KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
BOYS SCOUTS ACCEPT GAYS-SCOUTS WILL NEVER BE A MORAL GROUP AGAIN.
By Jason Sickles, Yahoo! | The Lookout – Thu, May 23, 2013
[Updated at 6:55 p.m. CT]
DALLAS – The Boy Scouts of America, one of the country’s largest and oldest youth organizations, decided on Thursday to break 103 years of tradition by allowing openly gay members into its ranks.
The controversial move was approved by more than 60 percent of the approximate 1,400 votes cast by the BSA’s national council. According to the new resolution, beginning Jan. 1, 2014, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”“The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting,” the BSA stated in a press release.Lifting the organization’s ban on gay adult volunteer leaders and paid staff was not considered and remains in place.Pascal Tessier, a gay Scout from Maryland, told Yahoo News that he was ecstatic with the outcome.“Proud, happy and on top of the world,” he said.Tessier, 16, had feared that a no vote would mean he would not earn his Eagle award next year.“The delegates proved me wrong,” Tessier said.Texas Governor Rick Perry told the Texas Tribune, “While I will always cherish my time as a Scout ... I am greatly disappointed with this decision.”The emotionally charged issue has seen those for and against it wage costly public relations campaigns, and has fostered intense debate from coast to coast.In a statement, John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and leader of a coalition of people who opposed the change, accused the BSA of caving to polls, politics and public opinion.“It is with great sadness and deep disappointment that we recognize on this day that the most influential youth program in America has turned a tragic corner,” Stemberger stated in a press release. “The vote today to allow open and avowed homosexuality into Scouting will completely transform it into an unprincipled and risky proposition for parents. It is truly a sad day for Scouting.”Stemberger, founder of On My Honor, stated his group and other like-minded organizations will meet in Louisville, Ky., next month to discuss creating a new character-development organization for boys.The historic change comes 13 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that BSA is a private club that is allowed to set its own rules for membership. Since then, public pressure has mounted for the Texas-based organization to change the exclusion, especially last year, when a gay California teen was denied his Eagle Scout award and an Ohio lesbian was removed as a den mother from her son’s troop.
Still, just 10 months ago, the Scouts reaffirmed their stance, saying a two-year confidential review revealed a majority of the organization’s parents wanted to keep the policy. The about-face to put it to a vote came “out of respect for the diverse beliefs of Scouting's chartered organizations,” according to the BSA website.
After the vote, the Scouts stated there would be no plans to revisit the issue.“While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting,” they stated in a press release. “ … America’s youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve.”News of the change brought tears of joy to Melanie Gerken, the mother of an Eagle Scout and a longtime volunteer with Cleveland-area troops.“It’s about time,” said Gerken, choking back tears.She said she hopes the organization takes it a step further by allowing gay volunteers to work with Scouts.“Being homosexual doesn’t make you a pedophile,” Gerken told Yahoo News. “I don’t care what goes on in your bedroom behind closed doors. What can you do for other people and youth?”
EZEKIEL 38:4-7
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.
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
GERMANY WILL BE WITH RUSSIA/MUSLIMS AND CHINA WHEN THE MARCH TO ISRAEL OCCURRS.
By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 1:37 PM-Israelnationalnews
By Ari Soffer-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 3:48 PM-Israelnationalnews
EU foreign ministers are mulling a proposal by the French and
British governments to ease the arms embargo on all parties in the
Syrian civil war, to allow weapons transfers to rebel "Free Syrian Army"
brigades.
The EU embargo was first imposed in May 2011, applying equally to government and rebel forces, and is set to expire at the end of this month. Critics of the embargo claimed that such an arrangement effectively hands the initiative to the Assad regime, as its allies - including Russia, Iran and Hizbullah - continue to provide weapons, munitions, logistical support and even fighters on the ground regardless of EU restrictions. In an attempt to address these concerns which has been criticised for not going far enough, in February this year foreign ministers agreed on a somewhat opaque amendment to enable any EU member state to provide "non-lethal" military equipment "for the protection of civilians" or for the opposition forces, "which the Union accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people."Those in favor of an absolute embargo include Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Recently, the Austrian Foreign Minister insisted that the EU preserve its identity as "a peace community by not being involved in such a conflict", highlighting some of the ideological underpinnings of his country's position.But opposition to arming rebel groups stems at least as much from practical considerations as it does from ideological ones. Pro-embargo voices point out that the "rebels" are not a cohesive movement but a tangle of competing brigades with an array of loyalties and aspirations, both national and regional, many of which do not align with western interests any more than the Assad regime and its allies.Plenty of evidence exists to support this position, including the increasing influence of Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned brigades, and recent reports that Al Qaeda in Iraq has made significant inroads within the Syrian opposition, both directly as well as via its Syrian "Nusra Front" franchise. Gruesome videos of rebel atrocities, including the infamous video of an Islamist fighter "eating the heart" of a dead Syrian Army soldier, have done little to calm fears over what might happen if advanced western weaponry should fall into the wrong hands.However, those calling for direct western military support to the rebels claim that the influence of Sunni Islamist groups has only occurred precisely as a result of western reluctance to provide support themselves.After their appeals for help fell on deaf ears in the west, Syrian rebels (who are largely comprised of Sunni Arabs) turned to Sunni Islamist powers such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar for help. Those states provided weapons and other support in exchange for allegiance, and spawned Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned units respectively, as a way of fighting their own proxy war against Syria and its Shia Islamist allies in Iran. The involvement of Turkey - initially seen in some quarters as a "substitute" for direct western involvement in Syria, given its membership in NATO - has further contributed to the influence of Islamist groups. Critics say this is unsurprising given that Turkey's ruling AKP party is itself an Islamist party.The argument is that by providing an alternative source of direct military support western powers can redirect the rebel movement in a more "moderate" direction.
