1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Cold snap leaves 1 dead in Calgary. 3-Floods kill seven in Somalia, death toll climbs to 96. 4-Flood warnings issued. 5-Boat capsizes in Philippines, 14 dead, 65 rescued. 6-They've taken Christ out of our Christmas. 7-Thousands of Muslims urge Pope not to visit Turkey. 8-Ray Flynn former US Ambassador to the VATICAN talks with Jennifer from CTVNEWSNET about the POPES visit to TURKEY on Tuesday. 9-Turkey's Christians await pope's visit. 10-West must prepare for Chinese, Indian dominance: Wolfensohn. 11-Jordan's king sees possibility of three civil wars in Mideast. 12-Stormy end to November may spell disaster for the dollar. 13-Despite truce, Palestinian attacks go on.
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 = Mon Nov 27 12:10 AM EDT
NOV 27,2006
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 OREGON
MAP 3.0 OFFSHORE BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.8 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
NOV 26,2006
MAP 5.0 AREA OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.3 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 5.3 SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 4.5 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
MAP 4.2 NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF CHUKOTKA, RUSSIA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL 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.
Cold snap leaves 1 dead in Calgary
Updated Sun. Nov. 26 2006 3:39 PM ET,CTV.ca News Staff
The bitter cold that has swept across the prairies has claimed one life, despite a last-minute crunch to provide emergency shelter. Some of Calgary's homeless made their way to a temporary shelter at the Calgary Saddle Dome to escape the frigid temperatures. But the body of a man was found lying in a Calgary street Saturday. The cause of death has not been determined, but police believe the extreme cold could have been a factor. Shelters around the province have been adding extra beds, and the city says it will keep the Saddle Dome open as an emergency shelter as the cold spell continues. Sunday's temperature in Calgary was expected to be -21 and it's not going to get much warmer until Wednesday. The forecast for the city for the next few days is -20. The city's shelters are overflowing and with a planned shelter stalled by appeals from area residents, the city is short on beds. The city has turned the grandstand at Exhibition and Stampede Park into a temporary shelter.
In order to use the grandstand building, the city of Calgary had to determine that this was an emergency situation and required an immediate response, said city spokesman Chris Branch. Housing is a premium in Calgary, which has experienced an economic boom that has attracted workers from all over Canada. Gary Smith, one of hundreds of workers who have jobs in Calgary but have been unable to find housing, stayed at a drop-in centre Friday night, but it was full when he got off work at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Most of the people staying in shelters who don't have a home right now are workers who have come to Calgary to help work ... during the (construction) boom, Smith said. Calgary firefighters struggled to stay warm as they fought a blaze Saturday afternoon that resulted in the evacuation of three adjacent apartment buildings.
In Edmonton, where temperatures hovered at -15 degrees Celsius on Saturday afternoon and fell to -22 by the evening, homeless people were doing what they could to stay warm on the weekend. Most Edmonton shelters are open from Monday through Friday.
I go into malls, go onto transit, go anywhere that's warm, Gerry Lalonde, who doesn't have a home, told CTV Edmonton. The Mustard Seed Church ministry in Edmonton has put out an appeal for clothing, blankets and gloves to help keep people warm.
There's no other resource for some of them so it's important all the agencies work together and make sure people keep warm, said Mariam Leslie, the church's volunteer coordinator. Elsewhere on the Prairiees, overnight lows in the -20 range are expected in Regina, with Saskatoon a bit colder. Winnipeg should be slightly milder, with overnight lows in the -15 range. Meanwhile, Toronto was expected to stay above freezing overnight and experience a daytime high of +11 on Sunday. Temperatures in Atlantic Canada are also expected to be relatively mild on Sunday.
Vancouver's snow troubles
Winter arrived a little early in B.C., where a snow fall warning remains in effect. The snow storm, which is is expected to leave as many as 30 centimetres on the Lower Mainland by Monday, is expected to taper off Sunday night.An estimated 17 centimetres had already fallen in certain parts of the Lower Mainland by Sunday afternoon. Once it does, Environment Canada said the temperature is expected to drop below freezing. Any water or slush on the roads will turn into ice, leaving them slippery. Vancouver engineer Murray Wightman told CTV Newsnet that the city spent all day Saturday getting the snowplows and snow removal trucks ready to roll. We started our first shift last night at 7 and we had a shift change at 7 this morning and we're just going to keep going, said Wightman. Except for a short period around 4 a.m. Sunday, the snow has been falling steadily, he said.
Travellers were being warned to expect flight delays and cancellations at Vancouver International Airport on Sunday. Air Canada said passengers should check on the status of their flights on the Air Canada or Vancouver International Airport websites before heading to the airport.
Snowfall elsewhere in B.C. resulted in the provincial government issuing travel advisories, warning drivers to be aware of snowy conditions in areas west of both Glacier and Yoho national parks in eastern B.C. In the North Central Interior of B.C., temperatures are expected to be in the -25 range.There have been power outages reported in the communities of Mission, Hope, Coquitlam, Langley, Tsawwassen, Delta and most of Bowen Island. Poor weather conditions forced a 14-passenger plane to make an emergency landing at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in Vancouver on Saturday. No one was hurt.
With a pre-Christmas cold snap on the way in Vancouver, where temperatures are more often moderate, social service agencies in Vancouver were on a quest for more shelter beds. The Salvation Army on the city's Downtown Eastside, which has 237 beds, said it was gathering bedding in advance of an increased demand. We anticipate we're going to be full to overflowing, Capt. John Murray told The Canadian Press.Sleeping mats have been spread on the floor in a large multi-purpose room and a dining area, he said.Murray said the organization is grateful to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, which bought the Army and Navy department store's entire stock of blankets about 400 and donated them. With reports from CTV's Kevin Green in Calgary and Nashiha Naqvi in Edmonton, and files from The Canadian Press
Floods kill seven in Somalia, death toll climbs to 96 Sun Nov 26, 11:05 AM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) Floods have killed at least seven people, including five children, as the fourth week of heavy rains pounded Somalia, bringing the death toll to at least 96. Three people drowned in Middle Shabelle region when a wooden dhow capsized as they were fleeing to safety, officials said Sunday.We buried three people two of them children near Kunyabarow area this afternoon after they died from drowning, said Abdullahi Moalim Gesey, a local elder, told AFP.Health officials said a 72-year-old man and his one-year-old grandson were killed and swept for several kilometres when their hut collapsed under heavy flooding in Mukayka village in Middle Shabelle region.The were sleeping in their small cottage when heavy floods swept the area. The old man and his grandson were discovered about seven kilometres away from their home, added Hussein Nur Ahmed, a community health official.
And in Buulo-Barde district in Somalia's central Hiraan region, two children drowned after water swept through their house, according to officials from Somalia's powerful Islamic movement.
Two more children from the same family died, but problems associated to floods are still continuing and the toll is still rising, said Sheikh Hussein Barre Raghe, head of Buulo-Barde Islamic courts.Raghe said the affected civilians may die if humanitarian aid was delayed.Sunday's casualties brings the death toll to 96 since torrential rains started pounding the region in October, mainly flooding the main Shabelle and Juba rivers that have their source at the Ethiopian highlands.Around one million Somalis are estimated to be affected by the flooding, of which at least 336,000 have been forced from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Health officials have also sounded the alarm for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, which has already been confirmed in two areas.The rains have destroyed farmlands, disrupted food supplies, cut off villages and washed away roads, complicating the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable and impoverished in remote areas.The Horn of Africa country is also on the brink of all-out war between the Islamic movement and government troops, backed by Ethiopian forces.
Flood warnings issued (Norwaypost) NOV 25,2006
Flood warnings have been issued for South Eastern Norway this weekend. Heavy rainfall has caused local rivers and lakes to overflow their banks in many places.The floodwaters are expected to peak on Sunday, and people are warned to look out for flooding in basements. Roger Melby of the Oslo Fire and Rescue Squad says to Aftenposten that they are on high alert, and Frode Sandersen of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute says they are considering the danger for local landslides.The ground is saturated, and floodwaters from local rivers and brooks may undermine banks and cause slides. The situation is special, Sandersen says to the newspaper. (NRK/Aftenposten)
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.
Boat capsizes in Philippines, 14 dead, 65 rescued
26 Nov 2006 07:58:59 GMT
MANILA, Nov 26 (Reuters) Rescue teams were searching on Sunday for at least 15 people still missing after a ferry carrying 300 sacks of cement capsized off the southern Philippines killing 14 people and forcing dozens overboard.The Leonida II sank on Saturday afternoon when it ran into rough waters after leaving Surigao City en route to Siargao Island, a tear-drop shaped surfing haven about 800 kilometers (497 miles) southeast of Manila, disaster officials said.Passing boats plucked 65 survivors from the sea but there was confusion over how many more people had been on board. A passenger list showed only 48 names, including a local mayor, who was still unaccounted for, and a group of high school pupils.
The wooden-hulled vessel had capacity for 150 people.
We have no idea how many people were actually on the boat, said Blance Gobenchiong, a regional director of the office of civil defence, adding that many travellers jump on board after inspection by the coast guard.Ferries of all descriptions ply the waters between the Philippines 7,000-plus islands and safety standards are often lax. Overcrowding is a common problem.Our search and rescue operations were still ongoing but we need more volunteers to look for survivors and equipment to reach the wreckage at 300 metres under water, Surigao City mayor Alfonso Casurra said.One survivor told local radio that the boat's captain lost control when large waves snapped one of the vessel's wooden outriggers. People started jumping as water flooded the deck.
THE WORLD NATIONS ARE TRYING TO TAKE GOD OUT OF CHRISTMAS TO WALES. SAD BUT TRUE.
They've taken Christ out of our Christmas Nov 26 2006
Rachel Mainwaring, Wales on Sunday
CHRIST is being left out of Christmas across Wales with just one council featuring the nativity story in their official public celebrations.Figures from the Office of National Statistics show 72 per cent of Welsh people call ourselves Christian but our poll of Wales 22 local authorities reveals Wrexham is the only one to stage an event which tells the story of the birth of the baby Jesus. Its Camels and Carols parade on December 21 will see the Three Kings ride camels through the town, accompanied by shepherds and carol singers, to St Giles Church live crib, including people playing Mary and Joseph.A council spokesman explained: Social cohesion is high on our agenda. We wouldn't back down from anything Christian, or anything Muslim, Hindu or otherwise.We recognise the importance that all communities make to our area but also feel it important to share our cultural heritage and identity.
By comparison, Cardiff council's Christmas centrepiece is the Winter Wonderland ice rink, big wheel and hot tubs. Swansea has followed suit with its Waterfront Winterland, complete with ice skating and fairground rides. Caerphilly council's celebrations are inspired by the Caribbean with samba and carnival dance workshops.
All three have denied excluding Christianity.
Caerphilly's spokesman said: We haven't taken any measures to lessen the Christian side of events.Cardiff council said it had no active policy of avoiding any religious factors and Swansea council said we are making the Christmas period as inclusive as possible while maintaining strong religious elements to our organised events including carol singing at the Waterfront Winterland.
The results of our survey echo a national trend away from celebrations of Christian festivals. The Royal Mail has come under fire for issuing Christmas stamps free of religious images.This week Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York who recently criticised the systematic erosion of Christianity from public life, appealed for BA to reconsider its decision to refuse an appeal by check-in worker Nadia Eweida, who was told she could not openly wear a cross to work.
And a further example, critics say, of political correctness overriding religion was seen when Plymouth council ended free parking on Sundays so as not to offend non-Christians.Religious leaders in Wales are appalled the story of Christmas has been detached from festivities here.The Reverend Aled Edwards, who is chief executive of the Christian umbrella group Churches Together in Wales, said: What we would ask people to remember is that while they are playing piggyback on this holiday, they should remember its Christian heritage.I think it's disingenuous if a Christian event excludes its Christian origins.
It is important for people not to presume that making the Christian message clear will offend other religions. If you were recognising Ramadan you'd recognise it as a Muslim event, so people should not seek to hide the fact that it's a Christian celebration.Canon Robert Reardon, of the Catholic archdiocese in Wales, blamed society's shift away from religion, saying the lack of religious themes are simply a reflection of where we're at.Saleem Kiowai, secretary of the Muslim Council of Wales, added: Christmas is a religious festival and it does not need to be neutralised. If you believe in a faith then you should keep to that faith.Politician Nick Bourne, leader of the Welsh Assembly Conservatives, added his disbelief.I've heard about changes taking place and I think it's ridiculous. It's important people are aware of the Christian element, and I think Wrexham should be applauded, he said.Other council-run Christmas events in Wales include Santa and Shrek parades and farmers markets in Rhondda, Cynon Taf; a Jack Frost parade in Newport; fancy dress in Neath Port Talbot; and a craft fair, with carols, in Pembrokeshire.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
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.
Thousands of Muslims urge Pope not to visit Turkey By Daren Butler and Paul de Bendern NOV 26,06
ISTANBUL (Reuters) More than 20,000 Muslims in Istanbul on Sunday held the biggest protest so far against Pope Benedict's controversial visit to Turkey this week.The Pope, due to begin his first official visit to a Muslim country on Tuesday, angered many Muslims in September with a speech they took as an insult to their religion.Youths wearing headbands with Islamic slogans, beating drums and waving red-and-white Turkish flags chanted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) and Pope don't come at the peaceful rally.I cannot remain silent when the Prophet Mohammad is insulted. I love him more than myself, said Husamettin Aycan Alp, 25, a science student from Izmir in western Turkey.
He said Roman Catholic cardinals chose this Pope last year because he is against Islam and (they) are concerned Islam is spreading in Europe.
The four-day visit is billed as an opportunity to heal rifts with the Muslim world after the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor saying Islam was violent and irrational. He has said he does not share that view.It will be closely followed by the Islamic world and is the most challenging of Pope Benedict's papacy so far.Speaking in the Vatican on Sunday, he said he wanted the visit to show his friendship for Turkey and its people.Starting right now, I want to send a cordial greeting to the dear Turkish people, rich in history and culture. To these people and their representatives I express feelings of esteem and sincere friendship, he said in his noon address.A visit to Istanbul's famous Sultanahmet, or Blue Mosque was added to the Pope's itinerary at the last minute, a move seen as a further attempt at reconciliation with the Muslim world.His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made the first visit by a pontiff to a mosque during a trip to Damascus in 2001. Pope John Paul paid the last papal visit to Turkey in 1979.
PROTEST AGAINST CRUSADERS
The Islamist Felicity party that organised the protest under the banner against the crusader alliance a reference to the crusaders who crossed Anatolia 1,000 years ago on their way to Jerusalem had expected an attendance of at least 75,000.Muslims don't want the Pope in their lands. Look at the suffering which they spread in Palestine, Iraq and Chechnya. I link this to Christianity, said Ferdi Borekci, a 28-year-old architect.
Before becoming Pope, Benedict annoyed Turks by speaking out against Turkey's move to join the European Union, saying it did not belong there because of its religion and culture.Turkey's ruling AK Party government has kept a low profile in preparations for this visit, with talks still in progress as to whether Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim, will meet him before leaving for a NATO summit in Riga.With a general election due next year the AK Party, which has roots in political Islam, must balance a rise in nationalism as well as their support base among conservative Muslims.Turkey is officially a rigidly secular country, but predominantly Muslim.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who will be absent during the Pope's visit, played down the controversy. We will of course show hospitality and we hope that this visit will be a way of ending misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians, Gul told a news conference. His message will be very important. The main purpose of Benedict's visit is to meet the Istanbul-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, whom Turkish nationalists see as a tool of their ancient rival Greece.Turkey plans tight security measures for the Pope, whose trip will include the capital Ankara, Istanbul formerly Constantinople and the site where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived and died near Izmir on the Aegean coast. (Additional reporting by Philip Pullella in Vatican City)
Ray Flynn former US Ambassador to the VATICAN talks with Jennifer from CTVNEWSNET about the POPES visit to TURKEY on Tuesday. NOV 25,2006
Jen-lets talk about the signifigance of this visit.
