Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Ukraine Takes Historic Step Towards NATO
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsThe Age
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Moscow: The Ukrainian parliament has voted to take steps towards joining NATO, a pointed rebuke to Russia that immediately drew an angry response.

With a Russian-backed separatist insurgency still gripping eastern Ukraine, the parliament voted overwhelmingly 303-8, to repeal a 2010 law that codified a policy of "non-alignment," and to instead pursue closer military and strategic ties with the West.

Former president Viktor Yanukovych, who was toppled in February after months of huge street protests in Kiev, pushed through the 2010 law shortly after he took office. Mr Yanukovych fled to Russia after he lost power.

The 2010 law defined non-alignment as "non-participation of Ukraine in the military-political alliances".

The revised law, which was a priority of President Petro Poroshenko, requires Ukraine to "deepen co-operation with NATO in order to achieve the criteria required for membership in this organisation."

For now, it still seems unlikely that Ukraine will join NATO, in part because of Russia's strong opposition. Moscow had set Kiev's exclusion from all military blocs as a condition for any deal on ending the pro-Russian uprising that has killed 4700 in the eastern Ukrainian rust belt in the past eight months.

Russia has denied repeatedly that it set off the separatist violence in eastern Ukraine, but in recent months it has also made clear that preventing Ukraine from seeking NATO membership is one of its top goals. In November, President Vladimir Putin's personal spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the BBC: "We would like to hear a 100 per cent guarantee that no one would think about Ukraine's joining NATO."

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov sharply criticised the Ukrainian parliament's move.

"This is counterproductive," he said. "It only pumps up confrontation, and creates the illusion that by passing such laws it is possible to settle a deep domestic crisis within Ukraine."

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said even more bluntly that "in essence, an application for NATO membership will turn Ukraine into a potential military opponent for Russia".

Mr Medvedev warned that Ukraine's rejection of neutrality and a new Russian sanctions law that US President Barack Obama signed on Friday "will both have very negative consequences.

Perhaps the most immediate threat will be to delicate peace talks this week in the Belarussian capital Minsk that Mr Poroshenko announced on Monday.

The last two rounds of Minsk consultations in September produced a truce and the outlines of a broader peace agreement that gave the two separatist regions partial self-rule for three years within a united Ukraine. But the deals were followed by more fighting that killed at least 1300 people. The insurgents' decision to stage their own leadership polls in violation of the Minsk rules effectively ended political talks between the two sides.

A new meeting in Minsk had been hampered by Kiev's refusal to discuss lifting last month's suspension of social security and other benefit payments to the rebel-run districts. Ukraine's leaders suspect the money is being stolen by militias in the Russian-speaking Luhansk and Donetsk regions and used to finance their war.

Russia has called repeatedly for a new, federalised system of government in Ukraine, which would expand the powers of regional officials. Mr Poroshenko and his allies have been unwilling to create powerful regional governments, which might be more loyal to Moscow than Kiev. Instead, they have been drawing up a decentralisation plan that would increase the authority of local officials.

Russia on Verge of Junk As S&P Puts Rating on Negative Watch
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsBloomberg
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

S&P is reviewing Russia’s monetary flexibility and the effect of the weakening economy on the financial system. Bloomnerg’s Mia Saini reports on “Money Clip.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Russia may lose its investment-grade credit rating for the first time in a decade after Standard & Poor’s said it’s considering a cut amid the country’s worst economic crisis since the 1998 debt default.

There’s at least a 50 percent chance that Russia will be lowered to junk within 90 days, S&P said in a statement as it put the country on negative credit watch. Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings rank Russia one step higher than S&P, which lowered the rating one level in April to BBB-.

The move “stems from what we view as a rapid deterioration of Russia’s monetary flexibility and the impact of the weakening economy on its financial system,” S&P said. Oil prices at a five-year low and sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine have pushed the world’s biggest energy exporter to the verge of recession. The central bank in Moscow has spent one-fifth of its international reserves and increased benchmark interest rates six times since March, when Russia came under international sanctions after it invaded Crimea.

While the ruble strengthened for a third day as the government told state-run exporters to sell foreign currency, it’s still lost 40 percent against the dollar this year, the second-worst performer among more than 170 currencies tracked by Bloomberg after Ukraine’s hryvnia.

President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow today.

