Showing posts with label SYRIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SYRIA. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

CHAUVIN GUILTY ON ALL 3 COUNTS-ALSY CHINA JOE WARNED GET READY FOR NUKE WARS

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)

 

 DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN

REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).

THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 143,586,768 DEAD 3,058,550 AS OF WED APR 21,21

DR ZELENKO ON COVID-19 RECOVERY-TAMAR YONAH
https://soundcloud.com/israel-news-talk-radio/while-cautious-im-not-so-afraid-of-the-coronavirus-anymore-the-tamar-yonah-show
DR VLADMIR ZE'EV ZELENKOS MIXTURE FOR RECOVERY OF COVID-19
https://www.vladimirzelenkomd.com/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TaRDwXMhQHSMsgrs9TFBclHjPHerXMuB87DUXmcAvwg/editReuters

Warm waters draw endangered sharks to Israel’s Mediterranean shallows-Sandbar and dusky sharks gather near site where Hadera power plant’s hot water outlet gushes into the sea-By AFP-20 April 2021, 11:28 pm

HADERA — Dozens of sharks gathered Tuesday in warm waters of the Mediterranean near an Israeli power plant, drawing sightseers in what has become an annual occurrence.The sharks’ fins sliced through the swallow waters just meters away from bathers eager to take photos of them near the city of Hadera.Sandbar and dusky sharks, which are known to frequent the waters, can grow up to three meters (10 feet) in length.The sharks gather each year near where the power plant’s hot water outlet gushes into the Mediterranean Sea.The Israel Nature and Parks Authority warned both amateur and professional divers against swimming with the creatures.“The interaction with sharks is neither predictable or controllable, and in recent days there has also been a change in the sharks’ behavior,” the authority wrote.An aerial view of people using their phones and cameras to film a shark swimming past in the shallow Mediterranean Sea water off the Israeli coastal town of Hadera, April 20, 2021. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)The sharks are endangered and it is illegal to harm, feed or harass them, the authority added.Most of those in the waters off Hadera on Tuesday were dusky sharks, though some were the slightly smaller sandbar sharks, said Aviad Scheinin, an expert on apex predators at the University of Haifa.In the Mediterranean, the sandbars are endangered and there is not enough data on the dusky sharks to determine their status, he told AFP.The mostly female dusky sharks come in late November and leave in early May, Scheinin said.“We think it might be something to do with the reproductive cycle,” he said.The mostly male sandbar sharks arrive in January, although this season researchers found one female among some 20 males, he said.“We’re not sure why they are coming. It’s an open question,” he said of the sandbar sharks.

13 Thou shalt not kill.(Murder)(THAT INCLUDES ABORTION)

MATTHEW 18:6
6  But whoso shall offend (HURT) one of these little ones (CHILDREN) which believe in me,(JESUS) it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY FOLKS)

EXODUS 21:12
12 He that smiteth (MURDER)a man,(OR BABY) so that he die, shall be surely put to death.(THATS THE DEATH PENALTY PEOPLE)

REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)

WELL THE BLACK LIVES MATTER DRUG DEALIN-GANG BANGIN CHAMPIONS OF THE DEMOLIBNUTS. GOT A WIN OVER THE SO CALLED WHITE PRIVILAGE POLICE OFFICER CHAUVIN. WHO IS NOW CONVICTED OF 1 2ND DEGREE MURDER CHARGE AND 2 3RD DEGREE MURDER CHARGES. HE WILL PROBABLY GET AT LEAST 40 YEARS I BELIEVE. AND OF COURSE HARRIS AND SLEEPY ALSY CHINA JOE ONLY ABOUT 5 MINITES AFTER THE VIRDICT WAS GIVIN AT ABOUT 5.10PM. WAS UP THERE QUICK PROPAGANDIZING THE BLACK WIN OVER THE EVIL WHITES.LIKE TRUE DEMOLIBNUTS.  

Judge in Chauvin Trial Blasts Maxine Waters For Her Threatening Comments to Jurors, “Abhorrent” and “Disrespectful” (VIDEO)-By Cristina Laila-Published April 19, 2021 at 5:25pm

Judge Peter Cahill blasted Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters on Monday for her threatening comments to jurors and inciting violence.Maxine Waters flew to Minnesota Saturday to stir up hate on the streets.The verdict on the George Floyd case is expected this week and Minnesota authorities are bracing for massive violence once again.Waters urged violent leftists to “get more confrontational” with authorities.The Minnesota National Guard was fired at in a drive by shooting in north Minneapolis early Sunday morning — just hours after Mad Maxine incited violence.The judge went off on Maxine Waters and called her incitement to violence “abhorrent” and “disrespectful” in response to a motion by Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, to declare a mistrial.Judge Cahill denied the motion but scolded Maxine Waters and other officials for talking about the Chauvin case and intimidating jurors.“I’m aware of the media reports. I’m aware that Congresswoman Waters was talking specifically about this trial, and about the unacceptability of anything less than a murder conviction, talked about being confrontational,” Judge Cahill said. “But you can submit the press articles about that. This goes back to what I’ve been saying from the beginning. I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function.”“I think if they want to give their opinions, they should do so in a respectful, and in a manner that is respectful to the Constitution, to respect the co-equal branch of government. Their failure to do so I think is abhorrent, but I don’t think it has prejudiced this, with additional material that would prejudice this jury.”Chauvin was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.A verdict is expected this week after Monday’s closing arguments.WATCH:Chauvin trial judge denies the defense’s request for a mistrial, BUT he did SLAM Maxine Waters for her threatening comments in Minnesota this weekend to jurors, calling them “abhorrent” and “disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function.” pic.twitter.com/rAoa1QvcqZ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 19, 2021.

BLM Minneapolis: ‘I Don’t Want to Say We Need to Start Killing All White Folks… But… Maybe They Need to Feel the Pain and Hurt’ (WATCH)-By Cassandra Fairbanks-Published April 20, 2021 at 10:25pm

In a shocking collection of interviews from the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis, far-left extremists admitted to wanting another civil war and implied that white people need to be killed.Gonzo journalist and filmmaker Ami Horowitz interviewed several people who were attending the memorial to get their take on things like… burning the city down and using violence against white people. Their responses will surprise no one. I went to the George Floyd memorial in Minneapolis to speak with protesters. ic.twitter.com/G3zBJjAPDo — Ami Horowitz (@AmiHorowitz) April 20, 2021“Burn the whole city down, what does it matter?” one of the women asked. “I say burn the city down, y’know? So they can see that we’re here,” another woman asserted.One of the women went on to say that Derek Chauvin should not have received a trial at all.“There shouldn’t even be a trial, he should be convicted just as is,” she said.The extremists were all in agreement that if he was not convicted they would support “street justice” for him, meaning murder.One of the women said that she believed that “thousands” of unarmed black men were killed last year in the United States — the number is actually 18.They all also seemed to agree that there is a “genocide” happening to African Americans — and “anyone who isn’t white.”When asked about a second Civil War, one young woman said “if that’s what it takes, then we have to do it.”Another responded, “if that’s what it takes, then I believe so.”Asked if it will happen, yet another woman said “probably.”“I don’t want to say we need to start killing all white folks, but it’s like…” one of the militant extremists said.“But…?” Horowitz asked.Maybe they need to feel the pain and the hurt,” she continued.

Chauvin led away in handcuffs-Ex-cop Chauvin convicted of murder, manslaughter in death of George Floyd-Celebrations outside court as former officer convicted of all charges, could face decades in jail for killing that set off heated debate across US and beyond over racism, policing-By Amy Forliti, STEPHEN GROVES and TAMMY WEBBER-APR 21,21-Today, 12:14 am

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man’s neck in a case that touched off worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the US.Chauvin, 45, could be sent to prison for decades.People elated by the verdict flooded the surrounding streets downtown upon hearing the news. Cars blared their horns, and people ran through traffic, waving banners.Floyd family members gathered at a Minneapolis conference room could be heard cheering from the next room as each verdict was read.The jury of six white people and six Black or multiracial ones came back with its verdict after about 10 hours of deliberations over two days. Chauvin was found guilty on all charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.His face was obscured by a COVID-19 mask, and little reaction could be seen beyond his eyes darting around the courtroom.His bail was immediately revoked and he was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back.As the judge asked jurors if they reached a verdict inside, a hush fell on the crowd 300 strong in a park adjacent to the courthouse outside, with people listening to the proceedings on their cellphones. When the final guilty verdict was announced, the crowd roared, many people hugging, some shedding tears.People react after the verdict was read in the Derek Chauvin trial on April 20, 2021 In Minneapolis, Minnesota. Former police officer Derek Chauvin was on trial on second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd May 25, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)-At the intersection where Floyd was pinned down, a crowd chanted, “One down, three to go!” — a reference to the three other fired Minneapolis police officers facing trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting murder in Floyd’s death.Janay Henry, who lives nearby, said she felt grateful and relieved.“I feel grounded. I can feel my feet on the concrete,” she said, adding that she was looking forward to the “next case with joy and optimism and strength.”The verdict was read in a courthouse ringed with concrete barriers and razor wire and patrolled by National Guard troops, in a city on edge against another round of unrest — not just because of the Chauvin case but because of the deadly police shooting of a young Black man, Daunte Wright, in a Minneapolis suburb April 11.The jurors identities were kept secret and will not be released until the judge decides it is safe to do so.Floyd, 46, died May 25 after being arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. He panicked, pleaded that he was claustrophobic and struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car. They put him on the ground instead.The centerpiece of the case was the excruciating bystander video of Floyd gasping repeatedly, “I can’t breathe” and onlookers yelling at Chauvin to stop as the officer pressed his knee on or close to Floyd’s neck for what authorities say was 9 1/2 minutes. Floyd slowly went silent and limp.Prosecutors played the footage at the earliest opportunity, during opening statements, with Jerry Blackwell telling the jury: “Believe your eyes.” And it was shown over and over, analyzed one frame at a time by witnesses on both sides.In the wake of Floyd’s death, demonstrations and scattered violence broke out in Minneapolis, around the country and beyond. The furor also led to the removal of Confederate statues and other offensive symbols such as Aunt Jemima.In the months that followed, numerous states and cities restricted the use of force by police, revamped disciplinary systems or subjected police departments to closer oversight.The “Blue Wall of Silence” that often protects police accused of wrongdoing crumbled after Floyd’s death: The Minneapolis police chief quickly called it “murder” and fired all four officers, and the city reached a staggering $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family as jury selection was underway.Police-procedure experts and law enforcement veterans inside and outside the Minneapolis department, including the chief, testified for the prosecution that Chauvin used excessive force and went against his training.Medical experts for the prosecution said Floyd died of asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, because his breathing was constricted by the way he was held down on his stomach, his hands cuffed behind him, a knee on his neck and his face jammed against the ground.Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson called a police use-of-force expert and a forensic pathologist to help make the case that Chauvin acted reasonably against a struggling suspect and that Floyd died because of an underlying heart condition and his illegal drug use.Floyd had high blood pressure, an enlarged heart and narrowed arteries, and fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in his system.Under the law, police have certain leeway to use force and are judged according to whether their actions were “reasonable” under the circumstances.The defense also tried to make the case that Chauvin and the other officers were hindered in their duties by what they perceived as a growing, hostile crowd.Chauvin did not testify, and all that the jury or the public ever heard by way of an explanation from him came from a police body-camera video after an ambulance had taken the 6-foot-4, 223-pound Floyd away. Chauvin told a bystander: “We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy … and it looks like he’s probably on something.”The prosecution’s case also included tearful testimony from onlookers who said the police kept them back when they protested what was happening. Eighteen-year-old Darnella Frazier, who shot the crucial video, said Chauvin just gave the bystanders a “cold” and “heartless” stare.She and others said they felt a sense of helplessness and lingering guilt from witnessing Floyd’s slow-motion death.“It’s been nights I stayed up, apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more, and not physically interacting and not saving his life,” Frazier testified, while the 19-year-old cashier at the neighborhood market, Christopher Martin, lamented that “this could have been avoided” if only he had rejected the suspect $20 bill.To make Floyd more than a crime statistic in the eyes of the jury, the prosecution called to the stand his girlfriend, who told the story of how they met and how they struggled with addiction to opioids, and his younger brother Philonise. He recalled how Floyd helped teach him to catch a football and made “the best banana mayonnaise sandwiches.”

