SPAIN HEADS EU FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS

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.

Mudslide kills 10 people in Brazilian resort city By TALES AZZONI, Associated Press Writer – JAN 1,10

SAO PAULO – A rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on three houses and an upscale lodge after New Year celebrations at a resort near Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 10 people, Brazilian authorities said.About 100 rescuers were searching for other survivors of the mudslide that also injured at least five people early Friday. Police helicopters and navy vessels were helping in the rescue efforts.The mudslide apparently happened after tourists had returned to their rooms following the New Year's celebration in the lodge on an island off the city of Angra dos Reis, fire department commander Pedro Machado said.Witnesses told local media the hillside lodge and the houses, which can only be accessed by boat, collapsed after being struck by a slab of land nearly 300 meters (330 yards) wide.Wooden parts of the lodge were seen floating near the shore and on the beach.The Sankay lodge was capable of accommodating 50 guests and was reportedly full at the time of the mudslide.Other mudslides had killed 19 people across Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday, mostly when as shanties collapsed under mud or rain in the greater Rio de Janeiro city area.Four other people had died early Friday in Angra dos Reis because of other mudslides caused by the heavy rains.Authorities said nearly 80 mudslides have been reported throughout the region, toppling trees and destroying power lines.
Local officials declared three days of mourning and canceled the town's annual celebration on Jan. 6.

Brazil mudslides, floods kill 29 after heavy rain
JAN 1,10

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Mudslides and flooding killed at least 29 people in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state and authorities worry the death toll could climb with more heavy rains in the forecast, local media reported on Friday.Ten people were found dead on Friday after a small hotel collapsed in the beach resort of Angra dos Reis, one of Brazil's most exclusive tourism destinations, GloboNews television channel reported, citing firefighters.Rescue teams, aided by helicopters and navy boats, were struggling to reach the region where the hotel collapsed, Pedro Machado, head of the firefighters' corps, told GloboNews.Television footage showed the hotel completely buried under a mountain of reddish brown mud. On Thursday, a heavy downpour that triggered mudslides and floods killed as many as 19 people across Rio state, Brazil's third most populous.Machado said heavy rains forecast for the coming days could make rescue work harder and trigger more mudslides.

The state's civil defense, ports and firefighters agencies did not immediately return calls.Local media said most of the deaths occurred as shacks located in some poor areas collapsed. Heavy rain was forecast for greater Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second-largest city.(Reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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).

WATCH CLOSELY NOW AS SPAIN WILL BRING ABOUT THE DICTATORS SEAT OF POWER FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS.

Spain takes over EU presidency By Daniel Woolls, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 8:14 am ET

MADRID – Spain took over the presidency of the European Union on Friday, with the prime minister promising to work to end the continent's economic crisis.The six-month rotating post passed from Sweden to Spain at the stroke of midnight, and the country launched its stint in the helm with a spectacular sound and light show for New Year's Eve revelers gathered at the Puerta del Sol, one of Madrid's most emblematic plazas.Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain's main goal as EU president is to fight for economic recovery, for recovery from the crisis, and make Europe an economy that is more and more productive, more and more innovative and more and more sustainable.Zapatero also said that under the new Treaty of Lisbon, which went into effect Dec. 1, the 27-member European Union must work to assert itself more on the global stage as it deals with powerhouses like the United States and China.We have to make Europe an ever stronger factor in the international context; a Europe that defends and extends the values of peace, cooperation, and dialogue among all peoples and nations, Zapatero said in a short video posted on a Web site the government has created to launch the presidency.One of the key goals of the Lisbon treaty is to streamline EU decision-making procedures so the bloc can act with more agility.

It also created the post of full-time president, Belgian Herman Van Rompuy, and named a new foreign policy chief, Britain's Catherine Ashton, but retained the system of rotating presidencies for handling the bloc's day-to-day affairs.As chance would have it, the EU's efforts to resurrect the economy will now be led by the country that is perhaps the worst off of all of them.Spain has an EU-high unemployment rate of 17.9 percent, about double the bloc's average, and while countries including France and Germany have managed to climb out of technical recession, Spain acknowledges it is lagging behind and will not see net creation of jobs until late this year.Spain had posted nearly a decade of solid and sometimes robust growth, largely on the strength of its construction sector, until the real estate bubble collapsed over the past two years.

