Forums

This forum is not active, and new posts may not be made in it.

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/7/2014 5:53:39 PM
	Lebanon charges 28 with planning suicide attacks: agency 1 hour ago Syrian refugees women, who fled their home from Syria, pray inside their tent at a Syrian refugee camp in the eastern town of Marj in Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Sunday, June 29, 2014. Across a wide belt that stretches halfway around the globe, the world's estimated 1.6 billion Muslims mark the beginning of Ramadan this weekend. The holy season is marred by unprecedented turmoil, violence and sectarian hatreds that threaten to rip apart the Middle East, the epicenter of Islam. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein) BEIRUT (Reuters) - Twenty-eight people have been charged with planning to carry out suicide bomb attacks and belonging to the militant group Islamic State, Lebanon's state news agency said on Monday. The move follows three bombings in Lebanon late last month and a security crackdown in the capital Beirut and other parts of the country. Lebanon has suffered a wave of sectarian violence linked to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, which are fighting insurgencies and have lost control of large tracts of land to Islamic State, a powerful jihadi militant group straddling the border. Seven of the 28 charged by prosecutors on Monday are in custody, the agency said. The prosecutor at the military court charged the group with buying equipment to carry out attacks in residential areas of Beirut and for supplying it to potential bombers. The case has now been referred to a military magistrate, the agency added. It did not give the names or nationalities of those charged. Lebanese authorities have carried out a series of security raids on hotels in the capital and other parts of the country in recent weeks after the latest series of attacks. View gallery A woman looks at damage at a site of an explosion that occured on Monday night in the southern subur … The head of Lebanon's General Security service narrowly escaped a suicide bombing near the Syrian border on June 20. Three days later, an attacker blew up his car near an army checkpoint in Beirut, killing himself and a security officer. A Saudi suicide bomber wounded three security officers in a hotel close to the Saudi Arabian embassy in the capital two days later. Shortly before that bombing, security forces detained 17 people at a Beirut hotel on suspicion of planning attacks. France's foreign ministry confirmed on June 24 that one of the men detained in the hotel raid had French nationality. Lebanese security sources said a French man of Comorian origin was the only one of the original 17 who was still in detention a day later and that the others were released. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Ralph Boulton) Related video
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/7/2014 6:18:43 PM
	Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Future in Doubt Posted by Stephen Cook on July 7, 2014 Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem on Sunday Photo: AP By Robert Tait, The Telegraph - July 7, 2014 – http://tinyurl.com/pkws93t Benjamin Netanyahu faced an urgent threat to his political future on Monday after his most powerful ally announced he was ending their political partnership over a row on how to respond to rocket attacks from Gaza. Avigdor Lieberman, the combative Israeli foreign minister, decided to dissolve the pact that had existed between his own Yisrael Beiteinu party and the prime minister’s Likud party for the past two years, local media reported. The decision followed an angry confrontation between the pair at Sunday’s cabinet meeting at which the prime minister accused Mr Lieberman and others of branding him as soft on Gaza “for political ends”. Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman says he will dissolve alliance with Netanyahu’s Likud Party (AP) At a news conference on Monday, Mr Lieberman saie he and his party would remain in the coalition but that he had “fundamental disagreements” with Mr Netanyahu. “Disagreements between the prime minister and me are fundamental and do not allow for a future partnership,” Mr Lieberman said. “The partnership did not work during the elections, it did not work after the elections and to this day there were quite a few technical issues. When technical issues turn to fundamental ones there is no point in continuing.” The pair were coalition partners even before Mr Lieberman brought his mainly Russian immigrant-backed party under the Likud umbrella in 2012 in a move that failed to deliver the desired electoral boon at a subsequent general election, when the newly-formed bloc lost seats. But the foreign minister’s decision to end the formal arrangement came amid fears among Mr Netanyahu’s close aides that he could be brought down in a parliamentary no-confidence vote. Ben Caspit, an experienced political commentator for Maariv