JERUSALEM CELEBRATION IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

JERUSALEM VIDEO
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144644
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144652
ALYIAH
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144630

Netanyahu on Jerusalem Day: We'll Continue to Build Jerusalem by Elad Benari JUNE 1,11

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke during Tuesday’s Jerusalem Day celebration at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. As he entered the Beit Medrash, over a thousand students sang the words with which Moses blessed the tribe of Binyamin: And to Binyamin he said: Beloved by God, he will dwell in security.The head of the yeshiva, Rav Yaakov Shapira, welcomed the Prime Minister with warm words for his forthright speech in the US Congress, adding that our roadmap is the Bible and that all of the land of Israel stems from Jerusalem and has the same indivisible status as the hoy city.Netanyahu started by recalling how the government ministers sit during their meetings and browse through letters and other reports. He noted, however, that one minister browses through the Tanach and sometimes the Talmud. That minister, said Netanyahu, is Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman.For Ne’eman, public service is holy work,said Netanyahu, and as such, from time to time he shares with me something new that he’s found. So I’m happy to be here with him and many other great people such as the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Lau, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, and Rabbi Ya’akov Shapira who heads the Mercaz Harav yeshiva.

Addressing Rabbi Shapira directly, Netanyahu said: I just heard the song Od Avinu Chai(our father still lives). Your father still lives, too. I remember the great Rabbi Shapira, and he still lives in you, in your spirit, in the spirit of all the great rabbis, but above all, he lives in the spirit of all of you students of Mercaz Harav.Netanyahu thanked those present for their support during his visit to the United States last week.When I was overseas, I received all your blessings and support,he said.You wanted to strengthen me and you did it, because during that entire week I kept remembering one verse: Chazak Chazak v’Nitchazek.(Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened). May we strengthen one another. We need that strength every day of the year. We’re undergoing a great struggle but we also have some great achievements. 44 years ago, Israel’s soldiers fulfilled the vision of the prophets and brought back Jerusalem to its proper place.My friends, almost 2,000 years have passed since the destruction,continued Netanyahu.And today Jerusalem is beautiful and is a pride to the entire country. We came back to Jerusalem as builders, and today Jerusalem is growing and flourishing. We need to continue and build and develop the city. We see how the citizens of Jerusalem walk in it proudly. Jerusalem has once again become the capital of the Jewish people.

He recalled the government meeting this week, which took place at Migdal David in honor of Jerusalem Day. Before the meeting I went down to the basement and saw a model of the city from the middle of the 19th century. In the model you see the synagogue standing upright, and then you see another synagogue. And you see the Jewish Quarter. We know that we were turned away from the city, but we came back and rebuilt. The synagogue now stands, complete, just like in its glory days.Netanyahu directly addressed the students of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva, telling them,There is nothing more dear to you than the Torah, the people of Israel and the land of Israel, at the heart of which is its capital Jerusalem…There are a few here who were or will be in the sayeret (military commando unit) in the IDF, and just like the sayeret goes in front of the camp, so do you go in front of the camp to light its way.He then offered the students some advice. Always keep in touch with the camp. A pioneer with no camp behind him becomes lost in the desert, but if he has a camp connected to him he becomes part of a great force. All of you – rabbis, avreichim, and students – you stay connected and I’m sure you’ll continue to stay connected to the entire people. Jerusalem can continue to develop only if the people of Israel continue to develop. And the people of Israel will develop only through unity. There’s great strength in unity.The Prime Minister ended with a blessing in honor of Jerusalem Day.There’s nothing more holy to us than Jerusalem, he said.We’ll keep Jerusalem, we’ll keep its unity, we’ll build it. We’ll protect Jerusalem and Jerusalem will protect us. I say to you not just Chag Sameach, but L’Shana Haba’a BiYerushalyim Habenuya Yoter (Next year in Jerusalem which is built even more)!
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Israelis Opposes Dividing Jerusalem: Poll
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu MAY 31,11