Pope calls for respect, peace at start of 2010 By ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 6:40 am ET

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI on Friday called for respect of all people without discrimination and the protection of children from war and violence as he celebrated the start of the new year.Jan. 1 is also the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, and the pontiff issued an appeal to all armed groups to stop, reflect and abandon the way of violence, even if it seems impossible.You will feel in your hearts the joy of peace, which you have perhaps long forgotten, Benedict said during the Angelus prayer.

He said peace begins by recognizing that men are brothers, not rivals or enemies.

Peace begins with a look of respect that recognizes in another man's face a person, regardless of the color of his skin, nationality, language or religion, he said during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica earlier in the day.The value of respect for all should be taught from an early age, Benedict said. Noting that classes containing children of different backgrounds are common, he said that their faces are a prophecy of the kind of humanity we are called upon to create: a family of families and peoples.The 82-year-old pope put children, especially those hurt by conflict or forced to leave their homes, at the heart of his call for peace.He said they make it evident that men are brothers because despite differences, they cry and laugh the same way, have the same needs, communicate spontaneously, play together.

The painful images of children at the mercy of war and violence, their faces disfigured by pain and desperation, are a silent appeal for peace, Benedict said.The pope celebrated the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica a week after he was knocked down by a woman on Christmas Eve. He was unhurt in the fall and has kept up his busy holiday schedule.The Vatican said the woman was mentally unstable and identified her as 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, a Swiss-Italian national. She remains in a clinic for treatment.In his comments, Benedict also renewed his call to protect the environment, saying that the degradation of man leads to the degradation of the planet.

WORLD TERRORISM

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

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Al-Qaeda threat looms into new decade: Brown
JAN 1,2010

LONDON (AFP) – The failed Detroit plane bombing showed that terrorism remains a very real global threat as the world enters a new decade eight years after 9/11, Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Friday.World leaders needed to cooperate urgently to tighten security at airports and on aircraft following the December 25 attack in which a 23-year-old Nigerian nearly downed a US jet as it prepared to land, he said.

Brown added that Britain had ordered a review of airport security arrangements and promised action as quickly as possible. This could include the use of full body scanners at airports.The new decade is starting as the last began -- with Al-Qaeda creating a climate of fear, he wrote, saying the failed bombing had exposed an evolving terrorist threat and highlighted a major new base for terrorism.The failed attack in Detroit on Christmas Day reminds us of a deeper reality: that almost 10 years after September 11th international terrorism is still a very real threat, he added.The Detroit attack, which has led to a major review of security procedures and the coordination of airline and other watch-lists, had thrown the spotlight onto the threat posed by militants based in Yemen, he said.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is believed to have been trained in Yemen before embarking on the failed bombing, with explosives concealed in his underwear which remained undetected as he passed through Nigerian and Dutch airports. Related article: Brown calls meeting on Yemen.Enemies of democracy and freedom -- now trying to mastermind death and destruction from Yemen as well as other better-known homes of international terror such as Pakistan and Afghanistan -- are concealing explosives in ways which are more difficult to detect,said Brown.Al Qaeda and their associates continue in their ambition to indoctrinate thousands of young people around the world with a deadly desire to kill and maim, he wrote in an article on his Downing Street office's website.And he said: Our response in security, intelligence, policing and military action, is not just an act of choice but an act of necessity.Brown said Britain has one of the toughest borders in the world, and had screened 135 million passengers in and out of the country against watchlists -- including the Detroit attempted bomber, who was refused a visa in May 2009.But in light of the Detroit incident we all urgently need to work together on how we might further tighten these arrangements, he said.

That is why on Monday I ordered immediate reviews into existing measures -- including for transit passengers -- and asked for ways we can urgently tighten procedures.I will be receiving the preliminary findings in the next few days and we will act on them as quickly as possible.He added potential measures to be deployed could include explosive trace technology, full body scanners and advanced x-ray technology.He stressed that Britain cannot rely only on a fortress Britain strategy but must take the fight to where extremists are based, in Afghanistan, Pakistan and all around the world.The Detroit plot thankfully failed. But it has been another wake-up call for the ongoing battles we must wage not just for security against terror but for the hearts and minds of a generation.

