RUSSIA TROOPS IN GEORGIA LONG TIME

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.

Officials cleaning up roads in southern N.B.Post-tropical storm Hanna dumps 139 mm of rain in Saint John Last Updated: Monday, September 8, 2008 | 1:11 PM AT CBC News

Post-tropical storm Hanna dumped nearly 140 mm of rain on Saint John by noon Sunday. (Submitted by Christine Rowe)Officials in Saint John are continuing to ask drivers to use caution on Monday morning as crews work to restore roads flooded by post-tropical storm Hanna.Many streets in the port city remain covered in gravel and debris after the storm moved through the Maritimes over the weekend, causing local flooding in parts of southern New Brunswick.Shoulders of some roads in the Saint John area were washed out by the storm.

Closures in the city include:

McAllister Drive between Golden Grove Road and Westmorland Road.
Golden Grove Road between Dresden and Simpson Drive.
Ashburn Lake Road.
Rothesay Avenue between the railway overpass at Old Rothesay Road and McAllister Drive.
Kennebecasis Drive near Crown Hill.
Lorneville Road at Mill Creek.
Simpson Drive.
Brown Street.
Glen Road.
Todd Street.
Holland Street.
Ashton Road.
Dutch Garden Road.
Parts of Rothesay Avenue have been reduced to one lane and officials are warning that Loch Lomond Road, Old Black River Road and McAllister Drive have been badly damaged.Saint John received 139 millimetres of rain during the storm. The heaviest rainfall was recorded in Point Lepreau, which was hit with 141 mm.

Flooded basements, businesses
Rothesay Avenue resident Jeff Zambellow said he's seen lots of drivers attempt to navigate the flooded streets.[There were a] lot of full-drive trucks that made it by no problem and a lot of small cars that got stuck and some Good Samaritans that got out of the car and pushed the people through the flood, Zambellow said. I'm just surprised so many people go through the barriers and take a chance.Robert Colquhoun's bottle exchange business on Rothesay Avenue was flooded during the storm. It's the third time this year that it's been flooded, Colquhoun said.We're kind of getting used to it, Colquhoun said. We're getting it down to a science now. It's about an eight-hour cleanup for us.Glen Falls resident Janet Shanks is dealing with about 60 cm of water in her in east Saint John basement.I think everything down there is gone, Shanks said. Our deep freeze is on the side and the washer and dryer are half full of water, the furnace.Glen Falls resident Harold Cavanaugh is also dealing with a flooded basement.The water's still around the house, so as fast as you pump it out it's going to keep coming back in, so there's nothing I really can do until the water goes down, Cavanaugh said.A part of the New Brunswick Southern Railway had to be closed when the land was washed away. (Gary Mittelholtz/CBC)In the Grand Bay-Westfield, area about a 60-metre stretch of road on River Valley Drive went under water with the storm.About 30 cm of water will have to wash off the road before the town can begin to clean up, said fire Chief Dan McCoy.McCoy said he's concerned the water may undermine the road. Where the water actually gets under the road and eats away the dirt so you may end up with a sump hole and there's no way for us to tell at this time if that's possible.About 45 metres of land owned by the New Brunswick Southern Railway near the tracks was also washed out in the storm.

Roads flooded in Sackville
The town of Sackville, near the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border, is also cleaning up after the weekend storm that hammered the area with 100 mm of rain on Sunday.The amount of rain falling in such a short time made it hard for the town to cope with the water, said Barry Carroll, chief administrative officer.You try to plan for an event like that we had catch basins cleaned out, and we had most of our roads swept of debris and stuff, Carroll said. But you really can't prepare. It's just a bit more than you can handle on a normal basis.Sackville's work crews were out for 16 hours on Sunday trying to redirect as much of the water as possible and were continuing their work on Monday, he said.Carroll said the damage is in projected to be in the tens of thousands of dollars and it'll take weeks to repair.King Street, the main road that connects the town to Dorchester has been flooded out. Fields and ditches are also flooded.We've got a lot of culvert damage a lot of road side damage. There's a lot of driveways that are out, Carroll said.Reports of flooded basements and washed out driveways have also been coming in, Carroll said.Streams and rivers are expected to remain high for several days, said officials with New Brunswick's Emergency Measures Organization.EMO is warning that people living or working along waterways in the southern part of the province continue to exercise caution while near the water.

Deadly floods leave multi-million clean-up bill Mon Sep 8, 9:19 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Storms across England which caused up to six deaths over the weekend have caused tens of millions of pounds worth of damage, an insurance industry group said Monday. Overall, 36 flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency, most of which were targeted at the northeast, along with a further 91 flood watches.A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers told AFP that though the weather forecast was in flux, initial estimates suggested damage valued at around the low tens of millions (of pounds) at this stage.That figure is a fraction of the cost of flooding last summer, which crippled parts of central and northern England, which the spokesman said led to insurance payouts of around three billion pounds.Since Friday, six people have been killed in storm-related incidents, including a 27-year-old geologist who was buried alive in a landslide in Gloucester while surveying a site there.Separately, a 17-year-old girl was killed when the vehicle she was travelling in overturned and plunged into a swollen river in Powys, Wales.

Hurricane Ike kills 4 in Cuba, takes aim at Havana By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer SEPT 09,08

HAVANA - Hurricane Ike roared toward Cuba's densely populated capital of fragile historic buildings after forcing 1.2 million people to evacuate, killing at least four and ravaging homes elsewhere on the island nation. Meanwhile, U.S. residents from Florida to the Texas border with Mexico braced for Ike's next wallop.The hurricane, which raked the Bahamas and worsened floods in Haiti that have killed at least 331 people, made landfall on eastern Cuba as a terrifying Category 3 hurricane, then weakened Monday as it ran along the length of the Caribbean's largest island.It was a Category 1 storm Monday afternoon, but forecasters expected it to strengthen again before hitting Louisiana, Texas or northern Mexico this weekend.On the narrow streets of Camaguey, falling utility poles crushed cars and the roaring wind transformed buildings of stone and brick into piles of rubble. Colonial columns were toppled and the ornate sculptures on the roofs of centuries-old buildings were smashed in the city, a UNESCO world heritage site.I have never seen anything like it in my life. So much force is terrifying, said Olga Alvarez, 70, huddling in her Camaguey living room with her husband and teenage grandson. We barely slept last night. It was just boom, boom, boom.Delia Oliveras, 64, said it was the strongest hurricane her family has experienced. They fled to a covered patio as winds tore the roof from the living room.This critter was angry, really angry, she said.State television reported that Ike killed four people in Cuba — the first storm deaths on the island in the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.Two men were killed in central Cuba while removing an antenna from a roof. On the island's east, a woman died when her house collapsed on her and a man was killed by a falling tree.Cuba, a nation of more than 11 million people that has carried out well-executed evacuations over the years, ordered 1.2 million people to seek safety with friends and relatives or at government shelters, state television reported. In Havana, evacuations began in earnest late Monday afternoon.

I feel safe here, above all for my granddaughters who are the most important thing in my life, said Marta Molas, who evacuated with seven relatives from a marginal neighborhood. They take good care of us, we have television and food. ... When the electricity goes out we have a radio.The government closed schools and government offices in the capital as people reinforced windows with wood and formed long lines at bakeries. Along the seaside Malecon promenade, businesses were being shut down.

Nancy Nazal, who lives on the second floor of a high-rise apartment building overlooking the ocean, said authorities told her to be prepared to evacuate.The truth is, we are scared, she said.Evacuations are not mandatory in Cuba except for pregnant women and small children. But in an authoritarian state, few people would think to ignore the government's advice — and state news media make an example of the few who pay the ultimate price when they fail to evacuate.Gustav tore across western Cuba as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 30, damaging 100,000 homes and causing billions of dollars in damage. But no deaths were reported after mandatory evacuations of at least 250,000 people.Ike first made landfall in Cuba in the easternmost coastal city of Baracoa, destroying 300 homes and damaging hundreds more, said Luis Torres, president of the Civil Defense Council in Guantanamo province. Much of eastern Cuba was without electricity and phone service was spotty. The road between Santiago and Guantanamo was cut when a reservoir overflowed. Ike was centered just off Cuba's southern coast early Tuesday, gaining strength over warm waters, on a path to cross Cuba during the day and move out over the Gulf of Mexico in the evening. When it's out of Cuba it has the potential to become a lot stronger, said Felix Garcia, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. At 5 a.m. EDT, Ike was located about 85 miles south-southeast of Havana and was moving west at 13 mph. It had maximum sustained winds near 80 mph. The hurricane center said on this track, Ike should cross western Cuba during the day Tuesday, and be in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday. State television said officials had taken measures to protect tourists at vulnerable seaside hotels, including about 10,000 foreigners at the Varadero resort, east of Havana. A few street signs were toppled at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba and power went out temporarily in some residential areas, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Lamb said. But no injuries were reported, and the military said cells containing detainees — about 255 men suspected of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida — are hurricane-proof. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Camaguey, Cuba; Jonathan Katz in Gonaives, Haiti; Alexandra Olson in Cabaret, Haiti; Andrea Rodriguez and Anne-Marie Garcia in Havana, Cuba; David McFadden in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.

Ike slams Cuba, Haiti death toll passes 600 by Isabel Sanchez
Mon Sep 8, 12:34 PM ET

HAVANA (AFP) - Hurricane Ike assaulted Cuba on Monday with torrential rain and gale-force winds demolishing houses, crushing crops and threatening Havana after killing 61 people in Haiti, where a series of vicious storms has triggered a crisis. Cuba carried out mass evacuations of residents and tourists before Ike -- the second hurricane to slam the island in just over a week -- made landfall Sunday night at Cabo Lucrecia in the east, pounding buildings along the coast with seven-meter (23-foot) waves and flooding coastal villages.More than 1.5 million people were moved away from coastal areas in eastern and central Cuba and more than 9,000 foreign tourists were evacuated from the resort of Varadero east of Havana, officials said, as the storm tore a reckless path down to Cuba's southern coast before churning towards the capital.Civil defense forces put Havana, a city of 2.2 million people where thousands of centuries-old building pose a hazard, on full hurricane alert ahead of an anticipated major hit on the city Tuesday.Ike's devastation followed widespread destruction wrought by Hurricane Gustav which charged into western Cuba August 30 and destroyed or severely damaged 140,000 homes and buildings.In all of Cuba's history, we have never had two hurricanes this close together, lamented the head of Cuba's meteorological service, Jose Rubiera, on state television.At 1500 GMT, the center of the storm was about 70 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Camaguey and 465 kilometers (290 miles) southeast of Havana, according to the US National Hurricane Center.With sustained winds near 160 kilometers (100 miles) per hour, it was moving west at 22 kilometers (14 miles) per hour, with a turn northwest forecast later in the day.Rubiera meanwhile reported that Ike's eye had moved out over the Caribbean Sea off the central province of Ciego de Avila, where it could regain force before making landfall again.Hours earlier Ike sent huge waves spraying the tops of five-storey buildings in Baracoa, where hundreds of homes were destroyed.

