McCain Slams Obama Over Education Policies
http://www.newsmax.com/politics/mccain_education/2008/08/01/118233.html
ORLANDO, Fla. - John McCain, the father of private school students, criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama on Friday for choosing private over public school for his kids.
The difference, according to the Arizona Republican, is that he — not Obama — favors vouchers that give parents more school choices.
"Everybody should have the same choice Cindy and I and Sen. Obama did," McCain told the National Urban League, an influential black organization that Obama will address on Saturday.
McCain listed a variety of changes in education policies that he contended would improve a flawed system — from school choice to more local control and direct public support to parents for tutoring. In each case, he said Obama came up short.
"My opponent talks a great deal about hope and change, and education is as good a test as any of his seriousness," he said. "If Sen. Obama continues to defer to the teachers unions instead of committing to real reform, then he should start looking for new slogans."
McCain's criticism of Obama, the first serious black candidate for president, to the National Urban League echoed the Republican theme that the Democrat's words don't necessarily match his actions or his thin resume.
"If there's one thing he always delivers it's a great speech," McCain said. "But I hope you'll listen carefully, because his ideas are not always as impressive as his rhetoric."
During a feisty question-and-answer sesssion, McCain drew gasps and grumbles from the mostly black crowd when he praised former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The one-time GOP presidential candidate was widely scorned by many civil rights leaders for permitting the city's police department to use overly aggressive tactics against black criminal suspects.
Giuliani, McCain told the group, transformed New York from "a city really none of us were comfortable walking in the streets to one that was basically safe."
In two high-profile cases during the Giuliani administration, police shot and killed unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo and beat and sodomized Haitian immigrant Abner Louima in a Brooklyn station house.
McCain repeated his claim that "the best equal opportunity employer in the country is the U.S. military." However, an Associated Press study found that while blacks make up about 17 percent of the total force, just 9 percent of officers are black.
McCain, in response to a question, said affirmative action was "in the eye of the beholder." He did not mention that he supports an anti-affirmative action referendum on the ballot in Arizona.
Still, McCain made several comments that pleased the audience. Among other things, he vowed to step up Justice Department investigations of civil rights violations if elected and said he would appoint U.S attorneys based on qualifications, not politics.
Earlier this week, an internal investigation found that Justice Department officials had broken the law by letting Bush administration politics dictate the hiring of prosecutors and other government lawyers.
McCain also apologized anew for voting against the enactment of a federal holiday honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1983. "I was wrong," he said to applause.
Offshore Drilling, Another Obama Flip-Flop?
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_offshore_oil/2008/08/01/118359.html
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday he would be willing to support limited additional offshore oil drilling if that's what it takes to enact a comprehensive policy to foster fuel-efficient autos and develop alternate energy sources.
Shifting from his previous opposition to expanded offshore drilling, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get behind a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy.
Republican rival John McCain, who earlier dropped his opposition to offshore drilling, has been criticizing Obama on the stump and in broadcast ads for clinging to his opposition as gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon. Polls indicate these attacks have helped McCain gain ground on Obama.
"My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post.
"If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage _ I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done."
Asked about Obama's comment, McCain said, "We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore. He has consistently opposed it. He has opposed nuclear power. He has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage." The GOP candidate said Obama doesn't have a plan equal to the nation's energy challenges.
In Congress, both parties have fought bitterly over energy policy for weeks, with Republicans pressing for more domestic oil drilling and Democrats railing about oil company profits. Despite hundreds of hours of House and Senate floor debate, lawmakers will leave Washington for their five-week summer hiatus this week with an empty tank.
"The Republicans and the oil companies have been really beating the drums on drilling," Obama said in the Post interview. "And so we don't want gridlock. We want to get something done."
Later, Obama issued a written statement warmly welcoming a proposal sent to Senate leaders Friday by 10 senators _ five from each party. Their proposal seeks to break the impasse over offshore oil development and is expected to be examined more closely in September after Congress returns from its summer recess.
The so-called Gang of 10 plan would lift drilling bans in the eastern Gulf of Mexico within 50 miles of Florida's beaches and in the South Atlantic off Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, but only if a state agrees to the oil and gas development along its coast. The states would share in revenues from oil and gas development.
Drilling bans along the Pacific coast and the Northeast would remain in place under this compromise.
The plan also includes energy initiatives Obama has endorsed. "It would repeal tax breaks for oil companies so that we can invest billions in fuel-efficient cars, help our automakers re-tool, and make a genuine commitment to renewable sources of energy like wind power, solar power, and the next generation of clean, affordable biofuels," Obama noted.
"Like all compromises, it also includes steps that I haven't always supported," Obama conceded. "I remain skeptical that new offshore drilling will bring down gas prices in the short-term or significantly reduce our oil dependence in the long-term, though I do welcome the establishment of a process that will allow us to make future drilling decisions based on science and fact."
Nevertheless, Obama said the plan, put forward by mostly moderates and conservatives led by Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., "represents a good faith effort at a new bipartisan beginning."
Earlier in the day, Obama pushed for a windfall profits tax to fund $1,000 emergency rebate checks for consumers besieged by high energy costs, a counter to McCain's call for more offshore drilling.
The pitch for putting some of the economic burden of $4-a-gallon gasoline on the oil industry served a dual purpose for Obama: It allowed him to talk up an economic issue, seen by many as a strength for Democrats and a weakness for Republicans, and at the same time respond to criticism from McCain that Obama's opposition to offshore drilling leads to higher prices at the pump.
In linking McCain to the unpopular President Bush, Obama struck a theme from Ronald Reagan's successful 1980 campaign against President Jimmy Carter by asking a town-hall audience in St. Petersburg: "Do you think you are better off than you were four years ago or eight years ago? If you aren't better off, can you afford another four years?"
Obama primed the crowd by noting new government figures showing 51,000 jobs lost last month and citing 460,000 jobs lost over the last seven months. He tied other bad economic news from the Bush administration to McCain and offered his energy program as one route to relief.
"This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months," Obama said during a two-day campaign swing in Florida. "It will be enough to cover the entire increase in your heating bills. Or you could use the rebate for any of your other bills, or even to pay down your own debt."
Pelosi Turns Lights Out on House GOP
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/pelosi_energy_congress/2008/08/01/118396.html
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned off the lights and microphones on House Republicans, but that didn't stop the debate Friday.
Congress began its five-week August recess at noon, after failing to find a solution to the surge in gasoline prices. Minority Leader John Boehner was part of a GOP group that opposed adjournment of the House, arguing that the U.S. economy was being hurt by Pelosi's refusal to schedule a vote allowing offshore drilling.
Pelosi and her fellow Democrats disagreed, and an adjournment motion passed at 11:23 a.m. The lights and microphones went out soon after, but Republicans kept talking. The power came back on as Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona was speaking.
