Thursday, October 09, 2008

ROUSTABOUT THURSDAY

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.

Tropical Storm Odile forms in Pacific Ocean Thu Oct 9, 5:02 AM ET

MIAMI - The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Odile has formed in the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, Hurricane Norbert has weakened to a Category 3 hurricane as it lumbers on a path expected to take it to Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula over the weekend.Odile, the 15th named storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season, has maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 kph). But the storm is expected to strengthen.Odile is centered about 315 miles (505 kilometers) southeast of Puerto Angel, Mexico. Forecasters expect Odile's center to head northwest, moving parallel to Mexico's Pacific coast but offshore.Northwest of Odile, Hurricane Norbert's winds have decreased slightly to 125 mph (205 kph), but forecasters say it remains a dangerous storm.

Norbert becomes Category 4 hurricane in Pacific By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 8, 11:58 PM ET

CIUDAD OBREGON, Mexico - Hurricane Norbert strengthened Wednesday into an extremely powerful Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast and was on track to hit the southern Baja California peninsula over the weekend. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Norbert will likely turn toward the northeast over the next two days en route to the Baja peninsula and Mexican mainland. Officials across the region were setting up shelters and preparing for possible evacuations from low-lying regions.

In Ciudad Obregon, across the Sea of Cortez from Baja California, farmers were rushing to finish fertilizing their fields before the hurricane hit. At the Fiesta Inn hotel, workers were sealing wood decks to prepare for the heavy rains.The storm had maximum sustained winds near 135 mph and was moving west-northwest at near 9 mph late Wednesday, the hurricane center said. It was expected to reach a relatively unpopulated stretch of coast well north of Cabo San Lucas before dawn Saturday.

Norbert was centered about 420 miles south of the southern tip Baja California on Wednesday night.Baja residents were waiting to see what the storm would do before preparing.Everything is very calm right now. Only a sporadic shower or two, said Elizabeth Guillien, manager of Hotel Conquistador in Ciudad Constitucion, a town in the southern peninsula.Norbert is the seventh hurricane of the east Pacific season.

Further south, a tropical depression formed Wednesday off Central America's Pacific coast, near the El Salvador-Nicaragua border. Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph.The depression was dumping rain across Central America as it headed toward Mexico's southern coastline. Forecasters warned it could cause mudslides.And in Mexico's Gulf coast, Tropical Storm Marco was a rain shower Wednesday after slamming into land with near hurricane-force winds and leaving flooding in its wake.

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

PSALMS 39:6
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS THU OCT 09,2008

09:30 AM +97.89
10:00 AM +52.49
10:30 AM -30.58
11:00 AM -94.78
11:30 AM -121.94
12:00 PM -80.68
12:30 PM -65.31
01:00 PM -86.86
01:30 PM -13.84
02:00 PM -91.19
02:30 PM -150.69
03:00 PM -205.74
03:30 PM -389.47
04:00 PM -678.91 8579.19

S&P 500 909.92 -75.02

NAS 1645.12 -95.21

GOLD 919.8 +13.3

OIL 84.69 -4.26

TSE 300 -456.13 9,600.18

CDNX -30.97 1,041.67

S&P/TSX 60 -31.51 579.93

Dow drops below 8600 points.
Dow drops below 9000 points.
Dow drops for 7th straight day.
Dow drops from 250 points to 650 points in last hour.
Crude down 4%.
GM down almost 31%. down to 5.00 lowest since 1950.
S&P puts GM on down watch, credit watch negitive.
S&P drops 42% from all-tim high one year ago today.
Dow falls 37% from all-time high one year ago today.
Nasdaq down 5.5% today.
Dow falls 7.2% today. 675 points.
Stocks fall to 5 year lows.
volume in the last hour 1.75 billion shares traded.
Dow falls from 577 at close to 678.91.
Dow falls to below 9000, 10000 2 days ago, 11000 9 days ago.

WHAT AILS US

-Concerns about wider losses.
-capital raising.
-longer term problem:no E in P/E

S&P 500 PRICE 975 POINTS

Earnings EST. 2009: $75, 975/$75 = 13X EARNINGS.
AVERAGE: 15X EARNINGS. But $75 earnings way to high.
ASSUME $60 earnings: To get 13X EARNINGS (CHEAP)
S&P has to go to 800 points. 800/$60 = 13.3X EARNINGS.

Traders try to get rid of the stocks because of redemptions and margine calls.

3PM DISASTER HOUR. THE ISSUES.
1 - Forced selling, redemptions the source of late-day selling.
2 - Contining uncertainty in credit markets.
3 - How to determine earnings with credit uncertainty.
4 - Financials: concerns about wider losses, Capital raises.

DAVID ICKE ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2008/10/alex-jones-prisonplanettv-broadcast.html

Treasury may capitalize banks by end of October: source By Karey Wutkowski
OCT 9,08


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department plans to start directly injecting capital in U.S. banks as soon as the end of October in exchange for passive investment stakes, according to a financial policy source familiar with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's thinking. Using authority granted to it by last week's $700 billion market rescue legislation, Treasury would get common or preferred shares in the banks it capitalizes, the source told Reuters on Thursday. The government does not intend to seek seats on companies' board of directors in the voluntary capitalization program.White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said later on Thursday that Paulson is actively considering capital injections into troubled U.S. banks.Secretary Paulson is looking at all the different tools to figure out which ones should be used at what time and how robustly and how much money to put into each, she said.A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment in detail but said: Treasury has broad, flexible authorities under the financial rescue legislation to buy assets, provide guarantees and inject capital and intends to consider all of them.If the U.S. Treasury does inject capital into banks, it would be following the playbook of the British government, which on Wednesday pledged up to $87 billion to shore up banks' capital in exchange for preference shares.The source familiar with Paulson's thinking said Treasury was working extremely fast to put together a capital injection plan.The effect of injecting capital would be to boost banks' capacity to lend, thus complementing the bailout bill's objective of removing soured mortgage-backed assets weighing on banks' balance sheets.

Some critics of the proposals for buying soured mortgage-related products have said the process would take so long that it would reduce its efficiency, whereas a capital injection through share purchases would immediately put more cash for lending into the banking system.The question may be whether banks are willing to accept the government as a stakeholder in return for the new capital.The source said the injections would likely be made public, possibly inducing some reluctance among bankers to use it for fear that they would be identified as vulnerable institutions.

In addition, it was unclear whether a bank that wanted to participate would have to agree to conditions like limits on executive pay and an end to golden parachutes, or rich pay packets for departing executives.While public fury remains high at what is perceived as excessive pay for financial firms, corporations are generally reluctant to cede control over compensation levels, perhaps especially so to the government.

Paulson made clear on Wednesday that he interprets the authority granted by the financial rescue package as sweeping and that he intends to make full use of it. He said most attention has focused on Treasury plans to buy distressed securities from banks but made clear that wasn't the extent of his new authorities.We will use all of the tools we've been given to maximum effectiveness, including strengthening the capitalization of financial institutions of every size, he said.(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Glenn Somerville; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Dow industrials fall over 600 points, below 9,000 By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer OCT 9,08

NEW YORK - Stocks have stepped up their selling in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average is off more than 600 points, dropping below the 9,000 mark for the first time in five years. Financial, energy and health care stocks led the decline Thursday. General Motors Corp. led the Dow lower, falling nearly 30 percent.The Dow is down 645.62, or 6.97 percent, to 8,612.48. The blue chips hadn't fallen below the 9,000 level since Aug. 6, 2003.

UK calls for EU-wide rescue plan
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today OCT 9,08 @ 09:29 CET


In a sharp about face, UK Prime Minister Gordon has written to EU leaders encouraging the creation of a Europe-wide funding plan to tackle the worsening financial crisis.As recently as last week, Mr Brown said his country was opposed to any EU-wide rescue package.Writing to French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Wednesday (8 October), the British leader gave details on the UK's own £500 billion (€630 billion) plan announced yesterday morning and added that a concerted international approach was needed. The letter was also copied to other EU government leaders.

Speaking to reporters after announcing the UK plan, Mr Brown said he had also spoken to the French leader.We have invited other European countries to consider proposals we have put to them this morning on medium term funding and are in active consultation about how we can adopt a European-wide funding plan, he said.The UK plan that part-nationalises the country's banking sector will deploy £50 billion to buy preference shares in banks, £200 billion in short-term loans and an additional £250 billion to guarantee loans between banks.Meanwhile, Mr Sarkozy, whose country currently chairs the bloc's six-month rotating presidency, has suggested fresh EU actions will soon be taken.France and the European presidency are working on this global, co-ordinated response and in the hours ahead we will have concrete results, he said during a conference in the southeast of the country.The French president gave no details on the response and also seemed to suggest that the Brown plan was not a model for EU-wide planning, saying the UK bail-out was perfectly adapted to the situation his country is in.Separately, the French prime minister, Francois Fillon, told his country's parliament that France had set up its own fund to support banks, but that institutions would continue to be aided on an ad-hoc basis.

No Italian bank will fall

Meanwhile, Italy yesterday also passed a decree supporting the country's banks through a part-nationalisation, although no explicit amount of funds has been mentioned. Cash will be offered to banks in exchange for non-voting shares in the institutions.No Italian bank will fail. No Italian saver is at risk, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.Economy minister Giulio Tremonti however underscored that the move did not amount to a rescue fund, and, as in France, banks would be offered the money on a case-by-case basis.The Italian government also guaranteed deposits up to €103,000.Slovenia yesterday also announced extended bank guarantees. In the Balkan country's case, all private and small business savings are now protected.The Slovenian government wants to provide the same guarantees as other EU countries, therefore we will introduce unlimited state guarantee for bank deposits (of private individuals and small companies), finance minister Andrej Bajuk told reporters.

Stock market turmoil

Further to the east, Romania, Russia and Ukraine all temporarily suspended trading in their stock exchanges on Wednesday to prevent further slides in shares.Russia's bourses, the RTS and Micex were closed for two days after the former dropped 11 percent and the latter 14.4 percent ahead of the trading suspension.The Bucharest Stock Exchange in Romania halted trading after shares dropped a full 15 percent after just an hour, while in Ukraine, trading was suspended before the market opened.

