Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Why Iran's Supreme Leader is Smiling
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Although physically weak from recent routine prostate surgery, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, emerged smiling from his hospital bed -- and for a good reason. He has never been stronger. From Syria to Iraq, from Tehran to Gaza and UN headquarters in New York, he feels empowered and this shows nowhere better than in Geneva.

Khamenei has many reasons to smile. The sanctions that were crippling his regime just a year ago appear to be receding. Companies from Europe to Asia are lining up to do business in Iran. His significant efforts to assist Bashar Assad in Syria and to keep Hezbollah afloat have paid off as well. 

Many in Washington have begun to see Assad as a potential ally against what they believe to be the real threat, namely ISIS. His disciple, President Hassan Rouhani, has just met British Prime Minister David Cameron in New York. Rouhani appears to be making new friends.

Hamas, Khamenei's ally in Gaza, rained thousands of rockets, many supplied by Iran, on civilian targets in Israel this summer while the world condemned Israel for responding harshly. 

Khamenei has Israel, America's principal ally in the region, surrounded by his surrogates -- Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Now he is moving westward, toward the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank: Muhammad Reza Naghdi, the commander of Iran's Basij force, announced on August 27 that, "arming the West Bank has started and weapons will be supplied to the people of this region." He warned Israel that, "the Zionists should know that the next war won't be confined to the present borders and the Mujahedeen will push them back."

Despite its role in spreading and supporting terrorist networks in the region, Iran might now join the West in its fight against ISIS. Surprisingly, this new alliance is paved by no other than the U.S. As the President Obama recently explained in an interview with Chuck Todd, "You have absolute clarity that the problem for Sunni states in the region, many of whom are our allies, is not simply Iran. It's not simply a Sunni-Shia issue. 

Sunni extremism, as represented by ISIL, is the biggest danger that they face right now." The president further told Todd that, "We've got to do more effective diplomatic work to eliminate the schism between Sunni and Shia that has been fueling so much of the violence."

It is safe to say that although Obama is trying to "eliminate the Sunni Shia schism" -- a problem that countless Muslim scholars have tried and failed to solve over the past 1400 years -- the only "problem" that will be eliminated in the process is American interests and security in the region. Acknowledging the new ISIS danger while ignoring Iran's role in fomenting sectarian conflict in Syria and Iraq is not only shortsighted but dangerous. ISIS is not about to acquire nuclear capability, at least yet. Iran is.

On the same day that Ayatollah Khamenei reportedly permitted his military commanders to meet with their American counterparts in Iraq to discuss ISIS, the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] issued a confidential report (obtained by Reuters) to its member states, writing that "little progress is being made," and that Iran has implemented only three of the five nuclear transparency steps which it had committed to completing before August 25, under a confidence-building deal reached with the IAEA last November. Does the West actually no longer view a nuclear Iran as a pressing threat?

Those familiar with the Islamic Regime know that it never compromises when it feels strong or when it has the upper hand. In this high-stakes poker game, Iran's behavior in Geneva shows that its leaders believe they are in a position of strength. Their potential recruitment to American efforts to defeat ISIS will only serve to strengthen that position -- perceived or otherwise -- and make it even more difficult to hold them to meeting the obligations to which they committed in Geneva.

President Obama still seems to advocate "leading from behind," a set of policies aimed at encouraging others to take the lead so as not to get American hands dirty. As well-intentioned as President Obama may be, it is hard to overlook that he has been consistently wrong on Iran -- from the time he extended his hand to Ahmadinejad to when he sat on the sidelines while millions of Iranians rose up against the regime.

ISIS is indeed a new danger, but it was not created in a vacuum. Its defeat will far from guarantee bringing about a solution to the deeper problems in the region. If ISIS, a 25,000-strong militia, poses a serious new threat for America, how can one disregard the 550,000-strong military of the soon-to-be nuclear Iranian regime?

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Islamic Headscarf Case
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Muslim women (illustration)

Flash 90

The US Supreme Court will hear the case of a Muslim woman who was denied employment due to her headscarf, Reuters reported Thursday, taking the issue of religious dress to the national scale. 

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a complaint against popular teen's clothing outlet Abercrombie & Fitch - which is [in]famous for its policy of only employing sales associates which reflect its trendy image - after the Tulsa, Oklahoma branch of the outlet rejected then-17-year-old Samantha Elouf in 2008 for employment due to her religious dress.

A federal judge initially found Abercrombie & Fitch liable for discrimination, but the decision was later appealed. 

"Before her interview, Ms. Elauf knew the position required her to model the Abercrombie style, knew the style of clothing that Abercrombie sold, and also knew that Abercrombie did not sell headscarves," Abercrombie said in its court brief.

However, religious rights groups and US President Barack Obama have rallied to appeal the decision, despite a ruling from the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado that the 1964 Civil Rights Act only applies if employees provide "explicit notice of the need for a religious accommodation."

In filing the complaint, the EEOC noted that religious garb cases have doubled over the past fifteen years.

The legal ruling could have ramifications for other religious groups who wear headscarves - including not only Muslim women, but married Orthodox Jewish women and some Christian women as well. 

A federal-level investigation into the legality of religious garb is being brought to the table amid similar discussions in France, where religious symbols are banned in public institutions.

Last year, a Paris appeals court upheld the right of a kindergarten to fire a Muslim woman for wearing her headscarf in light of its policy of providing a secular education.

U.S. in Bind As Palestinians Push UN Resolution Demanding Broad Israeli Withdrawal
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The Palestinians are pushing a United Nations resolution that makes stiff demands against Israel and could put the Obama administration in a difficult position should it come to a vote. 

The draft resolution, which was given to Fox News on Wednesday by a diplomat who wished to remain anonymous, calls on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem by November 2016 as part of a new push for independence and full U.N. recognition. The resolution has not yet been shared with all of the Security Council's 15 members. 

But it would be the first time that the U.S. has had to consider such a forceful draft Security Council resolution. 

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said on Tuesday that Washington's position remains that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be reached through negotiations. Several Arab diplomats have told Fox News that they expect U.S. opposition to the text. They say, however, that if Washington vetoes the resolution it will isolate the United States in world opinion. The United States is one of five permanent, veto-holding members of the Security Council. 

Despite the U.S. position, the Obama administration nevertheless issued a striking rebuke of Israel on Wednesday just hours after President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House. U.S. officials warned Israel that plans for a controversial new housing project in East Jerusalem would distance Israel from "even its closest allies" and raise questions about its commitment to seeking peace with Palestinians. 

The new resolution calls for Israel to return all territory seized since the 1967 Six-Day War, a condition that Israel has not agreed to in any of the recent U.S.-backed peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu has argued that ongoing rocket attacks from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, as well as Israel's relatively small amount of territory, make it too perilous for his government to accept a return to the pre-1967 borders. 

Jordan, as the Arab Group's representative on the Security Council, would be charged with introducing the resolution. 

The draft calls for intensified efforts, including through negotiations, to reach a peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and "a just resolution" of the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two states and of the Palestinian refugee problem. 

The Associated Press reported that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Wednesday evening that the draft was submitted last Friday "and we hope to get an answer within a month." 

"Of course we are not sure whether the Security Council will agree on it or whether we will get the right number of countries on our side. But whatever will happen, we have something to say. We put it in writing and this is clear. We don't need to repeat it again," he said. 

In his address to the U.N. General Assembly last Friday, Abbas said that he would ask the council to set a deadline for a pullout and dictate the ground rules for any further talks with Israel. Abbas also accused Israel of conducting a "war of genocide" in during the 50-day conflict in Gaza over the summer, a charge that drew a furious response from Netanyahu Monday. 

