KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up,(AT THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY) that the way of the kings(CHINA,NORTH-SOUTH KOREA, of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(4 WINDS OF THE WORLD-WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(COULD ALSO MEAN THE 4 CORNERS OF THE EARTH OR WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
“Rejoice with Egypt!”, the head of the country’s Anglican community said after the military deposed the elected Islamist President, Mohammed Mursi, and took power again in this land of 90 million people, 10% of whom are Christian.“At last, Egypt is now free from the oppressive rule of the Muslim Brotherhood!” Bishop Mouneer Hanna Anis wrote on July 3 in a letter to his many friends in Egypt and across the world.
At the same time, this astute commentator urged people to continue to pray “for protection from violent reaction of the Islamists which already has started” and also “for unity and reconciliation” in this land after more than one year of divisions.He said the Armed forces “took the side of the millions of Egyptians who demonstrated in the streets since June 30 against President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood”, and “responded to the invitation of the people to intervene and force the President to step down.”He reported that Field Marshall Abdel Fattah el-SiSi, the head of the Armed Forces, “invited” Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the country’s eight-million Coptic Christians, and The Grand Imam of Egypt, Dr.Ahmed el-Tayyib, together with other political leaders, “to discuss the roadmap for the future of Egypt”.After this meeting, Dr Mouneer said, it was announced that the head of the constitutional court, Adly Mansour, “will be an interim leader of the nation”, that “the current controversial constitution is suspended” and that “the new Government will involve capable people from different backgrounds”.
The Anglican Bishop reported that “as soon as Field Marshall Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced this, millions of Egyptians on the streets went around rejoicing, singing, dancing, and making a lot of fireworks.”“I have never seen Egyptians rejoicing in such a way! They deserve this joy as they insisted to write their own history!”, the Anglican leader stated.The Muslim Brotherhood had ruled the country for one year, he said, and in that time “We Egyptians experienced divisions, exclusions, sectarian clashes, fanaticism, a decrease in tourism, and a bad economy.”He said their removal from power by the Armed Forces “ is an answer to the prayers of so many people from around the world who were praying for our beloved country”. After Dr Mouneer wrote his letter, the military arrested President Mursi and other leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood.On the eve of the June 30 rally that led to Mursi’s downfall, the Anglican leader had warned of the serious risk of a revolution, violence and even civil war. In his July 3 letter, while rejoicing that his worse fears had not materialized, Bishop Mouneer was still aware that the situation is fragile given the feelings of anger among the Muslim Brotherhood. For this reason, he asked his friends in Egypt and internationally, “Please continue to pray for protection from violent reaction of the Islamists which already has started” and “Pray also for unity and reconciliation after more than one year of divisions.”The Anglican bishop’s feeling of joy were shared by a Catholic priest in Cairo, who asked for anonymity. After going around the city and seeing what he described as “an amazing night of joy and celebration in Cairo” , he summed it all up in two words: "happy end" and " back to work". The priest said the removal of President Mursi from power by the military brought a “happy end” because “we could have had a terrible confrontation between the Muslim brothers and the majority”. One day ago “this was our fear. it didn't happen”, he said The military intervention “has allowed us to avoid bloodshed” and now “everyone is celebrating the happy end of this political crisis.”Now is the time for Egyptians to go “back to work”, the priest stated. “The new people in charge of the country will have to find political solutions to the diversity of the Egyptians, to give answers to their needs (education, work, etc.)”. While acknowledging that “There is a long way to go” he was optimistic about the future because, he said, “the country has shown its maturity and we are very confident in the capacity of the Egyptians.”
By Tom Perry and Alastair Macdonald-JULY 5,13
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamist allies of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Mursi, called on people to protest on Friday to express outrage at his overthrow by the army and to reject a planned interim government backed by their liberal opponents.In the Sinai peninsula near Israel, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at army checkpoints guarding an airport and rocketed a police station near the border with the Palestinian territories. One soldier was killed and two wounded, a security source said. The authorities declared a state of emergency in Suez and South Sinai provinces.Dozens of people were wounded in clashes in Mursi's Nile Delta home city on Thursday, raising fears of more of the violence in which several dozen have died in the past month.How the army deals with any trouble will help determine future support for Cairo from the United States and other international powers.Concern that the generals have carried out a military coup against Egypt's first freely elected leader has left Washington reviewing the $1.5 billion in mostly military aid it annually gives Egypt. U.S. law bars aid for countries where the military has toppled an elected government in a coup. Washington has so far avoided using that label.The planned protests have the slogan "Friday of Rejection".Outside the Rabaa Adaweya mosque in a Cairo suburb, where Mursi supporters have gathered over the last week, the army deployed extra armored vehicles several hundred meters from makeshift barricades. Thousands of people milled around the area, while a group of about 50 men shouted pro-Mursi slogans."Down, down with military rule!" they chanted. "We call for jihad in the whole country."In the skies above the teeming city, the air force staged fly-pasts, with jets leaving red, white and black smoke streams - representing the Egyptian flag - behind them in a show of force the military has employed frequently since Mursi's ouster.A military source said: "We will continue to secure the places of protest with troops, and jets if necessary, to make sure the pro- and anti-Mursi demonstrators don't confront each other. We will let them demonstrate and go where they want."Mursi's political opponents insist there was no coup.Rather, the army heeded the "will of the people" in forcing the president out. Millions rallied on Sunday to protest over a collapsing economy and political deadlock, in which Mursi had failed to build a broad consensus after a year in office.It was not immediately clear whether the violence in the long-unstable Sinai was directly linked to the overthrow of Musri. Early on Friday, security sources said Islamist gunmen opened fire on El-Arish airport, close to the border with the Gaza Strip and Israel, and at three military checkpoints.A police station in Rafah on the Gaza border was hit by rockets, wounding several soldiers. Security forces closed the border crossing. State media said it would reopen on Saturday.News of the state of emergency in Suez and South Sinai caused the price of Brent Crude to spike by more than $1.50, a reminder of Egypt's global strategic importance astride the Suez canal. The price subsided after reports that shipping on the canal was unaffected.
DIPLOMACY
After a busy day of diplomacy by concerned Obama administration officials interrupting their Independence Day holiday in Washington, the Egyptian armed forces command issued a late-night statement guaranteeing rights to protest and free expression, and pledging not to pursue arbitrary measures against any political group.The uncontroversial phrasing belied a busy 24 hours since the military chief suspended the constitution, detained Mursi and oversaw the swearing in of the chief justice of the constitutional court as Egypt's interim head of state.In addition to Mursi, the country's first freely elected leader, several senior figures in his Muslim Brotherhood were held, security sources said. Prosecutors were investigating various charges, including incitement to violence and, in the case of Mursi himself, insulting the judiciary.Television channels owned by or seen as sympathetic to the Brotherhood were abruptly taken off air. The state printer did not run off its party newspaper on Thursday or Friday."These media paint a different picture of the situation, which the army does not want people to see," said Islam Taqfiq from the media committee at the Brotherhood's political wing.
COUP OR NO COUP?
In Zagazig, the Nile Delta city where Mursi has a family home, 80 people were injured. Witnesses said the army moved in to seal the area after an attack on pro-Mursi protesters by men on motorcycles led to clashes with sticks, knives and bottles.For a movement that has been banned and politically oppressed for most of its 85-year history, such developments have reinforced impressions among the Islamists that a "deep state", once loyal to fallen autocrat Hosni Mubarak and his army-backed predecessors, is still determined to crush it.Washington, the armed forces' longtime sponsor, has voiced concern for human rights, but also for stability. Egypt's peace with Israel and control of the Suez Canal give it a strategic importance beyond its 84 million people.Washington, along with Middle Eastern allies from Israel to Saudi Arabia, are not lamenting the Brotherhood's stunning reversal. The organization has long represented many Arabs' hopes for a better society but was found gravely wanting during Mursi's year of missteps and rancorous division.While avoiding the word "coup", the White House said some on Obama's national security team had contacted Egyptian officials "to convey the importance of a quick and responsible return of full authority to a democratically elected civilian government".Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, staying in a caretaker role after resigning from Mursi's cabinet, spent the day reassuring ambassadors and speaking by phone to foreign officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry."He was worried about the status of human rights," Amr said. "Understandably. I assured him there is no retribution, no acts of vengeance, that nobody will be treated outside the law."Amr said he conveyed the message that there had been no "military coup". The army had merely heeded the popular will.
"USURPERS"
Adli Mansour, the constitutional court chief justice sworn in as interim head of state on Thursday, has held out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, but a senior official in the Islamist movement said it would not work with "the usurper authorities".Another of its politicians said Mursi's overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance.The armed forces' statement contained a warning to those Islamists planning to demonstrate on Friday."Excessive use of this right without reason could carry some negative implications, including blocking roads, delaying public benefits and destroying institutions, posing a threat to social peace, the national interest and damaging the security and economy in our precious Egypt."The Brotherhood renounced violence decades ago. Even among its allies who were engaged in armed struggle against Mubarak in the 1990s and beyond, there seems little appetite to resume it.But Egypt does have troubles with militancy, not least in the largely empty Sinai peninsula, where radical Islamists with links to al Qaeda have become more active since Mubarak fell.Mursi's dramatic exit was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities on Wednesday evening, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed the military intervention.Following the swearing in of Mansour as interim head of state, the next step in the army's road map back to democracy is the formation of an interim government in the next few days. One state newspaper said it should be ready on Sunday.
