“Europe Has Failed the Arab World”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 28:

“For weeks, a blossoming democratic movement in North Africa has been toppling one dictator after the other — first in Tunisia, then in Egypt, now possibly in Libya. During this whole period, the reaction of Europe’s governments can best be described as paralyzed. While Gadhafi’s regime was ordering its forces to fire upon its own people, the reactions of the political elites — whether in Brussels, Berlin, Paris or Rome — were unsure, divided and without a plan.

“They asked themselves whether they should send in troops or impose sanctions. They worried about a massive influx of refugees and whether it was appropriate to get involved in what could turn out to be a long civil war…

“Granted, the French, Germans and British succeeded in safely bringing thousands of their citizens back home who had been stranded in the chaos of civil war. But, for days, the Europeans could not agree on a proposal to freeze the bank accounts of the Gadhafi clan. It was only last Friday, after more and more military units had deserted the despot, that the EU finally agreed to impose some rather timid sanctions…

“On Sunday, Italian Foreign Minister Frattini announced that a friendship treaty that Italy and Libya had signed in 2008 was ‘de facto suspended.’ The treaty includes a non-aggression clause…

“The upheaval on the other side of the Mediterranean has caught the Europeans unprepared. For decades, they have fawned over the despots of North Africa because they promised both oil and protection against African refugees and Islamist terrorists… In Germany, production slowdowns in Libya have caused gas prices to climb to €1.57 per liter ($8.17 per gallon), up from €1.49 per liter in January, and prices are expected to continue to rise. If the pro-democracy unrest should also spill over into oil-rich Saudi Arabia, experts predict that oil prices could reach new all-time highs, which would have disastrous effects on growth and employment in Europe…

“What we are now witnessing is a historic turning point bringing with it opportunities and risks no less significant than those that attended the collapse of communism two decades ago… when it comes to European ties to countries in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, national interests are more important than European ones…

“On Monday, EU member states finally signed off on concrete sanctions against Libya, including an arms embargo and a travel ban on leading officials of the Gadhafi regime. They will also freeze the regime’s assets, a step that the Swiss already backed some time ago…

“All the embarrassing bickering in Europe is a setback for Ashton, who should, as the EU’s foreign policy chief, in theory be Europe’s main diplomatic voice. But, more than anything, the British diplomat has merely been an observer of all the wrangling among the EU’s foreign ministers…

“The EU is not only deeply divided in foreign-policy matters. The wrangling is at least as fierce when it comes to the issue of how the refugees from North Africa should be dealt with…

“Although it’s very possible that the Gadhafi government is on its last legs, it cannot be ruled out that Libya could be on the verge of a civil war that could last months. For this reason, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has demanded that, if necessary, the international community must also be willing to intervene militarily on a massive scale…

“However, such efforts could quickly turn Western involvement into war. In Germany, at least, political parties are unanimous in their opposition to this scenario. Given Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan, which is already unpopular domestically, there is little desire to get caught up in a second military conflict. Still, it will be extremely difficult to maintain this stance if the conflict spreads or if Gadhafi employs poison gas, as some former loyalists now fear. The question is whether Europe would be able to sit back and watch while genocide is committed on its border. The EU doesn’t yet have an answer.”

That EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy and EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton are European misfits, was clear from the start. But the Bible prophesies that a strong European leader will arise in Europe, and that the European core nations will give him their votes, so he can speak with one voice. He will not be reluctant to resort to military means, and then things will change dramatically on the world scene. As the next articles show, America recognizes that it cannot rely on divided Europe. But will America become the world leader again, which it once was? The Bible predicts that it will not, and that Europe will indeed become THE leading political and military power in the world.

Military Action Against Libya?

The New York Times wrote on February 28:

“The Defense Department has begun repositioning Navy warships to support possible action against Libya… Military planners are working on a wide range of options, said to include everything from imposing a ‘no-fly zone’ over Libya to halt warplanes from attacking civilians to evacuation of wounded and innocents…

“While any American military action would be described as humanitarian assistance, it no doubt would indirectly apply even more pressure to a regime already fighting rebels from its own military who are supporting a popular revolt against the authoritarian rule. Pentagon officials said the United States certainly would seek an international consensus for action… the scope and pacing of planning underway is a substantial increase from just a week ago, when officials in Washington said that the most likely military action would come from regional states, such as Italy or France.

“Officials said that the Obama administration had realized that only the American military could lead across a full range of options to halt the violence… The American military has a large force of warships and combat and cargo aircraft available across Europe.”

Airstrikes, but No Ground Troops?

The EUObserver wrote on March 1:

“Fighter jets, aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean, a no-fly zone over Libya and arming the rebels are all options being weighed up by the US and its EU allies, as a defiant Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is continuing to cling onto power and is ordering airstrikes on towns and arms depots.

“Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday… British Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK is ‘taking the lead’ in isolating the ‘illegitimate’ Gaddafi regime, including by military means… In France, Prime Minister Francois Fillon confirmed that ‘all options are on the table,’ including a no-fly zone. A military option is being ‘evaluated by the French government,’ he said…

“The US and a number of European countries, including Britain and Germany, have already flown military aircraft into the Libyan desert to help with evacuation efforts…

“As Russia and China seem unwilling to back the idea of a no-fly zone in the UN Security Council, the US and its European allies may go for a Nato decision instead… British military air base in Cyprus could be used to enforce the no-fly zone, as well as Italy’s base in Sicily.

“Foreign intervention – as long as no troops are deployed within the country – seems a valid option for former Gaddafi regime members who have defected to the opposition as well. ‘… If we found that no solution was reached on Gaddafi’s part or his aides to put an end to these massacres, then all our fellows here in Darna, Al Baida, Ghuba and Benghazi are firm and certain that air strikes must be launched, provided that no jetfighter will land on Libyan territories,’ former Libyan interior minister Abdel Fattah Younes, who stepped down last week, told Al Jazeera on Monday.”

No Stomach for Military Intervention?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 3:

“The West has no stomach for military intervention in Libya, but also no clear ideas about ending the crisis before it becomes a full-fledged civil war…

“As violence in Libya continues with no end in sight, the debate about a possible military intervention by the West has heated up. But the international community is cautious about getting dragged into the conflict… Western diplomats told the Associated Press that some NATO members were drawing up contingency plans for a no-fly zone, should the international community decide on such a step.

“Getting a no-fly zone approved by the UN Security Council would be tough, given that Russia — a veto-holding permanent member — has already opposed such a move. On Wednesday, too, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates also called for an end to ‘loose talk’ about military intervention, saying that a no-fly zone would also entail a military attack on Libya.

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘Those who hoped that the political upheaval in Libya would follow a similar straightforward pattern as in Tunisia and Egypt now face being proved wrong. Gadhafi has regained his composure militarily and is using his remaining power to start a campaign of revenge against the revolutionaries…’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… the UN is an organization that represents the world as it is, not the world as it should be. In the struggle to find compromises, democrats have to deal with autocrats, raw material producers with consumers, and freedom-lovers with sponsors of terror…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Colonel Gadhafi strikes back. With an attack on the oil and port city of Brega, the Libyan dictator has shown that he means [to carry out]  his vicious threats against the insurgents… The present situation does not… require endless debates in citizens’ committees. Rather, it needs readiness for military action. … Time is on Gadhafi’s side.’”

The Wall Street Journal added this comment on March 3:

“The rebels are calling for foreign airstrikes as they fend off the offensive by forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi, but senior U.S. defense officials are lowering expectations of an international military intervention in the country… The U.S. and allies have discussed the prospect of imposing a no-fly zone over the North African country to prevent Col. Gadhafi from using air forces to strike at protesters. But Mr. Gates made clear Wednesday that the U.S. military would have to launch pre-emptive strikes to destroy Libya’s air defenses if President Barack Obama ordered the imposition of a no-fly zone.”

On the other hand, Reuters reported the following on March 3:

“French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France and Britain would support the idea of setting up a no-fly zone over Libya if Gaddafi’s forces continued to attack civilians.”

No Support for Gadhafi’s Opponents?

Haaretz wrote on March 1:

“U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday that the United States will maintain political and economic pressure on Muammar Gadhafi until he steps down as Libyan leader… Rice also said it was premature to talk about providing material support to Libyan rebels who are fighting to oust Gaddafi, saying no clear-cut unified opposition has yet to coalesce.”

German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Resigns

BBC News reported on March 1:

“German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has stepped down after he was found to have copied large parts of his 2006 university doctorate thesis. Mr Guttenberg, considered until recently a possible candidate for chancellor, has already been stripped of his PhD… The plagiarism scandal led to him being nicknamed Baron Cut-and-Paste, Zu Copyberg and Zu Googleberg by the German media. But Ms Merkel had continued to stand by him…

“Mr Guttenberg told reporters in Berlin that he was relinquishing all his political offices and he thanked the chancellor for her support, trust and understanding… According to Konrad Jarausch, a political scientist at the Free University in Berlin: ‘It’s bad for Merkel and she stuck with him far too long.’…

“By Tuesday the newspaper Die Welt reported that the number of academics who had signed the letter objecting to his continued role in the government had climbed to 51,500. One of the most blistering comments came from law professor Oliver Lepsius, who succeeded his doctoral supervisor at Bayreuth. ‘We have been taken by a fraud. His brazenness in deceiving honourable university personnel was unique,’ he wrote.”

The Local wrote on March 1:

“Guttenberg’s departure will deprive the chancellor of his star power as her conservatives face six state elections this year. ‘This is a big loss for Angela Merkel,’ political scientist Gero Neugebauer told news agency AFP. ‘She is losing an important election campaigner … Nobody else can excite the same level of interest and excitement.’”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on March 1:

“Guttenberg leaves behind a Defense Ministry in the middle of its furthest-reaching reforms in years. In recent months, Germany eliminated mandatory conscription in favor of a purely professional army but has recently struggled in the attempt to recruit enough new soldiers to fill the gap. There had likewise been talk that Merkel herself was dissatisfied with the progress of the reform.”

In this context, The Local added on March 1:

“According to military documents from early February, the number of volunteers interested in enlisting in April is currently just 10 percent of the target… The statistics have raised fears in the Bundeswehr that the end of conscription could endanger the readiness of German forces… The ministry plans to start an enlistment campaign this month to get the numbers up.”

Guttenberg’s Successor Sworn In

Deutsche Welle reported on March 3:

“German President Christian Wulff on Thursday officially swore in new ministers of defense and interior after the resignation of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg created a shake-up in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet earlier in the week. Wulff accepted Thomas de Maziere as successor to Guttenberg as defense minister, while Hans-Peter Friedrich assumed de Maziere’s previous post as interior minister… [He] laid out the challenges de Maziere will face in his new position. ‘You are the commander of our armed forces and are responsible for our soldiers who are currently deployed abroad,’ the president said. ‘You will also have many other important tasks, including carrying out the reform of the military.’

“Wulff officially relieved Guttenberg of his responsibilities as defense minister, wishing him ‘new success.’ ‘I thank you for your exceedingly engaged service to our country and give you the utmost respect,’ Wulff said. Guttenberg has also resigned from his post in the German parliament.”

