DIALOGUE OF FAITH MEETING ENDS

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

Islamic Groups Against Likud’s Temple Mount Plans

Muslim groups upset as Likud MKs plan protest trip to the Temple Mount.

By Maayana Miskin-First Publish: 5/7/2013, 9:47 AM-Israelnationalnews

Temple Mount-Israel news photo: Flash 90

Islamic groups have begun an internet campaign opposing Likud members’ plans to visit the Temple Mount, Temple Mount organizations report.Likud members are planning a joint visit to the holy site in protest of the fact that their fellow Likud MK, Moshe Feiglin, has been barred from visiting.Organizer David Tzviel spoke to Arutz Sheva about the planned protest visit. Feiglin’s ban is not only a personal matter, he explained, but demonstrates that the Israeli government sees the Muslim Waqf as the sole ruling power on the Temple Mount – a situation that he believes must change.An invitation sent by organizers to Likud members read, “46 years after the liberation of Jerusalem, 46 years since the historic shofar blast that made thousands of hearts tremble, and the emotional cry, ‘The Temple Mount is in our hands!’ the Likud-Beytenu movement has decided to end the shameful neglect of Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount, the holiest place on earth to the Jewish people!”Islamic groups have called on supporters to spend all day Tuesday on the Temple Mount in order to prevent the Likud group for touring the area.In light of recent tension as Muslims try to prevent Jews from visiting the holy site, Temple Mount groups are throwing their weight behind a proposal to avoid tension by splitting visiting hours at the site. The proposal would see certain times and places set aside for Jewish prayer, while other times are set aside exclusively for Muslim prayer.

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.

Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

THIS IS REDICULAS.GOD GAVE THE LAND TO ISRAEL.AND GOD WILL KEEP HIS PROMISES TO ISRAEL.NO MATTER WHAT THIS GODLESS CHURCH OF SCOTLAND SAYS.HERES THE REPORT.
http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/14050/Inheritance_of_Abraham_.pdf

'Stunningly Offensive' Church Paper 'Negates Beliefs of Judaism'

ADL denounces “stunningly offensive” paper by Church of Scotland that negates the core beliefs of Judaism.

By Arutz Sheva staff-First Publish: 5/7/2013, 4:26 PM-Israelnationalnews

Torah scroll-Flash90

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has denounced as “stunningly offensive” a paper published by the Church of Scotland that negates the core beliefs of Judaism regarding G-d's promises about the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. “The very premise of the paper reflects a classic rejection of Judaism in the broadest sense,” said the ADL.The church paper, entitled “The Inheritance of Abraham,” which was published online by the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland just days before its May 18 General Assembly, selectively highlights scriptural and theological claims of Jews to the land, and rejects verses in which the land is promised to the children of Abraham. The report's introduction describes it as the council's "latest reflection on the ‘questions that need to be faced,' as the political and humanitarian situation in the Holy Land continues to be a source of pain and concern for us all."Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:“This stunningly offensive paper which attempts to undermine the religious legitimacy of Jewish beliefs is a classic rejection of Judaism,” said ADL National Director Abraham Foxman. “By brazenly dismissing Jewish self-understanding of its own Bible - the Torah, the Church of Scotland has disregarded nearly five decades of progress in Jewish-Christian theological dialogue by promoting religious principles which deny the legitimacy of Judaism and were used for centuries to justify the brutal repression of Jews.”“The paper’s blatant one-sided perspective falsely conflates the political state of Israel and the religious significance of the Land of Israel for both Jews and Christians. The selective citation of Biblical scripture in order to question Israel’s legitimacy is an affront to Jews around the world and to the State of Israel,” he said.“Since the Biblical era, Jews have maintained an unbroken connection to the land of Israel, and in 1948 the Jewish State of Israel’s legitimacy was firmly established under international law. We call on the leadership of the Church of Scotland to respect the religious basis for the relationship between the Jewish people and Israel and to reject this document,” added Foxman.
The report also promotes a gross distortion of the connection between the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel as being based, in part, “…as a compensation for the suffering of the Holocaust.”

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

ISAIAH 14:12-15
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(SATAN HAS PROUD I PROBLEMS)
15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

World Jewish leaders urge Hungary to crack down on Jobbik

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor | Reuters – 39 mins ago MAY 7,13

