1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Floods, storms claim 22 more lives in Turkey. 3-Dozens dead in Ethiopia flooding. 4-EU tests capacity to react to major terror attack. 5-Bush: Israel’s survival depends on two-state solution. 6-Mediterranean states call for renewed Mideast peace process. 7-Israel Launches Major Gaza Operation. 8-Police Considering Calling Off Homosexual March. 9-More Than 50,000 Expected to Visit Rachel´s Tomb. 10-U.S. sets ambitious global NATO summit agenda. 11-Tower of Babel translator made. 12-Christian Zionists rally in San Antonio.
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS(USGS)
Update time = Wed Nov 1 11:45:04 EDT 2006
NOV 01,2006
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.3 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.5 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
OCT 31,2006
MAP 2.9 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 ECUADOR
MAP 4.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.6 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.3 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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.
Floods, storms claim 22 more lives in Turkey by Mahmut Bozarslan
53 minutes ago
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) - Floods and storms have claimed 22 lives in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast and wreaked havoc in other parts of the country.Wednesday's deaths brought to 27 the toll in the southeast since Friday, when unusually heavy rains began to pound the poverty-stricken region.Fourteen of the dead were passengers on a minibus swept away by floodwaters as it travelled here overnight from nearby Mardin, Diyarbakir governor Efkan Ala told NTV television Wednesday.A woman, her four-month-old daughter and four-year-old son drowned when their house in Cinar town was flooded and a body was found in the town of Bismil, a crisis center set up here reported.Military units with helicopter and dinghies rescued dozens of people stranded on rooftoops or in inundated streets as water levels rose by one metre (3.3 feet) in some areas.
The water also destroyed several houses in the region, where schools in rural areas remained closed Wednesday.The situation is under control, Ala said, but warned that more rain is expected in the area later in the day.In the town of Silopi, on the border with Iraq, siblings aged three and four drowned when their home was flooded, while a 70-year-old woman was killed when her house collapsed, district governor Haci Mehmet Kara told the Anatolia news agency.Many houses in the southeast are shoddily built, often of mud brick, and are highly vulnerable to floods and earthquakes.A woman aged 30 died in Kilis, west of here, as a raging storm demolished the bus stop where she had sought shelter as it also blew away rooftops and toppled trees and power poles, Anatolia reported.Five people were killed and two were reported missing at the weekend in other provinces in the region, where the
floodwaters damaged hundreds of buildings.
Vast stretches of cotton fields, a major source of livelihood in the area, were innundated.Heavy rains also struck the west of the country on Wednesday.In Beykoz, a suburban area of Istanbul's Asian side, about 1,000 buildings were flooded, including a school where some 100 children were stranded for several hours, NTV reported.
The authorities ordered schools closed for two days and said some schoolhouses would be used to shelter people who had lost their homes.On the southern, Mediterranean coast, a stream burst its banks in the tourist-frequented Manavgat region, flooding the lower floors of many hotels and blocking a main highway for several hours, Anatolia reported.Restaurants and cafes at Manavgat's scenic waterfalls were also submerged, it said.
Dozens dead in Ethiopia flooding Tue Oct 31, 5:48 PM ET
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Four days of devastating floods along Ethiopia's eastern border killed dozens of people and prowling crocodiles hampered rescue efforts as rain continued to fall, officials said Tuesday. The deadly floods began Friday when the Shebelle River overflowed its banks in the Ogaden region, more than 600 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa.Sixty-seven people have died since the worst flooding hit Friday, and the crocodiles in the area are eating some of the bodies,said Muktar Mohammed, flood coordinator for the government-run Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau.
Four survivors have been injured by crocodile attacks, he added.We need helicopters, boats and food and medical supplies urgently, Muktar said.Muktar said more than 2,500 acres of crops were washed away in the floods, along with thousands of cattle, camels, donkeys and other livestock. Rain was expected to continue through the week.In August, flooding across the country killed more than 600 people and displaced about 50,000.Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with more than half of its 77 million people living on less than $1 a day.
Aid groups were sending food and other help to the region, officials said.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
EU tests capacity to react to major terror attack
31.10.2006 - 17:42 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU and its member states have simulated a near-simultaneous terrorist attack in five EU cities, with the test revealing that there is a need for improvement in the use of communication technology. The aim of the exercise, conducted on Monday (30 October) was to verify the joint capacity of the council [EU member states] and the [European] Commission to react quickly and efficiently to a major crisis, an EU statement after the simulation said. EU officials declined to reveal the five cities involved in the exercise but added the simulated attacks were similar to those on 11 September 2001 in the US, involving planes. It is underscored that the exercise's scenario was not based on any existent information on the possibility of such attacks taking place, and was a purely fictitious description of events, the press statement said.
The institutions tested knew that the simulation would take place in the last five days of October but the exact date was only known to the planners of the exercise in order to keep the surprise effect. The EU's recently approved Emergency and Crisis Coordination Arrangements (CCA), designed to react to this type of situations, generally functioned well, the test revealed. It pointed to the adequacy of the CCA structures as well as the good level of knowledge among participants of the CCA structures and procedures.
One official said however that there is a need for closer co-operation between the commission and the council in assessing the needs regarding things like the evacuation of the injured, however. The need for improvement in the use of communication technology was also demonstrated in the simulation, which also involved COREPER the body of member states ambassadors in Brussels.CCAEX06, the exercise's code name, started at 13h30 Brussels time with a number of fictitious media inputs that continued throughout the afternoon. It ended at 20.00.
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships;
and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Bush: Israel’s survival depends on two-state solution
By Stan Goodenough,October 31, 2006
President George W. Bush is personally committed to helping create a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza because he believes that Israel’s survival depends on it.The American leader spelled out to newspaper columnists invited to the Oval Office last Wednesday why he is a two-state solution person when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict.I don’t see how Israel can possibly survive in the long term unless there is a democracy on her border. I don’t see how she retains her Jewish state if there is not a place for Palestinians to go to, he said.Bush made these statements against the backdrop of an extended explanation of his overall strategic approach to helping bring peace to the world including, of course, to the Middle East.A closer look at this explanation may help answer some of the questions Christian Zionists are asking about the president’s policy on Israel.Bush said that he had called for the get-together with these influential writers in order to provide them with a clearer understanding of what the guy’s thinking.
You either like it or don’t like it but at least it gives you a sense of where I am strategizing, he said.Bush said he believes it is conceivable that 20 or 30 years from now the world will see a Middle East in which … extreme forms of Islam compete for power, moderate governments will be toppled, oil will be used to extract concessions, and Iran will have a nuclear weapon, and writers such as yourself would say, what happened to them? How come they couldn't see the great conflict taking place in front of their very eyes? Why did they lose their nerve? Why did they not support moderate people who yearn for something better than the vision of the extremists?
And my answer to it is, he said, is that I see the threat, and will use American power to protect ourselves, and at the same time, try to create the first victory in this ideological the first victories in the ideological war of the 21st century.Bush described how he sees the world, where he believes it is headed, where it could head if helped in the right direction, and what he’s doing to help head it that way.
He believes, he said, that the 21st Century world is caught up in a great conflict between moderate people and ideologues that are totalitarian and kill to achieve their objective without conscience.Much of the thinking and the decision making that I do now is based on my belief that we are in this great ideological struggle.
Iran, together with all the extremists who identify with the goals of that Islamic state, stands on one side of this conflict.America leads those on the other, moderate side.When it comes to the Middle East, Bush sees the Israelis as among the moderates.
Notably he does not, however, count the Palestinian Arabs per se or the general Arab populations in the region as among the extremists.On the contrary, in his understanding and this was borne out in an interview columnist Cal Thomas had with Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, on the same day the Oval Office meeting was taking place the majority of all Arabs are moderates.It is only the relatively few among them, like the Hamas and the Hizb’allah, that are in the extreme fringe and bound together with Iran and others by a common desire to spread their vision.Most Arabs want to live in peace, also with Israel.What America had to do was continue to lead the moderates that oppose that extremist and violent vision.
And when it comes to the Middle East, the goal of the Bush administration is to plant and nurture democratic societies including a democratic Palestine that will see the extremists marginalized and, ultimately disappear.I’m a two-state-solution person. I don’t see how Israel can possibly survive in the long term unless there is a democracy on her border. I don’t see how she retains her Jewish state if there is not a place for Palestinians to go to.For the leader of the free world, then, the Middle East conflict is part of a struggle between ideologues and moderates. And it can be best resolved by ensuring that the moderates win over the ideologues.
What Bush apparently does not see at all, is that this is a conflict involving God and His Word on the one side against Satan and his determined effort to thwart that Word and its Author on the other.
Mediterranean states call for renewed Mideast peace process
MADRID: Ministers from ministers from 11 states attending a Mediterranean Forum meeting in the southern Spanish city of Alicante on Saturday called for the launching of a new and credible Mideast peace process, a diplomatic source said. In an Alicante Declaration the countries, which did not include Israel, also called for measures to defuse the current tension in the region and backed a mooted Spanish plan for a Mideast peace conference, similar to one which Madrid hosted in 1991. Washington has received the idea coolly and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said it was too early to talk about fixing a date. Israel did not take part in the meeting. Earlier this week Moratinos told the Spanish parliament that current tensions required a major initiative, along the lines of the 1991 conference, which drew together Israel and Arab states under the aegis of the United States and the Soviet Union. The conference set out a framework for a Middle East peace process and opened the way to the 1993 Oslo accords on Palestinian self-rule. Saturday's declaration proposed to reactivate and revise the peace roadmap.
It also demanded the freeing of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian prisoners the transfer from Israel of tax recipts to the Palestinian Authority, as well as an adequate balance between security and the movement of good and people in frontier zones. Moratinos, a former EU envoy to the region, said it was time such measures were drawn up to put an end to the tragedy of the Middle East.
The forum agreed that Mediterranean countries needed to engage in efforts to speed a solution to the conflict. French Minister for European Affairs Catherine Colonna said that there needed to be an implication of Mediterranean states in the seeking of a solution to the Middle East (conflict).The situation has doubtless never been as dangerous owing to the absence of political perspectives in the region, Colonna added, calling for urgent responses to what she termed the degradation of the situation in the region. The grouping, known as FOROMED, is a consultative body associated with the so-called Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean process, a framework for political, economic and social relations in the region. Member states, which sent foreign ministers or their deputies to the weekend meeting, comprise Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Tunisia. Libya
has observer status.
Israel Launches Major Gaza Operation(VOA NEWS)
Palestinian relatives of Ahmed Edwan mourn in Beit Lahia November 1,2006 after he was killed during an Israeli incursion into the northern of Gaza Strip At least eight Palestinians were killed, Wednesday, and more than 40 others injured, as Israeli forces launched a major military operation in the northern Gaza Strip. One Israeli soldier was also killed in the operation. Israel's security cabinet met to discuss the operation, but decided against expanding their offensive into other parts of the Gaza Strip.
About 40 armored vehicles and bulldozers moved into Beit Hanoun, near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip, early Wednesday. They were demolishing structures that Israel says were being used by Palestinian militants to launch rockets into Israel.
In one of the biggest military operations so far in Israel's four-month incursion in Gaza, helicopter gun ships carried out numerous air strikes in the area. Israel says several militants were killed in the strikes.Speaking to journalists after Israel's security cabinet decided not to send large numbers of troops into other parts of Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Wednesday's operation was designed to hit rocket launching sites.Peretz said Israel has specific military objectives in Gaza and does not intend to reoccupy the territory.
Israel withdrew its forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip, last year. Since then, Israeli forces have carried out air strikes in Gaza, in response to Palestinian rocket attacks against towns in southern Israel. In late June, Israeli ground forces moved back into Gaza after an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Palestinian militants.
A statement from Hamas, Wednesday, says Israel's current ground operations would have a negative influence on negotiations aimed at achieving a prisoner swap expected to involve the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli soldier.A Hamas delegation is in Cairo this week for talks with Egyptian officials on the issue.
Hassan Nasrallah Meanwhile, the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says his organization, which is holding two Israeli soldiers, is involved in indirect negotiations with Israel over aprisoner exchange.Nasrallah said, so far, the meetings have been serious and positive,but he gave no indication about any imminent breakthrough.Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war, earlier this year, after Hezbollah militants attacked an Israeli border post and abducted the two soldiers. More than 1,000 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 150 Israelis died before a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect, August 14.
Police Considering Calling Off Homosexual March
By Hillel Fendel(INN)
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Edri has asked the police to consider banning the Homosexual Parade in Jerusalem, scheduled for nine days from now. The police are leaning towards calling it off. The police announced last night (Tuesday) that they were planning to deploy in top-level strength for the event a declaration perceived by some to be a salvo in the public-opinion war over whether or not to allow the march. One internal police source said the announcement was publicized merely to stir up anti-march sentiment; official police sources denied this.Hareidi-religious affairs commentator Yossi Elituv said, The fight against the march has knocked down all barriers in the hareidi and religious camps. The Hassidic sectors Belz, Gerrer, and others together with Litaim (non-Hassidic), as well as the Sephardi-hareidim and the religious-Zionist sectors all are standing together against this parade.
The police say they have received word that protestors are planning to throw eggs and razor blades at the marchers, flood the streets with sewage, block roads in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and even possibly perpetrate fake terrorist attacks. Elituv says these fears are ridiculous and totally unfounded. He said he does not believe any violence is planned, but cannot rule out unpredictable acts by individuals.
Official: March Would Not be Held in Mecca or Vatican
Army Radio's Micha Friedman asked a police official whether the police were actually yielding to the threats of violent groups.The official said, Let's not be naive. Such a parade would never be held in the Vatican nor in Mecca.Members of the Islamic Movement have also called for the cancellation of the parade.The police said they are planning to field 6,000 policemen in Jerusalem, with the addition of another 2,000 Border Guardsmen from their patrols in Judea and Samaria, on the day of the march, if it is held. Protests Have Started Hareidi protests against the march have already begun. Last night, hundreds attempted to block the main highway leading to the Old City from northern Jerusalem.
Some protestors wore sackcloth and burnt garbage bins; the police used violence to remove them, and several protestors threw rocks. Four policemen were reported injured, while no word was received on how many protestors were hurt. Several of the latter were detained. Thousands of religious Jews legally blocked off the Sabbath Square intersection in the Me'ah She'earim neighborhood of Jerusalem two weeks ago, threatening to be out in even stronger force if the march is actually held. Religious and political leaders have called for, and said they will lead, active protests against the march.
Tens of thousands are expected to take part in protests against the march on the day itself, and Jerusalem residents are signing up to host Jews from other parts of the country for the Sabbath that begins immediately following the end of the march.
Noa Satat, the head of the Jerusalem Open House, which is organizing the march, said that the police have been working for weeks on plans to protect the march, and therefore she is certain that the police will fulfill their legal obligation and protect freedom of expression.The Sanhedrin a group of rabbis who say they have re-established the religious-legal assembly of 71 sages that convened as the Supreme Jewish Tribunal during the Holy Temple period and for several centuries afterwards has called upon all synagogues to hold their upcoming Sabbath services on the streets. Close your doors and pray outside, the organization calls, as a sign of shame, warning and pleading for the abominable march to be canceled. We must not continue our regular routine while the police and courts force a march of abomination in Jerusalem upon millions of Jews against their faith and belief in the holiness of the city and the Torah's dictates.Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi announced that he has postponed his scheduled trip to Turkey next week, in light of the preparations needed for the march. Karadi was to have signed a cooperation agreement between the police forces of Israel and Turkey.
More Than 50,000 Expected to Visit Rachel´s Tomb
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz(INN)
More than 50,000 people are expected to visit the tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem this Thursday, the anniversary of the Biblical matriarch's death. Security in the area from Jerusalem to the tomb, recently transferred from the IDF's jurisdiction to that of the police, will be increased to ensure the safety of the worshipers. The fortified security arrangements will be put into effect beginning Wednesday afternoon and will last through Thursday night. In the past, Palestinian Authority terrorists have fired at Jews visiting the religiously and historically significant site. In addition, the increased police presence will oversee and maintain the flow of traffic to and from Rachel's tomb. The Egged public transportation company will provide buses running every few minutes from various Jerusalem neighborhoods to the Bethlehem site.
With the transfer of responsibility for the tomb and its immediate environs from the military to the Jerusalem civilian authorities in September, Mayor Uri Lupolianski directed the municipality to provide services there. To that end, the capital's sanitation service has prepared the tomb complex for the expected wave of visitors this week and has also begun expanding services to the site on a regular basis. Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Uri Maklev has arranged for a large visitors tent to be set up at an intersection on the way to Rachel's tomb, along with a supply of drinking water. At the tomb site itself, drinks and snacks will be provided, as well. In honor of the anniversary of the passing of the matriarch Rachel, the city of Jerusalem is this week hosting dozens of lectures and activities geared towards women. The events are sponsored by the Torah Culture Department of the municipality.
The Biblical Rachel died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 2208 in the Jewish calendar (1553 BCE) while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin. Rachel's tomb, in Bethlehem, has served as a place of prayer for Jews for more than 35 centuries.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING
BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
U.S. sets ambitious global NATO summit agenda
Mon Oct 30, 2006 12:27pm ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States set out an ambitious agenda on Monday for transforming NATO into a global security organization at a summit next month but acknowledged that some European allies have misgivings.U.S.
NATO ambassador Victoria Nuland said the 26-nation alliance had gone beyond debates about whether to act outside its Euro-Atlantic area, deploying forces on four continents in the last 18 months, most importantly in Afghanistan.NATO is already performing missions in practice for which it has yet to adapt its theory, she said, forecasting tough drafting debates before the November 28-29 summit in Riga, Latvia. We want NATO to be able to demonstrate when our heads meet four weeks from now that we have an alliance that is taking on global responsibilities, that it increasingly has the global capabilities to meet those responsibilities, and that it is doing it with global partners, Nuland said in a speech to the Center for European Policy Studies think-tank.