About 50 Republicans stayed for about five hours to talk about energy. Several hundred observers cheered them on and even gave the lawmakers standing ovations.
The Republicans urged Pelosi to call a special session of Congress on energy, but Pelosi was long gone by then.
Brendan Daly, a Pelosi spokesman, told The Associated Press said Republicans "should go home to their districts and explain their record of obstructing common-sense proposals to address the pain at the pump being felt by American consumers and businesses."
Reid Spikes Omnibus Package with Psychotropic 'MOTHERS Act'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07452.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D - NV) has slipped a controversial bill called The MOTHERS Act into an omnibus package called "Advancing America's Priorities Act" (S. 3297) which is scheduled for a vote. The MOTHERS Act, a bill to screen and treat pregnant and new mothers across the U.S. at risk for mental disorders, has stalled in the Senate HELP committee for months. The abortion rights groups NARAL Pro- Choice America, The Guttmacher Institute, and Planned Parenthood publicly support The MOTHERS Act.
Reid will move to invoke cloture and pass the $11.3 billion omnibus bill this Saturday without debate.
Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R - OK) criticized Reid's plan, stating, "What the staff members are saying is we want to bring a bill, but we don't want to debate it. We don't want to vote on it. We don't want to have it amended. We don't want the American people to know what we would rather do in secret."
Citizens Against Government Waste commented, "If the legislation is worthy of taxpayer money, surely the Senate should have no problem spending time to debate the individual bills."
Ironically, The MOTHERS Act is named for Melanie Stokes, who committed suicide in 2001, following postpartum psychiatric treatment including four separate drug cocktails and electroshock therapy. Many of the groups backing the bill also receive funds from or have high-ranking members working for pharmaceutical companies, or stand to profit from treating troubled women or off of babies needing extensive medical care for birth defects and other complications.
In January 2008, the New England Journal of Medicine published suppressed data from drug companies that proved antidepressants work no better than a placebo. The FDA warned repeatedly that antidepressants double suicides and issued numerous warnings concerning the use of antidepressants during pregnancy. According to data from the FDA MedWatch system, from 2004-2007, an estimated 2,900 babies died via spontaneous abortion because of SSRI antidepressants given to pregnant women.
Studies demonstrate that antidepressants double spontaneous abortions and stillbirths and quintuple preterm births. Babies exposed to SSRIs in pregnancy have a six-fold increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), a potentially fatal lung problem. Nearly one third of women who take SSRIs during pregnancy have a baby who dies, is premature or underweight, or who has seizures.
For more on the stop The MOTHERS Act and the Reid omnibus package (S. 3297), go to www.uniteforlife.org.
Appeals Court Bans Prayer 'In Jesus' Name'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07450.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled that the city council of Fredericksburg, Virginia had proper authority to require "non-sectarian" prayer content and exclude council-member Rev. Hashmel Turner from the prayer rotation because he prayed "in Jesus' name."
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing the decision, said: "The restriction that prayers be nonsectarian in nature is designed to make the prayers accessible to people who come from a variety of backgrounds, not to exclude or disparage a particular faith."
Ironically, she admitted Turner was excluded from participating solely because of the Christian content of his prayer.
A full text copy of the decision, with added commentary by Chaplain Klingenschmitt is here: www.PrayInJesusName.org/Frenzy13/AgainstOconnor.pdf
Gordon James Klingenschmitt, the former Navy chaplain who faced court-martial for praying "in Jesus name" in uniform (but won the victory in Congress for other chaplains), defended Rev. Hashmel Turner:
"The Fredericksburg government violated everybody's rights by establishing a non-sectarian religion, and requiring all prayers conform, or face punishment of exclusion. Justice O'Connor showed her liberal colors today, by declaring the word 'Jesus' as illegal religious speech, which can be banned by any council who wishes to ignore the First Amendment as she did. Councilman Rev. Hashmel Turner should run for mayor, fire the other council-members, and re-write the prayer policy. And if he appeals to the Supreme Court, I pray he will win, in Jesus' name."
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules that Homosexual 'Hate Crimes' Law Used Against Christian Evangelists Violates Pennsylvania Constitution
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07456.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and attorneys with the Foundation for Moral Law applauded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for its ruling yesterday in Marcavage v. Rendell affirming that the state legislature violated the Pennsylvania Constitution when it added "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to Pennsylvania's "ethnic intimidation" law (18 Pa. C.S. § 2710) in 2002.
The Foundation, along with attorney Aaron D. Martin, represented Christian evangelists Michael Marcavage, Mark Diener, Randall and Linda Beckman, Susan Startzell, Arlene Elshinnawy, and Nancy Major, who in 2004 were arrested and charged under the "ethnic intimidation" law for evangelizing at a Philadelphia homosexual parade. The Christian evangelists sued and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania agreed that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down. On appeal the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in a short per curiam order, agreed with the Commonwealth Court's opinion and the Christian evangelists' appellate brief filed by the Foundation.
Judge Roy Moore remarked on this historic case:
"We are very happy that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in our favor to stop the Governor and a group of corrupt politicians from sneaking a 'hate crimes' bill through the Pennsylvania legislature. Preaching to homosexuals about the sin of sodomy should not be made a 'thought crime' in Pennsylvania or any other state."
In the appellate brief filed March 17, 2008, the Foundation and attorney Martin argued to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the legislature's altering of an "agricultural crop destruction" bill into an amendment to the "ethnic intimidation" law--making crimes motivated by "sexual orientation," "gender identity" and other classes subject to greater punishment (Act No. 2002-143, HB 1493)--violated, among other provisions, Article III, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution: "No law shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be so altered or amended, on its passage through either House, as to change its original purpose." The Commonwealth Court agreed that the "ethnic intimidation" amendment violated Section 1 and now so has the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America and a petitioner in the case, said:
"Having been arrested, jailed and charged with a 'hate crime' for preaching the Gospel, I am elated that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling in striking down Pennsylvania's expanded 'hate crimes' law. The methods used by the Pennsylvania legislature in passing the 'hate crimes' bill were extremely devious and yet another chilling example as to how far politicians are willing to go to silence Christian speech that they would violate our own state Constitution to do it. In a nation that is becoming increasingly hostile toward Biblical Christianity, we remain vigilant as the Pennsylvania legislature will most likely attempt to pass another 'hate crimes' bill and are continuing to educate the American people on the significant dangers of such laws."
The Foundation for Moral Law is a non-profit, religious liberties organization located in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through litigation and education relating to moral issues and religious liberty.
South Dakota Remains First Abortion-Free State after Planned Parenthood Abortionists Refuse to Work
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07455.shtml
SIOUX FALLS, SD, (christiansunite.com) -- On Monday, July 21, eight women arrived at the Planned Parenthood office in Sioux Falls abortions but were instead met with locked doors and a hand-written not indicating the only abortion clinic in South Dakota was closed.
