THE BURDEN OF EGYPT

Isaiah 19:1-4  The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the
Lord, the LORD of host


More than 102 dead and thousands of prisoners on the loose in Egypt as 30,000 stranded Britons struggle to leave the country

• Cameron and Obama hold crisis talks, both calling for 'political reform'
• Death toll reaches 102 and at least 2,000 have been injured
• Thousands of prisoners escape from jails as riots go into sixth day

Around 30,000 British tourists were stranded in Egypt today as army planes buzzed low over Cairo on the sixth day of uprisings.
At least 102 people have been killed, more than 2,000 are injured and there were calls for a multi-party democracy to emerge as President Hosni Mubarack's grip on power loosens.
Gangs of armed men attacked at least four jails across Egypt before dawn today, helping to free hundreds of Muslim militants and thousands of other inmates as police vanished from the streets of Cairo and other cities.

Now scroll down to see the video

Show of strength: Egyptians surround an army tank during protests in central Cairo on the sixth day of action

Last night a handful Brits that managed to board flights returning back from Cairo described their relief at escaping the riot-torn country.
They told how vigilantes were protecting neighbourhoods at night after police withdrew from the streets.
Several Britons arrived home on an Egyptair flight at London's Heathrow Airport.
Brendan Keating, 49, an oil worker from Purley, Surrey, who lives in Maadi, in southern Cairo, said: 'Last night the local people organised themselves into groups to protect property because there's no police.
'This morning I had to break the curfew to get to the airport, and had to go through about a dozen roadblocks set up by these people.'
Geoff and Heather Booth, from Dronfield, Derbyshire, whose planned near two-week holiday was cut to just four days because of the chaos.
Mr Booth, 74, said: 'We weren't in the worst part but it was still quite bad. The main thing is that we are home safe.
'We were there for four days, but most of it was spent in the hotel under strict instructions not to go out.
'The holiday company has brought us home and frankly we just wanted to get back.'

Looters stand outside Abu Zaabel prison in thLooters stand outside Abu Zaabel prison in the Egyptian capital Cairo after a mass breakout by convicts amid a nationwide revolt

Helicopters were yesterday hovering over Cairo and trucks appeared in a central square where protesters were gathered.
It was the latest show of military might on Sunday in an apparent effort to send protesters back to their homes before a 4pm curfew.
The warplanes flew over the city several times. At least a dozen troop trucks and extra tanks drove towards the square as more protesters gathered in defiance of the curfew.
'The planes are out there to scare the people. It's time for the curfew and no one is going home," a 45-year-old engineer who was protesting in the main Tahrir square said.
'It's clear to me that the army is here to protect Mubarak.'
Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, said on Sunday he wanted to see a multi-party democracy emerge in Egypt but could not say how soon that might happen.
Meanwhile David Cameron and US President Barack Obama called for an 'orderly transition' to a democratic government in Egypt.
As the crisis threatening to unseat Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak escalated, the two leaders held talks and agreed that a 'comprehensive process of political reform' was needed.

Tourists and Egyptians hoping to escape the country were sleeping in the departure area at the international airport

An Egyptian fighter jet flows over Cairo in a display of military strength as protests entered their sixth day

Earlier U.S. embassy officials called for Americans to get out of the country as soon as possible - and advised citizens not to travel because of the unrest, violence and on-going demonstrations.
The warning is an escalation in the assessment of the situation by the U.S. government, which previously had advised against non-essential travel to Egypt.
Britons trapped in the country were told by the Foreign Office yesterday to stay clear of the nationwide violence and abide by a 4pm curfew ordered by President Hosni Mubarak.
The British Government also advised against all non-essential travel to Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and Suez as all flights from the UK to Egypt were cancelled.
One BMI flight en route to Cairo from London was turned around at 30,000ft as the situation worsened yesterday.
British Airways chartered an extra aircraft to rescue stranded tourists from Cairo as its airport witnessed chaotic scenes, with tourists desperately trying to flee the violence.
Yesterday mummies in the country's national museum were destroyed by looters attempting to steal the treasures of King Tutankhamun.
Soldiers were positioned at the Pyramids and Cairo’s Egyptian Museum – the holding place for Tutankhamun’s priceless golden mask and other artifacts – on the fifth day of anti-government demonstrations in the country’s capital.
The military deployment came amid an almost complete collapse of law and order, with the violence escalating outside the capital. Residents in Alexandria, north-west of Cairo, were forced to stand guard outside their homes armed with sticks as gangs rampaged through the city.
The death toll was estimated to have reached 74 yesterday, with at least 48 of those being killed since Friday and 2,000 people suffering injuries.
President Mubarak also gave the first indication of a succession plan when he announced that his intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, had been appointed his deputy, a position last filled by the president himself 30 years ago.
The latest wave of violence has been most notable for the widespread looting, indicative of the scale of the breakdown in law and order.