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The World Jewish Congress urged Hungary on Tuesday to crack down on the far-right Jobbik party and called on governments in Europe to consider banning neo-Nazi parties threatening democracy and minority rights.The WJC plenary assembly, held in the Hungarian capital rather than Jerusalem to highlight rising anti-Semitism in Hungary, passed a resolution saying Budapest must recognize that Jobbik poses "a fundamental threat to Hungary's democracy."Decisive action by all democratic forces against these contemporary expressions of extremism must now be taken," it said, adding a request that Prime Minister Viktor Orban sign an international declaration on combating anti-Semitism.Jobbik, which openly vilifies Hungary's Roma minority and has accused Jews of buying up property to take over Hungary, has been a central issue at the three-day WJC assembly, which brought together Jewish leaders from about 100 countries.Orban addressed the opening session of the assembly on Sunday evening, issuing a strong denunciation of anti-Semitism but avoiding any mention of Jobbik."He missed a golden opportunity," said WJC President Ronald Lauder, who while introducing Orban had specifically asked him to denounce the populist party.Jobbik, which won 17 percent of the vote in the 2010 election and has 43 of the 368 seats in parliament, held an "anti-Zionist and anti-Bolshevik" rally in Budapest to protest against the WJC meeting being held in the Hungarian capital.Orban's Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority in parliament, but has lost ground in opinion polls since it took power in 2010. It still has a strong opinion poll lead over opposition parties however and has a good chance of winning year's election.Support for Jobbik meanwhile has hovered around 10 percent this year, but around half of Hungarian voters are undecided.
GREECE AND GERMANY
Robin Shepherd, author of a study for the WJC on neo-Nazi parties in Europe, told the assembly Fidesz was not anti-Semitic but it competed with Jobbik for votes among nationalists frustrated by the economy crisis and resentful of foreign influence in Hungary."If Orban goes too hard against Jobbik, he's worried he won't be able to scoop up Jobbik's voters," he said.The assembly also debated the rise of far-right parties such as Golden Dawn in Greece, which came from nowhere to win about seven percent in elections there last year amid a deep economic crisis.Shepherd said support for Golden Dawn had risen in opinion polls since the election and the Athens government was so concerned about the country's economic crisis that it did not immediately respond to the challenge it presented.David Saltiel, leader of the Greek Jewish community, agreed and told the assembly: "Our country was caught by surprise."But Saltiel said the government, after lobbying by the WJC, had assured him it would soon pass a tough hate speech law that would outlaw incitement against people because of their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, and impose up to six years in prison on offenders.Parliamentary deputies would not be excluded, he said, and parties that receive public funding would see it suspended if their leaders publicly deny the Holocaust - which Golden Dawn leaders have done in the past."We think with this law, (Golden Dawn) will be brought back to the small numbers it had before," he said.The resolution also urged Germany and other countries with neo-Nazi parties to consider banning them.German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided not to seek a ban on the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) because it is not clear whether such a ban would be constitutional.But the Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament that represents the 16 federal states, has begun its own effort to ban the party, he said.(Reporting By Tom Heneghan)

05/ 6/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

Pope Francis is attached to traditional devotions and is not afraid to show it

The Pope in the Basilica of St. Mary Major

He has already been to pray before the icon of the Salus Poluli Romani twice and is also deeply devoted to St, Joseph and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

ANDREA TORNIELLI vatican city
It is an aspect of Francis’ papacy that is little talked about - possibly because it does not fit the “progressivist” stereotype - and yet it is deeply ingrained within the fabric of popular piety which the Latin American Church sees as key to spreading the faith. In less than two months Bergoglio has visited the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, twice. Once straight after his election, to ask the Virgin Mary to protect the diocese of Rome and again on 4 May, the first Saturday of the month dedicated to Mary, to recite the Rosary. “The “Salus Populi Romani” is the mother that looks after our growth, she helps us face and overcome problems, she gives us freedom,” the Pope said. So Francis is a pope who is deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary and is not afraid to show his attachment to forms of devotion which post-Conciliar theology saw as dated. One image of the Virgin Mary which Bergoglio helped to spread devotion for in Argentina, was that of “Our Lady, Untier of Knots”. This tradition originates from a Bavarian devotional image (Maria Knotenlöserin) created by German painter, Johann Melchior Schmidtner, in 1700. The icon is now preserved as an altar piece in a chapel inside the Romanesque church of St. Peter am Perlach, in the Bavarian city of Augsburg. In an article for Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire, Stefania Falasca wrote that Bergoglio discovered the icon during one of his study trips to Ingolstadt and started spreading the word about it when he returned to Argentina. As auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, he dedicated a shrine to the icon and as archbishop he inaugurated a number chapels named after the Virgin Mary depicted in the icon. He even printed the image on his personal “business card” which he always included in correspondence. The image is of Mary looking determined to untie a number of big and small knots in a ribbon that is being handed to her by some angels. “All of us have knots in our hearts, failings and all of us go through difficult times. Our good Lord, who bestows grace on all His children, wants us to have faith in Her; he wants us to entrust the knots of our woes to her, the knots of our miseries that prevent us from reaching God, so that She can untie them and bring us closer to His son Jesus. This is the meaning of the icon.”On the back of the image of the Virgin Mary which Bergoglio used to send out with his correspondence, there is a prayer that reads: “May evil never ensnare you in its chaotic web… May you act as an example of how to unravel the knots in our lives and help us through difficult time with simplicity and patience, through the intercession of Your Son.” Francis has also shown deep devotion to St. Joseph, the protector of Jesus’ childhood. He began his pontificate invoking the saint’s protection, in the inaugural mass on 19 March, the feast day of Mary’s husband. Another saint the Pope has a special relationship with, is Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, patron saint of missions. Bergoglio was particularly keen to spread devotion for this saint in Argentina’s slums, the villas miserias.Traditional popular piety has kept so many people flocking to shrines even through the current crisis and the secularisation of our times. It is therefore an important part of the new evangelisation; it is the expression of the people’s faith. It is the faith of the simple that the Magisterium must protect fulfilling its “democratic” duty to give a voice to those who do not have one.

05/ 4/2013 VATICAN INSIDER

CCEE concludes London meeting on dialogue and faith

[Translate to English:] vescovi

The Council of Bishops' Conferences of Europe has published its final document at the end of the third meeting between bishops and delegates for Christian – Muslim relations in Europe

vatican insider staff Rome All testimonies of faith imply engaging in dialogue with everybody. In contemporary Europe - whether East or West, North or South – dialogue between Christians and Muslims has become a mandatory necessity. And this can only be achieved through deeper mutual knowledge. Only through contact and dialogue will it be possible to approach Muslim believers within genuine and unbiased relations. In secularized and pluralistic societies, the challenge of educating people to open up to diversity must be integrated with a deepening of our faith and identity. At the same time, pluralistic societies can only exist if people respect and are looking forward to knowing each other, through constant dialogue. These are just some of the thoughts that were shared by bishops and Bishops Conferences’ delegates for Christian-Muslim relations, who gathered in London for a three-day working meeting.Dialogue and proclamation and the question of building Christian and Muslim youths’ identity were the two main themes that were discussed during the meeting, chaired by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux. The meeting was attended by bishops and delegates for Christian-Muslim relations from 20 European Bishops’ Conferences, as well as delegates from cultural and Church institutions.Father Andrea Pacini, CCEE Meeting Coordinator and Secretary for ecumenism and interreligious dialogue of the regional Bishops’ Conference of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, discussed the relationship between dialogue and proclamation, showing how living testimony is the best synthesis and response regarding both pastoral needs. The reflection on identity building for young Christians and Muslim was illustrated, instead, by Prof. Brigitte Maréchal, from the University of Louvain, and Dr. Erwin Tanner, Secretary General of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference.The President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, and the President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Mons. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, were also in attendance.Baroness Sayeeda Hussain Warsi’s cordial visit - Minister for Faith and Communities and Senior Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office - was particularly appreciated. The visit took place in an informal and friendly ambience, and also testified to the British Government’s commitment in favor of the various religious communities.During their three-day London meeting, participants addressed the plight of young Christians living as minorities: they discussed the situation in their respective countries, and the difficulties young Christians go through, which might possibily lead to their conversion to Islam. The issue of young Christians’ lesser engagement in their faith – compared to their Muslim peers – was also explored, as well as the initiatives the Church  is currently introducing in Europe in order to be present among young people in new and different ways.During the meeting, delegates from Albania, France, Germany and England reported on their countries’ situation. 

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:(CONFISCATED) 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 TUE MAY 07,2013

04:00 PM +87.31 15,056.20

S&P 500 1625.96 +8.46

NASDAQ 3396.63 +3.66

GOLD 1,450.90 -17.10

OIL 95.44 -0.44

TSE 300 12,463.18 +9.26

CDNX 960.52 -6.86

S&P/TSX/60 713.70 +1.96

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)

Palestinian group says Syria OKs attacks on Israel

By ALBERT AJI | Associated Press – 1 hr 15 mins ago MAY 7,13

BEIRUT (AP) — President Bashar Assad's regime has given a Palestinian militant group the go-ahead to set up missiles to attack Israel in the wake of recent Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital, a spokesman for the group said Tuesday.Syria has hinted at possible retribution against Israel since the Jewish state carried out the airstrikes over the weekend, although official government statements have been relatively mild. In that light, the Assad regime's decision to allow a minor Syria-based Palestinian group to prepare for attacks is largely seen as a face-saving gesture unlikely to escalate the confrontation with Israel."Syria has given the green light to set up missile batteries to directly attack Israeli targets," Anwar Raja of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command told The Associated Press.He said authorities also told the PFLP-GC that the group could carry out attacks independently without consulting Syrian authorities.

"Practically, the Syrian stand has always been supportive of the Palestinian resistance and Syria provides the Palestinian resistance with all capabilities including all kinds of weapons," Raja said.When the revolt against Assad's rule began in March 2011, the half-million-strong Palestinian community in Syria largely stayed on the sidelines. But as the uprising shifted into a civil war, many Palestinians backed the rebels, while some groups have been fighting on the government side.Those include the PFLP-GC, a small Damascus-based Palestinian militant faction that the U.S has designated a terrorist organization.In the 1960s through 1980s, PFLP-GC militants hijacked an Israeli airliner, machine-gunned another at Zurich's airport, and blew up a Tel Aviv-bound Swissair plane, killing all 47 aboard. In 1987, a PFLP-GC guerrilla flew from Lebanon into Israel on a hang-glider and killed six soldiers before being shot dead.While the group earned notoriety for its past attacks on Israel, it has been eclipsed in the past 20 years by the other Islamic militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.Israel's government has not formally confirmed involvement in the strikes on Syria. However, Israeli officials have said the attacks were meant to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, an ally of Syria and foe of Israel.The airstrikes raised the possibility of a wider regional conflict with Syria, which is already engulfed in a civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people, as its focal point.Iran, a close ally of the Assad regime, has condemned the Israeli attacks and warned of possible retaliation.But on Tuesday, Iran's foreign minister said it is Syria's Arab neighbors — not Tehran — who should respond to the Israeli strikes.Speaking to reporters in Amman, Jordan, Ali Akbar Salehi said Arab nations "must stand by their brethren in Damascus."The Israeli strikes were met with condemnation from Arab nations, even those who oppose Assad and support the rebellion against him, but the protests stopped there.Iran is deeply concerned with the fate of the Assad regime, which has allowed Syrian territory to serve as a conduit for Iranian weapons and other support to reach their proxy, Hezbollah. Tehran has supplied cash and weapons to help the Syrian government in its efforts to crush the anti-Assad revolt.Salehi warned of the possible repercussions if the government in Damascus was to fall."The fallout from a vacuum in Syria will have adverse effects on its neighbors and the whole region," he said. "There will be serious repercussions from a vacuum. It will be grave and nobody can predict the results."___Associated Press writer Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

