Watchman Newsletter

Peter Schiff on 2009-2010 USA Hyperinflation

Video News Live (Link) - Peter Schiff (February 7, 2009) Video

US seeks to rework foreign ties

BBC (Link)  (February 7, 2009)

The new US administration is determined to strike a new tone in its relations around the world, Vice-President Joe Biden has told a major security forum. It also wants to press the "reset button" in ties with Russia after a "dangerous drift" in recent years, and was open to talks with Iran, he said. But while the US was ready to do more, it would expect more from its partners.

The new US vice-president also warned no strategy in Afghanistan could succeed without Pakistan. He said that the deteriorating situation in the region was a security threat for all countries, not just the US.

Mr Biden's wide-ranging speech to international leaders and security experts in Munich set out foreign policy directions for the Obama administration and also covered climate change and the global economic crisis.

Israel strikes at Gazan tunnels

BBC (Link)  (February 7, 2009)

The Israeli military fired missiles at four smuggling tunnels and a weapons depot in Gaza late on Friday, it said. The attacks came after two rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, the military said. The tunnels link the Gaza strip with Egypt and are used to smuggle goods and weapons into Gaza.

The latest strikes come nearly three weeks after Israel ended a devastating 22-day offensive in Gaza where more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed. During the fighting, 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed.

Friday's strikes come just days before Israel's general election on Tuesday.

Arab League Chief Kicks off Tour to Mend Inter-Arab Rifts

Monsters & Critics (Link) - Deutsche Presse-Agentur (February 7, 2009)

Sana'a, Yemen - Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa paid a brief visit to Sana'a on Saturday in the first leg of a tour aimed at healing the rifts among Arab states exposed by the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Moussa held talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on 'efforts to achieve inter-Arab reconciliation and solidarity,' Yemen's state news agency Saba reported.

In remarks to reporters following the brief meeting, Moussa warned that 'the Arab world is going through a dangerous situation and the current Arab split affects every aspect.' Arab countries were mired in deep rifts last month over how to deal with the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, with some nations calling for tough action but others opting for a more moderate approach.

White House grabs 2010 census power

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Drew Zahn (February 7, 2009)

In a move with major political implications for voting, districting and representation in future elections, the Obama administration has demanded oversight of the 2010 U.S. census.

The move has Republicans crying foul, alleging that transferring the power of census-taking from the Commerce Department, which normally oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, to the White House is an attempt to manipulate redistricting of congressional seats.

"This action appears to be motivated by politics, rather than the interests of our country," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement. "The United States Census should remain independent of politics; it should not be directed by political operatives working out of the White House."

The Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers reports a senior Republican aide telling her that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has no business overseeing the headcount that will shape the future of U.S. elections. "With all of its political implications," the aide reportedly said, "hijacking the census from the Commerce Department and letting it be run out of Rahm's office is like putting PETA in charge of issuing hunting permits."

[Comment] Europe should close ranks around Sarkozy

EU Observer (Link) - Peter Sain Ley Berry (February 6, 2009)

The recession is proving more vicious and widespread than even the gloomiest Jeremiahs prophesied only a short time ago. All across Europe the consequences are being felt. We are witnessing revolts, demonstrations, strikes, protectionist sentiments. Governments are assembling aid packages, for an economic sector or for their economies in general, on an unprecedented scale. Looking to make sense of it leaders and experts at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos have scarcely been able to do more than whistle in the dark. It's all beginning to look a little out of control.

Yet if we don't want to prolong the pain of this recession, if we want to come through it after as short a period as possible, then it will be essential for all the countries of the European Union and for the vast plurality of its citizenry to redouble their efforts to work together for the common good. We make doubt the efficacy of a certain policy as it affects an individual economy and sector - but to pursue a single co-ordinated plan is likely to prove a far more certain route out of this bunker than for 27 different countries to be pulling in 27 different directions.

Congressional pay raise 'ludicrous' during recession

One News Now (Link) (February 6, 2009)

The head of a conservative civil liberties organization says while President Obama has called on Americans to make some sacrifices in the way they live, members of Congress should also be making personal sacrifices and remember that they exist to serve the people.

John Whitehead is president of The Rutherford Institute in Virginia. On his video blog he recently posted an op-ed entitled "The Culture of Corruption in Congress." In the video he suggests that America's leaders on Capitol Hill are "living like kings" and committing "abuses of office."

