JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
COUNTRIES WITH ISRAEL AND THE ENEMIES OF THE WEST
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA)(JORDAN) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
PSALMS 83:3-7 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ISRAEL-WEST ENEMIES EZEK 38:4-6,15-19
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,(RUSSIA-ARAB/MUSLIMS) thou, and many people with thee,(AFRICAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES) all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
DANIEL 11:44 (CHINA WITH RUSSIA-MUSLIMS)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
EZEKIEL 39:1-6 ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Russia will 'fail to save' Syria's Assad: Saudi Foreign Minister-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday that Russia's efforts to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not succeed in keeping him in power.Jubeir told a press conference in Riyadh that previous efforts to prop up Assad, including by Iran, had "failed"."Now, (Assad) has sought the help of Russia, which will fail to save him," he said, urging Moscow to "end its air operations against the moderate Syrian opposition."Russia, Assad's closest ally alongside Iran, began conducting airstrikes in September, targeting mainly rebels backed by the West, according to US officials.Analysts believe that Russia's military intervention in Syria has given Assad a new lease of life and has also deeply alarmed the West.But Jubeir, whose country is among the main Syrian opposition backers, said that "it is impossible for a man behind the killing of 300,000 innocent people... to remain" in power.Assad's departure "is a matter of time... sooner or later, this regime will fall, opening the way for building a new Syria without Bashar al-Assad," said Jubeir.He urged the Syrian regime to "immediately allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Syria, end military attacks on innocent civilians... (and) begin a political transition in Syria."A 17-nation Syria Support Group, co-chaired by Russia and the United States, agreed on Friday to seek a "cessation of hostilities" within a week and dramatically ramp up humanitarian access to besieged towns.Critics have said the deal is hobbled by the fact it does not include "terrorist" groups such as the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra, leaving room for Russia to continue attacks by claiming it is targeting jihadists.The agreement followed a major offensive by Syrian government forces, backed by heavy Russian bombing and Iranian troops, on the rebel stronghold of Aleppo.
Russia has gained upper hand in Syria, Merkel ally says-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
MUNICH (Reuters) - Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria and the surrounding region through armed force, a senior conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, and he voiced doubts that Moscow would respect a truce plan for the war-torn country."I think Russia has gained the upper hand in the region and this is by historical measures a novelty. And they have done so by the use of armed force," said Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament and a member of Merkel's conservative party.Speaking at a security conference in Munich, he said he was skeptical about how Russia would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a "cessation of hostilities" which is due to begin in a week's time.The deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire because it was not signed by the warring parties, the Syrian government and the rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.A day after the agreement was clinched, Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, made gains against rebels near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo."Russia is determined to create the facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is ISIS," Roettgen said. In his view, he said, the approach had disqualified Moscow as a credible partner in fighting Islamic State militants.Participating in the same panel, U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal, sealed in Munich early Friday morning after nine hours of talks, as a breakthrough."Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said."It is no accident that Mr. Putin has agreed on a cessation of hostilities. We have seen this movie before in Ukraine: Russia presses its advantage militarily, it creates new facts on the ground, it uses the denial and delivery of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, it negotiates an agreement to lock in the spoils of war," McCain said.(Reporting by Noah Barkin and Shadia Nasralla, editing by Larry King)
Obama urges Russia to stop bombing 'moderate' Syria rebels-Reuters By Tom Perry and Jeff Mason-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIRUT/RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing "moderate" rebels in Syria in support of its ally Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war.Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it.Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are meanwhile helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial center before the conflict.There is little optimism that the deal reached in Munich will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost 250,000 lives.The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Obama had spoken by telephone and agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the Munich agreement.But a Kremlin statement made clear Russia was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and "other terrorist organizations", an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al Qaeda are fighting Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West.Russia says the "cessation" does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power toward Assad.It says Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are the main targets of its air campaign. But Western countries say Russia has in fact been mostly targeting other insurgent groups, including some they support.The White House said Obama's discussion with Putin stressed the need to rush humanitarian aid to Syria and contain air strikes."In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said in a statement.AID THREATENED-Relief workers said efforts to deliver humanitarian aid were being threatened by the latest escalation of violence."We must ask again, why wait a week for this urgently needed cessation of hostilities?" said Dalia al-Awqati, Mercy Corps Director of Programs for North Syria.The situation in Syria has been complicated by the involvement of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey.The Kurdish YPG militia, helped by Russian air raids, seized an ex-military air base at Menagh last week, angering Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish group that waged a bloody insurgent campaign on Turkish soil over most of the past three decades.Turkey began shelling while demanding that the YPG militia withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels in the northern Aleppo region in recent days, including the Menagh air base. The bombardment killed two YPG fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The Syrian Kurdish PYD party rejected Turkish demands for withdrawal, while the Syrian government said Turkish shelling of northern Syria amounted to direct support for insurgent groups.France called on Turkey to stop the shelling, but Turkey said it would continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in Syria.Syria also said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen that entered Syria on Saturday with a dozen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns in an operation to supply rebel fighters.Other fronts were also active on Sunday.Kurdish-backed forces were fighting with insurgent groups near Tel Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside, while further south, government forces renewed their shelling of rebel positions to the northwest of Aleppo city.The Observatory also reported air strikes by jets believed to be Russian in areas east of Damascus, north of Homs, and in the southern province of Deraa.Reaction from politicians in the West to the Munich deal was skeptical.U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal as a breakthrough. "Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said at security conference in Munich."Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime," McCain said.A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria through armed force.Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, said Russia was determined to create "facts on the ground", to bolster its negotiating position."RECONCILIATION"-As the fighting continued, the Syrian army urged citizens in Deraa province, the Ghouta area east of Damascus, and in rural districts east of Aleppo to quickly seek "reconciliation" with the government.So-called local reconciliation agreements are often seen as a means for the government to force surrender on insurgents, and have typically followed lengthy blockades of rebel areas and the civilians living there.Saudi Arabia confirmed it had sent aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik air base to join the fight against Islamic State, but said any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria must await a decision by the U.S.-led coalition combating the militants.Any ground operations in Syria will lead to "a full-fledged, long war", Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned.(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, Angus McDowall, Orhan Coskun, Katya Golubkova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Dominic Evans)
20 nations join major military manoeuvre in Saudi-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Armed forces from around 20 countries were gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for "the most important" military manoeuvre ever staged in the region, the official news agency SPA reported.The "Thunder of the North" exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a "clear message" that Riyadh and its allies "stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region", SPA said.Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in its southern neighbour Yemen. Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight "terrorism" in Islamic countries.Sunday's announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the US-led coalition targeting the jihadist Islamic State group, said it has deployed warplanes to a Turkish air base in order to "intensify" its operations against IS in Syria.SPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last.However, the agency called it the "most important and largest in the region's history" in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used.Twenty countries will be taking take part, SPA said.Among them are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added.A Saudi source said on Thursday that members of the new "anti-terrorism" coalition will gather in Saudi Arabia next month for its first publicly announced meeting.Riyadh has said the alliance would share intelligence, combat violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary.
Saudi Arabia says Switzerland to handle its consular affairs in Iran-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
RIYADH (Reuters) - Switzerland will handle Saudi Arabia's consular affairs in Iran and will facilitate Iranian pilgrims coming to the kingdom, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Sunday, following a diplomatic dispute between Riyadh and Tehran."Switzerland offered to ... handle the (consular) interests of Saudi Arabia in Iran, and we in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia appreciated that and accepted," Adel al-Jubeir told a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart.He also said, however, there was no need for mediation in its rift with Iran.(Reporting by Angus McDowall, writing by Sylvia Westall, editing by Larry King)
Saudi deploys jets in Turkey for anti-IS fight-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has deployed warplanes to a Turkish airbase in order to "intensify" its operations against the Islamic State group in Syria, a senior Saudi defence official has said."The Saudi kingdom now has a presence at Incirlik airbase in Turkey," brigadier general Ahmed al-Assiri was quoted as saying by Al-Arabiya television late on Saturday."Saudi warplanes are present with their crews to intensify aerial operations along with missions launched from bases in Saudi Arabia," Assiri said, without providing further details.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that Saudi jets would be deployed at Incirlik, and that the two countries could participate in ground operations against IS in Syria.Riyadh and Ankara are both opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose foreign minister last week warned that any ground intervention would "amount to aggression that must be resisted".Assiri said the decision to deploy an unspecified number of jets to Turkey followed a meeting in Brussels of US-led anti-IS coalition members, who decided step up their fight against the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.He stressed that Saudi had made its decision in coordination with the coalition and said that a ground operation was being planned."There is a consensus among coalition forces on the need for ground operations and the kingdom is committed to that," Assiri said."Military experts will meet in the coming days to finalise the details, the task force and the role to be played by each country."Turkey on Saturday hit Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in northern Syria, further complicating efforts to end the war, which has killed more than 260,000 since it began in 2011.
