POPES CHRISTMAS MESSAGE - PEACE

JOHN LOEFFLER - The Road Back along the Road Ahead
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-loeffler-steel-on-steel-road-back.html#links
BERNARD LEWIS THE END OF AN ERA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WpAedDMFFA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_ryzWICEek&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8aMICawtw8&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7-5ZIP5w10&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ACUrm4B6xo&feature=player_embedded
WHEN MONEY DIES
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2010/12/when-money-dies-nightmare-of-weimar_14.html
CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Christmas-Around-World/ss/events/wl/122410christmas

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.

Storm heads to Washington after snowing in South By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press - DEC 25,10

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A rare white Christmas in parts of the South was complicating life for some travelers as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, while snow was predicted for the nation's Capital and travel authorities warned of potentially dangerous roads.The National Weather Service said the storm could bring 6 to 10 inches of snow to the Washington region, beginning Sunday. The Weather Service was also forecasting possible Sunday snow for the New York and Boston areas, with overnight temperatures in the 20s and wind gusts up to 30 mph.In Nashville, some travelers who expected a smooth trip on Christmas got a rude surprise.We were hoping this was going to be a good day to travel, said Heather Bansmer, 36, of Bellingham, Wash.She and her husband, Shawn Breeding, 40, had planned to return home on separate flights after a visit to Breeding's family in Bowling Green, Ky. However, Breeding's flight through Atlanta got canceled.Now the couple planned to spend much of Christmas Day in separate airports.A white Christmas is not so welcome, Breeding said, as the couple stood in the lobby of the Nashville airport with their luggage in a cart.Brian Korty at the Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md., said travelers in the northern Mid-Atlantic region and New England may want to rethink Sunday travel plans.They may see nearly impossible conditions to travel in, he said.It would be a lot better for them to travel today than it would be tomorrow.In Pensacola, Fla., Jena Passut faced a quandary. The 36-year-old magazine writer drove with her husband and two kids from Fairfax, Va., to visit relatives. Now she worried about how to get back home amid the snow.Should we leave on Christmas night? My kids are normally good travelers, but if it's going to take us twice as long, it's going to be hell, she said. I like a white Christmas as much as anyone, but I don't want to drive in it.

The snow storm blanketed sections of the Midwest and hampered motorists there on Christmas Eve, before dipping south late Friday. Winter weather advisories were in effect Saturday afternoon from western Tennessee to the Carolinas and from West Virginia to Alabama.Delta Air Lines spokesman Kent Landers said 500 weather-related flight cancellations were planned for Saturday nationwide. That included 300 of the 800 scheduled departures from the Atlanta hub.Only a few hundred people milled about the cavernous terminals at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, many of them recent arrivals from international flights. Passengers were notified Friday when flights were pre-emptively canceled, so most didn't bother to show up. Many chairs were empty, restaurants too.Some couldn't help but chuckle that the flights were nixed long before the first raindrop or snowflake had fallen. Snow didn't begin falling in Atlanta until Saturday afternoon.They canceled hundreds of flights and there hasn't even been a drop of rain, said Stephanie Palmer, who was killing time with her friend Ibrahima Soumano as he awaited a flight to Mali.This doesn't make sense.Landers said Delta would decide on possible additional Sunday cancellations as the time approaches. Landers said anyone with travel plans through Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington and Newark, N.J., on Sunday or Monday can change their flight without a penalty as long as they travel by Dec. 29.AirTran spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said Saturday that the carrier had canceled seven Saturday flights and that afternoon flights from Atlanta would be delayed because of required de-icing of planes. AirTran too offered to waive ticket-change fees for some flights scheduled for this weekend and Monday in the South and Mid-Atlantic. The Nashville area had an inch or so of snow overnight, and roads appeared to be clear. There was also snow in northern Alabama.By Saturday morning, 4 to 5 inches of snow had fallen over several hours in Bowling Green, Ky., according to the Weather Service. Louisville had about an inch.