Egyptian men try to protect the Arcadia shopping centre from looting. It was already damaged and partially set on fire

Alleged looters were captured and tied to the floor by Egyptian soldiers. Citizens from Suez to Cairo had formed neighbourhood defence groups overnight to protect their families and property

Nine men broke into the Egyptian Museum in the early hours of yesterday, taking advantage of damage caused to the building’s security by a fire in the neighbouring headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party.
They were caught by police and a crowd of civilians while carrying out the skulls of two mummies and two statues estimated to be more than 2,000 years old.
One statue, believed to be of Tutankhamun, was broken into two pieces by the thieves, although officials said they hoped to be able to repair it.
Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said: ‘They tried to attack and rob from the showcases of King Tut, but they failed. These people are criminals, they are not true Egyptians. The nine men were caught carrying skulls and two statues, one of which was broken. But the army are now guarding the museum and all the museums are now safe.’
The Egyptian military closed tourist access to the Pyramids as tanks and armoured personnel carriers sealed off the site at Giza, normally packed with visitors.
Clashes have also occurred in Suez, and eight prisoners were killed during an attempted mass escape from Abu Zaabal prison, north-east of Cairo.

 

Pledge: President Mubarak made a TV address in which he called for dialogue to prevent further protests. Right, U.S. President Barack Obama urged him to take steps to improve the rights of Egyptian people

Tour operators said that most British tourists in Egypt were in ‘peaceful’ areas of the country, such as the resort of Sharm-el-Sheik.
However, at Cairo airport a group of holidaymakers who had booked through Thomas Cook told of their anger after being stranded when they landed yesterday.
They said that when they boarded their flight they had followed the advice of the Foreign Office that travel to Egypt was safe but had been amazed to discover the state of the country on arrival.

Alleged looters were captured and tied to the floor by Egyptian soldiers. Citizens from Suez to Cairo had formed neighbourhood defence groups overnight to protect their families and property

Istanbul: Turkish Muslims burn a picture of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as they protest against his regime in front of the Egyptian consulate

Lesley Scyan, from Crawley, West Sussex, who had travelled to Cairo with two friends to celebrate her 60th birthday, said: ‘I am stamping with rage. There was no information for us when we landed. We followed Foreign Office advice which said it was safe to travel, and then we get here and because of the curfew no one is around to help. We don’t know what to do.’
A Foreign Office spokesman said the advice given to passengers had been correct when it was issued.
A Thomas Cook spokesman said that their customers would be returned home this morning.
British Airways said it had rearranged flights in order to avoid take-offs during the curfew.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: ‘President Mubarak spoke last night of his commitment to take new steps towards greater democracy. We call on him to listen urgently to the aspirations expressed by the Egyptian people.’
President Mubarak has fired his cabinet in response to the violence but has refused to stand down.

Thousands of protesters gather in Tahrir Square in Cairo as the army send out hundreds more troops and armored vehicles onto the streets

‘Pharaoh’ and his half-Welsh wife are worth £25 billion

Big bucks: President Hosni Mubarak with his wife Suzanne, who is half-Welsh and has a British passport

Dubbed ‘the Pharaoh’ for his 30-year iron rule, President Hosni Mubarak is said to have amassed a fortune of £25 billion for his family.
Mubarak, 82, his half-Welsh wife Suzanne and sons Gamal and Alaa are seen in Egypt as symbols of nepotism and corruption with properties and business interests worldwide, including London.
The First Lady keeps a firm grip on Egypt’s leading social circles and is often pictured at diplomatic and charity events in stylish outfits alongside dignitaries’ wives including Carla Bruni.
Her charity donations total millions of pounds a year, though rumours have swirled that some of this money has found its way into her bank accounts. As her profile in the state-controlled media has soared, critics have likened her to French Queen Marie-Antoinette.
Critics say the closest their sons have got to ordinary Egyptians was when they were driven past them in limousines. Both sons have been linked to arms-dealing.
Mubarak has survived at least six assassination attempts and fears have also been growing that he plans to groom the more political Gamal to inherit the throne.

