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)
CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL 2ND WAVE OF WW3 (200 MILLION MAN ARMY)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.(ITS AT THIS TIME I BELIEVE WHEN AMERICA GETS NUKED BY RUSSIA ON THE WAY TO THE MIDEAST)
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE-2 billion)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
South Korea simulates attack on North's nuke site after test-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Following U.S. warnings to North Korea of a "massive military response," South Korea fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North's main nuclear test site on Monday, a day after North Korea detonated its largest-ever nuclear test explosion.South Korea's Defence Ministry also said Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons, though it was unclear when this might happen.The heated words from the United States and the military manoeuvrs in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea's rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States. The most recent, and perhaps most dramatic, advance came Sunday in an underground test of what leader Kim Jong Un's government claimed was a hydrogen bomb, the North's sixth nuclear test since 2006.The United Nations Security Council held its second emergency meeting about North Korea in a week on Monday, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley saying the North's actions show that Kim is "begging for war," and the time has come for the Security Council to adopt the strongest diplomatic measures."Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," Haley said.In Seoul, Chang Kyung-soo, an official with South Korea's Defence Ministry, told lawmakers on Monday that it was seeing preparations in the North for an ICBM test but didn't provide details about how officials had reached that assessment. Chang also said the yield from the latest nuclear detonation appeared to be about 50 kilotons, which would mark a "significant increase" from North Korea's past nuclear tests.In a series of tweets, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with North Korea, a warning to China, and faulted South Korea for what he called "talk of appeasement."In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, told reporters in Beijing on Monday that China regarded as "unacceptable a situation in which on the one hand we work to resolve this issue peacefully but on the other hand our own interests are subject to sanctions and jeopardized. This is neither objective nor fair."South Korea's military said its live-fire exercise was meant to "strongly warn" North Korea. The drill involved F-15 fighter jets and the country's land-based "Hyunmoo" ballistic missiles firing into the Sea of Japan.The target was set considering the distance to North Korea's test site and the exercise was aimed at practicing precision strikes and cutting off reinforcements, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.Each new North Korean missile and nuclear test gives the country's scientists invaluable information that allows big jumps in capability. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.Both diplomacy and severe sanctions have failed to check the North's decades-long march to nuclear mastery.In Washington, Trump, asked by a reporter if he would attack North Korea, said, "We'll see." No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.In brief remarks after a White House meeting with Trump and other national security officials, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters that America does not seek the "total annihilation" of North Korea, but then added somberly, "We have many options to do so."Mattis said the U.S. will answer any threat from the North with a "massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming."Mattis also said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that Kim should know Washington's commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.The precise strength of North Korea's underground nuclear explosion has yet to be determined. South Korea's weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North's previous five tests.Sunday's detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.North Korea has made a stunning jump in progress in its nuclear and missile programs since Kim rose to power following his father's death in late 2011. The North followed its two tests of Hwasong-14 ICBMs, which, when perfected, could target large parts of the United States, by threatening to launch a salvo of Hwasong-12 intermediate range missiles toward the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in August.It flew a Hwasong-12 over northern Japan last week, the first such overflight by a missile potentially capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in a launch Kim described as a "meaningful prelude" to containing Guam, the home of major U.S. military facilities, and vowed to launch more ballistic missile tests targeting the Pacific.Ahead of the North's test, photos released by the North Korean government showed Kim talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanut-shaped device that was purportedly a thermonuclear weapon destined for an ICBM. The images were taken without outside journalists present and could not be independently verified. What appeared to be the nose cone of a missile could also be seen in one photo, and another showed a diagram on the wall behind Kim of a bomb mounted inside a cone.The Arms Control Association in the United States said the explosion appeared to produce a yield in excess of 100 kilotons of TNT equivalent, which it said strongly suggests North Korea tested a high-yield but compact nuclear weapon that could be launched on a missile of intermediate or intercontinental range.Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea's accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decades-long commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.That is why some questioned Trump's jab at South Korea. He tweeted that Seoul is finding that its "talk of appeasement" will not work. The North Koreans, he added, "only understand one thing," implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.Trump also suggested putting more pressure on China, North Korea's patron for many decades and a vital U.S. trading partner, in hopes of persuading Beijing to exert more effective leverage on its neighbour . Trump tweeted that the U.S. is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea." Such a halt would be radical. The U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China, North Korea's main commercial partner.Experts have questioned whether North Korea has gone too far down the nuclear road to continue pushing for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an Obama administration policy goal still embraced by Trump's White House."Denuclearization is not a viable U.S. policy goal," said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security, but neither should the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear power, he said. "We should keep denuclearization as a long-term aspiration, but recognize privately that it's unachievable anytime soon."___Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Catherine Lucey in Washington and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report.Foster Klug And Youkyung Lee, The Associated Press.
