2 QUAKES - BERTHA - G8 - FIRES

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Strong quake jolts southern Japan 08 Jul 2008 08:07:21 GMT
Source: Reuters (Adds details)

TOKYO, July 8 (Reuters) - A strong earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.0 jolted southern Japan on Tuesday, a government agency said, but there was no risk of a tsunami.The focus of the tremor was in the ocean 50 km (31 miles) below the surface off the island of Okinawa, which is around 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.Public broadcaster NHK said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and video footage from Naha, the island's capital, showed streets looking normal, with cars on the roads.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano and Isabel Reynolds)

July 8, 2008 Magnitude 6 quake strikes southern Peru

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.0 earthquake rattled southern Peru on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The epicenter of the quake was located 33 miles north-northwest of Arequipa, Peru, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was recorded at a depth of 46 miles (74 km). Earlier, the agency said the quake measured 6.1 on the Richter scale.There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, but magnitude 6 quakes are capable of causing severe damage.Arequipa, which lies about 445 miles southeast of the capital Lima, is Peru's second-largest city. The historic center of the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

LATEST MIDWEST FLOODS EXPOSE LESSONS UNLEARNED
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080708/cm_usatoday/latestmidwestfloodsexposelessonsunlearned;_ylt=ArotJWvCGoM3t8hTLcyOzpas0NUE

Hurricane Bertha weakens to Category 2 storm JULY 8,08

MIAMI - Forecasters say Hurricane Bertha has weakened to a Category 2 storm. As of 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the center of the storm was about 660 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and about 975 miles southeast of Bermuda.Maximum sustained winds decreased to 105 mph with some higher gusting. The storm is expected to continue weakening over the next couple of days. The Atlantic season's first hurricane is headed to the northwest at about 10 mph.Bertha is expected to continue heading toward Bermuda. Forecasters urged people on the island to continue monitoring the storm's progress. It's unknown if or when the hurricane will make landfall.The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.

15 dead or missing in landslides in southwest China Mon Jul 7, 11:22PM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - Up to 15 people were dead or missing after torrential rains in southwest China triggered landslides in mountainous areas toppling houses and burying villagers, state press said on Tuesday. Nine people were confirmed dead and six others were missing since the rains last week set off mud and rock slides engulfing the Liangshan prefecture in Sichuan province, Xinhua said.Fatalities could rise as rescuers sought to dig out at least six villagers buried beneath the debris of five toppled houses in one area, the report said.Six of the confirmed fatalities occurred in Long'en village which was swamped by 223 millimetres of rain (8.9 inches) over the five-day period, the report said.

China is deluged by torrential rains each summer as rivers coming down from its mountainous western regions swell and flood rural farmlands in the east, killing hundreds every year.At least 12 people were killed in the central Hubei province and six in southwestern Yunnan due to torrenital rains over the weekend, Xinhua said.More than 250 people died when torrential rains and flooding swept China last month, the China Daily reported over the weekend.

ND tornado destroys 6 homes, warning sounded JULY 8,08

ROLLA, N.D. - Residents say they were warned well before a tornado struck their small town, destroying six homes and damaging others.

Sheila Zinke said the sounding of the town's tornado siren Monday gave her and visiting relatives time to get to shelter.I was watching it from my basement, and I actually saw it come across the north section of town, Zinke said.Officials said besides destroying the six homes, the tornado damaged about 10 other buildings, including an apartment complex, in the community of about 1,500 people.The twister was produced by a storm system that also knocked out power in parts of central Minnesota and Wisconsin. A 16-year-old boy died early Tuesday at Watertown, Wis., after being struck by lightning on his family's farm, officials said.Officials in Rolla said a firefighter was treated for minor injuries, and a man injured by falling bricks in nearby Belcourt was taken to a hospital in Minot. The injured man's condition was not released.

Rolla's high school principal, Randy Loing, said his home doesn't have a basement so he headed to a friend's house with his sons, ages 9 and 10.As we were driving down the street, we saw the funnel cloud coming from the west, Loing said. Just after we got into the basement, the wind came up, it got dark and my ears popped from the pressure. I tackled my kids to the floor, laid on top of them, and in 10 seconds it was pretty much over.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

HAWAII VOLCANO ERUPTS
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HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY DAILY UPDATE
Monday, July 7, 2008 08:19 HST (Monday, July 7, 2008 18:19 UTC)
KILAUEA VOLCANO (CAVW#1302-01-)19.42°N 155.29°W, Summit Elevation 4091 ft (1247 m)Volcano Alert Level: WATCH Aviation Color Code: ORANGE

This report on the status of Kilauea volcanic activity, in addition to maps, photos, and webcam images (available using the menu bar above), was prepared by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO). Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park status can be found at http://www.nps.gov/havo/ or 985-6000. Hawai`i County Viewing Area status can be found at http://www.lavainfo.us or 961-8093.

Activity Summary for last 24 hours: A substantial new breakout opened up inte the TEB rootless shield field just before midnight which apparently diverted lava from the tube and cut off the Waikupanaha ocean entry. Both Kilauea summit and PuuOo cone are deflating. Small amounts of ash and elevated amounts of sulfur dioxide gas continued to issue from the Halemaumau vent. At the east rift eruption site, an unusually high amount of sulfur dioxide gas issued from PuuOo crater; more lava than usual continued to erupt from the TEB vent area and flow into the tube system.

Last 24 hours at Kilauea summit: A white plume is rising from the Halemaumau vent and being blown to the southwest about 300-400 m (1,000-1,300 ft) above the Kau Desert this morning. Overnight, vent incandescence continued to pulse approximately every 4 minutes.

Small amounts of ash continued to be carried by the plume. This morning's sample had spherical and rod-shaped glassy bits with rock dust and some mud; the mud must have originated within the vent because it didn't rain last night.The SO2 emission rate remained high and variable; the most recent average measurement was 1,400 tonnes/day on July 6 compared to 1,300 tonnes/day on July 4 and a pre-2008 background rate between 150-200 tonnes/day. The summit tiltmeter network continued to record deflation of a source beneath the south caldera. GPS receivers on opposite sides of the summit caldera recorded continuing contraction; the rate of contraction, although preliminary, appears greater than in the past several months.Seismic tremor is at moderate levels with episodic bursts reaching elevated values. The amplitude of the tremor bursts returned to pre-6/27/08 levels. The number of RB2S2BL earthquakes beneath Halema`uma`u Crater is elevated at 70/d compared to recent background values of 30-40/d. One earthquake was located beneath Halemaumau Crater and another was on south flank faults.

Last 24 hours at the middle east rift zone vents and flow field: Magma continued to degas at shallow levels beneath Pu`u `O`o resulting in an unusually high emission of 4,800 tonnes/day of sulfur dioxide on July 6, up from 3,100 tonnes/day on July 4 and background values of about 2,000 tonnes/day. The webcam recorded very diffuse incandescence within PuuOo crater last night.The tiltmeter on the north side of PuuOo cone recorded minor oscillations before about five hours of minor inflation starting just before midnight. Preliminary GPS data suggests another switch to weak extension last night. Seismic tremor levels at abruptly doubled last night around 11:20 pm near the TEB vent. These geophysical signals correlated well with the appearance of a substantial new breakout from the the rootless shield field last night starting around 11:16 pm.Lava enters the tube system under the TEB vent and normally flows beneath the rootless shield complex through tubes to the ocean. Incandescence was observed from the TEB vent and two of the uppermost rootless shield in the form of short flows, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. This morning, CD officials reported the absence of a plume from the Waikupanaha ocean entry; the combination of lack of plume with the new vigorous upslope breakout may mean that the tube supply to the ocean has been disrupted. An overflight is planned for this morning.

Definitions of terms used in the update:

Volcano Watch: weekly newspaper-like article written by HVO scientists on a volcano topic of interest. These articles are usually printed in the Sunday editions of the Hawaii Island newspapers Hawaii Tribune Herald and West Hawaii Today. More than 800 of these articles have been written and are archived on the HVO website (look at the bottom of the homepage hvo.wr.usgs.gov).

