McCain: US embassy should be in Jerusalem
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1212659679638&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
US Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain used the status of Jerusalem to attack his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama on Friday, accusing his opponent of flip-flopping on the issue while affirming his own commitment to an "undivided Jerusalem."
"I can't react to every comment that Senator Obama makes, because it probably will change," McCain told a crowd of supporters while campaigning in Florida. "The point is Jerusalem is undivided. Jerusalem is the capital," he continued, and, in an effort to offer a practical demonstration of his stance, suggested moving the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
However, McCain qualified his comments by emphasizing that regardless of his position, the status of the city is still subject to negotiation.
"The subject of Jerusalem itself will be addressed in negotiations by the Israeli government and people," he said.
The Arizona senator's remarks were published in The New York Times on Saturday.
On Thursday, the Obama campaign told The Jerusalem Post that the Democratic presidential nominee did not rule out Palestinian sovereignty over parts of Jerusalem when he called for Israel's capital to remain "undivided."
Obama had declared on Wednesday that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," to rousing applause from the 7,000-plus attendees at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference.
But a campaign adviser clarified Thursday that Obama believes "Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties" as part of "an agreement that they both can live with."
"Two principles should apply to any outcome," which the adviser gave as: "Jerusalem remains Israel's capital and it's not going to be divided by barbed wire and checkpoints as it was in 1948-1967."
Obama a Hypocrite on Housing
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mccain_obama_housing/2008/06/09/103122.html
Republicans launched a scathing attack on Barack Obama Monday for alleged hypocrisy after the Democratic White House contender took on John McCain over the US housing crisis.
McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) fastened on a Wall Street Journal report that said Jim Johnson, the mortgage executive leading Obama's vice presidential hunt, had received preferential home loans.
Following an Obama speech that ripped into McCain's economic platform, the Republican's chief economic adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said the reported loans to Johnson from Countrywide Financial raised troubling questions.
"And I thought it was remarkable that Senator Obama could talk about housing, talk about ethics, and fail to mention that he entrusted the single most important decision in his campaign, the choice of the vice presidential running mate, to a gentlemen, Mr. Johnson, who benefited from preferential lending at Countrywide and state financial payouts," he told reporters.
Johnson is a former chief executive of government-chartered mortgage provider Fannie Mae, and is leading a three-member team investigating possible VP candidates for Obama.
Saturday's Wall Street Journal report did not suggest any illegality, but Countrywide has been the subject of angry attacks from Obama for giving its executives hefty payouts while seizing the homes of troubled borrowers.
Holtz-Eakin said that because of his involvement with Fannie Mae, Johnson was "thoroughly entangled in the subprime housing mess that Senator McCain has made proposals to address and which is plaguing so many American families."
In a memo, the Obama campaign shot back that the Wall Street Journal article had been "overblown and irrelevant," and had probed "what appear to be completely above-board transactions."
Accusing McCain of having no answer to the housing crisis, the memo said: "Americans know that we face a critical choice in this race -- and it isn't about the terms of an outside advisor's loans.
"This race is about leadership, and which candidate will crack down on fraudulent lenders and bring real relief to Americans struggling in the grip of the housing crisis," it said after Obama's economy speech in North Carolina.
But the RNC vied to broaden the row by highlighting a land deal in Chicago between Obama and Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted last week of using his political clout to demand kickbacks and win government contracts.
"It takes a lot of nerve for Barack Obama to stand before voters, speak to the rising costs hurting families, attack his opponent on the housing crisis, and completely ignore the fact that both he and his campaign leadership have enjoyed housing deals that no average North Carolinian would be able to access," RNC spokesman Alex Conant said.
Huckabee Saves Politician with Heimlich
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/huckabee_heimlich/2008/06/07/102639.html
Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee put the squeeze on a politician at the North Carolina Republican Party convention, but in a good way.
The former Arkansas governor performed the Heimlich maneuver on Robert Pittenger, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, at a lunch Saturday.
Pittenger said he was laughing when he choked on some food.
"I stood up and the governor came over and did the Heimlich and got the relief," Pittenger said. He said the food dislodged when Huckabee applied the trademark Heimlich squeeze to the midsection.
Pittenger added, "In fact he called me in the car as I was driving home to make sure I was OK."
Phone messages left for Huckabee on Saturday were not immediately returned.
Senate Democrats Want Trillions in New Taxes
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/Senate_Democrats_taxes/2008/06/09/102869.html
The spending plan approved by the Senate last week fails to extend President Bush’s tax cuts — and could lead to the largest tax increase in U.S. history.
“Make no mistake: This tax hike is gargantuan,” the Investor’s Business Daily states in an editorial.
“Simply by not making Bush’s tax cuts permanent, taxes will rise by a minimum of $2.8 trillion between now and 2018.”
The IBD says that if the tax cuts are allowed to expire in 2010:
# Spending will rise by half a trillion dollars over the next five years. And the Democrats will pay for it by raising taxes by $683 billion — “the biggest such increase ever.”
# About 48 million married couples — “the heart of the middle class that Democrats say they want to help” — will see an average annual tax increase of $3,007.
# The tax bill for the elderly will rise $2,181 a year on average.
# A single parent with two children earning $30,000 a year will see a tax hike of $1,600.
# A family of four earning $50,000 a year will be hit with a tax increase of 191 percent.
# The 2009 budget for the first time ever spends $1 trillion on discretionary items — non-defense, non-entitlement.
“This is a foretaste of future fiscal recklessness under a Barack Obama presidency (he voted for the bill),” the IBD observes.
Noting that the budget would weaken the economy and kill job growth, the IBD concludes: “This is supply-side economics in reverse — creating massive disincentives to work, save and invest, and shrinking the pie.”
Chinese Woman Pleads Guilty to Attempted Smuggling of Military-Grade Sensors
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364801,00.html
SAN DIEGO — A Chinese citizen has pleaded guilty in San Diego to trying to smuggle military-grade sensors to her homeland.
Qing Li pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to conspiring to harm the U.S.
Prosecutors said she approached a company in Orange County in 2007 about buying accelerometers. The devices can measure the power of missile systems but are illegal to export without State Department approval.
Li told undercover investigators she was buying the devices on behalf of a scientific agency in China.
She was living in Connecticut and was arrested in October at Kennedy Airport in New York.
She faces five years in prison when she is sentenced in September. Her attorney did not return a message left by The Associated Press.
Gates: Russia boosting nuke capability
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=59399§ionid=3510203
Russia appears focused on strengthening its nuclear capabilities rather than building up regular armed forces, US defense secretary says.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke to Air Force officers in Virginia, on Monday, saying that as Russia strengthens its nuclear capabilities, it is increasingly important for the US to maintain its nuclear arsenal.
Gates said, "It seems clear that the Russians are focused as they look to the future more on strengthening their nuclear capabilities."
"So to the extent that they rely more and more on their nuclear capabilities as opposed to what historically has been a huge Russian conventional military capability, it seems to me that it underscores the importance of our sustaining a valid nuclear deterrent, a modern nuclear deterrent."
Moscow has increased military spending as part of an effort to make Russia more assertive on the world stage after the chaos of the post-Soviet period and has also tried to reform its military, known as conventional forces, to create a more professional, well-equipped and mobile army.
However, Gates said the difficulty in reforming those forces, has led Russia to determine it may be more efficient to bolster its nuclear weapons capabilities instead.
The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged last month to funnel cash into the state's nuclear arsenal to ward off threats to national security, saying, "It is obvious that our task in the next few years is to ensure strategic missile forces get all the necessary funds to be ready to withstand existing threats."
NY Fed chief urges global bank framework
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/546b1604-3585-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F546b1604-3585-11dd-998d-0000779fd2ac.html%3Fnclick_check%3D1&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fulfilledprophecy.com%2F&nclick_check=1
Banks and investment banks whose health is crucial to the global financial system should operate under a unified regulatory framework with “appropriate requirements for capital and liquidity”, according to Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Writing in Monday’s Financial Times, Mr Geithner, a key US policymaker throughout the credit crisis and one of the main architects of the rescue of Bear Stearns, says that the US Federal Reserve should play a “central role” in the new regulatory framework, working closely with supervisors in the US and round the world.
Oregon University Hosts Talk by Notorious Holocaust Denier, Amid Protest
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364764,00.html#
The University of Oregon will play host Monday night to Holocaust denier David Irving, prompting protests from a local rights group.
The Pacifica Forum, a group that holds weekly meetings on the university’s campus in Euguene, Ore., has invited Irving to make an address about free speech. Irving's presentation is part of a nationwide tour which includes what he calls the "real history" of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. Irving is the third accused Holocaust denier who will have spoken to the group on campus.
“They cross the line into being anti-Semitic — they create such a comfortable environment for bigotry,” said Michael Williams, a board member of the Community Alliance of Lane County, a local social-justice group.
Williams is helping organize a Monday-night protest vigil against Irving, a prolific historian who has stated that there were no gas chambers in Auschwitz and routinely downplays the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust.
Irving has been barred entry to Austria, Germany, Australia and Canada, and spent 10 months in an Austrian prison for denying the Holocaust. The Anti-Defamation League has called Irving “one of the world’s most effective purveyors of Holocaust denial.”
The university washed its hands of responsibility for the event, saying that it wasn’t sponsoring Irving’s speech and was only serving as a venue. Orval Etter, one of the event's organizers and a former professor at the university, has the authority to reserve a room free of charge.
“The Pacifica Forum is not affiliated with the university — the space is being used under a campus policy that allows retired professors to rent rooms on campus,” said Julie Brown, director of media relations at the University.
Brown said the school would not seek to block Irving’s presence because it has a policy of respecting freedom of speech for all groups.
“The university is really committed to freedom of speech and wanting to make sure that there is a place for groups to be able to express their viewpoints,” she said.
Williams told FOXNews.com he respected the school's obligation to protect free speech, but said the university’s campus was not the right place to air the Pacifica Forum’s bigoted views.
“Their [Pacifica Forum] freedom of speech is adequately exercised on a street corner in the rain,” he said.
Though he said the vigil was not aimed at “shutting down” the forum, Williams hoped to “make it clear that we don’t support the kind of ideology that David Irving represents.”
The president of the university, Dave Frohnmayer, agreed. After a different Holocaust denier and self-described white supremacist visited the campus in 2007, Frohnmayer wrote a letter condemning the “gutter bigotry” of the Pacifica Forum, but defended its right to speak out.
“My own feeling is that these subjects are better expressed . . . than left to fester silently,” he wrote, but stressed that the forum “[did] not speak for the University of Oregon.”
Despite his objection to the content of the presentation Monday, Williams said he wasn’t concerned that students would attend the meeting or be swayed by the forum and David Irving’s anti-Semitic sentiments.