The constitutional attorney says it is absolutely ludicrous that Congress has given itself a pay raise during a time when nearly a million people have lost their homes in foreclosure and almost 40 million Americans are living under the poverty line.

Senators reach deal to cut stimulus bill to $780B

Breitbart (Link) - AP (February 6, 2009)

With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with key Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for reviving the economy. "The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of two GOP senators who signaled support for the bill.

Officials put the cost of the measure at $780 billion in tax cuts and new spending combined. No details were immediately available, and there appeared to be some confusion among senators about the price tag.

The agreement capped a tense day of backroom negotiations in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, sought to attract the support of enough Republicans to give the measure the needed 60-vote majority. In addition to Collins, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he would vote for the bill.

Netanyahu Poised to Return to Power

Spiegel Online (Link) - Christoph Schult (February 6, 2009)

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister 10 years ago, is preparing to celebrate a comeback when Israelis go to the polls on Feb. 10. His personality is as polarizing as ever but his right-wing Likud party represents the new consensus following the recent Gaza war.

Ronald Lauder, 64, the youngest son of the deceased cosmetics entrepreneur Estée Lauder, is normally a reserved sort of person. A multi-billionaire, Lauder avoids large crowds. He is also familiar with the ins and outs of diplomacy, after having been the US Ambassador to Austria in the mid-1980s.

Last Monday, however, Lauder abandoned his diplomatic reserve for a moment. Wearing a dark pinstriped suit with a pocket handkerchief, he was standing on a stage at the Hotel Inbal in Jerusalem, introducing a "close friend." The delegates to the World Jewish Congress, of which Lauder is the president, had gathered in the room.

Although he was identified on the screen as the "Israeli opposition leader," when Benjamin Netanyahu walked into the room, Lauder introduced him as the "prime minister of Israel." Whether it was intentional or a Freudian slip, the delegates did not seem particularly irritated. In fact, they applauded enthusiastically.

The Israelis will elect a new parliament next Tuesday, and it looks as though Bibi, as Netanyahu is called by friends and foes alike, is likely to be the new head of the government. His Likud Party is still leading in all the polls. It is predicted to win up to 27 of the 120 seats in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Kadima, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has closed the gap somewhat with the latest polls on Friday showing the party winning 23 seats. However, with the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party set to win 18 or 19 seats, the parties on the center-right spectrum still seem poised to capture a stable majority.

But what would a Netanyahu victory mean for Israel, the Palestinians and the fragile Middle East region and the rest of the world? After a three-week war in the Gaza Strip, which just ended, but with no real hope for peace?

WE Surround Them

Glenn Beck (Link) (February 6, 2009)

GLENN: So I'm going to just ask you right now just to think of these things and just answer out loud. Just say to yourself yes or no. Yes or no. Is this who I am? Is this what I believe? Because I believe you and I agree on most of these.

1) Yes or no: Do you believe America is a good place, that we've lost our way over the years, that we have done bad things but generally speaking we tried hard. We try to make amends. We have tried to do the right thing. Just like everybody else, we fail from time to time and we have truly lost our way in the last 20 years. But gosh, if you look at America, she's good and our founders were good and our founding documents are good. We've just strayed too far away from them. Yes or no.

2) Yes or no: I believe in God. I may not go to the same church or synagogue or mosque as the majority of people in America, but I believe in God and he is the center of my life, and God does not tell people to behead others or to persecute others that see God in a different way. As long as that god is not telling them to persecute others. Yes or no.

3) Yes or no: It is my responsibility to try to be better and a more honest person than I was yesterday. Sometimes I fail, I'll make mistakes, but it's my main mission to be better than I was personally than I was yesterday.

4) Yes or no: The family is sacred. I and my spouse are the ultimate authority under God when it comes to my family. I raise my family, and that comes with a grave responsibility. If I fail, I answer to God.

5) Yes or no: If you break the law, you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6) Yes or no: I have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that is not a guarantee of equal results.

7) Yes or no: I work hard for what I have, and I will share it with others that I choose when I choose, should I choose. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8) It is not un-American for anyone to disagree with my opinion, but my opinion or others' opinions may be anti-American. Anti-American rhetoric would be anything that is destructive to the Constitution and our country as our founders understood it.

9) And the last one is the government works for me. The government answers to me. I do not answer to the government.

