EU - LISBON - WHATS NEXT?

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.

WILDFIRE IN QUINCEY ALMOST CONTAINED
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Soldiers dig for bodies after Japanese earthquake,10 confirmed dead, 12 missing Monday, June 16, 2008 | 6:39 AM ET The Associated Press

Japanese rescuers search for missing people Monday at a hot spring inn in Kurihara that was damaged in a weekend landslide. (Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press)Japanese soldiers digging through the wreckage of a hot spring resort buried in a landslide discovered the body of one of the missing Monday, bringing the death toll in the weekend earthquake to 10, police said.Rescuers kept up their search for the 12 people who remain missing from Saturday's powerful quake in northern Japan, but hopes dimmed that any of them would be found alive.The body of a 58-year-old man was discovered at about noon at the hot spring inn that was inundated by a torrent of mud, rocks and trees early Saturday, police spokesman Naoshi Tokunaga said.We pulled out his body, but unfortunately, he was confirmed dead, Tokunaga said.More than 1,000 rescue and disaster officials — including military troops and aircraft — have joined the search. They braved loose ground, aftershocks and darkness, and so far have had good weather — a major factor since rain would hamper airlifts and possibly spark more deadly landslides.

But the rescue efforts have been slowed by bad roads.

We are doing our best … but it has been difficult to carry out operations due to excessive amounts of mud in the area, Tokunaga said.Several major points of access to the hardest-hit spots were virtually unreachable by ground with tons of debris covering them.

Soldiers using backhoes were trying to dig their way to the hot spring area, but had to start 8 kilometres away. Soldiers caked in mud and using hand shovels recovered the bodies Sunday of the inn's 80-year-old owner and two others buried when the 7.2-magnitude quake struck at 8:43 a.m., triggering several major landslides.

100 airlifted to safer ground
Nine other people were missing in the quake-hit area. Another 100 living in a hamlet near the resort remained stranded, some without water, and had to be slowly airlifted out by police and military helicopters.The two-story hot spring resort was inundated when the hill behind it came crashing down.A series of more than 470 powerful aftershocks have hampered search efforts and sparked fears that more landslides are possible.The quake was centered in the northern state of Iwate, and was located about 8 kilometres underground. It was felt as far away as Tokyo, more than 400 kilometres to the southwest.The most recent major earthquake in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active countries, killed more than 6,400 people in the city of Kobe in January 1995.

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.

IOWA FLOOD DAMAGE RISES
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Checkpoints stoke frustration among flood victims By JIM SUHR, Associated Press Writer JUNE 16,08

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Police twice caught a man in his flood-damaged home before the property had been cleared by city inspectors. But Rick Blazek vowed to return — even if he had to sneak behind bushes. Once I'm in there, I'm not coming out unless they have handcuffs and leg shackles, he pledged Sunday at a checkpoint where authorities were limiting access.That's what happened Monday when officers pulled Blazek out of his pickup after he tried to run a checkpoint. When he allegedly bumped an Iowa state trooper with the truck, police drew their guns, broke a window on his vehicle and wrestled Blazek out. He was charged with assaulting an officer.

Blazek was among thousands of flood victims frustrated by authorities' decision Monday to cut off access to flood-damaged homes because of safety concerns. About 25,000 people have had to leave their homes since the Cedar River began flooding.

There were no other arrests.

I hope it's the only one that we have, police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said. I understand people are very upset and justly so. But most of the citizens have been very patient. I know they are not angry at the police. They're angry at the situation.At a checkpoint on the other side of town, pastor Mike Gray stood ready to counsel anguished homeowners.One lady was disappointed she couldn't spend more time with her home, said Gray, of the Valley View Baptist Church. Yesterday, there were people getting angry. You can understand that.At the checkpoint Blazek tried to run, Dennis Usher was keeping his misery in check. The 63-year-old retired college athletic director said he had no idea when he would get back into his home just two blocks from the river, but he was resigned to waiting.And he didn't blame city officials for their response.I don't think anyone expected this, he said.

NOAA: New Orleans at risk from Cat. 2 hurricane By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 16, 6:04 PM ET

BATON ROUGE, La. - Despite a massive effort to repair and upgrade flood defenses since Hurricane Katrina, storm surge could pour over levees in New Orleans if a strong Category 2 or higher hurricane strikes the city, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. While the forecast uses what officials say is the most accurate and complete picture yet of the region's levee heights, they said they weren't surprised by findings that reaffirm the area surrounding New Orleans is among the nation's most hurricane-vulnerable. The forecast released Monday represents the first time the yearly storm surge predictions have used levee heights based on global positioning system technology.A team led by Roy Dokka, the director of the Center for Geoinformatics at Louisiana State University, traveled 1,000 miles of levees, flood walls and other coastal features since Katrina with GPS technology mounted on vehicles to obtain the new measurements.They are more correct than they have ever been before, Wilson Shaffer, a hurricane modeling expert with NOAA's National Weather Service, said of the levee-height measurements.To predict how strong a storm would be to overpower a levee, researchers factor in variables including topography and a storm's wind speeds, size and intensity. The projections on storm surge are used by emergency planners, builders, residents and the Army Corps of Engineers.The Corps of Engineers is determining how high to build levees under a congressional mandate to complete by 2011 a hurricane protection system capable of handling a storm likely to hit over the next century. A strong Category 2 likely would fall under that definition.

On Monday, the corps was unable to provide a breakdown on how much has been spent so far on work to repel storm surge. Since Katrina, Congress has given the corps about $7.1 billion to work with and it is considering giving the corps $5.7 billion more.We have a long way to go, said Randy Cephus, a corps spokesman in New Orleans. There still remains risk and even once the system is complete, there will always be risk.Before Katrina hit nearly three years ago, levee heights were woefully out-of-date and in many places far lower than officials thought they were, Dokka said.But, unfortunately, the new measurements, incorporating post-Katrina levee upgrades, confirm an old story: the region remains at risk.

In general, the pattern hasn't changed remarkably, said Stephen Baig, a storm surge expert with NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Somewhere between a Category 2 and Category 3 overtopping occurs.
The NOAA storm surge estimates do not take into consideration possible engineering failures, like the levee breaches that caused most of the misery in New Orleans during Katrina, which was a category 3 upon landfall south of New Orleans.State officials were not surprised by the latest findings.All of coastal Louisiana is vulnerable and will continue to be vulnerable, said Jerome Zeringue, a top levee aide to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Fears for Mississippi river as flood-hit Iowa cleans up by Mira Oberman Mon Jun 16, 4:15 PM ET

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AFP) - Officials warily eyed the mighty Mississippi Monday swollen by days of flooding as waterlogged Iowan towns began a massive clean-up with damage set to run into billions of dollars. With some 2,500 National Guard already deployed across the state trying to keep the floodwaters at bay, experts believe the Mississippi, the country's second longest river, could crest either Tuesday or Wednesday.Iowa Governor Chet Culver warned the Mississippi would be the next battleground, as floodwaters from the state's Cedar, Iowa and Des Moines rivers poured into it.It's likely we'll see major flooding in every city on the border, from New Boston on down. We're very concerned about that, he said late Sunday.The massive river, which passes through 10 states in its 3,734-kilometer (2,320-mile) journey from its source in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico, defines the border between Iowa and Illinois.

Parts of Illinois are already under water, and officials there are bracing for the same kind of misery heaped on homes and businesses in Iowa, where 36,000 people have been evacuated, most from the town of Cedar Rapids.While this is a trying time for our state, every Iowan should know this: together, we will rebuild, Culver said Sunday, before touring the devastated areas on Monday.More than 11 million people in nine midwestern states have been affected by the flooding and extreme weather of recent weeks, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.Iowa was by the far the hardest hit: 83 of its 99 counties have been declared disaster areas and more than 4.8 million sandbags were laid down to try to stem the tide.Seventeen people have died as a result of the floods in Iowa since the start of the extreme weather on May 25, adding to another five deaths in neighboring states.It's some of the worst flooding I've seen since (Hurricane) Katrina which hit New Orleans in August 2005, FEMA director David Paulison told CNN after touring the damage in Iowa.Losses will likely be greater than they were in heavy floods which hit in 1993, experts told the Des Moines Register, when the damage and lost business from widespread flooding totaled about 2.1 billion dollars.Some 750 million dollars worth of property, mostly homes, has already been swallowed by the waters in Cedar Rapids.We're talking two billion dollars to three billion to get this place back on its feet, Lee Clancey, president of Cedar Rivers chamber of commerce, told the newspaper after 400 blocks were submerged in the town.Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management spokesman Nick Klemesrud told AFP it would take time to assess the damage, but predicted the losses will be staggering.