Louisville last had snowfall on Christmas in 2002, when a half-inch fell.Snow began falling about 8 a.m. Saturday in the North Carolina mountains, where up to up to 5 inches of accumulation were expected. The Weather Service said mountain roads would be impassable for all but four-wheel drive vehicles.In parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, the snow was likely to be mixed with sleet and rain before turning entirely to snow. Temperatures in Georgia were expected to dip into the 20s on Christmas night, possibly leading to slick road conditions.The snow made traveling tough Friday in northeastern Iowa, where the bulk of the storm hovered. Cedar Rapids received more than 7 inches of snow.Travelers could see airport screeners taking a closer look at empty insulated beverage containers like thermoses because air carriers were alerted about a potential terror tactic involving them, an administration official said.The Air Transport Association was expecting 44.3 million people on U.S. flights between Dec. 16 and Jan. 5 — up 3 percent over the same period a year ago but still below pre-recession travel volume. The average ticket price was $421, up by 5 percent.The AAA predicted overall holiday travel to rise about 3 percent this year, with more than 92 million people planning to go more than 50 miles by Jan. 2. More than 90 percent said they would be driving. Said Anderson of the storm: The timing is really bad.Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Washington, Karen Hawkins in Chicago; Warren Levinson and Verena Dobnik in New York City; David Goodman in Detroit; Eileen Sullivan and Samantha Bomkamp in Washington; Michelle Price in Phoenix; Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Leonard Pallats and Greg Bluestein in Atlanta and Mark Pratt in Boston.

Storm makes up year's wildest weather
By Philip Duncan 5:30 AM Sunday Dec 26, 2010

This was not a year of extremes weatherwise, despite droughts, floods, tornados and snow. It's easy for the media to use the word extreme but really the stormy weather events this year were fairly isolated and few and far between.

Here are the highlights from the WeatherWatch.co.nz archives:

* Jan 21: Drought zone declared in Northland but, ironically, on that same day the North Island is pummelled by heavy showers and thunderstorms.

* Jan 27: A major electrical storm lights up the night skies in Hamilton.

* April 27: For the first time in months, nationwide rain is forecast.

* May 24: Impressive rainfall figures are released following a nationwide deluge. Whakatane received 150mm within 24 hours but, incredibly, 70mm of that fell in just two hours - and 46mm fell in only one hour. Parts of North Otago received more than a month's rainfall in just 24 hours, causing serious flooding.

* Sept 17: A storm the size of Australia hits New Zealand several days after WeatherWatch.co.nz exclusively predicted it.

This was the biggest weather event of this year, outside of droughts.

* Up to 75,000 people are without power during storm's duration;

* The top floor of a house in Auckland is completely blown to pieces by a twister; other tornados are reported in Auckland and Waikato;

* Trees crush and hit cars in Auckland.;

* More than 7000 lightning strikes are recorded around the country;

* Numerous state highways across the country are closed, including Auckland's northwestern motorway. The Weekend Herald suffers up to nine-hour delays getting the paper delivered because of a power outage;

* Half a million lambs are killed by wintry blast in Southland;

* Brand new Stadium Southland suffers catastrophic damage when the roof collapses under heavy snow;

* Civil Defence warns Aucklanders to stay away from West Coast due to 8m swells. Hurricane force winds, peaking at 154km/h, hit the Manukau Heads;

* Oct/Nov: Parts of Northland and Auckland receive their hottest spring on record.

* Dec 18: Heavy rain and high humidity moves into northern New Zealand, bringing relief to some farmers but causing sleepless nights for many people.

Meanwhile, dry heat hits the South Island with Christchurch reaching 33C and a day earlier Invercargill takes the national high with 27C.

Pope urges courage for Catholics in China, Iraq By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Frances - DEC 25,10

VATICAN CITY – Iraqi Christians celebrated a somber Christmas in a Baghdad cathedral stained with dried blood, while Pope Benedict XVI exhorted Chinese Catholics to stay loyal despite restrictions on them in a holiday address laced with worry for the world's Christian minorities.Saturday's grim news seemed to highlight the pope's concern for his flock's welfare.In northern Nigeria, attacks on two churches by Muslim sect members claimed six lives, while bombings in central Nigeria, a region plagued by Christian-Muslim violence, killed 32 people, officials said.Eleven people including a priest were injured by a bombing during Christmas Mass in a police chapel in the Philippines, which has the largest Catholic population in Asia. The attack took place on Jolo island, a stronghold of al-Qaida linked militants.But joy seemed to prevail in Bethlehem, the West Bank town where Jesus was born, which bustled with its biggest crowd of Christian pilgrims in years.The suffering of Christians around the world framed much of the pontiff's traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi message (Latin for to the city and to the world). Bundled up in an ermine-trimmed crimson cape against a chilly rain, he delivered his assessment of world suffering from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.Benedict's exhortation to Catholics who have risked persecution in China highlighted a spike in tensions between Beijing and the Vatican over the Chinese government's defiance of the pope's authority to name bishops. The pope has also been distressed by Chinese harassment of Rome-loyal bishops who didn't want to promote the state-backed official Catholic church.

