ISRAEL TO LOSE 15% IN FUTURE DEAL

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

REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a(MEASURING) reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out,(TO THE WORLD NATIONS) and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.(JERUSALEM DIVIDED BUT THE 3RD TEMPLE ALLOWED TO BE REBUILT)

DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Feiglin Declares 'It's Time to Flood the Temple Mount'

Feiglin: If the Right does not fight for the Temple Mount, it will be given over to Islam.

By Maayana Miskin, Chana Ya'ar-First Publish: 8/1/2013, 10:53 AM-israelnationalnews

MK Feiglin-Israel news photo: Flash 90

Israelis who believe the Temple Mount should remain in Israeli hands must take urgent action, Likud MK Moshe Feiglin warned Thursday.
Feiglin, who heads the Jewish Leadership faction of the Likud party, visited the Temple Mount on Thursday despite knowing he would find it locked to Jews, as a display of protest.In an "unprecedented" move, police on Wednesday informed Jewish groups that the Temple Mount will be closed to all non-Muslims until at least the end of Ramadan, on 11th August. The announcement has provoked renewed anger over anti-Jewish discrimination on the Temple Mount, and sparked calls by activists for a mass-protest on 7th August, at the start of the Hebrew month of Elul.Temple Mount activists had complained that for the past three days the Temple Mount - the holiest place in Judaism - remained inexplicably closed to non-Muslim visitors. The only "explanation" offered was a bland sign which simply read "Today the Temple Mount will be closed to visitors." Those restrictions did not, however, apply to Muslim visitors, who continue to receive unrestricted access.On Wednesday, Police Commander Avi Bitton finally informed representatives of the Organisation of Temple Movements - an umbrella of various Temple Mount groups - that the sign would remain up for at least another two weeks, until after the Muslim festival of "Eid", which marks the end of Ramadan.Feiglin told Arutz Sheva on Thursday that the closure of the holy site to Jews for the Ramadan holiday is a real cause for concern. The unprecedented move is linked to diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he confirmed.“There’s a process here of taking sovereignty over the Temple Mount into Islamic hands, and it’s part of an agreement that [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Justice Minister] Tzipi Livni are going to build in the upcoming months,” he warned.The political right must realize that unless it is willing to sacrifice for the sake of Jewish access to the holy site, nothing will happen, he added. “I call for everyone who hears us to come here, to understand that they are giving the very heart of Jerusalem to foreigners, to Islam,” he called.Taking a conservative approach will not help, he said. “This isn’t a matter of policy, of authorizations – we’ve already tried all the accepted routes. We need to understand that there needs to be sacrifice here, that one thousand people show up ready to make sacrifices, ready to be arrested,” he explained.

The Israeli Government Has Surrendered the Temple Mount

Wednesday, July 31, 2013 15:10

(Before It's News)

In an “unprecedented” move, police on Wednesday informed Jewish groups that the Temple Mount will be closed to all non-Muslims until at least the end of Ramadan, on 11th August. The announcement has provoked renewed anger over anti-Jewish discrimination on the Temple Mount, and sparked calls by activists for a mass-protest on 7th August, at the start of the Hebrew month of Elul.

Temple Mount activists had complained that for the past three days the Temple Mount – the holiest place in Judaism - remained inexplicably closed to non-Muslim visitors. The only “explanation” offered was a bland sign which simply read “Today the Temple Mount will be closed to visitors.”Those restrictions did not, however, apply to Muslim visitors, who continue to receive unrestricted access.On Wednesday, Police Commander Avi Bitton finally informed representatives of the Organisation of Temple Movements – an umbrella of various Temple Mount groups – that the sign would remain up for at least another two weeks, until after the Muslim festival of “Eid”, which marks the end of Ramadan.Since the beginning of Ramadan, Islamists have upped their campaign to prevent Jews from setting foot on the Temple Mount – let alone praying there.On the eve of the 9th of Av – the Jewish day of mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples – a group of Jews including Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin were driven off the Mount by a mob of Muslim extremists.The next day, police banned Jews from the site altogether, provoking angry reactions from worshippers, activists and Members of Knesset, including government ministers.

