ISRAEL FACES STAGFLATION

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.(TR 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).

G-20 MEETING TIMELINE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/g20-summit/5066183/G20-Summit-Timeline-of-main-events.html

PLUTOCRATS TO MEET IN GREECE AFP on the trail of Bilderberg group: Site near Athens, Greece, is verified to be scene of 2009 globalist coven By James P. Tucker, Jr. MAR 30,09

Bilderberg will return to its 1993 crime scene when it attempts to meet secretly in Vouliagmeni, Greece, May 14-17. Bilderberg will return to the grounds of Nafsika Astir Palace hotels in Vouliagmeni, 20 miles outside Athens, and meet behind guards at the Westin Nafsika.High on the Bilderberg agenda will be how to manipulate the global economic crisis for their selfish interests. They will pressure both European and North American nations to pull back from protectionism in the later meetings of heads of state. Since the international financiers and high officials of government see themselves as citizens of the world and scorn nationalism, their only loyalty is bankrolls, not their country. They love free trade, essential for world government.

Thus, they are determined that the United States and other nations refuse to impose tariffs that would equalize competition at the water’s edge. They want to continue shipping U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas where cheap labor may be exploited. They want to continue importing products made by slave labor in China and Africa, underselling domestic products.Bilderberg, a secret elitist group that meets each spring at posh resorts protected by armed guards, uniformed police, sometimes the host nation’s military plus a brigade of private, plain-clothes guards, tries hard to keep its deliberations secret. But, with help from the European media and with inside sources, their mischief is always revealed to this newspaper.Bilderberg has a dutiful son in President Barack Obama who will be told to press ahead with the North American Union, which is to be expanded throughout the Western Hemisphere into an American Union similar to the European Union. Ultimately, with creation of an Asian-Pacific Union,the world is to be divided into three (I BELIEVE 10) great regions for the administrative convenience of a global government of the UN. Following orders, Obama has a platoon of Bilderberg luminaries in his administration.But Bilderberg has had problems for years in trying to impose its will on the globe. When meeting in Greece 19 years ago, it was celebrating President Bill Clinton’s promise to sign the Rio Treaty on global warming, which would have surrendered U.S. wealth and sovereignty to international bureaucrats.Clinton, who attended Bilderberg in 2001 and was elected president in 2002, did sign the Rio Treaty but a test vote in the Senate showed ratification would be overwhelmingly rejected. It is still pending and Bilderberg boys are depressed. AFP editor James P. Tucker Jr. is a veteran journalist who spent many years as a member of the elite media in Washington. Since 1975 he has won widespread recognition, here and abroad, for his pursuit of on-the-scene stories reporting the intrigues of global power blocs such as the Bilderberg Group. Tucker is the author of Jim Tucker’s Bilderberg Diary: One Man’s 25-Year Battle to Shine the Light on the World Shadow Government. Bound in an attractive full-color softcover and containing 272 pages—loaded with photos, many never published before—the book recounts Tucker’s experiences over the last quarter century at Bilderberg meetings. $25 from AFP. No charge for S&H in U.S.(Issue # 14, April 6, 2009)

Research, Reports: Obama Intimately Tied To Phony Environmental Movement,President helped fund profiteers of carbon tax program he is now seeking to implement Steve Watson Infowars.net Monday, March 30, 2009

A combination of interesting mainstream and alternative media reports reveal compelling links between president Obama and a privately owned carbon trading group, which also has direct ties with elitist groups such as the Club of Rome and the Trilateral Commission.Judi McLeod's excellent article for Canada Free Press, which she expanded from a Fox News piece, highlights how years before he became president, Obama helped directly fund a carbon trading exchange that will likely play a critical role in the proposed cap-and-trade carbon reduction program. The charity was the Joyce Foundation on whose board of directors Obama served and which gave nearly $1.1 million in two separate grants that were instrumental in developing and launching the privately-owned Chicago Climate Exchange, which now calls itself North America’s only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide.Essentially Obama helped fund the profiteers of the carbon taxation program that he is now seeking to steer through Congress. McLeod also notes that The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has direct ties to both Al Gore and Maurice Strong, two figures intimately involved with a long standing movement to use the theory of man made global warming as a mechanism for profit and social engineering.

Gore's investment company, Generation Investment Management, which sells carbon offset opportunities, is the largest shareholder of CCX. While Maurice Strong, who is regularly credited as founding father of the modern environmental movement, serves on the board of directors of CCX. Strong was a leading initiate of the Earth Summit in the early 90s, where the theory of global warming caused by CO2 generated by human activity was most notably advanced. While McLeod's article highlights the cronyism and corporate dealings behind this set up, we should also add the fact that both Gore and Strong come from a stable of elite groups that have long sought to use the environmental movement to advance their agendas.Strong, who was groomed by David Rockefeller to eventually serve as Director of the Rockefeller Foundation, is also a member of the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Club of Rome.Gore too comes from the Club of Rome clique.Lets take a look at the connections these groups have to the environmental movement.In 1990, writes veteran reporter Jim Tucker, the Bilderbergers adopted climate change as the preferred model to impose global government and reintroduce serfdom. Like the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg Group discovered the issue of environmental deterioration. Bilderbergers embraced a report from the Trilateral Commission that year on the environment, because the potential profit in cleaning up the mess would be immense.The following year, the Club of Rome think tank published The First Global Revolution, a book suggesting a draconian neo-Malthusianism approach will solve the world’s problems, in fact a problem the global elite has with humanity.

In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill,the book states.All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and thus the real enemy, then, is humanity itself.Richard Haass, the current president of the Council on Foreign Relations, expanded on this topic in his article, State sovereignty must be altered in globalized era. According to Haass, a system of world government must be created and sovereignty eliminated in order to fight global warming and terrorism, both invented as the Club of Rome suggested.Some governments are prepared to give up elements of sovereignty to address the threat of global climate change,writes Haass.The goal should be to redefine sovereignty for the era of globalization, to find a balance between a world of fully sovereign states and an international system of either world government or anarchy.In the past, the Club of Rome has resorted to deceptive tactics in order to support their plans. In 1972, the Club of Rome, along with an MIT team released a report called Limits to growth. The report stated that we were to reach an environmental holocaust by the year 2000 due to overpopulation and other environmental problems. Support for their conclusions was gathered by results from a computer model. Aurelio Peccei, one of the founders of the Club of Rome, later confessed that the computer program had been written to give the desired results. As we reported two years ago, During the secretive Trilateral Commission group meeting in March 2007, elitists gathered to formulate policy on how best they could exploit global warming fearmongering to ratchet up taxes and control over how westerners live their lives.

Why is this so concerning? Because groups such as the Club of Rome are contracted out by our own governments and the UN to prepare Policy Guidance Documents which they use in formulating their policies and programs. How come the Club of Rome gets the gig? Simply because many high ranking UN and government officials are also CoR members, or have direct corporate ties to members. The same goes for the CFR and the Trilateral Commission.A recently unearthed documentary that sought to expose this agenda at its inception is George Hunt's excellent research piece on the environmental movement.

Considering the information unearthed concerning Obama's links to all of this, it is not surprising that he is now pushing the cap-and-trade carbon tax program, which in reality represents a war on the middle and working classes.Prior to the election, Obama called for drastically reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent, a move that would inflict a new Great Depression, cost millions of jobs, and sink America to near third world status.The 80 per cent figure is a huge leap towards the ultimate goal, expressed by the Carnegie Institute last year and afforded sober credibility by the corporate media - a complete reduction down to zero carbon emissions.As we have previously noted, such a move would lead to the near complete reversal of hundreds of years of technological progress and man’s return to the stone age.

Great expectations ahead of G20 summit
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAR 30,09 @ 07:01 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - World leaders from the Group of 20 industrial nations will gather in London on Thursday (2 April) to discuss ways to deal with the financial crisis but failure to reach a meaningful agreement and massive protests planned to coincide with the event threaten to destabilise the situation further. The meeting represents the latest attempt to deal with the current imbroglio that has kept bureaucrats working hard since a G20 leaders' meeting in Washington last November, with stimulus spending and improved financial regulation set to top the agenda.

Recent calls by the US administration for a co-ordinated global stimulus plan met with a cold reception in European capitals where politicians are increasingly wary of negative market reactions to their burgeoning budget deficits. Last Wednesday, the Czech Republic's ex-prime minister Mirek Topolanek whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU said US spending plans amounted to the road to hell.The following day he was forced to resign due to unrelated domestic squabbling. Since then the commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has moved to sooth the situation. The Americans accept that there has to be a reform of the financial sector. So I really think that we are thinking along the same lines – and this is new,said Mr Barroso on Thursday. The EU debate on reforming financial regulation has been largely shaped by a report commissioned by Mr Barroso from a group of financial experts headed by former governor of the Bank of France, Jacques de Larosiere. The report calls for a new European body to gather information on systemic risks to the EU economy as a whole, coupled with greater oversight and co-ordination between national regulators that monitor individual banks and insurance companies.The US has an equivalent plan but how these will marry at the global level remains unclear.

