Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Under Pressure, Hamas Would Consider Direct Talks With Israel
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Moussa Abu Marzouk

Reuters

Hamas's exiled deputy leader said on Thursday the terrorist group could be forced to negotiate directly with Israel, ahead of planned talks in Cairo to consolidate a truce.

But an Israeli minister dismissed any possibility of talking directly with the Islamist movement, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and glorifies killing Jews as a holy duty.   

Hamas does not recognize Israel, and is a proscribed terrorist group in Israel as well as many other countries - including the US and EU. As a result, the two sides have never had any direct contact.  

However, following weeks of indirect, Egyptian brokered negotiations, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on August 26 after 50 days of war, their deadliest confrontation in years.

The indirect talks are set to resume mid-September to discuss longer-term issues.

Asked if Hamas would contemplate negotiating directly with Israel, Moussa Abu Marzouk, the movement's exiled deputy leader, said it might be needed.

"If the situation remains as it is now... Hamas could find itself forced to do this," he told the Palestinian Al-Quds TV, referring to the dire humanitarian situation and continued blockade on Gaza.

Under terms of the truce deal, Israel pledged an immediate easing of restrictions on goods and construction materials being shipped in to Gaza, but so far, officials say there has been little change on the ground.

"From a legal (Islamic) perspective there is nothing wrong with negotiating with the occupation," he said, indicating it could be necessary in order to guarantee the "rights" of the people of Gaza.

"Many of the issues that have been taboo within the movement could be up for discussion," he said of Hamas's historic refusal to negotiate with Israel.  

But Israel's Science Minister Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid) dismissed outright any possibility of negotiating directly with Hamas.

"As long as Hamas doesn't abandon the path of violence and terrorism, recognize Israel and the Quartet conditions, Israel will not conduct direct talks with this terrorist organisation," Peri told public radio.

The conditions of the Middle East Quartet include recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and respecting past agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

"We will conduct indirect talks with Hamas through Egypt, but will do so in different rooms," Peri said, describing the way the Gaza truce talks were run over the past two months.

U.S. Confirms ISIL Planning Infiltration of U.S. Southern Border
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Washington Free Beacon
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Militants from the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) removing part of the soil barrier on the Iraq-Syria borders and moving through it / AP

UPDATE 7:28 P.M.: Following publication of Francis Taylor’s remarks, a DHS spokesperson contacted the Washington Free Beacon to clarify his comments about the exact threat ISIL poses to the southern border.

“There is no credible intelligence to suggest that there is an active plot by ISIL to attempt to cross the southern border,” the DHS spokesperson said.

A senior Homeland Security (DHS) official confirmed to Congress on Wednesday that militants associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) are planning to enter the United States via the porous southern border.

Francis Taylor, under secretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, told senators during a hearing that ISIL supporters are known to be plotting ways to infiltrate the United States through the border.

“There have been Twitter, social media exchanges among ISIL adherents across the globe speaking about that as a possibility,” Taylor told Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) in response to a question about “recent reports on Twitter and Facebook of messages that would urge infiltration into the U.S. across our southwestern border.”

“Certainly any infiltration across our border would be a threat,” Taylor said, explaining that border security agents are working to tighten measures that would prevent this from taking place.

“I’m satisfied we have the intelligence and the capability on our border that would prevent that activity,” Taylor said.

However, McCain was dubious, referring to recent videos released by activist James O’Keefe showing him crossing the border while wearing an Osama bin Laden mask.

Asked by McCain why agents did not stop O’Keefe, Taylor could not provide an answer.

“You can’t answer it because they weren’t there to stop him,” McCain responded.

“The fact is there are thousands of people who are coming across our border who are undetected and not identified, and for you to sit there and tell me that we have the capability or now have the proper protections of our southwest border, particularly in light of the urgings over Facebook and Twitter [by ISIL] for people to come across our southwestern border, is a great concern to the citizens of my state.”

Taylor admitted that more must be done to shore up border security in light of ongoing threats.

“The security at the southwestern border is of great concern to the department and I certainly understand the concerns of the citizens of your state,” he told McCain. “If I gave you the impression I thought the border security was what it needed to be to protect against all the risks coming across the state that’s not what I meant to say.”

There is little evidence to prove that ISIL militants or other terror actors would be stopped if they attempt to cross the border, McCain said.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt, I don’t see when you look at ISIS and the growth and influence of ISIS that it would be logical [to claim they would be stopped], as they’re saying on Facebook and Twitter, to come across our southwest border because they can get across,” he said.

Other U.S. officials have warned ahead of President Obama’s speech this evening that ISIL is growing in strength and seeking the capability to attack America directly.