Will first family flee to London (and Selfridges)?

When a Cairo newspaper claimed on Tuesday
that members of President Mubarak’s family had fled, speculation spread that they were on their way to Britain.
The newspaper reported that Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son and possible successor, had boarded a private jet bound for London, taking his family and 97 pieces of luggage with him.
Egyptian baggage handlers at Heathrow were also quoted as saying that they had seen President Mubarak’s wife Suzanne, who is half-Welsh and holds a British passport, at the airport.

UK links: Gamal Mubarak (left), son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and his wife Khadiga have previously lived in west London (below)

Though the claims were denied by Egyptian diplomats in London, there have since been other apparent sightings, with one member of the public claiming on an internet site that she had seen Mrs Mubarak shopping in Selfridges in Oxford Street.
The Foreign Office would not confirm last night whether Mrs Mubarak and her sons Gamal and Alaa had British passports.
The family, who have relatives in Britain, are regular visitors and Gamal, 47, once lived and worked in London, initially for Bank of America before, in 1996, he set up his own investment vehicle, Medinvest Associates.
He lived in a five-storey Georgian townhouse in Knightsbridge, on the same street as the five-star Berkeley Hotel and a stone’s throw from Hyde Park. The most recent similar property to sell on the street went for £5.59 million.
The offices of Medinvest Associates are based a five-minute walk away, above expensive boutiques in the centre of Knightsbridge.
Suzanne Mubarak was born in Upper Egypt in 1941, but her mother Lily May Palmer was a nurse from Pontypridd, Wales, who married an Egyptian paediatrician, Saleh Sabet in
1934.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1351826/Egypt-protests-Over-102-dead-30k-stranded-Britons-struggle-leave.html

SIGNS OF THE ENDTIMES

Saturday, Jan 08 2011 12AM  1°C 3AM 1°C 5-Day Forecast

Mystery of mass animal death epidemic deepens after 8,000 turtle doves fall dead in Italy with strange blue stain on their beaks

By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 5:56 PM on 8th January 2011

• Blue stain believed to be sign of poisoning or hypoxia - lack of oxygen that is precursor to altitude sickness
• Cold weather and overbreeding blamed for deaths of two 2million fish in Chesapeake Bay
• Disease behind deaths of 100,000 fish in Arkansas River
• At least nine incidents of mass animal deaths across the globe
• Hundreds of confused birds plummeted to their deaths in multiple locations in the U.S.
• Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths

Thousands of dead turtle doves rained down on roofs and cars in an Italian town in the latest in a growing spate of mass animal deaths across the globe.
Residents in Faenza described the birds falling to the ground like 'little Christmas balls' with strange blue stains on their beaks.
Initial tests on up to 8,000 of the doves indicated that the blue stain could have been caused by poisoning or hypoxia.

Mystery: 8,000 turtle doves fell to the ground dead in Faenza, Italy, and were found to have a blue stain around their beaks

Shock: Residents described seeing individual doves fall from the sky, before groups of 10 or 20 began hitting roofs and cars

A witness told www.examiner.com: 'We have no idea why this happened all of a sudden.
'The doves just started falling one-by-one then in groups of 10s and 20s.'
Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, is known to cause confusion and illness in animals. It is also a common precursor to altitude sickness.
Experts said results from tests on the doves will not be available for at least a week.
They said that cold weather could have caused the birds' deaths as the flock was swept into a high-altitude wind storm before falling to the earth.
It comes after two million dead fish were found to have washed up on shores in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.
The alarming find is being blamed by authorities in Maryland on the stress caused by unusually cold water and overbreeding among spot fish.