An independent poll reveals that two-thirds of Israelis oppose a Palestinian Authority presence in Jerusalem and favor building for Jews.Sixty-six percent of Israelis polled by a Geocartography Knowledge survey this week said they are against allowing the Palestinian Authority to have control of any part of the capital, whose reunification is being celebrated Tuesday night and Wednesday. The poll was carried out for Israel’s Channel 1 television.Virtualy the same number – 67 percent – told the pollsters that construction should not be frozen in any part of United Jerusalem.
An overwhelming 73 percent said they are against international control of holy places, which were restricted to Muslims under the Jordanian occupation before Israel opened up churches and synagogues for all visitors after the Six-Day War in 1967.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Israeli PM: Jerusalem will never be divided
– Tue May 31, 5:51 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Jerusalem will never be divided. His long-standing policy puts him at odds with the Palestinians and much of the world.Netanyahu spoke late Tuesday on the eve of Jerusalem Day, which commemorates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war.The rocks and archaeological artifacts found in Jerusalem expose the deep ties between the Jewish people and its capital, Netanyahu said.Netanyahu spoke at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem where eight students were shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in 2008.
Playing on a 2000 year old Jewish prayer yearning for a return to Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Next year in a more built up Jerusalem.Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).

MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Jerusalem's Reunification: Back in Time to 1967
by Hillel Fendel MAY 31,11

Tuesday night and Wednesday are a special day for lovers of Jerusalem, which celebrates the 44th anniversary of its Six-Day War reunification.Among the central events planned for this Jerusalem Day are traditional festivities at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook, including all-night Torah lectures, singing, dancing to music of the famed clarinetist Musa Berlin, and each year since the liberation of the city, a march of hundreds to the Western Wall starting at 1 a.m. Prime MInister Benyamin Netanyahu, many Knesset Members and rabbis from all over Israel come to join the yeshiva's celebration.Festive prayers take place in central Jerusalem synagogues such as Heichal Shlomo and others. A special program will take place at Yeshivat Beit Orot on Mt. Scopus, overlooking the Temple Mount, which will be followed by music, dancing, a dinner, and an inspiring presentation by noted historian Dr. Eyal Davidson.The central event in the capital on Wednesday will be the traditional Rikudgalim - Flag Dance March - towards the Old City. Though it has long been concentrated on Jaffa Rd., as well as on other streets – with separate routes for girls and boys – this year’s march will be adapted to meet the needs of the new light-rail transportation system. Many of the marchers will enter the Old City through Damascus Gate, while others will circle around the south, adjacent to Mt.of Olives, and enter through Dung Gate. Various tours of different parts of the city are sponsored by the municipality and other organizations all through the day.

The day commemorates the miraculous liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem on the 28th of Iyar, 5727 (June 7, 1967), just days after several Arab armies threatened to wipe the State of Israel off the map. Israel took the initiative with a surprise, defensive attack, wiping out the Egyptian Air Force in one day, and taking over Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea, Samaria, the Sinai and the Golan Heights shortly thereafter. Weeks of national trepidation and tension, including the preparing of thousands of body-bags in Jerusalem and elsewhere, suddenly gave way to celebration and thanksgiving.It has been noted many times that in the days prior to the war, Israel used its informal ties with Jordan’s King Hussein to ask him repeatedly to hold its fire and forces and allow Israel to concentrate only on its Egyptian and Syrian fronts. Had Hussein listened, the course of history would have been very different, as Israel would not have liberated Jerusalem, Judea or Samaria – at least not then.
The war marked Israel’s return to the Old City of Jerusalem for the first time since having been ignominiously driven out in 1948, and for the first time in 1,899 years as sovereign rulers.In fact, though most Jews were thrilled in 1948 when the renewed State of Israel was established, for others the joy was greatly tempered by the lack of inclusion in its borders of the holy sites of Jerusalem– and particularly the Temple Mount.The continued longing for Jerusalem and other Biblical areas was expressed by Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, the head of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. Speaking to his students on Independence Day of 1967, just weeks before the Six Day War, he appeared to be gripped by prophecy when he cried out, Where is our Hevron? Have we forgotten it? And where is our Shechem (Nablus)? Have we forgotten it? And where is our Jericho? Have we forgotten it?! ... And where is all the rest of the Land of Israel? Where are all the pieces of G-d's Land? Do we have the right to give up even one millimeter? Heaven forbid!