Ray-Well Pope benedict 16s challenging, his up coming visit to Turkey is daunting. Hes going to face hate propaganda against the West, by Islamic Radicals in the name of Religion. And I believe its the greatest threat to peace and freedom, not only in that area of the World but throughout the World.
Jen-Why is he going?
Ray-Well, the world community has failed lets be direct. UN is impotant (useless), American foreign policy is arrogant, World diplomacy does not exist. Religious Extremism is on the rise, and the world Dollar has really collapsed. And the world is morally and Politically bankrupt. And I think the biggest mistake Jennifer was when Pope John Paul 2ND and the Catholic Church opposed the war in Iraq.They were ignored. And I think that was the biggest mistake, and I think that Pope Benedict 16th is going back into that region. I m not to optomistic about it to be honest with you. But I think he is probably the last Religion itself, moral voice,
remains, or probably is the last hope for future stability in the world.
Jen-Why are you not optomistic about this visit?
Ray-Well I mean, there is certain things that could resolve this issue Jennifer. You know,Diplomacy between the US, UN,UK, with Iran, Iraq and syria. How serious is that. A permanent Peace between Israel and the Palestinians, how long have we been hearing about that. A stable and free Lebanon, how long have we been hearing about that. A collition building with Arabs and Muslims in the West, how likely is that. So Jennifer, We really need a greater moral and Religious role in unity in the middle east between Muslims, Christians and Jews. We take the Politics and the Politicians out of the picture entierly No US, maybe UN Arab troops, maybe let Benedict 16th be that voice of reason in peace in mutual respect, for all religious faiths in the World.
WELL RAY IS CALLING FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO LEAD THE WAY AND THE POPE TO BE THE LEADER OF IT,EXACTLY WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE VATICAN WILL BE ACTIVE IN THE WORLD EVENTS AND POLITICS.
REVELATION 17:2
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Turkey's Christians await pope's visit By SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press Writer NOV 26,06
ANKARA, Turkey /Next door to a store selling artificial limbs in a run-down area of Turkey's capital, the Protestant church sits on the ground floor of a dreary apartment block, with barred windows and kitchen chairs for pews. The 100-strong congregation of the Kurtulus Church, which is linked to the U.S.-based International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, rents the space because authorities have not responded to its request for land and a permit to build a proper chapel.When Pope Benedict XVI visits Turkey for four days starting Tuesday, he will try to ease anger over his recent remarks linking Islam and violence. But he is also expected to press the 99 percent Muslim country to give its Christian community more rights. Some of those Christians are forced to worship in so-called apartment churches, and suffer prejudice, discrimination, even assault.The pope will discuss the rights of the religious minority with Turkish officials, said Monsignor Luigi Padovese, the pope's vicar in Anatolia. In a secular country, people must have the right to believe in whatever faith they choose to believe.
The pastor of Kurtulus Church, the Rev. Ihsan Ozbek, sees an opening for dialogue. We face serious problems. Turkish citizens who converted to Christianity, especially, face serious discrimination and violence, he said.The windows of his makeshift chapel have twice been smashed by suspected Turkish nationalists, reflecting a widely held conviction that conversion is treason and that Christian clergy are missionaries or spies for Western powers.Of Turkey's 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic, and 3,500 are Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Another 2,000 are Greek Orthodox and 23,000 are Jewish.
The shrunken Christian presence belies the church's deep roots in latter-day Turkey.
Constantinople modern-day Istanbul was the Christian Byzantine capital for more than 1,000 years until it fell to Muslim forces in 1453 and became the seat of the Muslim Ottoman Empire.St. John the Apostle is said to have brought the Virgin Mary to Ephesus, 400 miles southeast of Istanbul, where she is believed to have spent her final years, while St. Paul traveled through much of modern-day Turkey on his missionary journeys.Iznik is the former Nicea, where early Christian doctrine was formulated in 325 A.D.
All seven major churches of early Christianity, mentioned in The New Testament, are in present-day Turkey. The pope will make a pilgrimage to one of them at Ephesus, 400 miles south of Istanbul.Today, Istanbul remains the center of Orthodoxy and the seat of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the first among equals among the Orthodox leadership.
But membership is dwindling. The sole seminary training Orthodox monks was ordered closed in 1971, and no alternative site has been granted. Turkish law also makes it impossible to import non-Turkish seminarians, and requires that the patriarchs be Turkish citizens, severely reducing the pool of candidates to succeed 66-year-old Bartholomew.The Armenian Orthodox community's seminary is also closed, confronting it with the same challenge, while Greek and Armenian communities are struggling to recover property that the state confiscated in the 1970s.Turkey wants to join the European Union, which is pressing it for greater tolerance.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government has taken some steps toward change, amending laws to allow religious minorities to recover some property. The government has also indicated willingness to reopen the minority seminaries, but
has failed to find a formula that conforms with the country's secular laws.
Even though Turkey is secular and Turks are considered moderately religious, authorities often report students who attend Christian meetings to their families to prevent possible conversions, and proselytizers are detained and extradited.The distrust is so deep that non-Muslims are barred from the police force andmilitary.In February, a Turkish teenager shot dead a Catholic priest, Rev. Andrea Santoro, as he knelt in prayer in his church in the Black Sea port of Trabzon. The attack was believed linked to widespread anger in the Islamic world over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Two other Catholic priests were attacked this year.
West must prepare for Chinese, Indian dominance: Wolfensohn Sun Nov 26, 3:39 AM ET
SYDNEY (AFP) Western nations must prepare for a future dominated by China and India, whose rapid economic rise will soon fundamentally alter the balance of power, former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn has warned.
Wealthy countries were failing to understand the impact of the invevitable growth of the two Asian powerhouses, Wolfensohn said in the 2006 Wallace Wurth Memorial Lecture at the University of New South Wales at the weekend.It's a world that is going to be in the hands of these countries which we now call developing, said Australian-born Wolfensohn, who held the top job at the global development bank for a decade until last year.Rich nations needed to try to capitalise on the inevitable emergence of what would become the engine of the world's economic activity before it was too late, he said.Most people in the rich countries don't really look at what's happening in these large developing countries, said Wolfensohn, who is now chairman of Citigroup International Advisory Board and his own investment and advisory firm.
Within 25 years, the combined gross domestic products of China and India would exceed those of the Group of Seven wealthy nations, he said.This is not a trivial advance, this is a monumental advance.Wolfensohn said that somewhere between 2030 and 2040, China would become the largest economy in the world, leaving the United States behind.By 2050, China's current two trillion US dollar GDP was set to balloon to 48.6 trillion, while that of India, whose economy weighs in at under a trillion dollars, would hit 27 trillion, he said, citing projections by investment bank Goldman Sachs.
In comparison, the US's 13 trillion dollar income would expand to only 37 trillion 10 trillion behind China.You will have in the growth of these countries a 22 times growth between now and the year 2050 and the current rich countries will grow maybe 2.5 times.In light of these forecasts, it was clear that Western nations and Australia were not investing enough in educating the next generation to be able to take advantage of the coming realignment, he said.
The fact that not enough of our young people are preparing themselves with knowledge, experience, residence and language to deal certainly with China, although India has the benefit of an English language, it does seem to me that it presents a formidable challenge.Wolfensohn pointed to both China's and India's recent substantial investments in Africa as an example of how the two emerging giants were exercising their increasing clout on the global stage.Within the last two weeks the world has been put on notice that Africa is no longer the basket case that everybody had historically thought it was but is now front and centre in terms of development by India and China.The phenomenal rally by the two countries was a return to form rather than a novelty, he said, as they together had accounted for 50 percent of global GDP from the 1500s until the industrial revolution reduced that to between five and seven percent.
Jordan's king sees possibility of three civil wars in Mideast
The Associated PressPublished: November 26, 2006
WASHINGTON: Jordan's King Abdullah said Sunday the problems in the Middle East go beyond the war in Iraq and that much of the region soon could become engulfed in violence unless the central issues are addressed quickly.
We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands, he said, citing conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and the decades-long strife between the Palestinians and Israelis.Therefore, it is time that we really take a strong step forward as part of the international community and make sure we avert the Middle East from a tremendous crisis that I fear, and I see could possibly happen in 2007, he said.Speaking on ABC's This Week, Abdullah said he remained hopeful a summit he will host this week in Amman with President George W. Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, will somehow lower the sectarian violence that threatens to push Iraq into all-out civil war.
Today in Americas
Letter From Washington: Pelosi needs better advice Bush faces uncertain path in a changed Washington U.S.building ties with Assad opponents in Syria We hope there will be something dramatic.
The challenges, obviously, in front of both of them are immense, the king said.We have to make sure that all parties in Iraq understand the dangers of the ongoing escalation. I hope Prime Minister Maliki will have some ideas ... on how he can be inclusive in bringing all the different sects inside of Iraq together.
They need to do it now, he said, because, obviously, as we're seeing, things are beginning to spiral out of control.The king spoke of the urgent for a change in course in Iraq.There needs to be some very strong action taken on the ground there today, he said. I don't think we're in a position where we can come back and revisit the problem in early 2007. There needs to be a strategy. There needs to be a plan that brings all the parties together, and bring them today and not tomorrow.
Bush plans to fly to Jordan after attending a NATO summit in Latvia. Vice President Dick Cheney made a quick trip to Saudi Arabia for talks on Saturday as part of the administration's effort to bring peace to the region.The Iraqi prime minister is under pressure from Shiite politicians loyal to the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who have threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki meets with Bush. Sadr and his followers are a mainstay of his political support.This is all political posturing. It's all red herring. It's an anti-threat. This is a very stable government, responded Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie,in an interview Sunday on Late Edition on CNN. He said he had no doubt the prime minister would meet with Bush in Jordan.
Abdullah said it is natural that Americans, with troops fighting in Iraq, view that war as the major problem in the Middle East.But, for the majority of us living in this part of the world, it has always been the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab problem. I fear that if we do not use the next couple of months to really be able to push the process forward, I don't believe that there will be anything to talk about.Unless something is done soon to lower the tension, he said, the two-state solution of Israel and an independent Palestinian state existing side by side becomes less a possibility.If we don't solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem then how can we ever solve the Israeli-Arab problem? he said.Do we resign this whole region to another decade or two of violence?
The king said that he hoped in his discussions with Bush, the leaders can concentrate ourselves on the core issues, which we believe are the Palestinians and the Palestinian peace process, because that is a must today, as well as the tremendous concern we've had over the past several days, (with) what's happening in Lebanon.Lebanon's political crisis escalated last week with the assassination of an anti-Syrian politician, raising worries of more violence that could tear apart the country apart along its fragile sectarian lines.
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER (A COLLAPSE)
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
Stormy end to November may spell disaster for the dollar
By Edmund Conway and Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 2:05am GMT 27/11/2006
Markets worldwide are braced for a stormy week of trading, amid fears that the plunging dollar will cause stocks and shares to tumble.With the dollar expected to fall further, some are even forecasting that the pound could sail through the $2-mark in the days ahead.After the long Thanksgiving weekend, the US wakes up today to concerns that Europe and Asia may not be able to be engines of global growth if America slows next year.The Dow Jones has remained robust, recently hitting a high on hopes that the US housing slump would prove short-lived. However recent data has suggested that the plunge in new home sales could have serious knock-on effects for the wider economy. This has prompted fears that US corporate profits could disappoint next year.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve may soon start cutting interest rates, and hints from the Chinese central bank that it might diversify its currency reserves, have prompted funds to sell off dollars, causing the greenback to fall last week to an 18-month low against the euro and the pound.
Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer & Co, said: We may be entering a period of trouble for stocks and a sharp drop in the dollar may provide more excuses to sell.America fears falling house prices will drive shoppers away from the high street. Retail giant Wal-Mart said its like-for-like sales dropped 0.1pc in November. However, a survey yesterday showed sales on so-called Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, rose by a healthy 6pc.Many market watchers had been anticipating the dollar's slide for months, none more so than Paul Volcker, former Fed chairman. He said: It's incredible people have gone on so long holding dollars.
Despite truce, Palestinian attacks go on By AMY TEIBEL and IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer NOV 26,06
JERUSALEM /Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip as an unexpected truce took hold Sunday, but two major Palestinian militant groups, saying they had no intention of stopping their attacks, fired volleys of homemade rockets into Israel.
The rocket attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad tempered hopes for a lasting cease-fire, which was meant to end five months of deadly clashes. The rockets landed in open fields and caused no injuries.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security chiefs to send their forces to the Gaza border area to prevent further rocket attacks, according to Palestinian security officials.
The instructions are clear. Anyone violating the national agreement will be considered to be breaking the law, said Lt. Gen. Abdel Razek Mejaidie.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the army to show restraint in the face of the rockets.
Even though there are still violations of the cease-fire by the Palestinian side, I have instructed our defense officials not to respond, to show restraint, and to give this cease-fire a chance to take full effect, he said.A senior Israeli official said Israel would wait a few hours to see if the attacks were isolated breaches or a full-scale violation of the agreement before deciding whether to respond. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.The truce, if it holds, would be a coup for Abbas, who has been trying for months to end the violence in Gaza. He has also been working to end crippling international sanctions imposed on the Palestinian Authority when the militant Hamas group won January parliamentary elections and formed a Cabinet.Abbas, a moderate from the Fatah Party, was elected separately last year.
The two sides announced the truce late Saturday after Abbas telephoned Olmert with an agreement from Palestinian militant groups to halt rocket fire and other violence from Gaza.Olmert pledged to end the military offensive in Gaza, launched in June after Hamas militants in Gaza conducted a cross-border raid on a military outpost, killing two soldiers and capturing one other.The violence has claimed the lives of more than 300 Palestinians and five Israelis. Most of the Palestinians killed have been militants, but scores of civilians have been killed as well, including 19 members of an extended family killed earlier this month in a botched Israeli artillery attack.Ahead of the new agreement, which took effect at 6 a.m. Sunday, Israel pulled all its forces out of Gaza, the army said.
Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were parked just over the border in a military staging ground in southern Israel early Sunday.
But Israeli police reported at least four rockets fired at the Israeli town of Sderot and an Associated Press photographer in the border town heard at least two more strikes. Another AP photographer in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun heard several rockets fired throughout the morning.Let's hope that's just the problems of the beginning, said Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin. But if Israel is attacked, we will respond. If there are Palestinian factions that are not part of the cease-fire, it's hard to see how the cease-fire will hold.Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said he had contacted the leaders of all the Palestinian factions Sunday and they reassured him they were committed to the truce.There is a 100 percent effort to make this work, but there is no guarantee of 100 percent results, said Ghazi Hamad, a spokesman for the Hamas-led government.Hamas own militants claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel after the truce took hold, clouding prospects for the truce's longevity. The Hamas militants said they continued their attacks because some Israeli troops remained inside Gaza, an accusation Israel denied. (We) reiterate that our attacks against the enemy continue, the group said in a statement posted on its Web site.
Islamic Jihad also claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel and a spokesman, Abu Hamza, denied his group had signed on to the truce, contradicting statements from Islamic Jihad leaders. Israeli forces originally entered Gaza to try to recover the soldier captured in a June 25 cross-border raid, but they soon widened their objectives to target militants firing rockets into Israel. The violence cut short efforts by Olmert and Abbas to restart peace talks.
