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)
MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM
EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
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)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
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.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Muslim states slam 'provocative' Israel actions in Jerusalem-[AFP]-Ezzedine SAID-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Istanbul (AFP) - The main grouping of the world's Muslim nations on Tuesday accused Israel of staging provocative actions and inflaming tensions with the Palestinians in a crisis over security measures at a key holy site in Jerusalem.Turkey hosted an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that Ankara called to discuss the tensions in its current capacity as chairman of the body.Turkey has full diplomatic relations with Israel after resolving last year a crisis in ties but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains vehemently critical of the Jewish state's policy towards the Palestinians.The meeting brought together foreign ministers and top officials from key Muslim nations, including Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose rival nations are locked in a bitter feud.Israel angered the Islamic world by installing metal detectors and security cameras at the Haram al-Sharif holy site in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following a July 14 attack in which gunmen killed two policemen.The move sparked Muslim protests and deadly unrest, and last week the Israeli government removed the detectors and cameras. The site includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.A joint communique issued after the gathering said the meeting "strongly condemns Israel's recent provocative actions" at the holy site.It accused the Jewish state of "employing collective punishment measures and the use of lethal and excessive force against peaceful Palestinian worshippers" at the site.And despite the Israeli climbdown on the metal detectors, the OIC statement accused the government of "persistent public statements... that incite religious sensitivities, feed tension and incite violence".It urged world powers not to support or encourage Israel's "illegal colonisation and annexation" of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 before later annexing.- 'Could get nasty again' -Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told the meeting that Israel's move to remove the detectors was a "small victory in the long battle for freedom".But he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to change the longstanding agreement whereby only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, although anyone can visit, including Jews."Netanyahu will try again to impose his status quo and we should prepare for the next round which could come very soon and be very nasty," he added.Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was time Muslim countries started to help the Palestinians "not just with words but with actions"."We must act to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque and Palestine," he said. He reaffirmed a call made by Erdogan on all Muslims to visit Jerusalem.In its statement, the OIC accused the Israeli government of "neither (being) committed to peace nor interested in the two-state solution", saying its actions were the "most dangerous threat to the prospects of peace".Last year Turkey and Israel ended a rift triggered by Israel's deadly storming in 2010 of a Gaza-bound ship that left 10 Turkish activists dead. The two sides have since embarked on a close energy cooperation venture to pipe Israeli gas to Turkey.But Erdogan, who considers himself a champion of the Palestinian cause, is still often critical of Israeli policy. His comments on the crisis have been among his toughest on Israel since the reconciliation deal.
U.S. begins Russia drawdown after Kremlin retaliates for sanctions-[Reuters]-By Jack Stubbs and Gennady Novikov-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States began removing furniture and equipment from a diplomatic property in Moscow on Tuesday in the first sign of compliance with a Kremlin order to slash its presence in Russia as retaliation for new U.S. sanctions.President Vladimir Putin has ordered the United States to cut around 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by Sept. 1, and said Moscow will seize two U.S. diplomatic properties in response to sanctions approved by Congress last week.The White House has said U.S. President Donald Trump will sign the sanctions bill, meant as a response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and to further punish Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.On Tuesday, removal men began dismantling play equipment and barbecues at a U.S.-owned dacha (country villa) on the outskirts of Moscow, after being refused access the day before, according to a Reuters journalist at the scene.The dacha, which is being confiscated along with a U.S. warehouse in the south of the Russian capital, was used by U.S. diplomatic staff at the weekends and to host parties for students, journalists and other diplomats.The removal men said they arrived at around 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and were seen packing furniture, including beds and lamps, into three white removal vans before leaving the property three hours later.Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said U.S. staff had to leave the dacha and warehouse by midday on Tuesday, TASS news agency reported. Ryabkov and the Kremlin said no one had obstructed U.S. employees trying to access the property.Putin said on Sunday Russia had ordered the United States to cut 755 of its 1,200 diplomatic staff in its embassy and consular operations, though many of those let go will be Russian citizens, with the United States allowed to choose who leaves.The ultimatum issued by the Russian leader is a display to voters at home that he is prepared to stand up to Washington - but is also carefully calibrated to avoid directly affecting the U.S. investment he needs, or burning his bridges with Trump.One person at the embassy, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media, said staff there were feeling depressed and despondent as they came to terms with the Kremlin's order."The mood in the office is very pessimistic," the person said. "Everyone is just loitering, or sitting on job websites looking for a new job."(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova, Valery Stepchenkov and Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran accuses United States of breaching nuclear deal-[Reuters]-By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran believes new sanctions that the United States has imposed on it breach the nuclear deal it agreed in 2015 and has complained to a body that oversees the pact's implementation, a senior politician said on Tuesday.Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed by the United States, Russia, China and three European powers, Iran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most sanctions.However, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on six Iranian firms in late July for their role in the development of a ballistic missile program, after Tehran launched a rocket capable of putting a satellite into orbit.The U.S. Senate voted on the same day to impose new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. The sanctions in that bill also target Iran's missile programs as well as human rights abuses."Iran's JCPOA supervisory body assessed the new U.S. sanctions and decided that they contradict parts of the nuclear deal," Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency."Iran has complained to the (JCPOA) Commission for the breach of the deal by America," he added, referring to the joint commission set up by the six world powers, Iran and the European Union to handle any complaints about the deal's implementation.If the commission is unable to resolve a dispute, parties can take their grievances to the U.N. Security Council.U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the agreement - negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama - "the worst deal ever" last week told Iran to adhere to the terms of the nuclear accord or face "big, big problems", although his administration has certified Iran as being in compliance with the it.Iranian media said on Monday the government had agreed measures in response to the U.S. sanctions and that President Hassan Rouhani would announce them soon to relevant ministries.Iran has previously accused the United States of defying the spirit of the nuclear deal or "showing bad faith", but has not taken any formal action against Washington.(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Japan hopes new North Korea sanctions proposal ready in days-[Associated Press]-EDITH M. LEDERER-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Japan's ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday he hopes a draft U.N. resolution that would impose new sanctions against North Korea following its tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile will be finished "in days."The United States and China said a week ago that they were making progress on a resolution that would then need to be discussed and approved by the 15-member Security Council. The U.S. gave China, North Korea's neighbor and ally, a proposed resolution several weeks ago.Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho, whose country is on the council, told reporters Tuesday that "there's been a lot of work" and discussion on the text."Japan has put in some ideas," the U.S. and China "are seriously looking into this, (and) I hope that we can get it done in days," he said.Russia's new U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, called North Korea's intensifying missile program "really serious," telling reporters the entire international community is concerned and "we'll be working to see what we can do together in the council."The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of progressively tougher sanctions on North Korea, but so far that has failed to halt the country's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as Americans celebrated Independence Day on July 4 marked a significant step toward young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's goal of developing a missile with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States. Pyongyang followed up with a second ICBM launch Friday.U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has refused to say what sanctions are being discussed with China.But in early July she told the Security Council that if it is united, the international community can cut off major sources of hard currency to North Korea, restrict oil to its military and weapons programs, increase air and maritime restrictions, and hold senior officials accountable.She has repeatedly stressed that the United States wants to ensure that a new resolution is "a strong resolution.""An additional Security Council resolution that does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value," she said in a statement Sunday. "In fact, it is worse than nothing, because it sends the message to the North Korean dictator that the international community is unwilling to seriously challenge him."Haley said the time for talking is over and "China must decide whether it is finally willing to take this vital step."But Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said Monday that the United States and North Korea hold "the primary responsibility" for de-escalating tensions and negotiating peace on the Korean Peninsula — not China.He said if Washington and Pyongyang refuse to reduce tensions and hold new talks as called for in Security Council resolutions "then no matter how capable China is, China's efforts will not yield practical results — because it depends on the two principal parties."
US prepares to test launch unarmed ICBM from California-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Air Force was preparing Tuesday to test an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile with a launch from California, the fourth such test this year.The 30th Space Wing says the missile was to be launched between 12:01 a.m. and 6:01 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.An Air Force statement said the test would show the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system.Minuteman missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg that send unarmed re-entry vehicles 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) across the Pacific to a target area at Kwajalein Atoll.However, the latest U.S. launches come amid tensions with North Korea as that nation develops its own ICBMs.Flight data on North Korea's most recent test, conducted Friday, showed that a broad part of the mainland United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of Pyongyang's weapons, according to analysts.In response, the U.S. Air Force flew two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile defense system located in Alaska.Previous Minuteman ICBM launches this year were conducted in February, April and May. That month, the Air Force also conducted a test of a missile interceptor launched from Vandenberg. The interceptor destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific.