Since then, say activists, Jews who wish to ascend have either been turned away without explanation, or otherwise subjected to even more severe restrictions than they had previously experienced.In a statement following the meeting, the Organisation of Temple Movements accused the police of caving in to Islamist threats of violence, and failing in their duty to securefreedom of worship:“Since the beginning of this month, groups of Muslims have used violence to try to prevent Jews from entering the plaza of the Temple Mount. Police could not deal with the rioting Muslim extremists, and time and time again stood helpless before them,“Now it turns out that the police have collapsed completely in their mission, and have failed in their effort to keep order on the Temple Mount.”Yehuda Glick,  a spokesman for the Organisation of Temple Movements, slammed the police decision as “illegal”:“All of these [closures of the Temple Mount] were illegal actions taken by police, violating freedom of access to holy places,” he said.

Glick called on Jews and government ministers to immediately begin visiting the Temple Mount around the clock, in response to attempts to deny access to Jews. The Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, where the two holy Temples once stood before being destroyed by the Babylonian and Roman empires respectively.Despite its supreme importance to Jews worldwide, Jewish visitors are subject to draconian restrictions on the Mount, including a ban on praying, due to the presence of an Islamic complex, administered by the Waqf Islamic Trust, and amid threats by Islamist groups. The Israeli police have bypassed several court decisions upholding the Jewish right to prayer there by citing unspecified “security concerns”, either to ban individual activists or even to issue blanket prohibitions on Jews ascending at all. Religious Jews are followed closely by Israeli police and Waqf guards to prevent them from praying, or from carrying out any other religious rituals. Non-Jewish visitors are not subject to such restrictions.

But Wednesday’s decision to close the Mount for such a prolonged period of time is “unprecedented,” according to Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute.“This sets a new and dangerous precedent,” warned Rabbi Richman.“Over the past few weeks there have been several attacks by Muslim extremists on the Temple Mount, and the police have aided and abetted them by standing by and allowing our rights to be violated. Even the Deputy Foreign Minister was not granted the right to freedom of worship.”Rabbi Richman accused the government of having “surrendered sovereignty over the Temple Mount.”“By granting the Jordanian-run Waqf free reign on the site, even aquiessing to their demands to ban Jews from ascending, the State of Israel has effectively abandoned the Temple Mount altogether.“No matter what posturing the government performs, and no matter how many times they repeat the meaningless mantra that ‘The Temple Mount is in our hands’ [a reference to the famous declaration made after the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 - ed.], the fact is that the Temple Mount is actually in the hands of the Waqf and the Jordanian government.”

“Test balloon”

The Organization of Temple Movements is taking this latest development very seriously, viewing it as a “test balloon” as to how the Israeli public – and wider Jewish public – will respond.As a result, they have announced a demonstration at 7:30am on the 7th of August, which is also the start of the Hebrew month of Elul, marking the beginning of the period of repentance in the run up to the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) and the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.“This week we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the reopening of the Temple Mount to Jews, after it was closed for three years following the outbreak of the Arab intifada,” said Rabbi Richman.“During those three years of abandonment the Waqf took the opportunity to destroy countless precious artifacts in an attempt to erase the Jewish connection to the Mount.“It is truly tragic that the government has chosen to mark this occasion by once again imposing an extended ban on Jewish ascents.“If this situation passes quietly, we will have reached a point of no return. The police are testing the waters: how important is the Temple Mount to the Jewish public? Our message – and the message of Jews around the world – must be clear: the Temple Mount is the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and we will not abandon it again.” source – Israeli National News

Lieberman: Controversial Bill Will Save Israeli Democracy

Lieberman defends the Governance Bill, ‘It will make Israel a normal democracy.’

