GEITHNER - BANKSTERGATE

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).

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950

Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.

EU's new top diplomat remains cool under fire-The EU parliament grilling went on for a solid three hours (Photo: European Parliament)ANDREW RETTMAN Today JAN 11,10 @ 17:37 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU's new foreign relations chief, Catherine Ashton, was hard on Iran but cautious on Israel and Russia in a lively hearing with MEPs on Monday (11 January).The three-hour-long event at the European Parliament in Brussels kicked off a series of 26 hearings with commission nominees that is to culminate in a plenary vote next week on the new EU executive as a whole.Around 60 deputies fired questions at Ms Ashton in a meeting marked by intense media attention, heckling on nuclear disarmament and applause for Ms Ashton's promises to work closely with parliament in future. The questions ranged from the big foreign policy topics of the day to the niceties of EU institutional infighting and curve balls designed to test her knowledge on details such as funding for EU projects in Afghanistan.Ms Ashton highlighted Iran, Israel, Russia, the EU mission in Afghanistan, nation-building in Bosnia and support for human rights abroad as priorities.She hinted she would back further sanctions against Iran if the country continues to ignore international calls to open its nuclear programme to scrutiny.If we don't have the rules kept to, then we have to take action in some form, she said.She reiterated her support for a two-state solution on Israel and Palestine, but did not criticise Israel's occupation of the West Bank, as in her previous speech to MEPs, while underlining the importance of Israeli security.Ms Ashton also said she intends to put pressure on Russia to make sure they see these issues in an economic way not a political one on the question of whether Russia uses gas and oil exports to bully neighbouring states.But the EU's top diplomat said the bloc must have a strategic relationship with Russia, while pointing to an upcoming meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow as an opportunity to start off on a new footing. With a large chunk of MEPs' queries devoted to how Ms Ashton will work with parliament and the EU commission in future, Ms Ashton drew a line in the sand about her independence.

Happy to disappoint

She declined MEPs' requests to submit her senior officials to job interview-type hearings in parliament and envisaged the new EU diplomatic service as a unique institution separate from the EU commission, giving parliament less power over its budget.Occasionally, I will have to disappoint the parliament, she said.I don't want this [her internal appointments] to become a long, protracted process.In a glimpse into how she sees the new body ahead of her formal proposal on its structure to EU states in April, Ms Ashton said she will take care of foreign policy strategy while three commissioners - on trade, development and neighbourhood policy - will implement projects on the ground.She added that her proposal may include a special school for EU diplomats in order to foster the institution's own culture.This is a unique body and we will need to have training for our diplomats so that they recognise it is a different service to the one they came from, Ms Ashton said. The commissioner designate failed to answer some of the deputies' brain teasers, such as precisely how much the EU will spend on its mission in Afghanistan this year. She also appeared poorly-informed on the UN security council and on Russia's arrest of one of the laureates of the EU's 2009 human rights award, the Sakharov prize. But she showed a command of detail in other areas, such as the date of the next meeting of the Geneva group on the Georgia conflict and the date of the second round of Ukrainian presidential elections.

Cool under fire

The liveliest part of the hearing saw British Conservative MEPs attack Ms Ashton, who hails from the British centre-left, for her past as an activist in the anti-nuclear pressure group, CND, with one Tory member calling for her to apologise to former Communist states for her bad judgment. Amid bays and heckles reminiscent of the more rowdy lower chamber in London, Ms Ashton smiled and kept her cool. I have never hidden what I did and I am not ashamed of it, she said.When I was a young person I marched because I believed we should get rid of nuclear weapons. You can disagree with how I did it but not with why I did it.

US envoy seeks European support for Mideast push
Mon Jan 11, 11:15 am ET

PARIS – U.S. envoy George Mitchell is asking for French and European Union support for a renewed push for peace in the Middle East.Mitchell, on a visit to Paris, says that no one country, no one person can accomplish this objective alone. He urged a combined and concerted effort and partnership with U.S. allies, including France, toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down in December 2008.Mitchell spoke Monday after meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. The two will meet in Brussels on Tuesday with U.N. and EU officials to discuss the stalled peace efforts.Kouchner and Mitchell also discussed a French proposal to eventually host a Mideast peace conference, though no details of the discussions were released.

MEPs to test skills and spirit of new commissioners-The EU parliament: the hearings will take place between Monday and Friday this week and on the first two days of next week (Photo: EUobserver)HONOR MAHONY Today JAN 11,10 @ 09:16 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels politics swings back into action on Monday (11 January) as MEPs begin the hearings of the European Commissioner nominees, kicking off with the highly anticipated questioning of the European Union's new foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton.The 26 commissioners will come before the parliamentary committees that are most relevant to their portfolio for a three-hour grilling on their competency for the job as well as their independence and whether they are sufficiently committed to the EU.The beginning of the hearing process comes after weeks of discussion and a certain sense of limbo in the EU capital as officials, lobbyists, consultants and journalists wait for the new commission to be fully established following two and a half months of a caretaker executive since the last commission's mandate ran out on 1November.The delay was due to complications with the EU's new institutional rules, known as the Lisbon Treaty, which finally went into force on 1 December.The treaty delays have meant, however, that the next batch of commissioners - 13 of them are returning - have had plenty of time to swot up on the areas they will be in charge of overseeing and legislating on for the next five years.This translated into intense briefings with the expert staff that are to serve under them as well as more general lessons about what to expect from MEPs and where the pitfalls during the hearings might lie.They are studying very, very hard, a commission spokesperson said Friday (8 January), adding:Especially on substance and also on the methods.This week will see the bulk of the commissioners - 22 - undergo the procedure, with much of the interest set to focus on Ms Ashton, the French nominee, Michel Barnier, and the Bulgarian, Rumiana Jeleva.Britain's Ms Ashton has been nominated to one of the most high profile positions in the EU - foreign policy chief in charge of a thousands-strong diplomatic service and the bloc's representative for external relations. MEPs are expected to focus on her lack of experience in diplomacy as well as her plans for creating the new service.Nominated for the internal market and financial services dossier, Mr Barnier's hearing is likely to be thoroughly scrutinised by the British press, looking to see if the Frenchman gives any sign of wanting to impose regulatory shackles on the City of London. The City's nervousness in this area was prompted by gloating by French president Nicolas Sarkozy after he succeeded in securing one of the top economic porfolios for his man.

Bulgaria's Rumiana Jeleva may be questioned about her husband's alleged connections with organised crime, while the Communist past of the Czech Republic's Stefan Fuele may also come under scrutiny.In terms of procedure, each committee will prepare a formal assessment of the commissioner hearing, which will be used by the political groups to decide their positions before a vote on the entire commission on 26 January.Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso's careful distribution of portfolios (in which each of the three main political groups in the European Parliament have commissioners with weighty jobs), as well as the political balance of power between left and right in the parliament, has contributed to a toning down of rhetoric by MEPs on what they expect from the hearings.

Surprises cannot be excluded, however.

Even though, technically, deputies cannot veto any one candidate, in 2004, MEPs upset the apple cart when they forced an Italian nominee to be withdrawn because of his anti-gay views, while the Hungarian candidate at the time, originally down for energy, was moved to the tax portfolio, after questioning revealed his lack of knowledge on energy.

Germany opposes Spanish call for EU economic sanctions
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 11,10 @ 09:32 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A call by the Spanish EU presidency for financial sanctions under a new EU long-term growth strategy has sounded alarm bells in Berlin, sharpening debate ahead of a leaders meeting's on economic issues in February.
Speaking in Madrid last week, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said there needed to be incentives for member states to promote economic performance, and also corrective measures for failure.The call has prompted a chilly response from Germany however. The country's economy minister, Rainer Bruderle, said on Saturday (9 January) that he welcomed the idea of better economic co-ordination, but warned against creating a new bureaucracy.I do not think the idea of imposing sanctions on member states for not fulfilling fixed targets is sensible, Mr Bruderle said in a statement.Up to now, the Lisbon strategy has been based on a partnership approach without sanctions and we ought to continue that.The Lisbon Strategy is the bloc's current 10-year economic plan, due to expire this year and the subject of much criticism due to its failure to make member states conform with economic targets.As the EU's largest economy, German support will be crucial in securing European agreement on its future economic direction. Spanish daily El Pais reports that the idea of potential sanctions and a greater role for Brussels has also met with a lukewarm reception in London and a number of northern capitals. The debate on how to pull Europe's economy out of its current hole is set to intensify in the coming months, with eurozone figures out on Friday showing unemployment for November hitting 10 percent, the highest rate since the currency was launched a decade ago.

Added to feeble EU growth forecasts of below one percent for this year, news on Friday that China has now officially overtaken Germany as the world's largest exporter also serves to highlight Europe's predicament.

Support from the Liberals

Despite the signs of opposition, the Spanish proposals appear to have the support of a number of important players in Brussels, including the new permanent president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the leader of the Liberals in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt.Speaking in Madrid last Friday, Mr Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister, showed his support for stricter controls. We need a stricter method of government and a better control of the process, said the permanent president, set to go into greater detail at the informal summit of EU leaders being convened at his request in February.According to a letter sent to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday by Mr Verhofstadt, the Lisbon Strategy has failed due to the lack of commitments from member states and the absence of mandatory instruments at the EU level.Also a former Belgian prime minister, the Liberal leader added that the commission should be empowered to play a greater role in boosting the EU's economic growth, and that the EU's structural fund payments be used as a mechanism to promote the achievement of economic targets.

NOW WE HAVE AN IDEA HOW THE 28 TRILLION DOLLARS WERE DISHED TO THE BANKS THROUGHT GEITHNER AND COMPANY.