I have never seen anything like this, said one Baracoa resident of 57 years.In Holguin, Ike washed away homes and power lines and trampled crops, according to local reports.It's raining heavily here and power has been cut since early at night, Alvaro Cruz, a resident of the city, told AFP by telephone.With Ike weakening slightly as it made landfall, the NHC downgraded Ike to a category two storm on the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale. But it threatened to ramp up again off Cuba's southern coast Monday.It is then forecast to cross the island on a northwest track and into the Gulf of Mexico sometime Tuesday and train its sights on the US Gulf Coast, where much of the oil produced and consumed by the United States is refined.

The New York crude oil futures contract edged up 71 cents to 106.94 from the opening bell Monday, with an analyst attributing the gain to concern about the storm.Ike plowed across the Turks and Caicos Saturday as a category four storm, causing injuries and extensive damage on the British territory and tourist haven.It also raked the Bahamas island of Great Inagua, forcing many of its 1,000 people to seek emergency refuge and jeopardizing tens of thousands of West Indian flamingos. Worst-affected is Haiti , where four storms in three weeks have killed more than 600 people and left hundreds of thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter. Officials continued aid operations in the flood-stricken town of Gonaives, where hundreds died in devastating floods from Tropical Storm Hanna. Another 61 people perished in Haiti, including 57 in the village of Cabaret near Port-au-Prince, in flooding caused by Ike, officials said. Many of the victims were children younger than seven, they said. What has happened here is unimaginable, member of parliament Pierre-Gerome Valcine told AFP from Cabaret, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital. Hundreds of bodies were found in Gonaives, a town of 350,000 in northwestern Haiti, after a five-meter (16-foot) wall of water and mud engulfed much of the town. UN peacekeepers on Saturday evacuated several thousand residents from Gonaives, a local official said, but thousands more are still awaiting relief.

More stormy weather hampered relief efforts Sunday. Heavy rains brought down a key bridge which severed the only viable land route to Gonaives, forcing trucks loaded with emergency supplies to turn back.

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

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

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

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

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

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

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

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

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

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

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

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

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

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

FAITH UNDER FIRE Christians brave horrifying massacres.Victims pledge to persevere as mobs rape, maim, burn faithful.September 08, 2008 9:32 pm Eastern
By Drew Zahn 2008 WorldNetDaily

Despite brutal and horrifying persecution that has left countless dead and an estimated 50,000 homeless, Christians in India's Orissa state are determined that God will have the victory in their violence-torn homeland.Since the assassination of anti-Christian Hindu leader Swami Laxamanananda Saraswat on Aug. 22, mobs of Hindu fanatics that blame Christians for the leader's death have been roving the Orissa state on the eastern shore of India, torching churches and homes, brutalizing Christians and burning the bodies of those they kill.Reports from missions organization Gospel for Asia (GFA), however, tell of courage and determination in the face of violence.One story reported on Christian Newswire told of a missionary beaten multiple times by a Hindu mob demanding he leave a village where he had been working.Even if you kill me, I will not make a vow that I will never come back, the missionary is reported to have answered. That depends not on me but on the Lord. If he wants to send me here, then I will come, he told his attackers.Simon John, a GFA regional leader in India, said, Christians will stand together in this nation, in love and to lift up the people, even if persecution or death comes. We will not stop doing good for the people.Persecution and death, however, have come, and they have come by horrifying means.United Kingdom newspaper The Times reports several cases of brutality over the last two weeks alone: a nun was gang-raped; a worker at a church-run orphanage was burned alive; and a woman seven months pregnant was cut to pieces along with her one-year-old son when she refused to denounce Christianity and convert to Hinduism.Ravindra Nath Prahan, 45, told the Times he and 113 others, warned by a text message, fled to the jungle, living off rainwater and foraging food for a week. His paralyzed brother, however, couldn't take to flight.

They doused him with petrol and taunted him; we could hear him screaming, Prahan told The Times. His brother was burned alive.I could have tried to save him. But we had to save ourselves, Prahan said.An estimated 50,000 Christians have been forced to run for their lives, while the Hindu radicals have torched more than 3,000 homes and over 100 churches. The Vatican records 36 deaths, but warns an accurate account is impossible since the mobs are burning their victims.Orissa made headlines last Christmas when 95 churches were razed and at least five people were murdered, The Times reports, but the current massacre reflects the country's worst persecution of Christians since gaining its independence in 1947.It's a national shame, India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has reportedly said.As WND reported earlier, the Indian Supreme Court last week ordered additional police forces into the Kandhamal district, the worst region of violence, and also ordered state officials in Orissa to do more to protect Christians. Reports had come from the region that the police were permitting the attacks.Citizens have petitioned India's president and rallied in the country's capital city to seek a stop to the violence.GFA reports, however, that even though 24 of their missionaries have been attacked and 27 GFA-related churches have been destroyed, the Indian Christians still believe God will have victory.The encouraging thing is that the attackers themselves acknowledge that Orissa used to be only 2 percent Christian, and now it's 28 percent Christian, reports Juria Bardhan, GFA's state leader in Orissa. Pointing to Christianity's historical growth during times of persecution and the dramatic rise of Christianity among India's lowest, despised caste of people, Juria added, They don't understand that by doing this, the church will grow by leaps and bounds, and this will cause thousands to come to Christ.

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 secures deal on Russia withdrawal RENATA GOLDIROVA AND ELITSA VUCHEVA
Today SEPT 09,08 @ 09:28 CET

Following four-hour talks between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, Moscow has agreed to pull out its troops from the zones adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia to the line preceding the start of hostilities by mid-October. This withdrawal will be implemented within 10 days of the deployment of international mechanisms in these zones, including no fewer than 200 observers from the European Union, which must take place no later than 1 October 2008, Mr Medvedev said on Monday (8 September). He promised to dismantle a security checkpoint near the Black Sea port of Poti deep in Georgian territory within seven days - stressing, however, that all depends on Georgia's commitment not to regain control over its two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by force. Under the deal, the new EU monitors will become guarantors of Georgian non-aggression. OSCE and UN monitors will also be allowed to return to South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but it remains unclear how many Russian soldiers will stay in the two rebel enclaves for now.Tbillisi, for its part, welcomed the EU-brokered deal, with President Mikheil Saakashvili describing it on Monday (8 September) as a step forward.French President Nicolas Sarkozy was frank in his description of the agreement Honestly, it's not over yet. We are not at the end of the road ... We are advancing step by step.

Should the Kremlin fall short of fulfilling its commitments Europe will draw the conclusions, he added.Moscow refuses to bow to pressure when it comes to its decision to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states however, calling the move a final and irreversible choice.International talks in Geneva on 15 October will debate the future security in the breakaway regions and Georgian refugees' right of return, but will not discuss their future status, according to the 8 September EU-Russia agreement.The Kremlin also continues to accuse the United States of actively helping Georgia to restore its military potential - a claim that Washington denies.

UN hearing starts

Meanwhile, the UN's highest court - the International Court of Justice - on Monday (8September) opened a three-day public hearing on a case of alleged ethnic cleansing by Russia in Georgia.Tbillisi claims that Moscow has been conducting ethnic cleansing against Georgians in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has called for urgent protection measures. President Saakashvili also said he gave solid proof to EU leaders when they visited Tbilisi on 8 September that Russia started the war by moving to invade Georgia, not that Georgia started hostilities by attacking South Ossetia. For its part, the Kremlin has denied the allegations and in return, is accusing Georgia of war crimes committed during its assault of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.It is also threatening to have Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili tried as a war criminal, according to Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

EU mission to press Moscow on troop withdrawal
RENATA GOLDIROVA 08.09.2008 @ 09:22 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A top EU delegation is heading to Russia to convince the country's leadership to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory to positions held before the conflict over South Ossetia erupted on 7 August. The message will be delivered by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and EU chief diplomat Javier Solana when they speak to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Let him first respect his [Russian president] own signature, French chief diplomat Bernard Kouchner said ahead of the visit (6 August). Speaking after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Avignon, Mr Kouchner referred to the fact that Moscow has fulfilled only two or let's say two and a half or three parts of a six-point peace plan brokered by France on 12 August.

What about the rest? he asked.

Despite the wording of the truce - calling on Russian troops to return to pre-conflict positions - some 500 personnel remain in the 15 km buffer zone surrounding the Georgia's rebel region of South Ossetia. In addition, there are security checkpoints near the Georgian towns of Gori and Poti. We want Russians to return to the lines existing before 7 August, Mr Kouchner said, while stressing that sanctions are not an option. Should we shout sanctions, sanctions? What does that change? We won't achieve anything by doing that.Moscow, for its part, claims that its peacekeepers may operate on Georgian soil under the ceasefire deal as the wording allows it to take additional security measures.The EU is knocking on an open door...Only a small detachment of Russian peacekeepers has stayed in the buffer zone and will be prepared to cooperate with OSCE military monitors as soon as they are able to get there to be on the ground, Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, told journalists on 2 September. He also did not exclude that talks on a new EU-Russia partnership - postponed by the union as a consequence of Moscow's behaviour in South Caucasus - might take place as planned, on 16 September.

EU observers to go to Georgia

In order to oversee compliance with the six-point peace plan on the ground, the EU is set to launch an European Security and Defense Policy [ESDP] mission of up to 200 civilian monitors in Georgia. Observers should work alongside the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE], which is expected to increase its presence at the same time. If we have an agreement [from Russia] on Monday, we will be able to start from 15 September when the common action will be approved by the union, Javier Solana said on Saturday (6 September). In addition, the 27-nation bloc wants to see an international inquiry into the facts of the conflict over South Ossetia, which has seen both sides accuse each other of war crimes. The probe must be launched as soon as possible, Mr Kouchner stressed. According to commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, the EU and Russia should start having diplomatic discussions on the issues of the status of those [Georgian breakaway] regions.It is through diplomacy, through dialogue, that Russia can and should defend its legitimate interests...It's important to know that we need cool heads, not a Cold War, Mr Barroso said before leaving for Moscow.

Territorial integrity

The peace plan's six point envisages international talks about security in South Ossetia and Abkhazia - a phrase criticised by some as it falls short of mentioning Georgia's territorial integrity. But Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvilli, cited by AP during the weekend, reiterated his belief that his country's borders will be restored.This will not be an easy process, but now this is a process between an irate Russia and the rest of the world, he said, adding Our goal is the return of our territory and the peaceful unification of Georgia.The Sarkozy-led delegation will travel for talks to Tbillisi immidiately after the Russia talks.