Saudi says it intercepted Scud missile from Yemen-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia intercepted a Scud missile fired towards the kingdom by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents has said.The official Saudi SPA news agency said the missile was destroyed by the kingdom's air defences at around 2145 (1845 GMT) on Saturday, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from its border with Yemen.Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels meanwhile said in a statement on their sabanews.net website that the missile targeted the Abha Regional Airport in southern Saudi Arabia.The missile "precisely hit its target," it said.Saturday's incident is the third time Saudi Arabia says it has shot down a Scud fired from Yemen.On Tuesday, the coalition said that a Saudi Patriot missile had downed a Scud fired from the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.Riyadh has deployed Patriots designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, which have been fired occasionally since March when the coalition began air strikes in support of the Yemeni government after Huthi rebels seized Sanaa and advanced towards second city Aden.In April last year the Saudi defence ministry said coalition strikes had removed threats to the kingdom's security "by destroying heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles" seized by the Yemeni rebels.Vehicle-borne Scud ballistic missiles have a much longer range and more powerful warhead than the rockets and mortar bombs which have struck the kingdom's southern border regions, killing about 90 civilians and soldiers since the coalition intervention began.The United Nations says more than 6,100 people in Yemen have been killed in the conflict since March, about half of them civilians.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.(I belive ISIS-DAMASCUS GET NUKED BY ISRAEL)
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Syrian Kurdish party rejects Turkish demands, warns against intervention-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Kurdish PYD party on Sunday rejected Turkish demands that allied militia withdraw from positions near the border that are being shelled by Turkish army, and warned that Syrians would resist any Turkish intervention in the country.Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the PYD, told Reuters Turkey had no right to intervene in Syria's internal affairs, adding that an air base shelled by the Turkish army on Saturday had been in the hands of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front until forces allied to the PYD captured it last week."Do they want the Nusra Front to stay there, or for the regime to come and occupy it?" Muslim said by telephone.Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday demanded the PYD withdraw from areas north of Aleppo he said had been captured by the Kurdish group. Asked if he rejected that demand, Muslim said: "Of course".Saleh said the air base was captured by the PYD-allied Syria Democratic Forces, which includes Arabs and Turkmen alongside the powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.He added that if Turkey intervened in Syria they would find "the entire Syrian people confronting them".Turkey on Saturday demanded the YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured in the northern Aleppo region in recent days from insurgents in Syria, including the Menagh air base. The Turkish shelling has targeted those areas.Turkey has been alarmed by the expansion of Kurdish sway in northern Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011. The YPG controls nearly all of Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, and has been a close ally of the United States in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria.Ankara views the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey.(Reporting by Tom Perry, editing by Larry King)
North Korea took 70 percent of Kaesong wages for weapons program: South Korea-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said 70 percent of the U.S. dollars paid as wages and fees for the suspended Kaesong industrial project, run jointly with the North, had been diverted for Pyongyang's weapons program and luxury goods for leader Kim Jong Un.It is the first formal acknowledgement by the South that the 55,000 North Korean workers at the Kaesong complex saw little of the $160 they were paid on average a month.South Korea on Wednesday suspended the project as punishment for the North's long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7 saying it would no longer allow the funds paid to Kaesong to be used in the North's missile and nuclear programs.The North conducted its fourth nuclear test last month.The North called the South's move to suspend operations "a declaration of war" and kicked out all South Korean workers on Thursday and froze the assets of the South Korean firms."The wages for the North's workers and other fees were paid in cash in U.S. dollars to the North's authorities and not to the workers," South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Sunday. "This is believed to be channeled in the same way as other foreign currency it earned."The cash is then kept and managed by the ruling Workers' Party's Office 39 and other agencies, the ministry said. The ministry said it had confirmed the movement of the money through various sources but did not specify them.Office 39 is widely believed to exist to finance the luxurious lifestyle of the North's leader. The office is also believed to be part of the North's agencies that fund the country's missile and nuclear program.The South Korean government and companies had invested about 1 trillion won ($829 million) in Kaesong including 616 billion won in cash since it opened more than a decade ago, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said on Wednesday.Kaesong's North Korean workers were given a taste of life in the South, working for the 124 mostly small and medium sized manufacturers that operated there, about 54 km (34 miles) northwest of Seoul.The minimum wage for North Korean workers was about $70 a month, although the companies paid more than double that amount after overtime and bonuses - still low compared with wages in the South.The Kaesong project resulted from the first summit meeting of the rival Koreas in 2000, where their leaders pledged reconciliation and cooperation. It was the last remaining symbol of that effort in volatile North-South relations over the years.Kaesong had been shut only once before, for five months in 2013, amid heightened tensions following North Korea's third nuclear test, although its continuing existence often seemed tenuous.(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer and Michael Perry)
US deploys more Patriot missiles in South Korea-AFP-February 12, 2016 11:42 PM-YAHOONEWS
Seoul (AFP) - The United States has temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea following North Korea's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, US Forces Korea said Saturday.The move came as the two allies plan to start detailed discussions on bringing in an advanced, high-altitude US missile defence system opposed by China as early as next week."This deployment is part of an emergency deployment readiness exercise conducted in response to recent North Korean provocations," the US Forces Korea said in a press statement, referring to the temporary roll-out of a Patriot missile battery, which was flown from Fort Bliss, Texas this week."Exercises like this ensure we are always ready to defend against an attack from North Korea," said Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal, commander of the US Eighth Army.The newly deployed Patriot battery is conducting ballistic missile defence training with the Eighth Army's 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Osan Air Base, some 47 kilometres (30 miles) south of Seoul.The brigade has its own two Patriot battalions. One Patriot battalion is reportedly composed of four batteries.Just hours after North Korea launched a long-range rocket that both condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test, South Korea and the United States announced their intention to start discussions on deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (THAAD).The Pentagon has since stressed that it would like the system to be deployed in South Korea "as quickly as possible".A senior South Korean defence ministry official said Friday detailed discussions on THAAD deployment would kick off as early as next week.China and Russia argue that it would trigger an arms race in the region, with Beijing voicing its "deep concern" over the deployment.South Korea had previously declined to formally discuss bringing in THAAD in deference to the sensitivities of China, its most important trade partner.But North Korea's continued missile testing and frustration with Beijing's resistance to imposing harsh sanctions on Pyongyang apparently triggered a change in Seoul's stance.
Beijing pins Hong Kong riot on 'radical separatists'-AFP-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
In unusually blunt remarks on a local Hong Kong matter, Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing's top representative in the semi-autonomous city, told reporters the violence that left dozens of police officers hurt also showed elements of "terror"."After the riot in Mong Kok, we are feeling very much shocked and saddened," Zhang told reporters."We strongly condemn those radical separatists who have become increasingly violent, even (carrying out) activities that showed terror tendencies," the director of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong said in Chinese.The clashes erupted when protesters gathered following official attempts to remove illegal hawkers from the busy commercial neighbourhood of Mong Kok during Lunar New Year celebrations late Monday night.Police fired warning shots in the air, while demonstrators hurled bricks levered up from pavements, charged police lines with homemade shields and set rubbish on fire.About 100 people were injured, including police officers, journalists and protesters, and 65 were arrested in the rare outbreak of violence.Some 30 have been charged with rioting.Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said Sunday most of the protesters were unemployed and did not reflect mainstream views."The majority of them are jobless. Quite many of them belong to radical political groups. Their political demands... cannot reflect the majority of society," the chief executive said.The battles have been dubbed the "fishball revolution" after a favourite Hong Kong street snack and reflect underlying tensions over the erosion of the city's traditions.Demonstrators included "localist" activists who want to restrict Beijing's influence on the city.Mong Kok, on the city's Kowloon peninsula, was the scene of some of the worst violence during the 79-day "Occupy" pro-democracy street protests in late 2014.The mass rallies seeking fully free leadership elections in the city blocked some major streets for more than two months. But the rallies failed to win concessions from the authorities.Pro-democracy activist Joseph Cheng said weighing in on the protest was a tactic by Beijing to justify its hardline approach to the pro-democracy movement."The whole idea, of course, is to condemn the protesters in association with the pro-democracy movement in the public opinion war," the retired scholar, who has advocated direct leadership elections for Hong Kong, told AFP."Condemning the riot has the purpose of justifying the hardline (stance) of Beijing,"He added he expected the Hong Kong authorities to conduct a "neutral investigation" into the incident, despite the outspoken comments from Beijing.Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997 with its way of life protected for 50 years by a joint agreement.But there are fears that freedoms enshrined in the agreement are being eroded by Chinese influence, including the recent case of five Hong Kong publishers known for titles critical of Beijing, four of whom it is confirmed have been detained on the mainland.
