REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a 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, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
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 theconsummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
PASSOVER DAY 2 IN ISRAEL SCRIPTURES.
TORAH
LEVITICUS 22:26-23:44
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28 And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day.
29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.
30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.
31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the LORD.
32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,
33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
44 And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the feasts of the LORD.
NUMBER 28:16-25
16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
18 In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:
19 But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:
20 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;
21 A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
22 And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.
23 Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
25 And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.
PROPHETS
2 KINGS 23:1-9,21-25
1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.
7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23 But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
NEW TESTAMENT
1 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
OTHER WORLD NEWS APR 03, 2007
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-6.2-quake hits Afghanistan. 3-Survivors seek food after tsunami. 4-The Nation's Weather. 5-Forecasters expect 9 Atlantic hurricanes in 2007. 6-European Union offers help in SAFTA. 7-Who holds the reins of Europe, NATO or EU? 8-Sinai pumice linked to ancient eruption. 9-Evangelicals Transform Christian Unity in Canada. 10-Palestinians not ready for full contacts with EU, says Merkel. 11-China Strengthens Military Ties With Sudan.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. (USGS)
Update time = Tue Apr 3 10:00 AM EDT
APR 03,07
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.9 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.4 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.5 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 6.2 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
APR 02,07
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 5.4 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 6.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.7 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.7 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.9 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.4 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 6.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.4 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 AISEN, CHILE
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
6.2-magnitude quake hits Afghanistan By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 3, 1:57 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit a remote and mountainous area of
northeastern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, shaking buildings in the capital, Pakistan, Tajikistan and India.
The earthquake in Badakhshan province was about 200 miles northeast of the capital, Kabul,where residents felt shaking buildings and some windows were shattered. There were no immediate casualty reports.It was a very strong earthquake, said Agha Noor Kemtoz, the provincial police chief of Badakhshan, which shares a border with Pakistan, Tajikistan and China. My room was shaking and the light was swinging back and forth.The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.2-quake was centered 40 miles south of Faizabad and hit at 8:05 a.m.Damage reports from northeastern Afghanistan are often slow to trickle in, because of the region's remoteness and a lack of communication facilities.
The quake was felt across northern Pakistan, including in the capital, Islamabad, 280 miles away. It also was felt in Tajikistan and in the Indian and Pakistan-administered portions of Kashmir, where a severe earthquake in October 2005 left thousands dead and caused widespread destruction.
Badakhshan the most remote area in Afghanistan is home to the towering mountains of the Hindu Kush and is a region prone to earthquakes.A 6.7-magnitude quake struck Badakhshan in December 2005, killing at least five children. That quake was centered about 60 miles southeast of Faizabad. In May 1998, a 6.9-magnitude quake hit near Faizabad, triggering massive mud slides and flooding that left more than 5,000 people dead.
Survivors seek food after tsunami By MERAIAH FOLEY, Associated Press Writer APR 03,07
HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Survivors scavenged for food and drinking water in towns hammered by a tsunami on the Solomon Islands' west coast, while officials said the death toll was 28 and would rise as they struggled to reach remote communities. The first television footage of the devastated region taken by helicopter after Monday's double disaster a huge undersea earthquake followed minutes later by a surging wall of water showed building after tin-and-thatched-roof building collapsed along a muddy foreshore.Men, some shirtless and wearing shorts, picked through the debris. Some buildings leaned awkwardly on broken stilts.Many of the homeless spent Monday night sleeping under tarpaulins or the stars on a hill behind worst-hit town of Gizo after the magnitude 8.1 quake hit under the sea about 25 miles off the town. Walls of water up to 16 feet high plowed into the coast five minutes later.Three medical teams six doctors and 13 nurses were to fly to the region Wednesday morning from the capital Honiara to treat an unknown number of survivors, National Disaster Management Office spokesman Julian Makaa said Tuesday.The teams were to set up medical centers at Gizo and the nearby center of Munda and Taro island, Makaa said.
They've been instructed to treat the injured there rather than bringing them back to Honiara, he said after a crisis meeting of senior lawmakers and bureaucrats authorized the mission.
Makaa said officials can only guess at the numbers of dead and seriously hurt in the remote and inaccessible west coast villages where two-way radio is the usual mode of contact with the outside world.Arnold Moveni, chairman of the disaster committee in the Solomons' hardest-hit Western Province, said 28 people were confirmed dead, and that the toll was expected to keep rising. Most bodies were found by residents as they searched through rubble for missing relatives, he said.Five unconfirmed deaths were reported in neighboring Papua New Guinea.Makaa said an initial damage assessment was 916 houses destroyed with about 5,000 people affected, but that the final toll could be much higher.
The Red Cross said about 2,000 of those were homeless in Gizo, the main population center of some 7,000 in the zone, and that outlying villages still to be reached may have fared much worse.Fred Fakarii, chairman of the National Disaster Management Council, said there had been one official assessment flyover, and another team would be sent soon to help draft a relief plan. Initial reports showed the destruction was massive and widespread, he said.Among the dead were a bishop and three worshippers killed when a wave hit a church during an ordination ceremony on the island of Simbo, the United Church said.The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported from Papua New Guinea that a family of five had been washed away in that country's far east the first reported deaths there. Government officials there could not confirm any casualties Tuesday.
A 53-year-old New Zealand man drowned trying to save his mother from the waves during a visit to Gizo, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said. His mother remained missing.Few of the homeless had even basic supplies, and their situation would quickly turn desperate, officials said.There is no food available in the main settlements of Gizo and Noro, said Alfred Maesulia, a government spokesman in the capital, Honiara. Some settlements have been completely wiped out by the waves.
One police patrol boat carrying emergency supplies arrived in Gizo from Honiara overnight and three private charters were due Tuesday. Australian and New Zealand military helicopters based in the Solomons as part of a security force also were expected to join relief operations. Solomons Deputy Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said planes searching coastlines for survivors had spotted corpses, but added the terrain would be difficult to navigate. There are some very ragged, remote areas and there's no connecting roads, (just) isolated villages, he told ABC.
New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff said a military C-130 cargo plane was flying to the Solomon Islands on Tuesday with tents, tarpaulins and food for several hundred people. The main airport at Gizo, phone and power lines, and coastal roads remained out of commission Tuesday. Makaa said the airport had been cleared of debris and was expected to be assessed as safe to use Wednesday. More than 25 aftershocks had shaken the region by late Tuesday, including two of magnitude 6.2.
Danny Kennedy, a dive shop operator, said survivors had ventured into Gizo looking for bottled water and other supplies and found a mess. Unfortunately a lot of the stores ... their cargo has fallen from the higher shelves and covered lower things, and the buildings are quite unstable, Kennedy told New Zealand's National Radio. Marshall said officials would tolerate survivors taking goods they don't own until emergency supplies arrived. These are desperate times in Gizo, he said. And we've got to be practical.Makaa said drinking water was the most pressing need for many survivors.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare declared a national state of emergency and held meetings with his impoverished country's aid donors about getting help. The Solomon Islands is a poverty-wracked archipelago of more than 200 islands with a population of about 552,000 people. On July 21, 1975, a large tsunami hit Bougainville, killing an estimated 200 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and World Health Organization.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Tue Apr 3, 6:37 AM ET
Snow fell early Tuesday over the northern Plains as storms raked the nation's northern tier and took aim at the Great Lakes. Further south, thunderstorms swept across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
A low pressure system moving northeastward from the Plains was triggering snow across the Dakotas, Upper Mississippi Valley and northern portions of the Great Lakes region.Rain showers and thunderstorms were also possible across the southern Plains, the southern half of the Great Lakes region, the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, and the Southeast.Partly cloudy skies and dry conditions were to prevail over the central Plains, the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic region and much of Florida.
Partly cloudy skies and dry conditions were forecast throughout the central and southern high Plains, the Rocky Mountain region, the Desert Southwest, the Great Basin, California and the Pacific Northwest.Another beautiful spring day was in store for the Southwest.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Monday ranged from a low of 18 degrees at Burns, Ore., to a high of 98 degrees at Blythe, Calif.
Forecasters expect 9 Atlantic hurricanes in 2007 APR 03,07
MIAMI (Reuters) - The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will be far more active than usual with an expected 17 tropical storms, of which nine will strengthen into hurricanes, a noted forecasting team founded by William Gray said on Tuesday. In an updated outlook for the June 1-November 30 season, the Colorado State University team led by hurricane forecast pioneer Gray and Philip Klotzbach raised the number of expected storms and hurricanes from the 14 and seven, respectively, that it had predicted in December.
Sinai pumice linked to ancient eruption By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 2, 8:55 PM ET
TEL HABUWA, Egypt - Egyptian archaeologists showed off white pumice Monday that they theorize was swept onto the northern Sinai desert by a tsunami triggered by the ancient volcanic eruption on Santorini island 530 miles away. Traces of the solidified lava foam from the eruption have been found on the island of Crete and in southwestern Turkey, but the archaeological team now believes it also reached the Sinai site where they were digging at an ancient fort 4 miles from the Mediterranean coast.
The Santorini explosion in the 17th century B.C. was devastating. It sank most of the now-Greek island and killed more than 35,000 people of a thriving Minoan community.The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, said the discovery of the pumice would open a new field of study in Egyptology.Geologists will help us study how ... natural disasters, such as the Santorini tsunami, affected the Pharaonic period, he said.
A volcanologist at Greece's Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Georges Vougioukalakis, was skeptical that the pumice could have traveled so far with a tsunami.While noting that layers of ash from Santorini have been found in Egypt's Nile Delta, he told The Associated Press that he thought it more likely the floating pumice was carried to the Sinai by regular ocean currents.The archaeological team found the pumice while excavating at Tel Habuwa in the desert northeast of Qantara, a town on the Suez Canal nearly 95 miles northeast of Cairo.They were searching for Pharaonic forts that helped protect the Nile Delta from foreign invasion, and last month they uncovered remains here of an 18th Dynasty fort with four rectangular towers built of mud bricks.The pieces of lava stone were a surprise, but they were only part of the story, said team leader Mohamed Abdel Maqsud.For the archaeologists, more significant was finding a fortress used by ancient Egyptians to expel the Hyksos enemy during the New Kingdom, a Pharaonic empire that lasted from about 1500 B.C. to about 1000 B.C.The easternmost forts were so important that they were depicted in the reliefs on the walls of Karnak Temple in the ancient capital of Thebes the present day city of Luxor, 300 miles south of Cairo.Hawass did not elaborate on the geological tests that linked the Sinai pumice to Santorini, but said he was convinced more such lava would be found. This is only the beginning, he said.Associated Press writer Nicholas Paphits in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.
April 02, 2007 European Union offers help in SAFTA implementation India-SAARC-EU
As it prepares to participate in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) process for the first time, the European Union(EU) has offered its expertise and experience to help in implementation of South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), which has faced to take off despite agreement over a year ago.
The 25-nation EU said its own example had shown that by working together more effectively, regional groupings can fulfil their potential and contribute to solving global and regional issues. In a special message on the occasion of the 14th SAARC Summit being held on April 3-4, EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner expressed confidence that the meet would provide a decisive opportunity to advance regional integration in South Asia, PTI reported.
EU will be participating in the Summit as an Observer along with the US, China, Japan and South Korea. The EU sees itself a natural partner in all efforts aimed at reinforcing regional cooperation, people-to-people contacts and trade liberalisation in South Asia, which will bring benefits to all, she said. She said the European organisation stands ready to continue to share expertise and experience in all areas of interest to SAARC as well as in the implementation of the SAFTA.SAFTA was ratified by all the seven SAARC member nations by January 1, 2006 and notified on July 1, last year. However, it could not be implemented as Pakistan refused to conduct free trade with India under it and remained adamant on doing business on the basis of positive list of items.
The SAFTA issue is expected to come up for discussion at the Summit. Noting that many challenges remain in encouraging trade within South Asia despite economies of the member countries growing, the EU Commissioner hoped that SAARC will be successful in developing regional cooperation and trade liberalisation. Our own experience shows the importance of this (intra-region trade and cooperation) for sustained development and regional integration and this is, indeed, one among a number of areas where we are happy to cooperate with the efforts that SAARC is making, Waldner said in the message from Brussels. Citing the EU's example, she said it has come a long way to achieve peace, stability and free movement of persons, goods, services and capital beyond national borders.
Who holds the reins of Europe, NATO or EU? APR 03,07
The European Union (EU) has just celebrated its 50th anniversary of its with grandiose functions as well as a gathering of leaders in Germany, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is to usher in its 58th birthday on April 4. What are the respective roles of NATO and EU and what are trends with their development in the years ahead. On these issues of common concern, Zheng Xing and Jin Yanbo, both sub-editors of the People's Daily Overseas Edition, have conversed with Yang Yu, director of the EU Affairs Office of elite Nanjing University in east China's Jiangsu Province, Prof. Wu Yikang with the World Economy Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Shen Jiru, a researcher of the Institute of World Economies and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The detailed account of the conversation is read as follows: Q. Most of the member states of the NATO and EU belong to the Europe. NATO has 21 EU member nations out of its present 26 membership, so both organizations have most of their mutually shared members. Then, what are differences between the organizations?
Shen Jiru (abbreviated as Shen below): The NATO, established in April 1949, originally had 15 member states and a headquarters in Brussels. It has been a military bloc headed by the United States, and a product of confrontation between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War period.
And the EU is an organization of regional integration of European nations. To date, it has been advancing its regional integration with their economic and monetary union development and European political integration cooperation.
Yang Yu (abbreviated as Yang below): During the cold war years, NATO was a tool used by the U.S. to materialize its global strategy as well as a collective defense organization of a military nature to confront and contain the Warsaw Pact Organization. It was not only a product of East-West confrontation but embodied the interests and resolve of the U.S. It was also a product of the European union and integration in the post-World War II years and a peace plan designed and practiced to cope with frictions or internal wars inside the Europe that have harassed its unity and peaceful development for so long, and particularly old hatreds or scores between France and Germany that have existed for centuries.
Wu Yikang (abbreviated as Wu below): NATO is a military bloc employed by the U.S. to serve its global strategy and also its tool to vie with EU and proceed to divide and rule the Europe. EU, however, is a combination body of sovereign states designed to construct a brand-new Europe. So there is a world of differences between them in term of character, task, setup mechanism and ways of doing things.
Q: NATO was a product of the Cold War era, but it did not step out of the historical stage with the splitting up of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, and instead carried out its enlargement eastward. Then what is the reason for its continuous existence?
Yang: NATO would have been dissolved with the end of the Cold War, but the reality is not so. A summit meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Washing D.C. in April 1999 set forth a concept of a new strategy gearing to the new century. With consolidation of a strong independence force, a pure military-political organization was transferred to a political-military organization. The strategic goal of collective defense was changed over to a given balance between collective defense and crise management, and the security of alliance has to be considered under the global framework. So the mission of the era and reason for its continuous existence have been verified.
Wu: The existence of its continuous existence is also ascribed to the fear and suspicions of numerous European nations for the nuclear power of Russia, and the eastward enlargement and the attempt to extend the scope of its defense affairs also give expressions to the enduring Cold War shadows.
The complexity of the situation adds uncertainty to the relations between the U.S. and Russia and between Europe and Russia and, with upheavals wrought by color revolutions occasionally in the eastern region of the former Soviet Union, there is an ensuing hidden danger for the intensification of US-Russian contradictions.
Shen: First of all, this is a need for the U.S. to defend its global hegemony. The U.S., through the eastern enlargement of the NATO, attempts to penetrate its forces into the former Soviet republics in Central Asia to encircle Russia from its southern arc cycle and exert pressures onto China from West and North. Meanwhile, it attempts to link NATO with the Japan-US Security Treaty and the US-Australia-New Zealand Alliance. Furthermore, most of the NATO members still need to ally with the U.S. and hinges on NATO to back themselves up to increase its weight and influence in global affairs due to a slow progress in the process of the EU political integration.
Q: EU is a cooperative partner whereas NATO is rival or adversary to a certain country, but both organizations have shared most same member nations, and what the two organization have diametrically opposed significance to another country?
Wu: A certain country, here I suppose, refers to Russia, which takes EU as its vital and crucial cooperative partner. Bother sides intend to carry out active cooperation in economy, trade, security and a range of other cooperative spheres. Russia, however, has a growing aversion to the eastern enlargement of NATO and even denounced it openly. Its acknowledgement of and attitude toward the two organizations are determined by the character and purpose of the two organizations.
Shen: The EU nations, with a dread off Russia, chimed in with the NATO eastern enlargement strategy of the U.S. Russia is, however, concerned more about its immediate interests despite its resolute opposition to the encirclement, isolation and coercion by NATO and, likewise, EU also cares very much for its energy card and missile card. Hence, in spite of the US trying endeavor to coerce and suppress Russia with the help of EU nations, France, Germany, Italy, Greece and other EU
nations do not have an implicit faith in the U.S., and so EU nations are no longer counted as its little partners as a whole.
