PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
PLANNING GUIDANCE FOR RESPONSE TO A NUCLEAR DETONATION
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/rert/pags.html
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/er/planning-guidance-response-nuclear-detonation-FINAL.pdf
Israel Ups UAV Delivery Date after Russia Cancels Syria MiG Deal
by Yehudah Lev Kay MAY 24,09
(IsraelNN.com) Israel Aerospace Industries has agreed to speed up production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Russia after the Moscow government agreed to cancel a deal to provide Syria with eight MiG-31 fighter planes.Sources said that the expected delivery date for the UAVs would be moved up to the end of 2009, according to The Jerusalem Post. A Defense Ministry spokesman contacted by Israel National News declined to comment on the report.Israel signed its first deal to provide military technology to Russia in April, promising $50 million worth of drones to replace the outdated Russian fleet. The deal included the second-tier Israeli UAVs Bird-Eye 400, I-View MK150, and Search MK II .Russian took an interest in Israeli drone technology after its brief war last year with Georgia. Russian military officials concluded that the Israeli UAVs used by Georgia were tactically superior to current Russian drone technology.Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad traveled to Moscow in December and gained assurances that in exchange for the Israeli technology, Russia would agree not to sell the S-300 missile defense system to Iran and would consider canceling the $500million MiG-31 deal with Syria.Last week, the Russian Kommersant newspaper reported that the country’s defense ministry had halted production on the planes destined for Syria in response to Israeli pressure. Syria has since denied the report.
NKorea says it conducted nuclear test MAY 24,09
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea announced Monday that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, weeks after threatening to restart its rogue atomic program.
The country's official Korean Central News Agency called Monday's test part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense.President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security session. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, confirmed that a nuclear test may have been carried out in the North.Seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported earthquakes in an northeastern area, where North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006.A 4.7-magnitude earthquake was registered in northeastern North Korea at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said.The quake, measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground, occurred 40 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kimchaek, the USGS said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency also said it detected seismic activity Monday morning. We are checking whether they were due to a nuclear test, agency official Gen Aoki said in Tokyo.In Seoul, the Korea Institue of Geoscience and Mineral Resources reported a 4.5-magnitude quake in Kilju in North Hamgyong Province.North Korea also carried out a nuclear test in October 2006 in Kilju, a test that drew sanctions from the United Nations and prompted five other nations to push negotiations on a nuclear disablement-for-aid pact with North Korea.In Washington, State Department spokesman Andy Laine said the U.S. government had no confirmation of a new nuclear test.At this point we've seen the reports and we're trying to get more information, but we're not able to confirm at this time,Laine said.
BREAKING - Another NorK Nuke Test-North Korea Tests Underground Nuclear Bomb
Posted by Kim Priestap May 25, 2009 - 8:20 AM
Remember when Joe Biden said this during the campaign? Mark my words,the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities.And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right.
And tested he is. North Korea set off an underground nuclear bomb:
President Barack Obama said on Monday that nuclear and missile tests conducted by North Korea were a grave concern to all nations and a legal violation that warranted action by the international community. North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security,Obama said in a statement after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test and reportedly fired a short-range missile.The nuclear test was a major diplomatic challenge to Obama at a time when he is facing a global economic crisis and working to curb Iran's nuclear enrichment program, which the West fears is aimed at producing nuclear arms but Tehran says is for energy.Obama vowed when he took office to extend a hand to troublesome countries willing to unclench your fist but so far he has had little success with North Korea or Iran, which have continued to advance their nuclear programs and showed little interest in renewed dialogue.Wow, what a shock. NoKo and Iran treat Obama like an annoying fly buzzing around their heads. He buzzes about dialog and unclenching their fists while they just swish him away and go about their business. Update: Michael has a good post directly on top of this one, so be sure to head up there and leave a comment as well.
It seems Mr. John Bolton, a man who knows of what he speaks, predicted NoKo's nuclear test days ago. In his Wall Street Journal piece Ambassador Bolton wrote that a new nuke test is coming and when it does, Obama had better drop the six party talks as a result or, like an insolent child who runs roughshod over a meek parent who refuses to follow through on threats of discipline, North Korea will see the talks are a sham and not only will Kim Jong-Il continue with is plans but so will Iran. If the next nuclear explosion doesn't derail the six-party talks, Kim will rightly conclude that he faces no real danger of ever having to dismantle his weapons program. North Korea is a mysterious place, but there is no mystery about its foreign-policy tactics: They work. The real mystery is why our administrations -- Republican and Democratic -- haven't learned that their quasi-religious faith in the six-party talks is misplaced.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently rejected linkage in Russia policy as old thinking.Disagreement in one area, she argued, shouldn't prevent working on something else that is of overwhelming importance. Whatever the merits of linkage vis-à-vis Russia, de-linking a second North Korean nuclear test from the six-party talks simply hands Pyongyang permission to proceed.Even worse, Iran and other aspiring nuclear proliferators will draw precisely the same conclusion: Negotiations like the six-party talks are a charade and reflect a continuing collapse of American resolve. U.S. acquiescence in a second North Korean nuclear test will likely mean that Tehran will adopt Pyongyang's successful strategy.It's time for the Obama administration to finally put down Kim Jong Il's script. If not, we better get ready for Iran -- and others -- to go nuclear.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
EU, US: NKorean nuke test violates UN sanctions By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer MAY 25,09
TOKYO – The U.S., the EU and Russia condemned North Korea's reported nuclear test Monday as a violation of U.N. resolutions and promised to take the isolated regime before the Security Council. Even China joined the chorus of disapproval, saying it resolutely opposed the test.The response from Beijing, the North's closest ally, came hours after most of the world had weighed in, but it was unequivocal.The Chinese government expresses that it is resolutely opposed to this, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It wasn't clear if the delay was due to internal discussions or because the country's foreign minister is out of the country.In the wave of condemnation, all five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — denounced the test, North Korea's second, and many declared it a violation of sanctions. The council was set to take up the issue at 4:30 p.m. in New York (2030 GMT).
The U.S. offered a quick and pointed criticism.
North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community, President Barack Obama said in a statement. North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia.Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CBS that if Pyongyang continues to develop a nuclear weapons program it poses a grave threat to the United States.Obama, who said the moves were in blatant defiance of the Security Council, said Washington will be working in the days ahead with the council and other nations that have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions.In Brussels, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, denounced the test as a flagrant violation of Security Council resolutions, as did Russia.These irresponsible acts by North Korea warrant a firm response by the international community,Solana said in a statement.The European Union will be in contact with its partners to discuss appropriate measures.Moscow's Foreign Ministry called the test a serious blow to international efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier suggested the Security Council will meet during the day today to discuss the test and may talk about the strengthening of sanctions.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed it violated U.N. sanctions and called it unacceptable. Japan is particularly sensitive to such actions because its territory is within North Korean missile range.If true, the test is a serious violation of the norm established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and as such deserves universal condemnation,said Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the treaty's preparatory commission said in a statement.Major nuclear powers have observed moratoriums on testing in recent years, but India, Pakistan and North Korea all have tested bombs since the treaty was negotiated in the 1990s. The U.S. has yet to ratify the treaty, although Obama has said he will push the Senate to do so.North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions that bar it from nuclear and ballistic activity since its first atomic test in 2006. A rocket launch in April — that the North said put a satellite into orbit but critics called a test of long-range missile technology — drew further condemnation from the world body.In response, the North announced it was withdrawing from talks aimed at halting its nuclear program and said it would restore atomic facilities it began disabling under those negotiations. The North also launched short-range missiles on Monday.North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported that a successful underground nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control.Russia's Defense Ministry said it confirmed the test and estimated its yield at 10 to 20 kilotons — a size comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky, speaking on state-run Rossiya television, said the test was conducted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kilchu.
South Korea called the test a threat to world peace.
We are seriously concerned about North Korea's second test of a nuclear device, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told The Associated Press.It's a direct threat against the peace and stability in the region as well as to the world.Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Parliament that final confirmation may take days, but said Australia is proceeding as if the reports are true and called the test a flagrant breach of its international obligations and a violation of U.N. sanctions that should be condemned.Associated Press writers Ben Stocking in Hanoi, Solobodan Lekic in Brussels, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report. (This version CORRECTS writethru sequence)
North Korea conducts nuclear test,North Korea insists it has a right to nuclear weapons MAY 25,09
North Korea says it has staged a successful underground nuclear test, prompting international condemnation.The state says it was more powerful than the previous one in October 2006.A number of external agencies have confirmed a powerful explosion took place, suspected to be associated with a nuclear test. US President Barack Obama described the North Korean action as a threat to international peace. Crisis talks were being held in South Korea. An emergency session of the UN Security Council is being convened by Russia, which currently occupies the council's rotating presidency.
BBC world affairs correspondent David Loyn says North Korea appears to have moved from a posture of negotiation to confrontation over the nuclear issue.
Safeguarding sovereignty
An official communique read out on North Korean state radio said another round of underground nuclear testing had been successfully conducted... as part of measures to enhance the Republic's self-defensive nuclear deterrent in all directions. Japanese Foreign Ministry: We'll respond in a responsible manner.It said the test had been safely conducted at a new high level in terms of explosive power and control technology.The test would contribute to safeguard the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism, the communique said. The North gave no details of the test location, but South Korean officials said that a seismic tremor was detected in the north-eastern part around the town of Kilju - the site of North Korea's first nuclear test.The US Geological Survey said a 4.7-magnitude quake was detected at 0054 GMT, 10km (six miles) underground.Geological agencies in both South Korea and the US said the tremor indicated a nuclear explosion.
David Loyn, BBC world affairs correspondent
Understanding the motivation behind the actions of this most secretive of powers is never easy, but North Korea does now appear to have moved from a posture of negotiation to confrontation.Two years ago North Korea agreed to close its main nuclear plant at Yongbyon and reveal its nuclear assets. But it has since refused to allow in inspectors, and has now withdrawn from all negotiations.Monday's tests come a little over a month after a test of a long-range missile that threatened Asia and could have reached the US.Neither pressure nor the offer of a large aid package have worked.When it meets later on Monday, the UN Security Council will issue a strong statement of condemnation. President Obama is threatening action, but there are very few options left short of war. Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying said its systems had detected a blast of between 10 and 20 kilotons - making it much bigger than the 2006 test, which the US said was less than a kiloton. Hours after the explosion North Korea test-fired three short-range missiles, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.Pyongyang has so far not commented on Yonhap's reports.
The US state department said it was still analysing the available data from the test.
But in a strongly worded statement, President Obama said the North's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatened peace and was in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council.The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the six-party talks as well as other members of the UN Security Council in the days ahead,his statement said. A spokesman for the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the test was a grave challenge to international non-proliferation efforts, while Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said any nuclear test by the North would be unacceptable.Both have formed crisis management teams, and said they would ask for action from the UN Security Council.The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said he condemned the test in the strongest terms and said it would undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula.South Korea's stock market fell 4% on the news, over fears that regional tensions would rise.
Rocket condemnation
The North says it remains under military threat from its historic rival, South Korea, and South Korea's allies, primarily the US - citing such examples as the annual US-South Korean military exercises undertaken in South Korea.
NUCLEAR CRISIS
Oct 2006 - North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test
Feb 2007 - North Korea agrees to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for fuel aid
June 2007 - North Korea shuts its main Yongbyon reactor
June 2008 - North Korea makes its long-awaited declaration of nuclear assets
Oct 2008 - The US removes North Korea from its list of countries which sponsor terrorism
Dec 2008 - Pyongyang slows work to dismantle its nuclear programme after a US decision to suspend energy aid
Jan 2009 - The North says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South, accusing it of hostile intent
April 2009 - Pyongyang launches a rocket carrying what it says is a communications satellite
25 May 2009 - North Korea conducts a second nuclear test
Last month, Pyongyang pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear programme, in protest against international condemnation of its test-firing of a rocket on 5 April.
The UN Security Council adopted a statement calling on North Korea to comply with a 2006 resolution banning missile tests.Pyongyang says its rocket carried a satellite, but several nations viewed it as cover for a missile test.The six-party talks - involving the US, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas - have stalled over the failure of Pyongyang to verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear plant. North Korea had agreed to dismantle the facility as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal and, in response, the US removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist. But the North now believes it is no longer bound by its previous bilateral agreements with the US and agreements under the six-party talks, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul, South Korea.He says the North, which already faces a stringent sanctions regime, probably thinks it has little to lose.