May the birth of the savior strengthen the spirit of faith, patience and courage of the faithful of the church in mainland China, that they may not lose heart through the limitations imposed on their freedom of religion and conscience, Benedict said, praying aloud.Chinese church officials did not immediately comment late Saturday. A day earlier, one said the Vatican bears responsibility for restoring dialogue after it had criticized leadership changes in China's official church.Persecution of Christians has been a pressing concern at the Vatican of late, especially over its dwindling flock in the Middle East. Christians only make up about 2 percent of the population in the Holy Land today, compared to about 15 percent in 1950. Earlier this month Benedict denounced lack of freedom of worship as a threat to world peace.

In Iraq, Christians have faced repeated violence by militants intent on driving them out of the country.At Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad, bits of dried flesh and blood remained stuck on the ceiling, grim reminders of the Oct. 31 attack during Mass that killed 68 people. Black cassocks representing the two priests who perished in the al-Qaida assault hung from a wall. Bullet holes pocked the walls of the church, now surrounded by concrete blast barriers.Reflecting the pope's hope that Christian minorities can survive in their homelands, Archbishop Matti Shaba Matouka told the 300 worshippers: No matter how hard the storm blows, love will save us.After the October siege, about 1,000 Christian families fled to the relative safety of northern Iraq, according to U.N. estimates.More than 100,000 pilgrims poured into Bethlehem since Christmas Eve, twice as many as last year, Israeli military officials said, calling it the highest number of holiday visitors in a decade.(It's) a really inspiring thing to be in the birthplace of Jesus at Christmas, said Greg Reihardt, 49, from Loveland, Colorado.Still, visitors entering Bethlehem had to cross through a massive metal gate in the separation barrier that Israel built between Jerusalem and the town during a wave of Palestinian attacks in last decade.Benedict said he hoped Israelis and Palestinians would be inspired to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence.

The pope also prayed that Christmas might promote reconciliation in the tense Korean peninsula.The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan crisscrossed the country, making a Christmas visit to coalition troops at some of the main battle fronts in a show of appreciation and support in the 10th year of the war against the Taliban.
Gen. David Petraeus started his visit by traveling in a C-130 cargo plane from the capital, Kabul, to the northern province of Kunduz, telling troops with the U.S. Army's 1-87, 10th Mountain Division that on this day, there was no place that (he) would rather be than here where the focus of our effort was.Snow in Europe and the United States kept many from reaching their loved ones in time for the holidays. At airports in Paris and Brussels, hundreds of travelers received their own special Christmas present — a flight out after spending Christmas Eve curled up on hard terminal floors.I've never had such a Christmas before, said Ron Van Kooe, who slept overnight at the Brussels terminal.It's one not to forget.A rare white Christmas in the southern U.S. was complicating life for travelers as airlines canceled some 500 flights Saturday, including 300 of the 800 scheduled departures from Atlanta's international airport.They canceled hundreds of flights and there hasn't even been a drop of rain, said Stephanie Palmer. This doesn't make sense.Brian Korty of the National Weather Service said travelers in the northern Mid-Atlantic region and northeastern New England states may want to rethink Sunday travel plans due to a storm that could dump 5 inches (12.5 centimeters) or more of snow on the Washington area.They may see nearly impossible conditions to travel in,Korty said.Dalia Nammari in Bethlehem, Rebecca Santana in Baghdad, Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Ahmed Mohammed in Jos, Nigeria, Cassandra Vinograd in London, Oleg Cetinic in Paris and Lucas L. Johnson II in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.Online:
http://www.vatican.va

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Rocket with Indian satellite explodes after launch By ASHOK SHARMA, Associated Press – Sat Dec 25, 11:34 am ET

NEW DELHI – A rocket carrying an Indian communication satellite exploded just after liftoff Saturday in the second launch failure for India's space agency this year.
Television images showed the rocket exploding in smoke and fire just after it launched from the Sriharikota space center in Andhra Pradesh state. It was carrying a GSAT-5P communication satellite into orbit.The vehicle developed an error 47 seconds after liftoff and lost command, leading to a higher angle in the flight, said K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization.That caused a higher stress, breaking up the vehicle, Radhakrishnan told reporters.In April, a similar rocket on a developmental flight plunged into the Bay of Bengal. The ISRO said its rotor seized and turbine casing ruptured, probably due to excessive pressure and thermal stresses.Yashpal, a retired Indian scientist and independent commentator, said he was very disappointed by Saturday's failure, but other countries too have experienced such problems.I hope it's just one of those things, Yashpal, who uses one name, told reporters.

