1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, no injuries. 3-Snow, strong winds close N.S. schools. 4-Powerful winds wreak havoc across Los Angeles. 5-The Nation's Weather. 6-Arlene Kushner in Israel. 7-Peres: Invest in the Sea, not Judea/Samaria. 8-8 catastrophes we should be worried about. 9-Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 10-Olmert and Abbas plan Sunday discussion. 11-Re-discover real Jesus, Pope urges in new book. 12-Breaking News: More Than 20 young Israelis Make Confession of Faith at Boombamela New Age Festival. 13-Thousands of Jews Visit Tombs of Joshua, Calev. 14-2007 a prophetic year?
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 = Fri Apr 13 10:00 AM EDT
APR 13,2007
MAP 3.6 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.0 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN SULA, INDONESIA
MAP 5.4 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
MAP 4.4 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.9 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
APR 12,07
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.1 VANUATU
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 4.6 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
MAP 4.6 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.0 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, no injuries By Gerardo Torres
Fri Apr 13, 5:20 AM ET
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.0 shook Mexico early on Friday, sending thousands of tourists in Acapulco fleeing into the streets in panic and knocking out electricity as far away as the capital.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the quake, centered in the Pacific coastal state of Guerrero.Oh man, we felt it. We jumped out of bed and went into the garden. I was fast asleep. It really shook. Things fell off shelves, said Acapulco resident Anna Archdale de Palazuelos.Tourists, many of them in nightgowns and pajamas, were evacuated from their hotels in Acapulco, where 20,000 homes lost electricity.Power also went down in some areas of Mexico City, which was devastated by a 8.1 magnitude earthquake in 1985 that killed around 10,000 people.
We were in the house sleeping. It woke us up. My girlfriend heard a noise like thunder, said Mexico City resident Adan Gutierrez.Inhabitants in the capital's central Tlatelolco district, badly hit 22 years ago, swarmed out into a main square. Mexican radio said the windows of some homes there were broken.Friday's quake hit at 12:42 local time (05:42 GMT) and was centered 40 miles northwest of Acapulco, the biggest city in Guerrero and home to around a million people.Fire services in the city rushed out to check for damage. Authorities in the state capital Chilpancingo said they had no reports of serious damage or injuries.An aftershock was felt in Mexico City about three hours later, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was magnitude 5.4. It was centered close to the first tremor.Emergency services in the capital and in Acapulco both said there were no reports of injuries or damage.
(Additional reporting by Catherine Bremer and Adriana Barrera in Mexico City and Diane Bartz in Washington)
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.
Snow, strong winds close N.S. schools
Friday, April 13, 2007 CBC News
Schools are closed in northern and central Nova Scotia on Friday as winter returns to the region once again.A snowfall warning is in effect, and some areas can expect more than 15 centimetres of snow.
Environment Canada says a low-pressure system is moving south of the province, bringing wet snow, rain and wind gusts of up to 90 km/h along the southwestern shore.The snow is expected to hit Cape Breton by noon.The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board closed all of its schools for the day and the Nova Scotia Community College campus in Truro is also shut down.Motorists are being urged to drive with caution.Just last weekend, Nova Scotians were shovelling out of a storm that dumped snow and ice pellets as it swept across Eastern Canada.
Powerful winds wreak havoc across Los Angeles Thu Apr 12, 7:29 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Powerful winds wreaked havoc across Los Angeles on Thursday, fanning brush fires near one of the city's most exclusive neighborhoods and knocking out power to thousands of homes, officials said. One multi-million dollar home was completely gutted and three more suffered damage, one severely, after a wind-whipped fire erupted near Beverly Hills, fire officials said, while around 76,000 households suffered power cuts.The fire tore through around 35 acres (14 hectares) of tinder-dry brush, driven by winds in excess of 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Ron Myers told local broadcaster KCAL 9.
Television footage showed one large house in the upscale Beverly Glen district next to Beverly Hills completely destroyed by the blaze, which broke out at around 1:00 pm local time (2000 GMT).We have two homes with serious damage while two more have suffered what looks like roof damage at this stage, Myers said.Around 200 firefighters had been deployed to tackle the fire, with aerial support from helicopters which dumped water on the flames.There were no immediate reports of any injuries.
Meanwhile local power companies said thousands of homes had suffered outages because of the winds, which also toppled several large trees across Los Angeles and shrouded the city's downtown skyline in clouds of dust.The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said around 63,000 customers across the city were without power, while Southern California Edison officials put their figure at around 13,000.Most are due to the wind, LADWP spokeswoman Gale Harris said.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
APR 13,07
Forecasters predicted severe thunderstorms from central Texas to the Mississippi Delta, and more snow and rain in the Northeast on Friday. Clear skies were expected in much of the West. Thunderstorms packing hail, high wind and possible tornados were expected from around Waco, Texas, into parts of Louisiana and Arkansas.In the Northeast, snow and rain were expected, with potentially heavy snow in parts of New England.In the West, pleasant weather was expected in most of the region.But in the Northwest, a Pacific storm was expected to push into Puget Sound, bringing cloudy skies and rain to parts.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Thursday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Yellowstone, Wyo., to a high of 89 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
April 12, 2007 Arlene Kushner in Israel
As I report on what is happening in this part of the world, it is almost always implicit (sometimes I state it explicitly) that nothing is written in stone, that it hasn't happened until it's happened, that things might change tomorrow.
Today I have further information -- as the situation slips and slides -- on the prisoner exchange for Shalit and Israel's assessment of Hamas. The Israeli defense establishment is now expressing concern that Hamas is on the verge of splitting into three factions. This turn of events might jeopardize the Shalit deal and have an effect on future relations with the PA.
The three factions:
First is the one led by Khaled Mashaal, in Damascus, who has lowered his profile at the moment. His goal is the take-over of the PLO. Hamas's joining of the PLO was part of the deal at Mecca and something that Abbas has been advancing for some time. It renders a bit ludicrous the notion that Abbas can negotiate with us as head of the PLO and not head of the PA, which is tainted by Hamas. I understand that Mashaal's plans for the PLO down the road include canceling of all agreements with
Israel.Mashaal's current attempt to make it appear as if he has moderated is no more than a devious plot, intelligence warns. His ultimate goal is to become, like Arafat, the supreme Palestinian leader. In reality he has not modified or abandoned his radical, anti-Israel stance. I don't know if he's as slippery as Arafat was, or as innovative (Arafat in his time did things like run a terrorism school and do counterfeiting). But in terms of pure malice and evil, he is, I would say, a match.
Second is a group called the rejectionists, who believe that the coalition with Fatah in the unity government was a betrayal of Hamas principles. They are in-your-face radicals without pretense.
Led by former interior minister Said Siam, former foreign minister Mahammoud Zahar, and former Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, they have the backing of many in the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin Kassam and are spearheading a revolt against positions taken by Mashaal and Haniyeh. The third faction is being labeled as the most radical of the three, which says quite a bit when you consider who the others are. They are located in Gaza and led by one Ahmed Jaabri, who is believed to have carried out the abduction of Shalit. It is this group, reportedly, that drafted the list of prisoners whose release are being demanded in exchange for Shalit. It appears then that this group is calling the shots at some level -- for, as I understand it, the request for the release of these prisoners went from Hamas officially to the Egyptians. At a substantial level, Haniyeh's hands are tied. And if his hands are tied, Abbas is tied hands and feet.
THIS STORY IS INTERESTING BELOW BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS THE DICTATOR OF THE EU COMES FROM THE SEA (OF NATIONS AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN).
REVELATION 13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he
shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR
Peres: Invest in the Sea, not Judea/Samaria
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 12,07
At a conference entitled The Sea as an Economic Resource, Shimon Peres says Israel should stop investing in Jude and Samaria and build artificial islands in the Mediterranean instead. The conference, which opened yesterday (Wednesday) in the seaside town of Mikhmoret, north of Netanya, deals with opportunities and threats presented by the sea. Topics on the agenda include pollution of the sea and coasts, the economic potential of the sea for Israel, and more. The conference is sponsored by the Ruppin Academic Center. In his remarks, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said, The State of Israel has a narrow waistline [less than ten miles between Netanya and Tul Karem, for instance - ed.]... Israel has invested some 60 billion shekels in the territories [Judea, Samaria and Gaza]. Instead of this, we must invest in the sea, and stretch our western border in that direction by building artificial islands.
It was Peres who, as Minister of Defense in the mid-1970's, approved the establishment of the first Jewish communities, Kedumim and Elkanah, in Samaria. He has since become very anti-settlement. Some view with irony his remarks about investing in the sea, especially in light of his well-known position in favor of a New Middle East and well-known Arab threats to throw the Jews into the sea.
Peres' support for artificial islands, though not a lone voice, is also controversial. Plans to build an international airport a quarter-mile offshore from north Tel Aviv are currently being discussed by an inter-ministerial committee. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz recently agreed to proceed with plans on between one and five such islands along the central Israel
coast between Bat Yam and Netanya as a way of alleviating central Israel's land shortage problem.
However, environmental groups such as the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) say that the idea gravely threatens the future of Israel's tranquil Mediterranean waters and sandy beaches. Before the airport-island scheme gains irreversible momentum, IUED urges full exploration of terrestrial alternatives, including direct development costs, environmental impacts, and feasibility of rail transport links to population centers.
Other participants at the Mikhmoret conference include water industry experts, environmentalists, and more. Conference Chairman Buki Oren, a former Chairman of Israel's official Mekorot Water Company, said, There is enough water in the world to supply all its needs; the challenge is to know how to use it wisely and develop appropriate technologies. He said that Israel must take the lead in raising international awareness regarding the use and preservation of water resources. Environmentalist businessman Morris Kahn had criticism both for companies that pollute and for the Environment Ministry's lackluster efforts to enforce ecological regulations. Personal responsibility must beimposed on companies and their directors that pollute the environment and the sea, Kahn said. He added that the Minister of Environment is frequently a politician who never really wanted the job in the first place, noting that the late Yehudit Naot of Shinui was an exception to this rule.
SINS OF PEOPLE
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous 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.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
DECIEVERS WAXING WORSE AND WORSE.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
SCOFFERS MOCKING CHRISTS LITERAL 2ND COMING TO EARTH BODILY.
2 PETER 3:3-7
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
LETHARGY AND INDIFFERENCE AMONG GODS PEOPLE.
REVELATION 3:14-16
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
MORE SIN SIGNS
EPHESIANS 5:5-8
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
HOMOSEXUALS.
GENESIS 19:5
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
ROMANS 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:(HOMOSEXUALITY,AND ALL SEX SINS)
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:(LESBIENS)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,(SODOMITES) and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.(AIDS ETC)
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
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.
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.
UNRIGHTEOUS PEOPLE.
TITUS 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
SEX SINS
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9,14-18
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
GALATIONS 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
ALL THESE SINS ABOVE ARE SURE NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS LIKE GOD TOLD THE WORLD TO DO. THATS WHY THE JUDGEMENTS ON THE EARTH FOR NOT OBEYING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS (NOT 10 SUGGESTIONS)
8 catastrophes we should be worried about
April 12, 2007 - 1:00 a.m. Eastern - By W. F. Walker Johanson WND
There sure is a lot of talk about how global warming is about to destroy the planet! And how, if we don't stop driving our SUVs – and go back to living by candlelight – we'll all be dead within the next 20 years. (Just ask your children; that's what they probably already believe.) But I'd like to propose that there are much worse catastrophes we really should be worried about. Here is my list of the Top 8:
Catastrophe No. 1 – Parents who abdicate their responsibilities
It's stunning to me how few children ever do their homework. What are parents thinking? Don't they know that doing your homework and getting good grades is a valid indicator of future success and happiness? Why do so many parents allow their children to watch so much TV, dress like thugs, disrespect their teachers (and the parents, themselves) and swear so vulgarly? And why do they drive them all over town to play multiple sports … when most haven't read a single book in the past year?
No TV during the week; sit-down meals at home with Mom and Dad to discuss what's going on in each other's lives; more focus on reading, homework and family than on TV, sports, and the Internet; a little leadership to keep children away from bad influences and the wrong crowd would all do wonders to help reverse this national catastrophe.
Catastrophe No. 2 – No at-home moms and no dads at all
I know it's old-fashioned (and home prices really are so outrageously high that you just have to have both parents working) but the sad truth is that ever since moms went back to work, families have gone to hell. And it's families that keep every civilization functioning smoothly. Research has proven that children in families get better grades, have higher graduation rates, drink less alcohol, go to college more, get in trouble less and so on. And where crime is out-of-control it's usually where there are no dads, just lots of moms getting pregnant out-of-wedlock. And all of the attempts to re-define the family as one with two moms or two dads, or with parents who aren't married to each other, is just a feeble attempt to bring credibility to relationships that do not generate the societal advantages of traditional families. Is this a catastrophe? Indeed! And it's way more important than global warming!
Catastrophe No. 3 – Pornography, free sex and pedophilia
Just think about it for a minute … if sex were totally free and readily available, why would men ever choose to get married? This is just one of the many reasons why all major civilizations have always frowned upon promiscuous sex and have taught the next generation that the happiest, most honorable and best place for sex is between a man and a woman who love each other, get married and raise their own children – together – as part of a real family. Families keep civilizations together, and sex keeps husbands in families. Once sex became easily available – in magazines, in movies, on videos, over the phone, in men's rooms, at school – and women just went along with it because no one taught them that it was wrong to have sex outside of marriage – then the compelling draw for men to want to get married was gone. This is too bad. Just think of all the heartbreak this catastrophe has caused. (And we can all remember how disgusting it was to have some older person make sexual advances toward us when we were younger. There's a reason we felt that way. It wasn't just a different sexual orientation; it was wrong.)
Catastrophe No. 4 – Crime and drug use
Probably half of all local TV news is about crime in our cities and neighborhoods. How can this be? And how can we be so blasé in shrugging our shoulders at this tsunami of criminal behavior? There are reasons why crime is so prevalent. Young men are being raised by unwed working (or welfare) moms (or grandmas) who are unable to exert any control over them. They flunk out of school; they get caught up in the drug and youth gang worlds; they have to steal to buy drugs; they have to use guns to defend themselves from other thugs; and (if we're lucky) they wind up in prison, where they just hang-out with even more hardened criminals. Is this a catastrophe that's perhaps more urgent than global warming? Ask the victims of these criminals. They'll tell you which is more important.
Catastrophe No. 5 – Profanity and pop culture
I find it fascinating that the black community gets up-in-arms over a popular comedian's use of the six-letter N-word (when many in their own communities use it all the time), and the liberal gay community gets so indignant over Ann Coulter's use of the six-letter F-word, but no one seems to care that the four-letter F-word is used in nearly every sentence by certain high school students, is used regularly by Hollywood celebrities in movies and comedy skits, is blasted over the radio in many popular songs, and even appears in many of the articles in the upscale New Yorker magazine. I don't ever use this word. It's a vulgarism that merely indicates one's vocabulary, upbringing and education have really been lousy. Is our tolerating its use a sign of an enlightened civilization, or of a depraved one? You choose. And how have we arrived at the current situation where pop-culture elevates all that's bad and denigrates all that's good. Might this be another catastrophe worth worrying about?