The ruble remained higher following S&P’s announcement, trading at 54.7005 per dollar as of 1:34 p.m. in New York, up 2 percent from yesterday. Dollar-denominated bonds fell, sending yields on notes due 2030 up 0.11 percentage point to 6.24 percent. Yields touched a five-year high of 7.64 percent Dec. 16.

The costs to insure Russia’s debt against non-payment for five years more than doubled this year to 4.21 percentage points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 4 percentage points for Lebanon, which is rated B- at S&P, or six levels below Russia.

The S&P warning comes as Russia tries to avert a banking crisis. The central bank put National Bank Trust, the country’s 15th-biggest lender based on retail deposits, under its control yesterday, the first bailout since the currency crisis started.

Lawmakers rushed legislation through the lower house of parliament today allowing the Deposit Insurance Agency to buy stakes in banks before they face bankruptcy proceedings to keep the system stable.

The penalties imposed by the U.S. and its allies have locked Russian corporate borrowers out of international debt markets and curbed investor appetite for the ruble, stocks and bonds.

The central bank raised the key rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent in the early hours of Dec. 16, the biggest increase since 1998.

The economy may shrink as much as 4.7 percent next year, the most since 2009, if oil averages $60 a barrel under a “stress scenario,” according to the central bank. Net capital outflows may more than double this year to $134 billion.

Investors often disregard ratings companies’ credit grade and outlook changes. France’s 10-year yield, which was 3.08 percent when S&P removed its top rating in January 2012, tumbled to a record-low 1.339 percent on Aug. 15 this year.

Moody’s cut Russia’s credit score one level to its second-lowest investment grade in October, citing concern that the sanctions will hurt its economy. The continued erosion of Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves because of capital flight, low oil prices and borrowers’ lack of access to credit were also cited by Moody’s.

Russia Expands Eurasian Union in Competition With European Bloc
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsLos Angeles Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, is flanked from left to right by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan at the ceremonial creation of the Eurasian Economic Union on Tuesday. (Maxim Shipenkov / AFP/Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded his emerging Eurasian Economic Union with the announcement Tuesday that tiny and impoverished Kyrgyzstan will join the bloc four months after it comes into force on New Year's Day.

The alliance of former Soviet republics was designed by the Kremlin leader to counter the Brussels-based European Union, which has spread its trade and political assimilation up to Russia's borders, including the Eastern European states that were members of Moscow-led Comecon during the Cold War era and the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics.

Russia's conflict with Ukraine, which erupted in violence in April and continues to roil Moscow's relations with much of Europe, was ignited by the Feb. 21 overthrow of Kremlin-allied Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the new Kiev leadership's decision to seek EU membership instead of joining Putin's rival alliance.

But the European Union sanctions imposed on Russia after its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea territory have created friction within the Eurasian bloc too. Russia's cutoff of EU food imports in retaliation for the sanctions allowed Belarus, strategically situated between Russia and the EU states of Eastern Europe, to profit as middle man in importing European products and reselling them to Russian importers. That has angered Moscow and driven a wedge between Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a longtime ally.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, pictured here Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized Moscow for imposing punitive curbs on Belarus exports. (Alexei Druzhinin / Associated Press)

After Tuesday's ceremony in Moscow to sign documents among the five Eurasian Economic Union states, Lukashenko criticized Russian efforts to punish Belarus for its end run around sanctions. Russia has stopped importing meat and dairy products from Belarus, purportedly over concern about food purity, and put barriers in the way of Belarus exports through Russia to Kazakhstan.

"In violation of all international norms, we are faced with a transshipment ban," Lukashenko said at a news conference, exposing a rift in the nascent alliance.

The decision Tuesday to admit Kyrgyzstan, the poorest of the former Soviet bloc countries, also appeared unlikely to advance the Eurasian Economic Union's collective prosperity. With a per capita gross domestic product of $2,500, the tiny, landlocked Central Asian country of 5.6 million people ranks 185th among the 193 United Nations member states.

Russia has extended Kyrgyzstan a $200-million grant to help align its economic institutions with those of the other Eurasian bloc members -- Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia  -- the Sputnik news agency reported Tuesday.

Armenia also brings more economic woe than prospects, with its $6,300 per capita GDP and long-running dispute with neighboring Azerbaijan over its Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan has yet to respond to Kremlin overtures to join the Eurasian trade group, and Tajikistan has also given no indication of whether it plans to join.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev first proposed in 1994 a union of former Soviet states to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, labor and capital.