Navy considers electric gun for a Zumwalt-class destroyer-Associated Press By DAVID SHARP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
BATH, Maine (AP) — Development of a futuristic weapon depicted in video games and science fiction is going well enough that a Navy admiral wants to skip an at-sea prototype in favor of installing an operational unit aboard a destroyer planned to go into service in 2018.The Navy has been testing an electromagnetic railgun and could have an operational unit ready to go on one of the new Zumwalt-class destroyers under construction at Bath Iron Works.Adm. Pete Fanta, the Navy's director of surface warfare, has floated the idea of foregoing the current plan to put a prototype on another vessel this year and instead put it directly on future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, though no final decision has been made."The Zumwalt-class is one of a number of options being explored for the electromagnetic railgun," said Lt. Cmdr. Hayley Sims, a Navy spokeswoman. "Due to the size, weight and power requirements, some platforms will be better suited for the technology than others."Railguns use electricity instead of gunpowder to accelerate a projectile at six or seven times the speed of sound — creating enough kinetic energy to destroy targets.It's literal whiz-bang technology that holds the possibility of providing an effective weapon at pennies on the dollars compared to smart bombs and missiles.There has been talk since the inception of the Zumwalt program that the massive destroyers would be a likely candidate for the weapon because of its power plant. The USS Johnson will be the third and final destroyer in the Zumwalt class.The 600-foot-long warship uses marine turbines similar to those that propel the Boeing 777 to help produce up to 78 megawatts of electricity for use in propulsion, weapons and sensors. That's more than enough juice for the railgun.If it's placed on the warship, the system could replace one of the forward turrets housing a 155mm gun that fires rocket-propelled projectiles.For now, however, the official plan remains for the railgun prototype to be tested aboard a joint high speed vessel this year. But there are concerns that the plan may be pushed back into 2017, and Fanta suggested skipping it altogether.The railgun, along with laser weaponry, are two futuristic technologies that Fanta said have evolved from being a matter of scientific research to one of practical engineering.The Navy is interested in those weapons — along with smart munitions that can improve existing naval guns — because of their low cost as well as lethality."The Navy is determined to increase the offensive punch of the surface warships," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute. "To do that with a limited budget, it needs to look at everything from smart munitions to railguns to lasers."The railgun discussion isn't widely known inside the shipyard.Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, had no comment.Shipbuilder Charles Davis said there was talk of a railgun when the yard began work on the first ship in the class, but he said there's been no discussion since then."They've been pretty tight-lipped about it," he said.___Follow David Sharp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-sharp .
Republicans’ vow to block Obama Supreme Court nominee comes with risks-Meredith Shiner-Political correspondent-February 13, 2016-yahoonews
The U.S. Senate should not act to fill the sudden Supreme Court vacancy opened up by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia until after President Obama departs office, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Saturday.“The American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell said.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as well as current Republican presidential candidates and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, also came out of the gate opposing confirmation of a final Obama Supreme Court nominee.The Republican majority in the Senate gives the party leverage for a battle with Obama over a new Supreme Court nomination, but would not be without risks. Any nominee would need 60 affirmative votes on cloture to proceed to final confirmation, meaning that Obama would be under pressure to choose a more moderate versus liberal justice in order to win the at least 14 Republicans he would need to support his nominee.That pressure would vanish if Republicans cannot retake the White House in 2016 or hold their majority in the Senate. Many Republicans in D.C. are skeptical that the party will be able to do either, especially if Donald J. Trump or Ted Cruz win the GOP presidential nomination. These establishment Republicans have seen evidence that Trump or Cruz would create a drag on races lower down the ballot, such as the Senate races in November, and are worried Republicans could lose the Senate.Republicans currently hold the Senate majority with 54 members, but 24 of those seats are being contested this year — including seven in states where Obama won twice.If Republicans wait and Democrats win the White House and regain the Senate majority, a hypothetical President Hillary Clinton, for example, would have greater leeway to select a more liberal justice than Obama might have submitted.But the politics could also work in Republicans’ favor, as mobilization for a Supreme Court nomination by a Republican president could cause conservative voter turnout to spike in 2016, helping candidates across the board. Democrats, of course, would similarly seek to boost turnout and support based on the nomination fight (or lack thereof).There is precedent for the Senate to act in a presidential year on a confirmation. Justice Anthony Kennedy was chosen by Republican President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by a Democratic Senate on February 3, 1988 — also the last year of a lame-duck presidency.But SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein does not see a scenario in which Senate Republicans will change their minds.“Theoretically, that process could conclude before the November election. But realistically, it cannot absent essentially a consensus nominee — and probably not even then, given the stakes,” he wrote. “A Democratic president would replace a leading conservative vote on a closely divided court. The Republican Senate will not permit such a consequential nomination — which would radically shift the balance of ideological power on the court — to go forward.”Democrats, of course, do not see it that way, but without the Senate majority, there’s little they can do but highlight what they believe is political negligence and then campaign on that. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called on Obama to send a nominee to the Senate, and Obama said Saturday night he would, indeed, nominate someone.The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, released a statement mourning Scalia and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to replace him swiftly because failing to do so would weaken democracy “for partisan reasons.”“I hope that no one will use this sad news to suggest that the president or the Senate should not perform its constitutional duty,” Leahy said. “The American people deserve to have a fully functioning Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States is too important to our democracy for it to be understaffed for partisan reasons. It is only February. The president and the Senate should get to work without delay to nominate, consider and confirm the next justice to serve on the Supreme Court.”
Ted Cruz says he will ‘absolutely’ filibuster Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia-Dylan Stableford-Senior editor-February 14, 2016-yahoonews
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is threatening to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee made by President Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.“This should be a decision for the people,” Cruz said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday. “Let the election decide. If the Democrats want to replace [Scalia], they need to win the election. But I don’t think the American people want a court that will strip our religious liberties. I don’t think the American people want a court that will mandate unlimited abortions on demand, partial-birth abortion with taxpayer funding and no parental notification, and I don’t think the American people want a court that will write the Second Amendment out of the Constitution.”On Saturday, Obama said he plans “to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time,” pressing the Senate to “fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote.”Asked whether he would filibuster Obama’s choice, Cruz said: "Absolutely.”Scalia, who died suddenly Saturday at the age of 79, was the court’s longest-serving member and an outspoken conservative champion of the Constitution.His death, Cruz said, will have a “profound impact” on the Republican primary — and that voters ought to think about who the next president would nominate to the land’s highest court.“If Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,” Cruz said. “He will not invest the capital to confirm a conservative, so the result will be the same whether it’s Hillary [Clinton], Bernie [Sanders] or Donald Trump. The Second Amendment will go away.”Cruz added: “Anyone that writes checks to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and Jimmy Carter and Hillary Clinton does not care about conservative justices on the court.”During Saturday night’s GOP debate in South Carolina, Trump urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop Obama from nominating Scalia’s replacement.“It’s called delay, delay, delay,” Trump said.Dr. Ben Carson also called on the president to delay picking a Supreme Court nominee.“We need to start thinking about the divisiveness that is going on in our country,” Carson said. “I looked at some of the remarks that people made after finding out that Justice Scalia had died, and they were truly nasty remarks. And that we have managed to get to that position in our country is truly a shame. And we should be thinking about how we could create some healing in this land.”Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Scalia one of the greatest defenders of the Constitution in U.S. history.“You talk about someone who defended consistently the original meaning of the Constitution, who understood that the Constitution was not there to be interpreted based on the fads of the moment, but it was there to be interpreted according to its original meaning,” Rubio said. “Justice Scalia understood that better than anyone in the history of this republic.”Rubio continued: “I do not believe the president should appoint someone. And it’s not unprecedented. In fact, it has been over 80 years since a lame duck president has appointed a Supreme Court justice. And it reminds us of this — how important this election is. Someone on this stage will get to choose the balance of the Supreme Court, and it will begin by filling this vacancy that’s there now. And we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.”Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush believes that Obama has “every right to nominate” someone to replace Scalia, but he “needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record, similar to Justice Scalia, that is a lover of liberty, that believes in limited government, that consistently applied that kind of philosophy, that didn’t try to legislator from the bench, that was respectful of the Constitution.”During the debate, Cruz offered his full-throated praise of Scalia, and warned voters that the next justice could have a profound impact on their lives.“He was somebody that I knew for 20 years,” Cruz said. “He was a brilliant man. He was faithful to the Constitution. He changed the arc of American legal history. And I’ll tell you, his passing tonight, our prayers are with his family, with his wife, Maureen, who he adored, his nine children, his 36 grandkids. But it underscores the stakes of this election. We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will strike down every restriction on abortion adopted by the states. We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will reverse the Heller decision, one of Justice Scalia’s seminal decisions that upheld the Second Amendment right to keep and to bear arms.”He added: “We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that would undermine the religious liberty of millions of Americans — and the stakes of this election, for this year, for the Senate, the Senate needs to stand strong and say, ‘We’re not going to give up the U.S. Supreme Court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee.’”