Turkey in the Outfield…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 28:

“Thousands of Turkish immigrants gave Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a rock star welcome in Germany on Sunday in a show of national pride that remains fervent, even after decades spent in Germany. He told them they remain part of Turkey, and urged them to integrate into German society — but not to assimilate…

“They have come from all over Germany to see him live, some 10,000 people. They say things like: ‘The Germans will never accept us, but we have Erdogan’… One  woman says: ‘Erdogan… is our savior.’ Some 3 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, most of them descendants of Turks invited by the government in the 1950s and 1960s as ‘guest workers’ to make up for a shortage of manpower after World War II…

“In a newspaper interview published ahead of his speech, Erdogan urged Merkel to drop her opposition to Turkey’s accession to the EU. ‘Never have such political obstacles been put in the path of an accession country,’ he said… And then he repeats the sentence that caused such a stir at a speech he held in Cologne three years ago. He warns Turks against assimilating themselves. ‘Yes, integrate yourselves into German society but don’t assimilate yourselves. No one has the right to deprive us of our culture and our identity.’

“Erdogan knows that this statement amounts to a provocation in Germany… And he has brought along a gift for his compatriots — a kind of light-weight dual citizenship. The so-called ‘Blue Card,’ which gives Turks with German citizenship certain rights in Turkey, is to be upgraded. Holders of the card will, in the future, have the same rights as Turkish citizens in dealings with authorities and banks…

“It was a speech that did nothing to reinforce any feeling of belonging to Germany — Erdogan steadfastly appealed to the Turkish national pride of people who have been at home in Germany for four generations.”

Erdogan also told his audience that Germans of Turkish descent, living in Germany, should learn German, as Chancellor Merkel had said, but only after they have learned Turkish—a statement which has prompted a furious reaction from German politicians and the German people.

The EUObserver added on February 28:

“Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused German society of ‘xenophobia’ and the German government of ‘discrimination’ ahead of a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel… on Saturday, in an interview with the regional daily, the Rheinische Post, the Turkish premier came close to accusing Ms Merkel’s political party of racism… Mr Erdogan’s remarks come in the context of a worsening political climate for migrants in Germany.

“Last October, Ms Merkel said that multiculturalism had ‘utterly failed’… In September a top central bank official, Thilo Sarrazin, resigned after saying that Arabs and Turks were stupid and exploited the welfare state.

“Mr Erdogan’s comments also come after an awkward visit by French leader Nicolas Sarkozy to Ankara on Friday. Mr Sarkozy… told [the] press at a meeting with Turkish President Abduallah Gul that Turkey would ‘destabilise’ the EU if it joined.”

The Reaction of the German Press

The following are excerpts from comments in the German press about Prime Minister Erdogan’s speech, as adapted from Der Spiegel Online, dated March 1:

“The tabloid Bild writes: ‘Erdogan is a demagogue, a nationalist. And he hammered his message, which is as simple as it is fatal, into the heads of 10,000 people: You are and will remain Turkish — never forget that. By saying that, though, he is torpedoing efforts to integrate close to 3 million people with Turkish roots in Germany that cost German taxpayers millions of euros each year. Efforts to ensure that their children learn German right from the beginning so that they later have opportunities to get a job or a traineeship. But Erdogan doesn’t care about that. He’s in the middle of an election back home and any means to campaign is fine by him. That is shabby and irresponsible!’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘In order to knit together the Turkish community, Erdogan painted a picture of the spectre of a steadily growing xenophobia. And he knows exactly what kind of effect such rhetoric has. The higher the wall of Turkophobia in Germany is perceived to be, the less prepared the Turks will be to integrate — a step many don’t want to take anyway…’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘Erdogan’s appearance creates the impression that Turks living [in] Germany are in danger of becoming a persecuted minority. He again spoke of the threat of forced assimilation and Islamophobia that can be compared to anti-Semitism. Does Erdogan even know what he is talking about? As little as the rally had to do with the realities of German integration policies, it did show a man who divides the world into a good and bad that [he] is unable to even differentiate between at home. The methods and ways that Erdogan’s party deals with Christians in Turkey approximate what he is trying to accuse Germany of doing…’”

Overall, Erdogan’s speech was met in Germany with indignation. Muslim Turkey will never be allowed to become an integral part of “Christian” Europe. The Bible indicates that Turkey will not belong to the core nations of Europe.

Terror Attack in Germany

The Local reported on March 3:

“Arid Uka, the 21-year-old Kosovar who has admitted to killing two US airmen in Frankfurt, was a loner only recently turning to radical Islamist ideology, according to investigators. German federal prosecutors continue to piece together a profile of the man responsible for what is increasingly believed to have been a terrorist attack on US military personnel at Frankfurt Airport on Thursday…

“Armed with a Belgian Fabrique Nationale semi-automatic pistol and a large quantity of ammunition, the ethnic Albanian attacked a bus used to transport US military personnel outside the airport terminal. He shot dead one US airman in front of the bus before also killing the driver. Two other servicemen were seriously injured. He then fled into the terminal building before being subdued and arrested. The man admitted early on during his interrogation that he wanted to kill US soldiers. Working at the airport’s international postal centre, Uka knew his way around the facility, and likely observed the US military bus service beforehand.

“…he had recently started calling himself a jihadist named ‘Abu Reyyan’ on the social networking website Facebook. Under his Islamist handle he spread jihadist hymns on YouTube online, professed hatred of Jews and Shiite Muslims and took part in violent computer games. Within just four or five weeks, Uka is thought to have established contact to radical Islamist preachers including the Moroccan Sheik Abdellatif and German Muslim extremist Pierre Vogel. Though his family are devout Muslims, they are not considered to be Islamist radicals.”

Der Spiegel Online added on March 3:

“… the jihadists claim to have been in contact with acquaintances of Arid U… [who] has left his own cache of digital clues pointing to his adherence to radical Islamism. Two weeks prior to the shooting, he posted a link on his Facebook wall to a jihadist battle hymn… A fair number of his 125 Facebook friends would also seem to be sympathetic to radical Islamism… Some of the connections, however, are of particular interest to investigators, especially those with well-known figures in the Islamist scene. ‘He seems to have belonged to an unstructured militant-Salafist environment,’ said a source familiar with the investigation.

“Salafists are pious Muslims who place particular emphasis in emulating as far as possible the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the first generation of his followers. It is a movement that has been growing for years. While most Salafists are more political than they are militant, there is a segment with significant crossover with the jihadist-terror scene. Several of Arid U.’s contacts appear to come from this gray area…”

None of this will help to increase German sympathy for devout Muslims living in Germany.

“There Will Be Another Hitler Some Day”

On February 28, Der Spiegel Online conducted an interesting interview with Ewald von Kleist, 88, a former officer in the German Wehrmacht and the last surviving member of the July 20, 1944 plot against Hitler. We are bringing you the following excerpts from his comments:

“It’s true that, after Sept. 11, 2001, the United States declared war on global terrorism. But against which country? Why is this a war? And who is the enemy?… Al-Qaida is a chimera. There’s no organization, and there’s no country you can wage a war against. Instead, we’re waging war against an idea… Risking the lives of German soldiers is only justified when our vital interests are threatened. Exactly what those vital interests are has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Then, we have to determine whether we have the means to achieve our goals…

“Obama’s idea of a world without nuclear weapons is nonsense… We can all recall the images of Iranian children with green headbands running straight into Iraqi machine-gun fire. Their parents allowed this to happen because they believed their children were fulfilling the will of Allah… Some time ago, (al-Qaida leader Osama) bin Laden said: ‘The difference between us is that you love life and we love death.’ I’m afraid he’s right…

“One of the last things Hitler said was: ‘We will slam the door shut behind us with a loud bang.’ He wasn’t able to do it at the time, but who can say whether an Iranian leader won’t feel the same way some day? Or look at Pakistan: What happens if there is regime change and the Islamists get their hands on nuclear bombs? There will be another Hitler some day…

“Goebbels once told me that, when it comes to propaganda, you just have to keep repeating the same thing over and over again until people can’t bear to hear it anymore — and then you say it again… he was very clever, diabolically clever.”

Ewald von Kleist is right—there WILL BE another Hitler someday. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Ugly Past of U.S. Human Experiments

The Associated Press reported on February 27:

“Shocking as it may seem, U.S. government doctors once thought it was fine to experiment on disabled people and prison inmates. Such experiments included giving hepatitis to mental patients in Connecticut, squirting a pandemic flu virus up the noses of prisoners in Maryland, and injecting cancer cells into chronically ill people at a New York hospital…

“Inevitably, [these experiments] will be compared to the well-known Tuskegee syphilis study. In that episode, U.S. health officials tracked 600 black men in Alabama who already had syphilis but didn’t give them adequate treatment even after penicillin became available…

“Some of these studies, mostly from the 1940s to the ’60s, apparently were never covered by news media… Many prominent researchers felt it was legitimate to experiment on people who did not have full rights in society — people like prisoners, mental patients, poor blacks. It was an attitude in some ways similar to that of Nazi doctors experimenting on Jews…

“It was at about this time that prosecution of Nazi doctors in 1947 led to the ‘Nuremberg Code,’ a set of international rules to protect human test subjects. Many U.S. doctors essentially ignored them, arguing that they applied to Nazi atrocities — not to American medicine. The late 1940s and 1950s saw huge growth in the U.S. pharmaceutical and health care industries, accompanied by a boom in prisoner experiments funded by both the government and corporations. By the 1960s, at least half the states allowed prisoners to be used as medical guinea pigs.

“… in the last 15 years, two international studies sparked outrage… U.S.-funded doctors failed to give the AIDS drug AZT to all the HIV-infected pregnant women in a study in Uganda even though it would have protected their newborns… The other study, by Pfizer Inc., gave an antibiotic named Trovan to children with meningitis in Nigeria… Critics blamed the experiment for the deaths of 11 children and the disabling of scores of others. Pfizer settled a lawsuit with Nigerian officials for $75 million but admitted no wrongdoing.

“Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general reported that between 40 and 65 percent of clinical studies of federally regulated medical products were done in other countries in 2008, and that proportion probably has grown. The report also noted that U.S. regulators inspected fewer than 1 percent of foreign clinical trial sites.”

Human nature being what it is, and Satan, the mass murderer and destroyer, being the real god of this present evil world and the ruler over ALL nations, no country and no people is exempted from conducting horrible atrocities against fellow human beings. Only a change of heart could bring about real change—but that change will only come with the return of Jesus Christ.

Common Biblical Misconceptions

Newsmax reported on March 1:

“Christian Broadcasting Network founder and ‘The 700 Club’ host Rev. Pat Robertson believes the present world will end someday — but not at the behest of nuclear-armed Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Although alarmed about Iran’s headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons, Robertson… can’t bring himself to believe that God would let Iran’s president trigger a nuclear holocaust.

“Asked whether unrest in the Middle East and Iran’s nuclear ambitions could be seen as a prelude to Armageddon, Robertson cited Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, who predicts in Ezekiel 38:5 that a coalition of other nations will rise up against Israel in a final battle ‘that’s made up of what looks like Russia, Turkey, Iran, the Sudan,’ and other nations. ‘So it’s all shaping up, and they are going to invade Israel in “the latter days,”’ Robertson tells Newsmax in the exclusive interview. “So that to me is one of the most key prophetic signposts that we have available to us. And it’s coming to pass.’”

However, Ezekiel 38 does refer to events which will occur AFTER Christ’s return—not before—and they speak of an invasion of Asiatic nations attempting to fight against the descendants of the ancient houses of Israel and Judah, after Christ freed them from slavery and captivity and brought them back to the Promised Land. For more information, please read our Q&A on Ezekiel 38.

No Place in British Courts for Christianity

On March 1, 2011, the Telegraph reported the following:

“There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite the country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said yesterday… [They] made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong.

“The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality ‘should take precedence’ over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and moral values… the judges said Britain was a ‘largely secular’, multi-cultural country in which the laws of the realm ‘do not include Christianity’… The ruling… is the latest in a series of judgments in which Christians have been defeated in the courts for breaching equality laws by manifesting their beliefs on homosexuality.”