“We remain mindful of the possibility that an ISIL-sympathizer—perhaps motivated by online propaganda—could conduct a limited, self-directed attack here at home with no warning,” Matthew Olsen, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in a recent speech.

“We have seen ISIL use a range of media to tout its military capabilities, executions of captured soldiers, and consecutive battlefield victories,” Olsen said. “More recently, the group’s supporters have sustained this momentum on social media by encouraging attacks in the U.S. and against U.S. interests in retaliation for our airstrikes. ISIL has used this propaganda campaign to draw foreign fighters to the group, including many from Western countries.”

Saudi Arabia Slashes Oil Output to Defend $100 Price
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Telegraph
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

World's biggest exporter of oil reacts to slide in prices by trimming 400,000 barrels per day of output in August

Saudi has slashed output as Opec cuts forecast for world demand Photo: AP

Russia, China in Talks to Make Alternative to Swift: Deputy PM
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsItar-Tass
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov

 

Russia’s Finance Ministry seeks to impose regulation of SWIFT

Russia Developing New Nuclear Weapons to Counter Potential Threats to Military Security from NATO
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Vancouver Sun
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russia is developing an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons to counter recent moves by the U.S. and NATO, but will carefully weigh the costs to avoid overburdening its economy, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

He said Russia has no intention to launch a new arms race, but will respond to all security challenges.

Russia carried out a successful test of its new Bulava intercontinental nuclear missile on Wednesday and the head of its naval forces said the country will perform two more test launches in October and November. The 12-metre long Bulava, or mace, has undergone numerous tests, some of which have failed, causing setbacks for the project that aims to be the cornerstone of Russia’s nuclear arsenal over the next decade.

Addressing a Kremlin meeting on weapons modernization plans, Putin said the West shouldn’t be surprised about Moscow’s efforts in view of U.S. missile defence plans and other decisions he said have threatened Russia’s security.

“We have warned many times that we would have to take corresponding countermeasures to ensure our security,” Putin said, adding that he would now take personal charge of the government commission that oversees military industries.

He said the weapons modernization program for 2016-2025 should focus on building a new array of offensive weapons to provide a “guaranteed nuclear deterrent,” re-arming strategic and long-range aviation, creating an aerospace defence system and developing high-precision conventional weapons.

Russia must confront “potential threats to the military security” of the country, Putin said.

He wouldn’t provide any details of prospective weapons, but he and other officials have repeatedly boasted about new Russian nuclear missiles’ capability to penetrate any prospective missile shield.

Putin’s emphasis on high-precision conventional weapons reflects government concerns about the U.S. and other NATO countries enjoying a significant edge in that area.

Putin said potential threats must be thoroughly analyzed, and an “adequate response” given to each of them to avoid excessive military spending.

He said that Russian defence industries must rid themselves of dependence on imports and quickly become capable of producing key components at home — a nod at recent Western sanctions against Russia barring arms sales.

Russia-West relations have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War times over the crisis in Ukraine. A NATO summit last week decided to create a rapid-reaction “spearhead” force to protect Eastern Europe from Russian bullying.

Putin accused the West of using the crisis to reinvigorate NATO.

“A lot of threats are emerging. Recently, as you know, there was a decision made to expand NATO forces in Eastern Europe,” he said. “The crisis in Ukraine, which was provoked and created by some of our Western partners, is now being used to reanimate that military bloc.”

Obama Vows to Fight ISIS Wherever It is
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

U.S. President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday night that Washington will form a broad coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS).

In a speech to the nation regarding the threat from the terrorist group, Obama said that “the greatest threat comes from Middle East and North Africa, one of them is Islamic State.”

IS is “not Islamic...no religion condones the killing of innocents...and they’re certainly not a state,” he added.

He further noted that the airstrikes he recently approved against IS targets in Iraq have protected American interests, killed members of IS and have helped the Iraqi government regain territories taken by IS.

“So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, [IS] through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy,” said Obama.

"I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," he said.

"That means I will not hesitate to take action against [IS] in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven," declared Obama.

“But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out [IS] wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground,” said Obama.

“This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years,” he noted.

Netanyahu: 'Madness' of Militant Islam will be Defeated
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Netanyahu at IICT

Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism's 14th International Conference on Counter-Terrorism Thursday. This is the full text of his English address.

"Thank you, Professor Reichman, for that introduction.

“There's no meaningful power without responsibility. Well, you could have it but it's worthless or worse, it could be very dangerous. So all of us entrusted in power, with power, have responsibility and I'll talk about that later – what our responsibilities entail at this moment.

“But I'd like to say a few words before that not only to you, our host, Dr. Ganor, who I remember from our youth, and the many guests here from abroad, but most especially to Ambassador Shapiro of the United States of America. As you know, Ambassador Shapiro speaks perfect Hebrew, but I want to say a few words in English to you and to the people of the United States.