Indian Rupee Falls as North Korea Nuclear Test May Spur Outflow
By Anil Varma
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- India’s rupee fell for the first time in seven days on concern overseas investors will pull money out of Asia after North Korea said it held a nuclear test today.The currency declined the most in almost two weeks as the MSCI Emerging Markets Index of stocks dropped, adding to speculation global funds see increased risk. A gauge that tracks the dollar against six major currencies rose for the first time in six days, indicating investors are opting for the relative safety of the greenback.The rupee is falling and it’s a reaction to the North Korean nuclear test, said Sudarshan Bhatt, chief currency trader at state-owned Corporation Bank in Mumbai.Banks are reversing dollar short positions to reduce risk. Stocks are expected to drop, and that could add to the rupee’s weakness.The rupee weakened 0.4 percent to 47.29 per dollar at the 5 p.m. close in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency climbed 4.9 percent last week, the best performance since March 1996. A short position is a bet that an asset or currency will fall. Offshore contracts indicate bets the rupee will trade at 47.46 to the dollar in a month, compared with expectations of 47.22 as on May 22. Forwards are agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Non- deliverable contracts are settled in dollars rather than the local currency. North Korea conducted a nuclear test today, the communist nation’s official Korean Central News Agency said. The underground test was successful,according to the report. The ICE’s Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the euro, the yen, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and Sweden’s krona, climbed 0.3 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Anil Varma in Mumbai at avarma3@bloomberg.net.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
NATO says Georgia will join as maneuvers are held By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 25,09
TBILISI, Georgia – NATO said Monday that Georgia will eventually become a member — reaffirming its support for the country with which it is hosting joint military exercises, to Russia's dismay.Robert Simmons, NATO's special envoy to the Caucasus and Central Asia, refused to set a date for Georgia's entry into the military alliance, saying that would be futile. Georgia, a former Soviet republic that borders Russia, has been embroiled in domestic political infighting.Russia has sharply criticized the war games being held near South Ossetia, a rebel-held separatist province that was at the center of the war last summer between Russia and Georgia. And confirmation of NATO's intent to accept Georgia will probably anger Russia.NATO has said before that Georgia and Ukraine can eventually join the alliance despite Russia's opposition, but has stopped short of granting them a formal roadmap to membership.Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, criticized by the opposition for failing to avert the disastrous war, attended Monday's military exercises on a wind-blown hilltop base just outside the capital, Tbilisi.Saakashvili has faced daily protests by thousands of opposition activists urging him to step down. He has said he will not leave office before his term ends in 2013.Simmons said the way Saakashvili has allowed the opposition to protest virtually unhindered was a positive sign.
During Monday's training, American, Spanish, Italian and Greek soldiers walked Georgian military through various battlefield attack techniques. The Georgian soldiers trained with Russian-made weapons and fired at silhouette targets dotted around the field as NATO troops observed, occasionally intervening.A helicopter landed just yards (meters) from the field in which the live-fire exercise was being conducted, drawing gasps from British personnel. The helicopter later whisked Saakashvili away.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
North Korea inspires its nation and army with nuclear explosion and missile launch 25.05.2009 Source: Pravda.Ru
North Korea made an official announcement of its second successful nuclear test on Monday. The North Korean News Agency reported that the underground nuclear explosion was performed within the scope of the measures to strengthen the nation’s nuclear deterrent forces. The test was conducted to defend the nation’s sovereignty, the state media said. South Korean and Russian authorities registered the explosion. The United States is investigating the information.The state-run news agency reported that the new nuclear test inspired the population of the country to new achievements in labor.The successful nuclear test inspires our army and our people in their 150-day struggle for new economic achievements and strengthens the atmosphere of new revolutionary rise for building the new prosperous superpower, the report from North Korean News Agency said.South Korean seismographs registered the artificial 4.5-magnitude quake which testified to a possible nuclear test in the neighboring state. The President of South Korea called an urgent meeting of his ministers to discuss the latest events in North Korea .Russian seismologists also registered a 5.5-6 magnitude quake in North Korea. Tectonic cataclysms were registered at the depth of ten kilometers. Russian specialists say, though, that such earthquakes are typical of North Korea.North Korea launched a surface-to-air missile the same day, May 25, several hours after the above-mentioned nuclear test, RIA Novosti reports. The single missile with a range of 130 km (81 miles) was fired from the Musudan-ri launchpad on North Korea 's northeast coast, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. North Korea previously used the site a month ago when it launched a rocket with a satellite on board. The rocket subsequently crashes into the ocean.Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry is currently investigating the information about North Korea’s nuclear test.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006. Russia immediately said that North Korea must come back to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and resume the six-sided talks regarding its nuclear program. The Primorye Region in Russia’s Far East is the only region of the Russian Federation which borders on North Korea. The border is 18 km long. All special services of the region were monitoring the situation in October 2006, after the first nuclear test in North Korea. There was no increase in the radiation level registered.The Japanese government will most likely demand an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council be held. South Korea and Japan believe that the Council must have a quick reaction to the second nuclear test. Most likely, Japan will seek more sanctions against North Korea .
Military chief: Iran wants nuclear weapons Sun May 24, 9:54 am ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's top military adviser says Iran's objective is to obtain nuclear weapons — and that threatens the region.Adm. Mike Mullen says he's worried about Iran and what U.S. intelligence agencies don't know about the Tehran government. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the United States and its allies must work to engage Iran's leaders.Mullen says there's a narrow window in which to work to block Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities.Mullen appeared on ABC's This Week.
IF IRAN GETS ITS WAY OBAMA COULD BE A FRIEND OF IRAN IF HE IS A SHI'ITE AND BELIEVE IN THE WELLBOY MYTHOLOGY OR AN ENEMY IF HE IS A SUNNI.IF OBAMA IS A SUNNI THEN IRAN WILL TRY TO NUKE OBAMA FOR SURE SINCE THIS PEACEFUL RELIGION ISLAM AND IRAN HATES SUNNIS JUST AS MUCH AS ISRAEL.
Iran's Ahmadinejad wants to debate Obama at UN MAY 23,09
TEHRAN, Iran – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed on Monday a face-to-face debate with President Barack Obama at the United Nations if he is re-elected next month as Iran's president.But he balanced the offer with a sharp rebuke to Washington and its allies over Iran's nuclear program. He reiterated that Iran would never abandon its advances in uranium enrichment in exchange for offers of easing sanctions or other economic incentives.The nuclear issue is closed,he told a news conference.Obama has urged a serious process of engagement after Iran's elections in an effort to end a nearly 30-year diplomatic chill. However last week, the American leader said the U.S. was prepared to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it did not respond positively to the attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama set a year-end deadline for Iran to show it wanted to engage with Washington.The tough talk on nuclear negotiations following Iran's test last week of a long-range missile appear aimed at burnishing Ahmadinejad's hard-line credentials in the election campaign against another conservative and two pro-reform candidates.His offer of to debate Obama could also be campaign posturing before the June 12 vote. But it does put Ahmadinejad on record as supporting a potentially groundbreaking encounter following Obama's offer for dialogue.Ahmadinejad said that, if re-elected, he would be open to debate global issues as well as world peace and security during the U.N. General Assembly in September.
There was no immediate reaction from Washington.
On the nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad ruled out talks with the U.S. He said Iran's stand is crystal clear and Tehran would only discuss the subject within the framework of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.Ahmadinejad has often denounced the West for trying to pressure Iran to give up it uranium enrichment program, a process that can produce fuel for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Tehran insists it is only to fuel peaceful reactors, but the West worries could lead to nuclear weapons development.His latest comments appear to be part of a campaign strategy to portray himself as the only candidate capable to defending Iran's nuclear technology.Last week, he accused his reformist predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, of bringing humiliation on Iran by agreeing to suspend uranium enrichment from 2003-5 as a confidence-building measure with the West.That also served as a direct shot at Ahmadinejad's main reformist challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is backed by Khatami.Ahmadinejad also faces another hard-liner, former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei, and a moderate, former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi, in the four-way race.The campaign took a bitter turn over the weekend when reformists accused Ahmadinejad's supporters in the Islamic regime of blocking the popular social networking site Facebook, which has become an important tool to mobilize Iran's crucial youth vote.More than half Iran's population was born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and young voters represent a huge potential bloc for pro-reform candidates.
Ahmadinejad sidestepped questions about whether authorities ordered a Facebook block late last week. But he said he believed in maximum freedom of expression.There are many Web sites active in the world that can be accessed in Iran. Many Web sites are against the government,he said, adding that officials don't need to shut any sites shut down.But Iran has cut off access to many blogs and Web sites critical of the Islamic regime and its ruling clerics. Media groups and others have strongly criticized Iran's clampdown on the web. Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president and a top adviser to Karoubi's campaign, called the Facebook block painful news for young and educated Iranians.(Ruling authorities) would only like their voice heard, he wrote in an e-mailed protest, claiming his own Facebook site had attracted more than 3,000 followers.Any other voice (for them) is intolerable.
JERUSALEM DIVIDED
ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
AND WHY IS JERUSALEM DIVIDED BECAUSE THE ISRAELI LEADERS ARE DECIEVED.THE JEWS YET DENY JESUS AS GOD SO THEY WILL BE DECIEVED JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS.JESUS WILL BE THE ONE TO PROVE TO THEM HE IS GOD WHEN HE FIGHTS THE RUSSIA,MUSLIMS.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Official: Obama admin sees Jerusalem divided,He told us city will never be united under Israeli sovereignty May 24, 2009 8:00 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2009 WorldNetDaily
Jerusalem
TEL AVIV -- The Obama administration told the Palestinian Authority that Jerusalem will never be united under Israeli sovereignty, a top Palestinian Authority official told WND today. Americans said an open Jerusalem - yes. But a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty - no,Hatem Abdel Khader, the PA's minister for Jerusalem affairs, said in comments to both WND and Israel's Ynetnews website. (The Obama administration) has made clear that Jerusalem must be accessible to everyone – but not united under Israel's rule,Khader said. Khader claimed the U.S. is cooperating with the PA to thwart Israel's plans in Jerusalem.When they collaborate with us in Israeli courts against home demolitions or the confiscation of land we see their attitude,he said.Khader told WND,The Americans are very present on the ground, and they are making pressure over Israeli authorities and even municipalities.They are acting according to the concept that the failure to establish a Palestinian state would jeopardize U.S. national security interests – and without Jerusalem there is no Palestinian state,he said.Khader made the remarks after the State Department yesterday refuted a speech in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week Jerusalem will never be divided.Jerusalem is Israel's capital, Netanyahu said at an event marking 42 years since Israel reunified the city following the 1967 Six Day War.Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided.In response, the State Department released a statement that Jerusalem is a final status issue.Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to resolve its status during negotiations. We will support their efforts to reach agreements on all final status issues,the statement said.
U.S. helps Palestinians live illegally near Temple Mount
Khader's claim the U.S. is helping the Palestinians gain a foothold in Jerusalem is accurate. Last month, WND reported that under intense American pressure and following a nearly unprecedented behind-the-scenes U.S. campaign, the Netanyahu government has decided not to bulldoze Palestinian homes built illegally on Jewish-owned property in Jerusalem.The issue is critical since the 80 homes in question are located in Silwan, an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood close to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem's Old City that the Palestinians claim as a future capital. Jewish groups have been working to fortify the community's Jewish presence. Silwan is adjacent to the City of David, a massive archeological dig just outside the Temple Mount that is constantly turning up Temple artifacts.Like tens of thousands of other Arab housing projects throughout eastern Jerusalem, the Palestinian homes in Silwan were illegally constructed on property long ago purchased by Jews. The Israeli government ordered the structures' legal demolition.But during a visit here in early March, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton strongly protested the planned bulldozing.Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the Road Map, she said. It is an issue that we intend to raise with the government of Israel and the government at the municipal level in Jerusalem.The Road Map calls for Israel to freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank but does not bar Israel from dismantling illegally constructed Palestinian homes in Jerusalem. WND learned that in the weeks since Clinton's visit here, the U.S. mounted an intensive campaign lobbying the Israeli government against tearing down the illegal Palestinian homes in Silwan. The campaign included letters from the Middle East section of the State Department addressed to various Jerusalem municipalities, with copies of the letters sent to the offices of Israel's prime minister and foreign minister. The letters called on Israel to allow the illegal Palestinian homes in Silwan to remain and stated any demolitions would not foster an atmosphere of peace.