Markets are global and high standards at home need to be complemented by strong international standards enforced more evenly and fairly,US treasury secretary Tim Geithner said last week, signalling that purely domestic solutions would not be enough.A greater role for the International Monetary Fund is one proposal with significant backing. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed on 14 March on the need to reform the multilateral lender and bolster its funds but stopped short of producing a concrete figure. Likewise leaders may call for reform of the 2004Basel II accords, a set of general principles for national regulators whose central tenet that banks should hold a minimum of 8 percent capital relative to investments is now considered to be too low.A decision on tax havens is also expected, despite recent capitulations by countries such as Switzerland to abide by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's rules on sharing banking information.

Extended agenda

Both EU commissioner for trade Catherine Ashton and World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy made calls last week for the G20 leaders to categorically reject protectionism and reassess the Doha round of trade talks that broke down last year. UK prime minister Gordon Brown's recent whirlwind tour of the globe to garner support for a G20 deal included a visit to Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, whose support is seen as crucial to restarting the talks. However the lack of staff in the US trade representative's office means such an announcement this week is unlikely.Added to this, recent discussions on whether the US dollar should continue to be the world's reserve currency may see the topic creep onto the G20 agenda. Last week China called for the dollar to be replaced by an IMF accounting unit known as special drawing rights and a UN advisory committee headed by US economist Joseph Stiglitz backed the call.The difficulty in reaching a final decision with so many topics on the agenda is compounded by Europe's frequent inability to speak with one voice.The EU member states attending the meeting are Germany, the UK, France and Italy, with the Netherlands and Spain also gaining an invitation to the event. Mr Barroso will represent the European Commission at the meeting with Mirek Topolanek likely to represent the Czech EU presidency despite his resignation last week. Germany's Angela Merkel said over the weekend that leaders were unlikely to reach a final deal on financial regulation.We will naturally not solve the economic crisis either, and we won't solve the issue of trade. We will definitely need to meet again,she added.

Protests

This more incremental nature to Thursday's meeting means huge protests planned for London could easily steal the limelight from world leaders. Major environmental and anti-capitalist groups will be joined by a multitude of smaller organisations on Thursday with one anarchist group encouraging its supporters to capture and burn a banker.The policing bill for the event alone is expected to reach €7.5 million and failure by world leaders to reach a decision raises the prospect of a stock market fall on Friday.

EU Socialists disagree with early choice of commission chief
VALENTINA POP Today MAR 30,09 @ 09:25 CET

European Socialists do not agree with proposals to confirm a new European Commission president on 15 July, saying that the European Parliament would have too little time to make up its mind.EU heads of state and government could decide at their 18 June summit if conservative Portuguese statesman Jose Manuel Barroso is to receive a second mandate at the head of the commission, provided the centre-right keeps its majority after the 4 to 7 June elections for the European Parliament. This does not give enough time for the new parliament to express itself. The elections take place on 7 June. We would need a longer time afterwards, Socialist leader Poul Nyrup Rasmussen told French daily Le Monde over the weekend. Under EU rules, MEPs must in a plenary sitting give their blessing to a new commission chief and his team. Earlier this month, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, said that he was in favour of EU leaders choosing the head of the executive quickly.What counts is that we hold elections [in June] and that the president reflects the results of the parliamentary elections. Mr Barroso has done a good job,Mr Poettering said. The German politician is a former leader of the centre-right EPP-ED group, which currently holds the majority in the parliament and is expected to win the June elections. The EPP has officially backed Mr Barroso for a second term.The process could be delayed because the commission's current term formally expires only at the end of October.

A former Danish prime minister between 1993 and 2001, Mr Rasmussen said the European Socialist Party (PES) would not back Mr Barroso for a second mandate, despite the fact that some left-leaning national leaders have openly expressed their support, such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Spanish premier Jose Rodriguez Zapatero.I speak on behalf of the PES, not national governments. One thing is sure: the PES will not back Mr Barroso. He is the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP). He will never represent the opinions of the Socialist family, even if some social-democratic governments back him, for national reasons. But the parliament has to have the last word after the elections,Mr Rasmussen said.He criticised the way Mr Barroso has managed the current economic crisis and for counting the existing national social protection mechanisms as part of the EU stimulus package. The Socialist leader spoke in favour of an EU-wide stimulus package worth two percent of the EU gross domestic product, rather than the current co-ordination between national measures. He also warned against a new economic Berlin wall,suggesting that solidarity between old and new member states is being challenged by the current crisis.

Outgoing Czech PM hopes for treaty ratification by June
HONOR MAHONY Today MAR 30,09 @ 09:25 CET

Outgoing Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has said he will try and persuade his generally eurosceptic party to accept the Lisbon treaty, adding that he believed it would be ratified before the June European elections.I will plead for the approval of the Lisbon Treaty, and try to cause only the smallest scars and slightest damage to the unity of the [Civic Democrats],he said, according to Reuters, having being ousted from power by a vote of no confidence last week.He added that he believed the Czech parliament would complete ratification before elections to the European Parliament, taking place in the Czech Republic from 5-6 June.Mr Topolanek, who currently chairs the EU's six-month rotating presidency, resigned after the vote, potentially putting the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the central European state into jeopardy.

His Civic Democrats (ODS) remain the strongest party in the country's senate, which has yet to pass the treaty. But the deputies are largely sceptical about the document and are now seen as unlikely to toe Mr Topolanek's more moderate line on Europe and instead align themselves more strongly with ODS founder and Czech President Vaclav Klaus.Mr Klaus is an outspoken eurosceptic and is a strong critic of the Lisbon Treaty.Meanwhile, the Irish government has said it will continue negotiations with the Czech EU presidency on securing a legal text on certain issues concerned with the treaty, despite Prague's complicated domestic problem. These legal guarantees - on neutrality, tax and social issues - were agreed by EU leaders following Ireland's rejection of the treaty in a referendum last year.A diplomatic source told the Sunday Business Post that the Irish government expected the guarantees to be agreed ahead of a June EU leaders summit, but admitted: We don't know what's going to happen. Nobody does. They don't know themselves.In Brussels there are fears that if the treaty is not approved this year then it risks not coming into place at all. Next year, a general election in the UK could see the Conservatives return to power. Its leader, David Cameron, has said he would hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if it is not already in place.

France, Germany remain cool on EU enlargement
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today MAR 30,09 @ 09:28 CET

EU foreign ministers meeting on Saturday (28 March) sought to reassure western Balkan countries on their EU future, but the bloc's heavyweights, France and Germany, reaffirmed their reluctance to accept further enlargement so long as the EU's own institutional future is in limbo.Clearly there will be no enlargement if there is no Lisbon treaty. Everybody knows it, so why not say it? French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner was reported as saying by Reuters after the informal foreign ministers meeting in Hluboka Nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic.The Lisbon treaty was designed to make the bloc more efficient in the aftermath of the two latest enlargements to 12 new countries, in 2004 and 2007. It has still to be fully ratified by four EU countries – Ireland, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic – in order to enter into force, following its rejection by Irish voters in June last year.We will not be in a position to accept new member states in the EU without the Lisbon treaty, German foreign ministry officials were also quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle on Saturday.

The French and German comments come after Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - Chancellor Merkel's party - earlier this month adopted a platform for the upcoming European elections in June stating that the consolidation of the identity and institutions of the European Union must have precedence over further EU accessions.There has been for a long time recognition that the Lisbon treaty is necessary before we have enlargement,Irish Europe minister Dick Roche also said.

EU should learn from its history

But other traditionally pro-enlargement EU states urged the bloc not to shut the door on the EU hopefuls.I think we have got to make the argument that the European Union should learn from its history and its history is that wider makes stronger, said British foreign secretary David Miliband.Sweden's Carl Bildt expressed a similar opinion.If we were to slam the door in their face, not that I say that that will happen, it will have devastating consequences for the region,he warned.For his part, Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country presides over the EU until the end of June, said: The [western] Balkans are a part of Europe and therefore they have to be a part of the EU too.EU top diplomat Javier Solana and enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn also backed further enlargement. Mr Solana warned the bloc against taking the risk of political protectionism - what we call nationalism, while Mr Rehn stressed that enlargement should not be made a scapegoat for other ills it is not responsible for.

Balkan warning

Also present at the two-day meeting were EU foreign ministers' counterparts from the western Balkan hopefuls and Turkey.Serbian foreign ministers Vuk Jeremic said he very much hoped the EU would remain open and that the peoples of the Western Balkans can look forward to their European future.Things will [otherwise] become very complicated in the western Balkans,he warned.Currently, Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia hold the status of official candidates to join the EU, while the remaining western Balkan countries are all potential candidates.

EU Pressure on Netanyahu to Accept Arab State Inside Israel
by Gil Ronen MAR 29,09

(IsraelNN.com) The European Union (EU) has resorted to making vague threats against Israel’s Prime Minister-designate, Binyamin Netanyahu, in order to force him to say that he supports the creation of an Arab state of Palestine alongside Israel (the two-state solution).EU members spoke on the subject after a weekend session of EU foreign ministers that was held at the Hluboka castle in the Czech Republic – which is the EU’s current rotating president.Czech Foreign Minister Karel Swarzenberg was asked whether a failure to reach a two-state agreement between Israel and the PA would hurt the EU’s relations with Israel, and answered: The relations would certainly become problematic. We shall discuss the repercussions of this matter in one of our next meetings,he said.German Foreign Minister Franz-Walter Steinmeier said that we Europeans insist that, regardless of the governments on both sides, the two-state solution must top the agenda.Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said that the upgrading of trade relations between the EU and Israel depends on the conclusion of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Some of the EU foreign ministers seem to be drawing encouragement from U.S. President Barack Obama’s statements on the subject this week. Obama's commitment to the Middle East peace process early in his term means there is real hope for progress in the region, Swarzenberg said.This is the second time in less than a month that the EU has threatened Israel with dire consequences if it does not agree to the two-state solution. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned that the EU would reevaluate its ties with Israel if the new government does not continue down the road to the creation of a PA state. Let me say very clearly that the way the European Union will relate to an [Israeli] government that is not committed to a two-state solution will be very, very different,he said earlier this month.

Netanyahu Cooking Up New Items to Stuff Expanded Cabinet
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu MAR 29,09

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu is splitting up current Cabinet ministries and coming up with new ones to meet demands of coalition partners and his own Likud party. He has justified the additional cost by arguing that the alternative would be far worse.As of last count, the Cabinet will include 28 ministers and six deputy ministers, with the additional possibility of both a vice prime minster and deputy prime minister. Each ministry comes with administrative costs of more than a million shekels ($250,000) a year plus the cost of the ministry budget.The Likud chairman is to present his new government on Tuesday. It now includes 69 Knesset Members from the Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and Jewish Home, with the possibility of five more from the United Torah Judaism (UTJ). The addition of Ichud Leumi (National Union) has become more improbable following Thursday’s destruction of the Meoz Esther community. The party has demanded that the government pledge not to dismantle Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and to state opposition to the creation of a new Arab state in their place.There is an economic price for a stable and large government, but the price of not establishing a strong and stable government is so great and catastrophic, in both financial terms and in jobs, that the cost of establishing a coalition is negligible,said the prime minister-designate in response to criticism. He might split up the Communications Ministry to create a new post for responsibility solely for telephone services, with another one possible for television channels. Last week, he divided up the Ministry of Science, Sport and Culture and created a Ministry of Science post for Jewish Home chairman Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz, who also is a professor at Technion University. No one has yet been named for the remaining Sport and Culture post.

The government already is facing a deficit far larger than expected as the worldwide recession grips the country and adds social and economic outlays. Layoffs, salary cuts, and a drop in consumer purchases have resulted in a sharp decline in tax revenues.The government already is facing a deficit far larger than expected as the worldwide recession grips the country and adds social and economic outlays.Netanyahu added, I'm sure that we'll establish a government next week, and we'll get to work quickly. We did not just come to sit around, but we will work for the good of the country. Netanyahu’s biggest problem is MK Silvan Shalom, who was Finance Minister and Foreign Minister in the Sharon government and tried to unseat party chairman Netanyahu in last year’s primary vote. MK Shalom has warned he probably will refuse to be part of the Cabinet if he is not named Finance Minister, a post that Netanyahu prefers to keep for himself or for long-time friend MK Yuval Steinitz.The next prime minister also has the option of appointing a deputy and a vice prime minster, with both positions more ceremonial than functional. Former IDF Chief of Staff and new Likud MK Moshe Ya’alon might fill one of those posts or be named to head a rejuvenated Strategic Affairs ministry, which outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert created for Yisrael Beiteinu leader Knesset Member Avigdor Lieberman. He eventually quit the post when the party pulled out of the Olmert government to protest continued negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.MK Ya’alon was destined to be the Defense Minster until the Labor party reached an agreement last week to join the coalition, leaving the ministry in the hands of Labor chairman Ehud Barak.Netanyahu’s caucus chairman Gideon Sa'ar, who led the coalition negotiations, apparently will be Education Minster, leaving less-desired posts open for half a dozen Likud hopefuls, including Benny Begin, former Education Minster Limor Livnat and Dan Meridor.Meridor is considered to be on the verge of quitting the Knesset and returning to private law practice if he does not received an important Cabinet position. He represents the dovish wing of the Likud, and his views on surrendering the Golan Heights are in conflict with the party platform, which states the strategic area is non-negotiable as a bargaining chip for a peace treaty with Syria.Netanyahu recruited Meridor to help keep the party from becoming more nationalist and even brought him into a meeting with Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair before the Likud primary election several months ago.

Hizbullah’s Mexican-US Drug Connection Reported: 07:47 AM - Mar/30/09

(IsraelNN.com) The Hizbullah terrorist organization is making money by using long-standing drug smuggling routes from Mexico to the United States, the Washington Times reported. Hizbullah relies on the same criminal weapons smugglers, document traffickers and transportation experts as the drug cartels, recently retired senior drug enforcement official Michael Braun told the newspaper.The terrorist network has a long history of financing its activities through drug smuggling, initially in Syria and Lebanon and more recently in South America, where Braun noted Iranian Revolutionary Guards members have begun appearing.

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.

Illinois snowed in as Texas blizzard melts away AccuWeather Sun Mar 29, 8:40 pm ET

CHICAGO – Spring storms made for a soggy weekend from the Great Plains to the Gulf Coast, knocking out power to thousands in Chicago and, in a twist from Mother Nature, covering the Texas Panhandle with a foot of snow that melted less than a day later under balmy 70-degree weather.Snow and sleet struck overnight Saturday in Illinois, where ComEd reported Sunday that about 10,000 customers remained without power, down from about 45,000. The National Weather Service said half a foot of snow fell north of Chicago, and O'Hare International Airport reported fewer than 75 flights canceled.

Freezing rain and more snow were expected in parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where the weather service in Gaylord predicted up to two inches of snow on top of the three to five that fell over the weekend. A winter weather advisory issued earlier was canceled.In Amarillo, Texas, where as much as 11 inches of snow fell in a blizzard that started Thursday, most of the snow had melted less than 24 hours later in 70-degree weather. Meteorologist Chris Kimble with the weather service said flash flooding wasn't expected because the snow didn't contain a lot of moisture.

Temperatures in the Texas Panhandle were in the low 70s on Sunday.

The spring storm brought an unexpected taste of winter to the region where average temperatures in March are in the mid-60s. At the height of the storm, authorities in Dalhart rescued 136 stranded motorists, Dalhart Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Curtis Brown told the Amarillo Globe-News for its Sunday online edition.

As much as 25 inches of snow fell in parts of Oklahoma, where authorities said there were at least two traffic fatalities and dozens of injuries related to the weather system. Power outages in the state affected at least 6,000 customers at one point. Utility crews have restored power and workers have cleared most snow-packed roads that had been closed.The system also prompted a disaster declaration in Kansas where two deaths were reported over the weekend as a blizzard buried parts of the state in ice, slush and up to two feet of snow. A 72-year-old man shoveling snow died of a heart attack Saturday and a 58-year-old woman was killed Friday in a car accident.The system also prompted a disaster declaration in Kansas.Authorities said heavy rains in south Mississippi were blamed in the death of a 36-year-old motorist whose vehicle was swamped by flood waters early Saturday.

NDakota fights levee erosion amid record floods by Mira Oberman – MAR 30,09

FARGO, North Dakota, (AFP) – North Dakota dug in for a lengthy fight against the erosion of its levees, as flood levels were forecast to remain near record highs for a week and an approaching snow storm threatened more misery for anxious residents on Monday.One floodwall protecting a Fargo school was undermined early Sunday, swamping the campus in what the mayor called a wakeup call to those who thought the worst was over when the river crested.Those things will continue to happen, I guarantee it, said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker. People have to continue to be vigilant.The mighty Red River, which divides North Dakota and Minnesota and runs north to Canada, was flowing at three to four times its normal strength, eating away at on the city's 48 miles (77 kilometers) of protective dikes and levees.A blizzard bringing strong winds forecast to hit the region Monday afternoon could whip up waves as high as two feet which will batter and possibly wash over the city's defenses, the national weather service predicted.Federal officials warned that as many as 30,000 people could be left homeless in the northern plains if the river breaks through levees which are the only defenses for North Dakota's largest city, Fargo, as well as Moorhead lying on the opposite bank in Minnesota.But local officials said a series of contingency dikes should protect most neighborhoods and noted that only five homes have been lost so far within the city limits.We've had an awful lot of pressure to vacate the city and we refuse to do that,Walaker said.We are not going to abandon our city. We've invested too much in this process to walk away from it.With the river expected to remain more than 20 feet about flood level for the next week, thousands of volunteers worked to fill another 500,000 sandbags to help reinforce levees.An army of foot patrols walked the lines of the city's defenses to try to catch and plug minor leaks before they undermined the entire system.And officials used helicopters to lower 11 one-ton bags of sand into the breach at Oak Grove Lutheran School in an operation which saved the complex from significant water damage.A lot of people want to do the dance on the dike but we've got a long way to go, said Greg Gust, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who predicted that the river could remain at flood stage for a month.Every day the water's up against there they're going to be working to reinforce those dikes because they don't want them to fail, he told AFP.

It's (a question of) how many fingers I need to plug those holes.

Thousands of people have already fled their homes as this flat prairie state remained blanketed with snow and floods that were nine miles (14.5 kilometers) across in some points.Water levels in some riverside homes had reached the second floor while small dikes kept others dry in the middle of a deep, muddy lake.Regular boat patrols checked in on those who refused to leave their homes so they could monitor their pumps and repair leaks in their dikes. The Red River reached a high of 40.8 feet (12.4meters) early Saturday in Fargo -- breaking the previous record of 40.1 feet (12.2 meters) in 1897 -- and only inches below the top of the city's highest levees. By Sunday evening it had fallen to 39.83 feet (12.1 meters). US President Barack Obama has pledged to do whatever is needed for the stricken region and the US administration stockpiled food, blankets and shelters in case of mass evacuations.

Fargo officials have been trying to raise the 800 million dollars needed to build permanent flood protections since the area narrowly escaped a massive 1997 flood that destroyed Grand Forks.I'm sure we're going to have millions of dollars of damage just from putting up those (temporary) dikes, said Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney, who urged federal officials to provide the funding immediately. Go out there it's a war zone ... you wouldn't want to do this every year.Both Grand Forks, North Dakota and Winnipeg, across the border in Canada, have flood diversion systems which should protect them from the forecasted crests.

Southern Africa hit by worst floods in years Fri Mar 27, 4:58 pm ET

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – Southern African countries have been hit by the worst floods in years, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands, as a tropical storm threatened to bring more pain on Saturday.As Mozambique braced for the arrival of a strengthening tropical storm Izilda, record river levels across the region threatened to exacerbate floods which have already affected hundreds of thousands of people.

Namibia's government declared a state of emergency last week in areas where floods have affected over 350,000 people, 13,000 of whom were displaced, according to numbers released by the United Nations on Friday.Another 160,000 people have been affected in Angola.The Zambezi river, along Namibia's northeastern Caprivi Region, rose to 7.82 metres (25 feet) this week, its highest level in 40 years, before slightly dropping, Caprivi Governor Leonard Mwilima said.We have large areas submerged by water and access to several villages is cut off,he said.Namibia's flood coordinator Erastus Negonga said the death toll stood at 112. Nearly 200 schools have closed, while one hospital and 19 clinics remain cut off due to floods.In Zambia, 21 districts have been affected by flooding and the army has been called in to assist the worst affected region of Shang'ombo, where they are also helping reconstruct a bridge connecting it to the rest of the country.The Zambia air force has been engaged to transport food and fuel to the affected districts,said Davies Sampa, permanent secretary in the vice president's office.In northern Botswana, rain has caused the Okavango, Zambezi and Chobe rivers to swell, leaving 430 people displaced and submerging eight villages.

The Okavango river which originates in the rain-drenched highlands of Angola empties into the desert north of Botswana, forming the Okavango Delta.The villages of Satau and Parakarungu, with a combined population of more than 1,000, could be swept away by the rising rivers within a matter of days, said district official Orapeleng Modimoopelo.Water engineers are telling us these are the worst floods here since 1965,he told AFP.The last time a similar flood swept past this place those two villages were sunk, so we expect the same thing to happen, looking at the weight and the speed with which the flood is going.He said the Kazangula, a crossing point between Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe, has been impassable for two days.In Mozambique, where about 4,000 people have been cut off by rising waters, emergency officials monitored Izilda, which was gaining strength Friday in the Mozambique Channel and was likely to strike on Saturday.Last year, heavy rains in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi caused flash flooding in Mozambique that displaced tens of thousands of people and destroyed almost 100,000 hectares of crops.Mozambique is no stranger to weather-related disasters. In 2000 and 2001 about 700 people were killed in one of the country's worst floods when torrential rains hit the southeastern African country. Some are blaming climate change for the floods. We must seriously consider the present floods and those of a year ago as having to do with climate change,Guido van Langenhove,a Namibian government hydrologist, told AFP.

Scores still missing after Indonesian dam bursts By ALI KOTARUMALOS, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 29, 8:33 am ET

CIRENDEU, Indonesia – Attention shifted to caring for homeless and hungry survivors Sunday after a dam burst outside the Indonesian capital, sending a wall of water crashing into a densely packed neighborhood. At least 96 people were killed and 130 others were missing — but hopes of finding them alive were dimming.Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers have been digging through the mud and debris, some using hoes or their bare hands, while others scoured the banks of bloated rivers.

But so far, they have turned up mostly bodies.

He was our best friend, said Rizki Fauzi, 17, who turned up at a local cemetery with several other somber high school students to visit a newly dug grave for 18-year-old Rochmat.Days of heavy rain caused a large lake bordering a low-lying residential area southwest of Jakarta to overflow early Friday, sending water cascading over the rim with a thunderous rumble. Hours later, a huge section of the earth wall gave away and a 10-foot (three-meter) -high wave gushed through Cirendeu, overturning cars and uprooting trees.National Disaster Coordinating Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono put the death toll so far at 96.He acknowledged that prospects of finding anyone alive were getting less likely by the hour, though there's always the possibility that someone is alive trapped under the rubble.

Search-and-rescue operations are to continue for at least a week.

Hundreds of people were displaced by the disaster, Kardono said, though large numbers were starting to return to homes less damaged Sunday or were doubling up with friends or relatives in nearby Jakarta.I lost pretty much everything I own, said Rosmiati, 37, whose house was totally demolished in the muddy surge. I'll stay with my family until I can get back on my feet.Those less lucky were camping out in the hall of a nearby university, with others in hastily erected tent camps.Some residents blamed authorities, saying the 76-year-old dam, built in the Dutch colonial era, had been poorly maintained. They said blocked spillways had led to repeated flooding over the years, weakening it in several places.The Ministry of Public Works promised to investigate.Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a nation of 235 million.More than 40 people were killed in the capital after rivers burst their banks two years ago. Critics said rampant overdevelopment, poor city planning and clogged drainage canals were partly to blame.Associated Press writer Zakki Hakim in Jakarta contributed to this report.

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.

Alaska volcano quiets down after making ashy mess By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press Writer Rachel D'oro, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 29, 9:49 pm ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska's Mount Redoubt has simmered down after spreading a layer of gritty volcanic ash over several communities, including the state's largest city.

The volcano was emitting low-level tremors Sunday but hadn't erupted, monitors at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. A plume rose 25,000 feet above sea level, but scientists said it appeared to be only vapor and they were not adding it to Redoubt's 18 eruptions during the past week.The calm follows several strong eruptions Saturday that spewed an ash cloud 100 miles northeast to Anchorage, the state's largest city, and beyond.Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport shut down because of the ash, which can cause dangerous damage to engines. Crews were cleaning up runways and passenger gates on Sunday, and one of the airport's three runways opened about 2 p.m., said airport spokeswoman Linda Bustamante. The airport is expected to be in full operations by Tuesday evening.The idea is to spread snow on top of the ash, get an ash-and-snow mix, then go out with graders with big blades in front, plow and truck the snow out, she said. This is quite a cleanup going on.Alaska Airlines, the state's largest carrier, canceled all flights in and out of Anchorage Saturday after the airport was shut down. The airline resumed flights to and from Anchorage late Sunday afternoon.Nikiski, about 50 miles from Redoubt, was among the worst hit communities. Observatory volcanologist Game McGimsey said the ash accumulation there was as thick as a dime.The volcano last erupted in 1989-90. A 1989 eruption sent ash 150 miles away into the path of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers, flaming out its four engines. Pilots ultimately restarted the engines and landed safely.The latest activity has caused flooding and mud flows into the Drift River valley, where the Chevron-operated Drift River Terminal is located. The terminal has 6.2 million gallons of oil stored in two tanks.

POISONED WATERS

REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists NUTS won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Thousands of toxic toads killed in Australian fest Sunday, March 29, 2009. … By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer.

SYDNEY – Thousands of poisonous cane toads met their fate Sunday as gleeful Australians gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they've plagued for years.Hundreds of participants in five communities across northern Queensland snacked on sausages, sipped cold drinks and picked up prizes as the portly pests were weighed, measured and killed in the state's inaugural Toad Day Out celebration.To see the look on the faces of the kids as we were handling and weighing the toads and then euthanizing them was just...,Townsville City Councilman Vern Veitch said, breaking off to let out a contented sigh. The children really got into the character of the event.The toads — which can grow up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length — were imported from South America to Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control beetles on sugarcane plantations. Trouble was, the toads couldn't jump high enough to eat the beetles, which live on top of cane stalks.The toads bred rapidly, and their millions-strong population now threatens many local species across Australia. They spread diseases, such as salmonella, and produce highly toxic venom from glands in their skin that can kill would-be predators. The toads are also voracious eaters, chomping up insects, frogs, small reptiles and mammals — even birds. Cane toads are only harmful to humans if their poison is swallowed.

Queensland politician Shane Knuth, a longtime nemesis of the cane toad who came up with the Toad Day Out idea, figured the best way to combat the problem was to gather Australians en masse for a targeted hunt. With each adult female cane toad capable of producing 20,000 eggs, he said, killing even a few thousand toads could ultimately wipe out millions.On Saturday night, participants fanned out under the cloak of darkness to hunt down the toads. On Sunday, the toads — which the rules stated must be captured alive and unharmed — were brought to collection points and examined by experts to ensure they were not harmless frogs. The creatures were then killed, either by freezing or by being placed in plastic bags filled with carbon dioxide. Some of the remains will be ground into fertilizer for sugarcane farmers.The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has applauded the effort, provided the toads are killed humanely.In Townsville, organizers received around 3,600 toads from about 400 participants, said Andrew Hannay, coordinator of environmental management for Townsville City Council. Most of the toads will be donated to nearby James Cook University, with the biggest ones turned into souvenirs by local taxidermists, he said.The largest toad weighed more than a pound (half a kilogram), Hannay said. The monster toad's captor received several movie passes and a trophy made out of a cane toad.In Cairns, more than 100 people turned up at a collection point with around 1,000 toads, Toad Day Out organizer Lisa Ahrens said. The biggest was 5 inches (13 centimeters) long, weighed half a pound (290 grams) — and had a fifth leg growing out of its chest.There was a tussle over the creatures' corpses between a waste management plant and a local taxidermist. But in the end, Ahrens said, a compromise was struck — the taxidermists stripped off the animals' skins, and the rest of the remains went to the plant to be turned into compost for cane farmers.

So everybody's happy! Ahrens said with a laugh.

Knuth, who has been pushing a proposal to offer a 40 Australian cent ($0.28) bounty on the animals since 2007, hopes to eventually turn Toad Day Out into a nationwide effort.This is an example of how the war against cane toads can be won,he said.

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).

Egyptian toddler contracts bird flu Sat Mar 28, 10:14 am ET

CAIRO (AFP) – A two-year-old Egyptian girl has contracted bird flu, the 60th reported case since the first outbreak of the disease in the country in 2006, a health ministry spokesman said on Saturday.The toddler has been taken to hospital and is in stable condition, said ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin.Twenty-three people have died of bird flu in Egypt. Most of the victims have been young girls or women, who are generally in charge of looking after poultry in rural areas.Shahin said the percentage of fatalities from bird flu in Egypt is less than in other countries that have seen outbreaks of the disease.The World Health Organisation (WHO) called earlier this month for an investigation into why many of the victims have been young children.

Egypt hosted an international conference on bird flu in October, when Washington pledged an additional 320 million dollars to the fight against the disease amid fears it may yet escalate into a global pandemic.The H5N1 strain of the virus that is most dangerous to humans first emerged in Asia in 2003 and has since caused nearly 250 deaths, according to WHO figures.Scientists fear that a mutation of the bird flu virus resulting in a strain easily transmitted among humans could create a pandemic, potentially affecting up to one-fifth of the world's population.

JUDE 14-16
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.

Following atheist trend, Britons seek de-baptism MAR 30,09

LONDON (AFP) – More than 100,000 Britons have recently downloaded certificates of de-baptism from the Internet to renounce their Christian faith.The initiative launched by a group called the National Secular Society (NSS) follows atheist campaigns here and elsewhere, including a London bus poster which triggered protests by proclaiming There's probably no God.We now produce a certificate on parchment and we have sold 1,500 units at three pounds (4.35 dollars, 3.20 euros) a pop, said NSS president Terry Sanderson, 58.John Hunt, a 58-year-old from London and one of the first to try to be de-baptised, held that he was too young to make any decision when he was christened at five months old.The male nurse said he approached the Church of England to ask it to remove his name. They said they had sought legal advice and that I should place an announcement in the London Gazette, said Hunt, referring to one of the official journals of record of the British government.So that's what he did -- his notice of renouncement was published in the Gazette in May 2008 and other Britons have followed suit.Michael Evans, 66, branded baptising children as a form of child abuse -- and said that when he complained to the church where he was christened he was told to contact the European Court of Human Rights.The Church of England said its official position was not to amend its records. Renouncing baptism is a matter between the individual and God, a Church spokesman told AFP.We are not a membership church, and do not keep a running total of the number of baptised people in the Church of England, and such totals do not feature in the statistics that we regularly publish,he added.

De-baptism organisers say the initiative is a response to what they see as increasing stridency from churches -- the latest last week when Pope Benedict XVI stirred global controversy on a trip to AIDS-ravaged Africa by saying condom use could further spread of the disease.The Catholic Church is so politically active at the moment that I think that is where the hostility is coming from, said Sanderson.In Catholic countries there is a very strong feeling of wanting to punish the church by leaving it.In Britain, where government figures say nearly 72 percent of the population list themselves as Christian, Sanderson feels this hostility is fueling the de-baptism movement.Theologian Paul Murray at Durham University disagrees. That is not my experience, he said, but concedes that change is in the air.We are in an interesting climate where Catholicism and other belief systems have moved into the public, pluralist arena, alongside secularists,he said.De-baptism movements have already sprung up in other countries.In Spain, the high court ruled in favor of a man from Valencia, Manuel Blat, saying that under data protection laws he could have the record of his baptism erased, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.Similarly, the Italian Union of Rationalists and Agnostics (UAAR) won a legal battle over the right to file for de-baptism in 2002, according to media reports. The group's website carries a de-baptism form to facilitate matters.

According to UAAR secretary Raffaele Carcano, more than 60,000 of these forms have been downloaded in the past four years and continue to be downloaded at a rate of about 2,000 per month. Another 1,000 were downloaded in one day when the group held its first national de-baptism day last October 25. Elsewhere, an Argentinian secularist movement is running a Collective Apostasy campaign, using the slogan Not in my name (No en mi nombre). Sanderson hopes rulings in other European countries will pave the way for legal action in Britain, since European Union directives require a level of parity among member states' legislation. That would be a good precedent for us to say to the British Information Commissioner: Come on, what's your excuse? said Sanderson. The bus-side posters that hit London in January sported the message:There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.The scheme was in response to pro-Christian adverts on buses directing passers-by to a website warning those who did not accept Jesus would suffer for eternity in hell. Comedy writer Ariane Sherine, mastermind of the British bus campaign that saw a copycat version in Barcelona and other cities, said she backs the de-baptism movement but insisted the two initiatives were separate. Sanderson meanwhile remains resolute. The fact that people are willing to pay for the parchments shows how seriously they are taking them,he said.

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 MON MAR 30,2009

09:30 AM -15.06
10:00 AM -223.89
10:30 AM -243.96
11:00 AM -268.42
11:30 AM -292.23
12:00 PM -273.83
12:30 PM -257.27
01:00 PM -277.10
01:30 PM -275.11
02:00 PM -308.00
02:30 PM -297.97
03:00 PM -337.47
03:30 PM -295.58
04:00 PM -254.16 7522.02

S&P 500 787.53 -28.41

NASDAQ 1501.80 -43.40

GOLD 915.80 -7.40

OIL 48.62 -3.74

TSE 300 8540.86 -280.20

CDNX 945.20 -15.82

S&P/TSX/60 518.10 -17.16

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -11.40%
S&P -9.67%
Nasdaq -2.02%
TSX Advances 560,declines 995,unchanged 260,Volume 2,391,255,490.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 392,Declines 343,Unchanged 350,Volume 193,938,302.

Dow -195 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -298 points at low today.
Dow -15 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $916.30.OIL opens at $50.06 today.
GEORGIA BANK FAILED OVER THE WEEKEND THATS 21 BANKS WENT UNDER SO FAR.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -337 points at low today so far.
Dow -15 points at high today so far.

DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances 419,declines 3,218,unchanged 60,New Highs 5,New Lows 55.
Volume 3,261,375,815.
NASDAQ Advances 496,declines 2,121,unchanged 96,New highs 4,New Lows 27.
Volume 993,118,430.
TSX Advances 334,declines 1005,unchanged 236,Volume 1,273,090,908.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 195,Declines 341,Unchanged 271,Volume 85,352,147.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -337 points at low today.
Dow -15 points at high today.
Dow -3.27% today Volume 383,251,632.
Nasdaq -2.81% today Volume 1,858,914,170.
S&P 500 -3.48% today Volume N/A

GM IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS WILL WILLINGLY GO CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY TO CLEAR THE BOOKS AND START OVER IF THEY CAN NOT REACH A DEAL WITH THE US GOVERNMENT.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123841609048669495.html

RECORD LOWS DOW
-Sept 30,1996 5,882.17
-Oct 30,1996 5,993.23
-Nov 6,1996 6,177.71
-Dec 16,1996 6,268.35
-Apr 15,1997 6,587.16
-Apr 21,1997 6,660.21
-Apr 28,1997 6,783.02
-May 1,1997 6,976.48
-May 7,1997 7,085.65

RECORD LOWS S&P 500
-Sept 5,1996 649.44
-Sept 6,1996 655.68
-Sept 11,1996 667.28
-Sept 12,1996 671.13
-Oct 1,1996 689.08
-Oct 28,1996 697.26
-Nov 4,1996 706.73
-Nov 5,1996 714.14
-Dec 17,1996 726.04

Russia backs return to Gold Standard to solve financial crisis,Russia has become the first major country to call for a partial restoration of the Gold Standard to uphold discipline in the world financial system. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Last Updated: 8:23AM BST 30 Mar 2009

Arkady Dvorkevich, the Kremlin's chief economic adviser, said Russia would favour the inclusion of gold bullion in the basket-weighting of a new world currency based on Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund. Chinese and Russian leaders both plan to open debate on an SDR-based reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar at the G20 summit in London this week, although the world may not yet be ready for such a radical proposal. Russia steps up high-risk battle on roubleMr Dvorkevich said it was logical that the new currency should include the rouble and the yuan, adding that we could also think about more effective use of gold in this system. The Gold Standard was the anchor of world finance in the 19th Century but began breaking down during the First World War as governments engaged in unprecedented spending. It collapsed in the 1930s when the British Empire, the US, and France all abandoned their parities. It was revived as part of fixed dollar system until US inflation caused by the Vietnam War and Great Society social spending forced President Richard Nixon to close the gold window in 1971. The world's fiat paper currencies have lacked any external anchor ever since. It is widely argued that the financial excesses and extreme debt leverage of the last quarter century would have been impossible - or less likely - under the discipline of gold. Russia is a major gold producer with large untapped reserves of ore so it has a clear interest in promoting the idea. The Kremlin has already instructed the central bank of gradually raise the gold share of foreign reserves to 10pc.China's government has floated a variant of this idea, suggesting a currency based on 30 commodities along the lines of the Bancor proposed by John Maynard Keynes in 1944.

G20 summit: blow for Gordon Brown as £1.4 trillion spending blueprint is leaked Gordon Brown's preparations for this week's G20 summit in London got off to a bad start last night when a British blueprint for a £1.4 trillion worldwide spending boost was leaked.By Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor Last Updated: 10:36PM BST 29 Mar 2009

In an embarrassing disclosure, a draft of the final communiqué to be signed off by world leaders at the end of the one-day gathering on Thursday appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel.There were suspicions that the leak was a deliberate act of sabotage by sources within the German government, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is adopting a more cautious approach to fiscal moves to boost the national economy than Mr Brown, who will chair the summit.How not to look like a banker A Downing Street spokesman said the leak was an old document with out of date figures and that the £1.4trillion was an estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of stimulus measures already introduced by G20 countries. No new money was included, the spokesman added.The comments, though, only served to increase speculation that Mr Brown was being forced to scale down ambitious plans because of international opposition, led by Germany and France. Ahead of the summit, which will be held at the ExCel centre in London's Docklands, Mr Brown unveiled plans for a new crackdown on tax havens across the world. Lord Owen, the former Labour foreign secretary, also warned that unless inflation was controlled, Britain's economy might have to be constrained by the IMF.David Cameron's Conservative Party also widened its lead over Labour to 13 per cent in an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph. The leaked communiqué mentioned a figure of $2 trillion – £1.4 billion – in brackets, signifying it was a proposal for spending by G20 nations by Britain, as summit host, that still had to be formally agreed. According to the leak, this would boost growth by two per cent and employment by 19 million.

The draft also suggested that Britain wanted the G20 to come up with a target for global growth in 2010 – although no figure was mentioned. The document stated: We are determined to restore growth, resist protectionism and to reform our markets and institutions for the future. We believe that an open world economy, based on the principles of the market, effective regulation and strong global institutions, can ensure sustainable globalisation with rising wellbeing for all.Insiders at Der Spiegel said the magazine had obtained the leak from German government sources. British officials, however, declined to blame Mrs Merkel's inner circle directly, pointing the finger of blame instead at smaller political parties inside her ruling coalition.A No 10 spokesman said the £1.4 trillion figure did not amount to extra money which Britain was calling for governments to spend to try to rescue economies which have been crippled by the credit crunch, but referred instead to estimates of expenditure which had already been made.Mr Brown has faced claims that he wants to use the Budget, on 22 April, to unveil a big new fiscal stimulus for Britain while Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Mervyn King, the Bank of England Governor, are advocating caution.The Prime Minister wants a main focus of the summit to be a clampdown on tax havens, with a three-point plan aimed at building on moves which have already seen Switzerland and Liechtenstein agree to abide by new transparency standards.Britain will push for support on new moves to use tax incentives to stop companies and individuals trading with those who are resident in non-compliant jurisdictions, Government sources said, while there will also be new measures requiring companies to disclose more details of dealings with tax havens. The third part of the proposed clampdown involves a review of investment policies of institutions such as the IMF and retail development banks with a view to cutting the funds available to tax havens.

Amid the frantic preparations for the summit Lord Owen, foreign secretary under Jim Callaghan in the late 1970s, uses an article in today's Sunday Telegraph to warn that Britain's economy might have to be subject to IMF disciplines – which would require painful public spending cuts – to halt a precipitate loss of confidence. Lord Owen sounded the alert about the twin threats of a falling pound and inflation, which crippled Callaghan's government, being repeated under Mr Brown. There is an air of breathtaking unreality in Westminster and Whitehall that reminds me of 1975, he wrote. Hard choices need to be taken now, not postponed until after an election in 2010.His comments are certain to infuriate ministers, Labour MPs and activists, many of whom still blame him for his role in splitting Labour by forming the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the early 1980s. In autumn 2007, two months after Mr Brown became Prime Minister, the two men held talks in Downing Street, leading to speculation that the peer was considering returning to the Labour fold. Lord Owen's warning about the IMF echoed similar alerts sounded recently both by George Soros, the Hungarian financier, and Mr Cameron. Meanwhile, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, used a speech yesterday to Welsh Conservatives in Cardiff to taunt Mr Brown over his stewardship of the British economy. Mr Osborne said: When Gordon Brown sits down with the other G20 leaders in London next week, he will have to explain why he, of all the people sitting around the table, has the highest budget deficit – why the economy he presides over, of all the economies represented at the table, is forecast to still be in recession next year.

Oil slides below $52 in Asia on profit-taking By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer MAR 30,09

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oil prices tumbled Monday to below $52 a barrel as investors cashed in on recent gains, and in tandem with a pullback on Wall Street Friday.

Benchmark crude for May delivery fell $1.03 to $51.35 by midday in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.96 to settle at $52.38 on Friday.Further declines are expected as analysts say the recent rally in crude has not been supported by any real changes in market fundamentals, with supply building up while demand from industrial consumers is falling faster than expected.

We are seeing some profit-taking because oil supply fundamentals really did not support the price rally to the mid-50s a barrel, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.Crude prices set new year highs last week, rising steadily from US$35 in February to closing above $54 a barrel last Thursday, partly lifted by the recent rally in global stock markets. Asian markets fell Monday.

Shum said there is growing skepticism about the level that prices have climbed to and foresees them sliding below $50 a barrel again.The U.S. government last week said crude storage facilities were brimming with more oil than they've had in 16 years. Combined with strategic petroleum reserve, the nation now has 1.05 billion barrels of oil in storage — enough to fuel roughly 44 million cars for a year.Crude is piling up as airlines, manufacturers, automakers and just about every other sector slow down and millions of workers lose their jobs. U.S. stores of natural gas also rose by 3 billion cubic feet to about 1.65 trillion cubic feet for the week ended March 20.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has promised to slash production by 4.2 million barrels per day. But companies that track supertankers show that OPEC exports have dropped to the lowest level since June 2003, according to analyst Addison Armstrong.A new study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates also said plummeting crude prices has sent shock waves through the oil industry, discouraging enough exploration to cut future oil supplies in half.The CERA report said that of the potential 14.5 million barrels per day in new production expected from 2009 to 2014, about 7.6 million barrels were at risk.In other Nymex trading, gasoline for April delivery fell 1.89 cents to $1.4690 a gallon while heating oil dipped 1.58 cents to $1.4170 a gallon. Natural gas for April delivery remained flat at $3.737 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, Brent prices fell 95 cents to $51.03 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

European protesters march in G20 rallies By DEAN CARSON, Associated Press Writer – Sat Mar 28, 3:43 pm ET

LONDON – Thousands of people marched through European cities Saturday to demand jobs, economic justice and environmental accountability, kicking off six days of protest and action planned in the run-up to the G20 summit next week in London.In London, more than 150 groups threw their backing behind the Put People First march. Police said around 35,000 attended the demonstration, snaking their way across the city toward Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. Protest organizers said they wanted leaders from the world's top 20 economies to adopt a more transparent and democratic economic recovery plan.Brendan Barber, who heads an umbrella group for Britain's unions, told assembled protesters in London's Hyde Park that the G20 needed to take actions to lay the foundation for a better world.If we can generate fabulous wealth, as we can, then surely we can learn how to distribute that wealth more fairly. If we can unleash a technological revolution then surely we can ensure that everyone on this planet gets the food, the shelter and the health care that they need,he said.Not all demonstrators focused on the economic main message. Some chanted Free, free, Palestine.One man dressed in a banana suit waved a sign reading: Bananas for Justice.

Big protests were also held in Germany. Around 15,000 people gathered in Berlin, and a demonstration also was held in Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, under the slogan: We won't pay for your crisis.Demonstrators in Berlin sported headbands reading pay for it yourselves and some carried a black coffin topped with red roses symbolizing what they said was the death of capitalism.Some protesters in Berlin skirmished with police toward the end of the demonstration, and the windows of some police cars were broken.In Vienna, around 6,500 people gathered in the city center, with paper piggy banks, balloons or signs that read We won't pay for your crisis and Capitalism can't be reformed. Others blew whistles, chanted or danced to music blasting from trucks or a stage in front of parliament.In Paris, a small but focused group of around 400 protesters dumped a pile of sand outside the city's stock market to mock supposed island tax havens. Protesters sat atop the sand pile in beach chairs — tossing around colored bills with 5,000 euros, tax free written on them.

Trade unions and left-wing groups in Geneva mobilized some 250 people who marched through town with banners reading Capitalism is a mistake and chants of Revolution.

More protests are planned in London on Wednesday and Thursday, while left-leaning teach-ins, lectures, and other demonstrations are scheduled throughout the week. Protesters said the crisis could energize those hoping to challenge the economic and political status quo.The whole economic meltdown ... There's a really good opportunity for governments to get together and invest in a sustainable future, said unemployed Steve Burson, 49.Security was tight around a small group of people waving anarchist flags Saturday. They and others have promised violence before the G20 meeting Thursday, and the British capital is bracing for a massive police operation as delegates fly in to London.We've got a long week ahead, said Christian Evans, 40, an anarchist supporter flanked by black and red flags in London.The streets are our streets.Associated Press Writers Nicolas Garriga in Paris, Julia Rech in Berlin, Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna and Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this report.

Economy Faces Stagflation Reported: 06:51 AM - Mar/30/09

(IsraelNN.com) Higher energy prices and expectations of a worsening recession threaten to send the economy into stagflation, an unusual and difficult situation that includes a shrinking economy while prices rise. A new survey reveals that 90 percent of businesses expect profits to fall this year, causing more layoffs.Rising world oil prices coupled with a weaker shekel will cost motorists at the gas pump, where the price of fuel will rise by approximately eight percent at midnight Tuesday. The increase is likely to add about one percent to the consumer price index for April, which also will be pushed upward by demand during the Passover holiday.

Canada's PM says coordinating with U.S. on auto aid Sun Mar 29, 7:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canada has been working daily with American officials to coordinate on an aid plan for struggling U.S. automakers and is committed to providing the companies with a share of aid, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Sunday.We've said whatever the United States government is ultimately going to do, we're prepared to do our 20 percent share because we have 20 percent of the industry,Harper told Reuters in an interview.And we've been working daily with the American administration to ensure we're on the same page.As President Barack Obama prepares for a Monday announcement of his plans to help General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, Harper said the Obama administration will require stakeholders such as creditors and unions to make sacrifices.I'm certainly very confident that the Obama administration is going to require the automobile manufacturers and their stakeholders to make the difficult decisions necessary so that any government support will be successful and will create a viable industry,Harper said.I think the last thing the president wants is, where we do a government bailout that doesn't work and we'll have to do it over again in a year or a year and a half,he said.General Motors and Chrysler are seeking bailouts from the Canadian and Ontario governments, but it was not certain if Chrysler's package would be ready as it is still negotiating with the Canadian Auto Workers union.(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Sudan's Beshir in Doha for summit Sun Mar 29, 11:44 am ET

DOHA (AFP) – Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir flew in to Qatar on Sunday for an Arab summit, in his fourth foreign trip since an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Darfur.State television showed Beshir being greeted by Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Arab League chief Amr Mussa.Speculation had been rife in Doha that Beshir could stay away from the summit to avoid embarrassing Qatar, although the Gulf state is not bound by the rules of the International Criminal Court which indicted the president.

Congestion charging plan faces delay By Jennifer Rankin 29.03.2009 / 05:00 CET

Transport ministers to discuss Czech compromise deal on Eurovignette law. A plan to charge lorry drivers for congestion could be delayed by four years, under a compromise drawn up by the Czech presidency of the EU that will be discussed by transport ministers tomorrow (30 March). The proposed delay is an attempt to marry diverging views among governments, who are split between those that see congestion charging as a way to reduce carbon emissions and those that fear it will push up the cost of road transport by too much. Under the draft Eurovignette law, national governments will for the first time be allowed to charge lorries specifically for air pollution, noise and congestion. National governments say that they like the polluter-pays principle, but have struggled to reconcile their positions on congestion charging.As well as the four-year delay, the presidency has drawn up rules for member states that wish to levy congestion charges. These include requirements to abandon congestion charges if they fail to cut traffic bottlenecks and to get approval from the European Commission before starting such a system. Under current rules, the Eurovignette tolls apply only to major national and international roads. The Commission has proposed extending the scope of the law to cover the entire national road network, but many governments think that this would breach the principle of subsidiarity, surrendering too much power up to EU level.

The Czechs have drawn up a compromise that is closer to the Commission's proposal: they would include large sections of national networks not currently covered by the Eurovignette directive. At today's one-day transport meeting in Brussels, ministers will also discuss proposals to amend the rules governing working time for drivers. The Commission wants to amend a 2002 directive to prevent false self employment, ie, drivers who are officially registered as self-employed but do not have the freedom to work for other employers. The European Parliament's employment and social affairs committee has rejected the Commission's proposal. Ministers are also expected to give approval to two new regulations aimed at improving air-traffic control. The Single European Sky laws will harmonise further national air-traffic management systems and were approved by MEPs in Strasbourg last week (25 March). Intelligent transport systems, an EU-Canada air transport agreement, passenger rights on sea and waterways, and the competitiveness of maritime transport are also on the ministerial agenda.

UK's religious leaders urge G20 not to forget poor Sun Mar 29, 9:43 pm ET

LONDON (AFP) – Britain's religious leaders urged the G20's heads of state Monday not to forget their commitments to the world's poor when they meet here this week for a summit dominated by the financial crisis.In a joint statement, they quoted World Bank figures suggesting 53 million more people may fall into absolute poverty as a result of the crisis, and said the world's leaders have a duty to help them.Even in these difficult times we strongly urge the leaders of the G20 to hold fast to the commitments they have made to the world's poorest people, said the statement released ahead of Thursday's London summit.We still need to find ways to enable poorer countries to trade their way to prosperity. We hold that promises made to the poor are especially sacred.The statement is signed by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and representatives of Britain's Muslim, Sikh, Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist communities.Many people believe that this is a moment for the world's leaders to reaffirm their moral commitments to the welfare of all, especially the poorest, and to the care of the planet for future generations, Williams said.This was just as important as responding to the immediate challenges of securing a degree of financial stability, he said.

Canadians find vast computer spy network: report Sun Mar 29, 2:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Canadian researchers have uncovered a vast electronic spying operation that infiltrated computers and stole documents from government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, The New York Times reported on Saturday.In a report provided to the newspaper, a team from the Munk Center for International Studies in Toronto said at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries had been breached in less than two years by the spy system, which it dubbed GhostNet.Embassies, foreign ministries, government offices and the Dalai Lama's Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York were among those infiltrated, said the researchers, who have detected computer espionage in the past.

They found no evidence U.S. government offices were breached.

The researchers concluded that computers based almost exclusively in China were responsible for the intrusions, although they stopped short of saying the Chinese government was involved in the system, which they described as still active.We're a bit more careful about it, knowing the nuance of what happens in the subterranean realms,said Ronald Deibert, a member of the Munk research group, based at the University of Toronto.This could well be the CIA or the Russians. It's a murky realm that we're lifting the lid on.A spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in New York dismissed the idea China was involved.These are old stories and they are nonsense, the spokesman, Wenqi Gao, told the Times. The Chinese government is opposed to and strictly forbids any cybercrime.The Toronto researchers began their sleuthing after a request from the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, to examine its computers for signs of malicious software, or malware.The network they found possessed remarkable Big Brother-style capabilities, allowing it, among other things, to turn on the camera and audio-recording functions of infected computers for potential in-room monitoring, the report said.The system was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian nations as well as on the Dalai Lama, the researchers said, adding that computers at the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated and a NATO computer monitored.The report will be published in Information Warfare Monitor, an online publication linked to the Munk Center.At the same time, two computer researchers at Cambridge University in Britain who worked on the part of the investigation related to the Tibetans are releasing an independent report, the Times said.They do fault China and warned that other hackers could adopt similar tactics, the Times added.(Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Peter Cooney).

Hitting reset: US, Russia face tough nuclear talks By MIKE ECKEL, Associated Press Writer – Sat Mar 28, 12:05 pm ET

MOSCOW – When Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev meet for the first time on April 1, a big part of pressing the reset button will be to rescue the two countries' dying arms control treaty and prevent a return to Cold War nuclear rivalry.The reset, Washington's image for redefining future U.S.-Russian relations, covers a tangle of issues. Critical among them is the replacement of one of the most important Cold War deals limiting the world's two largest nuclear arsenals — the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.START expires Dec. 5, and at their London summit, Obama and Medvedev are expected to announce talks on a new pact, whose outcome will color relations between Washington and Moscow for years to come.But with an array of military and political issues to untangle, the process will be very difficult, said Anton Khlopkov, director of the Moscow-based Center for Energy and Security Studies.

Signed in 1991 by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President George H.W. Bush, the 700-page START resulted in the largest nuclear reductions in history. Essential to that was a mechanism that allowed the two sides to inspect and verify each other's arsenals.If one thing or another isn't done, then we'll end up in a legal vacuum and we won't know anything about the condition of (each other's) nuclear forces, said retired Maj. Gen. Vladimir Dvorkin, a former arms control expert with the Russian Defense Ministry.According to the U.S. State Department, as of last July — the most recent official data available — Russia had about 4,100 warheads available for use on missiles based on land, on submarines and on long-range bombers. The United States had around 5,950. That includes warheads in storage — a major point of disagreement.

The talks are the first major arms control negotiations since 1997, when then-Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton made a new push to reach a START successor treaty that U.S. and Russian lawmakers would ratify.That effort, however, was tied up for years by lawmakers in both countries and START II ultimately fell apart.Instead the two powers produced the 2002 Treaty of Moscow, a page-long document committing them to slash their warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 in number. But it's considered far weaker than START.With just eight months remaining before START expires, both Medvedev and Obama have signaled a desire to reach a new deal. Experts say the two nuclear giants could easily agree to cuts down below 1,700 warheads, if not further.But a thicket of technical disputes, differing interpretations and lingering grievances make it unlikely that a negotiators will reach a comprehensive successor to START before the deadline, analysts say. More likely is that START will just be renewed or the two sides will reach an informal agreement that keeps some sort of arms control framework in place.I am not at all sure that the Kremlin actually wants to see the negotiations conclude quickly," military commentator Alexander Golts wrote in a recent column, arguing that Moscow will use the talks to boost its battered prestige as an equal negotiating partner with Washington.However Hans Kristensen, a researcher with the Federation for American Scientists in Washington, says both sides have good reason to want a deal. The Russians have every interest in landing some sort of agreement here, he said. And the U.S. needs to cement a better relationship with Russians and turn this ship around.Washington is looking to increase the number of strategic missiles it tips with non-nuclear warheads — for example, submarine-launched missiles that could be used to take out terrorist bases. Moscow argues that it would have no way of knowing whether such a submarine-launched missile is nuclear or not.Russia, meanwhile, is developing the RS-24, a new type of missile that can carry multiple warheads. Washington says it's just an upgrade of an existing model, a violation of START. The Russian military, however, has said the new missile will be deployed in December after START expires — a signal that Moscow has no intention of abiding by START's restrictions on that type of weapon.Other thorny issues include the definition of operationally deployed missiles —whether a warhead on a shelf in storage, for example, should be considered deployed or not. The two sides differ strongly.

Russia has also said it wants cuts not only in warheads but also the missiles, bombers and submarines that carry them. Also poisoning the atmosphere is the U.S. missile defense plan for Eastern Europe. Moscow intends to put the plan on the negotiating table, calling it a threat to its strategic deterrent. Another impediment is military doctrine. Drastic cuts in arsenals will require military planners in both countries to markedly change how and where missiles are deployed in their so-called triads — the three-pronged strategy to ensure missiles can be fired either from land or from the sea or from the air. Nearly 20 years have passed since the superpowers declared the Cold War over, and the counting of warheads may sound like something out of a time capsule. But to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, Moscow's point man on arms control, they are critical to mending the damaged U.S.-Russian relationship

To a certain extent, everything depends on how it goes with START, he told Ekho Moskvy radio on Friday.The times are different now, but these are weapons that have the most influence on the general condition of international relations and on Russian-American relations in particular.

Israel: Militants smuggled tons of weapons to Gaza By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 29, 12:08 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Palestinian militants have smuggled nearly 70 tons of explosives and bomb-making materials and other weapons into Gaza since Israel ended an offensive meant to choke off the arms flow, a senior Israeli defense official said Sunday.The assessment by the chief of Israel's internal security service, Yuval Diskin, reinforced a growing feeling among Israelis that the government ended the war too soon.Diskin told the Cabinet that since the three-week military operation ended Jan. 18, Gaza militants have smuggled into the territory 22 tons of explosives, 45 tons of raw materials for producing bombs, dozens of rockets, hundreds of mortar shells and dozens of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.The weapons are coming in through Gaza's porous border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, despite improved Egyptian interdiction, Diskin said. His remarks were reported by meeting participants who spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was closed.There was no way to verify his assessment. Using sophisticated technology and human informants, Israel has kept close tabs on Gaza since it withdrew its forces from the area in 2005.

Israel launched its air and ground assault in late December in an effort to stop rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from Hamas-ruled Gaza and stanch the stream of arms reaching the territory through underground tunnels from Egypt. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including 926 civilians, the Palestinians say. Thirteen Israelis also died.The attacks from Gaza have dropped off considerably but have not stopped: The military reported Sunday that a total of 185 rockets and mortars were fired since the military campaign ended. But the threat of escalation remains, as the reports of continued smuggling suggested.It is testimony that next time, we should go to something more complete in order to prevent the rearmament of Hamas, said Yuval Steinitz, a close associate of incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.In the long term, Israel cannot agree to the establishment of an Iranian military base 50 or 60 kilometers from Tel Aviv, said Steinitz, a lawmaker in Netanyahu's Likud party. Sooner or later, we shall have to put an end to it,he added, without elaborating.

Israel accuses Iran of funding and arming Hamas.

Netanyahu, who is expected to take office on Tuesday, has said the Gaza offensive did not go far enough and Hamas should be toppled. However, he stopped short of saying he would attack Gaza again to bring that about.During its Gaza offensive, Israeli warplanes destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels, though many were quickly repaired. Egyptian-brokered negotiations on a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel centered in part on instituting measures to stop the smuggling.Last week, however, Israel came under suspicion of having dramatically escalated its attempts to cut off the flow of arms to Gaza militants with the emergence of reports that aircraft attacked weapons convoys in Sudan last month. Israeli officials have not commented publicly about the reports.However, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has hinted that Israel did launch the strikes, saying the Israeli military would hit terror infrastructure wherever it may be.

NATO reaches out to online audience
VALENTINA POP Today MAR 30,09 @ 18:21 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Four days ahead of its 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg and Kehl, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has launched a web campaign aimed at raising awareness among young people on what it describes its commitment to providing peace and security.After 60 years, NATO is changing its communication strategy. It is the first time that we run a web-only campaign, with three videos aimed at reaching a wider audience, especially the younger generation,Jean-Francois Bureau, NATO's assistant secretary-general for public diplomacy told journalists on Monday (30 March).The acronym NATO was generally well known, even among youngsters, but what is not so much known is what the organisation was actually dealing with, Mr Bureau said.The campaign includes three videos suggesting how thin the line between safety and violence is.People often take freedom and stability for granted. We don't. Peace and security. That's our mission, says one of the videos, which can be all shared via YouTube, Facebook and other online social networks.The campaign cost less than €500,000 – less expensive than TV or print advertising campaigns, Mr Bureau said.

German communication company Scholz & Friends developed the promotional strategy.

This campaign is designed to reach out to a younger audience who may not know NATO very well. It aims to arouse their curiosity, and remind them that freedom and stability are more precious than they might think. It will also remind them that NATO has made a significant contribution to keeping them safe, and will continue to do so in the future,Lutz Meyer from Scholz & Friends said in a press release. In its efforts to reach out to young audiences, NATO is also organising a youth forum called NATO in 2020: What lies ahead? in Strasbourg on Thursday (2 April), ahead of the meeting of heads of states, foreign and defence ministers the next day.The forum will bring together some 300 students and young professionals from more than 50 countries in order to discuss future security challenges such as cyber threats, climate change and energy security.NATO's attempts at reaching out to youngsters faces a significant challenge however, as Strasbourg authorities are in the midst of turning the town into a fortress in expectation of some 20-50,000 peace activists, according to police, mostly young people who are to descend on the town during the 60th anniversary celebrations. As part of the precautions, police have evacuated Strasbourg university and are to keep the institution closed for the week.NATO was founded on 4 April 1949 as a military alliance granting collective defence to its members on the principle of all for one and one for all. Most EU states, the US and Canada are members, as well as Croatia and Albania, who are expected to join as full members in Strasbourg. Russia fiercely opposes NATO enlargement, especially towards former Soviet republics, which it still believes to be within its sphere of influence.