Decrying Hamas for its use of human shields and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, Netanyahu said, addressing Abbas, "these are the war crimes committed by your Hamas partners in the national unity government which you head and you are responsible for. And these are the real war crimes you should have investigated, or spoken out against from this podium last week."

Toll Worker: Boss Told Me not to Say 'God Bless You'
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsFox News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

A former New Jersey toll booth worker said she was told by her supervisor to stop saying “God bless you,” because it might offend motorists.

Cynthia Fernandez has filed a lawsuit against the Garden State Parkway claiming her former boss violated her First Amendment rights.

“I was so upset, I was crying” the mother of three told me. “There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘God bless you.’”

From day one she had always greeted motorists with a smile and a “God bless.”

A few weeks ago she was meeting with her supervisor when he laid down the law on her toll booth language.

“He said, ‘I don’t want you to say God bless you anymore. I don’t want you to offend anybody,” Fernandez said.

She’d only been working at the Garden State Parkway for about three weeks and from day one she had always greeted motorists with a smile and a “God bless.”

“I always say it,” she said. “Have a good day, God bless.”

Ms. Fernandez said not one person complained.

“People would tell me I’m the friendliest toll booth worker they’ve met,” she said.

Ms. Fernandez objected to her boss’s edict and pointed out that other toll both workers were engaged in all sorts of unacceptable behavior – like cursing and listening to the radio.

“The handbook says no phones, no foul language, no radios,” she said. “Not one line says do not say God bless.”

So instead of complying with the demand, Ms. Fernandez decided to quit.

A spokesperson for the Garden State Parkway told CBS New York that the Christian toll booth worker resigned for a completely different reason. They said she wanted a steady shift.

They also said her resignation letter made no mention of the “God bless you” ban.

Ms. Fernandez said there’s a reason for that. Her boss told her to write a resignation letter that simply included the last day she planned to work.

“So my resignation letter I gave him was exactly what he told me to write,” she said.

And for the record, the Garden State Parkway told CBS New York they do not have a policy banning the words “God bless you.”

So friends, this is shaping up to be a case of “She Said, He Said.” Hopefully, the judge hearing the “God Bless You” case will have the Wisdom of Solomon.

As for Ms. Fernandez – she’s babysitting until she can find a new job.

For what it’s worth, she ended our telephone conversation with a polite, “God bless you.”

I was not offended in the least.

Pro - Israel Group Rejected By Augsburg College
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsProphecy New Watch
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

A well-known pro-Israel group at Augsburg College in Minneapolis has been denied formal recognition by the school’s student government on grounds that it is “unjust” and a “stigma,” a controversial decision that school administrators say they fully support.

Augsburg’s student government last month voted to deny a charter to the local chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), a nationwide pro-Israel organization that seeks to foster “a clear and confident pro-Israel voice on college campuses,” according to minutes of the student government’s meeting.

The decision to reject SSI means that the pro-Israel group will not be eligible to receive funding from the school, be permitted to hold fundraisers on campus, purchase materials under the college’s tax-exempt status, or participate in student fairs.

Augsburg officials have stood by the decision to reject the pro-Israel organization even though there are questions as to whether the denial violates the college’s own nondiscrimination policies.

“Day Student Government has the right to approve or decline any student organization’s charter as long as the decision does not violate the college’s nondiscrimination policy,” the school said in the statement.

However, that policy explicitly states that discrimination based on “national or ethnic origin” is not permitted.

Augsburg College spokesperson Stephanie Weiss told the Washington Free Beacon that the college is unsure if the student government violated that policy.

“I think that is something that at this point is a good question and it is not something that I am prepared to answer because there are some discussions going on to figure those things out right now,” Weiss said.

The school is said to be investigating the decision and will arrive at a decision on Friday.

Members of the student government argued at a Sept. 17 meeting that the pro-Israel group is “unjust” and that its acceptance would constitute a violation of human rights.

“How can you suggest supporting such an unjust cause?” one student government member asked pro-Israel students pushing to get SSI a charter, according to a readout of the meeting.

“Because this is a diverse campus, a group should have the right to be,” the pro-Israel advocate responded.

Other opponents of the pro-Israel group expressed concern about “going against human rights.”

“By supporting this group, aren’t we going against human rights?” wondered one student government member.

Other campus opponents claimed that SSI was not peaceful.

“A student group coming with support of one side in a conflict is not seeking peace. Their constitution says they support the government and its actions,” said one student government representative. “The government has been involved in massive destruction.”

Another accused the pro-Israel camp of “imposing” a “stigma” on themselves.

“Are you aware of the stigma you would be imposing on your group and members?” said another student government member. “By not going against the oppression, one is supporting oppression.”

While pro-Israel groups appear to be an issue for Augsburg, anti-Israel groups have been granted approval.

The college, for instance, currently has a Muslim Student Association, chapters of which advocate boycotts of Israel and other measures that critics deem anti-Israel.

SSI’s backers on campus say that their rights are being violated.

“This is about students being denied their right to assemble, a flagrant violation of our rights as students at Augsburg College,” SSI’s supporters wrote in an editorial published in the Echo, the school’s student newspaper.

“This is about a college whose mission is to create critical thinkers and thoughtful leaders, yet won’t permit a group of passionate students on campus who would encourage critical thinking and leadership in a way that could enrich the experience of many students,” they wrote.

Ilan Sinelnikov, SSI’s founder, said he supports the students and is waiting to hear a final decision from the school on Friday.

“I fully support the pro-Israel students at Augsburg college,” Sinelnikov said via email. “This is not a matter of Israel or not. This is a matter of freedom of assembly and speech on college campuses. Freedoms that were taken from the pro-Israel group by the student government.”

PA Ambassador: If Our UN Bid is Rejected, We'll Go to ICC
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Riyad Mansour

Reuters

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, threatened on Thursday that his government will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) if the UN Security Council refuses to set a deadline for Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria.

According to The Associated Press (AP), Mansour said the PA turned to the Security Council "to force Israel to negotiate in good faith the end of occupation within a time frame."

He added that PA hopes the Security Council will adopt a draft resolution, the contents of which were exposed Wednesday, that would set a deadline of November 2016 for an Israeli pullout from Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem, with a goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

"But if this additional door of peace is closed before us, then we will not only join the ICC to seek accountability," Mansour said in an interview with AP.

"We will join other treaties and agencies" to build evidence "that we exist as a nation, we exist as a state although the land of our state is under occupation," he declared.

After the collapse the last U.S.-led talks earlier this year, Mansour said the Palestinians believe it is "futile" to go back to "the old-style negotiations that led to failure."

He told AP that the Palestinians hope that under Security Council pressure, Israel will negotiate by agreeing on final status issues, starting with setting borders based on lines predating the 1967 Six Day War, with minor adjustments.

If the council resolution is vetoed and the PA joins the International Criminal Court, it would also open the door to war crime charges against Palestinian Arabs, but Mansour told AP that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has made clear that the Palestinians are prepared to be held accountable by the world's war crimes tribunal for any wrongdoing.

"But it is obvious that the one who is extremely afraid of this option is the Israelis, and those who are protecting the Israelis," the ambassador said.

The PA has been threatening for years that it will sue Israel at the ICC. The PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, recently met with ICC officials and inquired about the legal procedures necessary for the PA to join the ICC and sign the Rome Statute, thus allowing it to take action against possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

That move came after the PA requested to join 15 international agencies in breach of the conditions of the peace talks that were going on with Israel at that time.

A senior PA official recently said, however, that Abbas had blocked the initiative to turn to the ICC in order to push forward a new peace talks bid.