GEITHNER BANKSTERGATE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haHYGp9pY5g&feature=player_embedded

Bankstergate and Business as Usual: Geithner’s Cover-up of the AIG Bailout
Kurt Nimmo Infowars.com January 11, 2010

The New York Federal Reserve, under the direction of current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, prohibited AIG from reporting that it was passing government bail-out funds directly to its buddies on Wall Street, most notably the criminal organization known as Goldman Sachs. More specifically, taxpayers were tapped (or their grand children were) to pay off bad gambling bets made by counterparties in the AIG derivatives casino. The mega-insurance corporation wanted banks to take 40 cents on the dollar against toxic CDOs (collateralized debt obligations). The banks turned to New York Fed mob boss Geithner who arranged an AIG sweetheart bailout with full knowledge the money would go to Goldman Sachs and the banksters to cover dollar-to-dollar protection of their gambling losses. Geithner did not report this to Securities and Exchange Commission on December 24. It was to be kept on the QT. In fact, before his confirmation hearings last year, Geithner was recused from matters dealing with specific companies and bailouts.Judge Andrew Napolitano weighs in on whether the Treasury Secretary can face criminal charges over his role in the AIG coverup.Last week details of this criminal conspiracy were fed into the corporate media spin machine. But instead of immediately arresting Geithner for grand larceny and having him do the perp walk in an orange jumpsuit like a common bank robber, it was suggested he merely be fired and another bankster crony fill his spot at the Treasury.In fact, so-called lawmakers (who do not read bills before passing laws) support Geithner. On Sunday, Obama announced his unwavering faith in the former New York Fed boss, Bilderberg, CFR, and Trilateral member.Secretary Geithner enjoys the strong support of the Senate Democratic caucus,declared Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who is under fire for calling Obama a Negro, a crime of more importance to the corporate media than a gaggle of banksters stealing trillions of dollars). Democratic leaders including Representative Barney Frank and House and Senate Democratic aides all support the second-story man Geithner and his bankster bosses.

Of course they do. Because they are all part of the master plan to bankrupt the nation and fork over the remains to the banksters and transnational corporations. The United States must be destroyed if the global elite are to realize their long-held plan to establish world government. Throwing in debt future generations of Americans while stripping the economic infrastructure out from under them is a sure-fire way to ensure they will become peons and slaves on the globalist plantation. In 30-40 short years, America has gone from the strongest and most stable nation in the world, to one of the weakest and unstable. Poor Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and had a great fall, but few people will see the real truth that Humpty was actually pushed! writes Patrick Wood.Meanwhile, the plan is moving along splendidly for the banksters. In December, the labor force contracted by 661,000. Realtytrac says defaults and repossessions have been running at over 300,000 a month since February. One million American families lost their homes in the fourth quarter. Moody’s Economy.com expects another 2.4m homes to go this year. Taken together, this looks awfully like Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath,writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

It will be the Grapes of Wrath on steroids.

Republicans, naturally, are as supportive of this mass plundering as Democrats. Conservatives agree that, as point person, you’ve failed. Liberals are growing in that consensus as well. Poll after poll shows the public has lost confidence in this president’s ability to handle the economy. For the sake of our jobs, will you step down from your post? complained Republican Congressman Brady of Texas.Actually, Geithner did not fail. He followed the script wonderfully. It’s just that word leaked out and now he may be obliged to fall on his sword and retire to the country club and spend his remaining days giving speeches at thousands of dollars a crack to his bankster buddies and their hired hands.In a somewhat more perfect world, not only Geithner but the global elite behind him would be arrested and charged with perjury, theft, conspiracy to conceal a criminal act, and malfeasance.

From The Sunday Times January 10, 2010 Hard questions for Tim Geithner-Dominic Rushe: Wall Street

THE $182.3 billion (€126.5 billion) bailout of AIG is getting more costly by the day for the Obama administration. New revelations last week cast the spotlight back on Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary who played such a vital role in the credit crunch bailouts. For all the attacks on the bailouts from Obama’s opponents, it’s worth remembering that this is a situation he inherited and the money started flowing under George Bush junior. But Geithner was Hank Paulson’s batman under Bush —so if anyone deserves flak, it’s him. In late 2008, after helping to light the fire under the biggest destruction of wealth in living memory, AIG managed to fan the flames further when it was revealed the insurer paid a total of $62.1 billion to settle the contracts with investment banks, often paying 100c on the dollar. Average investors were left to burn but the bankers got their cash back in full. The news came after Uncle Sam had injected $85 billion of taxpayers’ cash into the teetering insurer. That handout has now grown to $182.3 billion. Now it appears that as the money started to roll, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then under Geithner, was urging AIG to limit disclosure on payments made to banks. Emails show AIG staff, soon to become social pariahs and the target of death threats, arguing for more disclosure only to be discouraged by officials. The messages were obtained by Darrell Issa, Republican representative of California and ranking member of the House oversight and government reform committee.It appears that the New York Fed deliberately pressured AIG to restrict and delay the disclosure of important information to the Securities and Exchange Commission,Issa said in an emailed statement.

It’s not the first time the payments have been attacked. An earlier investigation by Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the bailout Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp), found that banks such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche and others were paid top dollar for contracts then valued at a fraction of those prices. AIG was apparently attempting to negotiate cuts of up to 40% on some of these contracts. It’s for historians and economists to debate whether they would have been successful, and the consequences success would have had for the banking system as a whole. That the government didn’t seek to save the taxpayer any money looks pretty bad. Its defence will no doubt be that it didn’t have time. But the unarguable scandal at AIG is that the US taxpayer was made to pay the bill without being shown the cheque. New York Fed representatives have said Geithner was recused [disqualified] from matters dealing with specific companies, as he was preparing to be nominated as Treasury secretary in late 2008. But as the man with the plan, Geithner has a lot of questions to answer. On Friday, the top Democrat and House financial services chairman Barney Frank, the man who helped push through the Tarp, said he was troubled by the reports. He’s supporting a hearing on the revelations — just what Obama needs. But perhaps a full accounting is the only antidote for AIG’s toxic debt. It’s a scandal that nobody got one in the first place.

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.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Freeze mauls Florida citrus, damage reported By Pascal Fletcher – Jan 11,2010

MIAMI (Reuters) – Plunging overnight temperatures froze fruit in Florida's citrus growing regions overnight, inflicting varying damage to the orange crop, producers said on Monday, although the losses did not appear catastrophic.Growers are cutting ice today, Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association in central Florida, told Reuters, as anxious Florida citrus farmers sliced fruit with knives to check for freeze damage.Florida produces more than three-quarters of the U.S. orange crop and its $9.3 billion citrus industry accounts for about 40 percent of the world's orange juice supply.But the Sunshine State, which is famous for its beaches, fruits and abundant sunshine, has been hit over the past week by successive blasts of arctic air that brought snow, ice and transport chaos to more northern parts of the United States.AccuWeather.com quoted its agricultural meteorologist Dale Mohler as saying the freeze this morning could be the worst the area has seen since 1989.He projected that losses in the citrus crop may approach 10 percent. The U.S. Agriculture Department forecast the 2009/10 crop at 135 million (90-lb) boxes, the second lowest since 2000.Analysts said another area of concern would be if the freeze affects the ability of citrus trees, already hard hit by diseases like citrus greening and citrus canker, to flower for the 2010/11 crop. Cumulatively, the multiple nights of unusually low freezing temperatures in Florida had taken their toll on the state's citrus groves at the peak of the harvest, directly damaging some fresh fruit and also reducing juice content, growers said.

I would say that there is probably widespread light damage and some considerable to heavy fruit damage, said Royce, whose organization represents growers in the second largest citrus producing county in Florida.Several frigid nights last week had largely spared the bulk of Florida's citrus crop. But overnight Sunday saw the harshest freeze yet, growers said, with many growing areas remaining for most of the night below the key 28 Fahrenheit (minus 2 Celsius) level. Typically, citrus crops get damaged if temperatures fall to 28 F or below for four or more hours.We definitely had our coldest weather for the largest duration so far ... we are going to get more fruit damage, Royce said.

NOT CATASTROPHIC

Grower John Arnold of the Showcase of Citrus in south Lake County, who grows more than 50 varieties on 1,000 acres, said his crop had suffered from the freeze.What I'm seeing here is 30 percent penetration of ice in the fruit, he told Reuters.But it is not catastrophic, we still have citrus that can be picked.Arnold said it was the most delicate, sweetest varieties, such as Honey tangerines and Navel oranges, that had been worst affected by the freeze.Freeze-damaged fruit cannot be marketed as fresh fruit and also loses some of its juice.There is no doubt we will see juice reduction in a lot of fruit, to what extent I don't know, Highlands County's Royce said.But, he added: In the great overall scheme of things, we are not at some catastrophic level.Growers say it could be several weeks before the full extent of the freeze damage is known to the current crop.

Orange juice futures, which had rallied last week on fears over the Florida freeze, sank in early trading on Monday because temperatures were forecast to moderate during the rest of the week, analysts said. The March FCOJ contract fell 7.15 cents to $1.44 per lb at 8:47 a.m. It had settled at a $1.5115 on Friday, the highest for the benchmark contract since January 2008. The worst of the cold should be past for Floridians,AccuWeather.com said in a report.Temperatures will begin to rebound a bit across the Southeast today, but the unusual cold will not be completely erased until later this week.(Additional reporting by Rene Pastor in New York; editing by Jane Sutton)

Snow strands thousands of travelers around Europe By Stephanie Nebehay – Sun Jan 10, 10:36 pm ET

GENEVA (Reuters) – Snow and icy weather disrupted travel across Europe on Sunday, closing Geneva airport on one of its busiest tourist weekends of the year and prompting a state of emergency on part of Germany's Baltic coast.Thousands of passengers were stranded at Geneva's Cointrin airport after heavy overnight snow kept it closed until noon.It was the first time we had so much snow on the runway since 1985, airport spokesman Bertrand Staempfli said on French-language Swiss radio at midday as departures began.Delays were expected as frustrated passengers queued to rebook flights at the airport, where 100,000 people had been due to transit over the weekend.Many British, German and other European skiers use Geneva airport to reach popular Swiss and French ski resorts in the nearby Alpine region, including Verbier.Hundreds of motorists had to abandon their cars in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where a foot of snow fell and the district of Ostvorpommern declared a state of emergency, local authorities said.

Schools across the state will stay closed on Monday.

Levees in parts of the neighboring state of Schleswig-Holstein showed cracks on Sunday, threatening low-lying areas with floods, police said. Coastal towns like Flensburg and Travemuende had suffered flooding by afternoon.In Poland, at least 200,000 households suffered a power outage and shoppers and workers were evacuated from a shopping center in the western city of Leszno when its roof began to give way under 1.5 meters of snow, rescue services said.A police spokesman said that since the onset of cold weather in October, 152 people had been found frozen to death in Poland.