Truly, British society has turned the truth of the Bible upside down…

And Now… Bloodbath in Libya

Bloomberg reported on February 24, 2011:

“’It’s a massacre in there,’ said Mohamed Yehia after he crossed into Egypt at the northwestern town of Salloum, speaking of the deadly crackdown by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. ‘He is crazy. The world must know what he’s doing to his people.’ Yehia, 23, is one of thousands of Egyptians working in Libya who gathered their belongings and left the oil-rich country yesterday after Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, this week accused foreigners, including Tunisians and Egyptians, of inciting the ongoing revolt…

“Many of those arriving said they had seen mercenaries from Africa and elsewhere, some dark-skinned and some fair, some speaking French. They had been deployed to attack anti- government protesters in Libyan cities, including the capital, Tripoli, and Benghazi, which has seen some of the worst violence since the uprising began last week, the eyewitnesses said… ‘First the police attacked the protesters, but after they saw many of their people being killed, they sympathized and joined them. The army too,’ said Yehia.”

Europe’s Weak Response

Deutsche Welle reported on February 21:

“In a joint statement the European Council called for ‘an immediate end to the use of force against protesters and for all parties to show restraint’…

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quoted by her spokesman as being ‘shocked’ at the ‘great brutality’ employed by Libyan security forces against the protesters… Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle had harsh words for the Libyan leadership. ‘Nothing and nobody justifies the use of violence, murder and manslaughter to crush peaceful demonstrations,’ he said. ‘Anybody who seeks to intimidate citizens by threatening Libya with civil war shows that they are finished’… [The Local added on February 22 that Westerwelle also told broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday: “We can’t stand by and watch people be murdered.”]

“Italy, which has the closest business links with Libya among EU countries, appeared to be sending out contradictory messages with Foreign Minister Franco Frattini saying the EU should not ‘interfere’ in Libya… However, he suggested that Italy would not stand by and watch if reports of a self-proclaimed Islamic Emirate in Benghazi turned out to be true. ‘Would you imagine having an Islamic Emirate on the borders of Europe? This would be a really serious threat,’ Frattini said…

“The Libyan fallout is likely to be felt across Europe as oil prices continued to soar…”

In that regard, MoneyNews.com reported on February 22:

“Time magazine’s intelligence columnist reported on Tuesday that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has ordered his security forces to sabotage the country’s oil facilities, citing a source close to the government. In a column posted on Time’s website, Robert Baer said the sabotage would begin by blowing up pipelines to the Mediterranean…

“‘Among other things, Gadhafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities,’ Baer wrote. ‘The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya’s rebellious tribes: It’s either me or chaos.’ The growing violence in Libya has forced a number of oil companies to shut in production in Africa’s third-largest oil producer and disrupted flows from the country’s export terminals.”

Europe will not want to stand idly by too much longer if their pocket books are affected by rising oil prices…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Orders Killing of Gaddafi

AFP wrote on February 21:

“Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa on Monday that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Moamer Kadhafi should do so ‘to rid Libya of him.’ ‘Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Kadhafi should do so,’ Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric who is usually based in Qatar, told Al-Jazeera television. He also told Libyan soldiers ‘not to obey orders to strike at your own people,’ and urged Libyan ambassadors around the world to dissociate themselves from Kadhafi’s regime…

“Qaradawi has celebrity status in the Arab world… [and] has in the past defended ‘violence carried out by certain Muslims.’ The West accuses the cleric of supporting ‘terrorism’ because he sanctioned Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel. Britain and the United States have refused to grant him entry visas. The cleric, spiritual leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and longtime resident of Qatar, heads the International Union for Muslim Scholars.”

And there are still many naïve politicians and newscasters who claim that the Muslim Brotherhood is a harmless, non-violent, peaceful organization…

A Middle East Without Gadhafi

Haaretz wrote on February 21:

“President Shimon Peres said Monday he believed Libyan leader Muammer Gadhafi’s reign was nearing an end. It was an ‘irony of history’ that Gadhafi had recently expressed his desire for ‘a Middle East without Israel,’ but that it now looked like ‘there will be a Libya without Gaddafi,’ Peres said at the start of a four-day visit to Spain…

“The official part of Peres’ visit, which will mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and Israel, will begin on Tuesday… Israel and Spain established diplomatic relations on January 17, 1986, nearly four decades after the creation of the state of Israel. The lack of formal relations was attributed largely to Spain’s friendly relations with Arab countries during Francisco Franco’s 1939-75 dictatorship.

“However, as Spain joined NATO and the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union, in the 1980s, it began to increasingly seek a role as a mediator between Israel and Arab countries. Spanish-Israeli relations are also marked by the expulsion of all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity from Spain in 1492. King Juan Carlos has apologized for the expulsion, but descendants of the expelled Jews have demanded stronger gestures, such as being granted the Spanish nationality.”

Sadly, prophecy shows that Europe, including Spain, will again become very hostile towards Jews, and past atrocities will be repeated, and even worse things are supposed to happen.

Big Opportunity for the EU in the Middle East?

Deutsche Welle reported on February 21:

“The EU finds itself presented with an opportunity to lead in helping a number of Arab states move toward democracy… the EU will offer its ‘support to civil society, youth and enhanced economic cooperation’… the [new EU] declaration… will also include an offer of a ‘new partnership’ with Egypt and Tunisia…

“However, revelations over the extent of business ties, arms deals and energy reliance between EU member states and governments such as those in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain have led some analysts to question whether the policies of certain individual member states have been holding the EU back from taking a strong, unified approach…

“Italy has strong ties with Libya… while Greece also has strong business links… France has been exposed as having strong links to the former Tunisian regime, while Britain has deep investment in Libyan oil fields and lucrative arms deals with Bahrain… It is quite likely that an internal struggle is underway within the EU between the Scandinavian and Northern European countries horrified at the repression of demonstrators, and southern European Mediterranean countries more anxious to preserve investments and commercial relationships…

“…  it was the major powers inside the EU rather than the EU itself which led the calls for restraint when the protests began and issued statements on their own individual positions as the wave of unrest spread… this is a critical time for the EU in the region with many opportunities arising for it to establish a new set of relations through its immediate and future involvement. However, if the EU fluffs its lines again, the chance to lead in the remaking of the Middle East will be lost and its credibility irrevocably damaged.”

As the next article shows as well, the EU is still not totally unified, due to national interests of certain countries. The Bible says that even the final ten European nations or groups of nations will not be totally united, but they WILL obtain great strength in the military field (Daniel 2:40-43).

“The West Has No Leverage in Libya”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 22:

“Condemnation of the violence in Libya has been universal in Western capitals. But dictator Moammar Gadhafi shows no signs of calling a halt to the brutal repression of protests in the country. The West simply has no leverage in Libya… what can the West really achieve? So far, the collective indignation from all manner of government officials in Europe and North America has had precious little effect…

“The West, after all, has little influence in Libya. Oil riches make the North African country largely independent and diplomatic relations have long been difficult at best… Washington has little contact with Tripoli. Indeed, the country spent years on the black list of states which support terrorism. Only in 2008 were diplomatic relations re-established… the US doesn’t even have an ambassador in Libya. The last one was temporarily recalled after the WikiLeaks revelations.

“The US government is now also forced to rely on its European allies to exert pressure on Libya. Several EU states have working relationships with Gadhafi, not least as part of regular regional cooperation among the Mediterranean states. But the EU, once again, is divided in its approach. On Monday, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels strongly condemned the regime’s crackdown on protestors. But they weren’t able to agree on any sanctions.

“Demands for punitive measures made by Finland and other Scandinavian countries were rejected. Italy in particular has resisted sanctions because the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi doesn’t want to endanger its close economic ties with its former colony. It is also worried about a new wave of refugees from North Africa…

“British Foreign Minister William Hague spoke to Gadhafi’s second son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, and demanded an end to the bloodshed. The British government is one of Libya’s main contacts in the West… In recent years, Gadhafi’s son has been an important link between the two governments. He owns a house in London, is in his mid-30s and studied for a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics (LSE) from 2003 until 2008. He was regarded as a friend [of] the West and as a reformer, and he moved in the highest circles in London. His contacts included Prince Andrew… Blair even called Gadhafi junior a ‘family friend.’ But Saif al-Islam seems to have turned radical in response to the uprising. London observers could hardly believe their ears when he declared in a speech on Sunday that the Gadhafis would fight ‘to the last bullet.’”

“Europe Should Intervene Militarily in Libya”

Der Spiegel Online reported on February 24 about the less than thrilled reaction of the German press to the indecisive stance of Europe and Germany towards the Libyan disaster:

“Gadhafi on Thursday showed no signs of giving in to the mass protests which have gripped Libya for over a week. While large parts of north-eastern Libya appear to no longer be under government control, the regime is still trying to beat back demonstrators…

“Several European governments are looking into options at their disposal to put an end to the ongoing violence in Libya. US President Barack Obama likewise said on Wednesday that his government was pursuing a ‘full range of options’ to pressure Gadhafi into stopping the attacks on demonstrators…

“German commentators argue on Thursday that it is time for Europe to take action.

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The time for indecision has passed… it is time for Europe to stop playing the role of gentle admonisher… Even sanctions — such as travel bans or the freezing of assets — wouldn’t be enough… Europe must issue a credible threat. The best thing would be a COALTION WITH THE ARAB LEAGUE, Egypt and the African Union — a coalition which, outfitted with an United Nations mandate, could MILITARILY RE-ESTABLISH PEACE in Libya….’

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘… what about the United States? The global power has enough problems on other fronts. And Europe? There has been no lack of soft power, warm words and hot air… At least the European Union gathered the courage to stop all weapons deliveries to Libya which had been, hard as it is to believe, reliably delivered until now…. But what about sanctions? Threats of MILITARY OPERATIONS? The danger is in delay…”

These opinions are quite interesting, as according to the Bible, Europe WILL form a coalition with Arab nations (however, Egypt is not mentioned in that regard), and it WILL ultimately intervene militarily in the Middle East, undoubtedly with the stated desire to establish peace in the region. Europe recognizes that the “responsibility” for such action is placed on its shoulders. Due to its military engagement in other countries and its huge domestic problems, the USA is unable and unwilling to intervene militarily in countries such as Libya, and NATO just ruled out a military intervention in Libya, showing that Europe cannot rely on either the USA or NATO to take decisive actions.

Huge Demonstrations in Bahrain–Why Bahrain Matters…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 22:

“The Arab revolution has reached the tiny Gulf state of Bahrain, where Sunni rulers control a majority Shiite population. Western nations are following the protests with concern… The island nation has a smaller population than Munich, and more than half of its inhabitants are foreigners… the world is dependent on oil… and  two regional powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, are both seeking to exert influence in Bahrain…

“About 70 percent of Bahrainis are Shiites. The Al Khalifa ruling family, however, is Sunni…

“[The Sunni kingdom of] Saudi Arabia is nearby; dangerously so, in fact. From Pearl Square in Manama, the Sheikh Khalifa Highway leads to the King Fahd Causeway, which connects the island nation with… Saudi Arabia…

“There are old family and tribal ties between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, where one-10th of the world’s total oil production is pumped out of the ground every day. For centuries, Eastern Province has also been home to Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority… This explains why the House of Saud is currently feeling nervous. If the fury among Bahraini Shiites spreads to their fellow [minority] Shiites in Saudi Arabia, the world’s most important oil-producing region could descend into conflict… Tehran already sees Bahrain as Shiite territory and, therefore, as a sort of 14th province of the Islamic Republic of Iran…

“Since the 1990s, the United States has used Bahrain as a base for the Fifth Fleet, a military force for the Gulf region that currently consists of 6,100 marines and civilian personnel. The fleet is the core of Washington’s Iran containment policy. Bahrain is ‘a place run by an oppressive and corrupt little regime, long coddled by Washington because the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered there,’ writes former CIA analyst Graham Fuller. And like in Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, the question that arises in Bahrain is how much longer the United States and Europe can afford such an ugly status quo.”

