WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE CHARGED IN USA.

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)

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

UN set to vote Friday on slew of measures critical of Israel… and only Israel-World body will not take up a single resolution on any other nation; head of monitor group calls ‘planned assault’ on Jewish state ‘surreal’-By TOI staff    -NOV 18,18

The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote Friday on nine resolutions critical of Israel and none against any other country.The measures, which range from condemnations of Israeli construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank to renewing the mandate of a UN committee probing “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories,” were sponsored by a number of countries that have been scrutinized for their own human rights records, among them Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.Some of the resolutions, such as one reaffirming the mandate of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, were sponsored by European states such as Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.“The UN’s planned assault on Israel with a torrent of one-sided resolutions is surreal,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the UN Watch monitor group.Neuer noted the vote on the resolutions came just days after Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip launched some 460 rockets toward Israel. “The world body now adds insult to injury,” he said.Another resolution set to be voted on was a Syrian-backed measure calling on Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized internationally.Late Thursday, the United States Mission to the UN said it would vote against the resolution, marking the first time the US will do so.“After the Syrian regime has killed half a million of its own people, how can the UN call for more people to be handed over to Assad’s rule? The text is morally galling, and logically absurd,” Neuer said.He also applauded US Ambassador Nikki Haley for declaring she would vote against the measure.The non-binding resolution, which is voted on by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee each year, takes issue with the “illegality of the decision” taken by Israel “to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Golan,” which it says is illegal under international law.“The atrocities the Syrian regime continues to commit prove its lack of fitness to govern anyone,” Haley said in a statement.Israel has reportedly pressed the White House in recent months to recognize the annexation, arguing that the bloody civil war in Syria undergirded Israeli claims that the plateau is critical to maintaining security.In August, Syrian government forces backed by Iran and Russia reached the frontier with the Israeli Golan Heights after capturing the territory from rebels and Islamic State fighters.Though it has sought to avoid direct involvement in the Syrian conflict, Israel has acknowledged carrying out dozens of airstrikes there to stop deliveries of advanced weaponry bound for Iranian proxy Hezbollah.Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon welcomed the US announcement, saying in a statement that “the change in the American voting pattern is another testament to the strong cooperation between the two countries.”“It is time for the world to distinguish between those who stabilize the region and those who sow terror,” he added.While a “no” vote from the US is unlikely to stop the resolution passing, it could be a sign that the Trump administration is considering recognizing Israeli control over the Golan.In September, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that he expects the annexed territory to remain under Israeli control “forever.”“I cannot honestly imagine a situation in which the Golan Heights is not part of Israel forever,” Friedman told the Israel Hayom daily.But during a visit to Israel a month earlier, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said there were no discussions on such recognition.“Obviously we understand the Israeli claim that it has annexed the Golan Heights – we understand their position – but there’s no change in the US position for now,” he told the Reuters news agency in an interview.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange charged in US, prosecutors accidentally reveal-Indictment inadvertently revealed during unrelated court filing but nature of charges remains unclear; lawyer for the publisher says charges a ‘dangerous path for a democracy’-By Agencies and TOI staff-NOV 18,18

WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was behind a massive dump of classified US documents in 2010, has been charged in the United States, WikiLeaks said Thursday.Prosecutors revealed the existence of the sealed indictment inadvertently in a court filing in an unrelated case, WikiLeaks said.The exact nature of the charges against Assange was not immediately known.“SCOOP: US Department of Justice ‘accidentally’ reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks’ publisher Julian Assange in apparent cut-and-paste error in an unrelated case also at the Eastern District of Virginia,” Wikileaks wrote on Twitter.The still unsealed charges against Assange were disclosed by Assistant US Attorney Kellen Dwyer as she made a filing in the unrelated case and urged a judge to keep that filing sealed.Dwyer wrote, “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged,” according to The Washington Post.Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would “need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.”A lawyer for Assange told the Guardian the possible charges were a “dangerous path for a democracy to take”“The news that criminal charges have apparently been filed against Mr. Assange is even more troubling than the haphazard manner in which that information has been revealed,” Pollack wrote in an email to the newspaper.US media were alerted late Thursday to the inadvertent disclosure thanks to a tweet from Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. He is known to follow court filings closely.Assange has always feared extradition to the US where he believes he would face trial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of secret US military and diplomatic documents in 2010, that brought WikiLeaks to prominence.He has sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since seeking asylum in 2012.WikiLeaks is also connected to Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, with the investigation trying to determine whether associates of US President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of the hackers’ plans to leak materials, including emails belonging to former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, who has also said he expects to be indicted, has denied being a conduit for WikiLeaks, which published thousands of emails stolen from Podesta in the weeks before the election.A spokesman for the Justice Department would not confirm to the Guardian newspaper whether Assange has been charged.“The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing,” Joshua Stueve wrote.

