Last Days – Roelof's News Reports #1

[Roelof]

Israel’s vision of Jerusalem as its “indivisible capital” came under attack yesterday as leaders reacted to Wednesday’s carnage by calling for a wall across the city’s ethnic divide.
The Government says that the barrier between itself and Palestinian communities in the West Bank has thwarted many terrorist attacks. However, two recent acts of terrorism perpetuated by Arabs living in east Jerusalem has left some asking whether Israel should abandon the dream of a united Jerusalem and isolate itself further from Arab communities.
Haim Ramon, the Israeli Vice Prime Minister, led a growing chorus of voices calling for a barrier to separate many of east Jerusalem’s neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. “It would be much more difficult to carry out attacks like these and 50,000 Palestinians who live in those two neighborhoods would not be able to reach Jerusalem so easily if they didn’t have blue [Israeli] identity cards,” he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4264455.ece

[Roelof]

The African way of democracy and keeping your seat?

Fresh from his rigged election victory, Robert Mugabe and his military backers plan to assassinate or frame dozens of opposition MPs in an attempt to consolidate power and take back control of Parliament.
The Zanu (PF) party of Mr Mugabe lost its grip on the legislature for the first time since independence when the Movement for Democratic Change took control of the Lower House and drew level in the Senate after the March elections.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4265377.ece

[Roelof]

Moses Chikomba does not care much about politics. He does not care whether the land is owned by blacks or whites. All he cares about is that his $50 billion monthly salary will buy him just two bars of soap. In three days it will buy only one.

“What does the future hold for us?” he asks, clutching the near-worthless notes with their eye-popping strings of zeros. “We are all billionaires who can afford to buy nothing. That is why I hate that old man.”

Robert Mugabe may have murdered, tortured and beaten his way back into power. But, as he begins his sixth term in office, it is a different grudge most Zimbabweans hold against him. Hyperinflation is now galloping towards highs seen only by the likes of the Weimar Republic and postwar Hungary.

Inflation is 8.5 million per cent and economists believe that it will rise to more than 100 million per cent by September.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4258492.ece

[Roelof]

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Friday forecast gloomier prospects for SA under a Jacob Zuma presidency, but said she did not foresee the country following the same path as Zimbabwe.

There were signs Zuma would take "the ANC's assault on the values of our Constitution" considerably further than his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, she warned in a weekly newsletter, published on her party's SA Today website.
"Part of Mbeki's legacy will be the abuse of institutions of state to advance the interests of a faction of the ANC. This is not about to change under Zuma. "On the contrary, there are indications that Jacob Zuma will take the ANC's assault on the values of our Constitution a considerable way further than his predecessor. He and his allies show increasing disdain for the rule of law."

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_A...352073,00.html

[Roelof]

Zimbabwe is on the brink of an unprecedented famine after its worst harvest since independence in 1980. The plight of Zimbabweans is compounded by the deliberate starvation of most of the population because of their support for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

A crop assessment by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says that the country that once fed scores of famine-stricken African nations will harvest only 575,000 tonnes of maize, the national staple, from last summer's crop - only 28 per cent of the grain needed to feed the country's estimated 11.8 million people.

Already 29 per cent of the population are “chronically malnourished,” according to the Health Ministry and the UN. A similar percentage of children suffer stunting.

In Bulawayo, cases of malnutrition in hospitals have increased 110 per cent in two months.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4271714.ece

[Roelof]

Hopes of early negotiations to end the crisis in Zimbabwe took a fresh blow yesterday as Robert Mugabe ruled out any talks with the opposition until it recognises him formally as the legitimate President.
Thousands of supporters were ordered to report to Harare Airport in full Zanu (PF) regalia to greet Mr Mugabe as he arrived home from a summit of African Union (AU) leaders, having dodged serious censure, despite fierce condemnation from countries such as Botswana and Kenya.
Addressing the crowd, Mr Mugabe said that Morgan Tsvangirai should not “delude” himself into thinking the election results could be nullified and that the opposition leader must renounce his claim to the presidency before any dialogue.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4271875.ece

[Roelof]

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband will visit South Africa next week, the foreign ministry announced on Saturday, as the two countries' approach to the problem of Zimbabwe grew ever wider.

President Thabo Mbeki has pursued a policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who last month won an uncontested election run-off plagued with violence and intimidation.
Former colonial power Britain has, by contrast, ostracised Mugabe, and demanded a string of new United Nations sanctions against his regime. "The British Foreign Secretary is coming on Monday. He will visit his South African counterpart on Tuesday" as part of a South African/British bilateral forum, a foreign ministry spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, said.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_A...352775,00.html

[Roelof]

The White House said on Saturday that G8 leaders are likely to "strongly condemn" Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and "strongly question" his government's legitimacy, at their Japan summit beginning Monday.
Dennis Wilder, the National Security Council's senior director for Asia affairs, said he believed that Zimbabwe would be condemned as part of the G8 leaders' official statement.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...352827,00.html

[Roelof]

The murder toll is dropping, the insurgents are on the run. Our correspondent is on the front line as the Iraqi army takes control

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4276323.ece

[Roelof]

As G8 leaders meet, reports show that their influence in the continent is flimsy and getting weaker

Bronwen Maddox

It has been three years since the Gleneagles summit, when Tony Blair led the world’s most powerful countries in pledging to double aid to Africa within five years. Bob Geldof, enlisted by Mr Blair, provided the soundtrack to the summit with his Live 8 concerts, held under the banner of Make Poverty History.

