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.
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 shakes Afghanistan OCT 26,08
KABUL (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.6 struck northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, but caused no casualties or damage, a government official said.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on its website the quake's epicenter was at a depth of 208 km (130 miles).The quake occurred at about 6 am local time and was also felt in the capital, Kabul, some 260 km (160 miles) from the epicenter lying to the south of the city of Faizabad of northeastern Badakhshan province.Mountainous Afghanistan is an earthquake prone country.Thousands of people were killed by earthquakes in northern Badakhshan province in the late 1990s.In 2002 at least 1,500 people were killed when a series of quakes of between magnitude 5 and 6 struck northern Baghlan province in the Hindu Kush mountains, destroying the district capital of Nahrin.(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by David Fox)
Second small earthquake strikes near Morgan Hill
Bay City News Service 10/25/2008 07:24:27 AM PDT
The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a second small earthquake struck this morning about an hour and a half after a 2.9 quake struck in the same area of Santa Clara County. According to the USGS, the second earthquake struck at about 6:25 a.m. a.m. and had a preliminary magnitude of 2.0. The first earthquake, which struck at about 5 a.m., had a depth of 4.2 miles, while the second quake had a depth of 3.9 miles. Both earthquakes were centered 10 miles north of Morgan Hill and 15 miles east-southeast of San Jose, according to the USGS.2008 by Bay City News, Inc.
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.
More than 60 killed in fierce Yemen storms Sat Oct 25, 11:49 AM
SANAA (AFP) - Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.
A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day, one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a national catastrophe and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen's flood victims.OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount the grave humanitarian crisis.Ihsanoglu called for OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world's least developed nations.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.Rescue coordinators said that among the victims were seven people who perished in Al-Mukalla, which is on the shores of the Arabian Sea.Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones.Bad weather continued to batter southeast coastal regions on Saturday but residents said the skies were clearing inland.Military helicopters and others operated by oil firms were hampered on Friday by strong winds as they fought to rescue thousands of people stranded by the floods, according to one emergency official.Local authorities in Yemen said that more than 500 houses were destroyed across Hadramaut province and 3,500 families made homeless. Flooding also caused heavy damage to roads and power and water networks.Among the affected areas was the UNESCO world heritage site of Shibam which was totally cut off by the flood waters. But the situation was returning to normal on Saturday, local officials said.Shibam, with more than 20,000 residents, is famed for its high-rise mudbrick buildings, mostly dating from the 16th century, that have given the town the moniker the Manhattan of the desert.It was established in the third century and built with the profits from frankincense, which is still sold there.Floods and lightning also claimed the lives of at least 25 people in April 2006 across eight provinces of the Arabian peninsula country.
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.
ELECTION 2008 Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth,This has been a real sham he's pulled off for the last 20 months' October 23, 2008 11:33 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily
Philip J. Berg
The Pennsylvania Democrat who has sued Sen. Barack Obama demanding he prove his American citizenship – and therefore qualification to run for president – has confirmed he has a recording of a telephone call from the senator's paternal grandmother confirming his birth in Kenya.The issue of Obama's birthplace, which he states is Honolulu in 1961, has been raised enough times that his campaign website has posted an image purporting to be of his Certification of Live Birth from Hawaii.
But Philip J. Berg, a former deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania, told the Michael Savage talk radio program tonight that the document is forged and that he has a tape recording he will soon release.This has been a real sham he's pulled off for the last 20 months, Berg told Savage. I'll release it [the tape] in a day or two, affidavits from her talking to a certain person. I heard the tape. She was speaking [to someone] here in the United States.He said the telephone call was from Obama's paternal grandmother affirming she was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.Berg said he's pursuing the issue because of the most important document in the United States, the U.S. Constitution.Nothing is more important than enforcing the Constitution, he said. The Constitution's provisions are very small for qualifying for president. One, be over 35, and he is. Two, be in the country 14 years, and he has been. Three, be a natural-born citizen. He is not.
Obama campaign officials acknowledged the dispute by posting the image purporting to be a copy of his certification of live birth earlier this year. But they've declined to return WND requests for comment on the issues.WND reported earlier this week Berg's claim that Obama has legally admitted the accusations included in his lawsuit, including that he was born in Mombosa, Kenya, by not responding to the allegations.Berg filed suit in U.S. District Court in August alleging Obama is not a natural-born citizen and is thus ineligible to serve as president of the United States.His lawsuit is demanding that the courts verify Obama's original birth certificate.Berg has cited Rule 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which states that unless the accused party provides written answer or objection to charges within 30 days, the accused legally admits the matter.Since Obama filed only motions to dismiss the case and did not actually answer the claims, according to Rule 36, Obama has legally admitted he is not a natural-born citizen., asserted Berg, who has taken his information public through his website.Berg addressed the existence of a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser newspaper, featured on the Atlasshrugs2000 website, that suggests Obama was born in the city Aug. 4, 1961.But Berg explained to Savage he believes Obama's mother was near the end of her pregnancy and unable to travel by plane, so Obama was born in Kenya. The family then traveled to Hawaii and registered the birth and submitted the newspaper announcement.Besides Berg's lawsuit, several other court challenges also have been filed, including one in Washington state where petitioners are seeking to have the Washington secretary of state verify Obama's eligibility to serve prior to the election.
The claim states, The certificate that Mr. Obama has posted on his official Website is a Certification of Live Birth, and not a Birth Certificate' from Hawaii. There is no indication on even this certificate as to specifically where the birth took place.
Berg also told Savage there is no information available on which hospital Obama's mother used in Hawaii.The Washington state case also alleges, Wayne Madsen, Journalist with Online Journal as a contributing writer and published an article on June 9, 2008, stating that a research team went to Mombassa, Kenya, and located a Certificate Registering the birth of Barack Obama, Jr. at a Kenya Maternity Hospital, to his father, a Kenyan citizen and his mother, a U.S. citizen.When Jerome Corsi, senior WND investigator reporter, recently traveled to Kenya to investigate several questions about the candidate, he was told the records were sealed and would not be made available.Though it hasn't given Berg the evidence he seeks, the Obama campaign has publicly answered allegations that the candidate was born in Kenya and faked his Hawaii birth certificate.Smears claiming Barack Obama doesn't have a birth certificate aren't actually about that piece of paper, says the Fight the Smears section of Obama's website, they're about manipulating people into thinking Barack is not an American citizen.The truth is, Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii in 1961, a native citizen of the United States of America, the campaign website states. It also includes images of the Hawaii certificate bearing the name Barack Hussein Obama II.The Washington claim states, If in fact Obama was born in Kenya, the laws on the books in the United States at the time of his birth stated if a child is born abroad and one parent was a U.S. Citizen, which would have been his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother would have had to live ten (10) years in the United States, five (5) of which were after the age of fourteen (14). At the time of Obama's birth, his mother was only eighteen (18) and therefore did not meet the residency requirements under the law to give her son (Obama) U.S. Citizenship much less the status of natural born.Berg said he believed it also was a complication that Obama's mother divorced his father, married and moved to Indonesia for several years and Obama attended school there at a time when, Berg said, only Indonesia citizens were allowed in schools. Records that are available from Indonesia revealed Obama was registered in school as Barry Soetoro, and his religion was listed as Islam.When Obama later returned to Hawaii, within the United States, there should have been a government document affirming his citizenship, but that also cannot be found. If that was not processed properly, Berg said, Obama would be in a situation even worse than not being a natural-born citizen.If he didn't go through immigration, he now is illegal and has been an illegal alien. He couldn't even hold the position of senator for Illinois, Berg said.Further, Berg said he suspected Obama's college records may indicate he received aid as a foreigner, and that's why those records have been withheld by the campaign.I really think it's because it probably indicates he's from Kenya, or Indonesia, or received foreign aid, Berg said.I feel very confident saying these things, Berg told Savage.
Iranian Speaker: Iran Prefers Obama as President October 24, 2008 7:49 PM
Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Iran would prefer Democrat Barack Obama in the White House next year. Larijani also dismissed any idea that the U.S. would attack Iran. We are leaning more in favor of Barack Obama because he is more flexbile and rational, even though we know American policy will not change that much, Larijani said at a press conference during a visit to Bahrain.
How to deal with Iran and the crisis over its nuclear drive has been one of the foreign policy issues in the Nov. 4 race for the White House between Obama and Republican John McCain. Larijani, a leading figure in the conservative camp in Iran, also said the United States was too busy dealing with the global financial crisis to consider waging an attack on Iran. The risk was low before, he said. But now I am 100% certain that the United States will not unleash a war against Iran. The economic crisis has cost the United States $1.4 trillion and Washington is working to resolve its internal problems and not a war.Washington severed ties with Iran in 1980 in the wake of the Islamic revolution. U.S. President George W. Bush famously denounced the country as part of an axis of evil. Tensions have mounted over Iran's nuclear program, which many Western countries believe is a cover for ambitions to build atomic weapons, although this is vehemently denied by Tehran.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
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.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
Asia, Europe Leaders Urge More Finance Rules Before Bush Summit
By Jennifer M. Freedman and Christopher Swann
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Asian and European leaders called for an overhaul of World War II-era banking rules, lending support to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as he pushes the U.S. to embrace greater supervision of global financial markets. The leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, according to a statement in Beijing yesterday. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters after the gathering of more than 40 heads of state and government that we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety.U.S. and European leaders have sparred over the causes of the credit crunch and how to cure it. Sarkozy has called for stricter government oversight of banks and hedge funds. President George W. Bush, who will host the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations on Nov. 15, emphasized the role of free markets in a speech yesterday. It is foolish to think that within a few weeks Europe and the U.S. are going to be able to overhaul international financial regulation, said Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. It will be extremely hard to come up with a consensus. I doubt the Europeans will even be able to agree among themselves.Meltzer chaired a U.S. congressional commission that studied the international financial system in 2000 after the Asian financial crisis.
European Proposals
The EU has floated the ideas of including more bank supervision, stricter regulation of hedge funds, new rules for credit-rating companies and changes at the International Monetary Fund. The French president has compared the effort to the 1944 Bretton Woods conference in New Hampshire that fixed exchange rates, hitched the world to the gold standard and created the IMF and World Bank. While the specific solutions pursued by every country may not be the same, agreeing on a common set of principles will be an essential step towards preventing similar crises in the future, Bush said today in his weekly radio address. Nations must focus on the fundamentals of long-term economic growth: free markets, free enterprise and free trade, Bush said. The two-day summit in Beijing was the first meeting of Asian and EU chiefs since calls for coordinated action mounted along with bank failures and plunging stock prices that began last month.
IMF Scrutinized
The IMF, World Bank and other agencies are falling behind the times, said Jeon Hyochan, a researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul. The agencies need to strengthen their ability to take pre-emptive measures.The Washington-based IMF is considering an emergency program to prevent a collapse of emerging markets by almost doubling borrowing limits for members and waiving its standard demands for economic austerity measures. The agency agreed Oct. 24 to lend Iceland $2.1 billion in accordance with existing rules after the island nation's banking system collapsed, threatening a prolonged economic contraction. There is a unanimous consensus to push forward reform, said Kazuo Kodama, a spokesman at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No agreement has been reached on the details of that reform, he said. Japan wants the IMF to be able to act in a nimble, speedy, timely manner and without excessively stringent conditions when helping poorer nations, said Osamu Sakashita, a spokesman for Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Critical Role
The EU and Asian leaders were less specific in their statement, which says the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis.
Sarkozy's campaign for an overhaul threatens to expose differences with the U.S. over global financial governance. That may provoke tensions and bog down talks while individual countries continue to act on their own to limit the fallout. Sarkozy said the mid-November meeting in Washington will involve regulatory decisions because EU and Asian leaders agree that action is needed. We have all understood it would not be possible to simply meet and have a conversation, Sarkozy said. We needed to turn it into a decision-making forum.The gathering to be hosted by Bush, who leaves office in January, will be the first of a series of financial summits that will also address foreign-exchange rates, according to Sarkozy, who said talks about currencies may be put off until after Nov. 15. It is simply impossible to talk about the financial crisis without discussing currencies and the way in which they interact.
Exchange Rates
The pound and the euro have both lost more than 20 percent against the dollar in the past three months, and more than 30 percent against the yen. Aso said derivatives products that flow around the world should also feature on the agenda. South Korea stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic unity in taking any actions. If Europe and the U.S. become united, it would enhance whatever countermeasures are taken, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said, according to his spokesman, Lee Dong Kwan. The credit crisis is choking off funds to companies and people, undermining business and consumer sentiment. Economists at Deutsche Bank AG expect the Group of Seven economies to contract 1.1 percent next year, the worst since the Great Depression, and global growth to be the weakest since the 1980s. Stock markets and commodities have tumbled along with currencies this year amid growing concern that governments, central banks and finance ministers are powerless to counter eroding corporate earnings and a global recession. To contact the reporters on this story: Jennifer M. Freedman in Beijing at jfreedman@bloomberg.net; Christopher Swann in Washington at cswann1@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 25, 2008 14:59 EDT
Asian, European leaders reach consensus in China OCT 25,08
BEIJING — Asian and European leaders said Saturday they have reached a broad consensus on ways to deal with the global financial meltdown and will present their views at a crisis summit next month in Washington.Speaking at the close of a two-day Asia-Europe Meeting in China’s capital, the leaders called for new rules for guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.The biennial forum, known as ASEM, generally does not make decisions, and a statement issued by the leaders indicated how much the crisis in global markets has driven world opinion and institutions.I’m pleased to confirm a shared determination and commitment of Europe and Asia to work together, EU Commission President Jose Barroso said at a closing news conference.He said participants would use the statement as the basis of their approach at the Nov. 15 Washington summit of the 20 largest economies.Although short on details, the statement, adopted Friday, calls on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, it said.Participants also agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the statement said.The document is one of the strongest endorsements yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF, long known as the international lender of last resort.Responses to the crisis among participants have been varied thus far. The 15 euro countries and Britain reacted in dramatic fashion, agreeing to put up a total of $2.3 trillion US in guarantees and emergency aid to help banks.