Also, in a follow-up visit here, State Department officials made it clear to their Israeli counterparts the U.S. opposes the Silwan bulldozing.According to sources in the Israeli government, including in Netanyahu's administration, a decision has been made not to bulldoze the illegal Palestinian homes. The sources said the issue of the homes may be raised again in the future, but for the time being the houses will remain intact.The sources attributed the decision against the bulldozing – which has not yet been announced – to the intense American campaign against the house demolitions.Said one source in Netanyahu's administration, This was very frustrating to us. Can you imagine if a foreign government came in and told a city office in the U.S. not to tear down a house that was illegally constructed on someone else's property? While Clinton opposed the Palestinian house demolitions, informed Israeli officials said the Obama administration is carefully monitoring Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem and has already protested to the highest levels of Israeli government about evidence of housing expansion in those areas. The officials, who spoke on condition that their names be withheld, said that last month Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, oversaw the establishment of an apparatus based in the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem that closely monitors eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, incorporating regular tours on a daily basis.The officials said that in recent meetings Mitchell strongly protested Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem. Mitchell also condemned the work of nationalist Jewish groups to purchase property in Jerusalem's Old City, including in areas intimately tied to Judaism.Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War.The Palestinians, however, have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital. About 244,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, out of a total population of 724,000, the majority Jewish.
U.S. helping Palestinians build in Jerusalem
A WND investigation in March determined the U.S. has been aiding the Palestinians in developing infrastructure in eastern Jerusalem, including on property owned by Jews.
The situation has been unfolding in the northern Jerusalem neighborhoods of Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis, which are close to the Jewish neighborhoods of Neve Yaacov and Pisgat Zeev in Israel's capital. Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis are located entirely within the Jerusalem municipality.Much of the property there is owned by private Jewish landowners or by the Jewish National Fund, a U.S. Jewish group that purchases land for the states purpose of Jewish settlement. A tour of the three Jerusalem neighborhoods finds some surprising developments. Official PA logos and placards abound, including one glaring red street sign at the entrance to the neighborhoods warning Israelis to keep out.Another official sign, in Kfar Akeb in Jerusalem, reads in English, Ramallah-Jerusalem Road. This project is a gift form (sic) the American people to the Palestinian people in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and PECDAR. 2007.The sign bears the emblems of the American and PA governments and of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. The displays were not present during a previous WND tour of the neighborhoods in 2006.
Some local schools in the Jerusalem neighborhoods are officially run by the PA – some in conjunction with the U.N. – with many teachers drawing PA salaries. Civil disputes are usually settled not in Israeli courts but by the PA judicial system, although at times Israeli courts are used depending on the matter. Councils governed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization oversee some municipal matters. USAID provides the PA funds for road and infrastructure projects. Israeli security officials said the local Jerusalem police rarely operate in Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis; instead security has been turned over to the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police, who work almost daily with PA security forces. The PA police operate in the Jerusalem neighborhoods in coordination with Israel. Shmulik Ben Ruby, spokesman for the Jerusalem police, confirmed the arrangement. If there are fights between some local families, sometimes we involve the PA police to make peace between the families,he told WND.Yes, the PA police can operate in these neighborhoods in coordination with the IDF and Border Police.
Jews barred from sections of Jerusalem
In another recent development, Israeli Jews, including local property owners, have been almost entirely barred from entering Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis, while Israeli Arabs can freely enter.Aryeh King, a nationalist activist who holds the power of attorney to some Kfar Akeb land owned by an Israeli Jew, told WND he was barred several times during the past few months from entering the neighborhood to administer to the land, upon which local Arabs illegally constructed apartments. Police spokesman Ben Ruby explained this new arrangement is due to security concerns. It's quite dangerous to be there alone, so if they don't have to be there it's not allowed, because they might find themselves in danger if they go in,said Ben Ruby. In 2002, in response to the outbreak one year earlier of the Palestinian intifada, or terrorist war against the Jewish state, the Israeli government constructed its security barrier blocking off the West Bank from Jewish population zones. The route of the fence also cut into northern and eastern Jerusalem, incorporating Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis on the so-called Palestinian side. Jews lived in Kfar Akeb, Qalandiya and Samir Amis years before the establishment of Israel in 1948, but they were violently expelled during deadly Arab riots in 1929.Jordan, together with other Arab countries, attacked Israel after its founding in 1948 and administered the three Jerusalem neighborhoods as well as all of eastern Jerusalem following an armistice agreement. In 1967, Jordan attacked again and Israel liberated the entire city of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. During the period of Jordanian control, some new construction took place, including in areas previously purchased by Jews. The recent barring of Jews from northern Jerusalem sections seems to coincide with an Israeli government decision the past year to allow the PA some presence in Jerusalem. Last June, WND exclusively reported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert allowed the PA to hold an official meeting in Jerusalem to discuss dealing with expected Palestinian sovereignty over key sections of the city. Dmitri Ziliani, a spokesman for the Jerusalem section of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, confirmed to WND the meeting was related to the activities and structure of Fatah's local command in some neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
We were covering the best ways to improve our performance on the street and how we can be of service to the community,Ziliani said.Ziliani said the regular PA meetings in Jerusalem are, in part, held in anticipation of a future Palestinian state encompassing all of eastern Jerusalem.Our political program as Fatah dictates there will be no Palestinian state if these areas – all of east Jerusalem – are not included,Ziliani told WND.According to Israeli law, the PA cannot officially meet in Jerusalem. The PA previously maintained a de facto headquarters in Jerusalem, called Orient House, but the building was closed down by Israel in 2001 following a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem. Israel said it had information indicating the House was used to plan and fund terrorism.Thousands of documents and copies of bank certificates and checks captured by Israel from Orient House – including many documents obtained by WND – showed the offices were used to finance terrorism, including direct payments to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group.
Hard-line Israeli party to introduce loyalty bill By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer – Mon May 25, 9:00 am ET
JERUSALEM – An ultranationalist party headed by the Israeli foreign minister said Monday it has prepared legislation linking citizenship to an oath of allegiance, in what amounted to a threat to the country's Arabs to swear loyalty to the Jewish state or risk severe punishment.The bill follows a separate proposal Sunday by the same party that would make it illegal for Arabs to mourn the catastrophe — the term Palestinians use to describe their defeat and exile in the war that surrounded Israel's founding.Both proposals by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party focus on the perceived disloyalty of the country's Arab citizens, roughly one-fifth of Israel's population of 7 million.The loyalty oath was one of the central planks in Lieberman's campaign for parliamentary elections in February. His prominent role in Israel's new government has given it a clear hard-line tilt and fueled international concerns about Israel's willingness to pursue peace with the Palestinians.The legislation, which must still pass several hurdles to win final approval, drew harsh criticism from opposition legislators and civil rights groups.
Mohammed Darawshe of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, which works for coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel, said the bills reflect an ideology imported from dark regimes that have collapsed.Yisrael Beitenu swept to third place in the February elections with a message that suggested Israel's Arabs were an internal threat to the country. Largely supported by Israelis who, like Lieberman, are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, it is a senior partner in the coalition government.The party says it will present its proposed loyalty oath to a ministerial committee for preliminary approval on Sunday. The legislation would make citizenship contingent on an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state, party spokesman Tal Nahum said.The bill would also allow the government to revoke the citizenship of anyone who does not comply or perform some form of military or national service.Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has yet to express a position on the matter.The party's announcement came a day after it introduced a bill that would outlaw Arab demonstrations mourning their defeat and exile in the war surrounding Israel's establishment in 1948. The bill received preliminary approval to go ahead but still needs to pass repeated readings in parliament before becoming law.
The bill would hand three years in prison to anyone who participates in public protests or commemorations.I think we can reach a situation in which citizens of our country will not mark a day of mourning for the establishment of the country they live in, the lawmaker who sponsored the bill, Alex Miller, told Army Radio.The bills do not appear to have enough support to win parliamentary approval. Nonetheless, they drew furious reactions.Arab lawmaker Hana Swaid called Miller's bill racist, saying it eliminates the right of Palestinian Arab citizens to pronounce their identity and national feelings.Unlike Palestinians in the neighboring West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's Arabs hold full citizenship rights, but they suffer from discrimination and have little identification with a country that defines itself as Jewish.Ahmad Abdel Rahman, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Netanyahu administration is flailing in all directions — in its foreign policy, the peace process and even when it comes to the rights of its own citizens.The legislation is the latest move by the new Israeli government to anger the country's Arab citizens and neighbors. Netanyahu has taken a hard line toward the Palestinians, refusing to endorse Palestinian independence and ruling out any Israeli withdrawal from east Jerusalem. The Palestinians hope to make east Jerusalem the capital of a future independent state alongside Israel. On Sunday, a Palestinian official encouraged Palestinians to buy homes in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem as a way of strengthening the Arab presence in the disputed city. Hatem Abdel Qader, minister of Jerusalem affairs, said that buying homes was a means of defending Jerusalem.Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and immediately annexed the land, a move never recognized by the international community. A number of large Jewish neighborhoods now stand in east Jerusalem. Some Arab families have begun moving into Jewish neighborhoods, where municipal services tend to be better.On Monday, Israeli aircraft scattered leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning residents to stay away from the border, saying they risk being shot. The military has scattered similar warning leaflets in the past.Gaza's Health Ministry said a 10-year-old boy was wounded when he was struck by one of the parachute-equipped metal canisters that hold the leaflets.
Religious Parties Demand: Put Rabbinate in Charge of Conversion
by Gil Ronen MAY 25,09
(IsraelNN.com) Representatives from Shas, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and the Jewish Home convened for an emergency meeting at the offices of the Chief Rabbinate Sunday and decided to block perceived attempts to erode Orthodox control of conversion to Judaism (giyur). The meeting was called at the behest of Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, following the High Court’s decision last week to force the State to fund Reform conversion institutes.Besides Rabbi Amar and his Ashkenazic counterpart Rabbi Yonah Metzger, all of the ministers from Sephardic hareidi party Shas attended the meeting, as did Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman of UTJ and Knesset members from both factions. MK Uri Orbach of the Jewish Home attended as well.The forum decided unanimously to demand that matters of conversion be taken out of the control of the Prime Minister’s Office and be placed under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate. Rabbi Amar asked the hareidi Knesset members to expedite the drafting of a law to this effect.The participants were in agreement that the High Court decision last Tuesday grants a degree of legitimacy to Reform conversions and that it opens the door to eventual recognition of Reform conversions carried out in Israel. Israeli law currently recognizes non-Orthodox conversions only if they were carried out abroad.
Festival of Converts
On Friday, hareidi newspaper Yated Ne’eman published an attack on the Festival of Converts which the Ministry of Absorption is planning for the upcoming week of Shavuot. Shavuot is considered the converts’ holiday because it involves reading the Scroll of Ruth the Moabite, Judaism’s most famous convert. Sunday’s Yated Ne’eman ran an editorial blasting the harsh and dangerous attempt by the High Court to force itself and to interfere in the most basic matters of Jewish Law, with the intent of aiding the industry of fake conversions that has been uncovered over the last few years, which enables thousands of non-Jews to assimilate among us while disguising themselves as Jews.Shas Chairman and Minister of Interior Eli Yishai said that there are hundreds of foreign laborers and Palestinians who will make use of the reform conversion in order to gain citizenship in Israel.Minister Yaakov Mergi (Shas) said that the High Court is pushing all those who abide by Jewish Law and Jewish identity to keep a record of their genealogical histories – a development that would lead to a rift within the Jewish people.MK Orbach said that conversions must be carried out according to Jewish Law and that while he has practical disagreements with the hareidi representatives, he agrees that Reform conversions are not true ones and that the High Court interferes in many matters that it should stay out of.
THE WORLD FALSE CHURCH SYSTEM WILL RIDE THE EU TO FULL POWER LEAD BY THE VATICAN.
