Holiday Hiatus
As this Thanksgiving week begins I will be taking a break from this blog and will be using the Twitter service instead. So, please join me in keeping up with events here:

http://twitter.com/portents

Please add this to your bookmarks and if you are on Twitter, please feel free to follow me and send me a direct message (DM) to let me know. I think it would be great to build a larger Bible prophecy community on Twitter. And remember, you don't have to sign up for Twitter to visit the page, it's a public feed.

I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and a great start to the holiday season.

My Way News - Egypt Cabinet offers to resign but protests go on
My Way News reports: "Egypt's civilian Cabinet offered to resign Monday after three days of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Tahrir Square, but the action failed to satisfy protesters deeply frustrated with the new military rulers."

My Way News - 16 killed as Syria OKs observers in principle
My Way News reports: "The acceptance came after surprisingly heavy pressure from the Arab League, which brokered the peace plan and this week suspended Syria from the 22-member organization for failing to abide by it. On Wednesday, the league gave Damascus three days to accept an observer mission or face economic sanctions [...] French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime. However, Russia, which holds veto power in the council, urged caution in moving against Damascus."

CBS News - Russia: Syria crisis looks like "civil war"
CBS News reports: "Syria's allies in Russia called for urgent talks Thursday between Damascus and the opposition, saying an attack by Syrian renegade troops on a government building looks like the start of a civil war [...] 'This is all looking very much like a civil war,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow, referring to a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday by the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors determined to bring down the regime."

Haaretz.Com - Report: Russia warships to enter Syria waters in bid to stem foreign intervention
Haaretz reports: "Russian warships are due to arrive at Syrian territorial waters, a Syrian news agency said on Thursday, indicating that the move represented a clear message to the West that Moscow would resist any foreign intervention in the country's civil unrest. Also on Friday, a Syrian official said Damascus has agreed 'in principle' to allow an Arab League observer mission into the country."

Comment: So Syria, one of the most heavily armed countries in the Middle East, is lurching into civil war, the West wants sanctions and Russia is standing firmly by their long-time ally and sending reinforcements to prevent "foreign" intervention. Yes, folks, those two allies are so close that Russia fails to see the irony in that. I wonder what gestures Iran will take to show solidarity with Damascus? Stay tuned.

My Way News - Egypt's Islamists confront military, vie for votes
My Way News reports: "Tens of thousands of Islamists and young activists massed Friday in Tahrir Square, confronting Egypt's ruling military council with the largest crowd in months to protest the generals' attempt to give themselves special powers over a future elected government."

My Way News - Aerial view of tsunami zone: cleaner but barren
My Way News reports: "Yet seen from a helicopter Friday carrying Associated Press journalists, there are few signs of rebuilding eight months after the March 11 disaster, triggered by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the tsunami-prone coast. What remains - the brown, barren, emptiness where bustling towns once stood - is a sobering reminder of how much work still lies ahead."

My Way News - Attackers hit Egyptian Christian marchers, 10 hurt
My Way News reports: "Attackers threw rocks and broken glass at a march by Coptic Christians in Cairo Thursday, injuring 10, in the latest outbreak of sectarian violence less than two weeks before the start of parliamentary elections [...] Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population, have long complained of state discrimination."

Comment: Please join me in praying for the church in Egypt.

My Way News - Syria's president still has bulwark against foes
My Way News reports: "As his Arab neighbors abandon him and his allies in Moscow warn of impending civil war, Syrian President Bashar Assad still has a strong bulwark to prevent his meeting the same fate as the leaders of Egypt, Tunisia or Libya anytime soon. His key advantages are the support of Russia and China, fear among many Syrians about a future without Assad, and the near-certainty that foreign militaries will stay away [...] Syria's tie to Iran is among the most important relationships in the Middle East, providing Tehran with a presence on Israel's border and a critical conduit to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza."

My Way News - Israelis mapping Mount of Olives necropolis
My Way News reports: "Jews began burying their dead on the hill that later became known as the Mount of Olives about three millennia ago. It was a convenient site a short walk from the city walls. Over the centuries, burial here became linked to a prophecy in the Book of Zecharia according to which the Messiah would approach Jerusalem from the mount, splitting it in two. Those interred on the hill, this belief posited, would be the first to be resurrected."

