Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Assad Bandwagon: Putin’s Fulcrum for Expanding His Middle East Assets
May 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

As Obama ponders his options on Syria and is increasingly abandoned by allies, Putin pushes supplies of heavy weapons to the Syrian army, along with high-class intelligence for Assad and his high command and a cooperation deal with Hizballah.

Moscow and Hizballah Team Up, use Lebanon As Their Syrian War Backyard
May 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

The big news on Syria this week is the surreptitious pact forged in Beirut by Russia’s visiting deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov witgh Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah which covers their collaboration in the war for keeping Bashar Assad in power and guarantees Hizballah a Russian shield against a potential Israeli attack.

Let the Headlines Speak
May 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Three earthquakes hit off North Coast
A 3.9 magnitude earthquake hit just off the North Coast at 2:03 p.m. Wednesday. A 2.8 magnitude earthquake shook nearby two minutes later. At 5:30 p.m, a 2.5 magnitude earthquake hit.

China could hold Israel-Palestinian talks if asked
The Chinese government says it is willing to set up a meeting between the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president when the two leaders visit Beijing next week, if the sides expressed interest in doing so.

WSJ: U.S. beefs up super bomb to wipe out Iran nuke site
The Pentagon has beefed up its biggest "bunker buster" bomb so it can destroy Iran's most heavily armed and protected nuclear site, U.S. officials said. The administration believes the enhanced Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the Pentagon's largest conventional bomb, will decrease the chances Israel will launch a unilateral bombing campaign against Iran, at least for this year and maybe next year too, the officials told The Wall Street Journal.

Russians Should Not Visit China - Top Public Health Official
Russia’s chief public health official Gennady Onishchenko has recommended the country’s nationals not to visit China where a new strain of bird flu is spreading. “Now there’s not need to ban [visits to China] but please do not go there if there is such a chance,” Onishchenko said on Echo Moskvy radio.

Anti-EU mood goes local: Election surge for UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party is enjoying further election successes, bringing them into ever-increasing prominence in UK politics. One candidate claimed second place in the South Shield’s by-election, with local election successes still coming in.

Benjamin Netanyahu says any Israeli-Palestinian peace plan would be subject to a national referendum
Israel’s chief peace negotiator said Thursday it’s “good news” that the Arab peace initiative is negotiable and that Arab nations are supporting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians at a difficult time in the region.

Floridians Encouraged to Report Neighbors Who "Hate Government"
Bradshaw makes it clear that the kind of behavior which could prompt a visit from the authorities includes anti-government political statements that may be deemed a prelude to violent action. “We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said. “What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’” OH?

Vatican invites Buddhists to help build culture of life
In his annual letter for the feast of Vesakh, Cardinal Tauran highlighted the two faiths’ “noble teachings on the sanctity of human life” but lamented that “evil in different forms contributes to the dehumanization of the person” in society, “by mitigating the sense of humanity in individuals and communities.”

Poll shows 29 percent of voters think 'armed revolution' might be needed
We knew distrust of government was high. But a new poll shows that suspicion reaching new levels. According to a survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University, nearly a third of registered voters -- 29 percent -- believe an "armed revolution" might be necessary in the next few years in order to protect liberties.

US Hired al-Qaida-Linked Group to Defend Benghazi Mission
The Libyan militia group that the State Department hired to defend its embattled diplomatic mission in Benghazi had clear al-Qaida sympathies, and had prominently displayed the al-Qaida flag on a Facebook page for months before the deadly attack.

Red Flag Warning: Wildfires Spread in California
Fires are spreading in two different areas in California, one spreading to more than 6,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon. The main fire spread about 50 miles outside of Los Angeles as hundreds of firefighters tried to stop it. Evacuation orders included the smoke-choked campus of California State University, according to the Associated Press.

Senior scientists attack Chinese researchers for creating new strains of influenza virus in veterinary laboratory
Experts warn of danger that the new viral strains created by mixing bird-flu virus with human influenza could escape from the laboratory to cause a global pandemic killing millions of people. ...Senior scientists have criticised the “appalling irresponsibility” of researchers in China who have deliberately created new strains of influenza virus in a veterinary laboratory.

Earthquake: 3.2 quake strikes near Malibu
According to the USGS, the epicenter was six miles from Malibu Beach, nine miles from Agoura Hills, 10 miles from Agoura and 349 miles from Sacramento. In the last 10 days, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.

France 'to enter recession' as eurozone growth slows
The eurozone economy will shrink more than expected this year with France sliding into recession, according to a gloomy European Commission report. The Commission forecast says euro-area growth will shrink by 0.4% this year, down from 0.3% forecast in February. France will go into recession this year with negative growth of 0.1% and unemployment rising to 10.9% in 2014 from 10.6% this year.

Analysis: Egypt, Iran in power struggle over Gaza
Egypt and Iran are locked in a power struggle over their influence and conflicting aims in the Gaza Strip, and Egypt appears to have the upper hand. While Tehran is dissatisfied with the relative durability of the cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and is pushing Palestinian armed factions to violate the truce, Cairo is doing its utmost to reinforce the calm, which it views as serving Egypt’s national interest.

US Headed For The Coldest Spring On Record
The forecast for the first two weeks of May is well below normal, so odds are that the spring of 2013 will be the coldest on record in the US.

Dozens dead as Assad's forces storm coastal village
State forces and militias loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stormed the coastal village of Baida on Thursday, killing at least 50 people including women and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The pro-opposition monitoring group said the final death toll was likely to exceed 100. Many of those killed appeared to have been executed by shooting or stabbing, it said, and other bodies were found burned.

'US upgrades bunker buster to thwart Israel strike on Iran'
The US has upgraded its biggest bunker buster bomb specifically to enable the destruction of Iran's underground Fordow uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qom, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. According to the report, the Pentagon sees the move as critical to convincing Israel that the US will indeed prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons and possesses weaponry to do so that Israel does not have.

China emerging as new force in drone warfare
Determined to kill or capture a murderous Mekong River drug lord, China's security forces considered a tactic they'd never tried before: calling a drone strike on his remote hideaway deep in the hills of Myanmar.

Iranian Troops Face Israel from Syria. U.S. Video Shows Upgraded Bunker Buster
May 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

US officials recently gave Israel a video demonstration of the new features which enable its biggest bunker buster bomb (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) to destroy Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordo near Qom, in a bid to dissuade Israel from a unilateral attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
This is reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The video displayed the improved bomb, which Israel does not have, as hitting the ground near its target and setting off a massive underground explosion.
debkafile’s military sources report that this videotaped demonstration was in line with the Obama administration’s latest campaign to convince Israel that the US is getting ready to strike Iran itself.
In actual fact, the improved American MOP is not news - any more than the Israeli Air Force’s possession of bombs capable of penetrating the Fordo underground plant. This capability has given Israeli officials the confidence to assert that Israel can destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities on its own.
What Washington has in common with Jerusalem is that while both make no secret of their capabilities – and Israeli leaders are also free with threatening rhetoric - neither is actually exercising them.

The only parties on the move are Iran and Hizballah.

At the end of the week, debkafile’s military sources report that both established a military presence in Syria and Lebanon, just across Israel’s two northern borders. An Iranian airlift placed Iranian boots on the ground in Syria for the first time in more than two years of its civil war. It was also the first time Israel had ever seen uniformed Iranian soldiers present at close quarters on the soil of a close neighbor.

The arrivals are members of the violent Basij volunteer militia which is trained in urban combat tactics for suppressing anti-regime unrest in Iranian cities. They are the first Iranian troops to confront Syrian rebels in combat. Roughly 6,000-8,000 militiamen have arrived so far – a figure comparable to the size of the Hizhballah elite units fighting for Bashar Assad in Syria.

The Basij militiamen were stationed in Damascus and sent to guard Syrian Shiite border villages situated opposite Hizballah-controlled South Lebanon. This deployment has placed Iranian troops opposite the intersection of the Israeli, Syrian and Lebanese borders.
Iran’s expanding military intervention in Syria accounts partly for this week’s surprise call-up of thousands of Israeli reservists for duty on the country’s northern borders. Although they were sent home after 24 hours to disguise their mission and calm rising tensions, they were in fact ordered to report back Sunday, May 5. These reservists will then pick up the gear and weapons needed for real combat, and take up positions along Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon.
Sirens blared over parts of the Golan Friday, May 3, their sensors touched off by the preparations for these military movements. The official pretext offered of a “technical glitch” was about as convincing as the Israeli military spokesman’s attempt to deny knowing who sent a drone from Beirut towards Israel on April 25.
The sirens on the Golan were apparently not loud enough to be heard in Washington and Jerusalem.

Iranian Basij Goons Imported for “Duty” in Southern Damascus -
May 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran’s Basij are paramilitary troops trained for crushing urban unrest that jeopardizes the regime in Tehran. They have been deployed in Damascus and are relieving the Hizballah units guarding the Shiite Syrian villages along the Lebanese border.

Hotovely: Terror Attack is Proof That Arabs Don't Want Peace
May 3rd, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said on Thursday night that the attempted terror attack near Mitzpeh Yericho is proof that the Palestinian Authority is not interested in reaching a peace agreement with Israel.

"The terrorist attack is another expression of the fact that the Palestinians do not want peace,” Hotovely said, adding, “The Arab League’s peace plan will not yield any results, just as similar initiatives have not achieved anything. The Palestinians and their leaders do not want peace, do not recognize the Jewish people's right to live here and the escalation proves it. Thank G-d this time it ended without casualties.”

Thursday’s attack occurred when a terrorist opened fire at two people in Wadi Kelt, near Mitzpeh Yericho. The two were attacked as they sat in a car.

The two people targeted, an Israeli woman from Mevaseret Tzion and a European tourist, were not hurt.

The two told police that they had been touring the area when they noticed an Arab man nearby acting suspiciously. When they returned to their car, he attempted to shoot them. The IDF is investigating the incident.

Earlier this week, Evyatar Borovsky of Yitzhar was killed in a stabbing attack at the Tapuach Junction.

The relatives of Salam al-Zaghal, the terrorist who murdered Borovosky, have said they are proud of him and that he “did his duty toward the Palestinians who live under the aggression of the army and settlers.”

On Tuesday, just hours after the killing, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party published a statement terming Al-Zaghal a “hero.”

Evolution Fact or Fiction - Part 1
May 3rd, 2013
CommentaryRoger Oakland
Categories: Creation - Evolution;Commentary

Disused Military Outposts on Syrian Border Opened Up and Manned -
May 3rd, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The thousands of Israeli military reservists rushed to the Syrian and Lebanese borders this week were told they would take part in a drill starting next Sunday. In fact, they opened up the border outposts and other facilities which had been shuttered for years and reactivated them as backing for the regular outposts.