Biden Urges Passage of Stimulus Despite Voter Backlash

The Wall Street Journal (Link) - Susan Davis (February 6, 2009)

Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged today that Democrats could face political repercussions in 2010 for their support of the $900 billion economic stimulus package.

“But when we do [approve it], I’m sure you’re going to be nailed in ads, ‘Well they voted on that’ 30 second ads,” Biden told roughly 200 members of the House Democratic Caucus gathered here for their three day annual retreat. “I promise you as [a colleague] once said to me, ‘I’ll come campaign for you or against you, whichever will help you the most in your district.’ And so will the president because, again, we’re all in this together.”

The vice president also offered some trademark candor about the prospects of success. He recalled a recent White House meeting with the president and senior aides in which they were discussing the many challenges the country faces. “If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there’s still a 30% chance we’re going to get it wrong,” was his message at the meeting.

UN halts Gaza aid over 'thefts'

BBC (Link)  (February 6, 2009)

The UN aid agency in Gaza says it has suspended all aid shipments, accusing the Hamas government of seizing hundreds of tonnes of food supplies. Ten lorries carrying flour and rice were taken from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the UN's Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) said.

Hamas admitted a "mistake" had been made and says it will return the goods. But Unrwa says deliveries will not restart until it has assurances that such seizures will not happen again.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Hamas must immediately release the seized aid shipments. He also called on Hamas "to refrain from interference with the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza".

Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis after Israel's recent three-week offensive. About half the population is dependent on UN food aid. Israel intensified a blockade on the territory 19 months ago when Hamas took over the territory. The lifting of the blockade is among Hamas' demands for agreeing a long-term truce with Israel.

UN to probe Hamas for use of children

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Ruth Eglash  (February 6, 2009)

The United Nations is ready to address Hamas's use of children as human shields during last month's IDF offensive in Gaza, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. "We have not yet dealt directly with the human shield issue, but we will now mention it in our reports," Radhika Coomaraswamy said in an exclusive interview following a four-day visit to the region.

"It is still very difficult for us to say that it was actually happening and we still need to conduct a full investigation into what exactly took place... but we are not denying that it happened; it is absolutely possible that Hamas was using its civilians as human shields," she said.

However, Coomaraswamy said that the UN's policy not to meet with leading members of the Hamas government - because it was officially considered a terrorist organization - seriously hampered all types of humanitarian relief work in the Gaza Strip. "It makes all our humanitarian jobs very difficult, because we cannot meet with Hamas at a political level," said Coomaraswamy, who this week met with high-level Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials, including PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad, as well as with many children in both Gaza and Ashkelon to hear about the conflict from a more personal angle.

Obama confused - Abortion is Killing of Innocents

One News Now (Link) - Charlie Butts (February 6, 2009)

President Obama revealed his stance on pro-life issues at Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast. During his first prayer breakfast in Washington, President Obama discussed the peaceful coexistence of different religions. He denounced death-dealing terrorism and then made this statement: "There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being." (See earlier article)

Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, recalls that Obama is the most pro-abortion president in America's history. "There's several times he's said things to that effect, that you cannot kill an innocent person, an innocent human being," he notes. "He just doesn't make the connection, obviously, that the unborn child is an innocent human being and that he supports that kind of killing."

Scheidler points to a disconnect in Obama's thinking, as well as in the minds of his colleagues. "[Only] if somehow we could get him and most of his staff and the following of Barack Obama to see that all abortion is the killing of an innocent human being," he laments. He adds that the difference should be obvious to the president when as many as 300,000 people participated in the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, just two days after his inauguration.

United Nations' threat: No more parental rights

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Chelsea Schilling (February 5, 2009)

A United Nations human rights treaty that could prohibit children from being spanked or homeschooled, ban youngsters from facing the death penalty and forbid parents from deciding their families' religion is on America's doorstep, a legal expert warns.

Michael Farris of Purcellville, Va., is president of ParentalRights.org, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association and chancellor of Patrick Henry College. He told WND that under the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, or CRC, every decision a parent makes can be reviewed by the government to determine whether it is in the child's best interest.

"It's definitely on our doorstep," he said. "The left wants to make the Obama-Clinton era permanent. Treaties are a way to make it as permanent as stuff gets. It is very difficult to extract yourself from a treaty once you begin it. If they can put all of their left-wing socialist policies into treaty form, we're stuck with it even if they lose the next election."