By Maayana Miskin-First Publish: 8/1/2013, 9:45 AM-israelnationalnews

MK Avigdor Lieberman-Israel news photo: Flash 90

MK Avigdor Lieberman (Likud Beyteinu) spoke out in favor of the Governance Bill after the bill was harshly criticized by Arab, left-wing and hareidi-religious MKs during a vote on Wednesday night.“The Governance Bill is the law that will save Israeli democracy,” Lieberman declared.The law will strengthen Israel as a “normal democracy,” he continued, “a country in which the government chosen by the people will really be able to rule on the people’s behalf.”The bill would give the government more flexibility on the timetable for approving the national budget, and would make it slightly harder to topple the government with a no-confidence measure – both changes that the law’s supporters say will make governments less vulnerable to small parties’ demands.The most controversial part of the bill has been the increase of the minimum vote threshold from two percent to four percent, meaning that parties receiving less than four percent of the vote would not enter Knesset. The three majority-Arab factions in Knesset all currently have under five seats, putting them at risk of being left outside Knesset if the bill passes, unless they unite.Arab MKs claimed that the law was intended to exclude them from Knesset.Lieberman defended the increase in the vote threshold. “The nation is sick of the Knesset being divided and split up into tiny splinters of parties, and of bloated governments that give unnecessary jobs to ministers in order to survive,” he argued.The changes in the bill, which would limit the government to 19 ministers and four deputy-ministers including the Prime Minister, would stabilize the government and make it more efficient, he said.The Likud Beyteinu “will keep fighting to save Israeli democracy from those who consistently scorn the Israeli Knesset, and have no interest in Israel’s future,” Lieberman declared. 

Knesset endorses withdrawal referendum bill

During stormy debate, Netanyahu takes the lectern to respond to MK who implies Arabs will outlast Jews in Israel

By Times of Israel staff August 1, 2013, 3:59 am 3-The Times of Israel

The Knesset early Thursday morning approved the first reading of a bill that requires a public referendum on any future peace deal with the Palestinians that would have Israel give up sovereign territory. The vote, 66 in favor and 45 against, was the last of the parliament’s summer session and followed a long night of marathon readings.The bill covers all of Israel, the Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem, but does not relate to the West Bank, which was never annexed by Israel. It coincides with the resumption of long-dormant peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Washington. Any deal with the Palestinians would involve Israel pulling out of much of the West Bank; unlike the Golan Heights, the Old City and East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967, Israeli law was never extended to the area.The bill reinforces an earlier law, passed in 2010, that requires the government to obtain a two-thirds Knesset majority or public approval via a referendum in order to sign away any Israeli territory. It aims to make the referendum bill a semi-constitutional Basic Law, putting it beyond the reach of the Supreme Court, which can theoretically strike down any regular law.It still must be reviewed by the Knesset House Committee and faces two more readings, which will likely take place during the Knesset’s winter session, before it can be signed into law.During a stormy debate in the plenum, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the lectern to admonish MK Jamal Zahalke for an insult the United Arab List MK had hurled at Strategic Affairs and International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud).“You’re an enemy of peace,” Zahalke said to Steinitz. “We were here before you and we’ll be here after you’re gone.”

Despite the late hour — it was almost 3 a.m. — Netanyahu, apparently interpreting Zahalke’s “we” to mean Arabs and “you” to mean Jews, requested permission to speak and then retorted, saying, “I heard MK Zahalke’s statement. The first part is untrue, and the second won’t come true.”Zahalke explained that he hadn’t been referring to Steinitz or the Jews, but rather, “I meant that we’ll remain after racism is gone.”

The bill is being championed by Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett and his Jewish Home party, with the full backing of Netanyahu, who last week said that “A diplomatic agreement that doesn’t have the public’s support, doesn’t deserve to be signed.”Despite the fact that Netanyahu’s support for the bill basically guaranteed it would pass, Bennett threatened to withdraw his party’s support for the government’s 2013-14 budget proposal if the legislation wasn’t advanced. The budget was endorsed by the Knesset earlier this week.Within Netanyahu’s coalition, the bill was panned by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who’s heading up peace talks with the Palestinians, and MK Avigdor Liberman, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman and head of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu, who has referred to referendums as a way for “decision makers to avoid responsibility.”Livni was one of the authors of the original 2010 referendum bill.Surveys have indicated that there’s a majority among Israelis for a withdrawal as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israel to Lose 15% of Settlement Blocs in Future Deal