CARS TRAPPED

On Germany's Baltic island of Fehmarn, some 5,000 residents were shut in by the blizzards, while scores were trapped in their cars for hours on the A20 autobahn because normal snow ploughs could not reach them, authorities said.German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn said several passenger trains became stuck in snowdrifts and a number of local rail routes in the north were canceled.The weather had caused over 1,100 road accidents between Saturday and Sunday morning in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, according to the regional government.A 22-year-old driver died after skidding off the road into a tree at Kerken near the Dutch border. At least 16 people have been badly injured in the state due to the snow since Saturday.In the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, snow caused more than 900 road accidents between Friday and midday on Sunday, seriously injuring 15 people and causing 4 million euros of damage, the regional interior ministry said.

Ninety-one flights were canceled on Sunday at Frankfurt airport, Germany's busiest, compared to 225 the day before.In Britain, chemical firm Ineos said it had diverted 12,000 metric tones of salt for use on British roads that had originally been destined for Germany. Because we've been inundated with calls from local authorities, we've decided to retain the supplies in the UK, a spokesman said. The government told local authorities to reduce the amount of salt they put on roads by a quarter at the end of last week in a bid to conserve supplies. (Additional reporting by Dave Graham in Berlin, Rob Strybel in Warsaw, Christina Fincher in London; Editing by Dominic Evans)

http://www.infowars.com/full-body-scanners-used-on-air-passengers-may-damage-human-dna/

Israel to build 2 fences on porous Egyptian border By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

JERUSALEM – Israel's prime minister has ordered the construction of two massive fences along the long and porous southern border with Egypt, saying he wants to stem a growing flood of African asylum seekers and to prevent Islamic militants from entering the country.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the structure would help preserve Israel's Jewish majority, while providing a layer of protection along an open border with an area suspected of having an al-Qaida presence.I decided to close Israel's southern border to infiltrators and terrorists after prolonged discussions, he said in a statement.This is a strategic decision to ensure the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel. Israel will remain open to war refugees but we cannot allow thousands of illegal workers to infiltrate into Israel via the southern border and flood our country, he said.The two fences will cover nearly half of the 150-mile (250-kilometer) border. One section will be near the Red Sea port of Eilat. The other will be in southwest Israel, near the Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

Government spokesman Mark Regev said government ministers approved the plan Sunday evening. He said a date hasn't been set for construction and it is unclear how long it would take to complete the fences.The project is expected to cost about $400 million, according to local media reports.The structure would come in addition to a massive fence surrounding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, as well as a separation barrier that snakes along parts of Israel's more than 400-mile (680-kilometer) frontier with the West Bank, biting into chunks of the territory as it runs. Egypt has its own fence along Gaza's southern border, and is reinforcing the area with underground metal plates to shut down tunnels used to smuggle goods and weapons into Gaza.The planned Egypt fence, like the West Bank and Gaza barriers, is rooted largely in security concerns, along with efforts to keep illegal migrants out, Israel says.The military began planning the fence in 2005 after Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip, fearing that militants would freely travel to Egypt and sneak into Israel. These concerns were underscored in early 2007, when a Gaza suicide bomber sneaked into Eilat through Egypt.But the massive influx of African migrants into Israel in recent years has given the project added momentum. U.N. officials and human rights workers estimate some 17,000 to 19,000 people have poured into Israel through the southern border since 2005, most of them from Eritrea, Sudan and other war-torn African countries, searching for a better life in Israel's relatively affluent Western-style society.Most of them live in crowded slums in Tel Aviv or Eilat, where many work as dishwashers and hotel bellboys.The new arrivals have created a dilemma for authorities. On one hand, they strain Israel's social service system, and officials fear they could upset the country's demographic mix, possibly tilting it away from a Jewish majority. About three-quarters of Israel's 7 million citizens are Jewish.On the other hand, Israel is a country created in large part as a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution, and many feel they cannot turn their backs on the Africans, believing the government must be more sensitive to their needs.

Advocacy groups also note that the asylum seekers are far outnumbered by foreign workers who have flown into the country legally and overstayed their visas.Israel's policy toward the asylum seekers has been muddled, with frequent changes in rules and procedures.At present, Africans who cross into Israel through Egypt are detained for several months in a nearby prison while their applications are processed.Most are eventually given one-month visas to stay in Israel that they must renew every month, said Yonatan Berman of the Hotline for Migrant Workers, an advocacy group that helps the asylum seekers. They are not allowed to work, but the government turns a blind eye.Israel requested Egypt tighten its border patrols. Amnesty International says Egyptian security forces have killed 39 people, mostly Sudanese and Eritreans, trying to cross into Israel between 2008 to mid-2009. More updated figures were not immediately available. Both countries have been criticized by human rights groups for their approach to the problem. In Cairo, Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said his government had no objections to the fence, as long as it is on Israeli territory.This is a matter which concerns Israel. This is something which Israel is building inside its territories, so let it be, he told reporters.

Security and crime concerns have also prompted Israel to erect the fences. Israeli officials frequently issue warnings urging citizens to avoid travel to the neighboring Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The area is believed to be a stronghold for al-Qaida-inspired extremists who have aligned themselves with lawless Bedouin tribes in the area. In 2004, a total of 32 people were killed in a pair of hotel bombings in the Sinai.Smugglers use the porous area to traffic women into Israel's prostitution trade, and it's also a main conduit for drugs entering the country. But its many walls illustrate Israel's sense of isolation in a largely hostile region. The West Bank barrier in particular has sparked international criticism because it frequently juts into the West Bank, drawing accusations that Israel is using it to gobble up land claimed by the Palestinians. There are also fences separating Israel from hostile Lebanon and parts of the Golan Heights, which Israel annexed after seizing the Syrian territory in the 1967 Mideast war. Defense against terror activity clearly requires a fence,Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio Monday.Good fences make good neighbors,Barak said, noting only Israel's western border — the sea — did not need to be blocked off.Along the sea we don't need a fence,he said.

Prehistoric building found in modern Israeli city By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

JERUSALEM – Archaeologists have uncovered remains of an 8,000-year-old prehistoric building as well as ancient flint tools in the modern city of Tel Aviv, Israel's Antiquities Authority announced Monday.The building is the earliest structure ever found in Tel Aviv and changes what archaeologists previously believed about the area in ancient times.This discovery is both important and surprising to researchers of the period, said Ayelet Dayan, the archaeologist who led the excavation.For the first time we have encountered evidence of a permanent habitation that existed in the Tel Aviv region 8,000 years ago, she said.The three-room structure is believed to be have been built in the Neolithic period — when humans went from a nomadic existence of hunting and gathering to living in permanent settlements and engaging in agriculture.The remains were found near the Ayalon river which Dayan said probably influenced the ancient dwellers' decision to settle.

Pottery shards found at the site helped archaeologists date the building.

Ancient artifacts including flint tools and hippopotamus bones from between 13,000 and 100,000 years ago were found nearby.Tel Aviv, Israel's financial and cultural center on the Mediterranean, was built on barren sand dunes a mere 100 years ago. The ancient remains were uncovered during construction in the affluent Ramat Aviv neighborhood.

Israel will take years to deploy rocket defense By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

JERUSALEM – Israel's defense minister said Monday it would take years before the country's new rocket defense system would be fully deployed along borders with Gaza and Lebanon.Ehud Barak predicted that once the barriers are in place, they will significantly reduce Middle East hostilities.Last week, Israel announced it had successfully completed testing the Iron Dome system, designed to protect civilians from short-range rockets fired by Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. The military did not say at the time when the system would become operational, though Channel 10 TV said a first battery would be deployed in May.The military on Monday released three brief videoclips of last week's test, each showing streaking rockets disappearing inside a white circular flash. In one video, a rocket is seen disintegrating into a shower of tiny fragments. Each video appears to show a tiny, stationary circular object waiting in the path of the incoming projectile shortly before the explosion.Despite the technological success, Barak said it would take years before the system is fully operational.We can't sow the illusion that now that development has been successfully completed, tomorrow morning there already will be complete protection for the Gaza area or the north, Barak said.It will take years before we are equipped.

Israel has had no system in place to guard against thousands of rockets that militants rained down on its southern and northern borders over the years. Millions of Israeli civilians are within rocket range, and the military stepped up its quest for a solution after the country's 2006 war against Hezbollah, when 4,000 rockets bombarded northern Israel.Iron Dome, developed at a cost of more than $200 million, uses cameras and radar to track incoming rockets and shoot them down within seconds of their launch, the Defense Ministry said. It is to be integrated into a multilayered defense umbrella designed to neutralize all missile threats — including long-range ballistic missiles from Iran that might be configured to carry nuclear warheads.Barak predicted Iron Dome would pare military operations against Hamas and Hezbollah in the future.It will save time of fighting and deter in many cases a potential enemy from really launching an attack, he said in English.He also deflected concerns about the high cost of employing the system: It has been estimated that it would cost many thousands of dollars to shoot down a single rocket, which in Hamas' case, could cost only several hundred dollars to manufacture.
The whole picture from my point of view is how much it costs us to run the war one day more or probably not just even opening it, he said.The cost of one day of warfare against the Hamas and Hezbollah, for example, will cover 10,000 interceptors.
There has been a recent flare-up of rocket fire from Gaza, and Barak said that reflected the failure of Gaza's Hamas rulers to impose their will on dissident militant groups.Hamas is well-deterred from trying another direct collision with Israel, he said, warning it to prevent fire on Israel and not dissolve into crocodile tears if we're forced to take action.At the same time, he judged that Hamas has been deterred by Israel's war against it a year ago. The offensive killed more than 1,400 Gazans, according to Gaza officials and Palestinian rights groups. It wreaked large-scale destruction that has not been rebuilt because of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the seaside territory.

China set to take top export spot
ANDREW WILLIS Today @ 17:39 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - China looks set to overtake Germany as the world's largest exporter, with fresh customs data showing the Asian superpower sent goods valued at $1.2 trillion overseas in 2009. However, analysts have been quick to point out that the figures only reveal half the story, with China still behind Germany and other net exporting countries in the value-added stakes. The figures, released on Sunday (11 January) by China's General Administration of Customs (GAC), mark a 16 percent fall on 2008, but are still tipped to exceed total German exports for last year.

Forecasts by the Federation of German Wholesale and Foreign Trade predict exports in Europe's largest economy area are likely to fall by 18 percent this year to 816 billion euros ($1.18 trillion), with official figures expected in February.
Commenting on the likely switch in positions between Germany and China on the global export ladder, analyst Duncan Freeman of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies said the figures on crude volumes of trade were something of note, but added:it doesn't necessarily mean China is a dominant trading force.The Chinese are right to say that many of their exports have relatively low added value, he told EUobserver, adding that profits on products assembled in China frequently leave the country. The Chinese 2009 annual total was given an important boost by strong exports in December worth $130.7 billion, up 17.7 percent from a year earlier and marking the first rise since November 2008.Compared to the country's exports, Chinese imports slid a more modest 11.2 percent to $1.006 trillion in 2009, something Chinese officials are likely to point to if foreign criticism over China's trade surplus resurfaces.