2 Spanish NATO planes briefly violate Finnish airspace-[Associated Press]-JARI TANNER-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Two Spanish NATO jet fighters briefly violated Finnish airspace while intercepting three Russian aircraft near Estonia on Tuesday, NATO said.The alliance said the fighter planes violated the airspace when they were in the process of asking Finland, which is not a NATO member, to take over the chase."In handing over the intercept to the Finnish jets, the Spanish jets accidentally entered Finnish airspace," NATO spokesman Dylan P. White said in a statement. "NATO's Air Command has explained the incident to the Finnish Air Operations Centre to improve future coordination."Finland's defense ministry said the F-18 Super Hornets, part of NATO's air policing mission in the Baltics, flew into Finnish airspace southwest of Helsinki Tuesday for under a minute at around 9 a.m.The aircraft are currently based in NATO's air base in Amari, Estonia.The international air corridor over the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea is narrow and the Nordic country has experienced several air violations by military and civilian aircraft from neighboring Russia. However, violations by NATO planes are rare over non-alliance member Finland.__Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report
NATO intercepts Russian jets near Estonian airspace-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spanish and Finnish fighter jets were sent to intercept three Russian planes flying near Estonian air space on Tuesday, the NATO military alliance said in a statement.The Russian airplanes were identified as two MiG-31 jets and one Antonov AN-26 transport aircraft, NATO said."Two Spanish F-18 jets assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled from Estonia's Amari Air Base," NATO said. "Finnish jets also scrambled to intercept the aircraft."Intercepts of Russian aircraft by NATO have increased in recent years amid heightened tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia's involvement in the Ukraine crisis.(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU agency relocation race starts with 23 cities By Eric Maurice-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 17:05-EU countries will have to choose between 23 cities to host the two London-based EU agencies, which will have to be relocated after Brexit, in a selection process that started on Tuesday (1 August) and should be completed before the end of the year.Monday was the last day to apply, and the list was published on Tuesday by the Council of the EU, where representatives of member states meet.Nineteen cities applied to the host the European Medicines Agency (EMA): Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Bonn, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Lille, Milan, Porto, Sofia, Stockholm, Malta, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zagreb.The competition to host the European Banking Authority (EBA) will be composed of eight cities: Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Prague, Luxembourg-City, Vienna, and Warsaw.Four of them - Brussels, Dublin, Vienna and Warsaw - are candidates for both agencies, while two countries, France and Germany, present a city for each agency - Lille and Bonn for the EMA, Paris and Frankfurt for the EBA.Six countries - Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia - have not presented a candidate.In the first step of the process, the European Commission will give an "objective assessment" of the applications on 30 September.Criteria include the "accessibility of the location", "adequate education facilities for the children of staff members" and "appropriate access to the labour market, social security and medical care for both children and spouses.""We're talking about human beings and their future choice of a new city where they will be living," EU commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said on Tuesday.The criteria also specify that the agencies must be able to take up its functions in the new location at the date of Brexit and still be able to "attract highly qualified staff".The choice will also have to take into account the so-called geographical spread - an effort to have agencies in as many member states as possible. This was introduced in 2003, just before ten new countries joined the EU.-Complex procedure-After the commission hands in its assessment, the selection process will be discussed by EU leaders at their summit in October, and a final decision is expected in November.EU affairs ministers will first vote to choose the EMA location, before voting on the EBA's new city, using a complex voting system that could end up with Estonia, the current EU presidency, "drawing lots" if there is no winner after three rounds.Members states, which will almost all have to take a decision while having at least one candidate, said the process that they set up will "be fair and transparent". But there is no guarantee that political horse-trading will not take place behind the scenes."I will tell you that the process is fair and transparent when we have won," Luxembourg's EU ambassador, Georges Friden, quipped on Tuesday.On Monday, Luxembourg was one of the last countries to make its application official. The country aims to host the European Banking Authority (EBA).The Grand Duchy, whose economy is based on financial services and which already hosts the Court of Justice of the EU, the Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank and the European Stability Mechanism, says it is "the natural choice" for the EBA."It would once again confirm Luxembourg's situation as both a European capital and a financial centre," the ambassador said.-'Critical advantage'-He argued that the EBA "cannot interrupt its functioning for any length of time" and that Luxembourg's "experience of the workings of that type of institutions is of course a critical advantage."Referring to revelations on tax rulings that helped companies to avoid taxes, he said that Luxembourg "has always been applying relevant EU rules" and that the issue should not be taken into account.Luxembourg also insists that a building, which could be adapted to the EBA, has already been built, and that it would be rent-free for a period that would have to be negotiated.Luxembourg's main competitors are Paris, where the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) is located, and Frankfurt, which is home to the European Central Bank and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa).Earlier this year, the Grand Duchy said that a decision taken by member states in 1965 gave it legal grounds to claim the EBA.The 1965 decision states that member states are "willing to locate in Luxembourg, or to transfer thereto, other Community bodies and departments, particularly those concerned with finance".But the ambassador said on Tuesday that, with a selection process now agreed for the relocation of the EBA, "it would not be appropriate to unleash a massive legal debate".
Leave voters would accept economic woes to ensure Brexit By Eszter Zalan-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 16:25-Six in ten Leave voters think that significant damage to the UK economy is worth it, as long as Brexit happens, a new YouGov poll shows.While leading politicians in London debate on how to pursue Brexit, and with the EU negotiations having already begun, the survey shows that those who support leaving the EU do not mind paying a heavy economic price.Finance minister Philip Hammond has also warned of dire economic consequences after Brexit. Nevertheless, almost 40 percent of Leave voters appear not to mind losing their jobs if it meant an end to the UK’s EU membership.The survey’s results, published on Tuesday (1 August), show that 61 percent of Leave voters consider “significant damage to the British economy to be a price worth paying for bringing Britain out of the EU”.Only 20 percent of Leave voters think that is not a price worth paying.The survey also shows that 39 percent of the Leave voters do not mind a personal cost either - they would be willing to lose their own job or that of a family member if it meant leaving the EU.On the other hand, 38 percent of Leave voters think that job losses would be too much of a price to pay.Older Leave voters are even more hardline: 71 percent of Leave voters over the age of 65 think that significant damage to the economy is worth it, whereas only 46 percent of voters between the age of 18 and 24 agree with that proposition.The Remain camp have their 'extremists', as well. Thirty-four percent of Remain voters say that “significant damage to the UK economy would be a price worth paying for if it means that Britain stayed in the European Union”.Thirty-eight percent of Remain voters think that damage to the economy would be too high a price to stay in the EU. And only 18 percent of them think that losing their job would be a price worth paying to stay in the bloc.This could mean that supporters of a soft Brexit might not win much backing among voters when appealing for economic common sense.Meanwhile, Hammond, who has been pushing for a softer Brexit and a transitional deal that maintains strong ties with the EU, has received some support from former Conservative foreign secretary William Hague.In an opinion article published in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, Hague said that Hammond’s plan for a transitional period of up to three years after March 2019 - along the lines of an existing “off-the-shelf” model, such as a Norway-style agreement - was the best way of trying to rescue Brexit.He said there was a "clear potential for Brexit to become the occasion of the greatest economic, diplomatic and constitutional muddle in the modern history of the UK, with unknowable consequences for the country, the government and the Brexit project itself".Hammond’s plan, to use an off-the-shelf model for the transitional period, was ruled out on Monday by 10 Downing Street.
Grim forecast for UK banks after Brexit By Andrew Rettman-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:21-Banks will need up to $50 billion (€42.3 billion) in extra capital and see higher costs of $1 billion (€846 million) to diversify out of the UK and into the EU after Brexit, a leading consultancy has said.Up to 35,000 jobs in the financial services sector overall and 17,000 jobs in the wholesale banking area were likely to shift out of the UK to the EU in the medium term, Oliver Wyman, a New York-based consultancy, said in a report out on Monday (31 July).The move would come as banks opened new branches and subsidiaries in the EU in order to be able to keep trading there freely.But the movement of jobs from the UK "could ultimately be greater” in the long term as banks pooled staff together to “encourage collaboration among salespeople, traders, and risk managers”.European Central Bank (ECB) requirements for big banks to show they “have strong local control and governance” would also contribute to the trend.Wholesale banks, which sell services to corporate and institutional clients, could alone move 40,000 people out of London to EU alternatives in the long term, Oliver Wyman estimated.It said Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, and Paris were “emerging as the main destinations”.It said Frankfurt, the home of the ECB, was popular for the sake of “supervisory stability and influence”. Dublin was liked for its low taxes, while Paris and Amsterdam were considered “attractive and convenient locations”.Oliver Wyman said a hard Brexit, in which the UK lost access to the single market, would “fragment the European wholesale banking market” and “make it significantly less profitable” as banks would have to finance their new EU branches and store capital for their new operations.“Banks could see two percentage points knocked off their returns on equity of their wholesale banking operations in the region,” the US consultancy said.It said many bank CEOs were looking to “minimise expense and disruption by relocating as little as possible in the first instance”, while awaiting how Brexit talks pan out.But with the UK exit looming in March 2019, “over the next six to 12 months … actions will be needed that are more costly and harder to reverse - such as injecting new capital into EU entities, moving employees, appointing senior management, and building dealing room infrastructure”, it added.The consultancy said issues like the Irish border, citizens’ rights, and the Brexit divorce bill, rather than the banking sector, were the politicians’ top priorities for now.It said “job losses in London and reduced tax revenues mean the UK has a clear interest in avoiding” loss of access to the single market.But it added that: “So long as the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations remain unpredictable, banks must act as if a hard Brexit is coming”.
Florida reports 1st sexually transmitted Zika case in 2017-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
MIAMI (AP) — Florida health officials are reporting the state's first sexually transmitted case of Zika in 2017.According to a Florida Department of Health statement , the Pinellas County resident's partner showed symptoms of the mosquito-borne virus after a recent trip to Cuba. Officials said both patients tested positive for Zika.Zika can cause a mild illness, with fever, rash and joint pain. Infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects.The health department said there's no evidence of mosquitoes transmitting Zika anywhere in Florida. Most of Florida's 118 Zika cases this year have been linked to travel outside the continental U.S. The only local cases confirmed this year all were linked to exposure to the virus in 2016.Last week, Texas health officials reported a Zika infection likely contracted through a mosquito bite in recent months.