One - World Church Uniting Against Climate Change
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily Newswayoflife.org
Categories: Today's Headlines;One World Church;Commentary

There are many things uniting the end-time, one-world “church,” including contemporary worship, charismatic enthusiasm, contemplative mysticism, and “social-justice” issues. One of the top ecumenical social causes is global warming or climate change. A massive rally in New York City on September 23 brought together Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Baha’i, pagans, and atheists (“Atheists, Baptists and Baha’i Come Together,” ChristianityToday.com, Sep. 23, 2014). This frenzy to “save the earth” is a complete rejection of God’s Word, which tells us exactly what will happen in the future. After Christ returns and rules for 1,000 years, the present earth will be destroyed by God because of man’s sin and replaced with a new heaven and a new earth. I would much rather trust my future to God and to the Bible which has always been proven true rather than to arrogant scientists who make predictions about the next decades even though they can’t forecast the weather next week with any degree of certainty. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

NBC News Freelancer in Africa Diagnosed With Ebola
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsNBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Let the Headlines Speak
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Study reveals origins of AIDS pandemic: A 'perfect storm'
n what an international team of scientists are calling a "perfect storm" for spreading the virus, they think its proliferation started in the city of Kinshasa, the capital of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. And what other researchers are finding interesting here is that this study suggests it was more social change and development than the virus' ability to adapt that caused the spread, which was previously thought.  

Minor earthquake reported near New Hampshire’s capital
The 1.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded at 9:42 p.m. Thursday about a mile northeast of Concord.  

IRS Cover-Up: IG Report Exposes IRS Lying to American Public
A review of the Internal Revenue Service’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act found the agency intentionally withheld or failed to “adequately search” for requested information in hundreds of cases. In others, the IRS released more than it was authorized, dispensing “sensitive taxpayer information,” including individuals’ bank records. Many of the FOIA requests centered around, you guessed it, the IRS targeting scandal. The cover-up is stunning. “The IRS concealed information it should have released in response to an estimated 336 requests in 2013, according to the report.”  

Nicolas Cage devotes 'Left Behind' to 'pastor'
“My brother, Marc, is a Christian pastor, and he was very excited about this,” Cage told reporters in a press conference touting the film’s Oct. 3 debut. “He said, you know, Nicky, you’ve really got to do this.  

Khamenei Calls for Muslim Unity for Israel's 'Annihilation'
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday used his annual message to Hajj pilgrims heading to Mecca to insult Israel and call for its "annihilation."  

PRESIDENT EBOLA: In 2010 Obama Administration Scrapped CDC Quarantine Regulations Aimed At Ebola
four years ago, the administration of President Barack Obama moved with virtually no fanfare to abandon a comprehensive set of regulations which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had called essential to preventing international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the United States.  

Ebola patient’s family quarantined as officials search for possible exposures
The family of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan were legally quarantined Thursday after they did not comply with Dallas health officials requests that they stay home.  

Turkey approves military operations in Iraq, Syria
Turkey's parliament gave the government new powers Thursday to launch military incursions into Syria and Iraq, and to allow foreign forces to use its territory for possible operations against the Islamic State group.  

U.S. appeals court lets Texas enforce abortion clinic rules
A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that Texas could begin enforcing restrictions on abortion clinics that critics of the new rules say will force all but seven of the facilities in the state to shut down.  

Geller sues NYC’s MTA over ‘killing Jews’ ad
The American Freedom Defense Initiative, which is headed by blogger Pam Geller and is known for its aggressive critiques of Islam, sought to post an ad that included the quote “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah.” Geller says the quote is from Hamas-affiliated TV and exposes the organization’s true agenda.  

American cameraman for NBC News diagnosed with Ebola in Liberia
An American freelance television cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus and will be flown back to the United States for treatment, the network said on Thursday in its own online report.  

CDC chief on Ebola: We can’t shut the border
Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Friday said restricting travel between the U.S. and West Africa would likely “backfire” and put Americans more at risk of contracting Ebola. Appearing on MSNBC, Frieden was asked about potentially prohibiting air travel between the U.S. and West Africa, where the Ebola outbreak is most widespread. He said that such a restriction would likely be ineffective and would make it harder for health officials to root out the virus.  

John Lewis boss says France is 'finished' as he advises investors to take their money out of the country
Speaking at an event in London to mark the end of a John Lewis competition for start-up companies, Mr Street said: "I have never been to a country more ill at ease... nothing works and worse, nobody cares about it." Mr Street described the country as being "in decline" and said: "If you've got investments in French business, get them out quickly."  

Ebola 'could become airborne' in nightmare scenario, UN mission chief warns
There is a chance the Ebola virus could become airborne if the current outbreak is not contained fast enough, the chief of the UN’s Ebola mission has warned. Anthony Banbury, the Secretary General’s Special Representative, told The Telegraph said workers are facing a race against time to bring the rapid spread under control in case the virus mutates.  

5.7 quake jolts Visayas, Mindanao areas
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook several areas in Visayas and Mindanao at 4:05 p.m. Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. There were no immediate reports of injury from the quake that centered five kilometers southeast of Culasi town, in the province of Antique.  

Magnitude 4.4 earthquake shakes Harper
At Harper Elementary School, the quake, perhaps the largest in the state in years, sent some students under their desks and skewed pictures on classroom walls.  

With Dry Taps and Toilets, California Drought Turns Desperate
...In the Gallegos household and more than 500 others in Tulare County, residents cannot flush a toilet, fill a drinking glass, wash dishes or clothes, or even rinse their hands without reaching for a bottle or bucket. ...Now in its third year, the state’s record-breaking drought is being felt in many ways: vanishing lakes and rivers, lost agricultural jobs, fallowed farmland, rising water bills, suburban yards gone brown.  

Islamic State crisis: Besieged Kobane under heavy fire
Heavy fighting has been reported between Kurdish militiamen and Islamic State (IS) militants advancing on the northern Syrian town of Kobane. A BBC correspondent across the border in Turkey saw explosions and smoke rising from buildings hit by shells. The jihadists have moved to within a few kilometres of the Kurdish town on three sides despite US-led air strikes.  

Australia approves strikes against IS in Iraq
The Australian cabinet has given its approval for fighter jets to join the US-led military action against Islamic State targets in Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said IS was a "death cult" that had "declared war on the world" and must be stopped. IS controls a broad swathe of territory, spanning a borderless stretch of Syria and Iraq.  

JP Morgan sees 76 million customer accounts hacked
JP Morgan has revealed it suffered a massive cyber attack on 76 million private and seven million business customers in the US. The raid gathered account holders names and addresses but the bank said it did not involve critical information such as account and social security numbers. It said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had not seen any "unusual customer fraud related to this incident".  

North Korea prepares launch site for longer-range rockets: report
North Korea, already heavily sanctioned by the United Nations for its missile and nuclear tests, has completed a major overhaul of its rocket launch site, a U.S. think tank said on Thursday, enabling it to fire larger, longer-range rockets.  

For the first time, Russia has more deployed nuclear warheads than U.S.
For the first time, Russia, which is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear modernization, has more deployed nuclear warheads than the United States, according to the latest numbers released by the State Department.  

US lifts 40-year arms ban to boost Vietnam sea defense
In a decision likely to anger China, the US is partly lifting a 40-year ban on arms sales to former foe Vietnam to help boost defenses in the tense South China Sea.  

Boko Haram leader dismisses claims of his death in new video
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau dismissed Nigerian military claims of his death in a new video obtained by AFP on Thursday and said the militants had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns.  

