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)
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Ash Carter: 'Clear ambition' by Russia to erode world order-[Associated Press]-ROBERT BURNS-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
OXFORD, England (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is strongly criticizing Russia for what he says is Moscow's "clear ambition to erode the principled international order" through coercion and aggression.Carter used a speech Wednesday to students at Oxford University to blast what he calls Russia's "unprofessional behavior" in Ukraine, Syria and cyberspace. He's accusing Moscow of nuclear "saber rattling."Carter says Russia seeks to sow instability beyond its borders, including in the Middle East. He's also urging Russia to take a more constructive role in Syria to arrange a lasting cease-fire.He cites progress the countries made together in the aftermath of the Cold War, but says Russia now "appears driven by misguided ambition and misplaced fear."
SO WE GOT A BIG BRAIN DAMAGED-5 MINUTE COUGH FITS-LIAR-FORGETS EVERYTHING-CLINTON THAT SHOULD BE BANNED FROM RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT BECAUSE SHES MENTALLY UNSTABLE. AND THE LAME BRAIN-LAME STREAM MEDIA PROTECT HER FROM BEING QUESTIONED ABOUT HER HEALTH AND ALL HER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN OFFICE. WITH A LUNATIC LIKE CLINTON PROTECTED LIKE THIS-WHO NEEDS COMMUNISM. ITS RIGHT IN AMERICAS FACE RIGHT NOW. THE MEDIA IS JUST AS CORRUPT AS CLINTON FOR COVERING UP HER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. YOU MIGHT AS WELL SAY THE CLINTON MOB CONTROLS THE MEDIA. CLINTON IS A MOBSTER. SO WHY WILL THE GOVERNMENT NOT USE THE RICO BILL ON HER. ANYBODY ELSE WOULD BE SITTING IN JAIL FOR LIFE IF THEY COMITED ALL THE CRIMES HITLER 2ND CLINTON HAS.
Behind Clinton Foundation, a deeper problem for US politics-[Christian Science Monitor]-Peter Grier-September 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
The Clinton Foundation has become a prickly issue for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign. Newly released emails show that foundation donors asked Clinton aides for appointments, visas, and other favors while she served as secretary of State. What’s the story – is the foundation a “pay for play” ploy, or a noble endeavor? What is the Clinton Foundation anyway? The William J. Clinton Foundation was founded in 1997 and originally focused on raising money to build Bill Clinton’s presidential library. After the library construction phase, it morphed into a larger charitable organization that has collected upwards of $2 billion in donations from governments, corporations, and individuals around the world. It’s an operating foundation, meaning it has used most of that cash for its own efforts. Its areas of interest include economic development, climate change, health, and the empowerment of women, according to its website.Recommended: How much do you know about Hillary Rodham Clinton? Take our quiz.Some of its biggest programs have spun off into separate entities. Its large effort to increase poor nations’ access to HIV drugs became the Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2010. The Clinton Global Initiative, born in 2005, is a kind of free-floating worldwide SXSW festival that gathers important people together to network and to talk about deep problems.It was renamed the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2013. (The Clintons have a separate family foundation through which they funnel their own giving.) Sounds OK. What's the issue? The problem is donors have been asking for stuff. Emails disclosed due to a lawsuit by the conservative group Judicial Watch reveal a number of instances where people who gave money to the foundation used foundation contacts to funnel various requests to Clinton’s State Department staff.For instance, a wealthy West Coast sports executive asked a Clinton Foundation official for help in getting a visa for a British client, a soccer star denied entry to the US due to criminal charges. The Crown Prince of Bahrain asked a foundation official for help getting a meeting with Clinton.“Good friend of ours,” noted foundation official Douglas Band when forwarding the request.At least 85 people from private interests who had donated to the Clinton Foundation met with Clinton while she was secretary of State, according to an Associated Press review of her calendars.Oh. So donors bought influence? That’s unclear. There is no hard evidence that foundation donors actually received anything for their trouble, or at least anything to which they weren’t entitled as a matter of course. The British soccer star did not receive a visa, for instance. The Crown Prince of Bahrain did get his meeting – but it was managed through normal diplomatic channels. Plus, he’s the sort of person a secretary of State routinely meets with as part of their job.Perhaps the most startling thing about these emails was how clearly they revealed donor expectations. However Clinton responded, donors felt their money entitled them to access and accelerated consideration. That’s a window into the larger problem of money in US politics overall.Candidates and parties all insist that the cash flowing into their coffers doesn’t buy them or their actions. But many donors aren’t writing checks due to ideological belief, or just the thrill. They expect a return, and one of the most difficult stories to follow in Washington is how the political class fends off these requests. Or doesn’t.What's going to happen now? The foundation has already stopped taking donations from most foreign governments, with the exception of such politically benign allies as Australia, Canada, and some European nations. If Clinton wins the presidency, the foundation will stop taking all foreign and most corporate donations; Bill Clinton will resign from the foundation board and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Chelsea Clinton will remain.Those actions probably wouldn’t be enough to make critics go away. Pressure is rising on the Clintons to sever ties to the foundation entirely. A number of news outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, have editorialized that the foundation needs to ban all foreign and corporate donations starting now, and that all members of the Clinton family will need to erect a virtual wall between themselves and the foundation during a Clinton term in office.The foundation has done tremendous good throughout the world, critics admit. But that needn’t be lost. What they want is for no one to believe that funding those good works buys influence with or access to the president of the United States.“Achieving true distance from the foundation is not only necessary to ensure its effectiveness, it is an ethical imperative for Mrs. Clinton,” writes the Times editorial board.