VLP seismic tremor: seismic tremor is continuous ground vibrations simultaneously at many different frequencies. VLP is a very long period or very low frequency component which, at the Halema`uma`u vent, has a period of 20-30 seconds or a frequency of 0.03-0.05 cycles per second (Hertz or Hz).RB2S2BL earthquakes: earthquakes that were recorded but too small to be located. These quakes have magnitudes less than 1.7 and may only be recorded on one or two seismometers. Recording at a minimum of 4 seismometer sites is required to locate an earthquake.wink: an abrupt shutting off of incandescence at a vent lasting for several minutes. At the Halema`uma`u vent, winks usually start with or immediately follow a small, local earthquake. The diminishment of incandescence is hypothesized as a covering of incandescent surfaces by rockfall debris that takes a few minutes to heat back up to incandescent temperatures.tonne: metric unit equal to 1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lbs, or 1.1 English tons.microradian: a measure of angle equivalent to 0.000057 degrees.ppm: parts-per-million; 10,000 ppm = 1 %.

littoral cone: usually small cones built near active ocean entries; the cones are constructed of tephra from steam explosions that are sometimes produced when 1,150 degree C lava enters the 25 degree C ocean.incandescence: the production of visible light from a hot surface. The color of the light is related to the temperature of the surface. Some surfaces can display dull red incandescence at temperatures as low as 430 degrees Centigrade (806 degrees Fahrenheit). By contrast, molten lava displays bright orange to orange-yellow light from surfaces that are hotter than 900 degrees C (1,650 degrees F).tephra: all material deposited by fallout from an eruption-related plume, regardless of size.ash: tephra less than 2 mm (5/64 inches) in size. TEB: Thanksgiving Eve Breakout, the designation used for lava flows that started with a breakout on November 21, 2007.DI tilt event: DI is an abbreviation for deflation-inflation and describes a volcanic event of uncertain significance. DI events are recorded by tiltmeters at Kilauea summit as an abrupt deflation of up to a few microradians in magnitude lasting several hours to 2-3 days followed by an abrupt inflation of approximately equal magnitude. The tilt events are usually accompanied by an increase in summit tremor during the deflation phase. A careful analysis of these events suggests that they may be related to changes in magma supply to a storage reservoir at less than 1 km depth, just east of Halemaumau crater. Usually, though not always, these changes propagate through the magma conduit from the summit to the eruption site, as many of the DI events at Kilauea summit are also recorded at a tiltmeter at PuuOo, delayed by 1-2 hours. DI events often correlate with lava pulses and/or pauses in the eruption at the PuuOo/July 21/TEB vents.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

WILDFIRES BREAKING CALIFORNIA
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Dry, hot weather threatens California fire gains By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer JULY 8,08

LOS ANGELES - Firefighters faced worsening weather conditions Tuesday that pushed flames across firebreaks in parts of California and chased residents out of one small community. The change came from a high pressure system setting up over the entire West, said Mike Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. So in addition to the very warm temperatures we're getting, we'll also be getting a little bit of offshore wind ... which keeps the moist marine air from coming inland.Gusting wind during the night blew flames across fire lines in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield, damaging some outbuildings and maybe a residence, fire information officer Barbara Dougan said Tuesday morning.North of Sacramento, hundreds of residents were leaving the small town of Concow on Tuesday after authorities issued an immediate evacuation advisory because of shifting wind.

The blaze north of Sacramento, part of a complex of fires that had burned over more than 45 square miles, was listed as 55 percent contained.However, the turn toward hot and drier weather comes as three other major forest blazes — the one in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Bakersfield, one above the city of Goleta west of Santa Barbara and another at Big Sur — were all less than half contained.Those fires, considered the most dangerous, were among more than 300 still uncontained from some 1,780 that have charred more than 960 square miles of California in two weeks. Most were started by lightning but several are believed to have been human-caused. Some 100 structures statewide have been destroyed. One firefighter died of a heart attack.The 15-square-mile fire near Goleta was 35 percent contained Tuesday, mostly on its southern side near residential areas. It had destroyed four outbuildings and two firefighters suffered minor injuries.More than 2,000 residents were allowed to return home Monday, said Roger Aceves, Goleta's mayor pro tem. However, residents of about 275 homes remained under mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday and 3,200 other homes were in areas where residents had been warned to be ready to leave.Crews fighting the Goleta fire were not immediately facing the windier, drier weather.Overall, the fire has calmed down in our most populated areas, fire spokeswoman Pat Wheatley said Tuesday morning. Right now, we have a good fog layer, which is to our advantage but temperatures were expected to top 100 degrees in the area, she said.Crews also faced sundowner winds that have been routinely gusting in the late afternoons, she said.Some mandatory evacuation orders and warnings to be ready to leave remained in effect for scattered homes on the fire's growing western flank on the Santa Ynez Mountains in the region about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.Officials for the 125-square-mile blaze near Big Sur and the 48-square-mile fire in the Sequoia National Forest east of Bakersfield said those blazes won't be controlled for at least two more weeks.

The fire near Big Sur was 18 percent contained and raging through the remote Ventana Wilderness where difficult access made it hard to build containment lines, said Jim Turner, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.A mandatory evacuation remained in effect for all residents of Big Sur.Associated Press writers Juliana Barbassa, Marcus Wohlsen and Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report.

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

EU won over to France's hard line on immigration and asylum
RENATA GOLDIROVA 07.07.2008 @ 17:41 CET

EU interior ministers have thrown their weight behind French-drafted proposals that aim to give the 27-nation bloc new tools to crack down on clandestine migrants, rejecting concerns that they are erecting a wall around Europe.We can't leave immigration in complete disorder, it has to be organized," EU home affairs commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Monday (7 July), after a first informal meeting of 27 EU interior ministers under the French EU presidency.It is necessary to have a Europe that is of course open, but a Europe with rules of the game, a Europe that remains a land of asylum, but that does that in a harmonised manner, Mr Barrot added, according to Reuters. France, which holds the six-month EU rotating presidency for the second half of 2008, is pushing for a so-called European Pact on Immigration and Asylum - an agreement setting out common EU guidelines for how to cope with rising numbers of migrants wanting to make their home in Europe. Brussels officials estimate that some eight million undocumented migrants are currently in the EU.

The French proposal suggests that the organisation of legal immigration be based on a state's needs and ability to welcome people. Those illegally staying in the EU could be forced to return to their home country.Additionally, refugees seeking asylum will be to a greater extent required to apply for refugee status in advance of setting foot on European territory, although the EU claims it will also boost aid to those countries from which people tend to flee.Finally, EU states should avoid legalising the situation of irregular immigrants by handing out residency permits en-masse. Both Italy and Spain have recently announced such general amnesties.

In the run up to Monday's ministerial meeting, Madrid was seen as most reluctant to embrace the French proposals, but changed its mind after France dropped the idea of compulsory integration contracts.The contracts would have made it obligatory for immigrants to adopt so-called national and European values, as well as to take compulsory language lessons. We are satisfied. We believe that this recognises the major part of our model of immigration, Spanish interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba was cited as saying by AFP.According to his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble, the EU has to fight illegal immigration and supervise legal migration. I can't see any walls around Europe, the minister added.The same message came from Luxembourg minister Luc Frieden, who said: It's not about building a wall. Europe alone can decide who should enter. We should have drawn up a pact like this 10years ago.France wants the guidelines to be wrapped up by October so they can receive a final go-ahead from EU leaders meeting for their regular autumn summit.

EU agrees to publish oil stocks on a weekly basis
HONOR MAHONY JULY 8,08 Today @ 17:25 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers on Tuesday (8 July) agreed to publish reports on their oil reserves on a weekly basis in a bid to reassure traders and reduce the soaring fuel prices.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde - whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency - said the move to be more transparent about stocks would make it easier to get a more coherent picture of what is happening on the oil market, with most member states currently publishing this information on a monthly basis.The European Commission is to outline exactly how countries will go about doing this in a report to be published in October.The move is supposed to add some predictability to the market with some analysts suggesting that speculators are driving up the fuel prices.

However, others say it is simply a question of supply and demand - a view put forward by EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy who argued after the meeting that while speculative investors could lead to some short-term volatility it is the fundamentals of the market (...) which are the main drivers.The huge hike in oil prices which have led to strong protests across Europe in recent weeks by truckers and fishermen were subject to lengthy exchanges during the finance ministers' meeting.After the discussions, it emerged that France is still using its weight as EU presidency country to push ahead with its idea of capping VAT levels on oil prices in order to ease the burden on consumers. This step is strongly opposed by Germany and the European Commission which fear it sends out the wrong signal at a time when citizens ought to be cutting down on their oil consumption for environmental reasons.In a reference to the VAT cap, the French finance minister urged her counterparts to look at all measures and to think outside of the box when it comes to possible steps on oil prices with the issue set to be discussed once more in autumn. Other suggestions include a Tobin Tax – a tax on currency transactions aiming to limit speculation – and a Robin Hood tax – an extra levy on oil companies profiting from rising fuel prices.

