PUTIN TELLS RUSSIA TO GET READY FOR FOREIGN THREATS

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

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(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

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 (PEACE TREATY) 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 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

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.

EU diplomats urge financial sanctions on Israeli settlers

27.02.13 @ 15:16 By Andrew Rettman

BRUSSELS - Senior EU diplomats have called for financial sanctions and travel bans on Israeli settlers in a last-ditch effort to save the Middle East peace process.An internal report by EU countries' consuls general in Jerusalem and Ramallah - seen by EUobserver - says member states should "prevent … financial transactions, including foreign direct investment from within the EU, in support of settlement activities, infrastructure and services."It adds that individual EU states should "explore the possibility of denying entry to known settler radicals."It also calls for EU guidelines on retail labels for settler-made products, such as wine or cosmetics, in order to "guarantee [European] consumers' right to an informed choice."EU institutions are already drafting a common code on product labels.But EU foreign ministers have in recent years ignored similar proposals for sanctions.An EU official told this website that Brussels-based diplomats discussed the Jerusalem report on 19 February, but "debate about the follow-up is [still] continuing."Meanwhile, the 15-page text paints a scary picture of prospects for peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict.It says: "If the current Israeli policy regarding the city [Jerusalem] continues, particularly settlement activity, the prospect of Jerusalem as a future capital of two states, Israel and Palestine, becomes practically unworkable."
It adds: "Settlement construction remains the single biggest threat to the two-state solution. It is systematic, deliberate and provocative."It notes that 200,000 Jewish settlers have come to live in East Jerusalem since Israel annexed it "illegally" in 1967 and that Israeli tenders for new settler homes more than doubled in 2012 compared to 2011.It warns that some new structures - such as those in the "E1" area - are designed to "form an Israeli buffer" around the city and to make it "difficult if not impossible to ensure [the] territorial contiguity" of Palestine.At the same time, demolitions of Palestinian-owned buildings went up by 54 percent last year, with 85,000 Palestinians now considered to be "at risk of forced displacement."The EU consuls general noted that Israeli administrative barriers for Palestinian schools and businesses "undermine the right to education" of 90,000 children and aggravate poverty.They said 78 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line today, compared to 64 percent in 2006.They also complained about Israel's "ideological" programme.They said it gives free rein for settler groups to dig up archaeological sites in such a way as to create a "partisan historical narrative of Jerusalem, placing emphasis on biblical and Jewish connotations of the area, while neglecting Christian/Muslim ties."They noted that Israeli police stops Palestinian textbooks getting to Palestinian schools in favour of "a version of the curriculum edited by the Israeli authorities."
Reacting to the leaked paper, the Israeli embassy to the EU said European countries should pay more attention to rocket fire from Gaza instead of settlements."I would like to know if there is also an EU report about the security situation for residents in southern Israel," its spokesman, Yoel Mester, told this website on Wednesday (27 February).He added: "We're not running away from the need to discuss the issue [of settlements], but unfortunately the other side is running away from direct talks where we could discuss this as well."For her part, Palestine's ambassador to the EU, Leila Shahid, called his remarks "rubbish."She said Palestine is ready to restart talks when Israel honours its commitments in the Roadmap - a 2003 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) which says Israel will freeze settlements if the PA stops violent resistance."They have not only not frozen settlements, they have intensified them. I don't see how we can be running away from anything, when all we ask is for Israel to stick to its obligations," she told EUobserver.

Revealed: Arabs Behind 'Israeli Attack'

Samaria residents slammed leftist groups after it turned out that Arabs were responsible for a 'price tag' attack blamed on Jews.

By David Lev First Publish: 2/28/2013, 3:08 PM-Israelnationalnews

Car damaged by arson (illustrative)-Israel news photo: Flash 90

Members of the Samaria Residents Council slammed leftist groups Thursday after police said that what had been thought to be a “price tag” action by Jewish residents of Esh Kodesh in the Binyamin region turned out to be a dispute between Arabs. It was the Arabs who set fire to six vehicles in the village of Korsa near Shechem last week, deliberately blaming the Jews for their activities.Among the groups with egg on their face in the wake of the police findings is the “Rabbis for Human Rights” organization, which in the wake of the claims by Arabs that they had been attacked by Jews, issued a harsh statement condemning Esh Kodesh residents for their “hateful” activities.Police said that the “evidence” supplied by Arabs that Jews had undertaken the attack – an Israeli identity card left at the scene – was fabricated. The ID card belonged to a soldier who, on the night of the attack, was stationed far from the Arab village. He had apparently lost the ID card, with Arabs finding it and holding onto it, apparently for an event just like the one that occurred in the village last week.In a statement, the Council said that “today it is clear that this incident was, beyond the shadow of a doubt, choreographed by the Arabs, with the support and assistance of leftist groups who continue to support terror, increasing tensions between Jews and Arabs by encouraging these blood libels against Jewish residents of Samaria.”According to Council head Benny Katzover, “hundreds of Arab rioters last week attempted to invade Esh Kodesh, after leftist groups said that they carried out a 'price tag' attack and burned the cars.” Several residents were injured in an ensuing fight.The Council also expressed shock that it took police a week to announce the truth about the incident. “It would be a good idea for police to deal with issues like this immediately, due to the high levels of incitement and potential for violence caused by the claims and actions of fifth column leftist groups.”