In contrast, South Korea, China, Japan and the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations have merely recommitted themselves to an $80 billion emergency fund to help those facing liquidity problems — to be established by next June — even while their stock markets tumble and export markets dry up.Speaking for the hosts, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said financial innovation needed to be balanced with regulation, and called for measures to reduce the impact of the meltdown on jobs, growth and trade.We need to use every means to prevent the financial crisis from having an impact on the growth of the real economy, Wen said.He said that the direct impact of the crisis on China had been relatively light, but the accompanying slowdown in the world economy and export demand would inevitably have an impact on China’s economy.China will seek to do its part by maintaining “fairly fast and stable economic growth,” Wen said. Although growth in the third quarter slowed to nine per cent — down from 11.9 per cent for all of 2007 — China’s economy continues to grow at the fastest rate among the largest economies.French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the Beijing summit had raised expectations for solid results when the leaders meet in Washington.They have all expressed their willingness for the Washington summit to be a place where we make some decisions, and we have all understood that it would not be possible to simply meet and have a discussion, we need to turn it into a decision-making forum, Sarkozy said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for the IMF to become a guard for the stability of the international finance system, and said there was unanimous agreement that it needed to take on a supervisory role.She also called for the step-by-step integration of the IMF into the Financial Stability Forum, founded in 1999 by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and aimed at bolstering the international financial system.
Spread betting boom as Britons gamble on turbulent markets OCT 26,08
LONDON, (AFP) - The credit crunch has sparked a surge in spread betting in Britain, as people speculate tax-free on the financial markets rather than sink their capital into turbulent stocks.With no taxes to pay and no commission charges, spread betting has increased in popularity as nervous investors worry about expanding their portfolios of company shares.Rather than regular betting on a precise outcome, spread betting allows punters to gamble on a range of outcomes, with the accuracy of the wager determining how much is won -- or lost.We have seen a significant increase in betting numbers and trades in alignment with the volatility in the market, Peter O'Donovan, head of financial spread betting at PaddyPowertrader.com, told AFP.We have certainly been busy since July 2008. The turmoil in the market certainly seems to have stimulated our business.Equities and indices are among the busiest sectors, he said, adding that applications for spread betting accounts have almost doubled over the past 12 months.Financial spread betting sees punters betting on the rise or fall of currencies, stock markets, shares, futures and metals, without having to pass through stockbrokers and share purchasing paperwork.The closer the bet is to the result, the bigger the gain, but the further off the mark it is, the higher the loss.Punters, who must hold accounts with the bookmaker, could even lose more than their original stakes. However, limits are put in place to avoid extreme gains or catastrophic losses.Spread betting carries a high level of risk and you may lose more than your initial investment, said a spokesman for the spread betting information website CleanFinancial.He added: It may not be suitable for all investors. People should speculate with money that they can afford to lose.
Financial spread betting is a tax-free, commission-free alternative to trading shares and financial markets, O'Donovan said.You are essentially betting on the performance of a share, index or commodity. You don't own the share itself, you merely use it as an underlying instrument for your betting.The nine-percent betting tax was scrapped in 2001, but in contrast people buying shares still have to pay stamp duty upon purchase and tax on their dividend at either 10 percent or 32.5 percent.Bookmaker Ladbrokes takes bets on market changes on a five-minute, hourly or daily basis, on currencies, commodities and indices.Turnover varies from day to day but on average the figure is approximately 75,000 pounds per day. The five-minute markets are the most popular, a Ladbrokes spokesman told AFP.Professor Chris Brady and Doctor Richard Raymar, from the Cass Business School in London, said in a 2006 report that 400,000 spread betting accounts were open in Britain at the time.They predicted the figure would hit the million mark in 2011.CleanFinancial said spread bettors are typically men aged 35 to 55 who work in financial circles, often self-employed. Big banks ban some of their employees from spread betting, the spokesman for the site said.Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, one of the largest in Britain and no slouch on offering novelty bets, was taking bets on which bank would be next to fall, but suspended such betting in mid-September.At the time, the largest bet -- 5,000 euros -- was on Washington Mutual at odds of 4-9. The savings bank collapsed on September 25. Its closure and receivership is the largest bank failure in US financial history.
Companies start competing for bailout money By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer OCT 26,08
WASHINGTON – The bailout is now the hottest lobbying game in town.Insurers, automakers and American subsidiaries of foreign banks all want the Treasury Department to cut them a piece of the largest government rescue in U.S. history.The betting is that many with their hands out will be successful, especially with financial markets in a stomach-churning dive and predictions the economy is about to tumble into a deep recession.These groups argue that the credit squeeze is so severe and the risks to the economy so dire that their industries need financial support as well.The Treasury is considering requests from a variety of industries, but has not decided whether to expand the program, officials said Saturday.
Lobbying efforts are intensifying.
The Financial Services Roundtable wrote Treasury officials on Friday requesting that the initiative to buy $250 billion in bank stock grow to cover insurers, auto companies, securities dealers and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, including banks. The Treasury's plan is intended to bolster banks' tattered balance sheets and get them to resume making loans.As the Treasury now interprets it, these additional groups would not participate in the bank stock program. They could receive help from a separate part of the $700 billion rescue that will buy bad assets from financial institutions.Steve Bartlett, the president of the Roundtable, urged the Treasury to broaden the definition of those eligible for the stock purchase program.The institutions that are excluded play a vital role in the U.S. economy by providing liquidity to the market, Bartlett wrote Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department official running the bailout program.Referring to U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, Bartlett said, This is a global crisis and to not recognize the U.S. firms controlled by foreign banks or companies would create further impediment to the market's recovery.A financial industry official said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met over the past week with various groups, including hedge fund managers, that were petitioning for assistance. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Treasury has not made a decision.This official said the discussions with insurance industry executives were being held in advance of what are expected to be disappointing earnings reports by some insurance companies in the coming week.The official said the insurance industry would like to get government purchases of their stock on a mandatory basis, duplicating the agreement Paulson struck two weeks ago with nine major banks.Paulson pressured the big banks to go along with the program as a way of removing the stigma that might be attached to the payments if only a few major banks had received them.Some insurers technically would be eligible for stock purchases now if they own subsidiaries that are savings and loan institutions regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision.
Last month, American International Group, the country's largest insurance company, received an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. Since then, it has gotten further support in an effort to withstand the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the Great Depression.Complicating the government's decision-making is that the Bush administration will not be in charge after Jan. 20. Paulson, who has said he has no intention of staying on the job, has pledged to consult with both campaigns on his bailout actions. Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign said Friday it supported the effort by the auto industry to get money from the $250 billion made available for stock purchases. That would be in addition to $25 billion recently approved by Congress for low-interest loans to help the struggling industry retool and build fuel efficient vehicles. The debate over expanding the bailout comes as the Treasury is rushing to get money out the door to the primary recipients: banks that sharply curtailed lending after suffering billions of dollars of losses on mortgage-related assets as home foreclosures soared in the housing slump. Lawmakers are pressuring the Treasury to do more in the foreclosure area, as well. Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told Congress about efforts to provide government-backed loan guarantees for mortgages that are reworked to help homeowners in danger of default. That would give banks an incentive to speed up refinancing efforts because the government would back part of the reworked loan. The Treasury also is moving ahead to get bank stock purchases approved. It announced on Oct. 14 that it was spending $125 billion to buy stock in nine of the largest financial institutions. An announcement was expected Friday about a second round involving 20 to 22 other banks. But it was decided each bank would announce its own agreements with the Treasury, out of concern that excluded banks could suffer a stock sell-off from disappointed investors. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. announced Friday it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion, in what was the first instance of a bank using fresh investments from the bailout program to make an acquisition. PNC said it had received $7.7 billion in cash through selling stock to the government under the program.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
Chinese eggs found tainted with excessive melamine By MIN LEE, Associated Press Writer OCT 26,08
HONG KONG – Excessive levels of the industrial chemical melamine in Chinese eggs might be traced to feed given to chickens, the Hong Kong government said late Saturday.The government said in a statement it found 4.7 parts per million of melamine in the eggs produced by a division of China's Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group based in the northeastern port city Dalian. The legal limit of melamine in Hong Kong is 2.5 ppm.Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow said the melamine may have come from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs.The preliminary opinion experts have given us is that there is a problem with the feed, Chow told reporters.The new results have prompted officials to expand food testing to meat imports from China, Chow told reporters Sunday.In an earlier egg-related food safety scare, the banned cancer-causing industrial dye, Sudan Red, was used to color egg yolks.China is currently caught in a food safety scandal over dairy products tainted with melamine. More than 3,600 children remain sick in China from contaminated milk, with three in serious condition, the Ministry of Health said last week. The deaths of four infants have been blamed on dairy products contaminated with melamine.Authorities say middlemen apparently added melamine to milk they collected from farmers to sell to large dairy companies. The suppliers are accused of watering down the milk and then adding the nitrogen-rich chemical to make the milk seem higher in protein when tested. Protein tests often simply measure nitrogen levels.Calls to Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group Sunday went unanswered.Chow said Hong Kong officials will step up checks of eggs imported from China.Melamine is used in the manufacturing of plastics, fertilizer, paint and adhesives. Health experts say ingesting a small amount poses no danger, but in larger doses, the chemical can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure. Infants are particularly vulnerable.
The Hong Kong government also said it found excessive amounts of melamine in Blueberry Cream Sandwich crackers made by Philippine company Croley Foods MFG. Corp.
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).
Czech eurosceptics routed in polls ahead of Lisbon Treaty vote
Posted: 26 October 2008 0445 hrs
PRAGUE : The leftist Czech opposition Saturday swept senate elections, crushing the eurosceptic ruling Civic Democrats of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek before Prague takes over the EU presidency. The liberal Civic Democrats lost their single-vote majority in the upper house in the vote in which 27 out of 81 senate seats were at stake. The opposition Social Democrats clinched 23 seats against seven they were defending. The ruling party's rout could compromise Topolanek's future as chief of the party, which elects a new leader in December. The result also raises the likelihood of the Lisbon Treaty sailing through the senate before Prague takes over the rotating European Union presidency on January 1 as the opposition Social Democrats have always voiced their support. The Czech Republic is one of only three of the 27 EU countries to still approve the treaty, designed to streamline institutions after the bloc's recent eastward expansion and replace the failed constitution. Prime Minister Topolanek on Saturday verbalised the uncertainty voiced by critics on his future, saying: For me personally it means I'll have to decide whether I'll run for party chairman at the congress in December. His main rival in the party, Pavel Bem who is Prague mayor, said: The party should consider calling an extraordinary congress before the scheduled date in December.And Social Democrats leader Jiri Paroubek, revelling in what he called a glittering victory, Saturday made a pitch for snap polls. The result of the elections opens the way for the cabinet to resign, and to early elections which could be held next year, he said.
But the result of the senate polls may see the stationing of a US radar base -- part of the US missile defence system -- on Czech soil blocked as it is promoted by the Civic Democrats. In the senate elections, the Civic Democrats only secured three out of nine seats they were defending. The Communists took one. The centre-right governing coalition, comprising the Christian Democrats and the Greens as well and lacking a clear majority in the more powerful lower house, will now have 44 seats in the senate. Last weekend, the Social Democrats also crushed the Civic Democrats in regional elections, clinching wins in 13 of the 14 Czech regions.
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.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Israel's Livni expected to recommend snap elections on Sunday
Posted: 26 October 2008 0555 hrs
JERUSALEM - The head of Israel's governing party, Tzipi Livni, is likely to recommend early elections on Sunday after ending efforts to form a coalition government, Israeli public radio reported. Sources close to Livni told Israeli radio Saturday that she would propose snap elections to President Shimon Peres, and that the vote could be held in the next four months. Livni, leader of the Kadima party and currently foreign minister, warned on Thursday that if she was unable to form a coalition government by a Sunday deadline, snap elections would be called. She had gathered her inner circle on Saturday night for last-minute talks before announcing her decision. She took the correct decision, Kadima party member and lawmaker Yoel Hasson told journalists, without confirming the radio report. Livni is expected to meet Peres at 1500 GMT to inform him on efforts to form a government. The chances of forming a government were reduced after a powerful ultra-Orthodox party said it would not join a coalition headed by prime minister designate Livni. Major differences emerged in talks with Shas, the third largest party with 12 deputies, whose support was seen as vital in forming a viable government. On Friday, Shas said it had failed to secure two key requirements -- increased family allowances and a guarantee that the future of occupied east Jerusalem would not be negotiated in peace talks with the Palestinians. Peres asked Livni on September 22 to form a new government after she was elected Kadima leader to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has resigned to battle a wave of graft allegations. Livni, a 51-year-old former Mossad agent, is seeking to become Israel's second woman prime minister after Golda Meir, who held office from 1969 to 1974. However, should general elections be scheduled for 2009, polls have indicated they could bring Likud and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to power. An early general election could also cast a long shadow over already sluggish Middle East peacemaking. As foreign minister, Livni has led US-backed negotiations with the Palestinians that were revived at a US conference last November but have made little progress since. On Thursday, Netanyahu accused Livni of wanting to divide Jerusalem, whose fate is one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians have demanded mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- seized and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six Day war in a move not recognised internationally -- as the capital of their future state. Israel considers the entire city its eternal, undivided capital, although Olmert last month said that Israel would have to give up almost the entire occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem as the price for peace.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
PALESTINIAN FORCE IN HEBRON
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.
More than 60 killed in fierce Yemen storms by Hamoud Mounasser – OCT 25,08
SANAA (AFP) – Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.
At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.
Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.
A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day, one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a national catastrophe and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen's flood victims.OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount the grave humanitarian crisis.Ihsanoglu called for OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world's least developed nations.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.Rescue coordinators said that among the victims were seven people who perished in Al-Mukalla, which is on the shores of the Arabian Sea.Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones.Bad weather continued to batter southeast coastal regions on Saturday but residents said the skies were clearing inland.Military helicopters and others operated by oil firms were hampered on Friday by strong winds as they fought to rescue thousands of people stranded by the floods, according to one emergency official.
