Picture from WND.com MILLION MARCH ON WASHINGTON YESTERDAY
News from Jerusalem picture - IS ISRAEL READY TO TAKE OUT IRANS NUCLEAR SITES.
MILLION MARCCHES IN WASHINGTON
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=109628
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/09/12/HP/A/23055/FreedomWorks+Rally+in+DC.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sjvc6baor8
http://www.breitbart.tv/bcastlive/
CNN GETS SHOUTED OUT OF WASHINGTON
http://www.breitbart.tv/go-home-dc-crowd-drowns-out-cnn-reporter-during-live-report/
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
EU puts Middle East policies on hold until US talks
ANDREW RETTMAN 11.09.2009 @ 07:39 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU is waiting until the US, Israel and the Palestinian authorities hold talks at the end of this month before moving ahead with two of its most sensitive Middle East policies.EU diplomats in Brussels on Thursday (10 September) put off a decision on signing an Association Agreement with Syria until October at the earliest.EU foreign ministers were due to discuss the pact at a meeting in Brussels next week. But it was dropped from the agenda after the Netherlands said it would veto the existing text on human rights grounds.We are concerned that the current agreement does not allow for a unilateral suspension in the case of a gross violation of human rights, as is the case with other agreements signed by the EU. This is why we are holding back our signature,a Dutch diplomat told EUobserver.We are currently looking for ways with other EU member states to ensure the possibility of such a unilateral suspension.The Dutch objection also rests on qualms that an EU rapprochement with Syria should not take place before the US decides how to go forward on the Middle East peace process.US President Barack Obama is to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on 22 September on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York to try to restart negotiations on the creation of a Palestinian state.EU diplomatic sources told this website that if the event sees a deal including a halt of Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories, the EU is also likely to restart an internal debate on upgrading its relations with Israel.Everyone is now waiting to see what will happen with these [US] talks,an EU diplomat said.The EU has made no official link between the EU-Syria agreement and the EU-Israel upgrade. But the two policies are entangled in practice.
Tangled web
Israel is concerned that the EU-Syria move would send out the signal that human rights abuses in the Arab country are less serious than Israeli infringements of Palestinian rights. Meanwhile, the EU is concerned that the Israel upgrade would damage ties with Arab states by suggesting it endorses Israeli settlement expansion and obstruction of aid supplies to Gaza. The upgrade was due to take place at an EU-Israel summit under the Czech EU presidency earlier this year.But a group of countries including Belgium, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Greece blocked it after Israel killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attack on Gaza in January.The EU-Syria pact was originally negotiated in 2004. But Syria's alleged assassination of Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri in 2005 saw it put on ice for almost four years.The Association Agreement, a 1,500 page document which includes a 700 page transcript of the Syrian customs code, was translated into 23 EU languages over the summer and is ready for final ratification.
Walesa to campaign in Ireland for the Lisbon Treaty
VALENTINA POP 11.09.2009 @ 17:41 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Former Polish president and anti-Communist dissident Lech Walesa will next week travel to Ireland to campaign for the Lisbon Treaty, in a move underlining his disassociation from the No camp. Back in May, Mr Walesa came under fire in Polish media when he acknowledged receiving money to participate in political rallies with Declan Ganley, an Irish anti-Lisbon campaigner and head of the now defunct Libertas political party.Mr Walesa during the weeks leading up to the EU elections also made pro-Lisbon speeches, causing confusion over his ultimate allegiance.A famous Polish dissident, Mr Walesa was the founder of the Solidarity movement in Poland which helped bring down the Communist regime 20 years ago and organise the first free elections in the former Eastern bloc.He is a frequent speaker in European events, mostly organised by the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), which is strongly pro-Lisbon and which is the largest political family among EU governments and in the bloc's institutions.Mr Walesa will travel to Ireland next Thursday at the invitation of the Finna Gael party, an EPP affiliate, marking his come-back to the centre-right establishment.Mr Walesa has no problem of credibility. He always told Libertas that he is in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, the leader of the Polish delegation within the EPP told this website.In Mr Saryusz-Wolski's view, Mr Walesa could be "even more credible" in the eyes of the Irish voters when supporting the Treaty, because he has a critical stance towards the European establishment.
As the referendum date approaches and the polls suggest that the Yes-camp is losing ground to undecided voters, European personalities have already starting touring the island in a bid to bend hearts and minds.The new president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, also a Pole, was in Ireland this week, as well as EU communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom. As for Mr Ganley, he remains determined in his opposition to the document, and especially to the re-run of the referendum.
The Irish people had a vote on the Lisbon Treaty. They voted No,he told the Wall Street Journal.But - hey, presto! - 15 months later we're being told to vote again on exactly the same treaty. Not one comma has changed in the document.
Israeli president leaves hospital after fainting By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – SEPT 13,09
JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres was discharged from a Tel Aviv hospital on Sunday, a day after fainting on stage during a talk.The 86-year-old Nobel laureate passed out briefly Saturday, then revived on his own a few seconds later. He initially resisted hospitalization, but later relented and was admitted to a hospital for observation and tests.Spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch blamed Peres' notoriously demanding schedule and the intense summer heat for the collapse. Peres was answering questions from a crowd after a talk on young leadership on a humid night when he collapsed, she said.The director of the Sheba Medical Center, Dr. Zeev Rotstein, told Israeli media on Sunday that tests showed Peres to be in good health.