EU to help Africa expand energy sector
VALENTINA POP Today SEPT 09,08 @ 09:23 CET

The EU is to help African countries expand their electricity networks and promote energy interconnections between Africa and the EU, such as a Trans-Saharan gas pipeline.The EU aid will amount to €1 billion for a period of two years, the European Commission and the African Union announced in a joint statement on Monday (8September). The joint statement was signed on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by EU Energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs, EU development commissioner Louis Michel and African Union (AU) commissioner for infrastructure and energy, Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim of Egypt.It is the first concrete step to implementing the Africa-EU partnership, which was agreed in December 2007, according to a commission statement, which stressed the urgent need to promote Africa electrification.The EU is to offer technical assistance worth €10 million to African utility regulators, the statement adds.A further priority of the Africa-EU energy partnership is to be the development of oil and gas pipelines between African countries, but also between Africa and the EU, such as the €9 billion Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, planned to transport up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe via Nigeria, Niger and Algeria by 2015. The EU and AU commissioners also agreed to increase transparency, elaborate a road map for the launch and implementation of a renewable energy co-operation programme and support for Africa's participation in the Global Gas Flaring Reduction partnership of oil and gas producing countries. The joint statement calls upon the European countries and the private sector to further mobilise resources for investment in energy sector on both the supply and demand side.

The EU will also provide additional contributions to the EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership and its Trust Fund, while the AU commission confirmed its willingness to further progress in the implementation of the €55 million European Commission support programme for the period 2007-2011 for the energy sector.Despite the announcement, however, the International Energy Agency has earlier warned that Africa needs to spend an estimated €400 billion by 2030 to generate an additional 260,000 MW of power.A next meeting on the Africa-EU energy partnership will take place on 1 October in Brussels.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
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.

WMD report: US remains dangerously vulnerable By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writers SEPT 09,08

WASHINGTON - The United States remains dangerously vulnerable to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11, a forthcoming independent study concludes. And a House Democrats' report says the Bush administration has missed one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security. The recent political rupture between Russia and the U.S. only makes matters worse, said Lee Hamilton, the former Indiana Democratic congressman who helped lead the 9/11 Commission and now chairs the independent group's latest study.Efforts to reduce access to nuclear technology and bomb-making materials have slowed, thousands of U.S. chemical plants remain unprotected, and the U.S. government continues to oppose strengthening an international treaty to prevent bioterrorism, according to the report produced by the bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America.The group includes leaders of the disbanded 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan panel that investigated government missteps before the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

The threat of a new, major terrorist attack on the United States is still very real, concludes the report to be released Wednesday, the same day a congressional commission will hold a hearing in New York on nuclear and biological terrorism threats.A nuclear, chemical or biological weapon in the hands of terrorists remains the single greatest threat to our nation. While progress has been made in securing these weapons and materials, we are still dangerously vulnerable, the report said.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, had harsher criticism of the Bush administration's efforts. Their report, written by the staffs of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, found little or no progress across the board on national security initiatives.The Bush administration has not delivered on a myriad of critical homeland and national security mandates, the Democrats' report states. That report was being released Tuesday.The administration has just failed to act in so many ways, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Let's say that we've been fortunate that we have not been attacked since 2001, said Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.The independent report focuses narrowly on weapons of mass destruction.The report and supporting studies describe the failure of international cooperation to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, which they call a major problem. Many countries continue to ignore a United Nations mandate to prevent the spread of weapons; the ability of many countries to monitor potential bioterrorism is essentially nonexistent, and dangerous chemical weapons stockpiles remain in some countries, including Russia and Libya, the report said.Russia has been a significant player in U.S. efforts to secure nuclear weapons and to eliminate inventories of chemical weapons in the former Soviet region. That cooperation could be jeopardized as the two countries face off over the Russian invasion of Georgia and concerns about a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, Hamilton said.Bush on Monday Bush on canceled a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.The things we do to penalize Russia will make it more difficult for us to deal with Russia on other matters, Hamilton said.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said he hasn't seen the report. But he said there have been a number of successes in recent years, including negotiations to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program and Libya's agreement to end its nuclear and chemical weapons program.We have been engaged multilaterally with a number of countries to deal with this issue of weapons of mass destruction, Wood said.Wood said he also has not seen the Democrats' report. I fundamentally reject the charge that the administration has made the world less safe from terrorism, he said.House Democrats also blasted Bush policy in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as damaging to national security. U.S. efforts to combat terrorists in Pakistan have suffered because of unyielding support for a military dictator; Iraq has drained resources from the fight in Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia continues to serve as a major source of terrorist activity, the Democrats' report states. The independent study, however, did credit the Bush administration with progress in a number of areas. It cited improved U.S. port security, reduction of military chemical stockpiles, increased U.S. funding for securing nuclear weapons sites in Russia and new international programs aimed at preventing crimes involving biological weapons.
On the Net: Partnership for a Secure America: http://www.psaonline.org/
House Committee on Homeland Security: http://homeland.house.gov/
House Committee on Foreign Affairs: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/

Russia says Iran nuclear plant nearing completion Tue Sep 9, 3:18 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant is nearing completion and the start-up of its reactor will soon become irreversible, the Russian state-owned company that is building the power station said on Tuesday. Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant, on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran, and Iranian officials say the reactor is likely to be started up soon.The head of Atomstroyexport, the company building the plant, said on Monday it was nearing completion, according to a company spokeswoman.Atomstroyexport in December 2008 - February 2009 will carry out technological work at Bushehr which will put the Iranian atomic station on the irreversible final strait, the spokeswoman quoted company President Leonid Reznikov as saying.Russia signed a contract to build the plant in 1995 on the site of an earlier project begun in the 1970s by German firm Siemens. Siemens's project was disrupted by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.Russia, using Bushehr as a lever in relations with Tehran, has repeatedly put back the start-up date. Moscow had said it expected the plant to be started up some time this year.(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Robert Hart)

U.S. plans $7 billion missile-defense sale to UAE By Jim Wolf
Mon Sep 8, 7:48 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is planning to sell the United Arab Emirates an advanced U.S. missile defense system valued at up to $7 billion that could be used to defend against Iran, people who have attended briefings on the matter said on Monday. The Pentagon is set to notify the U.S. Congress of the proposed sale, which would be the first of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, several people familiar with the matter said.THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon Co supplies the system's radar.Once notified of such a proposed arms sale by the administration, Congress has 30 days to review it but almost never blocks.In any case, deployment of the THAAD system is at least months away and could take more than a year, said a congressional staff member familiar with the matter.A production contract for the first two THAAD fire units was awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2006. Delivery of the first such unit to the U.S. military is scheduled during the fiscal year that starts October 1, the company said.

Kenneth Katzman, an expert on the Gulf at the Congressional Research Service, said the UAE has been eager for a sophisticated antidote to Iran's missile capabilities.

The UAE has been concerned for many years about possible retaliation against it for any U.S. or Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, he said.For Iran, Katzman added, the UAE could be an attractive target because of its billions of dollars of infrastructure investments. The THAAD system is designed to defend population centers and critical infrastructure among other things.

DEFENSE PLANS

Craig Vanbebber, a Lockheed Martin spokesman, said several countries had shown interest in buying the THAAD system, with its significant coverage area and tremendous success in recent testing.Lockheed Martin anticipates a strong future for THAAD in the international marketplace, he said.THAAD is the first system designed to defend against short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere.It complements the lower-aimed Patriot missile defense system, resulting in a layered defense that ensure a very high probability that ballistic missile threats will be destroyed, according to Lockheed Martin.

Several such systems on land, at sea and potentially aloft are being woven into an expanding U.S. shield against missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads.The proposed $7 billion sale to UAE would include anti-missile interceptors, launchers, fire control and communications systems, the radar and training, among other things, a congressional staff member said. It was not immediately clear whether the UAE was also seeking the Patriot missile defense system.The sale has been the subject of extensive discussions among U.S. decisionmakers, including over how it would fit into the U.S. Central Command's integrated air-defense plans for the Gulf and the security of the technology, the congressional staff member said.(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Oil dips as Ike weakens, OPEC mulls holding steady By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer SEPT 09,08

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Oil prices sank Tuesday as Hurricane Ike appeared less like to strike Gulf of Mexico energy installations and Saudi Arabia suggested OPEC will not cut output later in the day. Light, sweet crude for October delivery dropped $1.23 to $125.11 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Dubai. The contract inched up 11 cents to settle at $106.34 following a volatile session Monday.Investors were betting Hurricane Ike won't cause significant damage to oil operations in the Gulf region after the storm weakened Monday from a Category 3 storm to a Category 1, with winds around 80 mph (130 kph).

Ike roared ashore in eastern Cuba on Sunday and was expected to hit Havana on Tuesday. However, current forecasts left the storm on track to miss key oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.If the market thought there was a good chance of it causing damage (to oil sites), oil would be at $108 or $110, said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for brokerage Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.In Vienna, Austria, oil ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries were preparing to meet later in the day to decide whether to hold production levels steady despite crude's steep decline in recent months. Prices have plunged nearly 30 percent since surging to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11.Iran and other hawkish members have been pushing the 13-member body to trim output in an effort to lift prices — or at least halt the decline. But Saudi Arabia, the cartel's largest member, and a number of other countries have been less vocal about possible cutbacks.

Early morning comments by Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi suggested the kingdom, which accounts for about a third of all OPEC output, prefers not to tighten the spigots for now.The market is fairly well balanced, Naimi told reporters after arriving in Vienna in the dawn hours of Tuesday. I think things are in balance, in a healthy position.Kuwait's oil minister, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Aleem, meanwhile said there is no need for OPEC to cut production.Oil analyst and trader Stephen Schork, speaking by phone from Vienna, said he expects ministers will decide to keep production constant for now.Part of the reason, he said, would be to avoid sparking a politically motivated firestorm in the U.S., by far the world's largest oil consumer. U.S. gasoline prices have come down from their summer highs above $4 a gallon, but still remain nearly a dollar higher than they were a year ago.I don't think the Saudis or OPEC in general want to project themselves into the U.S. presidential election, which is what would happen if you saw a production cutback, he said.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures about 4 cents to $2.973 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 5.93 cents to $2.691 a gallon. Natural gas for October delivery fell 23 cents to $7.297 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, October Brent crude fell $1.29 to $102.15 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.Associated Press Writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS

REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.

REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Amphetamine use on the rise in Asia, Mideast By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer SEPT 09,08

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Demand for amphetamines, Ecstasy and other synthetic drugs appears to have stabilized in the West, but the problem is worsening in Asia and spreading to new markets in the Middle East, a U.N. report said Tuesday.

Manufacturing and trafficking of illegal stimulants is also getting more sophisticated, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said in a 2008 assessment that pointed to the growing involvement of local and international crime syndicates.

