Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Temple Groups Practice Passover Sacrifice
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Maayana Miskin
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Jewish groups held a mock Passover sacrifice on Thursday opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The ritual slaughter was not merely a historic reenactment, but, they say, practice in advance of the reconstruction of the Temple.

The practice sacrifice has been held annually for the past several years. This year organizers were unpleasantly surprised by a veto from Israel’s Veterinary Services, which refused to authorize the event.

Organizers took the matter to court, and were able to quickly get a ruling permitting the ritual.

The various groups involved in the event were represented by Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who told Arutz Sheva that the ritual was carried out with as much Biblical accuracy as possible.

“We took the goat, as the Torah commands, we had an altar built like the real one, and a cooking pit built according to halacha [Jewish law],” he said. “We slaughtered the goat with Leviim singing and priestly clothing, just like in the real Passover sacrifice.”

Leviim are Jews belonging to the Biblical tribe of Levi, whose members took part in Temple services.

The ritual was emotionally moving, Rabbi Glick reported. “The symbolism of standing opposite the Temple Mount and preparing for the real Passover sacrifice – it was without doubt a special moment,” he said.

Response to Rockets: Gaza Fishing Zone Halved
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Gil Ronen
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israel has responded to the firing of four rockets at Sderot Thursday by cutting the permitted fishing zone for Gaza fishermen in half, from six miles to three miles offshore. This brings the fishing zone back to its size before Operation Pillar of Defense.

"We will not allow Hamas to go back to the previous situation of a 'rocket drizzle,' and the entire defense establishment is in agreement on this matter," a senior defense force in southern command told Arutz Sheva.

"Hamas understands this," he added. "Its senior officials understand that they will be the first to pay a price for renewing the fire."

Israel does not plan to fire back at Gaza, because it assumes that the rocket fire Thursday was carried out without Hamas's knowledge. A Salafist group, the Majles Shura al-Mujahedin, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The curtailment of the fishing zone was approved by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.

In addition, the Defense Minister gave orders stopping the passage of all merchandise at the Kerem Shalom terminal between Gaza and Israel. The Erez Crossing will serve only for humanitarian purposes.

Pope Urges Dialogue With Islam, Says World Must Do More for Poor
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsNewsmax
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Pope Francis urged the West on Friday to intensify dialogue with Islam and appealed to the world to do more to combat poverty.

The new pontiff made his appeal in an address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, sending a message through them to the leaders of the more than 170 countries with which the Vatican has diplomatic relations.

Speaking in Italian, he also made another impassioned appeal for the defense of the poor and of the environment, saying richer countries should fight what he called "the spiritual poverty of our times" by re-forging links with God.

"How many poor people there still are in the world! And what great suffering they have to endure!" he told the diplomats in the Vatican's frescoed Sala Regia.

He urged them to help keep religion central in public life and promote inter-religious dialogue as a catalyst for efforts to build peace.

"In this work (peace building), the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God," he said.

"But the converse is also true: it is not possible to establish true links with God while ignoring other people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, said he was grateful that many Muslim religious and civilian leaders attended his inaugural Mass on Tuesday.

"Fighting poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing bridges: these, as it were, are the reference points for a journey that I want to invite each of the countries here represented to take up," he said.

He underlined the importance of protecting the environment when he explained why he had decided to take the name of St. Francis of Assisi, who is associated with austerity, help for the poor, and love of nature.

"Here too, it helps me to think of the name of (Saint)Francis, who teaches us profound respect for the whole of creation and the protection of our environment, which all too often, instead of using for the good, we exploit greedily, to one another's detriment," he said.

Pope Francis Supports Gay Civil Unions
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsBefore Its News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Pope Francis pressed the Catholic church to support civil unions for gay couples in Argentina as a way to prevent the country adopting same sex marriages, a new report reveals.

As Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the new Pope believed civil unions were “the lesser of two evils” and acceptance would head off pressure in the country to allow homosexual couples to wed,

His handling of the issue may give an insight to his leadership style that will likely mix an embrace of the church’s positions on core social issues with a willingness to compromise with opposing sides, the paper said.

Francis’ approach is in dramatic contrast to Pope Benedict XVI, who was known for a strict adherence to church doctrine and spent 25 years as the chief enforcer of church doctrine before being named Pope. In contrast, the new Pope’s experience serving the faithful directly sometimes led him to a different approach to serving real world problems.

While a majority of Argentina’s bishops voted to overrule him, handing him his only defeat in his six-year tenure as head of the country’s bishops’ conference, he often displayed a keen ability to embrace the opposition and reach out to critics, showing them respect, the Times reports.

Argentina eventually voted to allow gay marriage in 2010 despite the church’s opposition.

Bergoglio’s negotiating ability has many wondering whether he may come to embrace civil unions as Pope. However, his public stance against Argentina’s law, which he called a “destructive pretention against the plan of God,” stoked anger among gay rights leaders in Argentina who said that while he often displayed a more pragmatic side in private, in public he often took a much harsher tone.

Argentina is known as one of Latin America’s more socially liberal countries. Although three-quarters of the nation is Catholic and Roman Catholicism remains the official religion, only about 33 percent consider religion a very important part of their life.

Since Argentina approved gay marriage in 2010, more than 1,000 gay couples have married there and tourism catering to gay and lesbian travelers has grown, something that has put the country at odds with Rome.

“This is something that Rome cannot forgive, tolerate or allow to advance,” one priest told the Times.

Pope Francis Has Good Record With Other Faiths
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsPittsburg Post Gazette
Categories: Commentary;Contemporary Issues

VATICAN CITY -- As Pope Francis begins to lead the worldwide Catholic Church, accolades are pouring in from people of other traditions who knew him as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina.

"His humility drew my attention," Sheik Mohsen Ali, an important Islamic leader in Argentina, told the Buenos Aires Herald. He "always showed himself a friend of the Islamic community."

One of the hesitations raised in the past about electing a Latin American pope was that, in an overwhelmingly Catholic culture, many had no track record of constructive interaction with other Christian traditions or other religions. Some derided the growing evangelical Protestant communities in their nations as "sects" and attacked them for evangelizing lapsed Catholics. Jewish leaders worried Latin Americans knew little and cared less about the Second Vatican Council's affirmation of Judaism as the faith that shaped their own.

Pope Francis, however, has stilled fears and drawn praise. He prayed with evangelicals in Buenos Aires and built good relationships with mainline Protestant and Orthodox Christians there. Argentinean Jewish and Islamic leaders both expressed elation at his election.

One of his first acts was to write personally to Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni of Rome, personally inviting him to the inaugural Mass. "I strongly hope to be able to contribute to the progress of relations that have existed between Jews and Catholics since Vatican Council II, in a spirit of renewed collaboration and in service of a world that may always be more in harmony with the Creator's will," he wrote.

Pope Francis's first announced meeting after that Mass on Tuesday will be a Wednesday audience with representatives of other Christian traditions. It wasn't yet certain who would attend, said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, but it was considered important enough to replace the usual Wednesday audience for the public in St. Peter's Square.

"We will have just had the big Mass on Tuesday," he said. "So on Wednesday the pope will meet with delegations of the other Christian churches and communities that are present."

The Orthodox are sending an impressive delegation, led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual head of Eastern Orthodoxy. Among those accompanying him will be Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Taracios of Buenos Aires and Metropolitan John of Pergamon, a renowned Greek theologian who chairs the Orthodox side of the international Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue.

Cardinal Bergoglio appeared to have an excellent relationship with Orthodox Christians in Buenos Aires, said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, a Pittsburgh native. Although Cardinal DiNardo doesn't know Pope Francis well, he once spent an afternoon with the Armenian Orthodox patriarch, Catholicos Karekin II, who was visiting Armenian parishes in Houston.