A truce could help create momentum for new talks. We welcome the announcement and see this as a positive step forward, White House spokesman Alex Conant said Saturday evening in Washington. We hope it leads to less violence for the Israeli and Palestinian people. Israel has no ties with the Hamas government, which rejects the Jewish state's right to exist, but it considers Abbas an acceptable negotiating partner. He and Olmert agreed months ago to meet, but Abbas has balked at setting a date without assurances the meeting would yield real dividends for him, such as a release of Palestinian prisoners Israel holds. Olmert has said no prisoners would be released to Hamas before the captured soldier is freed. Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Barzak reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
BLOCK SUPPORTS CANADA PM
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Scientists unlock secret of small Mount St. Helens earthquakes. 3-Gale warning as Britain is whipped by 75mph winds. 4-Heavy rains, flooding kill 8 in Panama. 5-Volcanic ash closes Sicily airport. 6- Iran, Syria helping Hizbullah rearm. 7-Hamas offers peace talks for 6 months. 8-Bloc Quebecois supports Canada PM.
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 = Sun Nov 26 12:30 AM EDT
NOV 26,2006
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
NOV 25,2006
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 ECUADOR
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 NEAR SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
Scientists unlock secret of small Mount St. Helens earthquakes,Nov 25, 2006 at 12:59 AM PST By Joe English and KATU Web Staff
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Scientists have discovered what has caused more than a million small earthquakes on Mount St. Helens over the past two years.Comparing it to a loose wine cork, they said a huge rock plug is moving up a fraction of an inch, sticking and moving again. It grinds away and falls apart at the top, forming the spine visible from the surface.The rock plug is about as long as a football field.Scientists said the physics, the mechanics of what is going on miles deep inside the mountain, are really pretty simple.If you turn a crank on a piece of machinery, and every time you turn it one revolution, it squeaks a little, these earthquakes are kind of similar, said Dick Iverson, a geoscientist.When the mountain erupted in 1980, it was plugged similarly but back then the cork was in pretty tight.What's happening now is more analogous to having a loose cork, and gas that's ... coming up through the magma and so forth is able to sneak out around the edges of this loose cork, Iverson said.That means the mountain that has been quietly rumbling for two years should keep doing just that.There's nothing in the behavior we observe or in the calculations that would suggest that we're in for any sort of big explosion any time soon, he said.
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.
Gale warning as Britain is whipped by 75mph winds
Lucy Bannerman (Thetimesonline) Nov 25,06
Much of Britain will be waking up to hurricane-force winds, forecasters predicted last night. Potentially damaging gales of up to 75mph were expected to blast the central, northern and eastern counties of England and Wales. Although the storms are unlikely to surpass those that struck Britain in October 1987 or January 1990, the Met Office warned people in the Midlands and East Anglia to prepare for the worst and show extra vigilance, forecasting heavy rain and an increased threat of flooding. We are in a particularly stormy period at the moment, said a spokesman, Wayne Elliott. We are seeing depression after depression steaming off the Atlantic, bringing heavy rains and windy spells. It is very unsettled. A very complex weather system is moving across the south-east quarter of the country, so the areas we are most concerned about are the Midlands and East Anglia.
He said that although the worst of the storm should pass by tonight the rest of the weekend would still be blustery. Last night there remained doubt over the exact path of the storm, but winds of between 65 and 75mph were expected. Gusts to this strength are infrequent across the South East and likely to lead to disruption to transport and power supplies, Mr Elliot said. Other forecasters said that the severe winds would likely hit Wales, the Irish Sea coast and parts of Scotland. Drivers were advised to be aware of strong winds when planning their journeys, and the Coastguard Agency has urged mariners not to go out to sea. There are extremely high winds forecast for the next few days, with the outlook suggesting gale force 8 to storm 10, perhaps even violent storm 11. Storm 11 is one force less than a hurricane, a spokesman said. The agency also advised against wave-watching from
piers and promenades.
Paul Simons, the Times weather expert, said that there was on average a severe storm every autumn, but this one would be dangerous because many trees were still in leaf. Winds at 75mph can bring down chimneys, but I think trees falling on roads and houses is the main concern, he said. When their leaves have fallen the wind just blows through the branches, but if they are in leaf it acts as sails, making it more likely the tree will fall down. That risk is made worse if the ground is wet and loose, as it is now, which makes it easier for the trees to uproot. He said that Britain was experiencing the effects of a complex meteorological pattern. We are going through a very turbulent time. What you have got is a very rigorous jet stream, which is dragging over storms that are very fast, powerful and with lots of momentum like a conveyer belt. It is a triple whammy. And, unfortunately for us, they are coming in our direction. In 1953, hundreds of people were killed when gales battered the east coast, and in 1976 22 people died as a result of bad weather. Southern England was devastated by a surprise storm in October 1987, and 39 people lost their lives. Many were injured by falling trees and masonry.
Heavy rains, flooding kill 8 in Panama Fri Nov 24, 11:41 PM ET
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Heavy rains and flooding in Panama have left at least eight people dead and damaged hundreds of homes, the government said Friday.
The rains, which began Monday and were predicted to last until Saturday, have caused rivers to overflow and bridges to collapse, cutting off several communities northwest of the capital of Panama City, authorities said.
The dead included two men killed in a landslide, two men who drowned, a couple killed when a tree fell on their house, and a pregnant woman who suffered a spike in her blood pressure but failed to receive medical attention because her community had been cut off, said National Civil Protection Director Roberto Velasquez.The eighth fatality occurred in the community of Capira, 50 miles west of the capital, Velasquez said. He did not release any details.A search was also under way for a park guard reported missing in the Colon province, the federal Environment Department said.On Friday, officials sent first aid, bottled water, dry goods and other domestic items by helicopter to the Cocle, Colon, and Panama provinces, Interior Minister Ileana Golcher said.More than 200 houses have been destroyed and nearly 700 others damaged, the Civil Protection Department said.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Volcanic ash closes Sicily airport Fri Nov 24, 9:22 PM ET
CATANIA, Sicily - Volcanic ash spewed from simmering Mount Etna on Friday, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport, officials said. The Fontanarossa airport, the main facility in eastern Sicily, would stay closed at least until early Saturday, when the state of the volcanic phenomenon and possible reopening of the airport will be examined, the airport said on its web site.
This is all part of Etna's normal activity, said Antonella Scalzo, a geologist with Italy's Civil Defense Department. The ash is a nuisance, it's not a precursor of a change in activity.The 10,974-foot-high volcano resumed eruptions in early September and has sent lava streaming as far down as 7,546 feet. Scalzo said that is a safe distance from people's homes, which don't go any higher up the volcano than 2,297 feet.Civil Protection Department spokesman Roberto Forina said the only damage from the ash had been the airport's closure.
Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano, springs to life every few months. In 1669, a huge eruption destroyed Catania, on Sicily's eastern coast. Etna's last major eruption was in 1992.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
TIME: Iran, Syria helping Hizbullah rearm
Ynet Published: 11.25.06, 09:41
Based on intelligence sources, American weekly reports group has replenished nearly half of its pre-war stockpiles of short-range missiles and small arms with help from Damascus, Tehran.
According to report, weapons transferred to secret Iranian base on outskirts of Damascus, shipped by truck across border into Lebanon As if there was no war: Despite United Nations Resolution 1701 , and the deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon , Iran and Syria continue to rearm the Hizbullah organization, the American TIME Magazine reported Friday.The report is based on Israeli and Saudi intelligence sources and on western diplomats in Beirut.
Israeli military officials told TIME that Hizbullah replenished nearly half of its pre-war stockpiles of short-range missiles and small arms.But western diplomats in Beirut said these calculations underestimate the weapons flow and that Hizbullah has now filled its war chest with over 20,000 short-range missiles a similar amount to what they had at the start of the conflict, during which the group is believed to have fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel . The Iranian pipeline through Syria was already working during the war, despite constant Israeli bombing raids on the roads into Lebanon from Syria, a Beirut source said. Officially, Syria and Iran deny that they're supplying weapons to Hizbullah. However, when asked about receiving a new shipment of arms from Syria and Iran, a spokesman for the Shiite group told TIME, without elaborating, We have more than enough weapons if Israel tries to attack us again.
Secret Iranian base in outskirts of Damascus
A Saudi source told TIME that over the past three months Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers have been operating out of a military base on the outskirts of Damascus. According to the source, the Iranian government has dispatched shipments of small arms and what appear to be missile components to this military base. From the secret base, weapons have been shipped by truck across the border into Lebanon. According to TIME, Western diplomats said that the Lebanese army has posted over 8,000 troops along the border, forcing smugglers to use mountain passes instead of the heavily-monitored crossing on the main Beirut-Damascus road.
Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi security advisor, said that his country was alarmed at Iran's speeding influence in Lebanon and that Saudi King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud is expected to discuss the issue with US Vice President Richard Cheney on Saturday in Riyadh.
There has been a serious increase in activity in the rearming of Hizbullah, said Obaid, noting that a huge stream of trucks has been crossing the border from Syria into Lebanon, ferrying thinly disguised shipments of arms.According to Obaid, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) are using the Iranian embassies in Damascus and Beirut as command and control centers. The allegation was also confirmed to TIME by Israeli military sources. Obaid said there appear to be direct communications links between the Iranians and Hizbullah, via Hizbullah officers working inside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, and Iranian officers in the field with Hizbullah fighters.
Hamas offers peace talks for 6 months By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer NOV 25,06
CAIRO, Egypt Hamas leader said Saturday his group was willing to give peace negotiations with Israel six months to reach an agreement for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, but threatened a new uprising if the talks fail. The comments by the group's Damascus-based supreme leader Khaled Mashaal were double-edged. It was the strongest confirmation by the Hamas political chief that the Islamic militant group would allow moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to try to negotiate with Israel.
But it was also the first time he has set a deadline with an explicit threat of a new uprising.We give six months to open real political horizons ... We agreed on the national accord to establish a Palestinian state, with the June 4, 1967 borders, he told a news conference in Cairo, referring to Israel's borders before it captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. They have to seize this opportunity.If an agreement is not reached within that time frame, Mashaal threatened a new confrontation with Israel.
Hamas will become stronger and the resistance will resume ... and will go on with a third uprising, he said.Israel had no immediate comment on Mashaal's proposal.The remarks suggested Hamas would be willing to call a cease-fire for six months to allow Abbas to negotiate with Israel and that the Islamic group would accept a two-state solution, though Mashaal stopped short of using that phrase or recognizing Israel.He spoke after three days of negotiations with Egyptian officials who are mediating in an attempt to break the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The talks were expected to continue.Mashaal suggested there was still no breakthrough on the two main issues: the formation of a Palestinian unity government and a possible prisoner swap for an Israel soldier held by Hamas since the summer. Hamas, which now leads the Palestinian government, is considering forming a coalition with the rival Fatah faction led by Abbas.
Abbas has been trying to work out a package deal with Hamas that would include a prisoner swap, a comprehensive cease-fire and the creation of a more moderate government of professionals to replace the one led by Hamas, which does not recognize the Jewish state.Mashaal said great strides had been made in negotiations over a new government. But he said more time was needed and stuck to Hamas rejection of a Cabinet made up of technocrats rather than politicians from the two parties.The issue is not a dispute over portfolios. It should be a Palestinian national unity government that represents Palestinian factions ... It should be political government, he said.He also blamed Israel for failure to reach a deal for the release of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid June 25, prompting an Israeli military assault on Gaza.We are not the reason behind postponing the decision; the postponing of a settlement is due to the other side, Mashaal said of a prisoner swap.
Abbas is hoping the comprehensive package will be the foundation for halting violence, launching new talks with Israel and lifting punishing Western and Israeli economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinians since Hamas formed its government in January.A top Abbas adviser, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, said Hamas has to accept a comprehensive deal, rather than trying to separately work out a government, a prisoner swap and an end to the economic embargo.Mashaal wanted to separate very connected things, Abdel Rahman said. We can't separate the issue of the government from the siege or (a prisoner swap). ... It's not our condition but we are not in an independent state to decide what we want.The United States and other Western countries are demanding that Hamas recognize Israel and renounce violence as part of any national unity government, but Hamas has rejected those demands.
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).
REVELATION 17:7,9-13
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,(VATICAN) and of the beast (THE EU) that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(VATICAN IS BUILT ON SEVEN HILLS,EVER HERE 7 HILLS OF ROME)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(Egypt,Assyria,Babylon,Medo-Persians,Greece) and one is,(Johns day Rome) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(Revid Rome,The EU, a brief 7 YR RULE)
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Saturday, 25 November 2006, 01:12 GMT
Bloc Quebecois supports Canada PM
Stephen Harper said his motion would not change the constitution The leader of Canada's separatist Bloc Quebecois has said his party will back a government motion that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada. Gilles Duceppe said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion was a victory for separatist aspirations in Quebec. Quebec, mostly Francophone, has held two referendums on separation, in 1980 and 1995, but rejected the idea. Mr Harper's Conservatives won Canada's general election in January to end 12 years of Liberal rule.
Quebec debate reopened
In a parliamentary debate on Friday, Mr Duceppe said the Bloc will join Canada's other opposition parties in supporting the motion that Mr Harper announced on Wednesday. We are delighted by the fact that Canada will become the first country to officially recognise the Quebec nation, Mr Duceppe said. The government motion says that the House of Commons should recognise that Quebecers constitute a nation within a united Canada. The Bloc Quebecois is the third-largest party in the national parliament after the Conservatives and Liberals. The debate over Quebec's status was reopened earlier in the week when the Bloc announced it would table a motion in parliament calling for recognition of Quebecers as a nation. Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Quebecois is Canada's third-largest party
There was no mention of Canada. Mr Harper then introduced his motion on Wednesday. The real question is simple, he said in the House of Commons. Do Quebecois make up a nation of their own in a united Canada? The answer is yes.
Do Quebecois make up a nation independent from Canada? The answer is no and will always be no. On Thursday the Bloc tabled its motion but with an amendment to say that Quebecers should be recognised as a nation that is currently within Canada. On Friday, Mr Harper welcomed the Bloc's decision to back the government. This is the third position the Bloc has taken on this in three days, Mr Harper said. They moved a motion, they made an amendment to a motion and now they're supporting our motion. He said the motion would not amend the constitution. This is merely a declaration of recognition and an act of reconciliation. Constitutional experts say the motion carries no legal weight and would be unlikely to give Quebec separatists a lever to extract more political powers from Ottawa. The motion is expected to pass easily in parliament next week now that it has the backing of all the major parties.
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 = Sun Nov 26 12:30 AM EDT
NOV 26,2006
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
NOV 25,2006
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.5 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 ECUADOR
MAP 3.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 NEAR SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G.
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
Scientists unlock secret of small Mount St. Helens earthquakes,Nov 25, 2006 at 12:59 AM PST By Joe English and KATU Web Staff
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Scientists have discovered what has caused more than a million small earthquakes on Mount St. Helens over the past two years.Comparing it to a loose wine cork, they said a huge rock plug is moving up a fraction of an inch, sticking and moving again. It grinds away and falls apart at the top, forming the spine visible from the surface.The rock plug is about as long as a football field.Scientists said the physics, the mechanics of what is going on miles deep inside the mountain, are really pretty simple.If you turn a crank on a piece of machinery, and every time you turn it one revolution, it squeaks a little, these earthquakes are kind of similar, said Dick Iverson, a geoscientist.When the mountain erupted in 1980, it was plugged similarly but back then the cork was in pretty tight.What's happening now is more analogous to having a loose cork, and gas that's ... coming up through the magma and so forth is able to sneak out around the edges of this loose cork, Iverson said.That means the mountain that has been quietly rumbling for two years should keep doing just that.There's nothing in the behavior we observe or in the calculations that would suggest that we're in for any sort of big explosion any time soon, he said.