Regulating credit rating agencies

EU finance ministers also agreed to regulate credit rating agencies in the wake of the US subprime mortgage crisis.Critics said that the agencies had been too slow to warn investors of the unfolding crisis leaving them with almost worthless investments.Internal market commissioner McCreevy said he would come forward with a legislative proposal in October and would concentrate on areas such as registration of agencies, disclosure and conflict of interest.

Joint police stations in tourist areas proposed
RENATA GOLDIROVA JULY 8,08 Today @ 08:13 CET

EU presidency France has suggested that popular tourist destinations in member states be staffed with police from all over the bloc. The proposal was presented by French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie as she hosted an informal meeting with her European counterparts in Cannes, France, on Monday (7 July). These would not be monstrous mega-police stations, but rather offices where people from a foreign country can come and be assisted when they have something nasty happen to them, if they've been attacked or had their pockets picked, and where they will be well looked after, Ms Alliot-Marie said, according to media reports.In practice, the proposal would allow for police officers from Germany – for example - to be stationed with Czech police forces in Prague in order to assist German citizens – something that could also be applied for big sport events.According to Euronews, France is set to launch a pilot project in the pilgrim city of Lourdes when the Pope comes to visit in September. French and Italian police will be operating in Paris, Versailles and Nice ahead of and during the papal visit.That's part of what Europe is about, the French minister said, reflecting Paris' efforts to revive a positive vision of the EU among French citizens.The proposal has received a cautious welcome, with cross-border police co-operation traditionally a very sensitive issue for EU capitals.

According to Irish justice minister Dermot Ahern, it has some merit given the horrendous problems some Irish embassies face during holiday seasons. However, he also pointed to the type of powers visiting officers would have as something that needs to be carefully sorted out, the Irish Times reports. Czech interior minister Ivan Langer has praised the idea, saying his country already provided ten police officers to help its citizens in Croatian resorts in the past. We have an excellent beer in the Czech Republic, so you drink quite a lot ... If you are French, I can imagine it's pleasant to meet a French policeman who speaks your language and who will assist you and bring you to your hotel, he was cited as saying by the Irish paper.But William Hague, UK shadow Foreign Secretary, has expressed some doubts. At a time when police resources are being stretched by rising violent crime, scattering officers across Europe on an EU public relations exercise can hardly be the best use of police time, he told the Daily Telegraph. Critics suggest that temporary multi-national police stations could eventually become permanent and result in a clash over powers between foreign and national police officers.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

Assad wants French role in Syria-Israel talks Tue Jul 8, 4:38 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, expected in Paris this weekend, has welcomed a break in France's policy toward Damascus and invited Paris to play a role in possible direct negotiations with Israel. In an interview published in French newspaper Le Figaro Tuesday, Assad said: We are witnessing a break between the current policy of France and the policy of the past.

This new policy is more realistic and better suited to the interests of both our countries. It is a solid basis to renew healthy relations.French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited Assad along with some 40 foreign leaders for the launch Sunday of a new Union for the Mediterranean, aimed at boosting cooperation between European Union and southern Mediterranean states.Sarkozy, who decided to renew high-level contacts with Damascus following the breakthrough in Lebanon's drawn-out political crisis, is to meet Assad in Paris on July 12. The Syrian leader will stay on for France's Bastille Day ceremonies on July 14.Former president Jacques Chirac cut off official contacts with Syria following the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri, who was a personal friend, in a February 2005 bombing in which Syria has been implicated.This visit is for me a historic visit: an opening up to France and to Europe, Assad told Le Figaro.Asked about the resumption of indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel under Turkish auspices, he said it was natural that there should be a lack of trust, considering the stymied peace process.The two countries have been officially at war since 1948, although armistice and ceasefire agreements have been signed in the interim.

For the moment the two parties are testing their intentions... We now need to find a common basis to start direct negotiations, Assad said.Concerning the international sponsorship of such talks, he said he was counting on the next American president, saying that the United States' role was essential.But Assad also invited the French president to get directly involved.My impression is that (Sarkozy) is enthusiastic about these negotiations and wants France to play a direct role, Assad declared. If he confirms it to me, I will immediately invite him to support directly this peace process.

Turning to Lebanon, Assad said preparations were under way to organise a meeting in Paris with President Michel Sleiman. I've known President Sleiman for about 10 years ... our relations are good, he said.Asked about the international tribunal seeking those responsible for Hariri's death, the Syrian president stressed that his country was cooperating and would continue to do so.On the question of human rights in his country, Assad said: We do not say that we are a perfect democratic country. We say that we are taking this road and it is a long road that can last for one or several years.Calling on Europe to back peace and development in Syria, Assad said: This is the role that we ask Europe to play, and not to give us lessons in morality.

More mortar fire after Israel reopens Gaza crossings Tue Jul 8, 10:18 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Gaza militants fired a mortar on Tuesday just hours after Israel reopened crossing points into the Hamas-ruled territory that it closed in response to an earlier violation of a three-week-old truce. The Israeli military said a mortar round struck an uninhabited area of southern Israel without causing casualties or damage.Israel has responded to previous attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip by sealing the border, but it gave no immediate indication that it planned to do so again following the latest incident.I am not aware of any decision to close the crossing points, military spokesman Peter Lerner said.

Israel closed crossings into Gaza on Tuesday morning after a mortar round was fired at southern Israel the previous day, but reopened them several hours later.Following a special request by the Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the reopening of the crossings at around noon (0900 GMT), Barak's office said.Egypt played a key role in mediating the Gaza truce between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas, which went into effect on June 19.Suleiman, Egypt's pointman for Palestinian affairs, was due to hold talks on the fragile truce with a Hamas delegation that travelled to Cairo on Tuesday.

Violence in and around impoverished Gaza has dropped substantially since the truce went into effect.Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in June 2007, has said its own fighters are adhering to the truce and has vowed to arrest anyone who violates it. But other militant movements have fired several rockets and mortar rounds at southern Israel since June 19.Israel has responded to the attacks by closing border crossings with Gaza four times.Hamas has said the closures were a violation of the truce, which calls for a gradual easing of an embargo Israel imposed after the Islamist movement seized power in the Gaza Strip.

G8 DIGS INTO THE ENVIROMENT
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G8 FOCUS ON EMISSIONS
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G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050 By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 8, 10:11 AM ET

RUSUTSU, Japan - World leaders on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer-term targets. The Group of Eight leading industrial nations — the United States, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Italy — also called on all major economies to join together to stem the potentially dangerous rise in world temperatures.This global challenge can only be met by a global response, in particular, by the contributions from all major economies, the G-8 said in a joint, five-page communique.The G-8 last year at a summit in Germany pledged to consider the 2050 target, and this year's Japanese hosts had hoped to solidify that commitment at the meeting in Toyako, northern Japan.The G-8 has been under pressure to secure commitments by wealthy nations to push forward stalled U.N.-led talks on forging a new accord to battle global warming by the end of next year.The new accord would succeed the troubled Kyoto Protocol when its first phase expires in 2012.The United States hailed the agreement as substantial progress, and a top European Union official called it a new, shared vision by wealthy nations on climate.

The leaders of major developing countries such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa said they expect the G-8 to take the lead and provide more aid to the developing world to help it cope with climate change.The leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the industrial nations must lead because they have the economic strength to adopt sweeping changes.They called on the G-8 countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 percent by 2012, compared with their 1990 levels, and by up to 95 percent by 2050.

Tuesday's statement, however, addressed total world emissions rather than just those produced by wealthy countries, and critics attacked it for failing to go much beyond the G-8 statement last year.The communique also did not set a base year from which emissions would be cut.It falls dangerously short of what is needed to protect people and nature from climate change, said Kim Carstensen, director of the World Wildlife Fund's Global Climate Initiative.Environmentalists have argued that the 50 percent reduction target is insufficient, and have clamored for ambitious targets for countries to cut emissions by 2020. Japan itself has set a national target for cutting emissions by between 60 percent and 80 percent by 2050, but has not set a midterm goal.To be meaningful and credible, a long term goal must have a base year, it must be underpinned by ambitious midterm targets and actions, said Marthinus van Schalkwyk, South African Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. As it is expressed in the G8 statement, the long term goal is an empty slogan.Shorter-term targets have been much more difficult to reach consensus on, since they would require nations to act more quickly. The United States, for instance, has argued that meeting a Europe-supported goal of reducing emissions by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 is unrealistic.