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. agency, warned that amphetamine-type drugs are seen as a cheap and available tonic for our fast and competitive times.In North America and Europe, where pill popping is largely recreational, demand has leveled off or even declined in recent years thanks to effective controls on the chemicals used to make them.But in fast-growing developing countries, where the drugs are often used to boost stamina on assembly lines or to keep drivers awake behind the wheel, use is on the rise.The problem has shifted to new markets over the past few years, the U.N. report said, adding that, even so, production appears to have stabilized worldwide at about 551 tons annually.The market, retail and wholesale, also has remained steady at around $65 billion since 2001.Asia is still driving demand, with nearly half the region's countries reporting increases in methamphetamine use.But the most dramatic shift has been in the Middle East, where seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants accounted for a staggering 25 percent of the global total in 2005-2006, up from just 1 percent in 2000-2001, the U.N. said.The largest market in that region was Saudi Arabia, a trend apparently linked in part to a growing number of migrant workers, with more than 12 tons of amphetamines seized two years ago.The surge in Middle East busts has resulted in a sharp drop in the global share of seizures in East and Southeast Asia, home to the most amphetamine users in real numbers, with its percentage of total seizures more than halving from 67 to 31 during the same period.But there have been worrying changes in the type and scale of production in that region.

A decade ago, synthetic drugs were a cottage industry, said Costa, pointing to recent seizures of industrial-sized clandestine laboratories.Now they are big business, controlled by organized crime syndicates that are involved in all phases of this illicit trade, from smuggling precursor chemicals to manufacturing the drugs and trafficking.Countries where law enforcement is weak or where local officials are complicit are most selected as bases for such operations.Europe, a longtime supplier of Ecstasy to global markets, meanwhile, continues to be the major source of that drug trafficked internationally, but its importance is diminishing as manufacturers shift to regions closer to their consumer markets, the U.N. said.Clandestine labs are being discovered in Mexico and Canada, for instance, where they can readily supply users in the United States, and labs have also been found in Turkey and Bulgaria, the source of many of the drugs that end up in the Middle East.Suppliers can quickly adapt to trends and cater to local markets because, unlike plant-based drugs such as cocaine or heroin, ingredients needed to make synthetics are readily available for legitimate industrial purposes. When one lab is shut, another opens, Costa said. When one type of precursor chemical is unavailable, producers switch to an alternative.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Russia says troops to stay in Georgia for long time SEPT 09,08
By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will keep its troops inside two Georgian separatist regions for a long time and their presence is not affected by an agreement to pull out troops, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.Russia's intervention last month, in which its forces crushed an attempt by Georgia to retake the separatist South Ossetia region, drew widespread international condemnation and prompted concern over the security of energy supplies.French President Nicolas Sarkozy won a commitment from Moscow on Monday to withdraw its forces from undisputed Georgian territory within a month, to be replaced by an international force including a 200-strong European Union contingent.But there was no explicit mention in Monday's deal of the Russian forces inside South Ossetia and the second breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, despite previous Western demands that all troops return to their pre-conflict positions.Russian forces are on the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia at the request of the presidents and parliaments of those republics and on the instructions of the Russian president, Lavrov told a news conference.In the next few days an agreement should be signed which will give a legal basis to the presence of Russian forces. They will be there for a long time, at least for the foreseeable period. That is necessary to not allow a repeat of Georgian aggression, Lavrov said.

DIPLOMATIC TIES

Russia angered the West last month by recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's rule in separatist wars in the 1990s, as independent states. Nicaragua is the only other state to have recognized their independence.Later on Monday, Lavrov was to meet the two separatist foreign ministers to formally establish diplomatic relations -- a step that is likely to further irritate Western governments who demand Georgia's territorial integrity be respected.Both the European Union and the United States have warned Russia its actions in Georgia could lead to serious consequences, but the scope for punitive measures is limited.Europe depends on Russia for more than a quarter of its gas supplies while Washington needs Russia's cooperation in efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.Russia said it was morally obliged to send in its military last month to prevent what it called a genocide in the separatist regions by an aggressive Georgian government egged on by its ally, the United States.Lavrov said the agreement, which came after four hours of tense talks at a castle outside Moscow on Monday, was a vindication for Russia because it included an EU guarantee that Georgia would not use force again against the separatists.The responsibility for any attempts of aggression by Georgia will rest with the international presence, he said.

ENERGY JITTERS

The fighting in Georgia worried energy markets because it was waged near the route of an oil pipeline that can pump up to one million barrels of crude per day from the Caspian Sea. The pipeline is favored by the West because it bypasses Russia.A French official said Monday's talks were so stormy that Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, threatened to walk out when Russian negotiators tried to remove a reference to pre-conflict positions.At that moment, Sarkozy got up and said 'We're going. This is not negotiable, the official said. The row blew over when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was out of the room at the time, returned and appealed for calm, the official said.A Kremlin source though said the general atmosphere of the talks was positive. I would not say there was anything specifically tense about them, he said.The final agreement included a commitment to hold international talks on the Georgian crisis in Geneva on October 15.In an early sign of how thorny those talks are likely to be, Lavrov said Russia would insist that South Ossetia and Abkhazia have a full place at the table for those discussions -- a demand unlikely to be accepted by Georgia or Western states.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Muslims desecrate, urinate in Judaism's 2nd holiest site Hamas flags found on burial chambers of Abraham, Jacob, Sarah September 07, 2008 9:49 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Tomb of the Patriarchs

JERUSALEM – Muslim worshipers at Judaism's second holiest site this past weekend reportedly urinated next to Torah scrolls and strew Hamas flags throughout the structure.The desecration occurred at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is believed to be home to the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. The tomb is located in the West Bank city of Hebron, site of the oldest Jewish community in the world.The tombs of Abraham, Jacob, Sarah and Leah are open to Jews year round, whereas the tombs of Isaac and Rebecca are designated for Muslim worship only. Once a year for 10 days, usually on the Islamic Ramadan holiday, the Jewish sections are opened exclusively for Muslims. The Muslim sections are also opened for Jews once a year for 10 days, which usually includes the Jewish Passover holiday.Muslims last week had exclusive access to the tombs of Abraham, Jacob, Sarah and Leah. Jewish worshipers who returned to the site this weekend reported a foul smell in a synagogue on the Jewish side coming from the area of an Ark containing Torah scrolls.They had desecrated one of the holy arks. They had urinated right next to it. One of the men went in and found a big puddle of urine there next to the Ark, Hebron spokesman David Wilder told Israel National News.

Wilder and other Jewish witnesses said when they reentered the tomb they found Hamas flags in the markers of the burial chambers of Abraham, Jacob, Sarah and Leah.Noam Arnon, another spokesman Hebron, said there is always some sort of damage discovered after Muslims get exclusive rights to worship at the Jewish areas of the tomb.It is not all the Muslims, he said. But there always are a few who in the past have ripped mezuzot off the entrances to the rooms of worship or simply leave behind vandalism. Complaints have been filed with the police in the past, but no one ever has been arrested.Wilder added that in the past, Muslim worshipers tore up Psalm booklets and Jewish prayer books.The book of Genesis relates Abraham purchased the field where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located as a burial place for his wife, Sarah. It later became a plot for the rest of the family, except for Jacob's wife, Rachel, who died when she gave birth while traveling and was buried on a road in Bethlehem.

Muslims trace their lineage through Abraham, as well. Palestinian leaders deny there is any Jewish claim to the Tomb of the Patriarchs.The Torah was falsified by the Jews. We don’t believe in all your versions, stated Chief Palestinian Justice Taysir Tamimi in a recent WND interview.Hebron is the oldest Jewish community in the world, with Jews having lived there almost continuously for over 2,500 years. There are accounts of the trials of the city's Jewish community throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods.In 1929, as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67Jews were murdered, the entire Jewish community fled the city, with Hebron becoming temporarily devoid of Jews. Jews returned when Israel recaptured the area in 1967.

King David was anointed in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years. A thousand years later, during the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, the city was the scene of extensive fighting in which many Jews were killed.

FROM JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN Turkey alarmed by Russian imperialism.Longtime conflict between nations shows signs of reviving.Sept 08, 2008 10:27 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports. This U.S. government map reveals how Russian ships could reach the Mediterannean through Turkish waters. Russia also has a hold over Turkey, because it provides about two-thirds of its oil. North Atlantic Treaty Organization member Turkey is expressing alarm about Russia's military advance into Georgia territory because of the possibility of a return of the historic Russo-Turkish conflicts over sea lanes as well as the new potential conflict over energy, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.In recent years Turkey has defended Georgia's efforts to maintain sovereignty over its territories in South Essetia and Abkhazia, into which Russian military forces have advanced.Turkey previously provided Georgia with military aid and training. But officials now have expressed alarm, because Turkey gets two-thirds of its oil and natural gas from Russia and faces the possible use of that lever when Russian ships want access to Turkish waters between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Additionally, the initial hesitancy of the West, especially the United States, to react strongly to the Russian invasion reportedly has brought about doubt in Turkey over western backing to provide alternative energy sources should Russia cut its energy supplies.For Turkey, the latest events in Georgia are reminiscent of a past that led to a series of Russo-Turkish conflicts that culminated in 1878. It was a period that saw an imperial Russia extending its authority by territorial conquest. In fact, the Russo-Turkish wars began in the 16th century and pitted Russia against the Ottoman Empire are considered the longest conflicts in European history.The last Russo-Turkish war was prompted by Russia's efforts to extend its economic and political power in other countries to recover territorial losses suffered during the Crimean War of 1854-1856 and re-establish itself in the Black Sea.In the 1820s, Turkey had begun to lose territory to Russia until the West realized the extent of the loss of the Ottoman Empire to Russian expansionism. It then became clear to the West that the Ottoman Empire couldn't even put down a Russian-backed revolt in southern Greece.The European powers at the time, Britain and France, sided to give Greece its independence. Greece thereby became the first independent country created out of the Ottoman Empire. This action had the effect of impeding Russian aspirations for bases on Russia's southern flank. At that time, the British feared Russian naval domination of the Mediterranean.Today, Turkey continues to control access from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through two straits, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Together, they separate Europe from the Asian mainland. The Bosporus is a narrow strait near Istanbul that provides passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara which then connects to the Dardanelles strait into the Mediterranean.For those countries, such as Russia, which may want to move warships from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, Turkey needs to give permission, especially for warships, including submarines.But Ankara also has more than $600 million invested in neighboring Georgia. Turkey has a major interest in maintaining a number of oil and natural gas pipelines that run through Georgia from Azerbaijan and then on to Europe. The expectation is that such assess to the oil and natural gas through these pipelines could lessen its two-thirds reliance on Russian energy supplies.