“Students stay away in droves,” he said.
New Poll Finds Majority of Californians Support Traditional Marriage
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07274.shtml
SACRAMENTO, (christiansunite.com) -- Capitol Resource Institute announced today the results of a survey that indicates that more than 56% of Californians oppose homosexual marriage.
As part of a nationwide survey in the battleground states regarding the presidential election the following question was asked: Do you agree that only marriage between one man and one woman should be legal and binding in America? California answers this question "yes" 56.20%, and "no" 43.80%.
"We are not surprised by these results," states Karen England, Capitol Resource Institute Executive Director. "The people of California understand the judges overstepped their judicial boundaries. California has granted the most sweeping 'equality' laws in the nation. But the people of California have drawn the line at hijacking the term 'marriage' to describe these unions."
A Field Poll released last week reported that 51% of Californians support homosexual marriage. "This accurate new poll directly asks respondents' opinion of the definition of traditional marriage. Contrary to the vague Field Poll, this polling accurately reflects the true sentiment of the electorate," stated England.
The survey was completed by ccAdvertising of Herndon, Virginia in one 24-hour period ending at 7:00 p.m on May 30, 2008, with 528 California respondents (out of 7,613 respondents to the Traditional Marriage Question in the multi-state survey), and was statistically balanced by population density within each battleground state surveyed. The national survey results will be released on Wednesday.
Artificial intelligence call (AIC) or automated surveys like this one have proven to be more accurate than those using a live caller as noted in a Daily Kos post last week. "The reality is that Robo-pollsters like Survey USA and Rasmussen have had the best track record the past few election cycles." (Daily Kos May 28, 2008.)
VA High Court Rules Lesbian Custody Case
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/388334.aspx
CBNNews.com - Two very different verdicts from Virginia's high court this week in separate custody battles between former lesbian partners.
First, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that ex-lesbian Lisa Miller had no right to deny child visitation to her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins. CBN News first reported on the case, Miller vs. Jenkins, in April.
The two women had entered a civil union in Vermont in 2000. Two years later, Miller gave birth to a daughter conceived through artificial insemination. But after Miller became a born-again Christian, the women split-up and their civil union was dissolved.
After the split, a Vermont ruling gave Miller custody and her former lesbian partner child visitation.
Miller appealed the visitation rights, not wanting her daughter in contact with Jenkins' lifestyle. But this week, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the lower court's order.
In a separate but similar case decided on Tuesday, the state's high court ruled that the biological mother of a child conceived during a lesbian relationship had the right to prevent visitation to her former lesbian partner. The court's decision in that case was unanimous.
The Liberty Council, a pro-family advocacy group, has been fighting to prevent similar same-sex custody cases from redefining the rights of biological parents.
Planned Parenthood Sued for $50 Million for Injuring 13 Year-Old During Abortion
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07271.shtml
ARLINGTON, Virginia, (christiansunite.com) -- Students for Life of America has discovered that a lawsuit was filed against Planned Parenthood Metropolitan located in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 2008.
Emma Jean Butler is suing Planned Parenthood for $50 million dollars in damages. Butler took her daughter to the D.C. Planned Parenthood on September 7, 2006 to abort a child conceived in rape. During the abortion, the young girl sustained severe abdominal bleeding, severe vaginal injury, severe injury to the cervix, significant uterine perforation, and a small bowel tear. In addition, parts of the child were found inside young girl's abdomen on September 8, 2006. Because of these injuries, the young girl will be infertile for the rest of her life.
Planned Parenthood Metropolitan has denied the injuries suffered and the infertility of the young girl. In addition, they state in their answer that Butler's claims are barred by the doctrines of informed consent and assumption of risk.
Kristan Hawkins, SFLA's Executive Director, remarked, "This is a horrible situation. Our thoughts go out to the young girl and her family as she recovers from her injuries both from the rape and abortion. Further, it is outrageous that Planned Parenthood thinks they are excused from being held liable because the young girl was informed of possible risks associated with abortion. In no other medical profession would this be acceptable. How ironic is it that the pro-abortion movement claims they want abortions to be 'safe, legal, and rare' when in this poster case for abortion, the young girl was permanently injured. Making abortion harmful and almost deadly to the young girl."
Students for Life of America was founded in 1987 as American Collegians for Life. It is the only pro-life organization which focuses on organizing college students at the grassroots level. With seven full-time staff members and five field agents traveling across the country, Students for Life of America has started 147 campus pro-life groups in the past year. There are now 397 active pro-life college groups in 46 states across America.
For more information visit: www.studentsforlife.org
Kingdom Racing Begins First 500 Miles of Journey at Indianapolis 500
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07272.shtml
HOUSTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Kingdom Racing's vision began three years ago, but this past Memorial Day weekend, the Houston-based group completed its first 500 miles at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" only to find that crossing the famed yard of bricks for the checkered flag was actually just the start of something bigger.
"Three years ago, after studying Awaken the Leader Within, a book that challenged Christians to have a "blow your socks off" vision for the kingdom of God, I said I was going to build an Indy race team to deliver God's word through motorsports," George Del Canto recalled.
This past May, Del Canto's vision finished on the lead lap at the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 in 14th place.
Watched by 270,000 people at the famed brickyard and millions more on television, Kingdom Racing was involved as one of two major sponsors that supported veteran driver Davey Hamilton for the Indy 500 in the No. 22 HP/ Kingdom Racing/ Honda Dallara, a third car entry with full-time IndyCar team, Vision Racing.
This was Hamilton's second Indy 500 after a six-year hiatus and 21 surgeries after injuries sustained in a 2001 crash at Texas Motor Speedway, an accident that made him see things differently.
"I was just so focused on (racing) that sometimes you lose track of things," Hamilton said. "The accident just refocused me and got my priorities straight. When I went through that, I really got close to God. I went through a lot of prayer, people, friends and family, to get through it."
"This is an outreach program," said Del Canto, a member of Second Baptist Church's West Campus in Katy. "This is all about spreading the Good News into a sector that is wrapped up in the racing world."
The next step is to attract sponsors with common beliefs and values in order to turn this group into a competitive full-time entry in the IndyCar Series. The primary focus will be to win on the racetrack, create value for sponsors, and to change people's lives through on-track ministry events.
Ideas for Kingdom Racing's future also include race- week festivities reflecting family values, featuring top Christian bands, Christian race teams and show cars; all presented with enough power, both horsepower and God's, to knock everyone's socks off.
For more information about Kingdom Racing and sponsorship opportunities please visit www.KingdomRacing.net
Scientists Develop Fastest Computer
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/389516.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - Scientists unveiled the world's fastest supercomputer on Monday, a $100 million machine that for the first time has performed 1,000 trillion calculations per second in a sustained exercise.
The technology breakthrough was accomplished by engineers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM Corp. on a computer to be used primarily on nuclear weapons work, including simulating nuclear explosions.
The computer, named Roadrunner, is twice as fast as IBM's Blue Gene system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which itself is three times faster than any of the world's other supercomputers, according to IBM.
"The computer is a speed demon. It will allow us to solve tremendous problems," said Thomas D'Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear weapons research and maintains the warhead stockpile.
But officials said the computer also could have a wide range of other applications in civilian engineering, medicine and science, from developing biofuels and designing more fuel-efficient cars to finding drug therapies and providing services to the financial industry.
To put the computer's speed in perspective, it has roughly the computing power of 100,000 of today's most powerful laptops stacked 1.5 miles high, according to IBM. Or, if each of the world's 6 billion people worked on hand-held computers for 24 hours a day, it would take them 46 years to do what the Roadrunner computer can do in a single day.
The IBM and Los Alamos engineers worked six years on the computer technology.
Some elements of the Roadrunner can be traced back to popular video games, said David Turek, vice president of IBM's supercomputing programs. In some ways, he said, it's "a very souped-up Sony PlayStation 3."
"We took the basic chip design (of a PlayStation) and advanced its capability," said Turek.
But the Roadrunner supercomputer, named after the New Mexico state bird, is nothing like a video game.
The interconnecting system occupies 6,000 square feet with 57 miles of fiber optics and weighs 500,000 pounds. Although made from commercial parts, the computer consists of 6,948 dual-core computer chips and 12,960 cell engines, and it has 80 terabytes of memory housed in 288 connected refrigerator-sized racks.
The cost: $100 million.
Turek said the computer in a two-hour test on May 25 achieved a "petaflop" speed of sustained performance, something no other computer had ever done. It did so again in several real applications involving classified nuclear weapons work this past weekend.
"This is a huge and remarkable achievement," said Turek in a conference call with reporters.
A "flop" is an acronym meaning floating-point-operations per second. One petaflop is 1,000 trillion operations per second. Only two years ago, there were no actual applications where a computer achieved 100 teraflops - a tenth of Roadrunner's speed - said Turek, noting that the tenfold advancement came over a relatively short time.
The Roadrunner computer, now housed at the IBM research laboratory in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., will be moved next month to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
Along with other supercomputers, it will be key "to assure the safety and security of our (weapons) stockpile," said D'Agostino. With its extraordinary speed it will be able to simulate the performances of a warhead and help weapons scientists track warhead aging, he said.
But the computer - and more so the technology that it represents - marks a future for a wide range of other research and uses. "The technology will be pronounced in its employment across industry in the years to come," predicted Turek, the IBM executive.
Michael Anastasio, director of the Los Alamos lab, said that for the first six months the computer will be used in unclassified work including activities not related to the weapons program. After that, about three-fourths of the work will involve weapons and other classified government activities.
Anastasio said the computer, in its unclassified applications, is expected to be used not only by Los Alamos scientists but others as well. He said there can be broad applications such as helping to develop a vaccine for the HIV virus, examine the chemistry in the production of cellulosic ethanol, or to understand the origins of the universe.
Turek said the computer represents still another breakthrough, particularly important in these days of expensive energy: It is an energy miser compared with other supercomputers, performing 376 million calculations for every watt of electricity used.
Churches Kick Off Historic Prayer Series
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/388957.aspx
CBNNews.com - Why not pray with a church time zones away for Sunday service? Or hear a pastor's sermon from across the globe?
More than 1,300 congregations did just that this weekend, as they joined to begin the One Prayer series together.
Beginning June 7, some 750,000 believers crossed cultural, denominational and geographic lines to pray and worship with one another.
"The concept is to bring unity," Bobby Gruenewald, pastor, innovation leader of LifeChurch.tv said. "The group of churches that are participating are really a diverse group of churches."
He says various denominations, from Seventh Day Adventist to Charismatic are participating, and churches from Egypt, South Africa, Mexico and beyond are all signed up.
'Awe-Inspiring' Support
One Prayer started off as a small vision of Craig Groeschel, senior pastor for LifeChurch.tv.
"We were going to partner with three other churches...to do this series in June. [Then] we talked to some other pastors that were friends of ours and they asked, 'Is there any way we can be a part?'" Gruenewald explained. "So it went very quickly from four churches three months ago, to 1,300 today."
Those who participated say the One Prayer kick off was a creative, yet historical event that could potentially change the way different churches interact.
"God moved in an indescribable way with this event," a member of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Ala., commented on the One Prayer blog. "Putting aside the walls that have caused competition between churches and 'styles' of churchgoers for so long, this is a much needed call to arms against the enemy."
Lord Make Us...
Each week for the next month, churches will devote their worship service to one prayer, asking "Lord, make us...." What word fills that blank is up to the pastors. Some of the topics they can choose are Lord make us "selfless," make us "wake up" and make us "complete."
Church leaders can then pick from video sermons of more than 60 pastors around the globe to put their prayer into action. The sermon will be viewed each week during worship service.
Groeschel's church began the series with Lord make us "one."
In it, he introduced the purpose of One Prayer and encouraged members to "understand clearly" their role in the "unifying experience."
A Larger Purpose
One Prayer will also help raise money to plant 500 churches in Cambodia, India, Sudan and China.
June 21 and 22, a mass offering will be taken up in each participating church. The money will then go to humanitarian groups already in the countries.
"We explored many great causes and organizations that we could collectively support, but the vision of local churches from around the world uniting to invest in planting churches was the most synergistic with the vision of One Prayer," its Web site reads.
Churches are also encouraged to visit the site daily and share their One Prayer experiences.
"Oneprayer.com is the Internet hub for this entire series. Each day we're going to pray for each others needs... fasting one day a week together and praying for our communities and other churches," Gruenewald explained.
Supporters hope the never-before-seen event will motivate churches to move beyond individual practices and stand together in God.
Slave Traders Not Always Punished
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/388046.aspx
CBNNews.com - Imagine being told that you are responsible for your family's debt. And to pay off that debt you will serve as a slave for the rest of your life.
Although it sounds like a story from a hundred years ago, it happens all too often today. The U.S. government calls the practice "modern-day slavery."
Almost 800,000 people are bought, sold or transported for forced labor or sex each year, according to an annual report released this week by the U.S. State Department. Most of these slaves are females or minors.
This year, 14 countries including Myanmar , Cuba, Iran, Syria and North Korea round out the list and face possible sanctions for human trafficking.
However, the slave trade is not limited to these countries. Human trafficking cases have been reported in major U.S. cities as well.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says while significant progress has been made, there's still a lot of work to be done.
"We closely examined prosecution data and made a disturbing discovery," Rice explained. "Although more countries are addressing human trafficking through prosecution and conviction the petty tyrants who exploit their laborers rarely receive serious punishment."
The Church and the Slave Trade
Throughout the timeline of history, the Church as a whole has had to deal with different cultures and their approach to slavery. Writing during during the time of the Roman Empire when slavery was considered the norm, the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Colossians, warned slave masters they had a Master in Heaven who would judge them. (Col. 1:4)
Churches, ministries and other relief organizations are doing what they can to fight against human slavery worldwide. But can slavery be stopped?
One former South Carolina peace officer thinks so. He was so moved by the stories of the sex slave trade in Asia that he decided to do something about it. According to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, former county sheriff Bill Coffey and his wife Charlie recently went to work for the Asia office of the International Justice Mission.
The IJM is a Washington-based Christian human rights agency, whose volunteers work with issues involving slavery, sexual exploitation and violent oppression.
In his new position, Coffey now uses his 30-plus years of experience in law enforcement to help local authorities investigate brothels and make arrests. His office has also joined with government social service agencies to help women and children, who cannot fight for themselves.
"In some cases, the justice system can't, or won't, respond," Coffey said. "There are many victims in bondage, and they don't have any recourse or an advocate."
The release of the motion picture Amazing Grace also tried to put a more human face on modern-day slavery. More than 4,000 churches of different denominations across the United States participated in an Amazing Grace Sunday campaign that brought much needed attention to the issue.
The release of the film on DVD also sparked an Amazing Change campaign in which 1.5 million signatures were collected on a special petition to stop human trafficking. This petition was then presented to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking in February of this year.
What You Can Do
IJM founder Gary Haugan says Christians can help stop slavery by using these suggestions.
-- Learn and pray about modern-day slavery.
-- Petition government to make enforcement of anti-slavery laws a priority in its dealings with other countries.
-- Financially support investigative and legal advocates.
-- Support rehabilitation services for those freed from slavery.
Bush Pushes Europe to Get Tough on Iran
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/bush_iran_europe/2008/06/09/103123.html
US President George W. Bush on Tuesday looked to persuade European leaders to tighten the squeeze on Iran's finances, a central message of what was likely his farewell tour of the continent.
Bush, whose term ends in January, will hold talks with Slovenia's president and prime minister before attending the annual US-European Union summit for the last time, then head to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The US president also hopes to secure more help with war-battered Afghanistan during his visit, which also takes him to Germany, Italy, the Vatican, France, England, and Northern Ireland.
But the White House warns to expect no "dramatic announcements" on disputes over climate change or trade, or on new ways to prop up the faltering Middle East peace process at the summit in nearby Brdo Pri Kranju.
Washington and its partners will jointly warn Tehran to freeze its suspect nuclear program or face further sanctions, according to a draft of the half-day diplomatic gathering's final joint statement, obtained by AFP.
At the same time, amid growing fears of possible US military action before Bush leaves office, the statement notes that the leaders "reiterate our belief that a mutually satisfactory, negotiated solution remains open to Iran."
Tehran rejects Western charges that its nuclear programme hides an atomic weapons quest, but is under three rounds of UN sanctions for refusing to freeze its uranium enrichment efforts.
Bush hopes to persuade the EU to do more to stop the flow of money through Iranian banks, which Washington believes are helping to fund Iran's nuclear programme, according to the US special envoy to the European Union.
"There are Iranian bank activities that could be curbed, there could be further restrictions" in keeping with a UN Security Council resolution adopted in March to beef up sanctions on Tehran, said the diplomat, C. Boyden Gray.
Both sides must "make sure there are no evasions whereby Iranian banks can continue to do business to further this nuclear programme which I think we all agree must be terminated," he told reporters here on the eve of the summit.
The United States wants the European Union to take measures against the Iranian Melli Bank by stopping its branches in Hamburg, London and Paris from operating.
The Europeans have said they are prepared to take a tougher stance but are waiting to see what comes out of the new cooperation offer which the major powers are about to put to Tehran.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, in Slovenia for the summit, indicated Monday that he will probably travel to Tehran on Sunday for talks aimed at convincing Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
Solana will present Iranian leaders with a "refreshed" offer on behalf of the six major powers involved in the nuclear talks -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- who came up with the deal last month to follow an original offer in June 2006.
Solana declined to give details: "We will have several meetings in Tehran with various people and we will see. I am not going to speak now about the contents."
The European Union and the United States will call on the UN secretary general to send a team to Zimbabwe to monitor human rights ahead of a presidential run-off election this month, according to the draft statement.
"We urge the UN Secretary General to send a team immediately to monitor human rights and to deter further abuses," said the text, prepared for the summit between Bush and EU leaders.
The statement also called for the June 27 run-off to be "free and fair." Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be hoping to end President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule.
Bush and his European hosts, including EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, will also discuss climate change and energy security.
Washington believes that climate change can only be effectively tackled if major emerging economies like China and India make commitments, while the Europeans favour leading the way on the issue to encourage others.
Christians Accused of Hate Crime
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/388262.aspx
CBNNews.com - Two Christian preachers are suing British police after an officer accused them of a "hate crime" for handing out gospel literature in a Muslim area of Birmingham in February. Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham say they were told to stop and threatened with arrest.
Abraham said, "He came with a very intimidating attitude, 'What are you doing here?' He said 'I have the power to arrest you because you are spreading a hate crime. Give me your name. Give me your address.'"
Cunningham says the officer said "'…that you're not allowed to preach the Gospel here. That this is Muslim area'. He said 'you guys are committing a hate crime with what you're doing. I'm going to have to call you in and take you in,' and then he took his radio and said something like 'there's a hate crime in progress here. I need assistance.'"
And the first Police officer turned and said, 'Look, you've been warned not to come into this area. If you return and get beating, you've been warned.'"
The two men have demanded an apology and compensation for damages from West Midlands Police.
Israeli Ambassador Calls Britain a 'Hotbed of Radical Anti-Israeli Views'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364782,00.html
LONDON — Britain has become a hotbed of radical anti-Israeli views, Israel's ambassador to the country said in an article for a British newspaper.
Ron Prosor said in an opinion piece in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph newspaper that his country has been demonized.
"Israel faces an intensified campaign of delegitimization, demonization and double standards," he said.
"Britain has become a hotbed for radical anti-Israeli views and a haven for disingenuous calls for a one-state solution, a euphemistic name for a movement advocating Israel's destruction."
Prosor, who took up his post in November, said Britain was once admired for fairness and decency but the debate on Israel has now been hijacked by extremists.
He criticized attempts by the University and College Union to sever links with Israeli universities in 2007 because of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. That proposal was later dropped but the academic union recently passed a motion that condemns Israel's actions in Gaza.
Prosor said: "Academics, supposedly society's guardians of knowledge, objectivity and informed debate, have seen their union held hostage by radical factions, armed with political agendas and personal interests."
He said the British public's perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was affected by biased coverage.
"Israel's military reaction to the attacks it faces is given in depth, microscopic coverage. Yet the attacks to which Israel is responding are often ignored. The average British citizen is painfully unaware that since Hamas seized control of Gaza last year, 1,400 rockets and 1,500 mortar bombs have landed on Israeli soil," he said.
Prosor's comments come as Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband cut short an official visit to Israel to fly back for a vote on anti-terrorism laws.
EU holds breath ahead of Irish treaty referendum
http://euobserver.com/9/26291?rss_rk=1
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – All eyes are on Ireland this week as the European Union awaits the result of the country's EU treaty referendum on Thursday with a mixture of relief that the day has finally come around and fear that it may bring a "no" vote.
For much of the past half year, Ireland's lonely referendum route – it is the only one of the 27 member states to undergo the more unpredictable public poll rather than parliamentary ratification – has been the main topic of conversation in Brussels.
But while discussion in the EU capital has been feverish, actual political activity has slowed appreciably as the bloc's institutions and its officials have sought not to upset the Irish electorate with controversial new announcements. "Only after the Irish referendum" has been the familiar if unofficial refrain among EU diplomats.
To its supporters, the Lisbon treaty will make the EU more democratic, ease decision-making and give the bloc a chance to strengthen its weight on the international stage. To its detractors, the document takes away too much power from individual states and is much more than the simple tidying up exercise often portrayed by the "yes" camp.
Where both sides agree is that an Irish "no" is set to scupper ratification across the bloc, with 12 member states, including Ireland, still to complete the process. All countries have to ratify the treaty for it to come into force.
Latest polls
The latest poll results have done little to ease the nerves of those hoping for a "yes" vote. An Irish Times survey published Friday (6 June) showed a 17-point jump for the "no" side, putting it five percentage points ahead. Meanwhile, a poll for the Sunday Business Post on 8 June put the pro-treaty camp in the lead, but only just - 42 percent to 39 percent.
It is three years since EU founding members France and the Netherlands caused a huge upset in Europe when one after the other rejected the proposed European Constitution.
For two years after the event, Europe retreated from the institutional reform question, indulged in some political soul-searching and tried to alter its core message into something more citizen-friendly.
Only with a change of leadership in France and Germany was the treaty question once more put back on the table.
What emerged after bitter wrangling was a messy compromise document that maintained most of the innovations of the constitution but removed the overtly state-like elements such as a mention of the European flag and anthem.
With an Irish "no" becoming an increasingly plausible possibility - memories remain of the country's rejection of the Nice Treaty in 2001 - there is a general feeling that the political landscape has changed this time round.
An uncertain route
Over the weekend, prime minister Brian Cowen said a treaty rejection would take Ireland down "down a new and more uncertain route".
The options in case of a rejection could be a renegotiation of the treaty (but there is little appetite in national capitals to once more tackle the institutional question); giving Ireland some more opt-outs and putting the document to vote again (an option which is politically difficult); or carrying on with the current treaties.
Every one denies there is a political Plan B should the Irish vote "no" on Thursday.
Some senior MEPs in the European Parliament have spoken of the country having to consider its membership of the EU, while other diplomats have suggested Dublin will pay in other ways, such as having less influence in Brussels.
Looking at the bigger picture, some diplomats suggest it will be a catastrophe for Europe, pushing it towards a situation where some member states choose to forge ahead with further integration.
Still others, however, suggest that Europe regularly lurches from one crisis to another and will, as in the past, muddle through.
Whatever the outcome, EU leaders will meet in Brussels for their annual summer summit one week later, where they can either push ahead with plans for implementing the treaty or publicly consider the consequences and weigh up the political options for the future.
EU treaty: court battle begins
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/2098098/EU-treaty-court-battle-begins.html
Stuart Wheeler, the spread-betting millionaire, will today begin his High Court battle over the Government's refusal to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Lawyers for Mr Wheeler, a major Conservative Party donor who says he has a moral and legal case, will argue that the public were given a "legitimate expectation" of a national poll when it was promised in Labour's manifesto ahead of the last general election.
The Government insists that the pledge applied to the proposed EU Constitution, which was scrapped when the French and the Dutch voted against it in 2005, and not the EU Reform Treaty which replaced it.
Mr Wheeler says that the two are one and the same and that the obligation to hold the promised referendum cannot be avoided simply by a name change.
The two-day case is being heard by Lord Justice Richards and Mr Justice Mackay at the High Court in Londo
It comes as voters in Ireland, the only EU state holding a referendum, prepare to vote on the measure, with the "no" campaign confident of victory.
The treaty must be ratified by all 27 states within the EU, creating a major crisis for the Union if the Irish vote against the Treaty.
Mr Wheeler, who made more than £30 million from spread-betting firm IG Index, has raised between £160,000 and £170,000 from donors in addition to his own money to provide a fighting fund.
In a statement, he said: "This was a referendum the people of Britain were promised well before the last election, during it, and after it.
"But instead of fulfilling that promise, Gordon Brown has tried to push the Constitution in via the back door by rebranding a document and presenting it as a completely different text."
After Mr Wheeler won permission to bring his case, the Foreign Office said: "We are confident of the strength of our case on this occasion and look forward to putting our arguments before the court in more detail."
EU says guard up for problem Chinese goods
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/eu.says.guard.up.for.problem.chinese.goods/19407.htm
The European Union is keeping up its guard to stop substandard Chinese goods from entering the bloc even as China makes huge strides to nip the problem in the bud, a senior official said on Tuesday.
China has come under increasing pressure from trading partners to improve product quality following a series of scares ranging from drug-tainted seafood to dangerous toys and substandard baby milk.
"I haven't changed the main political messages," said EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. "They remain the same - that Europe is for open trade, that we'd like to cooperate strongly with China, that we'd like to do business with China.
"But we need to make one even more stronger statement - that we will not compromise on safety," she told reporters in Beijing after meeting the head of China's national quality watchdog, Li Changjiang.
Kuneva last year threatened to ban imports from China if the country did not act more aggressively against makers of substandard products.
But China, which launched its own crackdown on shoddy products and their manufacturers following the safety scares, had upped its game when it comes to cooperating with Europe, Kuneva said.
"Starting from a low level before, now we have enhanced so much this cooperation that almost all of our notifications sent to China are tracked down," she said.
But problems remained.
"Our worries are very much evidence-based. In the first place, this is toys, and we are addressing it through a road map to improve production from the design desk to the shelves," Kuneva said.
"The next issue is electrical goods, especially those with low voltages. We have some worries about cosmetics as well and tyres for bikes," she added.
"What I can promise you and make as a commitment is that we will continue to watch the market. We are watching and surveying our markets and this is not the end of the game."
David Miliband 'misled MPs over EU embassies'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2050514/David-Miliband-'misled-MPs-over-EU-embassies'.html
The Conservatives have accused David Miliband of misleading the House of Commons over secret negotiations to set up a euro-diplomatic and foreign affairs service under the new Lisbon Treaty.
Talks on the creation of the "European External Action Service" (EEAS), first reported by The Daily Telegraph, are now at an advanced stage, contradicting statements to MPs made by the Foreign Secretary.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "The Government is not being straight with the British people in attempting to conceal just how far plans have already progressed on the EU diplomatic service. Mr Miliband said that plans would not commence until the Treaty enters force. This is obviously not the case."
Mr Miliband had told the Commons that work would not begin until the treaty had been ratified by Parliament and entered force next year. "There have been no discussions at ministerial or working level on the detailed organisation and functioning of the EEAS," he said on Feb 28.
But EU diplomatic and official sources in Brussels have confirmed that negotiations have reached a concrete stage. There is already agreement that all new EU representations – there are currently more than 160 offices around the world – will be given the same status as national ambassadors.
Broad agreement on which European Commission officials would go to the new service was achieved in early May, with Kim Darroch, the UK's permanent representative to the EU, negotiating for Britain. So advanced are the plans that the commission has been asked to produce an "organogram" chart of the EEAS's structure by next week.
European diplomatic sources have also revealed that, during recent talks, Mr Darroch, had to give "personal" agreement to French proposals, in the absence of a proper Government position – claims that have been hotly denied by British officials.
A spokesman for Mr Miliband said: "This is Tory fiction. Nothing in the allegation or reality contradicts the Foreign Secretary's February statement.
"While the commission or member states may draw up or circulate ideas for an external action service those ideas will have no status until they are agreed by all member states including the UK. There will be no final agreement until ratification is complete."
Robert Cooper, the director general of the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, the body that represents national governments, has argued that the EEAS would make Brussels the diplomatic capital of Europe.
Debate, in closed and secret sessions, continues over the transfer of the EU's most sensitive military and intelligence bodies to the new service and discussions over the question of political control of the EEAS continue to rage in Brussels corridors.
In a gain for British negotiators, the name "Embassies of the Union" for EEAS offices has been dropped but the European Parliament has continued to demand "hearings of special representatives and ambassadorial nominees in the tradition of the US Congress".
Arab countries complicate Med Union plan
http://euobserver.com/9/26293?rss_rk=1
A number of Arab countries are worried that if they join the EU's planned Mediterranean Union together with Israel, it would imply a normalisation of bilateral relations, with the Algerian foreign minister stressing that an overall vision for the project still has to be agreed.
The Union for the Mediterranean was proposed by France last year to boost ties with the EU's southern neighbours – and to include Turkey in a political structure seen as an alternative to EU membership.
In March, the bloc's leaders agreed on a final and softer version of the project which would include Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Palestinian Authority, Israel, Libya, Syria, Turkey and Albania.
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Monaco would also take part.
But Arab countries on Friday (6 June) asked for "clarifications on the consequences" of Israel joining the so-called Mediterranean Union, AFP reports.
"The membership of Israel was among questions we discussed and clarifications were urged on this," Algerian foreign minister Mourad Medelci said after a meeting of Mediterranean foreign ministers in Algiers.
"The Mediterranean Union must not normalise [relations] between Israel and Arab countries…The process of normalisation with Israel is linked to other debates and commitments," he added.
In particular, the Algerian foreign minister referred to an Arab peace initiative from 2002, which calls for the Jewish state to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it occupied in 1967, before talking about normalisation of ties.
Other issues
The official Mediterranean Union launch is planned to take place at a summit in Paris on 13 July, when France will hold the EU's rotating presidency.
However, a number of questions remain unsolved for some of the participants only a month before the start date.
In addition to Israel's participation, clarifications on other issues including the new union's institutions, financing and decision-making are needed as well, Mr Medelci said.
Southern Mediterranean countries fear that Brussels will dominate the decision-making process and the "overwhelming majority" of the 11 states participating in Friday's meeting in Algiers remain unconvinced by the term 'union' itself.
"Relations with the EU are unbalanced and decisions belong to those who now have money and know-how," Mr Medelci added.
For its part, Algeria has still not confirmed whether it will attend the 13 July summit.
Another country which is to still take a decision on joining the Mediterranean club is Turkey where "assessments are underway," Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan said in May.
Recently, the country was irritated by a vote of French deputies to establish an obligatory referendum as a way to ratify Ankara's possible EU membership, calling such an approach "discriminatory."
This has made French diplomats nervous that Turkey may boycott the Mediterranean Union, according to reports in the French press.
Islamic "interfaith conference" applauds extremist al-Qardawi’s partial boycott of Jews
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5333
The radical Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has a wide television audience, told the International Islamic Conference for Dialogue in Mecca that he would only talk to Jews who denounced Zionism. His speech at the Islamic Conference on Interfaith Dialogue opened by King Abdullah in Mecca which ended last week was greeted with the loudest applause of any other speaker.
Iran’s Hashem Rafsanjani accused the US of “greedily trying to control the region’s oil” and said Muslims should resist it.
Saudi Arabia had presented the conference attended by 600 influential Muslim scholars and academics as a religious effort to ease tensions within Islam and between Islam and Christianity and Judaism. It was billed as an effort to lead to global dialogue with Christians and Jews and did indeed bring Sunni and Shiite Muslims together. But most of the participants found talking to other faiths, especially Jews, problematic. The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia said it was impossible to talk to Jews because of the situation in the “occupied territories.”
It is therefore not clear if Israeli Jewish leaders will even be invited to the “interfaith dialogue.”
And Riyadh has refused to consider building a Catholic church in Saudi Arabia. Open worship by non-Muslim faiths, especially the growing Catholic Philippine community is restricted, even though Rome has a large mosque.
U.S. Urges Three-Way Talks for Peace
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/389134.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has called for trilateral talks to bolster Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice relayed the proposal to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week in Washington.
The US proposal calls for Rice to sit in on negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and suggests a change in venue from Jerusalem to Europe or Washington.
Meanwhile, Chief PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia announced over the weekend that the sides have begun drafting an agreement.
"We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing these positions down," Qureia said. "Should negotiators reach agreement on an issue, they will then draft a single provision. If not, they will lay their divergent views on paper," he said.
Qureia's announcement angered opposition members of Knesset (MKs), who say that Israel's next Knesset won't abide by the provisions of such a document.
"It is important to emphasize that the next government will not recognize this document," said MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu).
MK Silvan Shalom (Likud), who will present a bill to dissolve the current Knesset, called Qureia's announcement "another spin aimed at creating the visage of a peace process."
Likud fation chairman MK Gideon Sa'ar said Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni are "selling Israel's national interests."
"The only reason to put these things in writing is to force the next government to be stuck with wide-reaching concessions," Sa'ar said.
"The attempt to do so during the last moments of the Livni-Olmert government should be seen as a scandalous attempt at kidnapping policy," he said.
'Next gov't won't recognize document'
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1212659680353
The Knesset's right-wing opposition greeted the news of a possible peace accord draft between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with cynicism Saturday, accusing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of acting out of personal interest and warning that any proposal would not survive in a new government.
"There is a risk that considerations of political survival will influence fateful decisions on security and diplomatic issues," said Likud MK Michael Eitan, in response to statements made by Palestinian Authority negotiator Ahmed Qurei ("Abu Ala") that Israel and the PA had begun drafting an agreement.
Eitan added that this was a further example of the fact that the security and diplomatic situation demanded a change of administration, in order to be able to engage in long-term planning.
"It is important to emphasize that the next government will not recognize this document," Israel Beiteinu chairman and prime minister's former coalition partner Avigdor Lieberman said. "The document must be viewed as an underhanded move intended for [the government's] survival, and not a serious diplomatic accord reached responsibly and in good judgment."
Likud MK Silvan Shalom described Saturday's announcement as "another spin aimed at creating the visage of a peace process" tying it to the announcement made last month by Olmert, confirming that talks were also being held with Syria.
Likud faction chairman Gideon Sa'ar accused Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of engaging in a political fistfight while "selling Israel's national interests."
"The only reason to put these things in writing is to force the next government to be stuck with wide-reaching concessions. The attempt to do so during the last moments of the Livni-Olmert government should be seen as a scandalous attempt at kidnapping policy."
But criticism of the plan was not restricted to the right wing.
MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) also expressed her doubts, adding that the only way that the agreement would be taken seriously was if Olmert's government resigned, allowing a government that the public trusted to take the reins of a peace deal.
MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List) was also doubtful as to the prospects of a deal. "There are fundamental and serious gaps between the sides," he said. "Drafting a proposal is trivial in negotiations, and does not indicate agreement."
Exclusive: Olmert government again backs away from major Gaza operation
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5336
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that prime minister Ehud Olmert, supported by defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Tzipi Livni, has effectively opted to take up the Egyptian-Hamas informal offer of a truce in Gaza – possibly preceded by a nominal Israeli military attack which leaves Hamas riding high.
Last week, responding after many delays to the distress of a quarter of a million Israelis buffeted by constant Palestinian mortar and missile fire, all three Israeli leaders finally pledged strong military action to smash Hamas’ missile-war machine.
Tuesday, June 10, there was a sudden change of tone for the conference the prime minister scheduled on Gaza, with Barak, Livni, chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi, Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin and military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin. The pretext? The third letter received by Gilead Shalit’s parents through the Carter foundation, in which the kidnapped soldier is reported to plead for his life.
DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources confirm that, contrary to various claims, Hamas has not accepted Israel’s terms for a truce, any more than the Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas heeded Israel’s ultimatum when he went ahead over the weekend with reconciliation talks with Hamas in Dakar. The Olmert government has quietly bowed to Cairo’s formula and agreed to a tryout of an informal, unsigned truce, which Hamas is free to end at any moment; problems arising would be solved ad hoc.
Tuesday and Wednesday Olmert will go through the motions of consultation with key ministers, followed by the endorsement of this course by his tame majority in the inner defense and foreign affairs cabinet.
The Israeli government thus surrenders to the following situation:
1. Hamas is under no binding commitment to hold its missile fire or force its allied terrorist groups in the territory it governs to join a ceasefire. Although they govern the Gaza Strip, Hamas leaders shrug off responsibility for Jihad Islami and other Palestinian terrorist groups. The missile and mortar attacks from Gaza may slow down for a while but undoubtedly continue. The same applies to Palestinian terrorist incursions across the border.
2. The informal truce arrangement does not provide for the release of the Israel soldier Gilead Shalit, as Olmert promised. He has been held captive for more than two years since he was kidnapped on Israeli soil.
3. Another Israeli condition ignored in the upcoming truce deal is the guaranteed cessation of smuggling to the Gaza Strip through Sinai of Palestinian fighting men, armaments and money. Whereas Egypt offered another of its empty promises to stem the flow, in the last two weeks, an unprecedented volume of smuggled war materiel was allowed to reach the Gaza Strip and top up Hamas’ war arsenal.
4. Israel has quietly agreed to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip in stages. This entails reopening the border crossings, including the Rafah terminal to Egyptian Sinai. Next are negotiations through Egypt for handing the crossing facilities over to Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential guard. In this way, Israel will let itself be maneuvered into “contributing“ to the Palestinian fence-mending deal between Fatah and Hamas, and accepting Hamas as the ruling power in the Gaza Strip behind a token PA administration. There is nothing to stop the same formula from being extended to the West Bank, installing Hamas as the majority power in Ramallah.
Palestinian Unity Ploy Will Steal Gaza Military Initiative from Israel
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1353
The Cairo effort to broker a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas proves now to have been no more than a cover-up for the real game afoot: a move brokered by the Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade to mend the feud between Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah and the fundamentalist Hamas.
Palestinian peace talks were secretly launched Friday, June 6 in Dakar at the end of the Organization of Islamic Conference summit. Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, ignored Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert’s ultimatum that he would break off ongoing peace talks if he opted for reconciliation with Hamas.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who visited Gaza on May 27, was a live wire in the move.
DEBKAfile’s sources report the Egyptians joined the Palestinians in getting it underway, by setting three traps for Israel:
One . The Egyptian mediators used delaying tactics to hold up the truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas; the hesitancy of Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak played into Cairo’s hands. This gave Hamas time to smuggle in through Sinai high-powered 120mm mortars to upgrade their war of attrition against the Israeli population within range of Gaza. The new weaponry was trained last week on the kibbutzim and moshavim abutting central and southern Gaza, a population with far more political leverage in Jerusalem than the long-battered town of Sderot.
Cairo and Hamas used the Olmert government’s evasiveness on effective military action to lure Israel into bowing to a ceasefire on Hamas’ terms. The “ceasefire” would have changed nothing. The missiles, rockets and mortars would continue to fly and Egypt would claim its police were unable to control Hamas’ arms smuggling through Sinai.
Two . Meanwhile, Egypt and Saudi Arabia pressed ahead with their ultimate goal: to end the Palestinians’ factional dispute which began when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas’ Palestinian Authority a year ago; they prodded Fatah and Hamas to set their feud aside and build a national unity government.
In mid-May, DEBKAfile revealed that Abbas and Meshaal had secretly drafted an agreement and were only waiting for an opportune moment regionally and internationally for public negotiations on a unity deal. That moment came when the Israeli prime minister became embroiled in a corruption scandal; his refusal to relinquish his place at the helm of government cast Israel into political turmoil.
Under that first draft, our sources reported, the two Palestinian factions agreed to share power in a government of Palestinian apolitical technocrats, who would prepare general elections for the presidency and parliament within a year.
The situation at present is as follows:
Once the Palestinian deal is signed and sealed, the countdown begins for a new president on behalf of - or sponsored by - Hamas to take office in Ramallah the second half of 2009.
To achieve this goal, Hamas will go through the motions of handing back the Gaza Strip’s governing institutions to the Palestinian Authority while retaining its iron military grip on the territory.
By taking over the administration, the PA will relieve Hamas of responsibility for wages in the public-sector (for which the Ramallah government turns over cash to Hamas anyway) and supplies of basic commodities - food, fuel and medicine. Hamas’ hands will be free to fight Israel with greater energy than ever before and proceed to seize control of the West Bank to create a base for attacking Israel far more dangerous than Gaza.
Three . Once Hamas vacates Gaza’s government administration – even if this is just a formality – and PA guards man the border crossings, Israel can no longer sustain its blockade of the territory.
Neither can Israel’s military hit back when Hamas and its terrorist allies shoot missiles and mortars against its population. Under the new circumstances, such attack will be deemed aggression against Abbas, with whom the Olmert government is holding peace talks. The Palestinian leader would suspend those talks forthwith.
In order to corner Israel on the diplomatic front, ahead of the arrival next week of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia announced that a start had been made to commit to paper the points he had been discussing with foreign minister Tzipi Livni.
Here too the Palestinians are preparing for a change in government in Jerusalem by pinning the negotiations down to a line binding on the next prime minister.
Israel’s opposition leaders responded that no future government was obligated to stand by the unfinished negotiations or any concessions Livni might have made for a peace deal.
Exclusive: Resumed factional clashes bring out Lebanese army tank units
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5335
Fresh fighting between Hizballah and pro-Western forces supporting prime minister Fouad Siniora flared in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley and Alei in the Chouf hills east of Beirut Sunday. Government forces were deployed to restore order against Hizballah’s anti-tank weapons and 60 mm in new president Michel Sleiman’s first trial of strength since taking office last month.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the outbreak of violence shows that the Lebanese conflict was only partly addressed by the Doha accord the rival factions signed two weeks ago. It produced a consensual vote for a president and awarded Hizballah veto power in government. But it did not settle the pivotal of question of who rules Lebanon - the president, the government, Iran, Syria or Hizballah, which now sits on Sleiman’s desk.
If Siniora whom he designated prime minister changes his pro-Western spots and chooses pro-Syrian ministers to form his next government, Syria and Iran will be satisfied with having taken a further stride in their takeover of Lebanon. But if he persists in trying to build a pro-independence line-up, Hizballah will make sure to tip Lebanon over into factional violence once again.
Israel-Syria talks to resume this week
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1212659690993
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria are due to resume this week under Turkish auspices, probably in Istanbul, Israeli officials have said.
The officials would not give an exact date for the next round of talks, but confirmed the negotiations would resume "shortly."
Representing Israel, as in the previous round of talks, will be Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's political adviser Shalom Turgeman and PMO bureau chief Yoram Turbowicz. For the time being, the talks will continue in the same indirect format as the last ones, with both sides passing proposals and counter-proposals to Turkish mediators.
Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev told The Jerusalem Post that a sign of things moving forward would be when the format changed. "Moving to direct talks will be a sign of real progress," he said.
On May 21 Israel and Syria issued public statements confirming that indirect peace talks were taking place under Turkish mediation "in good faith and openly, in an effort to reach a comprehensive peace." Since then, Israeli officials have been tightlipped over details of the discussions, but Jerusalem has denied a claim by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem that Israel had agreed to withdraw from the Golan Heights up to the 1967 armistice line.
According to reports in the Arab media, while the previous discussions were of a general nature, the next round of talks will focus on the details of four separate issues of a possible peace accord: borders, security aspects, water and normalization.
Addressing the AIPAC convention in Washington last week, Olmert said that Syria was currently a threat to regional stability, but if "[Syria] ultimately makes the choice to have peace relations with Israel, for which it will have to disengage from its allies in the Axis of Evil, this will constitute a drastic, strategic shift in the entire Middle East."
The prime minister said peace between Israel and Syria was a clear Israeli interest, but was also a Syrian one. He promised that any future agreement, if and when reached, would be backed by all the necessary security guarantees to ensure Israel's vital interests were maintained.
Analysis: Israeli military welcomes Mofaz’s “red line” for Tehran
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5332
Last week, Deputy Prime minister Shaul Mofaz said Israeli strikes on Iran looked “unavoidable” given its progress in uranium enrichment and ineffectiveness of the alternatives. The rush by his colleagues in government to condemn the Iranian-born minister’s outspoken threat of unilateral action was as politically-motivated as his own outspokenness.
Mofaz has gone public on his bid to take the lead of the Kadima party when prime minister Ehud Olmert is finally forced out by the corruption case him. But the country is in jitters over Iran’s rapid progress towards nuclear armament and genuinely thirsty for a sign of clear action amid the shilly-shallying on major national security threats, including Hizballah, Hamas and the Palestinians, displayed so far by the heads of the Olmert government.
They prefer to place their reliance on “the international community” and sanctions.
DEBKAfile’s military sources in the Gulf report that Iran, in contrast, is deep in preparations to sustain an attack and hit back. The all Qods commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani, they say, has been appointed to spearhead counter-action against the US and Israel, and Tehran has poured huge military and financial resources into the Brigades’ resources for retaliating against a strike against its nuclear installations.
These sources describe the general as a quiet talker but well capable of managing all al Qods’ various assets across the Middle East for reprisals against their sponsor’s enemies. Gen. Soleimani has been given sole command of this operation. Detached from the regular Revolutionary Guards Corps hierarchy, he defers directly to supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So secretive are his activities that funding comes in cash from Khamenei’s bureau. Therefore, Gulf sources say, Soleimani’s tactics and targeting will take the enemy completely by surprise.
Israeli military and intelligence sources told DEBKAfile that the high-level domestic animosity to Mofaz’s remarks was more damaging than the remarks themselves. They referred especially two Israeli ministers close to Olmert and defense minister Barak, who asserted he did not represent government policy.
Our military sources maintain that Mofaz at least offered a rejoinder to the extremist Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who until now has had the stage to himself for increasingly atrocious threats against Israel.
Only last week in Rome, he used another UN platform to declare that Israel would soon disappear – “with or without Iran’s help.”
Not a single voice was raised in the world body or international community to condemn him.
In contrast, strong challenges to Tehran have been voiced by both US presidential contenders. And at the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee conference last week, Elizabeth Cheney, until recently a principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the New East Bureau, spoke up clearly.
She is quoted by the Washington Post as saying: “When… red lines aren’t there, when our enemies like Iran and Syria begin to believe that can act with impunity, you see situations like you have got in Lebanon today – where Hizballah now has a veto over that government, where Hizballah will be able, I fear, to significantly continue its efforts to rearm southern Lebanon, continue to threaten Israel and allow Iran a real chokehold on the region.”
In any case, the comment made by Mofaz, a former chief of staff who served as defense minister until 2006, was not that much different from earlier Israeli statements: Infrastructure Minister (Labor) Binyamin Ben Eliezer said earlier this year that if Iran developed nuclear weapons, it would be destroyed – “that would be the end of Iran.”
Last month, the recently-retired Israeli Air force chief, Brig. Gen. Eliezer Shkedy said Israel must take action against Iran, even unilaterally, because its nuclear program is an existential threat to the Jewish state.
Asked by an interviewer whether Israel is capable of hitting those installations given their broad geographic dispersal, Shkedy replied tellingly: “There is no problem which has no operational solution.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add that the Israeli Air Force has set up an Iran Command to coordinate operations with the ballistic missiles and air and missile defense brigades which deploy the Arrow and Patriot anti-missile missile systems.
Iran Vows 'Painful Response' If Israel Attacks
http://www.newsmax.com/international/iran_israel/2008/06/09/102942.html
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's defense minister warned of a "painful response" if Israel attacks Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday.
Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar was responding to statements from Shaul Mofaz, an Israeli Cabinet minister, who warned Friday that Israel will attack Iran if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program.
Israel, which itself is believed to have stockpiled about 200 nuclear weapons, has accused Iran of seeking to build its own arsenal.
Iran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity, not bombs.
"If somebody wants to do such a foolish job, the response will be very painful," IRNA quoted Najjar as saying.
Mofaz set off an international uproar over the weekend by saying in a published interview that Israel will have "no choice" but to attack Iran if it doesn't halt its nuclear program. Mofaz is a former military chief and defense minister, and has been Israel's representative in a strategic dialogue on Iran with U.S. officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert distanced himself on Sunday from the statements but didn't explicitly reject Mofaz's threatening comments.
Verbal threats and political tensions have increased between Iran and Israel after Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in 2005 that Israel should be "wiped off the map."
Ahmadinejad has called Holocaust a "myth" and has repeatedly called for Israel's elimination. Last week, he said Israel has "reached the end ... and will soon disappear from the geographical" charts.
There is a precedent for Israeli military action: In 1981, Israeli planes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi reactor.
Other Cabinet ministers accused Mofaz of speaking irresponsibly and suggested he was trying to sound tough for reasons connected with internal politics.
Mofaz sees himself as a candidate to replace Olmert, who is embroiled in a corruption scandal that might force him to step down. He is vying with Israel's popular foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, for the job.
Iran's military leaders have threatened to attack Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor if the Jewish state takes any military actions against Iran.
Iran is equipped with ballistic missiles with a range of 1,200 miles capable of reaching Israel and U.S. bases across the Mideast. Its upgraded version of Shahab-3 and Ashoura are both capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Iran's Supreme Leader Opposes US-Iraq Deal
http://www.newsmax.com/international/iran_iraq/2008/06/09/103005.html
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iraq's prime minister made little headway in easing Iranian opposition to a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, as Iran's supreme leader told him Monday that American troops must leave the country.
The deal, which is still under negotiation, could lay the groundwork for a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq. The Iranians fear the deal would solidify U.S. influence in Iraq and give American forces a launching pad for military action against them.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met over three days with Iranian leaders in Tehran, trying to ease the neighboring country's opposition to the agreement _ apparently hoping to stop Iranian denunciations while assuring the Iranians that a deal would pose no threat to their security.
But in talks Monday, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made clear his rejection of any agreement. He said "occupiers who interfere in Iraq's affairs through their military and security might" are the main cause of Iraq's problems and the "main obstacle in the way of the Iraqi nation's progress and prosperity."
He told al-Maliki that Iraqis must "think of a solution to free" the country from the U.S. military, and he vowed that "America's dream for Iraq will not come true," according to state-run television. Al-Maliki returned to Iraq later Monday, ending his second trip to Tehran in a year.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of trying to scuttle the negotiations. Tehran has considerable influence in Iraq: Besides its ties to mainstream Shiite and Kurdish parties, it is close to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers have been holding weekly demonstrations against the security pact.
The U.S. also accuses Iran of funding and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, a claim Tehran denies. American officials believe Iran has used Iranian-backed militant groups, notably Hezbollah in Lebanon, to stir up opposition to the security agreement across the Middle East.
Iranian officials and pro-government newspapers have accused Washington of trying to control Iraq through the security deal.
Maziar Khosravi, an Iranian political analyst with the independent daily Mardomsalari, or Democracy, said Tehran was unlikely to accept any deal. "If the Iraq-U.S. security deal is signed, America's influence will grow in Iraq and Iran's influence will decline," he said. If Baghdad signs an agreement, "Iran may reduce its cooperation with Iraq and avoid cooperation on security issues with the U.S. and Iraq," he said.
The proposed pact is also facing widespread opposition among Iraqi politicians.
Many fear Washington has plans to keep permanent bases, despite a denial of any such plan written into the proposal. Iraqis say the drafts submitted by the Americans thus far would infringe on Iraq's sovereignty by giving U.S. forces too much freedom to operate.
The latest proposed American draft, put forward Sunday, seeks to address some of those concerns. It adds an explicit promise that U.S. forces in Iraq will not attack neighboring countries and that Iraqi authorities will be notified in advance of any action by U.S. ground forces, according to two Iraqi lawmakers familiar with the draft. While the proposal gives U.S. forces the power to arrest suspects, it says any detainees would be handed over to Iraqi authorities, said the lawmakers, Mahmoud Othman and Iman al-Asadi.
Hadi al-Amri, head of the Badr Organization, a pro-government Shiite party with close ties to Iran, said the latest draft was still unacceptable, and warned that the positions and interests of the two sides are so far apart that any kind of agreement is "impossible."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo refused to comment on the specifics of the negotiations, which began in March. But, she said, "we have said publicly on numerous occasions that U.S. forces in Iraq will not be used for offensive operations against any of Iraq's neighbors."
The draft is the fourth put forward by the Americans, and earlier versions have been rejected by parties across Iraq's political spectrum, including al-Maliki's Dawa party, other Shiite parties in his coalition and Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians. For his part, al-Maliki has said he wants a deal that respects Iraqi sovereignty.
Iraq's parliament must approve the deal, and Iraqi officials familiar with the talks said Sunday that it stood no chance of passing without major changes in the U.S. position. They said they believe a deal is unlikely to be reached before the end of President Bush's term in January. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy surrounding the negotiations.
Iraqi and U.S. negotiators are working on two agreements _ one, a broad statement of principles on the countries' strategic relationship; and the other, a Status of Forces Agreement detailing the powers U.S. forces will have in Iraq.
The agreements would provide a legal basis for the presence of U.S. forces after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. The target for completing the talks is July, but it seems likely that negotiations will last longer.
Pentagon-Funded Survey Says Pakistan Helped Train Taliban Insurgents
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364703,00.html
KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistani intelligence agents and paramilitary forces have helped train Taliban insurgents and have given them information about American troop movements in Afghanistan, said a report published Monday by a U.S. think tank.
The study by the RAND Corp. also warned that the U.S. will face "crippling, long-term consequences" in Afghanistan if Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan are not eliminated.
It echoes recent statements by American generals, who have increased their warnings that militant safe havens in Pakistan are threatening efforts in Afghanistan. The study was funded by the U.S. Defense Department.
"Every successful insurgency in Afghanistan since 1979 enjoyed safe haven in neighboring countries, and the current insurgency is no different," said the report's author, Seth Jones. "Right now, the Taliban and other groups are getting help from individuals within Pakistan's government, and until that ends, the region's long-term security is in jeopardy."
Pakistan's top military spokesman rejected the findings.
The study, "Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan," found some active and former officials in Pakistan's intelligence service and the Frontier Corps — a Pakistani paramilitary force deployed along the Afghan border — provided direct assistance to Taliban militants and helped secure medical care for wounded fighters.
It said NATO officials have uncovered several instances of Pakistani intelligence agents providing information to Taliban fighters, even "tipping off Taliban forces about the location and movement of Afghan and coalition forces, which undermined several U.S. and NATO anti-Taliban military operations." No timeframes were given.
The report said Pakistan's intelligence service and other government agencies provided Taliban and other insurgents with training at camps in Pakistan, as well as intelligence, financial assistance and help crossing the border.
When asked in an Associated Press interview last month what the state of the insurgency might be in 2013, the outgoing NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, said: "If there are going to be sanctuaries where these terrorists, these extremists, these insurgents can train, can recruit, can regenerate, there's still going to be a challenge there."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with the world community to address the issue of militant sanctuaries in Pakistan. Afghan intelligence officials say young, uneducated males are recruited in the border tribal areas to become suicide bombers and fighters. After battles or attacks in Afghanistan, militants flow back into Pakistan to rest and rearm, officials say.
Pakistan — which supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks — denied it is supporting the insurgents, but acknowledged the problem of militant infiltration.
"Whenever these kinds of places are identified or pointed out, action is taken against these places and there are umpteen examples in the past where the actions have been taken against these insurgents, or, for that matter, foreigners," said Pakistan military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. "Therefore, we reject this claim of sanctuaries being aided by Pakistan's army or intelligence agencies."
Pakistan Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Monday that he met with Karzai in the Afghan capital over the weekend, and the two sides agreed to set up biometric screening at key border checkpoints.
Malik said tens of thousands of people cross each day without any documentation.
"They go without any checking — no passport, no documentation. It's a free for all," he told reporters. He said the new computerized system would begin operating within two weeks.
Nevertheless, he defended Pakistan's efforts to police the border, saying the government had deployed 120,000 troops and had set up five times more border posts than there are on the Afghan side.
Malik expressed willingness to share intelligence on extremists and conduct joint operations with Afghan security forces. He denied that Pakistan would strike peace deals with terrorists in order to calm Islamic militancy on its own soil.
Pakistan has insisted it is only pursuing negotiations with militant groups willing to lay down their arms, and it has relied partly on tribal elders to mediate. A handful of deals have already been struck.
U.S. officials say attacks where American troops operate in eastern Afghanistan have gone up significantly since those deals were reached earlier this year.
The study said that besides the Taliban, other major militant groups find sanctuary in Pakistan. These include al-Qaida, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's radical Hezb-i-Islami group and the Haqqani network, led by Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son, Siraj.
"These insurgent groups find refuge in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, North West Frontier Province, and Baluchistan Province," RAND said in a news release. "They regularly ship weapons, ammunition and supplies into Afghanistan from Pakistan, and a number of suicide bombers have come from Afghan refugee camps based in Pakistan."
The report also called on the U.S. and its allies to help build the Afghan security forces, particularly the police, and to improve the quality of local governments, especially in rural regions.
It also claimed that Afghanistan's police are incompetent and "almost uniformly corrupt," echoing frequent criticism of the police by international officials here.
The U.S. is spending billions of dollars to train and equip the Afghan police, but the efforts are still years away from being completed.
Pastor Beaten; Churches Attacked in India
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07275.shtml
(christiansunite.com) - Pastor Rampal Kori was beaten by two Hindu militants in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh while returning from a prayer service at approximately 7:30 a.m. on May 27. The militants repeatedly struck the pastor with an iron rod and accused him of forcibly converting villagers to Christianity.
They also robbed him of 3000 Rupees ($70 CAD). Pastor Kori sustained serious injuries that required stitches in his head.
Hindu militants attacked at least two churches in recent weeks. On the evening of May 26, militants demolished a thatched church in the district of Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the Masihi Mandir Church in the district of Oriya Para, Chhattisgarh was attacked by a group of Hindu militants during a morning church service on June 1.
At approximately 11:00 a.m., the militants barged into the church building and destroyed the facility's furniture. The attackers accused the believers present of forcibly converting people, and threatened them of dire consequences if they continued to worship Christ.
Pray for healing for Pastor Kori. Ask God to strengthen the believers whose churches were attacked to continue to stand in His grace (1 Peter 5:12).
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in India, go to www.persecution.net/country/india.htm.
India: Christians caught up in crackdown on Hindu faith healers
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/india.christians.caught.up.in.crackdown.on.hindu.faith.healers/19380.htm
Several Christian pastors in the state of Kerala in India have been targets of police raids.
"We are not against any religion or spiritual leader. But we have received several complaints against many faith healers, who have mushroomed in the state," Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told India's UCA News.
The minister further added that Indian Government wants to keep an eye on spiritual leaders who become "rich within a short period".
Last week, police raided the office and residence of Abraham Kuruvilla, a famous Christian who started Heavenly Feast Ministries in 1998.
The ministry’s weekly Sunday prayer meetings in Kottayam claims to gather more than 20,000 people and boasts of 100,000 members from various religions.
A representative of the Heavenly Feast Ministries said the police raid does not bother them and that "it is all a media creation".
"If we have done anything wrong, let the law punish us. But the media is trying to tarnish our image among the public," said the representative.
Also being investigated is Bishop KP Yohannan, who heads the Believers Church and Gospel for Asia.
The church owns vast properties, including schools, theological colleges and even rubber plantations. Bishop Samuel Mathew, the group's second-highest official said the Believer's Church has 1.5 million followers in Bangladesh, India, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
In India alone, it also has more than 200 staff, who manage a seminary, Bible colleges and daily programmes for around 43,000 children in 400 locations.
Bishop Mathew said his church has nothing to hide, and that it has cooperated with the police investigations and recorded all received donations.
The crackdown on spiritual leaders and "faith healers" began last month, after police arrested a Hindu godman Amritha Chaithanya alias Santosh Madhavan on fraud cases, and for allegedly amassing illegal wealth. Police also allegedly recovered pornographic CDs from lockers in his home showing sexually indecent acts with minor girls.
The incident has led to a crackdown on several Hindu godmen, including Himaval Maheswarananda Bhadrananda, who tried to shoot at the media during a police raid.
Talking to Christian Today, Pastor Abraham Kotaikal from the Revival Ministries in Kerala said, “The police are involving and investigating Christians due to the framed allegations of Hindu fundamentalists who are irked by the crackdown against many Hindi godmen”.
“It is a testing time, and the ministries in the state require prayers from all believers,” he added.
Saudi Arabia Calls for Oil Talks
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/389606.aspx
CBNNews.com - RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia will call for a summit between oil producing countries and consumer states to discuss soaring energy prices, Information and Culture Minister Iyad Madani said Monday.
The kingdom will also work with OPEC to "guarantee the availability of oil supplies now and in the future," the minister said following the weekly Cabinet meeting, held in the seaport city of Jiddah.
Madani said that the kingdom has informed "all oil companies it deals with as well as countries that consume oil that (the kingdom) is ready to provide them with any additional oil they need."
"The Saudi Cabinet has instructed Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi to call for a meeting in the near future that will include representatives of oil-producing countries, consumers and companies that work in extracting, exporting and selling oil to look into the price hike, its causes and how to deal with it," said Madani.
The Saudi announcement comes just three days after the biggest single-day price leap ever, when oil surged more than $11 to surpass $139 per barrel.
Retail gas prices rose further above $4 Monday in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer, following the unprecedented price rally.
The kingdom will work to ensure there will be no "unwarranted and unnatural oil price hikes that could affect international economies, especially those of developing countries," said Madani.
"There is no justification for the current rise in prices," he said.
On Monday, light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $4.18 to $134.36 a barrel in volatile trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It's not a situation that's going to move the market today," said Phil Flynn at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, suggesting that there it might have a more long term effect. "I do think a conference is warranted, we need to sit down."
Jim Ritterbusch, president of the U.S.-based energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates cautioned that such meetings have taken place in the past and could be more an effort to calm the market without taking concrete measures.
"It's not anywhere near as significant as if they called an emergency OPEC meeting," he said. "It seems to me to be more political than anything ... They're reaching their worry threshold."
The Saudis are concerned that sustained high oil prices will eventually slacken the world's appetite for oil, affecting them in the long run.
Investors last month shrugged off news that Saudi Arabia had increased production by 300,000 barrels a day after a visit from President Bush, who sought a major production increase.
Energy experts say most producers have little ability to expand output. The exception is Saudi Arabia, which is producing about 9.4 million barrels a day and has the ability to increase production by about 2 million barrels a day, but has not done so.
"In the current circumstances, every barrel that can be used is being used," said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy. "Unless the Saudis and OPEC suddenly produce some oil that nobody has heretofore known about, then this meeting is likely to produce no meaningful outcomes."
The current president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Chakib Khelil, has said that the cartel will make no new decision on production levels until its Sept. 9 meeting in Vienna.
Ancient Christian Shrine Possibly Found in Jordan
http://www.newsmax.com/international/jordan_catacomb_christian/2008/06/09/103117.html
AMMAN, Jordan — Archaeologists in Jordan say they have discovered a catacomb underneath one of the world's oldest churches that may be an even more ancient site of Christian worship.
Archaeologist Abdel-Qader Hussein, head of the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies, says the catacombs were unearthed in the northern Jordanian city of Rihab after three months of excavation and show evidence of early Christian rituals.
Shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, disciples founded churches in the area, many of them underground to escape persecution.
The catacomb lies under St. Georgeous church, built in 230 A.D, making it one of the oldest churches, along with one unearthed in the Jordanian southern port of Aqaba in 1998 and another in Megiddo, Israel discovered in 2005.
Report: China funding campaign to eliminate house churches
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/report.china.funding.campaign.to.eliminate.house.churches/19410.htm
A new report released on Sunday, exactly two months ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games, details the current Chinese Government’s crackdown on unregistered Christians, including the funding of a campaign to eradicate house churches throughout China.
The report, entitled “China: Persecution of Protestant Christians in the Approach to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games”, by Christian Solidarity Worldwide and China Aid Association, provides information on different tactics used by the government to restrict the religious freedom of Christians.
CAA said that in May, two independent sources reported that the Chinese Central Government was providing funding to the Ministry of Public Security to escalate its campaign to eradicate house churches in China.
China Aid also said it received reports of “planned intensified persecution”, with greater control and prevention of large Christian gatherings ahead of the Games.
“While Chinese house churches have long suffered persecution, this is believed to be the first time that the authorities have systematically cracked down on the ‘third wave churches',” the report noted. “These are churches amongst the more educated and wealthy sections of society with greater awareness of their rights, which generally meet in urban areas and have been tolerated, even though operating under certain restrictions.”
Tactics used to crack down on unregistered Christians include the targeting of well-established unregistered churches, sending landlords directives ordering them to not rent space to those engaging in religious activities, and charging Christians in the Xinjiang region of separatism. They have also expelled foreign Christians, attempted to repress the Chinese House Church Alliance, and carried out the largest mass sentencing of house church leaders in 25 years.
The report also highlights the “disturbing news” that some house church Christians were arrested and fined for trying to help victims of the massive earthquake in Sichuan Province.
“As we mark the two month countdown to the Beijing Olympics today it is truly disturbing to report the deteriorating picture for China’s unregistered Christians,” said Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of CSW, on Sunday. “As China takes her place in the spotlight for the Olympic Games it is important to highlight that she must play by international rules, including her binding international obligations on human rights.”
In China, there are five government-sanctioned religions – Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism. A government-affiliated association monitors and supervises the activities of each of these faiths.
Protestant churches are required to register and operate under the government’s umbrella organisation, the China Christian Council. But many protestant Christians refuse to work with the CCC, arguing that God is the head of the church and not the government.
China has an underground Christian population estimated at 70 million, although experts are quick to point out the difficulty in establishing precise figures.
Open Doors and other human rights groups have reported increased incidents of Christian persecution in China last year as it prepares for the Olympics. The watchdog’s 2008 World Watch List ranks China as the tenth worst persecutor of Christians in the world.
Meanwhile, China Aid Association, in its annual update, reported that persecution had worsened in 2007 compared to 2006.
Open Doors has organised a prayer campaign for Christians in the West to pray at least one minute each day at 8 pm Beijing time. The “One Minute/One Year/One Country” campaign began on August 8, 2007, and will run until August 8, 2008 – the day the Beijing Games begin.
On Wednesday, CAA president Bob Fu will be in London to speak about persecution of Chinese Christians. Also, activist Chun Ki Won, who was imprisoned by China for helping North Korean refugees, will also speak about China’s human rights violation.
The full report is available at www.csw.org.uk
Beijing Gospel Church Issues Public Letter Discussing the Disruption of House Church Gathering by Government Officials
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07273.shtml
BEIJING, China, (christiansunite.com) -- China Aid has learned further details concerning the disruption and attack on the 1000 member Beijing Gospel Church. In an open letter directed at Government officials, victims of the attack were able to relay in graphic detail the events that happened on the morning of May 25.
According to eyewitnesses at approximately 9:30 am on Monday, house church gathering sites at Longhuayuan Residential Complex, Tiantongyuan Residential Complex, Century Jiayuan Residential Complex, Yangqiao Residential Complex, Ganjiakou Residential Complex, Zhongguancun Residential Complex and other gathering sites were broken into by government officials from 4 different Government agencies, including the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs. Officials proceeded to forcefully enter and search the homes of the house church members, confiscating religious materials without presenting proper documentation or search warrants.
Some members received minor injuries from police officials who resorted to violence against the members. Despite the illegal actions taken by the Government officials, the house church members obediently complied with their demands, even shaking the hands and pronouncing a blessing upon the officials who had broken into their homes.
Within the letter, House Church leaders cited several Constitutional laws stating the legality of their gathering. In the concluding statements of the letter, members pledged to continue gathering despite Government mandates ordering the contrary.
The example set forth by the members of the Beijing House Church is one of uncompromising religious worship, while remaining respectful and compliant to authorities and Constitutional commands.
CAA lauds the actions and responses of the Beijing House Church towards corrupt Government officials during this most recent attack. The House Church members have set a precedent of proper reaction towards Government officials who hypocritically persecute unregistered Churches while failing to remain consistent with policy and Constitutional law.
To voice your concern over this incident, 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
U.S. Official Travels to North Korea for Nuclear Talks
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364845,00.html
SEOUL, South Korea — A U.S. diplomat traveled Tuesday to North Korea for talks on the communist nation's efforts to disable its main nuclear reactor.
Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department's top Korea expert, crossed into North Korea via the heavily fortified land border with South Korea, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said.
Kim was to stay in North Korea for two days to discuss how it can finish several remaining steps in disabling its Yongbyong reactor as well the possibility of blowing up a cooling tower there, according to the State Department and the embassy.
North Korea has promised to provide a complete declaration of its nuclear programs in return for aid and political concessions, but has not yet done so. It handed 18,500 pages of nuclear records to the U.S. in May.
The trip comes as the U.S. and South Korea and other nations involved in North Korean nuclear disarmament talks planned to meet in Seoul later Tuesday to discuss details of promised energy aid to the North.
A full six-nation meeting on energy aid is scheduled Wednesday at the truce village of Panmunjom, inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.
Energy-starved North Korea was promised aid equivalent to 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for taking initial steps toward disarmament. It has requested that half of the aid be provided in heavy fuel oil and the other half in energy-related equipment -- mostly steel products for renovating its outdated power plants.
North Korea also is scheduled to hold separate talks with Japan in Beijing this week to try to resolve the issue of abductions of Japanese citizens by the North during the 1970s and 1980s.
Japan joined the disarmament deal but has opted out of contributing energy aid to North Korea, citing a lack of progress in the kidnapping issue.
Vietnamese Christians starved, beaten for their faith
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/vietnamese.christians.starved.beaten.for.their.faith/19377.htm
Christians from the persecuted minority Hmong tribe in Vietnam have been telling Release International how they were jailed and beaten to try to make them renounce their faith.
The plight of other Christians in Vietnam is graphically described in the latest edition of Witness magazine from Release International, which serves the persecuted church worldwide.
A team of investigators from Release International found that some of the harshest persecution in Vietnam is reserved for the ethnic Hmong people, who sided with the United States in the Vietnam War. The authorities regard evangelical Christianity as an American export intended to undermine the communist revolution.
‘Stephen’ and ‘Paul’, whose names have been changed for security reasons, described the brutal treatment meted out to them in jail as the authorities tried to force them to give up their faith.
Stephen believes the authorities murdered his brother because he refused to stop telling others about his Christian faith. The authorities jailed Stephen for three years, leaving his wife to labour in the fields and bring up their seven children on her own.
"The reason they beat my brother was because he did not deny Jesus Christ. They beat him and he died," says Stephen. He says the authorities then beat him, too, threw him out of his own home and banished him from his village.
In jail, Stephen was given hard labour, breaking rocks. If he failed to complete his quota he was beaten.
He could have taken the easy way out to avoid a jail sentence. Before being imprisoned he was told that if he signed a document renouncing his faith he could go free. But he refused.
"I never denied Jesus. Never," he said.
"I believe that even if I die I will still put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord never, never left me. Every day, when I breathe the air, I trust in the Lord."
Paul, also a Hmong Christian, described being jailed for sharing Christianity with his people. He was imprisoned for more than a decade for spreading the religion. It was the second time he had been jailed for his faith.
Paul told Release International that the authorities beat him severely to try to get him to deny his faith, but he continued telling other prisoners about Jesus in the jail.
"They said that because I had been preaching the Gospel for my people, that is why they came for me. And because some of the Hmong had believed the Lord because of my mouth, they beat me in prison."
Paul was also given the opportunity to renounce his faith. He was told if he signed a paper he could go free.
His reply was clear and to the point: "I said to them even if you nail me like Jesus Christ to the cross I will still not deny him. You can do to me exactly like Jesus Christ and I will still be happy.
"Sometimes I thought I would die, but after that the Lord give me more strength so I could complete the course. That's why after a few years, they didn't beat me anymore."
Both prisoners described being severely malnourished in jail. "The worst thing about prison always starving, always wanting to eat something," said Stephen. On one occasion Paul was so hungry he picked up and ate a live frog – knowing it to be poisonous.
He explains: "In the first seven years I never saw my family, they never visited me and I was very, very hungry. Every day I got one bowl of rice and not enough vegetables. That's why I ate the frog.
"The reason I got poisoned was because if somebody eats a frog they should take out all the insides, but I ate all of it."
Both men run the risk of further imprisonment yet Paul and Stephen continue to share their faith. "I am never frightened about what will happen in the future for me," says Paul, "because I understand that the Lord is with me and many, many people around the world are praying for me."
The head of Release International, Andy Dipper, said, "Please pray for these former prisoners, that the Lord will protect them and their families. And pray that Vietnam will stop confusing the Christian faith with politics and will grant full freedom of religion."
Release International and its partners are supporting families of prisoners of faith in Vietnam. Release is providing food, pastoral and medical aid, and supporting prisoners when they come out of jail.
Twin bombing attacks near Algiers leave up to 24 killed Sunday
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5334
They included a French engineer and his Algerian driver, as well as a dozen policemen and firefighters killed while responding to the first explosion.There has been no claim of responsibility. It was the second terrorist attack on the French water engineering company Razel. The first in September was claimed by Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.
There have been five bomb attacks in five days around Algiers and the Kabylie region, an Islamist stronghold, in an apparent resurgent al Qaeda offensive in Algeria.
As foreign nationals prepared to leave Algeria, French president Nicolas Sarkozy sent a message of solidarity to Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
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