The five states so far committed to joining the Moscow-led bloc comprise a market of nearly 180 million people.

Pakistani Christian Couple Still Alive When Thrown Into Kiln - Coroner‏
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsWorld Watch Monitor
Categories: Persecution

A lawyer for the state of Punjab, Pakistan has described the murder of a Christian couple by a mob of at least 500 to 600 as "brutal and barbaric". The post-mortem report on their twin deaths (first revealed in the Supreme Court on Dec 15) showed that both husband and wife were still alive when they were thrown into the brick kiln where they both worked, and that they burnt to death.

Shazad Masih and his wife Shama Bibi, who was five months pregnant, were tortured by an enraged mob over a false accusation of burning pages of the Qur’an; they were then burned to death on November 4. They were bonded labourers at the brick kiln, which meant that they were unable to leave their home after trouble first erupted, due to heavy debt.

After their deaths, the police arrested more than 50 people and charged them under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act: ("Terrorism" means "the use or threat of action where … … The use or threat is designed to coerce and intimidate or overawe the Government or the public or a section of the public or community or sect or create a sense of fear or insecurity in society.")

Eleven of them on Wed 17^th Dec applied for bail, but the prosecutor said they did not deserve any leniency, and Anti-Terrorism Court judge Haroon Latif Khan refused them all. They were named as Muhammad Akram, Abdul Latif, Allah Rakha, Nisar Akhtar, Muhammad Hanif, Tajamul Hussain, Amanat Ali, Usman Sindhu, Arsalan Attique, Haris Bashir and Waqas Bashir.

The last four were represented by Supreme Court lawyer Chaudhry Muhammad Arif Sindhu and Dr. Rana Muhammad Shamim (a retired justice of Sindh High Court and ex-Advocate-General and Prosecutor-General of Sindh province), who argued that the last two were only eyewitnesses.

Lawyer Sindhu told World Watch Monitor that the police had arrested Haris Bashir and his brother Usman Bashir because they were eyewitnesses to the negligence of the police, which had allowed the couple to die at the hands of the mob. The lawyer said that Haris Bashir, a university student, had informed the police as a law-abiding citizen.

"Usman Bashir, a Lahore High Court lawyer, went to the police station after Haris called him but the police also arrested him and named him in the case."

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Ebola Epidemic Continues in Africa, Despite Progress in Some Places
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has undergone a dramatic change in the past several months, U.S. health officials said today  

Ten Commandments Judge: City ‘Foolish’ for Allowing Atheist, Wiccan Prayers at Council Meetings
Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, is reprimanding the city of Huntsville for its prayer policy at city council meetings, which allows for atheists and Wiccans to lead the invocation.  

Russia says NATO turning Ukraine into 'frontline of confrontation'
Russia said on Wednesday NATO was turning Ukraine into a "frontline of confrontation" and threatened to sever remaining ties with the Atlantic military alliance if Ukraine's hopes of joining it were realized.  

Nun pleads for Christians raped, sold, killed by ISIS
ISIS is nothing new, she said, just the re-emergence of Islam’s dark side. “ISIS is not fanatic. ISIS is not more terrible. ISIS is real Muslim believers who like to follow the Quran and Muhammad,” said the founder of Warburg, Germany-based Sister Hatune Foundation,  

Woman arrested after damaging Satanic display at Florida Capitol
"It's just wrong, when you remove baby Jesus two days before Christmas and put Satan in his place — that just can't happen. I couldn't allow it to happen,"  

Tense Standoff After Police Shoot Teen Near Michael Brown Scene
An 18-year-old black man was shot and killed by police late on Tuesday at a gas station in a St. Louis suburb...  

South Korea steps up cyber security at nuclear plants
South Korea boosted cyber security at the country's nuclear power plants on Tuesday following...a series "grave" data leaks, and prosecutors said they were investigating a new online threat. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co Ltd (KHNP), which runs South Korea's 23 nuclear power reactors, said on Monday its computer systems had been hacked, raising alarm in a country that is still technically at war with North Korea.  

Sliding oil prices leave socialist Venezuela on brink of financial collapse
The ongoing plunge in global oil prices is pushing Venezuela toward economic collapse just as President Nicolas Maduro — the hand-picked successor to the late socialist Hugo Chavez — faces mounting international criticism for jailing opposition figures after months of street protests.  