Catastrophe No. 6 – The pitiful education Americans receive
I know it's funny when Jay Leno does his Jaywalking man-on-the-street interviews, and when Sean Hannity sends Flipper out to interview young people to expose how little they know about what's really going on the world, but then again it's really not all that funny, is it? America's youth are getting a pitiful education – from elementary school all the way through college. And it's not because there aren't thousands of great teachers trying to make it work. It's because many students put in zero effort, have parents who defend their slacker behavior (and who are quick to criticize the school but slow to criticize their own children), and that the curriculum is so laden-down with politically correct side-issues that the education students got in Thomas Jefferson's day was much more robust than what they get today.
Frankly, it's pitiful that so many young people aren't learning how to read (or to love reading) or how to write, including the basics of good grammar and communication skills so important to getting a good job and living a productive and happy life.
And the caliber of history education – both American and world history – is so poor that more than half of all Americans really don't know that America was the world's first true democracy and is still the Beacon of Freedom and Hope for oppressed people all around the world. Rather, they're often being taught that we're the cause of all of the world's problems (such as global warming, for example), and that socialist, communist and totalitarian regimes have just as much legitimacy and credibility as does the West. How totally absurd!
(And we'll have to save it for another column to discuss the quality of education as it relates to science, math, basic economic principles, finance, job-skills training, etc.)
Catastrophe No. 7 – The America-haters in the news media and Hollywood
Before the hippie Sex Revolution of the Vietnam War era, it used to be that our newspaper and TV reporters were proud Americans, who felt it their duty to report on the horrors our enemies were inflicting upon poor, innocent victims around the world. But consider what's happened since. Now, our mainstream news media see the enemies of America as being on an equal plane with us (except for those nations the press considers superior to us). The Bill of Rights ensures that we have a free press, but what the founders thought that meant is a far cry from what the current media think. The founders meant that the press would be free from government control. But the media see it as giving them the freedom to side with our enemies (whose media, I remind you, are government controlled).
Rather than being objective between the opposing political parties in the U.S., our media think it's their role to be objective critics – not between opposing political parties within America, but between us and our enemies outside of the country. This anti-Americanism is preposterous, and it's a topic Rush Limbaugh reiterates over and over again (thank goodness). But it's what gives the media the freedom to criticize our treatment of POWs at Guantanamo Bay, while not criticizing the treatment (murder) of suicide bombing victims by Islamo-fascists in Iraq. In this way, our own mainstream media are actually complicit in the defeat it hopes America will receive. And, unfortunately, we have a passive electorate that just believes whatever the media claim and seems to have an inability to ever make a judgment between right and wrong – which, of course, opens the door for the bad guys to win.
Catastrophe No. 8 – Liberal Democrats who seem incapable of recognizing 'good' from 'evil'
And speaking of bad guys, why is it that Democrats seem so incapable of recognizing a bad guy when confronted with one? When a thug gets hurt in the process of committing a crime, somehow it's the police's fault.
When a pedophile sexually abuses young boys at Scout camp, somehow it's the BSA's fault for not permitting gay scoutmasters. When parents complain about foul language in school library books, somehow it's the parents who are wrong for wanting to censor the school's right to put foul-language books in their taxpayer-funded libraries. Somehow Christians – who espouse love thy neighbor and being kind and generous to those in need – are the dangerous religious zealots, while the Islamo-fascists – who espouse killing all Jews and non-Muslims – are considered members of the religion of peace. Democrats seem to feel that if we would just treat our enemies nicer – and listen to their legitimate grievances – they would stop hating us. Try this approach on any bully you know and he'll just laugh hilariously, while he continues to beat you to a pulp. What an embarrassingly naïve Neville Chamberlain approach. Perhaps the catastrophe of not recognizing who the bad guys really are will bring the world to an end sooner than the time frame projected for global warming. Which catastrophe do you think is the more imminently dangerous? So there you have it:
Eight catastrophes that we really should be worried about. And if you wonder where global warming comes in on my list, it's just below slow drivers in the fast lane!
Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (JOHN 1:29)
Happy Passover!
Even before I knew Yeshua as my Messiah, Passover was my favorite Jewish holiday.
My family would gather around a festive table for the Seder (holiday meal). With all of my cousins at the table, the story of Passover would be told from the Haggadah (a book), explaining the story of Moses and the Exodus. How the Jewish people were in slavery in Egypt. Moses confronting Pharaoh and the 10 plagues, how the firstborn was spared by the blood of the lamb, and how God parted the Red Sea and delivered the Jewish people from slavery and bondage in Egypt. This year Passover is from April 3-10.
In 1987 at Passover, as a university student, I accepted Yeshua (Jesus) through studying the Messianic prophecies. Passover took on a whole new meaning for me! All those scriptures about Passover and the sacrificial lamb made sense to me. Passover is revealed in many Messianic prophecies and this will be fully explained when our Messianic Prophecy Bible is completed. The prophecies are everywhere. But what I find so amazing is how God's fulfillment of prophecy is so perfect down to the hour! There is absolutely no way that this could be a coincidence!
Part of the biblical Passover practice was that the lamb, which would be used for the Passover, was to be set aside on the 10th day of the month of Nissan. It was then to be tested until the 14th day to be certain it was without spot or blemish before it was killed. Yeshua as the Passover Lamb was also set aside on the 10th day of the Nissan, because it was on this day that He entered Jerusalem, fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. The true significance of His triumphal entry was that on this occasion Yeshua set Himself aside as the Passover Lamb. From the 10th day until the 14th day of Nissan, Yeshua was tested by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, and the Herodians. By answering all of their objections and questions, Yeshua (the Lamb of God) clearly showed that He was without spot and without blemish.
He was later crucified at nine o'clock in the morning and at exactly the same time, the special
Passover animal (lamb or he-goat) sacrifice was offered in the Temple compound. Just as the Jewish leaders were very careful that not a single bone of the Passover lamb was broken, John 19:36 points out that not a single bone of Yeshua was broken either, during His scourging, the crucifixion itself, nor by the Roman soldiers who always broke the victim's legs. Messianic Jews celebrate this good news at Passover, with the recognition that the blood placed on the tops and sides of the doorframes in Egypt was none other than a foreshadowing of the blood Yeshua would shed 1500 years later, which would cover mankind from all of their sins. But what breaks my heart, is that this year 14 million Jewish people worldwide will celebrate Passover in their homes with family and friends who are gathered around the table for the Seder meal, retelling the story of Passover. However, no one has a clue as they read about God's deliverance in Egypt that the Passover lamb has been fulfilled in Yeshua!
Even though the Jewish people are known as the People of the Book, most know little, if anything, about the Messianic prophecies. The rabbis do not investigate or discuss the Messianic prophecies, and they ignore what Moses says: . . without the blood atonement, there is no redemption of sin.
Leviticus 17:11. What began at the first Passover was later fulfilled by Yeshua, once and for all! Our people must hear this good news and the Messianic Prophecy Bible will provide this life-changing truth in a way Jewish people can relate to and understand.
Moses stood up to Pharaoh saying: Let my people go! so that the Jewish people would be freed from bondage and they could worship God in freedom. Today Moses is not here, but you are -- so I'm asking you to please take a stand for the Jewish people so that they can be delivered from eternal death and be set free by knowing Yeshua the Passover Lamb, who gives freedom and eternal life.
Your brother in Messiah's love,
Zev Isaacs Messianic Prophecy BIBLE Project
Olmert and Abbas plan Sunday discussion By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 13, 7:23 AM ET
JERUSALEM - A meeting Sunday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will include a general discussion of a future Palestinian state, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Friday, but is not expected to yield dramatic results. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the two leaders would discuss the political horizon at the Sunday meeting, the first in a series of biweekly meetings that Olmert and Abbas agreed to hold at the prodding of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.Specifically, they will probe the possibility of turning President Bush's vision of a two-state solution into a realistic political track, Erekat said.David Baker, an official in Olmert's office, confirmed that Olmert and Abbas would discuss the composition of a future Palestinian state, but said talks would focus mainly on security and humanitarian issues. Olmert also plans to raise the issue of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas-linked militants since June, 2006, Baker said.
A prisoner swap deal for Shalit's release has been in the works for months, but has not produced results so far.Erekat said the Sunday meeting would take place in Jerusalem, but Baker would not confirm that.The two leaders' agreement to hold regular meetings was announced at the end of March by Rice, who visited the region repeatedly over the past months in an attempt to jumpstart peace talks.Israel opposes final status negotiations with the Palestinians as long as their government includes the Islamist group Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and as long as Palestinian militants continue holding Shalit and firing rockets from Gaza.Because of that opposition, Rice announced that the Olmert-Abbas talks are supposed to include only discussion of the more vaguely defined political horizon.The term appears to include general discussion of a two-state solution but no substantive negotiations on the issues dividing the sides, such as permanent borders, the fate of disputed Jerusalem, and a solution for Palestinian refugees who lost their homes when Israel was formed in 1948.
Re-discover real Jesus, Pope urges in new book By Philip Pullella APR 13,07
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first book since becoming Pontiff, shares his personal search for the face of the Lord and indirectly dismisses popular speculative versions of Christ's life like The Da Vinci Code.Jesus of Nazareth, released on Friday, is a highly complex theological treatise on Christ as both God and man in which the Pope dissects and analyzes scripture passages like the old university professor he once was.Benedict says the reader should not consider the 450-page work, a study he began about two years before his election and finished last September, as an infallible part of official Church teaching, writing: Anyone is free to contradict me.The book is sprinkled with hundreds of Biblical references, citations, and quotes of people as disparate as Karl Marx and Mother Teresa, Socrates and Confucius, Dante and Nietzsche.
I have tried to present the Jesus of the Gospels as the real Jesus, as the historical Jesus in the true sense, writes Benedict, the Vatican's top theologian for nearly 25 years before his election to the papacy in 2005.Recently, Christian churches have fought against depictions or interpretations of Christ which have worked their way into works of fiction such as The Da Vinci Code, which claimed that Jesus married, had children and never rose from the dead.
NOT A MYTH
As if to confront these, Benedict writes:Yes, it really happened. Jesus is not a myth. He is a man made of flesh and blood, a totally real presence in history ... he died and rose from the dead.In presenting the book to the media, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna was more direct in his criticism of recent interpretations of Christ's life.The innumerable fanciful images of Jesus as a revolutionary, as a timid social reformer, as the secret lover of Mary Magdalene, can be put to rest in the ossuary of history, Schonborn told a news conference, adding that the book was based on the solid, historical credibility of the Gospels.For over a century, Biblical scholars have used new critical analytical methods and newly found documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls to portray Jesus as more human than divine. This scholarship reached popular audiences with The Da Vinci Code.
The book, a first volume in a larger work, concentrates on Christ's public ministry. Mostly an academic work blended with personal touches, it starts with his baptism in the Jordan River when he was already an adult and ends with the Transfiguration. While the book is mostly a theological study, at times the Pope offers contemporary relevance to some Biblical accounts.After analyzing the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Pope says rich countries bent on power and profit have plundered and sacked Africa and other poor regions and exported to them the cynicism of a world without God.
Breaking News: More Than 20 young Israelis Make Confession of Faith at Boombamela New Age Festival APR 13,2007
David's Comment: Flying in the Face of the Creator of the Universe Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.(NKJ)
There are dozens of Bible verses like the one above, that speak about the Lord's intention to return all of the Jewish people from both the house of Israel and the house of Judah, to the land of Israel at the end if the current age. Acts 3:21 tells us that Yeshua must remain in heaven until the time of the fulfillment of all the words of the Old Testament prophets.. Thus the return is an absolute pre-requisite before Yeshua can return to establish the Millenium reign. Therefore every Bible believing Christian should be excited by the ongoing return of the Jewish people to the land of their forefathers. Not only excited by, but participating in some way to assist Jewish people from every nation to get back to Israel as soon as possible. We should not be saying MARANATHA unless we are doing something about it.The other fact I want to make mention of is that as a result of the many wars over the last 100 years, more than 100 million people have been made homeless refugees.
The United Nations, and its predecessor, the League of Nations, worked very effectively to permanently re--settle or relocate nearly all of these 100 million refugees - all except the so called Palestinian refugees that is. By the way, the news media has always told the world that the so called Palestinians live in refugee camps giving the impression that they live in tents. Even I had that impression until several years ago. But they do not live in tents. These refugee camps are actually normal apartments in Arab towns and cities.
Why do I write so called Palestinians? Because there is no such thing as a Palestinian. Even the word is illegitimate in God's eyes.The Romans invented the name to remove the connection to God that is found in the name Isra EL. From the restoration of Israel in 1948 until the 6 Day Wa of 1967, Jordan annexed & controlled East Jerusalem & the so called West Bank, with Arabs from every surrounding country living under Jordanian control. During that time there was never any talk of a Palestinian people . There was the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Palestine Post and the Palestine Electric Company, but they were all Jewish. If there was such a thing as Palestinian people, they would be Jewish not Arab. Its all an Islam / media fabrication. i.e. A BIG LIE !!!
One must also ask Why have the so called Palestinians never been permanently resettled ? The answer has become very obvious over the last 2 or 3 weeks. George Bush and Condalesa Rice, under the spell of Saudi Arabian oil pressure, have been pushing Israel''s leadersto agree to the Saudi Middle East peace plan. This plan calls for Israel to return to the 1948 - 1967 boundaries which give Israel only 17% of the territory that God promised to Abraham. Not only that, but the Saudi plan also calls for a total cessation of the return of the Jewish people to Israel. And any Jews that leave would not be allowed back. If it wasnt so serious, it would be laughable
Oh yes, there is one more element in the Saudi peace plan. In 1948 about 650,000 Arabs fled at the command of the Arab League. These people are the so called refugees. Now their offspring numbers more than 3.5 million, and the Saudi plan calls for their right of return to Israel, thus ensuring the eventual demise of the Jewish state of Israel. To cut the size of Israel back, or to stop the return of the Jewish people, or to overun the country with non-Jews, is to delay or totally prevent the return of the Lord.Can you see why the refugees were never resettled ? It was the Devil's plan to keep them as the bait with which to hook the once Christian Western world into standing alongside the Muslim world in the destruction of Israel, preventing the second coming of Messiah.
I can understand the secular unbelievers going along with Satan's plan, but why Bush & Rice, who both claim to be Christians ? And why does the majority of the Church also side with the so called Palestinains ? To close on a positive note, the fact that the Saudi plan has come to the forefront once again, and that Bush & Rice are backing it, is another clear sign that we must surely be living in what the prophets called the end of the age, or the latter days. Let's hasten the day of the Lord's return by praying that our pastors will have a revelation of this message, getting our churches involved in bringing the Jews home. Lets be praying for Bush & Rice to wake up, and lets pray Psalm 83 over all who conspire against the Lord's land and people.The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel . Do not be silent, but share this to your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.
Shabbat Shalom .. . David & Josie SILVER
Thousands of Jews Visit Tombs of Joshua, Calev
by Hillel Fendel APR 13,07 (INN)
Some 5,000 Jews availed themselves last night (Thursday) of the IDF's offer to safeguard the area of the Arab village of Kifel Heres so that they could visit the holy sites. The area lies immediately to the north of the city of Ariel.Twice a year, the security forces enable Jews to visit the holy gravesites of Joshua bin Nun and Calev ben Yefuneh, who led the Israelites in their conquest of the Holy Land, and that of Joshua's father Nun. Some 5,000 visitors arrived throughout last night, experiencing the unusual sensation of walking freely through an Arab village without fear of attack. The three graves are interspersed among the village's houses; two of them are housed by dome-like structures, while Nun's grave is marked only with a large concrete mound. Most worshipers arrived first at the grave of Calev, who led the Tribe of Judah in conquering Hevron. They then walked a few hundreds meters to the north to the burial place of Joshua, and then to the west where lies his father. Joshua and Calev were the only ones of the 12 Spies dispatched by Moses who returned with an encouraging report of the Land of Israel. Pamphlets with special prayers were handed out to the thousands of visitors. The prayers included mentions of the special merit of the three holy men in that they experienced the Exodus from Egypt, the receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, and the conquest of the Promised Land.