"We remember that day thirteen years ago and we mourn with you on this day for the thousands who lost their lives in that horrific attack. All of Israel mourned on September 11th. In Gaza, they were dancing on the roofs. They were handing out candy. That's the moral divide. We mourn; they celebrate the death of thousands of innocents. And then when the US took out Bin-Laden, I speaking for virtually the entire country congratulated President Obama. In Gaza, Hamas condemned the US and called Bin-Laden a "holy warrior", a holy warrior of Islam. That's the moral divide. We celebrate; they mourn the death of an arch-terrorist.

“Now that moral divide has never been clearer than it is today because Hamas, like al-Qaeda and its affiliates al-Nusra or its new growth ISIS or Boko Haram, al-Shabab, Hezbollah supported by Iran – all are branches of the same poisonous tree. All present a clear and present danger to the peace and security of the world and to our common civilization.

An indivisible battle

“I believe that the battle against these groups is indivisible and it's important not to let any of these groups succeed anywhere because if they gain ground somewhere, they gain ground everywhere. And their setbacks are also felt everywhere. If they gain ground, if they were to succeed, they would return humanity to a primitive early medievalism. I say early medievalism because my father, my late father was a great historian of the Middle Ages and I'd be giving them too much compliment – early medievalism, primitive early medievalism where women are treated as chattel, as property and gays are stoned and minorities persecuted if they're left alive at all.

“And these groups must be fought, they must be rolled back and they must ultimately be defeated. That's why Israel fully supports President Obama's call for united actions against ISIS. All civilized countries should stand together in the fight against radical terrorism that sweeps across the Middle East, sweeps across the world. And we are playing our part in this continued effort. Some of the things are known; some things are less known. We have always viewed it as our common battle for our common future.

“Now the fight against Islamist terrorism has created new alliances in the Middle East because many Sunni Arab states recognize that the threat of Iran's aggression and its radical Shiite proxies pose a fundamental danger to them, as does fundamentalist Sunni terrorism. And as a result of this, these twin threats of radical Shi'ism using terrorist tactics, radical Sunnism using terrorist tactics – as a result of this, they're reevaluating their relationship with Israel and they understand that Israel is not their enemy but their ally in the fight against this common enemy. And I believe this presents an opportunity for cooperation and perhaps an opportunity for peace.

"I think it's crucial not to let the fight against Sunni extremism make us forget the danger of Shiite extremism. They are two sides of the same coin. We don't have to strengthen one to weaken the other. My policy is: Weaken both. And most importantly, don't allow any of them to get weapons of mass destruction. And that's why the arrangement that was achieved in Syria to disband and take out the chemical weapons and chemical materials was so important. And I think President Obama had a very important achievement there. We understand what it would mean that any of these sides would have weapons of mass destruction because all you have to imagine is what would have happened if on 9/11 al-Qaeda had nuclear weapons. You know they would have used them against New York and against Washington. It's unassailable.

A bad deal should not be made

“These groups have absolutely no moral or other impediment to their mad desires. Once they have massive power, they will unleash all their violence, all their ideological zeal, all their hatred, with weapons of mass death. And all you have to imagine is what would have happened if al-Qaeda today had access to chemical weapons in Syria. Well then, project that: What would happen if the terrorist regime in Iran will have weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons? They control themselves today. They've put up a good front. But they have tremendous, tremendous ambitions. Not for Iran; for Shi'ism from Iran. And those ambitions would be unleashed once they have nuclear weapons in their capacity. They must not have it.

“Now the world powers are now negotiating with Iran and I hope they make a good deal because a bad deal should not be made. I'll tell you what a good deal is: The one that was made in Syria, because what that deal said was take the chemical weapons and the materials, the chemicals themselves and the means to make the weapons, out of Syria. They didn't say to Assad, 'Keep them, store them and we'll put an inspector. You know, we'll lock it with a padlock and we'll put an inspector next to it', because at any point Assad could kick out the inspector – I'm not saying that's Inspector Clouseau… a good inspector. But the whole idea of breakout is you throw away the inspector and you rush, once you unlock the storehouses, you rush to make the weapons. That's what Iran is seeking. Iran is seeking to keep the enriched nuclear material, to keep the centrifuges, to keep the means to make nuclear weapons in short order – we'll put a padlock on it and we'll put an inspector, inspectors there. And then at a certain point when there are international crises that consume our attention, and you know these never happen these days, right? Kick out the inspectors, break the lock, you break out. Within weeks, a few months, they have nuclear weapons. That's a bad deal.