US to arm Syrian rebels: Putin’s rebuke, Chinese “peace plan” mar Netanyahu’s Chinese trip

DEBKAfile Special Report May 7, 2013, 2:19 PM (IDT)

Negative diplomatic ricochets are pursuing Israel in the aftermath of its air force attacks on Syria. In the first place, they are seen to have had no effect on Hizballah’s successful military intervention on the side of the Assad regime or the Syrian war at large. In the second, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by President Vladimir Putin Monday, May 6, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond.Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria.
debkafile’s military sources disclose that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers. In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader made no bones about his determination not to permit the US, Israel or any other regional force (e.g. Turkey and Qatar) overthrow President Bashar Assad. He advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind. Our sources add: Since Syrian air defense teams have already trained in Russia on the handling of the S-300 interceptor batteries, they can go into service as soon as they are landed by one of Russia’s daily airlifts to Syria. Russian air defense officials will supervise their deployment and prepare them for operation. Moscow is retaliating not just for Israel’s air operations against Syria but in anticipation of the Obama administration’s impending decision to send the first US arms shipments to the Syrian rebels.
Intelligence agencies in Moscow and the Middle East take it for granted that by the time Washington goes public on this decision, some of the Syrian rebel factions will already be armed with American weapons.
That the measure was in the works was signified by the introduction Monday by Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of legislation allowing the US to provide arms and military training to the Syrian rebels,US military instructors have been working with Syrian rebels at training camps in Jordan and Turkey for some months. So putting the arms in their hands only awaited a decision in Washington.Putin’s message to Netanyahu was intended to reach a wider audience than Jerusalem, such as Barack Obama in Washington and President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of Netanyahu’s talks there Tuesday.
Therefore, when US Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Moscow that day, in an attempt “bridge the divide” between their governments on the Syria conflict, he was preceded by a barrage of Russian condemnation of the Israeli air strikes in Damascus “as a threat to regional stability,” a stiff warning from the Russian foreign ministry to the “West” to stop “politicizing the issue of chemical weapons in Syria,” and Moscow’s “concern that world public opinion was being prepared for possible foreign military intervention.”
In other words, the Russian leader rejected in advance and with both hands any attempt by the US to use the Israeli air strikes as leverage for a deal with Moscow for ending the Syrian war. US weapons supplies to the rebels would furthermore be matched by stepped-up arms supplies to the Assad regime, which Putin is totally committed to preserving. Kerry planned back-to-back meetings Tuesday with Russian officials focusing mainly on Syria but also covering the Russian angle on the Boston bombings, and hoped-for cooperation on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues. The Chinese government’s cold shoulder to Israel was exhibited less directly that Moscow’s but no less firmly.  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was invited to visit Beijing and meet President Xi two days before the prime arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday to begin the official part of his visit. The Chinese president unveiled his peace plan before meeting the Israeli prime minister.This plan emphasizes, as the key to a settlement, the Palestinian right to a state on the basis of 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital. It also adopts Abbas’s preconditions for talks, including a stop to settlement activities, an end of the Gaza blockade and “proper handling” of the Palestinian prisoners issue.Clearly, Prime Minister Netanyahu would have been wiser to postpone his Chinese visit instead of taking off while Israeli air force blasts will still reverberating in Damascus. By staying at home, he would have displayed a firmer and steadier hand at the helm.And after taking off, he would have done well not to linger for two days in Shanghai first. This gave the Russian leader the chance to catch him wrong-footed and administer a strong, publicized rebuke, so bearing down on the agenda of Netanyahu’s forthcoming talks with Chinese leaders.

Israel says 'no winds of war' despite Syria air strikes

By Dan Williams and Khaled Yacoub Oweis | Reuters – 18 mins ago MAY 7,13

By Dan Williams and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

JERUSALEM/AMMAN (Reuters) - Israel played down weekend air strikes reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers close to Damascus, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbor's civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants.Oil prices spiked above $105 a barrel, their highest in nearly a month, on Monday as the air strikes on Friday and Sunday prompted fears of a wider spillover of the two-year old conflict in Syria that could affect Middle East oil exports."There are no winds of war," Yair Golan, the general commanding Israeli forces on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts, told reporters while out jogging with troops."Do you see tension? There is no tension. Do I look tense to you?" he said, according to the Maariv NRG news website.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came under veiled criticism in Beijing, where he began a scheduled visit in an apparent sign of confidence Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not retaliate. China urged restraint without mentioning Israel by name.
Russia, Assad's other protector on the U.N. Security Council, said the strikes by Israel "caused particular alarm". President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet on Tuesday to try to tackle differences over the Syrian crisis.Israeli officials said the raids were not connected with Syria's civil war but aimed at stopping Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, acquiring weapons to strike Israeli territory.Israel aimed to avoid "an increase in tension with Syria by making clear that if there is activity, it is only against Hezbollah, not against the Syrian regime" Veteran lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidant of Netanyahu, told Israel Radio.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group based in Britain, said at least 42 Syrian soldiers were killed in the strikes and 100 others were missing.Other opposition sources put the death toll at 300 soldiers, mostly belonging to the elite Republican Guards, a praetorian unit that forms the last line of defense of Damascus and is comprised mainly of members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has controlled Syria since the 1960s.As well as the heavily-fortified Hamah compound, linked to Syria's chemical and biological weapons program, the warplanes hit military facilities manned by Republican Guards on Qasioun Mountain overlooking Damascus and the nearby Barada River basin.Residents, activists and rebel sources said the area is a supply route to the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, but missiles for Hezbollah did not appear to be the only target.Air defenses comprising Russian made surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns on Qasioun and overlooking the rebellious Damascus district of Barzeh were also hit, they said. Their statements could not be verified due to restrictions on media."The destruction appeared to be massive," said one activist in Damascus, who did not want to be identified.Russia said it was concerned the chances of foreign military intervention in Syria were growing, suggesting its worry stemmed in part from reports about the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict that has killed 70,000 people."The further escalation of armed confrontation sharply increases the risk of creating new areas of tension, in addition to Syria, in Lebanon, and the destabilization of the so-far relatively calm atmosphere on the Lebanese-Israeli border," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.Assad's government accused Israel of effectively helping al Qaeda Islamist "terrorists" and said the strikes "open the door to all possibilities". It said many civilians had died but there was no official casualty toll.
CALCULATING
Israeli officials said that, as after a similar attack in the same area in January, they were calculating Assad would not fight a well-armed neighbor while preoccupied with survival against a revolt that grew from pro-democracy protests in 2011.Israel has not confirmed the latest attacks officially, but has reinforced anti-missile batteries in the north. It said two rockets landed, by mistake, on Monday, in the Golan Heights, the Israeli-occupied area near Syria's border with Israel."They were fired erroneously as a byproduct of internal conflict in Syria," an Israeli military spokesman said.Syria would be no match for Israel in any direct military showdown. But Damascus, with its leverage over Lebanon's Hezbollah, could consider proxy attacks through Lebanon.Tehran, which has long backed Assad, whose Alawite minority has religious ties to Iran's Shi'ite Islam, denied Israel's attack was on arms for Hezbollah. Hezbollah did not comment.Moscow and Beijing have blocked Western-backed measures against Assad at the United Nations Security Council, opposing any proposal that has his exit from power as a starting point.Allegations of the use of chemical weapons - long described by Western leaders as a "red line" that would have serious consequences - have added to regional and international tension.After months of increasingly bitter fighting, Assad's government and the rebels have each accused the other of carrying out three chemical weapon attacks.Syria is not part of the international treaty that bans poison gas but has said it would never use it in an internal conflict. Rebels say they have no access to chemical arms.The White House has said the Syrian government has probably used chemical weapons. A U.S. official said on Monday Washington had no information to suggest that rebels had used them.A U.N. inquiry commission said on Monday war crimes investigators had reached no conclusions on whether any side in the Syrian war has used chemical weapons, after a suggestion from one of the team that rebel forces had done so.(Additional reporting by Alexei Anishchuk in Moscow, Michael Martina in Beijing, Marwan Makdesi in Damascus and Jonathon Burch in Ankara; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Peter Graff) 

Egypt's Mursi brings more Islamists into cabinet

By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh | Reuters – 2 hrs 1 min ago MAY 7,13

By Tom Perry and Yasmine Saleh

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi increased the influence of his Muslim Brotherhood over government in a cabinet reshuffle that replaced two ministers involved in crucial talks with the IMF over a $4.8 billion loan.The changes fell well short of the opposition's demand for a complete overhaul of Prime Minister Hisham Kandil's administration and the installation of a neutral cabinet to oversee parliamentary elections later this year.It looked unlikely to help build the political consensus the International Monetary Fund is seeking for reforms needed to secure a loan seen as vital to easing Egypt's deep economic crisis - an unaffordable budget deficit and a plunge in the value of its currency. The government is struggling to seal a deal that would require it to implement austerity measures.Kandil, a technocrat appointed premier last year, named nine new ministers. They included Amr Darrag, a senior official in the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, as planning minister. The outgoing minister, Ashraf al-Arabi, had played a central role in the IMF talks.Another Brotherhood member, Yehya Hamed, was named investment minister, and Ahmed el-Gezawi, an FJP member, took over agriculture, lifting the movement's share to around a third of the cabinet's 35 portfolios.Fayyad Abdel Moneim, a specialist in Islamic economics, was appointed as finance minister, replacing Al-Mursi Al-Sayed Hegazy, another expert on Islamic finance who was appointed in January - the last time Kandil reshuffled the cabinet."The reshuffle is unlikely to signal any real shift in policy, particularly from an economic perspective," Said Hirsh, a London-based economist, said."If anything it deals a blow to demands for political consensus which the government seems to have ignored."The changes underscored the polarized state of an Egyptian political scene split between Mursi and his Islamist allies and opposition parties that accuse him and the Brotherhood of trying to dominate the post-Hosni Mubarak order.

Mursi announced on April 20 he would carry out the reshuffle to replace a government widely criticized for failing to get the economy moving nine months into his presidency.The United States, which gives Egypt $1.3 billion in military aid each year, has grown more critical of Mursi of late, listing a lack of political inclusivity as a concern.
"COSMETIC CHANGE"
Essam el-Erian, deputy head of the Freedom and Justice Party, told Al Jazeera's Egyptian news channel the aim of the reshuffle was to "confront the economic crisis and to conclude the agreement with the IMF with new spirit and a new vision, and to confront the energy crises", a reference to fuel shortages.The National Salvation Front (NSF), a loose alliance of opposition parties, wants Mursi to install a neutral government and replace the public prosecutor before elections that are expected to get under way in October."The changes will only deepen the political crisis and state of polarization and block the way to any possible real national dialogue," said Hussein Abdel Ghani, an NSF member.Yasser El-Shimy, Egypt analyst with the International Crisis Group, said: "They might be getting people who will do a better job but it does not address the political crisis in any meaningful way, and I'm not sure it's meant to."They have absolutely no doubt that they will be able to ride this wave of instability," he said.The reshuffle left the ministers of interior, defense and foreign affairs unchanged.Ahmed Suleiman was named as justice minister, replacing Ahmed Mekky, who resigned last month in protest at efforts by Mursi's Islamist allies to purge the judiciary. A former assistant to Mekky, Suleiman has been critical of some of Mursi's toughest opponents in the judiciary.Sherif Haddara, chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, was named as minister of petroleum, responsible for meeting the fuel needs of the cash-strapped state as summer approaches. The state, which subsidizes diesel, cooking gas and other fuels, has been struggling to finance energy imports.(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Patrick Werr; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Bangladesh garment accident death toll passes 700

By JULHAS ALAM | Associated Press – 6 hrs ago MAY 7,13

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of survivors of last month's collapse of a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh protested for compensation Tuesday, as the death toll from the country's worst-ever industrial disaster passed 700.The police control room overseeing the recovery operation said the death toll stood at 705 on Tuesday afternoon as workers pulled more bodies out of the wreckage of the eight-story building that was packed with workers at five garment factories when it collapsed on April 24. The factories were making clothing bound for major retailers around the world.The disaster is the worst ever in the garment sector, surpassing the 1911 garment disaster in New York's Triangle Shirtwaist factory, which killed 146 workers, and more recent tragedies such as a 2012 fire that killed about 260 people in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh that killed 112, also in 2012. It is also one of the deadliest industrial accidents ever.
No one knows what the final toll will be, as the exact number of people inside Rana Plaza at the time of the collapse was unknown. More than 2,500 people were rescued alive.Hundreds of garment workers who survived the disaster blocked a major highway near the accident site in a Dhaka suburb on Tuesday to demand the payment of wages and other benefits. No violence was reported, although traffic was disrupted for hours.Local government administrator Yousuf Harun said they are working with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to ensure the workers get paid.The workers, many who made little more than the national minimum wage of about $38 per month, are demanding at least four months in salary. The workers had set Tuesday as the deadline for the payment of wages and other benefits.Harun said no salary remained unpaid except for the month of April and there was an agreement for the workers to receive an additional three months of pay. After a team from the BGMEA arrived at the protest and pledged to make the payment later Tuesday, the workers left the highway, Harun said.The BGMEA had said Monday that it was preparing a "complete list" of the workers employed in the factories and they would need a few more days to finish it and to clear the salary.Bangladesh earns nearly $20 billion a year from exports of the garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe.Authorities have not set any specific timeframe to complete the recovery operation at the building site, saying they will continue until all bodies and debris are removed.Officials say the building's owner illegally added three floors to Rana Plaza and allowed the garment factories to install heavy machines and generators.

CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up,(AT THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY) that the way of the kings(CHINA,NORTH-SOUTH KOREA, 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)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(4 WINDS OF THE WORLD-WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(COULD ALSO MEAN THE 4 CORNERS OF THE EARTH OR WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

NKorea issues warning ahead of US-SKorea summit

By SAM KIM | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago MAY 7,13

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday threatened the United States and South Korea over joint naval drills taking place this week in tense Yellow Sea waters ahead of a Washington summit by the allies' leaders.In a highly conditional warning, the section of the Korean People's Army responsible for operations in North Korea's southwest said it will hit back if any shells fall in its territory during the drills, which began Monday and will end Friday. Should the allies respond to that, the statement said, Pyongyang's military would then strike five South Korean islands that stand along the aquatic frontline between the countries.The area includes waters that are claimed by both countries, and is the most likely scene of any future clash between the rival Koreas. North Korea disputes a boundary unilaterally drawn close to its shores by the U.S.-led U.N. Command after the war, and has had three bloody naval clashes with the South since 1999.Highly critical language is standard from North Korea during what the allies call routine military drills that they stage over the course of a year. Tuesday's statement was softer than the bellicose rhetoric Pyongyang unleashed with regularity during two months of larger-scale joint military drills by the allies that ended one week ago. That included threats of nuclear and missile strikes on Washington and Seoul.Still, this new warning comes at a time of tentative diplomatic maneuvering on the divided Korean Peninsula, which is still technically in a state of war, as the three-year Korean War ended 60 years ago in an armistice, not a peace treaty.The threat also came hours ahead of a summit by U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye. They hope to present a strong front against North Korea during their meeting Tuesday at the White House, but also want to leave the door open to talks with Pyongyang.
There are concerns that any skirmish or shelling between the Koreas could escalate into war. Two attacks blamed on Pyongyang in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans, and Park has repeatedly said Seoul would respond aggressively to another attack from the North.If Pyongyang conducts an attack similar to the 2010 shelling of an island that killed four South Koreans, "We will make them pay," Park told CBS in an interview aired Monday.Inter-Korean relations are particularly strained amid North Korean anger over U.S.-South Korean military drills and U.N. sanctions in March that sought to punish the North over its February nuclear test, the country's third.Last week, South Korea pulled out its last remaining citizens from a joint factory park in North Korea after Pyongyang withdrew all of its 53,000 workers earlier. The park is the last symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement and an important source of hard currency.North Korea suffered another financial blow Tuesday when one of China's biggest banks said it has halted business with a North Korean bank accused by the U.S. of financing Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs in the latest sign of Beijing's anger with its estranged ally.The state-run Bank of China Ltd. has notified the Foreign Trade Bank of North Korea that its account or accounts were being closed and all financial transactions suspended, said a bank spokeswoman, reading a brief statement. She did not provide further details.The move comes after the Chinese leadership has shown growing frustration with North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un and the nuclear and missile tests his government has conducted, aggravating regional tensions. China is North Korea's economic lifeline, providing nearly all of its fuel and most of its trade.Despite the allies' claims that the military drills are routine, Pyongyang calls them invasion preparation and is especially sensitive to the inclusion of any U.S. nuclear-capable assets. Washington in March responded to rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula by making the unusual announcements that it had sent nuclear capable B-52 and B-2 bombers to participate in the drills, prompting a harsh North Korean rhetorical response.Nuclear-powered U.S. carriers routinely come to South Korea around this time of year as part of drills aimed at enhancing naval cooperation, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said Monday in a briefing. But Seoul wouldn't discuss whether any U.S. nuclear capable assets were participating in this week's drills, and U.S. military officials declined to comment on operations.On Tuesday, Kim denied North Korea's claim that South Korea's military this week conducted live-fire artillery drills near the disputed Yellow Sea waters.
Kim also said the South Korean military is keeping an eye on any movements of a North Korean mid-range missile on the east coast that's capable of potentially hitting Guam. South Korean officials said last month that the North was prepared to test the missile at any time.Kim said Seoul would confirm if North Korea completely withdraws the missile, which officials earlier said the North seemed poised to test. He said he couldn't share any other details.

THIS IS JUST AN INCREDIBLE MIRACLE HOW GOD HELPED THESE 3 CAPTURED GIRLS SURVIVE FOR AT LEAST 9 YEARS.

Ohio women rescued decade after vanishing, three men arrested

By Kim Palmer | Reuters – 50 mins ago MAY 7,13

 

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Three women who vanished as teenagers about a decade ago were discovered alive in a house in Cleveland, and the home's owner and his two brothers were arrested, police said on Tuesday.Authorities were alerted to their whereabouts on Monday evening by a frantic emergency call from one of them, Amanda Berry, moments after she was freed from the house by a neighbor who said he heard screaming and came to her aid."Help me! I'm Amanda Berry. ... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here. I'm free now," Berry, now 27, can be heard telling a 911 operator in a recording of the call released by police.Police descended upon the house within minutes to find Berry along with Gina DeJesus, who vanished in 2004, and Michelle Knight, who went missing in 2002 at age 20 and is now 32, police said at a news conference on Tuesday.They also discovered a 6-year-old girl believed to be Berry's daughter, police said.Berry had last been seen leaving her job at a fast-food restaurant the day before her 17th birthday in April 2003, and DeJesus, now 23, was last seen walking home from school.The three women were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center, where they were reunited with family and friends, and released on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said.The owner of the house, Ariel Castro, 52, a school bus driver was arrested, as were his brothers Pedro, 54, and another brother, Onil, age 50, police said."We believe we have the people responsible," Cleveland Deputy Police Chief Ed Tomba said at the news conference.

The house is close to where each woman was last seen, and police believe they were in the home for the entire time they were missing."The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance," said FBI Special Agent Steve Anthony."Yes, law enforcement professionals do cry," he said.The neighbor told police he helped Berry kick out the bottom of a screen door that was locked."The real hero is Amanda," Tomba said.FBI and other law enforcement were searching the house, police said. Tomba said police were also interested in investigating other properties.

During her 911 call, Berry gave the name of a man she said had abducted her. She said he had left the house and urged police to come quickly. She indicated that she knew her disappearance had been widely reported in the media.All three women were from the west-side section of Cleveland where they ultimately resurfaced.

There was no word on the fate of a fourth missing girl, Ashley Summers, who disappeared from the same vicinity in July of 2007 aged 14 and who police investigated as possibly linked to the Berry and DeJesus cases, according to the Charley Project website, which documents more than 9,000 missing-persons cases.
MOTHER KEPT SEARCHING
The disappearance of Knight did not attract the local media attention of the suspected abductions of Berry and DeJesus. Her grandmother, Deborah Knight, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper that some family members had concluded, based in part on suggestions by police and social workers at the time, that she had run away.But her mother Barbara Knight, who now lives in Florida, told the newspaper she never believed her daughter would have vanished without a trace on her own and that she kept searching long after police gave up looking for her.A woman who lived on the same street but asked not to be identified said Castro lived alone in the house. She said he drove her two daughters to school and would drop them off in front of her house."I'm totally in shock. He seems like a normal guy. He was a gentleman. We all call him Mr. C," she said.A man who helped to look for DeJesus, Pastor Angel Arroyo, said he and her family members had handed out flyers in the neighborhood where she was found."We didn't search hard enough. She was right under our nose the whole time," Arroyo said.A mood of jubilation pervaded the city as word spread that the women had been found alive, especially in the blue-collar, heavily Latino neighborhood where dozens of residents clustered near the house from which they were rescued.A Puerto Rican flag hung from the porch of the modest, two-story dwelling, cordoned off with crime-scene tape.City Councilwoman Dona Brady, a friend of the Berry family, told Reuters that Berry's grief-stricken mother had not survived to see her daughter rescued. "She literally died of a broken heart," Brady said, adding that the mother died aged 47.
A cousin of DeJesus, Sheila Figaro, told CNN that the girl's mother, Nancy, "never gave up faith knowing that her daughter would one day be found." "What a phenomenal Mother's Day gift she gets this Mother's Day," she said.The discovery of the three women was reminiscent of the case of Jaycee Dugard, who was snatched from her northern California home at age 11 by a convicted sex offender, Phillip Garrido, and kept in captivity for 18 years before being rescued in 2009.During that time she was repeatedly raped by her abductor and gave birth to two girls fathered by him.(Writing by Steve Gorman and Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Grant McCool)

They're back: 17-year cicadas to swarm from Georgia to New York

By Zach Howard | Reuters – 23 hrs ago MAY 7,13

By Zach Howard

HAMDEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - Colossal numbers of cicadas, unhurriedly growing underground since 1996, are about to emerge along much of the U.S. East Coast to begin passionately singing and mating as their remarkable life cycle restarts.This year heralds the springtime emergence of billions of so-called 17-year periodical cicadas, with their distinctive black bodies, buggy red eyes, and orange-veined wings, along a roughly 900-mile stretch from northern Georgia to upstate New York.The eerie, cacophonous mating music they produce, along with the unusual synchronous mass emergence and lengthy development cycles, have amazed scientists and lay people alike for centuries.In central Connecticut, particularly dense concentrations of so-called Brood II cicadas, named Magicicada septendecim, should arrive in late May or June, says Chris Maier, entomologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.This will be Maier's third time studying their emergence - he tracked them in 1979 and again in 1996. He said they are next due in 2030, when he will be 81 years old.Maier said the first scientific recording of Brood II specimens was in 1843.The precisely-timed arrival of the 1.5-inch (38-mm) plant-sucking, flying adults takes place after a lengthy period of development underground as juveniles.After maturing, males begin what cicadas may be best known for: their conspicuous acoustic signals, or "songs," to sexually attract females."When there's a lot of them together, it's like this hovering noise. It sounds exactly like flying saucers from a 1950s movie," Chris Simon, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, said on Thursday.
When they suddenly emerge, the cicadas will be visible "on the sides of the trees, on the sides of the house, on the shrubbery - even on the car tires," said Simon.Magicicada population densities - from tens of thousands of cicadas per acre to 1.5 million per acre - are much higher than they are with other cicada species.One theory behind their bizarre but sustainable life cycle is that their emergence produces such overwhelming numbers at once that predators, such as birds, spiders, snakes, and even dogs, can't eat them all.To create their unique choruses, male cicadas use ribbed tymbal membranes on their abdomens to produce sounds, while females - lacking tymbals - click or snap their wings. This clamor is all done by July.
Although boisterous, cicadas do not sting or bite, and they aren't harmful to crops. But they may cause damage to young, small trees or shrubs, if too many feed from the plants or lay eggs in their twigs, according to research published at www.magicicada.org.After mating occurs, females lay their eggs on twigs; the eggs hatch later in the season, and the nymphs drop to the ground and burrow underground to restart the 17-year cycle.Juveniles subsist on xylem, or root fluid, for food. But xylem has poor nutritional value for nymphs, which is one reason scientists theorize that juvenile periodical cicadas develop so slowly.Every 17th year, a few weeks before emerging, the cicadas build exit tunnels to the surface. When the soil temperature exceeds 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 Celsius), nymphs leave their burrows usually after sunset, settle on a nearby tree or shrub, and start their final molt to adulthood.(Editing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)