India is planning its first manned space flight in 2016.An Indian satellite launched in 2008 to orbit the moon was abandoned last year after communication links snapped and scientists lost control of the satellite.India is the fifth country after United States, Russia, China and France to enter the commercial satellite launch market.The country has sought to convert its rise as an economic power — built on a thriving high-tech sector — into global clout in other areas.Since 1994, India's space program has launched a number of Indian-made satellites. It's also been able to launch nine successful space flights consecutively.

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.

SOME OF THE MUSLIM WOMEN ARE JUST AS MURDEROUS AS THE MEN AS IN THIS CASE.SHE LOBED 3 GRANADES-THEN BLEW HERSELF UP IN THE NAME OF HER MOON GOD ALLAH.WHAT A WASTE OF INNOCENT LIVES.THIS IS JUST THE DECPTION JESUS SAID WOULD BE IN HE LAST DAYS.THEY CLAIM THEY KILL IN THE NAME OF THEIR GOD.MUSLIMS JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS TO,SO YOUR NOT DECIEVED BY SATANS ISLAM SEX FOR MURDER LIE.

Female bomber kills 45 at food center in Pakistan By ANWARULLAH KHAN, Associated Press – Sat Dec 25, 5:47 pm ET

KHAR, Pakistan – A burqa-clad female suicide bomber in Pakistan lobbed hand grenades, then detonated her explosive belt among a crowd at an aid center Saturday, killing at least 45 people in militants' latest strike against the authorities' control over the key tribal region bordering Afghanistan.Police believed it was the first time Islamic militants have sent a woman to carry out a suicide attack in Pakistan, where the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and the Taliban insurgents continues to spill over despite Islamabad's repeated claims of victory on its side of the porous border.The bomber, dressed in the head-to-toe burqa robes that women commonly wear Pakistan and Afghanistan, was challenged by police at a check point, officials said.She then charged toward a group of 300 people lined up outside the food aid distribution center in the town of Khar, tossing two hand grenades before blowing herself up, officials said. The crowd was made up of people who have fled conflicts elsewhere in the area.President Barack Obama condemned the bombing as outrageous.In a statement released in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was spending Christmas, Obama said, Killing innocent civilians outside a World Food Program distribution point is an affront to the people of Pakistan, and to all humanity.

The attack in Khar, the main city in the Bajur region of Pakistan's northwest, came a day after 150 militants waged pitched gun battles against five security posts in the adjourning Mohmand tribal region to the south. The fighting, which left 11 soldiers and 24 militants dead, was an unusually strong show of strength by insurgents in border country that the military has twice claimed to have cleaned of militants.Helicopter gunships backed by artillery continued the battle on Saturday, pounding enemy hideouts and killing another 40 militants, said Amjad Ali Khan, the top government official in Mohmand.The tribal regions are of major concern to the U.S. because they have been safe havens for militants fighting NATO and American troops across the border in Afghanistan. The U.S. has long pressured Pakistan to clear the tribal belt of the insurgents.The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide attack in Khar, through its spokesman, Azam Tariq.The spokesman suggested the victims may have been targeted because most of them belonged to the Salarzai tribe, which was among the first to set up a militia — known as a lashkar — to fight the Taliban in 2008. Other tribes later formed similar militias to resist the militants.All anti-Taliban forces — like lashkars, army and security forces — are our target, he said. We will strike them whenever we have an opportunity.The attack killed 45 people, including six policemen, and wounded more than 100, at least 30 critically, said Tariq Khan, a government official in the Bajur region.

Police said the victims were from various parts of Bajur who gather daily at the center to collect food tokens distributed by the World Food Program and other agencies to conflicted-affected people in the region. The people were displaced by an army offensive against Taliban militants in the region in early 2009.Islamist militants battling the state have attacked buildings handing out humanitarian aid in Pakistan before, presumably because they are symbols of the government and Western influence.Tariq Khan and another local official, Sohail Khan, said an examination of the human remains has confirmed the bomber was a woman.Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Lahore-based security and political analyst, said the suicide bombing appeared to be the first carried out by a woman in Pakistan.It is no surprise. They can use a woman, a child or whatever, Rizvi said. Human life is not important to them, only the objective they are pursuing of undermining state power, he added.Male suicide bombers often don the burqa — an Islamic dress that also covers the woman's face — as a disguise. In 2007, officials initially claimed Pakistan's first female suicide bomber had killed 14 people in the northwest town of Bannu but the attacker was later identified as a man. Islamic militants in Iraq have used women suicide bombers several times, since women in their all-enveloping robes are seen as able to pass more easily through security, especially since male security officers are often hesitant to search women.

