Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S. Wants Nouri Al Maliki to Step Aside As Iraqi PM
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Following Baghdad’s request for US air support, the Obama administration was signaling Thursday that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should step aside for failing to assemble a stable coalition government with Iraq’s Sunnis and Kurdish communities able to combat Islamist ISIS takeover of vast areas.

Senior DHS Adviser: Inevitable That Caliphate Returns
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A controversial senior adviser to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is receiving criticism for tweeting that the recent takeover of Iraqi cities by a violent terror group is proof that a Muslim “caliphate” is making an “inevitable” return.

Mohamed Elibiary, a controversial figure and member of DHS’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), discussed what he described as the “inevitable” return of a Muslim caliphate Friday on Twitter.

“As I’ve said b4 inevitable that ‘Caliphate’ returns,” Elibiary tweeted in response to a question about the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham), which is currently seeking to overthrow the Iraqi government and instate strict Sharia law in the country.

“Choice only whether we support [European Union] like Muslim Union vision or not,” wrote Elibiary, who has “advised numerous federal, state and local law enforcement organizations on homeland security-related matter,” according to his biography on DHS’s website.

Elibiary has come under heavy criticism in the past for claiming that America is “an Islamic country with an Islamically compliant constitution.” Critics have said that such rhetoric makes him unfit to serve as an adviser for DHS, which is tasked with defending the U.S. border from terrorism.

Elibiary, in his more recent comments, went on to claims that conservatives “misread” the 9/11 terror attacks and “should reassess” their “belligerence.”

The discussion began with Elibiary mocking CNN for reporting on ISIL’s implementation of strict Islamic guidelines in the Iraqi territories it has seized.

“CNN just broadcast list of ISIL hudod [restrictions] rules,” Elibiary tweeted. “Reminds me of how we were outraged pre 9/11 by Taliban banning white socks 4 women.”

The remark prompted Twitter user David Reaboi, a former official with the national security group Center for Security Policy (CSP), to ask Elibiary if ISIL’s actions should prompt outrage in the United States.

That led Elibiary to claim that it is “inevitable” that a caliphate return.

“So you’re in favor of supporting that ‘inevitable’ Caliphate or not?” Reaboi asked.

Elibiary responded that the United States is moving to engage with radical Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and others.

“As I’ve stated b4. Y’all in the [national security] ubber hawks camp misread 9/11 & should reassess ur belligerence,” wrote Elibiary, who claims that his tweets reflect on his personal opinion.

Elibiary has a history of making controversial remarks on Twitter.

In November of last year he faced a fierce backlash from critics for saying that he considers America to be “an Islamic country.”

Elibiary also stated at the time that “sociologically speaking” the Christian right is “similar” to the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that he has described as “pragmatic” and “non-violent.”

Elibiary also has argued in the past that the Muslim Brotherhood poses no threat to the United States and once referred to former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as “Egypt’s Mandela,” a reference to the recently deceased South African leader.

Elibiary’s controversial rhetoric and support for the Muslim Brotherhood has drawn criticism on Capitol Hill from lawmakers such as Reps. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.) and Louie Gohmert (R., Texas).

Elibiary also has experienced financial difficulties with his non-profit group, the Freedom and Justice Foundation, which had its non-profit status revoked by the IRS due to the organization’s refusal to file transparency forms revealing the sources of its funding.

Elibiary did not respond to an email request for comment and explanation of his tweets. A DHS spokesman also did not respond to a request for comment on the comments.

Russian Army Ready for Any Developments in Ukraine, World
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsRia Novosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

The Russian Army is ready for any developments in Ukraine or anywhere in the world and Russian defense industry can quickly replace any imports, including those from Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a State Duma meeting behind closed doors.

“A question was asked whether our army is ready to defend the motherland in the circumstances of a more complex international situation. We received a positive, life-affirming answer. Everyone’s ready, combat efficiency is at a high level,” Mikhail Yemelyanov, first deputy head of A Just Russia parliamentary faction, told RIA Novosti.

He noted that another issue up for discussion was replacement options for imported equipment in the defense industry.

“I asked a colleague of mine how the shortages of supplies from Ukraine will affect our defense capabilities. He said he was confident that they won’t, that everything could be replaced,” said Yemelyanov. According to Shoigu, Russia can replace its military imports relatively quickly, Yemelyanov said.

Another parliamentarian, Vadim Solovyov noted that “concering the situation in Ukraine it was said that we are ready for any developments and it all depends on specific situation, first of all, the position of our western partners, army is ready to accomplish any task set by the country’s government and the Commander-in-Chief.”

Return of the Medes - Prophetic Implications?
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Could recent developments in Iraq have prophetic implications? Actually, the answer may be yes — especially with regards to the Kurdish people who live in northern Iraq. Let me explain.