During the conversation, Catholicos Karekin told Cardinal DiNardo that he had a large community in Buenos Aires, and spoke highly of Cardinal Bergoglio. The Armenian Orthodox are an ancient church that, due to largely resolved differences over the nature of the Trinity, isn't part of the global Eastern Orthodox Church but enjoys a good relationship with it.

"He said that Cardinal Bergoglio met with him and that the two of them had a great discussion," Cardinal DiNardo said. "He said that [their churches in Buenos Aires] had a great collaboration."

The Protestants are pleased

Relationships between the Catholic hierarchy and evangelical Protestants in Latin America have generally ranged from hostile to tepid. But Cardinal Bergoglio was an exception.

"He was criticized by conservative Catholics for participating in a prayer service with evangelicals and letting them pray over him," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit political scientist at Georgetown University who studies the hierarchy. "To bishops who blame the evangelicals for Catholic losses, he basically said we have to take responsibility, and talked of not sitting in our churches but going into the streets."

That attitude excites George Weigel, the biographer of Pope John Paul II and most recently author of "Evangelical Catholicism." Last May he spent an hour interviewing Cardinal Bergoglio and came away convinced that he knew how to preach the Catholic faith in an appealing way and wouldn't be bogged down by bureaucratic baggage that has characterized the modern church.

"I was struck in our conversation that he didn't blame evangelicals for Catholic losses in Latin America, but rather Catholicism's own evangelical deficiencies," Mr. Weigel said. "He clearly understands that a kept church -- a church kept [prominent] either by legal establishment, cultural habit or both -- cannot survive in the 21st century."

Mainline Protestants have also found him approachable and supportive, said Bishop Donald McCoid, the former Pittsburgh bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who is now the denomination's top official for ecumenical and inter-religious relations. He expects to meet with Pope Francis later this year.

"We have prayed for his election, because it is important for all Christians," Bishop McCoid said. "Pope Francis is a conservative theologian, yet his outreach to people through his ministry in the past is also an indication of his outreach to other Christians. I am very excited about Pope Francis."

In Pittsburgh, Episcopal Bishop Dorsey McConnell, who lived in Argentina as a young man, asked his parishes to offer special prayers today for the new pontificate.

"Our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church have been given a shepherd of deep humility and prayer," he wrote in an open letter after the papal election. "May he be blessed with many years, and may the gospel spread through his example and ministry."

Beyond Christians: good vibes

Religious leaders outside of Christianity were just as elated.

Rabbi Alvin Berkun, a Pittsburgher who for more than 20 years has engaged in Catholic-Jewish dialogue at the Vatican level, immediately recognized him as the cardinal who had hosted that dialogue group during a meeting in Buenos Aires several years ago. The group had chosen to meet in Latin America because they wanted to bring awareness of the constructive relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish community, which isn't widely known in Latin America, he said.

In Cardinal Bergoglio, he said, they found someone well aware of it. The only Holocaust memorial in Buenos Aires was in his cathedral. After 85 people died when Muslim extremists bombed the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, then-auxiliary Bishop Bergoglio spoke out strongly, he said. As archbishop he commemorated its anniversary and became the first prominent leader to sign a petition asking for justice when the investigation was shown to have been deliberately botched. Last fall, he visited a conservative synagogue in Buenos Aires on Rosh Hashanah.

On a more personal note, "he wrote the forward to a book by one of my colleagues -- Rabbi Sergio Bergman -- and he referred to him as 'my teacher,' " Rabbi Berkun said.

In Rome, Murray Dickman, who is Jewish and a former resident of Pittsburgh, wept for joy as he watched on television while the new pope speak from the balcony. As a 20-year resident of Rome, he follows the papacy closely and recalled being disappointed at the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.

"As a Jew, I am encouraged by what I have read about his denouncement of the bombings of the Jewish center in Argentina," he said. "We live in a sometimes nasty world, and his instincts seem sound."