Church enters the fray in European elections
ANDREW RETTMAN Today MAY 25,09 @ 14:25 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Christian church has in the UK, Austria and Poland spoken out against far-right parties in the EU elections, while in Sweden a fringe movement calling for internet freedoms is gaining ground.The UK's most senior Anglican clerics, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, at the weekend urged mainstream voters to go to the ballot box on 7 June in order to keep extremist parties, such as the BNP, out of the European Parliament. It would be tragic if the understandable sense of anger and disillusionment with some MPs over recent revelations [on expenses] led voters to shun the ballot box,the pair said in a statement, adding that some parties want to exploit fear and division within communities.The Austrian church criticised what it calls the exploitation of Christian symbols after the leader of the far-right FPO party recently held up a cross at a demonstration against a Muslim centre. The FPO's election platform uses the slogan The West in Christian Hands.The cross must not be misused as a fighting symbol against other religions, the Archbishop of Vienna, Roman Catholic cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, said. Polish archbishop Jozef Zycinski also urged people to vote against radical groups. We hear Poles would like to play a big role in the evangelisation of Europe, but we won't achieve this by sitting at home and grumbling,he said.
Popular Polish radio preacher, Tadeusz Rydzyk, himself associated with strongly right-wing views, got more directly involved by urging his flock in a weekend broadcast to vote for the hard conservative Law and Justice party's candidates Arkadiusz Mularczyk and Przemyslaw Przybylski.Ireland's second religion, the old gaelic sport of hurling, has opted not to play a political role, however. The hurling authority, the GAA, at the weekend censured its ex-president, Sean Kelly, for bringing a campaign bus to a match in Thurles.The archbishops' intervention in the UK attracted criticism from the Liberal party for crossing the line between church and state. I don't think you beat the BNP by telling people how to vote,Liberal leader Nick Clegg told the BBC. Far-right parties are becoming increasingly strong players in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria and France. But groups such as the BNP in the UK, the League of Polish Families in Poland, the Czech NP and Hungary's Jobbik are stuck on the fringe despite some slick campaigning. The new face of Jobbik, which runs a black-shirted militia reminiscent of 1930s fascist paramilitaries, is an elegant lawyer and mother of three, Krisztina Morvai.Low election turnout could help radical groups get a disproportionally high result in the EU poll. In Austria, just 38 percent say they will definitely vote despite the main parties spending €3.5 million each on campaigns. In Bulgaria , only 38 percent plan to vote as well. In France, 54 percent say they will definitely not vote. Italy is trying to woo voters by offering a 60 percent ticket discount for all passengers using trains to get to the ballots, Il Sole 24 Ore reports.
Internet anarchists
In Sweden, the mainstream social democrat and ruling conservative parties continue to dominate the polls, but have lost ground since April, while the Pirate Party - which advocates copyright abolition - is tipped to get 4.4 percent and make it to Brussels for the first time. The pirates have accused Swedish local authorities of electoral abuse in refusing to take pro-pirate ballots in early voting, using an undercover film circulated on blogs to prove their claim. The Swedes' German cousin, Piratenpartei, is hoping to get a more modest 0.5 percent to qualify for EU funding for future campaigns.The internet has also become a source of embarrassment for the anti-Lisbon treaty Libertas party. Polish website naszparlament.pl says Libertas inflated its popularity in online polls by creating fictional identities named after Polish kings to vote for itself multiple times. Libertas is also set for a blow from Polish anti-Communism hero Lech Walesa, who backed the party at rallies in Rome and Madrid earlier this month.I am ready to go to Ireland [on the eve of the EU elections] ...to say my beloved Irishmen, you should support the treaty, Mr Walesa told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Eggs and exaggerations
Meanwhile, campaigning is becoming more creative on both the left and right sides of the spectrum.The Spanish and Portuguese socialist prime ministers Jose Luis Zapatero and Jose Socrates held two joint rallies on Saturday in Valencia, Spain and Coimbra, Portugal. Socialists in Catalonia have put up red billboards with the faces of Italian and Polish right-wing politicians, Silvio Berlusconi and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and the caption They also want to change the world.In the Netherlands , Socialist Party leader Dennis de Jong claimed that over 170,000 people work for the European Commission (the real number is around 30,000).
The German conservative CDU and CSU parties on Monday are to put out a joint platform focusing on popular issues such as opposition to Turkey's EU accession and EU tax harmonisation.The Romanian centre-right PDL party at a rally promised voters more euros in your pockets,better pensions and millions invested in tourism.In the Czech Republic , the main CSSD socialist party has been plagued by a series of egg-throwing incidents. A meeting in Pribram on Friday saw one critic bring CSSD leader Jiri Paroubek an egg on stage. On Thursday, Mr Paroubek kicked a carton of eggs off his platform, spraying bystanders.If you think there's an election story we should include in the next update please email ar@euobs.com
Barroso in countdown for possible second nomination,The 53-year-old Portuguese centre-right politician took office in 2004 (Photo: European Commission)HONOR MAHONY Today MAY 25,09 @ 09:27 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Jose Manuel Barroso looks set for another term as European Commission chief even as he has faced a storm of criticism for his handling of the current economic crisis and being in thrall to Paris and Berlin – condemnation that some analysts say is unfair.The 53-year old centre-right politician came to the office in 2004 on a sour note, having emerged as compromise candidate only at the 11th hour and only grudgingly supported by France and Germany.His hosting of the Azores Summit – for supporters of the war in Iraq – in March 2003 was immediately given an unflattering rake-over at a time when the launch of the unpopular war was still fresh in the public mind.He then bungled what could have been a relatively straightforward first encounter with the European Parliament by misjudging the mood of MEPs over an Italian commissioner nominee whom they felt was unsuitable. As the drama unfolded, a small rebellion turned into outright mutiny that threatened to sink the Barroso commission before it even began.This tainted beginning robbed the former Portuguese prime minister of any honeymoon period he might have had by virtue of being a fresh face and able to communicate well and in several languages – something that could not be said of his immediate predecessor.
Pragmatic
But still Mr Barroso moved to quickly establish himself as a pragmatic operator, aware that the heady days of a big bang enlargement and the euro adoption of the past commission would necessarily have to be replaced by less glitzy projects.He said his commission would be about growth and jobs. But in effect, he attached himself to an issue – the Lisbon Strategy on economic growth – over which the commission has little clout. The Lisbon Strategy lives and dies with the political will of the member states and has now come to represent a litany of failed targets and missed deadlines. Mr Barroso can do little to change this.His second policy choice, energy and climate change, was cannier. The Portuguese harnessed the issue and put the commission to work on the tough dossier. Environment NGOs were quick to question whether this came from personal conviction on the matter, noting that he continued to drive a gas-guzzling SUV. But the end result was an agreement in 2007 by EU leaders to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent by 2020.
Presidential style
Inside the commission, the former prime minister radically changed the way the college worked. Faced with a gaggle of 26 commissioners, each with their own policy areas and potential fiefdoms, Mr Barroso quickly stamped a presidential style on the institution. A former senior official remarked that the only way of getting something done in the commission is to go directly to the president and get his approval. This contrasts strongly with Romano Prodi's more collegial style. A telling commissioner group photo at the entrance of the institution's headquarters in Brussels gives prominence to Mr Barroso.Publicly, this has meant the commission president has shared the limelight with the responsible commissioners for all big policy initiatives, announcing the broadstroke changes brought by an initiative at press conferences while leaving his colleague to deal with the details. Some commissioners, such as Margot Wallstrom in charge of communication, have been all but absent as a result.One EU official remarked that he does not like commissioners to go off message.Although his mandate has been dogged continually by calls from the left that the commission is pursuing a neo-liberal agenda, the most sustained and virulent criticism of Mr Barroso concerns his handling of the current economic crisis.
Economic crisis
It is widely agreed that the commission was slow to react, letting member states run loose with talk of protectionist measures and failing to direct the debate on how to respond to the crisis. When it did eventually come with policies, they were considered not ambitious enough or even inadequate.Centre-right French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was proposing initiatives because the commission was not, former Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt, a liberal, said the institution lacked vision, while Socialists in the European Parliament accused him of sticking too rigidly to an ideology that they said brought about the economic crisis in the first place.This criticism, talk of his being too subservient to big member states and of weakening the commission has crystalised over the past weeks. Recently, the Financial Times newspaper, a bible among EU policy-makers and the Brussels elite, carried an opinion piece in which the author said: Mr Barroso is among the weakest Commission presidents ever, a vain man who lacks political courage.Other analysts feel he is being unfairly judged, however. Antonio Missiroli from the European Policy Centre points out that Mr Barroso had to operate in a very difficult situation.He said that while Frenchman Jacques Delors is often hailed as one of the greatest commission presidents, he enjoyed a more favourable general climate.
Previous commissions did not have to deal with the worst economic crisis in recent memory, three referendums rejecting further EU integration and no particular identifiable headline project such as enlargement.While noting that Mr Barroso managed somehow to preserve the institution from the shockwaves of the referendums Mr Missiroli agreed that the commission has been weakened under Mr Barroso's watch but suggested this was rather due to parliament and member states being more assertive.
This has reduced the commission's role to a promoter of EU legislation and then a mediator,as MEPs and governments seek to change the draft law.Piotr Kaczynski, from the Centre for European Policy Studies, said it is important to look at who is doing the criticising. He suggested that France, although carping about the commission's performance,does not actually want it to be a stronger institution.
A second Barroso term?
With the backing of the European People's Party and several governments, including a sprinkling of centre-left ones, Mr Barroso has for long looked like a shoo-in for a second term, with the issue likely to be decided at a summit in just under a month's time.One commission official remarked that it has been a very long election campaign. This has led to repeated charges that he is avoiding doing anything that will upset Paris and Berlin. However, the Centre for European Reform's Hugo Brady says it is still too early say whether he will make it in for another five year stint, noting that other names such as Dutch leader Jan-Peter Balkenende have also been mentioned as possible candidates for the job.Additionally, Mr Brady reckons there has been plenty of conflict with Berlin and Paris over the past few years, but Mr Barroso does not allow it to emerge in the media.In a sign that Mr Barroso feels he may have been a little too gung ho about retaining his post, he gave an interview to several newspapers on 20 May stressing that it would be better for institutional stability if the nomination is agreed by EU leaders in June.Waiting until November, when the Lisbon Treaty may be in force as France has suggested, would likely lessen his chances of being re-elected as other posts will also be up for consideration. The Lisbon Treaty also gives the European Parliament, busy trying to put together a red-green coalition against Mr Barroso, a stronger say over the nomination.But while Mr Barroso's critics says the answer to the economic crisis, to unruly member states, and to the current sense of a floundering EU would be to have the commission run by an ambitious and integration-minded political leader, others say no one in Europe fits the bill.A different commission chief could end up being worse says Mr Missiroli, while the institution might benefit from having an experienced president who already knows the tricks of Brussels.
According to Mr Brady, the commission chief should give up trying to be liked and, if he wins a second mandate, he should concentrate on economic and regulatory briefs.In any case, a second Barroso commission, possibly operating under the new Lisbon Treaty and eventually even bigger, will look very different to the current one. It will probably have clusters of commissioners covering separate areas, such as justice and home affairs, says Mr Brady, who recommends that Mr Barroso, if chosen again, recruits a strong bully boy or chief whip to help him run a tight ship.
Committee Approves Anti-Catastrophe Day Bill
by Hillel Fendel MAY 24,09
(IsraelNN.com) The Ministerial Committee on Legislation has approved a proposed a bill banning the commemoration of Independence Day as a day of mourning.The bill was originally proposed by MK Alex Miller (Israel Our Home). It addresses the increasingly widespread practice, by Arab citizens of Israel, of marking Israel’s Independence Day as a day of mourning, or Naqba Day.The proposal would forbid public events or activities marking the very creation of the State of Israel as a catastrophe (naqba, in Arabic). The maximum punishment for violators would be three years in prison.The Committee’s approval means that the government’s official position on the bill is in favor. The bill must still pass through the customary preliminary Knesset reading this coming Wednesday, followed by Committee approval and final Knesset readings, in order to become law.This is the first step in stopping the Islamic movement's organized incitement amidst the Arab population in Israel, Miller said after the Committee vote on Sunday.Every democratic state has the right to defend itself, and this is what the Government of Israel decided to do today.No longer will [Northern Islamic Movement head] Raad Salah's crazy plans to erase the State of Israel from the face of the earth be met with complacency, Miller said.The people of Israel have chosen a government that will protect its right to live in its land in peace and security, and we are committed to doing this.