The 1990s-era document was ratified quickly by 193 nations worldwide, but not the United States or Somalia. In Somalia, there was then no recognized government to do the formal recognition, and in the United States there's been opposition to its power. Countries that ratify the treaty are bound to it by international law.

Although signed by Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., on Feb. 16, 1995, the U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty, largely because of conservatives' efforts to point out it would create that list of rights which primarily would be enforced against parents.

Sen. Stabenow wants hearings on radio 'accountability'; talks fairness doctrine

Politico (Link) - Michael Calderone (February 5, 2009)

This morning, radio host Bill Press brought up the recent closing of liberal station Obama 1260 when speaking with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and talked about whether there needs to be a balance to right-wing talk on the radio dial.

BILL PRESS: Yeah, I mean, look: They have a right to say that. They’ve got a right to express that. But, they should not be the only voices heard. So, is it time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine?

SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.

BILL PRESS: Can we count on you to push for some hearings in the United States Senate this year, to bring these owners in and hold them accountable?

SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that’s gonna happen. Yep.

Netanyahu secretly warns Hamas

WorldNet Daily (Link) (February 5, 2009)

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu – leading by a wide margin ahead of next week's prime ministerial elections – has secretly issued a stern warning to Hamas that if its rocket campaign continues once he's in power, he will not hesitate to eliminate the terror group's leadership in both the Gaza Strip and Syria, WND has learned.

The warning is particularly strong, since Hamas' leadership in Syria is protected by the Damascus regime. Israel traditionally shies away from threatening attacks on Syrian soil. The Jewish state took great care during its 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon to not strike targets too close to the Syrian border for fear of bringing Damascus into the conflict. One year later, though, Israel targeted a nascent Syrian nuclear reactor being built with aid from North Korea.

According to both Israeli and Palestinian sources intimately familiar with the threats, Netanyahu this week conveyed a secret message to Hamas through a third Arab party in which he stated he will undoubtedly be Israel's prime minister next week. Netanyahu's message warned if Hamas' terrorist attacks continue from Gaza, he could target its top leaders in both Gaza and Syria even if such actions would result in a confrontation with Syria.

Hamas' overall chief, Khaled Meshaal, and other top Hamas leaders, reside openly in Syria. "I'm very serious about this," Netanyahu's message continued, according to the sources.

Obama backs down over 'Buy America' after EU warns him not to start a global trade war

Mail Online (Link) - Kirsty Walker (February 4, 2009)

Barack Obama has signalled he will step back over his controversial plans to 'Buy American' after he was embroiled in a war of words with Britain and the EU. 'I agree that we can’t send a protectionist message,' he said in a television interview last night. 'I think it would be a mistake, though, at a time when worldwide trade is declining, for us to start sending a message that somehow we’re just looking after ourselves and not concerned with world trade,' he told Fox TV.

His comments came after senior figures warned the move would risk creating a new economic Iron Curtain between the EU and America, and accused the new President of making a 'major mistake under pressure'.

MySpace kicks out 90,000 Sex Offenders, Connecticut AG says

CNN (Link) (February 4, 2009)

MySpace.com has identified and removed 90,000 convicted sex offenders from its popular social-networking site, according to one of the dozens of state attorneys general who pressured the site to beef up its safety standards.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who spearheaded the campaign to subpoena MySpace, told CNN Radio that he found the number "appalling."

"These convicted, registered sex offenders clearly create profiles seeking to prey on children," he said. "This revelation is totally appalling and unacceptable, and this shocking revelation, resulting from our subpoena, also provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain ripe with sexual predators."

All the president's tax cheats

One News Now (Link) - Michelle Malkin (February 4, 2009)

You never get a second chance to make a first post-inaugural impression. Less than three weeks into his first 100 days, Barack Obama has left an indelible mark on his nascent presidency: the mark of incompetence and hubris. Despite the administration's much-touted wealth of bright minds and high bars, the transition has been a complete disaster.

In a double whammy on Tuesday, tax troubles and ethical clouds forced the withdrawal of not one but two high-profile Obama nominees. These come on the heels of former Commerce Secretary-nominee Bill Richardson's withdrawal due to a pay-for-play probe in New Mexico and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's "tax goofs" involving his failure to pay $43,000 in federal self-employment taxes for four separate years -- until, that is, he was nominated for the Treasury post. Thorough vetting, it seems, is an inconvenient process -- a pesky "distraction," if you will -- in the Land of Hope and Change.