Lt. Gen. Obering: Iron Dome’s Lessons Learned

Former head of U.S. Missile Defense Agency analyzes the elements that turned Iron Dome into a success story.

By Mark Langfan First Publish: 2/28/2013, 3:29 PM-Israelnationalnews

Lt. Gen. Obering-U.S. Air Force website

In a wide-ranging power-point analysis briefing given to the National Security Roundtable this week, US Lt. Gen. Henry “Trey” Obering (Ret.), who led the US Missile Defense Agency during the mission-critical years of Iron Dome from 2004 to 2009, boiled down the “Lessons Learned” of Iron Dome experience to 5 keys. 
He set the stage for his Lessons Learned analysis by asking the audience “What would America have done if 25% of its population or 50,000,000 Americans where under Grad rocket assault by a bunch of Islamist Terrorists?”  (The full PowerPoint or just the “Lessons Learned” slide are available for viewing).  Gen. Trey Obering’s five keys for success were:
1.  Mission Vision
He said President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) wasn’t a sci-fi fantasy, but an out-of-the-box vision of where the future of defense should be. Israeli defense officials, like Yitzhak Rabin, shared President Reagan’s vision from early on.  This tradition continued with Israeli defense planners like Brig. Gen. Daniel Gold and missile defense developers like Arieh Herzog.  This vision and collaboration  resulted in the critically important missile defense programs both nations have today.  (For a riveting account of Iron Dome’s early hurdles see the Wall Street Journal article Israel's Iron Dome Defense Battled to Get Off Ground).
 2.  Perseverance through Technical Difficulty
Gen. Obering explained that with any new technology there will be test failures. Today’s effective US sea-based and land-based interceptors suffered early failures, then strings of successes. Likewise, the Arrow program failed in its early flights, then succeeded in a series of intercepts. Israel funded the Iron Dome program through the earliest stages despite US military planners' doubts and set-backs.
3.  Courage of Leadership
Iron Dome and Arrow both faced withering attacks from naysayers like the MIT Professor Theodore Postol who testified that the “Patriot’s intercept rate could be much lower than ten percent and maybe even zero,” and the Jaffe Center’s missile defense program critic Reuven Pedatzur who, as recently as 2010, with supreme confidence stated “The Iron Dome is all a scam,” see Jerusalem Post article 'Iron Dome doesn’t answer threats'. 
But heroes, like Israeli Brig. Gen Daniel Gold, stayed the course, stuck to their knitting, and got the job done.
Obering quipped, “For every MIT professor who said ‘It couldn’t be done,’ I had 10 MIT young geniuses who were making the scientifically impossible, possible.”
4.  Program Management
Gen. Obering emphasized that for a technologically game-changing defense program to be successful, the managers had to have “freedom of maneuver” in the allocation of resources to meet the fast moving day-to-day challenges. He explained that unlike usual defense programs, he had relief from the classic acquisition regulations and directives. Likewise, Gen. Gold established programmatic freedom to act in the Israeli program. The streamlined program oversight was the key to success.
5.  Policy Considerations
Gen. Obering stated that the Iron Dome, and defensive systems like it, are game-changers that have to be pursued with supreme effort. He explained that the naysayers just looked at the “cost” in the cost/benefit analysis. He clarified that as a “policy consideration” defense rockets “cost” is not just measured in money, and that it is critically important to factor in the benefit of not having civilian assets destroyed – or of having to reinvade the territory with the consequent loss of Israeli soldiers lives – and of enabling the defenders time and space to react appropriately.  Also, there is the missile defense deterrence factor in that the enemy has to effect a dramatically greater offensive attack profile before it attacks in the first place. Therefore, the risk/reward ratio for the enemy attacker is so changed that it is dramatically less likely to attack in the first place.
During the Q & A, Gen. Obering wowed the crowd with a live action video of an actual US missile defense early “kill” against an errant satellite.

Given the profound military and policy analysis of Gen. Obering and his critical hands-on assistance to Iron Dome project at its most sensitive and problematic stages, it was clear that Gen. Obering is not only an American true hero, but an Israeli hero as well.

Eli Yishai concedes likely opposition role for Shas

Leader of ultra-Orthodox party says Lapid and Bennett, who appear poised to join Netanyahu, are driven by desire to ‘harm’ Torah