In a nod to such disagreements, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda — the summit host — said the G-8 countries would set individual targets, and he did not mention a range. The statement also said that the issue would be discussed in talks on Monday among the 17-member Major Economies Meeting, a U.S.-led group working on climate change.The G-8 will implement aggressive midterm total emission reduction targets on a country-by-country basis, he said. The White House quickly hailed the agreement and said it was a validation of Bush's global warming policy. The G-8 acknowledged that it alone cannot effectively address climate change — that contributions from all major economies are required — a position Bush has argued repeatedly, said Dan Price, the president's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. The agreement also urged nations to set high goals for energy efficiency, promote clean energy and technologies and mobilize financing to help poor nations cut their own emissions and grapple with the effects of warming. Scientists say urgent action is needed to make greenhouse gas emissions fall after peaking within the next 15 years, to limit the increase in global temperatures to under 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures beyond that could trigger the worst effects of warming, such as melting ice sheets and extreme weather. The U.N.-led climate talks have been plagued by divisions. Quickly developing nations have urged wealthy countries to take the first, toughest steps. The United States, Japan and others, meanwhile, say they want to hear what up-and-coming economies like China are willing to do. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the agreement constituted a new, shared vision by the major economies that would support the U.N.-led effort on a new global warming accord. This is a strong signal to citizens around the world, he said in a statement, calling for a renewed push behind the U.N. talks, which aim to conclude a new pact at a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the agreement a major step forward from the climate deal reached in Germany. Associated Press writers Malcolm Foster and Steve Gutterman in Rusutsu, Eric Talmadge in Sapporo and Deb Riechmann in Toyako contributed to this report.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
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.

Panel calls for new war powers legislation By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer JULY 8,08

WASHINGTON - The next time the president goes to war, Congress should be consulted and vote on whether it agrees, according to a bipartisan study group chaired by former secretaries of state James Baker III and Warren Christopher. In a report released Tuesday, the panel says the current law governing the nation's war powers has failed to promote cooperation between the executive and legislative branches. It says the 1973 resolution should be repealed and replaced with new legislation that would require the president to inform Congress of any plans to engage in significant armed conflict, or non-covert operations lasting longer than a week.In turn, Congress would act within 30 days, either approving or disapproving the action.Baker, who served as secretary of State in the first Bush administration and co-chaired the 2006 Iraq Study Group, said the proposal isn't intended to resolve constitutional disputes between the White House and Congress on who should decide whether the nation fights.What we aim to do with this statute is to create a process that will encourage the two branches to cooperate and consult in a way that is both practical and true to the spirit of the Constitution, Baker said in a statement.A new joint House and Senate committee would be established to review the president's justification for war. To do so, the committee would be granted access to highly classified information.

The panel has briefed the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain, as well as congressional leadership. Obama and McCain did not provide comment.Congress' involvement in approving combat operations became a central issue in the Iraq debate last year, when Democrats tried to force President Bush to end the war. While Congress had authorized combat in Iraq, Democrats said the resolution approved only the invasion and not a five-year counterinsurgency.After taking control of Congress in January 2007, Democrats tried to cap force levels and set a timetable for withdrawals. While they lacked a veto-proof majority to put the restrictions into law, the White House argued that such legislation would have violated the Constitution by infringing upon the president's right as commander in chief to protect the nation. Democrats disagreed, contending there was ample precedence.The one surefire way for Congress to have ended the war was to cut off money for combat operations — a step most Democrats weren't willing to take because they feared doing so would have hurt troops in harms' way, or at least be perceived by voters that way.The plan identified by Baker and Christopher, who served as secretary of State under President Clinton, would not necessarily resolve such issues in the future. But it would create a consultative process between the White House and Congress that currently does not exist. Also, calling on Congress to respond would exert significant political pressure on a president if he ignored lawmakers' wishes.

The panel studied the issue for more than a year and consulted more than three dozen experts. Other members of the panel include former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, who in 2006 led the Iraq Study Group with Baker; former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, and Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of State.The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia sponsored the study.
On the Net:The Miller Center: http://www.millercenter.org/warpowers

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Ohio town split over teacher accused of preaching By MATT REED, Associated Press Writer JULY 8,08

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio - Demonstrations on the town square show how divided people are over the school board's decision to fire a science teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs in the classroom and burning crosses on students' arms. John Freshwater, 52, was fired last month after an outside consulting firm released a report concluding that he taught creationism and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom at Mount Vernon Middle School.Some residents consider him a courageous fighter for religious freedom. Others say he has brazenly violated the church-state divide.This is going to be a mess, said Dr. Allan Bazzoli, who has written letters to the local newspaper criticizing Freshwater. Resident against resident, and worse, student against student.Freshwater's supporters have rallied on the town's square urging school board members to resign. A much-viewed sign about a mile from town reads: If the Bible goes, the school board should follow.The Bible, that should be OK to have, said James Mills, 25, a former student of Freshwater. Isn't it in the Constitution that we have freedom of religion?

Mount Vernon, a small city in central Ohio surrounded by farmland, is dotted by churches of just about every denomination. The town has a strong evangelical presence.Freshwater, who has filed an appeal with the school board over his firing, said Monday he's disappointed with the way the investigation was conducted. His appeals hearing is scheduled for Aug. 26.They used half-truths. They didn't interview people who had been in my classroom, he said. Science teachers at the high school: Why would you interview them?

Freshwater likely will be suspended without pay during the appeals process, which could extend into the fall, said David Millstone, the school board's attorney.Messages seeking comment were left with middle school Principal William White and other school administrators.Freshwater has served as a science teacher and wrestling and football coach in Mount Vernon City Schools since 1987. In their report, investigators noted that some students described him as a great guy.Some residents blame school leaders for letting the situation come to a boil. Officials knew that Freshwater used a science tool to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, according to findings by outside investigators.I think things were just overlooked and overlooked and overlooked and then it just came to a head, said Kelly Montgomery, whose son was a student in Freshwater's class a few years ago. It's been terrible for the whole community.Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on three to eight students and described the images an X not a cross. But pictures show the images depict a cross, the report said.Investigators also found that at least one school administrator dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11 years at the district.Jessica Philemond, an attorney for the unnamed student's family that is suing Freshwater and the school district, said that raises some troubling questions.

I want to find out who had complained, to whom they complained and why for 11 years nothing was done, Philemond said.They could have taken action a while ago.Bazzoli and other critics say the public's support for Freshwater may be wavering. A demonstration last month in which supporters urged school board members to resign attracted just 25 people. When teachers have a contract, they have to follow the state guidelines, and he deliberately went against the guidelines, said Anita Van Winkle, 57, as she sipped coffee at a cafe near the public square. (This version CORRECTS spelling of attorney's name to Philemond.)

OIL MAN HAS PLAN FOR ENERGY CRISIS
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Oil down more than $8 in 2 days By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer JULY 8,08

NEW YORK - Oil prices fell as much as $6 a barrel Tuesday, bringing crude down $10 this week and hurling prices back to levels not seen since June 26. Traders, keeping a wary eye on the global economy, cashed in gains from oil's recent rally. A barrel of light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $6.23 in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a $3.92 slide on Monday, and later traded down $5.79 at $135.58. The market's bearish turn this week erases, at least for the time being, the effect of a rally that pushed prices past $145 in a string of record-setting sessions before the Fourth of July.Analysts attributed much of the recent sell-off to profit-taking, saying traders were cashing in on the previous week's gains. At the same time, concerns about supply disruptions subsided and fears that the economic slowdown is spreading moved to the forefront.

Sagging global equities, which are tipping a lack of confidence in economic growth in both developed and emerging economies, helped trigger the retreat in the energy markets, Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy, said in a research note.Still, analysts warned the pullback could be fleeting, saying it is a correction that could quickly shift and send prices bolting higher.Trader and analyst Stephen Schork said the expectation just a few days ago that crude prices would touch $150 this week now does not look like the proverbial done deal.Be that as it may, we have seen this movie before, i.e. crude oil weakens a little and the bubble-bears jump in, he wrote in a daily market commentary, suggesting the price respite might be temporary.A decline in oil prices wouldn't translate to a pullback at the gas pump for some time. Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. held steady at a record $4.108 a gallon, according to AAA auto club, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. Diesel continued to advance, rising more than half a penny to a record $4.807 a gallon.

Oil hit a trading record of $145.85 on last week before settling at a record close of $145.29 a barrel. On Monday, prices tumbled $3.92, or about 2.7 percent, to settle at $141.37.Concern over the unruly oil market was a top priority Tuesday at a summit of industrialized powers in Rusutsu, Japan with leaders calling on petroleum suppliers to boost production and refining and to increase investment in oil exploration and output over the medium term.The G-8 — which groups the U.S., Britain, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Russia and Italy — also called for diversifying sources of energy and further efforts to improve energy efficiency.