As we’ve been seeing in recent weeks, the Radical jihadist forces of the “Islamic State of Iraq & al-Sham” (ISIS) are on the move towards Baghdad. They are leaving a trail of bloodshed and carnage in their wake.

The objective of the ISIS leaders is to topple the Iraqi government, seize control of all of Iraq, establish a jihadist state under Sharia law, and use Iraq to begin a regional — and eventually global — Islamic caliphate, or kingdom.

Now, the Kurdish leaders have taken advantage of the chaos of this moment to seize control of the oil-rich region of Kirkuk for themselves. (see AP story below)

The oil fields of Kirkuk have been a long-standing issue of controversy in Iraq, especially since the liberation of the country in 2003. Whoever controls those fields would control enormous wealth as the oil there is more fully developed and shipped to markets around the globe.

The Kurds, generally, are Sunni Muslims, but they are not ethnically Arabs. Indeed, many Kurds have a deep hatred for the Arabs. Several decades ago, the world create a special, protected, autonomous region for the Kurds in the north region of Iraq, after Saddam Hussein repeated attacked and tried to destroy the Kurds, including with the use of chemical weapons.

Ultimately, many Kurds want to create an independent country of their own, uniting Kurds living in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Yet each of those national governments strongly oppose the creation of an independent Kurdistan.

What’s fascinating is that the modern Kurdish people were known in ancient, Biblical times as the Medes. Here is where things get interesting.

Bible prophecy indicates that in the End Times, as we get closer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, God will allow the Medes to gain power, even as the Lord allows the Arabs to gain power and rebuild the kingdom of Babylon in the heart of Iraq.

The Book of Revelation, for example, tells us that Babylon will be the epicenter of evil in the last days of history, and will eventually face the judgment of God. The Hebrew prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel tell us this, as well, indicating Babylon will be completely destroyed and when the judgment is complete, Babylon will be completely uninhabitable. Indeed, Isaiah 13:20 says of Babylon, “It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.”

What’s more, Bible prophecy indicates that God will raise up the Medes — that is, the Kurdish people — to be an instrument of judgment against Babylon. 

•Isaiah 13:17 — “Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them [the Babylonians]….”
•Jeremiah 51:11 — “The Lord has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of the Lord….”
•Jeremiah 51:28-29 — “Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, their governors and all their prefects, and every land of their dominion. So the land quakes and writhes, for the purposes of the Lord against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitants….”

How exactly will these eschatological prophecies come to pass? It’s too early to say for certain. 

But after studying these prophecies, traveling four times to the Iraqi Kurdistan region, meeting with senior Kurdish leaders — including Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani — and tracking developments there over the past decade or so, I think it is fair to say we may be seeing some of the prophetic battle lines developing:

•The hatred of the Kurds/Medes against the Arabs, and vice versa, is steadily growing.
•The Kurds/Medes and the Arabs are in a continued struggle to control the oil resources that will make either or both of them enormously wealthy and powerful in the End Times.
•The Kurds/Medes are, step by step, forming into their nation, and possibly their own country.
•The Kurds/Medes are developing an increasingly effective military force that is able to overpower the Iraqi Arabs at times. 

Please keep the Kurdish people in your prayers. There are a growing number of truly born again Christians living in Kurdistan, including many MBBs, Muslim Background Believers. Please pray that they would boldly preach the Gospel, and be able to make many disciples, and help the believers that grow deep in their faith in Christ, especially amidst all the chaos and carnage. 

For more on the latest geopolitical developments, here are excerpts from a recent article from the Associated Press, “HOW THE KURDS SEIZED KIRKUK.”

•“After a decades-long dispute between Arabs and Kurds over the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, it took just an hour and a half for its fate to be decided,” the Associated Press reports. “As al-Qaida-inspired militants advanced across northern Iraq and security forces melted away, Kurdish fighters who have long dominated Kirkuk ordered Iraqi troops out and seized full control of the regional oil hub and surrounding areas, according to a mid-ranking Army officer. He said he was told to surrender his weapons and leave his base.

•His account was corroborated by an Arab tribal sheik and a photographer who witnessed the looting of army bases after troops left and who related similar accounts of the takeover from relatives in the army. All three spoke to The Associated Press Friday on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from Kurdish forces.

•“They said they would defend Kirkuk from the Islamic State,” said the Arab officer, who oversaw a warehouse in the city’s central military base. He asked that his rank not be made public.

•He insisted the Iraqi troops had not planned to retreat before the Islamic state. “We were ready to battle to death. We were completely ready,” he said at a roadside rest house just inside the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

•The Kurdish takeover of the long-disputed city came days after the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other Sunni militants seized much of the country’s second largest city of Mosul and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit before driving south toward Baghdad. Their lightning advance has plunged the country into its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops.