However, supporters of an embargo maintain that whatever the reasons for the proliferation of extremist groups on the ground, it is impossible to control the flow of weaponry to ensure it makes it into "the right hands". Injecting more weapons into the field is therefore a dangerous gamble to take in an increasingly sectarian conflict which has already killed more than 80,000 people.The humanitarian charity Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends, whilst others have cautioned that such a move could jeopardize a proposed "peace initiative" in Geneva next month.
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)
By Erika Solomon | Reuters – 1 hr 48 mins ago MAY 27,13
The rockets struck hours after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised that his anti-Israel guerrillas, fighting alongside Assad's forces, would win whatever the cost.A Lebanese security source said another 107mm rocket, which did not go off, had been aimed at Beirut airport. The launch sites were near Aitat, in the hills just south of the capital.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced "deep concern" overnight at Hezbollah's admitted combat role and the risk that the Syrian conflict will spill into Lebanon and other neighboring states.Ban urged all concerned "immediately to cease supporting the violence inside Syria and instead to use their influence to promote a political solution to Syria's tragedy".
"CHEMICAL ATTACK" AFFECTS DOZENS
The diplomacy so far appears only to have intensified the violence, especially around Qusair and Damascus.
In Harasta, an eastern Damascus suburb largely under rebel control, dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent overnight chemical attack, according to opposition sources. Video showed victims lying on the floor of a large room, breathing from oxygen masks.The sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.The newspaper said one of its photographers had suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days after an attack on April 13 on the Jobar front, in central Damascus.Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.
It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat "dozens of wounded".Syria, which is not a member of the anti-chemical weapons convention, is believed to have one of the world's last remaining stockpiles of undeclared chemical arms.As Washington and Moscow seek to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss calls from Britain and France to ease an EU embargo on arming Syrian rebels.All EU sanctions on Syria could collapse unless the 27-nation bloc agrees on the fate of the arms embargo before it expires on June 1, but several EU members oppose any change.British Foreign Secretary William Hague signaled that Britain was prepared to see EU sanctions fall apart rather than retreat from his demand to give more support to rebels. If the EU could not agree, then "each country will have to ensure it has its own sanctions," Hague declared.Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, whose country provides U.N. observers posted between Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan Heights, opposed any arming of rebels, saying the EU should remain a "peace community".
OPPOSITION DISARRAY
The U.S.-Russian initiative provides the first slim hope in almost a year for a diplomatic end to a conflict that has cost more than 80,000 lives and caused a refugee exodus that the U.N. refugee agency expects to top 3.5 million by the end of 2013.China, which along with Russia, has three times blocked U.N. Security Council action on Syria, said on Monday it would join the proposed peace conference. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would make efforts with all concerned to "push for an early, just, peaceful and appropriate settlement of the Syrian issue".Damascus has indicated it will take part in the talks, but the fractured opposition, which has previously required Assad's exit to be guaranteed before any negotiations, has yet to lay out its position and remains mired in internal quarrels.The opposition crisis deepened on Monday when liberals were offered only token representation, undermining international efforts to lend the Islamist-dominated alliance greater support.To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member Syrian National Coalition thwarted a deal to admit a liberal bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo.The failure to broaden the coalition, in which a Qatari-backed bloc influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood is prominent, could sap Saudi support for the revolt.The coalition's Western backers had wanted more seats for liberals, an idea backed by Saudi Arabia, which had been uneasy about Qatar's rising influence, coalition insiders said.France again urged the Syrian opposition to restructure and to clarify its position on the Geneva talks. "We repeat our desire to see the leadership structure of this National Syrian Coalition broadened," the French Foreign Ministry said.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were due to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the conference they want to hold in Geneva in June.In Geneva, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay appealed for international action to halt the killing and urged the U.N. Security Council to ensure war criminals in Syria faced justice."Confronted with the flagrant disregard of international law and human life on every side, I feel utter dismay," she said, as she reeled off the latest atrocities reported to her office.(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Brian Love in Paris, Costas Pitas in London, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Adrian Croft in Brussels and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
– 1 hr 4 mins ago MAY 27,13
By David Lev-First Publish: 5/27/2013, 5:05 PM-Israelnationalnews
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
– 12 hrs ago MAY 26,13
BOYS SCOUTS ACCEPT GAYS-SCOUTS WILL NEVER BE A MORAL GROUP AGAIN.