From Baltic to Asia, East-West aerial confrontations heat up
From the skies of the Baltic to the South China Sea, a new era of confrontation with Russia and China is pitting U.S. and allied pilots against their counterparts on a scale not seen since the Cold War era. It is, current and former officials say, a major shift for air crews who by and large have spent more than a decade flying largely uncontested missions over Afghanistan and Iraq.  

French jobless total at new record high
The number of people seeking work in France has risen to a record high, official figures show. The jobless total rose by 27,400 in November to 3,488,300 - the highest level yet seen. That means the number looking for a job has risen by 5.8% in the past year.  

Ukraine conflict: Minsk peace talks due after Nato vote
Warring parties in eastern Ukraine are set to meet in Belarus, a day after Ukraine's parliament voted to work towards membership of Nato. The talks in Minsk - involving pro-Moscow rebels, Ukraine, international monitors and Russia - are likely to focus on troop withdrawals and aid. A ceasefire and framework peace deal were agreed in Minsk in September but neither has been properly observed.  

Ebola crisis likely to last a year, says expert
West Africa's Ebola crisis is likely to last until the end of 2015, says a leading researcher who helped to discover the virus. Peter Piot, who has just returned from Sierra Leone, told the BBC that he was encouraged by progress there and by the promise of new anti-viral therapies. But he also warned that vaccines would take time to develop.  

Sources: Qatar and Egypt officials discuss reconciliation to end 18-month standoff
Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials met in Cairo to discuss a possible reconciliation as part of Saudi efforts to broker an end to the 18-month standoff over Doha's support of the Muslim Brotherhood, security sources said. They said Qatar's intelligence chief, Ahmed Nasser Bin Jassim al-Thani, discussed plans for a meeting between the Egyptian and Qatari heads of state in Riyadh next month.  

ISIS shoots down coalition warplane over Syria, captures Jordanian pilot
Islamic State fighters took a Jordanian pilot captive after his warplane was downed in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, the first captive taken from the US-led coalition battling the jihadi group. Jordan's armed forces said one of its pilots had been captured after his plane fell during an air raid over the northeastern Syrian province of Raqqa on Wednesday.  

Six quakes strike west of Island
While many residents are occupied with holiday shopping and socializing this week, a scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada advises the Alberni Valley to be prepared following six earthquakes struck off the west coast of Vancouver Island over the weekend.  

Magnitude-4 quake shakes Christchurch
A moderate earthquake has shaken Christchurch on Christmas Eve. The 4.0-magnitude tremor struck at 7.43pm on Wednesday 10 kilometres east of the city.  

Earthquake Rattles Challis Idaho
Custer County officials in central Idaho say there’s no damage from an earthquake that shook the area Monday morning.  

US moves to allow blood donations from gay men
Federal health officials are recommending an end to the nation’s lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, a 31-year-old policy that many medical groups and gay activists say is no longer justified.  

Worse than Islamic State? Concerns rise about Iraq's Shiite militias
A former aide to General David Petraeus warns that as the Pentagon prepares to send another 1,500 US troops to Iraq to help “destroy” the Islamic State fighters, there may be an even greater danger that forces face: Iranian-backed Shiite militias.  

Tornadoes blamed for four deaths, major damage in Mississippi
Tornadoes unleashed by thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast ripped through southeastern Mississippi on Tuesday, killing at least four people, injuring numerous others and causing extensive damage to homes and businesses, authorities said.  

It’s official: IRS employees biased against conservatives
One IRS employee called a conservative group “icky” while another griped that they would probably “have to” approve a different group’s application for nonprofit status, according to the latest findings Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee.  

NY protesters reject plea for hiatus despite police slayings
Mayor Bill de Blasio's attempts to soothe a city dismayed by the slaying of two officers were further rebuffed on Tuesday as protesters defied his call to suspend what have become regular demonstrations over excessive police force.  

Doomed UN Bid Shows Abbas’s Struggle as Hamas Gains Support
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s dwindling domestic support may be the real reason behind his latest venture abroad. The 79-year-old leader is pressing ahead with a push at the United Nations to set an end-2017 deadline for Palestinian statehood even as the U.S. threatens to block the measure. At home, polls show him trailing the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip. They also indicate Palestinians think Hamas’s armed militancy is more effective than the peace talks he’s held.  