Geldof gave the world leaders almost top marks, with an unfortunate echo of President Bush’s premature claim of victory in Iraq. “A great justice has been done,” he said. “On aid, ten out of ten; on debt, eight out of ten . . . mission accomplished, frankly.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4272569.ece

[servant of Lord]

Hi, Roelof! I do feel that these current food shortages around the globe are a sign that Jesus spoke of when He said their would be famines before His return. Just this year in particular, much of today's headlines center around the food crisis. There have been rice shortages, corn shortages, and wheat shortages, among many other food substances. Revelation 6:5-6 speaks of the apocalyptic black horse bringing famine. It says a loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will sell for a day's pay! I suspect that we've just seen the beginning of this food crisis and that it will grow worse and worse until the black horse begins its ride. I know some people believe the horses are already riding, and that may be true. I don't know. My theory is that the first horse, the white horse, represents the rise of the antiChrist, so the following horses would ride after he is made known to the world. That's just a theory, though.

Anyway, here's a link to an article regarding the wheat crisis. I found this very interesting in relation to the Revelation 6 reference to wheat bread.

http://www.worthynews.com/news/washingtontimes-com-apps-pbcs-dll-article-AID--20080509-FOREIGN-646631468-1001/

Amen, to that. I think what you are saying is the truth. when you read revelation chapter 6 you see these things happening...and in speaks directly about the wheat and barley..just what we hear in the news and see in the stores...Then Jesus said there would be famines..so we see these things coming to pass....
some say that no, this has not happened yet. That is fine to belive what you want. But, as for me and my house, we do see these things happening now. They are increasing as the days go by also.
Praise the Lord, for the day of our Lord is here. Rejoice.

[servant of Lord]

BIOFUELS have forced global food prices up by 75% – far more than previously estimated – according to a confidential World Bank report. The figure contradicts US Government estimates that plant-derived fuels have contributed less than 3% to food-price increases. Rising food prices have pushed 100 million people worldwide below the poverty line. Mr Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the World Bank study said: "Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases. Even successive droughts in Australia have had a marginal impact." Instead, the report said the EU and US drive for biofuels has had the biggest impact on food supply and prices. "Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate."

IRAQ - After struggling through five years of war, Iraq is facing an acute drought, which has slashed agricultural production and threatens to decimate livestock.

STRAWBERRIES - FINLAND - On Wednesday, tens of thousands of kilograms of ripe and unripe strawberries were destroyed in Suonenjoki, central Finland, when an UNUSUALLY fierce hail storm pummelled fields.

CANTELOPES - U.S. - Delays and shortages should continue to limit cantaloupe availability, possibly through July, grower-shippers said. Cold, windy weather that affected pollination and plants’ first bloom, and later scorching heat that hurt vines and left fruit sunburned, reduced the first half of the Bakersfield-California area crop by 30-40%. A week of high temperatures in Arizona “pretty much wiped out” late shipments from there, putting additional upward pressure on markets.

SOD - Wisconsin - Between the winter's record-breaking snowfall and June's record-breaking rainfall, sod farmers in the state's southeast region are worried about meeting crop demands this year. And with such high prices for commodities, input costs have some farmers facing substantial losses. "If we keep getting this kind of weather, we're in trouble." A preliminary estimate by Wisconsin Emergency Management for total agriculture damage topped $146 million in seven counties, although 22 counties have reported losses. Sod grows for an average of 18 months before it can be sold.

U.S. - Global warming will bring more drought to the US within the next 50 years, leading to crop disruptions that fuel food inflation.

CHINA - Add locusts to China's list of calamities - First there was the freak snowstorm in February. Then the Sichuan earthquake, widespread flooding and an algae bloom that is tarnishing the Olympic sailing venue.

AUSTRALIA - The Australian state of New South Wales is facing both a major drought and a locust invasion that could devastate food supplies. And consumers are facing the prospect of further price hikes, with a failure of winter crops likely to increase the cost of food. June was a "horror" month for the south-western region, where just 10mm of rain fell in some parts. Dam levels also were very low in crop-producing areas, particularly in the Snowy Mountains and the central west of the state, squeezing irrigation supplies. A locust plague devastated the state in 2005, wreaking $1 billion in damage to crops.

Global Inflationary Pressures: No End in Sight - Worldwide, prices of commodities like crude oil, wheat and rice have skyrocketed in the last year or so. Policymakers have been finding themselves especially helpless in the present situation due to the "global" nature of the current inflation. Inflationary pressures, coming at a time when there are palpable signs of economic slowdown, have been spooking the global governments, policymakers, financial authorities and marketmen alike.

[Roelof]

servant of Lord

Excellent post !!!!

[Roelof]

Robert Mugabe would remain Zimbabwe's head of state but hand real power to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister under a plan proposed by South African President Thabo Mbeki, the Guardian reported on Monday.
President Mugabe would stay in place until a new constitution was negotiated and fresh elections were held, the paper said, quoting a senior source from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...353134,00.html

[Roelof]

Toyako, Japan - Leaders of the world's top industrial powers were under pressure on Monday to live up to pledges to help Africa as they opened a summit dominated by skyrocketing oil and food prices.
Leaders including US President George W Bush gathered in the secluded spa resort of Toyako in northern Japan for a three-day session, with eight African leaders joining the first day to take up the plight of the continent.

Protesters were being kept at bay in a specially designated camping area on the opposite side of sapphire-blue Lake Toya, away from the plush hilltop hotel where the world's most powerful leaders were gathering. European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso set the tone for the meeting by proposing the creation of a one-billion-euro EU fund to fight hunger and help farmers in poor countries.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/N...353124,00.html