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)
1/3RD OF SHIPS DESTROYED
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
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)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
Bars Destroyed and Boats Submerged After Irma Hits Florida Keys-Storyful-September 13, 2017
http://globalnews.ca/video/3735486/boats-completely-destroy-after-hurricane-irma-hit-monroe-county-florida
Florida Keys residents began to return home on September 12 to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Irma.This footage shows extensive damage to bars and boats in the Pelican Grove area. Almost a quarter of homes were destroyed in the Florida Keys area after Hurricane Irma hit on September 10, local media reported Credit: Instagram/Mudpuppy Charters via Storyful.
Vietnam braces for Typhoon Doksuri, orders evacuations-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam on Thursday was bracing for Typhoon Doksuri, which is expected to be the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit the Southeast Asian country in several years.Doksuri swept through the Philippines on Tuesday as Tropical Depression Maring, killing at least four people and leaving another six missing. It strengthened to a typhoon with sustained wind speed of up to 135 kilometres per hour (84 mph) and gusts of up to 185 kilometres per hour (115 mph). It's expected to make landfall in central Vietnam Friday, according to the Vietnamese national weather forecast centre .Forecasters warned of heavy rains, floods and landslides in some northern and central parts of the country.Speaking at an emergency meeting Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung ordered the evacuation of people in high-risk areas.He also ordered operators of fishing, transport and tourist boats and vessels to take shelter or move out of the typhoon's path, and banned ships and vessels from sailing to the sea, the government reported on its website .State-run online newspaper VnExpress, quoting officials in the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, said more than 100,000 people were being told to evacuate.The typhoon forced the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from the central region, it said.Vietnam, a country of 93 million people, is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.The Associated Press.
Hurricane Max forecast to hit southern Mexico, near Acapulco-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Max strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane off Mexico's southern Pacific coast and was forecast to make landfall later Thursday along the coast of Guerrero state, a region that includes the resort city of Acapulco.The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the coastline between Zihuatanejo and Punta Maldonado. It warned that Max could still strengthen a bit before reaching land and threatened to bring "life-threatening flooding (and) rainfall" to Guerrero and Oaxaca states.Max had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) Thursday morning. The storm was located about 55 miles (85 kilometres ) southwest of Acapulco and was heading toward the east at 6 mph (9 kph).The Associated Press.
Factbox: About 3.1 million still without power in U.S. Southeast after Irma-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
(Reuters) - Power was restored by Thursday morning to more than half the 7.8 million homes and businesses that Hurricane Irma had left in the dark, leaving 3.1 million customers, or some 6.5 million people, still sweltering in the heat in Florida and Georgia without air conditioning, utilities said.Most of the remaining outages were in Florida Power & Light's service area in the southern and eastern parts of the state. FPL, the state's biggest electric company, said about 1.4 million had no power on Thursday, down from more than 3.6 million on Monday.NextEra Energy Inc-owned FPL, which serves nearly 5 million homes and businesses, expects to restore power to essentially all its customers in the eastern portion of Florida by the weekend and the harder-hit western portion of the state by Sept. 22. It will take longer to restore those with tornado damage or severe flooding, FPL said.Outages at Duke Energy Corp , which serves the northern and central parts of Florida, fell to 855,000 on Thursday, down from a peak of about 1.2 million on Monday. Duke said on its website it expects to restore service to most customers by midnight on Sept. 17.High temperatures were forecast to reach the upper 80s F (low 30s C) in Florida's two biggest cities, Jacksonville and Miami, and the mid 80s in Atlanta over the next week or so, according to meteorologists at AccuWeather.Irma hit southwestern Florida Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, the second most severe on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. On Monday, when most customers were without power, the storm weakened to a tropical depression.In Georgia, utilities reported outages declined to about 290,000 on Thursday, down from a peak of around 1.3 million on Monday.Other big power utilities in Florida are units of Emera Inc and Southern Co , which also operates the biggest electric company in Georgia.(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Irma pushes Florida's poor closer to the edge of ruin-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Larry and Elida Dimas didn't have much to begin with, and Hurricane Irma left them with even less.The storm peeled open the roof of the old mobile home where they live with their 18-year-old twins, and it destroyed another one they rented to migrant workers in Immokalee, one of Florida's poorest communities. Someone from the government already has promised aid, but Dimas' chin quivers at the thought of accepting it."I don't want the help," said Dimas, 55. "But I need it."Dimas is one of millions of Floridians who live in poverty, and an untold number of them have seen their lives up-ended by Irma. Their options, already limited, were narrowed even further when the hurricane destroyed possessions, increased expenses and knocked them out of work.Not far from Dimas in impoverished Immokalee, located on the edge of the Everglades, Haitian immigrant Woodchy Darius, a junior at Immokalee High School, must decide whether to return to class when school reopens or head to the fields to pick berries once the land is dry enough to work again."The rent is $375, and if I don't have the money they'll kick us out," said Darius, 17. He lives in a grubby apartment building with bare concrete floors, burglar-proof doors and cinder-block walls that make it resemble a jail more than home.The Census Bureau estimates about 3.3 million people live in poverty in Florida — nearly 16 per cent of the state's 20.6 million population. For them, the amusement parks of Orlando or President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach might as well be on Mars.Many work by the hour in restaurants, gas stations, hotels, stores and other businesses forced to close for days after Irma, depriving them of paychecks. Others are day labourers or migrants who earn money by the pound picking produce that's sold in stores nationwide. Still others are retirees on fixed incomes or disability checks whose budgets already were tight before Irma.Fleeing Irma wasn't an option for those who lacked transportation to get to a shelter, couldn't afford gas to drive north and couldn't rent a hotel room. The likely costs associated with cleaning up or finding a new place to live pushed them closer to the edge than ever.After Irma, Gwen Bush scrambled to find a place just to sleep after flood waters rose around her home.A security worker for Amway Center in Orlando, Bush hadn't worked in the days leading up to Irma because concerts and other events had been cancelled as the storm approached. It's not certain when the arena will be open for business, and she was down to her final $10 before the storm."I've been through some hurricanes and some storms living here but I can say on my life this is the worst I've ever seen," said Bush, 50, a lifelong resident of Orlando. "How do you recover from this, losing all of your stuff?"David and Andrea Jewell survive on disability checks and live on a sailboat they bought for $1,000 on eBay years ago. David Jewell, 51, can't imagine now living on land; both consider the ocean — like the dolphins they watch — their only real neighbours .After the storm, the Jewells stayed on cots in the gym at a community centre in Jacksonville. They tried to figure out if they could get a new boat if theirs was destroyed. Maybe, they decided, they could just cut back on food and find another cheap one with their next disability checks."There aren't any answers," he said, "so I guess I'll have to roll with it."But in one bit of good news, they later learned from a friend that their boat is still floating.For some poor people, there's at least a little upside to the devastation.Guatemalan immigrant Aura Gaspar totalled up storm-related expenses of about $600 while using a twig-fired grill to stew chicken on her front stoop in Immokalee; she has three school-age children to feed and a 2-week-old baby.But Gaspar said husband Juan Francisco got a job cleaning up storm debris in the Fort Myers and Naples area. He needed to get busy, she said through a translator: Their storm preparations cost nearly twice as much as his weekly pay of $320."We had to prepare the house so it would protect us," said Gaspar, 28.Beside his ruined Immokalee mobile home, Dimas is trying to get back on his feet, but it's tough.Dimas earns a meagre living cooking hamburgers and chicken in a food truck parked by his home, and some customers already have returned — he said he sold all 40 of the hamburgers that were still safe to cook Tuesday.Dimas needs to replace the income from his rental trailer, already condemned after being split open by the wind. Dimas had used that money to help feed his two teenagers and pay for the rescue inhalers he needs for his asthma. Losing it will only make it harder for Dimas to do what he says is one of his favourite things — providing free or cut-rate food to those who have even less.Coping with Irma's aftermath is only making life tougher for people with little who live in places including unincorporated Immokalee, said Dimas."A lot of people work. They work hard here. They don't ask for nothing. They just go to work, come home and something like this happens, it's ....," Dimas said. "I don't know what to say."He stopped talking and turned away to keep from crying.___Associated Press writers Terrance Harris in Orlando and Claire Galofaro in Jacksonville contributed to this report.___Jay Reeves, The Associated Press.
