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Yaalon: Hamas Gears Up to Fight Israel After Pact With Abbas
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

World Leaders Alarmed Over Islamist Takeover of Iraqi City
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

World leaders have reacted with alarm to the capture of Iraq's second city by an Al Qaeda offshoot, whose rapidly-expanding control over vasts swathes of Iraq and Syria has seen it morph into a fully-fledged state in all but name.

The takeover of Mosul on Tuesday by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, prompted the United States to voice deep concern about the "extremely serious" situation and warn that the jihadist Sunni group poses "a threat to the entire region".  

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman also issue a statement, saying the UN chief was "gravely concerned by the serious deteriorating of the security situation in Mosul".

ISIS, which also seized an international airport and captured US-made weapons and equipment during its rout of Iraqi security forces, has dealt a spectacular blow to Baghdad's Shia-led government by cementing its effective control over the entirety of the country's western Nineveh Province, and now poses a clear threat across the Middle East.

In a desperate attempt to fend off the threat posed by the group - who will now surely be eyeing further territorial gains - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called a state of emergency and has offered to arm local tribes and citizens opposed to ISIS. 

Known for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers, ISIS has already controlled the Iraqi city of Fallujah for five months, and is also arguably the most capable force fighting President Bashar al-Assad inside Syria. 

ISIS is led by the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and backed by thousands of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, many of them Westerners and other foreign jihadists, and it appears to be surpassing Al Qaeda as the world's most dangerous terrorist group.  

Western governments fear it could eventually emulate Al Qaeda and strike overseas, but their biggest worry for now is likely the eventual return home of foreign fighters attracted by ISIS and Baghdadi.

Among them are men like Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old Frenchman who allegedly carried out a deadly shooting on a Jewish museum in Belgium last month after spending a year fighting with ISIS in Syria.

Working towards Islamic emirate

The Soufan Group, a New York-based consultancy, estimates that 12,000 foreign fighters have traveled to Syria, including 3,000 from the West.

And ISIS appears to have the greatest appeal, with King's College London Professor Peter Neumann estimating around 80 percent of Western fighters in Syria have joined the group.

Unlike other groups fighting Assad, ISIS is seen working towards an ideal Islamic emirate that straddles Syria and Iraq. And compared with Al Qaeda's franchise in Syria, Al Nusra Front, it has lower entry barriers.

ISIS has also sought to appeal to non-Arabs, recently publishing two English-language magazines, having already released videos in English, or with English subtitles.

The jihadist group claims to have had fighters from the Britain, France, Germany and other European countries, as well as the United States, and from the Arab world and the Caucasus.

Much of the appeal also stems from Baghdadi himself - the ISIS leader is touted as a battlefield commander and tactician, a crucial distinction compared with Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"For the last 10 years or more, (Zawahiri) has been holed up in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and hasn't really done very much more than issue a few statements and videos," said Richard Barrett, a former counter-terrorism chief at MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service.

"Whereas Baghdadi has done an amazing amount - he has captured cities, he has mobilised huge amounts of people, he is killing ruthlessly throughout Iraq and Syria.

"If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi," Barrett told AFP.

Baghdadi apparently joined the insurgency that erupted in Iraq soon after the 2003 US-led invasion.  

In October 2005, American forces said they believed they had killed "Abu Dua," one of Baghdadi's known aliases, in a strike on the Iraq-Syria border.  

But that appears to have been incorrect, as he took the reins of what was then known as the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI, in May 2010 after two of its chiefs were killed in a US-Iraqi raid. ISI was Al Qaeda's official branch in that country, but after engaging in the Syrian civil war against Zawahiri's explicit instructions - and then threatening to alienate public support through his extremely brutal tactics - the newly-named ISIS was disowned by the Al Qaeda chief.

Since then, details about Baghdadi have slowly trickled out.  

Bearded man with a suit and tie

In October 2011, the US Treasury designated him as a "terrorist" in a notice that said he was born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971.

And earlier this year, Iraq released a picture they said was of Baghdadi, the first from an official source, depicting a balding, bearded man in a suit and tie.

At the time Baghdadi took over, his group appeared to be on the ropes, after "the surge" of US forces combined with the shifting allegiances of Sunni tribesmen to deal him a blow.

But the group has bounced back, expanding into Syria in 2013.

Baghdadi sought to merge with Al-Nusra, which rejected the deal, and the two groups have operated separately since. More recently, the two have engaged in armed clashes against one another, as rebel groups joined forces to eject ISIS from Syria.

Rebels accuse ISIS of serving the Syrian regime's agenda; the group has embittered its rivals through its ruthless monopolization of territory, attacking rebel forces and killing several prominent rebel leaders in its quest to establish its Islamic state.

Despite losing some territory to Syrian rebels ISIS has consolidated its control over areas still under its control, and Middle East expert Aymenn al-Tamimi observed that previous conservative estimates of the group's strength were clearly vastly underestimating its capabilities.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Tamimi noted that ISIS's ability to brush aside American-trained Iraqi security forces in Mosul at the same time as it is fighting on several other fronts in Syria (against rebels, Kurdish militias and Syrian regime forces), proves its manpower is far greater than the 10,000 fighters it is widely reported to posses.

And speaking to Arutz Sheva yesterday he said its continued success should sound alarm bells.

"If it turns out ISIS have taken exclusive control without sharing with other groups then this is very significant. It means massive expansion of power and resources... so in short, they are just getting stronger and stronger."

Unprecedented Split in French Far - Right Party
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The unity of France's far-right National Front has cracked as founder Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter and party leader Marine exchange an unprecedented public war of words, just as she struggles to create a new EU eurosceptic alliance.

The crisis kicked off last week when a video was posted on the National Front (FN) website in which Le Pen made an apparent anti-Semitic pun - the latest in a series of controversial statements by the 85-year-old who has had multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred and denying crimes against humanity.

As in previous instances, anti-racism campaigners were quick to condemn the remark. But this time, members of the FN itself also rose up in anger, including Le Pen's daughter Marine, who took over the party leadership in 2011.

She has since sought to rid the National Front of its reputation for racism and anti-Semitism in a move known as the "de-demonization" of the party.

And judging by the FN's triumph in European Parliament elections last month - when the party came first in France with 25 percent of the vote - as well as its success in local polls in March, this strategy appears to be working.

Eurosceptic but ideologically apart

Marine Le Pen's next challenge is to form and take command of a far-right grouping of parties in the European Parliament.

She has so far secured the backing of Belgium's far-right Vlaams Belang (VB), the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) and Italy's Lega Nord, but is still short of the seven-nation representation required under EU rules to be considered a group.

While also opposed to the European Union, other rightists - including the UK Independence Party, which topped European elections in Britain - are wary of a party they associate with anti-Semitism, and Jean-Marie Le Pen's latest comment is unlikely to help.

In the video, Le Pen pledged to put his critics in their place - including French singer Patrick Bruel, who is Jewish - using a pun suggesting Nazi gas chambers.

FN vice president Louis Aliot, who is also Marine Le Pen's boyfriend, criticized it as "a bad phrase. It is politically stupid and dismaying."

Marine Le Pen herself hit back and described the remark as a "political error", the first time that she has made a direct criticism of her father in public.  

Her father wasted no time in responding, telling RMC radio on Monday morning that the only "political error" was to fall into just "one way of thinking."

A 'human issue'

The FN founder has come out with a series of controversial comments over the years, such as saying that the gas chambers in World War II were a "detail of history" or more recently that the Ebola virus could address Europe's immigration issues.

But Nicolas Lebourg, a far-right historian, said it was "the first time that they (FN members) all go as far" in condemning him.

"The father doesn't have his own party anymore, there has been a renewal of activists. And with its 25 percent in the European elections, Marine Le Pen's line has shown its superiority," he said.

Joel Gombin, a French far-right expert, added that "the stands taken by Aliot and Marine Le Pen to distance themselves in a fairly clear manner from Jean-Marie Le Pen... are also an effort to salvage things at the European parliament."

Nevertheless, he said Le Pen senior was unlikely to go any time soon.

The 85-year-old still plays a "balancing" role between different factions within the party, and also panders to more conservative supporters who may not be happy with his daughter's more mainstream approach, Gombin said.

