Britain braced for floods as 'supertide' strikes

UK - A rare astronomical alignment means Britain could face a year of extreme tides and potential flooding along vast swathes of coastline, scientists have warned. An unusual positioning of the sun, moon and earth has resulted in the gravitational pull on oceans being greater than normal at various points through 2015, creating exceptionally high tides known as “supertides”. This planetary phenomenon will combine with the moon reaching a particular point in the eighteen-and-a-half-year cycle of its elliptical orbit, meaning its gravitational pull will increase as it swings in towards the Earth, also producing higher tides.

 
Syriza triumph in Greece leaves markets set for turmoil

GREECE - Global markets are braced for an extended bout of extreme volatility after radical Left-wing party Syriza stormed to victory in the Greek elections on Sunday night, intensifying fears that the financially ruined country could default on its debts and be forced to abandon the euro. The historic triumph is likely to trigger serious fears about the future of the European Union after Syriza swept to power to become Europe’s first anti-austerity party, almost certainly putting Greece on a collision course with international creditors.

Greek vote could be only the beginning

GREECE - Some 10 million Greek voters went to the polls yesterday, in an election with big implications for the future of monetary union. Even if Greece stays in the single currency, after choosing a party determined to defy the European Central Bank, negotiations over bond repayments between Athens and Frankfurt will be extremely hard-fought.

GREECE: Health crisis looms after five years of unrelenting austerity

GREECE - On a dusty street corner in a grimy port on the outskirts of Athens, a public health crisis that has no precedent in Europe is unfolding. After five years of unrelenting austerity, doctors working in a charity-run clinic are witnessing on a daily basis what they never expected to see in Greece - children and adults suffering from malnutrition.

Mark Carney warns of liquidity storm as global currency system turns upside down

UK - The Governor of the Bank of England has warned markets to brace for possible trouble in 2015 as the US Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy and liquidity evaporates, fearing that the new financial order has yet to face its first real test. Mark Carney said diverging monetary policies in the US, Britain, Europe, and Japan may set off further currency turbulence and "test capital flows across the global economy, including to emerging markets."

IDF on Highest Alert in N. Israel Since Second Lebanon War

ISRAEL - It was a tense weekend along Israel’s northern border as the IDF continues fortifying with additional soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles. The level of heightened alert is reportedly the highest since the Second Lebanon War in 2006. IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz canceled a planned visit to Europe to travel north on Friday and Shabbos to personally oversee the situation along the border.

Iran vows to attack Israel from West Bank

IRAN - Deputy head of Revolutionary Guards says Tehran to ‘open new fronts’ in response to strike that killed Iranian general. Iran has threatened to attack Israel from the West Bank, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria on Sunday that left 12 Iranian and Hezbollah operatives dead. The airstrike has been attributed to Israel and though Jerusalem has not officially confirmed it, anonymous government sources have admitted as much.

The Enemy of My Enemy

MIDDLE EAST - The conflict in Syria may have begun as a civil war between the Alawite Assad government and Sunni rebel groups, but it rapidly assumed international proportions. At the heart of the issue was the fact that the conflict quickly became a proxy for a larger Shia-Sunni conflict that pitted Iran and its Shia allies against Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and their Sunni supporters.

Germany to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia

GERMANY - Germany has decided to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia because of “instability in the region,” German daily Bild reported Sunday. Weapons orders from Saudi Arabia have either been “rejected, pure and simple,” or deferred for further consideration, the newspaper said, adding that the information has not been officially confirmed.

CA Supreme Court should ban religious conservatives in judiciary

LOS ANGELES, USA - The California Supreme Court has voted to ban judges who are members of the Boy Scouts of America on grounds that the BSA discriminates against homosexual adults. It should go ahead and ban all judges who are religious conservatives.

Iran Abandons US Dollar In Foreign Trade

IRAN - Since last May when the topic of "de-dollarization" was first uttered in official circles, the rest of the world has been warming to the idea that perhaps - just perhaps - it is time to de. From currency swap agreements to bi-lateral trade agreements to selling US Treasuries and greatly rotating USD reserves into gold, the world's nations (small and large) appear less and less comfortable holding dollars in this tempestuous world.

Nor'easter Threatens Northeast with up to 2 Feet of Snow

USA - Northeast residents are girding for a "crippling and potentially historic" storm that could bury communities from northern New Jersey to southern Maine in up to 2 feet of snow. The National Weather Service said the nor'easter would bring heavy snow, powerful winds and widespread coastal flooding starting Monday and through Tuesday. A blizzard warning was issued for a 250-mile stretch of the Northeast, including New York and Boston.

Striving for Christian unity is not merely ‘an option’ for CatholicsComment

UK - If you are not working for Christian unity “there is something missing” from your life as a Catholic, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham has said. The archbishop was speaking at Northampton Cathedral at a service marking 50 years since the Second Vatican Council’s decree on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio. The service, on Wednesday, came during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Question of Liberties

GERMANY - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is using his trip to North Africa to promote the new "counter-terrorism cooperation" with the Arab world. His visits to Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria will focus not only on expanding economic cooperation, but particularly on the common struggle "against terrorism and extremism," according to the foreign ministry.

All eyes on Fed, Greece after ECB fires bazooka

USA - After the surprises from central banks which rocked markets at the start of the year, the US Federal Reserve will be watched as closely as ever this week to see that it doesn't stray from its own policy path. The atmosphere will already be tense as the fallout from Sunday's snap election in Greece settles and concern has grown in some quarters that central banks, which played such a big part in guiding economies through the financial crisis, are becoming less predictable.

“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Just what is an Apostle?

Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”

The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!

Read online or contact email to request a copy

Listen to Me, You who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My Law: …I have put My words in your mouth, I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, “you are My people” (Isaiah 51:7,16)