Peres' personal physician, Dr. Rafi Valden, told Israeli media the president was doing well. Valden, who is also Peres' son-in-law, said Peres felt weak from standing for a long time in the heat.The Israeli president is not known to suffer from any health problems, aside from high blood pressure that is treated with medication. Peres' medical history is open to the public and he travels with a paramedic.Despite his advanced age, Peres keeps a very busy schedule and is known to go full speed on little sleep.Frisch said Peres was resting Sunday but planned to keep a meeting later in the day with U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell, who is in the region trying to renew stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken to Peres, who assured him he was well.He sounded as excellent as always. Of course, it is impossible to stop Shimon,Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.He spoke with me about what he plans to tell envoy Mitchell. I told him that aside from meeting Mitchell he should rest a bit because I believe that every Israeli is genuinely concerned for our president.Peres has enjoyed a political career spanning seven decades.He was a senior aide to the country's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, developed Israel's nuclear program, built up the military in the 1950s and has held every senior government post, including two stints as prime minister.In 1994, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace with the Palestinians.In 2007, he was elected to the country's ceremonial presidency. In addition to his official duties, Peres has also immersed himself in peacemaking efforts as president, working long hours and traveling the world frequently as an unofficial adviser and envoy for Israel's prime minister.Despite pleas from friends and colleagues to slow down, Peres has kept a grueling lifestyle.In an interview with the Associated Press upon assuming the presidency, Peres said that was the only way he knew how to work. If you are healthy and clear-minded, what's wrong? I'm not in a hurry to pass away,Peres said.
KNOWLEGE AND WORLD TRAVEL INCREASED
DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)
Medical robots that get under your skin Friday, 11 September 2009 12:59 News from Jerusalem .Miniature robotic fly created at Technion in Israel
Israeli researchers have created a miniature robotic fly that can crawl through your arteries and veins to diagnose and treat what ails you.A snake-shaped robot sent in through a small incision so you don't have to have open-heart surgery. Robotic marching ants that you can send in to inspect water pipes for leaks. And now the latest research from the Robotics Laboratory at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa: Creepy and crawly fly-like robots that get under your skin for very good medical reasons.Prof. Moshe Shaham, head of the Robotics Laboratory, and his team have developed a miniature robotic fly, about 0.04 inches in diameter, that can enter the body to diagnose diseases and conditions like blocked arteries and deliver drugs like a bomb to infected tumors.Based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, the tiny robot crawls through arteries and veins. It is steered by a magnet that's moved over the body from the outside. Its miniscule outstretched arms grip the sides of the vessel walls as it zeroes in on its targeted location.Currently in the early prototype stages, the researchers plan on scaling down the robot to a 10th of its current diameter - about 100 microns. That will bring it a step closer to much less invasive diagnosis and treatment.
Unprecedented miniaturized medicine
We see that more and more miniature devices and research in the medical field are going in this direction: Less invasive medicine and targeted drugs, Shaham tells ISRAEL21c.Partners in the research include Dr. Nir Shvalb from Israel's Ariel College and Dr. Oded Solomon from the Technion. This accomplishment of miniaturization is without precedent, as is the ability to control the robot's activity for unlimited periods of time, for any medical procedure,Solomon told the press.We hope this discovery can be used to improve the quality of care for diseases and many other conditions,he added.Shaham concurs, adding that mini medical devices are the future of medicine: We will see more and more [medical practitioners] working in this way. Of course, targeted medicine can release drugs in a specific location. We try to work along these lines. Drugs that can home in on a certain location using a small robot that goes to the right location.
Robots with backbones
Shaham's research in medical robotics has already borne fruit in a device called SpineAssist, which is marketed by Mazor Surgical Technologies.Robots are already performing surgeries on a daily basis - performing spine surgeries around the world, he says.Using a controller, the researchers can move the little fly-like robotic creature at speeds of 0.35 mm a second by varying the magnetic field.And because the control unit is external to the body, it can work for limitless periods of time, never needing a battery recharge during a procedure.The researchers believe that with the addition of a camera, the latest tiny bot could be perfected for use in brachytherapy (short distance radiation therapy), which is commonly used for treating head, neck and prostate cancer.
Borrowing from sperm propulsion
In parallel, Robotics Lab researchers are also developing a tiny bot that swims, but not with arms, fins or flippers.The research carried out by Dr. Gabor Kosa and Technion colleagues, uses a propulsion-based system - and mimics an ancient biological structure called a flagella, which has long thread-like appendages that give cells the ability to move and swim. It's flagella that allow sperm to swim earnestly through vaginal fluid toward the waiting eggs.But at the Technion lab, they're thinking about fluid of another kind. One of the locations being targeted is CFS or cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that the brain floats in. It also surrounds the spinal system.We could use such a device for diagnosis or to feel around with electrodes, looking for cancer or other problems,explains Shaham.The Technion's interest in the Robotics Lab piqued about nine years ago, but Shaham admits that he's been focused on the work for about two decades and has a list of additional robotic research inventions sure to hit the news later this year.Israel21C
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,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) 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.
Clock is ticking for Iran as Israel appears ready for strike
Saturday, 12 September 2009 06:55 News from Jerusalem .
