 2004.

East Asia to create 80 bln dlr fund, US sees deeper woes OCT 24,08

BEIJING (AFP) - East Asian leaders agreed Friday to set up an 80-billion-dollar fund by mid-2009 to fight the global economic crisis, as Japanese shares again fell sharply after a profit warning from technology giant Sony.The agreement came hours after US officials warned of a rise in unemployment stemming from the credit crisis, while France unveiled plans for a sovereign wealth fund to protect key industries from turmoil, as debate raged over the cause of the global maelstrom.Leaders of South Korea, China, Japan and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached their agreement at a breakfast meeting in Beijing, said the spokesman for South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.The East Asian leaders agreed to accelerate multilateral cooperation to create an 80 billion dollar fund by the end of next year's first half and establish an independent regional financial market surveillance organisation, the spokesman said in a statement.The deal, he said, was meant to strengthen regional cooperation and policy coordination in the face of the global financial crisis.The ASEAN Plus Three fund would supersede the Chiang Mai Initiative, which came into being in 2000 in the wake of the 1997/98 East Asian financial crisis to ease mainly bilateral currency swaps.Meanwhile in Washington, the White House braced the US public for a sharp rise in layoffs and unemployment stemming from the global economic crisis, amid fresh warnings of a painful and lasting recession.Spokeswoman Dana Perino said former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was right to warn, in testimony to a US congressional panel, of what he called a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment.We're in for a rocky road on the employment front, Perino told reporters.Greenspan, who ended his 18-year stint as chairman of the US Federal Reserve before a years-long housing bubble burst, warned that a once-in-a-century credit tsunami would pummel consumer spending and jobs.In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the creation of a 100-billion-euro (128-billion-dollar) sovereign wealth fund to protect strategic sectors of the economy from the global financial storm.

Declaring that the recent turmoil had killed off the dictatorship of the market, Sarkozy vowed to lead Europe towards a model in which the state will take a more active role in industry and protect firms from foreign takeover.A better world will emerge from this crisis than the one we had before, he said, adding that the fund would intervene massively in order to protect any strategically important French firms.What oil producers do, what China does, what Russia does, there's no reason that France should not do.Sarkozy's proposal however did not go down well in Berlin where the German government said any such measures must be compatible with European Union rules.Stocks markets remained volatile. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.04 points (2.02 percent) Thursday to end at 8,691.25 after swings in both directions and following a 514-point tumble on Wednesday.The tech-dominated Nasdaq composite however closed down 0.73 percent while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.26 percent.Asian stocks slid in early trade Friday, led by Tokyo's Nikkei which dropped 5.01 percent in early trade after Sony forecast a substantial drop in profits due to a weaker global economy and a stronger yen.South Korean shares quickly shed 3.5 percent, with the operator of Seoul's bourse halting trading for five minutes from 10:02 to 10:07 due to the steep fall in the benchmark KOSPI index.Taiwan share prices opened 2.78 percent lower, while Singapore shares were 2.15 percent down and Hong Kong opened 2.1 percent lower.In London, the FTSE 100 closed with a gain of 1.16 percent while in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.38 percent. The Frankfurt Dax pared some of its losses but fell 1.12 percent.Kevin Giddis, analyst at Morgan Keegan, said a crucial benefit to the market was a drop in key interest rates such as Libor, a benchmark for interbank loans that has been at the center of the credit crisis.Mounting evidence suggests that conditions in the short-term credit markets are slowly improving, with Libor continuing to fall, he said.It's way too early to know how close we may be to normalcy, but these trends provide some sense of optimism that the great unthawing may finally be near.Governments around the world have unveiled packages over the last month totaling more than three trillion dollars, including loan guarantees and cash injections, to restore confidence to banks and reverse a drop in lending.The scale of the decline was illustrated by figures from the Bank for International Settlements, the world's biggest central banking body, which showed cross-border lending by banks fell 1.1 trillion dollars in the second quarter of 2008 -- even before the worst of the latest crisis.

CHRISTMAS STAMPS How ironic is this ?? OCT 24,08

They don't even believe in Christ and they're getting their own Christmas stamp, but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property? USPS New Stamp
This one is impossible to believe. Scroll down for the text. If there is only one thing you forward today.....let it be this!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa !
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001 !
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!

Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class Holiday postage stamp. REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp When purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

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

Wildfire near LA's Getty museum contained Thu Oct 23, 10:08 PM
By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A wildfire burned 40 hectares of brush and grass near the world-famous Getty art museum before it was doused early Thursday without causing any damage or injuries, fire officials said. Nearby Interstate 405 was closed for about four hours but reopened at 6 a.m., as the morning rush was getting underway. Even so, traffic on freeways and surface streets throughout Los Angeles were clogged, jammed with motorists who had sought ways around the fire. The fire erupted around 12:50 a.m. on a steep urban hillside about three kilometres from the Getty Center. The centre, which houses one of the world's richest art collections and a research institute, was closed for the day as a precaution and nearby Mount St. Mary's College cancelled morning classes. About 400 firefighters and eight water-dropping helicopters fought the flames for about seven hours before the blaze was declared knocked down at 8:16 a.m., Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers said. Crews were expected to remain at the museum throughout the day to douse any remaining embers that could flare up if dry, hot Santa Ana winds returned, Myers said. The museum is about 15 kilometres west of downtown Los Angeles. Many areas of southern California were under U.S. National Weather Service warnings of extreme fire danger until Saturday evening because of heat and low humidity but Santa Anas were diminishing. A blaze at the base of Mount Baldy, about 65 kilometres east of Los Angeles, burned 47 hectares Thursday afternoon. It was about 30-per-cent contained by evening. The fire was burning uphill and away from nearby homes, said Jesse Estrada, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. On Wednesday, gusty Santa Ana winds drove a 100-hectare wildfire in Fontana and the canyons of Rancho Cucamonga, about 100 kilometres east of Los Angeles. The fire was 90-per-cent contained Thursday but no flames were visible and authorities expected to completely surround it by evening, state fire officials said.

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Media lift lid on secret reports on drug side-effects
BRIGITTE ALFTER, MARLEEN TEUGELS AND JOOP BOUMA 22.10.2008 @ 10:51 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Adverse reactions to medication is the fifth most common cause of death in hospitals according to the European Commission, but EU agencies and national governments have until now kept secret pharmaceutical companies' reports on side-effects.The notes - known in the business as Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs) - are submitted regularly to national authorities and the European Medicines Agency in London.The PSURs for example detail how doctors in various countries suspect that teenagers grow suicidal when taking a certain medication against pimples, or that a diet product could lead to a stroke and what industry has to say about the medical fears.A team of Dutch, Danish and Belgian journalists has now used freedom of information legislation in the Netherlands and Denmark to get partial access to the documents, where patient gender, age and country of origin are blacked out to protect privacy and business interests. A legal decision is pending in Belgium.The move by Dutch daily newspaper Trouw, Belgian magazine Knack in cooperation with Danish magazine Samvirke to put the documents on the internet comes as the European Commission on Tuesday (22 October) decided to delay the publication of a new package of regulation for drugs producers. The commission package is not expected to mandate publication of PSURs but is likely to allow pharmaceutical companies to contact patients directly - a practice that is currently illegal and was condemned by the European Parliament in 2002.In my view, there can be no doubt that PSURs should be made public. After all this is about the side-effects on medicines that we take, Margrethe Nielsen, a researcher at the Cochrane Institute's Copenhagen branch and a specialist on pharmaceuticals told EUobserver.She added that the notes, which form the basis of government understanding of the sector, are not based on clinically controlled tests method. This is maybe the most important: this does not build on sound science, she said. I would not be able to use them for my work.

In these reports [released in the Netherlands and Denmark] much too much has been blackened. The quality is unequal. It is of big importance that these safety reports can be accessible for everybody so that scientists can debate about their quality, Canadian expert Barbara Mintzes told Knack.Reacting in a test case on PSUR publication in Denmark in 2007, lawyers for drug firm Roche threatened to sue the Danish state if disclosure harmed the company's commercial interests.A competitor can use the reports as a basis for guidance to patients and guidance to doctors. Competitors can with the help of PSUR reports obtain a basis to take care of guiding functions, that can weaken Roches position on the market and thus bring significant negative economic effects for Roche worldwide, the company's legal advisors wrote in letters to Danish authorities.Experience shows, that documents of this type are easily misunderstood and misinterpreted, for example by journalists, the letters add. Misunderstandings of this type can cause severe disturbance of the market and thus loss for Roche.The view is shared by the Brussels-based trade lobby, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), today.The trouble is, they have to be understandable. You need to be an expert, to understand them. I would push that back to the regulator to take proper action. When you pull information, it has to be in a form, that you and I can understand, EFPIA director Brian Ager said.The industry claims that the people wouldn't understand them. In reality making the side effects public would influence the stock exchange in a negative way, French medical journal Prescire's editor Bruno Toussaint said.

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * HOW MUCH TIME BEFORE A NEW WAR IN THE EPICENTER? Plus: 15,000 Christians fleeing from Mosul, Iraq; and the Taliban murders a Christian aid worker in Kabul By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., October 21, 2008) -- How much time do we have before war between Iran and Israel breaks out? Could it happen between the U.S. elections on November 4th and the inauguration on January 20th? A number of top U.S. and Israeli officials and analysts fear the answer could be yes. Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again vowed to wipe Israel and these germs of corruption off the face of the Earth. Israeli officials believe time is running out before Iran gets the Bomb. What's more, they know full well that President Bush - widely considered the most pro-Israel commander-in-chief in U.S. history - is leaving office very soon. One question, then, is whether Israel might launch a pre-emptive war against Iran's nuclear weapons program before a new American President steps in. Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, this week actually guaranteed a major international crisis would erupt within the next six months if running mate Barack Obama is elected. Mark my words - it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy, Biden told supporters in Seattle on Sunday. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America….Watch. We're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.