Local authorities in Yemen said that more than 500 houses were destroyed across Hadramaut province and 3,500 families made homeless. Flooding also caused heavy damage to roads and power and water networks.Among the affected areas was the UNESCO world heritage site of Shibam which was totally cut off by the flood waters. But the situation was returning to normal on Saturday, local officials said. Shibam, with more than 20,000 residents, is famed for its high-rise mudbrick buildings, mostly dating from the 16th century, that have given the town the moniker the Manhattan of the desert.It was established in the third century and built with the profits from frankincense, which is still sold there. Floods and lightning also claimed the lives of at least 25 people in April 2006 across eight provinces of the Arabian peninsula country.
Tropical depression nears tropical storm strength OCT24,08
MIAMI – A tropical depression is just below tropical storm strength as it swirls in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the depression's maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph early Friday.The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible and the depression could briefly become a tropical storm later in the day before it begins to weaken.The depression is centered about 255 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and moving northwest near 8 mph.
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.
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 6.2 earthquake rocks Papua New Guineau OCT 24,08
SYDNEY (AFP) – A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guineau on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or tsunami.The quake struck off Wewak on the main island's northern coast at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) at 8:04 pm (1004 GMT), it said in an alert seen here.Papua New Guinea is home to many active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where several tectonic plates collide. The region is frequently rocked by earthquakes.
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 and Cuba formally restore ties
LEIGH PHILLIPS 24.10.2008 @ 09:51 CET
The European Union has officially renewed ties with Cuba after a five-year freeze in relations and announced it will deliver millions of euros in aid to the Communist-led island. Development commissioner Louis Michel and Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque signed a joint declaration in Havana on Thursday (23 October) that restores bilateral co-operation between the EU and Cuba and recognises the country's political independence and the principle of non-intervention in its domestic affairs.
Havana has also agreed to a political dialogue with Brussels without taboo,according to Mr Michel.We have stated the will to deepen a constructive and respectful dialogue that must be based on strict respect, without taboo, said Mr Michel after signing the declaration, newswires report.The commissioner added that the occasion marks the renewal of strong, strategic, useful, positive and respectful relations with Havana.Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque said: There has been an important advance in the relations between the EU and Cuba.The EU is to immediately deliver an emergency €2 million to aid reconstruction efforts after two hurricanes, Ike and Gustave, hit Cuba at the end of the summer, causing billions of euros of damage to homes, farms and infrastructure.A further €25 to €30 million will be provided next year, following the visit of an EU delegation to the island in November to assess Cuban aid requirements.The agreement renews relations after a five-year deep freeze. The EU imposed sanctions on Havana after the 2003 arrest of 75 opponents of the Communist government accused of receiving funding from Washington and the execution of three Cubans for hijacking a ferry and ordering it to travel to the United States.The sanctions were suspended in 2005 and lifted entirely in June this year. The EU wants to offer encouragement after Raul Castro replaced his brother, Fidel, as president of the country in the hope that the new leader will put Cuba on the path toward liberalisation of the island's economy.Some 55 opponents remain in jail. Mr Michel has no plans to meet any opposition groups over the course of his trip, which is to end on Sunday.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) 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.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
Strained relations between Russians, EU monitors in Georgia
VALENTINA POP 24.10.2008 @ 17:57 CET
EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – Russia is not informing the EU mission of their deployment of troops, nor is it allowing observers to enter Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Hansjorg Haber, the head of EU's civilian monitoring mission to Georgia (EUMM) has said.The German diplomat held talks with EU ambassadors to inform them about the situation in Georgia, a month after the mission was deployed to monitor the withdrawal of the Russian troops to their initial positions prior to the August war.After the first big task was largely completed – monitoring the Russian withdrawal from the adjacent areas to Abkhazia and South Ossetia – EU monitors now try on a daily basis to enter the territory of the two breakaway provinces, so far unsuccessfully however, Mr Haber told journalists on Friday (24 October) in Brussels.We ask, we knock at the door and we think that the Abkhaz and South Ossetian de facto authorities may have their own interest in admitting us if they want alleged shootings from the Georgian side to be investigated and reported on, said the head of the EUMM mission.Both the president of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov have accused the EUMM of turning a blind eye to Tbilisi's deployment of special forces on the border who shoot at Ossetian positions.Mr Haber dismissed these allegations as overblown, saying that the situation is surprisingly calm in the adjacent areas. Georgian special forces are not what Moscow understands. They're lightly armed police units, not travelling in armoured vehicles, and needed to restore law and order in adjacent areas, Mr Haber said.
Asked to describe how daily communication with the Russians proceeds, Mr Haber said that the EUMM does not have any telephone number from their side, although we have been asking for it and are asking for it again.We work with the Russians through the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi, he explained.Relations with the Russians are also difficult he said because Moscow is in the process of exchanging its peace-keepers with regular troops, Mr Haber explained.Since the EU does not recognise the independence of the two breakaway provinces, there is no legal foundation for the stationing of an announced 3700 Russian regular troops to replace the 500 peacekeepers, he said.There are still regular troops displaying peacekeeping insignia, so we don't know how many they are at this moment, Mr Haber added.
Returning refugees forced to take Russian passports
Some 4,400 people have fled the Akhalgori valley, previously a Georgian-inhabited and administered district within the South Ossetian borders, and have found shelter mostly in Tbilisi, Mr Haber said. Yet for the people returning to South Ossetia, the situation is tough, as according to reports, they are required to take Russian passports, he said.If Russia recognises South Ossetia, then it also has an obligation that certain standards be observed. Forcing refugees to accept different passports just to be able to return to their homes is certainly not one of these standards, said the German diplomat.Mr Haber added that internally displaced people are sometimes returning too rapidly to areas where there are still unexploded munitions. We are collaborating with Halo Trust who are collecting ordnance. We are also conducting a mine awareness campaign in these areas where there is unexploded ordnance, already identified by Halo Trust, he said.
Palestinian force enters Hebron in security drive OCT 25,08
HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent hundreds of security officers into Hebron on Saturday as part of a Western-backed campaign to strengthen his control over the occupied West Bank.Israel, which is trying to bolster Abbas against his Hamas rivals, approved the deployment of some 550 armed officers in the biggest West Bank city, a frequent flashpoint between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.We are serious and willing to arrest anyone who disturbs law and order ... starting with illegal armed groups and whoever deals with illegal arms, said Samih al-Saifi, the Palestinian security chief for the Hebron area.Abbas is under pressure to assert control over the West Bank so U.S.-sponsored talks with Israel can progress. Abbas's administration complains about Israeli intervention in the deployment of its forces, and that continued Israeli raids in the West Bank undermine its credibility.Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip after routing Abbas's forces in 2007. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led government and appointed a new administration in the West Bank, where his Fatah faction remains dominant.
Palestinian officials said Abbas had postponed a meeting scheduled for Monday with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose Kadima party leaders are busy trying to forge a new government coalition.An Israeli security source said the Palestinian deployment in Hebron had been coordinated with the Israeli army and that the Palestinian force would not be allowed to intervene in areas where Jewish settlers live.They are meant to police the community and strengthen the Palestinian Authority's ability to fight Hamas, the source said.Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the deployment was part of a campaign that has been successful in other West Bank cities.Without enforcing law and order, the Palestinians can't live a sustainable life and have a sustainable economy, Fayyad said.Some 650 heavily guarded Jewish settlers live in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron, among about 30,000 Palestinians. About 180,000 Palestinians live in the city overall.(Reporting by Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh and Wafa Amr; writing by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Andrew Roche)
Coalition talks flop, push Israel toward election OCT 24,08 By Douglas Hamilton and Ori Lewis.
AFP JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel stepped closer to an early election on Friday when a Jewish religious party refused to join a new coalition under Tzipi Livni, the designated successor to scandal-hit outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Unless reversed, the decision of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a linchpin of successive governments, could kill off already dwindling hopes of a peace deal with Palestinians this year by leaving Israel under caretaker leadership for months.Shas said its word was final, and its refusal to consider dividing Jerusalem for the sake of a peace deal lay at the heart of it. But Shas was also seeking an increase in the budget for welfare, which Livni's centrist Kadima party rejected.Shas made its decision based on its principles. If our demands had been met, we would have been in. They were not met, and we cannot join, said Shas chairman Eli Yishai. Shas cannot be bought and Shas will not sell out on Jerusalem.A Livni ally cautioned there was still time for a coalition deal to be forged, and Livni had 48 hours to negotiate before the expiry of her self-imposed Sunday evening deadline.I don't think we've failed. It's not over until it's over, Yoel Hasson, a Kadima lawmaker, said. He added that efforts to establish a coalition would continue through Sunday and if they failed, we will go for an election, and win it.Gidon Saar of the right-wing opposition Likud, which is riding high in the polls and favors an election, accused Livni of still trying to tempt all sorts of party fragments and to form some sort of clumsy government.
LIVNI SILENT
There was no reaction from Livni herself, who is not likely to give up easily on her quest to be confirmed as Israel's first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
Israeli television stations said Livni could muster a slim majority of 63, on the basis of talks she has held with two left-wing parties, Labour and Meretz, a pensioners party and members of another religious party called United Torah Judaism.
Some analysts think she may also be able to rely on the support of smaller parties outside government, including Arab politicians.Kadima and Labour, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, favor pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians and insist now is not the time to burden Israel with elections, more so in view of the mounting world economic crisis.Olmert, who resigned last month over corruption inquiries, formally remains premier, but without the political authority to sign a historic pact with the Palestinians as President George W. Bush desires before he leaves the White House in January.Livni and Barak would press on with talks, launched a year ago, in search of an accord to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Likud, by contrast, has condemned Olmert's peace moves and on Friday suggested that Livni would sacrifice Jerusalem.Both Israel and the Palestinians claim the city as their capital. Olmert is ready to discuss giving parts of the city seized in the 1967war back to the Arabs.Livni has been trying to forge partnerships since she was elected leader of Kadima in mid-September. Her overtures for a grand coalition of the main parties were quickly rejected by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who heads Likud.Hasson, Livni's ally, said Netanyahu had sabotaged the coalition talks by secretly offering Shas a bigger welfare budget for its poor religious supporters than anything Livni has offered. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem)(Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Dominic Evans)
Israel religious party rejects conditions to join govt OCT 24,08
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Leaders of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party said on Friday that they had rejected conditions set by ruling Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to join a coalition government.The decision was taken by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the 87-year-old spiritual leader, after consulation the party's supreme authority, Shas said.On Thursday, Livni set an ultimatum for her Kadima party's potential coalition partners, saying if there was no agreement on a coalition by a Sunday deadline she would call a snap general election.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
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.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
THE MARKETS LOST 3 TRILLION DOLLARS ALREADY.
Full text of Chinese president's speech at Asia-Europe summit opening session
Oct 24, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
[Full text of speech by Hu Jintao, president of the People's Republic of China, delivered at the Opening Session of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting in Beijing on 24 October 2008: Asia and Europe Cooperate Hand in Hand To Obtain Win-Win Results] Beijing, 24 Oct (Xinhua) - Honourable guests,
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
First of all, I would like to express warm congratulations on the opening of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting and sincere welcome to our colleagues and guests of honour! In the past few months, the Chinese people have gone through very unusual times. We have withstood the stern test of the extraordinarily disastrous Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and have also shared with the international community the happy time of the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympic Games. In the course of this, the Chinese people have obtained the sincere help and strong support of the international community, especially various countries in Asia and Europe. I would like to express heartfelt thanks for this on behalf of the Chinese Government and people!
Ladies and gentlemen!
Recently, the serious impact on the international financial market produced by the US subprime mortgage crisis has seriously affected the economic development and the people's livelihood of various countries of the world and has caused the governments and people of various countries to worry. In the face of this global challenge, various countries of the world should strengthen policy coordination, cooperate closely and make joint response. At this critical moment, strengthening confidence is more important than anything else. Only by strengthening confidence and making efforts hand in hand will it be possible for us to tide over our difficulties together. China appreciates and supports positive measures to respond to the financial crisis taken by relevant countries and hopes these measures will achieve success as soon as possible. China has actively striven to respond to the financial crisis within its capacity and has taken a series of important measures, including ensuring the stability of its domestic financial system, increasing the liquidity of its financial market and financial institutions, closely coordinating and cooperating with the macroeconomic policies of other countries and so on. China will, with a responsible attitude, continue to work together with the international community to strive to maintain international financial stability and economic stability. Since the beginning of this year, China has actively responded to the complicated changes in the international economic environment and the severe challenges of nature. Its economy has maintained a relatively fast growth, its financial industry has operated steadily, and the basic situation of its economic development has not changed. Besides, the global financial crisis has notably increased factors of instability in China's economic development and China's economic development is faced with numerous difficulties and challenges. China is a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion people, China's economy has become more closely linked to the world economy with each passing day, and maintaining a good momentum of China's economic development itself is an important contribution to the stability of the global financial market and the development of the world economy. Because of this, we shall first of all do our own work well. We shall, according to changes in the economic situation at home and abroad, increase the predictability, pertinence and efficiency of macro regulation and control, readjust policies in good time, strive to expand domestic demands, especially consumption demands, maintain economic stability and financial stability and the stability of the capital market, and continue to promote good and fast economic and social development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At present, the Eurasian continent is undergoing profound changes and readjustments. The political situation in Asia is on the whole stable, various kinds of regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms are vying with each other to develop, and Asia has become one of the regions with the greatest vitality for development of the world. The integration of Europe is developing at a deeper level, Europe's cooperation with other regions is expanding with each passing day, and Europe is playing a more and more important role in international affairs. At the same time, the peace and development of Europe and Asia are still faced with numerous issues and challenges: local conflicts and hotspot issues are sometimes up and sometimes down, traditional security threats and nontraditional security threats are interwoven, the turbulence in the international financial market is especially strong, the issues of energy security and grain security are conspicuous, and the pressure of inflation is increasing. They have constituted stern challenges to global economic development. Against the backdrop of the in-depth development of economic globalization, the future and destiny of the Eurasian continent has become more and more closely linked with the future and destiny of the whole world. Asia and Europe cooperating hand in hand to obtain win-win results is our best choice. That the current Asia-Europe Summit Meeting has taken dialogue, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results as its theme is entirely in keeping with the demands of the situation of the development of the relations between Asia and Europe. Since the first Asia-Europe Summit Meeting held in 1996, the meeting has made remarkable achievements in various fields and has become an important platform for Asia-Europe dialogue and cooperation. Being faced with the demands of the new era, both the Asian and European sides should further make good use of this platform, strengthen dialogue, expand consensus, enhance trust and deepen cooperation. Both the Asian and European sides should respect each other's social systems, ideologies, cultural backgrounds and modes of development, and increase the understanding of each other's policies and directions for development. Both the Asian and European sides should, in the spirit of opening up, make full use of the advantage of the strong economic complementarities between the two sides, deepen existing cooperation, constantly nurture new growth points in cooperation, and properly handle trade and economic frictions through dialogue and consultation on an equal basis. Both the Asian and European sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly meet global challenges, promote the stability of the international energy market and grain market, strengthen cooperation in guarding against and resisting disasters, actively respond to climate change, promote the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals, promote multilateralism, promote proper solution to regional and international hotspot issues, and jointly promote world peace and development. Both the Asian and European sides should carry forward the spirit of equality, opening up and inclusiveness, advocate harmonious coexistence of different civilizations, learning from each other's civilizations and using each other's civilizations for reference, and work together to make contribution to the flourishing and progress of human civilization. Strengthening and developing friendly cooperation with other Asian countries and European countries is an important part of China's foreign policy. China will persistently get along harmoniously with other Asian countries and make common development, continue to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU and its member states, deepen PRC-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, actively participate in the progress of the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting, and make its own contribution to promoting Asia-Europe cooperation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our predecessors once opened up the "Silk Road," which wrote a brilliant page in the history of Asia-Europe relations. Today, we should all the more have greater farsightedness than our predecessors and open up a new situation of Asia-Europe cooperation to bring benefit to the people of various Asian and European countries. Let us work hand in hand and make unremitting efforts to create a new type of Asia-Europe partnership and promote the building of a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity. Finally, I heartily wish the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting complete success. Thank you! Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1222 gmt 24 Oct 08 BBC Mon AS1 AsPol qz.