The event was organized by the Shomron Local Religious Council. People came from far and near, said one organizer, representing the hareidi, hassidic, religious-Zionist and traditional sectors.
It was moving to see them all come together to proclaim the call of Joshua and Calev, 'Let us ascend to the Land and inherit it, for we will be able to succeed.Pupils of local elementary schools were on hand to celebrate their completion of the Book of Joshua. The Aleinu prayer, traditionally attributed to Joshua, was recited repeatedly. We see that the public votes with its feet on behalf of Judaism's holy site, an organizer said, without consideration of separation fences, inclement weather [it began drizzling around 1:30 AM], or the late hour.Dov Shapira, head of the local religious council, gave a deluxe edition of the Bible, accompanied by Joshua's blessing Be strong and of great courage, to the head of the IDF Nachshon Regiment, in recognition of the army's cooperation in the complex operation. The organizers now wish to visit Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, where the stakes are higher: Joseph is the son of the Patriarch Jacob, and prayers at his burial site carry special merit - while on the other hand, Shechem is more dangerous for Jews than the little village Kifel Hares.
2007 a prophetic year? April 11, 2007
By Marylou Barry
In Genesis, God flooded the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and 40 days after the mountaintops became visible, Noah opened the ark's window and sent out a bird. Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca, and his son Esau was 40 years old when he married Judith. The judge Eli presided over the people of Israel for 40 years. Their first king, Saul, reigned for 40 years; their second king, David, reigned for 40 years; and their third king, Solomon, reigned for 40 years. The number 40 is used a lot in the Bible, and it is sometimes – but not always – connected with punishment. Israel was made to wait 40 years in the desert to enter the Promised Land and was given a 40-year judgment under the Philistines for its misdeeds. Egypt had a 40-year sentence to serve under Babylon's Nebuchadnezzar.
When Moses was given the Ten Commandments, he stayed on the mountain with God for 40 days. He died after living 40 years as a prince, 40 years as an exile, and 40 years as a prophet leading his people to the Promised Land. When they first arrived, he sent 40-year-old Joshua to spy out the land. That mission took – you guessed it – 40 days. According to the New Testament, Jesus began his ministry with a 40-day fast in the wilderness and ended it with a 40-day reunion with his followers. Fast-forward to June 1967.
In the Six-Day War, Israel retook East Jerusalem, propelling the Temple Mount back into Jewish hands for the first time in 19 centuries. Then, in what may have been the first de facto land-for-peace tradeoff in Israeli history, defense minister and acclaimed war hero Moshe Dayan turned custody of the Mount right back over to the defeated Jordanian enemy. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound, he later wrote, matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash.
However, Dayan had attached two conditions to the transfer: 1) a ban on rabble-rousing sermons against the Jews, and 2) freedom of access without limitation or payment. These conditions were never enforced by the Israeli government. Some observers blame the transfer on Dayan's secular worldview. In his biography, Dayan clearly stated that the last thing he wanted was the Beit Hamikdash (Temple building) rebuilt, one commentator wrote. So Dayan gave the Temple Mount back to the Arabs because he wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be a third Temple. There was nothing that Prime Minister Eshkol could do about it. After all, Dayan had just become one of the biggest heroes in Israeli history. One of our biggest heroes may go down in history as one of our biggest screw-ups.Dayan's heroism notwithstanding, Scripture speaks loudly against the giving away of Israel's land to her enemies. Although official title to the Mount was not surrendered, guardianship of it and access to it were, and quite voluntarily so.
The point here might be better explained with an illustration:
On your way to school Monday, the neighborhood bully and two of his friends try to grab your lunch money in an unprovoked attack. You respond by bravely – and unexpectedly – beating the living snot out of all three. Monday night you get to thinking that, wow, maybe it would be best to mend fences because, at some time in the future, that bully might possibly threaten you again. So, on your way to school Tuesday, you startle the young thug by voluntarily handing him your lunch money! Butch, you say, I believe you've changed a lot since you regained consciousness yesterday, so I'll make you a little deal. My lunch money for today is still mine, understand, but I'm going to let you hold on to it for safekeeping. However, I expect you never to harass me again, and I expect you to give me access to my money whenever I want it.
How much regard do you think Butch is going to have for your lunch money – or anything remotely associated with you – from now on? This year, 2007, commemorates the 40-year anniversary of the giveaway of the Temple Mount. Now as before, Israel's enemies surround the city and beat their plowshares into swords. The ancient plateau still stands where old Abraham went to offer Isaac, where King David dreamed of the Temple his son Solomon would build, where 12-year-old Jesus amazed the doctors of the law with his understanding. But now it is populated with monuments to a god the ancient Hebrews never knew, and the 40-year cycle has come around again. Will the merciful God of Israel grant His people a pass on what some might consider one leader's lapse in judgment?
Has the biblical 40-year phenomenon drawn to a close at this late date? Or will 2007 be another prophetic year?
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
PRAY FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Indonesia quake caused huge coral die-off: survey. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Indonesia gets new tsunami warning buoy. 5-Pope says evolution can't be proven. 6-Israel scrambles jets to escort U.S. airliner. 7-China and Japan pledge closer ties. 8-Bombing at Iraqi parliament kills 8. 9-American Christians encouraged to bombard heaven with prayers for persecuted Church.
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 = Thu Apr 12 11:49 AM EDT
APR 12,07
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.0 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
APR 11,07
MAP 2.6 WESTERN MONTANA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 OLYMPIC PENINSULA, WASHINGTON
MAP 4.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.3 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.4 TONGA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 KASHMIR-XINJIANG BORDER REGION
MAP 4.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEW YORK
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 GULF OF ALASKA
Indonesia quake caused huge coral die-off: survey Thu Apr 12, 4:32 AM ET
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A strong earthquake that struck Indonesia's Sumatra island two years ago caused one of the biggest coral die-offs ever documented, a study by scientists from two conservation groups found. The quake itself killed nearly 1,000 people on Nias island off the western coast of Sumatra island.The scientists, who surveyed 35 sites on the coastline, found that the earthquake had raised the island of Simeulue near Nias by up to 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in), exposing most of the coral reefs ringing the island over about 300 km (190 miles) of sea floor, a news statement said.
The scientists were from the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the government-backed Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARCCoERS).This is a story of mass mortality on a scale rarely observed, said Dr Stuart Campbell of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia marine program.In contrast to other threats like coral bleaching, none of the corals uplifted by the earthquake have survived, he said.Campbell said, however, that some sites in Simeulue were now recovering.At many sites, the worst affected species are beginning to decolonize the shallow reef areas. The reefs appear to be returning to what they looked like before the earthquake, although the process may take many years, he said.Dr Andrew Baird of ARCCoERS said the earthquake had provided a one-off chance to study such a phenomenon.
This is a unique opportunity to document a process that occurs maybe once a century and promises to provide new insights into coral recovery processes that until now we could only explore on fossil reefs.
The team said it had documented, for the first time in Indonesian waters, extensive damage to reefs caused by the crown-of-thorns starfish, a coral predator that has inflicted huge damage on reefs in Australia and other parts of the world.People monitoring Indonesian coral reefs now have another threat to watch out for, and not all reef damage should be immediately attributed to human influences, said Baird.Indonesia has some of the richest reef environments in the world, but many have also suffered from human interference.The government has banned the use of chemicals such as cyanide and bombing to catch fish, but such practices still go on in many parts of the huge tropical nation made up of more than 17,000 islands.
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Thu Apr 12, 6:23 AM ET
A spring storm was forecast to dump several inches of snow on parts of the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region Thursday as it moves north toward Canada. Considerable rain was expected in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, and a cold front could bring a quick shot of rain as it sweeps through the Southeast.Rain and snow were expected in parts of the Northwest and southern Rockies.Temperatures were expected to rise into the 30s and 40s in the Northeast and the 70s and 80s in the Southeast. The upper Midwest and parts of the Rockies were expected to see temperatures in the 30s, while the Northwest should see temperatures in the 40s and 50s.Temperatures in the lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 94 degrees at Imperial, Calif.
Indonesia gets new tsunami warning buoy Wed Apr 11, 12:50 PM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia began installing its first locally made tsunami warning buoy in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as part of efforts to protect coastal communities from future killer waves.
The country began setting up an alert network after the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed or left missing at least 230,000 people in a dozen Indian Ocean countries. Two-thirds of the deaths were reported on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.A German-made buoy and one donated by Malaysia are already in place.The $600,000 Indonesian-made device is being installed 160 miles south of the West Java town of Merak, said Ridwan Djamaluddin, chief of Tsunami Buoy Oceanographic Monitoring.
The buoy will be used to detect abnormalities on the surface of the sea the next time an earthquake triggers waves, transmitting data by satellite to officials on land within three minutes, Djamaluddin said.The buoy has been tested and it works well, he said. It will help alert communities on western Java and Sumatra island to tsunamis in the future.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS, THE FOOOOOOOOOOLISH FOOL SAYS IN HIS OR HER HEART THERE IS NO GOD AND NO CREATION BUT BELIEVES THE LIE OF EVOLUTION.
Pope says evolution can't be proven By MELISSA EDDY Wed Apr 11, 5:47 PM ET
BERLIN - Benedict XVI, in his first extended reflections on evolution published as pope, says that Darwin's theory cannot be finally proven and that science has unnecessarily narrowed humanity's view of creation.
In a new book, Creation and Evolution, published Wednesday in German, the pope praised progress gained by science, but cautioned that evolution raises philosophical questions science alone cannot answer.The question is not to either make a decision for a creationism that fundamentally excludes science, or for an evolutionary theory that covers over its own gaps and does not want to see the questions that reach beyond the methodological possibilities of natural science, the pope said.He stopped short of endorsing intelligent design, but said scientific and philosophical reason must work together in a way that does not exclude faith.
I find it important to underline that the theory of evolution implies questions that must be assigned to philosophy and which themselves lead beyond the realms of science, the pope was quoted as saying in the book, which records a meeting with fellow theologians the pope has known for years.In the book, Benedict reflected on a 1996 comment of his predecessor, John Paul II, who said that Charles Darwin's theories on evolution were sound, as long as they took into account that creation was the work of God, and that Darwin's theory of evolution was more than a hypothesis.The pope (John Paul) had his reasons for saying this, Benedict said. But it is also true that the theory of evolution is not a complete, scientifically proven theory.Benedict added that the immense time span that evolution covers made it impossible to conduct experiments in a controlled environment to finally verify or disprove the theory.We cannot haul 10,000 generations into the laboratory, he said.
Evolution has come under fire in recent years by proponents — mostly conservative Protestants of intelligent design, who believe that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than evolving from more primitive forms.The book, which was released by the Sankt Ulrich publishing house, includes reflections of the pope and others who attended a meeting of theological scholars at the papal summer estate in Castel Gandolfo in early September.The pope's remarks were consistent with one of his most important themes, that faith and reason are interdependent.Science has opened up large dimensions of reason ... and thus brought us new insights, the pope wrote. But in the joy at the extent of its discoveries, it tends to take away from us dimensions of reason that we still need.Its results lead to questions that go beyond its methodical canon and cannot be answered within it, he said.Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
I LOVE THAT THE BOEING 777 , AND 3 SETS OF 7 JUDGEMENTS WILL BE HITTING THE EARTH IN THE FUTURE FOR A TOTAL OF 21 JUDGEMENTS. 7 SEALS - 7 TRUMPET - 7 VIAL OR BOWL, GODS WRATH ON SINNERS JUDGEMENTS.
Israel scrambles jets to escort U.S. airliner Thu Apr 12, 10:10 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel scrambled fighter jets to escort an American commercial passenger plane to landing on Wednesday, Israeli officials said. An Airports Authority spokeswoman said Continental Airlines' Flight 90 was intercepted after it failed to identify itself upon entering Israeli airspace.The plane, a Boeing 777, was on a scheduled flight from Newark, New Jersey in the United States. All passengers and crew disembarked safely, Israeli officials said.The Transportation Ministry said it was investigating whether there was a technical reason for the initial lack of communication between the plane and Israeli ground control.
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)
China and Japan pledge closer ties By KOZO MIZOGUCHI, Associated Press Writer APR 12,07
TOKYO - Strengthening a fragile detente, Japanese and Chinese leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged Wednesday to work together on North Korea, energy development and the environment, while defusing thorny disputes over history and territory. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is on the first visit to Japan by a Chinese leader in nearly seven years, building on a trip by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Beijing last year to salvage seriously damaged ties.The two declared firm intentions to move forward on rebuilding relations, signing agreements on energy and the environment and issuing a jointstatement that laid out a series of issues for the countries to cooperate on.
We must build future-oriented and stable Japan-China relations, Abe said at a banquet in Wen's honor. We want to expand our common interests through strengthening dialogue in various fields. Wen said he expected his three-day visit to be a success.We must keep up the momentum toward building friendly ties that have been forged between the governments and peoples of the two countries, he said. Japan and China are at a crossroads where we must inherit the past while opening up the future.They signed a series of agreements. An environmental accord called for the two to work on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by 2013. China's emissions are not capped under the Kyoto pact, but they are a rising concern as the economy rapidly expands.The other agreement committed Japan and China to cooperate on developing energy resources.In the joint statement, the two vowed to seek ways to jointly develop gas deposits in disputed waters, pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and cooperate on intellectual property rights.
The declaration also made a veiled reference to the bitter dispute over wartime history. China still nurses resentment over Japanese invasions in the 1930s and 1940s, while Japanese nationalists accuse Beijing of exaggerating accounts of atrocities for political gain.We resolve to face up to history and open up good, forward-looking relations toward a beautiful future, the statement said.Wen maintained that theme as he addressed the Japanese Parliament Thursday, calling on Tokyo not to forget those past military aggressions.Wen the first Chinese leader to address Japan's parliament in 22 years said the past would have to be confronted in order for ties to improve, though he expressed satisfaction that Japanese leaders had shown regret for the wartime past.
Japan's invasions caused tremendous damage to the Chinese, Wen added. The deep scars left in the hearts of the Chinese people cannot be described.To reflect on history is not to dwell on hard feelings but to remember and learn from the past to open a better future, he continued, adding that he hoped Japan's apologies would be turned into actions.He told Parliament that improved ties benefit both nations.
China's opening up and overnight modernization drive benefits from the support and help of the Japanese government and people. The Chinese people will never forget that.In an important nod to Tokyo, Beijing also offered understanding and sympathy for Japan's humanitarian concerns regarding North Korea a reference to Japan's demand for resolution of Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese citizens.
The visit was a high-profile follow-up to Abe's landmark summit with Chinese leaders in Beijing in October, which staunched a downward spiral in ties that had troubled the region and Japan's top ally, the United States. The two neighbors have good reasons to grow closer. China, including Hong Kong, is Japan's No. 1 trading partner and Japanese companies are eager for access to Chinese consumers and labor. China, meanwhile, seeks Japanese investment and technology transfers. While the emphasis was on cooperation, both leaders broached areas of concern. Wen, for instance, warned that history could be an obstacle to improved ties if not handled well, while Abe urged China to be more transparent about its troubling surge in military spending. Wen assured Abe that Beijing would use its armed forces only for national security, Japanese officials said. Wen also pointed out the dispute over gas deposits in the East China Sea. The two countries have not demarcated their exclusive economic zones in the area, and Japan has objected to Chinese exploitation of the deposits, saying some of the gas belongs to Japan. Joint talks so far have achieved little.