The alliance is fighting Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan, supporting African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, patrolling former Yugoslav battlefields in Kosovo and has flown relief supplies to earthquake victims in Pakistan.For the next four weeks, allies are going to spend a lot of time arm-wrestling and mud-wrestling about the words that we use in our NATO documents to reflect today's reality.
It's going to be a tense conversation as we head toward Riga,she said without identifying which allies objected to stating such global ambitions in the summit documents.But today, I would argue that the reality of what's going on in NATO is outstripping our ability to encapsulate it in NATO doctrine in theory here in NATO headquarters, Nuland added.
FRANCE MOST RETICENT
Diplomats said France was most reticent about accepting a global role for the U.S.-led alliance, of which it has been a prickly, semi-detached member since General Charles de Gaulle pulled French forces out of allied military command in 1966.Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain also had reservations about appearing to rebrand NATO as a world policeman, they said.Nuland said European allies were coming to realize in Afghanistan that they needed to spend more on defense and develop long-range airlift and more special commando forces to cope with 21st century security challenges.Many European allies were spending less than NATO's unofficial minimum of 2 percent of gross domestic product.
The NATO Reaction Force, designed for rapid deployment to high-intensity combat situations, will not be fully operational in time for the Riga summit because of the strain on national defense resources, Nuland acknowledged.We are not all the way yet but we are making progress, she said.But the summit will see progress on strategic airlift, with 14 allies and non-NATO Sweden signing a joint deal to acquire long-range C-17 heavy lift aircraft, and on joint training and communications for special forces.Politically, Nuland said the NATO council was now discussing global issues far beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, such as the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea. Reuters 2006.
Tower of Babel translator made
A Tower of Babel device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists. Users simply have to silently mouth a word in their own language for it to be translated and read out in another. The researchers said the effect was like watching a television programme that had been dubbed.
The system, detailed in New Scientist, is not yet fully accurate, but experts said it showed the technology was within reach. The idea is that you can mouth words in English and they will come out in Chinese or another language Tanja Schultz.The translation systems that are currently in use work by using voice recognition software. But this requires people to speak out loud and then wait for the translation to be read out, making conversations difficult.
But the new device, being created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, is different. Electrodes are attached to the neck and face to detect the movements that occur as the person silently mouths words and phrases. Using this data, a computer can work out the sounds being formed and then build these sounds up into words. The system is then able to translate the words into another language which is read out by a synthetic voice.
Within reach
The team currently has two prototypes: one that can translate Chinese into English and another that can translate English into Spanish or German.
If the prototypes used a small vocabulary of about 100-200 words they worked with about 80% accuracy, researcher Tanja Schultz said. But, she added, a full vocabulary had a much lower level of accuracy. Professor Schultz said: The idea is that you can mouth words in English and they will come out in Chinese or another language. The ultimate goal, the researchers said, was to be in a position where you can just have a conversation. Chuck Jorgensen, a researcher at Nasa's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, told New Scientist: "This is showing the technology is really within reach. Phil Woodland, professor of information engineering at the University of Cambridge, said: This work sounds interesting. Most groups are
working on translating audio data into different languages, but this is different to work I have come across before because they are not working from a real acoustic signal.
Issue Date: November 3, 2006
Christian Zionists rally in San Antonio
Speakers say Islam is the enemy and advocate attacking Iran
By MARGOT PATTERSON,San Antonio
In 1981, Texas pastor and televangelist John Hagee put on the first Night to Honor Israel at his church in San Antonio. Israel had a few months before bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor at Osirak, and the Christian Zionist preacher wanted to show his support for Israel after its destruction of the nuclear reactor had been criticized around the world.Twenty-five years later, Hagee, who now advocates a strike by the United States or Israel on Iran’s nuclear installations, observed the silver anniversary of the Church of the Cornerstone’s annual Night to Honor Israel, an event that was part of a three-day celebration Oct. 20-22 designed to show solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people and to advance the message that Israel and America are in danger.
For the first time, Christians United for Israel, CUFI, a lobbying group Hagee established nine months ago, presented the event. It was billed as the first national Night to Honor Israel, an event that CUFI directors are taking to other U.S. cities. Such evenings have already been held in Berkeley, Sacramento and Pasadena, Calif.; St. Louis; Arvada, Colo.; and Carlsbad, N.M., and are scheduled
for several other cities.For Hagee, bringing together Christian ministers from across the country, many of them representing megachurches like his own, with local and national Jewish representatives was the fulfillment of a vision he’d had since 1981 when he tried to summon 30 Christian ministers to host such an event and 29 of them left at the first break.It was an absolute failure, a royal bust,he said, recalling the event.
But this year’s national event in San Antonio was a new day for Hagee. Since 1981, he and others have witnessed the emergence of Christian Zionism as a religious and political movement with growing political clout.The evolving agenda of that movement was on display throughout the weekend, particularly at the special Middle East intelligence briefing on Saturday, Oct. 21, which featured former CIA director James Woolsey; a military adviser and former chief of staff for the Israeli Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon; and Joseph Ginat, director of the Strategic Dialogue Center at the Netanya Academic College in Israel.Around 3,000 people paid $25 each to attend the three-hour-plus briefing at the Church of the Cornerstone in which the spectre of Islamofascism was regularly invoked.
Woolsey said America is at war with a new enemy. Previously, it had faced secular totalitarian regimes. Now it faces several theocratic totalitarian regimes rooted, he said, in one of the world’s great religions, Islam. They hate us not for what we’ve done wrong but what we do right, Woolsey said. They hate us for our freedom.While many analysts have said that Iran is years away from producing a nuclear weapon, Israeli scholar Joseph Ginat warned that the West has only six to 10 months to take military action against Iran. A strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would be difficult but not impossible, he said. He expressed little hope
that a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran’s development of nuclear power could be negotiated.In the culture of the Arab world, there is a dimension known as the culture of lies, said Ginat.
A grim picture
Yaalon painted a grim picture of an ongoing war that he said had already started between the West and radical Islam, one he said will go on for generations. The war is between the Western culture, the culture which supports compassion, human rights and dignity, freedom, against those that promote death death for any freedom.Yaalon argued that opposition to Israel has little to do with its occupation of the Palestinian territories. The problem is not what they fabricate about occupation or apartheid, he said.
Two Arab speakers appeared on the platform. Brigitte Gabriel, a former TV anchor for World News on the Middle East Television network and the author of Why They Hate, described herself as a Lebanese Zionist and recounted traumatic episodes growing up as a Lebanese Christian during the civil war in Lebanon. Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist who converted to Christianity and is the author of Why I Left Jihad, also drew on his personal experiences.
Gabriel said Israel’s enemies are America’s, warned of Hamas cells in the United States. Hamas has the largest infrastructure on American soil and declared, Our enemy is in Islamic mosques throughout the U.S.Shoebat was just as explicit in his denunciation of Islam. There are peaceful Muslims, he conceded, but said those were the Muslims who knew little about their religion.,Our job is to liberate 1.2 billion Muslims and sometimes it has to be with a baseball bat,Shoebat said, who compared Islam to Nazism.The two Arab speakers’ personal stories hit an obvious chord with the audience. But despite the enthusiastic cheers and ovations, not everyone was convinced. Susan Ives, the director of communications at the interfaith peaceCENTER in San Antonio and a critic of Hagee, said she had come to the briefing skeptical of Christian Zionism but attempting to have an open mind. Ives said she found the briefing very frightening.
I’ve never been in any placed that called itself a Christian setting where there was such hatred, Ives said.If I were a Muslim, I would have been very, very afraid at the end of those four hours. They were depicting Islam as a hateful religion at the very least, especially the two Arab speakers. But almost every single one of them talked about Islam as a religion of liars.It has to be a real wake-up call for people who do not buy into this theology,Ives said.That theology is rooted in a view of Biblical prophecy and the end times that leads Christian Zionists to unstintingly support the state of Israel. Christian Zionists regard the creation of Israel in 1948 as one of the most significant events in history, a necessary prelude to the Rapture and Armageddon. Like Hagee, most Christian Zionists oppose any territorial concessions on the part of Israel for any reason.
Let it be known
In addition to the intelligence briefing, the weekend celebration of Israel and the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, included a carnival, food booths and a marketplace selling goods by scores of Israeli vendors. An Israeli choir sang at the regular Sunday services and the concluding celebration.The latter was an extravaganza that began with the American and Israeli national anthems and went on to evoke memories of the Holocaust. The Cornerstone Church choir and drama department sang Jewish and Israeli songs and at one point filed into a darkened church holding electric candles and small Israeli flags as a voice intoned, Israel, you are not alone. Not only are you not alone, you are loved. Let it be known from this night on, Israel has a family. Let it be known in Tehran, Damascus and Beirut that night and day we will watch and pray. Messages from Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanking the congregation and Hagee for their support for Israel were broadcast over two large video screens.
In his keynote address, Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, spoke of recent attempts to deny Israel’s legitimacy, singling out for criticism Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt of the University of Chicago and Harvard for their recent sophomoric paper critical of the Jewish lobby, and condemned what he said were attempts to give moral equivalency to Hezbollah and Israel in the recent war in Lebanon.Critics of Christian Zionists say their unequivocal support for Israel comes at the expense of Palestinians, including local Christian Palestinians, and jeopardizes prospects for peace.The dangers of Christian Zionism haven’t been talked about, said Art Preisinger, a retired Lutheran minister and history professor attending the celebration at Cornerstone Church.But most of the Christians in attendance for the weekend were wholehearted in their support for Hagee’s message.
Elesi Nagalu, 41, said nobody should be telling Israel what to do. That land [Israel] belongs to the Jewish people. They [Palestinians] might have property deeds, but property deeds don’t mean anything to me.Nagalu, who had come to San Antonio from San Mateo, Calif., said she had enjoyed the weekend thoroughly. God willing, I’ll be here next year. If Jesus doesn’t return before then.Margot Patterson is an NCR reporter and editor. Her e-mail address is mpatterson@natcath.org.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
CIVIL MARRIAGE IN ISRAEL
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 3 DAYS. 2-Ten dead in Philippines after typhoon. 3-Sri Lanka is drowning, literally and metaphorically. 4-China, Asean Repeat Aim for Free Trade Area by 2010. 5-PM: Israel will stop Palestinian arms. 6-Drought-hit Spain looks to penalize heavy water use. 7-Ship sinks in heavy storms. 8-World Christian Persecution. 9-Time to give way on civil marriage in Israel? 10-East Africa: EAC Treaty Makes Political Federation Inevitable.
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 3 DAYS
Update time = Tue Oct 31 10:00 EDT 2006(USGS)
TUE OCT 31,2006
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 ECUADOR
MAP 4.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.6 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.3 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MON OCT 30,2006
MAP 2.6 ARIZONA
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.3 OFF THE COAST OF JALISCO, MEXICO
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.6 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.3 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 5.3 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 3.0 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 JAVA, INDONESIA
SUN OCT 29,2006
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
MAP 3.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.6 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.8 COSTA RICA
MAP 4.3 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 4.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 UTAH
MAP 2.7 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
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.
Ten dead in Philippines after typhoon By Karen Lema
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
MANILA (Reuters) - Typhoon Cimaron churned toward central Vietnam on Tuesday after killing at least 10 people and displacing thousands in the northern Philippines with fierce winds and raging waters.
Cimaron slammed into Luzon, the Philippines' most populated island and its rice bowl, on Sunday night as a maximum category five storm or super typhoon, tearing up trees, power lines and roofs and destroying houses and roads.The typhoon, the second to hit the Philippines in over a month, weakened as it swept out of the archipelago on Monday and was churning westwards toward Vietnam with winds of 120 km (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 km per hour.
Storm tracker www.tropicalstormrisk.com showed Cimaron picking up speed and tipping northwards en route to Vietnam, bringing stormy weather to Hong Kong and the Chinese island of Hainan on Wednesday morning.Cimarno is expected to hit Vietnam as a category 1 typhoon on Friday morning.At least five people were reported drowned or killed by falling trees in the Philippine coastal province of Isabela, according to local mayor Renato Candido. There were at least five other reported fatalities, disaster officials said.
The Office of Civil Defense said police were still verifying reports of several landslides.
THOUSANDS EVACUATED
Over 2,000 people were evacuated to makeshift accommodation while nearly 180,000 were affected by wind damage, landslides and flooding.
Power was slowly returning to four provinces.The storm disrupted thousands of travelers on the move for the Roman Catholic festivals of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2, when millions of Filipinos throng cemeteries to honor their dead.Cimaron was estimated to have destroyed around 114 million pesos ($2.3 million) worth of crops, fisheries and livestock.
The bill for damage to roads, bridges and schools was put at 25 million pesos.The Department of Agriculture has said the typhoon destroyed around 8 percent of rice and corn due for harvesting before the end of the year.Cimaron crashed into the archipelago just weeks after Typhoon Xangsane raked the Philippines and Vietnam, killing at least 169 people and taking a heavy toll on electricity networks, roads and crops.The Philippines cut its annual agricultural growth target to around 4 percent for 2006 from at least 5 percent due to the destruction by Xangsane.Storms regularly hit the Philippines but parts of northern Luzon are mountainous and heavily logged, raising the risk of more floods and landslides.In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in the central province of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
Sri Lanka is drowning, literally and metaphorically
BY AMEEN IZZADEEN ,31 October 2006
LITERALLY and metaphorically, we are a drowning nation. With half the country under water as a result of intense inter-monsoon rains, the gloomy weather was symbolic of Sri Lanka’s plight. It had been raining since October 16. Friday was the worst day. Even my house came under two feet of water.I was not alone. Millions of people have been affected. Fifteen people have been killed and more than 250,000 rendered homeless. Thousands of Muslims celebrated the Eid ul-Fitr festival in makeshift refugee camps.
Even the main road linking Colombo city and Sri Lanka’s only international airport was under water. Flights were cancelled or delayed as passengers and crew members could not reach the airport on time.
It’s the worst floods in several decades, the old muezzin of the mosque in my area said. The politically matured put the blame on politicians. Politicians at local council level dish out low-lying state-owned wetland, which should be conserved, to landless party supporters in return for their loyalty. Some big time national level politicians commit greater environmental crimes in collusion with multinationals and the local private sector.In my area, residents say the flood problem became worse after the multinational Shell Company built a gas terminal on a wetland that had acted as a water-retention area when the rivers swelled. The allegation doing the rounds is that big time politicians, including some at the highest level, are in the pay of the multinational gas giant which has its say and way whenever it wants to increase prices. The end result is that it is the people who pay for the sins of the politicians.
The Central Environment Authority (CEA), the main state institution entrusted with protecting Sri Lanka’s environment has come under a cloud, too. The CEA approves or disapproves projects after it conducts an environmental impact assessment study. In a paper posted on its website, it claims that wetlands, which are national heritage, need to be conserved, restored and sustainably managed for the benefit of the present and future generations, recognising that they are environmentally sensitive and ecologically important areas.The CEA paper also says the principle that when an activity carries a potentially high environmental risk that cannot be fully assessed (eg for lack of time, money or information), action should be taken to prohibit or restrict the activity before the uncertainly is resolved.I don’t think this principle was applied when Shell was allowed to build its massive plant on a large extent of wetland. In corruption-ridden third world countries, it appears that public servants’ serve the interest of their political masters rather than the interest of the public.
The flood-hit Sri Lankans’ search for the sun in the black canopy over their head is symbolic of Sri Lanka’s search for peace. As the sun appeared briefly through the gaps between the large masses of dark clouds, it stirred hopes. But soon the pregnant dark clouds covered it again and unloaded their burden on us, inflicting suffering and hardship.On Saturday, on the political horizon, there was hope, as the government and the LTTE met in Geneva for talks. But by Sunday night, our hopes were shattered as the two sides failed to strike any agreement.It appears now that the Norwegian facilitators were largely concerned about dragging the two belligerents to the negotiating table. It was like a no-holds-barred freestyle wrestling match. First, the handshake and then the Norwegian referee read out the rules of the game and allowed the two fighters to hit out at each other.
The talks, which we call Geneva II, were no different from Geneva I in February. At both these encounters, the two sides traded barbs and talked little peace. This could have been done in Sri Lanka. But the two sides, it appears, want to discredit and demonise the other before the international media in Geneva.Before they left for Geneva, the two sides had conflicting agendas. Apart from a final solution that recognised Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government wanted to bring human rights, democracy and pluralism to the people of the north values that the people in the south do not enjoy to the full. The LTTE wanted to discuss the immediate issues such as the opening of the main highway linking Sri Lanka’s northern capital Jaffna with the rest of the country and the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
The two sides had nothing to offer in terms of confidence-building measures. Both delegations comprised members who are known for hard-line views. We cannot expect a terrorist organisation to act in a civilised manner and make the first move for peace. When the government also responds in an equally tough manner while talking peace, how can peace dawn? This was not the spirit in which the Ranil Wickremesinghe government held peace talks. It took confidence building measures, one after another, offering many concessions to the LTTE, amidst allegations that it was compromising on national security.
But it was a gamble that nearly paid off.I believe the government as a confidence building measure should have agreed to the LTTE demand for the opening up of the main highway, although the move will help the LTTE to collect millions of rupees in taxes from motorists and suppliers of goods to the north. But it’s a price the government should pay to achieve peace and bring sunshine to the war-hit and war-weary people.
Ameen Izzadeen is a Sri Lankan journalist based in Colombo
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.(TR 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).
China, Asean Repeat Aim for Free Trade Area by 2010
By Allen T. Cheng and Yanping Li
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation said they will boost trade, reiterating an aim to cut tariffs and set up a free trade area between an estimated 1.8 billion people. We encourage further cooperation between China and Asean in support of sub-regional developments including economic cooperation zones in areas covering southwestern China, according to a statement by China and Asean, as the association is also called, released today in southern China's Nanning city. Asean's trade with China rose 23 percent last year to $130 billion, and the grouping has been discussing free trade arrangements with China and dialogue partners Japan and South Korea as global trade talks fail. Japan, not represented at this meeting in Nanning, has proposed a broader Asian trade bloc including India, Australia and New Zealand.