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)
Evacuation order lifted as wildfire threatens California homes-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An evacuation order was lifted on Monday at the edge of a national forest in Southern California, after a wildfire threatening dozens of homes in the path of the flames.The so-called Rose Fire, which broke near foothill communities east of the Cleveland National Forest in mid-afternoon, had charred some 150 acres (61 hectares) within several hours, according to the Riverside Fire Department.The blaze was zero-percent contained at 8 p.m., as local television showed images of the flames bearing down on several homes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structures destroyed.Fire officials lifted all evacuation orders at about 8 p.m. local time.More than 200 firefighters were deployed to battle the flames, assisted by three helicopters and six fixed-wing air tankers.Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by equipment, the Riverside Fire Department said.(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Navy searches for missing sailor in South China Sea-[Associated Press]-LOLITA C. BALDOR-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy is searching for a sailor who is missing and may have gone overboard during routine operations in the South China Sea.The Navy's Pacific Fleet says that U.S. and Japanese ships and aircraft are looking for the sailor who was on the USS Stethem.A Navy official says the sailor is a male lieutenant. His name is being withheld as the search continues. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the information publicly and spoke anonymously.Pacific Fleet says the Stethem reported a man overboard around 9 a.m. local time Tuesday. Multiple searches of the destroyer were conducted but the sailor hasn't been found.In June, a sailor believed to have fallen overboard from the USS Shiloh in the South China Sea was found hiding aboard the ship.
Archaeologists uncover 'little Pompeii' in southeast France-[AFP]-Myriam CHAPLAIN RIOU-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Sainte-Colombe (France) (AFP) - A "little Pompeii" is how French archaeologists are describing an entire ancient Roman neighbourhood uncovered on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Vienne, featuring remarkably preserved remains of luxury homes and public buildings."We're unbelievably lucky. This is undoubtedly the most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years," said Benjamin Clement, the archaeologist leading the dig on the banks of the Rhone river, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Lyon.The city of Vienne -- famous for its Roman theatre and temple -- was an important hub on the route connecting northern Gaul with the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis in southern France.The site unearthed on land awaiting construction of a housing complex covers an area of nearly 7,000 square metres (75,000 square feet) -- an unusually large discovery in an urban area that has been labelled an "exceptional find" by the French culture ministry.The neighbourhood, which contains homes dating to the 1st century AD, is believed to have been inhabited for around 300 years before being abandoned after a series of fires.Many of the objects in place when the inhabitants fled were conserved, transforming the area into a "real little Pompeii in Vienne", according to Clement, referring to the Roman city-state that was largely preserved after being buried by volcanic ash.Among the structures to have partly survived are an imposing home dubbed the Bacchanalian House after a tiled floor depicting a procession of maenads (female followers of the god of wine, known variably as Dionysus or Bacchus) and joyful half-man, half-goat creatures known as satyrs.A blaze consumed the first floor, roof and balcony of the sumptuous home, which boasted balustrades, marble tiling, expansive gardens and a water supply system, but parts of the collapsed structure survived.The archaeologists believe the house belonged to a wealthy merchant."We will be able to restore this house from the floor to the ceiling," Clement said.- Philosophy school -In another house, an exquisite mosaic depicts a bare-bottomed Thalia, muse and patron of comedy, being kidnapped by a lustful Pan, god of the satyrs.The mosaics are being removed with infinite care and taken away to be restored, with a view to being exhibited in Vienne's museum of Gallo-Roman civilisation in 2019.Among the other finds are a large public building with a fountain adorned by a statue of Hercules, built at the site of a former market.Clement believes it may have housed a philosophy school.The excavations, which began in April, had been due to end in mid-September but have been extended by the French state until the end of the year to allow time for more discoveries.In the coming months Clement's 20-strong team will dig down to older parts of the site and explore an area containing workshops.
Power outage persists for tourist-reliant North Carolina Outer Banks-[Reuters]-By Bernie Woodall-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
(Reuters) - A power outage that led to evacuations on two Outer Banks islands in North Carolina could last 10 days longer, utility officials said on Tuesday, a day after some businesses sued to recover losses during the height of the summer vacation season.About 50,000 visitors have been evacuated from the islands, Hatteras and Ocracoke, since underground transmission lines were cut in a construction accident last Thursday, officials from Dare County and Hyde County said.It will take another six to 10 days to reconnect power to the Outer Banks south of Oregon Inlet, the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said on Tuesday.A lawsuit filed in Dare County on Monday on behalf of some tourist-reliant businesses said PCL Civil Constructors of Raleigh, North Carolina, was operating in haste to finish a $250-million project to construct a new three-mile bridge."In order to win the contract, PCL claimed it could save $60 million or more by working under an accelerated schedule," the firm that filed the suit, Wallace and Graham of Salisbury, North Carolina, said in a statement. "In the process of trying to proceed with the work, the power lines were cut."A PCL spokeswoman, Stephanie McCay, said in an email on Tuesday the company would wait to comment on the suit in court.About 5,000 residents remain on Hatteras Island in Dare County and about 900 residents remain on Ocracoke Island in Hyde County, officials from the two counties said.Tourism generates about $1 billion annually in Dare County, and about a quarter to 28 percent of that comes from Hatteras Island where tourists are temporarily prohibited, said county spokeswoman Dorothy Hester.During a news conference on Monday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he would attempt to help recover funds for those who sustained losses. Cooper declared a state of emergency for Hatteras and Ocracoke last week."Clearly, this was a company's fault and I think that we should work hard to make sure that people are made as whole as possible," Cooper said.Much of the Outer Banks remains open, including cities such as Kitty Hawk and Nags Head north of the bridge where the power cables were severed.(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and James Dalgleish)
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
NGOs divided by Italy's new rescue codeBy Eszter Zalan-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:25-Five aid groups have refused to sign Italy’s code of conduct for organisations that run migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean, the Italian interior ministry said on Monday (31 July).Three other organisations backed the new rules, which include a ban on sending light signals that may help migrants and a ban on transferring migrants to other ships.One of the organisations that refused to sign the code of conduct, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said in a letter on Monday that they already respected several provisions, such as financial transparency.MSF said that the code of conduct could lead to a decrease in the efficiency and capacity of the search and rescue response in the Mediterranean, leading to more deaths."Proposals - in particular the one stating that vessels engaged in rescue must disembark survivors to a place of safety as a rule instead of transferring to other ships - present unnecessary limitations to the means at our disposal today,” said the organisation, which noted that it had saved 16,000 people."A reduction in the number of rescue vessels would weaken an already insufficient search and rescue capacity, resulting in an increase in mass drownings,” MSF warned, adding that it observes all the maritime and international rules.Save the Children did sign up to the code of conduct, saying that it already complied with most of the rules.The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms also agreed to the code, while Germany's Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France's SOS Mediterranee abstained.One of the issues they were concerned with was the obligation to accept police officers on board their vessels, which some organisations say interferes with the humanitarian principle of neutrality. Italy argues the officers are needed to root out traffickers hiding among migrants.The Italian ministry said that all the organisations not participating in the scheme will be outside the “organised system of sea rescue”, and will face “all the consequences”, without going into details.This year, 95,000 people arrived at Italy’s coast, and more than 2,378 people died on the journey in the Mediterranean, according to UN data.In the first six months of this year, more than 30 percent of all rescue operations were carried out by NGOs.Rome is concerned that the presence of NGOs encourages smugglers and migrants to embark on the perilous journey.Italy had previously threatened to shut its ports to NGOs that did not sign up to the code of conduct.Rome has also secured the backing of the the EU for the new rules. The European Commission has said the code would aim to better coordinate rescues at sea.The 12-point code includes a ban on crossing into Libyan territorial waters and calls for cooperation with the police to investigate human trafficking.But while NGO boats will be banned from Libyan waters, the Italian navy is getting ready to enter them.Last week, Italy’s government agreed to send naval support to Libyan waters after a request was submitted by the UN-backed government in Tripoli, in its battle against people smugglers.Rome’s efforts to curb the NGOs’ activities at sea have also been fuelled by an increasingly widespread perception that the organisations are aiding smugglers, something the aid groups have repeatedly denied.Aside from human rights groups, the UN’s children's agency, Unicef, has also condemned Italy’s code of conduct. It said earlier this month that the new rules put children's lives at risk.