Japan's ex-leader backs sick US sailors who blame radiation-[Associated Press]-YURI KAGEYAMA-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
TOKYO (AP) — Several hundred American service personnel who say they became sick from radiation after participating in relief operations for the 2011 tsunami that set off the Fukushima nuclear disaster are now getting high-profile support in Japan.Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, told reporters Wednesday he has set up a special fund to collect private donations for the former service members, with the goal of collecting $1 million (100 million yen) by the end of next March, mainly to help with medical bills."I felt I had to do something to help those who worked so hard for Japan," he said at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. "Maybe this isn't enough, but it will express our gratitude, that Japan is thankful."Koizumi, 74, one of Japan's most popular prime ministers in recent decades, was in San Diego in May to meet with 10 of the former service members, who have joined a class-action lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, the utility that operates the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.The lawsuit, filed in 2012, is ongoing, and a California judge has ruled it will proceed. More Navy personnel and Marines are joining the suit, now numbering about 400, according to Koizumi. Some 70,000 Americans took part in Operation Tomodachi, or Friend, flying in aid from an aircraft carrier and other warships off the coast of northeastern Japan.Since then, some servicemen and women have become sick with cancers, leukemia, thyroid ailments, brain tumors and other diseases, and they blame radiation. The ships to which they were assigned were in an area of the ocean in the direction of the radioactive plumes spewed from the Fukushima plant.Aircraft carriers routinely use drinking water from the ocean, which the lawsuit says was contaminated with radiation, and service members showered in and ate food cooked in such water. Some Navy personnel also flew on helicopters to the disaster zone.TEPCO denies any link between the illnesses and radiation, saying the radiation levels are too low.Koizumi acknowledged he is not a medical expert, but said he had "common sense." He questioned why so many healthy young men and women were suddenly sick with symptoms often associated with radiation exposure, such as nosebleeds.The U.S. command has said it was not told immediately about the reactor meltdowns at Fukushima.The lawsuit alleges that TEPCO withheld key information and caused the Americans to be sent in harm's way.Seven of those who joined the lawsuit have already died.Koizumi has already raised 40 million yen ($400,000) by charging people 10,000 yen ($100) to attend his lectures, with help from Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando.Koizumi said he had been a proponent of nuclear power while prime minister, but living through the Fukushima disaster taught him that what experts said about atomic power being safe, cheap and clean was "all lies."Even after the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in the United States and Chernobyl in Ukraine, the experts insisted that Japan's nuclear plants were different, he recalled."I became ashamed how I had believed such lies," Koizumi said. "They said Japan was safe. And that simply was not true."___Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama-Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(EITHER THE EUROPEAN UNION DICTATOR BOOTS 3 COUNTRIES FROM THE EU OR THE DICTATOR TAKES OVER THE WORLD ECONOMY BY CONTROLLING 3 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
Scotland readies referendum bill as back-up plan By Eszter Zalan-SEPT 7,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:05-The Scottish government will begin preparing legislation necessary for a new referendum on independence from the UK in case it is needed, first minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Holyrood parliament on Tuesday (6 September).However, it would remain a back-up plan as negotiations are ongoing with the UK on how to exit the EU with maintaining the benefits of EU membership for Scotland.“To ensure that all options are open to us, this programme for government makes clear that we will consult on a draft referendum bill, so that it is ready for immediate introduction if we conclude that independence is the best or only way to protect Scotland's interests,” Sturgeon said at the introduction of her government’s programme.Scotland voted to remain in the EU in the June referendum, but the overall vote in the UK came out in favour of Brexit.In the wake of the shock referendum result, an outraged Sturgeon told reporters it was “highly likely” that an independence vote would take place within two years.The Scottish prime minister said at the time she would hold a second referendum on Scottish independence if she could not protect Scotland’s EU interests, such as free movement of people and access to the single market, within the UK framework.Since June the independence furore has calmed down.UK prime minister Theresa May travelled to Edinburgh in mid-July to calm nerves and pledge to include all of the UK, including Scotland in outlining a negotiating position with the EU.The Scottish government’s programme confirms that Sturgeon will first seek to deal with the aftermath of the EU referendum through negotiations, but keeps the independence vote open.Sturgeon’s government plans to publish a draft referendum bill for public consultation, “in order that it is ready for introduction” should the Scottish government conclude that it is the only way to protect Scottish interests.“In the first instance, we will seek to positively influence the development of the UK government’s negotiating position ahead of Article 50 being triggered, to ensure that options for Scotland to maintain our relationship with Europe are developed and considered,” the government’s programme reads.“However, if it appears that the best – or only – way to protect our interests is to consider afresh the question of independence, it is essential that such an option is available to the Scottish Parliament,” it says, explaining the need for the referendum bill.
