Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Trade Deal Signed Between EU, Ukraine - Truce Extended
Jun 29th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The European Union (EU) signed a free-trade deal with the Ukrain on Friday, while simultaneously saying that it could possibly place additional sanctions on Moscow, should pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine continue with their ongoing acts of insurgency past this coming Monday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko returned to Kiev from Brussels where he signed the treaty. He then announced that the Ukraine had extended its a ceasefire against pro-Russian separatists by 72 hours until 10 p.m. on Monday.

Terror Threat Places Philippine Forces on High Alert
Jun 29th, 2014
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Philippine security forces wet on high alert in the south of the country on Sunday, after military intelligence reported sightings of Islamist militants in the region following the arrest of an al Qaeda-linked leader.

Khair Mundos, an expert bomb-maker and the "spiritual leader" of the Abu Sayyaf faction, was arrested last week by a team of police officers and Special Forces. Mundos is wanted by the United States. A$500,000 bounty is up in exchange for his arrest.

Obama Concerned European Jihadis Could Attack the U.S.
Jun 29th, 2014
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Jihadis from ISIS in Mosul, Iraq

Reuters

US President Barack Obama warned that "battle-hardened" Europeans who embrace jihad in Syria and Iraq threaten the United States because their passports mean they can enter the country without a visa.

Nearly 800 French citizens have spent time fighting in Syria's civil war, most of them fighting for the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIS, according to latest estimates, and Belgium says 200 of its people have done the same. Britain puts its number at 400.

Those holding French, Belgian and British passports - along with a host of other European countries - do not need visas to visit the United States, meaning they can potentially avoid scrutiny.

"We have seen Europeans sympathetic to their (terrorists') cause traveling into Syria and may now travel into Iraq, getting battle-hardened. Then they come back," Obama warned in an interview that aired Sunday on the US broadcaster ABC.

These combatants "have a European passport. They don't need visas to get into the United States," he told This Week.

"Now, we are spending a lot of time, and we have been for years, making sure we are improving intelligence to respond to that.

"We have to improve our surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence there. Special forces are going to have a role. And there are going to be times where we take strikes against organizations that could do us harm."  

Fears about Europeans returning from terrorist action were underlined when Mehdi Nemmouche, a French-Algerian who fought alongside ISIS in Syria for more than a year, was arrested over the murder of four people in a deadly shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels on May 24.

Responding to Obama, Republican lawmaker Peter King said the president's don't go far enough.

"He should be very aggressive on this. Syria is our biggest threat," said King, a member of the Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

"Not only are there thousands of Europeans who have visas to get into the United States going to Syria, but there are 100-plus Americans over there in Syria right now."

The US President's warning comes after revelations that CIA agents were sent to the UK in order to monitor jihadis there, amid concerns British intelligence are not doing enough to combat Islamist extremism.

Netanyahu in Pr Blitz Against P5+1 'Surrender' Deal With Iran
Jun 29th, 2014
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Nuclear talks in Geneva

Reuters

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau mounted a one-man diplomatic offensive against the emerging deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers Sunday afternoon, in interviews to six media outlets from the respective P5+1 countries – USA, Britain, France, Germany, China, France and Russia.

Netanyahu told Sky News: "What Iran is seeking from Britain and the P5+1 is to keep the materials and the means to make nuclear weapons and inspect them. Keep and inspect as opposed to dismantle and remove. That's a bad deal.

“And I think what it would mean is Iran at any time could kick the inspectors aside or deceive them – it's done that in the past – and go rush to make the enriched uranium that is necessary to make atomic bombs. And they can do that within weeks or months. That's bad for Britain, bad for Europe, bad for the United States, bad for Russia, bad for China, very bad for Israel, bad for the Arabs too – bad for the world.

“My position from the start has been they shouldn't have any capacity to enrich because they don't need it for civilian nuclear energy,” he explained. “They don't need a single centrifuge. It's been the Western position that they should have a few hundred. Now we hear that the P5+1 are talking now about 1,500. But that's the spinning centrifuges. They say, well, maybe they'll have also several thousand, many thousands of centrifuges not spinning but in formaldehyde, sort of, or locked under lock and key. Okay. One day, Iran decides to break the lock and key, breakout as they say, put all these thousands of centrifuges together and they'll have the wherewithal to make a nuclear bomb in a very short time. That's a deal that Iran wants. It's a deal of surrender. And the P5+1 should reject it out of hand. They should not enable Iran to make nuclear weapons.”

N. Korea Launched 2 More Missiles
Jun 29th, 2014
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North Korea test-launched two sort-range missiles, which landed in the sea, an official source in North Korea reported.