Donald Trump Doubles Down on Attacks of Bush Family-ABC News By NICKI ROSSOLL-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks of his rival Jeb Bush and his brother, former President George W. Bush, Sunday on ABC's "This Week."“I think he did a terrible thing when he went into Iraq,” Trump said about the former president. The real estate mogul then criticized other Republicans for not going after Pres. Bush and instead being "politically correct."At Saturday's debate in South Carolina, Trump got into a heated exchange with the former Florida governor about his brother's role in the 9/11 attacks."I'm sick and tired of him going after my family," Bush said to applause Saturday night. "While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and I'm proud of what he did.""The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign. Remember that," Trump responded.When pressed about his previous call to impeach Pres. Bush, Trump did not dispute that he said it but wouldn’t repeat it, saying it was “past time.”Trump also shifted blame for the Affordable Care Act to the two brothers."Jeb Bush pushed him through the brother. They were close," Trump said referring to the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts. "We have Obamacare because of Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and George Bush."
Tens of Thousands of Sharks Spotted 'A Stone's Throw' From Florida Beaches-Inside Edition By Inside Edition-yahoonews-feb 14,16
Researchers flying above the Sunshine State's Atlantic coast on Friday spotted a massive migration of black tip sharks swimming uncomfortably close to popular beaches."There are literally tens of thousands of sharks a stone's throw away from our shoreline," You could throw a pebble and literally strike a shark. They are that close," said Florida Atlantic University biological sciences professor Dr. Stephen Kajiura.Kajiura is part of a team that's researchers who tag and observe the blacktips in an attempt to better understand their migration habits. He told WPEC that the blacktip sharks were densest across the 20 mile stretch from highly populated Palm Beach to Singer Island, Florida.While the blacktip has never been connected to a single fatal attack, scientists believe they are likely to blame for most shark bite incidents in Florida due to their prevalence in the waters off the coast of the state.Expert Gives Tips to Protect Yourself Against Shark Attack: 'Punch a Shark in the Snout, Grab His Gills'-Those who'd like to plan their trip around this migration event, take note: the sharks will likely be sticking around in Palm Beach County for the next month or so. Or, just take your chances. Kajiura doesn't believe beachgoers should be too concerned--though his reasoning might not convince everyone."Even though we have this huge number of sharks...we have relatively few bites," the researcher told the Palm Beach Daily News. "When you consider the number of people in the water and the number of sharks in the water you’d think there would be a lot of interaction."
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Pope to lead mass in rough Mexico crime city-AFP By Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
Ecatepec (Mexico) (AFP) - Pope Francis will celebrate an open-air mass in a crime-plagued Mexico City suburb on Sunday after thousands of pilgrims spent the night outdoors, awaiting his message of peace in the cold.The Catholic faithful wrapped themselves in blankets, using plastic and cardboard to build makeshift tents on a university's field, where 300,000 were expected for the service.Ecatepec, a concrete maze of 1.6 million people, is in the state of Mexico, a region that has become infamous for a spate of disappearances of women, whose bodies sometimes turn up in abandoned lots or canals.Some 600 women have been killed between January 2014 and September 2015 in the state, according to the non-governmental National Citizen Observatory of Feminicides.Some pilgrims said that despite the city's bad reputation, they were not concerned about spending the night outside. Hundreds of police officers stood guard around the field."We know that Ecatepec has a lot of problems like the lack of security and kidnappings," said Rodrigo Perez, a 25-year-old public security student.But the pope's visit, he said, is a chance to "talk about peace and unity."- 'Prophetic courage' -The Argentine-born pontiff made it clear before his arrival in Mexico that he would speak out about the corruption and crime afflicting parts of the country.He used his visit to the National Palace and the capital's cathedral on Saturday to bluntly tell political and religious leaders to do more to bring peace to the country.At the palace, with President Enrique Pena Nieto by his side in a patio packed with lawmakers and government officials, Francis told them they had a duty to give "true justice" and "effective security" to Mexicans.Later, he told bishops at the cathedral to take on the scourge of drug trafficking with "prophetic courage" and avoid hiding "behind anodyne denunciations."Many Mexicans, fed up with a decade of drug violence that has left 100,000 dead or missing, had hoped to hear such words from the 79-year-old pontiff.Pope Francis has chosen to visit some of Mexico's most troubled regions during his five-day trip to the world's second most populous Catholic country.The crimes against women in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, prompted the federal government to declare a "gender violence alert" requiring protective measures in 11 towns, including Ecatepec.- Faith in God -"People who kill or who are wicked should think about the fact that we are women and that we should be respected," said Mariana Virginia Hernandez, 45, who came from the neighboring state of Hidalgo for the mass and wore several sweaters and a poncho to resist the cold.Ana Yeli Perez, legal adviser at the National Citizen Observatory of Feminicides, said the organization is "concerned about the lack of visibility of the issue because the government controls it. We hope the pope speaks about it."But Karla Paola Romero, a 21-year-old activist who was nearly kidnapped three years ago, said gender violence would not be resolved "with a miracle."Romero, who will not be at the mass, spoke near a hill where a woman's body was found in December. The victim had been raped and hanged.The pope will face other tough issues during his trip.On Monday, Pope Francis will travel to Mexico's poorest and least Catholic region, the southern indigenous state of Chiapas.He will visit on Tuesday the capital of Michoacan, a western state where farms formed vigilante forces to counter a drug cartel in 2013.The pope caps the trip in Mexico's former murder capital, Ciudad Juarez, for a mass that will span the US and Mexican borders to highlight the plight of migrants.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Police: 3 killed, scores to hospitals after huge I-78 pileup-Associated Press-feb 13,16-yahoonews
FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A pileup involving dozens of vehicles on a Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people and sent dozens to hospitals appears to have been related to a passing snow squall, authorities said Saturday.Trooper Justin Summa said three fatalities had been confirmed following the 9:45 a.m. Saturday crash which involved at least 50 commercial and private vehicles. Police said more than 40 people were transported to several hospitals following the crash in Interstate 78 in Bethel Township.The pileup left tractor-trailers, box trucks and cars tangled together across three traffic lanes and into the snow-covered median about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.Megan Manlove of Penn State Hershey Medical Center said 10 patients had been brought in from the crash, three in critical condition, three with moderate to severe injuries and four with minor injuries.Trooper Adam Reed said investigators believe that "passing snow squalls played a role in causing the crash."PennLive.com reported that some witnesses reported sudden whiteout conditions on the interstate before the crash."It just turned real white," Raul Jardine of Allentown said, adding that all he could see were the brake lights of the car in front of him, so he slowed down and was hit from behind.Nearby resident James Steffy told WHP-TV that the crash "sounded like two bombs went off.""We thought it was thunderclouds, and my wife ran up over the hill and saw the accident," he said.Police said more than 70 people were taken to a warming shelter operated by the American Red Cross at a firehouse in the area."We're keeping them warm, keeping them fed and hopefully going to provide them with some rental cars," Summa said.The Penn State-Lehigh Valley men's basketball team was heading to a game in New Kensington when the team's chartered bus was hit by a tractor-trailer, the university said. Officials said there were no serious injuries to anyone and the students were "on a warm, dry bus" but were being taken to a hospital as a precaution.Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesman Cory Angell said an emergency operation center was activated and a special response team was at Fort Indiantown Gap to deliver stockpiled supplies such as food and water if they are needed.Angell said drivers were being urged to use caution due to extremely cold temperatures and blowing snow making roads hazardous even though they have been plowed."You could be driving down the interstate and all of a sudden conditions change because the winds are drifting the snow," he said.Police said the interstate would remain closed until at least midnight, and people wishing to recover their cars should call the state police in Lebanon County after 6 a.m. Sunday.___This story has been corrected to show that police now say more than 40 people were taken to hospitals, not 70.