Yang: NATO still has relatively strong hues of the Cold War era following its shift to the post-Cold War era after 1999, as its reorganization was directed or orchestrated by the U.S., and it remained a US tool to seek global hegemony after being retooled. In contrast, EU, in a certain sense, resembles all the more like an economic community. To a certain country, EU is more like a strategic partner
rather than a vying adversary in view of its immense economic potential and its subtle and delicate ties with the U.S.
Q. Along with the steady uplifting in the strength of the EU itself, is it possible for the European nations to develop their European affairs and bypass the NATO, and what are development trends of NATO and EU in European affairs?
Shen: With its membership increasing to 27, the EU is still faced with a multitude of difficulties to its political integration resultant from its excessive enlargement. Referenda in both France and the Netherlands vetoed the draft EU charter not long ago imply a lot of hurdles yet to overcome with respect to the uniform diplomacy and defense policies of the E.U. Consequently, it is still hard for EU to replace the armed forces of NATO with its own force in a foreseeable future.
Wu: At present, the common security and defense policies for EU is in the making, and preparations for the EU Rapid Reaction Force is well under way, and the enlargement renders EU's peacekeeping mission with greater radius over the Balkan, Africa, Afghanistan, the Middle-east, the Trans-Caucasus and other regions. Furthermore, EU nations have stepped up their cooperation in war industry, military weaponry manufacturing and military researches among themselves.
Nevertheless, a few member nations propose turning to NATO to enhance the European defense matters. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open appeal to founding a joint EU armed force represents a positive trend.
Yang: With a strengthening of the strong independence force for EU and an estrangement of the US involvement, the EU will have a capacity to meet the goals pursued by Europeans incessantly for the control of crises and to perform peacekeeping and rescue operations.
Consequently, with a continuous uplifting of the economic and military might of EU, remarkable changes are expected to occur in the EU-NATO ties and somewhat lessen the American factor in the European affairs. By People's Daily Online
Evangelicals Transform Christian Unity in Canada APR 03,07
The increasing political influence of evangelical Christians in Canada is changing the face of Christian unity here, a story in the Anglican Journal reports. Over 50 percent of legislators belonging to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party are evangelical Christians.
They are becoming the mainline and we are becoming the sideline, says Lois Wilson, former president of the World Council of Churches. Even so, Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, says evangelicals and ecumenicals have co-operated on issues such as poverty reduction campaigns and bio-ethics.
Palestinians not ready for full contacts with EU, says Merkel02.04.2007 09:30 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
German chancellor Angela Merkel has urged the new Palestinian government to renounce violence and recognise Israel before it can resume full contacts with the European Union.
Some of the government ministers do not accept our criteria, Ms Merkel said after a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday (1 April) in Ramallah as part of her Middle East tour, according to press reports.She reacted to Mr Abbas' suggestion that the new Palestinian cabinet of national unity combining the Islamist Hamas group and secular Fatah movement had already met international demands.The so-called Middle East Quartet, composed of the UN, the US, the EU and Russia, has said the Palestinian government should recognise Israel, renounce violence and respect existing peace accords. The international community froze aid funds to the Palestinian administration last year after Hamas on the terrorist register both in the EU and the US won Palestinian elections. An EU-managed temporary mechanism bypassing the Hamas-led government was put in place to keep aid flowing to the impoverished Palestinian population.
Palestinians hoped the new unity government, formed two weeks ago, would pave the way for resuming aid and political contacts with international players.
But both the EU and the US remain reluctant to do so unless the Hamas group clearly renounces violence against Israel.At their meeting in Bremen on Friday and Saturday (30 - 31 March), EU foreign ministers pledged to meet non-Hamas moderate ministers in the administration a move criticised by Israel who refuses to deal with any government which includes Hamas members.We don't see any reason why we should not continue to see someone who we have known for many, many years, who has been cooperating with us, said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, adding I see no reason to cut contacts ...they're friends, we continue to cooperate with them.
Take rare chance at peace
During her weekend tour, Ms Merkel urged both Palestinian president and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to grab a rare chance at resuming the peace process, referring to the revival of a five-year-old Arab peace plan at a Riyadh summit of Arab countries last week.
We are going through a period where we feel that things are moving, she said at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she received an honorary doctorate on Sunday.There is a window of opportunity...There is a real chance of reaching a breakthrough and we must grasp it, she added, according to AFP.Mr Solana expressed similar optimism in Bremen.We are beginning to have signs of hope, he said, adding there is a new dynamic in the region which could revive the stalled Middle East peace efforts.
China Strengthens Military Ties With Sudan
By Daniel Schearf Beijing 03 April 2007
Chinese officials say they will push forward with military cooperation with Sudan, despite accusations Khartoum supports militias that have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Sudan's Darfur region. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.Western nations have long urged Beijing to use its influence with Sudan to get U.N. peacekeepers into the war-torn Darfur region, but China has instead used its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to prevent stronger condemnation of Khartoum.
This week, Beijing moved to strengthen ties with Sudan. During a visit by Sudan's military chief to Beijing, China's minister of defense said his government is willing to further develop cooperation between the two militaries in every sphere.China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Tuesday urged Sudan to be more flexible on the deployment of U.N. troops. But he indicated China would not support tougher measures against Khartoum.
We think Sudan's territorial integrity and sovereignty should be respected and a political solution should be found to the Darfur issue through equal dialogue and discussions, he said.China is the biggest buyer of Sudan's oil and a major source of weapons for Khartoum.
U.N. reports say the Sudanese government supports militias that have raped and killed about 200,000 people in Darfur and driven millions from their homes during a four-year civil war.Washington and London want stronger sanctions imposed against Khartoum for atrocities committed in Darfur, which the United States has called genocide.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
PASSOVER IN ISRAEL TODAY
PASSOVER IN ISRAEL TODAY CELEBRATING FREEDOM BY GOD FROM SLAVERY.APRIL 2 TO THE 10TH 2007. REMEMBER ISRAELI FEAST DAYS START AT 6:00 PM IN THE EVENING.
What is the significance of the Passover Seder? RABBI ECKSTEIN APR 02,07
The Hebrew word Seder means order of service, and refers to the order of ceremonies performed at the festive Passover meal. The Bible says that on Passover we are to tell the story of God's redemption of our ancestors from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 13:8-10). The Seder is the way in which we fulfill this biblically ordained obligation. We not only retell the story of the Exodus, but also feel as if we ourselves experienced the pain of slavery and joy of liberation. In the words of the Haggadah (the text containing the readings and ceremonies of the Seder) recited at the meal, In each generation a person must feel as if he himself just came out of Egypt.The Bible stresses the need to teach our children about the Exodus. Therefore, the Seder is structured to heighten the children's inquisitiveness and to sustain their interest. Indeed, the children are the central characters in the Seder meal— we do not begin telling the Exodus story until the youngest child asks, Why is this night different from all other nights of the year? Only after this question is asked does the family proceed to recount the story of the Exodus.
We drink four cups of wine (or grape juice) during the Seder meal to symbolize our trust in God's fourfold promise of redemption expressed in Exodus 6:6-7. The four promises are: I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians; I will free you from being slaves to them; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgment; and, I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Thus, the first cup of wine is called the cup of bringing forth, the second is the cup of deliverance, the third cup is the cup of redemption, and the fourth is the cup of acceptance.It is also customary to pour a fifth cup of wine representing the fifth and final stage of redemption— the Messianic promise, whereby God assures Israel that He will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession (Exodus 6:8). For centuries Jews have poured, but not drunk from this fifth cup of wine because God's promises regarding their return to the Jewish homeland and the dawn of the Messianic Age remained unfulfilled. This cup, therefore, became known as Elijah's cup since Jews expect the prophet Elijah to usher in the Messiah and the Jewish ingathering into the land of Israel.
In recent years the custom has taken root of setting aside an empty chair, a piece of matzoh, or a cup of wine. This custom symbolizes the incompleteness of our own joy and freedom as long as any of our fellow Jews are not free to celebrate, too. Jews in many countries are still living in bondage and are unable to freely practice their ancestral faith. We support their fight against oppression and attest that they will not be forgotten. During the Seder, we demonstrate our freedom by reclining slightly in the manner of Roman emperors.
Even if we live under oppressive conditions and are not, in fact, physically free, on this night we are to feel as if we were. Passover reminds us that true freedom is spiritual as well as physical, and that a condition of slavery and servitude cannot be externally denied or outwardly imposed. I have often marveled at how Jews living in oppressive conditions such as concentration camps during the Holocaust could recline and feel inwardly free on Passover. It is an amazing testimony to the power of God's spirit within us that many Jews did find the spiritual strength and courage feel free despite their wretched conditions.
Curiously, although Moses was the key figure in the Exodus, his name is not mentioned during the Seder. This omission was deliberate, say the Rabbis, so that we would not confuse Moses, the instrument of God's salvation, with God Himself.
Many of us today need to be reminded not to confuse God with those who speak in His name. Instead, we should reaffirm that God alone is Lord and man is simply His servant.In addition to recalling the ancient Jewish Exodus from Egypt, we are encouraged to actively pursue freedom for all those presently in bondage. Those in bondage are strangers in a foreign land and since we, too, were once strangers in Egypt, we can understand the grief in their hearts. Although the Jewish mission is to bring about man's spiritual freedom and redemption, Judaism regards the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed as equally enslaved and thus also in need of redemption. In the Jewish view, freedom and redemption have spiritual and physical dimensions.
Finally, there is a lesson taught by the first of the Ten Commandments, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Jewish tradition explains that the Bible seeks to teach us that God is not merely an abstract idea or object of philosophical speculation Who has no relevance to our daily lives and conditions.
The God of Israel, as the FirstCommandment states, is a God who hears the cries of the oppressed and of all who call upon him in truth (Psalms 145:1). He is a God who cares deeply about humankind so much so that He intervened in human history to liberate His people from oppression in Egypt.It is this message of a loving, caring and personal God that Israel, His holy people, are to carry to all humankind. This central Jewish affirmation is based on the Exodus experience and is celebrated in the Passover festival. It has guided Jews for centuries and continues to do so today.
PASSOVER DAY 1 SCRIPTURES.
TORAH
EXODUS 12:21-51
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
NUMBERS 28:16-25
16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
18 In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:
19 But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:
20 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;
21 A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
22 And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.
23 Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
25 And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.
PROPHETS
JOSHUA 3:5-7
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
JOSHUA 5:2-6:1
2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.
12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
JOSHUA 6:27
27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
ISAIAH 52:13-53:12
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
ANYTIME DURING THE FESTIVAL
MATTHEW CHAPTERS 26-28
MARK CHAPTERS 14-16
LUKE CHAPTERS 22-24
JOHN CHAPTERS 13-21
What is the significance of the Passover Seder? RABBI ECKSTEIN APR 02,07
The Hebrew word Seder means order of service, and refers to the order of ceremonies performed at the festive Passover meal. The Bible says that on Passover we are to tell the story of God's redemption of our ancestors from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 13:8-10). The Seder is the way in which we fulfill this biblically ordained obligation. We not only retell the story of the Exodus, but also feel as if we ourselves experienced the pain of slavery and joy of liberation. In the words of the Haggadah (the text containing the readings and ceremonies of the Seder) recited at the meal, In each generation a person must feel as if he himself just came out of Egypt.The Bible stresses the need to teach our children about the Exodus. Therefore, the Seder is structured to heighten the children's inquisitiveness and to sustain their interest. Indeed, the children are the central characters in the Seder meal— we do not begin telling the Exodus story until the youngest child asks, Why is this night different from all other nights of the year? Only after this question is asked does the family proceed to recount the story of the Exodus.
We drink four cups of wine (or grape juice) during the Seder meal to symbolize our trust in God's fourfold promise of redemption expressed in Exodus 6:6-7. The four promises are: I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians; I will free you from being slaves to them; I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgment; and, I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Thus, the first cup of wine is called the cup of bringing forth, the second is the cup of deliverance, the third cup is the cup of redemption, and the fourth is the cup of acceptance.It is also customary to pour a fifth cup of wine representing the fifth and final stage of redemption— the Messianic promise, whereby God assures Israel that He will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession (Exodus 6:8). For centuries Jews have poured, but not drunk from this fifth cup of wine because God's promises regarding their return to the Jewish homeland and the dawn of the Messianic Age remained unfulfilled. This cup, therefore, became known as Elijah's cup since Jews expect the prophet Elijah to usher in the Messiah and the Jewish ingathering into the land of Israel.
In recent years the custom has taken root of setting aside an empty chair, a piece of matzoh, or a cup of wine. This custom symbolizes the incompleteness of our own joy and freedom as long as any of our fellow Jews are not free to celebrate, too. Jews in many countries are still living in bondage and are unable to freely practice their ancestral faith. We support their fight against oppression and attest that they will not be forgotten. During the Seder, we demonstrate our freedom by reclining slightly in the manner of Roman emperors.
Even if we live under oppressive conditions and are not, in fact, physically free, on this night we are to feel as if we were. Passover reminds us that true freedom is spiritual as well as physical, and that a condition of slavery and servitude cannot be externally denied or outwardly imposed. I have often marveled at how Jews living in oppressive conditions such as concentration camps during the Holocaust could recline and feel inwardly free on Passover. It is an amazing testimony to the power of God's spirit within us that many Jews did find the spiritual strength and courage feel free despite their wretched conditions.
Curiously, although Moses was the key figure in the Exodus, his name is not mentioned during the Seder. This omission was deliberate, say the Rabbis, so that we would not confuse Moses, the instrument of God's salvation, with God Himself.
Many of us today need to be reminded not to confuse God with those who speak in His name. Instead, we should reaffirm that God alone is Lord and man is simply His servant.In addition to recalling the ancient Jewish Exodus from Egypt, we are encouraged to actively pursue freedom for all those presently in bondage. Those in bondage are strangers in a foreign land and since we, too, were once strangers in Egypt, we can understand the grief in their hearts. Although the Jewish mission is to bring about man's spiritual freedom and redemption, Judaism regards the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed as equally enslaved and thus also in need of redemption. In the Jewish view, freedom and redemption have spiritual and physical dimensions.
Finally, there is a lesson taught by the first of the Ten Commandments, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Jewish tradition explains that the Bible seeks to teach us that God is not merely an abstract idea or object of philosophical speculation Who has no relevance to our daily lives and conditions.
The God of Israel, as the FirstCommandment states, is a God who hears the cries of the oppressed and of all who call upon him in truth (Psalms 145:1). He is a God who cares deeply about humankind so much so that He intervened in human history to liberate His people from oppression in Egypt.It is this message of a loving, caring and personal God that Israel, His holy people, are to carry to all humankind. This central Jewish affirmation is based on the Exodus experience and is celebrated in the Passover festival. It has guided Jews for centuries and continues to do so today.
PASSOVER DAY 1 SCRIPTURES.
TORAH
EXODUS 12:21-51
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.
22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.
33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
36 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.
41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.
42 It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:
44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.
46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
NUMBERS 28:16-25
16 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the LORD.
17 And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
18 In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:
19 But ye shall offer a sacrifice made by fire for a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, and seven lambs of the first year: they shall be unto you without blemish:
20 And their meat offering shall be of flour mingled with oil: three tenth deals shall ye offer for a bullock, and two tenth deals for a ram;
21 A several tenth deal shalt thou offer for every lamb, throughout the seven lambs:
22 And one goat for a sin offering, to make an atonement for you.
23 Ye shall offer these beside the burnt offering in the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering.
24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
25 And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work.
PROPHETS
JOSHUA 3:5-7
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
JOSHUA 5:2-6:1
2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.
12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
JOSHUA 6:27
27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
ISAIAH 52:13-53:12
13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
ANYTIME DURING THE FESTIVAL
MATTHEW CHAPTERS 26-28
MARK CHAPTERS 14-16
LUKE CHAPTERS 22-24
JOHN CHAPTERS 13-21
IRAN - SYRIA SUMMER WAR WITH US
REMEMBER EVERYONE PASSOVER STARTS AT 6:00 PM IN ISRAEL TONIGHT. IT WAS NO ACCIDENT THAT 8.0 QUAKE OCCURRED YESTERDAY, ITS A WAKEUP CALL FOLKS. REMEMBER PROPHECIES WILL BE FULFILLED ON THESE DAYS IN ISRAEL, KEEP A WATCH OF THE NEWS FOR HAPPENINGS THIS WEEK.REMEMBER THE DAY JESUS DIED THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE. THESE ARE WAKE UP CALLS TO THE WORLD TO REPENT BEFORE THE JUDGEMENT COMES ON ALL THE WORLD.
Today In Jewish History 14 Nisan APR 02,07
In the Hebrew year 2448 (1312 BCE), the Jews in Egypt offered the Passover lamb, to be eaten later that night at the first Passover Seder. This was an act of great courage, as sheep were regarded as idols in Egyptian society, and the Jews were technically still subject to Egyptian slavery.
This was God's way of emphasizing the idea that Egyptian society was in a state of collapse. In times of the Holy Temple, the Passover Lamb would be offered by every Jewish family; many thousands of lambs would be processed and prepared in the Temple during the afternoon hours preceding the Passover holiday.
On this date in 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising broke out. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazis during the Holocaust. It initially held 400,000 people (30% of the entire population of Warsaw), crammed into a tiny area.
In its three years of existence, some 100,000 Jews died of disease and starvation, before the Nazis deported some 265,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp. When the Nazis decided to liquidate the ghetto, Jewish resistance fighters took action, digging hundreds of bunkers under the houses, connected through the sewage system.
The final battle started on the eve of Passover 1943. Some 750 Jewish partisans shot and threw grenades at German patrols from alleyways, sewers and buildings. The Nazis responded with tanks and flamethrowers, rounding up or killing any Jew they could capture. After several days without quelling the uprising, the Nazis ordered the ghetto burned to the ground. The uprising ended after one month; approximately 300 Germans and 7,000 Jews were killed in the fighting. The remaining 30,000 Jews were sent to Treblinka for extermination. Several dozen fighters escaped through the sewers, and a number of these survivors went on to found Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, located near Acco in Israel.
Court prevents groups from sacrificing live animals at Temple Mount APR 02,07 By Nadav Shargai and Amiram Barkat , Haaretz Correspondent
In their efforts to sacrifice a live animal at the Temple Mount, the New Sanhedrin Council adopted an almost underground modus operandi. Rabbis Adin Steinsaltz, Israel Ariel, Yishai Baved and their associates secretly located a butcher, found a Cohen hailing from a lineage 1,000 years old and worked out a plan to quickly erect an alter on the Temple Mount. They tried to revive the customs of the ancient Sanhedrin tribunal, which was the highest judicial body for the Jewish people in Israel some 1,600 years ago. They sought to slaughter a sacrificial animal across from the Western Wall.
The activists, who belong to various religious circles such as the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement, also petitioned the High Court of Justice for the right to perform the ritual. Their plans were thwarted on Sunday when the court rejected their request, ruling that the rights of the petitioners to practice their faith are outweighed by other considerations such as public order and safety.Despite the ruling, the followers decided to hold a colorful procession on Sunday in Jerusalem, heading to the Western Wall along with two sheep.
The Temple Mount Movement followers present were joined by partners from the Temple Institute, which has for years prepared the traditional holy tools and utensils for the Third Temple, according to Torah specifications. The spectacular display did not, however, persuade authorities to allow the participants to perform the practice. Their petition to the court was by no means the first one. In recent years, the High Court of Justice rejected several such petitions filed by the Temple Mount Movement and other associations, dedicated to erecting the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The court invariably cited the same reasons for its ruling. In Passover 1991, dedicated believers decided it was time for action, and tried to sacrifice a lamb in the premises. They were, however, quickly stopped by police. One of the most daring plans to perform the religious ritual at the holy site belongs to the ultra right-wing religious movement Kach. Some 20 years ago, its members worked out an plan to infiltrate the Western Wall Plaza at dusk with a lamb and foldable alter. The plan never materialized, partly owing to the fact that Passover that year coincided with the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Earlier and bolder still was the plan of the Temple Mount Movement to hire a helicopter pilot to parachute a ready-made alter onto the Western Wall Plaza.
There, it would serve a group of followers on the ground, sacrificial lamb in hand. As in previous cases, the plan never quite took off the ground.
OTHER NEWS HAPPENINGS FOR APR 02,07
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Tsunami devastates western Solomons. 3-Changes coming
nationwide this week. 4-Los Angeles suffers longest dry spell in 130 years. 5-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein. 6-Pastor: Christ did not die for sin .Calls Easter message repulsive, insane makes God sound like a psychopath. 7-The Hebrew University was founded on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount. Is this the third temple? 8-Saudi: Israel should accept 2002 deal. 9-Israel steps up Security for Passover ahead of Weeklong Passover Holliday. 10-Iran, Syria prepping for U.S. summer war.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon Apr 2 12:00 PM EDT
APR 02,07
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 6.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.2 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.4 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 AISEN, CHILE
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
APR 01,07
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 6.4 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 6.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 8.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.7 OAXACA, MEXICO
MAP 4.0 OAXACA, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.4 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 OREGON
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.2 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
Tsunami devastates western Solomons By GEORGE HERMING, Associated Press Writer APR 02,07
HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Tsunami waves churned by an undersea earthquake crashed ashore in the Solomon Islands on Monday, wiping away entire villages and triggering alerts from Australia to Hawaii, officials said. At least 13 people were killed and the toll was expected to rise.
In the South Pacific nation's remote west, where the devastation appeared centered, there were reports of people being swept away as waves plowed up to a half-mile inland.It was just a noise like an underground explosion, said Dorothy Parkinson, a resident of Gizo, where a wall of water swept through the streets. The wave came almost instantaneously. Everything that was standing is flattened.Residents of the town of 7,000 fled to a nearby hill.There wasn't any warning — the warning was the earth tremors, Alex Lokopio, premier of Western Province, told New Zealand's National Radio. It shook us very, very strongly and we were frightened, and all of a sudden the sea was rising up.Along the coast all of the property was washed away to the open sea, he said.
Julian Makaa, spokesman for the Solomons National Disaster Management Office, said extensive destruction was reported in the South Pacific nation's west. But details remained sketchy because communications were reduced in many cases to scratchy two-way radio lines, and emergency officials struggled to reach outlying areas.Alfred Maesulia, the information director in Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's office, said late Monday that 13 people were killed and an unknown number remained missing.Some people were seen floating on the sea during the big waves but it was very difficult to go near them, Maesulia told The Associated Press.The magnitude-8 quake struck shortly after 7:39 a.m. six miles beneath the sea floor, about 215 miles northwest of the Solomons capital, Honiara, the U.S. Geological Survey said.Within five minutes, waves 10-16 feet tall roared ashore and went up to half a mile inland, inundating buildings and sending thousands fleeing for higher ground,
witnesses said.
The Pacific region went on high alert for several hours after the quake struck between the islands of Bougainville and New Georgia, with Sydney's famous Bondi among beaches closed more than 1,250 miles away in Australia.Warnings from the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center were lifted within hours for areas outside the Solomons, but Australian officials closed beaches along the length of the country's east coast, stopped ferry services in Sydney and warned fishing boats to return to port in precautionary measures that were lifted by the end of the day.We just feel it's best to err on the side of caution, said Warren Young, the chief lifeguard on Australia's Gold Coast, about 1,370 miles from the quake's epicenter.In Gizo, the capital of Solomons' Western Province, Judith Kennedy said
water right up to your head swept through the town. Her father, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy, said the surge carried detritus.There are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down, he said by mobile phone as he toured Gizo.Maesulia said residents of Simbo, Choiseul and Ranunga islands near Gizo also reported deaths and widespread destruction.There are reports that some villages were completely washed away, he said.
Sasamungga village is quite a big village. ... It was reported that 300 houses were completely destroyed in that village alone.Lokopio said up to 4,000 people who fled to a hill behind the town may be in need of emergency shelter and other supplies. He said most of the town's government offices were badly damaged, along with police stations and at least one hospital. Strong aftershocks continued throughout the day.
Solomon Islands deputy police commissioner Peter Marshall said three military helicopters would fly to the stricken region on Tuesday with supplies for the homeless. He said a national state of emergency has been declared. The Solomon Islands is an impoverished archipelago of more than 200 islands northeast of Australia, with a population of about 552,000 people, that lies on the Pacific Basin's so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines where quakes frequently happen. In 2004, a magnitude-9 quake sent tsunami waves slamming into the coastlines of a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean's rim, killing about 230,000 people.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Changes coming nationwide this week Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel APR 02,07
Northeast
Showery weather will greet commuters in New England this morning. In Northern New England, snow will be possible, prompting winter weather advisories to be posted over parts of New Hampshire and Maine. Below average temperatures continue over New England, while farther south and west above average temperatures rule and will do so into Tuesday.
Showers return to the interior Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, withthunderstorms possible on Wednesday. Snow returns to the interior Northeast, and near the Great Lakes, Thursday and Friday. From Wednesday through the end of the week, the entire region will have below average high temperatures.
Midwest
In the Northern Plains, a new storm system is gathering strength and is forecast to bring significant snows to parts of North Dakota and northern Minnesota. Winter storm watches are posted from North Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Farther south, rain will change to snow in South Dakota and southern Minnesota as the day progresses and into this evening. Meanwhile, the Great Lakes will continue to see rain from the same system that brought rain to much of the Midwest and Plains late last week and over the weekend. This system will move north and eastward through Canada and into the Atlantic as the next system (the one bringing precipitation to the Northern Plains) moves in. By Tuesday, snow and wind will be the big weather features across the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains, while a chance of severe thunderstorms will threaten much of the Mississippi Valley into the Great Lakes and Lower Ohio Valley. By Wednesday, colder air will move into the region with snow showers possible over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Snow showers will linger into Friday near the Lakes, while snow and rain will return to the Plains on Thursday and Friday. Below average temperatures will be the rule today over North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, and spread across the entire region by Wednesday through the weekend.
South
Scattered showers, with a thunderstorm or two as well, is possible in the Southeast today, with the best chances being near the Gulf and Southeast Atlantic Coasts. Shower and thunderstorm chances will be more widespread on Tuesday, with severe storms possible in central and eastern Arkansas into western Tennessee. Thunderstorms will again be possible on Wednesday from the Appalachians to the Tennessee Valley before moving into Florida on Thursday. Rain (with a few thunderstorms) will be possible in the Southern Plains on Thursday and Friday. Behind the frontal boundary that helps kick up the storm chances, colder air will be moving in. Temperatures are expected to be above average today and Tuesday before cooling off on Wednesday. Highs in Virginia, the Carolinas, coastal Georgia, and Florida will stay above average on Wednesday before cooling off to below average readings for Thursday and Friday.
West
A developing storm system in the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains is the beginning of the end of warmer than average temperatures for the Eastern United States for later this week.
A winter storm watch is posted for portions of eastern Montana, with a winter weather advisory for parts of northeastern Montana. Snow advisories and heavy snow warnings are posted in central Montana southward into western Wyoming. Further to the south in the Southern and Central Rockies and the High Plains of Colorado and New Mexico, an elevated risk of wild fires exists today due to dry air and gusty winds expected today. Southern California continues to stay dry and precipitation-free, continuing the path to what could easily become the driest water year on record for Los Angeles.
Showers return to the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday, and much of the Interior West on Thursday and Friday. While the Southwest remains warm with above average high temperatures, the Northwest and Northern Rockies are expected to have below average high temperatures today and tomorrow before warming by mid and late week.
FAMINE
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Los Angeles suffers longest dry spell in 130 years Sun Apr 1, 6:45 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Los Angeles is going through its longest dry spell in at least 130 years, the National Weather Service said Sunday, fueling fears of rampant wildfires which have plagued the US west coast in recent years. The rain season is currently the driest to date in downtown Los Angeles since records began in 1877, the weather service said in a statement.It said the southern California city had received just 2.47 inches (6.27 centimeters) of rain since July 1, 2006, far from the normal precipitation of 13.94 inches (35.4 centimeters) in the same period.If downtown Los Angeles receives less than 1.95 inches of rain from now through June 30th this will become the driest rain season ever, it said.The record-holder is the 2001-2002 season which saw just 4.42 inches (11.22 centimeters) of rain.Southern California is repeatedly the victim of wildfires, some of them of criminal origin like the arson-caused inferno that blazed Friday near the famed Hollywood sign in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, destroying some 150 acres (60 hectares) of brush.The worst earth-scorching year on record in the United States was in 2006, when fires burned nearly 15.5 thousand square miles (39,957 square kilometers) -- an area close to the size of Switzerland.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
APR 02, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Thirty years ago, when I organized the first ever Evangelical-Jewish dialogue, I was heartened to discover that there were great numbers of evangelical Christians who were firmly supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. These friends of Israel had a hunger to demonstrate that support in tangible and meaningful ways, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and to learn more about Israel and the Jewish roots of their Christian faith.Recognizing this hunger, and drawing on the shared biblical heritage of both Christians and Jews, in 1983 I founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between these faith communities.The Fellowship's success has far exceeded my expectations. Through God's blessing, millions of people have been assisted through our various programs helping Jews return to their biblical homeland and providing humanitarian aid to desperate Jews in need in Israel and around the world. In turn, hundreds of thousands of Christians have experienced the biblical promise of blessing to those who bless the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3).
The importance and value of The Fellowship's work and our Christian donors' support for Israel was recognized by the Israeli government last year when I was appointed Israel's Goodwill Ambassador to Evangelical communities in Latin America. During my travels through this vibrant part of the world, I have seen that Latin American Christians, too, have a hunger to know more about Israel and the Jewish people, and to deepen their own faith by learning more about the Jewish roots of Christianity.
To fill this need, I am happy to announce that The Fellowship is launching a broad outreach into Latin America. Our new Director of Latin America and U.S. Hispanic Ministries, Douglas Dye, La Fraternidad Internacional de Cristianos y Judios will be working closely with me to bring The Fellowship's bridge-building message to the region through initiatives like Ask the Rabbi, a five-minute, Spanish language radio show that will air on Christian radio stations throughout Central and South America. Ask the Rabbi will give me the opportunity to discuss various aspects of Jewish life, faith and observance, to explore the Jewish roots of Christianity, and to look in depth at the history of Israel and the Jewish people. Our new Spanish-language website, www.FraternidadInternacional.org, will help Latin American Christians learn about Israel and the Jewish people and support the lifesaving work of The Fellowship.
And a monthly Spanish-language e-newsletter will alert them to new initiatives and events affecting Israel and the Jewish people. I encourage you to share this site with your Spanish-speaking friends.I have always believed that the bonds that unite Christians and Jews are far stronger and more significant than the issues that divide us. They are bonds based on biblical truths that transcend language and culture. We at The Fellowship feel privileged to be strengthening these bonds with Latin American Christians, and pray that God will bless our new endeavor, just as He has so richly blessed our work to date.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians And Jews.
JUDE 8-16
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.(JESUS)
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
HERE WE GO AGAIN ANOTHER GODLESS CHRISTIAN HOMOSEXUAL WHO WILL PAY BIGTIME FOR PUTTING JESUS DOWN IN THE FUTURE.
TESTING THE FAITH
Pastor: Christ did not die for sin .Calls Easter message repulsive, insane makes God sound like a psychopath April 1, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - WorldNetDaily.com
Church of England traditionalists, wearied by the battles over homosexuality in the church and the clergy, are about to take it on their spiritual chins once again when a leading gay cleric will tell listeners to BBC Radio 4 that Christianity's traditional teaching on Christ's crucifixion for the sins of mankind is repulsive, insane and makes God sound like a psychopath.
Rev. Jeffrey John, who was forced to withdraw before assuming a position as bishop in 2003 after it was learned he was in a longterm homosexual relationship, is scheduled to appear on Wednesday and will criticize ministers who use their Easter messages to preach that Jesus was sent to earth to die as an atonement for sin, reported the London Telegraph. Christian theology has taught the doctrine of penal substitution that humans, alienated from God by their sins and unable to save themselves, could only be forgiven by God sending Christ as a substitute to suffer and die in their place.
In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as long as we said we believed in him, said John. This is repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a psychopath.
If a human behaved like this we'd say that they [sic] were a monster.John, who currently serves as dean of St. Albans, raised a furor when he and Rev. Grant Holmes, a hospital chaplain, entered into a civil partnership last August. Church of England clergy may enter into gay marriage if they assure their bishop they are to remain celibate. In rejecting penal substitution, John will reportedly propose a different interpretation of Christ's death, suggesting Christ was crucified so he could share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us.
Too many Christians fail to understand God is about love and truth, not wrath and punishment, Johns said. Rev. Tom Wright, the bishop of Durham, blasted the BBC for giving John such an influential forum to make provocative claims on traditional beliefs, saying John's statements attacked the central message of the Christian gospel. He is denying the way in which we understand Christ's sacrifice. It is right to stress that he is a God of love but he is ignoring that this means he must also be angry at everything that distorts human life, Wright said. I'm fed up with the BBC for choosing to give privilege to these unfortunate views in Holy Week, he said.
THESE ISRAELIS BETTER NOT BE SYMBOLIZING SCRIPTURES THEY WILL BE COMING TO PASS LITERALLY NOT SYMBOLICALY.