Japan has been pushing for India's inclusion because it fears China taking over its dominant status in Asia, said Guan Anping, a Beijing trade lawyer and former Chinese trade official. Asean has many legitimate fears of a rising China, especially since China's huge surplus labor makes it a rival that few Asian states can compete with, he said. China is hosting Asian leaders to celebrate 15 years of formal relations between Asia's second largest economy and Asean, a grouping founded in 1967 partly as a U.S.-backed bulwark against communism. Southeast Asian countries only recognized China when it stopped backing communist insurgencies against their capitalist governments.
Outstanding Disputes
China also has not fully resolved disputes with Asean members over oil and gas exploration rights in the South China Sea around a group of islands that China calls Xisha and Nansha while Asean calls Spratlys and Paracels. As recently as 1990, China seized some islands in the Paracels, which is surrounded by seabed rich in oil and gas, from Vietnam, according to Globalsecurity.org, a Web site specializing in military affairs. We will work in concert to advance the strategic partnership, which would be a catalyst for dialogue between Asean and its partners to contribute to regional peace and stability, according to today's statement.
Defense officials of Asean and China will visit each other more frequently and share information to foster cooperation, according to the statement.Wen and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai are hosting Asean leaders this week in talks that range from building a regional free trade zone to North Korea's nuclear tests. On the table is a proposal from China to build a regional trade area that comprise of Asean, China, Japan, and South Korea. China supports and welcomes Asean's efforts to establish a Southeast Asia nuclear weapons-free zone, according to the Chinese foreign ministry's counselor Huang Xingyuan, speaking today in Nanning. To contact the reporter on this story: Allen T. Cheng in Beijing at acheng13@bloomberg.net.Last Updated: October 30, 2006 06:27 EST
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Oct. 30, 2006, 3:55PM
PM: Israel will stop Palestinian arms
By MARK LAVIE Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM Israel will take action to stop Palestinian arms smuggling and rocket fire in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, but he could not point to specific solutions.Olmert also said any new offensive would not result in Israel's retaking Gaza, which it left a year ago after a 38-year occupation.Olmert was speaking at a special Cabinet session to vote approval of the addition of an ultra-hawkish party to his ruling coalition, a step seen as virtually ruling out any Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives in the near future. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, has advocated bombing Palestinian population centers and redrawing Israel's borders to exclude its Arab citizens. He becomes a deputy prime minister.In southern Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped Roberto Vila, a 34-year-old Spanish aid worker and held him for several hours, the latest in a string of abductions of journalists and other foreigners. He was released unharmed before midnight.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said security forces worked to free the hostage. Such actions harm the image of the Palestinian people, he said.Palestinian gunmen have kidnapped a series of foreign journalists and aid workers in Gaza over the past two years, usually pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released, and none have been seriously harmed.Last week, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped an Associated Press photographer in Gaza City, releasing the Spanish journalist about 16 hours later.The kidnappings reflect growing chaos in the seaside territory, where rival Fatah and Hamas forces have been clashing as political leaders repeatedly fail to agree on a joint government that could lift a punishing Western aid cutoff that has bankrupted the Palestinian Authority and led to widespread hardships.
At the same time, Israel has pressed ahead with an offensive it launched in late June, after Hamas-linked gunmen tunneled under the border and attacked an army base, killing two soldiers and abducting a third.In northern Gaza, Palestinian police said a man was killed Monday and two other people wounded when an Israeli tank shell hit a house. The Israeli military denied that soldiers opened fire in the area.Earlier this month Israel sent forces along the Gaza-Egypt border for the first time since Israel withdrew from Gaza last year, destroying 15 tunnels Israel said the Palestinians used to smuggle arms into Gaza. The forces were pulled out after a weeklong sweep.
Olmert told a parliamentary committee the goal of a new military operation would be to stop the arms smuggling, but he said no decision has been made on exactly how to do that. Retaking the border could ignite tensions with Egypt. Olmert denied reports that Egypt has sent troop reinforcements to the border.
There is no doubt that we have to take steps to reduce the ability of the Palestinians to fire rockets at Israel and smuggle in weapons,Olmert told the Cabinet, but added that no decision has been made on exactly what to do, according to a participant in the meeting.The participant, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said Olmert specified that Israeli action would minimize humanitarian problems.Olmert also told the parliamentary committee he would consider allowing Abbas to beef up his security forces with troops stationed in neighboring Jordan.Palestinian officials said Saturday that Abbas, a moderate, wants to bring in the forces ahead of a possible showdown with Hamas.
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.
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.
Dr Samuel Doctorian-Angel 3
Then one of the angels with wings showed me Europe from one end to the other from the north all the way down to Spain and Portugal. In his hand he had a scale of measurement. I saw him fly over Europe, and I heard the words, I am grieved. I am grieved.
Unrighteousness, uncleanness, ungodliness all over Europe. The sin has risen to heaven. The Holy Spirit is grieved. I saw the rivers of Europe flooding and covering millions of houses. Millions drown.
Suddenly I heard earthquakes all over Europe. Countries that have had no earthquakes shall be shaken, said the angel. And suddenly, in my spirit, I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris crumbling falling down. A great part of Germany destroyed. The great city of London destruction everywhere. I saw floods all over Scandinavia. I looked to the south and saw Spain and Portugal passing through hunger and great destruction.
Many will die from hunger all over Spain and Portugal. I was disturbed by all this news, and I said, Lord, what about your children? The angel said, I shall prepare them. They shall be looking for the appearing of the Lord. Many will cry to me in those days and I will save them. I shall perform mighty miracles for them and show them My power. So in the midst of great destruction, there will be the grace of God in those countries. I was happy that God has His protection over His children.
Drought-hit Spain looks to penalize heavy water use
Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:33 PM GMT
MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards who use excessive amounts of water may have to pay more for it in future, the government said on Monday, seeking ways to curb water use after two years of drought.After the worst drought on record in 2005 and below average rainfall again in the year ended on September 30, the country's reservoir levels dropped to their lowest in a decade.Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said she was planning to guarantee a minimum amount of clean water for everyone and would raise prices above that limit.In principle, in line with a proposal made by Ecologists in Action, we suggest a minimum of 60 liters (13 gallons) a day per person, she said.(There will be) a reform of the water law to penalize excessive consumption via tariffs charged, Narbona said at the start of a national water council meeting, which is due to debate several proposals.
A ministry spokeswoman denied household consumers would face higher prices if they used more than the 60 liters a day allowance.
The onus may fall on other users.Narbona did not say how the reform would affect farmers, who use 77 percent of Spain's water. Urban consumption accounts for 18 percent and industry the remaining 5 percent.Spaniards now use an average of around 170 liters a day and water prices vary.In some towns it is practically free and farmers often sink illegal wells and obtain water from aquifers for no more than the cost of pumping it.
1/3RD OF SHIPS DESTROYED
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Ship sinks in heavy storms
Oct 30, 2006,By TBT staff
TALLINN - Heavy storms that struck the Baltic Sea region forced the cancellation of flights and sea travel, sunk a fishing boat and left a passenger ferry damaged.The Finnish fishing vessel Borka sunk in Estonian waters at 11 p.m. on Oct. 26 in heavy wind.The boat’s four crew members were rescued by nearby ships which battled rough seas to answer a distress call.With wind speed at 25 meters per second, and gusts of up to 32 meters per second, the smaller passenger ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki abandoned their voyages. Other larger ships delayed their voyages by several hours.
The storms also felled trees and branches, damaged roofs, and knocked out power to thousands of households.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME
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.
World Christian Persecution(Crosswalk.com)
Assyrian Christian Teen Reportedly Beheaded
According to ASSIST News Service, an Assyrian Christian teenager has reportedly been decapitated while at work.
The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) reported that according to the Assyrian website www.ankawa.com, a 14-year-old Christian Assyrian boy, Ayad Tariq, from Baqouba, Iraq was beheaded at his work place on Oct. 21. Ayad Tariq was working his 12-hour shift, maintaining an electric generator, when a group of disguised Muslim insurgents walked in at the beginning of his shift shortly after 6 a.m. and asked him for his ID. According to another employee who witnessed the events, and who hid when he saw insurgents approach, the insurgents questioned Ayad after seeing that his ID noted he was Christian. The insurgents asked the boy if he was really a Christian sinner. Ayad reportedly replied, Yes, I am Christian, but I am not a sinner. The insurgents immediately said, dirty Christian sinner! Then they proceeded to each hold one of the boy’s limbs, Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! while beheading him.
Eritrean Police Arrest 150 More Christians
Compass Direct News reports that in a large-scale roundup the past week, Eritrean authorities have detained 150 Christians from at least five of the country’s outlawed churches. Starting Wednesday (October 25), security officers in the town of Mendefera began going from house to house, arresting local Christians from a list they compiled of known members of Pentecostal churches and the Orthodox renewal movement.
During the first day’s raids, a total of 38 men and 17 women were incarcerated at the military fort in Mendefera, 30 miles south of Asmara. Local sources confirmed to Compass that police authorities were subjecting the detained Christians to beatings and other physical mistreatment. According to eyewitnesses, at least 10 nursing mothers were among the new prisoners, all of them forced to leave their infants behind.
New Believer in India Arrested, Urged to Frame Pastor
Police recently arrested a convert in Mayapuri, Madhya Pradesh state for the second time in three days in an apparent attempt to pressure him to give evidence that his pastor forcibly converted him, Compass Direct News reports. By nightfall in India, the new believer was charged with insulting religious beliefs.Dewas Gate police again detained Ramesh Thakur, 37, at 9 a.m. after having arrested him on Tuesday (October 24) and releasing him the next day after intense questioning. The pastor of his church in Ujjain district, Jagdish Bharti, is already fighting charges of insulting religious beliefs.The officer-in-charge of the Dewas Gate police station, R.R. Malvi, told a church member that he was under tremendous political pressure to charge Thakur. Viju Varghese, Global Council of Indian Christians co-ordinator in Madhya Pradesh, told Compass that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had offered Thakur 25,000 rupees (US$552) to implicate Pastor Bharti in a charge of allurement to convert.
Missionaries Hike to Share Jesus on Appalachian Trail
Craig and Suzy Miles’ mission field is located amongst the pines and hardwoods of the Appalachian Mountains. They share it with hikers, the occasional black bear, snakes and other creepy-crawly things better left alone. The Christian couple witnesses to people with funny names like Chicken Wing,Kentucky Fried and Rabbit’s Foot. According to Baptist Press, for three years now, the Mileses as Mission Service Corps missionaries for the North American Mission Board have operated Appalachian Trail Servants, a mission organization dedicated to sharing Christ with hikers along the famous Appalachian Trail.
The Appalachian Trail is a marked, yard-wide footpath winding 2,175 miles through the Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Katahdin in central Maine. Conceived in 1921 and completed in 1937, it passes through 14 states. More than 4 million people hike some part of the trail each year. Their ministry began when one morning on the way to work, Craig stopped by his Baptist church and prayed a simple prayer: Lord, how can you use our time and talents for your glory? Right after I prayed that prayer, I spotted a missionary magazine on a table next to me,Miles said. On the cover was a story about extreme hiking in China. It just clicked in my head that we needed to start a ministry on the Appalachian Trail. Suzy and I were seeing hundreds of hikers pass over the roads and trails and through the woods of north Georgia, but we knew their spiritual needs were not being met.
Updated Oct. 30, 2006 23:17
Time to give way on civil marriage in Israel?
By DAVID J. MARTIN (Jpost)
Recent political machinations have again raised the prospect of civil marriage in Israel. Unfortunately, this issue is so laden with partisan emotion as to prevent a clear analysis of the situation. The result is that state-mandated Orthodox halachic restrictions on matrimony have created a festering wound in Israeli society. An objective review of the legal and religious reality leads to the conclusion that civil marriage, if properly instituted, is an appropriate solution. Under Israeli law, an individual may only be married in accordance with the procedures of his religious community. Thus, Jews may only be married through the Orthodox rabbinate. Since the rabbinate implements religious law Halacha Jews may not marry non-Jews and a kohen may not marry a divorcee.
With several hundred thousand halachically non-Jewish Russian immigrants in Israel (who are nonetheless entitled to rights under the Law of Return), the number of couples who wish to wed in Israel, but may not, is increasing. Even more problematic are the pesulei hitun non-marriables the child born to a Jewish mother conceived from an adulterous union or even to a Jewish mother who was divorced (abroad) in a civil proceeding but never received a get. Such a child is a mamzer and essentially may never marry at all. The only relief available to those wishing to contract religiously unlawful marriages and to the non-marriables is to be married in a civil ceremony outside of Israel, which is recognized by Israel under its private international law commitments, but not recognized by Halacha.
For instance, a former Supreme Court justice, a kohen now deceased went abroad to contract a marriage with a divorcee. But for the vast majority of people, this relief is both undesirable and unworkable. ON THE face of it, resolution of the situation is actually simple namely, to create an alternative system of civil marriage, alongside the religious law, which would apply to those marriages that would not be permitted under religious law: Jew and non-Jew, mamzer, divorcee to kohen, etc. The secular community has long sought such a resolution. The Orthodox religious establishment has, with few exceptions, expressed vehement opposition. Why?
First, the religious establishment is concerned that, given the choice, a large percentage of Israelis would choose the civil marriage route, thus eroding the power base of the religious authorities. Second, the religious community still holds on to the imaginative idea that Israel is a Jewish state, based on principles of Jewish law, and that the essentials of Jewish practice (Sabbath, holidays, marriage) are accepted by a consensus of the population, notwithstanding the fact that the overwhelming majority of Israeli residents do not practice a halachic lifestyle.
Third, some believe that an alternative route for recognizing and liquidating marriages would create a societal divide those whose marriages and births were sanctioned by the rabbinate and those who were not so sanctioned, with the attendant consequences.Fourth, many rabbis believe that civil marriage would nonetheless be considered as a valid marriage under Jewish law in light of the halachic rule that marriage may be contracted not only by means of a ceremonial act but also by the very conduct of intimate relations. Thus, civilly married women would nonetheless require a Jewish divorce the get failing which a subsequent child would be considered a mamzer, who may never marry.
NONE OF these objections holds water. If a large percentage of Israelis would prefer civil marriage, so be it. Coercive marriage has never brought anyone back to the fold. To the contrary, the marriage registration practices of the rabbinate are generally deemed to turn off most secular and non-Orthodox Israelis. If the rabbinate is faced with competition, it will have to shape up or ship out. The
time has come to face reality most Israelis do not feel any connection to the basic tenets of Jewish law. They cannot be attracted by coercion. As to the population divide, it already exists. There are hundreds of thousands of halachically non-Jewish citizens of Israel, who speak Hebrew, serve in the army and meet Jewish members of the opposite sex. If the religious status of an individual is important to a potential suitor, the need for research already exists.
The fourth problem, namely the halachic status of a person who contracts a civil marriage, is not new. Such marriages have been the subject of religious legal decisions by the outstanding rabbis of the past century, including particularly the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the leading decisor of Jewish law in the United States. According to these decisions, when a couple contracts a civil marriage in circumstances which indicate that they did not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship then, indeed, no such relationship is created.
The woman is not married for purposes of Halacha, the dissolution of the marriage does not require a get, children born of the relationship are both Jewish and marriageable and children born of adulterous unions during such marriages or even after such marriages have been dissolved without a get are unblemished as regards their right to marry under Jewish law.
So how does a couple demonstrate circumstances which indicate that they did not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship? Simple as part of the civil marriage proceeding, the parties would execute a document stating that they have chosen the civil marriage route for reasons of conscience or other reasons and that they do not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship.The time has come (unfortunately) to offer civil marriage for those who do not wish to be, or cannot be, married under Jewish law. A halachic solution, which is quite consistent with considerations of conscience, exists to solve the problem. The religious establishment must face up to reality and withdraw its opposition to such a solution. The writer is an international lawyer based in Tel Aviv and adjunct professor of law at Cardozo Law School in New York.
East Africa: EAC Treaty Makes Political Federation Inevitable
Jerry Okungu,Nairobi
The East Africa Community National Consultative Committees will commence a sensitisation campaign in all the three partner states in a week's time.The million dollar question facing the Committees is: Will the benefits of economic integration be realised and sustained without a central political authority?The answer is yes. The Treaty of the East African Economic Community signed in 1999 is specific and categorical that in the final analysis, the move to political federation is unstoppable.
The leaders who signed it have since left office, apart from President Museveni of Uganda. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania was witness to it as a member of the Council of Ministers, by virtue of his being a foreign minister then. President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was an opposition Member of Parliament then, but was aware of the discussions.At the centre of this question lies the sensitive issue of sovereignty that the three partner states now enjoy. With sovereignty comes real autonomy, independence and complete if not absolute instruments of state power.
Heads of State currently are in charge of foreign policy, defence, security and numerous authorities that govern virtually every sphere of life of their citizens. As heads of state, they are also heads of government, a position that has invested in them executive authority to run their governments the best way they see fit.HAVING A central political authority for the three partner states will imply that states and their presidents give up certain powers, roles and functions to the super state. Such powers may in effect reduce the current presidencies to the level of federal governors such as those in the United States of America, Nigeria or Canada.
Alternatively, there may be a situation where the central authority takes the shape of the European Union where individual state instruments and structures remain intact except for the common currency, unified border controls, standardisation of goods and services and abolition of border controls for member states of the EU.
While signing the 1999 East African Community Treaty, the Summit members were acutely aware of the lessons learnt from the collapsed EAC of 1967-1977.