US officials estimate Israel will lose 15 percent of “major settlement blocs” in Judea and Samaria in any final status deal with the PA.-By Chana Ya'ar-First Publish: 8/1/2013, 12:14 PM

John Kerry in Tel Aviv, June 2013-Flash 90

US officials estimate that Israel will lose about 15 percent of “major settlement blocs” in Judea and Samaria in any final status deal worked out with the Palestinian Authority.
Sources in Washington reported that Secretary of State John Kerry said in discussions with members of the House of Representatives described as “mostly pro-Israel” that Israel’s interested are being safeguarded, according to an article published in the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot.
It appeared that all core issues were raised during the initial meetings in Washington between Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators, including the question of when to raise the issue of the status of Jerusalem.
“We had a good start,” Kerry told lawmakers.One of the U.S. representatives told a journalist that Kerry said he believes approximately 85 percent of Israel’s largest “settlement blocs” will remain under the state’s sovereignty.Kerry’s reply to the question of whether the PA will be willing to formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state was noncommittal, however: “That’s one of my goals,” he said. “A homeland for the Jewish people.”Israel was already established in 1948 by the United Nations as a “homeland for the Jewish people,” so that point is not at all new. Moreover, the specific language marks a difference between a “homeland for the Jewish people” as opposed to “a Jewish state.” One does not hold the same meaning as the other, and the Arabs accept neither.

Haredi soldiers show high motivation, army reports

MKs responsible for universal draft law attending largest single enlistment of Haredi soldiers yet

By Haviv Rettig Gur August 1, 2013, 9:06 am 2-The times of Israel

While work in the Knesset continues on a universal draft bill that would bring the ultra-Orthodox into the military or national service, the army reported on Wednesday that Haredi soldiers that have already joined up show high levels of motivation and satisfaction in their military service.Fully 85 percent of soldiers in Shachar, an IDF program that offers service tracks for young men from the ultra-Orthodox community, report they are “very proud” of their service, according to a survey conducted by the IDF’s Manpower Directorate published this week.The program was started in 2007 to draft members of the Haredi community into the technical corps of the Air Force, and later expanded to other parts of the military. Officials touted the program as a boost to helping Haredi men, many of whom would otherwise choose full-time Torah study, integrate into the civilian workforce.Seventy-six percent said their jobs in the IDF would help them advance professionally in the future, 79% said they were “satisfied” with the military unit in which they served, 75% said they feel their work is necessary and 37% said they were interested in becoming officers.The results of the survey were publicized by Army Radio on Wednesday. The IDF did not publish the detailed numbers or methodology of the survey.Haredi men have been mostly exempt from military service in the past, though a rule allowing yeshiva students to claim exemptions was declared unconstitutional last year, forcing lawmakers to legislate a system to draft the ultra-Orthodox– and eventually Israeli Arabs as well — into a military or national civilian service framework.Tension in the Haredi community has skyrocketed in recent weeks over the possibility that its young men will be forced to join military or national service.Young Haredi men, especially those already serving in the IDF soldiers, have faced a wave of anti-military sentiment that has included senior rabbis from the Haredi sector attacking political leaders who are advancing the universal service legislation, and at least three physical attacks on Haredi soldiers in July in Haredi neighborhoods in Jerusalem.MKs from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the ad hoc committee working on the universal service legislation chaired by MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) are slated to visit the IDF’s Tel Hashomer enlistment base on Thursday to meet the next 400 Haredi conscripts on their first day in the IDF.Thursday’s draft marks the largest single wave of Haredi enlistment yet, according to the IDF. Most of the soldiers are slated for the Netzach Yehuda infantry battalion, formerly known as Nahal Haredi.An unnamed “senior IDF source” told Army Radio Wednesday that “despite recent events and the attempts to harm Haredi soldiers, the trend of increasing Haredi enlistment has only strengthened.”Last year, a High Court of Justice ruling declared a long-standing exemption from conscription for Haredi men, the “Tal Law,” to be unconstitutional. The parties who make up the current government have vowed to fulfill their election promise to enact a more “equitable” universal national service.An early draft of the government’s universal draft legislation passed the Ministerial Committee for Legislation last month. The ad hoc committee chaired by MK Shaked will meet every Thursday during the Knesset’s current recess, which began Wednesday and will continue until October, to prepare the bill for passage during the Knesset’s winter session.