Bahrain’s Survival Threatened

The Washington Post wrote on February 23:

“… what happens in tiny Bahrain might have outsize repercussions… The Shiite-led protesters in Bahrain are demanding that their Sunni royal family grant them equal rights and an equal voice, and Saudi Arabia is worried their campaign might give ideas to its own large Shiite minority…

“‘Although we are friends, the [Bahraini] leadership is afraid of the Saudis,’ said one Bahraini observer with close ties to Bahraini security officials… Hamad is likely to tell Abdullah ‘we still don’t need’ Saudi military assistance, said the Bahraini observer…

“In recent years, an expanded American military presence has provided a counterweight to Saudi influence. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet is docked just south of Manama, somewhat easing Bahraini fears of a Saudi invasion, Bahraini observers said.

“‘Bahrain’s survival really depends on two countries, the United States of America and Saudi Arabia,’ said Mansoor al-Jamri, editor in chief of the independent Bahraini newspaper al-Wasat.”

If Bahrain fell into the “wrong hands,” grievous economic and military consequences might ensue for the USA and Europe.

USA Vetoes Resolution Condemning Israel…and Loses International Standing

Haaretz wrote on February 21:

“After hesitating until the very last moment, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to have his envoy veto the UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements. The Palestinian-initiated proposal would have declared the Israeli settlement enterprise in the territories illegal. Fourteen members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, and only the U.S. veto kept it from being passed.

“The Palestinians lost the vote, but achieved their goal: They exposed for all to see the international isolation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration and embarrassed the U.S. administration by revealing it as two-faced.

“In explaining the veto decision, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, denounced the ‘illegitimacy’ of the settlements and stressed that Obama agreed with the resolution’s sponsors but had to oppose it for political reasons.

“Once again, the American superpower appeared to lose some of its prestige and international standing in order to defend the Israeli settlement enterprise, which enjoys the support of powerful patrons in Congress.

“Netanyahu celebrated his victory over Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but he should view the U.S. veto as a warning. The world’s patience over continuing construction in the settlements is wearing thin. The Palestinians are making suspension of building a prerequisite for negotiations, a position which has international support…

“Instead of fanning the flames in the region and further heightening Israel’s isolation he should work to defuse tension, to listen to the international community and to present a practical program for ending the occupation and the conflict. Instead of acceding to the demands of right-wing cabinet members and approving major building plans in the West Bank, he should recognize the diplomatic damage that the settlements cause Israel…”

No matter what the current US Administration is doing, it seems like it can’t win and find any support—not even in Israel. At the same time, Israel is finding itself more and more in total isolation.

Obamacare—Constitutional or Not?

Fox News wrote on February 22:

“A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit claiming that President Barack Obama’s requirement that all Americans have health insurance violates the religious freedom of those who rely on God to protect them. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a Christian legal group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, on behalf of five Americans…

“The case was one of several lawsuits filed against Obama’s requirement that Americans either buy health insurance or pay a penalty, beginning in 2014. Kessler is the third Democratic-appointed judge to dismiss a challenge, while two Republican-appointed judges have ruled part or all of the law unconstitutional. Kessler wrote that the Supreme Court will need to settle the constitutional issues.

“Three of the plaintiffs are Christians who said they want to refuse all medical services for the rest of their lives because they believe God will heal their afflictions. They say being forced to buy insurance would conflict with their faith because they believe doing so would indicate they need ‘a backup plan and (are) not really sure whether God will, in fact, provide,’ the lawsuit said. The two other plaintiffs have a holistic approach to medical care and prefer to pay for their health services out of pocket, in part because insurance often doesn’t cover their chosen methods of healing…

“Kessler rejected both arguments and ruled that Congress has the right to regulate health care spending under the Commerce Clause… She also said that anyone who objects to having health care for religious reasons can choose to pay the penalty instead…”

Same-Sex Marriages–Constitutional or Not?

The Associated Press wrote on February 23:

“In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a U.S. law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

“Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act ‘contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships — precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (U.S. Constitution’s) Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against.’…

“He noted that the Supreme Court has ruled that laws criminalizing homosexual conduct are unconstitutional and that Congress has repealed the military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy on gays in the armed forces.”

Heavy Defeat for Angela Merkel

Deutsche Welle reported on February 22:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) took a beating at Sunday’s state elections in Hamburg, obtaining just 21.9 percent of the vote – the party’s worst election results since World War II and a disappointment for Merkel as her party contests the first of seven crucial state elections this year. The opposition Social Democrats (SPD) won 48.3 percent of the vote, an increase from 34.1 percent in 2008. The SPD won 62 seats in the Hamburg state assembly, eking out an absolute majority…

“For Merkel, the result means the loss of three seats in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, making it harder for her government to push through federal legislation. In the last election in the northern city-state in 2008, the CDU’s share of the vote was 42.6 percent, more than double Sunday’s score. The drop of 22.1 percentage points was the steepest decline ever between two elections for the CDU.

“The result in Hamburg, where Merkel was born, will also send a signal to voters before the other state votes, especially in the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg where her CDU is also in danger of losing power in March.”

The mass-circulation Bild wrote on February 21:

“This election victory is a political tsunami!… For the SPD, the election year of 2011 could not have started any better. If the Social Democrats succeed in emulating their Hamburg success in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Berlin, we can look forward to some politically turbulent months.”

And Now… Guttenberg in Big Trouble…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 22:

“German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is under pressure to resign amid allegations he plagiarized parts of his Ph.D. thesis. Angela Merkel and other leading conservatives are worried the popular politician could fall, just when they need him to drum up votes ahead of crunch state elections…

“For days, fellow CSU members have been urging Guttenberg not to resign… everyone in the CSU knows that the future of their mandates and positions largely depends on this baron from the northern Bavarian region of Franconia…

 “The reaction in the media over the weekend and on Monday was generally devastating… Many Christian Democrats, including leading members of the party, feel that the entire affair could be extremely damaging. They sense that there could be much more to come…”

Deutsche Welle reported on February 23:

“German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s alma mater, the University of Bayreuth, on Wednesday revoked his doctorate in law amid allegations his thesis contained numerous plagiarized passages… [but] the committee did NOT determine whether Guttenberg’s infractions were intentional…
 
“The statement came after [Guttenberg had attempted to voluntarily relinquish his doctorate title and] German opposition lawmakers grilled Guttenberg over the plagiarism charges at a four-hour-long session in Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin… ‘You have cheated, you have deceived, you have lied,’ said Thomas Oppermann of the Social Democratic Party. ‘I find it intolerable that the chancellor decided an impostor and liar should still belong to the cabinet.’

“On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had ‘full confidence’ in her defense minister… Several German law professors had accused Guttenberg of blatant plagiarism, listing up to 70 passages in which he did not correctly cite their work. As tempestuous as Wednesday was for the defense minister, his troubles are not over yet. State prosecutors in Bavaria have confirmed at least two criminal complaints have been filed against him. The complaints allege Guttenberg violated copyright laws, and lied in a previous sworn statement that his thesis was entirely his own work.
 
“Many of Guttenberg’s political allies are keen to see him remain in office, since he is Germany’s most popular politician by far. Guttenberg, who has been listed as a possible future chancellor, has dismissed opposition calls for him to resign.”

… Or Is He?

The Local wrote on February 23:

“German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has grown more popular despite a plagiarism scandal… 73 percent of people are happy with Guttenberg’s political work, compared to 68 percent before accusations he copied large chunks of this doctoral dissertation emerged. A similar number (72 percent) said his decision to give up his doctorate title was sufficient to allow him to stay minister. Only 24 percent of those surveyed said he should step down…

“Internet sleuths have set up a collaborative website, or Wiki, to comb through the 475 pages of zu Guttenberg’s work, concluding there was evidence of unattributed copying on 270 of them. When the 14 pages of content and 65 pages of footnotes are taken into account, this amounts to more than two-thirds of the dissertation…

“Media commentators on Wednesday were divided on whether the minister should step down.

“The leftist Tageszeitung wrote: ‘How can one go on believing such a man in the future, when he testifies on critical events, for example regarding the German army?… The fact that she [Angela Merkel] is prepared to keep a liar in the cabinet in order to preserve her balance of power isn’t just unworthy of her office. It is a scandal…’

“But the centre-left Süddeutsche Zeitung, while saying zu Guttenberg should be ‘ashamed’ of his actions, nevertheless said it could work in his favour. ‘Could the plagiarism affair even clear the path to the chancellery for him?’ asked the respected daily. ‘”Look,” says the baron to the people, “I’m one of you. A person who has weaknesses and who makes mistakes.”’”

Developments in Germany’s political landscape are of great importance. We know from Scripture that a strong political personage will arise in continental Europe, most likely in Germany, who will play a wide-ranging role in world affairs. We are certain that Angela Merkel is not that person; so we are to watch for further developments.

Gorbachev Dismantles Russian Myth of Democracy

The Associated Press reported on February 21:

“Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday described Russia as an imitation of democracy and accused its current rulers of conceit and contempt for voters, in his harshest criticism of the government yet. Gorbachev criticized Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his protégé, President Dmitry Medvedev, for saying that they will decide between them who should run for president in Russia’s March 2012 presidential vote.  ‘It’s not Putin’s business. It must be decided by the nation in the elections, by those who would cast ballots,’ Gorbachev said at a news conference…

“Gorbachev… called for a probe into last week’s statement by an assistant to the judge who convicted oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky who said that the judge did not write the verdict and read it against his will in the Moscow courtroom. Judge Viktor Danilkin found Khodorkovsky guilty in December of stealing oil from his own oil company and extended his prison term through 2017. The assistant, Natalya Vasilyeva, who is also the spokesperson for the court, said the verdict was imposed upon Danilkin when it became clear his own ruling would not please top Russian officials behind the politically driven case…

“Putin has been seen as the driving force behind the unrelenting legal attack on Khodorkovsky, who challenged him early in his presidency and has been imprisoned since 2003… Gorbachev also denounced the main pro-Kremlin United Russia party as a ‘bad copy’ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union…”

It is illusionary to think that Russia will ever become a democracy. Rather, it is destined to form a confederacy with other more or less non-democratic nations, such as China, Japan, India, North Korea, and Iran (Persia).

“Marital Status” Irrelevant for Church of England’s Clergy

Mail On Line wrote on February 19:

“The Church of England has infuriated traditionalists by dropping the requirement for clergy to disclose their marital status when they apply for new posts. Church officials say the changes have been introduced to mirror new secular employment and equality laws aimed at eliminating discrimination. But traditionalists say they further undermine the Christian view of marriage by hindering parishes from finding out whether candidates for jobs are divorced or in a gay ‘marriage’.

“One senior cleric said: ‘This opens the floodgates to divorce and remarriage being accepted as normal in the Church because they are no longer seen as a significant factor in appointments. It would also mean parishes being unaware until they have made their decisions that a clergyman’s personal life may be out of step with its position on issues such as civil partnerships. This is a slippery slope. It is another sign the Church is abandoning its traditional values.’