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.
Gale warning as Britain is whipped by 75mph winds
Lucy Bannerman (Thetimesonline) Nov 25,06
Much of Britain will be waking up to hurricane-force winds, forecasters predicted last night. Potentially damaging gales of up to 75mph were expected to blast the central, northern and eastern counties of England and Wales. Although the storms are unlikely to surpass those that struck Britain in October 1987 or January 1990, the Met Office warned people in the Midlands and East Anglia to prepare for the worst and show extra vigilance, forecasting heavy rain and an increased threat of flooding. We are in a particularly stormy period at the moment, said a spokesman, Wayne Elliott. We are seeing depression after depression steaming off the Atlantic, bringing heavy rains and windy spells. It is very unsettled. A very complex weather system is moving across the south-east quarter of the country, so the areas we are most concerned about are the Midlands and East Anglia.
He said that although the worst of the storm should pass by tonight the rest of the weekend would still be blustery. Last night there remained doubt over the exact path of the storm, but winds of between 65 and 75mph were expected. Gusts to this strength are infrequent across the South East and likely to lead to disruption to transport and power supplies, Mr Elliot said. Other forecasters said that the severe winds would likely hit Wales, the Irish Sea coast and parts of Scotland. Drivers were advised to be aware of strong winds when planning their journeys, and the Coastguard Agency has urged mariners not to go out to sea. There are extremely high winds forecast for the next few days, with the outlook suggesting gale force 8 to storm 10, perhaps even violent storm 11. Storm 11 is one force less than a hurricane, a spokesman said. The agency also advised against wave-watching from
piers and promenades.
Paul Simons, the Times weather expert, said that there was on average a severe storm every autumn, but this one would be dangerous because many trees were still in leaf. Winds at 75mph can bring down chimneys, but I think trees falling on roads and houses is the main concern, he said. When their leaves have fallen the wind just blows through the branches, but if they are in leaf it acts as sails, making it more likely the tree will fall down. That risk is made worse if the ground is wet and loose, as it is now, which makes it easier for the trees to uproot. He said that Britain was experiencing the effects of a complex meteorological pattern. We are going through a very turbulent time. What you have got is a very rigorous jet stream, which is dragging over storms that are very fast, powerful and with lots of momentum like a conveyer belt. It is a triple whammy. And, unfortunately for us, they are coming in our direction. In 1953, hundreds of people were killed when gales battered the east coast, and in 1976 22 people died as a result of bad weather. Southern England was devastated by a surprise storm in October 1987, and 39 people lost their lives. Many were injured by falling trees and masonry.
Heavy rains, flooding kill 8 in Panama Fri Nov 24, 11:41 PM ET
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Heavy rains and flooding in Panama have left at least eight people dead and damaged hundreds of homes, the government said Friday.
The rains, which began Monday and were predicted to last until Saturday, have caused rivers to overflow and bridges to collapse, cutting off several communities northwest of the capital of Panama City, authorities said.
The dead included two men killed in a landslide, two men who drowned, a couple killed when a tree fell on their house, and a pregnant woman who suffered a spike in her blood pressure but failed to receive medical attention because her community had been cut off, said National Civil Protection Director Roberto Velasquez.The eighth fatality occurred in the community of Capira, 50 miles west of the capital, Velasquez said. He did not release any details.A search was also under way for a park guard reported missing in the Colon province, the federal Environment Department said.On Friday, officials sent first aid, bottled water, dry goods and other domestic items by helicopter to the Cocle, Colon, and Panama provinces, Interior Minister Ileana Golcher said.More than 200 houses have been destroyed and nearly 700 others damaged, the Civil Protection Department said.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Volcanic ash closes Sicily airport Fri Nov 24, 9:22 PM ET
CATANIA, Sicily - Volcanic ash spewed from simmering Mount Etna on Friday, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport, officials said. The Fontanarossa airport, the main facility in eastern Sicily, would stay closed at least until early Saturday, when the state of the volcanic phenomenon and possible reopening of the airport will be examined, the airport said on its web site.
This is all part of Etna's normal activity, said Antonella Scalzo, a geologist with Italy's Civil Defense Department. The ash is a nuisance, it's not a precursor of a change in activity.The 10,974-foot-high volcano resumed eruptions in early September and has sent lava streaming as far down as 7,546 feet. Scalzo said that is a safe distance from people's homes, which don't go any higher up the volcano than 2,297 feet.Civil Protection Department spokesman Roberto Forina said the only damage from the ash had been the airport's closure.
Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano, springs to life every few months. In 1669, a huge eruption destroyed Catania, on Sicily's eastern coast. Etna's last major eruption was in 1992.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
TIME: Iran, Syria helping Hizbullah rearm
Ynet Published: 11.25.06, 09:41
Based on intelligence sources, American weekly reports group has replenished nearly half of its pre-war stockpiles of short-range missiles and small arms with help from Damascus, Tehran.
According to report, weapons transferred to secret Iranian base on outskirts of Damascus, shipped by truck across border into Lebanon As if there was no war: Despite United Nations Resolution 1701 , and the deployment of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon , Iran and Syria continue to rearm the Hizbullah organization, the American TIME Magazine reported Friday.The report is based on Israeli and Saudi intelligence sources and on western diplomats in Beirut.
Israeli military officials told TIME that Hizbullah replenished nearly half of its pre-war stockpiles of short-range missiles and small arms.But western diplomats in Beirut said these calculations underestimate the weapons flow and that Hizbullah has now filled its war chest with over 20,000 short-range missiles a similar amount to what they had at the start of the conflict, during which the group is believed to have fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel . The Iranian pipeline through Syria was already working during the war, despite constant Israeli bombing raids on the roads into Lebanon from Syria, a Beirut source said. Officially, Syria and Iran deny that they're supplying weapons to Hizbullah. However, when asked about receiving a new shipment of arms from Syria and Iran, a spokesman for the Shiite group told TIME, without elaborating, We have more than enough weapons if Israel tries to attack us again.
Secret Iranian base in outskirts of Damascus
A Saudi source told TIME that over the past three months Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers have been operating out of a military base on the outskirts of Damascus. According to the source, the Iranian government has dispatched shipments of small arms and what appear to be missile components to this military base. From the secret base, weapons have been shipped by truck across the border into Lebanon. According to TIME, Western diplomats said that the Lebanese army has posted over 8,000 troops along the border, forcing smugglers to use mountain passes instead of the heavily-monitored crossing on the main Beirut-Damascus road.
Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi security advisor, said that his country was alarmed at Iran's speeding influence in Lebanon and that Saudi King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud is expected to discuss the issue with US Vice President Richard Cheney on Saturday in Riyadh.
There has been a serious increase in activity in the rearming of Hizbullah, said Obaid, noting that a huge stream of trucks has been crossing the border from Syria into Lebanon, ferrying thinly disguised shipments of arms.According to Obaid, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) are using the Iranian embassies in Damascus and Beirut as command and control centers. The allegation was also confirmed to TIME by Israeli military sources. Obaid said there appear to be direct communications links between the Iranians and Hizbullah, via Hizbullah officers working inside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, and Iranian officers in the field with Hizbullah fighters.
Hamas offers peace talks for 6 months By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer NOV 25,06
CAIRO, Egypt Hamas leader said Saturday his group was willing to give peace negotiations with Israel six months to reach an agreement for a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank, but threatened a new uprising if the talks fail. The comments by the group's Damascus-based supreme leader Khaled Mashaal were double-edged. It was the strongest confirmation by the Hamas political chief that the Islamic militant group would allow moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to try to negotiate with Israel.
But it was also the first time he has set a deadline with an explicit threat of a new uprising.We give six months to open real political horizons ... We agreed on the national accord to establish a Palestinian state, with the June 4, 1967 borders, he told a news conference in Cairo, referring to Israel's borders before it captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. They have to seize this opportunity.If an agreement is not reached within that time frame, Mashaal threatened a new confrontation with Israel.
Hamas will become stronger and the resistance will resume ... and will go on with a third uprising, he said.Israel had no immediate comment on Mashaal's proposal.The remarks suggested Hamas would be willing to call a cease-fire for six months to allow Abbas to negotiate with Israel and that the Islamic group would accept a two-state solution, though Mashaal stopped short of using that phrase or recognizing Israel.He spoke after three days of negotiations with Egyptian officials who are mediating in an attempt to break the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The talks were expected to continue.Mashaal suggested there was still no breakthrough on the two main issues: the formation of a Palestinian unity government and a possible prisoner swap for an Israel soldier held by Hamas since the summer. Hamas, which now leads the Palestinian government, is considering forming a coalition with the rival Fatah faction led by Abbas.
Abbas has been trying to work out a package deal with Hamas that would include a prisoner swap, a comprehensive cease-fire and the creation of a more moderate government of professionals to replace the one led by Hamas, which does not recognize the Jewish state.Mashaal said great strides had been made in negotiations over a new government. But he said more time was needed and stuck to Hamas rejection of a Cabinet made up of technocrats rather than politicians from the two parties.The issue is not a dispute over portfolios. It should be a Palestinian national unity government that represents Palestinian factions ... It should be political government, he said.He also blamed Israel for failure to reach a deal for the release of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid June 25, prompting an Israeli military assault on Gaza.We are not the reason behind postponing the decision; the postponing of a settlement is due to the other side, Mashaal said of a prisoner swap.
Abbas is hoping the comprehensive package will be the foundation for halting violence, launching new talks with Israel and lifting punishing Western and Israeli economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinians since Hamas formed its government in January.A top Abbas adviser, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, said Hamas has to accept a comprehensive deal, rather than trying to separately work out a government, a prisoner swap and an end to the economic embargo.Mashaal wanted to separate very connected things, Abdel Rahman said. We can't separate the issue of the government from the siege or (a prisoner swap). ... It's not our condition but we are not in an independent state to decide what we want.The United States and other Western countries are demanding that Hamas recognize Israel and renounce violence as part of any national unity government, but Hamas has rejected those demands.
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).
REVELATION 17:7,9-13
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,(VATICAN) and of the beast (THE EU) that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(VATICAN IS BUILT ON SEVEN HILLS,EVER HERE 7 HILLS OF ROME)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(Egypt,Assyria,Babylon,Medo-Persians,Greece) and one is,(Johns day Rome) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(Revid Rome,The EU, a brief 7 YR RULE)
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Saturday, 25 November 2006, 01:12 GMT
Bloc Quebecois supports Canada PM
Stephen Harper said his motion would not change the constitution The leader of Canada's separatist Bloc Quebecois has said his party will back a government motion that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada. Gilles Duceppe said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motion was a victory for separatist aspirations in Quebec. Quebec, mostly Francophone, has held two referendums on separation, in 1980 and 1995, but rejected the idea. Mr Harper's Conservatives won Canada's general election in January to end 12 years of Liberal rule.
Quebec debate reopened
In a parliamentary debate on Friday, Mr Duceppe said the Bloc will join Canada's other opposition parties in supporting the motion that Mr Harper announced on Wednesday. We are delighted by the fact that Canada will become the first country to officially recognise the Quebec nation, Mr Duceppe said. The government motion says that the House of Commons should recognise that Quebecers constitute a nation within a united Canada. The Bloc Quebecois is the third-largest party in the national parliament after the Conservatives and Liberals. The debate over Quebec's status was reopened earlier in the week when the Bloc announced it would table a motion in parliament calling for recognition of Quebecers as a nation. Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Quebecois is Canada's third-largest party
There was no mention of Canada. Mr Harper then introduced his motion on Wednesday. The real question is simple, he said in the House of Commons. Do Quebecois make up a nation of their own in a united Canada? The answer is yes.
Do Quebecois make up a nation independent from Canada? The answer is no and will always be no. On Thursday the Bloc tabled its motion but with an amendment to say that Quebecers should be recognised as a nation that is currently within Canada. On Friday, Mr Harper welcomed the Bloc's decision to back the government. This is the third position the Bloc has taken on this in three days, Mr Harper said. They moved a motion, they made an amendment to a motion and now they're supporting our motion. He said the motion would not amend the constitution. This is merely a declaration of recognition and an act of reconciliation. Constitutional experts say the motion carries no legal weight and would be unlikely to give Quebec separatists a lever to extract more political powers from Ottawa. The motion is expected to pass easily in parliament next week now that it has the backing of all the major parties.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
22 GROWOPS 6.6 MILLION
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Two weak quakes shake Greek Peloponnese region, no damage reported. 3-Hurricanes to batter Britain. 4-Floods kill nine in Somalia, death toll climbs to 89. 5-Russia said to deliver arms to Iran. 6-A secret agreement between India and China to slowly build a counter NATO of Asia. 7-U.S. global NATO plan to get summit thumbs-down. 8-Polonium-210 difficult to detect. 9-Region-building should replace nation-building. 10-New savage twist to violence in Baghdad. 11-Palestinians and Israel Say They Are Open to Truce. 12-Prodi, Chirac endorse EU initiative to halt Mideast violence. 13-22 grow-ops in one highrise.
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 = Sat Nov 25 09:00 AM EDT
NOV 25,2006
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
NOV 24,2006
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 TONGA REGION
MAP 4.8 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA
MAP 5.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 4.5 SICILY, ITALY
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.3 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
Two weak quakes shake Greek Peloponnese region, no damage reported Fri Nov 24, 7:58 AM ET
ATHENS (AFP) - Two tremors measuring 4.1 and 4.2 points on the open-ended Richter scale have shaken the Greek Corinthian Gulf, north of the southern Peloponnese region.The tremors were recorded at 4:58 am (0258 GMT) and 11:03 am (0903 GMT) with
an underwater epicentre around 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Athens, the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute said Friday.
There were no immediate reports of damage in surrounding towns.An institute seismologist declined to say whether the tremors were part of wider activity in what is one of Greece's most active seismic areas, simply saying that colleagues were monitoring the situation.Greece is more affected by seismic activity than any other European country and bears the brunt of half of all earthquakes on the continent.
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.
Hurricanes to batter Britain (THESUN)
By JOHN COLES,November 25, 2006
BRITAIN is bracing itself for a battering today with hurricane-force winds of up to 75mph forecast.Weather experts predict disruption to transport and power supplies, widespread damage to property and flooding.A vigorous autumn storm will hit most of the country from early morning, with the West Country, the South and Eastern England most at risk.The exact path of the storm is uncertain but forecasters warn that Wales, the Midlands and the North will also to be affected.The severe gales will be accompanied by heavy rain.Last night the Environment Agency had flood watches on 11 locations across the South and Midlands.
Forecaster Julian Mayes of MeteoGroup UK predicted that it was likely to be windier than at any time last winter.He added: It’s going to be extremely unsettled and windy, particularly throughout Saturday. All areas are going to be windy. The areas that are most likely to have damaging gales will be dependent on the exact track taken by the depression.The Met Office said gusts of between 65-75mph were expected.Winds above 73mph are classed as hurricane-force on the Beaufort Scale of wind speed.