Administration ponders ownership stakes in banks By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer OCT 9,08

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is considering taking part ownership in certain U.S. banks as an option for dealing with a severe global credit crisis. An administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and get ownership shares in return.This official said all the new powers granted in the legislation were being considered as the administration seeks to deal with a serious credit crisis that has caused the biggest upheavals on Wall Street in seven decades and continues to roil global markets.Supporters of this approach, such as Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., argue that injecting fresh capital into U.S. banks who want to participate in the program would be an effective way to bolster banks' balance sheets and get them to resume lending. Taxpayers would benefit because the government would receive an equity stake in the bank in return for providing the capital.This idea would, at a minimum, complement the administration's planned approach of buying up troubled assets and may prove to be the most promising tool of all in Secretary Paulson's kit, Schumer said in a statement.A decision to inject capital directly into financial institutions in return for ownership stakes would be similar to a plan announced Wednesday by Britain.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters that Treasury was moving quickly to implement the $700 billion rescue effort and he specifically mentioned reviewing ways to bolster the capital of banks.

We will use all the tools we've been given to maximum effectiveness, including strengthening the capitalization of financial institutions of every size, Paulson said at a Wednesday news conference.Asked whether he would try something like the British plan, Paulson said: We have a broad range of authorities and tools. ... We've emphasized the purchase of liquid assets, but we have a broad range of authorities. And I'm confident we have the authorities we need to work with going forward.The administration so far has stressed its major goal is to purchase bad loans from financial institutions.Paulson said that while the financial market turmoil has hurt the economy, the administration is moving quickly to begin the largest financial system rescue effort in history.Even with the program to buy bad assets from financial institutions, he said, some banks will fail. He also called for patience, saying the turmoil will not end quickly and significant challenges remain ahead.In an attempt to help stop the financial crisis from causing a global economic recession, the Federal Reserve and other central banks cut interest rates in a rare coordinated move Wednesday.Paulson called the coordinated rate cuts a welcome sign that central banks around the world are prepared to take the necessary steps to support the global economy during this difficult time.Paulson on Monday selected Neel Kashkari, 35, an assistant Treasury secretary, to be the interim head of the new program. In his remarks Wednesday, Paulson said the administration would move quickly to nominate someone to fill the job permanently.

Paulson said he was consulting with President Bush, congressional leaders and presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain before choosing someone to fill the job permanently. The post requires Senate confirmation, something Paulson predicted could occur in November.The administration has been rushing to implement the program, which cleared Congress last Friday. Paulson said it would be several weeks before the program makes its first purchases of troubled assets.U.S. and global financial markets continue to be severely strained, Paulson said at the briefing called to preview the upcoming weekend meetings of finance officials of the Group of Seven major industrial countries, the 185-nation International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The global credit crisis was expected to be the major agenda item at those talks.

Iceland suspends stock trading, creates new bank By JANE WARDELL, AP Business Writer OCT 9,08

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Iceland suspended trading on its stock exchange for two days and took control of the country's largest bank — the third to be placed under its protective umbrella — on Thursday as it grappled with a banking crisis that is threatening to engulf the entire country. The Nordic nation's government also used sweeping new emergency powers to create a new bank that will take over the bulk of the domestic operations of another one of its collapsed banks.The country is struggling to get a grip on the collapse of its top-heavy banking system, a situation that Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde has warned is putting Iceland at risk of national bankruptcy.Government officials announced that President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was hospitalized Monday and Tuesday after undergoing coronary angioplasty and coronary dilation. Grimsson has been advised not to return to work for a a few days.A stock market boom in the mid-1990s supported the rapid growth of Iceland's banking sector, which came to dwarf the rest of the economy and provided financing for deals that ranged across Europe and conquered swaths of the British economy, from fashion retailers to top soccer teams..The strategy gave Iceland one of the world's highest per-capita incomes, but when liquidity markets dried up around the world, the banks struggled to refinance those heavy debts.Now Icelanders are watching helplessly as their economy implodes, causing ripples throughout Europe, where tens of thousands of people have accounts with subsidiaries of the Icelandic banks..

The OMX Nordic Exchange Iceland said that equity trading would remain halted until Monday because of unusual market conditions.The government's decision to take control of Kaupthing, the country's leading bank, which has assets and debts across the continent, means that the Financial Services Authority now has control of all three of the country's major banks. The other two, Landsbanki and Glitnir, are in receivership.The authority said the action was necessary to ensure the continued orderly operation of domestic banking and the safety of domestic deposits.It also used emergency powers, rushed in by parliament earlier this week, to hive off most of the domestic assets of Landsbanki into a separate entity to be called New Landsbanki that is fully owned by the government.The decision means that the new bank takes over all the bank's deposits in Iceland, and also the bulk of the banks assets that relate to its Icelandic operations, such as loans and other claims, it said in a statement.The decision ensures continued banking operations for Icelandic families and businesses, it added.In an attempt to curb any panic, the regulator stressed that both Kaupthing and Landsbanki were open for business as usual on Thursday and that all domestic deposits of the bank were guaranteed under Icelandic law. However, the move leaves the international operations of Landsbanki, which have already caused a diplomatic spat with Britain, open to question.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has threatened to sue Iceland to recover the lost deposits of some 300,000 Britons who hold accounts with IceSave, the online arm of Landsbanki.

With local governments also holding accounts worth tens of millions of pounds (dollars) in Icelandic banks, the British government has also used powers under terrorism laws to freeze Landsbanki's assets until the status of the deposits is resolved.Savings bank ING Direct UK has agreed to buy more than 3 billion pounds (US$5.3 billion) of deposits held by around 180,000 British savers with Kaupthing Edge and Heritable Bank, which is owned by Landsbanki.Haarde said on Wednesday that discussions between the two countries had begun between the two countries to find a mutually satisfactory solution.Iceland's three major banks are being blamed for the financial catastrophe facing the country. A stock market boom in the mid-1990s supported the rapid growth of the country's banking sector, which now dwarfs the rest of the economy with assets at nine times annual gross domestic product of US$19 billion. The newly wealthy banking sector provided financing for a number of business deals across Europe. Kaupthing alone racked up debts of more than US$5.25 billion in five years to help fund British deals. When liquidity markets dried up around the world, they struggled to refinance those heavy debts. Haarde said on Wednesday that the banking sector had become too big as he acknowledged that it will take the tiny Nordic nation of just 320,000 people several years to recover from the current crisis. Glitnir, the country's third largest bank, said on Thursday that it had received liquidity support from the Norwegian Banks' Guarantee Fund of 5 billion Norwegian crowns (US$820,000) for its Norwegian unit. It added that the sale of the unit had begun. Glitnir's move into receivership on Wednesday was a sign that troubles at the bank were larger than the government thought when it announced less than two weeks ago that it would nationalize the bank — the switch into receivership gives Glitnir temporary protection from its debt obligations. In urgent moves to downsize the overgrown banking sector, the Financial Services Authority immediately began to restructure the bank, saying it would sell its Finnish and Swedish businesses. Similarly, Iceland's central bank had already loaned euro500 million (US$680 million) to Kaupthing earlier this week while the Swedish central bank had provided a loan of up to 5 billion crowns ($702 million). Those measures proved not to be enough in a rapidly deteriorating situation.

Traders look for direction on oil market By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer OCT 9,08

VIENNA, Austria - Oil prices looked for direction Thursday as traders weighed fears that a looming world recession will crimp demand against speculation that OPEC may cut output to keep prices from falling too far. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries want an extraordinary meeting before the group's Dec. 17 meeting in Algeria.OPEC's decision last month to cut production by 520,000 barrels a day failed to halt oil's slide.I think OPEC will definitely start to talk the market up, said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. They'll try to keep their members to their quotas. Then if prices fall below $80, they may cut production.Light, sweet crude for November delivery was up by 10 cents at $89.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract overnight fell $1.11 to settle at $88.95.The U.S. Federal Reserve, along with central banks in Europe and China cut interest rates Wednesday in a bid to jump-start lending. But markets in the U.S. and Europe sank in response Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost another 2 percent, and the index has shed more than a third of its value since its all-time high set one year ago Thursday. European stocks rose on Thursday.

Traders are expecting the world to move toward recession, with the U.S. and Europe especially a concern, said Rigby. Based on the short-term trend, you could see prices approaching $80 next week.Weighing on prices was evidence of falling demand in the U.S, where crude inventories jumped by 8.1 million barrels last week while gasoline stocks surged 7.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its weekly inventory report.Both increases far exceeded expectations, reflecting both persistently weak demand and a recovery of Gulf Coast energy output following shutdowns prompted by Hurricane Ike last month.Overall demand for oil fell for a fifth straight week and year-on-year demand fell for a 24th straight week this year, noted trader and analyst Stephen Schork in his Schork Report. In fact last week demand ... fell to the lowest level since the week following the 9/11/2001 attacks.Demand for gasoline was also weaker, falling 5.3 percentage points over the four weeks ended Oct. 3 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the EIA report.Crude has fallen about 40 percent since surging to an all-time record $147.27 a barrel on July 11.The bubble has burst, Rigby said. Before any real increase in prices, we need to see some good economic data from around the world, and that could be a few months.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures were down by more than 2 pennies at $2.47 a gallon while gasoline rose by more than a cent to $2.04 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose more than 3 cents to $6.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, November Brent crude was up 13 cents to $84.49 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy contributed to this report from Singapore.

Russian stock market trading halted OCT 8,08

Russia's main stock exchange announced it was to halt trading until Friday after opening with steep losses on Wednesday.The MICEX index dropped more than 14% in the first half-hour of trading on Wednesday morning.The RTS exchange, whose index is widely considered the benchmark of Russia's markets, fell more than 11% in the first 30 minutes and suspended trading for one hour.The exchanges suffered their worst-ever one-day losses on Monday and ended on Tuesday with minor losses, in a tepid response to President Dmitry Medvedev's announcement of new measures to improve liquidity in the banking system.

ETFs Trade Through Russian Exchange Closures Written by Paul Amery
Thursday, 09 October 2008 09:12


The Russian stock exchanges, RTS and Micex, have repeatedly been closed over the last two months as the value of equities has fallen sharply. Wednesday's suspension of trading was the tenth such closure since early September. Trading was originally scheduled to resume on Friday 10 October, but in fact reopening today, 9 October.