The FN founder's controversial comments also profit his daughter, as they "feed the media narrative of 'de-demonization'", he added.

Ultimately, "it's not a political issue, it's a human issue... It's not conceivable that Marine Le Pen would push him out of the party."

Unique Religious Freedom Restrictions in Saudi Arabia: not a Single Church Exists, Entire Country
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Christians and religious minorities face a "unique" form of religious freedom restrictions in Saudi Arabia, a persecution watchdog group says, noting that not a single church is allowed to exist in the country.

"Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists in the country," says Bandar al-Aiban, the director of the Saudi National Human Rights commission. Churches are not allowed to exist "because the entire country is a 'sacred mosque' for Islam's holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina."

International Christian Concern has highlighted the extent of the restrictions in Saudi Arabia, which is officially an Islamic state, and the consequences they have on the millions of Christians, who are mostly foreign workers, living there.

"Saudi Arabia remains unique in the extent to which it restricts the public expression of any religion other than Islam," the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2014 Annual Report.

Operation World estimates that close to 2 million non-Muslim foreign workers live in Saudi Arabia, and around 1.5 million of them are Christians. Statistics on how many Saudis are Christians are harder to come by, as the government does not recognize such believers, but they face a situation in which there is not a single church in the entire country where they are allowed to publicly meet.

Saudi Arabia has close to 4,000 religious police officers entrusted to enforce its Islamic laws. Leaving the Islamic faith is considered apostasy and punishable by death, with non-Islamic prisoners often pressured to convert to the religion.

Other Christian groups have also documented the intense persecution Christians face in Saudi Arabia. Open Doors ranks it at No.6 on its list where Christians face the most persecution. In 2013, it was ranked at No.2, behind North Korea.

ICC pointed out that the United States government maintains a close relationship with Saudi Arabia, and in March President Barack Obama met with King Abdullah during an overseas trip. Obama failed to call out Saudi Arabia on its severe religious freedom violations, however.

"This visit was an excellent opportunity for the president to speak up on an issue that affects millions of Saudi citizens and millions more foreign workers living in Saudi Arabia," ICC Middle East Regional Manager Todd Daniels said then.

"Only last month the president clearly stated that promoting religious freedom is a key objective of American foreign policy, and then reaffirmed that opinion in remarks following his meeting with Pope Francis on Thursday, according to the White House. 

On top of this, 70 members of Congress specifically asked him to publicly address the issue, as well as other human rights concerns, with King Abdullah today. How, despite all of this, the president could stay completely silent about religious freedom during his meeting is remarkable."

The Deception Behind Evangelicals and Catholics Together
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsBy Menno-Lite - Posted on November 12, 2010
Categories: Commentary;Apostasy

Why does this blog continue to warn about the current ecumenical trend we see of Mennonites turning to Roman Catholic mysticism and practices as revealed in recent editions of the MB Herald?

The following expose from the European Institute of Protestant Studies explains why the “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” movement is a deception to distort, deceive and damage the work of the true Church of Jesus Christ.

Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT)
by Dr. Brian Green

1. Introduction
Some will be familiar with the recent trend in what may be regarded as right-wing circles in the religious world, whilst others may have heard of the emergence of this new movement, but are not conversant with the details, objectives and influence it seems to exert.

2. The History of the ECT Movement
In 1985 Charles Colson, who founded the Prison Fellowship Ministries, as Chairman invited Rev Richard Neuhaus, a former Lutheran, but now a foremost Jesuit priest, and Carl Henry, the long-time editor and founder of Christianity Today, to address a gathering of Christian leaders.

3. The Hopes of the ECT Movement
In the ECT statement, the participants reveal their hopes under various headings: Witnessing Together, Praying Together, Searching Together.

4. The Haste of the ECT Movement
There has been much expectancy in many quarters, as we near the new millennium, emanating especially from the Vatican, with the Pope speaking of the coming “springtime of world missions”. The year 2000 AD has long been a target date in Rome’s mind for evangelism.

5. The Heresy of the ECT Movement
It is not popular to speak or write against heresy, but the Scriptures are strong in their language against all who distort, pervert, take away from or add to the Gospel of Christ. We indict those who seek to forward the ECT movement as deceivers and brand the document as encouraging a false gospel.

The Ascension and the Second Advent
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsC.H. Spurgeon
Categories: Exhortation;Commentary

This same Jesus literally went up. This same Jesus will literally come again. He will descend in clouds; and, "He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" even as beforehand. . . Brethren, do not let anyone spiritualize away all this from you.

That the Lamb May Receive the Reward of His Suffering!
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsParis Reidhead
Categories: Exhortation;Commentary

Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British owner had 2,000 to 3,000 slaves. And the owner had said, "No preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he's shipwrecked we'll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he's never going to talk to any of us about God, I'm through with all that nonsense." Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic and there to live and die without hearing of Christ.

Several thousand black slaves toiled in the sugar cane fields under the burning sun. Three thousand slaves were doomed to live and die without hearing of Christ.

Two young Germans in their 20s from the Moravians sect heard about their plight. They [were willing to sell themselves] to the British planter for the standard price for a male slave [if necessary.]

 The Moravian community from Herrenhut came to see the two lads off, who would never return again, having freely sold themselves into a lifetime of slavery. As a member of the slave community they would witness as Christians to the love of God.

Family members were emotional, weeping. Was their extreme sacrifice wise? Was it necessary? The housings had been cast off and were curled up on the pier. As the ship slipped away with the tide and the gap widened, the young men linked arms, raised their hands and shouted across the spreading gap, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering."

This became the call of Moravian missions. And this is our only reason for being... that the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering! Amen.

Editors Note.....How do we relate to this situation today. Many who profess to be followers of Christ are selling out to the world.

Stakes High As Iran, U.S. Meet for Second Day of Talks
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Tehran and Washington began a second day of talks in Geneva on Tuesday on Iran's contested nuclear program, amid a fresh diplomatic drive in the face of a July deadline for a deal.

Washington warned of "tough choices" in the crunch negotiations, as fellow world powers braced to meet with the Islamic republic to try to build momentum.

Senior officials from Iran and the United States sat down behind closed doors in Geneva's upscale Hotel President Wilson, which was sealed off to the media. The talks were expected to last all day.

The meeting began Monday with a five-hour session, the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that US and Iranian negotiators have held direct, official nuclear talks.

The two sides have met informally before, notably in a secret session last year in Oman which helped coax Tehran back to the negotiating table.

They have also sat down within the P5+1 process that involves world powers talking to Iran.

The P5+1, made up of the five permanent UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany, secured an interim deal with Iran in November after marathon talks in Geneva.

The deadline for a final accord was July 20, but several players including Iran have already said a six-month extension may be needed.

Washington and the other P5+1 states are seeking solid commitments that will ensure Iran's stated desire for a peaceful atomic energy program is not a covert attempt to build a nuclear bomb.

The ongoing talks seek to turn an interim deal reached in November into a permanent agreement. Under the interim deal, Iran committed to limit its uranium enrichment to five percent and is gradually winning access to $4.2 billion of its oil revenues frozen abroad and some other sanctions relief.

On Wednesday, Iranian negotiators are set to meet in Geneva with their French counterparts, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday.

They are then due to head to Rome to meet with Russian officials, then hold talks in Tehran with Germany on Sunday.

"Bilateral discussions offer a much more effective platform for conducting real bargaining than the cumbersome committee-type discussions in the P5+1 framework," said Ali Vaez, senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group.

"The two major sticking points are Iran's future enrichment capacity and sanctions relief," he said.

The goal of the bilateral talks is to prepare a June 16-20 meeting between Iran and the P5+1 in Vienna, where they aim to set down details of the final deal. The last round in Vienna in May yielded little.

'Fate of the world' at hand

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz stressed Monday at the Herzliya conference that the stakes are high in the news round of talks. 

"Any international agreement that leaves Iran on the threshold of nuclear capability is worse than no agreement at all," he said. "What is now at hand is not just the fate of Israel in the Middle East but the fate of the world."