Lebanon-Syria border zone refugee transfer delayed a second day-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The transfer of thousands of Syrian militants and refugees from a Lebanese border region into rebel territory in Syria stalled for a second day on Tuesday because Beirut rejected demands made by the militants, a Lebanese official told Reuters.A security source said those demands included the release of prisoners held in a Lebanese jail and safe passage out of the country for some people wanted by the Lebanese state including militants in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.The source also said on Tuesday evening that the coming hours would be "decisive".Last week, Lebanese militia Hezbollah took most of the mountainous border area, called Jroud Arsal, in a joint offensive with the Syrian army to drive Nusra Front militants from the area, which straddles the border.Hezbollah's role in Syria's conflict has been criticized by its Lebanese political opponents, including Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Hariri has said refugee returns from Lebanon to Syria should be coordinated only through the United Nations.The ceasefire deal reached on Thursday included the release of Hezbollah prisoners held by the Nusra Front in Syria and the transfer of thousands of refugees back into Syria.Convoys of buses had arrived from Syria on Monday and Tuesday to collect thousands of fighters, their relatives and refugees from northeast Lebanon as part of the deal, but they still had not begun to move as night fell on Tuesday."(The Nusra Front's) demands regarding the exchange agreement have been rejected by us and we consider them an obstacle. It was this which delayed the implementation of the second phase of the agreement today," the official, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon's General Security, said.About 9,000 people are expected to be transferred and go to Syria's rebel-held Idlib province, a Hezbollah media unit said.Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen said Nusra Front militants were demanding the release of a fifth prisoner being held by Beirut and accused of killing Lebanese soldiers. Beirut and Hezbollah had refused, Al-Mayadeen reported, citing sources.On Tuesday, Nusra Front's leader in the Syrian Qalamoun mountain region told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai the deal includes the release of five of its Syrian members being held by Hezbollah and five more being held in a Lebanese prison.Abu Malek al-Talli told al-Rai implementation of the agreement was being held up by disagreements between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.The Nusra Front was al Qaeda's Syria branch until it severed ties last year. It now spearheads the Tahrir al-Sham Islamist alliance in the Syrian conflict.The Lebanese army, which receives considerable U.S. and British military support, did not take an active part in the Jroud Arsal operation, setting up defensive positions around the town of Arsal.Lebanon hosts nearly 1.5 million refugees - about a quarter of its population. Most live in severe poverty and several thousand are in makeshift camps east of Arsal in a barren mountainous region.The multi-sided Syrian conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven at least 11 million from their homes - about half Syria's pre-war population.(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Laila Bassam; Editing by Louise Ireland)
At least 29 killed in Afghan Shiite mosque attack-[AFP]-Hoshang Hashimi-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) - A suicide bomber and a gunman killed at least 29 people and wounded 63 at a packed Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's main western city of Herat Tuesday, the latest attack to highlight the country's deteriorating security situation.The assault on the Jawadya mosque in Herat, which is close to Afghanistan's border with Iran, came a day after the Islamic State group claimed a deadly attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul.The Herat attack was the latest in a series of assaults on Afghanistan's minority Shiite population."The death toll has risen to 29 killed and 63 wounded. Some wounded are in a critical condition so the toll may go up," hospital spokesman Rafeeq Shirzai told AFP.Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the assault happened around 8:00 pm (1530 GMT) when "a terrorist attack was carried out on a (Shiite) mosque in the third security district of Herat city"."Based on our initial information two terrorists were involved, one of them wearing a suicide vest who detonated himself while the second one was armed with a rifle. They are both dead," he added.A reporter for AFP said he had seen a number of bodies brought out of the mosque, leading to fears of a heavy death toll.He reported seeing a body torn to pieces at the entrance, possibly that of the attacker, while others were lying in pools of blood inside, some still crying and moving.Photos posted on social media showed large crowds had gathered at the hospital.There was no immediate claim of responsibility but IS has been targeting Shiite minority crowds and mosques in Afghanistan for around a year. The Taliban specifically denied that it was involved.- 'Anti-Islam act' -The attack comes a day after an assault on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul, which was claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), killed two people.IS has been expanding its footprint in eastern Afghanistan and has recently claimed responsibility for several devastating attacks in the capital.But experts have previously questioned whether there are direct links between the group's local affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) and the central IS command.On Monday a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the embassy, allowing at least three other militants to breach the compound, unleashing an hours-long gun battle that killed two people.A security source, who declined to be named, said IS could prove to be more dangerous than the Taliban in Afghanistan.Unlike the Taliban which has friends and foes among the international community, IS considers everyone their enemy and will keep attacking soft targets, he said.Shiites, of which there are around three million in Afghanistan, have regularly been targeted in recent years.In June, IS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a crowded Shiite mosque in Kabul which killed four people.November last year saw a massive suicide blast kill at least 27 people and wound 64 at a Shiite mosque, again in the Afghan capital.In July 2016 IS jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 400.Afghanistan's national unity government said it strongly condemned the Herat attack, describing it in a statement as an "anti-Islam act".It also called "on the Muslim people of Afghanistan, as well as on the religious scholars, to stand united against the barbaric actions of the terrorists".President Ashraf Ghani added that "terrorists cannot create sectarian divisions among our people".
Jews visit contested Jerusalem holy site on day of mourning-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
JERUSALEM (AP) — Over a thousand Jewish visitors ascended a contested Jerusalem holy site on Tuesday to mark Tisha B'av, the Jewish day of mourning over the destruction of the biblical temples.The site has been at the center of recent tensions after Israel installed, and then removed, metal detectors there following the deadly shooting of two Israeli policemen. Muslims administer the compound, home to the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, while Jews can visit but not pray there.Muslims refer to the site as the Noble Sanctuary, while Jews call it the Temple Mount. It is considered the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.Police said the number of Jewish visitors to the site was the largest in a single day in recent years, and religious nationalist groups claimed it was the largest since Israel took control of the shrine in the 1967 Mideast war.Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said nine Jewish visitors were removed for violating the guidelines. She said three Jews and one Muslim were arrested after a minor skirmish.Azzam al-Khatib, director of the Muslim administration, Waqf, said the number of Jewish visitors was "unprecedented, unacceptable and should stop."Israel's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef also issued a statement saying Jews who visited the site were "desecrating its holiness" and violating Jewish custom, which proscribes entering the holy compound.Palestinian foreign minister Riad Malki, who spoke at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, denounced the "annual massive assault against Al Aqsa on the occasion of the anniversary of the so-called destruction of the temple."The OIC condemned "Israel's recent provocative actions" at the contested holy site and warned against "any similar steps in the future would be unacceptable and illegal and shall be confronted by the Organization."
German police test facial recognition cameras at Berlin station-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police deployed the first facial recognition cameras at a main railway station in Berlin on Tuesday, testing new technology that could help track and arrest crime and terrorism suspects."We want to test how good the technology really is," police spokesman Jens Schobranski said of the six-month pilot project, part of a promise by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives to raise funds for police and security.Opinion polls in the run-up to a general election next month show many voters are worried about security, partly after attacks by asylum seekers stoked criticisms of Merkel's decision to allow in more than one million migrants.The images of a few dozen German volunteers have been entered into the new monitoring system to gauge how well the software can recognize them and distinguish them from passersby at the Südkreuz station, a main transport hub in the capital.Privacy is a sensitive subject for many Germans who still fret at the mass snooping practices of the Nazi regime and the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany. Schobranski said footage of the passengers visiting the station will be deleted.Ulrich Schellenberg, president of the German Bar Association, doubted that the new technology will help. The deadliest Islamist attack in Germany last year was carried out by a migrant who had been monitored by security agents, he said."Improving security is not about uncovering something new but rather to go after what we know more forcefully," he said.Failed asylum seeker Anis Amir killed 12 people in Berlin last year by driving a truck into a Christmas market. Security agents who suspected he was planning an attack had stopped monitoring him after they concluded he was no threat.(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Alister Doyle)
Pennsylvania school district to let transgender students use bathrooms of choice-[Reuters]-By Ian Simpson-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
(Reuters) - A Pennsylvania school district will let students use bathrooms matching their gender identity under a settlement announced on Tuesday that ended a federal lawsuit brought by a group of transgender students.The lawsuit, which targeted the Pine-Richland School District in suburban Pittsburgh, was filed last year on behalf of three transgender students who claimed that a district policy mandating that students use bathrooms matching their biological gender or use unisex restrooms was discriminatory.The settlement comes amid a broader national debate over gender identity and bathroom use, which followed North Carolina's passage last year of a law requiring people to use public restrooms that corresponded with their birth gender. The measure was partially repealed in March after the state lost hundreds of millions of dollars from economic boycotts.In February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Pennsylvania district's policy.Under the settlement, filed in U.S. district court in Pittsburgh, "any student across the district may access restrooms based upon his or her consistently and uniformly asserted gender identity" or single-user bathrooms, the school district said in a statement.The settlement also requires inclusion of gender identity in the district's nondiscrimination practices and an undisclosed monetary payment, according to a statement from the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which brought the suit on behalf of the students.“This is a victory for transgender students everywhere and sends a clear warning to school districts with anti-transgender bathroom policies,” Lambda Legal lawyer Omar Gonzalez-Pagan said in the statement.Two of the students who sued were born anatomically male and now identify as female, and the third was born anatomically female and identifies as male. The three have since graduated from Pine-Richland High School.A measure similar to North Carolina's passed the Texas Senate last week and is before the state's House of Representatives. Proponents of the bathroom bills say they aim to protect individual privacy and enhance public safety.Republican President Donald Trump stepped into the debate over gender issues last week when he said he would ban transgendered people from the U.S. military.The move appealed to some in his conservative political base but triggered uncertainty about the fate of thousands of transgender service members.(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Edited by Patrick Enright and Steve Orlofsky)
EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
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)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
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.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Muslim states slam 'provocative' Israel actions in Jerusalem-[AFP]-Ezzedine SAID-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Istanbul (AFP) - The main grouping of the world's Muslim nations on Tuesday accused Israel of staging provocative actions and inflaming tensions with the Palestinians in a crisis over security measures at a key holy site in Jerusalem.Turkey hosted an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that Ankara called to discuss the tensions in its current capacity as chairman of the body.Turkey has full diplomatic relations with Israel after resolving last year a crisis in ties but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains vehemently critical of the Jewish state's policy towards the Palestinians.The meeting brought together foreign ministers and top officials from key Muslim nations, including Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose rival nations are locked in a bitter feud.Israel angered the Islamic world by installing metal detectors and security cameras at the Haram al-Sharif holy site in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following a July 14 attack in which gunmen killed two policemen.The move sparked Muslim protests and deadly unrest, and last week the Israeli government removed the detectors and cameras. The site includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.A joint communique issued after the gathering said the meeting "strongly condemns Israel's recent provocative actions" at the holy site.It accused the Jewish state of "employing collective punishment measures and the use of lethal and excessive force against peaceful Palestinian worshippers" at the site.And despite the Israeli climbdown on the metal detectors, the OIC statement accused the government of "persistent public statements... that incite religious sensitivities, feed tension and incite violence".It urged world powers not to support or encourage Israel's "illegal colonisation and annexation" of East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 before later annexing.- 'Could get nasty again' -Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told the meeting that Israel's move to remove the detectors was a "small victory in the long battle for freedom".But he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to change the longstanding agreement whereby only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, although anyone can visit, including Jews."Netanyahu will try again to impose his status quo and we should prepare for the next round which could come very soon and be very nasty," he added.Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was time Muslim countries started to help the Palestinians "not just with words but with actions"."We must act to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque and Palestine," he said. He reaffirmed a call made by Erdogan on all Muslims to visit Jerusalem.In its statement, the OIC accused the Israeli government of "neither (being) committed to peace nor interested in the two-state solution", saying its actions were the "most dangerous threat to the prospects of peace".Last year Turkey and Israel ended a rift triggered by Israel's deadly storming in 2010 of a Gaza-bound ship that left 10 Turkish activists dead. The two sides have since embarked on a close energy cooperation venture to pipe Israeli gas to Turkey.But Erdogan, who considers himself a champion of the Palestinian cause, is still often critical of Israeli policy. His comments on the crisis have been among his toughest on Israel since the reconciliation deal.