Israel attack on Lebanon depends on Iran, Syria: Hezbollah Mon Sep 8, 4:20 PM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said any Israeli attack on Lebanon depended on the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israel-Syria talks, in an interview with Iran's state-run television on Monday. I can not say when Israel is going to attack Lebanon, if it is going to be soon or not. It depends on the region's events and circumstances, said Nasrallah, whose Lebanese Shiite group is backed by Damascus and Tehran.On the one hand it depends on Iran's nuclear case, and on the other hand it depends on the indirect talks between Syria and Israel, he added.He was referring to the Iranian nuclear drive which the West suspects is a weapons programme under the guise of a civilian one. It has already imposed sanctions on Teheran and Washington refuses to rule out the use of force.Tehran vehemently denies it is developing nuclear weapons.Israel and Syria, which have technically been at war for 60 years, launched indirect negotiations brokered by Turkey in May, eight years after talks were frozen over the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Nasrallah assessed the current situation in the Middle East as not stable and not calm, but he added that Hezbollah's military situation is in best shape, thanks God.

Iran is a staunch supporter of Hezbollah although it denies Western and Israeli charges of military backing to the militant group which fought a devastating 2006 summer war against the Jewish state.

3 HAITI HITS BY STORMS

ALL THE SAYINGS THE ANGELS TOLD DR DOCTORIAN ARE COMING TO PASS SO I WANT TO PUT THE HAPPENINGS ON FOR ALL AGAIN TO READ WHATS COMING AND IS OCCURRING NOW.

5 ANGELS OF THE CONTINENTS TO DOCTOR SAMUEL DOCTORIAN

FIRST ANGEL:

The first angel said:I have a message for all of Asia. When he said that, in a spilt few seconds, I could see all of China, India, the Asian countries like Vietnam, Laos - I've never been to those countries. I saw the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. And then the angel showed me all of Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya and down to Australia and New Zealand.

I am the angel of Asia, he said. And in his hand I saw a tremendous trumpet that he is going to blow all over Asia. Whatever the angel said, it's going to happen with the trumpet of the Lord all over Asia. Millions are going to hear the mighty voice of the Lord. Then the angel said, There shall be disaster, starvation - many will die from hunger. Strong winds will be looked like has never happened before. A great part shall be shaken and destroyed. Earthquakes will take place all over Asia and the sea will cover the earth.

I saw this on June 20. Today is August 16. A few weeks ago I heard the news of villages completely wiped out and washed into the sea in Papua New Guinea. Thousand of lives in great jeopardy. That happened a few weeks ago, and the angel told me it is going to happen all over Asia. The earth will fall into the sea, I heard the angel say, part of Australia will be shaken. Australia will be divided, and a great part will go under the ocean. This was frightening - I wondered whether I was hearing right. But the angel said, Millions will die in China and in India. Nation will be against nation, brother against brother. Asians will fight each other. Nuclear weapons shall be used, killing millions. Twice I heard the words, Catastrophic! Catastrophic! then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

I was trembling while the angel was speaking. Then he looked at me and smiled and said, There shall be the greatest spiritual awakening - bondage will be broken. Barriers will be removed. And all over Asia - China - India - people will turn to Christ. In Australia there shall be tremendous revival. I heard the angel of Asia say, It is the last harvest. Then as if the Lord were speaking, he said, I shall prepare My church for the return of Christ. I was happy with such good news after the message of judgment. All the time the five angels were in my room I could feel their presence - it was tremendous.

SECOND ANGEL:

Then I saw that the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in harvesting. The second angel said, Harvest time has come in Israel and the countries all the way to Iran. I saw those countries in a few split seconds. All of Turkey and those [inaudible;] countries that have refused me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one another. I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the Middle East countries.

I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere. Sudden destruction - men destroying one another.

I heard these words, Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come. The angel said, The chosen, the church, the remnant, shall be purified. The Spirit of God shall prepare the children of God. I saw fires rising to heaven. The angel said, This is the final judgment. My church shall be purified, protected and ready for the final day. Men will die from thirst. Water shall be scarce all over the Middle East. Rivers shall dry up, and men will fight for water in those countries. The angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.

THIRD ANGEL:

Then one of the angels with wings showed me Europe from one end to the other - from the north all the way down to Spain and Portugal. In his hand he had a scale of measurement. I saw him fly over Europe, and I heard the words, I am grieved. I am grieved. Unrighteousness, uncleanness, ungodliness - all over Europe. The sin has risen to heaven. The Holy Spirit is grieved. I saw the rivers of Europe flooding and covering millions of houses. Millions drown. After seeing this, I read the news a few weeks ago. Czechoslovakia had the worst flooding ever. I also heard that the big river in China is in tremendous danger of thousands of houses being destroyed in flooding. I didn't know all this news until after I had seen the vision and heard what the angels told me.

Suddenly I heard earthquakes all over Europe. Countries that have had no earthquakes shall be shaken, said the angel. And suddenly, in my spirit, I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris crumbling falling down. A great part of Germany destroyed. The great city of London - destruction everywhere. I saw floods all over Scandinavia. I looked to the south and saw Spain and Portugal passing through hunger and great destruction.

Many will die from hunger all over Spain and Portugal. I was disturbed by all this news, and I said, Lord, what about your children? The angel said, I shall prepare them. They shall be looking for the appearing of the Lord. Many will cry to me in those days and I will save them. I shall perform mighty miracles for them and show them My power. So in the midst of great destruction, there will be the grace of God in those countries. I was happy that God has His protection over His children.

FOURTH ANGEL:

Now we go to Africa. I saw the fourth angel with wings fly over Africa, and I could see from Capetown in the south all the way to the north of Cairo - I saw all the countries there, more than fifty of them. The angel of Africa had a sword in his hand - a tremendous, sharp sword. Suddenly I heard him say, Innocent blood has been shed. Divisions amongst the people generations far from the Lord - they have killed one another, thousands of people. I have seen my faithful children in Africa, and I shall reward all the faithful in the continent of Africa. I shall bless them abundantly. I shall control the weather - scorching and burning of the sun in some parts. Great rivers shall dry up, and millions will die from starvation. In other parts, flooding. Foundations shall be shaken. My sword shall judge the unrighteous and the bloodthirsty. So many earthquakes shall happen that rivers shall flow different directions in the continent, flooding many villages. I saw great pieces falling from the sky over different parts of Africa There shall be trembling of the earth like has not been seen since the creation. None shall escape the sword of the Lord. I saw the River Nile drying up. It is the god of Egypt. Fishes dead and stinking all over Egypt. A great part of the middle of Africa will be covered with water - millions dying. Lord, I said, It is all bad news. All destruction. Any good news? The Lord said, The final day has come. Judgment day is here. My love has been refused now, and the end has come. I was shaking and trembling. I thought I cannot bear it.

FIFTH ANGEL:

Then I saw the last angel flying over North and South America - all the way from the North Pole down to Argentina. From the east of the U.S.A. to California. I saw in his hand a bowl. The angel said he would pour out over these countries the judgments that were in the bowl. Then I heard the angel say, No justice anymore. No righteousness. No holiness. Idolatry. Materialism. Drunkenness. Bondage of sin. Shedding of innocent blood - millions of babies being killed before they are born. Families are broken. An adulterous generation. Sodom and Gomorrah is here. The days of Noah are here. False preachers. False prophets. Refusing of my love. Many of them have the imitation of religion, but denying the real power.

When I heard all that, I begged the angel, Can you not wait for a little while? Don't pour it. Give a chance for repentance. The angel said, Many times God has spared and has spoken, but they have not listened. His patience has come to an end. Beware, the time has come. They have loved money and pleasure more than they have loved Me. As the angel began to pour from the bowl in his hand, I saw tremendous icebergs melting. When that happened I saw floods all over Canada and North America - all the rivers flood; destruction everywhere. I heard the world market collapsing with mighty earthquakes, and New York skyscrapers were tumbling - millions dying.

I saw ships in the ocean sinking. I heard explosions all over the north country. I saw the angel pouring over Mexico and two oceans joining together- the Atlantic and the Pacific. A great part of north Brazil covered with water, the Amazon River turning into a great sea. Forests destroyed and flooded. Major cities in Brazil destroyed; earthquakes in many places. As the angel poured, great destruction took place in Chile and Argentina as never before. The whole world was shaking. Then I heard the angel say, This will happen in a very short time. I said, Can't you postpone? Don't pour these things out all over the globe. And suddenly I saw the five angels standing around the globe lifting up their hands and their wings towards heaven and saying, All glory to the Lord of heaven and earth. Now the time has come and He will glorify His Son. The earth shall be burned and destroyed. All things shall pass away. The new Heaven and New Earth shall come. God shall destroy the works of the devil forever. I shall show My power - how I will protect My children in the midst of all this destruction.

Be ready for that day, for the Lord has come.

My room was full of light from the brightness of the angels. Then suddenly they ascended up to heaven. As I looked up I saw the angels go in five directions. I know they already have started their duties. For more than an hour I could not move. I was wide-awake, trembling from time to time. I said, Lord, shall I leave Patmos now? He said, No, I brought you here for a purpose. I said, The message from the angels all over the world is not good news. It is judgment, punishment, destruction, devastation. What will people say about me? I've always been a preacher of love, peace and good news. The angel said, It is our message. You are the instrument, the channel. What a privilege that God has chosen you to give this message to the nations. I said, Lord, Thy will be done. To God be the glory.

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.

I LEARNT SOMETHING TODAY FROM RABBI LAZOR BRODY, HE SAID NEW ORLEANS MEANS SIN OFFERING IN HEBREW LETTERS AND NUMBERS. GOD IS LASHING NEW ORLEANS BECAUSE RICE AND THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS FORCING ISRAEL TO STOP BUILDING IN JERUSALEM AND PARTING JERUSALEM ALSO. LAZOR BRODY KNOWS PROPHECY AND HES GOT IT RIGHT ON. HE KNOWS GOD IS GIVING AMERICA AND THE WORLD A LAST MINUTE WAKE UP CALL TO REPENT AND GET OFF ISRAELS CASE BEFORE WW3 OCCURRS.