Liberia to prosecute man who brought Ebola to US
The Liberian man infected with Ebola who brought the disease to the United States will be prosecuted when he returns home for lying on his airport screening questionnaire, Liberian authorities said Thursday.  

NBC News Cameraman Diagnosed With Ebola, Set To Return To U.S.
An American freelance cameraman working in Liberia has been diagnosed with Ebola, NBC News reported. The 33-year-old cameraman and writer had been hired Tuesday by NBC News to work with medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman in Monrovia. He came down with symptoms of the virus on Wednesday and quarantined himself, NBC News reported. A test confirmed Thursday morning that he had contracted the virus.  

Lagarde: Global Economy Weaker Than Envisioned 6 Months Ago, IMF to Cut Growth Outlook
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsCNBC
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks at Georgetown University in Washington, on October 2, 2014.

The economic rebound is weaker than the International Monetary Fund envisioned six months ago and the global economy could be stuck in a sluggish growth rut for a long time, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday.

Lagarde, in remarks prepared for delivery at an event in Washington, said the IMF would reduce its outlook for potential growth. She added that only a modest pickup in global growth is expected in 2015.

"Yes, there is a recovery but as we all know—and can all feel it—the level of growth and jobs is simply not good enough,'' Lagarde said, according to prepared remarks at Georgetown University in Washington. "There are some serious clouds on (the) horizon."

Lagarde, a former French finance minister, warned it was possible that financial excesses were starting to build up in the system. She also cited the economic risks of the situations in Ukraine, the Middle East and West Africa.

Khamenei Calls for Muslim Unity for Israel's 'Annihilation'
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Ayatollah Khamenei

Reuters

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday used his annual message to Hajj pilgrims heading to Mecca to insult Israel and call for its "annihilation."

The speech comes ahead of Eid al-Adha on Friday, the Muslim holiday celebrating Abraham's "sacrifice of Ishmael" in an appropriation of the original Torah story, and like his speech for Eid al-Fitr in July was replete with unfounded barbs hurled against the Jewish state.

"The conspiring enemy is aiming to stoke the fire of a civil strife among Muslims, to misdirect the motivation for resistance and jihad and to secure the Zionist regime and the servants of Arrogance (America - ed.) – who are the real enemies," said Khamenei referencing the bloody conflicts rocking the Muslim world.

Calling for Muslim unity against Israel, the same Friday that Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra'am-Ta'al) called for the establishment of the "United Islamic States" and bashed Israel as being "crueler than ISIS (Islamic State)."

Khamenei likewise accused Israel of having "no limit or boundaries regarding viciousness, cruelty, and trampling underfoot all human standards and ethnics. Crimes, genocide, mass destruction, the killing of children, women and the homeless...they take pride in."

The statement is ironic given Iran's horrific human rights history; just this Monday it was reported that an Iranian psychologist was executed for "heresy" after eight years in prison, and on Wednesday Iran was to execute a woman who defended herself from rape.

Khamenei continued "contrary to the idiotic dreams of power and stability for this regime that the filthy officials of the Zionist regime dream, day-by-day this regime has moved closer to implosion and annihilation."

In response, Khamenei called for the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist groups in Gaza to "reinvigorate their endeavor, determination and resolve...Muslim nations should require their governments to lend real and serious support to Palestine."

Iran supplied Hamas with rockets used in its recent terror war on Israel, and is continuing to develop its nuclear program even while engaged in nuclear talks with world powers.

Khamenei back in January publicly revealed that the negotiations with the US about Iran's nuclear program are merely a tactic to stall international pressure and gain time to continue nuclear development

Jimmy Carter Supports Homosexual Rights, Saying Jesus Didnt Discriminate Against Anyone
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily Newswayoflife.org
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jimmy Carter, Baptist Sunday School teacher and former U.S. President, spoke out recently in favor of homosexual rights in churches. He said, “I never knew of any word or action of Jesus Christ that discriminated against anyone. ... I’m a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs. So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them to” (“Jimmy Carter on LGBT Rights,” Religion Today, Sept. 25, 2014). The idea that Jesus would support homosexuals as church members is nonsensical. Jesus “discriminated” against every unrepentant sinner, warning that any sinner that does not repent will perish (Luke 13:3-5). Jesus discriminated between sinners who repent and sinners who don’t repent. As for sexual relationships, Christ taught that marriage is the only legitimate sphere for sex, and marriage is between one man and one woman (Mat. 19:3-6). That leaves no place for divinely-justified homosexual sex. Outside of the divinely-appointed sphere of holy matrimony, sex is called adultery and fornication. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4). Church membership requires the new birth. Some of the members of the church at Corinth had been “fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, and abusers of themselves with mankind,” but they had repented and been converted. “And such WERE some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

Islamic State Committing Staggering Crimes in Iraq: UN Report
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsThe Age
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

Accused of war crimes ... Islamic State militants march through Raqqa, Syria.

Islamic State insurgents in Iraq have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used child soldiers in what may amount to systematic war crimes that demand prosecution, the United Nations said on Thursday.

In a report based on 500 interviews with witnesses, also said Iraqi government air strikes on the Sunni Muslim militants had caused "significant civilian deaths" by hitting villages, a school and hospitals in violation of international law.

At least 9347 civilians had been killed and 17,386 wounded so far this year through September, well over half of them since the Islamist insurgents also known as ISIL and ISIS began seizing large parts of northern Iraq in early June, the report said.

Syrian Kurdish refugee from Kobani, Zozan Nahsan, 21, shouts her anger, "where are the big powers, where is humanity? They kill us, Kobani is being massacred." Photo: AP

"The array of violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups is staggering, and many of their acts may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein.

In a statement, he called again for the Baghdad government to join the International Criminal Court, saying the Hague court was set up to prosecute such massive abuses and direct targeting of civilians on the basis of their religious or ethnic group.

Islamist forces have committed gross human rights violations and violence of an "increasing sectarian nature" against groups including Christians, Yazidis and Shi'ite Muslims in a widening conflict that has forced 1.8 million Iraqis to flee their homes, according to the 29-page report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

"These include attacks directly targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, executions and other targeted killings of civilians, abductions, rape and other forms of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against women and children, forced recruitment of children, destruction or desecration of places of religious or cultural significance, wanton destruction and looting of property, and denial of fundamental freedoms."

Female 'sex slaves'

In a single massacre on June 12, the report said, about 1500 Iraqi soldiers and security officers from the former US Camp Speicher military base in Salahuddin province were captured and killed by Islamic State fighters.

However, the bodies have not been exhumed and the precise toll is not known. No one disputes that Iraqi military recruits were led off the base near Tikrit unarmed and then machinegunned in their hundreds into mass graves by Islamic State, whose fighters boasted of the killings on the internet.

Women have been treated particularly harshly, the report said: "ISIL (has) attacked and killed female doctors, lawyers, among other professionals."

In August, it said, ISIL took 450-500 women and girls to the Tal Afar citadel in Iraq's Nineveh region where "150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIL fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves".

Islamic State pushed on with its assault on a Syrian border town on Thursday despite coalition air strikes meant to weaken them, sending thousands more Kurdish refugees into Turkey and dragging Ankara deeper into the conflict.

Islamic State and allied groups have attacked and destroyed places of religious and cultural significance in Iraq that do not conform to its "takfiri" doctrine, the UN report said, referring to the beliefs of Sunni militants who justify their violence by branding others as apostates.

But the report also voiced deep concern at violations committed by the Baghdad government and allied fighters, including air strikes and shelling that may not have distinguished between military targets and civilian areas.