One of the remaining problems is the issue of the East China Sea, Wen said, quoted by Hiroshige Seko, an Abe adviser. Wen arrived just hours after the two countries signed an accord lifting Beijing's four-year ban on Japanese rice imports. China banned imports in 2003, claiming Japanese rice did not qualify for its tightened quarantine system. The Chinese premier was scheduled to meet with business leaders and the emperor on Thursday, and even join in a game of baseball with college students in western Japan on Friday before returning to China. Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, had put China relations into the deep freeze with repeated visits to a Tokyo shrine honoring Japanese war dead, including executed war criminals. Abe moved quickly to repair ties with visits to Beijing and Seoul in October, only weeks after taking office. In his meeting with Wen, Abe said he hoped to visit China again this year, and invited Chinese President Hu Jintao to come to Japan next year, officials said. But the wartime past was still a potentially divisive issue. Earlier this week, Japanese nationalist textbook writers released an open letter to Wen, challenging him to furnish proof of the 1937 Nanking massacre, in which Japanese troops killed thousands of civilians. China claims the death toll reached 300,000. Associated Press writer Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo also contributed to this report.
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)
Bombing at Iraqi parliament kills 8 By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer APR 12,07
BAGHDAD - A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints.Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found inside the building near the dining hall. A U.S. military bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.
It reminds us, though, that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy, he said at the White House.Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida, the U.S. military spokesman said.Earlier, Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded.After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one including lawmakers was allowed to enter or leave.A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt.
The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support.
We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad, added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence.One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said.The other legislator killed was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front that holds 44 seats in parliament, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department.
A third dead lawmaker was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member.Abu Bakr said he saw the bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker, he said. Several other lawmakers also said they saw the limbs, believed to be those of the bomber. Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution apparently concerned that an attack might take place. But a security scanner that checks pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said. The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt. Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was aimed at everyone all parties our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society.
Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also underlines the failure of the government's security plan.The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified, he said. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said its officials were investigating the nature and source of the explosion. No embassy employees or U.S. citizens were affected.Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. A few brothers (fellow lawmakers) happened to be in the cafeteria at the time of the explosion, al-Amiri told Al-Arabiya television. But had they been able to place this bomb inside the meeting hall, it would have been a catastrophe.Al-Amiri said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies. A television camera and videotape belonging to a Western TV crew was confiscated by security guards moments after the attack.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare.
The worst known attack inside the enclave occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when insurgents detonated explosives at a market and a popular cafe, killing six people. That was the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans a civilian and a Navy sailor on the eve of landmark elections.
Four other Americans were wounded. In addition to killing 10 people, Thursday's bombing of the al-Sarafiya bridge wounded 26, hospital officials said, and police were trying to rescue as many as 20 people whose cars plummeted off the span. Waves lapped against twisted girders as patrol boats searched for survivors and U.S. helicopters flew overhead. Scuba divers donned flippers and waded in from the riverbanks. Farhan al-Sudani, a 34-year-old Shiite businessman who lives near the bridge, said the blast woke him at dawn. A huge explosion shook our house and I thought it would demolish our house. Me and my wife jumped immediately from our bed, grabbed our three kids and took them outside, he said. The al-Sarafiya bridge connected two northern Baghdad neighborhoods Waziriyah, a mostly Sunni enclave, and Utafiyah, a Shiite area. Police blamed the attack on a suicide truck bomber, but AP Television News video showed the bridge broken in two places perhaps the result of two blasts.
Cement pilings that support the steel structure were left crumbling. At the base of one lay a charred vehicle engine, believed to be that of the truck bomb. The al-Sarafiya bridge is believed to be at least 75 years old, built by the British in the early part of the 20th century.
It is one of Baghdad's monuments. This is really damaging for Iraq. We are losing a lot of our history every day, said Ahmed Abdul-Karim, who lives nearby. The al-Sarafiya bridge has a duplicate in Fallujah that was built later and made infamous in March 2004 when angry mobs hung the charred bodies of U.S. contractors from its girders. The destroyed span is linked to Baghdad's modern history it is one of our famous monuments, said Haider Ghazala, a 52-year-old Iraqi architect. Attacking this bridge affects the morale of Iraqis and especially Baghdad residents who feel proud of this bridge. They (insurgents) want to demolish everything that connects the people with this land, he said. Before the al-Sarafiya bridge was destroyed, nine spans across the Tigris linked western and eastern Baghdad.
The river now serves as a de facto dividing line between the mostly Shiite east and the largely Sunni west of the city, a reality of more than a year of sectarian fighting that has forced Sunnis to flee neighborhoods where they were a minority and likewise for Shiites.
Baghdad's neighborhoods had been very mixed before the war but hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since then as militants from both Muslim sects have sought to cleanse their neighborhoods of rivals. There have been unconfirmed reports for months that Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida in Iraq were planning a campaign to blow up the city's bridges. U.S. military headquarters near the Baghdad airport and the Green Zone, site of the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi parliament and government, are both on the west side of the river. Also Thursday, the U.S. military said its troops killed two suspected insurgents and captured 17 in raids across the country. Associated Press Writer Lauren Frayer contributed to this
report.
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.
American Christians encouraged to bombard heaven with prayers for persecuted Church Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com April 11, 2007
The president of the Dallas, Texas-based ministry Gospel for Asia says Christians in America have an obligation to pray for believers throughout the world who are suffering for their faith. And as reports of persecution against Christians continue to increase throughout India, GFA founder K.P. Yohannan says believers in America must not forget the modern day persecuted Church.Yohannan, who spends half of his time in Asia consulting with missionary leaders and speaking at missionary gatherings, says many American Christians fail to realize the tough, lifethreatening conditions faced by believers in other nations. He encourages Christians in the United States to pray specifically for those who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. I think here we have a greater responsibility here much is given; much shall be required, the GFA spokesman observes. And I wish that every believer would be willing to wake up one hour early every morning and spend that hour before a world map, he says, praying and crying out to God for this generation, some two billion people that wait to hear that Jesus died for them on the cross.Yohannan says many Christians in America are focused on materialism, instead of eternal matters. That is one reason why he urges U.S. believers to pray and fast for the persecuted Church worldwide.
We too, by the grace of God, can make a difference in the world, the ministry founder says, if only we are willing to accept this kind of call from Christ, and not be satisfied with just going to church and hearing good sermons and having a comfortable feeling with our lifestyle. The call of God, Yohannan contends, is much more serious than that.Gospel for Asia currently supports more than 16,000 church planters in ten countries of South Asia in the heart of that part of the world known to missions strategists as the 10/40 window. This area of the Eastern hemisphere, from ten degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator, is where most of the people groups as yet unreached by the gospel of Jesus Christ reside.American Family News Network
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 = Thu Apr 12 11:49 AM EDT
APR 12,07
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.3 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 4.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.0 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 TARAPACA, CHILE
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
APR 11,07
MAP 2.6 WESTERN MONTANA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 OLYMPIC PENINSULA, WASHINGTON
MAP 4.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 5.2 SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 3.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.3 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.4 TONGA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 KASHMIR-XINJIANG BORDER REGION
MAP 4.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEW YORK
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 GULF OF ALASKA
Indonesia quake caused huge coral die-off: survey Thu Apr 12, 4:32 AM ET
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A strong earthquake that struck Indonesia's Sumatra island two years ago caused one of the biggest coral die-offs ever documented, a study by scientists from two conservation groups found. The quake itself killed nearly 1,000 people on Nias island off the western coast of Sumatra island.The scientists, who surveyed 35 sites on the coastline, found that the earthquake had raised the island of Simeulue near Nias by up to 1.2 meters (3 ft 11 in), exposing most of the coral reefs ringing the island over about 300 km (190 miles) of sea floor, a news statement said.
The scientists were from the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the government-backed Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (ARCCoERS).This is a story of mass mortality on a scale rarely observed, said Dr Stuart Campbell of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Indonesia marine program.In contrast to other threats like coral bleaching, none of the corals uplifted by the earthquake have survived, he said.Campbell said, however, that some sites in Simeulue were now recovering.At many sites, the worst affected species are beginning to decolonize the shallow reef areas. The reefs appear to be returning to what they looked like before the earthquake, although the process may take many years, he said.Dr Andrew Baird of ARCCoERS said the earthquake had provided a one-off chance to study such a phenomenon.
This is a unique opportunity to document a process that occurs maybe once a century and promises to provide new insights into coral recovery processes that until now we could only explore on fossil reefs.
The team said it had documented, for the first time in Indonesian waters, extensive damage to reefs caused by the crown-of-thorns starfish, a coral predator that has inflicted huge damage on reefs in Australia and other parts of the world.People monitoring Indonesian coral reefs now have another threat to watch out for, and not all reef damage should be immediately attributed to human influences, said Baird.Indonesia has some of the richest reef environments in the world, but many have also suffered from human interference.The government has banned the use of chemicals such as cyanide and bombing to catch fish, but such practices still go on in many parts of the huge tropical nation made up of more than 17,000 islands.
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Thu Apr 12, 6:23 AM ET
A spring storm was forecast to dump several inches of snow on parts of the Northern Plains and Great Lakes region Thursday as it moves north toward Canada. Considerable rain was expected in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, and a cold front could bring a quick shot of rain as it sweeps through the Southeast.Rain and snow were expected in parts of the Northwest and southern Rockies.Temperatures were expected to rise into the 30s and 40s in the Northeast and the 70s and 80s in the Southeast. The upper Midwest and parts of the Rockies were expected to see temperatures in the 30s, while the Northwest should see temperatures in the 40s and 50s.Temperatures in the lower 48 states Wednesday ranged from a low of 3 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 94 degrees at Imperial, Calif.
Indonesia gets new tsunami warning buoy Wed Apr 11, 12:50 PM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia began installing its first locally made tsunami warning buoy in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as part of efforts to protect coastal communities from future killer waves.
The country began setting up an alert network after the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed or left missing at least 230,000 people in a dozen Indian Ocean countries. Two-thirds of the deaths were reported on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island.A German-made buoy and one donated by Malaysia are already in place.The $600,000 Indonesian-made device is being installed 160 miles south of the West Java town of Merak, said Ridwan Djamaluddin, chief of Tsunami Buoy Oceanographic Monitoring.
The buoy will be used to detect abnormalities on the surface of the sea the next time an earthquake triggers waves, transmitting data by satellite to officials on land within three minutes, Djamaluddin said.The buoy has been tested and it works well, he said. It will help alert communities on western Java and Sumatra island to tsunamis in the future.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS, THE FOOOOOOOOOOLISH FOOL SAYS IN HIS OR HER HEART THERE IS NO GOD AND NO CREATION BUT BELIEVES THE LIE OF EVOLUTION.
Pope says evolution can't be proven By MELISSA EDDY Wed Apr 11, 5:47 PM ET
BERLIN - Benedict XVI, in his first extended reflections on evolution published as pope, says that Darwin's theory cannot be finally proven and that science has unnecessarily narrowed humanity's view of creation.
In a new book, Creation and Evolution, published Wednesday in German, the pope praised progress gained by science, but cautioned that evolution raises philosophical questions science alone cannot answer.The question is not to either make a decision for a creationism that fundamentally excludes science, or for an evolutionary theory that covers over its own gaps and does not want to see the questions that reach beyond the methodological possibilities of natural science, the pope said.He stopped short of endorsing intelligent design, but said scientific and philosophical reason must work together in a way that does not exclude faith.
I find it important to underline that the theory of evolution implies questions that must be assigned to philosophy and which themselves lead beyond the realms of science, the pope was quoted as saying in the book, which records a meeting with fellow theologians the pope has known for years.In the book, Benedict reflected on a 1996 comment of his predecessor, John Paul II, who said that Charles Darwin's theories on evolution were sound, as long as they took into account that creation was the work of God, and that Darwin's theory of evolution was more than a hypothesis.The pope (John Paul) had his reasons for saying this, Benedict said. But it is also true that the theory of evolution is not a complete, scientifically proven theory.Benedict added that the immense time span that evolution covers made it impossible to conduct experiments in a controlled environment to finally verify or disprove the theory.We cannot haul 10,000 generations into the laboratory, he said.
Evolution has come under fire in recent years by proponents — mostly conservative Protestants of intelligent design, who believe that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force rather than evolving from more primitive forms.The book, which was released by the Sankt Ulrich publishing house, includes reflections of the pope and others who attended a meeting of theological scholars at the papal summer estate in Castel Gandolfo in early September.The pope's remarks were consistent with one of his most important themes, that faith and reason are interdependent.Science has opened up large dimensions of reason ... and thus brought us new insights, the pope wrote. But in the joy at the extent of its discoveries, it tends to take away from us dimensions of reason that we still need.Its results lead to questions that go beyond its methodical canon and cannot be answered within it, he said.Associated Press writer Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
I LOVE THAT THE BOEING 777 , AND 3 SETS OF 7 JUDGEMENTS WILL BE HITTING THE EARTH IN THE FUTURE FOR A TOTAL OF 21 JUDGEMENTS. 7 SEALS - 7 TRUMPET - 7 VIAL OR BOWL, GODS WRATH ON SINNERS JUDGEMENTS.
Israel scrambles jets to escort U.S. airliner Thu Apr 12, 10:10 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel scrambled fighter jets to escort an American commercial passenger plane to landing on Wednesday, Israeli officials said. An Airports Authority spokeswoman said Continental Airlines' Flight 90 was intercepted after it failed to identify itself upon entering Israeli airspace.The plane, a Boeing 777, was on a scheduled flight from Newark, New Jersey in the United States. All passengers and crew disembarked safely, Israeli officials said.The Transportation Ministry said it was investigating whether there was a technical reason for the initial lack of communication between the plane and Israeli ground control.
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)
China and Japan pledge closer ties By KOZO MIZOGUCHI, Associated Press Writer APR 12,07
TOKYO - Strengthening a fragile detente, Japanese and Chinese leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged Wednesday to work together on North Korea, energy development and the environment, while defusing thorny disputes over history and territory. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is on the first visit to Japan by a Chinese leader in nearly seven years, building on a trip by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Beijing last year to salvage seriously damaged ties.The two declared firm intentions to move forward on rebuilding relations, signing agreements on energy and the environment and issuing a jointstatement that laid out a series of issues for the countries to cooperate on.
We must build future-oriented and stable Japan-China relations, Abe said at a banquet in Wen's honor. We want to expand our common interests through strengthening dialogue in various fields. Wen said he expected his three-day visit to be a success.We must keep up the momentum toward building friendly ties that have been forged between the governments and peoples of the two countries, he said. Japan and China are at a crossroads where we must inherit the past while opening up the future.They signed a series of agreements. An environmental accord called for the two to work on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by 2013. China's emissions are not capped under the Kyoto pact, but they are a rising concern as the economy rapidly expands.The other agreement committed Japan and China to cooperate on developing energy resources.In the joint statement, the two vowed to seek ways to jointly develop gas deposits in disputed waters, pursue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and cooperate on intellectual property rights.