“And if Iran has nuclear weapons, you will see a tremendous pivot in the world. No, not in the Middle East – in the world. You will see things you never imagined could be possible, horrors that you couldn't even contemplate, come to fruition. The ultimate terror: A terrorist regime with the weapons of the greatest terror of them all. We must not let that happen.

“So we have no shortage of threats and they have come about as a result of the collapse of the old order. It collapsed […] in a way that has not happened in the last hundred years, the so-called Arab Spring, which has not materialized as some people had thought. I think it's now clear that the forces of democracy have not come to the fore and if anything, what we've seen is old regimes collapse and Islamist forces come to the surface, old hatreds – Shiite against Shiite, but primarily Shiite against Sunni, Sunni against Sunni – all come bursting from subterranean layers of history and frustration. And they all have one common goal. The goal is we establish a new Islamist dominion, first in the Middle East and in their warped thinking, throughout the world. They all agree on that. They are not limited in their scope to a territory. They're not limited to borders. They are basically… they may be pivoted in a state, they may be anchored in a particular place, but their goal is to take the entire world, to cleanse it of infidels – first their own people, Muslims, and then everyone else. Madness.

Tactics of terror

“They all agree that they have to establish a caliphate. They all disagree who should be the caliph. That's the nature of their disagreements. And they all use essentially the same tactic and that's unbridled violence, fear – fear – terror. And the terror is first of all imposed on their own peoples. That's the number one target before anyone else. If your people want to rise up against you as they did in Iran five years ago, you kill them. You send out your troopers to the streets, besiege and just shoot them on the sidewalks. You steal millions of votes, people protest – you shoot them. But it's not enough to shoot them one time. You constantly shoot them or to be more precise, in Iran you hang them.

“Anywhere between 1,000 to 2,000 people are annually executed, executed in Iran. I'm not talking about criminals; I'm not talking about people who have broken the law – people who have the temerity to have a different view, question the regime. And they're hung in public squares and sometimes they're hung from cranes. They don't have enough scaffolds. And you see the same thing, the same thing – it doesn't receive the same prominence – from ISIS, same technique. You take over a population. The first thing is, yes, you lop heads off in this tragic barbarism that we witness, but you also take people to the burial pits and you shoot them by the hundreds and thousands.

"And we've just seen the same in Gaza. During the fighting, there was a lull. Gazans went out to look at their surroundings, started protesting at what Hamas did to them and Hamas had a very simple thing in response – they shot them. These aren't the executions you heard about. These are the executions you didn't hear about. And then towards the end of the fighting, just to make sure that everybody gets the message, as in Iran, as in Iraq today, so in Gaza – they take out 25 people from the jails, Fatah people who have been there for years, and they accuse them – listen to this – they accuse them that they are the ones who gave Israel real-time intelligence for our military actions. Kind of hard to do. I don't know. Maybe we dug a tunnel underneath, came to their jail cells, received… That's not funny. They take them out into the public squares and they put a bullet in their heads for everyone to see.

"So the tactics are uniform. Terror first of all against your own people. There's a larger imperative. We know this. We've seen this before. There's a master race; now there's a master faith. And that allows you to do anything to anyone, but first of all to your own people and then to everyone else. And what do you do to everyone else? For that you use new techniques. And the new techniques involve first of all taking over civilian populations, putting yourself inside civilian areas contravening the laws of war and the Geneva Convention; using your people as human shields, the same people you execute; and then firing indiscriminately at civilians. You hide behind civilians, you fire on civilians. And you fire rockets and missiles. And this creates a whole new set of problems. And these problems are born of the fact that it's much harder to fight this kind of terror – much harder. It's much easier to fight an army: tanks, artillery, command centers, open spaces. You destroy that, you destroy the army. End of war.

An expensive defense

“But these people, because they're forcing you to face up to the moral limits that democracies obey, are basically forcing you to fight a new war and that new war requires two things. It's requires the ability to have precision-guided munitions to be able to target the terrorists who are targeting you from inside civilians areas, but to try to limit the damage – what is called collateral damage or the incidental civilians casualties that accompany any war. Here they're placed right in there, deliberately, by the terrorists. So you need precision weapons. You also need very precise intelligence. But the second thing – and that's very, very expensive. I'm going to say that in Hebrew in a second. We have defense budget discussions. That's very expensive. It's much more expensive than dealing with tanks or artillery or regular armies.

"And the second thing you have to do is defend yourself against the missiles that they pour on your own population, what we call the rear but in this case it's the front because your cities are targeted. Well, we figured out, with the help of the United States for which we're deeply grateful, we developed a system to protect ourselves against this terror, these terror attacks from the sky. And that too is very, very expensive.