•A spokesman for Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, said they had only moved in after Iraqi troops retreated, assuming control of the “majority of the Kurdistan region” outside the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government.

•“Peshmerga forces have helped Iraqi soldiers and military leaders when they abandoned their positions,” including by helping three generals to fly back to Baghdad from the Kurdish regional capital Erbil, Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar said in a statement on the regional government’s website….

•Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, is home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, who all have competing claims to the oil-rich area. Kurds have long wanted to incorporate it into their self-ruled region, but Arabs and Turkmen are opposed.

•In the 1970s and 1980s the Arab-dominated government in Baghdad drove hundreds of thousands of Kurds out of Kirkuk and surrounding regions, settling Arabs from the south in their place in an attempt to pacify a region that had seen repeated revolts.

•During the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 the highly disciplined peshmerga swept down from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region and established a strong presence in a belt of largely Kurdish towns and villages stretching south toward Baghdad.

•But the disintegration of Iraqi forces this week seems to have led the peshmerga to assume full control in areas they have long coveted, further enhancing their autonomy from Baghdad and undermining hard-fought U.S. efforts to bring about a stable, multiethnic Iraq.

•“To a great extent Kurdish forces had been de facto in control of Kirkuk for some time, but now they’re completely in control,” said F. Gregory Gause, III, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.

•He said it was unlikely the Kurds would seek formal independence from Iraq, however, because such a move would be strongly opposed by neighboring Turkey and Iran — both of which have sizable Kurdish minorities — as well as Washington.

Porn Epidemic in Churches Prompts Christian Filmmakers to Rally Pastors
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsTrue News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Oklahoma Coming to Terms With Unprecedented Surge in Earthquakes
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsLos Angeles Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

When Austin Holland was being considered for his job as the sole seismologist at the Oklahoma Geological Survey in 2009, his interviewer posed a wry question: "Are you going to be able to entertain yourself as a seismologist in Oklahoma?"

Back then, the state had a 30-year average of only two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher per year. As it turns out, though, boredom has been the least of Holland's concerns. Over the last five years, the state has had thousands of earthquakes — an unprecedented increase that has made it the second-most seismically active state in the continental United States, behind California.

The state had 109 temblors measuring 3.0 or greater in 2013 — more than 5,000% above normal. There have already been more than 200 earthquakes this year, Holland said.

 

 

Scientists have never observed such a dramatic swarm of earthquakes "in what's considered a stable continental interior," Holland said. "Whatever we're looking at, it's completely unprecedented."

Oklahoma has always had the potential for earthquakes; it has a complex underlying fault system. But until recently, the most powerful quake of the modern era was a 5.5-magnitude temblor in 1952 that left a 15-meter crack in the state Capitol.

Scientists say the more likely cause of the recent increase is underground injection wells drilled by the oil and gas industry. About 80% of the state is within nine miles of an injection well, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

Oklahoma has seen a boom in oil and gas production, including the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — the process of shooting water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth at high pressure to extract oil and natural gas. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and several universities suggest there is a link between the quakes and disposal wells, where wastewater from fracking is forced into deep geological formations for storage.

Industry officials are not ready to definitively accept responsibility but support additional studies of a possible link. "It warrants more research, but a rush to judgment is going to provide no clear understanding of the causes," said Cody Bannister, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Assn.

All the shaking has worried residents and prompted one Oklahoma City newspaper to explain earthquake measures. (Magnitude 4 to 4.3: "Vibrations like heavy trucks passing ... glasses clink." Magnitude 5.5 to 6.1: "Difficult to stand ... furniture breaks.")

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake in 2011 damaged homes and buckled a highway here in Prague, about 45 miles east of Oklahoma City. Now, "As soon as people walk in, the first thing out of their mouths is 'earthquake insurance,'" said Jennica Haddox, an insurance policy saleswoman at the local Farm Bureau.

Joe and Mary Reneau spent months repairing their house after a 5.7 quake in Prague, Okla. - and their new patio has already been cracked by more quakes. (Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times)

Nerves have been on edge. When the Oklahoma City area was rattled Monday morning by several new earthquakes, one of them as large as a magnitude 4.3, it startled on-air broadcasters. "Earthquake!" KWTV Channel 9 meteorologist Lacey Swope yelled, her eyes wide as the studio lights shook. "I've never felt one that big!"

The Oklahoma Geological Survey, trying to keep up with all the work, hired a second seismologist this year and has added new seismic stations across the state.

Several residents described their shock at feeling their first quake. One man thought a truck had hit his house. Another ran to check his washing machine, thinking it had gone off balance.

"The only thing I'd ever felt that was like an earthquake was the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995," said Charles Justice, 47, who lives in a mobile home in the town of Guthrie, about 30 miles north of the capital. After an early-morning quake a few months ago, he said, his "first thought was that ... the blocks under the house had fallen."

