30/10/11 - Netanyahu to Gaza militants: Israel's policy is kill or be killed

Premier says Israel not interested in deterioration along border, but will defend its citizens firmly, aggressively and effectively.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel had no choice but to retaliate when faced with attack, and would stop "every attempt to fire against Israel and anyone who fires anyway".

Netanyahu told ministers gathered for a special cabinet session in Safed that Israel's defense policy was based on two principles: "Kill or be killed" and "He who harms you should bear the blood on his head".

Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting last week.

"I suggest Hamas, Jihad and the other organizations not test our determination to actualize the two principles I have described here," said Netanyahu. "We will harm every attempt to fire against Israel and anyone who fires anyway. We are not tempestuous and we do not want things to deteriorate, but we will defend Israel's citizens determinedly, aggressively and effectively."

Netanyahu made his remarks shortly after Islamic Jihad said it would accept an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire if Israel agreed to halt its "aggression" against Gaza.

Just a few hours later, the Israel Air Force struck a militant cell apparently poised to launch rockets at Israel. One militant was killed in that attack, said Palestinians.

Nine other Palestinian gunmen and an Israeli civilian have been killed since the cross-border violence resumed last week.

1968 PROPHECY from 90-YEAR-OLD WOMAN in NORWAY

An old woman of 90 from Valdres in Norway had a vision from God in 1968. The evangelist Emanuel Minos had meetings (services) where she lived. He had the opportunity to meet her, and she told him what she had seen. He wrote it down, but thought it to be so unbelievable that he put it in a drawer. After 30 years, he understood he had to share the vision with others. (That would have been around 1998.)

The woman from Valdres was a very alert, reliable, awake and credible Christian, with a good reputation among all who knew her. This is what she saw:

"I saw the time just before the coming of Jesus and the outbreak of the Third World War. I saw the events with my natural eyes. I saw the world like a kind of a globe and saw Europe, land by land. I saw Scandinavia. I saw Norway. I saw certain things that would take place just before the return of Jesus, and just before the last calamity happens, a calamity the likes of which we have never before experienced.

She mentioned four waves:

1. "First before Jesus comes and before the Third World War breaks out there will be a ‘détente’ like we have never had before. There will be peace between the super powers in the east and the west, and there will be a long peace. [Remember, that this was in 1968 when the cold war was at its highest. -E. Minos]. In this period of peace there will be disarmament in many countries, also in Norway and we are not prepared when it (the war) comes.  The Third World War will begin in a way no one would have anticipated - and from an unexpected place.

2. "A lukewarmness without parallel will take hold of the Christians, a falling away from true, living Christianity. Christians will not be open for penetrating preaching. They will not, like in earlier times, want to hear of sin and grace, law and gospel, repentance and restoration. There will come a substitute instead: prosperity (happiness) Christianity.

"The important thing will be to have success, to be something; to have material things, things that God never promised us in this way. Churches and prayer houses will be emptier and emptier. Instead of the preaching we have been used to for generations -like, to take your cross up and follow Jesus, - entertainment, art and culture will invade the churches where there should have been gatherings for repentance and revival. This will increase markedly just before the return of Jesus.

3. "There will be a moral disintegration that old Norway has never experienced the likes of.  People will live together like married without being married. [I do not believe the concept ‘co-habitor’ existed in 1968 - E. Minos.] Much uncleanness before marriage, and much infidelity in marriage will become the natural (the common), and it will be justified from every angle. It will even enter Christian circles and we pet it - even sin against nature. Just before Jesus returns there will be TV- programs like we have never experienced. [TV had just arrived in Norway in 1968. -E. Minos]

"TV will be filled with such horrible violence that it teaches people to murder and destroy each other, and it will be unsafe in our streets. People will copy what they see.  There will not be only one ‘station’ on TV, it will be filled with ‘stations.’ [She did not know the word ‘channel’ which we use today. Therefore she called them stations. -E. Minos.] TV will be just like the radio where we have many ‘stations,’ and it will be filled with violence.  People will use it for entertainment. We will see terrible scenes of murder and destruction one of the other, and this will spread in society.  Sex scenes will also be shown on the screen, the most intimate things that take place in a marriage." [I protested and said, we have a paragraph that forbids this kind of thing. -E. Minos.]  There the old woman said: "It will happen, and you will see it.  All we have had before will be broken down, and the most indecent things will pass before our eyes."