EZEKIEL 38:10-19
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan,(SAUDIA ARABIA)(JORDAN) and the merchants of Tarshish,(ENGLAND) with all the young lions thereof,(USA,CANADA,AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND,EU,ENGLAND,ENGLISH SPEAKING shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
PSALMS 83:3-7 (COUNTRIES AGAINST ISRAEL)(EXCEPT JORDAN)
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
ISRAEL-WEST ENEMIES EZEK 38:4-6,15-19
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts,(RUSSIA-ARAB/MUSLIMS) thou, and many people with thee,(AFRICAN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES) all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
DANIEL 11:44 (CHINA WITH RUSSIA-MUSLIMS)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
EZEKIEL 39:1-6 ISRAELS ENEMIES DESTROYED
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Russia will 'fail to save' Syria's Assad: Saudi Foreign Minister-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Sunday that Russia's efforts to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not succeed in keeping him in power.Jubeir told a press conference in Riyadh that previous efforts to prop up Assad, including by Iran, had "failed"."Now, (Assad) has sought the help of Russia, which will fail to save him," he said, urging Moscow to "end its air operations against the moderate Syrian opposition."Russia, Assad's closest ally alongside Iran, began conducting airstrikes in September, targeting mainly rebels backed by the West, according to US officials.Analysts believe that Russia's military intervention in Syria has given Assad a new lease of life and has also deeply alarmed the West.But Jubeir, whose country is among the main Syrian opposition backers, said that "it is impossible for a man behind the killing of 300,000 innocent people... to remain" in power.Assad's departure "is a matter of time... sooner or later, this regime will fall, opening the way for building a new Syria without Bashar al-Assad," said Jubeir.He urged the Syrian regime to "immediately allow the entry of humanitarian assistance to all parts of Syria, end military attacks on innocent civilians... (and) begin a political transition in Syria."A 17-nation Syria Support Group, co-chaired by Russia and the United States, agreed on Friday to seek a "cessation of hostilities" within a week and dramatically ramp up humanitarian access to besieged towns.Critics have said the deal is hobbled by the fact it does not include "terrorist" groups such as the Islamic State group and the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra, leaving room for Russia to continue attacks by claiming it is targeting jihadists.The agreement followed a major offensive by Syrian government forces, backed by heavy Russian bombing and Iranian troops, on the rebel stronghold of Aleppo.
Russia has gained upper hand in Syria, Merkel ally says-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
MUNICH (Reuters) - Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria and the surrounding region through armed force, a senior conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, and he voiced doubts that Moscow would respect a truce plan for the war-torn country."I think Russia has gained the upper hand in the region and this is by historical measures a novelty. And they have done so by the use of armed force," said Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament and a member of Merkel's conservative party.Speaking at a security conference in Munich, he said he was skeptical about how Russia would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a "cessation of hostilities" which is due to begin in a week's time.The deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire because it was not signed by the warring parties, the Syrian government and the rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.A day after the agreement was clinched, Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, made gains against rebels near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo."Russia is determined to create the facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is ISIS," Roettgen said. In his view, he said, the approach had disqualified Moscow as a credible partner in fighting Islamic State militants.Participating in the same panel, U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal, sealed in Munich early Friday morning after nine hours of talks, as a breakthrough."Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said."It is no accident that Mr. Putin has agreed on a cessation of hostilities. We have seen this movie before in Ukraine: Russia presses its advantage militarily, it creates new facts on the ground, it uses the denial and delivery of humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip, it negotiates an agreement to lock in the spoils of war," McCain said.(Reporting by Noah Barkin and Shadia Nasralla, editing by Larry King)
Obama urges Russia to stop bombing 'moderate' Syria rebels-Reuters By Tom Perry and Jeff Mason-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIRUT/RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing "moderate" rebels in Syria in support of its ally Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war.Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it.Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are meanwhile helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country's largest city and commercial center before the conflict.There is little optimism that the deal reached in Munich will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost 250,000 lives.The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Obama had spoken by telephone and agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the Munich agreement.But a Kremlin statement made clear Russia was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and "other terrorist organizations", an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al Qaeda are fighting Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West.Russia says the "cessation" does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power toward Assad.It says Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are the main targets of its air campaign. But Western countries say Russia has in fact been mostly targeting other insurgent groups, including some they support.The White House said Obama's discussion with Putin stressed the need to rush humanitarian aid to Syria and contain air strikes."In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria," the White House said in a statement.AID THREATENED-Relief workers said efforts to deliver humanitarian aid were being threatened by the latest escalation of violence."We must ask again, why wait a week for this urgently needed cessation of hostilities?" said Dalia al-Awqati, Mercy Corps Director of Programs for North Syria.The situation in Syria has been complicated by the involvement of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey.The Kurdish YPG militia, helped by Russian air raids, seized an ex-military air base at Menagh last week, angering Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish group that waged a bloody insurgent campaign on Turkish soil over most of the past three decades.Turkey began shelling while demanding that the YPG militia withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels in the northern Aleppo region in recent days, including the Menagh air base. The bombardment killed two YPG fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The Syrian Kurdish PYD party rejected Turkish demands for withdrawal, while the Syrian government said Turkish shelling of northern Syria amounted to direct support for insurgent groups.France called on Turkey to stop the shelling, but Turkey said it would continue to respond to Kurdish militia attacks in Syria.Syria also said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen that entered Syria on Saturday with a dozen pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns in an operation to supply rebel fighters.Other fronts were also active on Sunday.Kurdish-backed forces were fighting with insurgent groups near Tel Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside, while further south, government forces renewed their shelling of rebel positions to the northwest of Aleppo city.The Observatory also reported air strikes by jets believed to be Russian in areas east of Damascus, north of Homs, and in the southern province of Deraa.Reaction from politicians in the West to the Munich deal was skeptical.U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal as a breakthrough. "Let's be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia's assault on Aleppo to continue for another week," he said at security conference in Munich."Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime," McCain said.A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria through armed force.Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, said Russia was determined to create "facts on the ground", to bolster its negotiating position."RECONCILIATION"-As the fighting continued, the Syrian army urged citizens in Deraa province, the Ghouta area east of Damascus, and in rural districts east of Aleppo to quickly seek "reconciliation" with the government.So-called local reconciliation agreements are often seen as a means for the government to force surrender on insurgents, and have typically followed lengthy blockades of rebel areas and the civilians living there.Saudi Arabia confirmed it had sent aircraft to Turkey's Incirlik air base to join the fight against Islamic State, but said any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria must await a decision by the U.S.-led coalition combating the militants.Any ground operations in Syria will lead to "a full-fledged, long war", Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned.(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, Angus McDowall, Orhan Coskun, Katya Golubkova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Dominic Evans)
20 nations join major military manoeuvre in Saudi-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Armed forces from around 20 countries were gathering in northern Saudi Arabia Sunday for "the most important" military manoeuvre ever staged in the region, the official news agency SPA reported.The "Thunder of the North" exercise involving ground, air, and naval forces sends a "clear message" that Riyadh and its allies "stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region", SPA said.Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military campaign against Iran-backed rebels in its southern neighbour Yemen. Last December, it also formed a new 35-member coalition to fight "terrorism" in Islamic countries.Sunday's announcement also comes as the kingdom, a member of the US-led coalition targeting the jihadist Islamic State group, said it has deployed warplanes to a Turkish air base in order to "intensify" its operations against IS in Syria.SPA did not specify when the military exercise will begin or how long it will last.However, the agency called it the "most important and largest in the region's history" in terms of the number of nations taking part and the weaponry being used.Twenty countries will be taking take part, SPA said.Among them are Saudi Arabia's five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia, it added.A Saudi source said on Thursday that members of the new "anti-terrorism" coalition will gather in Saudi Arabia next month for its first publicly announced meeting.Riyadh has said the alliance would share intelligence, combat violent ideology and deploy troops if necessary.
Saudi Arabia says Switzerland to handle its consular affairs in Iran-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
RIYADH (Reuters) - Switzerland will handle Saudi Arabia's consular affairs in Iran and will facilitate Iranian pilgrims coming to the kingdom, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Sunday, following a diplomatic dispute between Riyadh and Tehran."Switzerland offered to ... handle the (consular) interests of Saudi Arabia in Iran, and we in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia appreciated that and accepted," Adel al-Jubeir told a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart.He also said, however, there was no need for mediation in its rift with Iran.(Reporting by Angus McDowall, writing by Sylvia Westall, editing by Larry King)
Saudi deploys jets in Turkey for anti-IS fight-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Dubai (AFP) - Saudi Arabia has deployed warplanes to a Turkish airbase in order to "intensify" its operations against the Islamic State group in Syria, a senior Saudi defence official has said."The Saudi kingdom now has a presence at Incirlik airbase in Turkey," brigadier general Ahmed al-Assiri was quoted as saying by Al-Arabiya television late on Saturday."Saudi warplanes are present with their crews to intensify aerial operations along with missions launched from bases in Saudi Arabia," Assiri said, without providing further details.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that Saudi jets would be deployed at Incirlik, and that the two countries could participate in ground operations against IS in Syria.Riyadh and Ankara are both opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose foreign minister last week warned that any ground intervention would "amount to aggression that must be resisted".Assiri said the decision to deploy an unspecified number of jets to Turkey followed a meeting in Brussels of US-led anti-IS coalition members, who decided step up their fight against the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.He stressed that Saudi had made its decision in coordination with the coalition and said that a ground operation was being planned."There is a consensus among coalition forces on the need for ground operations and the kingdom is committed to that," Assiri said."Military experts will meet in the coming days to finalise the details, the task force and the role to be played by each country."Turkey on Saturday hit Kurdish and Syrian regime positions in northern Syria, further complicating efforts to end the war, which has killed more than 260,000 since it began in 2011.