Report: PM seeks to sustain government to approve new police, IDF chiefs-Associate tells newspaper that immediate Knesset dissolution would negate Netanyahu’s authority to confirm nominees; Meretz says it will bring bill to disband parliament next week-By TOI staff-NOV 18,18

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to delay the dissolution of the current government by at least another month and a half, in order to allow him to confirm the appointment of the next IDF chief of staff and Israel police chief, an associate of the premier told the Haaretz newspaper on Friday evening.As Netanyahu’s coalition teetered on the brink following the resignation of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Jewish Home’s threat to quit as well if it was not given the defense portfolio, the unnamed confidant explained that should the Knesset be dissolved before the appointments are confirmed in December, the cabinet would lose the authority to approve the critical positions.IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot is to end his tenure on December 31. His designated successor has been named as Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi. Police chief Roni Alsheich leaves December 3, with Public Security Ministry director general Moshe Edri tapped to replace him.Coalition sources also told Haaretz they believed the prime minister still hoped to make changes to election laws in order to lower the electoral threshold, though he made no mention of the matter during his conversations Friday with party leaders.Meanwhile the left-wing Meretz party said it would bring a bill to the Knesset floor next week to immediately disband the Knesset.“We need to dissolve the government and go to elections as soon as possible. The public has had enough of laws on loyalty and nationhood, incitement, antagonism and warmongering,” Meretz head Tamar Zandberg said. “Good riddance to a government that can offer nothing more.”Earlier, senior sources in Jewish Home told The Times of Israel the party would leave the coalition, bringing down the government and forcing new elections. The decision came after Netanyahu rejected Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett’s demand to be made defense minister in a Friday afternoon meeting between the two.The sources said a date for elections had not been agreed upon. Elections are formally set for November 2019, but it is now expected they will be held between March and May, with Netanyahu pushing for a later date and other parties seeking an earlier one.Netanyahu said in a statement, however, that he would continue to try to preserve the right-wing coalition. He also made a series of telephone calls to coalition chiefs telling them there was no reason to dismantle the coalition at this stage.Netanyahu “stressed the importance of making every effort to preserve the right-wing government and not to repeat the historical mistake of 1992 when the right-wing government was overthrown, the left came into power and brought the Oslo disaster to the State of Israel,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.Netanyahu also told Bennett that “the rumors that a decision to go to elections had been made were incorrect,” the statement said.According to a Jewish Home source, however, “It became clear that in light of the resolute position of Kulanu chairman, Minister Kahlon [who has called for early elections], there was a need to go to elections as soon as possible with no possibility of continuing the current government.”“On Sunday, the date of the elections will be coordinated between the heads of the coalition parties.”Bennett said Thursday he had asked Netanyahu for the portfolio after Avigdor Liberman resigned the post on Wednesday. The party said this was an “ultimatum” for it to stay in the government.By pulling his Yisrael Beytenu party out of the coalition, Liberman left the government with a narrow majority, with just 61 out of the 120 Knesset seats. The religious nationalist Jewish Home party then quickly declared it would topple the government if its leader Bennett is not given the defense portfolio.With no Jewish Home, the coalition would go down from 61 seats to just 53. The government must have the backing of at least half of the 120 seat Knesset to survive no-confidence motions.While in theory Netanyahu could bring another party into the coalition instead of Jewish Home, all opposition parties have declared their intention to run against him and the possibility of them joining is highly unlikely.Bennett has long criticized the Netanyahu government’s reluctance to respond more forcefully to Gaza rocket attacks, and has advocated ground incursions into the Gaza Strip. Liberman, quitting the government, said he was doing so to protest Israel’s acceptance of an informal truce Tuesday that put a halt to the latest Hamas-Israel escalation in which Hamas fired over 400 rockets into Israel.Netanyahu said in his statement after the meeting that he had told Bennett of his intention to keep the defense portfolio “in the light of the critical challenges currently facing the State of Israel.”The prime minister appeared to present the possibility of keeping his government together, saying in his statement that he would meet with coalition leaders early next week and hoped they would “act responsibly and not to make a historic mistake in overthrowing a right-wing government.”He is reportedly set to meet separately with Kulanu’s Moshe Kahlon on Sunday.But the Jewish Home sources said it was too late and that the rejection of the party’s demand to be given the defense portfolio meant elections were inevitable.Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report.