One of his students, Rabbi Chanan Porat, who was later to be a leader in the movement to settle all of the Land of Israel, said that the rabbi's emotion was so extreme that it left an impression on him forever: He roared and cried out from the depths of his heart; we saw that he was truly like one crying over someone who had just died, as if he was torn in pieces. We felt as if he was speaking in the name of the Landof Israel, and that its tearing-asunder was tearing his own flesh as well.
Just days after Rabbi Kook’s emotional cry, Egypt placed a blockade around the Straits of Tiran leading into Israel, and preparations for war began. Within three weeks, Hevron, Jericho, Shechem and Jerusalem were once again in Jewish hands. Rabbi Kook and his friend the Nazir, Rabbi David Cohen, were given a special military escort to the Western Wall within hours of its liberation.The continued longing for Jerusalem in the 19 years between ’48 and ’67 was expressed on another level by Naomi Shemer, in her famous song Jerusalem of Gold. The original lyrics read, The city that sits solitary, and in its midst - a wall... How the cisterns have dried, the market-place is empty, and no one frequents the Temple Mount, in the OldCity... Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light, Behold I am a violin for all your songs...Just a few months later, she was able to add these lyrics as the final stanza: We have returned to the cisterns, To the market and to the market-place, A ram's horn (shofar) is heard on the Temple Mount, In the OldCity. The song Jerusalem of Gold quickly became Israel's unofficial national anthem, sung in joy at every opportunity.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press – Mon May 30, 12:09 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above.At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab.Underground Jerusalem is different: Here the noise recedes, the fierce Middle Eastern sun disappears, and light comes from fluorescent bulbs. There is a smell of earth and mildew, and the geography recalls a Jewish city that existed 2,000 years ago.Archaeological digs under the disputed Old City are a matter of immense sensitivity. For Israel, the tunnels are proof of the depth of Jewish roots here, and this has made the tunnels one of Jerusalem's main tourist draws: The number of visitors, mostly Jews and Christians, has risen dramatically in recent years to more than a million visitors in 2010.But many Palestinians, who reject Israel's sovereignty in the city, see them as a threat to their own claims to Jerusalem. And some critics say they put an exaggerated focus on Jewish history.

A new underground link is opening within two months, and when it does, there will be more than a mile (two kilometers) of pathways beneath the city. Officials say at least one other major project is in the works. Soon, anyone so inclined will be able to spend much of their time in Jerusalem without seeing the sky.On a recent morning, a man carrying surveying equipment walked across a two-millennia-old stone road, paused at the edge of a hole and disappeared underground.In a multilevel maze of rooms and corridors beneath the Muslim Quarter, workers cleared rubble and installed steel safety braces to shore up crumbling 700-year-old Mamluk-era arches.Above ground, a group of French tourists emerged from a dark passage they had entered an hour earlier in the Jewish Quarter and found themselves among Arab shops on the Via Dolorosa, the traditional route Jesus took to his crucifixion.South of the Old City, visitors to Jerusalem can enter a tunnel chipped from the bedrock by a Judean king 2,500 years ago and walk through knee-deep water under the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Beginning this summer, a new passage will be open nearby: a sewer Jewish rebels are thought to have used to flee the Roman legions who destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D.The sewer leads uphill, passing beneath the Old City walls before expelling visitors into sunlight next to the rectangular enclosure where the temple once stood, now home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock.From there, it's a short walk to a third passage, the Western Wall tunnel, which continues north from the Jewish holy site past stones cut by masons working for King Herod and an ancient water system. Visitors emerge near the entrance to an ancient quarry called Zedekiah's Cave that descends under the Muslim Quarter.The next major project, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, will follow the course of one of the city's main Roman-era streets underneath the prayer plaza at the Western Wall. This route, scheduled for completion in three years, will link up with the Western Wall tunnel.

The excavations and flood of visitors exist against a backdrop of acute distrust between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims, who are suspicious of any government moves in the Old City and particularly around the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine. Jews know the compound as the Temple Mount, site of two destroyed temples and the center of the Jewish faith for three millennia.Muslim fears have led to violence in the past: The 1996 opening of a new exit to the Western Wall tunnel sparked rumors among Palestinians that Israel meant to damage the mosques, and dozens were killed in the ensuing riots. In recent years, however, work has gone ahead without incident.Mindful that the compound has the potential to trigger devastating conflict, Israel's policy is to allow no excavations there. Digging under Temple Mount, the Israeli historian Gershom Gorenberg has written, would be like trying to figure out how a hand grenade works by pulling the pin and peering inside.Despite the Israeli assurances, however, rumors persist that the excavations are undermining the physical stability of the Islamic holy sites.I believe the Israelis are tunneling under the mosques, said Najeh Bkerat, an official of the Waqf, the Muslim religious body that runs the compound under Israel's overall security control.Samir Abu Leil, another Waqf official, said he had heard hammering that very morning underneath the Waqf's offices, in a Mamluk-era building that sits just outside the holy compound and directly over the route of the Western Wall tunnel, and had filed a complaint with police.The closest thing to an excavation on the mount, Israeli archaeologists point out, was done by the Waqf itself: In the 1990s, the Waqf opened a new entrance to a subterranean prayer space and dumped truckloads of rubble outside the Old City, drawing outrage from scholars who said priceless artifacts were being destroyed.This month, an Israeli government watchdog released a report saying Waqf construction work in the compound in recent years had been done without supervision and had damaged antiquities. The issue is deemed so sensitive that the details of the report were kept classified.Some Israeli critics of the tunnels point to what they call an exaggerated emphasis on a Jewish narrative.