newspaper wrote that Mr Netanyahu’s inner circle feared a political situation in “which members of the Jewish Home [another coalition party], Yisrael Beiteinu or from the two parties together will suddenly be absent in the no-confidence motions that are scheduled to be voted on today in the Knesset”. Mr Lieberman – an uneasy ally of Mr Netanyahu who is also believed to covet his job – clashed with the prime minister after publicly reiterating his belief that Israel should stage a military takeover of Gaza in response to a recent hail of missile fire from the territory. He has been backed by Naftali Bennett, leader of the far-Right Jewish Home party and another rival of the prime minister, who said that Israeli restraint in the face of the rocket fire “was not power”. While Israel has met the rocket fire with raids against militant targets most nights for the past few weeks, Mr Netanyahu and Moshe Ya’alon, his defence minister, have opposed getting involved in a wider confrontation. Talk of a new Egyptian-brokered ceasefire arrangement has not been contradicted, although a 48-hour ultimatum to Hamas to cease the rocket fire has come and gone. Nine militants, including seven Hamas members, were reported killed as Israeli jets carried out raids on Gaza targets overnight. At the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu took aim at both men in front of the TV cameras, warning against “inflammatory and brash” rhetoric and adding: “In these moments we must be level-headed and responsible. We will do everything possible to restore calm in the south [of Israel].” Later behind closed doors, he told the cabinet that “those who criticise me and the government over our conduct are irresponsible and doing so for political ends”. His words provoked a sharp retort from Mr Lieberman, who accused the prime minister of “spouting slogans” over the deaths last week of three Israeli teenagers – suspected to have been killed by Palestinian militants – “without backing them up”. The pair went on to have what Israeli media described as a full-row that could have consequences for Israel’s future political arrangements. “You promised to deal a harsh blow on Hamas but nothing came of it and they continue to shoot at citizens,” Mr Lieberman told Mr Netanyahu. When the prime minister accused him of making policy statements in the media while not attending cabinet meetings, the foreign minister responded: “Don’t put me on a scorecard. I was in Germany on a political visit and I immediately returned when I heard that the bodies of the kidnapped teens had been found, so I missed one cabinet meeting.” The outbreak of riots in East Jerusalem and in Arab Israeli towns following the murder last week of Mohammed Abu Khdeir – suspected to have been killed by far-Right Jews in a revenge attack – may also have weakened Mr Netanyahu politically. Commentators have speculated that the eruption of a third Palestinian intifada [uprising] would spell the end his premiership just as the outbreak of previous rebellions brought down past governments.
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 7/7/2014 11:33:54 PM
	Israeli PM calls grieving dad Suspects confess to killing Palestinian teen By IAN DEITCH6 hours ago CBSTV Videos Violent clashes continue over Palestinian teen's death Watch video JERUSALEM (AP) — Three Israeli suspects in the killing of a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and burned to death last week confessed to the crime on Monday and were re-enacting the incident for authorities, an official said, as the country's leaders raced to contain a public uproar over the slaying. The authorities reported the confessions as violence continued on Israel's volatile front with the Gaza Strip. Palestinian militants bombarded Israel with some 40 rockets and mortars, drawing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation, and at least eight Palestinian militants were killed. As Israel pressed ahead with a mobilization of forces along the Gaza border, the Hamas militant group vowed revenge, saying "the enemy will pay a tremendous price." Army spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said Israel was "prepared for a potential deterioration" in Gaza "with potential to use military force as required." The region has been on edge for weeks since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank. Last week, hours after the Israeli teens were buried, 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir was abducted from outside his home in east Jerusalem, and his charred remains were found shortly afterward in a Jerusalem forest. His death triggered days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel. The Jewish suspects, all from the Jerusalem area, have not been identified, and remained in custody Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency has put a gag order on the case, allowing few details, such as the suspects' identities or backgrounds, to be published, and even blocking lawyers' access to the suspects. "I don't even know what they look like because the (Shin Bet security service) even has an order against me receiving a picture," said Naftali Werzberger, a lawyer for one of the suspects, adding that his client was prohibited from receiving details that he is represented by a lawyer at all. View gallery Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, early Monday, July 7 … "The families are in shock," he added. "No one among the suspects has a violent past or tendency and they can't explain how we got to this point where their children were arrested as suspects for acts that are very, very serious." Palestinians say that Abu Khdeir's death was a revenge killing in response to the abductions and killings of the three Israeli teens. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned Abu Khdeir's death and tried to calm the public. On Monday, he called Abu Khdeir's father, Hussein, to express his condolences. "I would like to express my outrage and that of the citizens of Israel over the reprehensible murder of your son," a statement quoted Netanyahu as saying. "We acted immediately to apprehend the murderers. We will bring them to trial and they will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. We denounce all brutal behavior, the murder of your son is abhorrent and cannot be countenanced by any human being," he said. Hussein Abu Khdeir, father of the slain boy, said he was not certain he spoke to Netanyahu. Suspects Arrested in Palestinian Teen DeathPlay Video "Maybe he called, I don't know," he said. "Tons of people called me this morning to apologize for what happened to my son. Some of them were crying. But I don't know if Netanyahu was one of them," he said. The discovery Sunday that a group of Jewish men, including some minors, were suspected in the grisly death of Abu Khdeir, who was still alive when he was set on fire, set off nationwide anguish in Israel and raised questions about whether the charged atmosphere in the country had contributed to the killing. "Shame. That is the word," wrote Sima Kadmon, a commentator in the mass daily Yediot Ahronot. "For the murder of Mohammed, there is shame. Immense shame and disgrace over the fact that such a thing happened among us, we who are so certain that it could not happen among us, that only Arabs can be so cruel." Israeli President Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, and the man who is to succeed him later this month, Reuven Rivlin, co-authored a front-page article in the same newspaper. "In the state of Israel, there is no difference between blood and blood," the two men wrote. "The choice is in our hands: To give in to the destructive worldview posed to us by the racists and the extremists, or to fight it unconditionally; to give in to wild and vicious Muslim or Jewish terrorists — or to put an end to it by all means possible." Also Monday, Israeli police said a border policeman had been temporarily suspended from special operations and transferred to a different position until the completion of an investigation into the apparent police beating of Tariq Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian-American teenage cousin of the murdered Palestinian teen. Despite his home detention, Tariq Abu Khdeir traveled to the West Bank town of Ramallah to meet President Mahmoud Abbas. "Justice has not been served. They still have a lot of stuff to do. They still have to go through a lot of things. We have to let them who is right and what's wrong," Tariq Abu Khdeir said. In recent weeks, Palestinian militants in Gaza have fired more than 200 rockets and mortars toward Israel, drawing dozens of Israeli airstrikes in retaliation. Some 40 rockets were launched Monday, including one that reached Beersheba, a major city about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from Gaza, and Israel said it carried out airstrikes on at least 14 militant sites including "concealed rocket launchers" in Gaza overnight. Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, claimed six of its men were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight, while two other militants were killed separately. But the Israeli military said the Hamas fighters died in an accidental blast set off in an explosives-packed tunnel they may have been using to try to sneak into Israel. The military said it had targeted the tunnel late last week. Meanwhile, Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, dissolved a political alliance with Netanyahu, in large part because of their differences over Gaza. Netanyahu has advocated a measured response to the rocket fire, while Lieberman has called for much tougher action. Israeli Cabinet ministers were meeting Monday to discuss the situation. ___ Associated Press journalist Yousur Alhlou contributed to this report. View Gallery Suspects in case of slain Palestinian teen confess Benjamin Netanyahu vows that the attackers will be "prosecuted to the full extent of the law." Calls father of victim
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel

1162

61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

7/7/2014 11:48:14 PM

Bahrain ejects US diplomat after he met Shiites

By REEM KHALIFA6 hours ago

This undated photo posted on the U.S. State Department website shows Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry says that Malinowski, a top U.S. official, has been declared persona non grata and asked to leave the country, just one day after meeting with Bahrain's Shiite opposition group, Al Wifaq. Since early 2011, Bahrain has been roiled by near-daily protests by Shiites seeking greater political rights. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. (AP Photo/U.S. State Department)

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain ordered a top U.S. diplomat to leave the country on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said, after he met with a leading Shiite opposition group.

The ministry said in a statement that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski is not welcome in Bahrain. It said he intervened in the country's domestic affairs by holding meetings with some groups at the expense of others.

The statement said that such meetings "segregate" the people of the nation. His actions, added the statement, "run counter to conventional diplomatic norms."

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Despite the diplomatic spat, the Foreign Ministry statement said relations between Bahrain and the U.S. remain strong and important.

"The government of Bahrain asserts that this should not in any way affect the two countries' relationship of mutual interests," the statement said.

Malinowski was ordered to leave after meeting with Bahrain's Shiite opposition group, Al Wifaq. He arrived in the country on Sunday and was scheduled to stay for three days, but his visit was cut short by the abrupt order to depart a day early.

He also had meetings scheduled with government officials, as well as leading human rights activist Nabeel Rajab who was released from prison late May after serving two years for taking part in illegal protests. Rajab told The Associated Press he did not meet Malinowski.

Bahrain, a tiny-island nation off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, has been roiled by near-daily protests by Shiites seeking greater political rights since early 2011. Repeated rounds of political talks have failed to significantly close the rifts between its Sunni monarchy and majority Shiite factions.

Two US officials in Washington confirmed that Malinowski has been ordered to leave but is still there while the logistics of his departure are worked out. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

___

AP writer Matthew Lee in Washington D.C. contributed to this report.

Bahrain tosses U.S. diplomat shortly after arrival

Tom Malinowski is accused of intervening in the country's domestic affairs by meeting with an opposition group.
Vital Middle East ally

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

Luis Miguel

1162

61587

Lima

RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES?

7/8/2014 12:03:13 AM

Gaza militants unleash heavy rocket fire on Israel

By JOSEF FEDERMAN

2 hours ago

Watch original video

Militants in the Gaza Strip unleashed dozens of rockets on southern Israel late Monday, setting off air raid sirens and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to stay indoors as the military rushed more forces to the border and warned that even heavier fighting looked likely.

The latest violence came as Israel pressed forward with its investigation of six Jewish youths suspected of abducting and killing a Palestinian teenager, and Israeli leaders sought to calm an emotional debate over whether the country's politically charged atmosphere led to the gruesome crime. An Israeli official said three of the youths had confessed to the attack.

Tensions have been high since three Israeli teenagers kidnapped June 12 in the West Bank were later found dead, followed by last week's slaying of the Palestinian youth in what many suspect was a revenge attack. Throughout the unrest, Gaza militants have launched more than 200 rockets and mortars into Israel, including close to 100 on Monday alone.

Israel has responded with dozens of airstrikes, but has not been able to halt the attacks. Eight Palestinian militants were killed in fighting Monday, the highest death toll yet.

Dozens of rockets were fired Monday, including 40 launched in a single hour after nightfall, setting off air raid sirens up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Gaza, the military said.

Twelve rockets were intercepted by rocket-defense batteries, it added, while the others landed in open areas. It was the deepest penetration of rocket strikes in the current round of fighting and raised the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response.

Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, a senior military official, gave a special interview in Arabic to Al-Jazeera, warning that Hamas would bear the consequences for the escalation.

Among the dead were six Hamas militants who Israel said were killed in an accidental blast in a tunnel packed with explosives. Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, vowed revenge, saying "the enemy will pay a tremendous price."

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman, said the army was moving two infantry forces to the Gaza border and had received authorization to mobilize up to 1,500 reservists.

The deaths of the Hamas militants had made a "substantial influence" on the situation, he said.

"There is a potential of deterioration due to their death. Therefore the IDF has to continue to reinforce capabilities in the south, with the potential that things could escalate further," he said.