UK considers body scanners after airline attack By SYLVIA HUI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 31, 7:01 pm ET

LONDON – Britain is considering introducing new technology such as full body scanners to improve airport security after the attempted Christmas Day airline attack, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday.The failed attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit last week was a wake-up call for Britain to move quickly to combat changing terrorist techniques by updating its security measures and improving the way it shares information about terror suspects, Brown said.These enemies of democracy and freedom ... are concealing explosives in ways which are more difficult to detect, the prime minister said in an article posted on his official Web site.Brown said traditional pat-down searches and sniffer dogs are no longer enough to identify hidden explosives and weapons. Together with the U.S., Britain is examining the use of more sophisticated equipment — including full body scanners and advanced x-ray technology, he said.The U.S. and many other countries have been reluctant to introduce body scanners that peer underneath clothing because of privacy concerns. Privacy advocates say they amount to a virtual strip search because they display an image of the body onto a computer screen.But reacting to last week's attempted airline bombing — in which 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded his flight from Amsterdam to Detroit carrying undetected explosives — the Netherlands announced Wednesday it will immediately begin using full body scanners for flights heading to the United States.

The controversial scanners are currently on trial at Britain's Manchester Airport. BAA, the authority that owns six U.K. airports including London's Heathrow, has said it would await a European ruling on privacy regulations before considering a similar move.Brown also stressed that the British government is working to prevent young people at British universities and colleges from being targetted by terrorist recruiters.Some security experts and the British media have speculated that Abdulmutallab — who was president of University College London's Islamic Society when he studied for his undergraduate degree there — may have been recruited by al-Qaeda extremists on campus.Although we are increasingly clear that he linked up with al-Qaeda in Yemen after leaving London, we nevertheless need to remain vigilant against people being radicalized here as well as abroad, Brown said.The leader also said he has ordered an immediate review aiming at tightening Britain's passenger screening methods and improving its watch-list system.

Times Square revelers mark end of difficult decade By VIRGINIA BYRNE, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jan 1, 6:46 am ET

NEW YORK – For all those reflecting glumly on the last 10 years of terror attacks, war and recession, Gail Guay has some advice: Don't look back.The 50-year-old Guay, from Raymond, N.H., was among the hundreds of thousands of revelers who rang in 2010 in a chilly Times Square as the famous Waterford crystal ball dropped at midnight Thursday, marking the end of a difficult decade that many wanted to leave behind.But a sense of starting fresh remained elusive for many, who wondered what sort of legacy would begin on Jan. 1.Nothing seems to be going well, said John O'Donnell, of Hazleton, Pa.People are losing their lives overseas. People are unemployed. It doesn't seem like it's about to end soon.Las Vegas welcomed some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, celebrity toasts at nightclubs and a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip.David Fraley attended a separate gathering in Sin City's downtown estimated at 35,000 people.This decade's over. Let's get a better one going, said Fraley, 56, who lost his job as a supermarket liquor clerk in March.Bob Batchelor, a professor of mass communications at Kent State University and author of The 2000s, published before the decade was even done, said the meaning of the new decade would be diminished by the hangover of the last decade.That,he said,makes it tough to be as optimistic as Americans usually are.But New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was more tempered in his assessment.If you put it in the context of what people are suffering around the world, we're in very good shape, he said from Times Square.

Some were hopeful.

I have many wishes for 2010! exclaimed Ramona Vlada, 28, of Romania.I wish to be healthy, love and to be loved at the same time, be with the family and make a family even bigger.Celebrations took many forms, with concerts, fireworks and the timed drops of favorite local symbols.Denver revelers by the thousand gathered downtown and gave the traditional New Year's countdown, ending with a rousing cheer as the clock struck midnight.In the Tennessee cities of Memphis and Nashville, organizers dropped 10-foot red guitars. In Atlanta, an 800-pound fiberglass peach took a 138-foot plunge. In Times Square it was an 11,875-pound ball covered with more than 32,000 bulbs that was lowered at midnight.In Boston, more than 1,000 artists and performers participated in the First Night celebrations. Artists planned to display six ice sculptures, including a replica of one of the Boston Museum of Fine Art's 4,000-year-old Egyptian sculptures.And in Chicago, the city's Transit Authority was offering rides for a penny to help residents and visitors get in place for fireworks displays during the evening and at midnight. Around the world, from fireworks in Sydney to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, merrymakers at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to the first decade of the 21st century. In Times Square, organizers mixed about 10,000 handwritten wishes into the 3,000 pounds of confetti that was dropped over the crowds. The messages included appeals for the safe return of troops fighting overseas, continued employment and a cure for diabetes. The hundreds of thousands of people gathered brought out heightened police security, displayed a day earlier when officers evacuated several blocks around Times Square to investigate a parked van without license plates. Only clothing and clothes racks were found inside. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, speaking from Times Square on a Webcast, said his department had many officers in the crowd, both uniformed and plainclothes. He said officers were using bomb-sniffing dogs and technology to detect biological and chemical agents. Counter-sniper teams were set up as well. As of early morning on the first day of the new decade, there had been no reports of trouble or arrests.Associated Press writer Oskar Garcia in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

