STORMS-QUAKE-PA WANTS IN THE UN

Official: Air race crash mass casualty situation APBy MARTIN GRIFFITH - Associated Press,SCOTT SONNER - Associated Press | AP – SEPT 16,11

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A plane plunged into the stands at an air race event in Reno in what an official described as a mass casualty situation.It wasn't immediately known how many people were killed. But video of the crash showed a horrific scene of bodies and wreckage at the front of the stands.Mike Draper, a spokesman for the air races, told The Associated Press that Jimmy Leeward was the pilot of the P-51 Mustang that crashed into the box seat area at the front of the grandstand about 4:30 p.m. He said he did not have any information on the number of injured.The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race.
UPDATE 12 KILLED,75 INJURED REPORTS AS OF 9PM SEPT 16,11

SOLARGATE: Obama’s Big Green Scandal That Won’t Go Away Patrick Henningsen Infowars.com September 16, 2011

In the first year of his presidency, George W. Bush was under siege. At that time, he had appeared to win his war in Afghanistan, only to find himself tangled in another story, a tale of corporate greed and political corruption made by the hands of a company known as Enron.Back then, it was the new energy brokerage houses and the new energy futures market that drove the hubris, and the greed of men like Ken Lay. Today in 2011, Barrack Obama now finds himself in the midst of his own ‘Enron moment’, but this time it’s political favouritism and a seemingly bottomless pit of green government stimulus handouts that has driven his green juggernaut into a ravine.The Enron scandal saw, among other crimes, the savings and retirement funds of tens of thousands of employees disappear when the politically connected energy giant went bankrupt overnight, but it was the cronyism- the company’s direct connections to Bush, Cheney and other insiders which left the worst taste in America’s mouth. Last week, deja vu hit the Obama White House, as his favourite green pet- solar energy firm Solyndra, managed to do an overnight disappearing act with over $500 million in taxpayer funds. What’s worse is that just like Enron, the solar energy firm’s connections go right up through Washington, and right up to the President himself.From a policy level, it’s a complete wash out due to the fact that despite over half a billion dollars in Federal Financing Bank handouts, Solyndra did not manage to create any new green jobs. On an insider corruption level, things are looking even bleaker.

Indeed, in the Obama White House, just as it was in the Bush White House, money buys influence, and more importantly, money also buys business opportunities. Apparently, when Solyndra first applied for its green subsidies, auditors at the Department of Energy (DOE) had serious doubts about the company’s financial strength, yet, they were still fast-tracked for one the biggest green subsidies in US history. Jonathan Silver is executive director of the Loan Programs Office, and is the man who signed off on Solyndra’s loan. Will he thrown under the bus later, if the investigation reaches Congressional hearings? The plot thickens.The $500 million question is why this firm was allowed to win such a large handout if its fundamentals did not pass grade? The answer to that question is a man by the name of George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire and a major investor in Solyndra, who also happened to be… a key fundraiser for Obama’s 2008 election campaign. But it gets worse.When Solyndra when down under Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, you would think that the US taxpayer would be first in line as a creditor who hoped to recoup its $500 million loss. Not so. First in line was… George Kaiser, who managed to pocket his initial $75 million investment before anyone else got to the butchers table.In an ABC report, Kaiser, like with every inner circle Obama Democrat, moved quickly to place the blame on our far eastern neighbours.Solyndra’s collapse saying the solar firm faced serious challenges in the marketplace, especially the drastic decline in solar panel prices during the past two years caused in part by subsidies provided by the government of China to Chinese solar panel manufacturers, said Kaiser.

Now there is an ethical and perhaps criminal element to Obama’s green scandal. Like with Enron, where thousands of employee retirement accounts were pilfered away by its cowboy executives, Solyndra’s employees were informed literally overnight, that their company was closed and was so broke, that there would not even be a severance cheque waiting for them. But it turns out that insiders in Washington did know the company was in trouble long before it closed its doors last week. The question now is who knew. Which Washington insiders had off-loaded their stocks and shares in the months before the solar manufacturer went down the drain? Criminal proceeding will certainly follow should investigative authorities come up with any information pointing to gross insider trading and financial malfeasance. At the orders of the DOE’s Inspector General, the FBI have now already raided the offices of Solyndra, seizing all its files, as well as raided the homes of Solyndra executives, seizing their computers and related company documents.The reality of Obama’s green revolution in 2011 is that, despite his pledge to handout $38.6 billion in Federal loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra, a promise to create 65,000 green jobs has only produced a rather pathetic 3,545 permanent jobs- this after giving out almost half the allocated amount so far, according to the DOE.One only needs to do the math, and you will discover what every other developed country around the globe already knew in 2008- that the cost per green job is hardly worth the financial pain and suffering.Unquestionably, this scandal will throw into question every other green jobs award that Obama’s White House has given out since 2008, as well as severely damage confidence in any other DOE projects on the table, or in the future.

Now, it is perhaps only a question of time before the investigation reaches the Congress hearing level, where Democrats will be hoping to push a major investigation past the election next November 2012. In the meantime, GOP opponents on Capitol Hill have already caught the scent of political blood left by Obama’s big green debacle. In a recent Washington Post article, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) exclaimed, My goodness. We should be reviewing every one of these loan guarantee. Audit baby audit.Early indications imply that the sheer size and scope of Obama’s Solargate scandal leave us with the impression that this may only be the tip of a much, much larger iceberg. It will be Obama’s first classic Pennsylvania Avenue scandal he has had to face in his first term, one in which we will discover the true quality of this President’s tephlon coating.Above all, this scandal underlines the very same issues which were present during, and which grew out of the Enron days, because Obama’s green economy rides squarely on the back of some very questionable science which endorses a belief in Al Gore’s universal theory of man-made global warming and climate change. From this idea also sprung a vision whereby the people of the world would one day be buying and selling their carbon emissions in a carbon marketplace, a market designed by Ken Lay himself. It seems that with Solargate, the house of cards is well and truly coming down.With Enron it, was pure hubris and greed, combined with opportunity. With Solyndra, it is green hubris and green greed, combined with opportunity. When you get right down to it, they are no different.

SPAIN #11 IN THE EU

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).

Geithner presses EU to act; meets resistance
Reuters By John O'Donnell and Robin Emmott | Reuters – SEPT 16,11

WROCLAW, Poland (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner drew a cool response from EU policymakers when he urged them to leverage their bailout fund to better tackle the debt crisis and to start speaking with one voice.In a 30-minute meeting with euro zone finance ministers on Friday, Geithner pressed for the 440 billion euros European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to be scaled up to give greater capacity to combat the bloc's debt malaise, a senior euro zone official said.The U.S. Treasury said of Geithner's role that he did not advocate or oppose any specific policy prescriptions.One analyst familiar with the proposal said it would involve the EFSF guaranteeing a portion -- perhaps 20 percent -- of potential losses on euro zone debt, so that its capital would effectively stretch five times further.

Geithner's presence at the meeting underscored the depth of U.S. alarm but ministers were resistant to Washington telling the 17-country euro zone and its finance chiefs what to do.He conveyed dramatically that we need to commit money to avoid bringing the system into difficulty, Austria's Finance Minister Maria Fekter told reporters after the meeting.I found it peculiar that even though the Americans have significantly worse fundamental data than the euro zone, that they tell us what we should do and when we make a suggestion ... that they say no straight away.Fekter said there had been particular disagreement over suggestions that Europe should find more money to fight the crisis. When German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble explained that would not go down well with taxpayers and that the only way to fund it would be a financial transaction tax, Geithner flatly ruled that out.However, one senior official said Geithner's proposal on leveraging the EFSF had neither been rejected nor endorsed.It is being discussed, the official said, emphasizing that the priority was for euro zone national parliaments to ratify new powers for the EFSF agreed in July so it can lend to countries under attack in the markets and buy sovereign bonds to prop up struggling states.Geithner was the head of the New York Federal Reserve at the height of the 2008-09 financial crisis where he helped develop an emergency loan facility that was used to help restart the frozen asset-backed securities market.While no one described the gathering as ill-tempered or heated, it appeared clear from the reaction afterwards that Geithner and the Europeans did not see entirely eye-to-eye.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup, said he was not prepared to discuss issues privy to the euro zone with someone from outside the currency bloc.
We are not discussing the expansion or increase of the EFSF with a non-member of the euro area, he told reporters.He also ruled out any further fiscal stimulus, something Washington has also called for. Fiscal consolidation remains a top priority for the euro area, he said.In a separate development that could have implications for Greek debt sustainability, financial sources told Reuters less than 75 percent of private creditors had agreed to take part in a bond swap scheme aimed at keeping Athens afloat, well below the 90 percent target. The measure is a vital part of a second Greek bailout agreed in July.Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said one option could be for the EFSF to make up the difference while Greek bankers say a shortfall could be covered from funds set aside to support banks in need.

END LOOSE TALK

With most economists saying a Greek default is inevitable at some point and the much larger Italian economy -- which would be too big for the euro zone to bail out -- not out of the firing line despite approval of a new austerity package this week, the pressure is on to act.A Reuters poll of more than 50 economists across Europe gave a 65 percent chance Greece would default with half of them saying it would do so in within 12 months. Few expected it to be forced out of the currency bloc.
Speaking to a group of policymakers and bankers after the meeting, Geithner said the EU needed to end loose talk about a break-up of the euro and work more closely with the European Central Bank on solutions.What is very damaging (in Europe) from the outside is not the divisiveness about the broader debate, about strategy, but about the ongoing conflict between governments and the central bank, and you need both to work together to do what is essential to the resolution of any crisis,he said.
Governments and central banks have to take out the catastrophic risks from markets ... (and avoid) loose talk about dismantling the institutions of the euro.The ECB reluctantly agreed last month to buy the bonds of Italy and Spain after they came under market attack, on the understanding the EFSF would take up the cudgels once changes to the fund agreed in July are in place. That was too much for some in the ECB -- the top German official at the bank, Juergen Stark, announced his resignation last week.We are observing tensions in sovereign risk in the EU area, which we consider part of global tensions. It calls for us being alert ... putting our house in order, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters.In a news conference after finance ministers met alone to discuss the specifics of the crisis, Juncker and the European commissioner for monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, focused on the need for Greece to stick rigidly to commitments it has made.Inspectors from the ECB, EU and IMF should report back on progress in early October, Rehn said, meaning that the next disbursement of aid to Greece from its first bailout -- vital to avert imminent default -- could be paid by mid-October.A Greek government official said the heads of an EU/IMF inspection team would not arrive in Athens as planned on Monday to resume a performance review due to technical reasons and will instead hold a teleconference with the finance minister.The intention is to meet the fiscal targets for this year and next year without delay, without exception and deviations, Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told reporters.With no dramatic new policy unveiled, the euro gave up some of the gains seen in the previous session when the ECB and other top central banks joined forces to offer more dollar liquidity to banks struggling to secure funds.