Brigadier General Itai Brun, who heads the Israeli military's research division, said Iran now appeared to be talking "in earnest" about a final deal thanks to international pressure, adding that he expected an accord this year.

Iran's negotiators, meanwhile, must answer to domestic hardliners who say the country's red lines must not be crossed.

Former nuclear negotiator turned speaker of parliament, the tough-talking Ali Larijani, said Tuesday it was crucial to protect "the rights of Iranians" as well as the "scientific achievements of the peaceful activities" of the Islamic republic's researchers.

After Monday's first day of talks, Washington said more effort was needed.

"We think we've made progress during some rounds, but as we said coming out of the last one, we hadn't seen enough made. We hadn't seen enough realism, quite frankly, on the table," said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.

"People need to make tough choices, but we are very focused on that July 20th time," she said.

Iran's deputy foreign minister and nuclear pointman Abbas Araqchi said Monday's dialogue "took place in a positive climate and was constructive," according to Iran's ISNA news agency, and may be extended for another six months.

Rouhani: Well Do Our Best to Secure a Nuclear Deal
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday his country would "do its best" to secure a nuclear deal as crunch talks between Tehran and Washington on the long-running dispute dragged out, AFP reported.

Senior negotiators from both sides met behind closed doors for a second day of talks at Geneva's upscale Hotel President Wilson, which was sealed off to the media.

Iran's chief negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, was quoted by the ISNA news agency saying after Tuesday's session that the talks were "fruitful" but that "divergences remain and the consultations are going to continue."

He described the discussions as "intense and difficult, but they are taking place in a positive atmosphere," according to AFP.

The talks are part of a fresh diplomatic drive in the face of a looming July 20 deadline for a final deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers.

"Iran will do its best for a final deal with the P5+1," said Rouhani, a former nuclear negotiator, speaking in Turkey, where he is currently on a visit to boost ties with Ankara.

"Iran is ready to sit at the negotiating table for a solution" to both the nuclear dispute and "unfair sanctions," he said, according to AFP.

On Wednesday, Iranian negotiators are set to meet in Geneva with their French counterparts, before heading to Rome for talks with Russian officials, then hold a session in Tehran with Germany on Sunday.

The ongoing talks seek to turn an interim deal reached in November into a permanent agreement. Under the interim deal, Iran committed to limit its uranium enrichment to five percent and is gradually winning access to $4.2 billion of its oil revenues frozen abroad and some other sanctions relief.

A fourth round of nuclear talks between the sides ended last month without progress and with both sides complaining that major gaps remained ahead of the deadline.

Quebec Approves Bill Legalizing Euthanasia on Demand
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Québec National Assembly voted today on Bill 52 that legalizes euthanasia on demand in the Canadian province.

Bill 52 legalizes euthanasia by re-defining it as a form of healthcare under the term “end-of-life care.” The measure passed this afternoon by a 94-22 margin, with no abstentions.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition stated: “Let’s be clear, Bill 52 gives Québec physicians the right to intentionally and directly cause the death of persons by lethal injection. This represents an act of homicide and not an act of “end of life care.”

“Bill 52 claims to limit euthanasia to voluntary requests from people who are at the end of life but Bill 52 does not define end of life,” he said. “Québekers should not trust their life to the provisions in Bill 52, which are imprecise, open to abuse and based on the Belgian euthanasia law. In Belgium, euthanasia is being done to people who are not terminally ill but living with depression, euthanasia has been extended to children and studies have proven that euthanasia is often done to people without request.”

The Québec government re-introduced Bill 52 even after people with disabilities and palliative care leaders strongly opposed the bill.

Previous public surveys do not show strong support for the legislation. In an online survey of almost 500 residents conducted October 23-28 by Abingdon Research, 47% said Bill 52 requires further study, while another 14% expressed opposition. Only a minority – 35% – were in favour of the bill.

Natalie Sonnen, executive director of LifeCanada, said the poll also highlighted problems with the bill’s use of the vague term, “medical aid in dying.” Before being given the definition, only 30% answered correctly that “medical aid in dying” as proposed by Bill 52, involves “a doctor giving a patient a lethal injection.”

Sonnen said the widespread confusion created by ambiguous terms calls into question the reliability of previous polls citing strong support for this type of practice.

“Once people understand and think about the implications of ‘medical aid in dying’ they back away from supporting Bill 52,” she said.

Sonnen said when poll participants were informed that Bill 52 is based on a Belgian law, and that a study showed that one-third of Belgian patients given a lethal injection were killed without their consent, 83% of respondents expressed concern that this might happen in Quebec.

“This poll shows the Quebec population has not given its informed consent to ‘medical aid in dying’,” said Ms. Sonnen. “Contrary to what may have been assumed, the people have not given the government a mandate to proceed with such a monumental change in medical practice. The representatives of the people should reconsider before they take this step.”

The National Assembly’s Committee on Health and Social Services recently held public hearings on Bill 52. LifeCanada was one of seven organizations whose application to appear before the hearings was refused.

In Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, the number of deaths by assisted suicide has grown by 381% between 1998 and 2012. Prescriptions for a poisonous cocktail to kill patients have grown by 379%.

Alex Schadenberg, director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has written about problems with the law in Belgium.

A study that was published in the (CMAJ June, 2010) concluded that 32% of euthanasia deaths in the Flemish region of Belgium are done without explicit request. A similar study that was published in the (CMAJ June, 2010) concluded that 45% of euthanasia deaths involving nurses in Belgium were done without explicit request.

Many people claim that the Belgian euthanasia law is controlled and yet the data indicates that many euthanasia deaths are never reported.

The Belgian euthanasia law specifically limits the act of euthanasia to physicians. The study that was published in the (CMAJ June, 2010) found that when nurses were involved with the euthanasia death the lethal dose was injected by the nurse 12% of the time. The study indicated that in 12 cases the doctor was not present at the time of injection and twice, the nurse did not consult the physician. All of these acts are technically illegal in Belgium.

There has never been an attempted prosecution for abuses of the Belgian euthanasia law.

Under-reporting of euthanasia.

A study that was published in the (BMJ Oct 2010) concluded that euthanasia deaths are significantly under-reported in the Flemish region of Belgium. The study found that only 52.8% of euthanasia deaths in the Flemish region of Belgium were reported.

Belgian government statistics indicate that the number of reported assisted deaths increased by 25% from 1133 in 2011 to 1432 in 2012, representing 2% of all deaths in Belgium. The number of reported assisted deaths in 2010 was 954. It is important to note that these statistics do not include the unreported assisted deaths.

Data indicates that euthanasia is under-reported and done without request. This proves that the actual practice of euthanasia is not accurately represented in the Belgium government reports.

Euthanasia requests are rarely refused.

A study that was published in November 2011 found that only 5% of euthanasia deaths are refused in Belgium, compared to a 12% refusal rate in the Netherlands. The study stated that: “Unfortunately we have no information on the reasons why the attending physicians from our study refused to grant requests.”

Pope Francis on Frantic Quest to Unite All Religions Under Rome
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsNow The End Begins
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Pope is working to combine all religions into one

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” Revelation 17:6

Pope Francis is a man on a mission to fulfill bible prophecy, and he is getting more done than any other Pope in the last 100 years. Pope Francis is here to make some serious and drastic changes not only in the Catholic Vatican system, in the professing Christianity as well.  He is creating the One World Religion.

The bible, in Revelation 17 and 18, talks about a harlot church that rules the spiritual world. She is wealthy beyond description, and all the kings and mighty men of the earth want to be in a spiritual bed with her. The bible says that she is a city that “sitteth on seven hills”, and is “drunk with the blood of the saints”. This can only be one system, one place, one church – the Roman Catholic Church whose Vatican headquarters sits on the famed Seven Hills in Rome.

This week, not only did Pope Francis hold ecumenical services in the Vatican where he prayed to the moon god of Islam, Allah, he also held high level meetings with megachurch pastor Joel Osteen and US Senator Mike Lee who was there to represent the Mormon church. The actors have taken the stage, with more still arriving, in the unfolding of what will one day soon be the wildest bible prophecy ever told – the Great Tribulation.

Joel Osteen was enthralled with the fact that Pope Francis is so inclusive:

““I like the fact that this pope is trying to make the church larger, not smaller. He’s not pushing people out but making the church more inclusive. That resonated with me,” Osteen told the Houston Chronicle. 

The Christian Post reports that according to Westmont College, Francis had invited more than a dozen “North American Protestant leaders” to discuss the question: “Can we find common ground in order to advance the life and ministry of Jesus so more people can experience the joy of Christian faith?”

 The ecumenical meeting was a part of Pope Francis’ on-going efforts to bring unity among Christians, previously stating in public remarks, “Divisions among us, but also divisions among the communities: evangelical Christians, orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, but why divided? We must try to bring about unity.”

However, Pope Francis’s call for unity goes beyond the Christian community. During his recent visit to the Middle East, Francis invited Israeli Jewish and Muslim leaders to join him in prayer for peace for their region at the Vatican this Sunday. Israel’s Chief of State Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Abu Mazen will be joined by a delegation of rabbis, Islamic imams, and Israeli Druze community leaders, according to news reports.

PLA Sends Multiple Signals in First Rimpac Naval Exercise
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsWant China Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

China is sending out multiple signals in its first ever participation in the US-led Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) naval exercises over the summer, reports Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao.

On Monday, China's defense ministry said four ships from the People's Liberation Army Navy — the destroyer Haikou, missile frigate Yueyang, the oiler Yueyang and hospital ship Peace Ark — departed Monday with two helicopters, a commando unit and a diving squad in a deployment totaling 1,100 officers and sailors.

The US-led RIMPAC is the largest international maritime exercise in the world and has been held biennially since 1971. China has sent officials to observe the exercises since 1998, but this marks the first time the PLA is an official participant.

China's first participation in RIMPAC comes at a time when it is engaged in territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea. All three of the countries involved in the disputes with China are said to have the backing of the United States, Ta Kung Pao said, adding that China's acceptance of the invitation is a reflection of Beijing's confidence.

The Chinese fleet will be the largest after that of the US in this year's drills, which will feature a total of 23 countries including Australia, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Britain. The Chinese fleet will not engage in any drills with the Japanese fleet, though Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, welcomed China's participation.

The PLA fleet will join naval forces from Singapore, Brunei and the United States in waters off Guam and then sail to Hawaii for the start of RIMPAC in late June. During the exercises, the PLA Navy will conduct light weapons and artillery fire, integrated exercises, maritime security operations, surface ships drills, military medical exchanges, and other forms of bilateral and multilateral military and cultural activities.

At the sendoff at Sanya in southern China's Hainan province, Xu Hongmeng, a deputy commander of the PLA Navy, said the mission was an important part of the efforts to build a new model of relations between China and the US, as well as their militaries.

After the drills conclude in August, Haikou, Yueyang and Qiandaohu will sail to San Diego in the US for visits, while Peace Ark will sail to Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea for a medical service mission.

Chinese military scholar Song Zhongping said the location of RIMPAC 2014 is foreign to China and will be a great opportunity to test the abilities of the country's warships and naval officers. Further, Song added that the drills will allow the PLA Navy to learn from the training methods of the US and other leading navies around the world to improve its own capabilities.

In response to concerns from Chinese internet users that the US may use the exercise as an excuse to collect data on the communications, radar and weapons of Chinese warships, Song said both China and the US will keep key intelligence from each other. On the whole, the RIMPAC invitation the US extended to China is a demonstration of military transparency and China sending its advanced warships to participate is a way of returning that goodwill, Song added.

Obama Looks Forward to Working Together With Al - Sisi
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s new president, received a phone call on Tuesday from his counterpart in Washington, Barack Obama.

According to a statement from the White House, Obama called al-Sisi today “to congratulate him on his inauguration and to convey his commitment to working together to advance the shared interests of both countries.”

“The President reiterated the United States’ continuing support for the political, economic, and social aspirations of the Egyptian people, and respect for their universal rights,” said the statement. 

“President al-Sisi expressed appreciation for the call and welcomed U.S. support for the new government. The two leaders affirmed their commitment to the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt and agreed to stay in touch in the weeks and months ahead.”

Official results released last week indicated that al-Sisi had gained 23.7 million, or 96.1 percent of the valid votes cast in the polls.

Analysts have expressed hope that Sisi will bring a climate of change to Egypt, which is still reeling for ongoing political turmoil since the 2011 "Arab Spring" and 2013 ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. 

There have been tensions between Washington and Cairo over the past year, as the United States announced in October it would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Egypt over its displeasure with the military's pace of restoring democracy following Morsi’s ouster.

U.S. law forbids sending aid to countries where a democratic government was deposed by a military coup, though Washington has never qualified Morsi’s ouster as a "coup" and has been cautious about doing so, choosing only to condemn the violence in the country.

Recently, Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, said he would not approve sending funds to the Egyptian military.

Leahy denounced what he termed a "sham trial" in which a court sentenced 683 supporters of Morsi to death.

Not Land for Peace, But Land for Terror
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is a "meaningless misrepresentation of the facts" that will not last, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon stated Tuesday.

"Hamas and select Fatah ministers have currently reconciled," Ya'alon said, at the Herzliya Conference. "The chance of real reconciliation is zero, and therefore we oppose this false representation."

Ya'alon also rejected the international community's claim that the pact could result in a takeover of Palestinian Arab moderates in Gaza. Rather, he echoed the statements of several Israeli leaders - including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - that the situation reflects the reverse. 

"If one thing will happen from this 'reconciliation pact,' it will be a Hamas takeover in Judea and Samaria, not a takeover of Fatah in Gaza," he said. "This is happening before our very eyes." 

Ya'alon further slammed the idea of negotiations - and land swaps - in his speech, saying that both options promise only the illusion of peace.

"We have already gone through the experience of 'land for terrorism,' we cannot delude ourselves," he stated. "The concept of 'land for peace' is wrong. The facts speak for themselves: we got 'land for terror,' or 'land for rockets in Gaza.'"  

The defense minister also came out against claims that if the present situation continues, Israel will soon become an "apartheid state."

"We, an apartheid state? Nonsense. We should not be frightened of all sorts of threats and intimidation that have made us make quite a few mistakes in an attempt to 'solve the conflict,'" he said, lashing out at the European Union and US. 

Ya'alon then moved on to regional issues. 

Regarding Iran, the Defense Minister stated clearly that Iran has not abandoned its nuclear program and the ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons. 

"Iran has not abandoned its nuclear-military vision," Ya'alon stated. "It sees the negotiations as a means of avoiding international pressure." 

Ya'alon also explained that although the threat of Syrian chemical weapons has "decreased significantly" since an operation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons began last year to destroy Syrian President Bashar Assad's arsenal, Israel is still keeping a close eye on its northern neighbor.

"The story is not finished there, we are following [events]," he said. "Whether they are hidden or not hidden, the [destruction] process has not ended."

Nita Loweys Leadership Moment: will She Support Hamas or the White House?
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsAlgemeiner
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

America grants the Palestinian Authority about $500 million annually. The fast-spinning money meter has already broken the $5 billion mark over the years. The annual financial infusion has been on autopilot as Israelis and Palestinians negotiated over the meters and metrics of a two-state solution. American money has been lavishly spent on Palestinians for one purpose: to encourage the peace process.

Recently something changed. The Palestinian Authority unified with Hamas, making it the largest, best organized, and best armed terrorist entity in the world. Hamas, long designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization, is well-known for showering Israeli civilians with rockets. Quickly dashing any hopes of change, Hamas did not disband its highly-armed and trained militias, vowed to never recognize Israel, and barred pursuing joint peace.

Newspapers have been filled with headlines recently about how Congress is preparing to defund the Palestinian Authority because various Federal laws make continued cash infusions under present conditions illegal, and because further money would be antithetical to America’s pro-peace and anti-terrorism policy.

While many of the names of House and Senate leaders have been bandied about, most Congressional sources arguably agree that the most important lawmaker is Rep. Nita Lowey, the ranking Democrat from Westchester County, New York. Lowey sits on both the full Appropriations Committee and the key subcommittee governing State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. Foreign assistance begins and dies in this subcommittee. The Republican side of the aisle has been lining up staunchly against continuing funding and invoking the mandatory legal brakes. This includes subcommittee chairwoman Kay Granger from Dallas, who has asserted that unification “puts in jeopardy future U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority.”