Three days ago, three other short-range missiles were launched. North Korea has been running a series of arterial tests since the start of the year. 

More Concern Today for Fruit Than for the Root
Jun 29th, 2014
Thought For The WeekA. W. Tozer
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation

The root of the righteous shall not be moved. Proverbs 12:3
ONE MARKED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FAITH of our fathers as conceived by the fathers and the same faith as
understood and lived by their children is that the fathers were concerned with the root of the matter, while their present-d
ay descendants seem concerned only with the fruit.

Today we write the biographies of the Augustines, the Luthers and the Wesleys and celebrate their fruit, but the tenden
cy is to ignore the root out of which the fruit sprang.
“The root of the righteous yielded fruit,” said the wise man in the Proverbs. Our fathers looked well to the root of the tree
and were willing to wait with patience for the fruit to appear.
We demand the fruit immediately even though the root may be weak and knobby, or missing altogether. How can we ig
nore the fact that the bough that breaks off from the tree in a storm may bloom briefly, giving the impression that it is a h
ealthy and fruitful branch, but its tender blossoms will soon perish and the bough itself will wither and die? There is no la
sting life apart from the root.
Much that passes for Christianity today is the brief, bright effort of the severed branch to bring forth its fruit in its season.
But the deep laws of life are against it. Preoccupation with appearances and a corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight r
oot of the true spiritual life are prophetic signs which go unheeded.
A.W. Tozer

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 29th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Pope declares mobsters 'excommunicated'
Brushing aside worries about his health and safety, Pope Francis traveled to the heart of mob territory Saturday to comfort the family of a 3-year-old boy gunned down in a January shootout and declared that all mobsters are automatically excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. "Those who go down the evil path, as the Mafiosi do, are not in communion with God. They are excommunicated," he warned.  

No tsunami threat to Hawaii after 2 South Pacific quakes
There is no tsunami threat to Hawaii after two strong earthquake struck between Samoa and Fiji Sunday morning, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The second quake happened at 7:15 a.m. Sunday in Hawaii.  

Battle between Utah's rural counties and BLM intensifies
"We have many examples of the abuse and this militarization of the government agencies is a real problem," said Garfield County Commissioner Leland Pollock, who also traveled to Washington, D.C. "If this guy does something that blows up, we are all going to be on the TV. It is a scary scenario, especially in rural Utah." The rising anxiety over "armed" federal regulatory agencies is not unique to Utah, with Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, highlighting incidences that have happened in Los Angeles and at a mining operation in Alaska.  

NASA successfully tests 'flying saucer' vehicle
After several weather delays, NASA successfully launched and recovered a "flying saucer" into Earth's atmosphere Saturday to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.  

4.1 Richter quake inside Myanmar
An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 struck inside Myanmar at 11.51am Sunday, according to the Meteorological Department. The epicentre of the quake was about 273km northeast of Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district and about 9km underground on the Myanmar-China border.  

Earthquake felt strongly in Denali, Interior Alaska
FAIRBANKS - An earthquake centered near the entrance of Denali National Park was felt widely throughout Interior Alaska. The quake was reported at 10:58 p.m. It had a magnitude of 4.61 and was located 11 miles east-northeast of Denali Park and 18 miles northeast of Cantwell at a depth of seven miles.  

Magnitude 7.1 quake hits near Visokoi Island, off South America
SINGAPORE - A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit about 100 miles north-northwest of Visokoi Island in the South Sandwich Islands off South America, the US Geological Survey said.  

Earthquake strikes off Japanese island Iwo Jima
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, on Sunday, the Reuters news agency reports with reference to Japan’s seismological service.  

5.2 magnitude earthquake felt across Southern Arizona
It originated about 30 miles northwest of Lordsburg, N. M. Officials say that it was felt strongest in Greenlee and Cochise counties in Arizona.  

Isis crucifies nine people in Syrian villages
A man has survived being crucified by Isis in Syria, after the jihadists raided his village and nailed him to a cross for eight hours. The unnamed man from Al-Bab, near the border with Turkey, was crucified as a punishment, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. He managed to survive the ordeal.  

Study: All Employment Growth Since 2000 Went to Immigrants
According to a major new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), net employment growth in the United States since 2000 has gone entirely to immigrants, legal and illegal. ...CIS scholars...found that there were 127,000 fewer working-age natives holding a job in the first quarter of 2014 than in 2000, while the number of immigrants with a job was 5.7 million above the 2000 level.  

Oregon Celebrates Independence Day… With ‘No Refusal’ Blood Checkpoints
During Independence Day weekend, a time to celebrate US freedom and unalienable rights, Americans in Oregon will be subjected to a “blitz” of ‘no-refusal’ blood-draw checkpoints, as part of a disturbing trend that now extends nationwide. Local news station KVAL reports that State police are re-naming Fourth of July weekend “No Refusal Weekend”, as part of a crack down on drunk driving.  