The tunnels all say: We were here 2,000 years ago, and now we're back, and here's proof,said Yonathan Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist. Living here means recognizing that other stories exist alongside ours.Yuval Baruch, the Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of Jerusalem, said his diggers are careful to preserve worthy finds from all of the city's historical periods. This city is of interest to at least half the people on Earth, and we will continue uncovering the past in the most professional way we can,he said.

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/?tabid=15839796&tabheader=false

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED JUNE 01,2011

09:30 AM -2.43
10:00 AM -80.98
10:30 AM -112.31
11:00 AM -141.15
11:30 AM -137.67
12:00 PM -148.00
12:30 PM -186.26
01:00 PM -187.01
01:30 PM -209.57
02:00 PM -206.09
02:30 PM -219.34
03:00 PM -240.07
03:30 PM -256.86
04:00 PM -279.65 12,290.14

S&P 500 1314.55 -30.65

NASDAQ 2769.19 -66.11

GOLD 1,540 +3.20

OIL 100.04 -2.65

TSE 300 13,527.90 -275.00

CDNX 2067.42 -27.05

S&P/TSX/60 770.67 -18.45

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow -43 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -219 points at low today.
Dow +0.15 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,537.00.OIL opens at $102.70 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -287 points at low today so far.
Dow +0.15 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -287 points at low today.
Dow +0.15 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,573.50 (NOT AT CLOSE)

CRUDE OIL
GASOLINE
DISTILLATE INVENTORIES
REFINERY UTILIZATION

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-10 WORLD REGIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

EU aid policy to target fewer states and good governance ANDREW WILLIS 31.05.2011 @ 17:39 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European aid to poorer countries should focus on fewer recipient states and be increasingly linked to democratic advancements, according to a forthcoming review of the EU's development policy.The tougher criteria reflect increased strain on European budgets, booming economies in Asia and Latin America, and a shift in donor thinking following the Arab Spring.A recent overhaul of the European Neighbourhood Policy also proposed a tightening of funding criteria, after years of EU financial support to North African states failed to bring about democratic reforms.While future EU development policy will still strive towards poverty reduction, EU aid should be increasingly allocated on the basis of [recipient] country needs, capacities, resources and commitments, according to a recent draft of the European Commission's strategy paper, seen by EUobserver.A final draft is scheduled for publication this autumn, with further changes likely to be made between now and then.As the recent events in North Africa have clearly shown, achieving good progress in terms of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is not enough. The objectives of development, democracy [governance], human rights and security are unavoidably intertwined,reads the document.Democratisation, enhancing the role of parliaments, civil society participation, [and] scrutiny of public action ... therefore, should all be placed at the heart of the cooperation strategies with third countries.The EU will implement its policy on governance more strictly and consistently in all its various partnerships and cooperation relationships.Collectively, EU member states and the commission make up the world's largest donor to developing countries, although a recent review by the OECD showed that many countries including Italy, France and Germany are behind schedule on an international pledge to give 0.7 percent of their gross national income by 2015.