Biden hails George Floyd verdict, but says it’s not enough: ‘We can’t stop here’US president and VP Harris call on Congress to act swiftly to address policing reform, including by approving a bill named for Floyd-By Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller and MICHAEL BALSAMO    Today, 3:54 am 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But he declared that “it’s not enough.”Biden spoke from the White House hours after the verdict alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, with the pair saying the country’s work is far from finished with the verdict.“We can’t stop here,” Biden declared.Biden and Harris called on Congress to act swiftly to address policing reform, including by approving a bill named for Floyd, who died with his neck under Chauvin’s knee last May. Beyond that, the president said, the entire country must confront hatred to “change hearts and minds as well as laws and policies.”“‘I can’t breathe.’ Those were George Floyd’s last words,” Biden said. “We can’t let those words die with him. We have to keep hearing those words. We must not turn away. We can’t turn away.”Harris, the first Black woman to serve as vice president, said racism was keeping the country from fulfilling its founding promise of “liberty and justice for all.”“It is not just a Black America problem or a people of color problem. it is a problem for every American,” she said. “It is holding our nation back from reaching our full potential.”“A measure of justice isn’t the same as equal justice,” she said.Biden addressed the nation after telephoning Floyd’s family following the verdict, telling them, “We’re all so relieved.” He added later that he sought to comfort Floyd’s young daughter Gianna, telling her, “Daddy did change the world.”After about 10 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury convicted Chauvin of two counts of murder and one of manslaughter.The verdict — and the aftermath — will be a continuing test for Biden. He has pledged to help combat racism in policing, helping African Americans who supported him in large numbers in last year’s election in the wake of protests that swept the nation after Floyd’s death and restarted a national conversation about race. But he also has long projected himself as an ally of police, who are struggling with criticism about long-used tactics and training methods and difficulties in recruitment.Earlier Tuesday, Biden broke his administration’s silence on the trial, which has set the nation on edge for weeks, saying he was praying for “the right verdict.”Speaking from the Oval Office while the jury was deliberating in Minneapolis, Biden said, “I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict. I think it’s overwhelming, in my view. I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered now.”The president had repeatedly denounced Floyd’s death but had previously stopped short of weighing in on Chauvin’s trial, with White House officials saying it would be improper to speak out during active judicial proceedings. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to explain Biden’s comments, doing nothing to dispel the impression that he thought Chauvin should be found guilty.The White House had been privately weighing how to handle the verdict, dispatching specially trained community facilitators from the Justice Department in anticipation of potential protests, officials said. With word that a verdict had been reached Tuesday afternoon, Biden postponed planned remarks at the White House on his infrastructure package.On Monday, Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the trial, admonished public officials about speaking out while the trial was ongoing.“I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that’s disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function,” he said shortly after sending the jury to begin deliberations.Defense attorneys often cite remarks made by public officials as a reason to appeal a verdict, in part because they could poison the jury against the defendant.In this image from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, center, is taken into custody as his attorney, Eric Nelson, left, looks on, after the verdicts were read at Chauvin’s trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at the Hennepin Count-Cahill delivered his rebuke after rejecting a defense request for a mistrial based in part on comments from California Rep. Maxine Waters, who said “we’ve got to get more confrontational” if Chauvin isn’t convicted of murder. He conceded to Chauvin’s attorneys that Waters’ comments could potentially be grounds for an appeal.On Monday, Cahill ordered that jurors be sequestered in an undisclosed hotel during their deliberations and instructed them to avoid all news about the case.Despite Cahill’s remarks, Brock Hunter, a criminal defense attorney and past president of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he considered a successful appeal over remarks like Waters’ and Biden’s extremely unlikely.“It’s inevitable that public officials are going to comment on a case and its impacts on communities,” he said. “Unless there is direct evidence that statements by a public official directly impacted a juror or jurors, I don’t think this even gets off the ground.”On Capitol Hill, Republicans as well as Democrats said they were relieved at the verdict and predicted it could give momentum to policing reform legislation that has been proposed in both the House and Senate.“I think the verdict just reinforces that our justice system continues to become more just,” said Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican senator. “This is a monumental day in many ways, in my opinion.”The Congressional Black Caucus watched the verdict together in the Capitol, and members hugged and fist pumped after the verdict was read.The room was filled with emotion and gratitude,” said Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson. “Black lives mattered to this jury. And I’m very gratified at the verdict, very happy at the swiftness of the verdict. … It’s a vindication of justice in America.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the Black Caucus shortly afterward at a news conference outside, where she said she had spoken to Floyd’s family just before the verdict. She said she called “to say to them, ‘Thank you, God bless you, for your grace and your dignity, for the model that you are appealing for justice in the most dignified way.’”

Associated Press-Sikh group wants probe of gunman's possible supremacist link-RICK CALLAHAN-Tue, April 20, 2021, 4:56 PM·3 min read

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A Sikh civil rights organization called on law enforcement Tuesday to investigate whether a former FedEx employee who fatally shot eight people — four of them Sikhs — at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last week had any ties to hate groups.The Sikh Coalition’s request came a day after Indianapolis police released a report from last year stating that an officer who seized a shotgun from Brandon Scott Hole’s home after his arrest in March 2020 saw what he identified as white supremacist websites on Hole’s computer.The coalition, which identifies itself as the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the U.S., said it has sent letters to law enforcement and state and federal lawmakers “clearly expressing the continuing and urgent need to investigate the possibility of a bias motivation” in last Thursday's mass shooting.Hole was arrested last year at his family's home after his mother told police her son might commit “suicide by cop.” A prosecutor said Monday that after his arrest, Hole never appeared before a judge under Indiana’s “red flag” law, which allows police or courts to seize guns from people who show warning signs of violence.Hole, 19, used two rifles to kill eight FedEx workers and wound several others inside and outside the facility and then fatally shot himself before police entered the building, authorities have said.A police report from Hole's March 2020 arrest states that he became anxious while being handcuffed and asked his arresting officers to cut the power to his computer, saying, “I don’t want anyone to see what’s on it.” The report adds that while securing the shotgun, an officer saw “what through his training and experience" were white supremacist websites on the computer.A complete and thorough investigation — including determining the motives behind this attack and any connection Mr. Hole has to hate and white supremacy groups — is essential to providing justice and building trust between the Sikh community and local and federal law enforcement,” the Sikh Coalition’s legal director, Amrith Kaur, said in Tuesday’s statement.Kaur added that the police report released Monday stood in “stark contrast” to a statement a day after the shooting from Paul Keenan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office. At that time, Keenan said the FBI had interviewed Hole after last year's arrest, “based on items observed in the suspect’s bedroom at that time” by Indianapolis police. He did not say what items were found, but said agents who interviewed Hole in April 2020 found no evidence of a crime and did not identify Hole as espousing a racially motivated ideology.On Tuesday, Keenan said that “no probable cause was found to initiate any type of legal federal process” against Hole, adding that, “The FBI takes great care to distinguish between constitutionally protected activities and illegal activities undertaken to further an ideological agenda."In response to the Sikh Coalition's comments, he said that the FBI is “not ruling out any motive at this time, including one based on hate/bias.” He said the agency “will be meticulous and thorough in our investigation and devote as much time as needed to find answers for the victims’ families.”Indianapolis police said in a news release Monday that FedEx fired Hole in October 2020 when he failed to return to work at a facility on the city’s southwest side. Indianapolis Police Chief Randal Taylor said Friday that the vast majority of the facility’s workers are members of the local Sikh community.Last week's shooting was the deadliest outbreak of violence collectively in the United States' Sikh community since 2012, when a white supremacist burst into a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and shot 10 people, killing seven.

PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)

REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).

REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.

MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)

IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)

ISAIAH 34:10
10  It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29  And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30  The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031  One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32  And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)

COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM

NUKE ALERT: Strategic Command Warns Biden Admin Must Prepare for Nuclear War with Conflicts that Could Escalate Rapidly-By Jim Hoft-Published April 20, 2021 at 1:20pm

Don’t worry, this guy has it under control…The US Strategic Command warned on Monday that the US must be prepared for nuclear war.They’re itching for a conflict and what could be better than nukes? The SUN reported:THE United States must prepare for nuclear war as current conflicts could escalate “very rapidly,” according to a stark warning from the US Strategic Command on Monday.It came ahead of the agency speaking to Congress on Tuesday morning where they warned that the US is currently facing “two nuclear-capable, strategic peer adversaries at the same time” from Russia and China.The government body issues a posture statement annually in which they inform Congress on the state of Strategic Command and update on the upcoming year’s budget.It also provides information of likely conflict in the future and on its readiness for combat.It revealed on Monday that it planned to tell Congress of the current threat of nuclear war.#USSTRATCOM Posture Statement Preview: The spectrum of conflict today is neither linear nor predictable. We must account for the possibility of conflict leading to conditions which could very rapidly drive an adversary to consider nuclear use as their least bad option. pic.twitter.com/4Oe7xkl05L — US Strategic Command (@US_Stratcom) April 20, 2021

Associated Press-France urges rebuke for Syria over chemical weapons use-MIKE CORDER-Tue, April 20, 2021, 7:22 AM

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A group of 46 nations called Tuesday on member states of the global chemical weapons watchdog to diplomatically rebuke Syria for using toxic gas and nerve agents in the country's decade-long civil war.French Ambassador Luis Vassy proposed stripping Syria of its voting rights at the annual meeting of members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.“We owe this to the Syrian people,” Vassy said.The proposal, which has support from countries that include the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, is expected to be put to a vote Wednesday morning.Vassy said Syria's use of prohibited chemical weapons was “irrefutable,” and he urged OPCW member states to back his attempt to strip Damascus of its rights, saying “we cannot let indifference win.”Syria, which joined the organization in 2013 after being threatened with airstrikes in response to a chemical attack on the outskirts of the country's capital, denounced the move as a “propaganda tool” and denied using chemical weapons.Damascus' staunch ally, Russia, also condemned the proposal, with Ambassador Alexander Shulgin saying it violated the Chemical Weapons Convention and turns the OPCW into “an instrument of political pressure on behalf of the U.S. and their allies against those states that are disagreeable to them.”The U.S. permanent representative to the OPCW, Joseph Manso, rejected that claim, saying Damascus “is facing accountability because Syria has clearly and repeatedly violated its obligations under the convention.”After joining the OPCW, Syria declared its stockpile of chemical weapons and precursor chemicals, which were then removed from the country. Questions have remained, however, about chemicals and production facilities that may not have been identified.An investigation mechanism set up by the OPCW has twice blamed Syrian government forces for chemical attacks.Last week, the organization said its investigative team found “reasonable grounds to believe” that a Syrian air force military helicopter dropped a chlorine cylinder on a Syrian town in 2018, sickening 12 people.The team found last year reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Air Force was responsible for attacks using chlorine and the nerve agent sarin in March 2017 in the town of Latamneh.The investigative team was established after Russia blocked the extension of a joint investigation mechanism set up by the United Nations and OPCW in 2015. That team accused Syria of chemical weapons attacks, including unleashing sarin in an aerial attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017 that killed about 100 people.Meanwhile, a group of Syrians living in Sweden have joined with an international human rights organization to file a criminal complaint against the Syrian government for war crimes and crimes against humanity.In a statement, they said the government used sarin gas against civilians in 2013 and 2017 and that “hundreds were killed and many more received serious injuries, including children.”Syrian victims and civil society organizations Civil Rights Defenders, Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), Syrian Archive and the Open Society Justice Initiative brought the criminal complaint.“The government has strategically used chemical weapons as a tool to wear out the civilian population living in opposition-controlled areas and to suppress any resistance against the regime,” said Aida Samani, a legal adviser at Civil Rights Defenders. “It is unacceptable that those responsible for these heinous attacks are enjoying absolute impunity.”___Associated Press writer Jan M. Olsen contributed to this report from Copenhagen, Denmark.