The declaration also made a veiled reference to the bitter dispute over wartime history. China still nurses resentment over Japanese invasions in the 1930s and 1940s, while Japanese nationalists accuse Beijing of exaggerating accounts of atrocities for political gain.We resolve to face up to history and open up good, forward-looking relations toward a beautiful future, the statement said.Wen maintained that theme as he addressed the Japanese Parliament Thursday, calling on Tokyo not to forget those past military aggressions.Wen the first Chinese leader to address Japan's parliament in 22 years said the past would have to be confronted in order for ties to improve, though he expressed satisfaction that Japanese leaders had shown regret for the wartime past.
Japan's invasions caused tremendous damage to the Chinese, Wen added. The deep scars left in the hearts of the Chinese people cannot be described.To reflect on history is not to dwell on hard feelings but to remember and learn from the past to open a better future, he continued, adding that he hoped Japan's apologies would be turned into actions.He told Parliament that improved ties benefit both nations.
China's opening up and overnight modernization drive benefits from the support and help of the Japanese government and people. The Chinese people will never forget that.In an important nod to Tokyo, Beijing also offered understanding and sympathy for Japan's humanitarian concerns regarding North Korea a reference to Japan's demand for resolution of Pyongyang's kidnappings of Japanese citizens.
The visit was a high-profile follow-up to Abe's landmark summit with Chinese leaders in Beijing in October, which staunched a downward spiral in ties that had troubled the region and Japan's top ally, the United States. The two neighbors have good reasons to grow closer. China, including Hong Kong, is Japan's No. 1 trading partner and Japanese companies are eager for access to Chinese consumers and labor. China, meanwhile, seeks Japanese investment and technology transfers. While the emphasis was on cooperation, both leaders broached areas of concern. Wen, for instance, warned that history could be an obstacle to improved ties if not handled well, while Abe urged China to be more transparent about its troubling surge in military spending. Wen assured Abe that Beijing would use its armed forces only for national security, Japanese officials said. Wen also pointed out the dispute over gas deposits in the East China Sea. The two countries have not demarcated their exclusive economic zones in the area, and Japan has objected to Chinese exploitation of the deposits, saying some of the gas belongs to Japan. Joint talks so far have achieved little.
One of the remaining problems is the issue of the East China Sea, Wen said, quoted by Hiroshige Seko, an Abe adviser. Wen arrived just hours after the two countries signed an accord lifting Beijing's four-year ban on Japanese rice imports. China banned imports in 2003, claiming Japanese rice did not qualify for its tightened quarantine system. The Chinese premier was scheduled to meet with business leaders and the emperor on Thursday, and even join in a game of baseball with college students in western Japan on Friday before returning to China. Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, had put China relations into the deep freeze with repeated visits to a Tokyo shrine honoring Japanese war dead, including executed war criminals. Abe moved quickly to repair ties with visits to Beijing and Seoul in October, only weeks after taking office. In his meeting with Wen, Abe said he hoped to visit China again this year, and invited Chinese President Hu Jintao to come to Japan next year, officials said. But the wartime past was still a potentially divisive issue. Earlier this week, Japanese nationalist textbook writers released an open letter to Wen, challenging him to furnish proof of the 1937 Nanking massacre, in which Japanese troops killed thousands of civilians. China claims the death toll reached 300,000. Associated Press writer Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo also contributed to this report.
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)
Bombing at Iraqi parliament kills 8 By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer APR 12,07
BAGHDAD - A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria Thursday, killing at least eight people in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone.
The blast came hours after a suicide truck bomb exploded on a major bridge in Baghdad, collapsing the steel structure and sending cars tumbling into the Tigris River, police and witnesses said. At least 10 people were killed.The parliament bombing was believed to be the deadliest attack in the Green Zone, the enclave that houses Iraq's leadership as well as the U.S. Embassy, and is secured by American and Iraqi checkpoints.Security officials at parliament, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said they believed the bomber was a bodyguard of a Sunni member of parliament who was not among the dead. They would not name the member of parliament.
The officials also said two satchel bombs were found inside the building near the dining hall. A U.S. military bomb squad took the explosives away and detonated them without incident.President Bush strongly condemned the attack, saying: My message to the Iraqi government is `We stand with you.
It reminds us, though, that there is an enemy willing to bomb innocent people in a symbol of democracy, he said at the White House.Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told The Associated Press that eight people were killed in the attack, which witness accounts indicated was carried out by a suicide bomber.We don't know at this point who it was. We do know in the past that suicide vests have been used predominantly by al-Qaida, the U.S. military spokesman said.Earlier, Iraqi officials said the bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, and at least three of them were killed. State television said 30 people were wounded.After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one including lawmakers was allowed to enter or leave.A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt.
The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support.
We know that there is a security problem in Baghdad, added Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at the State Department. This is still early in the process and I don't think anyone expected that there wouldn't be counter-efforts by terrorists to undermine the security presence.One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said party leader Saleh al-Mutlaq. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said.The other legislator killed was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front that holds 44 seats in parliament, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department.
A third dead lawmaker was Niamah al-Mayahi, a member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance bloc, said Saleh al-Aujaili, a fellow member.Abu Bakr said he saw the bomber's body amid the ghastly scene. I saw two legs in the middle of the cafeteria and none of those killed or wounded lost their legs which means they must be the legs of the suicide attacker, he said. Several other lawmakers also said they saw the limbs, believed to be those of the bomber. Earlier in the day, security officials used dogs to check people entering the building in a rare precaution apparently concerned that an attack might take place. But a security scanner that checks pedestrians at the entrance to the Green Zone near the parliament building was not working Thursday, Abu Bakr said. People were searched only by hand and had to pass through metal detectors, he said. The brazen bombing was the clearest evidence yet that militants can penetrate even the most secure locations. Masses of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are on the streets in the ninth week of a security crackdown in the capital and security measures inside the Green Zone have been significantly hardened.
The U.S. military reported April 1 that two suicide vests were found in the Green Zone, also home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government. A rocket attack last month killed two Americans, a soldier and a contractor. A few days earlier, a rocket landed within 100 yards of a building where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding a news conference. No one was hurt. Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, said the attack was aimed at everyone all parties our parliament in general being a symbol and a representative of all segments of Iraqi society.
Al-Ilyan, who is in Jordan recovering from knee surgery, said the blast also underlines the failure of the government's security plan.The plan is 100 percent a failure. It's a complete flop. The explosion means that instability and lack of security has reached the Green Zone, which the government boasts is heavily fortified, he said. U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said its officials were investigating the nature and source of the explosion. No embassy employees or U.S. citizens were affected.Hadi al-Amiri, head of the parliament's security and defense committee, said the blast shook the building just after legislators ended their main meeting, and broke into smaller committees. A few brothers (fellow lawmakers) happened to be in the cafeteria at the time of the explosion, al-Amiri told Al-Arabiya television. But had they been able to place this bomb inside the meeting hall, it would have been a catastrophe.Al-Amiri said Iraqi forces are in charge of security in the building, and that explosives could have been smuggled in amid restaurant supplies. A television camera and videotape belonging to a Western TV crew was confiscated by security guards moments after the attack.
Attacks in the Green Zone are rare.
The worst known attack inside the enclave occurred Oct. 14, 2004, when insurgents detonated explosives at a market and a popular cafe, killing six people. That was the first bombing in the sprawling region. On Nov. 25, 2004, a mortar attack inside the zone killed four employees of a British security firm and wounded at least 12. On Jan. 29, 2005, insurgents hit the U.S. Embassy compound with a rocket, killing two Americans a civilian and a Navy sailor on the eve of landmark elections.
Four other Americans were wounded. In addition to killing 10 people, Thursday's bombing of the al-Sarafiya bridge wounded 26, hospital officials said, and police were trying to rescue as many as 20 people whose cars plummeted off the span. Waves lapped against twisted girders as patrol boats searched for survivors and U.S. helicopters flew overhead. Scuba divers donned flippers and waded in from the riverbanks. Farhan al-Sudani, a 34-year-old Shiite businessman who lives near the bridge, said the blast woke him at dawn. A huge explosion shook our house and I thought it would demolish our house. Me and my wife jumped immediately from our bed, grabbed our three kids and took them outside, he said. The al-Sarafiya bridge connected two northern Baghdad neighborhoods Waziriyah, a mostly Sunni enclave, and Utafiyah, a Shiite area. Police blamed the attack on a suicide truck bomber, but AP Television News video showed the bridge broken in two places perhaps the result of two blasts.
Cement pilings that support the steel structure were left crumbling. At the base of one lay a charred vehicle engine, believed to be that of the truck bomb. The al-Sarafiya bridge is believed to be at least 75 years old, built by the British in the early part of the 20th century.
It is one of Baghdad's monuments. This is really damaging for Iraq. We are losing a lot of our history every day, said Ahmed Abdul-Karim, who lives nearby. The al-Sarafiya bridge has a duplicate in Fallujah that was built later and made infamous in March 2004 when angry mobs hung the charred bodies of U.S. contractors from its girders. The destroyed span is linked to Baghdad's modern history it is one of our famous monuments, said Haider Ghazala, a 52-year-old Iraqi architect. Attacking this bridge affects the morale of Iraqis and especially Baghdad residents who feel proud of this bridge. They (insurgents) want to demolish everything that connects the people with this land, he said. Before the al-Sarafiya bridge was destroyed, nine spans across the Tigris linked western and eastern Baghdad.
The river now serves as a de facto dividing line between the mostly Shiite east and the largely Sunni west of the city, a reality of more than a year of sectarian fighting that has forced Sunnis to flee neighborhoods where they were a minority and likewise for Shiites.
Baghdad's neighborhoods had been very mixed before the war but hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced since then as militants from both Muslim sects have sought to cleanse their neighborhoods of rivals. There have been unconfirmed reports for months that Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida in Iraq were planning a campaign to blow up the city's bridges. U.S. military headquarters near the Baghdad airport and the Green Zone, site of the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi parliament and government, are both on the west side of the river. Also Thursday, the U.S. military said its troops killed two suspected insurgents and captured 17 in raids across the country. Associated Press Writer Lauren Frayer contributed to this
report.
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.
American Christians encouraged to bombard heaven with prayers for persecuted Church Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com April 11, 2007
The president of the Dallas, Texas-based ministry Gospel for Asia says Christians in America have an obligation to pray for believers throughout the world who are suffering for their faith. And as reports of persecution against Christians continue to increase throughout India, GFA founder K.P. Yohannan says believers in America must not forget the modern day persecuted Church.Yohannan, who spends half of his time in Asia consulting with missionary leaders and speaking at missionary gatherings, says many American Christians fail to realize the tough, lifethreatening conditions faced by believers in other nations. He encourages Christians in the United States to pray specifically for those who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. I think here we have a greater responsibility here much is given; much shall be required, the GFA spokesman observes. And I wish that every believer would be willing to wake up one hour early every morning and spend that hour before a world map, he says, praying and crying out to God for this generation, some two billion people that wait to hear that Jesus died for them on the cross.Yohannan says many Christians in America are focused on materialism, instead of eternal matters. That is one reason why he urges U.S. believers to pray and fast for the persecuted Church worldwide.
We too, by the grace of God, can make a difference in the world, the ministry founder says, if only we are willing to accept this kind of call from Christ, and not be satisfied with just going to church and hearing good sermons and having a comfortable feeling with our lifestyle. The call of God, Yohannan contends, is much more serious than that.Gospel for Asia currently supports more than 16,000 church planters in ten countries of South Asia in the heart of that part of the world known to missions strategists as the 10/40 window. This area of the Eastern hemisphere, from ten degrees latitude north of the equator to 40 degrees latitude north of the equator, is where most of the people groups as yet unreached by the gospel of Jesus Christ reside.American Family News Network
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
IRAN HELPS IRAQ BUILD BOMBS
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Spring storm hits Saskatchewan. 3-Unsettled weather continues through weekend. 4-North Korea says ready to move on nuclear pledge. 5-Palestinian minister seeks $1.3 billion in aid. 6-Attorney General Did Not Approve Hevron Evacuation. 7-Israel Threatened in North, South 8-Dutch government favours new look treaty for the EU. 9-Trade ministers of G-4 begin talks Thursday 10-Iran may be helping Iraqis build bombs.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Wed Apr 11 15 AM EDT
APR 11,07
MAP 3.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.5 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 5.3 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.4 TONGA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 KASHMIR-XINJIANG BORDER REGION
MAP 4.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEW YORK
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 GULF OF ALASKA
APR 10,07
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 3.9 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 3.4 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.0 NEVADA
MAP 5.0 GREECE
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN QUEBEC, CANADA
MAP 3.5 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 5.2 GREECE
MAP 5.1 GREECE
MAP 2.7 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 GREECE
MAP 2.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 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.
Spring storm hits Saskatchewan - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - CBC News
Some Saskatchewan residents who put their parkas away a few weeks ago may be hauling them out again.Environment Canada issued weather warnings Tuesday across the southern edge of the province.It was balmy a few weeks ago, but it appears winter has returned to Saskatchewan.
(CBC) Meterorologist David Wray said the communities of Shaunavon, Maple Creek, Val Marie and Cypress Hills can expect 10 to 15 centimetres of snow over the next 24 hours.Temperatures will plummet from the mid-teens Celsius to near zero.Meanwhile, according to the Highways Department, snow, freezing temperatures and high winds are having an impact on drivers.The department said visibility is reduced because of driving snow in the southern parts of the province around Carlyle, Weyburn, Estevan, Moose Jaw and Assiniboia.
Fog and icy sections are also plaguing drivers in the area around Swift Current in the southwest. In east-central Saskatchewan, around Tisdale and Hudson Bay, the roads are icy and slippery.The icy blast may turn out to be winter's last gasp, however.Milder weather is expected by the weekend, with temperatures in the south expected to hit 12 C or higher.
Unsettled weather continues through weekend Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Wed Apr 11, 4:46 AM ET
Midwest
Snow is the big story in the Midwest today, particularly in the Upper Midwest where some fairly significant snows, especially for April, are expected in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Lower Michigan. Snow will also be possible in metro Chicago, with the greatest accumulations north and west of the city. Snow will be possible again on Thursday after the system passes, while a new storm system moves into the Central Plains. This next system brings rain and wind to the Central Plains on Friday, with snow moving into western Kansas and western Nebraska. Showers and thunderstorms will spread east into the Ohio Valley and into Lower Michigan on Saturday, while snow moves into the Middle and Upper Mississippi Valley. Skies clear in much of the Midwest on Sunday, with snow possible in Ohio and Michigan. Temperatures are expected to remain below average across the region through the weekend.
South
More spring-like weather is making a small comeback in the South today, with spring-like thunderstorms expected across much of the region today. A few storms could also reach severe limits over Alabama and Georgia later today. The main threat from the storms will be heavy rain, particularly over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys during the day today, and reaching the Carolinas and Virginia tonight. More storms are also possible through the day today in Florida, with some locally heavy rain possible. Farther west in Texas, the story is the warmer temperatures after record cold over the weekend and a chilly start to the week. Tomorrow will be a relatively quiet weather day across the South, with above average temperatures expected across much of the region. However, Friday will see the beginning of another big change to the South's weather. Storms (with severe storms possible) will develop over the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on Friday and spread eastward through the Southeast on Saturday. Showers and thunderstorms will still be possible on Sunday in the Carolinas and Florida, particularly in the morning, with much cooler temperatures making a comeback after the rains over the weekend.
West
Rain and snow will be making its way across a large portion of the West today. Rain will begin falling this morning along the Pacific Northwest and Northern California Coasts, and spread across the Intermountain West as the day progresses, with snow in the higher elevations. Rain and snow is also possible in the Plains of central and eastern Montana. Precipitation will reach the Rockies Front Range on Thursday. As the system pulls out into the Plains on Friday, snow will wrap around and fall over eastern Colorado (including Denver). Also on Friday, another storm system starts to move ashore in the Pacific Northwest that spreads rain and snow across the Interior West over the weekend. Temperatures will be below average today and tomorrow across the region, with temperatures warming to above average in the Rockies and Intermountain West on Friday through the weekend.
Northeast
The Northeast should enjoy a relatively quiet weather day today, but that will change overnight tonight in the Mid-Atlantic. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware will start to see rain increase in intensity and coverage overnight tonight and move through the Megalopolis tomorrow. In the interior Northeast, rain will change to snow, with all snow possible in the higher elevations of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. A winter storm watch is in effect for parts of Upstate New York and much of New England for Thursday. Some rain and snow showers will be possible in Northern New England on Friday, with the next chance of rain moving into the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday. By Sunday, a coastal low will bring a chance of heavy rain to the Megalopolis with a rain and snow possible in the interior Northeast. Temperatures in the Northeast will remain below seasonal averages through the weekend.
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)
I DO NOT THINK NORTH KOREA WILL GIVE IN SO EASY BY THE SCRIPTURES ABOVE THE KINGS OF THE EAST THIS WILL INCLUDE NORTH KOREA MARCH IN THE FUTURE, THEY ARE JUST LEADING ON THE UN AND THE WORLD LIKE IRAN.
North Korea says ready to move on nuclear pledge By Jon Herskovitz APR 11,07
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea says it will start moves to shut its nuclear reactor within a day of receiving millions of dollars blocked for 18 months in a Macau bank, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson told reporters on Wednesday. But Richardson, speaking in Seoul after a trip to the North, said it could be some 30 days before the reactor begins shutting down and that it would require an extraordinary effort to meet Saturday's deadline under a February deal with regional powers to actually start decommissioning the reactor.The North Korean government told us that with that (bank) issue resolved, ... (it) would move promptly, within a day, after receiving the funds, said Richardson, who during his visit had met Pyongyang's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan.
And therefore within that day, (North Korea will) invite the IAEA to Pyongyang and inspectors to draw up the terms for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor.The return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, expelled in 2002, is part of the February 13 deal to give the impoverished state massive energy aid in return for ending its nuclear weapons program, starting with closure of the Yongbyon reactor its source of weapons-grade plutonium.In an offhanded way, a DPRK (North Korean) official mentioned that perhaps 30 additional days would be needed because of the current delay prompted by the blocked funds issue, Richardson said.In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States and other members of the six-party talks on North Korea would see where we are on Saturday, but declined to say whether Pyongyang would face any consequences for missing the deadline.
We would expect the North Koreans to act in such a way that they meet their obligations under the Feb 15 agreement, McCormack told reporters.The United States said on Tuesday Macau authorities had unblocked about $25 million of frozen North Korean funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in the southern Chinese city.Richardson said he expected the bank to tell North Korea it could pick up its money later on Wednesday or early on Thursday, meaning Pyongyang would send an invitation to the
IAEA on Friday.
FROZEN SINCE 2005
The impoverished state has demanded that the funds, frozen in the Macau bank since 2005, be released first.Analysts doubted that missing Saturday's deadline would derail the disarmament deal.The deadline will be postponed to some time in the future, but I don't think there will be any kind of fundamental damage to the agreement, said Ruan Zongze, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.The New Mexico governor, who crossed into the South on Wednesday, had gone to North Korea earlier this week to collect the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War.The two Koreas are still technically at war because the truce which halted the 1950-53 conflict never led to a peace treaty.BDA officials in Macau declined to comment on whether the funds had been transferred or whether North Korea had been in contact.U.S. chief negotiator with North Korea, Christopher Hill, told reporters in Seoul he considered the bank issue resolved. We think now it is really an important time to get on with the ever-urgent task of denuclearization, and particularly get on with the implementation of the February agreement," he said. "So I would hope this would happen in a matter of days.
The apparent breakthrough came as several key players in the North Korea issue visited Seoul, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. China is the closest isolated North Korea has to an ally, but relations were strained after Pyongyang defied the international community last October with its first nuclear test. (Additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul, Lindsay Beck in Beijing and James Pomfret in Macau, and Stuart Grudgings in Washington)
Palestinian minister seeks $1.3 billion in aid By Paul Taylor APR 11,07
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad told the European Union on Wednesday a new national unity government needed more than $1.3 billion in international aid this year to avert a devastating humanitarian crisis. He won a cautious endorsement from EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who promised technical assistance to enable his ministry to receive aid once the Palestinian Authority meets key political conditions.We are looking for external support to bridge a gap of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) for 2007, Fayyad told a joint news conference, stressing his government's commitment to respect all peace accords with Israel.Asked what would happen if aid was not forthcoming, he said: The consequences are far too grave, quite frankly.
Fayyad, a respected independent technocrat, was on the first visit to Brussels by a member of the new government after the EU boycotted the former Hamas-led administration due to the Islamic movement's refusal to recognize Israel or renounce violence.Ferrero-Waldner praised his personal commitment to peace but made clear the EU's engagement would be selective, gradual and dependent on the government's words and actions.I've made very clear that possible financial engagement would not mean resuming direct financial assistance overnight, she said, pledging that a temporary aid system created to bypass the Hamas-led government would remain for as long as necessary.The Finance Ministry will take time to meet international standards for absorbing aid, and the EU will also need time to come to a decision then on this political issue, she said.
SELECTIVE ENGAGEMENT
The EU, the Palestinians' biggest donor, increased aid from 500 million to 700 million euros last year, paying subsistence allowances to 150,000 families and keeping essential services going through the Temporary International Mechanism.Fayyad told Reuters he had inherited public finances in disrepair and the EU should keep that lifeline going and develop it until his ministry was able to receive foreign transfers, which would require the lifting of U.S. banking restrictions.Asked how long it would take before the ministry was ready to receive direct aid, he said: Insofar as setting up a system or re-establishing a central treasury is concerned, I think we are there now, but for the restrictions which make it not possible for us to receive international assistance.The Quartet of Middle East peace brokers the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union suspended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas formed a government last year.
While Fayyad presented the Palestinian Authority as a single team committed to the same platform, Ferrero-Waldner made clear the EU would work with non-Hamas members such Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr and Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi. Fayyad said the Palestinian Authority was operating on a quarter of the funds it needs to provide essential services.
Even once a properly functioning finance ministry was restored, economic recovery would require the lifting of Israeli restrictions on trade, movement and access, tightened as part of a securitycrackdown on the Hamas government, he said.He met the EU's Middle East peace envoy, Marc Otte, and European Parliament leaders and was to travel on to Norway, which brokered a landmark 1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.The parliamentary leaders said they respected Fayyad's integrity and told him it was vital the Palestinians build transparent financial management and avoid past errors. We want to be able to see, prove, check, where the money went. It's a special problem of the Palestinian Authority after the recent years, but it's also a general problem of the aid of the European Union, budget committee chairman Herbert Boesch told Reuters. (additional reporting by Ingrid Melander)
Attorney General Did Not Approve Hevron Evacuation
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 11,07
Contrary to reports issued this morning by Defense Minister Amir Peretz's office, it is now clear that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has not approved the evacuation of Peace House in Hevron. It was similarly announced that Peretz had instructed the Coordinator of IDF Activities in Judea and Samaria, Maj.-Gen. Yosef Mishlav, to prepare for the evacuation. The Justice Ministry confirmed this afternoon that Mazuz had found no reason to order an immediate evacuation, but rather that the residents must be informed in advance of the intentions to evacuate them, and be allowed a hearing and a court appeal if necessary.It is not clear why Peretz's office released the mistaken information regarding Mazuz; Arutz-7 has submitted a query to the Defense Minister's office as to why this announcement was made, and on what basis Mishlav was given the above order.
In response, the Defense Minister's spokesman relayed a copy of the original announcement, which reads: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed [Gen. Mishlav] this evening [Tuesday] to evacuate the settlers who occupied the building in Hevron without a permit.
The orders come as a result of [or, following] the summation of a meeting and legal opinion that was received today [Tuesday] from Attorney General Mazuz on the matter. It should be emphasized that the evacuation order is being issued because populating the building was done without the legally required permit.As of late Wednesday afternoon, no evacuation orders had been ordered to the new residents.The Defense Minister's spokesman also relayed a transcript of Peretz's remarks today on Voice of Israel, in which the interviewer asked, I must tell you, Mr. Defense Minister, that I don't feel at ease. I hear that the Attorney General says that there is no reason at all - not in terms of security nor in terms of legal issues - to evacuate these people. I hear from the Interior Minister that you can't do it because you're not the government and you don't have the mandate to do it. And you're telling me totally different things.
Another reporter then interrupted and said, Could it be that the reason for the evacuation is political? Peretz responded, It is not at all connected with political considerations. There is a policy [regarding settlement]... It's not at all political, but rather a question of authority and the rule of law. Wherever the law must be enforced, I will do so in the legal ways at my disposal. I am acting according to the conclusions [that were reached]. The representatives of the Defense Ministry's legal counsel were also at the meeting, and also those of the Military Prosecution, and we are acting according to instructions that were concluded at the meeting led by the Attorney General.
History, Location, Size
The house in question was purchased by a Jewish group via a Jordanian businessman for $700,000. Though opponents of the deal say they question its legality, no substantial claim has been made that it is fraudulent. In fact, the PA has issued an arrest warrant for the Arabs who sold the building. The new Jewish residence, with some 4,000 square meters of floor space, is set to house at least 20 new Jewish families. This will ease somewhat the housing crunch for Jews who wish to join the existing 500+ Jews who currently live in Hevron. The building is strategically located - on the eastern edge of Hevron, overlooking Kiryat Arba, and on the route along which Jews walk and drive daily from Kiryat Arba to the Machpelah Cave and the Jewish areas in Hevron. The Attorney General held a meeting regarding Peretz's desire to evacuate the buildings last night (Tuesday). Mazuz said that neither of the two reasons that would justify an immediate evacuation exist. For one thing, there is no security danger inherent in a Jewish presence there; the IDF is not against it, and in fact has had a position on the building's roof in the past years. In addition, the new Jewish residents cannot be termed squatters or infiltrators because the sale has not been shown to be illegal.
On the other hand, Mazuz told Peretz that if he wants to evacuate the building, he must implement a longer process that will allow the Jews who purchased it to appeal to the Supreme Court. This route involves the claim that every acquisition in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) must be approved in advance. It is widely agreed that this is a process that could easily take months, and the residents currently there are preparing either to remain for the long haul, or to make way for others who will. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) advised Peretz today to back down from his desire to evacuate the building.
For one thing, Ariel said on the Knesset Channel, it's not Peretz's decision to make, but rather the entire government's. [Interior Minister Roni Bar-On of Kadima made the same point in a different interview ed.] The Cabinet must discuss it and approve it, and I don't believe it will give its OK to Peretz's political needs. Peretz may soon find himself totally isolated and disgraced if he doesn't backtrack. Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) visited the building today, and expressed his support for the Jewish presence there.
Israel Threatened in North, South
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 11,07
Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Tzvika Fogel, in the clearest warning yet of his long-running series of such warnings, says that though Israel chooses to ignore it, war can be expected in Gaza by this summer - and possibly within a month. Fogel, a former chief of staff for the Southern Command, spoke this morning on Channel Ten television. He warned of two scenarios. One is that Israel will continue its ostrich-like stance until military/terrorist forces in Gaza surprise-attack Israel. A second alternative, if this does not happen by the summer, is that Israel will have no choice but to begin a full-scale offensive against the increasingly-strengthened Hamas-Fatah military capacity. Gen. Fogel noted, as he and others have done many times in the past, the wide-scale smuggling network into Gaza that has been developed since Israel quit Gaza during the Disengagement in 2005. During this period, the Palestinians have brought in anything they wanted through the tunnels they dug, he said, and Hamas has built up its army in this time in preparation for the conflict with Israel.Yet Israel does nothing, and would rather deal with prisoner exchanges and reinforcing communities.
The repeated PA declarations of insistence on the full right of return for millions of Arabs to Israel, together with PA war readiness, were also cited by Fogel as indications that war appears close.
He had strong criticism of official Israel: In the face of this Palestinian threat, Israel chooses to reinforce [its buildings], to close its eyes and hide it head in the sand... Ever since the ceasefire with Abu Mazen went into effect some four months ago, about 200 Kassam rockets have been fired from Gaza - almost two a day. Yet Israel does nothing, and would rather deal with prisoner exchanges and reinforcing communities.
Hizbullah, Too
On Israel's northern border, a high-ranking Hizbullah official says there is a possibility of war with Israel this summer. Hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassam told The Guardian of London that the U.S. is pushing Israel towards a violent clash.
Dutch government favours new look treaty for the EU APR 11,07
11.04.2007 - 09:25 CET | By Honor Mahony and Helena Spongenberg
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Dutch government has said the renewed talks on an EU treaty should focus on the current shortcomings in the system rather than aiming to become an overarching constitutional treaty.Speaking to MEPs on Tuesday (10 April), Europe minister Frans Timmermans said his government is not prepared to present to the Dutch electorate the same document it rejected in June 2005.We will simply not put to ratification a treaty that was rejected by a large majority of the Dutch population, he stated.But he said The Hague was willing to play a constructive role in the talks adding that the 27-member union needs a new set of rules for it to function properly.We cannot continue to function with 27 member states and with the agenda Europe has in front of it in the coming decade on the basis of the Nice treaty, he explained.
Mr Timmermans suggested that Europe should focus on the shortcomings of the current system - the Nice Treaty – and top up where it cannot answer the bloc's challenges such as on dealing with more member states, climate change, energy security and terrorism.What we are looking for is a new treaty amending existing treaties rather than a constitutional treaty replacing all former treaties, he stated.Many of the elements in the constitutional treaty can be extremely useful in this process, said Mr Timmermans pointing to the reformed decision-making system.The Europe minister also said the Charter of Fundamental Rights should just be referred to in one article rather than the whole document being included in the treaty and said that social aspects such as housing and healthcare should remain national policies.With Dutch voters sceptical about further EU enlargement – the issue is thought to have contributed to the EU constitution No votes both in The Netherlands and France - the minister also said expansion criteria should be included in any new treaty.
There is merit in defining very clearly the criteria applied to membership, and perhaps good merit in incorporating the criteria for membership into a new treaty.Speaking to EUobserver after the meeting, the minister said that it was too early to say whether there would be another Dutch referendum on a new treaty but indicated that any decision on the matter would depend on the size and the scope of
the document.
French contribution
Meanwhile, leading member of the French centre right UMP and head of the Europe committee in the national assembly, Pierre Lequiller, also appeared before the constitutional affairs committee.He presented a concrete outline for a new look treaty and how to revive it, with interest in views from France increasing by the day as 22 April presidential elections draws closer.Mr Lequiller favours a simplified treaty including the first part of the constitution - dealing with institutional reform - plus six articles from the rest of the treaty.The six articles concern the creation of an EU diplomatic service, qualified majority voting in foreign and security issues; updating the bloc' humanitarian tasks in security and defence; structured cooperation on defence issues; rules on drawing up the annual budget; and the procedure for reviewing the treaty.
Three additional protocols would then sum up the EU's policies where qualified majority voting is applied.This would reduce the treaty from its current 448 articles by over a third to 116 articles, said Mr Lequiller, but rejected that it would be a mini-treaty along the lines of what Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right front-runner in the French presidential elections has proposed.MEPs greeted the text with caution, with several pointing out that French citizens should be asked their opinion again in a referendum to avoid an enormous crisis of confidence.The EU constitution has been largely ratified by 18 member states but the shock rejection in mid 2005 by the two founding member states put the issue on political ice for well over a year.Renewed talks on the issue started again this year but have run into difficulty already with tough stances taken by Poland and the Czech Republic and political uncertainty in France and the UK.
Trade ministers of G-4 begin talks Thursday By IANS - Tuesday April 10
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Trade ministers of the G-4 group of countries - India, Brazil, the United States and the European Commission (EC) - are scheduled to meet here Thursday to review the progress of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.
The Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had been suspended in July 2006 due to a lack of consensus, largely on domestic support and market access in agriculture. It resumed in February this year. This will be the first formal meeting of the trade ministers of this grouping since the negotiations were resumed.
Ministers of the G-6 (G-4 plus Japan and Australia) will meet the same day. The ministers are expected to discuss areas of emerging convergence among the countries as well as steps to contribute to the multilateral process, so as to enable a successful conclusion of the Doha Round.
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.
YOU CAN BE SURE RUSSIA AND IRAN ARE BEHIND THE SCENES HELPING IRAQIS BUILD THE BOMBS AS WELL AS OTHER NATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE.
Iran may be helping Iraqis build bombs By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer APR 11,07
BAGHDAD - Iranian intelligence operatives have been training Iraqi fighters inside Iran on how to use and assemble deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.
Commanders of a splinter group inside the Shiite Mahdi Army militia have told The Associated Press that there are as many as 4,000 members of their organization that were trained in Iran and that they have stockpiles of EFPs, a weapon that causes great uneasiness among U.S. forces here because they penetrate heavily armored vehicles.U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell would not say how many militia fighters had been trained in Iran but said that questioning of fighters captured as recently as this month confirmed many had been in Iranian training camps.We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees debriefs, Caldwell said at a weekly briefing.
EFP stands for explosively formed penetrator, deadly roadside bombs that hurl a fist-size lump of molten copper capable of piercing armor.In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs.Caldwell also said the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel, he said.The do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs, Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.There has been training on
specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work what we call a more complex kind of attack where we see multiple types of engagements being used from an explosion to small arms fire to being done in multiple places, he said.
The general would not say specifically which arm of the Iranian government was doing the training but called the trainers surrogates of Iran's intelligence agency. Caldwell opened the briefing by showing photographs of what he said were Iranian-made mortar rounds, RPG rounds and rockets that were found in Iraq.
Also Wednesday, Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to quit the government to protest the prime minister's lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki's government room to function.Meanwhile, bodies lay scattered across two central Baghdad neighborhoods after a raging battle left 20 suspected insurgents and four Iraqi soldiers dead, and 16 U.S. soldiers wounded, witnesses and officials said.
The fighting Tuesday in Fadhil and Sheik Omar, two Sunni enclaves, was the most intense since a massive push to pacify the capital began two months ago.Al-Sadr's political committee issued a statement a day after al-Maliki rejected an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can, al-Maliki said on his four-day trip to Japan, where he signed loan agreements for redevelopment projects in Iraq. To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process, he said, adding that achievements on the ground would dictate how long American troops remain.
Al-Maliki spoke a day after tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of two Shiite holy cities, on al-Sadr's orders, to protest the U.S. presence in their country. The rally marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad at the hands of American forces.
The Sadrist movement strongly rejects the statements of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in which he stood by the continued presence of occupation forces despite the will of the Iraqi people, said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by the AP. The Sadrist movement is studying the option of withdrawing from the Iraqi government — a government that has not fulfilled its promises to the people, it said. We are serious about withdrawing, it added. It would not be the first time the Sadrists, who hold six seats in the Cabinet, left al-Maliki's government. Al-Sadr's ministers and 30 legislators boycotted the government and parliament for nearly two months to protest a November meeting between al-Maliki and President Bush in Jordan. The statement expressed anger over the Baghdad security plan launched Feb. 14, calling it unfair. Iraqi and U.S. troops have been targeting members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been blamed for sectarian killings. Later in the day, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, Nassar al-Rubaie, said U.S. troops had taken over al-Sadr's office in the city of Diwaniyah, the scene of weekend clashes between U.S. and Iraqi troops and al-Sadr's militiamen.
We say that this matter is very dangerous and we put the blame on the Iraqi government for the American destruction of the country, he said. We have thought before that sovereignty in Iraq is incomplete, but now we say that sovereignty doesn't exist in Iraq, al-Rubaie said.
Caldwell said he has no information about the alleged takeover of the office. Iraqi soldiers held a security cordon around Fadhil, and residents hid frightened in their homes, a witness told the AP by telephone, on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.
The Muslim Scholars Association, a Sunni group, issued a statement quoting witnesses as saying Tuesday's battle began after Iraqi troops entered a mosque and executed two young men in front of other worshippers. Ground forces used tear gas on civilians, it said. The association condemns this horrible crime carried out by occupiers and the government, the statement said. But the witness in Fadhil said the two men were executed in an outdoor vegetable market, not in the mosque. The Iraqi military was not immediately available to comment on the claim. The U.S. military said the battle began after American and Iraqi troops came under fire around 7 a.m. during a routine search operation. Helicopter gunships then swooped in, engaging insurgents with machine gun fire, the military said. Some Arab TV stations reported a U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fight, and showed video of a charred piece of mechanical wreckage that was impossible to identify. Caldwell said four helicopters sustained minor damage but were able to return to base. He confirmed that one Apache gunship had dropped a missile pod as it left the area.
Caldwell said 13 of the 16 wounded Americans had returned to duty and that 20 suspected insurgents were killed and 30 wounded, he said. Associated Press writers Lauren Frayer and Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Wed Apr 11 15 AM EDT
APR 11,07
MAP 3.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.5 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 5.3 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.4 TONGA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.6 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.9 REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 3.7 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 3.9 KASHMIR-XINJIANG BORDER REGION
MAP 4.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 LOYALTY ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 NEW YORK
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 GULF OF ALASKA
APR 10,07
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.7 WESTERN TURKEY
MAP 3.2 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 3.9 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.5 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
MAP 3.4 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO
MAP 3.0 NEVADA
MAP 5.0 GREECE
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN QUEBEC, CANADA
MAP 3.5 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO
MAP 5.2 GREECE
MAP 5.1 GREECE
MAP 2.7 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.9 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 GREECE
MAP 2.9 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 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.
Spring storm hits Saskatchewan - Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - CBC News
Some Saskatchewan residents who put their parkas away a few weeks ago may be hauling them out again.Environment Canada issued weather warnings Tuesday across the southern edge of the province.It was balmy a few weeks ago, but it appears winter has returned to Saskatchewan.
(CBC) Meterorologist David Wray said the communities of Shaunavon, Maple Creek, Val Marie and Cypress Hills can expect 10 to 15 centimetres of snow over the next 24 hours.Temperatures will plummet from the mid-teens Celsius to near zero.Meanwhile, according to the Highways Department, snow, freezing temperatures and high winds are having an impact on drivers.The department said visibility is reduced because of driving snow in the southern parts of the province around Carlyle, Weyburn, Estevan, Moose Jaw and Assiniboia.
Fog and icy sections are also plaguing drivers in the area around Swift Current in the southwest. In east-central Saskatchewan, around Tisdale and Hudson Bay, the roads are icy and slippery.The icy blast may turn out to be winter's last gasp, however.Milder weather is expected by the weekend, with temperatures in the south expected to hit 12 C or higher.
Unsettled weather continues through weekend Mark Avery, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Wed Apr 11, 4:46 AM ET
Midwest
Snow is the big story in the Midwest today, particularly in the Upper Midwest where some fairly significant snows, especially for April, are expected in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Lower Michigan. Snow will also be possible in metro Chicago, with the greatest accumulations north and west of the city. Snow will be possible again on Thursday after the system passes, while a new storm system moves into the Central Plains. This next system brings rain and wind to the Central Plains on Friday, with snow moving into western Kansas and western Nebraska. Showers and thunderstorms will spread east into the Ohio Valley and into Lower Michigan on Saturday, while snow moves into the Middle and Upper Mississippi Valley. Skies clear in much of the Midwest on Sunday, with snow possible in Ohio and Michigan. Temperatures are expected to remain below average across the region through the weekend.
South
More spring-like weather is making a small comeback in the South today, with spring-like thunderstorms expected across much of the region today. A few storms could also reach severe limits over Alabama and Georgia later today. The main threat from the storms will be heavy rain, particularly over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys during the day today, and reaching the Carolinas and Virginia tonight. More storms are also possible through the day today in Florida, with some locally heavy rain possible. Farther west in Texas, the story is the warmer temperatures after record cold over the weekend and a chilly start to the week. Tomorrow will be a relatively quiet weather day across the South, with above average temperatures expected across much of the region. However, Friday will see the beginning of another big change to the South's weather. Storms (with severe storms possible) will develop over the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on Friday and spread eastward through the Southeast on Saturday. Showers and thunderstorms will still be possible on Sunday in the Carolinas and Florida, particularly in the morning, with much cooler temperatures making a comeback after the rains over the weekend.
West
Rain and snow will be making its way across a large portion of the West today. Rain will begin falling this morning along the Pacific Northwest and Northern California Coasts, and spread across the Intermountain West as the day progresses, with snow in the higher elevations. Rain and snow is also possible in the Plains of central and eastern Montana. Precipitation will reach the Rockies Front Range on Thursday. As the system pulls out into the Plains on Friday, snow will wrap around and fall over eastern Colorado (including Denver). Also on Friday, another storm system starts to move ashore in the Pacific Northwest that spreads rain and snow across the Interior West over the weekend. Temperatures will be below average today and tomorrow across the region, with temperatures warming to above average in the Rockies and Intermountain West on Friday through the weekend.
Northeast
The Northeast should enjoy a relatively quiet weather day today, but that will change overnight tonight in the Mid-Atlantic. Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware will start to see rain increase in intensity and coverage overnight tonight and move through the Megalopolis tomorrow. In the interior Northeast, rain will change to snow, with all snow possible in the higher elevations of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. A winter storm watch is in effect for parts of Upstate New York and much of New England for Thursday. Some rain and snow showers will be possible in Northern New England on Friday, with the next chance of rain moving into the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday. By Sunday, a coastal low will bring a chance of heavy rain to the Megalopolis with a rain and snow possible in the interior Northeast. Temperatures in the Northeast will remain below seasonal averages through the weekend.
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)
I DO NOT THINK NORTH KOREA WILL GIVE IN SO EASY BY THE SCRIPTURES ABOVE THE KINGS OF THE EAST THIS WILL INCLUDE NORTH KOREA MARCH IN THE FUTURE, THEY ARE JUST LEADING ON THE UN AND THE WORLD LIKE IRAN.
North Korea says ready to move on nuclear pledge By Jon Herskovitz APR 11,07
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea says it will start moves to shut its nuclear reactor within a day of receiving millions of dollars blocked for 18 months in a Macau bank, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson told reporters on Wednesday. But Richardson, speaking in Seoul after a trip to the North, said it could be some 30 days before the reactor begins shutting down and that it would require an extraordinary effort to meet Saturday's deadline under a February deal with regional powers to actually start decommissioning the reactor.The North Korean government told us that with that (bank) issue resolved, ... (it) would move promptly, within a day, after receiving the funds, said Richardson, who during his visit had met Pyongyang's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan.
And therefore within that day, (North Korea will) invite the IAEA to Pyongyang and inspectors to draw up the terms for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor.The return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, expelled in 2002, is part of the February 13 deal to give the impoverished state massive energy aid in return for ending its nuclear weapons program, starting with closure of the Yongbyon reactor its source of weapons-grade plutonium.In an offhanded way, a DPRK (North Korean) official mentioned that perhaps 30 additional days would be needed because of the current delay prompted by the blocked funds issue, Richardson said.In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States and other members of the six-party talks on North Korea would see where we are on Saturday, but declined to say whether Pyongyang would face any consequences for missing the deadline.
We would expect the North Koreans to act in such a way that they meet their obligations under the Feb 15 agreement, McCormack told reporters.The United States said on Tuesday Macau authorities had unblocked about $25 million of frozen North Korean funds at Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in the southern Chinese city.Richardson said he expected the bank to tell North Korea it could pick up its money later on Wednesday or early on Thursday, meaning Pyongyang would send an invitation to the
IAEA on Friday.
FROZEN SINCE 2005
The impoverished state has demanded that the funds, frozen in the Macau bank since 2005, be released first.Analysts doubted that missing Saturday's deadline would derail the disarmament deal.The deadline will be postponed to some time in the future, but I don't think there will be any kind of fundamental damage to the agreement, said Ruan Zongze, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.The New Mexico governor, who crossed into the South on Wednesday, had gone to North Korea earlier this week to collect the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War.The two Koreas are still technically at war because the truce which halted the 1950-53 conflict never led to a peace treaty.BDA officials in Macau declined to comment on whether the funds had been transferred or whether North Korea had been in contact.U.S. chief negotiator with North Korea, Christopher Hill, told reporters in Seoul he considered the bank issue resolved. We think now it is really an important time to get on with the ever-urgent task of denuclearization, and particularly get on with the implementation of the February agreement," he said. "So I would hope this would happen in a matter of days.
The apparent breakthrough came as several key players in the North Korea issue visited Seoul, including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. China is the closest isolated North Korea has to an ally, but relations were strained after Pyongyang defied the international community last October with its first nuclear test. (Additional reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul, Lindsay Beck in Beijing and James Pomfret in Macau, and Stuart Grudgings in Washington)
Palestinian minister seeks $1.3 billion in aid By Paul Taylor APR 11,07
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad told the European Union on Wednesday a new national unity government needed more than $1.3 billion in international aid this year to avert a devastating humanitarian crisis. He won a cautious endorsement from EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who promised technical assistance to enable his ministry to receive aid once the Palestinian Authority meets key political conditions.We are looking for external support to bridge a gap of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) for 2007, Fayyad told a joint news conference, stressing his government's commitment to respect all peace accords with Israel.Asked what would happen if aid was not forthcoming, he said: The consequences are far too grave, quite frankly.
Fayyad, a respected independent technocrat, was on the first visit to Brussels by a member of the new government after the EU boycotted the former Hamas-led administration due to the Islamic movement's refusal to recognize Israel or renounce violence.Ferrero-Waldner praised his personal commitment to peace but made clear the EU's engagement would be selective, gradual and dependent on the government's words and actions.I've made very clear that possible financial engagement would not mean resuming direct financial assistance overnight, she said, pledging that a temporary aid system created to bypass the Hamas-led government would remain for as long as necessary.The Finance Ministry will take time to meet international standards for absorbing aid, and the EU will also need time to come to a decision then on this political issue, she said.
SELECTIVE ENGAGEMENT
The EU, the Palestinians' biggest donor, increased aid from 500 million to 700 million euros last year, paying subsistence allowances to 150,000 families and keeping essential services going through the Temporary International Mechanism.Fayyad told Reuters he had inherited public finances in disrepair and the EU should keep that lifeline going and develop it until his ministry was able to receive foreign transfers, which would require the lifting of U.S. banking restrictions.Asked how long it would take before the ministry was ready to receive direct aid, he said: Insofar as setting up a system or re-establishing a central treasury is concerned, I think we are there now, but for the restrictions which make it not possible for us to receive international assistance.The Quartet of Middle East peace brokers the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union suspended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas formed a government last year.