North Korea 'test-fires short-range missiles'
North Korea has fired two missiles into the sea from its east coast, reports from South Korea say. A defence ministry spokesman in Seoul declined to give further details, but Yonhap news agency said they were Scuds with the range of 500km (310 miles). The apparent test comes just days after North Korea said it successfully fired new precision-guided missiles.  

Without allies against ISIS, US finds itself in the same camp as Iran, its sworn enemy
From the start of the so called Arab spring, America has time and time again initiated moves which set it at odds with its traditional allies in the Middle East, to the extent that today it can only watch impotently developments in the region. Iraq is a case in point. ISIS – the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – is a jihadist terrorist organization that has already taken large areas in Syria and made significant gains in Iraq.  

Iraq 'receives Russian fighter jets' to fight rebels
Iraq says it has received the first batch of fighter jets it ordered from Russia to help it as it fights an offensive by Sunni rebels. Iraqi security officials said five second-hand Sukhoi attack aircraft would enter service within a few days, and that more were on their way.  

Pro-Russian rebels free 4 European observers
Pro-Russian insurgents yesterday (June 28) released a second team of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who had been held captive since the end of last month, the organization said.  

The surprising appeal of ISIS
In trying to explain ISIS’s rapid success, alarmed observers have pointed to the extreme tactics that drew condemnation even from Al Qaeda: mass executions, beheadings, and crucifixions. Some see local conspiracies, believing Arab governments allowed the group to grow in order to justify their own heavy-handed crackdowns.  

Benghazi Attack Suspect Arrives in U.S. to Face Justice
The legal case against the accused leader of the 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, began with him being spirited into Washington in darkness for a hearing hastily arranged yesterday afternoon.  

Seoul: North Korea fires more short-range missiles
North Korea fired two short-range missiles into its eastern waters Sunday, a South Korean official said, an apparent test fire that comes just days after the country tested what it called new precision-guided missiles.  

Marijuana: Pot use declines worldwide, but not in the US
Marijuana legalization for recreational as well as medical purposes is growing in the US. A new UN report raises warning flags, especially for young or regular users.  

Libya needs two weeks to publish elections results
Libya will need around two weeks to count the votes of last week's parliamentary election and publish final results, the elections commission said on Saturday.  

Russia will not sit idly by as jihadists press Iraq assault
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Damascus on Saturday that his country "will not remain passive" as jihadists push an offensive in Syria's neighbour Iraq.  

Japan: 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake Felt East of Iwo Jima
Jun 29th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake was felt roughly 170 kilometers east of Iwo Jima, Japan.

Japanese media correspondents reported that there is no threat of an imminent Tsunami.

ISIS Edging Closer to Israel
Jun 29th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

ISIS (illustrative)

Reuters

Speaking Sunday, former National Security Council director Yaakov Amidror said that if Jordan requested Israeli assistance in preventing its border with Iraq from being overrun by forces belong to to ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, then Israel would have little choice but to help.

“It's not just in Jordan's interest, but in Israel's as well to work together to solve this problem," he said. 

As the Sunni Islamist forces of ISIS have overrun Iraq, edging ever closer to that country's border with Jordan, Amman has expressed nervousness that it could be the group's next target. Some ISIS sources have already made unconfirmed claims to have seized a Jordanian town, although those reports appear to be false.

Jordan on Friday deployed massive army forces on its Iraqi border, including tanks, army vehicles, missile launchers and soldiers, reported Yedioth Aharonoth, citing the Arab news source Asharq Al-Aswat.

In the Arabic report, Jordanian sources were quoted as claiming that the Iraqi army still controls the area just over the Jordanian border, but that they have already lost control over adjacent areas. A senior Jordanian captain told the paper the army is at maximum preparedness so as to be able to get involved at a moment's notice.

Jordan has good reason to worry; ISIS Islamists have publicly called for Jordanian King Abdullah's execution, declaring him a traitor to Islam who has joined forces with the West.

ISIS threatened to "slaughter" the "tyrant" Abdullah in a recent video, which was uploaded to YouTube. The video features a Jordanian citizen and member of the Islamist group, who is seen tearing up his passport and throwing it in a fire while vowing to launch a suicide attack inside Jordan.

Earlier this month, former Israeli intelligence expert Jacques Neriah suggested in a CNN interview that Israel must prepare itself for the eventuality that the battle could reach the shores of Tel Aviv - despite the fact that the fighting rages more than 915 kilometers (595 miles) away.