Boy Scouts vote to end ban on gay youth members
DALLAS – The Boy Scouts of America, one of the country’s largest and oldest youth organizations, decided on Thursday to break 103 years of tradition by allowing openly gay members into its ranks.
The controversial move was approved by more than 60 percent of the approximate 1,400 votes cast by the BSA’s national council. According to the new resolution, beginning Jan. 1, 2014, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”“The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting,” the BSA stated in a press release.Lifting the organization’s ban on gay adult volunteer leaders and paid staff was not considered and remains in place.Pascal Tessier, a gay Scout from Maryland, told Yahoo News that he was ecstatic with the outcome.“Proud, happy and on top of the world,” he said.Tessier, 16, had feared that a no vote would mean he would not earn his Eagle award next year.“The delegates proved me wrong,” Tessier said.Texas Governor Rick Perry told the Texas Tribune, “While I will always cherish my time as a Scout ... I am greatly disappointed with this decision.”The emotionally charged issue has seen those for and against it wage costly public relations campaigns, and has fostered intense debate from coast to coast.In a statement, John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and leader of a coalition of people who opposed the change, accused the BSA of caving to polls, politics and public opinion.“It is with great sadness and deep disappointment that we recognize on this day that the most influential youth program in America has turned a tragic corner,” Stemberger stated in a press release. “The vote today to allow open and avowed homosexuality into Scouting will completely transform it into an unprincipled and risky proposition for parents. It is truly a sad day for Scouting.”Stemberger, founder of On My Honor, stated his group and other like-minded organizations will meet in Louisville, Ky., next month to discuss creating a new character-development organization for boys.The historic change comes 13 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that BSA is a private club that is allowed to set its own rules for membership. Since then, public pressure has mounted for the Texas-based organization to change the exclusion, especially last year, when a gay California teen was denied his Eagle Scout award and an Ohio lesbian was removed as a den mother from her son’s troop.
Still, just 10 months ago, the Scouts reaffirmed their stance, saying a two-year confidential review revealed a majority of the organization’s parents wanted to keep the policy. The about-face to put it to a vote came “out of respect for the diverse beliefs of Scouting's chartered organizations,” according to the BSA website.
After the vote, the Scouts stated there would be no plans to revisit the issue.“While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting,” they stated in a press release. “ … America’s youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve.”News of the change brought tears of joy to Melanie Gerken, the mother of an Eagle Scout and a longtime volunteer with Cleveland-area troops.“It’s about time,” said Gerken, choking back tears.She said she hopes the organization takes it a step further by allowing gay volunteers to work with Scouts.“Being homosexual doesn’t make you a pedophile,” Gerken told Yahoo News. “I don’t care what goes on in your bedroom behind closed doors. What can you do for other people and youth?”
EZEKIEL 38:4-7
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.
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
GERMANY WILL BE WITH RUSSIA/MUSLIMS AND CHINA WHEN THE MARCH TO ISRAEL OCCURRS.
Merkel backs China in EU trade row
Today @ 07:53 MAY 27,13
By Valentina Pop
Berlin - German Chancellor Angela
Merkel has pledged to do her utmost to avoid an EU-China trade war over
subsidies for solar panels and wireless equipment as she welcomed the
new Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, in Berlin on Sunday (26 May)."Germany will do what it can so that there are no permanent import
duties and we'll try to clear things up as quickly as possible," she
said in a press conference after meeting Li.