RON PAULS FED UPDATE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26qTRUHNcb4&feature=player_embedded
NEW WORLD ORDER REVEALED
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SybY3PTsc&feature=player_embedded
OBAMA HIDING HIS MUSLIM BIRTH
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99107
Bill to Audit Fed Gains Serious Momentum
Kurt Nimmo Infowars May 22, 2009
It looks like the Federal Reserve may finally have something to worry about now that HR 1207 is finally gaining serious steam. If enacted, HR 1207 will amend title 31 of the United States Code and reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States. In other words, for the first time since 1950, the criminals at the Federal Reserve will be forced by law to open their books.Rep. Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, on February 26, 2009.HR 1207 was sponsored and introduced by Rep. Ron Paul. On February 26, 2009, it was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. It now has 179 co-sponsors (see the list of sponsors below).If passed, the bill will force the Fed to give a public accounting of the trillions of taxpayer loans handed over to the banksters. It will force Congress to audit the Fed and this will force out into the light of day the Fed practice of inflating the currency for the gain of a small number of international bankers. It will reveal the bankster practice of engineering financial crises and depressions — or scientifically created, as Congressman Charles A. Lindberg Sr. said after the Federal Reserve Act was passed in the dead of night — in order to consolidate illicit gains and eliminate competition (as the bankers are monopoly men).
On March 25, 2009, H.R. 1207 had 44 co-sponsors. We’re making great progress because a lot of you have helped encourage your member of Congress to co-sponsor the bill, Ron Paul said. And to me, this is very, very important that we do this. The atmosphere in the Congress has definitely changed. It’s changed with their attitude about the Federal Reserve System, but overall there’s a tremendous push by the American people for the Congress to wake up and have more transparency… I have argued, of course, that we don’t need the Federal Reserve. It’s not part of our constitution and we should get rid of it, but it doesn’t happen that way. But if we get the audit and get the books open, make them answer the questions, I am convinced that the American people will be so outraged that then we will have reform of the monetary system.Imagine Ben Bernanke, shorn of his arrogance, dragged before Congress and compelled to answer questions. In the not too distant past, this prospect was a remote dream, but now, thanks to Ron Paul and all the people who have insisted their representatives support this bill, it may become law.
THE NEW WORLD DISORDER Secret billionaire club seeks population control Gates, Rockefeller, Turner, Oprah, Buffett, Soros, Bloomberg attend meeting May 24, 2009 6:48 pm Eastern 2009 WorldNetDaily
Bill Gates
WASHINGTON – Some of the richest men and women in the world met secretly recently in New York to conspire on using their vast wealth to bring the world's population growth under control.The meeting included some of the biggest names in the billionaires club, according to the London Times – Bill Gates, David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. The meeting at the home of Sir Paul Nurse, a British Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and president of Rockefeller University, was the inspiration of Gates and took place three weeks ago. The informal afternoon session was so discreet that some of the billionaires' aides were told they were at security briefings, the Times reported today.Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, speculated that the secrecy surrounding the meeting may have been due to concern that they don’t want to be seen as a global cabal.Get the inside story on the globalist insiders who have been meeting for decades in highly guarded secret. Learn from author who penetrated Bilderbergers According to the Times, the billionaires were each given 15 minutes to present their favorite cause. Over dinner they discussed how they might settle on an umbrella cause that could harness their interests. Taking their cue from Gates, the report said, they agreed population control was the No. 1 issue.
In February, Gates, 53, outlined an ambitious plan to cap global population at 8.3 billion – about one billion fewer than currently projected. Patricia Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the billionaires would continue to meet over the next few months. A guest at the meeting told the Times population growth would be addressed as a potentially disastrous environmental, social and industrial threat. This is something so nightmarish that everyone in this group agreed it needs big-brain answers, said the guest.They need to be independent of government agencies, which are unable to head off the disaster we all see looming.As to secrecy, the guest said,They wanted to speak rich to rich without worrying anything they said would end up in the newspapers, painting them as an alternative world government.
Hate crimes? 500,000 letters sent to Senate,Unprecedented campaign stalls action by upper house May 24, 2009 9:19 pm Eastern 2009 WorldNetDaily
WASHINGTON – The delivery of nearly 500,000 individual letters sent by Fed Ex to the 100 U.S. senators objecting to a hate crimes bill approved by the House has, according to some sources familiar with the process, stalled approval of legislation that has been condemned as The Pedophile Protection Act.The campaign, organized by WND columnist Janet Porter, who also heads the Faith2Action Christian ministry, permits activists to send individually addressed letters to all 100 senators over their own signature for only $10.95. Nearly half a million letters have thus far been sent by nearly 5,000 participants in the campaign. Sources working with senators opposing the legislation say the campaign has shaken up the dynamics of the debate.
This bill was supposed to sail through the Senate, but it suddenly has become much more controversial as a result of all these letters,one source said.Still, not a single Republican senator has yet stood up in open, public opposition to the bill.
Last week, a Texas pastor wrote an open letter to the U.S. Senate, asking someone, anyone, to filibuster the pending hate crimes legislation and stop what he calls a maddening march to the destruction of our First Amendment right to freely practice our religion.As WND has reported, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 would provide special protections to homosexual people but leave Christian ministers open to prosecution should their teachings be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a homosexual person. It's not too late to take advantage of the opportunity to overnight letters of opposition to the hate crimes bill to all 100 U.S. senators for only $10.95. WND first reported on what has become widely known as The Pedophile Protection Act last month, raising nationwide alarm that has already generated more than 300,000 individual letters of protest to members of the U.S. Senate.Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the only chance to defeat the legislation was for a massive outpouring of opposition from the American people.If you guys don't raise enough stink there's no chance of stopping it, U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert said on a radio program with Porter. It's entirely in the hands of your listeners and people across the country. If you guys put up a strong enough fight, that will give backbone enough to the 41 or 42 in the Senate to say we don't want to have our names on that.An analysis by Shawn D. Akers, policy analyst with Liberty Counsel, said the proposal, formally known as H.R. 1913 in the House and S. 909 in the Senate, would create new federal penalties against those whose victims were chosen based on an actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity.Gohmert warned Porter during the interview that even her introduction of him, and references to the different sexual orientations, could be restricted if the plan becomes law.
You can't talk like that once this becomes law,he said.
He said the foundational problem with the bill is that it is based on lies: It assumes there's an epidemic of crimes in the United States – especially actions that cross state lines – that is targeting those alternative sexual lifestyles. When you base a law on lies, you're going to have a bad law,he said.This Pedophilia Protection Act,a hate crimes bill, is based on the representation that there's a epidemic of crimes based on bias and prejudice. It turns out there are fewer crimes now than there were 10 years ago.He said he fought in committee and in the House, where it was approved 249-175, to correct some of the failings, including his repeated requests for definitions in the bill for terms such as sexual orientation.Majority Democrats refused, he said. He said that leaves the definition up to a standard definition in the medical field, which includes hundreds of philias and isms and would be protected.Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., a hate crimes supporter, confirmed that worry, saying:This bill addresses our resolve to end violence based on prejudice and to guarantee that all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or all of these 'philias' and fetishes and ism's that were put forward need not live in fear because of who they are. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this rule …President Obama, supported strongly during his campaign by homosexual advocates, appears ready to respond to their desires.I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance,he said.But Gohmert pointed out that if an exhibitionist flashes a woman, and she responds by slapping him with her purse, he has probably committed a misdemeanor while she has committed a federal felony hate crime.
That's how ludicrous this situation is,Gohmert said.
Akers' analysis said the bill would result in the federalization of virtually every sexual crime in the United States.And he said it appears to be part of an agenda that would relegate pro-family and traditional marriage advocates into the ranks of terrorists.Critics also have expressed alarm because in committee hearings Democrats admitted that a Christian pastor could be prosecuted under the law if he spoke biblically against homosexuality, someone heard the comments and then committed a crime.Under [the plan] the speech of a criminal defendant and the mere membership of the defendant in a given group may be used as evidence of his or her biased motive, Akers said. He said there's already an effort afoot in the U.S. to list those pro-family organizations alongside several neo-Nazi groups ... to create guilt by the artificial manufactured appearance of association.During arguments in the House while the plan was being adopted, lawmakers pointed out the representatives were voting for protection for all 547 forms of sexual deviancy or paraphilias listed by the American Psychiatric Association.Porter cited the amendment offering from Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, in committee that was very simple: The term sexual orientation as used in this act or any amendments to this act does not include pedophilia.
But majority Democrats refused to accept it.
Having reviewed cases as an appellate judge, I know that when the legislature has the chance to include a definition and refuses, then what we look at is the plain meaning of those words,explained Gohmert.The plain meaning of sexual orientation is anything to which someone is orientated. That could include exhibitionism, it could include necrophilia (sexual arousal/activity with a corpse) ... it could include urophilia (sexual arousal associated with urine), voyeurism. You see someone spying on you changing clothes and you hit them, they've committed a misdemeanor, you've committed a federal felony under this bill. It is so wrong.Republicans in the House also attempted to amend the bill to offer hate crimes protection for U.S. military veterans who were attacked because of their service. Democrats unanimously rejected the amendment.
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.
ANGEL 1 TO DOCTOR DOCTORIAN
The earth will fall into the sea, I heard the angel say, part of Australia will be shaken. Australia will be divided, and a great part will go under the ocean.
Australian flood waters create inland sea Sun May 24, 3:30 am ET
SYDNEY (AFP) – Thousands of homeowners remained isolated in Australia's flood-hit northeast Sunday, where authorities said days of torrential rain had created a vast inland sea.Swollen rivers peaked overnight, allowing clean-up operations to begin and evacuated residents to return to the northern New South Wales towns of Grafton and Kempsey, the State Emergency Service (SES) said.But SES spokesman Greg Slater said up to 20,000 people in small communities remained cut off by the floodwaters, which have led to disaster declarations in NSW and neighbouring Queensland.We're concentrating our efforts on those communities in terms of resupply and provision of immediate medical assistance and medical supplies, also just the basic necessities, foodstuff and the like,he told Sky News.Two people have died in the floods, which dumped one-third of southeast Queensland's average annual rainfall in just 24 hours.NSW Premier Nathan Rees flew over the affected area Sunday and said it was difficult to grasp the extent of the floods, even from the air.It's an inland sea, and you see the (animal) stocks that are isolated and the towns that are isolated and you wonder where it's all going to go, he told reporters.Rees appointed former police commissioner Ken Maroney to coordinate clean-up in the northern NSW region, which has been hit by three major floods since February.This will be a large-scale recovery effort to help restore the region,he said.Clarence Valley mayor Richie Williamson said flood mitigation measures in most major towns withstood the rising waters overnight.
Things are starting to get back to normal thankfully,he said.Last night it was touch and go as the peak arrived at Maclean. Thankfully the levee wasn't overtopped there. Things are also okay in Yamba as well, albeit very, very wet.Floods unleashed by cyclonic rains in February saw much of Queensland declared a disaster area, with more than one million square kilometres (385,000 square miles) deluged and 3,000 homes damaged.Further floods hammered the region last month, washing a number of motorists to their death and claiming the life of a 12-year-old girl who was swimming in a swollen weir.The floods follow a once-in-a-century heatwave in southeastern Australia, in which more than 2,000 homes were razed by major wildfires and 173 people died.Meteorologists have warned the extreme temperatures and downpours -- a common feature of Australian summers -- would only increase as a result of climate change.
Amazon hit by climate chaos of floods, drought By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer – Mon May 25, 8:34 am ET
SAO PAULO – Across the Amazon basin, river dwellers are adding new floors to their stilt houses, trying to stay above rising floodwaters that have killed 44 people and left 376,000 homeless.Flooding is common in the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness, but this year the waters rose higher and stayed longer than they have in decades, leaving fruit trees entirely submerged. Only four years ago, the same communities suffered an unprecedented drought that ruined crops and left mounds of river fish flapping and rotting in the mud.Experts suspect global warming may be driving wild climate swings that appear to be punishing the Amazon with increasing frequency.It's the $1 million dollar question, says Carlos Nobre, a climatologist with Brazil's National Institute for Space Research.While a definitive answer will take years of careful study, climatologists say the world should expect more extreme weather in the years ahead. Already, what happens in the Amazon could be affecting rainfall elsewhere, from Brazil's agricultural heartland to the U.S. grainbelt, as rising ocean temperatures and rain forest destruction cause shifts in global climate patterns.It's important to note that it's likely that these types of record-breaking climate events will become more and more frequent in the near future, Nobre said. So we all have to brace for more extreme climate in the near future: It's not for the next generation.The immediate cause of the unusually heavy rains across northern Brazil is an Atlantic Ocean weather system that usually moves on in March, but stayed put until May this year.Almost simultaneously, southern Brazilian states far from the Amazon have suffered from an extended drought, caused by La Nina — a periodic cooling of waters in the Pacific Ocean. And La Nina alternates with El Nino, a heating up of Pacific waters that is blamed for catastrophic forest fires plaguing the Amazon in recent years.