4. "People from poor countries will stream to Europe. [In 1968 there was no such thing as immigration. -E. Minos.] They will also come to Scandinavia - and Norway. There will be so many of them that people will begin to dislike them and become hard with them. They will be treated like the Jews before the Second World War. Then the full measure of our sins will have been reached [I protested at the issue of immigration. I did not understand it at the time. -E. Minos.]

The tears streamed from the old woman’s eyes down her cheeks. "I will not see it, but you will. Then suddenly, Jesus will come and the Third World War breaks out. It will be a short war." (She saw it in the vision.)

"All that I have seen of war before is only child’s play compared to this one, and it will be ended with a nuclear atom bomb. The air will be so polluted that one cannot draw one’s breath. It will cover several continents, America, Japan, Australia and the wealthy nations.  The water will be ruined (contaminated?). We can no longer till the soil. The result will be that only a remnant will remain. The remnant in the wealthy countries will try to flee to the poor countries, but they will be as hard on us as we were on them.

"I am so glad that I will not see it, but when the time draws near, you must take courage and tell this. I have received it from God, and nothing of it goes against what the Bible tells.

"The one who has his sin forgiven and has Jesus as Savior and Lord, is safe."

20/10/11 - Muammar Qaddafi Killed, Libya's Prime Minister Confirms

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi is dead, Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril has confirmed.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Qaddafi has been killed," Jibril told a news conference in the capital Tripoli.

Qaddafi died of wounds suffered during his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, according to a spokesman for Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC).

"Qaddafi is dead. He is absolutely dead ... he was shot in both legs and in the head. The body will be arriving in Misrata soon," media spokesman Abdullah Berrassali told Sky News.

President Barack Obama said Qaddafi's death marked the end of a "long and painful chapter" for the people of Libya.

"You have won your revolution," Obama said during an afternoon briefing in Washington, adding that the U.S. and its allies stopped Qaddafi's "forces in their tracks."

Earlier, a man who claimed to have witnessed the attack told the Associated Press Television News that he struck Qaddafi with his shoes after he was shot. Footage aired on Al-Jazeera television showed Qaddafi was captured wounded, but alive, in Sirte.

The goateed, balding Qaddafi, in a bloodsoaked shirt and his face bloodied, is seen standing upright being pushed along by fighters, and he appears to struggle against them, stumbling and shouting. The fighters push him onto the hood of a pickup truck, before dragging him away, apparently toward an ambulance.

Later footage showed fighters rolling Qaddafi's body over on the pavement, stripped to the waist and his head bloody.

Click to view video of Qaddafi's body in Sirte. (WARNING: Graphic content)

Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam said he has confirmed that Qaddafi was dead from fighters who said they saw the body. 

"Our people in Sirte saw the body ... Mustafa Abdul-Jalil will confirm it soon," he told The Associated Press. "Revolutionaries say Qaddafi was in a convoy and that they attacked the convoy."

Col. Roland Lavoie, spokesman for NATO's operational headquarters in Naples, Italy, said the alliance's aircraft Thursday morning struck two vehicles of pro-Qaddafi forces "which were part of a larger group maneuvering in the vicinity of Sirte."

"These armed vehicles were conducting military operations and presented a clear threat to civilians," Lavoie said in a statement.

A commander of the new regime forces told AFP one of Qaddafi's sons, Mo'Tassim Qaddafi, was also killed Thursday.

"We found him dead. We put his body and that of [former defense minister] Abu Bakr Yunis in an ambulance to take them to Misrata," Mohamed Leith said.

Seif al-Islam, Qaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent, was also captured wounded by revolutionary fighters and is in a hospital, according to Liby'a justice minister. Mohammad al-Alagi said Thursday he was shot in the leg.

Celebratory gunfire and cries of "Allahu Akbar" or "God is Great" rang out across Tripoli as the reports spread. Cars honked their horns and people hugged each other. In Sirte, the ecstatic former rebels celebrated the city's fall after weeks of bloody siege by firing endless rounds into the sky, pumping their guns, knives and even a meat cleaver in the air and singing the national anthem.

Despite the fall of Tripoli on Aug. 21, Qaddafi loyalists mounted fierce resistance in several areas, including Sirte, preventing Libya's new leaders from declaring full victory in the eight-month civil war. This week, revolutionary fighters gained control of one stronghold, Bani Walid, and by Tuesday said they had squeezed Qaddafi forces in Sirte into a residential area of about 700 square yards but were still coming under heavy fire from surrounding buildings.

Reporters at the scene watched as the final assault began around 8 a.m. and ended about 90 minutes later. Just before the battle, about five carloads of Qaddafi loyalists tried to flee the enclave down the coastal highway that leads out of the city. But they were met by gunfire from the revolutionaries, who killed at least 20 of them.

Sirte -- Qaddafi's hometown and the last bastion of his supporters -- was the last holdout against NTC forces. The town's capture, which both military officials and new regime political sources said was expected later Thursday, would pave the way for the NTC to officially take control of Libya and move its headquarters away from its Benghazi stronghold in the east to the capital, Tripoli.

Libyan fighters captured Sirte Thursday, two months after the fall of Tripoli.

Prior to independent confirmation of Qaddafi's death, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, if true, would be a "big sigh of relief."

"One more obstacle removed, but we still have a steep climb ahead," Clinton told Fox News White House correspondent Wendell Goler, who is traveling with her in Pakistan. 

U.S. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said the death of Qaddafi "marks an end to the first phase" of the Libyan revolution.

"While some final fighting continues, the Libyan people have liberated their country," the statement read. "Now the Libyan people can focus all of their immense talents on strengthening their national unity, rebuilding their country and economy, proceeding with their democratic transition, and safeguarding the dignity and human rights of all Libyans. The United States, along with our European allies and Arab partners, must now deepen our support for the Libyan people, as they work to make the next phase of their democratic revolution as successful as the fight to free their country."

Britain's jets and helicopters backed the rebels during the NATO campaign, and the government on Thursday promised assistance to Libya's new leaders.

"Today is a day to remember all of Qaddafi's victims," British Prime Minister David Cameron said, referring to those in Libya and also the 270 people -- mainly British and American -- killed in the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The only person charged in the bombing, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was freed from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because of illness. He remains alive and in Libya.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said Qaddafi's death marks "the promise of a new" Libya.

"The United States demonstrated clear-eyed leadership, patience, and foresight by pushing the international community into action after Qaddafi promised a massacre," the Massachusetts senator said in a statement. "Though the Administration was criticized both for moving too quickly and for not moving quickly enough, it is undeniable that the NATO campaign prevented a massacre and contributed mightily to Qaddafi’s undoing without deploying boots on the ground or suffering a single American fatality. This is a victory for multilateralism and successful coalition-building in defiance of those who derided NATO and predicted a very different outcome."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/20/muammar-qaddafi-captured-in-libya-commander-says/#ixzz1bM1sPvap

2/10/11 - Groundswell: economic and ethnic tensions spark wave of protests across the globe

October 2, 2011 – ATHENS – Greece was expected to unveil its plan on Sunday to begin laying off state workers, the most contentious part of a reform package demanded by the EU and IMF to free up loans and stave off bankruptcy. Without the release of an 8 billion euro ($10.7 billion)tranche of an EU bailout, massively indebted Greece could run out of money to pay state wage bills within weeks. European officials are scrambling to avert a Greek debt default, which could wreck the balance sheets of European banks, damage the prospects of the euro single currency and possibly plunge the world into a new global financial crisis. A senior member of the ruling coalition in Germany, Europe’s paymaster, said it may be necessary for Greece to abandon the euro, a prospect European governments officially reject as beyond consideration. Negotiators from the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank, known as the troika, have returned to Athens after walking out of talks a month ago, and have met Greek officials for the past four days. To persuade the troika to release the loans, the government has promised to introduce new taxes, cut state wages by an average of 20 percent and reduce the number of public sector workers by a fifth by 2015. The austerity measures are deeply unpopular, and public sector unions hope that strikes and demonstrations can wreck the Socialist government’s resolve to enact them. No part of the package is more contentious than the plan to lay off state workers — who make up a fifth of the Greek workforce and are guaranteed jobs for life under a constitution that bans firing government employees in virtually all circumstances. The cabinet was due to meet on Sunday evening to discuss a plan to begin layoffs by setting up a “labor reserve.” Under the plan, 30,000 workers would be put in the reserve by the end of this year and paid 60 percent of their salaries for a year, after which they would be dismissed. The government has yet to announce how the program would work, including details such as whether it would be used to push out younger workers or only to accelerate the retirement of workers already reaching pension age. Greek officials said late on Saturday a solution was close. -Reuters