In the rare moments when it's not preoccupied with the decline of U.S. President Barack Obama in the polls and with the debate over its government's proposed health-care reforms, the American press continues to deal almost obsessively with another pressing issue: the deadlock in efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program and the growing likelihood that the endgame will be an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.In the past few weeks alone, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal warned the president that the United States must put a quick halt to the Iranian nuclear program, because otherwise Israel will bomb the facilities.An Israeli strike on Iran would be the most dangerous foreign policy issue President Obama could face, the paper wrote.Former vice president Dick Cheney revealed that while in office he supported an American strike against Iran, but was compelled to accept the approach of president George W. Bush, who preferred the diplomatic route.Another Republican ultra-hawk, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, maintains that additional sanctions alone will not be enough to make the Iranians abandon their nuclear ambitions. William Cohen, who served as secretary of defense during Bill Clinton's second presidential term (1997-2001), says that there is a countdown taking place and that Israel is not going to sit indifferently on the sidelines and watch Iran continue on its way toward a nuclear-weapons capability.The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, explains that a very narrow window exists between the possibility of resolving the issue and an attack on Iran.
An op-ed in The Los Angeles Times states (with some justification) that if Iran does not respond in September to the demands made of it, the world should brace itself for an Israeli attack. However, the author adds (mistakenly) that in the event of an Israeli strike, Obama will probably learn of the operation from CNN rather than the CIA.This month will mark a critical juncture in Iran's race for nuclear capability. The timetable is getting ever shorter: Most Western intelligence services share the assessment that over the course of 2010, Iran will accumulate sufficient fissionable material to produce two or three nuclear bombs. If the Iranians succeed in dispersing this material among a large number of secret sites, it will reduce the likelihood that the project can be stopped.Even though Obama has now been in office for seven and a half months, Tehran has not responded to his offer to engage in direct dialogue about the nuclear issue.At first the talks were deferred in anticipation of the Iranian presidential elections in June, then because of the internal crisis that erupted there in their wake, and now the regime is engaging in additional - and typical - delay tactics. Last week, for the first time, Tehran announced readiness in principle to conduct negotiations with the international community.
Peaceful enrichment
The European Union appears to want to reach a decision on the subject ahead of the authorization of a fourth round of international sanctions against Iran, in the context of the G-20 conference to be held in Pittsburgh in about two weeks. Israel is apprehensive that the Americans may delay a final decision until December.The impression gained by Israelis who have visited Washington lately is that Obama is gradually backing away from the Bush administration's fundamental demand that Iran cease to enrich uranium as a precondition for beginning a dialogue.Subsequently, they believe, the United States will offer Iran the following compromise: The Iranians will be allowed to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes (under tight international supervision), the previous sanctions imposed on Iran will be lifted and the two sides will reach understandings concerning Iran's interests in a number of arenas, notably Iraq, ahead of the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from there.
Obama would be able to present such an arrangement as an accomplishment. After all, before the election in November he promised to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, not to force it to stop enriching uranium. From Israel's point of view, however, this will probably not be enough.According to Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, former head of Israel's National Security Council,The United States was ready to sign an agreement to that effect Thursday. The prospect that Iran will agree, despite the temptation of gaining international recognition for its right to enrich uranium, remains small.In his view, For its strategy to succeed, America needs a broad and binding international coalition. I still don't see them getting Russia and China to back such a move, and their support is essential.Despite its fear that Iran will use the peaceful enrichment go-ahead to continue advancing secretly toward a bomb, Israel might, as a fallback position, accept such a compromise as long as it is clear that the international supervision is strong enough and that, in anticipation of the likely eventuality Iran will be found cheating, a broad coalition to toughen the sanctions is put together in advance.If the dialogue fails, or never begins, more severe sanctions might be put into place: a ban on the purchase of oil from Iran and on the export of petroleum distillates to it, or even a maritime embargo. But the potential effectiveness of these moves, with Tehran already well past the halfway mark toward achieving its goal, is in doubt.
Looking the other way
So, the moment of truth will arrive at some point between the end of 2009 and the middle of 2010: Should Iran be attacked? American experts agree that this would involve an Israeli strike. It is very unlikely that Obama will be the one dispatching American planes to Natanz.During the past year, military experts and commentators are increasingly coming around to the view that the Israel Air Force is capable of executing the mission. The Israel Defense Forces was significantly upgraded during the tenure of Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. The goal, it is argued, is not to liquidate the Iranian project but to set it back. According to this line of thought, if an attack, American or Israeli, causes a couple of years' delay in the project it will have achieved its aim. Similarly, before launching the attack on the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Israel did not foresee the chain of events that finally forced Saddam Hussein to forgo his nuclear ambitions.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak take a similar view of the Iranian threat. At least, that is what both their public statements and their comments in closed meetings suggest.For an Israeli attack to be considered, Israel would need the tacit approval of the Obama administration, if only in the sense that it looks the other way. This is due above all to the necessity of passing through the Iraqi air corridor, as American soldiers will still be in Iraq in 2011. No less important is strategic coordination for the day after: How will the United States react to a prolonged aerial attack by Israel on the nuclear sites and to the regional flare-up that might follow? These are matters that would have to be agreed on directly between Obama and Netanyahu. The disparity in their policy stances, together with the total lack of personal chemistry between them, is liable to prove a hindrance.