Killer Ike hits Cuba after lashing Bahamas, Haiti By WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press Writer SEPT 07,08

CAMAGUEY, Cuba - Hurricane Ike roared into Cuba on Sunday after destroying houses and crops on low-lying islands, and worsening floods in Haiti that have already killed more than 300 people. With Ike forecast to sweep the length of Cuba and possibly hit Havana head-on, hundreds of thousands of Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground. To the north, residents of the Florida Keys fled up a narrow highway, fearful that the extremely dangerous hurricane could hit them Tuesday.At least 58 people died as Ike's winds and rain swept Haiti Sunday — and officials found three more bodies from a previous storm — raising the nation's death toll from four tropical storms in less than a month to 319. A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree. It was too early to know of deaths on other islands where the most powerful winds were still blowing.Ike's center hit the Bahamas' Great Inagua island, where the roofs of its two shelters both sprung leaks under the 135 mph winds. As the storm passed, people inside peeked through windows at toppled trees and houses stripped of their roofs.It's nasty. I can't remember getting hit like this, reserve police officer Henry Nixon said from inside a shelter holding about 85 people.Great Inagua has about 1,000 people and about 50,000 West Indian flamingos — the world's largest breeding colony. Both populations sought safety from the winds and driving rain, with the pink flamingos gathering in mangrove thickets. Biologists worried that their unique habitat could be destroyed.There's a possibility that the habitat can't really be replaced, and that they can't find an equivalent spot, said Greg Butcher, bird conservation director for the National Audubon Society. You might have a significant drop in the number of flamingos.

Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center, said Ike reached land in eastern Cuba late Sunday night and was expected to remain over the island until Tuesday.At 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT), Ike was a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph). It was centered neasr near Cabo Lucretia, Cuba, about 135 miles (220 kilometers) east of Camaguey, and moving westward at 13 mph (20 kph).The hurricane center predicted Ike's eye could hit Havana, the capital of 2 million people with many vulnerable old buildings, by Monday night.State television broadcast images of the first damage in Cuba, showing a storm surge washing over coastal homes in the easternmost city of Bayamo. It reported that dozens of dwellings were damaged beyond repair.An informal AP tally of figures being released by some individual eastern provinces indicated that at least 600,000 people had been evacuated in eastern Cuba by Sunday evening. Former President Fidel Castro released a written statement calling on Cubans to heed security measures to ensure no one dies when Ike hits.Cuba's government said more than 224,000 people were being evacuated in the central-eastern province of Camaguey alone, where heavy rains were falling late Sunday.Foreign tourists were pulled out from vulnerable beach resorts, workers rushed to protect coffee plants and other crops, and plans were under way to distribute food and cooking oil to disaster areas.There's no fear here, but one has to prepared. It could hit us pretty hard, said Ramon Olivera, gassing up his motorcycle in Camaguey.More than 100 people waited in chaotic bread lines at each of the numerous government bakeries around town as families hoarded supplies before the storm.On the provincial capital's outskirts, trucks and dented school buses brought about 1,000 evacuees to the sprawling campus of an art school.Classrooms at the three-story school built on stilts were filled with metal bunk beds. The approaching hurricane brought a stiff breeze through the open windows. Mirtha Perez, a 65-year-old retiree, said hardly anyone was left in her small town of Salome, located nearby. It's a huge evacuation, she said. We are waiting and asking God to protect us and that nothing happens to us.The first islands to bear Ike's fury Sunday were the Turks and Caicos, which have little natural protection from storm surges of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters). The British territory's Premier Michael Misick said more than 80 percent of the homes were damaged on two islands and people who didn't take refuge in shelters were cowering in closets and under stairwells, just holding on for life.

They got hit really, really bad, Misick said. A lot of people have lost their houses, and we will have to see what we can do to accommodate them.In South Caicos, a fishing-dependent island of 1,500 people, most homes were damaged, the airport was under water, power will be out for weeks, and at least 20 boats were swept away despite being towed ashore for safety, Minister of Natural Resources Piper Hanchell said. Tourism chairman Wayne Garland was text-messaging with two people in Grand Turk during the height of the storm. They were literally in their bathroom because their roofs were gone, he said. Eventually they were rescued.Twenty-one of the Haitian victims, still unclaimed, were stacked in a mud-caked pile in a funeral home in the coastal Haitian town of Cabaret — including two pregnant women, one with a dead girl still in her arms. More than a dozen children were in the pile. All but one of the rest of the known deaths were in the Cabaret area, civil protection director Marie-Alta Jean Baptiste said. A victim of Ike was found in Gonaives on Sunday. Heavy rains also pelted the Dominican Republic, Haiti's neighbor on the island of Hispaniola, where about 4,000 people were evacuated from northern coastal towns. One man was crushed by a falling tree. Strong gusts and steady rains fell at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba, where all ferries were secured and beaches were off limits. The military said cells containing the detainees — about 255 men suspected of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida — are hurricane-proof. But the base was spared the strongest winds. Where Ike goes after Cuba was hard to predict, leaving millions from Florida to Mexico worrying where it will strike. These storms have a mind of their own, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said as tourists and then residents evacuated the Keys along a narrow highway. In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin prepared for the possibility of more havoc only days after an historic, life-saving evacuation of more than 2 million people from Hurricane Gustav. Off Mexico, Tropical Storm Lowell was moving northwest parallel to the coast with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95kph). But the hurricane center predicted it will veer into the Baja California Peninsula late in the week. Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; Mike Melia in Nassau, Bahamas; Jonathan Katz in Gonaives, Haiti; Alexandra Olson in Cabaret, Haiti; Anita Snow in Havana, Cuba; and Danica Coto and David McFadden in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

Keys residents weigh evacuation, Gulf Coast next? By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer SEPT 07,08

KEY WEST, Fla. - With powerful Hurricane Ike on an uncertain course toward the Gulf of Mexico, many on these low-lying islands took a wait-and-see approach to evacuating Sunday, perhaps a harbinger of attitudes to come from Gulf Coast residents returning from an arduous evacuation and already showing signs of hurricane fatigue.Ike roared ashored in eastern Cuba late Sunday and was forecast to skirt by Key West early Tuesday on a trek to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, slowly strengthening to perhaps Category 3 strength on its way to a landfall late in the week somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and the Texas coast.And once again, New Orleans — still recovering from the weaker-than-expected Gustav — is squarely in the crosshairs.In Key West, evacuation orders became mandatory Sunday for tourists and the approximately 25,000 residents alike, but traffic off the lone highway from the island was steady rather than jammed.Mike Tilson, 24, was preparing to ride Ike out in his houseboat, only planning to evacuate if the storm takes a sudden turn to the north.I got tarps and champagne, he said as he pushed a wheelbarrow of supplies including Heineken beer, ice and a loaf of bread down the dock.It's just a good party. I'll stay.At 11 p.m. EDT, Ike's eye was trekking over the north coast of eastern Cuba near Cabo Lucretia, about 135 miles east of Camaguey. Ike was moving to the west at about 13 mph and will be near or over central Cuba later Monday as it likely rakes a large central swath of the island, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.Ike was expected to re-emerge over the island's western coast Tuesday morning about 100 miles south of Key West as a Category 1. Forecasters warned that when it enters the Gulf of Mexico later this week, warmer waters could help it regain strength.

Ike was a dangerous Category 4 hurricane packing 135-mph winds Saturday, but the National Hurricane Center in Miami said it had weakened somewhat Sunday. Still it was a fierce storm: hurricane force winds stretched up to 60 miles from the eye and tropical force winds nearly 145 miles outward.President Bush declared a state of emergency for Florida because of Ike on Sunday and ordered federal money to supplement state and local response efforts.Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said 15,000 tourists had already evacuated the region, and the Key West airport was set to close at 7 p.m. Sunday.McPherson warned that anyone who thinks staying through a major hurricane is champagne time hasn't thought it through clearly. He said emergency vehicles would be pulled off the road if the area gets tropical storm force winds.Still, many residents of the nation's most southernmost city said they wanted to see what the storm does over Cuba and possibly reassess on Monday.At the Key West Convalescent Center, 70 sick and elderly residents were being evacuated by bus and ambulance to Sunrise on Sunday afternoon.Edward Koen, 87, sat in his wheelchair outside the center Sunday in the shade, staring up at the blue, sunny skies, waiting for the bus.Why should I be nervous, because of a hurricane? Koen said. He'd rather stay put. My gosh. I've been living here all my life.The reluctance to leave didn't surprise Hugh Gladwin, the director of the Institute for Public Opinion Research at Florida International University, who has studied evacuations in Florida and after Hurricane Katrina.

Yes, there's always a certain number of people who won't evacuate no matter what: they're fatalistic — they like being in hurricanes, Gladwin said. Gladwin said he's never seen more than 80 percent evacuation participation anywhere, even with the biggest and scariest hurricane bearing down. And it can be harder to get people to leave when they've evacuated recently. That's the case in New Orleans, where many of the 2 million people who fled the Louisiana coast ahead of Gustav had only just returned from arduous evacuation. In many cases, jammed highways turned routine trips to such evacuee havens as Birmingham and Memphis into 15-hour crawls. Some New Orleans residents were already digging in their heels ahead of Ike. David Myers, a 39-year-old physician who rode out Gustav with relatives in Baton Rouge before returning home to New Orleans on Tuesday, said it would take a Category 4 or 5 storm to chase him away again. He expects many other residents who ran from Gustav to balk at evacuating for Ike. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said so-called hurricane fatigue should not prevent people there from leaving their homes for the second time in 10 days. We are likely going to have to become accustomed to evacuating more frequently than when we were younger, he said. Christopher Gargiule, 37, said evacuating for Gustav cost him and his wife, Joanne, more than $1,500, and that they can't afford to leave again even if Ike forces another mandatory evacuation of the city. And they live in a house just 50 yards from a levee that had water splash over it during Gustav. We're going to have to hunker down and cross our fingers, Gargiule said.

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko and Deborah Hastings in Miami, Sarah Larimer in Key Largo, Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans and Doug Simpson in Baton Rouge, La.

A look at death toll from Atlantic storms By The Associated Press SEPT 07,08

A look at deaths so far from the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season:

Six of 10 named storms so far this Atlantic hurricane season have caused deaths, mostly due to floods and mudslides:

• Arthur: 5 in Belize; 2 in Honduras.

• Dolly: 1 in Mexico; 1 in Florida.

• Fay: 15 in Florida; 9 in Haiti; 3 in Dominican Republic.

• Gustav: 76 in Haiti; 26 in the U.S. (19 in Louisiana, 4 in Georgia, 3 in Mississippi); 12 in Jamaica; 8 in Dominican Republic.

• Hanna: 167 in Haiti; 2 in Puerto Rico; 1 in Dominican Republic.

• Ike: 58 in Haiti; 1 in Dominican Republic.

• Haitian officials found three bodies Sunday, but did not identify which storm killed them.

Note: Totals are based on official figures released by each government. Florida includes deaths indirectly caused by a storm.

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS

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.

CERN fires up new atom smasher to near Big Bang By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 7, 2:52 PM ET

GENEVA - It has been called an Alice in Wonderland investigation into the makeup of the universe — or dangerous tampering with nature that could spell doomsday.