The European Commission is considering to impose import duties on Chinese solar panel and wireless device companies for exporting products to the European market that are artificially kept cheap thanks to subsidies from the Chinese government.Merkel said that the commission has the authority to launch such procedures.But she noted that the idea of imposing permanent tariffs is not something Germany "believes in." She also said she wishes to see the conflict solved within six months.Li, who has been in office only since March, said he "emphatically rejects" the =commission's planned sanctions."It not only endangers jobs in Germany. It will also endanger the development of the sector in Europe. That will harm the interests of the European consumers and Europe's industry," he said.Li made a point by not including Brussels on his first trip abroad, with Berlin being the only EU capital he visited after a stop in Switzerland, which became the second European country to sign a free trade agreement with China after Iceland.Earlier this month, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the commission had agreed in principle to open a case against China, but would first seek talks with Beijing.China's vice-minister for commerce Zhong Shan was due to meet De Gucht later on Monday for talks on the matter, the Chinese government said in a press statement on Sunday.
Trade disputes between China and Europe have multiplied over the past years, with 18 out of EU's 31 current trade investigations involving the Asian giant.As for the German economy, the Chinese visit yielded a series of deals between car manufacturers like Volkswagen and chemical giant Basf.In a bid to appease criticism from civil rights groups, Merkel also announced the continuation of a human rights dialogue between Berlin and Beijing.Just days before the official visit, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei put out a Youtube video decrying China's human rights record."In the past 60 years there have been innumerable amounts of people who have been killed or sent away from their homes, even tortured to death," said Ai who was convicted by Chinese authorities in 2011 for alleged tax evasion.The music video is a parody of his time spent in jail.
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
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,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; 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, 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.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
The European Commission is considering to impose import duties on Chinese solar panel and wireless device companies for exporting products to the European market that are artificially kept cheap thanks to subsidies from the Chinese government.Merkel said that the commission has the authority to launch such procedures.But she noted that the idea of imposing permanent tariffs is not something Germany "believes in." She also said she wishes to see the conflict solved within six months.Li, who has been in office only since March, said he "emphatically rejects" the =commission's planned sanctions."It not only endangers jobs in Germany. It will also endanger the development of the sector in Europe. That will harm the interests of the European consumers and Europe's industry," he said.Li made a point by not including Brussels on his first trip abroad, with Berlin being the only EU capital he visited after a stop in Switzerland, which became the second European country to sign a free trade agreement with China after Iceland.Earlier this month, EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said the commission had agreed in principle to open a case against China, but would first seek talks with Beijing.China's vice-minister for commerce Zhong Shan was due to meet De Gucht later on Monday for talks on the matter, the Chinese government said in a press statement on Sunday.
Trade disputes between China and Europe have multiplied over the past years, with 18 out of EU's 31 current trade investigations involving the Asian giant.As for the German economy, the Chinese visit yielded a series of deals between car manufacturers like Volkswagen and chemical giant Basf.In a bid to appease criticism from civil rights groups, Merkel also announced the continuation of a human rights dialogue between Berlin and Beijing.Just days before the official visit, Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei put out a Youtube video decrying China's human rights record."In the past 60 years there have been innumerable amounts of people who have been killed or sent away from their homes, even tortured to death," said Ai who was convicted by Chinese authorities in 2011 for alleged tax evasion.The music video is a parody of his time spent in jail.
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
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,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; 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, 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.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Jordan, Israel working as one over Syria: Report
Jordan’s King Abdullah II (R) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Amman. (File photo)
Mon May 27, 2013 2:16PM GMT
34
255
77
On
May 25, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah defended
the Lebanese resistance movement’s decision to fight the foreign-backed
militants in Syria’s town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border.Jordan
has allowed the Israeli regime to fly its drones over the Jordanian
airspace in order to monitor the situation in Syria, a report says.A high-ranking Jordanian official, close to King Abdullah II, told the London-based newspaper Jewish Chronicle that Amman and Tel Aviv were “working as one over Syria.”The official, whose name was not mentioned in the
report, stated that Jordan would “of course… allow Israel to use
Jordanian air space for another attack on Syria” if the need arose.
On May 5, Syria said the Israeli regime had carried out an airstrike
targeting a research center in a suburb of Damascus, following heavy
losses inflicted upon al-Qaeda-affiliated groups by the Syrian army. According to Syrian media reports, the strike hit the Jamraya
Research Center which had been targeted in another Israeli airstrike in
January.“Syria is a crisis whatever happens. Assad is no longer a
force for stability… The Israelis don’t mess about and that’s what we
need. We are working as one over Syria,” the Jordanian official said,
referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria has been gripped by unrest for over two years, and many
people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security
personnel, have been killed in the foreign-sponsored militancy.The Syrian army has conducted successful operations against the militant groups over the past several days.On May 25, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah
defended the Lebanese resistance movement’s decision to fight the
militants in Syria’s town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border. President Assad said on May 18 that militants from 29 different
countries were fighting against the government in different parts of the
country.MP/HSN/SL
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah clinically dead: Report says
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz-Mon May 27, 2013 11:2AM GMT
126-9739
3934
UPDATED
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz is reported to be clinically dead as the monarch is not recently seen in the public.A Saudi journalist working for London-Based Asharq Alawsat says the Saudi monarch has been clinically dead since Wednesday.He also quoted medical sources in Saudi Arabia as saying that the
king’s vital organs, including his heart, kidneys and lungs, have
stopped functioning.Doctors are said to have used a defibrillator on him several times.