‘The Church has… bowed to liberal pressure over gay ‘marriage’ and ruled in 2005 that gay clergy can have civil partnerships but should refrain from sex…

“Rod Thomas, whose conservative evangelical group Reform represents 500 clergy, said the changes were unnecessary as the Church was not required to change its rules to reflect the rest of society.  ‘More significantly, the Bible makes clear that the personal circumstances of an individual are very important in deciding whether they should be leaders in God’s Church,’ he said.”

Sadly, the standards in our Western societies are so far removed from true Christianity, that nothing should surprise us anymore. The Church of England’s latest pronouncement is just one more proof as to how much our nations and religious leaders have turned their backs on God and His Word.

Christian Churches For Muslim Worship?

Fox News wrote on February 18:

“Two Protestant churches are taking some heat from critics for opening their church buildings to Muslims needing places to worship because their own facilities were either too small, or under construction… Dr. Alex McFarland, a Christian theologian and radio talk show host, charged these churches ‘have crossed the line from respect and tolerance, to … affirmation and endorsement…’ Dr. Jason Hood, an Evangelical theologian, says there are other ways Christians can share the love of Christ without building a bridge too far…

“McFarland says it’s good to remember the ‘political ramifications’ of Muslim-Christian interaction. ‘What if we went to Muslims and said “Hey, can we use your mosque for the worship of Jesus, the incarnate son of God, the one that said ‘no one comes to the Father but through him.”’ I doubt there would be a lot of reciprocity’. McFarland says the groups run the risk of creating something called ‘Chrislam’ – a combination of the two faiths that essentially ignores… the exclusive claims of both Christianity and Islam.”

The Bible seems to indicate that ultimately, prior to Christ’s return, one large religion, claiming to be Christian, will combine most religions under its umbrella.

Massive Space Storm Overdue

Mail On Line wrote on February 22:

“The world is overdue a ferocious ‘space storm’ that could knock out communications satellites, ground aircraft and trigger blackouts – causing hundreds of billions of pounds of damage, scientists say. Astronomers today warned that mankind is now more vulnerable to a major solar storm than at any time in history – and that the planet should prepare for a global Katrina-style disaster.

“A massive eruption of the sun would [send] waves of radiation and charged particles to Earth, damaging the satellite systems used for synchronising computers, airline navigation and phone networks. If the storm is powerful enough it could even crash stock markets and cause power cuts that last weeks or months… The chances of a disruption from space are getting stronger because the sun is entering the most active period of its 11 to 12-year natural cycle.

“The world got a taster of the sun’s explosive power last week when the strongest solar eruption in five years sent a torrent of charged plasma hurtling towards the world at 580 miles per second. The storm created spectacular aurorae and disrupted radio communications…

“Solar storms are caused by massive explosions on the sun. The explosions release waves of X-rays and ultraviolet radiation which smash into the Earth within minutes, disrupting radio signals and damaging the electronics of satellites. They are followed ten to 20 minutes later by a burst of energetic particles which cause even more havoc with satellites – and then 15 to 30 hours later by supercharged plasma which collides with Earth’s magnetic field. The plasma create the aurora – or Northern Lights – and can induce electrical currents in power lines and cables.

“Jane Lubchenco, head of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said: ‘This is not a matter of if, it is simply a matter of when and how big. The last time we had a maximum in the solar cycle, about 10 years ago, the world was a very different place. Cell phones are now ubiquitous; they were certainly around  but we didn’t rely on them for so many different things…’”

Christ prophesied that we can expect strange cosmic disturbances in the heavens, which will affect the earth (Luke 21:25;  compare Joel 2:30).

Big Earthquake in New Zealand

The Telegraph wrote on February 22:

“More than 150 are feared dead after a major earthquake hit Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s biggest cities, in what the prime minister described ‘New Zealand’s darkest day’… The Queen, who is also New Zealand’s head of state, expressed her sadness at the 6.3 magnitude quake, saying she was ‘utterly shocked’ by the news…

“A state of emergency was declared following the quake, which struck at 12.51pm on Tuesday local time (2351GMT Monday), when office blocks and shopping centres in the city centre were bustling with people… Officials fear the death toll could double amid reports that more than 200 were trapped in collapsed buildings and wreckage of homes. Bodies were seen lying in the streets, untended until emergency services were able to reach them… Mr Key, the prime minister who has flown to the city, described what he saw as ‘utter devastation’…

“William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain stood ‘ready to provide any assistance that we can… The ties that bind the UK with New Zealand are very close…’

“The chaotic scenes were far different from last September’s ‘miracle’, when no one was killed in a 7.1 magnitude quake. Tuesday’s much shallower quake, just two miles below the surface… has been described as the worst earthquake to hit the country in 80 years.”

Christ prophesied that in these last days, we will hear more and more about “earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7).

Mysterious Death of 100 Pilot Whales in New Zealand

AFP wrote on February 22:

“More than 100 pilot whales died in a mass stranding at a remote New Zealand beach, conservation officials said Monday… Pilot whales up to 20 feet (6m) long are the most common species of whale seen in New Zealand waters.

“… Earlier this month, 14 [pilot whales] died after beaching near the South Island tourist city of Nelson and 24 perished last month near Cape Reinga in the country’s far north. Scientists are unsure why pilot whales beach themselves…”

It is interesting that this particular mass killing occurred just before a strong earthquake struck Christchurch.

“Frisians Ward Off Evil Spirits With Bonfire Festival”

The Local wrote on February 22:

“North Frisians lit their traditional Biikebrennen bonfires on Monday night, celebrating the new year and warding off evil winter spirits in one of northern Germany’s most important folk festivals. More than 60 fires burned in coastal communities along the North Frisian Islands in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, in addition to some in nearby Denmark’s South Jutland region…

“Communities in the area often save their discarded Christmas trees from which they build massive towers for burning. A strawman symbolizing winter is also often burned, which has led some historians to conjecture that the practice derives from the pagan midwinter feast.”

Pagan customs and traditions are prevalent in our “Christian” societies. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?—Man’s Holidays and God’s Holy Days.”

Anniversary of Execution of White Rose Members

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 22 about the anniversary of the execution of Hans and Sophie Scholl, members of the German White Rose movement. The following was stated:

“Hans and Sophie Scholl are among those most closely associated with the anti-Hitler movement in Nazi Germany. The young siblings from Munich were part of the White Rose, a resistance group committed to non-violence. From June 1942 to February 1943, they secretly printed anti-war leaflets with slogans like ‘Down with Hitler!’ and ‘Freedom!’ which they distributed to the public. The group has been praised by many prominent personalities, including anti-fascist German novelist and Nobel Prize-winner Thomas Mann. To this day, the White Rose stands for courage, bravery and political responsibility…
 
“‘Do you and your children want to suffer the same fate that befell the Jews?’ asks the fifth and second-to-last White Rose leaflet, which was written shortly before the group’s arrest by the Gestapo on February 18, 1943. ‘Do you want to be judged in the same way as your abusers? …Should we forever be the people hated and rejected by the whole world? No! So distance yourselves from the National Socialist subhumanness! Tear off the coat of indifference that covers your heart! Make a decision before it’s too late!’
 
“Franz Josef Müller, now 86, was a member of the White Rose. As a 17-year-old, he protested together with Hans and Sophie Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf and university professor Kurt Huber against the crimes of the Nazi regime… the activities of the White Rose [spread] beyond just Munich in southern Germany, reaching all the way to Hamburg in the north… Most of the Hamburg-based White Rose members had an academic background…

“Traute Lafrenz [a medical student in the early 1940s, now aged 91] helped deliver White Rose leaflets from Munich to Hamburg, where they were to be distributed. She was arrested by the Gestapo and later freed by American soldiers. After the war, she immigrated to the United States, where she worked as the director of an institution for mentally handicapped children.
 
“Lafrenz… was not the only Hamburg resident arrested due to connections with the White Rose – over 30 others suffered the same fate. Eight of them did not survive the prosecution, including Hans Conrad Leipelt who had helped Lafrenz transport the leaflets. Many of the accused were demonstratively tried for high treason at the so-called People’s Court and sentenced to death.
 
“Thanks to errors in the investigation process, Franz Josef Müller received ‘only’ a jail sentence. After the war he studied law and became a teacher.”

Hans and Sophie Scholl, children of a Protestant pastor, as well as others paid with their lives for what they believed in. They had the strong desire to warn their fellow citizens and make them aware of the atrocities of the Nazi regime, but they did not resort to violent means in doing so. The Church of God has the duty and commission to warn the world of impending disaster, due to the way we live, but we must not resort to violence, either. How dedicated and zealous are WE to finish the Work which God has given us to do—even if it costs our lives?

Egypt and the Middle East in the News

We are publishing quite a few articles on the developments in Egypt and in the Middle East, to establish a few facts: Firstly, it is far from certain that the highly privileged army, which gained control through a putsch, will give up their power; secondly, the West has been a rather helpless bystander in the Egyptian developments and is still being viewed as loser, and it is also being blamed (especially the USA) for the political vacuum in the Middle East and the potential chaos or a (military or perhaps even radical Muslim) dictatorship which might arise, while many Western leaders seem to be willing to ignore the real dangers of the radical Muslim Brotherhood organization; and thirdly, Israel is on high alert and “ready” for all eventualities, realizing that it might end up in total isolation in the Middle East.

In the light of biblical prophecy, we also know this: Egypt will become hostile towards the state of Israel; Israel will be receiving a “wound” (a military defeat, Hosea 5:13) in a coming war; Europe, under German leadership, will enter into a confederation with some Arab nations against Israel, but Egypt is not listed as one of those allies (Psalm 83); Israel (modern descendants of the ancient house of Israel, including the USA and Great Britain; as well as modern descendants of the house of Judah, i.e. the Jewish people) and Egypt will ultimately be conquered by the core nations of a United States of Europe; and at the time of Christ’s return, descendants of the ancient house of Israel will be found as enslaved captives in Europe and (among other nations) especially Germany, while Jews will be found as enslaved captives mainly in the land of Egypt (Deuteronomy 28:68; Hosea 9:3; 11:10-11; Isaiah 11:11-12; 27:13). For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.” )

For additional biblical proof, please listen to Norbert Link’s half-hour video-recorded lecture,  “The Future of Egypt.”

Egypt’s “Misguided Quest for Democracy”

Reuters reported on February 12:

“Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt’s president… ‘He had very tough things to say about the United States,’ said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party…

“‘He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: “We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,'” Ben-Eliezer said.

“‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,'” he quoted Mubarak as saying.

“U.S. support for pro-democracy elements in Iran has not led to regime change in the Islamic Republic, and Hamas, a group Washington considers to be a terrorist organization, won a 2006 Palestinian election promoted by the United States. Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 after a coalition government it formed with Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas collapsed in a power struggle.

“Ben-Eliezer said Mubarak expanded in the telephone call on what he expects will happen in the Middle East after his fall. He contended the snowball (of civil unrest) won’t stop in Egypt and it wouldn’t skip any Arab country in the Middle East and in the Gulf. He said ‘I won’t be surprised if in the future you see more extremism and radical Islam and more disturbances — dramatic changes and upheavals,’ Ben-Eliezer added.”

Mubarak might be quite right with his assessments.

The West and Israel Lost an Important Ally

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 11:

“In the end, the refusal of pro-democracy protesters to back down sealed his fate. The people on the streets of Egypt insisted that Mubarak leave. But the West stood by the leader almost to the end, despite the fact that the despot had turned his country into a police state and plundered its economy… Mubarak was valuable to the West… US presidents, French heads of state, British prime ministers — all maintained close relationships with the Egyptian president. He was a welcome guest in Germany too and met with almost all of Berlin’s top politicians. Indeed, Germany had even been mentioned as a possible place of exile for Mubarak, before he put such speculation to rest.