Is Ahmadinejad and his regime preparing to launch such a crisis? They are certainly ratcheting up their anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli rhetoric. The Zionists are crooks, Ahmadinejad said recently. A small handful of Zionists, with a very intricate organization, have taken over the power centers of the world….Jewishness is a great lie. They have no religion whatsoever. They are a handful of lying, power-greedy people who have no religion, who only want to take over all the peoples and countries, and to trample the rights of the peoples….I've heard that one of them [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert] recently said that the idea of Greater Israel is dead. I would like to declare that the idea of 'smaller Israel' is also dead. The very notion of Israel is dead, but they are lagging behind the times. Just as the idea of Greater Israel died 30 years ago, and they did not realize this, and have continued to perpetrate crimes for 30 years…Today, I say to them: The idea of smaller Israel is dead. Ahmadinejad added that if the Jews do not end their support for Israel and Zionism, the strong arm of the [Muslim] peoples will wipe these germs of corruption off the face of the Earth.In other news from the epicenter, Libya may agree to buy more than $2 billion worth of Russian weapons during a visit by Muammar Gaddafi to Moscow this month, Interfax news agency reported on Monday. The Israeli media immediately picked up on the reports. Given Libya's historic enmiity towards Israel, there is a very real concern that should Libya receive billions of dollars of advanced new weaponry from Moscow, those arms could eventually be turned against the Jewish State. There are also prophetic implications. The War of Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel 38-39 involves a military alliance between Russia, Iran, Libya and a group of other Middle Eastern countries that surround and seek to destroy Israel in the last days after Israel has been reborn as a country and Jews have returned en masse to the Holy Land. A development worth watching closely.

DISEASES

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

UN: Over 12,000 cholera cases in Guinea Bissau OCT 24,08

GENEVA – The United Nations says over 12,220 people have been infected with cholera in Guinea-Bissau and 201 have died from the disease.UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau says the outbreak of cholera in the West African nation has proven exceptionally difficult to control.Taveau says the capital of Bissau has more than half of the cases, but the disease has spread to all provinces since it started in mid-May.Taveau said Friday that officials fear the disease could spread further because of an election campaign expected to draw large crowds in unhygienic conditions.U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs says the United Nations is already spending $1 million to fight the cholera outbreak.

World ill-prepared for next flu pandemic: UN

Despite widespread awareness of the risks of the next flu pandemic, the world needs to drastically improve cooperation in preparing for what would be a major global crisis, a UN report said Tuesday.The report by the United Nations and the World Bank said that while most countries are planning for a flu pandemic, the worry was that many plans have not been tested and may well fail once the next influenza pandemic starts.Coming on the heels of a World Bank study suggesting that the economic cost of a pandemic could top a staggering three trillion dollars, this continuing lack of preparedness remains a cause of concern, it noted.According to the World Bank, a flu pandemic of moderate intensity could cut global gross domestic product by two percent, while a severe flu pandemic would slash global gross domestic product by nearly five percent, or more than three trillion dollars.The report said that even a mild flu pandemic might kill 1.4 million people worldwide, while the death toll from a severe global outbreak could reach 70 million.Considering that pandemic preparedness was largely unaddressed by the world's nations three years ago, the widespread awareness and action seen today is a major achievement, said David Nabarro, a Briton who is the UN System influenza coordinator.But more needs to be done to ensure that we are ready for this kind of major global crisis, he added.

He made the remarks ahead of an international ministerial conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza scheduled for Friday to Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.The parley is to review global progress and plan future efforts for pandemic preparedness and bird flu control.No countries reported new infections of their poultry by the H5N1 bird flu virus in the first nine months of 2008, as compared with four in the same period last year, the UN report said.Nabarro noted that the bird flu virus was entrenched only in two countries: Egypt and Indonesia.

The study also pointed out that only 20 countries which have previously reported infections experienced outbreaks between January and September 2008, down from 25 in the same period last year.It added that to date 245 people have died of bird flu.The pace of sporadic human infections and deaths from H5N1 has slowed since last year, with 28 confirmed deaths in 2008 compared to 59 in 2007, but the threat of an influenza pandemic remains, it added.The UN is coordinating a drive by governments, donors, international agencies and corporations to stop the spread of bird flu while preparing for a fast-spreading human influenza pandemic.There have been three such pandemics in the past century.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Europe delays airport X-ray eye OCT 24,08

The scans effectively strip passengers and highlight anything they may carry
EU lawmakers have delayed the introduction at airports of full body scanners, machines that generate images of passengers - minus their clothes. MEPs voted for a further study on the implications for privacy and health. Computer pictures generated by the scanners give an outline of passengers' bodies beneath their clothes. Supporters say they detect hidden objects not picked up by traditional metal detectors. But critics say they amount to a virtual strip search. The new scanners have already been introduced in several US airports and have been tested around the world.

