The WeekEnder
for Rapture Ready News
January 4-9 2010
B
05 Jan 10
6 Earthquakes Rock Solomon Islands
A series of six earthquakes rocked the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, a day after landslides and a tsunami left 1,000 people homeless, the U.S. Geological Surve
Turkey, Saudi Arabia denounce Israel’s settlement policy
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have called on the international community to take a “stern and serious stance” against Israel’s settlement policy, which continues to stall the Middle East peace process.-“There should be a freeze on the settlements in all the occupied territories and especially east Jerusalem,”--Saudi Arabia floated an Arab peace plan in 2002 that calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem and a “fair” solution to the crisis of Palestinian refugees in exchange for normalized ties with the Arab world.
Report: Sarkozy wants to hold peace summit in Paris
French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to hold a peace summit in Paris to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to an Asharq al-Awsat report cited by Army Radio Sunday. The French president reportedly intends to invite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II to the parley.
'Atmosphere now ripe for peace talks'
Peace talks with the Palestinians must resume without preconditions, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. Speaking at the opening of the Likud faction meeting, Netanyahu said, "My impression is that in recent weeks, there has been a change of atmosphere. I hope that the time is now ripe to move the peace process forward." He stated that preconditions had wasted precious time which could have been spent negotiating a real agreement, rather than a framework for talks. "I wish for the resumption of talks without preconditions… in which both sides can express their views… and I will insist on maintaining our national interests."
Seoul buried in heaviest snowfall in 70 years
Seoul residents slogged through the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 11 inches (28 centimeters) Monday, forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in South Korea's bustling capital.-The snowfall, which continued through Monday afternoon, was the heaviest in a single day since Korea began conducting meteorological surveys in 1937, the state weather agency said.
1,000 people homeless on Solomon Islands after tsunami
Landslides and a tsunami unleashed by a major earthquake destroyed some 200 houses on one Solomon island, leaving about one-third of the population homeless, a disaster management official said Tuesday. Visual assessments from the air showed extensive damage on a remote western island after a 7.2-magnitude temblor struck near the Pacific Solomon Islands on Monday, said disaster management office director Loti Yates. No injuries have been reported some 30 hours after the biggest in a series of quakes churned a tsunami wave that was up to 10 feet (3 meters) high as it plowed into the coast, officials said. However, more than 1,000 people have been affected after some 200 houses were destroyed on Rendova, an island some 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital Honiara. Only 3,600 people live on Rendova.
Big Brother battles with bloggers
Earlier last week, Transportation Security Administration special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott demanding they reveal who leaked a TSA directive outlining new screening measures that went into effect the same day as the Detroit airliner incident.
New Year freeze, avalanches leave trail of death across Europe
As temperatures plunged to minus 25 degrees Celsius (minus 13 Fahrenheit) in Poland at the start of the year, the number of cold-related deaths rose to 122 so far this winter, police said.
Quake in Atlantic near S.Sandwich Islands: USGS
A major 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Atlantic ocean early Tuesday east of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, a sparsely populated British territory, a US monitor said.
Colombia rebels, al Qaeda in "unholy" drug alliance
Colombian guerrillas have entered into "an unholy alliance" with Islamic extremists who are helping the Marxist rebels smuggle cocaine through Africa on its way to European consumers.
EU should steer US away from air strike on Iran
bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. It appears that such sentiments are alive and well in America. Recent events in Iran have given a fillip to US hawks and there is talk of military action. This would be a terrible mistake.
World Agenda: Spain's plans for its presidency raise fears of Brussels turf war
It wants to re-start the Middle East peace process with a push for a Palestinian state, and is promoting a renewed dialogue between the EU and Cuba, as well as a strengthened Mediterranean Union, the partnership that France launched during its presidency last year. There will also be a summit with Morocco.
04 Jan 10
Ministry endures 'malicious persecution' from officials
"The city, and particularly the local alderman and some zoning officials, wanted to stop the church at all costs, and they would not allow the church to operate," Mauck explains. The officials "actually went through a hostile rezoning and zoned that YMCA building as a manufacturing district."
'Netanyahu is following in Sharon's footsteps'
Netanyahu, like Sharon, moved to the center of the political map after becoming prime minister, formed a national-unity government, and is expected to approve a prisoner exchange with the Palestinians.
Sharon Four Years Later: ‘Probably Comatose for Life’
Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke four years go that has left him comatose, a condition that is unlikely to change, according to close friend and former advisor Dov Weisglass. Sharon, now age 81, suffered a mild stroke in December of 2005, followed by a massive one in January 2006 from which he has never regained consciousness.
Reports: Iraq De-Judaizing Ezekiel's Tomb
Early reports that Iraq plans to retain the Jewish nature of the Tomb of the Prophet Ezekiel are apparently false. Sources in Baghdad say that the government plans to turn it into a mosque and erase all Jewish markings.
Powerful quake strikes near Solomon Islands
A powerful 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific on Monday, triggering panic but causing no major tsunami, disaster officials said.
US plan calls for Mideast peace deal in two years: report
Under the plan, the Israelis and Palestinians will immediately start final status talks that were suspended during the Gaza war a year ago, Israel's Maariv newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.
Rabbis warn: U.S. policies could kill Jews
A coalition of hundreds of prominent Israeli rabbis met with the American ambassador to Israel to express their concern that U.S. efforts to create a Palestinian state may result in terrorism against Jews.
Wikipedia Meets Its Own Climategate
But there is one problem that Mr. Wales does not go near. That is the use of Wikipedia itself to inflame the political debate by permitting activists to rewrite the contributions of others.
Guess how 'the One' will be honored next
Hawaii's state legislators are lining up a string of new holidays, parks and memorials to honor Barack Obama, the first American president to claim the state as his home – though commemorating his birthplace may prove difficult.
Fed Chief Edges Closer to Using Rates to Pop Bubbles
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cracked the door open a bit more to the idea of raising interest rates if a new financial bubble emerges. He also mounted a vigorous defense against critics who say it was the Fed's low-interest-rate policies over the past decade that caused the last housing bubble.
Gordon Brown promises full body scanners at UK airports
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has given the go-ahead for full body scanners to be introduced at Britain's airports. BAA, which runs six UK airports, said it would now install the machines "as soon as is practical" at Heathrow. Experts have questioned the scanners' effectiveness at detecting the type of bomb allegedly used on Christmas Day in an attempted plane attack over Detroit.
Beijing disrupted by record snowfall
The authorities in Beijing have closed schools and mobilised thousands of people to help clear roads after the heaviest snowfall for nearly 60 years. Up to 30cm (12 inches) of snow fell in China's capital and its neighbouring port city of Tianjin over the weekend. Thousands of travellers have been left stranded at Beijing's international airport, and more than 30 highways across northern China are closed.
