Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Next Great European Financial Crisis Has Begun
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsMichael Snyder
Categories: Revived Roman Empire

The Greek financial system is in the process of totally imploding, and the rest of Europe will soon follow. Neither the Greeks nor the Germans are willing to give in, and that means that there is very little chance that a debt deal is going to happen by the end of June. So that means that we will likely see a major Greek debt default and potentially even a Greek exit from the eurozone. 

At this point, credit default swaps on Greek debt have risen 456 percent in price since the beginning of this year, and the market has priced in a 75 percent chance that a Greek debt default will happen. 

Over the past month, the yield on two year Greek bonds has skyrocketed from 20 percent to more than 30 percent, and the Greek stock market has fallen by a total of 13 percent during the last three trading days alone. This is what a financial collapse looks like, and if Greece does leave the euro, we are going to see this kind of carnage happen all over Europe.

Officials over in Europe are now openly speaking of the need to prepare for a “state of emergency” now that negotiations have totally collapsed. At one time, it would have been unthinkable for Greece to leave the euro, but now it appears that this is precisely what will happen unless a miracle happens…

Greece is heading for a state of emergency and an exit from the euro following the collapse of talks to agree a bailout deal, senior EU officials warned last night.

Europe must be prepared to step in otherwise Greek society would face an unprecedented crisis with power blackouts, medicine shortages and no money to pay for police, they said.

In the past, the Greeks have always buckled under pressure. But this new Greek government was elected with a mandate to end austerity, and so far they have shown a remarkable amount of resolve. In order for a debt deal to happen, one side is going to have to blink, and at this point it does not look like it will be the Greeks…

The world’s financial markets are facing up to the possibility that Greece could soon become the first country to crash out of Europe’s single currency. Talks between Athens and its eurozone creditors have collapsed in acrimony just days before a final deadline for Greece to unlock the €7.2bn (£5.2bn) in bailout funds it needs to avoid a catastrophic debt default.

The Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, accused the creditor powers of hidden “political motives” in their demands that Greece make further cuts to public pension payments in return for the financial aid. “We are shouldering the dignity of our people, as well as the hopes of the people of Europe,” Mr Tsipras said in a defiant statement. “We cannot ignore this responsibility. This is not a matter of ideological stubbornness. This is about democracy.”

As we approach the point of no return, both sides are preparing for the endgame.

In Greece, members of parliament have been studying what happened in Iceland a few years ago. Many of them believe that a Greek debt default combined with a nationalization of Greek banks and a Greek exit from the euro could set the nation back on the path to prosperity fairly rapidly. The following comes from the Telegraph…

The radical wing of Greece’s Syriza party is to table plans over coming days for an Icelandic-style default and a nationalisation of the Greek banking system, deeming it pointless to continue talks with Europe’s creditor powers.

Syriza sources say measures being drafted include capital controls and the establishment of a sovereign central bank able to stand behind a new financial system. While some form of dual currency might be possible in theory, such a structure would be incompatible with euro membership and would imply a rapid return to the drachma.

The confidential plans were circulating over the weekend and have the backing of 30 MPs from the Aristeri Platforma or ‘Left Platform’, as well as other hard-line groupings in Syriza’s spectrum. It is understood that the nationalist ANEL party in the ruling coalition is also willing to force a rupture with creditors, if need be.

Meanwhile, in a desperate attempt to get the Greeks to give in at the last moment, Greek’s creditors are preparing to pull out all the stops in order to put as much financial pressure on Greece as possible…

Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that the creditors are drawing an ultimatum to the Greeks, threatening to cut off Greek access to the European payments system and forcing capital controls on the country as soon as this weekend. The plan would lead to the temporary closure of the banks, followed by a rationing of cash withdrawals.

For a long time, most in the financial world assumed that a debt deal would eventually happen. But now reality is setting in. As I mentioned at the top of this article, the cost to insure Greek debt has risen by an astounding 456 percent since the beginning of this year…

Given these dramatic stakes, the risk of a Greek default has gone way up. One way to measure that risk is by looking at the skyrocketing price of insurance policies that would pay out if Greek bonds go bust. The cost to insure Greek debt for one year against the risk of default has skyrocketed 456% since the start of the 2015, according to FactSet data.