We remain positive about the long-term resilience of our economies and future global growth, the communique said, noting that growth in emerging economies remained strong. However, the world economy is now facing uncertainty and downside risks persist.The U.S. dollar was stronger against the euro and the pound, but lost ground against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. A falling dollar has helped boost oil prices about 50 percent this year, with investors often buying commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback weakens.Along with some signs of life from the dollar, fears that fresh conflict in the Middle East could cut oil supplies eased over the weekend after Iran gave an undisclosed response to an international offer of incentives if it suspends a central part of its nuclear program.In other Nymex trade, heating oil fell by 14.72 cents to $3.8224 a gallon and gasoline futures sank by about 12 cents to $3.3628 a gallon. Natural gas futures dipped more than 52 cents to fetch $12.453 per 1,000 cubic feet.

August Brent crude also lost heavily, dropping by $5.31 to $136.57 barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, and Malcolm Foster in Rusutsu, Japan, contributed to this report.

1ST HURRICANE ON THE WAY

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

BERTHA BECOMES HURRICAN #1
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BERTHA PICTURE
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Bertha-Tropical-Storm/photo//080707/photos_ts/2008_07_07t063955_450x300_us_storm_bertha_hurricane//s:/nm/20080707/us_nm/storm_bertha_hurricane_dc;_ylt=AhdQ6thSwkI4rnQQkdUTjn8XIr0F

First hurricane of 2008 forms in distant Atlantic JULY 7,08

MIAMI (Reuters) - The first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season formed on Monday, hundreds of miles (km) away from the United States and the Caribbean islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The Miami-based center said it was still too early to determine if Bertha would hit any land as computer models showed it would eventually start curving to the northwest and then to the north, possibly taking it near Bermuda.Long-range storm track predictions are unreliable, however, and the hurricane center noted, It is still not guaranteed that Bertha will recurve.

By 4:54 a.m. EDT, Hurricane Bertha was about 845 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean and was moving toward the west-northwest at 17 miles per hour.The storm's top winds had reached near 75 mph, just over the threshold at which tropical storms become hurricanes.The hurricane center said some additional strengthening was expected during the next couple of days but it did not forecast Bertha to become stronger than a minimal Category 1hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.Energy markets have paid close attention to storms in the Atlantic since the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, during which a number of powerful hurricanes ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, toppling oil rigs and severing pipelines.None of the computer models used to predict storm tracks indicated Bertha could steer south, into the Caribbean or toward the Gulf.

Hurricane forecasters have predicted this season, which began on June 1, will be average or above average. An average season has around 10 tropical storms, of which six reach hurricane strength with winds of at least 74 mph.The record 2005 season, which included Katrina, the hurricane that swamped New Orleans and killed 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast, saw 28 storms form.Bertha formed last Thursday near the Cape Verde islands off Africa. It is unusual for storms to form so far east so early in the season, and when it does happen, it is frequently a harbinger of heightened storm activity.More information about the hurricane is available at the National Hurricane Center's Web site (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#BERTHA).(Reporting by Michael Christie, additional reporting by Stacey Joyce, Editing by Eric Beech)

Thailand stages tsunami drill in Phuket Mon Jul 7, 6:17 AM ET

PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) - Sirens blared Monday across the resort isle of Phuket as Thailand tested its new tsunami warning system meant to prevent a repeat of the 2004 Indian Ocean tragedy. Sirens on 79 towers across Phuket and in five neighbouring provinces rang out at 9:45 am (0245 GMT), as more than 1,000 tourists, students and emergency workers joined a brief evacuation of Thailand's world-famous beaches.Ambulances from local hospitals rushed to the shore as medical teams helped mock victims in order to rehearse their response efforts should another tsunami strike.In Phuket town, 1,000 students and other residents ran to high ground at Saphan Hill park, where emergency workers practised treating them for injuries that could be sustained in a real tsunami.Air force Colonel Chitipat Phetburananin, head of the National Disaster Warning Centre in Bangkok, said the drill had been a success and praised residents for joining in the exercise.The full-scale drill today ended successfully. We are satisfied with the drill. Local people are starting to take a greater role in the planning and training, he told AFP.

Phuket and five nearby seaside provinces were hit by the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004, which killed 5,400 people in Thailand alone -- half of them foreign holidaymakers.A total of 220,000 people in a dozen countries were killed by the tsunami, which was triggered by an undersea earthquake that struck off Indonesia.Since then, Thailand has installed a high-tech warning system designed to reassure tourists and businesses that the country's beaches are safe.The coastal towers are linked to the National Disaster Warning Centre, where officials monitor reports of earthquakes while studying data from a US-donated deep-sea buoy that registers changes in the sea level.

Tornado hits Iowa park, damaging only trees JULY 7,08

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - A tornado hit a park near Sioux City, but only minor damage to some trees is reported. The tornado hit Stone State Park on the northwest side of the city just before 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Woodbury County emergency services director Gary Brown says there were no injuries and no homes were damaged.A tornado warning was issued for the area as a series of storms moved from Nebraska into Iowa. The storms also produced heavy rain, causing some street flooding in Sioux City.

Tens of thousands uprooted by floods in northeast India Sun Jul 6, 6:06 AM ET

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) - Flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have washed away thousands of homes and displaced more than 50,000 people in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said Sunday. A government spokesman said the state's eastern district of Lakhimpur was the worst hit, with an estimated 50 villages inundated by flooding that began Saturday.The situation is critical with many parts of the district under waist-deep water, Lakhimpur police chief S.A. Karim told AFP by telephone.A government bulletin said the Brahmaputra river, which flows through Tibet, India and Bangladesh before emptying in the Bay of Bengal, and its tributaries were flowing above the danger mark in at least six places.A first wave of monsoon flooding in Assam last month killed eight people and displaced 400,000 others, most of them also in Lakhimpur district.

Thousands of people are taking shelter in makeshift camps and on embankments and other raised platforms, Karim said, adding that authorities were providing them with food.The swirling waters of the 2,906-kilometre (1,816-mile) Brahmaputra river have been treacherous across the district, breaching more than a dozen embankments and sweeping away road bridges and stretches of highways.Authorities said a railway bridge was also washed away, forcing the suspension of train services in the area.Every year the monsoon causes the river -- one of Asia's longest -- to flood in Assam, a state of 26 million people.In 2004, Assam saw some of its worst floods, which killed at least 200 people and displaced almost half the state's population.

Thousands marooned by heavy rains in Bangladesh Sun Jul 6, 8:28 AM ET

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AFP) - At least 20 people have died and more than 20,000 left marooned as heavy rains over the past week triggered landslides and floods in southeast Bangladesh, an official said Sunday. Three landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains killed 10 people while six others drowned in swirling flood waters in southeastern Cox's Bazar district, said chief administrator Sajjadul Hasan.Four more people died in another landslide in the country's southeastern town of Teknaf on Sunday morning after their tin shack was buried under falling earth, he said.We have promptly taken steps to shift hundreds of people living at the slope of hills to safer places as it has become very risky due to days of incessant heavy rains, he said.Heavy rains since last week has also triggered flash floods in Cox's Bazar district, which is home to the world's largest unbroken beach.

Low-lying areas in the districts have gone under four-five feet (1.3-1.7 metres of) flood water, stranding over 20,000 people, Hasan said.Several rivers in the southeastern hill districts burst their banks and caused the floods, officials said.Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed by over 200 rivers, was hit by major floods last year, when water fed by melting glaciers in the Himalayas and heavy rains inundated more than 40 percent of the land.More than a thousand people were killed in the floods, which left millions more homeless and damage to infrastructure and property was worth over a billion dollars.

WORLD GOVERNMENT

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

G8 KICKS OFF WITH AFRICAN PLEDGE
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G8 OPENS WITH ARICAN FOCUS
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G-8 summit opens with spotlight on aid for Africa By MALCOLM FOSTER, Associated Press Writer JULY 7,08

RUSUTSU, Japan - Aid for Africa — and whether enough was coming from the world's major economic powers — was in the spotlight Monday as the Group of Eight nations met with seven African leaders at its annual summit. Activists have accused some G-8 countries, particularly France, Canada and Italy, of skimping on aid to Africa, and urged them to ramp up their contributions. The U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany and Russia make up the other members of the G-8.German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has urged G-8 leaders to take a tough stance on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's widely denounced election win. Mugabe was the only candidate in the presidential runoff after his opponent dropped out amid reports of state-sponsored violence.President Bush, arriving Sunday for his eighth and final Group of Eight summit, emphasized the urgency of providing aid for Africa, calling on wealthy nations to provide mosquito nets and other aid to prevent children from needlessly dying from mosquito bites.Now is the time for the comfortable nations to step up and do something about it, Bush said.