Since September 30 2008 the Russian regulator, the Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM), has enforced a policy under which trading will be suspended on the Russian exchanges for no less than one hour if an index indicator deviates during the day by more than 5% in comparison to its opening value, or by more than 10% in comparison to its closing value of the previous trading day. At its closing level of 761.63 on 8 October, the RTS dollar index had declined by almost 70% from its all-time high of 2487.92, reached in May. So far in today's trading, the index has rebounded by around 10%. While trading in European Russia-focused ETFs has been affected by these repeated market closures, the suspensions of activity on the Russian exchanges have not automatically led to trading halts in the ETFs. This is because a number of leading Russian shares trade in ADR or GDR form on foreign exchanges. However both Manooj Mistry of db x-trackers and Claus Hein of Lyxor, the leading European managers of Russian equity ETFs, confirmed to IndexUniverse.com that some widening of bid-offer spreads would be inevitable during such periods of closure. In the U.S., the Market Vectors - Russia ETF (AMEX: RSX) has continued to trade as well without stoppage, as have the various BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) ETFs. Of course, the Russia market is typically closed during U.S. trading hours, anyway; U.S. ETF shareholders trade based on estimates of where the markets are going, acting as an overnight price discovery mechanism for Russian shares.

Emerging market investors had been heavily overweight in Russia early in the year, with the February Merrill Lynch investor survey showing a net 73% of investors overweight in the country, and Russia topping the list of preferred emerging markets.

Russian markets climb sharply OCT 9,08

MOSCOW - Russia's battered stock markets surged after reopening Thursday, recouping some of the losses suffered early in the week when they suffered their biggest-ever one-day falls. The move higher was so steep that one exchange suspended trading twice during the day in conformance with Russian regulations requiring trading to halt temporarily if the composite index of all stocks on an exchange rises or falls by more than 5 percent.The index of selected leading stocks on the MICEX exchange, where most of Russia's trading takes place, was up 11.6 percent at 3:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) after two suspensions of up to an hour. The RTS exchange's index of leading stocks, which is widely seen as the market's economic benchmark, was up nearly 11 percent.The climb came after an ominous week in which both exchanges recorded their biggest one-day drops ever. Thursday's rise appeared to be largely in response to central banks worldwide moving to cut interest rates.This is more likely to be the beginning of the end of the crisis than the end itself, said Ovanes Oganisian, deputy head of equity research at Renaissance Capital. Steps will definitely be taken to make the financial sector more transparent and with more information on bad assets. This would restore confidence among the market players and would probably open the final stage of the crisis.Oil and gas blue chips led the growth as oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft climbed 27.1 and 21.8 percent, respectively. Natural gas company Gazprom went up 19.3 percent.Maxim Osadchiy, chief analyst at Moscow-based Antanta Pioglobal investment bank, said today's growth testifies to the market's high volatility. Markets are reacting differently to the same news, he said. There's no other word than chaos for what is happening now.Russia's once-booming stock market has suffered huge losses in recent months, with the RTS index dropping more than two-thirds since May. The market is plagued not only by reverberations from the global financial chaos, but by low prices for oil — which is the backbone of Russia's economy — and concerns in the wake of Russia's war with Georgia in August.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

EU too divided to solve frozen conflicts, Azerbaijan says
VALENTINA POP Today OCT 9,08 @ 09:25 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Oil and gas-rich rich Azerbaijan, home of another frozen conflict with its neighbouring Russian ally Armenia, does not consider the EU as a feasible peace broker in the region, Azeri deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov has said.The European Union is a powerful economic and political union of states, but in terms of acting in a united way, the EU is not there yet, especially in an environment that changes rapidly. The EU it is not able to act in an instrumental way, Mr Azimov said on his expectations of possible EU involvement in finding a solution for the frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The senior official made the comment at a conference organized in Brussels by the European Policy Center on Wednesday (8 October).The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which still occupies the Azeri region of Nagorno-Karabakh, is currently mediated by the so-called Minsk group, created by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1992 and headed by France, Russia and the United States. Other members of the Minsk group include Belarus, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan themselves.

In the Minsk group there is a majority of EU countries and we do take their position into account. We need the EU's influence as an international actor, but we don't think the EU is a feasible partner in the Minsk group, Mr Azimov explained.The EU's special representative to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Peter Semneby, confirmed that the bloc remains supportive of the work of the Minsk group but didn't see as probable any change in terms of the EU joining the body as a full participant in its own right.He dismissed the idea that the EU was unable to respond forcefully and united to crisis situations however, considering that in the recent war in Georgia it proved very much able to show political will in brokering a ceasefire agreement and in quickly deploying an observer mission on the ground.Mr Semneby noted that it is the first European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) mission deployed on former Soviet union territory, designed to stabilize the situation after an acute war.

EU role unclear

The status of the EUobservers remains unclear if Russians are to pull back by 10 October from the security zones and not granting them access into the two separatist enclaves, Azerbaijan's Mr Azimov countered.I think Russians will withdraw from the buffer zones, because they have no interest to stay. The six points [of the ceasefire agreement] will be implemented more or less, but then what will happen with South Ossetia and Abkhazia? he asked.The main lesson of 08/08 [the day Russia sent troops into Georgia, following the attempt by the Georgian military to take over control of South Ossetia] is that the stability of the region is put under a big question mark, while separatist movements are being further promoted, the Azeri diplomat said, adding that it will be important what happens in Geneva on 15 October, when diplomatic talks are scheduled on the status of the two Georgian breakaway regions, whose independence has been only recognized by Russia and Nicaragua.Mr Azimov spoke of the need for the EU to reconfigure its approach to Azerbaijan and start implementing the existing mechanisms from a 2006 energy partnership, not just talk about how important his country is for the bloc's energy security.Azerbaijan is not aiming, like Ukraine or Georgia, to become a member of the EU, but could very well imagine common areas for trade, economy, transport, he explained, as far as is procedurally possible without entering the membership discussion.

West loses influence in Caucasus

While the Azeri minister talked about his country's ability to balance between its close ally US, but also Russia and Iran, emphasising stability and political responsibility, Mustafa Aydın from the University of Ankara bluntly said that the region has dropped the whole idea of democratisation and Euro-Atlantic integration following the Russian invasion of Georgia.There is no talk of democratisation in the Caucasus any more. If authoritarianism worked in Russia, why not in the Caucasus as well? All the countries, including Turkey, have adopted a careful rhetoric towards Moscow, with 'stabilisation' being the key-word, Mr Aydin said.Vladimir Socor from the NGO the Jamestown Foundation and a long time expert on the region said the EU is by far not matching Russia in soft power in Azerbaijan and the wider region.The conflict in Georgia damaged the confidence of investors in the Caucasus energy corridor - the only direct link the EU has with the oil and gas-rich Caspian countries without passing through Russia - he explained.He talked of the need for the EU and US to subsidise pipelines such as the planned Nabucco gas pipeline, which would bring Caspian gas to the European markets.

Nabucco sweetener criticised

Mr Socor criticised the incipient idea in the outgoing Bush administration to re-route Nabucco through Armenia instead of Georgia as a sweetener for getting an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh.Mr Azimov reassured the audience that such plans are not realistic, since a part of the project passing through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey is already built.He stressed that the government in Baku still supports the project, but it shouldn't be the only one caring about Nabucco, calling on the EU to step up efforts to build the pipe.

EU-Russia treaty talks risk long delay
PHILIPPA RUNNER Today OCT 9,08 @ 09:18 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Negotiations on a new EU-Russia treaty could be held up despite Russia's pull-back from Georgia buffer zones on Wednesday (8 October), with Lithuania pushing for Russian troop scale-back in South Ossetia and Abkhazia also before talks restart.[Lithuania] wants the EU to respect the agreements created by Sarkozy, an EU diplomat told EUobserver. It is hoping for the company of other new EU member states, the Nordic countries and London.Russian soldiers on Wednesday left two seven-kilometre-wide strips of land surrounding the Georgia breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in compliance with a peace deal between Russia and Georgia brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 8 September. But Lithuania wants Russia to also respect the earlier Moscow-Tbilisi-Paris peace accord of 12 August, under which Russian armed forces will be pulled back to the line preceding the start of hostilities.Russia kept around 2,500 soldiers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia prior to the conflict. But it has since pledged to station 7,600 troops in the two territories for an indefinite period of time and recognised the rebel enclaves as independent states.The prospect of restarting negotiations on a new EU-Russia partnership agreement will come up for debate at an EU foreign ministers meeting on 13 October and the EU summit two days later.EU leaders froze the partnership talks on 1 September in a mini-sanction against Russia's invasion of Georgia. The EU is also awaiting a comprehensive audit of EU-Russia relations ahead of an EU-Russia summit in November.But Lithuania's hard line on fulfilling the 12 August peace accord runs counter to expectations in Paris and Moscow.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov in recent weeks both said they think EU-Russia negotiations will resume in October, without making reference to troop levels inside the rebel-held zones.

President Sarkozy speaking at a think-tank event in Evian, France, on Wednesday welcomed the Russian buffer zone withdrawal, saying President Medvedev had kept his word.The French leader also implied that the partial Russian pull-back constitutes full compliance with EU demands. The full implementation of the accords of August 12 and September 8 ... paves the way for the resumption of negotiations on an ambitious framework agreement, both in terms of the scope and intensity of co-operation, he said, AFP reports.

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.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

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)

N. Korea announces it is ending its nuclear freeze By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer OCT 9,08

VIENNA, Austria - North Korea has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it is placing all its main nuclear complex off-limits to inspectors and will stop its program of dismantling the site. The IAEA made the development public in an announcement Thursday.A senior diplomat familiar with North Korea's statement said it is the clearest indication so far that Pyongyang plans to restart its atomic program, which includes facilities to produce plutonium that can be used in a bomb. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the matter.The North already barred agency personnel from its plutonium-reprocessing facility at Yongbyon last month.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

WHAT WILL WEDNESDAY BRING

YOM KIPPUR IN ISRAEL TODAY AT 6PM SEE IF ANY DISASTERS HAPPEN IN THE WORLD ON THIS DAY. Read about yom kippur by clicking on title.

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.

Tornado touches down near Fla. park, no one hurt OCT 8,08

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Forecasters say a tornado has blown out windows and knocked down trees and power lines near a state park in the Florida Panhandle. According to the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, a tornado was seen touching down just before 8:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday. It happened in a subdivision near St. Andrews State Park in Panama City.No injuries have been reported.Forecasters say the roof on a nearby business also was damaged.