Column / Brexit Briefing-Brexiteers still hunting for a strategy-SEPT 7,16-EUOBSERVER By Benjamin Fox
London, Today, 09:15-Brexit minister David Davis made his triumphant return to Parliament on Monday (5 September), almost 20 years after his previous government job as, ironically enough, John Major’s minister for Europe.Back then, Davis was the bruiser who had helped force the Maastricht treaty through the UK parliament. Now he’s the man charged with leaving the club.Anyone expecting the government to have devised the semblance of a plan for negotiating its exit from the EU was disappointed. Davis’ 15-minute speech was largely content free.To Davis, Brexit “must mean controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe – but also a positive outcome for those who wish to trade in goods and services”. So far so vague.Meanwhile, the Labour party finally appears to have a post-Brexit position.Leadership candidate Owen Smith, who has promised to campaign for a second "in/out" referendum on the terms of Brexit, will almost certainly be comfortably defeated by Jeremy Corbyn at the end of September.But Corbyn’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Emily Thornberry has taken a similar stance to Smith, demanding a parliament vote before the triggering of Article 50, the EU clause on the exit process.After 10 weeks of post-referendum reflection the only thing that either government ministers or Joe Public can agree on is that "Brexit means Brexit". For the country that produced Shakespeare, Charles Darwin, and the Beatles, this hardly appears to be an auspicious achievement.Given the ugliness of the referendum campaign, and the mendacious claims made on both sides, it is noteworthy. On the eve of the poll, Nigel Farage warned that the result would be rigged to ensure a Remain victory. A sizeable portion of eurosceptics vowed not to let a narrow defeat end the matter.There is still a lingering viewpoint in Brussels that Article 50 will remain unused, or the reality of terms offered by the EU-27 will be so unpalatable that Britain will never leave the EU.That is certainly not the view among Remain supporters in Westminster.-Focus on single market-Labour former ministers lined up to express their sadness at the result, but were unequivocal in accepting that the will of the 52 percent is final.“I campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU, but I accept the outcome of the referendum," former Europe spokeswoman Emma Reynolds told MPs on Monday.“It would be a good idea to try to find some way of maintaining a form of co-operation on foreign policy after we leave the European Union, because even after exit we will still very much be part of Europe.”Several corridors away in Westminster Hall, MPs debated the petition signed by over 4 million Britons in the week following the referendum, most of them surely Remain supporters, demanding a rerun.Believe it or not, there are, if not millions, certainly thousands of Brits who are still in post-referendum mourning. But that battle is almost certainly over. Although around 400 of the 650 MPs backed a Remain vote, most accept that the June result must be respected.The next pitched battle for Remainers will be retaining British membership of the single market. The Stronger In group, which ran the official Remain campaign, has now morphed into Open Britain, with single market membership the centrepiece.-Direction of travel-If Davis, who was flanked in parliament by fellow Brexiteers foreign secretary Boris Johnson and trade minister Liam Fox, has his way then it seems almost certain that Britain will leave the single market.“This government is looking at every option, but the simple truth is that if a requirement of membership is giving up control of our borders I think that makes it very improbable,” he said It took less than 24 hours for prime minister Theresa May to disown this position. “He is setting out his opinion. A policy tends to be a direction of travel, saying something is probable or improbable is not policy,” May’s spokeswoman told reporters on Tuesday (6 September) when asked if Davis was expressing a government policy.The clarity on the government’s negotiating strategy will have to emerge sooner rather than later. But the train only has one destination.Benjamin Fox, a former reporter for EUobserver, is a consultant with Sovereign Strategy, a London-based PR firm, and a freelance writer..
Austria drafts anti-asylum law-By Nikolaj Nielsen-SEPT 7,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:22-Austria has finalised a draft law to prevent asylum applications once an upper limit has been reached.The government earlier this year introduced an annual 37,500 cap. The so-called emergency decree finalised on Tuesday (6 September) would prevent most people from applying for asylum once that threshold is met.The controversial law is set for a parliament vote in about a month following a review. It is likely to pass.The move aims to further curb asylum claims over broader fears of a repeat from last year when almost 90,000 applicants were filed in the country. Around 29,000 applications have been filed in the first seven months of this year.Der Standard, an Austrian daily, also reported that some 2,200 soldiers could be deployed at the borders should refugees arrive en masse.Austria's self-imposed cap was followed by a closure of the so-called Western Balkan route earlier this year. The border closures stranded more than 50,000 people in Greece.Austria had also initiated plans to erect a barrier along the Brenner Pass with Italy over the summer but halted construction following widespread protest.Border security and guards have since been stepped up on the Italian side of the Brenner Pass.Austria has largely served as a transit country for people hoping to lodge asylum claims in Germany. Some 700,000 passed through last year. It is still, however, one of five main destination countries in the EU for first time applicants.But broader concerns over asylum and immigration have underpinned striking gains by the country's far-right Freedom Party's (FPO).FPO's Norbert Hofer is leading polls ahead of a presidential run-off on 2 October.Austria's tough asylum law follows similar measures proposed in Hungary and Denmark.Some 10,000 Hungarian police and soldiers patrol long stretches of razor-wire fencing along the border with Serbia.The troops escort asylum seeker caught within 8km of the fence back to the Serbian side of the 175km border following a law passed by the Hungarian government in July.In late August, Hungary's government had also announced it would erect a second fence on the Serb border alongside the existing one.Denmark in late August had also floated a plan to grant police the powers to turn back asylum seekers at its borders, if deemed necessary.Some 21,000 people had applied for asylum in Denmark in 2015. Those figures have since dropped sharply. Around 4,700 have registered this year so far.In January, the Danish government had also passed a law that would allow authorities to confiscate valuables from arriving asylum seekers and refugees.