These insurance-like contracts, known as credit default swaps, imply there is a 75% to 80% probability of Greece defaulting on its debt, according to Jigar Patel, a credit strategist at Barclays.

The probability of a Greek default soars to a whopping 95% for five-year CDS, Patel said.

“Default is looking more and more likely,” Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group, wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

And in recent days, we have also seen Greek stocks and Greek bonds totally crash. The following comes from CNN…

The Greek stock market has plummeted 13% over the past three trading days, including a 3% drop on Tuesday alone.

In the bond market, the yield on Greek two-year debt has skyrocketed to 30.2%. A month ago, the yield was only 20%. Yields rise as bond prices fall.

Of course if there is a Greek debt default and Greece does leave the euro, it won’t just be Greece that pays the price.

As I have written about previously, there are tens of trillions of dollars in derivatives that are directly tied to currency exchange rates and 505 trillion dollars in derivatives that are directly tied to interest rates. A “Grexit” would cause the euro to drop like a rock and interest rates all over the continent would start to go crazy. The financial chaos that a “Grexit” would cause should not be underestimated.

And there are signs that some of Europe’s biggest banks are already on the verge of collapse. For example, just consider what has been going on at the biggest bank in Germany. Both of the co-CEOs at Deutsche Bank recently resigned, and it is increasingly looking as if it could soon become Europe’s version of Lehman Brothers. The following summary of the recent troubles at Deutsche Bank comes from an article that was posted on NotQuant…

Here’s a re-cap of what’s happened at Deutsche Bank over the past 15 months:

In April of 2014, Deutsche Bank was forced to raise an additional 1.5 Billion of Tier 1 capital to support it’s capital structure. Why?

1 month later in May of 2014, the scramble for liquidity continued as DB announced the selling of 8 billion euros worth of stock – at up to a 30% discount. Why again? It was a move which raised eyebrows across the financial media. The calm outward image of Deutsche Bank did not seem to reflect their rushed efforts to raise liquidity. Something was decidedly rotten behind the curtain.

Fast forwarding to March of this year: Deutsche Bank fails the banking industry’s “stress tests” and is given a stern warning to shore up it’s capital structure.

In April, Deutsche Bank confirms it’s agreement to a joint settlement with the US and UK regarding the manipulation of LIBOR. The bank is saddled with a massive $2.1 billion payment to the DOJ. (Still, a small fraction of their winnings from the crime). 

In May, one of Deutsche Bank’s CEOs, Anshu Jain is given an enormous amount of new authority by the board of directors. We guess that this is a “crisis move”. In times of crisis the power of the executive is often increased.

June 5: Greece misses it’s payment to the IMF. The risk of default across all of it’s debt is now considered acute. This has massive implications for Deutsche Bank.

June 6/7: (A Saturday/Sunday, and immediately following Greece’s missed payment to the IMF) Deutsche Bank’s two CEO’s announce their surprise departure from the company. (Just one month after Jain is given his new expanded powers). Anshu Jain will step down first at the end of June. Jürgen Fitschen will step down next May.

June 9: S&P lowers the rating of Deutsche Bank to BBB+ Just three notches above “junk”. (Incidentally, BBB+ is even lower than Lehman’s downgrade – which preceded it’s collapse by just 3 months)

And that’s where we are now. How bad is it? We don’t know because we won’t be permitted to know. But these are not the moves of a healthy company.

For a very long time, I have been warning that a major financial crisis was coming to Europe, and for a very long time the authorities in Europe have been able to successfully kick the can down the road.

But now it looks like we have reached the end of the road, and a day of reckoning is finally here.

Nobody is quite sure what is going to happen next, but almost everyone agrees that it isn’t going to be pretty.

So you better buckle up, because it looks like we are all in for a wild ride as we enter the second half of this year

Support for a Young Earth? Scientists Baffled By Preserved Dinosaur Blood Cells
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsChristian News
Categories: Creation - Evolution

LONDON – The discovery of well-preserved blood and proteins in a supposedly 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossil has stumped secular scientists and led one Christian apologist to herald the findings as evidence of a young Earth.

A team of scientists at the U.K.’s Imperial College London carefully examined eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones discovered in North America, scrutinizing the bones’ interiors with an electron microscope. The researchers were stunned when they discovered what appeared to be red blood cells in one of the specimens.

