DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 WORLD DIVISION TRADEBLOC NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
By | Associated Press – 2 hrs 0 mins ago JUNE 13,13
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 WORLD DIVISION TRADEBLOC NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Israel moving ahead with new settler housing
By | Associated Press – 2 hrs 0 mins ago JUNE 13,13
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is going ahead with plans to build more than 1,000 settler homes in the West Bank, a spokesman said Thursday, a step that drew criticism from the Palestinians and may pose a challenge to peace efforts by Secretary of State John Kerry.Israeli military spokesman Maj. Guy Inbar said plans were advanced in
the past two weeks to construct homes in the settlements of Itamar and
Bruchin. More than 1,000 housing units
are slated to be built and nearly 200 existing homes are expected to be
granted official approval there.The settlements were given preliminary
approval last year and the
construction plans still require official endorsement following public
appeals. Hagit Ofran, from the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now,
estimated that construction could begin in about a year, if approved.An
Israeli government official downplayed the development, calling it
part of a bureaucratic process and not an approval. He spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the
housing plans with the media.The move comes amid Kerry's ongoing efforts
to corral Israel and the
Palestinians to return to peace talks, which have been stalled for
nearly five years. Kerry has been shuttling between the sides in recent
months in hopes of finding a formula to restart negotiations.West Bank settlement
building lies at the heart of the current impasse in negotiations
between Israel and the Palestinians, who condemned the new step."It's
clear that there is an Israeli escalation and it's not the
first time that they do this to challenge and embarrass the American
administration," said Nimr Hamad,
an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas."The Palestinian
position is clear. The settlement activities are illegal," Hamad
said.The Palestinians refuse to resume talks with Israel as long as it
continues to build in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands they claim
as part of a future state, along with the Gaza Strip. Israel captured
the territories in the 1967 Mideast war.
More than 500,000 Israelis now live in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which are considered illegal or illegitimate by the international community.___Associated Press writer Dalia Nammari contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.
I PUT THE WHOLE EU STORY ON MY SIGHT BUT ITS BLOCKED FROM VIEWING I SEE.I GUESS THE EU DON'T WANT ANYBODY READING THIS STORY.
http://euobserver.com/institutional/120484 (HERES THE STORY LINK)
More than 500,000 Israelis now live in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which are considered illegal or illegitimate by the international community.___Associated Press writer Dalia Nammari contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank.
I PUT THE WHOLE EU STORY ON MY SIGHT BUT ITS BLOCKED FROM VIEWING I SEE.I GUESS THE EU DON'T WANT ANYBODY READING THIS STORY.
http://euobserver.com/institutional/120484 (HERES THE STORY LINK)
Ashton drops big ideas on EU foreign service
Today @ 09:29 JUNE 13,13
By Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS - The EU's foreign policy
chief has said member states are not willing to give her what it takes
for major reform of the European External Action Service (EEAS).Speaking
to MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday (12 June), Catherine
Ashton outlined a modest set of ways to do EU foreign relations better.
She said her service should have a clear role in crafting the "strategic orientation" of European Commission projects in development and neighbourhood policy.She backed the creation of new deputies to represent her in European Parliament hearings and on some overseas trips.She also said decision-making protocols on EU military and civilian crisis missions "need to speed up."On the subject of deputies, she noted: "I can remember a very sad day when I went to five countries in one day but I was still criticised for not being in the United States."The three proposals are set to feature in her upcoming EEAS review paper.But they fall far short of bigger ideas recently put forward by France, Germany and some MEPs.France in March said the EEAS should co-ordinate EU countries' consular services and should hire security specialists for delegations in foreign hotspots.Germany said the foreign service should take control of the commission's multi-billion-euro development and neighbourhood budgets.A report by two MEPs - German centre-right deputy Elmar Brok and Italian centre-left politician Roberto Gualtieri - also called for EU countries to take foreign policy decisions by majority instead of unanimity and for the creation of an EU military operations HQ.