He is also reported to be alive with the help of a ventilator.The Royal Court has yet to comment on the report of King's death.The aging Saudi monarch has not recently appeared in the public and
the country's crown prince is attending official meetings on his behalf.It is the second time in the past months that Asharq Alawsat reports the death of King Abdullah.In November 2012, the daily reported that Saudi king has slipped
into coma and was clinically dead nearly a week after he underwent a
14-hour-long back surgery in a hospital in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.The report was later rejected by the Royal Court.The 89-year-old king’s health has declined over the past few years, during which he has been hospitalized several times.Failing health, old age as well as the death of the king’s
half-brothers have raised concerns about the future of the oil-rich
country in the face of anti-government demonstrations.
HM/PR/SL
War Drill: Second Siren to Sound at 7:05 P.M.
Citizens are asked to enter protected areas when the siren sounds. Three-day-long drill will end Wednesday.
Chemical attack drill (file)-Israel news photo: Flash 90
Sirens sounded nationwide at 12:30 p.m. Monday as part of a national home front drill that began Sunday and will last until Wednesday.Sirens
are scheduled to sound again at 7:05 p.m. Monday. Citizens are expected
to enter the protected spaces in their homes during this siren.The IDF decided not to hold the drill in the Gaza Belt communities, in order to spare the children there the unnecessary trauma.The annual Turning Point exercise this year rehearses an unconventional attack by Israel's enemies.This is the seventh annual Turning Point exercise.
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.
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 rhetoric fails to stop Israeli land-grab
Today @ 09:27 MAY 27,13
By Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS - Israel is continuing to
seize Palestinian land in the West Bank despite EU and US initiatives to
stop the decades-old process.According to a new study by Aida, a coalition of 80 aid agencies,
Israel demolished 535 Palestinian-owned structures between May 2012 and
April 2013, displacing 784 people, more than half of them children.It also demolished 30 EU-funded structures, such as water cisterns.
It rejected 94 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits.But at the same time, it approved more than 6,600 new housing units for Jewish settlers.Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers continued to turn a blind eye to settler attacks on Palestinians, which injured 150 people, including 33 children, in the past year.According to a separate report by Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday (27 May), the figures on new settler houses only tell part of the story.Israel last year also extended the legal boundaries of old settlements by 1,977 acres - an area twice as big as Central Park in New York.There is nothing new about the facts on the ground.
The land-grab began in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and has so far created some 5 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom live in Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.Aida chose the May to April timeframe because EU foreign ministers in May 2012 urged Israel to halt the "forced transfer" of Palestinian people and to "comply with its obligations under international law."The aid groups said EU action remains "adhoc and unco-ordinated" despite its statements.They added: "The human toll of these demolitions is enormous, disrupting children's education, separating family members and causing the declining economic, physical and mental health of the families that experience them."EU foreign ministers plan to hold informal talks on the Middle East Peace Process at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.They are expected to refrain from criticising Israel in order not to upset a new US initiative to restart peace talks.US secretary of sate John Kerry at a conference with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Amman on Sunday unveiled a plan to invest $4 billion in Palestine in the coming years.He gave no details on where the money will come from.He also urged Israeli President Simon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to relaunch negotiations.Peres told Abbas: "Let's sit together - you'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open and direct and organised meetings."But he declined to mention settlements, seen by Palestine as the main obstacle to a two-state solution.The depth of the problem was underlined by reactions to a recent court ruling on a train line built by French firms Veolia and Alstom in occupied East Jerusalem.An appeals court in Versailles, France in March said the firms did not break international law.For his part, Yoel Mester, the spokesman of the Israeli embassy to the EU, told EUobserver the verdict highlights the fact there is no "occupation" of Palestine in legal terms.
"Israel's presence in the territories is often incorrectly referred to as an 'occupation.' However, under international law, true occupation occurs only in territories that have been taken from a recognised sovereign. The last recognised sovereign of the West Bank and Gaza was the Ottoman Empire, which ceased to exist following the First World War," he said."No sovereign Palestinian state has ever existed, neither in the West Bank nor anywhere else," he added.The EU rejects the Israeli interpretation, however.European External Action Service spokesman Michael Mann told this website "the EU continues to regard the West Bank … as occupied territory."He added: "The EU does not refer to the occupation as such as illegal. It does, however, refer to a number of specific measures taken by the government of Israel as the occupying power as illegal. Two such instances are the construction of settlements … and the construction of the separation barrier where it is built on occupied land."
It rejected 94 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits.But at the same time, it approved more than 6,600 new housing units for Jewish settlers.Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers continued to turn a blind eye to settler attacks on Palestinians, which injured 150 people, including 33 children, in the past year.According to a separate report by Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday (27 May), the figures on new settler houses only tell part of the story.Israel last year also extended the legal boundaries of old settlements by 1,977 acres - an area twice as big as Central Park in New York.There is nothing new about the facts on the ground.
The land-grab began in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and has so far created some 5 million Palestinian refugees, most of whom live in Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.Aida chose the May to April timeframe because EU foreign ministers in May 2012 urged Israel to halt the "forced transfer" of Palestinian people and to "comply with its obligations under international law."The aid groups said EU action remains "adhoc and unco-ordinated" despite its statements.They added: "The human toll of these demolitions is enormous, disrupting children's education, separating family members and causing the declining economic, physical and mental health of the families that experience them."EU foreign ministers plan to hold informal talks on the Middle East Peace Process at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.They are expected to refrain from criticising Israel in order not to upset a new US initiative to restart peace talks.US secretary of sate John Kerry at a conference with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Amman on Sunday unveiled a plan to invest $4 billion in Palestine in the coming years.He gave no details on where the money will come from.He also urged Israeli President Simon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to relaunch negotiations.Peres told Abbas: "Let's sit together - you'll be surprised how much can be achieved in open and direct and organised meetings."But he declined to mention settlements, seen by Palestine as the main obstacle to a two-state solution.The depth of the problem was underlined by reactions to a recent court ruling on a train line built by French firms Veolia and Alstom in occupied East Jerusalem.An appeals court in Versailles, France in March said the firms did not break international law.For his part, Yoel Mester, the spokesman of the Israeli embassy to the EU, told EUobserver the verdict highlights the fact there is no "occupation" of Palestine in legal terms.
"Israel's presence in the territories is often incorrectly referred to as an 'occupation.' However, under international law, true occupation occurs only in territories that have been taken from a recognised sovereign. The last recognised sovereign of the West Bank and Gaza was the Ottoman Empire, which ceased to exist following the First World War," he said."No sovereign Palestinian state has ever existed, neither in the West Bank nor anywhere else," he added.The EU rejects the Israeli interpretation, however.European External Action Service spokesman Michael Mann told this website "the EU continues to regard the West Bank … as occupied territory."He added: "The EU does not refer to the occupation as such as illegal. It does, however, refer to a number of specific measures taken by the government of Israel as the occupying power as illegal. Two such instances are the construction of settlements … and the construction of the separation barrier where it is built on occupied land."
EU Considers Easing Syria Arms Embargo
EU foreign ministers discuss British, French proposal to allow arming rebels. Critics warn of "devastating consequences".
Syrian soldiers-AFP file
The EU embargo was first imposed in May 2011, applying equally to government and rebel forces, and is set to expire at the end of this month. Critics of the embargo claimed that such an arrangement effectively hands the initiative to the Assad regime, as its allies - including Russia, Iran and Hizbullah - continue to provide weapons, munitions, logistical support and even fighters on the ground regardless of EU restrictions. In an attempt to address these concerns which has been criticised for not going far enough, in February this year foreign ministers agreed on a somewhat opaque amendment to enable any EU member state to provide "non-lethal" military equipment "for the protection of civilians" or for the opposition forces, "which the Union accepts as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people."Those in favor of an absolute embargo include Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Recently, the Austrian Foreign Minister insisted that the EU preserve its identity as "a peace community by not being involved in such a conflict", highlighting some of the ideological underpinnings of his country's position.But opposition to arming rebel groups stems at least as much from practical considerations as it does from ideological ones. Pro-embargo voices point out that the "rebels" are not a cohesive movement but a tangle of competing brigades with an array of loyalties and aspirations, both national and regional, many of which do not align with western interests any more than the Assad regime and its allies.Plenty of evidence exists to support this position, including the increasing influence of Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned brigades, and recent reports that Al Qaeda in Iraq has made significant inroads within the Syrian opposition, both directly as well as via its Syrian "Nusra Front" franchise. Gruesome videos of rebel atrocities, including the infamous video of an Islamist fighter "eating the heart" of a dead Syrian Army soldier, have done little to calm fears over what might happen if advanced western weaponry should fall into the wrong hands.However, those calling for direct western military support to the rebels claim that the influence of Sunni Islamist groups has only occurred precisely as a result of western reluctance to provide support themselves.After their appeals for help fell on deaf ears in the west, Syrian rebels (who are largely comprised of Sunni Arabs) turned to Sunni Islamist powers such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar for help. Those states provided weapons and other support in exchange for allegiance, and spawned Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned units respectively, as a way of fighting their own proxy war against Syria and its Shia Islamist allies in Iran. The involvement of Turkey - initially seen in some quarters as a "substitute" for direct western involvement in Syria, given its membership in NATO - has further contributed to the influence of Islamist groups. Critics say this is unsurprising given that Turkey's ruling AKP party is itself an Islamist party.The argument is that by providing an alternative source of direct military support western powers can redirect the rebel movement in a more "moderate" direction.