Iraqi Yazidi girls abducted by IS endured horror
Women and girls from Iraq's Yazidi minority endured horrors at the hands of Islamic State group extremists after they were taken as slaves last summer, leaving them deeply traumatized, an international watchdog group said in a report issued on Tuesday.  

BBC director Danny Cohen: Rising UK antisemitism makes me feel more uncomfortable than ever
The director of television at the BBC has said he has “never felt so uncomfortable as a Jew in the UK” as it was revealed that antisemitic incidents in Britain hit record annual levels in 2014.  

Isis Holds Surprise Public Amputation
Dec 24th, 2014
Daily NewsVirtual Jerusalem
Categories: Persecution

According to classic Islamic law, a thief must have his right hand cut off - and last Friday, that is exactly what IS representatives did in the town of Al-Bab in northern Syria, near Aleppo.

In a "surprise" event, members of the congregation of the town's main mosque (attendance at services is mandatory) were directed to the town square, where a large platform had been erected.

On the platform was a table, containing a knife, bandages, and what appeared to be medicines. An individual convicted of theft was brought to the platform and was held forcibly still by police officers. A large individual - the "hatchet man" - quickly grabbed the knife and cleanly cut off the thief's hand. A doctor quickly bandaged the victim's bleeding stump.

Friday's incident was just one of dozens IS has announced in recent weeks, delineating the crime and offense against Islamic law, and the punishment. So far, adulterers and homosexuals have been stoned or thrown off the roof of buildings, thieves have had hands and/or legs cut off, Muslims not deemed to be "religious" enough - goofing off during prayers, for example - have been whipped in public, and so on.

With that, witnesses in the IS-held areas said that fighters for the group were recently given an official religious ruling that stated that they could take women and girls who were not Muslims as their "sex slaves." The men and boys, of course, are killed.

6 Questions Every Gay Person Should Ask Pt. 1
Dec 24th, 2014
CommentaryMichael Tays Carter - Light House Trails
Categories: Warning

Homosexuality was a biblical issue long before it became a political one. This booklet answers six important questions about man’s existence and whether or not a God of perfect love exists. Are we only here by chance governed by an amoral “spirit of the universe”? Could it be there is a moral God who has set moral boundaries for our good—a God who loves us enough to literally save us from ourselves?

ONE: What about my Unmet Needs?
There is an Eat-Drink-And-Be-Merry-For-Tomorrow-We-Die party going strong. It is hosted by the famous “I-Have-Needs” with the popular “Get-Your-Needs-Met-Here” to greet you at the door. “Hate-The-Law” is dancing the night away with “New-Christ-Consciousness.” “Doubt-The-Bible” has the crowded room in the palm of his hand. No one wants him to leave, but he has had so much to drink he staggers, and “Easy-Way-Out” has to show him to the door. Morning comes, and the place is still packed with people who all have needs at the Eat-Drink-And-Be-Merry-For-Tomorrow-We-Die party.

Married people who cheat have needs. Drug addicts have needs. Murderers have needs. Pedophiles and rapists have needs . . . What is to stop any of us from meeting our needs as we see fit? Who cares about the idea of rebelling against a moral God or hurting another human being in order to meet our (selfish) needs? When living a pure life seems too hard, what does it matter if we take the easy way out of pain?

The Greeks had homosexual and heterosexual orgies as a spiritual offering to their pagan gods. Who is to say they were wrong? Hitler believed God was on his side as he practiced occult spirituality. Can we know for sure he was deceived?

When we feel the need to live a way the Bible forbids, it is argued that we can excuse ourselves by flippantly reasoning, The Bible must not be true in this particular area of my temptation because it seems impossible for me to overcome. It’s too hard to live the way the Bible says is “right” when it comes to who I am, so I’ll judge the Bible instead of letting it judge me! But, is this really a plausible argument against the veracity of the Bible? It certainly suited Hitler and the Greeks.

When we become addicted and can’t stop a behavior, is it just a coincidence that the Bible warns that sin can own us as slaves? We blame God when He does not take desires away in our timing, on our terms, as if God is meant to be a servant to us instead of the other way around. God, who is the only moral Lawgiver, offers a redemptive plan for mankind in His love, but the freedom, joy and confidence He offers is contingent on surrender to and trust in Him, which often means self-denial in favor of God’s will.

The creed of Satanism teaches: “Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” In other words, do whatever seems right in your own eyes. In stark contrast, Jesus taught:

Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Matthew 16:24-25).