Upon closer examination, the British scientists identified an internal structure within the dinosaur cells, complete with nuclei and amino acids. Then, in addition to the blood cells, the scientists discovered excellently-preserved collagen, which is a common soft tissue.

The scientists published their findings last week in “Nature Communications,” emphasizing that the dinosaur bones they studied were “not exceptionally preserved.”

“It has long been accepted that protein molecules decay in relatively short periods of time and cannot be preserved for longer than 4 million years,” the researchers noted. They described the discovery of preserved blood cells and soft tissue as unprecedented and “very exciting.”

A number of similar discoveries have recently cast doubt on secular scientists’ claims that most fossils are millions of years old. As previously reported, scientists recently found protein-rich materials somehow preserved within ancient shells. Last year, a California university fired a biologist for discovering soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil and questioning evolutionary assumptions.

A report last week from “Discover” magazine explains the controversial nature of these finds.

“Many of these discoveries … have been contentious within the paleontological community, and the presence of molecular-level preservation in the fossil record remains controversial,” the magazine explained. “This is because proteins and other molecular components are thought to break down within about four million years.”

Ken Ham, a well-known Christian apologist and president of Answers in Genesis, believes the dinosaur fossils analyzed by the British scientists are not millions of years old after all. Rather, Ham says the discovery of preserved blood cells and tissues undermine secular assumptions and create a problem for evolutionists.

“How could soft tissue survive for 75 million years? Are evolutionists questioning their assumptions that the fossil is 75 million years old? Of course not!” Ham wrote in a blog post. “Instead, they simply assume the materials somehow survived for 75 million years because they believe on the basis of their evolutionary presuppositions that the fossil is that old.”

However, the existence of preserved blood cells and tissues in dinosaur fossils makes sense in the young earth Biblical worldview, Ham argues.

“This new find is consistent with the young age of the Earth as described in God’s Word and in no way confirms evolutionary ideas about the past,” he wrote. “Of course evolutionists can’t even consider the possibility that these bones are not millions of years old, as they have to have their supposed millions of years to propose their ideas of molecules-to-man evolution. Actually, believing in millions of years is a necessary part of the religion of naturalism (atheism).”

“But finds like the one the researchers in the London museum discovered affirm biblical—not evolutionary—ideas about the not-so-distant past,” Ham concluded. “We can trust God’s Word to provide us with an accurate history of Earth.”

Pope Francis Calls for a New Global Political Authority to Save Humanity
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsMichael Snyder
Categories: World Government

Pope Francis says that global warming is a fact and that a new global political authority is necessary in order to save humanity from utter disaster. 

The new encyclical that was scheduled to be released on Thursday has been leaked, and it is being reported that this new global political authority that Pope Francis envisions would be in charge of “the reduction of pollution and the development of poor countries and regions”. 

The funny thing is that this sounds very much in line with the new sustainable development agenda that is going to be launched at the United Nations in September. This radical new agenda is already being called “Agenda 21 on steroids” because it goes so much farther than Agenda 21 ever did. 

The new UN agenda does not just address the environment – it also addresses issues such as poverty, agriculture, education and gender equality. It is essentially a blueprint for governing the entire planet, and that sounds very much like what Pope Francis also wants. 

In fact, Pope Francis is going to give the speech that kicks off the UN conference in September where this new sustainable agenda will be launched. For some reason, this Pope has decided to make the fight against climate change the central pillar of his papacy, and he is working very hard to unite as much of humanity as possible to get behind that effort.

It is not an accident that this new encyclical is coming out now. An article from the Guardian even states that the release was intended “to have maximum public impact” prior to the Pope’s major speech at the UN in September…

The rare encyclical, called “Laudato Sii”, or “Praised Be”, has been timed to have maximum public impact ahead of the pope’s meeting with Barack Obama and his address to the US Congress and the UN general assembly in September.

It is also intended to improve the prospect of a strong new UN global agreement to cut climate emissions. By adding a moral dimension to the well-rehearsed scientific arguments, Francis hopes to raise the ambition of countries above their own self-interest to secure a strong deal in a crucial climate summit in Paris in November.