"So dealing with this new type of war actually is more difficult than dealing with the old type of war. But that's the war that we're facing. That's the terror war that we now face. We face Islamist terrorists who take entire communities, cities, populations, hostage; who execute dissenters; who hide among civilians; and fire on civilians. That's the new war. We have to make sure that they don't have weapons of mass destruction because they have no inhibitions. But we also have to make sure that we have the capability to attack them and to defend against their attacks. And that requires weapons, defensive and offensive, but above all it requires, I believe, clarity and courage – clarity to understand they're wrong, we're right; they're evil, we're good. No moral relativism there at all. These people who lop off heads, trample human rights into the dust – are evil and they have to be resisted. Evil has to be resisted. And the second, it requires courage and responsibility. It requires courage because all the other qualities that we could bring to bear in the battle against terrorism are meaningless if you don't have courage.

Militant Islam will be defeated

"I think we have reservoirs of both, but I think that we have to also recognize that we are in a great historic juncture. I may surprise you when I tell you that I think militant Islam will be defeated. I think it will be, I think it will ultimately disappear from the stage of history because I think it's a grand failure – it doesn't know how to manage economies, it cannot offer the young people to which it appeals any kind of future. It can control their minds for now but ultimately the spread of information technology will obviate that, will give people choices. But this may take a long time. And we've been able to predict in the past that radical ideologies – which inflame the minds of millions – set their sights on minorities, usually starts with the Jews, it never ends with the Jews. They ultimately fail too. That happened in the last century. But before they failed, they took down tens of millions with them and a third of our own people. That will never happen again.

“Clarity and courage, alliances as broad as we can make them with those who understand that we're in a common battle, and courage to see this through, to roll back an ultimate victory. I'm confident that militant Islam will perish, but we must not allow anyone to perish with it before it goes down. That's our task.”

After speaking in Hebrew to the Israeli audience, Netanyahu added:

“I think there's a potential for a regional and international alliance against the forces of tyranny and terror that threaten all of us, but our experience, the experience of the Jewish people, has said that you always seek alliances because every nation needs alliances. A super-power like the United States of America needs alliances and certainly a small country like Israel needs alliances. But ultimately the only guarantor of our existence and the ability to form alliances depends on our internal strength. Nobody seeks your alliance if you are weak. You have to be able to protect yourself and if there's one change that has been brought about in the history of the Jewish people since the establishment of the Jewish state, it's our ability to defend ourselves, by ourselves, against any foe. That was and remains the basis of our policy.

“Thank you very much."

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

Researcher: 20 Percent Chance Ebola Will Spread to US Within 2 Weeks
Ira Longini, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, was part of a team of researchers that used a mathematical model to generate projections of the epidemic spread of Ebola worldwide. The scientists took into consideration daily airline passenger travel worldwide, information about the disease’s spread rate, and other factors. “As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to spread, isolated cases will likely make their way to the United States,” Longini told Newsmax Health. “Our latest estimates show there is a nearly 20 percent chance that this will occur within two weeks.”  

Obama and Presidential Hubris
When a nation's chief executive presumes to be the sole judge of what's "right" for his nation he has crossed the fine line between a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" and a regime that cavalierly sets aside what might be the will of the people for the chief's own idea of what is "right." Such a person has gone from being a leader to a controller.  

Putin is under Satan’s influence, says leader of Kiev Orthodox Church
President Vladimir Putin has fallen under the spell of Satan and faces eternal damnation unless he repents, a top Ukrainian clergyman said in an unusually blunt statement that squarely blamed the Russian leader for the war in Ukraine. “With great regret I must now say publicly that among the rulers of this world … there has appeared a new Cain, not by his name but by his deeds,” Patriarch Filaret said on Saturday, invoking the Biblical character who killed his brother Abel.  

No Saudi ban over Ebola for Nigerians going on haj – Arab News
Saudi Arabia, which has barred pilgrims from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea from the haj due to Ebola concerns, will allow Nigerians to attend, an official was reported on Monday as saying, suggesting the smaller outbreak there was less worrying.  

Special Report: Scots warm to the power of Yes
A week before the referendum on Sept. 18, momentum is with those who want change. A Sept. 7 poll for YouGov showed support for independence in the lead - 51 percent to 49. Thanks to the Yes campaign’s savvier ground game, the gap between the two sides has tightened dramatically in the past few weeks,  

Beheaded corpse of alleged Israeli spy found in Sinai with note attached
This is the eighth beheading claimed by the Islamic State linked group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in under a month. Residents in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula said on Wednesday they found a beheaded corpse bearing a note signed by an Islamist militant group linked to the Syria and Iraq-based Islamic State, accusing the victim of being an Israeli spy.  

STORM WARNING
A pair of CMEs is heading for Earth. The two solar storm clouds were launched on Sept. 9th and 10th by strong explosions in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2158. NOAA forecasters estimate a nearly 80% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Sept. 12th when the first of the two CMEs arrives.  

Eruption Update: Earthquake Activity Continuing
Around 20 earthquakes were measured in the Bárðarbunga area between midnight and 6:30 am, which is about half the number of events detected during the same period yesterday, according to the latest report from the Icelandic Met Office. The largest earthquake last night measured magnitude 5.3 and occurred shortly after midnight at the southern caldera rim of Bárðarbunga.  

Cardinal: U.S. ‘Creed’ on Gay Marriage Like Sharia Law
Cardinal Francis George, head of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago, said the levers of power in government, education, entertainment, and media are enforcing a “public creed,” a “fake church” that requires all citizens to approve of gay marriage and related sexual anomalies or be punished by the State, just “as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law.”  

"Extreme" solar storm streaking towards Earth, scientists say
An extreme solar flare is blasting its way to Earth and could mess up some power grids, satellites and radio transmissions, scientists say. It's been several years since Earth has had a solar storm of this size coming from sunspots smack in the middle of the sun, said Tom Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.  

Russia stokes tensions with the west by cutting gas exports to Poland
A decision by Russia to cut gas exports to Poland without warning has rekindled fears about Europe's reliance on Siberian gas at a time of increasing tension between Moscow and the west. The Polish state energy group, PGNiG, said it was trying to find out why volumes had been slashed by up to 24% when it had been exporting gas itself to Ukraine to make up for Russian shortfalls there.  

U.S. Confirms ISIL Planning Infiltration of U.S. Southern Border
A senior Homeland Security (DHS) official confirmed to Congress on Wednesday that militants associated with...(ISIL or ISIS) are planning to enter the United States via the porous southern border. Francis Taylor, under secretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS, told senators during a hearing that ISIL supporters are known to be plotting ways to infiltrate the United States through the border.  

Islamic State crisis: Kerry to meet Arab leaders in Jeddah
US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet key Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, as he tries to build a coalition against Islamic State (IS) militants. A US official was quoted as saying Mr Kerry would discuss co-operation in Jeddah to facilitate US air strikes. Earlier, President Barack Obama said he would not hesitate to take action against IS in Syria as well as Iraq.  

US issues new travel warning to Israel, cites airport closure
The US State Department issued a new warning against travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday. ...The warning includes US acknowledgment of flight disruptions into Ben Gurion Airport, initiated by the US Federal Aviation Commission during the conflict after a Hamas rocket fell too close to the airport by commission standards.  

At least 11 Afghan civilians 'killed by Nato airstrike'
At least 11 Afghan civilians including women and children have been killed and 16 injured in a Nato airstrike in the eastern province of Kunar, local security officials have told the BBC.  

Ted Cruz Booed Off Stage At Middle East Christian Conference
Sen. Ted Cruz was booed offstage at a conference for Middle Eastern Christians Wednesday night after saying that “Christians have no greater ally than Israel.”  

EU delays sanctions talks as Russia withdraws in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has pledged greater autonomy for the separatist east but says that would not compromise Kiev's control. He has also said that 70 per cent of Russian forces had left the east, greatly improving security in the region and enhancing chances of a fragile truce.  

Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria
US President Barack Obama says he will not hesitate to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as well as Iraq. In a nationally televised speech outlining his strategy against IS, he said that any group that threatened America would "find no safe heaven".  

Putin promises new weapons to fend Western threats
Russia will counter military moves by the U.S. and NATO with an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday as the military successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine.  

What will the US-led war against jihadists look like?
President Barack Obama's vow to take the fight to jihadists in Syria and Iraq will expand a US-led air war already underway and likely require deploying more special forces to help local troops.  

The Black Swan Of Scotland
It appears The UK government's approach to Scotland has shifted dramatically from threats (we can't guarantee your safety against terrorists) to hugs and kisses.. as David Cameron begs Scots not to tear apart Britain's "family of nations." "I would be heartbroken if this family of nations ... was torn apart," Cameron, speaking in the atrium of the Scottish Widows building in central

Herzog: Netanyahu the Reason Israel not in Anti - ISIS Coalition
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Yitzhak Herzog

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Once again, Israel is not part of an international coalition to "defend the Middle East", even though Israel is at the heart of the Middle East – and it's all Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's fault, said Labor Party and opposition head Yitzchak Herzog.

US President Barack H. Obama is planning to build an international coalition of Arab and Gulf states to fight back against ISIS, the Islamist terror group that has captured large parts of Iraq and Syria, and has threatened to do the same to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf states, as it continues to build the "Muslim caliphate."