Saudi says it intercepted Scud missile from Yemen-AFP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia intercepted a Scud missile fired towards the kingdom by Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents has said.The official Saudi SPA news agency said the missile was destroyed by the kingdom's air defences at around 2145 (1845 GMT) on Saturday, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from its border with Yemen.Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels meanwhile said in a statement on their sabanews.net website that the missile targeted the Abha Regional Airport in southern Saudi Arabia.The missile "precisely hit its target," it said.Saturday's incident is the third time Saudi Arabia says it has shot down a Scud fired from Yemen.On Tuesday, the coalition said that a Saudi Patriot missile had downed a Scud fired from the rebel-held Yemeni capital, Sanaa.Riyadh has deployed Patriots designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, which have been fired occasionally since March when the coalition began air strikes in support of the Yemeni government after Huthi rebels seized Sanaa and advanced towards second city Aden.In April last year the Saudi defence ministry said coalition strikes had removed threats to the kingdom's security "by destroying heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles" seized by the Yemeni rebels.Vehicle-borne Scud ballistic missiles have a much longer range and more powerful warhead than the rockets and mortar bombs which have struck the kingdom's southern border regions, killing about 90 civilians and soldiers since the coalition intervention began.The United Nations says more than 6,100 people in Yemen have been killed in the conflict since March, about half of them civilians.
JEREMEIAH 49:35-37 (IN IRAN AT THE BUSHEHR OR ARAK NUKE SITE SOME BELIEVE)
35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,(IRAN/BUSHEHR NUCLEAR SITE) the chief of their might.(MOST DANGEROUS NUKE SITE IN IRAN)
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,(IRANIANS SCATTERED OR MASS IMIGARATION) and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.(WORLD IMMIGRATION)
37 For I will cause Elam (IRAN-BUSHEHR NUKE SITE) to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger,(ISRAELS NUKES POSSIBLY) saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:(IRAN AND ITS NUKE SITES DESTROYED)
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD KILLED IN OVERNIGHT RAID) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.(I belive ISIS-DAMASCUS GET NUKED BY ISRAEL)
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Syrian Kurdish party rejects Turkish demands, warns against intervention-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Kurdish PYD party on Sunday rejected Turkish demands that allied militia withdraw from positions near the border that are being shelled by Turkish army, and warned that Syrians would resist any Turkish intervention in the country.Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the PYD, told Reuters Turkey had no right to intervene in Syria's internal affairs, adding that an air base shelled by the Turkish army on Saturday had been in the hands of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front until forces allied to the PYD captured it last week."Do they want the Nusra Front to stay there, or for the regime to come and occupy it?" Muslim said by telephone.Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday demanded the PYD withdraw from areas north of Aleppo he said had been captured by the Kurdish group. Asked if he rejected that demand, Muslim said: "Of course".Saleh said the air base was captured by the PYD-allied Syria Democratic Forces, which includes Arabs and Turkmen alongside the powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.He added that if Turkey intervened in Syria they would find "the entire Syrian people confronting them".Turkey on Saturday demanded the YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured in the northern Aleppo region in recent days from insurgents in Syria, including the Menagh air base. The Turkish shelling has targeted those areas.Turkey has been alarmed by the expansion of Kurdish sway in northern Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011. The YPG controls nearly all of Syria's northern frontier with Turkey, and has been a close ally of the United States in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria.Ankara views the group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey.(Reporting by Tom Perry, editing by Larry King)
North Korea took 70 percent of Kaesong wages for weapons program: South Korea-Reuters-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said 70 percent of the U.S. dollars paid as wages and fees for the suspended Kaesong industrial project, run jointly with the North, had been diverted for Pyongyang's weapons program and luxury goods for leader Kim Jong Un.It is the first formal acknowledgement by the South that the 55,000 North Korean workers at the Kaesong complex saw little of the $160 they were paid on average a month.South Korea on Wednesday suspended the project as punishment for the North's long-range rocket launch on Feb. 7 saying it would no longer allow the funds paid to Kaesong to be used in the North's missile and nuclear programs.The North conducted its fourth nuclear test last month.The North called the South's move to suspend operations "a declaration of war" and kicked out all South Korean workers on Thursday and froze the assets of the South Korean firms."The wages for the North's workers and other fees were paid in cash in U.S. dollars to the North's authorities and not to the workers," South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Sunday. "This is believed to be channeled in the same way as other foreign currency it earned."The cash is then kept and managed by the ruling Workers' Party's Office 39 and other agencies, the ministry said. The ministry said it had confirmed the movement of the money through various sources but did not specify them.Office 39 is widely believed to exist to finance the luxurious lifestyle of the North's leader. The office is also believed to be part of the North's agencies that fund the country's missile and nuclear program.The South Korean government and companies had invested about 1 trillion won ($829 million) in Kaesong including 616 billion won in cash since it opened more than a decade ago, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said on Wednesday.Kaesong's North Korean workers were given a taste of life in the South, working for the 124 mostly small and medium sized manufacturers that operated there, about 54 km (34 miles) northwest of Seoul.The minimum wage for North Korean workers was about $70 a month, although the companies paid more than double that amount after overtime and bonuses - still low compared with wages in the South.The Kaesong project resulted from the first summit meeting of the rival Koreas in 2000, where their leaders pledged reconciliation and cooperation. It was the last remaining symbol of that effort in volatile North-South relations over the years.Kaesong had been shut only once before, for five months in 2013, amid heightened tensions following North Korea's third nuclear test, although its continuing existence often seemed tenuous.(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer and Michael Perry)
US deploys more Patriot missiles in South Korea-AFP-February 12, 2016 11:42 PM-YAHOONEWS
Seoul (AFP) - The United States has temporarily deployed an additional Patriot missile battery in South Korea following North Korea's recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, US Forces Korea said Saturday.The move came as the two allies plan to start detailed discussions on bringing in an advanced, high-altitude US missile defence system opposed by China as early as next week."This deployment is part of an emergency deployment readiness exercise conducted in response to recent North Korean provocations," the US Forces Korea said in a press statement, referring to the temporary roll-out of a Patriot missile battery, which was flown from Fort Bliss, Texas this week."Exercises like this ensure we are always ready to defend against an attack from North Korea," said Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal, commander of the US Eighth Army.The newly deployed Patriot battery is conducting ballistic missile defence training with the Eighth Army's 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Osan Air Base, some 47 kilometres (30 miles) south of Seoul.The brigade has its own two Patriot battalions. One Patriot battalion is reportedly composed of four batteries.Just hours after North Korea launched a long-range rocket that both condemned as a disguised ballistic missile test, South Korea and the United States announced their intention to start discussions on deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (THAAD).The Pentagon has since stressed that it would like the system to be deployed in South Korea "as quickly as possible".A senior South Korean defence ministry official said Friday detailed discussions on THAAD deployment would kick off as early as next week.China and Russia argue that it would trigger an arms race in the region, with Beijing voicing its "deep concern" over the deployment.South Korea had previously declined to formally discuss bringing in THAAD in deference to the sensitivities of China, its most important trade partner.But North Korea's continued missile testing and frustration with Beijing's resistance to imposing harsh sanctions on Pyongyang apparently triggered a change in Seoul's stance.
Beijing pins Hong Kong riot on 'radical separatists'-AFP-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
In unusually blunt remarks on a local Hong Kong matter, Zhang Xiaoming, Beijing's top representative in the semi-autonomous city, told reporters the violence that left dozens of police officers hurt also showed elements of "terror"."After the riot in Mong Kok, we are feeling very much shocked and saddened," Zhang told reporters."We strongly condemn those radical separatists who have become increasingly violent, even (carrying out) activities that showed terror tendencies," the director of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong said in Chinese.The clashes erupted when protesters gathered following official attempts to remove illegal hawkers from the busy commercial neighbourhood of Mong Kok during Lunar New Year celebrations late Monday night.Police fired warning shots in the air, while demonstrators hurled bricks levered up from pavements, charged police lines with homemade shields and set rubbish on fire.About 100 people were injured, including police officers, journalists and protesters, and 65 were arrested in the rare outbreak of violence.Some 30 have been charged with rioting.Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said Sunday most of the protesters were unemployed and did not reflect mainstream views."The majority of them are jobless. Quite many of them belong to radical political groups. Their political demands... cannot reflect the majority of society," the chief executive said.The battles have been dubbed the "fishball revolution" after a favourite Hong Kong street snack and reflect underlying tensions over the erosion of the city's traditions.Demonstrators included "localist" activists who want to restrict Beijing's influence on the city.Mong Kok, on the city's Kowloon peninsula, was the scene of some of the worst violence during the 79-day "Occupy" pro-democracy street protests in late 2014.The mass rallies seeking fully free leadership elections in the city blocked some major streets for more than two months. But the rallies failed to win concessions from the authorities.Pro-democracy activist Joseph Cheng said weighing in on the protest was a tactic by Beijing to justify its hardline approach to the pro-democracy movement."The whole idea, of course, is to condemn the protesters in association with the pro-democracy movement in the public opinion war," the retired scholar, who has advocated direct leadership elections for Hong Kong, told AFP."Condemning the riot has the purpose of justifying the hardline (stance) of Beijing,"He added he expected the Hong Kong authorities to conduct a "neutral investigation" into the incident, despite the outspoken comments from Beijing.Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997 with its way of life protected for 50 years by a joint agreement.But there are fears that freedoms enshrined in the agreement are being eroded by Chinese influence, including the recent case of five Hong Kong publishers known for titles critical of Beijing, four of whom it is confirmed have been detained on the mainland.