By Times of Israel staff February 28, 2013, 8:42 am 8

Eli Yishai, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas, on Thursday morning acknowledged that his party would in all probability be left out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergent coalition. The likely outgoing interior minister also launched a blistering attack on Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, saying the alliance between the respective leaders of the Yesh Atid and Jewish Home parties was forged solely with an eye toward “harming the world of Torah.”The Shas leader’s harsh comments came hours after sources close to coalition negotiations said that Netanyahu, realizing that he could not pry Jewish Home away from its pact with Yesh Atid, had resigned himself to the need to build a coalition that would exclude Shas and United Torah JudaismNetanyahu has been hampered in the coalition talks by the joint insistence of Bennett and Lapid that they will only enter the government if Netanyahu commits to legislation that will see almost all young ultra-Orthodox males required to perform military or national service — anathema to the prime minister’s familiar ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” Yishai said in a statement. “Reports say that Lapid and Bennett are succeeding in their attempt to rule out a joint coalition with Shas.” The “immaturity” of those rookie politicians, he charged, had prompted them to “ignore the will of the electorate and attempt to force their views on others.”Yishai’s comments appeared to reflect acceptance of Shas’s new role as an opposition party.“Sitting in the coalition and holding onto jobs is not a goal!” he said. “It is a means with which to serve the public… Anyone whose goal is to serve the public will do so in any position in which one finds oneself” — even in the opposition.Netanyahu’s negotiating teams have been meeting daily with Jewish Home leaders, and on Thursday were set to meet with Yesh Atid representatives, amid reports late Wednesday that the prime minister had concluded that he could not build a coalition without these two parties. As for the ultra-Orthodox, Netanyahu “will give up on them for now,” Channel 2 reported, but would invite them to join the government at a later stage — possibly after the legislation on a universal draft is approved.Yishai said that the insistence on conscripting the ultra-Orthodox reflected the fact that Bennett and Lapid “don’t understand that change must be effected with respect… not by exclusion, polarization and blacklisting.” Yesh Atid and Jewish Home would turn Israeli society “from a society in disagreement into a divided society,” he lamented, calling it “odd” that they were seeking to “impose” rather than cooperate on “momentous changes” for the ultra-Orthodox community.“Shas will make an effort to be a part of the next coalition,” he said, “but it won’t ‘sell out’ on its values, beliefs and principles in order to partner with people whose sole common goal is to harm the world of Torah.”Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman on Thursday expressed hope that the ultra-Orthodox parties would ultimately join the coalition, and said Bennett and Lapid were driven by “ego” and would be “punished by their voters” for their failure to compromise on the universal draft bill.Netanyahu, whose Likud-Beytenu won 31 seats in the January 22 elections, was given 28 days by President Shimon Peres on February 2 to form a coalition, but has signed up only Tzipi Livni’s six-seat Hatnua party to date. On Saturday, if he needs it, he will be granted a 14-day extension by Peres, which will take him to March 16. If he can claim to muster a majority by then, he could legally put off the swearing-in of his government until March 24, Channel 2 noted on Wednesday, leaving him more than three weeks to get the coalition deals done. However, so late a deadline would conflict with President Barack Obama’s visit, set to start on March 20. US officials have said Obama’s visit would be timed for after a new Israeli government was in place.The inclusion of Yesh Atid (19 seats) and Jewish Home (12 seats) would give Netanyahu a healthy majority in the 120-member Knesset, though even a Likud-Beytenu, Hatnua, Yesh Atid, Jewish Home coalition faces difficulties. Bennett’s hardline-Orthodox Jewish Home, backed by Yesh Atid, opposes Netanyahu’s deal with Livni, which gives her a prominent role in efforts to negotiate a peace accord with the Palestinians. Still, Jewish Home officials were reported Wednesday to have assured Netanyahu that their alliance with Yesh Atid “is over” the moment both parties sign coalition deals.Netanyahu has been wary of conceding to the Jewish Home-Yesh Atid demands, in part because he recognizes that both Bennett and Lapid have ambitions to become prime minister.Should Netanyahu fail to form a coalition in the time allotted — a scenario deemed unlikely, but not impossible — the president could ask another politician to form a government or Israel could head to new elections.

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=RYUgVL9PdxM&list=UU4SH8rh0OjYV3zwqnIfqNbA&index=1&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PX-vW4VccY&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/indexes/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfPX59y4KxE&feature=related

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU FEBRUARY 28,2013

09:30 AM +2.43
10:00 AM +13.70
10:30 AM +0.63
11:00 AM +12.20
11:30 AM +14.48
12:00 PM +16.67
12:30 PM +5.71
01:00 PM +20.16
01:30 PM +48.97
02:00 PM +57.64
02:30 PM +67.52
03:00 PM +43.34
03:30 PM +31.31
04:00 PM -20.88 14,054.49

S&P 500 1514.68 -1.31

NASDAQ 3160.19 -2.07

GOLD 1,577.10 -18.10

OIL 91.92 -0.84

TSE 300 12,821.83 +89.44

CDNX 1133.36 +2.24

S&P/TSX/60 738.55 +5.01

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE
Dow +20 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow +1 points at low today.
Dow +20 points at high today so far.
GOLD opens at $1,590.00.OIL opens at $92.26 today.

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS
Dow -20 points at low today so far.
Dow +72 points at high today so far.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS
Dow -20 points at low today.
Dow +72 points at high today.

