Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

UVA Student Jailed for Possession of Bottled Water, Ice Cream
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsThe Daily Caller
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The student, 20-year-old Elizabeth Daly, made the mistake of walking to her car with bottled water, cookie dough and ice cream in a dark supermarket parking lot near the UVA campus, reports The Daily Progress.

The seven agents sprung aggressively into action, suspecting that the student was carrying was a 12-pack of beer. She was actually carrying a sky-blue carton of LaCroix sparkling water.

Police admit that one of the high-strung agents vaulted onto the hood of Daly’s car. She contends that one of them also drew a gun.

It’s not clear what about Daly’s appearance gave the six police officers the belief that they had probable cause to confront her en masse.

Daly, along with two roommates who were in the car, did what reasonable, unarmed people usually do when violently pounced upon by seven people. They tried to get away.

“They were showing unidentifiable badges after they approached us, but we became frightened, as they were not in anything close to a uniform,” Daly said in a written account, according to The Daily Progress.

“I couldn’t put my windows down unless I started my car, and when I started my car they began yelling to not move the car, not to start the car. They began trying to break the windows. My roommates and I were … terrified,” the student also wrote.

According to court records obtained by the Charlottesville paper, Daly “grazed” two agents with her vehicle. At this time, the records state, the unidentified passenger in the front seat of her SUV was yelling “go, go, go” and simultaneously diving into the back seat.

Once the three students managed to make it out of the parking lot, they called 911. Daly testified that her goal was to drive immediately to a police station. However, she was stopped by a vehicle with identifiable sirens and lights.

Daly had just left an annual UVA “Take Back the Night” vigil on the famous campus founded by the man who drafted the Declaration of Independence. She was eventually able to explain that she had purchased the water and junk food for a sorority benefit. She also apologized.

The seven Alcoholic Beverage Control agents were not satisfied. They charged Daly with three felonies: one count of eluding police and two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer. In Virginia, each of these Class Six felonies carries up to five years in prison and up to $2,500 in fines.

The seven agents then had her hauled to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

The incident occurred April 11. Charlottesville.

Editors note....Is this where our society is headed?

U.S., Russian Presidents Tell Spy Chiefs to Solve Snowden Impasse
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama have ordered the FSB and FBI chiefs to find a solution for the Edward Snowden impasse, AFP reports. There are no details about this step. The former NSA contractor accused of espionage for leaking confidential data is still believed holed up in the transit area of Moscow international passport.

Time is Running Out
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsDouglas J. Hagmann and Canada Free Press
Categories: Today's Headlines;World Government

As detailed by well known Erwin W. Lutzer in his book “When a Nation Forgets God,” an unidentified Christian pastor shared a story with him of someone living in Germany during the Nazi takeover. The person sharing the story was a churchgoing Christian and a member of a small church located adjacent to railroad tracks.

Every Sunday morning, according to this eyewitness, the congregation could hear the whistle of the train in the distance, the noise of the wheels over the tracks, and as the train passed, the cries coming from inside the train. The cries were those of the Jews being transported to concentration camps, a process that occurred with regularity each Sunday morning during their worship service.
According to this eyewitness, week after week the whistle would blow and the church members dreaded the sounds they heard. The screams tormented them. So, what did they do? As the train approached and in anticipation of the screams from the Jews, herded like cattle into the train cars, the Christians sang louder to drown out the screams. Soon, they heard them no more.

The eyewitness ended his account by describing the torment of hearing the train whistle in his sleep, and pleaded for forgiveness for not only himself, but for all of those who called themselves Christians but did nothing to intervene.

Regardless of your faith or station in life, chances are great that you are exactly like that eyewitness, and equally, if not more accountable for the actions of our government today. What is coming is going to be far worse than the world has ever seen, and is going to blindside many. Don’t be one of them.

World War III is looming like the train whistle in the distance

A global war of unimaginable atrocities is being planned as I write this. It has been in the works for some time, yet few will want to read what I have written. Rather, most will instead choose to “sing louder” to drown out the screams of innocents, except this time, the screams will be too loud, too frequent, and too many.