8 die at Florida nursing home in Irma's sweltering aftermath-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 13, 2017
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Eight patients at a sweltering nursing home died after Hurricane Irma knocked out the air conditioning, raising fears Wednesday about the safety of Florida's 4 million senior citizens amid power outages that could last for days.Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said investigators believe the deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were heat-related, and added: "The building has been sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation."Gov. Rick Scott called on Florida emergency workers to immediately check on all nursing homes to make sure patients are safe, and he vowed to punish anyone found culpable in the deaths."This situation is unfathomable," he said.The home said in a statement that the hurricane had knocked out a transformer that powered the AC.The five women and three men ranged in age from the 70s to 99.Exactly how the deaths happened was under investigation, with Sanchez saying authorities have not ruled anything out, including carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. He also said investigators will look into how many windows were open.Across the street from the stifling nursing home sat a fully air-conditioned hospital, Memorial Regional.Broward County said the nursing home had alerted the county emergency operations centre on Tuesday that it had lost power, but when asked if it had any medical needs or emergencies, it did not request help."It's a sad state of affairs," the police chief said. "We all have elderly people in facilities, and we all know we depend on those people in those facilities to care for a vulnerable elderly population."The deaths came as people trying to put their lives back together in hurricane-stricken Florida and beyond confronted a multitude of new hazards in the storm's aftermath, including tree-clearing accidents and lethal generator fumes.Not counting the nursing home deaths, at least 17 people in Florida have died under Irma-related circumstances, and six more in South Carolina and Georgia, many of them well after the storm had passed. The death toll across the Caribbean stood at 38.At least six people died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning from generators in Florida. A Tampa man died after the chain saw he was using to remove trees recoiled and cut his carotid artery.In Hollywood, four patients were found dead at the nursing home early Wednesday after emergency workers received a call about a person with a heart attack, and four more died later at the hospital, authorities said.Altogether, more than 100 patients there were found to be suffering in the heat and were evacuated, many on stretchers or in wheelchairs. Patients were treated for dehydration, breathing difficulties and other heat-related ills, authorities said.Nursing homes in Florida are required by state and federal law to file an emergency plan that includes evacuation plans for residents. County officials released documents showing that the Hollywood facility was in compliance with that regulation and that it held a hurricane drill with its staff in October.Calls to the owner and other officials at the Hollywood home were not immediately returned, but the facility's administrator, Jorge Caballo, said in a statement that it was " co-operating fully with relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances that led to this unfortunate and tragic outcome."Through a representative, Carballo told the SunSentinel newspaper that the home has a back-up generator but that it does not power the air conditioning.The nursing home was bought at a bankruptcy auction two years ago after its previous owner went to prison for Medicare fraud, according to news reports at the time of the sale.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes, gives the Hollywood centre a below-average rating, two stars on its five-star scale. But the most recent state inspection reports showed no deficiencies in the area of emergency plans.Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Mallak said after receiving some of the bodies for autopsies that the victims had been in poor health, and "it's going to be tough to tell how much was the heat and how much of it was they were sick already."Florida, long one of America's top retirement destinations, has the highest proportion of people 65 and older of any state — 1 in 5 of its 20 million residents. As of 2016, Florida had about 680 nursing homes.The number of people without electricity in the steamy late-summer heat was down to 6.8 million. Utility officials warned it could take over a week for power to be fully restored. The number of people in shelters fell to under 13,000.Elsewhere around the state, a Coral Gables apartment building was evacuated after authorities determined a lack of power made it unsafe for elderly tenants.And at the huge, 15,000-resident Century Village retirement community in Pembroke Pines, more than half the residential buildings had no power Wednesday afternoon. Rescue crews went door to door in the 94-degree heat to check on people and hand out water, ice and meals."These people are basically prisoners in their own homes," said Pembroke Pines City Manager Charlie Dodge. "That's why we are camped out there and doing whatever we can to assist them in this process. And we're not leaving."Florida Sen. Bill Nelson called the six deaths in Hollywood "an inexcusable tragedy" and demanded a federal investigation."We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep our seniors safe during this difficult time," he said.In the battered Florida Keys, meanwhile, county officials pushed back against a preliminary estimate from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 25 per cent of all homes in the Keys were destroyed and nearly all the rest were heavily damaged."Things look real damaged from the air, but when you clear the trees and all the debris, it's not much damage to the houses," said Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers.The Keys felt Irma's full fury when the hurricane roared in on Sunday with 130 mph (209 kph) winds. But the extent of the damage has been an unanswered question for days because some places have been unreachable.President Donald Trump plans to visit Naples, on Florida's hard-it southwestern coast, on Thursday.At the Hollywood nursing home, Jean Lindor, a kitchen worker, said through a Haitian Creole translator that the air conditioner had not been working since the storm and it had been hot inside.Paulburn Bogle, a member of the housekeeping staff, said the place had been hot but manageable the past few days. The staff used fans, put cold towels and ice on patients and gave them cold drinks, he said.Flora Mitchell arrived at the home trying to learn the fate of her 58-year-old sister, a stroke patient. She said she last heard from her sister two days earlier and learned the air conditioning was not working."We need to know what happened to her," she said. "They haven't told us anything."___Associated Press writers Jason Dearen on Summerland Key; Brendan Farrington, Gary Fineout and Joe Reedy in Tallahassee; Jay Reeves in Immokalee; Terrance Harris in Orlando; Claire Galofaro in Jacksonville; and Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro, Curt Anderson and David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.___Tim Reynolds And Terry Spencer, The Associated Press.
More than 50 arrested for looting in Miami during Irma: police-[Reuters]-By Zach Fagenson-YAHOONEWS-September 13, 2017
MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami area police arrested more than 50 suspected looters during Hurricane Irma, including 26 people who were accused of breaking into a single Wal-Mart (WMT.N> store, authorities said on Tuesday.City officials on Tuesday lifted a local 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew that had been in place since Sunday. As normality began to return, police commanders said officers will work 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, to discourage any more criminality."I said we would not tolerate criminal activity or looting or anybody who takes advantage of our residents," Deputy Chief of Police Luis Cabrera said at a news conference. "I was not joking."The Wal-Mart incident took place on Saturday night at a store on the north side of the City of Miami, said Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta.Among others suspected of looting were six men arrested on Monday and accused of breaking into stores at the Midtown Miami shopping complex, near the fashionable Wynwood district, before making off with merchandise that included shoes, bags and laptops.The looting attempts spanned the city, said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, from the well-heeled Brickell and downtown neighborhoods to the low-income Liberty City and Little Haiti areas. He said police will stay vigilant as the cleanup goes on.Officers have also been busy trawling roads that can be perilous for motorists because power cuts shut off traffic lights at intersections and streets have accumulated shredded vegetation spread by the storm's powerful winds."We have never experienced, not even with Hurricane Andrew, the amount of trees that are downed in the city," Regalado told the news conference. Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992.Since Irma began bearing down on the state late last week, authorities have been warning any would-be looters against taking advantage of the situation.Rick Maglione, the police chief of Fort Lauderdale, about 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami, told residents to stay home during the storm and look after their loved ones. "Going to prison over a pair of sneakers is a fairly bad life choice," Maglione said in a statement.Miami police posted a photo on Facebook of several accused looters sitting in a jail cell under the caption: "Thinking about looting? Ask these guys how that turned out. #stayindoors."(Reporting by Zach Fagenson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Dan Grebler)
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Ottawa urged to hold huge public education campaign about pot's risks for youth-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