Iran is likely to respond to an Israeli attack by opening fronts nearby, via Hezbollah from Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Three years after the Second Lebanon War and at the end of a broad process of learning lessons from that conflict, the IDF is quite confident of its ability to deal with Hezbollah. At the same time, it's clear that Israel will be subjected to extensive rocket attacks that can be expected to cover most of the country.A key question would be Syria's behavior. Israel has a salient interest in having Damascus be no more than a spectator in a confrontation. If the attack on Iran is perceived to have been successful, that is probably how the Syrians will respond.But an attack on Iran will reopen a decades-old blood feud - and the Iranians have both a long memory and a great deal of patience. With decisions like this looming within a year, it's no wonder that Netanyahu wants to get the Gilad Shalit affair wrapped up.A decision to attack Iran would mean that the IDF bears central responsibility for resolving the nuclear threat. In the years when Mossad director Meir Dagan held prime minister Ariel Sharon in his thrall (and even more so his successor, Ehud Olmert), the general belief was that the espionage agency could, together with political efforts, contain the Iranian nuclear project. And, indeed, if Western intelligence services had to push back their forecasts repeatedly over the past decade regarding when the project would be completed, it's a safe bet that not all of Iran's delays were due to divine providence. At present, however, no action looms - other than an attack - that is capable of preventing Iran from achieving its goal.Deep and impressive cooperation exists between the IDF and the Mossad in many arenas. But this is clouded by professional differences and personal friction between the heads of the two organizations. In a few cases, it even looked as though the two were merrily pouring salt on each others' wounds.haaretz
US submission to Iran's evasions spurs international pressure against Israeli military strike Saturday, 12 September 2009 14:10 News from Jerusalem .Looking more and more like Israel's problem!
The US will join other major powers in seeking an early meeting with Iran although Tehran's refusal to discuss its nuclear program was described by Washington officials as disappointing.They said the Obama administration is consistent in its aim of dialogue with Iran and wants the meeting offered by Tehran to take place as soon as possible to assess Iran's readiness to deal with the nuclear issue ahead of the Six-Power discussions taking place later this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.Far from meeting the Obama administration's gesture halfway, Iran's new defense minister Ahmed Wahidi delivered a fierce attack on Washington Saturday, Sept. 12, warning the US not to try the militarize the region and denying the production of weapons of mass destruction as contrary to our religion and principles.DEBKAfile's Washington sources say the Obama White House is relying on the public's short memory on Iran's prevarications. On July 20, 2008, the six powers including the US confronted Iran at the negotiating table in Geneva. Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili listened quietly to the Bush administration's undersecretary of state William Burns' words on its nuclear activities, then announced he was not competent to respond and would refer to Tehran for instructions. Jalili never did come back with his government's response.After Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated loud and clear last week that the nuclear file was closed for Tehran, the Iranian negotiators will no doubt repeat this exercise which had the effect of tying US hands for more than a year and will keep them tied for several more months. Whatever the outcome, it is no good Washington relying on tough new sanctions because that door has been shut by Moscow and Beijing's published intention to block them.The former commander of the big Israeli air base at Hatezerim, Brig. (ret.) Shelly Guttman, said Saturday that for the first time since the Yom Kippur War, Israel faces an existential threat. Nevertheless, Russia and France are leading an internatonal drive to stall military action as well.Thursday, Sept. 10, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin warned against the use of force or new sanctions against Iran, the toughest caution Israel has heard so far. Neither course will solve the problem, said the Russian leader.
The caution from Moscow followed frantic consultations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in the last week for a decision on whether Israel should resort to its military option for pre-empting the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran already on the threshold, according to US intelligence agencies. Our Moscow sources say the Russians may be expected to keep up their verbal pressure on Jerusalem.Putin was supported from Paris the same day, when France released the opinion offered by French army chief Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin in Washington that military force to wipe out Iran's nuclear program was no longer viable.While Putin explained his objections to military action as: Russia has no reason to doubt that Iran's nuclear program is purely peaceful, the French general argued:It is very difficult to plan a military operation in Iran, because we are not sure in one shot to be able to solve a problem and if you fail in one shot.
debka
Egypt, Jordan Join Arab League in Resisting Normalization
by Maayana Miskin SEPT 12,09
(IsraelNN.com) Recently, the Arab League declared that Arab countries would not normalize ties with Israel until Israel gives in to Arab demands. Senior officials in Egypt and Jordan have made it clear that their countries – both of which have signed peace deals with Israel – would resist normalization as well.In Jordan, professional associations representing more than 150,000 Jordanians were thrown into turmoil by reports that a Jordanian media delegation had visited Jerusalem. Association heads accused the journalists of normalizing ties with Israel – a step that Arab League head Amr Moussa warned last week could be met with violence.The Jordanian Committee for Anti-Normalization called to expel the journalists from the country's press association.On Wednesday, the Jordan Press Association slammed critics of the visit, saying their worry was premature.The visit is not an act of normalization at all,said JPA President Abdul Zgheilat. The journalists were in Jerusalem to study Jordanian achievements in the city, including the preservation of Muslim and Christian holy sites, he said.
Egypt: No Cultural Exchange
Also this week, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) made available an interview shown on Egyptian television in late July. In the interview, Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouq Husni states, Our relationship with Israel is at a complete standstill as long as there is no lasting peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.Husni further clarified that there can be no cultural exchange with Israel until Israel signs a final status agreement with the PA.The interviewer then asked Husni how he could invite Daniel Barenboim - the Israeli conductor Barenboim - to visit Egypt. Barenboim holds Israeli citizenship, and the interviewer implied that his visit was a form of normalization with Israel.While Barenboim holds Israeli citizenship, Husni said, he also holds a PA passport. As such, Barenboim was invited to Egypt as a Palestinian, he said, and not as an Israeli.