'We're on a collision course with Syria'

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Tovah Lazaroff (February 4, 2009)

A military confrontation with Syria is likely to occur in the near future, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau, warned on Tuesday. Such a clash almost occurred in the summer of 2006, and Israel was now close to returning to that point, he said.

"We're on a collision course with Syria," Gilad told the ninth annual Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. "We need to try and reach a peace agreement with Syria," he said, warning that if Israel failed to do so, "there will be rockets in large numbers targeting Tel Aviv."

Israel should not place its faith in the fact that the Syrian border has been quiet since the end of the Yom Kippur War, he went on. Damascus has continued to support Israel's enemies and to send them weapons. The missiles that hit Israel during the summer of 2006 were from Syria, not Iran, he noted.

"In the space of two years, we could face a hostile entity on our eastern border - from a nuclear Iran through Syria and down to Hizbullah and Hamas," Gilad said. What if Damascus were to acquire nuclear weapons? he asked, stressing that despite what people might be saying, Syria was not weak.

2009: A Resurgence of Eugenics?

Old-Thinker News (Link) (February 3, 2009)

As the world moves further into economic chaos, eugenics, an old idea cloaked under modern terminology, is making a comeback. During these times it is easy to see how a resurgence and re-packaging of eugenics could come about. Do you have more than two children? Your carbon footprint has been deemed unacceptable. Your economic burden on society cannot be tolerated during unprecedented economic times. The growing population of elderly individuals will be an incredible burden on a faltering system, we are told. Some governmental think tanks see younger generations pursuing euthanasia policies as an option.

Eugenics "went underground" after WWII, but continued under the guise of population control and environmentalism, proceeding partly with the aid of Rockefeller family wealth. Rather than focus on "quality control" the emphasis was on "quantity control". One of the first books to tie these ideas together post-WWII, titled Our Plundered Planet, was written by Fairfield Osborn, who in 1921 served as the President of the Second International Congress of Eugenics in New York.

Today, we see calls for one or two child policies to be implemented to fight global warming. The Times recently reported, "Couples who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned." The Times article reports that Jonathon Porritt, who directs the United Kingdom's Sustainable Development Commission, is calling for abortion and contraception to fight global warming.

Obama administration shaken by nominee withdrawals

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - AP (February 3, 2009)

President Barack Obama's fledgling administration was shaken by heavy political blows Tuesday when two top nominees withdrew under the cloud of tax problems.

Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, who had battled in recent days to save his nomination as Health and Human Services secretary after revealing he failed to pay more than $120,000 in taxes, said he was stepping aside to avoid being a distraction.

His move came less than three hours after Nancy Killefer withdrew her candidacy to be the nation's first chief performance officer for the federal government, explaining in a letter to Obama that she feared her own tax issues "could be used to create . . . distraction and delay."

Tuesday's messy political developments threatened to blunt Obama's effort to take his economic message directly to the American people through a series of interviews with every national television network.

Obama increasingly has run up against the stark realities of Washington politics as he spent the early days of his administration trying to stiffen ethics requirements for his administration and struggled with congressional Republicans to win bipartisan support for stimulus spending and tax cuts to pull the country out of its worst economic swoon in 80 years.

Is groundwork for 'global governance' being laid?

One News Now (Link) - Chad Groening (February 3, 2009)

According to Cliff Kincaid, president of America's Survival, recently confirmed U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is being urged to lay the foundation for "global governance" by considering "international taxation" measures to loot more money from U.S. taxpayers.
 
Kincaid says the idea of a global IRS was included in the report The Global Agenda 2009, which was discussed at the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Davos.
 
"Most Americans have lost thousands and thousands of dollars, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars, because of the destruction of their retirement accounts and personal savings," notes Kincaid. "And yet on top of that we've got these global players in Davos talking about global taxes? A global IRS?" he wonders. "Maybe Geithner is going to run that, too. These things are being discussed out in the open at these global meetings."
 
Kincaid points out that The Global Agenda 2009 report argues "sovereign states do not adequately address problems reaching across borders" and that "international taxation" may be needed to generate "the additional resources" for global governance.