Targeting EU aid

At the same time, emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India have entered the donor arena, pumping billions of dollars into infrastructure projects in Africa in exchange for oil and mineral concessions.The commission's forthcoming development policy overhaul, which it hopes EU member states will follow, also looks to address this shift by giving less to emerging economies and coordinating donor efforts in fora such as the G20.The EU needs to focus its limited resources in a strategic manner, says the paper.There are today a number of more advanced developing countries that are already on sustained growth paths ... cooperation with these countries does not necessarily need to be supported with financial transfers.In some cases, this process may result in the cessation of EU development assistance, or its diminution, as compared with the current country allocations. This will likely be the case for countries such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa, other G20 members and some middle income countries in Asia and Latin America.Instead, priority aid will be given to Neighbourhood states, Sub-Saharan Africa and the world's least developed countries in future.The commission is also set to publish draft plans for the EU's next long-term budget this June, with the institution's development strategists hoping to capitalise on the upcoming debate.The design of the post-2013 EU multi-annual financial framework and the associated financial instruments falls in 2011-2012. Therefore a direct mechanism exists to ensure the implementation of the updated policy framework,reads the paper.

Brussels: Outside agency for Greek sell-off would threaten sovereignty LEIGH PHILLIPS 30.05.2011 @ 17:42 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has warned that an international body taking charge of Greece's €50 billion privatisation programme - an idea that is being pushed by the Netherlands and Luxembourg - would threaten the country's sovereignty.The EU executive's economy spokesman, Amadeu Altafaj-Tardio told reporters on Monday (30 May) that while the commission would be happy to offer technical assistance to support Greece in the task, it should remain under the management of the Greek government.The commission would like to recall that we in the past have offered international technical assistance to Greece, notably in the reshaping of the statistics office,he told reporters in Brussels.But we have not received any request from the Greek authorities and there would have to be a request from them before any technical assistance could be offered.He emphasised that the commission preferred to offer technical assistance rather than the Dutch proposal for international oversight because international authorities taking control of the privatisation process - I don't think you can do that in a sovereign country.He highlighted that Athens had already achieved success in reducing the government deficit by five percent this year and its transformation of the Greek statistical agency into a completely new office that provides accurate statistics for the first time.He added: We trust the Greeks to perform the privatisation themselves.The comments were made in relation to a call issued on Thursday by Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager in an interview with the FT Deutschland business daily.

De Jager said that the privatisation process should be taken out of Greek hands and placed under international supervision. The scheme would be modelled on the German Treuhandanstalt, or Trust Agency, the independent body that carried out the privatisation of the former East Germany's state property after the fall of the Berlin Wall.The privatisation assets placed in such a Greek agency should be used as collateral for the loans,De Jager said, referring to a potential €60-70 billion second bail-out of the country currently in discussion.He conceded that such a move would face significant domestic opposition. The Greek parliament will not like it but I think you such sensitivities no longer matter,he said.The Greek government and parliament must be clear that a renewed rescue package creates political costs This is the same in the Netherlands and Germany.An EU diplomat familiar with the proposal told EUobserver: The idea is not a Dutch idea per se, but they are spearheading it ... It's not so much that the Greeks cannot be trusted. It's just that they are clearly having so much trouble pushing these sorts of things through.The contact added: In a way, it can be seen as giving them a helping hand. Independent outside experts will be much more able to push through the tough measures than domestic politicians.The source noted that it is premature to be discussing which countries or institutional actors would be represented in the agency.The Dutch have an ally in Jean-Claude Juncker, the chair of the eurogroup of states, who is also taking a hard line on the question of taking the privatisation process out of Greek hands.

I would welcome it very much if our Greek friends found a privatization agency independent of the government and modeled after Germany's Treuhandanstalt,he said in an interview with newsweekly Der Spiegel last week.Henceforth, the European Union will escort Greece's privatization program as if we were conducting it ourselves. Juncker added Greece should sell off more than the €50 billion originally planned.The troika of the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank estimate Greece to have at its disposal a total of €500 billion in wealth between its financial assets, public enterprises and real estate holdings.
Germany however is thought to want to wait for the report back from troika inspectors on the state of Greek finances and its performance in implementing austerity, structural adjustment and privatisation measures.The assessment is due by the end of the this week or the beginning of next week at the latest.

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.