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)
Storm Newton makes landfall again in Mexico after killing two-[AFP]-Pedro Juarez Mejia-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
La Paz (Mexico) (AFP) - Tropical storm Newton roared into northwestern Mexico early Wednesday, making landfall a second time after leaving two people dead in Baja California, US forecasters said.Downgraded from a hurricane, the storm was still packing 110 kilometer-an-hour (70 miles-per-hour) winds when it swept into mainland Mexico near Bahia Kino in the state of Sonora, the US National hurricane center said.The storm was expected to dump eight to 15 centimeters (three to six inches) of rain, before passing into the US state of Arizona later in the day, the Florida-based weather center said.After coming ashore for the first time early on Tuesday, the storm uprooted trees and shattered windows, leaving two dead in Baja California, as thousands of tourists hunkered down in hotels in the Los Cabos resort area.But the region, which is very popular with American and Canadian tourists, managed to escape major damage, two years after Hurricane Odile ravaged Los Cabos, killing six people and causing $1 billion damage."According to the latest reports, #Newton only caused minor damages in infrastructure," President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter, saying there were no injuries.The storm caused a large swell that sunk a shrimp fishing boat between the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific ocean, leaving two people dead and three missing, said Los Cabos civil protection director Marco Antonio Vazquez.The two bodies washed ashore on a beach. Vazquez said the boat had ignored warnings against going out to sea.Vazquez said Newton's winds took down trees and tin roofs from poorer neighborhoods but that a disaster was averted because the hurricane passed through rural, sparsely inhabited areas.Some hotel windows broke, but 14,000 tourists in Los Cabos were "safe" in rooms made to shelter them, said state tourism secretary Genaro Ruiz Hernandez.Some 1,500 people took refuge in shelters in the resort town but many returned home, Vazquez said.Power was cut to parts of Los Cabos and La Paz and the phone service was also disrupted.- Looting attempts -Police confirmed arresting five people for trying to loot two convenience stores in Los Cabos, with officers stationed outside several shops to prevent the kind of looting seen after Odile.Local airports closed late Monday, while small boats were barred from using the ports in case of a storm surge in low-lying areas. Schools were also shut.North of Los Cabos, trees also fell in La Paz and locals boarded up shop windows, with 400 people evacuated from vulnerable areas.The storm is expected to bring up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain in Baja California Sur and as much as 25 centimeters in several Pacific coast states, which could trigger flash floods and mudslides.The weather system caused damage in the country's south over the weekend before transforming into a tropical storm, flooding 1,400 homes in Guerrero state and leaving three dead in Chiapas.
Minor earthquake in the State of Washington rattles homes-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
(Reuters) - A 3.2 magnitude earthquake struck the northwest of the State of Washington on Tuesday night, the United States Geological Survey reported, briefly shaking homes and rattling residents.The quake hit the Sudden Valley area at 11:50 p.m. local time, the USGS said.A CBS affiliate reported the earthquake woke people in Bellingham, Washington, about 10 miles (15 km) to the west."It was loud, like something slammed the house. Both cats flew off their beds," Adrienne Williamson told the Seattle station.Others told the station that the tremor lasted for about five seconds."It rattled a door here in South Bellingham. Pretty violent, but brief," Marinus Van de Kamp said.(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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).