Planned Parenthood remains closed for abortions after their abortionists, who are flown in from other states, refused of work under the new law that went into effect last Friday. The law orders abortionists to inform patients of the humanity of their babies and that the procedure could affect their mental health two hours before the abortion can be done. The law also provides that abortionists can be sued if they do not comply.
This law was the brain-child of attorney Harold Cassidy and passed with the help of determined pro- life leaders Dr. Alan and Leslee Unruh, who pushed for the regulation in the face of opposition even from those in the pro-life movement. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the law's enactment last week.
In remains unclear if the Planned Parenthood office has permanently ceased the practice of abortion. However, several women who were scheduled for abortions this week went to a pro-life center instead where some have reportedly changed their minds about having abortions.
"The closing of this clinic is historic in that South Dakota is, for the time being, the first abortion-free state," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "It didn't take the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and it didn't take a new President or a new Supreme Court. It took the courageous determination of pro-life heroes like Mr. Cassidy and the Unruhs who saw an opportunity to save lives and pressed on until their dream became victory."
"We applaud their efforts and encourage other states to emulate their campaign," said Newman.
The Unruhs are currently involved in the Vote Yes For Life Campaign, which would effectively ban abortions in South Dakota, putting the finishing nail in the coffin of the abortion industry there.
Text of the new law and links to the court decision can be found at www.voteyesforlife.com.
About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates
Pro-Life Leader Blames Feminist Groups for Slaughter of Girls
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07454.shtml
FRONT ROYAL, Va., (christiansunite.com) -- Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI), says that America has a hidden problem of sex discrimination, but a form of discrimination that feminists refuse to address.
In PRI's latest YouTube video, Mosher decries the practice, common in East and South Asian countries, of sex-selective abortion. According to the United Nations, this practice has already claimed the lives of over 100 million girls worldwide. The video goes on to cite a recent study published by the National Academy of Sciences, saying that many American groups, particularly those of Asian descent, have the same skewed birthrates as found in their country of origin. Many of the sexist customs and practices that have led to these skewed birthrates are being imported into the United States.
"In China, India, and other Asian countries, there is a strong preference for boys," Mosher says. "This combination of a preference for boys and modern technology--the ultrasound machine--has proven deadly for millions upon millions of baby girls." The video goes on to detail exactly how serious the problem is, and how it can only be explained by the selective abortion of baby girls.
"Where are the feminists when you need them?" asks Mosher. According to Mosher, the widespread slaughter of unborn girls has failed raise concerns in the feminist community. American feminists are so wedded to abortion-on-demand that they are unwilling to oppose any abortion, however egregious. This is true, he says, even when the practice involves the killing of hundreds of millions of girls for the sole reason that they are girls.
"I challenge the National Organization of Women," says Mosher, "and other feminist groups, to join us in the battle to ban this terrible form of sex discrimination that is killing so many unborn baby girls. Their continued silence only facilitates the killing."
PRI's new video is available at www.youtube.com/colinpri1, or on PRI's web site: www.pop.org.
The Population Research Institute (PRI) was founded in 1989 by Fr. Paul Marx, OSB, PhD and is dedicated to: (1) ending human rights abuses committed in the name of "family planning", (2) opposing outdated social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of overpopulation, (3) informing the public about the social and economic benefits of moderate population growth, and (4) promoting pro- natal and pro-family attitudes and policies worldwide. Steven Mosher is the author of numerous books, including Population Control: Real Costs and Illusory Benefits.
Judge Roy Moore and Foundation for Moral Law Welcome Decision by 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Colorado Christian University Financial Assistance Case
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07453.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Judge Roy Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law applauded the decision of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado Christian University v. Baker stopping the State of Colorado from denying financial assistance to Colorado Christian University simply because the state considers the school to be "too religious."
A federal district court had ruled that Colorado is constitutionally allowed to discriminate against a college or university and deny financial aid to its students if the school is "pervasively sectarian." The Foundation had filed an amicus brief urging the 10th Circuit to reverse that decision and find that Colorado's financial assistance program is unconstitutional because it patently discriminates on the basis of religion. The 10th Circuit agreed with the Foundation's reasoning, emphasizing the point that "the discrimination is expressly based on the degree of religiosity of the institution and the extent to which that religiosity affects its operations."
Judge Moore stated:
"Thankfully, the Court of Appeals in this case reversed the absurd ruling of the lower court that permitted the State of Colorado to disregard Colorado Christian University simply because it takes its faith too seriously for the government's liking. We should never allow religious schools to be relegated to second-class status, and because of this ruling, this form of overt religious discrimination will no longer happen in the State of Colorado."
Colorado Christian University is a school that integrates Christian faith into the academic environment and requires its faculty members to adhere to certain Christian principles. Colorado offers higher education financial assistance to colleges in the state with one glaring exception: schools that are "pervasively sectarian," which is another way of saying they are "too religious" for the government's liking. Prior to this ruling by the 10th Circuit, Colorado denied such financial assistance to Colorado Christian because, although it otherwise qualifies, the Christian school was deemed "too Christian."
The Foundation's brief argued that the "exclusion of Colorado Christian University from state financial assistance for its students solely on the basis of the school's affirmation of Christian faith constitutes blatantly unconstitutional religious discrimination." The 10th Circuit echoed this point, noting that "[f]rom its beginning, this nation's conception of religious liberty included, at a minimum, equal treatment of all religious faiths without discrimination or preference" and that Colorado's program violated religious liberty because it "expressly discriminates among religions."
The Foundation for Moral Law, a national non-profit legal organization, is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and is dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through litigation relating to moral issues and religious liberty cases and education consisting of forums for pastors, judges, and the general public.
Muslim Asks City for Woman-only Pool Times
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/421019.aspx
CBNNews.com - It's a growing conflict between Western society and Islamic culture in America.
A Muslim woman in Oregon has petitioned the city-run pools to provide women-only swim times.
Lul Abdulle's Islamic beliefs prohibit her from swimming in the presence of men.
The Somali Women's Association wants Portland to provide after-hours swim times and provide female lifeguards.
But the city says that would discriminate against men and other religions.
"We can't discriminate against religion; the other is we can't discriminate in favor of religion," Portland City Attorney Harry Auerbach said.
"It would essentially violate the rights of male lifeguards if we only hired female lifeguards for certain duty," he added.
The Muslim woman says everyone should have the right to exercise and good health.
The Church Fathers on the Antichrist, Part 3 — What Holly Thinks
http://www.fulfilledprophecy.com/commentary/the-church-fathers-on-the-antichrist-part-3-wh/
The popular pretribulation rapture teaching claims that Christians will be snatched off the earth before the Antichrist’s reign. But this four-part series looks at writings from some of the earliest and most respected church fathers, showing their belief that Christians will have to go through the persecution of the Antichrist. See Parts 1 and 2.