Mystery: Experts said they believed the blue colouration around the doves' beaks may indicate poisoning or lack of oxygen

Littering the beach: The bodies of two million spot fish have washed up on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, after unusually cold weather

Carnage: Thousands of dead fish have washed up on the shores of Spruce Creek, Florida

That investigation comes just days after the deaths of an estimated 100,000 fish in northwest Arkansas, which is being blamed on disease.
A statement by the Maryland Department of the Environment said: 'Natural causes appear to be the reason.
'Cold water stress exacerbated by a large population of the affected species (juvenile spot fish) appears to be the cause of the kill.'
Preliminary tests of the water in Chesapeake Bay have showed the quality was acceptable, officials said.
The statement added: 'The affected fish are almost exclusively juvenile spot fish, three to six inches in length.
'A recent survey showed a very strong population of spot in the bay this year. An increased juvenile population and limited deep water habitat would likely compound the effects of cold water stress.'

bird in Falkoping, Sweden. Dozens of jackdaws were found dead on the strThe plot thickens: Rescue chief Christer Olofsson holds a dead eet

Gruesome: New Year revellers watched in horror as the birds rained down on houses and cars in Beebe

Mystery: Officials initially blamed high-altitude hail or lightning hitting the birds. Then preliminary lab tests concluded they had died from multiple blunt force trauma

Mystery: A starling lies along the Morganza Highway in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Experts said hundreds of birds may have died after hitting power lines

Mass winter deaths among spot fish have occurred twice before in the Maryland area - in 1976 and 1980.
The incident is the latest mass animal death to hit the headlines in the last two weeks.
These include:

• 450 red-winged blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, grackles and starlings found littering a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• 3,000 blackbirds on roofs and roads in the small town of Beebe, Arkansas
• Thousands of 'devil crabs' washed up along the Kent coast near Thanet
• Thousands of drum fish washed along a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River
• Two million small fish in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
• Thousands of dead fish found floating in warm Florida creek
• Hundreds of snapper fish found dead in New Zealand
• Scores of American Coots found dead on Texas highway bridge

Experts have speculated that New Year fireworks, thunderstorms, cold weather, parasites and even poisoning may be behind the deaths.
But conspiracy theorists have also speculated on the internet that secret government experiments could be behind them, with some even claiming it was a sign of a looming Armageddon at the end of the Mayan calendar next year.
Another theory is that the rapid movement of the Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have affected the birds' innate navigation systems.

Creepy: Thousands of dead drum fish were also discovered just miles away lining the shores of the Arkansas River

Inbuilt navigation systems in birds and fish is believed to be affected by magnetism.
Scientists have said the Magnetic North Pole is shifting at an average of around 25 miles a year.
With birds and fish relying on it to travel to breeding grounds and warmed climes, there are fears that the shifting pole could be confusing the animals which means they do not migrate in time to avoid cold weather.
Tests are being carried out on the dead birds and fish, but results are not expected for several weeks.
Scientists have been baffled by the sudden deaths of hundreds of birds which have plummeted to the ground seemingly simultaneously in several locations.
Two hundred American Coots were found dead on a highway bridge crossing Lake O' the Pines in Big Cypress Creek, Texas.
They are believed to have been hit by passing vehicles while walking or apparently trying to roost on the bridge.
Swedish experts blamed the shock of New Year fireworks for the unexplained deaths of 50 jackdaws found on a street in Falkoping, Sweden.
Many of the birds are believed to have died from stress or as a result of being run over while disoriented.
The largest incident took place in Beebe, Arkansas, were horrified revellers witnessed around 3,000 blackbirds crashing to their deaths into homes, cars and each other as they celebrated New Year.
Another 450 birds were found strewn along a highway in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after apparently hitting overhead power lines.
In both cases, the birds are believed to have become confused and were flying at a lower height than usual.
The deaths of tons of fish across the globe is being attributed to unusually cold water.
Thousands of Brazilian fishermen have been left struggling to make ends meet after the sale of seafood was temporarily suspended when masses of fish were discovered in Paranaguá, Antonina and Guaraqueçaba Pontal do Paraná.
Fish were also discovered rotting and floating in Spruce Creek, Florida, after another period of cold weather.
100,000 drum fish were found strewn along the shore of the Arkansas River.
And the cold snap has been blamed for the deaths of 40,000 Velvet swimming crabs - known as 'devil crabs - found littering beaches in Thanet, Kent.

Thousands of them: Crabs washed up at Palm Bay, Margate, are thought to have died of hypothermia