IT WAS then decided to put in place safeguards that would shield the Community from collapse a second time. The partners opted for a gradual approach to the regional integration process. They decided to start with the critical Customs Union, a move that would ease trade, movement of people and goods and spur economic growth.The second phase entails putting structures in place to create the East African Common Market. A single market for the region will the expand consumer base to support and sustain our local industries and services. These will in turn spur economic growth and create jobs for our growing population.
Once the Customs Union and Common Market have stabilised and taken root, the region will move to the third stage and create a Monetary Union a very critical stage politically. Critical in the sense that a single currency will evolve from first freely exchanging the three currencies easily across borders. It will also abolish restrictions on cash transfers across our borders. When finally adopted, the three partner states will adopt a common currency that will be the sole legal tender in the three countries.Once all the three stages are adopted, the three states will then embark on the road to the final stage, that of the political federation.IN ALL this process, the Summit and Council of Ministers Members have all along been acutely aware that, the four stages do not in themselves guarantee sustainability of the process. They realised that a sensitive venture like creating a federation among three independent states in peacetime will require more good will from a wide section of the citizenry.It is also necessary to deal with the concentration of powers in the Summit, an issue that accelerated the collapse of the first EAC in 1977. At that time, the Summit was the organ that made virtually every decision and its members appended signatures on every document. Therefore, when differences between Summit members became irreconcilable during the Idi Amin era in Uganda, the Summit paralysed the operations of the Community.
This time round, the Summit gave authority to the Council of Ministers through the 1999 Treaty to deal with most of the functions of the Community and only refer to the Summit for ratification.More than the deconcentration of Summit powers, it has been found prudent if not mandatory to solicit the support and endorsement of the citizens of East Africa, civil society and private sector throughout the process. Using the lessons learnt from the first EAC, the architects of the new Community have created more stringent withdrawal procedures for members who have signed the treaty and joined the Community.BUT PERHAPS the more compelling reason why the Community will thrive and blossom into a political federation is the fact that in today's world, the trend is towards mergers and regional integrations. Economic and political blocs are the way forward.Bigger markets such as the EU, the US, China and India are taking advantage of their numerical strength and consumer base to dictate terms at forums such as the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation and the International Telecommunications Union.
Smaller and poorer states are at their mercy.
If East Africans come together as one economic bloc, they will bring to the international negotiating table a consumer base of more than 100 million. This is by any standards an attractive consumer market for any industrialist or service provider looking to invest.
In Africa, East Africa will be next only to Nigeria. By the time Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan join, the region will be at par with Nigeria and half the present population of the US.What makes big markets such as the US, India, China, Russia and Nigeria work? All these economies enjoy the comfort of a single authority. Power has to emanate from a single source with clear rules and guidelines. If the centre is working and holding, the rest will work.The East African. AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 3 DAYS
Update time = Tue Oct 31 10:00 EDT 2006(USGS)
TUE OCT 31,2006
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 ECUADOR
MAP 4.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.6 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.3 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MON OCT 30,2006
MAP 2.6 ARIZONA
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.3 OFF THE COAST OF JALISCO, MEXICO
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.8 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.6 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 5.3 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 5.3 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 3.0 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.9 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 JAVA, INDONESIA
SUN OCT 29,2006
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
MAP 3.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 5.6 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.8 COSTA RICA
MAP 4.3 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 4.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 UTAH
MAP 2.7 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
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.
Ten dead in Philippines after typhoon By Karen Lema
2 hours, 25 minutes ago
MANILA (Reuters) - Typhoon Cimaron churned toward central Vietnam on Tuesday after killing at least 10 people and displacing thousands in the northern Philippines with fierce winds and raging waters.
Cimaron slammed into Luzon, the Philippines' most populated island and its rice bowl, on Sunday night as a maximum category five storm or super typhoon, tearing up trees, power lines and roofs and destroying houses and roads.The typhoon, the second to hit the Philippines in over a month, weakened as it swept out of the archipelago on Monday and was churning westwards toward Vietnam with winds of 120 km (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 150 km per hour.
Storm tracker www.tropicalstormrisk.com showed Cimaron picking up speed and tipping northwards en route to Vietnam, bringing stormy weather to Hong Kong and the Chinese island of Hainan on Wednesday morning.Cimarno is expected to hit Vietnam as a category 1 typhoon on Friday morning.At least five people were reported drowned or killed by falling trees in the Philippine coastal province of Isabela, according to local mayor Renato Candido. There were at least five other reported fatalities, disaster officials said.
The Office of Civil Defense said police were still verifying reports of several landslides.
THOUSANDS EVACUATED
Over 2,000 people were evacuated to makeshift accommodation while nearly 180,000 were affected by wind damage, landslides and flooding.
Power was slowly returning to four provinces.The storm disrupted thousands of travelers on the move for the Roman Catholic festivals of All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1 and 2, when millions of Filipinos throng cemeteries to honor their dead.Cimaron was estimated to have destroyed around 114 million pesos ($2.3 million) worth of crops, fisheries and livestock.
The bill for damage to roads, bridges and schools was put at 25 million pesos.The Department of Agriculture has said the typhoon destroyed around 8 percent of rice and corn due for harvesting before the end of the year.Cimaron crashed into the archipelago just weeks after Typhoon Xangsane raked the Philippines and Vietnam, killing at least 169 people and taking a heavy toll on electricity networks, roads and crops.The Philippines cut its annual agricultural growth target to around 4 percent for 2006 from at least 5 percent due to the destruction by Xangsane.Storms regularly hit the Philippines but parts of northern Luzon are mountainous and heavily logged, raising the risk of more floods and landslides.In the worst disaster in recent years, more than 5,000 people died in the central province of Leyte in 1991 in floods triggered by a typhoon.
Sri Lanka is drowning, literally and metaphorically
BY AMEEN IZZADEEN ,31 October 2006
LITERALLY and metaphorically, we are a drowning nation. With half the country under water as a result of intense inter-monsoon rains, the gloomy weather was symbolic of Sri Lanka’s plight. It had been raining since October 16. Friday was the worst day. Even my house came under two feet of water.I was not alone. Millions of people have been affected. Fifteen people have been killed and more than 250,000 rendered homeless. Thousands of Muslims celebrated the Eid ul-Fitr festival in makeshift refugee camps.
Even the main road linking Colombo city and Sri Lanka’s only international airport was under water. Flights were cancelled or delayed as passengers and crew members could not reach the airport on time.
It’s the worst floods in several decades, the old muezzin of the mosque in my area said. The politically matured put the blame on politicians. Politicians at local council level dish out low-lying state-owned wetland, which should be conserved, to landless party supporters in return for their loyalty. Some big time national level politicians commit greater environmental crimes in collusion with multinationals and the local private sector.In my area, residents say the flood problem became worse after the multinational Shell Company built a gas terminal on a wetland that had acted as a water-retention area when the rivers swelled. The allegation doing the rounds is that big time politicians, including some at the highest level, are in the pay of the multinational gas giant which has its say and way whenever it wants to increase prices. The end result is that it is the people who pay for the sins of the politicians.
The Central Environment Authority (CEA), the main state institution entrusted with protecting Sri Lanka’s environment has come under a cloud, too. The CEA approves or disapproves projects after it conducts an environmental impact assessment study. In a paper posted on its website, it claims that wetlands, which are national heritage, need to be conserved, restored and sustainably managed for the benefit of the present and future generations, recognising that they are environmentally sensitive and ecologically important areas.The CEA paper also says the principle that when an activity carries a potentially high environmental risk that cannot be fully assessed (eg for lack of time, money or information), action should be taken to prohibit or restrict the activity before the uncertainly is resolved.I don’t think this principle was applied when Shell was allowed to build its massive plant on a large extent of wetland. In corruption-ridden third world countries, it appears that public servants’ serve the interest of their political masters rather than the interest of the public.
The flood-hit Sri Lankans’ search for the sun in the black canopy over their head is symbolic of Sri Lanka’s search for peace. As the sun appeared briefly through the gaps between the large masses of dark clouds, it stirred hopes. But soon the pregnant dark clouds covered it again and unloaded their burden on us, inflicting suffering and hardship.On Saturday, on the political horizon, there was hope, as the government and the LTTE met in Geneva for talks. But by Sunday night, our hopes were shattered as the two sides failed to strike any agreement.It appears now that the Norwegian facilitators were largely concerned about dragging the two belligerents to the negotiating table. It was like a no-holds-barred freestyle wrestling match. First, the handshake and then the Norwegian referee read out the rules of the game and allowed the two fighters to hit out at each other.
The talks, which we call Geneva II, were no different from Geneva I in February. At both these encounters, the two sides traded barbs and talked little peace. This could have been done in Sri Lanka. But the two sides, it appears, want to discredit and demonise the other before the international media in Geneva.Before they left for Geneva, the two sides had conflicting agendas. Apart from a final solution that recognised Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the government wanted to bring human rights, democracy and pluralism to the people of the north values that the people in the south do not enjoy to the full. The LTTE wanted to discuss the immediate issues such as the opening of the main highway linking Sri Lanka’s northern capital Jaffna with the rest of the country and the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
The two sides had nothing to offer in terms of confidence-building measures. Both delegations comprised members who are known for hard-line views. We cannot expect a terrorist organisation to act in a civilised manner and make the first move for peace. When the government also responds in an equally tough manner while talking peace, how can peace dawn? This was not the spirit in which the Ranil Wickremesinghe government held peace talks. It took confidence building measures, one after another, offering many concessions to the LTTE, amidst allegations that it was compromising on national security.
But it was a gamble that nearly paid off.I believe the government as a confidence building measure should have agreed to the LTTE demand for the opening up of the main highway, although the move will help the LTTE to collect millions of rupees in taxes from motorists and suppliers of goods to the north. But it’s a price the government should pay to achieve peace and bring sunshine to the war-hit and war-weary people.
Ameen Izzadeen is a Sri Lankan journalist based in Colombo
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.(TR 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).
China, Asean Repeat Aim for Free Trade Area by 2010
By Allen T. Cheng and Yanping Li
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation said they will boost trade, reiterating an aim to cut tariffs and set up a free trade area between an estimated 1.8 billion people. We encourage further cooperation between China and Asean in support of sub-regional developments including economic cooperation zones in areas covering southwestern China, according to a statement by China and Asean, as the association is also called, released today in southern China's Nanning city. Asean's trade with China rose 23 percent last year to $130 billion, and the grouping has been discussing free trade arrangements with China and dialogue partners Japan and South Korea as global trade talks fail. Japan, not represented at this meeting in Nanning, has proposed a broader Asian trade bloc including India, Australia and New Zealand.
Japan has been pushing for India's inclusion because it fears China taking over its dominant status in Asia, said Guan Anping, a Beijing trade lawyer and former Chinese trade official. Asean has many legitimate fears of a rising China, especially since China's huge surplus labor makes it a rival that few Asian states can compete with, he said. China is hosting Asian leaders to celebrate 15 years of formal relations between Asia's second largest economy and Asean, a grouping founded in 1967 partly as a U.S.-backed bulwark against communism. Southeast Asian countries only recognized China when it stopped backing communist insurgencies against their capitalist governments.
Outstanding Disputes
China also has not fully resolved disputes with Asean members over oil and gas exploration rights in the South China Sea around a group of islands that China calls Xisha and Nansha while Asean calls Spratlys and Paracels. As recently as 1990, China seized some islands in the Paracels, which is surrounded by seabed rich in oil and gas, from Vietnam, according to Globalsecurity.org, a Web site specializing in military affairs. We will work in concert to advance the strategic partnership, which would be a catalyst for dialogue between Asean and its partners to contribute to regional peace and stability, according to today's statement.
Defense officials of Asean and China will visit each other more frequently and share information to foster cooperation, according to the statement.Wen and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai are hosting Asean leaders this week in talks that range from building a regional free trade zone to North Korea's nuclear tests. On the table is a proposal from China to build a regional trade area that comprise of Asean, China, Japan, and South Korea. China supports and welcomes Asean's efforts to establish a Southeast Asia nuclear weapons-free zone, according to the Chinese foreign ministry's counselor Huang Xingyuan, speaking today in Nanning. To contact the reporter on this story: Allen T. Cheng in Beijing at acheng13@bloomberg.net.Last Updated: October 30, 2006 06:27 EST
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Oct. 30, 2006, 3:55PM
PM: Israel will stop Palestinian arms
By MARK LAVIE Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM Israel will take action to stop Palestinian arms smuggling and rocket fire in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, but he could not point to specific solutions.Olmert also said any new offensive would not result in Israel's retaking Gaza, which it left a year ago after a 38-year occupation.Olmert was speaking at a special Cabinet session to vote approval of the addition of an ultra-hawkish party to his ruling coalition, a step seen as virtually ruling out any Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives in the near future. Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, has advocated bombing Palestinian population centers and redrawing Israel's borders to exclude its Arab citizens. He becomes a deputy prime minister.In southern Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped Roberto Vila, a 34-year-old Spanish aid worker and held him for several hours, the latest in a string of abductions of journalists and other foreigners. He was released unharmed before midnight.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said security forces worked to free the hostage. Such actions harm the image of the Palestinian people, he said.Palestinian gunmen have kidnapped a series of foreign journalists and aid workers in Gaza over the past two years, usually pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released, and none have been seriously harmed.Last week, Palestinian gunmen kidnapped an Associated Press photographer in Gaza City, releasing the Spanish journalist about 16 hours later.The kidnappings reflect growing chaos in the seaside territory, where rival Fatah and Hamas forces have been clashing as political leaders repeatedly fail to agree on a joint government that could lift a punishing Western aid cutoff that has bankrupted the Palestinian Authority and led to widespread hardships.
At the same time, Israel has pressed ahead with an offensive it launched in late June, after Hamas-linked gunmen tunneled under the border and attacked an army base, killing two soldiers and abducting a third.In northern Gaza, Palestinian police said a man was killed Monday and two other people wounded when an Israeli tank shell hit a house. The Israeli military denied that soldiers opened fire in the area.Earlier this month Israel sent forces along the Gaza-Egypt border for the first time since Israel withdrew from Gaza last year, destroying 15 tunnels Israel said the Palestinians used to smuggle arms into Gaza. The forces were pulled out after a weeklong sweep.
Olmert told a parliamentary committee the goal of a new military operation would be to stop the arms smuggling, but he said no decision has been made on exactly how to do that. Retaking the border could ignite tensions with Egypt. Olmert denied reports that Egypt has sent troop reinforcements to the border.
There is no doubt that we have to take steps to reduce the ability of the Palestinians to fire rockets at Israel and smuggle in weapons,Olmert told the Cabinet, but added that no decision has been made on exactly what to do, according to a participant in the meeting.The participant, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said Olmert specified that Israeli action would minimize humanitarian problems.Olmert also told the parliamentary committee he would consider allowing Abbas to beef up his security forces with troops stationed in neighboring Jordan.Palestinian officials said Saturday that Abbas, a moderate, wants to bring in the forces ahead of a possible showdown with Hamas.
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.
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.
Dr Samuel Doctorian-Angel 3
Then one of the angels with wings showed me Europe from one end to the other from the north all the way down to Spain and Portugal. In his hand he had a scale of measurement. I saw him fly over Europe, and I heard the words, I am grieved. I am grieved.
Unrighteousness, uncleanness, ungodliness all over Europe. The sin has risen to heaven. The Holy Spirit is grieved. I saw the rivers of Europe flooding and covering millions of houses. Millions drown.
Suddenly I heard earthquakes all over Europe. Countries that have had no earthquakes shall be shaken, said the angel. And suddenly, in my spirit, I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris crumbling falling down. A great part of Germany destroyed. The great city of London destruction everywhere. I saw floods all over Scandinavia. I looked to the south and saw Spain and Portugal passing through hunger and great destruction.
Many will die from hunger all over Spain and Portugal. I was disturbed by all this news, and I said, Lord, what about your children? The angel said, I shall prepare them. They shall be looking for the appearing of the Lord. Many will cry to me in those days and I will save them. I shall perform mighty miracles for them and show them My power. So in the midst of great destruction, there will be the grace of God in those countries. I was happy that God has His protection over His children.
Drought-hit Spain looks to penalize heavy water use
Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:33 PM GMT
MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards who use excessive amounts of water may have to pay more for it in future, the government said on Monday, seeking ways to curb water use after two years of drought.After the worst drought on record in 2005 and below average rainfall again in the year ended on September 30, the country's reservoir levels dropped to their lowest in a decade.Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said she was planning to guarantee a minimum amount of clean water for everyone and would raise prices above that limit.In principle, in line with a proposal made by Ecologists in Action, we suggest a minimum of 60 liters (13 gallons) a day per person, she said.(There will be) a reform of the water law to penalize excessive consumption via tariffs charged, Narbona said at the start of a national water council meeting, which is due to debate several proposals.
A ministry spokeswoman denied household consumers would face higher prices if they used more than the 60 liters a day allowance.
The onus may fall on other users.Narbona did not say how the reform would affect farmers, who use 77 percent of Spain's water. Urban consumption accounts for 18 percent and industry the remaining 5 percent.Spaniards now use an average of around 170 liters a day and water prices vary.In some towns it is practically free and farmers often sink illegal wells and obtain water from aquifers for no more than the cost of pumping it.
1/3RD OF SHIPS DESTROYED
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
Ship sinks in heavy storms
Oct 30, 2006,By TBT staff
TALLINN - Heavy storms that struck the Baltic Sea region forced the cancellation of flights and sea travel, sunk a fishing boat and left a passenger ferry damaged.The Finnish fishing vessel Borka sunk in Estonian waters at 11 p.m. on Oct. 26 in heavy wind.The boat’s four crew members were rescued by nearby ships which battled rough seas to answer a distress call.With wind speed at 25 meters per second, and gusts of up to 32 meters per second, the smaller passenger ferries between Tallinn and Helsinki abandoned their voyages. Other larger ships delayed their voyages by several hours.
The storms also felled trees and branches, damaged roofs, and knocked out power to thousands of households.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME
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.
World Christian Persecution(Crosswalk.com)
Assyrian Christian Teen Reportedly Beheaded
According to ASSIST News Service, an Assyrian Christian teenager has reportedly been decapitated while at work.
The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) reported that according to the Assyrian website www.ankawa.com, a 14-year-old Christian Assyrian boy, Ayad Tariq, from Baqouba, Iraq was beheaded at his work place on Oct. 21. Ayad Tariq was working his 12-hour shift, maintaining an electric generator, when a group of disguised Muslim insurgents walked in at the beginning of his shift shortly after 6 a.m. and asked him for his ID. According to another employee who witnessed the events, and who hid when he saw insurgents approach, the insurgents questioned Ayad after seeing that his ID noted he was Christian. The insurgents asked the boy if he was really a Christian sinner. Ayad reportedly replied, Yes, I am Christian, but I am not a sinner. The insurgents immediately said, dirty Christian sinner! Then they proceeded to each hold one of the boy’s limbs, Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! while beheading him.
Eritrean Police Arrest 150 More Christians
Compass Direct News reports that in a large-scale roundup the past week, Eritrean authorities have detained 150 Christians from at least five of the country’s outlawed churches. Starting Wednesday (October 25), security officers in the town of Mendefera began going from house to house, arresting local Christians from a list they compiled of known members of Pentecostal churches and the Orthodox renewal movement.
During the first day’s raids, a total of 38 men and 17 women were incarcerated at the military fort in Mendefera, 30 miles south of Asmara. Local sources confirmed to Compass that police authorities were subjecting the detained Christians to beatings and other physical mistreatment. According to eyewitnesses, at least 10 nursing mothers were among the new prisoners, all of them forced to leave their infants behind.
New Believer in India Arrested, Urged to Frame Pastor
Police recently arrested a convert in Mayapuri, Madhya Pradesh state for the second time in three days in an apparent attempt to pressure him to give evidence that his pastor forcibly converted him, Compass Direct News reports. By nightfall in India, the new believer was charged with insulting religious beliefs.Dewas Gate police again detained Ramesh Thakur, 37, at 9 a.m. after having arrested him on Tuesday (October 24) and releasing him the next day after intense questioning. The pastor of his church in Ujjain district, Jagdish Bharti, is already fighting charges of insulting religious beliefs.The officer-in-charge of the Dewas Gate police station, R.R. Malvi, told a church member that he was under tremendous political pressure to charge Thakur. Viju Varghese, Global Council of Indian Christians co-ordinator in Madhya Pradesh, told Compass that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had offered Thakur 25,000 rupees (US$552) to implicate Pastor Bharti in a charge of allurement to convert.
Missionaries Hike to Share Jesus on Appalachian Trail
Craig and Suzy Miles’ mission field is located amongst the pines and hardwoods of the Appalachian Mountains. They share it with hikers, the occasional black bear, snakes and other creepy-crawly things better left alone. The Christian couple witnesses to people with funny names like Chicken Wing,Kentucky Fried and Rabbit’s Foot. According to Baptist Press, for three years now, the Mileses as Mission Service Corps missionaries for the North American Mission Board have operated Appalachian Trail Servants, a mission organization dedicated to sharing Christ with hikers along the famous Appalachian Trail.
The Appalachian Trail is a marked, yard-wide footpath winding 2,175 miles through the Appalachian Mountains from Springer Mountain in north Georgia to Mount Katahdin in central Maine. Conceived in 1921 and completed in 1937, it passes through 14 states. More than 4 million people hike some part of the trail each year. Their ministry began when one morning on the way to work, Craig stopped by his Baptist church and prayed a simple prayer: Lord, how can you use our time and talents for your glory? Right after I prayed that prayer, I spotted a missionary magazine on a table next to me,Miles said. On the cover was a story about extreme hiking in China. It just clicked in my head that we needed to start a ministry on the Appalachian Trail. Suzy and I were seeing hundreds of hikers pass over the roads and trails and through the woods of north Georgia, but we knew their spiritual needs were not being met.
Updated Oct. 30, 2006 23:17
Time to give way on civil marriage in Israel?
By DAVID J. MARTIN (Jpost)
Recent political machinations have again raised the prospect of civil marriage in Israel. Unfortunately, this issue is so laden with partisan emotion as to prevent a clear analysis of the situation. The result is that state-mandated Orthodox halachic restrictions on matrimony have created a festering wound in Israeli society. An objective review of the legal and religious reality leads to the conclusion that civil marriage, if properly instituted, is an appropriate solution. Under Israeli law, an individual may only be married in accordance with the procedures of his religious community. Thus, Jews may only be married through the Orthodox rabbinate. Since the rabbinate implements religious law Halacha Jews may not marry non-Jews and a kohen may not marry a divorcee.
With several hundred thousand halachically non-Jewish Russian immigrants in Israel (who are nonetheless entitled to rights under the Law of Return), the number of couples who wish to wed in Israel, but may not, is increasing. Even more problematic are the pesulei hitun non-marriables the child born to a Jewish mother conceived from an adulterous union or even to a Jewish mother who was divorced (abroad) in a civil proceeding but never received a get. Such a child is a mamzer and essentially may never marry at all. The only relief available to those wishing to contract religiously unlawful marriages and to the non-marriables is to be married in a civil ceremony outside of Israel, which is recognized by Israel under its private international law commitments, but not recognized by Halacha.
For instance, a former Supreme Court justice, a kohen now deceased went abroad to contract a marriage with a divorcee. But for the vast majority of people, this relief is both undesirable and unworkable. ON THE face of it, resolution of the situation is actually simple namely, to create an alternative system of civil marriage, alongside the religious law, which would apply to those marriages that would not be permitted under religious law: Jew and non-Jew, mamzer, divorcee to kohen, etc. The secular community has long sought such a resolution. The Orthodox religious establishment has, with few exceptions, expressed vehement opposition. Why?
First, the religious establishment is concerned that, given the choice, a large percentage of Israelis would choose the civil marriage route, thus eroding the power base of the religious authorities. Second, the religious community still holds on to the imaginative idea that Israel is a Jewish state, based on principles of Jewish law, and that the essentials of Jewish practice (Sabbath, holidays, marriage) are accepted by a consensus of the population, notwithstanding the fact that the overwhelming majority of Israeli residents do not practice a halachic lifestyle.
Third, some believe that an alternative route for recognizing and liquidating marriages would create a societal divide those whose marriages and births were sanctioned by the rabbinate and those who were not so sanctioned, with the attendant consequences.Fourth, many rabbis believe that civil marriage would nonetheless be considered as a valid marriage under Jewish law in light of the halachic rule that marriage may be contracted not only by means of a ceremonial act but also by the very conduct of intimate relations. Thus, civilly married women would nonetheless require a Jewish divorce the get failing which a subsequent child would be considered a mamzer, who may never marry.
NONE OF these objections holds water. If a large percentage of Israelis would prefer civil marriage, so be it. Coercive marriage has never brought anyone back to the fold. To the contrary, the marriage registration practices of the rabbinate are generally deemed to turn off most secular and non-Orthodox Israelis. If the rabbinate is faced with competition, it will have to shape up or ship out. The
time has come to face reality most Israelis do not feel any connection to the basic tenets of Jewish law. They cannot be attracted by coercion. As to the population divide, it already exists. There are hundreds of thousands of halachically non-Jewish citizens of Israel, who speak Hebrew, serve in the army and meet Jewish members of the opposite sex. If the religious status of an individual is important to a potential suitor, the need for research already exists.
The fourth problem, namely the halachic status of a person who contracts a civil marriage, is not new. Such marriages have been the subject of religious legal decisions by the outstanding rabbis of the past century, including particularly the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the leading decisor of Jewish law in the United States. According to these decisions, when a couple contracts a civil marriage in circumstances which indicate that they did not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship then, indeed, no such relationship is created.
The woman is not married for purposes of Halacha, the dissolution of the marriage does not require a get, children born of the relationship are both Jewish and marriageable and children born of adulterous unions during such marriages or even after such marriages have been dissolved without a get are unblemished as regards their right to marry under Jewish law.
So how does a couple demonstrate circumstances which indicate that they did not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship? Simple as part of the civil marriage proceeding, the parties would execute a document stating that they have chosen the civil marriage route for reasons of conscience or other reasons and that they do not intend to create a Jewish, legal, marital relationship.The time has come (unfortunately) to offer civil marriage for those who do not wish to be, or cannot be, married under Jewish law. A halachic solution, which is quite consistent with considerations of conscience, exists to solve the problem. The religious establishment must face up to reality and withdraw its opposition to such a solution. The writer is an international lawyer based in Tel Aviv and adjunct professor of law at Cardozo Law School in New York.
East Africa: EAC Treaty Makes Political Federation Inevitable
Jerry Okungu,Nairobi
The East Africa Community National Consultative Committees will commence a sensitisation campaign in all the three partner states in a week's time.The million dollar question facing the Committees is: Will the benefits of economic integration be realised and sustained without a central political authority?The answer is yes. The Treaty of the East African Economic Community signed in 1999 is specific and categorical that in the final analysis, the move to political federation is unstoppable.
The leaders who signed it have since left office, apart from President Museveni of Uganda. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania was witness to it as a member of the Council of Ministers, by virtue of his being a foreign minister then. President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was an opposition Member of Parliament then, but was aware of the discussions.At the centre of this question lies the sensitive issue of sovereignty that the three partner states now enjoy. With sovereignty comes real autonomy, independence and complete if not absolute instruments of state power.
Heads of State currently are in charge of foreign policy, defence, security and numerous authorities that govern virtually every sphere of life of their citizens. As heads of state, they are also heads of government, a position that has invested in them executive authority to run their governments the best way they see fit.HAVING A central political authority for the three partner states will imply that states and their presidents give up certain powers, roles and functions to the super state. Such powers may in effect reduce the current presidencies to the level of federal governors such as those in the United States of America, Nigeria or Canada.
Alternatively, there may be a situation where the central authority takes the shape of the European Union where individual state instruments and structures remain intact except for the common currency, unified border controls, standardisation of goods and services and abolition of border controls for member states of the EU.
While signing the 1999 East African Community Treaty, the Summit members were acutely aware of the lessons learnt from the collapsed EAC of 1967-1977.
IT WAS then decided to put in place safeguards that would shield the Community from collapse a second time. The partners opted for a gradual approach to the regional integration process. They decided to start with the critical Customs Union, a move that would ease trade, movement of people and goods and spur economic growth.The second phase entails putting structures in place to create the East African Common Market. A single market for the region will the expand consumer base to support and sustain our local industries and services. These will in turn spur economic growth and create jobs for our growing population.
Once the Customs Union and Common Market have stabilised and taken root, the region will move to the third stage and create a Monetary Union a very critical stage politically. Critical in the sense that a single currency will evolve from first freely exchanging the three currencies easily across borders. It will also abolish restrictions on cash transfers across our borders. When finally adopted, the three partner states will adopt a common currency that will be the sole legal tender in the three countries.Once all the three stages are adopted, the three states will then embark on the road to the final stage, that of the political federation.IN ALL this process, the Summit and Council of Ministers Members have all along been acutely aware that, the four stages do not in themselves guarantee sustainability of the process. They realised that a sensitive venture like creating a federation among three independent states in peacetime will require more good will from a wide section of the citizenry.It is also necessary to deal with the concentration of powers in the Summit, an issue that accelerated the collapse of the first EAC in 1977. At that time, the Summit was the organ that made virtually every decision and its members appended signatures on every document. Therefore, when differences between Summit members became irreconcilable during the Idi Amin era in Uganda, the Summit paralysed the operations of the Community.
This time round, the Summit gave authority to the Council of Ministers through the 1999 Treaty to deal with most of the functions of the Community and only refer to the Summit for ratification.More than the deconcentration of Summit powers, it has been found prudent if not mandatory to solicit the support and endorsement of the citizens of East Africa, civil society and private sector throughout the process. Using the lessons learnt from the first EAC, the architects of the new Community have created more stringent withdrawal procedures for members who have signed the treaty and joined the Community.BUT PERHAPS the more compelling reason why the Community will thrive and blossom into a political federation is the fact that in today's world, the trend is towards mergers and regional integrations. Economic and political blocs are the way forward.Bigger markets such as the EU, the US, China and India are taking advantage of their numerical strength and consumer base to dictate terms at forums such as the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation and the International Telecommunications Union.
Smaller and poorer states are at their mercy.
If East Africans come together as one economic bloc, they will bring to the international negotiating table a consumer base of more than 100 million. This is by any standards an attractive consumer market for any industrialist or service provider looking to invest.
In Africa, East Africa will be next only to Nigeria. By the time Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan join, the region will be at par with Nigeria and half the present population of the US.What makes big markets such as the US, India, China, Russia and Nigeria work? All these economies enjoy the comfort of a single authority. Power has to emanate from a single source with clear rules and guidelines. If the centre is working and holding, the rest will work.The East African. AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
Monday, October 30, 2006
WARMING COULD BRING 1930S HAVOC
1-Thousands still without power in Ontario, Quebec. 2-Wind, snow leave nearly 41,000 homes without power. 3-Heavy rains kill at least 17 in Somali capital 4-15 die as typhoon lashes Philippines 5-Abbas gives Hamas 2 weeks to join gov't. 6-5,000 Egyptian troops deployed near Gaza Strip border following Israeli threat. 7-Syria calls for more active EU role in Mideast peace process. 8-Iran criticizes U.S.-led nuke exercise. 9-Globalisation must embrace Greater Mideast. 10-Merkel says Germany will not solve EU constitution limbo. 11-Hard-line party joins Israel’s government. 12-Defiant Iran Scents World Split On Nuclear Issue. 13-Iran lauds Russia, China for opening nuclear splits 14-Warming could bring 1930s havoc.
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.
Thousands still without power in Ontario, Quebec
Updated Mon. Oct. 30 2006 8:24 AM ET,CTV.ca News Staff
Thousands of Canadians are still without power Monday in Quebec and Ontario, a day after violent windstorms blew across parts of the country, causing damage and knocking down power lines.
Sunday's storm system left as many as 200,000 homes and businesses without electricity in Central and Eastern Canada and parts of the U.S. as the region was blasted with winds gusting to more than 90 kilometres per hour. Hydro Quebec says more than 10,000 customers in Montreal, Quebec City, the Laurentians region north of Montreal and the Lac St.-Jean area were still without power on Monday morning.The storm left almost 49,000 people in the province without power Sunday.
In Ontario, Hydro One said Monday it has made significant progress in restoring power across the central part of the province. Spokesperson Laura Cooke told The Canadian Press that about 5,400 customers remain in the dark, meaning about 21,000 others now have their power back.Cooke says the vast majority of those still without hydro are in the Penetang (3,400) and Parry Sound (1,200) areas.It's estimated those areas will get their power back late this afternoon or early this evening. Scattered power outages were also reported in Toronto, where a west-end home under construction collapsed due to the wind. In New Brunswick, about 40 people in rural areas were still without power, according to the New Brunswick Power Corporation. At one point, the outages affected up to 3,000 N.B. Power customers in southeastern New Brunswick.Meanwhile, 40 forestry workers who were stranded when heavy snow hit northern B.C. and Alberta on Friday were finally rescued Sunday after surviving two nights in freezing temperatures.
West Fraser Timber company helicopters dropped 13 workers off in near Tumbler Ridge in B.C., about 190 kilometres northeast of Prince George, Friday morning.
Another 27 were dropped nearby on the Alberta side of the border. The workers were supposed to be picked up Friday night, but heavy snow prevented helicopters from returning for them until Sunday morning. The men are being treated for minor hyperthermia. The outages in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. followed on the heels of a storm system that hit Atlantic Canada, leaving 3,000 customers in southeastern New Brunswick without power Sunday. Isolated power outages were also reported around Halifax in Nova Scotia. The same wind and rain storm system that hit Atlantic Canada also left hundreds of thousands of people in the northeastern United States without power, as trees toppled and brought down power lines from Maine to New Jersey.
A quarter of a million people in the New York City area were in the dark Sunday, while 30,000 residences in Massachusetts went black.In western Canada, a snowfall warning was issued for East Kootenay in B.C. A weather system that brought snow to much of Alberta on Saturday is expected to move out of the province Sunday night, with five cm of snow expected for areas south of Canmore as the system pulls out. A snowfall warning is in place for Crowsnest Pass, Pincher Creek and Waterton Park in the province's southwest.A low pressure system now in northern Montana is expected to bring 10 cm of snow to south Saskatchewan by Monday.Southern Manitoba is expected to receive about 15 cm from the same weather system. With files from The Canadian
Press
Wind, snow leave nearly 41,000 homes without power
October 29,2006
(Albany, NY - AP) - Wind gusts and heavy snowfall in parts of upstate New York downed trees and left nearly 41,000 homes without power today. Officials at the National Weather Service say parts of central and northern New York got heavy snowfall today, with nine inches reported in Old Forge. Up to 18 inches of snow are expected at higher elevations. Between six and ten inches were expected for Oswego, Jefferson and Lewis counties by tonight. Downed trees and power lines are making driving conditions hazardous. Winds were expected to reach up to 70 miles per hour at higher elevations in the Adirondacks, Catskills, Berkshires and southern Green Mountains. A National Grid spokesman says 36,700 customers were without power around 4 p-m, mostly along the eastern shores of lakes Erie and Ontario and in the Tug Hill region. He said power was expected to be restored by midnight.
Another 4500 customers of Rochester Gas and Electric were without power.
Heavy rains kill at least 17 in Somali capital by Mustafa Haji Abdinur
Sun Oct 29, 10:27 AM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Torrential rains have killed at least 17 people in the Somali capital overnight, bringing the death toll to 27 as a result of floods across the shattered African nation in the past week, officials and witnesses said. They said the victims, mainly children and the elderly, died after their mud-walled houses collapsed under heavy rain that pummelled several Mogadishu districts late Saturday, leaving hundreds homeless and destroying property of unknown value.Medics said relatives recovered more bodies from the the drenched debris after the overnight downpour.
The death toll has now reached 17. Some people have been recovered from houses that collapsed last night,said Abdullahi Sheikh Ali, nurse in the capital's Arafat hospital on Sunday.A pharmacist who treated injured victims said that a woman and one child were killed in the city's northern Suuq-Bacad district while five children were found dead inside a collapsed house in a nearby neighbourhood.It was a tragedy, said pharmacist Omar Mohamed Ali. I treated four family members but the mother and a three-year-old child had died by the time I arrived at the scene.The rain was so heavy and their house was old and collapsed,he added.The bodies of five children were recoved from another house in Wardhigley district south of Mogadishu.Abdulahi Shirwa Nur, a relative of the dead children, told AFP the walls of the house had caved in.
A neighbour, Amino Abduweli Rage, said: It was about 8:30 pm (1730 GMT) when I was awoken by people shouting help. I rushed to the scene and found people digging a collapsed part of a house and they recovered bodies of five children.Three of the casualties were among the elderly living in a displaced people's camp in northern Mogadishu.In this camp, three people were drowned. All of them were elder people, said Sheikh Nur Hilowle, the chairman of the camp. Mogadishu is home to at least 250,000 people displaced by the conflict that has raged across the Horn of Africa nation for the past 15 years.Residents said that at least 61 houses were destroyed by the heavy seven-hour downpour.
In August, thousands of Mogadishu residents were forced to flee to higher ground by flooding which destroyed dozens of makeshift homes.Last week, heavy rains also killed at least 10 people in the country's southern Gedo region, which was recently hit by a scorching drought that put millions on people on the verge of starvation.
The latest deaths came amid heightened tension between increasingly powerful Somali Islamists and the fragile government over territorial control. Several bouts of fighting has forced thousands to flee into neighbouring Kenya from the southern region.Humanitarian workers fear that the health of the displaced civilians would be affected since host aid agencies, including the United Nations, have pulled out of the country owing to deteroriating security.Somalia, a nation of about 10 million, has lacked any disaster response mechanism since the country plunged into bloodletting after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
15 die as typhoon lashes Philippines By PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago,Oct 30
MANILA, Philippines - A powerful typhoon swept across the northern Philippines on Monday, killing more than 15 people in a barrage of landslides, uprooted trees and flooding.
Cimaron, the second major typhoon to hit the north in as many months, had maximum winds of 109 miles per hour and gusts of up to 130 mph when it came ashore. The storm stalled over the Philippines and was expected to stay in the area until Tuesday afternoon.Five people were reported drowned or killed by falling trees and 15 were injured in the coastal town of Dinapigue in Isabela province. Mayor Renato Candido said 90 percent of the houses were damaged in the town of 5,000 residents.Police in Isabela, about 210 miles northeast of Manila, also reported a 29-year-old farmer drowned when his boat overturned amid strong currents.
Four people drowned in Neuva Vizcaya province, while landslides killed a 4-year-old girl in Bugias, a mountain town in Benguet province, and a 53-year-old man in nearby Kalinga province. The Kalinga landslide injured 11 people, including seven children.
A woman and her 6-year-old son drowned Sunday night in Aurora province when their hut atop a riverbank was swept away by strong currents at the height of the typhoon's fury, said village leader Tito Padua. One man in the province was killed by a falling tree.President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, on a visit to China, called for prayers Sunday as she ordered schools and government work suspended. Domestic flights to the north were canceled.Although Cimaron which means wild ox in the Philippine language did not appear to be drenching the mudslide-prone area as badly as feared, rising rivers made at least five bridges impassable. Officials said
water was released from at least one major dam to prevent overflowing.
The typhoon threatened commemorations for All Saints Day on Wednesday, a public holiday when millions travel to cemeteries to remember their dead, some leaving days in advance for outlying provinces. Officials warned people to cancel trips to threatened areas.Last month, Typhoon Xangsane left 230 people dead and missing as it ripped through Manila and neighboring provinces.
About 20 typhoons and tropical storms lash the country each year.Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano, Hrvoje Hranjski and Jim Gomez contributed to this report.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Abbas gives Hamas 2 weeks to join gov't (AP)
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he'll replace the Hamas-led government in two weeks if the militant group doesn't agree to govern with his party.The moderate Palestinian president has raised the idea before but promised not to force it on a reluctant Hamas. His new position signaled a willingness to take a stronger stance in an effort to ease Western sanctions designed to force the Islamic group to moderate its militantly anti-Israel ideology.Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Hamas was unaware of a two-week deadline cited by Abbas. I don't think it is wise of [him] to aggravate this crisis, Barhoum said.
5,000 Egyptian troops deployed near Gaza Strip border following Israeli threat Posted: 29-10-2006 , 07:11 GMT
Up to 5,000 Egyptian troops deployed near the Egypt-Gaza Strip border Saturday following reports of a possible Israeli smart bomb attack on suspected smuggling tunnels, security officials said. According to the AP, troops fanned out across the northern Sinai peninsula, patrolling roads in and out of border towns and setting up checkpoints, an Egyptian interior ministry official said in Cairo. Police were launching raids on suspected hideouts as well, he added. Last week, Israel said it had located 15 tunnels burrowed under the Egypt-Gaza Strip border.Tel Aviv-based newspaper Maariv reported Friday that Israel planned to use precision-guided weapons to destroy the tunnels. But the Egyptian interior ministry official denied the deployment of soldiers was in response to the report.This is considered a security precaution in Sinai, and it does not have anything to do with the latest media reports, he said.(www.albawaba.com)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR 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).
UPDATED: 09:12, October 29, 2006
Syria calls for more active EU role in Mideast peace process
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal on Saturday called on the European Union (EU) to play a more active and influential role in establishing peace in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported. During a meeting with a visiting media delegation from Spain, Bilal said the EU was able to play such a role through pressuring Israel to abide by international resolutions and the resume the peace process. He blamed the existing problems in the region on the Israeli occupation of the Arab lands and the invasion of Iraq.
As a former Syrian ambassador to Spain, Bilal also briefed the delegation his country's position on regional issues, especially on Lebanon and Iraq. He described the Syrian-Lebanese relations as fraternal and historical which could not be affected by any factors while praising the role of the Lebanese resistance in confronting continuous Israeli aggressions. As for Iraq, the minister indicated that Syria had tightened security measures and supervision of the joint borders with Iraq despite the absence of cooperation from the other side. For their parts, the delegation said they came to Syria to get acquainted with the political, economic and social life here and would convey these facts to their audience abroad. Source: Xinhua
Oct. 29, 2006, 2:17PM
Iran criticizes U.S.-led nuke exercise
By JIM KRANE Associated Press Writer ,Associated Press
DOHA, Qatar A naval training exercise led by the U.S. and aimed at blocking smuggling of nuclear weapons began Sunday in the Persian Gulf, the first of its kind since North Korea's atomic bomb test and the renewed U.S. drive for sanctions against Iran's nuclear program.Iran called the two-day maneuvers adventurist, but the Foreign Ministry said the Islamic Republic's response would be rational and wise.We are watching their movements very carefully, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in Tehran, adding that the exercises would not improve security in the gulf, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil transits.
The maneuvers were taking place under the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, which is designed to counter trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related materials, the U.S. Navy said.Two previous exercises have taken place in this region under the 75-nation initiative, among two dozen held around the world since such maneuvers began in 2003.
It is the first such drill since North Korea exploded a nuclear device Oct. 9. Observers believe the PSI program could be used to halt North Korean weapons traffic in accordance with U.N. sanctions.South Korea, which has balked at joining the initiative, sent an observer delegation to the gulf but declined to participate.
We have not (fully) participated in the PSI because there is a high possibility of armed clashes if the PSI is carried out in waters around the Korean peninsula,South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told parliament Friday.The exercise comes as the United States seeks support for U.N. sanctions against Iran. On Friday, Iran stepped up its uranium enrichment in defiance of a Security Council demand that for a suspension in such work until Tehran eases suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons.
Iran insists its program has peaceful aims, saying it is intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will be used to generate electricity. The Iranians contend Washington seeks to punish them for opposing U.S. policies.A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is the only American ship among the nine vessels in the Leading Edge exercise. The ships are being commanded at sea from an Italian frigate, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The exercise was set in the crowded international waters off Bahrain, an island kingdom and U.S. ally that lies across the Persian Gulf about 120 miles from Iranian territorial waters.Brown said the exercise was not openly aimed at any country and would not affect Iranian vessels or ships heading to Iran.Two U.S.-led multinational task forces already intercept and search suspicious ships in the gulf and nearby waters but focus on shipments headed to Iraq, not Iran.But a U.S. State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the topic, said PSI members can halt and board Iran-bound ships if they are suspected of carrying banned shipments.Washington has sought deeper cooperation from its Arab allies in halting nuclear-related shipments to Iran, but many governments are loath to be seen publicly backing the Americans.
Sunday's training scenario focused on surveillance, with teams in 16 countries tracking a ship suspected of carrying outlawed weapons components, Brown said. A tanker from Britain's Royal Navy played the role of the suspicious vessel.On Monday, sailors on eight other ships are expected to stop, board and search the suspect ship, Brown said.Countries taking part are Italy, France, Australia, United States and Britain, with one ship each, and Bahrain with three vessels.Bahrain's participation marks the first time an Arab nation has joined an exercise under the three-year-old PSI.Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, three Arab countries on the gulf, offered a measure of support as observers. Saudi Arabia, the largest of the gulf countries, has not joined them.
AP writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Globalisation must embrace Greater Mideast,Reuters
The world's failure to bring countries from the Greater Middle East into the global trade system has helped fuel unrest in Arab nations, a former top US diplomat said.The WTO must address the single most destabilising gap in international trade, and that is the Middle East,Charlene Barshefsky, US Trade Representative from 1996 to 2001, told a forum in Beijing.This is the single greatest failure of the global system and is critical to put on the agenda in a real way.The 57 countries in what Barshefsky termed the Greater Middle East including places like former Soviet central Asia made up 10 per cent of the world population but accounted for just one per cent of global trade.Its unemployment rates are double the world average. This is precisely the economic structure, above all when laid into the region's political tension and isolation, that produces rage and violence,Ms Barshefsky said.
The isolation of the Middle East, its reliance on oil alone, the absence of manufacturing trade and investment, its basic failure to develop, is not only the global economy's single greatest failure, it is the greatest risk to world peace.
Though regional heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are World Trade Organisation members, countries with large energy resources and populations such as
Iran, Iraq, Algeria and Uzbekistan are not.It is up to the region, first and foremost, to solve its own problems, but their problems are all of our problems, and it is up to the great powers the US, Europe, Japan and China to rectify the situation by bringing these countries in, she said.
Merkel says Germany will not solve EU constitution limbo
30.10.2006 - 09:29 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German chancellor Angela Merkel has said that her country's EU presidency in the first half of next year will not solve the problem of the shelved EU constitution, following discussions on the charter with Dutch leader Jan Peter Balkenende. Ms Merkel on a visit to The Hague on Friday (27 October) made some of her most downbeat statements so far on Berlin's chances of reviving the EU constitution.The German presidency will certainly not solve this problem, she said after talks with Mr Balkenende whose country rejected the charter in a popular referendum last year. German-Dutch ties over the issue are seen as problematic with Ms Merkel having frequently vowed to save as much of the existing text of the constitution as possible despite the Dutch no.
But after her meeting with Mr Balkenende, Ms Merkel highlighted the consensus between the two countries on the need for reform of the current EU treaty, while avoiding to call the EU constitution by name.I believe we find ourselves together here, because we agree that the Nice Treaty is not sufficient, that we need something that shows our further European commitment, she said. A quick-fix solution to the constitutional deadlock would be hard to find given the French and Dutch no votes, she explained. We had better not make too many prognoses given the situation in Europe at the moment, also considering the failed referenda in France and the Netherlands we better work a bit more intensively behind the scenes. But this problem will drag on for a while and will not be solved during the German presidency.
The comments suggest that Ms Merkel views the failed referenda in France and the Netherlands as a major political problem, despite officials in The Hague previously blaming her for not fully understanding the true impact of the two no votes.
When Ms Merkel took office in November last year, she vowed to push the adoption of the constitution as a whole, saying that the French and Dutch no votes should by no means lead to the idea of the constitution being given up.EU leaders in June tasked the German presidency, kicking off next January, to design a roadmap to overcome the constitutional stalemate which should lead to a consensus on a new EU treaty under the French presidency in the second half of 2008. Mr Balkenende, meanwhile, is in the midst of an election campaign with the latest polls suggesting he might win the 22 November elections.I believe we should draw lessons from the referendum, he said after the talks with Ms Merkel. Whatever the result of next month's elections will be there are several lessons one can draw. People want to be sure that we don't try and make a superstate out of Europe. People want to participate more in Europe. They want improved transparency, and they want to be good at areas which are of real importance, such as energy, security, environment and immigration.These are the points of departure in the discussion about the revision of the treaties, he said.
Hard-line party joins Israel’s government
Yisrael Beiteinu party opposes ceding land to Arabs
Updated: 1 hour, 54 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - The Cabinet voted overwhelmingly Monday to bring into the government a hawkish party that opposes ceding territory to the Palestinians and wants to redraw Israel’s borders to exclude many Israeli Arabs.The vote, which still needs parliamentary approval, gives Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s coalition a commanding majority in parliament. But the inclusion of the hard-line Yisrael Beiteinu party likely puts an end to Olmert’s election campaign promise to pull out of much of the West Bank.
Weakened badly by last summer’s war in Lebanon, Olmert agreed last week to bring in Yisrael Beiteinu to shore up his shaky coalition. The party’s blunt-talking leader, Avigdor Lieberman, will be deputy prime minister in charge of strategic threats, primarily how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The ministers voted 22-1 to accept Yisrael Beiteinu into the government.
In a final stamp of approval, the full parliament was expected to follow suit in a vote later in the day.With Yisrael Beiteinu’s 11 lawmakers on board, Olmert is expanding his parliamentary majority to 78 of 120 seats, bringing some much-needed stability to a coalition riven by infighting after the Lebanon war.Important that we act.However, Olmert appears to have little interest in reviving his West Bank withdrawal plan, which was put on hold after the Lebanon war, and does not appear close to reviving long-stalled peace efforts with the Palestinians.Olmert said Monday that Lieberman’s presence in the government would not result in any policy changes.
I think it is important that we act in the diplomatic arena, he told lawmakers in his Kadima party.This includes the Palestinian issue first and foremost.Israel has boycotted the Palestinian Authority since Hamas militants won legislative elections early this year and formed a Cabinet. Olmert has expressed willingness to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate rival of Hamas, but the two sides have been unable to agree on even a limited agenda.
Olmert also said the government will focus on keeping the peace with Lebanon after last summer’s monthlong war against Hezbollah guerrillas and blocking Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Lieberman, 48, became a national figure a decade ago as a top aide to then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A powerful behind-the-scenes mover, he became widely feared for his strong-arm tactics.He has grown into a potent political force since then, thanks to the support of Israel’s large community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Lieberman, a former bar bouncer, immigrated to Israel from the Soviet republic of Moldova in 1978.
Absence of a political process
His comments about Arabs have made him a divisive figure.At the height of fighting against Palestinians in 2002, Lieberman, then a Cabinet minister, called for the bombing of Palestinian gas stations, banks and commercial centers.More recently, he called for trading Israeli Arab towns for West Bank settlements in effect stripping Israeli Arabs of citizenship and executing Israeli Arab lawmakers who met with leaders of the Palestinians’ Hamas rulers, who are sworn to Israel’s destruction.His comments have drawn accusations of racism.Israel’s No. 1 fascist has been upgraded to deputy prime minister and minister, said Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli lawmaker. He said Lieberman’s appointment was a message to the entire Arab world that this government advocates rejectionism and the absence of a political process.Despite earlier misgivings about Lieberman, Olmert’s main coalition partner, the centrist Labor Party, decided Sunday to remain in the government, concluding it could serve as a counterweight to Lieberman more effectively inside the government than from the opposition.Labor Cabinet minister Ophir Pines-Paz was the lone dissenter in onday’s vote.Associated Press.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES
NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Defiant Iran Scents World Split On Nuclear Issue
by Staff Writers (Space War)
Tehran (AFP) Oct 29, 2006 Iran Sunday remained defiant over its nuclear programme despite the threat of sanctions, saying it was detecting splits between world powers on whether to punish Tehran for intensifying atomic work. With world powers locked in talks in New York over a draft resolution that would impose sanctions over Iran's failure to halt uranium enrichment, Tehran has defiantly expanded work on the process at a key nuclear plant.But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini did not appear concerned that sanctions were imminent, saying there was a split between the stances of China and Russia on one hand and Europe and the US on the other.Splits between the parties are very visible, that is to say between the United States and the Europeans on one side and Russia and China on the other, foreign ministry spokesman told reporters.These two countries have completely different positions to the Europeans. Russia does not want sanctions and does not want to close the path of negotiations, and the Chinese have a similar position, he added.
The United Nations Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US as well as Germany have been discussing a draft resolution on sanctions put forward by European countries.But in a sign of the difficulty in reaching an agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they did not advance objectives agreed on by the six world powers.The Chinese stance has yet to become clear, although Beijing like Moscow is an economic ally of Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as diplomatic leverage.Hosseini meanwhile played down Iran's move to start enriching uranium from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant at Natanz in the centre of the country, a decision greeted with suspicion by the West.
The second cascade is part of the research activities of the country which are in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,he said.There is nothing new. It is the continuation of legal activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no deviation, Hosseini added.Iran vehemently rejects US allegations that its nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at providing energy for civilians.
Enriched uranium lies at the centre of the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, as it can be used both to make nuclear fuel and, in highly refined form, the core of a nuclear bomb.Iran would need thousands more such centrifuges to enrich uranium on an industrial scale and its current uranium enrichment work is on a research level only.Officials have said that uranium was successfully enriched from the second cascade of centrifuges to a level of 3-5 percent and has now been put into storage.
To make a nuclear bomb, the uranium needs to be enriched to around 90 percent, far above the level needed for nuclear fuel.
The text drafted by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington calls on UN member states to slap ballistic missile-related and nuclear sanctions on Iran.It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes and travel bans on scientists involved.
Iran lauds Russia, China for opening nuclear splits
Tehran (AFP) Oct 29 - Iran on Sunday applauded China and Russia for their stance on its nuclear programme, saying they had created a gaping split with Europe and the US over the imposition of UN sanctions against Tehran.
Splits between the parties are very visible, that is to say between the United States and the Europeans on one side and Russia and China on the other, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.These two countries have completely different positions to the Europeans. Russia does not want sanctions and does not want to close the path of negotiations, and the Chinese have a similar position, he added.The United Nations Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US as well as Germany have been discussing a draft resolution on sanctions put forward by European countries.
But in a sign of the difficulty in reaching an agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they did not advance objectives agreed on by the six world powers.The Chinese stance has yet to become clear, although Beijing like Moscow is an economic ally of Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as diplomatic leverage.
Hosseini meanwhile played down Iran's decision to start enriching uranium from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant at Natanz in the centre of the country, a move greeted with suspicion by the West.The second cascade is part of the research activities of the country which are in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said.There is nothing new. It is the continuation of legal activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no deviation, Hosseini added.Iran vehemently rejects US allegations that its nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at providing energy for civilians.
Major powers set for hard bargaining on Iran sanctions
Six major powers were set next week to resume what is expected to be tough and drawn-out bargaining on proposed sanctions against Iran which pressed ahead with uranium enrichment work in defiance of UN resolutions.Envoys from the UN Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US and Germany held a first private meeting Thursday on a draft resolution urging nuclear and missile-related sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work.US Ambassador John Bolton said the six would resume deliberations, probably Monday, for a chance to talk about specifics.The text drafted by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington calls on UN member states to slap nuclear and ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran. It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programs and travel bans on scientists involved in those programs.
According to some diplomats, the US had pressed for a tougher draft resolution, including a call for an end to Moscow's help building Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station.But the draft put forward by the European trio specifically exempts Russian aid to Bushehr from the proposed sanctions.While one Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was optimistic that the major powers would eventually be able to find common ground, others said agreement on an acceptable text was likely to take weeks.China and Russia, which have significant economic interests in Iran, are reluctant to slap tough measures on Tehran.
In a sign that tough negotiations lie ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they do not advance objectives agreed earlier by the six powers.In Tehran, Iran confirmed Saturday it had successfully enriched uranium from a new cascade at a nuclear plant, hailing the move as a step towards industrial-scale enrichment.Enrichment, carried out in lines of centrifuges called cascades, is used to make fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. In highly refined form, however, the product can also serve as the raw material for atomic weapons.
The Iranian announcement triggered strong reactions from the United States and France.US President George W. Bush said Friday that the world community needed to work harder to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and French President Jacques Chirac said the time may have come for sanctions.Bush said the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable while Chirac, on an official visit to China, said Friday that Iran should face sanctions if a solution cannot be found through dialogue.However Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said he was unfazed by reports that Iran has taken a new step in uranium enrichment, saying it was still a long way from building a military capability.I do not share these fears. Iran has started a second cascade of centrifuges under total control of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for scientific purposes, he told journalists.
It is premature to speak of weapons-grade uranium,he said, underlining the need for Iran's nuclear work to take place under IAEA supervision.
Western countries suspect that Iran's enrichment program is designed to supply material for a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists its fuel processing is for peaceful purposes.Meanwhile the State department said Friday that Australia,Bahrain, Britain, France, Italy and the United States would Monday take part in naval maneuvers in the Gulf off Iran's west coast to simulate inspection of ships carrying illicit weapons-related materials.However, a US official insisted that the joint maneuvers were planned months ago and not timed with the new pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.Source: Agence France-Presse
Warming could bring 1930s havoc
POSTED: 1033 GMT (1833 HKT), October 30, 2006
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain wants tighter limits on greenhouse gases by Europe and other rich countries as a first step toward establishing a global carbon trading system to help reduce the cost of climate change.The main argument of a British report published on Monday is that the benefits of determined worldwide steps to tackle global warming will massively outweigh the costs.
But the report's author, former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, concludes that ignoring climate change could lead to economic upheaval on the scale of the 1930s depression.British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the findings as a wake up call to every country in the world.
The report is clear: We are heading towards catastrophic tipping points in our climate unless we act, Blair wrote in an article for the Sun newspaper. Creating cleaner energy whilst using less has to be the key.Finance minister Gordon Brown will argue at the launch of the report that harnessing the power of markets is the best way to find new methods to curb the output of polluting gases, Treasury officials said.Sharing a platform with Blair and Stern, Brown will propose a new EU-wide target for emissions reductions of 30 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050 and expansion of the carbon trading scheme to cover more than 50 percent of emissions.Stern's report sees climate change as a global challenge that demands a global solution. The truth is we must tackle climate change internationally or we will not tackle it at all, Brown will say.Brown wants the EU scheme which sets overall limits for carbon emissions but then allows businesses to trade their quotas to be linked with Australia, California, Japan, Norway and Switzerland with a view to setting a global price for carbon that fixes a clear cost for pollution.
Gore role
Brown will also announce on Monday that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore who created a stir this year with his climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth, will become an adviser to him on environmental issues, Treasury officials said.Stern said that, on current trends, average global temperatures will rise by 2-3 degrees centigrade within the next 50 years or so, compared with temperatures in 1750-1850.If emissions continue to grow, the earth could warm by several more degrees, with severe consequences. Poor countries would be hit most as melting glaciers initially increase flood risk and then reduce water supplies eventually threatening one-sixth of the world's population.U.S. President George W. Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol which obliges 35 rich nations to cut carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars in part because he said it hit jobs.
But the Stern report estimates stabilizing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cost about 1 percent of annual global output by 2050. Inaction, however, could cut global consumption per person by between five and 20 percent.Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century, the report says.
It precedes U.N. climate talks, starting in Nairobi on Nov. 6, focusing on finding a successor to Kyoto which ends in 2012.Britain is pushing for a post-Kyoto framework that would include the United States the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases that cause climate change as well as major developing countries such as China and India.Brown will also set out proposals to back the development of bio-fuels and signal the government's commitment to give statutory backing to reduction targets through a new bill.
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.
Thousands still without power in Ontario, Quebec
Updated Mon. Oct. 30 2006 8:24 AM ET,CTV.ca News Staff
Thousands of Canadians are still without power Monday in Quebec and Ontario, a day after violent windstorms blew across parts of the country, causing damage and knocking down power lines.
Sunday's storm system left as many as 200,000 homes and businesses without electricity in Central and Eastern Canada and parts of the U.S. as the region was blasted with winds gusting to more than 90 kilometres per hour. Hydro Quebec says more than 10,000 customers in Montreal, Quebec City, the Laurentians region north of Montreal and the Lac St.-Jean area were still without power on Monday morning.The storm left almost 49,000 people in the province without power Sunday.
In Ontario, Hydro One said Monday it has made significant progress in restoring power across the central part of the province. Spokesperson Laura Cooke told The Canadian Press that about 5,400 customers remain in the dark, meaning about 21,000 others now have their power back.Cooke says the vast majority of those still without hydro are in the Penetang (3,400) and Parry Sound (1,200) areas.It's estimated those areas will get their power back late this afternoon or early this evening. Scattered power outages were also reported in Toronto, where a west-end home under construction collapsed due to the wind. In New Brunswick, about 40 people in rural areas were still without power, according to the New Brunswick Power Corporation. At one point, the outages affected up to 3,000 N.B. Power customers in southeastern New Brunswick.Meanwhile, 40 forestry workers who were stranded when heavy snow hit northern B.C. and Alberta on Friday were finally rescued Sunday after surviving two nights in freezing temperatures.
West Fraser Timber company helicopters dropped 13 workers off in near Tumbler Ridge in B.C., about 190 kilometres northeast of Prince George, Friday morning.
Another 27 were dropped nearby on the Alberta side of the border. The workers were supposed to be picked up Friday night, but heavy snow prevented helicopters from returning for them until Sunday morning. The men are being treated for minor hyperthermia. The outages in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. followed on the heels of a storm system that hit Atlantic Canada, leaving 3,000 customers in southeastern New Brunswick without power Sunday. Isolated power outages were also reported around Halifax in Nova Scotia. The same wind and rain storm system that hit Atlantic Canada also left hundreds of thousands of people in the northeastern United States without power, as trees toppled and brought down power lines from Maine to New Jersey.
A quarter of a million people in the New York City area were in the dark Sunday, while 30,000 residences in Massachusetts went black.In western Canada, a snowfall warning was issued for East Kootenay in B.C. A weather system that brought snow to much of Alberta on Saturday is expected to move out of the province Sunday night, with five cm of snow expected for areas south of Canmore as the system pulls out. A snowfall warning is in place for Crowsnest Pass, Pincher Creek and Waterton Park in the province's southwest.A low pressure system now in northern Montana is expected to bring 10 cm of snow to south Saskatchewan by Monday.Southern Manitoba is expected to receive about 15 cm from the same weather system. With files from The Canadian
Press
Wind, snow leave nearly 41,000 homes without power
October 29,2006
(Albany, NY - AP) - Wind gusts and heavy snowfall in parts of upstate New York downed trees and left nearly 41,000 homes without power today. Officials at the National Weather Service say parts of central and northern New York got heavy snowfall today, with nine inches reported in Old Forge. Up to 18 inches of snow are expected at higher elevations. Between six and ten inches were expected for Oswego, Jefferson and Lewis counties by tonight. Downed trees and power lines are making driving conditions hazardous. Winds were expected to reach up to 70 miles per hour at higher elevations in the Adirondacks, Catskills, Berkshires and southern Green Mountains. A National Grid spokesman says 36,700 customers were without power around 4 p-m, mostly along the eastern shores of lakes Erie and Ontario and in the Tug Hill region. He said power was expected to be restored by midnight.
Another 4500 customers of Rochester Gas and Electric were without power.
Heavy rains kill at least 17 in Somali capital by Mustafa Haji Abdinur
Sun Oct 29, 10:27 AM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Torrential rains have killed at least 17 people in the Somali capital overnight, bringing the death toll to 27 as a result of floods across the shattered African nation in the past week, officials and witnesses said. They said the victims, mainly children and the elderly, died after their mud-walled houses collapsed under heavy rain that pummelled several Mogadishu districts late Saturday, leaving hundreds homeless and destroying property of unknown value.Medics said relatives recovered more bodies from the the drenched debris after the overnight downpour.
The death toll has now reached 17. Some people have been recovered from houses that collapsed last night,said Abdullahi Sheikh Ali, nurse in the capital's Arafat hospital on Sunday.A pharmacist who treated injured victims said that a woman and one child were killed in the city's northern Suuq-Bacad district while five children were found dead inside a collapsed house in a nearby neighbourhood.It was a tragedy, said pharmacist Omar Mohamed Ali. I treated four family members but the mother and a three-year-old child had died by the time I arrived at the scene.The rain was so heavy and their house was old and collapsed,he added.The bodies of five children were recoved from another house in Wardhigley district south of Mogadishu.Abdulahi Shirwa Nur, a relative of the dead children, told AFP the walls of the house had caved in.
A neighbour, Amino Abduweli Rage, said: It was about 8:30 pm (1730 GMT) when I was awoken by people shouting help. I rushed to the scene and found people digging a collapsed part of a house and they recovered bodies of five children.Three of the casualties were among the elderly living in a displaced people's camp in northern Mogadishu.In this camp, three people were drowned. All of them were elder people, said Sheikh Nur Hilowle, the chairman of the camp. Mogadishu is home to at least 250,000 people displaced by the conflict that has raged across the Horn of Africa nation for the past 15 years.Residents said that at least 61 houses were destroyed by the heavy seven-hour downpour.
In August, thousands of Mogadishu residents were forced to flee to higher ground by flooding which destroyed dozens of makeshift homes.Last week, heavy rains also killed at least 10 people in the country's southern Gedo region, which was recently hit by a scorching drought that put millions on people on the verge of starvation.
The latest deaths came amid heightened tension between increasingly powerful Somali Islamists and the fragile government over territorial control. Several bouts of fighting has forced thousands to flee into neighbouring Kenya from the southern region.Humanitarian workers fear that the health of the displaced civilians would be affected since host aid agencies, including the United Nations, have pulled out of the country owing to deteroriating security.Somalia, a nation of about 10 million, has lacked any disaster response mechanism since the country plunged into bloodletting after the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
15 die as typhoon lashes Philippines By PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago,Oct 30
MANILA, Philippines - A powerful typhoon swept across the northern Philippines on Monday, killing more than 15 people in a barrage of landslides, uprooted trees and flooding.
Cimaron, the second major typhoon to hit the north in as many months, had maximum winds of 109 miles per hour and gusts of up to 130 mph when it came ashore. The storm stalled over the Philippines and was expected to stay in the area until Tuesday afternoon.Five people were reported drowned or killed by falling trees and 15 were injured in the coastal town of Dinapigue in Isabela province. Mayor Renato Candido said 90 percent of the houses were damaged in the town of 5,000 residents.Police in Isabela, about 210 miles northeast of Manila, also reported a 29-year-old farmer drowned when his boat overturned amid strong currents.
Four people drowned in Neuva Vizcaya province, while landslides killed a 4-year-old girl in Bugias, a mountain town in Benguet province, and a 53-year-old man in nearby Kalinga province. The Kalinga landslide injured 11 people, including seven children.
A woman and her 6-year-old son drowned Sunday night in Aurora province when their hut atop a riverbank was swept away by strong currents at the height of the typhoon's fury, said village leader Tito Padua. One man in the province was killed by a falling tree.President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, on a visit to China, called for prayers Sunday as she ordered schools and government work suspended. Domestic flights to the north were canceled.Although Cimaron which means wild ox in the Philippine language did not appear to be drenching the mudslide-prone area as badly as feared, rising rivers made at least five bridges impassable. Officials said
water was released from at least one major dam to prevent overflowing.
The typhoon threatened commemorations for All Saints Day on Wednesday, a public holiday when millions travel to cemeteries to remember their dead, some leaving days in advance for outlying provinces. Officials warned people to cancel trips to threatened areas.Last month, Typhoon Xangsane left 230 people dead and missing as it ripped through Manila and neighboring provinces.
About 20 typhoons and tropical storms lash the country each year.Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano, Hrvoje Hranjski and Jim Gomez contributed to this report.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Abbas gives Hamas 2 weeks to join gov't (AP)
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he'll replace the Hamas-led government in two weeks if the militant group doesn't agree to govern with his party.The moderate Palestinian president has raised the idea before but promised not to force it on a reluctant Hamas. His new position signaled a willingness to take a stronger stance in an effort to ease Western sanctions designed to force the Islamic group to moderate its militantly anti-Israel ideology.Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Hamas was unaware of a two-week deadline cited by Abbas. I don't think it is wise of [him] to aggravate this crisis, Barhoum said.
5,000 Egyptian troops deployed near Gaza Strip border following Israeli threat Posted: 29-10-2006 , 07:11 GMT
Up to 5,000 Egyptian troops deployed near the Egypt-Gaza Strip border Saturday following reports of a possible Israeli smart bomb attack on suspected smuggling tunnels, security officials said. According to the AP, troops fanned out across the northern Sinai peninsula, patrolling roads in and out of border towns and setting up checkpoints, an Egyptian interior ministry official said in Cairo. Police were launching raids on suspected hideouts as well, he added. Last week, Israel said it had located 15 tunnels burrowed under the Egypt-Gaza Strip border.Tel Aviv-based newspaper Maariv reported Friday that Israel planned to use precision-guided weapons to destroy the tunnels. But the Egyptian interior ministry official denied the deployment of soldiers was in response to the report.This is considered a security precaution in Sinai, and it does not have anything to do with the latest media reports, he said.(www.albawaba.com)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR 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).
UPDATED: 09:12, October 29, 2006
Syria calls for more active EU role in Mideast peace process
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal on Saturday called on the European Union (EU) to play a more active and influential role in establishing peace in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported. During a meeting with a visiting media delegation from Spain, Bilal said the EU was able to play such a role through pressuring Israel to abide by international resolutions and the resume the peace process. He blamed the existing problems in the region on the Israeli occupation of the Arab lands and the invasion of Iraq.
As a former Syrian ambassador to Spain, Bilal also briefed the delegation his country's position on regional issues, especially on Lebanon and Iraq. He described the Syrian-Lebanese relations as fraternal and historical which could not be affected by any factors while praising the role of the Lebanese resistance in confronting continuous Israeli aggressions. As for Iraq, the minister indicated that Syria had tightened security measures and supervision of the joint borders with Iraq despite the absence of cooperation from the other side. For their parts, the delegation said they came to Syria to get acquainted with the political, economic and social life here and would convey these facts to their audience abroad. Source: Xinhua
Oct. 29, 2006, 2:17PM
Iran criticizes U.S.-led nuke exercise
By JIM KRANE Associated Press Writer ,Associated Press
DOHA, Qatar A naval training exercise led by the U.S. and aimed at blocking smuggling of nuclear weapons began Sunday in the Persian Gulf, the first of its kind since North Korea's atomic bomb test and the renewed U.S. drive for sanctions against Iran's nuclear program.Iran called the two-day maneuvers adventurist, but the Foreign Ministry said the Islamic Republic's response would be rational and wise.We are watching their movements very carefully, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in Tehran, adding that the exercises would not improve security in the gulf, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil transits.
The maneuvers were taking place under the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, which is designed to counter trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related materials, the U.S. Navy said.Two previous exercises have taken place in this region under the 75-nation initiative, among two dozen held around the world since such maneuvers began in 2003.
It is the first such drill since North Korea exploded a nuclear device Oct. 9. Observers believe the PSI program could be used to halt North Korean weapons traffic in accordance with U.N. sanctions.South Korea, which has balked at joining the initiative, sent an observer delegation to the gulf but declined to participate.
We have not (fully) participated in the PSI because there is a high possibility of armed clashes if the PSI is carried out in waters around the Korean peninsula,South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told parliament Friday.The exercise comes as the United States seeks support for U.N. sanctions against Iran. On Friday, Iran stepped up its uranium enrichment in defiance of a Security Council demand that for a suspension in such work until Tehran eases suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons.
Iran insists its program has peaceful aims, saying it is intended only to produce fuel for nuclear reactors that will be used to generate electricity. The Iranians contend Washington seeks to punish them for opposing U.S. policies.A U.S. Coast Guard cutter is the only American ship among the nine vessels in the Leading Edge exercise. The ships are being commanded at sea from an Italian frigate, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The exercise was set in the crowded international waters off Bahrain, an island kingdom and U.S. ally that lies across the Persian Gulf about 120 miles from Iranian territorial waters.Brown said the exercise was not openly aimed at any country and would not affect Iranian vessels or ships heading to Iran.Two U.S.-led multinational task forces already intercept and search suspicious ships in the gulf and nearby waters but focus on shipments headed to Iraq, not Iran.But a U.S. State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity, because of the sensitivity of the topic, said PSI members can halt and board Iran-bound ships if they are suspected of carrying banned shipments.Washington has sought deeper cooperation from its Arab allies in halting nuclear-related shipments to Iran, but many governments are loath to be seen publicly backing the Americans.
Sunday's training scenario focused on surveillance, with teams in 16 countries tracking a ship suspected of carrying outlawed weapons components, Brown said. A tanker from Britain's Royal Navy played the role of the suspicious vessel.On Monday, sailors on eight other ships are expected to stop, board and search the suspect ship, Brown said.Countries taking part are Italy, France, Australia, United States and Britain, with one ship each, and Bahrain with three vessels.Bahrain's participation marks the first time an Arab nation has joined an exercise under the three-year-old PSI.Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, three Arab countries on the gulf, offered a measure of support as observers. Saudi Arabia, the largest of the gulf countries, has not joined them.
AP writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Globalisation must embrace Greater Mideast,Reuters
The world's failure to bring countries from the Greater Middle East into the global trade system has helped fuel unrest in Arab nations, a former top US diplomat said.The WTO must address the single most destabilising gap in international trade, and that is the Middle East,Charlene Barshefsky, US Trade Representative from 1996 to 2001, told a forum in Beijing.This is the single greatest failure of the global system and is critical to put on the agenda in a real way.The 57 countries in what Barshefsky termed the Greater Middle East including places like former Soviet central Asia made up 10 per cent of the world population but accounted for just one per cent of global trade.Its unemployment rates are double the world average. This is precisely the economic structure, above all when laid into the region's political tension and isolation, that produces rage and violence,Ms Barshefsky said.
The isolation of the Middle East, its reliance on oil alone, the absence of manufacturing trade and investment, its basic failure to develop, is not only the global economy's single greatest failure, it is the greatest risk to world peace.
Though regional heavyweights like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are World Trade Organisation members, countries with large energy resources and populations such as
Iran, Iraq, Algeria and Uzbekistan are not.It is up to the region, first and foremost, to solve its own problems, but their problems are all of our problems, and it is up to the great powers the US, Europe, Japan and China to rectify the situation by bringing these countries in, she said.
Merkel says Germany will not solve EU constitution limbo
30.10.2006 - 09:29 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German chancellor Angela Merkel has said that her country's EU presidency in the first half of next year will not solve the problem of the shelved EU constitution, following discussions on the charter with Dutch leader Jan Peter Balkenende. Ms Merkel on a visit to The Hague on Friday (27 October) made some of her most downbeat statements so far on Berlin's chances of reviving the EU constitution.The German presidency will certainly not solve this problem, she said after talks with Mr Balkenende whose country rejected the charter in a popular referendum last year. German-Dutch ties over the issue are seen as problematic with Ms Merkel having frequently vowed to save as much of the existing text of the constitution as possible despite the Dutch no.
But after her meeting with Mr Balkenende, Ms Merkel highlighted the consensus between the two countries on the need for reform of the current EU treaty, while avoiding to call the EU constitution by name.I believe we find ourselves together here, because we agree that the Nice Treaty is not sufficient, that we need something that shows our further European commitment, she said. A quick-fix solution to the constitutional deadlock would be hard to find given the French and Dutch no votes, she explained. We had better not make too many prognoses given the situation in Europe at the moment, also considering the failed referenda in France and the Netherlands we better work a bit more intensively behind the scenes. But this problem will drag on for a while and will not be solved during the German presidency.
The comments suggest that Ms Merkel views the failed referenda in France and the Netherlands as a major political problem, despite officials in The Hague previously blaming her for not fully understanding the true impact of the two no votes.
When Ms Merkel took office in November last year, she vowed to push the adoption of the constitution as a whole, saying that the French and Dutch no votes should by no means lead to the idea of the constitution being given up.EU leaders in June tasked the German presidency, kicking off next January, to design a roadmap to overcome the constitutional stalemate which should lead to a consensus on a new EU treaty under the French presidency in the second half of 2008. Mr Balkenende, meanwhile, is in the midst of an election campaign with the latest polls suggesting he might win the 22 November elections.I believe we should draw lessons from the referendum, he said after the talks with Ms Merkel. Whatever the result of next month's elections will be there are several lessons one can draw. People want to be sure that we don't try and make a superstate out of Europe. People want to participate more in Europe. They want improved transparency, and they want to be good at areas which are of real importance, such as energy, security, environment and immigration.These are the points of departure in the discussion about the revision of the treaties, he said.
Hard-line party joins Israel’s government
Yisrael Beiteinu party opposes ceding land to Arabs
Updated: 1 hour, 54 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - The Cabinet voted overwhelmingly Monday to bring into the government a hawkish party that opposes ceding territory to the Palestinians and wants to redraw Israel’s borders to exclude many Israeli Arabs.The vote, which still needs parliamentary approval, gives Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s coalition a commanding majority in parliament. But the inclusion of the hard-line Yisrael Beiteinu party likely puts an end to Olmert’s election campaign promise to pull out of much of the West Bank.
Weakened badly by last summer’s war in Lebanon, Olmert agreed last week to bring in Yisrael Beiteinu to shore up his shaky coalition. The party’s blunt-talking leader, Avigdor Lieberman, will be deputy prime minister in charge of strategic threats, primarily how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The ministers voted 22-1 to accept Yisrael Beiteinu into the government.
In a final stamp of approval, the full parliament was expected to follow suit in a vote later in the day.With Yisrael Beiteinu’s 11 lawmakers on board, Olmert is expanding his parliamentary majority to 78 of 120 seats, bringing some much-needed stability to a coalition riven by infighting after the Lebanon war.Important that we act.However, Olmert appears to have little interest in reviving his West Bank withdrawal plan, which was put on hold after the Lebanon war, and does not appear close to reviving long-stalled peace efforts with the Palestinians.Olmert said Monday that Lieberman’s presence in the government would not result in any policy changes.
I think it is important that we act in the diplomatic arena, he told lawmakers in his Kadima party.This includes the Palestinian issue first and foremost.Israel has boycotted the Palestinian Authority since Hamas militants won legislative elections early this year and formed a Cabinet. Olmert has expressed willingness to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate rival of Hamas, but the two sides have been unable to agree on even a limited agenda.
Olmert also said the government will focus on keeping the peace with Lebanon after last summer’s monthlong war against Hezbollah guerrillas and blocking Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.Lieberman, 48, became a national figure a decade ago as a top aide to then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A powerful behind-the-scenes mover, he became widely feared for his strong-arm tactics.He has grown into a potent political force since then, thanks to the support of Israel’s large community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Lieberman, a former bar bouncer, immigrated to Israel from the Soviet republic of Moldova in 1978.
Absence of a political process
His comments about Arabs have made him a divisive figure.At the height of fighting against Palestinians in 2002, Lieberman, then a Cabinet minister, called for the bombing of Palestinian gas stations, banks and commercial centers.More recently, he called for trading Israeli Arab towns for West Bank settlements in effect stripping Israeli Arabs of citizenship and executing Israeli Arab lawmakers who met with leaders of the Palestinians’ Hamas rulers, who are sworn to Israel’s destruction.His comments have drawn accusations of racism.Israel’s No. 1 fascist has been upgraded to deputy prime minister and minister, said Ahmed Tibi, an Arab Israeli lawmaker. He said Lieberman’s appointment was a message to the entire Arab world that this government advocates rejectionism and the absence of a political process.Despite earlier misgivings about Lieberman, Olmert’s main coalition partner, the centrist Labor Party, decided Sunday to remain in the government, concluding it could serve as a counterweight to Lieberman more effectively inside the government than from the opposition.Labor Cabinet minister Ophir Pines-Paz was the lone dissenter in onday’s vote.Associated Press.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES
NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).
MATTHEW 24:37-51
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Defiant Iran Scents World Split On Nuclear Issue
by Staff Writers (Space War)
Tehran (AFP) Oct 29, 2006 Iran Sunday remained defiant over its nuclear programme despite the threat of sanctions, saying it was detecting splits between world powers on whether to punish Tehran for intensifying atomic work. With world powers locked in talks in New York over a draft resolution that would impose sanctions over Iran's failure to halt uranium enrichment, Tehran has defiantly expanded work on the process at a key nuclear plant.But Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini did not appear concerned that sanctions were imminent, saying there was a split between the stances of China and Russia on one hand and Europe and the US on the other.Splits between the parties are very visible, that is to say between the United States and the Europeans on one side and Russia and China on the other, foreign ministry spokesman told reporters.These two countries have completely different positions to the Europeans. Russia does not want sanctions and does not want to close the path of negotiations, and the Chinese have a similar position, he added.
The United Nations Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US as well as Germany have been discussing a draft resolution on sanctions put forward by European countries.But in a sign of the difficulty in reaching an agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they did not advance objectives agreed on by the six world powers.The Chinese stance has yet to become clear, although Beijing like Moscow is an economic ally of Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as diplomatic leverage.Hosseini meanwhile played down Iran's move to start enriching uranium from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant at Natanz in the centre of the country, a decision greeted with suspicion by the West.
The second cascade is part of the research activities of the country which are in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,he said.There is nothing new. It is the continuation of legal activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no deviation, Hosseini added.Iran vehemently rejects US allegations that its nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at providing energy for civilians.
Enriched uranium lies at the centre of the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, as it can be used both to make nuclear fuel and, in highly refined form, the core of a nuclear bomb.Iran would need thousands more such centrifuges to enrich uranium on an industrial scale and its current uranium enrichment work is on a research level only.Officials have said that uranium was successfully enriched from the second cascade of centrifuges to a level of 3-5 percent and has now been put into storage.
To make a nuclear bomb, the uranium needs to be enriched to around 90 percent, far above the level needed for nuclear fuel.
The text drafted by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington calls on UN member states to slap ballistic missile-related and nuclear sanctions on Iran.It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes and travel bans on scientists involved.
Iran lauds Russia, China for opening nuclear splits
Tehran (AFP) Oct 29 - Iran on Sunday applauded China and Russia for their stance on its nuclear programme, saying they had created a gaping split with Europe and the US over the imposition of UN sanctions against Tehran.
Splits between the parties are very visible, that is to say between the United States and the Europeans on one side and Russia and China on the other, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.These two countries have completely different positions to the Europeans. Russia does not want sanctions and does not want to close the path of negotiations, and the Chinese have a similar position, he added.The United Nations Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US as well as Germany have been discussing a draft resolution on sanctions put forward by European countries.
But in a sign of the difficulty in reaching an agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they did not advance objectives agreed on by the six world powers.The Chinese stance has yet to become clear, although Beijing like Moscow is an economic ally of Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as diplomatic leverage.
Hosseini meanwhile played down Iran's decision to start enriching uranium from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant at Natanz in the centre of the country, a move greeted with suspicion by the West.The second cascade is part of the research activities of the country which are in line with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said.There is nothing new. It is the continuation of legal activities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and there is no deviation, Hosseini added.Iran vehemently rejects US allegations that its nuclear programme is aimed at making nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at providing energy for civilians.
Major powers set for hard bargaining on Iran sanctions
Six major powers were set next week to resume what is expected to be tough and drawn-out bargaining on proposed sanctions against Iran which pressed ahead with uranium enrichment work in defiance of UN resolutions.Envoys from the UN Security Council's five veto-wielding members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US and Germany held a first private meeting Thursday on a draft resolution urging nuclear and missile-related sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear fuel work.US Ambassador John Bolton said the six would resume deliberations, probably Monday, for a chance to talk about specifics.The text drafted by Britain, France and Germany in consultations with Washington calls on UN member states to slap nuclear and ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran. It provides for a freeze of assets related to Iran's nuclear and missile programs and travel bans on scientists involved in those programs.
According to some diplomats, the US had pressed for a tougher draft resolution, including a call for an end to Moscow's help building Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station.But the draft put forward by the European trio specifically exempts Russian aid to Bushehr from the proposed sanctions.While one Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was optimistic that the major powers would eventually be able to find common ground, others said agreement on an acceptable text was likely to take weeks.China and Russia, which have significant economic interests in Iran, are reluctant to slap tough measures on Tehran.
In a sign that tough negotiations lie ahead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the proposed sanctions, arguing that they do not advance objectives agreed earlier by the six powers.In Tehran, Iran confirmed Saturday it had successfully enriched uranium from a new cascade at a nuclear plant, hailing the move as a step towards industrial-scale enrichment.Enrichment, carried out in lines of centrifuges called cascades, is used to make fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. In highly refined form, however, the product can also serve as the raw material for atomic weapons.
The Iranian announcement triggered strong reactions from the United States and France.US President George W. Bush said Friday that the world community needed to work harder to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and French President Jacques Chirac said the time may have come for sanctions.Bush said the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran was unacceptable while Chirac, on an official visit to China, said Friday that Iran should face sanctions if a solution cannot be found through dialogue.However Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said he was unfazed by reports that Iran has taken a new step in uranium enrichment, saying it was still a long way from building a military capability.I do not share these fears. Iran has started a second cascade of centrifuges under total control of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) for scientific purposes, he told journalists.
It is premature to speak of weapons-grade uranium,he said, underlining the need for Iran's nuclear work to take place under IAEA supervision.
Western countries suspect that Iran's enrichment program is designed to supply material for a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists its fuel processing is for peaceful purposes.Meanwhile the State department said Friday that Australia,Bahrain, Britain, France, Italy and the United States would Monday take part in naval maneuvers in the Gulf off Iran's west coast to simulate inspection of ships carrying illicit weapons-related materials.However, a US official insisted that the joint maneuvers were planned months ago and not timed with the new pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.Source: Agence France-Presse
Warming could bring 1930s havoc
POSTED: 1033 GMT (1833 HKT), October 30, 2006
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain wants tighter limits on greenhouse gases by Europe and other rich countries as a first step toward establishing a global carbon trading system to help reduce the cost of climate change.The main argument of a British report published on Monday is that the benefits of determined worldwide steps to tackle global warming will massively outweigh the costs.
But the report's author, former World Bank chief economist Nicholas Stern, concludes that ignoring climate change could lead to economic upheaval on the scale of the 1930s depression.British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the findings as a wake up call to every country in the world.
The report is clear: We are heading towards catastrophic tipping points in our climate unless we act, Blair wrote in an article for the Sun newspaper. Creating cleaner energy whilst using less has to be the key.Finance minister Gordon Brown will argue at the launch of the report that harnessing the power of markets is the best way to find new methods to curb the output of polluting gases, Treasury officials said.Sharing a platform with Blair and Stern, Brown will propose a new EU-wide target for emissions reductions of 30 percent by 2020 and 60 percent by 2050 and expansion of the carbon trading scheme to cover more than 50 percent of emissions.Stern's report sees climate change as a global challenge that demands a global solution. The truth is we must tackle climate change internationally or we will not tackle it at all, Brown will say.Brown wants the EU scheme which sets overall limits for carbon emissions but then allows businesses to trade their quotas to be linked with Australia, California, Japan, Norway and Switzerland with a view to setting a global price for carbon that fixes a clear cost for pollution.
Gore role
Brown will also announce on Monday that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore who created a stir this year with his climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth, will become an adviser to him on environmental issues, Treasury officials said.Stern said that, on current trends, average global temperatures will rise by 2-3 degrees centigrade within the next 50 years or so, compared with temperatures in 1750-1850.If emissions continue to grow, the earth could warm by several more degrees, with severe consequences. Poor countries would be hit most as melting glaciers initially increase flood risk and then reduce water supplies eventually threatening one-sixth of the world's population.U.S. President George W. Bush pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol which obliges 35 rich nations to cut carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars in part because he said it hit jobs.
But the Stern report estimates stabilizing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cost about 1 percent of annual global output by 2050. Inaction, however, could cut global consumption per person by between five and 20 percent.Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century, the report says.
It precedes U.N. climate talks, starting in Nairobi on Nov. 6, focusing on finding a successor to Kyoto which ends in 2012.Britain is pushing for a post-Kyoto framework that would include the United States the world's biggest producer of greenhouse gases that cause climate change as well as major developing countries such as China and India.Brown will also set out proposals to back the development of bio-fuels and signal the government's commitment to give statutory backing to reduction targets through a new bill.
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