U.S. begins Russia drawdown after Kremlin retaliates for sanctions-[Reuters]-By Jack Stubbs and Gennady Novikov-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States began removing furniture and equipment from a diplomatic property in Moscow on Tuesday in the first sign of compliance with a Kremlin order to slash its presence in Russia as retaliation for new U.S. sanctions.President Vladimir Putin has ordered the United States to cut around 60 percent of its diplomatic staff in Russia by Sept. 1, and said Moscow will seize two U.S. diplomatic properties in response to sanctions approved by Congress last week.The White House has said U.S. President Donald Trump will sign the sanctions bill, meant as a response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and to further punish Moscow for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.On Tuesday, removal men began dismantling play equipment and barbecues at a U.S.-owned dacha (country villa) on the outskirts of Moscow, after being refused access the day before, according to a Reuters journalist at the scene.The dacha, which is being confiscated along with a U.S. warehouse in the south of the Russian capital, was used by U.S. diplomatic staff at the weekends and to host parties for students, journalists and other diplomats.The removal men said they arrived at around 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and were seen packing furniture, including beds and lamps, into three white removal vans before leaving the property three hours later.Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said U.S. staff had to leave the dacha and warehouse by midday on Tuesday, TASS news agency reported. Ryabkov and the Kremlin said no one had obstructed U.S. employees trying to access the property.Putin said on Sunday Russia had ordered the United States to cut 755 of its 1,200 diplomatic staff in its embassy and consular operations, though many of those let go will be Russian citizens, with the United States allowed to choose who leaves.The ultimatum issued by the Russian leader is a display to voters at home that he is prepared to stand up to Washington - but is also carefully calibrated to avoid directly affecting the U.S. investment he needs, or burning his bridges with Trump.One person at the embassy, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media, said staff there were feeling depressed and despondent as they came to terms with the Kremlin's order."The mood in the office is very pessimistic," the person said. "Everyone is just loitering, or sitting on job websites looking for a new job."(Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova, Valery Stepchenkov and Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran accuses United States of breaching nuclear deal-[Reuters]-By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran believes new sanctions that the United States has imposed on it breach the nuclear deal it agreed in 2015 and has complained to a body that oversees the pact's implementation, a senior politician said on Tuesday.Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed by the United States, Russia, China and three European powers, Iran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most sanctions.However, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on six Iranian firms in late July for their role in the development of a ballistic missile program, after Tehran launched a rocket capable of putting a satellite into orbit.The U.S. Senate voted on the same day to impose new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea. The sanctions in that bill also target Iran's missile programs as well as human rights abuses."Iran's JCPOA supervisory body assessed the new U.S. sanctions and decided that they contradict parts of the nuclear deal," Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament, was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency."Iran has complained to the (JCPOA) Commission for the breach of the deal by America," he added, referring to the joint commission set up by the six world powers, Iran and the European Union to handle any complaints about the deal's implementation.If the commission is unable to resolve a dispute, parties can take their grievances to the U.N. Security Council.U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the agreement - negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama - "the worst deal ever" last week told Iran to adhere to the terms of the nuclear accord or face "big, big problems", although his administration has certified Iran as being in compliance with the it.Iranian media said on Monday the government had agreed measures in response to the U.S. sanctions and that President Hassan Rouhani would announce them soon to relevant ministries.Iran has previously accused the United States of defying the spirit of the nuclear deal or "showing bad faith", but has not taken any formal action against Washington.(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Japan hopes new North Korea sanctions proposal ready in days-[Associated Press]-EDITH M. LEDERER-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Japan's ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday he hopes a draft U.N. resolution that would impose new sanctions against North Korea following its tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile will be finished "in days."The United States and China said a week ago that they were making progress on a resolution that would then need to be discussed and approved by the 15-member Security Council. The U.S. gave China, North Korea's neighbor and ally, a proposed resolution several weeks ago.Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho, whose country is on the council, told reporters Tuesday that "there's been a lot of work" and discussion on the text."Japan has put in some ideas," the U.S. and China "are seriously looking into this, (and) I hope that we can get it done in days," he said.Russia's new U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, called North Korea's intensifying missile program "really serious," telling reporters the entire international community is concerned and "we'll be working to see what we can do together in the council."The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of progressively tougher sanctions on North Korea, but so far that has failed to halt the country's rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as Americans celebrated Independence Day on July 4 marked a significant step toward young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's goal of developing a missile with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States. Pyongyang followed up with a second ICBM launch Friday.U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has refused to say what sanctions are being discussed with China.But in early July she told the Security Council that if it is united, the international community can cut off major sources of hard currency to North Korea, restrict oil to its military and weapons programs, increase air and maritime restrictions, and hold senior officials accountable.She has repeatedly stressed that the United States wants to ensure that a new resolution is "a strong resolution.""An additional Security Council resolution that does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value," she said in a statement Sunday. "In fact, it is worse than nothing, because it sends the message to the North Korean dictator that the international community is unwilling to seriously challenge him."Haley said the time for talking is over and "China must decide whether it is finally willing to take this vital step."But Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said Monday that the United States and North Korea hold "the primary responsibility" for de-escalating tensions and negotiating peace on the Korean Peninsula — not China.He said if Washington and Pyongyang refuse to reduce tensions and hold new talks as called for in Security Council resolutions "then no matter how capable China is, China's efforts will not yield practical results — because it depends on the two principal parties."
US prepares to test launch unarmed ICBM from California-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Air Force was preparing Tuesday to test an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile with a launch from California, the fourth such test this year.The 30th Space Wing says the missile was to be launched between 12:01 a.m. and 6:01 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles.An Air Force statement said the test would show the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system.Minuteman missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg that send unarmed re-entry vehicles 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) across the Pacific to a target area at Kwajalein Atoll.However, the latest U.S. launches come amid tensions with North Korea as that nation develops its own ICBMs.Flight data on North Korea's most recent test, conducted Friday, showed that a broad part of the mainland United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of Pyongyang's weapons, according to analysts.In response, the U.S. Air Force flew two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile defense system located in Alaska.Previous Minuteman ICBM launches this year were conducted in February, April and May. That month, the Air Force also conducted a test of a missile interceptor launched from Vandenberg. The interceptor destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific.