On consular services and security specialists, Ashton on Wednesday noted that EU nations are not willing to put their money where their mouth is.She said: "Resources are the key in discussions on any new areas of activity, including consular protection and increased security reporting in delegations, areas at the moment where we have limited expertise and experience. These changes won't happen overnight."She did not even mention the development/neighbourhood budget, majority voting or military HQ proposals.She instead highlighted there are limits to how much EU countries really want to do joint foreign relations."We must not delude ourselves. The Lisbon treaty left CFSP [Common Foreign and Security Policy] as an intergovernmental instrument which is subject to unanimity in decision-making. In a situation where there is absence of political will or of agreement between member states, there is a limit to what the EEAS can deliver," she said.MEPs who took the floor on Wednesday praised Ashton for building up the EEAS as an institution.Belgian Liberal Annemie Neyts-Uyttenbroeck called it "a little miracle, in which we should rejoice" that she got it up and running in under three years.Even Ashton critics - such as Charles Tannock, from Britain's ruling Conservative Party - also gave her kudos for brokering a peace deal between Kosovo and Serbia.But Tannock warned that London will never give up its veto on EU foreign policy.He called Brok and Gualtieri's idea an "institutional power-grab" and voiced incredulity that British soldiers could be sent to a conflict zone by "qualified majority voting."MEPs also needled Ashton for having too many highly-paid staff.
Out of her 950 senior officials, 502 are in the AD12 to AD14 bracket, commanding basic salaries of €10,000 to €15,000 a month."I don't think any other EU institution has such a number of high-ranking posts," German centre-right deputy Ingeborg Graessle, a budget specialist, noted.Ashton promised to cull some of them next year.She noted she has almost hit her target for hiring people from eastern European member states and more than doubled the number of women in senior posts.She also noted her service sometimes gets "bad publicity for all the wrong reasons."Taking the example of the Barbados delegation - which employs 44 people and which is a favourite target for jibes on EU skivers - she said it has just nine EU staff and 35 local assistants to manage a €250-million-a-year aid budget for 10 countries.
She said her service should have a clear role in crafting the "strategic orientation" of European Commission projects in development and neighbourhood policy.She backed the creation of new deputies to represent her in European Parliament hearings and on some overseas trips.She also said decision-making protocols on EU military and civilian crisis missions "need to speed up."On the subject of deputies, she noted: "I can remember a very sad day when I went to five countries in one day but I was still criticised for not being in the United States."The three proposals are set to feature in her upcoming EEAS review paper.But they fall far short of bigger ideas recently put forward by France, Germany and some MEPs.France in March said the EEAS should co-ordinate EU countries' consular services and should hire security specialists for delegations in foreign hotspots.Germany said the foreign service should take control of the commission's multi-billion-euro development and neighbourhood budgets.A report by two MEPs - German centre-right deputy Elmar Brok and Italian centre-left politician Roberto Gualtieri - also called for EU countries to take foreign policy decisions by majority instead of unanimity and for the creation of an EU military operations HQ.
On consular services and security specialists, Ashton on Wednesday noted that EU nations are not willing to put their money where their mouth is.She said: "Resources are the key in discussions on any new areas of activity, including consular protection and increased security reporting in delegations, areas at the moment where we have limited expertise and experience. These changes won't happen overnight."She did not even mention the development/neighbourhood budget, majority voting or military HQ proposals.She instead highlighted there are limits to how much EU countries really want to do joint foreign relations."We must not delude ourselves. The Lisbon treaty left CFSP [Common Foreign and Security Policy] as an intergovernmental instrument which is subject to unanimity in decision-making. In a situation where there is absence of political will or of agreement between member states, there is a limit to what the EEAS can deliver," she said.MEPs who took the floor on Wednesday praised Ashton for building up the EEAS as an institution.Belgian Liberal Annemie Neyts-Uyttenbroeck called it "a little miracle, in which we should rejoice" that she got it up and running in under three years.Even Ashton critics - such as Charles Tannock, from Britain's ruling Conservative Party - also gave her kudos for brokering a peace deal between Kosovo and Serbia.But Tannock warned that London will never give up its veto on EU foreign policy.He called Brok and Gualtieri's idea an "institutional power-grab" and voiced incredulity that British soldiers could be sent to a conflict zone by "qualified majority voting."MEPs also needled Ashton for having too many highly-paid staff.
Out of her 950 senior officials, 502 are in the AD12 to AD14 bracket, commanding basic salaries of €10,000 to €15,000 a month."I don't think any other EU institution has such a number of high-ranking posts," German centre-right deputy Ingeborg Graessle, a budget specialist, noted.Ashton promised to cull some of them next year.She noted she has almost hit her target for hiring people from eastern European member states and more than doubled the number of women in senior posts.She also noted her service sometimes gets "bad publicity for all the wrong reasons."Taking the example of the Barbados delegation - which employs 44 people and which is a favourite target for jibes on EU skivers - she said it has just nine EU staff and 35 local assistants to manage a €250-million-a-year aid budget for 10 countries.