After that, a panel is to revise the constitution in order to hold parliamentary and presidential elections.
Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister, head of the Arab League and now liberal party leader, told Reuters he expected the full transition to elected institutions to take no more than 12 months and possibly just six. "This is doable," he said.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Mike Collett-White, Alexander Dziadosz, Seham El-Oraby, Shaimaa Fayed, Maggie Fick, Alastair Macdonald, Shadia Nasralla, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Paul Taylor, and Patrick Werr in Cairo, Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yursi Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Mike Collett-White; Editing by Peter Graff)
By Asma Alsharif and Shadia Nasralla-JULY 4,13
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces arrested the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, security sources said, in a crackdown against the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country's first democratically elected president.The dramatic exit of President Mohamed Mursi was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities overnight, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed military intervention.An Islamist coalition led by the Brotherhood called on people across the nation to protest in a "Friday of Rejection" following weekly prayers, an early test of Mursi's ongoing support and how the military will deal with it.Perhaps aware of the risk of society being polarized, the new interim leader, judge Adli Mansour, used his inauguration to hold out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, Mursi's power base."The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they respond to the invitation, they will be welcomed," he said.Just before he spoke, the air force staged a series of fly pasts in the smoggy skies over Cairo, a stark reminder of the military's role in the latest upheaval. The stunt, involving dozens of aircraft, was repeated at dusk.But a senior Brotherhood official said it would not work with "the usurper authorities". Another of its politicians said Mursi's overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance.Mursi's removal after a year in office marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world's most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes across Egypt since Mursi's overthrow. In fighting late on Thursday between his supporters and opponents in his hometown of Zagazig northeast of Cairo, 80 more people were wounded.According to state news agency MENA, protesters fought with rocks, birdshot and knives, and security forces fired teargas to disperse them and made 11 arrests.
INVESTIGATION OPENED INTO MURSI
The United Nations, the United States and some other world powers avoided condemning Mursi's removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions.Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules.
Egypt's armed forces have been at the heart of power since officers staged the 1952 overthrow of King Farouk.The protests that spurred the military to step in this time were rooted in a liberal opposition that lost elections to Islamists. Their ranks were swelled by anger over broken promises on the economy and shrinking real incomes.The downfall of Egypt's first elected leader, who emerged from the "Arab Spring" revolutions that swept the region in 2011, raised questions about the future of political Islam which only lately seemed triumphant.Deeply divided, Egypt's 84 million people are again a focus of concern in a region traumatized by the civil war in Syria.Security sources said the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, was arrested in the northern city of Marsa Matrouh, near the Libyan border, although the sources said they did not believe he had been trying to flee the country.The Brotherhood denied his arrest on its website.Demonstrators often chanted against Mursi and Badie in the same breath. Despite its denials, the Brotherhood never managed to shake off the image that Badie and its executive board were the silent force behind Mursi's presidency.Prosecutors also ordered the arrest of his influential deputy Khairat el-Shater after both men were charged with inciting violence against protesters outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo that was attacked on Sunday night.Mursi was in military custody, army and Brotherhood sources said, and authorities opened an investigation into accusations that he and 15 other Islamists insulted the judiciary.
A senior Brotherhood politician, Essam El-Erian, said the movement would take a long view of the political setback, and that Egypt's Islamist leaders had not been given a fair chance to succeed in office.Mohamed El-Beltagy, another senior Brotherhood politician, said the movement would not take up arms over what he called a military coup, although he warned that other, unnamed, groups could be pushed to violent resistance by recent events.There was also a call from calm from the influential Dawa Salafiya movement of Egyptian Salafists, ultra-orthodox Islamists who have occasionally been allied with Mursi but distanced themselves from him in recent weeks.
"IT'S ABOUT EGYPT"
Outside the court where Mansour was sworn in, 25-year-old engineer Maysar El-Tawtansy summed up the mood among those who voted for Mursi in 2012 and opposed military intervention."We queued for hours at the election, and now our votes are void," he said. "It's not about the Brotherhood, it's about Egypt."
For the defeated Islamists, the clampdown revived memories of their suffering under the old, military-backed regime led by Mubarak, himself toppled by a popular uprising in 2011.The clock started ticking for Mursi when millions took to the streets on Sunday to demand he resign. They accused the Brotherhood of hijacking the revolution, entrenching its power and failing to revive the economy.That gave armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who already had his own reservations about the state of the nation under Mursi, a justification to invoke the "will of the people" and demand the president share power or step aside.The United States and other Western allies had also pressed Mursi hard to open his administration to a broader mix of ideas.Sisi, in uniform and flanked by politicians, officers and clergy, called on Wednesday for measures to wipe clear a slate of messy democratic reforms enacted since Mubarak fell. The constitution was suspended.
INTERIM GOVERNMENT
A technocratic interim government will be formed, along with a panel for national reconciliation, and the constitution will be reviewed. Mansour said fresh parliamentary and presidential elections would be held, but he did not specify when.Liberal chief negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. nuclear agency chief and favorite to become prime minister in the interim government, said the plan would "continue the revolution" of 2011.Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said he had assured U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone call on Thursday that Mursi's overthrow was not a military coup."This was actually the overwhelming will of the people," Amr told Reuters. Amr tendered his resignation on Tuesday but remains in office in a caretaker capacity.U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration provides $1.3 billion a year to the Egyptian military, expressed concern about Mursi's removal and called for a swift return to a democratically elected civilian government.But he stopped short of condemning the military move in a way that might block U.S. aid. A senator involved in aid decisions said the United States would cut off its financial support if the intervention was deemed a military coup.Israel avoided any show of satisfaction over the fall of an Islamist president. Many in the Jewish state had been initially alarmed by Mursi's rise although early in his term Mursi made clear he would not renege on a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.The new emir in Qatar, which has provided billions of dollars in aid to Egypt following the ousting of Mubarak, congratulated Mansour on his appointment.The markets reacted positively to Mursi's exit. Egypt's main stock index rose 7.3 percent on the day.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Mike Collett-White, Alexander Dziadosz, Shaimaa Fayed, Maggie Fick, Alastair Macdonald, Shadia Nasralla, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Paul Taylor, and Patrick Werr in Cairo, Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yursi Mohamed in Ismailia, Michelle Martin in Berlin, Adrian Croft in Brussels, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Amena Bakr in Dubai; Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Peter Graff)
By Alastair Macdonald-JULY 4,13
CAIRO (Reuters) - Don't mention the coup.Certainly not on Tahrir Square, or pretty much anywhere in polite, liberal society in Egypt.As military jets periodically screamed over Cairo, even performing a formation salute with colored smoke trails, many Egyptians took pains to stress that the toppling of their elected president, announced by a general, was not a "coup"."A coup? No!" said Ahmed Eid, 19, a business studies student at Cairo University, as he and his friends snapped souvenir pictures of each other, draped in the national flag, on Tahrir Square. "This was our new revolution!""Our president was very bad. The army are our brothers."For educated liberals in the capital, ending the year-long presidency of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood was worth resorting to the national tradition of military force - even at the risk of the new democracy born out of the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011's Arab Spring.With foreign goodwill - and aid dollars - at risk, however, it is now imperative to show Mursi was wrong when - from the Republican Guard barracks where he is detained - he branded the manoeuvre against him "a total military coup".Many outside Egypt found it hard to fault Mursi's logic. But Egyptians have proven creative in contradicting him.Not a "coup" but a "popular impeachment" was one original expression, put forward by Amr Moussa.A foreign minister under Mubarak, he now leads of one of the liberal parties that endorsed the "roadmap" back to democracy spelled out by the armed forces chief on Wednesday when he went on television, in full uniform, to suspend the constitution."Some Western media insist what happened in Egypt was a coup d'etat. In fact, this was unfair," Moussa, who headed the Arab League until two years ago, told Reuters - as military helicopters clattered overhead near the Nile riverbank."This was a popular uprising, a popular revolution," he added. "In fact it was a popular impeachment of the president."The army did not take the initiative, he said, it heeded mass protests which put millions on the streets on Sunday."It didn't come as a result of a meeting between a few officers," he said. "It was the people who insisted."