However, supporters of an embargo maintain that whatever the reasons for the proliferation of extremist groups on the ground, it is impossible to control the flow of weaponry to ensure it makes it into "the right hands". Injecting more weapons into the field is therefore a dangerous gamble to take in an increasingly sectarian conflict which has already killed more than 80,000 people.The humanitarian charity Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if the embargo ends, whilst others have cautioned that such a move could jeopardize a proposed "peace initiative" in Geneva next month.
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)
Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported
By Erika Solomon | Reuters – 1 hr 48 mins ago MAY 27,13
By Erika Solomon
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged around the strategic Syrian border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus on Monday and further reports surfaced of chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on rebel areas.The Syrian military pounded eastern suburbs of Damascus with air
strikes and artillery and loud explosions echoed around al-Nabak, 80 km
(50 miles) north of the capital, where fighting has cut the highway
running north to the central city of Homs, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said.Syrian government offensives
in recent weeks are widely seen as a campaign to strengthen Assad's
negotiating position before a proposed international peace conference
sponsored by the United States and Russia.Opposition activists said Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah
fighters were pressing a sustained assault on Qusair, a town long used
by insurgents as a way station for arms and other supplies from Lebanon.For Assad, Qusair is a crucial link between Damascus and loyalist
strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Recapturing the town, in central
Homs province, could also sever connections between rebel-held areas in
the north and south of Syria.Hezbollah's deepening involvement in Qusair has raised fears of
renewed civil war in neighboring Lebanon, where two rockets hit the
Shi'ite Muslim movement's stronghold in south Beirut on Sunday and one
was fired from south Lebanon towards Israel.The rockets struck hours after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised that his anti-Israel guerrillas, fighting alongside Assad's forces, would win whatever the cost.A Lebanese security source said another 107mm rocket, which did not go off, had been aimed at Beirut airport. The launch sites were near Aitat, in the hills just south of the capital.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced "deep concern" overnight at Hezbollah's admitted combat role and the risk that the Syrian conflict will spill into Lebanon and other neighboring states.Ban urged all concerned "immediately to cease supporting the violence inside Syria and instead to use their influence to promote a political solution to Syria's tragedy".
"CHEMICAL ATTACK" AFFECTS DOZENS
The diplomacy so far appears only to have intensified the violence, especially around Qusair and Damascus.
In Harasta, an eastern Damascus suburb largely under rebel control, dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent overnight chemical attack, according to opposition sources. Video showed victims lying on the floor of a large room, breathing from oxygen masks.The sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.The newspaper said one of its photographers had suffered blurred vision and respiratory difficulties for four days after an attack on April 13 on the Jobar front, in central Damascus.Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.
It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat "dozens of wounded".Syria, which is not a member of the anti-chemical weapons convention, is believed to have one of the world's last remaining stockpiles of undeclared chemical arms.As Washington and Moscow seek to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss calls from Britain and France to ease an EU embargo on arming Syrian rebels.All EU sanctions on Syria could collapse unless the 27-nation bloc agrees on the fate of the arms embargo before it expires on June 1, but several EU members oppose any change.British Foreign Secretary William Hague signaled that Britain was prepared to see EU sanctions fall apart rather than retreat from his demand to give more support to rebels. If the EU could not agree, then "each country will have to ensure it has its own sanctions," Hague declared.Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger, whose country provides U.N. observers posted between Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan Heights, opposed any arming of rebels, saying the EU should remain a "peace community".