ISIS Within a Mile from Baghdad
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

ISIS in Mosul, Iraq

Reuters

Islamic State (ISIS) fighters are only a mile away from Baghdad, according to a spokesman for the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East.

Battles between ISIS and Iraqi forces have also been raging in the strategic city of Amiriyat al-Fallujah, 25 miles west of Baghdad.

Battles on both fronts have been calmed over the past several days, and Iraqi bombing and ground forces have been successful in keeping the ISIS forces from entering the capital. The threat on Baghdad is still very real, however.

"They said it could never happen and now it almost has," a spokesman for the organization, a Christian aid group,  said in an interview. "Obama says he overestimated what the Iraqi Army could do. Well, you only need to be here a very short while to know they can do very, very little." So reports The Clarion Project, an organization that aims to "challenge extremism and promote dialogue," according to its website.

The spokesman, Canon Andrew White, said that the U.S. airstrikes had proven to be ineffective against the Islamic State and that they had merely killed civilians. Ground troops are needed, he said, to defeat the Islamic State.

White clarified several important points. He said that Iraqi soldiers are simply not as motivated as are the ISIS terrorists, whom they greatly fear. In addition, he said, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for civilians to leave Baghdad at present, given ISIS control of key parts of Iraq.

ISIS terrorists have captured an Iraqi army base 50 miles northwest of Baghdad, while slightly to the east, a U.S.-backed Iraqi tribe in the Sunni Arab town of Dhuluiyah has held out under a two-week attack by Islamic State fighters.

It is believed that if Iraq falls to ISIS, it will be the first time in history that a terrorist movement will have control of a nation.

Iran Warns Turkey Against Fighting ISIS
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Reuters

Iran on Thursday warned neighboring Turkey against doing anything that might aggravate tensions in the region, AFP reports.

The warning came after the parliament in Ankara voted to authorize military intervention in Syria and Iraq.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and "criticized the method chosen to fight terrorism, expressing concern about any action that might aggravate the situation," state news agency IRNA reported.

"In the current situation, the countries of the region must act with responsibility and avoid aggravating" matters, he added.

Earlier Thursday, Turkish MPs voted to allow the use of armed forces against jihadists of the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq, both of which border Turkey.

However, the one-year mandate is very broad in scope and in no way commits Turkey to sending troops into Syria and Iraq.

The government has said it will decide on concrete steps after winning authorization, with many analysts expecting a cautious approach.

Iran supports President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria's more than three-year-old civil war, while Turkey backs rebels seeking to overthrow him.

A coalition led by the United States, having already launched airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq, has also begun airstrikes against the group’s targets in Syria.

ISIS, for its part, has been eagerly uploading to the internet footage of interviews with its fighters saying they remain unfazed by the bombing - and vowing revenge against the U.S.

Hamas Says IDF Didn't Destroy All Terror Tunnels
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

IDF forces find Hamas terror tunnel (file)

Flash 90

Hamas spokesperson Mushir Al-Masri said on Thursday night that his terrorist organization, despite returning to truce talks with Israel in Cairo in the last week of October, still remains fully committed to armed conflict.

"The 'resistance' is the basis for the clash with Israel. Only through the 'resistance' can victory and liberation (i.e. the occupation of Israel by Hamas - ed.) be accomplished," Al-Masri told the Hamas journal Al-Risala in Gaza, reports Walla!.

The spokesperson continued by saying "there is no doubt that Gaza succeeded in achieving victory by the nation standing firm and the courage of the 'resistance,' which surprised the enemy on land, sea and air."

Al-Masri concluded with a troubling pronouncement, saying "the enemy did not succeed in stopping the rocket fire, and also didn't succeed in destroying the military tunnels."

The latter reference to tunnels, if true, would seem to confirm concerns that while the IDF destroyed all of the terror tunnels leading into Israel that it found, which numbered over 30, others may remain hidden and unknown.

The statement also may refer to numerous reports indicating that Hamas's "military wing," the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as the Islamic Jihad terror group, have already restarted construction on the terror tunnels. In fact, video evidence shows that the renewed digging of the tunnels started even minutes after the ceasefire on November 26.

Despite the pledge to continue armed conflict and the lingering threat of tunnel attacks targeting Israeli civilians, Israel confirmed it has allowed 500 residents of Gaza to pray on the Temple Mount - something Jews are forbidden from doing by the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) - this Saturday for Eid al-Adha, which celebrates Abraham's "sacrifice of Ishmael" in an appropriation of the original Torah story.

Al-Masri also hinted strongly several days ago that his group may be on the verge of sealing a terrorist swap deal with Israel, which would see hundreds of jailed terrorists released in exchange for the bodies of fallen soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul hy"d.

EU Threatens Israel Over Construction Plans in Jerusalem
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Today's Headlines

Construction site

Flash 90

The European Union (EU) on Friday condemned Israel's plans to build 2,610 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, calling it "highly detrimental" to diplomatic efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace, according to AFP. 

Brussels called on Israel to "urgently reverse" actions leading to expansion in Jerusalem, which the Palestinian Authority (PA) hopes to claim as the capital of a future state, following a smear campaign against the project launched by extreme leftist group Peace Now. 

"This represents a further highly detrimental step that undermines prospects for a two-state solution and calls into question Israel's commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement with the Palestinians," the EU's diplomatic service said.

The housing units, which have been slated for construction since 2012 in the neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, were given final approval last week. 

The EU also condemned Israel for allowing Jews to move into buildings legally transferred from Arab to Jewish ownership in Silwan, a neighborhood close to the City of David historical site and the Western Wall. 

The EU took the opportunity to once again threaten Israel, saying that the "future of EU-Israel relations" depends on Israel's "commitment to peace." 

The bloc has threatened Israel multiple times to further its agenda in the Middle East, dangling unprecedented aid packages to both Jerusalem and Ramallah if a two-state solution is implemented. Despite this, it has denied threatening Israel - or promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement - on multiple occasions. 

The project has also drawn sharp criticism from France, as well as the United States, with President Barack Obama on Wednesday telling Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Washington's "deep concern" over the proposed development.

In response, Netanyahu issued a sharp rebuke, reportedly telling Obama during an in-person meeting to "check the facts" before issuing criticism. 

Barkat Tells Netanyahu Jerusalem's 'Silent Intifada' Must End
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Arab rioting in Jerusalem

Flash 90

Mere days after trying to hush-up the "silent intifada" of terror attacks plaguing Jerusalem in the media, Mayor Nir Barkat has turned to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a letter demanding that the terror wave be ended.

The letter also reached members of the government, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino and recently retired Jerusalem District Police Commander Yossi Pariente who are in the midst of a flurry of scandals, and Yedioth Aharonoth.

Barkat noted that since Operation Protective Edge and just before it, "we are witnesses to a significant rise in breaches of public order in Jerusalem and an ongoing harming of the feeling of security among residents of the capital of Israel."

The "silent intifada" has included several incidents of live gunfire by Fatah terrorists in Jerusalem, at least two near-fatal lynch-mob attempts against Jews including one this Thursday, and countless rock and firebomb attacks including on an infant day care center this week.

"If this continued slipping of the personal security in the capital of Israel is not stopped, we are likely to experience an expansion of the phenomenon into a general threat on all of the state of Israel," warned Barkat in his letter.

According to Barkat, the one to blame for the situation is none other than Interior Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu).

"The police and commanders on the ground can't defeat (the threat) without significant backing and the giving of appropriate means to deal with this difficult challenge," wrote Barkat. "Unfortunately, the interior security minister isn't providing Jerusalem police with the needed means so that it can defeat the rioters."