Netanyahu: Israel won't hold back when attacked By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – SEPT 13,09
JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon on Sunday that Israel will not hold back when attacked and holds the Lebanese government responsible for any assault on his country.Netanyahu delivered the warning after two rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Friday. Israel responded immediately with artillery fire, and the exchange ratcheted up persisting tensions between the two countries.We view this very gravely, Netanyahu told his Cabinet.We will not hold back when Israeli territory comes under fire, and will not reconcile ourselves to missile fire or any other form of terror directed at Israeli citizens.It was not immediately known who fired the rockets Friday. But radical Palestinian factions in Lebanon have been blamed in four firings at Israel this year.The Israel-Lebanon border has been tense since Israel mounted a monthlong war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in the summer of 2006. More than 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 Israelis died in that conflict, which ended in a United Nations-brokered truce.
On Sunday, Netanyahu put the onus of maintaining the cease-fire squarely on the shoulders of the Lebanese government.We see it responsible for all these violations and hostilities directed at our territory that originate from Lebanese soil, he said.
Hezbollah has a large rocket arsenal, but is not believed to have used them against Israel since the 2006 fighting. It has denied involvement in previous rocket attacks on Israel.But friction between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated as Lebanese politicians wrangle over the formation of a new government. The Hezbollah-led opposition would likely be a part of that cabinet.In mid-July, a suspected Hezbollah arms depot exploded near the Israeli border. Israel said this was proof the group was rearming and stashing weapons in populated villages.Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper reported Sunday that the U.N. force in Lebanon, which was beefed up significantly after the war to monitor the border, had been warned of a possible attack 10 days earlier.The U.N. force relayed this information to the Lebanese army two days before the attack, the report said.A spokesman for the U.N. force, Milos Strugar, said an investigation under way is pointing in the direction of some extremist groups.He did not elaborate.
UNIFIL Forces Were Warned of Lebanon Rockets
Reported: 09:36 AM - Sep/13/09
(IsraelNN.com) The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) received advanced warning of the possibility that Katyusha rockets would be fired toward Israel, according to a report in the Lebanese newspaper An Nahar on Sunday. Two 122-mllimeter rockets hit open areas in Israel's north on Friday without any reports of injuries or damage.Several sources informed UNIFIL of the attack and the type of rockets that would be used 10 days before they were launched, said the report. UNIFIL relayed the information to the Lebanese army two days before the attack. The report did not mention whether the Lebanese army had acted on the information.
IDF Traces Second Rocket Fired From Lebanon
Reported: 12:56 PM - Sep/13/09
(IsraelNN.com) The remnants of the second Katushya rocket fired Friday from Lebanon which landed in the western Galilee was located Sunday by IDF forces. The rocket was discovered close to the first rocket's landing spot. The IDF estimates that a third rockets fired at Israel landed in Lebanese territory.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the attack at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, saying Israel will not hold back when attacked, and will not reconcile itself to any attacks on its citizens. He held Lebanon's government responsible. No one has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.
Hamas Changing Tactics, Using Secret Tunnel Network
Reported: 12:25 PM - Sep/13/09
(IsraelNN.com) The Gaza-based Hamas terror organization is moving away from rocket attacks against Israel in favor of light weapons attacks on IDF patrols in the region, according to Middle East Newsline. Missile fire is being reserved for retaliation against major military operations by Israel, said the report.The report also revealed that Hamas has been maintaining a secret tunnel network in Judea and Samaria. The terror group oversaw the construction of the tunnels and underground stations near several cities, including Bethlehem, Hevron, Shechem, Ramallah and Tulkarm.These tunnels are used for weapons storage and training, and some of them are located near strategic Palestinian Authority facilities,a military source said.
More Britons travel to Somalia for jihad: report Sat Sep 12, 10:20 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Intelligence chiefs have warned British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government that Somalia is the next challenge in efforts to stem Islamic terrorism, a report said Sunday.The officials have warned that the number of young Britons travelling to Somalia to fight in the war-torn country or take part in terror training camps is rising, the Independent on Sunday said, citing unnamed sources.In particular, they are concerned about the number of people with no direct family connection to Somalia who are travelling there.The number travelling there every year has more than quadrupled to at least 100 since 2004, according to the newspaper.
I have seen figures that are not in the public domain that suggest there is an increasing flow of young Britons into Somalia,said opposition Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the counter-terrorism subcommittee.There is now a mixture of British people, from numerous backgrounds, who are heading out there and that is causing great concern.The Shebab, an Al-Qaeda inspired movement, is spearheading a three-month-old offensive to topple Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and has imposed strict Sharia law in areas under its control.The US has expressed fear that the Shebab would turn Somalia into an extremist haven similar to the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which has been a top priority for the Barack Obama administration.
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.
Toll in Istanbul region floods rises to 33 Sat Sep 12, 3:55 pm ET
ISTANBUL (AFP) – The death toll from flash floods which swept through Istanbul and its environs this week went up to 33 on Saturday with the discovery of another body, media reports said.Five more people were reported missing in the city, Anatolia news agency said as rain began to fall again in the area.Divers retrieved the body of a 65-year-old man from a river bed, under a bridge, in the suburbs of the Turkish metropolis, Anatolia reported.The latest discovery took the toll in Istanbul to 27 dead in the floods and torrential rains on Monday and Tuesday, with another six in Tekirdag.Governor Zubeyir Kemelek said that five workers thought missing from Kumbag, in Tekirdag province to the west, after water flooded their brickworks had been found safe and sound.New heavy rains hit northwest Turkey overnight Friday, and army units and helicopters were sent in to help people affected, Anatolia said.
Some 70 houses were reported flooded in northwest Istanbul, and television pictures showed residents being rescued by construction vehicles from a building site.Three people were injured by broken glass when a tornado tore roofs off an office building and a hotel and smashed windows in the southern resort of Alanya, Anatolia reported.