African aid was the centerpiece of the G-8 summit three years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders pledged to increase foreign aid by $50 billion a year by 2010 — with half of that going directly to Africa — and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor nations.Collectively, the G-8 has delivered just $3 billion of the $25 billion in additional aid pledged to Africa in 2005, according to DATA, which stands for Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, a group founded by U2 singer Bono and music producer Bob Geldof, both of whom are active in campaigns for Africa.Germany, the U.S. and Britain were following through on commitments, while progress from Japan, France, Italy and Canada was either unclear or weak, DATA said.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in April that foreign aid by major donor countries slumped in 2007 as debt-relief plans tapered off and amid a global economic downturn in Japan and some other rich nations.

Japan said there has been no backtracking on the commitments made to Africa.I don't understand the criticism, said Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama. The G-8 leaders are very aware of the commitments they have made to African leaders.Soaring food prices was another key topic on the agenda at the summit, with some experts predicting that the leaders would announce a food aid package and possibly funds to invest in agricultural development in poorer nations.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso proposed Monday spending $1.6 billion that had been set aside for European farm subsidies to support agriculture in the developing world over the next two years.Talks were expected to shift Tuesday and Wednesday to climate change as leaders will try to move forward U.N.-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of 2009. The negotiations have stalled because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and India should be required to participate.The rift over climate change widened as the head of the European Commission urged leaders of the world's wealthy nations to act first in setting targets for reducing greenhouse gases — putting President Bush in an increasingly lonely position.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the G-8 nations must reach agreement among themselves on climate change measures and avoid taking the approach that I will do nothing unless you do it first, which he called a vicious circle.If we agree, then we are in a much better position to discuss with our Chinese and Indian partners and others, Barroso said.The U.N. and World Bank chiefs said top industrialized nations need to push forward global talks on climate change and demonstrate their commitment to help poorer nations grapple with rising food prices. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Robert Zoellick said rich nations need to strengthen their efforts to meet poverty reduction, education and other development goals because of instability in the world economy.

China and India say it is up to the developed world — the biggest polluters — to take the lead in the fight against climate change. Bush says no, developing nations must also sign on to make any global deal work. It was unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions by 50 percent by 2050. The Bush administration has not shown any enthusiasm for such a commitment without cooperation from the Chinese and Indians. A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond reach. Going into a G-8 summit — after a separate summit Tuesday with India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico — China has said it is ready to discuss setting medium- and long-term goals for reducing emissions of polluting gases and is open to negotiating targets. But Beijing has not changed its view that the main responsibility still lies with developed countries. India has vowed to keep its emissions below those of developed countries, but is also looking for them to set the pace. Associated Press writers Joseph Coleman and Eric Talmadge contributed to this report. On the Web: http://www.g8summit.go.jp/eng/

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

WORLD TERRORISM

2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

AFGHAN CAR BOMB KILLS 40
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40 dead in Indian embassy blast in Afghan capital By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer JULY 7,08

KABUL, Afghanistan - A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in the deadliest attack in Afghanistan's capital since the fall of the Taliban, officials said. The massive explosion detonated by a suicide bomber damaged two embassy vehicles entering the compound, near where dozens of Afghan men line up every morning to apply for visas.President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing and said it was carried out by militants trying to rupture the friendship between Afghanistan and India.The Afghan Interior Ministry hinted that the attack was carried out with help from Pakistan's intelligence service, saying that terrorists have carried out this attack in coordination and consultation with some of the active intelligence circles in the region. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Pakistan condemned the attack and terrorism in all forms.

The embassy is located on a busy, tree-lined street near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in the city center that is protected on both ends by police checkpoints. Several nearby shops were damaged or destroyed in the blast, and smoldering ruins covered the street. The explosion rattled much of the Afghan capital.Shortly after the attack, a woman ran out of a Kabul hospital screaming, crying and hitting her face with both of her hands. Her two children, a girl named Lima and a boy named Mirwais, had been killed.Oh my God! the woman screamed. They are both dead.

Najib Nikzad, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the blast killed 40 people. Earlier, Abdullah Fahim, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said the explosion killed at least 28 people and wounded 141, but an update of the number of injured was not immediately available. The Interior Ministry said six police officers and three embassy guards were among those killed.In Delhi, India's foreign minister said four Indians, including the military attache and a diplomat, were killed in the attack. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India will send a high-level delegation to Kabul in coming days.The blast also killed five Afghan security guards at the nearby Indonesian Embassy, where windows were shattered and doors and gates broken. Two diplomats were slightly wounded, Indonesia's foreign ministry said.In Washington, Gordon Johndroe, a White House national security spokesman, offered condolences to the victims.Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims as well as others, he said. The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan and India as we face this common enemy.

Afghanistan has seen a sharp rise in violence from Taliban militants in recent months. Insurgents are packing bombs with more explosives than ever, one reason why more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than any month since the 2001 invasion.Still, a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, denied that the militants were behind the bombing. The Taliban tend to claim responsibility for attacks that inflict heavy tolls on international or Afghan troops, and deny responsibility for attacks that primarily kill Afghan civilians.Whenever we do a suicide attack, we confirm it, Mujahid said. The Taliban did not do this one.The 8:30 a.m. explosion was the deadliest attack in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and the deadliest in Afghanistan since a suicide bomber killed more than 100 people at a dog fighting competition in Kandahar province in February.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Delhi, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the attack would not deter the mission from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan.Afghanistan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the embassy shortly after the attack, ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmed Baheen said. India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other. Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations, Spanta told the embassy staff, according to Baheen. The Indian ambassador and his deputy were not inside the embassy at the time of the blast, Baheen said. Militants have frequently attacked Indian offices and projects around Afghanistan since launching an insurgency after the ouster of the Taliban at the end of the 2001. Many Taliban militants have roots in Pakistan, which has long had a troubled relationship with India.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the Islamic militia was supported by Pakistan, India's arch-rival. Pakistan today remains wary of strengthening ties between Afghanistan and India. The United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan said that in no culture, no country, and no religion is there any excuse or justification for such acts.The total disregard for innocent lives is staggering and those behind this must be held responsible, the envoy, Kai Eide, said. The U.N. sent an e-mail to its staff advising them to stay off Kabul's roads because of reports that a second suicide car bomber was in the city. The embassy attack was the sixth suicide bombing in Kabul this year. Insurgent violence has killed more than 2,200 people — mostly militants — in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count of official figures. The embassy in the last several days had beefed up security by installing large, dirt-filled blast walls often used by military forces. While Afghanistan has seen increasing violence in recent months, Kabul has been largely spared the random bomb attacks that Taliban militants use in their fight against Afghan and international troops. In September 2006, a suicide bomber near the gates of the Interior Ministry killed 12 people and wounded 42 others. After that blast, additional guards and barriers were posted on the street. In two separate bombings Monday against police convoys in the country's south, seven officers were killed and 10 others were wounded, officials said. In Uruzgan province, a roadside bomb killed four police on patrol and wounded seven others, said provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat. In the Zhari district of Kandahar, another roadside blast killed three officers and wounded three others, said district chief Niyaz Mohammad Sarhadi. NATO's International Security Assistance Force, meanwhile, said one of its soldiers died in an attack in the south on Sunday.
Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Officials predict longer and stronger fire season By SUE MAJOR HOLMES, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 7, 5:10 AM ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In the past few years, Rich Nieto's work has started earlier and lasted longer. The regional fire operations director for the Southwest Coordination Center said the West's fire season used to stretch from May into August or September, starting with blazes flaring up in the Southwest's arid spring.But now fires touch off in April or earlier, and the season sometimes stretches into October, said Nieto, whose job entails allocating and moving ground-based firefighting resources.

We have to adjust accordingly, he said.

A longer fire season can't be blamed solely on climate change or drought. More and more people want out of the cities and into the country — which in the West often means a place in the forest.That raises the potential of more fires started by humans — cigarettes carelessly tossed; campfires that aren't dead; fires meant to burn weeds or garbage that instead get away.In California, drought, high temperatures and lightning storms have contributed to more than 800 square miles being burned since June 20.What we're concerned about now is California is very active at a much earlier date than it usually is, said Don Smurthwaite, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.New Mexico's 2008 fire season has been driven partly by plentiful grass that sprang up in wet weather in 2007 but turned to tinder in this year's dry, windy spring.The season began early with successive human-caused grass fires near Hobbs, N.M., in January, February and March that burned tens of thousands of acres, led to evacuations and destroyed several homes.In addition, fire season is just beginning in the Great Basin states of Utah, Nevada, southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. As the summer moves on, the season will flow north into the Pacific Northwest as vegetation there dries out.The fire center's 2008 Wildland Fire Outlook forecasts significant fire activity in California, parts of Nevada, the northern Rocky Mountains, Texas and West Virginia.