Those means include a dramatic increase of Yassam special forces to deal with the riots, dispatching special forces on the "seam line" dividing Arab and Jewish majority neighborhoods, increasing the tactical intelligence array for Jerusalem police, and making punishment more severe in a combined action with the State Attorney.

In response to the charges, Aharonovich's office was in denial, saying "the minister's zero tolerance policy is clear to forces on the ground, and for evidence hundreds of arrests have been conducted in recent weeks, and there has been a dramatic drop in cases of rioting."

Aharonovich showed similar denial last Wednesday ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana), when he claimed a "30% drop" in rock attacks and an "end" to firebomb attacks, even as explosions rocked the Temple Mount as Arab mobs assaulted and wounded police.

Barkat and Netanyahu are themselves partially culpable for the Jerusalem situation according to several sources, such as Jerusalem Councilman Arieh King, who charged them of giving illegal Arab construction the green light while passing massive building projects for Arab residents and freezing Jewish construction, in what King termed an attempt to cause a de facto division of the capital.

Atheist to Lead in Prayer At Alabama City Council
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily Newswayoflife.org
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

The following is excerpted from The Christian Post, Sept. 26, 2014: “North Alabama Freethought Association board member Kelly McCauley will open the Huntsville City Council meeting Thursday in a non-religious invocation after a secularist group threatened to sue the council over its tradition of Christian Prayer. McCauley, who according to his Meetup page was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and ‘dropped out’ at age 23, told AL.com, ‘My goal is to offer a non-sectarian invocation that, I hope, will lend gravity to the meeting and point to our civic values.’ McCauley was invited by Huntsville leaders to give the body’s first atheist ‘prayer’ after secularist group Freedom From Religion Foundation complained about its Christian opening prayers. Huntsville’s City Council acknowledged that over 90 percent of its prayers before 2012 were Christian in nature. ... Huntsville elected to keep its opening prayers since receiving FFRF's complaints, but opened the tradition up to include various faith leaders including Wiccan priest Blake Kirk who prayed before the council meeting earlier this year. Kirk’s prayer set off a community uproar, prompting the city to cancel a planned second Wiccan prayer. The city has also featured prayers from Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim leaders.”

As Fed Retreats from Stimulus, Central Banks Overseas Expand Theirs
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsThe New York Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

On Thursday, students in Athens protested the cancellation of their transport service because of austerity measures.  

WASHINGTON — As the growth of the United States economy outstrips the rest of the developed world, American policy makers are allowing Europe, Japan and even China to seek a little more prosperity — at the expense of Americans.

The Obama administration and the Federal Reserve have watched quietly in recent years as foreign governments and central banks have chipped away at the dollar value of their currencies, strengthening their export industries in the hope of stimulating their economies.

The trend is likely to intensify over the next year as the Fed retreats from its own stimulus campaign while the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan expand their efforts. Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, said on Thursday that it would begin a new round of bond purchases this month.

The United States has long argued that markets should determine the value of currencies and criticized nations that try to manipulate exchange rates. The current silence reflects both the simple reality that the American economy needs less help than the rest of the developed world and the judgment of officials that the United States would benefit greatly from stronger global growth. That, they say, would be true even if, in the short term, it makes the country’s goods a little harder to sell and jobs a little harder to find.

With its economy slowing, China reverted to a policy of suppressing its currency. Credit Reuters

“You’re seeing American officials turn a blind eye to Mario Draghi talking down the euro, and turn a blind eye to interventions by the Chinese, because in both cases they’re making the judgment that having a stabilized situation and decent growth prospects in these countries is far more important,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “I tend to agree with that.”

American leaders have embraced and celebrated a strong dollar as evidence of a strong economy. It lets Americans buy more foreign goods and borrow more cheaply from foreign countries. It also may draw foreign investors to American financial markets, supporting the rise of asset prices.

But the rise of the dollar carries large risks, too. It makes it harder for American companies to sell goods and services. It may be contributing to the sluggish pace of domestic inflation. And some economists warn that letting the dollar rise is not a sustainable method of encouraging growth.

“A strong dollar, fueled by higher U.S. interest rates, will likely expose vulnerabilities in other parts of the world,” Stephen King, chief global economist at HSBC, wrote in a research note on Thursday. “Latin American countries already flirting with recession would certainly not welcome a tightening of U.S. monetary conditions.” Some economists said the United States should seek to limit the dollar’s rise through diplomacy and policy, and that the Fed should seek to limit its divergence from other central banks by extending its stimulus campaign.

A recent report by the Bank for International Settlements, essentially the bank for central banks, also questioned the global benefits of a stronger dollar, predicting it would tighten financial conditions because foreign banks rely heavily on dollar funding.

The Currency Game

The value of other major currencies has been falling against the dollar as foreign governments and central banks seek to stimulate their own economic growth at the expense of the United States.

Europe’s health. “It’s going to create some instability, but the alternative is worse,” said Mr. Cecchetti, former chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements. “You don’t want to be around if there’s a real depression in Europe.”

The central bank still has not fully deployed the arsenal of a modern central bank to improve growth in Europe. It has refrained from the large-scale purchases of government debt undertaken by the Fed, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England.

But in recent months it has sought to push down the value of the euro through a variety of measures. In September, the central bank offered loans that were practically interest-free to commercial banks that promised to lend the money to businesses and consumers.

On Thursday, after a board meeting Naples, Italy, the central bank outlined a two-year plan to buy private sector assets, including bank loans packaged into securities. “These purchases will have a sizable impact,” Mr. Draghi said at a news conference after the meeting.

One euro, which bought $1.39 in April, bought only $1.26 at the end of September. “We needed to bring the euro down and we still need to bring the euro down,” Christian Noyer, a central bank board member from France, said in a recent interview with the French broadcaster Radio 1.

Aiming to fight low inflation and foster exports, officials have helped drive down the euro. Credit Yannis Kolesidis/European Pressphoto Agency

While such efforts are usually aimed at increasing exports, the central bank is focused on imports, too. A weaker euro raises the price of imported fuel and other products, which could help budge inflation. Prices in the eurozone last month increased at an annualized rate of just 0.3 percent, far below the 2 percent pace the central bank and other major central banks in the developed world regard as best for sustainable growth.

“This is a currency war where stealing inflation rather than growth is the goal,” economists at the British bank HSBC wrote in a report published on Wednesday. The question, they said, “is whether the U.S. economy can generate sufficient inflation internally to tolerate the deflationary impact of a stronger dollar.”

So far, American officials primarily seem frustrated that the European Central Bank continues to act slowly. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, last year became the rare official to call publicly for stronger action when he told an audience in Frankfurt that the central bank should buy government bonds.

Another question is whether the programs will provide a sufficient jolt. A similar lending program started by the Bank of England in 2012 has not reversed the decline in small-business lending in that country.

“Nobody’s hiring, nobody’s investing, nobody’s spending,” said Stefano Micossi, the director general of Assonime, an Italian business group. “There is no demand for credit. The system is not constrained by the funding side. The banks are awash in liquidity.”

Japan’s failure to reduce its trade deficit may show the limits of devaluation. Credit Everett Kennedy Brown/European Pressphoto Agency

Japan, which has been grappling with the problems confronting Europe for more than two decades, is also seeking growth through currency moves. Under the “Abenomics” stimulus campaign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began in early 2013, the Bank of Japan has agreed to double the money supply, and the price of yen in dollars has dropped by about 24 percent.

The results have not met expectations. Japan’s trade deficit has increased while inflation remains weak. The Japanese economy shrank by 7.1 percent in the second quarter after a sales tax increase.