A Met Office spokesman said: Gusts to this strength are infrequent across the south-east and likely to lead to disruption to transport and power supplies.This will be a vigorous autumn storm which will bring severe gales to many parts of Britain and the public should take extra care.Although the very strong winds are expected to be the main concern, the storm will also bring heavy rain and an increased threat of flooding.The key message to people is to keep up-to-date with the forecast and to make sure they plan ahead for any weekend activities.j.coles@the-sun.co.uk
Floods kill nine in Somalia, death toll climbs to 89 by Mustafa Haji Abdinur Fri Nov 24, 8:38 AM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Raging flood waters killed at least nine people, including five sleeping children, overnight as a third week of heavy rains pounded southern Somalia, bringing the death toll to at least 89.And with no end in sight to unusually heavy seasonal rains that have brought misery to a country already on the brink of war, UN officials said conflict could badly hurt emergency relief efforts for nearly a million Somalis.The children were killed when their homes in villages near the provincial town of Jowhar, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, were washed away by waters from rivers that burst their banks, local officials said.Five children died after heavy floods swept their homes away while they were sleeping, said Ibrahim Nur Osman, the security commander for Somalia's powerful Islamist movement in Middle Shabelle region where Jowhar is situated.Meanwhile, rescuers recovered the bodies of four people buried in the mud around Mustaqbal village in Lower Shabelle region, where tens of thousands are facing acute food shortages.
Four bodies, one of them an elderly woman, have been discovered dead around Mustaqbal in the mud, said Garad Abukar Mohamed, the secretary for the local Islamic administration.
The water level is rising all the time and thousands of people are trapped in flood-hit areas that nobody can reach, he told AFP, adding that the death toll would likely rise as food stocks had been destroyed.Scores of survivors were clinging to trees, grieving for the loss of their loved ones and property as well as trying to avoid being eaten by crocodiles unleashed by the flooding of the Shabelle and Jubba rivers, residents said.At least 13 of the flood fatalities are known to have been devoured by the crocodiles, which have been on a feeding frenzy in Beledweyne, further north of Jowhar, according to locals.Casualties are increasing day-by-day, Osman told AFP. People are getting killed, others injured, while others are being evacuated. Everybody is grieving from treetops where they have escaped.
The village of Bulo-Warey, where the children died overnight Thursday, was completely inundated, with the surviving residents fleeing as best they could, an official said.I tell you that none of the affected people is in the village because the whole place is covered by water, said Osman Adan Ibrahim, a local Islamist representative.The floods have compounded difficulties for Somalis already on edge fearing an outbreak of all-out war between the Islamists and the country's weak Ethiopian-backed government that many believe could spark a regional conflict.Despite assurances from the rival sides that airlifts of relief supplies necessary because most land routes have been cut will be safe in the event of war, UN officials said they feared fighting would derail aid operations.That is a
disaster and we want to avoid it, Eric Laroche, head of the Kenya-based UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Somalia, told reporters in Nairobi.OCHA appealed for 15 million dollars (11.5 million dollars) for its urgent Somali operations, but warned that amount might increase in the coming days as torrential rains continue to pound Somalia.Nearly one million Somalis are estimated to be affected by the flooding, of which at least 336,000 have been forced from their homes, according to the United Nations.Health officials have also sounded the alarm for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, which has already been confirmed in two areas. The rains have destroyed farmlands, disrupted food supplies, cut off villages and washed away roads, complicating the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable and impoverished in remote areas.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) 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.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
Russia said to deliver arms to Iran By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 24, 8:42 AM ET
MOSCOW - Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of Western criticism.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue, declined to specify when the deliveries had been made and how many systems had been delivered.Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December, according to Russian media reports.The United States called on all countries last spring to stop all arms exports to Iran, as well as ending all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities.Israel, too, has severely criticized arms deals with Iran.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop weapons.The U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member, is currently stalemated on the severity of sanctions on Iran for defying its demand to cease enrichment.The Tor-M1 deal, involving conventional weapons, does not violate any international agreements.
Russian officials say the missiles are purely defensive weapons with a limited range.According to the Interfax news agency, the Tor-M1 system can identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet.Russian media have reported previously that Moscow had conducted talks on selling even more powerful long-range S-300 air defense missiles, but Russian officials have denied that.
A secret agreement between India and China to slowly build a counter NATO of Asia Media Release ,Nov. 23, 2006
All discussion was in hush-hush. Russians are in secret agreement with India and China. It is not clear if Russia will be part of it. The need comes from NATO’s Afghanistan operations. The Iraq invasion and also the dreadful past Vietnam and Afghanistan. India and China has in principle agreed to build a NATO of Asia that may include three formidable militaries India, China and Russia. Any future invasion of Asian soil will have to face formidable challenge. The talks included cooperation in military hardware and software build up. China and India recognizes Military strength in number does not mean much. The warfare is electronic and remote controlled. It is more of a show of strength and capabilities than actual battle. Also in future the wars if any will be fought with command and control center deep in the tectonic plates miles below the earth’s surface and even from space and the moon and other planets.
The cooperation and joint development will be in Research and development. The key lies in being able to develop next generation stealth, communication and seek-scan-neutralize capabilities.India and China have agreed to move ahead with their military ties but the build up is likely to be a slow process.
U.S. global NATO plan to get summit thumbs-down By Mark John
Fri Nov 24, 7:44 AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to forge a network of partnerships around NATO from Scandinavia to Asia will get the thumbs-down at a summit next week from members wary of the alliance going global, diplomats said on Friday. NATO leaders meeting in Riga from Tuesday will acknowledge the need to boost contacts with countries such as Sweden,South Korea, and Australia some of whom have troops under NATO command in Afghanistan but will make no offer of formal ties.
The year-old proposal has won a lukewarm response from Asian countries unwilling to have a contractual relationship with NATO. It also hit firm resistance from some European allies and aggravated Russian concerns that NATO was trying to encircle it.Underlining persistent transatlantic differences about how to tackle emerging security threats, a core of west European nations led by France and Germany have sought to fend off U.S.-led moves to broaden NATO's geographic and strategic scope.We don't see the point in creating a mini-United Nations around the alliance, and others share that view, said a senior diplomat from one European NATO member.
Washington argued the September 11, 2001 attacks planned by al Qaeda from bases in Afghanistan showed that threats could emerge from anywhere in the world, and called on NATO to develop a security providers forum of countries keen to combat terror.
Many inside the alliance agree its existing web of post-Cold War partnerships including tie-ups with Russia, former Soviet satellites and fledgling links with Middle East and Gulf states is in need of a revamp.The U.S. initiative assumed countries which have offered troops to NATO operations such as Australia, New Zealand and Sweden in Afghanistan would jump at the chance to have more of a say in the running of alliance missions.But even staunch U.S. ally Australia has made it clear it does not want to be tied in with a partnership accord.I don't think ... we want to be traveling over to Brussels week by week for formal meetings and arrangements. It's just a logistical nightmare for us, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters during a one-off NATO visit in September.
NO POSSE
New Zealand, which has a small contingent in restive eastern Afghanistan, has also ruled out formal ties with the 26-member alliance, insisting a U.N. mandate rather than other allegiances was the key to whether it did peacekeeping duties.This is not a posse. This is New Zealand fulfilling its role as a good international citizen in line with the principles of the UN charter, Defense Minister Phil Goff noted this year in comments that government sources said still reflected policy.U.S. officials do not see such responses as a rebuff, arguing that practical collaboration on the ground, as in Afghanistan, matters more than formal links.
Both Wellington and Canberra seek better cooperation with NATO such as jointmilitary training and information exchange along the lines of an accord New Zealand signed in February to share classified information.The same applies to Japan, which already has a security alliance with Washington under which U.S. forces have an obligation to defend Japan, but Japanese troops cannot help U.S. counterparts unless there is an attack on Japan.South Korea is also wary, with Seoul concerned any closer relationship with NATO could exacerbate tensions with its nuclear-armed communist neighbor to the north.The feeling in the government is that the proposal will have to be approached very cautiously, keeping in mind how South Korea's position on it will affect relations with North Korea,a foreign ministry official in Seoul said. (Additional reporting by Carsten Lietz in Brussels, Gyles Beckford in Wellington, George Nishiyama in Tokyo, Jack Kim in Seoul and James Grubel in Canberra)
Polonium-210 difficult to detect By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
NOV 24,2006
LONDON - Polonium-210 the radioactive substance that killed a former Russian spy in London is one of the world's rarest elements, first discovered in the 19th century by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie.It is highly lethal when ingested and extremely hard to detect, experts said Friday.For days doctors struggled to identify the poison that led to the rapid deterioration of Alexander Litvinenko's health, and ultimately his death late Thursday.Britain's Health Protection Agency said Friday that polonium-210 was found in his urine.The agency's chief executive, Pat Troop, said the high level of polonium-210 indicated Litvinenko would either have to have eaten it, inhaled it or taken it in through a wound.Police were investigating, but said they were treating it as an unexplained death for now.This seems to have been a substance carefully chosen for its ability to be hard to detect, said Dr. Philip Walker, a physics professor at the University of Surrey.
Polonium occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earth's crust, and experts said small amounts but not enough to kill someone are used legitimately in Britain and elsewhere for industrial purposes.Polonium-210 was a critical component in early nuclear weapons, and the former Soviet Union used polonium in power supply systems for spacecraft in the 1970s. It also is used in industrial devices designed to eliminate static electricity.Professor Dudley Goodhead, a radiation expert at the Medical Research Council, said that to poison someone, much larger amounts are required and this would have to be manmade, perhaps from a particle accelerator or a nuclear reactor.The element can be a byproduct from the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or particle accelerator. These nuclear facilities are monitored and tightly regulated under
international agreements.
Chris Lloyd, a British radiation protection adviser, said it would be relatively easy to smuggle polonium into a country, because its alpha radiation would not set off radiation detectors.Polonium is so rare that only about 100 grams is believed to be produced each year, said Dr. Mike Keir, a radiation protection adviser at Royal Victoria Infirmary.Only a very, very small amount of this would need to be ingested to kill, Keir said.
Unless you can remove the material, there's very little you can do except treat the symptoms.Given Litvinenko's symptoms including hair loss, organ failure and immune system breakdown experts said it was understandable why doctors didn't initially recognize polonium-210 as the cause.Trying to identify the exact agent that was making him sick was like looking for a needle in a haystack, said Dr. Alistair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds University. Numerous toxins are capable of causing such serious damage without being immediately identified in the body, he said.The alpha rays emitted by polonium are extremely hard to detect, and a fatal dose of the element may have rapidly penetrated his bone marrow without raising immediate suspicion. Earlier this week, doctors said Litvinenko was in need of a bone marrow transplant.
As a result of alpha ray radiation, there are very clear genetic changes in the body,Keir said.But to know for certain that it was polonium radiation, you need to actually find polonium particles. Polonium was discovered in 1898 by Nobel laureates Marie and Pierre Curie as they were searching for the cause of radiation decay in uranium. They named it polonium in honor of her country of origin, Poland. The Health Protection Agency said the use of polonium as a deliberate poisoning would be an unprecedented event. Several experts also said they were unaware of any other known poisonings from the element. I've been in radiation sciences for 30-odd years and I'm not aware of any such incident, said Roger Cox, director of the agency's center for radiation, chemicals and environmental hazards.Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Region-building should replace nation-building
24.11.2006 - 08:57 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - My father collected European swords, prompted no doubt by his having been at one time a fencing international.
I still have a few of them. Most are dress swords or late copies of earlier arms. But at least one is a real weapon and for all I know may even have been used in anger.Nothing these days appears quite so obsolete as a fighting sword. Even a longbow manages a semblance of modernity. The sword I am talking about is an eighteenth century shortsword, with a blade about two-thirds of a metre. It is a foot soldier's weapon, cheaply made, hammered out in some little armoury and crudely stamped with a name and what could be a date. All of these observations tally with its alleged provenance as having been retrieved after the Scottish battle of Culloden Moor in April 1746, discarded perhaps by a desperate highlander fleeing the government forces.
This infinitely sad event, fought in a sleeting gale, was the final throw by the grandson of Britain's last Catholic King to overturn the Protestant succession. As battles go it was an insignificant affair, decisively determined in a quarter of an hour, though the long aftermath was attended by great brutality.
Culloden is distinguished, however, for another reason: it was the last pitched battle to have been fought in Britain, though at the time this was of course by no means apparent. But gradually the phenomenon of the pitched battle has been eliminated throughout European territory.While there remains the question of how exactly you define a battle, we may, if we are optimistic, come to regard the Balkan wars of the 1990s as the last battles in Europe.
A creeping state of affairs
And though we don't want to tempt fate, this is the state of affairs in much of the world. Something that has crept up on us almost unnoticed, like the gradual elimination of a disease. While insurgencies and terrorist acts may continue, wars have been eliminated, quite possibly, from the two American continents and, despite the current instability in the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, from North Asia as well.
Cold war there may be; hot war, I would like to believe, can be avoided henceforward provided we are always vigilant and employ careful diplomacy.But at the same time war continues to be endemic to Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. These regions contain some of the poorest countries of the world and also some of the worst polluters. Forest fires in Africa charge the atmosphere with carbon dioxide at a rate broadly comparable to fossil fuel burn in the United States.They are also regions in which transnational partnerships are either non-existent or else in their very early stages. And where they do exist they are hesitant, weak and under funded.
The African Union, modelled on that of Europe, won't alone be able to resolve the wretched morass of problems on that Continent. But one can see how a stronger, better financed and more effective transnational body, which could speak with authority for Africa on the international stage, might contribute to the process.In addition to the central conflict in its midst the Middle East is clearly a region which shares many common, border-transcending problems. And in South Asia it was the case until very recently that only some 2 per cent of India's trade was with Pakistan, so bitter was the hostility between the two. Yet this state of affairs is in the interests of neither. Both suffer by letting local problems and difficulties prevent the addressing of wider and ultimately graver problems. What is more, cumulating evidence suggests that such wider problems are best addressed by multilateral partnerships co-operating under the rule of law rather than by inter-governmental arrangements.
Region-building
Is this what George Soros, the billionaire financier and political guru meant when he called upon the European Union this week to promote a global open society? His analysis seemed to be suggesting that following the disastrous intervention in Iraq, the project for a New American Century, that planned millennium of American Values, would have now to be postponed for a bit. It was time for Europe to play a more active role, he said.A New European Century, were ever it to be promulgated, might be as hubristically doomed as the American project. That would not be Europe's way at all. But that is not to say that Soros isn't accurate as he so often is in identifying the desirability for Europe to make its influence felt more widely on a global scale.Not necessarily in military or financial interventions in the world's trouble spots, but by promoting those transnational frameworks which allow not nation-building, but region building.Where Soros may be off beam is in imagining, as he does, that the EU can simply brush aside its current constitutional imbroglio; that the treaty could be unbundled and presented piecemeal, while it gets on with its good works on the international stage.Here he seems to be confusing Europe and the United States. Of course, given a federal government and a strong presidency this is perhaps what should be done. But in the absence of any such arrangements here there is simply no mechanism for doing what he suggests.
Even if such a move were not betraying those electorates who have voted for or against the constitution as it stands, unbundling the package would simply unravel every intricately knitted compromise that Mr Ahern did so much to secure in that heady spring of 2004.