Efficient measure

The European Commission - which supports their implementation - has given assurances that the scanners will not be used routinely on all passengers. And it would be a faster and less intrusive alternative to frisking or strip-searching people. Where scanners are in use, security staff can pick out individuals to stand in a booth while three pictures are taken of the person in slightly different positions. This is an offence against human dignity Martin Schulz European MP.

Within seconds, a scanner produces an image of the body. What shows up is the naked human form and anything that may be concealed, such as a gun or drugs. The Commission believes that body scanning methods can complement in a very effective and efficient way the existing security measures at airports, said spokesman Jens Mester at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. European officials believe the X-ray scans could ease airport queues But others are unconvinced. It is unacceptable, if scanners are used, these are machines that see you completely naked, said Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist grouping in the EU assembly. This is an offence against human dignity, he added.

Interpol Details Plans For Global Biometric Facial Scan Database

Global security authorities are to push for a huge biometric facial scan database of international travelers so they can cross-check everyone against a database of terror suspects, international criminals and fugitives.Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, is planning to expand its role into the mass screening of passengers moving around the world by creating a face recognition database to catch wanted suspects, reports the London Guardian.The database will hold the records of every citizen who has ever traveled in and out of the virtually every country in the world, representing intelligence agency style bulk interception of information and sounding alarm bells for civil liberties groups.Two months ago we reported on the moves underway to phase out passport control officers at airports and replace them with biometric face scanning cameras. The automated face recognition gates match passengers to a digital image stored on a microchip in the new e-passports.Interpol wants a facial database to be linked into this technology and used in conjunction with its already existing fingerprint and DNA databases, according to Mark Branchflower, head of Interpol's fingerprint unit.We have previously noted that the vast array of databases currently being employed by intelligence agencies, government and law enforcement agencies worldwide were designed to be linked together in a system which will tie in the management and control of all facets of life for citizens to one central hub.Earlier this year we reported on the announcement of a vast intelligence program to establish a global biometric database known as Server in the Sky that will collate and provide an International Information Consortium with access to the biometric measurements and personal information of citizens across the globe in the name of fighting the war on terror.As reported by the London Guardian, the plan is being formulated by the FBI with the cooperation of the home offices and law enforcement agencies of American allies. The technology is being supplied by the US defense company Northrop Grumman.

Furthermore, the use of such technology, as we have already seen, will not be limited to the passport control office.A 2007 British government report muted an extensive upgrade to cctv systems all across the country to incorporate facial scanning technology. The report suggested a central database of every camera and a network allowing access to it could be beneficial.In the US there are several schemes that use Facial Recognition Technology in conjunction with Federal agencies, tying the technology to traditional documents such as drivers licenses, passports and credit cards.A biometric face recognition system has already been approved in China and is expected to be used at airports, customs entrances, banks, post offices, residential areas and other public places in the near future.Other proposals include placing the cameras in every seat on aircraft and installing software to try and automatically detect terrorists or other dangers caused by passengers.We are assured that cigarette vending machines will employ the technology in order to enforce smoking laws. Similarly, supermarkets in the UK have already started trialing the technology with the justification being a crackdown on underage drinking.In Japan facial scanning cameras are being installed in train and bus stations to replace tickets in a move to make the individual features of the face a unique bar code as part of an antiterrorism and anticrime initiative.Police in Tokyo are also asking home and shop owners to mount the cameras outside their properties. Police investigating an incident in the neighborhood would have access to these images. according to reports.Cell phones and computers are now also being produced with face scanning cameras.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

The Dangers of a Diminished America OCT 24,08

In the 1930s, isolationism and protectionism spurred the rise of fascism. With the global financial system in serious trouble, is America's geostrategic dominance likely to diminish? If so, what would that mean? One immediate implication of the crisis that began on Wall Street and spread across the world is that the primary instruments of U.S. foreign policy will be crimped. The next president will face an entirely new and adverse fiscal position. Estimates of this year's federal budget deficit already show that it has jumped $237 billion from last year, to $407 billion. With families and businesses hurting, there will be calls for various and expensive domestic relief programs.In the face of this onrushing river of red ink, both Barack Obama and John McCain have been reluctant to lay out what portions of their programmatic wish list they might defer or delete. Only Joe Biden has suggested a possible reduction -- foreign aid. This would be one of the few popular cuts, but in budgetary terms it is a mere grain of sand. Still, Sen. Biden's comment hints at where we may be headed: toward a major reduction in America's world role, and perhaps even a new era of financially-induced isolationism.Pressures to cut defense spending, and to dodge the cost of waging two wars, already intense before this crisis, are likely to mount. Despite the success of the surge, the war in Iraq remains deeply unpopular. Precipitous withdrawal -- attractive to a sizable swath of the electorate before the financial implosion -- might well become even more popular with annual war bills running in the hundreds of billions.Protectionist sentiments are sure to grow stronger as jobs disappear in the coming slowdown. Even before our current woes, calls to save jobs by restricting imports had begun to gather support among many Democrats and some Republicans. In a prolonged recession, gale-force winds of protectionism will blow.Then there are the dolorous consequences of a potential collapse of the world's financial architecture. For decades now, Americans have enjoyed the advantages of being at the center of that system. The worldwide use of the dollar, and the stability of our economy, among other things, made it easier for us to run huge budget deficits, as we counted on foreigners to pick up the tab by buying dollar-denominated assets as a safe haven. Will this be possible in the future?