The country’s struggles may show the limits of devaluation, according to Mr. Posen of the Peterson Institute. He noted that demand was less sensitive to small changes in price for the kinds of high-end goods that dominate the exports of Japan and other developed countries.

The government remains publicly committed to its stimulus campaign. But some analysts see signs of tension between the head of the bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, and politicians who are wary that the rise in import prices will provoke consumer resistance.

“Kuroda is much more powerful than other board members for sure, but not necessarily than politicians,” said Hiromichi Shirakawa, Japan economist at Credit Suisse in Tokyo and a former central bank official. “This is scary as the markets have been expecting additional easing by the bank within a couple of months.”

Counting renminbi at a bank in China. The currency has fallen about 2 percent against the dollar so far this year. Credit Carlos Barria/Reuters

China’s economic rise was built on the suppression of its currency to support cheap exports at the expense of domestic consumption. Then, beginning in 2010, China let the renminbi rise about 20 percent against the dollar as part of its effort to encourage a transition away from export-led growth. But this year, with the economy growing at the slowest pace in more than a decade, China once again pressed down on the renminbi. Its value has fallen about 2 percent against the dollar so far this year.

“It was a way to stimulate the economy without resorting to full blown credit and investment-driven stimulus,” said Diana Choyleva, the head of macroeconomic research at Lombard Street Research in London.

While that small change has prompted little criticism from the United States, the looming question is whether China will continue.

During the financial crisis, China’s government-controlled banking system pumped money into the economy, doubling its assets over a five-year period. Many companies and local governments are now struggling to repay those debts, and authorities are reluctant to treat the pain with another major burst of lending.

Arab Mk Calls for Establishment of 'United Islamic States'
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;War

Ibrahim Sarsour

Flash 90

After Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash) said Israel is like the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, and Palestinian Authority (PA) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat likened the Jewish state and "Islamic state," Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra'am-Ta'al) has now raised the bar.

Sarsour, who heads his Arab Islamist party, was asked what its position is on ISIS by Prof. Marwan Dwairy of the Oranim Academic College located near Haifa. According to the Arab member of Israel's Knesset, Israel is "crueler" than the brutal jihadist regime.

The MK began his response by saying he considers the terrorist groups Muslim Brotherhood and its Gaza offshoot Hamas to be "moderate" Islamic movements that are being "pursued" in Egypt, Syria and the Gulf States. 

"We must be careful not to fall in the snare of demagogy which the Zionist-American-Arab union has adopted in dealing with ISIS, and which at its core is an all-out war on the Islamic political enterprise," said Sarsour.

That "all-out war," according to Sarsour, does not distinguish between "moderate peace advocates" who are so defined in terms of how they deal with their own people "and not with their enemies who attack them."

According to Sarsour, such moderates include "the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas and the rest of the moderate Islamic streams, or extremists like ISIS, Al Qaeda and the groups accusing Muslims who don't follow their ways of heresy."

The definition of Hamas as being "moderate" in dealing with its own comes just after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the UN Security Council on Monday that Hamas is the same as ISIS, giving the example of brutal executions Hamas commited against "it's own" residents of Gaza in the last operation.

"Crueler" than ISIS

And then Sarsour pulled out all stops in his answer.

"We think that the United States, the Saudi kingdom, Israel and their confederates in the region and the world are crueler than ISIS," said Sarsour.

The comparison comes despite the fact that not only has ISIS been conducting very public beheadings of a string of captive westerners, it has been committing horrific atrocities and torture against religious minorities and Muslims it disagrees with throughout the parts of Syria and Iraq under its iron grasp.

Sarsour likewise attacked the division of the Islamic and Arab world into dozens of states, calling it the implementation of "colonialist initiatives" and the "Sykes Picot initiative," favoring a united Islamic caliphate instead.

"We support one united state in the Arab world as preparation for one united state in the entire Islamic world of 1.4 billion people," said Sarsour, terming the first as the "United Arab States" and the latter stage as the "United Islamic States."

"I want a civilian state that will operate according to the path of the prophets and caliphates that go on the upright path," concluded the Arab member of the Knesset of Israel.

Albert Edwards Says Watch Japanese Yen and be very Afraid
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsBloomberg
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Albert Edwards, Global Strategist at Societe Generale SA.

The Japanese yen goes into freefall. China’s fragile economy tips over the edge. A wave of profit-crushing deflation comes washing over the U.S. and Europe. Investors panic.

That’s the view of perennial pessimist Albert Edwards. The London-based analyst and his team at investment bank Societe Generale SA have been ranked No. 1 for global strategy in surveys by Thomson Reuters Extel every year since 2007, even with a history of saying unpleasant things that few want to hear.

“My role is to step back from the excessive enthusiasm that builds up in the market, and to just say, ‘This is wrong. This is going to go horribly wrong,’” the 53-year-old said by phone last week.

The cliche is that when the U.S. sneezes, Japan catches a cold. Edwards says Japan is just as apt to lead the way. When the Internet bubble burst in 2000, Japan’s tech-heavy Jasdaq index started to slide weeks before the Nasdaq. Japan also pioneered the deflation that now threatens the West. In 1997, it was a plunging yen that helped trigger Asia’s currency crisis.

With the yen’s drop this week to a six-year low of 110 versus the dollar, Japan’s currency may once again be the first domino to fall in a chain of events that could be bad for everyone, according to Edwards.

Disconnect

The U.S. stock market rally has been going for 66 months since the financial crisis bottomed in March 2009, a streak that’s already a year longer than average. A disconnect between buoyant equity prices and corporate profit growth in the low single-digits makes the situation especially precarious.

“Almost 100 percent of investors think we’re at the start of a long recovery,” Edwards said. “It’s already a long recovery. Forget about starting from here.”

In an hour-long interview, during which he made the global economy sound like a game of Mousetrap, Edwards explained why investors should be watching Japan for clues about what may happen in the next big trouble-spot: China, whose economy is already headed for its slowest full-year growth since 1990.

The argument was this: if the yen falls, it will take other Asian currencies down with it. Eventually China will be forced to weaken the yuan, by adjusting its trading range and expanding its money supply, to keep its exports competitive. That will squeeze developed economies that have yet to fully recover from the financial crisis.

China Syndrome

“What I’ve been saying for a couple of years -- and I’ve been a voice in the wilderness -- is China will ultimately have to devalue its currency,” Edwards said last week. “The yen will accelerate that.”

“Given China has so much surplus capacity and given, as well, how close the U.S. and Europe are to outright deflation, this could tip the West over the edge and cause a market panic.”

Japan’s currency fell 5.1 percent against the dollar in September, its worst month since January 2013. That sent it careening through a level of support -- basically a line on the dollar-yen price chart -- closely watched by traders which had put a psychological floor under the yen since 1998, Edwards says.

The exchange rate dropped 0.5 percent to 108.90 per dollar as of 7:30 a.m. in London, headed for its biggest decline in a week.

The yen’s depreciation is becoming a political issue in Japan. Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s government pledged today to help small business hurt by it. Central bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told parliament a weak yen won’t cause problems as long as it reflects fundamentals.

Tipping Point

A divergence in U.S. and Japanese monetary policy -- with the Fed slowing stimulus and the Bank of Japan expanding the money supply by record amounts -- may have started the exchange rate moving. Now that the yen is past a tipping point, Edwards says the psychology of traders is likely to take over and turn the currency into a runaway train.

“Now we’re heading to 120, which is the 30-year support,” he said. “You break through that, and you can see it moving to 140, 150 very, very quickly indeed.”

Edwards found the yen’s price graph so compelling, he devoted an entire client note to it last week. He called it: “Presenting the most important chart for investors.”