Nevertheless, the fact that someone like George Soros agrees that the constitutional reforms are necessary (even if not delivered in a constitutional settlement) should encourage the doubters and give some heart to Mrs Merkel and the German Presidency team on which much now seems to be riding. The clock is ticking. Given the Christmas festivities there remains only three or four weeks to kick-off, as it were. And compared to 2004, when at least all Heads of Government were prepared to defend the process of reform, there is almost as much plurality and indecision among the leaders now as among the voters. It is not a good omen.Before ending I must congratulate Madame Royal on winning the Presidential candidacy for the French Socialists. Should she be elected in the spring she might consider extending her revolutionary idea of supervising cabinet discussions with citizen's juries to meetings of the European Council itself. Being surrounded by a group of sharp-eyed tricoteuses, would surely be enough to frighten any group of leaders into agreement. Even in Europe regions have to be built.The author is editor of EuropaWorld
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
New savage twist to violence in Baghdad By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer NOV 24,06
BAGHDAD, Iraq Revenge-seeking militiamen seized six Sunnis as they left Friday prayers and burned them alive with kerosene in a savage new twist to the brutality shaking the Iraqi capital a day after suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in Baghdad's main Shiite district.
Iraqi soldiers at a nearby army post failed to intervene in Friday's assault by suspected members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia or subsequent attacks that killed at least 19 other Sunnis, including women and children, in the same neighborhood, the volatile Hurriyah district in northwest Baghdad, said police Capt. Jamil Hussein.Most of the thousands of dead bodies that have been found dumped across Baghdad and other cities in central Iraq in recent months have been of victims who were tortured and then shot to death, according to police. The suspected militia killers often have used electric drills on their captives bodies before killing them. The bodies are frequently decapitated.But burning victims alive introduced a new method of brutality that was likely to be reciprocated by the other sect as the Shiites and Sunnis continue killing one another in unprecedented numbers. The gruesome attack, which came despite a curfew in Baghdad, capped a day in which at least 87 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence across Iraq.
In Hurriyah, the rampaging militiamen also burned and blew up four mosques and torched several homes in the district, Hussein said.Residents of the troubled district claim the Mahdi Army has begun kidnapping and holding Sunni hostages to use in ritual slaughter at the funerals of Shiite victims of Baghdad's raging sectarian war.Such claims cannot be verified but speak to the deep fear that grips Baghdad, where retaliation has become a part of daily life.President Jalal Talabani emerged from lengthy meetings with other Iraqi leaders late Friday and said the defense minister, Abdul-Qader al-Obaidi, indicated that the Hurriyah neighborhood had been quiet throughout the day.But Imad al-Hasimi, a Sunni elder in Hurriyah, confirmed Hussein's account of the immolations.
He told Al-Arabiya television he saw people who were drenched in kerosene and then set afire, burning to death before his eyes.Two workers at Kazamiyah Hospital also confirmed that bodies from the clashes and immolation had been taken to the morgue at their facility. They refused to be identified by name, saying they feared retribution.And the Association of Muslim Scholars, the most influential Sunni organization in Iraq, said even more victims were burned to death in attacks on the four mosques. It claimed a total of 18 people had died in an inferno at the al-Muhaimin mosque.The extreme violence continued to tear at the Iraq's social fabric even after the government had banned pedestrians and cars from the streets and closed the international airport until further notice in anticipation of a storm of retaliation for the five bombings and two mortar rounds which killed 215 in Sadr City on Thursday.The airport closure forced Talabani to delay his planned Saturday departure for Tehran for meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader also invited Syrian President Bashar Assad, but it now appeared he would not attend.The chaos also cast a shadow over the Amman, Jordan, summit next week between Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Bush.
Politicians loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki went ahead with the meeting. The political bloc, known as Sadrists, is a mainstay of support for al-Maliki. The Mahdi Army is the organization's armed wing.Sadrist lawmaker Qusai Abdul-Wahab blamed U.S. forces for Thursday's attack in Sadr City because they failed to provide security.We say occupation forces are fully responsible for these acts, and we call for the withdrawal of occupation forces or setting a timetable for their withdrawal, Abdul-Wahab said.A U.S. helicopter patrolling above Sadr City came under intense fire from the ground and shot back, wounding two people Friday night, according to police 1st. Lt. Qassim Mohammed and witnesses. The U.S. military said the helicopter had taken fire from six rockets launched from one site and destroyed the launcher. The military statement did not address whether there were casualties. White House spokesman Scott Stanzil said there was no change in the president's plans to meet with al-Maliki on Wednesday and Thursday. Al-Maliki is increasingly at odds with the Bush administration for his refusal to disband militias and associated deaths squads that are believed responsible for killing thousands of Sunnis since an al-Qaida attack last February blew up the Golden Dome Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Mortar fire rained down again on Sunni Islam's holiest shrine in Baghdad, the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Azamiyah neighborhood, wounding at least five people. Several mortars crashed into the area Thursday night within hours of the attacks in Sadr City, one of them puncturing the dome of the shrine and damaging the interior, including its library.
Also, militia gunmen raided a Sunni mosque in the Amil section of west Baghdad, killing two guards, according to police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq. And in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Sunni insurgents blew up the dome of the important Shiite mosque of leading cleric Abdul-Karm al-Madani. In the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, 23 people were killed and 43 wounded when explosives hidden in a parked car and in a suicide belt worn by a pedestrian detonated simultaneously outside a car dealership, said police Brig.
Khalaf al-Jubouri. Altogether, 56 people were killed across in Iraq on Friday, and police said they found 31 bodies dumped throughout Baghdad, most of them tortured before being shot. In Sadr City, cleanup crews continued removing remains of the dead from wreckage of the car bombs, and tents were erected throughout the ramshackle district for relatives to receive condolences. Hundreds of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they walked beside vehicles carrying the caskets of their loved ones toward the holy Shiite city of Najaf for burial. Despite Baghdad's curfew, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, ordered police to guard the processions. As the funeral processions reached the edge of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, the cars and minivans left most of the mourners behind and began the 100-mile drive south to Najaf, a treacherous journey that passes through many checkpoints and areas controlled by Sunni militants in Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death. AP correspondents Thomas Wagner, Bassem Mroue and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.
Palestinians and Israel Say They Are Open to Truce (NEW YORK TIMES)
By STEVEN ERLANGER,Published: November 25, 2006
JERUSALEM, Nov. 24 After another surge of violence in and around the Gaza Strip over the past month, Israel and the Palestinians moved gingerly on Friday toward reinstating an often-broken cease-fire between them.In Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas confirmed that the Palestinian factions including Islamic Jihad, which had previously rejected any cease-fire with Israel would halt their rocket fire if Israel halted its military operations in both the West Bank and Gaza. Israel called the offer a media presentation, but said it was open to a more serious, formal proposal. It’s not a question of, You go first, said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. It’s a question of, What are we talking about? A halt to all Israeli military operations in return for a halt to rocket fire alone would be unacceptable, she said.
On Thursday night in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said that since the summer, Palestinians have been victims of a barbaric Israeli offensive that has left more than 400 dead and 1,500 wounded while thousands of homes have been destroyed. But he added, All that on the pretext of homemade rocket fire, and unfortunately we are giving them such a pretext.In fact, Israel re-entered Gaza in late June in response to the capture of a soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, by a group of Palestinian militants that included Hamas. Hamas said that they were responding to Israeli shelling that had killed civilians; Israel said the shelling was in response to Palestinian rocket fire. Since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza in September 2005, at least 1,100 rockets have been fired from Gaza, and four Israelis have died two of them in the past 10 days.
Mr. Abbas, aided by Egypt, is negotiating with Hamas over a national-unity government that could meet the conditions for ending an international freeze on direct budget aid, as well as Israel’s withholding of tax and duties collected on behalf of the Palestinians. The government is also held up by disagreements over the release of Corporal Shalit and different demands about the number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for him.
Israel wants the corporal back before releasing prisoners. These issues are holding back the prospect of a meeting between Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to make an unannounced visit here to see both men next week. The United States is eager to break the bloody stalemate and at least have Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas talking again.Amid the negotiating, the shooting continued Friday, with Israeli troops in Gaza killing two Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, including a militant who served as a cameraman for Hamas’s military wing. A 10-year-old boy, Abdel Aziz Salman, died from gunshot wounds, hospital workers said. Palestinians said he was hit by an Israeli sniper; the Israeli Army said its troops in Beit Lahiya had no knowledge of the boy’s death.
Prodi, Chirac endorse EU initiative to halt Mideast violence
LUCCA, Italy, Nov 25 (KUNA) Italian Premier Romano Prodi and French President Jacques Chirac Friday called for a greater European role in the Middle East peace process in order to put an end to the tragic situation Palestinians were witnessing due to the continuous Israeli siege on the Gaza strip.The two leaders said in a press conference held after their summit meeting in the Tuscan town of Lucca hoped that such a move would help end the recent bloodshed in the region and pave the way for peace efforts, such as the initiative launched last week by Spain, France and Italy.They also called for the rapid formation of a Palestinian national unity government due to its significance to resume peace talks with Tel Aviv.The initiative calls for an immediate cease-fire, formation of a Palestinian national unity government that could gain international recognition, prisoners exchange, talks between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president and deployment of an international mission in Gaza to monitor the cease-fire. (end) mn.hb,KUNA 242040 Nov 06NNNN
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
INIQUITY(great wickedness or injustice) ABOUNDING.
MATTHEW 24:12
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
ROMANS 1:29-32
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
22 grow-ops in one highrise
Police say filthy apartments were potential fire threats
Nov. 24, 2006. 05:57 AM,PHINJO GOMBU,STAFF REPORTER
When Toronto's drug-squad detectives arrived at an apartment building on Jane St. just north of Sheppard Ave. W. yesterday morning armed with search warrants for five apartments, they knew they'd have a busy day.
But nothing prepared them for what they found when they started searching the other apartments in the building.By 6 p.m. yesterday, stunned detectives had uncovered a $6.6 million marijuana grow-operation with some 6,600 plants being grown in 22 apartments.The grow-ops, scattered throughout nine floors of 2600 Jane St. ,a 13-storey building with roughly 117 units on the northwest corner of a busyintersection anchored by strip-mall businesses and the Jane-Sheppard Mall is one of the largest discovered in Toronto.From what we can tell, they all appear to be built the same way, said Det. Sgt. Dave Malcolm of the Toronto police drug squad. They all appear to be soil-based, they all appear to be filthy and they all appear to be fire threats.
By the time officers finished breaking down doors with battering rams, they'd tallied a massive operation in apartments from the fourth to 12th floors.Police believe the operation has been in place for one year.They say an Asian-Canadian group is involved in the operation. So far two men have been arrested, but police are remaining tight-lipped about their connection, if any, with the group.
Investigators today will continue examining every rental agreement in the building to find out who rented the apartments, Malcolm said.No one was living in the two-bedroom units. Police say growers had planted about 300 plants in each unit, unplugging the ovens and using the 220-volt outlets to power 1,000-watt grow lights.The plants were grown in pots and toxic fertilizer was strewn across the various apartments.It's a soil-based operation, not a true hydroponic grow, Malcolm said. It's not a matter of if there's going to be a fire, it's a matter of when.
A rough calculation of the street value of the plants told detectives that what they had smashed was a $6.6 million operation.Late into the evening, officers gowned in protective suits and face masks continued to haul away such things as lampshades, power cables, light bulbs and paper bags full of marijuana plants, which were carefully marked with stickers.Among the items seized by police were fans used to exhaust air out the windows and help clear the apartments of chemicals that were being used to make the plants grow quicker.It was a streamlined operation yesterday as officers commandeered one of the elevators, while residents used the remaining elevator to get to their apartments.Well past 9 p.m. officers were still systematically going through the apartments, including Unit 1202 on the 12th floor. Inside the apartment, placed on the kitchen floor, were rows upon rows of potted baby marijuana plants. Above the plants was a powerful 1,000-watt bulb. The entrance to the kitchen was shut off from the living room with black garbage bags. The living room itself had a couch, a bed, a television set, and a bunch of DVD and VCR players stacked neatly one on top of the other.
Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things.Harry Birman, senior building manager. In order to prevent police from using a battering ram to break open doors, the building manager called in three locksmiths to open the apartment doors with master keys.Many residents said they weren't surprised by the discovery of grow-ops in the building, but some were taken aback by the scale of the operation.Denis Sanchez, 25, a machinist who lives on the 11th floor, where some of the grow-ops were located, said he knew something was going on because the building had been plagued by power outages in the summer.I guess they were using a lot of electricity, Sanchez said.Toronto police were first alerted to the existence of a grow-op in the building when a fire broke out in April in one of the apartments where marijuana had been grown.Malcolm, however, said that was not what tipped off police, resulting in yesterday's raid in five apartments.
The officer said police are aware that enterprising growers have used apartment buildings for some time.It's not ingenious, it's an extremely lucrative business growing marijuana indoors, Malcolm said. This is unusual in the number of apartments in the same building.One of the biggest draws to Toronto apartment buildings by growers is that many have a single hydro meter for the entire building, enabling extraordinary hydro use in an apartment without ready detection.Building owners have to be more vigilant and notice if their hydro bills go up, Malcolm noted.Harry Birman, a senior manager for the building, however, said that owners are hamstrung by tenant protection laws, which prohibit them from entering apartments when they suspect there is a grow-op. He said they have to give 24 hours' notice. By then they can clear up, these guys are very sophisticated.
This is very upsetting for us, Birman said, adding that the cleanup bill would cost the owners more than $250,000. Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things. And one of them is the ability to inspect suites when we suspect there are marijuana grow-ops. According to provincial property records, the building is owned by 667661 Ontario Inc., and signs posted in the building said it was being operated by Cando Property Management, 25 Duncanwoods Dr., North York. The company operates numerous apartment buildings in the Greater Toronto Area.Ironically, Birman had just received some signs yesterday that he was going to put up in the lobby saying that management would be inspecting rooms for marijuana grow-ops.When the police arrived, he had to send the guy who was going to put up the signs home.
Oscar Henriquez, 52, who works in a neon sign shop, said he'd smelled marijuana from time to time but didn't think much of it because a lot of people around the building smoked and sold the drug. I try not to know anybody because I'm afraid of the people. I have two kids, Henriquez said.Other residents said the building is located in an area where trouble breaks out routinely. Just last year, a man was shot in the parking lot in front of the building, and one resident said there had been a drive-by shooting at a nearby convenience store this past summer.We've never noticed anything, said an 18-year-old man who lives on the second floor and gave his name as Oscar. Kids smoke in the stairwells, but that's about it.Toronto police planned to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. to provide further details about the bust.
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 = Sat Nov 25 09:00 AM EDT
NOV 25,2006
MAP 3.4 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
NOV 24,2006
MAP 4.5 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
MAP 5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 TONGA REGION
MAP 4.8 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.0 KAMCHATKA PENINSULA, RUSSIA
MAP 5.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 4.5 SICILY, ITALY
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.3 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
Two weak quakes shake Greek Peloponnese region, no damage reported Fri Nov 24, 7:58 AM ET
ATHENS (AFP) - Two tremors measuring 4.1 and 4.2 points on the open-ended Richter scale have shaken the Greek Corinthian Gulf, north of the southern Peloponnese region.The tremors were recorded at 4:58 am (0258 GMT) and 11:03 am (0903 GMT) with
an underwater epicentre around 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Athens, the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute said Friday.
There were no immediate reports of damage in surrounding towns.An institute seismologist declined to say whether the tremors were part of wider activity in what is one of Greece's most active seismic areas, simply saying that colleagues were monitoring the situation.Greece is more affected by seismic activity than any other European country and bears the brunt of half of all earthquakes on the continent.
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.
Hurricanes to batter Britain (THESUN)
By JOHN COLES,November 25, 2006
BRITAIN is bracing itself for a battering today with hurricane-force winds of up to 75mph forecast.Weather experts predict disruption to transport and power supplies, widespread damage to property and flooding.A vigorous autumn storm will hit most of the country from early morning, with the West Country, the South and Eastern England most at risk.The exact path of the storm is uncertain but forecasters warn that Wales, the Midlands and the North will also to be affected.The severe gales will be accompanied by heavy rain.Last night the Environment Agency had flood watches on 11 locations across the South and Midlands.