No link between Iceland debt and EU bid, says Spain
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JAN 11,10 @ 09:40 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Spanish presidency of the European Union has told Iceland that the Icesave bank dispute with the Netherlands and the UK is unrelated to its bid to join the EU.According to a statement from the Icelandic foreign ministry, the country's foreign affairs chief spoke with his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos, on Saturday (9 January) by telephone. The Spanish EU Presidency viewed the Icesave issue and Iceland's EU application as separate issues, and that the new situation that has arisen in Iceland would not have any impact on EU's treatment of the application, the statement said.On Friday, Mr Moratinos had told reporters that the dispute could slow the [EU] negotiation process a bit.

Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, last week refused to sign a bill passed by the Althingi, the country's parliament, that would see Reykjavik pay back London and the Hague the €3.8 billion they spent to compensate British and Dutch savers who lost money when their accounts with the online savings bank, Icesave, were frozen following the collapse of the parent company, Landsbanki.London and the Hague have hinted that they may block Iceland's EU accession or obstruct the IMF's $10 billion rescue package for the country.Reykjavik has since engaged in a scramble of financial diplomacy to reassure creditors and save its EU bid.Icelandic foreign minister Ossur Skarphedinsson spoke with his British counterpart, David Milliband on 7 January, in which, again according to Reykjavik, Mr Milliband said that the UK would continue to support Iceland's EU application. The same view was put forward in a conversation between the Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir and the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown the day before, Iceland said.Separately, Eva Joly, the Franco-Norwegian Green MEP and an advisor to Iceland's special prosecutor investigating the causes of the economic crisis, has sharply criticised London and the Hague's treatment of Iceland.

The Netherlands and the UK are being arrogant, she said in an interview with the top Dutch economic newspaper, NRC Handelsblad.They are asking for €2.7 and €1.3 billion respectively at 5.5 percent interest. But Iceland's public debt amounts to 300 percent of GDP. They will never be able to pay back the whole amount.

US dismisses NKorean call for peace treaty BY HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea proposed Monday signing a peace treaty this year to formally end the Korean War, a suggestion that Washington quickly dismissed.In a move seen as an attempt to bolster its negotiating position, the isolated communist regime said a return to negotiations on its nuclear weapons program depends on better relations with Washington and the lifting of sanctions.However, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters Monday that peace treaty talks would only be discussed once North Korea comes back to six-nation nuclear talks and takes steps on abandoning its nuclear programs.As for dropping sanctions, Crowley said,We're not going to pay North Korea to come back to the six-party process.He urged North Korea to say yes to returning to the talks and then we can begin to march down the list of issues that we have.North Korea has long demanded a peace treaty, but the prospects seem dim with South Korea suspicious that its rival is using the issue as a distraction and a U.S. official saying Monday that the authoritarian North must improve its human rights record before any normalization of ties.Washington and Pyongyang have never had diplomatic relations because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, thus leaving the peninsula technically at war. North Korea, the U.S.-led United Nations Command and China signed a cease-fire, but South Korea never did.North Korea, which claims it was forced to develop atomic bombs to cope with U.S. threats, quit six-nation nuclear talks last year in anger over international condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.

The country later conducted its second nuclear test, test-launched a series of ballistic missiles and restarted its plutonium-producing facility, inviting widespread condemnation and tighter U.N. sanctions.After months of tension, however, the North said last month it understood the need to resume the talks with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan following bilateral talks with the U.S. in Pyongyang, another longtime demand. Still, the country did not make a firm commitment on when it would rejoin the forum.Now, the North is saying the resumption of the six-nation nuclear talks depends on building confidence between Pyongyang and Washington by quickly starting talks on a peace treaty and lifting the sanctions.If confidence is to be built between (North Korea) and the U.S., it is essential to conclude a peace treaty for terminating the state of war, a root cause of the hostile relations,the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.Such a confidence-building measure is necessary to bring back the process for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula on track, the statement said.The United States has resisted signing a treaty while the North possesses nuclear weapons. Washington, however, has said, that the subject can be discussed within the framework of the six-party nuclear talks, which have not been held for more than a year.

Stephen Bosworth, President Barack Obama's special envoy on North Korea, said last month after the talks in Pyongyang that he conveyed a message from Obama calling for the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and underlined Washington's willingness to help bring the isolated country back into the international fold. He also said discussion of a peace treaty could take place within the six-party talks framework.Rival South Korea is suspicious of the North's calls for a peace treaty, which it has said are a tactic to delay denuclearization. China, which hosts the six-party talks and fought on North Korea's side during the Korean War, seldom says anything about a treaty, though analyst Baek Seung-joo of the state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses said the country has no reason to oppose one as long as it helps resume the six-party talks.The North's statement called for a peace treaty to be concluded this year, which it emphasized marks the 60th anniversary since the outbreak of the Korean War.A landmark disarmament-for-aid deal in 2005, part of the six-party talks, states that the directly related parties will negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula at an appropriate separate forum. And a subsequent 2007 deal upheld the previous accord. Analysts said the North's proposal likely means it wants to elevate the signing of a peace treaty as a key issue in the nuclear disarmament talks. We can see its concealed intention to soften discussion of its denuclearization, said Yang Moo-jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies. Baek agreed, saying the North seeks international recognition as a nuclear weapons state. I don't think they are truly aiming to establish a permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, Baek said. The North's statement said the peace talks could be held within the framework of the six-party talks or at a separate forum as agreed in a 2005 disarmament pact. Baek and Yang said it would be difficult for the U.S. and other regional powers to reject the North's demand because it was part of previous six-party deals. Peter Beck, an expert on North Korea conducting research at Stanford University, said the North's proposal carries both pitfalls and opportunities for the U.S. The concern is that this will give the North Koreans a sense that the focus is no longer on denuclearization, it's on a peace treaty and sort of accepting the North Koreans as a nuclear state,Beck said. So that's certainly why the administration's been very cautious.Beck added, however, that in reality North Korea is a nuclear state and Obama needs to offer concrete steps to get the denuclearization process going, with accepting the North's call for a peace treaty a possible way forward. It costs Washington nothing and could test the North Koreans as to their seriousness about real negotiations, he said.

The call for dropping sanctions, however, is seen as a nonstarter. Another obstacle is North Korea's human rights record, which is generally considered to be one of the worst in the world with the country said to hold 150,000 people in political prison camps. Robert King, Obama's special envoy for human rights in North Korea, harshly criticized the communist country Monday and said that the situation is preventing a normalization of relations. The situation is appalling, he said in Seoul regarding human rights conditions in the North, adding that they must improve before normalization of relations with the U.S. can be achieved. Associated Press Writer Kelly Olsen in Seoul and Foster Klug in Washington contributed to this report.

China says missile defense system test successful By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press writer – JAN 11,10

BEIJING – China announced that its military intercepted a missile in mid-flight Monday in a test of new technology that comes amid heightened tensions over Taiwan and increased willingness by the Asian giant to show off its advanced military capabilities.The official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday that ground-based midcourse missile interception technology was tested within Chinese territory.The test has achieved the expected objective, the three-sentence report said.The test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country.Monday's report follows repeated complaints in recent days by Beijing over the sale by the U.S. of weaponry to Taiwan, including PAC-3 air defense missiles. These sales are driven by threats from China to use force to bring the island under its control, backed up by an estimated 1,300 Chinese ballistic missiles positioned along the Taiwan Strait.

Communist-ruled China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the self-governing democracy as part of its territory. Beijing has warned of a disruption in ties with Washington if the sale goes ahead, but has not said what specific actions it would take.China's military is in the middle of a major technology upgrade, spurred on by double-digit annual percentage increases in defense spending. Missile technology is considered one of the People's Liberation Army's particular strengths, allowing it to narrow the gap with the U.S. and other militaries that wield stronger conventional forces.Xinhua did not further identify the system tested, although China is believed to be pursuing a number of programs developed from anti-aircraft systems aimed at shooting down stealth aircraft and downing or disabling cruise missiles and precision-guided weapons.Such programs are shrouded in secrecy, but military analysts say China appears to have augmented its air defenses with homemade technologies adapted from Russian and other foreign weaponry. China purchased a large number of Russian surface-to-air missiles during the 1990s and has since pressed ahead with its own HQ-9 interceptor, along with a more advanced missile system with an extended range.Foreign media reports in 2006 said Beijing had tested a surface-to-air missile in the country's remote northwest with capabilities similar to the American Patriot interceptor system. According to South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, the test involved the detection and downing of both a reconnaissance drone and an incoming ballistic missile by an interceptor, adding that it appeared to mark the official launch of China's indigenous interceptor unit.

There is an obvious concern in Beijing that they need an effective anti-ballistic missile defense in some form, said Hans Kristensen, an expert on the Chinese military with the Federation of American Scientists.Staging a successful test "shows that their technology is maturing, Kristensen said.The 2009 Pentagon report on China's military says the air force received eight battalions of upgraded Russian SA-20 PMU-2 surface-to-air missiles since 2006, with another eight on order. The missiles have a range of 125 miles (200 kilometers) and reportedly provide limited ballistic and cruise missile defense capabilities.Such interceptor missiles are believed to be deployed near major cities and strategic sites such as the massive Three Gorges Dam, but they could also be used to protect China's own ballistic missile batteries that would themselves become targets in any regional conflict.

Such interceptors would be of relatively little use against U.S. cruise missiles, although they could be effective against ballistic missiles deployed by Russia or India, China's massive neighbor to the south with which it has a growing military rivalry and lingering territorial disputes.Monday's report continues a growing trend of greater transparency over China's new military technologies typified by last year's striking Oct. 1 military parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the communist state. Large numbers of missiles were displayed in the show, including ICBMs, together with tanks, amphibious craft and latest-generation jet fighters.China's anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles — capable of striking U.S. Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and bases in the Pacific — have drawn the most attention from analysts in recent months.Military displays and announcements of successful tests help build public pride in the military's rising capabilities and bolster support for rising defense spending that increased by almost 15 percent last year to $71 billion. The figure is thought by many analysts to represent only a portion of total defense spending, although it still amounts to only a fraction of the U.S. military budget.Meanwhile, showing off such capabilities also helps put adversaries on notice, Kristensen said. It's the new Chinese way to signal that they are now able to do these things, he said.