“When then-German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher visited Cairo in 1982, Mubarak extravagantly praised the politician, ‘in the name of Allah the Merciful,’ as ‘my dear brother.’… The Mubaraks had a high opinion of Germany. In 2004, the University of Stuttgart awarded ‘honorary citizenship’ of the university to the president’s wife, Suzanne Mubarak, for her social commitment and her dedication to the rights of children and women. When the Egyptian president was treated for a slipped disk in a Munich hospital that same year, he was visited by a number of prominent politicians, including Bavarian Governor Edmund Stoiber, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder… In March 2010, he was received by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, ahead of having a gall bladder operation in Heidelberg… Berlin never made genuine demands for reform. Instead, Mubarak was seen as a bulwark in the struggle against radical Islam…

“In Egypt, Mubarak has long been considered a tyrant. The country was under a perpetual state of emergency. Mubarak kept his grip on power using anti-terror laws and elections that were obviously rigged. He turned his country into a police state… It was Egypt’s economic decline, however, that fuelled the greatest anger… Reforms undertaken that were intended to consolidate the national budget largely benefitted the middle and upper classes. The suffering of the poor merely continued to grow — and with it, the rage… The Mubarak family’s riches are said to be worth around $40 billion, wealth accumulated through, for example, commissions received through defense contracts. Arab media outlets report that the money has been securely invested abroad.

“… many have never forgiven Mubarak for declaring peace between Israel and the Arabs as ‘his mission.’ All across the Arab world, some still continued to disparage Mubarak as a ‘Zionist’ or ‘lackey of the West’ right up to his resignation. Pious Muslims also considered him to be their enemy because of the repression of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.”

A Vacuum in the Middle East

The Washington Post wrote on February 12:

“President Hosni Mubarak’s decision to step down Friday after three decades in power presents the Obama administration with a political vacuum where a stalwart ally once stood, shaking up the Middle East in ways that present as much peril as promise for U.S. interests in the region… Mubarak leaves behind the rigid institutions and laws of a police state… and a powerful army with a large stake in who leads the country.”

Historic Shift in the Middle East

The Wall Street Journal wrote on February 12:

“The fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak marks a historic shift in the Middle East, away from the power structure America has leaned on for the past three decades and toward a new one still being shaped by a demographic and technological wave that the U.S. and its allies haven’t learned to control… the emergence of a Western-style civilian government is far from certain… Certainly in the short term, until the nature of the new Egyptian government becomes more clear, both the U.S. and its friends in the region face a set of problems and uncertainties.

“America’s Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, alarmed at the idea that Mr. Mubarak’s friendship with America wasn’t enough to save him and angry that the Obama administration didn’t do more to stand by him, may step back a bit from the U.S. Less friendly governments, such as Syria’s, are likely to conclude that one of Mr. Mubarak’s problems was that he was too close to Washington to satisfy those in the streets of Cairo, and become even less susceptible to overtures from the U.S.

“In Israel, which sees the Mubarak departure as a blow to the foundation of Arab-Israeli peace, hawkish parties skeptical of the peace process are likely to rise in power by stressing the unreliability of Arab partners. Israel’s willingness to take chances for peace with Palestinians is likely to diminish further amid the uncertain climate.

“One of the wild cards now is Iran. Its theocratic leaders may well read the Egyptian upheaval as a sign that the tides of history are moving in their direction—away from the U.S. and toward revolution. That could make them even more recalcitrant in the face of international demands that Iran curb its nuclear program and its support for radical forces… Ironically, Mr. Mubarak left power on the day Iran marked the 32nd anniversary of its own, quite different revolution.

“Indeed, in the long run, much of American foreign policy depends on how states in the region—friends as well as foes—handle the powerful new forces demography and technology have unleashed.”

The fact that Mubarak’s resignation occurred on the 32nd anniversary of the Iranian revolution is no “coincidence.” God is in control and He has a time table.

Israel’s Bleak Future

The New York Times wrote on February 12:

“As the streets of Gaza exploded with celebration on Friday night with masked Hamas militants marching defiantly to cheer the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Israelis reacted with quiet and deep concern because the regional leader on whom they had relied most was suddenly gone…

“’We don’t know who will be running things in the coming months in Egypt, but we have to keep two things in mind,’ one top official said. ‘The first is that the only example we have of this kind of thing in the region is Iran in 1979… The second is that if Egypt pulls back in any way from its peace with Israel, it will discourage anyone else in the region, including the Palestinians, from stepping forward…’

“Earlier this week, Mr. Netanyahu did speak publicly in Jerusalem about Egypt before the European Friends of Israel. He laid out three possible situations if Mr. Mubarak quit… ‘First, Egyptians may choose to embrace the model of a secular reformist state with a prominent role for the military. There is a second possibility that the Islamists exploit the influence to gradually take the country into a reverse direction — not towards modernity and reform but backward. And there’s still a third possibility — that Egypt would go the way of Iran, where calls for progress would be silenced by a dark and violent despotism that subjugates its own people and threatens everyone else’…

“Eli Shaked, a former ambassador to Cairo for Israel, gave a bleak analysis of Egypt’s prospects, saying by telephone that it had too few institutions, educated people and political parties to move to a democratic system…”

Israel Soon in Isolation?

Newsmax reported on February 11:

“George Birnbaum, an international political consultant who once served as chief of staff to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is warning that a domino-style collapse of moderate Arab regimes could lead Israel to war. Birnbaum, an expert in global politics, cited Friday’s collapse of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and the growing turmoil in nearby Jordan as ominous signs for Israel…

“‘If that country [Jordan] goes, and in Bahrain and other countries, suddenly you’re going to find Israel in a similar position it was in 1948, where it’ll be isolated, surrounded by Islamic countries looking to see its destruction — with the one exception that Israel has the ability to defend itself this time. But that creates another problem,’ he added, ‘which is a regional if not greater war that the world will have to face.’ Birnbaum said Israel could be ‘in great danger.’”

Israeli Military Ready for All Eventualities?

AFP wrote on February 14:

“The Israeli military is ‘ready for all eventualities’ as the Arab and Muslim world undergoes ‘an earthquake,’ Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday just days after Egypt’s regime collapsed.

“‘An earthquake is shaking the whole Arab world and a large part of the Muslim world and we don’t yet know how these things will turn out,’ the premier said at a swearing-in ceremony for new army chief Major General Benny Gantz. ‘We are ready for all eventualities because we know that the foundation of our existence, and our capacity to convince our neighbours to live in peace with us, is based on the Israeli army,’ he said during a ceremony at his Jerusalem office.”

This kind of misguided trust is one cause for the biblically-prophesied fact that Israel will be defeated in a soon-coming war. The foundation of the peaceful and lasting existence of ANY country must be in God—not in an army. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Should YOU Fight in War?”

Egypt’s Military Coup

The Associated Press wrote on February 12:

“It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt’s 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days… ‘This is in fact the military taking over power,’ said political analyst Diaa Rashwan…

“The military was clearly torn between its loyalty to the regime and the millions of protesters. Mubarak is one of their own, a former air force commander and a hero of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. But as the president continued to defy the growing crowds and cling to power, the Egyptian army moved more definitively toward seizing control for the first time in some 60 years.”

Growing Concern Over Egyptian Army’s Goals

Deutsche Welle reported on February 13:

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces – a body of some 20 generals – is now Egypt’s executive body… The statement also confirmed Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi as Egypt’s de facto head of state…

“Protesters have demanded the immediate release of political prisoners, the lifting of a state of emergency used by Mubarak to crush opposition, the closure of military courts, fair elections and a swift handover of power to civilians. An army source said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will ban meetings by labor unions or professional syndicates, effectively forbidding strikes, and tell people to get back to work.“

Reuters wrote on February 14:

“About 2,000 people gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Monday, halting traffic only hours after military police and soldiers had cleared the last few dozen pro-democracy activists from the area… The army had appeared to be in full control of the square… Then hundreds of police marched through, unhindered by troops, saying they wanted to show solidarity with the revolution… ‘We and the people are one,’ chanted the policemen.”

The Independent wrote on February 14:

“Two days after millions of Egyptians won their revolution against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, the country’s army – led by Mubarak’s lifelong friend, General Mohamed el-Tantawi – further consolidated its power over Egypt yesterday, dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution…

“[There is] a growing concern among those who overthrew Mubarak that the fruits of their victory may be gobbled up by an army largely composed of generals who achieved their power and privilege under Mubarak himself… But a clear divergence is emerging between the demands of the young men and women who brought down the Mubarak regime and the concessions – if that is what they are – that the army appears willing to grant them… The army has promised to drop the emergency legislation ‘at the right opportunity’, but as long as it remains in force, it gives the military as much power to ban all protests and demonstrations as Mubarak possessed…

“As for the freeing of political prisoners, the military has remained suspiciously silent. Is this because there are prisoners who know too much about the army’s involvement in the previous regime? Or because escaped and newly liberated prisoners are returning to Cairo and Alexandria from desert camps with terrible stories of torture and executions by – so they say – military personnel…

“Now, of course, it is Egypt’s turn to watch the effects of its own revolution on its neighbours. Scarcely a family in Egypt was unaware yesterday of the third day of protests against the president in Yemen and the police violence which accompanied them. And it is remarkable that just as Arab protesters mimic their successful counterparts in Egypt, the state security apparatus of each Arab regime faithfully follows the failed tactics of Mubarak’s thugs.

“Another irony has dawned on Egyptians. Those Arab dictators which claim to represent their people – Algeria comes to mind, and Libya, and Morocco – have signally failed to represent their people by not congratulating Egypt on its successful democratic revolution. To do so, needless to say, would be to saw off the legs of their own thrones.”

Doubts About Army’s Direction

Der Spiegel wrote on February 14:

“With Hosni Mubarak out of power and the generals temporarily at the helm, Egypt appears to be on a path to democracy… German commentators have doubts about the army’s commitment to true change…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The generals of Cairo have been part of the Mubarak regime for 30 years: draped with medals and rewarded with privileges… The military owns land, its factories produce food, televisions and kitchen furniture. It is obvious that part of the income flows into the pockets of the men in uniform. And now these men are supposed to selflessly dismantle a regime in which they flourished?’

“Conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘Unlike in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, the regimes of Arabia are too different, they aren’t united by a common ideology…’

“The business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘The demonstrators have welcomed the cold military putsch, they even demanded it, and the generals were all too happy to meet that request. But it’s unclear whether they will also stick to the second part of the deal and hold elections in half a year — a glance at history shows that that isn’t very likely…’

“Conservative Die Welt writes: ‘Much of the army’s leadership was trained in the Soviet Union and will hardly be able to act as a convincing agent of change.’”

Open Defiance Against Egyptian Army

Haaretz reported on February 17:

“Millions of Egyptian cell phone users on Tuesday evening received the following text message from the ‘Armed Forces’: ‘The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces urges honest citizens to take part in efforts to reach a [safe] haven.’ This was a poetic way of warning the public against continuing to strike, continuing to close the country’s bank and stock market, and continuing slowdowns in industrial production.

“Despite these warnings, workers in key industries continued to stage strikes Wednesday. Some 18,000 workers in leading textile factories went on strike, as did maintenance and customs employees at Cairo’s airport. Because of the airport strike, 11 flights were canceled, news agencies reported. The demands of striking workers range from higher wages to the dismissal of senior executives over corruption charges…

“In an open act of defiance against the army, 31 human rights organizations issued a joint statement asserting that the committee appointed by the military council to change the constitution appears to include a coalition of members of the old regime and the Muslim Brotherhood. They also criticized the fact that not a single woman serves on this committee.”