A LITTLE UNDERSTANDING
The wild euphoria on Tahrir Square, reprising that which greeted Mubarak's end, offered support to that view."I hope that the response coming from Washington and ... from several Western capitals will be to understand," Moussa said, well aware that aid may depend on that. "Yes, indeed, former president Mursi was democratically elected but after that, his performance was ... against the will of the people."Over at the Foreign Ministry, Mohamed Kamel Amr, a career diplomat who tendered his resignation as foreign minister to Mursi after Sunday's mass protests, is still in his office - he'll remain there now until an interim government arrives.He was busy on Thursday, working the phones, calling U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry among others to insist that Washington should have no worries about cutting off aid to Cairo because "definitely what happened was not a military coup".In Amr's view, "a military coup means the military will come, overthrow a civilian government and sit in their place"."What happened actually is totally the opposite," he said. "There is ... no political role whatsoever, for the military."You cannot not tell me that this is a military coup. This is not a military coup. On the contrary, this is the total opposite of a military coup."This is not a military coup in any way."Many outside observers, don't see it that way: "I understand Egyptians are sensitive about the word 'coup' because of the negative connotation," said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center. "But that doesn't change reality - it's a coup."With aid on the line, it's not just semantics, he conceded.But among the snack vendors, flags and post-party squalor of Tahrir on Thursday, in between barnstorming military fly-pasts, it was hard to find anyone ready to criticize the generals."The army are with us, with the revolution," laughed Katya Ramzi, 64, as she strolled, flag in hand, with daughter Heidi.
"This is not a coup."(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Peter Graff)
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis-JULY 4,13
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's fractious opposition coalition met on Thursday under pressure to name a new leader and prove to its Western and Arab backers it can be trusted with advanced weapons to beat back a concerted offensive by President Bashar al-Assad.The opposition's inability to unite has made Western countries reluctant to send weapons, even as Assad's forces have seized the initiative in recent months and Washington and its European allies have vowed to aid his enemies.Rebels are under siege in the strategic city of Homs and trying to hold on to swathes of territory across the country, while the opposition in exile has been unable to exert authority on the ground and halt strides toward radical Islamism.The Syrian National Coalition has been without a leader for months after its head quit over disagreement about potential talks with Assad's government. It aims to agree on a new unified leadership at its talks in Istanbul.Coalition insiders say its international backers want to avoid a repeat of a near debacle a month ago when last-minute intervention by senior officials from Turkey and Western and Arab countries was needed to keep it from disintegrating.A new leadership for the body of mainly exiled politicians will also need to show that it can forge stronger links with the activists and rebel fighters inside Syria, the sources said.Senior opposition figures met overnight to agree on a deal that would satisfy the three main players in the coalition: the Muslim Brotherhood, the only organized faction in the political opposition, a Saudi-backed bloc and a wing loyal to secretary general Mustafa Sabbagh, a businessman seen as Qatar's pointman.Possible candidates to lead the opposition include Ahmad Jarba, a tribal figure well connected with Saudi Arabia, and Sabbagh himself.
Sources at the meeting said possible consensus candidates included Ahmed Tumeh al-Khader a veteran opposition figure, and Burhan Ghalioun, a professor based in Paris.
BOOSTING REBEL COMMAND
More than two years into a war that has killed more than 90,000 people, momentum has shifted in recent months in favor of Assad, especially since he gained the support of fighters from the seasoned Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.Western countries opposed to Assad were predicting at the end of last year that the Syrian leader's days were numbered. But they now fear for the survival of the rebellion after Hezbollah fighters helped capture the rebel-held town of Qusair.The West has had to balance its desire to aid the rebels with its worry that the rebellion has become dominated by militant Sunni Islamists, including groups allied to al Qaeda.A senior opposition source in contact with U.S. officials said Washington, as well as French security operatives, were concentrating on supporting rebel units in the province of Aleppo on the border with Turkey, where new anti-tank missiles are helping reverse the military tide."I think we will be hearing good news from Aleppo soon. No one wants to repeat the weakness in logistics that allowed Hezbollah to take over Qusair and paved the way for the offensive on Homs," the source said.Saudi Arabia has assumed a central role in backing the opposition and has begun limited delivery of sophisticated weapons to the rebels, with the United States playing a bigger role than before in supervising such shipments to keep weapons out of Islamist hands, diplomats in the region say."The Americans will have the final say on Saudi support. On the surface, U.S. military pledges are minimal, but indirectly, Washington's role is big," a Western diplomat said.At the core of Western and Saudi strategy is boosting the Supreme Military Council, a centralized rebel command structure led by defectors from the Syrian army, to claw back Assad's advances and create a counterbalance to militant Islamists.Kamal al-Labwani, a senior member of a liberal bloc of the coalition, said that the opposition has started to build up its military capability through the Supreme Military Council but Islamists still dominate the battlefield. He said he expected an increase in weapons shipments to rebels, dismissing U.S. and Russian plans for a peace conference, known as Geneva 2.Washington and Moscow, Cold War foes supporting the opposing sides, announced plans for the peace conference in May but never agreed a date for it. Their relations have deteriorated rapidly as momentum on the battlefield swung in favor of Assad and Washington committed to aid the rebels."Geneva 2 is preparation for more war. Does anyone seriously think Assad would give up power to a transitional government that would order the army to take its tanks from the streets, release tens of thousands of prisoners and allow demonstrations?" Labwani said.The rebels have been receiving light arms from Saudi Arabia and Qatar for many months, but say they need more sophisticated weapons to defeat Assad, including shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to counter the government's big air power advantage.The West is wary, because such missiles could be used by militants to threaten civil aviation. Diplomats said the United States is overseeing delivery of Saudi weapons after concern that shoulder-fired missiles sent by Qatar may have been delivered to jihadist fighters.(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff and Robin Pomeroy)
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up,(AT THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY) that the way of the kings(CHINA,NORTH-SOUTH KOREA, of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(4 WINDS OF THE WORLD-WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(COULD ALSO MEAN THE 4 CORNERS OF THE EARTH OR WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
China, Russia hold largest-ever joint naval drills
BEIJING (AP) — China and Russia kicked off their largest-ever joint naval drills on Friday in the Sea of Japan, a further sign of the broad-based progress in ties between the former Cold War rivals.Eighteen surface ships, one submarine, three airplanes, five ship-launched helicopters and two commando units were taking part in the "Joint Sea-2013" exercise that runs through July 12. The drills will cover anti-submarine warfare, close maneuvering, and the simulated take-over of an enemy ship.The drills are considerably bigger than anything China's navy has previously held with a foreign partner. China's increasingly formidable navy is contributing four destroyers, two latest-generation guided missile frigates and a support ship, all of which sailed Monday from the port of Qingdao, where China's Northern Fleet is based, to the rallying point in Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok."This is our strongest line-up ever in a joint naval drill," Rear Admiral Yang Junfei, commander of the Chinese contingent, was quoted as saying by state media.China has long been a key customer for Russian military hardware, but only in the last decade have their militaries begun training jointly. The naval drills are to be followed by another round of anti-terrorism joint drills in Russia's Ural Mountain region of Chelyabinsk from July 27 to Aug. 15.China's armed forces are eagerly pursuing stronger links with most regional militaries, with the notable exception of Japan, with which China is embroiled in a strongly emotional spat over control of an uninhabited East China Sea island group north of Taiwan.China began deploying ships to the anti-piracy flotilla off the coast of Somalia in 2008 and in recent years its navy has joined in a series of joint drills in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Chinese land units also have taken part in border security and anti-terrorism exercises organized by the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization.Cooperation with the U.S. Navy, the predominant maritime force in the region, has been more limited, although China will take part next year in the U.S.-organized multinational Rim of the Pacific exercises, the world's largest maritime exercise.Next 10 Amendments: The separation of church and state
One of the big Supreme Court rulings next year will be about
prayer at public functions, in the latest constitutional debate about
the First Amendment, and the separation of church and state.
The case of Town of Greece v. Galloway
involves the legality of saying a prayer before the start of public
township board meeting. The use of prayer at public buildings has been a
hot-button subject for years.
As part of our Next 10 Amendments project, we’ve asked Constitution Daily readers to give us their opinions on possible new amendments, including one that clarifies the Religious clauses in the First Amendment.You can see other topics below, and people have made a lot of good points, in a civil way.
Links to Debates: Right To Bear Arms | Balanced Budget | Right To Privacy | Term Limits | Same-Sex Marriage
What do you think: Should there be a new amendment to clarify the separation of church and state as defined by the courts?
Here’s how you can participate in our project:1. Check out the resources in the sidebar at right to learn more about the historical context and current events related to this issue. 2. In the comments below, share your thoughts and explore what others are saying. (Please keep your comments respectful and on topic.)
3. Check back each week for the latest discussion topic. 4. In early September, cast your vote in a referendum on potential amendments, gathered from participant comments.Our discussion is moderated by Chris Phillips, research fellow of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the nonprofit organization Democracy Café.(Note to readers on Yahoo! News: If you want to take part in the debate, use this link and comment at the end of the story: http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/?p=26824.)
Links to Debates: Right To Bear Arms | Balanced Budget | Right To Privacy | Term Limits | Same-Sex Marriage
What do you think: Should there be a new amendment to clarify the separation of church and state as defined by the courts?
Here’s how you can participate in our project:1. Check out the resources in the sidebar at right to learn more about the historical context and current events related to this issue. 2. In the comments below, share your thoughts and explore what others are saying. (Please keep your comments respectful and on topic.)
3. Check back each week for the latest discussion topic. 4. In early September, cast your vote in a referendum on potential amendments, gathered from participant comments.Our discussion is moderated by Chris Phillips, research fellow of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the nonprofit organization Democracy Café.(Note to readers on Yahoo! News: If you want to take part in the debate, use this link and comment at the end of the story: http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/?p=26824.)