Protestant church burned in Algeria By Aomar Ouali, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

ALGIERS, Algeria – Islamists looted and burned a Protestant church in Algeria, the congregation's leader said Monday, suggesting they were inspired by a recent wave of religious intolerance in the Arab and Muslim world.The church — hosted in an apartment block in the city of Tizi Ouzou some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Algiers, the Algerian capital — was ransacked and set ablaze on Saturday night, several Algerian newspapers said.The independent El Watan daily published a picture of a smoldering pile of pulpits and desks that had been brought outside for destruction. It quoted the pastor of the local Pentecostal community, Mustapha Krireche, as saying worshippers fled the temple because local police had left a gathering of anti-Christian rioters unchecked.The congregation was worshipping in the apartment block because it had not received official government approval to operate a church.Mustapha Krim, the head of the Algerian Protestant Church association, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Monday that looters also set fire to a pile of Bibles and religious textbooks, and desecrated Christian crosses.He said the looting showed Islamist intolerance considers there is no room for Christian religious practices in Algeria,and alleged it was fueled by what just happened in Egypt, where six people were killed in a church shooting during Christmas celebrations. In mainly Muslim Malaysia, nine churches have also been recently burned down amid violence against the country's Christian minority.

The Protestant Church in Algeria filed five separate complaints for arson and looting with local authorities, Krim said Monday.Authorities don't want to get involved because they're worried of getting in trouble with the Islamists, Krim said.
There was no official comment from Algeria's government on the church looting. A senior police officer in the town of Tizi Ouzou confirmed the police hadn't intervened, despite the complaints. He said authorities couldn't intervene because the church hadn't been authorized as a place of worship.What happened is appalling, but the apartment wasn't an authorized house to practice a religion, the police officer said, requesting anonymity because Algerian law bars security forces from talking to the media.The officer said local authorities had ordered the church to shut down in November because the apartment hadn't received approval to function as a place of worship.The officer denied police were caving in to Islamist pressure, pointing out that security forces regularly battle Islamist militants in the mountains around Tizi Ouzou, considered the stronghold of the local al-Qaida offshoot.Krim said the 300 Pentecostal practitioners in the area used the apartment because authorities had refused to provide them with another venue.An overwhelmingly Muslim nation where Islam is the religion of state, Algeria allows the practice of other faiths in authorized venues. A few Roman Catholic churches are still open, left over from the French colonial era.But small Protestant groups have been accused of proselytizing, or trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, which is illegal in Algeria. Several Protestants were prosecuted last year for illegally carrying Bibles or converting people to Christianity.Krim said the Algerian Protestant Association was officially registered in 2003 and is tolerated by authorities, but often turned down by the Ministry of Religious Affairs when it files requests for houses of worship.

Yemeni radical cleric warns of foreign occupation By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jan 11, 8:43 am ET

SAN'A, Yemen – Yemen's most influential Islamic cleric, considered an al-Qaida-linked terrorist by the United States, warned the government on Monday against allowing foreign occupation of the country in the growing cooperation with the U.S. against the terror group.Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani's comments reflected a deep mistrust among Yemenis of Washington's intentions as it ramps up counterterrorism aid and training for San'a to combat al-Qaida's offshoot here.Al-Zindani, a radical cleric who once associated with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, is highly influential among Yemenis and the government is careful to maintain at least his tacit support.We accept any cooperation in the framework of respect and joint interests, and we reject military occupation of our country. And we don't accept the return of colonialization,al-Zindani told reporters.Yemen's rulers and people must be careful before a (foreign) guardianship is imposed on them, he said.The day parliament allows the occupation of Yemen, the people will rise up against it and bring it down.President Barack Obama said he does not plan to send American combat forces to Yemen, and San'a has said it will not allow such a deployment.I have no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground in these regions, Obama said in an interview with People magazine to be published Friday.U.S. military personnel are helping train Yemeni counterterror forces and gave Yemeni forces intelligence and logistical help in heavy airstrikes last month against suspected al-Qaida hideouts that Yemen says killed dozens of militants.

Al-Zindani is a controversial figure in Yemeni politics.

The United States has labeled him a global terrorist, alleging he helps fund and recruit for al-Qaida and that students from Iman University — which he heads — were involved in past attacks.But Yemen's government courts his support. The deputy prime minister last week denied al-Zindani is a member of al-Qaida.Addressing a news conference held at his San'a home, al-Zindani denied U.S. accusations against him, saying it's become well known among the people that a lot of lies come out of Washington.He also denied any knowledge of al-Qaida's activities in Yemen. He also denied he had any influence on an American-Yemeni radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who is being hunted by Yemeni forces for alleged al-Qaida links.Al-Awlaki is a young cleric popular among extremists for his calls for jihad, or holy war, against the Americans. Yemeni officials say he may have met with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in Yemen before the 23-year-old Nigerian allegedly tried to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day. Al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen is accused of plotting that attack.

Al-Awlaki also had e-mail contact with the accused Fort Hood shooter before he allegedly opened fire at the military base in Texas, killing 13 people. Al-Awlaki later praised the attack, and he has also praised al-Zindani's writings in Internet speeches.I was never a direct teacher for Anwar al-Awlaki, al-Zindani said, his white beard dyed red with henna in the style of some Islamic hard-liners.I am general lecturer and a writer of books. If someone says they listened to my lectures or read my books, am I to blame if he then, say, divorces his wife, or if he attacks someone? If that's the case, then all teachers and professors should be accused, said al-Zindani, who also denied any connection to Abdulmutallab.Al-Zindani, who often preaches in favor of holy war to defend the Muslim world, was careful not to directly criticize the Yemeni government's cooperation with the United States and avoided any comments that suggested a call for violence. But he said San'a must regulate its counterterror partnership with Washington with written agreements approved by parliament.The constitution says agreements must be put before parliament. I demand the implementation of the constitution,he said. He sharply criticized a U.S.-backed Yemeni airstrike against a suspected al-Qaida hideout on Dec. 17 in which dozens of civilians were reported killed.Is this right? What about a government that calls in any force to strike whoever it wants in this way, without any restrictions? he said.

Officials: 6-nation meeting on Iran being planned By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

VIENNA – Officials say the United States and five other countries are likely to meet this week to discuss what to do about Iran's nuclear program.The officials tell The Associated Press that the meeting is tentatively set for New York on Saturday.The meeting would bring together high-ranking diplomats from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.They are trying to persuade Tehran to give up uranium enrichment and heed other U.N. Security Council resolutions meant to diminish fears that Iran seeks to make nuclear arms.The two officials — from two of the six nations — spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because their information was confidential.

Turkey lashes out at Israel By Selcan Hacaoglu, Associated Press Writer – JAN 11,10

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's prime minister accused Israel on Monday of threatening peace in the region and using disproportionate force against Palestinians.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Israel to stop violating Lebanon's airspace and territorial waters. He also called on the U.N. Security Council to put the same pressure on Israel regarding nuclear arms as it does on Iran.We can never remain silent in the face of Israel's attitude. ... It has disproportionate power and it is using that at will while refusing to abide by U.N. resolutions. We can never accept this picture, Erdogan said.These steps threaten global peace.He spoke a joint news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Hariri described Israel as an enemy that threatens Lebanon's security.Today, Israel continues its violation of our airspace and waters, Hariri said.Erdogan promised to support Lebanon's case against Israel at the United Nations. Turkey is a temporary member of the Security Council.

Discussing the possibility of war to make Iran drop its nuclear program, Erdogan said,The region cannot accept a new Iraq syndrome. Turkey has long defended Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful use.Those who are warning Iran over nuclear weapons are not making the same warnings to Israel, Erdogan said.Five permanent members of the Security Council must be just. Israel has not denied the existence of its nuclear arsenal; on the contrary it has admitted it.Erdogan also criticized Israel for an airstrike in Gaza on Sunday.What is your excuse this time? he asked.On Sunday, three members of the militant group Islamic Jihad were killed in an Israeli strike.Cross-border exchanges have escalated in recent days. The Israeli military said there have been 15 rocket attacks from Gaza this month, compared to eight in December. No Israeli casualties have been reported.Erdogan accused Israel of using of white phosphorus shells in its offensive in Gaza last year. No one can claim that phosphorus shells are not weapons of mass destruction, he said.

Turkey's ties with Israel have been strained by Erdogan's frequent criticism of the Jewish state's use of force against Palestinians, as well as during the 2006 war against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.On Monday, Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, summoned the Turkish ambassador for clarification over a new Turkish TV show where actors pretending to be Israeli intelligence agents kidnap children and shoot old men. A diplomatic spat occurred a few months ago between Israel and Turkey after a different Turkish show depicted Israeli troops killing Palestinian children.Associated Press Writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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

MARK 13:7
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Deaths reported as South Sudan rival tribes clash
JAN 11,10

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) – New clashes erupted on Monday between two rival tribes in south Sudan, a military official said, with an independent local source reporting that at least 45 people had been killed in the fighting.We have information that civilians from Mayom county in Unity State have attacked a village in Gogrial-east county of Warrap State, said Kuol Deim Kuol, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, a former rebel group which now acts as an army in the semi-autonomous south.He said that members of the Nuer tribe attacked Dinka villagers but he was unable to give an immediate casualty toll. We don't have the full details, he said.

However an independent local source said dozens of people were killed and wounded in the clashes.The combat left 45 people dead and 102 wounded, the source said on condition of anonymity.The toll could not be confirmed by officials in the area.
Clashes between Nuer and Dinka tribes over cattle raids in the southern state of Warrap claimed at least 140 lives at the turn of the year, prompting the United Nations to call for an investigation.

MORE CHURCHES ATTACKED IN MALAYSIA

WERE REALLY GETTING CLOSE NOW TO IMPLANTED MICROCHIPS UNDER THE SKIN BY FORCE OR CONCENT.TRUE CHRISTIANS GET READY THE RAPTURE CAN OCCURR AT ANY SECOND,PRAY JESUS COMES TO GET US SO WE DON'T GO THROUGH THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH.