All the headlines that are coming out of the Ecofin meeting are pretty negative and the euro's resilience after the coordinated action from central banks on Thursday seems to be coming off, said Jeremy Stretch head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.Among the issues finance ministers must try to resolve is a row over the terms of a second bailout for Greece, with countries such as Finland demanding collateral in return for new loans -- a major obstacle to a deal.An adviser to Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen said it would probably not be until early October that the dispute was fully resolved.Collateral is a must for Helsinki but officials say a solution is coming together whereby it is made so expensive to demand it that no country but Finland will take it.(Additional reporting by John O'Donnell, Jan Strupczewski, Robin Emmott, Annika Breidthardt and Leigh Thomas in Wroclaw and David Lawder and Rachelle Younglai in Washington; Writing by Luke Baker; editing by Mike Peacock, Janet McBride and Kenneth Barry)

EU toughens budget rules but stalls on Greece APBy DAVID McHUGH - AP Business Writer,GABRIELE STEINHAUSER - AP Business Writer | AP – SEPT 16,11

WROCLAW, Poland (AP) — The European Union's 27 countries overcame a year of infighting to agree Friday to tougher budget rules that make it easier to punish overspending governments, but failed to produce any new measures that might contain the debt market turmoil threatening it.Polish finance minister Jacek Rostowski said his EU counterparts approved the measures at their meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, where the officials were under international pressure to show some progress in their fight to contain the debt crisis.Although the new rules will not ease immediate market concerns about debt, they are a first indication that Europe's states are willing to give up some sovereign powers to bolster longer-term confidence in the region.The yearlong delay and the complicated voting procedures that define the final deal, however, suggest more progress will be hard to come by.I don't say that it is perfect, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said of the compromise deal. But it is a very significant improvement.Under the new rules, it will be easier to put sanctions on governments that breach the EU's limits on debts and deficits, because in most cases a state would have to rally a majority of governments to stop the punishment. That is a reversal of powers, since until now, a majority was necessary to impose sanctions. Governments that are found to ignore warnings can also be punished.In the years before the current crisis, many European states — including Germany and France — had broken the EU rule requiring deficits to be kept below 3 percent of gross domestic product. Experts say that the lack of accountability has helped cause the rise in government debt that is currently afflicting the region.

The eurozone ministers are under intense pressure to find solutions to the debt crisis that has hobbled their 17-nation currency union for almost two years.U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's presence at Friday's informal meeting — the first time for an American Treasury chief — was an indication of the fears that Europe's turmoil will hurt the global economic recovery.Yet Friday's meeting produced little concrete progress toward snuffing out the more immediate crisis, in which high interest rates threaten to cut indebted countries off from bond market financing. Greece, Ireland and Portugal have needed international bailout loans to avoid defaulting on their debts, and eurozone officials are trying to keep default fears from pushing Spain or Italy, regarded as too big to bail out, into default.
Eurozone officials said they would not decide until October on whether Greece had met conditions to receive the next installment from its original euro110 billion ($151 billion) bailout, required to keep it from a default that could trigger wider financial havoc among Europe's shaky banks.They also could not agree to resolve a dispute over Finland's demand for collateral to cover its contribution to a second, euro109 billion ($150 billion) bailout agreed when the first did not put Greece back on its feet.Other calls, such as increasing the size of the eurozone bailout fund or providing more government stimulus to fight a growth slowdown that could make the debt crisis worse, were rejected.For the longer term, calls have been growing louder for the 17 eurozone countries to coordinate their fiscal and economic policies much more closely to avoid similar crises in the future and more importantly to assure financial markets of the endurance and unity of the currency union.However, the struggle over the new budget rules, which dragged on after the European Commission proposed the new legislation in September 2010, has raised doubts that eurozone states would be willing to give up more decision-making power to central authorities such as the commission, the EU's executive body.

The European Central Bank had been particularly critical of states' attempts to preserve powers to stop sanctions, saying initially that even the original proposals from the commission were not tough enough.Trichet said that in the medium-term, further steps were necessary to make sure that governments maintain healthy economies and tax and spending policies.The deal on the budget rules is expected to be passed by the full European Parliament later this month.

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.