The United States of America has been overtaken from within by a group of heartless and soulless individuals with designs on reshaping the world into a state of global governance. They are members of both political parties, and part of their plans include reshaping the Middle East at any cost, including the inevitable and incalculable cost of human life. Currently at the helm is Barack Hussein Obama, although his way was paved by the majority of his predecessors and elected officials of both parties.
He was purposely selected as the man for the job to insure that the inappropriately celebrated Arab Spring that swept North Africa and the Middle East was conducted as planned. It was a staged and orchestrated event by the globalists and those in power in the U.S. and elsewhere. Using your tax dollars and in your name, the United States has been providing funding and operational support to the groups toppling governments in favor of radical Islamic control. Such control is nothing but a necessary means to an end. While many correctly decry the brutality of Islam, few realize that is a tool of the globalists. They are not thinking big enough. The lie is bigger than you have been told.
As I have previously written, a window of understanding, or a glimpse into this agenda, exists in the murderous events that took place in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. Full disclosure into this event would reveal a criminal enterprise so vast and staggering that it would eclipse anything we’ve ever seen. Benghazi was not about any film, protest, or even a kidnapping operation. It was about weapons smuggling to Syria to assist Islamic terrorists to topple Assad, install a Muslim Brotherhood-backed regime, causing further regional destabilization leading to a massive global war. Full disclosure would reveal that the United States, through the approval of members of both political parties we elected and acting in our name, are siding with associates having direct ties to al Qaeda and other Islamic groups. The truth is sickening, revolting and shocking.

The face of what is to come

There are those who doubt this agenda, instead opting to believe that we are seeing inevitable sectarian violence that existed in that part of the world for centuries. While the matter of sectarian violence is indeed a factor, the U.S. has been funding, training, and equipping the anti-Assad terrorists for their own purposes, using our tax dollars and acting in our name. Again, this is the reason no elected official wants to open an unbiased investigation into Benghazi, for it will reveal the extent of our complicity, and the blood on their hands.

For anyone doubting what is on the immediate horizon, I would like to direct your attention to a picture I first saw published on the website Before it’s News last week. The picture accompanies a graphic video and tells the story of an innocent, crying and distraught four-year-old girl chained to a fence by the anti-Assad Islamic terrorists - the very group the United States is funding. Perhaps you’ve seen it. She was chained to the fence and forced to watch the decapitation and dismemberment of her parents, whose crime was being members of the Shia sect.
These are the people our elected leaders, our State Department, and our CIA at the direction of Barack Hussein Obama are helping. These are the people who claim to be on the side of righteousness, by exacerbating the violence under the pretext of fighting oppression. Worse, they are engaging in these evil and unspeakable acts in our name and with our tax dollars.

At the same time, there is an active plan to fully destroy our economy by killing our national currency, thus disabling us domestically. This is being done not only to stop any meaningful opposition to a global system of governance through our financial enslavement, but to insure that our future generations are beholden to a global financial power as well.
Concurrently and as part of the larger picture, we have allowed the moral fabric of our nation to become ripped by last week’s Supreme Court decisions on homosexual unions. As I detailed in my article on this site, all is not what it seems with regard to this agenda. It is a work in progress to further destroy this country from within.

The coming destruction

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. I believe the picture that accompanies this article is worth a bucket of tears. It represents the evil that comes this way. As uncomfortable as it will make you feel, I urge you to look at the picture of the little girl and understand that by our silence, we are complicit in the most evil agenda of modern times. A multi-faceted agenda that is being accomplished by your individual and our collective silence, which amounts to tacit approval of the evil that is being done in our name. By the very grace of God, that could be your little girl. If more people fail to awaken, it very well could be.
We must not choose to cover the screams by merely singing louder, but by making a choice. Are we going to allow this evil to progress unabated, or are we going to take a stand? Time is running out as World War III looms on the horizon.

Editors Note......With due respect to the above author. I believe what he is dealing with is the soon coming tribulation period and the coming brutal world-wide kingdom of Antichrist. I believe it is the calling of the Christian to deliver the souls of individuals from the wrath that is to come. The greatest need of men and women at this moment is the gospel of Jesus Christ. "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1Thessalonians 1: 9-10).

Pope’s ‘Gay Lobby’ Remarks Stir Up New Storm of Vatican Gossip
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsThe Guardian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

A tide of lurid speculation, questionable accusations and possible blackmail attempts is buffeting the Vatican following Pope Francis’s claim that he is preparing to tackle a gay lobby secretly at work behind the Holy See’s walls.

The new pope’s private comments to a group of visiting South American churchmen, which caused a sensation when they appeared on a religious website last week, prompted blushes in the Vatican and unleashed feverish gossip in Rome regarding the contents of a report on Vatican infighting prepared last year for Francis’s predecessor, Joseph Ratzinger.