The Hebrew University was founded on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount. Is this the third temple? Dr. Yair Paz Published: MAR 30,07
Parashat Tzav specifiess the details of various sacrifices, and concludes (Leviticus 7:37-38): This is the law of the burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the consecration, and of the peace offerings, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai. One of the exciting intellectual challenges facing modern, traditional-minded Jews is our response to the substantial parts of Leviticus that are dedicated to the bringing of animal sacrifices to the Sanctuary as part of the sacral service and spiritual transcendence. One of the interesting examples of the modern attempt to confront this issue is related to the founding of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount, and the spiritual ideas that accompanied the building of the campus on that particular site.
In 1913, the Zionist Congress discussed the establishing of the Hebrew University. On one hand, the creation of a university answered a functional academic need, particularly in light of the restrictions placed upon the admission of Jewish students to European universities.
On the other hand, the desire to establish the university in Jerusalem expressed a symbolic national need. The two central figures that addressed the issue spoke in similar terms. Menachem Ussishkin, one of the leaders of Hovevei Zion and later the president of the Jewish National Fund, stated in his speech to the Congress in August 1913: on the ninth of Av this year, we mark two thousand five hundred years since the foe and enemy came to the holy place and destroyed our Temple Two thousand five hundred years ago, our national temple God’s Sanctuary on Mount Moriah - was destroyed. Now we come full of faith and hope to build a new national temple, the sanctuary of wisdom and science on Mount Zion… Chaim Weizmann, president of the Zionist Organization, was of two minds in regard to the address he was to deliver on this subject. In a letter two his wife Vera, he confided some of his doubts: I feel a sense of great responsibility in regard to the address that I must prepare for the Congress…While it is true that the Hebrew University and the Tomb of Jesus can hardly dwell under one roof, we cannot relinquish Jerusalem. We must take the risk! This is the only motto that, I believe, can resonate: The Hebrew University – Die Zionsuniversität auf dem Berg Zion (The Univeristy of Zion on Mount Zion) – the Third Temple!
New national temple
There are two salient common threads to these statements. One is that the university will rise on the heights of Mount Zion, and the second that it will be a new national temple or Third Temple. Ultimately, the university was built atop Mount Scopus, and many continued to portray it as a new temple in speeches, ceremonies, and architecture. On the day of its inauguration, even the newspaper headlines quoted Isaiah 2:2: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.But why did a modern nationalist movement turn to the imagery of a purely religious institution the Temple to reinforce public consciousness in regard to its modern institutions?
And why was it the university in Jerusalem that warranted metaphoric comparison to the most elevated religious institution (and perhaps more than mere comparison?), rather than the legislature or the Supreme Court?
The answer is complex, but it would appear that one of the sources may lie in Midrash Tanhuma on the verse with which we began. The verse reads: zot ha-torah la-olah la-minha ve-la-hatat ve-la-asham ve-la-milu’im u-la-zevah ha-shelamim .
This is the law of the burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the offering of consecration, and of the peace offerings. The midrash, however, understands the preposition la as a separate word meaning no, thus rendering the verse: zot ha-torah la olah la minha ve-la hatat ve-la asham ve-la milu’im u-la zevah ha-shelamim – This is the law (Torah): Not burnt offering, not cereal offering, not sin offering, not guilt offering, not the offering of consecration, and not the peace offerings.And the midrash concludes: But be engaged in Torah and I will deem it as if you had brought all of the sacrifices.In other words, as opposed to the approach that views prayer as a mere substitute to compensate for the loss of the sacrifices, the midrash appears to reject sacrifices in favor of a preferred alternative. This idea was developed by some of the more innovative Jewish thinkers, like Maimonides and Rabbi Kook, who were not always
understood by the general public. Similarly, those engaged in the national enlightenment movement connected the Torah of the modern temple of knowledge with
the Torah of the Temple of old in their efforts to give modern Jewish cultural significance to their pioneering efforts. Dr. Yair Paz is the head of the Land of Israel Studies track at the Schechter Institute
Saudi: Israel should accept 2002 deal By ABDULLAH SHIHRI, Associated Press Writer APR 02,07
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Israel should withdraw from Arab territory and allow the creation of a Palestinian state before Arabs recognize it, a Saudi official said Monday in the kingdom's fir comment since Israel's prime minister invited Arab leaders to discuss their ideas for peace with him. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday specifically called on Saudi Arabia to take the lead, the first time Israel has made such a request of the Saudis, who maintain a state of war with Israel but are pushing for a peace deal.The Saudi official told The Associated Press that before any meeting could be considered, Israel should accept the 2002 Arab peace initiative that would recognize Israel in exchange for withdrawal from captured territory and a just solution for the Palestinian refugees. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.At a summit in Saudi Arabia last week, the Arab League renewed its commitment to the peace initiative, which was initially proposed by Saudi Arabia. Olmert welcomed the decision but said Israel did not accept all parts of the plan.
He said that if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia were to invite him, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and moderate Arab leaders to a meeting to present Saudi Arabia's ideas before us, we will come to hear them and be glad to offer our ideas.Egypt's assistant foreign minister for Arab affairs, Hani Khallaf, was quoted as saying Monday that the Arab side cannot negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians. The Jordanian government did not make any immediate comments.Syria had no immediate comment to the latest Israeli offer. At a meeting with Olmert on Sunday, the Israeli premier asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) to take a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad that if Syria stops its support for terrorism, Israel would be interested in making peace.
In a March 22 interview with French television, Assad said seeking peace with Israel is a firm principle, but stressed that the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, was a Syrian right that would not be compromised.The land must be returned in full. Any other details are subject to negotiations but land is not. It is Syrian land, he said.Israel occupies Syria's Golan Heights and the disputed Chebaa Farms, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet, as well as areas in the West Bank.Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, responding in Beirut to a question on Olmert's call, said the Arab peace initiative was based on the very principle of land for peace. And this is something that Israel has to understand.Saniora said Israel's use of military force and launching wars on Lebanon and Arab countries did not bring peace.Therefore, I think it's about time for the Israelis to realize that eventually it is important to establish real peace in the region and accept the Arab peace initiative in its entirety, Saniora said.Almost every Israeli prime minister has called for peace talks with moderate Arab leaders over the years, but the only multinational forum was the 1991 Madrid conference, which was followed by secret Israeli-Palestinian contacts and a series of interim peace accords.Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Olmert should agree to the Arab peace initiative.I think if he accepts the Arab peace initiative, it would open the way to many conferences, not one, he said.Associated Press Writer Karin Laub contributed to this story from Jerusalem.
Israel steps up Security for Passover ahead of Weeklong Passover Holliday.By STEVE WEIZMAN APR 02,07
JERUSALEM Apr 2, 2007 (AP)— Ultra-Orthodox Jews burned bread and other leavened foods in communal bonfires Monday, completing preparations for Passover. The weeklong holiday commemorates the flight of the ancient Israelites from bondage in Egypt, as described in the Old Testament. Observant Jews eat matzo, unleavened bread, to illustrate how their ancestors had no time to let their bread rise as they fled. Even the normally unobservant scour their homes to get rid of any particle of food that contains, or may have touched, leavening. The army sealed off the West Bank early Sunday as a precaution against Palestinian attacks. The closure will last through the holiday, affecting some 50,000 Palestinian who cross into Israel every day to work.
Exceptions would be made for humanitarian cases and for Christians visiting family inside Israel for Easter, the army said. Police were on high alert, putting reinforcements on the streets. A suicide attack on Passover diners at a hotel in the Israeli city of Netanya killed 30 Israelis in 2002. Israel's chief rabbis instructed believers to add a holiday prayer for the safe return of three Israeli soldiers abducted last summer by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and by Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen. The Supreme Court Sunday blocked plans by Jewish fundamentalists to sacrifice a sheep at the site of the biblical Jewish temples, as was the practice at major festivals in ancient times. The rock platform where the temples built by Solomon and Herod once stood, now houses the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, is holy to both faiths and has been a frequent flashpoint. In February, Israeli work on a ramp leading up to the hilltop site touched off clashes between police and local Muslims and brought howls of protest from around the Islamic world. The Haaretz daily said the Supreme Court denied the Jews permission to carry out animal sacrifice at the site, fearing it might provoke Muslims.The rights of the petitioners to practice their faith are outweighed by other considerations, such as public order and safety, Haaretz quoted the court ruling as saying.
Iran, Syria prepping for U.S. summer war
Israel: Arab countries expect strike, notes defensive military movements
April 2, 2007 - 1:23 p.m. Eastern - By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia are preparing for a U.S.-led war this summer, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. Their preparation is defensive ahead of war. ... They fear a war initiated by the Americans because they understand that there might be an attack against Iran over the summer, but not by Israel, IDF Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the Knesset today. Yadlin said Iran and Syria believe a war this summer will be initiated by the U.S. and that Israel will be involved. He said Israel has been monitoring Iranian fortification of Tehran's military positions; Syrian military movements and indications of war preparation with the help of Iran; and the large-scale smuggling of Iranian-supplied weapons to Hezbollah. Yadlin noted the war preparations are defensive. He said Israel doesn't expect Iran or Syria to start a confrontation. What we are seeing is their preparation for the possibility of war in the summer. My assessment is that they are defensive preparations for war, Yadlin told the Knesset.
The military intelligence chief, though, said he feared hostilities could break out even without a U.S.-led strike because of the involvement of many players.WND previously reported Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF's intelligence research division, said the Syrian army has been placed on high alert for attacks. He said Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered increased production of long-range missiles and instructed the Syrian military to position anti-tank missiles closer to the Syrian border with Israel. Security officials told WND there have been indications Syria is seeking to launch a provocation. Assad has made multiple statements to his state-run media he is preparing his army for war. Also the officials say state-run Syrian media have been broadcasting regular warlike messages unseen since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Syria and Egypt launched invasions from the Golan and the Sinai desert.
The tone [in Syria] is one of preparing the public for a war, said a senior security official. He said any Syrian provocation would likely be coordinated with Iran. Tehran and Damascus, which both support Hezbollah, have signed several military pacts. Also, according to Israeli intelligence officials, Iran and Syria have been smuggling mass quantities of weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The officials say
Hezbollah has regained most of its strength since the militia's war last summer with the Jewish state and that the rate of weapons smuggling has nearly doubled the past few weeks. The Iranian weapons are coming in so furiously, there are even indications Syria is worried about Israeli deterrent action against Hezbollah, a security official said. WND reported earlier this month Iran has been working with Palestinian groups in Gaza to help improve the range of Palestinian rockets, smuggle in mass quantities of weapons, construct underground bunkers and build guerrilla-like armies. Israel says Hamas is sending hundreds of Gaza-based militants to Iran for prolonged periods of advanced training and that the smuggling of weaponry into Gaza from the neighboring Egyptian Sinai desert recently increased six-fold. Israeli officials say Palestinian terror groups were taking advantage of a cease-fire signed in November to enhance rockets and create a complex system of underground war bunkers.
The reports of Iranian and Syrian war preparations come alongside the announcement this weekend by an American congressional delegation visiting Damascus stating they believe there is an opportunity for dialogue with the Syrian leadership. We came because we believe there is an opportunity for dialogue, read a statement by the American diplomats released by the U.S. Embassy in Syria today. We are following in the lead of Ronald Reagan, who reached out to the Soviets during the Cold War.Earlier this month, Ellen Sauerbrey, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, visited Damascus in a public gesture widely seen as an expression of Washington's willingness to engage Damascus. Sauerbrey was the most senior U.S. official to visit Syria since the U.S. withdrew its ambassador following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which Syria was widely blamed. Syria also openly provides refuge to Palestinian terror leaders and has been shipping weapons to Hezbollah. Damascus is accused of
supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq.
Alongside the reports of Arab war preparations, Israel has also been taking some defensive measures. Two weeks ago the Jewish state engaged in a nationwide wartime drill, acting out responses to various wartime scenarios, including salvoes of chemical-tipped missiles and major terrorist attacks. It was the largest war drill held in Israel since its establishment in 1948. Israeli government spokesmen said the drills were to test lessons learned during last summer's war against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israeli security sources also confirmed to WND stepped-up training schedules for IDF reservist troops. They say the training is not related to any expected confrontations, but is in response to internal military investigations that found reservists were not properly trained for the Lebanon war.
Today In Jewish History 14 Nisan APR 02,07
In the Hebrew year 2448 (1312 BCE), the Jews in Egypt offered the Passover lamb, to be eaten later that night at the first Passover Seder. This was an act of great courage, as sheep were regarded as idols in Egyptian society, and the Jews were technically still subject to Egyptian slavery.
This was God's way of emphasizing the idea that Egyptian society was in a state of collapse. In times of the Holy Temple, the Passover Lamb would be offered by every Jewish family; many thousands of lambs would be processed and prepared in the Temple during the afternoon hours preceding the Passover holiday.
On this date in 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising broke out. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazis during the Holocaust. It initially held 400,000 people (30% of the entire population of Warsaw), crammed into a tiny area.
In its three years of existence, some 100,000 Jews died of disease and starvation, before the Nazis deported some 265,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp. When the Nazis decided to liquidate the ghetto, Jewish resistance fighters took action, digging hundreds of bunkers under the houses, connected through the sewage system.
The final battle started on the eve of Passover 1943. Some 750 Jewish partisans shot and threw grenades at German patrols from alleyways, sewers and buildings. The Nazis responded with tanks and flamethrowers, rounding up or killing any Jew they could capture. After several days without quelling the uprising, the Nazis ordered the ghetto burned to the ground. The uprising ended after one month; approximately 300 Germans and 7,000 Jews were killed in the fighting. The remaining 30,000 Jews were sent to Treblinka for extermination. Several dozen fighters escaped through the sewers, and a number of these survivors went on to found Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, located near Acco in Israel.
Court prevents groups from sacrificing live animals at Temple Mount APR 02,07 By Nadav Shargai and Amiram Barkat , Haaretz Correspondent
In their efforts to sacrifice a live animal at the Temple Mount, the New Sanhedrin Council adopted an almost underground modus operandi. Rabbis Adin Steinsaltz, Israel Ariel, Yishai Baved and their associates secretly located a butcher, found a Cohen hailing from a lineage 1,000 years old and worked out a plan to quickly erect an alter on the Temple Mount. They tried to revive the customs of the ancient Sanhedrin tribunal, which was the highest judicial body for the Jewish people in Israel some 1,600 years ago. They sought to slaughter a sacrificial animal across from the Western Wall.
The activists, who belong to various religious circles such as the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement, also petitioned the High Court of Justice for the right to perform the ritual. Their plans were thwarted on Sunday when the court rejected their request, ruling that the rights of the petitioners to practice their faith are outweighed by other considerations such as public order and safety.Despite the ruling, the followers decided to hold a colorful procession on Sunday in Jerusalem, heading to the Western Wall along with two sheep.
The Temple Mount Movement followers present were joined by partners from the Temple Institute, which has for years prepared the traditional holy tools and utensils for the Third Temple, according to Torah specifications. The spectacular display did not, however, persuade authorities to allow the participants to perform the practice. Their petition to the court was by no means the first one. In recent years, the High Court of Justice rejected several such petitions filed by the Temple Mount Movement and other associations, dedicated to erecting the Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The court invariably cited the same reasons for its ruling. In Passover 1991, dedicated believers decided it was time for action, and tried to sacrifice a lamb in the premises. They were, however, quickly stopped by police. One of the most daring plans to perform the religious ritual at the holy site belongs to the ultra right-wing religious movement Kach. Some 20 years ago, its members worked out an plan to infiltrate the Western Wall Plaza at dusk with a lamb and foldable alter. The plan never materialized, partly owing to the fact that Passover that year coincided with the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Earlier and bolder still was the plan of the Temple Mount Movement to hire a helicopter pilot to parachute a ready-made alter onto the Western Wall Plaza.
There, it would serve a group of followers on the ground, sacrificial lamb in hand. As in previous cases, the plan never quite took off the ground.
OTHER NEWS HAPPENINGS FOR APR 02,07
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Tsunami devastates western Solomons. 3-Changes coming
nationwide this week. 4-Los Angeles suffers longest dry spell in 130 years. 5-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein. 6-Pastor: Christ did not die for sin .Calls Easter message repulsive, insane makes God sound like a psychopath. 7-The Hebrew University was founded on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount. Is this the third temple? 8-Saudi: Israel should accept 2002 deal. 9-Israel steps up Security for Passover ahead of Weeklong Passover Holliday. 10-Iran, Syria prepping for U.S. summer war.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon Apr 2 12:00 PM EDT
APR 02,07
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APR 01,07
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Tsunami devastates western Solomons By GEORGE HERMING, Associated Press Writer APR 02,07
HONIARA, Solomon Islands - Tsunami waves churned by an undersea earthquake crashed ashore in the Solomon Islands on Monday, wiping away entire villages and triggering alerts from Australia to Hawaii, officials said. At least 13 people were killed and the toll was expected to rise.
In the South Pacific nation's remote west, where the devastation appeared centered, there were reports of people being swept away as waves plowed up to a half-mile inland.It was just a noise like an underground explosion, said Dorothy Parkinson, a resident of Gizo, where a wall of water swept through the streets. The wave came almost instantaneously. Everything that was standing is flattened.Residents of the town of 7,000 fled to a nearby hill.There wasn't any warning — the warning was the earth tremors, Alex Lokopio, premier of Western Province, told New Zealand's National Radio. It shook us very, very strongly and we were frightened, and all of a sudden the sea was rising up.Along the coast all of the property was washed away to the open sea, he said.
Julian Makaa, spokesman for the Solomons National Disaster Management Office, said extensive destruction was reported in the South Pacific nation's west. But details remained sketchy because communications were reduced in many cases to scratchy two-way radio lines, and emergency officials struggled to reach outlying areas.Alfred Maesulia, the information director in Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's office, said late Monday that 13 people were killed and an unknown number remained missing.Some people were seen floating on the sea during the big waves but it was very difficult to go near them, Maesulia told The Associated Press.The magnitude-8 quake struck shortly after 7:39 a.m. six miles beneath the sea floor, about 215 miles northwest of the Solomons capital, Honiara, the U.S. Geological Survey said.Within five minutes, waves 10-16 feet tall roared ashore and went up to half a mile inland, inundating buildings and sending thousands fleeing for higher ground,
witnesses said.
The Pacific region went on high alert for several hours after the quake struck between the islands of Bougainville and New Georgia, with Sydney's famous Bondi among beaches closed more than 1,250 miles away in Australia.Warnings from the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center were lifted within hours for areas outside the Solomons, but Australian officials closed beaches along the length of the country's east coast, stopped ferry services in Sydney and warned fishing boats to return to port in precautionary measures that were lifted by the end of the day.We just feel it's best to err on the side of caution, said Warren Young, the chief lifeguard on Australia's Gold Coast, about 1,370 miles from the quake's epicenter.In Gizo, the capital of Solomons' Western Province, Judith Kennedy said
water right up to your head swept through the town. Her father, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy, said the surge carried detritus.There are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down, he said by mobile phone as he toured Gizo.Maesulia said residents of Simbo, Choiseul and Ranunga islands near Gizo also reported deaths and widespread destruction.There are reports that some villages were completely washed away, he said.
Sasamungga village is quite a big village. ... It was reported that 300 houses were completely destroyed in that village alone.Lokopio said up to 4,000 people who fled to a hill behind the town may be in need of emergency shelter and other supplies. He said most of the town's government offices were badly damaged, along with police stations and at least one hospital. Strong aftershocks continued throughout the day.
Solomon Islands deputy police commissioner Peter Marshall said three military helicopters would fly to the stricken region on Tuesday with supplies for the homeless. He said a national state of emergency has been declared. The Solomon Islands is an impoverished archipelago of more than 200 islands northeast of Australia, with a population of about 552,000 people, that lies on the Pacific Basin's so-called Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines where quakes frequently happen. In 2004, a magnitude-9 quake sent tsunami waves slamming into the coastlines of a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean's rim, killing about 230,000 people.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Changes coming nationwide this week Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel APR 02,07
Northeast
Showery weather will greet commuters in New England this morning. In Northern New England, snow will be possible, prompting winter weather advisories to be posted over parts of New Hampshire and Maine. Below average temperatures continue over New England, while farther south and west above average temperatures rule and will do so into Tuesday.
Showers return to the interior Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, withthunderstorms possible on Wednesday. Snow returns to the interior Northeast, and near the Great Lakes, Thursday and Friday. From Wednesday through the end of the week, the entire region will have below average high temperatures.
Midwest
In the Northern Plains, a new storm system is gathering strength and is forecast to bring significant snows to parts of North Dakota and northern Minnesota. Winter storm watches are posted from North Dakota to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Farther south, rain will change to snow in South Dakota and southern Minnesota as the day progresses and into this evening. Meanwhile, the Great Lakes will continue to see rain from the same system that brought rain to much of the Midwest and Plains late last week and over the weekend. This system will move north and eastward through Canada and into the Atlantic as the next system (the one bringing precipitation to the Northern Plains) moves in. By Tuesday, snow and wind will be the big weather features across the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains, while a chance of severe thunderstorms will threaten much of the Mississippi Valley into the Great Lakes and Lower Ohio Valley. By Wednesday, colder air will move into the region with snow showers possible over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Snow showers will linger into Friday near the Lakes, while snow and rain will return to the Plains on Thursday and Friday. Below average temperatures will be the rule today over North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota, and spread across the entire region by Wednesday through the weekend.
South
Scattered showers, with a thunderstorm or two as well, is possible in the Southeast today, with the best chances being near the Gulf and Southeast Atlantic Coasts. Shower and thunderstorm chances will be more widespread on Tuesday, with severe storms possible in central and eastern Arkansas into western Tennessee. Thunderstorms will again be possible on Wednesday from the Appalachians to the Tennessee Valley before moving into Florida on Thursday. Rain (with a few thunderstorms) will be possible in the Southern Plains on Thursday and Friday. Behind the frontal boundary that helps kick up the storm chances, colder air will be moving in. Temperatures are expected to be above average today and Tuesday before cooling off on Wednesday. Highs in Virginia, the Carolinas, coastal Georgia, and Florida will stay above average on Wednesday before cooling off to below average readings for Thursday and Friday.
West
A developing storm system in the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains is the beginning of the end of warmer than average temperatures for the Eastern United States for later this week.
A winter storm watch is posted for portions of eastern Montana, with a winter weather advisory for parts of northeastern Montana. Snow advisories and heavy snow warnings are posted in central Montana southward into western Wyoming. Further to the south in the Southern and Central Rockies and the High Plains of Colorado and New Mexico, an elevated risk of wild fires exists today due to dry air and gusty winds expected today. Southern California continues to stay dry and precipitation-free, continuing the path to what could easily become the driest water year on record for Los Angeles.
Showers return to the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday, and much of the Interior West on Thursday and Friday. While the Southwest remains warm with above average high temperatures, the Northwest and Northern Rockies are expected to have below average high temperatures today and tomorrow before warming by mid and late week.
FAMINE
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
Los Angeles suffers longest dry spell in 130 years Sun Apr 1, 6:45 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Los Angeles is going through its longest dry spell in at least 130 years, the National Weather Service said Sunday, fueling fears of rampant wildfires which have plagued the US west coast in recent years. The rain season is currently the driest to date in downtown Los Angeles since records began in 1877, the weather service said in a statement.It said the southern California city had received just 2.47 inches (6.27 centimeters) of rain since July 1, 2006, far from the normal precipitation of 13.94 inches (35.4 centimeters) in the same period.If downtown Los Angeles receives less than 1.95 inches of rain from now through June 30th this will become the driest rain season ever, it said.The record-holder is the 2001-2002 season which saw just 4.42 inches (11.22 centimeters) of rain.Southern California is repeatedly the victim of wildfires, some of them of criminal origin like the arson-caused inferno that blazed Friday near the famed Hollywood sign in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, destroying some 150 acres (60 hectares) of brush.The worst earth-scorching year on record in the United States was in 2006, when fires burned nearly 15.5 thousand square miles (39,957 square kilometers) -- an area close to the size of Switzerland.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
APR 02, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Thirty years ago, when I organized the first ever Evangelical-Jewish dialogue, I was heartened to discover that there were great numbers of evangelical Christians who were firmly supportive of Israel and the Jewish people. These friends of Israel had a hunger to demonstrate that support in tangible and meaningful ways, to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and to learn more about Israel and the Jewish roots of their Christian faith.Recognizing this hunger, and drawing on the shared biblical heritage of both Christians and Jews, in 1983 I founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between these faith communities.The Fellowship's success has far exceeded my expectations. Through God's blessing, millions of people have been assisted through our various programs helping Jews return to their biblical homeland and providing humanitarian aid to desperate Jews in need in Israel and around the world. In turn, hundreds of thousands of Christians have experienced the biblical promise of blessing to those who bless the Jewish people (Genesis 12:3).
The importance and value of The Fellowship's work and our Christian donors' support for Israel was recognized by the Israeli government last year when I was appointed Israel's Goodwill Ambassador to Evangelical communities in Latin America. During my travels through this vibrant part of the world, I have seen that Latin American Christians, too, have a hunger to know more about Israel and the Jewish people, and to deepen their own faith by learning more about the Jewish roots of Christianity.
To fill this need, I am happy to announce that The Fellowship is launching a broad outreach into Latin America. Our new Director of Latin America and U.S. Hispanic Ministries, Douglas Dye, La Fraternidad Internacional de Cristianos y Judios will be working closely with me to bring The Fellowship's bridge-building message to the region through initiatives like Ask the Rabbi, a five-minute, Spanish language radio show that will air on Christian radio stations throughout Central and South America. Ask the Rabbi will give me the opportunity to discuss various aspects of Jewish life, faith and observance, to explore the Jewish roots of Christianity, and to look in depth at the history of Israel and the Jewish people. Our new Spanish-language website, www.FraternidadInternacional.org, will help Latin American Christians learn about Israel and the Jewish people and support the lifesaving work of The Fellowship.
And a monthly Spanish-language e-newsletter will alert them to new initiatives and events affecting Israel and the Jewish people. I encourage you to share this site with your Spanish-speaking friends.I have always believed that the bonds that unite Christians and Jews are far stronger and more significant than the issues that divide us. They are bonds based on biblical truths that transcend language and culture. We at The Fellowship feel privileged to be strengthening these bonds with Latin American Christians, and pray that God will bless our new endeavor, just as He has so richly blessed our work to date.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians And Jews.
JUDE 8-16
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.(JESUS)
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
HERE WE GO AGAIN ANOTHER GODLESS CHRISTIAN HOMOSEXUAL WHO WILL PAY BIGTIME FOR PUTTING JESUS DOWN IN THE FUTURE.
TESTING THE FAITH
Pastor: Christ did not die for sin .Calls Easter message repulsive, insane makes God sound like a psychopath April 1, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - WorldNetDaily.com
Church of England traditionalists, wearied by the battles over homosexuality in the church and the clergy, are about to take it on their spiritual chins once again when a leading gay cleric will tell listeners to BBC Radio 4 that Christianity's traditional teaching on Christ's crucifixion for the sins of mankind is repulsive, insane and makes God sound like a psychopath.
Rev. Jeffrey John, who was forced to withdraw before assuming a position as bishop in 2003 after it was learned he was in a longterm homosexual relationship, is scheduled to appear on Wednesday and will criticize ministers who use their Easter messages to preach that Jesus was sent to earth to die as an atonement for sin, reported the London Telegraph. Christian theology has taught the doctrine of penal substitution that humans, alienated from God by their sins and unable to save themselves, could only be forgiven by God sending Christ as a substitute to suffer and die in their place.
In other words, Jesus took the rap and we got forgiven as long as we said we believed in him, said John. This is repulsive as well as nonsensical. It makes God sound like a psychopath.
If a human behaved like this we'd say that they [sic] were a monster.John, who currently serves as dean of St. Albans, raised a furor when he and Rev. Grant Holmes, a hospital chaplain, entered into a civil partnership last August. Church of England clergy may enter into gay marriage if they assure their bishop they are to remain celibate. In rejecting penal substitution, John will reportedly propose a different interpretation of Christ's death, suggesting Christ was crucified so he could share in the worst of grief and suffering that life can throw at us.
Too many Christians fail to understand God is about love and truth, not wrath and punishment, Johns said. Rev. Tom Wright, the bishop of Durham, blasted the BBC for giving John such an influential forum to make provocative claims on traditional beliefs, saying John's statements attacked the central message of the Christian gospel. He is denying the way in which we understand Christ's sacrifice. It is right to stress that he is a God of love but he is ignoring that this means he must also be angry at everything that distorts human life, Wright said. I'm fed up with the BBC for choosing to give privilege to these unfortunate views in Holy Week, he said.
THESE ISRAELIS BETTER NOT BE SYMBOLIZING SCRIPTURES THEY WILL BE COMING TO PASS LITERALLY NOT SYMBOLICALY.
The Hebrew University was founded on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount. Is this the third temple? Dr. Yair Paz Published: MAR 30,07
Parashat Tzav specifiess the details of various sacrifices, and concludes (Leviticus 7:37-38): This is the law of the burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the consecration, and of the peace offerings, which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai. One of the exciting intellectual challenges facing modern, traditional-minded Jews is our response to the substantial parts of Leviticus that are dedicated to the bringing of animal sacrifices to the Sanctuary as part of the sacral service and spiritual transcendence. One of the interesting examples of the modern attempt to confront this issue is related to the founding of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, opposite the Temple Mount, and the spiritual ideas that accompanied the building of the campus on that particular site.
In 1913, the Zionist Congress discussed the establishing of the Hebrew University. On one hand, the creation of a university answered a functional academic need, particularly in light of the restrictions placed upon the admission of Jewish students to European universities.
On the other hand, the desire to establish the university in Jerusalem expressed a symbolic national need. The two central figures that addressed the issue spoke in similar terms. Menachem Ussishkin, one of the leaders of Hovevei Zion and later the president of the Jewish National Fund, stated in his speech to the Congress in August 1913: on the ninth of Av this year, we mark two thousand five hundred years since the foe and enemy came to the holy place and destroyed our Temple Two thousand five hundred years ago, our national temple God’s Sanctuary on Mount Moriah - was destroyed. Now we come full of faith and hope to build a new national temple, the sanctuary of wisdom and science on Mount Zion… Chaim Weizmann, president of the Zionist Organization, was of two minds in regard to the address he was to deliver on this subject. In a letter two his wife Vera, he confided some of his doubts: I feel a sense of great responsibility in regard to the address that I must prepare for the Congress…While it is true that the Hebrew University and the Tomb of Jesus can hardly dwell under one roof, we cannot relinquish Jerusalem. We must take the risk! This is the only motto that, I believe, can resonate: The Hebrew University – Die Zionsuniversität auf dem Berg Zion (The Univeristy of Zion on Mount Zion) – the Third Temple!
New national temple
There are two salient common threads to these statements. One is that the university will rise on the heights of Mount Zion, and the second that it will be a new national temple or Third Temple. Ultimately, the university was built atop Mount Scopus, and many continued to portray it as a new temple in speeches, ceremonies, and architecture. On the day of its inauguration, even the newspaper headlines quoted Isaiah 2:2: It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.But why did a modern nationalist movement turn to the imagery of a purely religious institution the Temple to reinforce public consciousness in regard to its modern institutions?
And why was it the university in Jerusalem that warranted metaphoric comparison to the most elevated religious institution (and perhaps more than mere comparison?), rather than the legislature or the Supreme Court?
The answer is complex, but it would appear that one of the sources may lie in Midrash Tanhuma on the verse with which we began. The verse reads: zot ha-torah la-olah la-minha ve-la-hatat ve-la-asham ve-la-milu’im u-la-zevah ha-shelamim .
This is the law of the burnt offering, of the cereal offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the offering of consecration, and of the peace offerings. The midrash, however, understands the preposition la as a separate word meaning no, thus rendering the verse: zot ha-torah la olah la minha ve-la hatat ve-la asham ve-la milu’im u-la zevah ha-shelamim – This is the law (Torah): Not burnt offering, not cereal offering, not sin offering, not guilt offering, not the offering of consecration, and not the peace offerings.And the midrash concludes: But be engaged in Torah and I will deem it as if you had brought all of the sacrifices.In other words, as opposed to the approach that views prayer as a mere substitute to compensate for the loss of the sacrifices, the midrash appears to reject sacrifices in favor of a preferred alternative. This idea was developed by some of the more innovative Jewish thinkers, like Maimonides and Rabbi Kook, who were not always
understood by the general public. Similarly, those engaged in the national enlightenment movement connected the Torah of the modern temple of knowledge with
the Torah of the Temple of old in their efforts to give modern Jewish cultural significance to their pioneering efforts. Dr. Yair Paz is the head of the Land of Israel Studies track at the Schechter Institute
Saudi: Israel should accept 2002 deal By ABDULLAH SHIHRI, Associated Press Writer APR 02,07
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Israel should withdraw from Arab territory and allow the creation of a Palestinian state before Arabs recognize it, a Saudi official said Monday in the kingdom's fir comment since Israel's prime minister invited Arab leaders to discuss their ideas for peace with him. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday specifically called on Saudi Arabia to take the lead, the first time Israel has made such a request of the Saudis, who maintain a state of war with Israel but are pushing for a peace deal.The Saudi official told The Associated Press that before any meeting could be considered, Israel should accept the 2002 Arab peace initiative that would recognize Israel in exchange for withdrawal from captured territory and a just solution for the Palestinian refugees. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.At a summit in Saudi Arabia last week, the Arab League renewed its commitment to the peace initiative, which was initially proposed by Saudi Arabia. Olmert welcomed the decision but said Israel did not accept all parts of the plan.
He said that if King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia were to invite him, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and moderate Arab leaders to a meeting to present Saudi Arabia's ideas before us, we will come to hear them and be glad to offer our ideas.Egypt's assistant foreign minister for Arab affairs, Hani Khallaf, was quoted as saying Monday that the Arab side cannot negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians. The Jordanian government did not make any immediate comments.Syria had no immediate comment to the latest Israeli offer. At a meeting with Olmert on Sunday, the Israeli premier asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) to take a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad that if Syria stops its support for terrorism, Israel would be interested in making peace.
In a March 22 interview with French television, Assad said seeking peace with Israel is a firm principle, but stressed that the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, was a Syrian right that would not be compromised.The land must be returned in full. Any other details are subject to negotiations but land is not. It is Syrian land, he said.Israel occupies Syria's Golan Heights and the disputed Chebaa Farms, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet, as well as areas in the West Bank.Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, responding in Beirut to a question on Olmert's call, said the Arab peace initiative was based on the very principle of land for peace. And this is something that Israel has to understand.Saniora said Israel's use of military force and launching wars on Lebanon and Arab countries did not bring peace.Therefore, I think it's about time for the Israelis to realize that eventually it is important to establish real peace in the region and accept the Arab peace initiative in its entirety, Saniora said.Almost every Israeli prime minister has called for peace talks with moderate Arab leaders over the years, but the only multinational forum was the 1991 Madrid conference, which was followed by secret Israeli-Palestinian contacts and a series of interim peace accords.Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Olmert should agree to the Arab peace initiative.I think if he accepts the Arab peace initiative, it would open the way to many conferences, not one, he said.Associated Press Writer Karin Laub contributed to this story from Jerusalem.
Israel steps up Security for Passover ahead of Weeklong Passover Holliday.By STEVE WEIZMAN APR 02,07
JERUSALEM Apr 2, 2007 (AP)— Ultra-Orthodox Jews burned bread and other leavened foods in communal bonfires Monday, completing preparations for Passover. The weeklong holiday commemorates the flight of the ancient Israelites from bondage in Egypt, as described in the Old Testament. Observant Jews eat matzo, unleavened bread, to illustrate how their ancestors had no time to let their bread rise as they fled. Even the normally unobservant scour their homes to get rid of any particle of food that contains, or may have touched, leavening. The army sealed off the West Bank early Sunday as a precaution against Palestinian attacks. The closure will last through the holiday, affecting some 50,000 Palestinian who cross into Israel every day to work.
Exceptions would be made for humanitarian cases and for Christians visiting family inside Israel for Easter, the army said. Police were on high alert, putting reinforcements on the streets. A suicide attack on Passover diners at a hotel in the Israeli city of Netanya killed 30 Israelis in 2002. Israel's chief rabbis instructed believers to add a holiday prayer for the safe return of three Israeli soldiers abducted last summer by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and by Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen. The Supreme Court Sunday blocked plans by Jewish fundamentalists to sacrifice a sheep at the site of the biblical Jewish temples, as was the practice at major festivals in ancient times. The rock platform where the temples built by Solomon and Herod once stood, now houses the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, is holy to both faiths and has been a frequent flashpoint. In February, Israeli work on a ramp leading up to the hilltop site touched off clashes between police and local Muslims and brought howls of protest from around the Islamic world. The Haaretz daily said the Supreme Court denied the Jews permission to carry out animal sacrifice at the site, fearing it might provoke Muslims.The rights of the petitioners to practice their faith are outweighed by other considerations, such as public order and safety, Haaretz quoted the court ruling as saying.
Iran, Syria prepping for U.S. summer war
Israel: Arab countries expect strike, notes defensive military movements
April 2, 2007 - 1:23 p.m. Eastern - By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily.com
JERUSALEM – Iran, Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia are preparing for a U.S.-led war this summer, according to the Israeli Defense Forces. Their preparation is defensive ahead of war. ... They fear a war initiated by the Americans because they understand that there might be an attack against Iran over the summer, but not by Israel, IDF Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the Knesset today. Yadlin said Iran and Syria believe a war this summer will be initiated by the U.S. and that Israel will be involved. He said Israel has been monitoring Iranian fortification of Tehran's military positions; Syrian military movements and indications of war preparation with the help of Iran; and the large-scale smuggling of Iranian-supplied weapons to Hezbollah. Yadlin noted the war preparations are defensive. He said Israel doesn't expect Iran or Syria to start a confrontation. What we are seeing is their preparation for the possibility of war in the summer. My assessment is that they are defensive preparations for war, Yadlin told the Knesset.
The military intelligence chief, though, said he feared hostilities could break out even without a U.S.-led strike because of the involvement of many players.WND previously reported Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF's intelligence research division, said the Syrian army has been placed on high alert for attacks. He said Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered increased production of long-range missiles and instructed the Syrian military to position anti-tank missiles closer to the Syrian border with Israel. Security officials told WND there have been indications Syria is seeking to launch a provocation. Assad has made multiple statements to his state-run media he is preparing his army for war. Also the officials say state-run Syrian media have been broadcasting regular warlike messages unseen since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Syria and Egypt launched invasions from the Golan and the Sinai desert.
The tone [in Syria] is one of preparing the public for a war, said a senior security official. He said any Syrian provocation would likely be coordinated with Iran. Tehran and Damascus, which both support Hezbollah, have signed several military pacts. Also, according to Israeli intelligence officials, Iran and Syria have been smuggling mass quantities of weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The officials say
Hezbollah has regained most of its strength since the militia's war last summer with the Jewish state and that the rate of weapons smuggling has nearly doubled the past few weeks. The Iranian weapons are coming in so furiously, there are even indications Syria is worried about Israeli deterrent action against Hezbollah, a security official said. WND reported earlier this month Iran has been working with Palestinian groups in Gaza to help improve the range of Palestinian rockets, smuggle in mass quantities of weapons, construct underground bunkers and build guerrilla-like armies. Israel says Hamas is sending hundreds of Gaza-based militants to Iran for prolonged periods of advanced training and that the smuggling of weaponry into Gaza from the neighboring Egyptian Sinai desert recently increased six-fold. Israeli officials say Palestinian terror groups were taking advantage of a cease-fire signed in November to enhance rockets and create a complex system of underground war bunkers.
The reports of Iranian and Syrian war preparations come alongside the announcement this weekend by an American congressional delegation visiting Damascus stating they believe there is an opportunity for dialogue with the Syrian leadership. We came because we believe there is an opportunity for dialogue, read a statement by the American diplomats released by the U.S. Embassy in Syria today. We are following in the lead of Ronald Reagan, who reached out to the Soviets during the Cold War.Earlier this month, Ellen Sauerbrey, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, visited Damascus in a public gesture widely seen as an expression of Washington's willingness to engage Damascus. Sauerbrey was the most senior U.S. official to visit Syria since the U.S. withdrew its ambassador following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which Syria was widely blamed. Syria also openly provides refuge to Palestinian terror leaders and has been shipping weapons to Hezbollah. Damascus is accused of
supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq.
Alongside the reports of Arab war preparations, Israel has also been taking some defensive measures. Two weeks ago the Jewish state engaged in a nationwide wartime drill, acting out responses to various wartime scenarios, including salvoes of chemical-tipped missiles and major terrorist attacks. It was the largest war drill held in Israel since its establishment in 1948. Israeli government spokesmen said the drills were to test lessons learned during last summer's war against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israeli security sources also confirmed to WND stepped-up training schedules for IDF reservist troops. They say the training is not related to any expected confrontations, but is in response to internal military investigations that found reservists were not properly trained for the Lebanon war.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
IRAN RIOTS UK EMBASSY
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Quake jolts western Turkey; no casualties. 3-Flash floods kill 16 people in eastern Afghanistan. 4-Argentina floods claim 7 lives. 5-The nation's weather. 6-Pakistani avalanches kill at least 29. 7-Ecuador's Reventador volcano spews ash. 8-First sandstorm of year hits northern China.9-Menu Foods says its pet food is now safe. 10-Outcry cancels chocolate Jesus show. 11-U.N. chief: Arms crossing Syrian border. 12-Merkel: EU supports Mideast peace talks. 13-Pope celebrates Palm Sunday Mass. 14-Protest in Iran targets British Embassy.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sun Apr 1 14:11:30 UTC 2007
APR 01,07
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAR 31,07
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.5 VANUATU
MAP 2.5 PUGET SOUND REGION, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 5.4 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 3.0 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.9 VANUATU
MAP 5.0 VANUATU
MAP 4.5 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 3.8 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.9 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAR 30,07
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 WASHINGTON
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.8 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
MAP 4.2 LAKE BAYKAL REGION, RUSSIA
MAP 4.5 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.1 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 OFFSHORE COQUIMBO, CHILE
MAP 5.7 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.8 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.0 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
Quake jolts western Turkey; no casualties Fri Mar 30, 6:58 PM ET
ISTANBUL (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale jolted the western Turkish province of Isparta on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said. The epicenter of the tremor, which hit at 7:56 pm (1656 GMT), was at the district of Egirdir, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, Egirdir sub-governor Omer Ulu told Anatolia news agency.Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several major fault lines. Two violent temblors in the heavily populated, industrialised northwest claimed about 20,000 lives in August and November 1999.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Flash floods kill 16 people in eastern Afghanistan APR 01,07
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) - Flash floods caused by torrential rains killed at least 16 people and destroyed dozens of houses near the Hindu Kush mountain range in eastern Afghanistan, police said Sunday. Floods hit three districts in the northeastern province of Nuristan overnight and on Sunday, swamping villages and washing away roads, provincial police chief General Aseel Totakhail told AFP.Sixteen people have died, seven others are wounded, dozens of houses have been destroyed. Villages have been cut off, he said.Totakhail asked for urgent help from the government, the United Nations and foreign forces to evacuate people from the flood-affected area.Many people need to be air-lifted. Hundreds of families left homeless are in need of immediate help, he said.
Floods also affected the nearby eastern provinces of Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar, causing damage to houses and farms but no human casualties were reported.Heavy rain has caused flooding across Afghanistan in the past weeks with avalanches also claiming several lives.Dozens of mudbrick houses in the capital Kabul were in ruins Sunday after a downpour Saturday. The Kabul River that runs through the city, usually as a dirty stream, was overflowing its banks Sunday.
Argentina floods claim 7 lives By MAYRA PERTOSSI, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 31, 11:00 PM ET
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Rising rivers in three rain-soaked provinces have forced some 38,000 people to flee their homes and floodwaters have claimed seven lives, authorities said Saturday.
Civil defense officials said Santa Fe province in Argentina's northeast remained the hardest-hit, with about 30,000 evacuees in and around the provincial capital of Santa Fe, 250 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, and the cities of Rosario and Canada de Gomez.Rain has lashed the region for five days, forcing evacuees to struggle through waist-deep waters with laundry baskets containing only a few possessions. Some tried to load refrigerators and TV sets on trucks and escape to higher ground, while others tried to cross flooded highways in small boats.A woman's body was recovered from the Parana River near Rosario, coast guard officials said Saturday, bringing to three the number dead after a house tumbled into the river a day earlier. The bodies of two men were recovered Friday.
Authorities said Saturday a 70-year-old farmer died after he was swept away by the Gualeguay River in Entre Rios province while trying to rescue some of his livestock.That brought to seven the dead over two days, including a man killed Friday trying to save a dog from a stream and an elderly man with Alzheimer's disease who was alone when he drowned in his flooded home, authorities said.
Jose Salim Jodor, mayor of the Entre Rios city of Gualeguay, said about 8,000 people had to leave their water-filled homes in that low-lying province on Argentina's eastern border with Uruguay.
Meanwhile, some 400 flood victims were reported in central Cordoba province on the border with Santa Fe province.President Nestor Kirchner pledged federal assistance for the victims and residents of Buenos Aires have begun organizing charity drives of food and other emergency assistance for the hardest-hit areas.Uruguayan authorities reported some 380 people had to be evacuated from regions near the Argentine border because of flooding of small rivers and streams.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun Apr 1, 6:22 AM ET
Forecasters predicted a severe weather system would move through the Upper Midwest to the eastern seaboard on Sunday, and a separate system could bring rain to the Northwest. Heavy rain and thunderstorms were predicted from the Southeast through the Mid-Atlantic. Cool rain showers were expected in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes.Meanwhile, a separate system with rain and snow was expected to move into the Northwest and Intermountain West. Showers were also expected in the Northwest and portions of Northern California.High temperatures in the Northeast were expected to rise into the 40s and 50s, while temperatures in the Southeast were expected to reach into the 70s and 80s. The Southern Plains could see temperatures rise into the 70s and 80s also.The Northwest and Northern Rockies were expected to rise into the 40s and 50s, while California and portions of the Southwest will rise into the 70s, 80s, and even into the 90s in the warmest locations.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Shirley Basin, Wyo., to a high of 91 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
Pakistani avalanches kill at least 29 APR 01,07
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Avalanches struck two villages in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 29 people and leaving 14 others missing, police said Sunday. Heavy rains and snow have been lashing Chitral, a rugged district near the border with Afghanistan, since late last week. In some areas, about six feet of snow has fallen over the past several days, Ijaz Ahmed, a senior police officer, said by telephone from the area.All the roads are blocked due to landslides. There is no
access to the area, he said.Bad weather blocked helicopter flights and authorities planned to send food, medicines and blankets by air on Monday.One avalanche hit 18 homes in the village of Wasij late Saturday, killing 24 people whose bodies were recovered by neighbors and police, Ahmed said.
Six people were pulled alive from the rubble, three of them with injuries, he said. Fourteen people remained missing.Five members of one family were killed when an avalanche hit their home in the village of Postaki, Ahmed said by telephone from the town of Chitral, 170 miles northwest of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Ecuador's Reventador volcano spews ash Fri Mar 30, 11:52 PM ET
QUITO, Ecuador - A volcano in Ecuador's Andes erupted Friday, shooting plume of ash nearly two miles into the sky but causing no injuries or damage, authorities said. Liliana Troncoso of Ecuador's Geophysics Institute told The Associated Press that Reventador volcano had been showing increasing signs of activity since January, but that this eruption does not pose a threat to any nearby villages.The volcano erupted in 2002, spreading ash over the capital, Quito, about 65 miles to the east.
Earlier this month, authorities evacuated about 100 families from the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano in central Ecuador after it showered villages with flaming rocks and ash.
First sandstorm of year hits northern China Sat Mar 31, 8:58 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Northern China was blanketed in dust on Saturday as the first sandstorm of the year struck the region, including the capital Beijing, state media reported, citing the national weather service.
Visibility was low in the capital due to the storm, but meteorologists said the sand was likely to blow out of town by nightfall due to strong winds, the Xinhua news agency reported.The mild storm was caused by a cyclone which developed over Mongolia and then moved eastward toward parts of Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei province, said Sun Jun of the China Meteorological Administration, quoted by Xinhua. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors and cover up if venturing outside to protect themselves from the floating dust.
Other sandstorms are in the forecast for Gansu, Liaoning, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces, along with Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, meteorologists said.Northern China suffered from more than a dozen dust storms last year which were attributed to desertification in China's northwestern regions, including Qinghai province. A similar number has been predicted for this year.China has around 1.74 million square kilometers (696,000 square miles) of desertified land, or 18 percent of its total land area.Despite the sandstorms, the Chinese government has insisted that it will intensify its efforts to clean the air and prepare for the 2008 Olympics by planting broad belts of trees around the capital.
Menu Foods says its pet food is now safe By Lionel Perron
Sat Mar 31, 3:45 AM ET
TORONTO (Reuters) - Menu Foods Income Fund, maker of the tainted pet foods at the center of this month's massive recall, said on Friday it is no longer using a Chinese supplier of wheat gluten after U.S. officials found the chemical melamine in some of the recalled products.
Menu Foods stopped using the supplier on March 6, 10 days before the recall was announced, Paul Henderson, Menu Foods' president and chief executive, told a news conference in Toronto.He said all pet food manufactured by his company after that date is safe.Let me be clear on this: we have removed the problem from our system, he said. Our recall is well under way and products produced today are being made with known quality and tested raw materials.We are angered that a source outside the company has apparently adulterated the product, causing this regrettable loss, he added.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that melamine, a chemical used in fertilizers in Asia and forbidden in pet food, had been detected in some of the wheat gluten used by Mississauga, Ontario-based Menu Foods. The FDA said the wheat gluten came from a company in China.Menu Foods said all of the wheat glutin tainted by melamine came from the Chinese supplier.On March 16, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of cuts-and-gravy style wet pet food after it was blamed for the deaths of at least 14 animals -- mostly cats.The company makes pet foods that are sold under a variety of labels such as Iams, Eukanuba, President's Choice and Nutro Max Gourmet Classics, store brands sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Safeway Inc. and at specialty pet stores including Petsmart Inc.The company says it used the Chinese supplier because its regular North
American and European wheat gluten suppliers couldn't keep up with demand.
In general there's a tight supply and we had to seek additional products to meet our needs, that's why we looked at bringing in additional suppliers, said Randall Copeland, Menu Foods' vice president.
It is still unclear how the chemical got into the wheat gluten.Henderson said he could not confirm the number of deaths related to the pet food recall, noting the company has fielded about 300,000 calls from across North America.Last week, New York state officials said aminopterin, a substance used in rat poison, had been found in the pet food. However, the FDA has not confirmed the presence of that toxin in the recalled pet food.Menu Foods says its investigation into the toxic ingredient that caused the recall is continuing.This is a subject of very great interest to us and our lawyers and you can expect we'll be following up, said Henderson.Units of Menu Foods closed up 16 Canadian cents, or 4 percent, at C$4.05 on Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.($1=$1.15 Canadian)
Outcry cancels chocolate Jesus show By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 31, 10:43 AM ET
NEW YORK - A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Catholics complained. The My Sweet Lord display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan. Roger Smith Hotel president James Knowles cited the public outcry for his decision.The reaction is crystal clear and has brought to our attention the unintended reaction of you and other conscientious friends of ours to the exhibition, Knowles wrote in the two-paragraph cancellation notice.Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director, resigned in protest.
The six-foot sculpture was the victim of a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing, Semler said. They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions.
But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as a sickening display. Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety, Semler said.
The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.The artwork was created from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, the Cavallaro creation does not include a loincloth.Cavallaro hoped the sculpture could go on display elsewhere, according to Semler.Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.
U.N. chief: Arms crossing Syrian border By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer MAR 31,07
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. chief said Saturday that arms are reportedly still being smuggled over the border from Syria to Lebanon, and he urged all sides to fully comply with a United Nations resolution that ended the summer war between Hezbollah militants and Israel. The leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported Saturday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Lebanese security chiefs that Israel had provided him with evidence and pictures of trucks crossing from Syria to Lebanon and unloading weapons.There are intelligence reports that arms are smuggled. I am concerned by that kind of arms smuggling, which will destabilize the situation in Lebanon, he told reporters later during a stop at the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
The U.N. resolution that halted 34 days of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel calls among other things for a stop in arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas and demands the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers the militants captured, triggering the conflict.Ban met Friday with Lebanese security chiefs during his two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss ways of enhancing the Lebanese army's monitoring capabilities along border with Syria, one of Hezbollah's principal patrons.He urged all sides to obey the U.N.-brokered cease-fire and expressed the need for an enhanced monitoring capacity of the Lebanese armed forces to ensure that there will be no such smuggling activity.Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Ban during a stop in Israel last weekend that the cease-fire in southern Lebanon is endangered by Hezbollah militants. He accused the Iranian- and Syrian-backed guerrillas of continuing to receive arms shipments from Syria.Lebanese leaders have rejected Israeli claims that weapon smuggling continues.
Pro-Western Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said at a news conference with Ban on Friday that the Lebanese government was trying to improve its monitoring capabilities but stressed that not one single case of arms smuggling across the border with Syria has been recorded.His defense minister, Elias Murr, recently said that not a single mosquito is getting across the border, adding that Hezbollah did not need to resupply. On Friday, the defense minister again dismissed reports of arms smuggling through Syria as not true.But Hezbollah has boasted that it replenished its stockpile of rockets after the war.Israeli warplanes continue to fly reconnaissance missions over Lebanon, although Beirut and the U.N. consider them a violation of the cease-fire and have demanded Israel stop.Israel has refused, saying they are vital intelligence-gathering missions. An internal Israeli military document has said, however, the flights are intended in part to pressure the international community to stop arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas and force the militants to release the abducted Israeli soldiers.
Merkel: EU supports Mideast peace talks By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Sun Apr 1, 6:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM - In her first Mideast trip as EU president, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Europe's help in bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, trying to build on a new burst of international efforts to restart peace talks. Merkel also called on Iran to immediately release 15 British sailors and marines seized in the Gulf on March 23. Britain has the full solidarity of the European Union, Merkel said in a speech at Hebrew University. We demand the immediate release of the 15 British soldiers.Merkel, who was meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders Sunday, said the Europeans are ready to offer support, but ultimately the sides must resolve their differences themselves.The Europeans must not assume that they could force a solution. We can't and I don't want to do it, she said in her speech. Within my abilities, I would like to support the sides to walk the path toward peace.Her visit came after the Arab world renewed a land-for-recognition offer to Israel last week. Since then, the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — has said it hopes to arrange a meeting with moderate Arab states, Israel and the Palestinians before the summer. Merkel, who now holds the rotating EU presidency, plays an
important Quartet role.
However, several obstacles are blocking progress.
Much of the world is still reluctant to deal with the new Palestinian unity government, a coalition of the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, because it has failed to explicitly recognize Israel or renounce violence.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will not talk to Abbas about any of the ingredients of a final peace deal, such as
the borders of a future Palestinian state, until Palestinian militants halt rocket fire from Gaza and release an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for nine months.Olmert, while praising the Arabs' readiness to offer recognition, has been cool to the price Israel is asked to pay for it a withdrawal from the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast War, including the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Israel has said that while willing to give up lands, it won't return to the 1967 borders. It flatly rejects the return of refugees.In a visit last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrested a promise from Olmert and Abbas to meet biweekly.
Merkel is expected to ask the two leaders to make good use of these conversations no date has been set for the first round but her aides said she is not carrying a concrete action plan.
The chancellor arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday evening and held informal talks with Olmert.Israel and Germany have close relations. Germany has long considered guaranteeing Israel's security to be a pillar of its foreign policy following the Holocaust.Sunday's stops included breakfast with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.Merkel spent about half an hour at the Holocaust memorial, visiting the Hall of Remembrance and laying a wreath decorated with ribbons bearing the German flag. Before leaving, she wrote in the memorial's guest book: Humanity grows out of responsibility for the past..Later, Merkel went to the Hebrew University where the former physics researcher received an honorary doctorate.We admire your steadfast friendship with the Jewish people, university President Menachem Magidor said. As Merkel stood on a red carpet, a large blue ribbon was placed on her shoulders.
In the afternoon, she was to meet with Abbas at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, followed by more talks with Olmert in Jerusalem in the evening.In Ramallah, Merkel was expected to meet only with Abbas and to avoid Palestinian Cabinet ministers, even those who are not Hamas members, her aides said.
The EU foreign ministers decided Saturday, in a meeting in Germany, to start dealing with non-Hamas members of the Palestinian government. In continuing to shun the entire Palestinian Cabinet during this trip, Merkel apparently was trying to avoid angering her Israeli hosts. With the EU decision, Israel is increasingly alone in its call for a total boycott of the Palestinian government. Abbas will ask Merkel to deal with all members of his government and to pressure Israel to resume peace talks, said his information minister, Mustafa Barghouti. Abbas' aides contend that the government cannot be ignored because it represents the vast majority of the Palestinian people. They also note that the government calls for establishing a state in territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, implying recognition of Israel, and that it seeks to consolidate a truce. Yet Abbas has been unable to
stop rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli border towns. And his assurances to Israel and Germany that the Israeli soldier would be freed soon, as part of a prisoner swap, never materialized.
Pope celebrates Palm Sunday Mass By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI, in his Palm Sunday Mass, opened the Roman Catholic
Church's most solemn week by urging young people to live pure, innocent lives. This year, Holy Week also includes the second anniversary of the April 2, 2005, death of Pope John Paul II. On Monday, the Catholic Church will close one phase of its investigation into John Paul's saintliness as it keeps up the momentum to have the beloved pope beatified. Holding an intricately woven palm frond, Benedict opened the Palm Sunday celebration by processing through the sun-filled St. Peter's Square and up the steps of the basilica. He was preceded by dozens of priests, bishops and cardinals who clutched palms and olive branches as their red vestments fluttered in the breeze.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and is the start of the church's Holy Week, which includes the Good Friday re-enactment of Christ's crucifixion and death and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Benedict continued the tradition started by John Paul and dedicated Palm Sunday to the young, who were out in force in St. Peter's.He told them that to follow God they should have innocent hands and pure hearts.Innocent hands are hands that are not used for acts of violence, he told them. They are hands that are not sullied by corruption and bribes.Hearts are pure when they are not stained by lies and hypocrisy, he said. A heart is pure when it is estranged from the intoxication of pleasure; a heart for whom love is true and not just the passion of a moment, he said.
Benedict has an unusually busy schedule this week: In addition to the traditional Holy Week ceremonies, he will preside over a Mass on Monday afternoon in honor of John Paul to mark the second anniversary of the pontiff's death.He is not expected to attend the ceremony earlier in the day closing the church probe into John Paul's life and virtues. That ceremony will be headed by officials of the Rome diocese, which completed the investigation that will be turned over to the Vatican to decide whether John Paul can be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood.
WELL ISN'T THIS INTERESTING, THE IRANIANS ARE RIOTING AND BURNING THE UK BUILDING IN IRAN (LIKE USUAL,NOTHING NEW). MEANWHILE THEY CAPTURED THE UK SAILORS, DOES THIS REALLY MAKE SENCE. THE UK SHOULD BE BURNING AND RIOTING THE IRANIAN EMBASSY INSTEAD. OH BUT I FORGOT ISLAM IS A PEACEFUL RELIGION AND AMERICA AND UK IS THE DEVIL IN IRANS EYES.
Protest in Iran targets British Embassy By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer
APR 01,07
TEHRAN, Iran - About 200 students threw rocks and firecrackers at the British Embassy on Sunday, calling for the expulsion of the country's ambassador because of the standoff over Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines. Several dozen policemen prevented the protesters from entering the embassy compound, although a few briefly scaled a fence outside the compound's walls before being pushed back, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.The protesters chanted Death to Britain and Death to America as they hurled stones into the courtyard of the embassy. They also demanded that the Iranian government expel the British ambassador and close down the embassy, calling it a den of spies.Britain's Foreign Office said there had been no damage to the compound.
A British Foreign Office spokeswoman in London, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said diplomats were working normally inside the embassy.There is a police presence outside and there is no risk to those inside, said the spokeswoman.Britain and Iran are at a standoff over the 15 seized sailors and marines. Britain said they were in Iraqi waters when detained, but Iran has contended the Britons entered its waters illegally.British government and defense officials refused to discuss a report that claimed a Royal Navy captain or commodore would be sent to Tehran as a special envoy to negotiate the return of the personnel.The official would deliver an assurance that British naval crews would never deliberately enter Iranian waters without permission, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.Transport Minister Douglas Alexander said Britain was engaged in exploring the potential for dialogue with the Iranians.The responsible way forward is to continue the often unglamorous, but important and quiet diplomatic work to get our personnel home, Alexander told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Sunday AM program.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett appeared to soften rhetoric against Iran Saturday — though she stopped far short of the apology sought by many in Iran.I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen, Beckett said in Bremen, Germany, before returning to England. What we want is a way out of it. President Bush on Saturday called for the release of the sailors and marines and labeling their capture inexcusable behavior.Iran must give back the hostages, Bush said. They're innocent, they
did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of waters.Eight British sailors and seven marines were detained by Iranian naval units March 23 while patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called world powers arrogant for refusing to apologize.Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech in the southeastern city of Andinmeshk. A poll published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper found that 66 percent of respondents trusted Blair and Beckett to resolve the crisis, while 28 percent did not. Only 7 percent thought the government should be preparing to use military force. Pollster ICM interviewed 762 adults by telephone March 30 and 31. The margin of error is 4 percentage points. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and David Stringer in London, and Deb Riechmann in Camp David, Md., contributed to this report.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Sun Apr 1 14:11:30 UTC 2007
APR 01,07
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.5 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAR 31,07
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.5 VANUATU
MAP 2.5 PUGET SOUND REGION, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
MAP 5.4 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
MAP 3.0 MAUI REGION, HAWAII
MAP 4.9 VANUATU
MAP 5.0 VANUATU
MAP 4.5 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
MAP 3.8 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.9 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAR 30,07
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 WASHINGTON
MAP 2.8 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.8 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
MAP 4.2 LAKE BAYKAL REGION, RUSSIA
MAP 4.5 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 5.1 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 4.7 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 OFFSHORE COQUIMBO, CHILE
MAP 5.7 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 4.6 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.8 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.3 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.0 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.7 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
Quake jolts western Turkey; no casualties Fri Mar 30, 6:58 PM ET
ISTANBUL (AFP) - An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale jolted the western Turkish province of Isparta on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties, officials said. The epicenter of the tremor, which hit at 7:56 pm (1656 GMT), was at the district of Egirdir, the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said.There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, Egirdir sub-governor Omer Ulu told Anatolia news agency.Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by several major fault lines. Two violent temblors in the heavily populated, industrialised northwest claimed about 20,000 lives in August and November 1999.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Flash floods kill 16 people in eastern Afghanistan APR 01,07
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) - Flash floods caused by torrential rains killed at least 16 people and destroyed dozens of houses near the Hindu Kush mountain range in eastern Afghanistan, police said Sunday. Floods hit three districts in the northeastern province of Nuristan overnight and on Sunday, swamping villages and washing away roads, provincial police chief General Aseel Totakhail told AFP.Sixteen people have died, seven others are wounded, dozens of houses have been destroyed. Villages have been cut off, he said.Totakhail asked for urgent help from the government, the United Nations and foreign forces to evacuate people from the flood-affected area.Many people need to be air-lifted. Hundreds of families left homeless are in need of immediate help, he said.
Floods also affected the nearby eastern provinces of Kunar, Laghman and Nangarhar, causing damage to houses and farms but no human casualties were reported.Heavy rain has caused flooding across Afghanistan in the past weeks with avalanches also claiming several lives.Dozens of mudbrick houses in the capital Kabul were in ruins Sunday after a downpour Saturday. The Kabul River that runs through the city, usually as a dirty stream, was overflowing its banks Sunday.
Argentina floods claim 7 lives By MAYRA PERTOSSI, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 31, 11:00 PM ET
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Rising rivers in three rain-soaked provinces have forced some 38,000 people to flee their homes and floodwaters have claimed seven lives, authorities said Saturday.
Civil defense officials said Santa Fe province in Argentina's northeast remained the hardest-hit, with about 30,000 evacuees in and around the provincial capital of Santa Fe, 250 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, and the cities of Rosario and Canada de Gomez.Rain has lashed the region for five days, forcing evacuees to struggle through waist-deep waters with laundry baskets containing only a few possessions. Some tried to load refrigerators and TV sets on trucks and escape to higher ground, while others tried to cross flooded highways in small boats.A woman's body was recovered from the Parana River near Rosario, coast guard officials said Saturday, bringing to three the number dead after a house tumbled into the river a day earlier. The bodies of two men were recovered Friday.
Authorities said Saturday a 70-year-old farmer died after he was swept away by the Gualeguay River in Entre Rios province while trying to rescue some of his livestock.That brought to seven the dead over two days, including a man killed Friday trying to save a dog from a stream and an elderly man with Alzheimer's disease who was alone when he drowned in his flooded home, authorities said.
Jose Salim Jodor, mayor of the Entre Rios city of Gualeguay, said about 8,000 people had to leave their water-filled homes in that low-lying province on Argentina's eastern border with Uruguay.
Meanwhile, some 400 flood victims were reported in central Cordoba province on the border with Santa Fe province.President Nestor Kirchner pledged federal assistance for the victims and residents of Buenos Aires have begun organizing charity drives of food and other emergency assistance for the hardest-hit areas.Uruguayan authorities reported some 380 people had to be evacuated from regions near the Argentine border because of flooding of small rivers and streams.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun Apr 1, 6:22 AM ET
Forecasters predicted a severe weather system would move through the Upper Midwest to the eastern seaboard on Sunday, and a separate system could bring rain to the Northwest. Heavy rain and thunderstorms were predicted from the Southeast through the Mid-Atlantic. Cool rain showers were expected in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes.Meanwhile, a separate system with rain and snow was expected to move into the Northwest and Intermountain West. Showers were also expected in the Northwest and portions of Northern California.High temperatures in the Northeast were expected to rise into the 40s and 50s, while temperatures in the Southeast were expected to reach into the 70s and 80s. The Southern Plains could see temperatures rise into the 70s and 80s also.The Northwest and Northern Rockies were expected to rise into the 40s and 50s, while California and portions of the Southwest will rise into the 70s, 80s, and even into the 90s in the warmest locations.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Shirley Basin, Wyo., to a high of 91 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
Pakistani avalanches kill at least 29 APR 01,07
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Avalanches struck two villages in a remote part of northwest Pakistan, killing at least 29 people and leaving 14 others missing, police said Sunday. Heavy rains and snow have been lashing Chitral, a rugged district near the border with Afghanistan, since late last week. In some areas, about six feet of snow has fallen over the past several days, Ijaz Ahmed, a senior police officer, said by telephone from the area.All the roads are blocked due to landslides. There is no
access to the area, he said.Bad weather blocked helicopter flights and authorities planned to send food, medicines and blankets by air on Monday.One avalanche hit 18 homes in the village of Wasij late Saturday, killing 24 people whose bodies were recovered by neighbors and police, Ahmed said.
Six people were pulled alive from the rubble, three of them with injuries, he said. Fourteen people remained missing.Five members of one family were killed when an avalanche hit their home in the village of Postaki, Ahmed said by telephone from the town of Chitral, 170 miles northwest of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Ecuador's Reventador volcano spews ash Fri Mar 30, 11:52 PM ET
QUITO, Ecuador - A volcano in Ecuador's Andes erupted Friday, shooting plume of ash nearly two miles into the sky but causing no injuries or damage, authorities said. Liliana Troncoso of Ecuador's Geophysics Institute told The Associated Press that Reventador volcano had been showing increasing signs of activity since January, but that this eruption does not pose a threat to any nearby villages.The volcano erupted in 2002, spreading ash over the capital, Quito, about 65 miles to the east.
Earlier this month, authorities evacuated about 100 families from the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano in central Ecuador after it showered villages with flaming rocks and ash.
First sandstorm of year hits northern China Sat Mar 31, 8:58 AM ET
BEIJING (AFP) - Northern China was blanketed in dust on Saturday as the first sandstorm of the year struck the region, including the capital Beijing, state media reported, citing the national weather service.
Visibility was low in the capital due to the storm, but meteorologists said the sand was likely to blow out of town by nightfall due to strong winds, the Xinhua news agency reported.The mild storm was caused by a cyclone which developed over Mongolia and then moved eastward toward parts of Inner Mongolia and northern Hebei province, said Sun Jun of the China Meteorological Administration, quoted by Xinhua. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors and cover up if venturing outside to protect themselves from the floating dust.
Other sandstorms are in the forecast for Gansu, Liaoning, Ningxia and Shaanxi provinces, along with Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, meteorologists said.Northern China suffered from more than a dozen dust storms last year which were attributed to desertification in China's northwestern regions, including Qinghai province. A similar number has been predicted for this year.China has around 1.74 million square kilometers (696,000 square miles) of desertified land, or 18 percent of its total land area.Despite the sandstorms, the Chinese government has insisted that it will intensify its efforts to clean the air and prepare for the 2008 Olympics by planting broad belts of trees around the capital.
Menu Foods says its pet food is now safe By Lionel Perron
Sat Mar 31, 3:45 AM ET
TORONTO (Reuters) - Menu Foods Income Fund, maker of the tainted pet foods at the center of this month's massive recall, said on Friday it is no longer using a Chinese supplier of wheat gluten after U.S. officials found the chemical melamine in some of the recalled products.
Menu Foods stopped using the supplier on March 6, 10 days before the recall was announced, Paul Henderson, Menu Foods' president and chief executive, told a news conference in Toronto.He said all pet food manufactured by his company after that date is safe.Let me be clear on this: we have removed the problem from our system, he said. Our recall is well under way and products produced today are being made with known quality and tested raw materials.We are angered that a source outside the company has apparently adulterated the product, causing this regrettable loss, he added.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that melamine, a chemical used in fertilizers in Asia and forbidden in pet food, had been detected in some of the wheat gluten used by Mississauga, Ontario-based Menu Foods. The FDA said the wheat gluten came from a company in China.Menu Foods said all of the wheat glutin tainted by melamine came from the Chinese supplier.On March 16, Menu Foods recalled 60 million cans and pouches of cuts-and-gravy style wet pet food after it was blamed for the deaths of at least 14 animals -- mostly cats.The company makes pet foods that are sold under a variety of labels such as Iams, Eukanuba, President's Choice and Nutro Max Gourmet Classics, store brands sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Safeway Inc. and at specialty pet stores including Petsmart Inc.The company says it used the Chinese supplier because its regular North
American and European wheat gluten suppliers couldn't keep up with demand.
In general there's a tight supply and we had to seek additional products to meet our needs, that's why we looked at bringing in additional suppliers, said Randall Copeland, Menu Foods' vice president.
It is still unclear how the chemical got into the wheat gluten.Henderson said he could not confirm the number of deaths related to the pet food recall, noting the company has fielded about 300,000 calls from across North America.Last week, New York state officials said aminopterin, a substance used in rat poison, had been found in the pet food. However, the FDA has not confirmed the presence of that toxin in the recalled pet food.Menu Foods says its investigation into the toxic ingredient that caused the recall is continuing.This is a subject of very great interest to us and our lawyers and you can expect we'll be following up, said Henderson.Units of Menu Foods closed up 16 Canadian cents, or 4 percent, at C$4.05 on Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.($1=$1.15 Canadian)
Outcry cancels chocolate Jesus show By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 31, 10:43 AM ET
NEW YORK - A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Catholics complained. The My Sweet Lord display was shut down by the hotel that houses the Lab Gallery in midtown Manhattan. Roger Smith Hotel president James Knowles cited the public outcry for his decision.The reaction is crystal clear and has brought to our attention the unintended reaction of you and other conscientious friends of ours to the exhibition, Knowles wrote in the two-paragraph cancellation notice.Matt Semler, the gallery's creative director, resigned in protest.
The six-foot sculpture was the victim of a strong-arming from people who haven't seen the show, seen what we're doing, Semler said. They jumped to conclusions completely contrary to our intentions.
But word of the confectionary Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as a sickening display. Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.The hotel and the gallery were overrun Thursday with angry phone calls and e-mails about the exhibit. Semler said the calls included death threats over the work of artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who was described as disappointed by the decision to cancel the display.In this situation, the hotel couldn't continue to be supportive because of a fear for their own safety, Semler said.
The sculpture was to debut Monday evening, the day after Palm Sunday and just four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit was planned for Easter Sunday.The artwork was created from more than 200 pounds of milk chocolate, and features Christ with his arms outstretched as if on an invisible cross. Unlike the typical religious portrayal of Christ, the Cavallaro creation does not include a loincloth.Cavallaro hoped the sculpture could go on display elsewhere, according to Semler.Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food as art: Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.
U.N. chief: Arms crossing Syrian border By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer MAR 31,07
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. chief said Saturday that arms are reportedly still being smuggled over the border from Syria to Lebanon, and he urged all sides to fully comply with a United Nations resolution that ended the summer war between Hezbollah militants and Israel. The leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar reported Saturday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Lebanese security chiefs that Israel had provided him with evidence and pictures of trucks crossing from Syria to Lebanon and unloading weapons.There are intelligence reports that arms are smuggled. I am concerned by that kind of arms smuggling, which will destabilize the situation in Lebanon, he told reporters later during a stop at the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
The U.N. resolution that halted 34 days of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel calls among other things for a stop in arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas and demands the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers the militants captured, triggering the conflict.Ban met Friday with Lebanese security chiefs during his two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss ways of enhancing the Lebanese army's monitoring capabilities along border with Syria, one of Hezbollah's principal patrons.He urged all sides to obey the U.N.-brokered cease-fire and expressed the need for an enhanced monitoring capacity of the Lebanese armed forces to ensure that there will be no such smuggling activity.Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Ban during a stop in Israel last weekend that the cease-fire in southern Lebanon is endangered by Hezbollah militants. He accused the Iranian- and Syrian-backed guerrillas of continuing to receive arms shipments from Syria.Lebanese leaders have rejected Israeli claims that weapon smuggling continues.
Pro-Western Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said at a news conference with Ban on Friday that the Lebanese government was trying to improve its monitoring capabilities but stressed that not one single case of arms smuggling across the border with Syria has been recorded.His defense minister, Elias Murr, recently said that not a single mosquito is getting across the border, adding that Hezbollah did not need to resupply. On Friday, the defense minister again dismissed reports of arms smuggling through Syria as not true.But Hezbollah has boasted that it replenished its stockpile of rockets after the war.Israeli warplanes continue to fly reconnaissance missions over Lebanon, although Beirut and the U.N. consider them a violation of the cease-fire and have demanded Israel stop.Israel has refused, saying they are vital intelligence-gathering missions. An internal Israeli military document has said, however, the flights are intended in part to pressure the international community to stop arms smuggling to Hezbollah guerrillas and force the militants to release the abducted Israeli soldiers.
Merkel: EU supports Mideast peace talks By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer Sun Apr 1, 6:21 AM ET
JERUSALEM - In her first Mideast trip as EU president, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Europe's help in bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, trying to build on a new burst of international efforts to restart peace talks. Merkel also called on Iran to immediately release 15 British sailors and marines seized in the Gulf on March 23. Britain has the full solidarity of the European Union, Merkel said in a speech at Hebrew University. We demand the immediate release of the 15 British soldiers.Merkel, who was meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders Sunday, said the Europeans are ready to offer support, but ultimately the sides must resolve their differences themselves.The Europeans must not assume that they could force a solution. We can't and I don't want to do it, she said in her speech. Within my abilities, I would like to support the sides to walk the path toward peace.Her visit came after the Arab world renewed a land-for-recognition offer to Israel last week. Since then, the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — has said it hopes to arrange a meeting with moderate Arab states, Israel and the Palestinians before the summer. Merkel, who now holds the rotating EU presidency, plays an
important Quartet role.
However, several obstacles are blocking progress.
Much of the world is still reluctant to deal with the new Palestinian unity government, a coalition of the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, because it has failed to explicitly recognize Israel or renounce violence.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will not talk to Abbas about any of the ingredients of a final peace deal, such as
the borders of a future Palestinian state, until Palestinian militants halt rocket fire from Gaza and release an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for nine months.Olmert, while praising the Arabs' readiness to offer recognition, has been cool to the price Israel is asked to pay for it a withdrawal from the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast War, including the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, and recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Israel has said that while willing to give up lands, it won't return to the 1967 borders. It flatly rejects the return of refugees.In a visit last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrested a promise from Olmert and Abbas to meet biweekly.
Merkel is expected to ask the two leaders to make good use of these conversations no date has been set for the first round but her aides said she is not carrying a concrete action plan.
The chancellor arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday evening and held informal talks with Olmert.Israel and Germany have close relations. Germany has long considered guaranteeing Israel's security to be a pillar of its foreign policy following the Holocaust.Sunday's stops included breakfast with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum.Merkel spent about half an hour at the Holocaust memorial, visiting the Hall of Remembrance and laying a wreath decorated with ribbons bearing the German flag. Before leaving, she wrote in the memorial's guest book: Humanity grows out of responsibility for the past..Later, Merkel went to the Hebrew University where the former physics researcher received an honorary doctorate.We admire your steadfast friendship with the Jewish people, university President Menachem Magidor said. As Merkel stood on a red carpet, a large blue ribbon was placed on her shoulders.
In the afternoon, she was to meet with Abbas at his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, followed by more talks with Olmert in Jerusalem in the evening.In Ramallah, Merkel was expected to meet only with Abbas and to avoid Palestinian Cabinet ministers, even those who are not Hamas members, her aides said.
The EU foreign ministers decided Saturday, in a meeting in Germany, to start dealing with non-Hamas members of the Palestinian government. In continuing to shun the entire Palestinian Cabinet during this trip, Merkel apparently was trying to avoid angering her Israeli hosts. With the EU decision, Israel is increasingly alone in its call for a total boycott of the Palestinian government. Abbas will ask Merkel to deal with all members of his government and to pressure Israel to resume peace talks, said his information minister, Mustafa Barghouti. Abbas' aides contend that the government cannot be ignored because it represents the vast majority of the Palestinian people. They also note that the government calls for establishing a state in territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast War, implying recognition of Israel, and that it seeks to consolidate a truce. Yet Abbas has been unable to
stop rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli border towns. And his assurances to Israel and Germany that the Israeli soldier would be freed soon, as part of a prisoner swap, never materialized.
Pope celebrates Palm Sunday Mass By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI, in his Palm Sunday Mass, opened the Roman Catholic
Church's most solemn week by urging young people to live pure, innocent lives. This year, Holy Week also includes the second anniversary of the April 2, 2005, death of Pope John Paul II. On Monday, the Catholic Church will close one phase of its investigation into John Paul's saintliness as it keeps up the momentum to have the beloved pope beatified. Holding an intricately woven palm frond, Benedict opened the Palm Sunday celebration by processing through the sun-filled St. Peter's Square and up the steps of the basilica. He was preceded by dozens of priests, bishops and cardinals who clutched palms and olive branches as their red vestments fluttered in the breeze.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and is the start of the church's Holy Week, which includes the Good Friday re-enactment of Christ's crucifixion and death and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Benedict continued the tradition started by John Paul and dedicated Palm Sunday to the young, who were out in force in St. Peter's.He told them that to follow God they should have innocent hands and pure hearts.Innocent hands are hands that are not used for acts of violence, he told them. They are hands that are not sullied by corruption and bribes.Hearts are pure when they are not stained by lies and hypocrisy, he said. A heart is pure when it is estranged from the intoxication of pleasure; a heart for whom love is true and not just the passion of a moment, he said.
Benedict has an unusually busy schedule this week: In addition to the traditional Holy Week ceremonies, he will preside over a Mass on Monday afternoon in honor of John Paul to mark the second anniversary of the pontiff's death.He is not expected to attend the ceremony earlier in the day closing the church probe into John Paul's life and virtues. That ceremony will be headed by officials of the Rome diocese, which completed the investigation that will be turned over to the Vatican to decide whether John Paul can be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood.
WELL ISN'T THIS INTERESTING, THE IRANIANS ARE RIOTING AND BURNING THE UK BUILDING IN IRAN (LIKE USUAL,NOTHING NEW). MEANWHILE THEY CAPTURED THE UK SAILORS, DOES THIS REALLY MAKE SENCE. THE UK SHOULD BE BURNING AND RIOTING THE IRANIAN EMBASSY INSTEAD. OH BUT I FORGOT ISLAM IS A PEACEFUL RELIGION AND AMERICA AND UK IS THE DEVIL IN IRANS EYES.
Protest in Iran targets British Embassy By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer
APR 01,07
TEHRAN, Iran - About 200 students threw rocks and firecrackers at the British Embassy on Sunday, calling for the expulsion of the country's ambassador because of the standoff over Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines. Several dozen policemen prevented the protesters from entering the embassy compound, although a few briefly scaled a fence outside the compound's walls before being pushed back, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.The protesters chanted Death to Britain and Death to America as they hurled stones into the courtyard of the embassy. They also demanded that the Iranian government expel the British ambassador and close down the embassy, calling it a den of spies.Britain's Foreign Office said there had been no damage to the compound.
A British Foreign Office spokeswoman in London, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said diplomats were working normally inside the embassy.There is a police presence outside and there is no risk to those inside, said the spokeswoman.Britain and Iran are at a standoff over the 15 seized sailors and marines. Britain said they were in Iraqi waters when detained, but Iran has contended the Britons entered its waters illegally.British government and defense officials refused to discuss a report that claimed a Royal Navy captain or commodore would be sent to Tehran as a special envoy to negotiate the return of the personnel.The official would deliver an assurance that British naval crews would never deliberately enter Iranian waters without permission, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.Transport Minister Douglas Alexander said Britain was engaged in exploring the potential for dialogue with the Iranians.The responsible way forward is to continue the often unglamorous, but important and quiet diplomatic work to get our personnel home, Alexander told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Sunday AM program.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett appeared to soften rhetoric against Iran Saturday — though she stopped far short of the apology sought by many in Iran.I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen, Beckett said in Bremen, Germany, before returning to England. What we want is a way out of it. President Bush on Saturday called for the release of the sailors and marines and labeling their capture inexcusable behavior.Iran must give back the hostages, Bush said. They're innocent, they
did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of waters.Eight British sailors and seven marines were detained by Iranian naval units March 23 while patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called world powers arrogant for refusing to apologize.Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech in the southeastern city of Andinmeshk. A poll published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper found that 66 percent of respondents trusted Blair and Beckett to resolve the crisis, while 28 percent did not. Only 7 percent thought the government should be preparing to use military force. Pollster ICM interviewed 762 adults by telephone March 30 and 31. The margin of error is 4 percentage points. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless and David Stringer in London, and Deb Riechmann in Camp David, Md., contributed to this report.
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