Something is telling us to us to be more careful with the planet. Changes are happening around the world, and we're seeing them as well in Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said this month on his radio program.Brazil's government approved $440 million in emergency funding in response to the northern floods and southern drought.The drought is pushing up international commodity prices for soy, used worldwide as animal feed and as a key additive in cereal, pasta and other processed foods. And the floods forced the planet's largest iron ore producer to shut down a key export railway for a week, slowing overseas shipments of the raw ingredient for steel.I think we should be preparing for this to become more the norm, and there's a need to look at what the future Amazon will look like, said Daniel Nepstad, a tropical forest ecologist and chief program officer for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's environmental conservation program.It is already grim for the poorest Amazon residents, the ribeirinhos (riverbank dwellers in Portuguese), many of whose families were drawn to the spongy land by the 19th-century world rubber boom and have eked out a living since then.The ribeirinhos are used to the rivers' rise and fall, and time their harvests to coincide with the end of the wet season, but this year the rains just didn't let up as they usually do in April. Their bananas, beans, corn, manioc and watermelons lie ruined under the muddy water.Most people lost their crops and their cows, and the only thing they have left is their children and their homes,said Dorothea de Araujo, the Amazon operations manager for the international aid group World Vision, after touring an area where thousands were affected.They want to rebuild, but they are scared of what will happen in the future.
The government is giving lumber seized from illegal Amazon loggers to the ribeirinhos so they can build their shacks higher.The lumber also is going to slum dwellers whose stilt shanties litter big jungle cities like Manaus — an industrial metropolis of 1.7 million that's also a jumping off point for jungle tourism — so they can try to stay dry as the mighty Rio Negro, an Amazon River tributary, approaches a record high water mark set in 1953.The floods are driving anacondas and scorpions to higher ground and closer to humanity as they search for food. While many of the animals in the Amazon thrive on the higher water, experts warn that more droughts could sharply reduce the range of species like pink Amazon River dolphins, already under pressure because of deforestation and pollution. We could be looking at an Amazon that is much more populated by animals that are generalists and can move through human landscapes, and some of the more sensitive species will be caught in islands of habitats, Nepstad said.In Trizidela do Vale, floodwaters reached the red tile rooftops of many homes and left more than half of the town's 20,000 residents homeless. Many sheltered in cow pens used for the town's annual cattle fair, until officials closed them as unsanitary.We're well into May and the town is still flooded, we've never seen that before, said Coutinho Neto, a town spokesman. He said the rains usually end like clockwork at the end of March.
In Manaquiri, ribeirinhos whose crops were destroyed paddle into the town of 19,000, seeking government handouts of food, medicine and clothing. We are used to floods and droughts and know how to coexist with them, but we are not used to them happening so swiftly and lasting so long and causing so much damage, said schoolteacher Gleicimeire Freire, who distributes aid with the Roman Catholic Church.This is what is scaring us.In southern Rio Grande do Sul state, bordering Argentina and Uruguay, many farmers say the driest weather in 80 years has withered their corn and alfalfa. Winter grass for cattle couldn't be planted, and milk production has suffered, said Darcisio Perondo, a congressman who represents the state. In some villages there wasn't enough water for people to drink, and in some towns they had to get water from the large rivers and tote it by truck for the cattle,Perondo said. Perondo called the situation a calamity but isn't sure if global warming is to blame. Anyone who reads the Bible knows that floods and droughts are cyclical, he said.I just don't know if global warming is causing this.Associated Press writers Stan Lehman and Marco Sibaja in Brazil, and Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.
FAMINE
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
FAMINE
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Forestry officials on urgent mission: Beetles By DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI, Associated Press Writer – Fri May 22, 4:26 pm ET
CONCORD, N.H. – Forestry officials in the Northeast are on an urgent mission, tracking thousands of Massachusetts residents as they search for tree-eating stowaway insects they may have carried to campgrounds or vacation homes.The culprit is the Asian longhorned beetle that has devastated trees in Worcester, Mass., and surrounding communities. The fear is that some have hitched rides into other states in firewood carried by campers or owners of seasonal homes.As far as New England is concerned, you should consider the Asian longhorned beetle Public Enemy Number 1, said Suzanne Bond, spokeswoman for the U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.The Asian longhorned beetle is particularly troublesome because, unlike most insects that feed on one or two types of trees, it eats virtually all hardwoods. In New England, that puts a major part of the economy at risk: from lumber, to the cherished and very lucrative fall foliage that attracts visitors from around the world, to the maple trees that produce maple syrup.So severe is the threat, that forestry officials in all six New England states, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as USDA, are studying camper registrations to find out where Worcester-area residents have been. Then, assuming that many brought their own potentially infested firewood, observers will head into the woods this summer to look for signs of the beetle.Wary states also are checking property records to learn where Worcester-area residents own second homes or hunting camps.We will be sending a questionnaire soon, asking if they brought firewood or landscape material to that recreation home in the past 10 years," said New Hampshire Forest Health Manager Kyle Lombard. So far, they have found 300 properties in just 40 New Hampshire towns.I imagine the total number for all of New England is in the thousands,he said.
He said the risk from second homes is even greater than from campers, who tend to burn their wood in a few days.Think about all of the firewood that comes to a second home and just sits at the side of the house for three months,he said.Everything that's in that firewood emerges and flies into the woods.Threats from insects have prompted more than a dozen states to ban out-of-state firewood or even moving it long distances within the same state. New Hampshire will join them next month when it bans out-of-state firewood at federal and state-owned campgrounds, except prepackaged, kiln-dried wood marked with its place of origin.Surveys have shown at least 25 percent of campers in New Hampshire bring firewood with their camping gear — from as far away as California.Firewood is usually firewood for a reason, Lombard said.It's usually the junky, nasty, dead trees in someone's yard that they cut down and don't know what to do with. They are junky, dead trees for a reason, usually because they are infested with something.Using the 25 percent figure, Vermont estimates that 450 Worcester-area campers brought firewood to state campgrounds between 2002-2008, during the infestation, but before it was discovered.There have been three other infestations in the United States — New York City in 1996; Chicago in 1998; and New Jersey in 2004 — but the Worcester infestation is by far the largest ever found outside the bug's native China. Crews have cut down more than 20,000 infested trees in and around Worcester since the beetle was detected last August.We haven't seen a threat like this to our forests probably since the chestnut blight in the early 1900s that virtually wiped out American chestnut trees, said Lombard.Officials believe the infestation in Worcester grew undetected for a decade, leaving a huge opportunity for the beetle to travel far beyond its normal range of a city block to a half mile.
That's a lot of wood taken to vacation homes,said Bond.That's' a lot of wood taken on camping trips. That's a lot of wood moved to gramma's house, so the potential that this insect has spread from the Worcester area is significant.In fact, Mike Bohne, the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Health group leader in New England, said they assume the beetle has escaped Worcester.Now, it's a question of how far has it gone and where is it? he said.
Other states have faced similar problems with other pests.
In Minnesota, state surveys have shown about half of the vehicles that visit parks overnight carry firewood. In 2005, that meant about 50,000 loads of wood potentially infected with the emerald ash borer, which has infested 10 states and two Canadian provinces.Because of that infestation, Maryland previously sent letters to hundreds of Ohio and Michigan residents who own land in forested western Maryland, urging them to leave their wood at home.A coalition of government and private groups is working to spread the word about leaving firewood at home.Leigh Greenwood of the Nature Conservancy said moving firewood causes problems all over the country, threatening everything from oak trees in northern California to avocado crops in Florida. Through Web sites and social networking, the groups hope to spread the word nationwide, especially because their research shows the people most familiar with the Internet also tend to be those who need to hear the message: 18-to-29-year-olds. They are the kind of person who packs up the pickup, tosses some firewood in to save a little bit of money then drives 400 miles,Greenwood said. On the Net: http://dontmovefirewood.org http://www.continentalforestdialogue.org
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).
Swine flu kills New York woman; 11th death in U.S. since outbreak began
By Cristian Salazar Associated Press 05/24/2009 06:39:52 PM PDT
NEW YORK — A woman died over the weekend of swine flu, becoming the city's second victim and the nation's 11th. The woman, who was in her 50s, had other health conditions, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti said. No other information on her case was disclosed Sunday. Assistant public school principal Mitchell Wiener, who died May 17, was the city's first death from the virus. The 55-year-old had been sick for several days. There were 280 confirmed cases of swine flu in the city and 94 hospitalizations as of Sunday, Scaperotti said. The number of confirmed cases probably doesn't fully reflect the spread of the virus, given that health officials aren't testing everyone for the H1N1 strain. It's most likely that if you're sick with the flu, that you have the H1N1 virus, Scaperotti said.Those people with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and compromised immune systems who are suffering from flu-like symptoms should seek medical advice, Scaperotti said. Only those with more serious symptoms, such as shortness of breath, should go to emergency rooms, she said.The city's first outbreak of swine flu occurred about a month ago, when more than 1,000 teenagers at a Catholic high school in Queens began falling ill following the return of several students from vacations in Mexico, where the virus was first detected. The virus has coursed through the city's schools and even reached its jail system, where inmates' visiting hours have been limited and hand sanitizer passed around. On Thursday, correction officials said they would sanitize a 2,600-inmate jail on Rikers Island. The World Health Organization, as of Friday, had tallied more than 12,000 swine flu cases worldwide, with more than half of them in the United States. It counted at least 86 deaths, with 75 of those in Mexico.Eighteen U.S. soldiers infected with swine flu have recovered after treatment on an American base in Kuwait and left the country, a Kuwaiti health official said Sunday.They were treated and they have fully recovered, said Youssef Mandakar, deputy head of Kuwait's public health department. He said the soldiers had shown mild symptoms of the disease upon their arrival at an Air Force base. Kuwaiti authorities confirmed that the soldiers came from the United States but would not say where they had gone, adding that the troops had no contact with the local population and were treated at U.S. military facilities. Ibrahim Abdul-Hadi, an undersecretary at the Health Ministry, said the U.S. military had examined and quarantined a number of soldiers who mixed with the infected ones. Kuwait is a major ally of Washington and a logistics base for U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq.
Raad Mahmoud, a spokesman for the Iraqi Health Ministry, said precautions are being taken at airports and border entry points, but he said Iraqi authorities have no authority over U.S. troops and the foreigners who enter with them. He said the U.S. military has to administer medical tests to everybody when they enter the country and the military must present the reports to the ministry.U.S. Army Maj. Jose Lopez, a military spokesman, said there were no reported cases of swine flu among American troops in Iraq.Poland's Chief Sanitary Inspectorate on Sunday confirmed the country's third case of swine flu in a 21-year-old who had just returned to Poland from the United States.Jan Bondar, the spokesman for the state office, said the man returned on Friday and presented himself at a hospital for testing after getting a call from a friend in Washington whom he had spent time with and who had contracted the virus. The Pole's condition is not serious, Bondar said.Associated Press Writers Chelsea J. Carter in Baghdad, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw and Diana Elias in Kuwait City contributed to this report.
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 TSX OPEN RESULTS MON MAY 25,2009(DOW HOLIDAY)
09:30 AM +10.40
10:00 AM +36.61
10:30 AM +70.74
11:00 AM +62.57
11:30 AM +56.85
12:00 PM +44.03
12:30 PM +39.58
01:00 PM +50.49
01:30 PM +58.12
02:00 PM +69.95
02:30 PM +63.78
03:00 PM +46.32
03:30 PM +52.93
04:00 PM +76.08 10,069.50
S&P 500 - HOLIDAY
NASDAQ - HOLIDAY
GOLD 951.20 +7.70
OIL 61.67 +0.62
TSE 300 10,069.50 +76.08
CDNX 1096.43 -0.08
S&P/TSX/60 612.28 +5.24
MORNING,NEWS,STATS
YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -5.69%
S&P -1.80%
Nasdaq +7.29%
TSX Advances 874,declines 666,unchanged 270,Volume 2,251,163,754.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 260,Declines 231,Unchanged 279,Volume 128,448,239.
Dow +40 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +10 points at low today.
Dow +70 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $958.90.OIL opens at $61.67 today.
AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow +10 points at low today so far.
Dow +70 points at high today so far.
DAY TODAY PERFORMANCE - 12:30PM STATS
NYSE Advances-,declines-,unchanged-,New Highs-,New Lows-.(HOLIDAY)
Volume-.
NASDAQ Advances-,declines-,unchanged-,New highs-,New Lows-.(HOLIDAY)
Volume-.
TSX Advances 648,declines 582,unchanged 254,Volume 360,790,165.
TSX Venture Exchange Advances 264,Declines 255,Unchanged 234,Volume 113,389,947.
WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow +10 points at low today.
Dow +76 points at high today.
Dow +% today Volume-.(HOLIDAY)
Nasdaq +% today Volume-.(HOLIDAY)
S&P 500 +% today Volume N/A-(HOLIDAY)
Mighty Shekel Hits Four-Month High against Dollar
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu MAY 24,09 (IsraelNN.com)
The shekel reached a four-month high against the dollar on Friday as the shekel-dollar rate sank to 3.94, the lowest in four months. The drop in the exchange rate completes a dramatic five percent rise in the shekel, which now is worth nearly 25.5 cents compared with 23.5 cents a month ago.The local currency’s rapid growth makes it the second strongest currency in the world against the dollar and is similar to the strength it enjoyed a year ago when the rate was below 3.30 and the shekel was worth 31 cents.Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, worried that the strong shekel would decimate exports, stepped in with massive multi-billion shekel purchases of the dollar. Coupled with lower economic growth and government instability during the Olmert administration, the shekel turned around and gradually moved upwards to the level of four shekels to the dollar.Fears of a deeper recession than expected, inflation and a huge government deficit pushed the rate up to NIS 4.25 in early March. The trend turned around swiftly last week as rumors spread that Fischer has bought enough dollars. Despite his denials that the buying program is dwindling down, speculators sold off the greenback and banked on the shekel.Another attraction to the shekel for foreign investors is the relatively high return on long-term government bonds, which give investors a return of 5.5 percent compared with 3.5 percent for U.S. government bonds.Fischer’s reaction to the latest strength in the shekel may depend on whether speculators drive down the shekel-dollar rate even further, which would mean that exporters who are paid in dollars received less shekels for their products.Last year, Fischer did not step in until the rate sank well below NIS 3.50. A projected high government deficit and the specter of rising inflation may offset further strength in the shekel. The government’s proposed hike in the value added tax (VAT) coupled with a return to higher fuel prices will put upward pressure on the consumer price index.
Fuel prices are expected to rise nearly 10 per cent next week following a surprise five percent rise this week after the Finance Ministry hiked the fuel tax to help reduce the deficit.One other factor that could cause a dramatic change in the shekel-dollar rates is the amount of gas that has been discovered off the Israeli Mediterranean coast. If further reports indicate a higher field, or if more discoveries are reported, the shekel-dollar rate could quickly return to below NIS 3.50 regardless of Bank of Israel purchases of the dollar.
Yuan may be reserve currency by 2020-China official
Wed May 20, 2009 1:23am
BEIJING, May 20 (Reuters) - In the latest advertisement of China's currency ambitions, an official suggested on Wednesday that the yuan could make up more than 3 percent of global foreign exchange reserves by 2020.The yuan
But, hypothetically, he said there was no reason why the yuan could not account for over three percent of global reserves by 2020, the target date for Shanghai to have evolved into an international financial centre.That would mean the yuan displacing the Japanese yen as the fourth-largest currency in reserve portfolios, behind the pound, the euro and the dollar.Zhang told reporters later his target was plausible, given the rapid growth of China's economy and outbound investment and its big share of world trade.
We have the conditions to reach such a proportion,he said.
In late March, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan signalled China's intention to play a greater role on the global currency stage by proposing that the dollar be eventually replaced as the dominant reserve currency by a beefed-up version of the Special Drawing Right, the International Monetary Fund's unit of account. (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Simon Rabinovitch; Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)Thomson Reuters 2009
Dollar hits 5-month low,The greenback loses value after a negative revision on the U.K.'s outlook makes investors wonder if the U.S. is next. Inflationary fears heat up. By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer May 22, 2009: 3:35 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The dollar fell to a five-month low against the euro Friday as inflationary fears heated up and the market continued to fret over a downgrade of the U.K.'s outlook. The 16-nation euro traded at $1.4008, up 0.8% from late Thursday when it ended at $1.3891.The British pound cost $1.5911, up 0.4% from Thursday's close of $1.5844.Meanwhile, the dollar gained against the Japanese yen. The dollar bought ¥94.81, up from ¥94.42 late the previous day. The yen is often considered a safe haven in times of market uncertainty.On Thursday, ratings agency Standard & Poor's affirmed the United Kingdom's top-tier credit rating, but lowered the country's outlook to negative from stable.S&P attributed the downward revision was to the possibility that the U.K.'s debt burden could reach 100% of its gross domestic product, despite the British government's further fiscal tightening.Given that the U.S. government has been spending at such a rapid pace, investors feared that a similar fate awaited the U.S. If the U.K. had the outlook for its credit rating cut from stable to negative, then the U.S. deserves to as well,said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at Global Forex Trading, in a research note. On Friday, Moody's, another major ratings agency, attempted to assuage market jitters by saying that the U.S. did not face an imminent credit downgrade. But the worries were already firmly planted in investor mindset.
Both the U.S. and the U.K. are spending money left and right and although the risk of a actual credit rating downgrade anytime time soon is low, it is more than likely that Standard and Poor's is already reviewing the U.S.sovereign debt rating, said Lien.Whenever there is uncertainty, investors always sell first and ask questions later.The shuttering of a major Florida bank also weighed on the dollar. Thursday, BankUnited FSB in Florida, with $12.8 billion in assets, was closed and a consortium of private equity firms took over the failed bank.This is the largest bank failure since IndyMac last year and points to ongoing weakness within the U.S. banking system,said Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital, in a research note.A modest rally on Wall Street also worked to weaken the greenback. Investors sometimes move assets into the dollar to avoid exposure to other, more risky parts of the marketplace. But with all three major U.S. indexes up on the day, that safe-haven bid eased.
Dollar hits 09 low on rating fears; stocks dip By Natsuko Waki – Fri May 22, 4:16 am ET
LONDON (Reuters) – The dollar fell to a 2009 low on Friday as fears intensified that the United States could lose its triple-A rating, while renewed caution about the world economy and banks prompted Asian and European stocks to slip.The dollar's latest decline started when ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its ratings outlook on Britain to negative from stable, stoking fears other AAA-rated countries which are running huge debt levels could share a similar fate.Moody's Investor Service said on Thursday it was comfortable with its triple-A sovereign rating on the United States but that it was not guaranteed forever.The main issues are related to yesterday's movement on fears that the U.S. might lose its triple-A rating, said Roberto Mialich, FX strategist at Unicredit in Milan.This exacerbated the dollar's losses over the last few days ... (and) for the time being it's hard to imagine a sharp reversal of the dollar's trend.The dollar index (.DXY), which measures the currency's strength against major trading partners, fell 0.3 percent to its lowest since late December, before steadying.The index is on track for its biggest weekly drop in two months, when the Federal Reserve launched its large-scale purchases of U.S. Treasuries in late March.Minutes of the Fed's April meeting, published this week, showed it considered buying more securities to spur recovery, a move which would inject more dollars into the market.The FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) fell a third of a percent, led by weaker banking shares, and Japan's Nikkei closed 0.4 percent lower (.N225).The underlying economics are beginning to move to the fore once again, following an almost euphoric run up over the past two months, said Chris Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL Securities.MSCI world equity index was up 0.2 percent. Emerging stocks (.MSCIEF) rose 0.12 percent.U.S. crude oil rose 1 percent to $61.66 a barrel, close to the previous day's six-month high above $62.June Bund futures fell 96 ticks.
RECOVERY SIGNS
Money markets showed further signs of easing tensions.Dollar short-term lending rates hit a new record low in Asia, extending their drop and indicating an abundance of cash pumped in by central banks.Three-month dollar funding rates in Singapore dropped to 0.66667 percent, extending a steady downtrend that has more than halved the cost of funds since the end of March.There were also signs pointing to a global recovery later in the year. The Bank of Japan signaled that the worst of the global crisis may be over for the world's second-largest economy, which shrank at a record pace in the first three months of the year. After a two-day policy meeting, the central bank said it had upgraded its view on the ailing economy, saying conditions were still deteriorating but noting that steep declines in exports and output appeared to be leveling out.We expect the sharp declines in the fourth and first quarters to give way to a period of more uneven (but still weak) performance over Q2 and Q3,Credit Suisse said of the global economy in a note to clients. We still envision sustained growth in real GDP commencing around the fourth quarter of this year as money, credit, and fiscal stimulus gain traction.(Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever, editing by Mike Peacock)
Oil down to around $61 ahead of OPEC meeting By PABLO GORONDI, Associated Press Writer MAY 25,09
Oil prices fell to around $61 a barrel Monday as investors eyed an OPEC meeting this week and weighed evidence of a global economic recovery.Trading was light because U.S. markets are closed Monday for Memorial Day.Benchmark crude for July delivery was down 62 cents to $61.05 a barrel by mid-afternoon in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Friday, the contract rose 62 cents to settle at $61.67.In London, Brent prices fell 72 cents to $60.06 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.Oil has rallied on investor optimism that the worst of the global economic downturn is over. Traders will get fresh data to mull this week when the U.S. releases a consumer confidence index for May and reports on sales of existing and new homes last month.In Asia, there are signs that the drop in exports has bottomed, although the outlook remains murky.Investors will also be looking for evidence of increased demand as the U.S. summer driving season begins.The $60 level implies that we're going to have a V-shaped recovery in the global economy, and there's really very little evidence of that, said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.In the near-term, the rhetoric about post-Memorial Day driving activity may provide support, but eventually fundamentals will re-exert themselves in the market,he said.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna to discuss a possible production cut that would add to 4.2 million barrels a day of output reductions the cartel has announced since September.OPEC leaders this year have said they want the price of crude at $70 a barrel, and most analysts say the recent jump to above $60 from below $35 in March will keep the group from any further production cuts.We don't expect any changes in output targets, Shum said. The price is too high to cut.Oil prices gained some support from developments in Nigeria, where militants said Monday they had destroyed major pipelines operated by Chevron Corp. in the country's oil-rich southern delta region.The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also said it freed three Filipino oil workers taken hostage earlier this month.The militants say they are fighting to force the federal government to send more of the oil-industry funds it controls to the Niger Delta, which remains deeply impoverished despite five decades of oil production.In other Nymex trading, gasoline for June delivery fell 1.65 cents to $1.8243 a gallon and heating oil dropped 1.46 cents to $1.5234 a gallon. Natural gas for June delivery slid 2.3 cents to $3.492 per 1,000 cubic feet.Associated Press writers Alex Kennedy in Singapore and Edward Harris in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
EU-Russia summit ends with prickly exchange over energy
ANDREW RETTMAN 23.05.2009 @ 11:59 CET
Originally billed as an uneventful meeting on technical issues such as trade tariffs, the EU-Russia summit in the Far East on Friday (22 May) ended in open disagreement over foreign policy and energy security.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that the EU's new Eastern Partnership project to improve relations with six former-Soviet states risks enflaming political tensions.I'll put it succinctly. We tried to convince ourselves [that the EU project is harmless] but in the end we couldn't, he said, newswires report. What worries us is that in some countries attempts are being made to exploit this structure as a partnership against Russia.The Russian president said he had no intention of ratifying the Energy Charter Treaty, an EU-backed multilateral agreement on energy investment and transit rules which Moscow signed in 1994.He indicated that Ukraine's inability to pay for Russian gas could end up in a repetition of the transit problems that saw millions of EU consumers cut off in January. But he refused to give reassurances that Russia is taking steps to prevent another outage.What for? There are no problems on our side. Everything is in order here,said Mr Medvedev, considered to be the more open and liberal face of the Kremlin.For his part, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso ruled out abandoning the energy charter.We are open to discussing new proposals, but we should rely on existing agreements. We should not question the present energy security system in Europe,he said.The summit had begun cordially on Thursday evening, with leaders in open-necked shirts attending a fireworks display and taking a boat ride on the Amur river.Some commentators said that the venue, Khabarovsk, located 8,000 km away from Brussels and 30 km from the Chinese border, was intended to underline the vast stretch of Russia's domain. The Financial Times reported that Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the official head of the EU delegation, had asked to go to Khabarovsk because he had never been there before.