Meanwhile, traditional foreign-policy challenges are multiplying. The threat from al Qaeda and Islamic terrorist affiliates has not been extinguished. Iran and North Korea are continuing on their bellicose paths, while Pakistan and Afghanistan are progressing smartly down the road to chaos. Russia's new militancy and China's seemingly relentless rise also give cause for concern.If America now tries to pull back from the world stage, it will leave a dangerous power vacuum. The stabilizing effects of our presence in Asia, our continuing commitment to Europe, and our position as defender of last resort for Middle East energy sources and supply lines could all be placed at risk.In such a scenario there are shades of the 1930s, when global trade and finance ground nearly to a halt, the peaceful democracies failed to cooperate, and aggressive powers led by the remorseless fanatics who rose up on the crest of economic disaster exploited their divisions. Today we run the risk that rogue states may choose to become ever more reckless with their nuclear toys, just at our moment of maximum vulnerability.The aftershocks of the financial crisis will almost certainly rock our principal strategic competitors even harder than they will rock us. The dramatic free fall of the Russian stock market has demonstrated the fragility of a state whose economic performance hinges on high oil prices, now driven down by the global slowdown. China is perhaps even more fragile, its economic growth depending heavily on foreign investment and access to foreign markets. Both will now be constricted, inflicting economic pain and perhaps even sparking unrest in a country where political legitimacy rests on progress in the long march to prosperity.None of this is good news if the authoritarian leaders of these countries seek to divert attention from internal travails with external adventures.As for our democratic friends, the present crisis comes when many European nations are struggling to deal with decades of anemic growth, sclerotic governance and an impending demographic crisis. Despite its past dynamism, Japan faces similar challenges. India is still in the early stages of its emergence as a world economic and geopolitical power.What does this all mean? There is no substitute for America on the world stage. The choice we have before us is between the potentially disastrous effects of disengagement and the stiff price tag of continued American leadership.Are we up for the task? The American economy has historically demonstrated remarkable resilience. Our market-oriented ideology, entrepreneurial culture, flexible institutions and favorable demographic profile should serve us well in whatever trials lie ahead.The American people, too, have shown reserves of resolve when properly led. But experience after the Cold War era -- poorly articulated and executed policies, divisive domestic debates and rising anti-Americanism in at least some parts of the world -- appear to have left these reserves diminished.A recent survey by the Chicago Council on World Affairs found that 36% of respondents agreed that the U.S. should stay out of world affairs, the highest number recorded since this question was first asked in 1947. The economic crisis could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.In the past, the American political process has managed to yield up remarkable leaders when they were most needed. As voters go to the polls in the shadow of an impending world crisis, they need to ask themselves which candidate -- based upon intellect, courage, past experience and personal testing -- is most likely to rise to an occasion as grave as the one we now face.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.

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)

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

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

REVELATION 9:18
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.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

US intelligence: Iran will be able to build first nuclear bomb by February 2009

US intelligence’s amended estimate, that Iran will be ready to build its first bomb just one month after the next US president is sworn in, is disclosed by DEBKAfile’s Washington sources as having been relayed as a guideline to the Middle East teams of both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.The information prompted the assertion by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden in Seattle Sunday, Oct. 19: It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.McCain retorted Tuesday, Oct. 21: America does not need a president that needs to be tested. I’ve been tested. I was aboard the Enterprise off the coast of Cuba. I’ve been there.)DEBKAfile’s military sources cite the new US timeline: By late January, 2009, Iran will have accumulated enough low-grade enriched uranium (up to 5%) for its break-out to weapons grade (90%) material within a short time. For this, the Iranians have achieved the necessary technology. In February, they can move on to start building their first nuclear bomb.US intelligence believes Tehran has the personnel, plans and diagrams for a bomb and has been running experiments to this end for the past two years. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week asked Tehran to clarify recent complex experiments they conducted in detonating nuclear materials for a weapon, but received no answer.The same US evaluation adds that the Iranian leadership is holding off its go-ahead to start building the bomb until the last minute so as to ward off international pressure to stop at the red line.This development together with the galloping global economic crisis will force the incoming US president to go straight into decision-making without pause on Day One in the Oval Office. He will have to determine which urgent measures can serve best for keeping a nuclear bomb out of the Islamic republic’s hands - diplomatic or military – and how to proceed if those measures fail.His knowledge of the challenge colored Sen. Biden’s additional words in Seattle: Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.

Israel’s political and military leaders also face a tough dilemma that can no longer be put off of whether to strike Iran’s nuclear installations militarily in the next three months between US presidencies before the last window closes, or take a chance on coordination with the next president.Waiting for the international community to do the job of stopping Iran, as urged by governments headed by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert - and strongly advocated Tzipi Livni, foreign minister and would-be prime minister - has been a washout. Iran stands defiantly on the threshold of a nuclear weapon.