Security Upgrades at Ben Gurion International Airport
by Hana Levi Julian JAN 10,10

(IsraelNN.com) Israel has upgraded its international travel security with a new biometric screening system that was launched last week in the wake of the recent failed Northwest Airlines terror attack in Detroit. The hi-tech system is expected to significantly speed up security processing and check-ins at the airport, Israel Airports Authority officials said.The Unipass Airport Management System scans passports through a machine at the registration desk, where fingerprints and facial imaging samples are also recorded in order to create a biometric signature. A personal smart card created from the one-time process is then issued to the passenger.The information stored on the Unipass computers will be fully secure and will not be accessible to outsiders, according to an IAA official.Each time a passenger travels through the airport, they will be asked to swipe their card and passport through a machine, which will then confirm the biometric match. A companion touch screen panel will present a series of questions that will confirm the passenger’s identity and security status, a process that until now was carried out by human security personnel.

Human staff members will be standing by to assist in case passengers run into difficulties with the machines – or in case they fail the test. An IAA spokesperson said that in such cases, passengers will be taken aside by a guard for an in-depth check before being allowed to proceed.Passengers who pass the initial security check will proceed as usual to luggage security, where they will once again swipe their Unipass card, and send their bags through the X-ray machine. The third layer of security to be faced by the passenger will come at the check-in counter, where once again the Unipass will be swiped in a machine. At this point, the passenger will have passed all initial security checks, hand luggage will be accepted for scanning, and travelers will swipe the Unipass for their fourth and final screening before heading for the duty-free shopping area, border control and the terminal gates.

Eventually, Unipass machines are expected to replace human passport inspectors at the border control area altogether; at present, biometric fingerprint scanners are available only for frequent flyers. IAA officials added that Unipass holders will soon be able to bypass the luggage X-ray security step and take their luggage directly to check-in. From there, the suitcases will be passed through comprehensive security before being loaded on to the plane, said an IAA official. The system has been in the planning stages for some time. The fact that its launch date has come on the heels of an attempted attack by the Al-Qaeda terrorist group was purely coincidental, officials said.The Unipass will initially be limited to El Al Matmid frequent flyer club members, and only gradually be expanded to include other travelers within the next two years, according to the IAA.

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.

Cold stuns Floridians, causes deaths elsewhere By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jan 10, 4:41 am ET

ORLANDO, Fla. – Mark and Barbara Willard were at home in Wickford, England two weeks ago checking the weather forecast on the Internet before packing for their trip to Orlando — sunny and 70 degrees.On Saturday afternoon they had the hoods on their brand new coats pulled tight around their heads as the walked down the International Drive tourist strip. The weather: 35 degrees and cloudy with a chance of icy rain or even snow.The good news is two days after we go home we're off to Jamaica, said Mark Willard.The bad news is they paid in advance for theme park tickets and instead spent more time at shopping malls buying winter clothing — a few hundred dollars worth, he said.Across Florida, the weather was freakishly cold for a state that's a winter respite for so many. There were snow flurries spotted in several parts of the state, as far south as Naples on the gulf coast. In Miami, the temperature was forecast to drop just below freezing overnight and threatened to break the record for low temperatures in the city.In suburban Atlanta, which has seen an unusually long stretch of low temperatures, two teens died Saturday after falling through the ice on a partially frozen pond. The surviving teen was in fair condition at Gwinnett Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Andrea Wehrmann.

The two boys who died were in the frigid water for nearly an hour before rescuers could reach them, said Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services Capt. Tommy Rutledge. He said the three, ages 13 to 15, were playing and sliding on the semi-frozen pond when the ice broke.Just the day before, Rutledge said the department issued a warning that that local ponds, lakes and streams might look more icy than normal, but they still aren't solid enough to be safe. Even though it looks inviting, it's a very dangerous thing, he said.In other parts of the country, the weather was less unusual for winter, but still harsh.In Vermont, state police said a snowmobiling accident on a partially frozen lake killed three people Saturday, including a 3-year-old girl.Police say three snowmobiles carrying a total of six people went through ice on Lake Dunmore near Salisbury at around noon Saturday. Killed were: 50-year-old Kevin Flynn, of Whiting; 24-year-old Carrie Flynn, of Whiting; and 3-year-old Bryanna Popp.An ice jam along the Mississippi River prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flood warning for southwest Illinois and northeast Missouri. The weather service said the river was near the 16-foot flood stage in Hannibal, Mo., on Saturday.And the ferry that serves as the only connection between western Kentucky and eastern Missouri was shut down Saturday afternoon because of ice in the harbor and Mississippi River. Kentucky Department of Transportation spokesman Keith Todd said with temperatures expected to remain below freezing, operations for the Dorena-Hickman Ferry would be evaluated daily to decide when the crossing can resume.

Amtrak said some trains between Chicago and Denver and between St. Paul, Minn., and Seattle wouldn't operate Saturday and Sunday because of cold, high winds and drifting snow.As the arctic cold began to ease in some parts of the nation, residents in northern Florida were under a hard freeze warning with temperatures expected to drop to 20 or below overnight.In the Florida Keys, a tropical paradise where people usually pay attention to the heat index, a term more often reserved for Northerners was being used: wind chill. Gusts were predicted to make the air feel like the upper 20s.For Alfonso Idiaquez, the weather brought back flashbacks to the life he left behind in Cleveland seven years ago.It feels like we're living in Ohio, said Idiaquez, 43, of Kissimmee.My son was laughing. He said,We need to buy shovels for the snow.Marion White was not laughing. She was shivering uncontrollably from head to toe as she and her family walked down Orlando's International Drive. It ruined our holiday, said White, 46, of Dublin, Ireland.It's absolutely dreadful.
Associated Press writer Suzette Laboy in Miami contributed to this report.

Snow strands hundreds overnight on German highway By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, Associated Press Writer – JAN 10,10

BERLIN – Heavy snowfall trapped more than 160 people overnight on a frozen highway in northeastern Germany. The drivers survived by running their engines until police rescued them Sunday morning.Police in the town of Altentreptow said that 148 adults and 19 children were stuck in cars, a bus and trucks on highway A20 along the Baltic Coast.At least the firefighters were able to bring them hot beverages and food while they were waiting, said Jens Apelt, a spokesman for the Altentreptow highway police.

They were rescued after officers and rescue personnel used snow plows and heavy machinery to push through 6.5-foot (2-meter) drifts.The drivers were brought to tents provided by local aid organizations.Several parts of the highway are still blocked by snow drifts, but we're trying to free all cars from the snow so that the drivers can get back to their vehicles back and take a different road instead, said Apelt.In southern Poland, about 80,000 people were left without electricity on Sunday after snow-ladden tree branches cracked, damaging several power lines, the news agency PAP reported.Fraffic also came to a standstill in other parts of northeastern Germany, which was suffering from a second day of heavy snowfall and gusty winds, especially along the Baltic Coast.Two men were killed in an accident on the coast in Nordvorpommern when their car slid off a snow-covered road and hit a tree.In Anklam, near the Polish border, rescue team had to free a regional train with 14 passengers that was stuck in drifts, the German news agency DAPD reported.

German railways reported that many trains in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania were not running because railroad tracks across were blocked by snow.The state government said Sunday that the county of Ostvorpommern declared a state of emergency to react to the severe weather conditions and the chaotic traffic situation. It also asked residents to stay at home and avoid traveling by car, train or ferry.Several towns along the coast and on the islands were also cut off from electricity and continuing snowfall in many parts of Germany led to traffic accidents and flight cancelations in several cities.At Frankfurt airport, 61 flights were canceled and more than 400 persons spent the night at the airport.

Along the Baltic Coast, ferry service to Scandinavia was canceled.In the cities of Flensburg and Luebeck, several streets were flooded by rough swell and in the village of Dahmeshoeved the levees were threatening to break. Rescue teams were busy repairing the damage, DAPD reported.

Europe freeze strands travellers, cuts power by Simon Sturdee – JAN 10,10

BERLIN (AFP) – The Arctic freeze that has stricken Europe left hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in deep snow or stranded at airports with scores more flights cancelled and power cuts to thousands of homes Sunday.The treacherous conditions cut off villages in northern Germany and the Baltic islands, and disrupted rail traffic with the troubled Eurostar still only able to run two out of three trains under the English Channel.The weather, which forecasters said was caused by a rare depression they have called Daisy, unleashed blizzards in northern Germany that left motorways, other roads and railways in impassable at certain points.Hundreds of people were stuck in their cars and lorries in snow, or in trains, overnight and on Sunday morning, authorities said.At least when it comes to the north, the situation is dramatic,Maxi Hartung from the German Automobile Association said. On the A20 motorway, people have been stuck for hours.The whole country was blanketed with snow and buffeted by gale force winds in places. Leipzig in the east was shivering under 29 centimetres (11 inches), the capital Berlin under 27 cm while Hamburg in the north-west had 12 cm.

Dozens of villages in rural Schleswig-Holstein and on Baltic Sea islands were completely cut off, while over a thousand car accidents had been reported across Germany in recent days, including several that were fatal.Air travel were also hit, with 63 flights cancelled since midnight (2300 GMT) as of midday at Frankfurt airport, Europe's third busiest, after 255 flights were scrapped on Saturday, a spokesman told AFP.Britain -- in the grip of its coldest weather in 30 years -- had less fresh snow that feared overnight to Sunday but forecasters warned that it could be back with a vengeance later in the day and overnight.After 50 cancellations at London Heathrow on Saturday, more were scrapped at British airports on Sunday.Rail traffic was running as normal but Eurostar was only running two out of three trains under the English Channel.An alert by authorities about gas shortages due to high demand was lifted on Sunday after additional supplies arrived. The weather has killed at least 26 people, according to British media.In London, the Serpentine swimming lake in Hyde Park was closed for the first time in about 140 years. Seven English Premier League football matches were also snowed off, as well as all but one Premiership rugby union fixture.

The unusually harsh conditions are caused by a rare combination of relatively warm humid air from the Mediterranean meeting cold air from the north and east, meteorologist Michel Daloz from Meteo France said.In France, fresh snow and freezing rain made for another day of disruption, with 800 people -- including 500 British tourists on their way to a skiing break in the French Alps -- forced to spend the night at Lyon airport.Around 3,000 homes in southeastern France were without power for a second day, while icy conditions caused numerous accidents on roads around Paris, prompting the authorities to close sections of motorway and to ban lorries. In Poland, around 80,000 households were left without power after tree branches weighed down by snow fell on electricity cables, while freezing rain caused major problems on busy rail links between Warsaw and Cracow. Heavy rain and melting snow have meanwhile led to flooding in parts of Croatia and neighbouring Bosnia, with an emergency declared in the central Croatian district of Lika and 100 homes evacuated.
The Dutch weather service warned of slippery conditions and snowdrifts on roads, with temperatures on Sunday around freezing point with strong winds.