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

NATURAL GAS-THU 

EU: financial tax should be used for development aid and climate

27.02.13 @ 18:46 By Nikolaj Nielsen

BRUSSELS - The European Commission said revenue from a proposed financial transaction tax (FTT) should be set aside to fight poverty and climate change, as an investment against global instability.
“I would very much want member countries really to take it seriously,” European commissioner for development Andris Piebalgs told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday (27 February).The FTT is backed by 11 member states and would put 0.1 percent levy on bonds and shares and 0.01 percent on derivative products. Estimated generated annual revenues could range between €30 billion to €35 billion a year.
France has already set aside existing national FTT revenue for development and Germany’s development minister Dirk Niebel has also spoken in favour of the idea.Piebalgs said the FTT money could be used to make up for individual member state development funding shortfalls.Germany and Italy are the two member states that have fallen the most behind in their commitments to set aside 0.7 percent of their GNI for development aid by 2015, though both have delivered some modest increases since 2011, notes anti-poverty campaign One.France and Spain are also behind while Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have already exceeded the target.The GNI pledges were made in 2005 and included an interim target of 0.56 percent by 2010. Current figures indicate the EU is at 0.43 percent, behind the 2010 target, or an €18 billion shortfall.“It [FTT] is a new source of financement and that should definitely be used not to close the gap but to close our unfilled promises,” said the commissioner.The gap refers to the wider source of financing for development to eradicate poverty, which goes well beyond the remit of official development assistance.
Unfilled promises include pulling some 1.3 billion people worldwide out of abject poverty. Around 670 million young people around the world are out of work, have no education, and little prospect of improving their livelihoods.Coupled with the overall decline of fertile land, clean water and air, the whole, says Piebalgs, breeds instability on global proportions.Pierre Lapaque, Regional Representative of UNODC for West and Central Africa, told this website from Dakar on Tuesday that narco-trafficking and demand for drugs in the EU is one area that has helped breed insecurity throughout the region.Colombian drug cartels use the countries as transit routes into the EU, leaving behind a trail of criminal networks enmeshed with a corrupt political class. In the wake are new a generation of local addicts.“West Africa is increasingly an area for drug consumption, mainly crack cocaine. We are far from just smoking pot here,” said Lapaque.Meanwhile, member states have cut the EU development budget for the up coming seven-year multi-annual financial framework (MFF).The European Commission proposal for long term EU spending covering the period 2014-2020 included €51 billion for development aid to the world’s poorest as well as humanitarian aid.
“From the EU budget, we channel about 18 percent of the development budget for the whole of the EU,” said Piebalgs.If the European Parliament backs the budget cuts, member states will have to increase their own development budgets, noted the commissioner.

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

EZEKIEL 39:1-8,11-18
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS) and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)

POLICAL BABYLON OF BIBLE AMERICA NUKED BY RUSSIA

ISAIAH 34:10
10  It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30  The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31  One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32  And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)

COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AMERICA)

REVELATION 18:3-6,19-21
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,(U.S.A) and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,(U.S.A) and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her,(AMERICA) my people,(CHRISTIANS,JEWS) that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you,(WITH FALSE FLAG TERRORISM) and double unto her double according to her works:(DOUBLE-EMP 1ST,THEN RUSSIA NUKE ATTACKS U.S.A) in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.(PROBABLY A RUSSIAN CYBER ATTACK WILL SET THE WHOLE SITUATION UP AS RUSSIA HACKS THE USA ARMY COMPUTERS.THEN THE EMP,THEN THE NUKE ATTACK)
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.
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Russia's Putin tells army to shape up for foreign threat

By Alexei Anishchuk | Reuters – FEB 28,13

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin ordered military leaders on Wednesday to make urgent improvements to the armed forces during his new presidential term, saying Russia must thwart attempts by the West to tip the strategic balance of power.Putin's remarks, to rows of uniformed officers and defense officials, reflected increasing hawkishness since he returned to the Kremlin for a six-year term last May, and a growing readiness to cite foreign threats and use anti-Western rhetoric to rally support."Attempts are being made to tip the strategic balance," said Putin, who as president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, told his audience at the General Staff academy on Moscow's outskirts. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, sat in the front row."Geopolitical dynamics call for a quick and considered response ... Russia's armed forces must move on to a new level of capabilities in the next three to five years," said Putin, who has not ruled out seeking another term in 2018.The former KGB spy said moves that threatened Russia's geopolitical position included the eastward expansion of Russia's former Cold War foe NATO and U.S. deployment of an anti-missile shield in Europe.He said drills must be sharpened up and held with less advance warning, to keep soldiers on their toes."Combat training must not be laid-back, so that soldiers know about emergency exercises six months in advance, but must be as similar as possible to the real conditions of modern combat and warfare," he said.Following a decade of military spending cuts after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Putin has been the driving force behind plans to spend 23 trillion roubles ($750 billion) through 2020 to upgrade Russia's ageing armaments.
SOVIET-ERA INFRASTRUCTURE
Russia's military, with roughly 1 million servicemen, is still largely reliant on Soviet-era infrastructure and weaponry. It continues to rely on conscription, despite Kremlin pledges to turn it fully professional.
Rights activists say brutal bullying has been rampant since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the military has long been plagued by corruption. The top military prosecutor said in 2011 that a fifth of the budget was stolen or embezzled.Former defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov set out ambitious military reforms in 2008, after Russia fought a brief war with Georgia that highlighted the failings of the armed forces.But Serdyukov was sacked in November, and is now a witness in a criminal case in which a former subordinate is accused of fraud and embezzlement in deals involving Defence Ministry property.Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the ally Putin named to replace Serdyukov, said on Wednesday he would make an inventory of army property to try to reduce corruption, widely seen as the main obstacle to modernization.Shoigu also said Russia needs warships in the Mediterranean at all times "to protect its national interests".Russia has a modest naval maintenance facility in the Syrian port of Tartous that is its only military base outside the ex-Soviet Union, but it does not have a constant presence in the Mediterranean.Putin has repeatedly evoked foreign threats since returning to the presidency as he tries to lift his ratings following the biggest protests since he first rose to power in 2000.He has accused the United States of backing the protests against him, and Russia has introduced a law since his return to the Kremlin that forces campaign and lobby groups that are funded from abroad to register as "foreign agents".Putin has also increasingly underlined traditional Russian values and taken a tough line against the protesters in an attempt to rally support among the conservatives who have long been his power base.Relations with the United States have deteriorated over Washington's missile defense plans and American concerns about political freedom in Russia, as well as trade disputes.
($1 = 30.6405 Russian roubles)(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Michael Roddy)

ISAIAH 17:1,12-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
12  Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13  The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14  And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.