Several other towns were battling flooding on Saturday, and a bridge was swept away in Tekirdag.Anatolia said that more than 6,300 firemen and other rescue workers had been mobilised along with 2,200 vehicles to deal with another feared disaster.
Nine dead as floods hit Algeria Sat Sep 12, 11:23 am ET
ALGIERS (AFP) – Eight people were swept away by flash floods and a ninth was killed by lightning as more thunderstorms lashed southwestern Algeria, the civil defence agency told the state news service APS Saturday.Four people drowned at El Bayadh, some 700 kilometres (450 miles) southwest of Algiers late Friday, the agency said.
A woman, her daughter and two male relatives also died when their vehicle was caught by a flash flood in a river bed in the district of Naama, 600 kilometres southwest of the capital.Another person had been struck by lightning shortly beforehand in the same area.The latest deaths brought the toll to nine since Tuesday, including three children swept away at El Bayadh on Wednesday and a regional official drowned in the Laghouat district, 400 kilometres south of the capital, on Thursday.The storms have also affected neighbouring Morocco, where five people have been reported killed.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Quake rattles Venezuela capital, nearby states By RACHEL JONES, Associated Press Writer – Sat Sep 12, 11:05 pm ET
CARACAS, Venezuela – An earthquake shook Venezuela's capital and nearby states Saturday, injuring 14 people and causing damage to a few buildings.The U.S. Geological Survey reported a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 for the quake, saying the epicenter was off Venezuela's Caribbean coast 65 miles (110 kilometers) west of Caracas. The head of Venezuela's seismological agency, Francisco Garces, put the quake at magnitude 6.2, followed by an aftershock registering 4.0.Two young people, ages 9 and 26, suffered serious leg injuries, and 12 other people had minor injuries, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said.El Aissami said western Falcon state reported the most structural problems, with seven houses and two other buildings damaged. Two houses were reported damaged in neighboring Lara state, where the wall of a medical clinic also collapsed, state civil protection director Hector Vargas told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency.Buildings swayed as the quake rocked Caracas about 3:40 p.m. local time (4:10 p.m. EDT, 20:10GMT). Only a few people evacuated buildings to stand outside as a rainstorm slowed traffic. No injured were reported in the capital, El Aissami said.The head of Venezuela's national civil protection agency, Luis Diaz, said authorities would evaluate two Caracas malls, including one where glass had shattered, to ensure their safety.
Cities in nearby Carabobo and Aragua states were also jolted, but did not experience major problems. In Aragua, there were reports of damage to some houses, and some people were injured on an escalator at a mall during a panicky evacuation, a state security official, Col. Cesar Oliveros, told Venezuela's official news agency.
Infrastructure Minister Diosdado Cabello said there were no reports of major infrastructure damage. No problems were reported at oil refineries or other installations in Venezuela's key oil industry.
SHRINKING DOLLAR
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1250978048&play=1
OBAMA GOING TO WALLSTREET MONDAY
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1250749591&play=1
China: Trade penalties will hurt US relations By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent – Sat Sep 12, 8:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's decision to impose trade penalties on Chinese tires has infuriated Beijing at a time when the U.S. badly needs Chinese help on climate change, nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea and the global economy.
China condemned the White House's announcement late Friday as protectionist and said it violated global trade rules. At home, the punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires coming into the U.S. from China may placate union supporters who are important to the president's health care push.To the White House, it was simply about enforcing the rules of the road and creating a trade system that is based on those rules and is fair for everyone, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters traveling with Obama on Saturday to a health care event in Minneapolis.Chen Deming, China's minister of commerce, said the penalties would hurt relations with the U.S. A ministry statement said Obama had compromised to the political pressure of the U.S. domestic trade protectionism.The Chinese government will continue to uphold the legitimate interests of China's domestic industry and has the right to take corresponding measures,Deming said.Obama had until this coming Thursday to accept, reject or modify a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling that a rising tide of Chinese tires into the U.S. hurts American producers. The United Steelworkers blames the increase for the loss of thousands of American jobs.The federal trade panel recommended a 55 percent tariff in the first year, 45 percent in the second year and 35 percent in the third year. Obama settled on 35 percent the first year, 30 percent in the second and 25 percent in the third, Gibbs said.For trade to work for everybody, it has to be based on fairness and rules. We're simply enforcing those rules and would expect the Chinese to understand those rules,Gibbs said.The decision comes as U.S. officials are working with the Chinese and other nations to plan an economic summit in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25 of the 20 leading rich and developing nations. China will be a major presence at the meeting, and the United States will be eager to show it supports free trade.Many of the nearly two dozen world leaders Obama is hosting have made strong statements critical of countries that protect their key industries. Obama, too, has spoken out strongly against protectionism, and other countries will view his decision on tires as a test of that stance.
Governments around the world have suggested the U.S. talks tough against protectionism only when its own industries are not threatened. U.S. rhetoric on free trade also has been questioned because of a Buy American provision in the U.S. stimulus package.The tire decision could have ramifications on issues such as the nuclear disputes with Iran and North Korea and on efforts to address climate change. China is the world's third-largest economy and a veto-holding member of the U.N. Security Council.Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of the Tire Industry Association, which opposes the tariff, said it would not save American jobs. He said the penalties would cause tire manufacturers to move production to another country with less strict environmental and safety controls, less active unions and lower costs than the United States.The steelworkers union brought the original case in April, accusing China of making a recent push to unload more tires ahead of Obama's expected action. The union says more than 5,000 tire workers have lost jobs since 2004, as Chinese tire overwhelmed the U.S. market.The U.S. trade representative's office said four tire plants closed in 2006 and 2007 and three more are closing this year. During that time, just one new plant opened. U.S. imports of Chinese tires more than tripled from 2004 to 2008 and China's market share in the U.S. went from 4.7 percent of tires purchased in 2004 to 16.7 percent in 2008, the office said.