While Fayyad presented the Palestinian Authority as a single team committed to the same platform, Ferrero-Waldner made clear the EU would work with non-Hamas members such Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr and Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi. Fayyad said the Palestinian Authority was operating on a quarter of the funds it needs to provide essential services.
Even once a properly functioning finance ministry was restored, economic recovery would require the lifting of Israeli restrictions on trade, movement and access, tightened as part of a securitycrackdown on the Hamas government, he said.He met the EU's Middle East peace envoy, Marc Otte, and European Parliament leaders and was to travel on to Norway, which brokered a landmark 1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.The parliamentary leaders said they respected Fayyad's integrity and told him it was vital the Palestinians build transparent financial management and avoid past errors. We want to be able to see, prove, check, where the money went. It's a special problem of the Palestinian Authority after the recent years, but it's also a general problem of the aid of the European Union, budget committee chairman Herbert Boesch told Reuters. (additional reporting by Ingrid Melander)
Attorney General Did Not Approve Hevron Evacuation
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 11,07
Contrary to reports issued this morning by Defense Minister Amir Peretz's office, it is now clear that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has not approved the evacuation of Peace House in Hevron. It was similarly announced that Peretz had instructed the Coordinator of IDF Activities in Judea and Samaria, Maj.-Gen. Yosef Mishlav, to prepare for the evacuation. The Justice Ministry confirmed this afternoon that Mazuz had found no reason to order an immediate evacuation, but rather that the residents must be informed in advance of the intentions to evacuate them, and be allowed a hearing and a court appeal if necessary.It is not clear why Peretz's office released the mistaken information regarding Mazuz; Arutz-7 has submitted a query to the Defense Minister's office as to why this announcement was made, and on what basis Mishlav was given the above order.
In response, the Defense Minister's spokesman relayed a copy of the original announcement, which reads: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Amir Peretz instructed [Gen. Mishlav] this evening [Tuesday] to evacuate the settlers who occupied the building in Hevron without a permit.
The orders come as a result of [or, following] the summation of a meeting and legal opinion that was received today [Tuesday] from Attorney General Mazuz on the matter. It should be emphasized that the evacuation order is being issued because populating the building was done without the legally required permit.As of late Wednesday afternoon, no evacuation orders had been ordered to the new residents.The Defense Minister's spokesman also relayed a transcript of Peretz's remarks today on Voice of Israel, in which the interviewer asked, I must tell you, Mr. Defense Minister, that I don't feel at ease. I hear that the Attorney General says that there is no reason at all - not in terms of security nor in terms of legal issues - to evacuate these people. I hear from the Interior Minister that you can't do it because you're not the government and you don't have the mandate to do it. And you're telling me totally different things.
Another reporter then interrupted and said, Could it be that the reason for the evacuation is political? Peretz responded, It is not at all connected with political considerations. There is a policy [regarding settlement]... It's not at all political, but rather a question of authority and the rule of law. Wherever the law must be enforced, I will do so in the legal ways at my disposal. I am acting according to the conclusions [that were reached]. The representatives of the Defense Ministry's legal counsel were also at the meeting, and also those of the Military Prosecution, and we are acting according to instructions that were concluded at the meeting led by the Attorney General.
History, Location, Size
The house in question was purchased by a Jewish group via a Jordanian businessman for $700,000. Though opponents of the deal say they question its legality, no substantial claim has been made that it is fraudulent. In fact, the PA has issued an arrest warrant for the Arabs who sold the building. The new Jewish residence, with some 4,000 square meters of floor space, is set to house at least 20 new Jewish families. This will ease somewhat the housing crunch for Jews who wish to join the existing 500+ Jews who currently live in Hevron. The building is strategically located - on the eastern edge of Hevron, overlooking Kiryat Arba, and on the route along which Jews walk and drive daily from Kiryat Arba to the Machpelah Cave and the Jewish areas in Hevron. The Attorney General held a meeting regarding Peretz's desire to evacuate the buildings last night (Tuesday). Mazuz said that neither of the two reasons that would justify an immediate evacuation exist. For one thing, there is no security danger inherent in a Jewish presence there; the IDF is not against it, and in fact has had a position on the building's roof in the past years. In addition, the new Jewish residents cannot be termed squatters or infiltrators because the sale has not been shown to be illegal.
On the other hand, Mazuz told Peretz that if he wants to evacuate the building, he must implement a longer process that will allow the Jews who purchased it to appeal to the Supreme Court. This route involves the claim that every acquisition in Yesha (Judea and Samaria) must be approved in advance. It is widely agreed that this is a process that could easily take months, and the residents currently there are preparing either to remain for the long haul, or to make way for others who will. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) advised Peretz today to back down from his desire to evacuate the building.
For one thing, Ariel said on the Knesset Channel, it's not Peretz's decision to make, but rather the entire government's. [Interior Minister Roni Bar-On of Kadima made the same point in a different interview ed.] The Cabinet must discuss it and approve it, and I don't believe it will give its OK to Peretz's political needs. Peretz may soon find himself totally isolated and disgraced if he doesn't backtrack. Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) visited the building today, and expressed his support for the Jewish presence there.
Israel Threatened in North, South
by Hillel Fendel (INN) APR 11,07
Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Tzvika Fogel, in the clearest warning yet of his long-running series of such warnings, says that though Israel chooses to ignore it, war can be expected in Gaza by this summer - and possibly within a month. Fogel, a former chief of staff for the Southern Command, spoke this morning on Channel Ten television. He warned of two scenarios. One is that Israel will continue its ostrich-like stance until military/terrorist forces in Gaza surprise-attack Israel. A second alternative, if this does not happen by the summer, is that Israel will have no choice but to begin a full-scale offensive against the increasingly-strengthened Hamas-Fatah military capacity. Gen. Fogel noted, as he and others have done many times in the past, the wide-scale smuggling network into Gaza that has been developed since Israel quit Gaza during the Disengagement in 2005. During this period, the Palestinians have brought in anything they wanted through the tunnels they dug, he said, and Hamas has built up its army in this time in preparation for the conflict with Israel.Yet Israel does nothing, and would rather deal with prisoner exchanges and reinforcing communities.
The repeated PA declarations of insistence on the full right of return for millions of Arabs to Israel, together with PA war readiness, were also cited by Fogel as indications that war appears close.
He had strong criticism of official Israel: In the face of this Palestinian threat, Israel chooses to reinforce [its buildings], to close its eyes and hide it head in the sand... Ever since the ceasefire with Abu Mazen went into effect some four months ago, about 200 Kassam rockets have been fired from Gaza - almost two a day. Yet Israel does nothing, and would rather deal with prisoner exchanges and reinforcing communities.
Hizbullah, Too
On Israel's northern border, a high-ranking Hizbullah official says there is a possibility of war with Israel this summer. Hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Kassam told The Guardian of London that the U.S. is pushing Israel towards a violent clash.
Dutch government favours new look treaty for the EU APR 11,07
11.04.2007 - 09:25 CET | By Honor Mahony and Helena Spongenberg
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Dutch government has said the renewed talks on an EU treaty should focus on the current shortcomings in the system rather than aiming to become an overarching constitutional treaty.Speaking to MEPs on Tuesday (10 April), Europe minister Frans Timmermans said his government is not prepared to present to the Dutch electorate the same document it rejected in June 2005.We will simply not put to ratification a treaty that was rejected by a large majority of the Dutch population, he stated.But he said The Hague was willing to play a constructive role in the talks adding that the 27-member union needs a new set of rules for it to function properly.We cannot continue to function with 27 member states and with the agenda Europe has in front of it in the coming decade on the basis of the Nice treaty, he explained.
Mr Timmermans suggested that Europe should focus on the shortcomings of the current system - the Nice Treaty – and top up where it cannot answer the bloc's challenges such as on dealing with more member states, climate change, energy security and terrorism.What we are looking for is a new treaty amending existing treaties rather than a constitutional treaty replacing all former treaties, he stated.Many of the elements in the constitutional treaty can be extremely useful in this process, said Mr Timmermans pointing to the reformed decision-making system.The Europe minister also said the Charter of Fundamental Rights should just be referred to in one article rather than the whole document being included in the treaty and said that social aspects such as housing and healthcare should remain national policies.With Dutch voters sceptical about further EU enlargement – the issue is thought to have contributed to the EU constitution No votes both in The Netherlands and France - the minister also said expansion criteria should be included in any new treaty.
There is merit in defining very clearly the criteria applied to membership, and perhaps good merit in incorporating the criteria for membership into a new treaty.Speaking to EUobserver after the meeting, the minister said that it was too early to say whether there would be another Dutch referendum on a new treaty but indicated that any decision on the matter would depend on the size and the scope of
the document.
French contribution
Meanwhile, leading member of the French centre right UMP and head of the Europe committee in the national assembly, Pierre Lequiller, also appeared before the constitutional affairs committee.He presented a concrete outline for a new look treaty and how to revive it, with interest in views from France increasing by the day as 22 April presidential elections draws closer.Mr Lequiller favours a simplified treaty including the first part of the constitution - dealing with institutional reform - plus six articles from the rest of the treaty.The six articles concern the creation of an EU diplomatic service, qualified majority voting in foreign and security issues; updating the bloc' humanitarian tasks in security and defence; structured cooperation on defence issues; rules on drawing up the annual budget; and the procedure for reviewing the treaty.
Three additional protocols would then sum up the EU's policies where qualified majority voting is applied.This would reduce the treaty from its current 448 articles by over a third to 116 articles, said Mr Lequiller, but rejected that it would be a mini-treaty along the lines of what Nicolas Sarkozy, the centre-right front-runner in the French presidential elections has proposed.MEPs greeted the text with caution, with several pointing out that French citizens should be asked their opinion again in a referendum to avoid an enormous crisis of confidence.The EU constitution has been largely ratified by 18 member states but the shock rejection in mid 2005 by the two founding member states put the issue on political ice for well over a year.Renewed talks on the issue started again this year but have run into difficulty already with tough stances taken by Poland and the Czech Republic and political uncertainty in France and the UK.
Trade ministers of G-4 begin talks Thursday By IANS - Tuesday April 10
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) Trade ministers of the G-4 group of countries - India, Brazil, the United States and the European Commission (EC) - are scheduled to meet here Thursday to review the progress of the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.
The Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had been suspended in July 2006 due to a lack of consensus, largely on domestic support and market access in agriculture. It resumed in February this year. This will be the first formal meeting of the trade ministers of this grouping since the negotiations were resumed.
Ministers of the G-6 (G-4 plus Japan and Australia) will meet the same day. The ministers are expected to discuss areas of emerging convergence among the countries as well as steps to contribute to the multilateral process, so as to enable a successful conclusion of the Doha Round.
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.
YOU CAN BE SURE RUSSIA AND IRAN ARE BEHIND THE SCENES HELPING IRAQIS BUILD THE BOMBS AS WELL AS OTHER NATIONS MENTIONED ABOVE.
Iran may be helping Iraqis build bombs By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer APR 11,07
BAGHDAD - Iranian intelligence operatives have been training Iraqi fighters inside Iran on how to use and assemble deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.
Commanders of a splinter group inside the Shiite Mahdi Army militia have told The Associated Press that there are as many as 4,000 members of their organization that were trained in Iran and that they have stockpiles of EFPs, a weapon that causes great uneasiness among U.S. forces here because they penetrate heavily armored vehicles.U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell would not say how many militia fighters had been trained in Iran but said that questioning of fighters captured as recently as this month confirmed many had been in Iranian training camps.We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees debriefs, Caldwell said at a weekly briefing.
EFP stands for explosively formed penetrator, deadly roadside bombs that hurl a fist-size lump of molten copper capable of piercing armor.In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs.Caldwell also said the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel, he said.The do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs, Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.There has been training on
specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work what we call a more complex kind of attack where we see multiple types of engagements being used from an explosion to small arms fire to being done in multiple places, he said.
The general would not say specifically which arm of the Iranian government was doing the training but called the trainers surrogates of Iran's intelligence agency. Caldwell opened the briefing by showing photographs of what he said were Iranian-made mortar rounds, RPG rounds and rockets that were found in Iraq.
Also Wednesday, Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened to quit the government to protest the prime minister's lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki's government room to function.Meanwhile, bodies lay scattered across two central Baghdad neighborhoods after a raging battle left 20 suspected insurgents and four Iraqi soldiers dead, and 16 U.S. soldiers wounded, witnesses and officials said.
The fighting Tuesday in Fadhil and Sheik Omar, two Sunni enclaves, was the most intense since a massive push to pacify the capital began two months ago.Al-Sadr's political committee issued a statement a day after al-Maliki rejected an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can, al-Maliki said on his four-day trip to Japan, where he signed loan agreements for redevelopment projects in Iraq. To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process, he said, adding that achievements on the ground would dictate how long American troops remain.
Al-Maliki spoke a day after tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of two Shiite holy cities, on al-Sadr's orders, to protest the U.S. presence in their country. The rally marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad at the hands of American forces.
The Sadrist movement strongly rejects the statements of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in which he stood by the continued presence of occupation forces despite the will of the Iraqi people, said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by the AP. The Sadrist movement is studying the option of withdrawing from the Iraqi government — a government that has not fulfilled its promises to the people, it said. We are serious about withdrawing, it added. It would not be the first time the Sadrists, who hold six seats in the Cabinet, left al-Maliki's government. Al-Sadr's ministers and 30 legislators boycotted the government and parliament for nearly two months to protest a November meeting between al-Maliki and President Bush in Jordan. The statement expressed anger over the Baghdad security plan launched Feb. 14, calling it unfair. Iraqi and U.S. troops have been targeting members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been blamed for sectarian killings. Later in the day, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, Nassar al-Rubaie, said U.S. troops had taken over al-Sadr's office in the city of Diwaniyah, the scene of weekend clashes between U.S. and Iraqi troops and al-Sadr's militiamen.
We say that this matter is very dangerous and we put the blame on the Iraqi government for the American destruction of the country, he said. We have thought before that sovereignty in Iraq is incomplete, but now we say that sovereignty doesn't exist in Iraq, al-Rubaie said.
Caldwell said he has no information about the alleged takeover of the office. Iraqi soldiers held a security cordon around Fadhil, and residents hid frightened in their homes, a witness told the AP by telephone, on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.
The Muslim Scholars Association, a Sunni group, issued a statement quoting witnesses as saying Tuesday's battle began after Iraqi troops entered a mosque and executed two young men in front of other worshippers. Ground forces used tear gas on civilians, it said. The association condemns this horrible crime carried out by occupiers and the government, the statement said. But the witness in Fadhil said the two men were executed in an outdoor vegetable market, not in the mosque. The Iraqi military was not immediately available to comment on the claim. The U.S. military said the battle began after American and Iraqi troops came under fire around 7 a.m. during a routine search operation. Helicopter gunships then swooped in, engaging insurgents with machine gun fire, the military said. Some Arab TV stations reported a U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fight, and showed video of a charred piece of mechanical wreckage that was impossible to identify. Caldwell said four helicopters sustained minor damage but were able to return to base. He confirmed that one Apache gunship had dropped a missile pod as it left the area.
Caldwell said 13 of the 16 wounded Americans had returned to duty and that 20 suspected insurgents were killed and 30 wounded, he said. Associated Press writers Lauren Frayer and Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.
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