EU lifts trade barriers with Colombia, Peru

31.07.13 @ 09:36

By Valentina Pop

Bogota - A free trade agreement entering into force Thursday (1 August) between the EU, Peru and Colombia include clauses on labour rights but trade unionists are sceptical they will be followed.Calling for better working conditions or defending the rights of indigenous people is a risky business, particularly in Columbia.Activists are intimidated or even killed. Since 2000, an estimated 60 percent of all trade unionist murders in the world have taken place in the South American country.The plight of trade unionists was one of the main sticking points during negotiations on the agreement, estimated to bring some €500 million annually in tariff savings.The European Parliament made signing the agreement contingent on the issue. MEPs can now be included in the supervisory committee from the EU side, along with European business associations, trade unions and the EU commission.But trade unionist do not hold out much hope about the EU deal.Ever Causado, secretary general of Sintramienergetica union representing some 6,000 miners in the coal, gold and gas industries, said in a phone interview that the situation has not improved since a similar trade agreement with the US entered into force last year."We continue to receive daily threats. We have a negotiator with Drummond (a US coal mining company) who was fired at twice while in a taxi on 28 May. He is now hiding in Bogota," Casuado said."In our experience the state does not comply with the rules. The security situation here in Colombia is still critical," the trade unionist said.However, others say that negotiations on the trade deal have led to much more awareness of workers’ rights."There is far more awareness on labour rights following the negotiation of the trade agreement,” said the EU’s ambassador to Bogota, Maria Antonia Van Gool."Labour rights are highly underlined and we insist a lot that they be respected," she said in an interview with this website.She added the Colombian government has drawn up a roadmap of legislative measures improving labour rights, with specific deadlines.A supervisory committee including Colombian trade unions is to be set up in the coming year to monitor the implementation of the trade agreement. If the promises are not kept, trade tariffs may be temporarily reintroduced."For Colombia this trade agreement means it is now an equal partner to Europe, they have the same rights and obligations as our 28 members," said Van Gool.
"They hope and expect to attract a lot of investments from Europe, people start looking more and more at Latin America," the Dutch diplomat added.She noted that Colombia also wants to become a member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which also sets labour rights standards they will have to comply with."In the end, particularly our trade agreement which contains some of the highest social standards will have an influence. People will feel supported by what is in the trade agreement and will use it as a backup, they will bring it to the attention of somebody in case it is not respected - parliamentarians, the EU or their own government," Van Gool said.But she admitted that the actually putting into place of labour rights legislation may take some time.“The legislation is there but the issue is implementation. It goes slowly," she said.

ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11  In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
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 evening tide 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)

EGYPT

ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

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

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

Germany urges Egypt to avoid 'selective justice'

54 minutes ago -AUG 1,13 

CAIRO (Reuters) - Germany urged Egypt to avoid "the appearance of selective justice" on Thursday following the arrests of some senior leaders of deposed President Mohamed Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was speaking to journalists alongside his Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy, who responded by saying: "There is no justice of vengeance and no selective justice. There is law and it applies to everyone."His remarks were translated into German.On Wednesday the Egyptian authorities decided to refer the Brotherhood's three top leaders, including its general guide Mohamed Badie, for trial on charges of inciting violence. Badie has not yet been arrested. His two lieutenants are in custody.
Mursi has been in detention in an undisclosed location since he was deposed by the army on July 3. He faces a judicial inquiry into accusations that he conspired with the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group during his escape from prison during 2011. He is also accused of murder."All appearance of selective justice must be avoided," said Westerwelle.Germany had pressed for access to Mursi by neutral parties and welcomed a visit made by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton earlier this week, Westerwelle said.
Asked whether Germany viewed Mursi's removal as a military coup, he said: "These are first minutes of an historic hour ... You cannot judge a movement conclusively which is still in flow."(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Assad says sure he will defeat Syrian rebels

