PALESTINAN STATE IN JUDEA SAMARIA

FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS

MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.

1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

DEUTORONOMY 18:10-12
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

JUDE 10-13
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

MATTHEW 10:32-33
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

THESE FALSE CHRISTIANS WILL PAY BIGTIME AT THE JUDGEMENT OF THEIR BODIES IN FRONT OF JESUS.WHEN THEY GO TO THE DARKEST OF THE LAKE OF FIRE OF BURNING AND TORMENT FOREVER FOR DENYING JESUS AND TURNING THEIR BACK ON HIM.WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF CHRISTIANS (FAKES)TURNING TO NOAHIDES AND DENYING JESUS ALSO.THIS IS THE WORST YOU CAN DO -IS TO ONCE BE A BELIEVER IN JESUS(YOU CLAIM TO BE)THEN LET SATAN DECIEVE YOU AND FALL AWAY AND DENY JESUS AS GOD.

Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer – Thu Jul 29, 9:07 pm ET

NEW YORK – Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian.In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control, the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.Rice, 68, is best known for Interview With a Vampire and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession.In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years. She was troubled by the child abuse scandals in the church, and the church's defensive reaction, and by the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, a nun and hospital administrator who had approved an abortion for a woman whose life was in danger.I believed for a long time that the differences, the quarrels among Christians didn't matter a lot for the individual, that you live your life and stay out of it. But then I began to realize that it wasn't an easy thing to do, said Rice, speaking from her home near Palm Springs, Calif. I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind.

Rice said she is a Democrat who supports the health care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama and believes gay marriage inevitably will be permitted throughout the country. Although no longer part of any denomination, she remains a believer and continues to read theology and post Biblical passages on her Facebook page. She has no immediate plans to write about her leaving the church and will continue with her metaphysical fiction series, Songs of the Seraphim.Rice will not be taking up vampires again, but she said she is a big fan of the HBO series True Blood, enjoyed the first two Twilight movies (she has yet to read any of the Stephenie Meyer novels) and is interested in seeing her most famous character, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, return to the screen.We're in talks about it, she said. But then we've always been in talks about it. Hope springs eternal in California.

Egyptian Journalist Describes Absolute Prosperity in Gaza
by Maayana Miskin JULY 30,10

With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a prosperous Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl's story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege was written up in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza's coast. Further, the site of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed me he reported.Concerned that his initial impression of prosperity may have been misleading,I toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify my hypothesis. The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and to prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic,Al-Houl said.Gaza's markets are filled with a plethora of goods,he wrote. Prices on many items, particularly food, are much lower than they are in Egypt, he said. With goods entering Gaza from both smuggling tunnels to Egypt and humanitarian aid shipments coming in via Israeli crossings,supply is much greater than demand, he stated.

The evident prosperity is not enjoyed by all, or even most, of Gaza's residents, according to Al-Houl. The problem is the vast differences in the distribution of wealth. The luxury resorts and wide range of consumer goods are enjoyed by only a few groups, he said, primarily those who own smuggling tunnels to Egypt and those who work for international organizations such as the United Nations' UNRWA and who do not include or aid the rest of the population.Most of the new resorts are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas,he reported. In addition, the Hamas municipalities charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches,he added.Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza's rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. This creates a distorted picture,Ibrahim explained.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Abbas: PA State To Be Judenrein
by Maayana Miskin JULY 30,10

If a Palestinian Authority state is created in Judea and Samaria, no Israeli citizen will be allowed to set foot inside, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said this week in a meeting with members of the Arab League. The PA chairman also stated that he would block any Jewish soldiers from serving with an international force stationed on PA-controlled land. I will never allow a single Israeli to live among us on Palestinian land, Abbas declared. Abbas addressed the Arab League during a discussion over the possibility of holding direct negotiations with Israel. Like Abbas, Arab League members agreed to direct talks in theory, but only if a number of measures and conditions were met. De facto, both Abbas and the League nixed the talks, but the constant discusiion of conditions is seen as an attempt to throw the ball back into Israel's court after PM Netanyahu, in Washington recently, succeeded in putting the onus for agreeing to talks on Abbas.The agreement depends on what will be discussed [in Israel-PA talks] and the manner in which negotiations are conducted, said Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin-Jassim bin-Jabor al-Thani.Abbas has demanded that Israeli completely freeze construction for Jews in areas east of the 1949 armistice line, including north, south, and east Jerusalem, and that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commit to creating a PA state with borders based on the armistice line. Until those conditions are met, Abbas has said, the PA will not negotiate.

Arab League members claimed they had received new support from United States President Barack Obama. A recent letter from Obama to Abbas included guarantees, according to League head Amr Moussa. He did not specify the alleged promises.During his meeting with the Arab League, Abbas gave his explanation for why negotiations with the previous Israeli administration, headed by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, failed to yield a peace deal. We almost reached an agreement, and I agreed to a land swap for 0.19% of the territory, while he suggested 6.5%. I refused, and we did not reach an agreement,he said.The land swap idea is meant to allow Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria to remain in their current locations even in the case of an Israel-PA peace deal.Abbas reiterated his support for the right of return, the demand by Arabs who fled Israel during the War of Independence when their leaders promised them a quick return after the Jews' annihilation, to come back to the country along with the hundreds of thousands of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren born since. That demand is the reason they remained in squalid refugee camps as opposed to the larger number of Jewish refugees expelled from Arab lands in 1948 who became productive citizens of the land of Israel. Abbas said he had discussed the right of return with Olmert, and had warned that the issue was very dangerous and must be resolved according to the Arab initiative.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Italian MPs Call to Ban IHH in Europe
by Maayana Miskin JULY 29,10

Six Italian Members of Parliament have called to consider banning the IHH, the Turkish pro-terrorist group whose activists clashed with IDF soldiers aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla in late May. Germany has already banned the group, and 87 United States Senators have signed a call to classify it as a terrorist organization in their country.The Islamic fundamentalist nature of IHH has been documented by numerous declarations praising martyrdom and Israel's destruction, said MPs Fiamma Nirenstein, Enrico Pianetta, Guglielmo Picchi, Antonio Martino, Gennaro Malgieri, and Massimo Polledri in an official parliamentary question. Several such declarations were made shortly before the ship Mavi Marmara, part of a larger Gaza-bound flotilla, set sail, they continued. IHH members aboard the Marmara told reporters before departing that their purpose was religious martyrdom,they noted.

The MPs pointed out that IHH is a member of the Union of Good, a Saudi Arabia-based umbrella group for Islamic organizations that is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Union of Good funnels money to Hamas; it has been banned by Israel and designated as supporting terrorism by the United States.The Turkish government itself was formerly concerned over IHH, they said, and investigated the group in the late 1990s over its links with Al-Qaeda. The group was investigated in the U.S. for alleged involvement in an attempted terrorist attack in Los Angeles, and in France for funding Islamic terrorist groups.The MPs concluded by asking, We would like to know the following: What is the position of the Italian government regarding the possibility of including the NGO known as the IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi) in the EU list of terrorist organizations and whether or not it intends to push an action to discuss it.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Israel Wants Even More Research & Development
by Elad Benari JULY 29,10

A new Israeli initiative is attempting to convince international banks to set up research & development centers in Israel by having the country pay part of the employees’ salaries.In an interview he gave to Bloomberg on Monday, Finance Ministry Director General Haim Shani said that Israel’s government will pay as much as 50 percent of the workers’ wages at the banks’ R&D units for up to five years. The amount of payment by the government will vary depending on whether the center is based in the central part of Israel or in the periphery, as well as on the level of salary. The reason for the initiative, explained Shani, is that We want to attract large financial services companies, particularly big banks. It will make part of their competitive advantage in the years to come.Shani is currently conducting meetings with officials at US financial companies. Several months ago he conducted meetings in the UK. The economic news out of Israel has been positive despite hard economic times for many other countries during the last recession. This past May, Israel was accepted into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and it was also recently announced that Jerusalem was chosen as the venue for the annual OECD conference in October. Tourism ministers from the 31 countries in the OECD will attend the meeting which will be attended by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer.

Israel has also historically invested in research. In 2008, for example, the country spent 4.9 percent of its GDP on R&D.Israel, being the greatest per capita producer of technology, also wants to capitalize on this industry. The country is already home to R&D centers for companies such as Intel, IBM, Motorola, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard. Approximately 35,000 Israelis are employed in R&D. Technology exports in Israel rose an annualized 68 percent in the first 11 months in 2009. According to a recent forecast by Israel’s Finance Ministry, the country’s economy will grow by 3.6 percent this year, according to a June 6 Finance Ministry forecast, and by 3.8 percent next year. Shani’s initiative is, in fact, much more than just about bringing more R&D to Israel. He also hopes that if his proposed program is successful, it will result in more new immigrants being lured to the country.We know there are people who would like to return or make aliyah,he said.It's part of a larger strategy of bringing minds back to Israel.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

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

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

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

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

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

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
CNBC VIDEOS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839263/site/14081545/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI JULY 30,2010

09:30 AM -2.25
10:00 AM -17.45
10:30 AM -41.16
11:00 AM +7.56
11:30 AM -17.56
12:00 PM -11.39
12:30 PM -13.55
01:00 PM -13.32
01:30 PM -48.93
02:00 PM -72.91
02:30 PM -31.64
03:00 PM -31.94
03:30 PM +28.45
04:00 PM -1.22 10,465.94

S&P 500 1101.60 +0.07

NASDAQ 2254.70 +3.01

GOLD 1,182.00 +13.60

OIL 78.99 +0.63

TSE 300 11,713.40 -15.20

CDNX 1427.36 +5.07

S&P/TSX/60 685.03 -1.17

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -80 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -118 points at low today.
Dow +31 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,174.00.OIL opens at $77.76 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -118 points at low today so far.
Dow +31 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -118 points at low today.
Dow +31 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,260.90 (NOT AT CLOSE)

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

Commission official to bridge supervision gap of Swift agreement
VALENTINA POP 29.07.2010 @ 17:44 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Pressed by the coming into force of the Swift agreement on 1 August, the EU commission is about to appoint an interim technician to oversee the searches conducted by US authorities on European bank transactions as part of anti-terrorist investigations.The supervisor's task is to check the way American investigators are conducting their searches through the personal data of Europeans whenever they have a lead on a terrorism suspect receiving or sending money via the old continent.The main company targeted by this agreement is the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), which had been supplying the US with this data for its Terrorism Finance Tracking Program - initially a covert operation set up in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The appointment of this independent EU person was a condition laid down by the European Parliament for approving the deal last month, after it had struck down a previous version in February citing poor data protection provisions.

Under the job description, the interim supervisor, pending security clearance from the US authorities, will have the authority to block any or all searches that are broader than the scope of the agreement – for instance random searches or algorithmic profiling or computer filtering.But as the regular selection procedure is expected to last two to three months, the EU commission is about to send someone provisionally to Washington, until the definitive appointment is made, a spokesman said Thursday (29 July).The appointment was very technical, not political and the name of the interim official will not be made public, Michele Cercone, spokesman for home affairs, said during a press briefing.The interim person could be someone holding a position within the EU mission in Washington and dealing with home affairs, which would mean that he or she already has the necessary clearance to take up the post next week.Washington is eager to have the agreement in place as soon as possible, warning that the months lapsed since the beginning of the year, when the data flow was interrupted, resulted in a security gap.It is expected that an information request will be put forward by the end of next week, with the first data flowing around 20 August, after Europol, the EU police co-operation agency, had given its approval.Because everything was rushed through, in the name of the security gap, we are now facing a supervision gap. But it's better to have someone provisionally than nobody at all,Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie in't Veld, one of the critics of the agreement, told this website. As to the secrecy surrounding the interim appointment, Ms in't Veld said this was a wrong approach.We don't want someone in the secret service, we need transparency, to be able to ask questions. It doesn't have to be a terrorism fighter, the job of this person is to oversee the implementation of the agreement. He or she should be a data protection specialist, she explained.The EU commission points to the fact that the final appointment will be the result of an open contest, but does not exclude that the interim person keeps the job permanently.A spokesperson for the US government said that Washington is working very closely with the Eu to implement all aspects of the agreement, including the role of the EU-appointed monitor.

Italian gag law threatens bloggers with €25,000 fines for ‘incorrect' facts
LEIGH PHILLIPS 29.07.2010 @ 17:44 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Bloggers, podcasters and even anyone who posts updates on social networks such as Facebook all face being slapped with fines of up to €25,000 for publishing incorrect facts, if a bill that journalists' organisations are calling authoritarian currently before the Italian parliament is passed.A provision within the government's Media and Wiretapping Bill will extend Italy's obbligo di rettifica, or rectification obligation - a law dating back to 1948 that requires newspapers to publish corrections - to the internet and indeed anyone responsible for information websites.According to the draft law, bloggers and other online publishers - which lawyers believe includes users of Facebook and Myspace - will be obliged to post corrections within 48 hours of any complaint regarding their content.

If authors do not comply, they face fines of up to €25,000. European digital rights campaigners and Italian journalists warn that the move could darken much of Italian cyberspace as for small-scale bloggers, website owners and even those who comment on discussion pages, it would be a near impossibility to deal with a complaint within the alloted time span.Furthermore, warns the European Digital Rights (EDRI), a pan-European coalition of online civil liberties advocacy organisations, the law implies that bloggers must register with a legal domicile with some authority, facing the same bureaucratic formalities as the written press and that they will have to connect to the internet every single day in order to check whether there is a request for correction and place the correction in due time.Attempts to soften the law by extending the correction period and reducing the fine to €2500 were rejected last week by the head of the chamber's justice committee.EDRI warned on Wednesday in a statement that the law will add new barriers to freedom of expression on the internet, and would discourage bloggers who will hesitate to write on economical or political issues that might bother certain personalities.The bill as a whole, whose main purpose is to restrict the use of wiretapping and the ability of publications to quote wiretap transcripts, has provoked an outcry by journalists.The law proposes to prohibit the publication of transcripts of wiretap recordings, leaks of which in recent years have become something of a staple in the Italian press, particularly in cases of alleged government corruption and organised crime - and indeed Prime Minister Berlusconi.Journalists or editors that publish such transcripts would face fines of up to €464,700.The government defends the bill as a necessary to protect the privacy of individuals that are the targets of judicial investigations. In Italy, we are all spied on. There are 150,000 telephones that are tapped and it is intolerable,Mr Berlusconi recently said, explaining why the law was required.On 8 July, the FNSI press union led a publication strike in which most of the country's newspapers apart from a handful of conservative papers and ones published by Prime Minister Berlusconi's media empire. The press black-out was intended to show the kind of silence that the law would impose,according to the union.

Reporters Without Borders told EUobserver the law was authoritarian.This is not just an attempt to gag bloggers and actually all journalists, but more widely it is about stopping the investigation of corruption and organised crime,said Olivier Basille, the head of the group's Brussels office. Privacy is important, but in these sort of cases, the public interest in knowing this information outweighs such concerns, he continued.He said the bill should be seen as an embarrassment by the whole of the European Union: This is an important issue for Italy, but it is crucial for the EU. Italy is sending a signal to countries beyond the EU that it is okay to severely restrict press freedoms.When the EU speaks to China or Syria or whoever about press freedoms, they will say, Ah, but the EU is already doing the same thing.It's not just Italy though. There are problems with Ireland, Bulgaria and Romania as well. In January last year, Ireland passed an anti-blasphemy law under which you can be fined €20,000. When our organisation raised concerns about a journalist being jailed for blasphemy in the Yemen, they said right back to us: But Ireland does the same thing, and to some extent they're right.Reporters Without Borders has complained to the commission about the Italian law several times, but the commission cannot oppose this because it is not related to commerce, the single market, these sorts of things.

Commission fundamental rights spokesman Matthew Newman told this website that Brussels will wait until the final law is passed before commenting on whether any aspect contravenes EU law. It's a moving target at the moment, with all sorts of amendments. It's too early to comment.In response, the Reporters Without Borders has written to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, hoping that at the member-state level some pressure could be brought to bear on Rome.While Brussels is keeping quite on the legislation, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in June condemned the bill in June, saying it could seriously hinder investigative journalism in Italy.Mr Berlusconi's arch-rival in his conservative People of Freedom party, Gianfranco Fini, has also sharply criticised the draft law.The bill was due to be discussed by Italian MPs on Thursday, as the government had hoped to have it passed before the summer recess at the end of the month. Due to agenda problems, it is now expected to be considered some time in early September.In 2007, the country's then centre-left government of Romano Prodi proposed a similar bill that was subsequently abandoned. Journalists went on strike to protest that legisation as well.

Norway tops up funding scheme for south-eastern EU states
VALENTINA POP 29.07.2010 @ 09:27 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein on Wednesday (28 July) agreed to donate €1.79 billion to the EU's poorer southern and eastern members in the coming five years for green projects, labour rights, research and human resources, a top-up of 22 percent compared to the previous period.The funding scheme is part of the European Economic Area agreement which ties the three countries to the EU, allowing them to participate in the internal market without actual membership of the bloc.Norway provides 97 percent of the funding, amounting to €1.73 billion, and has expressed its satisfaction that the original demand put forward by the EU – over €2 billion – was scaled down. The negotiations have been long and challenging. The demand originally put forward by the EU has been reduced to a sum that is acceptable, and we have agreed on how our contribution is to be targeted in order to ensure good results for both Norway and the EU, Norway's foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.Initial disagreements over fish quotas for Norway, which are also part of the agreement, dragged the talks on until December 2009, when Oslo agreed to the terms of the deal. Since then, EU member states on the receiving end – all eastern European countries plus Greece, Spain and Portugal – have been quarrelling over who gets what.

This means that although the funding period is supposed to cover the years 2009-2014, money will not actually start flowing until 2011, pending bilateral agreements which still have to be signed with each recipient country.Poland will continue to be the biggest recipient of the scheme, with €578.1 million, followed by Romania, for whom €306 million have been earmarked.The bulk of the money will be allocated to environment protection programmes, renewable energy and the development of carbon capture and storage technology aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.We are entering into a critical phase in the global climate efforts, and we are pleased to have reached agreement with the EU on giving priority to climate change in the EEA cooperation with new member states, Mr Store said.A novelty of the renewed agreement is the set-up of a fund worth €8 million targeting the promotion of decent work and tripartite dialogue with labour unions, employers and government officials, in line with the Nordic model of social democracy that Oslo is proud of.Meanwhile, Iceland, who just started accession negotiations with the EU, gave reassurances it would not abandon its financial commitments even if it were to become a member before 2014 when the scheme is again up for renewal.Switzerland, also a non-EU member integrated in the internal market and the border-free zone of the EU, has a parallel funding scheme for the new member states. Brussels is now looking at ways to integrate Bern into the EEA agreement – to which Swiss voters said no in a referendum in 1992.

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.

Flash floods kill over 110 in Pakistan, Kashmir
Thu Jul 29, 12:46 pm ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – At least 113 people have died and thousands more have been made homeless as flash floods triggered by torrential rains hit northwest Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir, officials said Thursday.The army has been summoned to tackle the problems caused by the flood waters, with Swat and Malakand districts the hardest hit.I can confirm the death of 91 people in the last two days in different areas, senior minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Bashir Ahmad Bilour, told AFP.More than 60 people were killed in Malakand alone while Swat itself was cut off as heavy rains swept away several bridges and disrupted communications.We are facing severe difficulties in the rescue work as rain hampered helicopter flights, Bilour said.The floods came as the country mourned the death of 152 people in a plane crash. The crash near Islamabad on Tuesday was also caused by bad weather, officials said as investigations continued.Bilour said more than 30,000 people had been displaced in Peshawar alone.Provincial planning minister Rahim Dad put the toll at 96.Latest report is that flash floods have claimed 96 lives, he told AFP.Most of the dead were killed after houses collapsed on them or drowned in overflowing streams, he said, adding that the waters washed away homes and shops in several areas, he said.

The military said in a statement that it had sent boats to rescue stranded people and army engineers were attempting to open roads and divert the waters from key routes.The floods have destroyed thousands of hectares (acres) of cultivated land, officials said.Meteorological office chief Qamar Zaman predicted more rains over the next 24 hours as the monsoon continues, but with less intensity.At least 22 people were killed and more than 30 injured Thursday as dozens of houses collapsed due to heavy rains in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, state premier Sardar Atique Ahmed told a late night news conference.The situation is very serious, it could worsen, as almost all rivers were flowing above the normal level, he said.Residents said announcements were made over mosque loudspeakers warning people that floods may hit the state capital Muzaffarabad as water levels of the River Neelum were abnormally high.We fear the floods this time will be worst than we saw in 1991 when around 150 people were killed in the region, the premier said.The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in full by both.

US Fed official warns of Japanese-style stagnation
by Andrew Beatty – Thu Jul 29, 5:19 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US economy risks Japanese-style stagnation, a top Federal Reserve official warned Thursday, as a key economic report was expected to show the recovery is losing pace.Bluntly cautioning about the peril of deflation, James Bullard -- a member of the Fed's interest rate-setting panel -- said the United States was closer to a Japanese-style lost decade than at any time in recent history.
Escape from such an outcome is problematic, he wrote in a Fed journal.Hope is not a strategy.Given any risk of an external shock that would spark falling prices -- squeezing firms and forcing ever-slower growth -- Bullard said the central bank should consider restarting crisis measures.Since the beginning of the financial crisis in late 2007, the Fed and Treasury Department have purchased hundreds of billions of dollars of US debt in the hope of boosting economic activity, part of a process known in economic jargon as quantitative easing.But with interest rates at historic lows, the Fed has few levers left to prime the economy. Bullard warned that the bank would find it difficult to bring interest rates back to normal levels to help exit the spiral.Promising low interest rates at zero for a long time is a double-edged sword, he said. A better policy response to a negative shock is to expand the quantitative easing program through the purchase of Treasury securities.

Until recently, the central bank had been looking forward to unloading such investments and putting its balance sheet back in order.But with the recovery teetering on the brink, it is being forced to consider stepping back into the breach.

On Friday, the US government will publish its growth estimates for the second quarter. Analysts expect gross domestic product to have slowed to 2.5 percent in the period, down from 2.7 percent in the first three months of the year.Still, Bullard's comments appeared to paint a darker picture of the economy than that presented by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who recently told lawmakers he was prepared to take further action but only if the recovery seems to be faltering.We are going to continue to monitor the economy closely and continue to evaluate the alternatives that we have, Bernanke said.If the recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, the incentive would be less.Bullard is widely considered an inflation hawk, so his comments were seen by many as a sign of a tectonic shift within the central bank.But a Fed official denied any policy shift, telling AFP that Bullard had only sought to spark debate.

That view was shared by analysts.

Bullard's comments should be taken in the context of contingency planning and not as indicative of an imminent policy move, said Michael Gapen of Barclays Capital.It is more likely that the analysis is meant to influence the direction that the Fed would move should conditions warrant.

Italy seeks private sponsors to restore Colosseum
Thu Jul 29, 10:59 am ET

ROME – Italian officials are seeking to raise some euro25 million (about $32 million) in private money to finance the restoration of one of the country's iconic landmarks: the Colosseum.The Culture Ministry says the government will accept bids from possible sponsors from Aug. 4 to Sept. 15.The ministry said in a statement that sponsors funding the project will be able to promote their image, but that any ads will have to be compatible with the decorum of the 2,000-year-old arena.Officials said Thursday the Rome city hall is also looking to charge tourists a few extra euros (dollars) in tax for hotels and some museums.The tax, which goes into effect Jan. 1, will apply to other tourism services as well, such as double-decker tour buses, bars and restaurants set up along the bank of the Tiber river and tour boats, said Mauro Cutrufo, deputy mayor of Rome.The tax is expected to bring an extra euro50 million into the city's public coffers, he said.

China allows release of critical IMF report
by P. Parameswaran – Thu Jul 29, 5:20 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – China allowed an IMF report critical of its currency policy to be released Thursday for the first time in four years, signaling Beijing's confidence that it can control the debate on the yuan.The Washington-based International Monetary Fund staff report charged that the yuan was substantially undervalued despite Beijing's decision more than a month ago to let the currency be traded more freely.Aside from a clear difference in view on the current value of the yuan, which the United States and other nations think has been kept low by Beijing for a trade advantage, the report also reflected an opinion split on China's current account surplus -- the broadest measure of its trade with the world.I would hope to believe the fact that the Chinese decided to release the staff report reflects a view on their part that the report was balanced, was fairly reflective of their views as well as the staff's views and the overall picture that it was even-handed, said the IMF China mission chief Nigel Chalk.Obviously there was a difference of view on the currency and there was a difference of view on the prospects of the current account, said Chalk, who led an IMF mission to China for annual consultations on Beijing's policies ahead of preparation of the report.China has disallowed the annual IMF staff report from being made public since 2006, protesting against the fund's characterization of its currency and pressuring the board to omit its findings, sources said.Under IMF rules economies can choose whether to allow the body's staff reports to be publicly released.Many analysts believe the yuan is vastly undervalued against the dollar -- by as much as 40 percent -- despite a June 19 decision by the Chinese central bank to let the yuan trade more freely.Since the move, the yuan, which had been effectively pegged at 6.8 to the dollar since mid-2008, has appreciated by less than one percent.Beijing's allowing the publication of the IMF staff report signals increasing confidence on China's part that it can control the debate about its currency, Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF China division, told AFP.

The debate has divided the IMF.

The split appeared between the IMF executive board and the staff, who went on the mission, as well as within the board.The IMF board, in a report Tuesday on the consultations with China, said not all directors agreed the exchange rate was undervalued and that a number of them disagreed with the staff?s assessment of the exchange rate.The staff report points out that the yuan exchange rate is substantially below the level that is consistent with medium-term fundamentals.The executive directors' report felt the yuan was just undervalued and that a number of them supported China's position.The fact that the IMF executive board was clearly much more supportive of China's currency policy than the IMF staff seem to have been may also have emboldened China because it feels that it has fewer detractors in the international community, said Prasad, economics professor at Cornell University.The board also accused the staff of basing China's current account surplus projections on uncertain forecasts.The Chinese authorities argued that China's current account surplus will remain about four percent of gross domestic product whereas the IMF staff projected that it will revert back to eight percent of GDP. This issue has broader implications because if China runs a big current account surplus, somebody has to be running a current account deficit on the other side, Prasad said, citing the constant trade deficit row with the US. Often blaming the burgeoning US trade deficit with China on the undervalued yuan, US lawmakers have been pushing Beijing to allow its currency to rise, saying it could reduce the flood of red ink.

Last year, the deficit rose to a whopping 227 billion dollars.

A key US House of Representatives committee with power over taxes and trade said Thursday it would hold a September 15 hearing to weigh possible new steps to press China over its currency policy, the panel's chairman said Thursday. There is no real question that China's deliberately undervalued exchange rate is unfair, contributes to global trade imbalances, and costs the United States jobs and economic growth, particularly in the manufacturing sector,he said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin.

Saudi king in Syria amid regional tensions By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 29, 4:13 pm ET

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria on Thursday warned the United States to stop trying to interfere as Arab leaders try to defuse heightened tensions in the Middle East.Saudi King Abdullah, who arrived in Syria on Thursday, was expected to travel with the Syrian president to Beirut on Friday to help calm concerns over pending indictments in the 2005 assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister.U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington this week that he hoped Syrian President Bashar Assad would listen very attentively to Abdullah, a U.S. ally.

Washington has urged Syria to move away from its alliance with Iran.

Syria responded that the U.S. has no right to determine our relationships with regional states or interfere in the content of the talks.Syria and Saudi Arabia have long been on opposite sides of a deep rift in the Arab world. The kingdom is a U.S. ally, along with Jordan and Egypt, while Syria backs militant groups such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas.Syria also is Iran's strongest ally in the Arab world — a major sticking point with the U.S.Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia have begun to thaw in recent years, and Thursday's visit by the Saudi monarch is a sign the countries are trying to show a united front as tempers mount in the region, including those in Lebanon over the investigation into who killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.Late Thursday, Syria's official news agency said Assad and Abdullah agreed that the challenges facing Arabs, mainly in occupied Palestine, necessitate that all (Arabs) double their efforts to upgrade inter-Arab relations.Many in Lebanon blame Syria for Hariri's assassination, a claim that Damascus denies. Hariri was a Sunni leader with strong Saudi links, and his killing exacerbated already-strained tensions between Riyadh and Damascus.Hariri's death was followed by the rise of a U.S.- and Saudi-backed coalition known as March 14, named after the day of massive anti-Syrian protests in 2005 dubbed the Cedar Revolution. The demonstrations eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops, ending almost three decades of Syrian domination that was established during Lebanon's civil war.

An international tribunal investigating Hariri's death has not announced who will be charged, but the leader of the Shiite Hezbollah said last week members of his group will be among those indicted.Hassan Nasrallah's announcement appeared to be an attempt to undercut the effects of any indictment, and he dismissed the tribunal as an Israeli plot.Many in Lebanon worry that if the tribunal implicates Hezbollah in the Hariri's assassination, it could lead to another round of clashes between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities, such as the bloody conflict that convulsed Beirut in 2008.Assad's expected trip to Lebanon on Friday will be his first trip there since Syrian troops were forced out.Regional tensions also are high over recent reports that Syria sent Scud missiles to Hezbollah and suspicions that Hezbollah patron Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons. Syria denies sending Scuds.As part of his tour, Abdullah has already visited Egypt and is also to travel to Jordan.

Canada think tank sees loophole in emissions plans
By Ka Yan Ng – Thu Jul 29, 5:57 pm ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Proposed Canadian regulations to cut emissions from cars and trucks may have little to no effect as early action credits banked by automakers may be able to carry them through the compliance period, an environmental think tank said on Thursday.The Pembina Institute said its analysis of the planned measures showed that automakers might be able to avoid improving fuel economy beyond business-as-usual levels until 2016, or even for the full life span of the regulations.The new standards are due to come into effect this fall for 2011 model year vehicles.

Early action credits, awarded to automakers if certain measures are exceeded in a specific time frame, may be collected in the lead-up to the new standards. In turn, these credits may be used at a later date. However, that effectively creates a loophole for automakers, Pembina said.It looks quite plausible ... (that) companies would manage to comply with regulations for the entire period, up to and including 2016, without having to make any changes to fuel economy beyond business as usual, said Matthew Bramley, director of the institute's Climate Change Program.He cautioned that Pembina's analysis used the best available information, and that there were some inadequacies in some of the government's numbers.We didn't release our analysis immediately because, frankly, we were a little bit shocked by the conclusions, he added.That is why Bramley is calling on Environment Minister Jim Prentice to publish a fully transparent analysis of the proposed regulations before they are finalized in the fall.In May, Prentice said Ottawa expects to release draft regulations this autumn that will spell out the requirements for heavy-duty vehicles and engines, starting between the 2014 and 2018 model years.

That followed an earlier agreement between Canada and the United States on common rules governing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cars and light trucks.At the time, automakers praised the plans, which to Bramley, suggested a bit of a hint that the industry got pretty much what it wanted in the regulations.Prentice's office dismissed the criticism on Thursday, and said other environmental groups had praised the proposals.The proposed regulations are realistic and ambitious and will contribute greatly to reducing vehicle GHGs in Canada and the U.S. the government said in an e-mailed statement.By 2016, the government projects the new measures will cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by about 25 percent from those sold in 2008. Transportation accounts for about one-quarter of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions.The North American auto industry is highly interlinked, and Canada has said its strategy for emissions also hinges on U.S. policy because of the two nations' integrated economies.Prentice has previously said the two countries will effectively share common standards for limiting vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. A spokesman for the minister was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.

Pembina's Bramley said Ottawa should not follow the U.S. lead because Canadians will not only lose the advantage of lower gasoline bills, it means the country will be making less progress environmentally than the United States.Canada is frequently criticized by green groups for not doing enough to protect the environment and for allowing emissions of greenhouse gases to rise steadily over the last two decades.
(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng, Allan Dowd; editing by Rob Wilson)

Jerusalem hosts subdued gay pride march By KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 29, 4:04 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Thousands of Israelis marched calmly Thursday in Jerusalem's longest gay pride parade despite opposition from anti-gay demonstrators.The subdued march from Jerusalem city center to the parliament building contrasted with flamboyant gay pride parades elsewhere in the world. Organizers said they were adjusting to the city's religious character and using it to promote their political agenda.Carrying rainbow banners, several thousand demonstrators walked along the 1.5 mile (2.5 kilometer) route. Absent were standard features of many such parades — multicolor floats carrying scantily and provocatively dressed participants, loud music, wild costumes and explicit public examples of homosexual activity.Even so, a few dozen black-suited ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters at the beginning and end of the route held signs denouncing homosexuals, with slogans like Gays Play in Hell, Not Jerusalem.Many ultra-Orthodox Jews consider homosexuality to be an abomination.

Marchers said such opposition has forced Jerusalem's gay community underground in most parts of the city.In a religious society, a lot of people still don't realize we actually exist, said Sarah Weil, 26, who helps run an organization for lesbians who are also Orthodox Jews.The march marked the one-year anniversary of a shooting attack at a Tel Aviv gay youth center that killed two.This is first of all a march of mourning, said organizer Yonatan Gher, and at the end we will try to put the mourning behind us and look forward to the coming year, and declare tonight the beginning of gay rights year.

Thousands of Israeli police guarded the marchers.

The Jerusalem parade has been marred by violence in the past. In 2005, an Orthodox Jewish protester stabbed three marchers. Organizers said the fear of attack still keeps many people at home.But parade participants say there are signs the climate in Jerusalem is changing.I don't think it's dangerous anymore, said Yair Lieberman, 23. But even if there's danger, that shouldn't stop us from walking.

Arab League backs Palestinians on restarting talks By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 29, 3:23 pm ET

CAIRO – Arab nations on Thursday backed the Palestinian president's refusal to immediately restart direct talks with Israel despite heavy U.S. pressure.The Arab foreign ministers endorsed the idea of direct negotiations, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, but left the timing up to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has laid down several conditions.The U.S. and the Europeans have been pushing a reluctant Abbas to dive back into face-to-face negotiations with Israel, which broke off in 2008.We haven't discussed when and how the direct negotiations will start — this is a matter for the Palestinian side to decide, Al Thani said.The Arab foreign ministers also sent a letter to President Barack Obama explaining the Arab position on direct negotiations and their requirements for talks.Al Thani said that the ministers had originally been against endorsing direct talks, but due to the serious situation in the region they were willing give it a try.We have confidence in America and in President Obama to reach peace, but the question is can that be achieved? he said, expressing doubt that it would be possible under the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. welcomes the Arab endorsement of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and will be consulting with all parties in coming days to find a way forward.We are encouraged by reports that Arab states meeting in Cairo agree on the need to resume direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to reach a final status agreement, Crowley said.

In the days ahead, we will continue to work with the parties, consult further with Arab countries and our international partners to try to launch these negotiations as soon as possible.This week, The Associated Press obtained a Palestinian document that revealed that U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell warned Abbas that if he does not agree to direct talks, Obama will not be able to help the Palestinians achieve a state of their own.But the Palestinian president said he first wants to see progress in indirect talks that have been taking place since May under U.S. mediation, specifically movement on the issue of borders for a future Palestinian state. He has also called for a halt to settlement building.Netanyahu, who has appealed for direct talks, has refused to be pinned down on a framework for negotiations. The Israeli prime minister has accepted the idea of Palestinian statehood with conditions but has ruled out giving up control of east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as their capital.In response to the Arab League's decision, the prime minister said he is willing to begin direct, honest talks with the Palestinian Authority already in the next few days, said a statement from his office.On settlements, Israel has instituted a 10-month slowdown in construction in the West Bank, but not east Jerusalem. That is due to expire in September and Netanyahu this week strongly indicated it would not be extended.Netanyahu's hawkish coalition partners insist the freeze cannot be renewed for ideological reasons, but they have not threatened to pull out of his government and force an election.Polls show the hard-liners have no guarantee of remaining in power if an election is held.Netanyahu opposes all conditions for renewing direct talks, including a settlement construction freeze. In any event, Palestinians have rejected the current limits as insufficient, because they do not include construction in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. The issue of settlements, along with all the other core issues ... should be discussed in the negotiations, Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev told The Associated Press on Thursday. On Thursday Jewish settlers took over a building in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, evicting the Palestinian residents. The Israelis apparently bought the building in the 1980s but needed a court order to remove the residents.

Israeli police would not say if they had the order.

U.N. envoy Robert Serry deplored the takeover and called on Israel to refrain from provocative actions.About 2,000 Israeli settlers are living in houses bought by Jews in established Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, many in the Old City. This week Netanyahu indicated that he would not extend the freeze. As the expiration date approaches, Netanyahu can be expected to seek a political compromise to try to satisfy both the U.S. and his coalition partners. In an interview Thursday, Abbas said he would require written assurances either from Netanyahu or the Americans on borders and settlements to start the direct talks. Egypt said a day earlier it has received U.S. assurances that may help in restarting direct talks but refused to make the details public.The militant Hamas movement issued a statement on Thursday criticizing the Arab nations' move, maintaining that direct negotiations would only lead to to more Palestinian suffering as Israel goes on constructing settlements.Associated Press writer Mark Lavie contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

Russia grants more powers to KGB successor agency By MANSUR MIROVALEV, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jul 29, 8:50 am ET

MOSCOW – Russians may now face jail time for crimes they have not yet committed under a new security law signed Thursday by President Dmitry Medvedev.The law restores Soviet-era powers to the Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor agency, a move that rights advocates fear could be used to stifle protests and intimidate the Kremlin's political opponents. They also say the law's obscure wording leaves it too open to local interpretation.The agency, known by its initials FSB, can now issue warnings or detain people suspected of preparing to commit crimes against Russia's security. Perpetrators face fines or up to 15 days of detention.It's an ugly law with obscure formulas, independent political analyst Yulia Latynina told The Associated Press. In case a drunken FSB officer is shooting at you — and there have been many such cases — you might end up getting jailed for 15 days for merely trying to escape.The new law was described as part of an effort to combat extremism and thwart terrorist attacks. It was submitted to Russian lawmakers in April after twin subway bombings in Moscow killed 40 people and the Kremlin faced critical media coverage of its anti-terrorism efforts.A senior lawmaker said the new powers will protect people from abuse by law enforcement officers — a significant problem in Russia.

Officers of law enforcement agencies have long talked about the necessity of switching from investigating crimes to their prevention, Mikhail Margelov, the Kremlin-connected head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russian parliament, said in a statement. The amendments do not turn the FSB into a new edition of the once-almighty KGB but protect Russian citizens from outrages by men in uniform.Some of the law's most stringent sections — including ones that toughen control over the media for extremist statements or allow the FSB to publish warnings in the press — were removed or toned down following severe criticism from the opposition and even Kremlin loyalists.Still, a lawmaker with the Communist Party, the largest opposition force in Russia's rubber-stamp parliament, said the latest changes did not tone down the law's repressive character.Despite all the promises to correct the most odious articles, by the second reading nothing had been changed in the text, Viktor Ilykhin told the AP.A Kremlin loyalist, meanwhile, praised the law for its preventative measures.This is not a repressive law, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic party, told Gazeta.ru online daily.We're only talking about preventive measures.The opposition has accused the Kremlin of turning Russia into a Soviet-style police state, and many Russians say they have experienced or fear abuse at the hands of FSB officers. Government critics say corruption among the FSB and other agencies stifles business activity and stunts the economy.

Some rights activists say the law simply legalizes practices that FSB officers have been using for years.I don't think it adds anything to what the FSB has been doing without any laws, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, former Soviet dissident and head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, told the AP. But it's very sad when a law approves the outrage of such a dangerous service as the FSB.The legislation continues a trend under Vladimir Putin, who as president for eight years rolled back many of Russia's democratic reforms of the 1990s. The former KGB officer and FSB head allowed the security services to regain power and influence at the expense of Russia's democratic institutions.Putin is now prime minister, and many see his intolerance of dissent as influencing Medvedev, his hand-picked successor.The bill has raised doubts about Medvedev's commitment to promoting full-fledged democracy and freedom of expression. Medvedev often has spoken of instituting judicial and police reforms, and has taken a less hard line on many issues than Putin. Medvedev, who initiated the bill, responded angrily to criticism of it. He said earlier this month that each country has the right to perfect its legislation.