Netanyahu on 4th of July: Our Countries are True Friends
Israel is an island of stability in a turbulent region, says Netanyahu at U.S. embassy's Fourth of July reception.By Elad Benari-First Publish: 7/5/2013, 12:15 AM-Israelnationalnews
Netanyahu at Fourth of July reception-Flash 90
Israel is an island of stability in a turbulent region, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.
Netanyahu was speaking during a Fourth of July reception at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro."Dan, you have been an excellent Ambassador. I can
say that from personal experience. And you’ve served as a bridge – a
bridge between our two countries, and this was brilliantly demonstrated
during President Obama's historic visit to Israel,” Netanyahu said.“I want to add a request. Sara and I would like to
send not only warm greetings to the President and First Lady Michelle
Obama. We’d like to see Michelle in Israel as well.“It's always a pleasure, and a deeply meaningful pleasure, to celebrate America's Independence Day.“It’s true, July 4th is first and foremost an
American holiday,” said Netanyahu. “It’s a time when Americans celebrate
their freedom; it’s a time when they celebrate the cherished principles
of American democracy.“These are values we deeply share here in Israel,”
he added. “In the Middle East, Israel has always been an island of
stability and democracy in a sea of instability and despotism.“This has always been true, but today, this is clearer than ever before,” said Netanyahu.He stressed that “Israel will always remain America's steadfast and unwavering ally.“We are allies, there’s a powerful bond between us.
“And the bond comes because of what has been said
here tonight – because our deepest values are identical to those of the
United States.“We too believe that a government, as President
Lincoln said, is of the people, by the people and for the people; a
government, as Jefferson insisted, where the majority rules, but where
the rights of the minority, all minorities, are vigorously protected; a
government, as the American founding fathers so wisely conceived, where
checks and balances help prevent the abuse of power and ensure that no
one is above the law.“That’s why the Fourth of July is more than an American holiday.“It is a day that is celebrated by all those who cherish freedom around the world.“It’s a day that we honor the nation that has held
the torch of liberty for 237 years. That Statue of Liberty shines not
only in New York Harbor, not only in the United States of America, it
shines around the world. Everybody sees America’s gift of freedom.”
Netanyahu said, “In the Middle East today, there are many people who seek such a future.“Those who seek liberty are our natural peace partners.“They also provide hope that the great turbulence
that is rocking the Middle East today will ultimately result in a
brighter future for all the peoples in our region.“This will not happen overnight. But if real
freedom ultimately takes root throughout the Middle East, a future of
prosperity and peace will finally be realized for all.“Until that day comes, America knows that in the
Middle East there is one genuine democracy, one country that it can
always count on, and that country is Israel.“Our countries are true friends; we are true partners; we are true allies.“And to address the great challenges that we both face today, our alliance is needed more than ever.“We must work together to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability.“President Obama said on his visit, as he did
before. He said: ‘This is a common goal, but always remember that Israel
must be able to defend itself by itself against any threat.’“We adhere to those principles.“We must work to address the threats posed by the situation in Syria and by the unraveling instability throughout the region.“And, our friends, we must work together to advance peace with the Palestinians.“I would like to take this opportunity to thank
Secretary of State John Kerry for his tireless efforts to advance peace.
When I say tireless, I mean just that. That man works until three
o’clock in the morning. We all do. But then he goes on to a 45 minute
stroll in Jerusalem. I think I’ll join him next time.
“Israel hopes those efforts will succeed.“We place no obstacles whatsoever to resume direct negotiations.
“We are ready for those talks to begin immediately. And we hope the Palestinians will join us in trying to secure a lasting peace between us.“On behalf of the Israeli people, I thank President
Obama and the American people for their unwavering support for the
State of Israel.“May your great nation continue to hold freedom's
torch high, and may democracies everywhere continue to be blessed by
American leadership for generations to come.”
Eilat Given the 'All Clear'
Police say residents of Eilat can resume their regular routine, hours after locals report hearing loud explosions.By Elad Benari-First Publish: 7/4/2013, 11:34 PM-Israelnationalnews
Eilat-Flash 90
The city of Eilat was given the “all clear” on Thursday night, several hours after residents reported hearing loud explosions in the city.Security forces were checking to determine whether
the explosions were caused by Grad rockets that were fired at the city.
After several hours of searching, police and the Home Front Command
assessed the situation and announced that life in the city may return to
normal.Police said there is no need for locals to stay in protected areas.Thus far, no debris of rockets has been found. The
IDF has asked the Egyptian military to check for such debris on its side
of the border.In April, terrorists fired three rockets at Eilat. No casualties were reported.A Salafi jihadist group later claimed responsibility for the attack.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Egypt's army declares state of emergency in Suez and South Sinai
Move is prompted by armed attack on al-Arish airport, despite relative calm in rest of country
Egyptian army helicopters, with the national flag hanging from them, fly over Cairo on Friday. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA
Egypt's
army has declared a state of emergency in the Suez and South Sinai
regions after an armed attack on al-Arish airport, despite relative calm
elsewhere in the country on the first weekend since the ousting of
Mohammed Morsi as president.In Cairo, where Morsi's main support
base had announced a "day of rejection" to coincide with Friday prayers,
leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood have continued to urge peaceful
demonstrations to demand that the vanquished leader be returned to
office.Only two of the 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood
Guidance Council attended the largest of twin pro-Morsi rallies in the
capital. Most other senior leaders of the group have been detained by
the military, or have been in hiding since the momentous events of
Wednesday night.The attack in al-Arish, around 40 miles (60km)
south of the Gaza border, was sustained and intense, security officials
said. One person was killed and several others wounded. The attackers
are not yet known, and the Sinai has in recent months become an
increasingly important theatre for jihadist groups.At the Rabaa
mosque in east Cairo, one senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, Dr Saleh
Sultan, criticised the Egyptian military, which ousted Morsi after a
two-day ultimatum to share power with his rivals. He told up to 15,000
followers who had gathered to listen: "We are from you and you are from
us. You are our credit, and you are ours. We are with you, and none of
us will be against you. [General Abdel Fatah al-]Sisi caused the
institution to drift off the righteous path. And today we are here until
legitimacy returns to the elected presidency."We shall not
accept this. We will sacrifice our souls for this cause. I call for the
world to listen to the sound of right and ignore the wrong."Brotherhood
members have attempted to distance Sisi the head of the Egyptian
military, from the actions of his troops, who have carried out arrest
raids and blockaded roads near both Brotherhood hubs. The military is
the most powerful institution in the country and is a formidable barrier
to the group trying to wrest back power, either politically, or through
a show of force.The few leaders who remain at liberty have vowed
that their rallies will remain non-violent. However, with up to 300
decision-makers now in detention, it remains unclear how much control
the leadership could have in towns and provinces, where anger at the
military and other institutions who supported Morsi's toppling continues
to simmer.The nature of the charges against those detained is
not yet clear, however state media has suggested that Morsi himself
faces allegations of insulting the judiciary. The former leader has not
been seen since a short video published on the internet on the night of
the coup against him, which showed him disorientated as troops
surrounded him inside what is believed to have been the Presidential
Guards Club.A polarising figure in Cairo, where an alliance of
secularists, liberals, state bodies and supporters of the former regime
formed a powerful, and ultimately overwhelming challenge to his one-year
rule, Morsi remains lionised in other parts of the country.The
Brotherhood had been the best organised group in the country, even
during the Mubarak regime, in which it was outlawed for the best part of
30 years. It rallied support through charitable work and grass roots
campaigns.Up to 15 Egyptian air force jets flew repeated low altitude passes over Tahrir Square on Thursday morning, streaming red and blue smoke in a spectacular display (video) of authority and precision.Police
helicopters have also overflown the square, which over the past week
had again been a hub of revolt, 32 months after the revolution that
overthrew Hosni Mubarak.
07/ 4/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
"Rejoice with Egypt", Anglican Bishop says after military depose president
Egypt
Egypt’s Anglican leader rejoices at the removal of President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power, and asks for prayers for the avoidance of violence, and for unity and reconciliation
Gerard O'Connell Rome“Rejoice with Egypt!”, the head of the country’s Anglican community said after the military deposed the elected Islamist President, Mohammed Mursi, and took power again in this land of 90 million people, 10% of whom are Christian.“At last, Egypt is now free from the oppressive rule of the Muslim Brotherhood!” Bishop Mouneer Hanna Anis wrote on July 3 in a letter to his many friends in Egypt and across the world.
At the same time, this astute commentator urged people to continue to pray “for protection from violent reaction of the Islamists which already has started” and also “for unity and reconciliation” in this land after more than one year of divisions.He said the Armed forces “took the side of the millions of Egyptians who demonstrated in the streets since June 30 against President Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood”, and “responded to the invitation of the people to intervene and force the President to step down.”He reported that Field Marshall Abdel Fattah el-SiSi, the head of the Armed Forces, “invited” Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the country’s eight-million Coptic Christians, and The Grand Imam of Egypt, Dr.Ahmed el-Tayyib, together with other political leaders, “to discuss the roadmap for the future of Egypt”.After this meeting, Dr Mouneer said, it was announced that the head of the constitutional court, Adly Mansour, “will be an interim leader of the nation”, that “the current controversial constitution is suspended” and that “the new Government will involve capable people from different backgrounds”.
The Anglican Bishop reported that “as soon as Field Marshall Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced this, millions of Egyptians on the streets went around rejoicing, singing, dancing, and making a lot of fireworks.”“I have never seen Egyptians rejoicing in such a way! They deserve this joy as they insisted to write their own history!”, the Anglican leader stated.The Muslim Brotherhood had ruled the country for one year, he said, and in that time “We Egyptians experienced divisions, exclusions, sectarian clashes, fanaticism, a decrease in tourism, and a bad economy.”He said their removal from power by the Armed Forces “ is an answer to the prayers of so many people from around the world who were praying for our beloved country”. After Dr Mouneer wrote his letter, the military arrested President Mursi and other leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood.On the eve of the June 30 rally that led to Mursi’s downfall, the Anglican leader had warned of the serious risk of a revolution, violence and even civil war. In his July 3 letter, while rejoicing that his worse fears had not materialized, Bishop Mouneer was still aware that the situation is fragile given the feelings of anger among the Muslim Brotherhood. For this reason, he asked his friends in Egypt and internationally, “Please continue to pray for protection from violent reaction of the Islamists which already has started” and “Pray also for unity and reconciliation after more than one year of divisions.”The Anglican bishop’s feeling of joy were shared by a Catholic priest in Cairo, who asked for anonymity. After going around the city and seeing what he described as “an amazing night of joy and celebration in Cairo” , he summed it all up in two words: "happy end" and " back to work". The priest said the removal of President Mursi from power by the military brought a “happy end” because “we could have had a terrible confrontation between the Muslim brothers and the majority”. One day ago “this was our fear. it didn't happen”, he said The military intervention “has allowed us to avoid bloodshed” and now “everyone is celebrating the happy end of this political crisis.”Now is the time for Egyptians to go “back to work”, the priest stated. “The new people in charge of the country will have to find political solutions to the diversity of the Egyptians, to give answers to their needs (education, work, etc.)”. While acknowledging that “There is a long way to go” he was optimistic about the future because, he said, “the country has shown its maturity and we are very confident in the capacity of the Egyptians.”
Mursi supporters take to streets on 'day of rejection'
CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamist allies of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Mursi, called on people to protest on Friday to express outrage at his overthrow by the army and to reject a planned interim government backed by their liberal opponents.In the Sinai peninsula near Israel, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at army checkpoints guarding an airport and rocketed a police station near the border with the Palestinian territories. One soldier was killed and two wounded, a security source said. The authorities declared a state of emergency in Suez and South Sinai provinces.Dozens of people were wounded in clashes in Mursi's Nile Delta home city on Thursday, raising fears of more of the violence in which several dozen have died in the past month.How the army deals with any trouble will help determine future support for Cairo from the United States and other international powers.Concern that the generals have carried out a military coup against Egypt's first freely elected leader has left Washington reviewing the $1.5 billion in mostly military aid it annually gives Egypt. U.S. law bars aid for countries where the military has toppled an elected government in a coup. Washington has so far avoided using that label.The planned protests have the slogan "Friday of Rejection".Outside the Rabaa Adaweya mosque in a Cairo suburb, where Mursi supporters have gathered over the last week, the army deployed extra armored vehicles several hundred meters from makeshift barricades. Thousands of people milled around the area, while a group of about 50 men shouted pro-Mursi slogans."Down, down with military rule!" they chanted. "We call for jihad in the whole country."In the skies above the teeming city, the air force staged fly-pasts, with jets leaving red, white and black smoke streams - representing the Egyptian flag - behind them in a show of force the military has employed frequently since Mursi's ouster.A military source said: "We will continue to secure the places of protest with troops, and jets if necessary, to make sure the pro- and anti-Mursi demonstrators don't confront each other. We will let them demonstrate and go where they want."Mursi's political opponents insist there was no coup.Rather, the army heeded the "will of the people" in forcing the president out. Millions rallied on Sunday to protest over a collapsing economy and political deadlock, in which Mursi had failed to build a broad consensus after a year in office.It was not immediately clear whether the violence in the long-unstable Sinai was directly linked to the overthrow of Musri. Early on Friday, security sources said Islamist gunmen opened fire on El-Arish airport, close to the border with the Gaza Strip and Israel, and at three military checkpoints.A police station in Rafah on the Gaza border was hit by rockets, wounding several soldiers. Security forces closed the border crossing. State media said it would reopen on Saturday.News of the state of emergency in Suez and South Sinai caused the price of Brent Crude to spike by more than $1.50, a reminder of Egypt's global strategic importance astride the Suez canal. The price subsided after reports that shipping on the canal was unaffected.
DIPLOMACY
After a busy day of diplomacy by concerned Obama administration officials interrupting their Independence Day holiday in Washington, the Egyptian armed forces command issued a late-night statement guaranteeing rights to protest and free expression, and pledging not to pursue arbitrary measures against any political group.The uncontroversial phrasing belied a busy 24 hours since the military chief suspended the constitution, detained Mursi and oversaw the swearing in of the chief justice of the constitutional court as Egypt's interim head of state.In addition to Mursi, the country's first freely elected leader, several senior figures in his Muslim Brotherhood were held, security sources said. Prosecutors were investigating various charges, including incitement to violence and, in the case of Mursi himself, insulting the judiciary.Television channels owned by or seen as sympathetic to the Brotherhood were abruptly taken off air. The state printer did not run off its party newspaper on Thursday or Friday."These media paint a different picture of the situation, which the army does not want people to see," said Islam Taqfiq from the media committee at the Brotherhood's political wing.
COUP OR NO COUP?
In Zagazig, the Nile Delta city where Mursi has a family home, 80 people were injured. Witnesses said the army moved in to seal the area after an attack on pro-Mursi protesters by men on motorcycles led to clashes with sticks, knives and bottles.For a movement that has been banned and politically oppressed for most of its 85-year history, such developments have reinforced impressions among the Islamists that a "deep state", once loyal to fallen autocrat Hosni Mubarak and his army-backed predecessors, is still determined to crush it.Washington, the armed forces' longtime sponsor, has voiced concern for human rights, but also for stability. Egypt's peace with Israel and control of the Suez Canal give it a strategic importance beyond its 84 million people.Washington, along with Middle Eastern allies from Israel to Saudi Arabia, are not lamenting the Brotherhood's stunning reversal. The organization has long represented many Arabs' hopes for a better society but was found gravely wanting during Mursi's year of missteps and rancorous division.While avoiding the word "coup", the White House said some on Obama's national security team had contacted Egyptian officials "to convey the importance of a quick and responsible return of full authority to a democratically elected civilian government".Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, staying in a caretaker role after resigning from Mursi's cabinet, spent the day reassuring ambassadors and speaking by phone to foreign officials, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry."He was worried about the status of human rights," Amr said. "Understandably. I assured him there is no retribution, no acts of vengeance, that nobody will be treated outside the law."Amr said he conveyed the message that there had been no "military coup". The army had merely heeded the popular will.
"USURPERS"
Adli Mansour, the constitutional court chief justice sworn in as interim head of state on Thursday, has held out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, but a senior official in the Islamist movement said it would not work with "the usurper authorities".Another of its politicians said Mursi's overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance.The armed forces' statement contained a warning to those Islamists planning to demonstrate on Friday."Excessive use of this right without reason could carry some negative implications, including blocking roads, delaying public benefits and destroying institutions, posing a threat to social peace, the national interest and damaging the security and economy in our precious Egypt."The Brotherhood renounced violence decades ago. Even among its allies who were engaged in armed struggle against Mubarak in the 1990s and beyond, there seems little appetite to resume it.But Egypt does have troubles with militancy, not least in the largely empty Sinai peninsula, where radical Islamists with links to al Qaeda have become more active since Mubarak fell.Mursi's dramatic exit was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities on Wednesday evening, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed the military intervention.Following the swearing in of Mansour as interim head of state, the next step in the army's road map back to democracy is the formation of an interim government in the next few days. One state newspaper said it should be ready on Sunday.
After that, a panel is to revise the constitution in order to hold parliamentary and presidential elections.
Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister, head of the Arab League and now liberal party leader, told Reuters he expected the full transition to elected institutions to take no more than 12 months and possibly just six. "This is doable," he said.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Mike Collett-White, Alexander Dziadosz, Seham El-Oraby, Shaimaa Fayed, Maggie Fick, Alastair Macdonald, Shadia Nasralla, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Paul Taylor, and Patrick Werr in Cairo, Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yursi Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Alastair Macdonald and Mike Collett-White; Editing by Peter Graff)
Brotherhood leader arrested, Egypt's Islamists call protests
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces arrested the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday, security sources said, in a crackdown against the Islamist movement after the army ousted the country's first democratically elected president.The dramatic exit of President Mohamed Mursi was greeted with delight by millions of jubilant people on the streets of Cairo and other cities overnight, but there was simmering resentment among Egyptians who opposed military intervention.An Islamist coalition led by the Brotherhood called on people across the nation to protest in a "Friday of Rejection" following weekly prayers, an early test of Mursi's ongoing support and how the military will deal with it.Perhaps aware of the risk of society being polarized, the new interim leader, judge Adli Mansour, used his inauguration to hold out an olive branch to the Brotherhood, Mursi's power base."The Muslim Brotherhood are part of this people and are invited to participate in building the nation as nobody will be excluded, and if they respond to the invitation, they will be welcomed," he said.Just before he spoke, the air force staged a series of fly pasts in the smoggy skies over Cairo, a stark reminder of the military's role in the latest upheaval. The stunt, involving dozens of aircraft, was repeated at dusk.But a senior Brotherhood official said it would not work with "the usurper authorities". Another of its politicians said Mursi's overthrow would push other groups, though not his own, to violent resistance.Mursi's removal after a year in office marked another twist in the turmoil that has gripped the Arab world's most populous country in the two years since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.At least 16 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in clashes across Egypt since Mursi's overthrow. In fighting late on Thursday between his supporters and opponents in his hometown of Zagazig northeast of Cairo, 80 more people were wounded.According to state news agency MENA, protesters fought with rocks, birdshot and knives, and security forces fired teargas to disperse them and made 11 arrests.
INVESTIGATION OPENED INTO MURSI
The United Nations, the United States and some other world powers avoided condemning Mursi's removal as a military coup. To do so might trigger sanctions.Army intervention was backed by millions of Egyptians, including liberal leaders and religious figures who expect new elections under a revised set of rules.
Egypt's armed forces have been at the heart of power since officers staged the 1952 overthrow of King Farouk.The protests that spurred the military to step in this time were rooted in a liberal opposition that lost elections to Islamists. Their ranks were swelled by anger over broken promises on the economy and shrinking real incomes.The downfall of Egypt's first elected leader, who emerged from the "Arab Spring" revolutions that swept the region in 2011, raised questions about the future of political Islam which only lately seemed triumphant.Deeply divided, Egypt's 84 million people are again a focus of concern in a region traumatized by the civil war in Syria.Security sources said the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, was arrested in the northern city of Marsa Matrouh, near the Libyan border, although the sources said they did not believe he had been trying to flee the country.The Brotherhood denied his arrest on its website.Demonstrators often chanted against Mursi and Badie in the same breath. Despite its denials, the Brotherhood never managed to shake off the image that Badie and its executive board were the silent force behind Mursi's presidency.Prosecutors also ordered the arrest of his influential deputy Khairat el-Shater after both men were charged with inciting violence against protesters outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo that was attacked on Sunday night.Mursi was in military custody, army and Brotherhood sources said, and authorities opened an investigation into accusations that he and 15 other Islamists insulted the judiciary.
A senior Brotherhood politician, Essam El-Erian, said the movement would take a long view of the political setback, and that Egypt's Islamist leaders had not been given a fair chance to succeed in office.Mohamed El-Beltagy, another senior Brotherhood politician, said the movement would not take up arms over what he called a military coup, although he warned that other, unnamed, groups could be pushed to violent resistance by recent events.There was also a call from calm from the influential Dawa Salafiya movement of Egyptian Salafists, ultra-orthodox Islamists who have occasionally been allied with Mursi but distanced themselves from him in recent weeks.
"IT'S ABOUT EGYPT"
Outside the court where Mansour was sworn in, 25-year-old engineer Maysar El-Tawtansy summed up the mood among those who voted for Mursi in 2012 and opposed military intervention."We queued for hours at the election, and now our votes are void," he said. "It's not about the Brotherhood, it's about Egypt."
For the defeated Islamists, the clampdown revived memories of their suffering under the old, military-backed regime led by Mubarak, himself toppled by a popular uprising in 2011.The clock started ticking for Mursi when millions took to the streets on Sunday to demand he resign. They accused the Brotherhood of hijacking the revolution, entrenching its power and failing to revive the economy.That gave armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who already had his own reservations about the state of the nation under Mursi, a justification to invoke the "will of the people" and demand the president share power or step aside.The United States and other Western allies had also pressed Mursi hard to open his administration to a broader mix of ideas.Sisi, in uniform and flanked by politicians, officers and clergy, called on Wednesday for measures to wipe clear a slate of messy democratic reforms enacted since Mubarak fell. The constitution was suspended.
INTERIM GOVERNMENT
A technocratic interim government will be formed, along with a panel for national reconciliation, and the constitution will be reviewed. Mansour said fresh parliamentary and presidential elections would be held, but he did not specify when.Liberal chief negotiator Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. nuclear agency chief and favorite to become prime minister in the interim government, said the plan would "continue the revolution" of 2011.Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said he had assured U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone call on Thursday that Mursi's overthrow was not a military coup."This was actually the overwhelming will of the people," Amr told Reuters. Amr tendered his resignation on Tuesday but remains in office in a caretaker capacity.U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration provides $1.3 billion a year to the Egyptian military, expressed concern about Mursi's removal and called for a swift return to a democratically elected civilian government.But he stopped short of condemning the military move in a way that might block U.S. aid. A senator involved in aid decisions said the United States would cut off its financial support if the intervention was deemed a military coup.Israel avoided any show of satisfaction over the fall of an Islamist president. Many in the Jewish state had been initially alarmed by Mursi's rise although early in his term Mursi made clear he would not renege on a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.The new emir in Qatar, which has provided billions of dollars in aid to Egypt following the ousting of Mubarak, congratulated Mansour on his appointment.The markets reacted positively to Mursi's exit. Egypt's main stock index rose 7.3 percent on the day.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif, Mike Collett-White, Alexander Dziadosz, Shaimaa Fayed, Maggie Fick, Alastair Macdonald, Shadia Nasralla, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh, Paul Taylor, and Patrick Werr in Cairo, Abdelrahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yursi Mohamed in Ismailia, Michelle Martin in Berlin, Adrian Croft in Brussels, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem and Amena Bakr in Dubai; Writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Peter Graff)
Coup? What coup? Egyptians see no evil
CAIRO (Reuters) - Don't mention the coup.Certainly not on Tahrir Square, or pretty much anywhere in polite, liberal society in Egypt.As military jets periodically screamed over Cairo, even performing a formation salute with colored smoke trails, many Egyptians took pains to stress that the toppling of their elected president, announced by a general, was not a "coup"."A coup? No!" said Ahmed Eid, 19, a business studies student at Cairo University, as he and his friends snapped souvenir pictures of each other, draped in the national flag, on Tahrir Square. "This was our new revolution!""Our president was very bad. The army are our brothers."For educated liberals in the capital, ending the year-long presidency of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood was worth resorting to the national tradition of military force - even at the risk of the new democracy born out of the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011's Arab Spring.With foreign goodwill - and aid dollars - at risk, however, it is now imperative to show Mursi was wrong when - from the Republican Guard barracks where he is detained - he branded the manoeuvre against him "a total military coup".Many outside Egypt found it hard to fault Mursi's logic. But Egyptians have proven creative in contradicting him.Not a "coup" but a "popular impeachment" was one original expression, put forward by Amr Moussa.A foreign minister under Mubarak, he now leads of one of the liberal parties that endorsed the "roadmap" back to democracy spelled out by the armed forces chief on Wednesday when he went on television, in full uniform, to suspend the constitution."Some Western media insist what happened in Egypt was a coup d'etat. In fact, this was unfair," Moussa, who headed the Arab League until two years ago, told Reuters - as military helicopters clattered overhead near the Nile riverbank."This was a popular uprising, a popular revolution," he added. "In fact it was a popular impeachment of the president."The army did not take the initiative, he said, it heeded mass protests which put millions on the streets on Sunday."It didn't come as a result of a meeting between a few officers," he said. "It was the people who insisted."
A LITTLE UNDERSTANDING
The wild euphoria on Tahrir Square, reprising that which greeted Mubarak's end, offered support to that view."I hope that the response coming from Washington and ... from several Western capitals will be to understand," Moussa said, well aware that aid may depend on that. "Yes, indeed, former president Mursi was democratically elected but after that, his performance was ... against the will of the people."Over at the Foreign Ministry, Mohamed Kamel Amr, a career diplomat who tendered his resignation as foreign minister to Mursi after Sunday's mass protests, is still in his office - he'll remain there now until an interim government arrives.He was busy on Thursday, working the phones, calling U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry among others to insist that Washington should have no worries about cutting off aid to Cairo because "definitely what happened was not a military coup".In Amr's view, "a military coup means the military will come, overthrow a civilian government and sit in their place"."What happened actually is totally the opposite," he said. "There is ... no political role whatsoever, for the military."You cannot not tell me that this is a military coup. This is not a military coup. On the contrary, this is the total opposite of a military coup."This is not a military coup in any way."Many outside observers, don't see it that way: "I understand Egyptians are sensitive about the word 'coup' because of the negative connotation," said Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Center. "But that doesn't change reality - it's a coup."With aid on the line, it's not just semantics, he conceded.But among the snack vendors, flags and post-party squalor of Tahrir on Thursday, in between barnstorming military fly-pasts, it was hard to find anyone ready to criticize the generals."The army are with us, with the revolution," laughed Katya Ramzi, 64, as she strolled, flag in hand, with daughter Heidi.