OTTAWA — Youth health experts are warning the federal government that its push to legalize recreational cannabis should be accompanied by extensive public-education and prevention campaigns that spell out the serious risks of pot consumption on adolescent brains.Parliamentarians heard this message numerous times Wednesday during a House of Commons committee hearing to study the Trudeau government's legislation to legalize marijuana.Ottawa plans to legalize cannabis for adults 18 and older within 10 months, but some provinces and police services have warned the federal timeline is far too tight for them to properly prepare for such a major change.Now, the government is facing demands to do everything possible to ensure young Canadians and their parents are ready for legalization.Several witnesses said there's little chance stronger regulation will deter youth from consuming pot. Therefore, they recommended the government work hard to dispel the notion marijuana is a harmless substance."We have already legalized medical use and people automatically draw the conclusion that all cannabis is the same: it's good for your health," Dr. William Barakett, an advisory council member for Drug Free Kids Canada, told the committee."Adolescents will procure and use cannabis regardless of the legal restraints," he said, adding that makes creation of an elaborate, public-education program essential."We need to educate people — people just don't understand."Barakett, who said he treats addicts every day, was among several experts who testified that Canadians still know far too little about the long-term, negative effects cannabis can have on young brains.Witnesses suggested the campaign target youth, parents, teachers and anyone else in close contact with young people. They also urged the government to provide tools to help adults speak to youth about the risks.Dr. Christina Grant, an adolescent medicine specialist, ran through some scientific findings for the committee."There can be no doubt regarding the scientific literature that cannabis use prior to the mid-20s is associated with structural and functional harmful effects on the developing brain," said Grant, an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University.She said rigorous studies have shown a connection between regular cannabis use among youth and an increased risk — of 40 per cent — that they will have a psychotic episode. Other research, she added, has shown a relationship between marijuana use and clinical depression."There needs to be more of a conversation — there's lots of myths around cannabis use for youth," said Grant, who was representing the Canadian Pediatric Society."They're getting lots of information from cannabis YouTube channels and different lobby groups, but there's not clear messages around what are the risks."Amy Porath, a director for the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, said her organization has visited the states of Washington and Colorado in search of advice.They recommended strong, up-front investments in evidence-based public education and prevention , she said.In its March budget, the government committed $9.6 million over five years for a public education and awareness campaign as well as surveillance activities.Drug Free Kids Canada launched a new multimedia, awareness campaign about the risks of pot in June. Marc Paris, the group's executive director, estimated that an extensive national campaign could easily cost tens of millions of dollars per year."The secret to it is to keep doing it," Paris said."Education messages can't just be a six-week spurt."The government, which hopes to legalize pot by next summer, has stated its main goals are to get marijuana out of the hands of young Canadians and to cut off criminal activity. Ottawa has not shared details about how much tax revenue could be generated by a regulated recreational cannabis market.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his government's message Wednesday that legalization is all about protecting children and communities."We know that as it stands right now, underage Canadians have easier access to marijuana than in just about any other country in the world," Trudeau said in St. John's, N.L. following a cabinet retreat."It's easier for a young person to buy a joint, than it is for them to buy a bottle of beer. That's not right. We need to make sure we are protecting our kids and that's why we're moving forward with legalizing, controlling regime for the marijuana."Earlier this week, the parliamentary committee heard from police from Ontario, Saskatoon and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.They testified that they needed an extra six months to a year to properly train their personnel, boost the number of officers certified to conduct drug-impaired driving tests and to educate the public.Without an extension, they warned organized crime would use that early, post-legalization period to gain a foothold under the new system and flourish.But on Wednesday federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Ottawa was anxious to legalize marijuana by next summer despite the police warnings.Goodale noted that Ottawa announced $274 million in funding over the next five years to help police prepare for legalization."Obviously it challenges people to meet the objectives — but the time frame is a solid one," Goodale said.— with files from Sue Bailey in St. John's, N.L.Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Top Asian News 5:13 a.m. GMT-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 15, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean on Friday, U.S. and South Korean militaries said, its longest-ever such flight and a clear message of defiance to its rivals. Since President Donald Trump threatened the North with "fire and fury" in August, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over U.S. ally Japan. It tested its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target both U.S.An emergency response official on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido says business has been usual most of the morning after a North Korean missile flew over the island. Warning sirens to alert residents blared twice — once immediately after the launch Friday and the second time just after the missile passed above their heads. Hokkaido prefectural emergency official Shuji Koshida said local trains and subways briefly stopped for safety checks but there was no panicking or traffic jams. Koshida said there were no reports of debris or damage and business was usual. It occurred while many people were still at home, waking up or getting ready for school or work.North Korea launched an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan in its longest-ever flight, showing that leader Kim Jong Un is defiantly pushing to bolster his weapons programs despite U.S.-led international pressure. A look at the recent weapons tests: __ May 14: North Korea fires a newly developed intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile it says can carry a heavy nuclear warhead. May 21: North Korea tests a Pukguksong-2 missile that uses solid fuel, which is harder to detect by outsiders before launch. June 8: North Korea fires several projectiles believed to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles. July 4: North Korea test-launches its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, at a highly lofted trajectory.
North Korea fires missile over Japan that lands far out in the Pacific-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Jack Kim and William Mallard-September 14, 2017
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, further ratcheting up tensions after Pyongyang's recent test of its most powerful nuclear bomb.The missile flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) east of Hokkaido, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in a hastily organized media conference."These repeated provocations on the part of North Korea are impermissible and we protest in the strongest words," Suga said.Warning announcements about the missile blared around 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday) in the town of Kamaishi, northern Japan, footage from national broadcaster NHK showed.The missile reached an altitude of about 770 km (480 miles) and flew for about 19 minutes over a distance of about 3,700 km (2,300 miles), according to South Korea's military - far enough to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.The U.S. military said soon after that it had detected a single intermediate range ballistic missile.North Korea has launched dozens of missiles under young leader Kim Jong Un as it accelerates a weapons program designed to give it the ability to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile."This rocket has meaning in that North Korea is pushing towards technological completion of its missiles and that North Korea may be feeling some pressure that they need to show the international community something," said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum.Last month, North Korea fired a missile from similar area near the capital Pyongyang that also flew over Hokkaido into the ocean. Two tests in July were for long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching at least parts of the U.S. mainland.-"ASHES AND DARKNESS"-South Korea said it had fired a missile test into the sea to coincide with North Korea's launch and the presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting. Japan also convened a National Security Council meeting.The North's launch came a day after Pyongyang threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept. 3 nuclear test, its sixth and most powerful by far.The U.S. general who oversees America's nuclear forces said on Thursday he was making the assumption that the test was in fact a hydrogen bomb, as Pyongyang had claimed, based on the size of the blast."I'm assuming it was a hydrogen bomb," said Air Force General John Hyten, head of the U.S. military's Strategic Command. "I have to make that assumption as a military officer," Hyten told a small group of reporters who were accompanying Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a trip to Hyten's headquarters in Nebraska.The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.Australia, a strong and vocal ally of the United States, quickly condemned the launch."This is another dangerous, reckless, criminal act by the North Korean regime, threatening the stability of the region and the world and we condemn it, utterly," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an interview with Sky News on Friday."This is a sign, I believe, of their frustration at the increased sanctions on North Korea, recently imposed by the Security Council. It's a sign that the sanctions are working," he said.The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday, banning North Korea's textile exports and capping fuel supplies.The U.S. dollar fell sharply against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc in early Asian hours in response to the launch, although losses were quickly pared in very jittery trade.U.S. President Donald Trump had been briefed on the latest launch, the White House said.Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.(Reporting by Jack Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL and Hideyuki Sano in TOKYO; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham in WASHINGTON; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Paul Tait)