On his retirement in February, Ratzinger handed his Argentine successor the dossier, which reportedly describes a lobby of gay, senior churchmen inside the Vatican, running a network of patronage while fighting off blackmailers.

The pope’s unguarded remarks, which appeared to confirm the speculation, have fueled a new round of accusations, beginning with a convicted pedophile priest, Father Patrizio Poggi, who last week named nine fellow prelates in Rome as part of a secret band who used a police officer to supply them with eastern European rent boys.

Partner and Target: NSA Snoops on 500 Million German Data Connections
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newsspeigelonline
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

America’s National Security Agency (NSA) is apparently spying on Germany more than previously believed. Secret documents from the US intelligence service, which have been viewed by SPIEGEL journalists, reveal that the NSA systematically monitors and stores a large share of the country’s telephone and Internet connection data.

Internal NSA statistics indicate that the agency stores data from around half a billion communications connections in Germany each month. This data includes telephone calls, emails, mobile-phone text messages and chat transcripts. The metadata – or information about which call or data connections were made and when — is then stored at the NSA’s headquarters in Fort Meade, near Washington, DC.

The documents show for the first time the scope of American surveillance in Germany. Previously, it had only been clear that Germany had been one of the major targets of NSA spying. A map published by the Guardian shows that Germany is on a par with targets such as China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia in terms of the intensity of electronic snooping. For weeks now, new details have emerged from documents collected by whistleblower Edward Snowden about the NSA’s Prism and Britain’s Tempora digital spying programs.

Obama Requests 15,000 Russian Troops for “Upcoming” Disaster
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsThe Euopean Union Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

An unsettling report prepared by the Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) circulating in the Kremlin today on the just completed talks between Russia and the United States in Washington D.C. says that the Obama regime has requested at least 15,000 Russian troops trained in disaster relief and “crowd functions” [i.e. riot control] be pre-positioned to respond to FEMA Region III during an unspecified “upcoming” disaster.

According to this report, this unprecedented request was made directly to Minister Vladimir Puchkov by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Director Janet Napolitano who said these Russian troops would work “directly and jointly” with her Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of whose mission is to secure the continuity of the US government in the event of natural disasters or war.

Important to note, this report says, is that FEMA Region III, the area Russian troops are being requested for, includes Washington D.C. and the surrounding States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, “strongly suggesting” that the Obama regime has lost confidence in its own military being able to secure its survival should it be called upon to do so.

In his public statements, yesterday, regarding these matters Minister Puchkov stated, “We have decided that the US Federal Emergency Management Agency and Russia’s Emergencies Ministry will work together to develop systems to protect people and territory from cosmic impacts,” and further noted that his meeting with DHS Director Napolitano also covered other kinds of natural emergencies, such as recent years’ extreme weather in both Russia and United States.

In this EMERCOM report, however, Minister Puchkov notes that the Russian troops being requested by the Obama regime would “more than likely” be paired with US-DHS troops who last year purchased nearly 2 billion rounds of ammunition and just this past month placed and emergency order for riot gear.

As to what “upcoming disaster” the US is preparing for, this report continues, appears to be “strongly related” to last weeks assassination of American reporter Michael Hastings who was killed while attempting to reach the safety of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, and as we had reported on in our 20 June report Top US Journalist Attempting To Reach Israeli Consulate Assassinated.

Not mentioned in this EMERCOM report is any suggestion that Russia would comply with this request from the Obama regime, especially in light of the horrifying information being given to Russian intelligence analysts from Edward Snowden who has been labeled as the most wanted man in the world.

According to one Federal Security Services (FSB) bulletin on their continued debriefing of Snowden, and analysis of the information he has provided Russian intelligence officers, his father, Lonnie Snowden, was an officer in the US Coast Guard during the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States who had “direct knowledge” of the true events that occurred and whom the real perpetrators were.

Being directly affected by the events of 9/11, this FSB bulletin says, Snowden “self initiated” a multi-year effort to gain access to America’s top secrets, a mission which when recently completed led him to contact various international reporters, including Hastings, whom he believed could be trusted with disseminating the information he had obtained.

Though known to us directly from our Kremlin sources as to the exact connections Snowden’s information proves regarding 9/11 and both the Bush and Obama regimes, and the even more horrific event soon to come, a June 2013 Defence Advisory Notice (DA-Notice) prevents our being able to…at this time.

Likewise, and as the assassination of Hastings clearly shows, the Obama regime claims a legal right to kill anyone it so chooses without charges or trial they believe may threaten US national security, and what Snowden’s information reveals definitely falls into that category.

What can be said though, there is a critical reason billionaires all over the world have been dumping their stocks, and fast; and those who are not able to read between the lines will soon find themselves in the most dangerous situation they’ve ever encountered.

North Korea Deploys New Guns on Border With South – Report
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsRianovosti
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

North Korea is deploying improved artilleries with a longer range at its frontline military units, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, referring to a government source.

North Korea’s military is replacing 107-millimeter-caliber multiple rocket launchers deployed on the border with South Korea with the improved 240-mm-caliber multiple rocket launchers, the source said, adding the improved artilleries would pose a greater threat to South Korea’s capital areas.

North Korea is believed to have deployed multiple rocket launchers with 107mm, 122mm and 240mm calibers on the border.

The 240-mm-caliber launcher has a range of 60 kilometers (37 miles) but the improved version increases the range to 70 km (43 miles), the source told Yonhap.

New Slides Reveal Greater Detail About Prism Data Collection
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsWashington Post
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Washington Post has published a new set of slides regarding PRISM, revealing more details about the National Security Agency’s controversial surveillance program and how it operates.

The new slides, which come nearly a month after former NSA employee Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to the press about the program, appear to confirm that the NSA and FBI have the ability to perform real-time surveillance of e-mail and stored content.

The slides also seem to contradict denials from tech companies such as Google, Apple, Yahoo, and Microsoft about their level of participation in the program. The program “uses government equipment on private company property to retrieve matching information from a participating company, such as Microsoft or Yahoo and pass it without further review to the NSA,” The Washington Post reported.

Muslim Brotherhood Plans “Self - Defense Units” After Cairo Hq Ransacked
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The morning after millions of Egyptians demonstrated fairly peacefully Sunday night, June 30, for and against President Mohamed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood rule, a mob Monday stormed and ransacked Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo and set it on fire. The building was empty at the time.

In the early stage of the opposition uprising, the Brotherhood more or less avoided direct street clashes in the 20 or so Egyptian towns where protests were staged, even though they and their premises were often under assault.

There were two reasons for this restraint:

1. The morning after the big event Sunday, which was timed for the first anniversary of Morsi’s presidency, found him shaken but still hanging in there. The first crack came later Monday, July 1, when four members of his cabinet, the ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs, handed in their resignations.  

2.  The protest organizers gave Morsi until Tuesday to step down and call an early election, or else face more demonstrations and a long campaign of civil obedience. Against this ultimatum, the Brothers reckoned they could hold out until next week, when the Muslim month of Ramadan begins. During that month, they hoped the millions of protesters would be too busy breaking their daily fast after nightfall to be available for mass rallies against the government.
Muslim Brotherhood tacticians changed their minds after the attack on their Cairo headquarters was found to have been carried out by a “rebel unit.” The MB spokesman then announced that “self-defense units” were being considered to protect the movement. What this means is that Egypt’s ruling Islamists are contemplating activating armed militias, or paramilitary groups, in the face of attacks by “rebel units.” This would take the country another step towards greater violence and a more protracted confrontation. For now, the army is not interfering in the contest.

It is feared in ruling circles in Cairo that the protest movement will resort to violent assaults on their institutions, alongside a campaign of civil obedience, to keep the flames of their campaign to topple the Islamist government burning high.
Se debkafile’s exclusive eport on Sunday.

The protest rallies against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi staged across Egypt Sunday June 30, a year after he took power, offered two surprises. Rather than an outpouring of anti-Islamist rage, the tenor of the banners, placards and chants raised over Cairo’s Tahrir Square echoed the slogans of pan-Arab, nationalism, socialism and xenophobia, with which the charismatic Gemal Abdel Nasser caught the Arab world by storm half a century ago. The Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt, thrown up by the Arab Revolt, may face the challenge of a neo-Arab nationalistic uprising, a throwback to the Nasserist era.

There was also a strong strain of anti-American sentiment.

In Cairo, placards of US Ambassador Anne Patterson, accused of currying favor with the Muslim Brotherhood, were hoisted alongside those of President Morsi – both defaced with large red exes. 
The second surprise was the less-than expected turnout – hundreds of thousands - at most one millon - rather than 3-5 million the organizers hoped to rally in Cairo alone and no more than two-to-two and a half million in all the main city centers combined.

According to the Egyptian Interior Ministry, 17 million demonstrators counting supporters and opponents of the president, were in the streets Sunday night. Our sources say this figure is much inflated.

No one is even trying to guess what sort of Egypt will emerge from this new turbulence, or who will rule the country when it subsides. Some facts and figures may offer some clues to where Egypt is heading:

1. The organizers of the “Tamarod” (Rebellion) have laid long-term plans for a civil disobedience campaign to disrupt the government administration until it is forced to quit - although the initial phase was marked with scattered violence: Ten people were killed Sunday night and 700 injured, after seven were left dead in clashes between pro-and anti Morsi supporters in the past week, including an American.

The protest leaders claim to have harnessed various anti-government groups – liberals, pro-democracy factions, academics, members of the free professions, secular politicians, students and ordinary people who elected the Muslim Brother for jobs and a better and safer life and are now jobless and unable to feed their families.

Among the demonstrators in Tahrir Square Sunday night were police officers and judges.
2.  The next stage planned is for a shutdown of public transportation, factories, financial companies and the flow of oil and gas in and out of Egypt. Within days, the country will face electricity and water outages and start the grim descent into complete chaos.
3.  The uprising has a leader, the Nassersit Hamdeen Sabahi, who came in third place after Morsi in last year’s presidential election. But the trouble for the protest leaders is that he is virtually faceless on the national scene and has never made his mark as a figure able to inspire the masses to rise up against the government. Without a strong figure, the  uprising may soon lose traction.

Little Ice Age Has Started….Summer Snow Falls in Norway on June 29
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newssott.net
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Snow fell on highway 7 over Hardangervidda on Saturday, but the snow plow came too late for this British couple.

- They had not driven more than 400 meters before they ended up in the ditch, says Kari Varberg (50), who owns and operates Dyranut Fjellstov

She sat at the breakfast table when it started snowing on Saturday morning.

Shortly after, she was called upon to take care of the two British campers who ended up in the ditch.

- They had woken up and seen that it was snowing, so they wanted to get out quickly on the fells, she says.

About the same time that she had picked them up and brought them back to the lodge, the rescue vehicle came.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Anti-Muslim Brotherhood Protests in Egypt: Largest Political Event in World History
The demonstrations that began Sunday in Cairo, Egypt against the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohamed Morsi have attracted "millions" of supporters and many counter-demonstrators as well, making the protest the largest political event in the history of the world, according to the BBC.  

Supreme Court Codifies Major Rule Change About Who Can Argue Before the Justices
You must be a lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court. Thought that already was the case? It wasn’t until Monday, when the Supreme Court revised its 80-page rule book for the first time since 2010. The update covers items such as filing deadlines but also adds Rule 28.8, which requires anyone arguing before the court to be a lawyer. The high court says the new rule simply codifies a “long-standing practice of the court.”  

Ordinary Americans Targeted in the Government's Anti-Terrorism Crosshairs
“The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like me have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to. My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.”  

John Kerry claims progress in Middle East peace talks
John Kerry has put a brave face on his most intensive effort yet to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table by claiming to have narrowed the gap between them, despite public admissions that no breakthrough had been achieved.  

Croatia celebrates entry to the European Union
Fireworks lit the sky and festive crowds gathered on the streets to mark Croatia's entry into the European Union, a major milestone some 20 years after the country won independence in a bloody civil war.  

GCHQ data-tapping claims nightmarish, says German justice minister
Allegations that the UK is gathering vast amounts of global communications data by tapping fibre-optic cables sound like a "Hollywood nightmare", Germany's justice minister has said. "If these accusations are correct, this would be a catastrophe," Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said.  

Eurozone unemployment hits fresh high
The unemployment rate across the eurozone hit a fresh record in May, as the recession continued to affect workers around the region and young people again suffered most.  

‘No stopping’ more Snowden revelations – Assange
NSA leaks will continue to be revealed, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has warned the US government, no matter what happens to Edward Snowden, who is stuck in diplomatic limbo in Russia as he is seeking asylum in Ecuador.  

Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador): increasing earthquake numbers
IGPEN reports an increase of seismic activity over the past days which might herald a new phase of activity in the near future. The number of earthquakes associated with fluid movement within the volcano has risen from 10 daily earthquakes on June 20 to 54 earthquakes on 29 June.  

Intense episode with large ash emissions at Shiveluch volcano, Kamchatka
The event was most likely a partial collapse of the existing dome with possible explosions, since the ash emitted was mostly red (indicating it originated from old, altered lava). Because of the lack of visibility experts at Tokyo VAAC estimated the height of the ash plume at about 10 to 12 km, using the seismic record from the volcano. KVERT reported ashfall SW of the volcano reaching villages Klyuchi (2mm of ash measured) and Lazo (1mm of ash). Ash plumes were extending to the south-east and south-west of the volcano.  

Britain 'under attack' in cyberspace
Britain is seeing about 70 sophisticated cyber espionage operations a month against government or industry networks..  

Green earthquake alert (4.5M,depth:10km) in Italy
On 6/30/2013 2:40:08 PM UTC (about 15:20h local time) an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 occurred in the very highly populated region of Toscana in Italy.  

Strong explosions and ash emissions at Fuego volcano, Guatemala
According to the latest INSIVUMEH special volcanic bulletin on June 28, 2013 the eruptive pattern changes at Fuego volcano, Guatemala are generating vulcanian explosions, with higher concentrations of grey ash, producing a plume reaching 800 meters in height and moving in the W, NW direction from the volcano.  

How will Comet ISON perform?
Based on comet's orbit, astronomers believe the comet is coming from Oort cloud, making its first visit to inner solar system. ISON was discovered on September 21, 2012, by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok using a telescope of the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) located near Kislovodsk, Russia.  

Dozens succumb to heat in western US
Air-conditioned "cooling centres" have been set up in California, Nevada and Arizona, as officials warn the heat could be life-threatening. Temperatures in some areas are expected to be near 54C (130F) - close to the world's all-time record. Several parts of California - including the desert town of Palm Springs - saw record highs on Saturday.  

US wildfire kills 19 firefighters
At least 19 US firefighters have been killed battling a wildfire in central Arizona, local officials say. They died while fighting the blaze threatening the town of Yarnell, about 80 miles (130km) north-west of Phoenix. The fire was started by lightning on Friday and spread rapidly amid high heat, low humidity and strong winds. At least 200 homes were burned. Arizona and other parts of the western US - including California - had near-record temperatures over the weekend.  

Egypt crisis: Mass protests over Morsi grip cities
Huge protests across Egypt calling for the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi have taken place through the night, with some outbreaks of violence. In the capital, Cairo, tens of thousands of people massed in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace in the biggest demonstration there since the 2011 revolution.  

UN's Mali peace force begins operations
The United Nations is beginning its military mission in Mali by bringing the 6,000 West African troops already in the country under its command. By December it will reach full strength with 12,640 uniformed personnel. The UN will take over security duties from the French forces which led an operation to oust Islamist militants from the north in January.  

Egypt protesters storm Muslim Brotherhood headquarters
Anti-government protesters in Egypt have stormed the national headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood in the capital, Cairo. People are reported to have ransacked the building in the eastern Moqattam district and also set it on fire. Eight people have been killed outside since Sunday, security sources say.  

Kerry responds to US bugging claims
US Secretary of State John Kerry has responded to allegations that the US bugged the offices of its allies, saying its activities were "not unusual" in international relations. There has been outrage in Europe following claims that the US bugged EU embassies and targeted allies like France, Italy and Greece. A top EU official has warned the affair could put a massive trade pact at risk.  

Obama to Save Presidency by Bombing Iran? Round Two
I wrote an article 3½ years ago (see article below), at a low moment in Obama’s first term, when his ratings tanked and his party just lost Edward Kennedy’s senate seat to a Republican, that usefully suggested that Obama could “salvage his tottering administration” by taking “dramatic gesture to change the public perception of him as a lightweight, bumbling ideologue, preferably in an arena where the stakes are high, where he can take charge, and where he can trump expectations.” He could do well and do good, I offered, by taking out the Iranian nuclear infrastructure.  

Germans Loved Obama. Now We Don’t Trust Him.
In May 2010, I received a brown envelope. In it was a CD with an encrypted file containing six months of my life. Six months of metadata, stored by my cellphone provider, T-Mobile. This list of metadata contained 35,830 records. That’s 35,830 times my phone company knew if, where and when I was surfing the Web, calling or texting.

Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria by Al-Qaeda-Linked Rebels as Men and Children Take Pictures and Cheer
Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was beheaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder. ...Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad.

Fema Signs Deal to Bring Russian Emergency Officers to U.S.A During Crisis
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsAmercom of Russia
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry and the USA Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are going to exchange experts during joint rescue operations in major disasters. This is provided by a protocol of the fourth meeting of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission Working Group on Emergency Situations and seventeenth meeting of Joint U.S.-Russia Cooperation Committee on Emergency Situations, which took place in Washington on 25 June.

The document provides for expert cooperation in disaster response operations and to study the latest practices.

EU Slams Gaza for Executions of 'Collaborators'
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The EU mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Sunday condemned the recent execution of two Palestinian Authority Arabs in Gaza by Hamas authorities, a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency read.

"The de facto authorities in Gaza should refrain from carrying out any executions of prisoners and comply with the de facto moratorium on executions put in place by the Palestinian Authority, pending abolition of the death penalty in line with the global trend," the statement said, according to Ma’an.

On June 22, Hamas hanged two men accused of collaborating with Israel. Two days earlier, a military court in Gaza sentenced a Palestinian Authority Arab man found guilty of the same charge to death.

The EU said it was firmly opposed to capital punishment and its abolition "contributes to human dignity and the progressive development of human rights."

Describing the death penalty as cruel and inhuman, the EU said the sentences were "failing to provide deterrence to criminal behavior, and representing an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity," reported Ma’an.

The Gaza government has said that it was using the death penalty as a means to deter PA Arabs from collaborating with Israel. Hamas interior ministry official Salah Addin Abu Sharkh said the government had "a clear goal and several means to eradicate this dangerous epidemic," including executing convicted collaborators.

The Gaza government vowed in June to enforce the death penalty against collaborators, while the department of public prosecution said it would be demanding corporal punishment in "high profile" homicide cases.

In March, Hamas said it had a list of collaborators but offered a one-month amnesty for informers to give themselves up in return for leniency.

The terror group announced in April that it had begun arresting suspected collaborators with Israel following the amnesty period and indicated that the campaign had been “a success.”

Under Palestinian Authority law, collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking are all punishable by death. All execution orders must be approved by the PA chairman before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.

Amnesty International has called on the public to mail Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers in order to appeal against other executions.

Egyptian Army Posts 30 Tanks on Sinai - Gaza Border – Report
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian and Turkish sources report that the Egyptian army has posted 30 tanks on the Sinai border with the Gaza Strip to seal the Palestinian territory against the spillover of the disturbances sweeping Egypt.

China Supercomputer ups ante in Cyber 'Arms Race'
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsLignet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

For the second time in three years, China has taken the lead from the United States in the ongoing race to develop the world’s fastest supercomputer. The new Chinese supercomputer, revealed at an international conference in late May, is twice as fast as the best U.S. supercomputer and easily the fastest in the world.

Catholic Priest Beheaded in Syria By Al - Qaeda-linked Rebels As Men and Children Take Pictures and Ch
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily NewsThe Blaze
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad killed last weekend by jihadi fighters was behaded, according to a report by Catholic Online which is linking to video purportedly showing the brutal murder.

As TheBlaze reported last week, Murad, 49, was setting up a monastery in Gassanieh, northern Syria. Last Sunday, on the Christian leader’s Sabbath, extremist militants trying to topple President Bashar Assad breached the monastery and grabbed Murad.

While earlier reports suggested Murad may have been shot to death, Catholic Online reported Saturday: “The Vatican is confirming the death by beheading of Franciscan Father, Francois Murad, who was martyred by Syrian jihadists on June 23.”

The Catholic news service quotes local sources who report that the radical Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Al-Nusra Front, was behind the savage killing.

In video posted by Live Leak purporting to show the execution, dozens of men and boys are seen cheering on as three men are seated on the ground awaiting their grisly fate.

Army Give Egyptian Rulers 48 Hours to Meet “People’s Demands”
Jul 1st, 2013
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Egyptian army has finally taken a stand in favor of the opposition. Army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi Monday afternoon issued a 48-hourultimatum for the “politicians” to meet the “demands of the people.” He said the politicians must agree to an inclusive roadmap for the way ahead. 

Egypt's ministers of tourism, environment, communication and legal affairs earlier tendered their resignations on Monday a day after massive protests against President Mohamed Morsi swept the country, a senior government official told AFP. The four handed in their letters of resignation together to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, the official said.