Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

U.S. in New Push for Mid - East Peace
Oct 31st, 2009
Daily NewsBBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Peace Process

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the Middle East for talks aimed at unblocking the peace process.

She met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the United Arab Emirates before heading to Jerusalem to see Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking earlier to the BBC, Mrs Clinton said a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians remained a "high priority" for the United States.

The US remains committed to plans for a two-state solution, Mrs Clinton added.

Before Mrs Clinton's arrival in the region, Mr Netanyahu said he hoped for a resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians as soon as possible.

However, a key sticking point is Israel's refusal to freeze settlement building on the occupied West Bank.

During their talks, Mr Abbas told Mrs Clinton that Palestinians would not agree to re-launch peace talks with Israel without a complete freeze of Jewish settlements, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Saturday.

'Little urgency'

Mrs Clinton's visit is part of a weekend of discussions to try to restart the stalled peace process.

"This is a high priority for not only our administration but for much of the world. It is one of the most common questions that I am asked," Mrs Clinton stressed.

"The fact that I'm in the region... reinforces the seriousness with which we are approaching our desire to get the parties to begin a serious negotiation that can lead to a two-state solution."

The Palestinians had been emboldened by earlier American talk of the need for a settlement freeze, the BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem says.

Mrs Clinton has said that there is little point in the US wanting negotiations more than the parties themselves and our correspondent adds that there appears little sense of urgency from the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Obama to Lift Hiv Entry Ban Soon
Oct 31st, 2009
Daily NewsBBC News
Categories: Today's Headlines

The US is to end its 22-year ban on people with HIV entering the country, President Barack Obama has confirmed.

Mr Obama made the announcement as he extended funding for an act that provides HIV/Aids related health care.

"If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/Aids, we need to act like it," Mr Obama said.

The US is one of only about a dozen countries barring entry on HIV status. The ban is expected to be lifted at the beginning of 2010.

'End the stigma'

Mr Obama confirmed the move as he signed the Ryan White HIV/Aids Treatment Extension Act.

He said the entry ban had been "rooted in fear rather than fact".

He said: "We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the Aids pandemic - yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people with HIV from entering our own country.

"On Monday, my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year."

Mr Obama added: "It will also take an effort to end the stigma that has stopped people from getting tested, that has stopped people from facing their own illness and that has sped the spread of this disease for far too long."

The process to lift the ban had begun under the administration of George W Bush.

The Ryan White Act is named after a 13-year-old boy who contracted the virus via blood transfusion and helped educate Americans about the disease until his death in 1990 aged 18.

The act helps about 500,000 people, many on low incomes, by providing treatment and support.

HIV was added in 1987 to the list of diseases disqualifying people from entering the US.

Merkel and Sarkozy Unite to End Blair's European Dream
Oct 31st, 2009
Daily NewsThe Independent - Nigel Morris and Vanessa Mock
Categories: Today's Headlines;Revived Roman Empire

Former prime minister's bid for EU presidency founders as continent's most powerful leaders announce they would prefer candidate from smaller country

Tony Blair's hopes of becoming the first President of Europe have been dealt a potentially lethal blow by France and Germany. The European Union's two most powerful nations appeared to slam the door on a bid by the former prime minister to become President of the European Council.

At the end of a two-day EU summit in Brussels, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, suggested they had a different candidate in mind for the prestigious post about to be created by the Lisbon Treaty.

"The names that first come out of the hat are not necessarily those that are finally chosen," he told journalists. "With Chancellor Merkel, we completely agree that we are going to have the same approach, the same vision and support the same candidate when the time comes. I think it's very important that France and Germany, on a choice that is as important as this one, show their determination to walk hand-in-hand down this road."

The two leaders are believed to have thrashed out a common approach to the job at a private meeting on the eve of the summit.

Mr Sarkozy's comments were particularly wounding as he is a well-known admirer of Mr Blair and two years ago advocated his candidacy. Britain's absence from both the eurozone and the Schengen "open borders" area are thought to have counted against Mr Blair in Paris.

Although the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has remained inscrutable on the issue, EU diplomats believe she is searching for an alternative to the former prime minister. She indicated that she thought the first President of Europe under the Lisbon Treaty should be from a "small" member state – and that does not include the UK

A vigorous pro-Blair campaign by UK ministers and diplomats appeared to have backfired as a series of nations indicated they wanted someone with a lower profile for the post. They signalled they wanted the successful candidate to concentrate on the EU and its institutions rather than to be a big personality on the world stage.

Even Gordon Brown acknowledged that the chances were not good for Mr Blair, telling his own summit press conference: "I recognise that there are many candidates who may come forward but I do believe that Tony Blair will remain an excellent candidate."

Two solid frontrunners are Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende – both leaders of "small" EU states.

Art's Commentary......It is interesting that Daniel in speaking of the Antichrist says, ".....for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people." Dan. 11:23.

Iran, Turkey Aim for $20 Billion Trade By 2011
Oct 31st, 2009
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines

Deals between two countries include power plants, industrial zone, bank branches

Iran and Turkey said they agreed on Wednesday to strengthen energy, banking and transport ties in a drive to almost treble trade between the two neighbours to $20 billion in the next few years.

"The two countries are seriously determined to expand their bilateral relations in all fields," Iran's first vice president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, told a joint news conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan spoke of plans to increase trade to $20 billion in 2011 and said he welcomed an Iranian call for trade volume to reach $30 billion eventually. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said last week bilateral trade was $7 billion in 2008.

Erdogan has steadily expanded Turkey's influence in the Middle East since his Islamist-rooted AK Party took power in 2002. His visit to Iran has added to concern that Ankara may be slowly turning its back on its Western allies and trying to regain its status as a regional power in the Middle East.

The expansion of bilateral ties may cause concern in Washington, an ally of NATO member Turkey. The United States is embroiled in a long-running row with Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, is Turkey's second-biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.Rahimi said the two sides reached a series of agreements, including building two power plants, setting up a free industrial zone on both sides of the border and on Iranian and Turkish banks opening branches in the other country.

He said there were also agreements covering Iranian gas exports to Europe via Turkey and on Turkish investments in Iran's South Pars gas field and in the Caspian Sea, but gave no details.

Escalating Anti - Semitism As Turkey Embraces Iran
Oct 31st, 2009
Daily NewsSimon Wiesenthal Center
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

For over 500 years, from the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 to the horrific years of the Nazi Holocaust, Jews have found a safe haven among the Turkish people.

Now a series of developments have created fear among Turkey's Jews and has led to

Tehran - October 27, 2009  President Ahmadinejad said he "appreciates" Turkish PM Erdogan's support for Iran's nuclear program.

a deterioration in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, and a crisis within NATO.

•Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly expressed support for Iran — "There is no doubt he [President Ahmadinejad] is our friend" even as he accused Israel's Foreign Minister Lieberman of threatening to nuke Gaza.

•Turkey barred Israel from a planned NATO military exercise on Turkish soil over "sensitivity on Gaza, East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque."

•"Separation", a miniseries about Palestinians (see below), broadcast on Turkish state-run TV and also seen throughout Europe, depicts young Israeli soldiers as Nazi-like murderers gunning down a Palestinian infant, and young children.