CBS News-Russia restricts airspace near Ukraine amid wargames in the Black Sea-Alexandra Odynova-Tue, April 20, 2021, 11:08 AM

Moscow — Tension between Russia and the West has escalated further this week, with Russia staging more military exercises in the Black Sea and massing thousands of forces at Ukraine's border. In a clear sign of cooling relations, the United States' ambassador in Moscow confirmed he was leaving the country for "consultations" back in the U.S.Over 20 Russian vessels took part in the latest exercises along with Su-25SM3 attack aircraft, as part of a check of the fleet's forces, Russia's Black Sea Fleet said on Tuesday. Russia also announced that it was closing the airspace over parts of Crimea and the Black Sea, saying the areas had been "declared temporarily dangerous for aircraft flights," Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing an official notice sent to pilots.Troops at the Ukrainian border-Over 100,000 Russian forces have massed on Ukraine's border and in Crimea, the office of European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said after a briefing by Ukraine's foreign minister.Crimea is the peninsula that was unilaterally annexed away from Ukraine by President Vladimir Putin in 2014. His government now considers it Russian territory, and while the U.S. and Europe have refused to acknowledge the takeover, the Russian military has firm control over the outcrop of land in the Black Sea. "It's the highest military deployment of Russian army in Ukrainian borders ever," said Borrell. He initially said Russia had massed over 150,000 troops in the region, but his comments were later corrected without elaboration.The Maxar satellite imagery company provided almost a dozen images on Tuesday that it said showed increased movements and an influx of Russian military hardware at numerous locations in Crimea, Ukraine, and near the shared border over the past several weeks.Su-34 fighter jets are seen at the Russian military's Morozovsk airbase, about 100 miles east of the Ukrainian border in southern Russia, in a satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies that it said was taken in April 2021, amid a Russian military buildup in the region. / Credit: Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies-Su-34 fighter jets are seen at the Russian military's Morozovsk airbase, about 100 miles east of the Ukrainian border in southern Russia, in a satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies that it said was taken in April 2021, amid a Russian military buildup in the region. / Credit: Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies-The buildup has come amid a spike in hostilities in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been locked in a simmering war with Ukraine's U.S. and European-backed military since 2014. The increase in the violence in eastern Ukraine has raised fears internationally of a possible flareup in the so-called frozen conflict. While U.S. military officials haven't seen anything yet to suggest Russia is gearing up for an imminent cross-border incursion into Ukraine, the United States, the U.K. and European states have criticized Moscow for the military buildup.The Kremlin has shrugged off all calls to withdraw the troops and hardware, saying Russian forces are free to move about Russian territory as they see fit, and to respond to what Moscow calls "provocative" moves by the NATO alliance near its borders.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Moscow was not responsible for the soaring tension. He called on other countries to refrain from "mass anti-Russian psychosis."Warships in the Black Sea-Last week, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had closed off navigation in parts of the Black Sea to foreign military and other official vessels from mid-April until the end of October. The move was condemned by the West.A Shmel-class gunboat of the Russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla sails past a cruise ship on the Don River during the inter-fleet move from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, April 13, 2021. / Credit: SERGEY PIVOVAROV/REUTERS-A Shmel-class gunboat of the Russian Navy's Caspian Flotilla sails past a cruise ship on the Don River during the inter-fleet move from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, April 13, 2021. / Credit: SERGEY PIVOVAROV/REUTERS-U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price called it "yet another unprovoked escalation in Moscow's ongoing campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine," and "particularly troubling amid credible reports of Russian troop buildup in occupied Crimea and around Ukraine's borders."Two British warships were to set sail for the Black Sea in May, The Sunday Times newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing senior U.K. naval sources. The deployment is meant to show solidarity with Ukraine and Britain's NATO allies, the newspaper reported. According to the report, one Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will detach from the Royal Navy's carrier task group in the Mediterranean and sail through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea. RAF F-35B Lightning stealth jets and Merlin submarine-hunting helicopters will stand ready on the task group's flagship, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the newspaper said. Turkey's government announced last week that the U.S. was planning to deploy two warships to the Black Sea, but then later said the Pentagon had cancelled the deployment. U.S. officials never confirmed nor denied that the deployment had been ordered, but a Pentagon spokesman noted that U.S. vessels have operated previously in the international waters of the Black Sea.U.S. ambassador leavesU.S. Ambassador John Sullivan said he would travel back to Washington this week for consultations after Russia's Foreign Ministry suggested he do so amid a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. "I believe it is important for me to speak directly with my new colleagues in the Biden administration in Washington about the current state of bilateral relations between the United States and Russia," he said in remarks published by the embassy in Moscow.Sullivan, a Trump appointee, said he intended to come back to Moscow in the coming weeks, before any meeting between Presidents Biden and Putin. His departure follows Russia's response to the latest round of U.S. sanctions, announced last week, which included the expulsion of 10 American diplomats from Russia and a ban on the U.S. Embassy hiring any Russian nationals as staff. Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. has been back in Moscow for a month, after being recalled by the Foreign Ministry for consultations.

The Daily Beast-Satellite Images Show Russia Massively Bulking Up Military Near Ukraine Border-Jamie Ross-Tue, April 20, 2021, 10:32 AM

A day after the European Union’s top diplomat warned that over 100,000 Russian troops have now gathered on Ukraine’s border and in annexed Crimea, new satellite images show the mighty stockpile of military equipment that the Kremlin has deployed to back them up.On Monday, the EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said a massive Russian army has gathered on the Ukraine border, adding: “It’s the highest military deployment of Russian army in Ukrainian borders ever... When you deploy a lot of troops, a spark can jump here or there.”Top Kremlin Mouthpiece Warns of ‘Inevitable’ War With U.S. Over Another Ukraine Land Grab-On Tuesday, the satellite images published by the Wall Street Journal showed the extent of the Russian force that’s causing so much concern. The photos, taken between March 27 and April 16 by commercial satellite company Maxar Technologies, show that Russia is gathering fighter jets, attack helicopters, and even building a new military hospital.Experts say the range and number of fighter jets gathered are a cause for sharp concern. Philip Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who was the top NATO military commander when Russian forces annexed Crimea in 2014, told the Journal: “They have appropriately deployed the various elements of airpower that would be needed to establish air superiority over the battlefield and directly support the ground troops.”Dan Jablonsky, the chief executive of Maxar Technologies, said the company decided to make its images public so that the world knows more about what Russia is planning on the Ukraine border. “I think it removes some of the uncertainty and doubt about what is really happening in a fairly critical region of the world,” said Jablonsky.Putin Reignites Ukraine Conflict as Rift With Biden Blows Up-U.S. officials are also showing increasing concern about what could happen in the region. The U.S. estimate of the number of Russian troops in Crimea or near Ukraine stands at 80,000, according to the Journal—double the number of troops deployed to the region just one month ago. However, the officials said they would expect to see bigger ammunition stockpiles and more military hospitals if a large-scale invasion was imminentUkrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Journal: “In a few weeks from now they will be close to sufficient combat readiness to pursue a military escalation. By our estimations, their combined military force will reach over 120,000 troops by then... We don’t know whether Putin will decide to attack, but he will certainly be ready to do so.”Last week, during a call between President Joe Biden and Putin, the White House said the U.S. president “emphasised the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Israel said resigned to restored Iran deal that won’t address missiles, terror-TV report says top officials heading to US next week to lobby Washington to push for tighter international oversight of Iranian nuclear sites-By TOI staff-APR 21,21-Today, 2:05 am

Israel is lobbying the United States to push for improved international oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, as Washington negotiates to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers, Israeli television reported Tuesday.Jerusalem is pushing for International Atomic Energy Agency officials to have greater powers in inspecting the nuclear sites, the Kan public broadcaster said. The position was formulated after Israeli officials concluded there will not be significant changes to the treaty, but nonetheless sought to slightly improve the terms of the pact, the network said.Mossad chief Yossi Cohan, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi will all head to the US early next week to lobby on Jerusalem’s behalf, according to the report, which did not cite a source.Israel was said to have conceded that the deal will be renewed without addressing its concerns about Tehran’s ballistic missile program and support for terror groups.The report came a day after Israeli officials expressed concern that US President Joe Biden will rush to rejoin the nuclear deal, arguing that Washington’s negotiating power is compromised by its eagerness to clinch a pact.Talks on restoring the nuclear accord continued Tuesday in Vienna, with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani saying 60-70 percent of issues had been resolved. A spokesman for the US State Department, however, said that while the talks were positive, “we have more road ahead of us than in the rearview mirror.”Amid the US efforts to rejoin the deal, Israeli and White House officials have been holding strategic talks at collaborating in the effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.Following last week’s session, the Biden administration stressed its commitment to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.The Biden administration has repeatedly said it will return to the nuclear deal, if Iran first returns to compliance. Iran has taken a hardline approach, demanding the US lift all sanctions against it first, putting the two sides at a stalemate.Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have adamantly opposed the US returning to the nuclear deal, putting Jerusalem at odds with the new White House administration.Critics have long said that the deal fails to address Iran’s development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that can reach Israel and parts of Europe and its constant funding and support of terror groups like Hezbollah.

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).

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 11:21-2321 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)

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.

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

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, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
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)


SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.

GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)

SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) 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)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,221 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
 
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Associated Press-UN seeks $29M for St. Vincent amid new volcanic threats-DÁNICA COTO-Tue, April 20, 2021, 1:11 PM·3 min read

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The United Nations announced Tuesday that it is seeking $29.2 million to help St. Vincent recover from ongoing volcanic eruptions that have destroyed homes and crops, contaminated water supplies and displaced up to 20% of people on the eastern Caribbean island.Didier Trebucq, the U.N. resident coordinator for Barbados and the eastern Caribbean, described the scene as “apocalyptic” during an online press conference in St. Vincent.“The devastating impact of this event on thousands of people is undeniable,” he said, adding that more money will be needed once damage assessments are completed.Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said officials are still quantifying the damage, but that rebuilding will run “in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” on top of “massive” humanitarian relief needs.More than 16,000 people were evacuated ahead of the first, April 9 explosion at La Soufriere volcano, with officials noting that ash is piled up to 16 inches (42 centimeters) high in some homes in the northern part of St. Vincent, where the volcano is located.More than 6,200 evacuees are staying in 88 government shelters and thousands of others in homes or private shelters.Food, water and ash removal remain high priorities as neighboring nations and organizations pour supplies and funding into St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, the majority of whom live on the main island of St. Vincent.So far, U.N. agencies have set aside $2 million for water, hygiene and food vouchers and will send experts to help with the ash cleanup, while nations including Guyana, Dominica and Trinidad & Tobago have pledged funding and shipped basic supplies.Gonsalves said feeding up to 12,000 people is an “extraordinary, existential challenge," for the island.Help also has gone beyond caring for humans: The Eastern Caribbean Group of Companies sent food for a large pig spotted hanging around the island’s volcano observatory that has endeared itself to many St. Vincentians and was nicknamed “Tremor.”Gonsalves also said he worried about the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that starts in six weeks, as well as the pandemic, given that thousands of displaced people are now huddling in shelters and homes of friends and family.Another concern is that ash and debris from the eruptions will form volcanic mudflows, lahars, as St. Vincent prepares for its rainy season. The first lahar was reported early Tuesday.Scientists estimate that 100 million cubic meters of ash have fallen and Richard Robertson, who is leading the scientific team at the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center studying La Soufriere, said during an online press conference that rains could unleash fast-flowing rivers of mud and debris capable of great damage.During the conference, broadcast by local NBC radio, Robertson said scientists expect another explosion in the next week as the volcano seems to be forming a new lava dome.While the volcano has been calm in recent days, “it can change pattern within minutes without any indication,” he said. “There’s a lot happening at the volcano that we don’t understand.”The volcano had a minor eruption in December, with a previous eruption occurring in 1979. An older eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.Gonsalves warned it would take a long time for the northern one-third of St. Vincent to recover and rebuild. He noted that a high number of impoverished people live in the area, which has long relied on agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and some tourism.“None of that exists anymore. ... Plants have to be replanted” he said, his voice breaking. “We have been set back decades.”___Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report from the United Nations.

Sunday, January 10, 2021

AFTER SWITCHING FROM TWITTER TO PARLER-AMAZON-GOOGLE+ STOP PARLER TRUMPS NEW VOICE IN ITS TRACKS.

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)

 2020 AMERICAN ELECTION RESULTS BY STATE TRUMP VS LOSER LIBERAL SLEEPY (SLOPPY JOE) BIDEN.

ON D-70 OF THE TRUMP WIN OF THE PRESIDENCY. SUN JAN 10, 21.

Key dates for the Electoral College and what they mean-AEIdeas-DECEMBER 14,20

What are the key dates for the workings of the Electoral College?

November 3 — Election Day

Election Day is November 3. We may or may not know the winner of the presidential contest on election night, but we certainly will not have a final tally and certified results until weeks later. States vary widely in the time they allot for certifying their election results. Some may give a final certification the week after Election Day. Others may take over 30 days. And there is the possibility of recounts and judicial contests of elections which could extend the time to determine an official winner of a state.
Ballots are passed out to 16 Electors on the Michigan Senate floor for them to cast their formal votes for the president and vice president of the United States in Lansing, Michigan, U.S., December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

December 8 — Safe Harbor

December 14 — The meeting of the Electors

Two key dates loom in December. On December 14, presidential electors must have been selected by the states and will meet as a group in their states to cast electoral votes for president and vice president. But December 8 is also a significant date, the so-called “safe harbor” date. The Electoral Count Act sets this date as an important date for states to make their official selection of electors, as those electoral votes will be given greater protection from challenge when Congress counts the electoral votes in January. The Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore assigned great significance to this date in Bush v. Gore.

January 3 — The convening of the new Congress

January 6 — Congress counts the votes

January 20 — Inauguration Day. The new presidential term begins at noon.

On January 3rd, the new Congress will take office, and on January 6th it will meet to count the electoral votes and declare a president- and vice president-elect. On January 20th at noon, the current presidential term will end and the next one will begin.This is excerpted from the new fourth edition of After the People Vote, edited by John Fortier, senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a member of AEI’s Election Watch team.John C. Fortier-AEI Adjunct Scholar-SENOIRFELLOWKarlyn Bowman-Senior Fellow

ITS 6.55AM-SUN JAN 10,21-WITH 10 DAYS + 4 YEARS LEFT IN TRUMPS TERM. TRUMP IS GOING AFTER BIG TECH FOR BANNING HIM FROM TWITTER. AND NOW GOOGLE AND AMAZON ARE BANNING AN FREE SPEECH APP CALLED PARLER. AND ALSO TOMORROW THE DEMOLIBNUTS WANNA START IMPEACHING TRUMP FOR INCITING OF INSERRECTION. SINCE TRUMP WILL NOT RESIGN. I CAN NOT BELIEVE PENCE MIGHT USE THE 25TH AMENDMENT AGAINST TRUMP. TO MAKE HIM PRESIDENT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS TRUMP TERM. UNTIL TRUMP SOME HOW WINS THE NEXT 4 YEARS. TRUMP HAS NOT TALKED TO PENCE SINCE LAST WEDNESDAYS PEACEFUL PROTEST. BY THE MILLION TRUMP SUPPORTERS WHO KNOW TRUMP WAS CHEATED OF MILLIONS OF VOTES IN DEMOLIBNUTS VOTER FRAUD. AND ALSO GIULIANI AND DERSHOWITZ TRUMP IS CONSIDERING FOR HIS IMPEACMENT LAWYERS. 17 REPUBLICANS HAVE TO TURN THEIR PAID OFF SELVES IN ORDER FOR PILOSI TO IMPEACH TRUMP. OR 2/3RDS OF THE HOUSE. WE WILL SEE TOMORROW. WHAT HAPPENS. CNN HITLERS PROPAGANDA MOUTHPIECE JAKE TAPPER SAID EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN TO CALL THE PEACEFUL TRUMP PROTESTERS. INCLUDING TERRORISTS, MOBSTERS AND TONS MORE. HITLERS CNN PROPAGANDIST TAPPER ALSO WANTS REPUBLICANS IN THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE TO RESIGN. WELL WE KNOW WHY CNN IS DOING THIS. SO THE REPUBLICANS CAN GET LIBERAL GOPS TO REPLACE THEM. AND THEN THE DEMOLIBNUTCASE HITLERS COULD REALLY CONTROL BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. AS THE NEW ONES WOULD VOTE WITH THE DEMONUTS ALL THE TIME. THAT WAS AN EASY ONE TO FIGURE OUT. BY HITLERS PROPAGANDA PUPPETEERS CNN. AND THE LEFT LAME BRAIN- LAMESTREAM MEDIA.  


Parler squeezed as Trump seeks new online megaphone-Though stripped of his Twitter megaphone, President Donald Trump does have alternative options of much smaller reach-By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer-10 January 2021, 13:51

BOSTON -- President Donald Trump has been kicked off of most mainstream social media platforms following his supporters’ siege on the U.S. Capitol. But it remains to be seen how fast or where — if anywhere — on the internet he will be able to reach his followers.The far right-friendly Parler had been the leading candidate, at least until Google and Apple removed it from their app stores and Amazon decided to boot it off its web hosting service by midnight Pacific time on Sunday.Parler’s CEO said that could knock it offline for a week, though that might prove optimistic. And even if it finds a friendlier web-hosting service, without a smartphone app, it's hard to imagine Parler gaining mainstream success.The 2-year-old magnet for the far right claims more than 12 million users, though mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower puts the number at 10 million worldwide, with 8 million in the U.S. That's a fraction of the 89 million followers Trump had on Twitter.Still, Parler might be attractive to Trump since it's where his sons Eric and Don Jr. are already active. Parler hit headwinds, though, on Friday as Google yanked its smartphone app from its app store for allowing postings that seek “to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.” Apple followed suit on Saturday evening after giving Parler 24 hours to address complaints it was being used to “plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities.” Public safety issues will need to be resolved before it is restored, Apple said.A message seeking comment from Parler was sent Sunday on whether the company plans to change its policies and enforcement around these issues.Amazon struck another blow Saturday, informing Parler it would need to look for a new web-hosting service effective midnight Sunday. It reminded Parler in a letter, first reported by Buzzfeed, that it had informed it in the past few weeks of 98 examples of posts “that clearly encourage and incite violence” and said the platform “poses a very real risk to public safety.”Parler CEO John Matze decried the punishments as “a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the marketplace. We were too successful too fast,” he said in a Saturday night post, saying it was possible Parler would be unavailable for up to a week “as we rebuild from scratch.”Earlier, Matze complained of being scapegoated. “Standards not applied to Twitter, Facebook or even Apple themselves, apply to Parler.” He said he “won’t cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech.”Losing access to the app stores of Google and Apple — whose operating systems power hundreds of millions of smartphones — severely limits Parler’s reach, though it will continue to be accessible via web browser. Losing Amazon Web Services will mean Parler needs to scramble to find another web host, in addition to the re-engineering.Trump may also launch his own platform. But that won't happen overnight, and free speech experts anticipate growing pressure on all social media platforms to curb incendiary speech as Americans take stock of Wednesday’s violent takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a Trump-incited mob.Twitter ended Trump’s nearly 12-year run on Friday. In shuttering his account, it cited a tweet to his 89 million followers that he planned to skip President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, saying it gave rioters license to converge on Washington once again.Facebook and Instagram have suspended Trump at least until Inauguration Day. Twitch and Snapchat also disabled Trump’s accounts, while Shopify took down online stores affiliated with the president and Reddit removed a Trump subgroup. Twitter also banned Trump loyalists including former national security advisor Michael Flynn in a sweeping purge of accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and the Capitol insurrection. Some had hundreds of thousands of followers.In a statement Friday, Trump said: "We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future.”Gab is another potential landing spot for Trump. But it, too, has had troubles with internet hosting. Google and Apple both booted it from their app stores in 2017 and it was left internet-homeless for a time the following year due to anti-Semitic posts attributed to the man accused of killing 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Microsoft also terminated a web-hosting contract.Online speech experts expect social media companies led by Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube to more vigorously police hate speech and incitement in the wake of the Capitol rebellion, as Western democracies led by Nazism-haunted Germany already do.David Kaye, a University of California-Irvine law professor and former U.N. special rapporteur on free speech believes the Parlers of the world will also face pressure from the public and law enforcement as will little-known sites where further pre-inauguration disruption is now apparently being organized. They include MeWe, Wimkin, TheDonald.win and Stormfront, according to a report released Saturday by The Alethea Group, which tracks disinformation.Kaye rejects arguments by U.S. conservatives including the president’s former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, that the Trump ban savaged the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from restricting free expression. “Silencing people, not to mention the President of the US, is what happens in China not our country,” Haley tweeted.“It’s not like the platforms’ rules are draconian. People don’t get caught in violations unless they do something clearly against the rules,” said Kaye. And not just individual citizens have free speech rights. “The companies have their freedom of speech, too.”While initially arguing their need to be neutral on speech, Twitter and Facebook gradually yielded to public pressure drawing the line especially when the so-called Plandemic video emerged early in the coronavirus pandemic urging people not to wear masks, noted civic media professor Ethan Zuckerman of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.Zuckerman expects the Trump de-platforming may spur important online shifts. First, there may be an accelerated splintering of the social media world along ideological lines."Trump will pull a lot of audience wherever he goes,” he said. That could mean more platforms with smaller, more ideologically isolated audiences.———Associated Press writers Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, California, and Amanda Seitz in Chicago contributed to this report.

Parler jumps to No. 1 on App Store after Facebook and Twitter ban Trump-Jonathan Shieber@jshieber / 1:45 PM EST•January 9, 2021

Users are surging on small, conservative, social media platforms after President Donald Trump’s ban from the world’s largest social networks, even as those platforms are seeing access throttled by the app marketplaces of tech’s biggest players.The social network, Parler, a network that mimics Twitter, is now the number one app in Apple’s app store and Gab, another conservative-backed service, claimed that it was seeing an explosion in the number of signups to its web-based platform as well.Parler saw approximately 210,000 installs globally on Friday 1/8, up 281% from approximately 55,000 on 1/7, according to data from the analytics service Sensor Tower. “In the U.S., the app saw approximately 182,000 first-time downloads on 1/8, up 355% from about 40,000 installs on 1/7. Since Wednesday, the app has seen approximately 268,000 installs from across U.S. app stores,” a press rep from Sensor Tower wrote in an email.Parler’s ballooning user base comes at a potentially perilous time for the company. It has already been removed from Google’s Play store and Apple is considering suspending the social media app as well if it does not add some content moderation features.Both Parler and Gab have billed themselves as havens for free speech, with what’s perhaps the most lax content moderation online. In the past the two companies have left up content posted by an alleged Russian disinformation campaign, and allow users to traffic in conspiracy theories that other social media platforms have shut down.The expectation with these services is that users on the platforms are in charge of muting and blocking trolls or offensive content, but, by their nature, those who join these platforms will generally find themselves among like-minded users.Their user counts might be surging, but would-be adopters may soon have a hard time finding the services.On Friday night, Google said that it would be removing Parler from their Play Store immediately — suspending the app until the developers committed to a moderation and enforcement policy that could handle objectionable content on the platform.In a statement to TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson said:“In order to protect user safety on Google Play, our longstanding policies require that apps displaying user-generated content have moderation policies and enforcement that removes egregious content like posts that incite violence. All developers agree to these terms and we have reminded Parler of this clear policy in recent months. We’re aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US. We recognize that there can be reasonable debate about content policies and that it can be difficult for apps to immediately remove all violative content, but for us to distribute an app through Google Play, we do require that apps implement robust moderation for egregious content. In light of this ongoing and urgent public safety threat, we are suspending the app’s listings from the Play Store until it addresses these issues.“On Friday, Buzzfeed News reported that Parler had received a letter from Apple informing them that the app would be removed from the App Store within 24 hours unless the company submitted an update with a moderation improvement plan. Parler CEO John Matze confirmed the action from Apple in a post on his Parler account where he posted a screenshot of the notification from Apple.“We want to be clear that Parler is in fact responsible for all the user generated content present on your service and for ensuring that this content meets App Store requirements for the safety and protection of our users,” text from the screenshot reads. “We won’t distribute apps that present dangerous and harmful content.Parler is backed by the conservative billionaire heiress Rebekah Mercer, according to a November report in The Wall Street Journal. Founded in 2018, the service has experienced spikes in user adoption with every clash between more social media companies and the outgoing President Trump. In November, Parler boasted some 10 million users, according to the Journal.Users like Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo and the conservative talk show host Dan Bongino, a wildly popular figure on Facebook who is also an investor in Parler, have joined the platform. In the Journal article Bongino called the company “a collective middle finger to the tech tyrants.”It’s worth noting that Parler and Gab aren’t the only companies to see users numbers soar after the Trump bans. MeWe Network, OANN, Newsmax and Rumble have also seen adoption soar, according to data from the analytics company Apptopia.The company noted that Parler was the #1 app on the iOS app store for two days surging from 18th on Thursday and 592 on Wednesday. Overall, the app was the 10th most downloaded social media app in 2020 with 8.1 million new installs.“It is an event driven app though,” a company analyst noted. “After events like the election, BLM protests, Twitter first applying labels to Trump’s Tweets, we see bursts of downloads and usage but it will then drop off.”Sarah Perez and Lucas Matney contributed additional reporting to this article.

NBC News-As some Republicans distance themselves from Trump, Pompeo stays in his corner-Lauren Egan and Abigail Williams-Sat, January 9, 2021, 5:39 PM EST

WASHINGTON — As some Republicans are distancing themselves from President Donald Trump after a violent mob of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to the president's defense Saturday, criticizing Twitter's decision to ban his account."Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years. We cannot let them silence 75M Americans. This isn’t the CCP," Pompeo tweeted to his personal account.Pompeo's comments come as some Republicans have called for Trump's removal from office and as a handful of White House staff and administration officials have resigned over Trump's role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol and disrupt the peaceful transition of power.The top arms control expert in the State Department resigned Friday in protest of the riots. Assistant Secretary Christopher Ford had already submitted his resignation letter to Trump the previous week as is traditional for political appointees during a change in administration with the intention to stay on until the end of the administration."I cannot continue to serve in an Administration at a time in which some are willing to condone, or even to incite, violent insurrection against the country I hold dear and whose Constitution I have taken a sacred oath to support and defend," Ford wrote in his resignation letter, which was first reported by The Washington Post.Pompeo's comments also come as some extremist Trump supporters are threatening to return to Washington to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20.Pompeo, who is responsible for representing American democracy around the world, has struck a noticeably different tone of his official Twitter account, where he condemned the "lawlessness and rioting" as unacceptable."Being the greatest country on earth is not just about our incredible economy & our strong military; it's about the values we project out into the world. I believe in America, and American goodness," he tweeted Friday on his official account.World leaders, many of whom are used to U.S. lectures about orderly transitions of power, responded to the images of the Trump mob swarming the Capitol on Wednesday with shock. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the scenes in Washington "disgraceful."Pompeo is widely thought to have political ambitions beyond his position in the Trump administration. He considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2020 from Kansas and, breaking with tradition for secretaries of state, he played an active role in campaigning for Trump in his re-election.Some Republicans with presidential ambitions, including Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, have resisted condemning Trump's actions this week, as many in the party continue to believe that they cannot win without support from the president's loyal base.Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account on Friday, citing "the risk of further incitement of violence."The president’s account, with 88 million followers, was initially banned for 12 hours on Wednesday due to "severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy," after he used the platform to condemn Vice President Mike Pence as his supporters stormed the Capitol."After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the company said in a tweet.Donald Trump Jr. called Twitter's decision to ban the president's personal account a "full frontal assault" of free speech."It's a sad day, when you're literally talking about losing free speech," he continued in a 9-minute video posted to his Facebook on Saturday.More than 200 members of Congress are calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office.On Thursday Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., became the first Republican to say the 25th Amendment should be invoked while Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that she wanted Trump to resign.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement on Friday that the House is prepared to move forward with articles of impeachment against Trump if he does not resign. The vote could come as early as the middle of next week, just days before the president's term expires."I don’t know what they are going to send over," said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn. speaking to Fox News. "And one of the things that I’m concerned about frankly is whether the House would completely politicize something."I do think the president committed impeachable offenses," said Toomey. "But I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything."

‘There was no violence,’ claims Israeli Trump supporter who raided US Capitol-Brushing off suggestion of wrongdoing, Pinchas Gerby says the FBI could find him in ‘seconds’ if it pleased-By TOI staff-jan 10,21-Today, 7:49 pm

An Israeli supporter of US President Donald Trump was among those who participated in the breach of the US Capitol last week.Pinchas Gerby told Channel 12 on Sunday that he was inside the Capitol building for some 30 minutes and insisted there was no violence. Gerby claimed he was shoved into the building by the huge crowds behind him who broke through the police barricade, and shrugged off suggestions that US authorities could be on his tail.In an interview with the same network on Thursday, however, he offered a slightly different account, saying that he was hit with rubber bullets in the ribs and teargassed outside the US Capitol, during clashes that broke out between rioters and police. At the rally outside, “some of the guys started going wild, the police responded with force, they tear-gassed us, they shot rubber bullets at us,” he said. In that interview, he also said he was shoved into the building, where he remained for 45 minutes to an hour.Wednesday’s violent incursion at the US Capitol saw a largely white mob of Trump supporters overpower police, break through security lines and rampage through the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were putting the final, formal touches on Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.The crowd surged to the domed symbol of American democracy following a rally near the White House, where Trump repeated his bogus claims that the election was stolen from him and urged his supporters to march in force toward the Capitol.Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the siege.According to Gerby, at the end of the pro-Trump rally outside the legislature, a row of police prevented demonstrators from entering the building. But then, “a mass of people pushed us forward and breached the line of police officers. There was no violence. I wasn’t dangerous. I didn’t go wild.”He said he and others calmly walked through the corridors and rooms of the Capitol. “When someone shattered the window, we saw that guns were being pointed at us,” he said.However, the situation remained so calm that at one point Gerby even asked for directions to the nearest bathroom.“I then saw that policemen were going room by room to empty them,” he said, adding that he was then escorted outside the compound.“You may call me naïve, but I was protesting the fact that the courts didn’t look at the evidence” for widescale voter fraud, he said. No such evidence has been reported by credible sources or accepted by any official overseeing the election, whether Republican or Democrat.Gerby said he did not do anything wrong, since he was not arrested. However, friends later warned him that the FBI sent out notices asking for the public’s help in identifying and locating members of the mob that breached the Capitol.“You really think that with today’s technology, the FBI needs help from the public to find me? They can find me in two and a half seconds, which is two seconds too many,” Gerby said.Agencies contributed to this report.

Second Republican senator now urges Trump to resign over Capitol riot-Pat Toomey joins Lisa Murkowski in calling for US president to step down, as Democratic House Speaker Pelosi notifies colleagues to prepare for impeachment move this week-By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Alan Fram and MARY CLARE JALONICK-jan 10,2`1-Today, 6:44 pm 1

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican senators now say US President Donald Trump should resign as support for the drive to impeach him a second time is gaining momentum in his final days in office after the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters.Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.” Murkowski, who has long voiced her exasperation with Trump’s conduct in office, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that Trump simply “needs to get out.”Toomey said that even though he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses in encouraging loyalists in the Capitol siege on Wednesday, he did not think there was enough time for the impeachment process to play out. Toomey said that resignation was the “best path forward, the best way to get this person in the rearview mirror for us.” He was not optimistic that Trump would step down before his term ends on January 20.The White House had no immediate comment Sunday.The House appears determined to act despite the short timeline.Late Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California, sent a letter to her colleagues reiterating that Trump must be held accountable. She told her caucus, now scattered across the country on a two-week recess, to “be prepared to return to Washington this week.”“It is absolutely essential that those who perpetrated the assault on our democracy be held accountable,” Pelosi wrote. “There must be a recognition that this desecration was instigated by the President.”Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, said “it may be Tuesday, Wednesday before the action is taken, but I think it will be taken this week.” Clyburn, Democrat-South Carolina, said he was concerned that a Senate trial could distract from the process of confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees.Clyburn said one option could be giving Biden the “100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running and maybe we’ll send the articles sometime after that” to the Senate for a trial.He said lawmakers “will take the vote that we should take in the House” and that Pelosi “will make the determination as when is the best time” to send them to the Senate.Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has said an impeachment trial could begin as early as Inauguration Day, January 20.The new Democratic effort to stamp Trump’s presidential record — for the second time and days before his term ends — with the indelible mark of impeachment is gaining supporters. Rep. David Cicilline, Democrat Rhode Island, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles — or charges — accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said Saturday that his group had grown to include 185 co-sponsors.Lawmakers planned to formally introduce the proposal on Monday in the House, where articles of impeachment must originate.The articles, if passed by the House, could then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial, with senators acting as jurors who would ultimately vote on whether to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump would be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president.Potentially complicating that decision about impeachment is what it means for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. While reiterating that he has long viewed Trump as unfit for office, Biden on Friday sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress does “is for them to decide.”A violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were putting the final, formal touches on Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.The crowd surged to the domed symbol of American democracy following a rally near the White House, where Trump repeated his bogus claims that the election was stolen from him and urged his supporters to march in force toward the Capitol.Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the siege.Outrage over the attack and Trump’s role in egging it on capped a divisive, chaotic presidency like few others in the nation’s history. There is less than two weeks until Trump is out of office but Democrats have made clear they don’t want to wait that long.Trump has few fellow Republicans speaking out in his defense. He’s become increasingly isolated, holed up in the White House as he has been abandoned in the aftermath of the riot by many aides, leading Republicans, and, so far, two Cabinet members — both women.Toomey appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Clyburn was on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN.

Short on alternatives, Trump fans trash Twitter ban — on Twitter-Conservative platforms popular among Trump’s fiercest supporters, like Parler and Gab, known for its far-right and neo-Nazi user base, have drawn a growing number of users-By Juliette MICHEL-JAN 10,21-Today, 2:50 pm

NEW YORK (AFP) — Friends, family and advisers to Donald Trump have been bitterly complaining that Twitter’s ban of the president after his supporters stormed the US Capitol amounts to an assault on free speech by radical leftists.Ironically, given the enormous influence of the platform, they have aired their grievances first of all on… Twitter — a choice underscoring the platform’s huge readership and the relative paucity of alternatives.“Free speech is dead & controlled by leftist overlords,” tweeted Donald Trump Jr., the president’s older son.Asked Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, “Who will be silenced next?” And Mike Pompeo — posting not as secretary of state but on his personal account — tweeted: “Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years.”For influential Republican senator Ted Cruz, the decisions by Twitter and some other social media were “absurd & profoundly dangerous.”“Why,” he went on, “should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech?”Every one of the above messages was posted on Twitter, the social network that for years has been Trump’s preferred means of communicating with the public — and sometimes even with other world leaders.But on Friday, amid widespread fury after he encouraged the supporters who forced their way into the US Capitol in a bloody and chaotic melee, Twitter banned him permanently.It was taking the rare measure, it said, “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch joined in suspending the president’s accounts.Reddit, a news and discussion website that is normally fairly permissive, on Friday closed a forum popular with Trump fans, saying it was inciting hate.The question now is where Trump and his supporters will turn next.Donald Trump Jr., himself fearing exclusion from Twitter, has asked his followers to send him their email contacts — hardly the most reactive form of communications — so he can keep them abreast of news.A new platform? In a quickly deleted tweet, the president himself on Friday spoke of creating his own platform “in the near future,” without providing any detail.Conservative platforms popular among Trump’s fiercest supporters, like Parler and Gab, have drawn growing numbers of users.Gab saw “record traffic” on Friday night and Saturday, according to its creator Andrew Torba, and had to add computer servers to handle it.He reported 12 million visits in 12 hours, adding, “Exploding growth right now.”Launched in 2016, Gab positions itself as a platform promoting “freedom of expression” but has become known above all for its far-right — even neo-Nazi — user base.In 2018, when an assault on a Pittsburgh synagogue claimed 11 lives, investigators discovered earlier anti-Semitic posts by the shooter on Gab.Several companies have banned Gab, including PayPal, Visa and the Apple and Google app stores.Parler faced more severe consequences: after it, too, was banned first by Google and Apple in their app stores, Amazon confirmed it was suspending the social network from its cloud computing services, effectively pushing it offline.All three tech giants said Parler, which briefly became the top free app in the Apple store Saturday before it was removed, had failed to tackle violent content on its platform.Given the riot at the Capitol this week, there was a “serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence,” Amazon said in a letter to Parler first reported by Buzzfeed.Once the preferred platform of the far-right fringe, Parler — launched in 2018 — now draws more traditional conservative voices, like those of Fox News star and close Trump ally Sean Hannity, as well as the Republican governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem.Another Parler regular, influential political commentator Mark Levin, said Friday he had “suspended” his own Twitter account “in protest against Twitter’s fascism.”Levin also mentioned his account on Rumble, a site which, like YouTube, broadcasts videos but promises its users they will “never be censored for political or scientific content.”Yet, all these alternative platforms are so closely identified with the right — even the extreme right — that, especially as tech companies move against them, they seem unlikely ever to draw followings like Trump’s 88 million Twitter followers.

Trump said considering Dershowitz, Giuliani for defense in possible impeachment-Harvard law scholar says it would be his ‘honor and privilege’ to defend the US president against claims he incited the storming of the Capitol-By TOI staff and Agencies-JAN 10,21-Today, 11:47 am

US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering appointing Rudy Giuliani and Alan Dershowitz as his defense lawyers if he faces an impeachment trial over his role last week’s deadly riot at the US Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters.According to CNN, Trump’s personal attorney Giuliani, who called for the 2020 presidential election to be settled as a “trial by combat” while speaking at the rally before storming of the Capitol, is set to be on the team, while legal scholar Dershowitz, who has frequently backed Trump, is also being considered.“It would be my honor and privilege to defend the Constitution of the United States and the First Amendment against partisan efforts to weaponize the Constitution,” Dershowitz told CNN.Giuliani declined to comment on the report.Democrats’ momentum for a fresh drive to quickly impeach Trump gained support Saturday with a top Republican saying the president’s role in the deadly riot was worthy of rebuke.Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey said he believed Trump had committed “impeachable offenses.” But he stopped short of saying whether he would vote to remove the president from office at the conclusion of a Senate trial if the House sent over articles of impeachment.“I don’t know what they are going to send over and one of the things that I’m concerned about, frankly, is whether the House would completely politicize something,” Toomey said Saturday on Fox News Channel, speaking of the Democratic-controlled House.“I do think the president committed impeachable offenses, but I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything,” Toomey said.With Toomey, Rep. David Cicilline, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles — or charges — accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said his group had grown to include 185 co-sponsors.Lawmakers plan to formally introduce the proposal on Monday in the House, where articles of impeachment must originate. A vote could be possible by Wednesday — exactly one week before Democrat Joe Biden becomes president at noon on Jan. 20.The articles, if passed by the House, would then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial, with senators acting as jurors who would ultimately vote on whether to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump would be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, shared no details about her party’s plans as she addressed her hometown San Francisco constituents during an online video conference on Saturday.“Justice will be done. Democracy will prevail. And America will be healed,” she said. “But it is a decision that we have to make.A violent mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were putting the final, formal touches on Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.The crowd surged to the domed symbol of American democracy following a rally near the White House, where Trump repeated his bogus claims that the election was stolen from him and urged his supporters to march in force toward the Capitol.Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the siege.Outrage over the attack and Trump’s role in egging it on capped a divisive, chaotic presidency like few others in the nation’s history. There is less than two weeks until Trump is out of office but Democrats have made clear they don’t want to wait that long.Trump, meanwhile, has few fellow Republicans speaking out in his defense. He’s become increasingly isolated, holed up in the White House as he has been abandoned in the aftermath of the riot by many aides, leading Republicans and, so far, two Cabinet members — both women.Biden, meanwhile, reiterated that he has long viewed Trump as unfit for office. But on Friday he sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress does “is for them to decide.”After spending many weeks refusing to concede defeat in the November election, Trump promised — after the Capitol riot — to oversee a smooth transfer of power to Biden. He called for reconciliation and healing, but then announced he will not attend the inauguration — the first such presidential snub since just after the Civil War.

Seemingly abandoning Trump, Pence said planning to attend Biden inauguration-Reports say US vice president has decided to attend January 20 ceremony; incoming president says he’d be ‘honored to have him there’By AFP-JAN 10,21-Today, 11:46 am

WASHINGTON — Mike Pence will attend the upcoming inauguration of Joe Biden, multiple media reports said Saturday, the vice president becoming the latest longtime loyalist to abandon an increasingly isolated US President Donald Trump.Relations between Trump and Pence — who was previously one of the mercurial president’s staunchest defenders — have nosedived since Wednesday, when the vice president formally announced Biden’s victory in November’s election.A mob of far-right demonstrators stormed the US Capitol the same day in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s win, in a riot blamed on Trump that left five dead.Multiple media reports on Saturday cited senior administration officials as saying that Pence — who was forced to take shelter from the intruders during the riot — had decided to attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20.Preparations take place for US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on the West Front of the US Capitol in Washington, Jan. 8, 2021, after supporters of US President Donald Trump stormed the building. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)-The president-elect earlier in the week said Pence would be welcome at his formal swearing-in, due to take place in a scaled-down format due to the coronavirus.“I think it’s important that as much as we can stick to what have been the historical precedents of how an administration changes should be maintained,” Biden told reporters.“We’d be honored to have him there, and to move forward in the transition.”Trump said on Friday he would not attend the inauguration.The outgoing president has been accused of provoking Wednesday’s violence, and now faces an unprecedented second impeachment, expected to begin on Monday.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that Democrats would launch the process unless Trump resigned or Pence invoked the 25th Amendment, in which the cabinet removes the president from office.While Pence has not spoken publicly on the subject, the New York Times reported Thursday he was against invoking the mechanism, never used before in US history.

Top Republican says Trump committed ‘impeachable offenses’But Pat Toomey stops short of saying whether he would vote to remove the US president from office if a Senate impeachment trial goes ahead-By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and Alan Fram-JAN 10,21-Today, 3:32 am

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats’ momentum for a fresh drive to quickly impeach outgoing President Donald Trump gained support Saturday, and a top Republican said the president’s role in the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters was worthy of rebuke.Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said he believed Trump had committed “impeachable offenses.” But he stopped short of saying whether he would vote to remove the president from office at the conclusion of a Senate trial if the House sent over articles of impeachment.“I don’t know what they are going to send over and one of the things that I’m concerned about, frankly, is whether the House would completely politicize something,” Toomey said Saturday on Fox News Channel, speaking of the Democratic-controlled House.“I do think the president committed impeachable offenses, but I don’t know what is going to land on the Senate floor, if anything,” Toomey said.The new Democratic effort to stamp Trump’s presidential record — for the second time and days before his term ends — with the indelible mark of impeachment gained momentum Saturday.Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I, a leader of the House effort to draft impeachment articles — or charges — accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, said his group had grown to include 185 co-sponsors.Lawmakers plan to formally introduce the proposal on Monday in the House, where articles of impeachment must originate. A vote could be possible by Wednesday — exactly one week before Democrat Joe Biden becomes president at noon on Jan. 20.The articles, if passed by the House, would then be transmitted to the Senate for a trial, with senators acting as jurors who would ultimately vote on whether to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump would be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, shared no details about her party’s plans as she addressed her hometown San Francisco constituents during an online video conference on Saturday.“Justice will be done. Democracy will prevail. And America will be healed,” she said. “But it is a decision that we have to make.”A violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and rampaged through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were putting the final, formal touches on Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.The crowd surged to the domed symbol of American democracy following a rally near the White House, where Trump repeated his bogus claims that the election was stolen from him and urged his supporters to march in force toward the Capitol.Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the siege.“It has been an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country led by this president, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy,” Pelosi said of the attack.She added: “This cannot be exaggerated. The complicity, not only the complicity, the instigation of the president of United States, must and will be addressed.”No. 4 House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York reiterated support for moving against what he deemed “an act of sedition that was incited and encouraged by Donald Trump.”Speaking of Trump, Jeffries said Saturday: “He should be impeached, convicted and thrown out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and forever banished to the dustbin of history.”Outrage over the attack and Trump’s role in egging it on capped a divisive, chaotic presidency like few others in the nation’s history. There are less than two weeks until Trump is out of office but Democrats have made clear they don’t want to wait that long.Trump, meanwhile, has few fellow Republicans speaking out in his defense. He’s become increasingly isolated, holed up in the White House as he has been abandoned in the aftermath of the riot by many aides, leading Republicans and, so far, two Cabinet members — both women.Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has long voiced her exasperation with Trump’s conduct in office, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that he simply “needs to get out.”Sen. Ben Sasse, another Trump critic, said more important than what happens to Trump “is what happens to the United States people and this union 12 days and beyond.”But the Nebraska Republican also told “CBS This Morning” on Friday that he “will definitely consider” whatever articles the House sends over because he believes Trump “has disregarded his oath of office” to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.Biden, meanwhile, reiterated that he has long viewed Trump as unfit for office. But on Friday he sidestepped a question about impeachment, saying what Congress does “is for them to decide.”After spending many weeks refusing to concede defeat in the November election, Trump promised — after the Capitol riot — to oversee a smooth transfer of power to Biden. He called for reconciliation and healing, but then announced he will not attend the inauguration — the first such presidential snub since just after the Civil War.

Banned from Twitter, Trump may find new megaphone on far-right magnet Parler-Google removes platform from its store, Apple threatens to follow, amid US curbs on online incitement-By Frank Bajak-JAN 10,21-Today, 3:03 am

BOSTON (AP) — One Twitter wag joked about lights flickering on and off at the White House being Donald Trump signaling to his followers in Morse code after Twitter and Facebook squelched the president for inciting rebellion.Though deprived of his big online megaphones, Trump does have alternative options of much smaller reach, led by the far right-friendly Parler — even if Google removed it from its app store Friday and Apple threatened the same.Trump may launch his own platform. But that won’t happen overnight, and free speech experts anticipate growing pressure on all social media platforms to curb incendiary speech as Americans take stock of Wednesday’s violent takeover of the US Capitol by a Trump-incited mob.Twitter ended Trump’s nearly 12-year run on Friday. In shuttering his account it cited a tweet to his 89 million followers that he planned to skip President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration that it said gave rioters license to converge on Washington once again.Facebook and Instagram have suspended Trump at least until Inauguration Day. Twitch and Snapchat also have disabled Trump’s accounts, while Shopify took down online stores affiliated with the president and Reddit removed a Trump subgroup. Twitter also banned Trump loyalists including former national security advisor Michael Flynn in a sweeping purge of accounts promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and the Capitol insurrection. Some had hundreds of thousands of followers.In a statement Friday, Trump said: “We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future.”The “immense power that the social media platforms have as gatekeepers of public discourse” had been flexed as never before — a power that should be troubling even for supporters of the Trump ban, tweeted Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.Experts are betting Trump pops up on Parler, a 2-year-old magnet for the far right that claims more than 12 million users and where his sons Eric and Don Jr. are already active. Parler hit headwinds, though, on Friday as Google yanked its smartphone app from its app store for allowing postings that seek “to incite ongoing violence in the US” and Apple threatened to do the same, giving Parler a 24-hour ultimatum.Apple told Parler executives in an email Friday it got complaints the app was being used to “plan and facilitate yet further illegal and dangerous activities.”Parler CEO John Matze complained on his site of being scapegoated. “Standards not applied to Twitter, Facebook or even Apple themselves, apply to Parler.” He said he “won’t cave to politically motivated companies and those authoritarians who hate free speech.”Losing access to the app stores of Google and Apple — whose operating systems power hundreds of millions of smartphones — severely limits Parler’s reach, though it will continue to be accessible via web browser. Another potential landing spot for Trump is Gab — though both Google and Apple booted it from their app stores in 2017.Online speech experts expect social media companies led by Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube to more vigorously police hate speech and incitement in the wake of the Capitol rebellion, as Western democracies led by Nazism-haunted Germany already do.David Kaye, a University of California-Irvine law professor and former UN special rapporteur on free speech believes the Parlers of the world will also face pressure from the public and law enforcement as will little-known sites where further pre-inauguration disruption is now apparently being organized. They include MeWe, Wimkin, TheDonald.win and Stormfront, according to a report released Saturday by The Althea Group, which tracks disinformation.Kaye rejects arguments by US conservatives including the president’s former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, that the Trump ban savaged the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from restricting free expression. “Silencing people, not to mention the President of the US, is what happens in China not our country,” Haley tweeted.“It’s not like the platforms’ rules are draconian. People don’t get caught in violations unless they do something clearly against the rules,” said Kaye. And not just individual citizens have free speech rights. “The companies have their freedom of speech, too.”While initially arguing their need to be neutral on speech, Twitter and Facebook gradually yielded to public pressure drawing the line especially when the so-called Plandemic video emerged early in the COVID-19 pandemic urging people not to wear masks, noted civic media professor Ethan Zuckerman of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.Zuckerman expects the Trump de-platforming may spur important online shifts. First, there may be an accelerated splintering of the social media world along ideological lines.“Trump will pull a lot of audience wherever he goes,” he said. That could mean more platforms with smaller, more ideologically isolated audiences.A splintering could push people towards extremes — or make extremism less infectious, he said: Maybe people looking for a video about welding on YouTube will no longer find themselves being offered an unrelated QAnon video. Alternative media systems that are less top-down managed and more self-governing could also emerge.Zuckerman also expects major debate about online speech regulation, including in Congress.“I suspect you will see efforts from the right arguing that there shouldn’t be regulations on acceptable speech,” he said. “I think you will see arguments from the democratic side that speech is a public health issue.”You’re serious. We appreciate that!

Pro-Trump rioter in horned fur hat, man who grabbed Pelosi’s lecturn, charged-Jake Angeli and Adam Johnson hit with violent entry and other charges; dozens more held in deadly storming of US Capitol; officials say many more cases being probed-By AP and TOI staff-9 January 2021, 11:58 pm

Dozens of people have already been arrested and prosecutors across the US have vowed to bring to justice those who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, sending lawmakers into hiding as they began their work to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.Two men in high-profile photos from the events — one wearing a horned, fur hat and the other carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern — were charged Saturday, the latest arrests in Wednesday’s mayhem that left five people dead.The arrests come as more images emerge showing just how violent the riots were: a bloodied officer crushed in a doorway screaming; another tumbling over a railing into the crowd below after being body-slammed from behind; members of the media being cursed, shoved and punched.Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob with a painted face and wearing a costume that included the horned hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Arizona pending a detention hearing that will be scheduled during an initial court appearance early in the coming week, Assistant US Attorney Esther Winne told The Associated Press by email. Chansley did not immediately respond to messages left via email and telephone.Chansley, who had become a staple in his costume at pro-Trump protests across the country, is now among dozens of people arrested in the wake of the Capitol invasion by a large mob of Trump supporters enraged over his election loss.The rioters took over the House and Senate chambers, smashed windows and waved Trump, American and Confederate flags, forcing lawmakers to halt their voting to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory and go into hiding for hours.A Florida man accused of making off with Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was arrested Friday night on a federal warrant and was being held Saturday without bail in Pinellas County, Florida. Jail records do not show if Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Florida, has an attorney.Johnnson was charged Saturday with theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.The married father of five who was quickly identified on social media by local residents as the man in a photo smiling as he walked through the Capitol rotunda carrying Pelosi’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald reported.Before being deleted or taken down, Johnson posted on social media that he was in Washington, DC, during Wednesday’s riot and included disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The Bradenton Herald.By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the US Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers.Prosecutors said additional cases remained under seal, dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents and the US attorney in Washington vowed Friday that “all options were on the table” for charges, including possibly sedition.Other notable arrests in the Capitol invasion include:— Doug Jensen, an Iowa man, was jailed early Saturday on federal charges, including trespassing and disorderly conduct counts, for his alleged role in the Capitol riot. Jensen, 41, of Des Moines, was being held without bond at the Polk County Jail and county sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Evans said he didn’t know if Jensen had an attorney. Video posted online during the storming of the Capitol showed a man who appears to be Jensen, who is white, pursuing a Black officer up an interior flight of stairs as a mob of people trails several steps behind. At several points, the officer says “get back,” to no avail.This is HORRIFIC to watch pic.twitter.com/AToUyANEY7— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) January 6, 2021— Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was shown in a widely seen photo sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with his boots on a desk after the storming of the Capitol, was arrested Friday by the FBI. Barnett, 60, turned himself in to FBI agents at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in Bentonville, Arkansas.Richard Barnett, a supporter of US President Donald Trump, holds a piece of mail as he sits inside the office of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after protestors breached the US Capitol in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)-He is jailed in the Washington County Detention Center in nearby Fayetteville, Arkansas, without bond pending an initial court appearance, FBI Little Rock spokesman Connor Hagan said. No attorney is listed in online jail records for the Gravette, Arkansas, man.From his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk to an Arkansas jail. Here's a mug shot of Richard Barnett, who was arrested this morning and is now facing federal charges pic.twitter.com/rpSJ3BvyAm — Reena Roy (@reenaroy) January 8, 2021— Derrick Evans, a West Virginia state lawmaker who posted videos online showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, was arrested Friday by the FBI at his home and charged with entering restricted federal property. Evans, who faced bipartisan calls for him to step down, submitted a letter of resignation Saturday to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and apologized for his actions. Evans faces charges that he entered a restricted area of the US Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a horde of rampaging Trump supporters as Congress was in session to certify the Electoral College vote. In the videos, Evans is seen fist bumping a police officer and then milling around the rotunda as he shouted, “Our house!”WV Delegate Derrick Evans, who live streamed himself breaking into the Capitol and posted it on the internet, is among those being charged. This is him: pic.twitter.com/CUzjQd6ZrI — Sara B. (@sara_bee) January 8, 2021-US attorneys in several states, including Kentucky, Ohio and Oregon, said people could face charges in their home states if they traveled to Washington and took part in the riot. The FBI has released photos of people inside the Capitol, urging the public to help identify them.Capitol Police arrested just more than a dozen people the day of the breach while DC police arrested around 70. Many people freely left the Capitol, which means investigators now have to work to identify them and track them down. Authorities have to distinguish between those who traveled to Washington only to participate in the rally before the riot versus those who were part of the insurrection at the Capitol. It can take weeks for investigators to go through photos and video, identify suspects, interview witnesses and write a complaint to secure an arrest.Those who’ve been charged so far could also lead investigators to others who joined in the violent siege on Capitol Hill.Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, said this week that prosecutors are not keeping anything out of their “ arsenal for potential charges.” As prosecutors gather more evidence, they can add more charges against those they’ve already arrested.A member of a pro-Trump mob bashes an entrance of the Capitol Building in an attempt to gain access on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, breaking windows and clashing with police officers. Trump supporters gathered in the nation’s capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images/AFP)Experts say federal prosecutors could bring rarely used seditious conspiracy charges against some of the rioters. In the wake of protests across the U.S. over police brutality this summer, then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen told prosecutors in September that they should consider using the sedition charge, which calls for up to 20 years in prison, against violent demonstrators.Rosen, who took over the top Department of Justice job when Attorney General William Barr stepped down last month, said the charge does not require proof of a plot to overthrow the US government and gave the hypothetical example of a group that “has conspired to take a federal courthouse or other federal property by force.”Trump urged the crowd to march on the Capitol, even promising to go with them, though he didn’t in the end. The president told his supporters to “fight” to stop the “steal” of the election, while his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called for “trial by combat.”But the legal bar for charging the president or any other speakers at the rally with inciting violence is high. Experts say it would be tough to prove that the president intended for violence to happen on Capitol Hill. Trump’s speech likely would not be considered illegally inciting violence because he didn’t specifically call for people to storm the Capitol, experts say.But Trump faces an impeachment effort that is gathering steam. Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump in the House of Representatives on Monday.Meanwhile outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has informed senators that a potential trial in the Senate following impeachment in the House is unlikely to begin before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20.Democrats will gain a razor-thin majority in the Senate on January 22, but impeaching a president in the Senate requires a two-thirds majority.

After Israel-Morocco deal, US launches work on consulate in Western Sahara-US envoy attends event in ‘stunningly beautiful’ disputed region; Moroccan FM says country ‘feels stronger in its legitimate fight for its territorial integrity’-By AFP-JAN 10,21-Today, 8:04 pm

RABAT, Morocco — The United States on Sunday started the “process of establishing” a consulate in contested Western Sahara, after Washington recognized Morocco’s sovereignty there in exchange for Rabat normalizing ties with Israel.US Ambassador David Fischer visited the port of Dakhla, 1,440 kilometers (895 miles) southwest of Rabat in the far south of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, to mark the start of work on a diplomatic office.“It is such an honor for me to visit this stunningly beautiful and critically important region of Morocco, and to begin the process of establishing a US diplomatic presence here,” Fischer said, according to the US embassy.Western Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco’s control, where tensions with the pro-independence Polisario Front have simmered since the 1970s.Last year, Morocco joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan in agreeing to normalize ties with Israel under US-brokered deals.In return, US President Donald Trump fulfilled a decades-old Moroccan goal by backing its contested sovereignty over the barren but phosphate-rich region, which lies next to key Atlantic fishing zones.Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said Sunday that “Morocco feels stronger in its legitimate fight for its territorial integrity… with the support of its friends.”The Algerian-backed Polisario Front fought a war for independence from 1975 to 1991, and controls about one-fifth of the desert territory.Some 20 countries, mostly African and Arab nations, have already opened diplomatic offices in the Moroccan-held area, but the Polisario considers such moves to be violations of international law.UN peacekeepers in Western Sahara are mandated to organize a referendum on self-determination for the region, and despite Washington’s move, the UN insists its position is “unchanged.”In November, the Polisario announced it regarded a 1991 ceasefire as null and void, after Morocco sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone to reopen a key road.Bourita said Sunday that Morocco continues to “support the ceasefire, but will react to any provocation,” adding that Rabat “will support the UN process… to find a solution to this long-standing dispute.”Fischer, who called the visit Sunday “another historic milestone in more than 200 years of friendship” between Morocco and the US, was accompanied by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker.The pair donned flowing white embroidered robes that are traditionally worn in the territory over their suits.In December, the US State Department opened a “virtual” diplomatic post in Western Sahara, ahead of finding “an appropriate site” to build a consulate.The building is expected to be ready in coming months, Fischer added.Last month, Fischer said that a consulate would allow Washington “to take further advantage of Morocco’s strategic positioning as a hub for trade in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.”The Morocco-Israel deal to normalize ties is expected to involve significant investment from the US International Development Finance Corporation, and Morocco hopes Dakhla can become a major regional port.Last month, the DFC inked a memorandum of understanding to invest $3 billion over the next four years into Morocco or with Moroccan partners working in sub-Saharan Africa.It also promised an initiative to “catalyze $1 billion of investments in projects that advance women’s economic empowerment in the Middle East and North Africa.”US President-elect Joe Biden, who will replace Trump on January 20, has not publicly commented on Western Sahara.

Israeli jets said to fly low over Beirut, scaring residents-Breaches of Lebanese airspace by Israel reportedly becoming a daily occurrence-By Agencies and TOI staff-JAN 10,21-Today, 6:44 pm

Israeli military jets carried out several low-altitude flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence, according to social media users in Lebanon.Israel has been accused of regularly breaching Lebanese airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring Syria or reconnaissance missions on Hezbollah’s presence in the south of the country. The Iran-backed terror group, sworn to Israel’s destruction, has thousands of missiles stored in southern Lebanon aimed at the Jewish state.On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, spooking Beirut residents. They were followed by reported Israeli strikes in Syria.The reported frequency of low-flying warplanes over the capital has intensified in the last two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the final days of US President Donald Trump’s administration.“When the drone leaves, the warplanes come. When the warplanes leave, the drones return. They have seen us in our PJs, filmed us in our PJs and surveilled us in our PJs. Now what,” quipped Twitter user Areej_AAH“Of all types of panic I experienced in life in Beirut, the panic that accompanies the Israeli warplanes flying this low in Beirut is very special,” tweeted Rudeynah Baalbaky, who said it brought back memories of the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Hezbollah and Israel.Israel rarely comments on these reports.Many fear conflict may erupt in the area before Trump leaves office in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq last year, or to scuttle efforts by the incoming administration of Joe Biden to negotiate with Iran.On Friday, the Lebanese army said it recorded an Israeli flight that lasted nearly six hours in the country’s south.A Twitter account that tracks aircraft movement in the Middle East, Intel_Sky, has recorded dozens of Israeli jets flying over Lebanon, since the start of the year. Intel_Sky called Sunday’s flights “mock raids.”At one point this summer, the Lebanese army said Israel violated its airspace nearly 30 times in two days, flying reconnaissance drones and jets into Lebanese territory.The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says Israel enters Lebanese airspace on a daily basis in violation of UN resolutions and the country’s sovereignty.Between June and October 2020, UNIFIL recorded a daily average of 12.63 airspace violations, totaling 61 hours and 51 minutes in flight time, a significant increase from the previous four months. Drones accounted for approximately 95 percent of the violations, UNIFIL said.Israel and Lebanon are technically at war.Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in a year-end interview, said Israel’s efforts to curb his group’s ability to acquire precision-guided missiles have failed. He boasted that Hezbollah now has twice as many such missiles as it had last year.Israel has in recent months expressed concern that Hezbollah is trying to establish production facilities to make precision-guided missiles.

'I’m frankly somewhere between addicted and intoxicated'Elated outgoing US envoy says ‘there’s no going back’ on Trump’s Israel policies-After overseeing shift on Jerusalem, Golan, settlements, along with Israel-Gulf normalization, David Friedman suggests traditional peacemaking tactics are a thing of the past-By TOI staff-JAN 10,21-Today, 6:44 pm

Donald Trump’s outgoing US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has expressed confidence that the major shifts in Washington’s policy vis-a-vis Israel and the Palestinians cannot be reversed by the Biden administration.“I’m frankly somewhere between addicted and intoxicated with what I’ve been able to do, and how much joy it gives me,” he told The New York Times in a parting interview reviewing his time in Israel. The Trump administration, said Friedman, has “changed the narrative dramatically.”“There’s no going back on what we’ve been able to do,” said Friedman.(The interview was published Sunday, but carried out last Monday, two days before pro-Trump supporters invaded the US Capitol; Friedman commented on those events on Friday.)-Under Trump’s leadership, the US administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved its embassy there from Tel Aviv, and recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. It withdrew millions in aid to the Palestinians and shuttered the PLO office in Washington. The Trump peace plan unveiled last January — forcefully opposed by the Palestinians — did not call for the evacuation of Israeli settlements and would have allowed Israel to annex large swaths of the West Bank under its framework.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and US Ambassador David Friedman at the Western Wall on December 10, 2020, the first night of Hanukkah. Netanyahu hailed the “light” of US President Donald Trump’s announcement that Morocco and Israel are to establish full relations, issued hours earlier. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)-But Israel’s plans to unilaterally annex parts of the area were put on ice when the US clinched a normalization deal between Jerusalem and the United Arab Emirates in August. That agreement was followed in succession by deals establishing diplomatic ties between Israel and Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco, all of which were brokered by the Trump administration. The UAE, Sudan and Morocco received significant rewards from the US for opening ties with Israel.In addition, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo became the first top American diplomat to visit a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last year. In November 2018, his State Department said the US would no longer see settlements as contrary to international law. During his last visit to Israel, Pompeo also announced that Washington would designate as “anti-Semitic” the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which seeks to isolate Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman as he prepares to board a plane at Ben Gurion Airport on November 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)-Freidman said the Trump administration “injected a tremendously needed dose of realism into the Palestinian psyche about what’s achievable and what’s not.” He said the Trump peace plan was “a gift to the Palestinian people” that would make their “quality of life far more bearable.”For the US to press Israel on increased settlement building, “just to kind of virtue-signal that we think the Palestinians should have something more, made no sense to me,” he said.The ambassador also said Israel could yet take unilateral steps to determine its borders, though he conceded such a move would be less than ideal.He said Israel would “continue a process that, hopefully, we’ve been helpful in starting, of determining internally — forget about the rest of the world — what its eastern border should be.”“They can act unilaterally,” he said, referring to an Israeli annexation. “It’s suboptimal, but at some point, it’s just sort of necessary just to move on.”Friedman acknowledged that US President-elect Biden would return to a “more internationally accepted view” of settlements as illegal. But he insisted the Trump peace plan “has the advantage of being a realistic two-state solution that is endorsed generally by the Israeli public. Why would you throw that out?”He opined: “A flood of refugees into Israel? Never going to happen. Dividing Jerusalem? It’s just never going to happen. Israel giving up certain parts of its biblical heartland? Never going to happen.”Friedman, who was seen as unusually close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also said he didn’t interfere with Israeli elections. “It may not look that way, but I respect Israel’s democracy,” he said. He also signaled he would seek Israeli citizenship, but not immediately.“I’m going to stay American-only for at least four years,” he said. “I want to give myself every opportunity to return to government.”

Body parts, debris found after Indonesia plane crash-Boeing 737-500 with 62 people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, officials say-By Niniek Karmini and Edna Tarigan-JAN 10,21-Today, 5:09 am

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the Java Sea early Sunday morning, a day after a Boeing 737-500 with 62 people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, officials said.Officials were hopeful they were honing in on the wreckage of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 after sonar equipment detected a signal from the aircraft.Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi told reporters that authorities have launched massive search efforts after identifying “the possible location of the crash site.”These pieces were found by the SAR team between Lancang Island and Laki Island,” National Search and Rescue Agency Bagus Puruhito in a statement.Indonesian military chief Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said teams on the Rigel navy ship equipped with a remote-operated vehicle had detected a signal from the aircraft, which fit the coordinates from the last contact made by the pilots before the plane went missing.“We have immediately deployed our divers from navy’s elite unit to determine the finding to evacuate the victims,” Tjahjanto said.An Indonesian Navy diver holds debris from Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182 during a search and rescue operation at sea near Lancang island on January 10, 2021, after the Boeing 737-500 crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta airport on January 9. (ADEK BERRY / AFP)-More than 12 hours since the Boeing plane operated by the Indonesian airline lost contact, little is known about what caused the crash.Fishermen in the area around Thousand Islands, a chain of islands north of Jakarta’s coast, reported hearing an explosion around 2:30 p.m. Saturday.“We heard something explode, we thought it was a bomb or a tsunami since after that we saw the big splash from the water,” fisherman Solihin, who goes by one name, told The Associated Press by phone.“It was raining heavily and the weather was so bad. So it is difficult to see around clearly. But we can see the splash and a big wave after the sounds. We were very shocked and directly saw the plane debris and the fuel around our boat.”Sumadi said Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m. It disappeared from radar four minutes later, after the pilot contacted air traffic control to ascend to an altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters), he said.There were 62 people on board, including seven children and three babies.“We are aware of media reports from Jakarta regarding Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families. We are in contact with our airline customer and stand ready to support them during this difficult time.”Authorities established two crisis centers, one at airport and one at port. Families gathered to wait for news of loved ones.On social media, people began circulating the flight manifesto with photos and videos of those who were listed as passengers. One video shows a woman with her children waving goodbye while walking through the airport.Sriwijaya Air President Director Jefferson Irwin Jauwena said the plane, which is 26 years old and previously used by airlines in the United States, was airworthy. He told reporters Saturday that the plane had previously flown to Pontianak and Pangkal Pinang city on the same day.“Maintenance report said everything went well and airworthy,” Jauwena told a news conference. He said the plane was delayed due to bad weather, not because of any damage.Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, with more than 260 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents on land, sea and air because of overcrowding on ferries, aging infrastructure and poorly enforced safety standards.In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet operated by Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea just minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. The plane involved in Saturday’s incident did not have the automated flight-control system that played a role in the Lion Air crash and another crash of a 737 MAX 8 jet in Ethiopia five months later, leading to the grounding of the MAX 8 for 20 months.The Lion Air crash was Indonesia’s worst airline disaster since 1997, when 234 people were killed on a Garuda airlines flight near Medan on Sumatra island. In December 2014, an AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore plunged into the sea, killing 162 people.Sriwijaya Air has only has several minor incidents in the past, though a farmer was killed in 2008 when landing plane went off runway due to a hydraulic issue.The United States banned Indonesian carriers from operating in the country in 2007, but reversed the decision in 2016, citing improvements in compliance with international aviation standards. The European Union has previously had similar bans, lifting them in June 2018.

North Korea threatens to expand its nuclear arsenal, citing US ‘hostility’Kim Jong Un says he won’t use his nuclear weapons first, suggests he’s open to dialogue, but also calls Washington his ‘main enemy’By Hyung-Jin Kim-JAN 10,21-Today, 2:17 am

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to expand his nuclear arsenal as he disclosed a list of high-tech weapons systems under development, saying the fate of relations with the United States depends on whether it abandons its hostile policy, state media reported Saturday.Kim’s comments during a key meeting of the ruling party this week were seen as applying pressure on the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has called Kim a “thug” and has criticized his summits with President Donald Trump.The Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying the “key to establishing new relations between (North Korea) and the United States is whether the United States withdraws its hostile policy.”Kim said he won’t use his nuclear weapons first unless threatened. He also suggested he is open to dialogue if Washington is too, but stressed North Korea must further strengthen its military and nuclear capability to cope with intensifying US hostility.He again called the US his country’s “main enemy.” “Whoever takes office in the US, its basic nature and hostile policy will never change,” he said.Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20, is unlikely to hold direct meetings with Kim unless the North Korean leader takes significant denuclearization steps.Cheong Seong-Chang, a fellow at the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, said Kim’s speech showed he has no interests in denuclearization talks with Biden if he insists that working-level negotiations must sort out contentious issues first.Kim didn’t cite any specific provocative US actions. North Korea has previously called regular US military drills with South Korea an invasion rehearsal, though the allies have repeatedly denied that.The North Korean leader listed sophisticated weapons systems that he said were under development. They include a multi-warhead missile, underwater-launched nuclear missiles, solid-fueled long-range missiles and spy satellites. He said North Korea must also advance the precision attack capability on targets in the 15,000 kilometer (9,320 mile)-striking range, an apparent reference to the US mainland, and develop technology to manufacture smaller nuclear warheads to be mounted on long-range missiles more easily.“The reality is that we can achieve peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula when we constantly build up our national defense and suppress US military threats,” Kim said.In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)-It’s unclear if North Korea is capable of developing such systems. It’s one of the world’s most cloistered countries, and estimates on the exact status of its nuclear and missile programs vary widely. In 2018, the South Korean government said North Korea was estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons.“What they want to tell the US is we’re developing the new strategic weapons that you can see as the most intimidating. Do you want to come to the negotiating table?” Choi Kang, vice president of Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said.KCNA said Kim’s comments were made during the ruling Workers’ Party congress, the first in five years, from Tuesday to Thursday. He spoke for nine hours, the agency said.The congress, the party’s top decision-making body, is being held as Kim faces what appears to be the toughest moment of his nine-year rule due to blows to his already-fragile economy — pandemic-related border closings that have sharply reduced the North’s external trade, a spate of natural disasters last summer and US-led sanctions.This image made from video broadcasted by North Korea’s KRT, shows a military parade with what appears to be possible new intercontinental ballistic missile at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (KRT via AP)-During his opening-day speech, Kim called the difficulties the “worst-ever” and admitted his previous economic plans had failed. In his other comments reported Saturday, he called for building a stronger self-supporting economy and reducing reliance on imports under a new five-year development plan.Since taking power in late 2011, Kim, who turned 37 on Friday, has pushed the so-called “byungjin” policy of simultaneously seeking economic growth and the expansion of his nuclear deterrent. After claiming to have achieved the ability to strike the US mainland with nuclear weapons, Kim launched high-stakes summits Trump in 2018, but their diplomacy later fell apart due to wrangling over the sanctions the following year.During this week’s speeches, Kim said North Korea will further boost ties with China, its biggest ally and economic lifeline but slammed South Korea for continuing the drills with the US and introducing modern weapons.South Korea’s Unification Ministry responded that it hopes for the early resumption of North Korea-US talks, saying the inauguration of a new president in Washington can serve as a good chance to improve their ties.“Kim’s speech foreshows the North Korean-US relations won’t be smooth in the next four years with Biden in office,” said Nam Sung-wook, an expert on North Korea at Korea University in South Korea. “We won’t likely see big events and spectacles (like the Kim-Trump summits) for the time being.”

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