Oklahoma has about 4,500 active disposal wells, said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates drilling. With the increase in seismic activity, the commission has asked the state Legislature to approve rules that would increase monitoring and testing requirements for many of the wells.

In September, the commission ordered a wastewater well operator in southern Oklahoma to "drastically reduce his injection pressure and volume" after a swarm of earthquakes nearby. There are no rules requiring seismic studies before wells begin operations, Skinner said.

The focus on drilling has been sensitive in Oklahoma, where 1 in 6 jobs is tied to the industry.

In the town of Marshall, farmers and oil field workers filled the tables at lunchtime on a recent afternoon at Earnheart Oil & Propane, where three wells were visible from the parking lot.

Some folks say it's the oil field, but it's just speculation. - Dillon Davis, a farmer and oil field worker in Marshall, Okla.

Inside, Dillon Davis, 63, a farmer and oil field worker, recalled a recent swarm of earthquakes that seemed to come every half-hour, cracking a wall in his house and throwing a door off balance. Davis has lived in Marshall, about 50 miles north of Oklahoma City, since 1972. Until the last three years, he had never felt an earthquake.

"Some folks say it's the oil field, but it's just speculation," Davis said.

In a series of recent studies, the U.S. Geological Survey and scientists at the University of Oklahoma and Brown University linked the November 2011 Prague earthquake sequence to drilling operations.

The 5.7-magnitude quake was preceded by a 5.0 foreshock, which was linked to several nearby wastewater injection wells, said Danielle Sumy, the lead researcher of a study about the phenomenon published in the March edition of the Journal of Geophysical Research. The foreshock ruptured the historically inactive Wilzetta fault, also known as the Seminole uplift, triggering the larger quake, she said.

Wastewater fluid injection had been going on for about 18 years before seismicity was felt along the fault, Sumy said. The heavily drilled ground was like a sponge that could hold injected water — to a point.

"You reach a critical threshold where the system can no longer support that much water being injected into the subsurface," Sumy said. The wastewater increases the pressure in the pores, which is sometimes released through an earthquake, she said.

The earthquakes, including a 5.0 aftershock, were at a depth of about 1.8 miles, the same depth as nearby wastewater wells and "shallow for an earthquake that size," Sumy said.

Holland, with the state geological survey, says it's too soon to attribute the increase in earthquakes entirely to injection wells, because there have been so many over a large area in such a short time that researchers have been unable to carefully study all of them. At least one oil industry scientist has suggested that changing water levels in underground aquifers could also trigger quakes.

But the increase has been so unusual that the quakes "do not seem to be due to typical, random fluctuations in natural seismicity rates," the state and federal geological surveys said in a joint statement in May. Researchers have recently linked earthquakes in Arkansas, Texas and Colorado to fluid injection, the agencies said. In April, Ohio announced new restrictions on drilling near faults after a series of earthquakes that state geologists said could have been caused by fracking.

Ohio earthquakes rattle up concerns about fracking

Paresh Dave

In Prague, locals are trying to adjust to a new normal that includes frequent rattling.

Joe and Mary Reneau live on a 440-acre hay farm less than a mile from the epicenter of the 5.7 quake in 2011.

That night, there was a loud bang, followed by shaking so hard that Mary couldn't stand. Their brick chimney fell through the roof and into their den. It took months to repair the house; since then, earthquakes have cracked their new patio, and they keep finding cracks in walls. A few weeks ago, a new injection well went up half a mile down the road.

"We're not anti-oil," said Joe, 78. "We're pro-oil. We just want them to do it right, and if they're making mistakes, correct them."

Obama to Make a Statement on Iraq After Security Confab
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Obama Sending 300 Advisers to Help Iraq Battle Insurgency, Ready to Take 'targeted' Action
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsBloomberg
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

President Obama said he is sending as many as 300 troops to Iraq as advisers, and is prepared to take additional “targeted” action if necessary. (Source: Bloomberg)

President Barack Obama said he’s sending as many as 300 U.S. military advisers to assist the Iraqi army battle an insurgency and is prepared to take additional “targeted” action if necessary.

The advisers will work with the Iraqi army to set up joint operations centers to coordinate intelligence and planning with the Iraqis without engaging in the fighting, he said.

“American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq,” Obama said after meeting with his national security team at the White House.

Obama declined to say whether the U.S. continues to have confidence in Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who the administration blames for inflaming sectarian divisions in OPEC’s second-largest oil producer.

“The test is before him and other Iraqi leaders,” Obama said. “The fate of Iraq hangs in the balance.”

The deployment raises the U.S. profile in Iraq three years after Obama ended the combat mission, which began with an invasion to depose Saddam Hussein in 2003. Amid questions about the long-term viability of the central government, Obama is under pressure from some Republicans to intervene aggressively - - and from some Democrats to refrain from a deepening engagement.