Egypt No Safe Place for Women

The Associated Press wrote on February 17:

“Now the reported attack on a senior U.S. television correspondent during the final night of the 18-day revolt has shown that the threat of violence against women in Egypt remains very real. CBS has said its chief foreign correspondent, Lara Logan, went through a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating by a frenzied mob in the square during Friday’s celebrations of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster… Logan was released from a U.S. hospital and was recovering Wednesday in her Washington-area home, as her story raised issues often left unaddressed in the Middle East.

“An Egyptian security official said he was unaware of any investigation into the attack on Logan…

“Women in Egypt – and in many areas of the Arab world – are still afraid to report sexual assault or harassment, fearing they and their families will be stigmatized… Only rarely do women come forward. The killing of women by male relatives for perceived violations of a strict moral code are often either covered up by the families or the assailants, if prosecuted, face light sentences.

“Sexual harassment remains widespread in Egypt, and even women covered up by veils and long robes in strict Islamic dress say they are not immune. A 2008 survey by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights found that 83 percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women in Cairo said they had been harassed…

“Police witnessing harassment have a history of not interfering or even joining in, going after female political activists in particular… A proposed law banning sexual harassment and outlining criminal punishment was never put to a vote to parliament. It’s unlikely to see any action during Egypt’s ongoing political turmoil, with parliament dissolved and elections not expected for several more months.”

Unfortunately, as CNN’s Piers Morgan reported on February 15, the same hostile anti-women environment is not only limited to the Middle East, but it also seems to be prevalent in the U.S. Army. It was claimed that the Army is engaging in a systematic cover-up, and sexually harassed female soldiers and officers are basically prevented from successfully claiming sexual harassment, including rape.

Ill-Advised Ideas

The Local wrote on February 14:

“The German government wants to help Egypt develop democratic institutions as it prepares for free elections, a senior official in the Foreign Ministry…

“‘This entire process should and must remain in the hands of Egyptians themselves, but we are ready to offer any help that might be desired,’ said Hoyer, a minister of state at the Foreign Ministry and member of the Free Democrats… He suggested sending election monitors to the country soon so that they could observe the process from the very beginning. According to him, election fraud often begins as early as the creation of voter rolls.

“Hoyer called on western nations to engage the Muslim Brotherhood in dialogue and said he had never understood the fear that many have of the organization. In addition, he added, a group that could get 20 to 30 percent of the vote in an election cannot simply be ignored.”

On February 15, Der Spiegel Online wrote the following about the “father figure” of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood:

“He is a hypermarket of dogma, dispensing advice on subjects ranging from mother’s milk to suicide bombing. But few have as much influence on Sunni Muslims as the Muslim televangelist Youssef al-Qaradawi. He says what the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt thinks — and he provides clues to how they might act… Qaradawi is the father figure of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s best-organized opposition group. The Brotherhood is sure to play a part in deciding what path Egypt will now take…

“Qaradawi advocates establishing a ‘United Muslim Nations’ as a contemporary form of the caliphate and the only alternative to the hegemony of the West. He hates Israel and would love to take up arms himself. In one of his sermons, he asked God ‘to kill the Jewish Zionists, every last one of them.’ In January 2009, he said: ‘Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by [Adolf] Hitler’… the mufti isn’t opposed to 100 lashes for gays and lesbians if that is the punishment imposed by a Sharia judge…”

In light of these facts, the words of former US President Jimmy Carter—as the ones of German senior official in the Foreign Ministry, Hoyer–are nothing short of shocking. Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, but who has also been described as the worst president of the USA in recent times, said, according to The Statesman, dated February 15:

“‘I think the Muslim Brotherhood is not anything to be afraid of in the upcoming (Egyptian) political situation and the evolution I see as most likely,’ Carter said. ‘They will be subsumed in the overwhelming demonstration of desire for freedom and true democracy.’”

Some simply do not understand, as the next article proves as well.

Civil War in US Government?

Newsmax reported on February 13:

“Is a civil war brewing between the Obama White House and Hillary Clinton’s State Department? A New York Times story published this weekend suggests one may have erupted already.

“On Saturday, the Times, quoting numerous White House sources, sought to explain the Obama administration’s erratic policy statements during the Egyptian crisis. The paper reported that Obama was ‘seething’ over State Department officials’ statement suggesting that the administration did not want a quick transition of power in Egypt, with President Hosni Mubarak stepping down from his office immediately. Obama felt that the State Department ‘made it look as if the administration were protecting a dictator and ignoring the pleas of the youths of Cairo.’

“As Secretary Clinton and her special envoy Frank Wisner repeatedly called for an orderly transition that would include President Mubarak remaining in office for at least a period of time, Obama and his team studiously sought to undermine the State Department stance. The Times states that Mr. Obama ‘was furious’ about Clinton’s and Wisner’s statements, ‘as Mr. Obama was demanding that change in Egypt begin right away.’

“Secretary Clinton was not the only figure who opposed Obama’s view. Clinton was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who also were advocating that Obama adhere to a cautious and more traditional foreign policy approach toward the situation in Egypt… According to the Times, the Obama White House even recruited Democratic Sen. John Kerry to appear on ‘Meet the Press’ last Sunday to contradict Wisner’s statements that reflected Secretary Clinton’s views. Wisner’s comments ‘just don’t reflect where the administration has been from day one,’ Kerry said on the program.”

Confusion abounds, and America might be digging its own political grave…

Israel and USA Main Losers?

Haaretz wrote on February 12:

“The Muslim Brotherhood movement in Jordan, the country’s main opposition group, described Saturday the downfall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a ‘historic victory’ with the United States and Israel as the main losers.”

Libya’s Gaddafi: Muslims Should Join Against the West

Haaretz reported on February 13:

“Palestinian refugees should capitalize on the wave of popular revolts in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of Israel until it gives in to their demands, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday. Gaddafi is respected in many parts of the Arab world for his uncompromising criticism of Israel and Arab leaders who have dealings with Israel…

“Gaddafi also issued a call to Muslim countries to join forces against Western powers. He said the world was divided into white, denoting the United States, Europe and their allies, and green for the Muslim world. ‘The white color has decided to get rid of the green color,’ Gaddafi said. ‘These countries should be united against the white color because all of these white countries are the enemies of Islam.’”

Libya is another country to watch. Historically, there have been strong alliances between Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia, and it is indicated in Scripture that a similar configuration could happen again compare Ezekiel 30:1-5; Jeremiah 46:1-2, 8-10).

Protests in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen as Unrest Sweeps Arab World

Haaretz reported on February 16:

“Inspired by revolts that have toppled Arab rulers in Tunisia and Egypt, protesters in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of their own heads of state.

“Protesters in Bahrain poured into the Gulf kingdom’s capital on Wednesday to mourn a demonstrator killed in clashes with security forces. Over a thousand joined a funeral procession for the man, who was shot dead Tuesday when fighting broke out at the burial of another protester… Bahrain is considered the most vulnerable among Gulf Arab states to popular unrest… [Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.]

“Hundreds of Libyan protesters took to the streets of the country’s second largest city on Wednesday demanding that the government be ousted, in a sign that the unrest of the region has spread to the North African Arab nation…

“Government loyalists wielding batons and daggers clashed with anti-government protesters in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday. Police were unable to keep the two sides apart… The threat of turmoil in Yemen, which is struggling to quash a resurgent wing of al-Qaida and keep rebellions at bay in its north and south, pushed [President Ali Abdullah] Saleh to promise to step down in 2013 and offer dialogue with the opposition… Many say any uprising in Yemen would unfold slowly and with more bloodshed, in a country where one in two people own guns… Of the 23 million people in Yemen, often close to collapsing into a failed state, 40 percent live on less than $2 a day and a third suffer from chronic hunger.”

Iran’s Dictators–Afraid and Aggressive

The New York Times wrote on February 15:

“A day after the most significant street protests in Iran since the end of the 2009 uprising there, members of the Iranian Parliament called on Tuesday for the two most prominent opposition leaders to be prosecuted and sentenced to death for stirring unrest.

“The call came as confrontations between government authorities and protesters inspired by the Tunisia and Egypt revolutions continued to unfold elsewhere in the region, with violent clashes in Bahrain and Yemen.

“The protests in Tehran and other Iranian cities on Monday brought thousands onto the streets, defying an official prohibition and reviving memories of the mass protests that convulsed Iran after the disputed presidential election in 2009… Initial reports said one person died in the clashes.

“The Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, accused the United States and its allies of providing support to the opposition following uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt…

“The size of the protests in Iran was unclear. Witness accounts and news reports from inside the country suggested that perhaps 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators in several cities defied strong warnings and took to the streets.

“The unrest was an acute embarrassment for Iranian leaders, who had sought to portray the toppling of two secular rulers, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, as a triumph of popular support for Islam in the Arab world…

“The Iranian authorities have shown that they will not hesitate to crush demonstrations with deadly force. Other governments across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf also moved aggressively to stamp out protests on Monday.”

Deutsche Welle reported on February 16:

“The German government has condemned the Iranian regime for its crackdown on opposition protesters, calling it ‘especially worrying and disturbing.’… The regime has called a rally in Tehran for Friday to express ‘hatred’ against the opposition. Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert added that Germany was offering its full support for the protesters.

“US President Barack Obama… had harsh words for the Iranian regime, saying that unlike in Egypt, Iran’s response to protests has been ‘to shoot people, beat people and arrest people.'”

Haaretz wrote on February 17:

“The United States said Wednesday that it is monitoring two Iranian ships in the Red Sea which Israel said earlier in the day were set to cross the Suez Canal. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday that two Iranian warships planned to sail through the Suez Canal en route to Syria. He called the move the latest ‘provocation’ by Tehran and hinted at an Israeli response.”

The Unwanted Consequences of the Middle Eastern “Revolution”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on February 15:

“The mass influx of migrants to Italy’s Lampedusa island following the popular uprising in Tunisia is fast becoming a problem for all of Europe… On Tuesday, the Italian government formally requested €100 million ($135 million) in aid from the European Union to help cope with what it has called a humanitarian crisis on the Mediterranean island…

“The left-wing Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘… Tens of thousands of people from the nations of North Africa, and tens of thousands more from sub-Saharan Africa who may use the Mediterranean countries as transit states, could soon make their way to Europe…’”

New York City Capital of Diseases

The New York Times wrote on February 10:

“When New York City’s health department revealed last weekend that three people had contracted cholera, it was a reminder that the city is not just a world capital of arts, business and the like — but also of exotic diseases. If a disease has cropped up in the world, there is a good chance it will eventually find its way to New York City through the diverse travelers who cross the city’s borders… In 2002, bubonic plague, more commonly associated with the 14th century, found its way to New York City through two travelers who came from a ranch in New Mexico, where the disease is endemic in flea-bitten wild animals like prairie dogs…

“Malaria is a steady presence in New York City, with about 200 cases a year — a far greater incidence than that of another mosquito-borne disease, West Nile, which infected 42 New Yorkers.” Christ warned that because of our sins, our cities will be plagued with disease (Deuteronomy 28:27, 35, 61).

