In the news:

There are a lot of interesting news coming from Europe today (and of course the Middle East as well):

EU foreign ministers call on sides to return to talks

In what may be seen as signal to PA that the EU was not pleased with its UN statehood bid, ministers meeting in Brussels issue statement calling on Israelis, Palestinians "to resume direct and substantive talks.

"As both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are actively wooing Europe before the PA's expected effort to ask for statehood recognition at the UN in September, the EU's foreign ministers issued a statement Monday calling on the sides to act responsibly and resume "direct and sustentative talks."

In what could be interpreted as a signal to the PA that the EU was not enamored with its UN bid, the statement issued after a meeting of the EU's 27 foreign minister in Brussels read, "The EU reiterates its concern at the continuing stalemate in the Peace Process and calls on the parties to show the highest sense of responsibility and to resume direct and substantive talks."

Markets braced for falls as EU argues over Greek bailout

In an attack that pits Germany against other eurozone countries ahead of a vital European summit this week, Jens Weidmann, the head of Germany's central bank, said proposals to shore up Greece with bonds guaranteed by the eurozone amounted to forcing taxpayers to "vouch for Greece's entire national debt".

On Friday, Deutsche Bank analysts warned that markets around the world could crash by more than a third if Europe fails to resolve its debt crisis.

The 17 eurozone nations are due to hold a crisis summit in Brussels on Thursday to agree fresh support for Greece and urgent measures to prevent contagion spreading to Italy and Spain – the third and fourth biggest economies in Europe respectively. On Friday Italy passed a €48bn austerity budget aimed at radically reducing the public deficit by 2014.

The ramifications of this next article are obvious:

EU Plots To Control Britian's Military Forces

Baroness Ashton, EU foreign affairs supremo, will unveil plans for a permanent “command and control” HQ, possibly sited in Britain.

Under a separate plan a new pan-European coastal fleet is proposed which will patrol under the Brussels logo flag.

Tory MP Douglas Carswell, whose Clacton constituency coastguard station faces closure, said: “Politicians keep telling us that there will be no more transfer of power to Brussels. Once again, this shows those promises are complete nonsense.”

Stephen Booth, of the Open Europe think-tank, said it “potentially threatens Britain’s primary military alliance, which remains with the United States via Nato”.

Tory shipping minister Mike Penning said: “A European coastguard is not a concept we support.”

Italy and Spain in firing line as euro's fate hangs in the balance

Eurozone leaders are braced for another battering from financial markets this week, amid growing fears that the spiralling sovereign debt crisis is threatening the future of the single currency.

With the financial panic now hitting Italy, and funding costs for banks rising, leaders are under mounting pressure to come up with a long-term rescue plan for the entire eurozone.

Hence, with the warnings that the euro as a whole is at risk now, a more far-reaching ad-hoc emergency measure looks likely to us, but we still do not expect a comprehensive programme any time soon."

In the rest of the world:

An interesting video link regarding increasing Yellowstone activity:

Feds Concerned About Yellowstone Earthquake Swarms

Indonesian Volcano Becomes More Violent

A volcano in central Indonesia that has been spitting ash, rocks and smoke for a week, unleashed its most powerful eruption yet on Sunday, sending panicked villagers racing back to emergency shelters.

The area has been on highest alert since Monday when authorities started evacuating villages in the path of the smoke and ash. So far, around 2,500 of the 28,000 people who live on the fertile slopes have left the area.

This next article is in the category of "food for thought":

Invasion of Libya was About Gaddafi's Plan to Introduce Gold Dinar

Under the guise of “protecting civilians,” the United States led NATO into Libya and is attempting to assassinate the Libyan leader. Of course, Libya happens to be the largest oil producer in Africa, but many do not realize that Gaddafi was planning to introduce the gold dinar, a single African currency that would serve as an alternative to the U.S. dollar and allow African nations to share the wealth.

It is surely no coincidence that Iraq’s prior leader, Saddam Hussein, was trying to do the same thing just prior to U.S. invasion for all of those “weapons of mass destruction.”

Simply put, if oil-rich nations begin trading in something other than dollars it will significantly reduce demand for dollars and threaten the dollar’s role as world reserve currency. Many experts belief this would lead to the quick death of the fiat greenback, which is now backed by nothing but faith in a government that is running an annual budget deficit of over $1.5 TRILLION.

Gaddafi did not give up. In the months leading up to the military intervention, he called on African and Muslim nations to join together to create this new currency that would rival the dollar and euro. They would sell oil and other resources around the world only for gold dinars.

It is an idea that would shift the economic balance of the world.

The sad, sad lack of solidarity among Christians

A recent study shows that 105,000 Christians are killed every year because of their faith. In other words, every five minutes a Christian is killed because he or she is Christian. Those of us who do not just stick to politically castrated (non-PC for "politically correct") newspapers and news channels are fully aware of the bloody oppression of Christians in Muslim countries.

Christians are also subject to religiously motivated threats in their own countries. One among countless examples is Holland, where Moroccans shout "One dog less!" at Christian funerals.

It is shocking to see how little Christians do about it.

'Syria increasing arms shipments to Hezbollah'

Damascus is increasing shipments of advanced missiles and other weapons to Hezbollah amid continuing unrest in Syria, The Times of London reported Friday quoting Western intelligence officials.

The missiles "are accurate to within tens of meters and bring all of Israel, Jordan and large parts of Turkey within Hezbollah's range," the officials were quoted by the newspaper as saying.

They also said that, "This is the first time that a terror organization has obtained a missile of this type," which is considered a "strategic weapon" that "has been held only by national armies."