He followed that up with a report yesterday, offering “the second most important” chart. That showed a drop in inflation expectations as measured by Treasury yields. The picture, he said, suggests investors are losing faith in the ability of policy makers to keep the U.S. economy from sliding into deflation.

Not Buying It

Richard Jerram, the chief economist at Bank of Singapore Ltd. and a long-time Japan watcher, doesn’t buy into Edwards’ gloom. A weak yen won’t spur deflation in other parts of the world, he says. Nor would a China crash have a big impact outside of countries like Australia, which supply the larger nation with raw materials.

“Basically, it’s a domestic issue,” Jerram said. “Obviously there’s a growth issue, but I’m not sure it really spreads beyond that.”

Japanese currency forecasters see things differently from Edwards, too. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict the yen will be little changed at 110 by June 30. Only the most bearish estimate, from Ebury Partners, puts the currency at 120.

Disappointment?

Like most finance professionals, Edwards hasn’t always had impeccable timing. He’s been telling investors to reduce their holdings in equities for almost 20 years.

In his Ice Age call from the late 1990s, he predicted that deflation would eventually cover the earth, and the resulting bear market wouldn’t end until the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell to 400. The index is at about 1,950 now.

At the end of 2012, Edwards greeted clients with a holiday missive that said: “Expect the new year to bring nothing but disappointment.” The U.S benchmark proceeded to gain 30 percent.

When he’s been right, Edwards has been spectacularly right. He made his first big call in 1996, when he was a 35-year-old strategist working for the English investment bank Kleinwort Benson.

‘Noddynomics’ Call

While most investors were piling into what they thought was the East Asian economic miracle, Edwards was warning of a regional blowup. He called Malaysia’s policies “Noddynomics,” after the simple-minded title character in a series of British children’s books. Edwards says the witticism cost Kleinwort its Malaysian trading license, but soon enough capital was pouring out of the country.

In 2006, when the S&P 500 was rising ever higher and then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was being feted as “the Maestro,” Edwards called him “an economic war criminal.” Two years later financial markets were in crisis.

Edwards’ aversion to equities stems from watching the experience of Japan, where the market took more than two decades to find a bottom after the 1989 bust. According to Edwards’ view, it’s a template for the extended bear market that will unfold in the U.S. and Europe, as stocks recover only to crash again and plumb ever-new lows.

“What happened in March 2009, when the S&P 500 touched 666, that was just a brief stop,” he said. “We will go lower than that. The structural bear market ends when equities are dirt cheap.”

Where should investors now take shelter as Japan’s monetary expansion threatens to send the world crashing down around us? Ironically, the answer Edwards is giving clients is Japan itself.

“Japan is a place where we can find quite a lot of cheap, deep-value stocks at the moment,” he said. “Just hedge out the currency.”

353 U.S. Reps to Kerry: Iran 'Stonewalling' on Nuke Detonator
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Aerial view of Parchin site

Reuters

In a stunning bi-partisan “Congressional Letter” from over 353 out of 435 U.S. congresspersons to US Secretary of State John Kerry, the 353 U.S. representatives issued a stark warning that, “As you wrote in the Washington Post earlier this summer, if Iran’s nuclear program is truly peaceful, “it’s not a hard proposition to prove. The only reasonable conclusion for its stonewalling of international investigators is that Tehran does indeed have much to hide.”

The Congressional Letter’s signatories included almost all of both parties’ leaderships, and was greatly aided by Republican Congressman Peter J. Roskam (R-IL-06) of Illinois, a stalwart, and tireless, advocate of Israel as a vital strategic asset of the United States.

In a June 30, 2014, Washington Post opinion-piece entitled “Iranian nuclear deal still is possible, but time is running out,” Secretary Kerry had exhorted Iran to prove it “nuclear program is truly peaceful.”

The Congressional Letter, dated October 1, 2014, focused on Iran’s “refusal to fully cooperate” with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) concerning the “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s program first outlined by the IAEA in November 2011. The Congressional Letter to Sec. Kerry also stated, “As you know, the IAEA has sought information on the 'potential military dimensions' of the Iranian nuclear program, in particular information about Iran’s extensive research and development of a nuclear explosive device.”

This Congressional warning follows a similar warning from Israel Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, who issued a statement last week that emphasized that “credible sources” alleged that “internal neutron sources such as uranium were used in nuclear implosion tests at [Iran’s] Parchin.”

Steinitz’ Iranian “nuclear detonator” allegations center on the fact that Iran, after close to three years, has failed to explain to the IAEA allegations in the IAEA’s November 2011 report annex, which stated in paragraph 55 that the IAEA “has information from a Member State [likely Pakistan – ML] that Iran has undertaken work to manufacture small capsules suitable as containers of a component containing nuclear material”, and that “Iran may also have experimented with such components in order to assess their performance in generating neutrons.”

Such a device for “generating neutrons” is called a “neutron initiator” (See A.Q. Khan graphic immediately below). Neutron initiators are one of the key components to an “implosion” type of nuclear bombs. Implosion nuclear bombs can use as their bomb “core” either highly-enriched Uranium (U235), or weapons’ grade plutonium

100 Feared to Have Had Contact With First Ebola Case in U.S.
Oct 3rd, 2014
Daily NewsArutz Sheva
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ebola epidemic (illustration)

Thinkstock

America has been in a race against the clock to prevent the spread of the lethal Ebola virus, following reports Tuesday that the first case of the disease in the country had been diagnosed in Dallas.

Four people who came in contact with the man, Thomas Eric Duncan, have been quarantined. Another roughly 12 to 18 who came in direct physical contact are being monitored, with an additional 100 being investigated by health officials for possible exposure.

Duncan was visiting his son and his son's mother in Dallas. Evidently the woman is one of the four quarantined, along with one of her children aged under 13 and two nephews in their 20s, reports CNN.

The epidemic's spread to America seems to have been brought about by dishonesty on Duncan's part, as he is thought to have lied in an inspection before taking a commercial flight from Liberia to Dallas on September 20, saying he had not come in contact with anyone eventually diagnosed with Ebola.

The Liberian government revealed Duncan neglected to mention he had helped his neighbor Marthalene Williams to seek treatment after she fell critically ill on September 15, and later died of the disease.

If Duncan survives his bout with Ebola, which has him in critical condition, he likely has a court case waiting for him back in Liberia. Liberia Airport Authority board chairman Binyah Kesselly said Thursday they would "seek to prosecute" him if he had indeed lied on his screening questionnaire.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf conferred on Thursday, saying "the fact that he knew and he left the country is unpardonable, quite frankly."

Ebola on the first day of work

Meanwhile in Western Africa, where the virus had killed at least 3,338 people, an American cameraman was diagnosed with Ebola in Liberia on Wednesday, a mere day after being hired by NBC News.

The freelance cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, becomes the fourth America to come down with Ebola in Liberia - all the other three have recovered. 

'We are doing everything we can to get him the best care possible. He will be flown back to the United States for treatment at a medical center that is equipped to handle Ebola patients," read a note by the news company's president Deborah Turness.

Mukpo was reportedly hired as a second cameraman for Dr. Nancy Snyderman, who is the chief medical editor and correspondent for the company.

"The rest of the crew, including Dr. Nancy, are being closely monitored and show no symptoms or warning signs. However, in an abundance of caution, we will fly them back on a private charter flight and then they will place themselves under quarantine in the United States for 21 days - which is at the most conservative end of the spectrum of medical guidance," added Turness.

The disease, which has a 51% mortality rate, can only be transmitted by contact with the bodily fluids of someone ill with the virus.