North Korea threatens to 'sink' Japan, reduce U.S. to 'ashes and darkness'-[Reuters]-By Jack Kim and Kiyoshi Takenaka-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test.The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the North's external ties and propaganda, also called for the breakup of the Security Council, which it called "a tool of evil" made up of "money-bribed" countries that move at the order of the United States."The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.Juche is the North's ruling ideology that mixes Marxism and an extreme form of go-it-alone nationalism preached by state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un.Regional tension has risen markedly since the reclusive North conducted its sixth, and by far its most powerful, nuclear test on Sept. 3, following a series of missile tests, including one that flew over Japan.The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday in response, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.The North reacted to the latest action by the Security Council, which had the backing of veto-holding China and Russia, by reiterating threats to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea."Let's reduce the U.S. mainland into ashes and darkness. Let's vent our spite with mobilization of all retaliation means which have been prepared till now," the statement said.Japan's Nikkei stock index and dollar/yen currency pared gains, although traders said that was more because of several Chinese economic indicators released on Thursday rather than a reaction to the North's latest statement.South Korea's won also edged down around the same time over domestic financial concerns.Despite the North's threats, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he was against having nuclear weapons in his country, either by developing its own arsenal or bringing back U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn in the early 1990s."To respond to North Korea by having our own nuclear weapons will not maintain peace on the Korean peninsula and could lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia," Moon said in an interview with CNN.South Korea's Unification Ministry also said it planned to provide $8 million through the U.N. World Food Programme and UNICEF to help infants and pregnant women in the North.The move marks Seoul's first humanitarian assistance for the North since its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and is based on a longstanding policy of separating humanitarian aid from politics, the ministry said.-"DANCING TO THE TUNE"-The North's latest threats also singled out Japan for "dancing to the tune" of the United States, saying it should never be pardoned for not offering a sincere apology for its "never-to-be-condoned crimes against our people", an apparent reference to Japan's wartime aggression.It also referred to South Korea as "traitors and dogs" of the United States.-Japan criticized the North's statement harshly."This announcement is extremely provocative and egregious. It is something that markedly heightens regional tension and is absolutely unacceptable," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, visiting India, called for strict enforcement of the U.N. resolution, saying the world must force a change.The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions against North Korea on Monday in response to its latest and most powerful test, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.North Korea had already rejected the Security Council resolution, vowing to press ahead with its nuclear and missile programs.A tougher initial U.S. draft of Monday's resolution was weakened to win the support of China, the North's lone major ally, and Russia. Significantly, it stopped short of imposing a full embargo on oil exports to North Korea, most of which come from China.The latest sanctions also make it illegal for foreign firms to form commercial joint ventures with North Korean entities.U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the international community had reached a "high consensus" on trying to realize a peaceful solution."We urge the relevant directly involved parties to seize the opportunity and have the political nerve to make the correct political choice as soon as possible," Hua told a regular press briefing.The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.(Additional reporting by Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)
Japan: North Korean threat to sink Japan is 'outrageous'-[The Canadian Press]-September 14, 2017
TOKYO — Japan's top government spokesman said Thursday that a North Korean threat to sink Japan with a nuclear bomb is "extremely provocative and outrageous."A statement from an organization called the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee attacked the United States for leading a push for stronger U.N. sanctions against North Korea, and railed against Japan for backing the U.S. campaign."The four islands of the (Japanese) archipelago should be sunken into the sea" by a nuclear bomb, the statement reads in part. It was distributed by the Korean Central News Agency, the state news service.North Korea often issues bellicose threats that it doesn't actually carry out. But Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, responding to a reporter's question about the North Korean dispatch, said the statement "significantly escalates tension in the region and is absolutely unacceptable."The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions Monday after North Korea carried out its sixth and strongest nuclear test on Sept. 3. Although the latest sanctions are not as tough as what the U.S. had sought, they are expected to have a significant impact.The Associated Press.
Soldiers on Europe's streets dent NATO's defense edge-[Reuters]-By Alissa de Carbonnel and Robert-Jan Bartunek-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The use of armed soldiers to patrol alongside pavement cafes and selfie-snapping tourists in European cities since jihadi attacks risks compromising deployments overseas, military leaders say.Belgium and major military power France, both active in EU and NATO missions, have cut back training to free up troops and NATO planners fear that over time armies may get better at guarding railway stations and airports than fighting wars.Some of the more than 15,000 soldiers serving at home in Europe say tramping the streets is a far cry from the foreign adventures they signed up for and that they feel powerless to defend against militants."We are standing around like flowers pots, just waiting to be smashed," said an officer just returned from Afghanistan for guard duty in Belgium, which, like France, has more troops deployed at home than in any single mission abroad.Security personnel have been targeted in both countries but patrols begun as a temporary measure after Islamic State attacks in 2015 have become permanent fixtures as opinion polls show that people are reassured by soldiers on show at home.Italy has had soldiers on the streets since 2008, Britain used them briefly this year and, along with Spain, is prepared for deployments if threat levels rise. Despite their painful history, Germany and Austria have debated having military patrols at home for the first time since World War Two.Across Europe, political debate is shifting from whether, to how to adapt the armed forces to a homeland role, a concern for military leaders eyeing budgets, morale and training.France's former military chief, who quit in July, said it had overstretched the army, while the head of Belgium's land forces told Reuters the domestic deployment was taking its toll."I see a lot of people who leave our defense forces because of the operation," General Marc Thys, the commander of Belgium's land forces, said in an interview, without giving numbers.Not everyone agrees. A defense ministry source in Italy said its domestic patrols had "absolutely no impact on overseas missions or on training".But some in NATO worry protracted domestic operations will make key members of the 29-strong transatlantic alliance less ready to deploy to Afghanistan or eastern European borders with Russia."It is popular with the public, it is cheaper than the police," a senior NATO source said. "But if the requirement came to send a lot of forces to reinforce our eastern allies ... would the government be willing to pull its soldiers off the street to do that, could it?"-"WORSE THAN AFGHANISTAN"-The challenge of battling Islamic State at home and abroad, squeezes resources just as NATO leaders seek to show U.S. President Donald Trump they are reliable allies, after he repeatedly questioned the alliance's worth.Given the homeland operations, some military sources and experts say politicians face a tough choice: to expand the army, summon up reserves or create a new domestic security force - a halfway between the police and military - to replace them as Belgium has chosen to do over the coming years."It mobilizes so many people that we are having trouble deploying people abroad for U.N. and EU missions," said a second NATO source.The operations put 10,000 heavily armed combat troops on the streets in France and 1,800 in Belgium after Islamic State attacks in early 2015. The numbers are down to 7,000 and 1,200 respectively, but they still tie up roughly a tenth of deployable army personnel in each nation.They can also be bad for morale.The mix of schools, offices and warehouse hastily converted into barracks in Belgium "are worse than Afghanistan," said a soldier, showing pictures of cramped rooms piled high with gear.Some 45 percent of soldiers surveyed by the Belgian military in December said they were thinking of quitting - many to the police - as being away had strained families and led to divorce.A source in the French military, which has not made polling public, said of its street patrols, known as Operation Sentinelle: "Sentinelle is a burden whose impact on soldiers' morale we've never denied."For now, Thys said the Belgian armed forces are not pulling back from foreign missions but have less time for training. "We take everything into account, our homeland operation and our international missions. If you go up on one side, we have to go down on the other side," Thys told Reuters.In France, training days were cut from 90 to 59 days last year, according to a defense ministry report in October. A decline of some 30 percent began with the deployment on home soil, experts say."The longer they do it, the less sharp as a military they are," said General Sir Richard Barrons, Britain's former military chief. "But once you are committed to this it takes a very brave politician to turn it off."The new head of France's armed forces, which has thousands of troops abroad fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, says something has to give. "We have to choose how to adjust our commitments, to give us back some flexibility, because who knows where the French army will have to deploy in a year," General Francois Lecointre was cited by local media as saying earlier this month.President Emmanuel Macron has announced a strategic review of the street patrols. His new armed forces minister, Florence Parly, said on Tuesday they would not be cut but would be made more flexible.TARGET OR DETERRENT?-In Italy, where up to 7,000 soldiers help police, a defense ministry source said they were moved around often to keep them from being bored - an approach that France and Belgium will both now put into play.Italy has escaped militant attacks so far and troops elsewhere have disarmed or killed would-be attackers - such as a knife-wielding assailant outside the Eiffel tower last month and a suitcase bomber in Brussels in June.But their effectiveness is hard to quantify, and attacks on men in uniform like that in Paris last month - with its familiar pattern of a car plowing into its victims - has renewed fears they may draw fire or shoot in error.In France, three in four voters approve of street patrols, although nearly 40 percent doubt they are effective in combating terrorism. In Belgium, support for the military is 80 percent, up from 20 percent before the mission."It's a PR operation: nothing more," said Wally Struys, a professor emeritus at Belgium Royal Military Academy.But Belgium's Thys and others see no end to the operations, which give the military an extra argument against years of declining budgets."They are part of the landscape now," said Saad Amrani, chief commissioner and policy adviser of the Belgian Federal Police. "We depend on them."(Additional reporting by Sophie Louet and Laurence Frost in Paris, Antonella Cinelli in Rome, Alba Asenjo Dominguez in Madrid; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
REVELATION 8:8-9
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
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)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
Bars Destroyed and Boats Submerged After Irma Hits Florida Keys-Storyful-September 13, 2017
http://globalnews.ca/video/3735486/boats-completely-destroy-after-hurricane-irma-hit-monroe-county-florida
Florida Keys residents began to return home on September 12 to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Irma.This footage shows extensive damage to bars and boats in the Pelican Grove area. Almost a quarter of homes were destroyed in the Florida Keys area after Hurricane Irma hit on September 10, local media reported Credit: Instagram/Mudpuppy Charters via Storyful.