Navy considers electric gun for a Zumwalt-class destroyer-Associated Press By DAVID SHARP-feb 14,16-yahoonews
BATH, Maine (AP) — Development of a futuristic weapon depicted in video games and science fiction is going well enough that a Navy admiral wants to skip an at-sea prototype in favor of installing an operational unit aboard a destroyer planned to go into service in 2018.The Navy has been testing an electromagnetic railgun and could have an operational unit ready to go on one of the new Zumwalt-class destroyers under construction at Bath Iron Works.Adm. Pete Fanta, the Navy's director of surface warfare, has floated the idea of foregoing the current plan to put a prototype on another vessel this year and instead put it directly on future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, though no final decision has been made."The Zumwalt-class is one of a number of options being explored for the electromagnetic railgun," said Lt. Cmdr. Hayley Sims, a Navy spokeswoman. "Due to the size, weight and power requirements, some platforms will be better suited for the technology than others."Railguns use electricity instead of gunpowder to accelerate a projectile at six or seven times the speed of sound — creating enough kinetic energy to destroy targets.It's literal whiz-bang technology that holds the possibility of providing an effective weapon at pennies on the dollars compared to smart bombs and missiles.There has been talk since the inception of the Zumwalt program that the massive destroyers would be a likely candidate for the weapon because of its power plant. The USS Johnson will be the third and final destroyer in the Zumwalt class.The 600-foot-long warship uses marine turbines similar to those that propel the Boeing 777 to help produce up to 78 megawatts of electricity for use in propulsion, weapons and sensors. That's more than enough juice for the railgun.If it's placed on the warship, the system could replace one of the forward turrets housing a 155mm gun that fires rocket-propelled projectiles.For now, however, the official plan remains for the railgun prototype to be tested aboard a joint high speed vessel this year. But there are concerns that the plan may be pushed back into 2017, and Fanta suggested skipping it altogether.The railgun, along with laser weaponry, are two futuristic technologies that Fanta said have evolved from being a matter of scientific research to one of practical engineering.The Navy is interested in those weapons — along with smart munitions that can improve existing naval guns — because of their low cost as well as lethality."The Navy is determined to increase the offensive punch of the surface warships," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute. "To do that with a limited budget, it needs to look at everything from smart munitions to railguns to lasers."The railgun discussion isn't widely known inside the shipyard.Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, had no comment.Shipbuilder Charles Davis said there was talk of a railgun when the yard began work on the first ship in the class, but he said there's been no discussion since then."They've been pretty tight-lipped about it," he said.___Follow David Sharp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-sharp .
Republicans’ vow to block Obama Supreme Court nominee comes with risks-Meredith Shiner-Political correspondent-February 13, 2016-yahoonews
The U.S. Senate should not act to fill the sudden Supreme Court vacancy opened up by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia until after President Obama departs office, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Saturday.“The American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” McConnell said.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as well as current Republican presidential candidates and Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, also came out of the gate opposing confirmation of a final Obama Supreme Court nominee.The Republican majority in the Senate gives the party leverage for a battle with Obama over a new Supreme Court nomination, but would not be without risks. Any nominee would need 60 affirmative votes on cloture to proceed to final confirmation, meaning that Obama would be under pressure to choose a more moderate versus liberal justice in order to win the at least 14 Republicans he would need to support his nominee.That pressure would vanish if Republicans cannot retake the White House in 2016 or hold their majority in the Senate. Many Republicans in D.C. are skeptical that the party will be able to do either, especially if Donald J. Trump or Ted Cruz win the GOP presidential nomination. These establishment Republicans have seen evidence that Trump or Cruz would create a drag on races lower down the ballot, such as the Senate races in November, and are worried Republicans could lose the Senate.Republicans currently hold the Senate majority with 54 members, but 24 of those seats are being contested this year — including seven in states where Obama won twice.If Republicans wait and Democrats win the White House and regain the Senate majority, a hypothetical President Hillary Clinton, for example, would have greater leeway to select a more liberal justice than Obama might have submitted.But the politics could also work in Republicans’ favor, as mobilization for a Supreme Court nomination by a Republican president could cause conservative voter turnout to spike in 2016, helping candidates across the board. Democrats, of course, would similarly seek to boost turnout and support based on the nomination fight (or lack thereof).There is precedent for the Senate to act in a presidential year on a confirmation. Justice Anthony Kennedy was chosen by Republican President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by a Democratic Senate on February 3, 1988 — also the last year of a lame-duck presidency.But SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein does not see a scenario in which Senate Republicans will change their minds.“Theoretically, that process could conclude before the November election. But realistically, it cannot absent essentially a consensus nominee — and probably not even then, given the stakes,” he wrote. “A Democratic president would replace a leading conservative vote on a closely divided court. The Republican Senate will not permit such a consequential nomination — which would radically shift the balance of ideological power on the court — to go forward.”Democrats, of course, do not see it that way, but without the Senate majority, there’s little they can do but highlight what they believe is political negligence and then campaign on that. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called on Obama to send a nominee to the Senate, and Obama said Saturday night he would, indeed, nominate someone.The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, released a statement mourning Scalia and calling on Republicans to work with Democrats to replace him swiftly because failing to do so would weaken democracy “for partisan reasons.”“I hope that no one will use this sad news to suggest that the president or the Senate should not perform its constitutional duty,” Leahy said. “The American people deserve to have a fully functioning Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States is too important to our democracy for it to be understaffed for partisan reasons. It is only February. The president and the Senate should get to work without delay to nominate, consider and confirm the next justice to serve on the Supreme Court.”
Ted Cruz says he will ‘absolutely’ filibuster Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia-Dylan Stableford-Senior editor-February 14, 2016-yahoonews
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is threatening to filibuster any Supreme Court nominee made by President Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.“This should be a decision for the people,” Cruz said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday. “Let the election decide. If the Democrats want to replace [Scalia], they need to win the election. But I don’t think the American people want a court that will strip our religious liberties. I don’t think the American people want a court that will mandate unlimited abortions on demand, partial-birth abortion with taxpayer funding and no parental notification, and I don’t think the American people want a court that will write the Second Amendment out of the Constitution.”On Saturday, Obama said he plans “to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time,” pressing the Senate to “fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote.”Asked whether he would filibuster Obama’s choice, Cruz said: "Absolutely.”Scalia, who died suddenly Saturday at the age of 79, was the court’s longest-serving member and an outspoken conservative champion of the Constitution.His death, Cruz said, will have a “profound impact” on the Republican primary — and that voters ought to think about who the next president would nominate to the land’s highest court.“If Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,” Cruz said. “He will not invest the capital to confirm a conservative, so the result will be the same whether it’s Hillary [Clinton], Bernie [Sanders] or Donald Trump. The Second Amendment will go away.”Cruz added: “Anyone that writes checks to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and Jimmy Carter and Hillary Clinton does not care about conservative justices on the court.”During Saturday night’s GOP debate in South Carolina, Trump urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop Obama from nominating Scalia’s replacement.“It’s called delay, delay, delay,” Trump said.Dr. Ben Carson also called on the president to delay picking a Supreme Court nominee.“We need to start thinking about the divisiveness that is going on in our country,” Carson said. “I looked at some of the remarks that people made after finding out that Justice Scalia had died, and they were truly nasty remarks. And that we have managed to get to that position in our country is truly a shame. And we should be thinking about how we could create some healing in this land.”Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Scalia one of the greatest defenders of the Constitution in U.S. history.“You talk about someone who defended consistently the original meaning of the Constitution, who understood that the Constitution was not there to be interpreted based on the fads of the moment, but it was there to be interpreted according to its original meaning,” Rubio said. “Justice Scalia understood that better than anyone in the history of this republic.”Rubio continued: “I do not believe the president should appoint someone. And it’s not unprecedented. In fact, it has been over 80 years since a lame duck president has appointed a Supreme Court justice. And it reminds us of this — how important this election is. Someone on this stage will get to choose the balance of the Supreme Court, and it will begin by filling this vacancy that’s there now. And we need to put people on the bench that understand that the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.”Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush believes that Obama has “every right to nominate” someone to replace Scalia, but he “needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record, similar to Justice Scalia, that is a lover of liberty, that believes in limited government, that consistently applied that kind of philosophy, that didn’t try to legislator from the bench, that was respectful of the Constitution.”During the debate, Cruz offered his full-throated praise of Scalia, and warned voters that the next justice could have a profound impact on their lives.“He was somebody that I knew for 20 years,” Cruz said. “He was a brilliant man. He was faithful to the Constitution. He changed the arc of American legal history. And I’ll tell you, his passing tonight, our prayers are with his family, with his wife, Maureen, who he adored, his nine children, his 36 grandkids. But it underscores the stakes of this election. We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will strike down every restriction on abortion adopted by the states. We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will reverse the Heller decision, one of Justice Scalia’s seminal decisions that upheld the Second Amendment right to keep and to bear arms.”He added: “We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that would undermine the religious liberty of millions of Americans — and the stakes of this election, for this year, for the Senate, the Senate needs to stand strong and say, ‘We’re not going to give up the U.S. Supreme Court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee.’”