Whatever the case, the most powerful atom-smasher ever built comes online Wednesday, eagerly anticipated by scientists worldwide who have awaited this moment for two decades.The multibillion-dollar Large Hadron Collider will explore the tiniest particles and come ever closer to re-enacting the big bang, the theory that a colossal explosion created the universe.The machine at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, promises scientists a closer look at the makeup of matter, filling in gaps in knowledge or possibly reshaping theories.The first beams of protons will be fired around the 17-mile tunnel to test the controlling strength of the world's largest superconducting magnets. It will still be about a month before beams traveling in opposite directions are brought together in collisions that some skeptics fear could create micro black holes and endanger the planet.The project has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities, some 1,200 of them from the United States, which contributed $531 million of the project's price tag of nearly $4 billion.This only happens once a generation, said Katie Yurkewicz, spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent at the CERN project. People are certainly very excited.The collider at Fermilab outside Chicago could beat CERN to some discoveries, but the Geneva equipment, generating seven times more energy than Fermilab, will give it big advantages.The CERN collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel 150 to 500 feet under the bucolic countryside on the French-Swiss border.

Once the beam is successfully fired counterclockwise, a clockwise test will follow. Then the scientists will aim the beams at each other so that protons collide, shattering into fragments and releasing energy under the gaze of detectors filling cathedral-sized caverns at points along the tunnel.CERN dismisses the risk of micro black holes, subatomic versions of collapsed stars whose gravity is so strong they can suck in planets and other stars.But the skeptics have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Hawaii and in the European Court of Human Rights to stop the project. They unsuccessfully mounted a similar action in 1999 to block the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York state.CERN's collider has been under construction since 2003, financed mostly by its 20 European member states. The United States and Japan are major contributors with observer status in CERN.Scientists started colliding subatomic particles decades ago. As the machines grew more powerful, the experiments revealed that protons and neutrons — previously thought to be the smallest components of an atom — were made of still smaller quarks and gluons.CERN hopes to recreate conditions in the laboratory a split-second after the big bang, teaching them more about dark matter, antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.Meanwhile, scientists have found innovative ways to explain the concept in layman's terms.The team working on one of the four major installations in the tunnel — the ALICE, or A Large Ion Collider Experiment — produced a comic book featuring Carlo the physicist and a girl called Alice to explain the machine's investigation of matter a split second after the Big Bang.We create mini Big Bangs by bumping two nuclei into each other, Carlo explains to Alice, who has just followed a rabbit down one of the hole-like shafts at CERN.

This releases an enormous amount of energy that liberates thousands of quarks and gluons normally imprisoned inside the nucleus. Quarks and gluons then form a kind of thick soup that we call the quark-gluon plasma.The soup cools quickly and the quarks and gluons stick together to form protons and neutrons, the building blocks of matter. That will enable scientists to look for still missing pieces to the puzzle — or lead to the formulation of a new theory on the makeup of matter. Kate McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate at CERN, has produced the Large Hadron Rap, a video clip that has attracted more than a million views on YouTube. The things that it discovers will rock you in the head, McAlpine raps as she dances in the tunnel and caverns. CERN spokesman James Gillies said the lyrics are absolutely scientifically spot on.It's quite brilliant, Gillies said. On the Net: CERN: http://www.cern.ch Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov
The U.S. at the LHC: http://www.uslhc.us/ Large Hadron Rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vf6aU-wFSqt0

Fannie, Freddie deal helps some borrowers, not all By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Business Writer Sun Sep 7, 6:59 PM ET

NEW YORK - The government's historic bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday will be good news to homebuyers and some homeowners hoping to refinance if it leads to lower mortgage rates, as experts expect. But for homeowners already behind on their mortgage payments, or who owe more than their homes are now worth, the plan unveiled Sunday by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offers little in the way of extra relief.The bailout will give the mortgage industry a stability that we haven't had in a couple of years, said Rich Cosner, president of Prudential California Realty. But frankly no, it won't help (struggling borrowers) to refinance.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a critical and increasingly dominant role in the mortgage market. The companies buy mortgage loans from banks and package those loans into securities that they either hold or sell to U.S. and foreign investors. That allows traditional lenders like Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual to make more loans.Together, Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total. But an alarming number of those loans started going into default, draining the companies' financial reserves and sending a chill through credit markets worldwide. As investors grew more skittish, borrowing costs started rising.By placing Fannie and Freddie into a conservatorship, the government is promising investors that the companies' debt is as safe as the Treasury Department's.While not a cure-all, the bailout is still a step in the right direction, industry observers say. It will at least keep the lanes in the mortgage freeway open, said Greg McBride, a senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com, possibly putting the market on the road to recovery.If mortgage rates fall, that will attract more potential buyers into the market, which, in turn, will help to prop up home prices, he said.

He expects mortgage rates on a conventional, 30-year fixed-rate home loan to fall over the next few weeks as the dust settles on the bailout. Rates, which now average 6.35 percent, could fall as much as half a percentage point, he said. But continued investor wariness and a depreciating housing market will keep rates from dropping further.We're not looking at sunshine and daffodils in the housing market anytime soon, he said.Government officials declined to speculate on how much mortgage rates would be affected, but said they hoped government control would allow the companies to focus on their mission of supporting the housing market.The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the new agency created by Congress this summer to regulate Fannie and Freddie, is planning to work with the companies to on existing loan modification efforts and report on their results in the coming months.Most mortgage brokers expect Fannie and Freddie's lending standards to remain unchanged under the conservatorship. Over the past several months, the companies have tightened requirements substantially, making it hard for borrowers with any blemish on their credit reports to qualify for a loan.However, brokers hope the government will eliminate or reduce fees that the pair have been charging lenders to gird against increased credit risk and losses from mortgages they buy. Those rising fees are squeezing out some borrowers because lenders typically pass them along through higher mortgage rates or higher upfront costs.That was not providing affordable financing. If fees were eliminated, we would see more qualified borrowers being able to refinance or qualify for a mortgage, said Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.Getting more buyers into the market is key to a turnaround. And a stabilized housing market with some price gains would help homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. But such a market is at least a year away, Cosner said.That will help them, he said, if they can hold out that long.

Other legislation might have to fill in the holes. Lawmakers are expected to watch intently the coming months how the takeover works, but more housing legislation appears unlikely until next year. Still, lawmakers may seek to influence how Fannie and Freddie operate now that the companies are under government control. After the takeover, there is more flexibility on the part of the government to try and help the housing market, said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. AP Business Writer Alan Zibel in Washington contributed to this report.

FAMINE

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

FAMINE

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: 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.

OPEC considers cutting oil production By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 7, 5:26 PM ET

VIENNA, Austria - With oil prices off nearly 30 percent from their highs of almost $150 a barrel, OPEC oil ministers are considering what was unthinkable just a few weeks ago — cutting back output to prop up the price of crude. No one is predicting much of a cutback — if any at all. Still, such a move would not even have been thought of with oil prices setting record after record back in July.But the bull run appears to have paused, if not ended, which means a new look at options for Tuesday's meeting of the 13 ministers at OPEC's Vienna headquarters.Since crude surged to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11, it has tumbled by over $40, or more than 27 percent. Back then, OPEC's main concern was pushing back against arguments from the U.S. and other key consumers that an output increase was needed to end rocketing prices. Oil ministers insisted there was adequate supply to meet demand, and blamed speculators and a weak U.S. dollar for crude's stellar rise.But now, the greenback has strengthened, world demand has decreased due to creaky economies, traders' appetites for commodities have cooled — and suddenly the market appears to have turned bearish. Oil markets, however, will also be keeping a close eye on Hurricane Ike, which on Sunday was an extremely dangerous Category 3 storm projected to move into the oil-producing Gulf of Mexico after passing over Cuba.Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $1.66 to settle at $106.23 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange — its lowest close since early April.

The downward spiral has led to calls from OPEC price hawk Iran — the group's second-largest producer — to reduce output from the nearly 30.5 million barrels a day being pumped last month by the organization's members.Not far behind is Venezuela. While moderating recent demands for immediate output cuts, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez has drawn the line at $100 per barrel of oil. Anything below that should serve as a wake-up call for OPEC to tighten the spigots, he says — sentiment that is shared by other OPEC members.Still, a major cutback is unlikely without Saudi compliance, and the Saudis — de-facto OPEC policy setters who are now producing nearly a third of total OPEC output — have given no hint they favor that option. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi has instead talked about a floor of $80 as the red line for action.

OPEC has reason to be cautious.

Despite their precipitous fall, prices remain 14 percent higher this year than in 2007, and a barrel of benchmark crude still fetches four times what it did five years ago.Any OPEC move Tuesday to pare back output would result in a howl of protest from the U.S. and other major consumers, and give a larger platform to Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Barack Obama, his Democratic counterpart, to call for reduced dependence on foreign oil.Additionally, OPEC understands that high prices drive down demand and will likely try to find a balance between high profits and a price that the market can accept.In a forecast last month, OPEC predicted that the world's forecast appetite for oil for this year overall will have fallen by 30,000 barrels a day and noted that world demand growth next year will be the lowest since 2002. And on Wednesday, the U.S Energy Administration reported a 3.5 percent drop for products including gasoline and other oil-based products compared with last year.Such factors have led some experts to predict OPEC would opt for no change.The ministers will hold the status quo (although) there is going to be the usual jawboning from the usual suspects for a cutback, said oil analyst and trader Stephen Schork. Even now, oil is by no means cheap and that is certainly adding a lot of pressure to the (world's) economies — the smarter ones, the Saudis, the Qataris the Kuwaitis are aware of this.Others think that OPEC, which accounts for about 40 percent of world oil production, will compromise between doing nothing — thereby chancing a further erosion in prices — and slashing boldly — thereby risking skyrocketing prices and an ensuing fallback in demand.That middle way would mean agreeing to pare away at overproduction without reducing the overall output quota of 27.3 million barrels a day set in November for the 12 OPEC members under production limits. Energy analyst Catherine Hunter of Global Insight estimates overproduction at between 600,000 and 800,000 barrels a day and says this is the likely first target of cuts. And because most of the extra production comes from Saudi wells, such a move could be easily accepted by most OPEC members. Ultimately, OPEC wants to know what the market will bear, she wrote in a recent analysis, adding that with the world's developed economies expected to perform poorly — and a resulting overspill to East Asian markets — the answer may well be, not much.Chip Hodge, portfolio manager with MFC Global Investment Management, also thinks that if OPEC issues a call for cuts it will be in overproduction, adding the organization has little additional wiggle room. Oil prices are still higher than where they were a year ago, he said. They just don't have much to complain about.

FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

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.