What's at risk determines who gets what resources.

Top priority goes to fires with the potential to harm human life, Nieto said. Second, fire managers need to keep enough reserves home to tackle new fires and get them out before they grow. Lastly, they consider the possibility a fire could destroy such things as major power lines, critical communication sites, cultural resources or special habitat.The priorities sometimes prompt federal land managers to fight a smaller fire and send fewer resources to a larger one.A large fire may encompass a lot of area, but are there communities that could be endangered by that? There might not be, said Nieto, who has gone through 25 fire seasons.The U.S. Forest Service prepares for the heavy summer fire season well before it starts, hiring and training crews before it's time to suppress flames. This year, that's meant more than 20,000 seasonal firefighters nationwide.The Forest Service's 11 geographic regions help each other — crews from Montana in the Northern Rockies Region, for example, have battled fires in New Mexico and Arizona this summer. As the Southwest fire season winds down with July rains, Southwest Region firefighters prepare to head north.

That's the normal routine.

But last week, the already fiery 2008 season and a forecast for more hot, dry, windy conditions in parts of the West prompted the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, made up of top federal and state fire managers from various agencies, to raise the nationwide preparedness level to 5 — the highest possible. That means looking at national approaches, such as hot shot crews or aircraft, Nieto said. It might mean mobilizing the National Guard because other resources are exhausted, he said. New Mexico called on National Guard Black Hawk helicopters to drop huge water buckets on a Manzano Mountain fires and last week sent two of the helicopters to California to help with its fires. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered 200 guardsmen to report for training to augment fire lines — the first time troops there have been called to ground-based firefighting duty since 1977. Daily conference calls work out priorities for crews and equipment, and the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, state agencies and others cooperate with each other, Nieto said. The new level 5 designation was based on three criteria: major fire activity in three or more of the 11 geographic areas; a large percentage of available fire crews and resources already committed; and an expectation that the fire season is only going to get worse, Smurthwaite said. All three boxes were checked yes, he said. On the Net: National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/ Southwest Coordination Center: http://gacc.nifc.gov/swcc/

CALIFORNIA RESOURSES STRAINED
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HOME OWNERS FIGHT FIRE TOGETHER
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Weather helps crews battling California wildfires By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 7, 4:47 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Firefighters took advantage of cooler temperatures and higher humidity overnight to make progress containing a blaze burning through the mountains in Santa Barbara County before hotter, drier conditions return. Crews were expecting a quiet night, weatherwise, Richard Morgantini, a spokesman for Santa Barbara County, said early Monday.Moist air currents from the ocean cooled temperatures to the high 70s Sunday, helping fire crews keep the five-day-old blaze from spreading. The fire, which has been burning since Tuesday, was less than a third contained Sunday night.

We've got a window here with the humid weather that's really helping us. But we know we're in this for the long haul, said Dixie Dies, spokeswoman for the state Incident Management Team.

Temperatures are forecast to start climbing Monday and to reach the 90s by Thursday. The moist air currents are expected to dissipate, causing drier conditions, Dies said. Lightning strikes also were possible as a new weather system moves in, forecasters said.The fire, 30 percent contained Sunday night, had consumed about 15 square miles of Los Padres National Forest.Nearly 2,700 homes were in jeopardy earlier in the weekend, but by Sunday night some of the evacuation orders were lifted or downgraded to warnings.People are filtering back to their neighborhoods and they're very happy, said forest spokesman John Ahlman. Some mandatory evacuations remained in scattered mountain communities south of Highway 154 and in areas on the west end of the fire, Ahlman said. He did not have exact numbers of how many homes were affected.The fire has been blazing through 15 to 20-foot tall forest in extremely steep, rocky terrain. Crews are relying mainly on drops of flame retardant by helicopters and DC-10s to control the burning ridges and canyons, Dies said. So far, 68,000 tons have been dropped.Officials decided Sunday that the nearly 1,200 firefighters, who come from 22 states and the District of Columbia, are sufficient to combat the blaze, Dies said. They're working incredibly hard, she said.The fire still had the potential to roll through a hilly area of ranches, housing tracts and orchards between the town of Goleta and Santa Barbara.

Investigators suspect the fire, which began Tuesday, was started by humans. The U.S. Forest Service has asked for public help in determining how it was set.Sunday's cooler weather also helped firefighters advance on a two-week-old blaze that has destroyed 22 homes in Big Sur, at the northern end of the Los Padres forest.The fog held on a little bit stronger than was originally anticipated, which was great for the crews out working on the lines, said Sarah Gibson, a spokeswoman for the command post in charge of fighting the blaze.The improved weather did have some drawbacks. Fog made the takeoff of firefighting aircraft more difficult and hampered efforts to start controlled burns to clear out brush ahead of the advancing wildfire, Gibson said.The fire, which has charred 117 square miles, was 11 percent contained, a slight jump from the day before. Fire officials said crews were burning out brush between the fire's edge and Big Sur's famed restaurants and hotels and cutting more lines to halt flames creeping down from ridge tops.

The biggest challenge is whether or not the containment lines that they're building now and continuing to improve are going to hold as the fire approaches, said Rolf Larsen, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.Wildfires have burned more than 800 square miles of land and destroyed at least 69 homes throughout California, mainly in the northern part of the state, in the past two weeks. One firefighter died of a heart attack while digging fire lines. About 1,450 fires have been contained, but more than 330 still burned out of control Sunday night. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who on Saturday visited a command post in the coastal region of Santa Barbara County, ordered 400 National Guard troops to be trained in wildfire fighting so they could help fight the state's blazes. They were to join firefighters in Mendocino County on Monday. He also urged lawmakers to adopt his budget plan for a $70 million emergency surcharge on home and business insurance policies to buy more firefighting equipment. California now has a year-round fire season and needs the money from the fee, which should cost the average homeowner about $1 a month, Schwarzenegger has said.

Associated Press writers Samantha Young in Sacramento, Christopher Weber and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles, Lisa Leff and Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco and Amanda Fehd in Berkeley contributed to this report.

Gaza mortar fire hits Israel JULY 7,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A mortar round fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip struck southern Israel on Monday without causing any casualties or damage in what the military slammed as a new breach of a two-week-old truce. We identified that a mortar round was fired from the northern Gaza Strip. It landed south of Karni in Israeli territory, an Israeli army spokeswoman said, referring to the Karni border crossing near Gaza City.The army said on Sunday that a gunshot from Gaza had hit a farmer's tractor driving near the fenced-off border but on Monday said that further investigation had revealed that no shots were fired.There was a rock that got stuck in one of the tractor wheels, the army spokeswoman said.

Palestinian militants have fired several rockets and mortar rounds at southern Israel despite an Egyptian-brokered truce that came into effect on June 19, although violence in and around the impoverished territory has dropped substantially.Palestinian and UN officials have accused Israeli troops too of firing into the Gaza Strip since the truce came into effect, although the Israeli army has said it fired only warning shots.The Islamist Hamas movement, which seized power in Gaza in June 2007, has said its own fighters are adhering to the truce and has vowed to arrest anyone who violates it.

Israel to receive report on long-missing airman By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 7, 4:21 AM ET

JERUSALEM - An Israeli negotiator was in Europe on Monday to pick up a report compiled by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas on a long-missing Israeli airman, part of a prisoner-swap deal between the two sides, defense officials said. Negotiator Ofer Dekel is to receive the report from a U.N.-appointed German official who mediated the deal. It is supposed to detail efforts the Iranian-backed Hezbollah made to find out what happened to airman Ron Arad after his plane crashed in Lebanon in 1986.Arad was captured alive by Shiite militants and changed hands several times before disappearing without a trace two decades ago. There have been reports that Arad was transferred to Hezbollah and then to Iran, but no reliable evidence of his fate has ever surfaced.In exchange for the report on Arad, Israel is to provide information on four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. Iran claims they were kidnapped by Lebanese militiamen allied with Israel, who delivered them to Israeli troops. Israel has long denied holding them, and Samir Geagea, former head of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, has said militiamen killed them.Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, taking over large areas as part of a military blitz to expel Palestinian guerrillas.The exchange of reports is part of a wider deal in which Israel is to hand over to Hezbollah four Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. The soldiers' capture in a July 2006 cross-border raid touched off Israel's second war in Lebanon.