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

9 days after tornado, rebuilding begins in Joplin
By JIM SALTER, Associated Press – Tue May 31, 7:55 pm ET

JOPLIN, Mo. – Electrical crews hoisted power poles, small businesses opened in tents and residents snatched up construction supplies as rebuilding got underway nine days after a tornado tore through southwest Missouri. We are open. Pray for Joplin, read a sign Tuesday outside a pharmacy offering customers free water, coffee and diabetic meters.Cleanup from the tornado that carved a 6-mile swath through the city of about 50,000 will be expensive and environmentally delicate. Environmental officials have already warned of potential hazards, including gasoline leaks and asbestos used in the construction of old homes. But with debris removal to begin Wednesday, residents have started looking ahead.Among the most evident signs Tuesday was the reopening of a Home Depot flattened by the 200 mph winds of the EF-5 twister. Employees in orange vests and aprons helped a steady stream of customers with sales of lumber, roofing materials and other necessities. There wasn't much to choose from yet, but Home Depot promised a 30,000-square-foot temporary building was already framed and would open within a couple of weeks.Until then, people could pick up the most urgently needed supplies, piled on the ground and tables in the old store's parking lot.The products we have are what the community needs,store manager Steve Cope said.We're trying to let people know we're not just a retail store to take their money. We're here.It will be a long time before Joplin completely rebuilds. An estimated 8,000 homes and apartments were damaged or destroyed, along with hundreds of commercial buildings, schools, the largest hospital, power transformers and other infrastructure. But the work has begun.

Just a few blocks from where St. John's Regional Medical Center was hit, Darren Collins had already put up walls and a roof to rebuild his wife's beauty salon, Cutloose. Collins, who works as a contractor, said he wanted to get his wife's business going so he could turn his attention to the long list of jobs he has lined up elsewhere in the city. He said he hadn't anticipated what the salon's reopening would mean to so many people.I had one guy slam on his brakes and come over and give me a big hug and say what an inspiration it is to see somebody rebuilding,Collins said.Residents also are anxious to get their homes back, including Scott Vorhees. The 35-year-old divorced lawyer and his two daughters weren't home when their two-story brick house on a 3-acre lot was destroyed. He's already had a contractor out and hopes to begin building a new home — bigger and better, he said — within months.I just think it's important for people here to see people rebuilding, Vorhees said. Get some momentum going. I want people in Joplin to see progress.The rebuilding effort will get moving in earnest Wednesday, when crews will begin trucking rubble to one landfill in Lamar and two in Kansas. Gov. Jay Nixon announced the start of debris removal at a news conference Tuesday but wouldn't estimate how long it would take or what the cost would be, other than tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars.He said it really didn't matter:I have been clear from the beginning: We will rebuild Joplin.Whatever the final figure is, the federal government will pay a greater-than-usual share — 90 percent, as it agreed to do after deadly storms in Alabama in April, Nixon said. The state and local governments will share the rest.The Environmental Protection Agency will oversee removal of hazardous debris, a delicate task since asbestos, oils, hospital waste, industrial supplies and other hazards are mixed in with everything else. EPA spokesman Chris Whitley expected that to be a massive undertaking.With such a wide area hit, there are estimates that there will be more waste that will come from this that will need to be pulled away than there was at the World Trade Center site after 9-11,he said.

Missouri officials have backed off releasing a death count from the tornado after realizing that, because of the violence of the storm, some sets of remains that have been found could be from the same person.Andrea Spillars, deputy director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said 146 sets of remains were taken a temporary morgue. Investigators are using DNA tests and other scientific means to identify them. The department said in a news release Tuesday evening that next-of-kin have been notified for 123 people confirmed killed by the storm.The list of missing, which included 232 names on Thursday, was down to 10 by Tuesday. Spillars said 144 people on the original list were removed after officials learned they were alive. A few names have been added since.Hundreds of rescue workers from out of town joined Joplin crews in one final sweep of the damaged area Tuesday, hoping against hope to find survivors amid the rubble. City Administrator Mark Rohrs said even when debris removal begins, spotters will be on site to take one last look for survivors.Associated Press video journalist Robert Ray contributed to this report.

NYSE Euronext plans dual clearing venues with LCH
By Luke Jeffs – Mon May 30, 1:17 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Exchange giant NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) is looking to set up two parallel clearing services if it seals its proposed deal to buy Anglo-French clearing house LCH.Clearnet as well as merging with Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE).
NYSE Euronext, which agreed a $10.2 billion combination with its German peer on February 9, has partnered with data vendor Markit in early talks about a possible joint takeover of LCH.Clearnet, a source close to the talks said on Monday.Deutsche Boerse already owns and operates the Eurex Clearing business, which handles trades on both its Eurex futures market and the boerse's Xetra share market.NYSE Euronext would be looking to keep its existing plans to move listed derivatives to Eurex Clearing,the source told Reuters on Monday.If successful (this) would provide the group with an option to create more customer synergies between the listed and over-the-counter (OTC) markets,the source said.The plan is for Eurex Clearing to act as the clearer of choice for instruments traded on an exchange, while LCH.Clearnet will become the venue for the far larger off-exchange or OTC markets, the source said.Details of the NYSE Euronext plan emerged after media reports on Friday said that the transatlantic exchange operator, along with its rival Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ.O) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) have all made bids for LCH.Clearnet, which is based in London and Paris.This prompted LCH.Clearnet to confirm on Saturday that it had received a number of offers from exchange operators about a possible tie-up, declining to comment further.

However, the LSE said on Sunday it is not currently in talks with the clearing house.
Clearing, which has been thrust into the spotlight since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late 2008, provides trading counterparties with a guarantee against the other party defaulting on its obligations.The sector has been given a huge boost by regulators in Europe and the United States who are planning to pass into law new rules to force large swathes of the $600 trillion OTC market in derivatives, such as interest rate and credit default swaps, to use clearing houses.This has prompted many of the world's largest exchange operators, some of which own there own clearing providers while others use third party specialists like LCH.Clearnet, to review their clearing strategies.NYSE Euronext, which along with the LSE uses LCH.Clearnet, said last year it will set up in 2012 its own European clearing services and move business off LCH -- a model used by Deutsche Boerse.NYSE Euronext wants to in-source its clearing in Europe and LCH.Clearnet would present a ready-made clearing solution for them, as well as complementing their clearing presence in the U.S.,said Herbie Skeete, managing director at exchange consultancy Mondo Visione.NYSE Euronext also launched in March this year New York Portfolio Clearing, the exchange's joint venture with U.S. clearing giant the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, to handle interest rate futures trading in the United States.NYSE Euronext is the largest shareholder in LCH.Clearnet, with about 9 percent of the firm's stock, while the next largest owner is the London Metal Exchange with 8 percent.The remaining 83 percent is owned by LCH.Clearnet's largest banking and brokerage clients, most of whom would need to approve any takeover of the firm.(Editing by Douwe Miedema and Greg Mahlich)

Europe locked in chaotic debate over Greece
By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER, AP Business Writer – Tue May 31, 11:39 am ET

BRUSSELS – European officials are locked in a heated debate over whether — and how — to give more aid to debt-ridden Greece just as a much-delayed examination of the country's finances draws to a close.Experts from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will likely conclude their review of Greece's accounts and austerity program over the next 24 to 48 hours, a European official said Tuesday.Their report is set to show huge funding gaps in Greece's budget over the next two years, despite euro110 billion ($157 billion) in rescue loans granted only a year ago. It will also spell out new austerity measures and detail plans to privatize public real estate and corporate assets as the Greek government struggles to hit deficit targets set out in the bailout program.In parallel to the review carried out in Athens, European governments and financial institutions are wrangling over different proposals that would make potential new loans to the struggling country more secure.So far there is no consensus among eurozone countries on whether to give Greece new aid and how, the official said, despite increased pressure in recent days from the European Commission, the ECB and other financial leaders.It's really very chaotic, a second European official said of the talks between representatives from eurozone finance ministries, the ECB and the EU.There are loads of proposals but all proposals are opposed by some.Both officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions were still ongoing.

Many of the richer countries in the 17-nation eurozone are frustrated with Greece's slow implementation of the economic reforms and some euro50 billion in privatizations that were supposed to help its economy grow again and cut down a national debt of some 150 percent of economic output. They want assurances that they will get their money back as their own taxpayers are unhappy with what they see as undeserved help for less disciplined countries.The ministry representatives, who will meet again Wednesday in Vienna, are discussing potential technical assistance for Greece in tax collection and the privatization program, the two officials said. Such international involvement in the internal financial affairs of a eurozone country would constitute an unprecedented intervention likely to face strong opposition within Greece.On top of that, some countries have pushed for Greece to provide collateral for any further loans which could be cashed in if the government fails to repay the aid.Earlier this month, European policymakers also raised the possibility of asking private creditors like banks and investment funds to give Greece more time to repay its bonds, but such a move has been strictly opposed by the ECB.ECB officials have warned that even such a soft restructuring or reprofiling could be seen by investors as a default, triggering panic on financial markets similar that seen after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.Despite those concerns, the two officials said that asking private investors to extend the maturities of the bonds they hold was still on the table.Any final agreement on new aid will depend on which of the countries and institutions will give in eventually and would have to be hammered out by finance ministers in June, one of the officials said. In addition to a scheduled get-together on June 20, there is a strong likelihood of a special meeting the week before that, he added.

Eurozone governments expect Greece to come up with new measures that will help it cut its deficit to the 3 percent of economic output allowed under EU rules by 2014. Last year, it posted a deficit of 10.5 percent and at the current rate the EU estimates it will have a funding shortfall of some 9.5 percent this year, 2 percentage points above target.Any new aid would not relieve Greece from implementing the painful and unpopular austerity and reform measures but only give it more breathing space by keeping it out of international debt markets for a little longer.Greece was supposed to raise some euro27 billion next year and a similar amount in 2013 to start covering some of its bills again, but with interest rates for 10-year bonds above 16 percent that prospect now seems unrealistic.

U.N. report puts focus on Japan nuclear plant flaws
By Kevin Krolicki – MAY 31,11

TOKYO (Reuters) – Less than a week after touring the radioactive rubble of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors on Wednesday plans to hand Japan's government a preliminary review of what triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)team led by Britain's top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, is expected to highlight some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.Those start with the failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-meter (19 ft) break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co's own scientists that such a risk was looming.We had a playbook, but it didn't work, said Tatsujiro Suzuki, a nuclear expert and vice chairman of Japan's Atomic Energy Commission.The acceptance of the IAEA report by Goshi Hosono, an aide to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, marks the first step in effort by Japanese officials to show that the lessons learned from Fukushima can be applied to make its remaining reactors safe.The economic stakes are high. Japan is operating only 19 of its pre-Fukushima tally of 54 reactors. Unless local officials can be convinced that Tokyo has a plan to make the others resistant to the kind of blackout that plunged Fukushima into meltdown, more plants will drop off-line for maintenance.

In the worst case, all of Japan's reactors could be shut down by the middle of 2012. That would take out 30 percent of the nation's electricity generation and raise the risk of deeper, near permanent power rationing, officials say.The Fukushima accident has forced more than 80,000 residents from their homes and raised deepening concerns about the safety of nearby children, workers battling to stabilize the reactors and the food supply as radiated water leaks from the site.The crisis has also diverted attention and resources from rebuilding after the quake and tsunami that killed about 24,000 people in northern, coastal Japan.

START OF THE DEBATE

Experts who have reviewed the Fukushima accident say the draft IAEA report represents a starting point in the debate over what needs to be done to make nuclear plants safe in a country where the risks of earthquakes are still imperfectly understood.There are aspects of the planning for the safety of the Fukushima plant which are, in retrospect, very stupid, and show a lack of imagination, said Kim Kearfott, a University of Michigan nuclear safety expert who toured Japan on her own this week.The nuclear industry can do better than this.As the uranium fuel in the No. 1 reactor began heating toward meltdown on March 11, Tokyo Electric (Tepco) officials grappled with outages of key safety equipment because of the loss of power to the plant.With gauges black from Fukushima, officials in Tokyo monitoring the expected radiation risk faced a related problem. Complicated software to model the expected plume of debris from a Fukushima explosion had been set up to run with precise data rather than rough assumptions.By early on March 12, officials at the Ministry of Education and Technology had fixed the glitch and sent a projected radiation map to Prime Minister Kan's office, but the data was never released to the public.Meanwhile, it was dangerously unclear who was in charge on the ground at Fukushima. Tepco's chairman was in China, the utility's president was grounded in western Japan on a personal trip. Sakae Muto, the ranking Tepco official, spent the night of the quake huddled with mayors of small towns near Fukushima, giving them formal notice of the accident rather than joining the command center.The plant's chief operating officer, Masao Yoshida, ignored an order to stop injecting seawater into the No. 1 reactor based on a request from Kan's office. Experts say Yoshida made the right call, but say the confusion underscored the bigger problems in the early response to the accident.

It was impossible for the system to work as it had been set up, said Suzuki, who believes Japan's nuclear industry will now have to show it can manage and contain the most improbable accidents at all of its remaining reactors to win public trust. Unless they can show that, it's going to be very hard.Others say Japan needs to show it will act on the toughest advice from critics, including long-delayed steps to make its nuclear regulatory agency independent of the politically powerful power industry.Japanese nuclear operations need to be upgraded based on international advice,said Kearfott.Much of this advice was ignored in the past.(Editing by Alex Richardson)