According to Neriah, the current crisis in the Middle East has made Israel relatively quiet, and could buy the IDF time to prepare.

"Everyone is busy killing one another in the Arab world - it gives Israel a 'time out' to reorganize and to prepare itself for the long run," Neriah stated. "If Iraq falls in the hands of ISIS, then we will have a terrorist state - where terrorists will be trained, will be equipped, will be financed by an [entire] state and not by an organization which is [in] hiding."

Meanwhile, a report in the Daily Beast claimed that Israeli and US officials have already confirmed that their countries would join the battle against ISIS should it attack Jordan, with whom Israel has a peace treaty.

Thomas Sanderson, co-director for transnational threats at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Daily Beast that in his estimation any ISIS attack on Jordan would be viewed in both Washington and Jerusalem as a threat to national security.  

"I think Israel and the United States would identify a substantial threat to Jordan as a threat to themselves and would offer all appropriate assets to the Jordanians," he said.

Concerns in Israel over ISIS's rapid territorial gains in Syria and Iraq comes amid claims ISIS-linked terror cells have been involved in recent rocket fire against southern Israel. On Saturday it was revealed that two Gazan terrorists killed in an IAF precision strike for launching rockets against Israeli civilians were members of a jihadi group linked to ISIS.

ISIS Declares An Islamic Caliphate
Jun 29th, 2014
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Member of ISIS

Reuters

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the jihadist group which has seized territory in Iraq and Syria, on Sunday declared itself an Islamic "caliphate" and called on factions worldwide to pledge their allegiance, Reuters reported, citing a statement posted on Islamist websites and Twitter.

According to the report, the group has shortened its name to "Islamic State" and proclaimed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "Caliph" - the head of the state.

"He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere," the group's spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani said in the statement, which was translated into several languages and read out in an Arabic audio speech.

"Accordingly, the 'Iraq and Sham' (Levant) in the name of the Islamic State is henceforth removed from all official deliberations and communications, and the official name is the Islamic State from the date of this declaration," he said, according to Reuters.

The Sunni Muslim group follows Al-Qaeda's hard-line ideology, but is not affiliated with Al-Qaeda which has renounced ISIS.

It seeks to re-create a medieval-style caliphate erasing borders from the Mediterranean to the Gulf. It deems Shiiite Muslims to be heretics deserving death.

"It is incumbent upon all Muslims to pledge allegiance to (him) and support him...The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations, becomes null by the expansion of the khalifah’s authority and arrival of its troops to their areas," the statement quoted by Reuters said.

Fighters from the group overran the Iraqi city of Mosul last month in a lightning action and have advanced towards Baghdad. In Syria they have captured territory in the north and east, along the frontier with Iraq.

Jordan on Friday deployed massive army forces on its Iraqi border, including tanks, army vehicles, missile launchers and soldiers, fearing an ISIS move into the Hashemite Kingdom.

Iraqi Women Enlist to Fight ISIS
Jun 29th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iraqi Shia women march in support of the government against ISIS

Reuters

You might have heard of Dad's Army - well, now meet Mum's Army.

As Iraq undergoes a rapid descent into civil war along sectarian lines - amid an alliance of Sunni rebels including the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in the north, and the mass-mobilization of Iranian-backed Shia militias in the south - pro-government Al-Iraqiya TV has shown how some Iraqi women are joining the fray.

In what looks more like a crude piece of propaganda than a serious interview (at points the women are even instructed on what slogans to chant by their interviewer), around a dozen women of various ages can be seen brandishing weapons including swords, pistols, AK-47 assault rifles and machine guns, and vowing to "fight to the death" against ISIS.

Although ISIS has played a key role in the lightening offensive by Sunni rebels, it is far from the only group active in the fight against the Shia-dominated government. Sunni Muslims in the country have long complained of discrimination and abuse at the hands of the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

But ISIS's prominent role in the offensive - which is now threatening the capital Baghdad - and its wider ambitions for an Islamic mega-state spanning Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel (or "Palestine") and Jordan is regularly highlighted by pro-government groups.

Iraq Receives 1st Delivery of Russian War Planes
Jun 29th, 2014
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Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iraqi authorities report they received a first delivery of war planes from Russia, which will help the country battle against extremists belonging to the “Islamic State of Iraq and Levant” organization, BBC reports.

Official sources within the Iraqi government aid that five used Sukhoi jets were received and will be used within a number of days. The sources added that additional planes are on their way to Iraq.

Iran General Says Ready to Help Iraq Against Militants
Jun 29th, 2014
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iranian leaders to date have said they would help defend Shi'ite Muslim shrines in neighboring Iraq if necessary, but have also said Iraqis are capable of doing that job themselves.