Even as he condemned violence committed in the name of Islam, Cardinal Bergoglio built strong relationships with Muslims in Buenos Aires. He visited the mosque and an Islamic school.

Sumer Noufouri, secretary-general of the Islamic Center of the Republic of Argentina, told the Buenos Aires Herald that the new pope is a "respectful, pro-dialogue person who knows Islam."

Argentina, the Muslim leader said, "is a model of dialogue and coexistence that, God-willing, could be exported to the world."

Obama's Mixed Message: Jews Should Leave Biblical Heartland
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsIsrael Today - Ryan Jones
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

When he arrived in Israel on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama clearly and unequivocally reaffirmed the historical and biblical connection of the Jewish people to this land.

A day later, he stood at the podium at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah and stated that allowing Jews to build homes and live in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria was "problematic" and "not constructive" to achieving peace in the region.

So, which is it? Do the Jews have an ancient connection to this land that entitles them to live here, or don't they?

Obama, like the rest of the West, tries to draw a dividing line between the so-called "West Bank" and the rest of Israel, asserting that it is perfectly normal for Jews to dwell in the latter, but taboo for them to build in the former.

But most of us living here on the ground know better. Judea and Samaria are every bit as much a part of the biblical land of Israel as Tel Aviv. In fact, even more so.

It was in Judea and Samaria that the bulk of the events chronicled in the Bible took place. Even much of Jesus' recorded ministry took place in areas where Obama and others are now telling Jews they cannot live.

If the historical and biblical rights Obama spoke of on Wednesday do not extend to Judea and Samaria, then they do not include Tel Aviv, either.

That is not to say Israel won't compromise those rights for the sake of what it hopes will be lasting peace (though many are warning against doing so). In fact, Israel has already agreed to compromise.

But for there to be any hope of a genuine peace, Israel understands that everyone must first acknowledge that the Jewish connection extends to Judea and Samaria, because Israel knows that the Arabs know that devoid of a recognized connection to Judea and Samaria, the Jewish claim to any other part of the land becomes all but null and void.

When Obama speaks of Jewish settlements, he would do well to pay attention to official Palestinian media, which also identifies as settlements the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva, and so on.

Obama to Bennett: We Should Talk
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday told Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Naftali Bennett (head of Bayit Yehudi) that he would be interested in speaking to him, despite the differences in opinions between the two.

Obama made the comments during a brief conversation with Bennett before the festive dinner that was held in Obama’s honor at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem.

President Shimon Peres introduced Bennett to Obama, at which point Obama turned to the newly sworn-in minister and, in a joking reference to his own political career, said, “I heard about you. You're the man who came out of nowhere, managed to sweep the people and won.”

Bennett, whose parents made aliyah to Israel from the United States before the Six Day War and who himself lived for several years in the U.S., speaks fluent and coherent English and is often interviewed by foreign television networks, where he uses his excellent English skills to explain his position against the establishment of a Palestinian state that would threaten central Israel with terrorism.

Bennett told President Obama, "I just finished reading the biography of President Truman. Since President Truman there hasn’t been a U.S. President who is as responsible for the fate of the Jewish people as the responsibility that rests on your shoulders.”

President Obama, who listened to Bennett’s remarks, replied, "I want us to speak again, it’s very important to me that we speak again. It’s important that I hear differing opinions in Israel."

Instead of the so-called “two-state solution”, Bennett supports a plan that would see Israel annexing Area C of Judea and Samaria, which is under the complete control of Israel's government under the Oslo Accords and has all the Jewish communities. He would have Israel offering citizenship to some 50,000 Arabs who live there, but constitute only 4% of the Palestinian Arab population in Judea and Samaria which is mainly in areas A and B.

Bennett has explained that this would be the best alternative to a two-state solution that would see the PA Arabs establishing an army that could target the heart of Israel with terrorist attacks.

Obama, meanwhile, once again called for the two-state solution in his speech in Jerusalem on Thursday, adding that “Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace.”

Reacting to the speech (before he met Obama at the Presidential Residence), Bennett said, "Obama's statement certainly came out of concern for Israel and out of true friendship, but we witnessed the results of our previous withdrawal from Gaza in Sderot this morning and in the thousands of victims over the past several years.”

Bennett reiterated his opinion that the establishment of a Palestinian state is not the right way to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict. “It’s time for new and creative concepts to solve the Middle East conflict and in general, there is no such thing as an occupation in one’s own land,” he said.

More Pastors Jumping Off the Rock Into the Raging Waters
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsMichael Youssef
Categories: Commentary

When evangelical preachers lose their way and turn their backs on biblical Christianity, why is it they end up in the Episcopal Church?

As a preacher who traveled in the opposite direction and left the Episcopal Church 22 years ago—or I should say the Episcopal Church left me—I think I have a clue.

On March 18, the Huffington Post reported that Rob Bell, the one-time evangelical pastor who rejected the core of Christian faith, has endorsed homosexual marriage.

Where was that endorsement made? Surprise, surprise: Grace Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral of the Diocese of California. Grace Cathedral is located in San Francisco, the Mecca of homosexuality and all things anti-biblical.

Bell is now living in California, where he’s promoting his book, Love Wins. The book has propelled Bell to a stardom of sorts, even though it rejected a cornerstone of Christian faith—that no salvation is possible except through faith in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, that rejection caused his split with mega-church Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan.

The solid cliff of the Christian gospel that Bell has jumped off is the same cliff that I held fast to when I left the Episcopalian Church. I chose the way of Jesus. Unfortunately, Bell and others have chosen the way of Judas.

“Shock jocks” in the church are not new. They love to make a splash on their way from light to darkness.

In fact, I venture to say that most of them—like Bell and Bishop Spong before him—traveled alongside those in the light, but in reality, were never in the light themselves. They faked their evangelicalism until they could fake it no more. The pressure to be accepted by modern society became too great, and the wolves had to remove their sheep coverings and come out. Then they often found a welcoming audience in the Episcopal Church, who also had long ago given into the need for acceptance from the world.

However, Mr. Bell’s pronouncement of the demise of Bible-believing Christianity may be premature. To be sure, statistics back his assertion that many people are rejecting biblical faith. But that only serves to strengthen true believers.

From the beginning, Jesus taught that true believers would always be small in number, but their impact would be inversely proportional to their size.

After all, martyrdom served as the seed of the church, and it may do that again.

Bell refers to biblical Christianity as a “dying” subculture, but he of all people should know what Jesus said. For Bell once opened the Bible and taught from it.

We know that the sheep and the goats will get mixed up until God begins to separate them. The wheat and weeds will grow together until harvest time, when the angels will bind the weeds and bundle them for the eternal fire.

Therefore those who remain Bible-believing Christians should never panic nor be surprised when we see the weeds revealed. We should not be surprised, but neither should we gloat. Far from it.

It is a tragedy. We should grieve and weep and feel the depth of sorrow for them. May God have mercy on us all.

Let the Headlines Speak
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

If gay marriage is legalized, polygamy is next, briefs warn
Redefining marriage to include same-sex couples would jettison the rationale and logic behind prohibitions on polygamous marriages, according to several friend-of-the court briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the traditional definition of marriage.

Obama calls for Abbas to drop preconditions, says Palestinians deserve fully sovereign state
Obama is on the second day of his visit to Israel, the fifth serving US president to make the trip. He’s been in Jerusalem since early Wednesday afternoon — after a warm, relaxed, airport welcome – meeting with Shimon Peres, and talking late into the night with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Cyprus bailout crisis: panic replaces anger as bankruptcy looms
"Today, suppliers began demanding payments in cash," said Iracleous, shaking his head incredulously. "Almost no one is accepting credit cards or cheques any more because everyone is saying that come Tuesday the game will be over. Our banks will have closed."

SOLAR ACTIVITY MISSES EARTH
Sunspot AR1692 is crackling with C- and M-class solar flares. However, all of the eruptions are missing Earth because of the sunspot's off-center location on the sun's NW limb.

Cyprus a Sign World Is Not Better: StanChart CEO
The Cyprus bailout chaos serves as a stark reminder that fundamental issues in the world economy are not yet fixed, said CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Peter Sands. "It [the Cyprus bailout] acts as a reminder that the world has not suddenly got better," said Sands. "Despite the more positive mood in the markets, the fundamental issues of competitive and financial sustainability in the weaker countries of the euro zone have not gone away. Cyprus is a more dramatic example."

US Plan for “Pinpoint Strike” Attack on Iran, Israeli Security Official
“The Americans, if they choose, will be able to mount a focused operation on the Iranian nukes without necessarily sparking a comprehensive regional war.”

Schumer says immigration deal is nearly ready in the Senate
The comments from Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), the group’s leading Democrat, came in response to rising frustration over the pace of the talks. Two dozen advocates protested inside Schumer’s office Thursday, leading to the arrest of several members. The demonstration by CASA in Action illustrated the raw emotions of the debate even as momentum builds for a bipartisan agreement that would include a path to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants.

Inside the Ring: New Bear bomber flights
Two Russian strategic nuclear bombers carried out a fourth high-profile training flight last week, flying near South Korea, where large-scale war games are under way, and near Japan and the U.S. military bases on Okinawa. It was the fourth time since June 2012 that Russian bombers have run up against U.S. and allied air defense zones in the Pacific.

Former attorney general urges investigation of Al Jazeera TV deal
Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey’s call for a congressional “inquiry” into Al Jazeera’s purchase of Al Gore’s Current TV gives hope that the controversial transaction benefiting the pro-terrorist Muslim Brotherhood can still be derailed.

Tremors a mystery in South Jersey
Absecon resident, Kay Stadlmeir, said, "I don't think it would be an earthquake, but what could it be? It's just really odd." Somers Point resident, Bob Mower, explained, "There was a rattling of my windows and I felt the house shake just a little bit - it was unusual." Stadlmeir told NBC40, "It has to be something really big to be witnessed in such a widespread area of South Jersey."

Small earthquakes recorded in central Oklahoma
The U.S. Geological Survey reports two small earthquakes have been recorded in central Oklahoma. There are no reports of injuries or damage as a result of either quake.

Weather Service: New Normal of Extremes
The onslaught of wild weather that has battered the USA in recent years — from Hurricane Sandy and deadly tornado outbreaks to extremes of drought and floods -- looks to be part of a "new normal" for weather patterns in the U.S., new National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini said Wednesday.

US plan calls for more scanning of private Web traffic, email
The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country's private, civilian-run infrastructure. As a result, more private sector employees than ever before, including those at big banks, utilities and key transportation companies, will have their emails and Web surfing scanned as a precaution against cyber attacks.

Russia rebuffs Cyprus, EU awaits bailout "Plan B"
Cyprus's finance minister left Moscow empty-handed on Friday after Russia turned down appeals for aid, leaving the island to strike a bailout deal with the European Union before Tuesday or face the collapse of its financial system. The rebuff left Cyprus looking increasingly isolated, with the deadline looming to find billions of euros demanded by the EU in return for a 10 billion euro bailout.

Congress passes budget bill to avert government shutdown
Congress has comfortably passed a large spending bill to keep the US government running until the end of September and avert a temporary shutdown. President Barack Obama must now sign the bill, which was passed by a bipartisan vote of 318-109. It retains $85bn (£56bn) in spending cuts this year that took effect on 1 March, but gives cabinet agencies new flexibility in implementing them.

China "extremely concerned" about U.S.-Japan island talk
Japan and the United States have started talks on military plans in case of armed conflict over a group of East China Sea Islets claimed by Tokyo and Beijing, Japanese media said on Thursday, prompting China to complain of "outside pressure."

24 dead as tornado, hailstorms lash south China
At least 24 people died and scores were injured after a tornado carrying huge hailstones lashed southern China, causing widespread devastation and a ferry to capsize, domestic media reported Thursday.

South Korea's defence minister nominee resigns
In a fresh blow to South Korea's new president, Park Geun-Hye, her nominee for defence minister stepped down Friday at a time of elevated military tensions with North Korea. Ever since his nomination, Kim Byung-Kwan, a retired four-star general, has been dogged by allegations of wrongdoing related to his recent stint working as a broker for an arms trading firm.

Cyprus MPs due to vote on new plan to secure bailout
MPs in Cyprus are due to begin voting on a series of bills that aim to raise the funds the country needs to secure an international bailout. The country is in a race against time after the European Central Bank gave Cyprus until Monday to find the money.

Syria: Bombing kills top pro-Assad Sunni preacher
A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in the heart of the Syrian capital Thursday, killing a top Sunni Muslim preacher and outspoken supporter of President Bashar Assad in one of the most stunning assassinations of Syria's 2-year-old civil war. At least 41 others were killed and more than 84 wounded.

Shooting incident reported at Quantico base
A shooting happened at Quantico Marine Corps Base Thursday night and military officials put the base on lockdown until an “all clear” was issued about 2:45 a.m., according to reports from base social media.

Jim Rogers: Major Crash Ahead for U.S. Investors
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsMoney Morning - TERRY WEISS
Categories: Today's Headlines;Commentary

Despite the current stock market rally, legendary investor Jim Rogers say the U.S economy is poised for a major crash and is warning investors to protect themselves immediately.

In a riveting interview on Fox Business, Rogers warned Americans not to trust any of the positive economic news coming from world governments.

"I don't trust the data from any government, including the U.S., Rogers said. "We know that governments lie to us. Everybody's printing money, but it cannot go on. This is all artificial."

Rogers, who for years has been an outspoken critic of the Feds policies of "Quantitative Easing" says all the money printing is creating false hope that we are in the middle of some kind of super bull market.

But in reality, he says, "we're living in a fool's paradise."

"The Bank of Japan says it's going to print unlimited amounts of money... Then Mr. Bernanke said I'll match that... I'll print that money too. The Europeans are catching on. You've got money printing going on everywhere and that has never been good for anybody," Rogers said.

Currently, Bernanke and company at the U.S. Fed is buying $1 trillion of Treasury and housing agency bonds each year. That's about $85 billion per month against a budget deficit that is about the same level.

The real risk right now is an all-out 1930s-style currency war that could devastate an entire class of investors who have put their faith in the current economic dogma of endless bailouts and money printing

"It cannot go on," Rogers warns.

Rogers believes things will really get bad after the German elections this fall

How bad?

Worse than even Roger predicts, according to a new investigation.

In a newly released documentary that went viral last month, a team of influential economic experts say they have discovered a "frightening pattern" they believe points to a massive economic catastrophe unlike anything ever seen before.

"What this pattern represents is a dangerous countdown clock that's quickly approaching zero," said Keith Fitz-Gerald, the Chief Investment Strategist for the Money Map Press, who predicted the 2008 oil shock, the credit default swap crisis that helped bring about the recession, and the Greek and European fiscal catastrophe that is still wreaking havoc until this day.

"The resulting chaos is going to crush Americans."

Bennett to CNN: Words Don’t Stop Centrifuges
Mar 22nd, 2013
Daily NewsINN
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett spoke to CNN about United States President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel. Obama spent his final day in Israel Friday before traveling to Jordan.

Regarding disagreements between Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Bennett said, “It’s OK for friends to disagree on some things.”

“What I saw was a great relationship between our two countries,” he said, adding that Obama “has been very warm” during his visit.

When asked about apparent differences between Israel and the U.S. administration regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Bennett came out in support of Netanyahu’s firmer approach. “The facts are that words in Washington or in Jerusalem don’t stop centrifuges in Natanz,” he said.