In a two-page statement China said the tariffs do not square with the facts.
There hasn't been an obvious increase of exports of tires to the U.S., the statement said, citing a 2.2 percent increase in 2008 from 2007, and a 16 percent fall in exports in the first half of 2009 compared with first half of 2008.The new tariffs, on top of an existing 4 percent tariff on all tire imports, take effect Sept. 26. For the Chinese government, the tire dispute threatens an economic relationship crucial to China's economic growth. There was speculation before the decision that new tariffs could produce public pressure on Beijing to retaliate, potentially leading to a trade war.Associated Press writers Foster Klug in Washington and Henry Sanderson in Beijing contributed to this report.On the Net: Tire Industry Association: http://www.tireindustry.org/ U.S. International Trade Commission: http://www.usitc.gov/ United Steelworkers: http://www.usw.org/
Summers concedes risks of ending support for banks By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer – Fri Sep 11, 6:30 pm ET
WASHINGTON – A top economic adviser to President Barack Obama on Friday acknowledged the risks of reining in too quickly the emergency programs put in place to battle the financial crisis.We will not make the mistake of prematurely declaring victory or prematurely withdrawing public support for the flow of credit, said Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council.Summers added that he wanted to avoid the mistakes Japan made in the 1990s and the United States in the late 1930s by pulling the plug on government support too soon.Such a mistake we must not make today,he said in a session with reporters.Doing so could short-circuit an economic recovery, freeze up lending, spook financial markets and send interest rates higher.The economy has been flashing signs of a recovery, and lending has improved some. But the financial system and the economy remain far from normal.
Unemployment, now at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent, is unacceptably high and will remain so for a number of years, Summers conceded. In addition, he noted, the commercial real-estate market is under pressure, and small businesses are having trouble tapping credit.Still, amid evidence that the worst recession since the Great Depression is ending, the government is winding down some programs.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday said a department program to bolster money market mutual funds will close as scheduled Sept. 18. In June, the Federal Reserve said it would let a separate money market mutual fund program expire Oct. 30. It also scaled back some loans to banks.Last month, the Fed said it would stop buying government bonds in October. That program had been aimed at driving down rates on mortgages and other consumer debt.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., meanwhile, is considering whether to stop making new guarantees for bank debt at the end of October, as now scheduled, or extend the program.
Summers said the government's first steps toward withdrawing its emergency support show the financial system is strengthening.President Barack Obama, in a speech set for Monday, will make a fresh pitch for Congress to overhaul financial rules to better guard against future crises.The push comes a year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, sending financial markets around the world into chaos and nearly halting the flow of loans to investors, businesses and ordinary people.Efforts to revamp financial rules have bogged down in Congress. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama's speech Monday will focus on the need to take the next series of steps in financial regulatory reform.Summers indicated that the administration is open to negotiation in overhauling regulations but refrained from offering details.
Medvedev laments Russia's democracy, economy By BEN JUDAH, Associated Press Writer – Fri Sep 11, 1:16 pm ET
MOSCOW – Russia's democracy is weak, its economy is ailing and the country faces long-term problems with the health of its population, President Dmitry Medvedev said in an article published Friday.His comments were among the bluntest assessments to date on national shortcomings from the Kremlin, which is typically defensive about similar accusations.Medvedev criticized an economy that feeds solely off Russia's energy resources, a lack of competitive politics and excessive state influence in everyday life — all in an article that some observers said was an attempt to distance him from his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.An ineffective economy, a semi-Soviet social sphere, a weak democracy, negative demographic trends and an unstable Caucasus. These are very big problems even for a state like Russia, Medvedev wrote in the piece, which ran in several leading newspapers and on the Kremlin Web site.Analysts noted the article comes as Medvedev appears to be trying to map out new policies independent of Putin, who is still viewed as Russia's top decision maker.This could be interpreted as a sign of difference in policy agendas between Putin and Medvedev,said Masha Lipman of the Moscow Carnegie Center.
Putin issued no comment on the article Friday.
Rumors of divisions between Putin and Medvedev — dubbed a ruling tandem — have circulated for months. They have appeared to take different approaches to major issues such as policy toward Ukraine and restructuring the economy. Medvedev in the past has called for a more liberal approach to politics in Russia and expressed interest in breaking up some of the large state-corporations consolidated during Putin's tenure.In the article, Medvedev attacked Russia's humiliating dependence on raw materials and called for more investment in high-tech industries and increased energy efficiency.Russia's primary exports are raw materials, in particular oil and gas, meaning the health of its economy hinges on world energy prices.Analysts also said the article exposed differences within ruling factions on how to pull Russia out of the current economic crisis, which hit the country particularly hard, and on how to modernize its crumbling infrastructure.The Kremlin has struggled to deal with the fallout of the crisis, which has sent unemployment spiking, dried up foreign investment and battered Russian stock markets.This article is an example of the fact there are two factions,said Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-loyal lawmaker and former political analyst.One for the status-quo and another that favors modernization. They are currently in a struggle.Turning to politics, Russia must strive for an open, flexible and internally complex political system, Medvedev wrote. The country needs a regular turnover of political leaders as a result of competitive elections, and democracy and human rights need to be protected, he said.