The Obama Administration, however, has signaled it is ready to continue funding the new Hamas-infused Palestinian Authority.

Therefore, all eyes now fall on Lowey. For her, this is a leadership moment. Will she break with her party and the Administration?

Lowey’s personal and legislative feelings have been made abundantly clear. “At this point, the law is clear, their actions are clear, and the path forward is clear,” Lowey told the JTA news service immediately after news of the Hamas union became known in late April. On Monday, June 2, after the unification ceremony finished in Ramallah, Lowey issued this short warning: “I am deeply disappointed with the announcement today of a Palestinian government that includes the terrorist organization Hamas. As long as Hamas rejects the Quartet principles and the existence of the State of Israel, United States funding for this unity government is in jeopardy.”

Early on June 4, 2014, a source close to Lowey confirmed her feelings remain unchanged, Indeed, within 10 seconds of asking, he emailed this reporter the relevant section of one of several key legal bars to continued funding. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, in Section 7020, Subsection F, entitled Prohibition to Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization, unambiguously declares: “None of the funds appropriated … may be obligated or expended for assistance to Hamas or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence.”

The Lowey source explained, “The law is clear-cut, but what makes it complex is there are also important considerations – are we subjecting ourselves to more danger? For example, is there a particular security assistance program?  Should we stop that? Or, is it smarter to keep some of those of those programs going?” The staffer acknowledged the impetus for a drastic cut with carve-outs for special security programs. However, the source added, “The Administration seems to be ‘all systems go’” in terms of unrestricted funding.

Lowey is now posed between the law and common sense on one hand, and her own party and extenuating circumstances on other hand. “Rep. Lowey appreciates the important considerations on all sides,” the source stated. “But, also, this law it is written that way for a reason, and this law has been agreed to by the overall majority of Congress and signed in to law by the President.”

There are presidential override provisions, “but that formal procedure has not yet been invoked,” the Lowey source assured.

In the meantime, momentum is fast-boiling through Congress to reach a bi-partisan consensus that funding must stop. The latest is a “Dear Colleague” letter and resolution jointly spearheaded by Representatives Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) seeking a “sense of the House” that “Congress must suspend our foreign aid and support to the Palestinian Authority, as continued foreign assistance runs in direct contravention to current law.” A five-page House Resolution has just circulated demanding that all funding stop unless the PA-Hamas unity is unraveled, and the Ministry of Prisoners, which pays monthly salaries to terrorists, is disbanded.

No one knows how Lowey will vote, not even her own staff. One key staffer remarked, “I just don’t know yet. She is in consultations daily, if not hourly, with personnel at the White House and State Department.” He stated the process would come to conclusion by the legislative deadline: October 1, 2014.

Asked if Lowey would be willing to break with her party and the Administration over this issue, the answer was immediate: “Of course.” Hence, the future of Palestinian funding will be written or unwritten, by Lowey.

New Hezbollah Unit Training Shiite Guerrillas Across Mideast
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsAlgemeiner
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hezbollah, emboldened and battle-hardened by it’s experience fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria’s bloody four-year-old civil war, has set it’s sights on other local conflict zones, the Israel Defense Magazine reported on Tuesday.

The revelation comes in the wake of the arrest and interrogation of two Hezbollah operatives caught by Yemeni forces training rebels in the north of that country several days ago.

The report tallies with statements by Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz on Monday at the international Herzliya Conference, a high-level sounding board for regional security, political, and diplomatic leaders.

There is “a radical axis developing, led by Iran and Hezbollah,” in Syria, Gantz warned, stressing that “The Lebanese terror organization is up to its neck in everything that is going on in Syria. The global jihad is also gaining strength in that arena.”

The unit, previously known under the designations “1800″ and “2800,” in the past trained Palestinian terrorists in tactics including kidnappings, targeted killings, and intelligence gathering. It’s leadership, however, has  revised and upgraded it’s brief and range of operations in the wake of the so-called “Arab Spring” of popular insurrections across the Mideast.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday underscored Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran, as Israel’s chief security concern.

“From our point of view, this is the number one threat,” he said in an address at the conference.

“Hezbollah, the jihad and terror in the Golan Heights — Iran is behind it as well as the attacks worldwide. Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in Gaza wouldn’t exist without Iranian support in the form of money, weapons and training,” he added.

Gantz noted that only “four or five states” have “more firepower than Hezbollah: the U.S., China, Russia, Israel, France, the UK.”

Over the last two years, IAF jets have reportedly interdicted and destroyed several major shipments of missiles being trucked from Syria to Lebanon, of a type Israeli security sources have termed “strategic game-changers.”

But despite the strikes, Israel, in Gantz’s words, will soon “encounter Hezbollah offensives, be it frontally or in the form of widespread combat within Lebanon.”

While “Hezbollah is currently deterred,” Gantz vowed, “They know what will happen if they enter into combat with us – it would send Lebanon back decades.”

Libya: Air Force Bombs Islamist Militia Camps
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Libya’s Air Force bombed three training camps belonging to Islamist militia in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The attack came mere hours after Ret. General Khalifa Haftar, the general in charge of the militia fighting against the Islamist rebels, announced that a ceasefire was reached between the sides.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas calls on armed wing to kill soldiers and settlers
Hamas has called on members of its armed wing in the West Bank to target Israeli soldiers and civilians in a bid to ease the plight of its prisoners in Israeli jails, a party spokesman said on Monday.  

Obama praises Australia's gun control, brings country into US gun debate
“Couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting, similar to Columbine or Newtown. And Australia just said, well, that’s it, we’re not doing, we’re not seeing that again, and basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they haven’t had a mass shooting since,” said the president in a pre-arranged session held to discuss his plans to help cut student debt.  

'Unique' Religious Freedom Restrictions in Saudi Arabia: Not a Single Church Exists, Entire Country Is 'Sacred Mosque,' Watchdog Revea
"Not a single church or other non-Muslim house of worship exists in the country," says Bandar al-Aiban, the director of the Saudi National Human Rights commission. Churches are not allowed to exist "because the entire country is a 'sacred mosque' for Islam's holiest shrines in Mecca and Medina."  

Is the US ready to trigger war in Asia?
The dream of unopposed rule over the world is beginning to disappear into thin air. Is the West going to risk the destruction of our planet simply because it cannot own it?  

Official: Police, not wife, killed Jerad Miller
Metro police initially thought Amanda Miller, 22, killed her husband in the Wal-Mart. That was based on security video footage that showed her pointing the gun at him, the official said. But an autopsy revealed that Jerad Miller died from a .223 rifle shot, the official said. It was his fatal wound, the official said, and he didn’t die at the hands of his wife as police officials said Monday.  

Subglacial volcanoes melting West Antarctic Ice sheet, say scientists
a new study finds that these subglacial volcanoes and other geothermal "hotspots" are contributing to the melting of Thwaites Glacier, a major river of ice that flows into Antarctica's Pine Island Bay. Areas of the glacier that sit near geologic features thought to be volcanic are melting faster than regions farther away from hotspots, said Dustin Schroeder, the study's lead author and a geophysicist at the University of Texas at Austin.  

Magnitude-4.0 Earthquake Near Barstow
The earthquake was centered 9 miles northeast of Barstow and occurred at 2:38 a.m. "We felt it, it rolled pretty good," Barstow resident Kelly Carlson said. "It was rolling, it was for a few seconds." Carlson added that the early morning quake “pretty much” woke her up.  

INCOMING CME
Yesterday's double X-flare may have produced a geoeffective CME after all. At first it appeared that Earth was outside the line of fire, but a closer look at the CME reveals an Earth-directed component. Meanwhile, more X-flares are in the offing. At least two sunspots (AR2080 and AR2087) have unstable 'delta-class' magnetic fields that could erupt at any moment.  

Solar Mini-Max
Years ago, in 2008 and 2009 an eerie quiet descended on the sun. Sunspot counts dropped to historically-low levels and solar flares ceased altogether. As the longest and deepest solar minimum in a century unfolded, bored solar physicists wondered when "Solar Max" would ever return. They can stop wondering. "It's back," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Solar Max has arrived."  

Why Eric Cantor Lost
The death of the tea party has been greatly exaggerated. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary tonight to David Brat, a man who was significantly outspent. Cantor spent $5 million to Brat’s $122,000.00.  

3-magnitude quake reported near The Geysers
THE GEYSERS, Calif. – A moderately sized earthquake was reported late Tuesday afternoon near The Geysers geothermal steamfield. The 3.0-magnitude quake was reported at 4:59 p.m. three miles northwest of The Geysers and 13 miles southwest of Clearlake, according to a preliminary report from the US Geological Survey.  

More than half of Palestinians oppose new talks with Israel, poll finds
More than half of Palestinians are against renewing negotiations with Israel, while less than one third think they should be restarted, according to a new poll... Nine months of US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians ended in April...An unnamed high-ranking US official told Ynet that the the settlements were major factor in the collapse of the talks.  

Putin on notice: Two U.S. stealth bombers head to Europe for first time amid tension
wo U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are being deployed to Europe for the first time. The deployment of the advanced aircraft will be used for “short term deployment” at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England — just three hours from Russia. “This deployment of strategic bombers provides an invaluable opportunity to strengthen and improve interoperability with our allies and partners,” said Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command...  

Gas row: Ukraine 'won't fall into Russian gas trap'
Ukraine has rejected a deal to decrease the price it will pay on a disputed Russian gas debt during long-running price negotiations. Ukraine said that an offer from Russia of a discount of $100 for every 1,000 cubic metres of gas was part of a "trap". Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Ukraine would not agree to any discounts within its current gas deal.  

Iraq crisis: Islamists force 500,000 to flee Mosul
As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee the Iraqi city of Mosul after Islamist militants effectively took control of it, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIS group overran the city and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh. PM Nouri Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency.  

Obama: Soul-searching needed on high gun violence
President Barack Obama has said no other developed nation would tolerate the "off the charts" level of gun violence plaguing the United States. At the White House, Mr Obama said the US' firm resistance to "basic" new gun controls was his "biggest frustration". "The country has to do some soul-searching about this," Mr Obama said.  

Turkey at 'crossroads' to authoritarian rule, Amnesty says
British rights group Amnesty International has painted a disturbing picture of EU-aspirant Turkey as a country on the way to authoritarian rule. Its report...one year after mass protests which broke out in Gezi Park, Istanbul - warns that thousands of people are at risk of prison for exercising their right to freedom of assembly, while police officers are getting away with acts of severe brutality.  

Iron Dome meets the Wind Shield: Missile defense gets moving
The IDF received the Wind Shield on Wednesday, a mobile version of the Iron Dome Missile Defense System. According to Israel Aerospace Industries, the Wind Shield is a "counter rocket, artillery and mortar radar system" that has the capability to be mounted on a moving vehicle such as an armored car, truck, or all-terrain vehicle.  

Israel chooses hard-liner Reuven Rivlin as president
Israel’s parliament on Tuesday chose Reuven Rivlin, a veteran nationalist politician and supporter of the Jewish settlement movement, as the country’s next president, putting a man opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state into the ceremonial but influential post.  

Iraq crisis: Islamists force 500,000 to flee Mosul
As many as 500,000 people have been forced to flee the Iraqi city of Mosul after Islamist militants effectively took control of it, the International Organization for Migration says. Troops were among those fleeing as hundreds of jihadists from the ISIS group overran the city and much of the surrounding province of Nineveh.  

Australia says seeking military technology cooperation with Japan
Australia wants greater military technology cooperation with Japan, and in talks between the two on Wednesday, wants to take a step paving the way for a possible agreement for Japan to supply it with stealth submarine designs, Australia's Defence Minister said.  

Defying Russian warnings, Moldova and Georgia head for EU pact
Undeterred by the conflict triggered by Ukraine's swing towards Europe, the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia will sign a trade and political pact with the European Union this month with Russia warning both countries against the move.  

5 US troops killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan
Five American troops with a special operations unit were killed by a U.S. airstrike called in to help them after they were ambushed by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, in one of the deadliest friendly fire incidents in nearly 14 years of war, officials said Tuesday.  

Al Qaeda Militants Capture US Black Hawk Helicopters In Iraq
Just when one thought US foreign policy couldn't sink any deeper into the hole of its embarrassment, it takes out a shovel and starts digging. Overnight, in what AP describes as a stunning assault that exposed Iraq's eroding central authority, Al Qaida-inspired militants from ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, overran much of Mosul on Tuesday, seizing government buildings, pushing out security forces and capturing military vehicles as thousands of residents fled the second-largest city.  

Isis Bids for Global Jihad Leadership With Mosul Attack
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsAl-Monitor
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The ghost of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of what is today the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has become the next generation of "al-Qaedism" — more violent, ruthless and extreme than any of its predecessors. ISIS made a bold gamble for its stunning victory in Mosul, taking both a historic great city and symbolic leadership of the global jihad.

Zarqawi, a nom de guerre, was the Jordanian gangster who created al-Qaeda in Iraq, the base from which ISIS evolved, to fight the US invasion. He started from scratch in 2002 even before the invasion began, since then-President George W. Bush made his plans known well in advance of the war. Zarqawi set a trap and built cells ready to strike after the invasion. Then Zarqawi plunged the country into civil war and through his extreme violence persuaded most of Washington that the war was a bad mistake. Although he died in 2006, his legacy survives. 

Late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was always suspicious of his Jordanian protege even before Sept. 11, 2001, and sought to keep him at arm's length. Bin Laden exiled Zarqawi for a time to western Afghanistan because he distrusted Zarqawi's loyalty and his extreme sectarian violence against Iraq's Shiites. But he valued Zarqawi's efficiency once the Iraq war started. 

The Bush surge in 2007 did not destroy Zarqawi's empire. A residual US ground force would not have eliminated it, either. Decapitating the group and buying the Sunni tribes only forced it deeper into the angry Sunni underground. Only sustained good and smart governance could kill it, and that was something post-Saddam Hussein Iraq could not produce, with or without the United States.

The Syrian civil war was a gift to ISIS. At first, ISIS created Jabhat al-Nusra as its agent in Iraq that could be portrayed as an independent party under one of Zarqawi's former deputies, Mohammad al-Golani. Then, ISIS demanded al-Nusra accept its loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and not bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahri. The protege had turned on his leader's heir. Ironically, Zawahri had long warned bin Laden of this eventuality. In his last days, bin Laden told Zawahri he had always been right about the upstart Jordanian. Too late.

Baghdadi, another nom de guerre, is an ambitious man. He has successfully cloaked himself in mystery. He avoids the posturing and spotlight-seeking that Zarqawi craved to his undoing. He dismisses the old al-Qaeda leadership as not willing to push sectarian hatred far enough. His supporters have been calling for Baghdadi to be accepted as the true heir to bin Laden as the leader of the global jihad.

Before taking Iraq's second largest city this week, ISIS had already seized most of Anbar province in Iraq and Raqqa province in Syria. There, it enforces a Taliban-style extreme version of Islam. Mosul represents a much bigger price, an ancient city with great symbolic value. ISIS is effectively creating a stronghold across the Syrian desert in the heart of the Arab world, erasing the borders set a century ago by the British and French after the fall of the Ottomans.

Baghdadi, like Zarqawi, has bigger ambitions. Last month, the Saudis foiled a major ISIS plot to carry out attacks in the kingdom, arresting dozens. ISIS has recruited thousands of foreign fighters to fight in Syria, and some are reportedly being trained to go home to fight in their native lands. ISIS probably trained the French Muslim who attacked the Jewish Museum in Brussels and killed four in May. 

Taking Mosul could expose ISIS to counterattack by the larger US-equipped Iraqi army backed by Iran. It may provoke the Kurds, too. It's a gamble. For Baghdadi, it is an audacious move to outshine his mentor.

Iraqi Islamists Break 1,000 Terrorists Out of Mosul Jail
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Eric Cantors Startling Ouster Stuns U.S. Politics and Jewish Orgs
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.), the chamber’s second-ranking Republican, was badly beaten in a primary contest Tuesday by an obscure economics professor, David Brat, who gained with tea party backing 55 percent of the vote, effecting a historic electoral surprise that left the GOP in chaos and the House without its heir apparent. Cantor was on track to be the highest-ranking Jewish official in American political history before his unparalleled defeat stunned American politics. Cantor was – and for now, remains – the number-two Republican in a conference of 233 lawmakers.

Brat’s seismic victory is attributed to his opposition to President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms and Cantor’s attempt to work out a bipartisan version. It echoes an anti-immigration trend registered in the recent European parliamentary elections in Europe in which a quarter of the electorate voted for parties advocating restrictions on immigration to their countries.

Desperate Iraq Offers to Arm Citizens Against Islamists
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

 

The Iraqi government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is taking more desperate measures, after a radical Al Qaeda offshoot seized control of the country's second largest city on Monday night.

Maliki made a televised statement on Tuesday, offering weapons and equipment to citizens willing to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) Islamists, who captured Mosul in northern Nineveh Province, taking over several jails and freeing thousands of inmates, as well as the city's airport - together with several military aircraft.

In the statement, Maliki noted his cabinet has "created a special crisis cell to follow up on the process of volunteering and equipping and arming," reports Al Arabiya. He added that the cabinet "praises the willingness of the citizens and the sons of the tribes to volunteer and carry weapons...to defend the homeland and defeat terrorism."

In addition to arming civilians, the cabinet decided to “restructure and reorganize” the security forces, and request that the Iraqi parliament “announce a state of emergency.”

Not all citizens were volunteering to put their lives on the line facing off against the brutal ISIS group that routed the country's US-trained armed forces. Some 150,000 panic-stricken refugees fled to the nearby autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.  

ISIS was formerly part of Al Qaeda before breaking off, after it was deemed too brutal. Perhaps most notoriously, the group has taken to publicly crucifying execution victims.

Video from Mosul on Tuesday was uploaded to YouTube, revealing scenes of abject destruction.

In one video filmed by car, destroyed vehicles can be seen still smoldering away in flames, as convoys of ISIS terrorists drive in trucks roaming the city:

Another video shot from a rooftop in the city shows towers of smoke still billowing over the city following the intense battles:

Despite Maliki's call for help, ISIS terrorists seized several areas in Kirkuk province between Mosul and Baghdad several hours later on Tuesday, Iraqi police Colonel Ahmed Taha told AFP.

Taha reports that ISIS captured the Hawijah, Zab, Riyadh and Abbasi areas west of Kirkuk city, along with Rashad and Yankaja to the city's south.

"Maliki's failure"

Local governors are pointing the finger squarely at Maliki for the losses.

Nouzad Hadi, Governor of Arbil, a city located between Mosul and Kirkuk, said Iraqi military forces “are well-armed with the latest weaponry from the United States,” but “that Maliki's security policy has led to this failure.”

The governor of Mosul, Atheel Nujaifi, managed to escape ISIS as police held off an attack by heavily armed terrorists on the provincial government's headquarters, reports Reuters.

Speaking in a televised statement on Monday, Nujaifi said "I call on the men of Mosul to stand firm in their areas and defend them against the outsiders, and to form popular committees through the provincial council."

The American administration announced its concerns over the turn of events, but has yet to reveal a plan of action.

“It should be clear that ISIL is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region,” said State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, using another name for the group, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon added his concern. According to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Ban was "gravely concerned by the serious deteriorating of the security situation in Mosul, where thousands of civilians have been displaced."

Culture U.S. Upside Down: the Colossal Shift in America
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The United States is becoming a place where “anything goes”, and most Americans are okay with that. No matter which side of the “culture war” that you are on, you have to admit that our culture is being fundamentally transformed. 

In fact, new numbers from Gallup confirm that there has been a colossal shift in America’s moral values just since 2001. Over the past 13 years, we have become a dramatically different country. Many of the things that used to be considered “evil” are now considered to be “good”, and many of the things that used to be considered “good” are now considered to be “evil”. 

In other words, our culture is literally being turned upside down, and the “values” that our national leaders speak of today are far different from the “values” that our grandparents grew up with. So is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Every year, Gallup conducts an “annual Values and Beliefs survey”, and the survey results for 2014 have just been released. When you compare the numbers from 2001 to the numbers for this year, the difference in quite a few of the categories is quite striking. Here are a few examples…

Sex between an unmarried man and woman

2001: 53%

2014: 66%

Divorce

2001: 59%

2014: 69%

Having a baby outside of marriage

2001: 45%

2014: 58%

Gay or lesbian relations

2001: 40%

2014: 58%

Medical research using stem cells from human embryos

2001: 52%

2014: 65%

Pornography

2001: 30%

2014: 33%

Suicide

2001: 13%

2014: 19%

Cloning Humans

2001: 7%

2014: 13%

As a nation, we are moving much more in the “socially liberal” direction.

But does that mean that everyone is changing?

Well, when Gallup broke the numbers down by political affiliation, they found something extremely interesting.

Gallup discovered that the values of Democrats had experienced a seismic shift since 2001, but that the values of Republicans had actually changed very little…

In the 12 years Gallup has asked this overall question, Democrats have become significantly more tolerant on many issues, while independents generally show a smaller shift in the same direction and Republicans’ views have changed little. The percentage of Democrats who say an issue is morally acceptable has increased for 10 issues, including abortion, sex between an unmarried man and woman, extramarital affairs, cloning humans, divorce, cloning animals, suicide, research using stem cells from human embryos, polygamy, and gay and lesbian relations.

In some cases, the change among Democrats has been substantial. For example, in 2003, 52% of Democrats said having a baby outside of wedlock was morally acceptable, and 40% of Republicans and 61% of independents agreed. This year, 72% of Democrats, a 20-percentage-point increase, say it is morally acceptable. 

Meanwhile, Republicans have seen no change, with 40% still saying it is morally acceptable, although a higher 50% viewed it as morally acceptable last year. Independents have also not seen a change, with 60% saying having a baby out of wedlock is morally acceptable this year.

In other words, the “values gap” between the two major political parties is now larger than it has ever been.

And Gallup has previously found that there are huge differences between age groups when it comes to moral values as well.

For example, only 19 percent of Americans 55 and older consider pornography to be “morally acceptable”, but 49 percent of Americans in the 18 to 34-year-old age group do.

This is true on issue after issue, and it is an indication that Americans will continue to become more “socially liberal” as older generations of Americans die off.

But as our values change, America is becoming a much different place.

You see, the truth is that moral values have consequences. The following are just a few statistics about the current state of morality in America from one of my previous articles…

-18 percent of all women in the United States say that they have been raped at some point in their lives.

-It is estimated that one out of every four girls will be sexually abused before they become adults.

-Approximately one-third of the entire population of the United States (110 million people) currently has a sexually transmitted disease according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

-In the United States today, more than half of all couples “move in together” before they get married.

-For women under the age of 30 in the United States, more than half of all babies are being born out of wedlock.

-At this point, approximately one out of every three children in the United States lives in a home without a father.

-Right now, there are 70 million Americans that are on mind-altering drugs of one form or another.

-According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately two-thirds of all Americans in the 15 to 24-year-old age bracket have engaged in oral sex.

-During 2012, more than 85,000 military veterans were formally treated for sexual abuse that they suffered while serving in the U.S. military.

-According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, there are 747,408 registered sex offenders in the United States. And those are just the ones that have been caught and convicted.

Can our society survive if everyone just does “whatever seems right in their own eyes” and young people are allowed to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong?

Some would suggest that our nation is “evolving” and that we are steadily becoming a more “progressive society”.

Others are deeply alarmed that we are abandoning the values that this nation was founded upon and are calling for a return to those values

Can the NSA Really Listen to Your Iphones Microphone Even When It is Turned Off? Experts Say Yes
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsMailon
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News, holding his iPhone aloft during last Wednesday’s interview, asked, “What can the NSA do with this device if they want to get into my life? Can anyone turn it on remotely if it’s off? Can they turn on apps?