Much of the encyclical is not that surprising. But what is raising eyebrows is the Pope’s call for a new global political authority. Here is more from the Guardian…

Pope Francis will this week call for changes in lifestyles and energy consumption to avert the “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem” before the end of this century, according to a leaked draft of a papal encyclical. In a document released by an Italian magazine on Monday, the pontiff will warn that failure to act would have “grave consequences for all of us”.

Francis also called for a new global political authority tasked with “tackling … the reduction of pollution and the development of poor countries and regions”. His appeal echoed that of his predecessor, pope Benedict XVI, who in a 2009 encyclical proposed a kind of super-UN to deal with the world’s economic problems and injustices.

What is even more alarming is who will be on the stage with the Pope when this encyclical is formally released. John Schellnhuber is a German professor that has some very radical views on climate change. For instance, he believes that our planet is overpopulated by at least six billion people…

Professor John Schellnhuber has been chosen as a speaker for the Vatican’s rolling out of a Papal document on climate change. He’s the professor who previously said the planet is overpopulated by at least six billion people. Now, the Vatican is giving him a platform which many expect will result in an official Church declaration in support of radical depopulation in the name of “climate science.”

And Schellnhuber also happens to believe that we need a new global political authority. If he had his way, there would be an “Earth Constitution”, a “Global Council” directly elected by the people of the planet, and a “Planetary Court” that would be above all other courts on the globe. The following is an excerpt from a very disturbing piece that he authored…

Let me conclude this short contribution with a daydream about those key institutions that could bring about a sophisticated — and therefore more appropriate — version of the conventional “world government” notion. Global democracy might be organized around three core activities, namely (i) an Earth Constitution; (ii) a Global Council; and (iii) a Planetary Court. I cannot discuss these institutions in any detail here, but I would like to indicate at least that:

– the Earth Constitution would transcend the UN Charter and identify those first principles guiding humanity in its quest for freedom, dignity, security and sustainability;

– the Global Council would be an assembly of individuals elected directly by all people on Earth, where eligibility should be not constrained by geographical, religious, or cultural quotas; and

– the Planetary Court would be a transnational legal body open to appeals from everybody, especially with respect to violations of the Earth Constitution.

Does the Pope want something similar?

It is quite telling that Schellnhuber was invited to stand with the Pope as this major encyclical is released to the world. Did Schellnhuber play a role in drafting it? Has he been advising the Pope on these matters? Does the Pope share his vision of the future?

And does the Pope share Schellnhuber’s belief that our planet is currently overpopulated by six billion people? If so, how would the Pope solve that “problem”?

Without a doubt, most of those that make up the “global elite” would love to see the number of people on earth decline precipitously. This is something that I covered in my previous article entitled “46 Population Control Quotes That Show How Badly The Elite Want To Wipe Us All Out“. Of course the Pope is not going to publicly advocate for getting rid of six billion people, but clearly he is extremely concerned about the impact that all of us are having on this planet.

The funny thing is that the earth is not even warming. In fact, there has been no sign of global warming at all for the past ten years…

Over the years the government and the scientific community have largely stood their ground when it comes to climate change. They’ve been adamant in their assertion that the planet is gradually warming due to human activity, and that we all need to do our part to stop climate change. However, the data provided by the scientific community doesn’t always jibe with their claims.

At least, that seems to be the case with the data coming out of NOAA’s climate monitoring stations. They have a series of 114 stations across all 50 states, which is known as the US Climate Reference Network. For the past 10 years they’ve shown no sign of global warming. In fact, there’s been a very slight cooling in temperatures across the US.

But at this point, most of the world has bought into the propaganda. In most industrialized nations, a solid majority of the population actually believes that climate change is the greatest threat that humanity currently faces.

And since just about all forms of human activity produce “carbon emissions” or affect the environment in some way, it gives control freaks that dream of global government a good excuse to grab more power. 

They will always say that it is about “saving humanity” or “saving the planet”, but ultimately everything that they are trying to accomplish would mean more power in their hands.

Let the Headlines Speak
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsFrom the internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Islamic State crisis: 'Mines planted in Syria's Palmyra'
Islamic State (IS) militants have planted landmines and explosives around the ancient Palmyra ruins, according to a group that monitors the war in Syria. Activists said it was unclear whether IS had laid the bombs to destroy the ruins or make the site secure from Syrian government forces. IS fighters seized the city, which is one of the most important historic sites in the Middle East, in May.  

Afghans counter Taliban offensive in northern Kunduz province
Government forces in northern Afghanistan have launched a counter-offensive against the Taliban, after they took control of a key district. Chardara is just a few kilometres from the city of Kunduz, and a major road to the capital Kabul runs through it. A Taliban website showed militants parading around a well-fortified police post they had seized.  

Somalia jihadists al-Shabab launch Mogadishu attack
The Somali jihadist group al-Shabab has carried out an attack in the country's capital Mogadishu. A suicide car bomber and gunmen attacked a training centre for the national intelligence agency on Sunday morning. Government officials said that soldiers "foiled the attack" and at least three militants died.  

Netanyahu: Int'l peace proposals are forced on Israel, push it to indefensible borders
...Ahead of a visit by French Foreign Minister...Netanyahu said that "in the international proposals that are presented to us, and in fact forced upon us, there is no real addressing Israel's security needs and its other national interests." "They simply try to push us to indefensible borders, while completely ignoring what will exist on the other side of the border," he said.  

State of fear: Survivors tell of life under IS rule
When the Islamic State fighters burst into the Iraqi village of Eski Mosul, Sheikh Abdullah Ibrahim knew his wife was in trouble. Buthaina Ibrahim was an outspoken human rights advocate who had once run for the provincial council in Mosul. The IS fighters demanded she apply for a "repentance card." Under the rule of the extremist group, all former police officers, soldiers and people whose activities are deemed "heretical" must sign the card and carry it with them at all times.  

Ten shot, one killed, at Detroit block party: report
Ten people were shot, one of them fatally, at a block party in Detroit on Saturday, the Detroit Free Press reported on its web site. Three of the victims were women who ranged from ages 26 to 45, the newspaper said, citing police, who did not yet know the motive.  

Roadside blast kills 14 family members in Afghanistan
A roadside bomb killed at least 14 members of an Afghan family, including women and children, in the country’s volatile south on Saturday, officials said, in the first major attack in the holy month of Ramazan.  

How climate-change doubters lost a papal fight
Pope Francis was about to take a major step backing the science behind ­human-driven global warming, and Philippe de Larminat was determined to change his mind. After securing a high-level meeting at the Vatican, he was told that, space permitting, he could join. He bought a plane ticket from Paris to Rome. But five days before the April 28 summit, de Larminat said, he received an e-mail saying there was no space left. It came after other scientists — as well as the powerful Vatican bureaucrat in charge of the academy — insisted he had no business being there.  

Meanwhile, Greece Is Quietly Printing Billions Of Euros  So, it is literally “deal or no deal” time, because if JPM is correct and eligible collateral was either exhausted two weeks ago or, in the best case scenario, is right at the limit, capital controls will need to be put in place as early as Tuesday at which point the ATMs will officially stop dispensing freshly-minted euros which, incidentally, brings up an important point. As Barclays notes, during the same period over which Greek banks lost nearly €30 billion in deposits, banknotes in circulation jumped by some €13 billion. In short, because Greeks are increasingly prone to stuffing their euros in mattresses, a large proportion of the deposit flight has come in the form of hard currency withdrawals, meaning the Bank of Greece is forced to (literally) print billions in physical banknotes:  

Protesters throng London to oppose new UK government's austerity plan
Tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters massed outside Britain's parliament on Saturday to demonstrate against the newly re-elected Conservative government's plans for further public spending cuts.  

Franklin Graham: 'Godless' Hollywood Causing Gun Violence
The only way to heal the nation after the massacre at Charleston's historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is to pass laws keeping "godless Hollywood" from "poisoning the minds of our young people" through violent films and video games, the Rev. Franklin Graham said Saturday.  

Death toll from Mumbai liquor poisoning rises to 90
The death toll from India's latest incident of mass alcohol poisoning following the consumption of toxic homemade liquor rose to 90 on Saturday, Mumbai police said.  

China and U.S. on Collision Course for War Over South China Sea
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsSHERINE CONYERS
Categories: Contemporary Issues

A quiet battle lingering over the South China Sea just got a whole lot more dangerous after reports China tested hypersonic glide vehicles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The vehicle, dubbed the WU-14, was the fourth test of the missile in 18 months, RT News reports.

The weapon is extremely advanced and can travel at 10 times the speed of sound.

And it’s ticking off the Americans.

The US has labelled the testing as an “extreme manoeuvre” amid tensions in the South China Sea, theSouth China Morning Post reports.

But China has been quick to dismiss any suggestion the tests were anything other than a normal exercise.

“The scheduled scientific research and experiments in our territory is normal, and those tests are not targeted at any country and specific goals,” the ministry told the Post.

Tensions between the two military superpowers have been increasing due to a cluster of tiny islands in the South China Sea.

And the US and China have been doing a lot of peacocking about them.

US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter has previously warned the US would not shy away from confronting Beijing about the continued expansion.

The problem is also placing Australia in an awkward position over who it would be better off being best buddies with.

War paradise

The tiny man-made islands popping up in the South China Sea have been dubbed a “flashpoint” of war due to the land grab they inspire.

The Chinese have used dredging engineering to create the islands from what were previously reefs — and it claims it has the sovereign right to do this, despite some of them being 1400km from China’s mainland or on the continental shelfs of the Philippines and Vietnam.

Militarisation of those islands could very well result in conflict between China and US, which runs its ships through the area.

That would drag Australia firmly into the war muck — Australia needs China for trade, but the US is one of its closest defence allies.

As well as US military interests in the area, countries including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a stake in the region.

As each island appears, China stakes a claim in the sea around it and this is the crux of the issue for China’s neighbours.

About 1500 hectares of land has been reclaimed by the Chinese. It gives the country another 12 nautical miles of territory at each new border, and also creates 200 extra miles of economic zones to dig for oil, gas and to fish in.

The deputy dean of global studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Professor Joseph Siracussa, told news.com.au that the two nations were “spoiling for a fight”.

Despite the economic ties between China and the global economy, he said it wouldn’t stop a war.

“Economics mean very little at the end of the day,” said Prof Siracussa, who is an expert in human security and international diplomacy.

“Once you militarise a problem, you don’t get a diplomatic solution.

“The [US] Secretary of Defence’s job is to think about the next war and how to beat them up.

“The trigger is there, it’s just waiting to happen,” he said.

During a “Re-assessing the Global Nuclear Order” conference in January, Prof Siracussa said discussions about “inevitable” war between the US and China were quite open and on the table.

“They were discussing the inevitable war with China,” he said.

“This will happen. This is about power.

“The American pentagon is on a collision course with China.

“So the South China Sea has become a flashpoint for war.”

China also had a grand military plan in place, he said, which included claiming the land, and blocking the US military.

“The Chinese need resources to feed the ‘Chinese miracle’. They see it as part of their manifesto of destiny,” he said.

“Those resources are central to the health of China.”

So who would fire the first shot? America, “if things spin out of control”, Prof Siracussa said.

“I’d say the war with China will probably take place in the next 10 years,” he said.

A statement issued on the US Department of Defense website said Mr Carter’s had met with the China’s vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, General Fan Changlong, at the Pentagon last week.

“Secretary Carter stressed his commitment to developing a sustained and substantive US-China military-to-military relationship based on a shared desire to deepen practical, concrete cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” the statement said.

The pair also exchanged views over concerns in the South China Sea and called on China and to “implement a lasting halt on land reclamation, cease further militarisation, and pursue a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in accordance with international law”.

Cold War thinking

Prof Siracussa said the world was watching this issue and, as a result, other countries could very well be stockpiling weapons in preparation for a war.

That theory is backed up by a new report on nuclear stockpiles.

Nuclear armed states continue to upgrade their stockpiles despite an international trend towards disarmament, The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual disarmament report revealed.

It pointed to extensive “long-term modernisation programs” in the world’s two largest nuclear powers — the US and Russia — which account for 90 per cent of the weapons.

“Despite renewed international interest in prioritising nuclear disarmament, the modernisation programs under way in the nuclear weapon-possessing states suggests that none of them will give up their nuclear arsenals in the foreseeable future,” institute researcher Shannon Kile said in a statement.

The other three nuclear armed states legally recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — China (260 warheads), France (300 warheads) and Britain (215 warheads) — are “either developing or deploying new nuclear weapon systems or have announced their intention to do so”.

China was the only state among the five global nuclear powers to have a “modest” increase in the size of its arsenal.

While the remaining nuclear states — India (90 to 100 warheads), Pakistan (100 to 120 warheads) and Israel (80 warheads) — have considerably smaller stockpiles, India and Pakistan continue to increase their arsenals, while Israel has tested long-range ballistic missiles.

North Korea is believed to be developing its arsenal of six to eight warheads, but the institute said “technical progress” was difficult to assess.

Reliable information on nuclear stockpiles varied greatly between states, with the US getting top marks for transparency in the report, while Britain and France were more restrictive.

Russia divulged nothing officially, except in bilateral contacts with the US.

In Asia, China revealed little about its arsenal and the only information made public by nuclear rivals India and Pakistan was announcements of missile tests.

The five nuclear powers and members of the UN Security Council — US, Russia, China, Britain and France — along with Germany, are in ongoing talks with Iran to persuade the Islamic Republic not to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

Bible Teaching Could Soon Become a Crime With Anti - Extremism Banning Orders
Jun 21st, 2015
Daily NewsJOHN BINGHAM
Categories: Persecution

Traditional Christian teaching could effectively be "criminalized" in some settings in Britain under David Cameron's plans for new anti-extremist banning orders, a top Anglican theologian and former Parliamentary draftsman has warned.

The Rev. Dr. Mike Ovey, a former lawyer and now principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London, a training school for Church of England clergy, said proposals for new "Extremism Disruption Orders" could be a "disaster area" for people from all the mainstream religions and none.

Mr. Cameron and Theresa May have signalled that the new orders, planned as part of the Government's Counter-Extremism Bill, would not curb the activities of radical Islamist clerics but the promotion of other views deemed to go against "British values" even if it is nonviolent and legal.

Ministers have defined British values in the past as including broad notions like democracy, tolerance and the rule of law.

In a speech last month Mr. Cameron said that for too long Britain had been a "passively tolerant society" in which people were told "as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone."

Dr. Ovey warned that unless the criteria are tightly defined, the orders could be used against almost anyone and would have a "chilling effect" on preachers and even call into question the curriculum of colleges such as his.

Even basic Christian tenets, such as the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, could be deemed to be offensive to other religions and branded un-British, he said.

It would also be easy to argue that there was a "clear trajectory" between, for example, teaching mainstream Christian ideas about subjects such as abortion and the actions of violent end-abortion groups, he added.

"It Doesn't Work"

Dr. Ovey, who worked as a parliamentary draftsman in the 1980s when anti-terror legislation to deal with the IRA threat was being framed, said: "They are going to say this is far-fetched and will never happen.

"That is essentially a government saying, 'Trust us with your civil liberties.'

"I would say frankly human experience tells us the last thing you ever want to do is trust a government with your civil liberties."

"The government is going around saying it is all a time of national emergency.

"I think I want to say we have been there before and got the T-shirt. It doesn't work."

It follows a series of recent cases of Christian street preachers being arrested by overzealous police after complaints by people who claimed their traditionalist message was homophobic or condemnatory.

His comments came as alliance free-speech campaigners, including faith groups and atheists, prepare to launch a new campaign against the plan.

Last week Lord Blencathra, the Conservative peer, told the Lords that the orders could open the door to "idiot police forces arresting a couple of ladies from the WI and a traditionalist Church of England vicar who has said something radical—for example, that he actually believes in God."

"But where do the problems really lie?" he said.

"Do we have Buddhist suicide bombers? Are there Free Presbyterians beheading Roman Catholics in Benbecula? Are there jihadi Jehovah's Witnesses? Of course not, so who then deserves to be caught in this wide net of extremists?"

"A Disaster Area"

Dr. Ovey added: "We don't know what British values are other than whatever Theresa May decides on the particular Monday when she wakes up and has to make one of these orders.

"Having an inclusive definition is hopeless from a legal point of view."

He went on: "Is a police officer going to listen to me saying that Jesus is the only way in a Muslim part of the East End?

"There is always the argument that it will be OK on the night, yes you might be arrested but you will be released—but there is always the thought that you won't be.

"The thing with a law like this is that there are going to be some people saying, 'I'm not going to run the risk,' and someone like me who is going to run the risk is going to look more extreme.

"As a lawyer I think it is a disaster area and as a Christian believer and teacher I think it is a disaster area.

"There has got be a better way to do it."