STOCK RESULTS FRI AUG 3,12

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

Palestinian debate over timing of next UN bid

By KARIN LAUB and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH | Associated Press – 21 hrs ago AUG 3,12

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The next international showdown over "Palestine" seems inevitable, with President Mahmoud Abbas determined to seek U.N. General Assembly recognition of statehood for his homeland despite U.S. and Israeli objections.However, the possibility of repercussions abroad has sparked a growing debate in the leader's inner circle over the timing of such a call, and whether it should be delayed until after the U.S. presidential election.Abbas leans toward waiting until after the November vote to avoid further strain with the Obama administration, aides have said, while senior figures in the Palestine Liberation Organization and Abbas' own Fatah movement on Thursday called for quicker action.An earlier Palestinian U.N. bid could add unwelcome complications to President Barack Obama's re-election efforts.Palestinian officials eager to make a move as soon as the General Assembly convenes in September argued that Obama has been a disappointment to the Palestinians and that there is no point in waiting."There are some who might want to wait until after November because of American pressure, but the Americans have done nothing but put pressure on the Palestinians, without delivering anything," Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said Thursday. "What we need is to move fast."The final decision is up to Abbas, who has said he will seek Arab League backing for the timing of his U.N. move when the organization meets in early September. Late last month, the Arab League decided in principle to back his U.N. bid.General Assembly recognition of "Palestine" would upgrade the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, territories Israel occupied in 1967, to a non-member observer state.It would not change realities on the ground — Israel has annexed east Jerusalem, retains control over the West Bank and remains the gatekeeper of Gaza.
However, U.N. recognition would enshrine the 1967 pre-war frontier as the border between Israel and Palestine, countering what the Palestinians view as Israeli attempts to blur the line by expanding settlements on war-won land. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers already live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and their numbers are growing.At the same time, Palestinians will have to brace for a slew of possible punitive measures by Israel and the U.S., according to an internal Palestinian document that outlined expected repercussions.The U.S. could close the PLO mission in Washington, suspend millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians or withhold contributions to any U.N. agency the Palestinians try to join, said the document obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday. The U.S. already took such a step when the Palestinians joined the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO last year.Possible Israel reactions could include increasing restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, the document said.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel is aware of the Palestinian intentions, but declined to comment on possible Israeli responses to such a move.Palestinians should focus on renewing negotiations instead of seeking international support, he said."If the Palestinians really wanted to improve the situation here on the ground and try to take the first step toward some reasonable solution of the conflict, they should have invested all their efforts in diplomatic moves in the region," said Palmor.The internal document said Palestinian institutions should get ready for any scenario. The paper was presented to the Arab League last month and was discussed Wednesday by senior Fatah members."We discussed the different scenarios ... and decided to go (to the General Assembly) regardless of the pressure and the threats," said Mahmoud Aloul, a Fatah official. "The date is up to the Arab League ... For us, the sooner the better."The Palestinians are confident they can get the required majority at the General Assembly, even though last year's attempt to win full U.N. membership lacked the necessary U.N. Security Council support."I have no doubt that when we go to the General Assembly, we will get a big majority of votes there," said Nabil Shaath, an Abbas aide.Palestinian officials say that beyond the expected backing of Arab and Muslim states, as well as members of the Non-Aligned Movement, they hope some European countries will support them. While European backing is not crucial, it would give the Palestinians a diplomatic boost.Israel and the U.S. are vehemently opposed to the Palestinian campaign for international recognition, saying a Palestinian state can only be established through negotiations with Israel.The last round of talks broke off in 2008, and efforts to revive them failed because of deep disagreement between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the terms for negotiations.Abbas has said his U.N. bid is meant to create additional leverage vis-a-vis Israel and not to bypass negotiations.Netanyahu says he is willing to resume talks at any time, but refuses to halt settlement expansion or recognize the 1967 lines as the base for future border talks. Abbas says that talks are pointless under such conditions.___Laub reported from Jericho, West Bank

 ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23  Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24  Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25  How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26  Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27  And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)

ASSADS DESTRUCTION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yZgw82p43Q&list=UU4SH8rh0OjYV3zwqnIfqNbA&index=1&feature=plcp 

U.N. sees battle for Aleppo looming

By Hadeel Al Shalchi | Reuters – 2 hrs 59 mins ago AUG 3,12

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - A long-expected Syrian army onslaught to drive rebel forces out of Aleppo is imminent, following a military build-up around the country's biggest city, a senior United Nations official said.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed more than 80 people in a series of attacks across the country on Friday and late on Thursday, opposition sources said, reporting intensified fighting in several cities.