Israel: We're in the midst of preparing the home front for war OCT 24,08

According to Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, the country is in one of the most complicated and dangerous periods of its history. And though he does not believe that Israel can be wiped off the map, in spite of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats, he is increasingly concerned about the current political instability here, which he blames for delays in projects he deems essential, such as the revamping of the Home Front. This week Vilnai gave The Jerusalem Post a lengthy interview, during which he covered a wide range of topics, from Labor's coalition talks with Kadima, to how Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is a target, to the danger of holding public demonstrations calling for the release of Gilad Schalit. The former deputy chief of General Staff and deputy commander of the elite commando unit, Sayeret Matkal, says that the IDF is at a most critical juncture. It is the only military in the world, he explains, that needs to be ready at any given moment to fight a guerrilla war in Lebanon, a terror war in the West Bank and a conventional war with Syria, and confront a possible existential threat from Iran.

Since taking up his post just over a year ago, Vilnai, 64, has been immersed in establishing the National Emergency Administration (NEA), which he founded to coordinate among all of the various emergency services, in the event of a missile onslaught. This is necessary, he says, because one of the problems encountered during the Second Lebanon War was that the cabinet had to meet several times to discuss how to get food to shelters in the North. But the cabinet needs to run the war.How do you view Israel's current strategic position in the Middle East?
There are existential threats today coming from farther away. The additional complication when dealing with Islamic radical terror is that the war is not just against terrorists, but against a population. In Gaza, you can hit Hamas, but it does not hurt Hamas, since the people there support Hamas. This is the same in Lebanon, where the civilian population supports Hizbullah. This makes the conflict much more complicated. As a result, what is needed is a combined military-diplomatic solution, as well as alliances with other countries.

Is there still a conventional threat?
It exists, and we need to prepare for it, so we can retain capabilities required for war with Syria, like on Yom Kippur exactly 35 years ago. We also need to retain the ability to fight Hizbullah and Iran over the horizon. Today, we need to know how to do different things [simultaneously], and this is difficult challenge. I can't remember such a complicated period in my 40 years in the defense establishment.

What poses the greatest threat?
The state of Israel. Establishing a new government is necessary for stability. The fact that the government changes every two years weakens us. A ministry that starts everything from scratch every two years cannot get anything done. Are there ongoing processes in the Defense Ministry that will be harmed in the event that general elections are held now? The change in regime harms and weakens us, and I believe it is of the utmost importance to continue with the same government today. We are in the midst of preparing the home front for war and this is something that the government has spoken about for decades, but never dealt with or regulated properly. If we change the leadership of the Defense Ministry, I don't know what will happen. If we don't continue what we have been doing here for another two years, it will all go to waste.

What, for example?
The NEA and the annual home front exercises we started. I fear that if we aren't here, everything will go back to the way it was in the beginning. We need continuity.

What is the concept behind the NEA?
The responsibility for the home front has always been in the hands of the municipalities or the local and regional councils, but for years they shirked this responsibility. The concept behind the NEA is for the government offices and services to assist them. The IDF, Israel Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Magen David Adom, the Interior, Welfare and Health ministries will all work for the mayors and regional council heads to make sure that life continues, even during wartime. The cabinet does not need to meet to discuss food distribution to bomb shelters. A mayor with the right assistance can do this on his or her own.

What will the next war look like?
The home front will be the main front of the war, whether it is missiles from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran.

Can Israel live with a nuclear Iran?
Israel has the strong advantage of being a resilient nation which has been through wars - and an intifada with buses blowing up. We know how to soldier on like no other country in the world. I don't believe that Israel can just disappear from the map. There were times like that in the 1950s, when we were a young and small nation. I don't accept the definition of Iran as an existential threat in the sense that Israel will disappear. I do, however, believe that we can get hit and be weakened. They can try to hit us hard, and the IDF is the only military in the world that cannot afford to lose even a single war, since doing so would be a dramatic change in the state of Israel. But the Iranian threat is not just our problem, but that of the entire free world. I was in Germany for a meeting last week and told people there that Iran should be their main focus. We need an economic siege on Iran. There are not only military solutions to threats.

Is there time for sanctions to work?
Time is against us, but I have no doubt that strong and serious sanctions could work. If the entire free world decides to stop the economic flow to Iran, it will have the desired effect. Iran is a country that is connected to the world, not like Iraq and Saddam Hussein.

Nevertheless, can Israel live alongside a nuclear Iran?
As a rule, we can't allow Iran to obtain this capability. Currently, we need to invest all our efforts in preventing it from achieving that capability. We are doing this and the US is doing this, but the entire world is not with us. When you say we can't allow Iran to achieve nuclear capability, is military force one option for preventing it? Everything needs to be seriously deliberated. I am not in favor of making warlike declarations, but I think that everything needs to be considered, so we can determine the right course of action. Military force has always been a continuation of diplomacy by other means. This was said by [Prussian military theorist Carl von] Clausewitz. Why does the world not join the economic campaign against Iran? Everyone thinks the threat is not against them. They also think in the short term, and look at the profits they are making from deals with Iran, and they think what is happening there will not affect them.

