News and Trends: 2012-03-18

25/03/2012

At least 38 dead in violence across Syria, activists say

At least 38 people, including 15 government soldiers, were killed Saturday in violence across Syria, activists said, as international envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Moscow to seek Russian support for a plan to end the bloodshed in Syria.

Most of the deaths occurred in the dissident provinces of Homs and Idlib, according to the activists.

Egypt forces working to prevent Iran attacks on Israeli targets, sources say

Egyptian security forces thwarted an attempt by Iran to blow up an Israeli ship in the Suez Canal, the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported yesterday.
The attack was being planned by two Egyptians who were recently arrested and interrogated, the prosecution in Egypt's state security court reportedly claimed.

Israel to strike Iran in three months?

As Washington and Tel-Aviv continue to debate the possibility of a preventive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities, there are some indications that Israel may strike in as soon as three months.
Defense minister, Ehud Barak, says that if Israel plans to attack Iran it should act quickly, DEBKA-NET-Weekly’s sources say. Barak spoke of a three-month deadline for Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

10 signs that America is on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis

Is America on the verge of a horrible municipal debt crisis? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. From coast to coast there are an increasing number of cities, towns and counties that are rapidly going broke. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat when her prediction of a municipal bond crash in 2011 did not happen, but she was not fundamentally wrong in her analysis. A horrifying municipal debt crisis is starting to unfold right in front of our eyes.

Saudi Arabia And China Team Up To Build A Gigantic New Oil Refinery - Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Petrodollar?

The largest oil exporter in the Middle East has teamed up with the second largest consumer of oil in the world (China) to build a gigantic new oil refinery and the mainstream media in the United States has barely even noticed it. This mammoth new refinery is scheduled to be fully operational in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu by 2014. Over the past several years, China has sought to aggressively expand trade with Saudi Arabia, and China now actually imports more oil from Saudi Arabia than the United States does.

Australia hit by biggest quake in 15 years

Australia has been hit by its biggest earthquake in 15 years, seismologists said, rattling a remote part of the desert with local Aboriginals reporting strong shaking but no major damage.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake had its epicentre near Ernabella, in the middle of Australia, at a shallow depth of three kilometres (1.8 miles), Geoscience Australia said on Saturday.

Tremor strikes near Maltese islands

March 24, 2012 – MALTA - A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was registered in Libyan waters at 10.28 am yesterday, and felt in Gozo. According to the University of Malta Seismic Monitoring and Research Unit, its epicenter was 177km southwest of Malta. Other seismic activity was recorded in Crete, on Thursday. The Italian website Meteoweb.eu, also reported the tremor, although the information it gave was different to that officially issued.

Three villiages in Saudi Arabia rattled by tremor

March 24, 2012 – SAUDI ARABIA – A tremor has hit three villages in Sabya governorate in Jizan region – Mashlaha, Al-Hayja and Al-Wajeeh. The Director General of the National Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes Hani Zahrani said the earthquake, which measured 3.1 on the Richter scale and was felt in Al-Kudmi took place 80 km from Jizan. He insisted it was ordinary and did not cause any damage or casualties.

5.1-magnitude morning quake shakes Chile awake, no damage or injuries reported

March 24, 2012 – CHILE - A moderate earthquake of 5.3 magnitude (5.1 USGS) on the Richter scale struck near Santiago on Saturday morning in the central area of the country, according to the Seismological Service of the University of Chile. The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 4:28 am was located 43 kilometers northeast of the town of Casablanca, on the border regions of Valparaiso and Santiago, at a depth of 68.9 kilometers. It was in the capital and the fifth region where the earthquake was felt more strongly. According to reports received by the National Bureau of Emegencia (Onemi), the quake reached an intensity of V degrees on the Mercalli scale in Santiago, the Andes, Talagante, Tiltil, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Quintero, San Antonio, San Felipe, and German Village.