Vietnam braces for Typhoon Doksuri, orders evacuations-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam on Thursday was bracing for Typhoon Doksuri, which is expected to be the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit the Southeast Asian country in several years.Doksuri swept through the Philippines on Tuesday as Tropical Depression Maring, killing at least four people and leaving another six missing. It strengthened to a typhoon with sustained wind speed of up to 135 kilometres per hour (84 mph) and gusts of up to 185 kilometres per hour (115 mph). It's expected to make landfall in central Vietnam Friday, according to the Vietnamese national weather forecast centre .Forecasters warned of heavy rains, floods and landslides in some northern and central parts of the country.Speaking at an emergency meeting Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung ordered the evacuation of people in high-risk areas.He also ordered operators of fishing, transport and tourist boats and vessels to take shelter or move out of the typhoon's path, and banned ships and vessels from sailing to the sea, the government reported on its website .State-run online newspaper VnExpress, quoting officials in the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, said more than 100,000 people were being told to evacuate.The typhoon forced the cancellation of dozens of flights to and from the central region, it said.Vietnam, a country of 93 million people, is prone to floods and storms that kill hundreds of people each year.The Associated Press.
Hurricane Max forecast to hit southern Mexico, near Acapulco-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Max strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane off Mexico's southern Pacific coast and was forecast to make landfall later Thursday along the coast of Guerrero state, a region that includes the resort city of Acapulco.The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for the coastline between Zihuatanejo and Punta Maldonado. It warned that Max could still strengthen a bit before reaching land and threatened to bring "life-threatening flooding (and) rainfall" to Guerrero and Oaxaca states.Max had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) Thursday morning. The storm was located about 55 miles (85 kilometres ) southwest of Acapulco and was heading toward the east at 6 mph (9 kph).The Associated Press.
Factbox: About 3.1 million still without power in U.S. Southeast after Irma-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
(Reuters) - Power was restored by Thursday morning to more than half the 7.8 million homes and businesses that Hurricane Irma had left in the dark, leaving 3.1 million customers, or some 6.5 million people, still sweltering in the heat in Florida and Georgia without air conditioning, utilities said.Most of the remaining outages were in Florida Power & Light's service area in the southern and eastern parts of the state. FPL, the state's biggest electric company, said about 1.4 million had no power on Thursday, down from more than 3.6 million on Monday.NextEra Energy Inc-owned FPL, which serves nearly 5 million homes and businesses, expects to restore power to essentially all its customers in the eastern portion of Florida by the weekend and the harder-hit western portion of the state by Sept. 22. It will take longer to restore those with tornado damage or severe flooding, FPL said.Outages at Duke Energy Corp , which serves the northern and central parts of Florida, fell to 855,000 on Thursday, down from a peak of about 1.2 million on Monday. Duke said on its website it expects to restore service to most customers by midnight on Sept. 17.High temperatures were forecast to reach the upper 80s F (low 30s C) in Florida's two biggest cities, Jacksonville and Miami, and the mid 80s in Atlanta over the next week or so, according to meteorologists at AccuWeather.Irma hit southwestern Florida Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, the second most severe on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. On Monday, when most customers were without power, the storm weakened to a tropical depression.In Georgia, utilities reported outages declined to about 290,000 on Thursday, down from a peak of around 1.3 million on Monday.Other big power utilities in Florida are units of Emera Inc and Southern Co , which also operates the biggest electric company in Georgia.(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Irma pushes Florida's poor closer to the edge of ruin-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Larry and Elida Dimas didn't have much to begin with, and Hurricane Irma left them with even less.The storm peeled open the roof of the old mobile home where they live with their 18-year-old twins, and it destroyed another one they rented to migrant workers in Immokalee, one of Florida's poorest communities. Someone from the government already has promised aid, but Dimas' chin quivers at the thought of accepting it."I don't want the help," said Dimas, 55. "But I need it."Dimas is one of millions of Floridians who live in poverty, and an untold number of them have seen their lives up-ended by Irma. Their options, already limited, were narrowed even further when the hurricane destroyed possessions, increased expenses and knocked them out of work.Not far from Dimas in impoverished Immokalee, located on the edge of the Everglades, Haitian immigrant Woodchy Darius, a junior at Immokalee High School, must decide whether to return to class when school reopens or head to the fields to pick berries once the land is dry enough to work again."The rent is $375, and if I don't have the money they'll kick us out," said Darius, 17. He lives in a grubby apartment building with bare concrete floors, burglar-proof doors and cinder-block walls that make it resemble a jail more than home.The Census Bureau estimates about 3.3 million people live in poverty in Florida — nearly 16 per cent of the state's 20.6 million population. For them, the amusement parks of Orlando or President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach might as well be on Mars.Many work by the hour in restaurants, gas stations, hotels, stores and other businesses forced to close for days after Irma, depriving them of paychecks. Others are day labourers or migrants who earn money by the pound picking produce that's sold in stores nationwide. Still others are retirees on fixed incomes or disability checks whose budgets already were tight before Irma.Fleeing Irma wasn't an option for those who lacked transportation to get to a shelter, couldn't afford gas to drive north and couldn't rent a hotel room. The likely costs associated with cleaning up or finding a new place to live pushed them closer to the edge than ever.After Irma, Gwen Bush scrambled to find a place just to sleep after flood waters rose around her home.A security worker for Amway Center in Orlando, Bush hadn't worked in the days leading up to Irma because concerts and other events had been cancelled as the storm approached. It's not certain when the arena will be open for business, and she was down to her final $10 before the storm."I've been through some hurricanes and some storms living here but I can say on my life this is the worst I've ever seen," said Bush, 50, a lifelong resident of Orlando. "How do you recover from this, losing all of your stuff?"David and Andrea Jewell survive on disability checks and live on a sailboat they bought for $1,000 on eBay years ago. David Jewell, 51, can't imagine now living on land; both consider the ocean — like the dolphins they watch — their only real neighbours .After the storm, the Jewells stayed on cots in the gym at a community centre in Jacksonville. They tried to figure out if they could get a new boat if theirs was destroyed. Maybe, they decided, they could just cut back on food and find another cheap one with their next disability checks."There aren't any answers," he said, "so I guess I'll have to roll with it."But in one bit of good news, they later learned from a friend that their boat is still floating.For some poor people, there's at least a little upside to the devastation.Guatemalan immigrant Aura Gaspar totalled up storm-related expenses of about $600 while using a twig-fired grill to stew chicken on her front stoop in Immokalee; she has three school-age children to feed and a 2-week-old baby.But Gaspar said husband Juan Francisco got a job cleaning up storm debris in the Fort Myers and Naples area. He needed to get busy, she said through a translator: Their storm preparations cost nearly twice as much as his weekly pay of $320."We had to prepare the house so it would protect us," said Gaspar, 28.Beside his ruined Immokalee mobile home, Dimas is trying to get back on his feet, but it's tough.Dimas earns a meagre living cooking hamburgers and chicken in a food truck parked by his home, and some customers already have returned — he said he sold all 40 of the hamburgers that were still safe to cook Tuesday.Dimas needs to replace the income from his rental trailer, already condemned after being split open by the wind. Dimas had used that money to help feed his two teenagers and pay for the rescue inhalers he needs for his asthma. Losing it will only make it harder for Dimas to do what he says is one of his favourite things — providing free or cut-rate food to those who have even less.Coping with Irma's aftermath is only making life tougher for people with little who live in places including unincorporated Immokalee, said Dimas."A lot of people work. They work hard here. They don't ask for nothing. They just go to work, come home and something like this happens, it's ....," Dimas said. "I don't know what to say."He stopped talking and turned away to keep from crying.___Associated Press writers Terrance Harris in Orlando and Claire Galofaro in Jacksonville contributed to this report.___Jay Reeves, The Associated Press.
8 die at Florida nursing home in Irma's sweltering aftermath-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 13, 2017
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Eight patients at a sweltering nursing home died after Hurricane Irma knocked out the air conditioning, raising fears Wednesday about the safety of Florida's 4 million senior citizens amid power outages that could last for days.Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said investigators believe the deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills were heat-related, and added: "The building has been sealed off and we are conducting a criminal investigation."Gov. Rick Scott called on Florida emergency workers to immediately check on all nursing homes to make sure patients are safe, and he vowed to punish anyone found culpable in the deaths."This situation is unfathomable," he said.The home said in a statement that the hurricane had knocked out a transformer that powered the AC.The five women and three men ranged in age from the 70s to 99.Exactly how the deaths happened was under investigation, with Sanchez saying authorities have not ruled anything out, including carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. He also said investigators will look into how many windows were open.Across the street from the stifling nursing home sat a fully air-conditioned hospital, Memorial Regional.Broward County said the nursing home had alerted the county emergency operations centre on Tuesday that it had lost power, but when asked if it had any medical needs or emergencies, it did not request help."It's a sad state of affairs," the police chief said. "We all have elderly people in facilities, and we all know we depend on those people in those facilities to care for a vulnerable elderly population."The deaths came as people trying to put their lives back together in hurricane-stricken Florida and beyond confronted a multitude of new hazards in the storm's aftermath, including tree-clearing accidents and lethal generator fumes.Not counting the nursing home deaths, at least 17 people in Florida have died under Irma-related circumstances, and six more in South Carolina and Georgia, many of them well after the storm had passed. The death toll across the Caribbean stood at 38.At least six people died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning from generators in Florida. A Tampa man died after the chain saw he was using to remove trees recoiled and cut his carotid artery.In Hollywood, four patients were found dead at the nursing home early Wednesday after emergency workers received a call about a person with a heart attack, and four more died later at the hospital, authorities said.Altogether, more than 100 patients there were found to be suffering in the heat and were evacuated, many on stretchers or in wheelchairs. Patients were treated for dehydration, breathing difficulties and other heat-related ills, authorities said.Nursing homes in Florida are required by state and federal law to file an emergency plan that includes evacuation plans for residents. County officials released documents showing that the Hollywood facility was in compliance with that regulation and that it held a hurricane drill with its staff in October.Calls to the owner and other officials at the Hollywood home were not immediately returned, but the facility's administrator, Jorge Caballo, said in a statement that it was " co-operating fully with relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances that led to this unfortunate and tragic outcome."Through a representative, Carballo told the SunSentinel newspaper that the home has a back-up generator but that it does not power the air conditioning.The nursing home was bought at a bankruptcy auction two years ago after its previous owner went to prison for Medicare fraud, according to news reports at the time of the sale.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes, gives the Hollywood centre a below-average rating, two stars on its five-star scale. But the most recent state inspection reports showed no deficiencies in the area of emergency plans.Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Craig Mallak said after receiving some of the bodies for autopsies that the victims had been in poor health, and "it's going to be tough to tell how much was the heat and how much of it was they were sick already."Florida, long one of America's top retirement destinations, has the highest proportion of people 65 and older of any state — 1 in 5 of its 20 million residents. As of 2016, Florida had about 680 nursing homes.The number of people without electricity in the steamy late-summer heat was down to 6.8 million. Utility officials warned it could take over a week for power to be fully restored. The number of people in shelters fell to under 13,000.Elsewhere around the state, a Coral Gables apartment building was evacuated after authorities determined a lack of power made it unsafe for elderly tenants.And at the huge, 15,000-resident Century Village retirement community in Pembroke Pines, more than half the residential buildings had no power Wednesday afternoon. Rescue crews went door to door in the 94-degree heat to check on people and hand out water, ice and meals."These people are basically prisoners in their own homes," said Pembroke Pines City Manager Charlie Dodge. "That's why we are camped out there and doing whatever we can to assist them in this process. And we're not leaving."Florida Sen. Bill Nelson called the six deaths in Hollywood "an inexcusable tragedy" and demanded a federal investigation."We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to keep our seniors safe during this difficult time," he said.In the battered Florida Keys, meanwhile, county officials pushed back against a preliminary estimate from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that 25 per cent of all homes in the Keys were destroyed and nearly all the rest were heavily damaged."Things look real damaged from the air, but when you clear the trees and all the debris, it's not much damage to the houses," said Monroe County Commissioner Heather Carruthers.The Keys felt Irma's full fury when the hurricane roared in on Sunday with 130 mph (209 kph) winds. But the extent of the damage has been an unanswered question for days because some places have been unreachable.President Donald Trump plans to visit Naples, on Florida's hard-it southwestern coast, on Thursday.At the Hollywood nursing home, Jean Lindor, a kitchen worker, said through a Haitian Creole translator that the air conditioner had not been working since the storm and it had been hot inside.Paulburn Bogle, a member of the housekeeping staff, said the place had been hot but manageable the past few days. The staff used fans, put cold towels and ice on patients and gave them cold drinks, he said.Flora Mitchell arrived at the home trying to learn the fate of her 58-year-old sister, a stroke patient. She said she last heard from her sister two days earlier and learned the air conditioning was not working."We need to know what happened to her," she said. "They haven't told us anything."___Associated Press writers Jason Dearen on Summerland Key; Brendan Farrington, Gary Fineout and Joe Reedy in Tallahassee; Jay Reeves in Immokalee; Terrance Harris in Orlando; Claire Galofaro in Jacksonville; and Jennifer Kay, Freida Frisaro, Curt Anderson and David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.___Tim Reynolds And Terry Spencer, The Associated Press.
More than 50 arrested for looting in Miami during Irma: police-[Reuters]-By Zach Fagenson-YAHOONEWS-September 13, 2017
MIAMI (Reuters) - Miami area police arrested more than 50 suspected looters during Hurricane Irma, including 26 people who were accused of breaking into a single Wal-Mart (WMT.N> store, authorities said on Tuesday.City officials on Tuesday lifted a local 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew that had been in place since Sunday. As normality began to return, police commanders said officers will work 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, to discourage any more criminality."I said we would not tolerate criminal activity or looting or anybody who takes advantage of our residents," Deputy Chief of Police Luis Cabrera said at a news conference. "I was not joking."The Wal-Mart incident took place on Saturday night at a store on the north side of the City of Miami, said Miami-Dade Police Department spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta.Among others suspected of looting were six men arrested on Monday and accused of breaking into stores at the Midtown Miami shopping complex, near the fashionable Wynwood district, before making off with merchandise that included shoes, bags and laptops.The looting attempts spanned the city, said Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, from the well-heeled Brickell and downtown neighborhoods to the low-income Liberty City and Little Haiti areas. He said police will stay vigilant as the cleanup goes on.Officers have also been busy trawling roads that can be perilous for motorists because power cuts shut off traffic lights at intersections and streets have accumulated shredded vegetation spread by the storm's powerful winds."We have never experienced, not even with Hurricane Andrew, the amount of trees that are downed in the city," Regalado told the news conference. Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992.Since Irma began bearing down on the state late last week, authorities have been warning any would-be looters against taking advantage of the situation.Rick Maglione, the police chief of Fort Lauderdale, about 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami, told residents to stay home during the storm and look after their loved ones. "Going to prison over a pair of sneakers is a fairly bad life choice," Maglione said in a statement.Miami police posted a photo on Facebook of several accused looters sitting in a jail cell under the caption: "Thinking about looting? Ask these guys how that turned out. #stayindoors."(Reporting by Zach Fagenson; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Dan Grebler)
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Ottawa urged to hold huge public education campaign about pot's risks for youth-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