2 Spanish NATO planes briefly violate Finnish airspace-[Associated Press]-JARI TANNER-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Two Spanish NATO jet fighters briefly violated Finnish airspace while intercepting three Russian aircraft near Estonia on Tuesday, NATO said.The alliance said the fighter planes violated the airspace when they were in the process of asking Finland, which is not a NATO member, to take over the chase."In handing over the intercept to the Finnish jets, the Spanish jets accidentally entered Finnish airspace," NATO spokesman Dylan P. White said in a statement. "NATO's Air Command has explained the incident to the Finnish Air Operations Centre to improve future coordination."Finland's defense ministry said the F-18 Super Hornets, part of NATO's air policing mission in the Baltics, flew into Finnish airspace southwest of Helsinki Tuesday for under a minute at around 9 a.m.The aircraft are currently based in NATO's air base in Amari, Estonia.The international air corridor over the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea is narrow and the Nordic country has experienced several air violations by military and civilian aircraft from neighboring Russia. However, violations by NATO planes are rare over non-alliance member Finland.__Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report
NATO intercepts Russian jets near Estonian airspace-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Spanish and Finnish fighter jets were sent to intercept three Russian planes flying near Estonian air space on Tuesday, the NATO military alliance said in a statement.The Russian airplanes were identified as two MiG-31 jets and one Antonov AN-26 transport aircraft, NATO said."Two Spanish F-18 jets assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled from Estonia's Amari Air Base," NATO said. "Finnish jets also scrambled to intercept the aircraft."Intercepts of Russian aircraft by NATO have increased in recent years amid heightened tensions between the West and Moscow over Russia's involvement in the Ukraine crisis.(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU agency relocation race starts with 23 cities By Eric Maurice-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 17:05-EU countries will have to choose between 23 cities to host the two London-based EU agencies, which will have to be relocated after Brexit, in a selection process that started on Tuesday (1 August) and should be completed before the end of the year.Monday was the last day to apply, and the list was published on Tuesday by the Council of the EU, where representatives of member states meet.Nineteen cities applied to the host the European Medicines Agency (EMA): Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Bonn, Bratislava, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Lille, Milan, Porto, Sofia, Stockholm, Malta, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zagreb.The competition to host the European Banking Authority (EBA) will be composed of eight cities: Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, Prague, Luxembourg-City, Vienna, and Warsaw.Four of them - Brussels, Dublin, Vienna and Warsaw - are candidates for both agencies, while two countries, France and Germany, present a city for each agency - Lille and Bonn for the EMA, Paris and Frankfurt for the EBA.Six countries - Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia - have not presented a candidate.In the first step of the process, the European Commission will give an "objective assessment" of the applications on 30 September.Criteria include the "accessibility of the location", "adequate education facilities for the children of staff members" and "appropriate access to the labour market, social security and medical care for both children and spouses.""We're talking about human beings and their future choice of a new city where they will be living," EU commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said on Tuesday.The criteria also specify that the agencies must be able to take up its functions in the new location at the date of Brexit and still be able to "attract highly qualified staff".The choice will also have to take into account the so-called geographical spread - an effort to have agencies in as many member states as possible. This was introduced in 2003, just before ten new countries joined the EU.-Complex procedure-After the commission hands in its assessment, the selection process will be discussed by EU leaders at their summit in October, and a final decision is expected in November.EU affairs ministers will first vote to choose the EMA location, before voting on the EBA's new city, using a complex voting system that could end up with Estonia, the current EU presidency, "drawing lots" if there is no winner after three rounds.Members states, which will almost all have to take a decision while having at least one candidate, said the process that they set up will "be fair and transparent". But there is no guarantee that political horse-trading will not take place behind the scenes."I will tell you that the process is fair and transparent when we have won," Luxembourg's EU ambassador, Georges Friden, quipped on Tuesday.On Monday, Luxembourg was one of the last countries to make its application official. The country aims to host the European Banking Authority (EBA).The Grand Duchy, whose economy is based on financial services and which already hosts the Court of Justice of the EU, the Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank and the European Stability Mechanism, says it is "the natural choice" for the EBA."It would once again confirm Luxembourg's situation as both a European capital and a financial centre," the ambassador said.-'Critical advantage'-He argued that the EBA "cannot interrupt its functioning for any length of time" and that Luxembourg's "experience of the workings of that type of institutions is of course a critical advantage."Referring to revelations on tax rulings that helped companies to avoid taxes, he said that Luxembourg "has always been applying relevant EU rules" and that the issue should not be taken into account.Luxembourg also insists that a building, which could be adapted to the EBA, has already been built, and that it would be rent-free for a period that would have to be negotiated.Luxembourg's main competitors are Paris, where the European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) is located, and Frankfurt, which is home to the European Central Bank and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa).Earlier this year, the Grand Duchy said that a decision taken by member states in 1965 gave it legal grounds to claim the EBA.The 1965 decision states that member states are "willing to locate in Luxembourg, or to transfer thereto, other Community bodies and departments, particularly those concerned with finance".But the ambassador said on Tuesday that, with a selection process now agreed for the relocation of the EBA, "it would not be appropriate to unleash a massive legal debate".
Leave voters would accept economic woes to ensure Brexit By Eszter Zalan-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 16:25-Six in ten Leave voters think that significant damage to the UK economy is worth it, as long as Brexit happens, a new YouGov poll shows.While leading politicians in London debate on how to pursue Brexit, and with the EU negotiations having already begun, the survey shows that those who support leaving the EU do not mind paying a heavy economic price.Finance minister Philip Hammond has also warned of dire economic consequences after Brexit. Nevertheless, almost 40 percent of Leave voters appear not to mind losing their jobs if it meant an end to the UK’s EU membership.The survey’s results, published on Tuesday (1 August), show that 61 percent of Leave voters consider “significant damage to the British economy to be a price worth paying for bringing Britain out of the EU”.Only 20 percent of Leave voters think that is not a price worth paying.The survey also shows that 39 percent of the Leave voters do not mind a personal cost either - they would be willing to lose their own job or that of a family member if it meant leaving the EU.On the other hand, 38 percent of Leave voters think that job losses would be too much of a price to pay.Older Leave voters are even more hardline: 71 percent of Leave voters over the age of 65 think that significant damage to the economy is worth it, whereas only 46 percent of voters between the age of 18 and 24 agree with that proposition.The Remain camp have their 'extremists', as well. Thirty-four percent of Remain voters say that “significant damage to the UK economy would be a price worth paying for if it means that Britain stayed in the European Union”.Thirty-eight percent of Remain voters think that damage to the economy would be too high a price to stay in the EU. And only 18 percent of them think that losing their job would be a price worth paying to stay in the bloc.This could mean that supporters of a soft Brexit might not win much backing among voters when appealing for economic common sense.Meanwhile, Hammond, who has been pushing for a softer Brexit and a transitional deal that maintains strong ties with the EU, has received some support from former Conservative foreign secretary William Hague.In an opinion article published in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, Hague said that Hammond’s plan for a transitional period of up to three years after March 2019 - along the lines of an existing “off-the-shelf” model, such as a Norway-style agreement - was the best way of trying to rescue Brexit.He said there was a "clear potential for Brexit to become the occasion of the greatest economic, diplomatic and constitutional muddle in the modern history of the UK, with unknowable consequences for the country, the government and the Brexit project itself".Hammond’s plan, to use an off-the-shelf model for the transitional period, was ruled out on Monday by 10 Downing Street.
Grim forecast for UK banks after Brexit By Andrew Rettman-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:21-Banks will need up to $50 billion (€42.3 billion) in extra capital and see higher costs of $1 billion (€846 million) to diversify out of the UK and into the EU after Brexit, a leading consultancy has said.Up to 35,000 jobs in the financial services sector overall and 17,000 jobs in the wholesale banking area were likely to shift out of the UK to the EU in the medium term, Oliver Wyman, a New York-based consultancy, said in a report out on Monday (31 July).The move would come as banks opened new branches and subsidiaries in the EU in order to be able to keep trading there freely.But the movement of jobs from the UK "could ultimately be greater” in the long term as banks pooled staff together to “encourage collaboration among salespeople, traders, and risk managers”.European Central Bank (ECB) requirements for big banks to show they “have strong local control and governance” would also contribute to the trend.Wholesale banks, which sell services to corporate and institutional clients, could alone move 40,000 people out of London to EU alternatives in the long term, Oliver Wyman estimated.It said Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, and Paris were “emerging as the main destinations”.It said Frankfurt, the home of the ECB, was popular for the sake of “supervisory stability and influence”. Dublin was liked for its low taxes, while Paris and Amsterdam were considered “attractive and convenient locations”.Oliver Wyman said a hard Brexit, in which the UK lost access to the single market, would “fragment the European wholesale banking market” and “make it significantly less profitable” as banks would have to finance their new EU branches and store capital for their new operations.“Banks could see two percentage points knocked off their returns on equity of their wholesale banking operations in the region,” the US consultancy said.It said many bank CEOs were looking to “minimise expense and disruption by relocating as little as possible in the first instance”, while awaiting how Brexit talks pan out.But with the UK exit looming in March 2019, “over the next six to 12 months … actions will be needed that are more costly and harder to reverse - such as injecting new capital into EU entities, moving employees, appointing senior management, and building dealing room infrastructure”, it added.The consultancy said issues like the Irish border, citizens’ rights, and the Brexit divorce bill, rather than the banking sector, were the politicians’ top priorities for now.It said “job losses in London and reduced tax revenues mean the UK has a clear interest in avoiding” loss of access to the single market.But it added that: “So long as the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations remain unpredictable, banks must act as if a hard Brexit is coming”.
Florida reports 1st sexually transmitted Zika case in 2017-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
MIAMI (AP) — Florida health officials are reporting the state's first sexually transmitted case of Zika in 2017.According to a Florida Department of Health statement , the Pinellas County resident's partner showed symptoms of the mosquito-borne virus after a recent trip to Cuba. Officials said both patients tested positive for Zika.Zika can cause a mild illness, with fever, rash and joint pain. Infection during pregnancy can lead to severe brain-related birth defects.The health department said there's no evidence of mosquitoes transmitting Zika anywhere in Florida. Most of Florida's 118 Zika cases this year have been linked to travel outside the continental U.S. The only local cases confirmed this year all were linked to exposure to the virus in 2016.Last week, Texas health officials reported a Zika infection likely contracted through a mosquito bite in recent months.