Ottawa-area measles outbreak raises more questions about mandatory vaccination-[CBC]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
While a measles outbreak in the National Capital Region once again shines the spotlight on parents who fail to get their children vaccinated, an Ottawa Hospital researcher says the limited spread of the virus suggests current immunization policies are containing the highly contagious virus.On Saturday, Ottawa Public Health confirmed two children and one adult are being treated for measles. The three cases involve people who either were not vaccinated, or did not have complete vaccinations in Ottawa and Lanark County.Health officials confirmed the virus was brought here by a patient who had travelled internationally, but for privacy reasons the department won't disclose where that patient travelled.There have been no new cases since.-High vaccination rate-Ottawa Hospital researcher Dr. Kumanan Wilson said the fact the outbreak has not spread to more people suggests the vaccination rate among the general population is close to the 95 per cent threshold that provides "herd immunity."-"We haven't seen the sustained spread, which suggests that vaccination rates are pretty good and are preventing the spread," Wilson said.In 2014, measles spread from a single case of an unvaccinated child who contracted the illness while travelling in the Philippines. There was a total of four cases that year.In most years, there are no measles cases in Ottawa. Wilson said the number of cases depends on how many non-immunized people are exposed to the virus."In a totally unvaccinated population, for each individual that gets measles, 12 to 18 other individuals will get the condition," he said."That makes it one of the most infectious conditions we know of. The likelihood of spread is totally dependent on the immunization coverage they're surrounded by."-Mandatory immunization might not solve problem-Wilson said it's important that people recognize vaccines are effective and safe. People who can get vaccinated, should."People need to be immunized not only to protect themselves but to protect others," Wilson said.Children below the age of one and people with certain illnesses cannot be vaccinated.Symptoms of measles include fever, runny nose, coughing and a red, blotchy rash after the fever appears. Complications can include hearing loss, pneumonia, brain swelling and even death.However, Wilson said, the current policy towards immunization may work better than excluding children from school if their parents object to shots for "philosophical reasons."Public health officials are required to keep track of students' immunization records and can exclude children who've been exposed to the virus but don't have up-to-date shots. Wilson said a more restrictive policy could make outbreaks worse."The risk of making it mandatory is that some parents may choose not to send their children to school and home school them or put them in alternative school system," he said. "In which case, you get clustering groups of unvaccinated children and that increases the risk of an outbreak substantially."Ottawa Public Health said the immunization rate among Ottawa's school-age children is 98.4 per cent.Associate medical officer of health Dr. Carolyn Pim said fewer than 10 children have been excluded from school in the current outbreak. She said the children will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine when they can return to school.-Proof of immunization should be requirement: CMA-The Canadian Medical Association said proof of immunization should be required for all children attending licensed daycare or school in all provinces.In a written statement, CMA president Granger Avery said the CMA is concerned misinformation is creating doubt among some parents about the value of vaccines."The CMA is encouraging all provinces to establish immunization registries so that health care workers have a better understanding of immunization levels in Canada to ultimately prevent a situation like the one currently unfolding [in Ottawa and Lanark County]," he said.
China offers "free screening" for travellers from Zika-hit countries-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will offer Zika health screenings for travellers from Singapore and other affected countries, the quarantine bureau said on Wednesday, without explaining whether the tests would be compulsory.China has previously announced that it would step up checks on people and goods from the Singapore, where more than 240 locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed, including in more than 20 Chinese nationals.Individuals travelling from Singapore and other affected countries who show Zika symptoms should report to quarantine officials when entering China, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its website.The administration said all international travel healthcare centres would provide "free Zika screening and tests" to all individuals travelling from countries where local Zika transmission had been confirmed.It did not say the checks would be mandatory, but required all inspection and quarantine agencies to "strengthen joint prevention and control".Chinese international airports are generally equipped with thermal scanners that are capable of screening passengers for fever as they pass through customs.During past outbreaks, including of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and swine flu, passengers have been required to fill out health declaration forms.Over the past few years, China has had plenty of experience of dealing with disease outbreaks and learned a tough lesson in 2003 when authorities initially covered up the SARS outbreak.There have been no obvious signs that Beijing is especially nervous about a Zika outbreak in China, aside from ordering the stepped-up checks on travellers.Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized - as well as other brain abnormalities.The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light last fall in Brazil, which has since confirmed more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly.In adults, Zika infections have also been linked to a rare neurological syndrome known as Guillain-Barre, as well as other neurological disorders.Malaysia on Wednesday confirmed its first case of the Zika virus in a pregnant woman, a 27-year-old living in a southern city next to Singapore.(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina; Editing by Nick Macfie)
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MURDERS-DEMON WORSHIP WITH HANDS AND DRUGS-PROSTITUTION-STEALING-ALL DUE TO PEOPLES LUST FILLED ADDICTIONS FOR PLEASURE AND POWER.