Posted on Sat, Oct. 25, 2008 Leaders endorse IMF in aiding stricken economies
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press
BEIJING - Seeking a common approach to the global financial turmoil, Asian and European leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.The 43 nations participating in the Asia-Europe Meeting summit reconvened for a second day of meetings in China's capital Saturday, a day after adopting a statement calling on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, the statement said.The leaders also agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, it said.The document is one of the strongest endorsements yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF, long known as the international lender of last resort, and appears to mark a step toward an Asian-European consensus ahead of next month's crisis summit of the 20 largest economies in Washington.Countries as varied as Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland and Pakistan have already turned to the IMF for help bridging their liquidity crunches.On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Asian and European nations need to take a unified front to the Washington meeting.
Europe would like Asia to support our efforts and would like to make sure that on the 15th of November we can face the world together and say that the causes of this unprecedented crisis will never be able to happen again, Sarkozy said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the meeting Saturday that the IMF must become a guard for the stability of the international finance system, and that there was unanimous agreement that the body needed to take on a supervisory role.She also called for the step-by-step integration of the IMF into the Financial Stability Forum, founded in 1999 by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and aimed at bolstering the international financial system.The IMF, whose loans normally include strict provisions, is discussing loan packages with close to a dozen countries and is examining ways to speed up the process.In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday of a global recession and a serious hit to emerging economies, calling for drastic measures to shore up banks and extend lines of credit to the world's poorest states.The U.N. chief said the era of self-regulation among the biggest banks and other money-lending institutions had ended, and he pledged to support European and American efforts to rethink the global financial architecture.The Beijing gathering, known as ASEM, is held every two years but has no mandate to issue decisions and participants differ widely on their views toward international cooperation and intervention by global bodies. Free-trading Singapore and economic powerhouse Germany are attending, along with isolated, impoverished Myanmar and landlocked, authoritarian Laos.Asian financial systems had less direct exposure to the toxic sub-prime mortgages that are wreaking havoc on U.S. and European markets, but their export-driven economies are expected to take a major hit from a drop in exports and foreign investment. Asian stock markets were among the biggest losers Friday in a worldwide plunge in share prices.Associated Press writers Henry Sanderson in Beijing and Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing contributed to this report.
Summit leaders: Global teamwork needed to fight crunchStory Highlights
EC President calls for unity in tackling current global crisis OCT 25,08 Summit calls on financial institutions to support banks,Group of more than 40 nations call for reform of financial, monetary systems,Statement is strongest show yet of Asia-Europe coordinated voice on crisis
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Asian and European leaders vowed Saturday to act together to address the global financial crisis, calling for decisive action following a two-day summit in the Chinese capital.Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right.The ASEM meeting brought together the leaders of 43 Asian and European nations, along with the heads of the European Commission and ASEAN, a group of southeastern Asian nations.Europe and Asia have come together in Beijing at a time of global crisis, and indeed, we are in a moment where we need global teamwork, said EC President Jose Manuel Barroso. We either stick together or we sink together.While the summit is usually a forum for political, economic and cultural issues, it has taken on added significance this year because of the unfolding crisis.On Friday leaders at the summit called for new rules in dealing with international finance. They also urged a leading role for the IMF to help countries like Iceland and Pakistan that are struggling with the current crisis.Europe would like to try and come up with a common position among all of us as to a common response to this unprecedented financial crisis, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. This was a very useful and very promising summit. Europe and Asia have many things that they can do together.In a statement released Friday, the ASEM nations said the crisis can be overcome if all countries take firm, decisive and effective measures in a responsible and timely manner. They called on the international community to boost coordination and cooperation to restore market confidence, stabilize the markets, and promote financial growth.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said investor confidence will ultimately help the world get through the crisis, so that should now be a key focus.
Wen also urged cooperation among countries, especially in clarifying the role of government, companies and regulators.We need even more financial regulation to ensure financial stability, he said. We need to properly handle the relationship between savings and consumption, or accumulation and consumption. We need to keep savings and consumption at a normal, balanced and coordinated relationship with each other. Only in this way can we coordinate economic stability.Countries must also coordinate the virtual economy with the real economy, Wen said. The healthy development of the virtual economy, he said, will facilitate the growth of the real economy.Wen and Sarkozy also looked ahead to next month's financial summit of G20 leaders in the United States.Europe wishes that Asia will support our efforts so together we can tell the world on November 15 that the causes of this crisis, which has no precedence, will not continue to be reproduced on the financial and monetary system, Sarkozy said Friday.Friday's joint statement said there must be more supervision and regulation of all financial actors and that they need to be kept accountable. They said all countries need to strengthen oversight and crisis management mechanisms.Also Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said central banks and the IMF may have to set up major credit lines to bolster emerging economies and help the world's poor affected by the credit crisis.Too often, in recent weeks, financial leaders have been criticized for being too slow to recognize problems, for doing too little too late, he said in a statement. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past.Asian countries have not been as sharply affected by the current crisis as those in Europe, in part because they weren't as exposed to the subprime mortgage problems.Still, growth in Asia is slowing. China announced this week that its GDP growth had slowed to 9.9 percent in the first three quarters of the year -- the lowest in five years. CNN's John Vause contributed to this report.
Finance minister says Canada headed for rough times OCT 24,08
By Frank Pingue Frank Pingue – Fri Oct 24, 3:56 pm
ETNIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (Reuters) – Canadians are headed for tough economic times but the country is better able to withstand them than most others in the West, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday.We're in for rough times. These are difficult times. Canadians should not underestimate what we're facing. We're not an island. We're a trading nation, the newly reelected Conservative minister told a news conference.The point is Canada's better positioned to endure the difficult times than other western industrialized countries.He insisted that the government would be able to maintain a modest budget surplus for the fiscal year that ends next March 31. Ottawa ran a C$1.75 billion ($1.38 billion) deficit in August but still had a C$1.16 billion surplus for the April to August period.Yet Flaherty appeared to leave the door open to possible deficits to stimulate the economy in the future, saying Canada had been paying down debt and reducing taxes.We have more tools available for us in terms of addressing the need for further economic measures if that's what's required, he said.You contrast that with some other countries that are running large deficits, and that in order to take further steps they have to add further burdens on taxpayers ultimately by increasing deficits.Flaherty has promised to present the annual autumn fiscal and economic update by the end of November, in which he will make clearer his view for the 2009-10 fiscal year.We're going to continue to monitor the scenario and make an accurate assessment of where we are. We're only in October and the uncertainty in the global markets continues. It continues today, he said.
It would be irresponsible of me to prejudge where we are going to be as we go over the next few months given that global uncertainty.Although Flaherty has not ruled out deficit spending, something that has not been done by a Canadian government since 1996-97, he said Canadians prefer a steady hand instead of grand new spending schemes.This has been, and this is, a difficult time for Canadian families, for Canadian businesses. People are worried about their jobs and their savings, he said in a speech before his news conference.However, he reiterated that Canada's banks are sound and well capitalized, unemployment is near a generational low and Canadians are able to afford their mortgages, unlike many in the United States.The country's manufacturing sector could also benefit from the recent hammering of the Canadian dollar, which makes Canadian exports cheaper, while making Canadians think twice about buying or traveling outside the country.The Canadian dollar has retreated from par with the U.S. dollar in July to C$1.2715, or 78.65 U.S. cents, to the U.S. dollar on Friday afternoon.The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index dropped nearly 7 percent at the open on Friday in line with a wave of sharp drops on equity markets worldwide, but later retraced some of those losses and was down about 2 percent late in the afternoon.(Writing by Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)
Belgian PM calls for European emergency fund to aid banks OCT 25,08
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Belgium's prime minister Saturday called for the creation of a European emergency fund to recapitalise banks and guarantee loans between them.In an opinion piece published in Flemish- and French-language newspapers, Prime Minister Yves Leterme said the fund could be used to acquire non-liquid assets.The European Investment Bank (EIB) could borrow the necessary means for the fund, Leterme said, but added that banks that could benefit from them should contribute as a sort of insurance premium.He said the creation of the fund, which would take time, was one of the lessons to be drawn from the rescue of the Franco-Belgian Dexia and Franco-Dutch Fortis banks which had required several European states (Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) to work together.These banks were not only too big to fail but were also too big to be saved by a single country, Leterme wrote. He said that Fortis, Dexia and the Belgian insurance company Ethias, also rescued by the state, represent assets equal to almost three times the gross domestic product of Belgium and that the value of their deposits is greater than national income.
Leterme also called for what he said was the currently controversial idea of a European eurozone financial supervisor.The supervisor would be responsible for financial institutions in the widest sense, not only banks, insurance companies and pension funds, but also credit rating agencies and speculative funds.Earlier this month EU leaders, while emphasising the need to reinforce supervision of the European financial sector only invited national supervisors to meet each month to exchange information.
World leaders pledge financial reform as gloom deepens OCT 25,08
BEIJING (AFP) - World leaders vowed Saturday to overhaul the global financial system in the face of recession fears, but US President George W. Bush urged nations to recommit to free markets despite economic turmoil.After a week of growing economic gloom and plunging stock markets, Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing promised wide-ranging reforms while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for quick change.Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) said in a statement released late Friday.They agreed to take quickly appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institutions.China's Premier Wen Jiabao called for more regulation of the world's financial system, saying after the summit we need to draw lessons from this crisis.We need financial innovation to serve the economy better, however we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety.
Wen confirmed China's participation in a crucial summit in the United States on November 15 aimed at tackling the financial meltdown, without specifying which Chinese leader would attend the meeting of 20 industrialised and emerging powers.The economic turmoil has led to growing criticism of US-style free market capitalism, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week saying the ideology of the dictatorship of the market... is dead.But Bush on Saturday, moving to set an agenda for the upcoming international economic summit, said its participants must recommit to the principles of free enterprise and free trade.As we focus on responses to our short-term challenges, our nations must also recommit to the fundamentals of long-term economic growth -- free markets, free enterprise, and free trade, Bush said in his weekly radio address.The US president, who leaves office in January, added that open market policies have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty.Ban said the Washington meet must address the need for change and joined chief executives of key UN institutions in calling for considered but large-scale reforms.The market and regulatory failures that have led to this crisis must be addressed as a matter of urgency, a joint statement said.We reaffirm the need for meaningful, comprehensive and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system and pledge our support to this end.Stock markets provided a grim backdrop to the Beijing meeting, plummeting Friday after a raft of pessimistic corporate and economic news. Tokyo's dizzying 9.6 percent slump spilt over into Europe, where London's FTSE plunged 5.0 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 312.30 points (3.59 percent) to close at 8,378.95, capping a week when the US blue-chip index dropped more than five percent.The Saudi stock market, the largest in the Arab world, began its trading week on Saturday with a nine percent plunge to sink to its lowest point in four years.Giants of the auto, airline and technology industries took emergency action on Friday.
France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault ordered huge production cuts, while Japan's electronics giant Sony Corp. and Europe's biggest airline Air France-KLM issued profits warnings.Chrysler LLC, the number three US automaker, said it would cut up to 5,000 white-collar jobs by the end of the year as prospects in the sector grow dimmer.New figures showed industrial confidence in both France and Italy had fallen to the lowest level since 1993. In Spain, the unemployment rate jumped to 11.33 percent -- the highest in more than four years.Britain's economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the three months to September compared with the previous quarter, official figures showed, marking the first contraction since 1992.German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck predicted the financial crisis would last until late 2009 in an interview to be published Sunday.The risk of collapse is far from over, he told the Bild am Sonntag weekly.