Akbar Jan, 45, who sustained leg wounds in the bombing, said from his hospital bed that people were lining up for the ration coupons when the explosion went off. We thought someone had fired a rocket, he told The Associated Press. He said within seconds he saw the ground strewn with the wounded.I realized a little later that I myself have suffered wounds,he said.Everybody was crying. It was blood and human flesh everywhere.Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bombing and said Pakistanis are united against them.Bajur is on the northern tip of Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal belt, bordering Afghanistan and the so-called settled areas in Pakistan. It has served as a key transit point and hideout for al-Qaida and the Taliban.The military first declared victory in Bajur following a six-month operation launched in late 2008. But the army was forced to launch a follow-up operation in late January this year and declared victory again about a month later. Still, violence has persisted.Associated Press writer Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Nigeria: At least 38 killed in Xmas Eve attacks By AHMED MOHAMMED and NJADVARA MUSA, Associated Press – Sat Dec 25, 11:31 am ET

JOS, Nigeria – Multiple explosions in central Nigeria have killed 32 people and six others died in attacks by Muslim sect members on two churches in the north, officials said Saturday.Police spokesman Mohammed Lerama said that 32 people died and at least 74 were injured in four bomb blasts Friday night that went off in close succession in different parts of Jos in central Nigeria — a region violently divided between Christians and Muslims.Manasie Phampe, the Red Cross secretary in Jos, gave slightly different figures and said that 52 people were injured, and that some of the injured were in intensive care at the Jos University Teaching Hospital.We have commenced investigations and are making efforts to calm people down,said Lerama.

Religious violence has claimed over 500 lives this year in Jos and neighboring towns and villages, but the situation was believed to have calmed down.Nigeria, a country of 150 million people, is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. The blasts happened in central Nigeria, in the nation's middle belt, where dozens of ethnic groups vie for control of fertile lands.

The violence, though fractured across religious lines, often has more to do with local politics, economics and rights to grazing lands. The government of Plateau State, where Jos is the capital, is controlled by Christian politicians who have blocked Muslims from being legally recognized as citizens. That has locked many out of prized government jobs in a region where the tourism industry and tin mining have collapsed in the last decades.What has happened on the eve of Christmas is unfortunate, especially at this time when we want to ensure peace and security in the state, said Gregory Yenlong, the state commissioner for information. He said that nobody had claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks in Jos.This is the first major attack in Jos since the Plateau State government lifted a curfew on May 20. The curfew had first been imposed in November 2008 during postelection violence but it was extended in January following clashes between Christian and Muslim groups.

More than 300 people_ mostly Muslim — were killed in the January violence in Jos and surrounding villages.The curfew improved the security within a city that has hosted numerous peace conferences to address the violence but the killings continued outside.Twelve people were gruesomely murdered in March in a small Christian village, attackers cutting out most of their victims' tongues and there are still regular attacks outside Jos.Also Friday, six people died in attacks on two churches in Nigeria's northern region.State Police chief Mohammed Abubakar said members of the Muslim sect, Boko Haram, attacked two churches at opposite ends of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, late Christmas Eve.Maiduguri is about 320 miles (520 kilometers) northeast of Jos. The attacks in both cities have not been linked, but Boko Haram was first based in the city of Bauchi, only 75 miles (120 kilometers) from Jos, before moving its operations to Maiduguri.Danjuma Akawu, secretary of Victory Baptist Church said about 30 men attacked his church on Christmas Eve, killing five people, including the pastor, two choir members rehearsing for a late-night carol service and two passersby who were attacked by the mob.Akawu, who escaped with other witnesses after climbing the church fence, said that the mob was armed with guns, knives and petro-bombs.He said the attackers came in three cars and dragged the pastor out of his house within the church premises before shooting him to death. They drove off after setting the church and pastor's house ablaze close to the Maiduguri International Airport.

At the opposite end of the city, Rev. Haskanda Jessu of Church of Christ in Nigeria said that three men attacked his church an hour later, killing a 60-year-old security guard, Philip Sopso. The church was empty at the time of the attack. Jessu said the attackers were armed with rifles. The Borno State police chief said the attacks could have been prevented if police officers had heeded warnings of a planned attack.The police divisions had enough vehicles to prevent these killings, Abubakar said.Police have not made arrests but accuse Boko Haram members of a rash of targeted killings in recent months during which more than 30 people have been killed including police officers, soldiers, political and spiritual leaders.Boko Haram means Western education is sacrilege in the Hausa language. Its members re-emerged recently after starting a July 2009 riot that led to a security crackdown that left 700 people dead.The Christmas Eve killings in Jos and Maiduguri add to the tally of thousands who already have perished in Africa's most populous country in the last decade over religious and political frictions.Musa contributed from Maiduguri, Nigeria.