New York - Police reopened the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday evening after more than 700 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested for blocking traffic lanes and attempting an unauthorized march across the span. The arrests took place when a large group of marchers, participating in a second week of protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement, broke off from others on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway and headed across the Brooklyn-bound lanes. “Over 700 summonses and desk appearance tickets have been issued in connection with a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge late this afternoon after multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway, and that if they took roadway they would be arrested,” a police spokesman said. “Some complied and took the walkway without being arrested. Others proceeded on the Brooklyn-bound vehicular roadway and were. The bridge was re-opened to traffic at 8:05 p.m. (0005 GMT Sunday).” Most of those who were arrested were taken into custody off the bridge, issued summonses and released. Witnesses described a chaotic scene on the famous. -Reuters

Portugal - Thousands demonstrated in Portugal Saturday against the government’s austerity measures amid projections that the economic situation is far worse than expected. Government and private sector workers rallied in Lisbon and Porto, following a call by the country’s largest trade union federation to speak out against policies it says have devastated “jobs, workers, pensions and social rights.” “No to price rises” and “No to the destruction of health care”, read banners hoisted by demonstrators marching through central Lisbon. Rally organizers, who said they had charted dozens of buses to transport protestors from around the country, did not immediately provide an estimate of the turnout. In April, Portugal became the third eurozone country after Greece and Ireland to request an emergency bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to deal with its mountain of debt. –France 24

Bulgaria – The Bulgarian president says the National Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss rising ethnic tensions as nationalist groups stage anti-Roma rallies across the country. According to a statement from Georgi Parvanov’s office on Saturday, the council is scheduled to shape “emergency measures to guarantee law and order in the country and prevent and counter ethnic tensions.” Riots erupted last weekend in the southern village of Katunitsa after a 19-year-old man was run over and killed by a minibus driven by a man linked to a local leader of the Roma, also known as Gypsies. Villagers hurled stones and firebombs at Roma leader’s house, demanding he and his family be expelled. –Las Vegas Sun

Israel - Approximately 2,000 Israeli Arabs, including members of Knesset and other top officials, participated in marches in the northern town of Sakhnin on Saturday to commemorate the October 2000 riots. The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, chanted slogans decrying Israel, and held up photos of the 13 Israeli Arab protesters who were killed in clashes with Israeli police forces 11 years ago, at the start of the Second Intifada. Saturday’s demonstrators also called for the indictment of the policemen whom they claim were responsible for the killings. –The Haaretz

Bolivia — Bolivian natives angry over plans to build a highway through an Amazon nature preserve resumed their protest march Saturday after a violent police crackdown a week ago, a top demo leader said. The march began at daybreak in the town of Quiquibey, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) northeast of La Paz, protest leader Rafael Quispe told AFP. Quispe said that the hundreds of protesters were moving toward the capital at a speed of around 20 kilometers (12 miles) a day. Bolivian authorities have been trying to tamp down the uproar that erupted when riot police fired tear gas and arrested hundreds of activists who had been marching for a month on September 25. Bolivia’s defense minister Cecilia Chacona resigned over the incident, followed by interior minister Sacha Llorenti. Migration chief Maria Rene Quiroga has also stepped down, calling the crackdown “unforgivable.” -AFP