OTTAWA — Youth health experts are warning the federal government that its push to legalize recreational cannabis should be accompanied by extensive public-education and prevention campaigns that spell out the serious risks of pot consumption on adolescent brains.Parliamentarians heard this message numerous times Wednesday during a House of Commons committee hearing to study the Trudeau government's legislation to legalize marijuana.Ottawa plans to legalize cannabis for adults 18 and older within 10 months, but some provinces and police services have warned the federal timeline is far too tight for them to properly prepare for such a major change.Now, the government is facing demands to do everything possible to ensure young Canadians and their parents are ready for legalization.Several witnesses said there's little chance stronger regulation will deter youth from consuming pot. Therefore, they recommended the government work hard to dispel the notion marijuana is a harmless substance."We have already legalized medical use and people automatically draw the conclusion that all cannabis is the same: it's good for your health," Dr. William Barakett, an advisory council member for Drug Free Kids Canada, told the committee."Adolescents will procure and use cannabis regardless of the legal restraints," he said, adding that makes creation of an elaborate, public-education program essential."We need to educate people — people just don't understand."Barakett, who said he treats addicts every day, was among several experts who testified that Canadians still know far too little about the long-term, negative effects cannabis can have on young brains.Witnesses suggested the campaign target youth, parents, teachers and anyone else in close contact with young people. They also urged the government to provide tools to help adults speak to youth about the risks.Dr. Christina Grant, an adolescent medicine specialist, ran through some scientific findings for the committee."There can be no doubt regarding the scientific literature that cannabis use prior to the mid-20s is associated with structural and functional harmful effects on the developing brain," said Grant, an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University.She said rigorous studies have shown a connection between regular cannabis use among youth and an increased risk — of 40 per cent — that they will have a psychotic episode. Other research, she added, has shown a relationship between marijuana use and clinical depression."There needs to be more of a conversation — there's lots of myths around cannabis use for youth," said Grant, who was representing the Canadian Pediatric Society."They're getting lots of information from cannabis YouTube channels and different lobby groups, but there's not clear messages around what are the risks."Amy Porath, a director for the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, said her organization has visited the states of Washington and Colorado in search of advice.They recommended strong, up-front investments in evidence-based public education and prevention , she said.In its March budget, the government committed $9.6 million over five years for a public education and awareness campaign as well as surveillance activities.Drug Free Kids Canada launched a new multimedia, awareness campaign about the risks of pot in June. Marc Paris, the group's executive director, estimated that an extensive national campaign could easily cost tens of millions of dollars per year."The secret to it is to keep doing it," Paris said."Education messages can't just be a six-week spurt."The government, which hopes to legalize pot by next summer, has stated its main goals are to get marijuana out of the hands of young Canadians and to cut off criminal activity. Ottawa has not shared details about how much tax revenue could be generated by a regulated recreational cannabis market.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his government's message Wednesday that legalization is all about protecting children and communities."We know that as it stands right now, underage Canadians have easier access to marijuana than in just about any other country in the world," Trudeau said in St. John's, N.L. following a cabinet retreat."It's easier for a young person to buy a joint, than it is for them to buy a bottle of beer. That's not right. We need to make sure we are protecting our kids and that's why we're moving forward with legalizing, controlling regime for the marijuana."Earlier this week, the parliamentary committee heard from police from Ontario, Saskatoon and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.They testified that they needed an extra six months to a year to properly train their personnel, boost the number of officers certified to conduct drug-impaired driving tests and to educate the public.Without an extension, they warned organized crime would use that early, post-legalization period to gain a foothold under the new system and flourish.But on Wednesday federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Ottawa was anxious to legalize marijuana by next summer despite the police warnings.Goodale noted that Ottawa announced $274 million in funding over the next five years to help police prepare for legalization."Obviously it challenges people to meet the objectives — but the time frame is a solid one," Goodale said.— with files from Sue Bailey in St. John's, N.L.Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Top Asian News 5:13 a.m. GMT-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 15, 2017
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean on Friday, U.S. and South Korean militaries said, its longest-ever such flight and a clear message of defiance to its rivals. Since President Donald Trump threatened the North with "fire and fury" in August, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over U.S. ally Japan. It tested its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target both U.S.An emergency response official on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido says business has been usual most of the morning after a North Korean missile flew over the island. Warning sirens to alert residents blared twice — once immediately after the launch Friday and the second time just after the missile passed above their heads. Hokkaido prefectural emergency official Shuji Koshida said local trains and subways briefly stopped for safety checks but there was no panicking or traffic jams. Koshida said there were no reports of debris or damage and business was usual. It occurred while many people were still at home, waking up or getting ready for school or work.North Korea launched an intermediate-range missile that flew over Japan in its longest-ever flight, showing that leader Kim Jong Un is defiantly pushing to bolster his weapons programs despite U.S.-led international pressure. A look at the recent weapons tests: __ May 14: North Korea fires a newly developed intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile it says can carry a heavy nuclear warhead. May 21: North Korea tests a Pukguksong-2 missile that uses solid fuel, which is harder to detect by outsiders before launch. June 8: North Korea fires several projectiles believed to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles. July 4: North Korea test-launches its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, at a highly lofted trajectory.
North Korea fires missile over Japan that lands far out in the Pacific-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Jack Kim and William Mallard-September 14, 2017
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan's northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean on Friday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, further ratcheting up tensions after Pyongyang's recent test of its most powerful nuclear bomb.The missile flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) east of Hokkaido, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in a hastily organized media conference."These repeated provocations on the part of North Korea are impermissible and we protest in the strongest words," Suga said.Warning announcements about the missile blared around 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday) in the town of Kamaishi, northern Japan, footage from national broadcaster NHK showed.The missile reached an altitude of about 770 km (480 miles) and flew for about 19 minutes over a distance of about 3,700 km (2,300 miles), according to South Korea's military - far enough to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.The U.S. military said soon after that it had detected a single intermediate range ballistic missile.North Korea has launched dozens of missiles under young leader Kim Jong Un as it accelerates a weapons program designed to give it the ability to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile."This rocket has meaning in that North Korea is pushing towards technological completion of its missiles and that North Korea may be feeling some pressure that they need to show the international community something," said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum.Last month, North Korea fired a missile from similar area near the capital Pyongyang that also flew over Hokkaido into the ocean. Two tests in July were for long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching at least parts of the U.S. mainland.-"ASHES AND DARKNESS"-South Korea said it had fired a missile test into the sea to coincide with North Korea's launch and the presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting. Japan also convened a National Security Council meeting.The North's launch came a day after Pyongyang threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept. 3 nuclear test, its sixth and most powerful by far.The U.S. general who oversees America's nuclear forces said on Thursday he was making the assumption that the test was in fact a hydrogen bomb, as Pyongyang had claimed, based on the size of the blast."I'm assuming it was a hydrogen bomb," said Air Force General John Hyten, head of the U.S. military's Strategic Command. "I have to make that assumption as a military officer," Hyten told a small group of reporters who were accompanying Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on a trip to Hyten's headquarters in Nebraska.The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.Australia, a strong and vocal ally of the United States, quickly condemned the launch."This is another dangerous, reckless, criminal act by the North Korean regime, threatening the stability of the region and the world and we condemn it, utterly," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an interview with Sky News on Friday."This is a sign, I believe, of their frustration at the increased sanctions on North Korea, recently imposed by the Security Council. It's a sign that the sanctions are working," he said.The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday, banning North Korea's textile exports and capping fuel supplies.The U.S. dollar fell sharply against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc in early Asian hours in response to the launch, although losses were quickly pared in very jittery trade.U.S. President Donald Trump had been briefed on the latest launch, the White House said.Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.(Reporting by Jack Kim and Christine Kim in SEOUL and Hideyuki Sano in TOKYO; Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham in WASHINGTON; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Paul Tait)