A Sunni insurgency led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda breakaway, has overrun the forces of Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government in sections of the country. The violence is closing in on the capital, Baghdad, and threatens to spill over Iraq’s borders.

U.S. Interests

“It is in our national security interests not to see an all-out civil war inside of Iraq,” Obama said, warning that the ISIL jihadists might find a haven in the chaos.

The conflict threatens to draw in regional powers, including Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni Gulf Arab states. Obama said Iran can play a constructive role if it reaffirms the message that Iraq’s government must be “inclusive.”

Secretary of State John Kerry will leave this weekend to consult with allies in the Middle East and Europe, Obama said.

ISIL insurgents have seized cities north of Baghdad and engaged in a pitched battle to capture the Baiji oil refinery, the nation’s largest. Crude shipments from southern Iraq, where most production is located, has mostly been unaffected by the fighting. Kurds are defending the Kirkuk oilfield in the north. Iraq pumped 3.3 million barrels a day of oil last month.

Oil Rises

As a result of the uncertainty, Brent crude, which is used to price more than half of the world’s oil, rose to a nine-month high in London of $115.12 a barrel.

Iraq has asked the U.S. to use airstrikes to against the Sunni fighters. Obama today made no commitment. “We will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it,” he said.

Meet al-Qaeda's Heirs Fighting to Reshape the Arab World

The U.S. already is conducting reconnaissance flights from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. Those flights, including drones and piloted aircraft, are capable of conducting around-the-clock coverage of battle zones.

Small Teams

The American advisers, most of whom are already in the region, will be sent as small teams of as few as a dozen special operators working with Iraqi units, according to an administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Their initial task will be conducting an assessment of the Iraqi forces, the official said.

Most of the teams will be based in Baghdad. While they won’t be involved in fighting, they will have the right to defend themselves if attacked, the official said.

The U.S. will be evaluating over the next several weeks whether addition military action will provide enough of a window for formation of a more inclusive Iraqi government, the official said, adding that the U.S. won’t put forward a preferred candidate to lead.

The special operations forces may make the Iraqi army more effective, said Colin Kahl, a professor at Georgetown University in Washington who oversaw Middle East affairs at the Pentagon during Obama’s first term.

“The concept seems to be to deploy them as part of intelligence fusion cells to help Iraqis integrate their on-the-ground information with U.S. technical means, including video from surveillance drones, to more accurately and efficiently target ISIS,” Kahl said in an e-mailed statement. “This is not a direct combat role, but could still make a meaningful difference on the battlefield.”

Congress Briefed

Obama briefed congressional leaders from both parties yesterday, telling them he won’t need approval from Congress for the options he was considering, the lawmakers who attended said afterward.

Reaction in Congress after Obama’s remarks today largely fell along party lines.

“The steps he announced are needed, but fall short of what is required to stop this al-Qaeda offshoot from gaining more power, which must include drone strikes,” Republican Representative Ed Royce of California, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an e-mailed statement.

Representative Eliot Engel of New York, the committee’s top Democrat, said he backed Obama’s “decision to assist the Iraqi Security Forces” as well as his emphasis that “this crisis must ultimately be solved the Iraqi people.”

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

French Jews leave for Israel at pace unseen in decades
Increasing numbers of French Jews are leaving for Israel, citing dim economic prospects and a sense of being caught between an increasingly influential far right and militant Islam. More than 5,000 are on track to leave this year, the most since after the Six-Day War in 1967.  

Strong M6.4 earthquake registered off the coast of Vanuatu
Earthquake registered as M6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Vanuatu on June 19, 2014 at 10:17 UTC. USGS reports depth of 59.9 km (37.2 miles), EMSC is reporting same magnitude at depth of 60 km. Epicenter was located 85 km (53 miles) WNW of Sola, and 219 km (136 miles) N of Luganville, Vanuatu. There are about 6 295 people living within 100 km radius.  

Number of Syrian refugees in Turkey exceeds 1 million: minister
The number of Syrians who are housed in refugee camps and cities in neighboring Turkey has reached 1.05 million, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay told a news conference on Thursday. Ankara has maintained an "open border" policy to refugees fleeing the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels in Syria.  

China says moving 2nd oil rig closer to Vietnam
China said Thursday it is moving a second oil rig closer to Vietnam's coast, showing its determination to press its territorial claims and continue searching for resources in disputed waters despite a tense confrontation with Vietnam over another oil rig to the south. The...long rig is being towed southeast of its current position south of Hainan Island and will be in its new location closer to Vietnam by Friday...  

Militants fly their black flags over Iraq refinery
Sunni militants hung their black banners on watch towers at Iraq's largest oil refinery...suggesting the vital facility had fallen to the insurgents who have seized vast territories across the country's north... The fighting at Beiji, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, comes as Iraq has asked the U.S. for airstrikes targeting the militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.  