Israeli security officials said Israel was leaning against a massive operation and would likely increase the pressure gradually with stronger and more numerous retaliatory attacks. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal military deliberations with reporters. Israeli Cabinet ministers voted in favor of more intense airstrikes, Channel 2 TV said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. condemns the rocket fire. "We also support Israel's right to defend itself against these attacks," she said.

During the day, lines of Israeli tanks and buses were gathered near the border area as soldiers milled about. Late Monday, with roads in southern Israel all but empty, a flatbed truck carrying an armored vehicle made its way toward the border area.

Israel has launched two broad military operations in Gaza in the past five years, most recently in 2012, when eight days of heavy fighting ended in an Egyptian-mediated truce.

The increased rocket fire followed the killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy from east Jerusalem who was abducted and burned to death last week.

Israeli officials Sunday announced the arrests of six Jewish youths in the killings — ruling out earlier theories that criminal activity or personal reasons might have been a factor. They said the suspects, including some minors, were from the Jerusalem area.

Abu Khdeir's death triggered several days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel as Palestinians accused Israeli extremists of killing the boy to avenge the earlier deaths of the Israeli teens.

Israel's Shin Bet agency, which handles top security cases, imposed a gag order, blocking key details, including the identities and backgrounds of the youths, as well as most of the evidence from being made public.

An Israeli official said three of the youths had confessed to the crime and even re-enacted it for authorities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the gag order.

The official said the suspects included two brothers, and that one of the suspects is the son of a rabbi. Three minor suspects were allowed to meet with lawyers Monday, while the primary suspects were not.

Naftali Werzberger, a lawyer for one of the suspects, said he didn't even know what his client looked like, adding that the young man was prohibited from receiving details that he is being represented by a lawyer.

"The families are in shock," Werzberger added. "No one among the suspects has a violent past or tendency and they can't explain how we got to this point where their children were arrested as suspects for acts that are very, very serious."

Despite the gag order, some additional details have begun to emerge.

Israel's Channel 10 TV said the suspects were the son and five grandsons of a prominent rabbi in Jerusalem, without further identifying him. It said two suspects used the rabbi's car for the kidnapping without his knowledge. It added that a Jerusalem district court presented its suspicions Monday against the suspects, including "belonging to a terror organization." It did not elaborate, and Israeli officials did not confirm the details in the report.

The news that the suspects were Jewish set off nationwide soul-searching over how Israelis could possibly carry out such a gruesome crime. A preliminary autopsy found that Abu Khdeir was still alive when he was set on fire.

"I am ashamed on behalf of my nation and grieve with you," President Shimon Peres told Abu Khdeir's father, Hussein, in a phone call. "The only thing left for all of us to do is to ensure that no more children are murdered, and no more tears are shed by mothers."

Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, was among top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who reached out to the family in person or by telephone.

Netanyahu, who has condemned Abu Khdeir's death and tried to calm the public, said he had expressed his condolences to the family.

"I would like to express my outrage and that of the citizens of Israel over the reprehensible murder of your son," a statement quoted Netanyahu as saying.

Rachelle Fraenkel, the mother of one of the slain Israeli teenagers, said that even from the "abyss" of her own pain, she could not describe her distress over the killing of the Arab boy.

"No mother and father should endure what we are going through now. We feel the pain of Mohammed Abu Khdeir's parents," she said.

Also Monday, Israeli police said a border policeman had been temporarily suspended from special operations and transferred to a different position until the completion of an investigation into the apparent police beating of Tariq Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian-American teenage cousin of the murdered Palestinian youth.

Despite his home detention, Tariq Abu Khdeir traveled to the West Bank town of Ramallah to meet President Mahmoud Abbas.

___

Daniel Estrin contributed to this report.

View Gallery

"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)

My Links

Menu

Forums

Lebanon charges 28 with planning suicide attacks: agency

Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu’s Future in Doubt

Suspects confess to killing Palestinian teen

CBSTV Videos

Violent clashes continue over Palestinian teen's death

Bahrain ejects US diplomat after he met Shiites

Gaza militants unleash heavy rocket fire on Israel

Related Stories