Hurricane Maria makes landfall in eastern Canada
AP – Fri Sep 16, 5:29 pm ET

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland – Hurricane Maria made landfall in eastern Newfoundland as a Category 1 storm on Friday, but officials said the worst winds were offshore and there were no early reports of injuries or significant property damage.After making landfall, Maria was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm. Chris Fogarty, a meteorologist at the Canadian Hurricane Centre, said Newfoundland avoided the worst of the hurricane. Weather officials lifted the hurricane warning for southeastern Newfoundland.The worst wind stayed just offshore, Fogarty said in an interview.A major bullet was dodged by the look of it.Many Newfoundlanders hunkered down at home in the Atlantic Canadian province. Schools were closed. Fogarty said the latest forecast calls for 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain in some areas — less than originally expected.Fogarty said the highest winds on land reached 64 mph (103 kph) on the southern tip of the Avalon peninsula where Maria made landfall. The highest wind speeds were recorded offshore where they peaked at 77 mph (124 kph).The storm comes a year after Hurricane Igor tore through eastern Newfoundland as a Category 1 storm. One man died as Igor washed out roads, swept away bridges and caused nearly $200 million in damage to almost 200 communities.Fogarty said Maria isn't much of a threat as far as flooding is concerned because it is moving so quickly.The province's Fire and Emergency Services issued a statement saying residents should prepare for damaged buildings and power outages.The storm wasn't expected to have much impact on Newfoundland's offshore oil platforms and vessels. Fogarty said Maria's rapid forward speed would prevent her from churning up the waves beyond six meters (20 feet) on the Grand Banks.Coastal Labrador is expected to see strong winds and large waves on Saturday as two weather systems collide.Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Floods kills 98 in Thailand, cause widespread damage
Reuters – Fri Sep 16, 5:45 am ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Monsoon rains, floods and mudslides in Thailand have killed at least 98 people since July, including a French tourist, authorities said on Friday, posing a test for the new government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.Flooding in 29 of Thailand's 76 provinces has destroyed or damaged more then 300,000 homes, authorities said, briefly sinking parts of resort city Pattaya in waist-high water and causing the evacuation of 79 elephants from a farm in Ayutthaya.About a 1.3 million acres of farm land is under water -- about eight times the size of Singapore.
Twenty-one provinces in north and northeast have been warned of flash flooding and landslides, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said in a statement on Friday.The floods began after tropical storm Nock-ten battered Southeast Asia in late July, killing more than 50 people in the Philippines before bearing down on Vietnam and Thailand.Heavy rain and floods, part of the August-to-October monsoon season, damaged paddy fields but not enough to significantly cut output in the world's top rice exporter, industry sources said.Many farms have expanded plantation acreage in recent years to offset slight falls in production from flood damage. Thailand was expected to produce 25.1 million tons of paddy this year, up from 24 million tons the previous year.

Several roads in northern Thailand remained cut off and trains have faced significant delays.By next week, flood waters could reach parts of Bangkok, which sits only two meters (6 ft 7 inches) above sea level, causing the capital's Chao Phraya river to overflow onto roads in some areas, although authorities have reinforced its banks to prevent serious flooding.Remi Huet, a 30-year-old French tourist, was killed by flashfloods while bicycling in a national park in Prachin Buri province, 135 km (218 miles) northeast of Bangkok. His body was found a km (0.62 mile) from the cycling track on Sunday .Yingluck's month-old government approved 800 million baht ($27 million) in compensatation for households affected by floods.(Reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat and Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat; Editing by Jason Szep)

Hurricane Season Hits Pause, But Isn't Over
LiveScience.com Brett Israel LiveScience.com – Fri Sep 16, 4:11 pm ET

Mid-August marked an uptick in the number of tropical storms and hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean, with one storm always seeming to follow on the heels of another. But lately, the tropics have quieted down.Hurricane Maria, the third hurricane of the 2011 season, is expected to hit Newfoundland, Canada, today (Sept. 16), but there are no other tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms) after this one the radar. But don't think for a second that hurricane season is headed for an early exit, experts say.In no way, shape or form is this season over, said Dennis Feltgen of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.If, for some odd reason, no other tropical storms were to form this year, it would be the earliest end ever for an Atlantic hurricane season. The earliest date in the satellite era of the last active tropical cyclone in a given year was Sept. 21, 1993. Hurricane season officially ends Nov.1.Feltgen and others say we're not likely to set a new record this year.I would be incredibly surprised if Maria was the last tropical cyclone in the Atlantic, said Phil Klotzbach, an atmospheric scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. While it looks like we're going into a somewhat quieter period for a little bit, it's not that unusual to have a quiet period during an active season, Klotzbach said.This season was predicted to be a doozy, with 14 to 19 named storms (which include tropical storms and hurricanes), seven to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). So far there have been 14 named storms (Nate formed shortly after Maria, but dissipated after striking Mexico shortly after it developed), three hurricanes and two major hurricanes (Irene and Katia).

The tropics seem to have quieted down as storms shift their birthplace to the west in the Atlantic basin. At the beginning of the season, tropical cyclones form near Cape Verde, off the coast of Western Africa. Toward the end of the season, they begin closer to the West Caribbean. This puts the southeastern United Sates in the crosshairs. October is typically an active month for that region.Most of the global models suggest that another storm should develop in about nine days, Klotzbach said. And with the warm Atlantic waters and La Niña's return — which has been linked to active hurricane seasons — more big storms could be on the way.It's nice we got a little chance to breathe and collect our thoughts, but we are far from over, Feltgen said.You can follow OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel on Twitter: @btisrael. Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet and on Facebook.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

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

Series of quakes hit off Japan disaster zone
AFP – SEPT 16,11

A strong 6.6-magnitude undersea quake and a series of aftershocks hit off the coast of Japan's Honshu island, not far from the area ravaged by a huge March quake and tsunami, geologists said.There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and no widespread tsunami warning, although the initial earthquake was followed by five more quakes of magnitude five or above, one of them measuring 6.2.The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the first, 36.2-kilometre (22.6-mile) deep quake hit 108 kilometres east-south-east of the coastal town of Hachinohe, 574 kilometres from Tokyo, at 4:26 am on Saturday (19:26 GMT Friday).The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that no destructive widespread tsunami risk exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.But it said that quakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis. Authorities in the region of the epicentre should be aware of this, the centre said in a statement.The Japan Meteorological Agency said that there might be some changes in sea levels due to the first earthquake, but that there were no reports of damage or casualties and none were expected, according to the Kyodo news agency.

It said the initial quake jolted Iwate prefecture, an area badly hit by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that left almost 20,000 dead or missing and sparked the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.The 6.6-magnitude quake was followed by two smaller magnitude-five tremors within an hour in the same area east of Hachinohe.The fourth quake struck at 7:08 am (2108 GMT Friday), with a magnitude of 6.2 at a depth of 20.2 kilometres, 137 kilometres east-south-east of Hachinohe. Again, no widespread tsunami warning was issued.During the next two hours there were two more magnitude-five tremors nearby, the second one with its epicentre only five kilometres deep, USGS said.Japan, located on the tectonic crossroads known as the Pacific Ring of Fire and dotted with volcanoes, is one of the world's most quake-prone countries.

Magnitude-6.6 quake shakes Japan
AP – Fri Sep 16, 4:00 pm ET

NEW YORK – A magnitude-6.6 earthquake shook the east coast of Japan off Honshu early Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. No tsunami warning was issued, and no damage or casualties were immediately reported.The 4:26 a.m. Friday (1926 GMT Thursday) quake was shallow, at 22.6 miles (36.3 kilometers) beneath the surface, the USGS said.The USGS said the quake hit some 67 miles (108 kilometers) southeast of Hachinohe, in Honshu, Japan, and about 356 miles (574 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, Japan.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Rare minnows rescued from Texas river amid drought AP By ANGELA K. BROWN - Associated Press,BETSY BLANEY - Associated Press | AP – SEPT 16,11

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Wading through a muddy river bed to reach shallow pools of water, wildlife biologists scooped up hundreds of minnows Friday in one of the first rescues of fish threatened by the state's worst drought in decades.The scientists collected smalleye shiners and sharpnose shiners from the Brazos River — about 2,300 on Thursday and 800 Friday. The fish, which are found only in the Brazos and nowhere else in the world, are both candidates to be listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. They will be taken to the state's fish hatchery near Possum Kingdom Lake but returned to the river when the drought abates.
Scientists used a large net to scoop up dozens of fish at a time Friday morning near Sagerton, about 150 miles west of Fort Worth. Both types of 2-inch-long minnows are shiny and have other distinctive features, making them easy for scientists to spot and put in buckets, while throwing other fish caught in the nets back in the water, said Kevin Mayes, an aquatic biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
With the water drying up in the drought, the minnows don't have the 100 miles of river they need to reproduce. And, their life span is just two years, Mayes said. Game fish like catfish and largemouth bass eat the minnows, making them an important part of the ecosystem, he said.

A team rescued 110 federally threatened Arkansas River shiners and 60 peppered chubs from the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle near the New Mexico border last week and took them to a federal fish hatchery in Oklahoma. Gene Wilde, a Texas Tech University fish ecology professor who led the team, said he believes that effort was the first fish rescue in Texas during this severe drought.We value these species and they are an important part of the Texas natural heritage, so we're trying to prevent losing them in this drought, Wilde said, referring to both rescue efforts.Large fish rescues are rare, but they could become more common for fish, reptiles and amphibians as the drought persists. Texas is home to 86 species considered endangered or threatened.The San Saba, Colorado and Llano rivers are home to several species of mussels, some of which are listed as threatened in Texas and for which petitions are pending for federal status.Several federally endangered species — including the fountain darter and the Texas blind salamander — could need rescuing from the Comal and San Marcos Springs, south of Austin. If stream flows drop to pre-determined levels, biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will evacuate as many samples of the species as possible.About 88 percent of the state is in the worst stage of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday. Texas just finished its driest 11 months on record and is in its worst single-year drought ever. It also had the hottest June through August on record in the U.S.Blaney reported from Lubbock. AP photographer L.M. Otero contributed to this report from Sagerton.Follow Angela K. Brown at http://twitter.com/AngelaKBrownAP

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

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.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Palestinian leader will ask for full UN membership
AP By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press – Fri Sep 16, 2:07 pm ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinian president said Friday he would ask the U.N. Security Council next week to endorse his people's decades-long quest for statehood but emphasized that he did not seek to isolate or delegitimize Israel.Mahmoud Abbas' plan to seek full membership at United Nations and bypass negotiations with Israel sets the stage for a diplomatic confrontation with Israel and the United States, which has indicated it would veto the measure in the Security Council.Abbas appeared to leave himself some wiggle room in his address to the Palestinian people before departing for the annual U.N. General Assembly session in New York next week, saying he did not rule out other, unspecified options. Those could include seeking a lesser, nonmember state observer status from the General Assembly, a more easily obtainable goal.He also acknowledged that his U.N. move would not end the Israeli occupation and cautioned against outsize hopes.We don't want to raise expectations by saying we are going to come back with full independence, Abbas said in an address to Palestinian leaders. He said he was going to the United Nations to ask the world to shoulder its responsibilities by backing the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.Abbas urged the Palestinian people to refrain from violence, saying anything other than peaceful moves will harm us and sabotage our endeavors.

And he asserted twice that his aim was not to isolate or delegitimize Israel — a charge Israel often levels at the Palestinians and their supporters.No one can isolate Israel. No one can delegitimize Israel. It is a recognized state, he said. We want to delegitimze the occupation, not the state of Israel. The occupation is the nightmare of our existence.Both the U.S. and Israel fear the U.N. move could lead to violence and other negative consequences and stress that statehood should come about through negotiations, the cornerstone of Mideast peace efforts for the past two decades. The Palestinians already are planning two mass demonstrations in the West Bank next week, though they insist the marches will be peaceful.The Palestinians say they are turning to the U.N. after concluding that peace talks will yield no breakthrough at this point. Although the U.N. move will not change things on the ground, they hope it will give them greater leverage in future negotiations with Israel by elevating their international profile.With a U.S. veto assured in the Security Council, the Palestinians would likely seek nonmember state status from the General Assembly, where the Palestinians would only need a simple majority of those present and voting. Abbas said more than 125 of the assembly's 193 members have pledged to support the Palestinians in their statehood bid.Application for either status likely would take weeks, if not months, to come to a vote.Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said Thursday that Abbas would submit his statehood bid to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon after addressing the General Assembly on Sept. 23.After the speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Abbas of dodging direct talks.Peace is not achieved through unilateral approaches to the U.N. or by joining forces with the Hamas terror organization, Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to a recent, unimplemented agreement between Abbas and the violently anti-Israel group that rules Gaza to unite their rival governments. Peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel.Talks between Israel and the Palestinians stalled almost three years ago, reviving only briefly with three-week round that broke down last September after the expiration of a slowdown in Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Palestinians say the continued construction on lands they want for a future state compromises its viability, and they want it to stop completely as a condition for restarting talks.

Israel has rejected that demand.

The U.S. has been at the forefront of an international diplomatic scramble this week to get Israelis and Palestinians talking instead of sparring at the U.N. While Palestinian leaders have not closed the door on the prospect of a compromise, the chances of breakthrough appear slim.The prospect of a veto would put Washington in the embarrassing position of voting against a concept the Obama administration approves of in principle: The establishment of a Palestinian state whose borders will be negotiated from the starting point of the lines Israel held before capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967.Israel still occupies the West Bank and east Jerusalem. It withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but restricts the entry and exit of goods there through land crossings and a naval blockade.The White House announced on Friday that President Barack Obama would meet with Netanyahu on the sidelines of next week's United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York. The White House said there currently were no plans for Obama to formally meet with Abbas.Although the future state Abbas envisions would include Gaza, in practice, the territory is ruled by Hamas militants who call for Israel's destruction and seized the territory from Abbas loyalists in a violent 2007 takeover.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum derided Abbas' speech as a tactic to return to negotiations with the government of the Zionist occupation that was undertaken without consulting with other Palestinian factions.Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak contributed to this report from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

Obama tries to look beyond Palestinian bid at UN
AP By JULIE PACE, Associated Press – Fri Sep 16, 4:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Facing a potentially destabilizing diplomatic clash, President Barack Obama heads to the United Nations next week already looking beyond a potential vote on Palestinian statehood and toward laying the groundwork for the resumption of stalled Middle East peace talks.Obama had hoped to focus his efforts at the meetings of the U.N. General Assembly on boosting the standing of Libya's former rebel leaders and touting the United Nations' role in dismantling Moammar Gadhafi's regime. But success in Libya seems likely to be overshadowed by a Palestinian push for full U.N. membership — an effort over which Obama has little influence.White House officials say it's still unclear what course the Palestinians will take in New York next week. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he will ask the U.N. Security Council to endorse his statehood bid, though he said he was open to other unspecified options. The U.S. has pledged to veto the statehood bid, and the Obama administration has senior diplomats in the region making a last-ditch effort to persuade the Palestinians to drop the measure.But the White House insists its main focus is not on what happens at the U.N., but on resuming direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. U.S. officials contend that those negotiations provide the only credible pathway for the Palestinians to achieve statehood.

Whatever happens at the United Nations, there's going to have to be a process to get these two parties back to the table when we get beyond next week,White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Friday.As part of the effort to revive the stalled negotiations, Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. meeting next week. But whether Obama can make any progress in convincing Netanyahu to return to talks is highly uncertain, and it's unclear what bargaining power the U.S. has.There are currently no plans for Obama to meet with Abbas in New York, and the White House said the two leaders had not spoken recently.Obama is due to arrive in New York Monday evening, after giving a speech in the Washington area announcing his deficit cutting recommendations for a joint congressional committee.The president's meetings at the U.N. kick into high gear on Tuesday with an emphasis on Libya, where opposition forces have unseated Gadhafi after four decades of rule.Eager to burnish the credentials of Libya's new leadership, Obama will hold his first meeting with Mahmoud Jibril, prime minister of the Transitional National Council. He and other world leaders will also convene a high-level meeting on Libya where the TNC will outline its plans for a post-Gadhafi nation.The White House sees next week's meetings as an opportunity to promote the U.N.'s role in the months-long Libya effort as a model for future interventions. In March, the Security Council swiftly passed a resolution establishing a no-fly zone over Libya and authorizing all necessary action needed to protect civilians, a measure the U.S. credits with saving countless Libyan lives.The U.N. has a credible role to play in these issues, and the international community can prevent mass atrocities, Rhodes said.On Friday, the U.N. voted to give Libya's seat in the world body to the former rebels.Other key meetings on Obama's schedule at the U.N. include one-on-one talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, their first meeting since Obama outlined plans to withdraw more than 20,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer. And Obama will meet with the prime minister of Turkey, whose increasingly strained relationship with Israel is a growing concern for the U.S.

Obama also will meet with leaders from Britain, France, Brazil, Japan and South Sudan, the world's newest nation.The president will address the General Assembly Wednesday morning and also speak at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative later that day.Underscoring the ever-present tug of domestic politics, Obama is also expected to use his time in New York to attend fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee and his re-election campaign.Julie Pace can be reached at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Q+A: The implications of the Palestinian U.N. drive
Reuters By Crispian Balmer and Lou Charbonneau | Reuters – SEPT 16,11

(Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would request recognition of a fully-fledged Palestinian state at the United Nations when he goes to the world body next week, defying fierce opposition from Israel and the United States.Here are some of the reasons behind the push as well as some of the possible consequences.

WHY DO THE PALESTINIANS WANT TO GO TO THE UNITED NATIONS?

Abbas says 20 years of U.S.-led peace talks have got nowhere and wants a vote in the United Nations to bestow the Palestinians with the cherished mantle of statehood. However, he recognizes that negotiations with Israel will still be needed to establish a properly functioning state.Justifying the move, the Palestinians point to the success of a Western-backed, two-year plan to build institutions ready for statehood which they say is now finished.

THE PALESTINIANS WANT RECOGNITION ON 1967 LINES. WHY?

The Palestinian Authority (PA) says placing their state firmly in the context of territory seized by Israel in the 1967 war will provide clear terms of reference and mean Israel will no longer be able to call the land disputed. Instead, it will make clear it is occupied. Israel fears this will enable Palestinians to start legal proceedings in the International Criminal Court (ICC) against some 500,000 Israelis who live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

HOW DOES THE U.N. ADMIT NEW MEMBER STATES?

Countries seeking to join the United Nations usually present an application to the U.N. secretary-general, who passes it to the Security Council to assess and vote on. If the 15-nation council approves the membership request, it is passed to the General Assembly for approval. A membership request needs a two-thirds majority, or 129 votes, for approval.A country cannot join the United Nations unless both the Security Council and General Assembly approve its application.

COULD THE PALESTINIANS JOIN THE U.N.?

In theory, yes. But Washington has made clear it would veto such a request, meaning it has no chance of success. Even if the Palestinians secured a two-thirds majority of votes in the General Assembly, there is no getting around the need for prior approval of the Security Council.

IS "NON-MEMBER STATE" STATUS AN OPTION?

In addition to applying to become a full U.N. member state, the Palestinians could also seek upgraded observer status as a non-member state. That is what the Vatican has. Such status, U.N. envoys say, could be interpreted as implicit U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood because the assembly would be acknowledging that the Palestinians control an actual state.The advantage of this option is that it would require only a simple majority of the 193-nation General Assembly, not a two-thirds majority. Abbas said on Friday that more than 126 states already recognize the state of Palestine, meaning he could probably win such a vote with ease.

WHAT WOULD BE THE ADVANTAGE OF THAT?

Besides granting them the all-important title state, diplomats say it might enable the Palestinians to join the ICC, from which it could pursue legal cases against Israel over the partial blockade of Gaza or the settlements.

ARE THERE ANY DISADVANTAGES FOR THE PALESTINIANS?

There are potential pitfalls. For example, Israel could counter sue the Palestinians in the ICC over missiles fired at it out of Gaza, which is run by the Hamas Islamist group.Some critics have warned of legal consequences for the Palestinians themselves, arguing the move could jeopardize the rights of refugees in the Palestinian diaspora and the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Others have dismissed those arguments.Also, the U.N. vote will not change things on the ground in the Palestinian territories -- a reality which could further undermine the standing of the Palestinian leadership when the dust settles. Some Israelis have warned disappointment could fuel anti-Israeli violence and even spark a new Intifada. PA officials have dismissed that prospect.

COULD ISRAEL OR WASHINGTON EXACT PUNISHMENT ON THE PA?

Israeli officials have suggested a range of possible measures, including limiting travel privileges for Palestinian leaders seeking to exit the West Bank, halting the transfer of crucial tax revenues to the Palestinians and even annexing West Bank settlement blocs to try to sidestep ICC legal action. Some U.S. officials have warned that they might cut their annual aid to the Palestinian Authority, which runs to some $450 million. It is far from clear if they will enact these threats. Depriving the PA of funds, for example, would rapidly push it to financial collapse, which would provoke instability. In the case of bankruptcy, some leading Palestinians argue that the PA should hand over the keys of the big West Bank cities to Israel and tell it to pay for the on-going occupation.(Writing by Crispian Balmer and Lou Charbonneau)

Israel ups West Bank forces before Palestinian UN bid
AFP By Marius Schattner | AFP – SEPT 16,11