Forecaster Julian Mayes of MeteoGroup UK predicted that it was likely to be windier than at any time last winter.He added: It’s going to be extremely unsettled and windy, particularly throughout Saturday. All areas are going to be windy. The areas that are most likely to have damaging gales will be dependent on the exact track taken by the depression.The Met Office said gusts of between 65-75mph were expected.Winds above 73mph are classed as hurricane-force on the Beaufort Scale of wind speed.
A Met Office spokesman said: Gusts to this strength are infrequent across the south-east and likely to lead to disruption to transport and power supplies.This will be a vigorous autumn storm which will bring severe gales to many parts of Britain and the public should take extra care.Although the very strong winds are expected to be the main concern, the storm will also bring heavy rain and an increased threat of flooding.The key message to people is to keep up-to-date with the forecast and to make sure they plan ahead for any weekend activities.j.coles@the-sun.co.uk
Floods kill nine in Somalia, death toll climbs to 89 by Mustafa Haji Abdinur Fri Nov 24, 8:38 AM ET
MOGADISHU (AFP) - Raging flood waters killed at least nine people, including five sleeping children, overnight as a third week of heavy rains pounded southern Somalia, bringing the death toll to at least 89.And with no end in sight to unusually heavy seasonal rains that have brought misery to a country already on the brink of war, UN officials said conflict could badly hurt emergency relief efforts for nearly a million Somalis.The children were killed when their homes in villages near the provincial town of Jowhar, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Mogadishu, were washed away by waters from rivers that burst their banks, local officials said.Five children died after heavy floods swept their homes away while they were sleeping, said Ibrahim Nur Osman, the security commander for Somalia's powerful Islamist movement in Middle Shabelle region where Jowhar is situated.Meanwhile, rescuers recovered the bodies of four people buried in the mud around Mustaqbal village in Lower Shabelle region, where tens of thousands are facing acute food shortages.
Four bodies, one of them an elderly woman, have been discovered dead around Mustaqbal in the mud, said Garad Abukar Mohamed, the secretary for the local Islamic administration.
The water level is rising all the time and thousands of people are trapped in flood-hit areas that nobody can reach, he told AFP, adding that the death toll would likely rise as food stocks had been destroyed.Scores of survivors were clinging to trees, grieving for the loss of their loved ones and property as well as trying to avoid being eaten by crocodiles unleashed by the flooding of the Shabelle and Jubba rivers, residents said.At least 13 of the flood fatalities are known to have been devoured by the crocodiles, which have been on a feeding frenzy in Beledweyne, further north of Jowhar, according to locals.Casualties are increasing day-by-day, Osman told AFP. People are getting killed, others injured, while others are being evacuated. Everybody is grieving from treetops where they have escaped.
The village of Bulo-Warey, where the children died overnight Thursday, was completely inundated, with the surviving residents fleeing as best they could, an official said.I tell you that none of the affected people is in the village because the whole place is covered by water, said Osman Adan Ibrahim, a local Islamist representative.The floods have compounded difficulties for Somalis already on edge fearing an outbreak of all-out war between the Islamists and the country's weak Ethiopian-backed government that many believe could spark a regional conflict.Despite assurances from the rival sides that airlifts of relief supplies necessary because most land routes have been cut will be safe in the event of war, UN officials said they feared fighting would derail aid operations.That is a
disaster and we want to avoid it, Eric Laroche, head of the Kenya-based UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Somalia, told reporters in Nairobi.OCHA appealed for 15 million dollars (11.5 million dollars) for its urgent Somali operations, but warned that amount might increase in the coming days as torrential rains continue to pound Somalia.Nearly one million Somalis are estimated to be affected by the flooding, of which at least 336,000 have been forced from their homes, according to the United Nations.Health officials have also sounded the alarm for outbreaks of waterborne diseases, particularly cholera, which has already been confirmed in two areas. The rains have destroyed farmlands, disrupted food supplies, cut off villages and washed away roads, complicating the delivery of aid to the most vulnerable and impoverished in remote areas.
WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL
DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) 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.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
Russia said to deliver arms to Iran By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer Fri Nov 24, 8:42 AM ET
MOSCOW - Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of Western criticism.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue, declined to specify when the deliveries had been made and how many systems had been delivered.Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December, according to Russian media reports.The United States called on all countries last spring to stop all arms exports to Iran, as well as ending all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities.Israel, too, has severely criticized arms deals with Iran.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop weapons.The U.N. Security Council, where Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member, is currently stalemated on the severity of sanctions on Iran for defying its demand to cease enrichment.The Tor-M1 deal, involving conventional weapons, does not violate any international agreements.
Russian officials say the missiles are purely defensive weapons with a limited range.According to the Interfax news agency, the Tor-M1 system can identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet.Russian media have reported previously that Moscow had conducted talks on selling even more powerful long-range S-300 air defense missiles, but Russian officials have denied that.
A secret agreement between India and China to slowly build a counter NATO of Asia Media Release ,Nov. 23, 2006
All discussion was in hush-hush. Russians are in secret agreement with India and China. It is not clear if Russia will be part of it. The need comes from NATO’s Afghanistan operations. The Iraq invasion and also the dreadful past Vietnam and Afghanistan. India and China has in principle agreed to build a NATO of Asia that may include three formidable militaries India, China and Russia. Any future invasion of Asian soil will have to face formidable challenge. The talks included cooperation in military hardware and software build up. China and India recognizes Military strength in number does not mean much. The warfare is electronic and remote controlled. It is more of a show of strength and capabilities than actual battle. Also in future the wars if any will be fought with command and control center deep in the tectonic plates miles below the earth’s surface and even from space and the moon and other planets.
The cooperation and joint development will be in Research and development. The key lies in being able to develop next generation stealth, communication and seek-scan-neutralize capabilities.India and China have agreed to move ahead with their military ties but the build up is likely to be a slow process.
U.S. global NATO plan to get summit thumbs-down By Mark John
Fri Nov 24, 7:44 AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. plan to forge a network of partnerships around NATO from Scandinavia to Asia will get the thumbs-down at a summit next week from members wary of the alliance going global, diplomats said on Friday. NATO leaders meeting in Riga from Tuesday will acknowledge the need to boost contacts with countries such as Sweden,South Korea, and Australia some of whom have troops under NATO command in Afghanistan but will make no offer of formal ties.
The year-old proposal has won a lukewarm response from Asian countries unwilling to have a contractual relationship with NATO. It also hit firm resistance from some European allies and aggravated Russian concerns that NATO was trying to encircle it.Underlining persistent transatlantic differences about how to tackle emerging security threats, a core of west European nations led by France and Germany have sought to fend off U.S.-led moves to broaden NATO's geographic and strategic scope.We don't see the point in creating a mini-United Nations around the alliance, and others share that view, said a senior diplomat from one European NATO member.
Washington argued the September 11, 2001 attacks planned by al Qaeda from bases in Afghanistan showed that threats could emerge from anywhere in the world, and called on NATO to develop a security providers forum of countries keen to combat terror.
Many inside the alliance agree its existing web of post-Cold War partnerships including tie-ups with Russia, former Soviet satellites and fledgling links with Middle East and Gulf states is in need of a revamp.The U.S. initiative assumed countries which have offered troops to NATO operations such as Australia, New Zealand and Sweden in Afghanistan would jump at the chance to have more of a say in the running of alliance missions.But even staunch U.S. ally Australia has made it clear it does not want to be tied in with a partnership accord.I don't think ... we want to be traveling over to Brussels week by week for formal meetings and arrangements. It's just a logistical nightmare for us, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters during a one-off NATO visit in September.
NO POSSE
New Zealand, which has a small contingent in restive eastern Afghanistan, has also ruled out formal ties with the 26-member alliance, insisting a U.N. mandate rather than other allegiances was the key to whether it did peacekeeping duties.This is not a posse. This is New Zealand fulfilling its role as a good international citizen in line with the principles of the UN charter, Defense Minister Phil Goff noted this year in comments that government sources said still reflected policy.U.S. officials do not see such responses as a rebuff, arguing that practical collaboration on the ground, as in Afghanistan, matters more than formal links.
Both Wellington and Canberra seek better cooperation with NATO such as jointmilitary training and information exchange along the lines of an accord New Zealand signed in February to share classified information.The same applies to Japan, which already has a security alliance with Washington under which U.S. forces have an obligation to defend Japan, but Japanese troops cannot help U.S. counterparts unless there is an attack on Japan.South Korea is also wary, with Seoul concerned any closer relationship with NATO could exacerbate tensions with its nuclear-armed communist neighbor to the north.The feeling in the government is that the proposal will have to be approached very cautiously, keeping in mind how South Korea's position on it will affect relations with North Korea,a foreign ministry official in Seoul said. (Additional reporting by Carsten Lietz in Brussels, Gyles Beckford in Wellington, George Nishiyama in Tokyo, Jack Kim in Seoul and James Grubel in Canberra)
Polonium-210 difficult to detect By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
NOV 24,2006
LONDON - Polonium-210 the radioactive substance that killed a former Russian spy in London is one of the world's rarest elements, first discovered in the 19th century by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie.It is highly lethal when ingested and extremely hard to detect, experts said Friday.For days doctors struggled to identify the poison that led to the rapid deterioration of Alexander Litvinenko's health, and ultimately his death late Thursday.Britain's Health Protection Agency said Friday that polonium-210 was found in his urine.The agency's chief executive, Pat Troop, said the high level of polonium-210 indicated Litvinenko would either have to have eaten it, inhaled it or taken it in through a wound.Police were investigating, but said they were treating it as an unexplained death for now.This seems to have been a substance carefully chosen for its ability to be hard to detect, said Dr. Philip Walker, a physics professor at the University of Surrey.
Polonium occurs naturally in very low concentrations in the Earth's crust, and experts said small amounts but not enough to kill someone are used legitimately in Britain and elsewhere for industrial purposes.Polonium-210 was a critical component in early nuclear weapons, and the former Soviet Union used polonium in power supply systems for spacecraft in the 1970s. It also is used in industrial devices designed to eliminate static electricity.Professor Dudley Goodhead, a radiation expert at the Medical Research Council, said that to poison someone, much larger amounts are required and this would have to be manmade, perhaps from a particle accelerator or a nuclear reactor.The element can be a byproduct from the chemical processing of uranium, but usually is made artificially in a nuclear reactor or particle accelerator. These nuclear facilities are monitored and tightly regulated under
international agreements.
Chris Lloyd, a British radiation protection adviser, said it would be relatively easy to smuggle polonium into a country, because its alpha radiation would not set off radiation detectors.Polonium is so rare that only about 100 grams is believed to be produced each year, said Dr. Mike Keir, a radiation protection adviser at Royal Victoria Infirmary.Only a very, very small amount of this would need to be ingested to kill, Keir said.
Unless you can remove the material, there's very little you can do except treat the symptoms.Given Litvinenko's symptoms including hair loss, organ failure and immune system breakdown experts said it was understandable why doctors didn't initially recognize polonium-210 as the cause.Trying to identify the exact agent that was making him sick was like looking for a needle in a haystack, said Dr. Alistair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds University. Numerous toxins are capable of causing such serious damage without being immediately identified in the body, he said.The alpha rays emitted by polonium are extremely hard to detect, and a fatal dose of the element may have rapidly penetrated his bone marrow without raising immediate suspicion. Earlier this week, doctors said Litvinenko was in need of a bone marrow transplant.
As a result of alpha ray radiation, there are very clear genetic changes in the body,Keir said.But to know for certain that it was polonium radiation, you need to actually find polonium particles. Polonium was discovered in 1898 by Nobel laureates Marie and Pierre Curie as they were searching for the cause of radiation decay in uranium. They named it polonium in honor of her country of origin, Poland. The Health Protection Agency said the use of polonium as a deliberate poisoning would be an unprecedented event. Several experts also said they were unaware of any other known poisonings from the element. I've been in radiation sciences for 30-odd years and I'm not aware of any such incident, said Roger Cox, director of the agency's center for radiation, chemicals and environmental hazards.Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Region-building should replace nation-building
24.11.2006 - 08:57 CET | By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - My father collected European swords, prompted no doubt by his having been at one time a fencing international.
I still have a few of them. Most are dress swords or late copies of earlier arms. But at least one is a real weapon and for all I know may even have been used in anger.Nothing these days appears quite so obsolete as a fighting sword. Even a longbow manages a semblance of modernity. The sword I am talking about is an eighteenth century shortsword, with a blade about two-thirds of a metre. It is a foot soldier's weapon, cheaply made, hammered out in some little armoury and crudely stamped with a name and what could be a date. All of these observations tally with its alleged provenance as having been retrieved after the Scottish battle of Culloden Moor in April 1746, discarded perhaps by a desperate highlander fleeing the government forces.
This infinitely sad event, fought in a sleeting gale, was the final throw by the grandson of Britain's last Catholic King to overturn the Protestant succession. As battles go it was an insignificant affair, decisively determined in a quarter of an hour, though the long aftermath was attended by great brutality.
Culloden is distinguished, however, for another reason: it was the last pitched battle to have been fought in Britain, though at the time this was of course by no means apparent. But gradually the phenomenon of the pitched battle has been eliminated throughout European territory.While there remains the question of how exactly you define a battle, we may, if we are optimistic, come to regard the Balkan wars of the 1990s as the last battles in Europe.
A creeping state of affairs
And though we don't want to tempt fate, this is the state of affairs in much of the world. Something that has crept up on us almost unnoticed, like the gradual elimination of a disease. While insurgencies and terrorist acts may continue, wars have been eliminated, quite possibly, from the two American continents and, despite the current instability in the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, from North Asia as well.
Cold war there may be; hot war, I would like to believe, can be avoided henceforward provided we are always vigilant and employ careful diplomacy.But at the same time war continues to be endemic to Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. These regions contain some of the poorest countries of the world and also some of the worst polluters. Forest fires in Africa charge the atmosphere with carbon dioxide at a rate broadly comparable to fossil fuel burn in the United States.They are also regions in which transnational partnerships are either non-existent or else in their very early stages. And where they do exist they are hesitant, weak and under funded.
The African Union, modelled on that of Europe, won't alone be able to resolve the wretched morass of problems on that Continent. But one can see how a stronger, better financed and more effective transnational body, which could speak with authority for Africa on the international stage, might contribute to the process.In addition to the central conflict in its midst the Middle East is clearly a region which shares many common, border-transcending problems. And in South Asia it was the case until very recently that only some 2 per cent of India's trade was with Pakistan, so bitter was the hostility between the two. Yet this state of affairs is in the interests of neither. Both suffer by letting local problems and difficulties prevent the addressing of wider and ultimately graver problems. What is more, cumulating evidence suggests that such wider problems are best addressed by multilateral partnerships co-operating under the rule of law rather than by inter-governmental arrangements.