Hurricane Norbert strengthens, threatens Baja By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Oct 8, 11:18 AM ET

MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Norbert strengthened Wednesday to a powerful Category 3 storm in the Pacific Ocean and was forecast to hit Mexico's Baja California peninsula by the weekend. The hurricane was expected to turn toward the northeast over the next two days on a path that could take it over the southern Baja peninsula and the Mexican mainland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.Norbert's maximum sustained winds were near 125 mph (205 kph), and it was expected to remain a hurricane for the next two days.The storm was centered about 460 miles (740 kilometers) south of the southern tip Baja California, and was moving west-northwest near 9 mph (15 kph).Norbert is the seventh hurricane of the east Pacific season.In Mexico's Gulf coast, Tropical Storm Marco weakened late Tuesday into a tropical depression after slamming into land with near hurricane-force winds.Mexico's state oil company had shutdown of some oil platforms in the gulf and evacuated some 3,000 people before Marco hit the coast about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Veracruz.

Marco was expected to dissipate overnight as it moved over Mexico's mountainous terrain, but forecasters said rains of up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) could still unleash mudslides.Marco appeared to have largely spared water-logged southern areas of Veracruz state, where rain-swollen rivers jumped their banks, leaving the towns of Minatitlan and Hidalgotitlan under 10 feet (3 meters) of water last week.State authorities closed schools and set up some 200 shelters, while soldiers and rescue officials bused people from low-lying communities.In northern Veracruz state, authorities evacuated a hospital in the town of Misantla, where two overflowing rivers threatened to flood it.

Disasters kill more in 2008 than in tsunami: UN Wed Oct 8, 6:57 AM ET

GENEVA (AFP) - More people died from natural disasters in the first six months of 2008 than in the Asian tsunami of 2004 due mainly to the earthquake in China and cyclone in Myanmar, the United Nations said Wednesday. 2008 is a terrible year. There have already been more victims than in the tsunami, said Salvator Briceno, head of the UN's disaster management agency (ISDR).More than 230,000 people lost their lives from disasters and another 130 million were affected, he said on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction.Cyclone Nargis which hit Mynamar in May is estimated to have killed around 138,000 people while the earthquake in south-west China's Sichuan province left a death toll of 87,500.

Record floods in India as well as a devastating hurricane season in the Caribbeans also all contributed to the grim statistics.The UN estimates the economic cost of natural disasters for the first half of this year at 35 billion dollars (26 billion euros), up from an average of 15 billion dollars for the same period over the past ten years.

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

EARTHQUAKES

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

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Arctic Ocean earthquake rattles Nevada seismograph
Tue Oct 7, 5:24 PM


A strong earthquake that shook the high Arctic on Tuesday morning was picked up by seismic instruments as far south as Nevada, but Canadian quake experts say they doubt anyone could have felt the shockwaves.The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 5.7-magnitude earthquake took place about 6 a.m. ET in the Arctic Ocean, about 755 kilometres northwest of Resolute, Nunavut, and 1,935 kilometres north of Yellowknife.

I doubt if this earthquake would be felt by anybody, and we certainly don't have any felt reports so far, Garry Rogers, an earthquake scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada, told CBC News on Tuesday.But this earthquake, at sort of magnitude 5.6 [or] 5.7, is big enough to record on virtually every seismograph around the world.The earthquake made news in northeastern Nevada, where the U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a 4.2 magnitude earthquake about 29 kilometres west of the town of North Fork.A seismologist reviewed the report and determined that phases from the Arctic Ocean quake, which had started seven minutes earlier, had been wrongly interpreted by a seismograph as a local earthquake, USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala told the Associated Press.Sigala said no shaking was felt in Nevada, but that waves from a quake such as the one in the Arctic can be detected around the world.Had Tuesday's earthquake taken place near a city, it would have been strong enough to damage buildings.With files from the Associated Press

Kyrgyzstan evacuates wounded after earthquake leaves 75 dead
Agence France-Presse 2008-10-08 01:21 AM


Associated Press
Kyrgyzstan yesterday dispatched helicopters to evacuate victims of a devastating earthquake that killed 75 people, including 41 children, in a remote mountain village near the Chinese border.Military helicopters flew the injured from the flattened village of Nura, about 10 kilometers from China in the Tian Shan mountains, the emergency ministry said in a statement yesterday, a national day of mourning.Almost all buildings in the village have been destroyed. The only buildings remaining are those built recently: the school and a medical clinic, the statement said.The death toll rose to 75 after a woman died in hospital overnight, the ministry said.In addition to Nura's population of about 1,000, the ministry said some 1,000 visitors were in the village when the quake hit late Sunday, including businessmen, tourists and drivers who had just crossed the Chinese border.The quake had a magnitude of 6.6 according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
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.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
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.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
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.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

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

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

European Union tested by world economic crisis By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 7, 5:00 PM ET

Wall Street's woes extend far beyond Main Street and all the way to Law Street — the hulking headquarters of the European Union. But the 27-nation bloc based at Rue de la Loi in Brussels, Belgium, hasn't taken sweeping joint action to deal with the global financial meltdown.Instead, it's essentially left member countries to go it alone with a patchwork of measures aimed at keeping banks afloat.Frustrated investors want to know why, and some have begun to question whether the EU — at its core, an economic union — will survive.Although the EU pledged to act as one to calm roiled markets, it hasn't done much beyond a move Tuesday to boost guarantees on savings accounts.That's led member states to take an a la carte approach, with major economic powerhouses like Britain and Germany putting together rescue packages, leaving smaller nations like Iceland to take the fall.It's a risky business for the EU: In the short term, banks in poorer countries may flounder and fail. And by relinquishing key decisions to its members just as they're turning to EU headquarters for guidance at a time of crisis, the bloc could see decades of attempts to forge unity simply disintegrate.Already, the 27 EU nations are divided over deploying troops to Afghanistan and deadlocked on a constitution designed to transform their union into a political super-state. Only 15 countries now use the common euro currency and the pride of the bloc — passport-free travel — doesn't apply to the entire EU.Failure to pull together now on the financial crisis could push member nations even further apart, perhaps emboldening a resurgent Russia's influence on the fringes of the enlarged EU.Europe is in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, 256 of the continent's leading economists said Tuesday in an open letter to EU leaders.Unless European leaders immediately unite to address this crisis before it spirals out of control, they may find themselves fighting over how best to salvage the aftermath, the economists said. They evoked the dark years of the 1930s, adding: It is not an exaggeration to say that it could happen again if governments fail to act.And failure to act in unison has been an EU hallmark over the past few years.A campaign to get all 27 nations to ratify a European constitution designed to streamline decision-making and give the expanding bloc more of a voice in world affairs remains stuck in limbo. Irish voters rejected it in June, three years after resounding No! votes in France and the Netherlands.

Many who backed a greater global role for the EU have consoled themselves by focusing on its roots as an economic union. Today's EU sprang from the six-nation European Economic Community established in 1957.But the bloc designed to unify is riven by all kinds of divisions.EU members have clashed repeatedly on deploying troops to Afghanistan or even whether to send 24 of their estimated 12,000 military helicopters to Darfur. They've bogged down completely on more thorny issues, such as how to respond to terrorism or recognize an independent Kosovo.That makes the credit crisis now rattling markets and consumers worldwide even more of a test.If the EU can't forge a common response to a collapse that transcends borders, involves multinational lenders and has pushed the euro currency down to its lowest level in a year, some wonder: What's the point of having an EU? EU leaders have forfeited a chance for Europe to find new leadership and credibility on the world stage, Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore financial daily said Tuesday. Instead, it warned, the leadership vacuum thrusts the entire bloc into a suicidal position.As calls mounted for a unified plan of action, EU finance ministers held an emergency meeting Tuesday in Luxembourg to debate raising guarantees for private savings across the bloc. They agreed to raise the minimum bank deposit guarantee to $68,160 (euro50,000) — but that's just half of the $135,000 (euro100,000) backing that France wanted. Private deposits in most of the EU had been insured only up to $27,000 (euro20,000).

At the same time, some European governments have taken unilateral action: Germany pledged to guarantee all private bank savings and CDs in the country, and Iceland and Denmark followed suit. Ireland went even further by also guaranteeing Irish banks' debts. It was easier for the EU to take common positions when it wasn't so big. Today's bloc is unwieldy, and it includes eight ex-communist countries that don't always take kindly to the notion of government intervention. The politicians in Europe are crazy. We didn't live under communism for 40 years just to return to it on EU soil, said Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek, who opposes 100 percent guarantees on bank deposits as unaffordable. His Spanish counterpart, Pedro Solbes, disagreed. In a shared business climate, decisions should be taken in agreement and not individually, he said. El Pais, Spain's leading newspaper, agreed, warning in an editorial Tuesday: There is a real risk that a great quantity of money will flow from those countries with fewer guarantees to those whose deposits are backed up absolutely.Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been pitching the idea of an umbrella fund for the common market. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out a U.S.-style, EU-wide bailout of troubled banks. Merkel's spokesman, Thomas Steg, told reporters Tuesday that although EU coordination is important, Germany believes each must endeavor to solve the problems with the means and methods available to him.It's very painful that Europe is now divided, said Willem Vermeend, a former Dutch junior minister for finance. But I understand very well that countries say, We're going to take measures ourselves now. If it doesn't come from Europe, you can't wait for Europe.But, he added: We need to save the economy. Period.
Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Germany, Alessandra Rizzo in Italy, Ciaran Giles in Spain, Karel Janicek in the Czech Republic and Toby Sterling in the Netherlands contributed to this report.

CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

PSALMS 39:6
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS WED OCT 08,2008

09:30 AM -120.03
10:00 AM -109.20
10:30 AM -15.53
11:00 AM -104.42
11:30 AM -74.23
12:00 PM -110.15
12:30 PM -230.74
01:00 PM -171.80
01:30 PM -64.20
02:00 PM +92.71
02:30 PM +117.40
03:00 PM -102.11
03:30 PM +83.87
04:00 PM -189.01 9258.10

S&P 500 984.94 -11.29

NAS 1740.33 -14.55

GOLD 908.8 +26.8

OIL 88.65 -1.41

TSE 300 +225.84 10,055.39

CDNX -21.82 1,072.64

S&P/TSX 60 +10.19 611.44

2 Trillion dollars lost in the last 15 months in retirement accounts.
Dow ccoming off biggest 5 day point drop in history.
Dow was up +181 points at one point as of 11AM.
Dow was down -234 points at one point as of 11AM.

Coordinated Global Rate Cut of a half a point by Canada, UK, Switzerland, European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve in the USA.

Federal Reserve 1.50%
Bank of Canada 2.50%
Swiss National Bank 2.50%
European Central Bank 3.75%
Sveriges Riksbank 4.25%
Bank Of England 4.50%

Central Banks statement.
Inflationary pressures have started to moderate in a number of Countries. The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augumented the downside risks to growth.

RUSSIA SUSPENDS MARKETS AUDIO
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Russia-suspends-stock-market-trading-for-a-second-day/tabid/313/articleID/72260/cat/639/Default.aspx

50.000 euro, a deposit guaranteed by EU countries
Data: 8 oct 2008


European Union ministers of finance try to calm down the population’s fears and avoid a massive bank run.European ministers of finance gathered yesterday in Luxembourg and agreed to raise the minimum limit of banking deposits’ guarantee from 20.000 to 50.000 euro. A number of countries have already taken individual actions that assure more substantial guarantees. For instance, Spain or Austria raised the level of guarantee to 100.000 euro, and France to 70.000 euro. In Bucharest, governor Mugur Isărescu stated that NBR is ready to take actions similar to those taken by other European countries. In Romania, only 5 % of the depositors have more than 20.000 euro in banks. The countries agree with extending the protection of people’s deposits till a minimum level of 50.000 euro, considering that many of the European Union member-countries are determined to raise the limit to 100.000 euro stated yesterday European sources, cited by AFP. The decision taken in Luxembourg will force each state to guarantee the minimum of 50.000 euro, nevertheless giving the green light to some of the countries to raise the limit even more, depending on the possibilities.

Paulson to discuss G7 financial coordination OCT 8,08

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at a news conference on Wednesday will discuss coordinated actions by wealthy industrialized countries to ease financial system stress. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Paulson may discuss a plan floated by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for concerted action to guarantee inter-bank lending.Secretary Paulson might have more to say on that today at his press conference, Perino told a daily White House news briefing, adding that the subject also will be discussed at Friday's meeting of Group of Seven central bank governors and finance ministers.She declined to provide any more details about the Brown plan, which was disclosed by a G7 source who said the British leader sent a letter to G7 counterparts urging them to issue a set of similar national guarantees aimed at restoring trust in the global market for bank funding.We will continue to talk with our allies and coordinate with them, and I think this morning's action with the Fed governors is an example, Perino said, referring to a coordinated interest rate cut by major global central banks.Paulson is scheduled to appear with David McCormick, the Treasury's undersecretary for international affairs, to discuss the G7 meeting. He will issue prepared remarks and take questions from the media, the Treasury said.

The news conference is scheduled for 3 p.m..

Perino said Paulson also will focus on the Treasury's coordinated actions with other federal regulators to tackle the four key challenges in our financial markets today: confidence, capital, systemic risk, and liquidity.The Treasury will host the finance ministers and central bank governors of Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on Friday ahead of semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.(Reporting by David Lawder and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Stocks fluctuate despite emergency rate cut By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer OCT 8,08

NEW YORK - Wall Street zigzagged Wednesday as an emergency interest rate cut failed to alleviate investors' fears that the paralysis in the credit markets will set off a global recession. The major indexes moved in and out of positive territory, with the Dow Jones industrials at times falling more than 200 points or rising more than 100. The rate cut by the Federal Reserve and other leading central banks failed to convince investors that credit markets would soon relax and that banks would begin lending more freely to businesses and consumers. The Fed lowered rates by a half-point, saying in a statement that the turmoil in financial markets posed a further threat to an already shaky economy; it was joined in the rate cut by the European Central Bank, Bank of England, The Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.But interest rate changes take months to work their way through the economy, and while investors clearly were happy with the central banks' actions, they were also well aware that in the near term, banks remain reluctant to lend because of fears they won't be paid back.That fear, which increased after the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in mid-September, has all but shut down the credit markets, making it increasingly hard for companies and individuals to borrow, and in turn, posing a further threat to the economy. Wall Street has plunged in response to scarcity of credit; stocks initially rose on the rate cut, but turned lower as the reality of the credit markets' troubles set in again.The fears on the Street have been exacerbated by the spread of the U.S. credit problems overseas. Several banks in Europe have had to be bailed out, and earlier this week, the governments of Germany, Ireland and Greece took steps to guarantee private bank deposits.Moreover, the markets are mindful of the fact that the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan is in its early stages of implementation and will take some time to have an impact on banks' balance sheets.

Stocks drew some early support from signs that the housing industry — whose troubles set off the series of events leading to the current credit problems — might be faring better than expected. The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales for August jumped unexpectedly, rather than falling 1.8 percent as had been predicted. Pending sales, which reflect signed contracts, rose 7.4 percent in August from an upwardly revised reading of 87 in July.But investors who have been selling frantically because of the stymied credit markets, eventually discounted the home sales report. They did some selected buying of stocks that have been turned into bargains by massive losses, but the advances — largely reflected in the major indexes — did not hold for long.In midafternoon trading, the Dow rose 98.92, or 1.05 percent, to 9,456.03. It fell 875 points during the first two days this week.Broader indexes also were in positive territory. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.68, or 0.17 percent, to 997.91. The Nasdaq composite index rose 4.75, or 0.27 percent, to 1,759.63.But declining issues led advancers by a 2 to 1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a heavy 1.2 billion shares.With its precipitous drop of the past few weeks, Wall Street is approaching the magnitude of the losses it suffered during the bear market in the early part of this decade. By the time the Dow reached its low of that market, 7,286.27 on Oct. 9, 2002, it had fallen 37.8 percent from its record high close of 11,722.98, set in January 2000.The Dow has now fallen about 33 percent from the closing high of 14,164.53, reached a year ago Thursday.European indexes, which were down about 5 percent before the rate cut, pared only some of their losses. In Britain, the FTSE-100 fell 5.18 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 5.88 percent, and France's CAC-40 dropped 6.31 percent.In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 9.38 percent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 8.17 percent hours before the rate cuts were announced; their declines showed the extent of the worldwide gloom. And Russia's two main stock exchanges were suspended because of a massive sell-off right after their openings.David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's, said the losses around the world signals that markets are finally realizing that the credit crisis can't be resolved soon.There was a general disregard for risk going on in financial markets around the world, it wasn't just the U.S., he said. Now they're waking up to risk.Investors had been extremely anxious in recent days for a rate cut, and despite the Fed taking other steps this week to help the credit markets. Policymakers unveiled a plan to buy massive amounts of commercial paper, the short-term debt used by companies, in a bid to reanimate the credit markets. With all of this occurring as a coordinated effort it is showing that everybody out there is trying to fight this thing, and that should bring some confidence back to the market, said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group. But, the big question now is can the credit market open for business.It is likely that stocks won't begin to recover for good until investors are certain the credit markets are functioning in a more normal fashion. There are also severe economic problems including heavy job losses and high unemployment that will also need to show improvement.

The uncertainty in the market has driven investors to buy up anything deemed safe, including gold and government debt. For instance, prices of gold shot up $19.90 to $901.90 — though still off its record of $1,033.90 in March. Demand for short-term Treasurys remained high because of their safety; investors are willing to take extremely low returns just to have their money in a secure place. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, which moves opposite its price, dropped to 0.77 percent from 0.81 percent late Tuesday. However, longer term Treasury bonds fell because they are considered to be less attractive when the Fed cuts rates. The yield on the 10-year note rose to 3.72 percent from 3.51 percent late Tuesday. The first third-quarter earnings reports are showing signs of strain on companies, and that is adding more uncertainty to the stock market. After the close Tuesday, Alcoa Inc. said it would conserve cash by suspending its stock buyback program and all non-critical capital projects. The aluminum company's earnings fell 52 percent. Shares of the company plunged $1.99, or 11.9 percent, to $14.72, by far the steepest decliner among the 30 that comprise the Dow industrials. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.40, or 0.79 percent, to 563.35.

IMF: World economy to slow sharply, led by US By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer OCT 8,08

WASHINGTON - The world economy will slow sharply this year and next, with the United States likely sliding into recession reflecting mounting damage from the most dangerous financial jolt in more than a half-century. The International Monetary Fund, in a World Economic Outlook released Wednesday, slashed growth projections for the global economy and predicted the United States — the epicenter of the financial meltdown — will continue to lose traction.The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s, the IMF said in its report.The IMF now projects that the global economy, which grew by a hardy 5 percent last year, will lose considerable speed, slowing to 3.9 percent this year. It is forecast to weaken even more — to just 3 percent — next year, marking the worst showing since 2002. In the past, the IMF has called global growth of 3 percent or less the equivalent to a global recession.The IMF's projection was made before the Federal Reserve and six other major central banks from around the world slashed interest rates Wednesday in an attempt to prevent a financial crisis from becoming a global economic meltdown.The Fed reduced its key rate from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. In Europe, which also has been hard hit by the financial crisis, the Bank of England cut its rate by half a point to 4.5 percent, while the European Central Bank sliced its rate to 3.75 percent.Also taking part were the central banks of China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland. The Bank of Japan said it strongly supported the actions.The financial crisis, which erupted in the United States in August 2007 and has quickly spread around the globe, entered a tumultuous new phase last month, badly shaking confidence in global financial institutions and markets, the IMF said. It has triggered a cascading series of bankruptcies, forced mergers and radical government interventions — such as the United States' unprecedented $700 billion financial bailout — to stem the fallout.

The new projections come before a gathering of the world's top economic powers on Friday and the weekend meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. The jarring financial crisis is likely to figure prominently in those discussions.In the United States, the economy, which grew by 2 percent last year, is projected to slow to 1.6 percent this year. Growth would screech to a virtual halt in 2009, barely budging at just 0.1percent. That would mark the worst showing since 1991, when the country was pulling out of a recession.With a recession now looking increasingly likely, the key questions are, how deep will the downturn be, when will a recovery get under way and how strong will it be? the IMF asked. Much will hinge on how effective the United States' steps to stabilize financial markets and get credit flowing more freely again turn out to be. Another important factor is whether these and other actions turn around U.S. consumers, whose retrenchment is hurting the economy.The IMF — and many private economists — believe the U.S. economy will probably contract in the final three months of this year and the first three months of next year, meeting a classic definition of a recession. The economy's last recession was in 2001.The government's bailout package is aimed at thawing lending by buying bad mortgage-related debt from troubled financial institutions. The idea is that the banks' books would then be cleaner, putting them in a better position to lend and get the economy moving.The IMF said this effort should help to stabilize markets but even so "the process of balance-sheet repair will be long and arduous. Credit availability is likely to remain constrained throughout 2009, the IMF said.Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned in a speech Tuesday that the economy's outlook for this year has darkened and the pain could last for some time. His remarks were seen as heralding the rate cut Tuesday.Looking at other countries, Germany's growth will slow to 1.8 percent this year, down from 2.5 percent last year. France's growth will weaken to just 0.8 percent, compared with 2.2 percent in 2007. Britain's economy will see growth taper to 1 percent, down from 3 percent last year. Canada's growth will tail off to 0.7 percent this year, from 2.7 percent last year.In Japan, growth will cool to just 0.7 percent, from 2.1 percent last year.Global powerhouses China and India will see growth clock in this year at a robust 9.7 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Even if those projections prove correct, they would still mark downgrades from their blistering performances last year. Russia's economy should grow by a brisk 7 percent this year, down from 8.1 percent last year. Inflation around the world remains high, driven up by surging energy and food prices through much of this year. It will be tricky for Bernanke and his counterparts in other countries to navigate weak growth and inflation pressures, the IMF said. The immediate policy challenge is to stabilize financial conditions, while nursing economies through a period of slow activity and keeping inflation under control, it said.

Europe and US synchronise rate cuts
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today OCT 8,08 @ 17:18 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Central Bank (ECB) has moved to cut interest rates in the 15 country-strong eurozone in a co-ordinated move with five other major central banks, in a bid to slow Europe's economic downturn.The Frankfurt-based ECB cut its benchmark rate from 4.25 percent to 3.75 percent on Wednesday (8 October). It is the first rate cut since June 2003 and comes sooner than analysts expected.On the same day, the US Federal Reserve cut rates from 2 percent to 1.5 percent. The Bank of England, as well as the central banks of Canada, Sweden and Switzerland all took similar action. The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth and thus has diminished further the upside risks to price stability, the ECB said in a statement.Some easing of global monetary conditions is therefore warranted, it added. Frankfurt's move came after a teleconference with the other central banks and resembles a similar approach taken in September 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks on the US, when both the ECB and the Federal Reserve slashed rates in tandem.Hours before the decision on Wednesday, the EU's statistical office Eurostat published a fresh report reflecting the concrete consequences of the financial crisis on the economy.

It showed that the eurozone's GDP shrank by 0.2 percent compared to the first three months of this year while the whole European Union's economy did not change in comparison to the same period. Analysts predict that a decline in the 15-strong monetary union will be reported also in the third quarter of 2008 which would mean that the euro bloc would be officially in recession.By comparison, the US economy grew in the second quarter 0.7 percent while Japan's GDP dropped by 0.7 percent.

EU states set common rules to face bank crisis
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today OCT 8,08 @ 09:25 CET


EUOBSERVER / LUXEMBOURG - EU finance ministers have decided to raise minimum bank deposit guarantees across all 27-strong bloc and to take co-ordinated action to save financial institutions in a bid to calm ordinary people and markets amid the financial crisis.We agreed that all member states would, at least for one year, provide deposit guarantee protection for savers of at least €50,000, while noting that many countries are determined to raise their minimum to €100,000, announced French finance minister Christine Lagarde after a heated debate on Tuesday (7 October).Currently, the EU's threshold for securing private bank accounts is €20,000, but after Ireland moved to fully guarantee the deposits of clients of the country's banks, a move subsequently copied by Greece and later by Germany, other capitals are under pressure to follow suit.There was a general fear that member states could start competing with each other over who will offer better deposit guarantees, one diplomat commented, adding that both Dublin and Berlin had to give some explanations during the two-day gathering.Originally, ministers were contemplating the setting of a minimum threshold of €100,000, but some smaller countries refused to accept such a jump from the current limit.To paraphrase what someone said: What looks big to you, looks enormous to me, explained Ms Lagarde - chairing the meeting on behalf of the French presidency. She maintained that the compromise reached would take account of this diversity among member states.

Co-ordinated response

The finance chiefs also agreed on a list of principles that they want followed when trying to save systematically relevant financial institutions.They suggested that the government rescue scenarios should be decided on the national level but co-ordinated with other EU member states and bodies, stressing that these state interventions should be timely and temporary, with the existing shareholders of the failing banks having to bear the consequences. We will take measures, including recapitalisation, and we're very specific in what we say, said Ms Lagarde, adding that the European Commission will set down recommendations based on the ministerial meeting to specify under what conditions governments can inject capital to the key financial bodies.Ministers hope that the move by states to acquire stakes in the banking sector will boost confidence between financial institutions and convince them to start lending money to each other.

UK and Spain pump billions into banks

Meanwhile, governments continue to seek specific national measures to save their banking sector. On Wednesday, British finance minister Alistair Darling announced details of a €65 billion (£50 bn) rescue package that will initially make the extra capital available to eight of the UK's largest banks and building societies, the BBC has reported.The money is to be used to bolster the country's banking sector following a serious plunge in shares this week, while in return for the funding, the government will receive preference shares in the reinforced institutions. As part of the package, a further €260 billion (£200bn) will be made available by the Bank of England for short-term borrowing to provide liquidity to banks and building societies.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is later today expected to describe the full list of extraordinary measures as a bold and far-reaching solution, which will go to the heart of the problem, according to BBC. Spain announced a similar plan on Tuesday (7 October), saying it would set up a €30 to 50 billion emergency fund to provide liquidity to the financial system by buying Spanish bank assets.

The fund, whose details are to be hammered out during a regular cabinet meeting on Friday (10 October), will be managed by the Spanish treasury to buy the assets of financial institutions, the Financial Times reported.Credit makes the economy work. Without credit, there is no investment. And without investment there is no economic activity today, nor growth or job creation tomorrow, said Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Fed steps in but stocks dive; UK to rescue banks By Daniel Trotta and Kevin Krolicki OCT 7,08

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve stepped forward as a commercial lender of last resort and signaled a readiness to cut interest rates as stocks spun lower for a fifth straight day and pressure mounted for a coordinated, international response to the most dangerous financial shock since the Great Depression. Financial shares tumbled, led by Bank of America Corp, a day after the largest U.S. bank said it would sell $10 billion in new stock and stoked fears that other banks may also need to raise capital.The British government was readying a rescue package for the UK banking system likely to include public money injected into the banks. That plan will be announced on Wednesday, just five days after the U.S. government approved a $700 billion bailout fund that has failed to calm markets.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy was being battered by a financial crisis of historic dimension and that the risk for inflation has eased with the falling prices for oil and other commodities.In light of these developments, the Federal Reserve will need to consider whether the current stance of policy remains appropriate, said Bernanke.In an unprecedented move, the Fed also created a new commercial paper facility that would buy short-term, highly rated debt, stepping into the corporate debt market in a program that falls outside the $700 billion rescue plan approved by the U.S. Congress on Friday.Stocks remained under pressure while U.S. government bond prices recovered and gold prices moved higher in a continued flight to safety.The S&P 500 index shed another 6 percent. That broad measure of the U.S. stock market has now dropped 15 percent over five days, its weakest run since 1987.Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index fell about 4 percent early in its Wednesday session.Iceland, the North Atlantic island facing down a threat of national bankruptcy, took over its second-largest bank and propped up a battered currency.At ground zero in the crisis, the interbank lending market remained stalled, with the cost of borrowing dollars, euros and sterling all higher as financial institutions sought to preserve capital and remained unwilling to lend to each other.

ROOM FOR LOWER EUROPEAN RATES

Analysts credited the Fed with trying to create a fire break in the still-developing crisis, but said it was not enough to stop a wealth-destroying cycle in the markets.

U.S. consumer borrowing dropped for the first time in a decade in August as banks began to tighten credit standards and consumers pulled back from spending.Fed fund futures have priced in a 50-basis-point rate cut by the Fed this month, with a 75-basis-point cut an outside possibility. Expectations have built that the weekend meeting of Group of Seven officials in Washington could set the stage for coordinated rate cuts including the European Central Bank.Certainly there will be room now for Europeans to have lower interest rates, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a TV interviewer.U.S. President George W. Bush, whose credibility with voters on economic policy has plunged, spoke with European leaders to coordinate the response to the market turmoil.I have been in close contact with European leaders. I was on the phone with them this morning to ensure that our actions are closely coordinated, Bush said. The White House had earlier said Bush spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In Tokyo, Japanese government officials and media said France had proposed an emergency summit meeting of the leaders of the richest economies and Russia. The crisis that began with defaults in the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage market is also washing up on Asian shores, pushing South Korea to call for emergency talks with Tokyo and Beijing, and forcing a policy easing from India.

COUNTING THE TOLL

Shares of Bank of America Corp dropped 26 percent -- a record one-day decline -- after a surprise earnings announcement a day earlier in which the bank halved its dividend and said it would sell at least $10 billion in new stock to raise capital.

Bank of America said it had raised its $10 billion by selling 455 million shares at $22 each -- a sale price 7 percent below Tuesday's close. Insurer MetLife Inc said after the New York close that it would issue 75 million shares to raise capital. The insurer, which has seen its stock drop almost 40 percent in recent weeks, said recent Wall Street failures had cut into its projected third-quarter investment gains. Investors has been worried insurers will be hurt by investment losses and exposure to recent corporate calamities including the bailout of AIG and collapses of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Washington Mutual Inc, as well as real-estate related debt. Entering the U.S. corporate earnings reporting season, other companies were expected to reinforce the view that the world's largest economy shuddered into recession at the start of the current quarter. The largest U.S. aluminum producer, Alcoa Inc, posted a drop in quarterly earnings of more than 50 percent on crumbling demand for metal to make planes and cars, and said it would halt major investments. The result was worse than expected and underscored the growing risk of a deepening downturn. The sad thing here is that I don't think Alcoa is going to be alone this earnings season, said Brian Hicks, co-manager of the Global Resources Fund. I think there will be quite a few earnings misses due to the fact that it looks like conditions have weakened much more than people expected. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus around the world; Editing by Brian Moss, Steve Orlofsky, Toni Reinhold, Gary Hill)

Asia stocks drop for 5th day on unending crisis By Kevin Plumberg OCT 7,08

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell about 4 percent, down for a fifth consecutive day, and government bond prices rose on Wednesday as fears of a looming global recession grew with no sign of a coordinated response or an end to the worsening financial meltdown. The yen climbed as investors clung to anything resembling stability after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned turmoil in markets could cause U.S. economic activity to be subdued into 2009 and signaled a readiness to cut interest rates.The deteriorating outlook for the economy and the deepening financial crisis are pushing fears to their limit, said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Japan.Tokyo's Nikkei share average dropped 4.5 percent, hitting a fresh 5-year low, taking losses for the past five days to 15 percent.Shares of Toyota Motor Corp fell more than 5 percent after a report the car maker's annual operating profit will likely fall around 40 percent in the year to next March.Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index slid 3.5 percent, a day after rallying on a much larger-than-expected interest rate cut by the country's central bank.The MSCI Asia-Pacific index of stocks outside of Japan was down 4.4 percent to a near 3-year low. The index has fallen a staggering 25 percent in a month and 46 percent so far this year, underperforming the MSCI all-country world index, which has fallen 36 percent year-to-date.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 5.4 percent to a 27-month low after a market holiday on Tuesday.

Bernanke's sobering and candid tone in a speech on Tuesday about the likelihood of interest rate cuts came days after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet prepared markets for easier monetary policy.However, with the upcoming Group of Seven rich nations meeting on Friday, investors have begun to anticipate broader action to snuff out what has become a global calamity.Not one effort by a government -- including a series of bank rescues, the establishment of a $700 billion U.S. rescue fund, emergency measures by European governments and massive injections of funds by central banks around the world -- has so far been able to stop the increasing dysfunction of the financial system or keep the global economy from a potential recession.The yen has emerged as clear favorite among investors amid soaring market volatility.However, UBS recommended bets the U.S. dollar would strengthen against the yen ahead of possible coordinated action among policymakers.

The market has reasons to respond positively to efforts from officials in Europe and the U.S. Concerted efforts may soon reach a critical level in our view, helping investor's sentiment, rendering support to dollar/yen, UBS strategists said in a note.The dollar was little changed from U.S. trade at 101.45 yen, holding above a six-month low of 100.22 yen struck on trading platform EBS earlier in the week.The euro dipped 0.1 percent to 137.85 yen, holding above a three-year low of 135.05 yen also hit this week. Both the Australian and New Zealand dollars fell about 1 percent against the yen.Japanese 10-year government bond futures rallied a full point to 139.30, having risen for three of the last four days.U.S. Treasury debt prices ticked higher, pushing yields a bit lower. The benchmark 10-year yield slipped to 3.49 percent from 3.51 percent late in New York on Friday. Like other developed bond markets, the difference of the 10-year yield over the 2-year yield -- also called the yield curve -- has been growing sharply over the last month as dealers anticipated a cut in the Federal Reserve's target rate. In the last month, the U.S. yield curve has steepened by 64 basis points to the most since June 2004. (Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Japanese shares fall more than four percent OCT 7,08

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped more than four percent to 9698.72 in early Wednesday morning trade after another big fall on Wall Street overnight. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 457.18 points or 4.50 percent to 9,698.72, below the key 10,000 level.The broader Topix index of all first section shares fell 35.30 points, or 3.61 percent, to 942.31.The massive sell-off came after The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 508.39 points (5.11) percent to a five-year closing low of 9,447.11 following a 369-point slide Monday.

Bad connection caused atom smasher shutdown By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 6, 5:41 PM ET

GENEVA - A bad electrical connection likely caused the malfunction that sidelined the world's largest atom smasher days after it was launched with great fanfare, a senior scientist said Monday. The fault was probably a poor soldering job on one of the particle collider's 10,000 connections, said Lyn Evans, project leader of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Nuclear Research Organization.Only one fault in 10,000 isn't bad, but it cost dearly, Evans said. It will take at least two months for the repair, meaning the collider cannot be restarted until spring, after its mandatory shutdown due to high electricity costs during the winter.Evans said he still hasn't been able to examine the damage because the collider is too cold to be opened. The machine operates at extremely cold temperatures to take advantage of superconductivity — the ability of some metals to conduct electricity without any resistance near absolute zero degrees.It has to be warmed gradually to room temperature over five weeks so that humans can work inside and make repairs, Evans said. Then it will take another five weeks to re-chill it.The collider was started before a global audience on Sept. 10, with beams of protons being fired at nearly the speed of light around the collider, first in one direction and then in the other. The electrical fault occurred nine days later.

Before the failure, the plan had been to step up power on the collider so that scientists could start with test collisions of subatomic particles before the winter shutdown. That will have to wait until next April, Evans said.He said he expected it will then take about a month — until the end of May — to get the machine to high energy.It was a hard blow for us, he said. The failure occurred during the final test of the collider — a large tube running around the circumference of a 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border at Geneva. All the other seven sections of the tunnel had passed the test.CERN specialists have already figured out that a connector between electromagnets failed and heated up, causing a magnet quench, or shutdown. It apparently melted a hole in the tube, causing a leak that spilled about a ton of the liquid helium used to chill that section.The high-energy collisions enable physicists to understand better how the smallest bits of matter — and everything and everyone — are made. They also hope it will take them even closer to the Big Bang, which many theorize was the massive explosion that formed the universe.By colliding protons from the nucleus of hydrogen atoms at high energy, the CERN machine is designed to recreate, on a minuscule scale, a view of what matter looked like in the rapid cooling one-trillionth of a second after the explosion.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

Portugal becomes 22nd EU state to recognise Kosovo
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today OCT 8,08 @ 09:12 CET


Portugal on Tuesday (7 October) afternoon announced its official recognition of Kosovo as an independent state, becoming the 22nd EU country to make the move.It is in the interests of the Portuguese state to proceed today to the formal recognition of Kosovo, the country's foreign minister Luis Amado told the national assembly's foreign affairs committee, AFP reports.We are convinced that the independence of Kosovo has become irreversible, he added.An autonomous Serbian province within the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo fell under UN governance in 1999 when NATO troops intervened to stop a crackdown by the then president of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic's forces on the majority ethnic-Albanian population.Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February this year, with 20 EU states recognising the move in a few days or weeks afterward.Malta followed suit in August, while five member states - Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Romania and Slovakia - remain opposed to the declaration of independence, saying that it goes against international law.

Worldwide, 48 countries have now recognised Kosovo as a sovereign state, including the US. But 144 states, including Russia, China and India, still refuse to do so.

Serbia is categorically opposed to the new state of play and considers Kosovo as part of its national territory.Belgrade has said it would use all diplomatic and legal means possible to reverse the situation and is currently seeking an opinion in the International Court of Justice on the Kosovo split.The UN General Assembly is on Wednesday (8 October) to vote on whether or not to approve Belgrade's court initiative.Many UN members, notably those that have recognised Kosovo and that are influential, are pressuring Serbia to abandon the move, Serbia's Kosovo minister Goran Bogdanovic told Reuters.

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.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

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)

North Korea fires missiles into sea: report By Jack Kim
OCT 8,08


SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has fired two short-range missiles into the Yellow Sea, a news report said on Wednesday, in a move seen as aimed at dialing up tension as global powers try to make Pyongyang uphold a nuclear disarmament deal. The North fired the missiles into the Yellow Sea on Tuesday as a part of routine military training, South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited an unidentified government official as saying.The North, however, has a history of timing its missile launches to periods of increased tension in the region in saber-rattling bids aimed to show that it is ready to take a hard and defiant line, analysts have said.We understand North Korea fired two short-range missiles in the afternoon of (October) 7th into the (Yellow) Sea, Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean official as saying.North Korea declared a no-sail order in the (Yellow Sea) before the missile launch, the official said.South Korean and U.S. defense officials would not confirm the report.

The U.S. administration declined to discuss intelligence on the reported North Korean missile firing but said its concerns were long-standing and well documented.

North Korea's development, deployment and proliferation of missiles and missile-related materials, equipment and technology pose a threat to the region and the world, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman said.The entire world doesn't want to see weapons of mass destruction or missile technology proliferated to other people, that could use it against us or other countries said Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the U.S. military in South Korea.It's all of our obligation to be able to watch that, report it and to stop it, he told reporters in Washington.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he was unable to confirm the reports, but said firing such missiles was not helpful in any way in managing tensions within the region.North Korea maintains an arsenal of missiles that can hit all of South Korea and most parts of Japan. In recent months, it has been upgrading its launch sites, local media reported intelligence sources as saying.Last week, a senior U.S. diplomat went to Pyongyang in a bid to convince North Korea to return to a disarmament-for-aid deal and halt it plans to restart it Soviet-era nuclear plant that makes bomb grade plutonium.Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill has declined to say if he made progress in his talks that were focused on having secretive North Korea agree to a system to verify checks it made about its nuclear arms program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who on Tuesday briefed President George W. Bush on Hill's visit, told reporters: We are continuing to work on the issue over whether the verification protocol meets our standards.The nuclear agreement North Korea struck with the five regional powers in February 2007 seemed in peril after Pyongyang, angry at not being removed from a U.S. terrorism blacklist, vowed last month to rebuild the aging Yongbyon nuclear plant.Washington said it would take the North off the terrorism list, bringing economic and diplomatic benefits, once a system had been agreed to verify its nuclear claims.A senior Vienna diplomat familiar with North Korea and U.N. monitoring there said Hill probably received a significant proposal from the North Koreans, who may be trying to squeeze concessions from the Bush administration before it leaves office. But knowing how late it is in the current administration and the ill-will that's been generated between the two sides because of the current impasse, it would not be a surprise to discover that the proposal will make many key players in Washington very uncomfortable, and could well be a non-starter, the diplomat said. They have only one card to play at this point -- increasing tension, the diplomat said before the reports of the missile launch. (Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik and Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Mark Heinrich in Vienna and Jim Wolf, Susan Cornwell and Paul Eckert in Washington; Editing by Jerry Norton)

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Sarkozy supports Russian security pact idea
ELITSA VUCHEVA Today OCT 8,08 @ 17:52 CET


EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday (8 October) expressed readiness to discuss Russian plans for a European Security Treaty, which would provide security guarantees for European and Atlantic states as well as a new framework of rules to govern relations. Mr Sarkozy - who is also the EU's current president-in-office - met Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Evian, France, for an international conference organised by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).I heard president Medvedev present his ideas for a new security pact which would run from Vancouver to Vladivostok. We are ready to discuss it, Mr Sarkozy was reported as saying by Reuters.The French leader proposed a summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe countries to be held at the end of 2009 to discuss [the Russian] proposals and those of the European Union for new concepts of a pan-European defence, according to German news agency DPA.Mr Medvedev also called for a special forum to be convened, at which the leaders of all European states and the leaders of key organisations in the Euro-Atlantic area could take part.Prior to the meeting with the French president, the Russian president outlined in a speech his ideas for a pact that would include Russia, the EU and NATO countries and would contribute to crating a unified and reliable system of comprehensive security.