Goodbye 2009! World ready for a more hopeful 2010 By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer – Thu Dec 31, 3:44 pm ET

PARIS – Fireworks exploded over Sydney's famous bridge and the Eiffel Tower prepared for its own colored-light spectacle as the world celebrated a New Year that many hope will be more prosperous and peaceful than 2009.Revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about their future prospects to bid farewell to The Noughties, a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for zero and evoking the word naughty.The financial downturn hit hard in 2009, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year's Eve address.Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal,he added.Germany's leader warned her people that the start of the new decade won't herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa's president was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country's most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Other leaders focused on the positive aspects of 2009.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said 2009 had been an extraordinary year for the world — citing the inauguration of the United States' first black president and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.The great message from 2009 is that because we've been all in this together, we've all worked together, Rudd said in a New Year's message.Australia got the festivities rolling Thursday, with Sydney draping its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers.

Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.Venice revelers were set to ring in the New Year with wet feet as high tide was to peak just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city — including the St. Mark's Square.In winter, tourists checking into Venice hotels are regularly asked their shoe sizes so they can be fitted with boots to face the lagoon city's exceptionally high tides.The last year also offered its reminders of the decade's fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.In late December we were reminded at this decade's end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism, he said.The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor — though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.More than 8,000 police and soldiers were deployed for extra security in and around Paris. The Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights for a show that's more energy-saving than its usual sparkling-light display.

Despite forecasts for below-freezing temperatures, thousands were expected to gather on the banks of the River Thames in London for fireworks after Big Ben strikes midnight. (2009 was) like shock therapy, where people really change when something bad happens to them, said accountant Conrad Jordaan, 35. It was a world-changing year, a bad year in many ways, but an important year because of the economic downturn, he said, enjoying cigarettes and coffee at an outdoor cafe in London.It will be interesting to see if it changes peoples' behavior long term.Europe and the Americas were likely to be partying harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar, and China will mark the new year in February. Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying 518 sounds like the phrase I want prosperity. Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year's Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith's feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.

Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year's in Austria just isn't complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm — and stalls selling the little porkers were doing good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap. Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna's Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.

Some festivities went awry.

In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune — but some carry that belief to extremes. At Zojoji, one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large 2010 sign glowed from the center. Across town in Shibuya, the scene was more chaotic. The area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang. Keitaro Morizame, a 24-year-old TV producer in Tokyo, expressed optimism for the new year. I really felt the economic downturn last year, he said. I think the future will be brighter.In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or even in Santa Claus dress, Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said. In Stonehaven, on Scotland's east coast, the fireballs festival — a tradition for a century and a half — sees in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences. In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warns those attending not to wear their best clothes — because there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Veronika Oleksyn in Vienna, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Daniela Petroff in Venice, Ronan Sullivan in Sydney, Jay Alabaster and Tomoko Hosaka in Tokyo, Cara Anna in Beijing, Gregory Katz in London, and Jim Gomez in Manila, contributed to this story.

London, Paris stocks finish 2009 with big gains
by Roland Jackson – Thu Dec 31, 9:11 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – British and French stock markets rose Thursday in light holiday-shortened trade to finish 2009 with bumper annual gains of more than 22 percent amid growing investor confidence over economic recovery.London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares won just 0.28 percent to end at 5,412.88 points at 1230 GMT, as traders headed home early for New Year celebrations.Shortly afterwards, in Paris the CAC 40 index added a marginal 0.02 percent to close at 3,936.33 points at 1300 GMT. Frankfurt had shut Wednesday for festivities.This year, London and Paris have each soared by more than 22 percent in value, while Frankfurt jumped almost 24 percent.We saw a decent push higher but trading volumes were understandably light, GFT analyst David Morrison told AFP.Investors wanted to see a positive end to 2009, to cap a stunning rally that began back in March.All three main European markets have surged ahead, boosted by mounting signs of economic recovery after a vicious downturn that was rooted in the global financial crisis.The eurozone, Japan and the United States all pulled out of recession in 2009 -- but Britain has yet to escape amid stubborn fears about ballooning state debt and soaring unemployment.However, the London stock market has soared by almost 55 percent in value since striking six-year lows in March at around the 3,500-points mark. The high for the year stands at 5,445.20 points -- reached on Tuesday.

Frankfurt, London and Paris will remain shut on Friday and reopen for business on Monday, January 4.Morrison added that the New Year would bring an array of challenges for stock market investors.2010 will bring a host of fresh challenges, although investors will hope that stocks will continue to strengthen, he said.
Sovereign debt concerns will become even more of an issue, and we have to worry about a ratings downgrade for the UK once the general election is out of the way.But before that, fourth-quarter corporate earnings will grab traders' attention: if there is no improvement in revenues this time round, we can expect a sharp correction in equities.Markets had slumped in early 2009 on fears about governments' abilities to overcome the deep worldwide recession.But they were lifted as many of the world's central banks and governments launched radical measures to boost lending, stabilise the troubled banking sector and slash interest rates to historically low levels.Investors can look back on the last twelve months with a sigh of relief, added UBS analyst Geoffrey Yu.The global financial system stabilized, helping avert a depression, as most asset classes began to feel the effects of extraordinary and coordinated policy intervention by the second quarter.

Risks remain in 2010, but the world economy is back from the brink, he added. On Wednesday, Germany's DAX 30 index of leading shares sank 0.90 percent to finish at 5,957.43 points on Frankfurt's final trading day of 2009. Sentiment was hit after Tokyo finished in the red on its final trading day of the year on Wednesday. The market also reopens on January 4. Wall Street stocks edged higher overnight after a better-than-expected report on US manufacturing activity, indicating that a recovery from recession was on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03 percent to 10,548.51, a day after the blue-chip index fell for the first time in seven sessions that saw new 2009 highs.

Oil prices wrap up huge 2009 rally on mixed note
Thu Dec 31, 4:49 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – World oil prices wrapped up a massive 2009 rebound Thursday on a mixed note amid hopes for a global recovery from recession.Crude oil prices surged 80 percent from a year ago as traders were heartened by mounting evidence that the global economy was on the mend, with the eurozone, Japan and the United States emerging from a fierce recession.New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, crept eight cents higher to close at 79.36 dollars a barrel.London's Brent North Sea crude for February fell 10 cents to settle at 77.93 dollars.The New York contract ended the year 77.94 percent higher, while Brent was not far behind, clocking in a gain of 70.94 percent.Amid thin trading as many market participants were away from their desks ahead of the New Year holiday Friday, the New York contract managed to reach the pyschological level of 80.00 dollars in intraday trade.Momentum seems to run out near 80 dollars as market participants ponder the conundrum of whether or not a sustainable recovery is actually underway, said Mike Fitzpatrick at MF Global.The oil market ran counter to other markets, overcoming a slightly firmer dollar that makes oil more expensive and slumping Wall Street equities.The positive bias shows near-term supply and demand strength, said Ellis Eckland, an independent analyst.Oil prices found support again from official US data released Wednesday that showed declines in stockpiles of crude oil and distillates, including heating oil, in the past week, suggesting stronger demand in the world's biggest energy-consuming nation.That report built on the prior week's unexpected and sharp declines in the two categories.The inventories number were bullish yesterday. Also the weather?s been cold, Eckland said, explaining the rise in demand for heating oil.The analyst forecast a typical January surge in oil prices as markets emerge from the worst global economic and financial crisis in decades.

Before the 2008 crisis, you?d often get a rally in January, because it?s cold and the demand is stronger. The distillates market tightens up, he said.The current market is kind of going back to normal, because the market wasn?t tight at all, he added.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces 40 percent of global crude output, last week held its production quotas unchanged at an Angola meeting, warning of lingering weakness in the world economy.A steady 10-month climb has brought the New York futures contract not far from its 2009 peak at 81.37 dollars.MF Global's Fitzpatrick said that oil this year had fixed its role as a macroeconomic measurement that formerly was held exclusively by precious metals, currencies and treasuries. That role was enhanced earlier in the year as commodities in general became a store of value for investors as confidence in capital markets was shaken in the wake of last year's Lehman Brothers debacle, he said. The OPEC meeting capped a year of recovery for oil prices, which have more than doubled since the cartel set strict quota cuts in the depths of the economic crisis a year ago.