Irenaeus
Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyons, wrote at length about the Antichrist toward the end of the second century. He was a student of Polycarp, who, in turn, had known the apostle John. In his best-known writing, titled Against Heresies, Irenaeus said the Antichrist would persecute the Church, but God would use the time of tribulation to purify Christians. Here’s what he said (all three excerpts are quoted from Against Heresies, Book 5).
In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.” It is manifest, therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord. (Book 5, Chapter 26)
And for this cause tribulation is necessary for those who are saved, that having been after a manner broken up, and rendered fine, and sprinkled over by the patience of the Word of God, and set on fire [for purification], they may be fitted for the royal banquet. (Book 5, Chapter 28)
For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one. (Book 5, Chapter 35)
Mofaz in Washington protests direct US-Iranian talks and paper sanctions
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5481
Transport minister Mofaz, who leads Israel in the regular strategic dialogue with the United States, raised strong concerns over Washington’s direct talks with Iran at a meeting of the forum and encounters with Vice President Dick Cheney and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on July 31.
Mofaz, one of the leading contenders to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister, said “All options against Iran should not only be on the table, but prepared.”
The minister urged the Americans to set firm conditions, such as a refusal to allow Iranians to enrich uranium on their turf, and to be clear that the deadline set by the six powers in Geneva two weeks ago be preserved.
“The Iranians are simply looking for cracks to exploit,” while pushing ahead with their nuclear plans, he said.
After Mofaz met Under Secretary of State William Burns, who was present at the Geneva meeting, the state department issued a communiqué which said nothing about using force against Iran: “The US and Israel share deep concern about Iran’s nuclear program and discussed steps to strengthen diplomatic efforts and financial measures to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.
The Israeli minister pointed out verbally that these sanctions were often left on paper and no effort made to monitor their implementation.
Israel: Iran Heading Toward Nuclear 'Breakthrough'
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/iran_Nuclear_Breakthrough/2008/08/01/118385.html
Iran is heading towards a major breakthrough in its nuclear weapons capability, Israel's deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz warned Friday.
"Iran is continuing to advance toward a military nuclear capability and is heading towards a major breakthrough," the Iranian-born Mofaz told a think tank after talks in Washington with US officials.
"For us such a situation that Iran will have a nuclear power is an existential threat and from the state of Israel point of view, it is unacceptable," Mofaz told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"Our estimation is that already by (2009) Iran will reach enrichment capability and as soon as 2010 will have option to reach (uranium production) at military levels," he said in broken English.
He charged that Iran was playing for time in talks aimed at halting uranium enrichment with the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- the permanent UN Security Council members -- and Germany, the so-called P5-plus-1.
"One thing is clear is Iranians are continuing their policy of buying time and so far they are succeeding," he said.
"We all know time is a decisive element in our ability to change the picture and remove the Iranian threat," Mofaz said.
"And the window of influence is becoming smaller and I believe about to close," he said. "It's a race against time and time is winning."
He said he favored a diplomatic solution to the showdown with Iran over its nuclear program but refused to rule out all options, including the military option, to stop Iran.
Iran Leader Vows to 'Stand Against' Foes
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Ahmadinejad_iran_nuclear/2008/08/01/118383.html
TEHRAN - Iran's president said on Friday the Islamic Republic would "stand against" its enemies with its "power," speaking just before a deadline set by Western officials in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Western powers gave Iran two weeks from July 19 to respond to their offer to hold off on imposing more U.N. sanctions on Iran if Tehran would freeze any expansion of its nuclear work.
That would suggest a deadline of Saturday, although Russia, one of the six powers facing Iran, has opposed a deadline and Iran dismissed the idea of having two-weeks to reply.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the nuclear issue was just an excuse for the country's foes.
"The main reason for their enmity with this nation in the past 30 years is that they want to force the Iranian nation to retreat," the state broadcaster quoted him as saying, without mentioning any country by name.
"Whenever the enemies have failed against this nation they have tried to make excuses, but the Iranian nation will stand against them with its power," Ahmadinejad said, without elaborating.
Ahmadinejad's remarks drew a speedy reaction from the White House.
"Comments like those aren't productive. He should instead be focused on the generous incentives package we've offered," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear warheads under cover of a civilian power program. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, denies the charge.
The freeze idea is aimed at getting preliminary talks started, although formal negotiations on an incentives package proposed by six world powers will not start before Iran suspends uranium enrichment, which has both civilian and military uses.
Iran has rejected suspension in the past and has given no indication so far that it is ready for a freeze.
U.S. Sets Weekend Deadline for Iran Nuclear Showdown
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/US_iran_nuke_deadline/2008/08/01/118271.html
The United States on Friday set a weekend deadline for Iran to answer an international offer to freeze its nuclear drive and warned of new sanctions if it rejects the package.
However, its European Union partners in the drive to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program stopped short of insisting on a strict deadline and said a reply within a few days would suffice.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday that there was no deadline and that his country had already replied.
The US State Department had been vague about the deadline but narrowed it down on Friday.
"We want and we expect a response this weekend," the State Department's acting spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. "They were given two weeks. The two weeks is up this weekend."
Oil prices surged higher on Friday as New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, leapt as high as 128.60 dollars per barrel, before pulling back to stand at 126.76, up 2.68 dollars from Thursday's close.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had given Iran two weeks to come up with a "serious" reply after an international meeting in Geneva on July 19 which saw Tehran broadly accused of stonewalling.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino warned: "Negative consequences await if they don't have a positive response to our very generous incentives package, and that would possibly come in the form of sanctions."
Perino also said it was difficult to discern Iranian intentions, calling them "a little bit unpredictable" as she spoke to reporters in Kennebunkport, Maine.
"The Iranians sent mixed messages this week and it's very hard to tell what the bottom line is," Perino said.
Perino said the United States would coordinate any action with its partners in the P5-plus-1, or the permanent UN Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany.
The United States has taken a more conciliatory approach lately.
In a policy shift, Washington sent top diplomat William Burns to the talks in Geneva to encourage those in Iran who want to cooperate with the West in order to ease the economic and financial fallout from UN sanctions.
Washington had until then refused to sit down with Iran until it suspended uranium enrichment.
Iran expert Gary Sick said Washington had learned that its past desire to isolate Iran with increasingly stiff sanctions had failed to stop Iran from enriching uranium.
The West charges Iran with trying to build an atomic bomb. Iran denies the charges and says the program is for peaceful nuclear energy.
The P5-plus-1 has offered Iran benefits in civil nuclear energy, trade, finance, agriculture and high technology if it freezes uranium enrichment.
If Iran accepts the package, there would be pre-negotiations during which Tehran would add no more uranium-enriching centrifuges and, in return, face no further sanctions.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana delivered the incentives package to Tehran in June.
In Brussels, an EU diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the European Union is "in no rush" to have a response "in the next 24 hours," adding: "There's no real limit.
"We hope to have a clear answer either today or tomorrow. But if it comes Monday what difference does it make," the diplomat added.
After meeting Iran's negotiator in Geneva, Solana asked for a response in two weeks, but "if it's in 16 days instead of 14 it's not a problem. We are not obsessed with a date."
EU Awaits Iran Nuclear Response
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/iran_nuclear_program/2008/08/01/118191.html
BRUSSELS — The clock is ticking for Iran to respond to an offer by major powers on its nuclear program, but European diplomats say they are ready to wait a few more days beyond Saturday's informal deadline for an answer.
Major powers asked Iran on July 19 to respond within two weeks to their offer to hold off on imposing more U.N. sanctions if Tehran would freeze any expansion of its nuclear work. Iran has dismissed the idea of having a deadline to reply.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana — who leads nuclear talks with Iran for the six major powers — will not be looking at his watch or declare Iran has missed the deadline if it does not reply by Saturday, EU diplomats said, but the West wants a reply in the next week.
"One should not focus too much on Saturday," one EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "If it's not Saturday but next week, we'll not make a big fuss about it. What matters is to get a clear answer quickly, in the very coming days."
An EU diplomat said: "We are continuing our double approach of dialogue and pressure. If dialogue does not work, we could continue with additional pressure ... at the U.N. or EU level."
The sources were not authorized to speak publicly about the delicate diplomacy.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian power program. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, says its uranium enrichment drive is purely aimed at generating electricity.
FREEZE-FOR-FREEZE
The United Nations has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran. The stand-off goes back to the revelation in 2002 by an exiled opposition group of the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and heavy water plant in the country.
Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday, ahead of the deadline, that the country would press ahead on its nuclear path.
The freeze-for-freeze offer by the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany is aimed at getting preliminary talks started.
Formal negotiations on the nuclear, trade and other incentives will not start before Iran suspends uranium enrichment, which has both civilian and military uses.
Iran has rejected suspension in the past and has given no indication so far that it is ready for a freeze.
Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili are unlikely to meet soon but could talk by telephone in the next few days to discuss Tehran's answer, another EU diplomat said.
"We've learned to be patient," the diplomat said.
The existing political and economic sanctions target Iran's state banks and include visa bans on officials and measures against companies seen as linked to the nuclear program.
Diplomats say new U.N. sanctions on Iran are unlikely before September and possibly not this year, although Western states may take tougher measures of their own.
EU ambassadors agreed this week to a robust interpretation of the April U.N. sanctions resolution, instructing financial institutions to exercise "restraint" on export credits and allowing European navies to inspect all Iran-bound cargoes.
The move will be finally approved next week, whatever Iran's answer to the latest offer for talks, EU diplomats said.
There has been increasing speculation that either the United States or Israel could attack Iran's nuclear facilities, though both have said force should be a last resort.
Hamas VP's Son Becomes a Christian
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/421001.aspx
CBNNews.com - A popular member of the terrorist group Hamas has apparently converted to Christianity.
His name is Masab Joseph and he's the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a vice-president of Hamas.
He tells the Israeli newspaper Haaretz he accepted an invitation to hear about Christianity and began studying the Bible. Besides changing his life, he has changed his surname to Joseph.
"Out of curiosity I went," he said. "I was very enthusiastic about what I heard. I began to read the Bible every day and I continued with religion lessons. I did it in secret, of course. I used to travel to the Ramallah hills, to places like the Al Tira neighborhood, and to sit there quietly with the amazing landscape and read the Bible. A verse like "Love thine enemy" had a great influence on me."
Joseph continued, "At this stage I was still a Muslim and I thought that I would remain one. But every day I saw the terrible things done in the name of religion by those who considered themselves 'great believers.' I studied Islam more thoroughly and found no answers there. I reexamined the Koran and the principals of the faith and found how it is mistaken and misleading. The Muslims borrowed rituals and traditions from all the surrounding religions," he explained.
Joseph explains that he can now know God through his son Jesus Christ - something seemingly impossible in the Muslim faith.
"I feel that Christianity has several aspects. It's not only a religion but a faith," he said. "I now see God through Jesus and can tell about him for days on end, whereas the Muslims won't be able to say anything about God. I consider Islam a big lie. The people who supposedly represent the religion admired Mohammed more than God, killed innocent people in the name of Islam, beat their wives and don't have any idea what God is. I have no doubt that they'll go to Hell,"
Islam, he says, had no answers. Now he's issuing a message to the Muslim community.
"There is only one way to Paradise - the way of Jesus who sacrificed himself on the cross for all of us," he said.
Joseph is bold in the proclamation of his new found faith, despite the danger to his life or the possibility of losing those he holds dear - like his father.
"I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family the patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity," Joseph said. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah together with Jesus, in the kingdom of God."
The young man also explains his respect for Israel.
"I respect Israel and admire it as a country," he said. "I'm opposed to a policy of killing civilians, or using them as a means to an end, and I understand that Israel has a right to defend itself."
Joseph added, "The Palestinians, if they don't have an enemy to fight, will fight each other. In about 20 years from now you'll remember what I'm telling you, the conflict will be among various groups within Hamas. They're already beginning to quarrel over control of the money."
God's Smuggler Now in the Muslim World
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/421003.aspx
CBNNews.com - One Christian leader has been breaking down walls between Muslims and Christians for decades.
Brother Andrew is best known as God's Smuggler for his work carrying Bibles to the underground church in the former Soviet Union, now known as Russia.
Since the early 1980's, Andrew has been working in the Muslim world. He has even preached the Gospel to leaders of radical Islamic groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Pakistan Calls NY Times Report 'Rubbish'
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/420769.aspx
CBNNews.com - ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan on Friday angrily denied a newspaper report that its intelligence service helped plan a bombing of India's embassy in Kabul that killed at least 41 people, amid mounting allegations the secretive agency is aiding Islamic militants.
The New York Times reported that American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence were involved in the July 7 attack in the Afghan capital.
The report cited unnamed U.S. government officials. It said the conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq described the report as "total rubbish," saying there was no evidence of ISI involvement.
"The foreign newspapers keep writing such things against ISI, and we reject these allegations," he said by telephone from a summit of South Asian leaders in Sri Lanka.
Afghanistan has long accused the ISI of backing the Taliban-led insurgency wracking the country, despite Pakistan's support of the U.S.-led war on terror. The embassy bombing was the deadliest in Kabul since the 2001 ouster of the Islamist regime in a U.S. invasion.
Last week, India accused "elements of Pakistan" of being behind the blast and said it had put the four-year-old peace process between historic rivals India and Pakistan - who have fought three wars since they won independence from Britain 60 years ago - "under stress."
The latest accusations came as South Asian leaders - including those from India, Afghanistan and Pakistan - gathered for a meeting on regional cooperation in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Thursday the South Asian countries were expected to sign a pact to work together to fight terrorism and to freeze funds used for terror attacks.
A Bush administration official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements in ISI of giving militants sensitive information that helps them launch more effective attacks from Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The official said that top CIA and U.S. military officials, including CIA Deputy Director Steve R. Kappes, traveled to Pakistan five days after the Indian Embassy attack to press their misgivings about apparent ties between militants and some mid-level ISI officials, amid mounting evidence initially collected by the United States and then corroborated by Indian intelligence.
A U.S. counterterror official said some Pakistani intelligence officers' support for the Jalaluddin Haqqani network, associated with both the Taliban and al-Qaida, is of particular and long-standing concern.
The New York Times report cited American officials as saying the embassy attack was probably carried out by members of the Haqqani network.
The report did not specify what kind of assistance the ISI officers allegedly provided to the militants, but said they had not been renegades, indicating that their actions might have been authorized by superiors.
This week, President Bush publicly praised visiting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as a strong ally against terrorism. But according to a report in Pakistan's The News daily, Bush expressed concern over ISI elements leaking information to militants and asked Gilani who was controlling the spy agency.
The report quoted Pakistan's Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.
ISI, which has been an important partner of the U.S. in capturing top al-Qaida suspects since 2001 - including 9/11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - is formally under the control of Pakistan's prime minister, but all its senior officials are army officers.
On the eve of Gilani's visit to Washington, the government announced the powerful agency would now report to the interior minister - the top civilian security official - only to backtrack hours later. That confusion had led to pointed criticism of the government, which has struggled to define a coherent strategy for combating Islamic militancy since it took office after defeating supporters of President Pervez Musharraf in February elections.
The government has pursued peace deals with militants and tribes in Pakistan's volatile northwest. NATO and U.S. military complain that the talks and accompanying cease-fires have freed up militants to mount attacks across the border into Afghanistan.
American officials also worry that the lack of military pressure on militants inside Pakistan will only allow them to build their strength and give al-Qaida a chance to plot another 9/11-style strike in the West.
India Step Closer to Landmark Nuke Deal
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/421021.aspx
CBNNews.com - VIENNA, Austria - India moved one step closer to a landmark nuclear deal with the United States on Friday when the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a plan for inspecting the country's nuclear reactors.
The safeguards agreement with the U.N. nuclear watchdog was essential before India can finalize the pact with the United States that would end more than three decades of nuclear isolation. The deal will open India's civilian reactors to international inspections in exchange for the nuclear fuel and technology it has been denied by its refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its testing of atomic weapons.
The agreement approved by the IAEA's 35-member board will effectively allow U.N. monitors access to 14 existing or planned Indian nuclear reactors by 2014.
Without IAEA safeguards, India cannot import nuclear technology from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which includes the United States. India must now strike a separate agreement with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The U.S. Congress will then need to approve the U.S.-India accord.
The deal is seen as the cornerstone of a budding strategic partnership between the United States and India, which was officially neutral during the Cold War but had warm relations with the Soviet Union.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the safeguard agreement is "good for India; it's good for the world."
State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the U.S. was pleased with the IAEA approval and looked forward to a "successful encounter" with the NSG.
"We believe this is important, not only for us and our bilateral relationship with India, but for rest of the world," Gallegos said.
The U.S.-India deal is considered one of President Bush's top foreign policy initiatives, and the administration is eager to tie up loose ends before leaving office. It reverses a three-decade-old U.S. policy.
Gregory L. Schulte, chief U.S. envoy to the nuclear agency, said it would strengthen nonproliferation.
"Today's agreement represents a major step forward to opening civil nuclear cooperation with India while strengthening the world's nonproliferation regime," he told reporters after approval.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "delighted" at the IAEA approval.
"This is an important day for India, and for our civil nuclear initiative for the resumption of India's cooperation with our friends abroad," Singh said in a statement. "The civil nuclear initiative is good for India and good for the world. As we move forward toward our goal of sustainable development and energy security, the peaceful uses of atomic energy will play an increasingly important role."
Iran, which is under international pressure to scrap its own nuclear program because of suspicion it is aimed at producing weapons, was among those with reservations about the plan.
It expressed concern that the U.S. was trying to set a precedent and pave the way for Israel - which also has not signed nonproliferation accords - to continue what Iran called "its clandestine weapons activities," according an Iranian statement before the approval.
Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, Iran's top representative to the IAEA, said Tehran was seriously concerned about what he called a U.S. double standard. He said it would continue to undermine the credibility, integrity and universality of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
"There is serious concern that the United States has taken this step with the intention to create precedence and pave the way for Israel to continue its clandestine weapon activities, refraining from adherence to NPT. and putting all nuclear material and facilities under agency's comprehensive safeguards," Soltanieh said, according to a copy of his statement.
India first conducted a nuclear test explosion 34 years ago after it broke out of its foreign-supplied civilian program to develop atomic arms.
Pakistan, its neighboring archrival, has been vocal in its opposition to the deal, but did not oppose the consensus decision by the IAEA board.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since independence in 1947. In a letter to members of the nuclear agency's board and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Pakistan said the safeguards agreement "threatens to increase the chances of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent."
Wife of Pastor Zhang Zhongxin Files for Appeal of Her Husband's Two Year Labor Camp Sentence; PSB Officials Continue Persecution of House Churches Throughout Jiaxiang County
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07451.shtml
SHANDONG, China, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA has learned that Pastor Zhang Zhongxin, of Jining City Shandong, was transferred to a Shandong Province labor camp to begin his two years re-education through labor on July 6, 2008. On July 11, Zhang's lawyer Li Fangping along with Zhang's wife Wang Guiyun met with pastor Zhang in the Labor Camp. On the morning of July 14, Wang Guiyun, representing her husband, submitted an appeal to the District of People's Court of Jining City requesting that the court of Jining City withdraw the labor camp decision. The appeal has been submitted to the District Court and is awaiting review.
CAA also learned that on July 14, 2008 in Jining City, Shandong, PSB officials, along with an anti-cult committee, investigated Lu Xiaoai, a fellow Church member of pastor Zhang. The policemen seized Bibles and Christian material from Lu. At the same time, officials in Rencheng district broke into Brother Li Dali's home and forcibly detained Christian books and a CD-ROM. Police summoned another church member named Li Da, but were unable to attain information from him due to a medical condition. Officials also investigated church member Lian Dehai. Lian was later taken to the City Public Security Bureau and was placed under criminal detention. Police then raided his home and withheld Christian material and a CD ROM.
PSB officials continue to persecute the churches throughout Jiaxiang County and have detained house church members according a House Church member list. How the officials obtained such a list remains a mystery, though sources speculate the PSB has been working with spies within the Jiaxiang house churches to help relay information.
China Aid Association urges all brothers and sisters in the Lord, to pray for pastor Zhang, and those associated with him who have been unjustly and unfairly persecuted and detained for their beliefs.
CAA calls on Chinese authorities to immediately stop the persecution of these Christians.
To voice your concern over these issues please contact:
Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-6688, (202)5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760
Eclipse Blacks Out Sun Over Siberia, Mongolia, Western China
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,395802,00.html
An enormous swathe of western Siberian was submerged in darkness Friday afternoon as the moon completely blocked out the sun, enrapturing huge crowds of Russians and foreign tourists.
The peak of the total solar eclipse occurred in Novosibirsk, Russia's third largest city with 1.5 million people.
There, forecasts of cloudy skies turned out to be wrong, and tens of thousands of people who had flocked to the center of town were able to observe the rare total eclipse of the sun — which lasted two minutes, 23 seconds — in its full beauty.
Crowds wearing protective eye wear cheered and whistled once the moon completely blocked out the sun and day became night.
Lucas Heinrich, a physics student from Berlin who traveled to Novosibirsk with classmates, described it as "unbelievable."
"It became cold and dark, and suddenly it was light again. I am very happy — it was worth the trip," Heinrich said.
The NTV news channel reported that more than 10,000 foreign tourists arrived in Novosibirsk, the largest city under the eclipse's path, to watch it.
Friday's eclipse began in Arctic Canada, and then passed over Greenland, western Siberia, Mongolia and China.
The first Russians to witness the eclipse were on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen north of Norway.
In Novosibirsk, the airport announced that it turned on nighttime landing lights to provide illumination and handled 14 regular flights and departures during the partial and total darkness of the eclipse, which lasted more than two hours.
Cloudy weather in other parts of western Siberia prevented many from enjoying the stunning spectacle.
Residents of Nadym, a small town not far from the Arctic Circle, were treated to rain and full cloud cover at the moment of total eclipse. Still, the weather didn't stop many from enjoying the festive mood and throwing barbecue parties.
It was not immediately clear how many people suffered eye injuries, despite repeated warnings to wear protective glasses.
In Moscow, there was a partial eclipse — half the sun was blocked — but thick cloud cover prevented Muscovites from enjoying the view.
People have been recording solar eclipses for perhaps 4,000 years, and they typically inspire a combination of dread, fascination and awe — especially for those standing in the path of a total eclipse.
News agencies are reporting that Russia will next see a solar eclipse in 22 years.
According to NASA, the world's next total eclipse is expected July 22, 2009, starting in India and moving across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China and over the Pacific Ocean.
Aftershocks in China before Torch Returns
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/421002.aspx
CBNNews.com - A powerful aftershock hit southwest China's Sichuan province Friday, killing one and injuring more than a dozen.
CBN News Senior Reporter George Thomas is in China to cover next week's Olympic games and was miles from the epicenter when the quake struck.
The Xinhua news agency said the aftershock on Friday measured a 6.1 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of the quake was on the border of Pingwu and Beichuan counties, both of which were devastated by the May 12 quake.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan on May 12 was the deadliest in the country since 1976. More than 69,200 people have been confirmed dead and some 18,000 are still listed as missing.
The country has seen at least five strong aftershocks since the massive quake hit in May. The latest comes just eight days before the Beijing Olympics begin.
In only a few days, from August 3-5, the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics is expected to take place in hardest-hit Sichuan province.
The torch coming home to China through such a devastated area is set to draw a fresh outpouring of sympathy worldwide.
Chinese Army: Islamic Militants Biggest Threat to Olympic Games
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396301,00.html
BEIJING — A Chinese army officer warned Friday that Islamic separatists are the biggest threat to the Olympics, but a regional official played down the danger.
At a rare briefing one week ahead of the opening of the games, Sen. Colonel Tian Yixiang of the Olympics security command center told reporters the biggest threat came from "the East Turkestan terrorist organization"— the government's standard term for jihadist groups seeking to establish an Islamic state in China's far western region of Xinjiang.
A secondary threat came from Tibetan separatists who the government accused of orchestrating a wave of violent protests in western China in the spring, Tian said.
"These forces are trying all means to sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games," Tian said, adding that a force of 34,000 soldiers has been positioned in Beijing and other Olympic host cities such as Shanghai to guard against such threats.
However, the deputy governor of the Xinjiang accused journalists of exaggerating the terrorist threat to the games.
"These terrorist groups are not as capable as some media organizations have claimed or broadcast," Kurexi Maihesuti told reporters in Beijing.
New terrorist concerns were prompted last week by videotaped threats purporting to be from an Islamic militant group claiming responsibility for explosions in four cities in western China in recent months, including two bus bombings in the city of Kunming that authorities said killed two people and injured 14.
But Maihesuti said many of those labeled terrorists were merely "lawless people."
Human rights groups have long accused Beijing of classifying many personal disputes or criminal acts as terrorism to justify harsh oppression.
Chinese authorities claim to have foiled a series of plots by members of Xinjiang's main Uighur ethnic group that it says targeted the Olympics, detaining 82 alleged Islamic terrorists and separatists in a major crackdown. Few details have been given and no evidence shown, although terror experts say insurgents based along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan have a limited capability to launch such attacks.
Maihesuti said such groups were tiny in number and poorly organized.
"So you can see that these terrorist groups are not that capable of instigating massive sabotage activities as some hostile forces hope to see."
China has laid on massive security for the Aug. 8-24 games, as much to prevent protests by political or religious dissidents as to stop crime and terrorism. A 100,000-strong contingent of police and special forces are safeguarding venues, while hundreds of thousands of Beijing residents have been formed into voluntary security patrols.
Maihesuti said the government knew of only "around three to four" Xinjiang terrorist groups, and that government successes against their plots show their lack of effectiveness.
In the videotaped threats last week, one militant, identified by the Washington-based monitoring group IntelCenter as commander Seyfullah, warned athletes and spectators "particularly the Muslims" to stay away from the Olympics.
"Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics. We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely using the tactics that have never been employed," he said.
Chinese police have played down the threat, saying the explosions in Chinese cities claimed by the group were not the work of terrorists.
Franklin Graham Begins North Korea Visit
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/franklin.graham.begins.north.korea.visit/21131.htm
Franklin Graham arrived in North Korea on Thursday for a historic four-day visit to meet with high-level government officials, visit relief projects and preach at a newly constructed church in the capital city of Pyongyang.
"I do not come to you today as a politician or diplomat," Graham said after arriving in Pyongyang, according to the relief agency he heads, Samaritan’s Purse. "I come to you instead as a minister of Jesus Christ with a message of peace – peace with God, peace in our hearts and peace with each other."
Graham is the president of Samaritan’s Purse as well as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
This is Graham’s second visit to North Korea – a country where he recalls his late mother, Ruth Bell Graham, had attended a mission school in the 1930s. His father, famed evangelist Billy Graham, had also visited the country in 1992 and 1994 and had met with then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.
“In many ways, I feel like I’m coming home,” Franklin Graham said. “North Korea was so close to my mother’s heart, and she often told us about growing up in Pyongyang.”
In addition to Graham’s family ties with North Korea, Samaritan’s Purse has also been working on aid projects in the country for the past year in response to devastating floods last August.
Samaritan’s Purse chartered a 747 cargo jet last fall to deliver $8.3 million worth of medicine and other emergency supplies. The cargo jet was the first private flight directly from the United States to North Korea since the Korean War. The organisation has been working in North Korea since the 1990s, providing mainly medical and dental care.
The Christian relief organisation is also one of five non-governmental organisations that has been invited to help distribute food provided by the US Government to hungry North Koreans. The first shipment of grain arrived earlier this month.
North Korea is experiencing the worst level of hunger in nearly a decade, the UN Food Programme reported this week, according to Reuters. Millions of people, especially those in the north east, are in danger of starvation as a result of crop failure from the flooding and high food prices.
"What is critical for us right now is to be able to address the immediate needs, the needs of average Koreans between now and the end of the lean season," Jean-Pierre de Margerie, WFP country director for North Korea, told reporters in Beijing. "This is the period when people are hurting."
During Graham’s visit, he will visit a local hospital where Samaritan’s Purse installed an intensive care unit, as well as the People’s Provincial Hospital in Sariwon. He is also scheduled to meet with religious leaders in the capital city.
On Sunday, he will preach at the newly-constructed Bongsu Protestant Church in Pyongyang to conclude his visit to North Korea. Bongsu is one of two Protestant churches in the city.
Graham said he believes it is a historic time for North Korea-US relations as peace talks are in progress to formally end the Korean War.
“My prayer is that this relationship will grow even stronger, and I pledge to do everything I can to make this happen,” Graham said.
North Korea has arguably the worst human rights record in the world with the rogue government arresting and torturing political dissenters, those who attempt to flee the country, and Christians. There is absolutely no religious freedom in the country as all citizens are forced to worship current leader Kim Jong-il and his deceased father, Kim Il-sung. Being a Christian is the worst crime in North Korea.
Critics of North Korea have voiced skepticism about the outreach to prominent American Christian leaders, such as Graham and Rick Warren, saying that officials are only manipulating the Christian figures to improve the reclusive country's global image.
Muslim protesters force Christian students out of Indonesian Bible school
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.protesters.force.christian.students.out.of.indonesian.bible.school/21128.htm
Students at the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology in East Jakarta, Indonesia, are being forced to sleep in the lobby of the Indonesian parliament after demonstrations against the school by local Muslims on 25 July.
A local mosque loudspeaker called on Muslims to drive “drive out the unwanted neighbour”, as hundreds of protesters wielding machetes, sharpened bamboo and acid, attacked the school.
The incident was sparked when two students at the school threw a sandal after seeing a rat in their dormitory. The sandal landed in the property of a neighbour and when the students tried to retrieve the sandal they were accused of being thieves.
Despite the presence of 400 police officers, the ensuing protests became violent and led to at least 17 students at the school receiving injuries.
The 1,400 students and staff at the school were evacuated during the weekend of 26-27 July, some to Indonesia’s parliament and others to nearby denominational and medical facilities, reports Compass Direct News.
Those taking refuge in the parliament building are now lobbying the government to allow them to return to the school and guarantee their protection.
Nigeria: Churches damaged in religious violence ordered to vacate premises
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nigeria.churches.damaged.in.religious.violence.ordered.to.vacate.premises/21132.htm
The congregations of two churches that were extensively damaged last year during religious violence in the Tudun-Wada area of Kano State, northern Nigeria, have been ordered to vacate their premises to make way for the construction of a court house, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The leaders of the Baptist Church and Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) were informed of a decision by the Kano State Ministry of Justice to compulsorily purchase their church sites during a meeting with Tudun-Wada’s Village Head on 29 July 2008.
The church leaders were also instructed to immediately vacate their premises, and to name a price for their sites. When they requested more time in order to consult their respective denominational authorities, the men were told to return within two days, or risk losing the land and any compensation.
However, during a meeting with church officials on 31 July that was also attended by local representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and members of a Nigerian human rights NGO, the Village Head finally agreed to provide the churches with new sites and certificates of ownership for these sites. A meeting to finalise all outstanding issues will take place on 13 August.
Stuart Windsor, National Director of CSW said: “An inordinate number of Kano’s churches have either been destroyed during religious violence, or demolished by state authorities to make way for construction projects. So far, none have received adequate compensation, alternative sites, or certificates of ownership, even when these have been promised.
"Consequently, while this public verbal agreement on the part of Tudun-Wada’s Village Head is a very welcome development, we urge him to follow through on this commendable undertaking. If adhered to, it could contribute significantly towards the search for justice, reconciliation and religious harmony in Kano State.”
African church leader accuses Rowan of ‘betrayal’
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/african.church.leader.accuses.rowan.of.betrayal/21125.htm
The Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Rev Henry Orombi, has accused the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams, of betraying biblically faithful churches by inviting bishops involved in the consecration of the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to the Lambeth Conference.
Archbishop Orombi, one more than 200 bishops boycotting the two-week conference, said in a comment for The Times that the current system for appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury was a “remnant of colonialism”.
“Even the Pope is elected by his peers. But what Anglicans have is a man appointed by a secular government,” wrote Archbishop Orombi.
“Over the past five years, we have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well.
“The spiritual leadership of a global communion of independent and autonomous provinces should not be reduced to one man appointed by a secular government.”
Bishops are in the process of drafting final reflections, largely drawn from the outcomes of the ‘indaba’ discussion groups at the Lambeth Conference. In the document, the bishops acknowledge a “lack of confidence” in the structures of Communion.
They also state, “We must acknowledge that there are great tensions in our relationship at present, and an erosion of trust between us.”
Archbishop Orombi’s attack comes as bishops debate the most divisive issue in the Anglican Communion, human sexuality.
Bishops said that Thursday’s discussions had been characterised by generosity and respect.
“We haven’t suddenly reached a consensus about the issues of human sexuality. The problems are not all solved but there are significant differences,” the Most Rev Philip Aspinall, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Australia and spokesman for the Conference, told reporters.
The Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), the Most Rev Ian Ernest, said meanwhile, “We are able to look at each other. We are able to shed tears with one another, but at the same time knowing that we’ve got different ways and different convictions.”
Friday will be see bishops tackle the controversial Anglican Covenant on structures of unity in the Communion.
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