Hezbollah has never allowed Red Cross access to the servicemen and there has been no sign of life from them since their capture. But Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, called reports of their death speculation ... not based on anything tangible.One of the Lebanese convicts to be freed in the deal has been held in an Israeli prison nearly 30 years for his role in a 1979 attack that Israelis perceive as one of the cruelest in their history.Samir Kantar dragged a man and his 4-year-old daughter from their apartment to the beach below, and according to witness testimony, shot the man to death in front of his child, then crushed her head against a rock with his rifle butt. He also was convicted of killing a policeman. The man's wife accidentally smothered their 2-year-old daughter in an effort to keep her from crying out and disclosing their hiding place in a crawl space in the apartment.

Kantar has denied killing the older child or crushing her skull.

Israel had hoped Kantar would be a bargaining chip to wrest information from Hezbollah about Arad's fate, but recently concluded that Hezbollah has no new information about the airman. Last week, the Israeli Cabinet voted to trade Kantar for the bodies of the Israeli servicemen, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.On Sunday, Israel TV showed video of tractors beginning the process of exhuming the bodies of Hezbollah fighters that also are to be handed over as part of the deal.No firm timetable for carrying out the swap has been announced, but Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has said it would take place in mid-July.

Israel successfully tests missile interceptor: report Sun Jul 6, 3:34 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel has successfully tested a new defence system designed to intercept rockets fired from southern Lebanon and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, public radio reported on Sunday.

The Iron Dome system is expected to be fully operational within a year and will be able to intercept the military-grade Katyusha rockets used by Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and the cruder Qassam rockets favoured by Hamas.Citing Israeli security officials, public radio said the system would also be effective against mortar fire which has a much smaller window of warning.In January Prime Minister Ehud Olmert viewed a prototype of the 200-million-dollar (140-million-euro) system, which is being developed under contract by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer.

Iron Dome is part of a multi-layered defence system aimed at protecting Israel from both short-range missiles fired by militants in Gaza or Lebanon and longer-range missiles in the arsenals of regional foes Iran and Syria.Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian uprising in 2000 Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip have come under frequent rocket and mortar attack, leaving them in a constant state of fear.The attacks have slowed since a truce between Israel and Hamas came into force on June 19, but the fragile Egyptian-brokered agreement has been tested by occasional rockets and mortar rounds fired by smaller armed groups.Israel also came under sustained attack during its 2006 war with Hezbollah, when more than 4,000 Katyusha rockets were launched at northern Israel in 34 days, sending hundreds of thousands of residents fleeing south.

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

Paris in the EU's chair on economic policy
LUCIA KUBOSOVA JULY 7,08 Today @ 09:25 CET

France is due to make its first appearance in the EU's economic policy chair today (7 July) as EU ministers meet to tackle two issues where Paris has previously sparked controversy: the European Central Bank's interest rate moves and measures to freeze oil prices.Finance ministers from the 15 eurozone countries are meeting on Monday, followed on Tuesday by the first economic ministerial session conducted by France, which has just taken on the six-month presidency over the 27-nation European Union.The eurogoup gathering comes after last week's move by the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 4.25, following a record rise of inflation in the single currency area to 4 percent in June.While that figure is double the Frankfurt-based bank's goal of keeping the bloc's inflation close to 2 percent, the eurozone has at the same time recorded a slump in economic growth, with major European exporters saying that a stronger euro will harm their businesses.Speaking at a meeting of his centre-right UMP party over the weekend, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said that while he did not regret that he had in the past voted in favour of the ECB's monetary policy being independent, he has doubts about its current policy.Without compromising everything I believe in, I have the right as president of the French Republic to wonder if it is reasonable to raise the European rates to 4.25 percent while the Americans have rates of 2.0 percent, Mr Sarkozy said, according to press reports.But although Germany and Spain also voiced concerns about the consequences of interest rate hikes for the eurozone's economy, Berlin, in particularly, remains keen to stress its continued support for the Frankfurt bank's independence.

Support has also come from Brussels.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso openly gave his support to the bank late last week while Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - critical of the ECB in the past - has said that the bank was right to have raised rates to fight inflation.I have had a lot of positive remarks on the rate rise, ECB chief Jean Claude Trichet told a press conference in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday (6 July), adding that there is a global consensus that price stability is a necessary condition for sustained growth and job creation.

Energy prices

Just like in its attempts to raise dissent over the ECB's monetary policy, France also appears isolated in its approach to tackling the rising energy prices.After a summit of EU leaders in June, President Sarkozy failed to get strong support for his proposal to introduce VAT caps to freeze oil prices.Although the French presidency is expected to push forward with the idea, it is facing opposition both from the European Commission and most member states, including Germany. German finance minister Peer Steinbruck has said that the key response to the current situation is energy efficiency - one of the goals of the EU's policy package on energy security and climate change. Governments should avoid any distortional fiscal measures because the prices have to contribute to these adjustments, which are necessary. I think we shouldn't prevent these adjustments, he said in an interview with the Financial Times on Monday.

Sarkozy urges Polish president not to block Lisbon treaty
ELITSA VUCHEVA JULY 7,08 Today @ 09:31 CET

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday pressed his Polish counterpart, Lech Kaczynski, to sign the EU's Lisbon Treaty despite Ireland's rejection of the document, which Mr Kaczynski has indicated puts further ratification into question.President Kaczynski is an honest man and a head of state. He signed [the treaty] in Brussels, he must ratify it in Warsaw. It's a moral question, said the French president, speaking at a meeting of the centre-right UMP party near Paris.Mr Kaczynski last week said that following the Irish No vote, The treaty question is pointless, before softening his position and stating that Poland would not oppose the ratification process, provided that the Irish change their mind, [but] not under pressure.I have confidence in the Polish president. We will go on, we will find solutions ... and get to a point where we convince the Czechs to ratify as well, Mr Sarkozy said at the UMP meeting, according to French news agency AFP.Meanwhile, French daily Le Figaro reported that Mr Sarkozy spoke by phone with his Polish counterpart on Friday and, according to the French president's office, Mr Kaczynski said his country would not be an obstacle to ratifying the treaty.

In Poland, both houses of parliament completed ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in April, but the president needs to sign off on the document for the process to be finalised.

The Czech Republic is another country that has shown reluctance to continue ratification of the Lisbon Treaty after the Irish No. It is also awaiting a decision by its Constitutional Court on whether the treaty contradicts the Czech constitution or not.Additionally, German President Horst Koehler last week also refused to sign the document until the German Constitutional Court rules on two legal challenges by right-wing MP Peter Gauweiler and leftist party Die Linke, who argue the document undermines democracy and people's rights.Meanwhile, two countries – the UK and Cyprus – have pushed ahead with ratification since Irish voters rejected the document on 12 June, bringing the total number of member states to have approved it to 20.

Barroso attempts to woo Germany on nuclear energy
RENATA GOLDIROVA JULY 7,08 Today @ 09:24 CET

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has once again made the case for nuclear power, a controversial source of electricity generation in several EU member states, adding to the already heated debate in Germany on whether the country should allow a nuclear comeback.In an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag (6 July), Mr Barroso acknowledged that nuclear energy is a delicate issue in Germany.On the other hand, he said, more and more countries see in nuclear energy an at least temporary solution to stop climate change and to reduce our dependency on oil and gas.Germany's previous Green-Social-Democrat coalition government under the leadership of Gerhard Schroeder committed itself to a gradual phase-out of all 17 nuclear power plants in the country by 2021.But the commitment is now being questioned by the Christian Democrats (CDU) of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the senior partners in the coalition government with the Social Democrats.

Technology minister Annette Schavan from the CDU said that Germany needs to exit the exit resolution, referring to the phase-out. We urgently need the life-span extension - as a contribution to global climate protection and for a lasting energy supply, she told Bild am Sonntag.But the Social Democrats reject the idea of prolonging the life-span of existing power plants, pointing to remaining question marks over how to safely store the nuclear waste. It is irresponsible so long as the question of the disposal of highly radioactive waste is not solved, the party top figure, Peter Struck, was cited as saying by Der Tagesspiegel on Sunday (6 July).

The same message came from transportation minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, speaking to Welt am Sonntag. We believe in renewable energy and not in nuclear energy, he said, pointing to plans to build some 30 offshore windfarms in the Baltic and North seas.It is up to each EU state to choose its own energy mix. But the current European Commission, headed by Mr Barroso, has not shied away from supporting the nuclear path. Brussels says that nuclear energy has a role to play in meeting the EU's growing concerns about security of supply and CO2 emission reductions.