Three days after Jerusalem mayor vote, Berkovitch calls Lion to concede-Lion was declared winner on Wednesday night after all the final 9,000 provisional ballots were counted, putting him 3,765 votes ahead-By TOI staff and Marissa Newman-NOV 18,18

Three days after the Jerusalem mayoral election, Ofer Berkovitch called Moshe Lion to concede and set up a meeting between the two after a tightly fought race.During the call Berkovitch congratulated Lion and told him that he wants to meet to try and bridge any gaps between them, Army Radio reported. The leader of the Hitorerut movement had been considering a legal challenge. It was not immediately clear if he planned to continue with it.Lion’s already-declared victory in the race became official Wednesday night as the final votes were counted, with him coasting past rival Berkovitch. When the count was finalized, Lion was confirmed as the winner by 3,765 votes, with 50.85% of the votes cast (112,744) to Berkovitch’s 49.15% (108,979).Lion had been 6,500 ballots ahead of Berkovitch before the counting of the final 9,000 provisional ballots began around 8 p.m.With some 3,000 of those 9,000 votes tallied and updated by the municipality, Lion quickly sailed beyond that mark to defeat Berkovitch with 51% of the overall vote to Berkovitch’s 48%. The final outcome must still be confirmed by the Interior Ministry.Though victory via the final votes was a long shot for Berkovitch, who would have needed to garner some 7,700 of the 9,000 to defeat Lion.The provisional ballots included 3,800 submitted by Israeli soldiers, according to a ministry spokesperson. The remainder were cast in prisons, hospitals and by the disabled. Lion needed less than 15% of these ballots to be confirmed winner.Lion did not wait for the final tally to declare victory early Wednesday morning, after the runoff election. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who had backed Lion, also declared him the winner.“I intend to be the mayor of all of Jerusalem’s residents, whoever they may be. Those that voted for me, and those that didn’t,” said Lion in a victory speech around 2:15 a.m. at a Jerusalem hall packed with supporters.At 1:40 a.m., Berkovitch told his supporters that “the results don’t look good,” but did not concede. “Jerusalem is the winner,” he said.He later said his party’s legal team was evaluating various “irregularities” at the polling stations.“We’ll work on it tonight and tomorrow morning,” he said, pointing to an unnamed “force that faced us using violent methods and some means that were borderline illegal” as the culprits.“We won’t give up on victory in this round as well,” he said.Lion enjoyed the backing of both Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and ultra-Orthodox faction Shas, and part of United Torah Judaism, leading to charges of backroom dealing on the national level to secure him the position. Berkovitch, meanwhile, has led the vanguard of the secularist flank of the city with his Hitorerut party.At midnight the 35-year-old secular activist-turned city council member found himself way ahead of Lion, widening his lead by as much as 10,000 votes with 50% of the ballots counted. But Berkovitch’s advantage was gradually whittled down, with Lion gliding ahead by 6,000 votes as the tally topped the 90% mark. He then held 51% (109,400 votes) to Berkovitch’s 48% (102,900), according to initial results.Polls closed on Tuesday night at 10 p.m with turnout rates in the capital reported at 31.5%.The runoff between the two contenders was held after none of the five candidates in the first round — Lion, Berkovitch, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin, Deputy Mayor Yossi Deitch and Avi Salman — successfully won 40% of the vote on October 30. The turnout in the first round stood at 39%.

WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)

EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18

WORLD TERRORISM

OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

Islamic State group suspect arrested, charged in Germany-The unnamed man is accused of joining IS in Syria in August 2013 and fighting in several battles through mid-2015, commanding a unit of fighters-By AP-TOI-NOV 18,18

BERLIN — German prosecutors said Friday they’ve charged a 32-year-old Syrian man with membership in a terrorist organization for alleged involvement with the extremist Islamic State group.Prosecutors said in a statement that Mohamed A. G., whose last name wasn’t given in line with privacy laws, was arrested Thursday in the western city of Kassel.He’s accused of joining IS in Syria in August 2013 and fighting in several battles through mid-2015, commanding a unit of fighters.It was not clear when he entered Germany nor how he was identified by authorities as a suspect. Prosecutors were not available for questions.Hundreds of thousands of Syrians entered Germany in 2015-16 as asylum seekers and in several other cases, migrants have identified IS suspects in their midst to authorities.

