Biblical Verses for "THE END OF THE WORLD"

Mathew 24:36-  But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Mark 13:32-  But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Amos 5:18-  Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD [is] darkness, and not light.

2 Peter 3:10-  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Guatemala: Syphilis experiment involved 1,300

An investigation by Guatemalan authorities has identified about 1,300 people who may have been involved in a 1940s U.S. syphilis experiment, and says a few may still be living.

Vice President Rafael Espada says a search of hospital, health department, military and prison records has identified about 1,300 men who were infected with syphilis or gonorrhea without their knowledge or consent.

Espada says "three or four" of those involved in the study may still be living.

Espada said Wednesday that about 10 American and 12 Guatemalan doctors were involved in the two-year study.

The study involved seeing how differing dosages of penicillin worked against different venereal diseases.

These Uncle Rukus' in the flesh: I.S.U.P.K.

Puerto Rican nationalist: Not guilty in big heist

A graying Puerto Rican nationalist sought by U.S. authorities for more than a quarter century pleaded not guilty Friday to charges in connection with one of the nation's largest robberies.

A smiling Norberto Gonzalez Claudio, 65, entered his pleas through an interpreter before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Martinez. He faces 15 federal counts, including bank robbery, conspiracy and transportation of stolen money for his alleged role in the 1983 robbery of $7 million at a Wells Fargo armored car depot in West Hartford.

The most serious charges each carry a possible 25-year prison sentence. Gonzalez was originally charged in 1985, but wasn't found until earlier this month in Puerto Rico.

He was ordered held without bond as a flight risk. Gonzalez, sporting a gray beard and glasses, said little during the hearing, acknowledging his rights and saying "no culpable," Spanish for not guilty, each time he was asked for a plea.

Outside the courtroom, his 61-year-old wife, Elda Santiago Perez, said her husband is prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"Since he has been very young, he has been involved in the fight for liberty for Puerto Rico and its independence," she told The Associated Press, as interpreted by her son, 27-year-old Carlos Gonzalez Santiago. "He is ready to do anything."

She and her son both declined to say what he has been doing for the past 27 years, saying they could not talk about that without a lawyer.

Gonzalez is suspected of helping smuggle cash from the robbery out of the U.S. mainland.

Gonzalez was living alone in a modest home under in Puerto Rico a false name when he was arrested on May 5. Authorities believe he still had an active role in Los Macheteros, a group that has claimed responsibility for a series of robberies, murders and bombings in the name of Puerto Rican independence.

An older brother, Avelino, was sentenced last year to seven years in prison after spending more than two decades as a fugitive for his role in the heist. A third brother, Orlando, was also convicted of taking part in the robbery and has since been released.

Prosecutors have said Los Macheteros, whose name is variously translated as "Machete Wielders" or "Cane Cutters," are suspected of using the stolen money to finance bombings and attacks in their push for independence for the U.S. territory.

The 1983 robbery allegedly was carried out by Victor Manuel Gerena, a Wells Fargo driver recruited by the group. Authorities say Gerena took two co-workers hostage at gunpoint, handcuffed them and injected them with an unknown substance to temporarily disable them. Members of Los Macheteros, including Gonzalez, were accused of helping to spirit the money out of the U.S.

Gerena, who is believed to be alive and living in Cuba, is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives. He is the lone suspect in the case who remains at large.

The alleged leader of the Macheteros, Filiberto Ojeda Rios, was killed in a 2005 shootout with the FBI at a remote farmhouse in Puerto Rico.

Several supporters of the movement were in court Friday, including Alberto Barreto, with the group Puerto Rica Diaspora Solidarity.

"We do not consider this a crime," said Barreto, who was wearing a T-shirt with Ojeda's image on it. "We consider (Gonzalez) to be a freedom fighter for the independence of Puerto Rico."

Jury selection for Gonzalez has been tentatively set for July 14.

Psalms 10:2-  The wicked in [his] pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

'Catastrophic' picture emerges of Syrian town

Carrying mattresses and bags of clothing, Syrians fleeing their homeland described a "catastrophic" scene Monday in a besieged border town that has been largely sealed off as the army tries to crush a two-month uprising.

At least eight people were killed Sunday in Talkalakh _ the most recent casualties from a government crackdown that already has killed 850 people nationwide since mid-March, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. A town of about 70,000 residents, Talkalakh has been under a military siege since last week.

"The situation in the city is catastrophic," said Ahmad, 55, who crossed the border into Lebanon overnight Monday and asked to be identified only by his first name.

"If you walk in the streets of Talkalakh you can smell the dead bodies," he said.

Authorities justified the siege by saying the city was full of Islamic extremists who wanted to form an Islamic state, residents told The Associated Press.

"This is all not true," said Ahmad, who did not want to be further identified for fear of reprisals.

Another resident, who crossed into Lebanon Sunday, said heavy bombing in the past few days heavily damaged the Omar bin al-Khattab mosque inside the town.

More than 5,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon in recent weeks as Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces try to crush an uprising against his regime with gunfire, sieges and even shelling.

One resident said the conflict in Talkalakh has taken on dangerous sectarian tones.