U.S. envoy says North Korean leader 'begging for war' as U.N. mulls sanctions-[Reuters]-By Christine Kim and Michelle Nichols-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Monday said countries trading with North Korea were aiding its "dangerous nuclear intentions" as the United Nations Security Council mulled tough new sanctions and the isolated regime showed signs of planning more missile tests.South Korea said it was talking to Washington about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula following the North's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a telephone call to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea's missiles, South Korea's presidential office said, enabling it to strike North Korea with greater force in the event of a military conflict.At a Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea's Kim Jong Un was "begging for war" and urged the 15-member group to impose the "strongest possible" sanctions to deter him."War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory," Haley said."The United States will look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions," she said.Haley said the United States will circulate a new Security Council resolution on North Korea this week and wants a vote on it next Monday.China, a top trading partner with North Korea, and Russia called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis."China will never allow chaos and war on the (Korean) Peninsula," said Liu Jieyi, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, urging North Korea to stop taking actions that were "wrong" and not in its own interests.Russia said peace in the region was in jeopardy."Sanctions alone will not help solve the issue," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Typically, China and Russia only view a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions.Trump had asked to be briefed on all available military options, according to his defense chief.Officials said activity around missile launch sites suggested North Korea planned more missile tests."We have continued to see signs of possibly more ballistic missile launches. We also forecast North Korea could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile," Jang Kyoung-soo, acting deputy minister of national defense policy, told a parliament hearing on Monday.North Korea tested two ICBMs in July that could fly about 10,000 km (6,200 miles), putting many parts of the U.S. mainland within range and prompting a new round of tough international sanctions.-MILITARY EXERCISES-South Korea's air force and army conducted exercises involving long-range air-to-surface and ballistic missiles on Monday following the North's nuclear test on Sunday, its joint chiefs of staff said in a statement.In addition to the drill, South Korea will cooperate with the United States and seek to deploy "strategic assets like aircraft carriers and strategic bombers", Jang said.South Korea's defense ministry also said it would deploy the four remaining launchers of a new U.S. missile defense system after the completion of an environmental assessment by the government.The rollout of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system at a site south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, which is vehemently opposed by neighboring China and Russia, had been delayed since June.At the Security Council, neither Russia nor China mentioned their long-held opposition to THAAD or the prospect of further U.N. sanctions in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test.North Korea said it tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile on Sunday, prompting a warning from U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of a "massive" military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.Trump has previously vowed to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons and said he would unleash "fire and fury" if it threatened U.S. territory.Despite the tough talk, the immediate focus of the international response was on tougher economic sanctions.Diplomats have said the Security Council could now consider banning North Korean textile exports and its national airline, stop supplies of oil to the government and military, prevent North Koreans from working abroad and add top officials to a blacklist to subject them to an asset freeze and travel ban.Asked about Trump's threat to punish countries that trade with North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China has dedicated itself to resolving the North Korean issue via talks, and China's efforts had been recognized."What we absolutely cannot accept is that on the one hand (we are) making arduous efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, and on the other hand (our) interests are being sanctioned or harmed. This is both not objective and not fair," he told a regular briefing.On possible new U.N. sanctions, and whether China would support cutting off oil, Geng said it would depend on the outcome of Security Council discussions.China's state-run Xinhua news agency said in an editorial that North Korea was "playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship" and it should wake up to the fact that such a tactic "can never bring security it pursues".-SKEPTICISM-While South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Monday to work with the United States to pursue stronger sanctions, Russia voiced scepticism.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said sanctions on North Korea had reached the limit of their impact. Any more would be aimed at breaking its economy, so a decision to impose further constraints would become dramatically harder, he told a BRICS summit in China.South Korea says the aim of stronger sanctions is to draw North Korea into dialogue. But, in a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump also appeared to rebuke South Korea for that approach."South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!" Trump said on Twitter.Still, Trump's response was more orderly and less haphazard than he had offered after North Korea's previous hostile actions.His handling of its latest nuclear test reflected a more traditional approach to crisis management, which U.S. officials said illustrated the influence of Mattis and the new White House chief of staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly.Japanese and South Korean stock markets both closed down about 1 percent on Monday, while safe-haven assets including gold and sovereign bonds ticked higher, but trade was cautious. U.S. stock markets were closed for the Labor Day holiday."Assuming the worst on the Korean peninsula has not proven to be a winning trading strategy this year," said Sean Callow, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Westpac Bank."Investors seem reluctant to price in anything more severe than trade sanctions, and the absence of another 'fire and fury' Trump tweet has helped encourage markets to respond warily."South Korea's finance minister vowed to support financial markets if instability showed signs of spreading to the real economy.(Additional reporting by Shin-hyung Lee, Hyunjoo Jin and Cynthia Kim in SEOUL, Steve Holland, David Brunnstrom, Tim Ahmann, David Shepardson and John Walcott in WASHINGTON, John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, Wayne Cole and Swati Pandey in SYDNEY; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Jeff Mason; Editing by Paul Simao and Sandra Maler)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Turkey accuses Merkel of racism By Eric Maurice-SEP 4,17-EUOBSERVER
Bled, Slovenia, Today, 19:27-The Turkish government has accused the German chancellor of being "racist" after she called for an end to Turkey's EU accession negotiations.Mainstream parties "are using the same rhetoric as racist parties" in order to win back voters they lost to populist parties, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday (4 September).On Sunday, in a TV debate with her opponent Martin Schulz ahead of the 24 September elections, German chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would speak to other EU leaders to "end" accession talks."The fact is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the EU," she said.Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, agreed that "we should not allow in a country that is against EU values."Turkey's Cavusoglu noted that "Turkey and Hungary were discussed more than internal issues" during the debate."They should rather focus on their own internal issues," he said.Cavusoglu, who spoke at the Bled Strategic Forum, an event in Slovenia, said EU accession "is still a strategic goal for Turkey"."Turkey has no problem to open any chapter and to discuss and negotiate any technical issue," he added, denouncing "political obstacles" to the process.He said that "nothing has changed in Turkey", despite EU concerns about Turkey's crackdown on opponents of Turkish president Recep Tayip Erdogan after the failed coup in July 2016.Cavusoglu said "the EU didn't support democracy in Turkey" in its response to the coup and this was why the "support of Turkish people for EU membership has declined".Earlier on Monday, a spokesman for Erdogan said "Germany and Europe's attacks" were "ignoring necessary and pressing problems"."We hope the problematic atmosphere that made Turkish-German relations the victim of this narrow political horizon will end," he added.-'Dialogue continues'-The European Commission reacted cautiously to Merkel's remarks."Turkey is a candidate country for the moment," the EU high representative Federica Mogherini said, also in Bled, Slovenia."Dialogue continues, work on negotiations continues," she said."On the future, I would suggest that we look beyond what is said in electoral campaigns, both in Turkey and in the European Union," she added, saying that the EU must work with Turkey, "a key player in a region that is strategically important for us.""Working together is a must when you are neighbours," she said.In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said EU support for Turkey was "not unlimited and not unconditional", but he added that the EU should "reflect on these things calmly"."This a decision for member states to take," he said.He reminded press that Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was also critical of Turkey last week.In a speech to EU ambassadors in Brussels Juncker said: "'Turkey is taking giant strides away from Europe" and that Erdogan was making accession "impossible".
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Family unable to retrieve belongings after sink hole wrecks N.S. home-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 3, 2017
FALMOUTH, N.S. — Members of a Nova Scotia family awoke to the sounds of what they believed to be an intruder early Sunday morning, police said — but it turned out the threat was coming from underneath their home.The clamour they heard downstairs turned out not to be a home invasion, said RCMP Cpl. Andrew Joyce, but their two-storey house in Falmouth collapsing into a sink hole."(The officers) found it to be an environment issue rather than a criminal issue," he said.Joyce said fire crews and a hazmat team were called to the scene and the family was safely moved from the home, 70 kilometres from Halifax.Paul Maynard, a deputy fire chief with the Hantsport Fire Department, said the first floor of the house had "virtually collapsed" into the gaping hole, which he estimated to be up to nine metres deep."When we got close enough to look down the hole, we actually saw the kitchen table and dining room chairs were all piled in at the bottom of the hole," Maynard said. "We really, truly don't have a good appreciation of how deep it is."Crews secured the site and disconnected the home's utilities, Maynard said. As additional sink holes opened up on the property, he said the brick face of the house cracked and sagged into the ground.In his 28 years at the fire department, Maynard said he has never seen a sink hole "swallow" a building."There's really no foundation underneath it ... It's kind of just free standing over this massive sink hole," he said. "We really didn't know what was holding it up, to be quite honest."Maynard said the home belongs to a family of four, but only two people were inside the residence during the incident.Firefighters were sent into the home in safety harnesses to retrieve personal belongings like family photos and passports, Maynard said.The family remains in good spirits, he said, but the property is more or less a "write off." Come Monday, he guessed, the building will fully collapse into the hole.Municipal authorities in the district of West Hants said they have been assured the sink hole was an isolated natural event limited to the one property.They say the building is slated to be demolished "as soon as possible" and the structure is too unsafe for the family to retrieve the rest of their belongings.The municipality said experts have been brought in to assess the damage, and it has also ordered a more detailed assessment of the site.The Canadian Press.