It's public infrastructure, it's personal homes, it's land, it's fields, it's livestock, it's public buildings, he said.The agriculture sector was said to be particularly badly hit with initial estimates to crop damage of a billion dollars, according to the governor's office.And amid reports that 20 percent of Iowa's crops have been lost, the damage could put further pressure on high global food prices. Given the flooding we see today, we're likely to see prices go significantly higher based on the weather, said Chad Hart, an agriculture economist at Iowa State University. Barge traffic ground to a halt on the swollen Mississippi and rail shipments were also hit as floodwaters washed out track and key bridges. The waters were said to be receding in several of the hardest hit towns including Cedar Rapids -- where 1,300 streets were submerged and 24,000 of the city's 124,000 residents were evacuated -- and Columbus Junction. Television crews allowed into the downtown area of Cedar Rapids showed images of massive debris littering the streets, smashed store windows, warped furniture and sidewalks streaked with mud and sand. Cars and houseboats had been floated downriver where they were trapped by a rail bridge, trees were torn from their roots, roads were washed out and bridges collapsed.

More than 1M homeless from flooding in China By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 16, 1:26 PM ET

FOSHAN, China - Weeks of rain pushed rivers over their banks in southern China, displacing more than 1.27 million people and forcing some to huddle on rooftops Monday as the region braced for more downpours. The floods killed 57 people, collapsed tens of thousands of homes, damaged crops across more than 2.12 million acres and causing more than an estimated $1.5 billion in economic losses.Banana trees were almost swallowed up by the muddy chocolate brown waters of the Xijiang River that overflowed its banks in Foshan, a city in prosperous Guangdong province. Farmers ditched their plows and waded into the neck-high waters with nets to catch fish.The Beijiang River, which converges with the Xijiang in Foshan, swallowed a neighborhood that had been home to about 100 people.The water came in fast. It started rising yesterday morning, and by noon our homes were swamped, said a man who gave his name as Mr. Huang, standing on a dike staring at his inundated home across the Beijiang river.Residents crossed back and forth in wooden skiffs between the orange-tiled buildings.We're living on the second floor of the tallest building in our neighborhood, Huang said, pointing to a tall building. We had to do the same thing during the flood in 2005, which was much worse than this one.The government ignored us then and it's ignoring us now, he said.

There were no signs in the area of large encampments of displaced people. Residents in multi-floor buildings appeared to have moved to higher floors, including on rooftops under tarpaulins.State television showed troops in boats rescuing stranded people, bailing water and hastily filling sandbags to shore up dikes, but it was difficult to tell how widespread the government response has been so far.The flooding was the third major natural calamity to strike China this year as it gears up to host the Olympics in August.The trouble began with freakish blizzards that paralyzed southern provinces in February followed by last month's earthquake in Sichuan that killed nearly 70,000.Sichuan, still struggling to recover from the 7.9 magnitude quake, was among 10 provinces affected by the latest round of flooding.But the hardest hit was Guangdong province in the Pearl River Delta, on the coast about 620 miles downstream to the east.The industrial area is often called the world's factory floor because it is home to hundreds of thousands of manufacturers that churn out toys, computers, iPods, sneakers and a myriad of other products for the global market.So far, most of the reported damage was in agricultural areas in Guangdong, also a large producer of rice, fruit and vegetables.

Twenty of the 57 deaths were in Guangdong, and crop damage was reported on 2.12 million acres, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. More than 1.27 million people were displaced, Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV reported.Economic losses have reached $1.5 billion because of the floods, the official China Daily newspaper said. It said Monday the flooding was the worst to hit the Pearl River Delta in 50 years. A major flood is feared if rain continues, Huang Boqing, deputy director of the Guangdong flood control and drought relief headquarters, was quoted as saying. Forecasters were expecting the rain to continue to drench the region in the next few days, said an official at the China Meteorological Administration who refused to give his name because he is not authorized to speak to the media. The official said thunderstorms were expected over the next two days in several provinces, including Guangdong, and that people in some areas have already been evacuated.

MISSISSIPPI FLOODING
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RISING WATERS HEADING SOUTH IN MIDWEST
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Feds: 26 levees could overflow if sandbags fail By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer JUNE 16,08

WASHINGTON - The federal government predicts that 27 levees could potentially overflow along the Mississippi River if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees, according to a map obtained Monday by The Associated Press. Officials are placing millions of sandbags on top of the levees along the river in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri to prevent overflowing. There is no way to predict whether these levees will break, said Ron Fournier, a spokesman with the Army Corps of Engineers in Iowa. That's a crystal ball that nobody has, he told the AP.The levees in New Orleans broke during Hurricane Katrina, causing catastrophic flooding.Record-breaking storms and flooding across six states this month continue to force thousands of people to evacuate and seek shelter. Since June 6, there have been 22 deaths, 85 injuries and more than 26,000 power outages because of the storms and flooding, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The disasters are not as catastrophic as 2005's Hurricane Katrina, when at least 1,600 people were killed.

The Army Corps of Engineers looks at the latest weather forecasts and creates battle maps for levee engineers that show how many levees could overflow without what Fournier calls a big flood fight effort. The flood fight entails placing millions of sandbags on top of the levees to make them higher.The information, which the Army Corps shares regularly with state and local officials, changes constantly. Bret Vorhees, a spokesman for the Iowa Emergency Management and Homeland Security agency, said his office relies on these updates. The weather can be unpredictable. It's a bit of an art with a science with their projections, he said.As of Monday evening, 27 levees have a potential of overflowing — 20 of those a high potential — according to the Army Corps. Six levees have already overflowed in the past three days: two in Iowa and four in Missouri.In most instances, overflowing is just problematic, much like when you fill your bathtub with too much water, says Larry Roth, the deputy executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers.But because the current flooding is so rare — many are calling it a one-in-500-years flood — the entire levee system will be stressed, he said.Still, Roth said, if the federal government and local officials are able to get the sandbags in place and identify potential weak areas along the levees, then there's maybe a very good chance to provide flood protection for the people that live along the river.Some 251 miles of the Mississippi River have been closed. That doesn't officially shut down the river, said U.S. Geological Survey national flood specialist Bob Holmes, but it effectively shuts down barge traffic.
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Seth Borenstein in Washington and Michael J. Crumb in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

BUSH REFLECTS ON LEGACE
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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.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Oil hits new record, then reverses on worries By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer Mon Jun 16, 4:23 PM ET

NEW YORK - Crude oil futures swung wildly on Monday, rising to a record and then tumbling as investors wrestled with whether they should put stock in Saudi Arabia's promise to boost production. Retail gas prices rose to a record $4.08 a gallon. Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell 25 cents to settle at $134.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier soaring to a trading record of $139.89. Earlier, they dropped as low as $132.84.

With little in the way of news to explain oil's turnabout, analysts pointed to Saudi Arabia's weekend decision to boost production and to Tuesday's expiration of crude options, which are agreements to buy or sell futures at higher or lower prices.Trading is often volatile in the days immediately preceding options expiration. That could be the cause of some of the volatility today, said James Cordier, president of Tampa, Fla.-based trading firms Liberty Trading Group and OptionSellers.com.Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, told U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon over the weekend that it would boost oil output by 200,000 barrels a day, or by 2 percent, from June to July. In May, the kingdom raised production by 300,000 barrels a day.A sense that the Saudis may be getting serious about boosting output could be growing among some investors. Still, many analysts believe the boost in Saudi output is too little to make much difference.Saudi Arabia's proposed output addition will only go some way in offsetting the significant output losses in other OPEC nations like Nigeria, said Barclays Capital analyst Kevin Norrish in a research note.Cordier said Saudi Arabia has to increase by north of 1 million barrels per day to have an impact on prices, and the market doesn't think they have it.
According to the International Energy Agency, OPEC spare capacity fell below 2 million barrels a day in May for the first time since 2006. The majority of that — about 1.45 million barrels a day — was in Saudi Arabia.Earlier Monday, prices rose as the dollar fell against the euro. Many investors buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the dollar falls. Also, a weaker dollar makes oil less expensive to investors dealing in other currencies. Many analysts believe the dollar's protracted decline is a major factor behind oil's doubling in price over the past year.

Investors were also mulling the effects of an overnight fire at a StatoilHydro ASA drilling rig in the North Sea, which could affect as much as 150,000 barrels of daily oil production, said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Conn., in a research note.At the pump, meanwhile, the national average price of a gallon of gas rose 0.3 cent overnight to its latest milestone, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are following crude prices higher, and likely have several more cents to rise before catching up with oil's latest advance.If oil prices pass $140 and head even higher, the pain consumers are feeling at the pump will intensify.Diesel fuel prices held steady Monday at a record $4.797 a gallon. High prices for diesel, used to transport most of the world's food, are pushing food prices higher, putting even more pressure on consumers.

In other Nymex trading, July gasoline futures fell 2.47 cents to settle at $3.4379 a gallon, while July heating oil futures fell 0.94cent to settle at $3.8274 a gallon.July natural gas futures rose 30.8 cents to settle at $12.933 per 1,000 cubic feet.Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Monday that natural gas production from a project in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico has been restored, hitting a gross rate of about 900 million cubic feet per day. Output from the Independence Hub was halted April 8 after a pipeline leak was found.In London, August Brent crude futures fell 40 cents to settle at $134.71 on the ICE Futures exchange. AP Business Writer John Porretto, in Houston, and Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

FUEL SUPPLIES UNDER PRESSURE
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US STOCKS MIXED AS OIL RETREATS
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Stocks trade mixed as oil retreats By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer Mon Jun 16, 5:35 PM ET

NEW YORK - Wall Street started the week with a mixed finish on Monday as investors weighed volatility in oil prices and new hope for the financial sector after Lehman Brothers posted results.

Stocks spent much of the session mostly lower after a fresh record for crude oil and a decline in regional manufacturing activity touched off concerns about the ability of the economy to push ahead.

But more buyers turned out following an afternoon retreat in oil. And financials were among the biggest gainers after Lehman offered more insights into its financial well-being.The day's eventual gains followed worrisome economic news. The New York Federal Reserve Bank's Empire State index indicated that manufacturing activity in New York State continued to weaken in June. The index fell to a negative 8.7 from a negative 3.7 a month earlier. The report is the earliest of several monthly regional snapshots that investors look to for insights on economic activity.The manufacturing report and an early jump in energy prices fanned worries that rising prices in an already uncertain economy will cause consumers to tamp down spending. A pullback could deal a blow to the economy, as consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.Richard Campagna, managing director at Provident Investment Counsel in Pasadena, Calif., said that in addition to a pullback in oil, the gains in financial stocks helped shore up confidence in the overall market.You're finally seeing some stability in the financials, he said. He pointed to Lehman's results: They gave more information. The fact that they're becoming less leveraged, more transparent — all that's positive.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 38.27, or 0.31 percent, to 12,269.08 after being down more than 95 points early in the session.Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.11, or 0.01 percent, to 1,360.14. The Nasdaq composite index, which contains many technology names, rose 20.28, or 0.83 percent, to 2,474.78.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a light 3.62 billion shares compared to 4.59 billion on Friday.The moves follow a strong session Friday that left the Dow with a weekly advance and lessened the declines that the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted for the week.Treasury prices fell amid worries that inflation would erode returns. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.27 percent in late trading from Friday's 4.26 percent.The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.Early Monday a weak dollar helped drive the price of a barrel oil to a record near $140 while retail gas prices etched a new high of $4.08 a gallon. Light, sweet crude set a trading record of $139.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, before settling down 25 cents at $134.61 as investors responded to a pledge by Saudi Arabia to increase oil production.

Lehman's report, which matched a week-old forecast from the company, appeared to assuage some concerns about the ability of the financial sector to extricate itself from bad bets on mortgage debt. The nation's No. 4 investment bank posted a second-quarter loss of $2.87 billion, or $5.14 per share. The loss was the first for Lehman since it went public in 1994. Lehman rose $1.14, or 4.5 percent, to $26.98.Campagna said investors appeared to be making modest bets ahead of quarterly results due Tuesday from investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc.No one is really willing to let the market run and dive in until they hear from Goldman, he said.In other financial news, insurer American International Group Inc. named former Citigroup Inc. executive Robert Willumstad as chief executive. Willumstad replaces Martin Sullivan after AIG logged billions in losses on bad bets in the mortgage market. AIG, one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials, fell 24 cents to $33.94. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.13, or 0.97 percent, to 740.74. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.72 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed down 0.14 percent, Germany's DAX index declined 0.52 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.52 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Dublin sees no obvious solution to EU treaty rejection
HONOR MAHONY 16.06.2008 @ 06:54 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Europe will this week try and pick up the political pieces following Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, but the relatively high turnout at the ballot box, the wide margin and the jumble of reasons for the No vote mean an exit strategy will be hard to find.

For the moment other member states have insisted that ratification of the treaty continue, despite the 53.4 to 46.6 percent No vote on Thursday (12 June). But they have made it clear that they expect the Irish government to come the EU leaders summit later this week equipped with some answers.

Ireland - in the EU hotseat JUNE 16,08

The Slovenian EU presidency said it would ask Irish prime minister Brian Cowen to explain the reasons for the rejection of the treaty by the Irish people at the top-level meeting.The European Commission almost made it clear that this is more Dublin's problem, rather than a strictly EU one.A referendum is a matter of national responsibility said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso after the vote and pointed out that our Irish friends always said it was a national campaign.However Ireland has admitted it will be hard-pressed to come up an answer and asked Europe to not isolate it.

We now have to sit down in a sense of solidarity and co-operation with all of the member states to see if we can find a way forward and the fact of the matter is there is no obvious solution before us here, said Irish prime minister Brian Cowen in an interview with state broadcaster RTE. I want Europe to provide some of the solutions as well as just suggesting that it is Ireland's problem alone, although Ireland has a position here that we have to try to deal with.France and Germany have been careful to sing from the same hymn sheet, staving off a feeling of Europe in crisis and rushing out a joint statement to say ratification should continue in a bid to stop more eurosceptic countries such as Britain immediately calling off the process. The others must continue ratification...so that the Irish incident does not become a crisis, said French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Scrambling for a solution

The next few days are likely to everyone scrambling for a legal solution to the quandary, an EU diplomat told EUobserver adding that there is no answer stored away in a vault somewhere.Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said [The question is whether] Ireland for a certain time can clear the way for an integration of the remaining 26 [member states].But all countries need to ratify the Lisbon Treaty for it to come into force. UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff and constitutional affairs expert said attempts to find some sort of legal half-way house are nonsense.

We are all trapped in the Treaty of Nice, he said, summing up the situation after the Irish No.The most obvious way out – without resorting to renegotiating the treaty for which there is little political appetite - is another vote to see if the Irish say yes second time round, something already mooted by France's Europe minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet told French radio that there was no other solution to the situation even if Dublin would have to wait quite a long time to have a second vote.But it appears unlikely that the Irish government can take this route – something admitted by Conor Lenihan, a junior minister responsible for integration.

I can't see a situation where we can put this matter again, he told RTE. I think the result is deeply damaging to our position within Europe, while voting again would create a double risk of creating even more damage.

A second vote?

Ireland has voted twice before. In 2001 it rejected the Nice Treaty before accepting it a year later. But the first rejection saw a low voter turnout and came after the government had done virtually no campaigning, being complacent about a Yes.Thursday's vote saw a relatively good turnout (53% in comparison to 34.8% in the first Nice Treaty vote), based on the back of a strong effort by Dublin to secure a Yes. There appears also not to have been a clear reason for voting No, but rather a motley selection of grumbles, making it difficult to add a few provisos to the treaty to make it more palatable.On top of that, the EU would leave itself exposed to charges that it is ignoring the will of the people if it pushes Dublin towards a second vote.The victorious No-side which encompassed pro-business lobby group Libertas and Sinn Fein as well as military neutrality and anti-abortion groups believe the treaty can be renegotiated.The pro-treaty side believe this is not possible and that Ireland has damaged its European interests.Things will never be quite the same again, no matter what deal is eventually patched up at European level. In simple terms, Ireland's position as the favoured child of the EU project can never be restored and we will have to live with the implications of that, said an opinion piece in the pro-Europe Irish Times.

Irish No raises questions over EU commission size
LUCIA KUBOSOVA 16.06.2008 @ 07:51 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty has left EU diplomats scratching their heads over the size of the next European Commission. Under current rules, the number of commissioners in the bloc's executive should be capped but it is unclear how.Diplomats from some member states were already on alert on Friday (13 June) following early reports of a possible Irish No, and discussed the most obvious impact for the institutional set-up of the 27-strong Union if the treaty is delayed or shelved.It turned out that the biggest question mark is over the number of commissioners as there should soon be a cut in their number but it is not stated specifically down to which number, one diplomat told EUobserver, referring to the appointment of the next commission, due in the autumn of 2009.He added that along with his colleagues from other countries, they concluded there is no other legal way to change this provision apart from a normal treaty review that all the member states must approve and ratify, just like the Lisbon Treaty.At the moment, every country has one national in the EU executive, with the five biggest states - Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain - having given up their second commissioner in 2005 in a move to boost efficiency in the enlarged club.Ironically, the issue of Ireland losing a commissioner due to changes included in the Lisbon Treaty featured high among the arguments of the No campaigners, who had been claiming the document would shift the distribution of powers in favour of bigger countries.But while the new treaty would have meant that from 2014 each member state would be without a commissioner for five years in any fifteen year cycle. Under the Nice Treaty, which is in effect now, a reduction in size of the commission must be made next year.

The Nice rules state that if the number of member states reaches 27, the number of commissioners appointed in the subsequent commission would be reduced by the Council [representing member states] to below 27.As the actual number of the reduced commission is not specified in the Nice Treaty, several diplomats said it would probably still be 18, representing two thirds of the member states, as is foreseen by the Lisbon Treaty, the diplomat said.As regards the future composition of the European Parliament, set to be elected in June 2009, while the Lisbon Treaty suggested its permanent reduction to 750 deputies plus the assembly's president, under the Nice Treaty, the number of deputies would be reduced to 736.The delay or possible complete shelving of the Lisbon Treaty would also mean the end of the adopted rule that the maximum number of MEPs from each member state would be reduced from 99 to 96 (which applies to Germany) and the minimal number boosted from 5 to 6 (applying to Estonia, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta).The implications of the Irish No will be discussed today (16 June) when EU foreign ministers gather in Luxembourg.

Sarkozy heads to Prague for emergency EU treaty talks
ELITSA VUCHEVA 16.06.2008 @ 09:25 CET

French president Nicolas Sarkozy will today (16 June) fly to Prague for emergency talks on the Lisbon Treaty with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with Czech president Vaclav Klaus declaring the treaty dead after the Irish No vote.The project is over in its entirety, Czech president Vaclav Klaus said after the rejection of the EU pact by Irish voters last week, AFP reports. It makes no sense to continue the ratification of a dead document.The Lisbon treaty was signed last December - but is already a dead document, says the Czech president.The Irish No vote represents a victory for freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy, he added.

Mr Klaus' remarks come amid calls by the European Commission and some EU leaders – in particular French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel – for the ratification process to continue in the remaining EU countries.Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek did not comment himself on whether or not his country should approve the document, admitting nevertheless that the Irish result was a political complication.The Czech Republic will take over the EU's rotating presidency from France on 1 January 2009.So far, parliaments in 18 EU member states have approved the Lisbon treaty. The UK has also indicated it would proceed with the document's ratification.Meanwhile, an adviser to Polish president Lech Kaczynski – who still has to complete Poland's ratification by signing the document – has said that Mr Kaczynski should know whether the Lisbon treaty exists before he goes forward.For now, there is a strong suggestion the treaty may have ceased to exist as it was rejected by one [EU] country," the presidential aide, Michal Kaminski, told Polish daily Rzeczpospolita.The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, is strongly pro-ratification, however. A TNS OBOP opinion poll over the weekend said 71 percent of Poles would back the treaty if there was a referendum in Poland.German leader Angela Merkel will meet Mr Tusk in Gdansk today for a pre-arranged visit on Polish foreign policy plans for the union's eastern neighbours. The pair will also discuss the EU treaty conundrum.

Paris nervous

The Irish No vote has made Paris particularly nervous, as France is to take over the rotating EU presidency in two weeks' time.Mr Sarkozy was quick to react to the referendum result saying ratification in the eight remaining countries should continue, so that the Irish incident does not become a crisis.For his part, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French EU minister, told French weekly Journal du Dimanche on Sunday: We have lost a few months in terms of the institutional blueprint, but we haven't lost any time as far as our plans [for the presidency] are concerned.You can count on the [French] president not to leave Europe malfunctioning, he added.

France has put forward an ambitious agenda for its six-month term at the EU's helm, with priorities including immigration, defence, and climate change.Several analysts and commentators have said the result of the referendum in Ireland may put a brake on the country's far-reaching plans however, forcing it to focus on institutional issues instead.Paris is counting on a political agreement at this week's EU summit (19 – 20 June) to maintain its presidency's agenda, Mr Jouyet said.

Brussels calls for Lisbon treaty ratification to continue
ELITSA VUCHEVA 13.06.2008 @ 19:24 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission has called for ratification of the Lisbon treaty to continue, despite the No result in Ireland's referendum.This vote should not be seen as a vote against the EU… [It] has not solved the problems which the Lisbon Treaty is designed to solve, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels on Friday (13 June). Participation in the Irish referendum was 53.13 percent (Photo: EUobserver)The ratification process is made up of 27 national processes, 18 Member States have already approved the Treaty, and the European Commission believes that the remaining ratifications should continue to take their course, he added. According to final results released on Friday afternoon (13 June), 53.4 percent of Irish people voted against the EU's Lisbon treaty in Thursday's referendum, while 46.6 percent voted in favour.Participation was at 53.13 percent.

Nevertheless, Mr Barroso said he believed the treaty is alive and we should go on and try to find a solution.It is important now that the EU does not fall again in depression and does not forget there are other issues to deal with, he added. In a joint statement later on, France and Germany also called for the ratification of the Lisbon treaty to continue.The ratification procedure has already been achieved in 18 countries. Therefore we hope that the other member states will continue the process, the Franco-German declaration reads.Britain has already said it would press ahead with the ratification, according to the BBC.Certain politicians and analysts have started floating other possible scenarios however, with some – such as French prime minister Francois Fillon – saying that the Lisbon treaty is dead if one member state rejects it.

Other suggested alternatives include finalising the ratification in all remaining member states and finding a legal arrangement with Ireland – as suggested by French EU minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet, or making the Irish vote again on the document at a later point in time – as it happened with the Nice treaty referendum in Ireland in 2001 and 2002.In any case, the issue will feature high on EU leaders' agenda when they meet in Brussels next week (19-20 June).

They will then expect Irish prime minister Brian Cowen to explain the reasons for the rejection of the treaty by the Irish people [as well as] discuss about the situation and look for the ways to move forward, said Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa, whose country currently holds the EU presidency. For its part, the commission will soon organise surveys to find out the reasons behind Ireland's rejection of the treaty.

Rice meets jointly with Israelis and Palestinians By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 16, 3:40 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Palestinian prime minister sat down for closed-door talks with Israel's defense minister Monday, a day after she harshly criticized new Israeli construction planned for disputed land. Rice's joint meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad wrapped up a two-day peacemaking visit to the region.

The participants gave few details about the hour-long meeting. Rice departed for Lebanon after the talks.In a short statement, Barak's office said the three discussed Palestinian police operations in the West Bank and Israeli support for Palestinian economic projects.

Barak also met separately with Rice, discussing regional diplomatic and security issues, the statement said.Ahead of the meeting, Rice said Palestinian efforts to rein in militants would be on the agenda. She also praised measures taken so far by Fayyad's Western-backed government, although she acknowledged more needed to be done.

I will say that some of the things that Prime Minister Fayyad has done on the terrorism side are ... pretty important, she said. Going after terrorist finances is very important.Palestinian police have recently deployed in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Nablus, both seen as militant hotbeds that have been run by armed gangs, in an effort to bolster the rule of law in the territory.The Defense Ministry statement said, however, that Barak emphasized that Israel still retains ultimate security control of the West Bank.The statement made no mention of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.After Rice left, Palestinians fired two Grad rockets at the southern city of Ashkelon, seriously wounding an Israeli, the rescue service and a government official said.Gaza's Hamas rulers took responsibility. In the past, Israel has charged that Iran has supplied Hamas with Grads, smuggled into Gaza under the border with Egypt.The attack came as Egypt pressed ahead with efforts to arrange a truce to stop the daily Palestinian rocket barrages and Israel's reprisal attacks, but Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the Hamas goal is to deliberately target innocent civilians. He added, It appears today's attack is a deliberate attempt to undermine the Egypt initiative to achieve calm.Later, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in an attack on a rocket squad in Gaza, Palestinian hospital officials said. The Israeli military confirmed the strike.

On Monday morning, three Islamic Jihad militants were killed by Israeli fire while planting explosives along the Gaza-Israel border, according to Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the group. The Israeli military confirmed that troops crossed into Gaza and shot the militants.On the eve of Rice's arrival in Jerusalem Saturday, Israel announced plans to build another 1,300 new homes in east Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want to site their future capital.

The announcement brought to more than 3,000 the number of homes Israel has approved for construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank since the renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians late last year.On Sunday, Rice said the Israeli actions are having a negative effect on the atmosphere for talks, and she stressed the U.S. won't regard settlements built by Israel as permanent Israeli territory. Israel has said it is building only in areas it intends to keep as part of a final peace deal. Over the year and a half that Rice has been making regular peace missions, there has been a pattern of provocative Israeli housing initiatives just before or just after her visits. Although Israeli authorities say the construction announcements are not connected to the secretary's trips, Palestinians say the timing is clearly meant to placate hard-liners in Israel who oppose the West Bank land concessions that would be inevitable if the U.S.-sponsored peace process ever bore fruit. The latest Rice visit, her fifth this year, generated little attention in Israel. While her visits were once front-page news, neither of Israel's two mass-circulation dailies carried stories on the subject Monday, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office declined comment. The lack of attention reflects growing sentiment that the lame-duck U.S. administration is running out of time to broker a peace agreement by a year-end target set by President Bush.Israeli and Palestinian leaders have voiced doubts about meeting the target date, though they all say there is progress behind closed doors.

Rice blesses Hezbollah power-sharing government By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer Mon Jun 16, 5:52 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she welcomes a new power-sharing arrangement in Lebanon even though it increased the power of Hezbollah militants at the expense of U.S.-backed moderates. Obviously in any compromise there are compromises, Rice said during a surprise visit to meet Lebanon's new consensus choice for president. The election of former Army chief Michel Suleiman last month is the clearest sign that Lebanon stepped back from the brink and that the deal with Iranian-backed Hezbollah is taking hold.Hezbollah's ascendancy is a bitter pill for the U.S., which is worried that Iran's influence is spreading in the Middle East and had spent millions backing the Lebanese government for three years.Rice's blessing is a sign that the Bush administration has accepted that Western-backed democratic leaders who helped Lebanon throw off three decades of Syrian domination could not govern the country alone. Lebanese politics operate on ambiguity and consensus, and in this case that meant giving veto power to Hezbollah, a militia and political force that the United States lists as a terrorist group.This was an agreement that I think served the interests of the Lebanese people, Rice said. And since it served the interests of the Lebanese people, it served the interests of the United States. We support the democratically elected government of Lebanon.Rice pleased her hosts by announcing U.S. backing for a new diplomatic push to resolve Lebanon's land dispute with Israel.The time has come to deal with the Chebaa Farms issue, Rice said, referring to the patch of land where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.The U.S. envoy said the dispute should be settled with United Nations help. Rice did not respond when a reporter asked what pressure the United States would apply to Israel to relinquish the land it captured in the 1967 Mideast war.Lebanon claims the area and an Israeli withdrawal would give the Lebanese government a strong pretext to ask Hezbollah to lay down its arms. However, senior Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said that an Israeli withdrawal is not enough to justify disarming.

On Sunday, Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassim, told the private ANB television that only after Israel withdraws from Chebaa Farms, halts its military flights over Lebanon and releases Lebanese prisoners would Hezbollah be ready to discuss a military strategy to defend Lebanon against any possible Israeli attack.

Political bickering prevented parliament from electing a president 19 times, leaving the country without a president since pro-Syrian holdover Emile Lahoud left office in November. The Hezbollah-led opposition hamstrung the U.S.-backed government and, for a time, kept Prime Minister Fuad Saniora under siege in his office.The power-sharing pact will probably allow Saniora to keep his job.Rice saw Saniora, along with most of the other major players in Lebanon's complex religious- and sectarian-aligned political system during a few hours of meetings held under heavy security. She was the first high-level U.S. official to visit since the 18-month political crisis eased.The standoff erupted into deadly street violence last month when Saniora's coalition tried to take political steps against Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian patrons. The government backed down after the Shiite militant group demonstrated its military power.Gunmen overran large parts of Muslim west Beirut in a show of force that left 67 people dead. It was the worst violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, and raised fears that a new war was imminent.Although the violence gave Hezbollah new political leverage, the United States claims it has provoked a backlash against Hezbollah among many Lebanese who cannot stomach the group's use of force against fellow Lebanese.

I know it has been a struggle for Lebanon to get to the election of its president, Rice said after her session with Suleiman.I come away knowing that Lebanon has elected a very fine man, Rice told reporters. We look forward to working with him.The political breakthrough that allowed Lebanon's parliament to elect Suleiman was reached in Qatar's capital, Doha, with the help of Arab mediators. The United States made its views known but did not participate in the Arab-brokered pact or try to block the deal. Rice urged quick resolution of the remaining political agenda items — approval of Saniora as prime minister and the naming of a unity Cabinet. A Hezbollah lawmaker said Rice's visit might disrupt formation of the unity government. Ms. Rice's visits have always been a disaster and a catastrophe for Lebanon because the U.S. government never works for the sake of the Lebanese people, but for the sake of their interests in the region as well as Israel's interests, Hezbollah legislator Nawar al-Saheli told The Associated Press.

POISONED WATERS

REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Lakes across Canada face being turned into mine dump sites
Lakes are in B.C., Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Monday, June 16, 2008 By Terry Milewski, CBC News

Bush pilot Doug Beaumont and environmentalist Jim Bourquin fish on Kluela Lake, downstream from the planned dump site for the Red Chris gold and copper mining project in northwestern B.C. (Terry Milewski/CBC)CBC News has learned that 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly reclassified as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland.Environmentalists say the process amounts to a hidden subsidy to mining companies, allowing them to get around laws against the destruction of fish habitat.Under the Fisheries Act, it's illegal to put harmful substances into fish-bearing waters. But, under a little-known subsection known as Schedule Two of the mining effluent regulations, federal bureaucrats can redefine lakes as tailings impoundment areas.

Lakes proposed for use as mine tailings ponds:

Since the introduction of Schedule Two of mining effluent regulations under the Fisheries Act, in 2002, 16 lakes have been proposed for reclassification as tailings dumps. Four of the 16 are already being used as dumps — all in Newfoundland. Two of those are at the Duck Pond Mine and the other two are older mines due to be brought under Schedule Two retroactively.Only one of the 16 — Kemess North in B.C. — has been turned down. Eight are to be decided in the coming year.

B.C.:

Kemess North - Duncan Lake - REJECTED.
Kutcho Creek - Andrea Creek.
Ruby Creek - Ruby Creek watershed.
Prosperity - Fish Lake.
Red Chris.
Mount Milligan.
Manitoba:

Bucko Lake.
Newfoundland and Labrador:

Duck Pond Mine - Trout Pond and Gill's Brook.
Carol Mine - Wabush Lake.
Wabush Mine - Flora Lake.
Long Harbour - Sandy Pond.
Northwest Territories:

Winter Lake.
Nunavut:

Doris North Project - Tail Lake.
Meadowbank - Second Portage Lake.
High Lake.

That means mining companies don't need to build containment ponds for toxic mine tailings.CBC News visited two examples of Schedule Two lakes. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Vale Inco company wants to use a prime destination for fishermen known as Sandy Pond to hold tailings from a nickel processing plant.In northern B.C., Imperial Metals plans to enclose a remote watershed valley to hold tailings from a gold and copper mine. The valley lies in what the native Tahltan people call the Sacred Headwaters of three major salmon rivers. It also serves as spawning grounds for the rainbow trout of Kluela Lake, which is downstream from the dump site.

Lakes safest option: mining association
Vale Inco's proposal was the subject of a public meeting on June 10 in Long Harbour, N.L. Billed as a public consultation on the proposal, the meeting was attended by government officials, mining executives, environmentalists and fishermen. Lakes are often the best way for mine tailings to be contained, said Elizabeth Gardiner, vice-president for technical affairs for the Mining Association of Canada.In some cases, particularly in Canada, with this kind of topography and this number of natural lakes and depressions and ponds … in the end it's really the safest option for human health and for the environment, she said.But Catherine Coumans, spokeswoman for the environmental group Mining Watch, said the federal government is making it too easy. She said federal officials are increasingly using the obscure Schedule Two regulations to quietly reclassify lakes and other waters as tailings dumps.Something that used to be a lake — or a river, in fact, they can use rivers — by being put on this section two of this regulation is no longer a river or a lake, she said. It's a tailings impoundment area. It's a waste disposal site. It's an industrial waste dump.Coumans said the procedure amounts to a subsidy to the industry and enables mines to get around the Fisheries Act.What Canadians need to know is that this year, from March 2008 to March of 2009, eight lakes are going to be subject to being put on Schedule Two, which is just about every mine that is going ahead this year is looking around, looking for the nearest lake to dump its waste into.A local environmentalist who attended the Long Harbour meeting, Chad Griffiths, said of Sandy Pond: It's easy enough to consider just one lake as just one lake, as a needed sacrifice, right? But it's not one lake … It's a trend. It's an open season on Canadian water.Open season on Canadian water: environmentalist A test case: the Red Chris Mine in northwestern B.C.

Last fall, a Federal Court judge ruled that federal bureaucrats acted illegally in trying to fast-track the Red Chris copper and gold mine without a full and public environmental review.The decision put the project on hold, but late last week, the Federal Appeals Court reversed the decision, paving the way for federal officials to declare lakes to be dumps without public consultation.

Imperial Metals said in a release Monday that federal authorities are now authorized to issue regulatory approvals for the Red Chris project to proceed, although the matter could still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.In the earlier decision, Justice Luc Martineau overturned the decision by federal officials to skip a public review, saying it has all the characteristics of a capricious and arbitrary decision which was taken for an improper purpose.He also found those officials committed a reviewable error by deciding to forgo the public consultation process which the project was statutorily mandated to undergo.The dump site includes two small lakes in a Y-shaped valley. Imperial Metals plans to build three dams to contain mine tailings within the valley. But environmentalists say there is no way to stop effluent leaking downstream in groundwater.Jim Bourquin of the Cassiar Watch Society, a conservation group, said Kluela Lake, immediately downstream from the site, is one of the best trout fishing lakes in northern B.C.This is a precedent-setting decision by the federal government to start using fish-bearing habitat as a waste management area, Bourquin said. It's totally bizarre for the federal government to come here and say that this Y-shaped valley up here is no longer fish habitat, it's no longer sacred headwaters, it's just a waste dump site.But Steve Robertson, exploration manager for Imperial Metals, told CBC News the dump site will be sealed and that the economic benefits of the planned Red Chris mine will be enormous.This is a project that can bring a lot of good jobs, long-term jobs, well-paying jobs to a community that desperately needs it, Robertson said.He added that the total investment over the 25-year life of the mine would be about half a billion dollars and that the risk to the environment will be carefully managed.Tailings are part of the mining process, Robertson said, and, if treated properly, if they're built into a proper structure and kept submerged, they should be able to withstand the test of time and actually not pose a detriment to the environment.But James Dennis, a 76-year-old elder of the local Tahltan people, told CBC News he doesn’t buy that.We want it stopped, said Dennis, who lives in the native village of Iskut, 18 kilometres northwest of the mine site. We want to stop the mine … The animals will be drinking that water and they'll all be polluted too.Once they do the mine, they’re going to leave, and we're the people who are going to live with that. Not me, but my grandchildren, the small little kids like this. That's who's going to live with the pollution.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

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

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Britain, Europe poised to toughen anti-nuclear sanctions on Iran Monday, June 16, 2008 CBC News AP

The European Union said Monday it was ready to issue stronger financial sanctions against Iran to discourage Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.Word of the agreement came after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced at a London news conference with U.S. President George W. Bush that Britain is freezing the assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli.Brown said Britain was urging — and that Europe will agree— to impose further sanctions because of Iran's refusal to halt the enrichment of uranium to the point that could be used for nuclear weaponry.The EU has not yet announced stronger sanctions but Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, said European foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday were prepared to take formal action and agreed on the need for stronger sanctions.It is clear they are ready to move further. We will definitely take a formal decision, she said. Gallach would not speculate on the timing of a final decision.

Announcement expected soon
After the news conference with Brown, Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, told reporters that an announcement was expected Monday from the Luxembourg meeting.Hadley and Brown's spokesman, Michael Ellam, both indicated that European nations had agreed in principle to target Iran's Bank Melli.The United States last year accused the bank of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.Iran denies it is trying to produce nuclear weapons with enriched uranium, saying its atomic program is aimed at generating electricity.The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of limited sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.Hadley said a new round of European sanctions would be a significant hardening of resolve against Tehran.He said European foreign ministers are examining plans for sanctions on Iran's oil and gas sectors.

Bush ends Europe trip with good news By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 16, 3:07 PM ET

LONDON - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown handed President Bush good news on two fronts Monday: a modest increase in Britain's troops for the tough Afghanistan fight and a fresh European effort to squeeze Iran's nuclear ambitions. The deeply unpopular prime minister seemed to calculate he had more to gain politically by being hawkish than he risked losing by appearing at the side of the also unpopular Bush. Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, was wounded by the impression he did too much of Bush's bidding.But there's no greater platform for publicity than a joint appearance with the U.S. president. So Brown talked tough on Iran, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and other issues when the two leaders addressed reporters in an ornate Foreign Office hall after two days of meetings.The announcements by Brown, combined with earlier pledges by other allies, allowed the White House to crow that Bush was returning home from his weeklong European trip with new commitments, although aides had said beforehand there would be none. At every stop, Bush heard the kind of tough talk and promises on Iran that he wanted, and Italy announced welcome changes to its Afghanistan military presence.Brown notably showed no daylight with Bush on Iraq, the issue that most got Blair into political trouble. Brown said he would not reduce the 4,000-strong British force level any further for any reason other than success in training Iraqi forces, speeding up development and seeing local elections through.

I'm determined that we continue to do that job, Brown said.

London's new commitment to Afghanistan would bring the British presence there to its highest level yet. The deployment of about 230 engineers, logistical staff and military trainers will boost the number of British forces to more than 8,000, most based in a volatile, front-line southern province.Eager to claim leadership on a tough stance toward Iran, Brown also revealed that the European Union would agree to freeze assets of Iran's largest bank, Bank Melli, which is accused of having links to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. A third round of U.N. sanctions passed in March introduced financial monitoring of Bank Melli and Bank Saderat, another institution the U.S. accuses of suspect activities.

Brown said European nations also will start the process of new sanctions aimed at Iran's wealthy oil and gas sector, if Tehran continues to refuse to halt enriching uranium.We will take any necessary action so that Iran is aware of the choice it needs to make, Brown said.His disclosure of stronger financial sanctions from Europe was later confirmed in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers were meeting. EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said the decision isn't formalized, but will be.The three mild rounds of U.N. sanctions and a mostly solo U.S. effort to crimp Iran's vast overseas financial operations have had little appreciable impact. Iran has not only continued enriching uranium, but expanded and improved its program. Tehran says it seeks only civilian nuclear energy, not nuclear weapons.One of the main goals of Bush's trip was more support against Iran from Europe, which, with far larger business dealings with Tehran, can pinch the major energy supplier in ways the U.S. cannot.Bush was clearly grateful at Brown's announcements. Despite talk early in Brown's tenure about a stiffness between them, the two men traded much warm praise. Bush paid Brown one of his highest compliments. He's tough on terror, and I appreciate it — and so should the people of Great Britain and the world, he said.Andrew Roberts, a historian who joined a dinner at 10 Downing Street on Sunday night, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio that they were about as friendly as I have ever seen two politicians be.But Bush also held a private meeting with Brown's political nemesis, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party. The charismatic David Cameron could be Britain's next prime minister after national elections expected in the next two years, as he is favored by huge margins in polling over Brown.Over a private breakfast, the president also conferred with Blair, in a get-together between old allies who formed a bond in the face of staunch critics.Bush flew to Belfast before returning to Washington, a stop meant to celebrate Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration between Catholics and Protestants but which was rife with wrinkles. Bush and Brown encouraged the overdue transfer of police and justice responsibilities from Britain to Northern Ireland authorities, which has been blocked by the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists. They are angry that the major Catholic party, Sinn Fein, wants to make an infamous Irish Republican Army figure the new justice minister. Because of Bush's visit, First Minister Peter Robinson, the newly elected Protestant, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, a former IRA chief, broke their staunch refusal to appear in public together. Still, they kept Bush between them at all times, and Robinson continued to refuse to shake McGuinness' hand. Security meant that the legislature was shut down on what would typically be its busiest day. It's a police state whereas normally it's full of the energy that comes from democracy in action, moderate Catholic politician Tommy Gallagher said.

Bush also visited a religiously integrated elementary school. In a snub, Northern Ireland Education Minister Caitriona Ruane, a Bush critic, declined to accompany the president. About 100 demonstrators amassed at Stormont's gate, while other protesters had constructed a giant NO BUSH message on a mountainside out of cloth. Associated Press writers David Stringer in London and Deb Riechmann and Shawn Pogatchnik in Belfast, Northern Ireland, contributed to this report.

HOMOSEXUALS.

GENESIS 19:5
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

ROMANS 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

California becomes 2nd state to allow gay marriages
Monday, June 16, 2008 CBC News

California became the second state to allow same-sex marriages on Monday, as ceremonies were held across the state to mark the groundbreaking change in legislation.A landmark California Supreme Court ruling overturning bans on gay marriage went into effect at 5 p.m. PT Monday and clerks in at least five counties began handing out gender-neutral marriage licences.At San Francisco City Hall, Mayor Gavin Newsom was presiding at the wedding of lesbian rights activists Del Martin, 87, and Phyllis Lyon, 84, as a cheering crowd of supporters and a marching band gathered at the building's entrance.The elderly couple cut a cake together in front of a throng of reporters and cameras.These are not folks who just met each other last week and said, Let's get married. These are folks who have been together in some cases for decades, said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.They are married in their hearts and minds, but they have never been able to have that experience of community and common humanity.Same-sex couples were also tying the knot in Sonoma, Los Angeles, Yolo and Alameda counties.Massachusetts is the only other state where gay marriage is legal.

IOWA FLOODING CONTINUES

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.

Flood ravaged Iowa drenched with more rain by Mira Oberman
Sun Jun 15, 12:46 PM ET

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AFP) - More rain was headed to flood ravaged Iowa Sunday where tens of thousands of residents had been forced to flee their homes and officials struggled to reinforce breached levies and stem the rushing waters. More than 4.8 million sandbags had already been filled and damage was estimated to be in the billions of dollars with 83 of the state's 99 counties declared disaster areas.The flooding will likely put further pressure on already high global food prices as initial estimates place the damage at a loss of up to 20 percent of Iowa's crops and fields elsewhere in the nation's corn belt were also affected.Barge traffic was ground to a halt on the swollen Mississippi river and rail shipments were also hit as floodwaters covered and even washed out track and key bridges, officials said.Many towns were still bracing for the worst.

We've still got flood crests to go through all the way through Wednesday morning, Iowa Department of Emergency Management spokesman John Benson told AFP.Residents of hardest-hit Cedar Rapids - where 1,300 streets were submerged and 24,000 of the city's 124,000 residents were evacuated - were to be allowed briefly back to some homes but only under escort.They got some relief when floodwaters receded more quickly than expected, but the wreckage left behind was stunning.Television crews allowed into the downtown area came back with images of massive pieces of debris littering the streets, smashed store windows, warped furniture and sidewalks streaked with mud and sand.This is a traumatic event, Cedar Rapids police Chief Greg Graham said at a press conference.

We're going to have ministers at the checkpoints for counseling.

The rushing water leaving Cedar Rapids was heading straight for Iowa City, where 35 blocks were already inundated and crews loaded sandbags into boats and army trucks to reinforce barricades in danger of breaching.The college town's sloping hills will save it from total devastation, but at least ten percent of its buildings will be inundated by the time the river crests around midnight on Monday, said Johnson County spokesman Mike Sullivan.And it will take at least a week for the river to return to normal levels.This is a flood of epic proportions, Sullivan told AFP. It's absolutely devastating.Smaller towns in the flatter areas downriver of Iowa City were more at risk and sandbagging efforts continued on Sunday. Complicating efforts were forecasts of scattered thunderstorms which could bring localized flash flooding.A large swath of Des Moines remained underwater after a river levee was breached in the city of 200,000 Saturday morning and officials were concerned that a forecasted evening thundershower could raise river levels even higher.Muddy water from the Des Moines River covered several bridges and poured down streets north of the state Capitol, swallowing a neighborhood with about 200 homes and 40 businesses.

This held for about four hours this morning and they pulled everyone out because it was starting to get loose, Des Moines Fire Department Captain Tony Merrill said, as he looked at a hastily constructed sand berm that floodwaters busted. It's very disheartening, he told AFP. They put down two miles of sand bags (Friday) night. They were making 8,000 bags an hour.A levee breach in the town of Oakville forced a rushed evacuation Saturday night with the town expected to be inundated in less than three hours, the Iowa Department of Emergency Management said. The disaster began when a major tornado struck on May 25. It was followed by heavy rains, and on Wednesday another twister touched ground in western Iowa, killing four boy scouts. This has been a very trying week for our state, Iowa Governor Chet Culver said in a statement. Responding to a crisis like this takes the cooperation of everyone, from the federal government down to the local communities.Serious flooding has hit the entire region, including parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The death toll from the extreme weather currently stands at 16 in Iowa and five more elsewhere in the midwest.

Heavy rains in China leave at least 65 dead or missing
Module body Sun Jun 15, 1:12 PM

BEIJING (AFP) - Heavy rains in southern and eastern China have left at least 65 people dead or missing, while more than one million residents have been evacuated, state media said Sunday.Rains were expected to further pound southern China in the coming days, with rising river levels threatening towns in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, the state meteorological bureau said.According to the civil affairs ministry and provincial officials, at least 57 people have been killed and eight are missing following torrential rains in nine provinces over the past week, Xinhua news agency said.

More than 1.27 million people have been evacuated in the hardest-hit regions, with large swathes of farmland submerged and economic losses already totalling more than 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion dollars), it said.Almost 18 million people had been affected by flooding while more than 141,000 homes had been wrecked or damaged, the report added.State television showed people rowing boats in the middle of towns in flooded areas, while in rural areas farmers frantically filled sand bags in a bid to stop swollen rivers spilling their waters on to croplands.The rains have washed away roads across the nine provinces and many areas have been hit by landslides, Xinhua said.Prosperous Guangdong province was the worst affected. Rains there left at least 20 people dead, with flooding in the Pearl River delta the worst in decades, it added.The Guangdong government issued an emergency flood alert throughout the province as levels in tributaries of the Pearl River hit or were surpassing danger levels, Xinhua said.The government had dispatched 10 special boats to Changle city, one of the worst-hit areas in Guangdong, where up to 100,000 people were being evacuated.

In parts of Guangdong, up to 415 millimetres (16.6 inches) of rain fell in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday, Xinhua said, while the freakish weather dumped up to 451 millimetres in parts of neighboring Fujian province.Food prices, already a main driver of inflation in China, were also rising due to the flooding, with vegetable prices in some Guangdong cities up between 30 percent and 70 percent on Saturday alone, it said.In Guangxi province, which lies west of Guangdong, officials warned of rock and mudslides in mountainous areas where torrential rain has been responsible for 14 deaths since last week, Xinhua said in a separate report.A section of the Xijiang River in Guangxi burst its banks on Sunday evening, forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people, Xinhua said, adding there were no reports of casualties.By late Saturday, 134 roads had been blocked and 22 bridges damaged in the province, leading to jams along highways and nearly 1,500 trucks stranded, it said.

In cyclone-hit Myanmar, rain drenches children in roofless school Sat Jun 14, 10:14 PM

KAWHMU, Myanmar (AFP) - Many remain traumatised after Cyclone Nargis flattened the impoverished farming village of Mawin, which is in Kawhmu township in a remote corner of the Irrawaddy Delta only accessible by a small motorized boat.The village's brick schoolhouse was destroyed by Nargis, and a broken blackboard and a tiny Buddha statue are the only reminders that the rubble was once classrooms.Building materials are difficult to come by. All of the 275 houses clustered in this village were blown away, except the teacher Hlang Thein's. It is, however, heavily damaged, and only the wooden frame and floor were left behind.It is here where she has decided to teach the children.Hlang Thein gently admonishes a group of primary school children to carefully repeat the alphabet after her so they can wrap up the lesson before the heavy rains drench them again.Hlang Thein, in her immaculate white teacher's blouse, is trying to bring some semblance of normality back to the children in her community.But how can they not remember? We are studying in a house without a roof and walls and every time the rain comes, they get wet, Hlang Thein told AFP. Our books and notepads are still damp.The children sit on the wooden floor, and while some have managed to save their green and white uniforms when the cyclone struck in early May, many are wearing clothes donated by private relief agencies.Hlang Thein said she has to be very patient with her pupils. Many of them do not want to study until the school house is rebuilt -- and that will take time.It is here where she has decided to teach the children.I do not want them to miss any lessons, even under these conditions, she said.None of the village's 100 registered primary school pupils were injured or killed but their minds are stuck on Nargis, she said.

Myanmar's military rulers insisted that schools around Yangon open on schedule on June 2 after a long holiday, despite the cyclone that left 133,600 dead or missing, with 2.4 million people in need of food, shelter and medicine.Schools in the hardest-hit regions of the delta were given another month to open, but UNICEF says 3,000 schools were wiped out by the cyclone. About 500,000 children have no classrooms at all.In Mawin, village chief Zaw Win, 46, said little aid had arrived so far, blaming intermittent heavy rains which make it hard to navigate the narrow tributary that connects the hamlet to the nearest port upriver.The tributary itself is still littered with debris, including uprooted, centuries-old birch trees and bloated animal carcasses.This is only accessible through the river. But only small motorized boats can get through, Zaw Win said. And they are too small to carry loads of relief supplies or building materials.He said the remaining food supplies will only be enough for 90 families, leaving 1,100 more families without any rations for the next few days.The cyclone has also wreaked havoc on the fields, with the flood waters washing away what would have been a bountiful harvest in early May. Now it is between planting seasons, and while the fields are ripe for ploughing and there is enough irrigation, the rice seedlings have been spoiled.We have vast rice fields, but no rice to eat, Zaw Win said. I am asking for donors to bring rice seedlings so we can again plant in the June-July season. Rice for cooking is also very essential.There is nothing left on the fields, he said, adding that government officials and medical personnel had visited once since the cyclone struck, but despite promising more rations have not returned.Many of the other villages lying along the tributary are in the same condition. What once were houses are now just mounds of broken wood and debris.Kitchen wares, trash and plastic containers line the shore and bamboo bridges that connected communities on both sides have not been repaired.Thein's students meanwhile are distracted by a distant rumbling of thunder. The sky is dark, and she decides to call off lessons for the day.We will try to get them to sing nursery rhymes tomorrow, she said smiling, but with a concerned look in her eyes.

Heavy rains and landslides kill 14 in India's remote northeast Sat Jun 14, 10:25 AM By The Associated Press

GAUHATI, India - An official says landslides and house collapses caused by heavy rains have killed at least 14 people and injured more than 50 others in India's remote northeast. Government official Bidol Tayeng says rescue workers recovered 14 bodies today after two days of heavy rains lashed areas around Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh state. Tayeng says the death toll is likely rise as rescue efforts continue. Monsoon rains usually hit India from June to September.

TROUBLE WITH TRACKING TOMATOES
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8331701&ch=4226713&src=news

PROTESTS AS BUSH VISITS UK
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8331455&ch=4226714&src=news

Bush is straight-talker, so what's EU-3? By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Sun Jun 15, 1:28 PM ET

PARIS - President Bush is a straight-talking guy, so what's he doing talking about the EU-3? It's part of Bush diplomatic-speak. Derided by some as a cowboy during his first term, Bush is ending his presidency knee-deep in group diplomacy.Throughout his weeklong trip through Europe he's talked a lot about ways the U.S. is huddling with other countries to push for change in rival nations like North Korea and Iran, or push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.Diplomatic rhetoric that sounds like alphabet soup is not as snazzy as statements like dead or alive — a comment he uttered after the Sept. 11 attacks about Osama bin Laden and one he later had second thoughts about saying.On Iran, there's the EU (European Union), the EU-3 (Germany, France and Britain), and if you add the United States, Russia and China, you get the EU-3 plus 3. If Italy eventually makes it into the club, it will become the EU-3 plus 4.On North Korea, it's the six-party negotiations pitting Pyongyang against South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.And don't forget the Quartet of Middle East peacemakers — the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — all nudging Israel and the Palestinians toward a peace accord.

How can the president keep it straight, let alone have confidence that any of these thorny disputes can be resolved in the seven months he has left in office? The EU-3 is leading the charge on a diplomatic effort to try to get Iran to stop enriching uranium, a pathway to a nuclear weapon. That diplomacy, which Bush talked about throughout his trip, hit a snag Saturday when Tehran said no to a package of incentives the EU group was offering if Iran stopped enriching uranium.Expecting the rejection, Bush was working to bolster the European partners' resolve to levy stiffer sanctions on Iran. It's unlikely, however, that the nuclear standoff, which Europe fears could lead the U.S. or Israel to attack Iran, will be resolved before Bush leaves office.Bush hinted at that in Slovenia, the first stop on his farewell trip to Europe.I leave behind a multilateral framework to work this issue, Bush said. You know, one country can't solve all problems. I fully agree with that. A group of countries can send a clear message to the Iranians, and that is: We're going to continue to isolate you. We'll continue to work on sanctions. We'll find new sanctions if need be if you continue to deny the just demands of a free world.In an interview in Rome with The Observer of London, Bush said the multinational forum in place on the Iranian nuclear issue will help future presidents deal more effectively with it.I have changed the foreign policy of the United States to make it more multilateral because I understand that diplomacy without consequences is ineffective, he said. Unilateral sanctions don't work.Alan Henrikson, director of diplomatic studies at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford, Mass., said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has heavily influenced the Bush administration's current diplomatic approach.She deserves a fair amount of credit for this historic shift, but the main cause surely is that, through trial and error, the go-it-alone style of international leadership the Bush administration was offering proved that it just wasn't working, Henrikson said.The White House disagrees that Bush has ever tried to go it alone.In Afghanistan and Iraq there were large coalitions, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Saturday. That dwindled in Iraq, no doubt about it. But it didn't start out that way. That is a fact.She also said that while the six-party talks on North Korea and the EU-3-led talks on Iran took time to assemble, what we're seeing now is the wisdom of the president's vision for these diplomatic formats as they start to solidify and bear results.

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, thinks Bush is listening too exclusively to Rice at the State Department — an agency he calls a European outpost. He suggests the problem is not any kind of unilateralism on the part of America, but Europe's unwillingness to do much of anything to stand up to external threats whether from Iran or from a newly resurgent Russia.Bolton said he thinks that for the remainder of his presidency, Bush will be focused exclusively on Iraq and Afghanistan. The rest is damage control, which is unfortunate, Bolton said. It's unclear whether Bush's successor will keep the U.S. active in these diplomatic clubs. Henrikson predicts the six-party talks on North Korea will continue beyond the Bush presidency, and might even be turned into a six-power organization for Northeast Asia, which does not have a formal multilateral-regional security structure. With regard to Iran, I would expect that (a Barack) Obama administration would adopt a more direct approach, without necessarily involving Obama himself in encounters with Iran's leadership, said Henrikson, who advocates for a U.S. ambassador in Tehran. Regardless of their outcome, Bush's willingness to join in these diplomatic huddles has helped restore U.S.-European relations, said Steve Flanagan, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' international security program in Washington. The first foreign trip Bush took in his second term, for instance, was to Brussels, base of the European Union. That was seen as an admission by the Bush administration that it might not have utilized the Atlantic alliance as effectively as it could have in the first term, Flanagan said. The pragmatism of much of the second term's foreign policy has been much more appealing to the key European governments, he said. But there are still differences that are out there and I think many of the European governments do recognize that some of these differences will persist either under an Obama or (John) McCain administration.