The trade side of the meeting also saw friction.
EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton told Reuters that Brussels will not sign a new strategic pact with Russia unless it enters the World Trade Organisation (WTO) first, a condition that would require Russia to lift tariffs on Siberian overflights, timber exports and imports of cars, steel and milk. Russia needs to demonstrate it really is keen to move to WTO accession, and part of that is not imposing any new duties, she said.The public criticisms are just the tip of the iceberg of EU concerns about Russia. EU officials also want Moscow to abide by peace accords signed in Georgia, take steps to secure the safety of ageing nuclear reactors and submarines, make good on promises to fight judicial corruption and tackle human rights abuses in its North Caucasus provinces.
Klaus gaffe
The Russophile President Vaclav Klaus stayed on message at the summit, repeating the EU lines that Russia is a strategic partner and that the Eastern Partnership is not aimed against anybody.But comments he made in Czech daily Lidove Noviny before the Khabarovsk meeting have caused anger inside the EU. I don't see Russia as a threat but as a big, strong and ambitious country to which we must certainly pay more attention than to the likes of Estonia and Lithuania,the paper quoted him as saying.
The Estonian foreign ministry on Friday summoned the Czech ambassador in Tallinn to explain the remarks, AFP reports.I believe I know President Klaus' words do not reflect the positions of the Czech people or the Czech government but I am surprised that such a regrettable phrase, which divides European countries into important and unimportant ones, were expressed by a Czech," Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said.
Ecuador president nixes EU free trade deal may 23,09
QUITO (AFP) — Ecuador will not sign a free trade deal with the European Union, President Rafael Correa said, criticizing the tenor of talks between the two.The European Union can give (the deal) whatever pretty name it wants, but we are headed toward a free trade agreement, and we will not accept that,Correa said on Saturday.
Speaking during a weekly television and radio address, the leftist leader accused the EU of trying to reach a deal that mimics rules of the World Trade Organization, which is steering global trade liberalisation negotiations.Andean countries -- with the exception of Bolivia -- are currently negotiating an Association Agreement with the Brussels-centered bloc.
South Korea-EU trade deal eyed for 2nd half of 09
Sat May 23, 2009 4:32am By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL, May 23 (Reuters) - South Korea and the European Union expect to reach a $100 billion trade deal soon but differences over sensitive areas including autos would likely push the signing into the second half of 2009, leaders said on Saturday.The two major trading partners had hoped to reach agreement on lowering barriers to trade and investment at their summit in Seoul, but the EU's first major trade pact in Asia has been stalled by wrangling within the bloc over how a deal would affect its struggling car industry.We are at the last and final stages,South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said at a joint news conference with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.There are some pending issues to be resolved. It is not going to be easy to resolve all of these but I am confident that we will be able to come to a conclusion as soon as possible in the near future,Lee said.With discussions on finalising a similar free trade deal with the United States slated to restart next month, EU negotiators are concerned Seoul will lose patience with Brussels and put talks on its agreement on ice while it engages with Washington.
It will not be signed before the end of the Czech presidency (of the EU) in June, said Klaus, adding the leaders have called for accelerated negotiations so that the deal would be reached before the end of this year.Diplomats say the majority of EU countries support the deal in principle but remain stuck on a so-called duty drawback safeguard clause to protect European industry, notably influential carmakers.Under duty drawback, South Korean carmakers can import cheap components from China and have all import duties paid on those parts reimbursed if they are in cars destined for the EU market.The EU's auto industry -- employing 2.3 million people directly and a further 10 million in related sectors -- and some governments are unhappy over South Korean manufacturers having this advantage.Under the latest plan tabled by the Commission, the amount of foreign components used in South Korean products would be limited to a maximum of 45 percent, otherwise known as the "country of origin rule. (Additional reporting by Darren Ennis in Brussels; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Paul Tait)Thomson Reuters 2009
EU and Korea fail to conclude free trade deal
ANDREW WILLIS Today MAY 25,09 @ 06:34 CET
Leaders from the European Union and South Korea called for a quick conclusion to the ongoing discussions over a free trade agreement after a summit between the two sides in Seoul on Saturday (23 May) failed to produce a breakthrough. A tentative deal was reached in March but has stalled since then as certain issues have become politicised, in particular the question of refunding import duties under certain conditions.European carmakers are particularly concerned that the refunds would give South Korean manufacturers an unfair advantage.The EU does not allow the refunds, known as duty drawbacks, with its other bilateral free trade partners, Mexico and Chile.European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and Czech president Vaclav Klaus attended the meeting with South Korea's president Lee Myung-Bak. EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton and external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner were also present.The Czech Republic currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, due to expire at the end of June.Previous meetings, including on the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit in London on 2 April, also failed to break the deadlock.
The bilateral agreement is estimated to be worth €71.4 billion, with both sides now saying they hope it to be concluded before the end of this year. There are some pending issues to be resolved. It is not going to be easy to resolve all of these but I am confident that we will be able to come to a conclusion as soon as possible in the near future, President Lee said after the meeting.The most important thing is that we move towards a more practical cooperation than in the past, said Klaus, admitting that the deal would not be signed under the Czech presidency. The two sides also urged North Korea to return to talks on nuclear disarmament after the communist regime broke off discussions following a rocket launch in April that caused the United Nations to increase sanctions. However the summit's announcements were overshadowed by the death of former South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun, who apparently committed suicide having recently become embroiled in a corruption scandal. Mr Roh, who left office in February 2008, was known for his attempts to draw the North Korean regime further into the political fold and was seen as a clean politician in a corrupt system.However his reputation took a knock last month when prosecutors summoned him to answer charges that his family received $6 million (€4.27m) from a rich businessman while he was in office.
No Kremlin Guarantee of Gas to EU
25 May 2009 By Nadia Popova / The Moscow Times
Russia cannot guarantee that there will be no halts in gas supplies to Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev warned at a news conference closing an EU-Russia summit in Khabarovsk on Friday.Further raising the specter of a new gas shut-off, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin separately indicated that the country would not extend any loans to Ukraine. Ukraine's failure to pay for Russian gas resulted in the halt of deliveries to more than 20 European countries in January.Russia has offered no assurances and will not offer any,Medvedev said when asked about the possible suspension of gas supplies to Europe later this year. What for? There are no problems on our part. ... Let the one who pays for the gas offer assurances.Adding to the tension, Medvedev said he had doubts about Ukraine's ability to pay for gas this year. If the Ukrainian side has got the money, that's great. But we have got some doubts about the solvency of Ukraine,he said. Ukraine currently needs about $4 billion to pump 19.5 billion cubic meters of gas into its underground reserves, Medvedev said. Putin gave different figures later in the day, saying Ukraine needed about $5 billion.The gas should be pumped in now, because it will be impossible to pump it in the needed volume later, Putin said in the Kazakh capital, Astana, after talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The prime ministers met on the sidelines of a CIS summit.Asked to explain the discrepancy between Medvedev's and Putin's figures, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaders had rounded off the figures.Valentin Zemlyanskiy, a spokesman of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-controlled gas monopoly responsible for filing the reserves, did not answer his cell phone Sunday.Moscow has previously indicated that it was willing to lend the money to Kiev as an advance on gas transit fees for the next five years. But Putin said Friday that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko considers the form of payment unacceptable and nearly illegal.We will hardly be able to solve this problem under such a regime,Putin said, according to a transcript of his remarks posted on the government's web site.Medvedev said in Khabarovsk that Russia wanted to help Ukraine but expected the European Union to share a considerable part of the burden. In other words, if the talk is about loans, let's help the Ukrainian state obtain the amount of money it needs. It is not us who have problems with solvency, after all,he said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's web site.
But Putin suggested that no loans would be forthcoming.We have applied to the European Commission with this question of providing financial support to Ukraine, Putin said. We got the answer through a minister of finance, 'We have no money for Ukraine.Supplies for domestic consumers in Ukraine is a very important condition for gas transit to the European consumers,Putin said.No one should pretend it doesn't concern him.EU officials attending the summit in Khabarovsk expressed concerns about possible gas disruptions. There should be no more suspensions in the gas supplies, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the news conference.We ask Russia and Ukraine to do everything in their power to prevent another crisis next year.Medvedev, however, maintained that the Energy Charter -- the current legal framework that regulates energy supplies in EU countries and establishes rules for resolving disputes -- was not enough to prevent disruptions. Ukraine ... is a member of the Energy Charter, and so what? They did what they wanted to do. They spat on the Energy Charter,Medvedev said.It means that some other instruments are needed.Medvedev has suggested a new energy charter that would replace the current one adopted in 1991 and signed by 51 countries. Russia signed the charter in 1994 but never ratified the document, which it now calls outdated.We consider some of these ideas very useful, Barroso said, adding, though, that the EU would rather build on existing agreements.
European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said in Khabarovsk that the EU was ready to consider incorporating some Russian proposals into the existing charter, Bloomberg reported. Russia, however, has insisted on a full overhaul of the document rather than spotty changes.Turning to another thorny issue, the Eastern Partnership program, Medvedev said EU officials had failed to persuade him that it would not harm Russia's interests.What confuses me is that some states ... take this partnership as a partnership against Russia,he said. The Eastern Partnership program, which involves all 27 EU members as well as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, seeks free trade agreements and relaxed visa rules between the EU members and the former Soviet countries, and it promises support for political reforms in those countries. The partnership is worth at least 600 million euros ($841 million) from 2010 to 2013, according to the European Commission's web site. Russia is worried that an Eastern Partnership agreement that was signed on May 7 is an EU attempt to meddle in what it considers its sphere of influence.We have tried to persuade President Medvedev ... that the idea of the Eastern Partnership is not aimed against anybody and of course, not against Russia,Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said at the news conference, flanked by Barroso, Medvedev and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.No progress was reached at the summit on a replacement for the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation agreement that expired in December 2007.The Gas Problem
Russia called on the European Union on Friday to help find money for Ukraine to prevent a new gas supply crisis while failing to agree with Kiev on how to store gas to ensure smooth gas transit to Europe this winter. Any hint of a gas dispute raises the blood pressure of European governments and consumers (who get a fifth of their gas from Russia via Ukraine), piques the interest of Naftogaz bondholders and casts a shadow over ties between Russia and Ukraine.The following are key facts about gas issues that the two countries have to resolve while grappling with a deep economic crisis that has hit the state finances and currencies of both.Gas has to be stored in Ukraine for the winter period to guarantee smooth transit to Europe.As gas consumption rises during winter, the two countries do a simple gas swap. Ukraine uses Russian gas meant for Europe entering the country in the northeast and compensates Russia by sending gas stored in the west of the country to Europe.More than 10 billion cubic meters needs to be stored to ensure this transit to Europe.Ukraine"s government has said it has 16 billion cubic meters of gas in storage and wants to buy a further 12 bcm, worth about $3.25 billion at current prices, to cover Gazprom"s and its own winter needs. Naftogaz has not confirmed these figures.At the start of the year, Ukraine had 17 bcm stored, and gas intermediary RosUkrEnergo had 11 bcm. RosUkrEnergo stocks were transferred to Ukrainian ownership, so about 12 bcm has been consumed since January as Ukrainian purchases of far dearer Russian gas fell.Gazprom does not want to simply give the storage gas to Ukraine for safekeeping.Ukraine prefers to limit its purchases of the gas now because prices are to expected to drop sharply later in the year when the gas is needed.Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz has proposed that it could buy the extra gas for storage using Gazprom"s advance payment of transit fees for using the Ukrainian pipeline system to pump gas to Europe.
But with European consumption falling sharply, it is difficult to tell how much transit fees Gazprom will pay, risking Naftogaz having to pay back money later in the year.
A Russian government source said Gazprom had paid its 2009 fees in full already. A Ukrainian source close to the gas talks said $2.15 billion had been paid, the majority of which Ч $1.7 billion Ч being the amount that was owed in the first quarter.The Ukrainian government, its finances stretched to the limit, has said state banks could lend Naftogaz the money for the extra gas. A bill in the parliament proposes the idea of the funds coming from the state purse.Naftogaz, receiving support from the state, needs to pay back a $500 million Eurobond by Sept. 30. Investors have been wary of a Ukrainian default after the currency plummeted and the country plunged into recession.Reuters