Putin Advisor Proposes "Anti-Dollar Alliance" To Halt US Aggression Abroad
Putin advisor Sergey Glazyev...believes that the only way of making the US give up its plans on starting a new cold war is to crash the dollar system. ...Glazyev's set of countermeasures specifically targets the core strength of the US war machine, i.e. the Fed's printing press. Putin's advisor proposes the creation of a "broad anti-dollar alliance" of countries willing and able to drop the dollar from their international trade.  

RAF Typhoons intercept Russian bomber and fighters
RAF Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled into action to head off four separate groups of Russian aircraft which were spotted flying near the Baltic on Tuesday. Two jets from 3 (Fighter) Squadron were dispatched to ensure the planes did not encroach on the airspace of Estonia, Lithuania or Latvia as part of their Nato mission to police the area.  

Ebola deaths pass 300 in West Africa - WHO
The number of people killed by the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa has risen to 337, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. Fourteen deaths and 47 new cases were reported across the region over the last week, it added. Guinea is worst-affected with 264 Ebola-related deaths. In Sierra Leone, there have been 49 deaths and in Liberia 24, the WHO said.  

Earth's largest volcano, Mauna Loa on Hawaii's Big Island, awakens from slumber
After a peaceful nap three decades long, Mauna Loa seems to be stirring. "While there are no signs of impending eruption, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has recorded an increased level of seismic activity on the flanks and summit of Mauna Loa over the past 13 months," reports Big Island Now. "Four distinct earthquake swarms — clusters of earthquakes occurring closely in time and location — have occurred since March 2013."  

China to start direct yuan trade with British pound
China will start direct trade between its yuan currency and Britain's pound on Thursday, the country's foreign exchange trade platform said, in another step in its push to internationalise the unit.  

Where Christian churches, other religions stand on gay marriage
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans to hold a historic vote on same-sex marriage this week that could reverberate beyond the church’s nearly 2 million members. Church leaders gathering in Detroit are expected to decide as early as today whether to allow gay marriage or to continue to prohibit it, a move some Christian leaders believe could influence other centrist and liberal mainline Protestant churches as they also grapple with the issue.  

US central bank cuts growth forecast for 2014
The US Federal Reserve has cut its growth forecast for 2014 because of the harsh winter weather. The central bank is now predicting growth of between 2.1% and 2.3% for this year, down from its March forecast of 2.8% to 3%. However in its accompanying statement, the bank said that economic activity had "rebounded in recent months".  

Obama to Congress: I don't need new permission on Iraq
I'll let you know what's going on, but I don't need new congressional authority to act, President Barack Obama told congressional leaders Wednesday about his upcoming decision on possible military intervention in Iraq.  

Anti-paedophile police fight child porn 'epidemic'
The internet trade in images that show child sex abuse is now "an epidemic", according to the head of the global initiative to combat the problem. Police officers from around the world serve on the Virtual Global Taskforce. Its chairman, Ian Quinn, tells the BBC there has been an "explosion" in cases handled by US authorities.  

As IDF sweeps West Bank, Gaza residents prepare for war
Coastal enclave widely accepts that Hamas was involved in the kidnapping and braces for a harsh Israeli response; Shin Bet said to threaten Gaza man allegedly linked to abduction with a missile strike  

Supreme Court Maintains Ban on Megachurch Graduations
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed a court ban on churches renting their facilities for public school graduations to remain standing, despite the implications of the high court's recent divided ruling in favor of Jesus prayers at government meetings.  

Iran army chief accuses Israel of creating ISIS
Iranian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi claimed Wednesday that Israel created and supports the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. “ISIS is Israel’s cover up for distancing the revolutionary forces from Israeli borders and creating a margin of security for the Zionists, and the Zionist media have also admitted this fact,” he said, Fars News Agency reported.  

Kurds Support Dividing Iraq Into Three Regions
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsAl-Monitor
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Displaced families from Tikrit make their way to Kirkuk, June 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/ Ako Rasheed)

Israel Fears U.S. Cozying Up to Iran Due to Iraq Crisis
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

Reuters

Israel fears that a jihadist offensive that has swept up swathes of Iraq may prompt concessions to arch-foe Iran from its longtime ally the United States.

"If Washington needs Tehran's help to solve the Iraq crisis, the United States will need to be more flexible in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program," Voice of Israel public radio cited a senior official as saying.

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau warned: "We're in a situation where, to confront the threat from the global jihad, we rely on Iran and its allies."

The rise of the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has seized Iraq's second city Mosul and a swathe of its north and center over the past 10 days, has prompted talk of possible cooperation between Washington and Tehran to help stop the insurgency.

A top Iranian official said on Wednesday that Tehran could consider working with the United States over the crisis in Iraq if talks on its nuclear program are successful.