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)

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4  Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5  Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6  O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7  How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.

IF THE US WANTS TO HELP SYRIANS.GET THAT USELESS UN IN SYRIA WITH TANKS AND BOMBS AND GET RID OF ASSAD.THEN YOU WILL STOP THE 70,000+ KILLINGS AND THE 1 MILLION FLEEING FROM ASSADS MURDER SPREE.

US, Europe move to expand role in Syrian conflict

By MATTHEW LEE and BRADLEY KLAPPER | Associated Press – FEB 28,13

ROME (AP) — The United States and some European allies are edging closer to direct involvement in Syria's civil war with plans to deliver meals, medical kits and other forms of nonlethal assistance to the rebels battling President Bashar Assad.The U.S., Britain, France and Italy aren't planning to supply the Free Syrian Army with weapons or ammunition. But moves are afoot to significantly boost the size and scope of their aid to the political and military opposition. Such decisions could be announced as early as Thursday at an international conference on Syria in Rome.Britain and France are keen to give the rebels the means to protect themselves from attacks by Assad's forces, including Scud missiles fired in recent days against the city of Aleppo, U.S. and European officials say.Assistance could mean combat armor, vehicles and other equipment not deemed to be offensive, the officials said. It could include training in battlefield medical care and the protection of human rights, they said.For now, the Obama administration is advancing more modestly. It is nearing a decision whether to give ready-made meals and medical supplies to the opposition fighters, who have not received direct U.S. assistance.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected to announce the new contributions at the Rome conference, in addition to tens of millions of dollars intended for rule of law and governance programs.The shifts in strategy are part of a step-by-step process that could lead to direct military aid to carefully screened members of the Free Syrian Army if the nearly 2-year conflict continues. Some 70,000 people have died in the fighting.The European Union last week renewed an arms embargo against Syria for three months. But foreign ministers made clear that the decision could be reviewed while they look at ways to increase pressure on Assad to leave.Washington has provided $385 million in humanitarian aid to Syria's war-weary population and $54 million in communications equipment, medical supplies and other nonlethal assistance to Syria's political opposition. The U.S. also has screen rebel groups for Turkey and American allies in the Arab world that have armed rebel fighters.No U.S. dollars or provisions have gone directly to rebels. That decision reflects concerns about forces that have allied themselves with more radical Islamic elements since Assad's initial crackdown on peaceful protesters in March 2011.Kerry said Wednesday in Paris that both the U.S. and Europe want a negotiated solution to the crisis and would speak to the leaders of the Syrian National Coalition about that. He also said the world must be prepared to do more to support the rebels and he accused Assad's government of engaging in "criminal behavior.""We want their advice on how we can accelerate the prospects of a political solution because that is what we believe is the best path to peace, the best way to protect the interests of the Syrian people, the best way to end the killing and the violence," he said at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius."That may require us to change President Assad's current calculation," Kerry said. "He needs to know that he can't shoot his way out of this. And so we need to convince him of that, and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that."Fabius offered a similar assessment.
"The situation is unbearable and we need to find the means to a transition and for Assad's departure," he said. "We agree all of us on the fact that Mr. Bashar Assad has to quit."Britain's Foreign Office also said it would increase its support for Syria's opposition.The possibility of a sudden change in U.S. strategy comes as President Barack Obama begins a second term and Kerry succeeds Hillary Rodham Clinton as the top U.S. diplomat.Freed from the constraints of a re-election campaign, administration officials say there is greater leeway now for new approaches than last year, when Obama rebuffed a plan by Clinton, then-CIA Director David Petraeus and then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to arm the Syrian rebels.The administration remains cautious, officials say, and is resisting European pressure to expand military aid to include the kind of items that Britain and France are considering.Few Americans want to see their country dragged into another war of complicated loyalties and sectarian rivalries in the Muslim world, a little more than a year after leaving Iraq and with 66,000 U.S. combat troops still in Afghanistan.Administration officials say they don't have enough assurances that rebel units under the sway of Islamic fundamentalists won't turn their weapons on Israel or other U.S. allies and fragile states in the region.Lebanon is torn by some of the same internal sectarian divisions as Syria and Jordan is struggling with its political reform path.Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, warned on Wednesday that a victory by Syrian rebels would lead to more fighting in Iraq and a new haven for al-Qaida.Greater instability in any of Syria's neighbors would pose a whole new set of problems.Still, officials said the U.S. was considering a gradually upgraded involvement in Syria to bolster moderate forces within the rebel ranks and help the fledgling political opposition win greater backing among Syrians, especially minority groups that have remained largely loyal to Assad and his government.
Debate within the administration on how best to accomplish these goals has increased in recent months as diplomatic efforts have failed to end the war. The Syrian opposition insists that only weapons, intelligence support and other forms of military aid truly can tip the balance.U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, urged the administration to consider lethal aid."We should want the best organized, the best equipped and most dominant groups in the opposition to be groups that are friendlier to our national interests," Rubio, a Florida Republican, said Wednesday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The position is similar to one Kerry held as a senator, and one he reminded reporters of this week when he proposed the creation of opposition safe zones and suggested providing rebels with U.S. weaponry.

But in his first month as secretary of state and on his first official trip overseas, the 2004 presidential candidate has been vaguer."We have a lot of ideas on the table, and some of them, I am confident, will come to maturity by time we meet in Rome," Kerry said this week. "Others may take a little more of a gestation period, but they're no less part of the mix and part of the discussion."What I can tell you is we are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind wondering where the support is or if it's coming, and we are determined to change the calculation on the ground for President Assad."

__Klapper reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kenneth Thomas in Washington, Sylvia Hui in London, and Silvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report. 

Syrian clashes reach 12th century Aleppo mosque

By BARBARA SURK | Associated Press – 9 mins ago FEB 28,13

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels clashed Thursday with government forces around a historic 12th century mosque inside the walled old city of Aleppo, activists said.The rebels won new support from the Obama administration. The U.S. pledged an additional $60 million in assistance and — in a significant policy shift — will for the first time provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new support and the decision to back the rebel fighters on the sidelines of an international conference on Syria in Rome, where European nations were also expected to signal their intention to provide fresh assistance to the opposition, possibly including defensive military hardware.The rebels have made a number of strategic gains in northern Syria in recent weeks, including the capture of a hydroelectric Dam and some military bases. They have also launched attacks deep in the heart of Damascus, President Bashar Assad's seat of power.But at the same time, the opposition has grown more critical of the international community, accusing it of not providing adequate support.In Aleppo, a key battleground in the civil war, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were clashes around the 12th century Umayyad Mosque in the walled old city with rebels controlling part of it and government troops holding another part.The Observatory, which relies on reports from activists on the ground, also said rebels continue to battle troops for control of a police academy west of Aleppo.Rebels launched an offensive on Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and its commercial capital, in July 2012.In months of street fighting, opposition fighters have slowly expanded the turf under their control. The fighting has left much of the city in ruins, and caused damage to its rich archaeological and cultural heritage.The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Aleppo, sits near a medieval covered market in the Old City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mosque was heavily damaged in October 2012 just weeks after a fire gutted the old city's famed market. Clashes at the historic site have raged for days.Fighting also intensified in the outskirts of Aleppo around a police academy that has recently emerged as a new front in the battle for the city.The police complex includes educational facilities for recruits and several army outposts to protect it. Anti-regime activists say the government has turned the facility into a military base, using it to shell opposition areas in Aleppo's countryside as well as rebel-held neighborhoods inside the city.In the central city of Homs, state media reported a car bombing with some casualties and extensive material damage.State-run SANA news agency said the car bomb was detonated by terrorists, a term the regime uses for rebels. It did not say how many people were killed in the blast.An official in the Homs governor's office told The Associated Press that the city was hit by two explosions, killing four people and injuring at least six. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.He said some of the injured are in critical condition.In Rome, Kerry is meeting Syrian opposition leaders and their Western backers in a bid to bolster Assad's political opponents and speed up his ouster.The U.S. and its European allies have been reluctant to arm the opposition fighters on the ground for fear the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic militants, battling Assad's troops among the rebels.So far, the U.S. has largely limited its assistance to the Syrian opposition to funding for communications and other logistical equipment.___Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this report from Damascus, Syria.

Diplomats urge EU to block Jerusalem settlements

By KARIN LAUB | Associated Press – 21 hrs ago  FEB 27,13

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Nearly two dozen European diplomats have urged the EU to intensify efforts to block Israeli settlement in and near Jerusalem, saying such construction on occupied lands is the "single biggest threat" to a Mideast peace deal, according to an internal report Wednesday.The diplomats also said the EU must ensure that aid to Israel and preferential trade agreements don't inadvertently benefit settlements, according to the report obtained by The Associated Press.They recommended that the EU "prevent, discourage and raise awareness" of direct investments by European companies in settlements, but did not elaborate.While the recommendations are non-binding, the report, endorsed by 22 heads of mission posted in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, reflects Israel's growing international isolation over the settlement issue.President Barack Obama confronted Israel over settlements early in his first term, but then backed off, and it's not clear if he will make another serious attempt to pressure Israel in his second term.

Israel built dozens of settlements after capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967. More than half a million Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, complicating efforts to partition the land under a future peace deal. Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005."Settlement construction remains the single biggest threat to the two-state solution," the report said, portraying the policy as "systematic, deliberate and provocative."Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said he had not seen the EU report, only what was published in the media. "The mission of a diplomat is to build bridges, not to foster confrontations," he said. "The EU consuls have therefore failed miserably in their mission."The issue of settlements must be addressed in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Palmor said.The Palestinians have said they will not resume negotiations unless Israel freezes settlement construction on lands they claim for their state, including the Gaza Strip, where Israel no longer has settlements.Palestinians have negotiated in the past while settlement expansion continued, but said they are no longer willing to engage in open-ended negotiations they suspect largely serve Israel as a diplomatic cover for tightening its grip on occupied lands through settlements.The EU report singled out Israeli policies in east Jerusalem, particularly several major settlement projects being planned there.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often come out against dividing Jerusalem. Israel annexed the eastern sector, sought by the Palestinians as a capital, weeks after capturing it in the 1967 Mideast war, a move not recognized internationally. Beyond its greatly expanded borders of Jerusalem, Israel has not annexed West Bank territory.The EU report said Israel approved an unprecedented number of settlement plans in and near east Jerusalem in response to the Palestinians' successful bid in November to win U.N. recognition for a state of Palestine in the occupied lands.If the current pace of settlement building on Jerusalem's southeastern flank continues, "an effective buffer between east Jerusalem and Bethlehem (in the West Bank) may be in place by the end of 2013, thus making the realization of a viable two-state solution inordinately more difficult, if not impossible," it said.
The consuls recommended that the EU intensify efforts to "counter settlement activity" in and near east Jerusalem and make sure EU aid programs don't inadvertently benefit settlements. They also proposed developing voluntary guidelines for EU tour operators to prevent support for settlement businesses in east Jerusalem.It remains unclear what impact the report will have. The recommendations have not been endorsed by the EU, and the European bloc in any case plays only a supportive role in U.S.-led international efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian deal.___Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed.

Jordan sees new surge in Syrians fleeing civil war

By DALE GAVLAK | Associated Press – Wed, Feb 27, 2013

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A Jordanian official says there is a new surge in Syrians fleeing across the border to Jordan as fighting intensifies in southern Syria.A government spokesman for Syrian refugee affairs told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Jordan now hosts 418,529 Syrian refugees.Anmar Hmoud says 2,490 Syrians crossed into Jordan overnight, with the numbers averaging about 3,000 per night in recent days.

By the end of March, Jordan could have as many as half a million Syrian refugees.Some of those coming through unofficial border crossings find shelter in Jordan's Zaatari camp, now home to more than 105,700 refugees. Many more live among Jordanian families.The camp has seen sporadic violent protests over its harsh desert conditions.The U.N. says there are nearly 925,000 Syrians displaced throughout the region.

Rights group: Tamil suspects raped by government

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI | Associated Press – Tue, Feb 26, 2013

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — An international human rights group alleges Sri Lankan security forces continue to use torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence against suspected members of the Tamil Tiger rebels and their supporters, nearly four years after the end of the country's civil war. The military denied the allegations.In a report released Tuesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said that although the decades-long war ended in May 2009, politically motivated sexual violence against suspects in custody continues to this day. It called for an international investigation into the practice."Sri Lankan security forces have committed untold numbers of rapes of Tamil men and women in custody," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director."These are not just wartime atrocities but continue to the present, putting every Tamil man and woman arrested for suspected LTTE involvement at serious risk," Adams said, using the acronym for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the formal name of the rebels.The violent 26-year war saw ethnic minority Tamil rebels fighting for their own homeland against troops from the Sinhalese majority government. More than 100,000 people were killed on both sides before the government crushed the rebels with a bloody push into rebel-controlled northern areas. A U.N. report has said tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final five months of fighting alone.The rebels themselves have been accused of widespread atrocities, including holding civilians as human shields, using child soldiers and killing people who tried to leave areas under their control.The report comes as the United Nations Human Rights Council is set to discuss Sri Lanka's alleged wartime abuses at its annual meeting in Geneva this week. The United States has said it will introduce a resolution at the meeting urging a full accounting of what happened at the end of the war.Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya rejected Human Rights Watch's allegations, saying they lack credibility. He called them "fabricated allegations" and "good creative writing."The 41-page report, titled "'We Will Teach You a Lesson': Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces," provides detailed accounts of 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse that occurred from 2006-2012 in both official and secret detention centers throughout Sri Lanka.Human Rights Watch said most of the victims spoke to them outside of Sri Lanka, and it corroborated their accounts with medical and legal reports. Because Human Rights Watch was not able to openly conduct research in Sri Lanka or interview people still in custody, it said the cases in its report likely represent only a tiny fraction of custodial rape in political cases.

It said many of the cases followed a pattern of an individual being abducted from home by unidentified men, taken to a detention center, and abusively interrogated about alleged activities of the rebels. It said men and women reported being raped on multiple days, often by several people, with the army, police, and pro-government paramilitary groups frequently participating.The victims also described being beaten, hung by their arms, partially asphyxiated, and burned with cigarettes. None of those who spoke to Human Rights Watch had access to legal counsel, family members or doctors while they were detained, the group said.

Wanigasooriya, the military spokesman, said there had been no cases of rape or sexual harassments as described in the report."If there are proper complaints with the relevant authorities, the army is ready to investigate them," he said.He said security forces rescued 300,000 civilians during the war and have resettled them, while another 12,000 ex-rebel combatants have been rehabilitated."None of these persons have come with a complaint of this nature. This is another lie the Human Rights Watch has released," he said.

Last week, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay faulted Sri Lanka for failing to properly investigate reports of atrocities during the war, and said government opponents continue to be killed and abducted."The government's response to allegations of sexual violence by its security forces have been dismissive, deeming them as 'fake' or 'pro-LTTE propaganda,'" Adams said in a statement Tuesday. "It's not clear who in the government knew about these horrific crimes. But the government's failure to take action against these ongoing abuses is further evidence of the need for an international investigation."

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUGS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)

Support for legalizing pot in California hits new high: survey

By Eric M. Johnson | Reuters –  FEB 28,13

(Reuters) - A record but still narrow majority of California voters, or 54 percent, favor legalizing marijuana for personal, recreational use with restrictions like those placed on alcohol, a poll showed on Wednesday.

California was the first of 19 states and the District of Columbia to legalize pot for medical use, doing so in 1996, although voters rejected efforts to legalize the drug for recreational use in 2010.But support for legalizing pot, which the federal government considers an illegal narcotic, appears to be growing in the U.S. West, where Colorado and Washington state last year became the first states to legalize its recreational use.

Roughly 54 percent of California voters surveyed by the non-partisan Field Poll supported legalizing pot, with support highest among residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. Another 43 percent opposed legalization.The support was the highest since the Field Poll first asked about pot legalization in 1969, when 13 percent of California voters were in favor. In 2010, the last time Field Poll asked voters about the issue, 50 percent favored legalization.Of the 834 registered voters polled, roughly 72 percent supported existing laws governing the California medical marijuana industry, one of the nation's largest. Some 67 percent opposed federal efforts to crack down on businesses operating therein.Additionally, 58 percent of voters polled said they would favor allowing dispensaries in their town or city, with stronger support in more liberal enclaves of the state, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, the data show.The aging "baby boomer" generation with more laid-back attitudes about pot use was driving the increase in support for more relaxed marijuana rules, said Mark DiCamillo, the director of The Field Poll."They are basically replacing an older generation that was more opposed to legalizing marijuana," he said.Majorities of voters age 65 or older, Latinos age 40 or older, and Republicans oppose legalizing marijuana, the data show.The poll, conducted from February 5-17, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Tim Dobbyn)

Corporations urge Supreme Court to embrace gay marriage

By Lawrence Hurley and Aruna Viswanatha | Reuters – 16 hrs ago FEB 27,13

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 200 businesses on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to heterosexual unions, in one of corporate America's most prominent efforts to support same-sex marriage.The companies signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in Windsor v. United States, a high-profile case challenging the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). They ranged from technology giants Microsoft Corp and Google Inc to Wall Street financiers such as Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc to vineyards and yogurt makers in California.

Thomson Reuters Corp, which owns the Reuters news agency, also supported the submission.The companies want the Supreme Court to void a key provision in the federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. They largely stayed away from constitutional arguments attacking the law and instead focused on the business nuisance the law created.DOMA forces employers to treat employees with same-sex spouses differently from those with opposite-sex partners, the companies said, depriving gay employees of certain healthcare and retirement benefits that may be on offer. The law also creates headaches for human resources officials, they said."HR departments would tell you it is a disaster trying to deal with DOMA when you are a large employer, because you have these employees who are legally married, but now you've got to put them in a different box for W-2s, for ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), for retirement benefits, and it's really vexing," said Sabin Willett in an interview. Willett wrote the brief for his law firm, Bingham McCutchen, which handled the matter pro bono.
Separately, lawyers representing another group of employers, including some of the same companies, said they planned to file a brief on Thursday in a related case that questions a California law, known as Proposition 8, banning gay marriage.The two cases are to be argued before the Supreme Court on March 26 and 27. A decision is expected by the end of June.While corporate America has long offered domestic partnership benefits and made efforts to attract gay employees, the filing seemed to represent a new step in an effort to promote the issue."It is old news that big business is friendly to lesbian and gay unions," said Yale law professor William Eskridge, who has argued on behalf of gay rights. "But there has never been a business brief quite like this one with so many signatories on such a landmark issue," he said.A group of prominent Republicans, including former advisers to President George W. Bush, are also expected to file a brief challenging the California law, adding heft to backers of gay rights.The arguments appeared directed at Justice Anthony Kennedy, as a moderate and potential swing vote, to show the kind of wide support that exists, Eskridge said.
'HURTING BUSINESS'
The brief grew out of a previous effort to represent business interests in another case challenging the DOMA law, according to Willett.That case brought together some 70 companies that felt courts may not have understood the full business impact of the law."When people talk about DOMA, they usually, and rightly so, focus on its impact upon human beings ... but people may not realize, and courts may not realize, this thing is hurting business, too," Willett said.In the brief filed on Wednesday, the companies argued that DOMA "requires that employers treat one employee differently from another, when each is married, and each marriage is equally lawful."DOMA does not create any uniformity nationwide, they said, because 12 states either authorize same-sex marriage or recognize marriages that have been performed in other states.
That creates a burden for employers, particularly those who do business nationally, they added.The law also forces companies to discriminate, sometimes in contravention of their own internal policies and local laws, when dealing with healthcare plans and other benefits, the companies said.In briefs already filed in support of restricting marriage to heterosexual unions, business interests have not been represented. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has not taken a stand on the issue.(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Howard Goller, Cynthia Osterman and Prudence Crowther)