Rights activists say Putin as president led Russia down the opposite path by abolishing the election of regional leaders, by squeezing smaller parties out of existence and allowing an air of impunity to gather over attacks on Kremlin critics.
Russia's theoretically powerful lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is controlled by Kremlin-obedient parties and under Putin has been reduced to a body that rubber-stamps policy directives.Putin installed his protege Medvedev after serving two four-year terms as president. Putin has hinted he may run for president again in 2012, when Medvedev's term ends.On Friday, Putin said at a meeting with Russian experts at his residence outside Moscow that he and Medvedev would not compete in the next election but would discuss what approach to take. Putin's comments were relayed to The Associated Press by Nikolai Zlobin, the head of the World Security Institute, who was at the meeting.In his article, Medvedev condemned centuries of debilitating corruption and widespread paternalistic attitudes in Russia that all problems should be the responsibility of the state.He also attacked what he called an excessive government presence in society and the economy. State control over large swaths of the economy was restored under Putin.
Why France Wants to Introduce A New Tax on Carbon Emissions By ADAM SMITH / LONDON – SEPT 13,09
It's hard to imagine a new tax getting a bigger cheer from a political leader than the one unveiled by Nicolas Sarkozy Sept. 10. The French President's radical plan to impose a carbon tax on homes and businesses, he said on a factory visit in eastern France, addresses the question of survival of the human race. Slated for introduction next year, the levy marked the first step,Sarkozy said, in a fiscal revolution.As Europe wrestles with the challenges posed by climate change, France's new tax is unlikely to be the last. Governments in the E.U. and U.S. have tried other big levers in their efforts to choke harmful emissions in recent years. Large, industrial companies in Europe that pollute beyond acceptable levels have to pay up for the permission to do so, for instance; under plans approved by the House of Representatives in June and currently with the Senate, U.S. firms could be required to do the same. But in its bid to meet ambitious targets on greenhouse gas reductions, Europe looks set to try taxing emitters. The French plan, says Christian Egenhofer, head of the energy and climate program at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, is just the first salvo.Sweden, Denmark and Finland all imposed similar levies as early as the 1990s, but France - should its lawmakers approve the plan - will become the biggest country yet to try taxes to slow global warming. Initially set at $25 per ton of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2), the tax on the use of oil, natural gas and coal would nudge up the cost of a liter of petrol by $0.06 ($0.23 a gallon), Sarkozy said, and diesel by a little more, helping generate roughly $4.4 billion in annual revenues. A pledge to return that money to taxpayers through various new rebates has so far failed to win over the public; two thirds of voters opposed the tax in a poll published by Paris Match days before the announcement. Denis Baupin, Paris's green deputy mayor, likened it to treating a gravely ill patient with aspirin.
Sarkozy compares his new tax to other divisive issues in the country's recent history that went on to win public backing, from abolition of the death penalty to decolonization. But momentum behind the idea of such a tax in Europe has been sluggish in recent years. Instead, European governments have thrown their weight behind the E.U.'s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), which, since 2005, has granted the region’s industries a limited number of permits to emit harmful gases. Companies that pollute less than their allocation can sell their remaining permits to others that are busting their limits.Arguments over the cap and trade system, as it is known, and especially its effectiveness compared to a carbon tax, have fizzed for years. Both mechanisms slap a price on emissions, and urge those affected to invest in more efficient uses of energy. Critics of taxes say that they're open to fluctuation and that certain industries can win exemptions, undermining a tax's efficacy. Opponents of cap and trade systems, meantime, level similar charges. This much is sure: while taxes might fix the short-term cost of emitting CO2, helping homes and businesses figure out how much to invest in energy saving measures, they don't guarantee a drop in emissions. Cap and trade schemes, on the other hand, set the desired emissions level first.If our aim is to reduce emissions,says Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, a major Washington-based green NGO,I'd go with the cap.
So why bother with the tax? The logic for Europe is simple. The E.U. has pledged to slash greenhouse gas pollution by a fifth of 1990 levels by 2020. But the bloc's Emission Trading Scheme only covers around 40% of its emissions. The U.S. plan, by comparison, will cover roughly double that portion, says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. (Unlike the U.S., Europe, didn't include the petroleum sector in its own scheme, preferring to more heavily tax the industry instead.) Extending the fiendishly complicated system, as Tilford calls it, would be enormously difficult. Brussels is worried that this system is not yet fully perfect,says Egenhofer of the Centre for European Policy Studies,that if you get diffuse sources, such as households and cars, it gets very complex, and potentially expensive.That means other member states are likely to follow France's lead and embrace a new tax, Egenhofer says. Sweden, current holder of the E.U.'s rotating presidency, wants to see the tax policy expanded across the region. With voters everywhere bracing for fiscal belt-tightening, this just might be the best time to push a new tax through.- With reporting by Bryan Walsh / New York.
EU: Sanctions targeting Mugabe won't be lifted SEPT 13,09
HARARE, Zimbabwe – A European Union official says the EU will not remove sanctions targeted at Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his loyalists.European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Karel de Gucht also said Sunday the EU won't resume development aid until more is done to implement the nation's power-sharing agreement and to restore human rights.Winding up the first visit by a high-level EU delegation since 2002, de Gucht says that sharp differences remain between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai over their coalition agreement.
De Gucht says Mugabe and Tsvangirai do not have the same reading of the same document.