Hamid, 45, who asked to be identified only by his first name, said shadowy, pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha" are targeting Sunnis in the city.

Syria has multiple sectarian divisions, largely kept in check under Assad's heavy hand and his regime's secular ideology. Most significantly, the majority of the population is Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Talkalakh is a Sunni city, surrounded by 12 Alawite villages.

"The city of Talkalakh is empty of people. Most of them have fled to Lebanon," Hamid said.

At the Wadi Khaled crossing point, Syrians crossed a narrow river separating the countries by hopping along rocks in the narrow water.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard from the Syrian side Monday in Wadi Khaled, as Syrians continued to arrive, some using horses and mules to carry their belongings into Lebanon.

Hundreds of Syrian and Lebanese men were standing meters away from the border as bullets from the Syrian side buzzed overhead, sending them all running for cover.

Two ambulances were parked nearby to tend to any wounded Syrians.

One paramedic said a man crossed the border suffering from gunshot in his back shortly after midnight.

The Lebanese army was fortifying its positions in Wadi Khaled with a bulldozer, setting up sand dunes and putting up barbed wire to protect themselves from stray bullets.

Gunfire that came from the Syrian side of the border wounded a Lebanese soldier on Sunday, according to a Lebanese military official.

The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said in a statement Monday that at least 34 people were killed in the past five days in the villages of Inkhil and Jassem near the southern city of Daraa, and five bodies were discovered in Daraa on Monday, raising the overall death toll to 850.

A resident of Inkhil told AP Monday that there were more than 70 tanks in Inkhil.

"The gunfire never stops," he said on condition of anonymity, adding that two hospitals in the area were taken over by security forces.

Reports of security forces taking over hospitals echoes the brutal crackdown against an uprising in Bahrain. International rights groups have said Bahrain's forces have targeted medical professionals who treated injured demonstrators

Wave of deadly explosions kill 16 across Iraq

A rapid-fire series of explosions in and around Baghdad killed 16 people Sunday, including 10 people who died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of police officers, officials said.

In total, at least 10 bombs exploded as Iraqis were headed to work in a reminder of the dangers Iraq still faces despite a drop in violence since the height of the war.

At least nine of the dead were police officers, who often are targeted by insurgents hoping to weaken the security forces as an end-of-the-year deadline for American troops to go home swiftly approaches.

It was the third major attack this month in which security personnel were targeted and took the most losses. Just last week, 27 people were killed outside a police station in the northern city of Kirkuk, and earlier this month 20 police officers in the southern city of Hillah died when a suicide bomber plowed his vehicle into a police compound.

The worst single attack Sunday came near the city of Taji, which is 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Police officers had gathered after a roadside bomb targeting a passing American military convoy blew up. When the police arrived on the scene, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and blew himself up, police and hospital officials said.

Seven police and three civilians died and 19 people, including 15 policemen, were injured, the officials said.

Earlier in the capital, the beginning of the work week was shattered by a quick series of blasts in mostly Shiite neighborhoods.

At about 7 a.m. a car bomb in a parking lot in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood exploded, injuring five people and damaging several nearby cars.

"We woke up to a big blast nearby and the glass windows in front of the house were smashed. My young brother was injured by glass," said Namiq Khazal, a 30-year-old who lives in Sadr City about 150 yards (meters) from where one of the blasts went off.

"On my way to the hospital I saw many wounded people and several cars damaged," he added.

Minutes later, also in Sadr City, a bomb hidden in a pile of garbage exploded, killing one person and wounding five more.

Then five minutes later another roadside bomb, this time targeting a police patrol, exploded; 3 policemen and four bystanders were injured in that blast.

In the southwestern neighborhood of Bayaa, the morning calm was shattered by five explosions that went off in rapid succession.

First a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol. Then a minute later another roadside bomb went off in a commercial street followed by two roadside bombs hidden in a pile of garbage on a highway.

Finally, a parked car bomb went off on a road that marks the intersection between Bayaa and the adjoining neighborhood.

In total, five people were killed in Bayaa, including 2 policemen, and 15 people were injured, including six policemen, police and hospital officials said. They did not have a breakdown of where the deaths occurred.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

About 46,000 American troops remain in bases around Iraq, and they are slated to leave the country by Dec. 31. But as the deadline approaches, many Iraqis are worried about the ability of their own forces to protect the country from the ever-present threat of bombs and shootings.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, police found on Sunday the dead body of a man believed to be in his late 20s, said the neighborhood police chief, Col. Anwar Qadir. The man's hands were tied behind his back and he was killed execution-style with a bullet to the back of his head.

U.S. officials have long worried that Kirkuk could be a flashpoint for violence especially when American forces who help maintain an uneasy peace in the city and province leave Iraq for good. Three main ethnic groups, the Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen, claim the city as their own, and all would like to control the massive deposits of oil found underneath the city and province.

2 Esdras 6:24
At that time shall friends fight one against another like enemies and the earth shall stand in fear with those that dwell therein the springs of the fountains shall stand still and in three hours they shall not run

Mathew 24:7-  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.