Attack on USA with WMDs Certain

Newsmax reported on February 15:

“The probability that the U.S. will be hit with a weapons of mass destruction attack at some point is 100 percent, Dr. Vahid Majidi, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, tells Newsmax. Such an attack could be launched by foreign terrorists, lone wolves who are terrorists, or even by criminal elements, Majidi says. It would most likely employ chemical, biological, or radiological weapons…”

Germany Takes Over…

As we reported in our last Update (No. 479), Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext are planning a merger. The following articles say more about this outstanding and extraordinary endeavor:

The New York Times wrote on February 15:

“NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse agreed on Tuesday to a $10 billion all-stock merger, combining two of the world’s biggest stock exchanges into a trans-Atlantic powerhouse. The union of the operators of the New York Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the biggest example of consolidation among exchanges, as established players contend with smaller electronic markets that have seized market share… But the deal has stoked fears that New York and its iconic Big Board are ceding prominence as a major financial capital… Mr. Francioni of Deutsche Börse will be chairman of the combined company, while Mr. Niederauer of NYSE Euronext will be chief executive. Deutsche Börse will hold 10 seats on the 17-seat board of the combined company, because its shareholders own about 60 percent of the merged exchange operator’s shares… One of the biggest remaining questions is government approval…  The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.”

On February 15, the German mass tabloid Bild wrote with glowing praise: “Deutsche Boerse takes over power at Wall Street.”  It continued: “Under German leadership, the new Number 1 in the world is forming.” It also said that “the Americans are afraid of the German take-over.” They said that some American papers had the headlines, “The Germans Are Coming.”

Der Spiegel Online added on February 15: “The Germans are playing the role of the senior partner and want to dominate the world market in the future…”

Deutsche Welle wrote on February 16:

“Many traders on the New York Stock Exchange were taken by surprise last week when the news ticker announced that Wall Street was planning to merge with the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, Deutsche Börse. At first, many traders thought the New Yorkers would be buying up the Germans. When they found out it would be the other way around, more than a few turned a little pale… ‘Wall Street is… an American icon that’s going to be taken over by the Europeans,’” one trader said.

The article continued:

“The Blue Room, one of the trading areas, is tipped to become the ‘Hofbräuhaus’ beer hall. In the cafeteria, the beloved pastrami sandwiches are rumored to be about to give way to wiener schnitzel. People are joking that they had better sign up for German language classes… The stock exchange in New York has been in existence since 1792. It was under a Buttonwood tree not far from ‘Wall Street’ that the first traders signed an agreement and began to trade commercial paper. Two centuries later, New York is still considered the finance capital of the world, although it’s not sitting on its throne [as] confidently as it once did.”

Euro Will Rise, and Dollar Will Devalue Fast

International Business Times wrote on February 7:

“While many on Wall Street are quite pessimistic about the prospects of the euro currency, [Douglas Borthwick, head of trading at Faros Trading, a foreign exchange advisory and execution firm] thinks there are fundamental reasons to believe the dollar will devalue even faster. Below are the five points of his long-euro/short-dollar thesis.

“1. The US is in a weaker fiscal shape than Europe. 
“2. There is still plenty of ‘flight to quality’ remaining in the dollar.
“3. The value of the euro is being talked down by officials from core Europe.
“4. There is more to the story of Latin American/Asian central banks buying the dollar to devalue their currencies.
“5.  The natural course of action for the US to take is to devalue the dollar.”

A Two-Speed Europe…

AFP wrote on February 11:

“A Franco-German pact for closer economic policy coordination in the eurozone must not lead to the creation of a ‘two-speed’ Europe, the EU’s budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski warned Friday. ‘Now we are almost on the crossroads towards a two-speed Europe,’ Lewandowski said, referring to plans by Germany and France for unified, cross-border policies in a bid to start governing the 17-nation eurozone economy as one.

“Non-euro members, such as Bulgaria, Poland and others ‘should try to keep the door open, to be part of the decision-making machinery and the future of the eurozone,’ said the Polish-born commissioner. ‘We should not allow — after being “in”– to be “out” again because the eurozone is constructing a sort of internal European Union,’ he said.

“Germany and France have recently drawn up a six-point programme covering a wide range of topics from wages, corporation tax to bank bailouts, to help start governing the 17 economies that share the single currency as one… Leaders of the 17-nation eurozone are to hold a special summit in mid-March to discuss ways of avoiding a replay of the debt crises that shook the single currency last year. Non-euro countries have not been invited to attend.”

The EU Is at a Turning Point…

The Economist wrote on February 10:

“When Germany and France disagree, everybody complains about paralysis in Europe. When they agree, the protest is about unacceptable diktats. So when Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy pushed an EU summit in Brussels to approve their ‘competitiveness pact’, which calls for closer co-ordination of economic policies among countries using the euro, an outcry was only to be expected. Yet its vehemence took them aback.

“Over a long and bad-tempered lunch, almost every other EU leader railed against something. Ireland rejected the idea of aligning EU corporate taxes (or at least the tax base) as a danger to its low-tax growth model. Belgium and Luxembourg resisted calls to abolish their system of index-linked wages. The Baltics said they should not raise their pension age as fast as west Europeans because their people tend to die younger. Poland denounced plans for separate summits of euro-zone leaders for being divisive. From Stettin to Trieste, many easterners feel, a curtain is descending again. This time it bears the symbol of the euro…

“Whatever the details, one thing is clear: the EU is at a turning-point. The debt crisis is forcing the 17 euro-zone countries to pool economic sovereignty to a degree that was unthinkable before. And their relationship with the ten non-euro outsiders, ranging from eurosceptical Britain to east Europeans who are keen to join the single currency, has been thrown into doubt…

“In a different era, all this might have caused great worry in Britain and, as a result, generated even more tension within the EU. But the new British government, deeply hostile to further EU integration, seems content to stand aside even as the euro zone binds itself closer. If that means a two-speed Europe, so be it: Britain thinks its outer lane, presently inhabited by the likes of Poland and Sweden, is faster.

“By tradition Germany is strongly pro-European… By her own history, as a daughter of East Germany, Mrs Merkel is averse to division within Europe… Mrs Merkel will not allow the euro to collapse… Germany will make itself heard—at a time of crisis, the euro zone needs its biggest creditor. But to be followed, Germany still needs the support of France. Mrs Merkel has yielded to Mr Sarkozy on matters of form, even if the substance is mostly German. For domestic reasons, both leaders want to show they can lead Europe, and even to dictate terms… Some complaints from fellow Europeans may be a necessary part of saving the euro and leading its members towards greater integration…”

The Bible shows that out of the EU, ten nations or groups of nations (“core Europe”) will emerge (Revelation 17:12-13; Daniel 2:41-43). These will in all likelihood be composed of nations which have adopted the euro, while those outside the eurozone will not be part of it. This is not to say that all nations presently within the eurozone will constitute the ten groups of nations; nor, that all the current eurozone members will remain in the eurozone. Also, we can expect more bickering going on even within the current and future eurozone countries, as the ten leading nations or groups of nations are described as partly strong and partly fragile (compare again Daniel 2:42). But they will be united in their fight against the returning Jesus Christ (Daniel 2:34, 44; Revelation 17:14).

The Financial Times reported on February 14:

“David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, has been warned by his coalition allies that he risks sidelining Britain in a two-speed Europe if he adopts an ‘empty chair’ policy while eurozone countries led by France and Germany take key economic decision.”

Based on Scripture, we believe that Great Britain will not join the eurozone and that it will adopt an “empty chair.” We don’t foresee that Britain will ultimately even remain to be a part of the EU, and hostility will develop between continental Europe (especially core Europe) and Great Britain. In this regard, the next article is very interesting.

Britain Stands Up to Europe

The Daily Mail wrote on February 14 about the “Day we stood up to Europe: In an unprecedented move, MPs reject European court’s ruling that prisoners must get the vote.” It continued:

“MPs mounted an historic defence of Britain’s sovereign right to make its own decisions last night by defying demands from the European courts to hand prisoners the vote. They voted overwhelmingly to maintain a 140-year-old ban on convicts ¬taking part in elections because, they said, those who commit a crime have ‘broken their contract with society’.

“The decisive stance plunged Parliament into an unprecedented stand-off against the European Court of Human Rights… After six hours of impassioned debate, MPs voted by 234 to 22… to defy a ruling from the ECHR that the ban must be overturned. Dozens of Conservative backbenchers lined up to insist that after decades of toeing the line, the time has come for Britain to tell unelected Strasbourg judges that they have overstepped their authority.

“Experts said the vote left Britain’s relationship with the European court in ‘uncharted territory’. It places the Prime Minister under intense pressure to launch a defining challenge against Strasbourg…

“Britain’s Parliament, for too long supine in the face of the erosion of its powers and prerogatives by European institutions, has finally struck back… Britain has taken a small but significant step towards regaining control of her destiny.”

Multiculturalism Has Failed

The Telegraph reported on February 11:

“French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday declared that multiculturalism had failed, joining a growing number of world leaders or ex-leaders who have condemned it. ‘We have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him,’ he said in a television interview in which he declared the concept a ‘failure’.

“Prime Minister David Cameron last month pronounced his country’s long-standing policy of multiculturalism a failure, calling for better integration of young Muslims to combat home-grown extremism. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia’s former prime minister John Howard and former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar have also in recent months said multicultural policies have not successfully integrated immigrants.”

As a consequence, the struggles between “Christian” Europe (especially Catholic Europe) and Islam (especially radical Islamists) will continue.

Mother Durga or Mother Mary?

On February 17, The Huffington Post published the following interesting article. The parallels between Mother Durga and Mother Mary are unmistakable. Of course, the Bible prohibits worship or adoration of either one:

“The Devi Mahatmya or the Great Glory of the Goddess is a 5th century myth that offers potent teachings relevant to this day and age. The heroine of this story about the victory of good over evil is Durga, Goddess of Divine Justice, Invincible Power, and Impenetrable Compassion. Her name, Durga, means fortress, and speaks to the unassailable essence of our inherent nature. Durga is also known as the Remover of Fear and Difficulty for she always comes to the aid of any who call on her in distress…

“Goddess Durga… is the impenetrable place of calm within our hearts from which we can choose actions that promote harmony and unity rather than selfish harmful acts… Mother Durga promises to return whenever any of her children are in distress. As we face crises on both a personal and planetary level, might we call on this ancient divine female force of compassion and courage to help us confront and transform that which threatens the wellbeing and contentment of all beings on this planet?

“The Devi Mahatmya teaches that the grace of goddess is unconditional and will never be withheld from anyone… We need only invoke Durga to help us remember our true nature and that divine love conquers all.”

Rather than worshipping the true and merciful loving God of the Bible, many are looking for “compassionate” substitutes—such as the “Virgin Mary” or Far Eastern “goddesses.”

Biggest Solar Flare in Years

CBS reported on February 16:

“… after years of relative quiet on our nearest star, activity has picked up as of late, resulting in a solar flare that marks the strongest since 2006… After the initial blast of radiation accompanying the coronal mass ejection (CME) — the first of its magnitude to occur in the new solar cycle of activity — a huge cloud of charged particles is headed toward Earth…  meteorological officials say the flare has disrupted radio communications in southern China. Scientists have pointed out that activity on the sun is now ramping up ahead of an expected solar maximum around 2013.”

Rare Earthquake in Germany

The Local wrote on February 14:

“An earthquake measuring at least 4.4 on the Richter scale shook the Rhine-Main region on Monday. According to local authorities, earthquakes of such magnitude are rare in Germany… The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 1:43 pm and lasted several seconds, was located near the town of Nassau an der Lahn, some 28 km east of Koblenz. Some stations were reporting the earthquake at 4.8 on the Richter scale.

“No damage has been reported although the trembler did set off several alarms and gave people far into the neighbouring state of Hesse a good shaking… The area lies along a seismically active zone associated with the Rhine Rift Valley, which stretches from Basel in Switzerland to the Benelux countries.

“Serious earthquakes are rare in Germany, though blasting in coal mining areas of Saarland is known to trigger tremors. A quake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale in Saarwellingen in 2008 reportedly knocked over chimneys and caused power outages, sparking protests against coal mining.”