Israel has not been asked to be a part of this coalition – just like it was not asked to be part of the American coalition in 1991, when the US beat Iraq's Saddam Hussein back from Kuwait, which he attempted to occupy. Israel was asked not to intervene in that war – a dictate the country's leaders agreed to, even though Israel's population centers were hit by dozens of Iraqi SCUD missiles.

Then, the country was led by a right-wing Likud leader, Yitzchak Shamir, who refused to negotiate with the Palestinians – and now, said Herzog, it is Netanyahu who has excluded Israel from the anti-ISIS coalition by failing to seriously negotiate with the Palestinians. “Had Netanyahu and his minister behaved differently” and negotiated with PA chief Mahmoud Abbas in a “satisfactory” manner, “Israel would be a part of the coalition,” Herzog told Israel Radio in an interview Thursday.

In fact, said Herzog, the fact that Israel was not included in the coalition should be considered a "diplomatic failure" by Netanyahu.

In his speech Wednesday, Obama said that the US would form a broad coalition to combat ISIS.

"The greatest threat comes from Middle East and North Africa, one of them is Islamic State.” ISIS is “not Islamic...no religion condones the killing of innocents...and they’re certainly not a state,” he added.

He further noted that the airstrikes he recently approved against IS targets in Iraq have protected American interests, killed members of ISIS and have helped the Iraqi government regain territories taken by ISIS.

"So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, [ISIS] through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy," said Obama.

On Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that the two countries would continue to cooperate diplomatically and militarily in the wake of US President Barack H. Obama's speech Wednesday night laying out a strategy for fighting ISIS, the Islamist terror group that has conquered large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Despite Herzog's complain, speaking to Israel Radio, Shapiro said that the intelligence services of both countries were already in contact about the issue, and would cooperate in beating back the ISIS threat. Israel is an important American partner in the Middle East, Shapiro said, and would by extension be an important part of the fight against ISIS.

Fatah Official: What's the Difference Between Hamas and ISIS?
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas gunmen prepare three men for execution in Gaza, 22 August

Reuters

A leading Fatah party member has compared Hamas's methods of executing and brutalizing its political opponents in Gaza to the gruesome executions carried out by the "Islamic State" terrorist group, or ISIS.

In an interview with the Palestinian Authority's official TV station, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi expressed his anger over a string of executions and shootings of Fatah members in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, and said the "unity deal" between Hamas and the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority was "a mistake."

Prior to his interview, which was translated by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), Al-Awda TV aired footage from an interview with a Fatah member from Gaza who said he was maimed by Hamas gunmen for leaving his home after being put under house arrest.

"I was told that I was under house arrest - I was forbidden to leave home - for reasons unknown to me," the man, who was lying on a hospital bed with his wounded legs under a sheet. His identity was hidden for obvious security reasons.

He said that despite that fact he went outside "but stayed close to home. I didn't go far away."

"All of a sudden, a car with three men stopped. They got out and told us to stay where we were," he recalled. "They asked me my name, and I told them, and then all three of them opened fire at me."

His story matches dozens of other accounts by Fatah members who say Hamas used the fog of war to settle political scores with its rivals.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has spoken out against the attacks on several occasions, most recently in an interview last week. But Tirawi was distinctly less diplomatic.

"I do not believe that we can keep quiet about what was done to our people in Gaza," he said, blasting Hamas for what he later described as the "nightmarish" way it was treating members of its supposed "unity government" partner, Fatah.

"National unity is not just an agreement that you sign," he fired.

"That agreement was a mistake, a mistake, a mistake. It was dictated from above. A bulls*** agreement with no details and no mechanism for implementation," such as who would actually run Gaza and its numerous "security agencies".

Tirawi also accused Hamas of undermining efforts to fight against Israel.

"If we want to wage war we must be united and prepared. How can we possibly be prepared, when Fatah members in (Gaza) are forbidden to bear arms and fight?"

He claimed that several of the more than two dozen men summarily executed by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge were "officers in the security agencies."

"Hamas says they are spies. Did they place them on trial? Did they interrogate them? Where are the confessions?" he demanded.

"According to what laws did they execute these people? What is the difference between (Hamas) and Al-Zarqawi, not to mention ISIS?" he continued. Abu Mousab Al-Zarqawi was the infamous and brutal founder and head of ISIS's predecessor, the Islamic State of Iraq.

"I don't want to mention ISIS, which beheads people," he went on, but then asked: "What is the difference between beheading people and executing them by gunfire? Aren't they both killers, regardless of the execution method, which we all denounce?"

Hamas proudly and openly broadcast news of the executions, including photos of menacing-looking masked gunmen lining up the victims for execution, in an attempt to project strength in the aftermath of a series of Israeli airstrikes targeting key Hamas leaders.

But the images - as well as the very use of summary, public executions without trial - caused many people to compare Hamas to the Islamic State, which broadcast footage of the brutal beheading of US journalist James Foley at around the same time.

Extreme X - 1 Class Solar Storm to Hit Earth
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily Newsnews.com.au
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

NASA Releases Footage of Powerful Solar Flares

The flare, rated X-1 on the solar weather forecaster’s scale, is rated “extreme” — but only just.

Forecasters don’t yet know when the solar storm — which erupted from the Sun’s surface late Wednesday — will arrive here or which part of the planet will be facing the brunt of the effects. It could arrive as early as this afternoon Australian time, or may take a few days.

Scientists will have a better idea after they get more satellite data.

Solar flares in the “extreme” scale can cause geomagnetic storms capable of bringing down power grids, damaging satellites and disrupting radio transmissions.

More often, the only effect is to brighten the auroras over the north and southern hemispheres.

It’s been several years since Earth has had a solar storm of this size coming from sunspots smack in the middle of the sun, said Tom Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Solar storms happen often, especially during peaks in the solar cycle, and don’t directly harm people. But what makes this one more worrisome is its location on the Sun along with its strength, he said.

“There’s been a giant magnetic explosion on the Sun,” Berger said. “Because it’s pointed right at us, we’ll at least catch some of the cloud” of highly energised and magnetised plasma that can disrupt Earth’s magnetic sphere, which sometimes leads to temporary power grid problems.

The first part of the storm, which arrives in only a few minutes, has already affected radio transmissions. It can also damage satellites.

Dept. Defense Minister: Hamas Likely to Restart Hostilities
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Hamas terrorists in Gaza

Flash 90

Israel's deputy foreign minister warned Thursday that Hamas was likely to resume "violence" if it feels it has made no political gains from upcoming talks in Cairo.

The remarks came just two weeks after Israel and the Islamist terrorist group that dominates Gaza agreed a truce to end a 50-day war that killed more than 2,200 people and caused enormous destruction in the coastal territory.

"There are chances that Hamas will restart its routine of violence, this is a possibility we can't ignore," Tzahi Hanegbi told Army Radio.

"The resumption of fighting would not happen in the short term, since Hamas will wait for negotiations in Cairo, as well as the October Gaza donors' conference.

"But when Hamas understand that the war has not brought them the smallest political success, they could resume fighting."

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel are to take place mid-September in Cairo, Palestinian officials say.

The two sides agreed a ceasefire on August 26, under which Israel said it would immediately ease restrictions on movement of personnel and goods through the two crossings into Gaza which it controls.  

Other issues, such as Israel's insistence on Gaza terrorists disarming, and Hamas demands for a port and airport to open and a prisoner swap, are to be discussed in Cairo.  

Hanegbi reiterated that Israel would reject Hamas's demands for a port and an airport, and said any building materials going into the Strip would be inspected to ensure they were not used to make weapons or militarily infrastructure.

Snalysts say Hamas has gained popularity from the war, with 89% of Gazans supporting its indiscriminate shelling of Israeli civilians.

Even beyond Gaza, a recent opinion poll found that if a presidential election for the Palestinian Authority were held now, Hamas's former Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh would easily win, taking 61 percent of the votes compared with 32 percent for Ramallah-based president Mahmoud Abbas.  

Israel has only negotiated directly with Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

Ambassador Shapiro: Israel Helping U.S. Tackle ISIS Threat
Sep 11th, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Obama, Netanyahu (file)

Flash 90

In an interview Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that the US and Israel would continue to cooperate diplomatically and militarily in the wake of US President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday night laying out a strategy for fighting ISIS, the Islamist terror group that has conquered large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Speaking to Israel Radio, Shapiro said that the intelligence services of both countries were already in contact about the issue, and would cooperate in beating back the ISIS threat. Israel is an important American partner in the Middle East, Shapiro said, and would by extension be an important part of the fight against ISIS.

In his speech Wednesday, Obama said that the US would form a broad coalition to combat ISIS.

Addressing the threat posed by the terrorist group, Obama said that “the greatest threat comes from Middle East and North Africa, one of them is Islamic State.” ISIS is “not Islamic...no religion condones the killing of innocents...and they’re certainly not a state,” he added.

He further noted that the airstrikes he recently approved against IS targets in Iraq have protected American interests, killed members of ISIS and have helped the Iraqi government regain territories taken by ISIS.

“So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, [ISIS] through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy,” said Obama.

"I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," he said.

In the interview, Shapiro added that efforts were being made to set up a meeting between Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when the latter visits the US later this month. Netanyahu is set to spend Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) in the US.