The violence came within hours of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan quitting as international peace envoy for Syria and underlined the impotence of mediation efforts in the 17-month-old uprising against Assad.The fighting has spread to Aleppo from Damascus after a bomb attack on Assad's security headquarters in the capital on July 18, which killed four of the president's senior aides and encouraged rebels to step up hostilities.The Syrian army has reinforced its positions in and around Aleppo over the past two weeks, while conducting daily artillery and aerial bombardments of rebel forces in the city.
"The focus two weeks ago was on Damascus. The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable build-up of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start," Herve Ladsous, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said in New York.
As fighting in Syria worsened, Moscow was reported to be sending three large landing ships to a Russian naval maintenance facility at the Syrian port of Tartus in the Mediterranean.The naval ships, each carrying up to 120 marines, would reach Tartus in the next few days to resupply the base, Russian news agencies quoted a source in the General Staff as saying.Russia, a close ally of Assad, had earlier said it was preparing to send marines to Syria in case it needed to protect personnel and remove equipment from the Tartus facility.
Russian airline Aeroflot announced two weeks ago that was stopping its flights to and from Damascus from Monday, citing "low demand". The Foreign Ministry in Moscow has warned Russian citizens not to travel to Syria.
HELICOPTER BOMBARDMENT
Opposition activists said Syrian forces killed at least 50 people during clashes with rebels in the central city of Hama on Thursday, while a helicopter bombardment killed 16 rebels near the southern town of Deraa, where the revolt first broke out.In Damascus, at least 20 people were killed when security forces fired three mortar rounds at a Palestinian camp that is home to 100,000 refugees, medical sources said. Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip condemned the attack.In the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub, battles focused on the Hamdeniya area, near a highway from the south which the army could use to bring in reinforcements.For both rebels and the government, Aleppo with its 2.5 million inhabitants is a major prize that could determine which side emerges dominant in the struggle for Syria.
Rebels said on Friday they had captured a large police station in Aleppo after days of clashes. Rebel commander Abu Zaher said they had taken several police officers prisoner and seized weapons and ammunition.Internet and telephone networks in Aleppo were cut for the third day, hampering attempts by rebels to coordinate and forcing them to use couriers to deliver orders.Rebel control in areas around Aleppo is by no means total, with some villages loyal to Assad and others favoring the opposition. Police and soldiers were setting up mobile check points on some main roads leading into the city from the north.
Soldiers were launching rockets at insurgents from time to time from an infantry school north of Aleppo, rebels said.
"FINGER-POINTING"

Annan resigned on Thursday, complaining of "finger-pointing" at the United Nations while the bloodshed in Syria went on.Annan's mission, centered on a six-point peace plan and an April ceasefire that never took hold, had looked increasingly futile amid the violence in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere.Annan suggested that the continued arming of all sides in the conflict and deadlock at the Security Council had undermined his ability to pursue a diplomatic solution."The increasing militarization on the ground and the clear lack of unity in the Security Council, have fundamentally changed the circumstances for the effective exercise of my role," Annan told reporters.In an editorial published on the Financial Times website, Annan said Russia, China and Iran "must take concerted efforts to persuade Syria's leadership to change course and embrace a political transition" - meaning the departure of Assad."It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must leave office," Annan said.Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong supporter of Assad, said he regretted Annan's decision to step aside and referred to him as a "brilliant diplomat.Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, suggested to reporters in New York that Western powers that had opposed "reasonable and balanced proposals" in the Security Council had undermined Annan's peace efforts from the start.

China expressed regret late on Thursday over Annan's resignation and said it was open "towards any proposals that would help promote a political solution to the Syria issue.The White House pinned the blame squarely on Moscow and Beijing, which together vetoed three resolutions intended to increase the pressure on Assad, thereby undercutting Annan.Iran blamed "some interfering countries" for the failure of Annan's U.N.-backed peace plan, the state news agency IRNA said.(Additional reporting Dominic Evans and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Tom Miles in Geneva, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, and Sui-Lee Wee in Beijing; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

In Syria, mortars kill 21 in Damascus refugee camp

By PAUL SCHEMM | Associated Press – 1 hr 47 mins ago AUG 3,12

BEIRUT (AP) — Mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, killing 21 people as regime forces and rebels clashed on the southern outskirts of Damascus, activists said Friday.The attack on Yarmouk camp came as the government battled rebel fighters in the nearby Damascus suburb of Tadamon on Thursday evening. Clashes there continued on Friday and sounds of explosions from the neighborhood could be heard as far as the mostly deserted Damascus downtown, with plumes of smoke seen rising into the sky.The U.N. agency running Palestinian camps confirmed that at least 20 people had died in the shelling of Yarmouk. The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which first reported the deaths, said the mortars hit as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal. The activists with the group would not speculate on who was firing."We don't know where the mortars came from, whether they were from the Syrian regime or not the Syrian regime," said Rami Abdul Rahman, director of the Observatory. He added they could also have been strays from the fighting in nearby Tadamon.
The state news agency blamed the bombardment on "terrorist mercenaries" — a term the government uses for rebel fighters — and said they had been chased away by security forces.The incident highlights the precarious situation of not just Palestinian refugees but all civilians in Syria who are increasingly getting caught in the crossfire of this bloody uprising that has claimed 19,000 lives since it erupted in March 2011. Every day hundreds of civilians are uprooted by the violence, according to the U.N., which estimates that 1.5 million people have been force to abandon their homes but remain in the country.An online video of the immediate aftermath of the Yarmouk attack showed bleeding and burnt bodies with people rushing about amid the smoke and the sounds of screaming.Government troops have in the past attacked the camp, home to nearly 150,000 Palestinians and their descendants driven from their homes by the war surrounding Israel's 1948 creation. Palestinian refugees in Syria have tried to stay out of the 17-month old uprising, but with Yarmouk nestled among neighborhoods sympathetic to the rebels, its residents were eventually drawn into the fighting.Yarmouk's younger inhabitants have also been moved by the Arab Spring's calls for greater freedoms and have joined protests against President Bashar Assad's regime— and have died during demonstrations when Syrian troops fired on them.The situation of the Palestinian refugees is particularly sensitive because Syria has long cast itself as the principal champion in the Arab world of the Palestinian struggle against Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose government has a strict policy of neutrality regarding the Syrian conflict, condemned the Yarmouk attack."The presidency demands an immediate end to all murder and destruction in the refugee camps, and protection to its inhabitants," Abbas' office said in a statement carried on the official Palestinian news agency.After the mortar attack, camp residents demonstrated against the government, chanting slogans against Assad and praising the opposition Free Syrian Army, according to online videos. The content of the videos could not be independently verified.

With the civil war in Syria getting increasingly vicious, chances for a diplomatic solution to the conflict were fading after the resignation Thursday of Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. Annan cited divisions within the Security Council preventing a united approach to stop the fighting.Syria's ally Iran, blamed the U.S. and its allies for Annan's resignation, saying it was their insistence on Assad's removal from power that had undermined the six point U.N. peace plan, which was never implemented."Annan's six-point plan was accepted by Syria," said Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi Friday. "It was Western countries and some regional states that didn't want Annan plan to succeed." He also accused the U.S. and its allies in the region of contributing to the instability, saying they were supplying the Syrian rebels with weapons and equipment.The U.N. General Assembly was preparing to vote Friday on a new Arab-sponsored resolution condemning Syria's use of heavy weapons to crush the uprising that has killed an estimated 19,000 people since it began on March 2011.The resolution — which like all General Assembly resolutions is unenforceable — is expected to denounce Syria for unleashing tanks, artillery, helicopters and warplanes on the people of Aleppo and Damascus, and demand that the Assad regime keep its chemical and biological weapons warehoused and under strict control.U.N. observers had confirmed Wednesday that they witnessed Syrian warplanes firing rockets and machine guns.In addition to the fighting around the southern neighborhood of Tadamon, the Observatory also reported shelling of the southwestern suburb of Jdaidat Artouz, where dozens of bodies were found after government forces swept through on Wednesday.Syria's civil war, which had spread across much of the country, only came to the capital and northeastern city of Aleppo, Syria's main commercial hub, in July.A rebel assault and revolt in Damascus two weeks ago was vigorously crushed by government forces, but pockets of resistance and sympathetic neighborhoods remain.Sporadic clashes and shelling also continue in Aleppo, especially the opposition bastion of Salaheddine as rebels and government forces hold different parts of that city. On Thursday, the rebels even deployed a captured tank against the regime and briefly shelled an air force base outside Aleppo.The U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous warned of a major government assault on Aleppo in the coming days to retake the rebel-held neighborhoods."The focus is now on Aleppo, where there has been a considerable build-up of military means, and where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start," he told reporters in New York late Thursday after briefing the Security Council on his trip to Syria.____Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

DANIEL 12:4
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS MICROCHIPS ETC)

Greece spooked by Syrian refugees

02.08.12 @ 18:13 By Nikolaj Nielsen

BRUSSELS - The surge of Syrian refugees into Turkey has spooked Greece into deploying 1,881 additional guards on its border."The deployment of the above border guards has begun today. They will be stationed there [in the Evros region, on the Greek-Turkish frontier] for two months and then they will be replaced by another 1,881 border guards," Greece's ministry of citizen protection told this website in an email on Thursday (2 August).The Panhellenic Association of Border Guard Officers, a trade union, says some 600 border guards are already at the border and that the two-day notice to post the additional 1,881 officers is too short."In one night, we are called to abandon our homes and leave our families for two months without any preparation whatsoever and go to the border," a spokesperson of the trade union in Athens told this website.Greece has just under 4,000 border control guards in total.The guards are having to leave their other stations for Evros to help stem a flow of irregular migrants which, according to the Greek trade union, is financially benefitting Turkey while draining Greece of resources."Every person attempting to cross spends around 60€ to 100€ in Turkey," said the spokesperson.The trade union also claims that Frontex, the EU border agency, is powerless to stop the migratory flow and fears the situation will get worse."The EU needs to change the Dublin regulation because our country has turned into a storage room for immigrants from all over the world," the spokesperson said, referring to an EU law which says that the country where any given migrant first enters the EU is responsible for handling their asylum claim.The representative was unable to specify how many Syrian refugees have been detected or stopped by the Greek border guards so far.
For its part, the European Commission notes that Greece must "ensure effective access to the asylum procedure" for anybody whom it stops.Turkey has a total of 44,038 registered refugees from Syria, with more arriving as the crisis intesnifies, according to the United Nations.The Greek-Turkish border follows the Evros river for around 200km.The river loops east into Turkey near the Orestiada border town, creating a 12.5-km-wide land-strip where in January some 2,800 migrants tried to cross. The vast majority came from Afghanistan.Greece is currently erecting a fence topped with razor wire along the land-strip. Construction started in April and should be completed sometime in September.Greek citizens' protection minister Nikos Dendias told reporters on 25 July that: "In addition to the fence, controls at the entry points will be absolutely intensified within the next period. We will do our best to combat the problem of illegal migration. Any effort within the country is condemned if the entry gates remain open. Our goal, thus, will be to seal them."
For its part, Frontex says it is monitoring the situation in Syria and delivering its assessment of the situation to border authorities in member states and to the European Commission"Frontex is not involved in co-ordination, management of [the] additional 1,881 police officers that will be deployed to Evros region. The responsibility for border control lies with member states, other member states bring assistance coordinated by Frontex but it does not change the command and control chain that is in Greek hands," Frontex spokesperson Micha Parzyszek told this website in an email.The agency said that more than 80 percent of the 715 Syrian refugees detected crossing into the EU in the first three months of 2012 occurred on the Greek/Turkish border.Turkey's spokesperson for foreign affairs, Selcuk Unal, told EUobserver that some Syrian refugees are making their way towards Greece.He added that Greece has not formally notified the Turkish authorities of the additional border guard deployment.An informal meeting among EU interior ministers in Cyprus on 23 July 2012 backed an initiative to provide assistance in areas hosting people who are fleeing the conflict in Syria."Immediate humanitarian assistance is crucial for the region in the short term and the EU is already making a serious contribution here. We are closely monitoring the situation and developments and stand ready to consider additional actions in case the crisis expands further," said the European Commission in an email.

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(THE FALSE POPE WHO DEFECTED FROM THE CHRISTIAN FAITH) causeth all,(IN THE WORLD ) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(MICROCHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,(MICROCHIP IMPLANT) or the name of the beast,(WORLD DICTATORS NAME INGRAVED ON YOUR SKIN OR TATTOOED ON YOU OR IN THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT) or the number of his name.(THE NUMBERS OF HIS NAME INGRAVED IN THE MICROCHIP IMLPLANT)-(ALL THESE WILL TELL THE WORLD DICTATOR THAT YOUR WITH HIM AND AGAINST KING JESUS-GOD)
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:(WORLD LEADER) for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM (6006006)OR(60020202006)(SOME KIND OF NUMBER IMPLANTED IN THE MICROCHIP THAT TELLS THE WORLD DICTATOR AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER THAT YOU GIVE YOUR TOTAL ALLIGIENCE TO HIM AND NOT JESUS)(ITS AN ETERNAL DECISION YOU MAKE)(YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN DESTINY)(YOU TAKE THE DICTATORS NAME OR NUMBER UNDER YOUR SKIN,YOUR DOOMED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND TORMENTS FOREVER,NEVER ENDING MEANT ONLY FOR SATAN AND HIS ANGELS,NOT HUMAN BEINGS).OR YOU REFUSE THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT AND GO ON THE SIDE OF KING JESUS AND RULE FOREVER WITH HIM ON EARTH.YOU CHOOSE,ITS YOUR DECISION.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PX-vW4VccY&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/indexes/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS FRI AUGUST 03,2012

09:30 AM +2.43
10:00 AM +197.52
10:30 AM +214.16
11:00 AM +208.07
11:30 AM +225.35
12:00 PM +244.00
12:30 PM +248.34
01:00 PM +238.43
01:30 PM +232.80
02:00 PM +233.00
02:30 PM +225.16
03:00 PM +225.70
03:30 PM +220.19
04:00 PM +217.29 13,096.17

S&P 500 1390.99 +25.99

NASDAQ 2967.90 +58.13

GOLD 1,605.90 +15.20

OIL 91.22 +4.09

TSE 300 11,662.59 +156.09

CDNX 1186.95 +13.32

S&P/TSX/60 664.52 +8.44

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +173 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +1 points at low today.
Dow +251 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,597.80.OIL opens at $89.98 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow +1 points at low today so far.
Dow +251 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow +1 points at low today.
Dow +251 points at high today.

GOLD ALLTIME HIGH $1,902.60 (NOT AT CLOSE)

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

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: 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.

Report: Drought intensifies in Plains states

Report: Amount of US mired in drought drops slightly, though conditions worsen in Plains

By Jim Suhr, Associated Press | Associated Press – 22 hours ago AUG 3,12

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Extreme drought conditions have spread in several Plains states, but recent rainfall has slightly reduced the overall area of the lower 48 states experiencing some form of drought, according to the latest U.S. drought map.Nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states is experiencing some drought, although recent storms pushed the percentage down to 62.91, from last week's 63.86, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map posted Thursday on its website.The survey, based on conditions as of Tuesday morning, found that the area experiencing extreme drought — the second highest classification behind exceptional drought — rose nearly 2 percentage points from the previous week, to 22.3 percent. This was due largely to a worsening of conditions in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.The area facing exceptional drought also increased, from 2.38 percent to about 3 percent.Some areas benefited slightly from rains that "will settle the dust" but still won't be sufficient to salvage parched crops, National Drought Mitigation Center climatologist Brian Fuchs said by phone from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where the weekly drought report is released."There are rain events that did take place, but we didn't see any widespread improvement to the core drought areas," Fuchs said. Such precipitation "probably held off the intensification for a week or so. But the heat is going kick back in, and we're going be in the same situation."The heat kicks in and the dryness returns. To say that we've seen good widespread rain throughout the drought regions of the county, we just haven't. It's beneficial in some aspects, but in agricultural aspects it's too late."On Wednesday, the U.S. Agriculture Department added 218 counties from 12 drought-stricken states to its list of natural disaster areas, bringing the overall total to 1,584 counties in 32 states. That's more than half of all U.S. counties, and the vast majority of them received the designation because of drought that's considered the worst in decades in many prime farming areas.The USDA uses the weekly Drought Monitor to help decide which counties to deem disaster areas, with the distinction making farmers and ranchers eligible for federal aid that includes low-interest emergency loans.As of this week, nearly half of the nation's corn crop was rated poor to very poor, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. About 37 percent of the U.S. soybeans were lumped into that category, while nearly three-quarters of U.S. cattle acreage is in drought-affected areas, the survey showed.The potential financial fallout in the nation's midsection appears to be intensifying. The latest weekly Mid-America Business Conditions Index, released Wednesday, showed that the ongoing drought and global economic turmoil is hurting business in nine Midwest and Plains states, boosting worries about the prospect of another recession, according to the report.

Parents guilty of murdering 'westernised' daughter

AFP – 1 hr 48 mins ago AUG 3,12

A court found a Pakistani-born couple guilty on Friday of murdering their "westernised" teenage daughter in an apparent honour killing.Iftikhar Ahmed, 52, and his wife Farzana, 49, were both found guilty of murder at Chester Crown Court in Cheshire after suffocating their 17-year-old daughter Shafilea in 2003.In a high-profile case, Shafilea's sister Alesha had told the jury her mother had said: "Just finish it here," as they forced a plastic bag into Shafilea's mouth in front of their other children.Iftikhar Ahmed stood impassively as the verdicts were given, while his wife wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue. They were due to be sentenced later on Friday.Three of their children also broke down in tears as they watched from the courtroom.Shafilea had disappeared from the family home in the town of Warrington, near Chester, in September 2003, and her body was found five months later on a riverbank in Cumbria.Prosecutors said the couple murdered her because they felt her "western" habits, such as wearing make-up and talking to boys, had brought shame on the family.The court heard that Shafilea had run away from home and asked the local authority to provide her with emergency accommodation, just before she was drugged and taken to Pakistan in February 2003 to be forced into a marriage.In a letter to social services, she said she had suffered from regular domestic violence since she was 15."One parent would hold me whilst the other hit me," she wrote. "I was prevented from attending college and my part-time job."Her main reason for running away was that her parents "were going to send me to Pakistan and get me married to someone," she added.Iftikhar Ahmed, a taxi driver, denied the murder and said Shafilea ran away from home. His wife also denied the killing, but told the jury she saw her husband beating Shafilea and believed that he killed her.

BANK OF INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT PRESS
http://www.bis.org/events/agm2009/pcvideo.htm
BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS PAPER 17 REGIONAL AREAS OF THE WORLD AND CURRENCIES
http://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap17.pdf
BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS SITE
http://www.bis.org/
G-10 PRESS RELEASES FROM BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS
http://www.bis.org/list/press_releases/said_12/index.htm
BIS ANNUAL REPORTS
http://www.bis.org/list/press_releases/said_10/index.htm
CENTRAL BANKERS SPEECHES
http://www.bis.org/list/cbspeeches/index.htm
BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS-NEW WORLD ORDER-JULY 10,10 HOURS 1 & 2
http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/

THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS IS THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE WORLD THAT LENDS ONLY TO CENTRAL BANKERS AROUND THE GLOBE.THE IMF LENDS TO THE COUNTRIES BANKS OF THE WORLD.BETWEEN THIS BANK AND THE IMF I BELIEVE WILL BE THE BANKS OF THE WORLD.THE IMF THE WORLD BANK AND THE POLICEMAN OF THE IMF THE BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS WHERE WE PAY OUT CAP & TRADE,CLIMATE,ENERGY SCAM TAXES TOO TO PAY FOR THE WORLD GOVERNMENT.THE GLOBAL CURRENCY WILL BE THE SDRS OR SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS UNTILL THE EU INVENTS THE WORLD MICROCHIP IMPLANT SYSTEM THEN THE EU WILL MAKE ALL TAKE THE IMPLANT OR BE MURDERED.

Questions and answers on the European Central Bank

By The Associated Press | Associated Press – 23 hrs ago AUG 3,12

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is the monetary authority for the 17 countries that use the euro currency. The eurozone has the world's second largest economy after the United States, with annual output of €9.41 trillion, or $11.75 trillion, and a population of 331 million.Here are some questions and answers about the ECB.
Q: What are the origins of the ECB?

A: The ECB was established by the Treaty on European Union signed on Feb. 7, 1992. The treaty laid the groundwork for the shared euro currency.The ECB's precursor, the European Monetary Institute, started work in 1994 to prepare for the euro. It became the European Central Bank on June 1, 1998, six months ahead of the launch of the currency on Jan. 1, 1999.

Q: What is the ECB's job?
A: The ECB issues the euro currency. Only it can authorize printing and circulation of euro banknotes.
Its primary economic policy job is keeping inflation under control. The bank aims to keep the inflation rate less than, but close to, 2 percent.The ECB also provides credit to the 7,500 licensed banks and money market funds in the eurozone, should they need it. Banks must put up collateral such as government bonds to get that money.
Q: How does the ECB keep prices stable?
A: The ECB's main tool in fighting excessive inflation is interest rates.It can raise or lower its benchmark rate, called the refinancing rate, which is what banks pay to borrow from the ECB. That in turn influences the rate at which banks lend to companies and consumers.Lower rates make it cheaper for people and companies to take out a loan to buy a house or expand a business. That can fuel inflation by increasing demand for goods and services.The ECB can step on the growth gas pedal by lowering rates, and it can hit the brakes on inflation by raising rates.
Q: What about other important issues, like creating jobs?
A: The ECB is supposed to pursue economic growth and job creation, as well. But only if that doesn't get in the way of its mission to control inflation.That means the ECB has less flexibility than other central banks, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve, which treats inflation control and job creation as equally important missions.
Q: Who runs the ECB?
A: The ECB is run by a 23-member governing council and a six-member executive board, both chaired by President Mario Draghi.The executive board runs the bank's operations day-to-day.The governing council is made up of the six executive board members and the 17 heads of the of the eurozone's national central banks.
Q: Why does Europe still have national central banks?
A: They execute the monetary policy operations decided by the ECB, such as lending to banks With ECB permission, they can also make emergency loans at their own risk to their banks.

Q: How does the council make decisions?

A: Meetings are chaired by Draghi. Council members vote and usually seek to make decisions unanimously or by broad consensus.The bank issues its interest rate decision at 1:45 p.m. Central European Time (7:45 EDT, 12:45 GMT) via electronic link to information services used by financial professionals. It holds a simultaneous conference call where the news is given verbally. The information is then reported by the news media.

The president and the vice-president then appear at a news conference at 2:30 p.m. CET (8:30 EDT, 13:30 GMT). The president reads a statement and takes questions from journalists.