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)
Evacuation order lifted as wildfire threatens California homes-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An evacuation order was lifted on Monday at the edge of a national forest in Southern California, after a wildfire threatening dozens of homes in the path of the flames.The so-called Rose Fire, which broke near foothill communities east of the Cleveland National Forest in mid-afternoon, had charred some 150 acres (61 hectares) within several hours, according to the Riverside Fire Department.The blaze was zero-percent contained at 8 p.m., as local television showed images of the flames bearing down on several homes. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structures destroyed.Fire officials lifted all evacuation orders at about 8 p.m. local time.More than 200 firefighters were deployed to battle the flames, assisted by three helicopters and six fixed-wing air tankers.Investigators determined that the fire was caused accidentally by equipment, the Riverside Fire Department said.(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Navy searches for missing sailor in South China Sea-[Associated Press]-LOLITA C. BALDOR-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy is searching for a sailor who is missing and may have gone overboard during routine operations in the South China Sea.The Navy's Pacific Fleet says that U.S. and Japanese ships and aircraft are looking for the sailor who was on the USS Stethem.A Navy official says the sailor is a male lieutenant. His name is being withheld as the search continues. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the information publicly and spoke anonymously.Pacific Fleet says the Stethem reported a man overboard around 9 a.m. local time Tuesday. Multiple searches of the destroyer were conducted but the sailor hasn't been found.In June, a sailor believed to have fallen overboard from the USS Shiloh in the South China Sea was found hiding aboard the ship.
Archaeologists uncover 'little Pompeii' in southeast France-[AFP]-Myriam CHAPLAIN RIOU-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Sainte-Colombe (France) (AFP) - A "little Pompeii" is how French archaeologists are describing an entire ancient Roman neighbourhood uncovered on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Vienne, featuring remarkably preserved remains of luxury homes and public buildings."We're unbelievably lucky. This is undoubtedly the most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years," said Benjamin Clement, the archaeologist leading the dig on the banks of the Rhone river, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Lyon.The city of Vienne -- famous for its Roman theatre and temple -- was an important hub on the route connecting northern Gaul with the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis in southern France.The site unearthed on land awaiting construction of a housing complex covers an area of nearly 7,000 square metres (75,000 square feet) -- an unusually large discovery in an urban area that has been labelled an "exceptional find" by the French culture ministry.The neighbourhood, which contains homes dating to the 1st century AD, is believed to have been inhabited for around 300 years before being abandoned after a series of fires.Many of the objects in place when the inhabitants fled were conserved, transforming the area into a "real little Pompeii in Vienne", according to Clement, referring to the Roman city-state that was largely preserved after being buried by volcanic ash.Among the structures to have partly survived are an imposing home dubbed the Bacchanalian House after a tiled floor depicting a procession of maenads (female followers of the god of wine, known variably as Dionysus or Bacchus) and joyful half-man, half-goat creatures known as satyrs.A blaze consumed the first floor, roof and balcony of the sumptuous home, which boasted balustrades, marble tiling, expansive gardens and a water supply system, but parts of the collapsed structure survived.The archaeologists believe the house belonged to a wealthy merchant."We will be able to restore this house from the floor to the ceiling," Clement said.- Philosophy school -In another house, an exquisite mosaic depicts a bare-bottomed Thalia, muse and patron of comedy, being kidnapped by a lustful Pan, god of the satyrs.The mosaics are being removed with infinite care and taken away to be restored, with a view to being exhibited in Vienne's museum of Gallo-Roman civilisation in 2019.Among the other finds are a large public building with a fountain adorned by a statue of Hercules, built at the site of a former market.Clement believes it may have housed a philosophy school.The excavations, which began in April, had been due to end in mid-September but have been extended by the French state until the end of the year to allow time for more discoveries.In the coming months Clement's 20-strong team will dig down to older parts of the site and explore an area containing workshops.
Power outage persists for tourist-reliant North Carolina Outer Banks-[Reuters]-By Bernie Woodall-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
(Reuters) - A power outage that led to evacuations on two Outer Banks islands in North Carolina could last 10 days longer, utility officials said on Tuesday, a day after some businesses sued to recover losses during the height of the summer vacation season.About 50,000 visitors have been evacuated from the islands, Hatteras and Ocracoke, since underground transmission lines were cut in a construction accident last Thursday, officials from Dare County and Hyde County said.It will take another six to 10 days to reconnect power to the Outer Banks south of Oregon Inlet, the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said on Tuesday.A lawsuit filed in Dare County on Monday on behalf of some tourist-reliant businesses said PCL Civil Constructors of Raleigh, North Carolina, was operating in haste to finish a $250-million project to construct a new three-mile bridge."In order to win the contract, PCL claimed it could save $60 million or more by working under an accelerated schedule," the firm that filed the suit, Wallace and Graham of Salisbury, North Carolina, said in a statement. "In the process of trying to proceed with the work, the power lines were cut."A PCL spokeswoman, Stephanie McCay, said in an email on Tuesday the company would wait to comment on the suit in court.About 5,000 residents remain on Hatteras Island in Dare County and about 900 residents remain on Ocracoke Island in Hyde County, officials from the two counties said.Tourism generates about $1 billion annually in Dare County, and about a quarter to 28 percent of that comes from Hatteras Island where tourists are temporarily prohibited, said county spokeswoman Dorothy Hester.During a news conference on Monday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said he would attempt to help recover funds for those who sustained losses. Cooper declared a state of emergency for Hatteras and Ocracoke last week."Clearly, this was a company's fault and I think that we should work hard to make sure that people are made as whole as possible," Cooper said.Much of the Outer Banks remains open, including cities such as Kitty Hawk and Nags Head north of the bridge where the power cables were severed.(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and James Dalgleish)
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
NGOs divided by Italy's new rescue codeBy Eszter Zalan-AUG 1,17-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:25-Five aid groups have refused to sign Italy’s code of conduct for organisations that run migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean, the Italian interior ministry said on Monday (31 July).Three other organisations backed the new rules, which include a ban on sending light signals that may help migrants and a ban on transferring migrants to other ships.One of the organisations that refused to sign the code of conduct, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said in a letter on Monday that they already respected several provisions, such as financial transparency.MSF said that the code of conduct could lead to a decrease in the efficiency and capacity of the search and rescue response in the Mediterranean, leading to more deaths."Proposals - in particular the one stating that vessels engaged in rescue must disembark survivors to a place of safety as a rule instead of transferring to other ships - present unnecessary limitations to the means at our disposal today,” said the organisation, which noted that it had saved 16,000 people."A reduction in the number of rescue vessels would weaken an already insufficient search and rescue capacity, resulting in an increase in mass drownings,” MSF warned, adding that it observes all the maritime and international rules.Save the Children did sign up to the code of conduct, saying that it already complied with most of the rules.The Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms also agreed to the code, while Germany's Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France's SOS Mediterranee abstained.One of the issues they were concerned with was the obligation to accept police officers on board their vessels, which some organisations say interferes with the humanitarian principle of neutrality. Italy argues the officers are needed to root out traffickers hiding among migrants.The Italian ministry said that all the organisations not participating in the scheme will be outside the “organised system of sea rescue”, and will face “all the consequences”, without going into details.This year, 95,000 people arrived at Italy’s coast, and more than 2,378 people died on the journey in the Mediterranean, according to UN data.In the first six months of this year, more than 30 percent of all rescue operations were carried out by NGOs.Rome is concerned that the presence of NGOs encourages smugglers and migrants to embark on the perilous journey.Italy had previously threatened to shut its ports to NGOs that did not sign up to the code of conduct.Rome has also secured the backing of the the EU for the new rules. The European Commission has said the code would aim to better coordinate rescues at sea.The 12-point code includes a ban on crossing into Libyan territorial waters and calls for cooperation with the police to investigate human trafficking.But while NGO boats will be banned from Libyan waters, the Italian navy is getting ready to enter them.Last week, Italy’s government agreed to send naval support to Libyan waters after a request was submitted by the UN-backed government in Tripoli, in its battle against people smugglers.Rome’s efforts to curb the NGOs’ activities at sea have also been fuelled by an increasingly widespread perception that the organisations are aiding smugglers, something the aid groups have repeatedly denied.Aside from human rights groups, the UN’s children's agency, Unicef, has also condemned Italy’s code of conduct. It said earlier this month that the new rules put children's lives at risk.
Lebanon-Syria border zone refugee transfer delayed a second day-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The transfer of thousands of Syrian militants and refugees from a Lebanese border region into rebel territory in Syria stalled for a second day on Tuesday because Beirut rejected demands made by the militants, a Lebanese official told Reuters.A security source said those demands included the release of prisoners held in a Lebanese jail and safe passage out of the country for some people wanted by the Lebanese state including militants in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.The source also said on Tuesday evening that the coming hours would be "decisive".Last week, Lebanese militia Hezbollah took most of the mountainous border area, called Jroud Arsal, in a joint offensive with the Syrian army to drive Nusra Front militants from the area, which straddles the border.Hezbollah's role in Syria's conflict has been criticized by its Lebanese political opponents, including Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. Hariri has said refugee returns from Lebanon to Syria should be coordinated only through the United Nations.The ceasefire deal reached on Thursday included the release of Hezbollah prisoners held by the Nusra Front in Syria and the transfer of thousands of refugees back into Syria.Convoys of buses had arrived from Syria on Monday and Tuesday to collect thousands of fighters, their relatives and refugees from northeast Lebanon as part of the deal, but they still had not begun to move as night fell on Tuesday."(The Nusra Front's) demands regarding the exchange agreement have been rejected by us and we consider them an obstacle. It was this which delayed the implementation of the second phase of the agreement today," the official, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon's General Security, said.About 9,000 people are expected to be transferred and go to Syria's rebel-held Idlib province, a Hezbollah media unit said.Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen said Nusra Front militants were demanding the release of a fifth prisoner being held by Beirut and accused of killing Lebanese soldiers. Beirut and Hezbollah had refused, Al-Mayadeen reported, citing sources.On Tuesday, Nusra Front's leader in the Syrian Qalamoun mountain region told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Rai the deal includes the release of five of its Syrian members being held by Hezbollah and five more being held in a Lebanese prison.Abu Malek al-Talli told al-Rai implementation of the agreement was being held up by disagreements between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.The Nusra Front was al Qaeda's Syria branch until it severed ties last year. It now spearheads the Tahrir al-Sham Islamist alliance in the Syrian conflict.The Lebanese army, which receives considerable U.S. and British military support, did not take an active part in the Jroud Arsal operation, setting up defensive positions around the town of Arsal.Lebanon hosts nearly 1.5 million refugees - about a quarter of its population. Most live in severe poverty and several thousand are in makeshift camps east of Arsal in a barren mountainous region.The multi-sided Syrian conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven at least 11 million from their homes - about half Syria's pre-war population.(Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Laila Bassam; Editing by Louise Ireland)
At least 29 killed in Afghan Shiite mosque attack-[AFP]-Hoshang Hashimi-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) - A suicide bomber and a gunman killed at least 29 people and wounded 63 at a packed Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's main western city of Herat Tuesday, the latest attack to highlight the country's deteriorating security situation.The assault on the Jawadya mosque in Herat, which is close to Afghanistan's border with Iran, came a day after the Islamic State group claimed a deadly attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul.The Herat attack was the latest in a series of assaults on Afghanistan's minority Shiite population."The death toll has risen to 29 killed and 63 wounded. Some wounded are in a critical condition so the toll may go up," hospital spokesman Rafeeq Shirzai told AFP.Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the assault happened around 8:00 pm (1530 GMT) when "a terrorist attack was carried out on a (Shiite) mosque in the third security district of Herat city"."Based on our initial information two terrorists were involved, one of them wearing a suicide vest who detonated himself while the second one was armed with a rifle. They are both dead," he added.A reporter for AFP said he had seen a number of bodies brought out of the mosque, leading to fears of a heavy death toll.He reported seeing a body torn to pieces at the entrance, possibly that of the attacker, while others were lying in pools of blood inside, some still crying and moving.Photos posted on social media showed large crowds had gathered at the hospital.There was no immediate claim of responsibility but IS has been targeting Shiite minority crowds and mosques in Afghanistan for around a year. The Taliban specifically denied that it was involved.- 'Anti-Islam act' -The attack comes a day after an assault on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul, which was claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), killed two people.IS has been expanding its footprint in eastern Afghanistan and has recently claimed responsibility for several devastating attacks in the capital.But experts have previously questioned whether there are direct links between the group's local affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) and the central IS command.On Monday a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the embassy, allowing at least three other militants to breach the compound, unleashing an hours-long gun battle that killed two people.A security source, who declined to be named, said IS could prove to be more dangerous than the Taliban in Afghanistan.Unlike the Taliban which has friends and foes among the international community, IS considers everyone their enemy and will keep attacking soft targets, he said.Shiites, of which there are around three million in Afghanistan, have regularly been targeted in recent years.In June, IS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a crowded Shiite mosque in Kabul which killed four people.November last year saw a massive suicide blast kill at least 27 people and wound 64 at a Shiite mosque, again in the Afghan capital.In July 2016 IS jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 400.Afghanistan's national unity government said it strongly condemned the Herat attack, describing it in a statement as an "anti-Islam act".It also called "on the Muslim people of Afghanistan, as well as on the religious scholars, to stand united against the barbaric actions of the terrorists".President Ashraf Ghani added that "terrorists cannot create sectarian divisions among our people".
Jews visit contested Jerusalem holy site on day of mourning-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
JERUSALEM (AP) — Over a thousand Jewish visitors ascended a contested Jerusalem holy site on Tuesday to mark Tisha B'av, the Jewish day of mourning over the destruction of the biblical temples.The site has been at the center of recent tensions after Israel installed, and then removed, metal detectors there following the deadly shooting of two Israeli policemen. Muslims administer the compound, home to the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, while Jews can visit but not pray there.Muslims refer to the site as the Noble Sanctuary, while Jews call it the Temple Mount. It is considered the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.Police said the number of Jewish visitors to the site was the largest in a single day in recent years, and religious nationalist groups claimed it was the largest since Israel took control of the shrine in the 1967 Mideast war.Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said nine Jewish visitors were removed for violating the guidelines. She said three Jews and one Muslim were arrested after a minor skirmish.Azzam al-Khatib, director of the Muslim administration, Waqf, said the number of Jewish visitors was "unprecedented, unacceptable and should stop."Israel's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef also issued a statement saying Jews who visited the site were "desecrating its holiness" and violating Jewish custom, which proscribes entering the holy compound.Palestinian foreign minister Riad Malki, who spoke at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul, denounced the "annual massive assault against Al Aqsa on the occasion of the anniversary of the so-called destruction of the temple."The OIC condemned "Israel's recent provocative actions" at the contested holy site and warned against "any similar steps in the future would be unacceptable and illegal and shall be confronted by the Organization."
German police test facial recognition cameras at Berlin station-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
BERLIN (Reuters) - German police deployed the first facial recognition cameras at a main railway station in Berlin on Tuesday, testing new technology that could help track and arrest crime and terrorism suspects."We want to test how good the technology really is," police spokesman Jens Schobranski said of the six-month pilot project, part of a promise by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives to raise funds for police and security.Opinion polls in the run-up to a general election next month show many voters are worried about security, partly after attacks by asylum seekers stoked criticisms of Merkel's decision to allow in more than one million migrants.The images of a few dozen German volunteers have been entered into the new monitoring system to gauge how well the software can recognize them and distinguish them from passersby at the Südkreuz station, a main transport hub in the capital.Privacy is a sensitive subject for many Germans who still fret at the mass snooping practices of the Nazi regime and the Stasi secret police in Communist East Germany. Schobranski said footage of the passengers visiting the station will be deleted.Ulrich Schellenberg, president of the German Bar Association, doubted that the new technology will help. The deadliest Islamist attack in Germany last year was carried out by a migrant who had been monitored by security agents, he said."Improving security is not about uncovering something new but rather to go after what we know more forcefully," he said.Failed asylum seeker Anis Amir killed 12 people in Berlin last year by driving a truck into a Christmas market. Security agents who suspected he was planning an attack had stopped monitoring him after they concluded he was no threat.(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Alister Doyle)
Pennsylvania school district to let transgender students use bathrooms of choice-[Reuters]-By Ian Simpson-YAHOONEWS-August 1, 2017
(Reuters) - A Pennsylvania school district will let students use bathrooms matching their gender identity under a settlement announced on Tuesday that ended a federal lawsuit brought by a group of transgender students.The lawsuit, which targeted the Pine-Richland School District in suburban Pittsburgh, was filed last year on behalf of three transgender students who claimed that a district policy mandating that students use bathrooms matching their biological gender or use unisex restrooms was discriminatory.The settlement comes amid a broader national debate over gender identity and bathroom use, which followed North Carolina's passage last year of a law requiring people to use public restrooms that corresponded with their birth gender. The measure was partially repealed in March after the state lost hundreds of millions of dollars from economic boycotts.In February, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Pennsylvania district's policy.Under the settlement, filed in U.S. district court in Pittsburgh, "any student across the district may access restrooms based upon his or her consistently and uniformly asserted gender identity" or single-user bathrooms, the school district said in a statement.The settlement also requires inclusion of gender identity in the district's nondiscrimination practices and an undisclosed monetary payment, according to a statement from the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which brought the suit on behalf of the students.“This is a victory for transgender students everywhere and sends a clear warning to school districts with anti-transgender bathroom policies,” Lambda Legal lawyer Omar Gonzalez-Pagan said in the statement.Two of the students who sued were born anatomically male and now identify as female, and the third was born anatomically female and identifies as male. The three have since graduated from Pine-Richland High School.A measure similar to North Carolina's passed the Texas Senate last week and is before the state's House of Representatives. Proponents of the bathroom bills say they aim to protect individual privacy and enhance public safety.Republican President Donald Trump stepped into the debate over gender issues last week when he said he would ban transgendered people from the U.S. military.The move appealed to some in his conservative political base but triggered uncertainty about the fate of thousands of transgender service members.(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Edited by Patrick Enright and Steve Orlofsky)