Main ideas of the pact

A Euro-Atlantic space that would give powers to all members instead of favouring a US-led unipolar world would be the best option, Mr Medvedev argued.The European Security Treaty would be based on conscientious fulfilment of international commitments; respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of states [and] respect for all other principles that flow from the UN charter, he said.It would contain a clear affirmation of the inadmissibility of the use of force - or the threat of force - in international relations, as well as guarantees of equal security.The pact should also state that no single state or international organisation may have the exclusive right to maintain peace and stability in the region. This applies fully to Russia too.Finally, it would contain basic parameters for arms control and reasonable sufficiency in military construction, and boost co-operation in areas such as terrorism and drug trafficking.

No to Sovietology

Russia had earlier this year already raised the idea of a European Security Treaty as a tool to overarch the EU and NATO, to which it does not belong. But its invasion of Georgia in August had up to now overshadowed debate on future institution-building.On Wednesday, Mr Medvedev also reiterated Russia's opposition to the enlargement of the North Atlantic alliance, in particular to the east, stressing that his country was not interested in confrontations and calling on the US to stop accusing Moscow of conducting a Soviet-driven foreign policy.[Sovietology] belongs to the past … Sovietology, like paranoia, is a very dangerous disease, and it is a pity that part of the US administration still suffers from it, he said. One should study the new Russia rather than reviving the ghosts of the Soviet Union.

Midnight deadline

To back his statement, Mr Medvedev said Russia would withdraw its peacekeeping contingent from security zones around Georgia's breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by midnight tonight - ahead of a 10 October deadline stipulated in earlier peace accords.The move would pave the way for the resumption of negotiations on an ambitious framework agreement, both in terms of the scope and intensity of cooperation, Mr Sarkozy said, AFP reports, referring to stalled talks on an EU-Russia partnership pact.Lithuania has threatened to block the talks unless Russia leaves South Ossetia and Abkhazia proper as well, the ELTA news agency said, citing a senior diplomat.

Russia, Georgia disagree over troop pullback By MATT SIEGEL, Associated Press Writer OCT 8,08

KARALETI, Georgia - Russian troops pulled back from their positions outside Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia but held their ground in contested areas, setting the stage for more tension between the two countries that waged war in August. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told The Associated Press the Russian withdrawal was a positive move, but he added that Georgia wouldn't consider it complete until the troops leave the town of Akhalgori, near South Ossetia, and the Kodori Gorge in another Moscow-backed breakaway province, Abkhazia.

We think that it's a step in the right direction, but it doesn't mean yet that the withdrawal is fulfilled, Utiashvili said.Russia maintains that Akhalgori is part of South Ossetia and considers the Kodori Gorge part of Abkhazia — claims that Georgia rejects.Russian media carried a statement by Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, who is in charge of Russian troops near South Ossetia, saying the pullout had been fully completed.Moscow must pull its troops from the buffer zones surrounding the two regions by Friday under cease-fire agreements brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Earlier Wednesday, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev said the pullout from areas outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia would be completed by midnight.Officials at the European Union monitoring mission patrolling the buffer zone refused to comment on the latest controversy over disputed areas.The head of the EU monitoring mission, Hansjorg Haber, called the Russian pullout as a very positive development.We always proceeded from the assumption that the process would be completed by Friday, and this is confirmation of that assumption, Haber told the AP by telephone, speaking from the buffer zone outside Abkhazia where he watched the Russian pullout.In Washington, the State Department welcomed Russia's moves but said it was watching to see if it completed the withdrawals by the deadline.

Russia is, in fact, starting to comply with the Sept. 8 agreement with the EU, spokesman Sean McCormack said. It is a positive sign.Despite the dispute, the Russian withdrawal paves the way for the return of Georgian authority to a wide swath of territory held by Moscow since the war.The war erupted when Georgian forces launched an attack targeting Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 in a bid to take control of the region, which broke away in a war during the early 1990s. Russian troops, tanks and warplanes swiftly repelled the attack and drove deep into Georgia in Moscow's first major military offensive beyond its borders since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.Georgians terrified by weeks of arson and looting they blame on Russia's South Ossetian allies lined the roads to watch the withdrawal and welcome returning Georgian police.As dozens of armored personnel carriers, military trucks and transport vehicles rolled north past rows of destroyed homes, tensions in villages outside South Ossetia began to ease.Now I feel safe; I hope that life will improve, said Meri Khokhashvili, standing outside her destroyed home in the village of Kitsnisi. I've had nightmares for the past week because I was afraid someone would attack us. At least now I can sleep safer.The European monitoring mission could not immediately confirm Kulakhmetov's statement that Russian troops had fully withdrawn from six checkpoints outside South Ossetia. They would likely be unable to verify the withdrawal until Thursday at the earliest, said a mission spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity because of rules about talking to the media.In France, Medvedev urged the West to leave the crisis over Georgia behind. It is now important to calm down and at least to give up the confrontational rhetoric, Medvedev said at a conference. Nothing fatal or irreparable has happened. A new edition of the Cold War is not threatening us.But the withdrawal won't resolve major disputes pitting Russia against Georgia and Western countries, which have condemned Moscow's invasion of the former Soviet republic and its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations. Even as it promised to pull troops from the buffer zones, Russia said it would keep nearly 4,000 troops in each of the separatist regions — plans that the United States, EU and NATO say violate a cease-fire commitment to withdraw to prewar positions. On a main road near the village of Karaleti, Russian troops finished dismantling their camp and a roadblock separating the buffer zone outside South Ossetia from Georgian-controlled territory, leaving nothing but a broken-down tractor. Two bulldozers leveled ground at the site, and Russian soldiers swept for mines before leaving. As the Russians moved north, they were joined by other military vehicles, forming a loose column headed toward South Ossetia. Outside Karaleti, the vehicles chugged past a white, bullet-pocked car — a reminder of the violence. The convoy passed through a heavily fortified border post manned by agitated South Ossetian soldiers brandishing Kalashnikovs from behind concrete blocks and stacks of sandbags. EU monitors have been patrolling the buffer zone since Oct. 1 under the withdrawal agreement, a supplement to the initial cease-fire brokered by Sarkozy. Monitors in two blue light-armored vehicles accompanied the convoy as far as the de facto border. Moscow has made it clear the EU monitors are not welcome in the breakaway regions.

The governor of the Georgian region where Karaleti is located, Vladimir Vardzelashvili, said Georgian police would move into the buffer zone as the Russians leave. A white pickup truck whose open bed was packed with black-uniformed police carrying Kalashnikovs crossed the former checkpoint at Karaleti. Russian forces occupied large portions of Georgia for weeks afterward and reinforced positions around the edges of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The war began after years of increasing tension between Russia and Georgia, whose pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili has cultivated close ties with Washington and pushed to bring his nation into NATO. Georgia straddles a key westward route for oil and gas from the Caspian Sea region, and has become a focus of competition between Russia and the West for regional clout. Associated Press writer Sophiko Megrilidze contributed to this report from Kitsnisi, Georgia.

Russia pulls back troops, Georgia demands more By Dmitry Solovyov and Margarita Antidze OCT 8,08

KARALETI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russia pulled back its troops on Wednesday from buffer zones it set up on Georgian territory during a summer war, but Georgia demanded it take further steps before a deadline of Friday. The Russian Defense Ministry said troops had removed all six of their checkpoints in the buffer zone around Georgia's rebel province of South Ossetia, ahead of the Friday deadline stipulated by a French-brokered ceasefire deal.Russian troops remain inside South Ossetia and a second, pro-Russian breakaway region, Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognized as independent states and promised to protect.At 2030 Moscow time (1630 GMT) the last column of Russian peacekeepers withdrew into South Ossetia. The pullback is completed," Igor Konashenkov, aide to the commander of the Russian military's ground forces, told Reuters.Troops were also seen pulling back from close to Abkhazia.Russia seems to have completed most of the withdrawal, said Hansjoerg Haber, head of an EU monitoring mission, adding that his team was still verifying the situation on the ground.Russia sent tanks and troops in August to repel a Georgian military assault to retake South Ossetia. Its heavy counter-offensive drew condemnation from the West, and deepened fears over the security of the Caucasus as a transit route for oil and gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, bypassing Russia.A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman said the pullback from the buffer zones was complete.But Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said Russian troops still had to quit two disputed enclaves within South Ossetia and Abkhazia by October 10. Tbilisi says the Georgian-populated enclaves -- Akhalgori and the Kodori gorge -- have for years not been part of the rebel regions.

The dispute underlined the potential for renewed conflict, as more than 200 EU observers patrol the zones to monitor the fragile ceasefire.By October 10 ... Russian forces have to withdraw definitely from the territories which never used to be part of the conflict regions of South Ossetia or Abkhazia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Tkeshelashvili told a teleconference.

RUSSIAN PRAISE FOR EU

Russia plans to keep 7,600 troops in the rebel regions, twice as many as before the war that began on August 7 and ran for five days.All Russian forces that are here now in Georgia ... that entered the territory of my country from August 7 onwards, they have to be withdrawn, Tkeshelashvili said.A Reuters reporter followed a convoy of about 20 military trucks and armored vehicles out of the main Karaleti checkpoint and saw it cross the de facto border with breakaway South Ossetia, 20 km (12 miles) further north.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised the role of the EU in ending the crisis in a speech heavily critical of Georgia's main backer, the United States.

When other forces in the world were reluctant or incapable of doing this, it was in the European Union that we found a ... responsible and pragmatic partner, Medvedev told a conference in the French city of Evian.U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking in Macedonia, said: I am pleased that Russia appears to be fulfilling its obligation under the ceasefire to withdraw in compliance with Friday's deadline in Georgia.Russia said it would call at talks in Geneva on October 15 for an embargo on the sale of offensive weapons to Tbilisi, and for a security mechanism to prevent Georgian attacks. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Tbilisi, Liutauras Strimaitis in Zugdidi, Georgia, Guy Faulconbridge and Conor Sweeney in Moscow and Kristin Roberts in Ohrid, Macedonia) (Writing by Matt Robinson, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

ALLTIME