Thousands stream to border for mass rallies against Israel-Palestinian reported killed in Gaza border clashes-Another 14 said wounded in weekly ‘March of Return’ protests, which come just days after major flareup between Israel and Hamas-By TOI staff-NOV 19,18

At least one Palestinian was killed and more than a dozen injured during clashes on the Gaza border Friday with Israeli troops, Palestinian media reports said. The protests came despite IDF warnings that there would be “zero tolerance” for violence.There was no immediate confirmation of the death from the Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip, which said 14 people had been brought to hospitals with injuries.Some 8,000 Palestinians were gathering at the border, with thousands more heading to the protests, as of Friday afternoon. Most people were staying away from the border fence, although some were burning tires and throwing rocks at soldiers who responded with tear gas and occasional live fire.Palestinian organizers of the weekly clashes had on Thursday urged Gazans to demonstrate Friday “to thank the resistance” for battling Israel.Since March, Palestinians have been holding the weekly “March of Return” protests on the border, which Israel has accused Gaza’s Hamas rulers of using to carry out attacks on troops and attempt to breach the security fence.On Thursday, in the wake of a massive flareup in violence that brought the region to the brink of another war, Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians threatened Gazans that Israel’s “patience has run out and we will respond severely” to those who take part in clashes along the border.In an Arabic-language video, posted to his Facebook page, Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun — known formally as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — told Palestinians that Israel was adopting a zero-tolerance policy toward border violence.A ceasefire, which was announced by Hamas on Tuesday evening but not officially confirmed by Israel, appeared to largely be holding as of Thursday night. Nevertheless, the Israeli military kept reinforcements in place and ordered troops to remain on high alert.During the regular Friday protests the rioters have been burning tires, hurling rocks at troops and detonation of explosives. The clashes have also included the launching of kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices toward Israel, burning thousands of acres of forest and farmland.This week’s clashes come just days after Israel engaged in the largest flareup with Hamas and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza since the 2014 war.Over 460 rockets and mortar shells were fired at southern Israel over on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces, more than twice the rate at which they were launched during the 2014 conflict.The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted over 100 of them. Most of the rest landed in open fields, but dozens landed inside Israeli cities and towns, killing one person, injuring dozens and causing significant property damage.In response, the Israeli military said it targeted approximately 160 sites in the Gaza Strip connected to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, including four facilities that the army designated as “key strategic assets.”The fighting ended on Tuesday after a Hamas-announced ceasefire took effect, though this was not officially confirmed by Israel.The decision to halt attacks on Gaza was criticized by many in Israel and was cited by Avidgor Liberman in his decision Wednesday to resign as defense minister, a move expected to bring early elections for the Knesset.

Russian army: Nearly 270,000 Syrian refugees returned home-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-November 18, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military said nearly 270,000 Syrian refugees have returned home in recent months, a fraction of the estimated 5.6 million Syrians who have fanned out across the world fleeing the seven-year conflict.Moscow and the government in Damascus have been encouraging refugees to repatriate, arguing that the violence has subsided. Russia launched military operations to help Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2015, changing the tide of the war in his favor.Western governments have, however, argued that it's too early to encourage return. Rights groups and the U.N. fear refugees would face persecution returning to government-controlled areas in the absence of a comprehensive political agreement.Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev of the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters Friday that nearly 6,000 people have returned to Syria in the last week alone, according to data collected by Russia.He said they are seeing large waves of refugees returning home.The conflict has caused nearly half of Syria's population to be displaced, with an estimated 6 million internally displaced and 5.6 million fleeing to neighboring countries and Europe, and registering with the United Nations Refugee Agency.Russia has negotiated local cease-fires that have greatly reduced the fighting, but the causes of the conflict have not been addressed. The Syrian government has regained control of nearly 60 percent of Syrian territory. But armed opposition, some backed by Turkey, and Islamic State militants remain holed up in areas in the north and south of the country.The violence has not completely stopped.On Friday, the U.N. Children agency UNICEF said the first nine months of 2018 saw the highest number of children killed since the conflict began in 2011, putting it at 870 till September."These are only verified cases, with actual numbers likely to be much higher," UNICEF said in a statement Friday.The agency said it is alarmed by recent reports of the killing of up to 30 children in the last IS-held pocket in eastern Syria where the U.S-led coalition and its local allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces, have been waging an offensive for over two months.UNICEF didn't say how the children were killed, but reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights — the Britain-based group monitoring the war — said more than 30 children were killed last weekend in coalition airstrikes on Shafaa village held by the extremists. The coalition says it checks reports of civilian casualties, describing its airstrikes mostly as targeting IS installations or posts.