North Korea threatens to 'sink' Japan, reduce U.S. to 'ashes and darkness'-[Reuters]-By Jack Kim and Kiyoshi Takenaka-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test.The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the North's external ties and propaganda, also called for the breakup of the Security Council, which it called "a tool of evil" made up of "money-bribed" countries that move at the order of the United States."The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.Juche is the North's ruling ideology that mixes Marxism and an extreme form of go-it-alone nationalism preached by state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un.Regional tension has risen markedly since the reclusive North conducted its sixth, and by far its most powerful, nuclear test on Sept. 3, following a series of missile tests, including one that flew over Japan.The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday in response, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.The North reacted to the latest action by the Security Council, which had the backing of veto-holding China and Russia, by reiterating threats to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea."Let's reduce the U.S. mainland into ashes and darkness. Let's vent our spite with mobilization of all retaliation means which have been prepared till now," the statement said.Japan's Nikkei stock index and dollar/yen currency pared gains, although traders said that was more because of several Chinese economic indicators released on Thursday rather than a reaction to the North's latest statement.South Korea's won also edged down around the same time over domestic financial concerns.Despite the North's threats, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he was against having nuclear weapons in his country, either by developing its own arsenal or bringing back U.S. tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn in the early 1990s."To respond to North Korea by having our own nuclear weapons will not maintain peace on the Korean peninsula and could lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia," Moon said in an interview with CNN.South Korea's Unification Ministry also said it planned to provide $8 million through the U.N. World Food Programme and UNICEF to help infants and pregnant women in the North.The move marks Seoul's first humanitarian assistance for the North since its fourth nuclear test in January 2016 and is based on a longstanding policy of separating humanitarian aid from politics, the ministry said.-"DANCING TO THE TUNE"-The North's latest threats also singled out Japan for "dancing to the tune" of the United States, saying it should never be pardoned for not offering a sincere apology for its "never-to-be-condoned crimes against our people", an apparent reference to Japan's wartime aggression.It also referred to South Korea as "traitors and dogs" of the United States.-Japan criticized the North's statement harshly."This announcement is extremely provocative and egregious. It is something that markedly heightens regional tension and is absolutely unacceptable," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, visiting India, called for strict enforcement of the U.N. resolution, saying the world must force a change.The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions against North Korea on Monday in response to its latest and most powerful test, banning North Korea's textile exports that are the second largest only to coal and mineral, and capping fuel supplies.North Korea had already rejected the Security Council resolution, vowing to press ahead with its nuclear and missile programs.A tougher initial U.S. draft of Monday's resolution was weakened to win the support of China, the North's lone major ally, and Russia. Significantly, it stopped short of imposing a full embargo on oil exports to North Korea, most of which come from China.The latest sanctions also make it illegal for foreign firms to form commercial joint ventures with North Korean entities.U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbor. China in turn favors an international response to the problem.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the international community had reached a "high consensus" on trying to realize a peaceful solution."We urge the relevant directly involved parties to seize the opportunity and have the political nerve to make the correct political choice as soon as possible," Hua told a regular press briefing.The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.(Additional reporting by Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Sanjeev Miglani in New Delhi and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)
Japan: North Korean threat to sink Japan is 'outrageous'-[The Canadian Press]-September 14, 2017
TOKYO — Japan's top government spokesman said Thursday that a North Korean threat to sink Japan with a nuclear bomb is "extremely provocative and outrageous."A statement from an organization called the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee attacked the United States for leading a push for stronger U.N. sanctions against North Korea, and railed against Japan for backing the U.S. campaign."The four islands of the (Japanese) archipelago should be sunken into the sea" by a nuclear bomb, the statement reads in part. It was distributed by the Korean Central News Agency, the state news service.North Korea often issues bellicose threats that it doesn't actually carry out. But Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, responding to a reporter's question about the North Korean dispatch, said the statement "significantly escalates tension in the region and is absolutely unacceptable."The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions Monday after North Korea carried out its sixth and strongest nuclear test on Sept. 3. Although the latest sanctions are not as tough as what the U.S. had sought, they are expected to have a significant impact.The Associated Press.
Soldiers on Europe's streets dent NATO's defense edge-[Reuters]-By Alissa de Carbonnel and Robert-Jan Bartunek-YAHOONEWS-September 14, 2017
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The use of armed soldiers to patrol alongside pavement cafes and selfie-snapping tourists in European cities since jihadi attacks risks compromising deployments overseas, military leaders say.Belgium and major military power France, both active in EU and NATO missions, have cut back training to free up troops and NATO planners fear that over time armies may get better at guarding railway stations and airports than fighting wars.Some of the more than 15,000 soldiers serving at home in Europe say tramping the streets is a far cry from the foreign adventures they signed up for and that they feel powerless to defend against militants."We are standing around like flowers pots, just waiting to be smashed," said an officer just returned from Afghanistan for guard duty in Belgium, which, like France, has more troops deployed at home than in any single mission abroad.Security personnel have been targeted in both countries but patrols begun as a temporary measure after Islamic State attacks in 2015 have become permanent fixtures as opinion polls show that people are reassured by soldiers on show at home.Italy has had soldiers on the streets since 2008, Britain used them briefly this year and, along with Spain, is prepared for deployments if threat levels rise. Despite their painful history, Germany and Austria have debated having military patrols at home for the first time since World War Two.Across Europe, political debate is shifting from whether, to how to adapt the armed forces to a homeland role, a concern for military leaders eyeing budgets, morale and training.France's former military chief, who quit in July, said it had overstretched the army, while the head of Belgium's land forces told Reuters the domestic deployment was taking its toll."I see a lot of people who leave our defense forces because of the operation," General Marc Thys, the commander of Belgium's land forces, said in an interview, without giving numbers.Not everyone agrees. A defense ministry source in Italy said its domestic patrols had "absolutely no impact on overseas missions or on training".But some in NATO worry protracted domestic operations will make key members of the 29-strong transatlantic alliance less ready to deploy to Afghanistan or eastern European borders with Russia."It is popular with the public, it is cheaper than the police," a senior NATO source said. "But if the requirement came to send a lot of forces to reinforce our eastern allies ... would the government be willing to pull its soldiers off the street to do that, could it?"-"WORSE THAN AFGHANISTAN"-The challenge of battling Islamic State at home and abroad, squeezes resources just as NATO leaders seek to show U.S. President Donald Trump they are reliable allies, after he repeatedly questioned the alliance's worth.Given the homeland operations, some military sources and experts say politicians face a tough choice: to expand the army, summon up reserves or create a new domestic security force - a halfway between the police and military - to replace them as Belgium has chosen to do over the coming years."It mobilizes so many people that we are having trouble deploying people abroad for U.N. and EU missions," said a second NATO source.The operations put 10,000 heavily armed combat troops on the streets in France and 1,800 in Belgium after Islamic State attacks in early 2015. The numbers are down to 7,000 and 1,200 respectively, but they still tie up roughly a tenth of deployable army personnel in each nation.They can also be bad for morale.The mix of schools, offices and warehouse hastily converted into barracks in Belgium "are worse than Afghanistan," said a soldier, showing pictures of cramped rooms piled high with gear.Some 45 percent of soldiers surveyed by the Belgian military in December said they were thinking of quitting - many to the police - as being away had strained families and led to divorce.A source in the French military, which has not made polling public, said of its street patrols, known as Operation Sentinelle: "Sentinelle is a burden whose impact on soldiers' morale we've never denied."For now, Thys said the Belgian armed forces are not pulling back from foreign missions but have less time for training. "We take everything into account, our homeland operation and our international missions. If you go up on one side, we have to go down on the other side," Thys told Reuters.In France, training days were cut from 90 to 59 days last year, according to a defense ministry report in October. A decline of some 30 percent began with the deployment on home soil, experts say."The longer they do it, the less sharp as a military they are," said General Sir Richard Barrons, Britain's former military chief. "But once you are committed to this it takes a very brave politician to turn it off."The new head of France's armed forces, which has thousands of troops abroad fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, says something has to give. "We have to choose how to adjust our commitments, to give us back some flexibility, because who knows where the French army will have to deploy in a year," General Francois Lecointre was cited by local media as saying earlier this month.President Emmanuel Macron has announced a strategic review of the street patrols. His new armed forces minister, Florence Parly, said on Tuesday they would not be cut but would be made more flexible.TARGET OR DETERRENT?-In Italy, where up to 7,000 soldiers help police, a defense ministry source said they were moved around often to keep them from being bored - an approach that France and Belgium will both now put into play.Italy has escaped militant attacks so far and troops elsewhere have disarmed or killed would-be attackers - such as a knife-wielding assailant outside the Eiffel tower last month and a suitcase bomber in Brussels in June.But their effectiveness is hard to quantify, and attacks on men in uniform like that in Paris last month - with its familiar pattern of a car plowing into its victims - has renewed fears they may draw fire or shoot in error.In France, three in four voters approve of street patrols, although nearly 40 percent doubt they are effective in combating terrorism. In Belgium, support for the military is 80 percent, up from 20 percent before the mission."It's a PR operation: nothing more," said Wally Struys, a professor emeritus at Belgium Royal Military Academy.But Belgium's Thys and others see no end to the operations, which give the military an extra argument against years of declining budgets."They are part of the landscape now," said Saad Amrani, chief commissioner and policy adviser of the Belgian Federal Police. "We depend on them."(Additional reporting by Sophie Louet and Laurence Frost in Paris, Antonella Cinelli in Rome, Alba Asenjo Dominguez in Madrid; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