The Iranian official's comments came after US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would be open to cooperating with Iran on Iraq.

"I wouldn't rule out anything that would be constructive," Kerry told Yahoo News when asked if the United States would cooperate militarily with Iran, one of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's key allies.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns held a brief meeting with Iranian officials in Vienna on Monday on the sidelines of talks between Tehran and the major powers over its controversial nuclear program.

Israel – which reportedly has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal – is deeply opposed to the talks, which also involve its US ally and aim for a long-term deal to set out clear limits to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

ISIS Threatens to Invade Jordan, Slaughter King Abdullah
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Islamist terrorists in Iraq and Syria have begun creeping toward neighboring countries, sources close to the Islamic fundamentalists revealed this week.

The terrorists, who belong to The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS -- known as DAESH in Arabic] and are said to be an offshoot of al-Qaeda, are planning to take their jihad to Jordan, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula -- after having already captured large parts of Syria and Iraq, the sources said.

The capture this week by ISIS of the cities of Mosul and Tikrit in Iraq has left many Arabs and Muslims in the region worried that their countries soon may be targeted by the terrorists, who seek to create a radical Islamist emirate in the Middle East.

According to the sources, ISIS leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi recently discussed with his lieutenants the possibility of extending the group's control beyond Syria and Iraq.

One of the ideas discussed envisages focusing ISIS's efforts on Jordan, where Islamist movements already have a significant presence. Jordan was also chosen because it has shared borders with Iraq and Syria, making it easier for the terrorists to infiltrate the kingdom.

Jordanian political analyst Oraib al-Rantawi sounded alarm bells by noting that the ISIS threat to move its fight to the kingdom was real and imminent. "We in Jordan cannot afford the luxury of just waiting and monitoring," he cautioned. "The danger is getting closer to our bedrooms. It has become a strategic danger; it is no longer a security threat from groups or cells. We must start thinking outside the box. The time has come to increase coordination and cooperation with the regimes in Baghdad and Damascus to contain the crawling of extremism and terrorism."

The ISIS terrorists see Jordan's Western-backed King Abdullah as an enemy of Islam and an infidel, and have publicly called for his execution. ISIS terrorists recently posted a video on YouTube in which they threatened to "slaughter" Abdullah, whom they denounced as a "tyrant." Some of the terrorists who appeared in the video were Jordanian citizens who tore up their passports in front of the camera and vowed to launch suicide attacks inside the kingdom.

Security sources in Amman expressed deep concern over ISIS's threats and plans to "invade" the kingdom. The sources said that King Abdullah has requested urgent military aid from the U.S. and other Western countries so that he could foil any attempt to turn Jordan into an Islamist-controlled state.

Marwan Shehadeh, an expert on Islamist groups, said he did not rule out the possibility that ISIS would target Jordan because it views the Arab regimes, including Jordan's Hashemites, as "infidels" and "apostates" who should be fought.

The recent victories by ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria have emboldened the group and its followers throughout the Middle East. Now the terrorists are planning to move their jihad not only to Jordan, but also to the Gaza Strip, Sinai and Lebanon.

This is all happening under the watching eyes of the U.S. Administration and Western countries, who seem to be uncertain as to what needs to be done to stop the Islamist terrorists from invading neighboring countries.

ISIS is a threat not only to moderate Arabs and Muslims, but also to Israel, which the terrorists say is their ultimate destination. The U.S. and its Western allies need to wake up quickly and take the necessary measures to prevent the Islamist terrorists from achieving their goal.

Failure to act will result in the establishment in the Middle East of a dangerous extremist Islamist empire that will pose a threat to American and Western interests.

Iraq Formally Asks the U.S. for Air Strikes Against Isis
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran and West Start Drafting Permanent Agreement
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Reuters

Iran and world powers have started drafting a comprehensive nuclear agreement but still face many sticking points, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday, according to the AFP news agency.

"Today we have slowly begun to draft the final agreement... but there are still many differences" over the text, the ISNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying from Vienna.

"This does not mean we have reached an agreement," he stressed, adding that “fundamental disagreements" continue to divide Iran and the P5+1 powers - Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.

A new round of negotiations between Iranian diplomats and those of the six powers that opened Monday in Vienna had been "very difficult" so far.

The talks, which run through Friday, are aimed at clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal by a July 20 deadline set up by an interim agreement.

Iran's top negotiator Abbas Araqchi earlier told the IRNA news agency that Iran hoped to settle all differences with the six powers by the target date.

The main sticking points are the timetable for a full lifting of crippling U.S. and EU sanctions, and the scale to which Iran would be allowed to continue uranium enrichment, he said.

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.

The P5+1 want Iran to drastically reduce its uranium production capacity, and keep only a few hundred centrifuges active.