Small earthquake rattles northern New Jersey: USGS

Reuters (Link) - Doina Chiacu (February 3, 2009)

A small earthquake rattled northern New Jersey on Monday night but no injuries or damages were reported, authorities said. The magnitude-3 quake struck at 10:34 p.m. (0334 GMT) two miles southeast of Victory Gardens, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no reports of injuries or damages in the Morris County area 35 miles from New York City, according to Dover, New Jersey, police officer Walter Michalski. But authorities and news outlets received numerous calls from people who felt the temblor and thought it was an explosion.

Bruce Presgrave, a geophysicist with the USGS National Earthquake Center in Colorado, said such a small quake was not unusual and would generally not cause damage or injury. "This size quake is in some cases not even felt at all, but this time of night ... it's much more likely for people to feel it," he said in a telephone interview.

High alert over Hezbollah plans to attack or kidnap Israelis abroad

Haaretz (Link) - Barak Ravid (February 3, 2009)

Security services are on high alert due to concrete intelligence that Hezbollah is in advanced stages of preparing an attack against Israelis abroad to avenge the killing of one of the group's top leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb in Damascus last February.

The Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a severe travel warning yesterday for Israelis abroad, two weeks ahead of the one-year year anniversary of the assassination.

"Hezbollah appears to be prepared to carry out a serious attack in the form of an assassination or a kidnapping of an Israeli target, including abroad," the bureau said in a statement. "This threatens every Israeli, especially senior figures."

The Counter-Terrorism Bureau, which is based in the Prime Minister's Office, described the threat as "solid and at the highest level."

Behead a Christian, raise your rank

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Bob Unruh (February 3, 2009)

Reports that at least 10 Christians were abducted and killed for their faith – sometimes by beheading – during 2008 has pushed Somalia into the Top 10 among nation's that aggressively persecute Christians, according to a new report from Open Doors USA.

The organization today released its 2009 World Watch List, which cited North Korea – for the seventh straight year – as the nation that persecutes Christians more intensely than any other around the globe.

But Somalia rose from 12th in 2008 to 5th this year because of the growing level of attacks there, according to the report which noted two of the worst three nations, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are nations governed by Islamic Shariah law, and seven of the Top 10 nations fall into that category. Paul Estabrooks, the organization's minister-at-large, told WND that those Islamic nations "certainly are impacted significantly by Shariah."

Israel fears Syria might help arm Hizbullah

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Katz (February 3, 2009)

Israel is concerned that Syria will transfer anti-aircraft missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon while the IDF is preoccupied with the escalation in violence in the Gaza Strip, defense officials said on Tuesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak toured the northern border on Tuesday amid a heightened level of alert, stemming from the fear that Hizbullah might carry out an attack to avenge last February's assassination of arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus.

"It is difficult to know ahead of time where the [Hizbullah] response will come," Barak said. "We are also keeping an eye on the weapons smuggling from Syria to Hizbullah and there are a number of systems that we view as breaking the balance of power that cannot be allowed to be transferred." Israel is specifically concerned that Syria will transfer anti-aircraft systems to Hizbullah.

Volcanoes Erupt in Japan and Russia, Spreading Ash

Bloomberg (Link) - Takahiko Hyuga and Stuart Biggs (February 2, 2009)

Two volcanoes in Japan and another in eastern Russia erupted overnight, spreading ash as far as the Philippines and Vietnam, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site.

Seven minor eruptions occurred at Mount Sakurajima on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, throwing rocks up to 2 kilometers, the agency said. Eruptions at Mount Asama in central Japan and Karymsky Volcano on the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka were also reported. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Obama Held Secret Talks With Iran, Syria Weeks Before Election

Israel National News (Link) - Malkah Fleisher (February 2, 2009)

United States President Barack Obama employed representatives and experts to hold secret high-level talks with Iran and Syria months prior to his election as president, organizers of the meetings told Agence France Presse on Monday.

Over the past few months, Obama campaign and election officials, as well as  nuclear non-proliferation experts, had several "very, very high-level" contacts with Iranian leaders, according to Jeffrey Boutwell, executive director for the U.S. branch of the Pugwash group, a Nobel Prize-winning international organization of scientists.  Former defense secretary William Perry, who served in Obama's election campaign, also participated in some of the meetings, which included discussions on Iran's nuclear program and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Though Boutwell refused to name other participants, he said they were senior figures in the Iranian and US governments.

The United States and Iran have had no official diplomatic relationship since the overthrow of the Shah and the institution of the Islamic Republic, 30 years ago. The U.S. accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons.