Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

UN Interferes in Netanyahu's Coalition Building
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Staff
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israelis reacted furiously on Wednesday to what appeared to be blatant interference in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu's coalition-building efforts by a senior United Nations envoy.

Israel's Ma'ariv newspaper reported that UN Special Envoy Robert Serry had told a group of Israeli activists that Netanyahu's expected appointment of Knesset member Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) as Israel's new housing minister was a mistake because it would lead to the construction of new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria.

Serry said that building homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria only further delegitimizes Israel in the eyes of the world, and so people like MK Ariel should be kept out of such positions.

The Jewish Home party has requested the housing ministry as part of its demands for entering Netanyahu's coalition, which the prime minister is already having great trouble putting together.

Ariel himself slammed the Serry and the UN for meddling at such a delicate time.

"This is an incredibly arrogant statement, and constitutes blatant interference in Israel’s sovereignty," Ariel said in remarks carried by Israel National News.

Other political movements in Israel noted that Serry's interference was likely instigated, or at least fueled, by a recent European Union push to put an economic choke hold on the Jewish settlements.

Palestinians to Obama: Stay Off Temple Mount!
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The Palestinian Authority has advised the White House in Washington to call off President Barack Obama’s tour of the Western Wall and al Aqsa mosque on Temple Mount under the escort of Israeli security personnel. Obama is to spend March 20 and 21 on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. His visits to those shrines, said the PA, would be an affirmation of Israeli sovereignty.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad called on its supporters to prevent the US president setting foot on Temple Mount with a hail of rocks and eggs.

Meet Israel's New Government
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Staff
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

With just a day until his deadline, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday managed to cobble together a majority coalition that could change the way some things are run in Israel.

The new coalition will be anchored by Netanyahu's Likud and the allied Israel Beiteinu party. But Netanyahu's new government will enjoy majority status thanks to the right-wing Jewish Home and the centrist Yesh Atid parties.

Just days after January's eleciton, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid forged an alliance vowing that they were either going to join the government together and bring Israelis the changes they have been demanding, or go hand-in-hand into the opposition.

Bennett and Lapid didn't have all of their demands met, but they did achieve enough that the new government could potentially bring unprecedented changes to modern Israel.

The two main aims of the Bennett-Lapid alliance were to end ultra-Orthodox hegemony over all things religious in Israel and to bring about better fiscal management.

To that end, Lapid will be Israel's new minister of finance, while his #2, Rabbi Shai Piron, will take the education ministry. The Ministry of Education controls the enormous amount of money that streams into ultra-Orthodox yeshivas.

Bennett will head three ministries - Economy and Trade, Diaspora and Jerusalem, and Religious Affairs. As the new minister of religious affairs, Bennett will be able to bring reforms to Israel's Jewish conversion process and possibly enable civil marriages.

The one ministry Lapid and Bennett failed to capture was the Ministry of the Interior, which Netanyahu's Likud will keep. Lapid also had to compromise on his demand that the new government have no more than 18 ministers.

In the end, including Netanyahu himself, the cabinet will number 22 ministers and deputy ministers, still a major decrease from the 30 ministers that sat in the last government.

Both Lapid and Bennett also agreed that Israel's large ultra-Orthodox sector cannot continue to enjoy the benefits of state welfare while failing to share the burden of military service. The final agreement on that front states that religious Jews can defer military service for three years in order to study the Bible, but that at age 21 they must, like all Israelis, serve in the Israeli army for two years.

Naturally, Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, in particular the powerful Shas Party, were furious over the deal, and vowed to work vigorously against the new government from the opposition.

Nor were all the members of Netanyahu's Likud pleased by the arrangement, noting that the prime minister had left very few ministries for senior Likud figures.

The new government will certainly have many hurdles to overcome, but many Israelis are also excited by the potential changes the new forged coalition represents.

Let the Headlines Speak
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Obama 'declares war' on U.S. military
America’s men and women in uniform – many of whom have risked their lives in service to their country – are now being stripped of once-guaranteed college benefits as the Obama administration seeks to ensure citizens feel the pain of its loss in the sequester battle.

Pope Francis on Same-Sex Marriage: 'A Move of the Father of Lies;' 'A Total Rejection of God's Law'
In 2010, when his native Argentina was considering a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage, Pope Francis I, then archbishop of Buenos Aires, said that the legislation was a total rejection of God's law and an effort by the father of lies to confuse and deceive humanity. Then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio made these observations in a letter to a group of monasteries in Argentina, in which he asked the sisters for their prayers in defeating the same-sex marriage legislation.

Peres invites new pope to pop over for visit
President says pontiff will be welcomed as ‘a man of inspiration who can add to the attempt to bring peace in a stormy area’.

Peacekeepers on Golan to end patrols, leave posts
UN forces reassessing mission in wake of kidnappings and pullout of several countries as Syrian civil war seeps into DMZ.

CHANCE OF SOLAR STORMS
NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on March 15th when a CME might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field.

Spy Agencies to Get Access to U.S. Bank Transactions Database
The Obama administration is drafting a plan that will give the CIA and NSA access to a database of suspicious financial transactions that until now only law enforcement agencies have been able to access.

Jesuit Pope a first for 'God's Marines'
The order elects its own leader, known as the Black Pope because of the black vestments worn by the Jesuits Now, in a world first, a Jesuit has been appointed Pope in a surprise election that Australian Jesuits say could lead the Catholic Church in a new direction.

Francis: the new Argentinian Pope, who makes history as first Jesuit Catholic leader
Elected on the fifth ballot, Francis was chosen in one of the fastest conclaves in years, remarkable given there was no clear front-runner going into the vote and that the church had been in turmoil following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation. A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the 115, to be named pope.

WHO confirms 15th case of deadly new virus in Saudi Arabia
A Saudi man infected with a deadly new virus from the same family as SARS has died, becoming the ninth patient in the world to be killed the disease which has so far infected 15, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The 39-year-old developed symptoms of the novel coronavirus (NCoV) on February 24 and died on March 2, several days after being hospitalized, the WHO said in a disease outbreak update.

‘Exploding’ meteorite seen in SA sky
Cape Town - Residents across Cape Town claimed to have sighted a meteorite on Tuesday after what appears to have been a fireball “exploded” in the sky. It is said to have been sighted just after noon. Nicola Loaring, an outreach astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory, said they had received about four or five reports.

Could the Central Coast get an early warning for an earthquake?
Some scientists got a 30 second warning Monday before an earthquake hit Southern California. The early warning alert is part of an experiment being conducted by seismologists across the state.

Britain and France 'will arm Syrian rebels even without EU support'
Paris and London will call for moving up the date of the next European Union meeting on the Syria arms embargo, and will decide to arm the rebels if the 27-member EU does not give unanimous agreement, he said. France and Britain ask "the Europeans now to lift the embargo so that the resistance fighters have the possibility of defending themselves," he told France Info radio.

New pope said to have good ties with Argentinian Jews
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentinian cardinal who was elected pope and will take the name Francis, is said to have a good relationship with Argentinian Jews. Bergoglio, 76, a Jesuit, was the choice of the College of Cardinals on Wednesday following two days of voting in Vatican City. He is the first pope to come from outside Europe in more than a millennium...

World poll: Image of U.S. declines
Worldwide approval of U.S. leadership dipped considerably during President Barack Obama’s fourth year in office — but it increased in some countries, including Mexico. The median approval rating for U.S. leadership for 130 countries was 41 percent in 2012, down 8 percentage points from the 49 percent approval during Obama’s first year in office, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

Greek unemployment reaches record 26 percent
Unemployment in debt-crippled Greece rose to a record of 26 percent in the last quarter of 2012, as austerity measures combined with a deep recession took a harsh toll on the workforce. The figures were worse than the previous quarter's 24.8 percent, and 20.7 percent a year earlier. The national statistical authority said Thursday that 1.29 million people were out of a job in October-December 2012.

China's Drone Swarms Rise to Challenge US Power
China is building one of the world's largest drone fleets aimed at expanding its military reach in the Pacific and swarming U.S. Navy carriers in the unlikely event of a war, according to a new report. The Chinese military — known as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) — envisions its drone swarms scouting out battlefields, guiding missile strikes and overwhelming opponents through sheer numbers.

U.S. to let spy agencies scour Americans' finances
The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens...according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters. The proposed plan represents a major step by U.S. intelligence agencies to spot and track down terrorist networks and crime syndicates by bringing together financial databanks, criminal records and military intelligence.

Israel PM Netanyahu 'reaches coalition deal'
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached a deal to form a coalition government, officials say. His Likud-Yisrael Beitenu party list will form a coalition with the centrist Yesh Atid and Hatnua and the far-right Jewish Home. Mr Netanyahu was forced to give up his alliance with the ultra-Orthodox parties: Shas and United Torah Judaism.

India orders Italy ambassador Mancini not to leave
India's Supreme Court has ordered the Italian ambassador not to leave the country after Rome's refusal to return two marines charged with the murder of two fishermen in Kerala last year. The court had allowed the marines to go home to vote in last month's elections. Ambassador Daniele Mancini had personally assured the court the marines would return by 22 March.

Xi Jinping named president of China
Leaders in Beijing have confirmed Xi Jinping as president, completing China's 10-yearly transition of power. Mr Xi, appointed to the Communist Party's top post in November, replaces Hu Jintao, who is stepping down. Some 3,000 deputies to the National People's Congress, the annual parliament session, took part in the vote at the Great Hall of the People.

President Obama upbraids China over cyber attacks
President Barack Obama has said in a TV interview that the US is engaging in "tough talk" with China about its alleged cyber attacks on America. Mr Obama told ABC News some, but not all, hacking originating from China was state sponsored, although he played down congressional talk of a cyber war. He spoke a day after US intelligence chiefs said cyber attacks had replaced terrorism as the main security threat.

Kiev Protesters: Ukraine Uprising Was No Neo - Nazi Power-grab
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily Newstheguardian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

On 20 February, as revolution engulfed the centre of Kiev, Joseph Schilling, a 61-year-old builder from western Ukraine, went to the frontline to join the protests against President Viktor Yanukovych’s government. He was standing beneath the neoclassical October Palace – once a girls’ seminary and later the HQ for Lenin’s secret police – when a sniper shot him in the head.

The place where Schilling died is now festooned with flowers. There are carnations, tulips and a tub of spring crocuses. Schilling’s photo, near his barricade, reveals a man in late middle age wearing a tie, his hair neatly combed. Here too are images of other members of the “Heavenly Hundred” –the name given to the 102 protesters who have perished near the Maidan, Kiev’s central Independence Square.

The Kremlin describes last month’s uprising in next-door Ukraine as an illegitimate fascist coup. It says dark rightwing forces have taken over the government, forcing Moscow to “protect” Ukraine’s ethnic Russian minority. The local government in Crimea is preparing for a referendum on Sunday which could lead to Russia annexing the region. Yanukovych, meanwhile, has fled to Russia.

Schilling, however, was an unlikely fascist. A father of two daughters, he and his wife Anna had lived in Italy. They had four grandchildren. Moreover, he was Jewish.

With Ukraine on the brink of invasion and division, most people in Kiev blame the country’s troubles on the former president. “This is Yanukovych’s fault,” Zhenia, a pensioner, said, surveying the battleground in Institutska Street, where many were gunned down. She was crying.

Nearby, visitors bowed before makeshift brick shrines, some decorated with gas masks and helmets. Others crossed themselves. One child’s drawing said: “Eternal glory to the heroes”.

According to those who took part in it, the uprising was a broad-based grassroots movement, launched by people fed up with Yanukovych and involving all sections of society.

Iran Nuke Progress Slow But Steady, Assumes Strike ‘Not Likely’
Mar 14th, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Chana Yaar
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran is making slow but steady progress in its nuclear development program says Israel’s military intelligence chief, with Tehran assuming a military strike on its facilities is “not likely.”

The effort to move its nuclear technology forward is “advancing slower than Iran had hoped, but it is progressing,” Military Intelligence chief Major-General Aviv Kochavi told the Herzliya Conference on Thursday.

“Iran will continue with its nuclear program, because it assumes the likelihood of a strike is not high,” he added.

Despite growing economic pressure at home due to tightened sanctions from the international community, Iran appears determined to push ahead with its uranium enrichment activities, Kochavi said.

Unemployment in the Islamic Republic has skyrocketed over the past year, and the country is facing a 60 percent inflation rate. Vehicle manufacturing has dropped by 60 percent, and oil exports have been cut in half, he told policy makers at the annual conference.

“I believe the weight from the sanctions is becoming an increasingly decisive element in the process of decision making in Iran, but it has not yet caused them to change their [nuclear development] policy,” he observed.

“We believe Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program and intelligently deal with pressure from the street and the international community,” Kochavi said, adding that Iran will not offer any major concessions in talks with the international community this year.

“The regime believes there is not a high probability for an attack on it,” he explained.