More tornadoes tear through U.S. Midwest

March 24, 2012 – CHICAGO – Tornadoes touched down in a half-dozen states on Friday, killing one woman whose mobile home was flipped by a twister and causing damage to homes and businesses, authorities said. The 60-year-old woman died in Jefferson County, Illinois, when a suspected tornado flipped her mobile home and blew it across a road into a farm field, said county coroner Eddie Joe Marks. There was at least one other person injured in the county, located in the southern tip of Illinois.

Swine Flu in India Kills 12: Health Advisories Given

India is suffering from an epidemic of swine flu, which has already claimed 12 lives. Now the Health Secretary is issuing a health warning for certain areas of the country.
"The health ministry is monitoring the situation, and there is no cause for worry," Health Secretary PK Pradhan told the Press Trust of India. "The states where cases had been reported have been advised to step up surveillance to control the further spread of the virus."

Mystery solved? Turin Shroud linked to Resurrection of Christ

For centuries the Turin Shroud, regarded by some as the burial cloth of Jesus, by others as the most elaborate hoax in history, has inspired extraordinary and conflicting passions. Popes, princes and paupers have for 700 years been making pilgrimages the length of Europe to stand in its presence while scientists have dedicated their whole working lives to trying to explain rationally how the ghostly image on the cloth, even more striking when seen as a photographic negative, and matching in every last detail the crucifixion narrative, could have been created. And still a final, commonly agreed answer remains elusive, despite carbon-dating in 1988 having pronounced it a forgery.

24/03/2012

'Israel warned neighbors: Don't march to Jerusalem'

Following the deadly clashes last year during the Naksa and Nakba marches to its northern border, Israel issued a stern warning to Arab countries and Palestinians to refrain from approaching the border.
London based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Friday that the warning was issued in reference to the "Universal Jerusalem March" planned for next Friday to commemorate "Land Day."

Syria troops bomb towns, EU grounds First Lady

Asma Assad, whose parents live in Britain where she grew up, cannot be barred entry to the country but is not expected "to try to travel to the United Kingdom at the moment," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.Washington hailed the EU move and said it was looking into what more can be done."We are gratified that the EU has taken yet another step in tightening the noose on the Assad regime," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Turkey blames Syria for supporting Kurdish rebels, inches closer to military action

Should Turkey decide that the Kurdistan Workers' Party – seen now by Ankara as an additional arm of Assad's forces – threatens its national security, it may decide to invade its neighbour.

Will the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) drag Turkey into a war in Syria? The Turkish media has emphasized the declaration by the PKK's de facto leader Murat Karayilan that "If Turkey intervenes against our people inwestern Kurdistan, the area will turn into a battlezone."

Yaalon: Iran World's Number One Threat

Vice Premier and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon said Thursday that Iran's nuclear program is the leading global security threat. "The main threat to regional and world stability comes from Tehran and the Iranian regime." Yaalon stressed during the visit referred to in high school in Kiryat Haim. "Imagine what it would do upon achieving such capability," Yaalon said, adding "The nuclear umbrella will not just open against us, but against the United States."

'Iran may activate US Hezbollah cells after strike'

WASHINGTON – A congressional report finds that Hezbollah fundraising cells are rampant across the United States and that the Lebanese organization could activate these cells to carry out lethal terrorist attacks. The report, compiled under the aegis of the US House Committee on Homeland Security, estimates that there are several thousand sympathetic Hezbollah donors in the country, with operatives probably in the hundreds.

Tehran forces Iranian Jews to join anti-Israel Global March

The Islamic regime in Tehran was not satisfied with the public support the Iranian Jewish community’s was forced to confer on the Global March to Jerusalem for which Iran is recruiting Islamists worldwide. Now, the event’s organizers, Majlis Speaker Hossein Sheikh-ol-Eslam and Salim Ghafouri, have ordered the community to send a Jewish delegation to march with the Islamist groups in Lebanon, debkafile’s Iranian sources disclose.