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.

6.5 quake shakes buildings on California coast By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writers – JAN 10,10

EUREKA, Calif. – A powerful offshore earthquake rattled communities in far northern California, cutting power to thousands of customers, causing minor damage to homes and businesses and forcing many people to seek treatment for cuts and bruises from falling debris.The 6.5 magnitude temblor hit at about 4:27 p.m. PST Saturday and was centered in the Pacific about 22 miles west of Ferndale, but was felt as far south as Capitola in central California and as far north as central Oregon, the U.S. Geological Survey said.In Eureka, about 240 miles north of San Francisco, residents of an apartment building were evacuated, and an office building and two other commercial structures in the town of about 26,000 people were declared unsafe for occupancy, according to Humboldt County spokesman Phil Smith-Hanes.Our initial reports were that, though this was a pretty decent quake, we survived it well, Smith-Hanes said, adding that damage assessments would continue on Sunday across the county.More than a dozen aftershocks, some with magnitudes as powerful as 4.5, rumbled for several hours after the initial quake, which had a depth of nearly 10 miles.Authorities said no major injuries have been reported. But several people received minor cuts and scrapes from broken glass at the Bayshore Mall in Eureka, and an elderly person fell and broke a hip, authorities said.We're mostly getting reports of bumps, bruises and hits on the head, said Laurie Watson Stone, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph Hospital, a 146-bed hospital in Eureka.The emergency room is busy, but we haven't heard of any major injuries.Amanda Nichols, a dispatcher for Eureka Police Department, said she received a report that an infant was struck in the head with some flying debris at the mall.Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman J.D. Guidi said power outages were widespread across most of Humboldt County, affecting about 25,000 customers.

Nearly 10,000 remained without power some five hours after the quake, and some could remain without power through Sunday, said PG&E spokeswoman Janna Morris.No damage was done to the company's former nuclear power plant outside Eureka, Morris said.
Several traffic lights fell and numerous residents reported water, gas and sewer leaks, Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services spokeswoman Jo Wattle said.
People have chimneys down, and we're hearing about minor property damage and lots of glassware broken,Wattle said.People are really shaken up. It was shaking pretty good, then it had a big jolt to it at the end.Police in Ferndale, a town of about 1,500 residents several miles south of Eureka, said the earthquake caused stucco to fall off City Hall and broke shop windows, strewing the historic downtown streets with glass shards.I thought a tire had blown off my truck because it was so hard to keep control of the vehicle," Officer Lindsey Frank said. Power lines were swaying, and I could see people in the fields trying to keep their balance.Eureka city spokesman Gary Bird said because the earthquake hit shortly before dark, only the city's old town received thorough surveys for damage. Authorities there found fallen bricks and parapets that had fallen off old structures, causing damage to adjacent buildings, he said.There are some frayed nerves, but I think we've come through this pretty well for the magnitude of earthquake we've had, Bird said.Televisions tumbled and objects were knocked off walls in Arcata, a small town that's home to Humboldt State University, one resident said. The whole town is kind of freaked out right now, said Judd Starks, the kitchen manager at a bar and restaurant known as The Alibi.All the power is out, people are out walking around.It struck in an area where earthquakes ranging from 7.0 to 7.3 have struck periodically since the 1800s, causing damage and injuries. California is one of the world's most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt. The damage created by an earthquake depends greatly on where it hits. A 7.1 quake — much stronger than Saturday's 6.5 temblor — hit the Mojave Desert in 1999 but caused only a few injuries and no deaths. By contrast the 1994 Northridge earthquake under Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley was magnitude 6.7. It killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage in the metropolitan area. And the magnitude-7.1 quake in October 1989 struck just before the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park. The quake, centered in the Santa Cruz Mountains on the San Andreas fault, caused nearly $3 billion in damage.

Dan Bowermaster of San Francisco was with relatives in Eureka when Saturday's quake hit, moving the refrigerator in his cousins' home about 3 feet. He said he had been in several moderate and large quakes throughout California but had never felt anything as strong as this one. It was extremely unsettling, it was shaking in kind of a circular way,he said. Sandra Hall, owner of Antiques and Goodies in Eureka, said furniture fell over, nearly all her lamps broke and the handful of customers in her store got a big scare. She said it was the most dramatic quake in the 30 years the store has been open. We'll be having a sale on broken china for those who like to do mosaics,she said. Associated Press writers Tim Reiterman in San Francisco, Garance Burke in Fresno, Calif., Andrew Dalton and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this story.

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

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

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

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

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

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

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

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 more churches attacked in Malaysia in Allah feud By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer – JAN 10,10

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Firebombs were thrown at three more churches in Malaysia on Sunday and another was splashed with black paint, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian houses of worship following a court decision allowing non-Muslims to use Allah to refer to God.Despite the attacks, thousands of Christians nationwide attended Sunday services and prayed for national unity and an end to the violence.

The unprecedented attacks have set off a wave of disquiet among Malaysia's minority Christians and strained their ties with the majority Malay Muslims. About 9 percent of Malaysia's 28 million people are Christian, most of whom are ethnic Chinese or Indian. Muslims make up 60 percent of the population and most of them are ethnic Malays.Religious minorities have often complained about what they say is institutionalized religious discrimination here.On Sunday, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the All Saints Church in Taiping town in central Perak state early in the morning before it opened, said state police chief Zulkifli Abdullah. He told The Associated Press police found burn marks on the wall but there was no damage to the building.A broken kerosene bottle with an unlit wick was found early Sunday inside the compound of the St. Louis Catholic church, also in Taiping, said the Rev. David Lourdes. He said it appeared to be a failed attack.In southern Malacca state, the outer wall of the Malacca Baptist Church was splashed with black paint, police said.

Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said a church in Miri town in eastern Sarawak state on Borneo island also reported an arson attempt.The situation is under control and the people should not be worried, he was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency. An aide confirmed his comments but couldn't give further details.Four churches were hit by gasoline bombs on Friday and Saturday. No one was hurt and all suffered little damage, except the Metro Tabernacle Church. Parishioners there moved services after fire gutted the first floor. The other churches held regular services Sunday.The dispute is over a Dec. 31 High Court decision that overturned a government order banning non-Muslims from using the word Allah in their prayers and literature. The court was ruling on a petition by Malaysia's Roman Catholic Church, whose main publication, the Herald, uses the word Allah in its Malay-language edition. The government has appealed the verdict.On Sunday, men, women and children from the Metro Tabernacle parish assembled in the cavernous, 1,800-seat meeting hall of the Malaysian Chinese Association party for the service. They lifted their hands and sang We put all our faith in you,and You are the God of love and peace.My wife was worried, but we want to be here to support the church, said Michael Chew, 40, who came with two children, aged 1 and 6.

Rev. Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said Christians won't be intimidated by the attacks, describing them as the work of an extremist minority among Muslims.We all have to stand together to stamp out terror perpetuated by these extremist groups, he said.The government contends that making Allah synonymous with God may confuse Muslims and ultimately mislead them into converting to Christianity.Still, government leaders and many Muslims have condemned the firebombings, saying it is un-Islamic to attack places of worship.Prime Minister Najib Razak visited the Metro Tabernacle church late Saturday and announced a grant of 500,000 ringgit ($147,000) for rebuilding it at a new location, a major concession in a country where permission is rarely given for building new churches or temples. The Allah ban is unusual in the Muslim world. The Arabic word is commonly used by Christians to describe God in such countries as Egypt, Syria and Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.

Malaysian Christians fearful as church attacks rise By Niluksi Koswanage – SUN JAN 10,10

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Would-be arsonists in mostly Muslim Malaysia struck at a convent school and a sixth church on Sunday while church and government leaders called for calm in a row over Christians' use of the word Allah to refer to God.The attacks threaten Prime Minister Najib Razak's plan to win back non-Muslim support before elections due by 2013 and may prevent investors from returning to Malaysia that has trailed Thailand and Indonesia for foreign investment.The row, over a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language editions, had prompted Muslims to protest at mosques and sparked arson attacks on a string of churches that saw a Pentecostalist church gutted.The situation is under control and the people should not be worried, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama.The attacks appear to have spread to other Malaysian states. Police said a petrol bomb was thrown at a guard house of a Catholic convent school in the sleepy town of Taiping, around 300 km (185 miles) from the capital Kuala Lumpur. It did not explode.

Several broken bottles and paint thinners were found at the Saint Louis church next to the convent and one of the country's oldest Anglican churches, All Saints, also in Taiping.Police and church officials said attackers also hurled bricks and stones at glass windows of the Good Shepherd Catholic church in Miri -- a major logging and oil town in Sarawak state.Sarawak and neighboring Sabah state are a key vote bank for Najib's National Front Party and home to a majority of Malaysia's Christians that account for 9.1 percent of the country's 28 million population. Many are non-English speaking adherents who have used the word Allah for decades.On Sunday, Malaysians packed churches to listen to sermons of reaching out in friendship to all, including Muslims and keeping the peace in multi-religious Malaysia but many felt their religious rights were being trampled.There are extremists in this country and the government seems unable to do anything, said Wilson Matayun, a salesman who attended Mass at St Anthony's Church in Kuala Lumpur.I am losing faith in our government. I pray it does not get worse.Matayun is from Borneo island where the Catholic Herald says it has to use the word Allah to describe the Christian God in order to serve Christians who can only speak Malay.The government has appealed against the ruling, a marked contrast to countries like Indonesia, Egypt and Syria where Christian minorities freely use the Arabic word to refer to God.Some Malaysian Muslims say that the paper wants to use to word to confuse and convert Muslims and by midday Sunday 178,392 people has signed up for a Facebook group that opposes Christians using Allah.Malaysia is mainly Muslim and Malay but there are sizable ethnic Chinese and Indian communities who mainly practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.They handed the government its biggest losses in 2008 state and national elections in part due to feelings of religious marginalization and growing disillusionment with corruption.Najib's handling of the issue will determine whether he can keep the support of the Malays and win back ethnic Chinese and Indian voters to solidify his grip on power after taking control of the government last year.
(Editing by Dominic Evans)

Pope condemns murder of Coptic Christians in Egypt
JAN 10,10

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday condemned the murder of six Coptic Christians in a January 6 attack in Egypt, and denounced violence against Christians.

The violence against Christians in certain countries has caused indignation among many people, among other reasons because it has manifested itself during the holiest days of the Christian tradition,the pope told pilgrims in St Peter's Square.The drive-by shooting happened in the southern Egyptian town of Nagaa Hammadi as Copts celebrated their Christmas Eve along with other Orthodox communities.There can be no violence in the name of God, Benedict said.

Israel: Palestinians to blame for impasse in talks By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – JAN 10,10

JERUSALEM – Israel's prime minister on Sunday accused the Palestinians of holding up the Mideast peace process, after Washington's Mideast envoy suggested the U.S. might impose sanctions on Israel to press it to make additional concessions.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments appeared to reflect concern that Israel is being perceived as the reason for the yearlong deadlock. U.S. envoy George Mitchell is expected in the region later this month in his latest attempt to bring the sides back to the negotiating table.Mitchell alarmed Israeli officials by suggesting last week that the U.S. could use financial pressure to extract new concessions from the Israelis.Under American law, the United States can withhold support on loan guarantees to Israel, Mitchell told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose, noting that the previous administration of George W. Bush had done so. But he quickly added that he preferred persuasion to sanctions.Under the Bush administration, Israel received billions of dollars in guarantees, which are U.S.-backed loans with favorable interest rates. In 2003, the U.S. whittled down the guarantees because Israel built part of its separation barrier inside the West Bank, rather than completely along it on the Israeli side.The threat dominated Israeli newscasts and prompted Netanyahu's office to issue a statement pinning the blame for the negotiations logjam on the Palestinians.Everyone realizes that the Palestinian Authority refuses to renew peace talks, while Israel took significant steps to advance the process, the statement said.The Palestinians have refused to restart negotiations with Israel until Netanyahu freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas they claim for an independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

Netanyahu has imposed a 10-month slowdown on new construction in the West Bank in a bid to draw the Palestinians back to negotiations. But the order does not include east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' would-be capital. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, and Netanyahu has said he would not agree to divide the holy city.
In later comments, Netanyahu also accused the Palestinians of harming peace prospects by encouraging incitement. He cited a decision by municipal authorities in the West Bank city of Ramallah to name a square after the female mastermind of a 1978bus hijacking in Israel that killed 37 people.This is not the way to make peace, Netanyahu told his Cabinet.Peace is made by educating reconciliation, by encouraging good neighborly relations and by fostering respect.Leila Ghannam, the acting governor of Ramallah, confirmed the plan to name the square after Dalal Mughrabi, but said the national Palestinian leadership had nothing to do with the decision.
Dalal Mughrabi was a Palestinian freedom fighter who sacrificed herself for the Palestinian cause, she said.It is our duty as Palestinians to honor our martyrs.On Friday, the Obama administration laid out a major shift in its Mideast peace strategy, suggesting both sides move past their impasse by tackling defining borders for a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that dealing with those matters first would eliminate Palestinian concerns about continued construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The initiative appears to be getting a cool reception on both sides.

While Netanyahu has not reacted specifically to the proposal, he has said he is willing to discuss all issues in negotiations. However, officials said he indicated in recent days that it is premature to discuss borders and he has reiterated his opposition to sharing sovereignty over Jerusalem. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing closed discussions.The Palestinians, meanwhile, have stuck to their demand for a complete construction freeze. If President Mahmoud Abbas retreats now from his demand, that could further hurt his standing among Palestinians who are increasingly skeptical about peace efforts. They also are disappointed with the U.S. failure to wrest a full settlement freeze out of Israel and have questioned Washington's ability to force Israel to make future concessions.

Croatians vote for president to lead EU entry by Lajla Veselica – Sun Jan 10, 6:24 am ET

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatians are voting Sunday in a presidential run-off pitting a left-wing professor against the populist mayor of Zagreb, with the winner hoping to lead the former Yugoslav republic into the European Union.Surveys show a solid lead for Ivo Josipovic, of the opposition Social Democrats (SDP) against his rival, Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, who is standing as an independent.Josipovic won the December 27 first round with 33.4 percent of the vote, more than double the support for Bandic. But last month's vote was marred by a record low turnout of 44 percent, and analysts say Bandic is likely to be the main beneficiary if there is a a higher participation in the run-off.Polls opened at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) but voting stations were largely empty in the early morning.In a Zagreb polling station, 27-year-old teacher Tihana Colak said she had voted for Josipovic as he had the credibility to represent Croatia in the world as a civilized and decent country.He is an educated man and he's clear of corruption, she told AFP.Josipovic a 52-year-old lecturer in criminal law and classical music composer, has vowed to wage an uncompromising fight against corruption,a key criteria for Zagreb's EU bid.Croatia, which joined the NATO military alliance in 2009, hopes to become the bloc's 28th member by 2012.

The fight against corruption is also a major domestic issue as the authorities have recently launched several probes into state-run firms over allegations of graft. More than a dozen officials have been detained.Bandic, a veteran SDP member expelled from the party when he announced his candidacy for the presidency last November, called on the electorate to vote for a man and not for a party and touted his experience as Zagreb's mayor.Bandic has a heart, experience in politics, said bank clerk Darko Pavlek, as he cast his ballot in Zagreb.The results of his energy and willingness are concrete and can be seen in Zagreb, the 46-year-old added.Since Bandic first become Zagreb mayor a decade ago, the capital has enjoyed a construction boom and a major overhaul of its creaking transport infrastructure,
During the campaign the two contenders pledged a similar agenda -- Croatia's EU entry during their mandate, stepping up the fight against corruption and reviving the economy in the recession-hit country.Croatia, where unemployment is running at around 16 percent, is forecasting a contraction of up to 6.0 percent in its economy for 2009. Its external debt has now risen to nearly 94 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), official figures show.Both candidates have been criticised for having few concrete proposals to tackle unemployment and the debt. The day-to-day running of the country is largely the preserve of the conservative government headed by Prime Minister Jaderanka Kosor.

Despite a similar platform, Bandic and Josipovic project vastly different images.

Observers say it led to polarisation between a civil left or a nationalism playing with right-wing sentiments, modern or a conservative Croatia.Josipovic has a reputation as a competent politician untarnished by corruption, but analysts say with his bookish professorial looks he has failed to connect strongly with voters. By contrast the energetic and outspoken Bandic, who insists that his leading virtues as patriotism, philanthropy and love of God, has styled himself a fighter for the common man. However, observers warn that suspected links with a series of corruption affairs in capital could work against him. In a bid to bridge the gap with his rival Bandic has also moved to the right, trying to pick up voters from the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, whose candidate failed to make the run-off. He also enjoys the backing of Croatia's powerful Roman Catholic Church.

A total of 4.4 million Croatians are entitled to vote. Polling stations will close at 7 pm with exit polls to be releases shortly after. The first official results will be released by midnight.

China urges US to halt arms sales to Taiwan
Sun Jan 10, 3:13 am ET

BEIJING – China has reiterated its opposition to American arms sales to Taiwan, calling them an interference in Beijing's internal affairs that could undermine relations with the United States.Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei's comments — the sixth official announcement in a week against the arms sales, according to the state-run news agency — underscore Beijing's sensitivity to the idea Washington may be conferring legitimacy on the island's government while boosting its defenses.

Communist-ruled China split with Taiwan amid civil war in 1949 and continues to regard the self-governing democracy as part of its territory, triggering frequent diplomatic spats with the United States, which pledged to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself in 1979.In the most recent announcement Saturday, He said China expressed its strong dissatisfaction to recent moves by the U.S. government to award contracts for Taiwan-bound weapons to Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin Corp., according to the Xinhua News Agency.On Friday, Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said the arms sales undermined mutual trust between the two militaries and that China reserved the right to take further actions.China responded to the last U.S. arms offer by rejecting Hong Kong port calls by the USS Kitty Hawk and other American ships in November 2007.In recent weeks, the United States awarded a $969 million contract to Lockheed Martin for the provision of 263 PAC-3 air defense missiles to Taiwan and a $1.1 billion contract to Raytheon Co. for production of the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System for Taiwan.Weapon sales were approved in the first term of former President George W. Bush, but have encountered a series of delays.These sales are driven by threats from China to use force to bring the island under its control, backed up by an estimated 1,300 Chinese ballistic missiles positioned along the Taiwan Strait.

CDC: Swine flu now widespread only in 1 state
Fri Jan 8, 12:17 pm ET

ATLANTA – Swine flu infections continue to drop and only one state — Alabama — was reporting widespread cases last week.Four states had widespread cases the previous week. The number has been dropping since late October, when nearly all states had widespread flu reports.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported Friday that there are no signs of seasonal flu right now, only the swine variety. But CDC officials noted there is still more flu around than normally seen at this time of year, and illnesses could increase as kids return to school after the holiday break.On the Net:The CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

Netanyahu: We’ll Respond Strongly to Every Rocket
by Hillel Fendel JAN 10,10

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks before today’s Cabinet meeting focused on the recent rocket attacks from Gaza: Twenty rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza last week… The IDF responded immediately, attacking rocket-manufacturing facilities and tunnels through which Iran smuggles rockets to Gaza. Our policy is clear: Every missile or other attack will be met with a strong response.Last week’s rockets landed near Ashkelon and Netivot, in addition to the closer and more frequent targets in the western Negev. No one was hurt in the attacks.Ex-Commanding Officer of the IDF Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samiya says another clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is inevitable. Netanyahu did not restrict his strong remarks to Hamas, and lashed out at Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah as well: Not only rockets endanger our security, but also words. Those who name a Ramallah square after a terrorist who murdered tens of Israelis [38] on the Coastal Highway [in 1978] are encouraging terrorism.Hamas blames the IDF for the reported death or wounding of three Gazan Arabs over the past two days. The IDF denies any involvement.A former Commanding Officer of the IDF Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samiya, says that another clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is inevitable.

We are now facing another round [of fighting] in Gaza,Samiya told Army Radio on Sunday morning. I don’t believe that Hamas will surrender or change its ways without having been made to suffer a much stronger attack than that which we gave them last year in Operation Cast Lead. It must be a more focused blow, with longer -range consequences, and a take-over of certain areas in Gaza. Hamas must be made to understand that it loses territory as a result of provoking us.