U.S. mail bomb suspect pleads not guilty to all charges-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-November 17, 2018

(Reuters) - The man charged with mailing bombs to prominent Democrats and other critics of U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to all 30 charges against him in a federal court in New York.If convicted, Cesar Sayoc faces a sentence of life in prison. He had previously faced five counts carrying a maximum prison sentence of 48 years.Judge Jed Rakoff set Sayoc's trial date for July 15, 2019.Prosecutors said they expected the government's case would take three weeks and would include experts in forensics, explosive devices and the chemistry of the explosives in those devices.Sayoc, a 56-year-old former stripper and pizza delivery driver who lived in a white van festooned with right-wing political images supporting Trump and attacking his critics, was arrested in Florida on Oct. 26 following an intense manhunt. He is being held without bail.A federal indictment filed earlier this month accused Sayoc of sending improvised explosive devices to five people in New York: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016 presidential election; billionaire investor and Democratic donor George Soros; former Central Intelligence Agency directors John Brennan and James Clapper; and actor Robert De Niro.Authorities had previously linked Sayoc to more than a dozen mail bombs around the country. Other targets included former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Democratic U.S. Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California.(Reporting By Jonathan Allen; Writing by Nick Carey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)

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.

HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22  The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23  And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Tally of missing in California's deadliest blaze surpasses 600-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Terray Sylvester-November 17, 2018

PARADISE, Calif. (Reuters) - A search for victims of a catastrophic blaze that reduced a northern California town to ashes intensified on Thursday, as authorities expanded to 630 the number of those reported missing in the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history.At least 63 people have been confirmed dead in the Camp Fire, which erupted a week ago in the drought-parched Sierra foothills 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco and now ranks as one of the most lethal single U.S. wildfires since the turn of the last century.Authorities attributed the high death toll in part to the staggering speed with which the wind-driven flames, fueled by desiccated scrub and trees, raced with little warning through Paradise, a town of 27,000.Nearly 12,000 homes and buildings, including most of the town, were incinerated last Thursday night hours after the blaze erupted, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has said.What was left was a ghostly, smoky expanse of empty lots covered in ash and strewn with twisted wreckage and debris.Thousands of additional structures were still threatened by the blaze, and as many as 50,000 people were under evacuation orders at the height of the blaze. An army of firefighters, many from distant states, labored to contain and suppress the flames.The revised official roster of 630 individuals whose whereabouts and fate remained unknown is more than double the 297 listed earlier in the day by the Butte County Sheriff's Office.Sheriff Kory Honea said nearly 300 people initially reported as unaccounted for had been found alive. He said the list of missing https://bit.ly/2BaiYxy would keep fluctuating with names being added and others removed, either because they turn up safe or are identified among the dead.The higher confirmed death toll, and rising number of those unaccounted for, were revealed at an evening news briefing by Honea, who said the remains of seven more Camp Fire victims had been located since Wednesday's tally of 56.-DNA SAMPLES-The sheriff has asked relatives of the missing to submit DNA samples to hasten identification of the dead. But he acknowledged some of those unaccounted for may never be conclusively found.The Butte County disaster coincided with a flurry of smaller blazes in Southern California, including the Woolsey Fire, which has been linked with three fatalities and destroyed at least 500 structures in the mountains and foothills near the Malibu coast west of Los Angeles.The latest blazes have capped a pair of calamitous wildfire seasons in California that scientists largely attribute to prolonged drought they say is symptomatic of climate change.The cause of the fires are under investigation. But two electric utilities have said they sustained equipment problems close to the origins of the blazes around the time they were reported.The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump, who has been criticized as having politicized the fires by casting blame on forest mismanagement, plans to visit the fire zones on Saturday to meet displaced residents.Cal Fire said that 40 percent of the Camp Fire's perimeter had been contained, up from 35 percent, even as the blaze footprint grew 2,000 acres to 141,000 acres (57,000 hectares). Containment of the Woolsey fire grew to 57 percent.But smoke and soot spread far and wide. Public schools in Sacramento and districts 90 miles (145 km) to the south, and as far away as San Francisco and Oakland, said Friday's classes would be canceled as the Camp Fire worsened air quality.TENT CITY-Those who survived the flames but lost homes were moving in temporarily with friends or relatives or bunking down in American Red Cross shelters.At a shelter set in a church in nearby Oroville, a bulletin board was plastered with dozens of photos of missing people, along with messages and phone numbers. Church officials posted lists of names they received in phone calls from people searching for friends and family. Evacuees are asked to check the boards to see if their names appear.Many others found haven at an encampment that sprang up in the parking lot outside a still-open Walmart store in Paradise, where dozens of evacuees pitched tents or slept in their cars. Part of the lot was roped off as a distribution center for clothes, food and coffee. Portable toilets were also brought in.Evacuees milling in the parking lot faced morning temperatures that dropped to just above freezing and many wore breathing masks for protection from lingering smoke.Nicole and Eric Montague, along with their 16-year-old daughter, showed up for free food but have been living with extended family in the neighboring city of Chico, in a one-bedroom apartment filled with 15 people and nine dogs.They recounted being stunned at how swiftly the fire roared through Paradise the first night."We didn’t have any time to react," Eric said. "The news didn’t even know the fire was coming. It just happened so quick."Nicole said she fled once her home's mailbox caught fire and neighbors' propane tanks began exploding. Facing walls of flames and traffic gridlock, her evacuation with her daughter was so harrowing that she called her husband to say farewell."I called him and said, 'Honey, I'm not going to make it. I love you,'" Nicole said.(Reporting by Terray Sylvester; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Nick Carey, Bill Trott and Steve Gorman; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Clarence Fernandez)

Families anxious to learn fate of hundreds missing in California fire-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-By Terray Sylvester-November 18, 2018

PARADISE, Calif. (Reuters) - Family members and survivors of the deadliest wildfire in California history sought news on Friday on the missing 630 people - 10 times the number of confirmed dead - from the fast-moving blaze that reduced much of the town of Paradise to ash and charred rubble.With nearly 12,000 homes and buildings burned, refugees from the fire have taken up residence in tents or their vehicles and filled evacuation centers to overflowing. Search teams, meanwhile, are combing through burned-out areas looking for bodies - or anything else that might carry human DNA for identification purposes.The number of people unaccounted for after the fire has fluctuated all week and officials have warned those numbers are almost certain to change day by day. In some cases, those unaccounted for have likely survived but not yet notified family or authorities that they are alive, or relatives may not yet have reported people missing. Poor cellphone coverage after the fire has also made communications difficult.Last weekend, the Butte County Sheriff's office initially put the total of missing people at 228, many of whom have now been accounted for. But as fresh reports from relatives caused the list to rise to 130 from 103 late Wednesday, 297 by Thursday morning and 630 as of Thursday night.On Friday morning the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, said the death toll in the fire held at 63 overnight. The blaze, named the Camp Fire, was now 45 percent contained, up from 35 percent on Thursday, even though it had grown slightly to 142,000 acres (57,000 hectares).The fire - which roared through Paradise, a town of 27,000 people in the Sierra foothills 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco, on Nov. 8 - is among the deadliest to have hit the United States over the last century.Authorities attribute the death toll partly to the speed with which flames raced through the town, driven by wind and fueled by desiccated scrub and trees.Weather conditions now are helping the firefighting effort, Nick Pimlott, a Cal Fire engineer, told KRCR TV. He said the winds had died down, allowing crews around Lake Oroville to the southeast of Paradise to construct fresh lines to contain the fire.Many on the missing list are over the age of 65. Local officials and realtors have long sold Paradise as an ideal place to retire.Brandon DuVall of Seattle said he last communicated with his retired father, Robert DuVall, in July after his father had bought a new pickup and camper. He received a call earlier this week that his father's remains might have been found and now will go to California to provide a DNA sample.Relatives of retired U.S. Navy veteran David Marbury, 66, are waiting to hear from him. No one has managed to speak with him since the wildfire began, and relatives' phone calls have gone directly to his voicemail.On Thursday, Marbury’s landlord confirmed to relatives that his duplex in Paradise had burned down. Sheriff’s officials told them his car was still in the garage."I really hope he’s still alive and we’re going to be able to see him," Marbury’s niece Sadia Quint, 30, told Reuters by phone. "We just hope that he’s still with us."-'WHY AM I HERE?'-Some in Paradise were experiencing survivors' guilt. "You're like, 'Why am I here?'" Sam Walker, a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Paradise, told WBUR radio. "'Why is my family all here? Why are our churches still standing?' I don't know. My house is gone, like so many others.”Thousands of additional structures remain threatened as firefighters, many from distant states, try to contain and suppress the flames.There have been other smaller blazes in Southern California, including the Woolsey Fire, which is linked to three fatalities and has destroyed at least 500 structures near the Malibu coast west of Los Angeles. It was 57 percent contained.Scientists say two seasons of devastating wildfires in California are ascribable to drought that is symptomatic of climate change.Two electric utilities say they sustained equipment problems close to the origins of the blazes around the time they were reported.Republican U.S. President Donald Trump is due to visit the fire zones on Saturday to meet displaced residents. Critics say Trump politicized the fires by blaming them, without supporting evidence, on bad forest mismanagement by California, a largely Democratic state. Trump had threatened to withhold federal assistance.Smoke from the Camp Fire has spread far and wide. Public schools in Sacramento 90 miles (145 km) to the south, and as far away as San Francisco and Oakland, canceled classes for Friday due to poor air quality.Many of those who survived the flames but lost homes stayed with friends or relatives or at American Red Cross shelters.Some of Paradise's older residents who had lost their homes were concerned about where they would live."I'm just very hopeful I can work something out for the future," Norris Godsey, 82, told the San Francisco Chronicle at a church evacuation center in Chico. "If that’s not possible, I don’t know what I’ll do."(Reporting by Terray Sylvester; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Jonathan Allen in New York; Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Writing by Nick Carey and Bill Trott; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Steve Orlofsky and Grant McCool)

NASA accepts delivery of European powerhouse for moonship-[Associated Press]-YAHOONEWS-MARCIA DUNN-YAHOONEWS-November 18, 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has accepted delivery of a key European part needed to power the world's next-generation moonship.U.S. and European leaders gathered at Kennedy Space Center on Friday to mark the occasion.The newly arrived powerhouse, or service module, will propel NASA's Orion capsule to the moon during a test flight without passengers planned for 2020. A mega rocket under development by NASA, known as SLS for Space Launch System, will launch the combo.The European component "allows us to take people farther into space than we've ever gone before, so it is a really big event for all of the Orion program," said NASA's Orion program manager Mark Kirasich.Orion and the attached service module are meant to fly near the moon, but not land. Future missions will carry astronauts, with the goal of building an outpost just beyond the moon that could enable lunar landings and Mars expeditions.The European Space Agency's director general, Jan Worner, stressed to the crowd, "We will not go back to the moon, we will go forward to the moon." That's because it will be in "a totally different way" involving cooperation rather than competition, as was the case during NASA's Apollo moon-landing program of the 1960s and 1970s.On its only spaceflight to date, the Orion capsule soared more than 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) above Earth in 2014. The second, considerably more distant demo will come in 2020 with the Orion and service module; that will mark the SLS' launch debut. This mission has been repeatedly delayed.___The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

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 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

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.

JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

ISAIAH 33:8
8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

GENESIS 25:20-26
20  And Isaac was forty years old (A BIBLE GENERATION NUMBER=1967 + 40=2007+) when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.
21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22  And the children (2 NATIONS IN HER-ISRAEL-ARABS) struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;(ISRAEL AND THE ARABS) and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;(ISRAEL STRONGER THAN ARABS) and the elder shall serve the younger.(LITERALLY ISRAEL THE YOUNGER RULES (ISSAC)(JACOB-LATER NAME CHANGED TO ISRAEL) OVER THE OLDER ARABS (ISHMAEL)(ESAU)
24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.(THE OLDER AN ARAB)
26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:(THE YOUNGER-ISRAELI) and Isaac was threescore (60) years old when she bare them.(1967 + 60=2027)(COULD BE THE LAST GENERATION WHEN JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED AMOUNG THE 2 TWINS)(THE 2 TWINS WANT JERUSALEM-THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM TODAY)(AND WHOS IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM TODAY-THE YOUNGER ISSAC-JACOB-ISRAEL)(AND WHO WANTS JERUSALEM DIVIDED-THE OLDER,ESAU-ISHMAEL (THE ARABS)

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

France, Germany 'jumping the gun' on EU army: Dutch PM-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-November 18, 2018

The Hague (AFP) - France and Germany are jumping the gun with calls for a European army, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday, asserting that the continent's safety could be guaranteed only through NATO."The idea of a European army is going way too far for the Netherlands," Rutte said at his weekly post-cabinet press conference."France and Germany are really jumping the gun. As far as the Netherlands is concerned, NATO remains the cornerstone of our defence policy," he told journalists.French President Emmanuel Macron sparked controversy last week with his proposal for a "European army" to "protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States".He said he wanted to reduce Europe's dependence on the US and US weapons for its own security.Macron's call reflected a desire among several European countries to more autonomously handle their own collective defence, after US President Donald Trump's criticised Europe for what he sees as inadequate contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation defence alliance.Trump called Macron's idea "very insulting", tweeting that Europe should "first pay its fair share of NATO, which the US subsidises greatly".German Chancellor Angela Merkel has seconded Macron's proposal.During a European parliament session, she emphasised the need for Europe to bolster its self-defence capabilities, and said that a European army could run parallel to NATO."Europe must take our fate into our own hands if we want to protect our community," she said.But Rutte insisted NATO remained the primary guardian of Europe's safety."As far as I am concerned, it is an illusion to think that the European Union without NATO can guarantee her safety," Rutte said."NATO, and the United States within the organsation, remains a crucial partner for peace and security in Europe and we will continue to point that out to our partners in our discussions," he said.

Macron and Merkel unite in struggle for Europe-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-Valérie LEROUX-YAHOONEWS-November 18, 2018

Paris (AFP) - Beleaguered at home, belittled abroad, Emmanuel Macron of France and Germany's Angela Merkel will use a Berlin meeting on Sunday to bolster their alliance as champions of a united Europe fraught with resurgent nationalism.After weeks of stalemate on issues such as eurozone reforms and how to get internet giants to pay more tax, the French president and German chancellor have recently gone out of their way to demonstrate unity and common purpose.Macron gave Merkel pride of place last weekend during commemorations marking the end of World War I where he spoke out against nationalism -- a message he is likely to hammer home again Sunday when addressing Germany's parliament as part of ceremonies to commemorate victims of war.French presidential aides said Macron will also renew his call for a European army to reduce the EU's military dependence on the United States, despite being taken to task by US President Donald Trump who termed the proposal "very insulting".In a series of tweets after returning home from the armistice commemorations in Paris the US president mocked Macron, saying that without US military intervention in World War II the French would today be speaking German.His tweets, in which he also sneered at Macron's low poll ratings at home, coincided with a speech by Merkel at the European Parliament, in which she too called for a European army.Macron and Merkel are displaying "the will to speak with one voice", said Helene Miard-Delacroix, a Germany expert at the Paris-Sorbonne University."They share a common interest in bolstering one another. Alone President Macron cannot rally the Europeans, and neither can the politically-weakened chancellor act alone", she said.Strongly backing Macron on an issue such as closer European defence integration "is a way for her to say 'I'm still here, I'm in control'", Miard-Delacroix said.Once dubbed the world's most powerful woman, Merkel has seen her party hemorrhage votes to the far-right AfD party in recent elections.Last month, she announced she would step down as chancellor when her current term expires in 2021.But by also renouncing, as of December, the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) she has opened herself up to a possible party coup which could see her deposed as government leader before the hour of her choosing.Macron, whose ratings have plummeted in recent months, is also facing increasing criticism at home, notably over taxation, just as he seeks to bolster his European credentials in the run-up to May's European parliamentary elections.Merkel's support is "of great service to Emmanuel Macron" in a European Union showing growing hostility to its previously-held common values, former prime minister Dominique de Villepin told France Inter radio this week.- 'New inspiration' -Germany's parliamentary speaker and veteran CDU heavyweight, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said on a visit Wednesday to Paris that boosting Franco-German cooperation would help "give new inspiration to Europe".The two countries have agreed to set up a new joint parliamentary assembly, consisting of about 50 MPs from each side, which would meet at least twice a year.But deeper issues remain unresolved, with Germany notably suspicious of Macron's rushed bid to reform the eurozone, including giving it a common budget."There's questioning of Emmanuel Macron in Germany because he wants to go very fast in dealing with European issues when in fact time is needed," said Hans Stark, an expert at the French Institute of International Relations.And Merkel is treading a thin line. "She can't back French projects 100 percent, but doesn't want to speak out against them either," he added.Merkel "has very clearly shown how closely she shares Macron's views" on Europe, but "it's not just statements that count but how they are implemented," a French presidential aide said for his part.Both leaders remain determined however to stand fast in the face of rising nationalism in eastern Europe and the march of populism in countries such as Italy, one of Europe's founding members.Addressing a peace forum in Paris last weekend Merkel warned against isolationism.Remarking that it "wasn't the right solution more than 100 years ago," she asked: "How can it be the right solution today?"