N. Korea calls criticism of its nuclear program ‘declaration of war’

Right ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, North Korea announced that it will consider a statement about its nuclear program a direct “declaration of war”. This comes as the USA has condemned the country’s planned rocket launch in April.
The US administration announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama considers the North Korean “space experiment”, involving the launching of a ballistic missile with a mounted satellite, a “provocation” and direct violation of the international agreements.

Russia issues new warnings over US missile defense

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S.led NATO missile defense plan that Washington says is aimed at deflecting potential Iranian threats will break existing nuclear parity with Russia and prompt it to retaliate, President Dmitry Medvedev warned Friday. Moscow rejects Washington's claim the plan is solely to deal with any Iranian threat and has voiced fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent.

"No one has explained to me why we should believe that the new missile defense system in Europe isn't directed against us," Medvedev said in a speech at a security conference, adding that the shield will "break the nuclear parity."

Climate disarray: skipping spring and going straight to summer

March 23, 2012 – CHICAGO – The United States and parts of Canada have come out of winter to find a lingering ridge of high pressure inducing summer-like conditions. The map above shows surface temperature anomalies during March 13-19 compared to averages for those dates over the last 10 years. More than 1,054 locations set new daily high temperatures records and 627 saw new record lows. “Records are not only being broken across the country, they’re being broken in unusual ways,’ reports NASA’s Adam Voiland. “Chicago, for example, saw temperatures above 26.6° Celsius (80° Fahrenheit) every day between March 14-18, breaking records on all five days.

Growing seismic unrest in Middle East: Earthquake hits Dead Sea region, felt in Jerusalem

March 23, 2012 – ISRAEL – An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale shook the Dead Sea area and was felt as far away as Jerusalem on Thursday morning. The quake struck at 6:17 a.m. with an epicenter near Masada, according to the Seismological Institute. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the tremor. MK Zeev Bielski (Kadima), the head of a Knesset subcommittee for Home Front preparedness....

Open Doors: Growth of Christianity in Iran 'Explosive'

Despite the Iranian government's ongoing crackdown of Christians living in the primarily Islamic country, the number of Muslims converting to become Christians is growing at an explosive rate, according to the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA.
There is even talk of witnessing a Christian revival, especially among young people living in the country, say Open Doors ministry workers in the Middle East

23/03/2012

DAILY NEWS AND TRENDS:

Barak: Israel, US Disagree on Iran Timetable

Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel and the US disagree on what would be a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Barak reiterated Israel's concerns that Iran is trying to render nuclear program immune from attack before taking a decision on assembling atomic bombs.
Israel “cannot afford to wait" in such a situation, Barak told Israel Radio, adding in an interview Thursday, "Israel feels directly threatened by a nuclear Iran."

West misstep against Iran will jeopardize Israel existence: Iran MP

A senior Iranian lawmaker has warned against any military move against the Islamic Republic, saying even the “slightest of errors” by the West will endanger Israel’s very existence.

“Should the Western countries want to commit the slightest of errors regarding Iran, they will be gripped by such ramifications that will endanger the existence of the Zionist regime,”

1001 Moonless Kinetic Nights: Presenting The Windows Of Opportunity For An Iranian Attack

Following last Friday’s majority vote by the Israel Security Council authorizing Iranian “action” when required, answering the “if“, the only open question remains “when.” As it turns out, based on the following analysis by Rapidan Group, there are only 10 or so distinct 10 day New Moon windows for the remainder of 2012. If one removes the sandstorm prone months of April, July and September, there are 7 periods in which a military strike is realistic. Also CVN 65 is moving at a snail’s pace and is just now approaching the Straits of Gibraltar.

Syrian tanks bombard Hama; casualties reported

Syrian tanks shelled a large neighborhood in the city of Hama on Thursday following clashes between Free Syrian Army rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, opposition sources said.

The shelling destroyed houses and left an unknown number of casualties in the Arbaeen neighborhood in the northeast of the city, which has been at the forefront of the year-long popularrevolt against Assad, they said.

Survival of Syria regime 'almost impossible': Turkey

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blew his chances of survival by failing to implement democratic reforms at the early stages of the Arab Spring, Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday.

"I don't think that this regime, with these characteristics, can survive. It is against the logic of history and the flow of history," Ahmet Davutoglu said in Vienna before heading to an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.

"A regime fighting against its own people, trying to keep the status quo, cannot survive," he told reporters.

22/03/2012

DAILY WORLD NEWS AND STRATEGIC TRENDS:

Egypt’s Brotherhood eyes end to Gaza blockade

The Muslim Brotherhood aims to open the Egyptian border with Gaza to commerce, a shift that would transform life for Palestinians there but which is hitting resistance from Egyptian authorities reluctant to change a longstanding policy.The biggest party in Egypt’s new parliament, the Islamists are not yet in government but have been seeking ways to ease the impact of restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt on what passes in and out of the territory run by the Hamas group, an ideological offshoot of the Brotherhood.

Syrian Tanks Shell Damascus Suburbs

Two Damascus suburbs came under heavy tank bombardment on Wednesday following renewed rebel attacks on forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Artillery and anti-aircraft gun barrages hit the suburbs of Harasta and Irbin, retaken by Assad's forces from rebels two months ago, as army helicopters reportedly flew overhead.

UN chief: Syria unrest could have global impact

BEIRUT (AP) — The "extremely dangerous" conflict in Syria could have global repercussions, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday, as fresh violence erupted and an al-Qaida-inspired group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Damascus.

The uprising that began a year ago has transformed into an armed insurgency that many fear is pushing the country toward civil war.

‘West to launch package war in Middle East’

The West will launch a package war against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah as soon as they decide what to do with the Iranian nuclear program, Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of a London-based Arabic newspaper told RT in an interview.
Atwan also believes the West is not intervening in Syria because they are waiting to decide whether they are going to bomb Iran or not.

Former Mossad chief: Israel will know before Iran begins producing nuclear weapons

Discussions between Iran and the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program will begin on April 13, senior U.S. and EU officials informed Israel on Tuesday. The talks are likely to take place in Geneva.

Officials in Jerusalem estimate that Israel will allow at least three months for discussions, until the oil embargo on Iran comes into full effect in the beginning of July.

Asian states are world's largest arms buyers

New York, NY - China, India and South Korea - three of the most vibrant economies in Asia - are also beefing up their military arsenals with new weapons systems from the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the UK.According to the latest figures released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the world's five largest arms importers in 2007-2011 were all Asian states beating out the traditional frontrunners - the rich, oil-blessed Middle Eastern countries.

Buildings collapse as 800 homes damaged by violent Mexico quake

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake shook Mexico on Tuesday afternoon, destroying hundreds of homes and causing people to flee their offices in panic. Despite the quake’s destructive power, no deaths have been reported.
The quake, which centered in the country’s south, reportedly injured nine people in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and two more in the Mexico City. In the state of Guerrero 800 homes have been damaged and 60 more collapsed, officials report.

21/03/2012

DAILY WORLD NEWS AND STRATEGIC TRENDS:

Arutz Sheva Exclusive: A Visit to Battle Scarred Southern Israel

This is a special report from life in the cities and villages near the terrorist infested Gaza Strip, during the recent escalation of rocket attacks, or rather, the continuing war against our civilian population.
The effectiveness of Israel's intelligence services was once again displayed this month, when the head of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, Zuhair Qaisi was targeted from the air and killed in his car. The Gaza terrorists launched a greater barrage of rockets at southern Israel’s population centers.

Fatah: Iran paid Hamas to block Palestinian unity deal

Iran paid the Islamist group Hamas to block a deal with the rival Fatah movement that would have ended a five-year rift between the two main Palestinian factions, a Fatah spokesman said on Tuesday.

He said Tehran recently resumed financial aid to Hamas which it had suspended six months ago over the Palestinian movement's failure to back their mutual ally President Bashar Assad of Syria in his military campaign to crush dissent.