My Way News - Queen marks anniversary of King James Bible
My Way News reports: "Queen Elizabeth II attended a ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey Wednesday to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, often considered the most influential book ever printed in the English language."

My Way News - Occupy protesters march nationwide; 300 arrested
My Way News reports: "Occupy Wall Street protesters clogged streets and tied up traffic around the U.S. on Thursday to mark two months since the movement's birth and signal they aren't ready to quit, despite the breakup of many of their encampments by police. Hundreds of people were arrested, most of them in New York."

My Way News - Europe fears contagion in debt market turmoil
My Way News reports: "Fear, that contagious emotion, spread from country to country in Europe on Thursday as panicky investors worried the euro currency union could be heading toward an ugly breakup."

My Way News - Insurgents fire rockets but miss Afghan loya jirga
My Way News reports: "Karzai asked the elders to back negotiations for a new security pact, assuring them that he would demand an end to unpopular night raids in which troops swoop down from helicopters and search Afghan homes. He said U.S. troops should be allowed to stay, but that the night raids should end and that the Afghan government, not Americans, should be put in charge of detainees."

My Way News - Military-dominated Myanmar to chair ASEAN in 2014
My Way News reports: "The chairmanship is supposed to rotate annually among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also known as ASEAN. But Myanmar, which has more than 2,000 political prisoners, was forced to skip its turn in 2006 because of intense criticism of its rights record. It has since held its first elections in 20 years, released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and eased some restrictions on the media."

My Way News - Syria faces army defectors, worldwide isolation
My Way News reports: "Syria's president faced a growing challenge to his iron rule from home and abroad Wednesday, with renegade troops launching their most daring attack yet on the military and world leaders looking at possibilities for a regime without Bashar Assad."

My Way News - Arab League confirms Syria's suspension from group
My Way News reports: "The Arab League confirmed the suspension of Syria from the organization on Wednesday and gave its government three days to halt the violence and accept an observer mission or face economic sanctions."

Comment: The real issue here is the danger of miscalculation. Might the Syrian leader precipitate a wider regional conflict in order to crush his opposition while striking out at Israel?

My Way News - Gaza militants fire rockets after Israeli threat
My Way News reports: "A Palestinian rocket exploded near a kindergarten in southern Israel on Tuesday, police said, just hours after Israel's military chief warned the army would have to carry out a broad offensive in Gaza to stop the rocket salvos [...] Over 1 million Israelis live within range of the Gaza rocket fire. The attacks have severely disrupted life in southern Israel."

Comment: This is how Palestinians demonstrate their desire for peace. I don't know, it just doesn't seem to send the right message. Maybe they need a new PR firm? Or maybe they could just stop the rocket attacks?

My Way News - Syrian soldiers killed as crisis accelerates
My Way News reports: "Army defectors ambushed dozens of Syrian troops and regime forces gunned down civilians during one of the bloodiest days of the 8-month-old uprising, which appeared Tuesday to be spiraling out of President Bashar Assad's control."

Comment: It's official, this has moved from mass demonstrations to full-fledged civil war.

My Way News - India and Pakistan agree to normalize trade ties
My Way News reports: "India and Pakistan agreed Tuesday to normalize two-way trade, signifying a gradual thaw in relations between the two bitter rivals. At the end of two days of bilateral trade talks, Pakistan agreed to give its neighbor by early next year a small list of items that India cannot trade in with Pakistan. Both sides hope to do away with the list altogether by the end of 2012, freeing up all trade between the two countries, Indian Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters."

My Way News - Iran rejects Bahrain's claim of terror cell links
My Way News reports: "Bahrain's public prosecutor on Sunday alleged the cell planned attacks against high profile sites, such as the Saudi Embassy in the Bahraini capital Manama and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia."

My Way News - Philippines rejects new Chinese territorial claim
My Way News reports: "China has claimed new territory less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from a Philippine province, boosting tensions over potentially resource-rich areas of the South China Sea, but the Philippines has dismissed the claim, an official said Monday."

My Way News - Quake off east Indonesia panics many; no tsunami
My Way News reports: "A strong earthquake hit waters off eastern Indonesia on Monday, sending people on nearby islands fleeing from their homes in panic. Fearing a tsunami that never came, villagers living along coastlines ran to high ground. The 6.3-magnitude quake was centered 12 miles (20 kilometers) beneath the Molucca Sea, the U.S. Geological Survey said."