"This is not a coup."(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Peter Graff)
Syria opposition meets to find leader, show it is ready for arms
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's fractious opposition coalition met on Thursday under pressure to name a new leader and prove to its Western and Arab backers it can be trusted with advanced weapons to beat back a concerted offensive by President Bashar al-Assad.The opposition's inability to unite has made Western countries reluctant to send weapons, even as Assad's forces have seized the initiative in recent months and Washington and its European allies have vowed to aid his enemies.Rebels are under siege in the strategic city of Homs and trying to hold on to swathes of territory across the country, while the opposition in exile has been unable to exert authority on the ground and halt strides toward radical Islamism.The Syrian National Coalition has been without a leader for months after its head quit over disagreement about potential talks with Assad's government. It aims to agree on a new unified leadership at its talks in Istanbul.Coalition insiders say its international backers want to avoid a repeat of a near debacle a month ago when last-minute intervention by senior officials from Turkey and Western and Arab countries was needed to keep it from disintegrating.A new leadership for the body of mainly exiled politicians will also need to show that it can forge stronger links with the activists and rebel fighters inside Syria, the sources said.Senior opposition figures met overnight to agree on a deal that would satisfy the three main players in the coalition: the Muslim Brotherhood, the only organized faction in the political opposition, a Saudi-backed bloc and a wing loyal to secretary general Mustafa Sabbagh, a businessman seen as Qatar's pointman.Possible candidates to lead the opposition include Ahmad Jarba, a tribal figure well connected with Saudi Arabia, and Sabbagh himself.
Sources at the meeting said possible consensus candidates included Ahmed Tumeh al-Khader a veteran opposition figure, and Burhan Ghalioun, a professor based in Paris.
BOOSTING REBEL COMMAND
More than two years into a war that has killed more than 90,000 people, momentum has shifted in recent months in favor of Assad, especially since he gained the support of fighters from the seasoned Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.Western countries opposed to Assad were predicting at the end of last year that the Syrian leader's days were numbered. But they now fear for the survival of the rebellion after Hezbollah fighters helped capture the rebel-held town of Qusair.The West has had to balance its desire to aid the rebels with its worry that the rebellion has become dominated by militant Sunni Islamists, including groups allied to al Qaeda.A senior opposition source in contact with U.S. officials said Washington, as well as French security operatives, were concentrating on supporting rebel units in the province of Aleppo on the border with Turkey, where new anti-tank missiles are helping reverse the military tide."I think we will be hearing good news from Aleppo soon. No one wants to repeat the weakness in logistics that allowed Hezbollah to take over Qusair and paved the way for the offensive on Homs," the source said.Saudi Arabia has assumed a central role in backing the opposition and has begun limited delivery of sophisticated weapons to the rebels, with the United States playing a bigger role than before in supervising such shipments to keep weapons out of Islamist hands, diplomats in the region say."The Americans will have the final say on Saudi support. On the surface, U.S. military pledges are minimal, but indirectly, Washington's role is big," a Western diplomat said.At the core of Western and Saudi strategy is boosting the Supreme Military Council, a centralized rebel command structure led by defectors from the Syrian army, to claw back Assad's advances and create a counterbalance to militant Islamists.Kamal al-Labwani, a senior member of a liberal bloc of the coalition, said that the opposition has started to build up its military capability through the Supreme Military Council but Islamists still dominate the battlefield. He said he expected an increase in weapons shipments to rebels, dismissing U.S. and Russian plans for a peace conference, known as Geneva 2.Washington and Moscow, Cold War foes supporting the opposing sides, announced plans for the peace conference in May but never agreed a date for it. Their relations have deteriorated rapidly as momentum on the battlefield swung in favor of Assad and Washington committed to aid the rebels."Geneva 2 is preparation for more war. Does anyone seriously think Assad would give up power to a transitional government that would order the army to take its tanks from the streets, release tens of thousands of prisoners and allow demonstrations?" Labwani said.The rebels have been receiving light arms from Saudi Arabia and Qatar for many months, but say they need more sophisticated weapons to defeat Assad, including shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to counter the government's big air power advantage.The West is wary, because such missiles could be used by militants to threaten civil aviation. Diplomats said the United States is overseeing delivery of Saudi weapons after concern that shoulder-fired missiles sent by Qatar may have been delivered to jihadist fighters.(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff and Robin Pomeroy)
Russia Blocks UN Demand for Access to Syrian City
Russia blocked a UN Security Council demand that Syria allow immediate access to civilians trapped in Homs.By Elad Benari-First Publish: 7/5/2013, 6:42 AM-Israelnationalnews
Destruction in Homs-AFP photo
Russia on Thursday blocked a UN Security Council demand that Syria allow immediate access to thousands of civilians trapped by a government offensive on the city of Homs, diplomats said, according to the AFP news agency.According to
the diplomats, Russia's opposition to the statement proposed by council
members Australia and Luxembourg was a new sign of a growing
international split over the 26-month old conflict.
The
statement, sought "immediate, safe and unhindered access" to Homs, where
President Bashar al-Assad's forces have been joined by terrorists from
Lebanese group Hizbullah against rebels.UN leader Ban Ki-moon raised fears this week for an estimated 2,500 civilians that he said were "trapped" in Homs' Old City. UN humanitarian agencies say they have medical supplies ready but cannot get in, reported AFP.Russia, Assad's key international ally, similarly blocked a UN Security Council call last month for access to rebel held Qusayr until government forces had taken the key town.In that
instance, Britain had circulated a draft statement to fellow members
voicing “grave concern about the situation in al-Qusayr, Syria, and in
particular the impact on civilians of the ongoing fighting.”Russia, however, blocked the draft text, saying it was “not advisable to speak out as the UN Security Council didn’t when Qusayr was taken by the opposition.”Australia and
Luxembourg proposed Thursday’s statement in a bid to strengthen calls
for access made by Ban and the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reported AFP.The proposed statement expresses "grave concern about the estimated 2,500 civilians trapped in Homs."It calls on
the Syrian government "to facilitate immediate, safe and unhindered
access, in accordance with the United Nations guiding principles of
humanitarian assistance." The statement stresses that medical assistance
was particularly urgent in Homs.It said rebel
and government forces should allow civilians to leave Homs, and
highlighted "the primary responsibility of the Syrian government in this
regard."Russia asked
for a 24 hour delay when the statement was first proposed but when the
latest deadline for agreement came up this morning, put a hold on the
declaration by the 15-nation body."The Russians
have asked for changes," said one UN diplomat. "What they are asking
means that there is no chance we will agree anything today, even though
the situation is now urgent," added a second UN diplomat, speaking on
condition of anonymity.Russia and China have used their powers as permanent members of the Security Council to veto three western proposed resolutions which sought to increase pressure on Assad.Russia, a close ally of Syria, supplies it with
ground-to-surface interceptor missiles as well as warplanes and
helicopters and other heavy machinery meant for national self-defense.It recently indicated that it plans to provide President Bashar Al-Assad with advanced S-300 missiles despite a request by Israel not to do so.Moscow defends its military sales to Syria by
arguing that it is only fulfilling contracts signed before the current
conflict broke out in March 2011.Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country would also not rule out sending fresh arms to the Syrian regime.
07/ 4/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
The light of faith: origin, history and horizon of the Christian journey
The two Pope
The encyclical written by Joseph Ratzinger and Pope Francesco
Alessandro Speciale Vatican City The first encyclical reading of Pope Francesco Lumen Fidei, published today, is a blast from the past - the recent past which also seems far away in light of what has happened in the Church in the last five months. The text, as explained by the Pope himself during a meeting with the Argentine Bishops' Synod, is in fact the fruit of "four hands": Benedict XVI had virtually completed the text before his resignation on February 28, and delivered what he had done to his successor, who has reviewed, integrated and made it his own by putting his signature on it.
Thumbing through the pages, however, it is evident
in the text – a relatively short text, 91 pages composed of 58
paragraphs – that the dominant hand is that of the German pontiff. And
not just because of the encyclical on faith concludes the triptych on
the theological virtues starting with Deus Caritas Est on charity and
followed by Spe Salvi on hope. The layout of the text, the frequent
references to philosophers and live debates in the German culture of the
'60s, the insistence on some issues, and even the comparison between
faith and Gothic cathedrals, where "the light comes from the sky through
the windows where it represents the sacred history ", all testify that Pope Francesco has decided to respect and accept the work of his predecessor.Francesco explicity expresses in paragraph 7 of the Encyclical:"These
considerations on faith — in continuity with all that the Church’s
magisterium has pronounced on this theological virtue7 — are
meant to supplement what Benedict XVI had written in his encyclical
letters on charity and hope. He himself had almost completed a first
draft of an encyclical on faith. For this I am deeply grateful to him,
and as his brother in Christ I have taken up his fine work and added a
few contributions of my own”.The title of the Encyclical, Lumen Fidei “The light of Faith”
summarizes the fundamental dynamic which moves in line with the text:
the tradition of the Church has always associated faith being the light
that dispels the darkness and illuminates the path. "In modernity, that
light might have been considered sufficient for societies of old, but
was felt to be of no use for new times, for a humanity come of age,
proud of its rationality and anxious to explore the future in novel
ways. Faith thus appeared to some as an illusory light, preventing
mankind from boldly setting out in quest of knowledge".The text cites Nietzsche, one of the constant
reference points – even if negative - of Ratzinger's thought, for which
“belief would be incomptible with seeking". But in recent decades, he adds, it was discovered that "the
light of autonomous reason is not enough to illumine the future": "As
a result, humanity renounced the search for a great light, Truth
itself, in order to be content with smaller lights which illumine the
fleeting moment".The road to the discovery of this bright character of faith happens naturally with the encounter with Christ and by his love.After the introduction, the Encyclical in four
chapters traces the history of the Christian faith, of the call of
Abraham and the people of Israel until the resurrection of Jesus and the
dissemination of the Church , the relationship between faith and
reason ), the Church's role in conveying faith in history and finally
that faith works in the building of a society that seeks the common
good. Lumen Fidei concludes with a prayer to the Madonna, a model of faith.The unity of faith signifies also that there is no
distinction between the belief of the “simple people” and those who are
intellectuals – a refusal of “Gnosticism” that is often referred to by Pope Francesco – but you cannot have faith in part choosing only that part which you like.In the second chapter, dedicated to the
relationship between faith and reason, we see the classic Razinger theme
of relativism, linked to the refusal of the modern world to accept
every affermation of truth, seen as a prevarication of the other and how the root of fondamentalism that will inevitably transform into violence.To conclude, faith is a good of all. Thanks to faith, families find the strength and reason to stay together for ever and young people, during events such as the Gmg, relish the desire to have a true life.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed:(CONFISCATED) their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
ECB, Germany try to appease markets on euro crisis
04.07.13 @ 21:13
By Valentina Pop
Berlin - The eurozone's central bank
(ECB) has attempted to appease markets nervous about the comeback of the
euro crisis, by making an unprecedented pledge to keep interest rates
low.The record-low interest rate of 0.5 percent at which banks can lend
from the ECB is there to stay, its chief Mario Draghi said Thursday (4
July) after the monthly meeting of the bank's board.He also suggested that further rate cuts are possible.
“The Governing Council expects the key ECB rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time,” Draghi said."It's not six months, it's not 12 months - it's an extended period of time," he said.
It is the first time the ECB chief has given an indication of future interest rate decisions. So far, the standard answer to this question was "we never pre-commit."The move is seen as a reaction to recent hikes in the borrowing costs of Portugal, amid market fears that both and Greece are headed towards another bailout.
Draghi said Portugal was "in safe hands" with the new finance minister after her predecessor resigned following a general strike and protests over austerity measures.The embattled prime minister, Pedro Pasos Coelho, later on Thursday announced he "found a formula" to continue with the current coalition after the resignation of two ministers.Meanwhile, in Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he "fully trusts" the new finance minister, Maria Albuquerque, and sought to downplay the impact the political turmoil could have on the overall eurozone."The euro meanwhile has become so stable on international markets that domestic political situations no longer translate into a euro-crisis," Schaeuble said.On Greece, he noted that the troika of international lenders is currently in Athens and that eurozone finance ministers will get a report on Monday."I am confident that Greece is overall making progress. I know it is very difficult, I would not want to be responsible for what they have to account for, but the macro-economic data shows they are on the right path," Schaeuble said.Schaeuble was speaking after having signed off on a €800 million loan from the state-owned development bank KFW to its Spanish counterpart ICO, in order to help Spanish enterprises.Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, is struggling with recession, unemployment and high lending rates despite a bailout of up to €100 billion for its troubled banks.The €800 million have to be repaid in ten years at "very favourable rates", the first four years being interest-free, Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos said during the joint press conference."It is about the €800 million, but it is also a sign of trust from Germany in the reforms that are taking place in Spain," German economy minister Philipp Roesler said at the same event.The moves by both the ECB and the German government are a sign they are "back in crisis mode," even if not as dramatic as the euro-collapse fears of last year, ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski told this website"There is new nervousness at the ECB, compared to a month ago when they seemed rather relaxed," he said.The announcement about keeping interest rates low and possibly cutting them further however is mainly due to the fact that the US Federal Reserve has announced it will gradually increase its key interest rate as the US economy is growing again."They wanted to make a distinction between the ECB monetary policy and the Fed. But they are clearly still concerned about the economic outlook, since they discussed a rate cut," Brzeski noted.
EARTHQUAKES
ISAIAH 42:15
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
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,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
“The Governing Council expects the key ECB rates to remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time,” Draghi said."It's not six months, it's not 12 months - it's an extended period of time," he said.
It is the first time the ECB chief has given an indication of future interest rate decisions. So far, the standard answer to this question was "we never pre-commit."The move is seen as a reaction to recent hikes in the borrowing costs of Portugal, amid market fears that both and Greece are headed towards another bailout.
Draghi said Portugal was "in safe hands" with the new finance minister after her predecessor resigned following a general strike and protests over austerity measures.The embattled prime minister, Pedro Pasos Coelho, later on Thursday announced he "found a formula" to continue with the current coalition after the resignation of two ministers.Meanwhile, in Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he "fully trusts" the new finance minister, Maria Albuquerque, and sought to downplay the impact the political turmoil could have on the overall eurozone."The euro meanwhile has become so stable on international markets that domestic political situations no longer translate into a euro-crisis," Schaeuble said.On Greece, he noted that the troika of international lenders is currently in Athens and that eurozone finance ministers will get a report on Monday."I am confident that Greece is overall making progress. I know it is very difficult, I would not want to be responsible for what they have to account for, but the macro-economic data shows they are on the right path," Schaeuble said.Schaeuble was speaking after having signed off on a €800 million loan from the state-owned development bank KFW to its Spanish counterpart ICO, in order to help Spanish enterprises.Spain, the fourth-largest economy in the eurozone, is struggling with recession, unemployment and high lending rates despite a bailout of up to €100 billion for its troubled banks.The €800 million have to be repaid in ten years at "very favourable rates", the first four years being interest-free, Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos said during the joint press conference."It is about the €800 million, but it is also a sign of trust from Germany in the reforms that are taking place in Spain," German economy minister Philipp Roesler said at the same event.The moves by both the ECB and the German government are a sign they are "back in crisis mode," even if not as dramatic as the euro-collapse fears of last year, ING chief economist Carsten Brzeski told this website"There is new nervousness at the ECB, compared to a month ago when they seemed rather relaxed," he said.The announcement about keeping interest rates low and possibly cutting them further however is mainly due to the fact that the US Federal Reserve has announced it will gradually increase its key interest rate as the US economy is growing again."They wanted to make a distinction between the ECB monetary policy and the Fed. But they are clearly still concerned about the economic outlook, since they discussed a rate cut," Brzeski noted.
EARTHQUAKES
ISAIAH 42:15
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
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,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ Worldwide
22 earthquakes - DownloadUpdated: 2013-07-05 08:55:36 UTC-04:00Showing event times using Local System Time (UTC-04:00)- 2.7 31km SW of Cantwell, Alaska 2013-07-05 08:16:21 UTC-04:00 94.0 km
- 4.5 7km N of Aratoca, Colombia 2013-07-05 06:37:50 UTC-04:00 159.9 km
- 3.6 18km NW of Glennallen, Alaska 2013-07-05 05:51:49 UTC-04:00 36.7 km
- 4.8 29km SSW of Ciheras, Indonesia 2013-07-05 05:40:16 UTC-04:00 69.5 km
- 2.5 54km W of Valdez, Alaska 2013-07-05 04:23:18 UTC-04:00 0.5 km
- 3.0 7km NW of Pine Mountain Club, California 2013-07-05 03:41:17 UTC-04:00 13.1 km
- 2.7 5km SW of Honoka'a, Hawaii 2013-07-05 02:27:18 UTC-04:00 36.2 km
- 3.2 5km NNW of Garrochales, Puerto Rico 2013-07-05 01:59:20 UTC-04:00 94.0 km
- 4.7 Mid-Indian Ridge 2013-07-05 01:52:21 UTC-04:00 13.4 km
- 3.0 93km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-07-05 01:26:45 UTC-04:00 39.0 km
- 3.3 83km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-07-05 01:23:22 UTC-04:00 50.0 km
- 3.4 88km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-07-05 01:14:58 UTC-04:00 33.0 km
- 4.2 127km E of La Paz, Mexico 2013-07-04 22:57:42 UTC-04:00 10.0 km
- 4.7 112km WSW of Attu Station, Alaska 2013-07-04 22:20:02 UTC-04:00 29.9 km
- 3.2 92km N of Road Town, British Virgin Islands 2013-07-04 22:16:53 UTC-04:00 51.0 km
- 4.6 11km NE of Mucuchies, Venezuela 2013-07-04 20:53:16 UTC-04:00 13.4 km
- 4.9 49km NNW of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile 2013-07-04 20:41:28 UTC-04:00 112.3 km
- 2.5 5km WNW of The Geysers, California