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.
Eastern Caribbean battens down as Hurricane Irma approaches-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Workers in the northeast Caribbean cleared drains and pruned trees as authorities urged islanders to prepare for Hurricane Irma, a Category 3 storm that grew stronger Monday and was forecast to begin buffeting the region the following day.Emergency officials warned that Irma could dump up to 10 inches (25 centimetres ) of rain, unleash landslides and dangerous flash floods and generate waves of up to 23 feet (7 metres ) as the storm draws closer.A hurricane warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts."We're looking at Irma as a very significant event," Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, said by phone. "I can't recall a tropical cone developing that rapidly into a major hurricane prior to arriving in the central Caribbean."Irma is expected to strengthen in the next couple of days, and its centre is forecast to move near or over the northern Leeward Islands on Tuesday night and early Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.A hurricane watch was in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the British and U.S. Virgin islands and Guadeloupe. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica.U.S. residents were urged to monitor the storm's progress in case it turns northward toward Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas."This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of Harvey," Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather, said in a statement.In the Caribbean, Antigua and Anguilla shuttered schools on Monday, and government office closures were expected to follow.On the tiny island of Barbuda, hotel manager Andrea Christian closed down the Palm Tree Guest House as Irma approached. She said she was not afraid even though it would be her first time facing a storm of that magnitude."We can't do anything about it," Christian said by phone, adding that she had stocked up on food and water. "We just have to wait it out."The U.S. hurricane centre said Irma had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph) Monday afternoon. The storm was centred about 530 miles (850 kilometres ) east of the Leeward Islands and was moving west-southwest at 14 mph (22 kph).Both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands expect to receive 4 inches to 8 inches (10-20 centimetres ) of rain and winds of 40-50 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph.Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned of flooding and power outages."It's no secret that the infrastructure of the Puerto Rico Power Authority is deteriorated," Rossello said. He activated the National Guard, cancelled classes for Tuesday and declared a half-day of work.Meteorologist Roberto Garcia warned that Puerto Rico could experience hurricane-like conditions in the next 48 hours."Any deviation, which is still possible, could bring even more severe conditions to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands," Garcia said.The U.S. Virgin Islands said schools would reopen on Friday instead of Tuesday.In the Dominican Republic, Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo said workers there were also clearing away roadworks and cleaning out sewer drains and that President Danilo Medina would meet with emergency agencies.___Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.Danica Coto, The Associated Press.
Houston residents mark Labor Day sorting through storm ruins-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
HOUSTON — Some Gulf Coast residents ripped up soggy carpeting, cut out sheet rock from walls marked by the height floodwaters had reached and sorted through destroyed clothes and other belongings on Monday, 10 days after Harvey swept onto land and caused billions of dollars in damage.Houston's mayor insisted that America's fourth-largest city is "open for business," but with areas under water, people not yet in their homes and city services not yet fully restored, the disasters created by Harvey are by no means resolved.Mayor Sylvester Turner said much of the city was hoping to get back on track after Labor Day, a traditional day to honour workers that took on new meaning in Texas, where people were cleaning out their former homes."Anyone who was planning on a conference or a convention or a sporting event or a concert coming to this city, you can still come," he told CBS. "We can do multiple things at the same time."One worry, of further explosions at a damaged chemical plant, eased after officials carried out a controlled burn Sunday evening of highly unstable compounds at the Arkema plant in Crosby. Three trailers had previously caught fire after Harvey's floodwaters knocked out generators.Authorities said Monday it is now safe for residents of a 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometre ) evacuation zone around the Arkema plant to return. They were forced to leave Tuesday.Floodwaters also have inundated at least five toxic waste Superfund sites near Houston and some may be damaged, though Environmental Protection Agency officials have yet to assess the full extent of what occurred.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told CNN the EPA is "working on some of them already," but "they have restraints on their ability to check out some of them just simply because of the water."Turner said Houston's drinking water hadn't been affected by the storm, but told CBS, "We would hope that the EPA would be on the ground now to take a look at those Superfund sites, to make sure that contamination is contained and limited."Other issues across the region: too much water still in houses, but no water to drink.Utility crews went door-to-door Sunday shutting off power and warning those still in some waterlogged homes in western parts of the city that more flooding was possible — not from rain, but from releases of water from overtaxed reservoirs. Thousands of Houston dwellings were under mandatory evacuation orders, though about 300 people were thought to be refusing to leave.People briefly returned Sunday to some homes in the area, which included brick two-story and ranch homes bordering Buffalo Bayou, to try to salvage valuables.More than a week since the storm hit, the 4 feet (1.2 metres ) of water in her parents' home had receded just a foot (3o centimetres ), said Karen Mace. She was trying to retrieve family photos from the one-story ranch her parents built and have lived in for 56 years, which backs up to Buffalo Bayou."It came up fast. They had to get out by canoe," Mace said, adding they thought the home would have to be demolished.Harvey slammed into Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, but brought the worst flooding to Houston and other areas as a tropical storm. The rain totalled nearly 52 inches (1.3 metres ) in some spots, and the storm is blamed for at least 44 deaths.In other storm-ravaged neighbourhoods , people worried about thefts.Police in the southwest Bellaire neighbourhood received reports of scavengers picking through water-damaged possessions and urged those cleaning up to keep anything left outside to dry closer to their homes and separate from what was considered a total loss. In the suburb of Dickinson, one homeowner used orange spray paint on a sheet of dirty plywood to warn: "Looters Will B Shot."Meanwhile, repairs continued on the water treatment plant in Beaumont, about 85 miles (140 kilometres ) from Houston, which failed after the swollen Neches River inundated the main intake system and backup pumps halted. And outside the town of Liberty, about 45 miles (70 kilometres ) from Houston, dozens of people were still cut off by the swollen Trinity River. A Texas National Guard helicopter landed at the local fire department with pallets of drinking water.President Donald Trump has asked Congress for a $7.9 billion down payment toward Harvey relief and recovery efforts. Abbott suggested the cost of recovery could be as much as $180 billion.___Michael Graczyk And Jay Reeves, The Associated Press.