1 hour ago -AUG 1,13

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday he was confident of victory against rebels in a devastating 28-month-old civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and sent nearly two million fleeing abroad.Insurgents have seized large swathes of territory, but Assad's forces have staged a counter-offensive in recent weeks, pushing them back from around the capital Damascus and retaking several towns near the border with Lebanon."If we were not sure that we were going to win in Syria, we would not have the ability to resist and the ability to continue fighting for more than two years against the enemy," state news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying.Assad has framed the revolt against four decades of his family's rule as a foreign-backed conspiracy fought by Islamist "terrorists." When pro-democracy protests started in March 2011, a military crackdown eventually led to an armed insurrection.Addressing officers on the 68th anniversary of the Syrian army's creation, Assad said soldiers had shown "courage in the face of terrorism ... and the fiercest barbaric war in modern history".U.N. investigators say Assad's forces have carried out war crimes including unlawful killing, torture, sexual violence, indiscriminate attack and pillaging in what appears to be a state-directed policy. They say rebels have also committed war crimes, including executions, but on a lesser scale.The struggle in Syria has become markedly sectarian, broadly pitting majority Sunni Muslim rebels and against Assad's minority Alawite sect, which is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.Assad has relied on Alawite-led army units and security forces from the start, but has turned increasingly to loyalist militia armed and funded by Damascus to fight the rebels.He has also received solid support from Shi'ite regional powerhouse Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and longtime ally Russia, while his fragmented foes have received little military aid from their Western backers wary of the growing presence of hardline Islamist rebel groups, some of them linked to al Qaeda.(Reporting by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)

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

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

Russia says new Iran sanctions will not end nuclear dispute

1 hour ago -AUG 1,13

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to tighten sanctions against Iran would not help resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Congress passed a bill on Wednesday that will cut Iran's oil exports to nearly zero, in an attempt to reduce the flow of funds to its nuclear program and send a strong message to Tehran before President-elect Hassan Rouhani is sworn in.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said that United Nations Security Council sanctions already in place against Tehran were sufficient. He suggested the U.S. bill, which still has more steps to clear before becoming law, was counterproductive."Any additional sanctions are actually aimed at the economic strangulation of Iran, but not at solving the problem of non-proliferation," Gatilov told Interfax news agency. "What has been done through the Security Council is quite adequate and sufficient."World powers hope Iran's relatively moderate new leader will comply with demands for Tehran to scale back nuclear work, which they suspect is aimed at enabling it to make bombs. Iran says the nuclear activities are purely for civilian purposes.Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to push for concessions from Iran on its nuclear program when he meets Rouhani in Kyrgyzstan in September. Russia is a veto-weilding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and one of six world powers involved in talks on Iran's nuclear program.(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Vodka boycott in U.S. spreads on concerns over gay rights in Russia

Jonathan Kaminsky 10 hours ago - AUG 1,13 

By Jonathan Kaminsky
(Reuters) - Gay rights activists in New York City dumped vodka onto the street on Wednesday to protest new laws in Russia targeting homosexuals, as a growing number of gay bar owners across the United States vowed to stop pouring Russian vodka."Boycotts are set for a reason. We're trying to influence change, and maybe change what's happening in Russia," said Chuck Hyde, general manager of Sidetrack, the largest gay bar in Chicago, which stopped carrying Stolichnaya about a week ago.The boycott was called last week by gay rights activist and Seattle-based sex advice columnist Dan Savage in response to anti-gay violence and restrictive laws in Russia. Since then, owners of mostly gay bars from San Francisco to New York have vowed to stop serving Stolichnaya and other Russian vodka.Gay rights advocates in New York City, carrying signs that read "Russian vodka: infused with hate," gathered outside the Russian consulate on Wednesday protesting Russia's stance on gay issues. They emptied bottles of Russian vodka onto the pavement.The call to "dump Russian vodka" came after Russian investigators said in May that a 23-year-old man had been tortured and killed after revealing to a friend that he was gay.In June, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law banning gay "propaganda," which critics have said effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals. Putin also banned same-sex couples from adopting Russian children.The boycott has focused heavily on Stolichnaya vodka, which is made from Russian ingredients, even though the company has said it supports gay rights.
In an open letter sent a day after Savage's call for a boycott, Val Mendeleev, chief executive of Stolichnaya's parent company the SPI Group, distanced his enterprise from the Kremlin's policies and emphasized that the Russian government has no ownership stake in the Luxembourg-based company."Stolichnaya Vodka has always been, and continues to be a fervent supporter and friend to the LGBT community," he wrote. "We also thank the community for having adopted Stoli as their vodka of preference."Russia is due to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Savage wrote in a column last week that an Olympic boycott was neither practical nor necessarily desirable."There is something we can do right here, right now, in Seattle and other U.S. cities to show our solidarity with Russian queers and their allies and to help to draw international attention to the persecution of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, and straight allies in Putin's increasingly fascistic Russia: DUMP RUSSIAN VODKA," he wrote.Savage was on vacation and did not immediately respond to an email request on Wednesday for comment on the widening boycott.Ben Kampler, a bartender at the Stonewall Inn bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, said most gay bars in the area, including Stonewall, had joined the boycott."It's pretty much every bar in the area," he said, adding that the bar had asked brands like Absolut to supply vodka to match the Stoli flavors that are popular with customers.Moby Dick, a bar in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, joined the boycott last week but its owner, Joe Cappelletti, said he stopped it on Wednesday after learning that Stolichnaya has been a longtime advocate of gay rights.(Additional reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago, Edith Honan in New York, Laila Kearney in San Francisco; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Toni Reinhold)

Midnight weddings as two U.S. states legalize gay marriage

By Todd Melby-AUG 1,13
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Surrounded by nearly 1,000 people in the marble rotunda of Minneapolis City Hall, Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke were the first gay couple to tie the knot in Minnesota, one of two states where same-sex marriage became legal on Thursday."By the power now finally invested in me," said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to boisterous cheers from family members and supporters of gay marriage, "I hereby declare Margaret and Cathy legally married."The couple's five-year-old son, wearing a black tuxedo, participated in the ceremony along with a gay men's chorus wearing black T-shirts declaring, "Marry Us."Miles, 49, fell in love with ten Broeke, 44, while working at a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless.The couple wanted to marry more than a decade ago, but the law prevented it. So they settled for a commitment ceremony and a mountain of paperwork to legally merge their lives.Now that Minnesota has officially sanctioned gay marriage, the couple said they will no longer worry about their legal status.
Rhode Island - one hour ahead on eastern time - and Minnesota on Thursday became the 12th and 13th states to sanction gay nuptials. Minnesota became the second in the Midwest, after Iowa.In Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state by area and the last in New England to legalize gay marriage, Democratic state Representative Frank Ferri will wed his partner of three decades, Tony Carparco.While the two men wed seven years ago when they vacationed in Canada, Ferri - who helped lead the drive for legalization in Rhode Island - said Thursday's ceremony in their home state would be more meaningful.Minneapolis couple Miles and ten Broeke said the legalization of gay marriage would end a stigma for them.Not long ago, a child told the couple's 5-year-old son that he could not have two mothers. "No one can say that anymore," said Miles, crying.Michelle Farley and Leisha Suggs plan to exchange vows on the rooftop of a Japanese restaurant on the south side of Minneapolis before a small group of friends. Farley, 35, and Suggs, 28, fell in love while attending the University of Maryland seven years ago.When the couple moved to Minnesota — a place they perceived as progressive — they were shocked to see a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. "It was very scary," Farley said.Minnesota voters rejected the proposal and elected a Democratic majority to the state Legislature. Those lawmakers voted in May to make gay marriage legal.In the hours before gay marriage became legal in the state, Paul Portenlanger, 40, and Gregg Bell, 43, held hands as they strolled along the banks of the Mississippi River. The couple, who were married three years ago in Washington, D.C., were on their way to a pre-marriage party.Both men plan to skip work on Thursday, search local parks for gay marriages and drink champagne, they said.(Reporting by Todd Melby in Minneapolis and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Greg McCune and John Stonestreet)