Mediterranean union water conference called off OCT 25,08
PARIS (AFP) – A conference of European Union and Mediterranean states due to take place in Jordan has been postponed indefinitely because of regional tensions, officials said on Saturday in Paris.The conference (on water) has been postponed at the request of Jordan for reasons to do with the tensions between the Arab League and Israel, said the environment ministry in France, co-chair with Egypt of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM).An official in Amman confirmed the conference had been called off, adding that the Jordanian government would later issue a statement to explain the decision.The long-planned ministerial conference was due to have taken place at Swaimeh on the banks of the Dead Sea. It was mentioned specifically in the July 13 declaration at the Paris summit marking the creation of the UPM.Its stated aim was to establish the broad framework of a long-term strategy for water in the Mediterranean and to establish the first concrete plans in the sector.The UPM has 43 members: the 27 European Union states and 16 Mediterranean nations.In Cairo, meanwhile, an Arab League official said Saturday that the 22-member organisation would attend meetings of the UPM despite Israeli objections.We all agreed the Arab League will participate in meetings given its weight and central role in supporting efforts for security and peace in the region, Fatima al-Zahra said after a meeting of Arab member states of the UPM.Israel has objected to the pan-Arab institution's presence, saying the Arab League would oppose the Jewish state's participation in the UPM.
Russia says its economy remains strong Oct. 25, 2008 at 11:58
MOSCOW, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Russian banking officials say the country's economy remains strong and there is no need to change the ruble's trading targets.We see no grounds for a revision of the corridor, said Alexei Ulyukayev, Russian Central Bank first deputy chairman, Saturday.International investors have withdrawn billions of dollars from Russia since the world credit crisis began in August while lower oil prices have reduced the flow of capital into Russia, RIA Novosti reported.About $800 million in capital flowed into Russia in the first three quarters of 2008, while Russia saw an outflow of an estimated $7 billion in August and $25 billion in September, Ulyukayev said, adding October's outflow should be less than in September.
Uses for $700 billion bailout money ever shifting OCT 25,08
By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer John Dunbar,
WASHINGTON – First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets.Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them.Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners keep the foreclosure wolf from the door.As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress.In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has deviated significantly from its original course, says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. We need to examine closely the reason for this change, said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the troubled asset relief program, or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying toxic mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices.
But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending.Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was beyond troubling.Sure enough, a day after Dodd, D-Conn., made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program, Paulson recently told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now.Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses.Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock.There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders, he said.Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money under the proverbial mattress rather than make loans.Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating.As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program.Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets, Kashkari said. The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as custodian of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct reverse auctions to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities. On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it. With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments. The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market, Dodd said. And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures.Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working closely and creatively with Treasury officials to realize the potential benefits of this authority.On the Net: Treasury: http://www.treasury.gov/
Christians face attacks in eastern India OCT 25,08
By TIM SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
TIKKABALLI, India – They still worship in what remains of the little Baptist church not far from this forest town. The church is empty except for the rubble swept neatly into the corners. The sun comes through ragged holes where the mob smashed in the window frames.On the roof, the crucifix is just twisted metal and broken concrete. It's barely recognizable, and you have to ask to make sure that's what it once was.Here, prayers are said only in secret.We do it without making any noise, said Subhash Digal, holding his four-month-old son on his hip as he stood outside the church, where the smell of burned timber lingered on a warm autumn afternoon. We don't want these people to know we are inside.In this corner of the eastern state of Orissa, it's hard to find a Christian who isn't afraid.Bloody anti-Christian riots broke out here in late August, rampages by Hindu hard-liners that since then have left at least 38 people dead, as many as 30,000 homeless and dozen of churches destroyed. The worst of the violence ended after a week or so, when authorities finally deployed soldiers to set up checkpoints and relief camps.But nearly every day since then, the trouble has continued: a house burned, a carload of people beaten, a soldier hacked to death. Repeatedly, Christian villagers say, they have been told they must convert to Hinduism. The anti-Christian violence has also flickered across other parts of India, with churches vandalized and Christians attacked in the high-tech hub of Bangalore, the city of Mangalore and the coastal state of Kerala.In a country desperate to be seen as a stable, democratic world power, the violence is a window into India's hidden fragility, its sometimes-dangerous political climate and the fierce historical divisions buried in its vast diversity.India is more than 80 percent Hindu but its 1.1 billion people include all of the world's major religions, a caste system of near-impossible complexity, colossal divides of wealth and poverty, and, by some estimates, more than 2,000 ethnic groups.
If you look at Africa, you don't see this kind of diversity, if you look at all of Europe, you don't see this kind of diversity, said Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu intellectual and liberal social activist. When it comes to India's continued existence: Sometimes I think it's a miracle.Trouble can seem inevitable. In just the past couple weeks violence has ranged from the northeastern state of Assam, where at least 50 people have died in ethnic clashes, to the central state of Madhya Pradesh state, where three people were killed in religious riots after a Hindu procession passed through a Muslim neighborhood.Then there is Orissa's Kandhamal district, where widespread trouble began after the Aug. 24 killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a hard-line Hindu leader who rose to prominence in the area by advocating that Christian converts return to Hinduism.Police blamed Maoist guerrillas for the killing, though it's unclear why they would have targeted him.But Hindu militants quickly turned on local Christians, setting fire to a Christian orphanage and attacking churches and Christian-owned shops and homes. A nun accused a Hindu mob of raping her. At least 32 people have been killed, tens of thousands have fled their homes and thousands are believed still to be hiding in Orissa's thick forests.The Kandhamal region is a place where villagers tend farms in small valleys circled by humpbacked hills, and where roadside ponds are filled with swimming children and floating lotuses. But it's also a place long cut off by poverty and illiteracy, where electricity is unknown in most villages and the pay for day laborers — the only job most people hope for — is 30 rupees, or 60 cents. That wage is only for men: Women earn 20 rupees, or 40 cents.Kandhamal has long been a battleground over Christian missionary work among low-caste Hindus and the indigenous people known in India as tribals. While Christians account for just 2.5 percent of India, their population in Kandhamal has risen sharply in recent decades, reaching nearly 20 percent by the last census in 2001.Hindu militants say the reason for this is obvious: Missionaries are forcing or bribing people to convert, stealing followers from India's true religion.This is a kind of cultural invasion, Gauri Shankar Rath, a top official in the Orissa state VHP, the umbrella organization of Hindu nationalists, said in a telephone interview. Our culture is being attacked.
Missionaries dismiss such accusations. And conversion does offer worldly benefits: For the low-caste, there's a partial escape from the stigmas of the Hindu caste system. Some missionaries also reach out to followers by building medical clinics and schools. But as with much of India's violence, the obvious rationale for Kandhamal's bloodshed is really just one tile in a mosaic of discontent. Much of the bitterness here is rooted in competition between two groups struggling at the bottom of India's social spectrum: the Panas and the Kandhas. The Panas are dalits, the group once known in India as untouchables, while the Kandhas are tribals. The two have long competed for land, and more recently for jobs and school seats reserved by the government for the disadvantaged. Over the past 20 years, the Kandhas have largely remained Hindu while many Panas have converted to Christianity, tangling religion into their conflict. Christians — even dalit converts — are not supposed to be eligible for reserved positions, but many Kandhas insist Pana Christian still find ways to get them. The Christians deny the accusation.
Then there is politics.
Many of the attacks, victims say, were carried out by the Bajrang Dal, a militant group closely allied to the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist political party that is part of Orissa's coalition government. The Hindu right-wing has long stirred up religious resentments as a way to shore up its voter base — and Orissa, as people here quickly point out, is expected to hold elections early next year. This isn't a war between Hindus and Christians, said Ugrasena Rana, a 32-year-old Hindu from Bujulimendi, a small village where a roaming gang burned down a half-dozen or so Christian homes after the swami was killed. This is a war between the Bajrang Dal and the people who will not follow their commands.In some ways, though, the Christians of Bujulimendi are lucky. Their Hindu neighbors have tried to protect them, and many Christian families now sleep in Hindu homes in case the mobs return.
The situation is grimmer outside the ransacked Baptist church, where villagers say their attackers included many people they knew. That mob, about 50 people armed with knives, swords and clubs, stormed through the village, chanting the name of the Hindu god Ram as they destroyed the church and Christian homes. Since then, smaller groups have returned repeatedly. There is seldom violence, but they state their message bluntly: convert or die. Eventually, villagers worry, the threat will be carried out. What can we do? asked Digal, the man dangling his baby. They are trying to force us to become Hindu.So will he convert? I don't know, he said, staring down at the ground. I haven't decided yet.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Ukraine turns down Russia fleet base offer Thu Oct 23, 1:40 pm
ETKIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine has turned down a Russian proposal to extend the lease for the naval base used by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.Russia wants the fleet to remain in the Crimean port of Sevastopol beyond 2017. The Kremlin is eager to maintain its strategic foothold on the Crimean Peninsula, which was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union.Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the issue cannot be a subject of discussion. It said that Russian ships will have to leave Ukrainian waters in 2017.Russia has said it wants to negotiate new terms when 2017 draws closer. Moscow hopes pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko will be out of power by then.
Russia warns U.S. sanctions on state-run arms exporter will affect relations OCT 24,08
(RTTNews) - Russia warned the United States that its imposition of sanctions against state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport would affect bilateral relations.
Addressing a press conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington's action is against international law.Washington need not expect Russia to make concessions on the Iranian nuclear issue under pressure from the sanctions, Lavrov told reporters Friday.Rosoboronexport was included in a blacklist of firms in Russia and some other nations that the U.S. State Department published Thursday. The sanctions were imposed for allegedly selling sensitive technology to countries, including Iran, for the development of weapons of mass destruction.A punitive action is already in force on the Russian firm, with effect from 2006.For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com
EU terror list outpacing court rulings
PHILIPPA RUNNER 24.10.2008 @ 09:32 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), the country's leading opposition group, will stay on the EU's terrorist register despite a second European court ruling, as EU member states outpace the courts with fresh decisions every few months.The European Court of First Instance verdict on Thursday (23 October) dissolved a decision taken by EU states in December 2007 to keep the PMOI on its blacklist, saying UK evidence against the group was invalid.The terrorist register names over 60 organisations, resulting in international stigma, a freeze on EU financial assets and a ban on fund-raising.It is managed by EU member state intelligence services meeting in a clearing house working group with no political or judicial oversight and with their decisions later rubber-stamped by EU ministers as EU common positions.The court's Thursday decision on the PMOI does not apply to a subsequent common position of July 2008, with EU member states saying that new information concerning the group has been brought to the Council's attention [that] warrants the group's inclusion on the list.The PMOI has appealed the July move as well, but the court is unlikely to issue a new verdict before the clearing house refreshes the list again in November or December, perpetuating the legal cycle.The EU court in 2006 had already annulled a previous common position of 2005.The PMOI and its Paris-based sister group, the National Resistance Council of Iran (NRCI) have been battling clearing house for six years.The Iran group - which was responsible for bombings and attacks against the Islamic regime in Iran in the 1980s and 1990s - renounced violence in 2001 and now claims to represent the strongest pro-democratic voice in the country today.NRCI leader Maryam Rajavi accuses the EU and US - which also calls PMOI a terrorist organisation - of restricting the Mujahedin to curry favour with Tehran in nuclear proliferation talks.
Meanwhile, Iranian diplomats say the PMOI-NRCI organisation is a dangerous Rajavi-personality cult mistrusted by ordinary Iranians, which should not be let off the hook for past actions.
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.
More than 60 killed in fierce Yemen storms by Hamoud Mounasser – OCT 25,08
SANAA (AFP) – Aid operations swung into higher gear in Yemen on Saturday after floods killed at least 58 people and six more died from lightning strikes during two days of fierce storms.The interior ministry, updating an earlier toll, said at least 58 people died in flooding fed by torrential downpours that hit Hadramaut and Mahara provinces on Thursday and Friday.
At least five others were reported missing in Mahara.
Four people were also killed by lightning in the southern provinces of Tayez and Lahj, and a mother and son also died when struck by lightning in the Al-Mahwit region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.But the toll could rise even further as rescue teams searched for victims who may still be trapped in homes swept by the floods and as the authorities launched an airlift to fly aid to the stricken areas.
A first batch of six aircraft took off from Sanaa on Saturday loaded with tents, food and medicine for the Hadramaut capital of Al-Mukalla and Mahara, airport officials said.Other airlifts are scheduled for later in the day, one official said, adding that public and private organisations had joined ranks to help victims of the disaster.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference described the situation as a national catastrophe and launched on Saturday a drive to collect funds to help Yemen's flood victims.OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, urged members of the 57-strong Islamic body as well as charity organisations in Muslim countries to help Yemen surmount the grave humanitarian crisis.Ihsanoglu called for OIC solidarity with the people of Yemen in these difficult circumstances and also urged the international community to provide assistance to Yemen, one of the world's least developed nations.The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has said it will send emergency aid.Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured Al-Mukalla on Friday to oversee operations after tasking a government commission with handling the rescue effort.Rescue coordinators said that among the victims were seven people who perished in Al-Mukalla, which is on the shores of the Arabian Sea.Both Hadramaut and Mahra provinces have been officially declared disaster zones.Bad weather continued to batter southeast coastal regions on Saturday but residents said the skies were clearing inland.Military helicopters and others operated by oil firms were hampered on Friday by strong winds as they fought to rescue thousands of people stranded by the floods, according to one emergency official.
Local authorities in Yemen said that more than 500 houses were destroyed across Hadramaut province and 3,500 families made homeless. Flooding also caused heavy damage to roads and power and water networks.Among the affected areas was the UNESCO world heritage site of Shibam which was totally cut off by the flood waters. But the situation was returning to normal on Saturday, local officials said. Shibam, with more than 20,000 residents, is famed for its high-rise mudbrick buildings, mostly dating from the 16th century, that have given the town the moniker the Manhattan of the desert.It was established in the third century and built with the profits from frankincense, which is still sold there. Floods and lightning also claimed the lives of at least 25 people in April 2006 across eight provinces of the Arabian peninsula country.
Tropical depression nears tropical storm strength OCT24,08
MIAMI – A tropical depression is just below tropical storm strength as it swirls in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the depression's maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph early Friday.The hurricane center says some fluctuation in strength is possible and the depression could briefly become a tropical storm later in the day before it begins to weaken.The depression is centered about 255 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and moving northwest near 8 mph.
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.
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 6.2 earthquake rocks Papua New Guineau OCT 24,08
SYDNEY (AFP) – A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guineau on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or tsunami.The quake struck off Wewak on the main island's northern coast at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) at 8:04 pm (1004 GMT), it said in an alert seen here.Papua New Guinea is home to many active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where several tectonic plates collide. The region is frequently rocked by earthquakes.
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 and Cuba formally restore ties
LEIGH PHILLIPS 24.10.2008 @ 09:51 CET
The European Union has officially renewed ties with Cuba after a five-year freeze in relations and announced it will deliver millions of euros in aid to the Communist-led island. Development commissioner Louis Michel and Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque signed a joint declaration in Havana on Thursday (23 October) that restores bilateral co-operation between the EU and Cuba and recognises the country's political independence and the principle of non-intervention in its domestic affairs.
Havana has also agreed to a political dialogue with Brussels without taboo,according to Mr Michel.We have stated the will to deepen a constructive and respectful dialogue that must be based on strict respect, without taboo, said Mr Michel after signing the declaration, newswires report.The commissioner added that the occasion marks the renewal of strong, strategic, useful, positive and respectful relations with Havana.Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque said: There has been an important advance in the relations between the EU and Cuba.The EU is to immediately deliver an emergency €2 million to aid reconstruction efforts after two hurricanes, Ike and Gustave, hit Cuba at the end of the summer, causing billions of euros of damage to homes, farms and infrastructure.A further €25 to €30 million will be provided next year, following the visit of an EU delegation to the island in November to assess Cuban aid requirements.The agreement renews relations after a five-year deep freeze. The EU imposed sanctions on Havana after the 2003 arrest of 75 opponents of the Communist government accused of receiving funding from Washington and the execution of three Cubans for hijacking a ferry and ordering it to travel to the United States.The sanctions were suspended in 2005 and lifted entirely in June this year. The EU wants to offer encouragement after Raul Castro replaced his brother, Fidel, as president of the country in the hope that the new leader will put Cuba on the path toward liberalisation of the island's economy.Some 55 opponents remain in jail. Mr Michel has no plans to meet any opposition groups over the course of his trip, which is to end on Sunday.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) 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.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
Strained relations between Russians, EU monitors in Georgia
VALENTINA POP 24.10.2008 @ 17:57 CET
EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS – Russia is not informing the EU mission of their deployment of troops, nor is it allowing observers to enter Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Hansjorg Haber, the head of EU's civilian monitoring mission to Georgia (EUMM) has said.The German diplomat held talks with EU ambassadors to inform them about the situation in Georgia, a month after the mission was deployed to monitor the withdrawal of the Russian troops to their initial positions prior to the August war.After the first big task was largely completed – monitoring the Russian withdrawal from the adjacent areas to Abkhazia and South Ossetia – EU monitors now try on a daily basis to enter the territory of the two breakaway provinces, so far unsuccessfully however, Mr Haber told journalists on Friday (24 October) in Brussels.We ask, we knock at the door and we think that the Abkhaz and South Ossetian de facto authorities may have their own interest in admitting us if they want alleged shootings from the Georgian side to be investigated and reported on, said the head of the EUMM mission.Both the president of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov have accused the EUMM of turning a blind eye to Tbilisi's deployment of special forces on the border who shoot at Ossetian positions.Mr Haber dismissed these allegations as overblown, saying that the situation is surprisingly calm in the adjacent areas. Georgian special forces are not what Moscow understands. They're lightly armed police units, not travelling in armoured vehicles, and needed to restore law and order in adjacent areas, Mr Haber said.
Asked to describe how daily communication with the Russians proceeds, Mr Haber said that the EUMM does not have any telephone number from their side, although we have been asking for it and are asking for it again.We work with the Russians through the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi, he explained.Relations with the Russians are also difficult he said because Moscow is in the process of exchanging its peace-keepers with regular troops, Mr Haber explained.Since the EU does not recognise the independence of the two breakaway provinces, there is no legal foundation for the stationing of an announced 3700 Russian regular troops to replace the 500 peacekeepers, he said.There are still regular troops displaying peacekeeping insignia, so we don't know how many they are at this moment, Mr Haber added.
Returning refugees forced to take Russian passports
Some 4,400 people have fled the Akhalgori valley, previously a Georgian-inhabited and administered district within the South Ossetian borders, and have found shelter mostly in Tbilisi, Mr Haber said. Yet for the people returning to South Ossetia, the situation is tough, as according to reports, they are required to take Russian passports, he said.If Russia recognises South Ossetia, then it also has an obligation that certain standards be observed. Forcing refugees to accept different passports just to be able to return to their homes is certainly not one of these standards, said the German diplomat.Mr Haber added that internally displaced people are sometimes returning too rapidly to areas where there are still unexploded munitions. We are collaborating with Halo Trust who are collecting ordnance. We are also conducting a mine awareness campaign in these areas where there is unexploded ordnance, already identified by Halo Trust, he said.
Palestinian force enters Hebron in security drive OCT 25,08
HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent hundreds of security officers into Hebron on Saturday as part of a Western-backed campaign to strengthen his control over the occupied West Bank.Israel, which is trying to bolster Abbas against his Hamas rivals, approved the deployment of some 550 armed officers in the biggest West Bank city, a frequent flashpoint between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.We are serious and willing to arrest anyone who disturbs law and order ... starting with illegal armed groups and whoever deals with illegal arms, said Samih al-Saifi, the Palestinian security chief for the Hebron area.Abbas is under pressure to assert control over the West Bank so U.S.-sponsored talks with Israel can progress. Abbas's administration complains about Israeli intervention in the deployment of its forces, and that continued Israeli raids in the West Bank undermine its credibility.Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip after routing Abbas's forces in 2007. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led government and appointed a new administration in the West Bank, where his Fatah faction remains dominant.
Palestinian officials said Abbas had postponed a meeting scheduled for Monday with outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose Kadima party leaders are busy trying to forge a new government coalition.An Israeli security source said the Palestinian deployment in Hebron had been coordinated with the Israeli army and that the Palestinian force would not be allowed to intervene in areas where Jewish settlers live.They are meant to police the community and strengthen the Palestinian Authority's ability to fight Hamas, the source said.Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the deployment was part of a campaign that has been successful in other West Bank cities.Without enforcing law and order, the Palestinians can't live a sustainable life and have a sustainable economy, Fayyad said.Some 650 heavily guarded Jewish settlers live in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron, among about 30,000 Palestinians. About 180,000 Palestinians live in the city overall.(Reporting by Mustafa Abu Ganeyeh and Wafa Amr; writing by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Andrew Roche)
Coalition talks flop, push Israel toward election OCT 24,08 By Douglas Hamilton and Ori Lewis.
AFP JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel stepped closer to an early election on Friday when a Jewish religious party refused to join a new coalition under Tzipi Livni, the designated successor to scandal-hit outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Unless reversed, the decision of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a linchpin of successive governments, could kill off already dwindling hopes of a peace deal with Palestinians this year by leaving Israel under caretaker leadership for months.Shas said its word was final, and its refusal to consider dividing Jerusalem for the sake of a peace deal lay at the heart of it. But Shas was also seeking an increase in the budget for welfare, which Livni's centrist Kadima party rejected.Shas made its decision based on its principles. If our demands had been met, we would have been in. They were not met, and we cannot join, said Shas chairman Eli Yishai. Shas cannot be bought and Shas will not sell out on Jerusalem.A Livni ally cautioned there was still time for a coalition deal to be forged, and Livni had 48 hours to negotiate before the expiry of her self-imposed Sunday evening deadline.I don't think we've failed. It's not over until it's over, Yoel Hasson, a Kadima lawmaker, said. He added that efforts to establish a coalition would continue through Sunday and if they failed, we will go for an election, and win it.Gidon Saar of the right-wing opposition Likud, which is riding high in the polls and favors an election, accused Livni of still trying to tempt all sorts of party fragments and to form some sort of clumsy government.
LIVNI SILENT
There was no reaction from Livni herself, who is not likely to give up easily on her quest to be confirmed as Israel's first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
Israeli television stations said Livni could muster a slim majority of 63, on the basis of talks she has held with two left-wing parties, Labour and Meretz, a pensioners party and members of another religious party called United Torah Judaism.
Some analysts think she may also be able to rely on the support of smaller parties outside government, including Arab politicians.Kadima and Labour, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, favor pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians and insist now is not the time to burden Israel with elections, more so in view of the mounting world economic crisis.Olmert, who resigned last month over corruption inquiries, formally remains premier, but without the political authority to sign a historic pact with the Palestinians as President George W. Bush desires before he leaves the White House in January.Livni and Barak would press on with talks, launched a year ago, in search of an accord to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Likud, by contrast, has condemned Olmert's peace moves and on Friday suggested that Livni would sacrifice Jerusalem.Both Israel and the Palestinians claim the city as their capital. Olmert is ready to discuss giving parts of the city seized in the 1967war back to the Arabs.Livni has been trying to forge partnerships since she was elected leader of Kadima in mid-September. Her overtures for a grand coalition of the main parties were quickly rejected by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister who heads Likud.Hasson, Livni's ally, said Netanyahu had sabotaged the coalition talks by secretly offering Shas a bigger welfare budget for its poor religious supporters than anything Livni has offered. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem)(Writing by Douglas Hamilton; editing by Dominic Evans)
Israel religious party rejects conditions to join govt OCT 24,08
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Leaders of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party said on Friday that they had rejected conditions set by ruling Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to join a coalition government.The decision was taken by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the 87-year-old spiritual leader, after consulation the party's supreme authority, Shas said.On Thursday, Livni set an ultimatum for her Kadima party's potential coalition partners, saying if there was no agreement on a coalition by a Sunday deadline she would call a snap general election.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
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.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
THE MARKETS LOST 3 TRILLION DOLLARS ALREADY.
Full text of Chinese president's speech at Asia-Europe summit opening session
Oct 24, 2008 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) --
[Full text of speech by Hu Jintao, president of the People's Republic of China, delivered at the Opening Session of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting in Beijing on 24 October 2008: Asia and Europe Cooperate Hand in Hand To Obtain Win-Win Results] Beijing, 24 Oct (Xinhua) - Honourable guests,
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
First of all, I would like to express warm congratulations on the opening of the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting and sincere welcome to our colleagues and guests of honour! In the past few months, the Chinese people have gone through very unusual times. We have withstood the stern test of the extraordinarily disastrous Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province and have also shared with the international community the happy time of the Beijing Olympic Games and the Beijing Paralympic Games. In the course of this, the Chinese people have obtained the sincere help and strong support of the international community, especially various countries in Asia and Europe. I would like to express heartfelt thanks for this on behalf of the Chinese Government and people!
Ladies and gentlemen!
Recently, the serious impact on the international financial market produced by the US subprime mortgage crisis has seriously affected the economic development and the people's livelihood of various countries of the world and has caused the governments and people of various countries to worry. In the face of this global challenge, various countries of the world should strengthen policy coordination, cooperate closely and make joint response. At this critical moment, strengthening confidence is more important than anything else. Only by strengthening confidence and making efforts hand in hand will it be possible for us to tide over our difficulties together. China appreciates and supports positive measures to respond to the financial crisis taken by relevant countries and hopes these measures will achieve success as soon as possible. China has actively striven to respond to the financial crisis within its capacity and has taken a series of important measures, including ensuring the stability of its domestic financial system, increasing the liquidity of its financial market and financial institutions, closely coordinating and cooperating with the macroeconomic policies of other countries and so on. China will, with a responsible attitude, continue to work together with the international community to strive to maintain international financial stability and economic stability. Since the beginning of this year, China has actively responded to the complicated changes in the international economic environment and the severe challenges of nature. Its economy has maintained a relatively fast growth, its financial industry has operated steadily, and the basic situation of its economic development has not changed. Besides, the global financial crisis has notably increased factors of instability in China's economic development and China's economic development is faced with numerous difficulties and challenges. China is a developing country with a population of 1.3 billion people, China's economy has become more closely linked to the world economy with each passing day, and maintaining a good momentum of China's economic development itself is an important contribution to the stability of the global financial market and the development of the world economy. Because of this, we shall first of all do our own work well. We shall, according to changes in the economic situation at home and abroad, increase the predictability, pertinence and efficiency of macro regulation and control, readjust policies in good time, strive to expand domestic demands, especially consumption demands, maintain economic stability and financial stability and the stability of the capital market, and continue to promote good and fast economic and social development.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At present, the Eurasian continent is undergoing profound changes and readjustments. The political situation in Asia is on the whole stable, various kinds of regional and sub-regional cooperation mechanisms are vying with each other to develop, and Asia has become one of the regions with the greatest vitality for development of the world. The integration of Europe is developing at a deeper level, Europe's cooperation with other regions is expanding with each passing day, and Europe is playing a more and more important role in international affairs. At the same time, the peace and development of Europe and Asia are still faced with numerous issues and challenges: local conflicts and hotspot issues are sometimes up and sometimes down, traditional security threats and nontraditional security threats are interwoven, the turbulence in the international financial market is especially strong, the issues of energy security and grain security are conspicuous, and the pressure of inflation is increasing. They have constituted stern challenges to global economic development. Against the backdrop of the in-depth development of economic globalization, the future and destiny of the Eurasian continent has become more and more closely linked with the future and destiny of the whole world. Asia and Europe cooperating hand in hand to obtain win-win results is our best choice. That the current Asia-Europe Summit Meeting has taken dialogue, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results as its theme is entirely in keeping with the demands of the situation of the development of the relations between Asia and Europe. Since the first Asia-Europe Summit Meeting held in 1996, the meeting has made remarkable achievements in various fields and has become an important platform for Asia-Europe dialogue and cooperation. Being faced with the demands of the new era, both the Asian and European sides should further make good use of this platform, strengthen dialogue, expand consensus, enhance trust and deepen cooperation. Both the Asian and European sides should respect each other's social systems, ideologies, cultural backgrounds and modes of development, and increase the understanding of each other's policies and directions for development. Both the Asian and European sides should, in the spirit of opening up, make full use of the advantage of the strong economic complementarities between the two sides, deepen existing cooperation, constantly nurture new growth points in cooperation, and properly handle trade and economic frictions through dialogue and consultation on an equal basis. Both the Asian and European sides should strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly meet global challenges, promote the stability of the international energy market and grain market, strengthen cooperation in guarding against and resisting disasters, actively respond to climate change, promote the realization of the UN Millennium Development Goals, promote multilateralism, promote proper solution to regional and international hotspot issues, and jointly promote world peace and development. Both the Asian and European sides should carry forward the spirit of equality, opening up and inclusiveness, advocate harmonious coexistence of different civilizations, learning from each other's civilizations and using each other's civilizations for reference, and work together to make contribution to the flourishing and progress of human civilization. Strengthening and developing friendly cooperation with other Asian countries and European countries is an important part of China's foreign policy. China will persistently get along harmoniously with other Asian countries and make common development, continue to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU and its member states, deepen PRC-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, actively participate in the progress of the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting, and make its own contribution to promoting Asia-Europe cooperation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our predecessors once opened up the "Silk Road," which wrote a brilliant page in the history of Asia-Europe relations. Today, we should all the more have greater farsightedness than our predecessors and open up a new situation of Asia-Europe cooperation to bring benefit to the people of various Asian and European countries. Let us work hand in hand and make unremitting efforts to create a new type of Asia-Europe partnership and promote the building of a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity. Finally, I heartily wish the Seventh Asia-Europe Summit Meeting complete success. Thank you! Source: Xinhua news agency domestic service, Beijing, in Chinese 1222 gmt 24 Oct 08 BBC Mon AS1 AsPol qz.