How much time is there?
I believe that 2009 and 2010 will be the critical years. There may be more time, but I think there is less. Two years is a short time for what we are dealing with.

What is going on with the gas masks?
There is a budget disagreement with the Treasury. Most of the masks have already been refurbished, and there is a plan for a civilian company to return them to people at home. However, we will not distribute to everyone at once. We will start with threatened areas - like the North and the center - and then move to other parts of the country. We had hoped to start in January, but did not receive the necessary budget. We went to the cabinet, and are waiting for the money. Hopefully, we will start to distribute in 2009.

Do we really need gas masks?
Yes. We need a protective room and a mask. This issue was studied by the NEA, and it was decided that this is the right protective envelope. We need them against capabilities that are in Syrian and Iranian hands. It is fairly easy to obtain this type of non-conventional capability, and the moment they know we have a protective envelope, they will think twice before using this capability. This serves as a deterrent against them.

Can there really be peace with Syria?
We need to break the axis of evil. It can be broken militarily, but the talks with Syria are meant to do this as well. Syria needs to cut off its ties with Iran. This is our condition, and this is the most important element. But it is not something that will happen immediately. We saw other Syrian intentions with the nuclear facility that the air force destroyed last September.I don't know what type of facility you are taking about, but that is why I said we need both elements - military and diplomatic. It has been two years since the war in Lebanon, and Hizbullah is still building up weapons. Is there a possibility of another war?
They are scared of a war, and while they pretend to be heroic, Nasrallah has for the past two years been holed up inside a bunker.

Why? Is he a target?
Of course he is. He is an enemy of Israel, and he sees what happens to Israel's enemies. Hizbullah does not want another war. It doesn't want a repeat of the destruction we caused in the Dahiya neighborhood in Beirut. Hizbullah understands it cannot survive another war and grasps what our power is. Hamas, too, is amassing weapons. What is happening with the Gaza cease-fire? They are building up all the time. The question we need to ask is what the significance of the cease-fire is where the smuggling is concerned. The answer is that they are smuggling the same amount today as they were before the cease-fire. The Egyptians are slowly improving their capabilities, and recently arrested Beduin in the Sinai who are connected to the tunnel industry. The Egyptians are an integral part of the Middle East, and peace with it has immense strategic importance for Israel. We would never have had contact with Hamas without the Egyptians. That is why I thought there was no reason for the cease-fire not to succeed. There were many on the Palestinian side who wanted to end it, but they understand the importance, and if there is not a breakdown, there is no reason not to keep it going.

Do they have weaponry that they did not have before?
There is no doubt that they have extended their rocket range. If, before, they could fire a rocket 10 km., they can now reach 20 km. But they cannot defeat us with missiles. We will not let them expand their military capability, and we may need to use military force to stop this.

Israeli air force planning answer for missile war OCT 24,08

The Israel Air Force has been preparing for massive missile strikes by Iran and Syria.Officials said the air force has sought to enhance capabilities that would enable fighter-jets to take off and land during missile and rocket strikes from such countries as Iran, Lebanon and Syria.They said the air force began the planning effort soon after the Hizbullah war in 2006, which paralyzed at least one major base. We believe that our air bases would be a key target in any war, an official said.The air force has been testing material that would enable aircraft to take off from damaged runways. Officials said the military has procured an unidentified non-asphalt substance that could restore destroyed runways within minutes. The tests were successful and would allow combat aircraft to take-off and land even under terrible conditions, the official said.Officials said the air force has determined that Hizbullah and Hamas would coordinate in an effort to paralyze bases throughout the country. They said Hizbullah would target northern air bases and Hamas would fire extended-range rockets toward bases south of Tel Aviv as well as in the Negev desert.Another Israeli option has been the procurement of a vertical takeoff variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, known as the F-35B. Under the option, the air force would procure about 10 such aircraft to ensure rapid response to any missile strike on the Jewish state.Officials said Israel's F-15I fighter-jet would serve as the most important element in any counter-strike. The air force has acquired a system that enables the F-15I — the most powerful aircraft in the Israeli fleet -- to launch several precision-guided weapons simultaneously.

Libya seeks Russian arms, including surface-to-air missiles OCT 24,08

Libya may agree to buy more than $2 billion worth of Russian weapons during a visit by Muammar Gaddafi to Moscow this month, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing an unidentified source in Russia's arms industry.An agreement on concluding a major set of arms contracts for more than $2 billion could be reached during the visit of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to Moscow, Interfax quoted the source as saying.The source said Gaddafi's visit to Moscow was planned for the end of October. Both the Libyan embassy in Moscow and Russia's state arms exporter declined immediate comment.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said Moscow was preparing for the Gaddafi visit and that the final details of the trip would be announced soon, Interfax reported.Russian warships visited Libya this month, signalling a warming of ties between Tripoli and Moscow, which supported Libya during the Soviet era.Libya is interested in buying surface-to-air missile systems such as the S-300, TOR-M1 and Buk, as well as several fighter aircraft, dozens of helicopters and about 50 tanks, Interfax quoted the source as saying.Russia is also preparing contracts to upgrade Libya's Soviet-era weapons, the agency said.Libya wants Moscow to write off $4.5 billion in debts it owes to Russia in exchange for the purchases, Interfax said. Many Soviet-era debts are difficult to price because they were set in Soviet roubles.Libya was seen as a rogue state by Washington until it agreed to give up a weapons of mass destruction programme. Last month U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Gaddafi in Tripoli, the first such visit in 55 years.Libya wants to expand ties with Russia, which it sees as a counterbalance to US influence in the Mediterranean.Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, while still Russian president, visited Libya in April to strengthen energy ties with the OPEC member and discuss the possibility of Russian cooperation in building an atomic power plant in Libya.Putin said at the time that Libya was also seeking to buy Russian weapons.

Large-scale Iranian Air force exercise simulates attack on Israel

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the drill in northern Iran, is Tehran’s rejoinder to Israel’s big aerial maneuver last June. Then, more than 100 Israeli fighter-bombers went through their paces over the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, roughly the same distance from Israel as Iran. Tehran’s media claim the exercise will test its air force’s ability to fly to Israel and back without refueling.The exercise will also test the US-made FBX-T band anti-missile radar system delivered in September and installed at the IAF Nevatim air base in the Negev. The Iranians say they will be practicing their state-of-the-art military equipment and flight tactics, meaning an attempt to jam US and Israeli electronics and radar.According to Iranian media, the entire range of Iran's fighter fleet will take part, including US-made F-4, F-5, F-7 and F-14 fighters and domestic Saegheh fighters. Mid-air refueling will be provided by Boeing 707 aerial tankers. In mid-August, Iran's Air Force chief, Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani, maintained that its antiquated fighter jet fleet had been overhauled and upgraded to fly distances of 3,000 kilometers without refueling. That would be more than double the distance between Iran and Israel.That is why Tabriz, in Azerbaijan, at the northwestern corner of Iran, was picked as the starting point of the exercise. The official communiqué said the planes would be flying from air fields in Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz and Hamadan and Dezful. Our military sources say that this means that the entire maneuver will take place over Iran and not venture out its air space. The planes will have to fly to Tabriz from bases in the south near the Pakistan border in order to replicate the more than 1,200 km distance between Iran and Israel. The Iranian Air force also aims at deploying more than 100 warplanes for the exercise, matching the number Israel used in its maneuver four months ago.Tehran has timed this large-scale drill for just weeks before the US presidential election on Nov. 4, in response to speculation rife in the West that Israel may use the window between the US election and the swearing-in of the new president in January for an attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. The Iranians aim to show they have a first and second strike capability - not just with ballistic missiles but also by aerial attack.

Russia criticizes US sanctions on arms trader OCT 24,08

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins agoMOSCOW – Russia's foreign minister sharply criticized U.S. sanctions against Russia's state arms trader Friday, saying the move won't make Moscow shift any closer to the U.S. stance on Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The United States has imposed sanctions on the Russian arms monopoly Rosoboronexport along with a dozen of other firms from China, Sudan, Venezuela and other countries for their alleged roles in supplying sensitive technology to Iran, North Korean and Syria.If some people in Washington think that such action could make Russia more complaisant to accept the U.S. approaches to settling the Iranian nuclear problem, they are mistaken, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference.He denounced the sanctions as an example of the U.S. unilateralism and Washington's attempts to apply its domestic laws to the world.It proceeds from the philosophy of the unipolar world, Lavrov said. Russia will demand an end to such practice that is absolutely incompatible with a modern world order.He added that Russia's cooperation with Iran and other countries has been in line with the international law.The U.S. decision and Russia's strong criticism of it reflected a growing chill in bilateral ties, which have been badly strained over U.S. missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russia's war in Georgia and other disputes.The U.S. State Department said the decision Thursday was made because a U.S. law bans the transfer of technology that may help those nations develop missiles or mass destruction weapons.The U.S. move ban government agencies from dealing with the firms targeted by the sanctions.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, which is expected to go on line next year. Russia has backed limited U.N. sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, but has staunchly opposed the U.S. push for harsher measures.Russia has also sold air defense missiles and other weapons to Iran, contracts that have drawn a strong U.S. and Israeli criticism.Lavrov added the U.S. sanctions will hurt bilateral ties. We will take this into account in our relations with the United States in the trade and economic and other spheres, Lavrov said.

Rosoboronexport spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko criticized the move as an attempt to sideline an arms competitor.We consider it as another example of unfair competition, he said in remarks broadcast by the state Rossiya television.The United States has imposed similar sanctions against several Russian companies in the past, including Rosoboronexport in 2006.