OPPOSITION DISARRAY
The U.S.-Russian initiative provides the first slim hope in almost a year for a diplomatic end to a conflict that has cost more than 80,000 lives and caused a refugee exodus that the U.N. refugee agency expects to top 3.5 million by the end of 2013.China, which along with Russia, has three times blocked U.N. Security Council action on Syria, said on Monday it would join the proposed peace conference. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would make efforts with all concerned to "push for an early, just, peaceful and appropriate settlement of the Syrian issue".Damascus has indicated it will take part in the talks, but the fractured opposition, which has previously required Assad's exit to be guaranteed before any negotiations, has yet to lay out its position and remains mired in internal quarrels.The opposition crisis deepened on Monday when liberals were offered only token representation, undermining international efforts to lend the Islamist-dominated alliance greater support.To the dismay of envoys of Western and Arab nations monitoring four days of opposition talks in Istanbul, the 60-member Syrian National Coalition thwarted a deal to admit a liberal bloc headed by opposition campaigner Michel Kilo.The failure to broaden the coalition, in which a Qatari-backed bloc influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood is prominent, could sap Saudi support for the revolt.The coalition's Western backers had wanted more seats for liberals, an idea backed by Saudi Arabia, which had been uneasy about Qatar's rising influence, coalition insiders said.France again urged the Syrian opposition to restructure and to clarify its position on the Geneva talks. "We repeat our desire to see the leadership structure of this National Syrian Coalition broadened," the French Foreign Ministry said.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were due to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the conference they want to hold in Geneva in June.In Geneva, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay appealed for international action to halt the killing and urged the U.N. Security Council to ensure war criminals in Syria faced justice."Confronted with the flagrant disregard of international law and human life on every side, I feel utter dismay," she said, as she reeled off the latest atrocities reported to her office.(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Brian Love in Paris, Costas Pitas in London, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Adrian Croft in Brussels and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Military exemptions threaten Israeli coalition
– 1 hr 4 mins ago MAY 27,13
JERUSALEM (AP) — The leader of Israel's second largest party says Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition could collapse if it fails to reform the military draft and end a system of exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.Finance Minister Yair Lapid spoke Monday after a committee meeting tasked with changing the rules ended without results.Military service is compulsory in Israel, but thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews
get exemptions each year to pursue religious studies. The
ultra-Orthodox insist military service would compromise their strict
religious lifestyle, while Israelis who serve in the military say the
system is unfair.Lapid's party surged in January's parliamentary election by vowing to
make the ultra-Orthodox "share the burden" of military service.Lapid warned Monday, "There will be an equal sharing of the burden, or this government will fall apart."
Israel's New Neighbor: Syrian Al-Qaeda Rebel Group
Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, closely identified with Al Qaeda, has "moved in" next to the border with Israel
Al Qaeda in Syria-Screen shot
In recent months, there has been a shakeout among the various Syrian
rebel groups, and one of the dominant ones that has emerged is Jabhat
al-Nusra – closely identified with Al Qaeda. The Sunni Islamist group is
seeking to take over as much of Syria as possible and place it under
Sharia Islamic law.Now, the group has taken up positions
close to Syria's border with Israel, adjacent to the Syrian side of the
Golan Heights. In a video released on Youtube, the group's soldiers are seen conducting training exercises
in the Dar'a area of southern Syria, right next to the Heights. In the
exercise, the soldiers are seen attempting to take over a building,
using weapons and bombs. They are also seen singing Arabic songs in
praise of terror, and swearing revenge on the “unbelievers” - the
Alawite group that runs Syria, as well as Shi'ite Muslims who, according
to Sunni views, hold an incorrect interpretation of Islam.The video provides evidence of a
well-trained, motivated fighting force, military experts said. The group
is clearly better equipped and trained than the other rebel groups, the
experts said, and apparently has incorporated a large number of Sunni
Muslim defectors from the Syrian army.While the group says that putting the “Syrian house in order” is its first order of business,
it says that it eventually plans to deal with the “Zionist enemy” and
end the “occupation,” first of the Golan, and then of the “rest of
Palestine.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2sEsCJM1VVQ STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
3 feet of snow in upstate NY on Memorial weekend
– 12 hrs ago MAY 26,13- View PhotoAssociated Press/courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface - This photo provided courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface shows Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway after a heavy snowfall Sunday, May 26, 2013. The late-May storm
WILMINGTON, N.Y. (AP) — A Memorial Day weekend storm has dropped three feet of snow on a New York ski mountain near the Vermont boarder.Whiteface Mountain spokesman Jon Lundin says 36 inches of white powder has blanketed the nearly 5,000-foot tall mountain in the Adirondacks. That has forced the Olympic Regional Development Authority to close Whiteface Veteran's Memorial Highway on the backside of the mountain.Lundin says the snow began lightly falling Saturday and steadily
dropped Sunday, finishing in the evening. He didn't know if the 3-foot
snowfall was a record for Whiteface.Burlington, Vt., National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Muccilli says the mountain experienced steady snow and gusty winds throughout the weekend.He says Mount Mansfield, in Stowe, Vt., had 13.2 inches of snow Sunday, the latest in the season it's ever had a foot.