REVELATION 9:20-21
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils,(OCCULT) and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries,(DRUG ADDICTIONS) nor of their fornication,(SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE-PROSTITUTION) nor of their thefts.(STEALING)
Prostitution 'easiest way out' for Zambia's drought-stricken farmers-[Reuters]-By Whitney Mulobela-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
LUSAKA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Repeated failed crops caused by worsening drought have forced Christine Mwenda, a small-scale farmer in Zambia's central Mumbwa region, to do what was previously unthinkable.Since 2014, the 37-year-old has been selling sex in Zambia's capital Lusaka. The pay is better than growing maize, she said, and gives her a proper chance to feed her four children."On average I make close to 500 kwacha ($0.70) on a good day," said Mwenda, who agreed to be interviewed on condition that her real name was not used."This is the kind of money I could only make (once) in a year from farming," she said, explaining that once the cost of fertiliser, labour, transport and seeds was deducted, she was left with very little money from her harvest.Like millions of Zambians, Mwenda has been struggling with soaring food bills and power shortages caused by prolonged drought exacerbated this year by El Nino, a warming of the Pacific Ocean's surface leading to hot, dry conditions.For many small-scale and subsistence farmers in the landlocked southern African country, longer spells of drought and increasingly erratic rains are becoming far more frequent.The changing climate, combined with costly fertiliser and seeds, means agriculture is becoming less attractive for many."These days when you grow maize you are not sure about the yield. Most of the time you find that the crops end up drying and you only harvest just enough to eat as a family," Mwenda told the Thomson Reuters Foundation."Meanwhile we need to send our children to school."-HIV RISK-About 54 percent of Zambia's 16 million people were living in poverty in 2015 - most of them women, according to Central Statistical Office data released in April.Much of Zambia's extreme poverty is concentrated in rural areas. According to a 2014 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, extreme poverty is estimated to be four times higher in rural areas than urban centres.The situation in the copper-producing country has not been helped by a drop in the kwacha against the dollar since April, as a result of depressed global commodity prices.The hardships have caused more and more people to migrate from rural parts to cities such as Lusaka, Kitwe, Livingstone and Chipata. Others have moved to border towns.Lucy Bwalya, an academic at Cavendish University in Lusaka, said many women turn up in cities hoping to become traders, hawking clothes or groceries.However, a rising number turn to prostitution instead - risking arrest, violence and sexually transmitted diseases."Prostitution is the easiest way out and these women end up risking diseases such as HIV and AIDS," said Bwalya, a former programmes manager for Tasintha, a charity working with sex workers.According to the 2013/2014 demographic and health survey, the HIV prevalence rate among Zambians aged between 15 and 49 was 13 percent, compared to 16 percent in 2001/2002.-CLIMATE-RESISTANT CROPS-To encourage more women to stay on their farms, Zambian charity Enviro Green has been teaching them to grow climate resistant crops such as sorghum, which require less water than the traditional staple, maize."We are generally concerned with this rural-urban migration of people, especially women who are ending up in sex work," said Enviro Green executive director, Martha Simukonde.The women farmers are also taught farming techniques to conserve soil and water to minimise erosion and water runoff."We always teach them to plant their crops early so that with the early rains they can germinate. Even when the rains go, the crops once planted early have a chance to grow," Simukonde said.For some women, however, these efforts come too late.Women in Law and Development in Southern Africa (WILDAF), a women's rights advocacy group, said the government should do more to address rural-urban migration."There is need for the government to seriously put in place policies that will reverse this trend where women are coming to urban areas to engage in sex work, which is exposing these women to HIV and AIDS," said WILDAF programmes officer Charles Sibeene.(Editing by Katie Nguyen and Laurie Goering. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
EARTH WORSHIP
DEUTERONOMY 17:3-4
3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel:
DEUTORONOMY 4:15-19
15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,
18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
2 KINGS 23:5
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
Federal government invests $75M in U of C carbon reduction research-[CBC]-September 6, 2016-YAHOONEWS
The federal government announced $75 million in funding for the University of Calgary on Tuesday, meant to go towards reducing the carbon footprint of unconventional oil and gas operations, including the oilsands and fracking.It's part of a $1.5 billion bonanza for post-secondary institutions across the country aimed at supporting their research strengths. On Tuesday, $900 million was doled out to various schools. "We want to make the most of Canada's scientific and research strengths, to invest in the areas where we really have the potential to dominate on the world stage," said Kent Hehr, Calgary Centre MP and the minister of Veteran Affairs.Reducing or eliminating emissions-The U of C money will be used to develop more efficient ways of getting oil and gas out of the ground, including reducing the energy and water used to extract oil, and reducing the scale of developments required for a single tight reservoir. Also on the table is improving the efficiency of carbon capture and conversion as opposed to storage, that aims to lock CO2 away, and eliminating the release of CO2 altogether by developing new means of extracting energy from carbon fuels. "Research conducted here will help ensure the development and use of these resources can be done in support of Canada's environmental goals," Hehr said to the crowd gathered at the U of C.-'This is game changing'-Steven Bryant, the Canada Excellence Research chair in materials engineering for unconventional oil reservoirs, thinks it's important to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas as "that oil is still needed for a while.""This is huge. This is game changing. It allows us to do the kind of innovation with different branches of science all brought together to answer the big questions that we need to be answering for this low carbon transition," he said. "To have the opportunity to do science to address the big challenges is the kind of things academics long for. This is a huge opportunity."The U of C team will be working with partners in Mexico, China and Israel on the research.