Israel has boosted its army presence in the West Bank ahead of a Palestinian recourse to the UN amid fears they may resort to the International Criminal Court over Jewish settlements, reports said on Friday.Public radio reported the build-up and the daily Yediot Aharonot said three battalions of reservists -- some 1,500 personnel -- have been mobilised and units already in the occupied territory have been reinforced.The move comes ahead of expected Palestinian demonstrations as their statehood bid looms at the United Nations on September 23, public radio said.
General Avi Mizrahi, the commander of central Israel which includes the West Bank, has issued strict orders to the military to act with restraint and avoid bloodshed if trouble erupts, Yediot Aharonot said.It said troops in the Palestinian territory have been armed with anti-riot equipment including tear gas to enable them to control any protests without having to resort to live ammunition.The military is also reported to have boosted its presence around Jewish settlements in the West Bank, both to protect them and to prevent attacks on Palestinians by extremist settlers.Officials said one Palestinian and an Israeli settler were wounded on Friday in clashes in the village of Kusra in the northern West Bank.Around a dozen settlers tried to enter Kusra but were stopped by residents who feared they were about to be attacked and began beating them, Palestinian officials said.One settler pulled out a pistol and shot a Palestinian in the leg.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the clash happened in a disputed area outside Kusra between residents and people from the nearby settlement of Esh Hakodesh.She said the wounded Israeli had been stabbed and confirmed a Palestinian had been shot.
Settlers have said they plan to march on Palestinian cities if the Palestinians hold protest marches around settlements during their UN membership bid, settler leaders said on September 7.We will leave our communities and march peacefully towards Palestinian towns -- Hebron, Ramallah or Nablus, said Yaakov Katz, a far-right member of the Israeli parliament.Two days later, vandals sprayed graffiti on the walls of a mosque and a university in Birzeit near Ramallah in attacks suspected to have been carried out by Israeli settlers.Palestinian security officials told AFP that Death to the Arabs and slogans insulting the Prophet Mohammed were painted in Hebrew.Israel's Peace Now anti-settlers movement said on Friday more than 100 hectares of Palestinian land have been confiscated in the northern West Bank for the benefit of two wildcat settlements.This is the state's response to a legal bid by Peace Now to demand the dismantling of the wildcat settlements of Haresh and Hayovel, it said in a statement.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was to address his people on Friday ahead of next week's bid for for UN membership.The Israeli Haaretz reported on Friday that Israeli officials fear the Palestinians may launch legal action against settlements if their bid for upgraded UN status bears fruit.

It reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Thursday told EU and US envoys of his concerns about a possible Palestinian recourse to the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the settlers issue.It said the premier expressed his fears at meetings with US, EU and Quartet envoys holding talks with Israel and Palestinian leaders in an effort to get them back into direct peace talks that stalled a year ago.The Palestinian bid for UN membership is strongly opposed by both Israel and the United States, who say the only route to a Palestinian state is through bilateral negotiations.Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev refused to comment to AFP on Netanyahu's meetings with the foreign envoys.A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Palestinian ICC recourse would be worrying, given that it would demonstrate that they seek to perpetuate conflict instead of seeking peace.But the official also believed that Israel has little to worry about in this case as it has not ratified the Treaty of Rome recognising the authority of the ICC, and is not therefore bound to implement its rulings.

Israel calls Egypt envoy over treaty revision talk
APBy AMY TEIBEL - Associated Press | AP – SEPT 16,11

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Egyptian ambassador for a talk Friday after Egypt's prime minister said his country's 1979 peace treaty with Israel could be amended, a ministry spokesman said.The spokesman, Paul Hirschson, would not give details of the conversation.Prime Minister Essam Sharaf told Turkish TV on Thursday that the treaty is not sacred. ... It can be revised.Sharaf did not elaborate. Egyptian officials have recently been arguing for more Egyptian troops in the Sinai Peninsula, where militant activity is on the rise. Currently, the treaty defines that area of the Sinai along Israel's border as a demilitarized zone, barring Egyptian troops. Israel has accepted temporary Egyptian deployments there.

The treaty was the first signed between an Arab country and Israel. Jordan followed in 1994.Israel has been concerned about the fate of the treaty since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. Mubarak steadfastly upheld the treaty, even though popular sentiment in Egypt is hostile to Israel.Although the current government in Cairo has voiced its commitment to the treaty, relations have been strained since Mubarak's ouster.An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official Israel sought clarification of the prime minister's comments about the peace deal. The official reiterated Egypt's commitment to upholding the treaty as long as Israel does the same. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of ministry rules that bar him from being identified in the press.Egypt and Israel both receive large amounts of foreign aid from the U.S. The U.S. contributions to Egypt reached $2 billion annually after the treaty was signed.A Mubarak-era natural gas deal perceived in Egypt as a corrupt transaction that netted Mubarak and his cronies millions of dollars and gave Israel bargain prices has been a target of harsh criticism since his downfall. Israel insists it is paying a fair price for the gas.

Violence last month further soured the atmosphere.Palestinian militants who infiltrated Israel from Egypt's Sinai desert killed eight Israelis. Six Egyptian soldiers in Sinai were killed as Israel pursued the attackers, sparking protests in Egypt.Last week, rioters ransacked the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, forcing the Israeli ambassador, staffers and their families to flee on military planes back home.