METEORS HIT THE EARTH

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

Spacecraft flies by remote asteroid, camera stops By KATRIN SCHIEFER and GEORGE FREY, Associated Press Writers Sat Sep 6, 9:51 AM ET

DARMSTADT, Germany - The European deep space probe Rosetta successfully completed a flyby of an asteroid millions of miles from earth, but its high resolution camera stopped shortly before the closest pass, space officials said Saturday. Rosetta caught up with the Steins asteroid, also known as Asteroid 2867, just after 8:45 p.m. (1845 GMT) Friday in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The probe came within 500 miles (805 kilometers) of the asteroid — which turned out to be slightly larger than scientists expected.Officials at the European Space Agency were not sure exactly what caused the camera to balk.The software switched off automatically, Gerhard Schwehm, the ESA mission manager and head of solar systems science operations told The Associated Press. The camera has some software limits and we'll analyze why this happened later.Another wide angle camera was able to take pictures and send them to the space center, Schwehm said.At a news conference, Uwe Keller, the principal camera investigator, said despite the camera turning off about nine minutes before its closest approach, it switched back on again later and was now working well. Keller said he did not expect the camera setback to affect the rest of the mission.Craters of different ages were found on the surface of the gray-colored asteroid, showing a rich collisional history, Keller said.The probe recorded more than 23 craters over 200 meters wide, with the biggest being about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide.According to measurements by the probe, the diamond-shaped asteroid turned out to be 3.1 miles (5 kilometers) in diameter, slightly larger than an earlier estimate of 3 miles (4.8 kilometers).The Rosetta craft was launched in March 2004 from French Guyana, and is now about 250 million miles (402 million kilometers) from Earth.Schwehm said the historic mission could give astronomers crucial clues to help them understand the creation of the solar system.Dead rocks can say a lot, he said.

Rita Schulz, a Rosetta project scientist, said data from asteroids and comets was particularly valuable because they are made of galactic matter that helped create the planets in our solar system.Asteroids are a sort of memory, or the DNA, of the solar system, Schulz said.Up until now, astronomers analyzing asteroids have had to work with limited data from brief flybys, such as when ESA's Giotto probe swept by Halley's Comet in 1986, photographing long canyons, broad craters and 3,000-foot (1000-meter) hills.As planned, the Rosetta lost its signal to Earth for about an hour-and-a-half Friday night as engineers turned it away from the sun and the craft zoomed through space too fast for its antennae to transmit any signal.At 10:15 p.m (2015 GMT) Friday the craft resumed transmission, signaling that the exercise was largely successful — news cheered by ESA engineers and technicians.Yet there was another setback Friday night as data was sent to antenna stations far from Europe.

A NASA laboratory in Goldstone, California was having problems cooling one of its antennas in the summer heat and had to switch the ESA project to another antenna, delaying the analysis of some data by several hours. Rosetta data was also transmitted to an antenna in New Norcia, western Australia. Data from its working camera was being processed Saturday at the Max Planck Institute in Lindau, southern Germany, while further infrared data collected by the probe was being analyzed at the Instituto Nacionale di Astrofisica in Rome. The Steins asteroid was Rosetta's first scientific target as it enters the asteroid belt en route to its destination, the comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta is scheduled to reach the comet in 2014. Between now and then it will perform some gravitational experiments before going into hibernation, Schwehm said. The European Space Agency is supported by 17 countries including Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. It cooperates with NASA, the European Union, European national space agencies and international partners. It's expected the ESA will become the European Union space agency in the near future. On the Net: http://www.esa.int

ELECTION 2008
Obama slips on TV: My Muslim faith Presidential candidate drops line in interview discussing his belief September 07, 2008 3:42 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein
2008 WorldNetDaily

Slip of the tongue or momentary confusion? In a television interview today discussing his religion, Sen. Barack Obama stated, My Muslim faith.Obama, speaking to ABC's George Stephanopoulos on This Week, was talking about what he described as smears that were claiming he was a Muslim when he maintains he is a practicing Christian.Let's not play games, Obama stated. What I was suggesting – you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith. And you're absolutely right that that has not come.Stephanopoulos immediately interrupted Obama, stating, Christian faith.My Christian faith, Obama quickly said. Well, what I'm saying is that he (McCain) hasn't suggested that I'm a Muslim. And I think that his campaign's upper echelons have not, either. What I think is fair to say is that, coming out of the Republican camp, there have been efforts to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith – something which I find deeply offensive, and that has been going on for a pretty long time.The statements came amid an exchange in which Obama accused Republicans of spreading lies that he is a Muslim. McCain, though, has strongly condemned such accusations. These guys love to throw a rock and hide their hand, Obama said.But Stephanopoulos corrected the Illinois senator, stating, The McCain campaign has never suggested you have Muslim connections.Obama replied: I don't think that when you look at what is being promulgated on Fox News, let's say, and Republican commentators who are closely allied to these folks.But John McCain said that's wrong, Stephanopoulos shot back.

Obama's momentary slip was immediately picked up by scores of Internet blogs.

Obama quote religious in Islam

Obama has long denied he was ever a Muslim. His campaign site states: Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised as a Muslim, and is a committed Christian.

But as WND reported, public records in Indonesia listed Obama as a Muslim during his early years, and a number of childhood friends claimed to the media Obama was once a mosque-attending Muslim.Obama's campaign several times has wavered in response to reporters queries regarding the senator's childhood faith.Commenting on a recent Los Angeles Times report quoting a childhood friend stating Obama prayed in a mosque – something the presidential candidate said he never did – Obama's campaign released a statement explaining the senator has never been a practicing Muslim.Widely distributed reports have noted that in January 1968, Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro. He was listed as an Indonesian citizen whose stepfather, listed on school documents as L Soetoro Ma, worked for the topography department of the Indonesian Army.Catholic schools in Indonesia routinely accept non-Catholic students but exempt them from studying religion. Obama's school documents, though, wrongly list him as being Indonesian.After attending the Assisi Primary School, Obama was enrolled – also as a Muslim, according to documents – in the Besuki Primary School, a public school in Jakarta.The Loatze blog, run by an American expatriate in Southeast Asia who visited the Besuki school, noted: All Indonesian students are required to study religion at school, and a young Barry Soetoro, being a Muslim, would have been required to study Islam daily in school. He would have been taught to read and write Arabic, to recite his prayers properly, to read and recite from the Quran and to study the laws of Islam.Indeed, in Obama's autobiography, Dreams From My Father, he acknowledged studying the Quran and describes the public school as a Muslim school.In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Quranic studies, wrote Obama.The Indonesian media have been flooded with accounts of Obama's childhood Islamic studies, some describing him as a religious Muslim.Speaking to the country's Kaltim Post, Tine Hahiyary, who was principal of Obama's school while he was enrolled there, said she recalls he studied the Quran in Arabic.

At that time, I was not Barry's teacher, but he is still in my memory claimed Tine, who is 80 years old.The Kaltim Post said Obama's teacher, named Hendri, died.I remember that he studied 'mengaji (recitation of the Quran), Tine said, according to an English translation by Loatze.Mengaji, or the act of reading the Quran with its correct Arabic punctuation, is usually taught to more religious pupils and is not known as a secular study.Also, Loatze documented the Indonesian daily Banjarmasin Post interviewed Rony Amir, an Obama classmate and Muslim, who described Obama as previously quite religious in Islam.We previously often asked him to the prayer room close to the house. If he was wearing a sarong (waist fabric worn for religious or casual occasions) he looked funny, Amir said.The Los Angeles Times, which sent a reporter to Jakarta, quoted Zulfin Adi, who identified himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends, stating the presidential candidate prayed in a mosque, something Obama's campaign claimed he never did.We prayed, but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played, said Adi.

Friday prayers

Aside from a new website to fight purported smears, Obama's official campaign site has a page titled Obama has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian. The page states, Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ.But the campaign changed its tune when it issued a practicing Muslim clarification to the Los Angeles Times.An article in March by the Chicago Tribune apparently disputes Adi's statements to the L.A. paper. The Tribune caught up with Obama's declared childhood friend, who now describes himself as only knowing Obama for a few months in 1970 when his family moved to the neighborhood. Adi said he was unsure about his recollections of Obama.But the Tribune found Obama did attend mosque.Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia, states the Tribune article.It quotes the presidential candidate's former neighbors and third-grade teacher recalling Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers.Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, notes the Tribune article – cited by liberal blogs as refuting claims Obama is Muslim – actually implies Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim and twice confirms Obama attended mosque services.In a free-ranging interview with the New York Times, Obama described the Muslim call to prayer as one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.The Times' Nicholos Kristof wrote Obama recited, with a first-class [Arabic] accent, the opening lines of the Muslim call to prayer.

The first few lines of the call to prayer state:

Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme!
Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that there is no god but Allah
I witness that Muhammad is his prophet ...

Some attention also has been paid to Obama's paternal side of the family, including his father and his brother, Roy.Writing in a chapter of his book describing his 1992 wedding, the presidential candidate stated: The person who made me proudest of all was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol.Still, Obama says he was raised by his Christian mother and repeatedly has labeled as smears several reports attempting to paint him as a Muslim.Let's make clear what the facts are: I am a Christian. I have been sworn in with a Bible. I pledge allegiance [to the American flag] and lead the Pledge of Allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I'm presiding, he told the Times of London earlier this year.

Israeli president opposes attack on Iran's nuclear sites Sun Sep 7, 2:21 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday he opposes a military strike on Iran and prefers the use of international economic sanctions to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear enrichment programme. A military operation is not necessary. I do not think the Americans think in these terms because they have many other cards to play, Peres told Israeli public radio after a meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney in Italy.If the Americans manage to form a coalition to unify their positions with those of Europeans, they have sufficient means to exert pressure on the Iranians, Peres added.Peres had met Cheney on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti forum on Italy's Lake Como, an international gathering of leaders and experts focused mostly on economic issues.Israel and the West have repeatedly called on Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which they fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons but which Tehran defends as part of a peaceful energy venture.Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state, has considered Iran its main strategic threat after repeated predictions of its demise by senior Iranian leaders.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said last month after a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel would not rule out any options to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.Tehran meanwhile risks a possible fourth round of UN sanctions after it failed to give a clear response to an incentives package offered by six major world powers in return for halting uranium enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.

EU backs Georgia peace monitoring mission SEPT 07,08

Reuters - Saturday, September 6 02:37 pmAVIGNON, France (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Saturday to send an autonomous mission to Georgia to monitor Russia's withdrawal from territory occupied during last month's war over South Ossetia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.He accused Moscow of failing to respect several points in a French-brokered plan that put an end to the fighting and said French President Nicolas Sarkozy and EU officials would demand on Monday that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stick to his commitments.Let him first respect his own signature. Of the six points, only two or let's say two-and-a-half, perhaps three, have been implemented, Kouchner told a news conference after a two-day informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.EU observers to ensure that Russia withdrew to the lines it held on August 7 before fighting erupted would initially join an existing monitoring force of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.We expressed our support for the deployment of an autonomous ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy) mission as part of the OSCE presence in the first instance, he said.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said details of the deployment of European monitors remained to be worked out.(reporting by Francois Murphy, writing by Paul Taylor)