Syrian forces take eastern city after rebel

BEIRUT (AP) — An anti-regime activist says the Syrian army has taken control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour following brief clashes with rebel forces.

Osama Mansour says Syrian troops backed by tanks and armored cars entered the city from four sides Tuesday and briefly clashed with fighters from the Free Syrian Army.

Mansour, who is based in Deir el-Zour, says the rebels quit fighting and hid in local homes, fearing that protracted clashes would destroy the city and kill civilians.

Same 'hand' behind Iraq, Syria blasts: Damascus

Syria said the same "deadly hand" was behind the wave of attacks in Iraq that killed at least 45 people on Tuesday and the weekend bombings in Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.

The foreign ministry said it "strongly condemns the terrorist explosions" in neighbouring Iraq. "The deadly hand which recently struck in Damascus and Aleppo is the same as the one which targeted Iraqi cities today," the ministry said in a statement. "The blood spilt today on Iraqi soil is the same as that spilt in Syria."

Multiple blasts kill 43, injure over 230 across Iraq

At least 43 people have been killed and over 230 others injured in bomb explosions in several Iraqi cities and towns ahead of the next week's Arab League summit in the capital city of Baghdad, Press TV reports.The spate of violence, which rocked several Iraqi towns and cities spanning the southern holy city of Karbala and the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Tuesday between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m, was the deadliest incident in Iraq in nearly a month.

Iran will produce nuclear weapons if attacked: Russia

Russia warned Tuesday that Iran would have no option but to develop nuclear weapons if it came under attack from either the United States or Israel over its contested atomic programme.

"The CIA and other US officials admit they now have no information about the Iranian leadership taking the political decision to produce nuclear weapons," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Moscow's Kommersant FM radio. "But I am almost certain that such a decision will surely be taken after (any) strikes on Iran," Lavrov said.

Khamenei: Iran Will Resist All Pressure

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said Iran will succeed in withstanding pressure and economic sanctions, while Israel is "besieged."
His remarks came after Iranian banks were excluded from the SWIFT international financial transfer networks – only the latest in a series of sanctions on Iran's oil and banking industries that have consistently narrowed avenues of purchase and surety for Tehran's exportable crude oil.

Pentagon Fears 'Regional War'

Pentagon war games predict an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites may quickly spiral out of control and result in a large regional war.
A classified two-week war simulation conducted by the US Central Command dubbed Internal Look envisioned a scenario wherein Israel carried out an air strike on Iranian facilities. Projected retaliation targeted both the Jewish state and the American forces in the region since based on the assumption Tehran would hold Washington complicit in the attack

Russian military to counter NATO missile system: Medvedev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says that his country is preparing its armed forces to counter any threats posed by NATO’s missile system.Medvedev made the statement during a meeting with Russia's top military brass, adding that this did not mean Moscow would halt dialogue with Washington."By 2017-2018 we must be fully prepared, fully armed," the Russian president said on Tuesday.

Major 7.6 earthquake on Mexico Pacific coast: USGS

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A major 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck 120 miles east of Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Tuesday.

The USGS located the epicenter of the quake at 15 miles east of Ometepec in Guerrero state at a depth of 10.9 miles.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the inland earthquake would not generate a destructive widespread tsunami, but there was the possibility of some local tsunami effects.

Joel Osteen's Success Credited to 'Not Being Preachy or Theological' - False Prophet?

The latest stop on Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen's "Night of Hope" tour brought him to the Times Union Center in Albany, his first visit to upstate New York, where 12,000 people gathered last week for an inspirational sermon and praised the minister for not being "preachy."

Osteen has arguably the biggest congregation in the United States – the 49-year-old Texas pastor brings together 40,000 people weekly at his Lakewood Church, and he has been a big hit touring around the country as well. The "Night of Hope" events, which he leads alongside his wife, Victoria Osteen, have brought him even more media attention, but along with it have also come many questions and comments about his style of ministering.