Donald Trump Doubles Down on Attacks of Bush Family-ABC News By NICKI ROSSOLL-feb 14,16-yahoonews
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks of his rival Jeb Bush and his brother, former President George W. Bush, Sunday on ABC's "This Week."“I think he did a terrible thing when he went into Iraq,” Trump said about the former president. The real estate mogul then criticized other Republicans for not going after Pres. Bush and instead being "politically correct."At Saturday's debate in South Carolina, Trump got into a heated exchange with the former Florida governor about his brother's role in the 9/11 attacks."I'm sick and tired of him going after my family," Bush said to applause Saturday night. "While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and I'm proud of what he did.""The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign. Remember that," Trump responded.When pressed about his previous call to impeach Pres. Bush, Trump did not dispute that he said it but wouldn’t repeat it, saying it was “past time.”Trump also shifted blame for the Affordable Care Act to the two brothers."Jeb Bush pushed him through the brother. They were close," Trump said referring to the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts. "We have Obamacare because of Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and George Bush."
Tens of Thousands of Sharks Spotted 'A Stone's Throw' From Florida Beaches-Inside Edition By Inside Edition-yahoonews-feb 14,16
Researchers flying above the Sunshine State's Atlantic coast on Friday spotted a massive migration of black tip sharks swimming uncomfortably close to popular beaches."There are literally tens of thousands of sharks a stone's throw away from our shoreline," You could throw a pebble and literally strike a shark. They are that close," said Florida Atlantic University biological sciences professor Dr. Stephen Kajiura.Kajiura is part of a team that's researchers who tag and observe the blacktips in an attempt to better understand their migration habits. He told WPEC that the blacktip sharks were densest across the 20 mile stretch from highly populated Palm Beach to Singer Island, Florida.While the blacktip has never been connected to a single fatal attack, scientists believe they are likely to blame for most shark bite incidents in Florida due to their prevalence in the waters off the coast of the state.Expert Gives Tips to Protect Yourself Against Shark Attack: 'Punch a Shark in the Snout, Grab His Gills'-Those who'd like to plan their trip around this migration event, take note: the sharks will likely be sticking around in Palm Beach County for the next month or so. Or, just take your chances. Kajiura doesn't believe beachgoers should be too concerned--though his reasoning might not convince everyone."Even though we have this huge number of sharks...we have relatively few bites," the researcher told the Palm Beach Daily News. "When you consider the number of people in the water and the number of sharks in the water you’d think there would be a lot of interaction."
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Pope to lead mass in rough Mexico crime city-AFP By Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere-FEB 14,16-YAHOONEWS
Ecatepec (Mexico) (AFP) - Pope Francis will celebrate an open-air mass in a crime-plagued Mexico City suburb on Sunday after thousands of pilgrims spent the night outdoors, awaiting his message of peace in the cold.The Catholic faithful wrapped themselves in blankets, using plastic and cardboard to build makeshift tents on a university's field, where 300,000 were expected for the service.Ecatepec, a concrete maze of 1.6 million people, is in the state of Mexico, a region that has become infamous for a spate of disappearances of women, whose bodies sometimes turn up in abandoned lots or canals.Some 600 women have been killed between January 2014 and September 2015 in the state, according to the non-governmental National Citizen Observatory of Feminicides.Some pilgrims said that despite the city's bad reputation, they were not concerned about spending the night outside. Hundreds of police officers stood guard around the field."We know that Ecatepec has a lot of problems like the lack of security and kidnappings," said Rodrigo Perez, a 25-year-old public security student.But the pope's visit, he said, is a chance to "talk about peace and unity."- 'Prophetic courage' -The Argentine-born pontiff made it clear before his arrival in Mexico that he would speak out about the corruption and crime afflicting parts of the country.He used his visit to the National Palace and the capital's cathedral on Saturday to bluntly tell political and religious leaders to do more to bring peace to the country.At the palace, with President Enrique Pena Nieto by his side in a patio packed with lawmakers and government officials, Francis told them they had a duty to give "true justice" and "effective security" to Mexicans.Later, he told bishops at the cathedral to take on the scourge of drug trafficking with "prophetic courage" and avoid hiding "behind anodyne denunciations."Many Mexicans, fed up with a decade of drug violence that has left 100,000 dead or missing, had hoped to hear such words from the 79-year-old pontiff.Pope Francis has chosen to visit some of Mexico's most troubled regions during his five-day trip to the world's second most populous Catholic country.The crimes against women in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital, prompted the federal government to declare a "gender violence alert" requiring protective measures in 11 towns, including Ecatepec.- Faith in God -"People who kill or who are wicked should think about the fact that we are women and that we should be respected," said Mariana Virginia Hernandez, 45, who came from the neighboring state of Hidalgo for the mass and wore several sweaters and a poncho to resist the cold.Ana Yeli Perez, legal adviser at the National Citizen Observatory of Feminicides, said the organization is "concerned about the lack of visibility of the issue because the government controls it. We hope the pope speaks about it."But Karla Paola Romero, a 21-year-old activist who was nearly kidnapped three years ago, said gender violence would not be resolved "with a miracle."Romero, who will not be at the mass, spoke near a hill where a woman's body was found in December. The victim had been raped and hanged.The pope will face other tough issues during his trip.On Monday, Pope Francis will travel to Mexico's poorest and least Catholic region, the southern indigenous state of Chiapas.He will visit on Tuesday the capital of Michoacan, a western state where farms formed vigilante forces to counter a drug cartel in 2013.The pope caps the trip in Mexico's former murder capital, Ciudad Juarez, for a mass that will span the US and Mexican borders to highlight the plight of migrants.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Police: 3 killed, scores to hospitals after huge I-78 pileup-Associated Press-feb 13,16-yahoonews
FREDERICKSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A pileup involving dozens of vehicles on a Pennsylvania interstate that killed three people and sent dozens to hospitals appears to have been related to a passing snow squall, authorities said Saturday.Trooper Justin Summa said three fatalities had been confirmed following the 9:45 a.m. Saturday crash which involved at least 50 commercial and private vehicles. Police said more than 40 people were transported to several hospitals following the crash in Interstate 78 in Bethel Township.The pileup left tractor-trailers, box trucks and cars tangled together across three traffic lanes and into the snow-covered median about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.Megan Manlove of Penn State Hershey Medical Center said 10 patients had been brought in from the crash, three in critical condition, three with moderate to severe injuries and four with minor injuries.Trooper Adam Reed said investigators believe that "passing snow squalls played a role in causing the crash."PennLive.com reported that some witnesses reported sudden whiteout conditions on the interstate before the crash."It just turned real white," Raul Jardine of Allentown said, adding that all he could see were the brake lights of the car in front of him, so he slowed down and was hit from behind.Nearby resident James Steffy told WHP-TV that the crash "sounded like two bombs went off.""We thought it was thunderclouds, and my wife ran up over the hill and saw the accident," he said.Police said more than 70 people were taken to a warming shelter operated by the American Red Cross at a firehouse in the area."We're keeping them warm, keeping them fed and hopefully going to provide them with some rental cars," Summa said.The Penn State-Lehigh Valley men's basketball team was heading to a game in New Kensington when the team's chartered bus was hit by a tractor-trailer, the university said. Officials said there were no serious injuries to anyone and the students were "on a warm, dry bus" but were being taken to a hospital as a precaution.Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesman Cory Angell said an emergency operation center was activated and a special response team was at Fort Indiantown Gap to deliver stockpiled supplies such as food and water if they are needed.Angell said drivers were being urged to use caution due to extremely cold temperatures and blowing snow making roads hazardous even though they have been plowed."You could be driving down the interstate and all of a sudden conditions change because the winds are drifting the snow," he said.Police said the interstate would remain closed until at least midnight, and people wishing to recover their cars should call the state police in Lebanon County after 6 a.m. Sunday.___This story has been corrected to show that police now say more than 40 people were taken to hospitals, not 70.