Region-building
Is this what George Soros, the billionaire financier and political guru meant when he called upon the European Union this week to promote a global open society? His analysis seemed to be suggesting that following the disastrous intervention in Iraq, the project for a New American Century, that planned millennium of American Values, would have now to be postponed for a bit. It was time for Europe to play a more active role, he said.A New European Century, were ever it to be promulgated, might be as hubristically doomed as the American project. That would not be Europe's way at all. But that is not to say that Soros isn't accurate as he so often is in identifying the desirability for Europe to make its influence felt more widely on a global scale.Not necessarily in military or financial interventions in the world's trouble spots, but by promoting those transnational frameworks which allow not nation-building, but region building.Where Soros may be off beam is in imagining, as he does, that the EU can simply brush aside its current constitutional imbroglio; that the treaty could be unbundled and presented piecemeal, while it gets on with its good works on the international stage.Here he seems to be confusing Europe and the United States. Of course, given a federal government and a strong presidency this is perhaps what should be done. But in the absence of any such arrangements here there is simply no mechanism for doing what he suggests.
Even if such a move were not betraying those electorates who have voted for or against the constitution as it stands, unbundling the package would simply unravel every intricately knitted compromise that Mr Ahern did so much to secure in that heady spring of 2004.
Nevertheless, the fact that someone like George Soros agrees that the constitutional reforms are necessary (even if not delivered in a constitutional settlement) should encourage the doubters and give some heart to Mrs Merkel and the German Presidency team on which much now seems to be riding. The clock is ticking. Given the Christmas festivities there remains only three or four weeks to kick-off, as it were. And compared to 2004, when at least all Heads of Government were prepared to defend the process of reform, there is almost as much plurality and indecision among the leaders now as among the voters. It is not a good omen.Before ending I must congratulate Madame Royal on winning the Presidential candidacy for the French Socialists. Should she be elected in the spring she might consider extending her revolutionary idea of supervising cabinet discussions with citizen's juries to meetings of the European Council itself. Being surrounded by a group of sharp-eyed tricoteuses, would surely be enough to frighten any group of leaders into agreement. Even in Europe regions have to be built.The author is editor of EuropaWorld
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
New savage twist to violence in Baghdad By STEVEN R. HURST, Associated Press Writer NOV 24,06
BAGHDAD, Iraq Revenge-seeking militiamen seized six Sunnis as they left Friday prayers and burned them alive with kerosene in a savage new twist to the brutality shaking the Iraqi capital a day after suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in Baghdad's main Shiite district.
Iraqi soldiers at a nearby army post failed to intervene in Friday's assault by suspected members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia or subsequent attacks that killed at least 19 other Sunnis, including women and children, in the same neighborhood, the volatile Hurriyah district in northwest Baghdad, said police Capt. Jamil Hussein.Most of the thousands of dead bodies that have been found dumped across Baghdad and other cities in central Iraq in recent months have been of victims who were tortured and then shot to death, according to police. The suspected militia killers often have used electric drills on their captives bodies before killing them. The bodies are frequently decapitated.But burning victims alive introduced a new method of brutality that was likely to be reciprocated by the other sect as the Shiites and Sunnis continue killing one another in unprecedented numbers. The gruesome attack, which came despite a curfew in Baghdad, capped a day in which at least 87 people were killed or found dead in sectarian violence across Iraq.
In Hurriyah, the rampaging militiamen also burned and blew up four mosques and torched several homes in the district, Hussein said.Residents of the troubled district claim the Mahdi Army has begun kidnapping and holding Sunni hostages to use in ritual slaughter at the funerals of Shiite victims of Baghdad's raging sectarian war.Such claims cannot be verified but speak to the deep fear that grips Baghdad, where retaliation has become a part of daily life.President Jalal Talabani emerged from lengthy meetings with other Iraqi leaders late Friday and said the defense minister, Abdul-Qader al-Obaidi, indicated that the Hurriyah neighborhood had been quiet throughout the day.But Imad al-Hasimi, a Sunni elder in Hurriyah, confirmed Hussein's account of the immolations.
He told Al-Arabiya television he saw people who were drenched in kerosene and then set afire, burning to death before his eyes.Two workers at Kazamiyah Hospital also confirmed that bodies from the clashes and immolation had been taken to the morgue at their facility. They refused to be identified by name, saying they feared retribution.And the Association of Muslim Scholars, the most influential Sunni organization in Iraq, said even more victims were burned to death in attacks on the four mosques. It claimed a total of 18 people had died in an inferno at the al-Muhaimin mosque.The extreme violence continued to tear at the Iraq's social fabric even after the government had banned pedestrians and cars from the streets and closed the international airport until further notice in anticipation of a storm of retaliation for the five bombings and two mortar rounds which killed 215 in Sadr City on Thursday.The airport closure forced Talabani to delay his planned Saturday departure for Tehran for meetings with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader also invited Syrian President Bashar Assad, but it now appeared he would not attend.The chaos also cast a shadow over the Amman, Jordan, summit next week between Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Bush.
Politicians loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if al-Maliki went ahead with the meeting. The political bloc, known as Sadrists, is a mainstay of support for al-Maliki. The Mahdi Army is the organization's armed wing.Sadrist lawmaker Qusai Abdul-Wahab blamed U.S. forces for Thursday's attack in Sadr City because they failed to provide security.We say occupation forces are fully responsible for these acts, and we call for the withdrawal of occupation forces or setting a timetable for their withdrawal, Abdul-Wahab said.A U.S. helicopter patrolling above Sadr City came under intense fire from the ground and shot back, wounding two people Friday night, according to police 1st. Lt. Qassim Mohammed and witnesses. The U.S. military said the helicopter had taken fire from six rockets launched from one site and destroyed the launcher. The military statement did not address whether there were casualties. White House spokesman Scott Stanzil said there was no change in the president's plans to meet with al-Maliki on Wednesday and Thursday. Al-Maliki is increasingly at odds with the Bush administration for his refusal to disband militias and associated deaths squads that are believed responsible for killing thousands of Sunnis since an al-Qaida attack last February blew up the Golden Dome Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Mortar fire rained down again on Sunni Islam's holiest shrine in Baghdad, the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Azamiyah neighborhood, wounding at least five people. Several mortars crashed into the area Thursday night within hours of the attacks in Sadr City, one of them puncturing the dome of the shrine and damaging the interior, including its library.
Also, militia gunmen raided a Sunni mosque in the Amil section of west Baghdad, killing two guards, according to police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq. And in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Sunni insurgents blew up the dome of the important Shiite mosque of leading cleric Abdul-Karm al-Madani. In the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, 23 people were killed and 43 wounded when explosives hidden in a parked car and in a suicide belt worn by a pedestrian detonated simultaneously outside a car dealership, said police Brig.
Khalaf al-Jubouri. Altogether, 56 people were killed across in Iraq on Friday, and police said they found 31 bodies dumped throughout Baghdad, most of them tortured before being shot. In Sadr City, cleanup crews continued removing remains of the dead from wreckage of the car bombs, and tents were erected throughout the ramshackle district for relatives to receive condolences. Hundreds of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they walked beside vehicles carrying the caskets of their loved ones toward the holy Shiite city of Najaf for burial. Despite Baghdad's curfew, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, ordered police to guard the processions. As the funeral processions reached the edge of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, the cars and minivans left most of the mourners behind and began the 100-mile drive south to Najaf, a treacherous journey that passes through many checkpoints and areas controlled by Sunni militants in Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death. AP correspondents Thomas Wagner, Bassem Mroue and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.
Palestinians and Israel Say They Are Open to Truce (NEW YORK TIMES)
By STEVEN ERLANGER,Published: November 25, 2006
JERUSALEM, Nov. 24 After another surge of violence in and around the Gaza Strip over the past month, Israel and the Palestinians moved gingerly on Friday toward reinstating an often-broken cease-fire between them.In Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas confirmed that the Palestinian factions including Islamic Jihad, which had previously rejected any cease-fire with Israel would halt their rocket fire if Israel halted its military operations in both the West Bank and Gaza. Israel called the offer a media presentation, but said it was open to a more serious, formal proposal. It’s not a question of, You go first, said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. It’s a question of, What are we talking about? A halt to all Israeli military operations in return for a halt to rocket fire alone would be unacceptable, she said.
On Thursday night in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said that since the summer, Palestinians have been victims of a barbaric Israeli offensive that has left more than 400 dead and 1,500 wounded while thousands of homes have been destroyed. But he added, All that on the pretext of homemade rocket fire, and unfortunately we are giving them such a pretext.In fact, Israel re-entered Gaza in late June in response to the capture of a soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, by a group of Palestinian militants that included Hamas. Hamas said that they were responding to Israeli shelling that had killed civilians; Israel said the shelling was in response to Palestinian rocket fire. Since Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of Gaza in September 2005, at least 1,100 rockets have been fired from Gaza, and four Israelis have died two of them in the past 10 days.
Mr. Abbas, aided by Egypt, is negotiating with Hamas over a national-unity government that could meet the conditions for ending an international freeze on direct budget aid, as well as Israel’s withholding of tax and duties collected on behalf of the Palestinians. The government is also held up by disagreements over the release of Corporal Shalit and different demands about the number of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for him.
Israel wants the corporal back before releasing prisoners. These issues are holding back the prospect of a meeting between Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to make an unannounced visit here to see both men next week. The United States is eager to break the bloody stalemate and at least have Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas talking again.Amid the negotiating, the shooting continued Friday, with Israeli troops in Gaza killing two Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, including a militant who served as a cameraman for Hamas’s military wing. A 10-year-old boy, Abdel Aziz Salman, died from gunshot wounds, hospital workers said. Palestinians said he was hit by an Israeli sniper; the Israeli Army said its troops in Beit Lahiya had no knowledge of the boy’s death.
Prodi, Chirac endorse EU initiative to halt Mideast violence
LUCCA, Italy, Nov 25 (KUNA) Italian Premier Romano Prodi and French President Jacques Chirac Friday called for a greater European role in the Middle East peace process in order to put an end to the tragic situation Palestinians were witnessing due to the continuous Israeli siege on the Gaza strip.The two leaders said in a press conference held after their summit meeting in the Tuscan town of Lucca hoped that such a move would help end the recent bloodshed in the region and pave the way for peace efforts, such as the initiative launched last week by Spain, France and Italy.They also called for the rapid formation of a Palestinian national unity government due to its significance to resume peace talks with Tel Aviv.The initiative calls for an immediate cease-fire, formation of a Palestinian national unity government that could gain international recognition, prisoners exchange, talks between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president and deployment of an international mission in Gaza to monitor the cease-fire. (end) mn.hb,KUNA 242040 Nov 06NNNN
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
INIQUITY(great wickedness or injustice) ABOUNDING.
MATTHEW 24:12
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
ROMANS 1:29-32
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
22 grow-ops in one highrise
Police say filthy apartments were potential fire threats
Nov. 24, 2006. 05:57 AM,PHINJO GOMBU,STAFF REPORTER
When Toronto's drug-squad detectives arrived at an apartment building on Jane St. just north of Sheppard Ave. W. yesterday morning armed with search warrants for five apartments, they knew they'd have a busy day.
But nothing prepared them for what they found when they started searching the other apartments in the building.By 6 p.m. yesterday, stunned detectives had uncovered a $6.6 million marijuana grow-operation with some 6,600 plants being grown in 22 apartments.The grow-ops, scattered throughout nine floors of 2600 Jane St. ,a 13-storey building with roughly 117 units on the northwest corner of a busyintersection anchored by strip-mall businesses and the Jane-Sheppard Mall is one of the largest discovered in Toronto.From what we can tell, they all appear to be built the same way, said Det. Sgt. Dave Malcolm of the Toronto police drug squad. They all appear to be soil-based, they all appear to be filthy and they all appear to be fire threats.
By the time officers finished breaking down doors with battering rams, they'd tallied a massive operation in apartments from the fourth to 12th floors.Police believe the operation has been in place for one year.They say an Asian-Canadian group is involved in the operation. So far two men have been arrested, but police are remaining tight-lipped about their connection, if any, with the group.
Investigators today will continue examining every rental agreement in the building to find out who rented the apartments, Malcolm said.No one was living in the two-bedroom units. Police say growers had planted about 300 plants in each unit, unplugging the ovens and using the 220-volt outlets to power 1,000-watt grow lights.The plants were grown in pots and toxic fertilizer was strewn across the various apartments.It's a soil-based operation, not a true hydroponic grow, Malcolm said. It's not a matter of if there's going to be a fire, it's a matter of when.
A rough calculation of the street value of the plants told detectives that what they had smashed was a $6.6 million operation.Late into the evening, officers gowned in protective suits and face masks continued to haul away such things as lampshades, power cables, light bulbs and paper bags full of marijuana plants, which were carefully marked with stickers.Among the items seized by police were fans used to exhaust air out the windows and help clear the apartments of chemicals that were being used to make the plants grow quicker.It was a streamlined operation yesterday as officers commandeered one of the elevators, while residents used the remaining elevator to get to their apartments.Well past 9 p.m. officers were still systematically going through the apartments, including Unit 1202 on the 12th floor. Inside the apartment, placed on the kitchen floor, were rows upon rows of potted baby marijuana plants. Above the plants was a powerful 1,000-watt bulb. The entrance to the kitchen was shut off from the living room with black garbage bags. The living room itself had a couch, a bed, a television set, and a bunch of DVD and VCR players stacked neatly one on top of the other.
Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things.Harry Birman, senior building manager. In order to prevent police from using a battering ram to break open doors, the building manager called in three locksmiths to open the apartment doors with master keys.Many residents said they weren't surprised by the discovery of grow-ops in the building, but some were taken aback by the scale of the operation.Denis Sanchez, 25, a machinist who lives on the 11th floor, where some of the grow-ops were located, said he knew something was going on because the building had been plagued by power outages in the summer.I guess they were using a lot of electricity, Sanchez said.Toronto police were first alerted to the existence of a grow-op in the building when a fire broke out in April in one of the apartments where marijuana had been grown.Malcolm, however, said that was not what tipped off police, resulting in yesterday's raid in five apartments.
The officer said police are aware that enterprising growers have used apartment buildings for some time.It's not ingenious, it's an extremely lucrative business growing marijuana indoors, Malcolm said. This is unusual in the number of apartments in the same building.One of the biggest draws to Toronto apartment buildings by growers is that many have a single hydro meter for the entire building, enabling extraordinary hydro use in an apartment without ready detection.Building owners have to be more vigilant and notice if their hydro bills go up, Malcolm noted.Harry Birman, a senior manager for the building, however, said that owners are hamstrung by tenant protection laws, which prohibit them from entering apartments when they suspect there is a grow-op. He said they have to give 24 hours' notice. By then they can clear up, these guys are very sophisticated.
This is very upsetting for us, Birman said, adding that the cleanup bill would cost the owners more than $250,000. Landlords need the tools to countermeasure these things. And one of them is the ability to inspect suites when we suspect there are marijuana grow-ops. According to provincial property records, the building is owned by 667661 Ontario Inc., and signs posted in the building said it was being operated by Cando Property Management, 25 Duncanwoods Dr., North York. The company operates numerous apartment buildings in the Greater Toronto Area.Ironically, Birman had just received some signs yesterday that he was going to put up in the lobby saying that management would be inspecting rooms for marijuana grow-ops.When the police arrived, he had to send the guy who was going to put up the signs home.
Oscar Henriquez, 52, who works in a neon sign shop, said he'd smelled marijuana from time to time but didn't think much of it because a lot of people around the building smoked and sold the drug. I try not to know anybody because I'm afraid of the people. I have two kids, Henriquez said.Other residents said the building is located in an area where trouble breaks out routinely. Just last year, a man was shot in the parking lot in front of the building, and one resident said there had been a drive-by shooting at a nearby convenience store this past summer.We've never noticed anything, said an 18-year-old man who lives on the second floor and gave his name as Oscar. Kids smoke in the stairwells, but that's about it.Toronto police planned to hold a news conference today at 11 a.m. to provide further details about the bust.
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