Posted on Sat, Oct. 25, 2008 Leaders endorse IMF in aiding stricken economies
CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press
BEIJING - Seeking a common approach to the global financial turmoil, Asian and European leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.The 43 nations participating in the Asia-Europe Meeting summit reconvened for a second day of meetings in China's capital Saturday, a day after adopting a statement calling on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request, the statement said.The leaders also agreed to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, it said.The document is one of the strongest endorsements yet for a leading role in the crisis for the Washington-based IMF, long known as the international lender of last resort, and appears to mark a step toward an Asian-European consensus ahead of next month's crisis summit of the 20 largest economies in Washington.Countries as varied as Hungary, Ukraine, Iceland and Pakistan have already turned to the IMF for help bridging their liquidity crunches.On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Asian and European nations need to take a unified front to the Washington meeting.
Europe would like Asia to support our efforts and would like to make sure that on the 15th of November we can face the world together and say that the causes of this unprecedented crisis will never be able to happen again, Sarkozy said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the meeting Saturday that the IMF must become a guard for the stability of the international finance system, and that there was unanimous agreement that the body needed to take on a supervisory role.She also called for the step-by-step integration of the IMF into the Financial Stability Forum, founded in 1999 by the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and aimed at bolstering the international financial system.The IMF, whose loans normally include strict provisions, is discussing loan packages with close to a dozen countries and is examining ways to speed up the process.In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday of a global recession and a serious hit to emerging economies, calling for drastic measures to shore up banks and extend lines of credit to the world's poorest states.The U.N. chief said the era of self-regulation among the biggest banks and other money-lending institutions had ended, and he pledged to support European and American efforts to rethink the global financial architecture.The Beijing gathering, known as ASEM, is held every two years but has no mandate to issue decisions and participants differ widely on their views toward international cooperation and intervention by global bodies. Free-trading Singapore and economic powerhouse Germany are attending, along with isolated, impoverished Myanmar and landlocked, authoritarian Laos.Asian financial systems had less direct exposure to the toxic sub-prime mortgages that are wreaking havoc on U.S. and European markets, but their export-driven economies are expected to take a major hit from a drop in exports and foreign investment. Asian stock markets were among the biggest losers Friday in a worldwide plunge in share prices.Associated Press writers Henry Sanderson in Beijing and Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing contributed to this report.
Summit leaders: Global teamwork needed to fight crunchStory Highlights
EC President calls for unity in tackling current global crisis OCT 25,08 Summit calls on financial institutions to support banks,Group of more than 40 nations call for reform of financial, monetary systems,Statement is strongest show yet of Asia-Europe coordinated voice on crisis
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Asian and European leaders vowed Saturday to act together to address the global financial crisis, calling for decisive action following a two-day summit in the Chinese capital.Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, shakes hands with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right.The ASEM meeting brought together the leaders of 43 Asian and European nations, along with the heads of the European Commission and ASEAN, a group of southeastern Asian nations.Europe and Asia have come together in Beijing at a time of global crisis, and indeed, we are in a moment where we need global teamwork, said EC President Jose Manuel Barroso. We either stick together or we sink together.While the summit is usually a forum for political, economic and cultural issues, it has taken on added significance this year because of the unfolding crisis.On Friday leaders at the summit called for new rules in dealing with international finance. They also urged a leading role for the IMF to help countries like Iceland and Pakistan that are struggling with the current crisis.Europe would like to try and come up with a common position among all of us as to a common response to this unprecedented financial crisis, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. This was a very useful and very promising summit. Europe and Asia have many things that they can do together.In a statement released Friday, the ASEM nations said the crisis can be overcome if all countries take firm, decisive and effective measures in a responsible and timely manner. They called on the international community to boost coordination and cooperation to restore market confidence, stabilize the markets, and promote financial growth.Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said investor confidence will ultimately help the world get through the crisis, so that should now be a key focus.
Wen also urged cooperation among countries, especially in clarifying the role of government, companies and regulators.We need even more financial regulation to ensure financial stability, he said. We need to properly handle the relationship between savings and consumption, or accumulation and consumption. We need to keep savings and consumption at a normal, balanced and coordinated relationship with each other. Only in this way can we coordinate economic stability.Countries must also coordinate the virtual economy with the real economy, Wen said. The healthy development of the virtual economy, he said, will facilitate the growth of the real economy.Wen and Sarkozy also looked ahead to next month's financial summit of G20 leaders in the United States.Europe wishes that Asia will support our efforts so together we can tell the world on November 15 that the causes of this crisis, which has no precedence, will not continue to be reproduced on the financial and monetary system, Sarkozy said Friday.Friday's joint statement said there must be more supervision and regulation of all financial actors and that they need to be kept accountable. They said all countries need to strengthen oversight and crisis management mechanisms.Also Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said central banks and the IMF may have to set up major credit lines to bolster emerging economies and help the world's poor affected by the credit crisis.Too often, in recent weeks, financial leaders have been criticized for being too slow to recognize problems, for doing too little too late, he said in a statement. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past.Asian countries have not been as sharply affected by the current crisis as those in Europe, in part because they weren't as exposed to the subprime mortgage problems.Still, growth in Asia is slowing. China announced this week that its GDP growth had slowed to 9.9 percent in the first three quarters of the year -- the lowest in five years. CNN's John Vause contributed to this report.
Finance minister says Canada headed for rough times OCT 24,08
By Frank Pingue Frank Pingue – Fri Oct 24, 3:56 pm
ETNIAGARA FALLS, Ontario (Reuters) – Canadians are headed for tough economic times but the country is better able to withstand them than most others in the West, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday.We're in for rough times. These are difficult times. Canadians should not underestimate what we're facing. We're not an island. We're a trading nation, the newly reelected Conservative minister told a news conference.The point is Canada's better positioned to endure the difficult times than other western industrialized countries.He insisted that the government would be able to maintain a modest budget surplus for the fiscal year that ends next March 31. Ottawa ran a C$1.75 billion ($1.38 billion) deficit in August but still had a C$1.16 billion surplus for the April to August period.Yet Flaherty appeared to leave the door open to possible deficits to stimulate the economy in the future, saying Canada had been paying down debt and reducing taxes.We have more tools available for us in terms of addressing the need for further economic measures if that's what's required, he said.You contrast that with some other countries that are running large deficits, and that in order to take further steps they have to add further burdens on taxpayers ultimately by increasing deficits.Flaherty has promised to present the annual autumn fiscal and economic update by the end of November, in which he will make clearer his view for the 2009-10 fiscal year.We're going to continue to monitor the scenario and make an accurate assessment of where we are. We're only in October and the uncertainty in the global markets continues. It continues today, he said.
It would be irresponsible of me to prejudge where we are going to be as we go over the next few months given that global uncertainty.Although Flaherty has not ruled out deficit spending, something that has not been done by a Canadian government since 1996-97, he said Canadians prefer a steady hand instead of grand new spending schemes.This has been, and this is, a difficult time for Canadian families, for Canadian businesses. People are worried about their jobs and their savings, he said in a speech before his news conference.However, he reiterated that Canada's banks are sound and well capitalized, unemployment is near a generational low and Canadians are able to afford their mortgages, unlike many in the United States.The country's manufacturing sector could also benefit from the recent hammering of the Canadian dollar, which makes Canadian exports cheaper, while making Canadians think twice about buying or traveling outside the country.The Canadian dollar has retreated from par with the U.S. dollar in July to C$1.2715, or 78.65 U.S. cents, to the U.S. dollar on Friday afternoon.The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index dropped nearly 7 percent at the open on Friday in line with a wave of sharp drops on equity markets worldwide, but later retraced some of those losses and was down about 2 percent late in the afternoon.(Writing by Randall Palmer; Editing by Peter Galloway)
Belgian PM calls for European emergency fund to aid banks OCT 25,08
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Belgium's prime minister Saturday called for the creation of a European emergency fund to recapitalise banks and guarantee loans between them.In an opinion piece published in Flemish- and French-language newspapers, Prime Minister Yves Leterme said the fund could be used to acquire non-liquid assets.The European Investment Bank (EIB) could borrow the necessary means for the fund, Leterme said, but added that banks that could benefit from them should contribute as a sort of insurance premium.He said the creation of the fund, which would take time, was one of the lessons to be drawn from the rescue of the Franco-Belgian Dexia and Franco-Dutch Fortis banks which had required several European states (Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) to work together.These banks were not only too big to fail but were also too big to be saved by a single country, Leterme wrote. He said that Fortis, Dexia and the Belgian insurance company Ethias, also rescued by the state, represent assets equal to almost three times the gross domestic product of Belgium and that the value of their deposits is greater than national income.
Leterme also called for what he said was the currently controversial idea of a European eurozone financial supervisor.The supervisor would be responsible for financial institutions in the widest sense, not only banks, insurance companies and pension funds, but also credit rating agencies and speculative funds.Earlier this month EU leaders, while emphasising the need to reinforce supervision of the European financial sector only invited national supervisors to meet each month to exchange information.
World leaders pledge financial reform as gloom deepens OCT 25,08
BEIJING (AFP) - World leaders vowed Saturday to overhaul the global financial system in the face of recession fears, but US President George W. Bush urged nations to recommit to free markets despite economic turmoil.After a week of growing economic gloom and plunging stock markets, Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing promised wide-ranging reforms while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for quick change.Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems, the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) said in a statement released late Friday.They agreed to take quickly appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institutions.China's Premier Wen Jiabao called for more regulation of the world's financial system, saying after the summit we need to draw lessons from this crisis.We need financial innovation to serve the economy better, however we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety.
Wen confirmed China's participation in a crucial summit in the United States on November 15 aimed at tackling the financial meltdown, without specifying which Chinese leader would attend the meeting of 20 industrialised and emerging powers.The economic turmoil has led to growing criticism of US-style free market capitalism, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week saying the ideology of the dictatorship of the market... is dead.But Bush on Saturday, moving to set an agenda for the upcoming international economic summit, said its participants must recommit to the principles of free enterprise and free trade.As we focus on responses to our short-term challenges, our nations must also recommit to the fundamentals of long-term economic growth -- free markets, free enterprise, and free trade, Bush said in his weekly radio address.The US president, who leaves office in January, added that open market policies have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty.Ban said the Washington meet must address the need for change and joined chief executives of key UN institutions in calling for considered but large-scale reforms.The market and regulatory failures that have led to this crisis must be addressed as a matter of urgency, a joint statement said.We reaffirm the need for meaningful, comprehensive and well-coordinated reform of the international financial system and pledge our support to this end.Stock markets provided a grim backdrop to the Beijing meeting, plummeting Friday after a raft of pessimistic corporate and economic news. Tokyo's dizzying 9.6 percent slump spilt over into Europe, where London's FTSE plunged 5.0 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 312.30 points (3.59 percent) to close at 8,378.95, capping a week when the US blue-chip index dropped more than five percent.The Saudi stock market, the largest in the Arab world, began its trading week on Saturday with a nine percent plunge to sink to its lowest point in four years.Giants of the auto, airline and technology industries took emergency action on Friday.
France's PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault ordered huge production cuts, while Japan's electronics giant Sony Corp. and Europe's biggest airline Air France-KLM issued profits warnings.Chrysler LLC, the number three US automaker, said it would cut up to 5,000 white-collar jobs by the end of the year as prospects in the sector grow dimmer.New figures showed industrial confidence in both France and Italy had fallen to the lowest level since 1993. In Spain, the unemployment rate jumped to 11.33 percent -- the highest in more than four years.Britain's economy shrank by 0.5 percent in the three months to September compared with the previous quarter, official figures showed, marking the first contraction since 1992.German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck predicted the financial crisis would last until late 2009 in an interview to be published Sunday.The risk of collapse is far from over, he told the Bild am Sonntag weekly.