Last January the cartel agreed cuts of 4.2 million barrels a day, which helped support prices. The worldwide economic downturn, which was sparked by the global financial crisis that emanated from the collapse of the US housing bubble, had slammed energy demand, driving prices to a 2009 low of 33.98 dollars on February 12.

So much then for 2009, a year that the oil market spent mainly in a recovery mode, said Barclays Capital analyst Paul Horsnell. However, prices still remain far below the record highs above 147 dollars a barrel struck in July 2008 on fears of supply disruptions.

MURDER

GENESIS 4:8-11 (THE FIRST MURDER)
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

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

EXODUS 20:13
13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)

REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)

LUKE 21:25
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(OZONE DEPLETION) and in the moon,(FIRST MAN ON MOON) and in the stars;(JUPITER BOMBARDED ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;
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.

Finnish police: Shooter likely targeted victims
JAN 1,10

HELSINKI – Finnish police say the man who killed five people in a New Year's Eve shooting rampage appears to have deliberately targeted his victims.Finnish investigator Henrik Niklander said it was unlikely to be a coincidence that the three men and two women who were shot and killed Thursday in a mall in Espoo all worked at the same grocery store.Police told reporters Friday that a preliminary probe revealed that 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli's method for slaying his victims also indicated deliberate planning.Four of the victims were shot with an unlicensed handgun inside the mall. The fifth victim — Shkupolli's Finnish ex-girlfriend — was found dead in a nearby apartment. The woman had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, who reportedly stalked her for years.

29 MKs Challenge Construction Ban in Letter to PM
by Avi Yellin JAN 1,10

(IsraelNN.com) Nearly 30 members of Knesset sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) this week challenging the government’s current ban on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The letter, initiated by the Matot Arim organization in cooperation with Knesset House Committee Chairman Yariv Levin (Likud) and opposition MK Uri Ariel (National Union), claims that because of the colossal infringement of human rights resulting from the construction ban, the policy violates Israel’s Basic Law and would require extensive and protracted legislation in order to be legally implemented.

Suzie Dym of Matot Arim told Israel National News the letter signed by 29 members of Knesset will – in addition to focusing on the human rights issues and dubious legality of the policy – take the struggle against the construction ban to an entirely new level. Until now there has been shock at the infringement of human rights resulting from the freeze. This is what has been dealt with up to now. But this letter is asserting that the problem is not only about human rights. The lawmakers who signed the document are saying that they as elected officials know that the Zionist enterprise requires an extensive momentum of Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. This construction is central to the Jewish people, to the Zionist endeavor and to the security of Israel.The letter was signed by 29 parliamentarians from seven different political factions representing a wide spectrum of Israeli society. According to Dym, the State of Israel is a representative democracy and therefore a letter to the prime minister signed by such a large number of lawmakers should have sweeping implications and be honored by the prime minister and defense minister on a policy level.

Har Bracha Students Appeal Removal from Hesder Program
by Avi Yellin JAN 1,10

(IsraelNN.com) Students from the Har Bracha Yeshiva petitioned the Supreme Court Friday morning in an effort to revoke the decision of Defense Minister Ehud Barak (Labor) to oust their yeshiva from the Hesder program combining Torah study with IDF service.The petition, filed by Attorney Gilad Corinaldi, argued that the defense minister’s decision lacks legal foundation and is instead based on personal political considerations, therefore creating a dangerous precedent that could have long term negative implications for Israeli society.The petition further accused the defense minister of creating a dangerous crisis by violating the holy alliance of Religious Zionism with the state and its institutions that may, heaven forbid, hurt the cohesion and unity of our people’s army.According to the students, who received letters from the IDF giving them 60 days to find another yeshiva or be expelled from the Hesder program, Barak’s decision amounts to collective punishment and forces them to pay the price of the defense minister’s personal rivalry with their Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eliezer Melamed. The petitioners are hopeful that the Supreme Court will act in accordance with the law and overrule Barak’s decree.

Barak had claimed that Rabbi Melamed's behavior was encouraging soldiers to refuse orders when the Rabbi wrote that although if asked he would have told soldiers not to demonstrate against expulsions of settlers while in the army, he admired their integrity. Barak removed the yeshiva from the Hesder program. Rabbi Melamed signed an announcement by the Organization of Hesder Yeshiva Heads against demonstrations in the army, but Barak remained adamant about the ouster.