'They can absolutely turn them on with the power turned off to the device,' Snowden replied.

Security researchers claim the technique is possible, and that software could make the phone look like it’s shutting down but actually entering a low-power mode that leaves key communication chips on.

This 'playing dead' state would allow the phone to receive commands, including one to activate its microphone, Eric McDonald, a hardware engineer in Los Angeles.

'But it’s conceivable that the baseband is still on, or turns on periodically.

'And it would be very difficult to know whether the phone has been compromised.'

'An 'implant' is when the NSA intercepts your phone and installs hardware or software on i,' he blogged.

'Usually this is because they intercepted a shipment, snuck into your hotel room, or ran a remote exploit (via the Internet or via the baseband).

'Yes, an implant gives the NSA full control over your phone -- but it's difficult getting the implant on your phone in the first place.

'Once the NSA installs an implant, then of course they can remotely 'power on' your phone, because it's not really powered off -- even when you think it is.'

'But the question was Brian Williams holding a phone asking what the NSA could do to it -- in the future (power it on). He wasn't asking what they'd done to it in the past (install an implant).'

Graham says the hack would only work is agents had access to the phone.

'My point is simply this: the NSA isn't omnipotent. They can't do everything. They can do a lot of things, and they've been very successful at doing a lot of things, but they aren't God, and they can't do Magic.'

As Presbyterians Again Weigh Divestment, Jewish Groups Lobby, Warn and Worry
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Today's Headlines

Which way will Presbyterians go this time? That’s a question Jewish groups and their Presbyterian allies are nervously asking as they work to head off divestment efforts within the church targeting Israel. The fear is the efforts could pass this time after a narrow defeat two years ago. 

A successful divestment vote at the biennial Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly this month could precipitate a rupture between the mainline Protestant denomination and the Jewish community, they warn.

Jewish-Presbyterian relations already were strained severely following the publication by a church-affiliated group of a document, “Zionism Unsettled,” that depicted Zionism as a false theology.

“The publication of ‘Zionism Unsettled’ by the very voices backing divestment in the PC (U.S.A.) revealed an agenda that is not about church investments,” said Ethan Felson, the vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “These backers of divestment want to return their church to a place of retrograde anti-Jewish theology, hostility to mainstream Jews and, of course, a blind eye to the responsibility of Hamas and Hezbollah on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the steps Israelis are forced to take to defend themselves.”

Delegates to the General Assembly, taking place June 14-21 in Detroit, will consider at least five resolutions, or “overtures,” that would advance divestment from companies that deal with Israel’s military and one that would reconsider whether the church supports a two-state solution.

Church officials organizing the assembly declined to comment directly on the resolutions.

At the 2012 church assembly, delegates rejected a divestment initiative by the slimmest of margins, 333-331.

Such resolutions have become commonplace at mainline Protestant churches in recent years. But other mainline Protestant churches have been less receptive, defeating them by solid margins.

Jewish communal officials and their allies worry that divestment proponents could find success at this year’s Presbyterian assembly.

Since the last assembly, a contingent of conservative Presbyterians have broken away from the denomination over its recent embrace of the ordination of gay clergy. Conservatives are seen as likelier to reject anti-Israel measures.

Meanwhile, divestment proponents are pointing to the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in their efforts to encourage church members to back divestment.

“Part of what this is about is highlighting how we’re now at the tail end of the peace process due to settlement construction,” said Rabbi Alissa Wise, director of campaigns for Jewish Voice for Peace, which is lobbying for divestment at the church’s General Assembly.

Christopher Leighton, a Presbyterian minister who is the executive director of the Institute for Jewish and Christian Studies in Baltimore, said one reason he feared divestment would pass was that typical delegates to assemblies are not necessarily steeped in each issue under consideration.

“The vast majority of Presbyterians don’t know these issues or the historical religious complexity of the region,” Leighton said. “What they’re bombarded with is ‘Palestinians are suffering terribly. If we don’t do something about it we become complicit in an injustice.’ The arguments put forth traffic in all kinds of stereotypes that require work to undo.”

Leighton was outspoken in his criticism of “Zionism Unsettled,” the study guide published in January by the church’s Israel/Palestine Mission Network. The guide targeted what it called “the theological and ethical exceptionalism of Jewish and Christian Zionism, which have been sheltered from open debate despite the intolerable human rights abuses rooted in their core beliefs.”

Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director of interreligious relations, said the combined damage of the study guide and the passage of divestment overtures would likely have consequences for Jewish-Presbyterian ties, although he did not want to outline them until the assembly had finished.

“Depending on which resolutions pass, and they may yet evolve, we will have to make challenging decisions,” said Marans, who will attend the assembly. “It certainly is an ongoing crisis in Presbyterian-Jewish relations.”

But Wise said that linking the divestment bid to the study guide is “opportunistic.”

Each was generated by a different church body, she noted — “Zionism Unsettled” by the Israel/Palestine Mission Network and the divestment overtures by the church’s investment committee, the Mission Responsibility Through Investment. The investment committee had been considering divestment since 2004, a decade before the study guide was published.

“To bring ‘Z.U.’ into this process is disrespectful to how intentional the Presbyterian community has been,” Wise said.

“Zionism Unsettled” was praised as “smart and gutsy” by the co-chair of Jewish Voice for Peace’s rabbinical council, Rabbi Brant Rosen, in a blog post republished on the group’s website.

The Rev. Katharine Rhodes Henderson, president of the Auburn Theological Seminary, said there was considerable overlap between the Israel/Palestine Mission Network and those promoting divestment. She said they shared an agenda informed by the boycott, divestment and sanctions, or BDS, movement.

“The stakes are very high,” said Henderson, who criticized “Zionism Unsettled” and will advocate against divestment at the assembly. “In my mind, all of these things go together, you can’t pull apart motives. Divestment today may mean full-out BDS tomorrow, and that’s the decision that Presbyterians face.”

One veteran of pro-Israel outreach among Presbyterians said he was close to giving up.

“At this point, we’ve done a lot to educate the Presbyterians about what’s going on in their church,” said Dexter Van Zile, the Christian media analyst for CAMERA, a pro-Israel watchdog.

Van Zile, a veteran of such assemblies, said he will not be heading to Detroit.

“Let the General Assembly decide and the church live with the consequences,” he said. “For the G.A. to affirm the agenda of its so-called ‘peace activists’ would basically be a punch in the nose to the Jewish community.”

But pro-Israel groups are not giving up.

They plan to send several dozen young Jewish activists to the assembly to counter what they say is the mistaken impression of sentiment among young Jews created at past Presbyterian assemblies by pro-divestment groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace. A letter opposing divestment signed by more than 1,500 rabbis, cantors and seminary students of all streams of Judaism also will be circulated the assembly.

As in years past, a pillar of organized Jewish pushback will be showing that left-leaning and dovish Jews also oppose divestment.

Rachel Lerner, J Street’s senior vice president for community relations, who has made the pro-Israel case to church groups in the past, said she had decided not to attend this year’s assembly because of the time commitment. She changed her mind, however, when she read “Zionism Unsettled.”

“It portrays Zionists as pathological and racist and scarred and unable to act in any normal way,” she said. “It ran contrary to everything I think Zionism stands for. I was personally offended by it. I think it says something about the movement, where divestment is coming from and who it is coming from in the church.”

Lerner said that should divestment succeed, it would challenge friendships she had made with church officials.

“I don’t anticipate cutting them off, but it puts a strain on them,” she said.

John Wimberly, a co-convenor of Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, a group that works with mainstream Jewish groups, said “Zionism Unsettled” may prove helpful in his efforts to defeat the divestment overtures at the assembly.

“There are Presbyterians who are very upset with Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians and would like to find a way to make a statement about that treatment,” he said. “But they will not make the statement by voting for people whose intention is to destroy Israel.”

The challenge, he added, would be to “keep that clear so the other side is unable to create enough smoke to hide that agenda.”

A Jihadist Group Thats Too Radical for Al Qaeda is Threatening Iraqs Water Supply
Jun 11th, 2014
Daily NewsBusiness Insider
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues