CANADA - With the final rounds of negotiations sessions planned for September and October, Canada and the EU are closing in on a free trade deal that would go far beyond the reach of NAFTA. Meanwhile, there is growing opposition to the agreement as the whole process has lacked openness, transparency and any public consultations. In Canada, there are concerns over the threat it poses to local democracy. This includes fears of deregulation and privatization, as well the expansion of corporate investor rights.
USA - One of New York's most expensive neighborhoods will be sprayed this week with pesticide to combat the West Nile virus, officials said Tuesday. The city regularly sprays against the mosquito-borne disease, which has seen a surge in outbreaks in the United States this year. Friday's spraying is notable because it will target Manhattan's prestigious Upper West Side neighborhood and parts of the famed Central Park. "These neighborhoods are being treated due to rising West Nile virus activity with high and/or increasing mosquito populations," the Department of Health said in a statement.
USA - The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage.
ISRAEL - US intelligence agencies recently reported growing concerns that Israel will conduct a strike on Iran using a high-altitude nuclear burst aimed at disrupting all electronics in the country. The intelligence worries were triggered by recent publication of an article in the Israeli press suggesting the Jewish state should carry out an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack. The article stated that an Israeli nuclear burst over Iran could “send Iran back to the Stone Age.”
USA - The host committee for the Democratic National Convention is raising a number of eyebrows after choosing to proceed with featuring Islamic “Jumah” prayers for two hours on the Friday of its convention, though Democrats earlier denied a Catholic cardinal’s request to say a prayer at the same event.
GERMANY - A hullabaloo has flared up in Germany over squashing democratic discussion on whether or not taxpayers should endlessly pay to keep Greece in the Eurozone and protect bondholders — namely the ECB and national central banks — from having to recognize reality on the worm-eaten Greek debt in their basements.
USA - A group of US soldiers planning to take over their base, blow up targets around the country, wrest control of the government and kill the president – it could be a Hollywood blockbuster, but it’s a developing story in the southern state of Georgia.
GERMANY - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told members of her coalition on Sunday to curb their rhetoric in the euro crisis. A member of the CSU party had said Greece would be out of the euro in 2013 and that the head of the European Central Bank was on his way to becoming the "currency forger of Europe."
USA - A "quake swarm" that has shaken southern California with hundreds of moderate temblors in quick succession is fueling jitters in the Golden State, long braced for the Big One. The quakes, which began Sunday and could last for a few days according to experts, were mostly moderate but included several over 5.0 in magnitude, causing minor damage in the town of Brawley, near the Mexican border.
USA - US farmers are heading for their most profitable year on record despite the worst drought in half a century as high grain prices and payouts from a federal crop insurance programme compensate for a smaller harvest.
BEIRUT, LEBANON - Iran is sending commanders from its elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and hundreds of foot soldiers to Syria, according to current and former members of the corps. The personnel moves come on top of what these people say are Tehran's stepped-up efforts to aid the military of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with cash and arms. That would indicate that regional capitals are being drawn deeper into Syria's conflict — and undergird a growing perception among Mr Assad's opponents that the regime's military is increasingly strained. A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, appeared to offer Iran's first open acknowledgment of its military involvement in Syria.
USA - Did you know that median household income in the United States is lower today than it was when the last recession supposedly ended? If we are in the middle of an “economic recovery”, how can this possibly be happening? Stunning new statistics compiled by Sentier Research show that the US economy is not nearly as healthy as we have been led to believe. According to the study that Sentier Research has just released, median household income in the United States was sitting at $55,470 back in January 2000. In December 2007, when the recession began, it was sitting at $54,916. In June 2009, when the recession supposedly ended, it was sitting at $53,508. Today, it is sitting at $50,964. This is a long-term trend that is definitely going in the wrong direction.
SYRIA - The Supreme Military Council of the Syrian rebels released on a statement on Tuesday which said that the rebel forces took control of an army missile base in Damascus, in which ten ready-to-launch missiles were found. Some of the missiles, according to the statement, were converted to carry non-conventional warheads. The Supreme Military Council of the rebels went on to claim that it had confirmed the report by examining photographic documentation of the scene. The Council warned that these facts indicate that the Assad regime is getting ready to bomb cities in Syria using these missiles, and the possibility that he will use missiles with unconventional warheads cannot be ruled out.
CHINA - China’s top banks are stepping up their lending activities in the US as large US companies diversify their funding sources and seek to penetrate more deeply into the world’s second-largest economy. Chinese banks’ share of US syndicated lending has risen to 6.1 per cent of the total market so far in 2012, up from 5.1 per cent last year, according to data from Dealogic. So far this year, the total value of syndicated loans from Chinese banks into the US has reached $51 billion.
GERMANY - Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, will visit China this week to celebrate what her officials see as Germany’s “special relationship” with the Asian heavyweight. Ms Merkel will meet Hu Jintao, China’s president, and Wen Jiabao, the country’s premier, bringing along seven German ministers for something that will almost resemble a joint cabinet meeting with 13 Chinese counterparts. “The Chinese want to hear from the horse’s mouth what’s going on with the euro crisis – they view [Ms] Merkel as the one with the purse,” he says. “It is a watershed moment for German diplomacy.”
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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