Documents: Utilities were warned before SC nuke plant flop-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Utility companies apparently were warned well in advance about serious problems plaguing a doomed South Carolina nuclear reactor project.An independent analysis of the nuclear plant project advised Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to hire someone to enforce contractor accountability at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, where two new reactors were being built.The utilities in 2014 hired Bechtel Corp., a global engineering, construction and project management company, to do an independent analysis of the project. A summary of the analysis written by Santee Cooper's attorneys, obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, describes recommended changes Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. needed to make to the construction of two new reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, including hiring someone to ensure contractor accountability and holding regular meetings with contractors.State lawmakers probing the project's failure have sought the report, which they hope will shed light on why ratepayers have been forced to fund the now abandoned reactors that are only one-third complete. Gov. Henry McMaster, who has said he's looking for a way to save it, has also requested the report's release.Santee Cooper board chairman Leighton Lord has said the report led the board to call for an independent construction monitor at V.C. Summer, but that notion was rejected by SCANA, which was primarily in charge of building and starting the reactors.Eric Boomhower, a spokesman for SCANA, SCE&G's parent company, told the AP in a statement the utilities had hired Bechtel "to assess challenges to progress on our jointly owned nuclear construction project in anticipation of litigation with the Westinghouse." After receiving the Bechtel report, Boomhower said, SCANA and Santee Cooper "established independent oversight and focused improvement initiatives on the project. Although the project continued to have challenges, those actions did result in improvement."Boomhower also said the utility felt it necessary to keep the full report secret due to ongoing litigation over the plant failure and that "SCE&G intends to use the proceeds of any recovery in the Westinghouse bankruptcy proceedings to mitigate the impact of the abandonment of the new nuclear project on SCE&G's customers," adding that SCANA presumes Santee Cooper would act likewise.The project was already years behind schedule and billions over budget when Westinghouse declared bankruptcy in March, voiding a fixed-price contract negotiated in 2015 to limit costs to $14 billion. Utility executives, who had already jointly spent nearly $10 billion, said they were forced to give up after determining the price tag for completing the project, budgeted at $11 billion in 2008, had soared beyond $20 billion.SCANA officials have said the company heavily guarded the report's release because the utilities hired Bechtel in anticipation of suing Westinghouse, which designed the reactors and was lead contractor on the project.The post-bankruptcy-analysis also concluded both reactors could not be operational until 2024. Utility customers have paid more than $ 2 billion on the failed project through rate hikes since 2009. The companies don't expect to refund anything, and customers could end up paying off that debt over decades.While the utility executives blamed Westinghouse, senators said the utilities have known for years that problems existed yet failed to change course.Last month, Santee Cooper officials testified the project never had a detailed construction schedule, with state regulators approving expansions based on "generic" schedules not specific to the site. Utility executives said they tried unsuccessfully for years to get a full schedule from Westinghouse, which owns the technology for reactors not previously built in the United States, but instead were given six months of plans at a time, which would inevitably have to be rescheduled.State officials have said schedules did exist but were never followed. SCE&G updated their budget and timetable each quarter, giving regulators "no lawful way" to deny a rate hike request, Duke Scott of the Office of Regulatory Staff testified last month.Lonnie Carter, recently retired as Santee Cooper's CEO, told senators his utility first "raised concerns" about the project in 2013, causing the utilities to hire Bechtel for the independent analysis.At least three lawsuits have been filed over the failed project, with plaintiffs accusing the utilities of mismanagement and seeking some sort of compensation for fronting the failed projects for years.___Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/ Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press.
Libyan forces attack Islamic State near former stronghold-[Reuters]-By Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed Elumami-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - East Libyan forces said they had launched air strikes on Islamic State fighters after the militants made incursions south and east of their former coastal stronghold of Sirte.The jihadist group has grown bolder in recent weeks, setting up temporary checkpoints, attacking local forces, and taking over a village mosque to lead prayers during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Libyan officials say.The increased activity has raised concern that Islamic State could regroup around Sirte, from where it was driven out in December by local forces and a U.S. air campaign. Most militants were killed in the nearly seven-month battle, but an unknown number fled into the desert to the south and west.Sirte lies at the center of Libya's Mediterranean coastline, on the dividing line between regions controlled by rival Libyan factions.Forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar said they had carried out air strikes on Sunday against militants in the area of Ain Taqrift, between Sirte and the town of Zillah, 306 km (190 miles) to the south east. The area is close to oil fields previously damaged by Islamic State attacks.Both Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces from the port city of Misrata, which led the campaign in Sirte last year, say they are mounting frequent patrols to monitor Islamic State movements in areas under their control.The LNA and Misratan brigades have been on opposite sides of a conflict that developed after the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.Islamic State exploited the turmoil to establish a foothold in Libya, taking complete control of Sirte in 2015 and using it as a base for hundreds of foreign fighters.-CHECKPOINTS-Both the main loose alliances in Libya have accused each other of allowing Islamic State space to operate in order to advance their own military ends.Misratan forces, which aligned themselves with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, have complained of receiving little support as they try to prevent the jihadists regrouping.Islamic State militants have stepped up their presence in several settlements east of Sirte, said Ibrahim Mlaitan, head of security for Sirte municipality. That included entering a local mosque to preach a sermon last Friday, he said."They set up checkpoints that last just for 10 minutes and then leave. They have been moving around freely in and out of these towns, and in the desert too," Mlaitan said.Eastern military officials denied reports that Islamic State had taken control of one of the villages, Um Qandeel, but a military source acknowledged that the militants had set up checkpoints there during fleeting night visits."The terrorist organization Daesh (Islamic State) from time to time tries to enter the coastal areas from the desert regions and they carry out kidnappings of civilians, and we are conducting surveillance on them," said LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari.(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Roche)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THE TURKEY ATATURK DAM ON THE EUPHRATES CAN BE SHUT AND DRIED UP ALREADY BY TURKEY)
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.(ITS AT THIS TIME I BELIEVE WHEN AMERICA GETS NUKED BY RUSSIA ON THE WAY TO THE MIDEAST)
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(WORLDWIDE WAR)(TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA)(EUPHRATES RIVER CONSISTS OF 760 MILES IN TURKEY,440 MILES IN SYRIA AND 660 MILES IN IRAQ)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,(WORLDWIDE WAR) which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE-2 billion)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
South Korea simulates attack on North's nuke site after test-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Following U.S. warnings to North Korea of a "massive military response," South Korea fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North's main nuclear test site on Monday, a day after North Korea detonated its largest-ever nuclear test explosion.South Korea's Defence Ministry also said Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons, though it was unclear when this might happen.The heated words from the United States and the military manoeuvrs in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea's rapid, as-yet unchecked pursuit of a viable arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles that can strike the United States. The most recent, and perhaps most dramatic, advance came Sunday in an underground test of what leader Kim Jong Un's government claimed was a hydrogen bomb, the North's sixth nuclear test since 2006.The United Nations Security Council held its second emergency meeting about North Korea in a week on Monday, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley saying the North's actions show that Kim is "begging for war," and the time has come for the Security Council to adopt the strongest diplomatic measures."Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," Haley said.In Seoul, Chang Kyung-soo, an official with South Korea's Defence Ministry, told lawmakers on Monday that it was seeing preparations in the North for an ICBM test but didn't provide details about how officials had reached that assessment. Chang also said the yield from the latest nuclear detonation appeared to be about 50 kilotons, which would mark a "significant increase" from North Korea's past nuclear tests.In a series of tweets, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with North Korea, a warning to China, and faulted South Korea for what he called "talk of appeasement."In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, told reporters in Beijing on Monday that China regarded as "unacceptable a situation in which on the one hand we work to resolve this issue peacefully but on the other hand our own interests are subject to sanctions and jeopardized. This is neither objective nor fair."South Korea's military said its live-fire exercise was meant to "strongly warn" North Korea. The drill involved F-15 fighter jets and the country's land-based "Hyunmoo" ballistic missiles firing into the Sea of Japan.The target was set considering the distance to North Korea's test site and the exercise was aimed at practicing precision strikes and cutting off reinforcements, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.Each new North Korean missile and nuclear test gives the country's scientists invaluable information that allows big jumps in capability. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.Both diplomacy and severe sanctions have failed to check the North's decades-long march to nuclear mastery.In Washington, Trump, asked by a reporter if he would attack North Korea, said, "We'll see." No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.In brief remarks after a White House meeting with Trump and other national security officials, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters that America does not seek the "total annihilation" of North Korea, but then added somberly, "We have many options to do so."Mattis said the U.S. will answer any threat from the North with a "massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming."Mattis also said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that Kim should know Washington's commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.The precise strength of North Korea's underground nuclear explosion has yet to be determined. South Korea's weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North's previous five tests.Sunday's detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.North Korea has made a stunning jump in progress in its nuclear and missile programs since Kim rose to power following his father's death in late 2011. The North followed its two tests of Hwasong-14 ICBMs, which, when perfected, could target large parts of the United States, by threatening to launch a salvo of Hwasong-12 intermediate range missiles toward the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam in August.It flew a Hwasong-12 over northern Japan last week, the first such overflight by a missile potentially capable of carrying nuclear weapons, in a launch Kim described as a "meaningful prelude" to containing Guam, the home of major U.S. military facilities, and vowed to launch more ballistic missile tests targeting the Pacific.Ahead of the North's test, photos released by the North Korean government showed Kim talking with his lieutenants as he observed a silver, peanut-shaped device that was purportedly a thermonuclear weapon destined for an ICBM. The images were taken without outside journalists present and could not be independently verified. What appeared to be the nose cone of a missile could also be seen in one photo, and another showed a diagram on the wall behind Kim of a bomb mounted inside a cone.The Arms Control Association in the United States said the explosion appeared to produce a yield in excess of 100 kilotons of TNT equivalent, which it said strongly suggests North Korea tested a high-yield but compact nuclear weapon that could be launched on a missile of intermediate or intercontinental range.Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea's accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decades-long commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.That is why some questioned Trump's jab at South Korea. He tweeted that Seoul is finding that its "talk of appeasement" will not work. The North Koreans, he added, "only understand one thing," implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.Trump also suggested putting more pressure on China, North Korea's patron for many decades and a vital U.S. trading partner, in hopes of persuading Beijing to exert more effective leverage on its neighbour . Trump tweeted that the U.S. is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea." Such a halt would be radical. The U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China, North Korea's main commercial partner.Experts have questioned whether North Korea has gone too far down the nuclear road to continue pushing for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an Obama administration policy goal still embraced by Trump's White House."Denuclearization is not a viable U.S. policy goal," said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security, but neither should the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear power, he said. "We should keep denuclearization as a long-term aspiration, but recognize privately that it's unachievable anytime soon."___Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Catherine Lucey in Washington and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report.Foster Klug And Youkyung Lee, The Associated Press.
U.S. envoy says North Korean leader 'begging for war' as U.N. mulls sanctions-[Reuters]-By Christine Kim and Michelle Nichols-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Monday said countries trading with North Korea were aiding its "dangerous nuclear intentions" as the United Nations Security Council mulled tough new sanctions and the isolated regime showed signs of planning more missile tests.South Korea said it was talking to Washington about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula following the North's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sunday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a telephone call to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea's missiles, South Korea's presidential office said, enabling it to strike North Korea with greater force in the event of a military conflict.At a Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea's Kim Jong Un was "begging for war" and urged the 15-member group to impose the "strongest possible" sanctions to deter him."War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory," Haley said."The United States will look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions," she said.Haley said the United States will circulate a new Security Council resolution on North Korea this week and wants a vote on it next Monday.China, a top trading partner with North Korea, and Russia called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis."China will never allow chaos and war on the (Korean) Peninsula," said Liu Jieyi, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, urging North Korea to stop taking actions that were "wrong" and not in its own interests.Russia said peace in the region was in jeopardy."Sanctions alone will not help solve the issue," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.North Korea has been under U.N. sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Typically, China and Russia only view a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions.Trump had asked to be briefed on all available military options, according to his defense chief.Officials said activity around missile launch sites suggested North Korea planned more missile tests."We have continued to see signs of possibly more ballistic missile launches. We also forecast North Korea could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile," Jang Kyoung-soo, acting deputy minister of national defense policy, told a parliament hearing on Monday.North Korea tested two ICBMs in July that could fly about 10,000 km (6,200 miles), putting many parts of the U.S. mainland within range and prompting a new round of tough international sanctions.-MILITARY EXERCISES-South Korea's air force and army conducted exercises involving long-range air-to-surface and ballistic missiles on Monday following the North's nuclear test on Sunday, its joint chiefs of staff said in a statement.In addition to the drill, South Korea will cooperate with the United States and seek to deploy "strategic assets like aircraft carriers and strategic bombers", Jang said.South Korea's defense ministry also said it would deploy the four remaining launchers of a new U.S. missile defense system after the completion of an environmental assessment by the government.The rollout of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system at a site south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, which is vehemently opposed by neighboring China and Russia, had been delayed since June.At the Security Council, neither Russia nor China mentioned their long-held opposition to THAAD or the prospect of further U.N. sanctions in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test.North Korea said it tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile on Sunday, prompting a warning from U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of a "massive" military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.Trump has previously vowed to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons and said he would unleash "fire and fury" if it threatened U.S. territory.Despite the tough talk, the immediate focus of the international response was on tougher economic sanctions.Diplomats have said the Security Council could now consider banning North Korean textile exports and its national airline, stop supplies of oil to the government and military, prevent North Koreans from working abroad and add top officials to a blacklist to subject them to an asset freeze and travel ban.Asked about Trump's threat to punish countries that trade with North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China has dedicated itself to resolving the North Korean issue via talks, and China's efforts had been recognized."What we absolutely cannot accept is that on the one hand (we are) making arduous efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, and on the other hand (our) interests are being sanctioned or harmed. This is both not objective and not fair," he told a regular briefing.On possible new U.N. sanctions, and whether China would support cutting off oil, Geng said it would depend on the outcome of Security Council discussions.China's state-run Xinhua news agency said in an editorial that North Korea was "playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship" and it should wake up to the fact that such a tactic "can never bring security it pursues".-SKEPTICISM-While South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Monday to work with the United States to pursue stronger sanctions, Russia voiced scepticism.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said sanctions on North Korea had reached the limit of their impact. Any more would be aimed at breaking its economy, so a decision to impose further constraints would become dramatically harder, he told a BRICS summit in China.South Korea says the aim of stronger sanctions is to draw North Korea into dialogue. But, in a series of tweets on Sunday, Trump also appeared to rebuke South Korea for that approach."South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!" Trump said on Twitter.Still, Trump's response was more orderly and less haphazard than he had offered after North Korea's previous hostile actions.His handling of its latest nuclear test reflected a more traditional approach to crisis management, which U.S. officials said illustrated the influence of Mattis and the new White House chief of staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly.Japanese and South Korean stock markets both closed down about 1 percent on Monday, while safe-haven assets including gold and sovereign bonds ticked higher, but trade was cautious. U.S. stock markets were closed for the Labor Day holiday."Assuming the worst on the Korean peninsula has not proven to be a winning trading strategy this year," said Sean Callow, a senior foreign exchange strategist at Westpac Bank."Investors seem reluctant to price in anything more severe than trade sanctions, and the absence of another 'fire and fury' Trump tweet has helped encourage markets to respond warily."South Korea's finance minister vowed to support financial markets if instability showed signs of spreading to the real economy.(Additional reporting by Shin-hyung Lee, Hyunjoo Jin and Cynthia Kim in SEOUL, Steve Holland, David Brunnstrom, Tim Ahmann, David Shepardson and John Walcott in WASHINGTON, John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, Wayne Cole and Swati Pandey in SYDNEY; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Jeff Mason; Editing by Paul Simao and Sandra Maler)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
REVELATION 17:9-13
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-7 YEARS.THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:(7 YEARS) and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Turkey accuses Merkel of racism By Eric Maurice-SEP 4,17-EUOBSERVER
Bled, Slovenia, Today, 19:27-The Turkish government has accused the German chancellor of being "racist" after she called for an end to Turkey's EU accession negotiations.Mainstream parties "are using the same rhetoric as racist parties" in order to win back voters they lost to populist parties, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday (4 September).On Sunday, in a TV debate with her opponent Martin Schulz ahead of the 24 September elections, German chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would speak to other EU leaders to "end" accession talks."The fact is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the EU," she said.Schulz, a former president of the European Parliament, agreed that "we should not allow in a country that is against EU values."Turkey's Cavusoglu noted that "Turkey and Hungary were discussed more than internal issues" during the debate."They should rather focus on their own internal issues," he said.Cavusoglu, who spoke at the Bled Strategic Forum, an event in Slovenia, said EU accession "is still a strategic goal for Turkey"."Turkey has no problem to open any chapter and to discuss and negotiate any technical issue," he added, denouncing "political obstacles" to the process.He said that "nothing has changed in Turkey", despite EU concerns about Turkey's crackdown on opponents of Turkish president Recep Tayip Erdogan after the failed coup in July 2016.Cavusoglu said "the EU didn't support democracy in Turkey" in its response to the coup and this was why the "support of Turkish people for EU membership has declined".Earlier on Monday, a spokesman for Erdogan said "Germany and Europe's attacks" were "ignoring necessary and pressing problems"."We hope the problematic atmosphere that made Turkish-German relations the victim of this narrow political horizon will end," he added.-'Dialogue continues'-The European Commission reacted cautiously to Merkel's remarks."Turkey is a candidate country for the moment," the EU high representative Federica Mogherini said, also in Bled, Slovenia."Dialogue continues, work on negotiations continues," she said."On the future, I would suggest that we look beyond what is said in electoral campaigns, both in Turkey and in the European Union," she added, saying that the EU must work with Turkey, "a key player in a region that is strategically important for us.""Working together is a must when you are neighbours," she said.In Brussels, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said EU support for Turkey was "not unlimited and not unconditional", but he added that the EU should "reflect on these things calmly"."This a decision for member states to take," he said.He reminded press that Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was also critical of Turkey last week.In a speech to EU ambassadors in Brussels Juncker said: "'Turkey is taking giant strides away from Europe" and that Erdogan was making accession "impossible".
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Family unable to retrieve belongings after sink hole wrecks N.S. home-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 3, 2017
FALMOUTH, N.S. — Members of a Nova Scotia family awoke to the sounds of what they believed to be an intruder early Sunday morning, police said — but it turned out the threat was coming from underneath their home.The clamour they heard downstairs turned out not to be a home invasion, said RCMP Cpl. Andrew Joyce, but their two-storey house in Falmouth collapsing into a sink hole."(The officers) found it to be an environment issue rather than a criminal issue," he said.Joyce said fire crews and a hazmat team were called to the scene and the family was safely moved from the home, 70 kilometres from Halifax.Paul Maynard, a deputy fire chief with the Hantsport Fire Department, said the first floor of the house had "virtually collapsed" into the gaping hole, which he estimated to be up to nine metres deep."When we got close enough to look down the hole, we actually saw the kitchen table and dining room chairs were all piled in at the bottom of the hole," Maynard said. "We really, truly don't have a good appreciation of how deep it is."Crews secured the site and disconnected the home's utilities, Maynard said. As additional sink holes opened up on the property, he said the brick face of the house cracked and sagged into the ground.In his 28 years at the fire department, Maynard said he has never seen a sink hole "swallow" a building."There's really no foundation underneath it ... It's kind of just free standing over this massive sink hole," he said. "We really didn't know what was holding it up, to be quite honest."Maynard said the home belongs to a family of four, but only two people were inside the residence during the incident.Firefighters were sent into the home in safety harnesses to retrieve personal belongings like family photos and passports, Maynard said.The family remains in good spirits, he said, but the property is more or less a "write off." Come Monday, he guessed, the building will fully collapse into the hole.Municipal authorities in the district of West Hants said they have been assured the sink hole was an isolated natural event limited to the one property.They say the building is slated to be demolished "as soon as possible" and the structure is too unsafe for the family to retrieve the rest of their belongings.The municipality said experts have been brought in to assess the damage, and it has also ordered a more detailed assessment of the site.The Canadian Press.
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.
Eastern Caribbean battens down as Hurricane Irma approaches-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Workers in the northeast Caribbean cleared drains and pruned trees as authorities urged islanders to prepare for Hurricane Irma, a Category 3 storm that grew stronger Monday and was forecast to begin buffeting the region the following day.Emergency officials warned that Irma could dump up to 10 inches (25 centimetres ) of rain, unleash landslides and dangerous flash floods and generate waves of up to 23 feet (7 metres ) as the storm draws closer.A hurricane warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and St. Barts."We're looking at Irma as a very significant event," Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, said by phone. "I can't recall a tropical cone developing that rapidly into a major hurricane prior to arriving in the central Caribbean."Irma is expected to strengthen in the next couple of days, and its centre is forecast to move near or over the northern Leeward Islands on Tuesday night and early Wednesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.A hurricane watch was in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the British and U.S. Virgin islands and Guadeloupe. A tropical storm watch was issued for Dominica.U.S. residents were urged to monitor the storm's progress in case it turns northward toward Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas."This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of Harvey," Evan Myers, chief operating officer of AccuWeather, said in a statement.In the Caribbean, Antigua and Anguilla shuttered schools on Monday, and government office closures were expected to follow.On the tiny island of Barbuda, hotel manager Andrea Christian closed down the Palm Tree Guest House as Irma approached. She said she was not afraid even though it would be her first time facing a storm of that magnitude."We can't do anything about it," Christian said by phone, adding that she had stocked up on food and water. "We just have to wait it out."The U.S. hurricane centre said Irma had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph) Monday afternoon. The storm was centred about 530 miles (850 kilometres ) east of the Leeward Islands and was moving west-southwest at 14 mph (22 kph).Both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands expect to receive 4 inches to 8 inches (10-20 centimetres ) of rain and winds of 40-50 mph with gusts of up to 60 mph.Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned of flooding and power outages."It's no secret that the infrastructure of the Puerto Rico Power Authority is deteriorated," Rossello said. He activated the National Guard, cancelled classes for Tuesday and declared a half-day of work.Meteorologist Roberto Garcia warned that Puerto Rico could experience hurricane-like conditions in the next 48 hours."Any deviation, which is still possible, could bring even more severe conditions to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands," Garcia said.The U.S. Virgin Islands said schools would reopen on Friday instead of Tuesday.In the Dominican Republic, Public Works Minister Gonzalo Castillo said workers there were also clearing away roadworks and cleaning out sewer drains and that President Danilo Medina would meet with emergency agencies.___Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, contributed to this report.Danica Coto, The Associated Press.
Houston residents mark Labor Day sorting through storm ruins-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
HOUSTON — Some Gulf Coast residents ripped up soggy carpeting, cut out sheet rock from walls marked by the height floodwaters had reached and sorted through destroyed clothes and other belongings on Monday, 10 days after Harvey swept onto land and caused billions of dollars in damage.Houston's mayor insisted that America's fourth-largest city is "open for business," but with areas under water, people not yet in their homes and city services not yet fully restored, the disasters created by Harvey are by no means resolved.Mayor Sylvester Turner said much of the city was hoping to get back on track after Labor Day, a traditional day to honour workers that took on new meaning in Texas, where people were cleaning out their former homes."Anyone who was planning on a conference or a convention or a sporting event or a concert coming to this city, you can still come," he told CBS. "We can do multiple things at the same time."One worry, of further explosions at a damaged chemical plant, eased after officials carried out a controlled burn Sunday evening of highly unstable compounds at the Arkema plant in Crosby. Three trailers had previously caught fire after Harvey's floodwaters knocked out generators.Authorities said Monday it is now safe for residents of a 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometre ) evacuation zone around the Arkema plant to return. They were forced to leave Tuesday.Floodwaters also have inundated at least five toxic waste Superfund sites near Houston and some may be damaged, though Environmental Protection Agency officials have yet to assess the full extent of what occurred.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told CNN the EPA is "working on some of them already," but "they have restraints on their ability to check out some of them just simply because of the water."Turner said Houston's drinking water hadn't been affected by the storm, but told CBS, "We would hope that the EPA would be on the ground now to take a look at those Superfund sites, to make sure that contamination is contained and limited."Other issues across the region: too much water still in houses, but no water to drink.Utility crews went door-to-door Sunday shutting off power and warning those still in some waterlogged homes in western parts of the city that more flooding was possible — not from rain, but from releases of water from overtaxed reservoirs. Thousands of Houston dwellings were under mandatory evacuation orders, though about 300 people were thought to be refusing to leave.People briefly returned Sunday to some homes in the area, which included brick two-story and ranch homes bordering Buffalo Bayou, to try to salvage valuables.More than a week since the storm hit, the 4 feet (1.2 metres ) of water in her parents' home had receded just a foot (3o centimetres ), said Karen Mace. She was trying to retrieve family photos from the one-story ranch her parents built and have lived in for 56 years, which backs up to Buffalo Bayou."It came up fast. They had to get out by canoe," Mace said, adding they thought the home would have to be demolished.Harvey slammed into Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, but brought the worst flooding to Houston and other areas as a tropical storm. The rain totalled nearly 52 inches (1.3 metres ) in some spots, and the storm is blamed for at least 44 deaths.In other storm-ravaged neighbourhoods , people worried about thefts.Police in the southwest Bellaire neighbourhood received reports of scavengers picking through water-damaged possessions and urged those cleaning up to keep anything left outside to dry closer to their homes and separate from what was considered a total loss. In the suburb of Dickinson, one homeowner used orange spray paint on a sheet of dirty plywood to warn: "Looters Will B Shot."Meanwhile, repairs continued on the water treatment plant in Beaumont, about 85 miles (140 kilometres ) from Houston, which failed after the swollen Neches River inundated the main intake system and backup pumps halted. And outside the town of Liberty, about 45 miles (70 kilometres ) from Houston, dozens of people were still cut off by the swollen Trinity River. A Texas National Guard helicopter landed at the local fire department with pallets of drinking water.President Donald Trump has asked Congress for a $7.9 billion down payment toward Harvey relief and recovery efforts. Abbott suggested the cost of recovery could be as much as $180 billion.___Michael Graczyk And Jay Reeves, The Associated Press.
Documents: Utilities were warned before SC nuke plant flop-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Utility companies apparently were warned well in advance about serious problems plaguing a doomed South Carolina nuclear reactor project.An independent analysis of the nuclear plant project advised Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to hire someone to enforce contractor accountability at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, where two new reactors were being built.The utilities in 2014 hired Bechtel Corp., a global engineering, construction and project management company, to do an independent analysis of the project. A summary of the analysis written by Santee Cooper's attorneys, obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, describes recommended changes Santee Cooper and South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. needed to make to the construction of two new reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, including hiring someone to ensure contractor accountability and holding regular meetings with contractors.State lawmakers probing the project's failure have sought the report, which they hope will shed light on why ratepayers have been forced to fund the now abandoned reactors that are only one-third complete. Gov. Henry McMaster, who has said he's looking for a way to save it, has also requested the report's release.Santee Cooper board chairman Leighton Lord has said the report led the board to call for an independent construction monitor at V.C. Summer, but that notion was rejected by SCANA, which was primarily in charge of building and starting the reactors.Eric Boomhower, a spokesman for SCANA, SCE&G's parent company, told the AP in a statement the utilities had hired Bechtel "to assess challenges to progress on our jointly owned nuclear construction project in anticipation of litigation with the Westinghouse." After receiving the Bechtel report, Boomhower said, SCANA and Santee Cooper "established independent oversight and focused improvement initiatives on the project. Although the project continued to have challenges, those actions did result in improvement."Boomhower also said the utility felt it necessary to keep the full report secret due to ongoing litigation over the plant failure and that "SCE&G intends to use the proceeds of any recovery in the Westinghouse bankruptcy proceedings to mitigate the impact of the abandonment of the new nuclear project on SCE&G's customers," adding that SCANA presumes Santee Cooper would act likewise.The project was already years behind schedule and billions over budget when Westinghouse declared bankruptcy in March, voiding a fixed-price contract negotiated in 2015 to limit costs to $14 billion. Utility executives, who had already jointly spent nearly $10 billion, said they were forced to give up after determining the price tag for completing the project, budgeted at $11 billion in 2008, had soared beyond $20 billion.SCANA officials have said the company heavily guarded the report's release because the utilities hired Bechtel in anticipation of suing Westinghouse, which designed the reactors and was lead contractor on the project.The post-bankruptcy-analysis also concluded both reactors could not be operational until 2024. Utility customers have paid more than $ 2 billion on the failed project through rate hikes since 2009. The companies don't expect to refund anything, and customers could end up paying off that debt over decades.While the utility executives blamed Westinghouse, senators said the utilities have known for years that problems existed yet failed to change course.Last month, Santee Cooper officials testified the project never had a detailed construction schedule, with state regulators approving expansions based on "generic" schedules not specific to the site. Utility executives said they tried unsuccessfully for years to get a full schedule from Westinghouse, which owns the technology for reactors not previously built in the United States, but instead were given six months of plans at a time, which would inevitably have to be rescheduled.State officials have said schedules did exist but were never followed. SCE&G updated their budget and timetable each quarter, giving regulators "no lawful way" to deny a rate hike request, Duke Scott of the Office of Regulatory Staff testified last month.Lonnie Carter, recently retired as Santee Cooper's CEO, told senators his utility first "raised concerns" about the project in 2013, causing the utilities to hire Bechtel for the independent analysis.At least three lawsuits have been filed over the failed project, with plaintiffs accusing the utilities of mismanagement and seeking some sort of compensation for fronting the failed projects for years.___Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP. Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/ Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press.
Libyan forces attack Islamic State near former stronghold-[Reuters]-By Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed Elumami-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2017
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - East Libyan forces said they had launched air strikes on Islamic State fighters after the militants made incursions south and east of their former coastal stronghold of Sirte.The jihadist group has grown bolder in recent weeks, setting up temporary checkpoints, attacking local forces, and taking over a village mosque to lead prayers during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Libyan officials say.The increased activity has raised concern that Islamic State could regroup around Sirte, from where it was driven out in December by local forces and a U.S. air campaign. Most militants were killed in the nearly seven-month battle, but an unknown number fled into the desert to the south and west.Sirte lies at the center of Libya's Mediterranean coastline, on the dividing line between regions controlled by rival Libyan factions.Forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar said they had carried out air strikes on Sunday against militants in the area of Ain Taqrift, between Sirte and the town of Zillah, 306 km (190 miles) to the south east. The area is close to oil fields previously damaged by Islamic State attacks.Both Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces from the port city of Misrata, which led the campaign in Sirte last year, say they are mounting frequent patrols to monitor Islamic State movements in areas under their control.The LNA and Misratan brigades have been on opposite sides of a conflict that developed after the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.Islamic State exploited the turmoil to establish a foothold in Libya, taking complete control of Sirte in 2015 and using it as a base for hundreds of foreign fighters.-CHECKPOINTS-Both the main loose alliances in Libya have accused each other of allowing Islamic State space to operate in order to advance their own military ends.Misratan forces, which aligned themselves with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, have complained of receiving little support as they try to prevent the jihadists regrouping.Islamic State militants have stepped up their presence in several settlements east of Sirte, said Ibrahim Mlaitan, head of security for Sirte municipality. That included entering a local mosque to preach a sermon last Friday, he said."They set up checkpoints that last just for 10 minutes and then leave. They have been moving around freely in and out of these towns, and in the desert too," Mlaitan said.Eastern military officials denied reports that Islamic State had taken control of one of the villages, Um Qandeel, but a military source acknowledged that the militants had set up checkpoints there during fleeting night visits."The terrorist organization Daesh (Islamic State) from time to time tries to enter the coastal areas from the desert regions and they carry out kidnappings of civilians, and we are conducting surveillance on them," said LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari.(Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Roche)