Mediterranean union water conference called off OCT 25,08
PARIS (AFP) – A conference of European Union and Mediterranean states due to take place in Jordan has been postponed indefinitely because of regional tensions, officials said on Saturday in Paris.The conference (on water) has been postponed at the request of Jordan for reasons to do with the tensions between the Arab League and Israel, said the environment ministry in France, co-chair with Egypt of the Union for the Mediterranean (UPM).An official in Amman confirmed the conference had been called off, adding that the Jordanian government would later issue a statement to explain the decision.The long-planned ministerial conference was due to have taken place at Swaimeh on the banks of the Dead Sea. It was mentioned specifically in the July 13 declaration at the Paris summit marking the creation of the UPM.Its stated aim was to establish the broad framework of a long-term strategy for water in the Mediterranean and to establish the first concrete plans in the sector.The UPM has 43 members: the 27 European Union states and 16 Mediterranean nations.In Cairo, meanwhile, an Arab League official said Saturday that the 22-member organisation would attend meetings of the UPM despite Israeli objections.We all agreed the Arab League will participate in meetings given its weight and central role in supporting efforts for security and peace in the region, Fatima al-Zahra said after a meeting of Arab member states of the UPM.Israel has objected to the pan-Arab institution's presence, saying the Arab League would oppose the Jewish state's participation in the UPM.
Russia says its economy remains strong Oct. 25, 2008 at 11:58
MOSCOW, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Russian banking officials say the country's economy remains strong and there is no need to change the ruble's trading targets.We see no grounds for a revision of the corridor, said Alexei Ulyukayev, Russian Central Bank first deputy chairman, Saturday.International investors have withdrawn billions of dollars from Russia since the world credit crisis began in August while lower oil prices have reduced the flow of capital into Russia, RIA Novosti reported.About $800 million in capital flowed into Russia in the first three quarters of 2008, while Russia saw an outflow of an estimated $7 billion in August and $25 billion in September, Ulyukayev said, adding October's outflow should be less than in September.
Uses for $700 billion bailout money ever shifting OCT 25,08
By JOHN DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer John Dunbar,
WASHINGTON – First, the $700 billion rescue for the economy was about buying devalued mortgage-backed securities from tottering banks to unclog frozen credit markets.Then it was about using $250 billion of it to buy stakes in banks. The idea was that banks would use the money to start making loans again.But reports surfaced that bankers might instead use the money to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees a raise and executives a bonus, or just sit on it. Insurance companies now want a piece; maybe automakers, too, even though Congress has approved $25 billion in low-interest loans for them.Three weeks after becoming law, and with the first dollar of the $700 billion yet to go out, officials are just beginning to talk about helping a few strapped homeowners keep the foreclosure wolf from the door.As the crisis worsens, the government's reaction keeps changing. Lawmakers in both parties are starting to gripe that the bailout is turning out to be far different from what the Bush administration sold to Congress.In buying equity stakes in banks, the Treasury has deviated significantly from its original course, says Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. We need to examine closely the reason for this change, said Shelby, who opposed the bailout.The centerpiece of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is the troubled asset relief program, or TARP for short. Critics note that tarps are used to cover things up. The money was to be devoted to buying toxic mortgage-backed securities whose value has fallen in lockstep with home prices.
But once European governments said they were going into the banking business, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson followed suit and diverted $250 billion to buy stock in healthy banks to spur lending.Bank executives hinted they might instead use it for acquisitions. Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said this development was beyond troubling.Sure enough, a day after Dodd, D-Conn., made the comment, the government confirmed that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. was approved to receive $7.7 billion in return for company stock. At the same time, PNC said it was acquiring National City Corp. for $5.58 billion.Although there will be some consolidation, that's not the driver behind this program, Paulson recently told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. The driver is to have our healthy banks be well-capitalized so that they can play the role they need to play for our country right now.Other planned uses of the bailout money have lawmakers protesting, although it is only fair to note there is nothing in the law that they just wrote to prevent those uses.Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. questioned allowing banks that accept bailout bucks to continue paying dividends on their common stock.There are far better uses of taxpayer dollars than continuing dividend payments to shareholders, he said.Schumer, whose constituents include Wall Street bankers, said he also fears that they might stuff the money under the proverbial mattress rather than make loans.Neel Kashkari, head of the Treasury's financial stability program, told Dodd's committee this past week that there are few strings attached to the capital-infusion program because too many rules would discourage financial institutions from participating.As the bank plan has become a priority, the effort to buy troubled assets has receded from the headlines. Potential conflicts of interest pose all kinds of problems in finding qualified companies to manage that program.Firms with the relevant financial expertise may also hold assets that become eligible for sale into the TARP or represent clients who hold troubled assets, Kashkari said. The challenge was made plain when the Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as custodian of the troubled assets purchase program. The bank will conduct reverse auctions to buy the toxic securities on behalf of the Treasury. The lower the price they set, the better chance sellers have of getting rid of the devalued securities. On the same day it hired Mellon, the Treasury also picked the company to receive a $3 billion investment as part of the capital-infusion program. The same bank hired to help manage part of the economic rescue plan became a beneficiary of it. With the Nov. 4 election nearing, lawmakers decided it was important to remind the government officials running the bailout program about parts of the law aimed at helping distressed homeowners by offering federal guarantees to mortgages renegotiated down to lower monthly payments. The key to our nation's economic recovery is the recovery of the housing market, Dodd said. And the key to recovery of the housing market is reducing foreclosures.Sheila Bair, who heads the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., responded that her agency is working closely and creatively with Treasury officials to realize the potential benefits of this authority.On the Net: Treasury: http://www.treasury.gov/
Christians face attacks in eastern India OCT 25,08
By TIM SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
TIKKABALLI, India – They still worship in what remains of the little Baptist church not far from this forest town. The church is empty except for the rubble swept neatly into the corners. The sun comes through ragged holes where the mob smashed in the window frames.On the roof, the crucifix is just twisted metal and broken concrete. It's barely recognizable, and you have to ask to make sure that's what it once was.Here, prayers are said only in secret.We do it without making any noise, said Subhash Digal, holding his four-month-old son on his hip as he stood outside the church, where the smell of burned timber lingered on a warm autumn afternoon. We don't want these people to know we are inside.In this corner of the eastern state of Orissa, it's hard to find a Christian who isn't afraid.Bloody anti-Christian riots broke out here in late August, rampages by Hindu hard-liners that since then have left at least 38 people dead, as many as 30,000 homeless and dozen of churches destroyed. The worst of the violence ended after a week or so, when authorities finally deployed soldiers to set up checkpoints and relief camps.But nearly every day since then, the trouble has continued: a house burned, a carload of people beaten, a soldier hacked to death. Repeatedly, Christian villagers say, they have been told they must convert to Hinduism. The anti-Christian violence has also flickered across other parts of India, with churches vandalized and Christians attacked in the high-tech hub of Bangalore, the city of Mangalore and the coastal state of Kerala.In a country desperate to be seen as a stable, democratic world power, the violence is a window into India's hidden fragility, its sometimes-dangerous political climate and the fierce historical divisions buried in its vast diversity.India is more than 80 percent Hindu but its 1.1 billion people include all of the world's major religions, a caste system of near-impossible complexity, colossal divides of wealth and poverty, and, by some estimates, more than 2,000 ethnic groups.
If you look at Africa, you don't see this kind of diversity, if you look at all of Europe, you don't see this kind of diversity, said Swami Agnivesh, a Hindu intellectual and liberal social activist. When it comes to India's continued existence: Sometimes I think it's a miracle.Trouble can seem inevitable. In just the past couple weeks violence has ranged from the northeastern state of Assam, where at least 50 people have died in ethnic clashes, to the central state of Madhya Pradesh state, where three people were killed in religious riots after a Hindu procession passed through a Muslim neighborhood.Then there is Orissa's Kandhamal district, where widespread trouble began after the Aug. 24 killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a hard-line Hindu leader who rose to prominence in the area by advocating that Christian converts return to Hinduism.Police blamed Maoist guerrillas for the killing, though it's unclear why they would have targeted him.But Hindu militants quickly turned on local Christians, setting fire to a Christian orphanage and attacking churches and Christian-owned shops and homes. A nun accused a Hindu mob of raping her. At least 32 people have been killed, tens of thousands have fled their homes and thousands are believed still to be hiding in Orissa's thick forests.The Kandhamal region is a place where villagers tend farms in small valleys circled by humpbacked hills, and where roadside ponds are filled with swimming children and floating lotuses. But it's also a place long cut off by poverty and illiteracy, where electricity is unknown in most villages and the pay for day laborers — the only job most people hope for — is 30 rupees, or 60 cents. That wage is only for men: Women earn 20 rupees, or 40 cents.Kandhamal has long been a battleground over Christian missionary work among low-caste Hindus and the indigenous people known in India as tribals. While Christians account for just 2.5 percent of India, their population in Kandhamal has risen sharply in recent decades, reaching nearly 20 percent by the last census in 2001.Hindu militants say the reason for this is obvious: Missionaries are forcing or bribing people to convert, stealing followers from India's true religion.This is a kind of cultural invasion, Gauri Shankar Rath, a top official in the Orissa state VHP, the umbrella organization of Hindu nationalists, said in a telephone interview. Our culture is being attacked.
Missionaries dismiss such accusations. And conversion does offer worldly benefits: For the low-caste, there's a partial escape from the stigmas of the Hindu caste system. Some missionaries also reach out to followers by building medical clinics and schools. But as with much of India's violence, the obvious rationale for Kandhamal's bloodshed is really just one tile in a mosaic of discontent. Much of the bitterness here is rooted in competition between two groups struggling at the bottom of India's social spectrum: the Panas and the Kandhas. The Panas are dalits, the group once known in India as untouchables, while the Kandhas are tribals. The two have long competed for land, and more recently for jobs and school seats reserved by the government for the disadvantaged. Over the past 20 years, the Kandhas have largely remained Hindu while many Panas have converted to Christianity, tangling religion into their conflict. Christians — even dalit converts — are not supposed to be eligible for reserved positions, but many Kandhas insist Pana Christian still find ways to get them. The Christians deny the accusation.
Then there is politics.
Many of the attacks, victims say, were carried out by the Bajrang Dal, a militant group closely allied to the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist political party that is part of Orissa's coalition government. The Hindu right-wing has long stirred up religious resentments as a way to shore up its voter base — and Orissa, as people here quickly point out, is expected to hold elections early next year. This isn't a war between Hindus and Christians, said Ugrasena Rana, a 32-year-old Hindu from Bujulimendi, a small village where a roaming gang burned down a half-dozen or so Christian homes after the swami was killed. This is a war between the Bajrang Dal and the people who will not follow their commands.In some ways, though, the Christians of Bujulimendi are lucky. Their Hindu neighbors have tried to protect them, and many Christian families now sleep in Hindu homes in case the mobs return.
The situation is grimmer outside the ransacked Baptist church, where villagers say their attackers included many people they knew. That mob, about 50 people armed with knives, swords and clubs, stormed through the village, chanting the name of the Hindu god Ram as they destroyed the church and Christian homes. Since then, smaller groups have returned repeatedly. There is seldom violence, but they state their message bluntly: convert or die. Eventually, villagers worry, the threat will be carried out. What can we do? asked Digal, the man dangling his baby. They are trying to force us to become Hindu.So will he convert? I don't know, he said, staring down at the ground. I haven't decided yet.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Ukraine turns down Russia fleet base offer Thu Oct 23, 1:40 pm
ETKIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine has turned down a Russian proposal to extend the lease for the naval base used by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.Russia wants the fleet to remain in the Crimean port of Sevastopol beyond 2017. The Kremlin is eager to maintain its strategic foothold on the Crimean Peninsula, which was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 when both Russia and Ukraine were part of the Soviet Union.Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that the issue cannot be a subject of discussion. It said that Russian ships will have to leave Ukrainian waters in 2017.Russia has said it wants to negotiate new terms when 2017 draws closer. Moscow hopes pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko will be out of power by then.
Russia warns U.S. sanctions on state-run arms exporter will affect relations OCT 24,08
(RTTNews) - Russia warned the United States that its imposition of sanctions against state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport would affect bilateral relations.
Addressing a press conference in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington's action is against international law.Washington need not expect Russia to make concessions on the Iranian nuclear issue under pressure from the sanctions, Lavrov told reporters Friday.Rosoboronexport was included in a blacklist of firms in Russia and some other nations that the U.S. State Department published Thursday. The sanctions were imposed for allegedly selling sensitive technology to countries, including Iran, for the development of weapons of mass destruction.A punitive action is already in force on the Russian firm, with effect from 2006.For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com
EU terror list outpacing court rulings
PHILIPPA RUNNER 24.10.2008 @ 09:32 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI), the country's leading opposition group, will stay on the EU's terrorist register despite a second European court ruling, as EU member states outpace the courts with fresh decisions every few months.The European Court of First Instance verdict on Thursday (23 October) dissolved a decision taken by EU states in December 2007 to keep the PMOI on its blacklist, saying UK evidence against the group was invalid.The terrorist register names over 60 organisations, resulting in international stigma, a freeze on EU financial assets and a ban on fund-raising.It is managed by EU member state intelligence services meeting in a clearing house working group with no political or judicial oversight and with their decisions later rubber-stamped by EU ministers as EU common positions.The court's Thursday decision on the PMOI does not apply to a subsequent common position of July 2008, with EU member states saying that new information concerning the group has been brought to the Council's attention [that] warrants the group's inclusion on the list.The PMOI has appealed the July move as well, but the court is unlikely to issue a new verdict before the clearing house refreshes the list again in November or December, perpetuating the legal cycle.The EU court in 2006 had already annulled a previous common position of 2005.The PMOI and its Paris-based sister group, the National Resistance Council of Iran (NRCI) have been battling clearing house for six years.The Iran group - which was responsible for bombings and attacks against the Islamic regime in Iran in the 1980s and 1990s - renounced violence in 2001 and now claims to represent the strongest pro-democratic voice in the country today.NRCI leader Maryam Rajavi accuses the EU and US - which also calls PMOI a terrorist organisation - of restricting the Mujahedin to curry favour with Tehran in nuclear proliferation talks.
Meanwhile, Iranian diplomats say the PMOI-NRCI organisation is a dangerous Rajavi-personality cult mistrusted by ordinary Iranians, which should not be let off the hook for past actions.
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