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)
Top Saudi cleric says Iran leaders not Muslims as haj row mounts-[Reuters]-By Sami Aboudi-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's top religious authority said Iran's leaders were not Muslims, drawing a rebuke from Tehran in an unusually harsh exchange between the regional rivals over the running of the annual haj pilgrimage.The war of words on the eve of the mass pilgrimage will deepen a long-running rift between the Sunni kingdom and the Shi'ite revolutionary power. They back opposing sides in Syria's civil war and a list of other conflicts across the Middle East.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message published on Monday, criticised Saudi Arabia over how it runs the haj after a crush last year killed hundreds of pilgrims. He said Saudi authorities had "murdered" some of them, describing Saudi rulers as godless and irreligious.Responding to a question by Saudi newspaper Makkah, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh said he was not surprised at Khamenei's comments."We have to understand that they are not Muslims ... Their main enemies are the followers of Sunnah (Sunnis)," Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying, remarks republished by the Arab News.He described Iranian leaders as sons of "magus", a reference to Zoroastrianism, the dominant belief in Persia until the Muslim Arab invasion of the region that is now Iran 13 centuries ago.-"BIGOTRY"-Al al-Sheikh's remarks drew an acerbic retort from Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who said they were evidence of bigotry among Saudi leaders."Indeed; no resemblance between Islam of Iranians & most Muslims & bigoted extremism that Wahhabi top cleric & Saudi terror masters preach," Zarif wrote on his Twitter account.Saudi authorities normally seek to avoid public discussion of whether Shi'ites are Muslims, but implicitly recognise them as such by welcoming them to the haj, and by accepting Iranian visits to the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.Tensions between the two countries have been rising since Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January following the storming of its embassy in Tehran, itself a response to the Saudi execution of dissident Shi'ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.Custodian of Islam's most revered places in Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on organising haj, one of the five pillars of Islam which every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to is obliged to undertake at least once.Riyadh said 769 pilgrims were killed in the 2015 disaster, the highest haj death toll since a crush in 1990. Counts of fatalities by countries who repatriated bodies showed that more than 2,000 people may have died, more than 400 of them Iranians.Iran blamed the 2015 disaster on organisers' incompetence. Pilgrims from Iran will be unable to attend haj, which officially starts on Sept. 11, this year after talks between the two countries on arrangements broke down in May.The split between Islam's main sects dates to a dispute among Muslims over who would rule their community after the death of the Prophet Mohammad, and Shi'ites still regard his descendents as a line of imams blessed with divine guidance.Today such disagreements over history remain emotive points of tension between the sects, but they are also divided over day -to-day issues including differing interpretations of Islamic law and the role and organisation of the clergy.In the Wahhabi teaching of Sunni Islam followed by the Saudi clergy and government, Shi'ite doctrine about imams is seen as incompatible with the concept of a monotheistic God.(Reporting by William Maclean, Sami Aboudi, Noah Browning and Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Toby Chopra)
Suspected Aleppo chlorine attack chokes dozens, rescue workers, monitors say-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A suspected chlorine gas attack on an opposition-held neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo caused dozens of cases of suffocation on Tuesday, rescue workers and a monitoring group said.The Syrian Civil Defence, a rescue workers' organization that operates in rebel-held areas, said government helicopters had dropped barrel bombs containing chlorine on the Sukari neighborhood in eastern Aleppo.The Syrian government has denied previous accusations it used chemical weapons during the five-year-old civil war. The Syrian army could not be immediately reached for comment on the latest allegations.The Civil Defence said on its Facebook page that 80 people had suffocated. It reported no deaths. It posted a video showing wheezing children doused in water using oxygen masks to breathe.The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syrian violence using sources on the ground, said medical sources had reported 70 cases of suffocation.A United Nations and Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inquiry seen by Reuters last month found that Syrian government forces were responsible for two toxic gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 involving chlorine.The Civil Defence accused the government of two other suspected chlorine gas attacks in August . The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria said it was investigating an August incident."Unimaginable crimes are occurring in Aleppo ... pro-government aerial bombardments cause mass civilian casualties," Commission Chairman Paulo Pinheiro told reporters in Geneva. "In government-held areas, indiscriminate ground shelling (by) armed groups ... is also killing scores of civilians," he added.Aleppo has been one of the areas hardest hit by escalating violence in recent months after the collapse of a partial truce brokered by the United States and Russia in February.Government forces put eastern Aleppo under siege on Sunday for a second time since July after advancing against rebels on the city's outskirts. The city has long been divided between government and opposition areas of control.The Syrian conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and forced more than 11 million from their homes.(Reporting by John Davison; additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva.; Editing by Larry King)
U.S. military says conducted strikes against Somalia's al Shabaab early this week-[Reuters]-By Phil Stewart-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. military conducted two strikes in southern Somalia early this week that killed four al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants involved in attacks on Somali government troops, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Wednesday.The U.S. military has in the past used drones to target al Shabaab's senior leaders. The Pentagon said in June it carried out a strike in late May against Abdullahi Haji Da'ud, one of al Shabaab's senior military planners and served as a principal coordinator of attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda.The latest strikes took place in Torotorow in Lower Shabelle region, on Monday."During a Somali-led counter-terrorism operation, a large group of armed al Shabaab fighters attacked the force, threatening the safety and security of the forces in the area," Captain Jennifer Dyrcz, a U.S. Africa Command spokeswoman, said. "In response, the U.S. conducted two self-defense strikes... killing four al Shabaab militants."Al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011 but has remained a potent antagonist in Somalia, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the Western-backed government.(Additional reporting by Feisal Omar in Mogadishu; Writing by George Obulutsa; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Man held after police find car with gas cylinders in Paris-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
PARIS (Reuters) - A car containing several gas cylinders was discovered close to the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris last Saturday night and its owner, now in custody, is on an intelligence services watchlist of people suspected of religious radicalisation, police officials said.The Peugeot 607, which had no registration plates, contained seven gas cylinders, one of them empty on the front passenger seat.It was found with its hazard lights flashing, as if to attract attention, two police officials said on Wednesday. "We think he may have been trying to carry out a test-run," one of the officials said.There was no detonating device present in the car, found on a Seine riverside stretch called the Quai de Montebello, metres from the Notre-Dame cathedral.Documents with writing in Arabic were also found in the car.More than 200 people have been killed in terror attacks over the past year-and-a-half in France.France remains on maximum alert after calls by the Islamic State group for followers to attack the country, which is bombing the militant group's bases in Iraq and Syria.(Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry and Simon Carraud; Writing by Brian Love; Editing by Ingrid Melander)
Fighting in Syria's Hama province displaces 100,000: U.N.-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
GENEVA (Reuters) - Fighting in Syria's western Hama province displaced an estimated 100,000 people between Aug. 28 and Sept. 5, the United Nations said on Wednesday, citing the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the governor of the province.Syrian rebels launched an offensive last week in northern Hama, an area of strategic importance to President Bashar al-Assad that is home to loyalist towns populated by minority Christians and Alawites. Rebels rapidly captured the town of Halfaya. Pro-Assad forces have hit back with heavy air strikes.Many people had fled from the fighting towards Hama city and neighbouring villages, as well as north into Idlib province, the U.N. said.There were originally about 4,500 families in the town of Halfaya, of which 2,800 remain trapped by the fighting while the rest managed to flee, the U.N. report said.Another 4,500 families were displaced from Taybat al Imam, out of 9,500 in that town, and 5,000 families were uprooted from the army stronghold of Soran, about half the population there.Many of the displaced people were sleeping outdoors, but four mosques in Hama city and 12 schools in rural areas were temporarily housing people, the U.N. said.The Red Crescent had provided aid to about 7,000 families in Hama, roughly 35,000 people, and the United Nations sent a convoy of 12 trucks to Hama on Sept. 4 with aid for another 15,000 people. Another 6,500 families still urgently need food and other aid, the U.N. said.(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Turkey says ready to help any U.S. initiative to capture Raqqa-[By Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey would be ready to join any initiative proposed by the United States to capture an Islamic State stronghold in Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks published on Wednesday, as Turkish-backed forces took more Syrian land from jihadists.Obama floated the idea of joint action with Turkey to capture Raqqa during talks between the two leaders at a G20 summit in China, Erdogan said, according to Wednesday's edition of Turkey's Hurriyet daily.Turkey launched an offensive in northern Syria on Aug. 24 to clear Islamic State from its border and to prevent territorial gains by the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara believes has links to Kurdish insurgents fighting on its soil."Obama wants to do some things together concerning Raqqa in particular," Erdogan told reporters on his plane that arrived early on Tuesday, referring to Islamic State's de facto capital. He was speaking after meetings in China with Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders."We stated that would not be a problem from our perspective. We said, 'Let our soldiers come together, whatever is necessary will be done'," the Turkish president said, adding that a specific Turkish role would depend on further talks.U.S. officials have welcomed Turkish efforts to dislodge Islamic State from Syrian strongholds but voiced concern when Turkish troops engaged fighters aligned to the YPG, a force Washington sees as a valuable ally in battling jihadists.Turkish-backed forces clashed with YPG fighters in the initial stages of the two-week old Turkish incursion into Syria, but have since shifted their focus onto territory held by Islamic State and captured a string of villages.Turkey's military said late on Tuesday that three Turkish soldiers were killed when two tanks were hit by rockets fired by Islamic State. Four others were wounded, it said.The military also said the Free Syrian Army, a loose-knit rebel force backed by Turkey, had taken six more villages, also located in Islamic State-held areas.Turkey and its rebel allies now control a 90-km stretch of land on the Syrian side of the border and are pushing south.Ankara wants international support to take control of a rectangle of territory stretching about 40 km into Syria, creating a buffer between two Kurdish-held cantons to the east and west and against Islamic State to the south.Turkey says such a "safe zone" would help stem the flood of Syrian refugees. But the idea has yet to gain traction from the United States and Russia, both engaged in Syria, because of the military demands of policing such a zone.Turkey, meanwhile, has been sending more military hardware south. The army sent 15 more tanks to the Islahiye district near the border, bringing the total number of tanks and armoured vehicles in that area to 90, Dogan news agency reported."We do not have the chance to take a backward step. If we take a backward step terror groups like Daesh, PKK, PYD and YPG will settle there," Erdogan said, according to Hurriyet.Daesh is another term for Islamic State, while the PYD is the political wing of Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara says is an extension of Turkey's outlawed PKK, a Kurdish militant group that is fighting for autonomy in Turkey's southeast.(Writing by Humeyra Pamuk and Edmund Blair; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Philippines says 'gravely concerned' by Chinese ships at disputed shoal-[Reuters]-September 7, 2016-YAHOONEWS
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' defence ministry on Wednesday said it believed an increased presence of Chinese vessels at the disputed Scarborough Shoal was a precursor for building man-made structures and was "gravely concerned".The ministry took the decision to release photographs taken on Saturday of what it said were more vessels than normal because China's ambassador had denied any new activity at the shoal, defence ministry spokesman, Arsenio Andolong, told reporters."We believed that this is precursor to possible building of structures on the shoal," he said, adding that China's denial was "even more disturbing".(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by John Chalmers)