They want to ensure that Iran's nuclear activities are purely peaceful. In return, Iran wants the removal of international sanctions that have choked its economy.

In the remarks to IRNA, Araqchi said "it won't be a catastrophe" if the July 20 target date is not met.

"We hope to start work on Wednesday on drafting the text of a final agreement, not the big issues but the general framework and the introduction," Araqchi said, according to AFP.

"There is a still a long way to go before we reach an agreement acceptable to all sides."

Throughout the talks, Iran has declared that it will never give up on what it sees as its right to enrichment.

Fountains of the Great Deep Discovered? Scientists Find Huge Underground Ocean
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Geophysicists say they have discovered an immense water reservoir deep below the Earth’s surface—a find which Christian scientists say could be an affirmation of a verse in the biblical Great Flood account.

On Thursday, researchers with Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico announced the discovery of a vast underground ocean several miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Though the scientists cannot immediately verify their claims, they remain confident about their conclusions.

“Northwestern geophysicist Steve Jacobsen and University of New Mexico seismologist Brandon Schmandt have found deep pockets of magma located about 400 miles beneath North America, a likely signature of the presence of water at these depths,” explains a press release from Northwestern University.

“Geological processes on the Earth’s surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight,” Jacobsen said in the release. “I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades.”

If the scientists’ calculations are accurate, the amount of water beneath the Earth’s surface could dwarf the amount of water in our planet’s surface oceans.

“If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans,” the press release states.

These underwater ocean findings were published this month in the journal Science. In the journal article, the researchers say the underground reservoir is located between 255 and 410 miles below the Earth’s surface.

According to Genesis 7:11, “the fountains of the great deep” were broken during the Great Flood, leading some Christians to believe that the underground ocean discovery sheds light on the biblical account. Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research, told Christian News Network that the findings could potentially be related to the scriptural reference.

“It is of course possible that water found below Earth’s crust could be what remains from the waters ‘of the great deep’ that burst as fountains to Earth’s surface to initiate Noah’s year-long Flood according to Genesis 7:11,” Thomas said. “I would not refer to this news as a ‘significant verification’ of the Genesis Flood since some may suggest other explanations for the water, but it is consistent with Scripture’s general reference to waters deep beneath the earth.”

However, Thomas added, the very existence of water on Earth presents a problem for secular scientists.

“Secularists faced a tough enough challenge in trying to explain how Earth’s ocean waters came from rock,” he noted. “They imagine hydrated minerals from space rocks collided to form Earth. But the heat from those collisions would have pushed out the water. Now they have to explain this newly discovered deep water, too.”

The biblical account, Thomas continued, is much more consistent with the scientific evidence, since the Bible says God initially created the world as a watery sphere.

“Unlike secular thinkers,” he stated, “biblical scientists do not arbitrarily discount miracles, being open to the possibility that God built Earth with water like He said.”

Colleges Use Anti - Discrimination Rules Against Christians
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Bowdoin College’s evangelical group will no longer be recognized by the college starting next fall. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the college is demanding that any student should be able to run for leadership for any student group, regardless of his or her religious beliefs, but the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship disagrees.

“It would compromise our ability to be who we are as Christians if we can’t hold our leaders to some sort of doctrinal standard,” recent Bowdoin graduate and former leader of BCF Zackary Suhr told The Times.

The incident at Bowdoin has occurred at many other colleges and universities in recent years. While the universities present the absolute non-discrimination demands as an effort to rid their campuses of intolerance and exclusivity, religious students see it as an encroachment on their religious freedom perpetrated by liberal academia who are hostile toward conservative Christianity.

A study done by the Institute for Jewish & Community Research found that college faculty share significantly more negative feelings toward Evangelical Christians than toward any other religious group, with 53 percent reporting that had unfavorable feelings toward Evangelicals. This is compared to just 3 percent who have unfavorable feelings toward Jews, 9 percent toward non-Evangelical Christians, and 10 percent toward Atheists. According to the study, these negative feelings are noted across disciplines and demographic factors. The study also found that the faculty are much less religious than the general public.

Evangelical and other religious groups say they welcome anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or religious beliefs, to participate in their activities. But their leaders, who oversee Bible studies and prayer services, should have at least a basic Christian faith, the groups insist.

Losing official school recognition can have real consequences for these religious groups. Often they lose the right to use the universities’ names, on-campus recruiting tools, and access to student activity funds or subsidized spaces for meetings and worship.

The California State University public system, which includes almost 450,000 students on 23 campuses, is also joining the campaign against evangelical groups. If Cal State’s chancellor has it his way, evangelical groups will also lose official recognition this summer due to their refusal to sign non-discrimination forms regarding the selection of their groups’ leaders.

Cameron: ISIS Planning to Attack Uk
Jun 19th, 2014
Daily NewsDebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues