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)
Grief erupts in Italy as nation honours, buries quake dead-[The Canadian Press]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ASCOLI PICENO, Italy — Mourners in Italy prayed, hugged, wept and even applauded as coffins carrying victims of the country's devastating earthquake passed by at a state funeral Saturday, grieving as one nation after three desperate days of trying to save as many people as possible.In the central town of Ascoli Piceno, they gathered to bid farewell to 35 of the 291 people confirmed dead so far after the quake that struck a swath of countryside early Wednesday at the foothills of the central Apennine mountains.The caskets of 35 people had been brought to a community gym — one of the few structures in the area still intact and large enough to hold hundreds of mourners. The local bishop, Giovanni D'Ercole, celebrated Mass beneath a crucifix he had retrieved from one of the damaged churches in the picturesque area of medieval stone towns and hamlets.Emotions that had been dammed up for days broke in a crescendo of grief. One young man wept over a little girl's white coffin. Another woman gently stroked another small casket. Many mourners were recovering from injuries themselves, some wrapped in bandages. Everywhere people knelt at coffins, tears running down their cheeks, their arms around loved ones."It is a great tragedy. There are no words to describe it," said Gina Razzetti, a resident at the funeral. "Each one of us has our pain inside. We are thinking about the families who lost relatives, who lost their homes, who lost everything."As all of Italy observed a day of national mourning, with flags at half-staff, Bishop D'Ercole urged residents to rebuild their communities."Don't be afraid to cry out your suffering — I have seen a lot of this — but please do not lose courage," D'Ercole said in his homily. "Only together can we rebuild our houses and our churches. Together, above all, we will be able to restore life to our communities."President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi joined grieving family members, stopping to speak to some of them.When the caskets were brought out of the gym, the mourners applauded, a traditional Italian way of honouring people who die in tragedy.The bishop recalled the heartbreaking story of 9-year-old Giulia Rinaldo, whose embrace apparently allowed her younger sister Giorgia to survive.He said 15 hours after the quake struck Wednesday, he returned to the church in Pescara Del Tronto to recover its crucifix. Close by, firefighters were using their hands to dig out the two sisters."The older one, Giulia, was sprawled over the smaller one, Giorgia. Giulia, dead, Giorgia, alive. They were in an embrace," D'Ercole said.Giulia was among those buried Saturday, while her younger sister had her fourth birthday at a hospital, trying to recover from the traumatizing ordeal."The melancholy grabs on to your heart. You feel a sense of weakness, of depression," said Fiore Ciotto, a resident of Ascoli Piceno who attended the funeral. "An event like this weakens you physically and mentally."Across the area, a cool retreat for those seeking to escape Italy's hot summers, many of the dead were children and elderly people, some of them visiting grandparents before school resumed.The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, killing at least 291 people and injuring nearly 400. Nobody has been found alive in the ruins since Wednesday, and hopes have nearly vanished of finding any more survivors.Before Saturday's mass funeral, the president visited Amatrice, which bore the brunt of destruction with 230 fatalities and a town turned to rubble and dust. Eleven others died in nearby Accumoli and 50 more in Arquata del Tronto, 10 miles (16 kilometres ) north of Amatrice.Mattarella arrived by helicopter and was shown the extent of the damage in Amatrice by its mayor, Sergio Pirozzi. The president thanked rescue workers who have been working around the clock, some barely taking breaks for sleeping.Saturday's funeral involved most of the dead from Arquata del Tronto.As deep as their anguish was, Saturday's mourners at least had coffins with bodies to honour and bury. Many of the dead from Amatrice are now in a refrigerated morgue in an airport hangar in Rieti, the provincial capital that is 65 kilometres (40 miles) away, awaiting identification.On Tuesday, a memorial service — without the bodies — will be held for the dead of Amatrice on that battered town's outskirts.Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the quake, with many spending their nights in tent cities and a gym in Amatrice, where volunteers are working to provide basic amenities.With families unable to remain in the houses in Amatrice that were damaged but still standing, two persons were detained Saturday for suspected looting, the mayor said.Overnight, residents were rattled yet again by a series of aftershocks. The strongest, at 4:50 a.m., had a magnitude of 4.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, while the Italian geophysics institute measured it at 4.The Italian institute says the earthquake caused the ground below Accumoli to sink 20 centimetres (8 inches), according to satellite images.___Gera reported from Rome. Frances D'Emilio contributed reporting from Rieti.___This story has corrected that the president's first name is Sergio.Trisha Thomas And Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press
Italy's quake survivors fear family villages will become ghost towns-[By Steve Scherer]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
SANT'ANGELO, Italy (Reuters) - Tiny villages that dot the valley around the town of Amatrice, which was levelled by Wednesday's earthquake, were home to generations of families who once farmed the land, but later moved to cities for work and now return for the holidays.They are hamlets where children are free to play and roam day and night, without fear of traffic or strangers, because everyone knows everyone and keeps an eye out."The fear is that they will now be abandoned," said Giancarla Celli, 50, standing outside the 300-year-old family villa that withstood the quake, but which has been badly damaged and is now unsafe, cracks zigzagging up its walls.Most of the other homes in the hamlet of Sant'Angelo, where more than 100 people pass the hot summer months but which is sparsely populated in winter, have been reduced to rubble."I spent every summer here when I was a little girl," she said, tearing up. "I have so many memories."Sant'Angelo, San Lorenzo e Flaviano, Saletta, Rio, Cossito, and Retrosi are some of the more than 60 small villages near Amatrice at risk of becoming permanent ghost towns, like many others in Italy following past earthquakes.The Sicilian towns of Poggioreale, Gibellina, Salaparuta and Montevago were emptied after a 1968 quake, and deadly tremors have left a string of abandoned communities along Italy's rocky, 1,200 km-long (750 mile) Apennine backbone.Prime Minster Matteo Renzi's government has promised to rebuild the devastated area, where at least 290 people died following Wednesday's disaster.However, red tape, corruption and organised crime have given Italy a terrible track record for post-quake reconstruction.Complicating the matter is the fact that only an estimated one percent of Italian households buy earthquake insurance, the other 99 percent seeing it as an expensive luxury.That means the cost on any rebuilding – probably running into the billions of euros – will have to be shouldered by a state that already has one of the highest debt mountains in the world that it is perennially struggling to keep under control.-CEMETERY OF RUBBLE-"Sant'Angelo will end up a cemetery of rubble," said Pasquale Belli, one of Giancarla's neighbours, who drives about 150 km (95 miles) from Rome every weekend to get away from the chaos of the capital.A little further down the leafy valley is the town of San Lorenzo e Flaviano, also badly damaged. Firemen used a metal basket on the end of a crane to lower themselves into the church, whose roof has collapsed, to rescue relics such as an antique icon and a broken crucifix.While in the United States kids go to summer camp, during Italy's long summer break, children often go to stay with grandparents in small towns like San Lorenzo where they forge a lifelong tie to both the place and the people."All of my most cherished childhood memories are from here," said Barbara Bonifazi, 32, who lives and works in Rome but returns often to San Lorenzo."At night, you can see every star in the sky."Roberto Nibi, 67, is an architect who lives in Rome but was born in San Lorenzo. He was sleeping in the same room where he was born when the quake hit. "Imagine how ironic it would have been to have been killed in the same room I was born," he said shaking his head. Luckily for him, his house withstood the jolt.Nibi's 31-year-old son Eduardo said the survival of the villages depends on whether Amatrice, the biggest town in the area with more than 2,000 residents, is rebuilt.Voted one of Italy's most beautiful towns, Amatrice was hammered by the calamity, almost every house in the historic centre destroyed and even the school, which was meant to have been earthquake proofed, torn apart."That's where the grocery stores, shops and restaurants were, and these little villages depended on it," he said.Back in Sant'Angelo, Giancarla holds up a picture of her great grandfather that she has saved from the family home. "He had 27 children," she said.The various strands of this large family, some of whom now live in the United States, visit the family home when they can, she said, and her elderly mother and aunts were spending the summer there when the earthquake smashed the night calm."My mother and her two sisters, 96, 88, and 83 years old, walked out of the house in the dark on their own," she said."They are all very upset because they know they won't see the house rebuilt in their lifetimes."(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Sarkozy says Britain should manage asylum seekers on its own territory-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is attempting a political comeback before next year's election, said on Saturday that Britain should open an asylum centre on its territory to deal with asylum seekers now camped in Calais.Migrants aiming to reach Britain have over the years gathered in camps called the "jungle" in the French port of Calais.In the past two years, the population of the camps has swelled as warfare and economic upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East has driven thousands of migrants to try to reach Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel."I'm demanding the opening of a centre in Britain to deal with asylum seekers in Britain so that Britain can do the work that concerns them," Nicolas Sarkozy told a political rally in Touquet in northern France.Sarkozy said Britain should manage the asylum process, accepting those it wants on British territory and organising charters to remove those who are rejected."The jungle should not be in Calais or anywhere else, because this is a republic and those with no rights to be here should return to their country," Sarkozy said.Sarkozy was speaking in Touquet, where in 2003, France signed a symbolic border treaty with Britain. Under Le Touquet accord, British officials can check passports in France and vice versa.However, that has led to the migrants trying to reach British shores congregating at Calais. Images of hundreds of people trying to leap onto trucks bound for Britain has roused anti-immigration worries on both sides of the English Channel.That was a key issue in Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and it has become a hot-button issue ahead of France's April 2017 election.Sarkozy's conservative rival Alain Juppe, who opened his presidential bid on Saturday and is considered the frontrunner in the party's presidential primaries, has called on the Touquet accord to be renegotiated.(Reporting by Bate Felix and Ingrid Melander, editing by Larry King)
Gulen faithful at work in EU capital By Aleksandra Eriksson-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, 26. Aug, 19:29-Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the failed putsch of 15 July on Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic teacher who lives in the US and who ardently denies the accusation.He has outlawed the Gulenist movement, known as Hizmet (meaning “the service”) to its followers, and Feto (meaning “Fethullah terrorist organisation”) to its adversaries.He has apologised to Turkish people for letting it infiltrate Turkish institutions.He has also arrested thousands of its sympathisers inside Turkey and urged Turkish expats in Europe to denounce its foreign members in a purge that threatens to destroy EU relations.But all the while, Gulen-linked organisations have thrived in the EU capital.Some of their offices in Brussels’ EU district stand cheek by jowl with Turkish government buildings, and their people, who used to praise Erdogan, now denounce his autocratic ways to MEPs, officials, and press.Tuskon, the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, has been one of the most resourceful Gulen-linked groups.It set up shop in 2005, when Erdogan and Gulen were still allies, and quickly became an unofficial advocate of Erdogan’s political party, the AKP, in Europe.”We organised more than 100 meetings in Brussels and also some in Turkey,” Tuskon’s EU director, Serdar Yesilyurt, told EUobserver.”There were panels, conferences, discussions and delegations. We had 27 visits from Turkish ministers. We sent commissioners and MEPs to Turkey.”Tuskon sponsored a Turkey project at the European Policy Centre (EPC), a prominent think tank in Brussels, which it financed to the tune of €40,000 a year and in which it had a say on the selection of speakers at related events.”It was a very good deal,” Yesilyurt said. “EPC was able to organise 10 events a year for that money”.Tuskon also sponsored the congress of the European liberal party, Alde, in 2012 (for a €10,000 fee) and 2013 (€12,000) in return for letting its president speak to MEPs at lunch.Other Gulen-linked bodies in the EU capital include Unitee, the European Professionals Network (EPN), the Intercultural Dialogue Platform (IDP), and Zaman.Unitee is a foundation that represents EU entrepreneurs of Turkish origin, while the EPN helps Turkish professionals in Belgium with “career development”.The IDP promotes Hizmet as a movement that teaches a pacifist form of Islam, tolerance, hard work and education.“We spread the good work our members are doing to the EU institutions”, IDP director Ramazan Guveli told EUobserver, ”by organising events on interfaith dialogue and issuing policy recommendations, for instance, on how to prevent radicalisation”.Zaman was once Turkey’s largest-circulation daily newspaper and had a Brussels bureau, but in March this year, prior to the putsch, it was seized by Turkish authorities.None of the groups are formally linked to each other and most, with the exception of IDP, do not want to be called Hizmet advocates.The EPC’s Turkey coordinator, Amanda Paul, who also used to write a column in Zaman, said the Tuskon-EPC events contained “a balanced dialogue”, with speakers from different sides of the political divide.She told EUobserver that the Tuskon funding “in no way compromised” the EPC’s independence.Tuskon’s Yesilyurt also said that its mission was far broader than promoting Hizmet. “All of our activities had one goal … Turkey’s Europeanisation - a move towards a liberal economy”, he said.But for some MEPs, the movement’s influence in Brussels is more coordinated and more political than its adherents claim.“They are very active, and better represented than the Kurds or the secularist movement”, Kati Piri, a Dutch socialist MEP, who is also the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, told EUobserver.Marietje Schaake, a Dutch liberal MEP, said: “They made a strong lobby effort, and their advocacy hasn’t always been transparent.”-’Bad novel’-Enemies today, Erdogan and Gulen were once staunch allies.Erdogan’s Islamist AKP relied on Hizmet’s support to rise to power, in 2003, when Gulenists helped to remove secularist opposition figures from positions of power.Evidence from the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon cases, after 2008, showed that Gulen-linked prosecutors and judges staged sham trials to oust secularist counterparts and replace them with their own people.Sledgehammer was an alleged military plot to oust the AKP, but all the suspects were acquitted due to fabricated evidence.Ergenekon is the name of a purported ultra-secularist group that was also said to have plotted against Erdogan. A court in 2016 said there was no proof of its existence.Meanwhile, Hizmet fell from grace after 2013, when its prosecutors accused top AKP figures of corruption.Well before the July putsch, the AKP had already started a slow purge of Gulenists from state structures.Turkey’s EU ambassador, Selim Yenel, told EUobserver that it was hard to explain to non-Turks to what extent Hizmet had become a danger to the democratically elected government.”It sounds like a bad novel,” he said.“But every day there is new evidence showing how extensively he [Gulen] was able to put his people everywhere, how generals, judges, ambassadors can be so beholden by a person, how much anger and fear they caused”.Yenel’s EU embassy itself suspended one official for alleged Hizmet links.The ambassador said that Hizmet in Brussels has tried to harm EU-Turkey relations by demonising Erdogan.”President Erdogan, with his frustrations with the West, is an easy target,” Yenel said. ”Some MEPs - those who hadn’t witnessed the fallout in 2013 in particular - were ready to believe anything about him, especially when the criticism came from Turks.”He said Hizmet had deceived MEPs into thinking that it was an intellectual and reformist fellowship, when, in fact, Gulen’s aim was to grab power in Turkey in order to create an Islamic state on his own model.-Parallel structure?-Some AKP leaders have gone further in their suspicions.In 2014, Turkey’s then EU minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told media that if the EU froze Turkey’s accession talks, it would be because the European Union was now controlled by a “parallel structure” (Hizmet).He said the movement had paid off some MEPs, naming Andrew Duff, a former British liberal deputy.When Duff confronted him on the accusation, Cavusoglu claimed that the media had misreported his remarks.But senior Alde MEPs, such as the UK’s Sir Graham Watson and Germany deputy Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, have often defended Hizmet in Zaman or other Gulen-linked media.The MEPs even stood by Hizmet during and after the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials, when it became clear that the movement had misled its EU friends.Cavusoglu’s claim that Hizmet controlled EU institutions may sound like a tall tale.But Tukson’s Yesilyurt openly said that his group curried favour “with MEPs across the political spectrum”. He said that they “particularly targeted” the centre-right EPP group, the largest in the EU parliament, trying to seek out MEPs who were already opposed to Turkey’s EU accession.-Rule of law-For her part, Piri, the parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, says she has every right to meet with Gulen-linked organisations.“It’s part of my role to speak with a broad range of people”, she said.She said Hizmet-linked lobbyists in Brussels were "not necessarily the most credible promoters of democracy in Turkey”. But she did not see them as part of a religious sect or a political lobby.“I am meeting with business representatives, journalists or, more lately, judges, who tell me about their problems and raise concerns about the human rights situation in Turkey”, she said.She urged Turkey to respect the rule of law in its post-July crackdown, saying it is wrong to jail people on matters of conscience.”The way it works is that you can only be sentenced for something you did - not for something you believe in”, she said.She defended Erdogan’s right to bring criminals to justice.“Trying to illegally overthrow a democratically elected government is the biggest crime you can commit. It would also have closed the door for democracy in Turkey”, she said.But she also said the Turkish president created an opening for Hizmet by neglecting EU relations.She noted that ”the joint parliamentary committee hasn’t convened for over a year”, and that Ankara threw out the last two European Commission reports on its pro-EU progress instead of talking to its EU critics.”The absence of dialogue with the Turkish government and between our parliaments made it much more easy for these groups to … be well received in Brussels”, she said.-Dark side-Hizmet also created its own openings.Schaake, the Dutch liberal MEP, said most people in the EU capital involved in Turkey relations had met with Hizmet people, sometimes unknowingly.”I have talked to lobbyists who explicitly denied being Gulenists at the time - especially when they were still in an alliance with the AKP - but who now lobby openly as Gulenists”, she told EUobserver.“I think it’s likely that MEPs have engaged with the movement without knowing whom they are dealing with.”Schaake said that she was “always critical” of Hizmet because they had once espoused the same authoritarianism that they now criticised in Erdogan.The Dutch MEP herself became a target of Gulen-linked pressure groups when she condemned the censorship of a Hizmet-critical book, Army of the Imam by Ahmet Sik, and when she questioned the probity of the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer trials.”AKP and Gulen worked together to silence journalists and critics … specifically those pointing to the dark side of Hizmet,” she said.-Mea culpa-Tukson’s Yesilyurt admitted that, until 2011, he was “one of the main advocates of AKP in Brussels”.Amid Erdogan’s recent crackdown on free media, he said that, at the time, he “didn't fully understand the importance of freedom of expression - which I do now.”He said he started to criticise the AKP “when Erdogan turned in an autocratic direction”, but he also said leading EU politicians were guilty of the same faults."The EU was supporting Erdogan at that time. If I am guilty, so is Elmar Brok [a senior German centre-right MEP], Andrew Duff, and others."Guveli, the IDP director, said ”transparency hadn’t really helped the movement” in Turkey, where people who openly followed Gulen’s ideas ”only made it easier for the government to put them away.””Turkey is not the Netherlands,” he said. ”Our history is marred with coups, which were always followed by persecutions”.But he agreed that Hizmet followers in Brussels should be more open about their affiliations.Yesilyurt and Guveli said it was wrong to speak of a Hizmet or Gulenist “lobby” in Brussels.They said Hizmet is a loose fellowship of people who share the ideas of Gulen, a prolific writer of more than 40 books on Islam and ethics. They said it has no official structures and contains a wide variety of individuals, who do not act in concert or speak for each other.”I don’t feel uncomfortable when I am linked to Gulen,” Yesilyurt said. ”But it [the link to Gulen] is not fair to [other] Tuskon members, who aren’t affiliated with the movement.”Yesilyurt and Guveli also said that Gulen’s followers rose to top positions in Turkey due to their merit, not due to a conspiracy.”We are the best,” Yesilyurt said. ”Erdogan knows it, too. He married two of his daughters to people that graduated from Hizmet schools.”Guveli said: “We are the children of Turkey. We work hard. We are well educated. Why wouldn't we be allowed to take up top jobs in the state?”.-New chapter-Last year, Tuskon’s EU representation severed ties with its management board in Turkey and began working as an independent non-profit in Brussels.”This way, the government cannot legally seize our assets, our contacts,” Yesilyurt said.He said the group needed new sponsors, and that it would focus on raising awareness about Hizmet persecution in Turkey instead of promoting business ties.“They [Gulen followers in Turkey] are fighting for their lives,” Yesilyurt said. ”I always saw myself more as a human rights activist anyway.”Guveli’s IDP has always been a Belgian-registered charity.He said its EU advocacy would be more important than ever as Erdogan tried to consolidate power.“Kati Piri [the Dutch MEP] is wrong,” he said. ”We are the best way to promote democracy in Turkey."
Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive, says warplanes hit Kurdish militia-[Reuters]-By Umit Bektas-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Rebels supported by Turkey fought Kurdish-backed forces in north Syria on Saturday, as Ankara ratcheted up its cross-border offensive by saying it had launched air strikes against both Kurdish forces and Islamic State.Turkey's government, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency at home, has said the Syrian campaign it opened this week is as much about targeting Islamic State as it is about preventing Kurdish forces filling the vacuum left when Islamists withdraw.Turkey wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which Ankara fears could be used to support the Kurdish militant group PKK as it wages its three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil.Turkish security sources said two F-16 jets bombed a site controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the broader U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition. The sources also said the jets hit six Islamic State targets.Turkish military sources said one of its soldiers was killed and three others wounded when a tank was hit by a rocket that they said was fired from territory held by the Kurdish YPG. The sources said the army shelled the area in response.Syrian rebels opposed to Ankara's incursion said Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG and no Kurdish forces were in the area.On the ground, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels fought forces aligned with the SDF near the frontier town of Jarablus. Forces opposed to Ankara said Turkish tanks were deployed, a charge denied by Turkey's rebel allies.Turkey's offensive into Syria began on Wednesday, supporting its rebel allies with Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes. It seized control of Jarablus from Islamic State seeking to stop any Kurdish forces moving in first.Saturday's use of warplanes against what Turkey said was a Kurdish YPG militia target highlights its determination to prevent any Kurdish territorial expansion in north Syria.Any action against Kurdish forces in Syria puts Turkey at odds with its NATO ally the United States, which backs the SDF and YPG, seeing them as the most reliable and effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.It adds complexity to the Syrian conflict that erupted five years ago with an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has since drawn in regional states and world powers.-"DANGEROUS ESCALATION"-The Jarablus Military Council, part of the SDF, had said earlier on Saturday that Turkish planes hit the village of al-Amarna south of Jarablus, causing civilian casualties. It called the action "a dangerous escalation".The Kurdish-led administration that controls parts of northern Syria said Turkish tanks advanced on al-Amarna and clashed with forces of the Jarablus Military Council. But the Kurdish administration said no Kurdish forces were involved.However, the leader of one Turkey-backed rebel group gave a rival account. He told Reuters the rebels battled the Kurdish YPG around al-Amarna and denied any Turkish tanks took part.Turkish security forces simply said Turkish-backed forces had extended their control to five villages beyond Jarablus.A video released by Turkey's military showed the Turkish Red Crescent distributing food and aid to people in Jarablus, with the help of Turkish troops. It also showed what appeared to be Turkish-backed rebels flicking v-for-victory signs in the town.The newly formed Jarablus Military Council has said it was made up of people from the area with the aim of capturing the town and the surrounding region from Islamic State militants. However, the Turkish-backed rebels seized Jarablus first.Several militias under the SDF banner pledged support to Jarablus Military Council after it reported the Turkish bombing.The Northern Sun Battalion, an SDF faction, said in a statement it was heading to "Jarablus fronts" to help the council against "threats made by factions belonging to Turkey".Tension has mounted in Syria's Aleppo region in the past year between the U.S-backed Kurdish YPG force and its allies on one hand and Turkish-backed rebel groups on the other. The two sides have clashed on several occasions.(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun in Ankara and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Ros Russell)
Turkish warplanes hit Islamic State, Kurdish militia sites in Syria - sources-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ANKARA (Reuters) - Two Turkish F-16 warplanes struck six Islamic State targets and a position of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia in Syria on Saturday, Turkish security sources said.The sources did not give further details.Earlier on Saturday, a group allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, said its positions were bombarded by Turkish warplanes near Jarablus, a frontier town in northern Syria.(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; editing by Andrew Roche; Writing by Edmund Blair)
Nigerian launches offensive against militants in Delta oil hub-[Reuters]-By Tife Owolabi-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's military said on Saturday it had launched a new offensive against militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta, killing five and arresting 23.Armed groups have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on oil and gas pipelines in the southern region, reducing the country's oil output by 700,000 barrels day.A special forces battalion moved against militant camps on Friday in an operation "aimed at getting rid of all forms of criminal activities", army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement."In the course of the operation, five militants that attacked the troops were killed in action, while numerous others were injured and 23 suspects were arrested."There was no immediate reaction from militant groups, which operate from hard-to-access creeks in the swampland.The groups say they want a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth to go to the impoverished region. Crude sales account for about 70 percent of Nigeria's government revenue and most of the oil comes from the Delta.A similar military campaign in May drew sharp criticism from rights groups and residents who said soldiers had laid siege to villages, arrested civilians and raped women in an bid to force them hand over militants. The army denies this.The government has been trying to broker a ceasefire but the militant scene is divided into small groups whose fighters, drawn from unemployed youths, are difficult to control even for their leaders.On Thursday, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu met traditional leaders from the Delta to ask them to mediate in talks with militants but they said they wanted the army first to release prisoners taken during a previous sweep, an official has told Reuters.The army in May arrested a group of school teenagers who community leaders say are not linked to militants.A group calling itself Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed several major attacks, said in a statement on Sunday they had agreed to a ceasefire to start a dialogue. Officials have refused to confirm this.(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah, Camillus Eboh and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Roche)
U.N. Syria envoy presses for speedy Aleppo aid delivery-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria called for all warring sides to agree by Sunday to allow the first safe delivery of relief supplies to the divided city of Aleppo.The U.N. is seeking a weekly 48-hour humanitarian pause to deliver food, medicines and other aid to people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo as well as those in the government-controlled western part of Syria's second city. It also wants to repair the electricity system to deliver power and clean water supplies to 1.8 million people, amid fears of disease outbreaks.Staffan de Mistura said in a statement on Saturday that for logistical and operational reasons convoys must go via the Castello Road during the first pause, although he was aware of rebel opposition to using that government-controlled route."The Special Envoy calls for all concerned to exert every effort so that, by this Sunday, 28 August 2016, we know where we stand," de Mistura said. There should be "no (military) escalation in areas adjacent or around the area of the pause".Russia, the main ally of the government of Bashar al-Assad, has already accepted the U.N. plan saying it is ready to ensure compliance, while the United States and other states are working to get other parties to commit, de Mistura said.U.N. agencies have said that supplies including surgical material for treating war wounds and even baby milk have been removed from U.N. convoys at government checkpoints throughout the five-year conflict.The main alliance of rebel groups in Aleppo, in a statement, gave conditional approval to use of Castello road but said the "shortest and fastest" Ramouseh road south of Aleppo should be used in parallel to deliver supplies to eastern Aleppo.The United States and Russia failed on Friday to reach a breakthrough deal on military cooperation and a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying they still have issues to resolve before an agreement could be announced.De Mistura took part in those Geneva talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut; editing by David Clarke/Ruth Pitchford)
Relative of Charlie Hebdo attacker investigated for Islamist ties-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - A relative of one of the militants who attacked French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January 2015 has been put under formal investigation for Islamist ties and remanded in custody, a judicial source said on Saturday.The source said Mourad Hamyd was suspected of trying to travel to Syria to join Islamic State.Hamyd, who is French and a brother-in-law of assailant Cherif Kouachi, was detained in Bulgaria last month after a Paris court issued a European arrest warrant against him.Hamyd was questioned by French police following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in which Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said shot dead 12 people before being killed by police, but was cleared of any involvement.(Reporting by Chine Labbe; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Ros Russell)
German military wants security checks on recruits, newspaper says-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
BERLIN (Reuters) - There are signs that Islamists are trying to join the German armed forces to get military training, and there is a risk they might use that training to carry out attacks in Germany or abroad, a German newspaper cited a draft document as saying.Consequently, the armed forces want applicants to undergo a security check by the military counter-intelligence agency, starting in July 2017, so they can swiftly spot extremists, terrorists and criminals, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said in an article due to be published on Sunday.Such security screening would require changes in the laws governing the military. A draft document justifying such changes, seen by Welt am Sonntag, said there are indications that Islamists are trying to get "so-called short-term servicemen into the armed forces" for training.Germany is on edge after a series of violent attacks in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, and the interior minister has already announced plans to step up security [nL8N1AR1WE].The cabinet is set to approve a change to the military act next week, the newspaper said, citing security sources. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry said the government was in the process of deciding on the law.The military counter-intelligence agency is looking into 64 suspected Islamists, 268 suspected right-wing extremists and six suspected left-wing extremists in the armed forces, the newspaper said.(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Thorsten Severin, editing by Larry King)
France's Ayrault urges Russia to back U.N. resolution on Syria-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - A U.N. report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a chance to push Russia to accept a resolution condemning the Syrian regime and resume political negotiations, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.A joint investigation by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas."We are working with our partners in the U.N. Security Council, notably the United States and Britain, on a resolution condemning the attacks under Chapter 7," Ayrault told France's Le Monde newspaper in a interview published on Saturday."This means sanctions against the perpetrators of these crimes and those responsible for these abominations," he said.The Security Council is due to discuss the report next week.The inquiry found there was sufficient information to conclude that Syrian Arab Air Force helicopters dropped devices that then released toxic substances in Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and Sarmin on March 16, 2015, both in Idlib province. Both cases involved the use of chlorine.It has set the stage for a Security Council showdown between the five veto-wielding powers, likely pitting Russia and China against the United States, Britain and France over whether sanctions should be imposed in the wake of the inquiry.Ayrault said France's goal was to obtain a condemnation by the Security Council and create the conditions for resuming political dialogue."We must use this opportunity to tell Russia: You now have a opportunity to head back to the political track and get out of the military quagmire you walked into," Ayrault said.Russia said on Thursday it was prepared to work with the United States on a response to the U.N. report.Le Monde quoted Ayrault as saying: "Russia says it wants a political solution and resuming talks in Geneva? I tell them then: condemn the Syrian regime and stop the bombings."(Reporting by Bate Felix and John Irish; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Boko Haram landmine kills four Chadian soldiers-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - A landmine planted by Islamist group Boko Haram killed four Chadian soldiers on patrol near Chad's border with Niger on Saturday, two security sources said.They were traveling in a vehicle that rode over the mine at Kaiga Kindji, in the Lake Chad region, which has been plagued by the militants since 2009.The Nigerian-based Boko Haram wants to create a breakaway Islamic state in the region and once occupied an area the size of Belgium.But a regional offensive led by Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger - the four countries most affected by Boko Haram - has chased it out of much of that territory.The group has in response retreated to Nigeria's Sambisa forest, from where it has fought a guerrilla campaign against civilians and security forces.Boko Haram is thought to have killed as many as 15,000 people since the launch of its insurgency seven years ago.Its insurrection has strangled economic and farming activity around Lake Chad, leaving tens of thousands hungry.Nearly half a million children around the lake face "severe acute malnutrition" due to drought and the insurgency by Boko Haram, UNICEF said on Thursday.(Reporting by Madjiasra Nako; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Roche)
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-13
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(BOMB OR NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,(VATICAN) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Vatican says it has high hopes of better ties with China-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican is hopeful it can improve ties with China after decades of tension, the Roman Catholic Church's highest-ranking diplomat said on Saturday, adding that warmer relations would benefit the whole world.Beijing severed links with the Vatican in 1951 shortly after the Communist Party took power and launched a crackdown on organised religion, with China's new rulers setting up their own church and appointing bishops without the pope's backing.After decades of mistrust, Pope Francis is pushing to improve relations and his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sounded upbeat about the chances of success."There is much hope and expectation that there will be new developments and a new season in relations between the Holy Sea and China," he said in a speech in the northern Italian city of Pordenone, which was released to reporters in the Vatican."(This) will benefit not just Catholics in the land of Confucius, but the whole country, which boasts one of the greatest civilisations on the planet," he said."Dare I say, it would also be of benefit to an ordered, peaceful and fruitful cohabitation of peoples of all nations in a world, such as ours, which is lacerated by so many tensions and so many conflicts."For the Vatican, a thaw in relations with China would offer the prospect of easing the plight of Christians on the mainland, who have often been persecuted by the authorities.For China, good relations could burnish its international image and soften criticism of its human rights record.The Vatican is the only Western state that does not have diplomatic ties with Beijing, maintaining instead formal relations with the Republic of China, Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province.Parolin made clear the Vatican wanted formal ties. "The new and hoped-for good relations with China, including diplomatic relations, God willing, are not an end in themselves," he said, reiterating that they would be good for world peace.A Reuters investigation this year suggested the Vatican and China were working on a deal that would fall short of full diplomatic ties but would address key issues at the heart of the divide between the two sides."One has to be realistic and accept that there are a number of problems that need resolving between the Holy See and China and that often, because of their complexity, they can generate different points of view," Parolin said.(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Andrew Roche)
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
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, 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).
Meningitis outbreak in Chaudière-Appalaches concerning but not epidemic, experts say-[CBC]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Since the beginning of the year, six cases of meningitis have been confirmed in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, five of which were in children under four years old.Regional public health officials say those numbers should be cause for concern, but not panic. "It's important to stress that there is no outbreak of meningitis in Chaudière-Appalaches," said Nathalie Paré, a spokesperson with the region's Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS).The cases are nevertheless worrying, Paré said, and the CISSS has asked a committee of immunization experts from the provincial public health institute (INSPQ) to review the situation.Those experts are currently evaluating the need for a preventative vaccination campaign."We are expecting their scientific opinion in September. If this is the case, we'll be ready," Paré said.If untreated the meningococcal infection can lead to serious neurological and physical complications. Some cases prove fatal.The last mass vaccination campaign against meningitis was in the Quebec City region back in 2011. That campaign targeted more than 70,000 children and adolescents.
Singapore confirms first case of locally transmitted Zika virus-[Reuters]-By Marius Zaharia-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has confirmed its first case of a locally-transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, the health ministry said.A 47-year-old Malaysian woman working in the city-state was confirmed with the virus, but was "well and recovering." As she had not travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, she was likely to have been infected in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement.Three other cases have tested positive in preliminary tests on their urine samples and are due further checks.Zika was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.Singapore, one of the world's largest financial centres and busiest travel hubs, said it expected more cases of the mosquito-borne virus which has wreaked havoc in Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond."With the presence of Zika in our region and the volume of travel by Singaporeans as well as tourists, it is inevitable there will be imported cases of Zika into Singapore," the ministry said."There is also risk of subsequent local transmission ... we expect there may be further cases, as most infected persons may display mild or no symptoms."The ministry said it was screening the patient's close contacts and carrying out tests on others living or working nearby. Clinics have been told to be on the lookout for more cases.-MISTING, FOGGING-The National Environment Agency (NEA) has carried out "vector control" operations to control the mosquito population and deployed 100 officers in the area, the statement said.Such operations include "ultra-low volume misting of premises and thermal fogging of outdoor areas to kill adult mosquitoes," increasing frequency of drain flushing and oiling to prevent breeding, and public education outreach and distribution of insect repellent."NEA may need to gain entry into inaccessible premises by force after serving of requisite notices, to ensure any breeding habitats are destroyed quickly," the statement said.U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans. A small number of cases of sexual transmission have been reported in the United States and elsewhere. A case of suspected transmission through a blood transfusion in Brazil has raised questions about other ways that Zika may spread.There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, however.(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Kansas City area hit by floods after three days of downpour-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The Kansas City area was flooded late Friday after a three-day downpour, forcing emergency services to conduct about 10 water rescues in Missouri's largest city, officials said.News photos showed vehicles stopped or abandoned as flood waters swelled across streets. No injuries nor fatalities were reported.The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency notice to the Kansas City area for the first time ever on Friday night that went into Saturday morning.The flooding had receded within the urban center later on Saturday, but rivers in more rural regions north of the city were still overflowing, said Dan Hawblitzel, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Kansas City.Rains and some thunderstorms were forecast in parts of the region on Saturday, but were not expected to cause further flooding, Hawblitzel said.Widespread precipitation in the region had brought anywhere from 3 to 8 inches of rainfall to the city since Wednesday, causing waterways in the region including the Missouri River to overflow, Hawblitzel said."Some parts of the city received more rain last night than they had seen all summer long," he said in a phone interview, noting it was the first time the weather service had issued a flash flood emergency for the region since it began such notices in the past decade.Kansas City's Fire Chief Paul Berardi posted the emergency warning on Twitter late Friday, adding the department was conducting water rescues in three parts of the city.A spokeswoman for the Johnson County Emergency Management office on Saturday said they had received reports of approximately 10 water rescues and had no reports of injuries or fatalities.(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Bernard Orr)
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Death penalty failing to deter drug trafficking in Iran: official-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
DUBAI (Reuters) - The death penalty has failed to reduce drug trafficking in Iran, a senior Iranian judiciary official said on Saturday shortly before the scheduled execution of 12 people for narcotics-related offences.His criticism was unusual in a judiciary that has long been a bastion of the hardline security establishment in the Islamic Republic, which carries out more executions per capita than any other country. Nearly 1,000 prisoner were put to death in 2015, most of them for drug trafficking.Most narcotics are smuggled into Iran along its long, often lawless border with Afghanistan, which supplies about 90 percent of the world's opium from which heroin is made."The truth is, the execution of drug smugglers has had no deterrent effect," Mohammad Baqer Olfat, deputy head of judiciary for social affairs, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency."We have fought full-force against smugglers according to the law, but unfortunately we are experiencing an increase in the volume of drugs trafficked to Iran, the transit of drugs through the country, the variety of drugs, and the number of people who are involved in it," Olfat said.He said he had suggested to the judiciary chief that rather than the death penalty, traffickers should serve long prison terms with hard labor.Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Human Rights Council and a brother of the powerful judiciary chief, said in 2015 that more than 90 percent of executions in the country were for drug-related crimes.He said the death penalty has not led to a significant fall in drug-related crimes and that the policy must be re-evaluated.The Islamic Republic seized 388 tonnes of opium in 2012, around 72 percent of all such seizures globally, but says it has lost many security personnel in skirmishes with drug traffickers in volatile regions bordering Afghanistan and also Pakistan.The United Nations has repeatedly praised Iran's battle against narcotics trafficking but opposed its death penalty.The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran urged Tehran on Friday to halt the execution of 12 people on drug-related offences scheduled for Saturday."It is regrettable that the (Iranian) government continues to proceed with executions for crimes that do not meet the threshold of the 'most serious crimes' as required by international law," Ahmed Shaheed said in a statement.Given Iran's large number of executions, some countries including Britain and Denmark have stopped providing funding for the United Nations drug control program in Iran.(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Grief erupts in Italy as nation honours, buries quake dead-[The Canadian Press]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ASCOLI PICENO, Italy — Mourners in Italy prayed, hugged, wept and even applauded as coffins carrying victims of the country's devastating earthquake passed by at a state funeral Saturday, grieving as one nation after three desperate days of trying to save as many people as possible.In the central town of Ascoli Piceno, they gathered to bid farewell to 35 of the 291 people confirmed dead so far after the quake that struck a swath of countryside early Wednesday at the foothills of the central Apennine mountains.The caskets of 35 people had been brought to a community gym — one of the few structures in the area still intact and large enough to hold hundreds of mourners. The local bishop, Giovanni D'Ercole, celebrated Mass beneath a crucifix he had retrieved from one of the damaged churches in the picturesque area of medieval stone towns and hamlets.Emotions that had been dammed up for days broke in a crescendo of grief. One young man wept over a little girl's white coffin. Another woman gently stroked another small casket. Many mourners were recovering from injuries themselves, some wrapped in bandages. Everywhere people knelt at coffins, tears running down their cheeks, their arms around loved ones."It is a great tragedy. There are no words to describe it," said Gina Razzetti, a resident at the funeral. "Each one of us has our pain inside. We are thinking about the families who lost relatives, who lost their homes, who lost everything."As all of Italy observed a day of national mourning, with flags at half-staff, Bishop D'Ercole urged residents to rebuild their communities."Don't be afraid to cry out your suffering — I have seen a lot of this — but please do not lose courage," D'Ercole said in his homily. "Only together can we rebuild our houses and our churches. Together, above all, we will be able to restore life to our communities."President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Matteo Renzi joined grieving family members, stopping to speak to some of them.When the caskets were brought out of the gym, the mourners applauded, a traditional Italian way of honouring people who die in tragedy.The bishop recalled the heartbreaking story of 9-year-old Giulia Rinaldo, whose embrace apparently allowed her younger sister Giorgia to survive.He said 15 hours after the quake struck Wednesday, he returned to the church in Pescara Del Tronto to recover its crucifix. Close by, firefighters were using their hands to dig out the two sisters."The older one, Giulia, was sprawled over the smaller one, Giorgia. Giulia, dead, Giorgia, alive. They were in an embrace," D'Ercole said.Giulia was among those buried Saturday, while her younger sister had her fourth birthday at a hospital, trying to recover from the traumatizing ordeal."The melancholy grabs on to your heart. You feel a sense of weakness, of depression," said Fiore Ciotto, a resident of Ascoli Piceno who attended the funeral. "An event like this weakens you physically and mentally."Across the area, a cool retreat for those seeking to escape Italy's hot summers, many of the dead were children and elderly people, some of them visiting grandparents before school resumed.The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 3:36 a.m. Wednesday and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy, killing at least 291 people and injuring nearly 400. Nobody has been found alive in the ruins since Wednesday, and hopes have nearly vanished of finding any more survivors.Before Saturday's mass funeral, the president visited Amatrice, which bore the brunt of destruction with 230 fatalities and a town turned to rubble and dust. Eleven others died in nearby Accumoli and 50 more in Arquata del Tronto, 10 miles (16 kilometres ) north of Amatrice.Mattarella arrived by helicopter and was shown the extent of the damage in Amatrice by its mayor, Sergio Pirozzi. The president thanked rescue workers who have been working around the clock, some barely taking breaks for sleeping.Saturday's funeral involved most of the dead from Arquata del Tronto.As deep as their anguish was, Saturday's mourners at least had coffins with bodies to honour and bury. Many of the dead from Amatrice are now in a refrigerated morgue in an airport hangar in Rieti, the provincial capital that is 65 kilometres (40 miles) away, awaiting identification.On Tuesday, a memorial service — without the bodies — will be held for the dead of Amatrice on that battered town's outskirts.Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the quake, with many spending their nights in tent cities and a gym in Amatrice, where volunteers are working to provide basic amenities.With families unable to remain in the houses in Amatrice that were damaged but still standing, two persons were detained Saturday for suspected looting, the mayor said.Overnight, residents were rattled yet again by a series of aftershocks. The strongest, at 4:50 a.m., had a magnitude of 4.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, while the Italian geophysics institute measured it at 4.The Italian institute says the earthquake caused the ground below Accumoli to sink 20 centimetres (8 inches), according to satellite images.___Gera reported from Rome. Frances D'Emilio contributed reporting from Rieti.___This story has corrected that the president's first name is Sergio.Trisha Thomas And Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press
Italy's quake survivors fear family villages will become ghost towns-[By Steve Scherer]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
SANT'ANGELO, Italy (Reuters) - Tiny villages that dot the valley around the town of Amatrice, which was levelled by Wednesday's earthquake, were home to generations of families who once farmed the land, but later moved to cities for work and now return for the holidays.They are hamlets where children are free to play and roam day and night, without fear of traffic or strangers, because everyone knows everyone and keeps an eye out."The fear is that they will now be abandoned," said Giancarla Celli, 50, standing outside the 300-year-old family villa that withstood the quake, but which has been badly damaged and is now unsafe, cracks zigzagging up its walls.Most of the other homes in the hamlet of Sant'Angelo, where more than 100 people pass the hot summer months but which is sparsely populated in winter, have been reduced to rubble."I spent every summer here when I was a little girl," she said, tearing up. "I have so many memories."Sant'Angelo, San Lorenzo e Flaviano, Saletta, Rio, Cossito, and Retrosi are some of the more than 60 small villages near Amatrice at risk of becoming permanent ghost towns, like many others in Italy following past earthquakes.The Sicilian towns of Poggioreale, Gibellina, Salaparuta and Montevago were emptied after a 1968 quake, and deadly tremors have left a string of abandoned communities along Italy's rocky, 1,200 km-long (750 mile) Apennine backbone.Prime Minster Matteo Renzi's government has promised to rebuild the devastated area, where at least 290 people died following Wednesday's disaster.However, red tape, corruption and organised crime have given Italy a terrible track record for post-quake reconstruction.Complicating the matter is the fact that only an estimated one percent of Italian households buy earthquake insurance, the other 99 percent seeing it as an expensive luxury.That means the cost on any rebuilding – probably running into the billions of euros – will have to be shouldered by a state that already has one of the highest debt mountains in the world that it is perennially struggling to keep under control.-CEMETERY OF RUBBLE-"Sant'Angelo will end up a cemetery of rubble," said Pasquale Belli, one of Giancarla's neighbours, who drives about 150 km (95 miles) from Rome every weekend to get away from the chaos of the capital.A little further down the leafy valley is the town of San Lorenzo e Flaviano, also badly damaged. Firemen used a metal basket on the end of a crane to lower themselves into the church, whose roof has collapsed, to rescue relics such as an antique icon and a broken crucifix.While in the United States kids go to summer camp, during Italy's long summer break, children often go to stay with grandparents in small towns like San Lorenzo where they forge a lifelong tie to both the place and the people."All of my most cherished childhood memories are from here," said Barbara Bonifazi, 32, who lives and works in Rome but returns often to San Lorenzo."At night, you can see every star in the sky."Roberto Nibi, 67, is an architect who lives in Rome but was born in San Lorenzo. He was sleeping in the same room where he was born when the quake hit. "Imagine how ironic it would have been to have been killed in the same room I was born," he said shaking his head. Luckily for him, his house withstood the jolt.Nibi's 31-year-old son Eduardo said the survival of the villages depends on whether Amatrice, the biggest town in the area with more than 2,000 residents, is rebuilt.Voted one of Italy's most beautiful towns, Amatrice was hammered by the calamity, almost every house in the historic centre destroyed and even the school, which was meant to have been earthquake proofed, torn apart."That's where the grocery stores, shops and restaurants were, and these little villages depended on it," he said.Back in Sant'Angelo, Giancarla holds up a picture of her great grandfather that she has saved from the family home. "He had 27 children," she said.The various strands of this large family, some of whom now live in the United States, visit the family home when they can, she said, and her elderly mother and aunts were spending the summer there when the earthquake smashed the night calm."My mother and her two sisters, 96, 88, and 83 years old, walked out of the house in the dark on their own," she said."They are all very upset because they know they won't see the house rebuilt in their lifetimes."(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Sarkozy says Britain should manage asylum seekers on its own territory-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is attempting a political comeback before next year's election, said on Saturday that Britain should open an asylum centre on its territory to deal with asylum seekers now camped in Calais.Migrants aiming to reach Britain have over the years gathered in camps called the "jungle" in the French port of Calais.In the past two years, the population of the camps has swelled as warfare and economic upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East has driven thousands of migrants to try to reach Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel."I'm demanding the opening of a centre in Britain to deal with asylum seekers in Britain so that Britain can do the work that concerns them," Nicolas Sarkozy told a political rally in Touquet in northern France.Sarkozy said Britain should manage the asylum process, accepting those it wants on British territory and organising charters to remove those who are rejected."The jungle should not be in Calais or anywhere else, because this is a republic and those with no rights to be here should return to their country," Sarkozy said.Sarkozy was speaking in Touquet, where in 2003, France signed a symbolic border treaty with Britain. Under Le Touquet accord, British officials can check passports in France and vice versa.However, that has led to the migrants trying to reach British shores congregating at Calais. Images of hundreds of people trying to leap onto trucks bound for Britain has roused anti-immigration worries on both sides of the English Channel.That was a key issue in Britain's vote to leave the European Union, and it has become a hot-button issue ahead of France's April 2017 election.Sarkozy's conservative rival Alain Juppe, who opened his presidential bid on Saturday and is considered the frontrunner in the party's presidential primaries, has called on the Touquet accord to be renegotiated.(Reporting by Bate Felix and Ingrid Melander, editing by Larry King)
Gulen faithful at work in EU capital By Aleksandra Eriksson-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, 26. Aug, 19:29-Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the failed putsch of 15 July on Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic teacher who lives in the US and who ardently denies the accusation.He has outlawed the Gulenist movement, known as Hizmet (meaning “the service”) to its followers, and Feto (meaning “Fethullah terrorist organisation”) to its adversaries.He has apologised to Turkish people for letting it infiltrate Turkish institutions.He has also arrested thousands of its sympathisers inside Turkey and urged Turkish expats in Europe to denounce its foreign members in a purge that threatens to destroy EU relations.But all the while, Gulen-linked organisations have thrived in the EU capital.Some of their offices in Brussels’ EU district stand cheek by jowl with Turkish government buildings, and their people, who used to praise Erdogan, now denounce his autocratic ways to MEPs, officials, and press.Tuskon, the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, has been one of the most resourceful Gulen-linked groups.It set up shop in 2005, when Erdogan and Gulen were still allies, and quickly became an unofficial advocate of Erdogan’s political party, the AKP, in Europe.”We organised more than 100 meetings in Brussels and also some in Turkey,” Tuskon’s EU director, Serdar Yesilyurt, told EUobserver.”There were panels, conferences, discussions and delegations. We had 27 visits from Turkish ministers. We sent commissioners and MEPs to Turkey.”Tuskon sponsored a Turkey project at the European Policy Centre (EPC), a prominent think tank in Brussels, which it financed to the tune of €40,000 a year and in which it had a say on the selection of speakers at related events.”It was a very good deal,” Yesilyurt said. “EPC was able to organise 10 events a year for that money”.Tuskon also sponsored the congress of the European liberal party, Alde, in 2012 (for a €10,000 fee) and 2013 (€12,000) in return for letting its president speak to MEPs at lunch.Other Gulen-linked bodies in the EU capital include Unitee, the European Professionals Network (EPN), the Intercultural Dialogue Platform (IDP), and Zaman.Unitee is a foundation that represents EU entrepreneurs of Turkish origin, while the EPN helps Turkish professionals in Belgium with “career development”.The IDP promotes Hizmet as a movement that teaches a pacifist form of Islam, tolerance, hard work and education.“We spread the good work our members are doing to the EU institutions”, IDP director Ramazan Guveli told EUobserver, ”by organising events on interfaith dialogue and issuing policy recommendations, for instance, on how to prevent radicalisation”.Zaman was once Turkey’s largest-circulation daily newspaper and had a Brussels bureau, but in March this year, prior to the putsch, it was seized by Turkish authorities.None of the groups are formally linked to each other and most, with the exception of IDP, do not want to be called Hizmet advocates.The EPC’s Turkey coordinator, Amanda Paul, who also used to write a column in Zaman, said the Tuskon-EPC events contained “a balanced dialogue”, with speakers from different sides of the political divide.She told EUobserver that the Tuskon funding “in no way compromised” the EPC’s independence.Tuskon’s Yesilyurt also said that its mission was far broader than promoting Hizmet. “All of our activities had one goal … Turkey’s Europeanisation - a move towards a liberal economy”, he said.But for some MEPs, the movement’s influence in Brussels is more coordinated and more political than its adherents claim.“They are very active, and better represented than the Kurds or the secularist movement”, Kati Piri, a Dutch socialist MEP, who is also the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, told EUobserver.Marietje Schaake, a Dutch liberal MEP, said: “They made a strong lobby effort, and their advocacy hasn’t always been transparent.”-’Bad novel’-Enemies today, Erdogan and Gulen were once staunch allies.Erdogan’s Islamist AKP relied on Hizmet’s support to rise to power, in 2003, when Gulenists helped to remove secularist opposition figures from positions of power.Evidence from the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon cases, after 2008, showed that Gulen-linked prosecutors and judges staged sham trials to oust secularist counterparts and replace them with their own people.Sledgehammer was an alleged military plot to oust the AKP, but all the suspects were acquitted due to fabricated evidence.Ergenekon is the name of a purported ultra-secularist group that was also said to have plotted against Erdogan. A court in 2016 said there was no proof of its existence.Meanwhile, Hizmet fell from grace after 2013, when its prosecutors accused top AKP figures of corruption.Well before the July putsch, the AKP had already started a slow purge of Gulenists from state structures.Turkey’s EU ambassador, Selim Yenel, told EUobserver that it was hard to explain to non-Turks to what extent Hizmet had become a danger to the democratically elected government.”It sounds like a bad novel,” he said.“But every day there is new evidence showing how extensively he [Gulen] was able to put his people everywhere, how generals, judges, ambassadors can be so beholden by a person, how much anger and fear they caused”.Yenel’s EU embassy itself suspended one official for alleged Hizmet links.The ambassador said that Hizmet in Brussels has tried to harm EU-Turkey relations by demonising Erdogan.”President Erdogan, with his frustrations with the West, is an easy target,” Yenel said. ”Some MEPs - those who hadn’t witnessed the fallout in 2013 in particular - were ready to believe anything about him, especially when the criticism came from Turks.”He said Hizmet had deceived MEPs into thinking that it was an intellectual and reformist fellowship, when, in fact, Gulen’s aim was to grab power in Turkey in order to create an Islamic state on his own model.-Parallel structure?-Some AKP leaders have gone further in their suspicions.In 2014, Turkey’s then EU minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told media that if the EU froze Turkey’s accession talks, it would be because the European Union was now controlled by a “parallel structure” (Hizmet).He said the movement had paid off some MEPs, naming Andrew Duff, a former British liberal deputy.When Duff confronted him on the accusation, Cavusoglu claimed that the media had misreported his remarks.But senior Alde MEPs, such as the UK’s Sir Graham Watson and Germany deputy Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, have often defended Hizmet in Zaman or other Gulen-linked media.The MEPs even stood by Hizmet during and after the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon trials, when it became clear that the movement had misled its EU friends.Cavusoglu’s claim that Hizmet controlled EU institutions may sound like a tall tale.But Tukson’s Yesilyurt openly said that his group curried favour “with MEPs across the political spectrum”. He said that they “particularly targeted” the centre-right EPP group, the largest in the EU parliament, trying to seek out MEPs who were already opposed to Turkey’s EU accession.-Rule of law-For her part, Piri, the parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, says she has every right to meet with Gulen-linked organisations.“It’s part of my role to speak with a broad range of people”, she said.She said Hizmet-linked lobbyists in Brussels were "not necessarily the most credible promoters of democracy in Turkey”. But she did not see them as part of a religious sect or a political lobby.“I am meeting with business representatives, journalists or, more lately, judges, who tell me about their problems and raise concerns about the human rights situation in Turkey”, she said.She urged Turkey to respect the rule of law in its post-July crackdown, saying it is wrong to jail people on matters of conscience.”The way it works is that you can only be sentenced for something you did - not for something you believe in”, she said.She defended Erdogan’s right to bring criminals to justice.“Trying to illegally overthrow a democratically elected government is the biggest crime you can commit. It would also have closed the door for democracy in Turkey”, she said.But she also said the Turkish president created an opening for Hizmet by neglecting EU relations.She noted that ”the joint parliamentary committee hasn’t convened for over a year”, and that Ankara threw out the last two European Commission reports on its pro-EU progress instead of talking to its EU critics.”The absence of dialogue with the Turkish government and between our parliaments made it much more easy for these groups to … be well received in Brussels”, she said.-Dark side-Hizmet also created its own openings.Schaake, the Dutch liberal MEP, said most people in the EU capital involved in Turkey relations had met with Hizmet people, sometimes unknowingly.”I have talked to lobbyists who explicitly denied being Gulenists at the time - especially when they were still in an alliance with the AKP - but who now lobby openly as Gulenists”, she told EUobserver.“I think it’s likely that MEPs have engaged with the movement without knowing whom they are dealing with.”Schaake said that she was “always critical” of Hizmet because they had once espoused the same authoritarianism that they now criticised in Erdogan.The Dutch MEP herself became a target of Gulen-linked pressure groups when she condemned the censorship of a Hizmet-critical book, Army of the Imam by Ahmet Sik, and when she questioned the probity of the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer trials.”AKP and Gulen worked together to silence journalists and critics … specifically those pointing to the dark side of Hizmet,” she said.-Mea culpa-Tukson’s Yesilyurt admitted that, until 2011, he was “one of the main advocates of AKP in Brussels”.Amid Erdogan’s recent crackdown on free media, he said that, at the time, he “didn't fully understand the importance of freedom of expression - which I do now.”He said he started to criticise the AKP “when Erdogan turned in an autocratic direction”, but he also said leading EU politicians were guilty of the same faults."The EU was supporting Erdogan at that time. If I am guilty, so is Elmar Brok [a senior German centre-right MEP], Andrew Duff, and others."Guveli, the IDP director, said ”transparency hadn’t really helped the movement” in Turkey, where people who openly followed Gulen’s ideas ”only made it easier for the government to put them away.””Turkey is not the Netherlands,” he said. ”Our history is marred with coups, which were always followed by persecutions”.But he agreed that Hizmet followers in Brussels should be more open about their affiliations.Yesilyurt and Guveli said it was wrong to speak of a Hizmet or Gulenist “lobby” in Brussels.They said Hizmet is a loose fellowship of people who share the ideas of Gulen, a prolific writer of more than 40 books on Islam and ethics. They said it has no official structures and contains a wide variety of individuals, who do not act in concert or speak for each other.”I don’t feel uncomfortable when I am linked to Gulen,” Yesilyurt said. ”But it [the link to Gulen] is not fair to [other] Tuskon members, who aren’t affiliated with the movement.”Yesilyurt and Guveli also said that Gulen’s followers rose to top positions in Turkey due to their merit, not due to a conspiracy.”We are the best,” Yesilyurt said. ”Erdogan knows it, too. He married two of his daughters to people that graduated from Hizmet schools.”Guveli said: “We are the children of Turkey. We work hard. We are well educated. Why wouldn't we be allowed to take up top jobs in the state?”.-New chapter-Last year, Tuskon’s EU representation severed ties with its management board in Turkey and began working as an independent non-profit in Brussels.”This way, the government cannot legally seize our assets, our contacts,” Yesilyurt said.He said the group needed new sponsors, and that it would focus on raising awareness about Hizmet persecution in Turkey instead of promoting business ties.“They [Gulen followers in Turkey] are fighting for their lives,” Yesilyurt said. ”I always saw myself more as a human rights activist anyway.”Guveli’s IDP has always been a Belgian-registered charity.He said its EU advocacy would be more important than ever as Erdogan tried to consolidate power.“Kati Piri [the Dutch MEP] is wrong,” he said. ”We are the best way to promote democracy in Turkey."
Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive, says warplanes hit Kurdish militia-[Reuters]-By Umit Bektas-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
KARKAMIS, Turkey (Reuters) - Rebels supported by Turkey fought Kurdish-backed forces in north Syria on Saturday, as Ankara ratcheted up its cross-border offensive by saying it had launched air strikes against both Kurdish forces and Islamic State.Turkey's government, which is fighting a Kurdish insurgency at home, has said the Syrian campaign it opened this week is as much about targeting Islamic State as it is about preventing Kurdish forces filling the vacuum left when Islamists withdraw.Turkey wants to stop Kurdish forces gaining control of a continuous stretch of Syrian territory on its frontier, which Ankara fears could be used to support the Kurdish militant group PKK as it wages its three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil.Turkish security sources said two F-16 jets bombed a site controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, which is part of the broader U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) coalition. The sources also said the jets hit six Islamic State targets.Turkish military sources said one of its soldiers was killed and three others wounded when a tank was hit by a rocket that they said was fired from territory held by the Kurdish YPG. The sources said the army shelled the area in response.Syrian rebels opposed to Ankara's incursion said Turkish forces had targeted forces allied to the YPG and no Kurdish forces were in the area.On the ground, Turkish-backed Syrian rebels fought forces aligned with the SDF near the frontier town of Jarablus. Forces opposed to Ankara said Turkish tanks were deployed, a charge denied by Turkey's rebel allies.Turkey's offensive into Syria began on Wednesday, supporting its rebel allies with Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes. It seized control of Jarablus from Islamic State seeking to stop any Kurdish forces moving in first.Saturday's use of warplanes against what Turkey said was a Kurdish YPG militia target highlights its determination to prevent any Kurdish territorial expansion in north Syria.Any action against Kurdish forces in Syria puts Turkey at odds with its NATO ally the United States, which backs the SDF and YPG, seeing them as the most reliable and effective ally in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.It adds complexity to the Syrian conflict that erupted five years ago with an uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has since drawn in regional states and world powers.-"DANGEROUS ESCALATION"-The Jarablus Military Council, part of the SDF, had said earlier on Saturday that Turkish planes hit the village of al-Amarna south of Jarablus, causing civilian casualties. It called the action "a dangerous escalation".The Kurdish-led administration that controls parts of northern Syria said Turkish tanks advanced on al-Amarna and clashed with forces of the Jarablus Military Council. But the Kurdish administration said no Kurdish forces were involved.However, the leader of one Turkey-backed rebel group gave a rival account. He told Reuters the rebels battled the Kurdish YPG around al-Amarna and denied any Turkish tanks took part.Turkish security forces simply said Turkish-backed forces had extended their control to five villages beyond Jarablus.A video released by Turkey's military showed the Turkish Red Crescent distributing food and aid to people in Jarablus, with the help of Turkish troops. It also showed what appeared to be Turkish-backed rebels flicking v-for-victory signs in the town.The newly formed Jarablus Military Council has said it was made up of people from the area with the aim of capturing the town and the surrounding region from Islamic State militants. However, the Turkish-backed rebels seized Jarablus first.Several militias under the SDF banner pledged support to Jarablus Military Council after it reported the Turkish bombing.The Northern Sun Battalion, an SDF faction, said in a statement it was heading to "Jarablus fronts" to help the council against "threats made by factions belonging to Turkey".Tension has mounted in Syria's Aleppo region in the past year between the U.S-backed Kurdish YPG force and its allies on one hand and Turkish-backed rebel groups on the other. The two sides have clashed on several occasions.(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay and Orhan Coskun in Ankara and Tom Perry in Beirut; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Ros Russell)
Turkish warplanes hit Islamic State, Kurdish militia sites in Syria - sources-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ANKARA (Reuters) - Two Turkish F-16 warplanes struck six Islamic State targets and a position of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia in Syria on Saturday, Turkish security sources said.The sources did not give further details.Earlier on Saturday, a group allied to the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, said its positions were bombarded by Turkish warplanes near Jarablus, a frontier town in northern Syria.(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; editing by Andrew Roche; Writing by Edmund Blair)
Nigerian launches offensive against militants in Delta oil hub-[Reuters]-By Tife Owolabi-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's military said on Saturday it had launched a new offensive against militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta, killing five and arresting 23.Armed groups have claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on oil and gas pipelines in the southern region, reducing the country's oil output by 700,000 barrels day.A special forces battalion moved against militant camps on Friday in an operation "aimed at getting rid of all forms of criminal activities", army spokesman Sani Usman said in a statement."In the course of the operation, five militants that attacked the troops were killed in action, while numerous others were injured and 23 suspects were arrested."There was no immediate reaction from militant groups, which operate from hard-to-access creeks in the swampland.The groups say they want a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth to go to the impoverished region. Crude sales account for about 70 percent of Nigeria's government revenue and most of the oil comes from the Delta.A similar military campaign in May drew sharp criticism from rights groups and residents who said soldiers had laid siege to villages, arrested civilians and raped women in an bid to force them hand over militants. The army denies this.The government has been trying to broker a ceasefire but the militant scene is divided into small groups whose fighters, drawn from unemployed youths, are difficult to control even for their leaders.On Thursday, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu met traditional leaders from the Delta to ask them to mediate in talks with militants but they said they wanted the army first to release prisoners taken during a previous sweep, an official has told Reuters.The army in May arrested a group of school teenagers who community leaders say are not linked to militants.A group calling itself Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed several major attacks, said in a statement on Sunday they had agreed to a ceasefire to start a dialogue. Officials have refused to confirm this.(Additional reporting by Felix Onuah, Camillus Eboh and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew Roche)
U.N. Syria envoy presses for speedy Aleppo aid delivery-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria called for all warring sides to agree by Sunday to allow the first safe delivery of relief supplies to the divided city of Aleppo.The U.N. is seeking a weekly 48-hour humanitarian pause to deliver food, medicines and other aid to people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo as well as those in the government-controlled western part of Syria's second city. It also wants to repair the electricity system to deliver power and clean water supplies to 1.8 million people, amid fears of disease outbreaks.Staffan de Mistura said in a statement on Saturday that for logistical and operational reasons convoys must go via the Castello Road during the first pause, although he was aware of rebel opposition to using that government-controlled route."The Special Envoy calls for all concerned to exert every effort so that, by this Sunday, 28 August 2016, we know where we stand," de Mistura said. There should be "no (military) escalation in areas adjacent or around the area of the pause".Russia, the main ally of the government of Bashar al-Assad, has already accepted the U.N. plan saying it is ready to ensure compliance, while the United States and other states are working to get other parties to commit, de Mistura said.U.N. agencies have said that supplies including surgical material for treating war wounds and even baby milk have been removed from U.N. convoys at government checkpoints throughout the five-year conflict.The main alliance of rebel groups in Aleppo, in a statement, gave conditional approval to use of Castello road but said the "shortest and fastest" Ramouseh road south of Aleppo should be used in parallel to deliver supplies to eastern Aleppo.The United States and Russia failed on Friday to reach a breakthrough deal on military cooperation and a nationwide cessation of hostilities in Syria, saying they still have issues to resolve before an agreement could be announced.De Mistura took part in those Geneva talks between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut; editing by David Clarke/Ruth Pitchford)
Relative of Charlie Hebdo attacker investigated for Islamist ties-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - A relative of one of the militants who attacked French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January 2015 has been put under formal investigation for Islamist ties and remanded in custody, a judicial source said on Saturday.The source said Mourad Hamyd was suspected of trying to travel to Syria to join Islamic State.Hamyd, who is French and a brother-in-law of assailant Cherif Kouachi, was detained in Bulgaria last month after a Paris court issued a European arrest warrant against him.Hamyd was questioned by French police following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in which Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said shot dead 12 people before being killed by police, but was cleared of any involvement.(Reporting by Chine Labbe; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Ros Russell)
German military wants security checks on recruits, newspaper says-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
BERLIN (Reuters) - There are signs that Islamists are trying to join the German armed forces to get military training, and there is a risk they might use that training to carry out attacks in Germany or abroad, a German newspaper cited a draft document as saying.Consequently, the armed forces want applicants to undergo a security check by the military counter-intelligence agency, starting in July 2017, so they can swiftly spot extremists, terrorists and criminals, Welt am Sonntag newspaper said in an article due to be published on Sunday.Such security screening would require changes in the laws governing the military. A draft document justifying such changes, seen by Welt am Sonntag, said there are indications that Islamists are trying to get "so-called short-term servicemen into the armed forces" for training.Germany is on edge after a series of violent attacks in July, two of which were claimed by Islamic State, and the interior minister has already announced plans to step up security [nL8N1AR1WE].The cabinet is set to approve a change to the military act next week, the newspaper said, citing security sources. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry said the government was in the process of deciding on the law.The military counter-intelligence agency is looking into 64 suspected Islamists, 268 suspected right-wing extremists and six suspected left-wing extremists in the armed forces, the newspaper said.(Reporting by Michelle Martin and Thorsten Severin, editing by Larry King)
France's Ayrault urges Russia to back U.N. resolution on Syria-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - A U.N. report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a chance to push Russia to accept a resolution condemning the Syrian regime and resume political negotiations, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.A joint investigation by the United Nations and the global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW found that Syrian government troops were responsible for two toxic gas attacks and Islamic State militants used sulfur mustard gas."We are working with our partners in the U.N. Security Council, notably the United States and Britain, on a resolution condemning the attacks under Chapter 7," Ayrault told France's Le Monde newspaper in a interview published on Saturday."This means sanctions against the perpetrators of these crimes and those responsible for these abominations," he said.The Security Council is due to discuss the report next week.The inquiry found there was sufficient information to conclude that Syrian Arab Air Force helicopters dropped devices that then released toxic substances in Talmenes on April 21, 2014 and Sarmin on March 16, 2015, both in Idlib province. Both cases involved the use of chlorine.It has set the stage for a Security Council showdown between the five veto-wielding powers, likely pitting Russia and China against the United States, Britain and France over whether sanctions should be imposed in the wake of the inquiry.Ayrault said France's goal was to obtain a condemnation by the Security Council and create the conditions for resuming political dialogue."We must use this opportunity to tell Russia: You now have a opportunity to head back to the political track and get out of the military quagmire you walked into," Ayrault said.Russia said on Thursday it was prepared to work with the United States on a response to the U.N. report.Le Monde quoted Ayrault as saying: "Russia says it wants a political solution and resuming talks in Geneva? I tell them then: condemn the Syrian regime and stop the bombings."(Reporting by Bate Felix and John Irish; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
Boko Haram landmine kills four Chadian soldiers-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - A landmine planted by Islamist group Boko Haram killed four Chadian soldiers on patrol near Chad's border with Niger on Saturday, two security sources said.They were traveling in a vehicle that rode over the mine at Kaiga Kindji, in the Lake Chad region, which has been plagued by the militants since 2009.The Nigerian-based Boko Haram wants to create a breakaway Islamic state in the region and once occupied an area the size of Belgium.But a regional offensive led by Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger - the four countries most affected by Boko Haram - has chased it out of much of that territory.The group has in response retreated to Nigeria's Sambisa forest, from where it has fought a guerrilla campaign against civilians and security forces.Boko Haram is thought to have killed as many as 15,000 people since the launch of its insurgency seven years ago.Its insurrection has strangled economic and farming activity around Lake Chad, leaving tens of thousands hungry.Nearly half a million children around the lake face "severe acute malnutrition" due to drought and the insurgency by Boko Haram, UNICEF said on Thursday.(Reporting by Madjiasra Nako; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Roche)
FALSE POPE FROM THE VATICAN
ISAIAH 23:15-17
15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.(COULD THIS BE 70 YEARS AFTER ISRAEL BECAME A NATION IN 1948)(IF SO THIS SATANIC ONE WORLD WHORE CHURCH WILL MINGLE TOGETHER BY 2018)(AND NOW ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY AND ALL RELIGIONS ARE MINGLING AS ONE PEACE-LOVE-JOY-GET ALONG RELIGION LEAD BY THE VATICAN RIGHT NOW 4 YEARS FROM THE 70 YEAR TIME WHEN ISRAEL BECAME A NATION).AND IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM.
REVELATION 13:11-13
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;(FALSE VATICAN POPE) and he had two horns like a lamb,(JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD) and he spake as a dragon.(HES SATANICALLY INSPIRED,HES A CHRISTIAN DEFECTOR FROM THE FAITH)
12 And he (FALSE RELIGIOUS LEADER) exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,(WORLD DICTATOR) and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.(THE WORLD DICTATOR CREATES A FALSE RESURRECTION AND IS CROWNED LEADER OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER).
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
REVELATION 17:1-5,9,15-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,(VATICAN IN POLITICS) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman (FALSE CHURCH) was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,(VATICAN COLOURS)(ANOTHER REASON WE KNOW THE FALSE POPE COMES FROM THE VATICAN) and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.(THE VATICAN IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS OR MOUNTAINS)
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen,(1-ASSYRIA,2-EGYPT,3-BABYLON,4-MEDO-PERSIA,5-GREECE) and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS AND JESUS DAY-6-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.(7TH-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE OR THE EUROPEAN UNION TODAY AND THE SHORT SPACE IS-THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL HAVE WORLD CONTROL FOR THE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS.BUT WILL HAVE ITS MIGHTY WORLD POWER FOR THE FULL 7 YEARS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.AND THE WORLD DICTATOR WILL BE THE BEAST FROM THE EU.AND THE VATICAN POPE WILL BE THE WHORE THAT RIDES THE EUROPEAN UNION TO POWER.AND THE 2 EUROPEAN UNION POWER FREAKS WILL CONTROL AND DECIEVE THE WHOLE EARTH INTO THEIR DESTRUCTION.IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS.YOU WILL BE DECIEVED BY THESE TWO.THE WORLD POLITICIAN-THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR.AND THE FALSE PROPHET THAT DEFECTS CHRISTIANITY-THE FALSE VATICAN POPE.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.(VATICAN-CATHOLICS ALL AROUND THE WORLD OVER 1 BILLION)
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,(WORLD DICTATOR) these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.(BOMB OR NUKE THE VATICAN)
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,(VATICAN) which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Vatican says it has high hopes of better ties with China-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican is hopeful it can improve ties with China after decades of tension, the Roman Catholic Church's highest-ranking diplomat said on Saturday, adding that warmer relations would benefit the whole world.Beijing severed links with the Vatican in 1951 shortly after the Communist Party took power and launched a crackdown on organised religion, with China's new rulers setting up their own church and appointing bishops without the pope's backing.After decades of mistrust, Pope Francis is pushing to improve relations and his secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, sounded upbeat about the chances of success."There is much hope and expectation that there will be new developments and a new season in relations between the Holy Sea and China," he said in a speech in the northern Italian city of Pordenone, which was released to reporters in the Vatican."(This) will benefit not just Catholics in the land of Confucius, but the whole country, which boasts one of the greatest civilisations on the planet," he said."Dare I say, it would also be of benefit to an ordered, peaceful and fruitful cohabitation of peoples of all nations in a world, such as ours, which is lacerated by so many tensions and so many conflicts."For the Vatican, a thaw in relations with China would offer the prospect of easing the plight of Christians on the mainland, who have often been persecuted by the authorities.For China, good relations could burnish its international image and soften criticism of its human rights record.The Vatican is the only Western state that does not have diplomatic ties with Beijing, maintaining instead formal relations with the Republic of China, Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province.Parolin made clear the Vatican wanted formal ties. "The new and hoped-for good relations with China, including diplomatic relations, God willing, are not an end in themselves," he said, reiterating that they would be good for world peace.A Reuters investigation this year suggested the Vatican and China were working on a deal that would fall short of full diplomatic ties but would address key issues at the heart of the divide between the two sides."One has to be realistic and accept that there are a number of problems that need resolving between the Holy See and China and that often, because of their complexity, they can generate different points of view," Parolin said.(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; editing by Andrew Roche)
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
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, 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).
Meningitis outbreak in Chaudière-Appalaches concerning but not epidemic, experts say-[CBC]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Since the beginning of the year, six cases of meningitis have been confirmed in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, five of which were in children under four years old.Regional public health officials say those numbers should be cause for concern, but not panic. "It's important to stress that there is no outbreak of meningitis in Chaudière-Appalaches," said Nathalie Paré, a spokesperson with the region's Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS).The cases are nevertheless worrying, Paré said, and the CISSS has asked a committee of immunization experts from the provincial public health institute (INSPQ) to review the situation.Those experts are currently evaluating the need for a preventative vaccination campaign."We are expecting their scientific opinion in September. If this is the case, we'll be ready," Paré said.If untreated the meningococcal infection can lead to serious neurological and physical complications. Some cases prove fatal.The last mass vaccination campaign against meningitis was in the Quebec City region back in 2011. That campaign targeted more than 70,000 children and adolescents.
Singapore confirms first case of locally transmitted Zika virus-[Reuters]-By Marius Zaharia-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has confirmed its first case of a locally-transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect, in Brazil, the health ministry said.A 47-year-old Malaysian woman working in the city-state was confirmed with the virus, but was "well and recovering." As she had not travelled to Zika-affected areas recently, she was likely to have been infected in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement.Three other cases have tested positive in preliminary tests on their urine samples and are due further checks.Zika was detected in Brazil last year and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked to more than 1,600 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.Singapore, one of the world's largest financial centres and busiest travel hubs, said it expected more cases of the mosquito-borne virus which has wreaked havoc in Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond."With the presence of Zika in our region and the volume of travel by Singaporeans as well as tourists, it is inevitable there will be imported cases of Zika into Singapore," the ministry said."There is also risk of subsequent local transmission ... we expect there may be further cases, as most infected persons may display mild or no symptoms."The ministry said it was screening the patient's close contacts and carrying out tests on others living or working nearby. Clinics have been told to be on the lookout for more cases.-MISTING, FOGGING-The National Environment Agency (NEA) has carried out "vector control" operations to control the mosquito population and deployed 100 officers in the area, the statement said.Such operations include "ultra-low volume misting of premises and thermal fogging of outdoor areas to kill adult mosquitoes," increasing frequency of drain flushing and oiling to prevent breeding, and public education outreach and distribution of insect repellent."NEA may need to gain entry into inaccessible premises by force after serving of requisite notices, to ensure any breeding habitats are destroyed quickly," the statement said.U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in babies.The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.Zika is carried by mosquitoes, which transmit the virus to humans. A small number of cases of sexual transmission have been reported in the United States and elsewhere. A case of suspected transmission through a blood transfusion in Brazil has raised questions about other ways that Zika may spread.There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which is a close cousin of dengue and chikungunya and causes mild fever, rash and red eyes. An estimated 80 percent of people infected have no symptoms, however.(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
Kansas City area hit by floods after three days of downpour-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - The Kansas City area was flooded late Friday after a three-day downpour, forcing emergency services to conduct about 10 water rescues in Missouri's largest city, officials said.News photos showed vehicles stopped or abandoned as flood waters swelled across streets. No injuries nor fatalities were reported.The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency notice to the Kansas City area for the first time ever on Friday night that went into Saturday morning.The flooding had receded within the urban center later on Saturday, but rivers in more rural regions north of the city were still overflowing, said Dan Hawblitzel, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Kansas City.Rains and some thunderstorms were forecast in parts of the region on Saturday, but were not expected to cause further flooding, Hawblitzel said.Widespread precipitation in the region had brought anywhere from 3 to 8 inches of rainfall to the city since Wednesday, causing waterways in the region including the Missouri River to overflow, Hawblitzel said."Some parts of the city received more rain last night than they had seen all summer long," he said in a phone interview, noting it was the first time the weather service had issued a flash flood emergency for the region since it began such notices in the past decade.Kansas City's Fire Chief Paul Berardi posted the emergency warning on Twitter late Friday, adding the department was conducting water rescues in three parts of the city.A spokeswoman for the Johnson County Emergency Management office on Saturday said they had received reports of approximately 10 water rescues and had no reports of injuries or fatalities.(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Bernard Orr)
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
1 PET 5:8
8 Be sober,(NOT DRUGED UP OR ALCOHOLICED) be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders,(KILLING) nor of their sorceries (DRUG ADDICTS AND DRUG PUSHERS), nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE OR PROSTITUTION FOR MONEY) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Death penalty failing to deter drug trafficking in Iran: official-[Reuters]-August 27, 2016-YAHOONEWS
DUBAI (Reuters) - The death penalty has failed to reduce drug trafficking in Iran, a senior Iranian judiciary official said on Saturday shortly before the scheduled execution of 12 people for narcotics-related offences.His criticism was unusual in a judiciary that has long been a bastion of the hardline security establishment in the Islamic Republic, which carries out more executions per capita than any other country. Nearly 1,000 prisoner were put to death in 2015, most of them for drug trafficking.Most narcotics are smuggled into Iran along its long, often lawless border with Afghanistan, which supplies about 90 percent of the world's opium from which heroin is made."The truth is, the execution of drug smugglers has had no deterrent effect," Mohammad Baqer Olfat, deputy head of judiciary for social affairs, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency."We have fought full-force against smugglers according to the law, but unfortunately we are experiencing an increase in the volume of drugs trafficked to Iran, the transit of drugs through the country, the variety of drugs, and the number of people who are involved in it," Olfat said.He said he had suggested to the judiciary chief that rather than the death penalty, traffickers should serve long prison terms with hard labor.Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Human Rights Council and a brother of the powerful judiciary chief, said in 2015 that more than 90 percent of executions in the country were for drug-related crimes.He said the death penalty has not led to a significant fall in drug-related crimes and that the policy must be re-evaluated.The Islamic Republic seized 388 tonnes of opium in 2012, around 72 percent of all such seizures globally, but says it has lost many security personnel in skirmishes with drug traffickers in volatile regions bordering Afghanistan and also Pakistan.The United Nations has repeatedly praised Iran's battle against narcotics trafficking but opposed its death penalty.The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Iran urged Tehran on Friday to halt the execution of 12 people on drug-related offences scheduled for Saturday."It is regrettable that the (Iranian) government continues to proceed with executions for crimes that do not meet the threshold of the 'most serious crimes' as required by international law," Ahmed Shaheed said in a statement.Given Iran's large number of executions, some countries including Britain and Denmark have stopped providing funding for the United Nations drug control program in Iran.(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
